by Lucee Joie
“You have disobeyed commands as well as orchestrated your own escape after I gave instructions to the contrary,” Rukkali says. “Because of this, you will be punished.”
I look him in the eye, trying to act like I am not scared. I will fight him any given chance I have. He is not a strong man but he is a smart one and the guards surrounding him tells me that I won’t get a chance to attack. I wonder where Beth is and attempt to scan the room.
“Bring out the other prisoner,” he says and I have a sinking feeling about what is about to happen next.
Beth is brought into the room. Her hair is messed up and when she throws her head back in resistance, I can see a dark welt on her forehead as well as a dribble of blood at her lip. My heart freezes in terror as she is dragged into the room. The whites of her eyes flash as she whimpers at the guards. I want to run at her, to drag the guards off her, to shred them with my sharp claws, the ones I have kept hidden from Beth for fear of terrorizing her. Already, I can feel them starting to sprout, ready to attack.
“Horgeer!” Beth shrieks as soon as she sees me and I wish that she hadn’t. Things would go a whole lot easier if they thought we were not so connected to each other. I look at Rukkali and see the glint in his eyes. He knows that I will do anything to protect her.
But he knew that already. Beth’s response was nothing more than a confirmation of my earlier behavior.
“It’s alright,” I say, knowing it is already too late to try and hide our attraction now that Beth has broadcast it so directly to those in the room. However, it is not all her fault, I have also shown my feelings, broadcast them loud and clear ever since I punched Ece. Only an idiot would believe that I wasn’t attracted to Beth now.
I may be reassuring outwardly to Beth but, internally, I know that it won’t be all right. I have witnessed something similar once before when a human has managed to escape. While that one had fled alone, her breeding partner had been enamored with her and as soon as this was discovered, the human was killed. But first, everyone had been gathered, humans and Ocheks alike.
It had sent out a very direct message to us all. One that I never thought I would contest. Then Beth had entered my life and now I was stuck right in the middle of a much worse mess.
We will both die; of that, I had no doubt. However, that probably won’t happen for some time yet, and that was what terrified me the most.
Knowing that there is no hope for us, I scanned the room more obviously this time. I need to know exactly who is present and where the exits are. Besides the general, there are two guards holding Beth as well as the two restraining me.
I have taken on that many during my training and these guards were small for my kind. Yet, it would likely not end in my favor as each guard had their own laser gun and that would stop me, quite literally, dead in my attack.
However, I was willing to risk my own demise if it meant that Beth was safe, that she would be able to escape. It would be a longshot, if she were to get free of this room, she would be escaping into a ship she didn’t know the layout for. In fact, considering she had only been here for such a short amount of time, she didn’t even really know enough about this whole new world that had opened up to her in order to be able to really organize a plan of attack. Not that I think she would attack.
“Ece,” General Rukkali says and I freeze. I want to close my eyes, to brace myself against what I know is coming. Instead, I look to the closest door, the one that is now hissing open.
My ex-friend marches into the room and I want to smash in his teeth. He gives me a cocky smile and my stomach heaves.
“At your service,” Ece says as he comes to a standstill in front of the general.
“Bring the woman forward,” Rukkali instructs and I lurch at Ece. The guards holding me expect it, though, and their grip tightens as soon as I move. “I give authorization to enact stun on the Ochek.”
One of my guards releases my hand. I can feel him shifting weight behind me and I try to wriggle free, to give him something to concentrate on rather than the stun gun that he is reaching for.
A jolt goes through me and I know I was unsuccessful. However, it is from Rukkali’s own weapon. It has given the guard enough time to ready his own weapon and there is nothing I can do but wait for the blinding agony to subside.
“Horgeer,” the general says as the pain eases and I look at him. “How much does this woman mean to you?”
“She is my breeder,” I say, knowing they won’t believe me but I lie anyway. I try hard not to look at Beth because I fear the pain I will see in her eyes.
“Wrong answer!” Rukkali roars as he slaps Beth across the face.
I roar out my fury, my anger blinding me against everything else. Which means I get hit with the stun gun once more.
This time, when I open my eyes, the general is standing next to Beth, his hand stroking her breast while she fights against his evil touch.
The guards have me held so tightly that I can hardly breathe. I know I need to control myself, that I will only get another dose of their fearsome weapon if I continue to struggle. I need to be smart about this, I think as I clench my teeth, hoping I can control myself until a situation presents itself in which we might be able to escape–or die trying. Because, to be honest, a swift death might be the very best outcome we can hope for at the moment.
“Stop it,” Beth whimpers. It breaks my heart. I look at her, really look at her, trying to calm myself but her face shows all of her pain and her tears slay me above all else.
The general responds by ripping Beth’s shirt. The buttons pop in all directions and her breasts are exposed for everyone to see. She struggles against her nudity and I roar once more, feeling my control slipping as my anger rumbles and reverberates around the small room.
“This human is a breeder,” General Rukkali says as he pinches one of Beth’s nipples. “She is under the control of the Galactic Union and, therefore, my jurisdiction.”
The man twists Beth’s nipple painfully and she yelps out her agony. I pull hard against the guards restraining me but they are ready. A roar of anguish shudders through me. The sound rumbles throughout the room and echoes off the walls.
He slaps Beth before pulling her head backward. Leaning in, he kisses her hard on the lips.
I lurch, one knee coming up and twisting to kick one of the guards in the groin. My aim is close but not close enough. I get stunned again for my efforts.
“Ece, this woman is now yours,” the general says once my eyes roll back into place. Ece steps forward and nods at Rukkali. The fury comes on me like a blinding light and I react with a single ambition.
I want Ece dead.
Ece takes hold of Beth, one arm around her middle as he flings her over his shoulder.
“Thank you, general,” he says as Beth pummels his back. “I will treat her as a breeder should be treated.”
My anger is so white-hot that it triggers me, my muscles clench as I roar at the ceiling. Unclenching my fists, I allow my claws to spring forth and I slice at the guards. I swat one viciously before the other realizes and points his stun gun at me. I smile as blood pours from the injured guard’s face.
It is not enough, though. The second guard fiddles with his gun for just a moment and as I leap at him, he unleashes the weapon on me.
The laser hits me with such force that I blackout.
Chapter Fifteen: Beth
I spit at Ece as soon as he drops me into the cell. It hits him across the bruise that Horgeer gave him and I smile. Ece ignores my action as he backs from the room and locks the door. Once on the other side, he smiles at me briefly before exiting the room.
I sink down onto the cold white floor. My body is shaking and I can barely keep it all together. Trembling hands pull my wrecked shirt together but I cannot hold it closed. Instead, I wrap my arms around my knees and cry out my terror at the situation.
This feels worse than that first moment when I woke up in this alien world. Somehow, that day now
feels normal compared to my new hell.
A guard walks past and makes the obligatory rude gestures while commenting on the fact that he thinks I’m a whore.
Nothing has changed and I continue to weep.
When I finally stop, I notice that Ece remains by the cell. His body is still and his gaze stony as he watches me. I glare at him through my tears.
Beyond him, there are other cages like mine and I am suddenly fascinated by what I see. Although, horrified is probably a better term.
I am in a room that is divided by cages, only steel bars divide myself from the other prisoners. All of which are women. Human women. My heart sinks.
“How many more are here like me?” I ask quietly but Ece ignores me, instead choosing to quit staring at me and finally leave.
I breathe a sigh of relief as he departs but it doesn’t settle my nerves.
“Who are you?” I ask to no one in particular. A couple of the women closest to me lift their heads and gaze at me. A brunette is directly in front of me and her hair is all matted up. Next to her is a blond woman. Her hair is cropped close so it has fared better. Still, she looks like shit.
The brunette shakes her head before looking pointedly at the guard near their cage. I bite my lip as her head ducks back down and I feel the urge to cry once more.
Both of them are dressed in rags. It reminds me that my own shirt has been torn. I look downwards and assess the damage. There is only one button left and I quickly push it through its corresponding hole. It doesn’t help much, though, as it is the very bottom button and my entire chest is still exposed. Slowly, I pull a piece of material through the next hole up and use a long thread leftover from the missing button to tie the material back on itself. Another hole is secure. I fiddle with the remaining ones and finally get my shirt closed off once more.
After that, I sit in my new cell and I wonder where Horgeer is, whether he is still alive. Every time I contemplate his death a lump hitches in my throat and I have to swallow back my pain.
I try to remain confident, to imagine that my burly lover has somehow defied the odds and broken free from captivity and is now on his way to rescue me.
As time stretches out in front of me, my conviction that he is safe and alive wanes until I am wallowing in the destitution of his loss. The certainty that there is no rescue for me, that my living hell has only really, truly started, settles over me like a grey fog. I wish for death more keenly now, something that I never did, even upon waking up that first time and discovering my fate here.
The overhead lights eventually blink out and the area is bathed in darkness. Four lights remain on, far in the distance and I wonder if they are doorway lights.
“Psst!” I finally hear and sit up straight. “It’s me, from earlier.”
“Who are you?” I repeat, no longer even sure that I care.
“My name’s Shirley,” the woman replies.
“I’m Rebecca,” says another.
“I’m Clare.”
And, suddenly, the room is filled with the voices of captive women.
“Why are you here?” Shirley asks once the cacophony has died down.
“I escaped,” I say, not sure what to call Horgeer. “Horgeer helped me.”
“Who?”
“The alien I was assigned to.”
“Ah, yep, gotcha.”
“Most of us are old breeders,” Shirley replied. “Ones that never fell pregnant or who have only supplied sons.”
My stomach drops. “There are so many of you.”
Up until now, I had an almost idealistic focus on why I was here. Previously, I had willed myself to believe–thanks to Horgeer’s affection–that I was helping a race, that I was special, hand-selected even. Now, knowing how many women were in this area, I knew that was not the case. The Galactic Union must have been abducting many more than I imagined. And, for what? To discard them if they didn’t serve their purpose?
“What happens to you all now?” I ask. These are questions that I feel I should ask, not really because I am interested thanks to the funk of my own melancholy.
“We’ll be shipped off to the auctions and sold to the highest bidder. After that, who knows, I’m yet to meet a woman who has returned to tell the tale.”
I shudder and my body goes cold with fear as I wake up inside. Suddenly death doesn’t seem to be my only option anymore–in fact, my future could be even worse. “How long have you been here?”
“In the holding bay? About a week. However, prior to that, I was a breeder for what amounted to several years.”
Even though I can see the horrible result of her situation, I still want to ask Shirley about whether or not she loved her alien, or if she produced any children, but bite my tongue. I couldn’t imagine having a baby and then having to give it up.
“Has anyone ever escaped from here?” I ask.
“Never. Some have tried, though. They all died.”
I chew on my lip as I think things through. Perhaps death really would be better than wherever I was going to end up, that my first assumption of wishing oblivion on myself was the correct one to make. Yet, there is a new fever inside of me, one that is starting to smolder, to keep me going. The fate of these women is now burning me, consuming me even if I am trying to push their safety aside as I wallow in my own terrible pity.
“When are the guards on?” The question is out of my mouth before I have even identified the hope that is now rising.
“All day. At night, they do sporadic patrols. Mostly they come through two or three times. I expect more tonight, though, with you being brought in.”
“Are any of you planning to escape?”
“Well, I’m always on the lookout for a way out,” Shirley replies and I hear a few murmurs of affirmation around me. “Death would be better than this.”
“Damn straight it would,” someone else echoes.
“I thought you said that the women who had tried to escape died, I assumed that meant escape wasn’t an option to you anymore.”
“Just because some died doesn’t mean we are averse to the idea. Quite the opposite, really.”
I know their pain, I understand it. I want to die also. If Horgeer no longer lives, what is the point anymore? I don’t want to be stuck up here, away from my own world, and yet I see no other option because I have no idea how to get home. However, my fighting spirit, my will to survive against all of the odds is rekindled with the other women present.
“Then, let’s do this,” I say as a delicious fire of rebellion courses through the group.
I settle in after that, learning everything I can about the layout of the holding bay as well as the known schedule for the guards and any that might be open to suggestion, surprised at myself for the change in me.
Chapter Sixteen: Horgeer
The lights buzz on and my head throbs with the sudden brightness.
Everything is blurry as my eyes try to adjust, as my body still reels from the effects of the stun gun. Even still, immediately, I know that I am in the male holding bay. Not a great place to be but not the worst.
A guard enters and pushes a tray of food under the bars. I grab at it and eat without thinking. It’s been a while since my last meal and I need to keep my strength up if I want to escape. Because that is the only thing on my mind right now. Nothing else exists outside of this singular thought.
Once finished, I look around me. Not many of the cells are occupied and I weigh up my options. If I can get a dozen men on my side, if they are strong enough to overwhelm the guards, if we can grab enough laser guns, we just might stand a chance. There are so many ifs to my assumptions that I wonder if I should just give up and let the universe take me wherever it wants.
But then the image of Beth enters my mind. Not the terrified version of her I saw most recently but the woman from before our escape. I remember the feel of her touch, the warmth of her embrace.
I can’t give up, not for her sake. If I am worried about my fate, and I know all a
bout this world, then Beth must be beyond terrified. I have always known this life, knew that other planets and life forms existed. Beth, on the other hand, had been thrust into the middle of the galaxy only to learn that her kind were not the only people in the universe. She has had to learn as she went along and still didn’t know everything important. In spite of all that, she has managed to take it all in and somehow also loves me in the process.
No, I have to keep going. I have to find a way out of this mess–for both of our sakes.
“How’s it going in there,” a familiar voice says and I look up into Ece’s face.
I jump up, my hands wrapping around the bars, wishing that they were Ece’s throat. “How dare you show up here! What, do you plan to gloat about your escapades with Beth?”
Ece shakes his head. “General Rukkali only said that. It’s worse than that, Beth is being sold off.”
“What?” I am disturbed by this update. It is something I have never envisaged. She could end up anywhere across the galaxy and in any horrible situation. I bang my forehead against the bars.
“The auction is tomorrow.”
“Are you buying?” I can’t work out why Ece is here other than to relish in my distress.
“No, I just thought you should know.”
I don’t believe Ece for a minute. We may have been friends until recently but there is no way he is trying to make amends. No, he is as smug as fuck about the fact that Beth and I have been ripped apart. And, this makes me madder than anything else. Ece has always had access to anything he wants. Everything is always at his disposal and this is likely what has created the arrogant streak I have often ignored about him in the past. Now, he had access to my Beth, even if he said he didn’t, and it wasn’t fair that he could still have whatever he wants.
I glare through the bars and Ece considers me, stares me down like I am a creature and not a man. I fight the urge to rumble at him, to reach out between the bars and swipe at him. Instead, I continue to gaze at him, to watch as he appears to grapple internally against something. A couple of times it appears like he is ready to speak, to tell me something else but continues to remain silent.
