“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 saylivestock?”
“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,thiscurveball 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.”
