"How are you feeling now?"
"Better. The headache is gone."
"Can you remember anything about before?" Alberta said. "How you arrived on this planet. Where my ship is?"
"No," Erica said. "Sometimes I see something. But it's gone. It comes in and out."
"Okay." Alberta sighed. "We need to get to work."
They searched. Erica found a knife and a machete. Both had sheaths. Alberta found a stun gun similar to what security guards carry on board a ship like the Guinevere. It fired a low powered particle bolt. When the bolt hits someone, that person is hit with a high voltage low-amperage electrical charge to stun the person.
Erica took the stun gun. She stuck it in a front pocket. They stuffed supplies in two backpacks.
"Wait, we need to disguise ourselves," Alberta said. "We should dress like the locals so no one will notice us."
"Okay." Erica removed her coveralls. Alberta handed her a dress with a belt. Erica slipped it on. Erica stuck the stun gun into the belt. "Now how do I hide this? They’ll know it’s a weapon or something. Won't they?"
"Huh?" Alberta looked and then turned to grab something. "I've seen this worn around the waist by some women. Alberta wrapped it around Erica's waist and belt. "There. Now you can't see it."
"Great," Erica said.
"Let's get going, Erica. We have no idea how soon they’ll be here looking for us."
"We have enough water?" Erica said.
"Yes," Alberta said. "We also have salt pills. Salt is something else you lose out in the desert."
"Really?"
"Don't worry." Alberta walked out of the spaceship. There was no need for a ladder now since the Clitoris had crashed on its belly. Luckily it hadn't landed on the door. "I've done this before. I mean, desert travel."
Alberta wrapped a scarf around herself like Erica's so they would look similar.
"Don't forget your hat, Erica." Alberta put on a red straw hat and handed Erica another one.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Other City.
Erica stopped beside her mother. In front of them was a city. Not the one they had been prisoners in, but a different one.
"I hope they're friendly." Erica took off her red straw hat. She wiped sweat from her forehead.
"All we can do is go and find out." Alberta patted Erica on the back. "You never know until you say hello."
"Or when they chain you up and sell you at the slave market," Erica spit.
"Come on," Alberta said. "Maybe we can make some from friends."
They walked into the city. Erica saw chaos everywhere. Humans walking and running. Children too. Some in fancy clothes. Others in dirty rags. Many giant birds, with bags and boxes tied to their large backs, were being pulled by people.
"What's that horrible smell?" Erica said.
"Their sewage," Alberta said. "That is, if they actually have a sewage system."
Erica noticed that everyone here openly carried a knife. Erica adjusted her sash so her knife's handle could be seen. Alberta walked towards a house with a sign on it. Erica couldn't read the local language, but her mother could.
"This is an inn. We can get food and place to sleep here." Alberta walked inside before Erica could respond. Erica followed.
Inside was noisy. Some kind of band playing. Guitars, drums, and a saxophone. A man sang loudly through the room. Erica smelled tobacco and marijuana smoke. The smoke burned her nose. She sneezed. She smelled fried meat and vegetables. Several spices excited her nose. Human sweat came from amateur dancers on the floor. Alberta sat at a table.
Erica joined her mother. "What kind of music is that?" Erica said.
"I have no idea," Alberta said. "I've heard it before in the other city. Some local noise."
A waiter came by. Alberta ordered food and drink. He left.
"Are we supposed to dance or mingle?" Erica said.
"Let's eat first," Alberta said.
"Sounds good to me." Erica watched the dancers. They had seemed like amateurs to her at first. Now Erica wasn't sure about them. Their clothes were see-through robes or dresses that showed off their bodies rather than hid them. They all had muscular bodies you would expect a dancer to have. Their movements were elegant and powerful, the way they twisted, leaped, and cartwheeled around the dance floor and each other. Erica was starting to enjoy it, especially the beautiful women dancers. Suddenly bowls of meat and vegetables were placed on the table with mugs of flavored water. There were no silverware or chopsticks.
"You eat with your hands here." Alberta picked up a green root to eat.
Erica picked up a white root of some kind. She tasted it. A juicy turnip taste. Erica's hungry stomach turned off her cautious brain. She stuffed her mouth with the unknown vegetables and meats. The water tasted spicy hot, but refreshing. Bread was tossed on their table. Erica dipped it in the water for a good swallow.
"Damn, I was hungry!" Alberta said.
"So was I!" Erica laughed.
Alberta laughed. "I haven't laughed for a while."
"Me neither," Erica said. "I guess we needed it."
Erica took the pitcher of spiced water to full their mugs.
"Can we pay for this?"
"I found some local coins in the ship," Alberta whispered. "I think we have plenty for now."
"Good I want to sleep in a bed tonight." Erica laughed.
"So do I."
Alberta paid the waiter and gave him a tip. Alberta asked about rooms. The waiter pointed her to an old woman sitting on a high stool by a desk.
"Room?" the old woman said. "How many?"
"Me and my daughter," Alberta said.
"Hmm,” she replied. "One room. One bed."
"Okay." Alberta paid for it.
The old woman shouted. A boy appeared. The old woman gave Alberta a key. The boy led them up to a room with a bed, a blanket and nothing else.
"No pillow?"
"No," The boy said.
Alberta tossed the boy a coin. He ran off.
Erica dropped her backpack on the floor. Alberta tossed hers beside it. Alberta locked the door. Erica pulled off her boots. Then the socks. Erica looked at her tired feet. The toenails needed to be cut. Erica undressed, as did her mother. Erica laid her head down. She was asleep.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Monsters!
Erica woke up with her mother shaking her arm.
"Wake up, Erica!"
"Okay. Okay." Erica shook her head. She blinked her eyes several times and looked around. "Not a bad dream? We're still here."
"Yes."
They dressed to go downstairs to eat something. They left their bags in the room. Alberta locked the door.
Erica sat at a table with her mother. Alberta ordered some fruit and spiced water. The purple fruit look like pineapples. Erica cut one open with her knife. Inside were red seeds and white mushy stuff.
"It’s good, Erica," Alberta said. "The white stuff is sweet and the seeds have a sour taste."
Erica tried it. The white part was sweet and juicy. It was all very good. The seeds can get stuck in between your teeth, but not bad. Very chewable. Erica swallowed some spicy water.
Then there was shouting outside the inn. Everyone in the eating area—no one was dancing—looked in the direction of the door.
It opened. A man ran in. "There's monsters out there!"
Everyone was quiet. Then they started laughing at him.
Another man came in. "There's these lizard monsters running around the city!"
No one laughed.
A woman ran inside. "The monsters! They can talk! They’re looking for someone! They killed people! Many of the city guards are dead!"
Everyone started screaming.
Alberta grabbed one of the fruits. "Come on! Let's go to our room!"
Erica followed her mother upstairs. Erica hand hovered near where her stun gun was hidden.
Erica shut the door after they were inside their room. "Now what do we do?" Erica said.
"Damn. We should have filled our water containers."
"I thought we had time," Alberta said. "They’ll probably search the inns first. Checking all the rooms. We need to get out of here. Fast."
They grabbed their backpacks. Alberta put the fruit in a ration container in her backpack. They looked outside. Erica saw people running from room to room. All of them terrified. The natives screamed about monsters or demons. Erica led the way downstairs with a hand tightly on her stun gun. She pulled it out just in case.
"Let's check the door," Alberta said. "Maybe this is the best time to get out of here."
Erica peeked out and saw people running around the streets in terror.
"It looks like total madness out here."
"Great." Alberta gently shoved Erica out the door. "Let's go."
"Where to?"
"Not sure," Alberta said. "But I'm sure they’d find us in here."
They ran down the street like everyone else. Maybe with a bit less panic. Or not.
As they turned a corner, Erica saw two aliens beating a man. The aliens were shouting at him in the local language. Erica didn't know what they were saying, but she guessed he was begging for mercy.
"Quick," Alberta whispered into Erica's ear. "Back the other way."
Erica dashed off in the other direction with her mother. Stay calm, Erica. Don’t panic. We are at peace with the universe. Oh fuck you! Erica cursed herself. Suddenly she felt her arm yanked by her mother.
"This way, Erica!" Alberta said.
Erica was dragged into a building.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Hide!
Erica scratched her short hair. It was the inside of a storage building full of wood and furs.
"I think we can hide in here," Alberta said.
"I hope so." Erica pulled out her stun gun.
Erica looked around the place. She saw another door on the other side of the building. It was partly open. There was also a loft with feathers. Erica watched the place for danger. Alberta found a ladder. Alberta went up first. Erica followed. The feathers were about two feet long. They were tied together with string. There were bundles of them in the loft. Erica sat on one. It was nice and soft. I wonder if our bed at the inn had been full of these things. Erica sighed.
"There is no reason to give up, Erica," Alberta said. "They haven't caught us yet."
"True," Erica said.
Someone screamed. They looked down. A little girl and father were pointing at them. The father said something. Alberta shouted back at him. The father and girl ran out of the building. They were yelling. Erica didn't like it one bit.
"What are they..."
"They're telling the aliens where we are," Alberta said. "We need to get out of here."
"There's another door that way," Erica said.
Erica led the way to the door. On the other side was aliens. Erica pushed her mother back into the building. Two more aliens were waiting for them in the building with the father and little girl.
"We have you again,” one of the aliens said in English. "Our captain happy with us."
Their weapons were taken away. The aliens marched them through the streets of the city. Other aliens joined up with them. An alien spacecraft was parked outside of the city. It was easily seen. Dammit. Here we go again. The aliens dragged them inside their spacecraft. Their leader stuck a metal rod against Erica’s head.
"What is that?"
"Just be quiet, Erica," Alberta said. "They’re punishing us. They’ll hit you with electricity. I'm sorry. It’s going to hurt."
"Oh fuck!"
Erica's body shook before she even felt the electrical volts going through her body. It stopped. Then Erica was hit again. And again. Luckily she lost consciousness after that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Alien Prison.
Erica awoke. Ah! My head hurts. Her mother lay beside her.
"Mom?" Erica checked her mother for a pulse and a heartbeat. Erica found her mother alive.
"Alberta is fine, Erica,” a familiar voice said.
Erica looked at the people in the room. One was her mother's old friend, Captain Emily Zhou of the Spirit.
"Hi," Erica said. "So this is the prison on the alien starship?"
"Right," Zhou said.
"One of them is awake?" One of the other prisoners came over. The rest followed.
They were all of the people who had been kidnapped on the spacestation Bombay.
Alberta awoke. "Looks like everyone is here," she said.
"I thought you were trying to escape," Emily Zhou said with a smirk on her face.
"It didn't work." Alberta laughed. "I did find my daughter though."
"I noticed," Zhou said.
The other kidnapped humans asked about where they had been and if there was any help coming. Their hope was quickly dashed as Alberta told them everything.
I remember something. Erica didn’t say anything, but sat on the floor. She concentrated. It's important. I know it is. What am I forgetting?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Weird Questions.
"You will answer my questions,” the alien captain said for the hundredth time.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Alberta said. Why don't they understand?
Alberta was tied to a table. The alien captain and other aliens were looking down on her.
"We call it trade," Alberta said. "I asked for something you have. I give you something I have. You accept it and give me the thing I wanted."
"What is give?" the alien captain asked. "This is not logical. What I want. I take. You accept that I take it."
Dammit. I need a first contact expert. Someone who could talk to them. I don't know what I am doing. Alberta continued to explain, but couldn't get through. The aliens believed trade was a way to invade what they saw as their territory. Alberta continued to try.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Confessions.
Erica awoke. Her mother was gone. "Mom?"
"They took her, Erica," Captain Zhou said. "I'm sorry."
"No."
"There's nothing we can do. They do this to all of us. Try to force us to answer questions."
"You'll be next,” a man said.
"Leave her alone," Captain Zhou said.
"Well. Okay,” he replied.
"But where do they come from?" Erica said. "Who are they? Why did they kidnap us?"
"That's a lot of questions, Erica," Captain Zhou said.
"Sorry." Erica blushed.
Captain Zhou patted Erica's cheek. "I've heard some rumors of a non-human spacefaring race in this sector, but no one has been able to contact them. I think they call themselves the Lorkiiz. They have no understanding in trade or gifts. They believe only in taking what they want. It may be a misunderstanding, because of the language barrier. I don't know."
"The United Nation's Frontier Scouts are supposed to handle new contacts," Erica said.
"I wish they were here instead of us," Captain Zhou said.
"I have a confession to make," Erica said.
"What's that?"
"I've had amnesia ever since I woke up on that damn planet." Erica rubbed her face. Am I really gonna say this? "I think it was the shock I got from the alien...Lorkiiz shock rods. Now I remember I was given a comm device implanted under my skin."
"What?"
"I think I can contact the Guinevere if I can get it out," Erica said.
"Oh my Goddess," Captain Zhou said. "You've known this all along? Your mother is being tortured right now!"
"I didn't know what to do," Erica said. "I didn't know it right away. At first everything was just jumbled images and words flashing in my mind. It took me awhile to figure it out. By then they had already taken her!"
"What are you two talking about?"
"Shhh!" Captain Zhou said. "Not so loud. They might be listening."
The other prisoners walked over to where Erica and Captain Zhou were. They all wanted to know what was going on. Was th
ere hope for them? Erica sighed as she saw the desperate hope in the eyes of all these people. How long have these people been tortured by the Lorkiiz? What if I tell them and they warn the Lorkiiz hoping for a reward? Have they been broken? Can they be trusted? Erica sighed. She had to do something about this. They all needed the hope of being rescued.
"I have a comm device implanted under my skin," Erica confessed. "If I get it out I think I can contact the Guinevere. That's the starship I'm from."
"Where?"
"Cut it out!"
"Does anyone have a knife?"
"I have a piece of glass,” a woman said. Erica noticed she was missing an eye.
"Let me have it," Captain Zhou said. "The glass."
"Here."
Captain Zhou took it from the woman. She rubbed it on her pants. "Kind of dirty, Erica," Captain Zhou said. "It will work if you want to take the chance. Well?"
Erica rubbed her face. She pulled up her pant leg. "It should be about here." Erica pointed at her calf.
Captain Zhou nodded. She felt Erica's calf. Erica tried not jump. Stay calm. We can do this. I can do this. It's only flesh. It will heal. There is no fear. Suffering is an illusion.
Captain Zhou sliced her calf then poked her finger into the slit she had made.
I will not scream! Erica looked away.
"I got it." Captain Zhou held the comm device. Captain Zhou handed it to Erica. Then Captain Zhou wrapped some rags around Erica's wound.
Erica turned it on. "It’s supposed to send out my emergency message automatically. Once someone receives the message, we should be able to talk to them."
"This will only work if they are in the area,” said one of the other prisoners. A Victorian man.
"They are supposed to be in the area," Erica explained. "They're just hiding. Waiting for a chance to catch the aliens by surprise."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Fight!
The door opened. Erica saw her mother tossed into the prison cell. Erica ran to her, but her leg slowed her down. Ouch!
"Mother?" Erica said. "Are you okay?"
Starship Guinevere (Star Traders Book 1) Page 5