ALIEN ABDUCTION (Captured by Aliens) (16 page)

“Now--now--I
still don’t get it.  We’ve got flyers with the kind of firepower that Fallon
just showed us, but you’re worried about those slow little Zhala riders?”

“Ebony--the
king has far more Zhala than we have flyers.  They are everywhere and see
everything.  Or at least, it seems that way.”

“Then why
did Fallon let the pilots shoot that fireball out the cavern door and blow up a
whole stand of trees?”

“The
miners and other working men here had to be shown that we truly do have a
defense system now, whereas before we had virtually nothing.  Showing them was
necessary.  But firing that shot means we must leave tonight, for yes, you are
right, the king’s men will surely know about it soon--if they do not already.  If
we can get away under cover of darkness tonight without the Zhala riders seeing
us, and attempting to engage us in a fight, it’s far better for all of us
here.”

Ebony
nodded.  “Yeah, I think we’ve got better things to do, too, than fight with
King Kore’s men when we could be getting the hell out of here and starting a
new life on our own.”

“Come,
then.  I will walk with you back to your--back to the room.  But we must go now. 
I have many arrangements to make, as do all of our men.”

He
started to take her by the arm again, but she stopped and practically dug in
her heels.  “No.  I’ll wait here for him.”

Damon’s
hand fell away from her arm.  “Here?  Why here?  You must have much to do to
get ready to leave, and to help the other women get ready to leave.”

“I do.  But
don’t worry.  I’ll be ready.  We’ll all be ready tonight.  One hour after
darkness.”

“Then why
do you want to stay out here?”

“Because…”
 She glanced outside at the barren hillsides, and at the faint smoke that still
spiraled up from the destroyed stand of trees after the shot from the flyer.  She
took a deep breath, feeling shaky inside for some unknown reason.  “Because I
want to see him come back.”

Damon
looked down at her for a moment, and then nodded.  “But you and all the women
must be ready to leave tonight.  We cannot afford to wait any longer.  The time
is short enough as it is.”

Ebony
nodded and immediately sat down at the entrance to the great mine, leaning
against the side of the opening.  She heard Damon walk away but did not look
back at him.  She kept her eyes on the barren rolling hills down below,
watching for any movement among the sparse trees and scrub bushes.

***

The hours
passed.  Ebony had long since finished her plate of food and it sat empty
beside her.  Though it was very pleasant to sit in the fresh air and sunlight
and look out on a natural setting, her anxiety began to rise the longer she sat
here with no sign of Fallon.  She scanned the skies until the glare nearly
blinded her, but saw no Zhala riders, either.

Finally
the shadows began to lengthen.  With a feeling of despair and worry, she
thought she’d better get back to her room and prepare to leave.  She would just
have to trust that Fallon and his men would return safely--and then she saw a
slight movement on the path, down below the entrance to the mine.

Ebony
quickly got to her feet.  She stared hard down at the path, watching as the
moving figures got closer and closer--and then, to her tremendous relief, she
saw two men walk into sight.  She recognized them as Brenzir and Kye, the men
of Cassie and Pamela.  They each carried a large leather bag that seemed to be
filled to the brim with something fairly heavy.

And then,
just a few steps behind them, walked Fallon.  There were two large dead
purple-black birds tied together with some kind of line to his belt, and he
carried a furry animal about the size of a small deer over his shoulders.  He
had both hands on its legs where they hung down over his chest.

The three
men walked with some weariness up the long steep path to the mine opening, and
as they reached the level ground in front of the opening they set down the
leather bags.  Fallon shrugged the heavy animal off of his shoulders and gave a
little sigh of relief as the dead beast rolled to the ground. 

“Damon!”
he called, straightening up and stretching after carrying that heavy animal all
the way to the cave.  When he got no answer, he peered into the darkness of the
corridor.  “Damon!  Come and get this food!  Give it to the women to prepare!”

“I’ll
help you carry it,” said Ebony.

Fallon
quickly turned and looked at her, and his face was very still.  “Is something
wrong?” he asked.  “Why are you here?  What has happened?”

“Nothing
has happened,” she said softly.  “I just wanted to make sure you got back all
right.”

He paused,
staring at her, and then shook his head a little--but Ebony saw what looked
like a small smile and the beginnings of a pleased expression on his face.  “I
am back.  And I am well.  Thank you for waiting for me, but there is much to do
and little time left.”

“I’ll go
with you and help,” she said again.  “There are some things I want to ask you
about.”

He almost
smiled again.  “I should have known you would have your own reasons for
offering to help,” he said, but his voice was kind enough.  “Walk with me, then. 
These bags of nuts and this meat are all too heavy for you to carry, but I will
speak with you as we carry it inside.”

“No.”

Fallon
paused.  “No?”  He began to frown.  “Ebony Raines, there is no time for your
childishness now.  As I said, our time is very short.”

“I know
it is.  Just give me a minute here on the ledge.  After that, I’ll finish
getting ready to leave.”

He sighed. 
“All right.  But only a moment.  No more.” He sat down near the cave door and
leaned back against it, finally allowing his weariness to show.  “Now, what is
it that you want to know?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ebony sat
down beside him, so that they both leaned back against the outside of the cave
wall.  She saw Fallon close his eyes in weariness, but he opened them again at
the sound of her voice.

“Damon
told me there was danger here,” she said quickly.  “Danger from Zhala riders--that
they’ve been watching us all this time and would love to get hold of you--of
all of us…”

“They are
out there,” he said.  “And you are right.  We are all wanted fugitives.  We are
traitors and kidnappers.  My brother, the king, would give a great reward to
whoever stole a part of his harem.”

“Oh,
yeah, that’s right--he doesn’t know it’s you,” said Ebony.

“That is
right.  He believes I am dead, out where his men left me in the Desert of
Fire.”

“But if
it’s so dangerous, why did you go out this afternoon yourself?  You’re the one
who’s needed most.  You’re the leader here.  Why not send some of the other men
out to hunt?”

Slowly he
turned his head to look at her.  “I cannot ask someone else to take such a
dangerous task while I remain behind in comfort,” he said.  “The men would have
little respect for me.  And at any rate, the task is done now and there is food
enough for the day--and after tonight, we will be gone.”

Ebony
sighed.  “Look, Fallon, I know it’s all planned and everything--but how exactly
are you going to do this?  There’s five hundred twenty-one people and the two
flyers can only take sixty-six of us at once--that’s seven, eight trips?  Round
trips?  And since it’s five hours one way, you’d probably have to allow twelve
hours for a round trip when you allow for unloading and refueling and whatever
else you have to do.  That means you’ll need--how many days to get everyone out?”

“Ebony!  All
is arranged.  It is not ideal, but we are doing all we can.  Your part of it is
to be ready to leave tonight on the very first flight.”

She
raised her eyebrows.  “The very first flight?”

“Yes.  We
feel that the first ones will have the best chance of getting away.  The king’s
men are still looking for a party on foot and don’t yet know that we have
flyers.”

Ebony
stood up.  “Look--I almost hate to ask after all you’ve got going on here.  But…”

She
paused, and then tried to start again.  “I don’t know what to do about my
sister.”

He
glanced over at her.  “Sister?  What do you mean?  All the women here will be
taken to New Chalcydon--all of your harem sisters.  They will be as safe as we
can make them.”

“No, no. 
That’s not what I mean.” Ebony began to pace on the ledge outside the cave
opening.  “I’m talking about my real sister.  Adrienne.”

“Where is
she?”

“She is
back in the City of Anetahr with her husband.  She was kidnapped back on Earth
the same time I was, but Captain Zeta fell for her in a big way and asked if he
could marry her.  I guess he was due for a bonus or something, because the
first thing I knew those two were married and my sister was preggers.”

“Your
sister was--what?”

“Pregnant. 
Expecting.”  Ebony paused for a moment.  “Adrienne and Dezec, and their baby
when it gets here, are the only family I have anywhere.

“And it
hurts you deeply to leave them.”

“Yes.  It
does.  I think she’s safe, and at least she’s not a prisoner in the harem like
I was.  But still.”

“Yes.  Still.”
 He sat up, and took a deep breath.  He scrubbed a hand over his face then
looked at her.  “I can only tell you that you will have to make a decision very
soon--as in, the next few moments.  Are you asking me to take you back to the
harem?”

She
looked at him with a shocked expression.  “Hell, no, I’m not asking you to do
that!”

“Are
there other of the women who would rather go back than go with us to New
Chalcydon?”

“Again,
no and
hell
no.  A few of them are a little nervous about another crazy
trip, but nobody wants to go back to a harem.”

“Including
you?”

“Including
me!”

“Then
what are you asking me to do?”

“I--well,
now that I know a few more details, as in, you’ve got flyers and you’ve got a
brand new city on the other side of the planet--I want my sister to come with
us.  I’m afraid I’ll never see her again if she doesn’t.”

Fallon
nodded.  “You are probably right about that.  Most likely there will be a state
of war between King Kore and New Chalcydon as soon as they realize what we’ve
done.  I am sorry about your sister, but it sounds as though she is safe where
she is.”

“We
couldn’t--we couldn’t take her with us?  Take her, and Dezec, too?”

“Ebony,
we have two small flyers whose only mission is to get five hundred and
twenty-one people out of here and safely to the new city.  I cannot and will
not attack the City of Anetahr.  And even if I did, we have no way of getting
word to your sister about getting her out.”

“But—”

He cut
her off from saying more.  “It is too late, Ebony.  We have to do the best we
can with what we have, and be grateful that all of us have, at least, a chance
at a new life in a new place.”

Ebony
looked away, and tried to keep the tears that were burning her eyes from
running down her cheeks.  Her chest felt tight, like air was trapped inside and
wouldn’t come out.  She swallowed, clutching a hand to her breast.

Fallon
got to his feet.  “There, now,” he said, gently touching her face.  “Do not cry. 
Never have I seen any woman so brave as you.  Your sister is not in the harem. 
She has a husband who loves her and is soon to have a child.  She is living a
better life than you could have hoped to have yourself.”

Ebony
nodded, and tried to smile.  “Yeah.  It could be a lot worse.  At least I know
she’s okay.”

“Once all
is done here, and we are settled in our new place, perhaps something can be
done to get your sister, but not today.  I am sorry, but it is the best that I
can do.”  He turned back towards the entrance.  “Come in now.  We must see to
the last-moment arrangements.  You will leave on the first flight, but Damon
and I will leave on the very last--after everyone else is safely landed New
Chalcydon.”

“The
last?  I don’t like the sound of that either.”

“It is
what must be done.  I will have no argument from you.”

***

A short
time later, Ebony finished packing her few belongings in the canvas duffel bag
provided.  There wasn’t much.  An extra pair of blue scrubs, and the sheets and
towels from the little bathing room, were about all she could find to take.  “I
really hope the shopping is good in New Chalcydon,” she muttered, and tied off
the top of the canvas bag. 

It wasn’t
much to show for twenty-six years of living.  But maybe now she’d have a little
more control over what happened to her, and who it happened to her with.  All
she could do was try.

The door
opened and Fallon came striding in.  “There’s been some delay,” he said,
closing the door behind him.  “The pilots want to run a couple more simulations
before actually taking off.  I agreed.  It will be a couple of hours.  If you
want to sleep for this time, while you are waiting, it may be a wise idea.”

“I don’t
think I could sleep,” she said.  “I’m exhausted, for sure, but too keyed up to
sleep.  Maybe there’s some job I can do to keep busy.  What needs to be done?”

“Well,
Ebony,” he said, as he pulled his own few belongings out of the closet and
pushed them into a duffel bag, “I do not know of anything.  My people are so
efficient, and trustworthy, that all is in readiness for us to leave at the
appointed hour.  It’s only the pilots who asked for a little extra time.”

“So, the
rest of us just have a couple of hours on our hands to wait.”  She sighed, and
sat down on the soft plastic surface of the bare mattress.

“Tell
me,” he said, tying off the bag, “will you miss seeing the palace and the
harem, now that you know you will never see them again?”

She
looked at him with a bemused expression.  “You’re kidding.  Right?  Yes,
Auresial Palace is beautiful.  Yes, the food was very good and they even had
sweets for us as a reward when we behaved.  Yes, the toilets were wonderful.  But
it’s also a prison for slaves.  Now I know exactly what the term ‘gilded cage’
really means.  But you want to know if I’ll
miss
it?”

“Perhaps
you will miss all the regular sex you got from my brother--who just happens to
be my twin and looks just like me.”

Ebony
stared hard at him for a moment, but she could only shake her head.  “Maybe you
finally are cracking up, with all the pressure of moving day,” she said.  “I
told you right from the start that I could not stand your brother.  None of the
women in the harem could stand your brother.  He’s the kind of guy who couldn’t
get laid in a whorehouse.  Not because he’s bad looking--he’s not, he looks almost
just like you, like you just said--but because he’s a greedy asshole who just
wants to screw himself to death.”

She
waited for some response, but he only sat down quietly and watched her.  “At
least I managed to avoid getting pregnant by him,” she said.  “So did the others. 
Or maybe your little virus worked better than you knew.  Anyway, that’s the one
good thing that came out of it.  No baby anywhere.”

“Ebony, I
am sorry…”

“But I’ll
tell you one more thing about him that I always did resent,” she said, suddenly
standing up and walking across the room.  “And that was the fact that he was so
completely inconsiderate of all of us when it came to sex.  He’d get us going
but never finish us off.  Ever.  Once he was done, that was it.  He wanted
another girl and just went straight on to her--to whoever was unlucky enough to
be next.

“Yes, I
hated him--we all did--but if he was going to force us to behave like his wives
he could have at least given us a little consideration.  Sure, I could always
finish things off myself--but it’s not the same.”  She shrugged.  “Oh, well.  With
any luck, I’ll never have to worry about it again.” She sighed deeply and sat
down on the edge of the plastic mattress again, tapping her fingers nervously
against it.

“Perhaps
I can put this unexpected time to good use,” he said, and she was surprised to
see him standing right over her.  He reached for her hand and pulled her up to
stand in front of him--and then, to her amazement, he kissed her.  He kissed
her deeply and thoroughly, the way a man kisses his beloved.

A thrill
raced through her, straight down to her toes.  She curled them against the cool
stone floor and leaned against him, looping her arms around his narrow waist.

Ebony
began to respond in a way that she had not for a very long time.  The softness
of his mouth, the affection in his touch...it was comforting in a way that had
been missing from her life ever since she’d been brought to this world against
her will, and maybe even for some time before that.

She
hadn’t had a real boyfriend in forever, and never one that really seemed to
care.  She’d pointedly avoided kissing Kore Anadaru.

She began
to kiss him back, and pressed her body up against his very strong legs and
chest while she did so.  The feeling of his hard muscles ignited a fire within
her.  She loved the sensation of his restraint against her.  She could feel his
tension rise with their lingering kiss.

Ebony
strained up on her tiptoes, trying to get closer to him.  He was so tall, his
neck had to hurt from leaning down to close his mouth over hers.