by Tracy Lauren
“You want more, human? I have more!” Da’vi shouts back at me.
“Bring it, you scaly son of a bitch! I’m tired of all this tight-lipped bullshit. Let’s hear what you really have to say!” The guard holding me seems so surprised by my hostility he actually allows me to inch forward to get in Da’vi’s face.
“You are the most self-centered and arrogant creature I have ever met. If it weren’t for the fact that I pity you so deeply, I would have never agreed to train you. There isn’t a Nh’rudi guild in the entire galaxy that would entertain you as an apprentice, and not only for your lack of discipline, but for your complete ignorance to everything. And when I say everything, I mean literally everything in the known galaxy! If I were a smarter male I would have left you back on Elysia to weave baskets and sow the fields with the other females. Someone should put an end to these delusions of heroism you have floating around that simple human skull of yours,” he shouts down at me, never breaking eye contact.
My eyes go wide as he rants, everything sounds a little too real and hits a little too close to home. It isn’t until he finishes his rant that my eyes narrow. I could rip him a new one too, if we had time for that. But I sense the guards tiring of our drama. So instead, I follow the plan. “Oh yeah?” I say. “Well fuck you too, Da’vi!” I yell just before I ram into his chest with my shoulder, knocking the wind out of him. I’d have punched the fucker if I’d have had a free hand.
Suddenly the guards are all yelling and trying to separate our scuffle. Da’vi and I both raise our voices over the commotion. Our hope was that Dax would be down here somewhere, that we could cause enough of a racket that maybe he’d hear us and be able to signal us somehow.
We’ve only got one chance at this. The plan was to get caught, allow them to take us into the belly of the beast, cause a distraction and hope we can find Dax. If not, we fight our way out of here before these guys call reinforcements and continue our search elsewhere. There’s only six of them, for Christ’s sake, seven if you count the checkpoint guard. Easy peasy.
It’s starting to get pretty wild and I’m waiting for Da’vi to give me the signal to turn the fight onto the guards when a thunderous roar shatters everything. It’s a sound I know well. A sound only a Vendari can make. Every living soul halts at the chilling howl and we stand there frozen for a moment even after it ends. Then, there’s a loud snap followed by a heavy thud. We all jump and our attention is drawn to a cell door a few feet down the hall. The thud sounds again. This time, I see the center of the door bow outward. Another thud and the door bends and conforms to the beast on the other side.
I feel the bindings on my wrists fall away and Da’vi’s cold and hard lips press against my ear. His voice rasps and his flesh is rough on mine. “Now,” he tells me. How he got free of his own ties is beyond me. I’ll have to ask him to teach me that trick another time. For now, we have some ass to kick.
Chapter 50
Dax
There was a disturbance beyond my cell. Rarely if ever do I hear anything happening in my prison’s halls. I listened close to gain any information I could. At first, I thought it must be my imagination that these voices sounded familiar, that one accent sounded human. But then I heard a name spoken: Da’vi.
After that, I saw red. This is my chance to escape. There is a warrior just outside my cell doors, someone willing to fight their way out of here with me. We may only have one shot at this, we have to fight for it now, before we miss our window.
Ever since V had left me this morning, I had been diligently working at the hinges. Weakening and prying at them with my bent and sharpened pieces of chain. Now that I hear the reinforcements outside, I am filled with fresh energy. I ram the door with all my might, it bends and the hinges creak and pop. With one last run at it the door to my cell finally gives way, flying off its frame and hitting the stone wall on the opposite side of the corridor with a loud crack.
I step out into the light after weeks of darkness. In the hall I see Da’vi and Allison engaged in battle with The Oscillion’s men. The guards wrestle to free their guns from their hips. I fall to all fours and dive into the fray with a howl. We have to make quick work of these males. It has been hours since my V left. She is in danger and needs my help. I cannot let her kill for The Oscillion.
When she was with me she had been so close to healing and The Oscillion has wiped that all away. She’s even more fragile now than she was when the Ju’tup first woke her from her cryo bag. She needs me, is all I can think, over and over as my tail and claws tear through the guards.
I’m coming, V.
When the fight is over and I’m able to calm myself enough to speak, I shake my head and try to regain my focus. There’s a wild rhythm beating inside me, washing out any other sounds. I take in long and slow breaths, willing the noise to subside. Da’vi and his human stand farther down the hall, watching me trepidatiously. Da’vi protectively blocks his female.
“Friends,” I say in greeting.
“You look terrible,” Da’vi says in his own way of greeting.
“There isn’t much time, we have to save V,” I tell them.
“Where is she?” Da’vi asks as our group stalks toward the exit. We still have to take care of the guard at the checkpoint.
“She’s at a brothel in the lodging district,” I tell them, and everyone picks up their pace.
“We can’t let them hurt her,” the human Allison says, more to herself than to anyone else.
“No, you don’t understand. If we don’t stop her, she’ll hurt them,” I try to explain hurriedly.
“So…when you say V, we are talking about Vivian, right?” Allison asks, disbelief written on her face.
We round the corner. I expect to see the checkpoint station manned with a guard, perhaps two. Instead I see a giant of a male, with wide shoulders and arms the size of tree trunks standing over a fallen guard. We skid to a halt, taking in the unexpected scene.
The male turns and looks at us, unimpressed. We all stand there, frozen for a moment in time. Wordlessly, he taps a few keys at the checkpoint station and the gate slides open.
“You might be too late. Vigere and his men have already entered the building. There’s a dozen of them and she’s the only flesh in any brothel on Quar. She may know how to fight, but even V has her limits.”
Who is this male who knows my mate? Did he come here seeking to release me? There’s no time to ask who he is or why he is helping us. I give him a nod as we race past, heading up and out of this dungeon, towards sunlight and my V.
Chapter 51
V
I slip into the skimpy clothes Narron gave to me. Skimpy as they are, the top is still hooded. Beyond that, the clothes hug my body tight, leaving little to the imagination. Especially with the gaping holes in strategic places that show off all my new tattoos. I guess this is the kind of thing Aritine women wear.
Quietly, I squeeze out of the maintenance room and peer down a narrow hall. Seems deserted. I try to walk with an air of purpose, to look like I belong here. I’m about to check a door when a voice about six inches from my ear catches me by surprise.
“How may I service you?” it says.
“Holy shit!” I spin, ready to defend myself. I feel the TASE moving inside me, before I have the chance to think, or even to stop it, I feel the cool sensation of liquid metal running down my arms and I strike.
A split second before impact I see the person clearly. To my horror, it’s an alien woman, with big eyes and pouty lips, smiling at me as if I’m not about to kill her. She didn’t even have a chance to look shocked.
My hands become enveloped by the TASE, heavy, strong, and piercing. They collide with the woman’s chest and she’s thrown the short distance into the wall.
I recoil, a too-late attempt to stop myself from harming her. I look down at the poor woman, a puff of smoke rises from her chest. A few sparks shoot out, only to flicker and die on the ground. She’s still got that smile on her face, bey
ond that, she’s frozen.
“What the fuck?” I breathe out, looking down at the thing. Its chest has been concaved by my attack, exposing circuitry.
A door opens and I jump, but refrain from attacking. Another woman appears, the spitting image of the thing lying on the ground. She moves gracefully and silently.
“How may I service you?” she asks with that same distant and empty smile, not seeming to notice her defunct twin in a heap on the floor.
“Oh my God, you’re a robot.” I exhale a sigh of relief.
“I am a lifelike robotic companion, available for services. If you are interested in more information on my make, model number, year of construction, or range of capabilities, please input your query now. If you would like to run a pre-programed sexual scenario, please input your selection now,” she tells me without blinking.
I stare at her a moment, trying not to let my skin crawl. “Can you help me carry her to the maintenance room?” I ask finally.
“It would be my pleasure,” she says indifferently.
In retrospect, either one of us could have carried the broken bot on our own. She has super-robot muscles and I have the added strength of my TASE.
My TASE, the stupid thing. You’d think The Oscillion would have wanted me trained a little better before sending me out into the field. It makes me wonder what his end goal for me really is. He invests in me, but then sends me out feeling halfcocked.
Regardless, I need to try and keep the thing under control once Vigere gets here. I can’t let nerves accidently shoot spikes out of my knuckles or something. I don’t imagine that would bode well with my intended victim.
The sexbot and I dump her twin in the maintenance room and head back into the hall. “Can you show me around?” I ask.
“It would be my pleasure,” she says, her tone still empty.
She leads me into a room I imagine to be a charging station. There are dozens of bots, plugged in and lined up along the walls. Just about every alien race imaginable is featured. Some of the robotic women are nude, others are in lingerie.
Apparently, space brothels really are all about sexbots. I’d have bet money that the whole robots in brothels thing was really a cover for a seedy underbelly, but it actually seems to be true. While I’m happy I don’t have to sneak through a building occupied by sex slaves, I still find it eerie to be surrounded by these things.
Past the charging room the bot leads me into a sort of a pantry, stocked with a variety of booze, cups, pitchers, and platters. I see two pitchers are already poured, waiting for the next round of guests.
A poor tour guide, she leads me further still, not providing any information regarding the places we pass. Beyond the pantry, she shows me a large room, with chaise lounge chairs, large round ottomans, oversized pillows and satiny curtains separating off a few areas. My skin definitely crawls in this place. I wouldn’t sit on a single surface in here without some serious sterilizing beforehand.
“Where do all these doors lead?” I ask.
“These doors lead to private bedrooms and our VIP lounge.”
“Show me the lounge,” I command.
My heart skips a little when I look inside. In the center of the tall room is a recent installment left just for me.
Silks hang from the ceiling and a lone chair sits not far in front of them. Beyond that, the room is empty. I circle the silks, inspecting them, feeling the quality of the fabric. I do a quick scan of the room for any potential dangers and possible escape routes. But the room is barren and it appears there is only one exit.
Wordlessly, the bot and I exit the VIP lounge and return to the main room. I nearly have a heart attack when I see the change it has undergone.
Over a dozen bots are now suddenly posed throughout the room, frozen in mid laughter, mid conversation, mid sultry and seductive recline on a couch.
“What the hell?”
The bot tilts her head to the side as if thinking. “Guests are arriving,” she informs me. I can hear the low voices of men just beyond the front doors.
“Oh shit!” I say, hurrying to scramble back to the pantry room. My friendly tourbot follows.
I press the door shut and lean against it, thinking. The bot goes about her business. She readies the pitchers and ice, accumulates a selection of bottles, all before loading it onto a tray to carry.
“Do you know who those guys are?” I ask in a hushed tone.
“Logs indicate a reserved time slot for a Patrone Vigere.”
I suck in my breath. Here we go.
“How many people are with him?” Suddenly, in the main lounge, it sounds as if someone just took a TV off pause. I can hear the laughter and conversation of women, met shortly thereafter by the guttural and fearsome sounds that men make when they are feeling slimy and predatorial.
Without hesitation, my bot tries to bring the trays of drinks out to the party.
“Wait, wait, wait!” I tell her. She obeys. “Okay, hold on just one second,” I say, motioning for her to be still. “And don’t make a sound.”
Slowly, quietly, I crack the door open and peek out into the room. There’s a lot of big guys out there. Mean-looking guys, already flipping the sex bots over and getting down to business. Easily, I pick Vigere out of the crowd. He’s not only a man that emanates evil, he’s a man that emanates power. I shut the door and wring my hands, hoping the moist feeling on my flesh is just sweat and not my erratic new defense mechanism.
What am I going to do? There’s so many of them. Too many of them. If things went down the way they did with Drykn I’d never make it out of here alive. And I have Dax to worry about. What would The Oscillion do to him if I didn’t make it back to the fortress? I have to do something. I have to make sure I get out of here.
I stare at the pitchers, already knowing my plan. I only hesitate a second, before I dig the vial of poison from a hidden pocket in my clothes. I quickly split the contents between the pitchers and dump the liquor bottles in as well.
“Okay, go.”
The bot’s smile widens in preparation of greeting her guests as she slips from the pantry. I stop the door from shutting all the way and peek out into the room.
I diluted the poison. Maybe it will still kill them. Maybe I diluted it enough to the point that it will just make them sick. I watch as my bot passes out drinks that are quickly scooped up and downed by the men. All except for Vigere of course.
Vigere waves the bot away and assesses the room. He was told there would be a real person here.
He isn’t drinking and he isn’t wasting his time with the bots. He’s waiting for me. I steady my breath and will my heart to stop pounding in my chest. All I can do is hope my TASE doesn’t make a surprise appearance, not unless I need it of course.
I straighten my back and stride out into the room. The room filled with criminals, with alien monsters who steal humans from their homes and sell them to be raped, killed, or god knows what else. I head straight for Vigere, trying my best to display a confident and purposeful stride as disgusting alien men wildly fuck robots all around me.
“Are you Vigere?” I ask when I meet him.
An ugly and frightening smile cuts across his face.
“I hear you’re looking for a show. Are you all ready, or would you like some refreshments first?” I ask, motioning toward the discarded pitchers. The bot that was carrying them is now on all fours, doing something I don’t even know the name for.
He ignores the drinks. “I hear you have some surprising talents.”
“If you’d like to see my many talents, all you have to do is follow me,” I say with a smile, looking up into wide-set, hooded eyes, set deep into a slim face with a gaping slit for a mouth. He is slender, making his arms and legs look spindly, like a spider’s. I also notice his hands are far more claw-like than they are humanoid. Still, he takes my hand and allows me to lead him to the back.
“What is this creative invention?” he asks, admiring the silks.
“You
’ll find out soon enough,” I promise. “Have a seat.”
Chapter 52
Dax
We all jump into a waiting craft. I assume it belonged to the male we left in the dungeon. I punch in our coordinates and anxiously await our arrival. What I wouldn’t give for my own ship right now…
“Okay, seriously. What the hell is going on here? Why are people saying all this crazy shit about Vivian? Did you hear that guy back there? He said she knows how to fight! Are we talking about the girl who threw a charger in a crowded ship when it didn’t even have the safety on, or is this someone new?” Allison asks me.
“Vivian has been going through a transformation of sorts,” I reply, eyes fixed out the window.
“Was she really thrown from a twelve-story building?” she questions. I look up at her now, feeling just as lost as she and Da’vi appear to be.
