by Keri Kruspe
Lora sat on the narrow cot next to the wavering forcefield and faced her friend. “How in the world did you end up here?”
“Probably same as you, I guess.” Sherri gave a thin smile. The dark circles under her eyes only enhanced Sherri’s attractive features. “One minute I was at the Exchange, looking for my alien partner and the next thing I knew something pinched the side of my neck and I blacked out. Then I woke up here.” She gave a self-depreciating laugh as she folded her arms across her waist.
Lora worried Sherri was trying to hold herself together. “How long have you been here?”
Sherri’s eyes lost focus before she ran a trembling hand through her short hair. She must be more nervous than she wanted to admit. “I’m not sure, but I think it’s only been a couple of days.”
Lora scooted closer and lowered her voice so the alien in the next cell couldn’t hear them. Who knew if it could, but she wasn’t taking the chance it was a spy for the pirate. At the moment the creature was motionless. It was about the size of a cocker spaniel, with blue-green scaly skin, several arms, or legs and no head. Ignoring the bizarre sight, Lora asked, “You must have been in stasis like I was. Do you know why they took you?”
Sherri’s eyes rolled to the side as she fingered the bottom of her apple-green tunic. Her clothes were the same type they had on the StarChance. If the tunic and pant set was from then, they sure held up well.
“No clue,” Sherri answered. “The only thing they’ve done is take some of my blood. Otherwise, they’ve been pretty decent, considering I’m locked up like a criminal.” Her eyes filled. She sniffed and took in a breath before she narrowed her watery eyes with a steely glint. “You know, it’s funny but I don’t think they’re the ones who took me in the first place.” She clenched her fingers into a tight fist. “And I have no idea why I think so. But I keep having a memory of a really ugly, tall alien with pinchers for fingers. He had creepy eyes…black with orange-diamond pupils. I haven’t seen anyone like that around here, but that doesn’t stop how I feel. Or, maybe I’m going crazy.” Her shoulders slumped as her hands on her lap captured her attention.
“So, was this ugly guy a puke-green color?” Lora smiled. Not because her friend was in pain, but she suspected Sherri suffered from a misguided impression she was imagining things.
Sherri gasped with her eyes wide. “How’d you know that?”
“Because he worked with the one who took me from the Exchange.” She reassured the other woman. “So, guess what? You’re not crazy. But what I don’t get is how you ended up here.”
The pinched crinkle around Sherri’s eyes softened and her full mouth relaxed. “I wish I knew. They haven’t been in to see me for a while.” She chuckled. “I’m beginning to think they’d forgotten all about me.”
“Ha! Who knows, it could be a good thing,” Lora contemplated the enclosed prison. “So, listen. I have to tell you about my friend JR11…”
There was a commotion at the end of the corridor. Some males were catcalling and yelling, trying to outdo each other.
“I wonder what’s going on,” Sherri voiced Lora’s concern.
Lora stood and tried to see through the invisible forcefield. At first, the only thing she saw was a sexbot, bright yellow this time.
The bot swished and swayed her voluptuous hips as if to tantalize the males in captivity.
Disgustingly, it did, since that was what all the hooting was about.
Lora smirked at Sherri. “Apparently the idiot males are yelling at a sexbot again...” The wide-eyed and open-mouthed expression that took over the other woman’s face stopped her in midsentence. Her stomach dropped.
Oh, just great. Dr. Crumb Guts strolled behind the sexbot, his long blue lab coat billowing behind him.
Holy-freakin’ hell, the sadistic ass was headed straight for her. Well, shit. That didn’t take long.
“Oh my God!” Sherri sucked in a whispered breath. Her friend had a good view of the nasty alien. “He’s real!”
“Yeah, unfortunately,” Lora muttered. Maybe he wasn’t here for her or Sherri, maybe he’d wander right on by.
And maybe rainbow farting unicorns would prance in and proclaim her a princess.
Sure enough, the rat bastard stopped right in the front of her cell and curled a half lip at her.
The sinister gleam of his diamond-shaped pupils made her stomach tighten in reaction. She shivered. Just her luck, D’zia was nowhere in sight to run interference. Well, crap…she needed no man to rescue her. She’d stood up for herself before and she’d do it again.
“What are you looking at?” Yep, belligerence was her middle name. “Come to apologize for ruining my life? No, I know!” She snapped her fingers before she crossed her arms. “You’ve come to make amends by taking me back to Earth. Right?” Okay, she shouldn’t sneer at the revolting alien, but she couldn’t help it. The asshole deserved it. Especially since he was here to take her to finish his stupid experiments.
Not something she was eagerly waiting for.
“You will be quiet, human.” Dr. Nerdy Nuts clicked his pincers at the sexbot who stood motionless next to him. “Collar her.”
The shiny, bright yellow robot walked through the forcefield. In less than a second, she had Lora within her grasp and clamped a cold, metallic choker around her neck. The sexbot stepped back and awaited further orders with a blank stare.
“Take down this forcefield and bring her to me.” The tall Erkek waved his double-jointed arm as he turned to leave. He didn’t bother to see if the sexbot followed his orders.
The bot grabbed Lora’s upper arm in a loose, firm grip as she walked toward the deathly forcefield. Alarmed, Lora struggled and her eyes widened when they approached. Before her right foot hit the barrier, the field melted away and they went through without injury.
Seeing freedom down the corridor, Lora jerked to get away. She pulled and pushed with her free hand but nothing budged. She glanced back at Sherri.
“Hey, ugly!” Sherri yelled. “Aren’t you going to take me too?”
No! What did Sherri think she was doing? She shouldn’t get involved! Lora shook her head at her friend, trying to stop her from getting the Erkek’s attention. She wasn’t watching where she was going and stumbled behind the sexbot’s long stride.
Too late…the alien scientist stopped. When his eyes focused on Sherri standing with her hands on her hips, he smiled with a crooked pull of his thin lips. “Do not worry, I have no need of you, human. You have been tested and found wanting.”
“Hey!” Sherri stomped her foot.
Lora pressed her lips together to stop from laughing. Good, Dr. Ugly wasn’t after her friend too.
“Enjoy your stay with the Dread Pirate Maynwaring. I am sure he will find a suitable place for you.”
Lora would have given anything to bitch-slap that smirk off his mottled face.
“Yeah? Thanks for nothing, dickhead!”
Sherri’s raised, incensed voice was the last thing Lora heard. The sound of her friend’s voice echoed when they exited into the corridor and entered the round, transportation room lined with mirrors.
When the sexbot let go, Lora stumbled into her captor’s back. Ick…ick! She jumped away and shuddered at touching the thin, repulsive creep. And holy hell! What was that godawful smell? Had he rolled around with a decomposed corpse or something? She took a couple of cautious steps to widen the gap between them. She had a right to breathe, ya know.
The sexbot left through a mirror.
The Erkek stood with his back to her, his frame still and in silent mode. The shiny mirrors were tempting…telling her to run…run…jump through and escape.
As if he read her mind, the alien pulled out a small black device, held it out to make sure she watched as he pushed. Searing, unbelievable pain erupted on her neck to slide down her body as her breath escaped in a hard whoosh. She yanked at the torture device in desperation. Bursts of agony sliced through every cell and ripped her apart. Her knees gave way, which cause
d her to flop on the inflexible floor. She writhed on her back as her feet kicked and she frantically pulled the collar choking her. The torment took everything from her, even the ability to scream.
Through a haze of agony, Lora watched as he lifted his finger off the box and the torment stopped. She lay there panting like a dog who’d run for miles as her arms splayed out to her sides. Eyes closed, she swore she wasn’t moving for at least another century or two.
Okay, ditch the plan to run out a mirror. Check. She’d just lie there and think of some other way to escape. Hey, the view from the floor wasn’t so bad. She could stare at the domed ceiling and zone out like a good little pile of mush.
A change in the air pressure let her know someone was coming. Feet shuffled to her right, and stopped in front of Dr. Sadistic Butts. Ah, how nice. Someone was coming to see them off. Maybe it was someone coming to help her…ah, crap…no such luck. She didn’t have watch to see it was the Dread Pirate coming to greet them. She could tell who it was from the motorized drone.
Fine, she’d stay there until someone made her get up. With eyes closed, she could pretend she was somewhere else. Yeah, somewhere horizontal with her sexy alien. Damn, she missed him. Her body mourned in lustful agreement.
“I expect payment,” Maynwaring stated.
When the pirate spoke, she lifted her lids. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that the orb remained a steady red.
“I still protest having to pay you for what you stole from me,” the garbled terse tone of the Erkek betrayed his anger.
“This is the second time you brought an illegal species into my territory without my permission.” The calm, cold voice of the pirate made Lora shiver in an unexpected reaction. “I am well within my rights to examine her to verify that her presence will not jeopardize my organization.”
A heavy footfall alerted Lora that one of them had moved closer to the other. Through the waning buzz of pain, she moved her head to the side to peek at what was going on. From her viewpoint, it was clear the pirate was not happy with the big green alien.
Oh goody, two bad guys in a pissing contest and her right in the middle. A place every girl dreamed she’d end up.
“She is hardly a threat to your organization,” Dr. Creepy McCreeperson stated in a lofty, snooty tone.
She doubted that attitude worked well with the pirate.
“The male she claims as her TrueBond belongs to the royal house of Zerin.” The steely reply left no doubt about the pirate’s displeasure. “And I have no wish to bring their attention my way. How are you going to prevent that from happening?”
Humph, so much for her trying to protect D’zia from the ridiculous pirate. Lora sat up to watch this weird conversation. She was surprised they hadn’t gone through their negotiations before they took her out of the cell. Who knows? Maybe she’d get lucky and the two would go at it and end up so distracted they didn’t see her crawl to the nearest exit.
“I will take her to my lab, where they’ll never find her.”
The green alien’s oily smugness made her wince as his voice grated. She scooted backward on her butt to put at least a little distance between her and her captors.
Course, it might be entertaining to watch the gangly Erkek pick a fight with the glowing orb. She doubted the orb had to fight for anything. It wouldn’t take much for one of the sexbots to put the ugly scientist on his ass. And if she was lucky, the creep would go down and never get up.
“You ignorant puntneji!” It sounded like Maynwaring lost his patience as the colors in the orb pulsated together. “I cannot have the Imperial Forces anywhere near me. I want her off this planet immediately.”
“But my lab is here!”
Holy shamoka, his piercing whine was enough to make Lora’s ears bleed. She couldn’t say the Dread Pirate liked it either.
“I will allow you three days to do whatever you want with her. However, by the end of the third day, I want you and your entire lab off FiPan.” The no-nonsense message was loud and clear, at least to her. No telling if tall, ugly, and blotchy got the same message.
“What? That’s outrageous! I can’t pack up everything in three days.”
Nope, stupid Dr. Numb Nuts was denser than a ten-foot iron post.
“Shall it be two days?” The soft tone signaled that the Dread Pirate meant business.
The Erkek’s ragged breath echoed in the round room. Well…crap. Too bad the good doctor had pulled his head out of his ass long enough to realize he’d better stop arguing. “Fine, we’ll be gone in less than three days.” He straightened to face the glowing orb in the palms of the garbed figure. “May I respectfully request you do not interfere with me during the short time I am here?”
The ominous statement made Lora’s stomach drop. What in the world did that mean?
“I assure you, I have no interest in what you do in your lab.” Maynwaring now sounded bored. “Just get this human off my planet as soon as possible.”
The Erkek gave the pirate a stiff bow. Without wasting a glance in her direction, he barked a demand. “Get up, human. We are leaving.”
Great, vacation over. Still wobbly from the pain, Lora stood. She kept a wary eye as the clothed figure with the glowing orb left through a mirror behind her.
Dr. Crazy Pants stood with a dead expression and watched her. “You will stay close behind me and obey my orders.” He narrowed his eyes, the black and orange blending to emphasize his point. “I don’t have to tell you what I’ll do to you if you don’t, do I?” He held up the black box.
Like she was too stupid to remember what happened a few minutes ago. “Nope. Obey sinister alien. Got it.”
He might have been creepy before, but now she’d have to rethink her previous opinion. With his thin lips pulled up in a chilling smirk, sinister didn’t describe the bone-chilling menace he gave. He walked away from the gangsters’ headquarters through a mirror. The invisible leash from her collar made her trail behind him.
As dire as her predicament was, she sure hoped D’zia and JR10 got away. Maybe them disappearing was the break they all needed. Still, her eyes burned with unshed tears as she reluctantly followed.
* * *
D’ZIA
Keeping to the shadows, D’zia entered the outskirts of the main village of FiPan under the cloak of twilight. It was dark, dusty, and the air was heavy with the rancid taste of disease and infection. The stench burned with each breath as he panted to avoid the smell. He ignored the hodgepodge of small buildings made of scrap metal. The mismatched brick and stone laced with patched lumber was layered in a sense of despair. He couldn’t get out of the sparsely populated area fast enough.
“Have you heard if everyone in the AoA made it out okay?” D’zia asked JR10 as he finally left the village and walked in the deserted landscape.
JR10’s snort was loud enough to echo around them in the stretch of rugged terrain. “Shysutá could steal those ships and be gone faster than anyone else in the galaxy. Don’t you worry none about them.”
D’zia grunted. Why did he even bother?
Several measures away, JR10 directed him to a small hilltop outside the massive building where the Erkek kept his lab. D’zia lay on his belly and peered through a pair of ocular zoom lens to study the security.
Several Erkeks patrolled along the parameter and two Friebbigh guards stationed at the entrance.
“You in contact with JR11 yet?” he asked his ever-present companion while keeping an eye on the structure in front of him. “Are they okay?” His heart squeezed knowing his TrueBond was close. He had to force her image away before he started daydreaming about her…touching her, tasting her…Damn it! Lying there with the beginning of a hard-on was not on the smartest thing to do.
“Yes.” Thank the Goddess JR10’s voice interrupted his musings. “They’re being held in a small room and it doesn’t look like they’ve been hurt.”
D’zia ignored JR10’s twelve spindly legs as they moved from the top of his head to sit
on his shoulder. “And Elemi?” He asked about the feisty ship that had brought them to FiPan. “She settled in and keeping undetected?”
“Oui, mon Capitaine.”
“Okay, now we’re here, what do you propose we do next?” Out of the corner of his eye, D’zia watched the little bot shake his body, a clear sign he was about to say something snarky.
“Well, if it was up to you, we’d probably just stay out here and rot.”
D’zia would not dignify that unfair comment with an answer.
“Good thing JR11 and I are here to figure this out for you.”
Well, he had to admit the little bot might be right, but nothing in the galaxy would make him admit it aloud. “Okay, oh great and wise one. Please enlighten me with your infinite wisdom about getting my female out of there.”
JR10 gave a loud snort. “Dead easy, dude. All you gotta do is get yourself caught.”
“Huh? What?” D’zia’s ears weren’t working. “What did you say?” He glanced at the spybot on his shoulder. “Are your circuits working properly?”
“Bro, you are so lame,” JR10 admonished him. “Look, we gotta get inside. What better way than to get yourself ‘caught’ and brought in?”
D’zia didn’t like the sound of this. “Then what?”
“Then we go in. I’ll interface with their systems and make sure we’re put in the same place our ladies are.”
“And then?” It’s not he didn’t trust JR10, but the little bot was a thrill seeker. Under normal circumstances, that personality trait might be okay with him, but he didn’t like it with Lora’s life involved. “What if you can’t interface with their systems? Then we’re screwed for sure.”
“Have you met me?” The small android had all the indignant tone of a slighted diva. “Honestly, I can’t believe you sometimes…”
“JR10.” D’zia made sure his tone was firm. “Answer the question.”
“D’zia,” JR10’s tone was equal to D’zia’s, “I have never met a system I couldn’t override, infect, and/or join. The beauty of my program is it adapts to any programmable system.” His tone softened. “Sometimes it takes a little longer than normal, but I eventually make my way in. The only one I’d ever had trouble with was our beautiful Elemi. But once introduced to my irresistible self, she gave in with all the grace and charm one could ever want.” When he finished, he gave a soft, audible sigh.