Mercenary Abduction (Alien Abduction) (3 page)

sold, killed or appropriated. A place where sin didn’t exist, only the right price. The perfect place to auction a forbidden barbarian human, like herself, to a crowd of the wealthiest – most debauched – beings in the universe.

The dozens of greedy – and lust filled – glances trained on her made her skin crawl worse than the

bath she’d suffered with the suzzule worms. Nasty little critters, they chomped off the dead layers of cells, giving her skin a fresh, dewy appearance. She rather thought she looked like a pale ghost after the

disgusting experience, but the specialist in charge of presentation claimed it was all the rage. Personally, she considered it a waste of time and money, because other than a few, tastefully done images, they

dressed her in a gown from ankle to neck, which they then covered with a voluminous cloak of pure

white. Spun from a feathery light fabric, it covered her from head to toe, hiding her shape from view while affording a glimpse of her tall, slender frame. It seemed surprise over blatant display tended to enflame rather than detract from appetites, not all of them the lusty variety. She could practically imagine some of the odder-looking specimens in the crowd hefting forks and knives in their sweaty palms – and suckered tentacles.

Bloody freaking aliens. Years in space still hadn’t gotten her used to the various forms life took.

Forget the cute E.T.s and green Martians she vaguely recalled from the shows she watched growing up –

the reality was the universe held a lot of butt ugly creatures, most of which oozed fluids she preferred not to think about or smelled funny.

The focus of attention from so many strangers, Olivia couldn’t stem her unease. Too many things

could happen. Oh God, the things that could go wrong. She knew the laws of chance – she’d learned them firsthand. Expect the unexpected.

Not today, please. Let Murphy and his games stay away.

Inhaling, she took an unsteady breath and let it out in a tremulous rush. A few E.T.s in the front of the crowd caught the nervous gesture and the number scrolling on the screens ringing the arena area

flashed in red neon. Ten million. Twenty…

The amount of credits strangers would pay for a certified virgin, a human virgin – barbarian and

forbidden – boggled her mind. By the end of today, one of the creatures bidding in front of her would own her, could do as he liked with her, good or ill, but only once they paid up and signed the contract.

The earpiece in her ear crackled to life and orders came through. “Give them something to whet

their appetite. Show them a little fear.”

Not hard. Olivia wrung her hands, the long sleeves of her robe not completely hiding her pale,

slim fingers. She didn’t have to fake the tremor. The numbers kept scrolling steadily upward. She lifted her gaze and bit her lower lip as she scanned the audience, not letting her glance stay on any one alien too long. The variety of life in the room staggered her. What would a Pkl – an aquatic race with no actual corporeal form unless a puddle counted – do with her?

It seemed more than a fair share of races gathered to watch and bid. Tusked, tall, short, fat, and

thin, in the Obsidian Galaxy, most especially the black market on the planet That-Didn’t-Exist, races came together and respected the rules of this pirate world or paid the consequences. Apparently, there were some punishments worse than death. One of them screamed out the quarter galactic minutes for those who forgot their timepieces.

Unable to tell who battled hardest to win her, she meant to return her stare to the floor when an

amused set of ice blue, almost clear eyes caught hers. Her first thought was,
What’s a handsome fellow
doing in a place like this to purchase flesh?

Sporting dark mauve skin, a straight nose, a chin with the hint of a dimple, and shockingly white

hair that hung to his shoulders in waves, she couldn’t deny the E.T.’s handsome features. So what craven secret did he hide? Or was he simply here as a guard? Wearing a silvery cloak, she could see no emblem on his chest, nor tell for that matter how far his normalcy extended. From the neck up, he appeared more or less like her, if purple. From the neck down, he could have eight legs and a hairy belly.

Who cared? Despite the fact he kept that amused lilt to his lips as they continued to lock gazes, she didn’t get the impression he’d come to bid. She wasted time exchanging glances with him, and it wouldn’t do to make the others in the crowd mad, or lose interest. She peeked away, and yet her skin tickled,

knowing he still watched. Of course he did, she was the focal point of this whole bloody affair.

She fidgeted, found her head moving in the purple guy’s direction, and stopped it. Why the

curiosity? She didn’t really care what he did here. Either he bid or he didn’t. Either she’d imagined his interest or not. Did he still stare? Her gut said yes. But how to know unless she looked?

Without volition, she peeked in his direction. Intuition wrong. He no longer stood there, yet her

skin tingled as if he still watched. As if under someone else’s control, her eyes slid to the left and there he was, standing almost at the head of the crowd, the hood of his cloak pulled up, but she could see his eyes, those clear, expressive orbs. His black lips curved in a grin, which widened when he realized she’d

caught him. He winked.

She almost tossed her head, but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he unsettled

her. She broke eye contact, but checked him out in his new angle. His cloak ended mid-calf and she

spotted a pair of black boots—only two feet, how rare—the leather scuffed but clean. She couldn’t judge his height, but pegged him at least as tall as her, maybe a touch taller. Most interesting of all? He didn’t hold an auction box. No transmitter with a small view screen for bidding, which meant he wasn’t a client.

And not worthy of my attention.

A voice whispered in her ear. “What’s got you distracted? Don’t say anything. Just stick to what I

told you. Eyes down. Hands clasped. It’s almost over. And a mighty fine catch, too.”

But Olivia missed the final bid, because with another naughty wink, the purple stranger melted

into the crowd, disappearing almost magically from sight. Yet, she couldn’t help a sense of unease at the last playful glance, almost as if he promised to return. Impossible. Once she went to her new owner, she’d never see him again. She’d hopefully never see anyone from this crowd again.

She put the stranger from her mind and focused on the task at hand. Auction over, she took mincing

steps off the stage, leaving to prepare herself for the change of ownership.

Staff surrounded her as soon as she hit the preparation area, the hum of their voices only partially

penetrated.

“Never seen such a high price…”

“Do you think he plans to eat her?”

“Lucky slave. Her new owner is filthy rich. She’ll live like a queen.”

If queens were sluts. Idiots. No matter how long she lived among aliens, she remembered enough

of her old life on earth to know women weren’t treated with the same rights out here in the vast galaxy than back home on earth.
And they call us the barbarians.
Advanced technology, ability to travel the stars or not, Olivia thought the universe had a lot to learn about equality of the sexes. It baffled her that males would pay just about anything for the prize between a woman’s thighs. Then again, who was she to judge the greedy aliens so harshly? It was her own mother who sold her to this life in the first place. Now there was a memory she wished she could forget.

Shoved into a chair, she let the beautician and stylists fuss over her. They tweaked her hair,

touched up her coloring, toning it down from its current enhanced state meant for the bright lights of the stage to something more suited to an intimate setting. Perfume enveloped her in a scented cloud and her nose wiggled.

“Don’t you dare sneeze,” the voice in her earpiece warned, a spectacular feat given the speaker

wasn’t even in the same room.

“How do you do that?” She spoke aloud, the staff used to her one-sided conversations with her

benefactor.

“I’m always watching.”

“You know that’s creepy rather than reassuring.”

The familiar chuckle made her roll her eyes, earning her a pinch from the artist recoating her

lashes.

“So, are you clear on the next step?”

Olivia held in a sigh. “We only practiced it a million times. I can handle it. It’s what you groomed

me for.”

“Don’t let me down.”

“I won’t.” She hoped.

The connection went dead and Olivia sagged. A seeming lifetime of lessons all boiled down to

this moment, the moment that would change the course of her future.

Odd how that thought should make her think of ice blue eyes.

*

Makl turned off his cape’s cloaking ability, a rare and expensive piece of technology he’d

borrowed – more or less. It wasn’t like its previous owner had need of it – anymore. Not his fault the fellow had a big mouth, one he couldn’t help but run after Makl treated him to some extra strong Quergon ale. A braggart should know how to hold his liquor, even the laced kind.

It seemed a shame to let the luxurious cloak go to waste when the owner met the sharp end of a

dagger – his, of course – especially since the cloak of invisibility was one of only two of its kind. Or so Makl discovered from the inventor when he tracked him down. The maker held the secret of their creation in his head. A brilliant scientist, the cloak maker used his almost magical ability with nanotechnology to escape the prison a very rich patron kept him in – with a little help from Makl.

Then the jerk ran off before Makl could get him to spill the secret of how to make more. He really

had to stop being so nice. From now on, manacles stayed on, urge to pee or not.

Ooh, he should totally get some cuffs for the human. And not just to keep her behaved. The things

Makl could do to her while she was at his mercy...

First though, he needed to get his hands on her. During the auction, he’d quickly calculated the

odds in stealing her from under everyone’s nose, but deemed it much too dangerous. A shame. A public

feat like that would have made the news for sure – but left him a corpse. Preferring to keep his carcass intact, he instead made plans for after. Once the new owner paid for and received his prize, Makl

intended to steal her before said prize got sullied. A traumatized human wouldn’t do him any good, but one rescued in the nick of time would prove ever so grateful to the male who saved her. The very

handsome, suave, and dare he say dashing hero of the day. Conqueror of the stars. Lover of…

Yeah, he really needed to work on his catch line. Damn his cousins for already stealing the best

slogans. It wasn’t easy to make his mark and cast his own light upon the shadows left by his illustrious family. Tren, greatest assassin the galaxy ever knew – until now. Jaro, the scourge of the universe –who one day would pale in comparison to Makl – whose reputation got further enhanced when he somehow

tamed a fierce Zonian female. Yeah, Makl wasn’t sure how to best that feat yet. Most sexual partners

fiercer than a Zonian involved damage to male parts. Maybe he’d let Jaro keep that distinction. That still left Brax and Xarn, the bumbling idiots who nobody wanted to become.

Still, even if he only counted Tren and Jaro, with those kinds of reputations preceding him, Makl

had to work twice as hard to get noticed. Hence, his visit to the Obsidian Galaxy. Priding itself on having the tightest security, the most decadent pirate pleasures and deals, the challenge to best this den of iniquity just about screamed his name.

If I can steal something valuable, something big, say, like an actual slave, and make it out of

here alive?
Ha, even his cousins never achieved something so dangerous –
and stupid
, whispered a voice in his head. What the frukx? Since when did he doubt himself?

You’re right. Don’t bother with doubt. Just do it. It should be fun to watch.

His conscience chose an odd time to speak to him. As if Makl would start listening.
Shut up,

conscience, I’ll do as I please with no help from you. I’ve got the goddess Karma on my side.

That useless female?

Makl’s mind seemed flabbergasted. Odd. He knew Karma wouldn’t let him down. Not like other

wannabe gods he’d heard of.

Arrogant little…
For a moment, Makl wondered at his sanity as his mind seemed about to lose its temper – at him! Instantly, his inner psyche quieted.
Angry? No, but disappointed. You’ve already found
a human. How much harder to keep with the first plan as well? Cause twice the havoc.
Pure insanity.

Stealing a slave was dangerous enough, but to also go through with his original heist?

Once the idea took hold, it consumed him. Why not make his move even bolder? It would only

take a little extra tweaking.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t already have it all planned out. He’d cased the jewelry boutique – which

saw clients by appointment only – in the second quadrant. He knew the priceless bauble he would take – a one of a kind solar diamond with the encased black hole. He’d discerned where the owner stashed it and how he kept it secure. Just not secure enough from Makl and his nimble fingers.

I could do this.
The glory of it if he pulled it off… He could almost see the headlines. The recognition.

He’d thought he’d have to forget his original devious deed when Aunt Muna called and told him to

bring back a human nanny. Travel to that barbarian system and kidnap a human? Sure it was against the law and hardcore, but so done already. By his cousin Tren, as a matter of fact.

Why waste the fuel when, lo and behold, he found just what his aunt ordered. A human girl. Did he