CHAPTER1
?THE TRAFFIC JAM?
?OPAL
I slammy foot hard into the space where I assume the alien’s balls will be, at the apex of his legs. His three eyes bore into me as I do but don’t register anything that looks like pain on his bulbous head.
“That might not be the spot, but I’ll fucking find it if you don’t get that damn needle away from me!” I yell as I twist my wrist free from his purple hand.
No, it was less of a hand and more of a sticky claw. As I get myself free from the odd appendage, I bump into the woman sitting next to me. Her arms are crossed against her chest, the teal stretchy compression garments we wear covering the important bits just barely, but I doubt she’s trying to be modest. She looks like she would rather be anywhere else than next to me, the only ornery bitch here. She flips her red hair over her shoulder and sighs audibly before turning to me. Her eyes assess the situation she has tried her best to ignore until this moment.
“Is this your first time here? What’s your name?” The annoyance in her tone breaks through the saccharine affectation she tries to use. She sounds like a seasoned diner waitress impatient for me to place my order.
“My first time?” I laugh as I kick toward the alien again.
His body is covered in gray coveralls but everything left uncovered is composed of purple and blue scales that, unlike a snake’s, secrete the same sticky substance as his hands. He is short, my head nearly level with his while I sit. I scowl into his three fly-like eyes that protrude from his head. His tiny mouth frowns as he throws up his claws. A string of syllables fall from the alien’s lips, and then the same phrase is repeated again.
“Is your translator chip working?” the gorgeous redhead asks.
“Listen lady, how the fuck would I know if my translator chip was working or not?”
“Well, can you understand him?” She gestures to our purple captor. “And it's not lady, my name is Jessy.”
“Jessy, darling,” I respond with sarcasm dripping from my every word, “if my translator chip was working I wouldn’t be trying my best to kick this fucker in the balls, now would I?”
Jessy turns to the alien with the ever elusive balls and lets the same sounding syllables out of her own lips. It sounds like no language I’d ever heard before. Jessy reaches toward me, and I instinctively flinch away.
“Jesus you're jumpy, just let me turn on your chip.”
I relax, but only slightly, as her finger taps the space behind my ear three times. A painful static whizzes through my head, and I can't help but bring my hands to cover them. As I do, I feel the sharp prick of the syringe as it pierces my thigh.
“For being such a pain in my ass, you get extra.” The bloops and clips of the alien’s language are suddenly transformed into English. His accent isn't quite right, but I understand him all the same.
“Fuck you.” I flip the nasty alien the bird as he moves down the aisle.
Rows of women are lined up on what feels like a bus, a space bus. A main aisle runs down rows of hard molded plastic seats wide enough for two girls each. If not for the fact we were flying, and I couldn’t read a single sign in the place, you might assume we were in a shitty mega bus. Of course I would end up abducted by aliens and still have to take a mega bus. Fuck my luck.
I lean my head onto the window while the bus slows, as does the rest of the traffic until we come to a complete stop. We are flying through some alien city, the buildings tall enough to tower well above most of the traffic, but when I peer down, the ground is obscured by thick blue clouds…or maybe smog? Like I know jack shit about this world anyway.
Aliens of bizarre shapes and sizes crane their necks in their own ships to see what the hold up is. I swear I even hear a horn honk. I guess traffic is the same no matter the galaxy right? Well I mean, if there were four layers of traffic stacked on top of each other and cars all flew…
“Deenz don’t have balls, or really any genitals at all, you know,” Jessy says, as she settles back into her seat. “They’re hive bred, and don’t really give a dill about sex or us. That’s probably why they’re used to transport human women.”
“Where are they taking us, and what the fuck kind of shot did that asshole just give me?” I ask.
“How about we start over, shall we?” she says, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Hi, I’m Jessy, what’s your name?”
She holds out her hand to me. I take it, begrudgingly.
“Opal, my name’s Opal. The last thing I remember is driving up to the lookout to eat my sushi after my shift at the Crafty Crab.” I gesture around the strange bus. “And now I’m here, obviously not on Earth, and getting random needles shoved into my thigh by an asshole alien without genitals.” I shake her hand with a big false smile.
“So youarenew; you’ll get used to it here. Dancing isn’t so bad; you could have ended up in a brothel. At least the aliens can’t touch us.” Jessy sees my eyes widen in horror and tries to double back. “As long as you listen to the purple guys everything will be all right. We actually have pretty nice accommodations back on the station. Really, you could have done a lot worse.”
“Great, I get a bunk house to share with all the other trafficked human women. Just what a little girl dreams of.” I look into her dark green eyes and see a flash of compassion. “How long have you been here?”
“I’m not quite sure, but if I had to guess, two or three years? We don’t really keep track.”
“Oh…years…fabulous. So you’ve never tried to get away?” I ask, losing any hint of the sarcasm I first gave her. “I’m no dancer. What if I just wanted to go home?”
