“Hello!” said the woman.
“Hello!” answered Keela automatically, wondering who this woman was and where she was.
“I’m Charly. And you?”
“Keela. Where … where are we? Is this a hospital? Frankenstein’s laboratory? Or some sort of military shit?”
Charly shrugged her shoulders.
“I’m not sure but I think we’re on a space ship. It’s definitely not a hospital. We were dragged here by some kind of monster-aliens or something. You were the last one they brought in. I … was the first one. There’s another cell over there where they have more women. I’m trying not to think about what they’re planning to do with us - maybe some sort of experiments or something. You see that sort of thing in science-fiction films, don’t you? I definitely don’t think they’re friendly. A polite invitation to a date looks different to this. No more sarcasm!”
Keela forced a grin. She sat up and saw two more plank-beds with two more women lying on them. One had long black hair and the other brown locks. Keela could not see anything else.
“They’re still out cold,” said Charly, pointing over to them. “They haven’t moved at all yet. I hope they’re OK.”
Keela turned back to the person talking to her and looked at her. She had a red mane and green eyes. Her nose was covered in freckles but they suited her.
“Have you got any idea how long we’ve been here?” asked Keela.
“Well, I’ve been awake for about eight hours. I know that because the clock on my mobile is still working. I just don’t have a signal any more. I don’t know how long I was out. After I woke up they brought in the black-haired woman. About two hours later they brought in the brunette. Then an hour later you arrived.”
“How come I’ve woken up sooner that the other two when I arrived later?” Keela wondered. “Maybe they really aren’t OK. Do you think they’re even still alive?”
“Yes, I’ve already checked. No idea why they’re still out cold. Either they didn’t give you so much or you’re stronger so the effect isn’t as strong.”
“I can’t remember anything,” said Keela, thinking hard. “Wait! Yes, I do remember now. First the wolves were there, planning to have me for dinner. Then these three huge beasts came along and the wolves - the cowards - ran off. But what happened then? I … I’m not sure …”
“Well they shot at me with a weapon with a sort of laser beam or something and then I was out. It must be a sort of stun gun.”
“Yes, now I remember. They did that with me, too.”
Keela looked round the room in which they were being held captive. There were no windows, not even in the door. The ventilation shafts, fitted very high up, were too small to escape through, and there would be little point anyway if they really were on a space ship - they would not be able to leave this damn space ship. The walls of the room were made of metal, as was the door. Apart from the four plank-beds there was just a curtain in one corner, presumably with a toilet behind it.
“There’s a toilet behind there,” Charly confirmed her presumption.
“I’d give anything for a drink,” said Keela. “I think I could deal with something very strong right now. What sort of shit have I landed in now? This is so typical of me! If shit’s being handed out, I’m always amongst the first to shout: here, I’ll have some!”
The sound of groaning drew her attention to the black-haired woman. She had just woken up and was blinking in irritation in her direction. She suddenly sat up, then clutched her head, groaning. She was clearly dizzy because she had moved so quickly.
“What ...? Where …?” she murmured in a daze.
“You’ve been abducted,” said Charly, getting straight to the point.
“By aliens. We’re on a space ship,” added Keela, to complete the picture.
“Are you taking the mick? That really isn’t funny!”
“No, it really isn’t funny,” agreed Charly. “But unfortunately it’s true!”
The black-haired woman got up from her bed unsteadily and staggered to the door. There was no door handle so she banged hard on the metal.
“Hey! Open this damn door immediately! I’m Special Agent Lory Andersson and whoever you are you’re going to have major problems with the FBI if you don’t release me immediately! So move your damn arses over here and open up!”
“Sorry, darling, but I don’t think they’ll be particularly interested in the FBI,” interrupted Keela.
“Are you really an FBI agent?” asked Charly.
Lory nodded miserably and stared first at Charly, then at Keela. Finally she grasped at her hips and into her inside jacket pocket.
“Shit! They’ve taken my weapons! Fuck!”
“FBI. Wow. So cool,” said Charly. “But it won’t help you here. Keela’s right about that. I’m Charly, by the way. Actually Charlotte, but I’ll kill anyone who calls me that. I hate that damn name!”
“Lory,” answered Lory abruptly.
“You said you’ve been awake for eight hours. Haven’t the beasts appeared in all that time? I mean - to give you something to eat and drink?” asked Keela.
“No, only to bring all of you in. But I don’t think they’ll have abducted us to let us starve. Even lab rats are fed.”
Lory and Keela both threw her a black look.
“Sorry. I was only joking. I’m really dark-humoured, I know. I always do that when I’m really scared. It’s a form of self-defence. It’s better than bursting hysterically into tears, isn’t it? The bloody monsters will definitely come at some point. They haven’t forgotten about us, that’s for sure,” answered Charly. “I’m really glad, anyway, that I’m not here alone. At least we have one another.”
“Thank you, but I would happily forego the honour of keeping you company here,” hissed Lory angrily.
“Sorry, darling. You can get off if you can get out of this damn metal box,” snarled Charly.
“Guys. Let’s stay calm, OK?” said Keela, trying to smooth things over.
“What’s going on with that one?” asked Lory, pointing at the brunette who was still asleep. “Has she been awake yet?”
“No,” answered Charly. Should we wake her up?”
Keela shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know.”
“I think we should try. If she doesn’t react, we’ll let her sleep,“ said Lory.
Charly was the first to get to the brunette’s plank-bed. Keela and Lory came up behind her. Tentatively Charly shook the sleeping woman by the shoulders.
“Hey, girl, wake up.”
“Hmmm,” said the young woman, roll herself up on her side like an embryo.
“Hello,” Charly tried again. “Can you hear me? Wake up!” The brunette blinked, disturbed by the light.
“What’s going on?” she murmured. “I’m not working today.”
“Wake up. It’s important!” Keela joined in.
The brunette’s eyes opened.
“Who are you? How have you got into my …?” She looked round frantically. “Where …? Where am I? What …?”
“In a space ship,” explained Keela. “We’ve been abducted. Do you remember anything?”
The brunette shook her head.
“What’s your name?” asked Lory.
“Amber. And yours?”
“I’m Charly, this is Keela and here we have Lory. Lory’s from the FBI.”
Amber sat up and clutched her head, groaning.
“Headache?” asked Keela sympathetically.
“Hm.”
“I had that, too. It goes after a few minutes. They stunned us with a laser or something. It must have been a very strong dose because it knocked me out in milliseconds. “
“I think someone’s coming,” said Lory suddenly, and everyone fell silent.
They could hear voices and footsteps, then the door was unbolted and it swung open. Two of the hideous creatures entered the cell.
“So, you’re awake,” one of them said.
&nbs
p; “I understood what he said although I can hear that he’s speaking in a different language,” Charly whispered into Keela’s ear.
“Me, too,” replied Keela. “Maybe it’s telepathy or something.”
“We’ve put a translation implant into each of your ears,” said the alien, who had clearly heard their quiet discussion. “The translators are programmed to your language and all significant galactic languages. This is necessary so that you’ll be able to understand your masters.”
“Our what?” asked Lory who had drawn herself up to her full height, legs apart, hands on hips.
“Your masters. That is, whoever buys you at the Xevus3 slave market. You’ll bring us in a tidy sum.”
“Slave market?” Keela stared at the creature, dumbfounded. “You’ve abducted us to sell us at a slave market?”
Keela did not know whether to laugh or cry. This could only happen to her - she had escaped from a pack of hungry wolves only to be abducted by monstrous aliens and be sold as a slave.
“Correct. There are several planets that have a considerable lack of females. That’s why we deal in females from other worlds. We’ve only recently discovered your planet and confirmed that you’re suitable. We have five of your race on our ship.”
“Suitable? For what?” shrieked Amber.
Keela really did not want to know the answer.
“Suitable for pairing,” explained the alien.
”I feel sick,” groaned Amber in horror.
“Wait a minute!” interjected Lory abruptly. “I will absolutely definitely not be paired with one of you hideous monsters. I’d rather die! Is that clear?”
As quick as a flash the alien grabbed Lory by the neck and glared at her from his red eyes. Keela held her breath. Next to her Amber was gasping for breath.
“If I wanted you, you’d have no chance of defending yourself. Don’t forget who you’re dealing with. I am Knirrgn Arghagn, officer to his Royal Highness Ulhgrang ign Ifzarghn.”
Knirrgn released Lory as quickly as he had grabbed her and she staggered backwards. Keela caught her safely in her arms from behind. A cutting remark was on the tip of her tongue but she did not want to be grabbed by the neck like Lory was, so she remained silent. They could not do anything about this anyway. Their situation seemed hopeless, and their chances of ever seeing earth again seemed totally unlikely.
The other alien, commanded by a wave from Knirrgn, went to the door and feltched a type of trolley on which there were several dishes with lids on, a few cups and a jug of purple liquid.
“Your food for today. In two hours the light will be lowered. Then it’s time to sleep. Work out for yourselves from the light whether it’s day or night because we’ll be travelling for a good cycle,” declared Knirrgn.
“What’s a cycle?” asked Charly.
“The cycle is the standard month according to the United Galactic Federation. It lasts thirty four days. It’ll take that long for us to reach our destination. Now eat!”
The two aliens left the cell and bolted the door again.
“Shit!” swore Lory. “I’m not going to spread my legs for any damn alien!”
“Me neither!” declared Keela, horrified.
Charly and Amber murmured in agreement.
“But I am hungry. It won’t help anyone if we starve,” said Charly in the end, lifting the lids off the dishes. There were various fruits, a sort of stew and a plate of meat that looked a little like beef.
They tried the various food items cautiously and poured out the liquid, which seemed to be a sort of lemonade that tasted pleasantly sour.
“Hmmm, not bad,” judged Keela.
The other women agreed.
“The lemonade’s delicious, too. It tastes a bit like lemon … no! Lime juice with a hint of … of … oh yes, a hint of mango!”
There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the women not to discuss what lay before them. None of them wanted to think about the fact, right now, that they were to be sold at a slave market.
***
Y-Quadrant, Karrx7
Royal Palace of the Arr’Carthian
28th day of the month of Kindur in the year 7067
Federation Time
Marruk was wild with anger. His roar was echoing through most of the palace. Anxious servants and soldiers were running frantically all over the place.
“Excuse me, Prince Marruk. I have the results from Ceyla,” reported Lamick, the Master of Security, his voice quivering.
Ceyla was the palace’s intelligent computer system. It kept watch over the whole palace and the external areas. Through sensors and cameras, hidden discreetly everywhere, Ceyla could register everything that happened inside the palace walls. Through DNA comparison the computer could tell immediately who was where and whether strangers were in the grounds whose DNA was not entered into the computer. Ceyla could even keep watch over peoples’ state of health and interpret emotions.
“Report!” ordered Marruk impatiently.
“Ceyla reports that Princess Solima left the palace three hours ago through the eastern exit in the company of her nanny. However, her nanny left the palace grounds alone half an hour later, through the east gate. I’ve sent men out and they’re looking for her right now.”
“And Solima? What about her?”
“Well, it’s very strange, Your Highness. It appears that, about ten minutes before the nanny left the grounds, she dissolved into thin air.”
“Dissolved into thin air?” roared Marruk, beside himself. “How can that be? Magic? Was it the Verkuzzi?”
“Well, everything indicates that she was beamed up. A space ship must have been above us,” reported Lamick meekly.
“A space ship? And how could it have happened that you didn’t notice a whole space ship above us, huh? – Who was on duty in the control room at that time?”
“Lurruk, Your Highness. But it’s not his fault, if I may be humbly permitted to make this remark. It seems that the ship was using a camouflage unfamiliar to us. Every camouflage system known to us would have been deactivated at the point of beaming up, but apparently this ship has a system that can stay active during the beaming process.”
“Ceyla?”
“Yes, My Prince?”
“I want to see all images from the last twelve hours, both the inside and outside areas. Load them onto my computer in my chambers.”
“Data transferred, My Prince. Anything else?”
“No, Ceyla, that will be all,” said Marruk, turning back to Lamick.
“What are we getting through her transmitter? Are we receiving her signal?”
Marruk’s daughter had a transmitter in her arm, implanted at birth, as with all members of the nobility, as there had been a number of abductions in the past. However, it had been peaceful for a few centuries. Marruk so wished that his daughter had not been selected.
“No, Your Highness. We’re sure to locate her signal once we’ve left the orbit. Shall I see to it that the Cordelia is prepared for take-off?“
“Immediately! I want to set off within the hour.”
Chapter 2
Kanavirius System, Xevus3
On the streets of Betzlawk
8th day of the month of Jakus in the year 7067
Federation Time
Keela felt as if she were in a science-fiction movie or in an awful dream. Some of the creatures were truly grotesque that she saw walking through the streets of Betzlawk, the main business town and capital of Xevus3, a desert planet. For example there were some that had shaggy blue fur and would have reminded Keela of the Cookie Monster on Sesame Street if it had not been for the disturbing fact that they had two heads and four arms. Other creatures had long necks that they could extend and detract, with bumps on their heads such as giraffes have. Some were lizard-like, others looked like over-sized insects. Many had humanoid bodies with greater or lesser deviations from the human race.
“What a freak show it is here!” murmured Amber behind her.
“Yes, the sight of these specimens of horror gives the words ‘suitable for pairing’ a still more awful dimension,” said Amber, horrified.
“Don’t remind me,” Keela begged her, shuddering. “I really don’t want to think about it.”
Keela could still not believe what had happened to her. Up to now she had not even believed in aliens, and now she was walking on a foreign planet through a town filled with bizarre and, in some cases, frightening aliens - not forgetting the fact that she was to be sold at a slave market to some alien race suffering from a lack of females. She would be used as a whore and a birth machine, and who knew what sort of a monster she would hatch? The very thought of it made her feel sick, and goose bumps made her shiver. Yet again she cursed herself for not accepting her friend’s offer of joining her in Miami. Dealing with the hassle of conceited, pushy beach boys suddenly seemed a lot more attractive than it did a few weeks ago. At least her parents were spared concern about her because they had both been killed in a car accident two years before. Apart from that there were just a few friends, her boss and her colleagues, Matt and Brian. They might think that she had taken herself off somewhere. In any case no one would mourn the loss of her too much.
The streets of the desert town were dusty and the sun burnt down upon the women mercilessly. Keela was horribly thirsty and she was sweating as if she were in a sauna - only she was not expecting to take a pleasant, cold shower afterwards. Most of the houses that lined the street were simple clay huts, no more than two storeys high, but there was a modern high-rise complex directly next to the spaceport where they had docked. There were hotels there, and restaurants, bars and an entertainment district.
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