5. Harper

Okay. So that was absolutely not what I was expecting.

An alien with the cock of a demon and the ability to make projections of himself?

Call me old fashioned but that's a new one for me.

I'd been with guys who must have been bipolar—not that they ever admitted that to me—but even they couldn't be the same guy at the same time!

I was a little grossed out about it at first. I mean, having threesomes was never a bucket list item for me. It was something I watched online with an enrapt kind of fascination in the past but I never thought I had the balls to do it myself.

Then I found myself with a guy who could make duplicates of his fine self and…

It was divine.

There was no jealousy between the two of them and I didn't have to worry about giving one more attention than the other. I didn't feel like a hussy and certainly not like I was cheating on him…

Not that I could cheat on him, of course. I was a whore. I was under no illusions about that.

Or was I?

I chewed on my bottom lip, aware of the gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach that I was getting into something far more potent and powerful than the usual lust I felt toward the other fighters.

Yes, some of them were physically powerful and yes, I was attracted to them. I was stuck in this situation and figured I might as well make the most of it. It was never something I would choose for myself.

Trayem was the only prisoner I would choose to be with.

I peered across at his sleeping form.

Could I be…?

No. It was crazy. Of course I wasn't.

This wasn't the kind of place you fell in love.

Especially not with the first rule Lily shared with me all those years ago.

You do not fall in love with the prisoners.

You do not allow yourself to depend on someone here because they will never fail to disappoint you.

Prisoners choose us, use us, and then toss us aside and move on to the next Prize.

That's what they do.

It was lust, nothing more.

Then why did I think about Trayem every minute of every day?

Why did thinking of him claiming one of the other Prizes leave a sour taste in my mouth?

Why would I have scratched their eyes out if they ever got between me and Trayem?

I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I never thought that way with the other prisoners. There had been others I liked meeting and shared every sordid detail of my night with them with the girls later, and the kind of fun they could expect when they got to his cell…

But jealousy?

No. I was only glad I could alleviate my friends' concerns when they'd been chosen by a new prisoner who they'd never been with before.

I ran a finger over Trayem's sleeping face and gorgeous square chin.

There was something special about him, all right.

I eased myself up onto my arm and peered more closely at him, watching as he slept. He could have been the most interesting creature in the entire galaxy, a multitude of spiraling inconsistencies and complexities and if I was honest with myself, did I really think I understood them at all?

No. I didn't know the first thing about this creature lying in bed beside me.

He was a mystery.

But I knew I'd fallen for him.

Please don't hurt me,I thought idly. My heart is big but it's weak.

Trayem's eyes opened and the first thing he saw in the new day was me.

I liked the idea of that.

"Morning," he said.

"Good morning."

He yawned. It involved not only his face but his neck and chest and arms.

"How long have you been up?"

"Not long."

"What time is it?"

"I have no idea."

Maybe if I didn't know what the time was, the moment could stay like this forever.

"Listen, about last night—" he said.

"Last night was amazing. I've never done it with someone like that before. It was a real eye opener about the possibilities."

His head jerked up.

"Possibilities?"

"Maybe we could get another couple of guys in here. You know, spice things up a little."

I grinned at him. I was only kidding.

I blinked, and in an instant, there were half a dozen copies of him standing around the bed.

"How many more do you want?" he said.

"Okay. You have to stop doing that. It freaks me out."

"I'm a freak. What can I say? All right, all right. I'll put them away."

In a blink, they were gone. But no, that wasn't quite right, was it? There was a slight blur as they shifted sideways, tucking away inside Trayem again like a pack of shuffled cards.

"Does it hurt?" I said. "Having all those guys inside you?"

"I should be the one asking you that," Trayem said with a wicked grin.

I threw back my head and let out a boisterous laugh. I slapped him on the arm.

"It's different," I said. "You know that."

"I know. But it's still nice to see you blush."

"I don't blush."

"You do. All the time. Even right now."

I covered my cheeks. I could feel the heat coming off them.

"Only with you."

"I guessed that much. I doubt many of the girls in the Prize Pool blush much."

My stomach writhed.

"Does it bother you? That I've… met other guys?"

"I can't say I'm happy about it. I'd rather you didn't have to be here doing this."

"Do you think I want to be in here?"

"No, of course not."

He leaned in close and kissed me gently on the forehead.

"But if you weren't here, I never would have met you."

"And if you hadn't done whatever you did on the outside, you wouldn't be here either. It's still hard for me to believe you did something so bad to end up in here."

His eyes shifted over my shoulder. I thought for a moment someone might be there. I glanced over to check but the cell was empty save for us. When I looked up into his face, I realized he was somewhere else, thinking about something only he could see, something only he had experienced.

I pressed my hand to his face and brought it toward me.

"Hey. Where are you drifting off to? Stay here with me."

"Sorry," he said, looking away.

I brought his face back toward me and looked him in the eye. I kissed him on the tip of his nose.

"You don't need to disappear anywhere else when you're with me. You can talk with me about anything. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," he said, but his eyes still weren't fixed on me, weren't in this room.

"What is it?"

"I was just thinking… The galaxy… it's a dark and dangerous place sometimes. And there's nothing you can do about it. Sometimes it's easier to go with the flow. Sometimes bad things happen and you're afraid so you don't do anything about it."

"What bad things?"

His expression turned dark and distant. There was a lost look about him.

"Terrible things," he said, peering over my shoulder once more at that invisible scene.

Something was troubling him, something he couldn't shake free, no matter how hard he tried.

He pulled the blankets to one side and threw his legs over the side.

"Trayem," I said, "if I said something that upset you, I'm sorry."

"It's not you."

He ran his hands through his hair.

"This is a mistake."

"Sh," I said. "It's okay. Whatever it is, we'll get through it."

Something had spooked him, that was for sure. But what was it?

He sat up straight.

"You need to go," he said coldly. "We never should have done this. I'm sorry. It's my fault. You need to leave before it's too late."

My heart was in my throat.

Don't do this to me now. Not after last night.

"Why are you saying this?" I said. "You don't mean it."

"Yes, I do," he said icily, looking at me over his shoulder. "You are nothing to me. You were never anything to me. You are a Prize, nothing more. I never felt anything for you. You need to forget me and move on with your life and pretend like this whole thing never happened."

My lips trembled and my breath hitched in my throat. I backed away from him, resting on my heels.

He stood up and moved away from me. He picked up his clothes and slipped them on. He got ready quickly and didn't turn to look at me.

"The guards will be here soon. I suggest you stay here until they do. It's not safe outside."

"Trayem…" I said, but my voice cracked and I couldn't say another word.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything."

He opened the door and stepped outside, leaving me in his wake, a broken shard, left to wonder when everything had turned so bad.

Unable to hold back my tears any longer, and with no one there to feel embarrassed about shedding them in front of, I let the tears stream down my face.

Lily had been right all along.

Never fall in love with a fighter. They'll only ever end up breaking your heart.

I don't knowhow long I cried but it wasn't long before the guards came and took me away from that cell.

I was pleased to go.

I thought about leaving sooner but as much as I might hate to admit it, Trayem was right. It wasn't safe for me to wander around the prison alone.

I'd seen what happened to a Prize when the prisoners thought they weren't being watched and could get away with whatever their sadistic minds could conjure up.

I wiped fresh tears from my cheeks as the guards led me through the hallways back to the Prize Pool.

I knew the way so well I could have walked it without looking up.

What had made Trayem say the things he had? Why had he ruined everything after our amazing night together? Why had he thought it better to do that than keep the incredible event as a memory? Why did he have to dump me after the best night of my life?

I knew he enjoyed it and I felt certain he loved me too.

I wiped the tears from my eyes again and tried not to think about Trayem again. It was harder than I thought.

When I passed the other prisoners, still toiling under armed guard as they repaired the damage caused by the riot, a couple wolf whistled and howled at me.

The whistles usually passed over me without a second thought but this time it had a terrible effect on me.

I hated this place. I especially loathed my place in it.

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to figure out a way to get out of there.

Did I really want to spend the rest of my life cooped up in here?

I was going to die here, or worse, get sold to a whore house somewhere. I would be worked to death and then there would be no hope for me.

Lost in my own thoughts, I bumped into something. I peered up at the guard who'd come to a stop. He motioned with his shock rifle to the stairs leading to the science lab.

Of course. It was a recent addition to the trip back home and one I hadn't gotten used to yet.

I moved up the stairs. One of the guards followed me and took position on the other side of the door.

The scientists were busy when I arrived. One paused from consulting her clipboard and bid farewell to her coworkers and joined me at the door.

I was still very much in a world of my own. There was no shaking me from it.

"Hello, Harper," she said.

"Hi, Junic," I said.

She was the only member of the science team I'd ever spoken to. She was kind, with slimy orange skin and red patches that looked like liver spots but weren't.

She had no hair and instead, where her hair should have been, had writhing masses of skin shaped like tubes. They never stopped moving as if there was an invisible wind affected her and no one else.

"Hop on," Junic said, motioning to the chair between us. "So, how was it this time?"

She referred to my recent sexual experience. I spoke with the other Prizes and we all agreed Junic's questions about how we mated with our partners the previous night were a little creepy to say the least. We weren't friends with her, didn't know her, and had never seen her before. And yet, she asked the most personal and probing questions, things I would never even consider discussing with a stranger.

She seemed quite content with her work and proceeded as if she were conducting some kind of experiment rather than speaking with a real person.

"It was fine," I said noncommittally, not wishing to speak about Trayem or else end up as a puddle on the floor.

"Was it painful?" Junic said, not even bothering to look at me and choosing to consult her clipboard instead.

"Not physically," I said.

Junic ticked a box and nodded. If she had any interest in getting to know me or inquiring into the other type of pain I might have been referring to, she showed no sign of it.

"That's good," she said, clicking the end of her pen as she spoke.

"Was there enough lubrication? Any chafing or soreness?"

"No."

"Out of ten, what would you give the sexual experience?"

How about an eleven?And then minus ten for this morning.

"About an eight," I said without thought or feeling.

"Two eights in a row, huh?" Junic said absently. "You're going to have to give me his cell number."

She gave me a wink before turning to the second page and continued with her embarrassing questions. I answered them without hesitation in case she thought there were extra notes she needed to jot down. It was definitely not something I wanted to discuss more with her.

"All right," Junic said, picking up the little device from a small table and passing it over my stomach.

It only took a moment and I stared at the ceiling, wondering what I was going to do when I arrived back at the Prize Pool. Shower, wash, and try not to think about that asshole ever again.

"Hm," Junic said with a pinched frown.

"What is it? Problem with the machine?"

"No. Let me run the test again."

She did and the frown grew even deeper as she peered at that device's screen.

"What is it?" I said.

For the first time since I'd met her, Junic had the look of someone who didn't know what they were doing. She was nothing if not professional. Seeing her in her current befuddled state made me feel a little concerned.

"Excuse me a moment," she said, putting the device down on the side table and taking off to speak with an older man who had to be her boss.

She pointed in my direction, getting the attention of not only her boss but the other workers too.

This was a first.

They were usually so consumed with their own work they rarely, if ever, looked up.

I wondered idly if the scientists had been abducted and forced to work here too, and where they stayed if they had. Did they have quarters like the supervisor's upstairs?

I sighed and yawned, exhausted after the night's vigorous activities. I glanced over at the handheld device Junic had deposited on the side table.

There was a blinking bar across the middle.

The screen was a dull green, the lettering darker. The device was perched on a stack of other devices and lay on its side.

I turned my head to match its perspective, and as I did, the translator chip buried in my arm translated the words.

The letters transformed into English letters from their original alien language and yet, the words made no sense to me.

It was a single word, eight letters long, and they flashed intermittently.

The blood drained from my face.

POSITIVE, it blinked.

POSITIVE.

Not negative.

POSITIVE.

That meant…

No.

It couldn't mean…

But it did.

POSITIVE.

I was pregnant.

"Excuse me," a deep voice said.

A hand drifted toward mine and shook it.

"I'm Dr. Liok. I have some very exciting news…"

My eyes zigzagged up to the doctor's face. He peered at me through his wide spectacles. He had hard outer shell-like skin and above his top lip was a ridge of dimples which might have passed as a moustache in his species.

His mouth moved but once again, the words made no sense.

"You're pregnant."

It didn't matter whether I read it or he said it to me directly. It still didn't make sense.

I couldn't be pregnant. We'd been so careful. Trayem always pulled out at the last second…

Except, last night, we'd been so engrossed in our activities that he hadn't pulled out…

Had he?

Yes, I thought. He had.

But I knew deep in my gut he hadn't. And I hadn't stopped it from happening either.

We were so involved with each other, so engaged in our mutual feelings of pleasure I hadn't even noticed.

Neither had he.

"We'd like to offer you our sincerest congratulations," Dr. Liok said. "It's not every day we see a pregnancy."

The smiles of the surrounding scientists were warm and welcoming.

I didn't want their smiles or their warmth. Not now, not when it was too late.

"I… I have to go to the Prize Pool," I said. "Lily… She… I need to speak with her…"

She would know what to do.

I struggled to sit up in the oversized chair.

The doctor pressed a hand to my chest and held me down.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave. Not right now. First, we must check the baby's health."

I knocked his hands aside but his arms were surprisingly steadfast.

"I can't be here. I can't…"

I didn't have the words because I didn't know what I was meant to say. I only knew I wanted to get out of there. Being in the Prize Pool wouldn't have helped much either but at least Lily was there. As cold and distant as she was, she had been here a lot longer than me and she would know what to do in such a situation as this.

"You need to be careful," Dr. Liok said in a sterile tone of voice I didn't care for. "You're carrying very valuable cargo."

Cargo?

Was that what I had become? A cargo carrier? Couldn't they see I was my own person?

"I need to get out of here," I said. "I have to speak to—"

I felt a sharp stab in my arm and immediately felt woozy.

"Easy," Dr. Liok said as he helped lower me back down to the chair.

"I can't stay here…" I repeated. "I need to go…"

My eyes drifted shut and as hard as I tried, I couldn't keep them open.

I awoke,blurry-eyed and unsure where I was. I lay on a floor and pushed myself up, a thick line of drool hanging from the corner of my mouth from where I'd been dribbling.

I was too faint and fuzzy to care. As I pushed myself up off the floor, my arms felt a little distant, as if I'd been injected with anesthetic and it dulled every one of my senses.

My eyesight was fuzzy around the edges like an old movie reel found in a damp closet and a roaring rush vibrated in my ears.

I found myself in a room painted a soft white, the edges bulging inwards like I was trapped inside a monster. I leaned against it and found it soft—much softer than the floor I'd been sleeping on.

I pulled my legs up and hugged them. It took me a moment to recall what happened to me.

I'd been in the science laboratory and I'd gotten the test and… I was pregnant. Yes, that's right. I was pregnant and I felt a pinch in my arm. I reached back and felt where I'd been bitten and found nothing there.

No blood, no lump, nothing.

Then what was I doing in this room?

"Hello?" I said out loud.

In the middle of the room was a chair—much like the one I'd been tested in earlier. It sat empty and seemed all the more sinister for that reason.

Bright lights illuminated the oval-shaped room from above, the ceiling far too high for me to reach.

There were no windows.

I got to my feet a little unsteadily and leaned against the wall to ensure I didn't pitch over onto my ass.

The wall.

It shifted. It was the only thing I noticed that changed about this room.

The wall.

I moved around it as much by my hands as with my feet, until I reached the front wall.

Front wall?

Is that what it was?

Yes, I thought. The front wall of the entire accursed room. As I moved, the empty patch of wall shifted my perspective, revealing the scientists working in the lab on the other side.

I was still in the laboratory, I realized. I'd just been shunted into a separate room.

Another prison.

I banged on the invisible wall and hollered to get the attention of the people outside.

There, I made out Junic.

"Junic!" I yelled. "In here! I'm in here!"

She continued with her work as if she couldn't hear me.

She'd been there with me when Dr. Liok jabbed me with the needle and knocked me out…

Except he had his hands firmly on my arms pinning me in place.

He couldn't have been the one to inject me. It had to be one of the others. The only one close enough to administer it was Junic.

But why?

The answer was simple when I passed it before the eye of my mind.

They did this to me after they discovered the truth about my pregnancy.

For what purpose?

I shut my eyes and tried to figure it out. It couldn't be that difficult…

And yet, I couldn't piece it together at all. My mind was still fuzzy with angry thoughts.

I collapsed in a heap on the floor, the effects of the drug that'd been shot into my system without my permission still having an effect on me.

I was a prisoner—nothing new there—but this time, it felt different.

I was pregnant and I was a prisoner.

And that made all the difference.

Overcome with exhaustion, I lay back down and curled into a ball. Sleep found me.

"Harper? Harper? Can you hear me?"

The voice was familiar but I couldn't identify who it belonged to.

My arms flew up as I shot into consciousness and batted at the person hovering over me.

"Harper, it's okay," the voice said calmly. "It's me. It's Lily."

Lily?

That couldn't be right. Lily was never nice to me. Never nice to anyone.

Unless she wanted something from you.

"We'll be all right," Lily said to someone standing over us.

A guard backed away, just beyond the invisible wall. It shimmered and suddenly the solid wall was back in place.

I got to my feet and banged against it with my fist.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Let me out of here! Let me out! I shouldn't be here!"

"Harper," Lily said, groaning as she pushed herself up onto her feet. "They can't let you out."

I was taken aback by how calm she was. How relaxed. How could she be when she was in this situation with me?

Trapped in this same room. Together.

I felt a little lightheaded. I took a step backward and my leg gave way beneath me. Lily was there to catch me and keep me from falling.

"They must have given you a pretty big dose, huh?" she said. "Too much for a woman in a state such as yours. Come on. Let's get you in the chair. It's no good you being cooped up on the floor."

She angled me toward the chair.

I grabbed the arms and kept myself from falling into it. I was damned if I was going to sit in that thing again!

I collapsed to the floor, backed up to the wall, and hugged my knees.

"What's going on here?" I said.

"Didn't they explain it to you?" Lily said.

She muttered something under her breath and cast an angry look in the direction of the laboratory outside. She sighed and got down on the floor beside me.

"They're keeping you here to keep an eye on you and make sure you and the baby are healthy and safe," she said.

"The baby? So, it wasn't a dream."

"No, it wasn't. There's nothing so much of a blessing than having children."

"Not in here. Not when I'm forced to sleep with fighters. Not when our birth control pills are taken from us and we have no choice. And what if… what if it's a girl?"

That thought more than any other terrified me. It was one thing for me to be forced into a life of servitude in a place like this but to bring a child into it…

"I spoke with the new supervisor earlier," Lily said. "His name's Krial. He's reasonable. He wants to make sure you and the child are fit and healthy. He asked me to come in here and see if there was anything you wanted to share about your health with the scientists."

"My health?" I said. "What about my health?"

"They went through your records and you seem fit and healthy. They want to make sure the baby won't suffer from any… difficulties."

"Difficulties?" I said, my hand going unconsciously to my stomach. "Why would there be any difficulties?"

"It's just a precaution," Lily said. "Oh, and hey. I brought you something."

She pulled a small box of alien chocolates out from behind her back. She handed them to me. They reminded me of the ones Trayem gave me that night during the riot.

Great. Another reminder of him.

Even if I didn't see him, I would always carry the memories we shared. Now, thanks to his unerring sperm, I would take a living memory of him with me wherever I went.

"Thanks," I said.

"You know, they're my favorite too," Lily said. "I could use one… unless you're intending on keeping them all to yourself?"

I couldn't help smiling. I opened the box and let her choose one.

"Mm," she said, biting into her chocolate's hard outer shell. "I never could deny myself a delicious treat like this. Have one. It will cheer you up no end."

I did as she suggested and chose one at random. My tastebuds exploded with their delicious and alien flavors. And she was right. It did help me relax a little.

It was unusual enough for Lily to be kind to me—to be kind to anyone—so I had to be in a seriously difficult situation if she was being this nice to me.

"How are you holding up?" Lily said.

"Okay," I said. "How are the other girls?"

"Fine so far. None have become pregnant yet, though I suppose it won't be long before they are."

I shook my head.

"I can't believe I'm the first. I thought… I had plans to make sure this didn't happen. I just… lost control of myself and look what happened."

"Hey, it's not all that bad. You're going to be a mom. That doesn't happen every day."

"It does, only to someone else," I said wryly. "You never had kids?"

"No. The right guy never seemed to come along."

The tears were in my eyes before I realized.

"I'm really scared, Lily," I said. "Having a kid is one thing. But to have one in this place? I can't imagine a kid growing up here."

"I know," Lily said. "But things aren't usually as bad as we think they are."

"What are they going to do with the baby?"

Lily looked at me questioningly.

"They're going to let you keep it, of course."

"They are? In this place?"

"No, not in here. They're going to let you go home."

I sat bolt upright.

"They are? Why would they do that?"

"Because it takes an empire to raise a child, and there aren't any in this part of the galaxy."

"Village."

"What?"

"It takes a village to raise a child. Not an empire."

Lily's eyes narrowed. Her irritation lasted only a fraction of a second and was gone.

"So, you see," she said, "there's really nothing you need to worry about. For you or your kid. The baby is your ticket out of here. You just need to make sure it's strong and healthy."

I rested my chin on my hands.

"I'm not even sure I can have kids," I said.

"Not have kids? Why not?"

It was a dark part of my past that I never wanted to think about, never mind share with another human being. But then, I never expected I would be in this situation either.

"I… had a child… a long time ago," I said. "I was very young. It was an accident. It never should have happened. And when the adoption people came around, they asked if I wanted to let him go to a loving family, and I agreed. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I always wondered where he is, what he's doing. As I got abducted, I guess it's probably a good thing I didn't have to raise him. But I always think about him."

"Oh, Harper," Lily said, reaching out and taking my hand. "I'm sorry. But how does that affect how you're able to have kids?"

"There were… complications. The doctors said I might be able to have them… or I might not. I always thought it best to play it safe and ensure I never had them. Not until I was ready, anyway. But now… Isn't there anything you can do? Some way you can help me?"

"I can speak with the supervisor but I'm not sure he'll agree to anything I suggest," Lily said. "Are there any other health concerns I should inform the supervisor about?"

I shook my head.

"No."

"Okay," Lily said, dusting off her hands and getting to her feet. "I think I'm done here."

It was the way she said it more than the words she used that caught my attention.

"I hate wearing the identity of lower lifeforms," Lily said.

"What?"

Lily pressed her back to the invisible wall.

"Lower lifeforms?" I said. "What does that mean?"

Then she smiled. It curled only one corner of her mouth and twisted upward. Now, Lily might be capable of such a smile but I couldn't bring myself to believe she could muster the same amount of sinisterness the way she did right now.

A shiver shook my body and brought me out in hives.

"You're not Lily?" I said.

"Of course not."

"If you're not Lily, then who are you?"

"Lily" stepped back and turned her head toward the front wall but kept her eyes firmly on me.

"Let me out."

The wall shimmered and faded. She stepped through it.

I bolted forward at my chance to escape. The wall shimmered at the last moment and I crashed into it. I beat on it with my fists, feet, knees, and elbows, hammering it with everything I had.

Panting and out of breath, "Lily" began to fade away, her skin melting like molten lava had been poured over her head. She transformed into a creature I had only ever seen at a distance through the observation window above the Prize Pool.

She was a shifter!

She smirked at me as her skin stitched itself back together and reformed her face and original clothing. Her smile was sharp and could have cut. She turned on her heel and marched away.

Just when I thought I had a friend, someone on the outside to argue my case, my hopes were dashed and taken from me.

The guards followed on her heels but not up the stairs into the new supervisor's quarters. They took their place outside the laboratory.

It had all been for show.

A scam.

I'd been manipulated.

Again.

I was angrier than I had ever been, not only for me, but for the creature fermenting in my belly.

I burst into tears, no doubt due to the emotional upheaval that occurred when a woman was with child.

I collapsed on the floor again.

Trayem.

He was my only hope.

But there was no way for me to send him a message, no way for him to come and rescue me.

I hadn't wanted anything to do with Trayem before I discovered I was pregnant. Now I couldn't think of anything I wanted more than his kind and forgiving arms.

I luxuriated in that memory and wondered when—or if—I would ever see him again.

An indeterminate amountof time later—I guess it was a few hours, possibly half a day. The only time marker I had was the grogginess I felt when I awoke on the floor.

I slipped into a deep well of depression after "Lily" left my room. I'd been suckered into thinking she was my friend. I should have known right away that wasn't the case.

Because it'd never been the case.

The only time she'd been kind to me or any of the other girls was after that first day of being claimed by a fighter. And she hadn't done that because she cared about any of us. She did it because she didn't want to lose her girls.

Her responsibility was to take care of us and that meant reducing the chances of suicide. A little kindness went a long way.

I shook my head at my own stupidity. Of course, it hadn't been Lily.

From now on, I would suspect everyone. It wasn't like I didn't know there weren't shifters in the galaxy. There were many in the prison alone.

And I still hadn't figured a way to escape this place.

And no way to contact Trayem.

I was trapped and there was no way out.

I felt at my stomach. Was it protruding already? Was it turning a little bulbous and round? I thought it was. When I lifted up my shirt and looked closer, placing my hand to the surface, I could swear it was bulging a little…

But how was that possible with just a day or two having passed? It wasn't. It was impossible. I must be imagining it.

Then I felt a thud.

I pulled my hand away immediately.

A kick?

After a couple of days?

Impossible…

The wall shimmered and Junic stepped in my cell.

Was this it? I wondered. Could this be my way out of here?

I needed her to make one slip up, a single mistake, and I could get out of there.

A gap for me to slip through and I could make it to Trayem.

Behind her stood two large guards with those shock rifles clasped tightly in their hands. Beyond them, the other scientists weren't present. It was the first time I'd seen them all not working. The room seemed empty without them.

"Please take a seat," Junic said. "I'm here to check on the baby and fix any complaints you might have."

"Keep away from me, bitch," I said, taking my own advice and edging further into the padded room.

I moved around the chair and kept it between us. It provided me with at least a little protection.

Junic reached into her pocket and removed a small device that fit in the palm of her hand. A tiny stunted needle protruded from the end. I realized it must have been the device she used to knock me unconscious before.

"We're doing this with or without your help," Junic said. "But it would be better for you if we did this peacefully. We're only going to check things are okay."

Over her shoulder, the shifter figure from earlier moved into place. Her hair was long and black and reached down to her ass. She could pick up raisins with an ass like that.

Another reason to hate her.

Beside her was another figure. An ugly dude with a round head and a single eye. He looked like a meatball with ears.

"What do you want me to do?" I said, eying Junic carefully.

"Get in the chair," she said. "Then I'll scan you. No one needs to get hurt and this doesn't need to get ugly."

I took a moment to think the situation over. What other choice did I have? There were enough of them to field a small soccer team and I was cornered in this damn padded room.

I did as she asked and climbed into the chair. I didn't really want to be hit by another dose of whatever it was she had in that injection gun.

Junic relaxed and slipped the device back in her pocket. She reached into her other pocket and took out the pregnancy machine.

She raised the device to scan me head to toe.

My eyes flicked up to the guards, who remained standing ready with their shock rifles.

A thought occurred to me. If my health was so important to them, I doubted they would use them on me. I'd seen the kind of damage they could do to their victims. What would they do to an unborn baby?

That left the shifter girl and meatball head.

The shifter looked in good shape. I didn't think I could take her one-on-one but I could slip past her.

She wouldn't hesitate to tackle me to the ground. The meatball looked big and cumbersome.

It was all academic if I couldn't get out of this damn room first.

"The baby is fine," Junic said. "And it appears he's already beginning to show."

That caught my attention. So, I was right.

But, wait…

"How is that possible?" I said. "I've only been pregnant a few days. It usually takes months before I show."

"That's a human pregnancy," Junic said absentmindedly and focused her attention on her handheld device with its blinking numbers and flickering lights. "This is an alien pregnancy. Not all creatures have such long reproduction cycles. The baby looks very healthy. Would you like to see it?"

I gulped. Would I?

Under normal circumstances, I would, but this… this was madness.

I was surprised to find myself nodding.

"Yes. Please."

Please? Ugh.

I should never utter that word to these people.

Junic turned the device to show me. It was nothing like the ultrasound scans we had back on Earth. This device showed me a three-dimensional image of the baby inside the womb—my womb!

For a moment, all concerns of attempting to escape slipped from me and I could barely believe what I was looking at.

A baby.

My baby.

It stared straight back at me, its arm waving. At least, I thought that was what it was doing.

"Hello, little guy," I said, reaching out and touching his extended hand.

With tears in my eyes, I looked up at Junic.

"How did you…? I'm not supposed to be able to have kids."

"I did a little poking around and fixed your problem," she said. "It really wasn't that difficult."

I turned back to that floating image of my curled-up fetus of a baby. It really was a miracle of life, that something that size could develop and become like the other complex life in the room.

But what sort of life was it going to have in this place if I couldn't get free?

Everything fake-Lily had said before had most likely been bullshit—about me going home and taking the baby with me. They wouldn't go to all this effort if that was the case, and why refuse to allow us to have birth control?

It didn't add up.

The shifter girl cleared her throat behind Junic.

"Are we done now?" she said, turning away and bored to tears.

"Almost," Junic said, taking the device from me and checking the readouts one last time. "According to the results… You'll be giving birth within the next two days."

My jaw fell open.

"Two days? How long was I unconscious before?"

"A few hours," Junic said. "Some species don't take long to gestate. Congratulations. Very soon, you will be a mother to a very healthy and happy baby boy."

A boy…

I wondered if he would look like his father. I wondered if Trayem would even learn he had a son.

I needed to make sure he knew.

"Doctor?" I said. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure," Junic said. "What is it?"

"It's… of a personal nature."

She stepped forward and leaned in close so her ear was in front of my mouth.

I used the opportunity to slip my hand in her pocket and wrap my hand around the needle device.

"Sleep tight," I said.

Junic's eyes alighted with surprise as I jammed the device in her neck. She bolted backward from the shock. She slapped a hand to where the needle had bitten her.

"Catch her!" I yelled. "She's going to fall!"

I couldn't care less if she collapsed to the floor but the guards reacted out of instinct and bent down to catch her.

I dodged between them with the injector device in my outstretched hand and slammed it in shifter girl's hand as she reached for me.

She hissed through her teeth.

I slipped past her.

Meatball head was on her other side. I didn't need to worry about him. He was too distant to reach me.

I checked over my shoulder as I barreled for the door. There was no one in front of me. The others were still reacting to the breakout.

I was going to escape! I was going to get out of there!

Another pair of strong arms scooped me up and wrapped around me, holding me tight in their strong embrace.

I made to bring the injector gun around to jam in his face but never got that far.

I just stared.

"Trayem?"

His expression was blank and hard to read as he bundled me up and carried me back toward the padded room.

"No!" I screamed. "Trayem! No! Don't do this! Trayem! No!"