Scerior

by Jilly Bowling

  Going back to Acorus, Jo told him that they needed to take a lot of antibiotics when they went for the birth control pills. When he asked why, she told him that she thought the ill girl had what humans called influenza. With antibiotics even the ill girl would get better. Without them most of the girls would be ill as they were probably infected already. She also told him that the Sceriae who had handled the girls must wash their armour thoroughly while still wearing it, and not go near the girls until the infection had gone completely.

  Acorus was very concerned but reassured by Jo that the girls would be alright he set about organising immediate raids on pharmacies by the Escorii. When Jo asked if the Escorii were in danger they said a definite no, they were different life forms to humans and the Sceriae. It was arranged for the sick girl, who Acorus didn’t want to risk keeping, and the coloured girl to be dropped in front of a British hospital where Jo assured him they would be cared for.

  Jo suggested that she go to that hospital with Ghera and Octpa, because they would have a large pharmacy and she would know what pills to get.

  Acorus immediately said “No, that is too big a risk for you in your condition”.

  “What better cover could there be than a pregnant woman in a hospital?” Jo argued.

  He was adamant that she couldn’t go and she said that she could. He asked what if she were caught, she might be killed and she laughed at the thought of a pregnant woman being killed in England. While they were arguing the girls had been stripped of their dirty clothes and sprayed with a natural bug killer, in case of lice or fleas, then taken to their individual cubicles. The two to be returned to Earth were placed in boxes and put on a fighter ship.

  As Jo was arguing with Acorus, Belain arrived to see what was happening. Being told why they were arguing he, surprisingly, agreed with Jo. He even offered to go with her. At that Osega told them that she would be safer with Ghera and Octpa as they were so used to Earth. Jo agreed with him and eventually Acorus was worn down. Turning to Jo he said “Be warned, if you are caught or hurt, I will wipe out your planet to rescue you”.

  “Don’t worry, I will be fine. The only problem is clothes. What can I wear?” Jo wondered.

  “I have many Earth clothes on my ship” Osega said “I will send for some” and with that he rushed off to give the order.

  Jo went to her quarters to take her armour off with Tchu’s help. As she was stepping out of it, Acorus entered saying to Tchu, “Please leave us for a while”.

  When Tchu had gone he turned to Jo and said “I am angry with you, you know that I don’t want you to do this, yet you are doing it anyway. Why don’t you obey me? Everybody else does. I may change you for a more amenable female!”

  Standing in front of him completely naked, she could actually feel his anger, but as she looked into his eyes she also felt his desire for her. Lowering her eyes, she moved closer to him, “I’m not doing it to anger you. It is just that I’m the only one who knows what is needed, and if you don’t get them, you will have no choice but to quarantine the ship, or send these girls back to Earth. What a waste when I can walk on Earth easily, easier even than Ghera and Octpa. I will just be a human among humans. What danger is there in that?”

  Putting his hands gently on her stomach he held her, standing deep in thought. Then nodding his head he said “You are right. But I tell you one thing, when you have had this child; I am going to beat you. Do you understand?”

  Fluttering her eyelashes and licking her lips she murmured “I understand, Lord”.

  Breathing deeply and fighting to control his lust, he was grateful to hear a knock on the door. When he called “Come in” Jo squealed and dashed into the bathroom, hearing his deep chuckle behind her.

  Osega entered with an arm full of clothes, and with Tchu close behind him. He handed the clothes to Tchu who took them into Jo who was grateful to find that they were all well laundered. Picking out a pair of black leggings and a cotton mini dress Jo was pleased to find that they covered her bump comfortably. Tchu plaited her hair into one thick braid and looking in the mirror she was satisfied at how she looked. She decided to wear a pair of her own shoes, which looked fine with her outfit.

  Going back into the bedroom she found Acorus and Osega deep in conversation, talking Sceria. When they saw her they stopped, and Osega said gallantly “Lady, you are still beautiful, even in those rags”.

  Jo laughed at his description of clothes she had once worn happily. Scowling at Osega’s flattery Acorus asked “Are you comfortable dressed like that?”

  “Yes, perfectly thank you. Don’t be such a snob” she answered smartly.

  “Snob?”

  “It means thinking you are better than others” Jo explained.

  Looking at Osega for help Acorus said “But we are” and then ducked as Jo slapped him “Good job you missed”, he laughed “Or you would have hurt your hand on my armour!”

  Tutting at him she said “Right, are we ready to go?”

  Acorus said that he would escort her back to the hangar deck, and passing her her helmet told her to take it as it would help when they entered Earth’s atmosphere. Realising that the plait would not fit under her helmet, she stood while Tchu undid it and arranged her hair so that it would. Taking her helmet Jo headed for the hangar deck, where she found Ghera and Octpa waiting for her, dressed in jeans, tee shirt and denim jacket.

  Acorus spoke to the captain of the fighter ship, then turning to Jo, Ghera and Octpa told them to be very careful. Looking sternly at Ghera and Octpa he told them that they were responsible for Jo’s safety. He also asked if they were armed and they nodded, saying that they had stun guns. Tackus, the fighter ship’s captain, was impatient to go before it got light on Earth so they quickly boarded his ship. Jo sat down and fastened her harness, and within seconds they had left the star ship. They were travelling so fast everything was a blur. Tackus was flying the ship, with his navigator on his right and his armourer on his left.

  Jo sat well behind them with Ghera and Octpa on either side. Realising that she was gripping her seat tightly, she breathed deeply, trying to relax. Turning to Ghera she asked “Where are the girl’s boxes?”

  “Underneath us”, he replied “They are already in position to be transported down”

  “How will that be done?”

  “It is the same ray that is used on Scerior instead of Earth’s elevators. Also it is used on star ships. A ray of pure power enables us to go up or down. It means that the ship doesn’t have to land, the only time it would be in danger from Earth’s forces”.

  “Tell me, Ghera, what do you think of Earth?”

  He hesitated, picking his words carefully “That is a difficult question. Your world is unbelievably complex, so many different races, a lot of them fighting each other, while countries that are more stable seem to be unable to stop them. And even the stable countries have such a wide diversity of rich and poor. The decent people we have met have been very nice, helpful to us, who are strangers. But the bad ones are as bad as the Xenorii. Treating weaker people with scorn and violence. Your authorities should exterminate them”.

  Jo held back her giggle at the ‘exterminate them’ thinking of the Daleks in Dr Who. How stupid humans idea of aliens was. Then Octpa said “We must put our helmets on, close your face mask Lady Jo-Anna”.

  “Oh my god, we must be entering Earth’s atmosphere, where things burn up!”

  Snapping her face mask into position she gripped her seat even harder. She could feel her heart pounding. Tackus turned his head and told her not to worry as he had done this hundreds of times. Jo saw metal plates cover the windows and nothing could be seen outside. The smooth fast flight of the ship changed slightly to a series of little bumps which gradually became harder. Jo had closed her eyes, her mouth felt dry, and she knew that she was shaking. Octpa put his hand on hers and squeezed gent
ly. Jo was so surprised that her eyes flew open and she turned her head towards him.

  “It’s alright Lady, this is the worst it gets” he said

  Breathing deeply Jo said “Thank you Octpa. But you know on Earth you must call me Jo, or people will think it’s strange”.

  “You’re right, on Earth I’m Peter and Ghera is George”.

  Suddenly the smooth flight of the ship returned and the metal plates lifted from the windows. They were flying through bright cloud and below Jo could see the outline of mountains and rivers.

  “We are high over South Africa. Heading for the Atlantic ocean where we will head north. It will still be dark the more north we go” Tackus told her.

  Now they were in dark cloud and only an occasional light could be seen below, then nothing. Over the horizon Jo could see the moon, lit by the light of the sun. The ship slowed down and they could see the lights of Britain below.

  “Which hospital have you chosen to visit Ghera?” Jo asked.

  “We thought maybe one in a quieter part of the country, Devon maybe. There is one on its north coast which is not in a large city. Not guarded either. We will send the girls down first to the main door. Then we will drop at a side door near the pharmacy”.

  “Right, can I take my helmet off now? I need to do something with my hair” Jo told him.

  When he said that she could, she quickly pulled her helmet off and then managed to plait her hair, not as neatly as Tchu would, but more messily human. The ship stopped and hovered above the dark clouds. The navigator stood up and pulled a lever and the floor between him and Jo opened wide. The boxes with the girls in them were there. Ghera and Octpa jumped down next to them, opened a box and took the dark skinned girl out. Then they made the box collapse in on itself and slid it up to the navigator. Then they did the same with the next box, gently laying the ill girl next to the first one. Jo could see that there was quite a lot of room below where she was sitting. To one side a hatch opened and a beam of light, like the ‘elevators’ on Scerior, shot down to earth. Ghera and Octpa placed the girls in the middle of the ‘elevator’ and stepped back. Tackus said ‘delivering ‘in Sceria and the girls flew down to Earth, They were placed in front of the main doors and the beam of light switched off. The hatch closed and Ghera and Octpa climbed up next to Jo. Tackus called to Jo to go to him and indicated a tube to look through.

  Gazing down even through the dark cloud Jo could closely see the girls. For a minute they were alone on the ground, then the doors opened and people in uniform rushed out. They clustered round the girls and then more people came out pushing trolleys. The girls were gently picked up and placed on the trolleys, then they were rushed inside.

  A screen lit up on the control panel and Acorus’s face appeared. Neatly done Tackus” he said “Now treat my lady gently”.

  “Yes sir” Tackus replied.

  “There is no suspicious activity near you. We can assume that you were unobserved. So deliver them immediately”.

  Tackus replied “Yes sir” and moved the ship slightly then he turned to Jo and told her that she was good to go!

  Ghera and Octpa helped her down into the hold and the beam came on, they stepped into it and before Jo could blink she was standing on Earth again. The beam immediately switched off. They were standing outside the A and E department, Jo told Ghera that the girls had probably been brought to A and E, so the police would turn up soon, they must get through to the main building as the sign says that the pharmacy is there. With hindsight they should have dropped the girls here and themselves at the main door.

  They walked round to the main door with Jo telling Ghera and Octpa not to kill anyone, if they were seen. Luckily nobody was about, as it was too early for the night shift to finish, and the day shift to start, so all was quiet. They walked calmly into the main entrance and Jo was pleased to see the pharmacy on her left, halfway down the main hall. A porter was sitting behind the desk on the right, reading a book and didn’t hear them. Nodding at Ghera, Jo clutched her stomach and shouted “Please help me, my baby, there’s something wrong”.

  The porter came out from his desk to help and Ghera touched him with the stun gun. Octpa caught him before he fell and carried him back behind his desk, tucking him away out of sight. They quickly walked to the pharmacy, of course the door was locked and Jo was sure that there would be an alarm. Octpa took a tool out of his body belt and aimed it all round the space they could see behind the counter. Octpa told her that any alarm was burnt out and Ghera opened the door with a tool from his belt. As the door swung open they hurried inside.

  Jo started to search the shelves, easily finding antibiotics, both in tablet and intravenous form. Then she searched for the birth control pills, to her surprise she found the ones that had been prescribed for her before she slept with Steve. Ghera and Octpa loaded the medication into large haversacks, explaining to Jo that they were what they had used for their clothes when visiting Earth.

  “Good thinking” Jo said, and decided that they could carry more so added more birth control pills and some different antibiotics. When the haversacks were full they left the pharmacy locking the door behind them. Then they walked calmly out of the main door, Ghera told the ship that they were ready and within seconds they were back on the ship. Before they moved off Jo asked if it was possible to see what was happening to the girls so Tackus let her look down a tube that could see through solid objects. It was a bit fuzzy but Jo could just make out the girls, in a cubicle each with doctors and nurses working on them. Tackus told her that they would wake up very soon, Pleased that the girls would be looked after Jo sat in her seat and told Tackus to take them back to the star ship.

  All was hustle and bustle when they docked in the hangar. More girls were being taken off other fighter ships. These were the ones who had been picked up in ones and two’s. They were young, fair haired and well dressed. Even though they were clean, Jo could still smell an unpleasant smell.

  “How embarrassing to think that I smelled like that!” she thought.

  Their clothes were being taken away by the Escorii and Jo told them not to throw them away as they might come in useful to her. She was told that Acorus was on the flight deck so she asked Ghera and Octpa to accompany her there with their haversacks. When they got to the flight deck, Acorus was speaking to some of the fighter ships captains who were returning from Earth with girls aboard. As Jo walked in he said “It has been an excellent night. In all we have forty eight girls. None of the ones just arrived are sick and all are fertile. The ships coming in have eleven girls between them; let’s hope they pass the health tests too”

  “We’ve had a good night too. I’ve got enough antibiotics to deal with an epidemic and enough birth control pills to last for years”.

  Frowning at the thought of birth control Acorus said “You can return to our quarters and get out of those rags. Once all the females are on board and in their quarters, I can join you”.

  “It must be dawn on Earth by now. They will have discovered the theft by now and the girls will be being missed. I’d like to see what is happening, before I have breakfast” Jo said ignoring his frown.

  “Here, look down that viewfinder over here” he said, angry that she hadn’t immediately obeyed him.

  As Jo put her eyes to the viewfinder she marvelled at how clearly she could see Earth “How can I see Earth if we are behind the moon?”

  “We moved away from the moon and are a bit closer to Earth. If anyone spots us it will just be a mystery to them. For your scientists to talk about for years. I wanted to watch what you were doing” Acorus explained, trying to appear uncaring.

  She looked at him but he was avoiding her gaze and she thought “He was really worried about me”.

  Returning her gaze back to Earth she could see police cars all round the hospital. As she moved the tube slightly she could see that all
through Devon, Cornwall and Somerset police cars were gathering at different spots. The girls had been missed. Jo felt so sorry for their families she almost cried. Squaring her shoulders she stood back and said “Well that’s that. I’m going to have a shower, a massage and then breakfast. Shall I order food for you, Acorus?”

  Suddenly realising how sad she looked he said “Yes please, I’ll join you shortly”.

  Joined by Tchu and Tjai as she walked to her quarters she asked Tchu to see about food and asked Tjai to accompany her as she badly needed a massage.

  Entering her bedroom, she took off her human clothes and dropped them on the floor. She luxuriated in her shower, feeling as if she had been very dirty. When she was lying on the massage table with Tjai’s magic fingers taking away all her stress and tiredness she had to admit that life on Scerior had changed her. Although she still felt sad for the abducted girl’s families, she didn’t feel as bad about the abducted girls as she had thought she would. She would just make sure that they had a happy life on Scerior.

  As for the girls rescued from the white slave trade, their lives had just taken an amazing turn for the better. If only all the girls could come from such an awful life on Earth. Dozing slightly as Tjai carried on massaging her breasts and stomach she didn’t hear Acorus enter. It was only Tjai’s tutting at him gazing at her body, that woke her. Opening her eyes she shook her head at him saying “You are incorrigible”.

  Laughing at her he went into the shower, asking Tjai to unlock his armour. This she did very quickly and before he could step out of it she hurried out of the bathroom. Handing Jo a kaftan she left to help Tchu fetch the food. Sitting on the bed brushing her hair Jo felt so clean and invigorated she was humming the Beatles song ‘Hard day’s night ‘to herself when Acorus came into the room. He’d wrapped a towel around his hips but his erection was making it fight a losing battle.