ALIEN ABDUCTION (Captured by Aliens) (12 page)

Ebony
crossed her arms over her chest and gave Fallon a look.  “All right, then.  Tell
me about this ore of yours and about the mining--since I’m so nosy.”

“You
merely prove my point, but I will indulge you--now that your belly is full and
you are not so likely to be irritable.”  He took a deep breath, and looked up
at the lights on the corridor ceiling. 

“Well,
now.  The ore--chalcedonite--is used in the construction of spaceships.  It is
able to withstand the harshest of temperatures, from the deep cold of space to
reflecting the heat of the sun.  Many would die to control the mining of it,
for with this ore comes great power and wealth.”

“Yeah, I
got that.  Is that why we’re down here in this old mine?”

Fallon
went striding out ahead of her and moved to the wall.  As his long legs
stretched out to cover the distance, Ebony admired the muscles beneath the
tight material covering them and then wondered if she was developing a wild
case of Stockholm syndrome.

He
pressed a panel set into the stone, and then more lights appeared in the
ceiling farther down the corridor.  “It is part of the reason,” he said,
walking back to her.  “It was thought that all the veins of chalcedonite in
this mine had been removed--but when we took shelter here after the rebellion,
we discovered something the king’s miners had missed.”

“I’d like
to see it.”

He looked
at her suspiciously.  “This isn’t a ploy to get away again, is it?”

Ebony
rolled her eyes.  “Oh, no.  I’m done with trying to control my own fate.  I’m
perfectly happy letting men decide what to do with me.”

Fallon
smiled.  “Come with me.  I will show you what my people are willing to die to
protect.”

Ebony was
surprised when Fallon took her arm and placed it in the crook of his own.  The
warmth of his body, so close, felt good in the cool air of the underground. 

It was
almost as good as wearing real clothes and shoes again.

He said
nothing as he led her through the hallway, taking both of them deeper into the
mine.  The hallway narrowed and the tracks along the floor and the lighting
along the walls eventually petered out.  Ebony hesitated, but Fallon took a
palm light out of his pocket and shone it on the path ahead of them to light
the way.

The
smooth man-made corridor grew into the rougher-hewn path of nature.  Rock
outcroppings littered the way, but, for the most part, the outcroppings had
been smashed and removed to the edges to make room for carts.  She could see
the tracks of the carts in the dust on the floor along with the footprints of
booted feet.

Just when
she began to wonder if he was simply taking her deep in the mountain to do away
with her in some abandoned pit, they reached a rocky shoreline.  Black water
lapped at the edge, barely moving with a gentle breeze.

Tied up
along the shallow shore were several small boats.  Fallon selected one and
gestured for her to get inside.  Ebony looked at him and then at the water.

“I don’t
like the look of this,” she said.  The water looked as thick and black as ink. 
If she fell in, with no light of her own, she could drown.  She had no way of
knowing how deep the water was, but it looked like it went on for forever.

The
subterranean lake gave her the willies.  Ebony shivered.

“I will
let no harm come to you.  I give my word,” he said, putting the hand that held
the light over his heart and offering her the other.

She
nodded, swallowing audibly before allowing him to take her hand and help her
into the boat. 
At least I don’t have those stupid flimsy skirts to trip
over anymore,
she thought.  Fallon gave her the palm light and untied the
boat before quickly jumping inside as it floated away from the shore. 

“Just
point it that way,” he said.  “Guide me.”

Ebony
nodded again and pointed the light in the opposite direction from where they
had come.  Fallon took up the oars and began rowing, and the boat sliced
quickly through the water.

Something
bumped the underside of the boat.  Ebony nearly jumped out of her skin.  Shining
the light on the water around them, she caught flashes of sickly white-fleshed
fish, or eels, or snakes, swimming under the surface--drawn to the light she
was holding.

Ebony
couldn’t help the startled shriek that erupted from her mouth.

“It’s
just fish,” Fallon said with a little laugh.

She
shuddered.  “I’m not normally so girly, but that shit’s freaky!  You could have
warned me.”

Fallon’s
shoulders and arms bunched as he propelled them across the lake.  “Honestly, I
haven’t thought about them in quite a while.  They are one of our food sources
down here.”

Ebony
sneered, flaring her nostrils.  “I hope they taste like catfish….”

“They are
quite good.  You just finished eating a big helping of them in your soup this
evening.”

“Oh...”
Ebony gulped and nearly hung her head over the side of the boat, but then sat
up again, determined not to show any weakness in front of Fallon.  “I see why
King Kore’s miners didn’t go any further,” she said.  “I wouldn’t either, if I
was in charge.”

“The
water was a deterrent to them.  They couldn’t find an end to the lake, but they
didn’t know where to look.  We have had ample time to explore the caverns.”

As he
spoke, he began to slow his rowing and then stopped completely, coasting the
remainder of their journey.  Ebony shined the light around and saw that there
was no gentle slope on this side, but only a high rock wall.  Above, she could
see an opening, and wondered how the hell they’d ever managed to see it to
begin with.

Fallon
caught hold of the rock wall as the boat drifted past it, and she saw that
there were metal rungs drilled into the solid stone that could be used to tie
off the boat and--she almost groaned out loud--climb up the wall.  He held the
boat steady as she started up the ladder with shaky arms and legs.  Seeing the
black water beneath the boat continued to terrify her, especially since she
knew now what sort of things that lived in it.

He hadn’t
exactly comforted her about it.

Fallon
climbed up behind her.  “Do not fear.  I’ll catch you if you fall.”

“Thanks
for the confidence,” she said wryly.

“You’re a
testy little thing, aren’t you?  Prickly as a baby Zhala.”

She
looked down at him and caught him eyeballing her backside.  He looked back at
her with an almost guilty expression.  “Ha!  Caught you staring,” she said, and
then dragged herself up over the ledge.  She lay on the ground for a moment
while Fallon joined her up top.

“Are you
going to get up, or just lie there?”

She
breathed heavily.  “I’m just trying to regain my nerve.  I think I left it back
there on the boat.”

He
laughed, grabbing her hand and hauling her to her feet.  “Lies spill from your
mouth.  I would never believe you afraid of anything.  You have the spirit to
match any of our women.”

“Well,
you’d be wrong.  I’m a total coward.  Scared of my own shadow.”

He
snorted and led her through the toothy mouth of the cavern opening. 

CHAPTER TWELVE

Once
inside, Fallon set the palm light down and hit a switch on a haphazard lighting
fixture they’d set up in the opening.  Light flooded the area, revealing the
mining operation.

Glad to
have the darkness banished, Ebony saw long tables set up along one wall and
sloping down to an awaiting basin.

“Over
here are our rock crushers,” Fallon said, pointing.  “The ore has to be smashed
out.  We put the rock here in this washer.  The hose leads to the water back there,
and is pumped up here to separate the two.  See?”

“Oh.  I
hadn’t noticed that before,” she said, following the line of hose up and down
the area.

Fallon
walked forward.  “Operations are done for the day, but there is a little left
here in the basin.  Come here.  Touch it.”

He looked
at her expectantly.  Ebony walked to where he was standing and watched as he
dipped his own hand into the water of the basin.  When he brought his palm up
from beneath the water’s surface, a molten, silvery substance coated his palm
in beadlike droplets.

It
reminded her forcibly of mercury.  She was reluctant to touch it.  “Does it
absorb into the skin?”

He shook
his head.  “It does not.  It is not liquid, but very lightweight.  We crush the
rock, the rock sinks to the bottom, and this--chalcedonite--floats to the top.”

Ebony
touched her finger to it, surprised to find it was indeed solid and felt
somewhat like putty.  “Weird,” she said.  “This kind of reminds me of gold
mining back on my planet, except the gold is heavier than the rock.  Gold’s
super precious and expensive there, in case you didn’t know.”

“I’ve
studied your planet,” he said simply.  “We have gold here as well.  But this is
what will buy
our
freedom.”

“Then why
do you need a bunch of women from a harem?” she asked him.

He wagged
his finger at her.  “All will be explained in good time.  This is enough for
today.” He washed off his hand until all the silvery droplets were gone, and
then motioned to her to follow him back to the ledge. 

Fallon
started down the ladder first.  “You can come down now.  I’m down to the boat. 
You have enough room below you.  Just go slowly.”

Girding
her resolve, Ebony got on her belly, swung her feet around, and felt with her
toes for the first rung.  She found it after a few heart-stopping seconds and
put her weight on it, preparing to descend.

As she
lowered herself, her foot slipped. 

Ebony
sucked in her breath as she suddenly lost her balance.  She gripped the ledge
hard with her fingers but already her hands were slipping.

“Ebony!  Put
your foot back on the rung! I will help you--“

“Hurry,”
she cried, frantically searching for the rung with her toes.  “I’ll hit the
boat--or that water that looks like ink--help me, Fallon, if I go into that
water I’ll die of a heart attack if I don’t drown first--or get torn to shreds
and eaten alive by those monster fish--oh, help me, please!”

“Hold on. 
Do not panic,” he said, but she could hear the fear in his own voice.  “I am
here.  I will help you--“

A scream
erupted from her throat as she tried and failed to catch herself on the rung.

“Ebony!”
Fallon’s
horrified cry was the last thing she heard before there was a tremendous splash
and cold, slimy water blacker than coal closed in over her head. 

Immediately
she threw her head back and flailed with her arms, but she could feel herself
sinking--she never thought her life would end this way, so suddenly and so
stupidly--

Then her
feet hit something solid--like a metal platform--
oh, maybe it’s not so deep
after all!
But when she tried to push off of the metal surface, her feet
slipped and she fell forward in the black water.

Then her
flailing arms hit something large and solid--and moving--
Dear Jesus, one of
those fish is going to eat me!
 She would have screamed if there’d been any
air left in her lungs...she could not breathe and the shocking cold crept into
her bones and her heart pounded madly in her chest...and she continued to sink
and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She could
not find the metal surface with her feet.  It was over...

Then the
solid, moving object grabbed hold of her arm.  Her panic nearly made her pass
out. 
That fish!  It’s got me!
 But then she began moving upwards,
towards the surface, faster and faster, until at last she burst through and was
gasping for air and coughing the awful black water out of her lungs.

Fallon’s
big hand was wrapped around her wrist, snatching her back from her doom.  He
pulled her back onto the small boat with one arm, and then held her tight
against his body as he steadied her on the bottom of the boat.

Ebony
looked up at him, her heart pounding in her throat, and went on coughing.  For
a moment she thought he was going to kiss her--and she realized she would have
gratefully kissed him back, as thankful as she was to be saved.

“Th-thank
you,” she whispered, clinging to him.

“My
little one does not have wings.  You cannot fly.  Try to be more careful.  I
will not always be nearby to catch you,” he said in a murmur, looking at her
for long moments before finally releasing her.

Feeling
the boat beneath her should have calmed her down, but her nerves were on high
alert--torn between terror and something else.  The adrenaline remained and she
found herself shaking from fright and trying to sit up.

Fallon
pushed her to lie down again in the boat.  Then he took up the oars and
remained stone-faced and silent as he rowed them back across the deep black
lake.

***

It seemed
to take forever, but finally Ebony found herself back in her room with the two
large beds--and with Damon and Fallon.  She was very relieved to find that
there was a small shower in the bathroom and a supply of soaps and washrags and
towels, and she spent a long time in the hot water scrubbing and scrubbing
herself. 

She felt
that she was trying to clean away the dirt from the forced march, and the slime
from the cold black lake, and maybe even the filth from being held as a sex
slave for so long in the palace of the king.

At last,
with only a too-small towel wrapped around her, she left the little bathing
room and went back into the sleeping area.  On the clothes rack she found
another clean set of blue scrubs and another pair of soft leather ankle-high
slippers, but decided she was too tired to put them on.  All she wanted to do
was lie down on a soft bed and sleep.

But
before she lay down, she sat on the edge of the bed with just the towel over
her and frowned.  “Why are the two of you here?  Isn’t one bad enough?  All the
other women have one man bunking with them, but I have to put up with two?”

“There
are only so many rooms in this place, Ebony,” Fallon said.  “My men have each
earned a private room--“

“Yeah, a
private room with a kidnapped concubine in it,” Ebony snapped.

“--and
that leaves one room for the three of us.”

“Again--why
do I have to put up with two of you when the other girls only have to tolerate
one? Or are you hoping all of us will fall for you big guys, and refuse to go
back to the harem so you can keep us for yourselves?”

Fallon
laughed a little, though his face was grim.  “There is no time for love in this
place, Ebony--not for anyone.  I resist it, as do all of the men who follow me. 
If we are ever able to get women of our own again, those women will have to
bear children from as many different men as possible in order to replenish a
very limited gene pool.  And that is not the kind of thing that bodes well for
love and marriage.”

It was
Ebony’s turn to laugh.  “Yeah, it would be a kind of reverse harem, wouldn’t
it? Funny how those things work out.”  She shot him a glare, and then pulled
back the blankets, flung the towel across the room, and lay down in pure
exhaustion on the bed.  Sleep was already beginning to claim her when she
realized that Fallon was crawling in beside her and Damon had turned out the
main light and was taking the other bed.

But right
now, she was just too tired to care.  The last thing she heard was Fallon’s
murmur in the dimness.  “I don’t like this any more than you do, little one.  But
we all have to make sacrifices.”

***

Ebony did
not know how many hours had passed, but after a time she woke up to the sound
of raucous snoring.  There were two sets of terrific snores and one of them was
only inches from her ears.

She also
became aware that Fallon was sleeping flat in the bed, spread out all the way
across it, and she was being squished against the hard wall without room to
move.  Her back and hips were beginning to hurt.  She tried to roll around in
the bed, but couldn’t move.  Yet both men seemed to be sleeping very soundly
and comfortably.

Ebony
sighed.  She was trapped in a small bed by one behemoth loudly sawing logs and
had a second one adding to the noise. 

Then she
opened her eyes.  What better time to make one last effort to escape?

Ebony sat
up.  Fallon continued to snore.  She tried to crawl over him, but in his sleep
he rolled over and trapped her under his arm.  It was like being crushed under
a fallen tree.  She tried to slide free, but all he did was continue to snore.

She
managed to get out from under his arm, but then he rolled again and threw his
leg over her.  She struggled to get out from under him, and then noticed that
he was trembling--shaking--he was laughing--he was
awake.

“You
bastard!
 You’ve been awake the whole time.  I’m trying to sleep after the worst
experience of my life--and believe me, falling in that water was even worse
than being abducted by aliens--and you’re making some kind of joke about it!”

He sat up
and reached for her, still chuckling.  “Now, Ebony, I only thought to--“

She
hauled off and smacked his outstretched arm.  For a brief second, he looked
shocked and angry; but then he simply lowered his arm and smiled a little.  “I
only thought to make you laugh a little and perhaps forget your fear for a
time.”

“Well,
you--you--“

“I did,
didn’t I?”

“Hmmmph!”
 Ebony snorted and
turned around to face the wall, and then threw herself back down on the bed.  “Maybe
now I can at least get some sleep--“

But he
immediately pinned her to the bed and kissed her.  At first she squirmed and
swatted at him, but then began to respond to his warm lips sawing on hers and
his strong arms around her shoulders.

He was
warm and solid and strong, and she rather liked the way his thin lips melded
against her full bottom lip.  He tugged her bottom lip with his teeth, sucking
at her.  Tingling sparks ignited low in her stomach, making her womb ache in a
familiar way.

She
caught her breath as his big hands caressed her breasts and his fingers plucked
at her nipples, first one and then the other, and slid down her side to find
the curve of her ass and thighs.  That wasn’t exactly where she wanted him….

Ebony
began to relax and let her knees part...and then Fallon turned away from her,
rolled over, and began snoring again.

Stunned,
she lay there for a second, waiting to see what he’d do.

“Hey!  What
are you--what are you doing?”