Page 80 of Alien Haven

“Better. This is only a preview of the earsplitting shrieks you’ll sing later, but it’ll do for now.” He turned bestial again. “A few of my associates are waiting. They need to see a properly submissive slut ready to pay for her transgressions. Get any ideas about fighting me in front of them, and I won’t keep you for myself. We’ll take turns. Understood?”

The hectic light in his eyes told Charity he wasn’t bluffing. She hating folding to his demands.Hatedit. However, behaving as a frightened victim might lower Wilkes’ watchfulness and give her a chance to escape.

Charity wheezed, “Yes.”

He released her throat. Her whole being concentrated on drawing air into her depleted lungs. While she was focused on oxygen, Wilkes snatched her from the seat and hauled her to the rear cabin, where he stood her up. When she wobbled, he snarled, “Fall, and I’ll kick you through the hatch.”

Charity swallowed a furious retort. He was the idiot who’d placed her in an unsteady position, which she couldn’t alter thanks to the cuffs freezing her feet. She bit her lips together, remembering her sister Hope once telling her, “I wonder if you’ll ever learn the art of self-preservation. You couldn’t stop your mouth running if it had an off-switch.”

Shows what you know. If I live through this, I’ll demand an apology.

A wave of grief hit her as she wondered if she’d see Hope again. If she did, she’d do the apologizing for being such a brat all these years.

In the seconds it took to remind herself she had to stay alert to the here and now rather than swimming in too-late regret, Wilkes ordered her ankle cuffs released and stowed them on his belt. “Let’s catch our ride off this hellbent planet. Hatch, open.” When it obeyed, he gave Charity a rude shove. “March.”

Her head bowed, both to watch her feet so she wouldn’t fall and to hide the burst of hatred twisting her features, Charity obeyed. She waited until she reached the tall grass-covered ground before lifting her gaze. She peered through strands of hair that had fallen forward.

She almost cried out when she saw the barn. It was built so similar to Clan Amgar’s, for an instant she thought she was on their farm. Its decay asserted itself as her eyes adjusted to night’s gloom, alleviated a little by the few lights set around the building. Her heart sank as she noted the sagging and warped boards and rusting farm implements scattered like forgotten offerings to an abandoned temple.

Three men approached, none of whom she recognized. They wore blasters on their hips. Their expressions were grimly triumphant as they stared at her. “Good. You got her.”

“Where are the rest, Eastman?” Wilkes’ tone was suspicious.

The farm-hardened man who stood in the middle of the trio spoke. “Grabbed by Kalquorian law enforcement in the theater. We three managed to escape in the confusion.”

“Kalq enforcement? I didn’t see any officers. I know every damned one of their faces.”

The man shrugged. “We set the fires, had them burning proper, then they were suddenly emerging from the smoke. They must have been hiding nearby and watching for trouble.”

Charity felt rather than saw Wilkes start. His grip on her tightened, and she knew he suspected what she did: Groteg had set guards to watch over her while she attended the show.

The conspirator reporting continued his account. “If it hadn’t gone up so quick, they would have gotten us all. As it is, we probably need to lay low and leave Haven as soon as the heat dies down. I’m pretty sure they got a good look at us. Probably recognized us too.”

The man on his right added, “If you hadn’t snagged her, it woulda been for nothing. You owe us.”

“You’ll be paid your share since I did get her.” Wilkes squeezed her arm until Charity moaned, eliciting smirks from the conspirators. “In a few minutes she’ll be out of their reach.”

“Better be. We made sure we weren’t followed. You?”

“Of course I wasn’t.”

The third man said, “I thought I heard a distant shuttle engine when you shut yours off. No sign of one I can see.” He shuffled and searched the sky uneasily, then the stand of nearby trees. He drew his blaster. “No time to celebrate. Better take her off the planet pronto. We’ll stick around long enough to hold off anyone who might come along, then we’re doing our own disappearing act.”

“I told you, nobody followed me.” Despite his determined tone, Wilkes began dragging Charity toward the barn. She hadno choice but to stagger along. She did so as clumsily as possible to slow their progress.

Perhaps the man who’d alleged he’d heard another shuttle had spooked Wilkes. He appeared not to notice Charity deliberately making their trip to the building more difficult. He was intent on looking over his shoulder at a nearby stand of trees. The shadows concealed if anyone watched. The other men were jumpy too. They all held their weapons, no longer bothering to gloat at her capture.

Charity gained some small satisfaction in the news a few co-conspirators had been caught setting fire to the theater, endangering innocent lives in their madness to abduct her. She wondered if Groteg had been among the officers. A lump formed in her throat. Despite her obstinate refusal to leave Haven, the Nobek had gone to great lengths to protect her. His failure to do so didn’t change the fact her safety had been his priority. She hoped she’d get the chance to offer her gratitude and ask his forgiveness for her combative attitude.

I made the right decision when I decided to stay. None of this changes that.The chance she’d had to remain among Ilid, Detodev, Mitag, and Clan Amgar restrained her from descending into sheer despair.

She blinked in surprise when Wilkes yanked her in the barn. Its outward decrepitude was a mask for what waited inside.

Metallic walls heightened the soft lighting so it was daylight bright. Only a single object occupied the vast space, but it was impressive on its own: a small zip flyer for two, its slender torpedo shape pointed upward toward what she recognized to be a retractable roof.

Zips were tiny, barely comfortable, but they were space worthy and phenomenally fast. Too fast for most vessels to catch once the zips reached top speed. They were also hard to track. If Wilkes got her on board, if they lifted off before theprotective Kalquorian patrols orbiting Haven knew they should be watching for such a vessel, there was little chance the zip would be caught prior to reaching its destination of New Bethlehem.

She couldn’t let Wilkes put her on the ship.

---