by Kit Tunstall
A brawny alien six tubes down was the next one to appear on the auctioning block, and this time she watched the transport, fascinated and also frightened by the way a system of pneumatic tubes sucked the alien from his current tube and placed him in the sales tube. She hoped Zyan arrived before she had to take that ride for herself.
Whatever kind of alien he was, he must have been popular or highly sought after, because three women were soon involved in a bidding war. War seemed like the right term when one of the women jumped on the other, snatching at the hair-like extrusions coming out of the other alien’s head. Ellie didn’t know for sure that all three were women, but they had feminine appearances, with visible breasts and curvy hips. They could have been any number of genders, she supposed, but they were all clearly intent on acquiring the alien in the tube.
It took what she assumed were security people to separate the two women who were fighting, and Ellie actually laughed despite her predicament when she realized that while those two had been engaged, the third had quietly won the auction. Her mirth fled a moment later when the tube opened to disgorge the latest purchase, and the alien hit out at the nearest security agent surrounding him. It was a brief, but brutal, battle, ending with the recent acquisition stunned and being dragged away with his satisfied owner trailing behind.
Ellie had clung to the wild hope for just a moment that the slave would be able to overpower the security guards and escape, because it gave her hope she could do the same. Seeing them subdue such a large warrior-type robbed the last bit of hope she had. Besides Zyan. She was still pinning all of her hopes on him.
Four more aliens went before her, some snapped up immediately, and others requiring what she assumed was a lowering of the bid. When the last one had departed the tube, she stiffened when air suddenly filled her tube. She knew what was happening even as it sucked her up through the system, and the ride was oddly exhilarating, though the destination was anything except that.
For some reason, it was worse being on the block and subject to scrutiny. Perhaps it was because she was the sole focus of the slave buyers, when she had simply been one in a long row of other unfortunate beings even a minute ago.
She eyed the crowd, glaring at all of them. They disgusted her, and she wasn’t sure if any of them could interpret her expression, but she made sure it was obvious in her gaze and the look she cast upon all of them.
A strange silence had fallen at her appearance, even deeper than the silence that tended to rein between auctions. Every eye seemed to be on her, and she supposed she truly was an oddity, as Aladrina had claimed.
When the auctioneer started, there was a flurry of excitement. Almost every alien in the place put in a bid. Her stomach churned with fear and nausea as the bidding escalated. It took almost forty minutes for the interest to die down, finally revealing the winner of the skirmish. It was that short alien who had flashed her while she was in the tube. Nausea overwhelmed her, and she vomited before she could stop herself. With a small whirring sound, the tubes sucked away all trace of vomit, leaving her as clean as before.
The tube suddenly opened, but she was temporarily suspended by some other means for another long millisecond. Whatever was holding her finally released, and she sagged forward before stumbling out of the tube. That creature was approaching, and he was surrounded by similar beings, though most were taller than him. If she had to guess, she would assume they were his bodyguards. With six of them, along with the four security guards nearby, watchful of any attempted rebellion from the recent purchases, she knew her chances of escaping were practically nonexistent.
She still fought like hell when the bodyguards tried to pick her up. It didn’t do a lot, besides leave her tired and frazzled, and now wrapped in bands that glowed with the faint hum of energy, but at least she hadn’t gone like a sheep to slaughter.
As they moved out of the auction area, she still clung to the hope Zyan would find her. She was certain of it, so when there was a rumbling sound, followed by part of the wall disintegrating before them, she wasn’t at all surprised to see Zyan flying into the structure in his shuttle. She had just known on an instinctive level that he would find her.
The lasers on his shuttle made short work of the guards holding her, and she tumbled to the ground when they dropped her as they fell.
The alien who had purchased her scuttled forward, hooking a talon into one of the bands wrapped around her body as he dragged her back. She wanted to struggle, but the bands kept her completely immobile. She just concentrated on breathing deeply and kept her gaze focused on Zyan’s shuttle. Her heart skipped a beat in her excitement when he pulled the shuttle the rest of the way through the opening he had made.
It was fascinating to see the structure repair the hull breach, but her attention was mostly focused on Zyan as he opened the shuttle and stepped out. He carried the largest gun she’d ever seen, and when he focused it on the alien trying to drag her away, she was only slightly ashamed to feel a surge of dark glee at the thought of the thing meeting its end.
Despite her brief moment of bloodlust, the reality of the huge gun’s ammunition colliding with the alien’s flesh was enough to make her want to vomit again. The alien went flying, and in multiple pieces in every direction. Gore painted the walls around them in the corridor, but she tried to ignore it as Zyan reached her.
He used his wrist device to free the bands enshrouding her, and then she sprang to her feet with more energy than she’d expected to have after the ordeal. She didn’t wait for anything before throwing herself into Zyan’s arms. She peppered kisses across his face, but only after he lifted her high enough to do so. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face against his neck. “I knew you’d come for me. How did you manage it?”
“It’s a strange story, and I’ll tell you later, when we’re safe.”
She nodded “I think I saw Aladrina back at the auction. She was off to the side with a smaller group, and I assume they’re the former owners of the people they’re selling.” Distaste laced her words.
“I’ll worry about getting her later. Right now, I want you safe.”
Ellie was surprised at herself when she said, “No, we’re getting her now. She’s a menace, and she has to be stopped. They all do.”
He still looked uncertain. “I’d feel better having you out of here. I can’t bear to lose you again. She’s not that important.”
Ellie shook her head. “I disagree. We have to stop her. We have to stop this whole thing if we can.”
He looked skeptical. “I don’t see how we can bring down the entire slave trade.”
“Maybe not the whole industry, but we can put a wrench in today’s auction and free as many of the slaves as possible.” She shot a rueful glance down her naked form. “Though I’d prefer to do it with clothes, if you have any that would work?”
In spite of the seriousness of the moment, he gave her a small smile. “I prefer you in this form, but I’m sure I have something we can make work. We need to hurry though, because the alarms have surely detected our presence by now. Blasting a hole in the side of the ship to get in wouldn’t have gone unnoticed.”
She glanced around, allowing curiosity to temporarily derail her. “This is a ship? I thought it was a structure somewhere, like on an alien planet.”
“No, it’s just a large vessel, and it makes sense if you think about it. With a portable slave ship, they can have their auctions anywhere and move with little notice.”
She followed him back into the shuttle, accepting the body armor he extended. She required his assistance to put it on, but she was pleasantly surprised to find it conformed to her body, naturally shrinking to fit. Otherwise, it would have been ridiculously large if it was calibrated only to his size. It was certainly formfitting, but at least it covered her assets with the fine khaki mesh, and she was satisfied.
Zyan extended a smaller gun to her, though still large by her standards. It was surprisingly light, and it was easy e
nough to use. She didn’t get a chance to actually fire it inside the shuttle, but his instructions made it sounds simple, and once she was familiar with how to engage and disengage the safety, he deemed her ready.
“I still think this might be a bad idea,” said Zyan as they stepped off the shuttle again, moving cautiously this time.
“Maybe so,” said Ellie, bringing up her gun and flicking off the safety as they faced a half-circle of security guards surrounding their shuttle. “But we have to do something. It wouldn’t be right to walk away from this and let it happen, or let Aladrina escape so she can start all her criminal activities again.” As she spoke, Ellie fired her gun, taking out several of the security guards. She was certain they were dead, and while she felt some remorse at having to take lives, she felt a bigger surge of satisfaction at the idea of bringing down this slave ship.
She and Zyan worked their way through the corridors, relying on schematics provided by his wrist device to guide them to Central Control. They encountered several guards, but pushed through them all. So far, their only injury was a laser burn to Zyan’s shoulder, which he assured her had been little more than a superficial wound. He seemed to be moving fine, and that arm was still as flexible as the other, so she tried not to worry too much about his injury at the moment.
His wrist device helped them gain access through the security system, and she provided cover while he fiddled with the controls. When the door opened, they slid under, rolling inside the command center as shots fired over their heads.
They hadn’t really discussed a plan, and Ellie had been following Zyan’s lead. When he started shooting the equipment around them, along with staff, she followed suit. “I sort of expected you to initiate self-destruction or something.”
He gave her a puzzled look. “Why would a ship have a self-destruct sequence?”
It was her turn to shrug. “I don’t know. It’s an expectation ingrained in my society.”
He shook his head. “Such a device could easily be used against the owners of the ship. What a strange idea.”
She looked at the destruction they had wrought, pleased by the klaxons signaling major problems all over the ship. “Will this be enough to make it crash?”
He looked at his wrist device before nodding. “The ship is already losing altitude. That means we need to rescue as many of the slaves as possible and get out of here before we crash with the ship.”
When they exited the control room, they found pandemonium. Life forms of all types were streaming through the corridors, clearly intent on escaping. Ellie and Zyan were fighting their way through the horde, resolved to reach the area the buyers were abandoning.
It happened so abruptly that Ellie almost had no memory of it later. She saw Aladrina running toward her, and she brought up her gun and fired without thought. With a shocked expression, Aladrina slumped to the floor as the crowd around her made no allowance for her fallen body. They simply ran over her. If the shot hadn’t killed her, surely the trampling had, but Ellie slowed down just enough to make sure.
Zyan was right behind her as they shoved their way through the group to snag Aladrina by the tail. He seemed to have little trouble dragging her to the side, where not so many people were crashing their way through. He ran his sensor over her before looking down at Ellie. “She’s dead.”
“Good,” said Ellie with a surge of satisfaction. “I didn’t even think about it. I just fired, but I’m not sorry.” She said the last part with a hint of defiance, half-expecting Zyan to chastise her.
“She certainly had it coming, but we’ve breached protocols. There will be disciplinary action, I fear.”
Ellie straightened her shoulders. “I’m the one who shot her, and I’m not part of your alliance, so how did you break any protocols?”
He frowned, looking stern. “I wouldn’t allow you to face my punishment.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s hardly your punishment when I’m the one who killed the bitch. We’ll deal with it later, but we need to get the slaves free now.” She looked down at Aladrina’s body. “You think anyone will take this thing if we leave it here for now?”
Zyan laughed. “I highly doubt it.”
Together, they moved through the corridor, finding the crowd had thinned out in the last few minutes. They reached the large antechamber where the auction had been held, finding only slaves remaining. Ellie was angry all over again that no one had bothered to free these people, and she was thankful for Zyan’s device that quickly hacked into the system and released the locks on the tubes.
Aliens spilled out, and Zyan started speaking. Some of them clearly understood, but others didn’t. Ellie waved her arms to encourage them to follow her, hoping they would remember she had previously been among them. Most of them either decided to trust her, or they had no other options, because they joined Zyan and Ellie as they fled the auction room and headed back through the corridors.
Several steered clear and moved away from them when Zyan paused long enough to grab Aladrina by the tail and drag her behind them, but none of them refused to board the shuttle when Zyan unlocked its security system a few minutes later. Several buyers surged forward, trying to cram into the overloaded vessel as well, and Ellie took pleasure in bringing up her gun to gesture them back.
She would have liked to shoot them, but there really wasn’t justification to do so. They were going to die anyway when the ship crashed, so she’d have to content herself with them getting karmic justice that way. Briefly, she wondered when she’d become so bloodthirsty, but decided the metamorphosis had occurred sometime during her stint as a specimen locked in that tube.
Since the slavers’ ship had healed its hull breach, Zyan had to make a new one, blasting his way through the hull before the shuttle entered open space. He moved them away as rapidly as possible, and they hit ionospace just as the ship behind them exploded in a fiery barrage. Ellie grinned and joined in when several of the slaves around her made sounds she assumed were cheers of delight.
After that, she moved to Zyan, curling up on his lap. “How did you find me?”
He looked around at the chaos in his shuttle before replying. “Now isn’t the time for that conversation. I need to get us to the nearest Alliance outpost, so we can get these people processed and hopefully returned to their regular lives, and I can answer for that.” He jerked his head in the pertinent direction. That referred to Aladrina’s body stored carelessly in the corner. There was nowhere else to put her on the small ship.
She didn’t argue, but she was determined not to let Zyan face charges, or other disciplinary actions, for her. She had been the one to kill Aladrina, and she would claim it proudly. Since she was not part of their alliance, she shouldn’t fall under their rules anyway.
She stayed curled against him, falling into a deep sleep shortly after that conversation. She felt safe once more, and she never wanted Zyan’s arms away from her again.
Chapter Seven
Zyan kept a close eye on the navigational system, ensuring they were still on track for the nearest Alliance outpost. He couldn’t get there soon enough, though he dreaded what they might say when they realized Aladrina had been summarily executed without following their protocols. For the first time, it struck him as ludicrous that there were protocols in place for executing someone. In the circumstances, when she had been such a great risk and had already escaped one transport, the order should have been to shoot on sight. If he had the opportunity, he intended to register that idea with the Alliance.
For now, he was content to hold his mate. He liked the sound of that. If they weren’t surrounded by strange lifeforms, he would have already claimed her as his. There was just nowhere to get any privacy with the shuttle packed full of life, as it was at the moment. That was another reason he looked forward to reaching the outpost. Even facing disciplinary actions, he would likely be assigned quarters for the night, and he intended to ensure Ellie shared them with him.
She stirred in his arms a
few minutes before they were due to reach the outpost. The ship had automatically dropped out of ionospace, and he suspected that had been what woke her. She had a sleepy expression, and her plump lips were softly parted. He was unable to resist the urge to bend down and press his lips to hers. The kiss was gentle, because he held in the hunger he felt for her, knowing he couldn’t risk losing control at the moment. He didn’t want to mate with her for the first time in front of an audience.
“I need to call the Hub.”
He arched a brow. “What’s the Hub?”
“It’s like a big space station, and it’s where we launch our missions from, and where I live. I need to report in to GeoCorp to let them know I’m alive—if they care.”
He had the briefest urge to tell her no and refuse access to the radio, simply because he didn’t want her to make contact with her people again. That might lead her to wanting to return to them, and he didn’t know how he would bear that after Freydon Rote’s revelation that she was his mate. On some level, he’d already known that, he was sure, and the idea of being parted from her was intolerable.
Pushing aside that selfish urge, he helped her set up his radio system, finding the frequency for her.
“Dahlia, this is Ellie Wright. I’m all right.”
A frantic sounding voice answered. “Ellie, where are you? We sent a rescue team to the planet, but all we found was debris from some strange craft that had already crashed. It certainly wasn’t one of ours. We think it was alien.” She sounded excited by the prospect.
“It was, and it’s a long story. I’ll report in with a full debriefing soon, but I wanted to let you know there’s no reason to keep searching. I’m fine for now.”
“Honey, Thorson called off the search hours ago. He said it was a waste of resources.” Her voice throbbed with anger.
Ellie seemed to accept that with equanimity. “I’m not at all surprised. If you get a chance, just pass along the information that I’m still alive. Someone might care.” She ended with a careless laugh.