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I glance through the bars of my cell and watch Zaez use a long-handled contraption that looks like the space version of a mop, but instead of using water to clean, it emits a stream of air and a blue light – sort of like the cleansers in our cells. The small alien moves the contraption back and forth in sweeping arcs, his short, thin legs taking tiny steps. Just as he nears the door of the cargo bay, it opens with a whoosh and two Zyfeliks enter.
It’s been several days since we’ve seen anyone other than Zaez, a fact I’ve been grateful for. Apparently, most Zyfeliks consider humans to be little more than vermin, and they’re wary of catching any diseases we might have. I hope their fears come true, and we give them some horrible disease that causes them to die a slow, excruciating death.
I don’t remember ever seeing these two aliens before. One is a little taller than the other by nearly a foot, but they both have the slender build that is apparently common among their species. They’re wearing white outfits that resemble wetsuits with built in boots, although the shorter one has the addition of a silver insignia on his chest. I assume he’s some high-ranking member of the crew.
The shorter Zyfelik shoves past Zaez, knocking him to his knees, and the frail alien releases a startled cry of pain.
Crystal strides across her cell to the door and shouts, “Hey! Pick on someone your own size, asshole!”
The taller Zyfelik immediately stalks across the room until he stands squarely in front of her with only the metal bars separating them. His unblinking stare is cold as he sweeps it over her. “Silence, female, or I will silence you!”
Quick as lightning, his long, spindly hand reaches out holding a metal stick that I don’t remember seeing when he entered. An electrical hum is the only warning we have before he pushes it through the bars and shocks Crystal with it.
Oh shit. She stumbles to the floor with a pained shout as the nauseating odor of burned flesh fills the air. An angry red mark mars the skin on her throat and tears well in her eyes. Her platinum blonde bob, usually so tidy, is tangled around her face.
Aria rushes to the wall she shares with Crystal’s cell and tries to comfort her, calling out to ask her if she’s okay. Across the room, I notice Zaez slip unnoticed through the door, his head bowed in submission and his eyes glued to the floor.
We’ve been lucky, so far – if you can call this luck. The other Zyfeliks have mainly left us alone, but it looks like our luck is about to change. Again.
As Crystal grunts and slowly picks herself up off the floor, the taller alien moves back to stand beside the shorter one who has been watching all of this play out with an almost bored expression on his face. I almost expect to see him start polishing his nails or something.
“Listen well, females! Captain Zirconiz will address you now. Heed his words!” The tall one bows his head in deference to the captain as the shorter gray alien takes a step forward.
“My gratitude, Sub-Captain Zariz.” The captain turns to us. “You will have medical scans today. It should have been completed as soon as we left your inferior planet, but it took my incompetent crew too long to upload the control data for humans.” At this utterance, the captain shoots what I can only interpret as an annoyed look to the sub-captain before he turns back to us.
“Any humans found to be of inferior stock will be jettisoned. You have already been inoculated against the most common diseases known to the Alliance, including the Plague. We cannot have the merchandise dying from disease before we get a chance to sell you. You will. . .” Before he can continue, the door opens with a whoosh and another gray alien quickly enters the room, coming to a halt before the captain and bowing his head.
“Well, Zarenz, what is it? Speak now!” Captain Zirconiz demands in his weird, high-pitched gurgling voice.
“Captain Zirconiz, your mate has sent an urgent communication. She requests your immediate response.”
The captain releases a frustrated sigh as he tilts his large head back. “Sub-Captain Zariz, never choose a mate from one of the upper families on Zyfel. They are more demanding than the Intergalactic Alliance Council.”
The sub-captain emits a grating, high-pitched whine that makes me want to slam my hands over my ears, and I suspect it’s their version of laughter. If I wan’t so scared, it would be fascinating to watch this extraterrestrial soap opera drama play out, but I have bigger things to worry about right now.
I watch as the captain strides across the room to the door with an order for his subordinates to take over for him. As much as I don’t like the captain, the sub-captain’s eyes watch us with a cold, avaricious gleam that makes me feel even more nervous. It’s like he’s mentally tallying the money we’ll bring him all while thinking of ways he can make our lives as miserable as possible.
The sub-captain paces in front of us. “Females, if you pass the medical scan, you will be sold to our discerning clients. You unworthy humans will be given the honor of enriching Zyfelik coffers – consider yourselves fortunate to sacrifice your inferior selves to our empire. You are welcome, females.” He comes to a halt and his thin mouth stretches in what I assume is a smirk before he turns to the other alien. “Zarenz, we will begin with Cell One. Remove the human female and escort her to the medic bay.”
“Uh. . . which one, Sub-Captain?”
“The large one with head fur the color of weeviil vomit.” The sub-captain eyes Rose with distaste.
I watch as the gray alien walks towards the cell containing Rose and Zoe. He reaches it and leans forward to a small metal box on the front. A red light flashes and scans his eye, and a moment later the door opens with a whir followed by a metal clang.
My stomach sinks with disappointment. I slept right through it – personally, I think they drugged me somehow – when the others were brought onboard, so this is the first time I’ve actually seen how the cell doors are opened. I’m disappointed to see it’s done with what’s essentially some weird biometric scanner that belongs in a spy movie. Any plans that had been in the back of my mind of breaking out of the cell that holds me are now useless.
Not that I had come up with a plan to break out, but at least before now, getting one of the doors open was still an option.
As the gray alien reaches through the opening to grab Rose, Zoe wraps her arms around her teacher and clings to her like a baby opossum.
“No! You can’t take her!” The girl shrieks, her voice surprisingly loud considering her small size.
Zarenz immediately comes to a halt, a stunned expression on his other-worldly face. He recovers quickly and gets one of the cattle prod things out of his pocket. I realize now it’s retractable and with the click of a button, it extends until it’s at least three feet long. I hear the tell-tale hum of electricity as he presses a different button and the end of the stick glows a menacing electric blue. Rose holds up her hand in a placating gesture to him while her other hand rubs soothing circles on Zoe’s back. She bends down and whispers in the little girl’s ear.
From my position, I can’t hear what she says, but whatever it was, it settles Zoe down as she nods and reluctantly releases Rose.
Fifteen minutes later, Rose is escorted back, her face chalk white. I want to ask what happened and if she’s okay, but I don’t get the chance because the aliens turn to Zoe next. I think they’re wary of dealing with the girl, so they use a small handheld scanner that resembles the forehead thermometer at my doctor’s office. The gray alien uses it to scan Zoe from head to toe. Seconds later, the device pings and announces in a tinny robotic voice, “Immature human female. Condition within normal range.”
