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  “Oh, my sweet Maritza. Your compassion will be the end of you.” He leaned back and looked at me. “If all we can give her is a short reprieve you must accept that.”

  “I still have to—“

  “Shh.” He touched my lips. “I seldom make demands of you. Isn’t that true?”

  I nodded, but only slightly so his finger could stay on my mouth.

  “This is one demand you must obey. Don’t let this girl shift her suffering onto your shoulders. She has no control over her situation—and neither do you.”

  The way his words stung my insides…it made my cheeks hot and my legs weak. I wished I could pull out the arrow my husband had just shot into me.

  I’d turned away from him without thinking about it. Elentinus put his hand on my chin and made me look at him.

  “You’ll obey me—won’t you, Maritza?”

  “Yes, husband,” I said, without thought or hesitation.

  Elentinus closed his eyes and let out a shuddering sigh. “I love you so dearly, Maritza. You prove yourself an irreplaceable treasure again and again.”

  I swallowed. “I love you, too. I’m grateful I got a wonderful husband like you instead of someone like Lord Nayjoor.”

  He laughed and hugged me again. “We’re a perfect match.”

  I headed back to Inga and Elentinus made a fast stride back toward the far end of the lobby.

  I’m a very obedient wife. No doubt about that. Elentinus was worthy of my obedience. Being obedient was part of the deal here, even though my husband was usually too nice to assert his authority.

  But…

  I said, ‘Yes, husband,’ out of instinct, not because I was actually going to give up on this poor suffering girl. Father knows best when it comes to Dak-Hiliah stuff. Dealing with human girls fell squarely into my territory. She wasn’t leaving here with her life as broken as I found it. I may not fix everything, but by God, nothing would stop me from trying.

  I went back to the couch and sat beside her. Inga took my hand.

  “What did he say? Let me guess—he didn’t like you disabling my shock collar.”

  I felt stricken. “No. He’s not like that.” I took a deep breath. “He said he was trying to convince Nayjoor not to be such a jerk to you and he wasn’t listening.”

  Inga scoffed. “Of course not. So what?”

  “So I’m planning on talking to Nayjoor the first chance I get.”

  “What do you think that’s going to do? I don’t mean to be insulting, but are you fucking stupid? He’s not going to change. Even if he says he’ll change it will all be bullshit when we get home. Especially with that asshole Rolf-Tem. The first thing he’s going to do is get a new control unit. He’s going to hold the fucking shock button down until his thumb falls off. That’s what I have to look forward to.” She shook her head and her lips started quivering again. “God! It makes me want to die.”

  My shoulders ached. I was starting to feel too dejected to be comforting. “I have an asshole servant here, too. That Hor-Denay. Now that I’ve heard about your guy I’m grateful for him. He doesn’t shock me. He’s threatened a few times, but never actually done it. He slapped me once, though.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Pah! I would celebrate a slap.”

  Now we were officially out of things to say. I looked at Kang. “Can you bring us two of those peanut butter milk drinks? I forgot what you called them.”

  “Of course, mistress. I know what you’re referring to.”

  “I don’t want anything to drink,” Inga said. “Just fuck off.” She gestured for him to go away.

  I petted Kang. “Aw, be nice to him. This is my personal Domestic, Kang.”

  “Yeah, they’re great, for some things. They don’t protect you, though. Anyway, make it fuck off. I only want you around me right now.”

  I tipped my chin at Kang. He rolled away.

  Inga sat up stiffly as she watched it go. She grabbed my sleeve with a white knuckle fist and pulled me close to her. She whispered loudly into my ear.

  “Maritza, I know they talked to you. They said you can help me escape.”

  My heart began thudding in my chest.

  “They got his first wife Sasha out of here. They’re ready to get me free, too. You need to find Elentinus’ control unit for your collar. Any control unit can be set to work on any collar. You can switch mine off. They have a pod that’s too small to be picked up by the wave sensors. It’s attached to the ship next to the waste disposal unit. Once I have the collar off they can move the pod to form a seal with the waste disposal hatch. I can crawl down through the hatch onto the pod. It will take me to Earth. From there, they have land vehicles to bring me to the Southern Hemisphere out of this ship’s sensor range. They have a ship waiting there to bring me to planet Rendam where I can be free.”

  She stopped whispering to glare at me. My breaths had become staggered with fear.

  I started to shake my head. “I…I don’t know where he keeps his control unit.”

  “In his drawer, in his desk, in his shelf, whatever. Just look for it. And it has to be done tonight, do you understand? We might leave tomorrow. I won’t ever get another chance this good. They guard us like hawks on the home world.”

  I started to quake with tears. “Don’t…don’t ask me to…”

  “Are you fucking crazy!” Anger made her whisper even louder. “They’ll never know you helped me. Even if he suspects it, he loves you too much to punish you.”

  “This could ruin things.”

  She started to cry along with me. “You…you would be this selfish? They’re torturing me! I haven’t even told you everything. My God—!”

  I put my face in my hand. “I have to think about it.”

  Kang rolled back over to us. I was so grateful I could have hugged him. He offered us two of the peanut butter milk things.

  “I told you to fuck off!”

  “No.” I took my drink and cradled it in both hands. “I want him to stay.”

  She fumed and slumped back in the couch. A moment later she sat up again and took her drink.

  The two of us sipped in silence.

  Alien’s Bride

  Book Three

  Alien’s Bride Book Three

  A Domestic found us after a while to ask if we wanted to join the others for a tour of the ship. I popped up from the couch.

  “Yes.”

  “No!” Inga said. “I don’t give a fuck about this stupid ship.”

  The urge to cry buoyed up in my chest again, but this time anger came with it. Inga was just the sort of person I tried to avoid in my old life. No matter what her situation was she would always make the worst of it.

  “I’ve never had a tour of the ship. I want to see it.”

  She stayed planted on the couch and turned away from me to scowl.

  Fine. Stay here and wallow in your self-pity.

  No. That was callous of me. She really did have a living Hell waiting at home. I drew in a deep breath and found my compassion.

  “Come on, sweetie.” I took her hand.

  “Pah!” She half-heartedly climbed to her feet. “It’s the only time I get away from that fucking asshole Rolf-Tem. Why do you have to ruin it for me?”

  She kept stride with me behind the Domestic all the same.

  We were brought into a large dining room that was walled on one side with concave windows showing outer space. Elentinus and Nayjoor sat close together, chatting. Rolf-Tem and Hor-Denay each sat one seat away from their masters to speak to each other from across the table. I came up slow since they hadn’t noticed us yet.

  “We could spread R78 spores on their home world,” Nayjoor said. “The planet would be dead in weeks without a single Dak-Hiliah soldier lost.”

  “If we use such a devastating weapon their allies would retaliate,” Elentinus said.

  “Not if they don’t know it’s us. If it looks like a natural disaster.”

  “They’re not fools, Nayjoor.”

&
nbsp; “They would practice selective ignorance.” He gave Elentinus a dismissive wave. “A moon base, then. Just as a warning. To tell them not to fuck with us.”

  “Would you really put such a thing to a vote?”

  “If we had a session today? No. But if more wives disappear—if things don’t change—“

  Elentinus tipped his chin at us. Nayjoor looked behind him and snorted. He stayed seated while Elentinus rose to greet me.

  My hand was trembling as I reached out for his. I squeezed tight to try to hide it. “We—we’re here for the tour.”

  Elentinus kissed my lips. His calm, authoritative vibe reassured me.

  “I’m glad you decided to join us.”

  Inga walked over to the window and pasted her hands against it. “Is that Earth?”

  Nayjoor lumbered to his feet with a grunt. He walked over to her. “Yes, Inga dear.”

  We all huddled before the window. The planet took up the bottom fourth of our frame of vision.

  “It looks like Earth…like space pictures.” She turned to me. “What have they done to our world?”

  I pursed my lips. “Well, actually, I guess some space invaders call the Instajants pretty much ravaged the place. The Dak-Hiliah took over afterwards, when the damage was already done.”

  “I know all about the Instajant bullshit. Tell me what it’s like there now.”

  My brow twitched. “I’ve only been there once, and I wasn’t able to leave the ship.”

  “Elen,” Nayjoor said, “I don’t understand a word your wife is saying.”

  We all turned toward him.

  Elentinus looked annoyed. “You didn’t get all seven Earth languages?”

  “Fuck no. It was bad enough having to go under for Inga’s language. Why do I need that garbage clogging up my brain? I still haven’t used your fucking Dornovonian, you know that? I thought we were getting all the wives from the same area.”

  My husband stared at him a moment. If he was a less serene being I’m sure Nayjoor would have tried his patience.

  “Darling.” He caressed my cheek. “Could you try to speak in my language?”

  “Ffff…Fthenbaukila…kila…dyehas,” I said. It should have been one fluid word: Fthenbaukiladyehas. I still think it was okay for my first attempt. It meant, ‘Okay, I’ll try.’

  “I want to go see it,” Inga said, while still attached to the window.

  “That could be difficult,” Elentinus said.

  I wanted to jump on this opportunity to ask Nayjoor how long he was staying, but the words were coming together too slow.

  “How long will we be having you?” Elentinus said (since we were of one mind as usual).

  “Eh. Three or four days,” Nayjoor said.

  Rolf-Tem puffed out his breath in disgust.

  I bopped Inga. “Hear that? Three days at least.”

  “Yes. I heard him.”

  She shot daggers at me with her eyes. I didn’t care. Her fucked up deadline of an escape tonight had to be taken off the table.

  Elentinus brought us into the vast kitchen, filled with hundreds of white cupboards above sterile shiny counter space. Loads of Domestics who looked different than the normal ones (Chef-bots?) were whirring around.

  We proceeded up an elevator that led into a relatively small control room. Seated at two pilot chairs in front of a broad window and control panel were actual robots. Not the boxy cylinder head things like Kang, but two units with silver faces on round heads, as well as arms, legs, torso, and pelvis. They were crude metal sci-fi rejects but at least they had a humanoid shape. One of the robots spun his chair around and sprang up.

  “Lord Elentinus,” it said in an appropriately computerized voice.

  “Continue your work. I’m merely giving my guests a tour.”

  It sat back down and faced its control panel.

  “What kind of weaponry do you have?” Nayjoor said.

  “Two thousand armed Defenders,” Elentinus said. “Most remain at the Earth colony. Five hundred man the yacht’s armaments. The hull can withstand anything the denizens of this sector can muster.”

  Nayjoor looked smug. “They may not penetrate the hull, but they can still knock you out of orbit.”

  “It’s not possible to be completely invulnerable.” He was unperturbed, as usual. “I accept the risks of my post.”

  “It’s a shitty post. I wouldn’t do it. No one else on the council would do it. You didn’t have to volunteer for it. You’re above these sorts of missions now, Elen. You still think like a petty viceroy.”

  Elentinus stared at him without responding. His jabs were like water off a duck’s back to my husband. He was so superior to Nayjoor that he didn’t feel it necessary to defend against his insults.

  I still had to wonder, though. Why did he volunteer to be Earth’s overseer?

  Elentinus led the way out of the control room. “Shall we continue?”

  The tour went through the infirmary. (I noticed Elentinus didn’t bring us into the gestation room). We also saw a greenhouse on the second floor. We eventually ended up back in the lobby in a much larger sitting area than the one I frequented. Inga and I took the end of one couch, Elentinus and Nayjoor sat in chairs beside one another, and Rolf-Tem and Whore took spots on the couch across from us. Domestics set out drinks and snacks. The only ones talking were Rolf-Tem and Whore. Nayjoor was focused on tasting one of every kind of hors d'oeuvre. Elentinus stared at him in silence.

  “Lord Nayjoor,” I said.

  Nayjoor looked at me with a raised brow then gave a dubious look to Elentinus. My husband eyed me.

  “It is sad to me that your wife is very unhappy.” I did my best with the clunky language, but the words came slow. “It is sad to me that you are unhappy, too. I would like to help things to be happier for both of you.”

  Inga elbowed me. I moved over to a chair away from her. Rolf-Tem and Whore both stopped speaking to stare at me.

  Nayjoor finished chewing his fish cracker thing. “My dear, your husband I and have already discussed this. I think we’ll just have a nice visit and not worry about these things. If Inga wants to be happy, she can be happy. If she doesn’t, then there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  He wiped his hands together both to get rid of the crumbs and to end the discussion.

  “It’s impossible for her to be happy when you let Rolf-Tem shock her whenever he feels like it. You have a terrified prisoner, not a wife.”

  Inga covered her face in her hand. Nayjoor’s jaw had dropped open.

  “Maritza.”

  The sharpness in Elentinus voice made my heart race. I sheepishly turned toward him. He glared at me with a narrow-eyed expression that made my insides twist.

  “You don’t shock her at all, do you?” Nayjoor kept focused on me as he spoke.

  Elentinus leaned back. “She only wears her collar for protection. I disabled the shock mechanism.”

  I blinked a few times. (I heard Whore groan somewhere off in the distance).

  Nayjoor jutted his hand toward me in disgust. “But she’s impudent, Elen. She needs to be corrected.”

  “No.” The anger remained in his voice. “This is what I tried to explain to you. The age of Shindray is over. Women may speak freely now.”

  Nayjoor was aghast. “Pah! In front of guests?”

  “Absolutely not!” Rolf-Tem said.

  “Don’t make me argue with you,” Elentinus said. “You know Pakpo’s position as well as I do.”

  “Of course I know. He’s a good druid, and he’ll bring about good things. But you want me to turn my house upside down. I know some changes are necessary, but I can’t abide chaos, Elen.”

  “You haven’t made any changes whatsoever.” He refused to look at Nayjoor. “You run your house exactly as your father did.”

  Nayjoor reached for another cracker. “My father was a good man.”

  I took advantage of his chewing to jump in. “Lord Elentinus treats me as much as an equal as he’s
able to, given the circumstances. I am devoted and loving to him because of that. We’re happy together. If you want to start getting the same thing from your marriage you must start by disabling the shock mechanism.”

  Nayjoor gave me a disapproving look that said, Now, now. You know better than this. He wiped his mouth on a napkin.

  “How embarrassing for you, Elen.”

  Elentinus was massaging one of his temples. “I’m not embarrassed in the slightest.”

  “Feh.” He made a snide smile. “I can tell you’re disturbed just by your posture.”

  “I’m disturbed because you’re exposing my wife to a harsh reality I sought to protect her from.”

  My lips parted.

  Nayjoor frowned. “Oh, Elen…I didn’t realize.” He touched his hand. “I apologize, my friend. She’s you’re little candy drop, isn’t she?”

  Elentinus looked at me. “I adore her.”

  “Aww.” Nayjoor put his hand to his chest.

  Nayjoor had just promoted me from someone impudent to a candy drop. I could have stayed sugary for him, but I was on a mission. Fortunately the words were coming to me much easier now.

  “Don’t worry, husband. I already knew women were being treated like subhumans. I think it’s good that Lord Nayjoor gets exposed to me. He can start to get used to the idea of a wife who’s an equal partner to him.”

  “I don’t treat Inga so bad!”

  “You should treat her the same way you would like her to treat you.”

  “Maritza, stop,” Elentinus said.

  I turned toward him fretfully. As I expected he looked angry.

  “I told you not to do this.”

  I lowered my head. My heart was racing again.

  Nayjoor clucked his tongue. “Perhaps now you see there’s some virtue to correcting them.” He shoved a mushroom thing in his mouth.

  Inga needed to do some breeding cycle stuff and Nayjoor wanted to go online for a while. Elentinus offered to bring Nayjoor to a console. He shot me a look that said, Stay here, but I booked it back to our bed chamber. I got on the bed and closed the curtain.

  Inga wore me out, Nayjoor pissed me off, and Elentinus was mad at me. I needed some time alone. I guess I was being childish. I didn’t want to be scolded…or worse.