by Maia Starr
“Yeah, don't fall off the platform, we might not hear you until you are screaming with one of those graptors on top of you,” I said, teasing him.
“Thanks for the graphic image and confidence in my skills,” Neevon grinned.
Jate and I moved back inside the house. Kandyr was sitting at the table looking over a map and directional compass. The human female was still asleep. I looked at her and then looked at Jate. He gave me a smile and then went to the bucket of water and dunked in a cup to drink.
This would be an interesting evening.
Chapter Six
Sabine
My head hurt. It was pounding. I felt ringing in my ears and my eyes fluttered open. It was dark, but not completely dark. I could see the flicker of firelight as I squinted.
“She's awake,” a deep voice said.
I was startled. It was then that I remembered…
I remembered the four alien Dain soldiers coming toward me. It all came rushing back to me. I remembered them killing the graptor. I remembered that I had hit my head against the tree when it flung me. I remembered that a very attractive alien Dain with a tattoo sleeve on his right arm and dark black hair that was almost blue hovered over me, tending to my wound on my head. That was the last thing I remembered... No, there was one more thing. I had pointed at my home in the sky mounted on the treetop.
I sat up quickly. But it was too fast and everything began to spin. I groaned as I put my hand on my head.
“It is all right. You are safe. You hit your head and we brought you up here, to your home.”
My eyes finally focused on the figure in the front of me. It was the same blue alien, the one that had tended to my wound. He sat on the bed next to me. His manly scent enveloped me. It had been a long time since I had been around any males, and I was very aware of that in this moment, looking at his strong forearms as he reached out towards me. I moved my head away from him.
“It's alright. I am not going to hurt you. I just want to check on the patch that I put on your head. To make sure that it's not bleeding.”
“Maybe she doesn't speak.”
“No, you think so? As if she was raised in the wilderness alone from being a child?”
I looked past the alien sitting next to me to two other aliens standing across the room. One of them had platinum white and blue hair with purple eyes. He had tattooed rings on his left forearm, four of them. The other one had brown hair, it was short. His eyes were gray. But there was something about both of them, the way they were looking at me as they spoke to each other. It was as if they thought I couldn't hear them or something, the way they were talking about me to each other. They both were looking at me with sensual desire in their eyes. It was definitely startling, as I had not been looked at like that in years. A part of me almost forgot that I was a sensual feminine woman because my thoughts had only been about survival for years. I narrowed my eyes at them.
“I can speak,” I said with anger.
“Will you look at that. She does speak,” they said to each other.
“Just let me take a look. I won’t hurt you,” the alien sitting next to me said. I looked into his gorgeous brown eyes. He was looking at me differently. He wasn't looking at me with the same sensual desire that the other two aliens were. He was looking at me with kindness and concern. I nodded my head yes and leaned toward him. He carefully pulled something off of my temple.
“It looks good. It's not bleeding any longer and the patch cloth has helped to seal the wound. Jate, get her some water.”
“Yes commander,” the other one said. It was then that I realized that this alien sitting next to me was the one in charge. He was the commander.
“How long was I out?” I asked.
“Since this morning when we found you. It is night time now,” the commander said.
“That is a long time,” I said looking around, startled, realizing that I had been alone with these dangerous aliens.
“Yes, but it did help you to heal very quickly. It is good that you slept.”
“It is lucky for you that we came along when we did. That graptor was about to make a meal out of you,” the one with the platinum white hair said.
“Priah is right. Here is some water,” the other one said coming over to me with a cup of water. I took it from him and drank. My throat had been very dry.
“Thank you. But I am sure I would have gotten away somehow. I always have or I wouldn't be here now, would I?” I said looking at them.
The one called Priah with the platinum white hair laughed. “I like her. Do you know who we are?”
“Yes, you are the one that invaded our planet. You are the alien bastards that killed my people,” I said.
They all looked at each other with stupid smiles on their faces. I wanted to slap it right off.
“That is not what we meant. Do you know that we are a patrol? Do you know why we are out here?”
I had to admit that I did not. But I wasn't going to say it, my pride wouldn't let me.
“You are here to kill more humans, like I said.”
“We are patrolling, looking for female virgins to take to the camps,” the commander said.
My eyes grew wide in shock. “That's real? I thought it was a myth.”
“No it is not a myth. It is real. That is what we are doing out here. Searching for human females like you. Are you a virgin?” Priah asked.
I thought the commander was going to shut him down but he didn't, instead he just looked at me, waiting for me to answer. I didn't want them to take me away from my home.
“I am not a virgin,” I said sticking my chin in the air. “So. I guess you won’t need to take me to camp and can leave me in peace.”
“That is not how it works. All human females that are found are taken to the camps where they are tested to see if they are a virgin. The ones that are not virgins are killed,” the one with the brown hair called Jate said.
I gasped. “You’re fucking kidding me!”
“No, we are not. That is the truth of it.” Priah said.
The commander sat there looking at me. It was as if he was analyzing me, trying to figure me out.
“You are not a virgin?” He asked again.
I realized that I had to choose. They could kill me right now if I had insisted that I was not a virgin, or I could be taken to the camp anyways. I was stuck and none of that mattered.
“I am not a virgin,” I said.
“How old were you during your first time?” He asked.
I wasn't prepared to answer that question. I hesitated for a moment. “I was 18.”
“And what was your first time like? Where was it and with who was it?”
“I... It was with a friend. A guy my age at the time. We were... in the woods.” I realized that my words did not come out very confident.
The commander narrowed his eyes at me. Obviously, he did not believe me. But he stayed quiet.
“Who's next?” a Dain with blonde yellow hair and blue eyes stepped through the doorway. He stopped when he saw me. “Hello human. My name is Neevon.” He smiled and flashed white teeth at me. He was also looking at me like I was a meal.
I nodded in greeting.
“What is your name human? We have not heard that yet,” the commander said to me.
“My name is Sabine.”
“I am Commander Kandyr. These are the soldiers doing scout with me. Priah, Jate, and Neevon.”
They each nodded their head as he called out their names.
“What are you going to do with me Commander Kandyr?” I asked.
“Well, I think you are lying about not being a virgin. But that is not for us to decide. At first light we will make our way back to our vehicle about an hour from here. Then we will take you back into the city into a camp. That is our mission,” he said getting up from the bed. I realized that he did not make eye contact with me the entire time he said that statement, as though he was embarrassed by it.
I was about to pro
test, but I knew there was no point. These aliens were ruthless. They weren't going to care if I pleaded with them not to take me. They had killed off millions of humans, what was one more?
“Priah, take next watch. I will relieve you in a few hours. Everyone else get some rest. We don’t know what will be out there in the morning. I need you rested and at your best,” the Commander said.
I watched him as he took command. I couldn't help myself and my body was responding to this environment. I hated myself for it. I wasn't supposed to feel any attraction to these alien invaders. I was only supposed to hate them and nothing else. Yet they had been kind so far and it had been so long since I had been around any company at all, not even humans. So naturally my body was responding to the social environment of these incredibly masculine alien men. I found myself looking at the commander up and down. I was looking at his muscular thick thighs. He wore gray trouser like pants tucked into leather boots that went up to his knee. He wore gadgets and a blaster gun hanging off of the belt around his waist. The top of his dark gray uniform was a shell top that exposed his biceps. I couldn't help but to look at his incredibly hot body. I didn't want to admit it to myself.
I watched as he walked out of my door and onto the platform. The alien with the platinum blond hair followed him. They were talking about keeping watch over the area. I turned to see the alien with the brown hair and grey eyes looking at me. He had a big smile on his face. He walked over to me slowly. I remembered that this one was named Jate.
“You like what you see?” He asked me.
“What?” I said, turning a bright pink.
“I saw the way you were looking at the commander. It's all right. I won't tell anyone,” he said and then turned and walked toward the table where the other alien had already sat down.
They both sat there whispering to each other as they looked at me. I narrowed my eyes at them. I didn't care what they had to say. I stood up from the bed and walked over to the kitchen area. I poured water into a bowl with a washcloth and began to wipe the mud off my legs. I had really been thrown by that graptor. In truth I was glad that they had came when they did. I knew that my fate was in their hands now, but I definitely did not want to be torn apart by a graptor. I had thought of nothing else for a very long time because of living in the wilderness. I bent over and wiped the mud off of my calves with the cloth.
Then I felt like my body was turning warm. I turned back to the table. They were both staring at me. I realized that this was probably very sexual for them, watching me pretty much bathe in front of them. I threw the cloth back into the bowl and turned away from them. I was pissed off. I was a prisoner and I didn't like that feeling. I had been free for so many years. Yes, I had been on my own and it had been lonely, but at least I was a free human. Now I was a prisoner.
I shuffled through the bundles of dried herbs pulling off a few leaves to munch on to aleve my hunger.I had been out hunting the day before and was not successful. I wished that I had taken my chances on fishing at the creek instead.
“Here, I have something for you,” the one named Neevon said. He walked over to me. As he did I realized just how tall he was. I had never stood this close to a Dain before. He towered over me at almost 9 feet. His blue skin was beautiful and flawless. His blond locks of hair fell over his brow in a boyish manner. He pulled open a box on the counter that I did not see before. It was obviously an alien gadget. He opened it and pulled out a pouch. I watched as he opened the top by tearing off just a little bit. Then he grabbed the cup and put a small amount of water in it from the bucket. He poured it into the pouch slowly. He stirred it around and then handed it to me. The smell of food hit me and my stomach growled.
“Go ahead. Dig in. It’s good,” he said with a dashing smile.
I pulled a fork from the counter and dug into the pouch. It was delicious. It tasted like dried beef jerky, grain rice, and a vegetable broth. Damn it was good. I took the pouch with me to the corner and sat in a chair, staring at my captors.
I was feeling very conflicted. I did not know what to do with myself. I was not planning to ever be in this situation. But I expected being captured by the Dains to be completely different then this. I expected a lot of violence and shouting, I expected them to hurt me.
Instead, I felt like I was on a first date in high school, before they invaded. There was a lot of chemistry and tension going on here and I didn't know how to feel about that. I thought it was all in my mind until Jate said those words to me. He caught me checking out the commander and that was embarrassing. But a part of me felt naughty. A part of me knew that I was out in the wilderness in isolation with these aliens and that nobody had to know if I indulged myself with them. It had been so long. I forgot what it felt like to even touch another body. I forgot what it felt like to have lips kissing mine. It was so lonely out in the wilderness. But I could not. I was supposed to hate them. They have taken everything from me, my family, my home, my planet. No. I hated them. I stared at them sitting at the table with hate in my eyes and heart. So why did they keep smiling at me?
Chapter Seven
Jate
When I saw the human female named Sabine looking at the commander I knew that there was a chance. Priah was right, she had been out here in the wilderness alone for a long time. Of course she had desires and needs just like any other creature and the way she was looking at the commander let me know that she was thinking those thoughts. This was good. This might work, Priah’s plan. Now we just had to be patient.
That night, we slept on the floor while the human female slept in her own bed. We took turns taking watch out on the platform, but we were used to getting 5 hours of sleep or less, that was just the way of a soldier.
I knew that we needed a way to prolong our stay in the wilderness with the human female if what Priah and I wanted was going to happen. I didn't know what possibly prolong us because the commander wanted to move out at first light.
I stood on the platform. It was my turn to take watch. The dawn was approaching and the air smelled different. I knew exactly what it was. I walked around the platform looking at the sky. It was more grey than usual. Then I saw a flash of lightning. I could hear the thunder rolling in the distance. This was good. Everyone inside was still asleep. I watched as the storm headed our direction. I took shelter under the overhang by the door on the platform. I had to admit that the human female did a good job with building this home, if she was the one that built it. She had made it very comfortable to be outside on the platform just as comfortable as beinginside.
A few minutes later the sound of raindrops began to fall on the leaves. I watched as the rain came closer and closer until finally it was raining over us. I still did not bother to wake anyone. This look like a good storm, and I wanted it to get nice and wet. Making it impossible for us to climb down and track to the vehicle. This is what I had been wanting, something that would prolong us taking the human female to the city. This was perfect.
One hour later, Commander Kandyr came out of the house.
“Damn it. How long has it been raining?” He asked.
“About one hour. I thought it was going to be a quick shower, but it has not stopped” I said.
“The long storm,” The human female said as she walked onto the platform from inside the house.
“The long storm?” the commander asked her.
“Yes, the storms like this can last for up to a week. It turns the ground into a river. See for yourself,” she said.
We all want to the edge railing and looked over. She was right. The ground looked like a massive creek already. You could no longer see the dirt and pine needles undertheinches of water running along.
“Damn it, we should have left last night then. We have no choice but to stay here now. I can only hope the vehicle does not get swept up into this,” He said.
“I have seen entire trees roll by before,” she said.
“What's going on out here?” Neevon said as he came out onto the platform
, wiping the sleep from his face.
“Only a massive storm that is going to keep us here for a while longer,” The commander said.
Priah joined us on the platform, having heard what the commander said. He looked at me and gave me a knowing look. I knew what he was thinking. This was just what we needed. Now how could we possibly claim this human female and get Kandyr to go along with it?
Later that day it was just as Sabine had said, the storm kept going and going. It was practically a monsoon, like the ones that we had on our own planet of Nekarta. I was enjoying it. I loved the rain. I loved being out here in the wilderness away from the destruction of the city. It felt clean out here.
“Commander says there's no reason to keep watch. We can all take rest. He says that nothing is going to be down there in this water,” Neevon said coming out onto the platform where I stood with Priah.
“Yes, I just like seeing and smelling the rain.” Priah said.
“It is nice out here. I could see why she likes it so much,” Neevon said looking around at the trees.
“Yes, I do like it,” She said coming out of the house. “I would prefer to stay here and not be taken from my home by force.”
“It is our responsibility, Neevon said. Do you think that we don't want to stay out here as well? You would be wrong. But we have our duty and responsibility. You will see once you get into the city.”
She gave him a look. I looked at Priah. This was our chance.
“Neevon, there's something I wanted to show you on the map,” Priah said putting his arm on his shoulder and leading Neevon inside. I turned back to the trees. I could hear Priah, Neevon, and the commander talking to each other.
“Sabine, I must apologize for Neevon. I know how hard this must be for you. How long have you been out here alone?” I asked her.
“2 years, I think” she said.
“That is a long time. It must be very lonely out here,” I said, looking at her.