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“They’re mercenaries,” Eden reminded. “They’re all dangerous.”
There was a large stack of blankets and a case of bottled water. At least Eden hoped it was water because she was really thirsty. She picked up a bottle and draped one of the blankets around her shoulders. The water wasn’t labeled, but the bottle looked exactly like the ones found on Earth. How odd. Was this more proof that Earth was a colony of some distant species or had the aliens emulated the design? She twisted off the cap and took a tentative drink. The liquid was room temperature, but it was definitely water.
She meandered closer to the back of the room, Kendra shadowing her. There were only nineteen females in the room right now. The shuttle or shuttles must have gone back for more residents. Unless some of the females were being held in a different room. Damn it. There were so many unanswered questions. Where was Ansley? She was the only one Eden could think of who might possibly know the answers.
A pathetic whimper drew Eden’s attention to her left. Amy was sitting on the floor in the corner, legs drawn up to her chest. Someone had wrapped her blanket around her so only her head was visible, but she was alone. Alone in a room full of people, but still alone. Eden went to her and sat down. She wrapped her arm around the younger woman and Amy immediately turned toward her and cried against Eden’s shoulder.
“This can’t be real,” Amy said in between gasps and sobs. “Tell me it’s not real.”
Lying to her, even to calm her down, felt wrong. “You’re going to be fine, hon. We’ll get through this together.”
Kendra slid down the wall and sat on Eden’s other side. “I’m with Amy. This doesn’t seem real.”
Rather than torturing herself with speculation, Eden watched carefully as more and more of the residents joined them in the hold. Those who came off the shuttles arrived in clusters of five or six. Those who had been ‘beamed’ aboard arrived four at a time.
In between each group of new arrivals, her gaze returned to Mr. Bossypants. He was clearly directing the activities in the hold and seemed to be talking a lot on his communicator. Even with all the distractions, he looked at her over and over, assuring her that he was feeling it too. Whatever the hell ‘it’ was. Infatuation? Lust? Animal attraction?
Her reactions were obviously a combination of stress and direct exposure to virile males for the first time. Why her body had focused in on that male above all others, she didn’t know.
Jessie and two of her friends walked in a short time later. Apparently, the sedative the hunters gave her had been mild and wore off quickly. She looked annoyed, but unharmed.
Half an hour later Lynette, one of Eden’s dormmates, spotted her in the corner and walked over to join their small group.
“That wassobizarre.” Lynette seemed shockingly buoyant given the situation.
They were all in shock, Eden supposed, and dealing with the stress in different ways. Besides, Jessie had demonstrated how futile it was to throw fits and struggle.
“Were you teleported over?” Kendra wanted to know.
Lynette nodded. Her expression was still slightly dazed. “I felt like I was being sucked out of my body and then I passed out for a second, only to wake up somewhere else. I still feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Please don’t,” Kendra said with a playful smile. “I’m sure they would make us clean it up and the ventilation is not that good.”
“If they have a transporter, why bother with shuttles?” Eden didn’t expect an answer. She was just thinking out loud.
“One of the guards told me that the ‘molecular teleportation engine’ pulls energy away from the ‘refraction shield generators,’ which increases the chances of someone seeing the ship.” Each time Lynette came to an unfamiliar term she accented the words with finger quotes.
Eden only had the vaguest idea of what all that meant, but it made sense. If two power hungry systems were fighting for energy, one or the other could fail. “Have a seat. It sounds like we’re going to be here a while.”
“This ship is just temporary,” Lynette told them as she sat down. She faced them, legs folded in front of her. “Another much bigger ship is coming to pick us up.”
“The guard told you all that?” Kendra guessed.
Lynette nodded. “He was a talker.”
Eden estimated that it would take at least an hour at the current rate to evacuate the entire island, so she was shocked when all of the remaining females walked in a short time later. She looked closer, then repeated her head count. “Where’s Ansley?” The last time Eden saw Ansley, she was talking with Mistress Neeva. Ansley had looked at Eden and had waved goodbye then walked out of the dining hall. Did the hunters realize she was gone?
Kendra tensed and looked around as well. “You’re right. I don’t see her.”
“What about the founders and the dorm counselors?” Eden wondered. She didn’t really give a shit after the way they had lied to everyone, but it was curious that they weren’t here. “Are they being held somewhere else on the ship?”
“We’re the—what did Ansley call us—conduits. Maybe the hunters only wanted us.” Lynette stood and moved to the wall so she could see the entire room.
Eden’s mind stuck on the strange word, refusing to let go. Conduit. According to Ansley, she was a conduit. They were all conduits. Conduits were one third of a power triad. The other two parts were the source and the controller. Controllers and sources were always male, and conduits were always female. When the three bonded they were able to manipulate magic and manifest energy as various forms of matter. Ansley had sworn she’d seen videos of the abilities being demonstrated, so she knew they were real. Eden had no reason to doubt her best friend. Still, she couldn’t imagine doing any of the things Ansley had described.
Feeling restless and anxious, Eden stood as well.
Soon they all stood huddled in the corner.
