Coral

With every step I take, my anger grows within me. I've ended up exactly where I didn't want to be. In the hands of the Sarkarnii's enemies.

On either side of me are spindly robots toting what look like ray guns. Standing on what look like stilts, they might look fragile, but the way one of them took hold of me with a pincer earlier, they are incredibly strong. I flee at my peril.

It doesn't help my temper. I still feel weak and tired. The Zio tried to reassure me the treatment given has removed the venom from my body, but they were unclear as to the lasting effects.

At which point, the foul Habosu ordered me to be removed from the tube and taken to his quarters. I tried to fight back, but the robots were too strong.

Which is why I'm stomping down a metal lined corridor with flowing neon strips, seething, barefoot and wearing what is presumably the alien equivalent of a hospital gown, in a stiff material I am absolutely NOT going to bend over in.

Yet again, no underwear. It's becoming a theme.

"In here," the big green twat booms.

I'm shoved past him into a vast atrium, the stars visible above us through what I hope is a really, really thick glass. The place is filled with vegetation. Long multi-colored ivy falls in waves from a mezzanine level. Huge white ferns wave in a breeze I can't feel. Enormous flowers bloom, and here and there, I'm sure I see little birds, or some sort of flying creature, darting about.

It is absolutely stunning, reminiscent of a Victorian hot house, and absolutely not what I was expecting.

"Wait outside," the Habosu says to the robots, who execute a smart about turn, the lens-like door closing up behind them.

"Please accept my many apologies for everything which has been done to you," he says, beckoning me further into the space.

"What?" My mind races to catch up with this new situation. "You're sorry? But it was your fellow Habosu who arranged for me to be kidnapped in the first place! I'm your prize!"

I look around wildly for somewhere to run. Admittedly I could probably hide in this veritable jungle, but I'm pretty sure I'd be found eventually.

"Oh, little human." The Habosu chuckles with a deep burble. "You are my prize because I have you out of the clutches of the others, not because you are back in them."

I feel horribly faint, unable to process what he's saying. It's all I can do to stagger over to what looks, worryingly, like a bed and sit down before I fall down.

"I don't…" I put my hand to my head. "I don't understand. You don't want to use me to capture the Sarkarnii?"

"No! Draco is one of my oldest allies." He marches over to a table set with platters of brightly colored items and pours out some clear liquid from a jug into a glass. "My name is Artur. I am the Preator of this trading moon and, I'm sorry to say, I am also a Habosu, although I hope you will not hold it against me."

He lifts the glass up and shakes it a little from side to side as an offering. My head is still spinning, but my mouth is dry, so I nod. He crosses the space between us in two strides and hands me the glass.

I take a sip. The liquid is not water, but it is fruity and refreshing, so I take a larger gulp. Artur doesn't hover, instead he disappears into the jungle, and I hear strange rustlings, none of which fill me with confidence.

As much as I want to believe him, because damn, I'm so fucking tired I could cry, none of this seems real.

Artur bursts out of the undergrowth with a large round tray in his hand. "Here." He shoves it onto my lap.

I stare at the mirrored surface, holding back a grimace at the pale faced, dark ringed eyes and birds nest hair which stares back, then I look up at him.

"It's lovely," I offer.

His huge green brow furrows for a second, then he brightens. Leaning in swiftly, he presses his finger in the center of the tray and jumps back. The thing glows, and figures, about six to seven inches high appear. I very nearly drop it.

Until I see what the figures are. It's the Sarkarnii. More importantly, I see Draco, then Draxx, Drega, and Daeos.

And I see Drasus. He has his arm thrown around the shoulder of Drelix, and he's laughing. The figures move, just a little, in a loop of time. Carousing until they begin again. I can almost hear them.

I can almost touch him, and I want to touch him so very much.

It's the alien equivalent of a Polaroid. And included within this group is Artur, raising a goblet to them all.

"How can I believe this is real?" I whisper, because I want it to be real, so very much.

I don't want to take my eyes from Drasus. He looks so happy, so confident, so alive. The thought of never seeing him again sends a shard of glass into my heart and slices it in two.

"It's not possible to fake a holo-stamp. They can only be taken from life," Artur says quietly. "This was the Sarkarnii's last night here, before they allowed themselves to be taken to the Kirakos."

He sinks down next to me, the bed groaning under his weight, but all of his attention is focussed on the holographic images on the tray.

"I don't know what happened in there, but I was expecting to hear from Draco in a few nova-days, but there's been nothing. Not for three nova-years." He shakes his head. "Until Emilie turns up with you and says the Sarkarnii are free." He turns his head to me, and I see for the first time in his bulbous face, an emotion I recognize. Concern. "What happened?"

"I don't really know everything, but the Belek collared them and made them play some sort of game. It's only in the last months they've been able to fight back and to drive the Belek out of the Kirakos," I tell him. My throat nearly closes up as I think about Drasus, his little avatar catching my attention once again.

I can't stay away from him. As much as I'm terrified my presence might make things worse, Drasus is a warrior, he has the rest of the Sarkarnii behind him, and I know he'll do anything to find me.

So, hiding from the little problem of being used as bait isn't going to change anything. I need him and he needs me.

"The Sarkarnii have their ship and were supposed to be leaving the Kirakos, but I was kidnapped by the Bogarok before they left. I don't know if they managed to get free or not." I trace my finger in the air over Drasus. "The Bogarok handed me over to a Habosu bounty hunter who said he was going to use me as bait to control the Sarkarnii."

Artur growls under his breath. "No wonder you did not think much of me when you first arrived. I can only apologize for my species. They are driven by fortune and fame."

I tear my gaze away from my Drasus and look Artur in the eye. "I can't let the Sarkarnii be captured or their mates be used against them. I'm not the only human mate they have taken and there are children now, along with several on the way. We have to find them, make sure they know what's happening, and I have to find the other human who was taken along with me."

"Other human?" Artur queries. "We have another human here. A female. She came off a Xlaxyn transporter. She's a bit…bitey," he adds.

Now I see another emotion I wasn't expecting. Fear.

"I need to see her, right now," I demand. "And I need to get back to the Kirakos as soon as possible."