“What do you want with me?” she asked, her voice sounding panicked.“Why—why…”
She trailed off, too many questions swarming in her mind, making it difficult to form a coherent sentence, not that he understood her anyway.Why was she here?Why did he take her?Did he expect her to have sex with him?
Not gonna happen, she thought, determined, eyeing the alien.
His features were just as strange as she remembered, slightly human and yet…not.Something about him screamedpredator.And she was his prey.
He seemed even more massive in the room.His broadness sucked out all the space.Kate’s eyes caught on his dark horns, which seemed to be straighter than she previously remembered, and then trailed down to his pierced nipples, and the strange scars marring his skin.
His eyes were unlike human eyes.He had black pupils, but the rest was all iris, no whites whatsoever.His irises were like his skin.They reflected light.Right now, they shone silver and she’d be lying if she said it wasn’t eerie as hell.
His pupils moved down to her still naked body and with a gasp, Kate yanked the fur covering off the bed and used it to shield her own nudity.She glared, even though her hands shook.When she tried to tell him off, her tongue glued itself to the roof of her mouth.
The alien studied her, his surprisingly full lips still pulled down into a frown.
Then he spoke, his deep, guttural voice washing over her like a wave.Kate understood nothing.He kept repeating a word—frixavir?—and gesturing towards the bed.He wanted her to lay down?Over her dead body.She wouldnotbecome his whore.
“I—I don’t know what you’re saying!But I’m not having sex with you!” Kate finally cried out, frustrated, tired, and scared.Her entire world had just completely flipped itself on its head.Everything she knew didn’t make sense anymore.She was on the verge of tears as she wondered what she was going to do.
When a tear dripped down her face, his speech halted abruptly and his huge form strode forward.Her first reaction was to cower away from him, but she stood her ground, holding her breath.
The alien’s touch jolted her.His fingertips were cool, as was his skin, and they were gentle as he traced the path of her tear before dashing it away.He inspected the liquid on his fingertip and she wondered if he could cry, if he thought that it was as alien to him as he was to her.
Seeking her eyes once more, he stepped closer, breaking into her personal space like a wrecking ball.He pressed her into the wall of the room, his bloodied chest flush against the furs she clutched around her body, but his unexpected presence wasn’t meant to intimidate.At least she thought so.The expression on his face could mean anything—what did she know about an alien’s body language?—but she felt her limbs relax, just slightly.She blew out the breath she’d been holding.
“Luxiva…ta rix l’an.”
The unknown words sounded lyrical to her ears.She didn’t know why, but she felt comforted by them, as if some part of her knew exactly what he was trying to say.Or maybe she was just grasping at straws, her mind finally submitting to exhaustion.
His hand smoothed through her hair, rubbing the strands between his fingertips.Kate’s scalp tingled, her eyes fluttering shut for a brief moment.
His head cocked to the side.His chest rumbled and then he said, “Krav.”He backed away, holding his hands out like he didn’t want her to move.He gestured to the bed again and then he was by the door.It whooshed open, his eyes glowing.“Krav luxiva.”
He turned from her…and then he was gone.
She stared at the spot that he’d just occupied, at the closed steel-like door of the room, and she wondered if she was a prisoner there.With tentative steps, she approached it.There was a keypad above her head and she reached out, pressing her fingers against the strange buttons and symbols.There was a jolt and she pulled her hand back, hissing in surprise.The keypad made a harsh noise and then it was quiet once more.The door didn’t open.
She tried another button, only to have the same results.Then another.Then another.After she tried them all, her stomach dropped with dread.
Kate spun back to the room, looking for another door.There was one on the far side of the left wall.That one actually opened when she touched her hand to it, but it revealed a bathroom of sorts, complete with something that looked like a toilet straight from Japan and a cylindrical stall that she guessed was a shower.Turning back to the room, she discovered a small window next to the bed of furs and she rushed over to it.
Her heart skipped a beat in her chest.
“Oh man,” Kate whispered, eyes wide, as she gazed out into open space, a sight she’d once known with one hundred percent certainty that she’d never see in her lifetime.The ship was moving now, humming, practically silent, but when she placed a palm on the cool metal of the walls, she felt a subtle vibration.The stars were bright against the dark backdrop and her hand shook when she reached out to touch the glass.
Kate sunk down onto the bed, sitting gingerly on its edge, clutching the furs to her bare breast, as she looked out the window.She wanted to cry, she realized.But it wouldn’t solve her problems; it never had.She had to think about this logically and in order to do that, she needed a plan.She always had a plan.They helped center her, focus her.
Kate made a list in her head.She needed to find out who these aliens were, why the silver/golden alien with the strange eyes and beautiful skin had taken her, what he planned to do with her, and most importantly, how she was going to get back to Earth.She needed to find out where they were going, to figure outhowto communicate with them—since they obviously didn’t speak English—and whether she could convince them to take her home.
A simple plan formed in her mind: she would try to communicate with her alien—and try not to freak out in the process—and then she would figure out her purpose.Baby steps.Once she accomplished those two things, she’d reevaluate her position.Simple.
Yeah, right, she thought.The spaceship veered and the planet she’d just been taken off of came into view.It was a red planet, unlike anything she’d ever seen before.
Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore…
* * *
Vaxa’an’s headed to the command center.His warriors inclined their heads respectfully as he passed but then continued their duties.He felt the spaceship start to rev up and then came a smooth jolt, signaling that they’d disconnected from the power bay.Soon, they were in open space and off the planet surface of the Pit.He passed a large window looking out into the darkness of the galaxy they were in.He longed for his home planet, and he thanked the Fates that it would only take three spans to reach.Patience.He’d always had patience.
