Ensnared Bride

by Yamila Abraham

  He bowed his head to her.

  Chapter 8

  Javintore continued to hold her chastely in his arms when they went to bed over the next few days. She felt no apprehension when she was with him. His caresses were always a flutter-inducing pleasure. They kissed now and again, with the same degree of passion as before. Javintore never took things further.

  Part of her started to wish he would. She caught her eyes dancing over his gorgeously chiseled body more than once.

  She saw her face begin to grow rounder. Her sheepishness began to lessen also. One evening Javintore sat working at his console. Monica found herself slinking up behind his chair, and then curling her arms around his thick shoulders.

  “Whatcha doing?” she asked.

  The alien snatched her and pulled her onto his ample lap. Monica couldn’t hold back a joyful giggle.

  Later on Javintore took her out of their quarters to see the bridge and the dutiful robots piloting the ship. After that he opened his most present robot’s head and let her see the sophisticated circuitry.

  “You can keep adding to the different neural pathways by putting amplifier chips in this subsection. I’m going to make him more polite.”

  “You don’t think he’s polite enough?” she asked.

  “He can do better. He’s the robot I have seeing to you.”

  Knowing the upgrade was for her made her gush with warmth inside. She also adored seeing Javintore’s eyes light up with such excitement. He had skills that most Hax-Rah lacked. Monica sneaked glances at him as he worked.

  The most brilliant Hax-Rah in the Empire—and I’m with him. She sighed.

  On the day when they were to meet the battleship, a robot brought her another fresh set of clothes. This time they seemed to be an alien design rather than the last few Earth-style outfits: a long heavy black skirt with large pleats that alternated from soft fabric to a kind of leather, a close-fitting black leather bodice, and a short black jacket.

  She gaped at herself in the mirror once she had it on. She looked like an alien princess.

  The robot who Javintore referred to as Zinotem came in and brought her clips for her hair. Javintore entered after him when he saw she was dressed. His eyes drank in every vampish feature.

  “You look stunning.”

  Monica demurred with her head turned downward. “Thank you.”

  He told her how he wanted her hair to be pulled up. It was given body on top, while tendrils flowed loose in back. Javintore put in a few clips himself. His nearness, and the feeling of him toying with her hair, made her grow flushed. She had to steady herself on the sink when her legs weakened.

  Yes, she was still a swooning sixteen-year-old underneath all her trauma. Monica didn’t chide herself. She had to be with him no matter what, right? Why not have a crush on him.

  He presented her some plum colored lipstick. Once on, she truly felt vampish. Her dark lips were striking on the pale skin of her face.

  Javintore kissed the side of her neck. “Luscious.”

  Ungh! Oh my God, Monica, get a hold of yourself.

  “We’re near the battleship. We’ll take a shuttle now.”

  Monica’s heart thrummed. She realized she was a tight bundle of nerves.

  Javintore glanced at her during their shuttle ride.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just…I don’t know how I’m supposed to act.”

  A deep furrow formed between his brows. “It’s too much for you.”

  She blinked. “What? No, Javintore. I’ll be fine as long as you’re there.”

  “You force yourself to do things you’re not ready for just to please me.”

  Monica frowned. Hearing this truth frustrated her.

  “You know, I’m allowed to want to please you. It’s okay for me to stretch myself sometimes. I’m a big girl and I know what I can handle. You’ve been great to me—better than I ever thought I had the right to expect. If I want to give a little back then that’s my choice. Don’t deprive me of the chance to please you.”

  He smiled while glancing at her. His large hand took her smaller one into his lap.

  “Well said.”

  She felt proud of herself. These were the words of someone who no longer felt like a victim.

  “You don’t have to be worried. The Gen-lord won’t have the chip for your language.” (She’d learned that they put language chips in an implant at the base of their skulls.) “You won’t have to talk to him. Just be present.”

  She should have assumed this, but now she realized she’d have no idea what was going on. Javintore had never explained his mission to her. She felt scared to ask. What if it was the normal Hax-Rah horribleness? She preferred to keep her idealized impression of Javintore.

  The ship docked with a clang. Monica exited behind Javintore into a bay far darker than the one on Javintore’s ship. Each tile of the wall looked like it was covered in black grease. There were massive ships in the bay, all heavy with blasters and bombs. The sleek four-winged vehicles were large enough for pilots—unlike Javintore’s drones.

  Four Hax-Rah men came to meet them. One of them was wearing what looked like a sparkling blue king’s robe over his hulking muscles. He had a white mane of hair and a face covered in deep wrinkles. The rest of the men stood behind the first alien with their arms crossed over their exposed chests. Their uniform was the black shoulder mantle and low-slung black pants she’d first seen Javintore wear.

  Her master approached the ‘king’, whom Monica assumed was the Gen-lord. He moved aside to reveal Monica behind him. She heard him say her name after a line of the alien language.

  The elder Gen-lord gaped at her with what she thought was an expression of anger. Then he turned away and muttered something. His spoke to Javintore with an even tone with his eyes looking everywhere except at Javintore’s face. He swept his robe and led them through the bay, gesturing with his large arm to different ships they passed. Monica followed dutifully at her master’s side. He placed his arm around her when they paused on a mezzanine. The Gen-lord noticed this and halted his tour for several awkward moments of staring. Monica felt his eyes peeling off the layers of her clothes. She drew her body against Javintore’s side.

  They continued to an elevator that careened her from side to side and made her stomach lurch. It opened to a conference room. An oval black metal table took most of the space with some bulky machinery at its center. The Gen-lord sat at the head of the table where there was an embedded console. His men sat on one side of him; Monica and Javintore sat across from them.

  After a great deal of talking that made her eyes glaze over, the king started tapping buttons in his console. A hologram appeared above the equipment in the middle of the table. The Gen-lord continued speaking throughout the demonstration.

  Monica saw what looked like a fat striped slug swimming with undulations of its body. The view panned out to reveal hundreds of slugs. They were swimming through space, not water. A planet that looked like Earth, except with green oceans, took over the view. A group of emaciated slaves seated on the ground were shown. Monica’s lips parted. Most of the slaves were pink creatures with elongated necks, but several humans were in the mix.

  The slugs rained on them. They dove for their heads, and then burned their way into their skulls as though their bodies emitted acid. Monica cringed. Each shrieking slave had a slug lodged into their heads with their fat striped tails squirming just outside.

  An electrified net came over the entire group. It closed around them, drawing the now stupefied slaves closer together until their bodies crushed into each other.

  The next scene was of a small ship towing the bundle of worms and bodies in the net through space. It headed toward the swirling corona of a black hole. Then it was stretched and sucked into the abyss, net bundle and all.

  The Gen-lord shut off the demonstration. He stopped speaking to look at Javintore.

  Her master said a few calm, level words. The Gen-lord spat somethi
ng belligerent back to him. Javintore continued his argument without raising his voice. The Gen-lord stood and slammed his fist on the table, denting it. He now shouted. Javintore continued, speaking over the Gen-lord since he could barely get a word in.

  The Gen-lord finally dropped back into his chair. He was panting with his clenched teeth bared. Then, suddenly, he started laughing. His yellow eyes grew wild. He bellowed with the ferocious laugh several moments while Javintore waited. Then he darted narrow eyes at him.

  This time when he spoke he gestured towards Monica.

  Javintore shouted for the first time. It was three angry words projected with the power of a battering ram.

  The Gen-lord’s smile erased. He gave a low growl before answering. Monica ached to no what he was saying. Each sentenced seemed to amplify the anger in Javintore’s face.

  He stood up with a jolt that startled Monica. His hand nudged her arm to make her stand also. Javintore replied to the Gen-lord with threatening alien words. He led her to the elevator.

  One of the Gen-lord’s men ran after them. He zipped into the elevator just before the door closed. Monica’s heart raced. She thought it was an attack. Javintore’s cool angry demeanor reassured her.

  The man spoke to Javintore with plaintive words. His hands turned up and his shoulders shrugged. The Mek-lord responded with level anger, but the man continued. He tapped the keypad on the elevator. Monica saw Javintore bow his head.

  They exited into an expansive open area where there was an iron bench. The Gen-lord’s man stayed behind in the elevator.

  Hax-Rah soldiers were entering and exiting different elevators or doors in the black tiled walls around them. Three open levels were visible. Monica was reminded of a hotel lobby with balconies.

  Javintore sat on the nearest bench. She quickly moved to sit beside him.

  His anger was still palpable, infecting the handsome features of his face. Monica kept her lips sealed.

  “The pig wants me to give you to him in order to get my way.”

  She felt like a hand reached into her chest and squeezed her heart. All she could do was stare at him with her eyes open wide.

  No. Please no.

  “I refused. I said you were my bride.”

  She took a deep breath. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

  “The parasites you saw can’t be destroyed. All we can do is trap them and send them black holes. A herd is heading for a Hax-Rah world. We need to trap them on one of the uninhabited planets before they get there or our people will get infected. The Gen-lord uses slaves as bait. I’m sick of doing it that way. It’s…cruel.”

  Monica swallowed. The vision of the slaves getting their skulls melted was burned into her mind’s eye.

  “I built a squadron of robots who are disguised as sentient aliens and can give off carbon so they appear to be biological organisms. I want to use them for bait instead of the slaves.”

  She pursed her lips. “That’s so much better.”

  “He doesn’t want to risk failing to trap the parasites if my plan doesn’t work.”

  Monica grimaced. She hated to admit it was a valid concern. Still—weren’t those slaves lives worth just as much as the ones on the Hax-Rah planet? Her chest began to ache. How could such a horrifying thing be going on? She wished she’d stayed ignorant.

  “Are you saying the only way he’ll change his mind is if you give me to him?”

  “Stop.” His gaze turned stony. “I’ll never give you to him. I’ll find another way.”

  She began to tear the skin at her cuticles. “What if he just kills you and takes me? I mean—I thought you two were going to start fighting up there.”

  Javintore scoffed. “He’d be insane to kill me. I’m the only Mek-lord in the Empire. He’s just the pathetic Gen-lord to a single battleship. I could make a hundred armies the size of his battalion. If he kills me he’ll face execution by tr’sark. All 50,000 of his men will be ordered to commit suicide for his disgrace.”

  Woah.

  “If you have so much clout can’t you just go over his head?”

  “High Command doesn’t give a damn about the lives of a few thousand slaves. The Alliance already called the practice ‘a necessary sacrifice,’ and the Empire sees no point in changing a system that works. My only chance was to get a Gen-lord to go along with my plan so I could prove we didn’t need to waste anymore slaves.”

  Monica bundled her fists together. His mission was noble—and yet it didn’t look like he had a chance. Slaves were going to die horrible deaths when it could probably be avoided.

  She was a slave just like them only a few days ago.

  Tears ran down both sides of her face.

  Javintore wrapped a strong arm around her. As always she became enshrouded by the strength he projected. She nuzzled against his side.

  “We’re waiting because his high-major said he was going to try to reason with him.”

  Monica snuffled. “You think he’ll get through to him?”

  Javintore was silent. When she peeked up at him he’d turned away.

  Chapter 9

  They waited for hours despite the lack of hope. Eventually the Gen-lord and his men came out of the elevator behind them. Javintore stood with her. She didn’t like the evil grin on the Gen-lord’s face.

  When he approached he looked at her rather than Javintore.

  “Monica…” All she understood was her name, but his tone sounded chiding, as though he was scolding a child.

  Javintore responded with sharp angry words. His jaw clenched and his lower lip trembled. The Gen-lord turned to him, continuing to smile cruelly. He gestured to Monica as he spoke. Javintore now barked his response to him. The Gen-lord matched his shouting. This went on for minutes, then Javintore grabbed her hand and marched to the elevator. The Gen-lord gave a bellowing laugh as they went. He shouted one final threatening sentence. Javintore didn’t look back.

  Javintore gave the elevator a command in their language. He said nothing more until they exited in the bay and were back on their shuttle. After communicating through the console for a moment the craft jostled into movement. Monica presumed they were returning to their ship.

  Javintore dropped into the seat beside her. His face had darkened. She ached to know what was going on, but didn’t dare speak.

  An electronic voice said something in the Hax-Rah language (she’d heard the same when they were first docking). Whatever it indicated seemed to calm Javintore. He exhaled a deep breath through is nostrils.

  “He called High Command to find out how I’d gotten a human bride.”

  Monica peeked at him.

  “They said you were a wanted criminal—that they were looking for you.”

  Her lips parted.

  “We’re being tracked down by my superiors. He would have held us on his ship—if he dared. His rank is too low compared to mine.” Javintore ground his teeth a moment. “He says there’s a message waiting for me from High Command to remain in this space. The Gen-lord said he’s going to guard us.”

  She shook her head slowly. The nightmarish implications had yet to permeate her mind. “What about the…parasites?”

  He went silent a few moments. Then he tipped up his chin. “I’m going to take care of both our problems.”

  The shuttle docked back in their ship. Monica felt relieved too see clean light gray tiles. They went into their customary elevator. When it opened at their destination Monica realized they were on the bridge.

  Javintore shouted to his robot pilots in the Hax-Rah language. The large shouldered automatons began flipping levers and pressing buttons. Javintore quickly ushered her to one of the empty swivel chairs facing the ship’s main screen. He pulled out a seatbelt that went between her legs and over her shoulders. He then took a seat next to her and buckled himself in.

  “Tighten your muscles.”

  Monica blinked at him.

  “We’re running. I’m using an experimental propulsion unit. It�
�s…jarring.”

  Her heart rate sped up. “You’re going to run?”

  She heard a robot pilot reciting what sounded like a count-down.

  “Brace yourself!”

  There was a humming noise, and then a high-pitched sound like a laser blast. The screen went white from the trails of stars they were zipping past. Monica’s chair was bouncing. It felt as though it had become detached from the floor. Then she felt like she was sinking into the cushioning of the chair. She felt pain in her back, then she saw what looked like seat back coming out of her stomach. Her eyes bulged. She gave a scream that was drowned out by the laser sound.

  She thudded onto the floor. For a moment she could only perceive the pain in her shoulder. The main view screen had the blackness of space dotted with stationary stars an the round edge of a green planet. She looked at the chair she’d fallen from. The seatbelt was still fastened.

  It was as though she’d phased through her seat.

  Javintore knelt beside her. “Are you hurt?”

  Her mind was too addled to form a response quickly. “Not…really. Did I go through the—”

  “There’s a fusing and displacement of atoms. We jumped forward into time, as well as space. Once we stopped everything became right again.” He helped her to her feet. “There’s just no way to secure someone as small as you. It was dangerous, but it was the only way I could escape him.”

  The gravity of their situation thudded onto her chest. She looked at him with a face clenched in anguish.

  “Are you sure that was the right thing to do? To disobey your High Command?”

  He eyed her a moment. Then he turned back to his robot pilots and said something. The responded with several phrases in their language. Javintore gave them what sounded like commands. One of the robots stood and left the bridge.

  Javintore ushered her to the elevator. “Let’s talk, Monica.”

  Once back in their room he sat her on the cushioned bench she once used for her bed. His large body set down beside her. He draped an arm around her back. She wanted to be comforted by this, but apprehension had her insides churning. She gave a plaintive look into his eyes.