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But what was lost was lost, and I’d had to start over. We all had.
Exiting into the sunlight, I turned my focus to the single, rectangular shipping container being detached from the human shuttle, and frowned. Where were the rest of the females? Surely, they’d not crowded all the females into one single container just to save on fuel.
The human colony’s representative paced nervously in front of the container, looking just as pathetic as I’d seen him last. To this honorless male, the females he traded were nothing more than commodities.
Most humans still cowered in front of us, which I didn't mind. They thought of us as demons, not knowing that the very demons they referred to had been Kadrixan visitors to their home thousands of years ago. I wasn’t about to enlighten them.
The container opened down the center, splitting into two halves. Each half had a dozen females strapped to the wall for transport. Most were still asleep, but a few were already waking.
I frowned again. Why must they put the females to sleep for the travel? It was a simple trip across the ocean, not the void of space—a few hours at the most. We’d made it plenty clear after that first year that we only wanted females who chose to come, so why would they need to be sedated?
Each female was dressed in a fancy gown and ridiculous shoes that weren’t useful for anything other than ornamentation. Research told me they were dressed as if for a special event, and while a rut was a special yearly event, indeed, the frivolous clothing wasn’t something we had requested.
They’d come dressed similarly every year, even the ones from last year who’d been so sick they barely survived the trip. Since we never asked otherwise, they’d continued sending them like this.
No matter. We’d been trading with local tribes who wove the softest materials. We’d be able to outfit each female with comfortable clothing.
A female wrapped in red stirred as she woke, catching my eyes. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders, a rich brown, dark against her creamy skin. At first glance, she looked healthy, her cheeks rosy and flushed. Her red dress was slit high on the thigh, showing shapely legs with plenty of tantalizing flesh. Her body was rounded and soft-looking, and I had an urge to see for myself how soft she was up close.
Our eyes met, and the very ground beneath my feet seemed to shake, though no one else noticed, and my knees felt weak. This female was different from the others next to her, a class above, though if you asked me why I’d not be able to tell you. I wanted to unstrap her from the wall, carry her in my arms, and—
Vostak elbowed me, jolting my attention to the fumbling colony rep who looked ready to piss himself and run back to his shuttle.
Chapter 3: Clara
I woke up paralyzed and panicking. Across from me, a row of women were strapped up against the wall. Some of them were awake and looking around, terrified. Others were still asleep.
The last thing I remembered was being primped and prepped with the other women.They’d put me in a slinky red dress with a slit that showed too much thigh and matching ruby-red heels. They’d washed and styled my hair, and a makeup artist had painted my face with garish colors.
I’d felt like a present, gift-wrapped and tied in a bow. It was ridiculous, especially since every aide prepping me had looked at me like I was a sacrificial lamb, which I guess I was.
Julie, on the other hand, had seemed to enjoy the attention. She’d spun in her dark forest-green ensemble.
“I can’t believe you actually seem excited.”
She’d shrugged. “I have nothing back at the colony to live for. I lost my family in the tsunami last year, and I have a medical deficit out the wazoo from when I had a kidney infection. Plus, I can’t find a job to save my life. My friends all ignore me now that I’m in financial trouble, and my boyfriend dumped me too. As of last week, I have a negative amount in my credit account. I see this as a new start.”
Julie was a glass half full type. It was almost contagious—almost.
“I still have my brother,” I’d told her. They hadn’t let me call Chris before I’d left. He was going to be so worried when he couldn’t contact me, and the guilt was real.
“Maybe the aliens will let you send a message back to him.”
“Maybe. Aren’t you even a little scared? Those Kadrixans look terrifying.”
“They look like demons. But you know the saying, never judge a book by the cover, right?”
I always judged a book by the cover, but I’d kept that little tidbit to myself.
Then they’d herded us into the next room single-file, like cattle to their slaughter, a herd of young, pretty cows in slinky dresses and heels.
“Moo,” I’d mooed out loud, and the lady beside me had sent me a pissy look. It looked like someone hadn’t had their simulated coffee this morning. I shrugged and mooed again.
This time, Julie and Michelle joined me. Then, as if deciding to throw caution to the wind, the entire room erupted into loud mooing. I blamed it on the stress of our impending meeting with monsters, but damn, did it feel liberating not to care about how anyone felt.
One of the men responsible for getting us ready for shipment looked at us nervously. I didn’t like the way he looked down on us, so just for him, I encouraged my pretty cows to sing louder. One of the women started laughing maniacally, adding to the effect.
Yup. It was absolutely the stress.
