by Zena Zion
“Hello.” She spoke in a clear tone. Margwall had assured her that the local population had made an effort to learn English during their rare communications, a fact that Beth found surprising considering the fact that he was certain of their inferior intelligence level to the humans of Earth.
“Earthling. Welcome. I will now take you to our…” The female voice paused in thought, “home.”
Beth grabbed her oxygen pack and strapped it to her face. When she reached for her observation pack, the female tapped the glass once more and spoke.
“The items will be brought shortly. You must leave now.”
Beth wondered if the female was worried about the chance of an attack from the still-circling creatures above. Perhaps she felt hurried to return to the safety of their small camp. Leaving everything except for her atmospheric assimilation pack and the small handgun strapped to her ankle, Beth tentatively pressed the access button to the hatch.
With a small hiss, the door swung open to reveal a hugely muscular female flanked by two towering males of the deepest grey. When she stepped down from the pod, Beth realized that her head barely reached the shoulder of the nearest male. She swallowed and offered a hand to the speaker, who stared at it with great confusion.
After a moment, Beth withdrew her hand and wiped it on the leg of her pants.
“You will follow me now before you are seen by any but those who have forsaken their color. They are merely servants. Eunuchs, you would call them.” She gestured at the dull hued men beside her. “Dreth will see you before any other.”
Dreth. A name Beth recognized. The leader, or king, of their people. He had provided an enormous amount of information about this planet that Lexi kept guarded from all but his most prized assistant. In return, a practical library of information on Earth and its inhabitants was returned for the study of the Asreen population, though her boss assured her they did not have the intelligence to interpret more than the most basic of language.
“It’s a courtesy, Miss Coulter.” Professor Margwall had informed her. “It shows our support of their culture, but I highly doubt they’ll read anything past the elementary school books. It’s a waste of information, really, but a necessary waste to gain their trust.”
With a quick nod, Beth followed the woman, who turned and began the slow descent down a rocky path that ran between two boulder outcroppings.
Careful not to lose her footing, Beth was watching her feet when she finally reached level ground. It was for this reason that she did not see the elaborate fortress until she was veritably standing at its doors. Made entirely of stone, the structure was honed with the skill of a master mason. Some of the curves and angles seemed to defy physics, their beauty and skill creating the illusion that the city-sized construction was swaying in the wind.
Contrarily, Beth would have said that it was the most solid and secure fortress that she had ever laid eyes on, even more so than the underground headquarters of the Intercontinental Task Force on Earth.
There was not a single door or window anywhere in the lowest hundred feet of the wall in front of her. Beth was wondering how they were expected to enter the stronghold when the violet woman gave a sharp whistle and one of the winged beasts came diving down to land beside them.
The fiery orange creature roared at the top of its lungs at the sight of Beth. It snapped razor sharp teeth in her direction before being resolutely scolded by her guide in what sounded like an enormously complicated language.
The beast ruffled its scales, making them stand on end in an impressive display of might, but otherwise remained quite docile.
“You will sit.” The female instructed, gesturing at the slight hollow in the creature’s back.
“What?” Beth exclaimed. “No way!” she shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
“You must.” The guide pressed her. “There is no other way inside.”
Beth glanced up once more and to her amazement, she realized that dozens of the creatures were flying in and out of massive cave-like entrances that were spaced evenly along the higher surface of the wall. She squinted her eyes, looking for riders, but saw none.
“No.” She repeated. She’d go back to her pod for the night if she must but she would not side astride this ferocious beast. Especially not before she had a chance to observe their behavior and study their biology.
“We have your oxygen inside. Lots of it.”
“Why would you need oxygen?” Beth wondered because the trio appeared to have no difficulty breathing in the current atmosphere.
“We CAN take in the gases but oxygen is, as for you as well, easier on our bodies when we are in our gentler form.” When Beth’s brow furrowed in confusion, the woman held up a hand to keep her from asking any further questions.
“You will have no need for that… device… on your face.” The female attempted to coax her but Beth still refused. “Your home is already inside.” She tried again.
With disbelief, Beth followed the female’s gaze into the air where, just as she had stated, Beth’s pod was suspended between two of the creatures as they carried it through an opening and into the massive fortress.
“Do you ride?” Beth asked the woman with a pleading voice.
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PREVIEW OF ‘SOLD TO THE WARRIOR’ (ALIEN PROTECTORS BOOK 3)
BY
ZENA ZION
Chapter 1
Eliana Paxton awoke with a jolt as the spaceship landed. The force of impact sent her body sliding across the metallic floor though her wrists remained firmly in the manacles attached to the wall. She glanced around at the other captive females who were contained in the cargo hold as some tried to regain their footing. Their numbers had been increasing steadily for the past two days. Eliana estimated that their captors had collected nearly fifty women, of at least thirty species, on their interplanetary abduction operation.
Moments later the interior gate opened to admit a grotesque creature she had come to know as Benjloc.
“Up.” He grunted.
Any female that remained seated, including Eliana, struggled to their feet, tentacles, or general limbs as applied.
Benjloc had bulbous eyes, swarthy gray skin, and six hands sporting three fingers apiece. The extra limbs made him the ideal candidate for patrolling the fifty rebellious captives. Just yesterday a Tentamue had severed several bound limbs in a bold escape attempt before Benjloc easily subdued her. She was now bound at the waist though her limbs had grown back.
Eliana watched as a series of guards filed between the rows of women, preparing to escort them off the spacecraft and onto whichever unknown planet they had landed. With the push of a button a guard, with a blue-hued body covered in tiny armored scales, released a mechanism that quickly threaded a long chain through large rings in the shackles attached to the walls.
Once all of the women were linked, a second button released the wall-mount bindings allowing the women to move away from the wall and into the center of the cargo hold. As the two lines of females began to shift slowly toward the center of the room, creating a single-file line, Eliana became conscious of the fact that her latch had jammed halfway open.
She threw her weight against the cuffs and managed to force herself free of the wall. In doing so, Eliana realized that, when the threading chain had passed by, her broken latch had prevented the ring on her cuffs from being linked with the others. She was unbound except for the short chain that linked her wrists together.
Glancing around she noticed Benjloc inventorying the line of women and quickly grasped the central chain as if she had been joined properly. First, she decided, she needed to get free of the ship. Only then would she stand a chance at escape.
Moments later, the exterior door of the hold eased open to create a ramp at the docking station. Eliana’s skin tingled at the surge of heat that radiated through the entrance and she realized that they had arrived on a planet that offered an adequ
ate atmospheric oxygen supply.
As she prepared to shuffle past Benjloc, Eliana covered the un-coupled ring and chain with her hands while keeping her face bowed low. He scanned her, like those before, with a device that flashed a green light across her body.
“Virgin. Good.” Benjloc muttered gruffly. “She’ll fetch a high price. Take her to auction immediately.”
Eliana’s heart sank as it occurred to her that she was among a collection of potential sex-slaves. Ever since her abduction from Earth two days ago, she had convinced herself that she would be held for ransom or maybe given some sort of menial task to complete before her ultimate release. She now knew that this was not the case. In a few moments she would be entering a marketplace for slave auction.
It was common knowledge that there was only one planet remaining which employed a high level of female trafficking, Hepton. Unfortunately, the reason that the Interplanetary Coalition had been unable to put a halt to the planet’s masochistic traditions had entirely to do with Hepton’s formidable military. The Coalition was willing to turn a blind eye to a few hundred abductions a year if Hepton kept their warriors engaged on the seedier side of the galaxy.
Eliana had never laid eyes on a Heptonian, but as she set foot on the loose soil a quick glance revealed that a majority of the marketplace was filled with humanoid beings that would fit in easily on Earth, except for their rather revealing wardrobes.
The line of women was being directed toward the largest tent Eliana had ever seen. It was big enough to shade at least one thousand people from the burning rays of Hepton’s two suns.
At that moment, a break in the crowd framed the forest that lay a short distance from the edge of the market square. Knowing this may be her only chance Eliana released the chain and sprinted across the soil, past shocked onlookers and motionless market vendors.
She had the element of surprise, she thought. It just might be enough to allow her time to reach the forest edge. She heard Benjloc shouting furiously behind her in some unknown language. Eliana glanced over her shoulder to witness a line of warriors gathering behind her in the market square. As she crossed the forest threshold, and out of sight of the soldiers, Eliana collided headfirst with a rock solid mass that had not been present a moment before.
Strong arms encircled her body. Eliana struggled with ferocious abandon against the bare chest of her assailant, but to no avail. For all that it was worth she might have been a fly attacking a mountain. Defeated, she let her limbs relax and noticed that her toes were barely brushing the ground. The vice-like grip around her torso did not loosen.
Slowly, she raised her eyes from the tanned, chiseled chest to the face above her own. He was looking down at her with impossibly attractive features.
Grey eyes, square jaw, and hair as black as midnight joined together with a slightly imperfect nose, that had clearly been broken on multiple occasions, to create a human-like face that surpassed anything she had ever seen on Earth.
“Help me.” Eliana whispered.
Rather than respond the Heptonian male dipped his head and firmly pressed his lips against hers.
Eliana pulled back and slammed her forehead into his jaw, knowing that it would likely bruise both of them.
“You brute!” She shouted, noting his shocked expression. “Let me go this instant.” Flailing and screaming once more, Eliana felt herself resolutely thrown over the alpha-male’s shoulder as he started walking back out of the forest.
She attempted to throttle his back with her bound wrists, kicked her legs, and clawed his skin. The only apparent result was what she thought might have been a deep, male chuckle.
As they approached the market square Eliana could hear cheering and chanting from the crowd gathered outside the tent. She lay still and turned her head to listen.
“Rox. Rox. Rox. Rox.” The chanting continued.
“What are they saying?” she asked over his shoulder.
“They are saying Rox.” He answered in perfect English.
“What is Rox?” She continued. Eliana hoped it did not mean anything serious, like death by stoning.
“I am Rox.” He stood a little straighter as they passed through the cheering crowd with Eliana slung lazily over his shoulder. Citizens reached out to pat Rox as he passed by and, though Eliana had stopped squirming, she continued to slap away any hands that came within arms reach. Unfortunately, this did not have much effect other than eliciting laughter and encouragement from the crowd.
Moments later Rox flipped Eliana efficiently off his shoulder and onto the sand at his feet. She took a quick swipe at the dirt and sent an ineffective spray of dark powder at his crème linen pants. Whatever they were made out of, there was no trace of dirt.
“My virgin!” Benjloc shouted from directly behind where Eliana sat. The crowd cheered even louder than before. “My great warrior,” Benjloc said, now addressing Rox directly. “thank you for returning the Earth-slave.”
Rox nodded curtly.
Benjloc continued, “My master was not expecting you today or he would have been here himself. Does the Commander have need of more servants? Perhaps his men have found their supply wanting?” As he said this Benjloc gave a low bow and kept his eyes focused on the ground in deference.
Eliana wondered what sort of man this Rox and his Commander were to demand a level of respect that she had not yet seen Benjloc display for any other individual.
“I was only passing through the forest, Slaver.” Rox spoke in a quiet, but captivating voice. He had no need for Benjloc’s theatrics to hold the attention of those nearby.
“Perhaps you will finally buy for yourself today?” the slaver gestured toward the tent where the prisoners were being herded into a small adjoining antechamber.
The warrior’s eyes met momentarily with Eliana’s.
“Perhaps.” Rox muttered while turning purposefully towards the tent.
Eliana slowly rose to her feet and turned toward Benjloc, expecting to face an onslaught of fury. Instead, the gray face revealed a wide grin and all six arms were raised to the sky in triumph.
“Little human,” he began “you’ll bring my master a fortune after that show. Ah, and to have the great warrior of Hepton stay to watch… all of the buyers who want to fight in his regimen will pay more to impress him.” Benjloc grabbed Eliana by the arm and began to steer her toward the tents. “It is a good day Earthling.”
Inside the tent thirty of the captive women were being prepared for sale. Each was given a pale blue outfit designed for their species. Eliana was instructed to wear a floor-length dress that draped over one shoulder and was cinched at the waist with a darker length of fabric. The material appeared to be that of the warrior’s pants and Eliana now understood why the Heptonians preferred it.
In Hepton’s extreme heat Eliana’s cotton shirt and pants had quickly fixed to her body with sweat. The sheer fabric used for clothing on this planet had an almost mystical quality of cooling the body and allowing the skin to breathe.
Eliana sat tolerantly as stylists accentuated her features with light makeup and tamed her dark, curly hair into a voluminous ponytail that fell down past her shoulders. If she hadn’t been so angry and scared, she might have felt beautiful.
One by one, the number of captives dwindled until Eliana was the last female in the antechamber. She could here Benjloc’s voice booming over the crowd as he pointed out desirable aspects of each female’s body. Apparently, the Tentamue’s ability to re-grow limbs overnight was rapid even by species standards. She fetched a hefty price.
Eliana hung her head. She was twenty-two years old and had always had lofty expectations for her first sexual encounter. Sure, Rox had kissed her briefly, and maybe one or two men on Earth, but she harbored romantic expectations for love and marriage that just would not seem to go away.
Even as she stood waiting to be auctioned, with her most desirable quality being her virginity, Eliana could not give up on the hope that somehow she could escape the mes
s in which she had found herself. She wondered how quickly her procurer would expect to take advantage of her high-value bonus. If only she could delay long enough to formulate a plan.
When Benjloc called her name the crowd erupted so violently that she was unable to hear the slaver’s commentary.
Eliana’s heart thudded in her chest. Her tongue seemed to swell and her hands began to shake. She clasped them in front of her in the hope of suppressing her tremors.
As the blue-scaled man waved her forward, Eliana raised her chin, lowered her eyes and entered the main tent.
Silence fell as she stepped slowly onto the platform beside Benjloc. The starting bid was higher even than the Tentamue female’s had ended and as the number steadily increased Eliana simply stopped listening.
Her narrowed eyes scanned the crowd bitterly. Eliana was not sure what she was looking for until her gaze connected with the warrior, Rox, who stared back, unblinking. Hatred welled in Eliana’s heart. It was his fault that she was here. If he had not be passing through the woods she would have escaped, at least temporarily.
Glare for glare they faced each other in silence.
Eliana found that she was not interested in what sort of alien creatures were bidding on her. She did not care what price she fetched. At this very moment her entire being was focused on conveying her hatred to the macho warrior who had treated her like nothing more than a bag of produce to be tossed and sold.
As the bidding wound down Eliana realized she would exact an outrageous price, truly a life’s fortune on Earth. Still her gaze did not waiver from her enemy.
Benjloc called for final offers as the highest bidder stood in preemptive triumph to accept his prize. With trepidation Eliana shifted her gaze to evaluate the victor and she suppressed the urge to vomit. She felt her eyes widen with shock and her breath catch at the image of a gelatinous yellow creature with an elongated body, eight sets of legs, and a series of vicious looking stingers along its back.