“It’s damaged,” she realized.
“Broken,” he said, a deep sadness in his voice. “And thus, so am I until it is repaired. But the Raxxians were not about to allow that. In fact, they are the ones who caused the damage.”
He struck the flint harder, frustration guiding his hands. A spark caught in the kindling, flaring bright fire. Maureen could have sworn she saw a little flash come from his hands as it did.
Bodok chuckled sadly and shook his head. “You wish to help? Cook these. I need to do a quick reconnaissance. When I was gathering wood it seemed there were signs of others on this world. I will ensure we are secure, at least for now.”
“You won’t be long though, right?”
“I will return shortly,” he said, resting his hand on her arm. “Look after the others, and make sure they eat. They will need their strength.”
“And you?”
“I will be back as soon as possible.”
Seeing as they had just crash landed on an alien world, she really hoped he would be. Maureen took a deep breath, then another, marveling at just exactly how she had wound up here in the first place.
CHAPTERTWO
It had started months ago. And it had not been fun.
“Maureen, you don’t have to—” the redheaded woman leaning against the wall said.
“No, I’ve got it, Angela,” Maureen replied, turning her attention back to the newcomer in their midst.
The small band of captives who had wound up confined together aboard the alien ship watched with concern as their compatriot took it upon herself to deal with the most recent arrival, brought in by their captors and dumped while still unconscious. He was human. A deeply tanned fellow, and a fairly stocky one at that.
And he was unconscious no more.
“Just suck it up, man,” Maureen grumbled to the obnoxious new addition to the group.
He’d just roused from his lengthy post-abduction slumber, and given his shocking circumstances, he wasnotamused.
“And please, keep it down. We’ve all been through it, and believe me when I tell you, you donotwant to raise a fuss.”
Maureen had been one of the earlier ones taken among this group, and had grown rather familiar with the ins and outs of the Raxxian ship as well as their brutal captors. A wise person would have gladly accepted the knowledge she was offering up from first-hand experience.
Grogginess aside, this man, however, wasnotwise.
“Bullshit!” he said gruffly, puffing up his chest with poorly aimed bravado. “They may have blindsided me when I was drunk, but that’s a chicken shit move. Bastards were too scared to face me like a man. Well, I’m stone cold sober now, and let me tell you, no little green aliens are gonna keep me locked up in here.”
The others shared a look. There were roughly a dozen of them in the compartment now, though that number had been both higher and lower over the preceding weeks. Nearly all were human, but a few different alien races had been sequestered with them as well in that time.
“Listen,” Maureen said, “I know you just woke up, and this is allreallyconfusing and not at all what you were expecting, but these areRaxxianswe’re talking about here. And they arenotlittle green men.”
“Fine. Littlegraymen. Hell, they could be pink for all I care.”
“Well, Raxxiansaregreen, but they’ve got scales, and—”
“Lady, I don’t give a fuckwhatcolor they are. Look at you all, cowering like a bunch of pussies. There are a bunch of you in here. What are you waiting for? We can take them.”
Across the chamber a deep voice spoke from the dark recesses of one of the bunks set into the smooth, curved wall. “That would be unwise.”
“Oh, and why’s that?”
A large alien leaned forward into the light. He was humanoid in form, but taller and broader, with golden tan skin and traces of some sort of tattoos peeking from under his clothing. He also had disconcertingly bright violet eyes rimmed in gold. His demeanor was all business as he fixed his gaze on the newcomer.
“Because the Raxxians are brutal, and they are strong. And they will have no qualms with ending your existence, nor will they have any difficulty achieving that goal.”
