by T. J. Quinn
I knew how it felt to face possibly never seeing my family again. Even worse, I didn’t know whether they were dead or alive and suffering. Harper at least believed her family was fine, but they would never know that she was safe and well, that I would protect her with my life. I knew how they would feel not knowing. They had my sympathy.
CHAPTER TWELVE
ZARED
We entered Halor orbit a few hours later and Admiral Degatu took over the bridge of the Dreadnought while I shuttled down to the planet with Kyanna Guryon and the rescued abductees that were leaving us. Lieutenant Advantu, Rehor Tantu, Mogen Brintu, came with me, along with Harper and the other Earth women. While I escorted Kyanna and Sowia to Evzen Guryon’s estate, my team would accompany the women to the automated clothing supply house to acquire what they needed.
Halor was one of the most affluent worlds in the heart of the Consortium. People here either lived on estates or in luxury apartment complexes. Most everything was automated and run by AI with physical labor performed by robots. I had been here before, and I really didn’t care for the place. It seemed impersonal. Halor had not been touched by war in over a thousand years. I could hardly imagine what their lives here were like. To me it seemed they had little more to do than entertaining themselves, but I am told they work from their homes a few hours a day supervising their business interests.
I have seen smaller palaces than Evzen Guryon’s estate, which housed his entire extended family. His daughter explained that each family unit had their own suite within the estate. Kyanna was his only daughter and betrothed to the son of some magnate to seal a merger. She had been on a last fling with her best friend before she was to be wed. Harper said she seemed happy about it even though it was an arranged marriage. Theirs was a different culture.
The regal looking estate was surrounded by ornate gardens with stone paths between them. We arrived at the Governor’s home by automated hover bus from the Haloressa Starport. The double doors of the front entrance opened automatically as we approached. A metallic android bade us to follow and led us into a simply furnished parlor. The android was built in the shape of a man and walked on two legs but that’s where the resemblance ended. It had camera lenses for eyes and the impression of a nose and mouth in its metal face.
Once we entered the room, it turned and left. A few moments later, Evzen Guryon hurried into the room and swept his daughter in a fervent embrace.
“Kyanna, my baby girl! I’ve been so worried about you. Gavrin has been beside himself ever since we learned you were taken,” he exclaimed.
Guryon was surprisingly well muscled and youthful in appearance for his age. This was the first time I had ever seen him in person, but I recognized him from the holovids. Though his daughter was more femininely attractive, she bore an obvious resemblance to her father. He was as tall as me but with a lighter build. The ridges from his hairline to his nose were more pronounced than those of his daughter and other females of his race.
When he finished hugging Kyanna, Guryon turned to her friend Sowia and hugged her as well. “Your parents are sorry they could not be here to greet you, but they were out of the system and are due back tomorrow,” he told her. “Kyanna’s rooms and your guest rooms are ready for you. Why don’t you refresh yourselves while I settle some business with the commander?”
“Okay, Daddy,” Kyanna said. “Will we see you at dinner?’
“Your mother and I and some of your brothers will be there with their mates. Gavrin should be arriving soon. The ‘bot will direct him to find you.”
The two young women left the room, apparently happy to have a reason to do so. When they were out of ear shot, Guryon summoned an auto cart laden with aurinium coins, the universal monetary exchange for the Consortium and even parts of the Sargan Empire.
“Your payment in cash, Commander Maktu, just as you requested, ten million credits worth. Feel free to scan it for an accurate accounting.”
While I believed it was an honest accounting, I scanned it from my compact tablet which confirmed the count. I then gave him my print to accept the payment.
“Admiral Degatu told me what you found when you returned to your home world,” Guryon stated. “Word did not reach the council until the attack was almost finished. We are investigating the cause for the delay in communication that resulted in the failure of notification to your forces about the attack.”
“We believe it was deliberate,” I told him bluntly. “It wasn’t just an act of war, Governor. They stole our people and sold them into slavery in the Sargan Empire.”
“What would they gain from such an act?” he asked.
“Aurinium, most likely,” I said far more calmly than I felt. “Someone got a big payoff for this betrayal. It’s treason, and they had better hope we don’t find them first.”
“They must be brought to justice,” Guryon said. “We have laws.”
“What justice did they give my people? The only justice they deserve it to be sold into slavery as my people were,” I growled.
“So, you intend to seek whoever is responsible with what I paid you?”
“No, we are going in search of our people. We have data from the slave auction house that at least 200 of our people were shipped to a world on the edge of the Sargus Empire,” I said. “That is the reason we are ending our defense contract with the Consortium. As we search for our people, we will probably find other Consortium citizens who have been kidnapped by slavers.
“You might pass the word to others that the Farseek companies will retrieve their loved ones if they help fund our efforts as you have.” I added. “Without our contract, we must charge for our services.”
“But you rescued a hundred women and I am the only one who paid,” Guryon said.
“It was your offer of this reward that got us there to rescue your daughter,” I reminded. “Slavery is reprehensible! We weren’t going to leave the other women behind. Is that what we should have done because no one paid for them?”
“Of course not,” Guryon admitted.
“We will rescue as many from the slavers as we can. Those who have lost loved ones to slavers may want to consider contributing to our efforts,” I explained. “If we must take other work to support our efforts, it will only delay our primary mission.”
“Were all of those you rescued from Consortium territory?”
“No. We rescued four females from a world called Earth a non-space faring world that no one has ever heard of,” I said. “One of them is my solmatu.”
“My congratulations, Commander. I know what that means to your people,” Guryon said sincerely. “I wish you many years together.”
“Thank you, sir. And thank you for the payment.” I bowed my head in salute and made my retreat with the autocart of aurium coins. We would make it last as long as possible.
I took and autotram back to the shuttle with our aurium and left it under guard at the shuttle and went to meet my team and the women at the Bio Enhancement Clinic. They had finished at the clothing outlet and used their facilities to put on appropriate clothing before going out in public. At the clinic, more advanced chips inserted. The translator chips from the slavers were not removed but would be disintegrated as the new ones became integrated into their memories. The new chips would give them comprehensive knowledge of the main consortium language which was also the primary language of Farseek in a matter of days.
The translator chips installed by the slavers, only allowed them to understand the spoken word which might have sufficed for sex slaves. But they would need a thorough understanding of language to assimilate into our culture. This would give them the opportunity to be retrained and their current skills could be enhanced. They would still retain their memory of their first language.
I am glad I arrived before Harper received hers. The look in her eyes when I walked into the lobby told me she was nervous about the procedure. I stayed with her and held her hand while the technician prepped her and did the procedure. They used
a device placed on the forehead to block the pain while the new chip inserted. Each patient received a DNA scan which configured each biochip to their DNA so the body wouldn’t reject it.
Harper was relieved and delighted when the tech finished. She had felt no pain and she began to understand spoken words almost immediately. There were enough technicians on duty so that all the women could be treated at the same time. I noted that my Lieutenant Avantu accompanied Scarlet while she was injected. It appeared that she was attracted to him as well. They were not solmatu, because he would have known that already.
It’s not so common as it once was, and not everyone is willing to wait for a rare possibility. Finding solmatu in Harper could only be an exceptional coincidence, one that has given me hope for the future.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
HARPER
The morning before we shuttled down to Halor, Scarlet, Zoe, Nora, and I went to the supply room to be body scanned for clothing sizes. Dania Fratu, directed us to stand on a floor mark one at a time. She was very nice to us explaining how the scanner worked. Not only did it take our measurements, but it also created holograms of each of us.
“We have four styles to choose from,” Dania said and touched her virtual screen to display them for us. “I suggest, two long sleeved tunics, the sleeveless and a short sleeved since you each get four outfits.”
“Looks like your uniforms without the markings,” said Zoe, a little disappointed.
Dania smiled with a hint of sympathy in her eyes. “I’m afraid it’s all we are authorized to issue.”
“It’s better than wearing just a long shirt with no shoes or underwear,” I said. “It’s not like we are going anywhere.”
“I think you’ll find them very comfortable,” Dania added, “and they are self cleaning.”
“What about underwear?” Nora asked
Dania frowned. “What is down clothes?”
Obviously, a hitch in our translators. “For breast support.” I gestured to my breasts then kind of drew a pair of panties over my upper thighs and stomach.”
“Ah, inner clothing,” Dania nodded, “is unnecessary. It is already inside the garments. That is why we must special order for you four. All of the women in our company already have theirs, and men don’t need breast support.”
“What about sleep clothes if we don’t get underwear?” Nora asked.
“We have some extra-large shirts without sleeves if that would help,” Dania offered.
“Ask her about, you know, Harper,” Zoe said. “I should get mine any time now and I have nothing.”
“What’s the problem?” Dania asked.
“Well,” I began, “We human females have a monthly reproductive cycle where we shed the lining of our uterus if we don’t get pregnant…? We need some way to contain that… do you know what I mean?”
“Ah, yes! There are two ways we handle that cycle. We have this.” She took out a small plastic case and took out what I recognized as a menstrual cup. Zoe frowned as Dania held it up to show us. “Or, while you are at the clinic on Halor you may opt to have your cycles suppressed until you wish to breed.”
“That sounds like the implant I have,” I said. “How do we know that will work for us?”
“Just like the language biochip, it will be tailored to your specific DNA and it can be counter acted whenever you are ready to breed,” Dania explained.
“No more periods?" Zoe grinned. “I’m in.”
“Does it hurt much?” I asked.
“Not at all,” Dania assured.
“What about this language chip they are going to give us?” I asked.
“They apply the pain blocker. It won’t hurt at all.” Dania assured us. “But let me finish telling you about the tunics. The fabric can project different colors and patterns through its fibers. Each one has four colors and patterns. We use that feature off duty so we are not all dressed a like.”
“Hell, I’m just glad to be getting clothes,” Scarlet added. “I want both those implants, too. Mine is about to run out too.”
I didn’t want to say anything, but the idea of getting alien technology injected into my body was just a little scary. Well, more than a little. But I would do it. If I couldn’t read and write, the language, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make a useful contribution to the community.
“Before I forget, you will also each be given two pairs of footwear.” She brought them up on the screen. One pair was a pair of simple black slipons and the other was a pair of black midcalf high boots. These came with a set of four pairs of anklet socks of thin stretchy material
“Thank you, Dania,“ I said and offered her a smile. “I for one am glad to be getting real clothing.
As I thought about it, I guess we were lucky the slavers didn’t just make us go naked. But, I heard one of the alien women say that we would be naked for the auction and the prospective buyers could touch us and examine us like we were livestock. I suppose we were in a way. Then Zared came into the room and the invisible sparks flew between us. That never happened to me before, that shock of attraction when you know he’s the one for you.
It seemed longer than a few weeks since our rescue. My old life back on Earth almost seemed like ancient history. Whenever I thought about my family there, I didn’t linger on those memories because I would also remember that I would probably never see them again. I couldn’t do anything about it so I chose instead to be thankful my hot, hunky warrior man had my back. By then he had my heart, too. So, he had better not go out and get himself killed. It may be superstitious, but I didn’t dare say the words out loud.
Before reaching Halor, we met with the ship’s upper echelon including Zared and the Admiral. The four of us from Earth were not the only women whose worlds were unknown in this part of whatever galaxy were in. It could even be the Milky Way. These people wouldn’t know it by the name we called it. The Milky Way is big with multiple arms and thousands of light years across. But I digress.
They called us to the meeting to outline our options: we could stay with them and settle on Farseek when they eventually made their way back there. They were going to the mining colony on Breskaa where they expected to find two hundred of their people. It could be dangerous. I had a tough time to keep from laughing. Putting out the garbage was dangerous. That’s how I got kidnapped by aliens!
The Farseek Brigade had a reputation for being the baddest of the bad---Special Forces, Army Rangers and Navy Seals rolled into one. They were going deep into enemy territory to steal back their people where they were enslaved. They expected resistance but had no way to predict how much resistance they would face. Worst case scenario, the ship could be destroyed and we would all be killed.
Or, we could stay on Halor. Governor Guryon guaranteed housing for all of us until they could return and take us to Farseek. Like hell! No way was I staying behind to wait and wonder if Zared would make it back, I would take my chances. When I met Scarlet’s gaze across the table I knew she thought the same thing about Pyrr Avantu. I wasn’t sure, but I thought Zoey had her eye on Tahvo Brintu. I wasn’t sure if Nora was interested in anyone, but she refused to stay behind because we were her only friends from Earth.
The rest of the rescues decided they would accept Guryon’s offer to stay on Halor and reside there until they could decide what to do. They were excused from the meeting and they shuttled down with us when we went to have our clothing fitted.
I was more nervous about getting that biochip than shuttling down to the planet. I was thinking needles and surgery. I always hated needles. I was so glad that Zared caught up with us at the clinic. He humored me and held my hand while they injected the new chip.
The procedure went just like Dania told us it would. They stuck something on my forehead, did a DNA scan with a scanner in the procedure chair. I felt a pressure against the back of my head, once when the new one was inserted. When they said biochip, I was thinking like one of those little data chips they used in phones and cameras back on
Earth. This was so small that it was microscopic. Each one was custom made to match up with the recipient’s DNA. For them the technology was over one hundred years old and had been used on numerous species.
The new chip was inserted at the same point the old one was placed instead of removing the old one so I wouldn’t be left unable to communicate while my body assimilated the material on the new chip. I can’t really explain it, but even though they called it a chip, it was a biologic, living cells with the primary Consortium language etched into the DNA. Within 24 hours it would be as though I had always known their language as well as my own. I would be bilingual. We each got new contraceptive implants, which were the size of half a grain of rice.
There was no pain at all. I felt embarrassed at being so nervous afterward, but I sure didn’t mind having Zared there to hold my hand. I didn’t feel any different as they removed the pain block device.
He continued to hold my hand, and though unnecessary, helped me out of the treatment chair. As I stood up, he bent his head and whispered in my ear so only I could hear, “Wait until I get you back to the ship.”
I sure knew what that meant and stifled a giggle. That was all it took for my body to respond. But sometimes it was just a look, almost like I could read his mind. He drew back and gave me a wicked smirk, his eyes gleaming with desire. I hoped he didn’t think all Earth girls were as easy as I was for him. I was never easy for anyone before him. All he had to do was look at me like that and I wanted him naked and inside me. I could almost feel his hands on me stoking the rising need in my core. With just the thought my breath came little faster and I could feel my pulse rise.