Alien's Bride: Lisette (2 page)

“
You won’t be ‘doing
science’ in the colony. You’re going to a laboratory on one of the
Dak-Hiliah home worlds.”

Her stomach seized. She was leaving the
colony? He was sending her into outer space? To one of their
planets—where she didn’t even speak the language? Where most of the
women were extinct, and where there were only hordes of desperate
alien men—who were all probably as big as Elentinus? She’d be
raped, more than once, and by more than one man.

Tears trickled down her cheeks. Her
glasses fogged, but she felt removing them might be seen as an
attempt to draw attention to her grief. Elentinus had made it clear
that she was just a slave. She had no say in what happened to
her.

“
Why are you distressed,
Lisette?”

She bit her lip. She had to answer, but
just conversing with the other women in the colony intimidated her.
How could she talk to their evil overlord?

“
I…um…I don’t want to
be…hurt.” She shrank further in her seat after saying it. Did he
know she meant raped? Would he think she was making accusations?
Maybe she should have just shook her head. Why did she have to open
her damned mouth!

“
No harm is going to come to
you. You’ll be working in a laboratory with one scientist and his
supervisor. No other Dak-Hiliah men will have access to you. You’re
also going to be implanted with the Dak-Hiliah language, as well as
a few others you may encounter. Given your reputation I have no
doubt you’ll thrive. It’s a far better environment for someone like
you than this colony.”

Lisette finally removed her glasses.
She couldn’t stop crying, but his words had gone a long way toward
reassuring her. Getting implanted with languages didn’t even
frighten her. She wanted to know exactly how they managed to alter
the synaptic patterns in the human brain.

“
I realize you’re unhappy to
leave your home,” Elentinus said.

Lisette peeked up at him. Was she? She
had women who’d adopted her into their group and who were
protective of her. They thought she was simpleminded because she
was so quiet. They always made sure she never ate alone and that no
one bullied her. Not one of them had any idea who she really was.
None of them had cared enough to ask.

“
I will take personal
responsibility for you. If any harm comes to you, if you’re unable
to cope with the work you’re given, or if you’re direly unhappy
I’ll allow you to return to the colony. Understood?”

Lisette nodded. That was kind of him.
Was he actually not evil?

“
Good.” He rose. “Pack your
belongings. Hor-Denay will assist you and then bring you to the
ship.”

Who?
As he left his servant remained behind. He sneered at
her.

“
Get up. Move,” Hor-Denay
said.

Lisette bolted up.

“
Lead me to your bunk. I
want you packed in ten minutes. Move it. Go!”

Lisette speed-walked ahead of
him.

“
Stop!”

She froze. Her heart was now
racing.

Hor-Denay came beside her. He hmphed
and made a cruel smile. “You may walk at a normal pace.”

She resumed. He matched her
pace.

“
The scientist you’ll be
working with is my older brother,” Hor-Denay said.

She looked at him.

“
He’s attained an immense
status for an…” He cleared his throat. “He’s the one who created
the Instajant Vaccine. You’d be a paralyzed host body for those
monsters if it wasn’t for him.”

Lisette was impressed. (She said
nothing in return because he was making statements, not questions
which required an answer.)

They arrived at her bunk. Lisette knelt
down to begin frantically stuffing her things into her laundry bag.
Her acquaintance June walked over.

“
Liz—are they taking you
some where?”

“
Get lost!” Hor-Denay said.
“This is none of your business.”

June’s face darkened. She backed away
to gossip amongst a growing clump of slaves observing from across
the aisle.

Hor-Denay snuffled loudly. “Anyway,
it’s an honor for you to work with him. My brother. He’s a
genius.”

Lisette crammed her spare pair of shoes
into the bag. She listened intently, but again felt no response was
required from her.

“
You should marry
him.”

“
Oh!” The word jumped out of
her before she could stop it. She blushed.

Hor-Denay glared at her. “Does that
repulse you? Do you think you’re too good for one of
us?”

Lisette shook her head
resolutely.

“
What do you think?” he
said.

That was a question she had to answer
with more than a head shake or nod. She pursed her lips. Should she
admit how she really felt? Would it be used against her? Somehow
lying by saying, ‘I don’t know,’ didn’t seem like it would work.
The alien, despite being a jerk, had exposed himself a little. She
didn’t want to offend him.

“
I…would like to get
married.”

He lifted his nose in smug approval.
“Then you could do far worse than my brother.”

Really?
As he walked her toward the far gate of the colony she snuck
several glances at Hor-Denay. He was ugly compared to Elentinus,
but not
that
ugly.
She’d rather be with someone imperfect than a god like Elentinus
anyway. She’d feel inadequate. She could see herself in an
equitable marriage with someone who looked like Hor-Denay,
especially if he was a fellow scientist. Playing dumb her whole
life would be a burden. She could actually reveal her smart self to
this other scientist. The prospect excited her.

Dugan was talking loudly to the
hundreds of slaves following her out. Many of her peers gasped with
shock to learn she was scientist. Then they halted at the gate to
scream goodbye to her tearfully. Lisette knew they were sadder for
themselves than for her. They were anguished to learn that at any
time one of them could get carted away like this. She turned back
to wave at all of them. Hugs weren’t required.

Just a wave was all she needed to leave
the colony behind her forever.

***

“
Damn it,” Jorenkis
said.

Prax-Denay had just exited the lab into
the corridor. He intended on going to the kitchen for his midday
meal. Hearing Jorenkis muttering gave him pause. He nudged his
young boss’ door open. On the large console screen before Jorenkis
was a small dark-haired human woman walking in the middle of a
throng of robots. The boxy metal units with long glowing cylinder
heads blocked her on all sides from any potential threat. It was
unnecessary. She appeared to be at their spaceport, and even though
this was their second most populous home world there were only two
or three hundred Dak-Hiliah in residence. The odds of them meeting
anyone were slim.

Jorenkis darted a look back at him.
This made him fluster. Yes, he was mildly curious about the human,
but not enough to give Jorenkis an opportunity to call him
nosey.

“
Hey. Come here,” Jorenkis
said to him.

Prax-Denay grumbled. If it wasn’t for
the chance to get a closer look at the woman he would have swore at
Jorenkis and continued to lunch. Instead, he pushed his door all
the way open and stood next to him before his console.

“
She’s not that old, is she?
Does she look old to you?”

Prax-Denay examined the woman walking
meekly between the robots. One of the units had had its visual
receptor tapped for Jorenkis to obtain live footage. Prax-Denay
leaned in. It occurred to him that Jorenkis was an idiot. The
female looked young and healthy—pretty even.

“
She’s young enough to
breed,” he said.

Jorenkis slammed his hand on his desk.
“Young enough to breed, but probably older than me! I mean, look at
her.” He gazed back at his monitor and groaned.

“
Are you truly such a
shallow simpleton?”

Jorenkis grabbed his horns with both
fists, pulled himself forward, and gave a loud nasal sound of
frustration. Prax-Denay saw him do this often.

“
She’s here to work. She was
never meant to be your sparkling bride trophy.”

“
Just shut up. I don’t why I
bother to talk to you.”

“
I’m sure any other male on
this planet would gladly take her if you don’t want
her.”

He bolted upright in his seat again.
His eyes were wide. “Oh—I still want her. Make no mistake. She’s a
woman and she’s mine.” He fumed and looked back at the screen.
“We’ll do some beauty enhancements. Maybe I can go to the surgical
building while she’s getting her languages implanted and have them
do a youth treatment at the same time.”

“
Are you insane?”

“
No! I mean—ugh. Fine, I’ll
wait. But she’ll get better clothes and we’ll do something about
her hair.”

“
You sound so
asinine.”

Jorenkis stood and snatched his
flamboyantly long coat from off the back of his chair. “I can’t
watch anymore. I’m going to lunch and I’ll be gone for the rest of
the day. She’s not going to be delivered to us until tomorrow
anyway.”

With that his young boss strode out of
his office and exited through their building’s ornate glass doors.
Prax-Denay sat in his seat. The robots had ushered the human into a
hover car and were flying her toward the surgical
building.

The woman sat hunched over with her
arms close to her body. She nervously picked at some dry skin on
her lower lip with her thumbnail.

Prax-Denay had seen images of a few
human females in the past. His brother’s master was married to a
dark-haired human also, but Prax-Denay felt she looked like a
tramp. Hor-Denay had described how audacious and cunning that slave
was through several messages. He presumed this human would be just
as repugnant.

No, it appeared this woman was somewhat
milder, at least from what he could discern through her body
language. She looked fearful, as she should be. She was dressed in
drab colors that covered most of her body from the neck down. Her
short dark hair was brushed, but not styled, and she wore no
make-up. She had a glass medical implement in front of her eyes.
Her visual deficiency could easily be repaired. He had a feeling
this simple medical enhancement was possible on Earth, also. The
woman looked like she preferred her glass implement. To Prax-Denay
she looked like she wanted a device on her face to hide
behind.

The robots ordered her out of the car
when they arrived at the surgical building. She rushed to obey
them. They brought her to the scrubbing room first and ordered her
to strip and let the more specialized units clean her. The woman
moved to obey without saying anything. Her hands trembled while she
unbuttoned the top of her dress. Yes, she was very frightened, but
quiet and obedient.

The unit Jorenkis had tapped to spy on
her left the room and began the trip back to the spaceport.
Prax-Denay turned off the terminal.

For a while he remained in Jorenkis’
seat thinking. She may not be so terribly annoying—this human woman
whom he had to work with.

If she had at least a minimum
competency he may even enjoy having her around.

***

Lisette woke on a cold operating table
in an antiseptic surgical room. The lighting and medical machines
were not too far from what Earth would have had prior to the
Instajant invasion. Fixtures like the operating table looked to be
molded upwards from the same material as the floor. There was a
lack of angular shapes. The walls met the floors and ceilings with
smooth curves.

She sat up slowly. There were three
androids working in the room who looked far more sophisticated than
the boxy Dak-Hiliah robots she was accustomed to. For some reason
she felt it wise not to draw their attention to her. She was in a
short sleeveless gown that appeared to be made out of layers of
blue tissue paper. It crinkled when she moved.

A white-faced female-shaped android
with thick metal tubes for limbs skated over to her.

“
You should now understand
what I’m saying,” she said with a voice that was as
muffled-sounding as the more primitive robots.

Of course she understood
what she was saying. The robot was talking
English—
no she wasn’t!
Lisette’s eyes widened.

“
Do you comprehend what I’m
saying?” the android repeated in the Dak-Hiliah
language.

“
Yes.”

She answered in English. She wondered
if she was supposed to try and speak in this new language. It was
probably best not to say much at all, as usual.

They brought her to a dressing room
where her bag of clothes was. Lisette picked out the long sleeved
dress that had the fewest holes in it. As she donned it she tried
to sense any sore spots on her body. There were none. She’d had
brain surgery and didn’t appear to have any incision. The
realization flooded her with panic. How was she ever going to learn
enough about Dak-Hiliah science to be useful? They were centuries
beyond the sophistication she thought existed in Earth’s military
science unit.