Ava moaned like a contented feline and gave a leisurely stretch.
Opening her eyes, she was startled to find herself alone in a very large
bed with cool, clean sheets. But where? she wondered as she recalled
her last conscious moments aboard the alien vessel.A state of panic enveloped her. Bolting upright, she pulled the satiny
coverlet up against her chin and looked about, eyes wide with fear and
uncertainty.
The room was much too big for one so small, she noted. It was entirely
too grand and laid out like a rich man's palace.
"Where am I?" she whispered, still apprehensive. She lowered the
coverlet and pushed it away so she could move her feet to the floor.
Wrinkling her toes in the plush carpeting, she giggled, not expecting this.
Standing, she stared down at her bare toes, and at the slinky nightie she
was now wearing. Long and shimmering gold. It was an amazing choice
of sleepwear. "Hm," she murmured, perplexed. This certainly wasn't
what she had expected to find upon awakening. Perhaps she'd been
returned to Earth after all.
She tiptoed to the opposite side of the room, to the glass doors outlined
behind gauzy white curtains. She pushed them aside and peered up at
the cloudless blue sky with awe. It was sunny and a bit breezy. She
could tell by the tops of the tall, swaying trees visible outside her room.
"Oh, thank God," she said, glad she was no longer on the spaceship.
That receptacle they had put her in had been terrifying but only
temporary, fortunately, and with no apparent lasting or negative effects
that she could discern.
A wonderful floral fragrance assailed her as she pushed open the sliding
doors and stepped onto the stone balcony. She paused at the
balustrade, closed her eyes, and breathed in the heady fragrance of the
flowers. It was so warm, and the sun felt good upon her face. It amazed
her, too, how normal she felt, as if all the drugs she had been given at
the institute had somehow been erased from her body.She opened her eyes to gaze about, surprised by the size and beauty of
the massive garden below. In the distance, she spied a waterfall, paved
walkways, and fountains, as well as a large, serpentine wall that
appeared to border the garden's entirety. As before, she couldn't
believe her good fortune. After all she had been through, she was still
alive. She smiled to herself. What had Jenny Tompkins once called her?
A survivor?
With an even wider grin and a cry of delight, she scampered down the
adjoining steps and into the garden. The excitement she felt was
overwhelming, and she momentarily forgot all of her past pain and fear.
Skipping like a child along the walk, she danced happily, whirling about
with carefree abandon, with eyes closed and arms spread wide toward
the sky, giving no thought to anything else. It wasn't until she collided
with someone who was coming around a bend in the walk that she
remembered herself. She turned with a quick apology, only to halt in
horror at sight of the alien commander. He had halted and was just
standing there now, with an inscrutable expression on his face.
"I'm...I'm so sorry," she managed, her hands flying to her cheeks in
embarrassment. "I didn't see you." Faith, how could she have been so
stupid?
He stared mutely down at her, raking his dark gaze over her with
disapproval.
"Where you come from," he began after a moment, "is it proper for a
young woman to be outside in her nightclothes?"
Ava gaped at him and dropped her hands, wringing them against her
breast in consternation. She could feel the hot blush staining her
cheeks"Uh, n-no," she stammered. "I just...sort of...forgot myself." And all
you...aliens! It was clear now that she had not been returned to Earth,
as she had hoped.
"It's not that I don't find you rather attractive in that outfit. But in
future, I would prefer you abide by our protocols. Is that clear?"
She gave a nervous nod and slowly backed away from him. Then,
without another word, she turned and scooted back to her room. For
the second time since meeting the alien, he had managed to knock the
joy right out of her.
* * * *
The older woman who greeted Ava upon her return was frowning at her.
She stood at least a head taller than Ava, was dark-skinned, yet she had
a young-looking, chubby face. She wore an elegant, sheer-sleeved, sari-
type, calf-length gown with a bright, unusual pattern on it, making her
appear more round than she probably was. Her hair was black with
streaks of gray in it. This was caught back in an attractive chignon,
circled by a peculiar, sparkling purple hair ornament. But what drew
Ava's attention were her incredible black eyes, tilted and with her lids
attractively decorated with tiny purple-and-gold speckles, like jewels of
uncommon origin.
"It is not proper for you to go outside like that, Mees Don'sen," the
woman said in a stern voice of reproval, ignoring Ava's curious
inspection.
"So I've been told," Ava commented, feeling thoroughly rebuked as her
gaze slid down to focus on the queer sandals the woman was wearing."I am Mrovia. I have been instructed to assist you."
"Assist me with what?" Ava asked, meeting her gaze, feeling her old
attitude returning like a thorn in her side. Faith, why did the aliens seem
to bring out the worst in her? she wondered. "All of your needs."
"Such as?"
"Your bath, for one." As she spoke, she dropped the linen she was
holding onto the bed and moved to begin disrobing her young charge.
Shocked, Ava slapped her hands away.
"Stop!" she ordered. "I can undress myself. Leave me alone."
"No," Mrovia replied in a firm, adamant tone. "It is my duty to assist
you...with everything."
"By whose order?"
"The Kaanig's."
"Who's that?"
Mrovia pursed her lips, folding her hands patiently across her large
stomach as she explained the situation.
"Kaanig Altair is in charge of Valtor...and of everything and everyone in
it," she said. "He instructed me to take care of you. Whatever you
require, you have but to ask me, and I will see what can be done to
accommodate you, mistress."
Ava shook her head, believing the whole thing ludicrous. "What? Do
you mean that this man has the authority to tell me what to do? I didn't
ask to be brought here, wherever that might be.
And what exactly is this...Valtor?"
But the older woman wasn't put off by Ava's resistance."Valtor is the galaxy we are in, Mees Don'sen. Konatha is the planet we
are on. And you are now at Travaar, the home of Kaanig Altair, the one
man who rules it all." Ava took a step back, almost sneering.
"Yeah, right. As if that were possible."
But she could tell by the unwavering expression on the woman's face
that she certainly believed
it.
"Okay, then," she continued. "So, let's say that what you tell me is true.
What then am I supposed to do? I never asked to be brought here, nor
do I intend to stay here against my will. Whoever this Kaanig is, he can
just go fly a kite, for all I care." Feeling smug at having said this, Ava
crossed her arms and took a haughty pose.
"Remove your clothes, mistress. Then go enjoy your bath. I have no
time for your nonsense. You have no choice in the matter, believe me."
Taken aback at this, Ava uncrossed her arms and studied her a second.
Finally, after thinking better of her behavior, she clamped her mouth
shut and turned away. What was the point of arguing with the woman?
She was obviously loyal to whoever this Kaanig fellow was and decided
not to test her on the matter. She wondered if the woman was
supposed to wipe her backside, too, when necessary.
Containing her anger, she wordlessly removed her gown and tossed it
at the woman, smirking when it landed over her face and head, before
she scurried naked into the adjoining bath chamber. She paused at sight
of the four other white-clad, gold-belted females waiting in attendance
at each corner of the room. Snorting, she shook her head, knowing
there was nothing she could do about their presence either. So, taking
no thought to the elegant trappings of this particular room, she carefullystepped into the steaming water of the large, rectangular tub awaiting
her and pointedly ignored them. They apparently had been taught to
do the same, as she bathed.
After settling against the cool tub and closing her eyes, she had to admit,
it had been a long time since she had enjoyed a hot bath and found this
one pleasantly scented and refreshing. A short while later, she decided
to trust the aliens enough to sample the bottled gels marked with alien
symbols, sitting in a large basket nearby, assuming they were hair care
products of some sort. When she raised one of the bottles questioningly
at one of the attendants, the girl motioned how she was to pour it into
her hand and then scrub it into her hair. Hm, okay. Nothing different
there.
Later, when nothing atrocious happened to her, she stepped out of the
tub, only to find the girl nearest her waiting with some towels. No
longer up to being rude to yet another alien, especially to this one who
appeared around her own age, Ava merely thanked her and allowed her
to perform her duties, which included patting her naked body dry and
towel-drying her hair while the others began cleaning the tub area and
floor behind her. Fortunately, St. Christi's had helped her to overcome
any modesty she may have once had while standing naked in front of
complete strangers. She merely raised her arms high and let the alien
go at it.
When she finally emerged from the bath chamber, drip-dry and towel-
wrapped, she found Mrovia patiently waiting for her. The older woman
indicated some fresh garments laid out for her to wear, on the now
remade bed. With a quick nod, she quickly dismissed the younger
attendants and stood waiting for Ava to accede to her wishes.
Still with an attitude toward her but thinking she had better learn to
cooperate or face the consequences, Ava submitted to the woman'sministrations, allowing her to dress her without complaint and,
afterward, to run a comb through her long, wet tresses. Tangled, it lay
darker than normal about her shoulders and down her back.
"Your hair is so pretty," Mrovia commented, her tone almost of awe, as
she struggled with the snarled locks. "I've never seen hair so white
before."
"Th-Thank...you. My mother was of Swedish and Norwegian descent."
Mrovia shrugged. "I do not know what that is, but either way, your hair
is incredibly lovely. I can see why he is so taken--That is, no one in Valtor
has hair this color," she quickly corrected, clearing her throat.
"What was that?" Ava asked.
"Oh, nothing," the woman said. "Just talking to myself."
"Hm," Ava said, doubting. "So, does everyone here look like you then?"
she finally had the nerve to ask. "You know, with dark skin and black
hair? You remind me of our native people back home."
"Yes, we are mostly the same here, on Konatha," Mrovia said, shrugging.
"But there are many different cultures throughout Valtor. Not everyone
looks exactly the same."
"Is that unusual?"
"Not in Valtor, but now there will be other changes."
"How so?" Ava turned in her seat at the dressing table to squint up at
her. Mrovia gave up on the knot she was fussing with and dropped her
hands with resignation.
"Many females have been brought from your planet," she explained.
"To be joined with the Kaanig's men. There will be many different hairand skin colors once that happens. It is necessary for the repopulation
of our planets."
"But...why would that happen?" Ava said, recalling the women she had
discovered aboard the spaceship that had brought her to Valtor. "I
mean, what's wrong with marrying your own kind?"
"A few scalons ago - years, I mean, - several of our vessels encountered
a strange meteor shower that contaminated them with a deadly virus
just before they passed through the black void leading to our galaxy.
The men aboard later picked it up when they left the ships, unaware of
the deadliness of the organism they had brought back with them to
Valtor. When that happened, many of our population were also
infected." Mrovia gave a sigh, recalling the sadness prevalent at that
occurrence. She picked up a lock of Ava's hair and resumed combing as
she spoke. "Millions of our women and children perished," she
continued. "Later, the Altair felt it necessary to bring back choice
females from your planet, which were needed to help repopulate our
world. Your race seems most compatible with ours, which is why it was
chosen. The final group of females was brought back just yesterday, on
the same ship you arrived in."
"I am so sorry," Ava said, sincerity in her tone as understanding dawned.
"There," Mrovia said, finished with her task. "Now, if you like, you may
explore the garden until evening repast. Or there is some reading
material available in your language, in the small study." She indicated
another doorway. "There is a conditioning chamber just off of that,
should you wish to use it. There is also some fruit on the table, if you
want a light meal now. It is so late, I thought it best not to bring you a
large meal before high time, although I will bring you some merida -
some tea - if you wish it."Ava's attitude changed. "A conditioning chamber? What on earth is
that?"
Mrovia paused to look at her. "For meditation," she said in all sincerity.
"Or...prayer."
Ava considered this information, intrigued. "Prayer? As in...God?"
"Yes, mistress."
"That's amazing. Even all these light years from Earth, with all of your
advanced technology, you still believe in a Higher Power?"
"Without the Source of all power, mistress, our Kaanig would not be
able to rule the galaxy as he does."
Ava shook her head. "Hm. That's interesting."
"Yes."
"Was I brought here for the same reason the others were then?" Ava
asked, changing the subject, being more interested now as to why she
had been kidnapped by the Valtorians. "To join with one of your men?"
The woman frowned then. "I think it best that the man responsible
explain his reasons for bringing you here. From what I understand, he
was rescuing you from a bad place and some bad men." "Oh," Ava said
in a small voice, almost of disappointment. As she thought about her
circumstances when the aliens had arrived, she came to the conclusion
that perhaps that's all it had been. A rescue. After all, as she considered
her last days on Earth, what were the aliens to have done? Leave her
there for the orderlies to drug and take back to the institute? Instead
of being kidnapped, as she had initially supposed, perhaps it was indeed
just a group of aliens rescuing her. But for what purpose? They could
have left her someplace safe on Earth instead of kidnapping herthemselves. "But, why did they bring me here?" she asked. "Why not
leave me in America, where I belong? I told you, I didn't ask them to
bring me here."
"You will be told everything in good time. Please don't ask me again,"
the older woman said, a touch of sympathy in her tone. She walked
away in dismissal, hoisted up a pile of dirty laundry, and made to leave.
"Well, what about this?" Ava said, hurrying over to bare her wrist for
the woman's inspection. "What is this? Why was this put here?"
Mrovia paused, her brow furrowed as she stared at the mark embedded
in Ava's upturned wrist. She carefully readjusted the pile in her arms,
then shoved up her left sleeve.
"Most everyone in Valtor has them at some point, mistress. You are no
exception." She showed her charge the mark she had on her person.
Similar in size, the shape, design, and colors were different, but her
point was made, just the same. Ava gaped at it briefly then stepped
away.
"I see," was all she said, then watched as the woman yanked her sleeve
down and quickly exited. When Ava tried to follow, the two guards
posted outside the door made it clear that she was not allowed past
them. She heard them secure the large double doors as soon as she
stepped back inside. Frowning, she folded her hands with resignation.
So, she was still a prisoner, after all.