by Jaide Fox
“Jasmine.” Samara grabbed her elbow and slumped to the floor. She tried to catch her, but her arms felt too heavy to work. Jasmine’s vision narrowed to a pinpoint of light and winked out.
Chapter Two
Captain Dar Tagnon shifted astride his vibrant green zhala as he watched the Nexus Lamian ship descend in the landing area they’d cleared to the south of Anehtar, the once capital city of Chalcydon now ruled over by Prince Dezec Zeta. Much had changed in the past few years since the former ruler, King Kore Anadaru, had been killed by the rightful heir to the throne, King Fallon Anadaru.
The spinning silver ship landed, whipping tall grasses like sea waves under the humming engines. The feathers of his zhala ruffled under the intense wind, making his beast tense for action. Dar patted the creature’s neck in a soothing gesture, decreasing the zhala’s nervousness slightly. His own nerves echoed that of his mount’s. The last time Dar had seen one of these ships, they’d brought flight vessels for a secret rebellion. Though the rebellion was over, their government was still experiencing a shaky recovery. Too often he heard the grumblings of their people on the street and wondered how secure his future and that of his king truly were.
A loading door opened outward from the ship, unfolding and easing onto the ground to form a ramp for exit and delivery of goods. The first of the greys came down the illuminated ramp, moving with quiet footsteps. All wore the same jumpsuits of their space fleet, which nearly matched the same tone as their skin, giving them the appearance, at first glance, of being naked. Had it not been clearly instructed to him to hold his mirth in check, he might have laughed. The Nexus Lamians did not understand humor and did not appreciate bearing the brunt of any jokes. Behind them they pulled hover-tables loaded with the sleeping forms of dozens of women piled atop like slabs of meat.
The sight of women with their arms and legs dangling from unconsciousness disturbed him. Dar dropped off his zhala, quickly striding to the lead Lamian. “What is this? Why have you brought more Earth women?” he demanded.
Your king ordered a greater variety of women to be brought for breeding purposes. His will dictated a broader…palette. The voice of the small grey alien spoke inside his mind.
Dar had never quite gotten used to the strangeness of a voice not his own buzzing around in his head. “It’s been over a year since King Kore was usurped. We have standing orders for weapons, spacecraft, and technology. Not women.”
The grey’s forehead wrinkled in as close to a frown as the expressionless alien could muster. The order was placed more than two years your time. It took us months to find appropriate candidates for Chalcydon mates. Women unwed and unmated, without dependents, children, or parents to miss them. It was not an easy task to procure so many mates for your kind. Are we to believe you would refuse the order after the expense and time we have invested?
“How many have you collected?” he asked, watching as pallet after pallet of women were unloaded from the spaceship. Around them, a half dozen men awaited orders, watching the proceedings. They’d come with three heavy vessels to transport weapons and armor, vital supplies for their city should they suffer an attack from outside forces. They had not expected to meet and find women. Not that they didn’t appreciate the ‘wares’. They needed women. Too many men had resorted to finding pleasure amongst themselves, and while he had no problem with their actions, two sticks poking each other wasn’t going to make any babies for the next generation.
We have three hundred. We acknowledge the number is smaller than previously agreed upon.
“And they’re all healthy, capable of bearing children? Vaccinated?” He tried to think of anything that would allow him to refuse the delivery.
The alien seemed to be losing patience, though it was difficult to tell with his soulless, unblinking black eyes staring at Dar.
Yes.
“What of the language barrier? The last batch had trouble assimilating,” Dar said, trying to find some wiggle room to get out of the exchange. Much as he hated to admit it, he was stuck in a hard place. They couldn’t risk angering their one connection to goods they couldn’t produce on their planet. Without a trade agreement, their planet would be indefensible against aggressive outsiders. Then again, if he spent their credits on women instead of weapons…
A translation chip has been installed behind their ears—the latest in technology which allows them not only to understand nearly every recorded language in the universe, but to slowly speak alien languages as they are heard for easier assimilation within cultures. The process is seamless and unnoticeable. The same technology can be provided to your people should you require it upon traveling. It can also be used for tracking purposes should any choose to leave. We attempted to make them feel more at home on the trip after stasis, but I am afraid some may have damaged themselves in spite of our attempts at sedation.
Dar rubbed his bristled chin, feeling the day’s growth under his thumb. “That’s no good. How would you feel about discounting, since you’ve brought less than we requested and some are damaged?”
The grey turned to one of his companions. They seemed to be talking between themselves and then finally returned attention to him. This is permissible. We will take two loads of ore instead of three.
“Agreed,” Dar said, holding his hand out to seal the deal. The Nexus Lamian offered his limp hand and locked forearms in a weak shake that made Dar’s lip want to curl with distaste.
“Make the exchange,” he told his awaiting men. “We’ll take the women to Prince Zeta to determine what to do with them. Load as many as you can into the transports and be careful with them. We’ll probably have to make several trips to get them all.” Dar sighed, deflated and annoyed at the events of the day. They’d purchased abducted and unwilling women. The princess of the city would be more than irate. He hoped he would not garner her ire when he met with Prince Zeta.
***
The warmth of flesh squeezed against her, rousing her into slow consciousness. For a moment Jasmine thought she’d fallen asleep on the couch next to Samara. As she opened her eyes, she realized she was in a crush of female bodies, jostling inside a moving vehicle. She struggled for breath, laying half on top of another woman dead to the world. A furtive glance around told her it was closer to a tank than a car. Women were stacked on top of each other like garbage. Outrage filled her. Did they think they were trash? To do whatever they pleased with them?
The dim interior of the lumbering vehicle revealed nothing of what their captors intended to do with them or where they were going. A shaft of thin light slivered through a center door at the back, just over her head. She glanced around, searching for Samara in the rubble of females and panicked when she didn’t see her or Cyndy.
At the front of the vehicle she could see tinted glass and the shape of what looked like two men sitting in the front. Human men, at least from what she could see in her position. She couldn’t be sure since she didn’t want to sit up, take a gander, and give herself away. What the hell were humans doing with them? Maybe they hadn’t been abducted by aliens? The thought that she’d believed something so ridiculous almost made her want to laugh. This they could handle.
Some of the other women began to awaken, and with unspoken agreement, everyone kept still, silent and watchful. Maybe it was fear of the unknown holding them enthralled, but she liked to think in spite of the panic on the ship—or whatever they’d been on before—they weren’t mindless morons incapable of controlling themselves or weighing out the pros and cons of waiting to see just how deep in shit they actually were.
The vehicle pulled to a gentle stop. Jasmine listened as the two figures in the front exited and shut the doors. Masculine voices laughed and talked, muffled beyond the walls of the vehicle, but she could trace their path as they moved to the back. Her ears strained, listening for their movement outside as her pulse thundered behind her eardrums. A lock disengaged loudly at the back door, inches from her. She tensed and closed her eyes, feigning sleep as t
he brilliance of daylight flooded the dark interior and fresh air swept through in a rush. The moment a hand locked around her arm to pull her out, her fight-flight adrenaline kicked into overdrive. Eyes flying open, she looked up into a male face that looked every inch human.
Jasmine shrieked and rolled out of his startled grip, hitting the ground before he could react. Her legs wobbled unsteadily as she jumped to her feet. Air currents caught the flimsy gown like a billowing sail. She ran for her life, trying her best not to trip over her own bare feet. Before she’d made it more than twenty feet from her start point, a whooshing noise sounded above her. Something blocked out the sun, casting a shadow around her on the ground. Daring a look up, she gasped as an enormous feathery lizard swooped straight for her. She fell backwards, hitting the ground and expelling the breath from her lungs as her rump connected with unforgiving earth.
On top of what looked for all the world like a dragon sat a man in a black uniform with a high, strange collar and startling blue eyes. He yanked the reins, commanding the dragon low over her, so close she could feel and smell its citrusy breath. Her eyes watered. She choked back a scream, frozen in place. The beast dropped to the ground, flapping its wings and stirring puffs of dust into the air to sting her eyes. Jasmine surreptitiously dug one hand in the dirt, palming a handful of sand.
The rider dropped to the ground to stand over her, shading her from the sun. “Are you done fighting?” he asked in a gruff voice that rumbled in his chest.
Jasmine’s ears vibrated with the sound of his voice, detecting a finite second of garbled sound before her brain comprehended what he was saying. She shook her head as if a fly buzzed around in her ears. He offered her his hand, watching her like a cat on a mouse. “Do you understand? Are you going to run?”
Again, something behind her ears translated a garbled sound a split second before she understood him. The more he spoke, the less she noticed it. She cast a quick glance around, noting that other enormous men in military-style uniforms similar to his were there, taking the women as they awakened and herding them through a door that pierced a building with sky-high spires. She still didn’t see Samara or Cyndy in the crowded lines.
Gingerly she took his hand, girding her nerves. As he lifted her to her feet, she cast the handful of dirt at his eyes. He yelled in surprise and attempted to block with his free hand. His grip relaxed, allowing her to shake free and run.
“Sedate her!” the man yelled to his men.
They weren’t as quick or prepared as she was. Seconds passed like minutes—an eternity in her fogged mind. She willed her body to move faster, to escape and go anywhere else, even knowing the chances of getting away were next to nil. She still had to try. A sting pierced her shoulder, injecting a dose of some fluid into her veins. Time seemed to roar back in a flash. Her blood pumped with a fury. Behind her, the voices of the men and women mingled in a strange warbling sound like heavy bass in her mind. Her body grew heavy and clumsy. She couldn’t feel her feet touching the ground as a warmth spread through her veins and closed over her like a blanket. Sighing, Jasmine pitched forward, blacking out as the ground rushed towards her face.
Dar caught the troublesome woman before she could hit her head on the ground. His reflexes were fast as ever, now that the shock of having the diminutive female attack him had worn off. He still had sand in his eyes however, he thought with annoyance. The urge to pinch her head off warred with amusement at her belief she could escape.
Dar hefted her in his arms. She was solid, but his strength training made her feel light in his arms. “Take the women inside the harem quarters to clean up and change.” He looked down at the woman’s dark-skinned face. Her eyelids fluttered and her wide, full lips twitched. Tangled, black, curly hair caught on the corner of her mouth, begging to be brushed aside. Her face was exquisite—dangerous to behold. He ignored the impulse to soften towards her. “I’m not sure I should take my eyes off this one.”
One of the guards, Drake Onous, smirked.
Dar looked up at Drake. His silver hair glinted in the sunlight like molten metal and his toothy grin beseeched a fist in the middle. “Wipe that grin off your face unless you want to muck the zhala stables by yourself,” Dar told the soldier, who immediately obeyed and went back to work.
More of the women were waking up and able to walk inside on their own. Their stumbling and dragging feet made it apparent they didn’t want to, but faced with his big brooding soldiers, they made no attempt at resistance. This dark shapely one he held didn’t have good sense—that or too much spirit. Either way, she was going to be troublesome for anyone taking her on and would need to be broken before assimilation. He was glad he wouldn’t be in charge of such matters.
Dar sighed and pushed through the double doors to head into the harem to drop her off. He would need to notify the prince and princess of the situation. Perhaps Princess Adrienne could spare time to welcome the women and ease their fears. The thought of facing their wrath—if they were anything like this one—made him shudder.
Chapter Three
Jasmine awoke to a headache and the sound of a toddler giggling in the background. The sound of a child’s laughter was so stunningly unexpected that Jasmine thought at first she’d been stuck in a horrendous nightmare. She opened her eyes to see a young woman with a lean figure and amazing hair bouncing a chubby little girl on her lap. They were both looking at her where she lay on mounds of pillows.
“I thought you’d never wake up. Your cousin Samara said you’re a sound sleeper. She wasn’t kidding! But no one can sleep through my daughter’s antics. I’m Adrienne. Well, Princess Adrienne now. This is my daughter Lily. Welcome to planet Chalcydon.”
None of it was a dream. She was stupid for daring to think so optimistically. Jasmine scooted to a sitting position, looking around at her new strange surroundings. A vast area stretched around them with vaulted ceilings supported by fluted columns. Seating areas arranged in recessed circles in the floor were filled with embroidered pillows and many of the women she’d been held captive with were sitting, eating, and talking. She turned her attention back to the princess. “Where’s Samara? And my friend Cyndy?”
“We’re here,” Cyndy said, coming up behind her. Her sleek black hair was clean and held in place by a thin headband of lace. She’d changed from the hideous, papery hospital-like gowns they’d had on into a long, shimmery red gown that flowed around her petite figure.
“Hey, cuz. How you feeling? We brought you some water and fruit. I can’t remember the last time I ate,” Samara said, sitting beside Jasmine on the pillows. In her hand she held something that looked like a shiny-skinned plum but was a bright blue. Samara’s hair curled in soft waves around her face, and she wore a billowy white dress that puffed around her hips as she sat.
Jasmine looked down at herself and saw she still had on the hospital gown. The neck and armholes gaped, revealing side boob. She grimaced. “Do I get new clothes too? Damn, girl. I never thought your hair would look so good natural. You’ve always had weave or perm.”
Samara touched her hair. “Me either. Something in the water here does it really good. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have to work on tangles for an hour. They’ve got these amazing creams too.”
She wasn’t sure good water, new clothes, and hair cream were worth leaving home for. She was also deeply suspicious of the aliens’ motives for kidnapping them from her home planet. Princess Adrienne seemed trustworthy enough—especially with that adorable kid. Jasmine took the fruit she’d been offered and sniffed it. It smelled sweet and citrusy. She took a tentative nibble, found it to her liking, and devoured it while the group watched. She licked her lips. “Sorry. Don’t know what came over me.”
Samara handed her a goblet of water, which she took.
“You’ve been in stasis on a Lamian spaceship. So we’ve been told,” Adrienne said. “The trip from Earth took a long time. I’m not sure how long it was for me either, but I think they’ve gotten better with their
collections. Or more careful…”
Jasmine choked on her water. “So we have been abducted by aliens?”
Adrienne looked troubled. “Yes. But it wasn’t our intention to take more captives. And by ‘our’ I mean the people of this planet. There was a miscommunication.”
“Are you sure you’re not suffering from Stockholm syndrome?” Jasmine asked. She didn’t want to look rude and ungrateful, but being forced to accept an entirely different way of life after being kidnapped was more than she could swallow without complaint.
Princess Adrienne sighed. “I know where you’re coming from. I wish I could guarantee your happiness and acceptance, but no one can do that.” She stood and captured the attention of the crowded area. “I want to welcome you all to our planet, Chalcydon.”
The crowd quieted, turning their faces to Adrienne. She stood in the center of the room, regal as a queen. “I was once like you all, taken from Earth without my consent. Before the old king was overthrown, he had orders with the traders, the grey aliens, to select more women for his harem. Unfortunately, to keep trade agreements viable, our king has been forced to accept their shipment. You will be unable to return to your homes.”
Gasps and cries echoed through the room.
Jasmine stood up. “What are you going to do with us?” she asked. “Are we prisoners?”
Adrienne shook her head. “No. You are free to move about these quarters and the city. Chalcydon suffered a crisis which decimated the female population. They need you as much or more than you need them.”
