“All I want to get to know is your pretty cunt,” Laki quipped. “I’m not interested in talking.”
“Then you can go and piss off,” his brother snapped. “We agreed to do this, so take part or shut up. A few more days won’t make any difference. Soon, she’ll be in our bed, ready to please us all day long. That’s worth the wait, right?”
Laki turned to me. “What do we talk about?”
“Our lives, our families. Our plans for the future.”
“My plan is to have you tied up on my bed with a collar snug around your neck,” Laki smirked.
Arri groaned. “Brother, please. Behave like an adult for once.”
“Like an adult? You’re the one to blame for our situation.” Suddenly, Laki was no longer smiling. Fury was burning in his eyes as he glared at Arri. “If you hadn’t killed those Custo, we’d still be on the list to be assigned some Earth woman. We’d not be rogues running from the authorities. We’d be able to go back home and have a quiet life.”
Arri didn’t seem flustered in the slightest. “Then maybe you should remember why I had to kill those men. Why I had to silence them.”
He stared at his brother, something passing between them that I didn’t really want to know about. What had Laki done that was so terrible that his brother had killed for him?
I was on a ship with murderous, horny psychopaths who could turn on me any moment. I needed to get away.
“Maybe you could show me your ship instead?” I asked innocently. “If you don’t want to talk. If I’m going to be your wife, I need to know our home, especially if we’re going to be here for months.”
“Our home,” Arri repeated. “I like the sound of that.”
“She just wants to know where the escape pods are,” Laki interrupted. He turned to me. “They’re biometrically tuned to Athions. Nobody but an Athion will be able to start them.”
“I wasn’t going to use an escape pod,” I lied. “I just want to know where I’m going to live with my husbands. What’s the harm?”
Using the words husbands almost made me throw up the food I’d just eaten. But they seemed to swallow it. Arri almost looked happy.
“Alright, I shall give you the tour,” he offered. “Unless Laki wants to do it?”
His brother shook his head. “I’ve still got some stew to eat. Who knows when I’ll next get some of that, and I need energy to survive the next five days.” He glowered at me before refilling his bowl.
“What do you want to see first?” Arri asked. “Our bedroom? That will be where you’ll spend most of your time.”
I couldn’t suppress a shudder. “Is there a living room? Somewhere to spend time during the day?”
“There’s an observation deck where we have a couple of games and comfy chairs. But we spend the most time on the bridge, since we don’t have a crew to operate the ship. Laki also works in the engine room sometimes. This ship is fairly new, but there’s always something to fix.”
“Then let’s start with the bridge,” I suggested.
Arri shrugged. “If this brings us closer to the fifth day, then why not. And after, you’re going to do the dishes. Eating this much was your idea, after all.”
Chapter 5
Arri led me back the way we’d come until we stood in front of thick doors, the metal less shiny than that of the walls. He held a hand to a scanner to our right and the doors opened. Fuck. I wasn’t going to get in here by myself. My only chance to alert someone from the bridge would be with one of the Athions there. Which would mean pain. Defeat. Slavery.
My plans crumbled into dust. I’d have to find another way to escape. The pods were out, as was sneaking onto the bridge to send out an SOS call. But one thing was for sure; I wouldn’t let them turn me into their sex slave, no matter whether they called it being their wife. I’d rather die, just like Tonya. If it came to it, I’d kill myself and hopefully everyone on this ship along with me. Those men deserved it. They weren’t going to hurt any other women.
The doors slid open, revealing a large, spacious room with a massive window giving me a direct view of space. The darkness of it called to me, drawing me in. There was nothing out there. If I wanted to get out of this situation, I’d have to help myself. I’d have to fight.
I stepped forward, taking in everything, committing the room to memory. A captain’s chair was right in front of me, consoles with lots of blinking lights all around it. More chairs at tables full of screens and controls I couldn’t make much sense of were dotted around the front of the room.
Lines drew across the window. It wasn’t just a window to the outside, it was also a screen.
I pointed at a blinking green dot. “Is that us?”
Arri nodded. “Yes. Nobody else around. We’re taking the longer route, away from the main shipping lanes.”
Double fuck. We were alone in this part of space. If there were other ships nearby, they didn’t show up on the screen.
“Are there any planets close?” I asked innocently. “It’s strange to only see these few stars.”
“A few, none of them inhabited. There are only two major planets between Earth and Athion, but we’re not going to stop at either one. Their women aren’t compatible with us, so they’re of little interest besides some trading. But we have enough fuel and supplies to last us all the way home.”
Pity. Stopping on a planet would have been a great chance to get away. Anything would be better than being trapped here with these two monsters.
"Where did you learn to pilot a spaceship?" I asked Arri, trying to distract him while I was cataloguing everything I could see.
"I was born on one, actually." He sat down on the captain's chair, his expression turning somewhat peaceful. "My brother was born on Athion, but just after his birth, my father was assigned a position on a freight ship and he didn't want to leave his family behind, so they moved onto the ship and we didn't leave until I was thirteen. I knew all the basic controls when I was five. I was allowed to pilot the ship when I was eight. Laki was always more interested in the engines, so he got trained in that, while I spent most of my time on the bridge." He looked at me, his lips curving into a smile. "It will be good to have some company here. It gets boring."
And just like that, I was reminded that he was the enemy. His story of growing up on a spaceship had been interesting, but I couldn't let him lull me into a false sense of security by showing me his human side. Athion side. Whatever. He was a murderer, a monster, and I needed to get away.
"So I assume you know what every single button here does?" I asked innocently.
"Obviously. I could pilot this ship with my eyes blindfolded."
He pushed his chest out, all macho and testosterone.
I pursed my lips. "I doubt that."
"I'd give you a demonstration, but I don't trust you enough to close my eyes."
I gave him an innocent smile. "Trust is important in a relationship. If we're going to be husband and wife, we need to trust each other. This would be an excellent chance to prove that you're serious about making this work. I promise I won't run out of the room."
And I wasn't lying. I'd spotted a screen to my right which suspiciously looked like a way to communicate. There was a keyboard, but the letters didn't make any sense to me. Probably the Athion alphabet. They spoke excellent English, but of course they had their own language.
If I could somehow figure out what the distress button was... there had to be one, right? In an emergency, the crew wouldn't have time to type a long message.
A big red button would have been lovely, but no such luck. There was a bright blue one however, with a symbol on it that I didn't recognise. It could have been anything, but since it was next to the screen with the text that looked like a messaging system, I had to try. This may be my only chance before the 'wedding'.
"You promise?" Arri asked sceptically.
I nodded, giving him my most winning smile. "I promise, I won't run. I just want to see if you can really do what y
ou say." I let my eyes flick to his crotch. "You could be lying about other things too, if you get what I mean."
His eyes narrowed, but then he relaxed. "Alright, little poomii. You shall have your demonstration. At the moment, we're on autopilot, so let me just switch that off...
He pushed some buttons on the side of his chair and a kind of table shot out, giving Arri access to more controls. Handy. Especially because with this on his lap, it would take him longer to get up and catch me.
A small shiver went through the ship and I instinctively grabbed the back of one of the chairs. Just as luck would have it, it was the chair in front of the communications panel. I slipped onto the chair without Arri giving any sign that he was aware of what I was doing. I swivelled around to watch him.
"That's the autopilot disabled." He touched his earpiece. "Brother, it might get a little bumpy. I'm showing our wife what this ship can do."
"Should I put on a seat belt?" I asked, hoping me showing interest and enthusiasm would keep him distracted.
Arri laughed. "There are no seat belts here. That's an entirely human extravagance. If this ship crashes, we all die. There's no surviving in space without a ship to keep you safe."
That didn't really make sense - crashing wasn't exactly the only thing that could happen - but I kept my mouth shut.
"Now I'm going to close my eyes and I'll take her for a ride." He gave me a heavy stare. "If you run, I will fuck you so hard that you won't be able to walk for a week. Understood?"
I lowered my gaze and nodded.
"Good. Don't disappoint me."
Finally, he closed his eyes. Thank goodness. I watched him a little longer, making sure that he didn't peek, but he did seem to have a strange sense of honour that prevented him from cheating.
"I'll start with accelerating," Arri announced. "Hold tight, little poomii."
I turned to the front and leaned my back against the chair, ready for whatever was to happen.
The ship started humming and an invisible force pressed me into the cushioned backrest. The blackness outside didn't change, but it was clear that the ship was going faster than it had before.
The pressure on my body increased until breathing was getting uncomfortable.
"We don't usually accelerate this much," Arri explained, his voice slightly strained. "Now you know why. It's better for both ship and crew to keep a steady pace."
"Can you do an emergency stop from this speed?" I asked, my eyes on the green dot. The only way I'd be able to stay alive after what I was planning, was them believing that it had been an accident.
"I could, but I won't do that."
"Because you've got your eyes closed?" I taunted.
Arri chuckled. "Because it will hurt you. But if you insist..."
He let his voice trail off before the sound of him hitting a button with a lot of force filled the bridge.
I was thrown forward onto the control table, my head bursting with pain. Tears sprang to my eyes but I couldn't get distracted. I reached for the blue button, right in front of me, and pressed it as hard as I could.
A blaring siren assaulted my ears, adding to the pain that was steadily increasing. Fuck. I'd hoped the button wouldn't set off any alarms. At least I had guessed correctly that it was an important one.
"What have you-" Arri started but was interrupted when a new voice came through speakers, a male talking in a language I didn't understand.
This was my chance. My only one.
"Help!" I shouted as loud as I could, hoping that he could hear me. Arri cursed behind me, but he wasn't close enough to stop me. "I've been kidnapped. I'm a human from Planet Earth and I've been taken by two Athions. I don't know where we are but they're taking me to a moon near Athion. They're planning to-"
Something hard hit my head and pain was all I could feel.
Chapter 6
I drifted. Consciousness came and went, giving me short bursts of awareness before releasing me into a dreamless sleep. There was pain, but it didn't stop me from drifting.
Whenever I woke, there was loud noise, blue colours, new pain all over my body. Falling unconscious was a relief.
The cycles kept going for an eternity. Pain. Sleep. Pain. Sleep. Occasionally, words reached my ears, but they were bad ones telling of more agony and promises of despair. I didn't want to linger on them.
Then, warmth. Heat. I blinked open my eyes, surprised at how dumb the pain had become. It was still there, but it was old pain, not fresh one. Nobody was hurting me anymore.
But it was too warm.
Slowly, my senses kicked in. Something tickled my nose. Smoke. Fire.
Everything was blurry and one of my eyes wasn’t quite able to open fully, but there was no way I was able to miss the flames licking at the doorframe.
I was in a small, bare room, completely empty and without windows. The door was open, but the flames barred any attempt of escape. Besides, I didn’t think I was able to get up and walk. Everything hurt way too much.
I tried to drag myself to a sitting position, but one of my arms was in a strange angle and I couldn’t put weight on it.
Those Athions had broken my body. They didn’t manage to break my mind though. I was still here, still fighting. In the end, they hadn’t killed me. The fire would do that job for them. I hoped it would devour them as well. Painfully.
How did aliens smell when they burned?
I almost wanted to watch. See them perish in agony.
Unless they’d escaped the ship and I was the only one left. Left to burn into a pile of ashes. Nobody would ever know what happened to me.
A cough shook my chest. The smoke was getting thicker, filling the room. If I was lucky, it would make me unconscious before the fire reached me. Fate hadn’t been kind on me recently, but maybe it would honour my last request.
There was nothing I could do but wait. Watch the flames as they approached. Breathe in the smoke even though it burned down my windpipe, making me cough. Feel the heat dry out my skin.
A strange calmness filled me. I was ready for this all to end.
Compared to being a slave to the Athions, this was the better option. Death and eternal sleep. I didn’t believe in an afterlife. Maybe it was better that way. An end. Final and reassuring. No more pain. No more fighting the inevitable.
I let my eyes flutter shut. I didn’t want to see the fire anymore, the flames that would kill me.
My thoughts drifted to old memories. My parents. Happier days on Earth, before the aliens arrived.
A crash in the distance made me open my eyes one last time. Figures in the smoke. I blinked, but my vision was still blurry. Two shadows coming towards me. Strange shapes, not quite human. Voices I didn’t understand.
One of them bent down before me and wrapped me in something cold and wet. He lifted me as if I weighed nothing. I moaned in pain, and he whispered something in his language, a soothing string of words.
I wanted to stay awake, see what was happening, but darkness was eating at the corners of my mind, flooding in, until I had no choice but give in and flee reality.
Vuk
The female was light in my arms, so light I was afraid to drop her by accident. I had no trouble seeing through the thick smoke as I gently carried her across the room. Raf was keeping the flames in check, making sure it was safe for us to step through the door. The ship was in bad condition. Ready to blow. We had to be fast, yet I didn’t want to run with the human in my arms. She looked so breakable. Bruises covered her skin, even her face. I’d avoided looking at her nakedness too much before I’d wrapped her in the cooling blanket, but I hadn’t been able to ignore the bruises down there.
Every fibre of my body was aching to go after her captors. They deserved to be punished for what they’d done to the female. Slowly. Painfully. But they’d escaped in a pod as soon as we’d broken through the ship’s shields. There’d been no time to pursue them. Rescuing the female from the burning ship was the priority. There was no doubt in my min
d though that we’d find the Athions eventually. They were in an escape pod, far from any other ships that could take them aboard. We’d catch up with them soon enough.
The woman moaned in pain and I gently pulled her closer to me. I’d only just laid eyes on her, but I already felt an intense urge to protect her. Seeing her in pain was torture. I’d been brought up to revere females, keep them safe, making sure they were treated like the rare goddesses they were. Most Trads didn’t share that view, but luckily, Raf did.
Together, we’d defected when we’d realised what our kind were doing to the women of Earth, even if that meant we’d never have one of them ourselves. Now, I was holding a female in my arms, broken and in pain, with rage coursing through my veins that I had no outlet to. Once she was safe in our med bay, I’d hit the gym to get rid of that energy before it made me lash out.
The ship groaned beneath my feet. We had to hurry.
I followed Raf, who spurted bursts of antifire at the flames blocking the corridors.
The female whimpered again, but she was still sleeping. How bad was the pain to filter through unconsciousness?
“You’re safe now,” I whispered first in English, then German. The only two Earth languages I knew. “Du bist jetzt in Sicherheit.”
Hopefully, she spoke one of them. Otherwise, we’d have to get a translator implant, which wasn’t going to be easy. Not because they were expensive; we had enough money to spare and then some. No, after our last coup, we were wanted by both Trads and Athions, and there were few corners of the galaxy where they didn’t have enough influence to issue an arrest warrant for us. Defectors. Rebels. Pirates.
The floor shook and I swayed, bracing myself against the wall. Zut. The walls were burning hot, even after Raf had extinguished the flames. Making sure that the female was still unconscious, I shifted to my real, Trad form. I’d put on a human appearance so as not to scare her, but I would heal faster without expending that extra energy. My previously smooth skin turned to scales. I didn’t care much about being without scales or horns, but I always missed my tail when I pretended to be a species I wasn’t. It curved around the female, adding an extra layer of safety.
Stolen By Them: Page 3