“Isana was promised a college opportunity. We were asked to a meeting, and she had me come to translate for her. It was with the mayor of this planet,” she said. “He promised us that things would be different and asked us both to come upon seeing me. Brackysan women do not age like other females,” Hivana said.
“What did he do to you?” Kyllian asked, growing angrier upon realizing that his father had lied to these women.
“He only had me beaten when I tried to protect Isana. I was not violated like she.” Hivana looked down, revealing the bruising and dried blood that had ran across her cheek and into her hair.
“So, he promised your sister a life like she had never had and then when things seemed odd to you, he beat you?” Kyllian asked for clarification.
“Yes, he had me taken by two brutes and forced to sit while he tore the clothes from Isana’s body and sodomized her over the desk we had signed her contract on.” Tears began to well in Hivana’s eyes as she struggled to describe her sister’s ordeal. Isana kept glancing between Hivana and Kyllian, obviously terrified of what she did not understand since they were both speaking English.
“Come, I want to get you two out of here,” Kyllian stated, holding out his hand. “We are going to get you all out of here, but you must trust me,” he said. Hivana looked at him and watched as Tann let the two women out of the cage and proceeded to the next. She turned to her sister to explain in her tongue what was about to happen.
“Isana,” Hivana began, “This man is going to save us. He is here with his friends to free all of us on the ship,” she said. Isana’s eyes widened, and she looked at Kyllian speaking with a rough accent through swollen and bruised lips.
“Th-the, think e-ou.” Kyllian turned to speak to the two girls that Tann had released and encouraged Hivana to usher her sister to the side.
“Stand over here so I can access the rest of the women,” Kyllian said, “and you two. What are your names?” he asked. One of the women was taller than the other, lean, and had butt-length platinum blonde hair. She was dressed in a silky, tattered white gown that had bloodstain splotches all over it. Kyllian could tell that her ordeal had been much more violent than how Hivana and Isana had been taken.
“Godiva,” the woman muttered quietly. “My name is Godiva,” she said.
“Okay, how were you taken?” Kyllian asked. Godiva began to cry slightly and shook her head, looking away.
“They killed her; they killed my baby,” Godiva said, her eyes wrenching tightly shut as she began to bawl uncontrollably. Kyllian looked downward realizing that whatever Godiva had experienced must have been truly horrible.
“How old are you, Godiva?” he asked. She looked up at him, and the translucence of her eyes clued him into her species type.
“Much older than you would think. My daughter was your age, but no more,” she said, her eyes glowing with a white light as she dried her tears.
“And you?” he asked the girl who stepped up behind her. “What is your name?”
“Sola,” the girl replied, stepping into the light to reveal the shimmery purplish tint of her skin and raven black hair, which seemed to cover her breasts that had lacerations and dried blood all over them. “I will not tell my tale,” she said, sealing her lips as if the truth could never be understood by any man, let alone Kyllian, but Kyllian did not push the issue, instead giving a nod and pointing to Hivana and Isana.
“Stand over there with Godiva; I need you to be quiet, just for long enough to assess the other women. I promise we will get you out of here,” Kyllian said. Tann walked up to him and shook his head.
“I’ve gotten the names of everyone on this row already. This is crazy, Kyllian. The stories are so varied. Some of them were promised better lives and opportunities while others were just brutalized. There is no exact pattern to this,” Tann explained. “It’s really time for you to make a choice, Kyllian. This shit has got to end. You need to make a choice. So, what’ll it be?” Tann asked, looking directly at him. Kyllian looked back at him and without missing a beat replied with a smile, “It will always be Savanah’s side.”
