Chapter 17

Fiona

M y heart pounds in my chest as I watch Master Antroli finish getting dressed. He must have a lot of trust in me to allow me access to his communication device. Pulling myself up into as tight a ball as I can, I will my pulse to slow.

I’m still not sure how much they can hear, see, or sense, so there’s no point in allowing him to know the anxiety racing through me. Dragging in a deep breath, I count to five, hold it for five, then release it for five. After a few rounds of square breathing, I find I’m able to breathe again without terror zipping down my spine.

“Don’t worry, my sweet pet,” he reassures me, kissing me once more on top of my head. “With Nagán here, she will be well. I know it. He’s a master at his profession.”

“Before you leave…” Master Antroli pauses, his lips quirking up into a soft smile. It really would be cruel to break his trust like I’m planning. “I have no idea what time it is there. I don’t want to wake my parents.”

“Ahhh. Yes.” Walking over to the machine, he hits several buttons.

Soon, the screen fills with stars, planets, and other things I can’t identify. He flips through them so fast, I cannot see all the names, but I know they’re nowhere near the milky way. Eventually, they slow down until Earth comes into view. My heart pounds again, but for a far different reason.

Homesickness nearly swamps my senses, making me sway a touch on the bed. Or maybe it’s hunger? Who knows? It could be arousal. At this point, I can’t tell anything with my body anymore. Nothing acts as it should.

Wrapping my arms around my waist, I watch as he zooms in, turning the planet until he’s on Scotland. If the numbers are correct, it’s noon there. The day after Christmas. I missed Christmas.

Was it just a few hours ago I was celebrating with my coworkers? It feels like weeks have gone by. But no. It’s been a day. One day on Earth. Thankfully, I called my family before all this. I would have been devastated to know I missed seeing them on Christmas.

“Does this work for you?” His deep voice startles me out of my thoughts, drawing my eyes to him.

“I don’t normally call her this often, but she would want to know sooner rather than later.”

“I understand.” Again, he clicks on some keys and the world disappears, leaving just Scotland up on the screen. “Now, we’ll know what time it is with just a simple glance. Everything else should be set up for you.”

“Thank you. I certainly know my way around social media. I should be fine. Please go. You’re needed there more than here.”

“You truly are one-of-a-kind, my pet.”

I give him a weak smile, allowing him to continue to think it’s worry for Jessica that has my stomach in knots. Granted, it’s part of the panic threatening to eat away at me, but it’s far more than that.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. You’ll need to be milked before dinner.”

Heat tinges my face as he slips out into the house, leaving me alone with my devious thoughts. Craning my neck, I stare at the door for several moments before sliding off the bed to put on the clothes he left out for me. Who knows how much time I truly have?

Grabbing the beige shirt, I pull it over my head, covering my body for the first time since I’ve been abducted. Already it feels odd, as if I should be naked. The desire to rip the soft fabric from my body eats at me, but it’s insanity. I shouldn’t want this.

I stand up straight, a soft sigh flitting through my lips as I tug on the material. Not quite enough to cover my ass. Thankfully, my mum won’t be seeing the lower half of me. Pulling my hair to the side, I put it into a quick braid, giving the appearance of someone merely lounging about.

As much as I want to snoop around the system, I must contact my mother first. I can’t chance missing out or having to answer to him as to why it didn’t happen. This would all be so much easier with coffee.

In all the excitement and eroticism between us, I completely forgot. I certainly won’t do that again. Tucking a few stray strands behind my ears, I run my finger across the screen, similar to what he did. Soon, another screen pops up, eerily similar to a search engine on Earth.

Unfortunately, the keys are all in a language I don’t understand. How am I supposed to type when they aren’t in the Roman Alphabet? Hell, I’d even settle for Gaelic letters. Something I’d recognize.

Dragging in a deep breath, I press my finger against the search bar and let it out when a normal alphanumeric keyboard pops up on the screen. With a sigh of relief, I type in what I’m looking for.

It takes only a matter of minutes before I’m looking at my mother’s soft, kind face on the screen. Tears threaten to dot my eyes as she squints down, pressing all sorts of things. She always was technologically challenged. How I became a hacker, I’ll never know.

For several minutes, we exchange pleasantries. Normal conversation about the holidays and what we did. As usual, she brings up the fucking McMurry twins. Apparently, some of their cows were naughty and fucked around at the wrong time.

Christmas calves. A bloody miracle. Meanwhile, the thick, metal tail wedged up my arse continues to remind me that I too am a Christmas cow. But this wasn’t my choice. Squeezing my thighs together, I glance behind me, looking at the door. Still nothing.

With a deep breath, I relay to my mother everything Master Antroli demanded I tell her. Granted, I put it in my own words. But the message is still the same. The sweet, guileless woman never questions it. And why would she?

I haven’t lied to her since I was a wee babe. It pains me to do so now. Unfortunately, the alternative is far worse. I can’t take a chance on anything happening to my family because I’m feeling nostalgic.

Besides, with the nature of my job, it’s not like I’ve been able to really tell her anything. I just omitted what she didn’t need to know. In my mind, that was far kinder than outright telling a falsehood.

Before I end the call, I run my fingers over the screen, committing my mother’s face to memory. Not that I need to. It just feels like the correct, sentimental thing to do. However, instead of simply hanging up, it records her face and puts it on the screen.

Will Master Antroli be upset to find my mother on his screen like this? Even though I know he might not let me keep it there, it does make my heart happy knowing I have her likeness until he removes it. Giving her a soft smile, I say my goodbyes and wait for her to end the call.

A weary sigh flits through my lips as I undo the braid, allowing the hair to spill out over me again. For some reason, it feels freeing, feral even, to have my wild mane untamed and unruly. It will at least be one less thing to cause me tension.

Glancing over my shoulder, I again look at the door. Still no movement. With a deep breath, I pull up the search bar again. This time, instead of typing on the screen, I hit the keys on the keyboard. Instead of Icorian letters, alphanumeric characters pop up.

The layout is completely different to what I’m used to, but each key seems to correspond to a letter in my alphabet. Giddiness surges through me as I puzzle it out, desperate to know their language. With knowledge comes power.

At this point, I don’t plan on using it against Master Antroli, but I will never pass up a chance to get the upper hand. Searching the room, I pull out drawers and look in cubby holes, desperate to find some sort of writing utensil. Shoved all the way in the back is something similar to pen and paper.

Deus ex machina indeed. Hazarding another glance at the door, I do a rough sketch of the keyboard. One by one, I hit a key and write the corresponding roman alphabet character onto the space on the paper. Soon, all are done leaving me with keys that seem to have no direct translation.

Thankfully, all the letters I’m used to are accounted for. With this, I might be able to teach myself the basics. Or at least enough to know the scribbles around me. Taking two fingers, I do my best to imitate the movement he did to get me to the human screen.

No such luck. Everything goes blank, making my heart stutter in fear. Did I somehow break it? Will he punish me for this? Biting my lower lip, I hit the keys in a sequence that would spell out mainframe if it were in English.

Soon, the entire screen illuminates, sending random bursts of light across. It looks similar to data going across wires, only it’s far faster. Once it settles down, words appear on the screen.

Of course, they’re in Icorian. Doing my best, I take the characters and translate them to the corresponding letters I know. Still, the words don’t make sense. As I say them out loud, however, my translator turns it into a word I understand.

Financials. Interesting. Not that I really care what they make, seeing as their money won’t make sense with what I know and use. But at least now I have a backdoor way to know what I’m seeing and reading.

Unfortunately, the more my curiosity burns, the more I’m aware of the time passing. Heavy footsteps tread closer, sending my heartbeat into a rapid staccato. Sliding my fingers across, I manage to get it back to the black screen of doom.

Just as I toss the paper under the bed, the door opens. Master Antroli strides in, his brows drawn together, his expression stormy. Fuck. Does he know? Rising, I make my way over, dropping to my hands and knees.

“I’m sorry,” I babble. “I don’t know what happened. I tried to end the call by swiping, and things just went black. I hope I didn’t break it. I’ll try to make it up to you somehow.” The lie feels oily dripping from my lips, but I need a way to explain the rapid heartbeat.

I need something plausible that won’t cause me to get into further trouble or have him cut my time with my family. Accidentally breaking a piece of alien technology is a perfect cover. That and it keeps him in the dark about my expertise on Earth.

Based on what he’s said, it seems as if they don’t do any research on us before stealing us away. If they did, he’d know about my family. He’d know I wasn’t a great candidate for their cow program. Deep in my soul, I pray I’m right. I pray I didn’t just fuck up everything by being nosy.

“Come here, Fiona.” His words wash over me, sending tendrils of both pleasure and anxiety through me. “You need not hide away from me. I doubt a sweet little cow like you could break anything made here on Icora.”

For once, the innate sense of misogyny that seems to run through these aliens will work in my favor. All I have to do is pretend to be that sweet, innocent, dumb woman he thinks I am, and I’ll get away with almost anything! My stomach clenches at that thought.

I detest being something I’m not. More than that, I hate lying. It’s a guilt that eats at me with every inch I crawl toward him. Granted, with the way the tail lies heavy in my ass and the machine whirls to life every so often, stretching me in the most deliciously agonizing way, I’m sure I can consider this penance.

Besides, there’s nothing saying I can’t throw in a few Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s while he delivers the pain I know will be coming. I crawl into his lap, allowing the heat of his body to envelop me. He feels so good wrapped around me, as if sheltering me from everything and everyone.

“How is Jessica?”

Master Antroli rests his chin against the top of my head. “She seems to be fine now. She just needs far more protein than the rest of you. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about her. Now then.” He shifts me in his arms. “Let’s see how the meeting went with your mother.”

This time, when he makes the pattern across the screen, I watch him, studying him behind slitted lids. Maybe if he thinks I’m drifting to sleep or not really paying attention, he’ll let his guard down. Once the main screen is up, I burrow into his arms while he watches the interaction.

Only one thing remains unclear. Will he also have a record of everything else I did? I hold my breath, watching as the transmission ends. I stare at the screen, waiting to see if my antics show back up, but nothing ever does. It seems as if I’m safe for now.

“Now then,” he grumbles, his voice vibrating against me. “Exactly who are the McMurry twins and what are they to you?”