by Ravenna Tate
For a while, Jakara and the Earth girl named Callie had lived on Sera, where Jakara had been forced to work for the Regum. But now, he had joined others on Addo who were taking over that planet with the express purpose of forming a new group. They called themselves Addonians, and they hoped to bridge the gap between the archaic, strict rule of the Regum, and the destruction of Earth that had become the mission of the Tyranns.
And Walton had been rewarded for his betrayal by being made a Section Warden in the Zoo which Jakara had opposed. There was irony for you.
Walton pointed toward each of them in turn. “The girl’s name is Fallon Myers.” Fallon barely glanced up at the mention of her name. “This is Arlo, and this is Cord. Arlo and Cord speak your language, so they will be able to understand everything you say.”
Walton stepped toward the hallway. “We will leave you now. The men have been shown to their private bedrooms. Fallon, yours is between theirs. You will find clothing and everything you need already in there. The detailed instructions of what we expect from you three in the viewing room have been placed on the table in the kitchen. You have forty-eight hours until the first performance.”
After the guards and Walton left, and the lock in the door clicked, Cord slapped his thighs and then stood. “All right. Let’s get a few things straight.” He glared at Arlo. “I’m only speaking her language so she hears this, too. I know who you are. You were part of the team selling used parts for spaceships to the Regum so they could increase their own fleet at a cheap price.”
“Was being the operative word.” It was none of this asshole’s business why he’d quit his job, or what had led to him being sentenced here. “And you have your facts wrong. The Regum already have their own fleet. They didn’t need the parts to build more spaceships, and they certainly aren’t worried about the costs of those parts.”
Arlo rose and strolled around the room, looking for the hidden microphones and cameras. Fallon watched him, her gaze curious.
“Why were you selling them used parts, then?” asked Cord.
He frowned. “I wasn’t selling them used parts. That’s the scam I refused to go along with. Several of my co-workers tried to force me into a scheme that would have ended up with the Regum buying useless junk from the Tyranns.”
Cord looked confused for a second. “So why were you arrested? Was it when they fired you for embezzling money?”
“I didn’t embezzle money. Those charges were falsified because I refused to take part in the scam.” Arlo slipped two fingers under the monitor and brushed them over a small disc. The whine of feedback caused him to flinch, and he heard Fallon swear softly under her breath. He pried the disc off and dropped it onto the floor, then smashed it with his boot heel.
Fallon stood. “Was that a bug?”
“If you mean a microphone, yes. I’m sure there are others.” He resumed strolling around the room.
“Won’t they know you did that?”
He liked her voice. It was dusky and warm.
“Yes.”
“What if they shock us again?”
He glanced toward her because now she sounded afraid. “They won’t shock you again. I’m the one who broke the microphone, not you.”
She regarded him with big blue eyes full of fear and anxiety, and a sudden urge to cross the room and hold her rose up. “But I don’t want them to send me … somewhere else for something you did wrong.”
Walton must have told her about the holding cells, the bastard. “As long as we do what they want us to, they won’t send you there.”
“Then leave the microphones alone,” said Cord. “Don’t give them a reason to use threats against us.”
Arlo gave him a look of incredulity. “This coming from a man who was arrested for high treason? Oh that’s rich. Are you suddenly afraid of the Tyranns now, or is this all an act? Maybe you were put in here with me as a spy, to find out where my loyalties lie?” He didn’t want those listening to know he didn’t believe Cord had committed treason.
“I could easily accuse you of the same thing.”
Arlo shook his head as he ran his hands along the back of an end table. “No, not me. I crunched numbers. Spying wasn’t part of my game.” He pried off a second microphone and smashed it, then turned his attentions to the other table.
“For someone who claims he wasn’t into surveillance, you sure know where to find those,” said Cord.
Arlo glanced toward Fallon. “I’ve been watching Earth spy movies. Fascinating entertainment. Tell me something, Fallon. Do girls on Earth really believe all spies have those interesting gadgets? You know, the ones that transform from something innocuous into something truly useful?”
The corners of her mouth turned up. “Which movies did you watch?”
“Movies about a man called James Bond, who is played by several different actors, and who is apparently ageless.”
She shook her head, and the tiny grin that lit up her face made her look even more alluring. “Like you said, purely entertainment. They’re pretty far out there. I’m not sure anyone takes them seriously.”
Arlo pried off the microphone and stomped on it. “Oh good. Because I wouldn’t want Cord or myself to disappoint you.” He cut his gaze toward Cord. “Since we’re accusing each other of being spies.”
“Are you? Spies, I mean?”
Arlo watched her, grateful to see some of the fear gone from her face. “No, I’m afraid I’ve already disappointed you. I’m merely an accountant who refused to go along with an illegal scam. You see, while it’s legal for the Regum to sell goods and services to the Tyranns, it’s not legal the other way around.”
“I don’t understand the terms you’re using. What are Regum and Tyranns?”
Arlo glanced around the room. If there were any more hidden in here, they had to be embedded in the floor or the draperies. He would do a more thorough search later. He walked into the kitchen and searched through the cupboards, finally taking down three wine glasses. Then he opened the refrigerator and smiled. Of course they would put an ample supply of alcohol in here.
But he wouldn’t try to seduce Fallon while she was drunk. That was a boy’s game. If she went along with this, it would be while she was sober, and because she wanted to have sex with them. Not because she felt she had no choice. He wondered what else Walton had threatened her with besides the holding cells.
After Arlo poured them each a glass of what would taste similar to tequila to her palette, he picked up the instructions, and returned to the great room. Cord was sitting once again, this time in the chair Arlo had been in. Fallon was still on the sofa. They weren’t talking, and she had her legs drawn up again.
He handed a glass to Cord and then one to Fallon, taking a seat next to her. “It’s called wormroot, which I realize sounds really nasty in your language. I’ve been told by people from Earth that it tastes like tequila.”
She eyed the glass for a few moments before taking a sip. “Yes, it does. Thank you.”
He drained half of his, enjoying the warmth that spread throughout his body. It was the first time since his arrest three weeks ago that he hadn’t believed he’d be put to death for his bullshit crime. People in his situation had been executed for far less.
He placed the paper with the instructions on the table next to him. He wasn’t ready to tackle that quite yet.
“You asked about the names we mentioned. Regum is the name of the specific people who currently rule all three planets in the Alpha Centauri system. Sera, where most of them live, Addo, where Cord and I are from and where we both worked, and this one, Voyeur Moon. The Regum live in palaces and have great wealth, and they control the laws and commerce on all three planets. Or, they did control it on Voyeur Moon. The Tyranns control this planet now. They are a group that split off from the Regum over fifty years ago.”
He cut his gaze toward Cord. Cord was a charismatic individual who had openly stirred up hatred against the Regum, but he didn’t identify with the Tyranns.
He’d be the better one to explain the politics behind this, and behind the formation of the Addonians to Fallon, but it didn’t look as though Cord was ready to jump in and help.
“The Tyranns have always made open war on the Regum and their ways, and over time the Regum decided to allow them to colonize Voyeur Moon so they’d have a place to live and carry out their lives without keeping the other two planets in a constant state of turmoil.”
She took another sip. “You said we’re on Voyeur Moon. So does that mean this planet is controlled by the Tyranns?”
“It is now,” said Cord.
“Walton told me if I refused to go along with this I’d be sent to the holding cells. He described it as a place where I’d wait to be chosen by groups of men who would … who basically would gang-rape me. Is that true?”
He and Cord exchanged a dark glance.
“It is unfortunately true,” said Cord. “The practice has been going on since shortly after we first went to your planet. But that’s not what this was supposed to about.”
She eyed them both like they were insects to be crushed. “What was it supposed to be about?”
“The Regum are old guard,” said Arlo. “They want to dictate to the rest of us how we think, what we feel, and what we choose to enjoy in bed. Their rules are ancient and centuries old. They reflect a stilted, puritanical mindset that has reduced sex to nothing more than an act of procreation. Our women are educated from birth to view it as an unpleasant duty. They are told they must not enjoy it, but rather endure it, if they want to give their husbands children.”
“There are some cultures and religions on Earth where that’s still a common belief,” she said.
“Yes,” said Cord, “but our women are so terrified to break with tradition that they dare not allow themselves any pleasure out of sex. It’s lawful for a wife in our culture to refuse sex to her husband unless she is in her fertile time, and even then she may use one of dozens of excuses not to have sex with him.”
She took another sip and narrowed her eyes. “Are you a Tyrann, then?”
“No. I oppose them. I identify with the Addonians now. They are a third group who have recently formed. We formed the group in the hopes of working toward a peaceful solution between the strict laws of the Regum and the brutality of the Tyranns, but it’s becoming apparent this will not end peacefully.”
Arlo frowned. He hadn’t realized Cord identified with the Addonians, as well. What he’d heard about the man must not be true, then. That would make things easier between them, but he still wondered whether he could trust him.
“I’m confused,” she said. “Who invaded our planet and took our women for sex? The Regum?”
“No, the Tyranns did that,” said Arlo. “But it didn’t start out this way. Well, let me back up. It did start out that way, but this wasn’t how it was supposed to end up. Using you for sport or rape.”
“How was it supposed to end up?”
“They wanted willing sexual partners. They watched your planet and others where there is humanoid life for a long time before choosing Earth.”
She put down her glass and uncurled her arms and legs, shifting her body to face him. “You mean there are others?”
“Yes. More than you would believe.”
“Why did the Tyranns choose us?”
“Earth was one of the closest planets. And because of your obsession with sex in movies, television, and books, it was assumed the women on your planet all loved it and were willing to have it with anyone and everyone. They do realize now that they made a lot of incorrect assumptions.”
“They certainly did. So if that’s true, how did this come to be? This Zoo? And why are women gang-raped by your men?”
“They’re not our men,” said Cord. “Those who currently control Voyeur Moon and who built this Zoo are an extreme faction of the Tyranns. The Tyranns who never wanted any of this originally went along with the extreme faction that formed and grew, in order to keep the peace. They also quickly realized that by opposing it they risked death. And now they risk imprisonment by leaving Voyeur Moon to fly to Addo and join the Addonians. But there are plenty of Tyranns who first opposed what the extreme faction turned this into.”
Cord took a sip of his drink. “There are also Regum who opposed what the extreme Tyranns did here. First the holding cells and now the Zoo. The Tyranns who opposed building both facilities were eventually ferreted out and betrayed by their own. The rest of them were caught somewhere in the middle, and most have now joined the Addonians. Even some of the Regum have joined.”
She shook her head. “An extreme group of perverts destroyed a planet and took their population prisoner.” Fallon drained her glass. “So much for the theory that the more advanced the technology, the more intelligent the people are. What happened to the men who were taken?”
“Most were sent to the mines on Addo to work,” said Arlo. “Those mines are still in operation, but the Addonians are working toward taking over control of them from the Tyranns, so the workers aren’t abused. They want to give them decent conditions to work under and enough food to survive the grueling work.”
She rose and walked toward the kitchen with her glass. Arlo admired her curvy ass as much as he admired what she’d just said about advanced societies. That was the very point he’d been trying to make. That their women weren’t merely objects who fucked everyone in sight. That was where the Tyranns had it wrong from the start, and they still had it wrong.
Now if he and Cord could find some common ground, and convince Fallon they didn’t believe in what the Tyranns were doing, they might all be able to survive this.
Chapter Three
Cord wasn’t sure whether Arlo was putting on a dog and pony show, or if what he’d heard about the man was bullshit. But he knew that Fallon must be scared out of her wits by now, and he hated that. This wasn’t her fight. None of the Tyranns had any right to do this to her people. He’d never thought so, even when the original group had first started out, saying they had no intentions of harming the Earth women. That had turned out to be the biggest lie of them all.
He eyed Arlo, wishing they had a few moments to talk alone, but maybe later they could. Cord had a few questions for the man that weren’t fit for Fallon’s ears, or anyone else’s for that matter. And he needed to know if Arlo truly identified with the Addonians now, because if he did, that changed everything he’d thought about the man.
When Fallon returned to the room, she carried the bottle of wormroot with her. “Do either of you need another drink? Just so you both know, I intend to get drunk and stay that way.”
He frowned. “Maybe we should all keep a clear head instead.”
She drained half her glass. “Do you really think it matters? They expect me to have sex with two men I just met, in front of who knows how many people. You honestly think I can do that while sober? Nothing personal…” Her voice trailed off, and he watched regret flash across her pretty face. “That sounded terrible. I’m sorry.”
She plopped down on the sofa again. “I didn’t mean it that way. There’s nothing wrong with you two. You’re … there’s no reason I wouldn’t want to have sex with you under different circumstances.”
Cord frowned as he watched Arlo rub her shoulder. “It’s all right. Neither of us can begin to understand how you feel right now. But I agree with Cord that it’s important we each keep a clear head and think this through.”
She placed the glass on the table next to her. “Fine, but you’re the one who brought the booze in here to begin with.”
Arlo grinned, and then cut his gaze toward Cord, who returned the gesture. She was feisty, and he liked that. The Tyranns were fucking idiots if they believed women on Earth behaved like actors in a porno movie.
But the reality of their situation was no laughing matter, and he had to make sure Arlo understood that. It was one thing to find the obvious microphones, smash them, and then try to play sympathetic hero by giving her something to drink
. But if his actions took her out of here and to the holding cells, he’d hold the man personally responsible.
“We really only have two choices,” said Cord. “Go along with it, or try to escape.”
“Escape?” she asked. “How? Those aren’t the only two bugs, are they? They’re probably listening and watching right now. I looked around before they brought you here. There are no windows, and the door is locked. It’s metal. So unless you have a blowtorch or plastic explosives, we aren’t getting out of here.”
He wasn’t sure where the cameras were, either, or even if there were any. Based on what he’d learned about the surveillance techniques of the Tyranns, they likely were listening only. And she wasn’t the only woman in the Zoo, but he didn’t know if Walton had told her that. If his sources were right, they now had a dozen cells to monitor. He and Arlo needed to put aside their differences and figure out if there was a safe way to speak without the guards being able to hear the conversation.
Arlo gave him a curious look. “I agree with Fallon. Escape isn’t an option. And we don’t want to give them a reason to take her out of here.” He accentuated the last few words. Cord ignored him as his eye fell on the paper. If they weren’t watching, they could write notes to each other and then burn them. But they needed a writing utensil to do that.
He picked up the paper. “We should read these.” Cord fixed his gaze on Arlo, hoping the man had enough to sense to pick up his hint. “But maybe find a pen or a pencil first to jot down notes in case we need clarification from them?”
Arlo frowned, and then he narrowed his eyes. “Right. Good idea. I think I saw one in the kitchen.”
Arlo rose, and Cord studied Fallon. She looked more relaxed than when they’d first come into the room, but only a bit. When Arlo returned, he took a seat again and handed the pen to Cord. “Not sure if there’s ink in it.” Cord tested it on the back of the paper, and then he wrote in English.
