Chapter 61
POV Melissa
"Permission to take off granted, boys, the GE has approved," the captain appears on the screen, and my heart races so fast that it fills my ears.
"Understood, Captain, we're leaving," Ine says with great enthusiasm.
"NO! I can't leave here, th-this is my home!" I feel drops of sweat running down my back, and it feels like I’m going to explode from so much nervousness.
"Melissa, n..." Cobal tries to silence me, but of course, I interrupt him.
"This is kidnapping! You can't take me!" I shake myself violently, and I'm sure I'll feel pain later because the belt and the handcuffs are digging into my skin, but that's the least of my problems right now.
"Calm the human down, Cobal!" But I scream so much that I annoy Ine.
"We’ll arrive in Faleia in two hours, there you will be transferred to the human-faleu marriage program, and you’ll become one of us once you have your first child!" Cobal speaks over my screams. "It will be okay, Melissa! Please, calm down. You will have a new life."
"I don't want to go anywhere, I want my mate!" I retort, and when he tries to touch me, I spit on his helmet.
"Please, don't be like this," he pleads, sounding like a babysitter who regrets agreeing to watch the neighbor's demon baby.
"Let me out of here, this is kidnapping!"
"Calm this human down now, or she’ll travel sedated!" But Ine gets tired of waiting for the other to silence me, and I immediately bite my lips together because if they sedate me, it will be worse. They might try to take advantage of me or inject weird stuff into my body.
What a mess!
But staying quiet is worse than shouting because without being able to plead for my Kaleo, I have to face the reality that maybe... I’ll never see him again. Maybe I’ll never even get close to Selvaria again because, in their twisted minds, helping me means marrying one of them and ignoring my pleas "for my own good."
So, I can't hold back anymore, and I start crying loudly. Thick tears slide down my eyes, and I sniff, my whole body shaking.
"We’ll run tests to find out what kind of drugs you’ve been using, don’t worry," Cobal, the "nice" faleu, whispers to me while the other alien presses the buttons that will take me away on the exact day Kaleo and I were supposed to unite our bodies and souls forever.
"You don’t understand, I don’t want to become one of you, I want my Kaleo," I whimper and sob, only to feel a strange change in my body. I feel the ship lift off the ground, it trembles lightly, and that passes into the chair. "NO!"
A desperate, loud cry overtakes me, and I can’t see anything anymore because my eyes are filled with thick tears. My heart is pounding in my throat, and there’s so much pain in my chest that it feels like I’m going to die.
So, is this how it’s going to end?
I arrived here already wanting to leave, and now that they're taking me exactly to the place I expected to go from the beginning, I don’t want to go?
What’s the logic in that?
What kind of weird fate do I have?
But I should have known that I wouldn’t have luck in life since I was just a child, and every single day I had to watch Helena, my biological mother, walk right in front of where I lived, but she never even spoke to me.
And I’m absolutely sure she knew I was there; once, she even stared into my eyes, and yet... I never even got a hug from her. As for my father, I never knew who he was, and he never bothered to introduce himself to me.
But now it’s different because for the first time, since the lady who took me in, someone truly wants me, knowing exactly who I am and where I came from, but I can’t have him because of some cruel and classist interplanetary law.
***
"Calm down, everything will be fine. I promise Faleia is a good place to live," Cobal says, sounding anxious, probably desperate as he sees me crying so much.
However, with each passing second, the effects of the gas are dissipating more, and besides my speech normalizing, my head starts to function better, and I finally manage to break free from a cycle of vicious thoughts, reaching the part of my brain that has always saved me, a small part that's always ready to come up with plans that have gotten me out of many tight spots.
"You said if I have a child, I'll become one of you, right? That's what you said, isn't it?" I ask, and if this works, I think I'll owe Gen for the rest of my life.
"Yes, you'll become a citizen of Faleia according to the laws," he agrees, but since I was screaming when he mentioned this, I have to pray I understood correctly.
"But what if I'm already pregnant? You can't take my child from me, can you?" I whisper, struggling against sobs, and Cobal falls silent, certainly not expecting this, which is a good sign.
The problem is, I don't know if my "ace in the hole" is real. I haven't taken any tests, and the little blue stain might just be some final effect of heat. But I know I need to try, because I feel the kind of "tap" inside my head that happens every time a spaceship leaves a planet and enters space.
"Did he abuse you like that and make a child against your will, Melissa?" he asks, and I roll my eyes.
My God, what a difficult guy!
"I'm pregnant with an Azuri, so I'm an Azuri citizen, and I can't be taken from Selvaria!" I demand, and this time I get the attention of the other Faleu, who turns his head in my direction.
"Azuris can't get humans pregnant," Ine argues skeptically, walking to stand next to Cobal in front of me. He must have put the ship on autopilot.
"There's a study online that shows Azuris can get humans pregnant," I retort.
Kaleo only bought me because he found that study, and I also read the document. According to it, the three species that live in Selvaria—Azuri, Lilari, and Nami—are compatible with humans.
"When we get to Faleia, we'll do tests to see if you're pregnant," Ine says, shrugging, and I'm sure he's sneering at me, even without seeing his face.
"I demand the tests now, or I'll report you to your superiors. I'll talk to the GE!" I take the opportunity to threaten him with the GE, since their captain seems not to want to mess with the organization, and I try not to sound as desperate as I feel.
"We don't have the equipment to test humans; we could damage your body."
"You have a health pod, don't you?" I ask, so tense I almost trip over my words. This is my only chance to get back to Kaleo, I feel it is, so I have to take it. "The health pod can detect the embryo in my belly and tell the DNA."
A "Health Pod" is a device that would be revolutionary for Earth's humans. It performs a lot of tests in seconds and, in dangerous situations, can perform quick sutures and keep a patient in a coma until they can be taken to a doctor with a wider range of medications.
"If you take me out of Selvaria with an Azuri in my belly, I swear I'll make you lose your badge." I manage to keep my shoulders high, my back straight, and my eyes fixed where I think Ine's eyes are, trying to show some authority.
Now I just need to pray there really is a baby in my belly!
"She's right, sir," Cobal agrees, and immediately Ine makes an irritated noise with his mouth, which is definitely a way of saying "shut up" among the Faleus.
"The pod is made for my race, human!" He tries to intimidate me and turns his back to me, walking back toward the infinity of buttons that control the ship.
"You do as you wish, but I have both of your names, and I'll file a formal complaint with the GE!" I exclaim, sounding exactly like those annoying Earth women who call the manager over anything, and I know I've won when I hear the more powerful Faleu snarl.