TAKEN: Journey to a New Home

by Dillion, Taylor

  “A Trusky telling an interesting tale about some humans while we were having lunch. Have Nyman start his pre-flight check and start up sequence. Send Vax to the coordinates I just sent you to wait for us, I’ll need his talent. If that cargo we sent earlier isn’t loaded, get it done. Neatness doesn’t count. Pay the ground crew a little extra if necessary. Not enough to be obvious but enough to make it seem like you’re impatient to start your leave. Ask about the nearest and best brothel; that will give them a good reason for your impatience,” Dezek was giving orders fast and furious but he knew Fazon was dependable and would follow instructions quickly and efficiently. Now all he had to do was swindle a swindler he thought as he sat back with a frown.

  ***

  “Are you covered in there?” The brown alien’s whiny voice called out.

  “Yes,” Sienna called back surprised he would be so polite.

  “Good,” he said entering with two huge dark blue creatures who looked as though they had been put together from chunks of broken concrete. “I can’t stand looking at humans without clothes. You’re so squishy looking,” he smirked. So much for being polite Sienna thought ruefully.

  “Alright you’ll do. Tag them,” he said and waved at them. The two huge blue beings moved toward them. One carried a tray of what looked like chokers. None of the women dared protest in the face of the giants who stood nearly as tall as the suPonicks had been. Once they were all collared, one giant turned and led the way while the other gestured for them to follow the first. The brown scaly alien brought up the rear. They were led outside. Holly stumbled, busy looking up at the sky. It was a pale lavender. Samantha righted her and they continued down the line of open air pens. The pens contained creatures of varying sizes and shapes. Many wore clothing. Slaves Sienna grimaced at the thought.

  “Inside the square,” the brown alien directed as the group stopped at an empty space. He stood and watched them go by. “Hurry along now,” he pushed Rose who cried out. Ashaa moved fast and had him by the throat.

  “Don’t touch her,” she growled. The alien grabbed the cuff on his wrist and Ashaa convulsed and went down.

  “Drag her in,” the merchant ordered. “And let that be a lesson to any of you thinking about misbehaving. I won’t tolerate disobedience!” The big blue creature dropped Ashaa unceremoniously on the ground and stepped back over the rails lying on the ground in a rectangular pattern. The merchant pushed another button on his wrist. A hum of energy started and Sienna knew they were back in an invisible cell. Sienna turned from glaring at the merchant and went to where Samantha was gently rocking Rose again as they sat on one of the soft pallets. Rose was trying hard not to cry. Out in the bright light of the pretty blue sun Sienna could see the bruises on Rose, Taylor and Jasmine looked even more horrible than inside. The one on her face must look as bad she thought.

  “What if they separate us?” Jasmine’s eyes were wet with tears and filled with fear. Sienna had no answer for her. She ached knowing she was responsible for all of them being here. She was even worried about Blanca as the teen had been very quiet and withdrawn since waking here. She moved to sit next to Jasmine and hugged her. She had nothing else to give the frightened young woman. Wendy, Tabitha, Natalie and Holly were straightening Ashaa’s long limbs and pulling on her onto another pallet in order to make her comfortable. Poor Ashaa Sienna thought she just can’t catch a break.

  The air outside was pleasant and fresh. The temperature was moderate and comfortable under the strange pale lavender sky. Beings of all shapes, sizes and colors were traversing what she guessed was an open air market. They sat together and watched the crowds of creatures walk by. Some stopped and gaped at them. This made Sienna laugh despite her aches and worries since they were all gaping back at the crowd. The others looked at her worriedly.

  “I’m laughing because we seem to be as shocking to them as they are to us,” she explained. As she looked around she spotted a familiar form and color. She stood and went to side of the enclosure.

  “Zabyss?” she called out. The creature lifted its head and looked at her. She sucked in a breath at the tears on the soft orange fur. “Zabyss, is that you?”

  “Yes.” The poor despondent creature had manacles wrapped around about half of her tentacles. The manacles were attached to chains which were attached to a large rock.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No.” She didn’t lift her head again. Sienna ached for her too now. Sienna searched for Dr. Martin in the other pens before she returned to the pallet but didn’t see the older woman. She fought her tears and hugged Jasmine again. Her neck prickled and she looked to see what set off her intuition.

  Three tall well-built males were moving down the aisle. They were pale metallic gold in color, had stunning blue eyes and were made of well-defined muscles. Sienna thought to herself on any other day she’d be impressed. They could be fitness models on Earth. They stopped in front of the enclosure. The leader’s gaze locked with hers. She refused to look away or be cowed.

  The moment her gaze locked with his own, Dezek knew he’d found his mate. She was sitting with her arm around another female talking softly. Her eyes were a brilliant green and held defiance despite the fact that she was sitting in an enclosure at a slave trader’s kiosk in the market. He couldn’t tell how tall she was but her skin was a pretty pearl color and she had a dusting of small cinnamon spots the humans called freckles on the bridge of her nose and hair that was curly and a very dark red. He heard the shopkeeper coming from behind him and schooled his features to indifference. It wouldn’t due for the trader to know how much he needed to leave here with the defiant beauty.

  The smarmy shop keeper rushed forward with a fake smile.

  “Gentleman, what can I do for you,” he smiled cheerily.

  “We were told you had some humans,” the leader said, his gaze finally breaking from Sienna’s. “Is this all you have?” he waved at them.

  “Yes, this is the shipment that arrived this morning.” The shop keeper smiled his fake smile again.

  “They’re kind of beat up and scruffy-looking,” the largest of the males who Sienna guessed was nearly seven feet tall observed as he appraised the bandages and bruises.

  “Well, you know, humans are so squishy and soft, they bruise like fruit,” the trader laughed at his own joke. The leader of the group simply eyed him for a few moments longer and then turned to the women again. “Vax, what do you think? Are they worth our time?” he asked the one to his left who appeared slightly younger and a little shorter than the leader and the gold giant as Sienna had decided to call him.

  “I suppose. But I can tell you now, you shouldn’t pay top dollar,” the younger one smirked. “After all they are bruised fruit.” The shop keeper’s face flashed extreme annoyance before he masked it and smiled the fake smile again.

  “Well, of course, we can negotiate some.”

  “Your cousin is over at the Bizzek telling everyone a tale about Mirkndaks and a sick human who turned green. It’s not true, is it?” the younger one questioned. “I mean we wouldn’t want to buy sick humans, after all.”

  “No, no, no, I promise they aren’t sick just a little bruised.” Igvat silently cursed his idiot cousin in his head. He should have been able to make a fortune on the rare humans but if the drunken fool was telling that story he might have other problems besides not getting a good price for the possibly ill humans. Humans were so rare he had expected them to move so quickly he wouldn’t need to worry about whether or not they were actually sick. That would have been the buyer’s problem after all he had an ‘as is- no refunds policy’. “Why don’t we move to my shop and negotiate,” he gestured toward the small building.

  “Well, let’s see what you’re offering,” the leader said indifferently. He and the younger man proceeded to the building.

  The shop keeper slowed his steps at the blue giants. “Get down to the Bizzek and get my idiot drunk cousin out of there before the authorities show up. Tell the drun
ken fool if the government takes any of my stock, I’ll take the price out of his idiot hide even if he is family,” he whispered furiously.

  Rev fought not to smile as he overheard. The shopkeeper had no idea Rev’s hearing allowed him to overhear even whispers farther away. He sent a mental message to Dezek and Vax to bring up the threat of the confiscation since in fact it was a very real threat if someone repeated the tale of sickness to right ear. The Katowie government dealt swiftly and not necessarily justly with potential disease carriers. The capital had twenty million permanent residents and another five million daily visitors to the galactic supply station on an average day. A fast spreading disease would be catastrophic. Rev walked closer to the enclosure and squatted down. He pointed and then crooked a finger at the one who was doing the most glaring. He figured anyone that gutsy was the alpha of the group. Not many people would be willing to stare down Dezek. Dezek, at six and half feet wasn’t the largest male on their ship, he and Fazon both had four inches and forty kilos on him, but Dezek had an intensity and an aura of authority that people responded to when he entered a room. The defiant female made Rev wait for a few moments. While he waited patiently for her, Rev decided she would definitely make a fine mate for his best friend. She had courage and spirit to spare. He knew Dezek thought so as well. From his position behind Dezek, he’d seen his friend’s nape spots flush suddenly. That meant only one thing to their people, a found mate. She finally came to the wall and stared down at him. Yep, she had guts.

  “I want you to pay attention carefully,” he told her. “They went in to get him to give us a good price. You need to be ready to leave the minute the collar locks come off. You’ll comply quickly and quietly. We will need to leave fast and efficiently if you want off this planet. Trust me when I tell you this is the best offer you’ll get. If the people they call the government on this rock confiscate you because they think you’re contaminated, they exterminate without a second thought. Since you were in the custody of the Mirkndaks, you already know some of what other potential hazards lurk. Do you understand?” His voice was low and commanding but he seemed sincere and it didn’t feel like an attempt to scare her.

  “Ashaa hasn’t been conscious since he zapped her collar. Rose and Taylor are injured, in a lot of pain and having trouble moving. They simply can’t move quickly with the injuries,” she told him pointing to each in turn so he wouldn’t think she was disagreeing.

  “Moz is arriving behind me now,” he said without looking behind him. Indeed another impressive gold male who was about the size of the leader had arrived and was smiling at her as he advanced. “We’ll have enough hands to help. Go tell them what’s happening and ready them.”

  “What about Zabyss?” the woman indicated the Xydrav in the next pen.

  “What about it?” he said with narrowed eyes.

  “She was with us aboard the Mirkndaks’ ship. That means she’d be in danger too.”

  Rev rolled his eyes and sent another mental message to Dezek. Only a woman with guts would bargain for another’s life when she had no idea of what lay ahead for herself.

  “I let him know you don’t want to leave it but I can’t promise anything. Now go get them ready,” he told her and she looked startled by this news. He just smiled and waved her to the others. He watched her go back to her group and whisper urgently to them. All eyes of the group were now watching him except for the unconscious woman he knew wasn’t completely human and the youngest with her short red hair and the most bandages.

  He turned and stepped toward the other male.

  “Fazon?”

  “He’s waiting at the vehicle controls. He’ll pull up front as soon as he hears from Dezek. Ragtag bunch aren’t they?”

  “The leader is gutsy so…” he shrugged. All of the women were watching him and Moz now. “The two with bandages and the unconscious one will need to be carried. She tells me that they won’t be able to move quickly on their own. I’ve relayed the information to Dezek and Vax who are ‘negotiating’,” he grinned knowing Vax’s unique ability to ‘push’ people to do what he wanted could be very useful in situations like this one. Otherwise, they’d never be able to afford eleven human females at once. They were just too rare. Moz laughed with him over the thought of how Vax was likely to negotiate as they waited.

  The shop keeper appeared with Dezek and Vax and two more of the huge Jata a short time later. The shop keeper certainly knew what kind of help to hire. The first Jata stopped at the enclosure containing the little Xydrav and began to undo the manacles from her tentacles. The shop keeper and the second Jata joined the one who had been patrolling the kiosk and they stepped into the enclosure holding the women. The Jata began to remove the collars.

  “There. Now they belong to you,” the shop keeper was smiling but his eyes looked slightly puzzled. Rev hid his grin, Vax strikes again. He, Moz and Vax entered the enclosure. Vax lifted the petite human with red hair and the worst injuries while he murmured to her. Rev knew he was ‘pushing’ her to ease her pain while being moved. Moz lifted the darkest human who watched him quietly but didn’t protest although she grimaced. He moved to the unconscious form, pulled her up and dumped her over his shoulder. He turned and saw the leader and another of the women were glaring at him. He shrugged and smiled as he continued on to the vehicle which had drawn up at the front. The little Xydrav rushed to the leader and threw its tentacles around the woman’s legs.

  “Come on, let’s go, Zabyss,” she hurried the little creature along.

  Once in the vehicle, Dezek started issuing orders.

  “Fazon, get us the hell out of here before he realizes what we did or the troops show up. Nyman,” he called through the communication link, “get those engines powered up and Nav on line. We need to leave two days ago.” He turned to the women. “My name is Dezek, this is Vax, Moz, Rev and Fazon is at the controls. You need to move to the ship quickly once we arrive. I don’t have time to explain or give you a lot of information right now. Just do as I say and I’ll try to explain as soon as I can. Go in the door then to left and to the end of the passageway and go in the door on the right,” his voice was commanding and stern.

  The vehicle came to a sudden abrupt halt causing Rose to whimper softly and Taylor to groan. Cracked or broken ribs were definitely no fun. Dezek jumped out and scanned the area. He motion to the women and pointed to a ramp leading to a large ship. The women filed out and headed for the ramp. The three males each carrying an injured woman led the way. Fazon grabbed the little Xydrav who squeaked in alarm and hustled her in behind the women. Dezek followed and closed the hatch when it locked he called out.

  “Nyman, get us gone now!” He wouldn’t breathe easy until they left the star system. He hustled to the bridge and grabbed a seat. “As soon as you hit the ninth planet jump to hyper speed,” he ordered Nyman. The pilot shot him a surprised look but didn’t ask questions.

  “Passing the ninth planet and proceeding to hyper speed,” the pilot told him a few minutes later as he ignored several summons for contact from the seventh planet. He completed the jump to hyper speed flawlessly as usual. Then he turned and looked Dezek over for a moment before speaking. “Now do you want to tell me why I just pulled a damn rookie stunt by jumping into hyper speed while still inside a star system and probably incurred a fine that costs a small fortune in credits if they complain?” the pilot demanded.

  “Because I just bought ten human females, a Xydrav and a Zargazian hybrid for a song from swindler and the government on that rock thinks they’re all diseased. Oh, and the Zargazian, is FEMALE,” he grinned at the dropped jawed pilot and walked out to check on his lucky finds.

  Chapter 6

  Sienna was pacing rapidly and was pissed. The males carrying her three injured hadn’t stopped in this room but had gone out a door on the other side. Now neither door was opening and Rose, Taylor and Ashaa were who knows where.

  The door opened and HE entered.

  “Where are Rose, Taylor and Asha
a? You said you’d explain,” she demanded.

  “Their injuries are being looked after right now,” he was unfazed by her show of temper.

  He went to the wall and pressed several buttons on a console. He opened a small door to the left of the console and extracted a pitcher and glasses. He placed it on the table and pushed more buttons. Another pitcher and more glasses, then a loaf of what looked like bread and tureen of soup followed. He pulled bowls and flatware from the cabinet next to the console.

  “Ladies, do you all have translators?”

  “Yes, the suPonicks put them in when they took us from Earth,” Sienna answered for the group. “Now where are the others?”

  “SuPonicks took you from Earth? Then how did you wind up in the feed supply of the Mirkndaks?” he frowned.

  “The suPonicks attacked a military base on my planet near the town where we live. We aren’t military though. We had gone to the base to cater a lunch meeting, meaning we provided the meal. While we were setting up the suPonicks got into a skirmish with the military leaders they had been trading with over Ashaa. They wanted her and the general and scientist in charge of the lab at the base weren’t willing to give her up. So Nogith, that was the expedition leader’s name, told me he did what any good suPonick would do and took what he wanted. Then they gathered up the survivors which included us and destroyed the base. We were on his ship when the Mirkndaks attacked the ship. When we woke up we were on a different ship. Then there was an incident on the Mirkndak ship and we wound up at the trader’s stall.” Sienna glared at him once more, “Now where are the other three?” She came close to stamping her feet this time. He smiled at her again. Why did it make her skin prickle when he smiled that way? It was annoying as all hell. She hated that arrogant smile of his. She didn’t like the high-handed jerk. He was way too confident for her taste. She needed to locate the other three and get some answers and he just kept smiling. She’d never wanted to smack someone so much in her life. But what really made her made mad was she had the unexplainable urge to wrap her arms around him and bury her face in his shoulder.