by Maia Starr
I held my breath as they called numbers.
“X89-728, X89-834, X89-904…” and on and on he called numbers. Each woman was in tears as she walked forward, but not hysterical. I think we had all silently given into our fate.
“X89-908!”
I gasped. I looked at Nadia and Hazel sitting next to me. They looked at me with wide eyes. I flipped my hand over and looked at my wrist just to double check. Yes, that was my number. Damn it!
I slowly stood up and walked to the front with the other women. This was not how it was supposed to happen. I was not supposed to be called this soon. I was supposed to have more time. But everything was going wrong. I was in extreme danger.
“That is all for this week. The rest of you, eat, stay healthy,” the Dain said.
A soft commotion came over the crowd. I gave Hazel and Nadia one last look as I was pushed off with the other women. I would never see those women again. I hoped the best for them.
“This way, human females,” the Dain said.
We were led through our small compound and out through the fence. We walked through the camp on the outside passing other cell blocks. Finally, we entered a very large building, like a warehouse.
“Get them cleaned up,” the Dain said.
I was surprised that he was talking to other human females. These had obviously been put to work. One of them marched us through to the showers. We were given very good smelling soap; it reminded me of lavender. We were scrubbed down hard. Making sure to be very clean. We dried off and were given the same dress to wear; it was a soft pink cotton dress that tied at the back of the neck. It cut very low on the back and snugly fit around our waist and hips and then flowed down to our upper thigh. It was a very skimpy dress, for good reason. We needed to be practically naked when we were to be looked at by our buyers. Soft sandals were put on our feet with crisscrossing straps.
“Sit here,” the woman said. I sat down and she grabbed a brush and began to detangle my strawberry-blond locks. I had long hair, but it had not been kept well. She brushed through, making it nice and soft with a good smelling oil. I could not believe just how well they were getting us dressed. She smeared a red pigment on my lips, and then pushed me in front of the mirror.
“Make sure you look like this when you go to the auction stage. Next!” she shouted. Then I was pushed off to a waiting room. I sat down looking at all the other frightened women. I felt sorry for them. If they truly were virgins, then they had never known a man. Their first time would be with these terrible and frightening blue aliens. I, at least, had been with my husband. But I had something bigger at stake than they did. I put my hand over my stomach as though I could protect the child that was inside of me. The child of my human husband.
Chapter Two
Keara
I flew over the Grand Lake. It was what the humans called Lake Michigan. It was a vast body of good water, clean and good for you. I flew toward the ruins of the great city. The humans called it Chicago. But now that we, the Dains, had conquered it, we renamed it City of Water, because it was on the shore of the Great Water Lake.
I was a pilot and had shown my merit in the Great War. I had flown many missions, bombing a lot of the great cities. That was my responsibility. It was what I did. I was told that because I was such a successful pilot that I was soon going to get my reward. It was what every Dain had looked forward to.
I flew into the airfield, landing my ship. I jumped out and took my flight helmet off.
“Another great scouting mission, Keara?” the porter said to me and came over to see to my ship. He had the large electric cable in his hand hooking it up to my charger.
“Yes, a quiet scouting mission, but I made sure that I had fun,” I said to him.
“You always do. You are the most daring pilot from this airfield,” he said.
I laughed at him and then continued on my way. I went to the showers washing the sweat off of me. And then made my way to my barracks.
“Keara, that came for you today,” the soldier one bunk over from me said pointing to a small tile on my bed.
I picked it up and took it outside. Even though everyone knew what the white tile meant. Once I got in an area that was a bit private, I hit the message.
“You have been selected for auction. Bring the style with you tomorrow in the morning to the auction house where you will meet your group. We will be moving into your new home; plan for it.”
That was all the message said. I smiled. My reward was finally coming to me. I quickly moved back to the barracks.
“Congratulations?” the soldier said looking at me.
I nodded my head yes. He slapped me on the shoulder. I grabbed my bag from my trunk and began to fill it with my personal items; as a soldier I did not have much. That was just the way of things.
That night, I could hardly sleep. I was finally going to get a true home, and a true human female virgin. This was what the entire war was about. This was what we had fought for.
Long ago, we knew that the Earth was in trouble, that the humans were in trouble. They were dying out due to a virus. So our leaders made it their mission to conquer Earth, to save the planet from these humans that did not deserve it. Our mission was to conquer the male human species and to repopulate Earth using their human females creating hybrid offspring. So far, it had been a success, but the war had only been over for a little less than a year, and in some parts our soldiers were still fighting stray bands of resistance fighters. But they would soon be long gone; they could not compete with our technology. Even our bodies were more advanced than theirs. We weren't small the way they were, or fragile. They could not beat us and hand-to-hand combat, and they could not be our weapon technology. They did not have a chance.
The next morning, I went to processing.
I handed in my white tile, they swiped it and compared my identity sample to what was on the tile.
“Keara, you are in group 236. Find your group; you will be going to the auction house in one hour. Here are your items,” the processor said.
I nodded and grabbed the envelope from him and went on my way. I opened it. Inside was a tile with information. There were coordinates to my new home. There was information on the amount of coin that the group and I would be allowed to spend to bid for a human female. It was actually quite a lot compared to most. The rest of my group must also be war heroes or had done something to acquire this much with the higher-ups. I went into the holding room looking for group 236 and found them.
“Keara, are you with us?” Arin said.
“Arin, good to see you again. I have not seen you in months, since the Battle of New York. I am in group 236,” I said to him and the other two with him.
“That is us. I am Bryne, and this is Lokin,” a Dain with dirty-blond hair and blue eyes said, referring to himself and another Dain who was tall and lanky, not as robust as the rest of us, who also had blond hair but was much lighter in color and was longer. He also had blue-green eyes. Arin was tall, taller than the rest but the same height as myself. He had short blond hair with blue eyes. I was the only one that was different: dark hair and dark eyes. I liked being original among the group.
“Good to meet you; looks like we will all be living together,” I said.
“Don't take your eyes off this one, best pilot I have ever seen,” Arin said.
I smiled. I didn't know Arin that well, but we had fought alongside each other in the Battle of New York. But soldiers were used to living together, in the barracks. The only difference would be that it would just be the four of us, in one home, with our one human female.
“Looks like we have quite a some Among Us, to find our new wife,” I said.
“Yes, exactly how does it work? I mean, I know how the auction works, but how are we going to decide among us who to bid on?” Lokin asked.
“That is a good question,” Bryne said.
“I guess we just go look at the goods and rank them, which one we want first, and if we get out
bid for her, we will go to our second choice, and so on. So when we go look at the goods, we will rank which one we want first,” I said.
“Sounds good to me,” Bryne said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Lokin said.
“Keara, it is just like you to seamlessly fall into the leader position,” Arin said. He said it in a playful manner, but something told me that he meant it out of jealousy. It was to be expected; we were for soldiers about to share a human female. Sharing did not come easily to us Dains, but it was out of necessity. There were very few human female virgins left, so we all had to make the most of it.
One hour later, we were led to the auction house. There were many human females to choose from, but as soon as I walked in, there was one that caught my eye. She had strawberry-blond hair. She was petite, just a little over five feet tall, and she had ample breasts and ample hips, good for giving birth to offspring, I thought. She was sturdy looking, not scrawny like the other young women. I walked past her, looking at her up and down. She was on a pedestal that was slowly spinning around. I stood there, watching as she spun, showing me her backside: her creamy skin and ample bottom. I wanted her; I wanted her immediately. I moved to find the others to bring them over to her. I needed to convince them that she was our number one choice. This wasn't going to be easy.
Chapter Three
Reena Okova
I could not believe that this was happening. It did not feel real. I thought about what it was like, living in Chicago before the aliens came. Yes, the virus was running rampant, but my husband and I were happy. We were both clean of the virus. Now, I was standing on a spinning pedestal as these blue alien conquerors looked at me like a piece of meat. I felt vulnerable and naked. The damn thing slowly spun around, giving them a good view of me. The other women were obviously younger than I was, thin and trembling. I stood there trying not to show my fear. But I was terrified. It wouldn't take long for my new husbands to find out that I was pregnant. They would know that I had lied about being a virgin. They would somehow figure out that I was carrying a human child and they would have me killed. It was too much to take in.
“I like this one,” I heard a voice say. I had been looking up toward the wall, not making eye contact with any of the aliens looking at me. But this one caught my attention. I looked and saw this blue alien standing in front of me, staring at me with a deviant smile. Goosebumps came all over my body, a chill, out of fear. This blue alien did not look kind. He had orange hair and a blaster gun tattoo. He was staring at me; he scared me. He stepped closer to me, putting his face very close to my legs, looking at them up and down. He inhaled sharply as though smelling me. My stomach turned. I wanted to vomit, not just because I was pregnant, but because he disgusted me.
“Oh yes, human female. You will be my slave, human, and you will like it. I will do things to you, and you will like it. I am forced to share you, but I will make sure that I have more time with you than the others,” he whispered to me.
I didn't flinch. I didn't do anything. I didn't want to give him cause to remember me. I hoped that he would walk off and see something else that he liked, not me. A few moments later, he walked away. I finally breathed again.
I knew that a lot of Dains were coming to look at me, but I did not want to look at them. But for some reason, I felt one staring at me, and I looked down at him. I locked eyes with him. This one looked different. He physically was the same, except he had dark hair and dark eyes, something I had not seen very much of so far. But there was something to him, the way he was looking at me. It wasn't in a deviant manner, or creepy. He was looking at me with kind eyes, a look that I had not received from a Dain ever. He smiled a soft smile, but I did not return it. I just looked away. But still, he remained in my thoughts.
When I looked back, he was gone. I wondered what he thought of me? Was he going to bid on me? He definitely seemed like a better option than the deviant alien with the orange hair.
Suddenly, a loud bell went off. All of the Dains shuffled to an area, gathering in a group. It was time. This was really going to happen. I was about to be auctioned off.
“Let the bidding begin,” a Dain said as he walked onto the floor. He stood at the first pedestal. “Human female X01-421! Start the bidding!”
The bidding started, and it was all very organized. I watched as one female was auctioned off after another. It just kept going. The Dains would lift a sign with their identification number, and the one to bid the most would when the human female.
“X89-908!” he shouted. He was standing right in front of me pointing at me. It was my turn. I took a deep breath.
“Two thousand coin!” I followed the sign of the bidder. My stomach turned when I saw it was the alien with orange hair.
“Five thousand coin!” another voice shouted. I followed that sign; it was the alien with kind eyes. I was relieved.
“Six thousand coin!” the orange-haired alien said. I did not know how much money that was, if it was a lot or if they were just getting started. But the other human females went for about ten thousand, and I knew there was a lot of bidding to be done. I just hoped that the alien with the kind eyes won. I needed him to win.
“Eight thousand coin!”
“Nine thousand coin!” the orange one shouted.
“Twelve thousand coin!” the alien with the brown eyes shouted.
Everyone looked at the alien with orange hair. He shook his head no. I was relieved.
“Log that human female X89-208 is sold to the highest bidder: group 236. Moving on, next human female…”
The auctioneer moved away from me. I was so relieved it was over. I knew that I had come close to being with the awful alien. I could only hope that this alien with kind eyes was just as kind as he looked, and not tricking me. You could never tell just by looks what someone would be like. I could only hope.
I was moved over to processing with the rest of the women. We were pushed through, in a non-ceremonious way. It was rather cold, but what could I expect for being a human that was auctioned off, even if it was supposed to lead to marriage?
“Next,” the processor said to me. He grabbed my arm and scanned my wrist.
“Group 236, clean your wife, take her to union,” the processor said.
I turned around. A blue alien walked up to me. It wasn't the one that the kind eyes. This one had short blond hair and blue eyes. He was attractive, for a Dain. Even though I despise them, I knew that these tall aliens were creatures to behold. He was tall, like the others almost nine feet. He had tattoos up only one arm in intricate designs. He looked at me and smiled.
“I am called Arin. What is your name?”
“My name is Reena,” I said to him.
“And I am Bryne. And I am Lokin,” two more Dain aliens walked up to me. Each of them grabbed my hand and greeting. I was confused. Where was the dark-haired alien?
“We are all set. We are to go through union, and then we can head to our new home,” a voice said.
I turned around. It was the dark-haired alien with the kind eyes. I was relieved. Even though the other three did not seem vicious like the orange-haired alien, I wanted to feel some sort of comfort that the one that bid on me was indeed the one that would have me, or at least one of them.
“My name is Keara. We are honored to have you, Reena,” Keara said to me.
I nodded my head. Not knowing what to say. I wasn't exactly happy about my situation. I was relieved that it wasn't the vicious one, but that didn't mean I had to be happy about the circumstances. I was a damn slave after all: a sex slave. I was now going to be wife to beads for aliens, and I had no say in it. Sensing that I wasn't going to say much, the four escorted me to another line. The union line.
I watched as the groups of alien Dains walked their human female into a small room. Then they emerged on the other side and left the auction house. I understood the union to be a wedding, but they each were only in there for a few minutes. I guess their idea of a wedding wasn't the sam
e as humans. I wouldn't expect it to be.
“I can assure you that you will be treated with kindness,” the one named Arin said quietly to me as he stood at my side.
I nodded to him. I wasn't going to thank him after all. I hated him. I hated all four of them. They were forcing me to do this. I hated the entire alien race.
“Arin is right; we will do whatever is necessary to make a comfortable home for you,” the one named Bryne said. I looked at him and looked at the others, but I remained quiet. I found that it was best to say nothing. I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize my situation. What if I said one wrong word and they sent me back to auction? No, it was better if I didn't say anything at all.
“Looks like we are next,” the one named Keara said as he put his hand on my lower back; with the dress cut so low, his hand was on my bare skin. I felt the warmth of his large hand. It felt like it dwarfed my back, he was so large. I did feel some comfort when he touched me, not at all the repulsed reaction I was expected I would feel.
We stepped into the small room.
“Hold out your right hands,” the alien inside the room said.
We all held out our right hands. I did not know what to expect. The alien went down the line with another square gadget. I already knew what this meant: another tattoo. He ran it over three of my fingers and did the same for the others. I looked down at my hand there was a unique design on three of my fingers, like a marriage band. I looked at the others; they had the exact same design.
“This human female now belongs to you three. You have been joined in union; she is your wife, and you are her husband. She is your responsibility; take care of her well. As you know, human females like her are rare; you are now married and bonded together. You may take her home.”