“I'll just stay right here,” Pock said. “It's way too light out there.”
Robert looked to the Wrecking Crew, who were all staring in amazement at the alien garden right outside the door. He turned and looked down at Michelle. “I was wanting to show you this. I only wish it was under different circumstances.”
“If he is everything that you say he is, this should all work itself out,” she replied, trying to be positive. She accepted his arm and let him steady her as they passed through the door. “Oh,” she said as the dizziness passed. “This place is beautiful!”
Dave passed through behind them and pretended to be unaffected by the drop in gravity. “I will defer to your experience, Jones.” Potts and Chavez followed him out and both of them stood silently, taking it all in.
* * *
“What? No!” Gladys' knees started to buckle beneath her. Miyako wrapped her arms around her, under her arms, to keep her upright.
“They threatened to destroy Earth,” Phildan added. He paused to give her time to process her feelings. Denise had moved into her arms to share in her grief. Hiro came in through the door and stood silently beside his wife.
Finally, Gladys raised her head to speak. “Did you record it?” she asked.
“Yes,” Phildan replied. He manipulated his data pad. A remote appeared and began to project the footage. He just then looked over to see the human form of Constanthos sitting up and looking at him with much curiosity. Movement caught his eye as Cindy held her head in her hands and walked away and out the door. It seemed as if the emotion in the room was overwhelming her.
Gladys watched the footage carefully and stood with her sister-wives for some time before speaking. “Korick resides at Vera.”
Phildan pressed some spots on the data pad and then exclaimed, “Fuck!”
“Fuck what? Why fuck?” Denise asked almost incoherently.
“The gravity there is more than twice that of Earth,” Phildan replied.
“What does that mean for Frank?” Denise asked.
“He will be very weak until his body adapts,” Gladys answered.
“So how long does that take?” Denise asked.
“I imagine for a normal human, it would take many years if at all. Most would die.” Gladys looked over into the wide, curious eyes of Constanthos.
“Shit,” Denise replied.
“Fuck!” Phildan exclaimed once again.
“What is it?” Gladys asked as Phildan pressed on his data pad furiously.
“There is another rift detected.”
“Who is it?” she asked.
“It's another Gote scout ship. And they're trying to hail us.” Phildan didn't wait to elaborate as he turned and sprinted out of the room. Hiro looked at Miyako, nodded, and followed after Phildan.
Constanthos sat, watching and learning.
* * *
Robert was standing with Michelle's hand in his in the garden near the door panel that led to Frank's boat. Dave and Chavez were walking around the garden, respectfully staying to the path and admiring its beauty. Potts was standing on a path that led toward the loba tree.
“I never would have thought an alien spaceship would be like this,” Michelle said.
“It makes sense when you think about it,” Robert replied. “They are making their own oxygen, and there is a vegetable garden up there.” He pointed to the upper level, above the finished section.
“So they don't eat meat at all?” she asked.
“Not at all. I guess Frank took to it without issue. Nera comes from a vegetarian group of people too. And now Denise is a vegetarian.”
She was about to reply when Phildan sped past. A very short time later, Hiro came running.
“Hiro?” Robert asked. “What is going on?”
“Another Gote ship.”
“Shit. Come on, baby.”
* * *
Damon Potts was frozen in place. He was watching the very tall and very furry creature walk with uneasy steps toward an odd tree. It held up one arm to brace itself as it leaned on the trunk. A hand rose to its forehead and Potts could tell that it was lost in thought, and not at all pleased. Suddenly, it raised its head and turned to look at him. He wanted to run but he stood his ground.
“Hello there.” Potts looked all around but the voice was somehow in his head. “I am Cindy. Please do not be afraid.”
“I'm Damon,” he replied. “How did you do that?”
“How did I do what?”
“That. Your voice is in my head.”
“My race is called Ezilak. We communicate in a way that you would call telepathic.”
“So you know English then?”
“Not exactly. Your mind is converting my thoughts into something that you can understand.” She stood and watched him but was having a difficult time with his expression. “You have obviously encountered other races before.” Her tone was gentle. “Is there something especially odd about me?”
“I think I might have seen you before.”
19.
“He is waking up already,” Doris said. “Hit him again.” The other soldier pressed the device against Frank's thigh and sent another jolt into him. His body convulsed and then went limp. “You should inspect that,” Doris said as he went about cutting Frank's clothing off of him.
“You are making a mistake,” Moldew said.
“The only mistake was bringing you along,” Doris replied. “What is this coating over his skin?” Moldew looked away as if washing his hands of the situation. “You there, slave,” he then said to Raymond. “What is this coating? It won't come off.”
Before Raymond could speak, Moldew said, “We are taking no part in this. You will be lucky if he doesn't kill you.” He glanced at Frank's black varitherm.
“Nonsense,” Doris almost shouted the word as he affixed a strange collar onto Frank's neck. “There is no reason to treat this human differently than any other. March them in naked and sell them to the highest bidder.” He then paused for a moment. “Shackle his arms,” he said with a chuckle. “We wouldn't want him killing us.” He laughed out loud at his own joke. “Put him in the cage. And set the damned gravity to normal.”
Moldew shook his head in disgust. He then turned to Raymond and asked in a low tone, “What is that coating?”
“I have no idea.”
* * *
“It's Bett!” Phildan exclaimed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Phildan turned to look at everyone that had crowded into his work space. “How did Bett get a Gote ship?”
“Robert?” Dave said.
“Yeah, Sarge?”
“Since you left the Corps and took your current position with Frank, I would say that you now technically outrank me. I sure the fuck need to draw on your expertise right about now.”
“We obviously need to meet with Bett. The fact that he has a Gote vessel is bad news.”
Dave pondered the situation. Finally, he spoke. “Holy shit. Hasn't Nuun had enough crap already?”
“Let's meet with Bett,” Robert replied, “and then we'll go from there.”
* * *
“It's Bett!” Phildan exclaimed. “He has a landing solution in place.”
“Bett?” Gladys asked. She didn't share Phildan's enthusiasm. “How did he acquire a Gote ship?” She was holding Constanthos' hand.
“We are going to drop down to greet him,” Phildan replied. “I'm sure he will share whatever information.”
Gladys nodded in approval. “Nera, you should go. Denise, you should stay. Constanthos needs to learn how to be a female human of Earth. Just take everyone except Denise and Cindy.”
Phildan started to turn back toward the door and stopped as everyone passed by him. He turned back to Gladys and said, “We're going to get him back, my Mistress.”
“Yes. Yes we are.”
* * *
“Potts!” Chavez yelled. “We gotta go!”
Damon was sitting under the loba tree with Cindy. She was touching his arm
and looking at some point beyond the wall.
“I heard. I am almost there.”
“They will have to wait,” Damon replied. “This is too important to me.” He sat patiently as she probed his memories.
“I have it. Yes. It really happened.” She let go of his arm and looked down at her feet. “I suppose our feet are large compared to yours, but I must say that I do not approve of the name your people have given us.”
“Well, you know, I had nothing to do with that. Some folks call you Sasquatch.”
* * *
Frank opened his eyes and tried to sit up. For the first time in a long while, he felt almost hungover. He looked around to find that he was now in a cage and his clothes were gone. Looking up, he realized that the top of the cage was too low for him to stand. He doubted he would be able to anyway. Peering through the woven metallic walls of the cage, he could see the bench where he had been seated across the hold. Raymond and Moldew were still seated there. Both of them wore concerned expressions. Turning the opposite direction, Frank noticed Doris standing there, leaning against the wall, staring. He was rubbing himself.
“Doris!” Moldew shouted from across the hold. “That behavior is not dignified!”
“You have a lot of nerve!” Doris replied. He had decided that he'd had just about enough of Moldew. He marched over, looking for a confrontation. “Bearing that mark doesn't give you the right to pass judgment on the rest of us.”
“This uniform gives me the right. You are starting a war with your actions toward the human. He will kill us all.”
“Mind your own business, Moldew, or your wife might find herself widowed.”
Moldew quickly grabbed Doris by his throat, picked him up off of the floor and slammed him against the wall. “You mention my wife again, and I will end you.” Two soldiers drew pistols and took aim.
“You're outnumbered,” Doris strained himself to say.
“Think again,” Moldew replied and nodded toward Raymond, who quickly stood and pulled out two identical pistols, aiming each toward an armed soldier. “You are weak,” Moldew continued. “Too much time on Vera has made you soft.” He released Doris from his grasp. “Consider that a warning. I won't hesitate to kill any of you. Now get out of my sight.” Doris was still struggling to catch his breath as he motioned for the soldiers to follow him. They left through a door panel that led to the forward cabin area. “Raymond, I'm afraid we are off to a rough start with the Monster.”
“It looks that way,” Raymond replied as he looked over at Frank. “He doesn't seem especially powerful. Do you think maybe Doris was right? Could that video footage be faked?”
“That footage was provided by the great Ottwan. I don't see any reason why he would have faked it. And he seemed very concerned about the Monster.” Moldew looked over at Frank, who was inspecting the rigid shackles that bound his wrists together. “If he figures out a way to free himself, we might have the unfortunate opportunity to see just what he is capable of.”
“He will most likely succumb to the gravity, just like every other human.”
“You overcame it, my old friend,” Moldew said with a smile. “Maybe you could go converse with him. Find out what his state of mind is. Be friendly.”
“That won't be too hard,” Raymond replied. “He seems to be a well-mannered man. At least he was.”
* * *
“Who was that?” Chavez asked as the door panel was closing behind them.
“That was Cindy,” Potts replied. He had an odd, content look on his face.
“You alright, bro?”
Potts stopped to think. “You know, I am better than alright. I'm ready to go kick some ass and get Frank back.”
“That's what I like to hear,” Dave said as he turned to look over everyone. “Phil? How long?”
“Ten minutes,” Phildan answered. “We'll arrive roughly two minutes ahead of Bett.”
“It is a bad sign,” Nera said as she was pacing back and forth.
“We don't know anything yet,” Dave reminded her.
* * *
“What was all that about?” Frank asked with a smile.
“Moldew doesn't agree with the treatment that you have been receiving,” Raymond replied as he sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall just outside the cage.
“Hmm, you don't say. I don't agree with it either. He is crazy strong though.”
“The soldiers are Korick's boys. They spend most of their time on Vera, so the gravity here is set to match that. Moldew and I reside on Gotoreo, which has even higher gravity.”
“I suppose that explains why I feel so terrible,” Frank replied as he thought about how bad it must have been for Gladys and Nera to be on Earth. “And I guess that also explains why you're all hulked up.”
Raymond laughed. “Yes. That was a long and painful process.”
“So, what do they got on you, Raymond?”
“What do you mean?”
“You could have had your freedom. I would have freed you.”
“I believe you would have.” Raymond took a deep breath. “I have a daughter on Gotoreo.”
“Okay. Give me a minute to wrap my head around that one.”
“It's nothing exotic, Frank,” Raymond said with a laugh. “She was with me when they picked me up.”
“Oh, okay. So she's grown then. Got it.”
“Yeah, I was doing the math. We've been gone for twenty-five years. She was five at the time, so that makes her around twenty-two.”
“I'm not following your math, Ray.”
“They put us in stasis for the trip. Apparently it took seven years to get to Gotoreo. We didn't age for that time.”
“Well, okay then. So how did you come about your current profession, if I may ask?”
“It's a good fit. I was a cop before they took me. I'm basically a cop now.”
“Now I'm getting confused. You called yourself a slave before, and now you're saying you're a cop.”
“I guess if you had to be formal, you could say that King Ondex is my master. His daughter took a liking to my Chloe. That, in itself, is the only reason we are still alive today.”
“So you're not like, a regular slave. You're a royal slave. It still sucks, Raymond.”
“I'm just playing the hand I was dealt. Most humans die within a week or two, so I gotta feel fortunate.”
“Wow. How do the humans usually die?”
“If they aren't messed with, the gravity usually gets them. Most people are unable to adapt. I got lucky. But I had plenty of motivation. Believe it or not, children actually adapt better than adults.”
“Oh, I totally believe that. So what really kills everyone?”
Raymond looked at the floor. “The brothels.”
* * *
Everyone was standing near the steps as the scout ship landed. After a few moments, the ramp lowered and Bett, the Risen marched down. Michelle and Miyako watched as everyone walked out to meet him. They looked at each other and shrugged, then followed along.
“My friends!” Bett exclaimed. “It is good to see you all.”
Nera was the first to greet him. She extended her arm and they clasped each others' forearms. “Risen, it is an honor.”
“The honor is mine,” Bett answered in her native Nuunian language. “Shik has been telling me of your exploits. You are even more impressive than I thought.” Switching to English he then said, “Warriors of Earth! Greetings. Phildan! I have missed you my friend.” He glanced toward Michelle and Miyako and gave a bow.
“It is always good to see a friend,” Phildan started, “but we must ask how you acquired that vessel.”
“Some Gotes arrived on Nuun and were trying to round up some humans.” Bett turned to Nera, trying to gauge her response.
“How many?” Robert asked.
“There were three of them. Shik and I killed them.”
“Did we lose anyone?” Nera asked.
“No. We were able to save them all.” He co
uld see the relief in the change of her posture. Looking around some more, he asked, “Where is Frank Ford?”
“We have a lot to talk about, Bett,” Robert said. “You might as well come inside. I imagine Gladys will be down shortly.”
* * *
Frank broke the long awkward silence. “So, here we are flying around the galaxy with a bunch of gay, rapist aliens.”
Raymond burst into laughter. “Thanks, I needed a good laugh. You're not really homophobic, are you?”
“No. I mean, I don't think I am. I have a close friend that has those tendencies and it really doesn't effect me either way.”
“I've been dealing with this shit for a while. I don't think Doris is gay. To them, all humans are feminine.”
“That doesn't make rape okay.”
Raymond shook his head. “I certainly agree, as do a lot of Gotes. But something happened to them. They were invaded and enslaved themselves. Their DNA was altered and now less than ten per cent of the population is female.”
“I'll have to process that.”
“Good luck with that,” Raymond said. “I've been trying to process it for years.” There was another long silence before Raymond said, “So now you know all about me. You gotta tell me how you came about your position.”
“Well, my official title is Custodian of Earth. I personally think titles are stupid, but what are you going to do? To tell you the truth, I'm just a construction worker.”
“You built that bar, didn't you?”
“Yup.”
“Nice. Man, I dreamed about having a beer. I just want to say thanks.”
“You're welcome. I think there are more beers in our future. But living on a tropical island and all, I have pretty much switched over to margaritas full time.”
“I can see that. But you never told me how you became the Custodian.”
Frank looked at Raymond's expression. “You've seen the propaganda video, haven't you?”
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