All of a sudden, the chamber in which they lay lurched again, and a clang of metal woke them all with a start. Aria sat up, and Marissa rolled over on her side. “Where are we?”
“We’ve stopped moving.” Carmen tried to stand up.
The others copied her, and all four women stood staring around them in helpless ignorance. What was there to look at but the same four walls? Then another clang struck their ears, and something metal scraped against the side of the chamber. They turned toward the noise.
In front of their eyes, one of the walls slid to the side, and a pale blue light flooded the chamber. Carmen shielded her eyes from the glare. She couldn’t see a thing outside their prison. Then a tall figure stepped into the light. She peeked around her hand to try to make it out. Seeing their captors for the first time would give her some idea what she was up against when it came to formulating a plan to escape.
Another figure entered her field of view, and then another and another until four silhouettes lined up in front of the door. Ever so slowly, Carmen’s eyes grew accustomed to the light. Or maybe the light dimmed enough for her to get a good look at her kidnappers.
One was taller than the other three, but they all presented the strangest picture Carmen ever saw. She couldn’t believe the evidence of her own eyes. They had pale lavender skin with gleaming violet eyes, and she couldn’t distinguish any iris or pupil in their eyes. Only a bright violet orb filled their sockets. They twitched their lips in the strangest way, and their arms came to stubs at the ends. They had no hands.
Carmen’s mind whirred from the shock of seeing them, but before she could react, they stepped into the chamber in shoulder to shoulder formation. They evaluated the women with cold critical eyes. The women stared at them with their mouths hanging open. Not one of them, not even mouthy Aria, could say a word.
Once they got within range, Carmen saw them clearly enough to realize they had tiny tentacles around their lips. If those tentacles kept still for a fraction of a second, they might have resembled facial hair. But they never kept still. They twitched and flickered in constant movement. The image reminded Carmen of a snake’s tongue lashing in and out. Did these creatures sense their surroundings with those tentacles?
The tallest creature moved his head from one side to the other, and his tentacles stretched out from his face toward the women. Aria screwed up her face in disgust, and Marissa stepped back to get away from the thing.
Penelope Ann set her mouth in a stern straight line and stepped forward. Carmen noticed her moving and grabbed her by the arm. “No, Penelope Ann! Don’t antagonize them. We don’t know what they plan to do with us.”
Penelope Ann rounded on Carmen and yanked her arm free from her grip. “Don’t you tell me what to do! These people—or whatever they are—kidnapped us in broad daylight out of my own bakery.” She faced the tall creature. “I don’t know who or what you are, but I demand you take us back to where we came from immediately. You had no right to take us against our will. You’re violating all the laws known to man. Release us at once or pay the consequences.”
Her words gave Aria and Marissa courage, but Carmen cringed, especially when the creature remained impassive. It probably didn’t understand a word Penelope Ann said. If it did, baiting it and standing up to it would only make their situation worse. The creatures might kill them all on the spot.
The creature swept the group with its eyes one more time. Then a sound came out of its mouth. It didn’t really resemble speech, but for some reason she couldn’t explain, Carmen understood it. “We took you to sell on the planet Corax in the Regulus Galaxy. You will never go back where you came from. Your laws mean nothing here. You are our property now, and we will do what we please with you. You will do yourselves good to cooperate. Resistance will be useless.”
Aria stepped forward. She clenched her fists at her sides. “I’ve heard that before. Do you think we’re so stupid as to go along with this? We’re free citizens of the United States of America. We have rights.”
The creature’s strange voice interrupted her. “You have no rights here. You will cooperate, and we will sell you on the planet Corax. If you don’t cooperate, you will get very hurt.”
Carmen found her voice. “Who are you, and where do you come from?”
He regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and boredom. “We are called Romarie. We come from the Twingmon Galaxy, and we traffic commodities all over this sector of space.”
Carmen gulped. “Space?”
He put his head on one side. “Yes. Space.”
Penelope Ann turned to Carmen and snapped at her over her shoulder. “Don’t you get it? You’re not very sharp for a police officer, are you? They’re aliens. We’ve been abducted by aliens.”
Carmen ignored her. “What will happen to us on the planet Corax?”
“Corax is an intergalactic marketplace where traders from all over the sector come to buy and sell commodities,” the creature replied. “Many planets in the Regulus Galaxy lost their females in the great Ixwi plague. They pay large sums for females from other planets to replace the ones they lost.”
The women exchanged glances. “So you’re selling us into sex slavery. Is that it?”
The creature trained his bright eyes on Aria. “Call it what you like. You will serve the function of female to those planets, and we take the profit. That is what will happen to you on the planet Corax. Whoever pays the highest price will determine what happens to you.”
Aria took another step toward the creature, shouting, “You can’t do this...” But before she could approach any nearer, she flew backwards with lightning speed. Her feet left the floor, and she slammed back against the chamber wall. Penelope Ann rushed to her side and wrapped her arm around Aria’s shoulder.
“Do not attempt to resist,” the creature told them. “You will damage yourselves and reduce your value in the markets. If you continue to resist, we will take precautions to make sure it does not happen anymore. If you wish to stay together, you must cooperate. Do you understand?”
Carmen glanced at her companions. Then she faced the creature. “We understand, and we will cooperate.”
He examined her with sharp eyes. “That is commendable. Are you the leader of these females?”
Carmen blushed. “I’m not the leader, but if we can stay together, we will cooperate.”
The creature leaned back. “That is commendable. Tell me your identifying labels.”
Carmen frowned. “Do you mean our names? My name is Carmen. This is Marissa, this is Aria, and this is Penelope Ann.”
The thing cocked its head to one side. “Penelope Ann. We haven’t come in contact with a female with that label before.”
“Have you taken many females from our planet?” she asked.
The creature put back its head and opened its curious mouth. A burbling sound came out of it. The sound made Carmen’s skin crawl. Then she realized it must be laughing. “Have we taken many females from you planet? We have taken thousands, and we’ll take thousands more. Your planet is the only one in this part of space that makes no effort at all to defend its females. We can take as many as we want with no resistance from anyone. Your people don’t value females very much.”
Carmen narrowed her eyes at the thing. She didn’t answer, but a burning hatred for it and its kind smoldered in her heart. She would make this thing pay for what it did to her and all the other human women it took from Earth. Humans might not value their females very much, but Carmen valued herself above all else. A quick glance around the chamber proved to her the others were thinking the same thing. They would keep their eyes open, and when they found their chance, these aliens would regret the day they messed with this particular group of women.
The thing surveyed his commodities again. “My label is Rotnim.”
Carmen scrutinized the thing. How long would it be before she got another opportunity to question it? “Are you a male of your species?”
“I am a male,” he replied. “We are all males.” He nodded toward his comrades. “This is Orbnim, this is Tinim, and this is Albinim.”
Carmen bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. “We haven’t come in contact with anyone with those labels before, either.”
He cocked his head at her. “Now you have. Now you must come aboard our ship and enter the containment area.” He turned his back on them, and the four aliens retreated out of the chamber.
Chapter 3
Carmen took a step to follow him, but Penelope Ann launched herself off the floor and rushed to Carmen’s side. She held her back with an iron grip. “Don’t go out there, Carmen. You can’t cooperate with these creatures. You heard what he said. They’re going to sell us into slavery to some glorified space sex trade.”
Carmen glanced out of the chamber, but she couldn’t see anything other than the pale blue light. “I don’t see how we have any choice but to cooperate. You heard what he said. If we don’t cooperate, they’ll hurt us and separate us. Whatever else happens, we have to stay together as long as we can. I don’t like it any more than you do, but I can’t stand by and let you hurt yourselves by trying to resist.”
Penelope Ann yanked her back again. “You’re betraying all of us by cooperating with them. I’m telling you right now, if you go out there, none of us will have anything to do with you.”
One glance over Penelope Ann’s shoulder at the others cowering in the back of the chamber confirmed Penelope Ann was telling the truth. Aria glared at her, and Marissa wouldn’t look at her at all. How could she let these women down?
She cast one more quick peek towards the door and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Listen, Penelope Ann. I feel exactly the same way you do, and I promise you, we’re gonna do everything we can to get out of here and get back to Earth. But the only way we can do that is to bide our time and keep our eyes open. Maybe if we play along with these aliens, they’ll let their guard down. Then, when we see a chance to strike back, we take it. Okay?”
Penelope Ann let go of her arm. She tightened her lips.
Carmen pressed her advantage. “I hate these aliens for what they did to us, and I’ll never rest until I get back to Earth. I’m doing the only thing that will help us accomplish that. Now who’s with me?”
Aria smacked her lips and looked away. Marissa raised her eyes to Carmen’s face and gave her a slow nod. Penelope Ann sighed. “All right. We’ll play it your way for now, but I don’t like it. We should fight back.”
“If we fight back now,” Carmen replied, “we could wind up hurt or dead. We don’t know where we are or what these creatures are capable of. He said he’s kidnapped thousands of human women, so he must be brutal and heartless. We can’t just throw ourselves at them and hope for the best. We have to use our heads and plan to escape later.”
“All right,” Penelope Ann told her. “We’ll cooperate for now, as long as you agree it’s only temporary. I’m not going to some market in the Regulus Galaxy without a fight.”
Carmen smiled. “Me, neither. Believe me, this is the first stage in a much longer fight to earn our freedom. We’re conserving our strength and....”
She didn’t finish her sentence. Some unseen power seized hold of her and dragged her toward the door. She struggled with all her might, but an invisible hand pulled her across the chamber and out into the blue light. Her heels screeched on the metal floor, but no amount of kicking and thrashing could stop her.
The same power took hold of the others, and all four women found themselves moving against their will into the blue light. Carmen crossed the threshold first. Another enormous chamber surrounded the vehicle that took them from the bakery. Carmen got a good look at it from the outside. It was a plain white metal box. How could she mistake it for the paddy wagon?
She didn’t have time to think about that, though. The four aliens stood in a row across the room. The tentacles on their faces stood out from their faces and lashed the air. Whatever force held the women captive and moved them around in spite of their best efforts came from those tentacles.
Rotnim’s eyes blazed when Carmen skidded into view. His mouth twisted into a grotesque imitation of a smile. Carmen fought harder than ever to break the force holding her, and his expression registered even greater pleasure. When she relaxed and let him pull her along, he frowned in disappointment. He enjoyed her struggle and her fear.
Black rage bubbled up from the depths of her being. He stole her and her companions from Earth, and now he got some sick thrill out of manipulating her with his power. He enjoyed jerking her around like a puppet on a string. She fixed her eyes on his face. She would defeat him. She would destroy him and his kind for what he did to her and the other human women. She dedicated her life to enforcing the law, and she would never rest until she broke their trade in women.
He pulled her into the middle of the large chamber, and his friends did the same with the other three women. The aliens dumped them in a heap on the floor. Aria grunted in pain, and Marissa cried out. Penelope Ann rolled to one side and, in one fluid movement, rocketed to her feet. She charged across the room with her arms outstretched toward Rotnim.
Carmen put out a hand to stop her and called, “Penelope Ann! No!”
But Penelope Ann didn’t hear her. She flew toward him, but she only got halfway there before the invisible force caught her. She didn’t fly backwards the way Aria did. She hung a foot off the ground with her arms and legs pinned at her sides. She worked all her muscles to break his hold, but to no avail.
Rotnim gurgled his hideous laugh and strolled around her. He surveyed her from head to foot. “A little too big for my taste, but I’m sure the buyers will pay extra for that. Good for breeding, and maybe for hard labor, too. A good prize.”
Penelope Ann foamed at the mouth and spat at him. “How dare you treat me like a piece of meat? I’ll kill you for this. You and all your kind will pay for what you’ve done.”
Rotnim shrugged. “That’s what you think.”
His tentacles danced in the air and lowered her until her feet grazed the floor. Rotnim stepped closer. His tentacles twitched in her face, and she drew back in disgust, but he only laughed.
He close the gap between them, and his tentacles surrounded her face. She struggled harder than ever, but she couldn’t fight against his invisible hold. Her arms rose from her sides, and he embraced her chest with his own handless arms. He bent his head into the crevice of her neck, and his tentacles extended until they completely obliterated her face.
Aria choked back a hoarse sob, and Marissa covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t watch. Carmen covered her mouth with her hand. If only she could attack Rotnim to help Penelope Ann, but one look at the other aliens made her reconsider. They stared at their three prisoners, and their tentacles slithered in and out of their faces in delicate patterns. She wouldn’t make it off the floor, and she might injure herself or get killed if she tried.
Muffled grunts and cries issued from Penelope Ann under the mask of tentacles surrounding her face. Rotnim growled into her neck, and his body undulated against her in waves of carnal ecstasy. He could do what he wanted with her, and she couldn’t fight back.
All at once, a spine-chilling scream ripped through the chamber. Penelope Ann gave one terrific burst of power, her arms flew out from her sides, and she brought the hard blades of both hands down hard on either side of Rotnim’s neck.
His tentacles withdrew into his face until they vanished completely into his skin. Penelope Ann’s golden tresses and flashing eyes emerged from the deadly mask, and she shook herself free from his grip. Rotnim staggered back, and two circles glowed black and throbbing on either side of his neck.
Penelope Ann dropped the rest of the way down to the floor. She landed like a cat on her feet and instantly launched herself at him again. In a heartbeat, she grabbed him with her elbow around his neck and drove him down to the floor with all her stren
gth. She dropped onto one knee on the side of his head and smashed his skull into the metal floor.
She drew back and aimed a kick at his chest. Rotnim curled into a ball and covered his head with his arms. He howled in agony, but Penelope Ann wasn’t finished with him. She drew back her foot to deliver another kick, but before it landed, the other three aliens turned on her with their tentacles fully extended. Penelope Ann froze with her foot in mid-swing.
The invisible force field caught hold of Carmen. It held all four women motionless. Rotnim lay on the floor and groaned. A lavender liquid oozed from the side of his head. Carmen stared at the three aliens, but they didn’t move. They regarded their prisoners across the chamber and made no attempt to approach them.
Then their invisible power moved the women, across the room, away from the vehicle that brought them there. Carmen didn’t bother to struggle this time. Nothing could fight against this force. How could they ever escape from creatures with this ability to control and act from a distance? But at least she knew now what she was up against. Any plan she came up with would have to take the Romarie’s power into consideration.
The aliens moved their captives to a corner of the big chamber, where a door opened in a side panel. Carmen and her companions floated through it into another plain white box with no windows, no toilet, no anything. The door slammed shut behind them.
Chapter 4
Carmen crawled across the cold steel floor to Penelope Ann. “Are you all right?”
Penelope Ann coughed and wiped slime off her face. “I’m fine. I don’t think we can say the same thing for...what’s his name.”
Aria cackled with glee. “You really showed him, girl. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
Penelope Ann smiled at her, but said nothing.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Carmen asked.
Damen (Dragons of Kratak Book 2) Page 14