Alien Captured Page 15

  Holding onto Killer, she went back to the bedroom. She took her few possessions out of the old pillow cases and stared at the wall. “Let’s see if it works for me.” Killer trotting next to her, she went over and touched the wall. It slid open to reveal the same shelves she’d seen before. She was tempted to pick up the silver thing Azagor had put in there, but wasn’t quite brave enough. Who knew what it could do? It lay on the shelf, a flat rectangular silver something. Maybe it would change into a snake if she touched it, the way Moses’s staff changed.

  Killer walked into the bottom shelves and the doors closed, gulping up the only thing she had left. Susannah stood frozen. Someone screamed--a harsh terrible sound--but she couldn’t move to help. She couldn’t lose him, not Killer, too.

  Chapter 13

  Susannah,” a distorted voice said, from far away.

  She tried to answer, couldn’t move her lips, trapped in a nightmare, her baby torn out of her arms, sly giggles as they trapped her in a world of living with the knowledge that she might never see her baby again.

  “Susannah, feel, your rat is safe.” Something furry snuggled against her, licked her cheek. It barely registered above Noah’s heart-wrenching cries--as if he knew he’d never see his mother again.

  Warm fur, soft paws, and little barks slowly penetrated her misery, and she stared down into beady little eyes. “Killer?”

  “He went into the closet. I have changed the doors so that it will remain open if he enters a closet,” Azagor said.

  The voices, Noah’s cries, receded to the back of her mind, and she wanted to beg the nightmare to come and take her again. Because at least then she heard her baby cry.

  Too tired to even wonder how he could make doors that clever, she wiped her cheeks with awkward swipes of her hand. He must think she was a crazy woman going on like that. Susannah stared down at Killer, to avoid having to look at Azagor.

  “I’m fine now. I’ll finish unpacking.” How could she explain to him that she hated when terror gripped her like that, but that at the same time, it was the clearest memory she had of her baby. She was terrified that she wouldn’t recognize him when she found him. What if she had to pick Noah out from the other children, and she didn’t recognize him? What if his cry was different?

  Azagor took something from his pocket. “After you explore the dwelling, you can watch your TC.”

  Susannah forced a smile and took it from him. At least it was something familiar.

  “I do not wish to leave you alone, but I have many duties.” He pressed his forehead against hers and left at such speed, she was convinced he couldn’t wait to get away from her, no matter what he said. She touched her forehead where she could still feel the warm pressure of his. This time, he didn’t even ask her to kiss him.

  ***

  Azagor had been about to enter the command center when he’d been alerted by the safeguards he’d set in place that Susannah was in trouble. He couldn’t fathom such emotion over a rat. All she had to do was step closer, and the closet would have opened again. Even a touch would have worked. It worried him that Susannah would never do the things he’d thought about all those months on the project in space. She wouldn’t argue politics with him, discuss new inventions, or fight with him the way Madison did with Viglar.

  Zacar was looking at a map of Earth, studying the densely populated areas, when Azagor entered. He didn’t envy Zacar his task. Ruling a planet that had not been conquered--and the population not suitably terrified--was difficult. Azagor would never understand this decision by The Zyrgin.

  “My breeder requested I search for her cousin, and I am using the probes to do searches,” he told his leader. After seeing how they treated Susannah, he didn’t want any of her blood left in the brothers’ hands.

  Zacar nodded. “You can do no other. Where will you put this cousin when you have found him?”

  “He is still a small human, and I will place him with the new orphanage we built. They are the best equipped.” He would ensure that Susannah’s cousin had the best care and education.

  “Human women have strange ideas. Your breeder would probably expect you to have him in your dwelling.”

  Azagor took a step back. “She would never expect that of me.”

  “It sounds impossible, but human females expect outlandish things from us.”

  ***

  Still feeling raw and unable to put Killer down, Susannah finished unpacking one handed. She crawled onto the bed and sat there, holding Killer for a long time. “We are sea-faring frogs, Killer. We can’t just sit here because we are scared of all the strange things.”

  They went exploring. A doorway on the opposite wall from the cupboard led to a bathroom. It was unlike any bathroom she’d ever dreamed of seeing, big and shiny and alien looking. There was a tub with gleaming silver taps. In the corner was a glass box with something that almost looked like a tap coming out of the roof. And silver taps and other buttons she suspected did all kinds of magical things when the water came out of the spout-like thing. The toilet looked like the ones at the farm that didn’t work anymore, except this one worked. She spent a few minutes touching the button that made it flush and laughing when it made Killer bark.

  “Let’s see if there’s anything in the living room we didn’t notice before. And maybe we can watch an episode or two of the space ranger.” Those stories had been a wondrous find on the TC Caine had gifted her. It had helped her before. Maybe it would take her mind off things now as well.

  In the living room, she went to the couch and sat down. She frowned and bounced, and Killer, thinking they played a game, barked in time with the bounces. “I thought for sure this couch would be hard, Killer. But it’s the softest thing I’ve ever felt.” She stroked the silver material. It might look like metal, but it was like velvet to touch.

  Killer barked, wanting to get down, and she reluctantly set him on the floor. She started the TC and wiggled into the corner of the couch. She should’ve brought the thick pelt on the bed.

  She still felt cold. The Space Ranger episodes were easy to find, but today the good-looking adventurer couldn’t hold her attention.

  Pulling up her feet on the couch, she clutched her arms around her legs and rocked.

  Azagor said he’d find Noah for her. After they took Noah, she’d tried to leave the farm so many times, determined to find her son. Each and every time, one of the cousins had seen her and betrayed her to Joseph.

  She’d been punished for daring to even try to leave the farm, and here she sat--off the farm in an alien house on an alien couch watching the Space Ranger.

  “I’m not such a brave frog, after all,” she told Killer who sniffed the floor, probably scenting Azagor. He had a terrible case of hero worship.

  Fear of the unknown wanted to swallow her the way that pit had swallowed her spirit little by little with each punishment, until she ended up the shell Brother Joseph wanted her to be. Susannah forced herself to focus on the space ranger currently clasping a barely clothed woman to his chest. Then he kissed her, what Azagor called kissing with tongue, and Susannah shifted. The others would probably bury her alive if they knew, but she enjoyed kissing Azagor. With tongue. She loved the way he tasted, that he smelled like wheat, fresh and green growing in the field, like pine needles and sometimes engine grease. When he’d started doing that first knowing thing, she’d thought it would be awful. But it had been wonderful so sinfully wonderful, it had scared her.

  She’d watched two episodes when the door opened. Susannah sat up straight and switched off the TC. It was a reflex action to switch it off and hide it behind her.

  A beautiful woman with long golden hair, dressed in jeans, a pleated white shirt, and boots with heels, walked in. The first time Susannah had seen shoes with heels on the TC, she’d been amazed. She’d never thought such things existed. The woman held the hand of a little girl. There had been no children on the farm, so Susannah couldn’t judge the child’s age. She still had baby fat, but she ha
d the kind of bone structure that held the promise of great beauty.

  The woman smiled at her. “Hi, I’m Julia. I hope you don’t mind me coming over and just walking in. Azagor said he’d forgotten to show you how to open the door.”

  Susannah got to her feet and, like when she met Natalie, she felt unattractive and not even feminine. “You’re welcome.” That wasn’t strictly the truth. Saying that to a stranger when her whole life she’d been cautioned against evil outsiders was difficult, even with her decision to embrace everything new.

  A wry smile from the beautiful blonde. “Alissa told my daughter Mirabelle about the cool baby dog. And then I had to ask Azagor if it was okay for us to come here. All I’ve heard the whole day is the little dog, the little dog, until it drove me nuts. May I sit next to you?”

  Susannah nodded, even though Julia had already taken a seat. Next to this beautiful women with her expensive clothes and beautiful boots, Susannah felt frumpy and backward. She could only imagine what Julia saw when she looked at her.

  Mirabelle made a beeline for Killer, who gave her outstretched hands one look and ran for Susannah. She picked him up and put him on the couch next to her. “You can pet him, Mirabelle, but remember he’s very fragile. His bones break easily.” Like when she met Natalie, Susannah realized that she used the same words as Julia and Natalie and still hers sounded different. Was it because they were outsiders? Or did it mean her speech was as backward as her clothes? She wanted to be like Julia and Natalie, to have her own child with her, and she wanted to be well dressed and know things that would impress Azagor.

  Killer barked at Mirabelle from where he sat next to Susannah. Mirabelle giggled at the soft sound and, sinking to her knees on the couch, crooned to him and softly stroked his head. “He’s so cute, Mama I want one, too.”

  Julia rolled her eyes at Susannah. “I don’t think there are any others like him around, Mirabelle.”

  “Azagor calls him a rat,” Susannah said quickly when Mirabelle’s bottom lip trembled.

  “I bet you he growls and calls it a rat and then when you’re not looking he’s spoiling him rotten,” Julia said.

  “Killer likes to help Azagor fix things and hands him tools, and Azagor pretends they’re the right ones.” She smiled, remembering the serious way he accepted tools from Killer.

  Julia’s eyes widened, and Mirabelle looked at Killer with awe. “He can help fix things? He’s so clever. I have to have one, too.”

  “The--The man who gave him to me said he was the last of his kind. The farm where others like Killer were bred burned down.” She’d had nightmares in the months afterward about little dogs like Killer burning, dying horrible deaths.

  “That’s so sad.”

  “You can come and play with him sometimes, maybe you and Alison can help me when I give him his next bath.” He loved being bathed in warm water, but every time she saw him wet, his little stick bones were so obvious, and she feared the day she’d lose him.

  “Can we, Mommy?”

  Julia rolled her eyes at Susannah. “Yes, but you’re not to nag Aunty Susannah.”

  The door opened and Natalie, Alison in front of her, appeared. “We’ve come to play with Killer,” Alison said.

  “No, we’ve come so that certain people can play with your dog and stop driving me up the walls, begging to come here,” Natalie said.

  “You’re welcome.” Never did she think she’d say those words twice in one day. To outsiders.

  “Do you mind two more guests? Azagor said to just come in. He forgot to show you how to open the door.” Natalie made a face at Julia. It was obvious they’d been friends for a long time. Would Susannah one day have friends that made faces at her? “All the warriors still move about ten steps away before they’d talk to me.”

  Feeling a bit overwhelmed with all this attention, Susannah smiled and gestured to the space between her and Julia. “We can all squeeze in on the couch.”

  Natalie sat down next to her and Alison went to kneel in front of Killer, shoulder to shoulder with Mirabelle. The two children stroked a bewildered-looking Killer.

  “That’s actually why I’m here. They have a huge store room with everything you need in it. If you find pictures of things you like on the TC, I can probably find something similar in the store room for you,” Natalie said.

  Susannah nodded. There was something strange about Natalie’s words and attitude, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She was just glad she wouldn’t have to get anything else out of a machine. She didn’t know if she could dress in the tight-fitting clothes Julia and Natalie wore, but she could look less backward.

  “Does it have clothes?” She blushed, but Natalie didn’t even look at her patched dress and ugly boots.

  “They’ve got everything. Show me pictures of the kind of clothes you like, and I’ll find it.”

  “I would like something more modern, but I’m not comfortable with showing too much skin or wearing clothes that are too tight.”

  Natalie nodded. “Why don’t I send you some long skirts that flare out a bit and some boots? You can let me know what works and what doesn’t.”

  “Thank you, I’d appreciate it.”

  Natalie finished her coffee and stood. “I will send over some bed linen and cushions. They’re big on covering the beds with pelts, but not so much with the rest.” She smiled down at Alison. “Time to go. You can play with Killer another day.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “We’ll see.”

  Obviously well acquainted with that answer, Alison grimaced but got to her feet. For the first time, Susannah noticed the wooden sword strapped to the child’s back.

  Natalie waved her back when Susannah would’ve gotten up to accompany her to the door. “If you need anything or want to speak to me, just ask Azagor to bring you over. Otherwise, when you’re settled, I’d love to have you and Azagor, and Killer, of course, over for lunch with me and Zacar.” She laughed, her brown eyes twinkling. “The warriors just don’t get the idea of coming over for lunch, so be prepared for an interesting time.”

  Susannah had no idea people invited each other over for lunch, so she might be the reason Natalie would call the dinner interesting afterward.

  Julia got up and took a complaining Mirabelle’s hand. “I have to go as well. I just wanted to introduce myself and get certain people to see the dog before I went crazy. If you need anything, Azagor knows how to find me.”

  The door opened, and Azagor appeared. He ignored Julia and Natalie who left with the excited girls chattering about the cute little dog.

  He came to sit next to her, took Killer, put him on the floor, and pressed his warm forehead against hers. “You may explore, rat,” he said with his head still against hers. “I will show you how to find pictures of furniture on the TC. Natalie said she will find what you want in the storerooms.”

  Susannah nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. He was so kind to her, and he was a stranger--an alien, supposed to be an ungodly creature.

  Yet he’d shown her more kindness than her own people.

  He was even searching for Noah. Joseph had told her, after her third escape attempt, the horrific things strangers would do to her. None of the outsiders had harmed her the way he said they would.

  Azagor produced a small box from his magic pocket. “I obtained a new TC for you.”

  “Thank you.” It was a small pink box with a large white button on it. Half expecting the new TC to do something frightening, she pressed the button. Bright images sprang into the air in front of her and hovered. She loved that moment when the pictures that were also buttons sprang out of the box.

  “Magic,” she whispered.

  She’d never get tired of seeing that happen. Caine had taken a long time to explain to her that if you touched the picture with the Space Ranger on it, then the episodes to choose from would appear. Sometimes he became short with her. She didn’t blame him for getting impatient. It was still difficult to understand how all the in
formation got into such a small box.

  Killer barked and ran to the couch, jumping up and down, trying to bite the hovering images, but he couldn’t reach. He tried jumping onto the couch, but his little legs weren’t strong enough to push him that high. Azagor picked him up, held him up, so that they were nose to nose. “You are pathetic, little rat, I will have to build steps for you to use.”

  Killer barked and tried to lick Azagor, who tapped his nose and put him down on the couch. “No licking, rat.”

  Julia had nailed it when she said he’d spoil Killer while trying to appear uncaring. While he was occupied with Killer, she studied the pictures hovering in the air. One of them simply had a question mark. Her old TC didn’t have that. Curious she pressed it and frowned when a rectangle appeared. Beneath that were the letters of the alphabet, all out of sequence

  “You type in what you want to see,” Azagor said. He pressed on the letters, and each one he pressed appeared inside the rectangle. The word barstool appeared. “Natalie suggested we search for pictures of that first.” He pressed on the rectangle, and hundreds of little pictures of strange looking chairs with extra-long legs appeared in front of them. What would they do with such odd furniture?

  They spent a long time choosing furniture. She loved choosing the carpets. Never could she have imagined finding such beautiful things to put on a floor. Everything she’d need for the kitchen. Even a stove so that she didn’t have to use the synthesizer.

  “Could I find--” She hesitated. He didn’t seem to notice her unattractive clothes, and she didn’t want to draw his attention to it.

  Azagor swirled the end of her braid around his forefinger. “Could you find what, my breeder?”

  His hand was big and green and lethal, but feeling his warm touch soothed her while, at the same time, it made her think of kisses with tongue. Every time she thought of the way he kissed and touched her, her body shivered with a strange kind of pleasure--the kind Brother Joseph would’ve punished her for.