by Maia Starr
“Of course, sir. I’m sure you’ve got a lot to do. I’ll retire now.”
Thank the gods. I had far too much on my mind to waste time on this trivial small talk. Still, I enjoyed Jerd’s company. It was just a bit overbearing for the mood I was in.
“Good night, Jerd.”
“Good night, Commander Arkti.”
I waited for a moment after Jerd left before gazing down at the control panel. For some reason, I was tempted to speak again to the female captives. Anything to get me closer to the enigmatic human I had met on the rooftop. I just couldn’t seem to get my mind back on track.
It was unusual for me to get distracted so easily. I could list about twelve different things I should have been doing that moment to ensure swift and safe travel back to the C’loggh galaxy, so why was it that all I could focus on was the face of the female I’d found on the roof of the shoddy human building? Maybe it was because she was the first human I had ever seen. Or maybe it was nearing breeding time. It made sense that I’d want to claim a female and breed. It was possible that my enthusiasm was due to the fact that our entire race was at stake.
Whatever the reason, I was sure I would feel better once we returned to Jenal’k. Being out in space always made me feel a million miles away from my body. It was one of the most unsettling parts of my life. Sometimes, space travel was made me feel so disjointed that I almost wished I had been selected to patrol the neighborhoods. Being so far from home was difficult for me every time. But everything would go back to normal soon, and I could forget about the strange human female that, for better or for worse, continued to intrude my thoughts.
Chapter 7
Dr. Lain Brousseau
“Hello, Earth females,” the Thressl’n voice from the night before said cheerfully over the speaker. It wasn’t the masculine voice I’d craved for the rest of the night though. It was the first one.
“I hope you are having a pleasant morning.”
Whether it was morning or not, we wouldn’t have known. The area where we were kept was darker than the deepest cave on Earth. But one thing was for sure – pleasant was not on my list of adjectives for this experience.
Throughout the night, a few women had panicked, shouting and rattling against the metallic tables we were chained to. A glow would light the room, and then a sweet purple fog would put us all back into the same paralyzed trance we’d been in when we arrived. Soon, we all learned it was better not to make a fuss. It was one thing to get kidnapped and then get knocked unconscious. It was quite another to be responsible for a collective coma shared with the other abducted women in the room.
“By now I’m sure that you have all had sufficient rest. We will be arriving at our destination soon. Please be prepared to encounter the unknown. Again, keep in mind that the females who keep calm will be rewarded. Thank you, and enjoy the rest of your travels.”
“Enjoy?” the woman next to me whispered hoarsely. All of us were parched. In fact, I couldn’t remember ever feeling so thirsty before. The combination of the strange gas and the stale air in the room was enough to make my lips crack.
“Do you think they’ll hurt us?” another woman whispered.
“It’s hard to say,” someone else said.
“I knew we shouldn’t have let the Vellreq stay on Earth so long!” a loud, angry woman across the room said shrilly.
“This ship doesn’t even belong to the Vellreq!” someone else retorted, mirroring my exact thoughts.
“They were probably gathering intel to sell us out to the highest bidder!” the angry woman exclaimed.
I couldn’t see her, but I formed a picture of what she looked like in my head. She sounded like she was in her mid-forties, and probably had frown lines on her lips and scowl lines on her forehead. She seemed like the kind of woman who would jump on the bandwagon and start a riot over something very little. Maybe her hair was dark brown, or perhaps dirty-blonde and shoulder length. Her face wouldn’t be friendly, and maybe she’d be overweight. She would look like the kind of person who could chew you up and spit you out on a whim. But she was probably sweet as sugar to the people closest to her.
Of course, I had no way of knowing any of this. I was learning a lot about my own nature, as well as the nature of other humans and Thressl’n from being confined in the dark, with nowhere to go but my own mind. I was used to the isolation, but the darkness was something new entirely. We had trained for similar situations for Project Orion, but the darkness only lasted for about thirty minutes. Once you were in the deep black room for over 12 hours, strange things started happening in your head. I was surprised by my own biases when people spoke and I attempted to match their voice to a face. It was such a human instinct for me to have, but it was one that was off base and hardly founded in reality.
“The Vellreq did this to us, I’m sure of it!” the angry woman cried.
“Please lower your voices or face the consequences,” the cheerful voice said over the loudspeaker.
We all held a collective breath. If the gas was going to come again, I was going to miss my first time ever landing on another planet. I couldn’t think of anything more disappointing. As horrifying as the experience was, I would be able to publish an entire book series out of just the last few hours. The knowledge I’d bring back to Earth would be coveted for generations to come.
Fortunately, nobody else said anything, and we were all conscious as the spacecraft shook rapidly upon entering the atmosphere of what I could only presume was the planet Jenal’k. After about 12 minutes of furious shaking, the craft came to a complete stop, lowering with ease until it stopped moving entirely.
If I wasn’t so damn intrigued, I would have been a lot more scared about the situation I was in. As it was, I was terrified, but also, secretly, a little bit thrilled. My head was full of notes I was taking as the night wore on; little observations I made about the speech patterns of the Thressl’n, the names of the women I was with and what they had been doing when they were abducted, and the effects of the needle versus the gas that flooded our room when things got too out of hand and the Thressl’n decided that we needed to be subdued.
The craft was still for a moment when suddenly a voice rang through the speaker. It was the one I had been waiting for, and a surge of unanticipated desire electrified me as the masculine voice began to speak.
“Hello, Earth females. This is Commander Zerk’k Arkti speaking. As second in command of my empire, I’d like to officially welcome you to the planet Jenal’k.”
And with a click and the crackle of static, the voice was gone.
Chapter 8
Commander Zerk’k Arkti
I stood and straightened my uniform, taking a deep breath before heading to the holding cell where the females were being kept. I had waited all night to lay eyes on my human again.
Before I reached the entrance, however, Jerd ran in front of me, his face flushed. He doubled over panting before he was able to speak.
“Commander,” he breathed heavily. “Supreme Leader Aloitus forbids bringing the Earth females out with their clarity.”
“What? Why?” I frowned. I had been so looking forward to seeing the clear eyes of the human female again. It seemed they were the very heart of her, somehow.
“There were problems with the other human females…when moving them into the camps, I’m afraid. He won’t allow them to march of their own accord. We haven’t the resources for any more hysteria.”
“I understand. Thank you, Jerd.”
Jerd nodded and returned to his post. I leaned against the door and peered inside. Despite the darkness, I could see perfectly. Ten rows, ten women per row. But they were all so far away that I couldn’t distinguish them. Ten was a sacred number to the Thressl’n. I hoped it would bring us luck to have females numbering a thousand. Ten tens was supposed to be a good thing.
I groaned in frustration. I wouldn’t be able to see her. Not yet. But that was okay. I was home now. There were other things to attend
to.
“Jain’la, please release the gas,” I said into my communications device.
“Understood, sir,” her voice returned to me. It was surprising how much smaller and much less powerful than the voice of Jerd was. I usually only spoke to him through the communications device. He issued my orders to the rest of the crew.
I stared into the chambers as the human females began to groan and protest. They knew the gas by now and were unhappy to be under its influence. I couldn’t blame them, and found myself wishing as vehemently as they were for their conscious entry to my planet.
Soon, the protests were muffled, and the women were limp against their platforms. All but one.
I was shocked and peered in through the window in disbelief. One woman was holding her breath, fighting and struggling against her restraints. It was the female from the rooftop.
Without thinking twice, I immediately opened the door to the chambers and ran to her aid. I removed the straps holding her in place and lifted her over my shoulder. The other females took no notice; the gas had worked on them immediately. But this woman displayed a strength I had never witnessed in a female before, and for some reason, I felt it paramount to honor that.
She struggled feebly against my body; the gas had weakened her significantly. And yet, her eyes remained open and alert; her small fists balled as they pounded against the broad side of my back. Luckily, none of my crew was present as I carried this woman down the long hallway toward my private chambers. I’m sure they would have had plenty to say about it.
“Wh…” she murmured.
I was surprised. I had never heard a human speak before, except on the satellite broadcasts that were intercepted by several different races throughout the galaxies. The Thressl’n had thought the primitive broadcasts were wildly amusing at first, until we began to see the war and destruction that the humans were propagating on their planet.
“Who…?”
She turned her dazzling eyes onto me and squinted, as if trying to make out what it was she was seeing. The gas must have affected her somewhat, because she closed her eyes tightly and frowned.
“Put me down!”
There was no bite in the demand, and she was soon limp in my arms.
“I’m thirsty,” she whispered.
I was able to type in the code to my doorway with surprising deftness despite the bundle in my arms, and entered the room, unsure of what to expect. She was resentful despite her grogginess, and I wondered if maybe I should give her the formula that counteracts the gas. We used it on occasion to interrogate our enemies before executing them. I was pretty sure I had a supply of the elixir stashed away with my weapons.
I laid the limp female on my bed and studied her for a moment. She was trying to fight the strength of the gas in her lungs, and I felt a surprising surge of pity toward her. Pity wasn’t something my kind were prone to.
“You really don’t want to be asleep, do you?” I asked her, not bothering to hide the amusement in my voice. Despite her exhaustion, she was sitting upright. Her eyes were closed, but her eyebrows were furrowed in determination.
“I have to know…”
I was silent, waiting for her to finish the thought. Instead, she clammed up, and with a great effort, she opened her eyes. The look she fixed upon me was one of pure fascination. I imagined it was how I’d looked during my youth when I was being trained to climb the ranks and fulfill my duties as second in command.
“What’s your name?” I finally asked once it became clear that she wasn’t going to continue speaking.
“Doctor…”
The female’s eyes drooped closed again, and with that, her speech ended.
I sighed and crossed the room to rummage through my weapon’s chest until I found the elixir.
“Open your mouth, Doctor.”
She seemed agitated by the command and pursed her mouth shut tightly. I sighed. It appeared I would have to inject her.
“Don’t be afraid,” I said quietly, and penetrated her skin with the needle.
The formula would take about fifteen minutes to kick in. Until then, the gas would continue to work itself throughout her system. It usually put our foes into a deep sleep before waking them up with perfect clarity. Somehow though, the female doctor sat up tall, clenching the sheets of my bed, and kept her eyes squeezed shut, as if determined to remain aware of every single thing that happened to her.
It was then that I realized that I wasn’t dealing with the typical female. In fact, no other being in the galaxy had ever proven to be more stubborn than the human in front of me. I wasn’t sure whether to be concerned or impressed. Stubbornness in females was highly frowned upon in my culture. We were all to know our roles and carry them out. They were predetermined, chosen for us from birth, and we spent our lives understanding exactly what was expected of us. A stubborn female meant a world of trouble.
“Commander!” Jerd’s voice suddenly rang out from my communications device. I picked it up at once. He sounded concerned.
“What is it?”
“You must come at once. Supreme Leader Aloitus is demanding your presence.”
“Of course,” I said, glancing over at the female. I was reluctant to leave her alone in my chambers, but if I locked her in and secured my weapons, it probably wouldn’t pose a problem.
“Water,” she whispered.
Of course, I realized. We had made a serious miscalculation. The human females were highly dependent on water, and we had deprived them for all this time. Quickly, I fumbled through my cabinet until I retrieved a small vial of the stuff. Thressl’n had little need for water, though it was present on our planet.
“Here,” I said, offering the vial to her. She made no move to take it, she was far too weak, so I held it to her lips. She drank deeply.
“Thanks,” she mumbled.
She was still staring forward, her eyes fluttering and drooping as if she were making a huge effort to stay awake despite the fierce drugs circulating in her system. I shook my head in awe and then locked the storage facility where my weapons were kept.
“Don’t touch anything,” I said as if she could have moved if she wanted to. It was taking an unbelievable amount of willpower to simply sit up and look straight ahead. If I hurried, I would be back in time to see her safely to the camp with the other females. Hopefully the meeting with the Supreme Leader wouldn’t take long.
***
“Peace and prosperity to you,” I said with a small bow when I reached the Supreme Leader’s office.
“Commander Arkti,” Supreme Leader Aloitus said, a frown deepening on his face. My stomach dropped. From his expression, I could tell that this meeting wasn’t going to be one of praise. “Have a seat.”
I lowered myself into the small, elegant chair opposite his broad desk, and Supreme Leader Aloitus moved his shimmering robes aside so he could sit down across from me.
“I understand that we were able to secure a thousand humans for the camps.”
“Something like that,” I said.
“Was that number your idea?”
Of course it was my idea. I was the second in command. But he always liked to toy with me before a good berating.
“Yes, sir.”
“I had trusted your judgment, Commander Arkti. I assumed you would take our planet’s resources into consideration. You do realize what a monstrous plague the humans have become, even on their own planet. A thousand barely covers a city block.”
“I thought it best to be thorough,” I said, prickling. In fact, I had recalled Supreme Leader Aloitus pitching that number during a meeting we’d had about the breeding crisis, and thought replacing Thressl’n females with human females would be a good way to decrease the deficit.
“You understand what could happen to Jenal’k if the human tendency to self-destruct infects our people. I’d been hoping to use the humans as simply a trial…not a replacement for Thressl’n females.”
“I understand, sir,” I said, bitin
g my tongue. I wouldn’t have brought so many humans back if he hadn’t approved my proposal, but he had. My guess was that he had been crunching numbers while I was away, and he was unhappy about the expense of supporting so many human females.
Supreme Leader Aloitus was a greedy man, one I hoped never to be like. Even if something happened and he had to retire from his position, I liked to believe I would lead our people with more pride than self-interest and focus less than he did on the material aspects. There were so many other things that made our planet great, and yet Aloitus chose to favor plans and proposals that lined the pockets of the government workers.
“I’d like you to give a speech to your people outlining the potential risks that your decision has endangered our planet with. Inform them of everything you know about human females and what your plans for them happen to be. Let them know that these humans are in no way going to be assimilated into our society. They will remain in the breeding camps and are only to be used for breeding purposes.”
“Yes, sir.”
I was proud of my ability to hold my tongue. It was lucky that our kind knew just how important it was not to step out of line. We had to be able to welcome our destiny, no matter what that entailed. I turned away from Supreme Leader Aloitus and began to see myself out when he called my name. I looked back at him, bracing myself for more berating.
“Make sure the people know who to blame if this little problem gets out of hand, will you? I don’t want anybody asking me for handouts because you messed up.”
“Of course, sir. As you wish.”
I left the office with my hearts pumping wildly. If I were a different type of man, I would have struck Aloitus long ago, back when we were in the academy together.
***
“You have to do what I say, or you’ll get executed!”
Aloitus used to tell that to all of the young men in our class. The academy had been difficult for all young Thressl’n males, in particular, those chosen for the ruling classes. The females didn’t have it much better, though their rites of passage were kept secret from us. Our planet was heavily reliant on the ancient values; our sexes being considered very different and adept at specific types of tasks.
