Page 1 of Baby for the Serp General

Chapter One

NATALIA PACED THE SMALLconfines of her cell, frustration and anger churning within her. She had no idea how long she’d been imprisoned in the depths of the Faction Embassy. There were no windows or clocks, and nothing to mark the endless passage of time. Just the four blank walls of her cell and the forcefield across the entrance. A tiny window deactivated twice per day to allow a guard to deliver her meals.

She was filthy, having been given no means to wash herself or her tattered clothing aside from the small sink beside the commode. Her formerly blonde hair must be nearly black by now. Not that she cared much about her appearance anymore. Not when her fate was so uncertain.

She had expected execution after the failed rescue/abduction of Rana. What else could she expect as a member of the human rebellion against the Faction proxy agreement? Yet hours had turned into days with no sign that her death was imminent.

The not knowing was the worst torture. The isolation. The boredom. The questions with no answers. Why had they not killed her yet? For what were they waiting? Natalia could only assume they intended to make an example of her, perhaps filming her execution for propaganda purposes. A public execution would send a clear message to others who might dissent. Humans had to accept their place, bowing meekly to serve as Faction broodmares. Resistance was futile.

Natalia kicked the wall in frustration, the impact jarring her bones. She would never accept their right to take Earth’s women and force them into a year of surrogacy. It was slavery masquerading as an honor.

Her thoughts turned to Rana. Had she escaped safely with her Tark mate? Natalia had risked everything to help her get away, even while doubting the young woman’s assertion that she loved the alien who’d claimed her. She still believed Rana had been confused, brainwashed by whatever modification the Faction had done to make her able to carry hybrid young. No human in their right mind would ever willingly mate with one of those monsters.

A scraping sound at the entrance drew her from her thoughts. She turned to see the shimmering forcefield dissipate. Two Faction guards, a Brundle and an Alphan, entered, their impassive faces giving no hint of her fate.

“Prisoner Natalia Wilkes, you are summoned,” said the Brundle, and his tone was as unreadable as his expression.

Natalia jutted out her chin defiantly as they clamped magnetic cuffs around her wrists. She would face her fate with pride, not cowering. She believed in her cause, even if it had doomed her. They led her from the cell down a maze of corridors. She studied her surroundings, watching for any opportunity to fight or flee, but found none. The Embassy was a fortress, inescapable for a lone human female.

After what seemed an interminable walk, they entered a large chamber outfitted with viewing screens along the walls. Natalia guessed it was some type of command center. Faction officers of various species stood around computing stations or studied data on the screens.

One screen showed a map of Earth with rotating statistics she couldn’t decipher from this distance. Others displayed star charts and incomprehensible alien symbols. A third seemed to be the arrangement of Faction ships rotating around the planet. How she wished she could get this data to her rebel contacts.

At the far end of the room, upon a raised dais, stood a singular being. Natalia sucked in a shocked breath. It was a Serpentine, one of the cold-blooded reptilian Faction species she’d only heard vague rumors about. They rarely moved among Earthlings and seemed to keep to themselves.

The alien towered over the guards escorting her, well over seven feet tall. His skin was a deep emerald green with black striations and smooth and glossy like a serpent’s. He appeared hairless. Nude from the waist up, his form displayed lean, rippling muscles she couldn’t help noticing and admiring in spite of herself. A crest of small horns lined his head.

His eyes were the most striking. They were eclipse-black, with no visible pupils or irises. Still, she could feel the intensity of that fathomless gaze drilling into her.

Natalia suppressed a shudder at being so close to one of these fearsome aliens rarely seen by humans. She steeled herself, proudly lifting her chin as the guards brought her before him.

“General Zath, we have brought the prisoner as you commanded,” said the Alphan.

The Serpentine dismissed them with a wave of his clawed hand, not taking his gaze from Natalia. She stood motionless, determined not to show fear.

Zath descended from the dais with predatory grace, slowly circling her in a sinuous, rippling movement. He had legs, but he moved so quickly that he might have been slithering like a common Earth snake. She could feel his gaze dragging over every inch of her body. Revulsion and anger swelled within her, along with something she didn’t want to identify. How dare this creature ogle her so blatantly, as if she were no more than an animal to inspect?

“So, you are the one who presumed to steal Commander Sarko’s mate.” His voice was surprisingly mellow but with an underlying hiss, his sibilant voice echoing in the vast chamber.

Natalia said nothing, refusing to be baited. She stared straight ahead, her jaw clenched.

Zath halted directly in front of her, so close she could feel the chill emanating from his scaled skin. A long, thin tongue flicked out, nearly brushing her face. Testing her scent. “Such defiance,” he murmured. “I admire it, even as I will crush it in time.” A claw tipped her up chin.

She met the black mirrors of his eyes unflinchingly.

“For now, it pleases me to claim you as mine.”

Natalia jerked back, shock and revulsion shooting through her. “Never,” she spat. “I’ll die first.”

Zath’s lipless mouth curved in a gruesome approximation of a smile. “You forget your place, little human. For your crime, your life belongs to the Faction now, to do with as we please. Be grateful you won’t face execution for your treason.”

Natalia trembled with impotent rage. To be given as spoils to this monster, forced to serve as his breeder slave...it was a fate worse than death.

Zath turned away, barking orders to his guards and officers. She sagged in her magnetic cuffs, despair threatening to overwhelm her defiance. This alien would use her body to plant his foul seed in her womb, and she was powerless to stop it.

The guards grasped her arms, marching her from the command center toward an unknown, horrific fate.

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