by Zara Zenia
"Where? To Starsinia?"
"Which one is Starsinia? Sina mentioned it earlier. She said they were an advanced race, very peaceful."
Jodie nodded. "Yes. Starsinia is the larger one, the mostly purplish one in color. We've been there once, and they are a very peaceful people. We returned one of their stolen women to them. We aren't exactly welcome there though. They fear we will bring them trouble."
Bella sighed. "Well that sucks. I'd love to go see it, you know?"
Jodie grinned. "We're turning you into a space explorer. Soon you'll be begging to come along with us for good." She laughed.
Bella laughed too, knowing Jodie was just teasing her. "Yeah, don't get your hopes up. I'm an Earth girl, through and through. Visiting Starsinia would be cool, but there is something about being in the middle of the action, taking photos and fighting injustice…"
"It's your passion. I get it," Jodie answered. "Just think about it… we are fighting injustice too. You could help us make a difference."
Bella smiled. "I don't know. I'll… give it some thought, but I make no promises."
"Come on, let's go get some dinner." Jodie slung her arm around Bella's shoulders, and they headed to the galley.
12
Bella knew that Melody didn't want her anywhere near Terrex, but something about him drew her to him. She couldn't explain it. So, knowing that Melody was enjoying some time off from captaining the ship with Devron and currently locked away in their room with him, Bella crept down to the brig.
"You came back. I wondered if you would," Terrex said from his barred window. He was ecstatic to see her. Being locked up in the cell was driving him crazy.
Bella squatted down in front of the robot guard, removed a panel on its chest and pressed the button that switched it off. She'd learned how earlier that day when one of the medical robots, or medbot as Sina had called it, had needed maintenance. "I'm going to open this door and come inside with you, but if you try to escape, or try to hurt me in any way, you won't get off this ship alive. Deal?"
Terrex gave her a puzzled look. "I would never hurt you, Bella. If you come in, I promise to behave myself."
Bella nodded. She lifted the key off the robot's belt and opened the door. She left it cracked open as she went inside. Moving closer to him, she realized that he was quite a bit taller than her, she hadn't realized that before. She liked that he made her feel petite.
Terrex sat down on his cot and gestured for her to sit next to him. "Please, sit down."
Hesitantly, Bella moved to sit next to him.
"I am glad you came down to see me."
Bella nodded. "I wanted to ask… how did you end up here?" She'd already heard the story from Melody, but she wanted to see if his story matched. That would tell her if he was being truthful or not. Her instincts told her that Melody had been truthful, so if Terrex could match the details of how he got here, then maybe she could trust him too.
Terrex laughed sardonically. He'd been in a bad place mentally when he'd come onboard this ship. If he were honest with himself, he was still in a bad place mentally, even more so now that he was locked up with nothing but his thoughts, but he wanted to be truthful with this beautiful girl. Something about her let him know she wouldn't settle for half-truths or lies.
"I was in love with a girl," he began.
Bella was taken aback. That wasn't what she expected to hear. "What?"
Terrex nodded. "My life is a mess. As I said, I was in love with a girl. My father… gave the girl I loved to my brother for his birthday."
"That's awful, Terrex," she commented, her hand going to his and squeezing it in comfort.
He nodded. "I have spent the last several years miserable. Drinking, gaming, blowing my inheritance on all of it. I ended up on Axia, which ironically is a planet made up of thieves, basically. It was originally uninhabited. But some outlaws discovered they could hide out there from the Galactic police force years ago, and they built it up somewhat. Making it a haven for the undesirable. I fit right in. About a week after getting there, I got really drunk."
"Go on," Bella encouraged him. So far he seemed to be telling the same story, he'd just started well before Melody had.
"I was playing an Earth card game with a group of Yebraxians. I had an ace up my sleeve and one of the other gamers saw it. He accused me of cheating, which I was, but so were they all. We got into a fight, punches were thrown, and I ducked out as soon as I could get away, half the bar was fighting by that point. I stumbled out of the bar and just followed the group onto this ship. I had no idea who they were, but I hoped they'd allow me to get away with them."
"And then what happened?"
"I'm not sure on that part. I know I passed out and I woke up in here. By then, they all knew who I was." He sighed. His thoughts turned to his time here, meeting her, learning about the Omegas. "Then I met you and you told me about how Grell stole you from Earth and was enslaving Omegas and I had to wonder if that was what happened to Elenix and my mother." He shook his head. "She's never been overly loving. Not toward me or my brothers. Just my father. Toward us she is distant, I suppose is the word for it. She of course says and does things when we are there with her, but she doesn't seek us out to speak to us. Now I have to wonder if that's an effect of the enslavement and not just her personality."
13
Bella looked stunned by his revelation. He decided to confide in her and explain how things seemed to work on Cania. "The men who acquire the Omegas for us—"
"The slavers you mean." It was a statement, not a question, he was sure of it by the challenge in her eyes.
"Yes… the slavers…" he paused. "They are very secretive about how the acquire the Omegas and how they match them to the right noblemen. To be honest, I don't think most of us have cared enough to look into it. They've all just been happy to have mates provided for them. And if they were aware of the methods, they looked the other way out of necessity."
"Necessity? You have got to be fucking with me. Nobody needs a slave!" Bella huffed.
Terrex nodded, understanding her point of view. "I see your point and you are right. Nobody should be forced to mate with our noblemen. It's just the Frenzy. It drives noblemen mad and it's decimating our race."
"The Frenzy? What is it? Some kind of disease?" Bella scooted a little bit away on the cot.
"Kind of, for we've found no other solution to it than the Omegas. It is called the Nobleman's Frenzy, as we are the ones it affects. The nobles of my race have spent decades trying to perfect our race. Genetically enhancing those of noble blood, having us intermarry, those kinds of things. Well, they weren't aware that in doing so, it would trigger a genetic urgency in us to mate. And because of the genetical enhancements, more males were created than females of our race, and those females who were created were found to be not as fertile. Which created a decline in our numbers."
"What do you mean a genetic urgency to mate?"
"Usually, sometime before we turn thirty, it is triggered. Once the Nobleman's Frenzy is triggered, it happens on a monthly basis for the rest of our lives. It is extremely painful, causing cramping, fever, and migraines. If a nobleman does not have a mate to help relieve the urgency, it can drive him mad. Many end up ending their lives. Those who have an Omega, have been able to find relief and go on to live normal lives. They still experience the Frenzy, but it is satisfied by the Omega."
"So, like a cat in heat," Bella murmured.
"What's a cat? Do you have this issue on Earth? I've not heard that."
Bella grinned. "Cats are animals that humans keep as pets. Usually, we have them fixed, meaning we remove their ability to reproduce, which removes their — as you call it — Frenzy."
Terrex looked appalled at her answer and his hands went to his cock. "You do what?"
Bella giggled. "It may sound cruel, but it's really not. Cats who are not fixed, strays, can have numerous kittens at a time. Over a life time, one female cat can have twelve kittens a year. Cat
s can live up to twenty or so years. Granted at some point they probably stop going into heat, or Frenzy, but even just ten years, that's over a hundred kittens born from just one cat. Humans for the most part love cats and dogs, another species we keep as pets. So, we care for them by making sure they don't create more than the world can care for."
"So, on Earth, it is the female of the species that goes into heat?"
"Of cats and dogs, yes. Probably other animals as well, but I don't know a whole lot about other animals. Cats and dogs are the extent of my knowledge on the subject." Bella smiled.
"Is it painful for them?" Terrex asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea."
"They do not tell you?"
"Um, they can't speak, not in any language that we can decipher, anyway. That isn't to say that we can't communicate with them, but usually it involves a lot of guessing. I don't actually have a pet myself. I've been too busy trying to progress my career, and to keep a roof over my head and my stomach fed to worry about another being."
"What did you do, before Grell stole you?" Terrex asked.
"I am a photojournalist. I take pictures and sell them to newspapers and magazines and stuff like that."
Terrex frowned. He'd never heard of anything like that.
"So, I have a question."
"Yes?"
"I understand your need for Omegas now, but why must they be enslaved? I mean couldn't you just start an Omega dating service?" Bella asked, curiously.
Terrex laughed. "I don't know, that's a good question. I suppose the nobles like the fact that they can control their Omegas. I admit we have always had a kind of command and conquer kind of society. I'm not saying it's right, it's not. I just wasn't aware that was what was going on. It explains so much. I always thought the Omegas chose to be devoted to their Alpha. I didn't know it was being forced upon them."
Bella sighed. She knew she couldn't stay any longer, people would start coming down to the engine room soon and notice the guardbot disabled. "I should go."
"I wish you could stay."
Bella smiled. She had to wonder if he was sincere or if he was playing her, but she really hoped he was sincere. She squeezed his hand and said, "I'll come see you again, but I don't know when." She started toward the door.
Once she'd closed and locked it once more, Terrex said, "You are the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, Bella. Thank you."
Bella turned the bot on and put it back in place. She smiled once more at Terrex and then quickly headed back upstairs.
14
Bella spent the next few days helping Jodie, being her assistant as she worked on maintaining some of the robots on the ship. She handed over tools and watched, learning all kinds of useful things regarding the upkeep of the bots.
"Soon you'll know how to do all of this yourself," Jodie commented.
Bella laughed. "Oh yeah, maintaining robots will come in handy when I return to my life as a photojournalist on Earth."
Jodie laughed too. "Well, you'll have a jump on the rest of humanity when robot helpers become more mainstream."
Rolling her eyes, Bella grinned as she handed over a Philip's Head screwdriver. "Sure I will."
"Have you given any more thought to sticking with us?"
Bella shook her head. "Not really. I mean, what would I even do? I'm not all that much help here."
"What? You've been a big help, chick. I wouldn't have gotten all these done so quickly without you."
"Yeah, sure, it's not like you could have one of these robots falling you around handing you the proper tools." Bella's tone was sarcastic.
Jodie chuckled. "Maybe, but they aren't as chatty or entertaining."
Bella laughed along with her. "I'll give you that one. They aren't real chatty, are they."
"Nope." Jodie tightened a bolt and checked a couple of wires and then switched the robot back on and closed it up. "There you go, little guy, back to work with you."
The robot beeped and turned around, heading back into the command station.
"So now what?" Bella asked.
"Well, I thought we could grab some lunch and then I thought you might want to learn how to shoot a blaster."
"Lunch sounds good. Learning to shoot a blaster not so much. I'm usually on the sidelines taking photos of other people doing the shooting or attacking. I don't generally participate."
Jodie nodded. "I can see that. But, being on this ship, well, you might want to learn how to defend yourself. You never know when or if we'll run into trouble. We aren't the only space pirates out here in the universe. Granted we only steal from those bastards who traffic women and turn them into Omegas, but there are others who aren't so friendly and will attack us just for scavenging."
"Oh, I guess I hadn't really thought about that. I mean you all took on Grell with a small crew, guess I figured you could take on any threats."
"Yeah, but Grell didn't have that big of an operation on that shitty ship of his. It was all flash, no real weapons on it, and his security guards were a joke, more like they were there to intimidate the women they took, rather than actual soldiers."
"They were definitely intimidating," Bella agreed as she entered her choice for lunch into the computer. A few seconds later she pulled out a bowl of Selithi mushroom soup. At the refrigerator she grabbed a bottle of water and then sat at the smaller round table with Jodie, since they were the only two in the galley.
"So, what do you say?" Jodie asked as she took a bite of some kind of Canian sandwich.
The bread was made from the large mushrooms they harvested on their planet and then turned into flour which they used to make the bread. It had some sort of leafy plant that looked a little bit like lettuce, and some kind of meat, but Bella didn't want to ask.
"About what?" Bella took a bite of the creamy soup and savored the flavor as it warmed her insides.
"Shooting a blaster?"
"Oh, yeah, okay, I guess. At least I won't be bored. How can I practice though? I mean won't it damage the ship?"
"Nope, we'll go up to the gunnery. We have a small range up there with targets in between the outer gun stations."
"Okay. I haven't been up there yet."
They finished their lunch and then after dropping their dishes in the sink, headed upstairs to the gunnery. Jodie showed her around, pointing out the armory, and where each of the outer guns were. There weren't any windows up here, everything was reinforced well, because if there were to be an attack on the ship, the outer guns were huge targets. So of course, it was all well reinforced. However, should there be a breach, the gunnery would seal itself off from the rest of the ship.
"What if the guards are up here using the guns at the time? Would they be sealed up here with them?"
Jodie nodded. "Yeah. We all know the risks. Each area with a gun has it's own seal too, so should any one of them be breached, the others could continue to shoot. The whole gunnery area would only seal off if all four guns were compromised. By that time, we had better have finished the fighting and landed on the larger ship, where we could do minor repairs after taking out the individual guards and freeing the slaves. Most of the slaver ships are much larger, but because they are basically cargo ships, they don't have the weaponry we do. You'd think they'd learn, but a lot of these slavers are egocentric nobles who think no one would dare attack them."
"Have you lost people like that?"
Jodie shook her head. "No, not like that. We've lost a couple of guards though, ones Sina couldn't heal with the nanobots or her healing abilities."
"I see." Bella looked around, her eyes landing on the armory. "Should we get to it then?"
"Anxious to get your hands on a blaster?"
"No," Bella laughed, "just anxious to learn to defend myself."
"Well, let's get started then." Jodie handed her a blaster.
It was lighter in weight than she imagined. It was about as heavy as a Nerf gun. She made sure to keep the barrel end of the weapon pointed away
from either of them. Bella had no idea if they were as trigger sensitive as some other guns, but she wanted to be safe, just in case.
Jodie led her to the target range room. It wasn't very big, maybe six feet by ten. "We're going to practice short range shooting, because that will most likely be what we'd be engaged in if we were attacked."
"Okay."
Jodie set up the targets, wooden blocks with bullseyes on them. "Okay, keep your weapon's barrel pointed down range, but turn it on it's side." Jodie showed her what she meant. "Great. Now, see that switch? There are three settings, long range, short range, off. Move it from off to short range."
Bella did as she asked.
"Okay, now, to aim, you'll want to support your right hand with your left, like this." Jodie wrapped the fingers of her left hand around the edge of her wrist with her left thumb resting at the base of her right thumb. "Not too tight, just enough to steady your shots."
Bella nodded and copied the position.
"Okay, now you aim at the center of the bullseye, use the sights at the top of the barrel, see those two notches? Line them up with the target. Now, pull back on the trigger."
Bella did exactly what she said, pulling back on the trigger and a red flash zipped out, blasting a tiny hole in the upper quadrant of the block of wood. She'd missed the center, but she had hit the target.
"Not bad for your first shot. Try again, this time, try not to pull up when you pull the trigger."
Bella took a deep breath and then blew it out slowly, but completely, then pulled the trigger. Her aim was true and hit the center of the bullseye. "I did it!" she exclaimed happily.
"Good job," Jodie chuckled, "now you just have to do it under pressure of being shot at."
"Oh, right. I hadn't thought about that."
"Yeah, that's why you practice until it becomes second nature." The older woman smiled. "Funny, I was never a big fan of guns, back on Earth, when I was engaged in liberating the wealthy of their riches, I never carried one."