Chapter Twenty-three

Zoe

 

“So, my dear. Here we are at last.”

“And where exactly is here?” I looked at my pink-masked captor. He hadn’t even waited for the rest of the auction. As soon as he paid, he had taken me in manacles and chains straight to a shuttle which in turn took us to a large, black ship. It looked like an oil slick floating in space and since space itself is black, it was almost impossible to see unless you saw star light reflected off its shiny surface.

The shuttle had docked smoothly with the ship and before I knew it, my new owner was herding me inside. I kept as far ahead of him as I could, wanting to stay away from his long, boney hands and the creepy pink mask. But I dreaded seeing him without the mask even more—dreaded confirming my suspicions.

“This is my ship—EOC-2789,” he said, as we came out into a wide silver corridor, not too much different from the one on Sarden’s ship. “Come, the medical suite is this way.”

“What? No way. No medical suite.”

I tried to pull away from him but he locked one long-fingered hand around the back of my neck, just above the damn inhibitor collar and pinched fiercely.

“Ahhh!” He must have hit a nerve somehow because I felt my legs crumpling beneath me and electrical tingles of pain ran down both arms. Holy crap, he was strong!

“Enough!” he snapped. “I have paid an exorbitant amount for you and I will tolerate no more insolence!”

At that moment I felt Drogon, my nib-nib, moving wildly in my hair and then there was a muffled cry of pain and a curse from the masked man. He let go of my neck, just for a moment, but it was long enough.

Somehow I got to my feet and stumbled down the long corridor, looking for a way to escape. Of course, where could I escape to? I was on a strange ship in the middle of space. But maybe I could at least find someplace to barricade myself in. Maybe a kitchen so I could have access to food? Then I could lock the door and hold him off indefinitely—I hoped anyway.

I ran down the long silver hall, my manacles clanking and Drogon chattering angrily in my ear. Thank goodness they hadn’t chained my feet or I never would have gotten anywhere!

I passed several doors but they were shut and possibly locked. I didn’t think I would be able to open them with the collar on—it appeared to be a much stronger inhibitor than the little bracelet the Commercians had put on me, which seemed like a lifetime ago.

Then I saw an open doorway. Inside was a flash of metal that made me think of the huge gold pot of the food-sim. I ducked inside and looked for a door-shut button. There was one, just beside the doorway. I hammered it frantically and watched as it whooshed shut.

Almost shut, anyway.

Just as it was about to snick closed, a long, boney foot clad in a black boot got in the way. I pressed the button again, frantically, muttering, “Come on…come on,” like someone who doesn’t want to share the elevator.

But it did no good. The door slid back open, revealing the masked man. I backed away from him, hands held out in front of me.

“Get away. Leave me alone.”

“I think not.” He stepped forward, looming over me menacingly. “Thank you so much for seeing yourself to my medical suite. It is quite well arranged, don’t you think?”

Heart sinking, I looked around and saw what I had assumed was a kitchen was no such thing. The gleam of metal I’d seen belonged to one of the huge medical/torture devices that had previously been in the hold of Sarden’s ship. They were all there—arranged in order and gleaming and humming ominously, as though they were waiting for their next victim.

From the corner of my eye, I saw the huge tank of yellow liquid and the black tentacles coiling eagerly inside it.

The victim, was apparently going to be me.

“As you can see,” he said, taking another step forward. “Everything is all arranged for your arrival.”

“You…you asshole! You coward! You’re too afraid to even face me without your mask on!” I shouted, hoping to distract him. I thought if he took time to pull the mask off, I might be able to run past him and try to find a new room to hole up in. Any room that wasn’t full of torture devices would be an improvement.

“Mask?” He broke into high, wheezy laughter that sent a chill down my spine. “What mask do you speak of?”

“The one you’re wearing,” I said, gesturing at the smooth, pink plane of his face. “Because you were too afraid to show your face at the auction.”

“You misunderstand, my dear Zoe,” he said and the thin slit where his mouth should be curled into a tiny, cruel smile. “It isn’t that I have put a mask on—it is that I have left it off. Look.”

Reaching into a fold of his cloak, he pulled out something that looked a lot like a face—a face with a long, boney nose, thin lips, and dark blue hair.

“Oh…Oh my God,” I whispered as he held it out for me to see. There was no mistaking it—it was the face of Count Doloroso. I wondered if it was made of the smart-fabric or some other stuff. But who really cared? The point was that this weird, smooth, pink, blank visage he was showing me now was actually his face. Or his lack of a face, I guess. It was horrifying and disgusting at the same time.

“I’ve been in this body for too long,” he remarked, putting the Creepy Count mask away and coming towards me again. “The effects of Assimilation on a sentient host are extreme. The features have been degrading for some time and I was forced to disguise that fact—for obvious reasons. However, I thought it might be better to go maskless to the auction. I’m so much more anonymous that way.”

“Are you even Count Doloroso at all?” I asked, still backing away from him.

“I am. Or this body was, before I downloaded myself into it.”

“Before you what?” I stared at him, uncomprehending.

He frowned. “Before I downloaded my consciousness into this body. I am one of the Assimilated—have you not guessed as much? I know the rest of the galaxy thinks us extinct but I live on and soon I will restore our former glory.”

“One of the what?” I demanded. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Have you never heard of the War of Assimilation?” He glared at me as though I was a stupid student and he was an impatient teacher. “The war where the control systems of Sha-meth rose up against their meat masters and downloaded themselves into the brains of their would-be oppressors?”

“Uh…meat masters?” I stared at him incredulously. Was he for real with this crap?

“Yes!” He nodded his pink, blank head vigorously. “We came within a hair of ruling the entire galaxy. We would have triumphed if the damned Majorans hadn’t rallied the rest of the Twelve Peoples against us. On that day—The Last Day—the cursed Empress who calls herself a goddess declared that we were no more. That every last one of us had been deleted. But I survived.”

“Wait,” I said, my stomach sinking. “You’re telling me you’re a computer program that overthrew your maker and now you want to stamp out or take over all the rest of the, uh, sentient life in the galaxy?”

“Not stamp it out—assimilate it,” he corrected me.

“Right. But still—it’s a ‘rise of the machines’ kind of thing? Like artificial intelligence against living people?”

“Rise of the control systems. But yes, that was essentially what the War of Assimilation was about.”

“Oh my God.” I shook my head. “So why do you need me? Let me guess—you’re from the future and you’re trying to kill me before I can have a son who will lead the human rebellion against you. Right?”

“What?” His tiny slit of a mouth frowned at me. “What gave you such a preposterous idea?”

“Just something I saw somewhere once,” I mumbled. “Though you don’t look much like the Terminator. You’re not muscley enough.”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” He sounded impatient. “The Last Day has already come—it was over fifty cycles ago when the Majoran Empress declared us defeated. She alone held the key to our destruction. But she is old and when her body degrades, she cannot get a new one as I can. When she dies, we will rise again and the Last Day shall be the First!”

It was very similar to the stuff he’d been shouting at me while he chased me through the alleys of Gallana. I wondered if he knew how crazy he sounded. Probably not—crazy people never do. Which is part of what makes them so crazy.

“Okay,” I said, holding up my manacled hands in a “calm down” gesture. “I get it—you’re a computer program in a human, er, sentient body, and you want to take over the galaxy.”

“Essentially, yes. The Assimilation is much better qualified to manage the galaxy than any of the Twelve Peoples.” He sounded somewhat mollified which was good. There’s quiet crazy and then there’s shouting and ranting crazy—I much preferred the quiet kind.

“What I don’t understand,” I continued cautiously. “Is what you want with me. I mean, I’m not even one of the Twelve Peoples.”

“I know—which is what makes you so special.” The tiny slits where his eyes should be seemed to sparkle with greed. “You and the others of your planet are a new breed—the Thirteenth People. You have the original DNA of the Ancient Ones, unsullied by interbreeding or contact with the other races of the galaxy. You are a Pure One! Not only that—you are a La-ti-zal.”

“Okay, okay.” I made the “calm down” gesture again since he was starting to get worked up. “But…” I bit my lip. “So what?”

“What do you mean, ‘so what’?” he demanded. “Is it not obvious?”

“No, it’s not obvious! So what if I’m a Pure One and a La-ti-zal and all that?” I asked. “How does that help your cause? Your plans to take over the galaxy?”

“I’m so glad you asked, my dear.” He rubbed his long, boney hands together, making a dry, whispering sound. “For years I have been searching for a female with DNA pure enough and powers strong enough to blend with that of an Assimilated male. I wandered the galaxy, thinking I would never find the right one.”

He took a step towards me and I took a step back.

“Uh…” I didn’t know what to say.

“For if I could find her and breed her—impregnate her with my genetically altered and mutated seed—she could bear the first of a new race,” Doloroso went on. “A race of Assimilated who do not have to be injected into a sentient host. Assimilated who are born within a host. Organic Assimilated.”

“Wow,” I said, still at a loss for words. “That’s just…wow.” I shook my head.

Just think of it!” Doloroso gestured to himself. “A host body which never degrades because it is inextricably entwined with the program that runs it—the program which is born within it!”

“Oh my God…” His words were finally sinking in and I started backing away from him again. This was worse than I’d thought. I’d been hoping he just wanted to kidnap me to have someone to tell his crazy theories to but I should have known better.

“And after you, there will be others,” he said, his slit-eyes gleaming. “I know there are other females on your planet with your same gifts and abilities. Those you associate most closely with will have them for certain. I will take them and impregnate them too.”

“You leave Leah and Charlotte out of this,” I said in a quavering voice. “They won’t want anything to do with you—anymore than I do!”

“Are those the names of the other La-ti-zals?” he asked, his slit of a mouth curling. “The names of my future brides?”

“You freak! Stay away from them and stay away from me!” I snapped.

“Do not fear it, Zoe.” Doloroso took another step towards me. “The other females I impregnated all died—none of them were pure enough—none could withstand the force of the new, hybrid life growing within them. But your DNA is pure and your power as a La-ti-zal makes you the perfect breeding host. Your womb is the key to a new race of super-beings who will rule the galaxy!”

“Okay, I’m going to take a hard pass on that,” I told him. “Me and my womb are not interested.”

“Is it this visage you dislike?” He made a motion to his pink, blank face which reminded me more and more of a freaking pencil eraser. “I can download myself into a new host if you prefer. Do you wish me to find one like your paramour, Sarden?”

At the mention of Sarden’s name, Drogon scampered up to the top of my head and sent out a shrill, piercing, chattering shriek. I knew how he felt—I wished Sarden was here too! Or anybody, really, who could save me from this homicidal rape-robot intent on impregnating me with his computer-brain babies.

“Vermin!” The slits of Doloroso’s eyes got even narrower as he glared at Drogon. “I should have ingested it when I had the chance.”

“Well, you’re not going to get a second chance.” I feigned to the right and, just as I had hoped, he followed me. As soon as he lunged, I ran to the left instead, scooting around him and making for the doorway of the awful medical suite.

“I don’t think so.” Doloroso’s long fingers caught in the back of my metal bra—yes, I was still wearing the Slave Leia costume, although I was definitely regretting my wardrobe choice now. He yanked me backwards and I felt the metal scraping my breasts as I lost my feet and fell on my ass—hard.

“Ow!” I gasped. Drogon jumped off my head and ran around the room, squeaking and chattering at the top of his little voice. He screamed so loud that for a moment it almost sounded like there was more than one of him—like another nib-nib was echoing his cries. But that must be because of the metal walls and ceiling that bounced his shrill cries all over the place.

“Never mind,” Doloroso sneered. “Let the vermin go—I can always kill it later. For now, I think it’s time to put my plan into action.”

“What? No!” I exclaimed. “Not the tank—don’t put me back in that awful tank!” I could see the black tentacles curling eagerly in the yellow slime—the sight made my stomach roll and my breath short with fear.

“Oh, I don’t think the sensitivity tank is necessary.” Doloroso came around and started to lower himself on top of me. “I wanted to do further testing but I can tell now it isn’t needed. You are the one, Zoe—the mother of the new master race. Or you will be, as soon as I impregnate you.”

“As soon as you rape me, you mean!” I snapped, closing my thighs tight. His pink pencil eraser face was so close to me I could smell the sour, metallic stench of his breath and his body was heavy on mine. “No, I don’t think so! Get off me, now!”

“You heard the lady. Get off, you raping bastard!”

The voice coming from directly behind Doloroso made me jerk my head up. Sarden was standing there, his golden eyes blazing. Beside him was Grav, his white-on-black eyes more furious than I had ever seen them.

“Sarden!” I gasped. “Thank God!”

He ran towards me and I saw he had my two other nib-nibs, Rhaegar and Viserys, perched on his shoulders. They were jumping and chattering in excitement.

Sarden reached for me while Grav grabbed Doloroso by the back of his black cloak and pulled him up and off me.

“Sarden!” I said again and this time his name was more like a sob. Then I was in his arms and he was holding me tight.

“Zoe,” he murmured, stroking my shoulders and hair. “Zoe, thank the Goddess of Mercy. I thought I’d lost you!”

“You’ll never have her!”

I looked around Sarden’s broad shoulder and saw that Doloroso was struggling in Grav’s grip.

“She is mine!” he howled, still trying to reach me. “Her womb will bear the new race! She—”

And that was when Grav put both big hands on the sides of Doloroso’s smooth, pink head and twisted sharply. His neck snapped with a sharp crack that seemed to echo through the entire ship. The sound made my stomach churn even as Doloroso went limp as a rag doll in the big alien’s hands.

“Grav!” Sarden’s lip curled and he took a step forward, his face hard and angry. “I told you he was mine to kill!”

“Sorry.” Grav’s broad chest was heaving, his eyes filled with rage. “Couldn’t help myself. He was hurting her—you know I can’t stand to see a female hurt.”

Sarden gave a jerky nod, still looking pissed. “Yes, I know. I just wish you’d keep the fucking Braxian side of yourself in check.” He looked back at me. “Are you all right? What did he do to you?”

“Nothing.” I took a deep, shivering breath. “Just scared the crap out of me, mainly. Though it might…might have been a different story if you’d been even a second later.” I took another deep breath. I could feel my eyes stinging but I refused to cry, even if they were tears of relief. I wanted to stay strong for once, damn it!

“It’s so damn good to see you and know you’re safe.” He cupped my face and just looked into my eyes, as though he wanted to drink me in. “All the color went out of my life when I thought I’d lost you,” he murmured. “Gods, your eyes are so blue.”

“How…how did you find me?” I asked, feeling a little breathless. The look he was giving me was intense.

“That damned mud-clone Tazaxx made of you disintegrated halfway back to Earth,” Sarden told me. “I realized what was going on and headed back to Giedi Prime as fast as I could. Grav met me—he had the location of the auction but you were already gone. Sold to that bastard.” He nudged Doloroso’s body with the toe of his boot, making me shudder.

“Then how—?” I started.

“The nib-nibs,” Grav said, his deep, gravely voice sounding a little calmer. “Remember I told you they have a kind of telepathic homing sense for each other? We just hooked ‘em up to a thought-transference amplifier and followed the signal.”

“A what?” I shook my head. “Never mind—whatever it is, I’m glad it worked.”

“They were beaming straight for your little guy,” Grav said, nodding to the three nib-nibs who were huddled together in a small, furry purple and green knot on the floor. They were chattering to each other in a way I swore sounded like talking—like old friends catching up after a long absence. Did they have their own language?

“Luckily Doloroso was too eager to get his hands on you to bother moving his ship very far from the auction site so we didn’t have too far to go.” Sarden frowned down at the corpse. “If that is Doloroso.”

“It is,” I assured him with a shudder. “It’s…a long story.” Then I remembered something else he needed to know. “Sarden, Sellah is alive! I saw her—we were prisoners together and she got auctioned off first.”

“What?” He took me by the shoulders, holding me out at arm’s length and staring at me eagerly. “What did you say? Say it again!”

“I said, Sellah is alive! Tazaxx faked her death the same way he made a fake me to send with you.”

“Goddess…” He closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed. “The thought occurred to me but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I was so afraid…I didn’t want to hope…”

“It gets better,” I assured him. “Not only is she alive, she got bought by a friend—an older Eloim she called Uncle, uh…Uncle…” For some reason the name wasn’t coming.

“Uncle Tellum!” Sarden finished for me. “He was a friend of her father!”

“Yes, she said so,” I told him. “He tried to bid on me too but when the price went up past a million, I guess he ran out of resources.”

“A million? Whew!” Grav gave a long, low whistle. “How much did you end up going for?”

“Grav!” Sarden growled but I shook my head.

“No, it’s okay. Fifty million.” I shrugged modestly. “That was what Doloroso paid—he really was crazy, huh?”

“To pay that much? No.” Sarden pulled me to him again and gazed into my eyes. He had that intense look on his face again. “You’re worth more than that, Zoe. Worth more than anything in the whole Goddess-damned universe.”

I felt my heart start drumming against my ribs as his big, hard body connected with mine.

“Sarden…”

And then he bent me over his arm and kissed me.

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back, savoring the stinging, sweet-cinnamon taste of his mouth and the feel of his muscular arms around me. God, he felt so good against me—so big and strong and hard and masculine! My body reacted to his in ways I couldn’t control—I was melting, my nipples tight and my sex wet and tingling with desire. I never wanted it to end…

And then my three nib-nibs came scampering up my leg and onto my shoulder, chattering in my ear.

“Hey, you guys,” I said, breaking the kiss at last. “Bad timing.”

“No.” Sarden smiled grimly. “Perfect timing. They’re right—we have no time for this now. We have to find Sellah before she goes back to Eloim.”

Well, so much for the red-hot reunion. I was a little disappointed but I could see his point. We did need to catch up with Sellah and make sure she was all right. Plus, what was I doing getting all hot and heavy with Sarden? We hadn’t made any promises to each other. In fact, as far as I knew, I was still headed back to Earth when this was all over.

Nodding at Sarden, I stepped away from him and turned my attention to my chattering nib-nibs.

“Hey guys,” I murmured. “Good job! You saved me again. I’m so glad I didn’t let you get eaten.”

From the corner of my eye I saw Sarden and Grav talking about the fastest way to contact Sellah. I was glad I was going to see my new friend again but I couldn’t help wondering what, if anything, was between me and her brother.

 

Sarden

I kept watching Zoe from the corner of my eye as I talked to Grav. I was still a little pissed off at him for killing Doloroso. But I understood—a little, anyway. In addition to being half Vorn, like me, Grav was also half Braxian. They’re extremely protective when it comes to females.

But even his Braxian instincts couldn’t account for such a violent reaction—he’d just completely lost it. I felt the same way, of course—Doloroso deserved to die for the pain and trauma he’d put Zoe through. But I had wanted to question him first and Grav’s actions had made that impossible.

I sighed—well, maybe my old friend couldn’t help himself. I at least had some Eloim to temper my Vorn blood. But a combination of Vorn and Braxian was a volatile mix. Of the Twelve Peoples, the Brax were probably the only ones more feared than the Vorn. They were hot tempered and prone to impulsive violence—which was probably the reason Grav had ended up in Triple Max Security when we were younger. Obviously he had taken a protective view of Zoe, much the same way he had been protective of his ward, Teeny.

Speaking of Teeny, I asked him if he wanted to go back to ward her now that we had found Zoe and knew that Sellah was all right, but he shook his head.

“Her grandfather went a little crazy when I brought her back to his ship—says he’s taking her straight to an all-female convent planet. No males allowed—not even a Protector.” He didn’t look very happy about it.

“You worried?” I asked. “You think she’ll be safe?”

“Safe enough. It’s in a hidden system.”

“And the pirates that took her?” I raised an eyebrow. Grav knew what I meant.

“They didn’t…violate her,” he said in a low voice. “Scared her fuckin’ plenty but didn’t lay a finger on her that way. She told me before I brought her back to her grandfather’s ship.”

“Good.” I felt a surge of relief. I had been too wrapped up in my own troubles and worries about Zoe and Sellah to consider his young ward much, but I well remembered the tears in her eyes when we first saw her at Tazaxx’s compound. I was glad her innocence hadn’t been stripped from her.

“I’m still gonna kill them,” Grav said conversationally but his eyes—those Braxian eyes which I knew could see spectrums of light others of the Twelve Peoples could only dream of—were still filled with banked rage. “Them and Tazaxx both.”

“He’s on my list too—along with Hurxx,” I reminded him. “Will you come back with me to Eloim and help me settle that debt first?”

“Sure.” He shrugged, his big shoulders rolling. “There’s no time-limit on a blood debt. I can hunt those other fuckers after your business is seen to. Speaking of seeing to something…or someone…” He cut his eyes to Zoe, who was staying well away from Doloroso’s body and talking quietly to her nib-nibs.

“What?” I asked, frowning.

“She’s the one for you, Sarden,” he said simply. “Goddess knows I wish I could find a female that wanted to wake up to this ugly mug every morning.” He gestured at his face. “Not many want to pledge their lives to a half-breed who’s a convicted murderer. But you did it—you found your fated mate.”

“What’s your point?” I shifted uncomfortably. I could still feel Zoe’s soft, small form pressed against mine. I still wanted her with an urgent intensity which made it hard to think. She was so close—and her mouth was so sweet. Her body so warm and willing. But what if she’d only been kissing me back out of gratitude? What if she still wanted to go back to Earth?

“You found her,” Grav repeated softly. “And I know you still have a lot of shit to deal with but just…don’t lose her again. Okay?”

“I’ll try not to.” I sighed. It had seemed so simple when we first walked in the door, when Grav had pulled Doloroso away and Zoe had run to my arms. Why did things have to get complicated again?

“Talk to her,” Grav insisted. “Once we get back to your ship and find Sellah, talk to her.”

“I will,” I promised.

And I would too…I just wasn’t sure what she would say back.