My 1000-years love

Chapter 5

He dragged me for quite a while, though I had long since stopped resisting. The stress brought a strange apathy towards my fate, yet it was mixed with a determination that I wouldn’t become a completely broken and obedient creature. That just wasn’t in my nature, and I wouldn’t go against it unless I saw a real chance to get back home.

After descending several flights in an elevator, we ended up in a metal hangar filled with a crowd of people. The moment we arrived, no less than a hundred pairs of eyes stared at me with astonishment and curiosity. They were all humanoids, very similar to humans. Obviously, they were all dressed in military uniforms of an unknown type. I didn’t bother to look at anyone closely. I simply held my head high and stared blankly ahead.

Pulling me to the center of the gathering, the angry giant stopped and monotonously announced, “We are all gathered here and now to bid farewell to S’arkh Laor of the Traod clan from the Anaya galaxy, my right hand and loyal comrade in battles. In the past.”

In the ringing silence, his multidimensional voice echoed ominously, weighing heavily on the ears of those present.

“He is condemned for criminal negligence, leading to the betrayal of his Archon. He is sentenced to immediate expulsion from the Imperial service and this ship. He will now be sent to planetoid AG-116.”

Honestly, I expected murmurs of discontent, a buzz of excited voices. But there was nothing. The same ringing silence. It snapped me out of my cocoon of apathy, and I began to look around. Not a muscle twitched on the faces of these people. They were as stern and immobile as stones. The discipline here was unbelievable! It was hard to believe they were all emotionless androids. Judging by my two new acquaintances, these aliens were far from devoid of ordinary human emotions.

In the next moment, one of the walls extended an elongated, streamlined sphere with open hatches. Inside was space for one person. Two alien men, clad in what I mentally dubbed “space armor,” escorted Laor into the hall. My heart leaped again at the sight of him. How incredibly handsome he was, taking my breath away. His eyes seemed to shine even brighter. And he was being sent into space.

Sgannar ground his teeth loudly. This bastard was also attractive, but I was so furious with him that his obvious allure had no effect on me. Quite the opposite. I wanted to claw his arrogant face. He infuriated me more than anyone ever had in my entire life.

Laor calmly surveyed the crowd, his gaze lingering on me with a long, piercing look, then he gave a mischievous smile, revealing his dimples once again. I was dumbstruck, just as I had been during our first encounter about an hour ago. At that moment, I realized that although I felt a bit sorry for such a handsome guy, I was largely indifferent to his fate. Despite our recent quick s*x, I was much more concerned with my own fate and problems. He should have known the harsh rules here. I had an excuse: I woke up with partial amnesia in deep space after lying in a horrid glass cube for an unknown amount of time, covered in cold, slimy goo. I was disoriented and experiencing hormonal imbalance. He should have figured out who had left their “toy” in the glass sarcophagus first, I thought grimly.

Just then, Sgannar glanced at me and grinned maliciously. Oh right! In the cabin, I had only thought about returning, and he had repeated it aloud. Initially, I hadn’t realized it, but now it was clear that this alien could read minds. My fists clenched involuntarily.

Laor was led to the capsule protruding from the wall, but he stopped.

"By the Archon’s word, you are sentenced to immediate exile," Sgannar declared curtly. He closed his eyes for a moment, as if it pained him to look at his former comrade, then gave a brief nod toward the capsule. The guards immediately moved their prisoner towards it.

Laor turned to us, looking directly at me, and said, ”My final word, Uncle." Sarcasm dripped from his lips. “I don’t care about any of this, or you, but I will come back for her.”

I shuddered at his words. Another maniac was the last thing I needed. I would have to learn how to use the local weapons and start practicing natural selection. Why was this guy so attached after just one-time s*x? No thanks. I didn’t need that kind of pleasure, no matter how handsome he was.

Sgannar squinted malevolently and waved his hand, causing an inexplicable gust of wind to blow Laor into the capsule. The doors slammed shut with a resounding clang, and the capsule retracted back into the wall from which it had emerged. A moment later, the wall of the hangar began to shimmer, becoming transparent within seconds. I recoiled, but my captor took my hand, whispering:

“You have nothing to fear.” His hand was strong, warm, and soft, and mine relaxed against my will. Treacherous hand.

The closed capsule, slowly rotating, drifted inexorably into space towards a distant, pale-lavender planet. It was mesmerizing. What if I had been inside it? No. Better to be here. The hope of returning to my children still flickered.

Sgannar jerked as if shocked by electricity. Roughly grabbing my arm, he dragged me through the now bewildered crowd. Once we were in the corridor, I managed to pull away.

“Enough with the arm-twisting! Cave bear! I can walk on my own!”

In the silence and solitude, with only the vast window and stars for company, despair washed over me anew, and I began to cry. I wept bitterly, like a child who has lost their most cherished toy, like a girl heartbroken over her first love. I felt so sorry for myself, to the point of hiccups, to the point of wanting to dissolve into atoms and return to the familiar part of the universe, to my home on Earth. I hated this bastard with every fiber of my being.

When he entered again, I was still crying. After a thoughtful glance, he left. This repeated several times. A couple of times, something resembling a droid came in and left fragrant food on the table. But I knew if I put anything in my mouth, I would vomit. The spasms in my throat grew stronger and stronger.

Sgannar came in once more, glanced at the sad, cold food, and sat beside me.

“Forgive me,” he said unexpectedly, his voice subdued.

His face was so close, so enticing, that without thinking, through a veil of tears, unable to see my target clearly, I punched him in the nose with my right fist. And I succeeded. His head barely moved. It felt insufficient. Acting of its own accord, my left hand flew up and, meeting no resistance, landed with a slap on his cheek. He didn’t flinch, only smiled slightly and whispered:

“Feel better?”

Honestly, I felt ashamed. I had never hit anyone in my life. Not a person, not even a living creature larger than a cockroach. And here I had hit him twice. Fear followed, drying my tears instantly: now he would kill me.

“Why didn’t you stop me?” I whispered with lips swollen from prolonged crying, which he looked at with interest.

“I don’t kill little girls, especially when they act impulsively without understanding their actions. Someone else wouldn’t still be alive. But for you... I gave you the right to respond to my recent actions against you. I lost my temper a bit then.”

“A bit? My butt is still burning!”

“May I see?” he asked slyly.

“No!” I squealed. “Was it you I talked to over the past months? Were those not just my fantasies?”

He nodded affirmatively.

“I was convinced you weren’t real, that I had imagined you. How was I supposed to know I was supposed to remain faithful to you?”

The muscles in his cheeks tightened, and he moved back to the window. Damn, it seemed I had ruined his conciliatory mood again. He stood staring at the stars for a long time, then rubbed his face wearily and turned back to me.

“We started off on the wrong foot, Haag.”

“Of course we did.” They keep addressing me strangely, and I still haven’t figured out what “Haag” means. He could call me a Striped Ant for all I care, as long as he takes me back. “But it’s a bit late to acknowledge your mistakes now, when we’re who knows how many light years or parsecs, whatever you measure with, away from Earth. Maybe you should have asked me right there in my home,” I challenged, “whether I wanted to go with you. I would’ve given you an answer right then and—”

“Who told you I made a mistake?”

“I’m telling you, you made a mistake.” I jumped off the bed. “A serious mistake with me. Look, why don’t you just do whatever you need to do with me that you can’t handle remotely?” I was ready to pay any price to go back. “Then you can turn your ship around and take me home. I won’t hold a grudge. Just. Take. Me. Back. To. My. Kids.”

He looked at me intently and approached. So close that my nose bumped into his solar plexus, and I had to crane my neck to look up. And I wasn’t exactly short. His nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply.

“Do you always give strangers what they ask for so easily?”

Was this bastard implying I was easy? That was the only time in my life. Just a few hours ago.

“Laor didn’t ask for anything… I just wanted to.”

His jaw tightened, making the muscles in his cheeks pulse. That was a mistake. But while he was still listening, I hurried on:

“And I’m offering you to do only what you took me for. And somehow, I don’t think it’s just a fifteen-minute fling. Admit it, it would be nonsense to cross several galaxies for that. Besides, I don’t think that highly of my own s****l appeal. It seems you need something else after all. Come on, big guy. And don’t think I’m afraid of you when you stand there grinding your teeth at me.” I lied.

Why was I so bold? It was strange, but when I talked to him, I felt like I was arguing with my husband. Yes, he was bigger, stronger, an aggressive alien for heaven’s sake, and it was impossible to predict his thoughts. But for some inexplicable reason, I felt safe, as if I were arguing with my man about dirty socks left under the couch.

Then Sgannar laughed. Heartily, throwing his head back. In a second, the cheerfulness transformed him from a dark villain into a young, carefree Earth guy. He quickly calmed down and looked at me… was that tenderness?

“I never leave dirty socks around. But your feeling that I am your man is very pleasant. And absolutely correct.

"Are you reading my mind?" I stared at the floor. I didn’t want to look at Sgannar. He was infuriating not only with his master-of-the-universe attitude but also with his insane beauty. Especially when he smiled like that and stood so close.

"Of course, I’m in your head. How else could we have communicated all these past months? Do you remember how we fantasized together? Do you remember how you imagined me entering you? It was so sweet," he whispered sinfully in my ear. ”Unfortunately, after the reparative module, you revealed some abilities that were dormant while you were on Gaia, which was to be expected from my lleiro. Now, I feel that you have developed some resistance to penetration into your mind. But you still think loudly."

“I don’t care about your superpowers. What is ‘llei’ro’? Arkhaite? Haag? Your implant isn’t translating these words for me. And how long are you planning to keep me here? Do I have any chance of returning home alive?”

“As I understand it, the whole problem lies with your children?”

“No, the problem lies with you! I hate you for taking them away from me, you... you bastard!" I shoved his chest, which was like trying to move a boulder.

"If you want to negotiate anything with me, you should be more polite." He reverted to his impassive villain mode. My own fault.

I had to take a deep breath and pull myself together. He was right. This way, I wouldn’t achieve anything.

“Smart girl,” he commented and continued. ”First of all, let’s start with the fact that when we were communicating in your thoughts, you never once thought about your children. About s*x, yes. And a lot. But not about them. In your home, I also found no one but you. So, I only learned about their existence now, when it’s already a bit too late.”

"Well, I thought you were just my fantasy! A figment of my imagination! I don’t have to spill my entire biography to my own s****l fantasy! And especially not think about my kids at that moment! That’s just ridiculous!"

"But as you can see, I’m very real. And the blame doesn’t lie solely on me now. I thought I would just whisk away my woman and explain everything to her later. Spending time on Gaia for courtship and persuasion wasn’t part of my plans."

"And what about my plans? You don’t want to ask what was part of my plans?"

"Your earthly plans don’t matter anymore. Get over it. And the emanations of your disappointment with earthly life, I could feel them all the way from the Takrid-Aora system."

"All these emanations are nothing compared to the fact that you took me away from my sons! Please, take me back. I’m of no use to you, believe me." I had moved to the stage of whining and pleading. “Just an ordinary earthly woman with a bunch of problems, who hasn’t done anything remarkable and doesn’t possess any exceptional abilities or qualities. Or beauty. I just want to love them, be with them, watch them grow — they’re still just kids… Fourteen and ten yea..."

I trailed off, catching his glassy stare. It seemed like pleading with him was as useless as pleading with a crocodile. Damn reptiloid. Let’s try a different approach.

"Why did you need to come all the way to such a backwater place as our God-forsaken planet?"

"It’s not forsaken," he finally said. ”It holds a very important place in the galactic system of monad personal development.”

"Development of what?"

"Secondly, it serves as an important transit point from the Milky Way — as you call it, to the next galaxy, the Nebula of Andromeda, and from there to the Second Universe. In this sense, believe me, there’s very busy traffic in space above your planet."

"Look,” I interrupted him, ”honestly, I don’t care about any of that.”

He blinked. It seemed I had surprised him. Then he abruptly grabbed a chair, dragged it close to the bed, and gently sat me down on it. He sat on the bed himself, spreading his legs and trapping my shrunken body between his huge knees. No running around the cabin for us now.

He gently took my wrists.

"Now calm down and listen to me very carefully.”