Chapter 4
Today was the day, we would finally be getting to Veon. I stood in front of the window Corran had designed for me after I had complained a million times about feeling like I was locked in a metal box. From space it looked completely different than Earth. It had a smoky red complexion that seemed to swirl before my eyes. Corran had explained that it was part of their defense system to look as inhabitable as possible and it was nothing but a complicated hologram that Corran had designed himself. Underneath the hologram lay a world that looked very similar to Earth. There were oceans, purple in color instead of blue because of an algae that provided unique nutrients, and land masses with forests, jungles, and mountains.
The similarities between the two planets had been almost too good to be true when Corran had first stumbled upon Earth and it had been months of performing positive tests before he had alerted leadership. Leadership that included Derrial. Corran had told me that Derrial had been furious that Corran hadn’t told the Vepar leadership about Earth and it had actually taken them a few years for Derrial to forgive him and trust him again.
It was a crack in the trio’s friendship that I had filed away for later, to be used if I needed it.
Looking at the red swirling mists, it was almost incomprehensible to think that a planet similar to Earth was waiting beneath its depths. I watched as we drew closer and closer, a sense of apprehension filling me at the thought of entering them. I suddenly regretted having asked for a seat as close as possible to the huge window. It would be much easier to go through the mists blindly.
“We need to go over a few things before we land,” came Derrial’s voice from seemingly nowhere. I hadn’t gotten used to the invisible technology on the ship and every time one of their voices spoke to me through the soundsystem I either jumped or I looked around, expecting one of them to be standing right behind me.
“Yes master,” I said sarcastically, heading to the Bridge to talk to my three captors. We had entered an uneasy truce over the past couple of weeks. I still hated them, but I also didn’t particularly relish the idea of being captured by the Khonsu so I was being their good little pet for the moment, just until I could figure out a way to escape them forever and somehow keep myself safe from the Khonsu.
“You only need to call me “Master” in bed,” came Derrial’s voice from the sound system.
“You wish,” I muttered back, but my mind couldn’t help but fill with images of the time when I had been in his bed, how good his body had felt against me, in me...like we were a perfect match. The images were distorted in my head now that I knew their true motives, but I couldn’t help but crave that feeling again. That feeling of finding what I had always been looking for.
I mentally berated myself all the way to the Bridge. I couldn't afford to let my lust get my guard down around them. Nothing but pain and misery...and possibly little alien babies that I would fall in love with but wouldn’t get to keep lay in a future that involved them.
Despite my mental admonitions, the sight of all three of them in one room still threatened to leave me a quivering mess. I hated my body’s reaction to them, how they had made me crave both their bodies and their blood. Corran had promised that he was working on some kind of antidote to help with the blood cravings but I trusted he’d come through with something about as little as I trusted myself to navigate this ship back to Earth on my own.
“Glad you made it, pet.” Thane smirked my way as he leaned against one of the chairs in the center of the room that seemed to be suspended in the air.
I rolled my eyes. Thane in particular had loved to antagonize me over the last couple of weeks and I was trying my best to ignore him in hopes that he would get tired of his games and go away.
“Well? You called?” I asked sharply, venom in my voice. I saw something flash in Derrial’s eyes. Out of the three of them, he seemed to be the most affected by the fact that I wanted nothing to do with them and regarded them as Public Enemy No. 1. I’m sure there was a story out there to explain his reaction but I couldn’t find it in myself enough to care.
“We need to talk about what Veon will be like,” Corran explained, fixing me with those intense, caramel colored eyes. “The culture is quite different from Earth and there will be a lot of things that don’t make sense to your earthly sensibilities.”
I opened my mouth to offer a retort but Corran cut me off. “Could you just get off your fucking high horse for one minute, Ella. I’m not trying to be offensive for fuck’s sake. These are just things you need to know.”
My mouth opened in shock. In all the time that I had seen Corran, he had never appeared so angry, not even when he thought that I was running away after he fought the Khonsu (which I was by the way). The heat in his voice burned through my body and I found myself strangely turned on.
“Okay,” I said meekly, thinking that I should probably listen if he deemed it important enough to crack his usually emotionless shield.
Corran took a deep breath and his expression morphed into his usual stoic one, where he revealed no emotions. A moment later he was back to the cool and collected Vepar that I was used to. “First things first, the Vepar don’t like the humans. They think that they are a lesser culture and I don’t see that changing any time soon,” Corran added, matter of factly.
Once again I got the urge to say something sarcastic, like how he’d just made an obvious statement. But I held back the words.
Thane was watching me, an amused twinkle in his eyes because he knew how hard it was to keep my mouth in check. I shot him a look and then turned my attention back to Corran who was waiting impatiently for me to pay attention to him again.
“As I was saying,” he said. “The only way that a human would be accepted onto Veon is if the leadership thinks that we need you to continue with the fertility experiments. The way that the program has been explained to them, our human subjects will be nothing more than vessels and prisoners of Veon during their time here.”
I couldn’t stop myself this time. “Isn’t that the truth though. It’s not that the leadership has to think that, it’s how it is. As far as all of you are concerned I’m nothing but livestock for you to do whatever you want with.” Frustrated tears filled my eyes at the realization of what I was facing once again rolled over me.
Derrial was in my face suddenly, his hands gripping my arms so hard that I was sure he was going to leave a bruise.
“Stupid girl. If you would just let us have a second to explain it, it wouldn’t need to be like this. Why do you have to be so fucking prideful? We’ve been trying to get you to let us have a second to explain what you saw for the past few weeks.”
“There’s nothing you could say that could make this better,” I snapped at him childishly.
Derrial let me go with a growl, throwing up his hands in frustration. “I can’t deal with this right now,” he practically screamed as he angrily strode out of the room.
I trembled in the aftermath of his rage. There was a piece of me that did want to listen to what they had to say about their secret basement room and their planned fertility experiments, but he was right, my pride wouldn’t allow me to give them the chance to explain. I was still too hurt by everything that had happened.
“You’ll have to listen to us eventually,” said Corran, watching me as if I was a particularly vexing science problem.
“Can you please continue with what you were saying?” I responded stiffly, keeping my eyes glued to the floor.