by Maia Starr
Then I overheard words that chilled me to the bone, “Master Bresh learned of a new female captive from the race of humans of Earth. He wants this to be your gift. You will need a slave to keep your house, as you will be busy. He did not want to give you a standard Kalazaron slave, so he wanted you to have this.”
Could this be real? Had I really heard them say female slave? Was I a slave now? No, that could not be. I would not accept it. I was a scientist damn it. I would not be carted away to be some house slave for a Kalazaron brute. Two Kalazaron males stopped in front of my cage though I was hoping that there was another female human that they spoke of and that they would keep walking. I was surprised by what I saw when the light hit them. One was in a long robe of sorts, almost like a monk. The other one however was bare chested with leather like straps of sorts almost like a gun holster around his back and abdomen. There was long leather like black sleeves on his forearms from wrist to just below the elbow, the standard warrior wear of this warrior race of aliens. His hair was jet black and almost blue and longer than what I had seen on the military Kalazaron that had invaded our ship. His eyes were a light brown and he was actually an attractive specimen. But I could not think of such things at the moment, I could only think of hate.
“Stand up,” the bare chested alien warrior said to me.
“No,” I said letting him know that I would be no slave and no one would order me around, not even a simple command like stand up.
“What are you doing?!” a loud voice echoed in the long hall and it was very familiar to me. I knew instantly that it was the commander that had taken my ship. I was frightened as I remembered his menacing grin as he had looked at me on the ship.
“That one is mine. I am taking her now,” the voice continued to shout as the commander came into my view and stood beside the other two. What he said echoed in my ears, “that one is mine.” My heart went cold and I filled with fright. I belonged to no one, only myself, but that thought of belonging to that beast was unbearable. I would die first.
“Commander, back from shooting your load at innocents in space I see…” the male with the black hair said playfully to the commander. I was pleasantly surprised at his humor. He was taking a shot at the commander. I sort of liked that. The commander was my enemy too, and this warrior seemed to dislike him.
“How dare you speak to me like that you imbecile,” the commander said as he got face to face with the other male. Shit, I thought. The commander was going to kill this warrior. He had no problem killing at whim. He was a dangerous Kalazaron.
“Have you not heard? This is the new Consulate,” the male in the long robe said. I knew exactly what that meant. I had studied the political hierarchy of this alien race and the Consulate was the second in command. I quietly exhaled that this male had more power than the terrifying commander. The commander dropped his knee and said, “Consulate.” I quietly smiled at the sudden obedience.
“This captive has been given to the Consulate by Master Bresh as a gift for his triumph,” the robed male said to the commander. I was boiling with anger. How dare they all decide on my life and my future as though I was a piece of meat to be traded and given as a gift. I wanted to stand up and get in their faces and demand my release, but I knew that would be foolish.
“Master Bresh must not have known that I had claimed this captive for myself,” Commander Nankor Yun rose up to his feet and my breathing grew quicker. Did he have a rightful claim on me? Was this because he was the one that captured me? I quickly looked to the Consulate for his words to rescue me. Please, please, shoot down his claim.
“Yes, he is aware. I have the order right here,” the robed man said as he pulled out a strange instrument and projected an image on the wall. I was stunned to see that my photo was on it. “Holy crap,” I whispered to myself.
Commander Yun growled and said, “Yes so it is. My apologies to Master Bresh and to you Consulate. I was not aware of the changes in the order and the transfer of goods.”
“Yes well you will do well to remember that you plunder in the name of the Kalazaron and not for your own personal gain,” the Consulate said. I had to admit I was more on board with the Consulate than I was any Kalazaron I had met so far. He seemed fair and just, even though he was taking me as a slave. Then chills ran up my back as the commander sneered and looked at me.
“Now if you will Commander,” the Consulate said and I was glad that he did. I did not want to be in the commander’s presence any longer. I wanted to be far from him and to be forgotten. He walked away but not without giving the Consulate and I a look. Then the cage unlocked and the tall Consulate stepped in. He looked directly down at me and suddenly seemed startled by my face. I felt ashamed. Was I ugly to him? I had to admit he was a beautiful Kalazaron and I was sure the female Kalazaron in his presence were stunning tall beauties. I must look ugly to him with my pale skin and blonde hair. I felt ugly under this male gaze of the Kalazaron. Though a part of me found it refreshing after being only seen for my beauty and not brains back on Earth. Perhaps it would be easier to communicate with males that saw me as ugly.
He placed his hand out and said, “Holopointer.”
A few seconds later the blue light was scanning over me.
“What? What is that?! What are you doing? Stop!” I panicked.
“No need to shout human. I am only checking your biology to see why you are so different than the other female humans.”
“Different! Are you an imbecile? I’m not different,” I was angry with him for making such a comment. Maybe he was dumb and had humans mixed up with another alien creature.
The other male gasped and the scanning stopped. Then the Consulate looked at me and quietly said, “Don’t use insults. It will cost you your life.”
What? No, freedom of speech? No, this was not going to be good for me. I was much too defiant and sassy for that rule. I would be dead in a matter of days or hours.
“Come with me to your new home,” his large strong hand extended to me.
“No. Leave me alone. Take me back to Earth.”
I was surprised that he did not hit me or order me dead. Instead he squatted down next to me and gently said, “Look human, you have two choices here and Earth is not one of them. Either you come with me to my home in the city inside the Buildings of Order, or you stay here in this cage to become the property of that animal Commander Yun.”
No! I would not belong to the commander! I would rather die than that. I could only imagine the horror of being the slave of a sadistic warrior like him.
“Yes, I see fear in your eyes at that second choice, and there should be. He is every bit the animal you have seen so far and much, much, worse than you can imagine. I on the other hand promise you that you will not be treated so barbarically. Do your duties in my house to keep it kept and that is all that I will ask of you, nothing more. Now, what will it be female human?”
I didn’t have to think about it. With those two choices in front of me I knew exactly which one was the lesser of the two evils. I had also longed to see the city of Konthos. It would be a dream come true, only I did not imagine I would be a captive slave when I saw it. I had read about the Buildings of Order in my study, but I did not believe that such a place could actually exist. I sighed as I looked up into the eyes of the tall Kalazaron as he squatted down but still towered over me as I said, “Jade.”
“Jade?” he asked.
“That is my name, Jade,” I said as I placed my hand in his accepting his offer. As I did so he sucked in a sharp breath of air that almost startled me. He was quiet as he stared down at my hand. Then he looked back at me and said, “Jade. I am Consulate Dalik Moscurn, but Dalik you may call me.”
Then he pulled up on my hand and lifted me to my feet as though there was magic in his hands. I followed him out of the cage into the long hall of the galaxy zoo. I was sad to see all these magnificent creatures in cages and felt guilt that I was suddenly free and not them. Though being a house slave was not
exactly free. Soon we were in an elevator of sorts that went up, down, and sideways. It was more like a personal compartment on a high speed train. It was so fast that I could not see anything outside the glass than a blur. I was disappointed. I longed to see the city. Finally we stepped out of the compartment into a grand lobby of sorts. There were heavy guards.
“Consulate Moscurn,” the guard bowed to my new master.
“This is my new human slave. Tag her,” he said.
“Tag? Whaa?” but Dalik gave me an angry look that made me quiet. The guard grabbed my arm and in a flash held a pen like instrument against it and pushed a button. I felt no pain, but I knew. They had put a tracking chip inside of me.
“Done,” the guard said.
“Let’s see it then,” Dalik said.
The guard rubbed his hand over my forearm. I gasped as words suddenly appeared on my skin as though it was invisible ink activated by the warmth of their hands. The words read, “Property of Consulate Dalik Moscurn.”
I looked up at my new owner and narrowed my eyes at him. He just grinned.
“Come human, time you see your new home,” he said leading toward the clear glass tubes that seemed to stretch toward the heavens.
“Consulate,” the guard said as he did some sort of salute that I had not seen until that moment. He pressed one hand against the middle of chest. It was very interesting and it wasn’t something that had been mentioned in my studies. As we stepped to the glass tube I realized that it was a very tall and fast elevator. The doors slid up and down vertically and met in the middle. They opened and Dalik stepped into the car and I followed. The doors closed and he pressed an object on the holographic screen.
“Identify,” a voice said.
“Dalik Moscurn,” he said out loud.
“Voice recognition accepted,” the voice said and the elevator shot up. I was surprised by all of it. Dalik just looked at me as he cocked his head to the side, analyzing me. I felt like I had been standing there naked as he buried his stare into me.
“Where are we?” I asked trying to make some sort of conversation out of my awkward and unusual situation.
“The Buildings of Order, Building Bresh. It is named after our current leader Master Bresh,” he responded as he continued to look at me.
“This is where you live?” I asked.
“You ask a lot of inquiry for a human. Why?” he asked.
“What? What do you mean?” I said putting my hand on my hip.
“I have spoke to a few human males and females before from time to time and they do not inquire so much. They are quiet,” he said.
“And are they slaves as well?” I said in my sassy tone.
“Yes.”
“Then that is why. They are probably full of fear to say anything except the least amount of speak possible.”
“And you? You are not in fear then?”
“No.”
“Good,” he said as the doors opened. I followed him as he stepped out of the elevator into a long hall. I was confused as I looked at the long white hall. There were no doors or gates. It was simply a smooth wall.
“We are on the very top of the building. This is where my living quarters are and now your living quarters.”
“Where? This hall?” I said confused.
“No, female human,” he laughed. He placed his hand on the wall and a light scanned his skin. “Access granted, Dalik Moscurn,” the voice said.
Then the wall slid to the side revealing a door that quickly spiraled open. It was very advanced. It was more advanced than anything I had seen on Earth. Though it made sense for a warrior race of alien to have the best security.
I followed him inside the door and it quickly shut behind me. I could hear the wall moving back into place. The light that filled the living quarters was unexpected to me. I don’t know what I expected. I guess a dark cave like place, but this was the exact opposite. It was all glass and high in the sky.
“I don’t believe it,” I whispered as I stepped forward in amazement at what was before me. There it was. It was the vision that I had longed to see for so long…the city of Konthos. It was beautiful and almost unbelievable. I moved all the way to the tall glass window and pressed my palms against it. The city stretched as far as my eye could see into the distant cold blue of the land. Below the city looked like an ant farm in layers. The top layer was composed of flying vehicles along orderly lines. Then under that layer were buildings, some tall and some short. Then finally the bottom level was the street level filled with the Kalazaron going about their daily business. It was a thriving and lively place.
“What is it?” Dalik asked.
“It is just…breathtaking…” I said.
“You cannot breath?” he said in a panic.
“No, it is just an expression,” I said looking at him and seeing the panic on his face. I was suddenly flooded with warmth at his concern over me. However, he still looked at me confused.
“I do not understand this…” he said.
“It means, that you see something so beautiful that it feels like you cannot breath, but you still can breath,” I said as he locked eyes with me. He actually seemed touched by my words as he moved toward me, his blue body towering over me.
“Then it can be said that Konthos pleases you,” Dalik asked.
“Yes, very much,” I said as I looked out at the large city when something caught the corner of my eye. I moved to the edge of the living quarters and looked out toward the east. “What is that?” I looked down at massive blue blocks, but as I looked closer I realized what it was.
“That is the shield of Kalazaron,” he said as he moved next to me. The massive blue blocks that I saw were actually battalions of Kalazaron warriors marching. It was an impressive sight but also very frightening. I realized that on Earth, they had greatly misinterpreted the great size of this great warrior nation. No wonder they kept surprising us. We knew that they were great warriors but we thought they were small tribes spread out on Kaethon. This now proved that they were so much more organized than that and a great warrior army. I shivered.
“You must be cold. I have remembered that humans are not adapted to this cold planet as we are. Earth is hot,” Dalik said as he put his hand on my shoulder. Suddenly I was no longer thinking about the warrior army and the amazing view. I was only thinking about his cool hand on my warm skin. He smiled and as he did so his gaze shifted to his hand. As he lowered his head a piece of his thick blue black hair fell over his eyes. I restrained myself to not reach up and push it back into place. His light brown eyes seemed to change color and lighten to a gold as he looked at me. Then he quickly pulled his hand from me and said, “Come human. Let me show you the living quarters and your assignments.”
“Jade,” I said. “Please call me Jade.”
“Yes, of course. Apology,” he said as he moved toward the center of the room.
“This is the basic,” he said.
I looked around the vast room and asked, “The basic?”
“Yes, the basics of the living space. The large table for meals and working is here. There is the seating’s for guests and leisure,” he said as he pointed out what I would call a dining area and a living room but I said nothing, only smiled.
“In the back here is meal preparation and water,” he said filling a cup of water and handing it to me. I was thirsty and hungry. Sensing this he pressed a button. A prepared meal on a dish appeared in the box. Then he moved to the back of the room to an empty wall and said, “This is my sleeping quarters behind this wall.”
I was glad that he did not say ‘our’ sleeping quarters. Then he moved to the far side of the vast room near the east windows and pushed a button. The wall slid open and I followed him into a room where the lights automatically came on.
“This is the slave washing room,” he said as I looked around the equivalent of the bathroom. There was a very large glass cube without a top lid that I could only assume was a bathtub of sorts. Then we walked ba
ck into the basic room.
“Have any questions…Jade,” he said. I was glad he was using my name and I was deeming myself lucky that this warrior was kind in his own unusual way. If I had been with Commander Yun I would no doubt be treated savagely.
“I only have one question,” I said.
“Yes, what is that?”
“Where am I to sleep?”
Chapter 4
DALIK MOSCURN
As she followed me inside my living quarters I had to restrain myself from taking her in my arms and carrying her to my sleep bed. Since I had first seen her huddle in the cage only a few moments before, an infatuation was starting to grow for her. It was happening fast in the pit of my stomach. I could not. I had promised this human slave that she would not be treated barbarically and with unwanted attention, even though it was within my power to do so. I owned her. She was my property now. She had been tagged with my identification and that fact turned me on. Seeing that brand come up on her arm with my name, Dalik Moscurn was complete foreplay for me.