by Lily Thomas
Surveying the land around her, she decided on a spot between a boulder and a tree. This would be her bed for the night. This way she’d be close to her original spot just in case a rescue came, but not out in the open for just anyone to find. But if she wasn’t rescued by the morning she was going to head off in search of civilization. It might be the wrong move, but she couldn’t just wait around for a rescue when she had no idea if it was coming.
After waiting all night and into some of the morning, Skyler eventually had to listen to her insistent stomach. Not only was she hungry, but she’d have to find a source of water at some point. She could survive longer without food than without water.
Skyler made her way out of her hiding spot and wandered her way through the surrounding forest. If someone did come to the planet to search for her, she was going to assume they’d scan the whole planet for her, not just one spot.
There was no proof, but she was blaming this all on Robert. He had been threatening her over her messaging machine, so maybe he acted on one of his threats and hired some men to kidnap her and get rid of her. If this was payback, he’d better hope she didn’t survive this. She’d make sure he went down in a raging fire.
Birds sang in the trees above as she shook her tight shoulders trying to loosen up. All she could do now was survive. Once she was rescued, she’d have the authorities investigate Robert’s involvement, but maybe she was misjudging him. This could be a random act by people who’d been planning this for a long time.
A tree with orange fruit caught her attention.
“Here we are.” Skyler smiled at the hopeful discovery.
She hadn’t found water yet, but she’d at least found a food source on this planet.
Skyler grabbed a couple of the fruits off the ground and took a tentative bite out of one of them. Sweet juice flooded her mouth and some more tension rolled off her shoulders.
“It is pretty around here.” She said to no one in particular. Skyler just hoped she wasn’t about to live a life in complete solitude.
With the light breeze, the birds singing, and the gorgeous forest around her, this would make an ideal planet to have a house built on. Maybe she’d think about a change of scenery when she got back to Jirian. There was nothing impressive to look at, when she lived in a major city on a desert planet.
These fruits weren’t something she could live off of, but she stuffed a couple more into the pockets of her pajama bottoms for later. They’d keep her stomach full, so she wouldn’t be doubled over with hunger pains.
“But I need to find water.” With that she headed back through the forest.
Rounding a tree trunk, Skyler came face to face with the galaxy’s ugliest alien. Her eyes widened, as she took in his hideous appearance.
His yellowish dimpled skin made hers crawl with disgust, and as her eyes skimmed up his enormous height she found four black eyes watching her with an intent stare.
“Are you a native on this planet? Do you know where we are?” Skyler asked hopefully. Just because he was enormous and looked disgusting didn’t mean he couldn’t be her savior in disguise.
He stayed silent, as his four eyes stayed trained on her. Maybe the implanted translator behind her ear wasn’t able to translate what she was saying into his language.
“I have the best kind of translator you can buy.” She rubbed the bump behind her ear. “Damn. Maybe we can communicate with some hand signals?” She gestured for water, and then mimed her drinking water.
The alien just stared at her with those unblinking black eyes of his. He was starting to unnerve her.
Before she could even blink the alien lunged forward and grabbed her with his meaty fists. Her nose crinkled up as it was assaulted by the smell of the up-close alien. He smelled like garbage that had been sitting out in the sun for a few too many days.
He was almost as tall as the trees around them, and her head spun as he quickly lifted her up to his face and gave her a good sniff.
“Excuse me?! Put me down!” She barked in his face which smelled just as bad as the rest of him.
His mouth opened to let out a stinky rumble, and she almost passed out from the stench that assaulted her nose.
“Have you ever heard of toothpaste? Because you definitely need to learn what it is. It’d do miracles for your personal life.”
Her arms were free, so she could give him a punch to one of his four eyes, but she figured that might be a stupid move on her part. His hands could easily crush her ribcage rather than just release her when he dealt with the pain in his eye.
“Do you know what credits are?” She doubted he did or that he would have any use for them, but she’d keep trying to talk her way out of this. She was a fighter, but this was a bigger opponent whom she was unacquainted with.
One of his hands latched onto her feet, and he tossed her over his shoulder in one swift motion.
“Hey!” Skyler screamed as she went flying over his shoulder and smacked into his back with force. Her feet were being held at his shoulder, so all her blood was quickly rushing to her head. She braced her hands against his back, as he started walking through the forest, to prevent all the blood rushing to her head and causing her to black out.
“Are you taking me to your people?” She let hope fill her, because she didn’t want despair to consume her quite yet.
But a little voice in her head wouldn’t stop whispering all sorts of horrible thoughts, like the possible fact that she might be dinner or he might be attracted to her. She couldn’t see any other possibilities.
As the thoughts simmered in her mind, she decided she’d rather chance angering him then becoming his plaything or his next meal.
Skyler did her best to throw all her muscle into the punches she landed against his back, but he didn’t seem fazed at all. Not a single flinch or groan of pain.
“Do you even feel this?” She landed another blow against his back, but he just kept on trudging through the forest.
Slowly, Skyler quieted down as her strength drained away with each punch and kick she threw.
“I really hope you’re bringing me to some sort of town so I can get in contact with my people.” But her doubts wouldn’t stop plaguing her. This giant alien could be bringing her to a village full of giant aliens who might place her on a human sized spit and roast her slowly over an open fire. Sounded great for them, but didn’t sound so great for her.
After what had to be an hour or so, the alien made his way out of the forest and made his way into a good-sized cave.
“Is this where you live?” He might not be able talk with her, but talking out loud calmed her nerves. “I’m guessing your cave doesn’t come equipped with an interplanetary communicator.”
He gave her no response.
“Didn’t think so.”
The alien flopped her onto the ground. Skyler tried to wiggle away from him, but he grabbed onto her feet and quickly tied them up with some rope.
“What are you doing?” Skyler reached down to untie the ropes, but then he grabbed her hands and tied those as well.
He leaned down, and his putrid breath swept over her. She gagged and prayed the orange fruit would stay down.
Skyler leaned up against the cool wall of the cave and played dead, hoping he would just leave her alone. She had a bad feeling about this alien, and she wasn’t really ready to face him while she was tied up with ropes.
The foul-smelling alien collected her, and then plopped her down in a corner of the cave. He gave her a couple pokes with a foot, but she made sure not to flinch. She was going to fake out this alien. Let him think she’d died or passed out, whichever just made him go away.
His footsteps got further away, and Skyler cracked open an eyelid to watch him make his way over to some supplies he had lying about. After collecting something from his pile, he made his way to the mouth of the cave.
The ugly alien made his way out of the cave. She finally opened her eyes to take a look around. She definitely had to get out o
f here. He was living alone and very primitively, so there was no hope of a rescue with him.
Quickly, she made short work of the ropes holding her wrists together. Thank goodness, he hadn’t tied her hands behind her back. Then she made quick work of the rope at her ankles.
Jumping up she snuck over to the mouth of the cave and peered out around the rock wall. The giant yellow alien had disappeared from sight, and Skyler prayed that meant he wouldn’t be able to spot her.
She inched her way out of the cave, and then made a wild dash for the cover of the forest, her bare feet pounding against the ground. She pressed her back against a tree trunk and listened to the forest around her. She couldn’t hear anyone pursuing her.
Then she dashed away, trying not to make too much noise in case the giant yellow alien was still lurking nearby. Skyler wanted to get as far away from this place as she could. She was getting tired of being kidnapped by strange aliens. Was she giving off a signal that screamed, “Easy to kidnap!”?
She was a boxer, not a damn damsel in distress. Unfortunately, she wasn’t used to using her boxing out in the real world. She versed other human women in a ring, inside a temperature controlled arena with a coach. None of her opponents meant to kill her, just knock her out of the game. Skyler had never faced such a horrible scenario, like being trapped on an alien planet with unknown dangers lurking around every corner.
There was still the hope that this was just some sort of horrendous nightmare that would end at any second, but for now she would keep running.
She never wanted to be caught by that disgusting alien again. Maybe he was the nicest guy in the galaxy, but she wasn’t about to give him a chance to charm her. Tying her up really hadn’t been the way to break the ice, and she wasn’t about to give him a second chance.
Skyler kept running through the forest, dodging trees and bushes in her way. She was burning valuable energy, but she wanted as much distance between her and that terrifying alien as she could possibly get.
She came flying into a meadow, and then froze at the sight that greeted her.
Directly in front of her was a group of aliens. Aliens that hailed from different planets. What was going on here? Why were there so many different aliens out in the woods of this crazy planet? Did this mean there was a city nearby?
All of the men looked up, as a twig snapped under her bare foot, and her heart stopped in her chest. She took some calming breathes, in and out. They might be able to assist her. Not everyone she met was going to have evil intentions, although she wasn’t about to just trust anyone. Not with the day she’d been having so far.
“Do any of you know what’s going on here?” Skyler asked, hoping they would be more knowledgeable than herself.
One of them smiled over at her, as his dark eyes lit up. “We were going to eat.” He motioned to the fire they had going with some sort of animal roasting above it.
Her mouth watered. Something more substantial than fruit sounded amazing to her. But could she trust them? Her day was proving she needed to be a little less trusting of others.
He approached her, and she recognized his species as Cri. He had no eyebrows, but did have a raised horned ridge above his eyes. His red hair was held back in a hair tie at the base of his skull.
“Come join us, and you can enjoy some food with us.” The Cri gave her another smile, which was meant to placate her, but instead made her wary.
Her stomach gave a growl, but she didn’t know these men. For all she knew they could be just as bad as the alien she’d just escaped from, and she wasn’t ready to trust anyone on this planet.
“I think I’m good, thanks though. Do you any of you have a communicator I could use?” Something they could toss to her from a distance, because she didn’t plan on getting any closer to these men.
“She’s new to this planet.” One of the other men around the fire commented with a scoff.
The Cri shook his head. “We don’t have a communicator, but if you want to join us we can try and help you.”
“Umm, no thanks.” Skyler started to back pedal a bit. He was starting to creep her out with how intensely he was staring at her. It was like he’d just found himself a juicy morsel and was reluctant to let go.
“It’s been a while since we had the pleasure of a woman around. The Hennians don’t bring them around too often. Not as interesting to hunt, I suppose.” He informed her, as he took a couple more steps towards her, like she was a timid animal.
“Excuse me?” Skyler started to move backwards a little quicker. Hunt? She didn’t want to be hunted by anyone. “Who are the Hennians?” She clearly had a lot to catch up on.
“Definitely new to this planet.” The man near the fire commented again.
“Come here, sweet. I’ll be gentle with you, and if you please me I’ll make sure you’re well protected.” The Cri took another step toward her.
That was it. She was done.
Spinning on her heel Skyler plunged into the forest and ran blindly. She had no idea where she was going, but she wanted distance between her and everyone on this damn planet. They were all insane. She’d landed on the planet of criminals!
Maybe this planet was a prison planet, but what had she ever done to land herself here? She always obeyed laws, and she’d never gotten into trouble, ever!
Skyler just prayed this was all some sort of horrible nightmare that would soon be over, but she was starting to doubt it. Everything was so detailed, like the blood pumping through her veins, and her muscles straining to keep her ahead of the strange alien men who were following her.
Risking a glance behind her she found three of the alien men hot on her tail.
“She’s faster than I expected!” She heard one of the men holler.
A smile creased her lips, as her legs ate up the ground beneath her. She’d made sure to train her whole body. Not only did she box, but she went to the gym three times a week and ran marathons. Good luck catching her.
Skyler kept dodging trees, but missed a log lying on the ground and went tumbling down to the ground. Throwing out her arms, she managed to avoid smacking her face against the ground. She tried to push herself back up, but the Cri was on her in a split second.
“Hello, sweet. I like a good chase.” His face leaned in close to hers and rubbed his crotch against the back of her thigh.
Skyler smacked the back of her head into his face and heard something crack behind her. He howled in pain, and let his hold on her go. Grabbing clumps of dirt with her hands, she got traction on the ground, leapt up, and started running again only to stop short.
The other two men who had followed were now in front of her. Skyler turned around to find the Cri on his feet, glaring at her, clearly pissed with her maneuver. She probably just made a bad situation a lot worse.
“I said I like a chase, not a pain in the ass.” The Cri raised a hand to his nose, where a little blood was leaking out of one of his nostrils.
“You’re the ones causing trouble.” Skyler accused. “All you had to do was let me go and none of this would have happened.” She motioned to his bloody nose.
He smirked at her. “All we wanted was some fun. There was no reason to lead us on a chase. I told you women weren’t usually brought her. We would have treated you well.”
Would have. Skyler didn’t miss the past tense.
“Unless I wasn’t up for some fun.”
“Every woman wants to be with him.” One of the other men said with skepticism.
“I thought there weren’t very many women on this planet.” Skyler shot back.
“Before we came here.” The Cri filled in for her.
“Well, I’m not one of the women who wants to be with you.” Skyler put up her fists. What she wouldn’t give to have her boxing gloves and maybe a couple allies on her side. There were three of them and only one of her. The odds weren’t exactly on her side and none of them looked like slouches with the way they were built.
“Going to put up a fight?�
� The Cri rubbed his nose, wiping a little bit of the blood away.
“I’ll defend myself.” Skyler tried to keep all the men in her sight. She didn’t need any of them trying some sort of sneaky trick.
The Cri just smiled at her, as though the thought of her defending herself was a laughable idea. Wouldn’t he be surprised when he saw her skill. She might not be able to take all three of them out, but she could at least land a few good punches and cause them some pain.
Chapter 3
Kyux made his way through the forest. He was out hunting for some fresh meat and to resupply his stash of dried meat. He’d been on this damned planet for about three months, and he was ready to leave.
This was the hunting planet for the Hennians. They were a race that liked the thrill of the hunt. They would collect aliens from across the universe, drop them off on one of their many hunting planets, and then would send their warriors there to refine their hunting and combat skills.
Kyux was tired of being hunted day in and day out and having to worry about every little sound. If a twig snapped, he would crouch and prepare himself for an attack, but he hadn’t yet found the right opportunity to escape the planet. Not that he had much to live or escape for. The only thing currently spurring him on were his sisters back on his home planet. They probably thought he was dead. It wasn’t like him to just go dark without sending word to them.
Kyux scraped his black claws against a tree trunk carving out large sections of the bark. He was dying to dig his claws into the throat of an opponent and get some of his frustration out. He was done living on this planet. The Hennians had yet to kill him, but he’d killed a few of them.
Unfortunately, there was only one of him and untold numbers of Hennian warriors. They would just keep coming, like a horrible nightmare.
A commotion in the woods caught his attention. Had the Hennians landed another hunting party?
He slowly crept through the forest, until he caught sight of a human woman holding off three aliens. One was a Cri and the other two were silver haired Daen’su.