They had moved further and further away from the better side of town and this area was looking considerably run-down. Their guards directed them into a compound where there were several huts. The women were pushed into one of the huts and the door was bolted behind them. It was dimly lit inside, but light enough for them to realise that they were not alone. Four more women and a young girl, that Keela estimated to be about ten years old, were also in this small room. The women moved together a little to give the new arrivals space. One woman was clearly older than the others. She was already grey and had a few wrinkles, but her figure was slim and muscular, and she appeared to be anything but fragile. She indicated to Keela and the others to sit down.
Keela, Charly and Amber sat down whilst Lory remained standing, her arms folded. Keela could feel the girl looking at her and turned towards her. The girl’s eyes were of an unusually intense turquoise colour. She had put her black hair into six thick plaits and she was wearing a turquoise-coloured tunic over cream-coloured, soft, leather leggings. The other women had simply cut dresses made of colourful material. They were visually different from the girl: the back of their heads went into a point and they had strangely round ears that stuck clearly out of their black hair.
“I’m Ayakala,” the older woman introduced herself. These are my daughters, Jukuzala and Niminita. And that’s Bebenile. And the little one is Solima.”
“I’m Charly, that’s Keela and Amber, and this is Lory.”
Jukuzala passed the women a bottle of water and they gratefully quenched their thirst. Only after they had finished drinking did the old woman speak again.
“We’re from Uluah2. Solima is from Karrx7. Where are you from?”
“We’ve been abducted from planet earth,” answered Charly.
“Earth? I don’t know that one!” said the old woman, shaking her head. “But that doesn’t mean anything - I don’t know many planets.”
“How is this place guarded? How many men come when they bring food? Are they armed?” asked Lory.
Ayakala looked blankly at Lory.
“Why do you want to know?” she asked.
“It must be possible to escape,” said Lory, irritated. “I can easily knock out two men, even without weapons - if I could get hold of something to use as a weapon, then more than just two.”
Ayakala shook her head. Both her daughters did the same.
“Even if you managed to get out of this hut, you’d then need to get through the gate, and that’s guarded. You don’t stand a chance,” declared the old woman.
“When we were brought here there were only two men stationed there,” interjected Charly.
“There may be only two guards but in the hut next to the gate there are at least another six,” said Ayakala. “Anyway, where would you go? Outside Betzlawk there’s nothing but desert for miles and miles. If you were able, by some miracle, to get to one of the other towns, you wouldn’t be made welcome there. But it’s suicide, anyway, to go out into the desert. It’s even hotter there than it is here and there’s no water for miles and miles. You’ll be hunted down. They’ll find you sooner or later in the town and there’s no way into or out of the spaceport without being checked, and what’s more you can’t book a journey without credits. So it’s better to hope that you’ll have a good master who’ll treat you well. Believe me.”
“I’d rather die than let myself be owned by some damn alien,” hissed Lory.
“She’s right. We’re never going to get home again anyway. It’s hopeless. Who knows how far from earth we are? And where are we to find someone who would take us back?” said Amber.
“I can think about that when I get out of here,” Lory insisted. “Anything is better than being bought by a damn alien and then bearing its little monsters.”
***
Hours passed by and no one came. The conversation amongst the women had long since subsided and Lory was driving all of them mad by constantly walking back and forth like a tiger in a cage.
“Can’t you just sit down at last?” said Keela, irritated. “You’re making me completely dizzy walking round in circles.”
“I don’t understand you,” Lory blurted out angrily. How can you sit here, totally calm, and wait till someone sells you to the highest bidding slimey or hairy alien? There is no way that I’m going to give up without a fight.”
“Perhaps it’ll be easier to escape once we’ve been bought,” interrupted Keela. “If we appear to be weak and helpless maybe the one that buys us will be less watchful and when the right moment …”
“If, if, if!” Lory interrupted Keela. “If you wait for someone to serve you the return ticket to earth on a golden platter you’ll never do it.”
Keela sighed. She knew that Lory was right, but what Ayakala had said also sounded reasonable. The fact was that they had no chance of escaping from this damn planet, let alone returning to earth. It was driving her completely mad. She would have preferred it if they had landed on a jungle planet. She would have had confidence in her ability to push her way through a jungle, but unfortunately she would have to pass on a trip through the desert.
“Someone’s coming,” said Amber urgently.
The women fell silent and they could indeed hear footsteps approaching the hut. The door was unlocked and two men appeared with a woman carrying a tray of food. The men were largely humanoid, except that their hair was green and they had small, wart-like pock marks on their foreheads and temples. They were large and powerfully built but they were carrying no weapons. Despite this Keela felt that it would be impossible to get passed them.
Keela looked at Lory and she realised immediately that even the FBI agent was looking at the two men with similar thoughts. Once the woman had put the tray in the middle of the room everything suddenly happened very quickly. Lory grabbed the man standing closest to her and smashed his head on the door frame three times till he became limp in her hands and she simply dropped the unconscious man onto the ground. The other guard threw himself at Lory and they exchanged a few hard blows and kicks. As the surprise effect had passed, Lory did not have an easy time of it with this well-trained man, although she was clearly well-trained in close combat herself. Both the agent and the alien seemed to be natural fighters. They dealt out blows and took blows. Both of them were already bleeding from their nose and mouth, and they were breathing heavily. Keela exchanged glances with Charly and Amber and both of them gave one brief nod, then, yelling, the three women threw themselves at the guard. Charly climbed onto him from behind whilst Amber and Keela helped Lory by kicking and thumping him until he fell to the ground.
Once both of the guards were lying motionless on the ground, Lory turned to the other women. The woman who had brought the tray was standing in the middle of the room, her mouth agape and her eyes wide and she seemed incapable of saying or doing anything.
“We have to act quickly, before anyone notices what’s happened,” said Lory, and the women, including Ayakala, her daughters and the girl, followed Lory outside. Only Bebenile and the woman with the tray stayed behind.
There was no one to be seen in the yard. Everything seemed to be silent and deserted, but they knew that there were more guards in the hut next to the entrance, not to forget the two guards outside the gate.
“We’ll try to find another exit. I think we should be able to get over the wall over there,” whispered Lory and they crept quickly across the yard to the side opposite the gate.
Keela’s heart was beating wildly. She was glad to have escaped from the cramped hut but she was also concerned about how they were to get out of here. Ayakala was right about the fact that it was going to be hard to escape from the town. A trip through the desert, without water and without even knowing where there were any other places, was complete suicide. Only the spaceport remained and that was carefully guarded. They did not even have any money to bribe anyone with, let alone to book a journey.
Suddenly loud shouting and footsteps could be heard behind them.
<
br /> “Shit! They’ve caught us,” cried Lory. “Come on, girls. Faster!”
They ran as fast as they could. They were actually able to climb over a barrel and onto the roof of a hut and from there get over the wall. Keela had a stitch in her side, but she took no notice of it. She climbed speedily from the barrel onto the roof. She took the risk of looking back. Ayakala and her daughters, as well as the small girl, had stopped. They clearly thought they did not stand a chance any more. There were at least ten men behind them - four were dealing with the women who had stayed behind and the other six were following Keela, Charly, Amber and Lory.
Keela nearly slipped and fell off the roof, but Amber, who was the last one, and behind her, caught her and held onto her till Keela had found her balance again.
“Are you OK?” asked Amber, worried.
“Yes, thank you,” answered Keela, breathless. Her heart was racing wildly and her stomach felt knotted.
“Hurry up!” shouted Lory, who was already sitting on the wall.
Lory jumped and was out of sight. Behind Keela and Amber the first of the pursuers was climbing onto the roof. Charly jumped next, then Keela, and Amber reached the wall, too. Keela’s heart leapt when she saw how far it was to the ground, but Lory and Charly were gesticulating wildly to her to jump.
“Shit,” murmured Keela.
She closed her eyes and jumped. Amber landed with a quiet, “Ow! Fuck!” next to her.
“Come on!” Lory urged them to hurry and ran with Charly along the narrow alley that they had landed in. Keela and Amber picked themselves up and followed them. They ran without looking round. The adrenalin rush gave them strength and they took no notice of either the stitch in their side or the burning heat. They just wanted to get away - away from these vile aliens and away from this damn planet. The latter was sure to prove very difficult.
Keela could hear the men but she did not dare turn around. It was impossible to guess how many men were after them. Lory disappeared into a side street. Charly followed, and as Keela and Amber reached the alley Lory and Charly were nowhere to be seen.
“Where have they gone?” asked Amber, panicking.
“No idea!” answered Keela breathlessly. “Just keep on running. They’re behind us.”
“Ah!” screamed Amber suddenly and Keela stopped to look round for Amber.
Amber had fallen and was trying to pick herself up quickly but their pursuers were closing in.
“My foot,” groaned Amber. “Quick! Run! Leave me here! I’m not going to make it anyway. Run! You still have a chance. I’ll try to hold them up.”
Keela hesitated. She did not want to leave Amber behind on her own.
“What are you waiting for?” cried Amber in despair. “Run! Save yourself!”
Keela shook her head. Her decision was final. She was not going to leave Amber in the lurch. Amber had rescued her when she had nearly fallen off the roof. Furthermore, she probably had no chance of escaping now anyway. Lory and Charly had managed to. But whether things would go any better for them was questionable. The men reached them and one of them grabbed Keela roughly by the arm. Amber screamed in pain as two men pulled her to her feet.
“Hey, you ass-holes! Can’t you see that she’s injured!” Keela screamed, beside herself.
A man, who seemed to be the leader, shouted at the two men holding Amber and he lifted the injured girl into his arms. At least one of these sods seemed to be a bit decent, thought Keela. She did not try to resist as she was led back to the compound. The man carrying Amber left the group as they reached the gate.
“Where are you taking her?” Keela demanded to know.
The man stopped and turned round to her. He looked at her sternly, then his dark expression became somewhat softer.
“To the healer. Don’t worry, I’ll look after her.”
Keela nodded. What else could she do? She knew that in this situation she should be happy that someone was tending to Amber’s injury. The man turned round again and stomped off with Amber.
***
Somewhere at the edge of the Kanavirius System
1st day of the month of Jakus in the year 7067
Federation Time
It was a week before they finally received a signal from Princess Solima. Marruk was losing patience and his irritability had meant that during the last few days his crew had kept out of his way as much as possible. No one wanted to be his sparring partner in the training room any more. That morning he had injured four of the men so badly that they all had to spend several hours in the medical unit. Now Marruk was standing on the bridge with an expression of grim determination, his hands clutching the railing so hard that his knuckles turned white.
“How long?” he snarled.
“If she is, as we suspect, on a planet in the Kanavirius System - and does not move away from there - then we could reach her within eight or nine days,” replied Kolisz, his navigator.
“If anyone has laid a finger on her he’ll pay for it dearly. I’ll torture him for so long that he’ll beg me to kill him. And it’ll be a damn long time before I grant him that wish!”
“We’ll find her,” Berka, Marruk’s brother, tried to console him.
“If I should be killed whilst freeing her then I want you to take revenge for me against Solima’s kidnappers. Make these sons-of-bitches suffer!”
“You have my word, brother,” snarled Berka solemnly. “I will do it with the greatest of pleasure. These monsters deserve a slow death.” He thumped a pillar next to him. “Damn it! She’s still a child. Who …”
“Prince Marruk!” interrupted Kolisz. “I have a more exact location for the signal. In all probability Princess Solima is on Xevus3.”
“Then without a doubt she is to be sold at the slave market there,” said Berka. “That’s good.”
“Good?” bellowed Marruk, beside himself and ready to grab his younger brother by the throat.
“Think about it, brother! If she is being held prisoner there until the auction then no one will have touched her yet. They’ll get a better price for her if she’s untouched. I know that the next auction takes place in nine days’ time. We can do it!”
“Lukova! Get everything out of this baby that you can. We have to reach Xevus3 within eight days at the latest,” ordered Marruk with grim determination.
“Ay, My Lord.”
***
Kanavirius System, Xevus3
Betzlawk
8th day of the month of Jakus in the Year 7067
Federation Time
To Keela’s immense relief her attempt at escaping did not have serious repercussions. The men did seem to be angry, particularly the two guards that had been attacked by the women, but nothing more was done other than locking them into the hut again, accompanied by swearing and some rough handling, but otherwise it was unspectacular. Ayakala and the other women seemed sad that Keela had not made it. Solima came to her, once Keela was sitting on the ground, and she put her arms around her.
“I’m sorry,” she said sadly.
“What are you sorry about, darling?”
“That it didn’t work.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. Perhaps it’s better this way.”
Solima nodded.
“Definitely! When my father comes to rescue me then he can rescue you, too. That is definitely better than you wandering around the town on your own. My father is very powerful and strong. He’ll kill all the wicked men here.”
Keela’s heart ached at the sight of the girl’s determined expression. She seemed to believe so firmly that her father - her hero - would rescue her. Keela considered that to be pretty much out of the question, but she did not dare say that. She did not want to take away the girl’s hope.
“Believe me,” Solima assured her, as if she had sensed Keela’s doubt. “I have a transmitter in my arm. Because of that my father can follow me and find me.”
“OK then, let’s hope your father hurries,” replied Keela with a smile. She felt
very sorry for the poor girl.
Late in the evening Amber was brought back. Her foot was bandaged and she was limping, but she seemed to be fine.
“I was worried about you,” said Keela, quietly, because the other women and Solima were already asleep. “Did that man or anyone else force themselves on you? Is everything OK?”
“No and yes. No - no one forced themselves on me, and yes - everything is OK,” Amber confirmed. “Everyone was actually very nice to me. The man who took me to the healer says very little but he was not rough with me, and the healer was very nice. He just looked a bit strange. He was small and round with blue patches all over his skin and he had four eyes. At first that shocked me but he was so polite that I could somehow cope with him OK. I mean, he can’t help what he looks like. He probably finds people like us ugly,” she laughed.
“Yes, probably,” Keela agreed.
She was relieved that Amber was fine.
“I found out from Kovin - that’s the man who took me to the healer - that the auction is taking place in two days’ time. He’s not prepared to help us but he did let me know that we’ll be accompanied by ten guards and that the auction will take place in this compound. Hundreds of visitors are expected and apart from us there are about another fifty men and women imprisoned in the other huts, all of whom are going to be auctioned off. Amongst them are also the other women from our space ship. So there’s going to be a lot going on. Perhaps we’ll be able to escape.”
“To be honest I don’t think we’ll manage it - just as I don’t believe that Solima’s father will rescue us.”
“Solima’s father?”
“Oh, yes, of course, you weren’t there when she told me. Well, Solima has a sort of transmitter in her arm through which she’s traceable by her father. She absolutely believes that he’s following her and save her. And she thinks that he’ll free us, too. But as I said - I don’t believe it.”
Kidnapping Keela Page 3
