Dredge

by Lula Monk

  “I’m close,” she whispered against his ear.

  Dredge loved the way her breath changed when he alternated rhythms and the way he could hear her heart pounding in her chest when he pressed his head to it.

  “So close,” she whispered again. He could feel her body tensing, the muscles of her thighs quivering. She grasped his shoulders, her head thrown back.

  If she was close, he would help her. He too felt as if he were ‘close,’ almost an instinctual awareness of his own pending release.

  He rolled his tongue over his thumb, coating it in saliva. Then, as Samantha continued bouncing against him, her back arching and forcing her stomach against his, he wedged his thumb between them. With rapidity, he stroked her clitoris in small circles.

  All at once she stopped moving.

  A low, guttural sound escaped her lips, and she tensed around his shaft. Her hips continued to move against him though, slower, more methodical. Samantha released her hold of his shoulders, leaning back to prop herself up with her hands. Her eyes bore into his, their pupils so large he could scarcely see the golden brown of the irises. He shuddered. Also a new sensation.

  “More,” she said, her voice hoarse.

  Dredge placed one hand under her back. The other still cupped one cheek of her buttocks, squeezing it, lifting and releasing her body in time to the rhythm of his pumps.

  She orgasmed again, this time her fingernails scraping erratic patterns against the flesh at his back.

  His sex tingled and he too released, his sperm spewing into her cavity.

  They fell back against the bed, both breathing labored breaths.

  Samantha threw a forearm over her eyes, panting. Dredge felt pressure near his hand. He looked down, and his heart gave a twinge again.

  The Earth woman had wrapped her hand around his wrist, clutching it.

  Chapter 15

  Samantha

  The next thing Samantha remembered was waking up to the glowing haze of the morning sun. She stretched under the warmth of the blanket and rolled onto her back.

  She felt free, and more relaxed that she had in years. Her eyes still squeezed shut, she stretched once more, her arm bumping into something hard. Something breathing.

  Her eyes flew open and realization dawned on her. It wasn’t the sun that had woken her up.

  It was the Glim.

  Dredge lay sleeping beside her, his light illuminating the room.

  She sucked in a sharp breath as memories assaulted her mind. Dredge’s mouth on her sex and breasts and neck and everywhere, her riding his cock until her world exploded and she had her very own starfield behind the lids of her eyes.

  Her channel clenched at the memory, as if aching and awaiting to be filled once more.

  Samantha threw back the covers and glanced down at her body. The area between her legs was dark and dusky, as though Dredge had bruised her. She trailed her finger between her legs and lifted the residue to her eyes, rubbing it between her fingers. It was a mixture of his fluids and hers, the powder that coated his body rubbing off in all their friction. She stood from the bed wanting nothing more than a bath. She felt Dredge’s semen slipping from her entrance to creep down her leg.

  She tiptoed to the hydro chamber, turning the knobs like Dredge had taught her. When she was fresh and clean, she returned to the bed and climbed back in. The sheets were cleaner than the covers on top. She would have to send Dredge out for clean ones later.

  She stared up at the ceiling, one hand resting on her lower stomach. She thought back to when her last period was. Before she had been abducted, but how long before? She rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t remember. Perhaps she was ovulating now. That would be perfect. Then she wouldn’t need to mate with Dredge again.

  Her heart skipped a beat as she recalled the careful way he had tended to her body. Would sleeping with Dredge again really be all that bad? Yes, her mind shouted at her. It would be super fucking bad. Don’t get attached.

  Sigh. Too late.

  The Glim groaned in his sleep, his light flickering as though he were about to awaken. He shifted and then settled, his light increasing in intensity. He was asleep.

  Samantha chewed on her lower lip, looking at the alien lying beside her. His light was weaker, she was confident of that now.

  Something small caught her attention on the base of Dredge’s head. She leaned forward, running her fingertip over the flaw. With her eyes squinted, she assessed the mark, scratching gently at it with her finger. To her horror, it grew, stretching a good centimeter in both directions. Bright, intense light filtered through.

  It was a crack.

  All the stories Dredge had told her about his people and the disease that had brought Brillar to ruin came to the forefront of her mind. But he was clean, wasn’t he? He’d said the best healers on his planet had thoroughly assessed his body, finding nothing.

  What was this then?

  She had the urge to shake him, to jostle him awake and ask him where he had been creeping away to for the past few days. Did he know about the crack? Is that what his long stints away were about? Was he spending time in the medical bay?

  Her hand hovered over his shoulder, but then she reconsidered.

  So what if Dredge was dying? What should she care? Sure, the sex had been great. Fantastic even. But the reality of their situation was that he was the master and she the possession, even though she had given her body to him freely.

  So what? That didn’t mean she cared about him.

  Once more her hand traveled to the area of her abdomen right above her pubic bone, the flesh that hovered above her uterus. If her calculations were right, she could be pregnant with a little Glimling in a matter of days, when her egg and Dredge’s sperm would join and embed itself into the side of her uterus. Which is exactly what she wanted. She had used Dredge. His own desire to continue his species played perfectly into her plan to shatter Galactic Continuity from the inside out.

  What will you do with the baby when you are free? a little voice whispered in her mind.

  Samantha’s hand froze. She hadn’t even realized she’d been stroking the skin of her stomach.

  What would she do with the baby, after she destroyed Galactic Continuity and freed herself from Dredge’s possession? Would she keep it? Kill it?

  The thought made her feel sick.

  Even if she didn’t want the little half-Glim baby, she knew she wouldn’t want to see it hurt. Definitely not killed.

  This presented a new problem for Samantha, one which she had not considered when hastily mapping out her plan at the clear wall scant hours before.

  No matter. It may not have taken anyway.

  If that was the case, she would have to mate with the Glim again.

  Her eyes fluttered as she drifted to sleep, smiling at the prospect.

  Chapter 16

  Dredge

  A sharp, piercing pain awoke Dredge from the deep sleep he had just been experiencing. He sat in the bed and winced. He palpated the base of his skull and felt that the crack there had increased in size.

  Curses.

  A soft snore drifted to his ears, and he turned to see the Earth woman asleep beside him. It had been two days since they had mated, and he was eagerly awaiting their trip to the medical bay today for the formal impregnation assessment.

  Samantha had told him that it would be weeks before they would know anything, but he’d corrected her. “Our technology is much more advanced than that found on Earth.”

  She’d rolled her eyes at him. He was rapidly becoming accustomed to her strange mannerisms.

  He stared at her now, admiring the way the blanket pulled against her hips. His penis began to harden looking at the elegant arch of her neck. He longed to lean down to her, to kiss her soft flesh with his lips. But he knew that is not what she wanted.

  She had made that very clear in the two days since they had mate.

  Dredge was surprised that he felt such attachment to the Earth woman. He had not
anticipated such a sensation developing following their mating. If he was honest with himself, though, he would have acknowledged that such fledgling feelings existed long before their coupling.

  A violent coughing overtook him, forcing its way out of his chest by way of his throat and mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the violent motions to stop.

  “Dredge?” Samantha’s small voice asked. She was lying on her back, a concerned look troubling her gorgeous brown eyes.

  No, her brown eyes, Dredge mentally corrected himself. Her plain, dull, brown human eyes.

  “Are you okay?” She reached out a hand to cover his.

  His heart clinched. “Just a bit of a cough.”

  “I thought you said Glims don’t get sick.”

  Dredge looked away, scared to meet her gaze for fear his eyes would tell the truth he’d ordered his mouth not to.

  “What the fuck?”

  Dredge jerked his head back towards Samantha, taking in the woman’s wide and frightened eyes. The blankets were pulled back and the lower half of her sleeping garment glowed with a soft light. Hope bloomed in Dredge’s chest.

  “What the fuck is wrong with me?” shrieked Samantha as she lifted the garment and began clawing at her belly.

  Dredge pinned her hands to either side of her hips. She struggled beneath him, tears pricking at her eyes. “What is happening?”

  “It worked,” said Dredge. He was surprised to find that moisture leaked from his eyes as well. He jumped from the bed and pulled on his jumpsuit. “We must venture out to confirm.”

  “Confirm what?” Samantha asked, her face still riddled with horror. She stared down at the light shining beneath her skin, poking at it with her finger.

  Dredge lowered himself to the bed once more, this time gently pulling her hand away from her stomach.

  “Don’t,” he cautioned. “Wouldn’t want you to hurt it.”

  “Hurt what?” she asked, breathing rapidly.

  Dredge smiled. “Our Glimling.”

  * * *

  Upon hearing that she might be pregnant, Samantha leapt from the bed and got dressed.

  “When do we go to the medical bay?” she asked, sliding her dress over her head.

  “Immediately,” answered Dredge. He was pleased that she was so eager to confirm that their coupling had been a success.

  She raced to the portal wall, waiting for him to open it. He gave her a sour look.

  “What?” she asked, glancing from him to the wall and back again. “Aren’t you going to open the portal?”

  Dredge reached into his pocket and extracted the transport pod. His thumb hoovered over the button. “I think it is best if you traveled in this.”

  Samantha frowned. “I would rather not.”

  “And I would rather you did.”

  Samantha propped her hands on her hips.

  “You think I might be pregnant with your Glimling, right?” She pointed at her stomach. “This little glowing thing may be our kid, yea?”

  “It will be a Glimling, not an infant Earth goat. But yes.”

  “Alright,” said Samantha, nodding. “Well, if I’m going to grow your little Glimling and save your species, I think that should come with some perks.”

  “Perks?”

  “Yes.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like not being carted around in a giant bubble.”

  Dredge frowned once more, assessing the box in his hand.

  “It would be safer,” he assured her. And he believed that too. He hated crowds, and the thought of all the creatures in the Hub walking near Samantha, potentially hitting her or tripping her or running into her belly . . . The thought made his heart race with anxiety.

  “Look, Dredge. Back on Earth, we have this thing called cabin fever. It’s where people stay cooped up for so long, they go crazy.”

  “Mentally insane?” Dredge asked, seeking clarification

  Another roll of the eyes. “Yes, mentally insane. I feel like I am getting cabin fever, Dredge. I stay cooped up in this room, and I don’t want to go from one tiny space to an even tinier one.” She looked at him, pleading with her eyes. “Please.”

  Dredge looked in her eyes for a long moment. He knew such a thing was inadvisable. Their last outing had reduced the Earth woman to tears and almost gotten her attacked by an angry crowd of aliens bidding for fresh humans. Finally, he said, “It is not wise.”

  “It’s what I want, Dredge.”

  He stared at the little glow in her abdomen and thought of the stories he’d heard in the medical bay, about human women who killed themselves and the lifeforms inside them. He did not want that happening to his Glimling. He met Samantha’s brown eyes again. He didn’t want that happening to Samantha.

  “Fine,” he said.

  She smiled and threw her arms around him, giving him a quick squeeze. “Thank you so much!”

  Dredge’s cheeks warmed.

  “Stay by my side,” he cautioned as he pressed his palm to the wall and waited for it to turn green. “There are creatures aboard the Hub who would mean you harm, if they thought you were unclaimed.”

  Samantha nodded, staring at the portal that had just opened. Dredge had a bad feeling about this, but he took Samantha’s hand and they stepped through the portal together.

  Chapter 17

  Samantha

  The Glim had warned her that it would be a long walk to the medical bay. Again, he produced the pod from his pocket, offering her the use of it as a transport vehicle instead. “Completely open top,” he promised.

  Samantha tasted bile at the back of her throat. “I would really rather not.”

  The Glim shrugged.

  “Alright,” he said, placing the pod cube back in his pocket. “It is here if you change your mind.”

  I won’t, thought Samantha.

  No, on this excursion, she wanted to have a completely unrestricted view of everything that they passed. She needed to see and hear all there was to see and hear, for now was the time when her plan could finally begin to take shape.

  It had been living in her mind as a vague concept for days, ever since it had taken root as she was staring out at the starfield and calculating how many human women might be on the Hub.

  They exited the corridor of the Breeding Sector and began walking through the center of the Hub, near the auction area.

  “How often do auctions happen?” she asked Dredge.

  The Glim glanced at the empty stage.

  “There will be no auctions today,” he assured her.

  She frowned. “That’s not what I asked.”

  Dredge sighed. “Why do you want to know that information, Samantha?”

  “Just curious.”

  “Isn’t there an expression about curiosity on your planet?”

  She gave him a sour look.

  The Glim sighed. “Auctions run every rotation for two of your Earth weeks. Then, there is a pause of two additional weeks while clients . . . test their purchases. Auctions resume on the fifth week.”

  Dredge looked at her, his face conveying discomfort. Good. Let him squirm thinking about all her people sold on the auction block.

  “Why the two-week gap?” she asked, thoughts swirling through her mind. “I know you said creatures want to test the women they buy, but why?”

  Dredge grabbed her by the elbow and steered her towards another large entry way opposite the auction stage. She swallowed the urge to flinch at his touch. Sure, she had enjoyed the sex and she was actually starting to warm up to his daily presence. But out here in the open, with so many other strange and foreign creatures crowding around them, the Glim’s otherness felt sharper, more distinct. When they were alone, she could imagine that he was almost human. Out here? It was obvious which side he belonged to: theirs.

  “It is not a pleasant thing to discuss, Samantha.”

  “I imagine it’s not a pleasant thing to live through, either.”

  Dredge sighed. “I imagine not.�
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  Samantha waited a few heartbeats, the silence stretching on between them. “Well?”

  The Glim took in a deep breath. “Not all creatures come here looking to mate. Humans are almost like raw genetic material; their DNA splices well with most creatures’ in the universe. But some aliens choose to come here not to mate but to . . . claim.”

  Samantha gulped. She didn’t like the sound of that. When she looked back at the Glim, he was staring down at her.

  “Are you sure you want to know more?” he asked.

  “Yes. Please.”

  “There are sectors of the Hub, sectors you will never be permitted to visit . . .”

  Her hackles rose at the word ‘permitted,’ but she remained calm.

  “. . . vicious places where aliens come to sample Earth women. Those humans are owned by Galactic Continuity, forced to perform and entertain patrons of the Hub who come under nefarious intentions.”

  Visions of women dancing on stages and being forced to perform sex acts on all manner of horrifying creatures flashed through Samantha’s mind. She felt ill. “They are like prostitutes then, I guess.”

  It wasn’t a question, but Dredge answered it anyway.

  “No. They are less than prostitutes, for prostitutes on your planet receive financial compensation in some regard. Here on the Hub, Earth women in the Entertainment Sectors perform or are obliterated.”

  Samantha sucked in a sharp breath of air, the wide space down which they were traveling suddenly feeling too narrow and confining. Obliterated? She thought back to the sight of Debra running down the hall in her futile effort to escape the Cephs. The Ceph guard’s gun had reduced Debra to a pile of ash in less than three seconds.

  Samantha stared ahead, her gaze hard and cold.