Training the Warrior (2 page)

“I feel awful about what happened,” she
whispered.

Lydia pushed a stray blonde strand of hair
away from the woman’s face. “No, Bambi, you shouldn’t. You were forced to
submit to him. You have nothing to be ashamed about.”

Bambi closed her eyes tight. “Yes, I do. I
tried to fight, to get away, but I was strapped down. What he did to me
was…enjoyable. I don’t know why but it felt good. I liked it… He made me…”

“You came?” Lydia asked in a voice lower
than a whisper. Bambi bowed her head and cried.

Oh fuck
. They were all so totally screwed.

Their new situation only added to her
doubts about any chance of escaping. It seemed hopeless. She refused to give
up. Maybe when the aliens came to take them aboard the slaver’s ship they could
try to escape, somehow. There just had to be a way out or else.

* * * *

The opportunity to escape never came.
Sorvin and a group of about ten Delvans barged into their prison room and
pointed strange-looking weapons at them. Using threatening gestures and harsh
sounds, they herded them from the room. Lydia stumbled along with the others
down a narrow corridor until coming up to a wide doorway. It slid open
accompanied by a whooshing sound. She suspected it was an entry into a docking
port, because as they passed through they found themselves on board another
spacecraft. This one seemed larger to her, because of the taller doors and
wider corridors. It could have been an illusion. Their new captors were all
much taller than the Delvans. The ones she saw were like Sorvin—tall slender
males with red eyes and spiky white hair. Their skin was a shade of light gray.

Once on board, they were each taken in turn
and implanted with translator chips. Afterward, they were given robes made of
thin, almost transparent material and taken to a spacious holding cell. Solid platforms
with thin cushions lined the walls. The bathing facilities were about the same
as on the Delvan ship, however, the toilets had seats. The simple convenience
improved their mood some. And the lighting in their cell varied from bright to
subdued, giving them a sense of day and night. It was surprising how such a
small thing could be so comforting.

They were all now well aware of what was
about to happen to them. They were going to be sold to lonely, sex-starved
miners on a remote planet. God only knew where. The silver lining to the dark
cloud of their existence was the miners were all humanoid and were considered
to be excellent matches. Very compatible in every way, Sorvin had assured them.

Lydia wasn’t about to trust him or any male,
for that matter. She encouraged the women to be on the lookout for ways to get
away.

They waited and watched the males, trying
to get some idea of the daily patterns of their work schedules. It seemed
futile since the only time the males interacted with the females was during the
meal deliveries, which came twice a day. All the food was slid through a narrow
gap beneath the door. Not much chance to get away when their only exit was
always locked. The routine never changed. By the fourth day, Lydia started to
lose all hope.

On the morning of the fifth day, their
breakfast meal didn’t arrive. The sounds and vibrations coming from the ship’s
engines indicated they were straining, as if trying to gain speed. Several of
the women pounded on the door along with Lydia as they shouted for Sorvin to
come and explain what was happening. No one came to check on them.

Giving up on getting their captors’
attentions, Lydia suggested that they should all relax, divide up and wait on
either side of the doorway. If one of the aliens came to check on them, maybe
it would be their chance to overpower them and attempt to get away or take over
the ship. It was farfetched to even think they could fly the damn thing, but
they were willing to try.

Lydia had almost nodded off to sleep when a
strong shudder rippled through the ship. She jerked wide awake and was tempted
to stand, but another jolt, more violent this time, hit the slaver ship. The
lights shut off, plunging them into complete darkness. She screamed along with
the rest of the women until they flickered back on. The lighting stayed dim,
but at least there was enough to see by. Faint noises that reminded her of the
sounds made by the Delvan blast guns filtered down the outer corridor.

“What’s happening?” An unidentified
feminine voice trembled.

“I don’t feel the engines. I think we’ve
stopped,” Lydia said, sharing her thoughts.

“At the planet?” A different voice, which
sounded like Bambi’s asked the question.

Lydia let out a nervous laugh. “Only if we
ran into it. I think this ship is under attack. Listen.”

“Yes, I hear those guns,” Sherri, one of
the Sea Siren’s crew members said.

Sasha, who had her ear pressed against the
door, motioned for them to be quiet. “I think someone’s coming,” she whispered
and scurried to the side.

The door handle jiggled, but didn’t give
way. A heavy fist beat on the door repeatedly. A deep, harsh voice called out, “Answer
if you can. We know you’re in there!”

Loud footsteps ran down the hall next.
Lydia guessed a stealthy approach was no longer necessary.

“The Spacers have control of the bridge and
our troops have taken two Krellian prisoners,” a second deep male voice spoke
from the other side of the door.

The pounding continued.

That had to be what the tall gray aliens
were called, Lydia noted before calling out. “Yes, we’re locked inside!” She
hated stating the obvious, but the door banger didn’t seem to want to quit.

He grunted, but at least he stopped hitting
the door. “Move to the back of the room. Now!”

His barked order galvanized them to
retreat. They huddled at the back of the room, clutching their sheer robes
around them. The handle exploded and the door swung open. Lydia’s gasp mingled
with several of the other women’s as they took startled breaths.

A massive male figure stood arrogantly in
the middle of the doorway, peering into the cell. Another male, just as huge,
stood beside him. The only clothes they wore were boots, wide leather-like
belts bristling with sharp weapons and brief loincloth-style garments worn low
around their hips. Wide leather straps crisscrossed their expansive muscular
chests, and Lydia caught a glimpse of a sword hilt sticking above one of the
male’s thick shoulders. If it weren’t for the very futuristic weapon leveled at
them, she would have thought they were primitive barbarians from Earth’s past.

Nonetheless, they were extremely well-built
and dangerous-looking barbarians. The one who held the weapon returned it to a
holster strapped to his thigh.

“You’ll come out now. We must leave,” Mr.
Demanding ordered.

Lydia was grateful to be rescued from the
slavers, but she didn’t like the idea of trading one prison for another.
Neither one of the newcomers had mentioned anything about freeing them. Sherri
pulled on her arm. Lydia shot her a let’s do this look of determination and
Sherri tilted her head just a fraction, giving a quick wink.

Follow me,
Lydia mouthed the
words.

With a firmer hold on the robe wrapped
around her, Lydia stepped out first and strolled toward the male blocking the
doorway, seductively swaying her hips. As she approached, she tossed her head,
flinging the long locks of her black hair about her shoulders while letting the
top of her garment fall open, revealing an abundant amount of cleavage. She was
surprised at herself for even contemplating doing what she was about to do.
Seductive and shameless were two qualities she’d never considered herself
having. She was neither. Nevertheless, there was no better time than the
present to pretend.

Her tactic seemed to work. She’d caught his
attention. The giant hadn’t stepped aside and he followed her every move with
an intense gaze. She noticed he had a mane of dark brown hair gathered into a
long thick braid that rested against his chest. His eyes were a light tan
color. Such an odd shade, she thought as she drew closer. He never looked away
from her.

Once she was within arm’s length, Lydia let
the robe fall away from her body, revealing her naked feminine curves. He
blinked in surprise. It was the opening she needed. She darted beside him,
grabbed the blaster from his holster and sped between the two startled giants.
A curse her translator chip couldn’t decipher erupted from one of them, but she
was already across the corridor with her back to the wall. She had the blaster
leveled at its former owner. He glared at her, not at all pleased. She flicked
a glance at the other male, and any hope of escape vanished.

Mr. Demanding’s counterpart held Sherri in
a chokehold. A bone-white, shiny blade jutted out the length of his other
forearm and he had it poised directly over her exposed abdomen. Sherri was wide-eyed
and paralyzed by fear, gasping for each breath.

 Lydia stared at his arm in disbelief. The
sharp weapon resembled a long triangular-shaped flange, emerging just below his
wrist. It protruded gradually as it ran along the length of his outer arm until
reaching almost to his elbow where it appeared to extend out by about four
inches.
Are they some kind of X-men alien monsters?

“Relinquish the weapon or I’ll gut her.”
The large alien holding Sherri stated the ultimatum without a flicker of
emotion. He could have been making a casual comment about the weather or
talking about his next meal, he was so calm.

Mr. Demanding thrust out his hand,
impatient for her to comply.

Oh, god.
It was huge. It matched the size of
his forearm. No matter, she was still relieved to see at the moment he wasn’t
showing off a weapon like his partner. However, Mr. Demanding’s arm bristled
with muscles just like the rest of his body. And she’d just pissed him off big
time for nothing. Lydia grasped the weapon tighter. Sherri let out a strangled
whimper. Several women watching from the doorway encouraged Lydia to give it
up.

She lowered her arm, aiming toward the
floor in front of the two men. The chokehold around Sherri’s neck loosened a
fraction.

Not willing to give up without some
assurances, Lydia asked, “Are you letting us go?”

“We’ll take you to a safe world,” Mr.
Demanding answered.

“But are we free? Not slaves?”

“You aren’t slaves.” The other man spoke,
startling her. “You and the other females will be safe. No one will harm…”

The weapon was ripped out of her hand. Distracted
by what he was saying gave Mr. Demanding the opportunity to disarm her. Damn
huge mountain could move fast. He had his gun in its holster and her wrapped in
a similar chokehold in seconds. The only difference was he wasn’t holding a
bladed arm over her stomach. Instead, he had put his other arm across her lower
abdomen and his hand clutched her hip in a firm grasp.

He pulled her back tight against him. She
grabbed on to the arm around her throat, clawing and tugging against his wrist
as she struggled to free her neck from his grasp. It was futile, and she was
close to losing consciousness from lack of oxygen before she gave up and
stopped fighting. In response, his hold relaxed enough to allow her to take
reviving breaths.

The other man released Sherri. Lydia
watched in amazement as the white blade withdrew back into his forearm. He
motioned for the rest of the women to leave. They all shuffled out of the room
and ran down the corridor toward a group of uniformed men. All of the men were
remarkably human-like. They greeted the women in a polite manner and ushered
them around the corner.

In that moment, Lydia realized several very
frightening facts. She was stark naked and all alone with two giant alien men.
And one of them had her locked against him.

“Kern, release the female. We must take her
to the ship and let her go with the others.”

The one called Kern loosened his forearm
from around her neck. Instead of turning her loose, he lowered his arm down her
chest and rested it across her naked breasts. At the same time, he released her
hip and slid his huge hand over her sex, as if to shield her from the other man’s
view. He drew her even tighter against his body.

Lydia shivered, letting out a shocked gasp as
he bent and pressed his lips against the sensitive skin of her neck. He took a
deep breath.

Was he sniffing her?

He said with a growl, “Go away, Braedon!”

Lydia whimpered. The one holding her, the
one named Kern, snarled at his companion.
Oh crap. He’s growling like a dog.
Dogs terrified her, especially big ones that made vicious sounds like the ones
he made.

“Oh, fuck me! Not now, Kern. She isn’t even
Tauran!”

The one named Braedon seemed really put
out. There was frustration in his voice. She was scared spit-less Kern wanted
something more than to just keep her as his prisoner.

Oh, hell no.
Having some
oversized pit bull alien rape her wasn’t part of her freedom plan at all.

 “Leave!” Kern demanded.