“I don’t like this,” whispered Val out of the corner of her mouth.
Nodding in agreement, she was about to ask Demascus what the hell was going on, when he spoke in the nasally voice she’d come to hear in her nightmares.
“Well hello, ladies.” Giving Poppy a toothy grin, he walked far enough in for the other men to follow and the door quickly closed behind him.
“What are we doing here, Councilor Demascus?” Val asked in an authoritative voice.
“Valerie, so nice to see you.” Nodding to the men at his side got them flanking the women, which caused Val and Poppy to move even closer together, like sheep being herded by dogs.
“This is actually a bonus. I had just summoned Poppy but here you are… How do you refer to it, two birds with one stone, I believe?” He walked forward to take the folder out of Val’s hands. He cast a brief glance at the table, from where a warrior had retrieved their cups, which were now missing their pills.
“And you have already picked up the consent forms too? How nice of you to get started without me.” He walked to the table and took a seat, flipping through the papers.
“I don’t get it. Why are we here?” Poppy asked nervously. Anything that had to do with Demascus could only be bad and his warrior thugs were definitely making her uncomfortable.
Demascus leaned back in the chair and arched his eyebrow. “Poppy, you know I do not like you.” At her surprise, he paused and smiled. “What? You think I am not going to be blunt now?” When she was silent, he continued, “I think you and your human species are going to spoil everything that the Phaeton race has strived to be.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think, does it?” Poppy shot back. She wasn’t going to just stand there and be bullied—especially by a dickhead like Demascus.
Standing quickly, he walked toward the women. “No, it doesn’t. However, now that Wheaton has a new bride you are no longer needed.” Nodding at the men who were standing at their sides, he went on, “These warriors are here to transport you to Squadron Two.” Pausing when Poppy let out a gasp, he smiled again then glanced at Valerie. “And you are a bonus. We will be able to let Earth know you will be back in orbit for transport to home within days. This is in fact a most wonderful bonus,” he said, clapping his hands.
Strong hands gripped her arms and Poppy struggled against the hold.
“You can’t do this, Demascus. I’m mated to Wheaton and Val is mated to Thorne.” Hoping to get through to the warriors who were apparently doing his bidding, she sent a beseeching glance to the one nearest to her.
Demascus grinned toothily. “Oh yes I can. And don’t worry, I explained to these men that you have been acting out of character since Hannah arrived and Wheaton showed her favor over you.” He whispered, “Who are they going to listen to…an emotional human or a senior Council member?”
Then he turned to Val.
“Unfortunately, I never received a bridal agreement from Thorne since I have been out of the meetings all day. If that is the case, then we will have no problem with Thorne going through the proper channels to retrieve you in a few short weeks.”
Valerie began to struggle with all her strength against the warrior at her side who was gripping her arm to pull her forward. Poppy fought the arms holding her still, kicking her legs at any body part they could reach. She was almost loose when one of the warriors reached forward with a silver cylinder and pressed it to Val’s arm. As Val went limp, Poppy cried out in concern.
“What the fuck was that?” she yelled, still battling to get to Val who was now being whisked away.
“That is something to make the transport a little easier for you ladies. Don’t worry, we have one for you as well.”
Demascus gave a nod, and Poppy didn’t have time to fight before she felt a small prick on her arm—and then darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Feeling as if she were waking from a hardcore nap, Poppy could just about make out Val saying her name over and over again. Shaking her head to clear it, she immediately felt woozy and regretted the action.
“Fuuuuuuuck. What the hell happened?” Poppy asked.
Opening her eyes, she saw Val leaning over her. The bright lights peeking behind Val’s head caused Poppy to squint. She risked moving her hand up to rub her eyes and forehead, hoping to alleviate some of the pain centered there. But her wrist was too light, something was off.
“Where did my band go?” Poppy rubbed her wrist. It was red in one area, as if she’d been pinched.
“Here, drink this.” Handing Poppy some water, Val gestured to the room. “All of us are missing our bands. I think they must have been cut off.”
Val helped her to sit up on what Poppy now realized was a cot. She noticed six other women contained with them in what resembled a jail cell. One side of the room consisted of plain metal walls with cots in a row against it, and a toilet. The other was lined with bars that ran the length of the room. Past the door to the cell, Poppy saw the standard entry door and message panel on the wall. Looking at the women, she tried to figure out how they’d all gotten there. A few of them were huddled into balls on their cots, moaning and crying. At least she hadn’t reacted that badly to whatever it was that Demascus had injected her with.
“Where the fuck are we and what the fuck happened?” Poppy asked, trying to make sense of the scene around her.
Val took the glass back once Poppy had drained the water, and nodded to the other women.
“That is Melanie and she helped me wake up about twenty minutes ago.” Letting out a huff of air, Val seemed as if she were seconds away from crying. “It seems that only two of them were able to avoid Demascus knocking them out.”
Poppy nodded to the women in acknowledgment, figuring that now was not the time for handshakes.
“Poppy, while we were unconscious, we were shuttled to Squadron Two. I think we’re on our way back to Earth.” Barely giving Poppy time to let that sink in, Val blinked and tears fell down her cheeks.
“Valerie, it’s okay… They’ll come for us.” Moving closer to the women around the room, she saw most of them were crying or had been, if their puffy eyes were anything to go by. “Everyone needs to stay calm. Our husbands will come for us.”
When one of the women on the cots cried out, Poppy jumped and went to see to her. “It’s okay. Your husband won’t let you be taken away. I’m sure they’re searching for us right now.” Brushing the hair back from the woman’s forehead, she noticed the pretty redhead was sweating. Her cheeks void of any color, she had taken on almost a gray tone.
“What’s wrong with her? Did the shot do this? Could she be having an allergic reaction?” Poppy demanded of Val.
“No, Poppy. The shot didn’t do that.” Valerie swallowed hard and motioned at the woman with pity. “She’s losing her baby.” It came out as a whisper, but Poppy heard it clearly.
“What?” Poppy asked softly in horror. What had happened while she’d been knocked out? She winced over the woman crying on the cot and her stomach tried to revolt again. Holding back her nausea, she struggled again to figure out what was happening.
Valerie walked toward the cot and tried to calm down the bride, smoothing her hair back from her damp face.
“The pill…that fucking pill they gave us… The women who were pregnant started bleeding almost immediately after they were brought here,” Val said, both anger and sadness making her voice husky.
Melanie was a pretty blonde who was so small a stiff wind could knock her over. She stood with her arms across her chest. “I was the first to wake up and it was to those three crying out in their sleep,” she said. “I couldn’t help but notice the blood. Their pants are completely soaked through. At first I thought maybe they might have been…raped. It wasn’t until she started crying for her baby that I realized what was happening.” Swallowing hard, she was unable to keep talking and simply bit her lip.
“These three have been bleeding heavily and holding their stomachs,” an
other woman added. “The rest of us just felt sick to our stomachs and hungover. I can only assume it’s because we weren’t pregnant.”
Another woman got up from a cot on the far side of the room and made her way over to Melanie. Rubbing her shoulder to bring her out of the haunting memory, she smiled sadly at Poppy and Val. “My name’s Andrea. I didn’t fight when they told me that I was being transferred…I guess I didn’t even think to. My groom and I decided to part ways since we didn’t seem compatible. Once I saw the rest of these women carried in unconscious, I realized that not everyone was leaving on their own.”
She raised her voice so everyone could hear her better. “We are definitely on a different ship now though. We were all transferred to shuttles and then brought here once that docked. There were four warriors who took turns carrying you guys in while a smaller guy gave orders.”
After Andrea finished speaking, everyone introduced themselves and included whether they were happily mated or not. So far Melanie and Brandy were both happily matched; Andrea was attached and then there were the three women who were on the cots. From what they could gather, the women who had taken the “antibiotic” and were pregnant were also happily mated, but other information wasn’t easy to gather. They just kept asking for their husbands between bouts of tears.
Witnessing what could have happened to herself, Poppy felt her body go numb and cold. Val, who had obviously seen her face, helped her stand and walk to the toilet in the corner of the room. “Go ahead, Poppy. Between the shot and seeing how close we were to this, I got sick too.”
After retching a few times with nothing coming up, Poppy felt dizzy, but no longer as if her guts would come out of her mouth.
Leaning into Val, she took a look at the other women. “Val, what the fuck are we going to do?”
“I don’t know, Poppy…I don’t know. But I do know that they will come for us.”
“I know that. I mean, how are we going to help those poor women?” Nodding to the women in obvious pain, she couldn’t help the stray tear that rolled down her cheek. She felt completely helpless.
“Well, if Tamin and Rodin were here, they would probably say to keep them calm and still. That’s the only thing we can do until we get medical help. Maybe it’s not too late?” Val said in a hopeful voice.
“Well, if you’re the praying type, now’s the time to do it,” Poppy murmured. Where the hell was Wheaton when she needed him?
* * * * *
Back on Squadron One, Wheaton and Hannah were leaving for the medical unit after an afternoon of meetings with the Council. Thorne had arrived at the midday Council meeting after his morning in the medical unit to share his baby news with Wheaton. He took great pleasure in relaying the message that Wheaton might be “up a shit creek”, according to Poppy, if he did not get in touch with his bride. Hannah was also told that Behyr was looking for her, which caused her to blush in front of both the men.
Leaving Thorne behind at the Council meetings, they headed to the medical unit. Wheaton was surprised to find that an escort had already arrived for Poppy. Confusion showing on his face, Wheaton waited for Tamin to explain further.
“An escort arrived earlier for her. I was busy in one of the exam rooms but she shouted that she was leaving and Val would be accompanying her as well,” Tamin ended.
“I wonder where they went,” Hannah said, wondering out loud to Wheaton. “Did she leave you a message?” The question prompted Wheaton to check his band yet again.
“I have not received one. I had a message from Behyr saying that Poppy was still in the medical unit and he was searching for you but that was earlier.” Wheaton was stumped as to where Poppy might be.
Moving down the hallways, they halted when they heard Rodin yelling Wheaton’s name.
“Thank goodness, I caught you!” Almost completely out of breath, Rodin took a moment before he was able to speak again. “I am missing meds from today’s shipment.”
“What does that have to do with me?” Wheaton asked, confused.
“There were at least a dozen doses missing of Hefnon 12.” When Wheaton showed he was not catching on, Rodin bit out, “It’s the med that we were supposed to deliver the next time we went to the Pleasure Sector.” Still not getting the reaction that he needed, he yelled, “It terminates pregnancy!”
Everything inside Wheaton stilled. “Tell me everything you know,” he said quickly.
“I became suspicious shortly after Poppy had left with the escorts you sent.”
“I never sent any escorts!” Wheaton argued.
“We did not know that, Wheaton.” Rodin said defensively.
“Continue.” The word came out as an order.
Rodin nodded. “I received a message from a warrior questioning why his bride was not back yet. When I explained that I had never even seen his bride, he said that she had been escorted here earlier for her exam. Then I received another call and then another until I got six calls, all to do with the brides who had missed their appointments today. Thorne just messaged saying that he is unable to find Valerie in their apartments. When she left she was with Poppy and the escorts who had arrived.”
Staring at a now terrified Wheaton and a stunned Hannah, he said, “Six brides missing plus Poppy and Val…Hefnon 12 doses that were cataloged but are now missing. I am not liking the way this is adding up.”
Wheaton gripped the front of Rodin’s lab coat and lifted him onto his toes. “What does the medicine do exactly?” he hissed through gritted teeth.
“It causes cramping, bleeding and then the body will abort the fetus if left untreated. Usually within a few hours. It’s extremely efficient, which is why the pleasure workers ordered it on our last visit.”
Hannah reached up, trying to calm Wheaton enough to let Rodin down. “Wheaton, now is not the time to fight. We need to find Poppy and Val.”
Nodding his head and trying to breathe, Wheaton let Rodin down and unclenched his fingers. “Grab whatever you need to help the women and come with me. If I find them and they have taken the doses, we will need medical there to help.” Pushing the doctor to hurry him along, he added, “Have Tamin message Thorne and let him know the situation.”
Rodin ran back to the med center, and Wheaton started furiously tapping his band.
“What are you doing?” Hannah asked.
“I am sending out a protection code. It is a protocol that we put into place when the women were brought onto the ship. It alerts the warriors that there may be a human in danger, to stay aware and if needed to step in and protect.”
When she frowned at him in confusion, he explained, “We have not had access to women before, Hannah. Bringing females aboard a ship with a starved male population was recognized as a risk. The Council established a system to alert warriors on the ship of a possible threat to a bride, even from one of our own.” Nodding back to where Rodin had disappeared, he continued, “According to him, we have eight humans missing and in possible danger so we need all the eyes we can get.”
An orange light began blinking along the hallway walls.
“Is that part of your protection code?” Hannah asked.
Following Hannah’s gaze, he nodded stiffly. “Yes, it will continue until everyone is accounted for.”
Some warriors had come out when the alarm went off, checking up and down the corridor. When they noticed Wheaton with Hannah, they nodded to him.
“Who is missing, Councilor Wheaton?” the warrior closest to them asked.
“We have eight brides who are unable to be located. They were escorted by warriors to an unknown location and we need to find them immediately. If a bride is spotted, message me immediately.” Wheaton spoke loud enough for all the men to hear him. Hannah could see Rodin pushing his way through the gathering of men with his medical bag.
Not waiting for Rodin to catch up with them, Wheaton started running down the hallway to the lift. They had wasted enough time as it was. Hannah paused for a moment to kick off her heels to run bar
efoot behind him, trying to keep up.
“We will check floor by floor until we find Poppy,” Wheaton declared in a determined voice.
“And Val,” Rodin panted as he jogged beside them. “Val was with her.”
“And Val,” Wheaton agreed with a grim nod.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Poppy and the missing brides bided their time on the second ship, trying to take care of the women crying on the cots. As they tried to make them as comfortable as possible, Val noticed that the sick women’s fevers were starting to fade but the women were still in obvious pain. Poppy was trying to keep everyone calm but couldn’t stop her own anxiety from rising.
“They need medical attention. Why hasn’t anyone been back to check on us?” Poppy asked, glancing at the door on the other side of the cell.
“My only guess is that Demascus doesn’t care. He seemed crazy, Poppy. The few times I’ve met him in Council meetings he seemed like an ass, but today he was really off his rocker.” Val motioned for Melanie to come closer so they wouldn’t disturb the women on the beds.
“Melanie, was Demascus the one who transferred you?” Poppy asked, wondering if he’d had a hand in all the brides being taken.
“Yes, it was weird. I was supposed to be escorted to the medical unit for an exam today but instead I was taken to a room where Demascus was waiting for me. He told me I would be getting a briefing on Phaeton Prime to be able to acclimate and he gave me a pill. I didn’t realize what was happening and ate it like candy.”
Melanie grimaced, as if realizing how stupid she had been and continued, “Andrea apparently is the only one who was told why she was actually escorted to Demascus. Since her union was being dissolved, she signed some forms and followed his goon squad without a fight. She just thought she was hitching a ride home. It was only when she realized that not all of us were here of our own free will that she started asking questions. I think he hit her, if the red mark on her cheek is any indication.”
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