k********g Keela

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Somewhere in Montana, USA

15th May 2027

Keela pushed back against the trunk of the huge oak tree behind her. She took a tighter grip on the hunting knife that her dad had given her for her twelfth birthday. It was a good blade but it was going to be impossible to kill all of these creatures with it. She may manage to kill one of them but there were definitely far too many. She could not believe that she had not brought her g*n. It would have certainly helped in this wretched situation rather than uselessly lying around in her cabin. But what was the point of beating herself up over her lack of forethought? She could not change things now. If there was one thing that she had learnt in life, it was that you couldn’t correct all of your mistakes. And the way things were looking this was going to be the last mistake that she ever made in her life.

“Go away! You wretched beasts! One of you is going to die before I do, be very sure about that. You disgusting creatures! Down! Go away.”

The beasts growled threateningly. The sound went right through Keela. The hair at the back of her neck stood on end and her breathing came heavily and irregularly. It was her anger that stopped her from collapsing. Even if she had no chance, she was not going to go down without a fight.

“Yes, that’s right! I’m really angry that you’ve ruined my evening and when I’m angry I can be very unpleasant. So, do yourselves a favour and go away! GET LOST!”

The four pairs of yellow eyes staring at her through the dusky light of twilight seemed to be unimpressed with her little burst of outrage. She heard growling again and the beast to the left of Keela was baring its long, yellow teeth. The beast’s mangy fur was standing on end and it had assumed a crouching position, lying in wait. Keela had already worked out that this must be the leader. If this beast attacked, then his companions would follow. She thought she could actually smell the beasts’ anticipation. She could not see a lot in the twilight, but she was certain that saliva was already dripping from their jaws.

Keela had been in her boss’s little hunting cabin for two weeks, trying to recover after her separation from her fiancée, Jake. They had already fixed the wedding date when this pig suddenly decided to fall in love with her best friend. So now she was no longer her best friend! May she be happy with this cheating, lousy, lying son-of-a-b***h. Other mothers had nice sons, too. Right now she was not thinking of trying again, though. Men could keep right away from her for a while. And anyway, it looked as if this was not going to be a problem any longer: she was not going to survive this, so there was no need to worry about men now. If only she had not come here. Instead she could have accepted her friend Susan’s offer and spent two weeks with her in Miami. But she had not been in the mood for sun, beach and beach boys.

Here, in the seclusion of the mountains, she’d wanted to find herself again. She had taken a four-week holiday from her job as a survival trainer for bored managers. Her boss had been very understanding about her emotional state and at the moment there wasn’t a great deal of work on anyway. So he had offered Keela the chance to recover a little in his solitary cabin. She was an outdoor type and she knew how to cope alone in the wild. At least she thought so – until now. It had been silly of her to leave the cabin so late, more or less unarmed. She should have known better than to do something that she had always warned her clients against: never make the mistake of feeling too safe!

She knew that there were wolves here. But she had just wanted to fetch something from her car that was in the shed a good half a mile below the cabin. Normally the wolves didn’t come this close to it. On the way back she had been aware of movement to her right and to her left, but she was exactly half way back: no matter which direction she chose, she would not be able to escape from the beasts. Her only chance was to protect her back with the thick oak tree and try to defend herself with her knife.

Who are you trying to fool, Keela? You don’t stand a chance!

As far as she could work out, there were four wolves – too many to expect to survive. Strangely she felt no fear – only anger – anger towards Jake because she had only come here because of him – anger towards herself because she had left the protection of the cabin without a weapon – and anger towards these disgusting beasts who had chosen her for their dinner.

“GO AWAY! GET LOST!” she roared at the top of her voice. “I’m going to make wolf stew out of you!”

Suddenly the beasts started whimpering and pulled their shaggy tails down. With a howling they disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Keela could hardly believe it. Had she really driven the beasts away?

“Ha! If I’d known that you’re cowardly bastards!” she shouted after them.

A growling behind her, quite different from that of the wolves, made the hairs on her neck stand on end. Her stomach knotted and this time fear crept with icey-cold fingers over her tensed body. Now she could understand how some people wet themselves in situations where they were scared to death. She only hoped that she would spare herself that humiliation.

“Oh, s**t!” she whispered in horror.

Part of her wanted to turn around to see what sort of beast was after her this time, but another part of her didn’t want to know. It sounded too terrible. She had never before heard such a frightening sound. No animal known to her made such a sound. This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all!

The undergrowth cracked behind her and she could now hear strange hissing and growling sounds that almost sounded like a language. There were clearly several creatures, and it sounded as if they were talking. Her heart was pounding and her knees shaking as she turned to look behind the trunk of the oak. What she saw made her blood freeze: three huge, terrifying creatures were coming towards her. They were built more or less like humans, but with only a vertical slit for a nose, red eyes and pointed teeth filling their mouths. Their long, felt-like hair looked more like a lion’s mane and was a greyish-blue colour. The beasts must have been at least seven feet tall and built like fighting machines. They were wearing a type of uniform and carrying strange weapons.

“Oh! My! God!” cried Keela.

Please let this be a dream - or make me unconscious.

But nothing of the sort happened. The creatures were real and her damn body could do nothing but simply stand paralysed and wait. She couldn’t even close her eyes to the horror. What she was looking at was either the result of some experiment by the US army or these were – she did not even want to consider this possibility – aliens!

***

Somewhere in the far reaches of the universe

Keela’s head was thumping horribly and she was groaning in pain. She was freezing and she felt strangely giddy, as if she had been drinking too much. What happened? Had she had an accident? Where was she? She tentatively opened her eyes and whimpered as bright light blinded her. She turned to the side and saw a young woman sitting opposite her on a plank-bed, smiling at her pitifully.

“Hello!” said the woman.

“Hello!” answered Keela automatically, wondering who this woman was and where she was.

“I’m Charly. And you?”

“Keela. Where … where are we? Is this a hospital? Frankenstein’s laboratory? Or some sort of military s**t?”

Charly shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m not sure but I think we’re on a space ship. It’s definitely not a hospital. We were dragged here by some kind of monster-aliens or something. You were the last one they brought in. I … was the first one. There’s another cell over there where they have more women. I’m trying not to think about what they’re planning to do with us – maybe some sort of experiments or something. You see that sort of thing in science-fiction films, don’t you? I definitely don’t think they’re friendly. A polite invitation to a date looks different to this. – No more sarcasm!”

Keela forced a grin. She sat up and saw two more plank-beds with two more women lying on them. One had long black hair and the other brown locks. Keela could not see anything else.

“They’re still out cold,” Charly said, pointing over to them. “They haven’t moved at all yet. I hope they’re OK.”

Keela turned back to the person talking to her and looked at her. She had a red mane and green eyes. Her nose was covered in freckles but they suited her.

“Have you got any idea how long we’ve been here?” Keela asked.

“Well, I’ve been awake for about eight hours. I know that because the clock on my mobile is still working. I just don’t have a signal any more. I don’t know how long I was out. After I woke up they brought in the black-haired woman. About two hours later they brought in the brunette. Then an hour later you arrived.”

“How come I’ve woken up sooner that the other two when I arrived later?” Keela wondered. “Maybe they really aren’t OK. Do you think they’re even still alive?”

“Yes, I’ve already checked. No idea why they’re still out cold. Either they didn’t give you so much or you’re stronger so the effect isn’t as strong.”

“I can’t remember anything,” said Keela, thinking hard. “Wait! Yes, I do remember now. First the wolves were there, planning to have me for dinner. Then these three huge beasts came along and the wolves – the cowards – ran off. But what happened then? I … I’m not sure …”

“Well they shot at me with a weapon with a sort of laser beam or something and then I was out. It must be a sort of stun gun.”

“Yes, now I remember. They did that with me, too.”

Keela looked round the room in which they were being held captive. There were no windows, not even in the door. The ventilation shafts, fitted very high up, were too small to escape through, and there would be little point anyway if they really were on a space ship – they wouldn’t be able to leave this damn space ship. The walls of the room were made of metal, as was the door. Apart from the four plank-beds there was just a curtain in one corner, presumably with a toilet behind it.

“There’s a toilet behind there,” Charly confirmed her presumption.

“I’d give anything for a drink,” said Keela. “I think I could deal with something very strong right now. What sort of s**t have I landed in now? This is so typical of me! If s**t’s being handed out, I’m always amongst the first to shout: here, I’ll have some!”

The sound of groaning drew her attention to the black-haired woman. She had just woken up and was blinking in irritation in her direction. She suddenly sat up, and then clutched her head, groaning. She was clearly dizzy because she had moved so quickly.

“What ...? Where …?” she murmured in a daze.

“You’ve been abducted,” said Charly, getting straight to the point.

“By aliens. We’re on a space ship,” Keela added, to complete the picture.

“Are you kidding? That really isn’t funny!”

“No, it really isn’t funny,” Charly agreed. “But unfortunately it’s true!”

The black-haired woman got up from her bed unsteadily and staggered to the door. There was no door handle so she banged hard on the metal.

“Hey! Open this damn door immediately! I’m Special Agent Lory Andersson and whoever you are you’re going to have major problems with the FBI if you don’t release me immediately! So move your damn arses over here and open up!”

“Sorry, darling, but I don’t think they’ll be particularly interested in the FBI,” interrupted Keela.

“Are you really an FBI agent?” asked Charly.

Lory nodded miserably and stared first at Charly, then at Keela. Finally she grasped at her hips and into her inside jacket pocket.

“s**t! They’ve taken my weapons! f**k!”

“FBI. Wow. So cool,” said Charly. “But it won’t help you here. Keela’s right about that. I’m Charly, by the way. Actually Charlotte, but I’ll kill anyone who calls me that. I hate that damn name!”

“Lory,” answered Lory abruptly.

“You said you’ve been awake for eight hours. Haven’t the beasts appeared in all that time? I mean – to give you something to eat and drink?” asked Keela.

“No, only to bring all of you in. But I don’t think they’ll have abducted us to let us starve. Even lab rats are fed, right?”

Lory and Keela both threw her a hard look.

“Sorry. I was only joking. I’m really dark-humoured, I know. I always do that when I’m really scared. It’s a form of self-defence. It’s better than bursting hysterically into tears, isn’t it? The b****y monsters will definitely come at some point. They haven’t forgotten about us, that’s for sure,” Charly answered. “I’m really glad, anyway, that I’m not here alone. At least we have one another.”

“Thank you, but I would happily forego the honour of keeping you company here,” Lory hissed angrily.

“Sorry, darling. You can get off if you can get out of this damn metal box,” snarled Charly.

“Guys. Let’s stay calm, OK?” Keela said, trying to smooth things over.

“What’s going on with that one?” asked Lory, pointing at the brunette who was still asleep. “Has she been awake yet?”

“No,” answered Charly. ”Should we wake her up?”

Keela shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t know.”

“I think we should try. If she doesn’t react, we’ll let her sleep,“ said Lory.

Charly was the first to get to the brunette’s plank-bed. Keela and Lory came up behind her. Tentatively Charly shook the sleeping woman by the shoulders.

“Hey, girl, wake up.”

“Hmmm,” the young woman said, curling herself up on her side like an embryo.

“Hello,” Charly tried again. “Can you hear me? Wake up!”

The brunette blinked, disturbed by the light.

“What’s going on?” she murmured. “I’m not working today.”

“Wake up. It’s important!” Keela joined in.

The brunette’s eyes opened.

“Who are you? How have you got into my …?” She looked round frantically. “Where …? Where am I? What …?”

“In a space ship,” Keela explained. “We’ve been abducted. Do you remember anything?”

The brunette shook her head.

“What’s your name?” asked Lory.

“Amber. And yours?”

“I’m Charly, this is Keela and here we have Lory. Lory’s from the FBI.”

Amber sat up and clutched her head, groaning.

“Headache?” asked Keela sympathetically.

“Hm.”

“I had that, too. It goes after a few minutes. They stunned us with a laser or something. It must have been a very strong dose because it knocked me out in milliseconds. “

“I think someone’s coming,” said Lory suddenly, and everyone fell silent.

They could hear voices and footsteps, then the door was unbolted and it swung open. Two of the hideous creatures entered the cell.

“So, you’re awake,” one of them said.

“I understood what he said although I can hear that he’s speaking in a different language,” Charly whispered into Keela’s ear.

“Me, too,” replied Keela. “Maybe it’s telepathy or something.”

“We’ve put a translation implant into each of your ears,” explained the alien, who had clearly heard their quiet discussion. “The translators are programmed to your language and all significant galactic languages. This is necessary so that you’ll be able to understand your masters.”

“Our what?” asked Lory who had drawn herself up to her full height, legs apart, her hands on her hips.

“Your masters. That is, whoever buys you at the Xevus3 slave market. You’ll bring us in a tidy sum.”

“Slave market?” Keela stared at the creature, dumbfounded. “You’ve abducted us to sell us at a slave market?”

Keela didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This could only happen to her – she had escaped from a pack of hungry wolves only to be abducted by monstrous aliens and be sold as a slave.

“Correct. There are several planets that have a considerable lack of females. That’s why we deal in females from other worlds. We’ve only recently discovered your planet and confirmed that you’re suitable. We have more of your race on our ship.”

“Suitable? For what?” Amber shrieked.

Keela really didn’t really want to know the answer.

“Suitable for pairing,” explained the alien.

”I feel sick,” groaned Amber in horror.

“Wait a minute!” interjected Lory abruptly. “I will absolutely definitely not be paired with one of you hideous monsters. I’d rather die! Is that clear?”

As quick as a flash the alien grabbed Lory by the neck and glared at her from his red eyes. Keela held her breath. Next to her Amber was gasping for breath.

“If I wanted you, you’d have no chance of defending yourself. Don’t forget whom you’re dealing with. I am Knirrgn Arghagn, officer to his Royal Highness Ulhgrang ign Ifzarghn.”

Knirrgn released Lory as quickly as he had grabbed her and she staggered backwards. Keela caught her safely in her arms from behind. A cutting remark was on the tip of her tongue but she didn’t want to be grabbed by the neck like Lory was, so she remained silent. They could not do anything about this anyway. Their situation seemed hopeless, and their chances of ever seeing earth again seemed totally unlikely.

The other alien, commanded by a wave from Knirrgn, went to the door and fetched a type of trolley on which there were several dishes with lids on, a few cups and a jug of purple liquid.

“Your food for today. In two hours the light will be lowered. Then it’s time to sleep. Work out for yourselves from the light whether it’s day or night because we’ll be travelling for a good cycle,” declared Knirrgn.

“What’s a cycle?” asked Charly.

“The cycle is the standard month according to the United Galactic Federation. It lasts thirty-four days. It’ll take that long for us to reach our destination. Now eat!”

The two aliens left the cell and bolted the door again.

“s**t!” swore Lory. “I’m not going to spread my legs for any damn alien!”

“Me neither!” declared Keela, horrified.

Charly and Amber murmured in agreement.

“But I am hungry. It won’t help anyone if we starve,” said Charly in the end, lifting the lids off the dishes. There were various fruits; a sort of stew and a plate of meat that looked a little like beef.

They tried the various food items cautiously and poured out the liquid, which seemed to be a sort of lemonade that tasted pleasantly sour.

“Hmmm, not bad,” judged Keela.

The other women agreed.

“The lemonade’s delicious, too. It tastes a bit like lemon … no! Lime juice with a hint of … of … oh yes, a hint of mango!”

There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the women not to discuss what lay before them. None of them wanted to think about the fact, right now, that they were to be sold at a slave market.

***

Y-Quadrant, Karrx7

Royal Palace of the Arr’Carthian

28th day of the month of Kindur in the year 7067

Federation Time

Marruk was mad with anger. His roar was echoing through most of the palace. Anxious servants and soldiers were running frantically all over the place.

“Excuse me, Prince Marruk. I have the results from Ceyla,” reported Lamick, the Master of Security, his voice quivering.

Ceyla was the palace’s intelligent computer system. It kept watch over the whole palace and the external areas. Through sensors and cameras, hidden discreetly everywhere, Ceyla could register everything that happened inside the palace walls. Through DNA comparison the computer could tell immediately who was where and whether strangers were in the grounds whose DNA was not entered into the computer. Ceyla could even keep watch over peoples’ state of health and interpret emotions.

“Report!” Marruk ordered impatiently.

“Ceyla reports that Princess Solima left the palace three hours ago through the eastern exit in the company of her nanny. However, her nanny left the palace grounds alone half an hour later, through the east gate. I’ve sent men out and they’re looking for her right now.”

“And Solima? What about her?”

“Well, it’s very strange, Your Highness. It appears that, about ten minutes before the nanny left the grounds, she dissolved into thin air.”

“Dissolved into thin air?” Marruk roared, beside himself. “How can that be? Magic? Was it the Verkuzzi?”

“Well, everything indicates that she was beamed up. A space ship must have been above us,” reported Lamick meekly.

“A space ship? And how could it have happened that you didn’t notice a whole f*****g space ship above us, huh? – Who was on duty in the control room at that time?”

“Lurruk, Your Highness. But it’s not his fault, if I may be humbly permitted to make this remark. It seems that the ship was using a camouflage unfamiliar to us. Every camouflage system known to us would have been deactivated at the point of beaming up, but apparently this ship has a system that can stay active during the beaming process.”

“Ceyla?”

“Yes, My Prince?”

“I want to see all images from the last twelve hours, both the inside and outside areas. Load them onto my computer in my chambers.”

“Data transferred, My Prince. Anything else?”

“No, Ceyla, that will be all,” said Marruk, turning back to Lamick.

“What are we getting through her transmitter? Are we receiving her signal?”

Marruk’s daughter had a transmitter in her arm; implanted at birth, as with all members of the nobility, as there had been a number of abductions in the past. However, it had been peaceful for a few centuries. Marruk so wished that his daughter had not been selected.

“No, Your Highness. We’re sure to locate her signal once we’ve left the orbit. Shall I see to it that the Cordelia is prepared for take-off?“

“Immediately! I want to set off within the hour.”