Page 26 of Soliv Four
“I won’t have a choice. You saw the vids with me. Anyone who refuses an assignment gets sent to the mines. Angie, I’ve been there, and it’s even worse than what we were shown. Men in that place are like animals when it comes to females. Only women with a strong male don’t get raped multiple times every rotation.”
“Damn. That vid was bad enough.”
“That was mild, compared to some of the things we saw. And all the fights in the mines are deathmatches. They would start over morsels of food to stealing crystals from another inmate’s harvest.”
“The difference is deathmatches here are for sport and credits from betting. I still don’t like it,” Angie mused.
“At least it isn’t every rotation.”
“Will they send two and three guys at a time like they did yesterday?”
“Where will they get the challengers? Will you have to fight guys we see on the training field every day or pass in the hall here?”
“Possibly,” he admitted. “I have before. That’s the reason I don’t bother to make friends with them. I might have to kill them.”
“What if you all banded together and staged a takeover? There are ten times more inmates here than staff.”
Tomak smiled at her. “I wish it were that easy. But they live inside a fortress. If we tried to storm it with knives and swords, they would just send out the killer drones to wipe us out. They don’t care. We’re just human waste to them. Once we get here, they don’t care if we kill each other. Szeqart Empire sends a steady stream of rebels and dissidents.”
“So, everyone is expendable. I doubt anyone cares much more about mail order brides being sent to a prison planet from Earth when they have too many females to start. If they volunteer for the alien match program from the indigent housing, the state pays for their fee. It’s cheaper to get rid of them. The accommodations left a lot to be desired.”
“At least this is a little better. They treated us the same on the transport here,” he reminded. “Finish eating so we can get to the training field.”
Podmal and his mismatched humanoid team were on the field when Tomak and Angie arrived. He glared at them when he saw them. But his gaze softened when he turned his attention to Angie.
Tomak held Podmal’s gaze, hardly blinking until the alien looked away. “He’s dead. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
“That guy gives me the creeps,” said Angie. “He just keeps looking at me like I’m food and he is starving.”
“That’s pretty close. He has no mate, and he wants you. Stay close,” Tomak warned.
“I will,” she said blushing. She sure didn’t want to be spanked again. Well, maybe a little, but not so hard. Angie shook her head and started her stretching exercises, and she saw Tomak smirk. He was taunting her without saying a word.
With only a couple males jogging the track, Tomak suggested they start with their daily run and add one more lap to build her stamina. In her other life, she would never get this much exercise. She was lucky if she got to the gym three times a week. It was good she started exercising in her cell on the ship to pass the time, or she would have collapsed during the hunt like a couple females had.
She was confident she was in the best shape of her life. She still had her curves, but she was well-toned, faster, and stronger. Her fighting skills still needed improvement. While she had managed to put Tomak on the floor once, she suspected maybe he let her---to build her confidence. She also learned to throw a pretty good punch.
Angie had thought she was doing well with her fighting skills until the incident with Podmal.
The rest of their day followed the routine they had established after the hunts. After endurance and strength training, they took a short break for hydration and protein bars before Angie’s defense training. Next, they went to the arena for Tomak to practice sword fighting with one of his men.
Tomak let her pick it up once, and she couldn’t believe how heavy it was. No wonder he spent so much time strength training. It would take most of her strength to lift and swing it.
He was the only member of his team who had trained with a sword before joining their team. He had trained his men in wielding the sword and shield. They’d been fast learners, but none of them had quite the finesse of Tomak.
Or maybe it just seemed that way because she just liked watching him the most. She just wished the bench where she sat to watch had a little padding. Her bottom was still a little sore.
She forgot all about it when Tomak made love to her later in their flat.
When she lay cuddled in his arms afterward, he said, “Do you understand why I punished you so harshly this morning?”
“Because I did something dangerous?”
“Yes, but mainly because it scared me almost out of my mind when I thought he might kill you. I was angry with you for putting yourself in that position.”
“I know,” she murmured, stroking his chest lightly. “As soon as he grabbed me, I knew I’d made a big mistake.”
“I’m sorry I was that harsh with you. I should have stopped before you had to plead for me to stop. I let my anger and remembered fear take over.”
