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.