Excerpt Continued…

Natacha waved them over to sit with her again. Lauren was a little mesmerized by the alien woman. She was so serene. She had a large head, bigger at the top than at the bottom, with large brown eyes. She didn’t have a hair on her head. Not even eyebrows. Her body was covered from her neck to the floor in a robe dress and it looked like she never took it off. She was calm and seemed wise.

Kaitlyn looked around a bit and Natacha told her quietly. “Small things hide well in the back corner where the wall meets the cave.” She shifted so Kait could sit beside her, and by leaning back, have access to the corner.

It only took her cousin a second to slide the knife she’d taken from the medical unit, into the space.

There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation with putting their trust in Natacha. At this point, there just wasn’t a choice.

Lauren sat down in front of the two, hoping to block some of the guard's view. “Thank you, Natacha. I might have done a couple of trills with my voice or screeched a little to scare the guards. You kept me from doing something stupid and getting my vocal cords cut. Where are the other girls? We didn’t see them on the way back from the medical unit.”

Natacha shook her head sadly. “The medical test you had was done to check if you can get pregnant and are healthy enough to have many children. The positive results will keep you from the other guards. It means your worth as a breeder is high. Because of this, the guards and others cannot mess with you. But Tallie and Nancy were not as lucky.”

The other women, humans and aliens, moved to sit closer.

“I was born into this. I have never known freedom, yet I know the thirst for that elusive feeling. I have had good owners and bad. I will tell you now—today, this moment, this is not a battle you can win. Not now. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t search for some way to change things. Just that nothing you do now will make a difference. We will care for them when they return. It is all we can do.”

“Can I ask a question?” one of the human women asked.

Natacha nodded.

“My name is Tawnya. What did you say about the other girls? Do you know why we are here?” She pushed her straight black hair out of her eyes and leaned forward.

Lauren figured Tawnya was maybe twenty-five years old. She had a Midwest accent and Asian ancestors. Her dark, almond-shaped eyes were open wide as she waited for answers.

“If you haven’t heard me say it before, my name is Natacha. I have been a slave for a long time. I don’t even know the planet I came from or my species because none of my owners have bothered to tell me. If they even knew. I have not met anyone who looks like me. I was gifted with a translator by my last owner. That owner died and his son sold me to the Siloth. I will tell you all I have been able to learn.”

They all nodded at Natacha to continue. Except one of the alien women. She was near, but Lauren didn’t think she understood anything.

“The Siloth are the aliens who control this ship. They have a contract with a man on a far planet for breeders. Women of all sizes and shapes. Of all worlds, if they can be bred for children. Every time someone is brought on board, they are taken to the Siloth medic. He does a test to see if you can get pregnant. If you can, your worth to them is high. The guards won’t touch those of us who are fertile. They won’t use us for sex because they would run the risk of getting us pregnant. Which would make us useless for their contract.”

Tawnya hugged herself and rocked back and forth. “So, the alien with the pretty pink hair, and Nancy? What happened to them?”

Natacha sighed. “I believe that neither of them passed the test indicating that they could get pregnant. In the days before Lauren and Kaitlyn came on this ship, they were taken a few times to the medic. I believe he was confirming their lack of fertility.”

“Oh, dear lord!” said the red-haired human woman.

She looked older than Lauren, maybe late twenties. With bright green eyes, pale skin, and a short, kind of chubby body. She looked like she was solid though. Strong.

She gusted out air on a sad sigh. “Hi, my name is Donna. I am from Minneapolis. And I hate red, furry aliens.” It was said in a parody of someone having to introduce themselves at an AA meeting. Then she glanced quickly at the female red, furry alien sitting in their midst.

That female shook her head and smiled. “I too, hate these red, furry aliens. I am one-half Siloth and one-half something I don’t know. The fur is not on every part of me. I want to confess that I was asked to listen to your words and tell them to the guard. But I am not going to do it!” she stated adamantly.

Their red alien had the four arms. But Lauren noticed there really wasn’t much fur. Her head was rounder, not the oblong of the Siloth guards. She had light brown eyes, not the black eyes she’d noticed on the guards.

“Can you tell us your name?” Lauren asked.

The red alien sighed sadly. “I can. But no one ever can say it. It is Sisalitapertine.”

They all looked at her blankly. Lauren recovered first. “Would you mind if we called you Sissy? That is a name that means sister. It is a term of endearment. A nickname. Like I sometimes call Kaitlyn, Kait or Kit Kat.”

Kaitlyn popped off, “Or I call Lauren, Little bit. She is the youngest. I’m three months older than she is.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “We are cousins but have been raised like sisters.”

Sissy reached out her hand to Lauren, palm up. “I have never been a part of anything before. I have been hurt, pushed away, locked in a dark room. But I have never had a sister or a friend. I would be one of those to all of you. I would be honored to be your Sissy.”

Lauren took her hand and they grinned at each other.

Before they could meet the other women, the cage door opened and Nancy and Tallie were pushed in. Both fell on the floor in a heap.

Natacha cautioned softly, “Let them leave first.”

It was difficult to do. Wait for the bragging, boasting, fuck head aliens to taunt the women and go. Lauren paid a lot of attention to them. She figured if she picked out a few features, like the patch of dark red on the shoulder of one of the Siloth men, and the funky short tuft of fur over the left eyebrow of the other, she would know them when she saw them again.

Finally, they left, and all the women worked together to carefully move the two away from the door and to the back of the cage. Before they got very far, Nancy started gaging and dove for the center drain. Tallie crawled to it and both women threw up. Lauren noticed they were bruised and a little battered.

Several of the women, in all shapes and sizes, reached out and took the hand of the one next to them. They were horrified. And the burning hatred in one heart reverberated in the next, binding them all together. Lauren whispered, “Somehow.” and it was echoed by all who understood her.

They helped Tallie and Nancy clean up by using one of the tubes of water someone had saved. Then they were settled at the back of the cave with a wall of women in front of them, blocking them from the door. They quickly fell asleep.

In whispers, the rest introduced themselves. There were four alien women. Natacha who told them to call her Nat, Tallie, Sissy, and one other, who didn’t have a translator.

Nat spoke a different language to the last alien woman and then turned to give them all the information. “This is Clikastav. She said to call her Ceely, which is what her family calls her.”

Lauren frowned. She had noticed this girl. She seemed to be shy and emotional, hiding in a nest of blankets away from everyone. And Lauren used the word nest on purpose. Ceely was tall with long, thin limbs. She would say like a stork. And her body was covered with what looked like white fur. Now that she was closer to the girl, she realized it was more like down feathers. Lauren didn’t see any wings. But it raised issues.

“Nat, will you ask Ceely how old she is?” Lauren wondered.

The older alien’s gasp told Lauren her assumption might be right. Nat looked over at her and said, “She is five of her years. She isn’t a baby, but she isn’t mature. She was stolen from her mother’s nest.”

Kaitlyn looked up. “She’s a child. Maybe an adolescent. What the hell do the Siloth want with her? Surely she isn’t close to breeding age.”

After a few more minutes of talking to Ceely, Nat shook her head. “She doesn’t know. She doesn’t understand when they talk to her and I really think she is too young to figure much out. You guys finish talking. I’m going to tell Ceely our names and some things about us and see if I can learn more from her.”

Kaitlyn turned to one of the human women sitting near her. “Would you like to introduce yourself?”

The girl with the short brown with blonde highlights bob nodded. She twisted her hands together and sputtered, “I am Ashton or Ash. I’m twenty-one years old and from Houston. I am supposed to get married next week.” And she threw herself towards Kaitlyn and started bawling when Kaitlyn wrapped her arms around her.

Lauren groaned, as did all the humans, along with Nat and Sissy.

Sissy leaned into Lauren and whispered, “Is married like a mate?”

Lauren nodded and Sissy groaned again.

Lauren looked at the twins. They were identical. Both of them had short and curly brown hair, freckles, and dark green eyes. She smiled at them. “Go ahead. If I were Ash, I’d be crying for a long time.”

One of them leaned in and said, “I’m Randi and this is my sister Rachael. We are twenty-two and from outside of Dallas.”

Lauren spoke up, “Kaitlyn and I are cousins. If you didn’t hear, my name is Lauren. We are twenty-two, or I will be in a few months. The Siloth didn’t go skipping all over the world to get us since we are all from the United States. I guess that makes sense. Our older cousin Makayla, who used to be in the army, knows what happened to Kaitlyn and I. Does anyone know what happened to you?” She looked around and was disappointed when everyone shook their head no.

“Okay. We can’t count on being rescued. I believe we need to start thinking about what we can do to help ourselves. Let’s go around to each of us and say a few things about our strengths. I’ll go first so you see what I mean. I have a black belt in karate and am a psychology major. I can shoot a gun, hunt, and live off the land.”

Nat snorted. “And you have a voice that injures the Siloth. Let us not forget that. I know many languages, I am able to sometimes force calm into someone who is upset, and once in a while, I see things happen in my mind before they happen in the world around me. Oh, I also have very good hearing.”

Lauren nodded. “Perfect. Who’s next?”

Rachael raised her hand. “Randi and I are geeks. We are on a genius level when it comes to technology.” She looked up at the ship’s ceiling and all the circuit boards and wires. “Well, human technology. We are a little clumsy and aren’t into sports or physical activity. But we have had a gazillion acting classes. So, I think that should be a strength.”

Randi cut in and motioned to Lauren, “You were doing Karate katas. Slow enough I could follow them. Maybe. I want to do that, so I keep my body moving and maybe learn something about fighting. I think every bit will help.”

“Sure, that is great. We can do that any morning we aren’t being showered. Next?” Lauren asked.

Ashton sniffled and sat up. “I am a country girl. I hunt and can live off the land too. I can shoot any gun, drive any farm equipment, and am a hell of a cook.”

Her voice got stronger as she spoke, making them all smile.

A voice came from behind them. “I’m Nancy. I’m thirty-two from just north of the Texas border. I haven’t been a country girl for a number of years, but I imagine it will come back to me. Find me a gun, I’ll shoot it. I used to be a marksman and trained to shoot in the Olympics.”

“Hi, Nancy. Thanks so much for sharing with us. Kaitlyn?”

“I have won every beauty pageant I’ve been in or came second to Lauren. My talent was throwing axes and knives. At Lauren.” She grinned. “I can shoot, ride horses, drive tractor, and track.” She scrunched her face and thought for a moment.

Lauren offered, “You also have a piercing whistle. We used to have contests, who could break the most glass. My high C or your shrill whistle blast. I bet the whistle would hurt the Siloth as much as my voice did.”

Kaitlyn agreed. “Truth. Donna, how about you?” she asked the redhead.

Donna sighed. “I have a photographic memory. I read very fast and have almost perfect recall of what I flip through and scan. You find me a manual to this boat, and I can tell you how to drive it.”

They all looked at her in astonishment and she grinned.

Tallie spoke up from behind Nat where she had burrowed. “I am Tallie. My parents are ambassadors for our planet and traveled a great deal. I know about many planets weapons and ships. I can fly this one, I’m just not sure I can land it.”

Lauren grinned. The young alien with the pink hair and tail, with long pale limbs and pale gray eyes that were set close together in a thin face, who reached out to take Lauren’s hand with long, thin fingers—might be their salvation. Along with the redheaded human with a photographic memory.