by Iaz Grant
“He has a perverse preference for human women.” Unbidden, the words of Sordana rose in her mind and brought with it an almost familiar fear. It seemed like fear had become her friend, she was always afraid now.
He made a feline motion with his claws and the young woman hurried forward.
“Go with her,” he told Helena and to the young woman, he just said, “take her away.”
Apparently, they were dismissed because he turned his back on them and walked down a path before going through a side door into what she assumed were his private quarters. He was so confident that she wouldn’t make a break for it. She toyed with the idea; she didn’t think the lady would be able to stop her.
“But, where would I go,” she didn’t even know where she was so where would she start running too. The surrounding wall seemed high and stable, and she thought it unlikely that he didn’t have the security of some sort guarding this place.
“I’m Cora,” the lady was talking to her. “I will take you to where you’ll stay.” She gently pulled on Helena’s arm to get her moving.
“You need to shower and change into clean clothes,” she continued.
“Okay,” Helena replied numbly and then thought to introduce herself. Old habits were hard to break.
“I’m Helena” to which Cora responded by smiling.
Instinctively, she liked Cora. Something about her eyes put her at ease and gave her the assurance that she meant her no harm.
She continued with Cora down the same path he had gone through another door into a long gleaming foyer. At the end of the foyer on the left, Cora threw open a door and stepped aside for her to precede her into the room. Her eyes raked the mosaic-tiled floor, the silken couches, arched windows and with a sense of impending doom, the bed beautifully draped with an expensive looking fabric. She walked up to the windows, heavily barred with closely set shutters.
“Of course,” she thought, sighing inwardly.
Through the window, she could see it was a bright day still and breathtaking. It was the perfect kind of day to take a leisure stroll.
“I will prepare a bath for you.” It was Cora’s voice, bringing her back to the present. She had withdrawn into herself and had forgotten she was even there.
“Thank you,” she might as well freshen up. Maybe she would feel more like herself after getting cleaned up. She saw Cora enter an adjoining room and before long, she could hear the soothing sound of water, along with a sweet smell that permeated the room.
“I added some scent portions to your bath water.” Cora came out of the room which Helena guessed to be the bathroom.
“I will be back with a change of clothes and other essentials,” she said and then left Helene alone.
Silence. Again. It was deafening her. She quickly shed the excuse for an article of clothing she had on leaving only her underwear and then, entered the bathroom.
She felt so powerless about everything that had happened and continued to happen to her. At least, this, washing up herself, she could control. And even if it were for only a few minutes, she would relish that control. All of this was going through her mind absently as she took off the remainder of her clothing.
It seemed like her heart stopped, and then started beating again in overtime. She had attributed every uncomfortable feeling of the last days to everything that had been going on and had not spared them more than a moment’s thought.
Now, she realized that she should have. Right there in front of her was blood on her lady wear. She knew since it was the first day, it was going to rush like a floodgate had been opened. She didn’t think even the beast was so beastly as to want to be with a woman who was shedding heavily.
Tears pooled in her eyes and she thought that perhaps, the gods had not completely forsaken her after all.
Chapter Four
On 582nd station, all hell had broken loose. It seemed like every district, every family, had had to commit a loved one to nature. From the subsistence, peasant families to the affluent, high-ranking ones, nobody was left out of this loss.
Bodies in the square…everywhere.
Men, women…by the gods, children…little children.
Some of their soldiers were checking the bodies for signs of life, even though it didn’t seem likely that any of them could have survived the assault.
General Yule was at his wit’s end. He could sense the undercurrent of anger beneath the grief and knew it was only a matter of time before people spewed their grievances, most likely in a violent way and then, all hell would break loose. That could be a recipe for an internal war, the likes of which they had never experienced. He was not going to let that happen.
As if that wasn’t enough trouble, three women were missing, one of them the daughter of a councilman. He had to find her and find her fast or else…he didn’t even want to think about the possibility of not finding her. That simply was not an option.
He had a raging headache that threatened to split his head into two, and he had not had a moment’s rest since this whole mess started. Where the hell was Zebb?
“Lois,” he called his long-time secretary who was immediately in his office. She was a stout woman who had worked as his secretary for ten years running. She was efficient and looked like everyone’s mother. “Get me Captain Zebb, please.”
“At once sir.” She hurried out of his office and closed the door behind her.
He rested his throbbing head on the glass wall of his office and absently thought about pouring himself a stiff drink, just one to ease the tension. He dismissed the idea immediately; he needed his whole faculties in perfect working states, and drink was not going to help him with that. He had fought wars, he had been a field soldier for years before becoming a general and being saddled with administrative duties, he had killed as a matter of necessity. In war, it was either kill or be killed and a moment’s hesitation could mean your life or your team member’s – he had seen it all and then some. Still, he couldn’t say he had gotten used to any of it.
What kind of animals slaughter innocent people and then kidnapped their women?
“Sir.” What was it again, this time, he thought irritably, not making any effort to hide his irritation as he faced Lois again.
She appeared unruffled, “Sorry sir, I was unable to get through to Captain Zebb on his mobile, nor could I connect with his second in command”. She knew he was not going to like the next piece of information, “I reached Captain Boone, and he informed me that Captain Zebb went after the attackers, I checked, and I can pick up signals from his ship, it’s in transit, sir.” She finished.
A few years ago, a new technology had been introduced that made it possible to track vessels belonging to the military via their unique signature when they were in the field, wherever that might be. The purpose of this had been to improve on teamwork and coordination between home and field operations. It had proven useful to the military in the past and was sometimes the defining factor between victory and defeat.
“Damn it!” he should have known that Zebb was not going to follow orders from this one. He was a good soldier, the best they had, and he was always about what was best for the team but he should have known that once the Murdock girl was one of the women that were kidnapped, all bets were off. He would never admit it but he liked Zebb, and he respected him, he reminded him of himself when he was much younger.
The idiot was going to get himself killed. What kind of a person sets out on a mission to people who have already proven to be brutal with no regard whatsoever for human life. No preparation, no back-up, nothing! Who knew what he was going to encounter out there.
“Inform Lieutenant Dave to assemble his men. They have a mission.”
Lois nodded her head and left him with his thoughts.
Chapter Five
“I hope you are well rested, and you have had something to eat?” Sordara heard the man, Zebb – she had heard the yulron call him that- direct the question at her. It was obvious he was the leader of the
squad; there was a certain aura that radiated from him and bespoke leadership. Everyone, including the yulron, seemed to look up to him. They must respect him a lot. She might not know anything about him, but what she did know was he was the one who had killed Xander and for that singular act, he was a hero in her eyes.
She shifted her gaze to him, nodded, and then diverted her attention to the yulron who was at his side.
For some reasons unknown to her, the yulron seemed to dislike her. Her ears always seemed to be permanently flattened to her head whenever she was within her sight making her look most imposing and unwelcoming. And her eyes? They were even worse, fixing Sordana with a cold stare every time their eyes met.
Unfortunately for the yulron, she thought, she wasn’t one to be cowed easily. She had interacted with all sorts of people, human and alien alike, survived unspeakable situations and frankly, it would take more a whole lot more than cold eyes and swishing tails to make her cower in fear.
The yulron’s name was Karliah. Such a lovely name for such an unworthy recipient, she thought to herself. It should be a name that belongs to someone friendly and energetic, someone who embraced mankind and liked people, not this perpetual moody mass before her.
She observed that Karliah had been perusing her the whole time too. Their eyes met and held, a test of wills. Sordana averted her gaze first. After all, she thought sensibly; it wouldn’t be in her best interest to antagonize the people who had quite literally saved her life. She had nothing that she could call hers, and she was completely at their mercy.
Astonishingly, the thought of that, of being entirely dependent and at their mercy didn’t bring panic bubbling up into her throat. She just knew, inexplicably, that they were one of the good guys, including the sour-faced one. Her instincts were always on the mark and she was never wrong about these things.
What had the man, Zebb, asked her? Yes, she remembered.
“Yes, I am well rested and I have had something to eat. Thank you for your kindness”.
He was in front of her and pulled a seat to more be on the same level while speaking. Stillness descended upon the cabin, as if in anticipation of something. She wished with all of her heart that she had information that could help them find Helena but other than the name of that greedy, foul looking creature that had bought her, she didn’t know anything. Not where she had been taken, nothing. He looked so hopeful; it was painful looking at him and knowing that she was going to be the one to dash his hopes. He was trying to be a gentleman and not rush her, that much she could tell. Selfishly, she took advantage of this, her gaze drifting to the only other male in the cabin.
He looked young, 19, 20, maybe, with a full curly cap of brown hair and soulful blue eyes that made you want to call him beautiful. She smiled thinly to herself as she tried to imagine his reaction to being described that way. She was sure he wouldn’t take it as a compliment. He would very likely see it as an assault on the very essence of his masculinity.
She could sense his impatience, Zebb. It was coming off him in perceptible waves and he kept on tapping his fingers on his knees to a rhythm, unconsciously. But well, she still needed to form cohesive thoughts in her head if she was going to make any kind of sense.
Sordana noticed the pilot in charge of flying the craft. It wasn’t a strange occurrence to see a woman in such a position, in fact, it was commonplace now. She operated the numerous, flashing buttons with such ease like it was second nature to her that it was clear even to Sordara, who knew less than nothing about flying, that the woman was a master at her craft. She looked like the average human; there wasn’t anything extraordinary that stood out about her. It seemed to Sordara also that she was silent and looked to exist in another place, all on her own.
Inwardly, she sighed to herself. The waves coming from Zebb seemed to be drowning her, and she knew she couldn’t stall any further. I hope they find something useful in whatever I say.
“I’m not sure I can help you,” she began, facing Zebb.
“Whatever you can tell us will be more than we know and a great help,” he cuts in, actually putting a stop to her litany before it began. “Please, you were with Helena, you were there for the sale, what exactly transpired?”
Well, here goes, she thought.
She told them everything she knew starting from even before she met Helena. She narrated how slavers had invaded their station, killed the soldiers, men, women who were too old or too young and children. She told them she had been forcefully taken along with three other women from her station. She didn’t know the whereabouts of those women again. They had met two other women in the vessel when she had been taken. She tried not to reflect too deeply on the fear that had rendered her powerless and immobile, on the hopelessness of having no hope of rescue, the humiliation of things that had been done to her and that she had done to others and the sinking realization that that was to be the rest of her life.
“Helena and two other women joined us on the latter leg of our journey. We were kept in the cargo hold and occasionally summoned for the pleasure of the soldiers”. She saw Zebb’s eyes flash, and his mouth tightens at that. She could do nothing to cushion the blow, and he had been the one to ask questions, and he had to be prepared to take the answers, even the unpleasant ones.
“We were taken to Xanders,'” she went on, intentionally leaving out the details of the things that had transpired there. It wasn’t going to change anything, and it would just amount to more worry and grief. After which, she told them about the auction where each of them had been sold to the highest bidder.
The cabin was deathly silent. Everyone, including Karliah, was listening intently to what she had to say. She went on.
“There was this repulsive thing that had his eyes on Helena from the moment we were ushered out to the platform for the auction to begin. I heard him referred to as Chubbob, the conqueror. A stupid name that befits the name, I have to say. Seriously, have you ever heard of someone, or even something being addressed as Chubbob?”
“Anyway,” she rushed on to fill the silence, “he was positively a giant, taller than any human or alien, frankly any being I have ever set my eyes on, and that is not even the strangest part.”
“There is a stranger part?” The boy, Tyler cuts in abruptly, his voice full of palpable fear. She didn’t blame him.
She spared him a glance before returning her gaze to Zebb, whose eyes were intently on her. How was she going to say this and not sound like she was losing her mind?
“I didn’t recognize his race,” she said, and could see that they were confused.
“Well, I couldn’t place him in any known alien races and he definitely isn’t human.” It didn’t make any sense even to her but she had to say it, “I do not know what he is.”
Nobody moved or even spoke. It was as if they were all rendered incapable of movement right then.
Zebb’s eyes were cold, so cold they were giving her chills. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through his mind. Every other person seemed to be waiting for him to say something.
“Is there any other thing you can tell us? Anything at all that you can remember”.
She wasn’t sure this was important but well, it would cost her nothing to share it and who knows?
“I did pick up a conversation where someone specified he was the monarch of a distant planet, although they didn’t mention the particular name of the planet.
Zebb just nodded his head and excused himself.
It was going to be an uncomfortable ride. Sordana hoped with all of her heart that they find Helena, and soon.
Chapter Six
A bath truly left a refreshing feeling in its wake. Helena finished her bath feeling a bit more human. The muscles that were cramped in her neck seemed to be coming undone.
