Gentle Beast

by Margaret Afseth

  “Okay. How do we go about this?”

  “It will be a few days, until we have junction with another port. You would be one of the first to use this portal.”

  “Okay. Can you give me a time frame here?”

  “Shall we say, three weeks hence? You and your daughter are to be here at a given date and time; I will see you are notified as to the moment. Your larger property will be traded for lodging at the arrival site. Small property is to be sent through the portal at our convenience. You need do nothing; we will see to the dispersal and movement of all possessions.”

  “Okay then. Do I need to sign anything?”

  “A verbal agreement is binding. We have this conversation recorded.”

  “Okay, right then!”

  Nyle stood to his feet, still in a daze, amazed that he’d made such a decisive decision.

  This is one way I can free my girl from the clutches of that abusive bitch! She has always done her level best to keep Kaudy from me!

  ****

  As soon as he arrived at his apartment two days later, Nyle called his ex-wife to set up the time to have his daughter.

  Two can play at the game of moving beyond the reach of the other. And what Seline doesn’t know, can’t come back to bite me.

  Or so he thought.

  Hopefully, she'll agree to let me keep Kaudy during this time frame; otherwise I might have to steal my girl away, kidnap her. I hope it won’t come to that.

  But isn't that actually what I'm doing, anyway?

  At least, if she does sic the police on me, they will never find us.

  CHAPTER 4

  Loki arrived chained hand and foot, like a defenceless human. He hadn’t bothered to tell them the fetters were useless. Except for the drain-belt he now wore, he could get out of anything. He was half Noor, after all. But if it made those around him feel safer, he felt it best to be submissive; less trouble that way.

  Because of his height, Loki had to duck when passing through the exit door of the craft. No one offered to support him as he descended, and with his ankles bound as they were, he could only take one step down at a time. The Slither guard was urging rapid decent, but Loki took his time, being careful. Because of him, the line moved at a snail pace.

  “Move it, Noor!” hissed the Slither guard, impatient to be done with his cargo. “I ain’t got all year!”

  It was common knowledge, Slithers had no compassion, in fact they seldom showed any emotion at all; that’s what made them such efficient warriors and protectors. It was rumoured, they were incapable of anything but fury, and were they to display that emotion, it was the prelude to a vicious attack.

  Forewarned also by a change in the creature’s hue, as its scales turned a darker green, Loki quickly stepped to the side, at the bottom of the flight of steps.

  Gazing about him, Loki found his surroundings what he had expected. He stood on the metal receiving wharf of an underground sea. Knowing the installation was deep within the core of the planet, and each entry port securely guarded, he knew he’d not get far should he try to make a run for it. One or another of the sentries would have a ray-wand set on kill, and would use the belt he wore against him within seconds of his move.

  As he waited, Loki realized Bom wasn’t going to show. That male was evidently so confident he’d won the upper hand; he didn’t even deem it important to meet his famous prisoner.

  The other convicts were led away; the shuttle pulled back out and left. Still Loki stood alone, waiting, shackled hand and foot, appearing helpless to all around him. An example. A joke. Ignored. The mighty Instant healer brought down, put in his place.

  Loki knew that was Bom’s intention.

  After a considerable time, the door at the end of the facility cracked open, spit out a small Feline male of about five foot four, and squealed shut again. The newcomer loped across the slick grey floor, and panting, came to a stop before Loki.

  “Sorry. So sorry” he wheezed. “He didn’t tell me I was to get you until now.”

  Loki said nothing.

  What was there to say?

  “I am Uel,” the attendant admitted. “I am pure Feline.” Without preamble, he asked pointedly: “Can you teleport?”

  “Not while in a drain-belt. Sorry. That’s why they have me in it, so I can’t get away.”

  “Shoot! Shoot! Thought I could get around them, and not have to take the long way. We’ll have to go through the cages.”

  “The cages? You mean the other prisoners?”

  “No, no. We are never kept in cages. That’s for the cattle. We must work off our sentence. We are given rooms. In med bay we even get cooking space. Very posh…for here.”

  “So what did you do to tick him off?”

  Uel knew instinctively, Loki meant Bom. “I did not side with him,” he admitted. “But if I do not offend him in the next four months, maybe he will let me go home again.”

  Loki uttered a short derisive laugh, which was ignored.

  “Come,” Uel ordered. “ We had better get moving. I must take you to get the chains cut off, and only More can do that.”

  “More?”

  “He runs the supply. He’s Root.”

  Loki could have easily removed his own shackles, and saved time, but he’d learned a long time ago, the Felines were as intimidated by his size as any other species, so he always let them do what they felt most comfortable with.

  As they shuffled forward, Uel continued to talk. “Bom has assigned you to the med bay facility. It’s nothing like what you’re used to, but…we do our best with what we get. Zaba is head physician; you will be under him, as we all are. He’s another Root, and lacks empathy. We try to make up for that, but don’t let him see you doing it. Tree people are unpredictable.”

  Uel opened the door to the inner world of the prison. When that access had squealed shut again, and their eyes had adjusted to the gloom, he continued his introduction to life in the compound.

  “You might want to hold your breath as we go down through here,” he suggested. “These are the meat stalls; the Roog like them live. They are processing a new shipment, so they need the room. They’ll orgy every night until they’ve eaten all of these, and sleep half the day after. The stalls will be empty again by the end of the week.”

  “Lucky for us they don’t like cat,” he added. “They prefer us for entertainment; like to torture us to hear us howl. It arouses them.”

  Because it was mostly dark in the rows between the bared cages, Loki at first did not see the occupants. But moving slowly hobbled as he was, he finally caught sight of a small round face atop an obese body. In shock he realized, it was humanoid!

  “They’re surface humans?” he questioned disbelievingly.

  “Yes, Bom keeps a breeder farm down here. He has both young females and male studs. The Roog troll the surface at night; even go directly into their nests to take them. Then they sort them into placement: breeder, stud, meat or worker, depending upon age or size. We get the pleasant duty of tending the pregnant cows.”

  “Have you become so callus you do not realize these are thinking beings?” Loki challenged angrily.

  Uel sighed. “I know what they are, but I am prisoner too. There is no way out of here. Many have tried to escape, and lost their life in the attempt. We must accept what is done by the Roog; this is their holdings.”

  “But Bom is part Feline.”

  “Ha! Matters not. And sometimes I wonder if he is.”

  Silence reigned between them, and now Loki could hear the low moans of the said ‘cattle’, the quiet tears of despair.

  “You can smell their fear and despondency,” Uel quietly observed after a time.

  Loki could smell more than that: urine, feces and vomit, among other things. “Why leave them so filthy? There must be innumerable diseases growing in these pens. You must be down here tending sickness continually.”

  “We are never called here. These are not treated. They pass through so quickly…then the new
batch comes. It’s the cages you smell; they are never cleaned.”

  Tears of abject misery flooded Loki’s eyes. Sympathy formed deep for these unfortunates, and moisture spilled over, coursing down his cheek, dripping from his chin.

  Uel looked up, saw. “You will harden, after a time,” he encouraged.

  No, I doubt I ever will.

  ****

  It seemed like hours until they passed out of the meat pens. Just before they went through a connecting door, Uel pointed out a side passage.

  “That’s the kitchen down that way,” he told Loki. “Those that are too skinny to eat or too old to breed are made to work there. They grind the meat, or cook the fetuses. The Roog like them five months or term; it’s considered a delicacy cooked in mother’s milk."

  Loki gagged.

  Mercifully they passed beyond the human hell into a less sickening atmosphere. Here were rooms of furniture, clothing, trinkets. Other spaces held packaged and canned foodstuffs.

  “What is all this?” Loki asked.

  “These are the confiscated goods from the surface. When they take the humans directly from their nests, the property is also removed to disguise what has taken place. They then set a fire or cause an explosion to make it look like a disaster. Humans above never realize the true happening.”

  “Oh, God of the mighty universe!” Loki exclaimed horrified. “They get away with this? How come no one in the outer worlds is aware of this?”

  “It is Roog territory. They are permitted to do what seems best in their worlds.”

  Before Loki could comment further, the two arrived at More’s Supply and Stores. The gregarious Root was deformed and ancient, yet pleasant.

  “Ahhh! It needs the chains broken!” he observed delighted. “I like to break things. Bring him over,” More instructed.

  ****

  Half an hour later Loki had arms and legs free, and they were on the way again.

  This time their course took them through the breeder pens which were much cleaner, and on into comfort-care, where the females in advanced pregnancy were given better food and soft beds until they came full term or were aborted, which ever suited the masters.

  “How are they bred?” Loki asked, curious.

  “The female is given a drug to make her extremely needful, then when she is beyond herself, a male is put in with her. He too has been enhanced to utter sexual need. They go at it until she’s found to carry.”

  “Just like animals,” Loki decided in disgust. “When will we get to the med bay?”

  “I just want to show you one more thing,” Uel insisted.

  He led his charge around the corner, to an area backing directly off the medical centre. As Loki entered, he felt the vacuum immediately. When he stepped around Uel, he stopped short. In the direct centre of the darken room stood a coffin-like glass container. Inside was a dim pulsing light.

  “Do you know what it is?”

  Loki didn’t answer; he was too appalled to speak.

  Uel went on to tell him anyway; totally oblivious to the knife he was twisting.

  “This is the Essence of the most powerful Noor ever to exist, a Noor Queen!” Uel proclaimed proudly. “The Roog tortured and killed her physical, and managed to capture the Essence just before the other died. They have kept it here since before we were born. They keep her here in a vacuum space so she cannot escape. But I think she is dying now; the Essence is much dimmer than when I first came.”

  So this is what they do to the Noor. No wonder Dia and Kimon keep us isolated. This is why I can never choose a mate. This is what they would do to her.

  “They say her name is Tilk; an Introvert mental,” Uel added. “Good thing she can’t get out. She could greatly harm us.”

  Loki knew it wasn’t true that she could not escape. Because he had a mental himself, was a Conjunctive Noor male, he was familiar with the Essence make-up.

  She is not a captive! She could easily escape through the vacuum, even if extremely weak.

  An Introvert female was his counter part, the perfect mate of a Conjunctive male. Instead of being able to split into two physical appearances, as did the male, her two parts were a physical outward form, and an Essence, or spirit, which remained inside the other.

  Liam/Loki, of which he was the physical, could separate, or junction together as the need arose. So could an Introvert, but did it rarely, as the Essence was said to be too unstable to remain apart. Without a physical, only a very strong Essence could have survived this long.

  Loki knew this Essence did not escape because she was conserving that last bit of her energy. She had no power source, and no physical to join with. It was as if she were waiting for something…or someone.

  Does it wait for me?

  He would give anything to rescue her, yet while he remained in this drain-belt, he could not give her energy. He could do nothing; he was useless in this condition.

  But he would wait; time could change circumstance.

  As they entered the med-bay proper, Uel had one more thing to say.

  “I am not one of those who agree with the annihilation of the Noor species,” he declared vehemently. “Like my Feline queen, I do not think it is a plague to be eradicated. I am not your enemy Noor half, but many here are. Be careful. I will help if I can.”

  Loki sighed.

  It is always so.

  ****

  When at long last Loki was allowed a sleep time, a moment alone, he sat down and reviewed the day’s events. It was then it hit him how grievous a situation existed here, not simply for himself, but for all in this hellish establishment. And he knew he was powerless to change their situations, though he longed with all his heart to do so. His only recourse was to help the injured and the sick, as he had always done.

  His helplessness overwhelmed him; empathy charred his soul, and…Loki wept…

  Violently, the shuddering sobs overcame. At last he feel asleep…lonely, heart sick, and defeated.

  Bom had won! Again.

  CHAPTER 5

  Althea moaned as she awoke. Hurting in every muscle, as if she had been fighting, she stretched to alleviate the pain. Feeling the presence of someone near, she tried to open her eyes, to find only the left one would open fully, giving her a distorted blurred image.

  Where are my glasses? And where am I? Not in bed.

  She raised her hand to her eyes; the right was swollen shut.

  I have a shiner? How did I come by that?

  As it passed by her nose, her hand came away wet.

  Blood?

  The right side of her jaw was sore, as well.

  She sniffed to rid the blockage in her nasal passages.

  What a god-awful odour!

  Where the devil am I?

  A faraway gravelly voice came from above her. “Better put your prey with the others,” it ordered. “The thing’s awake.”

  “It’s mine! My supper! I earned it!”

  “You deserve one, yes, but not this one. Bom gets to choose first morsel. Always!”

  “This one won’t be to his liking. It’s too small; not much meat on its bones.”

  “Never know,” the first disagreed. “His tastes are sometimes strange.”

  Althea tried to inch away unnoticed.

  “Better catch it, or it’ll get away! Put it in the cage. Now!”

  Her legs were caught in a giant hand-like paw; she flew through the air, and was slung roughly across a shoulder covered with coarse long hair. That’s when recollection hit her.

  This enormous, ferocious, demon dog was in my home! It attacked like something from the gates of Hades.

  Am I dead? Have I gone to hell to be torment for my sins? Or is this a nightmare?

  As the creature strode along the passageway, her nose was forced deep into the filthy fur of the giant canine; she had no choice but to endure the gagging body stench of the thing that held her.

  Her surroundings rocked, like a boat on the high seas, making her nauseous, and sh
e had to swallow back the gorge that rose in her throat.

  Before she baptized her captor with the contents left in her stomach, Althea was unceremoniously dumped onto a straw-strewn floor, and the barred door slammed shut.

  And now, she was no longer alone!

  It seemed there must be over fifty people in that one eight by ten foot cell, all battered and bleeding as she was, some sitting, others pinned against the outer bars, the rest lying on top of one another. Most were women, some held children, and the few men present seemed stunned, and of no protection to their families.

  Althea crawled to a corner, hoping to hide there.

  ****

  Hours passed. The cage gate squealed across the metal floor, and Althea peered through the throng to see two dim shapes, dog-like again, standing blocking the way out.

  “Come out!” the large dog bellowed. “One at a time. Move it! Move it!”

  Those at the front scurried to obey. As the cage emptied, some held back, Althea one of them.

  “Go in there, and push them out,” the loud beast growled.

  The second monster dog came toward Althea. She rose up quickly, and ran for the entrance.

  “Get in line!” barked the first. “Move it! Move it!”

  Althea scurried forward, joining a line of others, which lead off down the corridor. A young teenage boy came from behind her, pushed in ahead, apparently trying to get near a girl of about the same age standing just in front. Another older man also joined him, again forcing ahead of Althea. Two more women took up position at the rear of the line, behind.

  The column abruptly stopped. Their guards seemed unconcerned, began growling to each other in low tones, as if conversing with each other. The prisoners relaxed somewhat; the humans inched forward in hesitant sprints and stops.

  Finally, as she rounded a corner, Althea saw and heard what was going on. In panicked disregard of her own safety, a mother with a child was screaming and struggling with another dog sentry, as he attempted to wrestle the infant from her arms.

  “Stupid thing!” growled the large creature. “You are breeder! This thing is meat! Let me have it!” He cuffed the woman soundly, tossed the howling child to a comrade, as its mother dropped to the floor. Two other canines then dragged the woman away in a semi-conscious state.