ALIEN ABDUCTION (Captured by Aliens) (21 page)

“Aye,
Captain Zeta,” the voices said, and the heavy door slammed shut again.

Kore’s
hesitant footsteps came closer to the wooden coffin.  Fallon could feel a
slight movement as the king placed his hand on the side of the coffin and
gripped it tightly.  “Strange,” Kore whispered.  “He wears my face.  I knew I
should have killed him years ago--but he is my twin, and I could not.  How can
any man kill the one who wears his same face?  It would be too much like
killing myself.  I could never do it.”

Kore took
his hand away from the coffin.  “But now, Zeta, you and your men have done that
work for me.  I will never have to think of him again.  Ah, it is a fine day,
after all--
ahhhhh!
”

Fallon
held tight to Kore’s throat, cutting off the strangled cry.  “Brother, being
captured and tried and shot in the head with a plasma rifle was all worth it,
just to see the look on your face right now.”

He
grinned at Kore, keeping his hand gripped tight on his brother’s throat, and
slowly sat up until he could see eye to eye with him.  “You
should
have
killed me, for I will stop at nothing to bring you to justice.”

Kore sank
to his knees, his eyes bulging out of his head, and Fallon kept his tight hold
even as he swung over the coffin and stepped down to the cold stone floor.  “Is
this fear I see in your eyes, my brother?  Do you think me a ghost?  Or is it
just the crushing of my hand on your worthless neck?”

The king
tried to croak out a word, but could not get the breath to say anything.  “What’s
that?” Fallon said, pretending to bend down to listen.  “Are you trying to call
for Captain Zeta, in the hope that he will protect you?” Fallon snorted.  “You
have no friends here in this palace.  There are only the men and women that you
have used and brutalized for all these decadent years--and now those years are
coming to a close.”

He
released Kore, shoving him to the floor as he did so.  “I wish your life was
worth sparing.  But I know that you will never be anything more than what I see
before me now--a terrible force for destruction and waste.”

Fallon
slowly walked around the gasping, panicked Kore, and glared down at him with
utter contempt.  “You have brutalized and tormented the women in your harem for
years.  That alone would be enough to earn you a death sentence--but I am not
like you.  I will still have you taken to trial, and if your life is spared
then perhaps you can live out your days in a luxurious room while you are cold
and barefoot and dressed in thin bits of silk and forced into having anal sex
each and every day.”

As fast
as he could, Kore got to his feet and tried to get to the door.  He opened his
mouth to cry out but could make no more than a whimper after the damage Fallon
had done to his neck.  Zeta stepped in front of him and stood unmoving as Kore
ran straight into him.  Kore’s silk robes were no match for Zeta’s black
leather armor, and so the king just shrank back and began wildly looking about
him and fumbling with his robes.

“What’s
wrong?” said Fallon.  “Do you not want the same fine treatment you gave to the
women of your harem? If it was good enough for them, it’s--”

Suddenly
Zeta raised his arm as Kore lunged at him with a dagger.  The blow bounced
harmlessly off of the armor, but Fallon quickly grabbed Kore by one wrist.  “I
meant what I said about letting you live and taking you to trial.  But I will
not allow you to harm anyone ever again, and certainly not this man, who has
served you for so long with loyalty that you did not deserve.”

Fallon
bent Kore’s wrist back to force him to drop the dagger, but then Kore reached
into his sash with the other hand and pulled out another blade.  He swung it
viciously at Fallon, who quickly grabbed his other wrist and stopped him. 

“You are
weak and unfit from too much leisure, brother,” Fallon said, easily keeping
both daggers away from him.  “But you are also desperate and frightened.  That
makes you dangerous.  Drop these weapons.”

But Kore
only croaked out “
Guards!”
and tried to swing the daggers again.  This
time, Fallon turned Kore’s own hand against him and slammed the dagger into
Kore’s own heart.

 “You may
have had some superstition over killing your twin,” Fallon whispered, “but I
have none--not when that twin was as cruel and evil as you.”

King Kore
fell dead to the cold stone floor of the holding room, rolling over to lie face
down against the rough wooden coffin of his own twin brother.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Fallon
looked up at Captain Zeta, who was replacing his own dagger back in its sheath
at his belt.  “Fallon.  The way out is obvious.  He was your identical twin
brother.  Are you willing to take his place?”

He
hesitated only a moment.  “I am,” Fallon answered.  “But I will not hide it for
long.”

“Just
long enough to get out of this room,” Zeta answered, and together they pulled
all of Kore’s heavy silk robes off of his dead body.  In a moment they were
dressing the body in Fallon’s mud-covered black leather pants and dumping it
into the wooden coffin.

“These
are very soft,” Fallon remarked, adjusting the long layers of thick silk over
his chest, “but not for me.  As you said, I will wear such things only long
enough to get me out of this room.”

Zeta
glanced up at him, and then lifted the long wooden lid from the floor and placed
it securely on top of the coffin.  Fallon heard it snap into place and then
Zeta flipped the metal grips that would hold it there.  “No one will disturb
this,” Zeta said.  “Lift up the hood of your outer robe to hide your hair,
since you lack the dark and white streaks that Kore had.  Otherwise, if you
walk with me and my guards, none will question you.”

“Then let
us go now.”

Zeta
pulled open the door, and Fallon, dressed as his brother King Kore, followed
him out into the damp stone corridor.  Zeta glanced down at the wristband he
wore and touched two of its silver buttons.  In a moment, the same eleven
guardsmen who were at the execution walked around the corner and halted just in
front of the door to the holding room.

“The king
wishes to return to the harem,” Zeta said.  “We will escort him there.”  He
glanced at Fallon and bowed, and then Fallon started off down the corridor with
Zeta and the eleven guards right behind him.

In a few
moments, they had walked down the several long marble corridors and arrived at
the tall and very heavy wooden doors which led to the harem.  The guards pushed
them open.  Fallon drew a breath and then walked--not marched--inside, trying
to remind himself that he had to behave as Kore and not as himself. 

He turned
to the guards.  “Go.  All of you.  Zeta, you remain to serve me here, but the
rest of you go.  Now.” Fallon waved his hands about to dismiss them, and then
turned back with a swirl of his long robes to face the large open room of the
harem. 

There
were a great many women gathered here, all huddled together at the very back of
the room as though they hoped he would not notice them.  “You!” he cried,
waving his hands at the crowd of women.  “I want to meet with my newly returned
captives.  There should be four of you.  Walk forward now!”

There was
some wailing and discord from the women, but in a moment four of them edged
their way through the crowd and stepped forward.  Fallon recognized them as the
four he had put aboard the flyer just two nights ago, though inwardly he was
angered to see that they were practically naked and had not even been allowed
to comb their hair since arriving.

He saw
Famke, the tall and silent blonde, wearing nothing but a strip of white silk
across her breasts and two more strips of white tied together at her hips.  There
was Cassie, the small tearful blonde, wearing similar pieces of fabric in blue. 
Jane stood frowning in little pieces of orange silk, while the fourth woman--the
fourth woman was Ebony, dark and beautiful as a raven among the pigeons,
standing tall and glaring and defiant in nothing but strips of red silk.

Fallon
forced himself to look away from her.  “All of you!  Into that side room!  Now!
 Zeta, come with us!”  He tried to remember to sound weak and demanding, and
did not know if he succeeded or not; but all four of the women reluctantly
walked into the room that Fallon had indicated.

He
followed them inside.  The room proved to be not much more than a large closet. 
He saw many colorful silk skirts and wraps, and many pieces of jewelry, but no
shoes or any other kinds of clothing.  But this would do as a place to talk to
the four of them.

“Captain
Zeta, close the door.”  Zeta did so and stood guard in front of it.

Fallon
only had eyes for Ebony, but she spoke before he did.  “Well, Kore,” she spat,
with a look of utmost contempt on her face.  “Are you going to take us all at
once in here?  A special welcome home party?  Had to bring some extra muscle to
help you?”

Fallon
gazed at her, and then reached up and drew back the hood of the robe so that it
fell to his shoulders.  He stood quietly, looking each woman in the eye and
nowhere else, and allowed them to get a good look at him.

“I am not
Kore.  I am Fallon.”

They all
stared at him.  Their eyes flicked to one another, and then back to Fallon, and
then finally to Zeta.  “Is this true, Captain Zeta?” Ebony asked.

Zeta gave
her a slight nod.  “It is true.  By your sister’s child--my child--it is true.”

They all
looked back at Fallon again.  “But…but…how is this possible?” breathed Cassie. 
“We saw--we saw on the screens….”

“Look at
my hair,” Fallon said.  “It is burnished silver.  Kore’s was black with thick
lines of silver in it.  And you can see the mark left by the firing squad.”

“But--the
firing squad executed Fallon!” exclaimed Jane.  “We saw him fall, and we saw
him carried out dead!”

“Not
dead,” Zeta said.  “Only grazed.  By me.  The other weapons were disabled.”

Fallon
saw Ebony staring up at him, and there was both fear and longing in her eyes--fear
that what he said was impossible, and hope that maybe it was not.

“Ebony,”
he said gently, “I know things about you that Kore never did.  I know that you
were frightened of the red and blue stars above Chalcydon when you first saw
them, because they were so strange to you.  I know that you fell into that
terrible black lake at the mine, and I helped you to get out.  And I know…”  He
smiled a little.  “I know that you suffered a rather peculiar form of
‘drunkenness’ just recently….”

He
stopped suddenly because Ebony had thrown herself into his arms and was
covering his face and mouth with kisses.  “How is this possible?” she
whispered, still kissing him.  “We saw the firing squad.  How can you be
alive?”

Fallon
smiled, and nodded towards Captain Zeta.  “It was this man.  He saved me.  I
would be dead right now if not for his courage and cleverness.”

Ebony
pulled away from Fallon and ran to hug Zeta, as did all the other women, and he
seemed quite pleased to have such affection from the four of them.  “Now,
that’s the kind of brother-in-law I don’t mind having!” laughed Ebony, and
hugged him again.

Then Jane
stepped forward.  “If you are Fallon, then where is Kore?”

Fallon
glanced over at her.  “Dead.”

“Dead?”
Jane repeated.  All of the women looked at each other, and then back at Fallon
and Zeta. 

“Are you
sure?” asked Cassie. 

“We’re
sure,” said Fallon.  “I would have had him brought to trial, for Zeta’s men are
far more loyal to their captain than they were to their evil king; but Kore
tried to kill Zeta, and I could not allow that.  No, my brother lies in the
coffin meant for me, and I do not think there is one person anywhere who will
miss him.”

“I sure
as hell won’t,” said Ebony.

“Me,
neither,” said all the other women at once, and then they all looked up at Fallon.

“Now
what?” asked Ebony.

***

A few
hours later, after the radiocameras broadcast the order, the men of the City of
Anetahr gathered once again inside the city square--the same square where they
had come to see Fallon’s execution earlier that day.  As before, the plasma
radiocameras drifted overhead and broadcast all that happened to the screens
set up throughout the city.

But a
firing squad was nothing compared to the sight that awaited them here in the
square right now.  Every last woman in King Kore’s harem, some one hundred
fifty of them, stood gathered right in front of the low balcony.  All of them
wore long beautiful sari in bright colors, and the entire group was closely
surrounded by Captain Zeta’s guards with long silver rifles in their hands--but
this time it was to protect them from any overly enthusiastic males, not to
keep them prisoner.

Ebony
stood nearest the front in a long red sari which did, at least, cover her
decently, and she--like all the other harem women--now wore a pair of fine
leather sandals.  Apparently there were sandals and soft boots for all of the
women, and always had been, but Kore had forbidden their use and all the
footwear had been hidden away until now.

Best of
all, though, Ebony stood with Adrienne, her sister, and together they turned
and looked up at the balcony as Fallon, with Captain Zeta close beside him,
walked to the front of the balcony and stood tall with both hands on the
railing.  He wore the long black leather coat and black uniform of the guards.

“My name
is Fallon,” he said.  “You thought you saw me executed here today.  But I did
not die.  I am here before you now, and I declare myself to be the king I was
born to be.”

Immediately,
loud conversation broke out among all the men who were watching.  Ebony could
see--and feel--that they were all very agitated and confused.  “Where is Kore?”
someone shouted.  “By what right do you claim the throne?”

“Kore is
dead.  When he saw that I survived his firing squad, he tried to kill me with
his own dagger.  I fought him back, and won.  Kore is dead.”

Zeta
stepped up alongside him.  “It is all true.  I am a witness.  It is all true.”

Behind
Zeta walked a large group of his palace guards.  “It is all true,” one of them
stated, and then the others joined in.  “It is all true,” they said together. 

Finally,
a dozen or so Zhala riders gather on the balcony with the others.  “It is all
true,” they said.  “It is all true.”

Fallon
began pacing slowly along the railing.  “I claim the throne by my right as
firstborn.  Kore was my twin, but he was the younger twin.  I am firstborn.” He
stopped and looked out at the crowd, standing as tall as he ever had.  “Are
there any out there who dispute my right to rule?” Fallon cried.  “Step up here
now, or keep silent forever.”

Fallon
and Zeta looked out over the crowd.  The men looked back at them, their eyes
darting from Fallon to Zeta to the guards to the Zhala riders, and then they
all looked at each other.

“King
Fallon!” yelled a man somewhere in the crowd, and then all of them began to
cheer.  “King Fallon!  A new day!  A new world!  King Fallon!”

But
Fallon only raised his hands up high to silence the cheering crowd, and then
beckoned to Zeta.  Ebony caught her breath as Zeta walked over to him and stood
tall and proud before him.

Fallon
addressed the crowd once again.  “By my birthright, and by the trust you have
given me today, I designate this man, Dezec Zeta, the captain of the guard, as
the prince of the City of Anetahr,” Fallon says.  “He is the most loyal and
trustworthy of men, and from this day on he will be known as Prince Dezec.  He
will rule over you with his princess by his side--Princess Adrienne.”

Fallon
turned and smiled down at Ebony, and nodded to her.  Ebony held tight to
Adrienne’s hand and helped her very pregnant sister climb the steps to the
balcony.  “You’re a princess!” Ebony said, barely containing her delight.  “Imagine
that!”

Adrienne
beamed, and then walked to stand beside her husband--who was now himself a
prince--and then Ebony returned to the floor of the square with the other women
of the harem.

Just as
she took her place among the women, Ebony heard a great cheering erupt from the
city streets beyond the square.  She stood tall and craned her neck--and then
in the next instant cried out and pushed her way through the women and the men
and fought her way to the edge of the square.