Tara The Great [Nuworld 2] (19 page)

They leaned against the walls and sat cross-legged on the floor. They were dirty and

poorly clad. In fact, only blankets covered some of them. They all looked forlorn, or

beaten, waiting for some inevitable doom.

A door at the other end of the room opened and a bright light filled the space. Tara

squinted, as did the others. Several large silhouetted figures entered the room. As her

eyes adjusted, Tara could see three tall, thin men with pale skin and clear eyes.

Where was she? Had the dog-woman somehow sent her to the Lunians? Crator

wanted her to see more. Her stomach riveted into knots.

“Let’s take this one.” The man in the lead, wearing an oversized white jacket, poked

a long thin stick at one of the girls leaning against the wall.

Her body jerked and she let out a pathetic yelp.

The man behind her, dressed in plain gray, making him appear as drab as his

surroundings, grabbed her and literally threw her to the third man, who was also

dressed in drab gray.

“This one looks good, too.” Again, the assembly line procedure occurred.

The man in white walked through the crowded room toward Tara.

She looked down, realizing she still wore her Runner clothing and wondering why

he didn’t gawk at her. She definitely stood out from the others in the room, who were

all shabbily attired, if dressed at all.

The man continued to stroll through the room. He used his stick to pull back

blankets, revealing the naked girls underneath. At one point, he smiled and pushed his

stick down between a girl’s legs.

Her body jerked but she didn’t fight him, didn’t look up, didn’t speak.

Tara concluded the stick let out some type of electrical current if the man pushed a

long rectangular black button on the side of it.

He grabbed the girl and pushed her toward the door, yanking her blanket from her,

forcing her to walk naked. “The rest of you might get lucky next time.” He laughed and

headed out of the room.

“Hey.” Tara pulled her laser.

The men didn’t turn around. They didn’t seem to hear her.

“You can’t treat them like that.” She stepped around the bodies as she followed

them to the door, then into the hallway.

One of the men in gray shut the door behind them and locked it.

“Get them hosed down.” The large man in white who had chosen the girls walked

away, down the long hall.

“Come on, little bitches.” One of the other men slapped the naked girl’s behind.

“Don’t talk to her like that.” Tara reached for the man and was shocked to see her

hand go right through his arm. A strange sensation washed through her, his

indifference to his actions masking some perverted pleasure in what he did.

She wasn’t really here! The dog-woman had her experiencing some torturous scene.

But why? Where was she?

She followed as the men pushed the girls down the hallway. The next room they

entered was perfectly square with high ceilings. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all

painted gray, with several drains in the floor.

“Get out of your clothes,” one of them yelled. “I don’t know why they even bother

giving bitches clothes,” he added under his breath, opening a cabinet in the wall and

pulling out a long hose with a narrow nozzle at its end.

“Got me,” the other said and walked over to the wall where he began turning a

large wheel.

Water poured from the hose, and a riveting blast was directed toward the girls.

“Get out of those clothes, bitch,” the man wielding the hose barked and pounded

the still-clothed girl with a powerful spray.

The powerful stream knocked her back a foot or two, but she managed to pull off

the wet shirt.

“Okay, next cycle,” he said to the man at the wall.

Foamy water now streamed out. It must have been fairly hot because the

temperature in the room quickly rose.

The girls took the abuse submissively and spread their arms and legs when

ordered.

Tara was repulsed by the treatment and wished there was something she could do

to stop it.

The next cycle appeared to be cold water, and the room temperature lowered. The

men soon appeared satisfied with their cleaning job, turned off the water, and left the

three girls huddled, naked, in the middle of the room as they left and locked the door.

Minutes passed and it was unlocked again.

A different man entered the room and used the electrically charged stick to prod the

girls out of the room and back down the hall.

Tara felt nauseous as she followed them to a doorway at the top of a set of stairs.

They entered a comfortable-looking room with carpeting and pictures on the walls,

similar to those she’d seen when Brev and Polva had captured her and Darius.

Her attention flew to Brev, who stood in the middle of the room. He had several

other men with him and they were all dressed similarly—pullover smocks with loosely

fitting slacks. Brev’s outfit was striped gray and black, while the other men wore solid

gray.

He looked over the three girls carefully. It wasn’t a sexual look in his eyes. It was

the look of a merchant, carefully scrutinizing a product prior to purchase.

“Is this the best you can do?” Brev seemed disgusted. “They don’t look any better

than the boys you brought up. Aren’t any adults left?”

“No, sir, it’s slim pickings down there.” The older of the two men, who appeared to

be the spokesman, shrugged. “Our stock’s running pretty low. We turn them around so

quickly anymore, they don’t live that long.”

Brev snorted and glanced quickly at the girls again. “She won’t be happy with any

of these.”

“I could bring up others if you like.”

“It doesn’t sound like it will make any difference.” Brev shrugged and waved his

hands at the girls. “Take the one in the middle, I guess. But watch them and make sure

there’s a take.”

With that, Brev walked out a door on the other side of the room, leaving the two

men alone with the girls.

“I’ll take the other two back down,” The younger man, who had been quiet up until

now, spoke.

“Okay.” The older man grabbed the middle girl by her arm. “Come on, you. Hope

you’re in the taking mood. I don’t have all day for this.”

Tara followed the man and girl into an adjoining room where a tall thin boy, maybe

eighteen at the most, stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. He, too, was naked,

and the man threw the girl at him, stepped back, and closed the door.

Tara joined him as he walked into a small alcove with a tinted window where he

could see the two inside the room.

The young girl had fallen against the boy but she backed up. With no emotion on

her face, she lay on the concrete floor and spread her legs. The boy got down on his

knees and climbed over her slowly.

His face was blank as well. If anything, he looked sad and tired. He covered her

with his body and slowly began to move back and forth until he entered her. Only

minutes passed before the boy stopped rocking and slowly lifted himself off the girl. He

leaned back and sat on the hard floor.

The young girl pulled herself up into a sitting position, as well. They didn’t speak

or look at each other. Their expressions never changed. They stared at the floor almost

appearing bored, and seemed to wait.

Tara had never seen a more abominable scene in her entire life. They made sex

seem no more appealing then doing laundry. Her stomach repulsed. The man reached

forward and grabbed a microphone attached to the wall.

“It’s done, sir,” he spoke simply, then flipped off the switch.

“I’ve seen enough,” Tara said quietly, almost to herself. She looked up and walked

out into the main room. “Did you hear me?” She called out to the empty room. “Crator?

Old lady? I’ve seen enough.”

Why am I here? I can’t stop these people. They don’t even know I’m here. She struggled

with her thoughts as she looked around the room again. On an impulse, Tara walked

quickly over to the door where Brev had exited and decided to find him. She reached

for the doorknob, but found her hand went right through the door. Tara straightened,

surprised only for a moment. Sucking in a deep breath, determined to make the best of

this terrible dream, or whatever it was, she walked through the door with a determined

stride.

Brev sat at a desk in a small office with a flat, rectangular walkie-talkie held to the

side of his face. It was narrow and long enough that it went from his ear to his mouth.

The instrument was similar to the communications device she’d used during her brief

encounter with the Neurians.

Tara sat in the one chair by the wall. After walking through the door, Tara half

expected to fall to the floor, but the chair held her. She stared at it, running her hands

over the smooth armrests. Why could she feel this chair, yet walk through walls?

Brev didn’t look up. Like the others, he didn’t notice her.

“I don’t think that would do much good, sir,” Brev spoke into his mouthpiece.

Tara listened.

“Well sir, they’re getting too young. We use the females so often, they only live for

about five or ten years once they’ve been started.” Brev picked up a pen and began

doodling on a writing pad. “We need new breeding stock if we’re going to solve this

problem. The demand for babies is rising every year. I don’t know about you, but I have

a hard time telling my wife ‘no’ once she’s set her mind to something.” Brev forced a

chuckle and a strained smile appeared on his face. “Yes, sir, we have a plan.”

Tara leaned forward in her chair, studying every move of Brev’s face.

“We would like to take an expedition down to the surface.” He paused. “I know

they’re barbaric.” Another pause. “I think they’re our only chance for survival. We

could colonize there, as our ancestors did here. The planet seems to be completely safe,

and life is flourishing.”

Tara touched Brev’s desk with her fingers, and realizing her hand didn’t go through

the surface, she kicked her feet up and reclined them on Brev’s desk. “I’ll show you

barbaric,” she grumbled.