Captured (4 page)

“Yes, Ekkatt?”

“My thoughts on the subject of human females are unimportant.”

“But you spent time communicating with this one, did you not?
 
You and Pana?
 
I would be most interested in knowing what the two of you spoke about.
 
If this female is one of a kind it could bring us a great deal of coin.
 
If there are others like it we could become wealthy beyond our wildest dreams.
 
We would just need to learn where to find more.
 
Perhaps they are a specific breed.
 
Perhaps there are others bearing the same mark.”

“No, sir. The mark is unique to this one.
 
I asked during the flight.”

“The female was born with it?”

“No, sir. She claims she paid another human to apply it to her body.
 
Apparently it is considered an art form.”

“They have a culture?”

Ekkatt had been flying these missions for twenty Attun years.
 
He was well aware that humans had a culture.
 
He simply chose to ignore that fact and do his job.
 
The Chief had never been out of their own solar system.

“Yes, sir, humans have a primitive culture of sorts.”

“How extraordinary.”

Ekkatt wished the man would use another word.
 
“May I suggest, sir, that you select this one for the private auction.”

“Private auction?
 
We usually reserve those slots for females from Rilad.
 
They are so rare, so hard to catch.
 
And sturdy, very sturdy.
 
Humans break so easily.
 
I have a special shipment of twelve females from Rilad arriving tonight.”

“Then the timing couldn’t be better, sir.
 
This human female took down Leader Tril, a man four times her size.
 
I think it might be more suitable than sending her to the meat market.”

Chief Thame appeared to consider his suggestion.
 
Ekkatt waited in silence.
 
He didn’t hold out much hope.
 
Human females had gone directly to the meat market for decades.
 
It was a widely held belief that they didn’t hold up well under the stress of hard labor and they weren’t sexually compatible with most of the acknowledged civilized species.
 
As it happened, their scientists had determined that humans were physiologically compatible with his own species, the Attan-Ru, but to engage in sexual activity with a human was a sin against nature and a crime punishable by death – death for the Attan-Ru, not the human.
 
Under the law a human was no more capable of giving consent than an elba, a creature used to provide milk for children.

“Where is it now?” The chief interrupted Ekkatt’s musings.

“She was bathed and fed and she sleeps in one of the isolation cubicles in the upper section.”

“You seem to feel some affection for it, Ekkatt.
 
Like one would a pet?”

Ekkatt knew he had better choose his words carefully.
 
“I’ve never interacted with such a creature before.
 
I found it to be…a novelty.
 
I was curious to know what made this human different.
 
Perhaps we can find a better use for humans like this one.
 
If it goes to the meat market, we may never learn its potential.”

“I’m inclined to agree with you, Ekkatt.
 
I believe I will keep this one out of the market.
 
I’m shipping supplies to the Aswat Laboratory in a few days.
 
I’ll send the human along.
 
Perhaps our scientists can learn something new about the species and when they’ve finished, they can dissect it or send it back here to be sold.
 
Yes, it might prove very useful.
 
Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Ekkatt.
 
Most extraordinary.”

Ekkatt kept his expression blank.
 
He nodded and left the chief’s office.
 
Fucking cock sucker
.
 
There were no curse words in his language.
 
His computer implant had allowed him to learn to curse in many languages, but he favored the more primitive Earther curses.
 
In this case, cock sucker seemed very apt.
 

Ekkatt tossed his gear bag into his craft.
 

“You are leaving?” asked Pana.
 
“Before the market?”

“Yes, I’m off.
 
I’ve flown four missions back to back. I need some time to recover before I head out again.
 
The chief will hold my portion.”

“You don’t want to stay and see what happens to your pet?
 
I hear the beast gave Tril something to think about.
 
The story has spread like wildfire among the men.
 
I’m sorry I missed that.”

Ekkatt shrugged.
 
“She’s not to be sold.
 
The chief is sending her to the Aswat Laboratory in a few days for study.”

“He’s a fool then,” Pana spat.
 
“I could make a fortune from that animal.
 
The human is an oddity.
 
Oddities pay well.”

“Perhaps you’ll find another on your next visit to Earth.”
 
Ekkatt’s reply was polite.

“Perhaps.
 
Do you remember where we found that one?”

“No,” said Ekkatt.
 
“They all look alike to me.
 
It’s hard to remember where we find any of them.”

“True.
 
Fly safe and rest well,” said Pana.

“Thank you.
 
Good hunting.”

Ekkatt climbed into his two-seater and lowered the door.
 
He flipped the lock, checked the seals, and pressurized the cabin.
 
He strapped himself into his seat and opened a com link with the control booth.
 

“Ekkatt Vom Baerkah Elae, son of Baerkah, son of Elae, requesting permission to lift off.”

“Permission granted, Ekkatt Vom Baerkah Elae, son of Baerkah, son of Elae.
 
Fly safe.”

Ekkatt powered up and lifted his craft straight up into the air.
 
When he’d reached the usual flight altitude he made a sharp left turn and sped away from the sprawl of warehouses that comprised the market.

“I…can’t…breathe…in here,” came a muffled voice from within his gear bag.

Ekkatt reached back and flipped open the clasp.
 
He heard the female suck in air like one who had been under water.
 
He regretted the need to practically suffocate her, but it was the only way to smuggle her out of the holding area.
 
Fortunately, her cubicle had been directly opposite an exit.
 
The entire unit was low-tech. It was a cost-saving measure.
 
No alarms.
 
No videos.
 
No guards except at the main gate.
 
No one expected the livestock to escape, and none ever had, until that day.
 
Ekkatt sighed.
 
So many firsts since this human had come awake.
 
Now he was a law breaker and a carrier of stolen merchandise. When and if the chief realized what had happened he’d become a hunted fugitive.
 
Perhaps the man wouldn’t figure it out.
 
Perhaps he’d believe she was sold by mistake to a meat merchant.
 

“He’s not the brightest nail in the hut,” Ekkatt said aloud.

“You mean, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed,” corrected Mari.
 
“Who?”

“I didn’t realize I was speaking English,” Ekkatt growled.

“Who’s not the sharpest tool in the shed?” she asked again.

“No one.”
 
Ekkatt turned around to glance at Mari.
 
She’d climbed out of his gear bag and was sitting cross legged on the floor of his ship, attempting to plait her hair to keep it out of the way.
 
She was naked again.
 
Even in the holding area livestock weren’t provided with any covering.
 

He wondered if that was one reason so many of them died within a few weeks of their arrival.
 
They were thin-skinned, these humans, and the chief was right about one thing, they broke easily.
 
Looking at her now, he found that her nakedness disturbed him.
 
He’d grown accustomed to seeing her clothed while on the transport vessel.
 
It seemed inappropriate to keep her in this animal state.
 
Civilized men and women wore clothing.
 
Ekkatt grabbed an old shirt he’d left on the floor of the passenger side and tossed it in her direction.
 

He watched her pick it up and hold the threadbare material against her cheek as though the fabric had been woven of the most precious thread.
 
She turned away from him.
 
He knew she’d done so because her eyes were leaking, and she didn’t want him to see.
 
Ekkatt felt her embarrassment and shame.
 
It occurred to him that the human had nothing to be ashamed of.
 
He, on the other hand, did.

“Put it on,” he said gruffly.

“Thank you.”
 
Her voice was very soft.

He turned to check his instruments, then he heard Mari’s voice just over his shoulder.
 
“May I sit there?”
 

Ekkatt nodded.

Mari climbed into the passenger seat and studied the safety straps.
 
She glanced at him, her eyes traveling over his chest, to see how he’d fastened his, and she followed his example.
 
“They were going to kill me.”
 
She wasn’t asking him a question.

“Yes.
 
But not immediately.
 
Our scientists would have studied you first.”
 
He watched her shudder at his words.
 
She laid a hand on his arm.
 
It was the first time a human had deliberately touched him.
 
To his surprise he did not feel any revulsion.

“You must take me back.
 
Ekkatt, you must return me.”

Her words shocked him.
 
“I will do no such thing.”

“You’ve put yourself at risk for a human, for livestock.
 
They’ll come after you…Ekkatt, you can’t lose your life over me.
 
I can’t let you do this.”

Of all the things the human could have said, this was the last thing he expected.
 
An animal expressing concern for the safety of a sentient being?
 
“It is done,” he replied.
 
“There is no return.”

“Where will we go?
 
Where will you take me?”

“To my home.”

“And then?”

“And then, I don’t know.
 
You ask too many questions.”
 

“But…”

“Quiet,” he ordered in his own tongue. The female shut her mouth.
 
But she kept her hand on his arm, and he didn’t tell her to move it.

Chapter 3

“It’s beautiful,” Mari whispered.
 
“Your world is beautiful.”
 
She stared from the window of the cockpit, watching wild rivers, sparkling emerald lakes, and rolling, grass-covered hills pass below.
 
On the horizon, she could see the rugged outline of mountains.
 
They seemed massive, larger than any mountain range she’d seen on Earth.
 
“Your sky is blue, like ours.”