Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Tallie & the Alien

He sat in a corner. Curved horns on the sides of his head, just above small ears. His skin was a dark, dusty blue. His chest was bare—and massive. His arms were muscular.

Tallie couldn't see his eyes. He kept them closed, or his head down. Effectively distancing himself from everyone. That bothered her. She wanted to see his eyes.

She had made it on the spaceship without incident. The ship she'd taken was a new model that a single person could pilot. Once in space, you simply engaged the autopilot, and it took care of everything else. She had plenty of time to think about those eyes and what they might look like.

One of the identical twins, she thought it was Randi, said that some of the aliens who were kept in the zoo weren't pleasure slaves—they were gladiators. Fighters. There was even a stadium that was used for the fights out in the middle of the zoo's massive grounds. That stadium had a tunnel that led directly to the central courtyard where the blue alien's cage was located. He would have a view of the door to the tunnel entrance from the corner where he sat.

She wondered if that was intentional.

Sitting on the ground outside the cage, Tallie positioned herself just a few feet from the alien's corner. Blocking what view he might have of the courtyard and that damn door. She looked around her. There were six other cages surrounding the courtyard and facing the tunnel. One of those cages was empty. The other five held what she considered larger than normal aliens. All of them were different species, but they were all big.

Every single one of the cage doors were open and had been open since the day they were rescued. Yet not one of the occupants had tried to leave. None of them moved or spoke.

Randi told her they left plenty of food and water at the entrance to each cage, and occasionally it disappeared. Her friend noted the supplies disappeared only when the electronic monitors covering the courtyard—had a glitch.

The twins, Randi and Rachael, were technical geniuses. They believed that one of the men somehow interfered with the monitors so they could move around undetected. But they didn't know what they were doing. Or why they didn't just walk out the open doors?

It had been almost a month since Tallie and the others had tracked Kaitlyn to this green planet. The planet was called Dorvan. Her friend had been kidnapped. Again . But the rescue party managed to retrieve her within hours of Kaitlyn's arrival. Not only had they fought to free Kaitlyn, but all the aliens who were caged in the zoo.

Moisture hung in the air, and there was a sweet odor that covered any other smell. Tallie knew that scent came from the large flowers that seemed to cover every inch of this planet that hadn't been paved. The dinner-plate-sized flowers sat on stems that were about a foot long. There were intense reds, blues, greens, and yellow colors. If Tallie looked at those flowers for too long, she had dots swimming in front of her eyes.

Outside the walls of the zoo compound, she'd noted a large forest. Even among the trees, these flowers filled any empty space.

The fields surrounding the landing pad overflowed with them, and even the ship's landing pad was covered in the encroaching green vines of the plant.

If she didn't watch herself, she found she stared at those flowers, mesmerized. She knew now that the Lunatlive plant was the major export of Dorvan. The condensed scent was used to make an expensive perfume. It also had some medicinal uses.

The only other export seemed to be the pleasure slaves that were trained at the zoo. Thanks to Kaitlyn's rescue party, that commodity no longer existed.

Many of the zoo captives had either been taken home, or they were trying to figure out what to do next. But there hadn't been any progress figuring out if the occupants of these cages were healthy, wanted to go somewhere specific, or what was going on in their minds. There were similar cages on the other side that held other males. They hadn't moved either. It seemed to be a theme with these aliens.

Tallie didn't know why their inactivity bothered her so much, or why she was focused on this alien in particular. But it did, and she was. So, she sat near him and tried to figure out how to get the big blue male to talk to her.

She had a plan, and he was an important part of it. She was on the run. Once she made it to the ship and had more time to think, she figured that either her parents, her ex-fiancé, or both—would eventually show up on Megoth and try to change her mind. Or worse.

She shuddered, thinking of what that might be. Tallie knew her friends would want to help. But she didn't want to put them at risk. Which is why she would go to the wedding, but she wouldn't stay. She planned to do a little traveling. Take some of the freed slaves home or wherever they wanted to go.

Tallie raised her head and smiled when Ceely came and sat beside her. Maybe she'd go look for Ceely's mother.

And she couldn't do that alone. She needed a crew. Maybe one or two. She looked around at the cages and sighed… or six. It would be tight with all six of these aliens on the ship, but they could make it work. Now she just had to convince them to come with her.

She reached out her arm and Ceely moved closer. The young girl had bonded with the twins. So, when Randi and Rachael decided to stay for a while and work at the zoo, taking care of the captives—Ceely stayed too.

Tallie's parents had sent messages to the planet inhabited by Ceely's avian species—hoping to find her mother. There hadn't been any response yet.

"Hi, Tallie," the young avian alien said. "What are you doing?"

She reached her hand out and patted Ceely's shoulder. "Hello, Clikastav. I thought I would come and talk to these aliens for a minute."

Ceely frowned. "I don't think they talk much, Tallie. Something else I don't know is why we call them aliens when we are aliens, too?"

She grinned at the confused look on the child's face and hugged her close.

Ceely was tall and had long, thin limbs. Small down feathers covered her body. She was only about five years old, so she didn't have wings yet. Her wings wouldn't develop until much later in her life. Not until she was almost an adult.

Tallie enjoyed Ceely's innocence and hoped it would last for many years. She really hoped they would find her mother soon and she would come get Ceely and take her home. They would miss her, but Ceely needed a mom to raise her and keep her sheltered, not a bunch of women who had been put through hell. If she didn't show soon, Tallie had the time and a ship to go search for her.

"That's a great question, Ceel." She thought about it carefully. Ceely was a child, but the gladiators surrounding them would hear everything she said. It was important to get this right. That the men would understand her.

"Alien isn't a bad word. In this instance, it means different. Different species, I guess. You told me that your species is called Avianalla, right Ceely?" After the child nodded, she continued. "That means you are alien to me. I am from the planet Pfanctle. My people are called Pft, and I am alien to you. Lauren and Kaitlyn are from Earth—they are alien to us, and we are to them. But we are all still friends."

Ceely nodded. "There are good aliens and bad. Bad like the Siloth who kidnapped all of us from different planets. They hurt me." She reached out and patted Tallie's arm. "They hurt you more. They bruised your face, Tallie. And made you throw up. But Sissy is Siloth, and she's not bad." Ceely sighed. "I don't understand."

Tallie reached over and gently pushed back some of the longer feathers covering Ceely's eyes so she could meet her troubled gaze. "Every person—no matter what species they are—no matter what happens to them, can decide to be good or bad."

She looked up to meet the bright, intense gray eyes of the blue alien in the cage and continued. "Sometimes we are forced to do bad things to stay alive. Things we never would do if we could choose. But when we are free—when we have a choice—we can do things to help others. To be good. Those good things can give us a reason to live and go on. Sissy decided to be good. The Siloth aliens who captured us chose to be bad."

Ceely was quiet for a moment. She reached over and took Tallie's hand. "My mother said I was good when I did what she told me to do. She said I was bad when I did stuff she didn't want me to do—like walk in the forest alone. I walked in the forest by myself and the bad Siloth took me. Does that make me bad?"

Tallie shook her head. "No. No, Ceely. You were just stretching your wings… And yes, I know you don't have wings yet. You were just… doing something that made you happy. That maybe your mother didn't understand." She sighed. She needed to make Ceely understand. "Am I bad or good, Ceely?"

The avian child's eyes got huge. "You are good! Tallie—you always help. You helped us escape, you helped fight to save Kaitlyn and these zoo aliens, you showed us all how to use the weapons so we could fight. And you are good to me. You make sure I have a nest and food. And that the bad aliens don't touch me." Ceely was getting emotional in her defense of Tallie.

She hugged the child. "Thank you, Ceel. But my parents want me to marry a big, mean, and I think bad… man. He hit me, Ceely. But in front of my parents, he pretends to be all nice. My parents think I'm being silly. But I refuse to marry this man. So, I ran away." She sighed. "Twice. The first time I ran, the Siloth kidnapped me. This time I'm going to run to Kaitlyn and watch her wedding. Then I think I'll go see if I can find your mom. But I'm running away from my parents. Does that make me bad?"

Ceely jumped to her feet. "No. No bad man for you, Tallie." She wrung her hands together. "You need help. Kaitlyn's too far and that bad man could come here. We need weapons. I can guard you, Tallie. But I don't think the bad man would be afraid of me. Viktal, that barbarian, is scary big. Or Dax. That big dragon-man of Lauren's is scary, too. You need to leave. Go to Megoth and the other girls so they can help guard you. I know you are strong—but the Siloth hurt you!" She looked around and mumbled. "Where are your weapons, Tallie? You shouldn't be all alone without weapons."

Tallie stood and hugged Ceely. "It's okay, Ceel. I've got weapons. I'm going to Megoth soon. We are all going to Megoth soon so we can see the wedding. When I get there, I'm going to ask Viktal to find me a guard. Someone who will travel with me and keep me safe when I leave their planet."

Ceely nodded. "That's a good plan. I could go with you too, Tallie. I could watch your back while we look for my mother."

Tallie smiled. Ceel was parroting things the Earth women said. They often told one another to watch their back. But it would be safer for the avian child if she traveled to Megoth with the twins when it was time for the wedding.

"I will guard you."

Tallie turned around at the deep, gravelly voice. The blue alien wasn't in the corner anymore. He was standing at the bars, all six or maybe seven feet of blue, muscled, and naked body.

He motioned to the cages surrounding them. "We will guard you. It might be something we are good at."

She covered Ceely's eyes with her hand and met his dark brown gaze. "Good, let's get you all some clothes."

Zandhor

"Gladiators don't wear clothing," he scoffed.

But the slight, pink-haired alien woman ignored him. "Your thighs are too big for any of these pants." She looked at the five gladiators who came with him and shook her head. "All of your thighs are too big. I think, for now, something of Viktal's would work best."

"What is your name? I'm Tallie by the way."

He grinned at her. "I heard the girl call you this. I am Zandhor."

She stood and met his gaze. "Well, Zandhor. You need to understand that there are women and children everywhere we plan to go." She waved her hand at his cock. "You can't be walking around with that big boy hanging to your knees. You just can't—alright. None of you can. Remember, you aren't fighting. Not as a gladiator anymore."

She frowned. "Unless that is something you want to do. But you all need to learn how to live. Not in a cage, not as a gladiator, but as free men. You'll discover that all the other males we meet… and females, for that matter… wear some type of clothing to cover their private areas. They are private for a reason. No one else wants to see them."

He grunted. "I would like to see yours."

The woman's mouth dropped open, and she made a funny noise. But she didn't tell him no.

Instead, she took a quick look at his privates again and held up an animal skin. "Try this. It just wraps around your waist. You figure it out and I'll go tell everyone we're leaving."