4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

" I am not your bitch! I don't care how big you are or how impossibly wide and detailed your muscles look in that shirt. You will have to rape me! There's no way I'm sleeping with you." Amelia raged before balling up her fist and pounding on Zylar's chest.

He waited for her fight to fizzle out before picking her up, throwing her over his shoulder, entering the room, and dropping her on the couch. He stood over her with his feet planted and his arms crossed over his muscular chest. Then he started talking in Diza language.

Amelia reached her breaking point and started screaming. "Kill me already. You know I can't understand that language. Speak English, you're in America!' In the back of her mind, she knew she sounded like so many people she passed on the street downgrading those speaking in their native languages because it was more comfortable to them, or they were holding a private conversation that wasn't for prying ears. She knew she sounded bigoted. It was like she was saying this means that if you come to my country, I need to know what you're saying when you're not addressing me. She couldn't seem to help herself and hated it. This wasn't her.

"Wrong. We're on a Diza ship Where I'll be talking my native language. There is nothing Americanized on this ship other than you. Until I decide to put you out of your misery, you'll agree to be injected with a translator chip or you'll be left out of the conversation. Warning: if I tell you to do something and you don't, I will warm your rear end."

Every bit of bluster went out of her as she sank into the sofa. "Did you just threaten to spank me? My parents never did that."

"Your wise book says spare the rod and spoil the child." She opened her mouth and closed it, looking like a fish trying to breathe out of the water.

"I refuse to ask you where you heard that. You're sadistic." She pulled herself up, straightening her shoulders. "Kill me! I will not allow your pollutants in my body. I don't want to know what you're saying. I'm American and will only speak English like a good citizen." Proud to be an American was running through her mind. She stood and stiffly saluted the imaginary flag of the USA that was in front of her.

"Have it your way. When I walk out of this door, I will no longer be speaking in English, and neither will anyone else on this ship."

"You can't leave me here alone."

"I can't stay. How will I ever keep myself from raping you?" He left, leaving Amelia with the feeling he was making fun of her. She jeered when he left. If he thought she was going to be sitting here naked and waiting for him, he had another thought coming.

She wandered around, realizing she was in an outer room. There was a couch. She only knew what it was because there was one in Bella's house. It didn't sit on the floor, it just hovered. Bella loved it because there was an uninterrupted floor for her roomba. Which she also loved. Her cousin was strange now that she thought about it.

There were several pictures on the walls. One looked like SaKura, Rahka, and Zylar together. They were younger and there was a vehicle behind them that reminded her of the cruiser he used to kidnap her. They were smiling, and she wasn't sure, but behind them maybe that was the equivalent of an American mall or a place for the young to hang out. She shook her head. She'd been getting lost in the picture and the looks of happiness on their faces.

There were pictures of what had to be Diza. It looked like a picture of a city with floating buildings and houses. There was a picture of space. It was calming and beautiful. She could see stars and what reminded her of the end of a spaceship when it went into hyper-warp. Sue her. She was a Trekkie, like her cousins.

The first door went to a bathroom. Not that she was sure how to use it. The door on the other side of the cabin led to a bedroom. It looked like a double bed from her point of view. It too was hovering over the floor, but like all the other furniture, it seemed to be stable. No matter how hard she pushed, there was no movement. Also, she noted that if she hit a button on the bed, a force field came up. It must have been to make sure he didn't fly out of bed at a sudden stop. Did spaceships make sudden stops? What was there in space to run into?"

She wasn't interested because she wasn't staying. Amelia marched herself to the door and then slowed down, pressing where Zylar pressed. The door silently slid open. She crept to the edge, looking out. When she didn't see anyone, she knew that was the perfect time to escape.

Her feet were hot. Nope, hot wasn't the right word. They were boiling inside her slip-ons with the rubber soles. She knelt and felt the floor. It was warm. She touched the sole of her shoe, smothering a yelp when her finger burned. Sticking the finger in her mouth, she toed her shoes off and sighed. The heat on her feet felt good. No shoes needed.

Realizing that no one had come out of the surrounding cabins, she quickly made her way to the lift and pressed the down button, thinking they had to come up when they got here. All she had to do was find the hangar the ship was parked in, sneak on board, and give it commands in English. Zylar had spoken in English and the ship responded. She'd have it take her to some tropical beach where she could live the rest of her life in a monster-free paradise. All alone, without love or her cousins. It'll be great, she told herself, daring that voice in her head to contradict her.

What floor had they been on when they stepped on the lift? She wasn't sure, so she pressed what she hoped was the lowest level. That's where any sane, reasonable person would park a cruiser, right? Of course, he threatened to spank her. Sane and reasonable didn't seem to be in his wheelhouse. She shivered with dread when she thought about his large hand coming down over one globe of her ass. That was most definitely dread and not a tingle of desire. She was not a bad girl asking for a spanking and he wasn't a daddy monster, but he could be.

She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the lift to come to a stop. When it slowed nowhere near the level she pushed, she drew herself taunt. The door opened, allowing one of those purple monsters to come in. She rushed out and ran down the hallway, hoping she wasn't being chased. She stopped when she turned the corner. Her hand went to her knees as she bent over and struggled to breathe. No one was chasing her. What next? Find another lift and get on it, then make her way to the hangar.

Amelia had this. She wanted to dance, but needed to conserve energy. She went down two more hallways and around several corners, getting helplessly lost before she found another lift. A smile tilted her lip. This was in the bag. She'd go to bed with the cool ocean breeze cradling her body and the sounds of the waves singing her a lullaby. Let's not forget the tropical nightcap which she deserved after all she'd been through, and it was the same day.

Her finger punched the button repeatedly before the door to the lift opened. Finally, she was ready to blow this popsicle stand.

***

Zylar was standing on the bridge, watching Amelia repeatedly punch the button for the lift.

"It's your right to do whatever you want that doesn't put the crew in danger," Captain Gylor said. He silently reviewed his thoughts. Zylar had the right to put them all in danger if he thought there was a reason to. He wouldn't apologize or recant his statement because Zylar wouldn't want him to, but they both knew who was in charge and it wasn't the captain.

"Release the lift," Zylar told the wildlife specialist. He was a junior officer looking over his shoulder at Zylar waiting to see what he wanted done."

"Immediately." He released the lift from the holding pattern it was in between floors.

"I don't want it to stop for anyone except Amelia." He spoke over the intercom in his native language.

He could tell the moment Amelia realized she was hearing his voice. He spoke the words ‘little bird' to describe her. It was the only English he spoke. There were no words for little birds in Diza because they didn't have any. The way she moved reminded him of one. She was flitting from place to place, afraid that a larger predator was chasing after her. She was correct and didn't realize it. He was coming for her.

She entered the lift, and he smiled. Let the games begin.

"Are the Tar-gu's in their cages?" Zylar asked.

"Yes, all seven of them are in their cages." Zylar let out a silent breath. That was the one part of the plan that worried him. Now that he was certain he had contained the only predator on the ship that could give him a run for his money, he wasn't worried about the frights Amelia would face.

"What about the infant who was born last week?" The infant was a misnomer. The babies were as tall as Amelia and twice as vicious as the parents because they didn't have the bulk of maturity to defend themselves. If it was a …

"It's a female," another crew member said.

"Don't let her out of." It was too late. The door slid open, allowing Amelia to walk into an alien jungle with a predator who loved flesh, and Zylar was sure that human flesh would be a delicacy.

The Tar-qu silently slid between Amelia and the door to the lift. "Run!" Zylar broke his word even as he ran for the lift. "I want to be down there yesterday!" He commanded as the door to the lift slid shut.

***

Amelia's eyes went wide as she looked at the jungle before her. The concrete jungle was her home, but this was amazing. If she hadn't been awake when they landed inside this ship, she'd swear she was outside in the Amazon or the Brazilian jungle. The trees were huge and shaped in ways she'd never seen. The bark was black, not brown, and the leaves were green. Most were shades of lavender, but others were multi-colored. There were small shrubs. She couldn't resist taking a couple of steps forward, despite knowing she didn't have the time to explore, as she was completely captivated by what she was seeing.

There was a small sound behind her. There was no way she should have heard anything, but she did. It felt like the grass and air were displaced at the same time. A quiet snort sounded behind her. Amelia turned slightly to see a nightmare standing between her and the lift.

There was an animal that stood a little over five feet with a triangular head, two beady orangish-red eyes, and a mouth of serrated teeth. The closest thing she could compare it to was a T-Rex. This one looked like she was on the menu.

"Run!"