by Maren Smith
When he finished reading, our boss looked up at us. “I got this message about a click ago from the announcer who was in charge of everything. Thankfully, he promised he wouldn’t press any charges in the galactic senate against the two of you. So, would you mind telling me what was worth stealing and risking an intergalactic incident and why I shouldn’t fire the two of you?”
Jayx was going to respond again, but I held my hand up to stop him. “Sir, I think it’s best we show you. Afterward, you can decide if you’d like to relieve us of our positions.”
“This better be good,” he muttered, as he nodded his head and followed me back onto the ship. I led him into the medical unit, and he stopped in his tracks when he saw Hannah. His mouth gaped slightly open as he looked from her to me. “This is the treasure the announcer was speaking of?”
“Yes, sir. This is why Jayx placed the call for additional support but didn’t specify exactly why we needed it. We were afraid someone would intercept the transmission and we’d be pursued on our journey home.”
“You’ve spoken to the girl? She confirmed she was indeed taken?”
“Yes. She awoke and confirmed she had been drugged and kidnapped. She was pretty insistent on the idea of going back to Elara, but I thought it too dangerous. Considering the crime of stealing another species, I was afraid if we brought her back to her home planet after we left, the same people who had taken her before would do so again to cover their asses.”
“You made the right call, Bryice. We need to get those who are responsible for this.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard, sir. We believe the same Latovians who stole our keneron and kibbalica are also responsible for the kidnapping. Their species isn’t the brightest. We could pretend we were willing to give her back and capture them at the trade point,” Jayx suggested.
“Hmmm,” our boss murmured as he rubbed his chin with his fingers. “We need to be careful about this. As obvious as it is they’re in the wrong, I don’t want the Latovians or anyone else spreading any lies about us to the senate.”
On one hand, I knew he was right. Kidnapping and selling a person was illegal, no matter how the Latovians tried to spin their story. However, knowing their kind, they would lie and say that Hannah wasn’t purchased at all and instead belonged to the Liborth and Jayx and I had stolen her. Considering, Hannah wouldn’t be able to defend our side of the story, there was a chance the senate might believe them and if they did, despite belonging to the police force on Kaibos, he and I would be punished and Hannah would be sent to go home with the Liborth.
On the other hand, I was beyond pissed off at what they had tried to pull and the truth was on our side. It would just take a couple of weeks for said truth to be heard, thanks to gravity. But when it was, there would be no doubt who the guilty party was. With that in mind, I made my decision.
“Let them. They know what they did is illegal and, as soon as Hannah adjusts to our gravity in two to four weeks, she can back us up,” I exclaimed. I understood why Omear didn’t want this to turn into our word against theirs at a hearing in front of the galactic senate, but at this point, my mind was made up.
“You feel very protective of this girl, don’t you, Bryice?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, since the moment I saw her I wanted to care for her.”
The commander smiled at me. “Sounds like you might’ve found your mate.”
It took every fiber in my being not to roll my eyes at him and remind him there were no such things as mates.
“That’s exactly what I said,” Jayx chimed in.
Before I could say anything, our boss said, “To be on the absolute safe side, here’s what we’re going to do. Bryice, until further notice, your only mission is to take care of this woman in one of the suites here. Neither of you are to leave your corridors until I release you.”
I loved the sound of that. The thought of anyone else caring for Hannah while she was here made me very angry.
“Jayx, you go home to Aelani and do the same; no leaving until you hear from me.”
Suddenly, I was confused. Hiding wasn’t the Kaibosian way, especially not from Latovians.
“I’m going to respond back to this,” our boss said, raising the piece of paper in his hand, “and report you two have gone rogue and we are searching for you as well. We’ll continue to claim this until the Elaraian is back to her normal self and can testify she was kidnapped. This way, no one can say we are lying or trying to cover our own butts.”
This was a perfect plan, except for one thing.
“Sir, what if the Latovians or the Liborth who bid on her come here to look for us?” I asked.
Omear grinned, a rarity for him. “Let them try. I’ll be more than happy to arrest them for trespassing on our planet, along with the other charges they’ll be facing later.”
“Sounds great to me,” Jayx exclaimed, a huge grin on his face. I could only imagine the fun he was going to have with his wife.
“Me, too.”
“Excellent! I’ll let Tamea know you’ll be occupying a suite with your guest until further notice and to station two guards outside the doorway at all times,” my boss said, clapping his hands together. He turned and left the ship.
“If you need anything at all, Bryice, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll always be there for you, buddy,” Jayx said, clasping my shoulder.
“Thank you. It brings me comfort knowing I have a friend as trustworthy as you to call upon if I do encounter trouble.”
“Always, man. As an added bonus if you do need help, it’ll be fun for me to see you fall in love with your mate.”
This time, I didn’t hold back and rolled my eyes at the mention of that silly concept. With everything settled, I scooped my little charge up in my arms. It finally dawned on me just how much smaller she was than me. She truly could pass for a child on our world. I just hoped she ended up enjoying her time here. I wanted to make this as positive an experience as possible for her.
Chapter Four
Hannah
I awoke in a new place for the second time in a row. This was getting a bit old. Being a creature of habit, it was messing with my head. Who would ever think I’d take waking up in my small bedroom for granted?
I attempted to sit up, but couldn’t. It felt like my entire body was paralyzed, but I knew that wasn’t the case. We must have arrived on Kaibos, I thought, as I blinked my eyes to try and get the sleepers out of them.
“Good morning, Hannah. How are you feeling?” Bryice’s smiling face appeared in my line of sight.
“Mmm,” was all I was able to get out at the moment. Lucky for him, I couldn’t talk or else I’d let him know very explicitly how much this wasn’t a good morning and wouldn’t be until I was in control of all of my bodily functions.
His smile fell. “I know you aren’t happy with me or your situation right now, but I promise you, I’ll do everything in my power to make it fun.”
Oh, how I wished I had control of my muscles, so I could roll my eyes at his statement. Wetting myself and having to be changed like an infant sounded absolutely terrible.
He sighed. “If there was something I could say to make you not hate this as much, I would. My boss agreed bringing you here was the smartest thing to do. The only thing I can say after some research is, it looks like someone your size adjusts faster than larger people. Therefore, you’ll probably lean more toward two weeks to get full control over yourself than four.”
One could only hope. With my luck, though, I wasn’t going to be average at all.
“There’s no use lying here all day sulking. Let’s get going.” Bryice picked me up. I realized I had been in a crib. You gotta be kidding me, I thought. These Kaibosians really liked to go all out with their humiliation.
Bryice put me down on something soft, yet firm. In all honesty, it supported my back muscles well, so I wasn’t opposed to being here. Well, until I realized what he was about to do.
“This isn’t going to be eas
y no matter when we do it for the first time, so might as well get it over with,” he said, as he pulled down my pants and undid the tabs of my diaper.
My face heated as it dawned on me that I had wet myself in the night. I had been so preoccupied with everything else, I hadn’t paid attention to the heat between my legs.
“There’s nothing to fret about, Hannah. Everyone goes to the bathroom.” He wiped my private area very well. The next moment, I felt something I assumed was talcum powder being poured onto the area, and then I was enclosed in another diaper.
“You’re all fresh now.” He pulled my pants back on.
To my further embarrassment, tears cascaded down my face. Why did this have to happen to me? Why did those stupid aliens have to choose me to kidnap? I wished so badly this was a nightmare I could wake up from.
“Oh sweetie, please don’t cry.” Bryice’s face was in front of mine again as he wiped the tears from my cheeks. “I’m not going to repeat everything we’ve already discussed except to say you have nothing to worry about here, Hannah. I’m going to take care of you, and I’ll enjoy doing it. Before breakfast, I’m going to show you the suite we’ll be staying in together so you can hopefully understand this isn’t a responsibility any Kaibosian takes lightly.”
He picked me up and held me like one would a newborn. My neck muscles didn’t have the strength to support my head, so I had to rely on his arm to keep me propped up, so I could see my surroundings.
We were in what appeared to be a decent-size studio apartment. On the right side of our new home was a small kitchen with a table seating four and a high chair. There also was a compact living room area with colorful objects laid out on the floor. My guess was those were toys, but I couldn’t be sure.
Bryice turned so I could see the left side of the place where the crib I had just been in stood, and a large bed was a few feet away from it.
He turned one last time, so I could see the changing table in front of me and, to my utter horror, a mirror. Gazing at myself, I couldn’t help but shudder. Next to Bryice, I was small. My face was stained with tear tracks, I was in pajamas with little characters on them, and, worst of all, you could see a definite bulkiness in my mid-section. If he’d given me a pacifier, I could’ve truly passed for a baby.
“You look beautiful to me, baby girl. Never doubt that.” He kissed my forehead. “I didn’t want to do this while you were asleep, but now that you’re up, I want to give you a bath. I think it’ll help you feel better.”
Without waiting for a response, and, let’s face it, I couldn’t give one, he turned so we were facing the wall opposite the changing table. There were two doors. One was closed, the other open, revealing a normal bathroom, except for the super-sized tub. Six humans could’ve probably fit in there, but I guess they needed a larger size of everything than us.
“For now, we’re going to have to use this,” he muttered, as he picked up a large object in one hand, while he supported me in his other arm. It truly was amazing how baby-like this whole situation was.
He put the item in the bathtub, and I realized it was a cradle a parent would use while giving their little ones a wash, so they wouldn’t move around and get hurt.
Going back into the bedroom, he undressed me, carried me back into the bathroom, and placed me in the bath. He filled the tub deeper than would be normal to give a baby, but I was grateful. The warm water helped relax my tight muscles.
Once the water reached just past my breasts, he stopped the flow. Carefully, he turned my head, so I could see him.
“This is a very important part in getting your body use to the gravity here. Do you want to know why?” Not waiting for me to respond, he dipped his hand in the water and tickled one of my feet.
To my shock, I was able to jerk it away. What the heck?
I gazed back at him to see him smiling. “I know this is the same on your planet as it is here. Water lessens the force of gravity, so folks can move much easier in the water. It also strengthens your muscles and gets them used to the increased gravity quicker.”
With all my might, I tried to move my other foot, and it jerked like the right had. If I could’ve smiled, I would have. Who knew how absolutely exciting it would feel to do something I took for granted every day on Earth?
“Try moving one of your arms,” Bryice suggested.
I attempted to do as he asked but didn’t get the results I was hoping for. My fingers and hand moved slightly, but no more. Shit. So much for that.
“Don’t beat yourself up, baby girl. This is your first time trying, and your shoulder being out of the water makes doing this more difficult. You’ll get there.”
He was right, and I wanted to thank him. I was going to have to remind myself as much as I wanted everything to go back to normal in a matter of minutes, it would take weeks. I should at least be grateful to receive some sort of therapy.
“Let’s focus on your legs today. We have to start somewhere, right?” he said, tickling my side and causing me to squirm.
He alternated between tickling me – making me involuntarily move – and praising me for my attempts at moving my legs myself.
This went on for a bit until he said, “All right, practice time is over. The rest of you needs to be cleaned now.”
“Mmmmm,” I moaned, hoping he understood it meant I didn’t want to stop.
“I know, little one. If it were up to you, you’d stay in this bath until the water went cold trying to regain your muscle control, but as your daddy, I can’t let you. You need to be washed up, fed, and my guess is you’ll be ready for a nap by the time we’re done.”
I hated to admit it, but he wasn’t wrong. I’d gladly stay in water indefinitely while on Kaibos. However, I was a bit hungry, and, as crazy as it sounded, I was getting sleepy. All this exercise really took a toll on me.
He chuckled. “The sides of your lips moved ever so slightly. Even if you won’t admit it, I know you agree with me.”
After everything he had done for me so far, I thought it only fair to give him something. “Mhmmm,” was the best thing I could offer.
His eyes lit up as he smiled at me. “Thank you, Hannah.” He didn’t say anymore for the rest of bath time, which I was okay with. Being bathed by another person was a much more intimate act than I’d realized. He scrubbed every inch of me, taking extra care to be gentle when he had to get the grime from my kidnapping off my face.
When he cleaned between my legs, I closed my eyes and pretended I was anywhere, but where I was now. Thankfully, he made fast work of the area and was draining the tub before I knew it.
“Out you go.” He scooped me up and wrapped me in a super-soft-and-warm towel. It helped the chill I had gotten.
He carried me back to the changing table and laid me down. To distract myself from what he was putting between my legs, I tried to imagine what I’d be doing if I was back on Earth right now.
Same as with cleaning my private area, he made fast work of diapering me, and I was in what felt like a cotton top and pair of pants in no time.
“All clean and changed. I’m going to get you something to eat. I’ll be right back,” he said and left my line of sight.
I had no clue what he was going to try and feed me. Not being able to control my muscles, and thus chew, drastically limited the choices.
To my further embarrassment, he returned holding a bottle. Wonderful, this just keeps getting better and better.
“Don’t hate something until you give it a try, missy.” His tone left no room for compromise.
How could he have known I was being sarcastic in my head? He carried me over to the rocking chair, settled me in his lap, and placed the nipple of the bottle between my lips.
Something sweet squirted into my mouth, and I instinctively began to suck. The drink wasn’t bad. In fact, it was pretty sweet and a lot like a chocolate shake, which I loved.
My throat muscles seemed to be working well enough. A couple times I drooled a bit, but Bryice cleane
d it up with his thumb.
“I’m going to have to remember to grab a bib before your next meal,” he said. I felt my cheeks flush as I imagined having a bib wrapped around my neck. I would officially be reverted back to a baby.
“On second thought, maybe I’ll just hold a napkin. You’re not too terribly messy,” he revised.
As crazy as it sounded, I was grateful for his consideration. He knew precisely how I felt about all of this and wasn’t laughing at me or trying to further my humiliation but genuinely trying to make the best out of a tough situation for me. I appreciated that more than he’d likely ever know. Maybe he wasn’t as terrible a person as I originally thought.
Getting to feed Hannah was my current favorite thing to do. Granted, this was my first time, so who knew if I would continue to love it, but, as of right now, I did. She was adorable as she sucked on her bottle.
A little bit of drink dribbled out of the corner of her mouth, and I wiped it with my free hand. When I had suggested her wearing a bib, the expression she gave me with her eyes let me know how much she’d hate that.
Not wanting to further anger her, and because it wasn’t something I thought she truly needed, I quickly stated a napkin would suffice. That seemed to please her, which made me happy and hopeful she was coming around to see I had only her best interests at heart.
She was starting to have difficulty keeping her eyes open, which made sense. Her body was put under a lot of stress during this time, and we had spent more time doing exercises in the water than I had planned.
I was sure she was tired right now, even though she had just woken up about two clicks ago. For the time being, she would probably have to take a minimum of two naps a day, which was fine by me. It would give me time to discretely research more about Elaraians and keep tabs on the investigation.
