by Zara Zenia
Bella looked at them curiously but didn't want to just ask about their relationship on their first meeting, so she simply smiled back.
"Bella was wanting to know how long before we can get her back to Earth," Jodie put in.
"Yeah, I've got some cops to bust for intimidation and some other's for excessive force, if I can get back to Earth to do it."
Melody frowned and looked at Devron, who shook his head. "Well, right now, that's a problem."
"What? Why?" Jodie asked.
"The hyperdrive got busted when we collided with Grell's ship before we boarded. Couple other things too, but we don't have the parts to make the repairs, and it's not like we can just pop in to Cania and pick up the parts." Melody replied. "It's going to take some time, and a hell of a lot of bargaining. Gaddis is doing what he can with Mabav and Jorwon's help, but it's slow going."
"Well shit. So how long are we talking?" Jodie asked.
Devron shook his head. "I don't know, honestly. We're working on a plan, but… it's not the best and it's kind of—"
"Wrong. Dev, we shouldn't be doing that, we're gonna get into more trouble—"
"We may not have a choice—"
Their conversation was hissed and carried a lot of looks between them, like they didn't want to say too much with Bella standing right there taking it all in. "So, assuming that plan your working on works, how long?"
"A month? Maybe two?" Devron answered.
Bella's jaw dropped. "That long with the plan? How long without one?"
Melody frowned. "Longer, maybe a couple more months?"
Sighing, Bella hunched her shoulders. "My pictures will be obsolete by then. Shit. My apartment, my car, all of it… it'll be gone by the time I get back. How the fuck…" she muttered.
Jodie slung an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, chick, if all your shit's gone, I got plenty to share on my island, it's not like I'm using it." She laughed. "We'll get you up and running again."
"Seriously? You'd do that?" Bella blinked at her, astonished that anyone would be that generous. "I mean, I'd pay you back, I swear, hell I owe you big time just for the rescue."
"My pleasure, chick. As long as you don't mind ill-gotten gains." Jodie grinned.
"Huh?" Belle asked, confused.
Laughing, Jodie said, "I think we'll save that for later, come on, I bet you're hungry. Let me show you the galley and then your bunk."
"Okay, thanks again, Melody, Devron, for the rescue I mean," Bella called over her shoulder as she and Jodie left the command room.
7
Bella walked with Jodie down the hall on the same floor as the command station. The galley was a larger room than Bella would have thought and seemed to be much fancier than she would have imagined too. There were things she recognized, like a sink and something that looked like a refrigerator, but those were the only things. The rest were alien tech.
"Okay, so ever seen Star Trek? It's kind of like that. You can select your menu here and choose from what's available. Or you can try Selithi dishes, which are really tasty and almost completely vegan, or check out some of the Canian dishes, they are mostly vegan as well."
"They're all vegans?" Bella questioned.
"Well, no, they are omnivores, like us, but we don't have a large freezer onboard. The previous owner apparently was mostly vegan and didn't require a large freezer or he planned to make numerous trips back to Cania for supplies, who knows how the wealthy think?"
"What do you mean previous owner?"
Jodie grinned. "We're space pirates, remember, the ship is stolen. I'll let Melody tell you that particular story."
"Okay." Bella's eyes were wide as she took in everything. "So how does this work?"
"Okay, so choose your menu, Human, Selithi, or Canian?"
Bella gave her a look. "Human, obviously."
"Right. Okay, so we've still got some burgers, there's spaghetti, mac and cheese—"
"A burger and mac and cheese is fine."
"Okay, so you push this button for those, and then it will ask you how you want it cooked…"
"I don't know, I don't want it raw, but I don't want it charcoal either." Bella twisted her lips to the side. "So medium-well?"
"Great, you enter that here. And… voila," Jodie pulled out a burger on a plate with macaroni. "Your lunch, my lady."
Bella laughed and took the plate. "That was quick."
"Yeah, crazy alien tech. It defies logic, right?" She grinned as she put in her own order. A second later she had a plate of something that looked and smelled like mushroom soup.
"What's that?" Bella asked as they sat down at one of the tables.
"It's a Selithi dish, they harvest mushrooms on Cania, it's like their major food source. It's so yummy. Try a bite?" She offered her the spoon.
Bella leaned in and smelled the soup, it did smell really good, creamy, and rich. Hesitantly, she took a tiny bite and then lifted her face, smiling. "That's really good."
"Told ya so," Jodie answered as some more Canians and a Selithi came into the galley. "Hey guys, this is Bella. Bella, meet Mabav, Jorwon, Gaddis — he's Sina's mate — Rayhan and Lezin. Where's Naela?"
Each of them raised a hand in greeting at their names.
"Naela stopped in to see Devron and Melody about our little problem down in the brig," Rayhan answered.
"Ah, yeah. How's that going?" Jodie asked, and then took a bite of her soup.
Bella sat listening, eating her burger and mac and cheese which were actually really good too.
"Not cooperating at all." Mabav shook his head.
"I would expect not, considering everything. So, what's the plan then?" Jodie answered.
Again, Bella got the feeling they were dancing around a subject and working hard to keep her in the dark about it. However, she'd figured out they were talking about Terrex by the mention of the brig, unless they were holding other prisoners down there. She frowned.
"We can see if we can get what we need from one of the mining colonies, if we can keep off the Canian police radar," Jorwon answered.
"Great, the asteroid belt. We'll need a new hull if we head in there," Jodie replied.
"Naw, Rayhan and Devron are expert flyers, they'll get us through without a mark." Lezin chuckled.
"The mining colony is in the asteroid belt?" Bella asked.
Mabav nodded. "Yes, we mine the asteroids for minerals needed on Cania. Jorwon, Naela, Devron and I were all miners before all of this."
Bella looked at the others. "What about you?"
"I was a retired security officer," Rayhan replied taking a bite of some kind of sandwich.
"I was chief security officer for Egeon Nor," Lezin said with a smirk, "may the bastard rest in hell, as Melody says."
"Sina and I helped Devron and Melody rescue his mother, and we stayed," Gaddis said softly.
"I see," Bella replied. "Is that everyone on the ship's crew then?"
"Pretty much. We have two others, guards who used to work for Nor, but that's it. It's a pretty small crew, considering." Jodie wiped her mouth. "Well, guys, I think we'll let you eat and I'm gonna show Bella to her room."
"It was nice meeting you all," Bella said, standing up.
"The pleasure was ours," Rayhan answered.
Bella carried her plate to the sink and set it inside, she was going to wash it, but as soon as she set it down, the water turned on, spraying the plate off, then soaped, scrubbed, rinsed, and dried it before swallowing it. "What in the world?"
"Crazy, right?" Jodie laughed. "Like where was this tech when I was a kid? If doing dishes back then had been this easy, I might have actually enjoyed it."
Bella grinned as she and Jodie walked back to the stairway and went down a level. "How many levels are there?"
"Let's see, there's the gunnery, the command deck level, the suite of rooms and medbay, the brig and engine level. So, four."
"So crazy to think that we're flying through space." Bella shook her head.
> "I know, right?" Jodie stopped and said, "Okay, this will be you. Just put your palm here." She indicated a rectangle plaque on the wall next to the door panel.
Bella pressed her hand to the plaque and a blue light scanned her hand and then lit up green. The door opened to the room and she and Jodie went in. There was a full sized bed opposite a window with a view of the stars, a small table and chairs, a closet, and a bathroom with a shower.
"They aren't really fancy, but they're serviceable. Which I guess is what Nor was going for when he designed the ship."
"Who is this Nor?" Bella asked.
"I never met him, it was before Melody and Devron came to get me, but he's the guy who stole Melody, so I'll let her tell you that story tonight at dinner. For now, why don't you rest, I'm sure that all of this has taken its toll on you."
Bella nodded and removed the camera from her chest. "Thanks, Jodie, I appreciate it."
"My pleasure, chick. See ya later," Jodie said with a wave and then she was gone.
Bella sank down on the bed and watched the stars for a while as her mind raced over everything that she'd learned. Soon her eyes started to droop, and she drifted off to sleep.
She awoke sometime later to a knock at the door. She sat up and stretched. "Come in," she called, and the door slid open.
"Oh, hello, Sina," Bella said, slightly surprised to see her.
"I was just coming to check on you. We all usually dine together for dinner. If you would like to join us. You don't have to of course, I just wanted to let you know."
"Thank you, yes, I would like to." Bella smiled. She was getting more used to the reptilian woman.
"Then I will let you freshen up and I will see you in the galley, Jodie did show you around?"
"Yes, she did. I will be there in just a few minutes."
Sina nodded and exited the room.
Bella hurried to the bathroom and used the facilities, then washed her hands and her face. She opened a drawer and found a brand new hairbrush and toothbrush as well as toothpaste and a package of hair-ties. Smiling, she unwrapped the hairbrush and brushed out her hair, redoing her ponytail. She ran her tongue over her teeth and realized they were seriously in need of cleaning, so she pulled those items out too. It had been weeks since she'd brushed her teeth, unfortunately, that wasn't something Grell or Emryn had supplied. Once she'd finished, she felt much more refreshed.
She left her room and headed down the hallway and up the stairs to the galley. She went over to the computer, input her order, and then once it was ready, she pulled it out of the opening and went to join the others. "May I?" she indicated the seat between Jodie and Sina.
"Sure, chick, I was saving it for you." Jodie smiled.
The table was long with five seats on each side, as well as one on each end. There were two other smaller tables in the room as well. A couple of the other women who must have been rescued along with her or from another ship were seated at the smaller round table, speaking in hushed voices.
"I wanted to thank you," Bella said, picking up her spoon. She looked over at Melody, smiling.
"For what? You already thanked us for the rescue." She grinned, twirling her spaghetti on her fork.
"Yes, but I meant for the hairbrush and bathroom things."
"Oh, yeah, figured we'd need them, you know, since we're rescuing women from Earth and obviously they wouldn't have brought those things with them. I mean I didn't when I was taken. And if I had, they would have been left behind when Dev stole me from Nor." She grinned.
"Devron stole you?" Bella gasped.
"Yeah, so Nor kidnapped me from the back of a police car, which at the time was probably a good thing, considering what those cops were planning, but Nor was a cruel bastard, he'd planned to keep me, the fucker. So, he gave me the final shot and he was supposed to claim me, but," she looked at Devron who was sitting next to her and grinned up at him, "Dev got to me first and I imprinted on him instead."
"But, I thought that final shot had the… slave master's DNA in it for you to bond to them…" Bella said, feeling confused.
"Right, it does. Turned out that Nor was Dev's bio-dad."
"So, you stole Melody from your dad?"
"That bastard was not my dad. He was an evil person. I hate that I am genetically connected to him."
"He's dead, no need to get upset anymore, Dev." Melody patted his hand and he looked at her and smiled.
"Finish the story, Mel," Jodie encouraged, spearing a piece of lettuce in her large taco salad.
"So, Dev stole me, and Nor chased after us. I hated him for what he'd done to me, but we ended up hiding out with the Selithi. Which is how we came to know Sina and Gaddis. Long story short, Nor realized who had taken me and kidnaped Naela. So, we rescued her, killed him, and stole this ship with the help of some of his guards, including his chief of security, Lezin." Melody grinned.
"If you hated him, why are you with him now?"
"I hated him because I believed he was like the other nobles. But he's not. He never was. Nor turned me into an Omega, so I am metaphysically bonded to Dev, but I don't call him 'Master' or 'Alpha', we're equals. Of course, it took him a while to realize that he wasn't going to be able to play Lord and Master with me," Melody said with a giggle.
"I should think not, I taught him better than that," a woman who looked a lot like Devron said. Bella guessed that she was Naela, the woman that Jodie had mentioned at lunch.
"You did, Mom." Devron grinned at her.
"So, you see, Bella, being an Omega doesn't necessarily make you a slave. It just depends on who your Alpha is."
"Yeah, well, I'd prefer not to be an Omega. Can I just hang out with you all until you get the ship repaired and can take me back to Earth?"
"Of course, if that is your wish. We will return you and the others to Earth as soon as we can," Melody assured her.
8
The next day when Bella woke, she found herself wandering the ship, trying to get a feel for where everything was. She stopped in the galley and had breakfast with some of the other women who had been taken and were also anxious to get back to Earth.
"So where were you taken from, Cheryl?" Bella asked a red-headed woman.
"I was in my backyard planting a garden. The plants are probably all dead now." She frowned. "It just seems so strange to think about it all. I don't feel anything… it's like all my feelings are locked up behind a wall."
"Yeah, I think that's the cocktail of injections they gave us. I didn't have the final two shots, I broke Emryn's nose before she could give it to me. I don't know how I manage it, but I broke through that wall the injections had made in me. Hopefully, given enough time and distance, you all will too." Bella gripped the woman's hand.
"I think I would be happy if that were to happen," one of the two blonde women replied. Bella thought she'd said her name was Michelle.
"What were you doing when you were taken?" Bella asked.
"I was walking back to my car after work. I worked as a teaching assistant. Probably don't have that job anymore." She said it in an almost monotone voice, as if she didn't know if she should be sad or happy or anything.
"I'm sure if you explain you were abducted—" Bella stopped speaking at the looks of horror they were giving her. "What?"
"I don't know, but something in me is saying that would be a very bad thing. Telling people, we were stolen by aliens would be detrimental to the Canian nobles."
"And why would you fucking care about that?" Bella arched a brow. Was loyalty to those Canian bastard nobles in that second to last injection? The one she hadn't gotten? She was appalled at the thought.
"We were made to care for them, of course we would care if they were put in jeopardy!" Michelle replied.
Bella nodded, deciding to let the topic drop. She didn't want to upset the women. Obviously, they were experiencing some form of Stockholm Syndrome. Hopefully, once they returned to Earth and were away from the Canians that would disappear, and they would go bac
k to being their normal selves. For now, she just wanted to get away from them.
"Well, I think I'm going to head back to my room." She stood up and set her bowl in the sink.
The other three women just continued to eat.
Bella hurried out of the galley and down the hall to the stairs. "That was a bit too much like the Stepford Wives," she muttered as a shiver went down her back.
Instead of going back to her room, she decided to go visit Terrex in the brig. Sure, he was Canian, but he'd been pretty hot and she kind of liked his snarkiness. Plus, he wasn't the one to kidnap her and cause her to be stuck out here in outer-space. Besides, she knew from meeting Devron, Mabav, Rayhan and the others, that not all Canian men were bastards.
She went down the last few steps and noticed there was a robot standing in front of the brig door. She knew it was the brig because there was a door with a window that had bars on it. Probably so the guards could check on their prisoner without having to open the door. Looking around, she could see Gaddis and a couple of the other men she'd met in the engine room. They were busy though, tinkering with various equipment. Maybe they're trying to repair the hyperdrive thing that Melody said was damaged, she thought.
She walked up to the brig door and peeked inside.
"Well, if it isn't the beautiful Omega I met in the medbay," Terrex said upon seeing her. "Come to see my accommodations?"
Bella frowned. "Don't call me that."
"Don't call you beautiful? I thought all women enjoyed that," he snickered.
Bella pursed her lips. "No. Don't call me Omega. I'm not."
Terrex took a deep breath and moved to stand at the window of his cell. His eyes were hooded. "You are though, but if there was another name I could call you by, I would, beautiful."
"Bella. You can call me Bella."
He nodded, a slight smile on his lips. "So, beautiful Bella, what brings you to visit a lowly imprisoned youngest son of a Duke?"
Something in her head triggered at that. "What did you say your last name was again?"