Chapter Four

Zoe

 

Sarden got me settled in some kind of a spaceship looking thing—at least that was what I assumed it was. There was a complicated looking control panel with lots of blinking instruments that looked like a high-tech plane cockpit.

I considered grabbing them and pulling as many levers and pushing as many buttons as I could but two things stopped me. The first was that I could see space outside—cold, dead, empty space. (Well, empty except for the moon floating by. It was way bigger than I could ever remember seeing it which made sense—I’d never been this close to it before.)

What if I accidentally pushed the wrong button and opened the window? I would freeze and my eyeballs would bulge out and explode. At least, that was what happened on that awful scifi horror movie my ex-boyfriend had made me watch. He’d said it was a classic—what was it called again? Oh yeah, Event Horizon. Don’t get me wrong—I actually love science fiction but I’m not a big fan of horror movies. Especially horror movies where people’s eyeballs explode.

The second thing that kept me from trying a little space-sabotage was the fact that Sarden strapped me into the seat—and I do mean strapped. As in, he made sure the weirdly modified seatbelt harness—which seemed way too big for me at first—fit over my arms, fastening them securely to my sides. My bare boobs stuck out between the straps and I thought I had never felt so exposed.

Then he reached between my legs.

“Hey!” I kicked out, trying to get free. “Don’t touch me, you big red pervert!”

“What’s the problem now?” he growled, looking irritated. Which at least was an improvement over his general air of amusement when I’d struggled to get free of his arms earlier, with absolutely zero results.

“What’s the problem? I don’t know how it is on your planet but on Earth you can’t just grope somebody like that!” I snapped, pressing my thighs together as tightly as I could.

“Grope you?” He looked at me as if it was honestly the last thing on his mind. “I’m simply trying to fasten you into the shuttle so you aren’t injured during our flight to my ship.”

“Yeah, right—by strapping me down naked and reaching between my legs?” I demanded.

He glared at me. “Should I assume you’d rather be strapped to the Commercians’ testing table?”

Well, that shut me up—almost, anyway. It was true that he’d made them stop the testing. But then, I wouldn’t have been in a position to be experimented on by a bunch of blue alien worms if he hadn’t told them to snatch me in the first place!

“Fine,” I muttered. “But just don’t make the straps so tight. And don’t touch me, uh, there.”

“You mean here?” His voice dropped to a soft growl and his long fingers stroked the tops of my thighs, making me squirm.

“Stop,” I whispered, wishing my voice didn’t sound so breathless.

“Little Pure One…”

“Zoe,” I interrupted him. “You abduct a girl, you should at least ask her name. My name is Zoe—not ‘little one’ or ‘Pure One’ or anything like that. Just Zoe.”

“Zzzoooeee…” He rolled my name thoughtfully on his tongue. “I like it. It fits you, somehow.”

“Unlike this damn harness you’re putting on me,” I snapped.

“It has to be tight to withstand the forces the shuttle will undergo during our trip,” he said. “But I’m just strapping you in—I won’t harm or molest you, Zoe.” His golden eyes grew hard. “I may be an evil, half-breed son of a bitch but I’m no rapist.”

“How do I know that’s true?” I demanded, and realized I’d said the wrong thing when his face went darker red and his eyes flashed.

“You don’t,” he growled. “You’ll just have to trust me. Or not—I don’t care. Now spread your legs and let me fit the straps to your body. I don’t want to hurt you by forcing them open—your flesh is so delicate I’m sure it bruises easily and—”

“And Tazaxx doesn’t take damaged merchandise. Right, I got that,” I finished for him.

He looked somewhat surprised. “Exactly. So will you open for me or not?”

The look on his face told me I had little choice in the matter.

“Fine, you big, red pervert,” I muttered. “But I swear if you so much as touch me, I’ll…I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” He sounded amused again which pissed me off even more.

“I’ll wait until you’re not looking and kick you so hard you’ll be wearing your balls for a bowtie—if you even have balls, that is!” I snapped.

“In fact, I do,” he said, conversationally. “Since I, like yourself and many sentient species in the universe, am descended from the Ancient Ones, I have much of the same anatomy an Earth male would have, including balls and a shaft.”

Okay, we were getting into uncomfortable territory here—both literally and figuratively. But I couldn’t help asking,

“If you’ve all got the blood of the Ancient Ones, why is Earth so special?”

“Because as we told you earlier, only on Earth has their original DNA been preserved. Not only preserved but sown with seeds of greatness—hidden talents like your own.”

“About that…” I shifted uncomfortably as he started to reach for the straps between my legs again. “I think you must be mistaken. I don’t have any hidden talents. Like, I don’t have visions of the future or hear people’s thoughts and I can’t move things with my mind—I mean, I’m not a freaking X-man, okay?”

He looked at me as if I was crazy.

“Who said anything about your talent affecting you, Zoe? It’s the way in which you affect others that makes you so damn special. Now be still and let me finish getting you in the harness before the Commercians think of some legal way to get you back on their testing table.”

I shut up then and let him finish strapping me in, though I really didn’t like it. Or I told myself, I didn’t.

I should have hated his touch on my skin—this was abduction and it might turn into something a hell of a lot more in a minute, despite his claim that he wasn’t a rapist. Still, the way he was leaning over me, I could feel his warm breath against my bare breasts. And despite his harsh words, the touch of his big hands was gentle. There was a scent around him too—a warm smell, like a campfire burning. And under it was something else—some musk that was clean and crisp and somehow completely male. I didn’t know what it was but it made me feel dizzy to breathe it in.

I told myself I didn’t care—that I hated him. That I hated this. I tried to hold absolutely still as he fastened the straps, not moving an inch even when his knuckles brushed against the soft curls on my mound. I did gasp at that point though—even though I tried not to.

“Sorry.” He shook his head and muttered to himself. The only words I caught were ‘extremely sensitive and ‘testing,’ which made me go rigid in my seat, like I wasn’t stiff enough already.

“What?” I demanded in a voice that came out in more of a squeak. “I thought you weren’t going to let them test me!”

“I won’t let the Commercians test you, no,” he said, frowning. “But you will have to be tested before I can trade you. Don’t worry—I’ll manage it myself.”

This hardly made me feel any better. I couldn’t help wondering if he had a scary, pointy testing table of his own back at his ship. I kept quiet through the rest of the harnessing process, even though the metal buckle was pressed right against my crotch in a very cold and uncomfortable way.

“There,” Sarden said at last, looking pleased with his handiwork. “You’re secure.”

Secure my ass. Trussed up like a Christmas turkey was more like it, but what could I do?

He settled himself in his own seat, getting his own harness fastened much quicker than he’d done mine. Then he did something to the controls and a rush of cold air blasted through the small cockpit, making me shiver uncontrollably.

“Oh m-my G-God,” I gasped out, my teeth chattering.

“What’s wrong? Why are you trembling?” he demanded, frowning at me.

“B-because it’s suddenly f-f-freezing in here, that’s why!” I exclaimed. I couldn’t even get my hands up to rub some warmth into my arms and legs. Everything seemed to be going numb and cold.

Sarden frowned, a look of concern coming over his sharp features.

“It’s simply the ship’s drivers warming up. But I see that you’re more delicate than I had hoped. Very well—here.”

He pulled his shirt over his head, baring an absolutely mouth-watering torso. Forget a six-pack—this guy had an eight-pack of pure, hard muscle. Not that I could enjoy looking at it when I felt like I was getting frostbite in all my extremities—not to mention my nipples which felt like they had turned into little pointy ice cubes.

“What are you—” I started but then he draped the black fabric of his shirt over me, making sure to cover as much of me as possible.

Immediately, I felt a wave of warmth rush over me. It tingled from my neck all the way down to my toes, even though the shirt didn’t reach that far.

“Better?” Sarden demanded, frowning at me.

“Yes, but how?” I looked down at the shirt. It was a sleeveless t-shirt looking thing and the fabric was thin. Any of his body heat it had held should have dissipated almost immediately in the chilly cabin. Yet it continued to radiate warmth that seemed to penetrate my entire body.

“It’s made of temp-fabric,” Sarden explained, seeing my confusion. “It retains and radiates heat during conditions of extreme cold. It also cools the wearer off when it gets too hot.”

“Sounds like something we could use in Tampa,” I murmured, looking down at myself. “But won’t you be cold?”

He shrugged, his broad, muscular shoulders doing that sexy, yummy roll I really needed to ignore. He was my captor and kidnapper, after all, the big, dumb jerk.

“I’ll be fine—it’s just a short trip to my ship. We’re only going to the planet you call Mars.”

“What?” I nearly choked. “We’re only going to Mars? Do you know how long it would take to get there from Earth? Especially if the orbits aren’t aligned. Months and months—I mean—”

He looked at me pityingly. “It might take that long for your puny Earth vessels but not for my shuttle.” He patted the dashboard fondly. “And my ship is ten times faster. The Celesta has a hydrogen scoop hyper-drive.”

“Meaning what?” I demanded. “Sorry but quantum mechanics wasn’t offered as an elective at my school.”

“Meaning that it’s capable of faster than light travel. Much faster than light.” He grinned, showing white teeth almost as sharp as the horns growing out of his temples. “Which further means I’ll be trading you to Tazaxx before you know it.”

“Um…Master.” The golden dragonfly, which had fluttered up and out of the way when he took off his shirt, settled on his shoulder and fanned its wings in agitation.

“What is it, A.L.?” he growled. I wondered what the initials stood for but before I could ask the dragonfly fluttered again.

“About the hyper-drive, Master,” its voice said.

“Yes?” Sarden’s voice was dangerously quiet.

“Well…it…I hate to be the bearer of bad news…”

“Just spit it out, A.L.,” he growled.

“It’s malfunctioning. It’s only at fifty percent at the moment and levels are dropping as we speak.”

“What?” Why didn’t you tell me before?” Sarden demanded.

“Well, you may recall that I warned something like this might happen some time ago. The panels in the scooping mechanism are warped and have needed repair or replacement for some time and—”

“Repair. Fine, I’ll repair them.” Sarden sighed as though repairing his spaceship was a boring chore you put off as long as you could—like taking out the trash or dusting the stuff in the china cabinet.

“I don’t know if repairs will work at this point.” A.L.’s butler voice sounded apologetic. “Or they may work but only temporarily. Not long enough to get us to Giedi Prime.”

“Damn it, A.L.—you know we have to get there before the auction!” Sarden growled, his eyes flashing deeper gold. “If we don’t—”

“I am aware, Master.” The dragonfly fluttered again. “Forgive me—I am running a full diagnostic now. Hopefully I will have more information for you when we reach the ship.”

“Let’s go then.” As he spoke, Sarden did something to one of the instruments on the control panel. Suddenly we were whizzing forward at an incredible speed.

I gasped, the sound ripped from me as what felt like a huge, invisible hand pressed me back against my seat. From the corner of my eye I caught my last glimpse of Earth—a round blue marble floating in the blackness of space.

Then it was gone and I wondered if I would ever see it again.

 

* * * * *

Sarden

 

I gritted my teeth in irritation as I locked the shuttle on course and steered towards the tiny desert planet the Earthlings called Mars.

I’d known that the panels on the hydrogen scoop were warping—there was no way they couldn’t at the rate I’d been pushing The Celesta lately. But I hadn’t had time to deal with it—I’d had a lot on my mind. Like finding the right item to trade to Tazaxx for one. It had to be perfect—something special and unique or he wouldn’t even consider it.

Tazaxx is one of the slimiest crime lords in the galaxy—I ought to know, I’ve smuggled for him often enough. But he has a weakness for beauty and for one-of-a-kind items no one owns but him.

In the little Pure One strapped into the seat beside me, I believed I had found what I needed—something Tazaxx absolutely couldn’t resist. Only that something was actually a someone, a fact I was trying strenuously to ignore as I piloted the shuttle closer to Mars.

There are plenty of smugglers who make their living in the slave trade, dealing rare and exotic inhabitants from distant planets to the rich, wealthy investors who collected them. I wasn’t one of them. My soul might be stained but that was one sin I’d tried to avoid.

Now I couldn’t help it. There was no other way—not if I was going to get Sellah back. But that would only happen if I could reach Tazaxx before he held his annual auction. If he decided he didn’t want her, if she got auctioned off to the highest bidder, perhaps one who lived on the far flung reaches of the universe where he could never be found, then Sellah might be lost forever.

No. I tightened my grip on the steering yoke, refusing to accept that possibility. I would not be too late. Somehow or other I would reach Giedi Prime in time.

And as for the little Pure One… I shot a glance at her from the corner of my eye. She was staring out the viewscreen at the side of the shuttle, her gaze trained on her planet, now just a speck in the blackness. Her chin was still lifted defiantly but her eyes were wide and I thought I saw a glimmer of unshed tears in them as she watched her home world disappear forever.

I would have told anyone who asked I didn’t have a heart or a conscience—a smuggler has no need of either one. Then why did I feel a stab of guilt as I watched her try to put on a brave face while I took her away from everything she’d ever known?

I turned to face the viewscreen, concentrating on my instruments as I pushed the emotion ruthlessly away. This was the only way—I had no other choice.

Though I felt like the worst kind of scum for doing it, Zoe would have to be traded.