by Ravenna Tate
We need to figure out a place to talk where they can’t listen. Will you look for more microphones while I distract her?
Arlo looked uncertain for a second, and then he nodded once and rose. Cord took his place on the sofa, thrusting the paper into Fallon’s hands. When she opened her mouth to speak, he placed a finger over his lips and pointed toward the paper.
She read it, and then she nodded and turned it over where the instructions were printed. “All right. Let’s see … oh, how unfortunate for you and Arlo. You can’t have sex with each other. They only want to see you two kissing, touching, and penetrating me. In every hole. Lovely. I hope they’ve provided us with lube and condoms.”
Cord laughed. There was no way to hold it back this time. He liked this girl. Under different circumstances, she was exactly the kind of woman he’d want to be with. “I guess it’s a good thing, then, that Arlo and I both prefer women. And don’t worry about the condoms, at least not for vaginal penetration. We can’t impregnate you, and we’re immune to your Earth diseases.”
“I don’t have any STDs, if that’s what you’re talking about. But why can’t you get Earth women pregnant?”
“Our DNA is too different. It’s been tried, and it doesn’t work. And we do have plenty of lube. It’s in our bedrooms, along with condoms and sex toys.”
Her gaze cut to the bondage arch, and her face colored slightly. Then she returned to reading the instructions. “They’re very specific about what they want us to do. Bondage, spanking, pulling my hair, roughing me up for the crowd.”
His dick twitched as images raced through his mind. “How do you feel about all that?
“I don’t know. I’ve had some kink in my sex life, but not a lot. But I’d like an out, just in case. A safeword.”
“Is there anything in the rules about not using them?”
She shook her head. “No. So can we agree to keep it consensual? We can make it look like it’s not, if that’s what they want us to do.”
He hoped there were no more microphones in here. “I’m willing to go along with that, and I’m sure Arlo won’t object, either. We don’t want to hurt you.”
Arlo walked into the room with his palms open, where he held at least a dozen smashed microphones. “These are all I could find,” he said softly. “But I left two. One is in the kitchen under one of the cupboards, and the other one is hidden under the lamp shade in the hallway. I suggest we leave those so they don’t lose audio in here completely. There are none in the bedrooms or bathrooms that I could find.”
He dumped the smashed microphones on the table where he’d placed the others earlier, and then Cord pointed toward the paper. “We were reading the instructions.” He reiterated their conversation to that point, and Arlo gave Fallon a long, searching look at the mention of kinky sex and safewords.
“I’m not sure I can intentionally hurt a girl,” he said.
“We have little choice but to do as they say,” she said. “If we’re careful, we’ll only make it look like you’re hurting me. I can fake it.”
“A spanking will hurt. So will a paddle.”
“I can take both as long as you’re not beating the crap out of me or splitting my skin open.” She put the paper on the table and hugged her knees again. “Anything to keep from being sent to those holding cells.” She eyed each man in turn. “Tell me the truth, please. You won’t let that happen to me, right?”
Cord shook his head. “We won’t let that happen to you.” He raised his brows as he glanced toward Arlo. “Right?”
“Absolutely not. I’ve never condoned what they’ve turned this planet into.”
“Neither have I,” said Cord.
“Thank you. May I ask you each a personal question?”
“Sure,” said Arlo.
“What did you do to get sent here? I mean what did you really do?”
Cord cut his gaze toward Arlo, who looked even less anxious to spill his guts. But at least the air would be cleared between them. And if it helped her to hear them talk about their lives, it was worth it. “I’m a demonstrator. In fact, I even tried to garner sympathy from Earth people at one time, but as you can imagine, I was met with resistance.”
“Where? I mean where did you try to do this? What city?”
Her voice was sharp, and he narrowed his eyes. Had he seen her before? No. He’d have remembered her. “Lots of places.”
“Were you ever in Manhattan? That’s a borough of New York City.”
“Yes. Last summer. I organized a meeting in Central Park.”
She stared at him. “I remember that. A group of us walked over from Saks to watch, but when we realized it was the aliens we left.”
“What is Saks?” asked Arlo.
“Saks Fifth Avenue. It’s a department store. I was a buyer there until the invasion. Well, I’m still a buyer, but there’s not much to buy now. Most of the designer clothing wasn’t made in the USA. But the importing industry is gone, so now we make do with what we have, and what others are starting to make locally. But it’s not the same. It never will be again.”
They were aliens to her eyes. And hearing her talk about how much her job had changed brought home her situation once again. “I guess when I look at it from your perspective, I was foolish to expect sympathy or support for our cause.”
“What were you trying to accomplish? I’m asking because I didn’t stick around long enough that day to listen.”
“The Regum passed laws prohibiting the sale of goods to your people. I had protested their laws before, and this one was no different.”
“Why did they do that? Pass the law I mean.”
“They didn’t want the Tyranns benefitting any further. They couldn’t pass them only for that group because enforcing it would have proven impossible, so they passed them for all of us.”
“But why would you care whether we could trade with your planets? You invaded us. You ruined us.”
“I told you. I had no hand in that. I protested the Regum and their laws wherever I went.”
“It’s hard for me to separate you and Arlo from the people who did this to me. To us.”
He couldn’t tell if she was contrite or simply stating a fact. “I imagine I’d feel the same way in your place.”
“I know I would,” said Arlo. He glanced toward Cord. “The charge of high treason was trumped up, then? If that’s what you did, organize legal demonstrations, you were no more a traitor to our people than I’ve been.”
“That is correct. But I’d put on one too many demonstrations over the years, and they wanted to get rid of me for good. Going to Earth to try to organize support against them was the final straw. I was supposed to be sentenced to death. Instead my attorney had the sentence reduced to life imprisonment. So instead of being sent to a Regum prison to await death, I was sent here.”
“Life?” Fallon’s expression and tone of voice registered surprise. “This is a life sentence for you two?”
“Yes,” said Cord. “Did you think we’d only be here for a while? This is permanent. And it’s the lowest sentence possible right now. It marks us as criminals they wish to make a fool out of.”
She sighed out loud and then nodded several times. “Now it makes sense. The people watching us will know who you both are and what crimes you were accused of.”
“Yes, they will,” said Arlo.
“This was done to humiliate you, not merely punish you. That is so sick and twisted.”
Cord opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of the door to the hallway opening stopped him. Fallon’s eyes widened, and a look of pure panic spread across her face. Cord didn’t think about it. He acted on instinct, placing an arm around her. Arlo rose and moved to her other side, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Walton walked into the room, flanked by two guards. He eyed the smashed microphones on the table, and then he glanced from one man to the other, his expression hard and bored. Finally, he addressed Fallon. “Come with me.”
; “No! I didn’t do anything! You said I’d have forty-eight hours, and we’ve already been talking about it. I’m going to go along with it.”
Cord stood, moving in front of her. “What do you want with her? She didn’t smash those microphones. You know she didn’t. We did that.”
Arlo moved next to Cord. “Leave her alone. You’ve made your point. Put the damn microphones back and we’ll leave them be this time. Listen to everything we say in here. We don’t care.”
Walton sneered. “Her fate isn’t yours to decide.”
If Cord hadn’t known it would end in his death and a worse end for Fallon, he’d have punched the smug bastard. Walton nodded toward the guards, who shocked Cord and Arlo. Cord struggled to catch his breath as the guards pulled Fallon to her feet.
He and Arlo both reached for her as she screamed in protest and tried to dig her heels into the wooden floor. The look on her face was horrible. He’d never seen anyone look so afraid, and his heart gave a strange lurch at the protectiveness welling up inside him. He had to save her from them.
When they shocked them both again, Cord fell to the ground, clasping his gut from the pain. The last thing he heard before the metal door slammed shut again was Fallon still screaming.
Chapter Four
Fallon couldn’t catch her breath. The guards dragged her toward the end of a dim hallway, then around so many corners and into yet more hallways, that she completely lost her bearings and sense of direction. Her pulse raced, and she couldn’t hold back a second onslaught of tears.
They eventually led her into a room that resembled an interrogation room on one of those old cop shows, and shoved her into a metal chair. It rocked back on its rear legs, and she would have tipped over if Walton hadn’t righted it. He pulled a second chair in front of hers, until their knees were touching.
The man stank of stale smoke and body odor, or it might have been the room. Either way, her stomach churned, and she exhaled loudly. “Please may I have some water? I think I’m going to throw up.”
Walton motioned toward one of the guards who left the room. “You need to understand a few things about them.”
“Them who? Arlo and Cord?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why you took me out of there?” She swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “You scared me half to death.”
“I’m not interested in your fear level. I’m interested in making sure those two don’t turn themselves into heroes in your eyes.”
“Why do you care what I think of them? It’s not like I can do anything with the information they give me.”
“It matters to me what they tell you.” His voice was hard and cold, and Fallon struggled to understand what was really going on here.
The guard returned and plunked down a glass of water in front of her. She drank the entire thing, and wished she had more, but decided not to chance it. “Fine. What’s so damn important to tell me about them?”
“You need to first understand those two men are convicted criminals. Don’t romanticize this. They are here under a life sentence, and you are a prisoner of the Tyranns.”
“I’ve already figured that out.”
“Then stop asking them why they’re here. They’re going to fill your head with ideals and make themselves out to be do-gooders. They’re not. And our politics aren’t your concern.”
“But when I asked about your politics, you told me you’d leave it to Arlo and Cord to explain them.”
He narrowed his eyes, and she studied his face. Working in retail, and especially New York City retail, had given Fallon a keen sense of people. She could size someone up in less than two minutes.
This man was afraid of Cord and Arlo. Not in a way that meant they could hurt him physically or usurp his power and position here, but in a deeper way. The same way a parent is afraid of their daughter falling for the bad boy, or the way a politician might be afraid of a charismatic opponent.
“I didn’t anticipate your benevolent reaction toward them,” he said. “I don’t want you siding with them. I want you afraid of them. And you should be. They’re dangerous criminals.”
“Yes, you keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true. They’re both responsible for the deaths of innocent citizens. Do you think they were sentenced here under false pretenses?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
What had Arlo and Cord said about the Regum? That they wanted to control everyone’s thoughts and the way they felt. Then the Tyranns must want to do the same thing, because that’s what Walton was trying to do now, to her. He wanted to dictate her feelings toward Cord and Arlo. He didn’t want her to eventually enjoy this. He wanted her to fear them. That was part of the act they were to put on for their people.
It made sense in light of the detailed instructions. They didn’t pay merely to see people having sex. They paid to see rape in progress. They paid to see Earth women abused by their worst criminals, but not just any criminals. By those they wanted to see made a fool out of. They wanted to see the criminals forced to do this. The people who had designed this Zoo made the sleaziest politicians on Earth look tame by comparison.
But how should she handle this? She had to play along. Anything to avoid being sent to the holding cells.
“That bullshit Cord fed you about demonstrations? It’s a lie. He stirred up hatred and sedition. Do you imagine the Regum courts would convict an innocent man of high treason? It’s as serious a charge here as it is on Earth. His so-called demonstrations resulted in deaths and destruction.”
She forced a neutral expression to her face to combat the anger she felt at his obvious lies. She remembered that day in Central Park. No one had died or been injured. There had been no reports of vandalism. Thousands of people had gathered to listen, and then the aliens left without incident.
Maybe the results of his demonstrations turned out differently on their planets, but she didn’t believe so because Walton was trying too hard. The timbre of his voice told her that. It was the same tone she heard in a customer’s voice when they tried to find fault with a dress she knew they loved, but were trying to get it at a reduced price because of a perceived flaw, or simply because they didn’t want to pay full price for it.
“And as for Arlo, he embezzled money from the company where he worked. He was part of a huge contract the Tyranns had with the Regum to buy used parts for spacecrafts, but he got greedy. He wanted more. Arlo is a changed man since his wife was killed.”
“What?” Was that true, or another of his lies? And hadn’t Arlo told her he’d been an accountant? Why would an accountant be part of a sales contract?
“Yes, he lost his wife in a demonstration that Cord started.” Walton’s voice was triumphant, and his eyes gleamed. It made Fallon’s stomach turn to see him so thrilled to tell her this. “And his daughters are grown now, but they want nothing to do with him.”
She’d have to find a way to ask Cord and Arlo about the things Walton had told her. She didn’t believe them, but if it was true that Arlo had lost his family, she wanted to know that. “May I ask a question about the bugs? The microphones, I mean?”
“What do you want to know about them?”
“Are they in all the rooms? I mean, will I not even have any privacy in the bathroom?”
“We aren’t listening in there. Nor are we interested in what you say in your sleep. But the microphones Arlo smashed will be replaced in the common areas.”
“Can you see us, too? Is that what the monitor is for?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why should that matter to you?”
“It doesn’t. I’m merely curious.” Would he buy it?
“The monitor in the common room is what you call a television. The remote is behind a panel in the wall. We cannot see you in the quarters, but we will be listening. Not because of you, but because Cord and Arlo are convicted criminals. If they tell you anything about other illegal activities, we need to know that.”
She had nothing to go
on but his word, which wasn’t worth shit. But what else could she do at this point?
He rose. “It’s time to return to them. I hope you understand now who and what you’re dealing with, but I still expect your cooperation. Nothing has changed regarding that. If you refuse, we will place another woman in there and you’ll be sent to the holding cells.”
Fallon didn’t say anything. It was better to let him believe he’d put the fear of God into her where Cord and Arlo were concerned than to risk having him realize she’d called bullshit on him.
They marched her down the hallways once more, and then shoved her inside the foyer and slammed the door shut. But this time she was relieved to be here. Cord and Arlo weren’t in the common room, and they weren’t in the kitchen. She walked down the hall and opened the door to their bedrooms, but closed them when she heard water running in the bathrooms. The guys must both be taking showers, so she went back into the kitchen because she was suddenly hungry.
She had no idea what time it was. There were no clocks that she’d found, and since she hadn’t found a window, either, she had no clue if it was daytime or night. How long had the journey here taken? For all she knew, she hadn’t eaten anything in days.
She rummaged in the pantry and finally decided to make toast with what smelled exactly like Nutella spread. The bread was delicious, and looked exactly like the homemade loaves her great-grandmother used to make. The toaster was similar to the ones she was familiar with, and when the bread popped up, she turned at the sound of male voices in the hallway.
Arlo and Cord came into the kitchen, both wearing identical looks of surprise and relief. She thought for a second or two that they were going to hug her, but then the moment was gone and she felt strangely empty because of it. She faced the counter again to hide her confusion from them.
“We didn’t know why they’d taken you,” said Arlo. “We were afraid.”
“So was I.” She turned toward them and then took a bite of the toast. “This is good. Can I make you some?”
“What did they want? Why did they take you from here?”
