by Tate, Pearl
I wave the blade menacingly. “Yeah. Come on mother fucker. Want another kick?” I dare him to come get me and he takes me up on it. I wish there was somewhere behind me I could go!
He’s just so damn fast. I barely get a quarter around the fire before he’s on me. Even doubling over and slashing at his legs doesn't makes him hesitate or let me go.
I cut him but he’s bending over me and snatches my lower arms again. I can’t even fight to hold on to my weapon as long as last time. My wrists are already so sore!
When he clocks me in the face with his elbow, I see stars. My vision is going in and out as he picks me up and carts me off. The roar of the falls is all that registers until we are outside. Then the sunshine makes my head ache. He got me good. Flat across the nose and eyes and I still can’t focus.
I don’t even see the shuttle. I hear his feet echo differently and realize when he puts me down and belts me in, we are in some kind of vehicle. It’s not huge, just four seats. There is one other alien driving. I’m almost incoherent and I use that to my advantage as he fastens my wrists and ankles. Fighting at this point is futile.
They growl briefly about me. They must be worried Amari will be back because they don’t hesitate. We shoot out of the area, heading away from the falls and the direction of Amari’s herd. It looks like we will run right into the side of the mountain, but we skirt around it, entering a narrow canyon.
Okay. Don’t panic. Yes, I’m a bit fucked here, but it’s not over until the fat lady sings. Amari will come for me. I don’t know how I know that so convincingly, but I do.
Thinking about Amari makes my eyes tear up with water. Fuck! Enough of that. Blinking them back, I keep my chin down and then peek up through my long bangs.
The alien dude who caught me is moaning and bitching about his leg as he ties up a bandage around it. They bleed a deeper red than I’ve ever seen. It's a deep brown and the minor cut doesn’t look that terrible already. Almost like the skin has sealed, and he is wrapping a tie around it after cleaning it off. Maybe he’s more concerned with what might have been on the knife. That’s what I would be worried about after seeing what some of their plants are capable of doing.
We’ve slowed as we continue through the canyon on a narrow trail. Even though this is some kind of flying craft, maybe it's only a hover craft since we are so low to the ground. I study the doors but see nothing that looks like a normal handle. This thing is going slow enough that I could probably dive out.
But then what? I am not exactly sure how to get back. Then there’s always the animals, bugs and not to mention the fucking plants to worry about. I’m screwed.
As bad as I was thinking things were with Amari, I realize that this is terrible. It’s never a good sign when they tie you up. I remember back to how sweet and accommodating Amari was. Of course, there was the strange magnetism between us with the whole matching marks.
I feel nothing for these guys. No weird sensitivity, attraction, and thank god - horniness. After we exit the canyon, we travel for another couple minutes.
When he veers off into a heavily wooded area and stops, I wonder what for? I’m not sure what for. Throwing out my senses, I try to sense Amari but I’m not getting anything. The distance or objects around us are in the way. I’m not surprised. That was too good to be true.
The door next to me opens, startling me. Another alien guy drops into the seat next to me. He’s clearly been running and looks at me with a leering stare, even while talking to the driver and my abductor.
The vehicle jerks forward and takes off much faster than it did before. We’re traveling at the equivalent of highway speeds now. The terrain changes quickly to more fields and it’s hard to miss a huge opaque dome that is straight ahead of us. All I can compare it to is the Stephen King story. I don't think that ended well.
My gaze is pulled away by the new alien next to me. Picking up my hair, he sifts through it with his fingers. Slapping his hands away, I try to move closer to my side but he’s big and there’s nowhere to go. Patting my hair down, I glare at him trying to look dangerous, but he just laughs. He’s not bad looking when he smiles. In fact, none of them are ugly. It just isn’t right!
The worst part is my worry about Amari. Did they hurt him? Is he dead?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
- Amari
My skin tingles and muscles tighten as I dwell upon killing the males who took my mate. I’ll get them. Revenge consumes me as I think about her small, soft body at their mercy. I must save her!
I set a brutal pace. Whik is panting behind me but I don’t slow for him. It takes a third of the day to reach the dome perimeter. I finally slow and stop in the woods just beside the water that feeds into the prison.
I can sense her. She’s not that far away. I don’t know exactly how exact my feeling is, but it’s similar to when I realized she was pending arrival on the shuttle.
Whik assures me he can still get me inside the dome. He comes back periodically to trade his furs and any extra material I may produce from the animal wool. There are many males inside who are always asking for more. He’s noisy as he drops onto the dirt and leaves next to me panting.
Looking at him, I try to gauge how much time I need to let him rest. As I stare at him impatiently, he picks up on what I’m thinking.
“Not long.” He holds up his hand. “I’ll be ready soon, but we are swimming in under to the treatment plant.” That’s what I assumed, but he goes onto to explain. “Since we aren’t taking anything in to trade and I have nothing scheduled with Dorkon. I’m not even sure if it’s his rotation.” He digs out some of my rations from my bag he stocked up and offers them to me!
Shaking my head, I open my flask and take a long drink. I don’t want to eat. My stomach is churning, and I’m worried about Rachel. They could do anything to her. I have no idea of their intentions. “Ready?”
“Hold up.” He shoves his bag—my bag he took since they took his—between his legs and strips down. “You may as well too. We will be wet on the other side.”
I don’t care and just watch. I’m simply wearing my covering. It’s all I normally wear.
“Wait until everyone sees those marks. Hopefully, we won’t run into anyone right away. Do you have a plan?” He cinches both our bags and then camouflages them with some leaves and branches. I slide them as close to brankton as dare. That should deter most of the small animals from investigating them.
Shrugging, I straighten. “No.” I follow him to the waters edge. The current will carry us to the dome and we will have to enter under water through the dam channels. There is one place where the wire netting has been pulled back. It's used over the cylindrical turbines and it’s been like that as long as I’ve been here.
The warden knows that some prisoners live in the wilds outside. But none of the labor force in the organization here has ever worked to fix that. These penetration points are not a secret. We don’t really know why but there must be some logic. Maybe fewer mouths to feed? Or it’s just laziness.
Almost everyone that lives in the wilds escaped from the prison system. They are the outcasts that were abused and treated poorly. The males still living with the modern conveniences that the confinement provides are what we call “Takers”. Takers live off the handouts. When they aren’t happy with what they are given, they take from the other weaker prisoners. Weaker prisoners are newer and used for grunt labor around the facility. Until they learn how to escape and survive, they are at the mercy of the Takers.
I’ll never live under the Takers again. Run by Warden Benard, they are truly evil.
The cool water feels good on my overheated skin as we slowly swim towards the dome underwater. Considering I never swam before I came here, I’ve learned well. There are supposed to be sentries watching the water but unless they are new, no one bothers.
There are also assumed to be sensors underwater. But Whik found out they were turned off years ago even though the lights indicate they are working. They
had too many issues with fish and other small animals setting them off regularly.
I don’t see or hear anything odd as we reach the side of the dome. It’s been many seasons since I’ve gone inside and even though I remember where to go, I follow Whik. We surface keeping low. He lightly braces himself on the exterior of the dam before he holds up his hand and we count down for our inhale. This is the most dangerous part.
Taking a deep breathe, we swim down more than our height to the open cylindrical chamber. There’s no light once we enter, and it’s only an arms length wide. He travels quickly in front of me and I follow his bubbles ahead of me. Less than a minute later we exit the tube. The key is to stay under water as long as we can, working our way to the left side of the water. There is less population on that side and we will be able to slide out of the water unnoticed.
Swimming in the water isn’t allowed since that would be recreational. I don’t have any trouble holding my breath as long as Whik but I have more to lose. Getting caught isn’t an option. I have to find Rachel and get her out.
I know Whik has plans to see if he can free any of the other women too. Everyone in the prison will have that same idea. The main advantage I have with Rachel, is the fact that I removed her before the shuttle was brought into the dome. It bought me some time to hide her.
I obviously underestimated what a prize she would be. I should have taken her far, far away from the dome. I won’t make that mistake again.
The low hum of the processing plant gets louder and louder as we move towards it. It has many platforms over the water we can rest under and wait for our moment to sneak up on land. Coming up under the grid, we pant, hanging onto the grid above us. There is only a hand of space between the water and platform. It's dark under here and we can see out much better than they can see underneath to us.
At the edge of the platform, a figure paces. “That’s Canpar. I know him. He normally watches this area. We will be fine.” I study this Canpar. I don’t know him but feel confident that I can take him down if needed.
Whik wastes no time. “Canpar,” he hisses, and I watch Canpar freeze before walking leisurely out over us. He doesn’t glance down.
“Whik, I was waiting to see if you would be back. They took off after you. I wasn’t sure if you would survive them.” Shifting his weight back and forth, he paces. “Did they find you?”
“Oh yes, they found me. If it wasn’t for Amari being so close behind that asshole Brute would have done a lot more damage. But more importantly, what have they done with the female they came back with in their transport?”
“That’s what is incredible. The Discovery arrived with their prisoner drop. They already were briefed about the shuttle and females! They found them in Warden Benard’s quarters and he’s been arrested along with ten other guards under him.” He waves and walks to the end of the platform. “You can come out. The Discovery has a representative named Selas here running the investigation. He will want to know about the woman in the wilds outside the dome. And who it was that went after her and picked her up.”
Whik has already pulled himself up and rolled onto the platform when I follow him. Canpar freezes, shocked as he sees me join him. Canpar hisses and makes the sign. He throws his hands skyward and down before turning away, trying to ward off any evil. It's an old habit to clear the air around him since I entered his presence. It’s been years since I’ve been subjected to the prejudice.
“Don’t be a fucking idiot, Canpar! Look at him!” Whik struggles to his feet and shakes out his hair. “I’ve known Amari for years and you will not catch anything from him. Certainly not anything evil.”
He looks at me apologetically while throwing out his arm to pull me up. Clasping my forearm, he hauls me up. I pass Canpar, walking to the edge of the road. We don’t have the cover of darkness and I hesitate. Carpar made it sound alright to be here but I’m not just someone… like Whik.
I stand out with my defect and now, with my mating marks, I’m even more of an anomaly. I know as soon as Canpar spots my markings too.
“You mated the woman? That is why she was out there? She wasn’t alone!” Canpar jogs over with Whik right behind him. “I’m taking you to Selas. He will help you get her back from them.”
“How can I trust him? How do you know he won’t just take her from me?” I want to trust him. It would make everything simpler if I could get help, but it’s been so long. And look what happens when you have friends. Whik led them to me and now my mate has been stolen!
“Because when they first arrived, they took all four women up to the Discovery. But within a day they sent one back down. She’s with Devlin. They’re mates and Selas set them up in the Warden’s quarters! He won’t separate you.”
What he’s saying sounds too good to be true. But what other choice do I have?
I must trust him. At least to find out what new rule the prison dome will be under and what threat they will now pose to me and my mate.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- Rachel
With three big guys around me now, I aware I have little confidence in escaping them right this second. Keeping my eyes and ears—for as much as that will help me—is my only hope. It looks like we are heading into a populated area. Even though my stomach is in knots and I’m shaking, I will get an opportunity to get away. I must, damn it!
We don’t go much further before they gag me and put a bag over my head. I don’t know why but it must have something to do with them worrying about me escaping. Maybe. But why gag me?
There are a series of stops and starts. What sounds like bickering… then more silence and our shuttle is traveling a lot slower. I press against the seat belt as we stop.
All the doors open and close. It only takes a second before the door closest to me opens and I’m hauled out like a sack of potatoes. As I’m slung over someone’s shoulder, my tummy slams into them and I almost hurl. That would be bad through the gag and mask!
I’m set down in a chair and it sounds like someone told me to “stay”? That kind of makes me wonder if anyone here is speaking English but he moves away, and I freeze in place. I don’t want to be noticed.
As the talk and laughter picks up around me, I’m reminded of almost having the right channel on an old radio. When I was a kid where we lived was rural. Sometimes we would have to spend a few minutes on the radio dial to pick up the station properly. That’s what this reminds me of.
Their voices are all deep with guttural cadences. It reminds of Russian or German. But I catch the occasional word here and there. Which is so strange since there's no way I know it?
I hear, “Blah blah blah tied blah her. She blah blah cut blah.” And lots of laughter.
It doesn’t take long before someone pulls off my hood and I’m shocked at how normal everything looks. Did I think Amari was primitive? These guys are definitely the same aliens but the place we are in… it looks like a living room on Earth.
I’m sitting in an upholstered chair in the corner. Twenty feet away, they are all standing and sitting around. It looks like a dining room table in the kitchen. Yeah, it doesn’t look exactly like our kitchens on Earth. The appliances are different but there’s clearly a sink.
Besides the assholes who picked me up, I see two more for a total of five. They are all looking at me with hungry looks. That doesn’t bode well for me.
“Want blah?” The alien who pulled the hood off me is holding out a cup on my right. Uh oh.
Reaching over, he pulls down the gag at the same moment I try to pull up my hands. They are still fastened to my ankles, so I couldn’t get the gag off myself. Shaking his head, he offers me the cup again.
Shaking my head no, I lean away from him. He shrugs and drinks it himself before crouching down next to me, balancing himself by resting a hand on my knee. I kick out and knock his hand away, kicking his knees and making him fall on his butt.
His friends at the table roar with laughter while he scowls at me. Great! I pissed off the guy o
ffering me a drink.
But there’s no way I will let them touch me. Not without fighting. His hand swings back and I flinch. This is going to hurt.
The blow never comes though. Another alien steps in to stop him. “Need her blah blah. Blah later.” Well lucky for me they need me for something or to do something? And what’s later?
I know Amari will come looking for me. I don’t know exactly how I know but I do. My knowing is never wrong, and he and I had a connection. I’m not sure what these guys think I can do for them. But if it’s anything like Earth, I’m fucked.
Thankfully, they both walk back into the kitchen area. This isn’t a big place though so having six over there doesn’t make me feel like I have much of a reprieve. They have one guy who’s serving them all and I watch how he uses an appliance in the wall that reminds me of a microwave. Only he puts nothing in it. Just programs it somehow and then opens it up for the food.
As he passes out the drinks and bowls of food, I hear my stomach growl. It smells good. I decide I'm going to eat or drink it if it comes right from that machine. I just don’t want to be poisoned or drugged. I will not be able to hold out forever though and if they need or want me for something…
Listening as they all settle down to eat, it becomes clear who's the boss. He’s the biggest and they call him Mahku. He wasn’t in the shuttle that picked me up but the longer they visit, the more I understand. I have no idea why I’m starting to be able to understand them but at this point I don’t care. I’ll take any little blessing that comes my way.
Maybe it’s because I’ve always been special and had the knowing sense? But it doesn’t matter, and I can’t think about it and listen to them at the same time. The more I know and understand the better. If I can find out what they plan, maybe I can escape.
The main thing they want is Jenwin. They want to negotiate for Jenwin. They will kill for Jenwin. Then they want to kill everyone but Jenwin? I’m so lost but I keep listening. Even when I feel like I’m comprehending most of the words, the order’s so scrambled.