Chapter Three

Samantha:

I was led out of the court in handcuffs by one of the AI staff. No amount of pleading would do any good, not that I hadn’t tried. The trial had zipped along so fast that I still couldn’t believe what happened.

Xerlon.

The prison planet had a reputation for humanoid species going in and never coming back. Rumors flared that prisoners were experimented on in there and no one cared because they were criminals. What would they do to me? I couldn’t go there.

“Please,” I begged the guards taking me, pulling against their hold. “I’ll sell one of my kidneys, my spleen—” I could live without that, right? “—and half of my liver in order not to go there.”

“We have orders,” was the robotic response as I was taken to the prison hanger. Dozens of criminals were handcuffed like me waiting in lines for various ships to haul them to their destination.

One with carvings across his face and an eye missing gave me a puckered kiss while his fur tail fluffed up revealing the spikes on the end. I didn’t even want to imagine what kind of crimes these prisoners were guilty of.

“No, I’m innocent. Please.” My body shook as I dug my heels in, but they forced me forward. Shit! If it wasn’t for me, that unruly Nebobite teen, Izon, would’ve hit that poor kid. What would they have done then? Probably bought their way out instead of facing justice. Or somehow managed to blame me for that too. “Damn, Izon and his rich family! Little snot deserves to be in prison, not me.”

And the trial hadn’t even been fair. His family had to have paid off the judge. There was no other explanation for what happened in the courtroom. How me and my lawyer hadn’t even been able to get a word in or plead my case. Almost like I was declared guilty before I even stepped across the courtroom’s threshold.

A shiver slid through me.

I was taken to a smaller, white spaceship. The inside was crammed with cold, steel seats with forcefields to keep us from being able to stand. My heart raced and I tried to calm my breathing, but it came in ragged gasps.

Across from me, two Minbari, an alien race that resembled spiders but walked on three of their legs, embraced one another, making shrilling sounds before they were shoved inside the ship along with the rest of us. AI guards checked our chains, ensuring we were secured in our seats for the voyage. Their silver-plated faces and gears shone through their silicone skin. They did whatever they were programmed to do without emotion, without hesitation.

The AI disappeared outside and the hatch closed behind them. The ship hummed and hovered to life and my stomach lurched as we flew out of the hanger. As we ascended past the clouds, the whole spacecraft rocked and shimmed like it was going to fall apart. My heart thumped in my throat and I fought the urge to throw up. The prisoner across from me gave me a lewd look and both of his tongues licked his mouth.

Gross.

I turned away, thankful that there wasn’t another prisoner next to me, but an open space and a tiny window.

Stars and planets screamed past my view. The space flight zipped ahead at warp speed and I wished I could be anywhere but here. Hell, I’d even take laundry duty at my apartment for all the neighbors including Mr. Harris who smelled like moldy onions and garlic. But I was past that now. I was headed to a prison that I doubted I’d ever survive.

My cuffs dug into my wrists. How could this have happened? Was this some kind of scam that sent innocent people to jail? I stared at the other prisoners on the ship with me and they all looked like criminals with tattoos, angry glares, and an Obermire was even muzzled. His yellow eyes narrowed on me and I glanced away. Never make an Obermire angry—they loved to bite and I’d read too many news articles about how they mauled their victims to death. If I was going to die, that was on my list to avoid.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to swallow and breathe through my nose from his putrid smell until we landed on Xerlon. An hour later, the ship’s alarm blared announcing we were going through an asteroid belt. I opened my eyes as the ship shook from rocks smacking against us. I added death in space as another way to die off my list. If I had my choice, I’d die quick, painless and when I was a hundred years old. That I’d never see the grim reaper coming. Not like this where each strike on the ship made me think it was going to rip open the haul and all of us get sucked out into space. I clawed my hands into the armrest of my seat. A few prisoners laughed and I didn’t care if it was at me or the fact we could all die any second.

Once we passed the asteroid dodgeball, I relaxed a fraction. We passed several planets with ice rings around them. Was it cold in Xerlon? I doubted they provided prisoners with warm clothes or coats.

Great. I might need to add not freezing to death to my list.

After we zipped around twin moons and another galaxy, the ship jostled through a purplish planet’s atmosphere. Something that sounded like thunder boomed in the distance and I swallowed against my dry throat.

The AI guards unhooked us from our seats and shoved us out of the ship.

A bright blue sun shone overhead with black storm clouds a few miles away. Focus on the positive, Samantha. I turned away from the encroaching storm and inhaled sharply at majestic mountains and cliffs surrounded us. The AI guards marched us quickly forward and I wondered if they’d make really good lightning rods. Not that them being fried would do me any good. I was still handcuffed and on a planet with a giant prison.

We entered a gray prison building that looked like a cross between the ancient Alcatraz and a haunted asylum. Lovely. Doors clanked open as we were escorted down a row of cellblocks a few hundred feet below ground level. It was dank, and so dark I stumbled into the prisoner in front of me.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

But the Gura only raised her spikes along her back and growled back at me.

I swallowed, shuffling my feet and trying not to gag on the smelled of blood and urine that permeated the place.

All the cell doors had iron bars with thick cement blocks that lined the walls, making it resemble a medieval Earth prison, despite the fancy gadgets the reptilian guards in this jail carried on a holster on their belt. The AI guards signed us over and left. I glanced at the jailers. Their bodies were covered with scales and they wore an army-green uniform with their tail sticking out and looked like dinosaurs. Had to be either Roulex or a Saljinn species. I never could tell either apart. Both had scaled, green skin, were cold-blooded, and hated humans. And all of them glared.

In a prison shower room, I was stripped naked, wash with a weird-smelling soap and shampoo, then dress in a white prison shirt two sizes too large and pants that rode up my shins because they were too short. On the front of the shirt, the number twelve forty-nine was stamped across my boobs. Metal bands were snapped on each wrist and I flinched. I pulled at them, but they weren’t connected like handcuffs. I couldn’t—shouldn’t be here. What were they going to do to me? I yanked at my bindings again.

The guard laughed in a gruff voice that didn’t sound natural. “Those are never coming off while you’re a prisoner.”

While I was a prisoner? Like I could ever get out of this nightmare. I imagined the cuffs would give me a shock or something if I tried to escape. Could they also be some kind of monitor or tracking device?

I had no idea what species ran this prison. Bile surged up in the back of my throat and something tight hit deep in my chest. I felt dizzy like I was going to pass out. “Please, there has to be a mistake. I—I can’t be here.”

The guards poked and prodded me forward with metal-ended sticks until we arrived at an open cell. They pushed me inside, and the barred door clanked closed.

The cell was about the size of an average bedroom with one small, barred window and a bucket in the corner. It looked like how I felt, empty. The metal door blocked my escape, and the stone walls appeared ancient. I wondered if I could chip my way out through one of them. I would need a metal object of some kind. Several cells were across the way, but I couldn’t see well enough past the dark interiors. The only light was barely there and somewhere further down the hallway.

Beads of sweat rolled down my back. I was never getting out of this place. That realization sank into my gut. I blinked back tears. My life was one huge shit-storm.

“Prisoner Twelve Forty-nine?” a rough voice asked from the door.

I jumped and spun. “Um…I’m Samanth—”

“Here, you are no one,” the reptilian guard snapped like he wanted to bite me. His friend next to him examined me like I was an abstract painting he was trying to figure out. “Here, you are ours to do with as we please.”

“No!” I crossed my arms. “There is no way I—”

“She’s got wide hips,” the other alien said, “might make a good breeder.”

“Wait—” My skin grew cold and I shuddered with revulsion. Surely I hadn’t heard them right. It had to be a translation error.

Another reptilian guard shuffled forward. “Throw him in.”

“Him…who?” Another prisoner? I scuttled backward.

The door opened and four of the aliens carried in an unconscious, huge, winged creature. He was covered in blood, and his feathered wings shook. Why had they put him in here with me?

As the guards turned to leave, I rushed forward, and they raised their laser guns at me.

I stopped. “Wait. Why is this creature in here with me?”

Please don’t say that it eats meat and I’m its snack.

The reptilian grinned.

My stomach rolled at how monstrous their scaled faces looked. It reminded me of a velociraptor grinning.

The guards turned and left, the metal door closed behind them.

And I was left alone with whatever this was. I turned to the winged form. Dying from getting eaten alive by an alien was high on my do not die by list.

“Hello?”

The being shifted, one of its wings dropping down, revealing its—his body. He was definitely male and definitely not human. He had a head of dark hair and light skin that had an almost bluish undertone. And horns. He had freaking horns that jutted up from his head in a corkscrew pattern and ended in blunt points like they’d been filed down. What did they look like normally?

Looking closer, I realized his wings might not be actually black, but they were so covered in blood they appeared to have a shiny black sheen.

I skirted around the body to the door, my heart pounding, and hoping this guy wasn’t going to eat my spleen. I had said I’d sacrifice it to get out of prison, but I hadn’t meant it. Not like this. No way was I okay with getting chomped on.

“Hey, somebody tell me what the hell is going on.” I slapped my palm against the metal bar, then hissed when pain radiated across my hand from an electrified charge. “Hey!”

A rustle sounded and I froze, unable to turn around. I hadn’t seen the winged guy’s face. Just his horns and the back of his head. Which was enough for me to know I didn’t want to piss off whatever kind of creature this was, nor did I want to be stuck in here with him either.

I needed to get a grip because neither of us were going anywhere for as long as the Roulex wanted. With my throat closing up, I faced him, my hands balled into fists. If he thought I’d cower while he gorged me with his horns, he had another thing coming. There was no way I was not going to fight.

His wings ruffled and his back muscles rippled as he groaned.

Maybe he won’t notice me or care. I flattened my body as best I could against the bars of the door. A zap on my backside sent me leaping forward toward the winged guy.

Laughter echoed behind me. The stupid guards had sent some kind of electric charge into me. But now I was a mere arm’s length from the creature. I sucked in a breath as he pushed up and rose to his feet. The cell suddenly seemed even smaller than it had before.

He blinked. One silver eye was almost swollen shut. Bright, bluish blood trailed down his cut chest and ribbed stomach. Gashes and cuts crisscrossed across his body. He wore thin, prison pants over his—um—

I jerked my attention back up to his chest.

The wounds appeared slightly healed now. They sealed as I stared at them and the blood flow slowly stopped. He heaved like he was coming out of some deep, pain management mojo or something. Deep lines marred his ankles and wrists, that’s when I noticed he wore matching cuffs to mine. So, he was a prisoner like me. Not that it was a good thing because I had no idea why he was in here with me or why. Or if it was some sick joke of the guards to see how long before horned alien killed me.

He cringed, moving more until he was nearly standing.

Oh, my god! He was massive as he bent at an odd angle to keep his horns and head from hitting the low ceiling. He looked like…like a freaking angel. Well, minus the horns. He was bigger than I thought he was when he had been laying on the prison cell all hunched up with his wings covering most of him.

My heart lurched.

I shuffled to get around him to the other side of the cell and put what distance between us in this small cell.

His arm shot out, grasping me around the throat and hauling me up in the air. I let out a squeaked scream. I kicked at him, clawing at his hand. His good eye snapped open, dilating like a cat. I screamed again—or tried to.

Nope, this guy was no angel, he was a fucking devil.

He squinted at me, pulling me closer and inhaling sharply. Shit, was he deciding if I was worth eating or not? I struggled against his hold again, but he didn’t budge, didn’t even blink. Then his face scrunched up like he smelled something foul and dropped me. I landed on the floor, coughing and choking. Without an apology or even a word, he backed away with a scowl on his face, sat down against the far wall and stared at me.

I rubbed at my sore throat. Sure I would have bruises. “What the hell is your problem?”

But he didn’t answer me, not that I expected him to. I didn’t even know what language this winged alien spoke or if he understood me at all.

The fact he was on the other side of the room didn’t appease my fears much. I’d seen how fast he moved when he had grabbed me and started to choke me. I doubted I’d get any sleep ever while he was locked up with me.

While I guess while neither of us were asleep, I could try to find out some answers. “I’m Samantha.” I tapped my chest.

His grunt told me he caught the gest of what I was saying, so that brought me a fragment of hope.

“Your name?” I held my hand out toward him.

Nothing.

Fine. I didn’t need to name him. Wasn’t like he was going to be a pet or even a comfy roommate with me. I squared my shoulders.

“I’m human. What type of alien are you?” I tapped the top of my head, then mimicked horns on my head.

His response was to close his eyes.

“Maybe another dialect?” I switched to Pvarixl, which most of the universal shops and customs spoke. “Why are you here? Why did they put us together.”

If I could get some kind of information, then I could figure out what these Roulex wanted with me. Bargain with them if I had to. I shuddered. Not that I wanted anything to do with them. But having facts about them, this prison, my chatty cellmate and why we were here would help.

“Speak something in your language,” I said. “Then maybe I can figure out what it’s close to.” One quirk I liked about my old job was how I had paid for multiple translator chips to be inserted into my brain. Customers tipped really well if I could communicate efficiently with them. And I’d paid for them out of my own pocket cause my boss was cheap. Now I knew that he was a fucking bastard too. If I ever got out of here—my throat closed up—I swallowed against the pain, closing my eyes briefly. Crying wasn’t go to get me anywhere. I needed to be strong and focus. Find out as much as I could.

“Hey,” I raised my voice a little louder. “Can’t you speak?” Then guilt slammed into my stomach. What if he couldn’t…like the Roulex could have taken out his tongue or something. I mean he was tortured, obviously, from the wounds across his chest and back.

His snore answered me.

* * *

Hours later, I knew Angel—the nickname I gave my prison mate—wasn’t sleeping from his erratic breathing anytime I drifted within a foot of him. Yet he refused to answer any of my questions. I’d hoped finding out why he was here would help me figure out what I was doing in this cell with him. Why was I stuck in here with this alien? What did the Roulex want to accomplish? Or was this merely a holding cell until they could harvest us for our organs.

Unable to sit still, I paced back and forth in the tiny five-by-eight foot cell The stench of blood and urine clung to the air. Maybe if I offered a kidney and my spleen again, they'd let me go.

When I ventured too near Angel, because I wasn’t paying attention, he grabbed me. I screamed, beating on his chest. He murmured words I couldn’t make out and held me close to his chest. His wings covered us.

“Let me go,” my voice came out muffled, but he only held me tighter.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything except lay here while a crazed alien cuddled me to his chest. And oh boy, did he smell good. Like summer rain and iced coffee.

Against my will, my eyes slowly grew heavier and heavier. I don’t know if it was his warmth, presence, or he was like the best weighted blanket ever, but I couldn’t stay awake.

This might not be a bad way to die if I thought about it.