Tales from Angondra (Sample)

A Sci-Fi Romance Complete Series (Books 1 – 6)

Ruth Anne Scott

Chapter 1

Carmen Herrera shut the bakery door as quietly as she could, but the sleigh bells hanging from it made such a racket everyone in the place turned to stare at her. A statuesque woman behind the counter scanned her uniform up and down. “What can I do for you, Officer...” She peered at Carmen’s name tag. “Officer Herrera. I’m sorry we don’t serve donuts.”

Carmen blushed. “I’m not here for the donuts. I’m responding to a call-out regarding an abduction in the neighborhood.”

The woman wiped her hands on her apron and nodded. She towered over Carmen with flowing curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Decorative italic letters splashed across the front of her apron and matched the brochures on the counter: Penny’s Peppermints. “I made the call. I’m Penelope Ann King. I’m the owner of this bakery.”

Carmen looked around. All the customers listened to their conversation. “Did you know the girl who disappeared?”

Penelope Ann nodded. “I hire girls from the neighborhood to work here. It gives them a leg up in the world and gives them some experience of earning their own money doing something other than selling their bodies and dealing drugs. I hired Rosie three weeks ago, and she never missed a shift—until yesterday.”

“If she was selling her body or dealing drugs,” Carmen replied, “she may have gone back to her pimp. Maybe she didn’t want to slave away in a bakery anymore and wanted some easy money.”

Penelope Ann narrowed her eyes at Carmen. She could spike a bug on a needle at a hundred paces with those eyes, and something solid and powerful lurked under her white chef’s jacket. Carmen stiffened for the inevitable response. “Rosie loved working here. She planned to enroll in community college next semester. She never wanted to go back to the streets. She wouldn’t go back to her pimp unless he took her back by force.”

“Then there’s nothing we can do,” Carmen replied. “If she worked for him before, we don’t have any reason to believe she didn’t go willingly.”

Penelope Ann smacked her lips. “You cops are all the same. I should have known you would stick your big toe in the mud like this. We’re talking about a young girl’s life, and you have my word she didn’t go back to her pimp—not willingly, anyway. Are you really going to stand there and tell me you won’t do anything to help her?”

“I can’t do anything about it,” Carmen told her. “If she spent years working for some pimp on the East Side, and then spent three weeks working here,” she swept the bakery with her hand. “We would have to have something more than your word to interfere with her going back to him.” Carmen glanced toward the door. Now would be a good time to make her escape.

But Penelope Ann wasn’t finished. “It isn’t just Rosie. A lot of girls keep disappearing from this neighborhood, and they don’t turn up back on the streets, either. They just vanish, never to be seen again.”

Carmen nodded. “Our captain briefed us on that, but we don’t have the resources to investigate those disappearances. They go into the Cold Case archives. If we turn up any evidence for them, we’ll address them later.”

An African American woman in baby blue nurse’s scrubs stepped forward. Her fuzzy Afro surrounded her fresh face and set off her glinting brown eyes. “You have the resources to investigate them, but you won’t because the girls were runaways and drug addicts. You don’t have to lie about it. We know the truth.”

Carmen turned to her. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I know you.”

“You don’t know any of us,” the nurse shot back. “I’m Aria McCray, and I’ve lived in this neighborhood since the day I was born. Penelope Ann has been here since she was three and went to school with me and Marissa Evans.” She pointed to a slender woman sitting by the front window. Her fiery red hair glowed in the morning sun. “She’s been the head librarian at the Public Library for ten years, ever since she graduated from college. None of us knows you from Adam.”

Carmen shifted from one foot to the other. “Just because I only moved here a year ago doesn’t mean I don’t care about this neighborhood as much as you do. I don’t make the decisions on what cases to investigate. The department decides that.”

“Four of the girls who disappeared worked here,” Penelope Ann chimed in. “I gave them jobs and a place to live and extra food if they needed it. None of them lasted more than a month before they vanished. Now I want to know what you and your department are going to do about that.”

“Like I said...” Carmen began.

Penelope Ann cut her off with a wave of her hand. “I know what you said. You said they went back to their pimps and their dealers, but we all know that’s not true. I used to see Carrie Townley standing on the street corner at ten o’clock at night, and I used to see Zoe Martin walking up and down in front of the shoe factory on Benson Street. Neither of them has come back. They disappeared off the face of the earth, and your department and your captain and you and every other cop in the world couldn’t give a flying.....”

Screeching tires drowned out the rest of her words. Carmen glanced out the window and saw the police paddy wagon pull up outside the bakery. She ran through what she would say to excuse herself from this situation before she faced Penelope Ann again. Then she noticed something that made her turn around again. The vehicle outside the bakery had no windshield and no driver’s side or passenger’s side windows. It was one solid white mass. It had no license plate, either.

Carmen opened her mouth to say something, but all at once, a blinding flash of light exploded through the bakery. Carmen’s ears popped, but no sound accompanied the flash. She blinked to clear her vision, and the next minute, she found herself sitting on the hard metal floor of the paddy wagon. Penelope Ann, Marissa, and Aria sat next to her. The four women exchanged glances.

“What the blazes is going on?” Aria snapped.

“We’re in the police van,” Penelope Ann rounded on Carmen. “Are we under arrest or something?”

Carmen shook her head. “This isn’t the police van. That’s what I thought at first, too, but this van has no windows and no license plate. I don’t know where we are, but we’re not with the police.”

The vehicle—or whatever it was—gave a lurch, and Carmen tumbled sideways. Nauseous vertigo seized her, and she braced herself with her hands against the floor. The vehicle spun faster and faster until no one could sit up straight anymore. They lay on the floor and groaned in agony.

Then the spinning stopped as suddenly as it started. The four women sat up and looked at one another. A gentle vibration hummed through the metal surrounding them.

“What’s happening?” Marissa whispered.

Carmen examined the tiny chamber, but there was nothing to see but bare white walls. “Whatever it is, we’re still moving.”

“Where are we going?” Penelope Ann asked.

“I wish I knew,” Carmen replied. “Someone has captured us and is taking us somewhere.”

“It must be the same people who kidnapped those girls,” Aria added.

Carmen turned on her. “What makes you say that? We have no evidence anyone kidnapped any girls. Anyway, we aren’t drug addicts and prostitutes and runaways. We’re professional women. I’m a police officer, you're a nurse, Penelope Ann owns the bakery, and Marissa is the librarian. We don't fit the profile.”

“But we’re all women,” Marissa told her. “If someone was abducting women from our neighborhood, maybe they saw a chance to catch four women at once. That’s how we wound up here.”

Carmen set her hands on her hips. “And how exactly did they catch us? How exactly did we wind up here? I don’t know about you, but no one even came near me. No one hit me over the head with a club, or put a handkerchief with chloroform over my nose and mouth, or a bag over my head, or anything like that. I was standing there, minding my own business, and then....” She trailed off.

The others stared at her and waited. Marissa raised an eyebrow. “And then?”

Carmen dropped her eyes. “Then I wound up here.”

“You’re the police officer here,” Marissa told her. “How do you explain our presence here, traveling somewhere against our will, if we weren’t abducted? Maybe no one hit us over the head or dragged us into a dark alley, but here we are. It seems to me we’ve been abducted.”

Carmen shrugged. “I can’t explain it, but I don’t want to say we’ve been abducted until I know for sure we have been. I don’t want to...”

Aria burst into gales of laughter. “I know. You don’t want to alarm the civilians, right?”

Carmen mumbled under her breath. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“You weren’t going to say it,” Aria shot back, “but you were thinking it. Don’t insult our intelligence by beating around the bush. We all know we’ve been kidnapped by someone. How or why doesn’t really matter. What matters is what we’re going to do about it.”

“We can’t do anything about it,” Carmen replied. “We just have to wait until we get wherever it is we’re going. We’ll bide our time, and when the time comes, we’ll see how we’re going to get out of here.”

Chapter 2

Carmen stretched on her side and rested her head on her arm. She pretended to be asleep, but there was really no need. The other women paid no attention to her. Marissa really was asleep curled up in a corner of their little chamber, and Penelope Ann leaned against the wall with Aria’s head cradled on her outstretched legs. Both of them kept their eyes closed, but they weren’t asleep. Carmen was certain of that.

She studied the other women with a critical eye. She would have to watch all three of them and make sure none of them did anything to wreck her chances of escape. She couldn’t trust any of them. They were all too rebellious. None of them knew how to follow the instructions of a recognized authority like the police.

Marissa had too high an opinion of her own brain. She came up with every excuse to discredit Carmen’s authority. Penelope Ann had a secret that made her resist taking direction from anybody. Carmen couldn’t figure out what it was, but something hovered there hidden just below the surface. Penelope Ann would take some breaking in before Carmen could count on her to help her break out of this—whatever it was.

And Aria—what could you say about Aria? She had a mouth that belonged in the circus. It went off at the slightest provocation. Carmen would have to do a delicate balancing act between keeping her distance from Aria and keep her close enough to make sure she didn’t do the rest of them any damage.

All of a sudden, the chamber in which they lay lurched again, and a clang of metal woke them all with a start. Aria sat up, and Marissa rolled over on her side. “Where are we?”

“We’ve stopped moving.” Carmen tried to stand up.

The others copied her, and all four women stood staring around them in helpless ignorance. What was there to look at but the same four walls? Then another clang struck their ears, and something metal scraped against the side of the chamber. They turned toward the noise.

In front of their eyes, one of the walls slid to the side, and a pale blue light flooded the chamber. Carmen shielded her eyes from the glare. She couldn’t see a thing outside their prison. Then a tall figure stepped into the light. She peeked around her hand to try to make it out. Seeing their captors for the first time would give her some idea what she was up against when it came to formulating a plan to escape.

Another figure entered her field of view, and then another and another until four silhouettes lined up in front of the door. Ever so slowly, Carmen’s eyes grew accustomed to the light. Or maybe the light dimmed enough for her to get a good look at her kidnappers.

One was taller than the other three, but they all presented the strangest picture Carmen ever saw. She couldn’t believe the evidence of her own eyes. They had pale lavender skin with gleaming violet eyes, and she couldn’t distinguish any iris or pupil in their eyes. Only a bright violet orb filled their sockets. They twitched their lips in the strangest way, and their arms came to stubs at the ends. They had no hands.

Carmen’s mind whirred from the shock of seeing them, but before she could react, they stepped into the chamber in shoulder to shoulder formation. They evaluated the women with cold critical eyes. The women stared at them with their mouths hanging open. Not one of them, not even mouthy Aria, could say a word.

Once they got within range, Carmen saw them clearly enough to realize they had tiny tentacles around their lips. If those tentacles kept still for a fraction of a second, they might have resembled facial hair. But they never kept still. They twitched and flickered in constant movement. The image reminded Carmen of a snake’s tongue lashing in and out. Did these creatures sense their surroundings with those tentacles?

The tallest creature moved his head from one side to the other, and his tentacles stretched out from his face toward the women. Aria screwed up her face in disgust, and Marissa stepped back to get away from the thing.

Penelope Ann set her mouth in a stern straight line and stepped forward. Carmen noticed her moving and grabbed her by the arm. “No, Penelope Ann! Don’t antagonize them. We don’t know what they plan to do with us.”

Penelope Ann rounded on Carmen and yanked her arm free from her grip. “Don’t you tell me what to do! These people—or whatever they are—kidnapped us in broad daylight out of my own bakery.” She faced the tall creature. “I don’t know who or what you are, but I demand you take us back to where we came from immediately. You had no right to take us against our will. You’re violating all the laws known to man. Release us at once or pay the consequences.”

Her words gave Aria and Marissa courage, but Carmen cringed, especially when the creature remained impassive. It probably didn’t understand a word Penelope Ann said. If it did, baiting it and standing up to it would only make their situation worse. The creatures might kill them all on the spot.

The creature swept the group with its eyes one more time. Then a sound came out of its mouth. It didn’t really resemble speech, but for some reason she couldn’t explain, Carmen understood it. “We took you to sell on the planet Corax in the Regulus Galaxy. You will never go back where you came from. Your laws mean nothing here. You are our property now, and we will do what we please with you. You will do yourselves good to cooperate. Resistance will be useless.”

Aria stepped forward. She clenched her fists at her sides. “I’ve heard that before. Do you think we’re so stupid as to go along with this? We’re free citizens of the United States of America. We have rights.”

The creature’s strange voice interrupted her. “You have no rights here. You will cooperate, and we will sell you on the planet Corax. If you don’t cooperate, you will get very hurt.”

Carmen found her voice. “Who are you, and where do you come from?”

He regarded her with a mixture of curiosity and boredom. “We are called Romarie. We come from the Twingmon Galaxy, and we traffic commodities all over this sector of space.”

Carmen gulped. “Space?”

He put his head on one side. “Yes. Space.”

Penelope Ann turned to Carmen and snapped at her over her shoulder. “Don’t you get it? You’re not very sharp for a police officer, are you? They’re aliens. We’ve been abducted by aliens.”

Carmen ignored her. “What will happen to us on the planet Corax?”

“Corax is an intergalactic marketplace where traders from all over the sector come to buy and sell commodities,” the creature replied. “Many planets in the Regulus Galaxy lost their females in the great Ixwi plague. They pay large sums for females from other planets to replace the ones they lost.”

The women exchanged glances. “So you’re selling us into sex slavery. Is that it?”

The creature trained his bright eyes on Aria. “Call it what you like. You will serve the function of female to those planets, and we take the profit. That is what will happen to you on the planet Corax. Whoever pays the highest price will determine what happens to you.”

Aria took another step toward the creature, shouting, “You can’t do this...” But before she could approach any nearer, she flew backwards with lightning speed. Her feet left the floor, and she slammed back against the chamber wall. Penelope Ann rushed to her side and wrapped her arm around Aria’s shoulder.

“Do not attempt to resist,” the creature told them. “You will damage yourselves and reduce your value in the markets. If you continue to resist, we will take precautions to make sure it does not happen anymore. If you wish to stay together, you must cooperate. Do you understand?”

Carmen glanced at her companions. Then she faced the creature. “We understand, and we will cooperate.”

He examined her with sharp eyes. “That is commendable. Are you the leader of these females?”

Carmen blushed. “I’m not the leader, but if we can stay together, we will cooperate.”

The creature leaned back. “That is commendable. Tell me your identifying labels.”

Carmen frowned. “Do you mean our names? My name is Carmen. This is Marissa, this is Aria, and this is Penelope Ann.”

The thing cocked its head to one side. “Penelope Ann. We haven’t come in contact with a female with that label before.”

“Have you taken many females from our planet?” she asked.

The creature put back its head and opened its curious mouth. A burbling sound came out of it. The sound made Carmen’s skin crawl. Then she realized it must be laughing. “Have we taken many females from you planet? We have taken thousands, and we’ll take thousands more. Your planet is the only one in this part of space that makes no effort at all to defend its females. We can take as many as we want with no resistance from anyone. Your people don’t value females very much.”

Carmen narrowed her eyes at the thing. She didn’t answer, but a burning hatred for it and its kind smoldered in her heart. She would make this thing pay for what it did to her and all the other human women it took from Earth. Humans might not value their females very much, but Carmen valued herself above all else. A quick glance around the chamber proved to her the others were thinking the same thing. They would keep their eyes open, and when they found their chance, these aliens would regret the day they messed with this particular group of women.

The thing surveyed his commodities again. “My label is Rotnim.”

Carmen scrutinized the thing. How long would it be before she got another opportunity to question it? “Are you a male of your species?”

“I am a male,” he replied. “We are all males.” He nodded toward his comrades. “This is Orbnim, this is Tinim, and this is Albinim.”

Carmen bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. “We haven’t come in contact with anyone with those labels before, either.”

He cocked his head at her. “Now you have. Now you must come aboard our ship and enter the containment area.” He turned his back on them, and the four aliens retreated out of the chamber.

Chapter 3

Carmen took a step to follow him, but Penelope Ann launched herself off the floor and rushed to Carmen’s side. She held her back with an iron grip. “Don’t go out there, Carmen. You can’t cooperate with these creatures. You heard what he said. They’re going to sell us into slavery to some glorified space sex trade.”

Carmen glanced out of the chamber, but she couldn’t see anything other than the pale blue light. “I don’t see how we have any choice but to cooperate. You heard what he said. If we don’t cooperate, they’ll hurt us and separate us. Whatever else happens, we have to stay together as long as we can. I don’t like it any more than you do, but I can’t stand by and let you hurt yourselves by trying to resist.”

Penelope Ann yanked her back again. “You’re betraying all of us by cooperating with them. I’m telling you right now, if you go out there, none of us will have anything to do with you.”

One glance over Penelope Ann’s shoulder at the others cowering in the back of the chamber confirmed Penelope Ann was telling the truth. Aria glared at her, and Marissa wouldn’t look at her at all. How could she let these women down?

She cast one more quick peek towards the door and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Listen, Penelope Ann. I feel exactly the same way you do, and I promise you, we’re gonna do everything we can to get out of here and get back to Earth. But the only way we can do that is to bide our time and keep our eyes open. Maybe if we play along with these aliens, they’ll let their guard down. Then, when we see a chance to strike back, we take it. Okay?”

Penelope Ann let go of her arm. She tightened her lips.

Carmen pressed her advantage. “I hate these aliens for what they did to us, and I’ll never rest until I get back to Earth. I’m doing the only thing that will help us accomplish that. Now who’s with me?”

Aria smacked her lips and looked away. Marissa raised her eyes to Carmen’s face and gave her a slow nod. Penelope Ann sighed. “All right. We’ll play it your way for now, but I don’t like it. We should fight back.”

“If we fight back now,” Carmen replied, “we could wind up hurt or dead. We don’t know where we are or what these creatures are capable of. He said he’s kidnapped thousands of human women, so he must be brutal and heartless. We can’t just throw ourselves at them and hope for the best. We have to use our heads and plan to escape later.”

“All right,” Penelope Ann told her. “We’ll cooperate for now, as long as you agree it’s only temporary. I’m not going to some market in the Regulus Galaxy without a fight.”

Carmen smiled. “Me, neither. Believe me, this is the first stage in a much longer fight to earn our freedom. We’re conserving our strength and....”

She didn’t finish her sentence. Some unseen power seized hold of her and dragged her toward the door. She struggled with all her might, but an invisible hand pulled her across the chamber and out into the blue light. Her heels screeched on the metal floor, but no amount of kicking and thrashing could stop her.

The same power took hold of the others, and all four women found themselves moving against their will into the blue light. Carmen crossed the threshold first. Another enormous chamber surrounded the vehicle that took them from the bakery. Carmen got a good look at it from the outside. It was a plain white metal box. How could she mistake it for the paddy wagon?

She didn’t have time to think about that, though. The four aliens stood in a row across the room. The tentacles on their faces stood out from their faces and lashed the air. Whatever force held the women captive and moved them around in spite of their best efforts came from those tentacles.

Rotnim’s eyes blazed when Carmen skidded into view. His mouth twisted into a grotesque imitation of a smile. Carmen fought harder than ever to break the force holding her, and his expression registered even greater pleasure. When she relaxed and let him pull her along, he frowned in disappointment. He enjoyed her struggle and her fear.

Black rage bubbled up from the depths of her being. He stole her and her companions from Earth, and now he got some sick thrill out of manipulating her with his power. He enjoyed jerking her around like a puppet on a string. She fixed her eyes on his face. She would defeat him. She would destroy him and his kind for what he did to her and the other human women. She dedicated her life to enforcing the law, and she would never rest until she broke their trade in women.

He pulled her into the middle of the large chamber, and his friends did the same with the other three women. The aliens dumped them in a heap on the floor. Aria grunted in pain, and Marissa cried out. Penelope Ann rolled to one side and, in one fluid movement, rocketed to her feet. She charged across the room with her arms outstretched toward Rotnim.

Carmen put out a hand to stop her and called, “Penelope Ann! No!”

But Penelope Ann didn’t hear her. She flew toward him, but she only got halfway there before the invisible force caught her. She didn’t fly backwards the way Aria did. She hung a foot off the ground with her arms and legs pinned at her sides. She worked all her muscles to break his hold, but to no avail.

Rotnim gurgled his hideous laugh and strolled around her. He surveyed her from head to foot. “A little too big for my taste, but I’m sure the buyers will pay extra for that. Good for breeding, and maybe for hard labor, too. A good prize.”

Penelope Ann foamed at the mouth and spat at him. “How dare you treat me like a piece of meat? I’ll kill you for this. You and all your kind will pay for what you’ve done.”

Rotnim shrugged. “That’s what you think.”

His tentacles danced in the air and lowered her until her feet grazed the floor. Rotnim stepped closer. His tentacles twitched in her face, and she drew back in disgust, but he only laughed.

He close the gap between them, and his tentacles surrounded her face. She struggled harder than ever, but she couldn’t fight against his invisible hold. Her arms rose from her sides, and he embraced her chest with his own handless arms. He bent his head into the crevice of her neck, and his tentacles extended until they completely obliterated her face.

Aria choked back a hoarse sob, and Marissa covered her face with her hands. She couldn’t watch. Carmen covered her mouth with her hand. If only she could attack Rotnim to help Penelope Ann, but one look at the other aliens made her reconsider. They stared at their three prisoners, and their tentacles slithered in and out of their faces in delicate patterns. She wouldn’t make it off the floor, and she might injure herself or get killed if she tried.

Muffled grunts and cries issued from Penelope Ann under the mask of tentacles surrounding her face. Rotnim growled into her neck, and his body undulated against her in waves of carnal ecstasy. He could do what he wanted with her, and she couldn’t fight back.

All at once, a spine-chilling scream ripped through the chamber. Penelope Ann gave one terrific burst of power, her arms flew out from her sides, and she brought the hard blades of both hands down hard on either side of Rotnim’s neck.

His tentacles withdrew into his face until they vanished completely into his skin. Penelope Ann’s golden tresses and flashing eyes emerged from the deadly mask, and she shook herself free from his grip. Rotnim staggered back, and two circles glowed black and throbbing on either side of his neck.

Penelope Ann dropped the rest of the way down to the floor. She landed like a cat on her feet and instantly launched herself at him again. In a heartbeat, she grabbed him with her elbow around his neck and drove him down to the floor with all her strength. She dropped onto one knee on the side of his head and smashed his skull into the metal floor.

She drew back and aimed a kick at his chest. Rotnim curled into a ball and covered his head with his arms. He howled in agony, but Penelope Ann wasn’t finished with him. She drew back her foot to deliver another kick, but before it landed, the other three aliens turned on her with their tentacles fully extended. Penelope Ann froze with her foot in mid-swing.

The invisible force field caught hold of Carmen. It held all four women motionless. Rotnim lay on the floor and groaned. A lavender liquid oozed from the side of his head. Carmen stared at the three aliens, but they didn’t move. They regarded their prisoners across the chamber and made no attempt to approach them.

Then their invisible power moved the women, across the room, away from the vehicle that brought them there. Carmen didn’t bother to struggle this time. Nothing could fight against this force. How could they ever escape from creatures with this ability to control and act from a distance? But at least she knew now what she was up against. Any plan she came up with would have to take the Romarie’s power into consideration.

The aliens moved their captives to a corner of the big chamber, where a door opened in a side panel. Carmen and her companions floated through it into another plain white box with no windows, no toilet, no anything. The door slammed shut behind them.

Chapter 4

Carmen crawled across the cold steel floor to Penelope Ann. “Are you all right?”

Penelope Ann coughed and wiped slime off her face. “I’m fine. I don’t think we can say the same thing for...what’s his name.”

Aria cackled with glee. “You really showed him, girl. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Penelope Ann smiled at her, but said nothing.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Carmen asked.

Penelope Ann cocked her head to one side. “What do you mean?”

“I saw you out there,” Carmen replied. “I saw the way you chopped at his neck with your hands and the way you headlocked him. You’ve got hand-to-hand combat training.”

Penelope Ann shrugged. “What if I have?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Carmen asked.

“What good would it have done?” Penelope Ann returned. “You wanted to believe you were the big, strong police officer who would get us out of this situation and the rest of us were weak, helpless maidens in distress.”

Carmen blushed. “I didn’t think that.”

Penelope Ann shifted her weight to one side. “Call it what you want. You didn’t believe any of us could be any good in a fight, but you didn’t bother to find out if you were right or wrong. Well, now you know you were wrong.”

“What training do you have?” Carmen asked.

Penelope Ann looked the other way.

“If you’d spent any time in our neighborhood at all,” Aria told her, “you would know Penelope Ann is a national champion jujitsu competitor. She brought home the grand title the last four years running.”

Carmen stared at Penelope Ann with new eyes. Penelope Ann was right. Carmen never considered any of these women would offer anything that could help them escape. Now her whole concept of their situation rearranged itself. They still couldn’t fight back against the aliens’ psychic power, but Penelope Ann’s combat skill changed everything.

A glimmer of hope entered in Carmen’s mind. She wasn’t alone in this the way she thought she was. She could count on at least one of these women when the hammer came down. Maybe the others had skills she could count on, too.

“Did you see the black spots on his neck when you hit him?” Marissa asked. “And the way his tentacles withdrew into his face when he was hurt. Those spots must be the source of their telekinetic power.”

Carmen rounded on her. “What are you talking about?”

Marissa faced her. “You saw the same things I did. They manipulated and controlled us with their tentacles. They never touched us until Rotnim decided to help himself to Penelope Ann, but they held us still and moved us around with their power. That power is called telekinesis. It means they can act from a distance with their minds. In their case, their tentacles must direct that power, but it’s the glands in their necks that produce it.”

“And did you notice how Rotnim’s tentacles are longer than the others’?” Penelope Ann asked. “He must be the strongest of the bunch.”

“That explains why he’s their leader,” Aria added. “He must be some sort of captain on board their space ship.”

Carmen threw up her hands. “This is nuts! You’re talking about aliens and space ships and telekinesis. This isn’t Star Trek, you know.”

Aria rolled her eyes and turned her back on Carmen. “Shut your face, fool. If you can’t talk sense, then stick a sock in it. I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Penelope Ann got to her feet. Slime stuck her golden tresses to her face and neck. “Aria’s right. You’ve done nothing but antagonize the rest of us since you first walked into my bakery this morning. If you can’t stop getting in our way, then move over and let us do our own thing. We’re trying to have a conversation here about the creatures who abducted us. This information will help us when it comes time to escape.”

“No one is escaping with those....those things around,” Carmen replied. “You saw the way they controlled our every move. If we’re going to escape at all, we’ll have to do it when they aren’t around.”

Penelope Ann whirled around. “You saw me put that piece of trash on the ground in two seconds. I would have smashed his head to smithereens if his friends hadn’t saved him. These creatures maybe have some kind of telekinetic power, but they aren’t invincible. We can defeat them if we fight back, so stop making excuses to sit on your backside and wring your hands. We’ve got a battle to plan here, and you aren’t helping at all.”

Carmen started to say something, but Marissa stepped between them. “Everybody cool your jets. We have no reason to call Carmen a coward just because she thinks we should take a careful approach to planning our escape. She’s right that the aliens’ telekinetic power puts our escape in a whole new light. If we can plan to avoid them, we should do it. That only makes sense.”

Carmen looked up at her face. “Thank you, Marissa.”

Marissa nodded at her. “You have to admit, though, Carmen, Penelope Ann proved these aliens can be overpowered by strength. They held us with their telekinetic power, but only Rotnim dared to come anywhere near us. They must understand they’re fundamentally weaker than we are. Now we know they can be defeated, we might try fighting back a little harder when the time comes.”

“As long as we wait until the time comes,” Carmen replied, “I’m willing to go along with that. But I don’t want anybody throwing themselves at a brick wall, busting their heads and breaking bones.”

“I understand,” Marissa replied.

Aria spun around. “We’ll bust their heads and break their bones.”

Marissa held up her hand. “Carmen has a point. We should save our strength for a time when we’ll have the best chance of success.”

“Not necessarily,” Penelope Ann countered. “They plan to sell us, so they won’t want us bashed up or damaged. Rotnim said so himself. Maybe if we fought back harder now, they’ll back down.”

“You can’t tell me Rotnim will back down on anything,” Carmen argued. “He’s ruthless and bloodthirsty. If he thinks we would rather damage ourselves than cooperate, he won’t waste his time on us. He’ll kill us.”

Marissa placed herself between Carmen and Penelope Ann. “Okay, okay. Enough arguing. There are four of us and four of them, and we have a common enemy. If we’re going to get out of here, we have to work together, not fight amongst ourselves. Now I’m making a decision that we’re going to stop talking about this right now. We need rest before they come back for us again.”

“If they have telekinetic power,” Carmen pointed out, “they can probably read our thoughts, too. They’ve probably been listening to every word we’ve said.”

Marissa chopped the air with her hand. “Enough! I’m ordering all of you to rest before they come back. We can talk about this again when we know more about our situation.”

Penelope Ann stiffened. “You’re ordering us?”

“That’s right,” Marissa replied. “Somebody’s got to take control around here, and it just happens to be me. Now go sit down in that corner over there, Penelope Ann. You go over there, Aria, and Carmen, you sit down over there.”

“We’re not children you can order around,” Aria grumbled.

“If you act like children,” Marissa replied, “you can expect to be treated like children. I spent the last five years running the reading sessions for children at the library, and I learned a thing or two. Now go sit down and don’t make me have to tell you again.”

Aria glared at her. Then she wilted and slunk off to her corner, where she slid down the wall onto the floor. She bent her knees up to her chest, crossed her arms on her knees, and cradled her head on her arms.

Penelope Ann stared at Marissa for a moment. Then she nodded and went to her own corner. She sat cross-legged on the floor and folded her hands in her lap.

Carmen retreated to her corner, but she didn’t sit down. Nervous energy kept her pacing in circles for a few minutes. Then she leaned against the wall. What would happen when one of them needed to go to the bathroom? Their prison cell was a padded room without the padding. Bare white walls surrounded them on all sides. She couldn’t even tell where air got in. Maybe air didn’t get in and they would suffocate in here.

In the end, she sat down with her back against the wall. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. No more than a couple of hours could have passed since she walked into Penelope Ann’s bakery, but overpowering exhaustion threatened to swallow her and drag her down into sleep. Maybe this was the space equivalent of jet lag.

Chapter 5

She might have dozed off, but she couldn’t tell. When she opened her eyes, Aria lay curled up in the fetal position on the floor. Penelope Ann hadn’t moved a muscle. A woman with as much martial arts training as she had could probably sit there for days without moving. Carmen shook herself when she noticed Marissa sitting near her.

Carmen inclined her head toward Marissa and murmured into her ear. “I really appreciate you supporting me the way you did. I won’t forget it.”

Marissa smiled and nodded. “You were right, Carmen. Fighting back right now won’t get us anywhere. We’ll keep an eye open for a better opportunity.”

Carmen glanced across the room. “I didn’t know Penelope Ann was a trained fighter. I’m glad I’m not the only one here with combat training.”

Marissa peered into her face. “We’re lucky to have you with us, Carmen. We should all follow your lead on this. Penelope Ann might know a lot about jujitsu, but you’re the only one of us with specific training in these types of situations. I’m sure when Aria and Penelope Ann get over their shock and anxiety, they’ll realize the same thing.”

Carmen shook her head. “I might be a police officer, but I’m no better than any of you. You’ve proved yourself to be very levelheaded, Marissa, and I don’t think I could have attacked Rotnim the way Penelope Ann did. My expertise is in firearms and target shooting. I’m not much good without a weapon in my hands.”

Marissa smiled again. “Each of us has skills and strengths the others don’t have. That’s all the more reason we should work together. We’re all frightened and confused over what’s happened to us, but that will pass, and when it does, we need to be allied with each other so we can stand against these creatures. We need to trust each other and depend on each other for our very lives. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of here.”

Carmen passed her hand over her eyes. “I’m sure glad you’re here, Marissa. I don’t know what I would have done with Aria without you. I couldn’t tell her to go sit in a corner the way you did. I’ve never met anybody with a mouth like hers.”

Marissa chuckled. “That’s just her way of covering up her fear. I’ve seen it a million times in the kids in our neighborhood.”

Carmen gazed down at her hands. “I guess I don’t really know as much as I should about the neighborhood. I only just moved there.”

“What brought you there?” Marissa asked. “You could have picked a much nicer place to move.”

Carmen shrugged. “My marriage broke up, and I needed to move out of Illinois. Your police department was hiring, so I applied and I got the job. It was a quick way to leave the past behind and start over. I didn’t care about the rough parts of town. That just makes for more interesting police work.”

“I won’t ask what happened with your marriage,” Marissa replied. “It’s none of my business.”

“I don’t mind telling you,” Carmen told her. “He left me because—he said—I spent too much time on my work. I was trying out for the US Championships target shooting team, so I had to practice long hours on top of my scheduled shifts at the police station. I guess that didn’t leave much time left over for him. He decided to move on.”

Marissa shook her head. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad you moved here—I mean, there. I’m glad you moved to our neighborhood. We need dedicated cops who care about people, and I can see you’re one of those.”

“I don’t think Aria and Penelope Ann see it that way,” Carmen murmured. “They think I’m the enemy.”

“Don’t worry about them,” Marissa replied. “They know you’re a good person. Penelope Ann was concerned about the young girls that disappeared from the neighborhood, and you can’t blame her for getting frustrated with the police department when they won’t investigate.”

Carmen frowned. “Yeah, that is odd. I wonder what it’s all about.”

“It’s all about their budget,” Marissa told her. “An investigative reporter ran a story in the local paper about the unexplained disappearances, and another reporter interviewed the Chief of Police to get his response. He said they didn’t have the manpower or the resources to fully investigate every single disappearance, especially since they couldn’t really be sure the women involved hadn’t just slipped farther into the criminal underworld. He said until they have some more concrete proof some crime took place, they would concentrate on more pressing matters, like patrolling the streets and combating gangs.”

Carmen looked away. “I don’t know about all that.”

Marissa laid a hand on her arm. “Listen, Carmen. Neighborhood politics is the least of our worries right now. Let’s put it aside, at least until we get back to Earth.”

Carmen smiled. “Okay.”

Marissa sighed and leaned back against the wall.

“What about you, Marissa?” Carmen asked. “I’ve been rattling away about myself all this time, but I didn’t ask about you. Are you married?”

Marissa blushed and stared down at her hands. “No, I’ve never been married. Maybe someday, but not now.”

Carmen cocked her head to one side. “You must have a boyfriend, though. You’re as beautiful as Penelope Ann.”

Marissa snorted. “No, I’m not! Penelope Ann is a supermodel. I’ve got librarian written all over me.”

Carmen shook her head. “You might not be six feet tall with long curly blonde hair and blue eyes, but you’ve got your own beauty. You’re a lot more beautiful than I am. I look like a scarecrow.”

Marissa laughed. “No. You look like a tough female cop. You’re the one who’s just as beautiful as Penelope Ann.”

Carmen laughed, too. “Seriously, you could have any man you wanted. Tell me you at least have a boyfriend.”

Marissa stopped laughing. “It’s very kind of you to say that. Really. But I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m not a lesbian or anything. I just prefer to stick to my books. Reading to kids twice a week is about the closest I can get to having a family.”

“I didn’t mean to....”Carmen stammered.

Marissa waved her hand. “You told me all about your marriage breaking up, so I might as well tell you my story. I grew up in that neighborhood. I grew up in an apartment right around the corner from Penny’s Peppermints. It wasn’t the easiest place to grow up, as you might imagine, and when I was seven, my parents split up and left me.”

Carmen frowned. “What do you mean, they left you? Do you mean your father left? Or your mother?”

“Both of them,” Marissa replied. “My father ran off with a waitress from Seattle, and my mother moved back to Arkansas to search for her old high school sweetheart. I didn’t even know they were gone until I woke up one morning and no one was there to cook my breakfast.”

Carmen stared at her. “So what did you do?”

Marissa shrugged. “I got the cereal and milk out of the fridge and made breakfast for myself and my two younger brothers....”

Carmen gasped. “Your younger brothers!”

Marissa nodded. “They were four and two at the time. I took care of them....”

Carmen covered her mouth with her hand, but she couldn’t stop the cry from tearing out of her soul. “Four and two! And you were seven!”

Marissa nodded again. “Someone had to take care of them, so I did it. I took care of them by myself for seven months.”

Carmen’s jaw dropped. Then she shut her mouth with a click. “How did you do it?”

Marissa gazed up at the ceiling. “I don’t really remember much about it now. I remember some of the ladies in the apartment building used to give me money and food and clothes for the boys. One of them used to come to the apartment and make us hot meals every now and then, and they used to check and make sure our bedding and our clothes weren’t too dirty.”

Tears stung Carmen’s eyes. “And you kept that up for seven months!”

Marissa smiled, but her own eyes misted over. “I think one of them must have reported us to Social Services. They eventually came and got us.”

“Thank God!” Carmen exclaimed.

Marissa studied her. “Not really. I never saw either of my brothers again.”

Carmen couldn’t stop the tears from overflowing her eyes. One of them coursed down her cheek and splashed on her hands. “I am so sorry. I never should have asked you about that.”

Marissa waved her hand. “Everyone in our neighborhood has a story like that. It’s the nature of the beast. Just ask Aria.”

“Did Aria have a similar experience?” Carmen asked.

Marissa shrugged. “I should let her tell you herself. I’m just saying no one is worse off than anybody else. I only wanted to explain to you why it’s kind of hard for me to get close to people. After my parents left, I thought I had a nice little home and family with my brothers. I thought in my childish little way we were doing all right. Then they left, too, and I’ve never had a real home or family since. I don’t think I ever will.”

Carmen bowed her head and sniffed. “I’m sorry, Marissa. I only wish there was something I could do.”

“You’re doing it,” Marissa replied. “You’re a cop. You’re doing what can be done to make the world work the way it should. Now we’re here, and you’re doing what you can to deal with this mess, too. Just make sure you understand the rest of us are doing the same thing. We’re all in this together.”

Carmen raised her eyes to Marissa’s face and nodded. “All right. I understand now. You can count on me.”

Chapter 6

The room vibrated, but no sound entered the cell. Carmen got to her feet, and the others looked around, but they had no way of telling what was happening. When the vibrations stopped, the four women stood together in the middle of the room.

“How long do you think we’ve been here?” Marissa asked Carmen.

“What I don’t understand is why none of us had to go to the bathroom,” Carmen replied. “We’ve been here for hours at least, and I had to go to the bathroom when I arrived at Penny’s Peppermints, but I haven’t had to go since.”

Penelope Ann guffawed with laughter. “We’ve been abducted by aliens, and all you can think about is going to the bathroom.”

Carmen smacked her lips. “If I had to go before, I wouldn’t be thinking about anything else in this box without a toilet. All I’m saying is these aliens must have some psychic way of suppressing our biological functions. Has any of you needed to go to the bathroom in all the time we’ve been here? Or been hungry or thirsty?”

Penelope Ann dropped her eyes.

“You’re right again, Carmen,” Marissa told her. “That’s the only explanation for how they could have kept us in this cell for so long.”

At that moment, the door appeared in the side wall, and the Romarie’s invisible telekinetic power grabbed hold of them. This time, the four women exchanged a nod before their captors removed them from their cell. They would conserve their strength for the time when they could escape.

The Romarie moved the women straight to the vehicle that took them from the bakery. Not even Rotnim bothered to taunt them. The instant the door closed, the vehicle started moving. Carmen and the others sat in a circle on the floor and waited until it stopped.

The door opened again, and the Romarie took them out with the same overpowering force, but now they found themselves in an enormous hall filled from one end to the other with people—at least, they looked like people from a distance.

On closer examination, Carmen realized they were dozens of different kinds of creatures, none of them human. They looked remarkably human, with two arms, two legs, to eyes, two ears. Each one had something about them, though, that told her instantly they weren't human. They all stood taller than the average human. Everyone in the hall dwarfed the four women. Some had crests of feathers sticking out the tops of their heads. Others walked on webbed feet.

Carmen stared at the scene. What was this place? The Romarie set the four women in a line in front of their transport vehicle, and the crowd instantly mobbed them in all their exotic extravagance. They babbled to one another in strange languages and pointed to the women on display.

One giant male with a bushy ring of hair around his head stepped forward and said something to Rotnim. To Carmen’s astonishment, Rotnim bowed and retreated in submission. He came up to her, and his tentacles slithered toward her. In an instant, the babble of voices broke into understandable language. She looked up at Rotnim. “What did you do?”

The big male stepped closer to her. His powerful muscled shoulders stood out under his mane of reddish-brown hair. “He implanted a translator code in your brain so I could speak to you.”

Rotnim strode down the line of women and did the same thing to each of Carmen’s companions. She gazed up at the big male. She could have been looking at any human male, except for his dark reddish tanned skin and his golden reddish hair setting off his strong face. “Thank you.”

He nodded, and his flat nose twitched. “Tell me about your journey. How did you get here?”

Carmen glanced at Rotnim. His eyes blazed, but he made no move to stop her from speaking her mind. “These creatures abducted us from our home planet. We’ve been locked in a cell ever since with no food, no water, no contact with anyone. He,” she nodded toward Rotnim. “He tried to attack my friend over there, but she overpowered him and beat him to the ground. She would have killed him if the others hadn’t intervened.”

The big male’s bright orange eyes widened. He turned to the onlookers and said something Carmen didn’t catch. A murmur went through the crowd. Carmen tried to look closer at the creatures standing around her, but Rotnim stepped toward her. For the first time, she noticed he carried some kind of weapon in his belt. His comrades were armed, too.

Carmen’s heart skipped a beat, and she cast a quick look toward her friends. Did they see what she saw? Was this the opportunity they were looking for to make a break for freedom? If only she could whisper a word to one of her companions, they might be able to hide in this crowd.

Rotnim took one more step closer, and all her hope vanished. He might let her talk to this big hairy creature, but he could hold her still and stop her running away with a flick of his tentacles. He would never let his prize escape.

Carmen faced the shaggy alien and found him glaring at Rotnim with glittering brown eyes. A mask of hatred and disgust marred his otherwise princely countenance. “I guess this is the market on the planet Corax.”

His head snapped around. “This isn’t Corax. What made you think that?”

Carmen waved her hand at the crowd. “He said he was taking us to the market on Corax to sell us to the highest bidder. If that’s not what’s happening here, what is?”

The alien shook his head. “This isn’t Corax. This is nowhere near Corax. This is Angondra, and we don’t have anything to do with those filthy markets with their putrid slave traders.”

Carmen’s eyes widened. “You don’t? Then what are we doing here?”

He snorted through his nose, and a rumble of laughter rolled out of his barrel chest. “We hate the markets and everything about them, and we especially hate the Romarie.” He snarled in Rotnim’s direction, who cringed and fawned before him in abject servitude. His tentacles quivered, but the big alien paid no attention. Maybe the Romarie had no telekinetic power over these creatures.

“If you hate the Romarie,” Carmen asked, “why did you let them bring us here?”

He gestured toward the crowd. “You see the different subspecies of our people here? You see those ones with the feathers? They are called Avitras. Those ones with the webbed feet are Aqinas.”

Carmen nodded. The Avitras were just as tall as the other Angondrans, but slight and wiry. They didn't sport heavy chiseled muscles, and in addition to the feathers around their heads, they had rows of feathers along their forearms.

“Angondra has five factions,” he told her, “but we’re really just different variations on the same race. We all hate the Romarie, and we agreed to keep them off our planet. Only the Ursidreans agreed to let them land here and show their wares.”

“Who are the Ursidreans?” Carmen asked.

He pointed to a burly alien crossing the room. He even dwarfed Carmen's new friend with his hulking frame. “They hate the Romarie, too, but those shifty criminals took advantage of the Ursidreans’ trusting nature. They made up a big story about the benefits of bringing in new females after ours died out in the plague....”

Carmen peered into his face. “So you lost your females in the plague, too? Maybe you should get new ones.”

He shook his head again, and his shaggy mane rippled with the movement. “We have enough of our own kind to regenerate our population without contaminating ourselves with the Romarie. We’ve worked for many generations to keep their influence off our planet. That’s why we came to this gathering, to make sure the Romarie don’t try to manipulate anyone or invade our world. They’re pure evil, you know. You can’t trust them for an instant.”

“I know,” Carmen murmured.

Another creature stepped out of the crowd. Soft black hair surrounded his delicate head and lay back against his face in a striking ruff. Pointed ears peeked out from his dark hair. Carmen noticed others of his kind in the hall with grey or light red hair. When he opened his mouth to speak to Rotnim, Carmen spotted gleaming fangs in the corners of his mouth.

Carmen inclined her head toward her new friend. “What faction does that creature belong to?”

“That is Caleb,” he replied. “He belongs to the Lycaon faction.”

“And what about you?” she asked. “What faction do you belong to?”

He puffed up his chest, and his shaggy mane rose on end to make him look more grand and imposing than ever. His heavy shoulders towered over her. “I belong to the Felsite faction. We used to rule this planet, but now the different factions keep to their own territory.”

“What’s your name?” she asked.

His eyes softened, and he smiled at her. “My name is Renier. And you?”

She smiled back at him, and when she automatically extended her hand to him in greeting, she found her limbs free to move. The Lycaon must have distracted Rotnim for a moment. “My name is Carmen. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

At that moment, the whole scene exploded before her eyes. To anyone else, it may have passed in a fraction of a second, but to Carmen, the events of the next few minutes unfolded in slow motion.

Caleb, the slender newcomer, bared his teeth in disgust when Rotnim answered him, and Rotnim withdrew in horror at the sight. His tentacles lashed the air, and the telekinetic power blew the delicate hair back from the Lycaon’s face. But the invisible force had no effect on him other than to make him even more enraged.

Caleb’s dark lips slithered back from his fangs and he growled at Rotnim. Rotnim’s thin veneer of polite condescension evaporated before Carmen’s eyes, and he raised his hand to his belt for his weapon. A lightning bolt of alarm shot through Carmen’s guts, and every nerve and muscle stood on end. This could only end it a fight.

But Caleb moved faster than thought. He brought up his hand and struck Rotnim’s arm away from his weapon. The impact sent Rotnim staggering backwards, which caught the attention of the other three Romarie. They spun around and grabbed for their weapons, too.

Renier noticed the confrontation first from his place at Carmen’s side, but the other Angondrans didn’t take much longer to realize what was happening. In an instant, several dozen Angondrans from all the faction rushed the Romarie brandishing every weapon imaginable. The feathered Avitras wielded long staffs with curved blades attached to both ends. They swung their staffs around their heads, and the blades whistled through the air.

The Ursidreans pulled out some kind handheld gun similar Rotnim’s. One of them fired at Tinim, but nothing came out the end of it. A hot wind shimmered through the hall and rustled Carmen’s hair, but Tinim staggered backwards and slammed against the vehicle behind him.

Caleb followed up his attack on Rotnim by slashing him with his fangs. He leapt on the Romarie leader and knocked him flat on the ground. Rotnim’s weapon skidded across the floor. Caleb landed on his chest, and his fangs snapped at his face. Rotnim raised his hands in front of himself for protection, but it was too late. Caleb feinted, and when Rotnim tried again to repel him, he ducked and grabbed Rotnim’s neck and then he broke it with his bare hands.

A deafening roar shivered Carmen to the depths of her being, and she turned her head just in time to see Renier rushing past her into the fray. Carmen snapped out of her stunned surprise and ran forward, too. This was the best chance she and her friends would ever get to get away from their captors.

She shouldered through the crowd and grabbed Rotnim’s weapon from the floor. She hefted it in her hand, and she took half a second to figure out where the firing mechanism was. When she folded her hand around the trigger grip, it whined and hummed against her palm. She aimed it at Tinim where he struggled to get back on his feet, and before she could make up her mind to activate the firing mechanism, the thing went off in her hand.

She stared at it in astonishment. Then she understood what had happened. Her own thoughts activated it. These Romarie had telekinetic powers, so their weapons must operate on their conscious thoughts. Her own intention to fire the weapon caused it to fire.

An Avitras rushed up to Tinim and slashed him across the chest with his double-bladed staff. Orbnim exchanged fire with an Ursidrean, and Renier tackled Albinim. He pulled a short, thick blade from his belt and drove it toward the Romarie’s chest. Albinim got his weapon out in time, but it went off before he could aim it. The shot ricocheted off the ceiling and flattened a group of Angondrans rushing to join the fight.

Carmen dashed forward and grabbed Penelope Ann by the hand. “Come on! This is our chance! Let’s get out of here.”

Aria turned around and shouted, “What?”

Penelope Ann didn’t wait to be told twice. She followed Carmen away from the vehicle and into the crowd. Marissa cast an uncertain glance over her shoulder. All the remaining Romarie were engaged in mortal combat with the Angrondrans. She set off after Carmen and Penelope Ann.

Aria hesitated one second longer, and in that second, the Romarie must have detected their intention to escape. Orbnim fired one more time at his Ursidrean foe. The shot flew wide and sailed into the crowd. Caleb rushed out of nowhere, directly into the path of the shot, and it hit him squarely in the chest. He crumpled onto the ground, and Carmen saw Marissa standing still on the other side of him. She stared down at his prostrate form. He’d stepped in front of the shot to save her from being hit.

Orbnim didn’t see any of that. He fired his weapon into the crowd and darted forward. His tentacles danced out from his face, and Aria froze in mid-stride. Carmen stopped, too.

Penelope Ann touched her arm. “Come on, Carmen. Let’s get out of here. I don’t know where we’re going to go, but we can get lost in this crowd. At least we won’t be on our way to the markets on the planet Corax.”

Carmen shook her head. “We can’t leave Aria.”

Marissa pulled her away. “Leave her. We can’t sacrifice ourselves for one person. If we don’t go now, we’ll all be recaptured. You’ve got a weapon. We can fight our way out. Come on. Let’s go.”

Carmen shook her hand away. “We can’t leave her here. We can’t let even one of us go to the markets. You two get into the crowd and find the exit. If you need help, find one of these factions that hates the Romarie. I’m going back to get Aria, and I’ll meet up with you later.”

Penelope Ann rushed into the crowd. Marissa glanced back and forth between Carmen and the path to freedom. Carmen couldn’t wait any longer. She ran back toward the vehicle, but at that moment, Orbnim threw his arm around Aria’s neck and pulled her against his chest. He turned her to face the crowd and pointed his weapon at her head.

“Get back!” he thundered. “Get back or I’ll kill this female where she stands.”

Carmen stopped and lowered her weapon. The Avitras fighting Tinim moved back, but didn’t relax his fighting stance. Orbnim backed toward the open door of the vehicle with Aria clutched tight against his chest. The other Albinim followed his example and retreated toward their own escape.

Carmen looked around. On all sides, the Angondrans held back to let the Romarie depart, but Carmen let out a cry of dismay. They couldn’t let these aliens take Aria off the planet. If Tinim dragged her into that vehicle, they would never see her again. They would sell her at the markets, and whatever else she did in her life, Carmen couldn’t let that happen. She would sacrifice her own chance at freedom to free her friend.

She started forward, but Orbnim spotted her and jammed his weapon even harder against Aria’s temple. Aria let out a sob of pain and despair. Carmen raised her own weapon to aim at Orbnim, but his tentacles lashed out and caught her before she could get it into position.

From the other side of the fight, Renier looked up and read the situation in an instant. He held Albinim down with one hand and sent his blade whistling through the air toward Orbnim’s head. The Romarie spun around, and his tentacles slithered out toward it. It hung suspended in midair. Then it clattered to the ground.

In the moment when Orbnim’s attention moved away from Carmen toward the flying blade, he released his hold on her. She rushed forward and hit him with all her weight. He stumbled backwards, and his arm loosened around Aria’s neck.

Carmen grabbed Aria with one hand and yanked her away from him. In the same movement, she stuck her weapon against his head and squeezed her hand around the firing mechanism. Before she knew what was happening, a crushing pressure closed around the back of her neck, and she flew back across the room.

She hit the ground with a thud and rolled over on her back. Her eyes fluttered, and her vision cleared before she noticed she still held Aria’s shirt clutched in her fist. Her friend lay on the ground at her side, and the three remaining Romarie backed into their vehicle with Angondrans surrounding them on all sides. Albinim fired one more time to cover their retreat, and the door closed on them.

Chapter 7

Renier gave Carmen his hand and helped her up. “Are you all right?”

She turned on him. “Why did you let them get away? I could have killed Orbnim, and all of us working together could have killed the rest of them.”

Renier nodded. “I pulled you away before you could kill him.”

Carmen spun around. “You pulled me away? But why? I told you he stole us from our home world. You should have let me kill him.”

He cocked his head to one side. “You got your friend away from him, but you were so busy attacking him you didn’t see the other one.”

She frowned. “What other one?”

“The other Romarie,” he replied. “The one behind you.”

“Do you mean Tinim?” she asked. “What about him?”

“You didn’t see him aim his weapon at you,” Renier replied. “He would have killed you if I hadn’t dragged you away. The only way to save your life was to let the three of them leave.”

Carmen stared at the empty place where the space vehicle used to be. Then she sighed. “I have to find my friends.”

“The Romarie departed alone,” he told her. “All your friends are on this planet—somewhere.”

Carmen looked around the hall. Most of the Angondrans had left, but she couldn’t see Penelope Ann or Marissa anywhere.. “Where’s everyone else?”

“The gathering is over,” Renier replied. “They came to see the Romarie and see what they had to offer, but now that they are gone, the factions will go back to their own territories.”

She studied him. “Will you go back to your own territory, too?”

He nodded. “This gathering hall is in Ursidrean territory. Felsite territory is on the other side of the continent. I will go back there to my people.”

Carmen looked around her. Rotnim’s body still lay motionless where he’d fallen. “What about us? What will happen to us?”

He peered into her eyes. “What would you like to happen to you?”

“Well, of course we’d like to go home,” she replied. “We can’t stay here.”

Renier shook his shaggy head. “I’m afraid that is impossible. You can’t leave Angondra.”

“Why not?” she asked. “We don’t belong here.”

“We don’t have any vehicle that can transport you through space,” he told her. “We keep to our own planet, so you have no way of getting off this world.”

She stared at him. “But how is that possible? The Romarie traveled here. You must have some way of traveling....”

He shrugged. “My people used to have space vehicles, but not anymore. We gave them up when we realized traveling through space meant dealing with species like the Romarie. We prefer to stay here, where we can be at relative peace with each other.”

Carmen’s shoulders sagged. “This can’t be happening. We can’t be stuck here, not after everything we’ve been through.”

He studied her. “Why don’t you come back to Felsite territory with me? You might decide you like it there.”

She shook her head. “There must be a way to get back to Earth.”

He paused. Then he took hold of her arm and drew her toward the open door of the hall. The light shining through from outside brought her out of her despair. “What about Aria?”

He cast a glance at her friend. “She can come, too.”

“How can we find the other women?” Carmen asked.

He looked away. “One problem at a time. You need somewhere to go, and I’m taking you with me. I’ll protect you and make sure you get everything you need.”

Carmen’s spirits faltered. She had no more will to resist. She’s accomplished her goal to free her friends from the Romarie, only to discover they were trapped in a different kind of prison, a much more impenetrable prison than the one they just left. At least on board the Romarie’s space vessel, they had some chance to get back to Earth. Now Carmen watched that hope slip away, never to return. How could she bear the agony of that?

She couldn’t stand to look at Aria. How could she face these women when she’d failed them so miserably? She let Renier lead her out of the hall and sit her down somewhere. She didn’t notice anything around her until she started moving.

That’s when she noticed the trees and mountains and rivers moving past her. She was sitting on a flat palanquin rolling over the ground, but Carmen couldn’t see any mechanism to make it move. A towering sky stretched up to heaven, and three bright moons hung among the clouds. A fresh breeze blew into Carmen’s face and revived her.

“What is this place?” she asked Renier.

“I told you. This is Ursidrean territory.” He pointed at the mountains. “They have their caves up there, and they spend the winters sealed up inside them. They only come out in spring, but they raise their young in their caves before they come out to hunt.”

Carmen cocked her head. “They sound like bears. Now that I think of it, they sort of look like bears, too.”

Renier kept his eyes facing front. “I don’t know what bears are, but the Ursidreans are Angondrans like the rest of us, even if they have some strange ways.”

“All the factions must seem strange to one another,” she remarked. “The Aqinas seem the strangest of all, with their webbed feet.”

“They aren’t as strange as the Avitras,” he replied. “The Avitras live in trees, and they chatter constantly to each other about everything you can imagine. They know everything there is to know about everyone on this planet. Collecting information is their pride and joy. We don’t have very many rules on this planet, but the ones we have come from the Avitras. As a matter of fact, they probably know where your friends are at this moment.”

Carmen whirled around. “Really? Can’t we go and ask them? I don’t think I’ll be able to rest until I know they’re safe.”

“They are safe,” he replied. “You can take my word on that. No one on Angondra would harm your friends. We all understand what happened to you and how the Romarie abducted you from your home. No Angondran will do anything to any of you. We will do everything in our power to help you and make you comfortable here, even though we can’t help you leave.”

Carmen blinked back tears. “There must be something we can do.”

“Wherever your friends are,” he went on, “they are as safe as you are. If they haven’t gone to the Felsite, they will be with one of the other factions who will take them in and look after them. You can take my word on that.”

Carmen studied him. “I do take your word on that.”

He cast a quick glance at her before turning his gaze in front of them again. “Good. You can trust me.”

Carmen didn’t say anything. She never doubted for a second that she could trust him. She trusted him more than anyone she ever met in her life, and she’d known him less than an hour. Why did his bulky presence imbue her with such a deep, abiding sense of security? He’d saved her life back at the hall, and he was taking her home to his people to give her a place on this planet. What more could she ask from anyone?

She glanced down at the ground passing under their palanquin. “How does this vehicle move over the ground? I can’t see any mechanism or motor to make it move.”

He chuckled. “These is no mechanism or motor. It’s drawn by Reticlians.”

“What are they?” she asked.

He pointed down to the ground. “Take a look.”

She bent farther over the side, but still didn’t see anything. Renier laughed. “Here. I’ll show you.”

He took hold of her with his powerful hands and slung her over his knee. He dangled her headfirst over the side of the palanquin, but she never experienced a hint of fear. He’d given her his word he would protect and care for her, and she took him at his word. Why would he harm her now?

When her head hung over the side, she noticed something moving under the palanquin. A dozen enormous snails help up the platform of the carriage on their shells, and they slithered over the ground at an incredible speed. Their oily bodies ran over fallen logs and sharp stones, but they never stopped. They carried the palanquin faster than a car.

He pulled her back and set her down in her place.

“Do you have many creatures like this on your planet?” she asked.

He frowned. “Like what?”

“Like those snails,” Carmen replied.

“We have thousands of creatures of every kind on this planet,” he replied. “It’s a beautiful planet with wonderful diversity. The five factions you saw at the gathering hall are just one species.”

She gazed out at the landscape rolling by. “I guess it’s going to take me a while to get used to being on a different planet. I’ve never been anywhere but Earth.”

“I’ve never been off this planet, either,” he replied. “None of us has.”

They lapsed into silence. They passed through the mountains into rolling prairies of grass and wildflowers and on past low river bottoms and stands of waving trees. They crossed high cliffs overlooking thundering seas. “This is Aqinas territory,” Renier told her.

Carmen perked up. “Where do they live?”

“Over there.” He pointed to a series of rock pools jutting out into the sea. “That’s their stronghold.”

“How can they live there?” Carmen asked. “I don’t see anything but a bunch of rocky holes.”

“They live in the water, but they breathe the air,” he explained. “They manage all water life on the planet and they can communicate using any body of water. They keep to themselves, and they stay neutral in any disputes between the other factions. You have to be careful around them, though. They’ll trick you with their words if they can. And over there is the Avitras territory.”

Carmen followed his arm toward tall black mountains on their other side. Black forests covered them from bottom to top, but even at that distance, the mountains vibrated with hidden life. Carmen cradled her forehead in her hand. “I can’t think about this anymore.”

“You don’t have to,” he replied. “We’re entering Felsite territory.”

The palanquin crossed the cliffs and wound through a treacherous gorge of steep rock. It wound hour after hour through the most inhospitable countryside, beyond where Carmen would imagine any living creature could survive. In the end, sheer exhaustion forced her to close her eyes and lie back on the palanquin. She couldn’t look at this strange planet anymore. She couldn’t accept that she would probably spend the rest of her life here. She couldn’t let that happen.

She fell into a fevered sleep, and when she opened her eyes, darkness surrounded them. She strained her eyes, but could catch no glimmer of light besides the silent, frozen stars above her. Earth was out there somewhere, suspended just beyond her reach.

She used to gaze up at the moon from her bedroom window. It hung suspended in another dimension. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to leave Earth and look back on it from space. Now her own home planet hung there, out of reach.

The palanquin still moved under her, but she could see nothing of the landscape around her. She dared not raise her voice above a whisper. “Where are we?”

To her surprise, Aria answered. “He said we were almost there.”

Carmen spun around. “Aria! Are you all right?”

A pregnant pause filled the air. “I guess we’re going somewhere, but I don’t know where.”

Carmen leaned toward her. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you before. I should have made sure you were okay after what happened at the gathering hall.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me.” Aria’s soft drawl vibrated against Carmen’s ear. It warmed her heart to hear a human voice for a change. “You saved my life back there. I should have thanked you sooner.”

Carmen put out her hand and found Aria’s velvetty soft arm. “I’m just glad we got you away from the Romarie in time. I couldn’t live with myself if they took you away with them.”

“You could have escaped with the others,” Aria went on, “but you came back for me. You aren’t the person I thought you were. I thought you were another brainless cop who didn’t care about the people in the street. I thought you blew into our neighborhood with a sound and fury, but I didn’t think you were any account. I’m sorry for that. I hope someday I can pay you back for rescuing me.”

“Please don’t apologize, Aria,” Carmen exclaimed. “I only wish there was something I could have done to stop us from getting into this situation. I’m supposed to protect people from situations like this, but I couldn’t stop it. I was as helpless as you were...” Her words stuck in her throat.

Aria squeezed her hand. “You did it. You’re the one who got us away from the Romarie. I didn’t think you would. I thought you were full of hot air. I thought Penelope Ann would be the one to save us, not some no-account cop. But you did it. You picked up that gun and fought to free us when no one else would, and you came back for me while Penelope Ann and Marissa ran away. I don’t know how to thank you for that, but I swear to you I’ll be your friend as long as I live. You can count on me, and I’ll never let you down.”

They clutched at each other in the silent dark. Chirps and squeaks echoed out of the night on all sides, but they didn’t speak or move. They could be the last human beings for a million light years in any direction, but at least they were together.

After a long pause, Aria spoke again. “I heard Marissa telling you her story. I heard her tell you I had a story like hers, but I want you to know that’s not true. I have a family back home.”

Carmen cocked her head. “What did she mean?”

“I’ve hated cops all my life,” Aria told her. “That’s why I hated you from the first moment I met you. You should understand why. I owe you that much.”

Carmen swallowed. “Okay. I’ll listen if you want to tell me.”

“My dad worked hard all his life to give us kids the best,” Aria explained. “We lived in a bad neighborhood, but him and my mom worked their fingers to the bone to make sure we never went without. We had family dinners every night, and they used to read to us and help us with our homework. We had a good life.”

“That’s wonderful, Aria,” Carmen explained.

“Not so wonderful,” Aria countered. “When I was about ten, the cops stormed our apartment and tore the place apart. They kicked in the door at five o’clock in the morning and threw all of us out of bed. My dad stood up to them and demanded to know what it was all about and where was their warrant and all that, but they grabbed him and beat him down right in front of us kids. My mom was screaming and trying to get to him, and one cop held her back. All us kids were holding onto each other on the bed and crying and watching them beat our dad.”

Carmen choked back sobs. “I’m so sorry, Aria.”

Aria paid no attention to her. She spoke out into the night, to something or someone beyond sight. “They beat him until he didn’t move anymore, and then they destroyed the apartment. They tore it to shreds. They ripped open all the pillows and cushions on the couch, and they tossed everything out of the closets and the fridge. They left the place a disaster zone.”

“But why?” Carmen asked. “Why would they do that to innocent people?”

“After they left,” Aria told her, “we took my dad to the hospital. He died of his injuries two days later. Then we got a letter from the police department saying they’d raided the wrong apartment. They got a tip that some dangerous drug dealers were holed up in an apartment down the hall from us, in apartment number 34. They accidentally raided apartment number 43 by mistake.”

Carmen groaned and bowed her head to her chest.

“They apologized for their mistake and vowed to do better in the future.” Aria snorted under her breath. “So that’s why I didn’t think much of you when I first met you. I just thought you ought to know.”

Carmen fought back her sobs. She crushed Aria’s hand in her grip. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Aria. I joined the police department to help people. I swear I never meant to do anything to hurt anybody.”

“You didn’t,” Aria replied.

Carmen shook her head. “I didn’t listen when Penelope Ann told me about those missing women. I should have taken her report seriously. I thought the department was right to ignore their disappearance, since they were dopers and hookers and penniless runaways. I shouldn’t have been so heartless. I’m sorry. I should have cared as much about them as anybody else, and now I’m one of them, and no one will care about my disappearance, either. No one will investigate the Romarie abducting us from the neighborhood in broad daylight.”

Chapter 8

“Where do you think he’s taking us?” Aria asked.

“He said he was taking us back to his people,” Carmen replied, “back to Felsite territory. I don’t know what to expect, but he said we don’t have anything to fear from any of the Angondrans, and I believe him. Don’t ask me why, but I trust him. I trust him with my life.”

Aria nodded. “I trust him, too, and not just because he saved our lives. There’s something about him that makes me feel safe, you know?”

Carmen nodded. How well she knew. “I wonder how far we have to go.”

Just then, Renier sat up from the palanquin next to them. He let out a great yawn that silenced the chirping creatures in the night around them and he scratched his hairy head. “Here we are.”

Carmen and Aria whirled around. “Where?”

He pointed through the trees, and they noticed lights gleaming in the distance. The palanquin pulled up in front of a high slope, and yellow lights glowed from its surface. They lit up the darkness and cast a welcoming glow on the travelers. Renier jumped down from the palanquin and gave Carmen his hand.

As soon as Carmen and Aria stood on solid ground, the snails slithered out from under the palanquin. The platform sank to the ground, and the snails disappeared into the dark. The lamplight shone on their wet trails. A dozen Felsite came out of the hillside to greet them. The males had shaggy manes of hair around their heads like Renier’s. The females had only short hair running back along their faces from their flat noses and behind their small ears.

They all started talking at once, and Renier told the story over and over of the battle to free these women from the Romarie. He told them two other Earth women were on the planet somewhere, and the Angondrans would help them and give them what they needed. The Felsite nodded their agreement. Then they turned their attention to the women.

Renier laid his hand on Carmen’s shoulder. “This is Carmen. She is a very powerful warrior. She attacked the Romarie to rescue her friend here, and she helped her other friends escape in the middle of the battle.”

The Felsite stared at her with wide eyes and murmured their approval.

“Now we’ll go inside and have something to eat and a nice long sleep,” Renier announced. “We’ve traveled long and far, and we’re all tired.”

The crowd broke up with much bubbling conversation, and the story of the battle spread through the night. Renier waved toward the hill. “If you follow me, I’ll take you to my home.”

Carmen turned her attention to the hill and noticed it was actually made up of a warren of buildings all stacked on top of each other like a giant apartment complex. It sloped back against an even higher mountain, and hundreds of lamps and candles burned in every window overlooking the broad plain in front of it.

Renier guided the two women up a flight of steps and in through a heavy stone door to a chamber lined with gleaming flat stone and polished wood. Carmen stared at the room. “Did you build this place?”

Renier’s head whipped around. “Me? No, I didn’t build it.”

“I meant the Felsite,” Carmen replied. “Did the Felsite build this....this.....?”

“This city?” he asked. “Yes, the Felsite built this city long ago, and our faction has lived here ever since. It's called Melnili”

“Is it the only one of its kind?” she asked.

“No, no,” he replied. “We have dozens of cities all over our territory, and we’re building new ones all the time. We’re the only faction who builds—I mean, really builds. The Avitras build leafy shanties in the trees, and the Ursidreans have their caves.”

“What about the Lycaon?” she asked. “Where do they live?”

“They build houses,” he replied, “but nothing like this. They build stick houses in the forest, but they’re really more like temporary shelters. The Lycaon move around too much, so they don’t build anything solid or sturdy. That’s their way.”

“And the Aqinas live in the pools by the ocean,” she added.

He nodded. “That reminds me. I have to contact the Council about a new city we’re building on the far side of our territory. They can’t go ahead until I give them my approval.”

“Your approval?” she repeated. “What are you—some kind of governor?”

“I don’t know what a governor is,” he told her. “I’m the Alpha of our faction, therefore it’s my job to approve projects like that.”

Carmen exchanged glances with Aria. “Alpha?”

“Perhaps you don’t understand the meaning of that term,” Renier went on. “It means....”

“I know what it means,” Carmen snapped. “I understand perfectly what it means.”

Renier didn’t pay any attention to her reaction. He threw himself down on a raised platform on the other side of the room and stretched out his bulky limbs. “Good. Come on over and have something to eat. I’m starving.”

He pulled out a wooden box from a corner next to the platform and opened it. Carmen took a step closer, but when he pulled out a glistening haunch of raw meat, she stopped. He bared his pointed teeth and tore a chunk off of it. He didn’t even bother to chew it, but swallowed it down whole.

He pushed the box toward her. “Help yourself.”

Carmen bent over from the waist, but when she saw nothing inside it but more raw meat, she turned away. Aria turned green and scrunched up her nose in disgust. “We’ll have to cook this. We can’t eat it raw.”

He paused in his meal. “Cook it? Whatever for?”

“We don’t eat raw meat,” she replied. “That’s the way we are. Our bodies aren’t designed to digest it.”

He went back to tearing at his food. “Do what you want. This is all we have, and we don’t have any means of cooking. You’ll have to work it out for yourselves.”

Carmen turned the problem over in her mind. Then she picked up the box and turned toward Aria. “At least they have fire, even if they don’t cook. Come on. We’ll figure something out.”

The two of them made a thorough search of the room. They found the lamps in the corner and a supply of oil under a cupboard in another corner. The room contained no table, so Carmen set everything out on the floor.

“Now what are we going to do?” Aria asked. “We can’t cook over a lamp.”

Carmen frowned. Then a light came on in her mind. She went back to Renier, who watched them with interest. “Give me your blade.”

He handed it over, and Carmen sat down in front of the box. She cut the meat into small squares and stuck them on the end of the blade. Then she barbequed them in the flame until they crackled and the delicious smell of roast meat filled the room. When she handed it to Aria, who popped it into her mouth with a satisfied sigh, Renier roared with laughter.

Carmen roasted the meat, and they both ate until they leaned back, contented. Carmen put the lamp away and went to the platform to give Renier his blade, but she found him dead asleep. He snored in peace with his shaggy head resting on his arm. Carmen studied him for a moment. His eyes quivered under his eyelids, and his massive chest rose and fell with steady breathing.

Aria came to her side. “Where are we going to sleep?”

Carmen turned around. “I don’t see any other beds.” She stuck her head into the other rooms in the apartment. “They all have these platforms. That must be where they all sleep.”

Aria nodded. “You take this one. I’ll take the room over there.”

“Are you sure?” Carmen asked. “Maybe we should stick together until we know for sure....”

Aria shook her head. “We already know for sure. These Felsite won’t hurt us. We’re perfectly safe here, but I think we better start first thing tomorrow morning to figure out how we’re going to manage our food. We can’t live on roast meat.”

They went to their rooms and shut the doors. Carmen curled up on the platform. There were no blankets, but she didn’t need them. The night was warm and pleasant, and a million chirps and clicks blew through the window on the breeze. She drifted off into sleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Carmen woke up out of a sound sleep. No sound disturbed her, but an overpowering presence forced her to open her eyes and stare into the dark. Then she heard the rustle of breathing, and she saw a wide black shape blocking the door of her room. A fringe of hair surrounded it and stood out from the faint star glow behind it.

His eyes caught the faint light, and they glowed in the dark. He stood still and stared down at her. A bolt of excitement shot through her. What was he doing, watching her sleep? She must be as much a curiosity to him as he was to her. She stared into those mirrored eyes, and her body seethed to life.

She extended her hand toward him, and he stepped into the room. He strode to the edge of her sleeping platform and towered over her. His eyes burned into her soul, and his breath rushed heavier through his nostrils. His whole being seethed with dark smoldering power, and Carmen’s heart fluttered.

When he came within reach, she took hold of his hand and drew him down onto the platform beside her. He sat down on the edge, and they breathed together in the stillness. Then he lay down next to her and she moved over to make room for him.

His body burned her skin, but she burrowed into the shaggy hair around his neck and chest and lost herself in his raw smell. He closed his arms around her and crushed her against his body. A molten furnace smoldered just below the surface of his skin, and when her body came into contact with his, it exploded into flame.

He rolled on top of her and would have smothered her with his weight, but she reared back and brought her face out of his mane to face him. He growled under his breath, and the sound reverberated through her bones and set her nerves on fire. She sought his mouth and closed her lips over his.

Renier devoured her with his teeth, and his legs found their way between her knees. Her legs groaned apart, and she wrapped herself around him in greedy anticipation. He lapped at her lips with his tongue and gnawed down her neck to the hollow of her collarbone.

Carmen craned her neck backwards to receive him, and all the time, her body clutched at him and strove with all her strength to draw him inside herself. A niggling little voice nagged at the corners of her mind. This is an alien, it told her. He isn’t human. You can’t do this. This is some kind of abomination. She pushed that voice away with all her might.

She wanted him. She needed him. He was alien, and that was exactly why she needed him. She needed his animal magnetism, his rough power, his dominating presence. He was her Alpha. No male she’d ever met fired her passion the way he did. She would have him and let him have her if it was the last thing she did.

Renier’s breath came hard and strong. He purred and growled into her neck, but the rest of him drove into her with nothing held back. His hands found their way up her back to her hair, and he tore her shirt off with one yank of his powerful fingers. In an instant, she lay naked and panting beneath him.

The same golden hair covered his body, but under that, his limbs pulsed strong and perfect and vibrant. Carmen ran her hands along his back. Muscles rippled under his hair, and his back arched to meet her touch. She ran her hands farther down to the tops of his thighs, and he drove his hips between her legs.

A sharp point pricked her delicate flesh, and she hesitated. What would happen when she joined with him? What if his body damaged her somehow and she bled to death right there on that platform? The sharp barb stabbed deeper into her waiting flesh, and she cast all caution to the wind. Let her die right here and now. At least she would die with him.

She clenched her fists into the soft hair on the backs of his legs and pulled him in. He took her signal, and with one thrust, drove his spear into her burning guts. It split her wide open, and she threw back her head with a gasp. Once inside, he paused for a mere second, just to make sure she was alive. But the next instant, they both threw themselves together with even greater ferocity.

They rode together to the heights of bliss, and Carmen never let loose her hold on him for fear he would slip away.

Chapter 9

When Carmen woke up the next morning, Renier was gone. She found a fresh set of clothes lying on the end of the platform, and when she dressed and went out of the room, she met Aria at her door. They found a tray containing an assortment of fruit, tubers, and leafy vegetables sitting on the platform in the main room. A wooden bowl containing a white liquid sat next to the tray. Carmen tasted it. “It tastes like honey.”

“He must have left this for us to eat,” Aria remarked.

They soon demolished the food, and Carmen stood up ready for the day. “Let’s go exploring.”

Aria shook her head. “I’m not ready. We just got to a safe place. I need to stay put for a little while.”

Carmen peered into her face. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

Aria nodded, but she turned back into the apartment. “You’re not the one who almost got shot in the head back there at the gathering. You’re not the one who almost got dragged back to the Romarie. I need to stay safe inside for a day or two before I go out.”

Carmen nodded. “Okay. I’ll be back in a little while.”

She watched Aria go back to her room and shut the door. Should she be concerned? What if Aria never came out again? Carmen turned away. She couldn’t worrying about that now. She descended the same steps to the ground in front of the......what was it? She couldn’t call this Felsite colony anything other than a city, although she had to remind herself it hadn’t been built by humans. These Angondrans must have an advanced technology, even if they chose not to travel in space. Earth didn’t have space travel, either.

At the bottom of the steps, a female Felsite met her with a smile. Like all Felsite females, her her short golden hair formed a neat ring around her face. Females didn't grow a big mane like the males. Her hair sparkled in the sun. “Good morning. I was hoping to meet you here.”

Carmen stiffened. “What’s wrong? Have I broken the rules or something?”

“Not at all,” she replied. “I’m Leroni. I’m Renier’s sister, and I wanted to welcome you. I want to make sure you have everything you need.”

Carmen let out a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry. My friend and I are still getting used to this planet. We only just came here yesterday and....”

“Renier told us about your experience with the Romarie,” Leroni replied. “We will do everything we can to help you, and I understand why you don’t feel comfortable here just yet.” She looked around. “Where’s your friend? I could show you both around if you like.”

Carmen waved her hand toward Renier’s apartment. “She doesn’t want to leave the apartment yet. She almost lost her life yesterday, and the Romarie tried to take her back with them. Renier and I fought to save her, but this is the first time she’s felt safe since we left home. She wants to stay inside for now.”

Leroni stared at her. “Renier said you were a brave warrior. Now I understand what he meant.”

“I’m not a brave warrior,” Carmen replied. “I only want to help my friends.”

Leroni smiled. “I can see why he likes you so much.”

Carmen blushed but didn’t answer.

“Come on,” Leroni told her. “I’ll show you around, anyway. This is the main block, where the Alpha families live.”

“Alpha families?” Carmen asked. “Renier said he was Alpha here.”

“He is,” Leroni replied. “But he inherited that role from our father when he died. Our whole family lives in this block, and so do some other families who could take the Alpha role if circumstances required them to.”

Carmen frowned. “If Renier is the leader of the whole faction, why does he live in such a small apartment? Shouldn't he be in some fancy big house of his own?”

Leroni gave her a quizzical look. Then she nodded. “You must mean that apartment he took you to last night when you first arrived.”

“Wasn't that his apartment?” Carmen asked.

“It wasn't his apartment,” Leroni replied. “It was your apartment. You and your friend can stay there as long as you like.”

“But where does Renier live?” Carmen asked.

Leroni pointed to the top of the city. “We live in our family apartment up there. Renier hasn't taken a mate, so he'll live with his family until he raises a family of his own. Then he'll move into a big fancy apartment up on the top tier where he can survey the whole city. It wouldn't work very well for a single male to live alone, would it?”

Carmen blushed, but she couldn't stop herself from asking. “Why hasn't he found a mate yet?”

“All the factions lost significatn numbers of females in the plague,” Leroni replied. “Renier must have told you that. That's why the Alphas went to the gathering hall. They're desperate.”

“But that gathering hall had hundreds of people in it,” Carmen pointed out. “They can't all be the supreme leaders of their factions. Renier said there were five factions. That means only five people should have attended the gathering.”

Leroni nodded. “Renier is our Alpha, but like I told you, he's the head of our family.Our other relatives have to stay involved in political matters. If anything happened to Renier and they had to step into the Alpha role, they need to know what's going on. Besides, most of them are desperate to find mates, too. They were so desperate they were willing to go see what the Romarie had to offer. They knew it wasn't a good idea, but they agreed to do it anyway.”

Carmen looked around. “But I saw lots of females here last night, and Renier said you have enough to regenerate your population without getting females from the Romarie.”

“We have females.” Leroni's light laugh rang off the city walls. “After all, I am a female. But Renier couldn't exactly mate with me, could he? I'm his sister. Most of the Alphas are in a similar position. The only females left of breeding age are too closely related to them. They have to look elsewhere. The Alphas of the other factions are in the same perdicament.”

Carmen shook her head and turned away. “I have a lot to learn about this place.”

Leroni laughed. “Take it one step at a time. You have all the time in the world to learn our twisted politics. There must be something much more interesting you want to learn.”

“As a matter of fact,” Carmen replied, “my friend and I need to learn about your food. Renier gave us a big steaming piece of raw meat to eat last night, but our species doesn’t eat that sort of food. We cooked it on the lamp, but I don’t suppose we can do that every day. This morning we found some fruit and something that looked like milk in a bowl. We need to find out about the food you have here so we have something to eat.”

Leroni laughed again. “All right. I never thought food could be such an issue, but then again, no one but Felsite has ever been here before. Come with me, and I’ll show you where to get that food.”

She led Carmen across the stretch of flat rolling countryside in front of the city to a river at the bottom. Rustling trees lined the banks, and grassy knolls ran down to the water. She showed Carmen all the trees bearing the fruit Renier left them, and she pointed out the plants with tuberous roots. Last of all, she stopped in front of big tree with rough bark.

Leroni raised her hand and flexed her fingers, and claws sprang out from the end of each finger. In front of Carmen’s eyes, she scratched the bark with her claws, and the tough wood parted into long slits. The white liquid Carmen found in the bowl in the apartment oozed out in beads, and Carmen touched her finger to it. She stuck her finger in her mouth. “Thanks. This is a big help.”

Leroni burst out laughing. “You’re a strange creature, aren’t you?”

Carmen had to laugh along with her. “This situation must seem silly to you.”

Leroni stopped laughing. “Not really. I don’t know how you’re coping with it the way you are. I can’t imagine how awful it must be for you and your friends.”

Carmen turned away. “Let’s not talk about that. I’m having too nice a time with you as it is. Tell me about Angondra. Tell me about the factions.”

“What would you like to know?” Leroni asked. “There’s the Felsite, the Ursidreans, the Avitras, the Aqinas, and the Lycaon. You know that.”

“I know,” Carmen replied. “Tell me more about them.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Leroni replied. “The truth is the factions don’t know very much about each other. Most of us stay in our own territory. Only the Alphas travel to the other territories when they have to. Most Felsite have never even seen another Angondran.”

“But there were hundreds of different people at that gathering yesterday,” Carmen replied.

“They were Alphas,” Leroni replied. “They wouldn’t have been there otherwise. The only time the factions meet is to fight with each other or to negotiate a truce. If the factions hadn’t started fighting the Romarie, they would have started fighting each other.”

“Do they really fight?” Carmen asked. “I thought they were peaceful.”

Leroni shrugged. “Sometimes they’re peaceful and sometimes they’re not. The factions are too different from each other to get along very well. The Aqinas will tell the Ursidreans the Felsite said such and such about them, and the next thing you know, everybody’s marching out to war. Then the other factions get dragged into it, and before you know it, they have to get the Aqinas to negotiate a truce when it was the Aqinas that started the fight in the first place.”

Carmen rubbed her head. “How am I supposed to understand all this?”

Leroni patted her on the shoulder and laughed. “Don’t even try. I’ve been living here all my life, and I don’t understand it myself. Let’s go back to the city. I want to show you something.”

They strolled back over the meadows and hillocks to the foot of the city. Leroni stopped in the shade of a giant tree. “This is it.”

Carmen looked around. “What?”

Leroni pointed to a massive stone under the tree. “Do you see that hole?”

Carmen craned her neck and looked into a gaping black hole in the side of the rock. “What is it?”

“It’s an oven,” Leroni replied. “Our people use it to temper their stonework for building. They mix stone with mud and fire it in there.”

Carmen stared at it. “I didn’t know your people did that sort of work.”

Leroni shook her head. “That’s not why I’m telling you. Those tubers I showed you make a kind of powdery dust you can cook into other kinds of food.”

Carmen’s eyes flew open. “Do you mean like flour?”

Leroni waved her hand. “I don’t know what you call it. I’m just saying you can cook the tubers and eat them cooked, or you can grind them up into this dust and cook them into different kinds of food.”

Carmen stared at the hole and nodded. “I think I understand. Thank you so much for showing me this. It helps a lot.”

Leroni beckoned her around the other side of the rock. “And there’s this, too.” She pointed to a pit dug into the ground. Three big flat rocks with black soot marks lay on the ground around the pit. “We use this place for making flat bricks. We spread our mud mixture on these rocks and bake them over a hot fire. They make a hard flat brick.”

Carmen frowned. “What are you trying to tell me.”

“You said you couldn’t cook your meat over a lamp,” Leroni replied. “You could do it here. You could gather wood from the trees over there when you collect your fruit and tubers. Then you could bring it here and light a fire. You could cook your meat on the fire, and you could bake your food on the hot flat rocks.”

Carmen stared at her. Then she threw her arms around Leroni and kissed her on the cheek. “Leroni, you’re a genius!”

Leroni laughed out loud. “Listen to you! You’d think I just gave you a space ship to travel back home.”

Carmen brushed a tear away from the corner of her eyes. “You don’t know what this means to me. Thank you so much.”

Leroni waved her hand. “Stop it. I didn’t do anything.”

Just then, Renier strolled down the steps from his apartment and caught sight of them. He came toward them and nodded at Carmen. “I’ve been looking for you. I got word that one of your friends has been found.”

Chapter 10

The palanquin stopped at the foot of a huge mountain, and Renier climbed down. “Where are we?” Carmen asked.

“This is the border to Avitras territory,” he replied. “We have to go on foot from here. The palanquin can’t go through the forest. It’s too thick, and the Avitras hunt these snails, as you call them. They won’t cross the border.”

Carmen followed him into the trees, and when she cast a glance over her shoulder, the palanquin sat flat on the ground with the snails nowhere in sight. “How will we get back?”

“They’ll come back when we’re ready to go,” he replied.

Carmen shook her head. “I don’t even want to know how you plan to call them back.”

They hiked straight up the mountain, through tight packed trees. Screeches and squawks from unseen creatures echoed through the canopy overhead. Carmen struggled up the steep grade after Renier, but she refused to let him see her fail.

Somewhere deep in the darkest forest, Renier stopped. Carmen doubled over to gasp for breath. Her lungs burned, and she dreaded the moment he told her they weren’t even close to their destination. All at once, he chopped at the air with his hand and hissed at her. “Shh!”

She help her breath, and Renier strained his ears to listen. Then, out of the blank canvas of trees all around them, dozens of Avitras dropped out of the trees with their double bladed staffs brandished before them. They surrounded Renier and Carmen and held them at the points of their blades.

A tall Avitras stepped out of the circle. Carmen recognized the frill of iridescent feathers surrounding his head and the haughty carriage of his stride. He was the one who fought Tinim at the gathering. He scanned Renier up and down with his sharp eyes. “You should know not to trespass on our territory, Felsite. We have the right to kill you where you stand for this transgression.”

Renier opened both hands to him. “You can see I come unarmed, Aquilla. I heard you have one of the Earth females among you, and this woman wished to see her friend. I would not trespass on your territory for any other reason. I trust your honor as Alpha of your faction to let them see each other.”

Aquilla’s eyes bored into Carmen’s face. “You have nothing to fear for your friend. She is welcome here, and we will take care of her as if she was one of our own.”

Carmen bristled. “I would still like to see her and talk to her for myself. Once I have determined for myself that she’s comfortable and wishes of her own free will to stay here, I will gladly leave in peace.”

His eyes blazed. “Do you think we are Romarie, who would keep a helpless creature enslaved? How dare you insult the Avitras this way!”

Carmen stood her ground. “Penelope Ann is hardly helpless. You must know that.”

He bristled. “I know that very well. I only meant...”

“I know what you meant,” Carmen told him. “I never implied you would keep her against her will. I only thought she might like to come stay with other humans. If you let me see her, I can talk to her about this myself.”

He fixed her with his sharp gaze. Then he nodded over his shoulder. “Very well. You may come, and afterwards you may go back where you came from.”

He whirled around, but instead of walking away, he levitated straight off the ground and disappeared into the trees with a rustle of his feathers. The other Avitras rose from the ground and took to the canopy after him until Renier and Carmen found themselves alone again. Renier sighed. “Good. We can go on.”

“How far away are we from....?” She broke off.

He jerked his head toward the top of the mountain. “Not far. It’s right over there.”

“They wouldn’t harm Penelope Ann, would they?” Carmen asked.

Renier set off through the trees with Carmen at his heels. “The Avitras have a strong code of honor. They would never treat your friend the way the Romarie did. If Aquilla says Penelope Ann is happy here, you can believe him.”

They climbed farther up the mountain, and just below the summit, the raucous cries in the canopy rose to a fevered pitch. Carmen peered up into the treetops when her eye fell on a shadow flit from one tree to another. She looked closer and noticed a tiny Avitras, no bigger than a squirrel, scuttle down one of the trunks. It stopped a hundred feet off the ground and stared at her with enormous eyes.

“Renier, look!” Carmen whispered, but at the first sound of her voice, the creature scurried back up the trunk and disappeared.

Renier turned just in time to see it vanish into the leaves. He nodded. “Right. We’re here.” He stopped next to another tree trunk and looked up. “Up you go.”

Carmen stared at him. “What?”

He jerked his head toward the trunk. “Get up there. You won’t see your friend on the ground.”

Carmen blinked. “How am I supposed to get up there?”

“Climb.” He pointed to the trunk. “See?”

She looked at the bark and noticed notches cut into the trunk. They formed a pattern of hand and footholds rising into the canopy. Carmen gulped. “Aren’t you coming with me?”

“I can’t.” He shrugged. “In the first place, Felsite belong on the ground, not in trees. I’ll stay down here. Besides, you’re the one who’s coming to visit. The Avitras won’t take kindly to me coming into their homes. Our people don’t get along so well, you know.”

Carmen looked up. Then she took a deep breath. “And do you give me your solemn word they won’t do anything to harm me?”

He smiled. “I wouldn’t let you go if I thought there was the slightest chance of that. You and your friend are strangers on this planet. You have nothing to do with any faction. The Avitras will welcome you the way they welcomed Penelope Ann.”

She nodded. “All right. If you say so, I’ll go.”

He stopped her with his hand on her arm. “Carmen....”

She raised her eyes to his face, but he looked down at the ground.

She kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t worry about me. I will come back.”

He nodded. “Take care of yourself. I wouldn’t want to lose you now that....” He trailed off.

Carmen smiled at him through a film of tears. “I know. I feel the same way.”

He turned away from the tree. “I’ll be waiting for you when you come down.”

Carmen put her foot into one of the notches and grabbed the trunk. The next minute, she hoisted herself into the air and started climbing. She panted and gasped again by the time she reached the canopy, but at the top of the tree, the branches spread out and sunlight filtered through the leaves. She hadn’t even stopped climbing before dozens of small Avitras surrounded her with hoots and screams. Their hands scraped the bark, and they chattered away to each other so fast Carmen couldn’t understand a word they said.

At the top, a platform stretched between two thick branches, and Carmen stepped on to it with a sigh of relief. She caught her breath and looked around her. The canopy spread as far as her eye could see, and hundreds of similar platforms dotting the branches on every side. Avitras of every age and color filled the trees. Mothers with their young clinging to their bodies lounged on the platforms. Glowing youths swung in the branches, and giant males sprang from tree to tree in rapid flight through their arboreal home.

Carmen stared at them in blank wonder. They presented such a curious picture, part bird, part monkey, part....well, they weren’t exactly part human, were they? At this close range, she noticed the similarities between the Avitras and the Felsite. Despite their differences, no one could mistake them for different species. One faction had golden manes, thick body hair, and claws. The other had bright feathers and could move through the trees with lightning speed. Underneath their differences, they were exactly the same.

The Avitras noticed Carmen in their canopy, and sharp cries echoed through the forest. The trees near her swayed, and Aquilla appeared with two of his lieutenants on either side of him. He wasn’t armed now, though. He landed with a light spring on a branch near Carmen. It bounced and swayed under his weight. He cocked his head at her and blinked his sharp eyes.

“Follow me if you want to see your friend.” He started to turn to go.

Carmen stepped forward and called after him. “You’ll have to move slower if you expect me to keep up with you.”

His head snapped around, and she feared he would fly into a terrible rage. But he only studied her with his fierce gaze and nodded. “You speak like your friend. I can see you have the same fighting spirit she has. Very well. I understand you can’t fly the way we do. I will walk plodding along like your Felsite friends.”

Carmen ignored his remarks and followed him as best she could through the trees from one platform to another. Many times, he had to stand and wait for her to negotiate a difficult crossing from one branch to another, or from one precarious foothold to another. Sometimes he stamped his foot in impatience, but he always waited without a word until she caught up.

He led her a long way through the canopy until they came to an even taller tree scraping the sky. Instead of platforms perched in its branches, a tidy house constructed of leafy sticks and vines sat perched in the crook of its great limbs, and a warm light shone through open panels in its walls.

Even from a distance, Carmen caught a glimpse of Penelope Ann’s golden tresses. Her heart skipped a beat, and she did her best to move through the trees as fast as she could. Aquilla didn’t bother to wait for her. He skipped up trunks and bounded from limb to limb. He gained the heights long before Carmen came anywhere near the house, and he disappeared inside.

He must have warned Penelope Ann of her arrival, because she came to the door and leaned over the railing to peer down at Carmen. Carmen lifted her face to her friend and cried out in joyful greeting. “Penelope Ann!”

Penelope Ann regarded her with an impassive expression and didn’t answer. She gazed down at Carmen’s clumsy efforts to climb up to the house. She stood perfectly still and said nothing and offered Carmen no help until she climbed all the way up to the house by herself.

When Carmen stood in front of her and caught her breath with an awkward smile, Penelope Ann only nodded. “So you’re here.”

Carmen nodded back. She gave a nervous laugh. “I’m here. It’s so good to see you again, Penelope Ann. I’ve been worried sick about you and Marissa. I didn’t know what happened to you after the fight. Then when Renier told me they found you, I couldn’t wait to see you. Are you sure you’re all right? Is there anything you need?”

“You can see I’m all right,” Penelope Ann replied. “The Avitras have taken very good care of me.”

“Why don’t you come back to Felsite territory with me?” Carmen suggested. “Aria’s with me. It would be good if we were all together, and once we find Marissa....”

Penelope Ann cut her off. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m especially not going to Felsite territory. I’m happy here, and I’ll stay here. No one could do more for me than the Avitras have, and they’re the best faction on this planet.”

Carmen shifted from one foot to the other. "I don’t know about that.”

“I do,” Penelope Ann replied. “Did you know they’re the only faction on the planet with anything close to a concrete system of history and record-keeping? Did you know the Avitras make the laws on this planet? If it wasn’t for them, Angondra would have no laws at all.”

“Yeah, I know all that, but...” Carmen stammered.

Penelope Ann shook her head. “If I have to stay on this planet, I’ll stay here. I’ve made connections with these people, and I don’t want to leave.”

“I never meant to insult the Avitras,” Carmen replied. “I only meant you might like to be around other human beings. We could support each other much better if we were all together, and once we find Marissa, she could come in with us, too. Then we would all be together instead of scattered all over the planet. If we’re all in one place, we can work together to find a way off this planet.”

Penelope Ann stared at her. “These is no way off this planet. The Felsite must have told you that.”

“They told me they don’t want contact with species like the Romarie,” Carmen replied. “I can understand how they feel, but there must be a way off this planet. These are advanced people. You saw the Ursidreans fighting the Romarie. They have the same advanced weapons the Romarie have. They must have some way of....”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Penelope Ann interrupted. “Aquilla says even the Ursidreans don’t have any vehicle capable of breaking the atmospheric envelope, even though they kept some of the other technological relics of old Angondra. There is no way off this planet. We’re stuck here.”

“We can’t accept that,” Carmen cried. “We can’t lose hope. We have to keep searching until we find a way to get back to Earth. If the Ursidreans made a deal with the Romarie to let them land here once, they could do the same thing again. We could attack them as soon as they land and steal their ship. We can’t give up at the first sign of defeat.”

Penelope Ann sighed. “I don’t think I would leave even we had a space vehicle to leave in.”

Carmen stared at her. “What did you say?”

Penelope Ann stared at her until she fidgeted. Then her sparkling blue eyes softened and she smiled. “Believe me, Carmen, I would like nothing better than to be with the rest of you. I can’t think of anything better, except maybe....” She glanced over her shoulder toward the house.

Carmen followed her gaze and caught sight of Aquilla through the window. He wasn’t watching or listening to them. He was looking in a different direction, but his striking profile stood out against the backdrop of the house walls. He stood straight and tall and true, and his presence radiated dominating power. Renier exuded the same indomitable spirit. A man like that could only be the Alpha of his faction.

She looked back at Penelope Ann. A blush of fresh color glowed on her cheeks, and she stood taller and straighter than Carmen had ever seen her before. She even looked like Aquilla, with her bright hair and her stunning features. Carmen placed them side by side in her mind, and they formed a perfect match. Penelope Ann fit in perfectly with the Avitras. She wouldn’t fit in anywhere else on this planet. She’d found her true place here.

Carmen caught her eye. “You didn’t! Tell me you didn’t....”

Penelope Ann nodded, and her expression contained no guilt or hesitation. “I’ve found something much better than the company of a couple of human women. I’ve found something much better than anything I ever had on Earth. I’m staying here.”

“But I can’t just leave you here to rot!” Carmen heard her voice rising against all her efforts to keep it under control. “What will I tell the others?”

“Tell them exactly what I just told you,” Penelope Ann replied. “Tell them I’m happy here, and I’m staying. I suggest you all get as comfortable here as you possibly can, because we’re going to be here for a long, long time, possibly for the rest of our lives. If you and the others can find love and comfort here the way I have, your lives will be so much the better.”

Carmen took one last look at her. How could you argue with a woman like this, who’d found her heart’s love and a place of belonging among the treetops of an alien world? How could you convince a woman who wouldn’t even bite at the chance to find a way back to her own home planet?

Carmen bowed her head and turned away. “Is there anything I can say to convince you?” But she already knew there wasn’t.

Penelope Ann laid her hand on Carmen’s arm and turned her toward her. “I was never really happy back on Earth. I pursued every kind of success I could find, in business, in the jujitsu ring, even in college. But all those achievements only served one purpose. They covered up the fact that nothing ever really interested me. Nothing fired my passion. I was bored, and I never met any man who interested me, either. I had everything I ever wanted, and I had two parents who worked hard to give me the best of everything.”

“How did you wind up in that neighborhood, then?” Carmen asked. “Aria said you moved there when you were three.”

“My mother was a school teacher,” Penelope Ann replied. “She took a job there because she thought she could do the most good with children who didn’t get teachers who cared enough about them. She’s the one who taught me to use my success and my achievements to help other people. That’s why, when Penny’s Peppermints started doing well, I took on girls from the neighborhood who wanted to find a way out.”

Carmen listening in rapt attention.

“But every one of those girls disappeared,” Penelope Ann went on. “Now I know where they went, but I’ll never be able to help any of them again. I’ll never be able to help anyone again except myself.”

“Help me, Penelope Ann,” Carmen pleaded. “I need you to help us get out of here. I can’t do it alone. Help me.”

Penelope Ann shook her head. “The Avitras have treated me the way I treated those girls. They’ve shown me the true meaning of hospitality, especially Aquilla.” She blushed when she said his name. “I’m going to dedicate my life to this faction. I’m going to give everything I have to understanding their ways and their laws. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I’ll give everything I have to help them succeed.”

“I don’t like seeing you throw your life away,” Carmen complained.

“It’s not like that,” Penelope Ann replied. “The Angondrans are all critically short on females. Aquilla says I’m the first female who has even come close to being suitable to be his mate. He’s Alpha of this faction, and he wants me to be the mother of his children.”

Carmen stared at her. “You can’t do this, Penelope Ann. You’re so much better than this. You can’t sell yourself to be a broodmare to these people.”

Penelope Ann turned away. “I’m not selling myself, and I’m not better than this. That’s exactly what I’m telling you. That kind of thinking has left my life a pointless waste of time. If I can help the Avitras and Aquilla by giving him children, I’ll be proud to do it. This is the best place in the world for me.” She realized what she’d said and broke into a big grin. “You know what I mean.”

Carmen nodded, but she didn’t answer. She couldn’t say anything without breaking down, and she wouldn’t let herself do that. Penelope Ann would never respect her again if she turned to mush at a time like this.

Penelope Ann walked her down the steps to the first branch leading back the way Carmen had come. Aquilla came to the door and spotted Carmen leaving. He exchanged a glance with Penelope Ann, but they didn’t say anything. At the edge of the platform, Penelope Ann touched Carmen’s arm again. “You’ll come and see me again some time, won’t you? You won’t avoid me because of this, will you? Tell me we won’t let the petty bickering of these factions come between us?”

Carmen swallowed the lump in her throat. “No, no. We’ll never let that happen. I’ll try to come and see you again whenever I can.”

“The Felsite wouldn’t stop you from coming, would they?” Penelope Ann asked.

Carmen shook her head. “They’re very kind and helpful. They’ve treated me the way you say the Avitras treated you, especially Renier.” Carmen stopped.

Penelope Ann stared at her. Then she turned away. “I see. Well, have a good trip back. I’ll see you again soon.”

Chapter 11

Carmen dropped down to the ground, and Aquilla landed lightly on his feet next to her. Carmen looked around at solid walls of forest on all sides. “Where’s the Felsite who brought me here? He said he would be waiting for me when I came down.”

Aquilla cocked his head and blinked his eyes. “You’re miles away from where you climbed up into the canopy. Your Felsite friend is still waiting for you there.”

Carmen shifted from one foot to the other. “Which way do I go to get back to him?”

Aquilla started forward. “I will lead you to him. I would neglect my duty to you and to your friend if I let you get lost in this forest, and I can see you possess no sense of direction at all. I believe your species is truly helpless.”

He led the way, and they hiked back through the forest in silence. After an eternity of featureless forest, they found Renier waiting under the same tree. His eyes widened when he saw Carmen coming through the forest with Aquilla at her side. He studied Carmen’s face. Then he narrowed his eyes at Aquilla. “Is everything in order?”

Aquilla gestured at Carmen. “Ask her.”

Carmen turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest. Renier faced Aquilla with his fists clenched and his teeth bared. “What’s the meaning of this?”

Aquilla snorted. Then he sprang off the ground and into the treetops, leaving Carmen and Renier alone in the silence.

Only after he left did Carmen steal a peek at Renier’s face. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t move. “What is going on here? What happened up there? Did they hurt you? I swear to high heaven, if they harmed so much as a hair on your head, I’ll...”

Carmen started walking, and Renier was forced to catch up. “They didn’t do anything. They’ve been as kind and welcoming to Penelope Ann as the Felsite have been to me.”

The walk down the mountain went faster and easier than hiking up, and they found the palanquin platform sitting on top of the snails’ shells. Carmen didn’t bother to ask how they knew to get ready to leave. She took her place on the palanquin, and Renier sat beside her. The palanquin set off back the way they'd come toward Felsite territory.

After several hours, Renier turned to Carmen. “If the Avitras did anything to you or to your friend, I need to know about it. It could affect our relations with them in the future.”

Carmen sighed. “They didn’t do anything to me or my friend. I told you that.”

“Then why are you so upset?” he asked. “Did you invite your friend to come back to Felsite territory the way we planned?”

“That’s just the thing,” Carmen replied. “I invited her, but she wants to stay here. She feels a connection with the Avitras she never felt before, kind of like….” She trailed off.

He studied her. Then he nodded. “I understand.”

Carmen shook her head. “I told her we could work together to find a way off this planet, but she won’t even try. She says she would stay with the Avitras even if Angondra had space flight capability. She doesn't want to be with her own people, and she doesn't want to go back to Earth.” A lump stuck in her throat.

Renier peered into her eyes. “Listen to me, Carmen. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

She snorted. “That’s because I'm from another planet.”

He didn’t laugh. “I don’t want to lose you. Stay here. Stay with me and be my mate. Don't spend the next fifty years driving yourself insane trying to find a way off this planet. Settle here and be happy—with me and with the Felsite. Let us be your family. I can give you everything you would have had on Earth.”

“Except the company of other humans,” she interrupted.

He shrugged. “So Penelope Ann wants to stay with the Avitras. Aria is back home with the Felsite. You’ll have her, and when we find Marissa, the three of you will be together. Isn't that good enough? Don't you think you can be happy with me?”

Carmen blushed, and her hand naturally extended toward his. “I’ve never met anyone like you before, either, Renier, and I don't mean because you're an alien. You saved me from the Romarie, and you've been by my side ever since. If I was going to stay on this planet, I couldn't do any better than to stay with you.”

Renier chose his next words with care. “You will stay on this planet, Carmen. There is no way off this planet, and you’ll only make yourself and your friends unhappy by searching for a way.”

“But you let the Romarie come here once before,” Carmen pointed out. “You could invite them here again and ambush them. We could kill them and steal their space ship and fly back to Earth.”

He shook his head. “You didn’t hear the Alphas talking after the battle at the gathering. They will never agree to invite the Romarie here again. Even the Ursidreans, who agreed to it last time, won't make the same mistake. You and your friends will stay here, and I'd like to believe you stayed because you wanted to stay with me, the same way your friend Penelope Ann chose to stay with Aquilla.”

Carmen’s head whipped around. “How did you know she chose to stay with Aquilla?”

Renier shrugged. “It was pretty obvious from the way he acted, and now you’re describing Penelope Ann choosing to dedicate herself to the Avitras. Why would she do that without the love of a male to guide her? I can't imagine a woman like her committing herself to anyone less than an Alpha.”

Carmen turned away, but her silence gave him all the answer he needed. The palanquin rolled on through the countryside. Carmen studied the landscape. Towering escarpments of sheer rock jutted into an iridescent sky. Bright blue rivers cut through canyons of layered stone. It really was a beautiful planet. If she was stuck out in space a hundred light years from Earth, she couldn’t ask for a nicer place to do it. And she couldn't ask for a nicer bunch of people to be stuck with.

Maybe, just maybe, she could be happy here—with Renier. Why did she continue to struggle against the inevitable? Why did she refuse to accept the reality of her situation? What did she really have to go back to on Earth that could match the future Renier offered her here?

From a great distance, she became aware of his presence at her side. He dominated her awareness so she couldn’t turn away from him. Her resistance melted, and she sank into the void of his embrace, where care and anguish no longer existed. They fell back on the palanquin, and their bodies melded side by side on the swaying platform. He brought her into the glowing sphere of his presence, and she didn't need to know anymore.

Night enveloped them, and the palanquin rolled on through miles of impenetrable countryside. Angondra's three moons didn't disturb their union, until the first streaks of dawn light found them in front of Melnili again. Carmen sat up and gazed at the city glowing in the early morning sunshine. Renier's apartment called to her up there somewhere with all the welcome any home ever offered her. Aria was there, and Leroni. She would form connections and relationships with other Felsite until Melnili became her home and the Felsite became her own people.

Renier handed her down from the palanquin, and the snails dispersed. Carmen and Renier stepped up onto the stairs leading to their apartment—their home. She cast a glance over her shoulder.

The sun spread over the plain below, down to the river bottom with its swaying trees and verdant meadows. A profound peace filled her heart, and Renier took her hand. “Are you ready to go in?” She smiled up at him, and his mouth closed over hers in passionate memory of their night together.

At that moment, a shout brought their attention to the plain in front of the city, and a lone figure stood up on the hill opposite them. The light set off his black silhouette, and Carmen squinted to make him out. But Renier growled under his breath. “Caleb!”

At the same moment, a line of Lycaon jumped up in a long line along the rolling hillside. The line stretched from end of the city to the other. Did they have the city surrounded? Renier let out an ear-splitting roar, and a hundred other Felsite answered him from the ramparts.

No sooner had the noise died than Caleb lifted his head and shouted across the meadow. “Felsite encampment! Hear me!”

“Who dares trespass on Felsite territory?” Renier bellowed. “Who dares set his foot on our sovereign soil?”

Caleb didn’t answer. Another figure rose from its hiding place at his side and stood up tall and true by his side. The sun caught fire on the figure’s head, and Carmen jumped up on the wall next to Renier. “Marissa!”

The Lycaon stood still in their long line and faced off with the Felsite on the city walls, but Carmen and Marissa ran to each other across the gap and threw themselves into each other’s arms. Carmen dabbed her tear-stained eyes on Marissa’s shoulder. “I thought I would never see you again.”

Marissa held her at arm’s length and smiled. “I’m all right. I'm just glad to see you're okay. I didn't know what happened to you after the battle. Then I got word you were here, so I had to come and see you.”

Carmen waved back toward the city. “Aria’s here, too. She's inside. She's pretty shaken up after what happened at the gathering hall, but now that you're here, she'll recover. We can all work together to….”

Marissa shook her head. “I’m not staying here. I'm going back with the Lycaon. I only came to see you and make sure you're okay.”

Carmen stared at her. “What are you going back for?”

“I’m staying with Caleb,” she replied. “Don’t you remember how he saved my life when the Romarie almost shot me? No one has ever done anything like that for me before. I'm staying with the Lycaon.”

Carmen swallowed. “Don’t you want to stay with other humans? I don't understand why you would want to stay with the Lycaon when you have no other humans near you.”

Marissa glanced over her shoulder toward the city. “You said Aria’s here. Do you know where Penelope Ann is?”

Carmen shrugged and looked away. “She’s with the Avitras. She doesn't want to come back, either. She's with Aquilla, the Alpha of her faction.”

“Well, there you go,” Marissa replied. “I’m not the only one who's found something that means more than human company. I've had human company all my life, but I've never had any connection with anyone the way I've had with the Lycaon. Did you know they live in packs? The packs have a strong bond of family loyalty. As Caleb's mate, I'll always have a family and a place in the faction. I've yearned for this all my life, and now I've got it.”

Carmen couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. “Please don’t leave, Marissa. I can't stand you leaving this way. First Penelope Ann and now you. Please don't do this to me.”

Marissa nodded toward Renier glaring at her from the rampart. “It looks to me like you might have the same thing here. You won’t be alone. You'll find your place in your faction, and you'll find love and family, too, the same way we have. You will be happy.”

Carmen let her chin fall to her chest. Tears ran down her cheeks, and her shoulders shook with sobs. “I can’t stand this!”

Marissa patted her on the shoulder. “Go to him. Let him comfort you. He’s the one you should be clinging to now, not us.”

Carmen wept into her hands. Marissa hugged her one last time. Then she strode away across the field to Caleb. When she reached his side, she looked back and waved to Carmen. One by one, the Lycaon warriors dropped down behind the hill and disappeared. Caleb and Marissa waited until they stood alone before the Felsite city. Then they stepped down into nothing and disappeared.

Chapter 12

Deep in the night, Carmen rolled over and buried herself in Renier’s arms. His breath warmed her scalp, and his presence gave her all the comfort she could need. She no longer needed anyone else. He was Alpha of the Felsite faction, and her connection with him was one and the same as her connection to her faction. She belonged with him and she belonged with the Felsite. She belonged on Angondra now.

All at once, a roar sounded from the top of the city. It echoed through passages and stairways into every apartment. From far and near, feet trampled the hallways and doors slammed. In a fraction of an instant, Renier tore himself from Carmen’s arms and launched himself out of bed. He tore the door off its hinges.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“We’re under attack!” he shouted. “The sentry sounded the alarm, calling every warrior to the ramparts. We have to defend the city.”

He didn’t say anything else, but barreled out of the room. Before Carmen could follow him, he raced out of the apartment and was gone. Carmen struggled into her clothes and ran down the stairs. Aria’s bedroom door remained closed. A hint of concern for her friend nagged at her heart, but as soon as she passed out of the apartment and down the stairs, she forgot all about Aria in the rush of warriors and the rattle of weapons. Male voices shouted back and forth, and some spectators stuck their heads out of their apartments. Carmen noticed Leroni among them. “What's going on?”

Leroni shook her head. “The sentry noticed a battalion of Ursidreans moving in to attack the city.”

Carmen peered into the dark. “Where are they?”

“We can’t see them from here,” Leroni replied, “but they’re there. The sentry wouldn’t sound the alarm unless he was sure they were here.”

“Is there anywhere we can go to see better?” Carmen asked.

Leroni smiled and jerked her head back toward the city. “Follow me.”

She led Carmen back through the maze of stairways and halls to the very top rampart of the city. They ducked into an empty apartment. Leroni pointed through a big window, where the plain spread out before them in stark relief. “There. You can see them now.”

Carmen strained her eyes. These Felsite must have exceptional night vision, because she couldn’t make out anything more than a black line moving up from the river toward the city. Far below them, Felsite warriors ran up and down. Their voices echoed up to Carmen's ears. Renier moved in the thick of the crowd, pointing and issuing orders to the others. He stood on the wall with his burly frame dominating the field.

All at once, a bright streak of blue light shot through the night. It zinged across the field and hit the city walls. It smashed the stone to pieces and sent a rain of shards down on the warrior's heads. The Felsite warriors formed ranks at the wall with Renier in their lead, but a hundred other lightning shots sailed over the meadow. They struck the walls and shivered Melnili's great structure to its foundations.

Carmen held her breath and clenched her fists in anxiety. Was this the end of her bright future? Would these two factions fall to war on the very eve of her arrival? How could she face losing the Felsite after just losing both Penelope Ann and Marissa?

The Felsite charged out at the enemy, who came within sight of the city. The blazing lamps and candles of the city lit up the Ursidreans so Carmen saw them clearly. Their powerful forms shook the ground under their feet, and they carried heavy weapons like the blaster weapons she’s seen them use at the gathering hall. Every warrior held at least two handheld weapons, and behind the main body of soldiers, heavy cannons mounted on rolling machines bore down on the city.

These weapons sent sprays of energetic fire over the city and into the Felsite ranks. Bodies flew in all directions, and the city’s strong stone and timber construction crumbled to powder. Carmen dug her fingernails into her palm. This couldn't be happening.

Just then, a terrible volley of fire blasted through the Felsite ranks, and Carmen caught sight of Renier flying off the wall. He sailed backwards and hit a stone wall with such force it shattered and crumbled on top of him. Carmen started forward with a cry. Leroni tried to hold her back, but Carmen broke her grip and charged down the stairs. She had to get to him, to help him, to save him. She couldn’t lose him, too.

She didn’t notice the terrible fire raining down on all sides. She didn’t notice the Felsite warriors engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Ursidreans in the byways and courtyards of Melnili. She saw only Renier. She knelt at his side with Leroni next to her. Her hands nursed his wounds. All around her, the thunder of battle fell into silence. Nothing remained in the living universe but the two of them.

In her mind, she picked him up and carried him back to their apartment, but in reality, it must have been other Felsite who carried him. She could never budge his enormous bulk by herself. He lay on the sleeping platform in the main room, and she sat at his side and tended his battered frame.

Leroni hung back. All at once, Carmen realized the din of battle no longer rattled the city. Deadly silence filled the night. She glanced around, and Leroni stepped toward her. “He’ll be all right now. He just needs to rest.”

Renier groaned and his eyes rolled back in his head. He pushed himself off the bed with his hand over his eyes. “My head! What happened?”

Carmen burst into tears of joy and threw her arms around him. “Thank God you’re all right!”

Just then, the door opened and an enormous Ursidrean strode in. Carmen jumped to her feet. “What are you doing here?”

Leroni moved between them. “He’s come to offer terms.”

“Terms!” Carmen bellowed. “His people attacked the city. What does he think we’re going to do—surrender to him? We'll fight to the death.”

Leroni touched her arm. “We don’t have to. He attacked the city so he could come here and offer terms to us. He's Alpha of his faction. Just listen to what he has to say.”

Renier dropped his feet over the side of the platform, but he couldn't raise himself from his seat. His head hung between his shoulders, but he glared at the Ursidrean out of the corner of his eye. “What do you want, Donen? What's so important that you would attack our city and kill our people?”

The Ursidrean’s voice rumbled through the apartment. “What’s so important? Don't you know? It's the Earth female I come for. All our factions suffer from lack of females, so I can find no female suitable to be my mate. How can I ensure the future of my people when I cannot leave our leadership to my heirs?”

Carmen’s fury blazed. “Do you think you can buy and sell us like cattle? Who do you think you are, to attack this city and demand a female for yourself? You’re no better than the Romarie.”

Donen faced her. “I invited the Romarie here out of desperation. They trade quality females all over the galaxy, and I wondered if we might benefit from them, too. When I saw you and your friends at the gathering hall, I realized I was mistaken. I would never take a female by force. I only come to ask your consideration for a people in desperate straits. Is it asking too much to ask you to help us in our hour of need?”

Renier squared his shoulders. “Carmen is right. We can’t expect any of these women to do anything without their express consent. You attacked my city in vain, Donen.”

“The Avitras Alpha has an Earth female of his own, and so has Caleb of the Lycaon.” His eyes swept back and forth between Carmen and Renier. “I can see that you have a female of your own, too. Why should I not benefit from a female, too?”

“The only other female available is Aria,” Carmen replied, “and I wouldn’t make her leave the last of her friends to go be a mate to an Ursidrean. Why would she want to leave this lovely city, with the people who made her welcome, to go live in a cave in the mountains? You’re out of your mind if you think she would consent to that.”

A sound across the room brought her head around, and Aria stood in the bedroom door. Her eyes glowed in the soft light.

“Aria!” Carmen exclaimed. “I hope we didn’t wake you up with our arguing. I was just explaining to this…..this person….”

Aria shook her head. “I heard the whole thing.”

“You don’t have anything to worry about, Aria,” Carmen went on. “We won’t let him take you.”

Aria took a step into the room. “It’s all right, Carmen. I'm going to go.”

Carmen spun around. “You can’t! You have to stay here, where we can be together. Didn't you hear Renier say they live in caves? You can't live like that. You deserve better. I know where we can find food here so we're not eating meat roasted over a lamp every night. We can have a decent life here. Just stay here with me.”

Aria smiled, but Donen cut her off before she could say anything. “The other factions say we live in caves, but we have cities inside the mountains as grand and as advanced as anything the Felsite ever built. The Avitras think they’re so advanced, with their chattering and their gossip, but we have technology no other factions has. We preserved it from antiquity. We have electric lights and computing systems for recording our history. We have advanced medical technology for curing diseases that used to wipe out thousands of our people. You will live a good life with us, and you have my word of honor I will treat you well.”

Carmen interrupted him. “Don’t leave, Aria. Stay here with me. We're the last two Earth females left together. We should stay together. You don't know what you're going to. He could be lying about all of it, and once he gets you into his mountain cavern, he'll be able to do what he wants with you.”

Aria smiled at her. “You know that’s not true, Carmen. These Angondrans live by their word. Tell me the truth. Have you met a single one of them, from any faction, that wasn't trustworthy? I believe him, and I know I'll be safe and well looked-after among the Ursidreans.” She exchanged a nod with Donen.

Carmen’s voice cracked with emotion. “But I’ll be left alone here. The others have gone to other factions. You're all I've got left.”

Aria waved her hand at Leroni and Renier. “You’ve got your own people here now. Penelope Ann is where she needs to be, and Marissa has found her own home, too. All of you found love and connection here. I want the same thing for myself. Is that too much to ask?”

“Aria….” Carmen sobbed.

Aria shook her head. “I need security after what happened with the Romarie. The Ursidreans can give it to me. I’ll have my own people and my own family and my own place. I can't ask for more than that.”

Carmen stared at her with tears streaming down her face. Aria crossed the room to Donen's side. “I'll go with you.”

He studied her. “Are you certain you do this of your own free will? I couldn’t take you otherwise.”

Aria nodded. “I want this. I want to go. I’ll make a good mate to you. I know something about medical treatment, too, so I might be more of an asset to your people than you realize.”

Donen nodded. “Good. Let’s go then. We have a transport waiting for you outside.”

Renier struggled to his feet. “That’s settled. Perhaps in the future you could find another way of offering your embassy instead of attacking us and destroying our city.”

Before Donen could reply, Aria faced him. “You wouldn’t seriously consider his offer if he hadn't done it this way. I don't think I would have seriously considered it, either. This was the best way to offer his proposal.”

Donen swelled with pride, and even now, he and Aria matched each other perfectly side by side. Her chocolate brown skin and tuft of hair contrasted with his heavy features and hulking shoulders. They looked good together, and they both wore expressions of satisfaction at the outcome of this adventure.

Carmen covered her mouth with her hand, but she couldn’t hold back her sobs. Wordless gasps of anguish broke from her throat, but Aria paid no attention. She smiled up at Donen, all her fear and hardship gone. They moved toward the door.

Carmen darted forward and seized Aria’s hand. She clung to her in desperate agony. She couldn’t let her go. She couldn't let go of this last shred of humanity slipping through her fingers. Donen paused at the door. Aria turned toward Carmen and with infinite care, pried her fingers loose.

“You stay here, Carmen,” Aria murmured. “This is your place now. You stay here and be happy with your food and your friends and...” She nodded toward Renier. “With him. I know you’ll be happy here.”

Carmen opened her mouth in mute protest, but Aria shook her head. “Take care of yourself, and don’t worry about me. I'm going to be just as happy as you.”

“But I’ll never see you again,” Carmen wailed.

Aria smiled. “You’ll see me again. I don't know when or how, but I'm certain we'll see each other again. We're friends, and we're the only human females on this planet. We won't be able to live the rest of our lives without seeing each other sometime.”

She broke free from Carmen’s grasp and followed Donen to the door. She smiled back over her shoulder. “Good-bye, Carmen. Don’t cry for me, and don't cry for yourself, either. We got lucky when we landed on this planet. We should make the best of it.”

The End