Taken Hostage

by Hutchins, Hollie

  Bernie frowned. “They ain’t caught any of us.”

  “He doesn’t know that, does he? Get him to tell you how the fuckin’ bikes work. Now we’ve got a light cavalry. And light artillery. We are coming up in the world. Alvarez, Clay, let’s see what’s in these vans.”

  Erickson went to the front van. He shot out the lock and wrenched open the door. He found what he’d expected to find: a dozen beautiful, frightened women. He smiled at them and said, “Hello girls. All right?”

  They looked at him, then at each other and then back at him again. The one who came closest to having something approaching a personality said, “Are you going to hurt us?”

  He winked at her. “Nah, I’m going to be ever so gentle. Come on!”

  He jerked his head and they filed out of the van to stand blinking in the sunshine. Moments later they were joined by twenty-four other gorgeous young women.

  “What are you going to do with us?”

  “I wish I bloody knew. Come on, for now we’ll get you somewhere more or less safe. Clay, take’em up to the camp and send some guys down to drive the Jeeps up. Bernie. Alvarez, let’s go see how Bernie’s getting on.”

  Bernie was getting on fine. He and the trooper were bending over the bike talking like old buddies. As they approached the guy turned and looked scared. He was good-looking, like everybody else they had ever seen from the ships. He spoke with an accent that might have been Scandinavian.

  “Hi, should I salute? I am not sure…”

  Erickson shook his head. “No, just answer all my questions and we’ll get along fine. What’s your name?”

  “Olaf.”

  “Olaf? As in the Nordic name, Olaf?”

  “Yuh…

  “OK. Can we use these things?”

  Bernie answered for him.

  “Yeah! They’re really simple. It’s an anti-grav cell. He has no idea how it works, but it’s something to do with decelerating gravitons. The controls are easy. If you can ride a bike you can ride one of these.”

  “Good, we’ll take one each and pull the others behind.” He pointed at Olaf. “Do anything stupid and I will not kill you, understood? But you will wish I had. And I am not being funny. I mean it. We intend to survive and win. Got it?”

  Olaf frowned. He looked bemused. “Yuh…”

  They spent the night in an abandoned cabin to the east of Catskill. There were thirty-six beautiful young women, fifteen motley freedom fighters from every walk of life except the military, one SAS lieutenant and, apparently, and alien from Denmark or Sweden, or perhaps Norway. They all gathered around the fire and Erickson spoke to the girls.

  “I have been fighting the invaders since the day they arrived, a year ago. I have trained these warriors. I have fought with the best elite fighting force in the world. And believe me, this bunch here,” he pointed at his band with a smile of pride, “…are nothing like as good as them! But they are good, and they are getting better, and we are going to win.” He turned to Olaf who was staring at him in utter fascination. “And if I let you go, Olaf, you can take that message back to your masters, and tell them I mean it.”

  “No, please don’t let me go…”

  “Now, you lot…” He looked at the girls and shook his head in mild despair. “You can stay with us if you want. But if you do you are going to toughen up pretty damned quick. We ain’t going to carry you. Here, you pull your weight, you fight for our collective survival, or you die. Your other option is to go back wherever you came from and take your chances, hope they don’t come for you again. Think about it tonight, and you can give me your decision tomorrow morning.”

  There was some discussion and the girls wandered off. Erickson pointed at Olaf and said, “You. Come here. I want some fucking explanations.”

  Olaf pulled up a chair and sat in front of him.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “You, are not an alien. Those drivers and outriders, were not alien. You, me old mucker, are as human as I am. So start explaining. Now. Who the fuck are you?”

  Olaf nodded and smiled. “You are both wrong and right. You are wrong in this way, we are aliens, and we are not human like you. You are both aliens and human, like us! You see, Erickson, you do not belong on this planet. We brought you here and abandoned you, fifty thousand years ago.”

  Five

  Stella had opened her mouth and a torrent of filth had issued forth. This time it had not amused him and he had done or said something she didn’t catch, but the door opened and four guards in black fatigues came marching in.

  Stella had astonished herself by jumping to her feet and yelling, “Yeah? Yeah? You wanna do this? Come on then!”

  Krave Maga is not beautiful or stylish like Tae Kwon Do. But, like Jeet Kune Do, it is fast and efficient. The guards came at her like they were going to spank her pretty as and teach her a lesson. The First one grabbed her arm. He looked surprised when it came to him with no resistance. Then he screamed as she broke his nose with her other fist, twisted and broke his wrist, and for good measure ruptured his balls with her knee. As he went down she took his gun and shot the next guy in the thigh.

  The other two were backing away and Thorvall was on his feet, shouting at them. Stella’s mind was racing. Her heart was pounding. A voice in her head was telling her she was in so much trouble now. There was no way out. But another part of her was telling her that if she was going down, she was taking the whole fucking ship with her.

  And once she’d made that decision, she knew exactly what to do next. She shot the two guards and turned the gun on Thorvall as four more guards burst through the door. She was just about to say, “Tell them to stand down,” when they shot a dart into her neck.

  She woke up tied to what seemed to be some kind of examination table. Her arms were stretched out above her head. Her legs were splayed and the ankles strapped to the corners of the table. She was stripped naked.

  Thorvall was standing next to her. He was naked too, and in her groggy state she couldn’t help thinking that he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life. She suppressed these thoughts and saw him narrow his eyes at her.

  She snarled, “What the fuck do you think you are doing? Let me go or I swear to God I will tear your fucking head of and shove it so far down your throat you’ll be watching TV through your fucking ass!”

  His eyes widened and there was the trace of a smile on his face. “That seems like a pretty good reasons not to let you go, Stella. You are a very aggressive woman. I think you have anger issues. Did you have a complicated relationship with your daddy?” She scowled at him. He continued, “We had no idea humans were still like this. We have been working on you for a long time, you know, from afar, to make you more passive and compliant.”

  She said, “What are you talking about?” and then, “What do you mean, you’ve been working on us from afar?”

  He smiled and trailed his fingers over her nipples, watching them harden. She felt the warm pleasure flow through her body. It burned in her belly. If only he wasn’t so damned beautiful! “We have been feeding you technology for about five hundred years, leading you like docile sheep.”

  She looked into his eyes and forced herself to ignore the pleasure. She said, “I’m going to take that arrogance of yours and shove it right up your ass.”

  His smile grew deeper. His finger trailed down over her belly. The excitement in her body increased and she longed for it to continue. “I can read your thoughts, Stella, they are written all over your face. You want me. You talk a lot about shoving…”

  She focused her mind, thought about ice, about snow, about her own dignity. She said, “Fuck you, Thorvall! Fuck you!” Then she was thrashing, yanking on her chains and screaming, “Let me go you fucking asshole!”

  He waited for her to finish and gazed down on her body. It was beautiful, but he was surprised to discover that he found her face, with her flushed cheeks and her bright eyes more beautiful than her body. Odd, he thought, re
membering her words from earlier. Did sex in fact open the doors to a deeper, more intimate understanding of people? He leaned close to her and whispered in her ear, “Before much longer, Stella, it is I who will fuck you…”

  A strange fear coiled like a living thing in her belly, mixing the thrill of panic with the intense anticipation of the pleasure of feeling this extraordinary creature inside her. She did not want it, but knowing it was inevitable allowed a secret part of her to surrender to the pleasure. She fought it fiercely, but the more she fought it, the more hungrily she longed for it.

  He was laughing softly, walking around her, trailing his fingers down her inside thigh. “You are helpless, Stella. There is nothing you can do. You are completely in my power. And however hard you pretend, however much you fight it…” he slid his palm up her leg until his thumb was touching her lips, “…you will enjoy it, so why not just give in, surrender…? There is a very special pleasure, I am told, in surrender…”

  He stopped by her shoulder. His body was muscular, but his movements were fluid and smooth. He bent and with extreme tenderness kissed her shoulder, then her neck below her ear. She shuddered. Her feelings were as naked and defenseless as her body. He placed his lips on her ear and whispered, “What are you sensitive places, Stella? Where are you longing for me to touch, to stroke, to kiss…”

  She shook her head, saying, “No!” But even in saying that one word, she knew it was an admission that he was getting to her. He ran his tongue down her throat and over her chest toward her left nipple and saw it harden. He took it in his mouth and played with it. She could not suppress the groan. Then cried out, masking her pleasure with anger. But his tongue was traveling on, over her flat belly, toward her mound.

  She screamed and strained against her bonds. The tension only intensified the pleasure as he took her in his mouth and explored her with his tongue. Her body took over. She lost control and groaned again, deeply, pushing herself into his face. In perfect unison with her, he snarled and bit, pushing deeper with his tongue. She arched her body with an ecstasy so intense she felt she would lose her mind.

  Then he was climbing on the table, kneeling between her legs, gazing down on her nakedness. His eyes said one thing – that he owned her. He leaned forward and gripped her wrists. He slid his hands down her arms, cupped and caressed her breasts, and took hold of her waist. Then he raised her hips and pushed inside her.

  She gasped and stared up into his face. Every part of her craved him. Her loins pulsed with the pleasure of having him inside. She dilated and contracted, trying to suck him in deeper. She gritted her teeth, pulling on her bonds to free herself, to claw at him, bite him, to consume him.

  With slow, irresistible power, he withdrew and pushed back inside her. Her eyes were locked onto his. She heard herself whimper. He bent down and took her mouth in his, biting her lips and sucking her tongue. He lay on top of her. She was intensely aware of his skin on hers. He held her face in his hands, first kissing her deeply, then small, rhythmic pecks on her mouth. She fought not to respond, but could not resist and sobbed as she kissed him back. His rhythm increased in power, each thrust driving home with growing urgency. He put his hand over her mouth and gripped her throat. He said, “Don’t breath...”

  She held her breath. His rhythm grew faster. His face flushed and grew savage. She pulled at her bonds. He pounded inside her. His rod was like iron. Her lungs cried out. And then he was roaring. And it was as though his orgasm sparked into her like electricity and she let out a long screech through her clenched teeth. Intense waves of pleasure surged through her like a madness. They thrashed against each other, rubbing their perspiring bodies together, straining to get closer than was physically possible, kissing hungrily at each other’s mouths. A second wave of orgasms flooded through her and she gave a small cry.

  They lay, quivering and spent. He kissed her nipples and licked the sweat from her breasts. They stayed like that for a long time, until finally he rose up on his elbows and looked down, searching her eyes.

  She said, “I hope you realize just how deeply I hate you. Don’t ever turn your back on me, you son of a bitch, because it will be the last fucking thing you ever do in this world.”

  He smiled, but behind the smile she could see he was surprised and a little hurt.

  “I thought you enjoyed it,” he said.

  She narrowed her eyes. “You stole it from me. It was mine to give, not yours to take. You will pay.”

  Six

  She was released from her bonds after Thorvall had left, and shown to a comfortable room with an en suite bathroom where she was able to shower and dress in jeans and a sweatshirt that were the right size for her. Closer inspection of the bedroom showed her there was a door onto the apartment where she had first met Thorvall. As she stepped through she found him there talking to a man in a uniform.

  “Governor Thorvall, it was a small convoy coming down to new York from Canada. It was only three trucks. They used light weapons. No explosives.”

  Thorvall was holding up his hand and shaking his head.

  “Wait, Commander Vulcan. Let us be clear. Are you telling me there were three vans of cargo that were completely undefended?”

  “No, Governor…”

  Thorvall’s face flushed with anger. “I did not think so. Because to believe such a thing I would have to be a complete cretin! Would I not?”

  “Sir, the Governor is far from…”

  “Would I not?”

  “Yes, Sir…”

  “So when you say ‘only three vans’, what you actually mean is, three vans, six outriders on hover-bikes and two Jeeps with laser cannon. Am I correct?”

  “Yes Governor…”

  “And so we come to the crucial information which you were trying, subtly, deviously, to conceal from me…”

  “No, Sir, I was simply…”

  “Do not interrupt me! …what has happened to the laser cannon and the bikes?”

  “It appears, Governor Thorvall, that they have been captured.”

  “So this band that were able to take a small convoy using only light arms, are now equipped with cannon and bikes.”

  “That is correct, Governor Thorvall.”

  “If you ever again attempt to conceal information from me I will have you skinned alive, publicly, and fed to hungry rats.”

  “Yes, Governor.”

  “Go, I need to think.”

  The commander left and Thorvall became suddenly aware of her standing in the doorway. She smiled. “Having a bad morning, Honey?”

  He looked quizzical.

  “We did not expect you do be like this.”

  She laughed without much humor. “We don’t expect to be the way we are ourselves. What hope have you got?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “But we created you, we trained you, we conditioned you…”

  Stella sniggered and dropped into an armchair. “You know? Those were my grandmother’s last words to me before they carted her off to the insane asylum. ‘Dat ain’t de way you woz brought up!’”

  He stared at her a long time. His expression was unreadable. She watched him back and after a moment said, “So you created us, huh?”

  He blinked. “There was a native species here. We crossed our own genes with the native ones and created you. Your mythology is full of it.”

  “The demigods.”

  “Amongst many others.” He walked to the window and stared out for a long while. Then he turned to face her. “This person who has taken our cargo and our lasers…”

  “You don’t know anything about him…or her?”

  “No. Nothing. What do they want?”

  She stared at him, wondering who this person might be, and how she could get to them. She said, “You, dead.” He frowned and she added, “What do you want?”

  He shrugged. “What is ours. This planet, it’s water, other resources…above all the women.”

  She made a face like, ‘are you for real?’ and said, Why? Don’t you
have women where you come from?”

  “Very few, and they are mainly for breading.” His face became abstracted. He said without much feeling, “They are magnificent, with broad hips and enormous physical strength. They have many sphincters and great control over the walls of their uteri. They can bring a man to orgasm within a few seconds.”

  “Nice.”

  “Not really. If we want sexual pleasure we must seek it elsewhere. Sexual gratification is the biggest industry in the empire. That is three hundred worlds.” He took a packet of camel from his jacket pocket. She saw it had no government warning sign on it and frowned. He pulled out a cigarette and lit up, inhaling deeply and blowing smoke at the ceiling. He went on. “We colonize a planet, seed humans, leave them to grow up for about fifty thousand years, and then return to harvest the most beautiful young women. It’s a great gig.”

  “You do all this just for sex?”

  “Are you so different? You build empires, slaughter, massacre, wipe out entire species, all so that small groups of you can accrue power and wealth so that you can spend it on - what, exactly?”

  Stella pulled a face. “I’d never thought of it like that. Sex, huh?”

  “You should read Freud. He was right. And the more you repress that sex drive, the more twisted and unpleasant you become.”

  “Yeah? Seriously? You don’t repress it, and you feed each other to the rats, and enslave women just so you can fuck’em!”

  He shrugged. “Basically we are nice and pretty uncomplicated. Unlike you.” He stared out of the window with narrowed eyes, like he was trying to fathom some deep problem. “We gave you religions, social ideologies, we gave you TV, microchips, computers and cell phones, we even gave you pseudo-estrogens… you were supposed to be totally passive by now.”

  She nodded. “That was you, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  “Imagine what we could have done if you’d left us alone.”

  He shrugged, “We’ll never know,” and then, as though struck by a thought, “the planet would never have heated up! That’s for sure!”