Worlds Collide
An Action Adventure Sci-Fi Novel
Worlds Away Series, Book 2
J.L. Hendricks
This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright (c) 2016 J.L. Hendricks, 2019 J.L. Hendricks
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy.
Edited by Rebecca Reddell
First Edition October 2016
Second Edition April 2019
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2016 J.L. Hendricks, 2019 J.L. Hendricks
This book is part of a series and best read in the following order, although each book is complete with an HEA and no cliffhangers:
Worlds Away Series
Book 1 – Worlds Away
Book 2 – Worlds Collide
Worlds Revealed – Book 0.5 (join my newsletter to get this book free)
Book 2.5 – Worlds Explode (could be read in any order after book 2)
Book 3 – Worlds Entwined
Table of Contents
Other Books by J.L. Hendricks
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
What’s Next?
Acknowledgements
Author’s Notes
Connecting With Me
Worlds Entwined Sneak Peek
Prologue
Other Books by J.L. Hendricks
The Voodoo Dolls
Book 0: The Voodoo That You Do
Book 0.5: Magic’s Not Real
Book 1: New Orleans Magic
Book 2: Hurricane of Magic
Book 3: Council of Magic
Worlds Away Series
Book 0: Worlds Revealed (join my Newsletter to get this exclusive freebie)
Book 1: Worlds Away
Book 2: Worlds Collide
Book 2.5: Worlds Explode
Book 3: Worlds Entwined
A Shifter Christmas Romance Series
Book 0: Santa Meets Mrs. Claus
Book 1: Miss Claus and the Secret Santa
Book 2: Miss Claus under the Mistletoe
Book 3: Miss Claus and the Christmas Wedding
Book 4: TBN (Christmas 2019)
The FBI Dragon Chronicles
Book 1: A Ritual of Fire
Book 2: A Ritual of Death
Book 3: A Ritual of Conquest
See these titles and more at https://www.jlhendricksauthor.com/
Chapter 1
“Natalie, you are with me today. We need to scour the back section of the ship for supplies while we wait for the Star Prime to arrive.” Zelan pointed to me as I sat in the cramped corner of the room I had been staying in since the Zamaya crashed on this alien planet after the space battle.
Those of us who were too stupid to get away once the ship crashed had all been corralled and brought to the front of the ship. We were all split up into different rooms and sections. Some even had to sleep in the corridor. I didn’t know many of the women in this section because most of them had been in the other room of abductees. The aliens called that room Beta, and ours was called Alpha. They were so original with their names. However, I was making friends.
I missed Paris and Sheila, two of the women I met after being abducted by the huge, alpha aliens. They had become my friends. Zelan told me Paris was really busy with her assignment as a medic. I didn’t know she had a medical background. I had thought she was homeless. Maybe living on the streets gave her a quick medical background?
“Where are we going today? And please tell me you guys have killed all of those giant insects. I don’t think I can take another one touching me, even if you do kill it. That stuff they discharge when you kill them takes forever to come out and stinks something awful!”
Yesterday, when we were out scavenging the ship, we came across three insectoids inside our ship who were ravaging our supplies. They were stuffing their backpack shaped bags with medical supplies as well as with our food bars. I thought that their ship must have taken a lot of damage for them to come over here during the day. Zelan thought they had been here all night and were waiting for the sun to set before setting off back to their ship.
The mutant insectoids, the Zateelians, who invaded our ship after shooting it down from space, didn’t like the sunlight. They could stand to be outside for a little while, but not too long. It is thought that the sun hurts their eyes. The rest of their body seems to be very strong. I know this because it took three shots from Zelan to kill one of them who had me pinned down on the ground. It slathered some goo on me, into my face to be precise, and then was backing away. My guess is it knew that the next shot was going to kill it, and it did. This then put more of that slime on my body. I couldn’t win, even when they died. After that, we went straight to the med-bay where the doctor examined me and proclaimed me clean.
What was that all about?
I was covered in that disgusting, viscous discharge the bug left all over the top half of my body. I was NOT clean. However, everyone around me seemed to breathe out at once, like they had all been holding their breath. I needed a twenty-minute shower to get all of that slime off but was only given ten minutes. I swear my hair still smelled of mutant cockroach slime.
Today should have been about me resting and recovering, I still had a bump on my head from when that creature attacked me and caused me to fall back to the hard ground. I couldn’t sleep all night thinking about the creature that almost ate me. Now Zelan wants me to go back out with him again?
Is he crazy?
Chapter 2
“Great! Out of one jail cell and into another. Natalie, I thought that we were done with that? Why can’t the Commander let us stay in rooms instead of forcing us in here?” Betsy asked me as we were herded like cattle into our new “accommodations,” as the new captain called them.
Accommodations? Yeah right!
The Star Prime arrived today. We had been sent over to the other ship. While it was damaged in the space battle with the Zateelians, it made its way to the planet mostly unscathed. It was in much better shape than our ship. So, it was decided that we all needed to head over there.
Betsy had wrapped her arms around her middle section, and I could see she was holding back tears. We had spent the past couple of days on Commander Venay’s ship and helped them to round up supplies and even take care of the wounded. Paris was really in her element acting as a medic on the bridge with the Commander watching her every move. We deserved better treatment than this.
“Betsy, I don’t know. Maybe we can ask Paris when we see her next. If things go back to the way they were, then I bet she’ll bring us o
ur meals again.” I tried to offer her a smile, but I didn’t think it came out very well.
“Natalie, these cells are even smaller than the other ones. How are we going to spend 5 months cooped up here while we wait for our abductors to bring in a new ship?” Betsy had been complaining non-stop since we made our way to the new ship.
But I couldn’t fault her for it, I wasn’t much better.
The ship we were on originally had been broken up into three pieces after we crash landed on this alien world. It was fit to live in, plus the Zateelians were constantly coming over and attacking us. No one told me, but I think we lost a couple warriors and some more humans to the mutant cockroaches. They were scary and intimidating.
I shivered whenever I thought about their cockroach/grasshopper hybrid bodies. They could walk on their back appendages as well as on all fours. We had to constantly scan the ground as well as the ceilings since they could also scale the walls and walk above us.
Zelan caught one on the ceiling the other day and he killed it before it crawled close enough to attack us.
"I wish I knew." I huffed out and looked up to the ceiling. My right hand automatically made its way to my forehead while my left one tried to rest on my hip. At least there wasn’t a chance the insectoids were crawling around above us here.
We were so tightly squished in here that my elbow hit someone else on their back, "Sorry about that." I dropped my arms to my sides in silent misery.
The new male warriors served our evening meal. I didn’t recognize any of them from my time on Commander Venay’s ship. They must be from our new prison ship, the Star Prime. It was that stupid, chalky, jello garbage that we had when we were first abducted. “Hey, why are you feeding us this garbage? Where’s Paris? She used to bring us Earth food.” I asked one of the new warriors on guard duty.
"This is standard fare for slaves. Be happy that you are getting anything at all," he stated with zero emotion in his voice. He sounded more like an android than a person. But then again, this was a regular soldier who was accustomed to fighting and picking out slaves. Not one of the slave trade warriors who made regular trips to Earth and was comfortable with us.
Over the past week, we had started to make quasi-friendships with a few of the warriors who guarded us on a regular basis. Somehow, I doubted these new guys would become our friends.
“Can I ask where Paris is?” If I could talk with her, maybe we could get better food and accommodations.
“She is spending time with the Commander. They are to be mated tomorrow,” Mr. Personality said.
“Really? Already? Isn’t it a bit soon?” My jaw dropped as my hands flew in the air and bounced down on my thighs, hitting someone in the process. I mumbled an apology, but she didn’t even register I’d hit her.
“No, it is not. If this is what they want, then now is the perfect time. Our Captain can take good care of this ship without the Commander.” He sounded like he wasn’t too happy with the Commander taking over.
“Oh, I see how it is. You don’t like the Commander, do you?” I eyed him up and down as he squirmed before answering me.
“There is nothing wrong with the Commander. I just do not know him. But it is safer for his mate to go through with the ceremony. Once that happens, no one on this ship will touch her. She will be treated like a queen. You might want to consider your options as well. Spending the next five months in these packed cells will not be pleasant.” He spun on his heels, walked over to the next cell, and ignored my requests to get a message to Paris.
“Hmph, maybe Sheila or Lisa will come visit us tomorrow, Betsy.” I narrowed my eyes at that guard and decided that he was definitely not going to be the warrior I would mate with, if I ever did.
The next morning Zelan was part of the group who brought us our breakfast. I never thought I would be happy to see him, but I was. “Zelan, is there any way to get better food on this ship? Seriously, even the ration bars would be better than this stuff.” I scooped some up with my spoon and let it drop back onto my plate in white, sticky, globs. I didn’t know how much longer my stomach would allow this as sustenance before it revolted.
“Natalie, their food replicators do not have recipes for Earth food. This is all the lead warrior will allow us to bring you.” He dropped his head and then looked back up at me. “Unless, would you agree to be my mate? I could protect you better that way, and you could find more palatable food.”
“Um, thank you, but…I,” I tried to shuffle my feet, but there was very little room while most of the women in my cell sat down. “I’m still hoping to go home to my fiancé. I thought that we might somehow make it off this planet and back to Earth.” I couldn’t look him in the eye. I knew he had an attraction for me; he must have since he chose me every day to go out with him and scavenge the old ship.
"I am sorry, but you will never make it back to Earth. I hope you realize that soon and start thinking about a future with me." He moved off to the next cell of women and gave them their breakfast. All I could hear was soft "ugh's" and "not again" as the warriors fed the rest of my prison mates. Normally they chatted with us. I had guessed that things on this ship were going to be a whole lot different than before. And sadly, I was right.
There was no way I was going to become a mate to some alien who had abducted me from my perfect life back home. Well, okay it wasn’t perfect. But it was my life! One I wanted so desperately to have back.
Chapter 3
After a couple of days, Paris came to see us. She was with the group of warriors who brought us food, but today was different. Most of the warriors were ones I recognized, including Zelan.
“Paris!” I yelled as soon as I saw her. She came over to my cell with a great big smile on her face. “Does that smile mean we are going home soon?” I asked hopefully.
“No, I’m sorry. I wish I had better news for you. I’m just happy to see you and to know you’re okay.” She reached into my cell and tried to hug me, but with the women and bars so close, it was an awkward attempt.
"I heard you got married. Was that what you wanted? It happened awfully fast." I scrunched up my nose and wondered how horrible her honeymoon must have been. That big, huge giant of a man. It had to be terrible.
She blushed a bit and smiled as she looked down at the ground. “It was actually quite wonderful. I couldn’t have asked for a better mate. He is so gentle and loving when it is just the two of us. Venay is a completely different man when we are alone. I think I’m falling in love with him.” Her smile broadened even more as she looked up at me with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Oh great, another one who drank the Kool-Aid. While you were gone, three more of the girls agreed to mate with the aliens. I think the guys were all from the Commander’s original ship too. I guess it makes sense with us all being so close this past week, but now that we’re in prison again, I’m more inclined to tell the next guy to piss off rather than agree to a mating. Why can’t we be let free here? Most of us were very helpful before the new ship came and took us.” I felt claustrophobic in this tight cell. I couldn’t even move around to express my feelings because we were packed tighter than sardines.
"Natalie, you should really reconsider. Venay's guys, for the most part, are really great. I have worked very closely with them since the crash and made some friends. You might want to consider marrying one of them, and soon. Life is going to be very tough if you stay in this cage for the next five months." She gave me a quick smile while she squeezed my hand. "I gotta get everyone else fed. Sorry, I couldn't bring you guys anything better, but I’m working with Venay to get some of the replicators from his old ship brought over here so we can have better food."
With that, she walked away from me. I didn’t see her again until later in the day. It was so boring now. All I could do was twiddle my thumbs to waste away the time, and even that was tough to do while being so tightly packed.
After lunch, Zelan came to visit me. I was actually happy to see him, which was weird becaus
e I had no desire to mate with him. However, I did seem to miss him when he wasn't around. Maybe it was because we spent so much time this past week doing stuff together, instead of sitting in a crowded cell. Either way, I couldn't keep the smile off my face as he walked toward me.
His eyes sparkled, and his smile was so big, it made me feel all soft inside. Something about him made my heart skip a beat. He was a good looking male. If I had to guess, I would say he was at least six feet, eight inches tall. It was hard to calculate since I wasn’t used to seeing men that tall back on Earth.
My fiancé, Ben, was about my height. Without heels, I equaled his five feet, six inches. Whenever I went out with him, I wasn't allowed to wear heels. He hated it if I was taller than him, even if it was only because of my heels. My girlfriends used to say he had short man’s syndrome, whatever that meant.
As each day passed, I started to miss Ben less and less, but I continued to miss my family. Would I ever get home? Doubtful. But I had no idea what to do about it, yet.
“Natalie, I have a proposition for you.” Zelan walked up to where I was and grabbed ahold of the bars. The fingers on his left hand brushed up against my cheek. His veins were pulsing purple. I had noticed that they pulsed various colors, even spoke about it with the other girls in our group, but no one knew what the colors meant.
“Hi, Zelan, what do you have in mind?” I hoped it wasn’t a marriage, or mating, proposal again. While I was happy to see him, it didn’t mean that I wanted to marry him.
“I received permission to take you and a couple of the other women with me today on a scouting mission. We are going to go to the old ship and pull out a couple of the food replicators so that you can have better meals. On the way there, we are going to check out what might be a hiding place that houses a few more humans. There are still almost thirty unaccounted for, and it is too dangerous to let them stay out there all alone. Besides the insectoids, this place is home to a few animals that would attack any of us if given the chance.”
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