Authors: Stormie Kent
Shunyuan turned to the Orpuwanou. “I’m going to enjoy
killing you.”
The female Trogo guard kicked him. “This one has a unique
scent and form. He also has the skin color that has sold so well lately.”
Her khaki uniform was painted with the blood of her fellow
Trogo. Misplaced satisfaction welled up in Shunyuan.
The Orpuwanou casually rubbed his hands down the sides of
his long brown vest. “And to think he just walked right into his captivity.
Amazing.”
Free and brave or die. His freedom was gone. No matter what
it took, he was going to get away and come back for these Trogo and Orpuwanou.
He would escape and he wouldn’t rest until these aliens were expelled from the
planet and all of Earth was free again.
“Free and brave or die,” he whispered to the earth. “I
promise.”
One week later, Shunyuan shuffled through the dimly lit
cell. His chains rattled. His wrists and ankles were cuffed and the cuffs were
connected by a chain to his waist. The chains chafed his exposed skin. His
captors hadn’t allowed him or any of the other men clothes. He looked around
the cage at the other men.
Six men leaned against the metal back wall. Two paced. Three
kept their faces turned away and buried in their hands or arms. He tried not to
breathe deeply. The closed-in space held the faint stench of a back alley. Too
many bodies were packed in too small an area.
He could hear the soft keening cries from the women’s cage directly
across from them. Most of the women were held there. One or two of the women
were kept in isolation and Shunyuan only saw them at the auctions. Those were
the women the aliens judged as exotic. They had hefty sale prices, attendants
and guards. Their fate was set. They were to be sex slaves based on some
criteria unknown to Shunyuan but established by the slavers.
Shunyuan knew his future. He was to be an arena fighter. He
was given double rations and exercised each day. They never freed him from the
wrist chains. They didn’t dare. All he wanted was to use his chains to strangle
the Trogo guards who held the keys to his freedom.
“Shunyuan,” Gira called.
He turned to his former team member. He wanted to turn away
from her small, firm breasts and taut thighs. It felt wrong to see her
uncovered. She was a fighter. In the cells they were all just bodies. He
focused on her face and the fall of her black hair. He wouldn’t shame her by
turning away in embarrassment.
“Are you well, Gira?”
Even through the distance and the dim lighting he could see
her grimace.
“What does it matter? We’ll never escape. What is there to
keep our strength for? You’ve seen them. They drag the women away and when they
bring them back they are…”
Broken.
Shunyuan allowed his eyes to stray to the
corner of the women’s cell where the Trogo’s latest victim huddled. His fists
clenched.
“They haven’t come for you, Gira.”
“I’m listed as an arena fighter. They don’t do more than
absentmindedly fondle me. What happens when we leave here? What happens if the
others come for us? You know as well as I do they have no idea what is behind
the illusion the aliens are projecting of this place. If they come here they
will just be captured as well.”
“We have to keep alert, Gira. There will be an opportunity
for us to escape and warn them. There has to be.”
She looked away. “I wonder how Arthur is.”
Arthur had been sold the first day.
The door at the end of the hall opened. Shunyuan shifted
back into a darker corner of the cell. The Orpuwanou entered flanked by two
Trogo guards and an overly muscled green man.
Private sale.
Instead of
coming to the auction block some aliens came and purchased slaves in private.
“I have several male slaves here large enough for the
arena,” the Orpuwanou said.
The green man answered, yet Shunyuan was unable to
understand him. The Orpuwanou had a special watch that allowed humans to
understand the aliens’ instructions.
“You, warrior, step forward.” The Orpuwanou pointed directly
at Shunyuan’s shaded corner.
Shunyuan’s jaw firmed. He pulled tightly against the wrist
chains and felt the bite of the metal against his back. He wouldn’t resist. The
Orpuwanou had a controller, which sent shockwaves through the chains and
directly into the wearer’s body. The pain was excruciating, liquefying the
muscles for minutes masquerading as eternity. He’d lost the contents of his
stomach more than once trying to protect the weaker in their company. He
shuffled forward slowly.
The green man grunted then began pointing at other men and
women as the Orpuwanou typed on his electronic pad. Gira wasn’t chosen. He
glanced at her briefly as he was led from the cell. Her eyes were trained on
him. She clutched the cell bars. For the first time since he’d met the woman
seven months before, her eyes were glassy with tears.
He mouthed the words, “Stay strong.” Then he was roughly
pulled away.
* * * * *
The all-female crew aboard the
Dovian Heart
was more
excited than they had been in months.
“The Gastronian vessel is almost in range, Acia.”
Captain Acia smiled. “Good, maybe this time we can pay for
another spacecraft with the empire’s generosity.”
She felt buoyant as all but Ora laughed. Ora was still
closest in temperament to the peace-loving people of their world. They were
Dovian females doing everything contrary to what many felt was the nature of
Dovians, male and female alike. Time and circumstances had changed her. She
didn’t know whether it was for good or ill.
She piloted a spacecraft instead of safeguarding the land.
She kicked ass. There wasn’t a passive or timid cell in her body. She’d killed
the gentle part of herself long ago.
Berisa pulled the controller for the virtual, top-mounted
gun down to action level. “How much do you think the Gastronian Empire will add
to the bounty on each of our heads for this?”
“They have enough slave labor credits to spare. Why
shouldn’t they spend it looking for us?” Cheris replied.
“Is it too much to hope this is a House To’a vessel?” Acia
held her breath.
Figia’s fingers flew across her control panel. “No, the ship
is registered to House Baug’na.”
Next time.
Acia’s heart rate slowed slightly. She
focused her attention on the battle at hand. These Gastronians may not have
been her demons, but they needed killing just the same.
“In range!” Berisa called.
“Fire at will,” Acia said.
The Gastronian vessel attempted to return fire, but the
Dovian
Heart
was well protected. Unfortunately for the Gastronians, the last
bounty the crew had reaped from a Gastronian ship had paid for better shields
and the latest in black-market top-of-the line weaponry and tractor beams.
“We’re locked on, Acia. They aren’t going anywhere and I’ve
jammed the distress signal.”
“Excellent. Suit up. Let’s see what we’ve earned in a day’s
work.” Acia smiled in anticipation while rising from her chair.
They left Ruvia on board and headed to the boarding lock. A
heavy corridor attached the
Dovian Heart
to the Gastronian ship’s
doorway. They approached cautiously. This was the part of the mission that
always made her body and mind sing in unison. Every part of her felt
electrified and alert.
Heat spread over Acia and she gasped.
Cheris turned sharply. “Is it starting? Do you want to stay behind?”
Acia gritted her teeth. “No, it comes and goes. I will be
fine.”
Cheris nodded. She understood. Her first fervor was years
past. Acia was a late bloomer. Sweat pearled all over her body. Unfortunately
the fervor couldn’t be stopped and was often debilitating. It was also one of
the main reasons why the Dovians had been conquered and sold as exotics. What
slave owner wouldn’t want a sex slave who would attack you for sex if denied
during the fervor?
Figia released the pressure on the Gastronian doorway,
opening the portal. Laser-fire blasts greeted them through the half-opened
door. Acia flattened against the wall and returned fire. She forced her
thoughts from her tingling body and concentrated.
Cheris activated a Scrambler and tossed it into the portal.
Clicking and then a large bang rang out. Male Gastronian groans filled the air
and she relished the sound. The crew of the
Dovian Heart
surged through
the portal. She ignored the haze and stench of the Scrambler and fired on and
killed any man with green skin.
They made headway inside, fooling the much stronger men with
smoke and flares. A strong arm grabbed Acia and she pressed a button on her
belt. A knife shot out from her gear in the back, stabbing the Gastronian who
held her. His inhalation of air was the only sound he made before falling to
the ground. She was physically weaker than the Gastronian, but way cleverer.
Acia blasted or stabbed each Gastronian in her path. The
fervor burned through her body, splitting her concentration between controlling
the pain and staying alive.
Everything around her grew still and quiet. She glanced
around at the carnage. Acia hit a button on her communicator. “Ruvia, live
count.”
“Aside from the six of you there are six alive in the cargo
section. Not Gastronian.”
“Slaves maybe?” Cheris asked.
“I’ve never seen these vitals before. They did just leave
the new planet in the twelve thousandth galaxy,” Ruvia said.
“Earth,” Acia said.
They searched the Gastronian vessel thoroughly. Acia stopped
repeatedly to clench her thighs together and wait out each new wave of the
fervor. They each piled valuables near the portal for Ruvia to collect with a
bot. She reached the large cargo area in the rear of the ship. Dealing with
scared newly enslaved people was time consuming. Her battle high had quickly
worn off. Only her practical side was left to deal with any trouble in the
cargo bay.
She found the three men and three women shackled to the
floor in a corner of the cargo area near the doors. She could see brands
tattooed inside their wrists. The swirling scrollwork was obscene in its
beauty. They wore rough-hewn pullovers. At least they had clothes. Most slaves
weren’t allowed any.
The aliens ranged in colors from fair and red-haired to
brown- and black-haired. Some cowered, but one, a male, stood as straight as he
could and faced the
Dovian Heart
crew. He looked prepared to do them
harm with his shackled body and teeth if necessary.
Acia could not look away from the man. He was large and
muscled, his face chiseled in such a way to make him more rugged than handsome.
His skin was the medium-brown of
oduei
bread. His lips were full and his
eyes slanted. Straight, heavy black hair framed his face, drawing her gaze and
giving her unexpected pleasure.
This warrior-man fascinated Acia. She felt the fervor, which
had subsided some during the battle, flare to life. Heat and tension settled
between her legs and her nipples pulled taut. Wetness soaked her panties.
“Keep the tall one, Acia. You will need him,” Cheris said.
“We don’t traffic in humanoids, Cheris.” She blew out
slowly, trying to dispel the urge to go to him and rub her body against his.
“Ask him.” Cheris nodded.
The male spoke in a language she could not understand. She
needed to calibrate her Language Interpreter. The LI would need to adjust to
this new language.
“You want me to ask a perfect stranger, an alien slave, to
keep me sexually satisfied while I go through my first fervor? He could be a
murderer.”
“What other choice do you have? Go all the way to Dovia? You
can’t stop staring. You want him. The fervor wants him. Tell him we will
transport them to a friendly planet if he does this for you.”
The fervor flared higher, streaking through her entire body.
Tendrils of heat branched out from her core. She’d waited too long to find a
man to help her through her time.
Acia took a deep breath to steady herself. “Unchain them,
but guard your weapons.”
Acia instructed her crew to adjust their LIs. Acia adjusted
her LI as well. There was mumbling among the alien men and women as they were
released. Finally she could make out words from their foreign tongue.
“You, warrior, I would speak with you.” She cursed her
voice, which she knew sounded as sweet as flowers in a light breeze.
“You’ve freed us.” He stepped closer. “Or is this a trick?”
“There is no trick. But maybe I haven’t done you any favors.
You are free to take this vessel and leave,” Acia replied. A new sheen of
perspiration released from her pores as she tried to contain the fervor. The
presence of a humanoid male made it almost impossible. “My crew and I will be
appropriating the cargo.”
He grimaced. “We wouldn’t know how to fly this ship. We
would be easily targeted sitting here. Can you take us to a safe place or back
to Earth?”
Acia held herself rigid even though her body was demanding
she display for this man signs she was ready to mate. If she bent over to let
him mount her she would expire on the spot. “You aren’t even in the same galaxy
as your Earth anymore, warrior. Passage on our vessel is limited and—”
“There is a way you could pay the way for your people. Of
course they would still have to work to earn their keep,” Cheris said.
“No, Cheris.” It was difficult to talk through clenched
teeth.
“How would I do that?” he asked. He frowned at Acia’s first
officer.
Acia raised her hand to halt Cheris’s next words. “It is not
something I would ask of—”
“As the first officer to your captain, you hold rank, but as
the woman who raised you, I demand my right to speak.”
Acia clamped her lips together. The other woman had raised
her and protected her during their enslavement. Cheris was the person who
deserved parenting rights over Acia. She deserved the privilege of counseling
her.