by Maia Starr
“What’s wrong with it?” I exclaimed.
“It’s so small! And it smells funny. Do you have anything bigger?”
“No, unless you feel like sharing my bedroom.”
“Ew. No. This will just have to do, I guess.”
I pursed my lips and retreated from the room.
“I expect you to listen and obey the rules of the house,” I called as I headed to the kitchen. “I have a keeper of house and home who comes by every afternoon, and she has promised to look after you while I’m away.”
“Are you gone a lot?” the human said hopefully.
I didn’t dignify it with an answer, and soon she came out from the bedroom I had assigned to her. Sure, it was a little cluttered, but I didn’t know what she meant about a smell. Were all humans this offensive?
“I’m hungry,” she said with a pout. “Since I’m basically your pet now, do you plan to feed and water me too?”
Pet?
“I don’t understand what you mean,” I said. “But I will prepare a meal now. I am also hungry.”
She sat down at the table glumly and I began to work in silence.
“Ew, what’s that?” she exclaimed when I opened a jar of O’klati.
“It’s good for you,” I said with a sigh. I had a feeling that I had made a huge mistake in choosing this human. And now we were stuck with each other for the rest of our lives. I didn’t even know her name.
“It smells weird.”
“Does everything smell weird to you?”
“No…don’t you guys have like, pizza or something?”
Everybody throughout the galaxy was vaguely aware of the pizza phenomenon that had taken over Earth. The food that humans willingly ate was poison, pure and simple, and yet they consumed it gleefully. Didn’t humans care about the truth? Did they even care about themselves? What had Commander Arkti been thinking when he chose to bring these self-destructive creatures here?
“We do not have pizza, and you are lucky that you don’t have it anymore either.” The human pouted, but I ignored it. “What’s your name, anyway?”
She was silent for a moment, and then halted herself before she spoke. It was strange, as if she were hoping to hide something.
“Sa…So, my name is Alexa,” she said, batting her eyes falsely at me. “When will the food be ready?”
“Now,” I sighed, and served Alexa the first meal we would share in my home.
***
“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Zod was saying. “There’s something off about her. I just don’t like my human!”
I tried to tune him out as we stood in line together for tickets to the celebration that night. It was customary to thank the gods for the safe return of Thressl’n ships from space, and Supreme Leader Aloitus had chosen to move the festivities up earlier to coincide with Captain Zod’s delivery of the second batch of humans.
Usually the celebrations didn’t happen until about a week after everybody had settled in, safe and sound. Apparently, it only mattered if Zod was settled in. The fact that I had arrived first was more of a fluke.
“Aren’t they supposed to serve us? They are here to save the Thressl’n race, after all. You would think that they would show us some respect!”
“Yeah,” I agreed begrudgingly. The human I had selected had spent the entire night acting like every single thing I did to make her comfortable in my home was the biggest inconvenience that she could ever endure. “Humans are rude.”
“They’re more than just rude!” Zod exclaimed. “They are pure savages! Do you know the first thing my human said to me after I brought her home and tried to get her to sleep in my bed?”
“No,” I said noncommittally, disturbed by the idea that Zod would try to force his human to move so quickly. That was in poor taste, in my opinion. Still, even if she wanted to, I wasn’t sure I would let the human in my home share my bed after the night I’d had with her.
“She said that I was the most repulsive creature she had ever seen, and that she would rather die than be my mate. You know what else she said? She said that she felt sorry for me for thinking that everything worthwhile in life could be stolen!”
I pursed my lips in a strong effort not to laugh. The idea of anybody having the nerve to say things like that to Zod, of all people, who had been spoiled beyond repair and always cheated to get what he wanted, was frankly delightful.
“That human’s going to regret her choice of words though, by the time I’m through with her,” Zod said with a grin. “She spent the night in the cellar. Maybe I’ll starve her until she learns some respect.”
“Zod, I don’t think—”
But I was cut off by the Thressl’n man in charge of the ticket booth, and Zod tuned me out as he collected his tickets to the banquet.
“I had been thinking of taking her with me to celebrate,” Zod said, walking away from me and shaking his head. “But she can forget that!”
I dissolved into silent laughter once Zod was safely at a distance, and exchanged a knowing look with the man behind the ticket counter. Zod was well-known for his hot temper and poor attitude. Nobody could fathom why the Supreme Leader had taken such a liking to him. In fact, it was alarming, and as much as I tried to stay positive, the truth seemed impossible to ignore. Corruption was in the air.
Unfortunately, I was Commander of the Fleet, and if anything did end up happening to shift the power in the Thressl’n government, chances were that my position would be highly compromised.
Not only was I already being stationed to lead the Thressl’n troops involved in the conflict at the far end of the C’loggh galaxy, but with overt tolerance of the Vellreq, my job would turn very dangerous.
The Thressl’n thought that we were fighting the Vellreq, but more and more it seemed that we were helping them to take over Kalron. Unfortunately, the Vellreq were winning in their quest for dominance, and their influence was spreading darkly throughout the universe.
I could only hope that somehow, we would stop the Vellreq in time, before any lasting damage could be done that might put an end to Thressl’n society once and for all.
Chapter 3
Alexa Thomas (Investigative Journalist)
I woke up shivering on the floor of the cold cellar where Zod had deposited me. He had completely lost his mind after I refused to sleep with him. At first, I was afraid he might force me to do it anyway, but instead, he went off on a rant about how nobody respected him and how he would give everybody what they deserved one of these days.
When he was finished yelling, he struck me hard, and then studied my face gleefully before he did it again. I was powerless against his strength, and he showed no intention of holding back. By the time Zod dragged me to the cellar, my head was aching. I had never encountered a more violent, tempestuous man before in all my life, and hoped to never again.
But he was bound to return. This was his home, after all. What was I going to do?
My heart pounded in fear when I heard the hissing of the doorway. Zod’s heavy footsteps padded across the floor, and I closed my eyes, wishing with everything I had that he would just forget I was there and leave me alone.
The cellar door creaked open, and I squeezed my eyes closed. I couldn’t take much more of this man’s cruelty. My head was aching, and I was pretty sure that I was in need of some kind of medical attention.
“Human, come here.”
I scrambled to my feet at the sound of Zod’s voice, and although I was reluctant to go toward him willingly, I was more afraid of what would happen to me if I didn’t.
“Good. Would you like to join me for an event tonight?” Zod asked, his cold metallic eyes boring into mine. My heart dropped in my stomach, but I had to stay strong.
“What kind of an event?” I asked coyly. “I don’t have anything to wear but what I have on right now.”
I glanced down at my top, which was stained with dried blood.
“Well don’t you worry about that,” Zod sai
d with a bright smile. I recoiled but managed to compose myself before he looked back into my eyes. “I’ve got just the thing.”
“Thank you, my lord,” I said, choking the words out. It was the way he had instructed I greet him, and I figured I’d better oblige if I didn’t want another beating.
“I think you’re going to be just the prettiest little thing in this dress,” Zod said, turning around to rummage in a bag I hadn’t noticed he had sat down behind himself. He pulled out a beautiful gown, rippling with colors I had never before seen on Earth. It was breathtaking. “Why don’t you try it on?”
“Yes, my lord,” I said, avoiding his eyes as he offered the dress to me. “Thank you.”
I could feel his gaze burning into my back as I disappeared into his washing room to put on the gown. How could things possibly get any more bizarre?
***
Zod was quiet as he drove his hovercraft through the air, and I took the chance to take in my surroundings. Nothing could possibly look fun and magical now, not after my horrible experience at the mercy of Zod. Still, the planet Jenal’k was rife with beauty, and the gown Zod had given me protected me from the suffocating heat of the planet’s three overbearing suns. Zod’s voice suddenly broke into my thoughts.
“You will need to be on your best behavior when attending the event tonight. There are going to be some very important people there. Many of them don’t have a human of their own yet, so you’d better behave yourself. When I ask you a question, you better answer me without any hesitation. When I ask you to do something, you had better do it. Is that understood?”
“Yes, my lord,” I said, trying to keep the sigh out of my voice. How the hell had I gotten into a situation like this? I was an independent woman. I had worked hard my whole life to excel at my career and become one of the most prominent investigative journalists of our time. Everybody knew my work, even if they didn’t know my name.
I had spoken time and again about the dangers of negative attitudes toward women and the men who treated them as servile objects. How had I found myself right in the middle of such a situation? What had I done to deserve this?
***
“Welcome, Captain Zod. And…”
“This is my human,” Zod said quickly. He hadn’t bothered to ask my name, or anything else about me. All that seemed to matter to him was that I was his.
“Welcome, human. We sincerely hope you enjoy the festivities of the night.”
The man who greeted us stared at me, his rust-colored eyes flashing with curiosity. It was almost as if he had never seen a woman before. Well, maybe he hadn’t. At least not a woman from Earth.
An unfamiliar voice suddenly spoke from behind me in Thressl’n, and my translation device worked lazily to translate for me.
“Greetings, Zod! Welcome!”
“Supreme Leader Aloitus! What an honor. Everything looks amazing!”
It was true. We had walked into the entrance of a lush garden covered by a marquee. The lighting under the tents was ethereal and golden, giving everybody a glow that almost made the race of strange extraterrestrials look beautiful. Tables and tables filled to the brim with delicious smelling foods lined the walls, and my stomach grumbled involuntarily.
“Don’t you feed that thing, Zod?” Supreme Leader Aloitus joked.
Zod glared down at me, but laughed a little too hard at the Supreme Leader’s joke.
“Of course. But it’s been a few hours between meals. You know how busy my schedule has been. And humans couldn’t find their way around a Thressl’n kitchen if Yulso’n Vetch himself were there!”
Supreme Leader Aloitus laughed boisterously, and I glowered, feeling a bit insulted on behalf of my people. But if it meant I would get to taste one of the foods emitting such a delicious aroma, I would stay quiet.
“I placed you and your guest closest to the stage,” Supreme Leader Aloitus said, holding his arm out to usher us to the table. “I hope you enjoy the evening.”
“Of course!” Zod exclaimed. “It’s an honor to be here, sir.”
“Yes, it is an honor to have you and your female,” Supreme Leader Aloitus said, bowing graciously.
Zod bowed deeply, and nudged me hard in the side when I didn’t bow as well. I dropped my head forward, gritting my teeth in a mixture of pain and frustration. How was I going to live with this man? Would I even survive it?
“Sit, human! Have you no manners?”
Zod barked the command at me in English, and I sat down heavily in my seat. We were a few feet away from a platform with a podium and a microphone on it, and before long, a plate of food was placed in front of me.
I looked up, hoping to thank whoever had given it to me, but they had already disappeared into the crowd.
“Well, eat!” Zod exclaimed, casting a sidelong glance at Supreme Leader Aloitus, who was making his rounds and greeting people in the crowd.
My gaze settled suddenly on the kind man from the ship. What was he doing there? Beside him was a human woman, though the Thressl’n man’s broad chest was blocking my view of her. When he bowed to Aloitus, my heart panged. Samantha.
It took all I had not to get up and run to her.
“Alexa?” Sam mouthed, catching my eye briefly before she was led away by the man from the ship.
Nausea swept over me. All I wanted to do was talk to my sister.
“I said eat!” Zod said menacingly into my ear.
I gripped my utensil, something between a tongue depressor and a measuring spoon, and scooped the first bite of food into my mouth. It tasted better than I expected, and my mouth was suddenly alive with the flavors of Thressl’n cooking for the first time. It was delicious. But I could tell from the looks of the meal that my twin would probably have a much harder time choking it down. She preferred not to eat over eating things she decided looked “funky,” so I guessed that right about then, whether she had been offered food at the handsome Commander’s house or not, she was just as hungry as I was.
“Zod, welcome!” Zod soon became swept up in conversation, and I took the opportunity to scan the room. Samantha and the Commander were placed at the table to my far right, and Sam’s head was craned toward me, her serious eyes staring me down. She looked angry about something, but there was no way to find out what it was. Perhaps the Commander, despite his gentle voice, had actually been a tyrant at heart who was just as bad as Zod.
“Welcome Thressl’n and Earthlings!”
The stage in front of us suddenly had a man in long metallic robes standing behind the podium, and he smiled genially at the three tables in front of him, ignoring the countless other tables behind them. The truth was that it was a huge event, but it was obvious who the most important people there were.
“It has been ages since the last time we got to celebrate the success of a command fleet returning to Jenal’k. I can’t remember the last time we’ve traveled outside the C’loggh galaxy! But our prizes were worth the danger. Now, we can say beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Thressl’n will once again rise up and overcome the challenges that face us!”
The Thressl’n in the tent began to cheer uproariously, standing from their chairs and waving their hands in the air.
“I would like to bestow a special honor on one of the great men who made the success of this mission possible.”
The crowd fell silent, many of them with their hands still dangling in the air.
“Captain Zod Thassle. Would you please come up to the stage?”
The crowd began roaring with applause again and I couldn’t help but be surprised. What could Zod have possibly done to earn such an honor? I had half expected the Commander to be summoned.
I glanced at Samantha again, who looked at me meaningfully. She wanted me to go to her. I looked nervously up at Zod, who had quickly climbed the stage and was beaming smugly out at the crowd. This might be my only chance to talk to her.
I got up quickly and snaked through the crowd of cheering Thressl’n, making my way to Sam�
�s table. I hid behind a group of bulky Thressl’n men and heard Samantha’s voice say, “Where’s the ladies’ room. You know. Where do I pee!?”
Then the familiar feeling of her impatient hand gripping my wrist and pulling me through the crowd almost made me cry. My twin and I were nothing alike, but I had missed her terribly, and even the most irritating of her habits was welcome.
“In here,” Sam said quickly. We ducked into an opening I had nearly overlooked and disappeared from the crowd.
***
“This is so unfair!” Sam exclaimed.
I was a little taken aback. I guess I had hoped that my sister would have embraced me or asked me if I was okay. But it was true. Being abducted was unfair.
“I know,” I said. “I—”
“What do you mean you know? I’m the one with the raw deal here. You get the handsome guy who’s getting awarded? I bet his house is like, way bigger than the one I’m stuck in. And it probably doesn’t smell any better, but at least the draft might make it a little less obvious.”
Samantha thought Zod was handsome? Now I had heard everything.
“Samantha, what are you—”
“Seriously, Alexa. Switch with me. I cannot stand another minute living with this guy! He’s such a freak!”
“You don’t want Zod, Sam, really. He—”
“This is just like you!” Samantha cried, her diva voice shining through. “You always get everything better than me and act like you’re the victim here. Well, I’m not going to take it, Alexa. Switch with me! Or I swear to god, I will never speak to you again.”
“Samantha, seriously, stop. You don’t want to switch with me. Just stay with the one you’ve got. Zod is not what you think. When I was there he—”
“Just shut up, Alexa. I should have known. You’d rather keep him for yourself than keep your sister in your life. I see how it is.”
“Fine!” I suddenly shouted, surprising both of us. “If you want Zod so badly, you can take him!” I stripped the gown off and threw it at Samantha, and she grinned, the self-satisfied look on her face nearly making me want to punch her in the face.