by Maia Starr
The entire team, including myself, stirred on our feet. We grew defensive. Soldiers suddenly came into the room and surrounded us. We were going to be captured. We had been captured the whole time without realizing it. But now they were making the truth known.
“What is going on here?” I asked.
“That is a good question, Miranda. I am going through with my plan. These last few days we have kept you here for many reasons. For one, we wanted to take your ship and reconfigure it for our needs, which you will find out about in a few days. Secondly, I wanted to establish trust with you to make you think that, yes, we would be talking about peace. It is very important that you thought that because I wanted you to learn a lesson. I wanted you to learn that you can never trust a Zenkian. We will always lie and deceive the humans. Now you have learned that lesson. You could only learn it by going through it. Lastly, one of you will be returning to Earth with this information. You will return to Earth and tell them that we will never stop conquering Earth. We will continue to steal your resources, humans, and eventually take over the planet. You will tell them that we find battle to be so pleasant, we make games out of it. You will tell them that you can never trust us no matter what we say. You will return to Earth and say this, but only one of you,” Leader Rangellis said.
“This is bullshit!” I shouted.
Leader Rangellis laughed. They all laughed at us. We had been played by these aliens. We had fallen for their tricks. I looked around for Evlon. He was standing behind us in the back of the room with a stone face, emotionless. He was not going to help us. He was part of this plan. They had used him to distract me and keep me occupied, and it worked. Fuck it all.
“Take them,” Leader Rangellis said.
The soldiers surrounded us as we struggled against them. But we were no match for them. They put our wrists in chains. We had been defeated and tricked. I looked at Evlon one more time, and he did not have any emotion whatsoever on his face. My heart broke into pieces. Not only had I failed this mission, but I had been deceived by this alien enemy. I had been very stupid.
“Separate them. Take them into examination,” Leader Rangellis said.
“No! Don't separate us!” I shouted, but there was no use. They were not listening, and we had absolutely no leverage or control over the situation.
We were separated, and I watched each of my team members be pulled off in different directions. I was led into another building. When I walked in, a chill ran down my spine as it looked familiar to me. It looked like the therapy rooms inside of the war games complex. This meant it was a medical room of some kind. We had heard rumors that they experimented on humans, and I was scared that this was going to be my fate. They picked me up and put me on a table. A blue light scanned over my body as a soldier stood by watching a screen.
“This human is pregnant,” he said.
“What?!” I could not believe it. I did not even think of the possibility. How could I have been so stupid? I had a medical background. Yet it completely slipped my mind that it was possible to interbreed with these Zenkian aliens.
“Then we will have to alert Leader Rangellis,” the soldier said. “Do I tell him she is pregnant with a human? Or a Zenkian?”
“Let me check,” the other soldier said. A green light scanned my body. But I already knew the answer. I was not pregnant when I left Earth, nor was I involved with anyone on Earth or my team. I already knew that Evlon was the father.
“She is pregnant with a Zenkian child. It seems that one of the soldiers has been indulging himself with this human. Inform Leader Rangellis at once. We will hold off on further examination for now. She should be taken back to her dwelling and not to the slave prisons. Pregnant females are forbidden from being in the prisons.”
“I will summon her escort to take her back to the dwelling.”
I sighed in relief. I was not going to be experimented on or thrown in with the other human slaves, for now. But I was very scared that they were about to summon my escort, which meant Evlon. Would they tell him? I was very scared.
I waited for what seemed like an hour. Then Leader Rangellis walked in with Evlon. The soldier that stood with me looked at them.
“This human female cannot be experimented or examined further. Upon first scanning, it has been confirmed that she is pregnant. Upon second scamming, it is confirmed she is pregnant with a Zenkian child.”
I looked directly at Evlon. His mouth fell open. I saw the corner of his mouth going into a smile. But he restrained himself further.
“Well, this is surprising news. Now you definitely cannot return to Earth in your condition. Not that I was going to send you back anyway. I assume that you, Evlon, are the father? Is that correct? Or has this human female been with many soldiers?” Leader Rangellis said.
“I believe I am the father,” Evlon answered.
“Good. Let us be sure,” Leader Rangellis said. He nodded at the soldier. Evlon pulled up his sleeve on his forearm. The soldier scanned the green light over it. Then everyone looked at the screen on the wall. I did not understand any of it, but it was in Zenkian writing.
“It is a match. Evlon is the father of the offspring this human carries,” the soldier confirmed.
“That is very lucky for you, Miranda. Now that you are pregnant, you will not be sent to the prisons to be a human slave. Now, you will be given to Evlon. You belong to him now,” Leader Rangellis said.
“What? What do you mean belong?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Miranda, don't. I command you to stay quiet,” Evlon ordered me. I looked at him with anger in my eyes. But I knew that he was protecting me from any vengeance the leader might take on me for saying something to hurt his ego. I crossed my arms over my chest and said nothing. I had more than myself to think about now. I had a child...I had a child. The words hit me. There was life growing inside of me. I had another life to consider in every decision and every word I said from now on. I was in hostile territory on the enemy planet, and I was walking on thin ice.
“It is settled. Evlon I grant you this human female possession. She is your slave and the carrier of your child. Take her to your home and make her yours in an official claim. But bring her tomorrow for the send-off ceremony. Although she is yours, I still have my unfinished business with this group of humans,” Leader Rangellis said and then walked out.
“Come with me, Miranda.” Evlon grabbed the keys to the chains on my wrist. He unlocked them and set me free. He grabbed my arm and held it tightly, to the point that it hurt. He led me out of the government building and into his speeder back to the tower. Everything had changed since the time we left this tower. My entire team was now prisoner. I was now a slave owned by this alien lover. There would be no peace treaty, and we had been tricked. Everything was a complete mess, and all I could think was, I am pregnant.
Chapter 15
Evlon
I knew what Rangellis was up to, but I did not think that it would affect me so much when I saw it unfold in front of me. When the humans were told that they had been prisoners all along, Miranda looked at me. She wanted me to step in. She wanted me to save her. I wanted to, but what could I do? I was not prepared to defend her in any way. I would have to wait and find a way to save her from becoming a slave. Little did I know, I already had.
When I was summoned to the examination room for human females, I felt sick to my stomach. Had they hurt her? I would not be able to restrain myself from killing the soldier that hurt her if they had started some sort of weird experiment on her.
But that was not the case. Instead, I was in for a very pleasant surprise. She was pregnant. She was carrying my child, and we had proven it right then and there. I smiled as soon as I learn the news because I knew what this meant. This meant she would be officially mine. That was the Zenkian way. She would not become a slave in a prison waiting for a random Zenkian to do as he wishes with her. Instead, she would be a slave, but she would be my slave. But I had no brutal plans for her; I only wante
d her to be mine. Now, she had no choice. I owned Miranda, and she had seen what her other options were. She could not refuse me.
We said nothing as I raced back to my home in the speeder. I waited until we were in my dwellings to address the situation. She was very quiet as we walked in and I locked the door behind us.
“I cannot believe this is happening. This is all wrong,” she cried.
I grabbed her arms and pulled her to me. She pushed me away.
“No, do not touch me. You were in on this all along. You knew that Rangellis was tricking us. You knew he planned to make us into slaves and make an example of us. You have been a part of this. I do not trust you. Do not touch me. You will never touch me again,” she screamed.
I hated that she was right. But I was not the one in the wrong here.
“Get a hold of yourself. Yes, I was a part of this as far as I knew, but Rangellis did not tell me his entire plan. I only heard it in there just as you did. Do you really blame me? I am the enemy of the humans, Miranda! You already know this from the beginning. I was not going to betray my entire race in order to inform you that you were being tricked. What would be the point of that? You would only have been a slave sooner. Do you not see how that would have been horrible for you? You would not be with my child now, the very reason why you are not in prison. If I had told you, there would have been no difference. You would not have been able to escape. You would have only gone to the prisons sooner. I did you a favor by not telling you!”
“How can you say that to me? My entire team has been taken! What will happen to them?”
“That, I do not know. But I have a feeling you are going to find out tomorrow. I do not pretend to know what Rangellis is up to or how he thinks. I am his second-in-command, and he does not tell me everything. I do what I am told. That is the Zenkian way. You will also do as you're told. You have no more freedom here. You belong to me, and I will not allow you to do anything to jeopardize the life of my child that you carry inside of you.”
She was silent as she looked at me. She knew that I was right. She knew that I was right about all of it, and now she was silent as she thought about it. She sat down on the sofa and cried into her hands. I did not like seeing her like this. But she had every right to be upset after what she had just gone through. I would not try to stop her from releasing that energy. It needed to come out somehow.
“You have been through a lot today. I will leave you alone for some time to grieve,” I walked toward the door.
“No! Please do not leave me. I do not feel safe unless you are with me,” she ran to me and threw her arms around me.
I was shocked by this sudden change in her demeanor. I knew that she lusted after me, but I did not know that she had feelings for me in a human emotional sense. This was new to me. It felt good to have her look to me for protection.
“I will keep you safe always, Miranda. I will fight to protect you. I would die for you. You are safe with me. Now you have been through a lot. Let's get you two some rest.” I scooped her up into my arms and carried her to my bed. I laid her down on my bed and then lay next to her molding my body against her. She cried against my chest until she fell asleep. The next day was going to be just as detrimental and traumatic to her, but there was nothing I could do about it. It was the Zenkian way.
The next morning, I woke up to Miranda gently rubbing her hand along my arm. I woke up and smiled at her.
“Are you feeling better this morning, mother of my child?” I asked.
She smiled and put her hands on her belly. “I am still in shock over the news. I cannot believe I am growing your child inside of me.”
“I have never been happier about the news. I want you, Miranda. I have fallen very deeply for you. I cannot stop thinking about you at all times of the day and the night. The fact that you carry my child is the happiest news I have ever received.” I put my hand on her belly.
“We are really going to have a child. I am happy too. I have always wanted a child, but I never expected such an extraordinary way of it happening,” she smiled.
I could not help myself; I kissed her lips, and she laid back in the bed. She wrapped her arms around my neck. I was careful not to lay on top of her. I would protect that child.
Then the sound of my communication wall activated. “Crap. I am getting a call. Stay there and do not move; I am coming back for you, for more kissing,” I said. But she did not laugh. Her face changed, and it was as if everything came back to her at that moment. She gasped. “My team…”
I answered the communication call. “Evlon, you and your new slave Miranda are being summoned to the Great Hall. Rangellis expects you there in an hour for the send-off,” the soldier said.
“Inform Rangellis I will be there with my slave,” I responded. Then communication ended, and Miranda came out of the room.
“I forgot that I am a slave. I forgot that you own me.”
“Only in the eyes of this government. Trust me; it is a good thing. For them, it means that no one can touch you but me. I do not mean to harm you or cause you any pain, Miranda. I know I can be dominating and frustrating at times, but that is just the Zenkian way. I will never force you to do things you do not want to do. I want to protect you and our child. It is no different than a wife to a man on Earth,” I responded.
“I guess in some ways you are right, if it were the 1950s on Earth,” she said.
“I don't know what that means.”
“Never mind; what is this sendoff that we have to go to?”
“You are not going to like it. But I am going to tell you now so that it is not such a shock to you when it happens. Being in shock is not good for the child. The send-off means that one of your team is going to be sent back to Earth with the knowledge of everything that has happened. It is Rangellis' way of sending his message to Earth.”
“Only one? What will happen to the rest?”
“I assume they will be slaves. That is up to Rangellis.”
“Then let us go. I only need a minute to wash up,” she moved into the washroom. I changed into a different uniform.
An hour later we were standing outside the Great Hall with Rangellis and the other officials. The human spaceship that the group came on was parked next to it. I stood with my arm around Miranda in a show of ownership.
“Let it be known from this day forth that the human female known as Miranda is now the slave of Evlon. He owns her. She carries his child. She is his property. No other will touch her. It is official,” Rangellis said as he handed me a certificate of ownership. I saluted him and then grabbed Miranda and stepped back into the crowd.
She squeezed my hand very uncomfortable and out of her element in this alien environment. I squeezed it back to give her some support.
“Bring in the other humans!” Leader Rangellis said.
Miranda twitched as the three human men companions of her crew were brought in on chains in front of Leader Rangellis.
“You, human! Step forward!” Leader Rangellis said pointing at Brad. The soldier holding the chains pulled Brad forward as he was reluctant to obey the leader.
“You will return to Earth. We have reconfigured your ship here. We have flight command of it in a remote fashion. Do not try to reroute it; it will be no use. We have disengaged all manual controls, and we will guide the ship back to Earth. You will deliver the information of everything you have seen here so that humans can know never to try to strike a talk of peace with us. There is no point. You will tell them of our war games. You will tell them of the human slaves and that we will not stop until we have conquered Earth. You will tell them that the leader you sent to speak of peace, the human female known as Miranda, is now pregnant with a Zenkian child. She is now the slave of that Zenkian. But she betrayed the humans before she was his slave. She did so willingly. Take that information to your humans, that you were betrayed by your own kind,” Leader Rangellis said.
Miranda gasped. Her crew turned to look at her. Their eyes narrowed in
hatred. They wanted to hurt her for betraying them. She began to shake uncontrollably. I put my arms around her trying to soothe her, but it only made the men angrier. Then Leader Rangellis continued.
“You will tell them of our ruthless actions, like this one,” Leader Rangellis said.
Just then the group of soldiers surrounding the human man pulled out swords and stabbed the men through the hearts in a swift movement that they did not see coming. I did not see it coming. Miranda wailed in grief. “Noooo!”
I grabbed her arm and tried to calm her down as she screamed. Leader Rangellis smiled. Brad was struggling in chains.
“Put the human on the ship with the bodies of the dead,” Leader Rangellis said. Brad’s eyes grew wide as he realized he would be on a journey to Earth with his dead crewmates. They were put on the ship and then we all watched as the engines turned on and the ship shot straight up into the atmosphere of our planet. It was on its way to Earth.