Prison Planet Barbarian
Page 4
It’s appalling. And everyone seems to be surprised that I’m horrified by it. Sex is the currency here, and if I want a scaly, insecty, or tentacle-like dick, all I have to do is ask. I don’t want any of that, of course. I want to be left alone.
That’s a concept no one seems to grasp, though. It’s like they all think it’s just a matter of time before I give in and start spreading my legs. It’s not going to happen, though. Never, ever.
I’ll die first.
Today, I’m sitting in the main hall of the women’s quarters with the others. We’re not allowed to go to our bunk during daytime hours unless we want to take a guard there with us. I sit off to one side, hugging my knees and trying to ignore the noises that Lxist and one of the guards are making nearby. Irita is chattering happily with the pink pirate that has the unpronounceable name, and the red drakoni woman nibbles on a snack she “worked” for. The others cluster in small groups, talking, but no one seems to include me. That’s fine. I confuse them, I think, because of my reluctance to use the guards for my own benefit.
But then, the women glance over at me, and I feel a prickle of unease. The anxious feeling grows when Irita finishes her snack, dusts her hands off, and then the two women approach me.
Uh oh.
“So, little Kloo-ee. You are becoming quite popular around here.” She grins, displaying sharp teeth as she comes to sit next to me. “One of the prisoners has been asking about you, and many are gossiping about what this could mean.”
I sit up, frowning. “Asking about me?”
“Yes.” Her eyes swirl with excitement. “It seems that you have caught the interest of the big messakah in maximum security. Word has been traveling all over the prison as to how he is gathering information about you. Who you are, what planet you are from, who has touched you. Noku is quite upset over the situation because he views you as his personal little pet.”
I shudder, trying not to think about all the horrible implications of being Noku’s “pet.” “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, Irita.”
She chuckles, her voice deep and throaty. She puts an arm around my shoulders, mimicking friendliness. “This is a very bad situation, my little friend, and I am just trying to give you advice on how to escape it properly. Now, come. Do you know which one I speak of?”
“The…miss-ah-kah? I don’t know what that is.” Even as I ask, I think about the big blue alien I’d shared a glance with. He’s the only one here that didn’t make me feel like I was being attacked with just a look.
“Yes. They are a very big, very powerful race from a planet they call Homeworld. He has ugly blue skin and large protruding horns. Very tall compared to you, Kloo-ee. Very strong. He would crush your small fragile human body under him if he tried to fuck you.” The thought amuses her, and a little smirk crosses her face. “Though I think you would die happy.”
I don’t respond, but I can feel my cheeks heating at her suggestion. So it is the big blue guy that’s asking about me? For some reason, that makes me happy—and a little worried at the same time. I picture him—he’s not ugly like Irita said. His skin was a deep, lovely shade of blue, and I remember tattoos and dark eyes. And horns. And muscles. He looked menacing, but not unappealing. “Do you know who he is? The…alien?”
“Ah, sweet one, I know everything that goes on in this prison.” She stretches a leg out in a way that’s blatantly sexual and casual at the same time. “His name is Jutari, and he’s been at Haven for a year now. He worked on the harvesting machines until he went to maximum after killing three men during a riot. Rumor has it that his cellmates are either terrified of him or working with him. That’s how most of the influential prisoners around here work, you see. You are either under their thumb or under the ground.” Irita laughs at her own joke.
“Why is he here? What was his sentence?”
“He’s here for the same reason we all are,” she muses. “Because he was a naughty, naughty boy.” She gets to her feet abruptly and slinks away from me.
I’m surprised at how quickly she abandons me—until I see Noku stalking through the women’s quarters. I get a sinking feeling in my stomach at how the women scatter as he appears. Irita pointedly ignores me and goes to sidle up to another guard, leaving me alone.
I don’t get up. Part of me is hoping that Noku’s going after someone else and that he’s going to ignore me. The other part of me knows that won’t happen. I’m not surprised when he stops in front of me, whips out his shock-stick, and the collar at my neck gives a whirring whine in activation.
“To your feet, Fem14-H. I have a job for you.”
Oh, ugh. This might be the first time in my life I’m going to hope for a clogged toilet drain.
3
JUTARI
It’s been days, but I’ve been patient. I cross my arms over my chest, lean against the rough wall of my cell, and wait.
Today, I’m going to see my female again.
It’s been a slow process these past few days to squeeze information out of guards and other prisoners. I’ve made a ton of promises and even agreed to the assassination of a rival, all to get details about my small female. I’ll pay any price. I don’t care how much the cost is.
As I wait, I mentally go over the few details about her I’ve been able to glean. It hasn’t been easy; Noku’s shown interest in her, and that makes some of the other prisoners reluctant to speak. The ssethri lieutenant is known for his vicious temper and volatile moods, and a few of the more cowardly inmates remain silent in regard to him. It’s also difficult to bribe from max, though not impossible. I tell Dremmigan what I want. Dremmigan conveys it to the guard, who has a deal with him. The guard passes it on to a prisoner in the work cells, and on down the line it goes. With each person comes another favor, another thing owed.
I don’t keffing care. I’ll do whatever it takes.
Through the chain, I’ve learned that her name is Kloo-ee. She is a human, a primitive from a Class-D planet, and she was involved in a highly dangerous incident that involved several government cover-ups. My guess is that she was bought for her cunt. I’ve heard of slaves from strange, forbidden worlds bought and sold for such depravities. Sounds like someone got more than they bargained for with her.
I like that. It appeals to the dangerous side of me.
I’ve also learned that Noku has his sights set on her, which makes my gut burn with anger and my tail twitch in frustration. She’s not safe with him. Other females have tried to avoid him and ended up dead or hurt. And even though it makes me want to bloody someone with frustration, I know that Noku holds enough clout in the prison that no one’s going to stop him if he’s decided that Kloo-ee belongs to him. Given the fact that she was sent here to disappear, she’s even less safe than most.
Therefore, I need to do what I can to let her know that she’s safe. That I’m watching over her.
Through my connections, I find out that the human female has left the women’s quarters twice in this last week, both times to clean drainpipes in other parts of the prison. That’s an easy enough problem to create. I spend most of the night watch carefully scratching away the mortar around the edges of the drain lid in our cell’s lavatory corner. Doesn’t matter that it’s remotely controlled by a keycode when I can just pry the entire thing off. When I’m finally able to pry the grate open, I rip an arm off of my prison jumper and shove it into the drain pipe, then replace the lid. It didn’t take long for the water to back up, and I had Cthorn notify a guard in the morning.
At that point, it’s just a matter of waiting.
“Keffing bullshit,” Ast grumbles nearby. He shoots me a look but doesn’t get up. “Keffing have to take a leak, Jutari.”
“You can wait,” I tell him calmly, scanning the glass wall in our cell, looking for one face in particular. “You’re not keffing pissing where my female’s going to put her hand.”
He makes a groaning sound and begins to pace. I move to tell him to stop when my shock-collar whi
It’s worth it for her.
A moment later, the glass recedes into the wall. Noku saunters forward, shock-stick in hand. “Remain in place, prisoners. We’re here to enable repairs on your keffing miserable little cell.”
Through the pain, I open my eyes and focus my gaze on the ssethri asshole. Ever since I’ve arrived in the prison, I’ve hidden my tolerance for the shock-stick and my collar. It still hurts, of course—it hurts like fire is crawling through my veins—but it doesn’t completely immobilize me like the others. Because of my big size, I can fight it. Of course, if the guards knew that, they’d up the juice, so I’ve kept it a secret and played along. I’ve figured something like that could come in handy in the future.
Like now. I’m able to slowly turn my head to watch as Noku enters the cell, the small female on his heels. The guard’s so arrogant he doesn’t even glance in my direction. He just shoulders his shock-stick and gestures at the shit-encrusted grate in the corner. “Your job, little human. Unless you want to bargain.”
And he touches her hair, the bastard. Fury burns in my gut at the sight.
Kloo-ee sidesteps out of his grasp. “I’ll work.” Her words sound unfamiliar until the chip in my head translates it—Earth Human language, English variant. She looks around the cell nervously, and her gaze stops on me. Our eyes meet, and I see hers widen in surprise and recognition.
She remembers me. That brings me both pleasure and a possessive surge of lust that seems to crackle even over the pain of the shocks pinning me to the floor. She’s so close that I can see the vibrant hazel of her eyes, the dark fringe of her lashes, the delicate curve of her jaw—and the dusky outlines of her nipples under the jumper.
“They can’t harm you, little human,” Noku tells her. “I have them pinned. I’ll do the same to you if you don’t get to work, though.” He reaches out and touches her hair again. “Don’t make me be cruel, little one. I’d prefer you…willing.”
She shudders, turning away from me and slinking out of Noku’s grasp. She’s much smaller up close than I recalled—I doubt she’d reach my shoulder. It just makes her even more fragile than I anticipated, and the protective need in me surges.
If that ssethri dares to touch her again, I’m going to flatten him, shock-stick or not.
Kloo-ee gets on her hands and knees near the drain, and waits while Noku taps a code into his datapad. A release sounds, and she lifts the grate lid off. Her small nose wrinkles at the smell, and I make a mental note to beat the shit out of Ast if he used the keffing drain while I was sleeping. She rolls up her sleeves and leans toward the floor, reaching in. Her face is expressionless as she grabs a handful of waste and slops it out onto the floor.
Noku steps backward with a hiss. “Not so close!”
“Sorry,” she says, but I’m amused at the subtle rebellion. The little human has fire to her. She reaches in and grabs another handful, and then another. Kloo-ee is silent, but when she moves, I can see her gaze flick over to me. She’s curious about me. I like that.
She has to reach deeper, and her cheek almost touches the filthy floor. As she does, her brows furrow, and then she jerks harder, then pulls up something that makes a wet slap on the ground. “Found your clog.”
Noku nudges the bit of material with his shock-stick and then glances around the cell. His gaze focuses on me and my jumper that’s now missing a sleeve. “So.” His hissing voices goes flat with anger. “This was done on purpose. Was this all so you could get a better look at my little human, Jutari? Don’t think I don’t know who you are.”
I manage a grin, making it seem far more difficult than it truly is. Ssethri prick.
He leans in over me, his beady eyes flashing. “She’s mine, prisoner. Don’t you forget that. I can do whatever I want to her. If I want to drag her around naked in front of you, I can. If I want to take her to my bed, I can. If I want to make her life miserable, I can.”
With that, he casually lashes out, striking the human female across the face with his shock-stick.
Kloo-ee collapses with a small cry, flattening on the ground.
A growl rises in my throat, feral and sharp. I can’t stop the hit he just gave her—even though it guts me—but if he touches her again, I’ll attack him and bring him down. It doesn’t matter that he could fry my brain by turning up his shock-stick. He’s not touching my female again.
“Mine,” the ssethri hisses, leaning over me. “You think you can touch what is mine? You think I would turn my back so you could rape her?” He shows his small, pathetic fangs. “That pleasure will be mine and mine alone.”
He thinks I would rape her? That idiot. I would worship her body.
“I’ve seen how you watch her,” Noku tells me. He leans in closer, and his voice drops to a whisper. “I’ve heard of the rumors around the prison—that you’ve staked your claim. Your claim is nothing, though. Shall I make a vid of the first time I claim her? You can watch her take my scaly cock.”
It takes everything I have not to answer. Gutting Noku solves nothing. I have to wait to make my move.
Even if it destroys me on the inside to not be able to protect her in this moment.
Noku straightens. He glances over at Kloo-ee. “Get up, little human. Replace the grate over the drain pipe and get to your feet.”
She calmly picks herself up off the ground, though there is a bright red streak across one cheek that fills me with anger. I weigh the benefits of attacking Noku now. Of snapping his thin neck and flinging his body aside…and then what? Wait for more guards to come after me with blasters and more shock-sticks?
No, I have to wait for the right moment. Even if it destroys me.
CHLOE
It takes two days for the red streak on my cheek to fade. In that time, I don’t see Noku. I suppose that’s a bonus, but I feel uneasy. It’s like this is the calm before the storm. When he left the other day, he was angry, and it seemed like his anger was directed more at me than at the big blue stranger.
Jutari. I repeat his name under my breath. The way he looked at me…I hug my knees tight. It wasn’t like how Noku looks at me. Noku looks like…like he wants to break me. Jutari doesn’t. But Noku also hasn’t come to get me for latrine duty in the last two days, so maybe I’m not on his radar at all. I hope.
That hope is quickly extinguished on day three when one of the ssethri guards passes by as he does a headcount, and a strange stink wafts through the air. I wrinkle my nose, but Irita looks alert and tense. The other women, too. As the guard pauses by Lxist, he grabs her by one of her feelers and half-drags her into her cell. I’m shocked, not only at the violence he’s showing, but the suddenness of it. Lxist is always willing to let the guards play with her caterpillar-like body. I don’t know what she did to provoke him.
Irita makes an unhappy noise in her throat and waits until they’ve disappeared, then moves to my side. “Kloo-ee, today is going to be a bad day.”
“What? Why?” If it’s a bad day for Irita, who takes everything with a casual smile, I’m really scared at what it could mean for me.
“Do you smell that on the air?” She sniffs exaggeratedly. “That metallic stink?” When I nod, she leans in and whispers. “That’s the ssethri mating stink. They lose control about once a month and go after the females. If you can, you should avoid Noku today.”
“Wait, ssethri only mate once a month?” Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a ssethri guard disappear with a female before now.
“They’re cold blooded. Since the temperature is controlled here in the prison, their mating need is randomly triggered at times. Like I said, just avoid them if at all possible and hope that someone else is going to catch ssethri cock today.”
My mouth goes dry, and I nod wordlessly. That explains why Noku hasn’t touched me despite threatening it regularly. Of course, that might also mean terrible things for today. I wish I could crawl back into my featureless, hard cell and sleep, but the guards on the floor—non-ssethri—would shock me for even trying it. I tug at the collar around my neck, miserable.
As if he can sense our thoughts, the door to the women’s quarters opens and Noku stalks in. His scales seem to be brighter than usual, and as he moves forward, I can smell the terrible, metallic scent grow thicker in the air. His beady gaze flicks back and forth amongst the women, and I feel sick.
I know who he’s looking for.
Irita jumps in front of me and puts her hands on her hips. She saunters forward, her movements oozing sex appeal. “Hello, Noku,” she purrs. “Don’t suppose you’d let a girl earn a bit of goodwill today, would you?” She moves toward him and puts a hand on his narrow snake-ant chest.
He flicks her hand away. “Step aside, prisoner. Fem14-H, to me.”
Shit.
I get to my feet slowly and take a step forward.
That’s not quick enough for Noku. He moves toward me and grabs me by the hair, sending a bolt of pain through my scalp. “Did I not say that you were to come to me, little human?”
“You’re hurting me!”
“I’m going to do more than that if you disobey me again,” he hisses.
Irita steps forward again. “Noku, listen—”
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