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Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Compared to the sheer terror of plummeting to a near-certain death trapped in the burning remains of the destroyed space hauler, the whole alien abduction part of her ordeal thing seemed like a walk in the park.

Olivia didn’t recall the actual abduction, but then, from what the others told her after she regained her senses, none of them did. Apart from Olivia and Harper, they had been on different planets, in different solar systems for that matter, but each of the five abductee’s stories were the same. One minute they were going about their own business, the next they woke up aboard a spaceship.

Two of the others were from space-faring races, but the third, a tawny-furred woman with large almost black eyes and faint white spots on her fur running down from her neck to her legs, was not. Just like the human females in the group, these were the first aliens she’d ever seen, too. And, just as the humans had discovered, when she woke, she found she could understand them.

“What the hell? Oh, fuck me, did I get roofied?” were the first words out of Olivia’s mouth. But then, opening one’s crusted eyes to what looked an awful lot like a bunch of freaky aliens staring down at you could make one come to that conclusion.

“No roofies,” a voice said from just out of sight.

“What’s a roofie?” asked the blue woman with a pair of articulating robot arms built seamlessly into her torso just below her natural ones.

A human woman stepped forward and sized up the new arrival. She glanced over at the questioning alien. “It’s a drug. Let’s just say some unscrupulous males on our world have been known to dose the unsuspecting.”

“Barbaric!” the woman replied, shock clear on her very alien features.

Olivia pushed herself up to one elbow and shook the grogginess from her head. “Not disagreeing with you,” she said, rubbing a sore spot behind her right ear.

The human squatted beside her, resting her hand gently on Olivia’s. “Don’t mess with that just yet. It’ll take a few days to heal properly.”

“For what to heal properly?”

“They call it a translation rune. Some kind of marking they tattooed behind all of our ears that lets us understand one another.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Afraid not.”

She gently felt the tender flesh where she had been inked. It wasn’t her first tattoo, not by a long shot, but those had all been voluntary, though a couple had been acquired in less than sober conditions. Regardless, this was the first time she’d woken up with no memory of the process. And, apparently, this was an entirely new kind of tattoo.

“So, you’re not speaking English?” she asked, incredulous, but also recognizing that she was, indeed, understanding the alien’s speech as well as the human’s.

“I am, actually,” the woman replied, turning toward the three very alien women sizing up the newcomer. “But they sure aren’t. I’m Harper, by the way.”

“Olivia.”

“Nice to meet ya. I mean, as nice as it can be under the circumstances, that is.”

Olivia rubbed her eyes. The aliens still looked like aliens.

“This isn’t a dream, is it?” she grumbled as cold, hard reality set in.

“Sadly, no.”

“And they really are aliens.”

“Hey, you’re an alien too,” the blue woman countered.

The tawny-furred woman shook her head. “Be nice, Morzinga. We’re all in this together.”

“I know. I just still can’t believe you lot haven’t even left your own planets.”

“Not every race is as advanced as yours. And, despite that, you were abducted by the Raxxians, just like the rest of us.”

“Don’t remind me,” the blue woman said with a deflated sigh.

The furred woman turned to the newest human to join their number. “I am Urallia. And that’s Garggoxx over there, but she doesn’t talk much.”

The woman she referred to was deep red in color, her skin flexible but looking almost like pliant bricks. Only when she moved was its suppleness apparent. Her hair was impossibly thick, sprouting from her head all the way to her mid-shoulders, the point from which Garggoxx had tied it into a tight braid.

“Hey,” was all Olivia managed to say in greeting as shock threatened to wash over her.

Harper saw that look and stepped in, gently gripping her by the arm. “Come on, let’s get you some water and something to eat.”

“Uh—”

“Don’t think, just do it. A little blood sugar and hydration and your head will clear faster. Trust me, I speak from experience.”

“So, you’ve been here a long time?” Olivia asked as her new companion led her across the metal compartment until they stood by a section of the wall that had a faint indentation.

Harper pressed it and a hole opened in the ceiling where the metal had appeared solid. A yellowish-green baseball-sized orb of some sort of organic material dropped into her hand. She pressed the wall again, and another was promptly distributed. She handed one to Olivia, taking a bite of her own.

“Only a few days, actually,” she said as she chewed. “The others have been here longer. The Raxxians seem to take their time when they’re out gathering up livestock.”

Harper’s sniffing of the odd ball ceased at once. “I’m sorry. Did you say livestock ?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“But we were abducted, right?”

“Yes, but?—”

“And aliens do experiments on people. We all know that.”

“Well, yes and no. You see, we weren’t taken by the ones that do that sort of thing.” Harper turned to Morzinga. “Hey, what are those guys called? The ones with the spindly arms and big heads?”

“The Greejee,” the blue woman replied. “Always messing with lesser species, those ones. And dear lord, they won’t shut up about it. That’s why they’re never invited to parties. It’s all they talk about. Probes and experiments.”

Olivia stared hard, processing as best she could. “So we’re going to be probed?”

Morzinga laughed. “Oh, that’s so sweet. Listen, hon, there isn’t really a good way to break it to you, I’m afraid. We weren’t taken by the Greejee, so there’ll be no probing.”

“Then who?—”

“Raxxians,” she replied. “And they don’t care about experiments. They’re just flying from world to world gathering up food.”

“Food? You mean we’re…”

The alien’s expression softened slightly. “Yes. They are going to eat us, and there’s not a thing we can do about it.”

Olivia leaned against the wall, her legs suddenly quite rubbery.

“Sit,” Harper urged, guiding her into one of the recessed bunk nooks that were seamlessly part of the holding compartment’s structure.

She did just that, sitting down hard as the realizations all hit her at once. This was an alien ship, and she was in outer-fucking-space! But that wasn’t all. Just as she was tamping down her panic and forcing herself to, hard as it was, come to terms with the impossible situation, this curveball was unceremoniously lobbed right at her head.

“I…” she said, trailing off. Her eyes darted to the door across the compartment. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

The others had been several paces away, but all converged in a flash, gently, but firmly, holding her down before she could reach the door. It was Garggoxx, oddly enough, who spoke, her quiet voice utterly contrasting her intimidating appearance.

“Don’t do that,” she said, a sad, survivor’s look in her eyes. “You’ll get their attention.”

“Who?”

Morzinga spoke next, and in a far firmer tone. “The Raxxians. They’ve visited other compartments for playthings but have pretty much left us alone, but if you go raising a fuss, they’ll take note. And we do not want them taking note. You understand?”

“I—yes, I guess so. But you said other compartments?”

“It’s a Raxxian livestock transport ship. There are dozens of them spaced out in all directions. Each compartment is its own independent living space housing who knows how many people. We don’t know how they decide who is separated into which group, but we do know in this compartment we’ve had it good so far. Others haven’t been so lucky.”

“But surely you want to escape.”

Morzinga shrugged. “Believe me, if we could, we would. But there is no escape. We’re just a motley ship full of abductees. No one of importance so far as any of us can tell. And we’re far from home, out in the depths of space, girl. There’s nowhere to run, even if we could get out of our cell.”

“She’s right,” Urallia agreed. “No one escapes the Raxxians.”

Olivia looked at the odd ball of something that was apparently edible and took a bite, her mind racing.

Not bad , she mused, her mind latching onto the new flavor, focusing on it until her panic subsided. It wasn’t exactly home cooking, but it would do. She was very unsure and hadn’t the slightest inkling of a plan, but Olivia was never one to give up easily. No matter her unease, she had to put on a confident face. It wasn’t the first time she’d played that role. Not by a long shot. Olivia took a deep breath, then another.

“No one escapes, you say?” she replied. “We’ll see about that.”

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