Chapter Nine – Veronica
The sequins on Veronica's shirt glimmered as she rocked the baby, trying to get her to sleep. She had had a hard time deciding on a name for her but had eventually settled on Ava. Part of her wanted to ask Chapec what he thought their daughter should be named, but she knew she had to stay strong. Her continued insistence on loving him didn't change the facts.
He had used her to get close enough to a man to kill him. And though he had apparently changed his mind about that, he had still kidnapped her from the one place in the galaxy she would be safe and was holding her prisoner against her will.
But the worst part of all of it was the fact that she wanted to forgive him. She kept catching herself making up excuses for his behavior, or dwelling on the fact that he didn't kill that T'shav in the Sanctuary. But people didn't deserve medals for not kicking puppies or killing other people. That was called being a decent person.
"What am I going to do, Ava? He can be so sweet and vulnerable. And the way he takes care of Dievca… Well, you know how many times he's gone off looking for her and brought her home passed out drunk. It would also help if Mommy's stupid hormones settled down, too, huh?"
Veronica sighed. There was no denying that she longed for Chapec, to be in his arms again, to wrap her legs around his waist. To be moving as one – that exquisite build and the satisfaction when they reached the peak together… But that was completely out of the question. It would give him the wrong idea, and she wasn't going to use him for her purposes.
She sighed again. What was a girl to do?
The door to her house opened. Veronica turned, opening her mouth to angrily tell Chapec that he needed to learn how to knock, but her protest died in her throat. A tall, lean alien with yellow skin stepped into the house. Veronica recognized the species as Dibat. She backed up a step.
"Who are you?"
He pointed a blaster at her and smiled. "Come along quietly and there is no need for you to get hurt."
Veronica's arms tightened around Ava. Her heart pounded, her throat going dry. Not again. They had been here for months, the entire length of her pregnancy, without any contact from the world beyond the stars except for supplies. And now she had a gun pointed at her.
"Come along now," the Dibat said.
Veronica slowly made her way forward. She thought about rushing him and trying to steal the gun, but she'd only be putting Ava in danger. He fell in step behind her, pressing the blaster against her back. Just outside was a sleek transport ship. Why hadn't she heard it land?
She glanced around, half-expecting to see Dievca collecting some sort of payment. But neither she nor Chapec were in sight.
Another half-dozen aliens were in the transport. They all grinned at the sight of her except one, who frowned at Ava. The alien was a female Rlabek: greenish, warty skin covered her face, looking toad-like with her thick, blubbery lips.
"Why did you bring that?" she asked, pointing at Ava. "We don't have a market for babies. Get rid of it."
Blood pounded in Veronica's ears. Every inch of her tingled with a roaring, rushing anger. As one of the aliens came forward, reaching for Ava, she lunged. She managed to grab the blaster the Dibat that had escorted her there now held loosely in his hands. She pointed first at the Rlabek but couldn't make herself pull the trigger. She turned it half a foot to the left and fired.
The bolt of energy shot from the barrel and into the navigation control panel. It exploded in a shower of sparks, making Ava startle and then start to scream. Veronica let off two more bolts, completely annihilating the controls before the Dibat wrestled the blaster from her again.
The Dibat pressed the barrel of the gun to her forehead. Veronica shrank back, clutching Ava tightly. She couldn't let them harm her baby!
"Behave or I'll kill you," the Dibat snarled at her.
The same rushing anger came back and Veronica snarled back. "Harm my child and I'll kill you first! I swear to God, I'll kill every last one of you."
The Dibat looked startled at her outburst, but the Rlabek rolled her eyes. "Fine. You behave yourself and we'll let you keep the brat. Make trouble for us and we kill it and you both. Understood? Now let's get out of here in case those thugs we sent to kill the T'shav fail. The ship's useless. We'll have to get to the town for the mothership to send another transport."
Chapec had tried something like this before. Or rather, Dievca had. Hiring the bounty hunters to kidnap her so that they could come rescue her and cement their relationship. Chapec had told her everything. Probably trying to make her forgive him. It hadn't worked.
What if this was them again, putting her into yet another situation where she would be fearful and vulnerable just so they could rescue her? Was this Chapec's way of trying to make her grateful to be with him?
"Who are you and why have you come for me?" she demanded as she was propelled back down the gangplank.
"None of your business. You're human. Worth a lot of money."
"And how did you find out I was here?"
The Dibat snorted. "Everybody has heard about what your T'shav twins did at Zon's Sanctuary. We figured since you got knocked up by one of them, they'd keep you with them. It was easy to find a T'shav brother-sister duo with a human in tow."
"Will you be quiet?" the Rlabek snapped as they hurried into the forest, across from the clearing where Chapec and Dievca fought. "Any more questions, human, and I'll cut your tongue out. Our buyer wants a live human, but that doesn't mean in perfect health. And get that brat to shut up!"
Veronica hushed Ava, trying to bounce her gently as they were pulled through the jungle. Nothing helped. If anything, Ava's cries only got louder. Eventually, the Rlabek called them to a halt. She pulled an injector from her pocket.
"Take the baby from her," she ordered.
"No!"
Veronica tried to hold Ava to her chest, but the other aliens grabbed her. One of them pulled Ava away from her while the others twisted her arms behind her back. Bile rose in her throat. She fought with every ounce of strength she had, but it was no good. She was helpless as the Rlabek pressed the injector to her daughter's chest and activated it. Ava instantly went silent.
"Now that it's not giving me a headache, let's get going."
Veronica was released. She was handed her daughter back, and she cradled the small body, terror burning through her. "What did you give to her?"
"Just a sedative. Don't worry, it won't hurt her," the Rlabek said.
"What sort of monster drugs a baby?" Veronica seethed.
The Rlabek smiled. "The kind that won't hesitate to leave it behind and let it die if you don't do as you're told. Now keep your mouth shut and keep moving."
One of the aliens pushed her from behind. Veronica stumbled forward, bile churning in her stomach. There was no way that Chapec or even Dievca would ever allow anybody to drug Ava. That much she was absolutely certain of. To them, family was everything. They'd never risk the baby.
Which only meant one thing. These were real kidnappers, and they really would kill her and her child if she didn’t do as they said. Who might kill them both anyway.
As Veronica hugged the baby to her chest, her fingers brushed against the sequins sewed into her shirt. Would it be enough to mark their path? She didn’t know how good of trackers the twins were, or if they were even alive…
She had to try. There was hope until she gave it up. She worked one of the sequins free between her fingers and let it flutter to the ground. Nobody around her seemed to notice, and her heart lifted.
All she had to do was leave a trail of sequins, like breadcrumbs in Hansel and Gretel. Hopefully, Chapec would find them and come to save them. Because if he didn't…
Don't think about that. Just breathe.