“This is the most beautiful sight I have every beheld,” said Antaska in a telepathic voice filled with wonder. “If only Marroo were here to see this with me!” she said and sighed.
“What’s that? What did you say?” Antaska heard Nestgorm shout telepathically from the front of the truck.
“I just said the desert is beautiful,” Antaska shouted back at him telepathically.
She knew that Nestgorm would be disturbed by her continuing attachment to Marroo, and she didn’t want to upset him. That would displease Marroo.
“That’s fortunate for both of us,” Antaska heard Nestgorm say, although he spoke in a much lower voice. “I thought I heard you say something about Marroo. If you can’t detach from him, I’ll have no choice but to use a time-consuming and painful procedure on you. I’d lose weeks of productivity just when I need more work done. But a full mental reprogramming is sometimes the only way to correct faulty or slipping hypnotic enslavement. We’ll have to just wait and see this time,” he said and then remained silent for the rest of the trip.
Antaska went back to staring at the alien world around her. She was still in the hypnotically induced state of love for Marroo and Nestgorm, but the two Woogah men were no longer the main focus of her mind. She gazed at the sky, land, and plant life of the cold Woogah desert, and her strong feelings of love seemed to transfer to the starkly beautiful planet.
She breathed deep and inhaled the pleasing scents of the planet’s fresh air. Fresh unusual florals mixed with minty spices in a tantalizing aroma.
“I love this desert!” Antaska exclaimed again aloud.
And then…what was that? A feeling of love reached out to her from somewhere. It was not from Marroo or Nestgorm but from something somewhere out in her surroundings. A small but strong feeling of warm furry fuzziness. Then, ever so slightly, the hypnotic trance weakened, and clarity peaked out just at the bottom edges of her mental fog.
I know I felt something! Or did I? Antaska wondered.
Feeling confused and less comfortable, she avoided the question by curling up in the hard truck bed and falling asleep.
Chapter 19
A few hours later, Marroo tossed about in a deeply cushioned, red satin chair in his opulent residence. He was supposed to be planning his next hunting trip to Earth. Annoyingly, he wasn’t able to focus on the necessary details because his mind kept returning to thoughts of Antaska.
“Curses upon that Earth female!” he said out loud with vehemence. “It seems that I won’t be satisfied until I have experienced the pleasures of an Earth woman. That one is no longer available to me, but I can find another similar female to slake my thirst on this trip. I’ll combine business with pleasure just this one time. Who will know? No one but me. Haha!”
His dark mood lifted.
Now Marroo was able to focus on his plan for obtaining Earth females. They were plentiful on Earth, but the planet was heavily protected by the Verdantes. This wouldn’t really be as easy as he had let Nestgorm believe.
Marroo thought about his options. OK. The Verdantes don’t have the technology to detect my alien stealth space ship, so I can enter Earth’s atmosphere without being blasted into the great nothingness, but then what? I’ll need to get out of the ship in order to hypnotize and abduct their females. Do the Verdantes have the technology to know when an alien is on Earth. How close are they watching that planet? Hmm.
He got up and paced around his room, pausing in front of the mirror to check the skin around his eyes. What he saw pleased him, and he smiled. Marroo would need to be in top form on this trip, and the doctor had done good work in removing those unsightly lines.
He went back to working out the logistics of his plan. ‘What do I know about the Verdantes? They protect Earth and keep their own females out of deep space, but they allow their Earth pet females to travel to where Woogah hunters might be. The Verdantes always believed their Earth pets were safe because they weren’t telepathic. Will their guard be up now that I’ve abducted this one?’
But wait! Marroo had a sudden disturbing thought. How do I know that the other Earth females are telepathic like this one. What if she’s just a fluke, the only one? This would all be a waste of time.
Marroo paced around his room some more.
Should I give up this crazy idea and head out to deep unchartered space like everyone else? he wondered.
He felt his enthusiasm draining as he considered that alternative.
“No! I’m going to Earth!” he spoke out telepathically. “If one Earth female has some minor telepathic abilities, there must be others who will also be receptive to my hypnotic lure. But I’ll have to move fast. The Verdantes might decide to increase surveillance of their Earth humans.”
And what if my plan fails? he thought, always preparing for the worst-case scenario when planning a mission. Well, even if humanoid females aren’t obtainable from Earth, they’re not the only humanoid females in the galaxy. Unfortunately, so many species belonging to the universal organization constantly search the far reaches of the space for new sentient beings and then warn them about the Woogahs. But they haven’t found them all! There are still many species waiting to be found—and waiting for me to grab their females.
Marroo chuckled out loud.
Yes, his thoughts continued. Planets with non-telepathic humanoids, or even slightly telepathic humanoids, don’t have space travel and are the most vulnerable. They’re off limits by the universal law that forbids space-faring telepaths from approaching such beings, as it would interfere with the natural course of their evolution to telepathy. But who cares about the technicalities of universal law? Not me!
He plunked down on the edge of his bed and started pulling on his space boots.
If they’re susceptible to my hypnotic charm, that’s proof enough of telepathic ability, he reasoned. My ship was built for speed and distance. I can reach Earth fast, take a female or two, and be on my way back to the Woogah planet in less time than the ships of most species would take to travel half as far. Even if they’re not telepathic, I could talk one into going with me using my manly charms. I’m sure that wouldn’t be difficult. Or maybe I could just fly past, grab one, and pull her into my ship. If there were any complaints from the universal organization, I’d say she went along willingly. My word against hers. Who’s to say who’s lying? Everyone knows the judges on Central Planet will take a thousand years to make that kind of decision.
Marroo laughed loud and long, then packed his things, ran to his flyer, and set his course for Earth.
Chapter 20
The small blue sun had reached the top of the Woogah sky when the followers in the Jalapeno saw Nestgorm’s truck arrive at his work plant. San dunes glowed their most golden in the pale blueness that covered the land at this dim but brightest time of the day.
The truck stopped just outside the invisible force field that displayed as color on one of the Jalapeno’s view screens. The color disappeared, and the truck drove in. Then the color was back showing on the screen.
“Ha! Low-grade technology,” said Lieutenant Sosha.
Nestgorm parked in front of the work plant, and Lieutenant Dweeemm parked the stealth ship in hover mode a few feet away from the plant’s security field.
“The ship’s instruments tell me that this field will allow small non-humanoid animals and flying creatures to enter, but any humanoids or large animals passing through will trigger an alarm,” said Lieutenant Sosha, tapping six green fingernails against her computer console.
“I’m ready to go in,” insisted Potat.
She flew out of M. Hoyvil’s pocket and hovered in the air next to the door of the bridge. A flurry of flying paws slapped against the door.
“Let me out! Let me out!” Potat shouted mentally.
She had waited and watched, fuming helplessly when Antaska was in the bed next to the vile kidnapper Marroo. But there was no way to get into his residence, and Potat had accepted that. Luckily for him, nothing had
happened. A cat’s revenge could be terrible. Now Antaska was being moved to a place that was easily accessible by a small cat. Potat’s patience was gone, and she didn’t want to wait another second to rescue her pet.
“No, not yet,” said M. Hoyvil, now showing caution he hadn’t had at Marroo’s place. “It’s dangerous for you to just run in there before we observe the setup first and make a plan.”
“Meow,” said Potat, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. But she stopped pawing at the door to listen.
“That’s right,” said Lieutenant XoXo to Potat. “And it could be dangerous if the plant owner notices you. I’ve been checking, and I’ve seen no cats or felines on this planet. If Nestgorm spots you as an alien, our whole mission will be compromised. But remember, we can give you a genetic disguise if you’re willing. I know you didn’t like the idea before.”
On the ship’s view screens, Potat and the crew of the Jalapeno watched Nestgorm order Antaska out of the truck. She followed him into a huge concrete building, at least ten stories high and more than a mile square. To the side of the building was a squat but vast one-story structure built of thin plasti-metal that looked like a barracks.
Potat hissed and spat.
Then she accepted the inevitable. “What you suggest is vile and repellant, and cats hate needles, in case you didn’t know, but I’ll do it for my pet.”
“Great!” said XoXo. “We’ll get started tonight when it’s darker out there.
Chapter 21
By the time Antaska entered the work plant with Nestgorm, her programmed love for him had diminished to a mild affection. Her love for Marroo was still strong, and she believed his promise that they would soon be together again.
Nestgorm stopped in a room near the entrance.
‘Stand there,” he ordered Antaska. She stood and waited while he grabbed various items off shelves that lined the room’s walls.
Antaska watched Nestgorm. She couldn’t help noticing how inferior he was to Marroo in terms of overall handsomeness. Nestgorm was skeletal and somewhat wrinkly with thinning, wispy gray-blue hair, but Marroo was muscular with smooth, dark blue skin and a full head of straight, thick midnight blue hair.
Hmm, thought Antaska. I know Marroo wants me to love Nestgorm, but I don’t think I’m really in love with him. Still, I must please Marroo, and I don’t want to hurt Nestgorm’s feelings. I’ll have to pretend that I’m still in love with Nestgorm. Then everyone will be happy, and Marroo will come get me.
In her muddled mental state, Antaska only knew that Marroo wanted her to be in love with Nestgorm. She didn’t know why, and she didn’t notice the strangeness of that desire on his part.
Antaska looked inside the building. A long, wide aisle stretched for almost a mile between towering shelves packed with boxes and other containers. On both sides of the center aisle, more tall shelves separated by aisles stretched in all directions. A colorful blur of female humanoids of various species dashed through the halls, climbing up and down to reach shelves, at amazing speeds.
Nestgorm picked up a large backpack from one of the shelves.
“Now it’s time for your employee orientation,” he said to Antaska telepathically. “I’ve pre-recorded most of your instructions.”
“Oh?” said Antaska.
“Yes,” said Nestgorm. “Over many thousands of years, I tired of repeating the same tedious instructions and phrases to my slaves. An electronics specialist made my life easier by creating this audio device that plays my most repeated verbalizations with just the touch of a button.”
“Oh,” said Antaska.
“Humph!” said Nestgorm. “I don’t know why I’m even explaining this to you. You’re just a slave. I must be getting old. Humph!” said Nestgorm.
He strapped the backpack onto Antaska and placed the attached earphones on her head. Then he pressed another button on the thick utility belt he wore around his waist.
Antaska heard his voice speaking through the earphones. “You will press the button on the left strap of your backpack and follow the directions you hear. Follow each instruction, then go on to the next. I will notify you when your work day is done. I will expect nothing less than your perfect and speedy performance of each of the tasks assigned. You will call me ‘Master.’ I will call you ‘slave.’”
“You will be working in my raw mold supplies warehouse, where beginning slaves usually get started,” Nestgorm’s voice continued. “This work is easiest to learn but physically harder than some of the other work done in this plant. If you are an industrious and loyal worker, you may get promoted to a higher status job some day, so work hard! For thousand of years, my factory has produced and delivered high-quality mold-based foods and products to the Woogah citizens and customers all over the universe. I have developed the universe’s best food and household products, all made from the rich variety of molds farmed in the vast caves of Woogah planet. Over many years, my business has earned a sterling reputation for quality and timely delivery. So take pride in your work! Love your work!”
“What about our love?” asked Antaska somehow knowing this was the expected response but really only concerned with her love for Marroo.
Nestgorm pressed another button. “You will have my love only if you work hard and make no mistakes in your work,” said his voice in Antaska’s earphones. “If you love me, and you want my love returned, you must prove it by pouring all your heart and soul into your hardest work for me. Each day, you must work until you have not one drop of energy left. Is that clear?”
“Yes, that is clear,” Antaska repeated.
“Good,” said Nestgorm mentally. “For now, as a symbol of our deep love, I have a gift for you.”
He handed her a pair of wrist-length dark gray-blue gloves.
“These gloves are yours to keep to remind you always of your deep love for me and your need to earn my love by working your hardest in my plant every day for the rest of your life. You will wear these gloves at all times and remove them only for meals, bathroom breaks and showers, and when you sleep.”
Antaska took the stretchy gloves and pulled them on, then lifted her hands to look at them.
“Fascinating!” said Antaska, staring at the gloves.
A pattern of large but delicate-textured swirls resembling ocean waves intertwined with each other and mixed with smaller swirls. The gloves were light and supple, and they emitted an inner glow.
Antaska noticed how the dark blue-gray color set off the color of her skin. And she noticed for the first time that her skin color had changed. Her once light tan skin now had darker glowing brown tones with blue, green, and gold highlights.
Thoughts of Marroo interrupted Antaska’s overwhelming joy in the gloves. Nestgorm had just said that she would always be with here working for him. How could that be possible when Marroo promised they would be together again?
That can’t be right, she told herself in an attempt to push away the painful truth.
Marroo loves me and will come to take me away from this place soon. If only he could see me in these beautiful gloves! she thought wistfully.
As Antaska admired the unusual gloves, a fleeting vision entered her mind. She saw two ancient Earth humans wearing gloves similar to these but made of metal. They wore metal helmets and fought each other with swords in one hand and metal shields in the other.
Antaska gasped in surprise, and in a flash, the vision was gone. This scene from a historical Earth movie she had seen long ago was her first memory since being hypnotically mind-washed, but she didn’t know it was a memory.
“How do you like your gift?” asked Nestgorm with the push of a button.
“These gloves are amazing!” said Antaska.
“Yes, aren’t they?” Nestgorm agreed.
“They’re incredible!” she gushed.
A large tear slid down her face in the emotional confusion caused by the happiness of receiving the gloves combined with the nagging worry over Nestgorm’s possible plans for her.
<
br /> “Yes, they are,” Nestgorm answered her mentally. “I’m relieved to see your enthusiastic reaction. It’s exactly what I was expect from my slaves when they receive a gift from me.”
“Haha!” Nestgorm laughed out loud at the reaction of his new slave on receiving her work gloves. He was relieved to see that she passed his test and wouldn’t need an extra dose of hypnotism or more invasive mental reprogramming. Only a woman madly in love would accept the gift of ugly gloves with such pleasure and gratitude. He often imagined the amusing reaction he would receive if he gifted such gloves to a Woogah woman. There would be scorn or tears at the very least, possibly a slap in the face, although Woogah women were rarely moved to violence against men, well knowing their place as the subservient gender in this society.
“Very good. Now it’s time for your new employee orientation,” said Nestgorm. “Stand there, push the button on your audio device, listen to your indoctrination instructions, and then get to work.”
“Yes, Master,” answered Antaska, naming him as instructed.
Assured that his newest slave was on the job, he headed to his office to check for any email that might need his attention.
Sitting on an old, battered chair in a bare, utilitarian office, Nestgorm opened his email on an aged computer.
Oh bother! Another email from the Central Planet Humanoid Rights Society politely requesting that he switch to mechanical workers. Nestgorm opened the file that was his pre-written answer to this ongoing request and pasted it into his reply to the email.
“Honored humanoids,” his reply began in equal formal politeness. “Although some machinery is necessary to run my plant, as you know, the scientific advancements of the Woogah are mainly in the area of genetic manipulation of life forms. On this planet, manufacturers have found that modified humanoids and other life forms are superior to any mechanical creations. And the use of humanoids is better for our planet’s natural environment. When inanimate machines wear out and break down, they leave behind waste materials that need to be disposed of and are often expensive to replace. When parts of organic workers and work products break, they are easily and inexpensively repaired or replaced with stem cell biotechnology. They don’t require expensive and polluting fuels such as gasoline or potentially dangerous nuclear energy to operate effectively, only they run on water and the cheapest of readily available mold-based foods. Once they reach the end of their usable service years, their lives are compassionately terminated by painless methods, and their organic bodies are used as mulch material for the mold farms. Therefore, I must decline your kind request.”
hypnoSnatch (Xeno Relations Book 2) Page 14
