by T. J. Quinn
“Yes, all of them, including your friend. Sasha, I believe it’s her name, right?” he smiled at her and Eleanor had to close her eyes to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.
“Yes, it is.”
“She has been nagging Asgar to come see you.” he told her with a naughty smile.
“How long have I been unconscious?” she asked, with a scowl.
“About fourteen hours, now.” He explained. “You seemed in a lot of pain, so I decided to sedate you, in order to help you heal faster.”
“Thank you. I had never experienced so much pain before.”
“Not even when you got the scars on your back?” he asked in a low tone.
“Not even then. I don’t remember much of the accident that caused some of them, and the other ones, are from the surgeries the doctors performed to save my life.” She explained him.
“Well, hopefully, you’ll feel better in a few hours. I’m letting Asgar know you’re awake now.”
She nodded and looked out the small window on one of the sides of her bed. The sky’s darkness enhanced the brightness of the stars. It was a fabulous sight, but one that proved just how far she was now from home.
She closed her eyes and stayed like that as she heard him leave the room, while her mind processed the information he had given her.
Why did they buy all the human females? What were they looking for? She just hoped they hadn’t left the pan to fall directly into the fire.
She must have dozed out because the next thing she was aware of was of hearing Sasha’s voice next to her.
“Hey, sleepy head, how are you feeling?” she was asking her, as she caressed her hair.
“Hey…” Eleanor fluttered her eyes open, as a smile cracked her face.
Sasha hugged her tight, hiding her face on the crack of her neck. “I thought I was never going to see you again.” She murmured.
“I know… I thought the same.” Eleanor admitted as she finally allowed the tears to run down her cheeks, wrapping her arms around her friend as well.
Someone cleared their throat somewhere in the room, and Sasha finally stepped aside, allowing Eleanor to look at the man standing next to her friend. She looked at her, with her eyebrow up.
“Ah, yes, he’s Asgar, the one that bought us all.” Sasha introduced him.
The man was clearly of the same species as the doctor, but there was a sense of authority and lethalness about him that there wasn’t in the other man. This one was a warrior, she was sure of that.
“It’s a pleasure finally seeing you awake.” He said, bowing his head.
“Thank you.” she turned to look at Sasha. “Has he told you why are we here?”
“No, he hasn’t. He said that’s his king’s job. They are taking us to their home planet, one called Zuvrak, in a galaxy I’ve never heard of.” She explained.
“We had never heard of your planet either.” The man intervened, with a grin.
“I’m sure they just have different names,” Eleanor said, in a conciliatory tone. She turned to look at the man, whose eyes seemed to have problems to leave her friend. “Why did you bring me along?”
“Our king ordered us to buy every single human on the ship.” He replied, shrugging. “You were one of them.”
“How did you find out about me? I’m sure Eskol didn’t mention me.”
“Your friend mentioned you. She actually threatened my life, if I dared to buy her without you,” he explained with an incredulous smile on his face.
Sasha threw her elbow directly to the man’s stomach, but he caught it too easily.
Eleanor looked at her, with a deep frown. “I told you to stay out of trouble.” She grumbled.
“I just couldn’t leave you there with Eskol, he wanted to kill you.”
“How do you know these guys won’t do the same? We could be livestock for them, for all we know.” She pointed out, still mad at her friend for risking her life like that.
“Livestock?” Asgar asked, puzzled.
“Food,” Sasha snarled at him.
He laughed out loud. “Rest at ease, we won’t eat you. At least, not literally.” He replied with a definitively wicked grin in his face.
It was amusing seeing how Sasha blushed furiously. “Anyway, we’ll find out soon enough. We’ll get there in twelve hours.”
“What are your plans for me?” Eleanor asked him, looking straight into his eyes.
“I’m not sure yet. There isn’t anyone on our planet with a problem like yours, so I don't know how well you’ll be received.” He admitted.
“No one has ever lost their members?” Eleanor was surprised.
“They grow back, very fast.” He explained.
“Wow… that’s amazing.”
“We have amazing self-healing bodies. That’s why I don’t know what to do with you.” He confessed, letting out a deep sigh. “Colborn has examined you thoroughly, and there’s nothing we can do to help you regain the use of your legs.” He added, killing the tiny hope that had formed in Eleanor’s heart.
“Your people won’t accept me.” She stated.
“They will have trouble understanding your disability, yes.” He admitted, running his hand through his long strands of hair.
“Perhaps, you shouldn’t take me there, then.” She said, in a low tone.
“What the hell are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?” Sasha almost freaked out.
“I just don’t want more trouble. We still don’t know what’s behind all this, but I wasn’t in their plans, and you know that.” Eleanor tried to make her understand.
“And what do you suggest they do to you? Throw you out into deep space? Kill you? What?” she yelled at her.
But Eleanor didn’t answer, she only looked at Asgar. After all, he was the one that had to make that decision.
“Let’s not lose our minds here, please.” He asked. “I can keep you in my house for some time, while we decide the best way to handle this.”
“Won’t the other members of the crew talk about me?” she asked, not sure about his plan.
“Only two of them know about you, Egil, my second in command and Colborn. They’ll keep silent if I ask them.” He explained.
“I don’t want to cause any more problems.” She assured him.
“You won’t. This will be only temporary until we decide what to do.”
“I still don’t like it.” Sasha snorted.
“It’s not your place to like it or not.” He retorted in a cold tone, and Sasha tensed up.
Those two had something going on, but Eleanor was too tired to think about it. Her body still felt sore, and all she wanted was to fall back asleep.
“I believe it’s time to let your friend get some rest,” Asgar said, but his tone was too demanding to be a suggestion.
Eleanor smiled as they left the room, falling immediately back to the comforting daze she had been in when they had arrived.
Chapter Three
She lost touch with the world around her, for several hours. When she opened her eyes again, she was still in the same room, but there was a profound silence she hadn’t noticed the first time she woke up. She looked out the window. The starry night had been replaced by tall, metallic gray buildings, so she assumed they had landed.
She moved in bed, feeling a bit uncomfortable, though most of the soreness was gone.
“Hi, are you feeling better?” Colborn asked her, as he walked in, with a smile on his face.
“Yes, much better, thank you.” she replied, rubbing away her sleepy expression.
“We landed a few hours ago. Your friends were taken to the palace, to meet the king.” He explained.
“I see. What will happen now?” she asked, in a cautious tone.
“Now, I’ll take you to Asgar’s home and see that you’re installed, while he attends the meeting with the King.”
“And how do you plan on doing that? Will you carry me?” she asked, raising her upper body from the mattress, su
pporting herself on her elbows.
“Right, I hadn’t considered that. I could carry you, but that would attract unwanted attention.” He said, in a thoughtful tone. He stood still for a few moments. “Wait here, I think I have the solution.” He said as he strode out of the room.
“Believe me, I’m not going anywhere.” She replied, sarcastically.
It took him a few minutes to return, and when he did, he was on something quite like a Segway, though this one didn’t have wheels, it hovered in the air.
“What’s that?”
“I believe the best translation would be a slider. It’s very useful. Do you think you can stand on it?” he asked, sounding enthusiastic, like a kid on Christmas day.
“Is it stable?” she asked, with a slight frown.
“Yes, very. You can lean over the steering wheel and let it take you.”
That would mean standing on the thing, and that wouldn’t be very pleasant, but she was sure it would be the best way for her to move around.
“Yes, I think I can do it. What can I wear?” she asked, noticing she was naked underneath the sheets.
“I brought you one of my nephew’s suits, along with a fur cape, since it’s very cold outside. It should fit you.”
The suit was similar to the one he was wearing that it clung to his body almost like a second skin. There was no way she would be able to put that on, by herself.
“I’ll need some help to put that on.” She explained, signaling the suit.
He didn’t understand at first, but when he did, he was clearly flustered. “I should have asked one of your friends to dress you.”
She chuckled. “But you didn’t, and thank you for letting me sleep instead. I needed that.”
“Yes, I’m sure you did. I’ll help you. Just tell me how.” He smiled and handed her the suit.
After a few minutes, she was dressed, with the cape secured on her shoulders. He helped her to slide out of bed and lean against the slider, letting most of her weight fall over the steering wheel, to avoid the pain as much as she could.
He covered her head with the hood and programmed the slider with their destination. “This will take us to my vehicle.”
“Perfect.” She gave him a faint smile, and they left the spaceship.
Eleanor felt as if she was in some kind of science fiction show, as they slid through the dimly lit hallways of the ship.
A few minutes later, they were outside, and she had her first sight of the city, but it was a very brief one since Colborn quickly took her out of the slider and sat her on his vehicle.
It was a relief sitting down and relieving her legs and spine from her weight.
Like the slider, the vehicle had no wheels. And when he took the seat next to her, after storing the slider, she confirmed it hovered as well.
“Your sun looks very small.” She said looking at the gray skies.
“It’s not small; our planet is very far away from it.” He explained. “That’s why our weather is always cold.”
“I see.” She looked around, curious, staring at the tall buildings.
“All our structures are built to use its heat to the maximum, to keep us warm, though we have other forms of energy; we try to use them as wisely as possible.” He continued, showing her around. “The façades are specially built to capture all sunlight possible and transform it into heat. Those structures you see on the sidewalks capture the wind’s energy and convert it into other forms of energy,” he signaled something that looked very much like a metallic tree.
It looked much better than the wind power stations they used back on Earth, but there was no tree, and no park in sight, at least not that she could see.
“They look like trees.” She said, looking at them.
“Yes, that’s the idea. But our trees are far bigger than that. Most are taller than most of the buildings in town.”
“Wow, they must be quite a sight.”
“They are.” He slowed the speed until he was almost stopped, in front of a massive gate. “We’re here.” He punched a few numbers on a panel in the vehicle, and the gate opened to let them in.
Just a few moments later, he was parking the vehicle in front of a massive structure, quite similar to a house, and yet unlike any she had seen before. It was very high, probably with two stories, built with the same metallic material, with huge windows, that opened up to a garden. The bushes and flowers were quite different from those she was used to, but they still had a mesmerizing beauty.
He hopped out of the vehicle and walked around it, after retrieving the slider to help her out.
Once more, he leaned her against the steering wheel and soon they were entering the house. There was no one in sight, but he seemed quite familiar with the house.
“I guess you know Asgar very well.” She commented as she followed him down the halls, observing the sparse amount of furniture or decorative elements on the house, a typical man’s home. She guessed they weren’t that different from human males, after all.
“Yes, we’ve known each other since we were kids.” He nodded, opening a door and motioning her to enter. “This is the room he told me to put you in.”
Like the rest of the house, the room was almost empty. It had a bed, some sort of couch and what looked like a mirror. The temperature inside the house was quite nice, and before he put her to bed, she asked him to remove her cloak.
He did, and soon she was reclining on the pillows stacked on the bed. “Will you need anything else? Asgar should be back very soon, but I can stay with you if you need me.”
“That’s alright, I can manage.” She assured him.
“If you need to contact him, just use that device over the small table.” He instructed her, pointing at something that looked pretty much like a cell phone. “It connects directly to him.”
“Thank you for all your help.”
“It’s been a pleasure.” He bowed with a smile. “I’ll see you soon.”
With those words, he left the room, and she closed her eyes.
But she was too excited to stay still. She wanted to explore the place a bit more, and she missed her wheelchair terribly.
Chapter Four
Brynjar received the new group of humans brought by Asgar with a wide smile. If the first two women had seemed very promising, this group of five was even more. He was happy to see his friend Asgar had found his soul mate, but the other women remained unclaimed. He would have to come up with something to introduce them to the rest of the population. He had to admit he was disappointed he hadn’t met his own mate, but clearly, those things were beyond his will.
Nonetheless, when he met Asgar’s mate, his nostrils had flared with a scent that reached his very core. For a few minutes, he felt a bit confused, since he knew Asgar had claimed her as his soul mate, but the scent on her had been so distinctive, so clear, he couldn’t have imagined it.
But when he approached her again, the scent was gone, and that only left him even more confused.
Getting a grip on himself, he asked all those present to take a seat. He wanted to welcome the women to their planet and explain the situation to them, and he dedicated the next hour to show the best face of his world.
After the women introduced themselves and talked a bit about themselves, he dismissed them. They would all stay at the palace, except for Sasha. Asgar had asked to take her home with him, and Brynjar saw no reason to tell him no.
It was time to tell that to his brother as well. Haakon was dying to take Rosalind up to his mountains and show her his life. Brynjar left the council room and went looking for him. It was time to give the good news to his brother.
He found him in the garden, with his stare lost in his beloved mountains. “Pack your things.” He ordered him.
“What?” he slowly turned to look at Brynjar.
“I said, pack your things. You can go back to your mountains.”
“I’m not leaving Rosalind here.” He grumbled.
“I know you wo
n’t. But you’ll have to find a pretty damn excuse to convince her to accompany you.”
“That’s not a problem for me.” He assured him.
“I want regular news of the advances you make with her. You know we’re running out of time.”
“I’m well aware of that.” He remained in silence for a few moments. “So, none of the women are for you?”
Brynjar knew the reason behind Haakon’s worried tone. The last thing his brother wanted was to inherit the kingdom. He would do a good job if he had to, but he would hate every single second of it.
“No, not yet. Perhaps, I’ll be luckier next time.”
“Yes, you have to.”
“I haven’t given up yet, so you’re off the hook for a while longer. Just take your mate up to your mountains and seduce her. We need to give our people hope for a brighter future.” It was an order, but he knew it was one his brother would be more than happy to obey.
“I will, I assure you.” He hugged the king and walked back to the palace, in haste that showed just how much he wanted to leave.
Brynjar chuckled and decided to walk around the gardens for a while. It wasn’t often he had the time to do so. The sun was shining brighter that day, and the wind was nothing more than a gentle breeze. Those days were so rare and precious on Zuvrak, it would be a shame not to enjoy them.
He was about to return to his office when he saw Colborn, the doctor that always accompanied Asgar in his missions. He seemed to be arriving at the palace, and curious to know his opinion of the new group of women, Brynjar called him up.
“Colborn, wait up.”
He turned around startled. Apparently, he hadn’t expected to meet Brynjar on this visit.
“My King, how are you this day?” he greeted with a slight bow.
“Please, drop the formalities, we’re alone.” Brynjar scolded him, taking a step closer to him, stretching his arm to take Colborn’s. “How are you? I haven´t seen you in a while.”
Colborn took Brynjar’s arm, by the elbow as the King did the same, on their usual greeting, as he smiled.
Brynjar’s nostrils flared the minute he got closer to the other man. The scent he had perceived on Asgar’s soulmate was on Colborn as well, but much more intense, to the point it was impossible to deny its existence. It was an intoxicating scent, and he could feel his whole body responding to it.