I study the two new males briefly, noting the same haggard appearance all these human slaves seem to have. The one male has black hair, his eyes downcast, making it impossible to tell their color, while the other has blond hair and light eyes, though I'm not sure if they're blue or green.
In a matter of moments, the two new aliens return. They're dragging a female and male behind them, same as Hazmat One and Two, and they too toss the humans into a clear box—my box. The female has long brown hair, and the male has blond curly hair that reaches his shoulders.
Once the hazmats leave the room, they report, “Subject Three and Subject Four are secured,” to the main alien in charge of these tests before one hazmat slips away and disappears around the corner, leaving four aliens behind.
"Breeding pair Subject Seven, female, and Subject Eight, male, to begin Test 2A, transfusion exposure of Subject A."
There's a sudden hissing noise in the box that startles all three of us. What's even more startling are the three metal tables that appear from the ground like they had melted into the floor of the ship itself. The three aliens step into our box and grab the human female first, roughly muscling her onto one of the tables. As soon as her back connects with the metal, restraints come up and attach themselves to her wrists and ankles.
The male is grabbed next, and the same process happens a second time. He's wrestled onto what looks like an operating table and secured before they move onto me. Like an idiot, I'm stuck frozen in place as fear rides me hard, and in no time at all, I'm on the table and not going anywhere until they see fit to release me.
"Begin extraction," the lead alien says.
Chapter 16
Lyra
Unknown Amount of Cycles Later
Timehaspassed.Idon’t know how much. I only know that there have been more tests. More experiments. More misery. More despair.
All these awful experiences are collecting inside my head and heart. It's as if I'm competing with some unknown entity to be the most traumatized Straforian on the planet, and so far, I’m winning. I hate it. I hate feeling sorry for myself. I hate feeling so fucking miserable.
I have no idea how many cycles have passed since our capture. No windows means there’s no way to tell the passing of time on this spaceship. There aren't any clocks either, and none of us are keen on asking our captors how long they've had us. I think knowing will make it all worse, because right now, I can easily say it's been a cycle in this hell, though I know it’s been far longer than that. But I can almost convince myself otherwise, if only to ease the suffocating hopelessness I can't escape.
Every click feels like an eternity.
There have been so many tests they've done on my mates, myself, and the other humans Clija already had on board with him. It's worse when I'm taken away from Wen and Olo, which is far too often, because then I feel that overwhelming and crushing sense of loneliness without them at my side. And no matter how much I cry or scream to stay with them, the bastards still yank me from our cell and force me into the same clear box to run new tests.
Clija likes to play mind games with us, separating us even when there isn’t any testing. He announces awful revelations in front of us just to see our reactions. He will throw it in our faces again and again just to watch us suffer. He torments us with terrible noises over the intercom during our sleep so we never feel rested.
There are so many terrible things he does, yet he's careful to never take it too far. He stops his torturous mind games when I'm this-close to breaking, claiming I can't get too stressed since it's bad for the baby—a baby he claims he owns.
"That's enough testing for Subject A today. I want that female back with her mates. Too much stress on the mother will impact her offspring, and we can't have that. I already have a buyer lined up for it."
Gods, I still remember Clija’s awful cackle when he took in my horrified expression. He's rubbed it in my face ever since. He won't let me forget that my baby isn't mine. He won't let me forget that my baby has already been sold.
I'm just an incubator for him to make credits from.
I'm terrified, and there's not a damn thing I can do about it except break, and break I will. I feel it coming. I feel that cycle approaching like one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, except instead of ruining Earth, he’ll only ruin me.
I shiver, steps faltering for a split second before I continue my pacing. Clija’s words haunt me. I told Wen and Olo about Clija's plan the moment I was returned to our cell that cycle, and Wen had gone on a rampage. Olo was just as mad, though he was far less… violent about it. I've never seen the alpha so angry, so out of control. His growl was menacing, and I still get the shivers thinking about it, even though it wasn't directed at me.
I still remember that cycle, because it felt like the longest break from the tests we've ever had, and I have to wonder if Clija was nervous. I wonder if he saw Wen's fury and steered clear until the alpha was calmer. I’m not sure that’s true, though, since Clija could have easily tased our mate to incapacitate him, but it’s a nice thought, and I’ll take all the nice thoughts I can get in this hellhole. My thoughts have been running away from me more and more, and the fucking panic is unreal.
I just want this nightmare to end. I just want to go home.
I just want to go home to our den, to our nest, to our forest. I want to be left in peace. I want to raise my child in fucking peace.
"That's enough testing for Subject A today, I want that female back with her mates. Too much stress on the mother will impact her offspring, and we can't have that. I already have a buyer lined up for it."
No! Stop it! Fucking stop it!
I pace faster and bite my thumbnail to the quick. The brief flare of pain clears my head, and I can finally breathe easily. It doesn't last, though. It never does.
The upside to all these tests is that they're still funneling in air from Strafor, which likely means we are still planetside. And if we haven't left Strafor yet, that means we still have a chance to escape and go home. Perhaps it's a foolish dream, but I ache for freedom, as I'm sure all the captured humans and Straforians do.
Unfortunately, the number of captured Straforians continues to grow. The longer we remain planetside, the more modified humans Clija manages to abduct. He plans to build himself an army of marketable slaves so he can line his pockets. Who knows how long this will take, or how long we will remain on Strafor for? The selfish part of me wants to remain here forever so the rest of the Straforians notice the kidnappings.