Chapter 1
Gabby
CW: kidnapping/abduction
“She’s waking up.”
“Should I sedate her?”
“No, the cryotube will sedate her automatically when I shut the lid.”
There were distant voices in my bedroom. Was I being robbed? I lived alone. So who were these people and how did they get in here?
I opened my eyes and instead of seeing my BTS, Cowboy Bebop, and Mary J. Blige posters I was greeted with gray metal walls and two green alligator-looking aliens who were talking about me as if I wasn’t even here.
Panic flared in my chest as I realized not only was I not in my apartment, I wasn’t sure if I was even on Earth anymore. The room hummed as if I were in a vehicle of some kind.
“Female, human, brown skin, black hair, of reproductive age, virgin,” one alien read aloud. “There, her file is updated. Let’s move on to the next one.” The alligator man wearing a long brown tunic stated.
“Virgin? How were you able to determine that?” The alien wearing an orange vest asked.
“I didn’t. I list all female bed slaves as virgins. I get more money that way.”
“Interesting. Does anyone verify that information?”
“No. They open the lid, see a young warm female, and pay their credits.”
Was I about to be sold? Who were these creatures and how did I get here? I wiggled my body but found I was restrained at the wrists, hips, and ankles. I was in a tube-like structure that curved inward.
“Human, female, pale skin, brown hair, of reproductive age, virgin. Alright go ahead and give her the translator patch like I did with the other one.”
The alien in the orange vest did as he was told and held a thin cylinder with a sharp point to one woman’s neck. There was a light clicking sound and he pulled the tool away.
“Done.”
The two aliens continued this routine of one reading the description of their “cargo” and the other injecting a translator patch. I looked around the room as best I could, and counted ten women besides myself.
As the aliens opened the tubes, I noticed a pattern. We were all female and we were all young. Two of the females looked like teenagers. Most of the women looked to be between the ages of twenty five and thirty five. I landed in the middle of the age range at twenty eight. There was a range of body types and races as well. Everyone was wearing plain gray sweat suits. Had they stripped me of my clothes? I looked down at my feet and wiggled my toes. I had gone to bed in an oversized Dragon Ball Z t-shirt and shorts. Now I was in a matching gray lightweight shirt and pants with what felt like thick soled canvas shoes.
As the aliens worked more women woke up. It seemed as if the tubes we were in provided some kind of anesthesia when sealed which stopped working once opened. These must be the cryotubes they had mentioned.
“You’re sure this plan will work?” The orange vest alien asked.
“Yes. With the new anti-slavery laws combined with the batch of new peacekeeper recruits to enforce those laws, it’s too risky to be carrying around cargo like this. We will dump the bed slaves on an uninhabited planet and come back when everything dies down.” The alien in the tunic explained while the other alien nodded his head and continued to work.
“Ugh!” I turned to my right and saw a tan woman with short black hair who looked to be around the same age as me. She was struggling with her restraints and squirming in her tube.
“Come on!” she whisper-shouted under her breath as she continued to struggle. I noticed sweat had started to gather on her brow and her breathing had turned into short rapid breaths.
“Psst! What’s your name?” I wanted to help her take some deep breaths before the aliens noticed her making a commotion. We were already cargo. I don’t want to find out what they would do to the women they saw as loud or annoying cargo.
“My name?” She turned to me with a confused look on her face.
“Yeah, my name is Gabby. What’s yours?”
“I’m uh, Julie.”
“It’s nice to meet you Julie.” I gave her the warmest smile I could muster given the situation.
