Thankfully, Wyck didn’t seem convinced.
“Vrateus will need to see her first.”
“Him? You know what will happen once he gets here. Nothing!” Nocc spat through his teeth. “I want my fun. Now.”
He licked his lips, glancing down at me again.
“I think you should wait.” That came as just another suggestion, though there was a certain power in Wyck’s voice.
“Why? Is it because he’s made you the leader of his guard?” Nocc scoffed. “Maybe you think he’ll give you the female?”
Both of them appeared too absorbed by their arguing to pay me much attention. Pulling my legs up, I crab-walked away from them.
A hissing growl behind me sent a chill of dread down my spine. Swinging my head around, I came face to face with a creature that could’ve only come from a nightmare. All of it felt like a horrible dream.
A three-headed animal the size of a large dog scowled and hissed at me. Each of its mouths possessed several rows of sharp translucent teeth. A wet roar vibrated in all three of its throats.
I choked on my next breath as the monster lunged for me. With a clank, the chain around its middle neck stretched, yanking the beast backwards. It was chained to the railing on the wall I realized with relief as I scurried out of its reach.
Now, I was trapped between the three-headed hissing monstrosity and the two giant errocks.
“Get out of my way!” Nocc roared, sending a powerful blow at Wyck’s jaw. The other errock staggered back, shaking his head.
“Fuck you, Nocc!” he yelled, lunging into a counterattack a moment later.
The two collided like giant boulders crashing into each other with the aftershock of the impact reverberating through the entire ship.
“You’re not getting her, boy,” Nocc squeezed through his clenched teeth, punching Wyck in the ribs.
“I am your fucking leader, Nocc!” Wyck pummeled Nocc’s head, landing one blow after another. How the other errock remained conscious and upright after that beating was beyond me.
Frantically, I searched for a way around them. With the escape capsule proven useless, I needed to sneak past them to the cut-out that Nocc had made in the hull of the ship. I had no idea what lay beyond it, but it couldn’t be much worse than what threatened me in here.
Stifling my whimpers of horror, I crawled over to Lee’s broken body. Jose was lying just a short distance away from him. Both dead. Val was gone, though. Did Nocc move her? Or was she still alive? The hope that she might’ve survived this nightmare and gotten away rose inside me.
Maybe I could get out of here, too?
My hope was quickly squashed as someone blocked the exit—a group of aliens, it appeared. Though, I had no chance to see who exactly or how many.
“What is going on here?” A tall male entered.
I quickly retreated to the animal on the chain. Ironically, the horrible beast seemed to be less threatening than the men. At least the animal would just kill me quickly. A shudder of fear and misery rolled through me at my utter lack of options.
Hardly sparing me a glance, the newcomer moved toward the errocks. He was dressed better than them in a white voluminous shirt, tall boots, and dark brown pants. He had a white stripe of fur on his head and a long, fluffy tail. His species seemed familiar, like I’d seen them in a picture somewhere.
Themul.
I remembered the name for his kind. They came from a small, obscure planet on the fringes of the Federation. I’d never met one in person before.
Brought down to his knees, Nocc smeared blood on his face with the back of his hand. He spoke to the newcomer, “This does not concern you. You already have a female. You can’t have them all.”
Wyck had pummeled him hard enough to break skin on his lip and possibly the cartilage in his nose. The two had fought like savage beasts. Over me, “the female?” Did I somehow land in pre-historic times? Unfortunately for me, the lives of women weren’t great back then.
I searched the floor for anything I could use as a weapon.
“So, you have fought, I see,” the newcomer said to the errocks. “Wyck won?”
Nocc leaped to his feet. “He is not getting her!”
Other aliens started to climb in through the opening. There were several different species. I recognized a dimo, his tall bulky body covered in hard plates similar to a rhinoceros, a few yourlus with clusters of pale-blue tentacles instead of arms and legs, and at least one black-and-beige ognat, with eight pairs of skinny limbs all along his oblong body.
“He did best you,” the themul said to Nocc.
My gaze fell on the handle of the laser knife under Lee’s foot. One of the engineers had dropped it. Keeping an eye on the males debating who “deserved” to rape me first, I scooted closer to Lee’s dead body.
The arguing grew louder.
“No one is getting the female!” the themul shouted fiercely over the noise. “No one!”
He lifted his hand, holding a gun. The sight of the weapon sent a new shiver of dread down my spine.
Sliding my hand under Lee’s foot, I swiped the knife handle quickly and hid it inside the long sleeve of my bodysuit. The laser utility knife was a tool, not a real weapon. Still, having something to defend myself with made me feel a little better.
“She will be brought to the mess hall, weekly.” The themul said, making me snap to attention. “You’ll be getting your entertainment back.”
This man appeared to have authority over the rest of them. The errocks had stopped fighting in his presence. Those who had come later kept their distance, remaining close to the opening in the wall.
“As the leader of my personal guard, Wyck will have the honor of taking care of the female,” the themul announced.
What possibly could “taking care” mean in this place? I nervously balled my hands into fists, expecting Wyck to attack me any minute.
Nocc growled. Spitting on the floor, he threw a heated glare at the themul then stormed out, shoving everyone out of his way.
The man in the white shirt definitely was in charge here. Now, he was giving instructions to Wyck.
“What about the second female?” Wyck asked.
“What second female?” the themul replied sharply.
“When I got here, there were two females, at first.”
Two?
Wyck had seen Val, then. Where did she go? I hoped for her sake that she’d managed to hide on the ship somewhere.
One of the aliens called the themul “captain,” confirming my assumption that he must be the figure of authority here.
I took a bracing breath.
“You’re the leader here,” I addressed the captain.
“Was there another human female on the ship?” he asked me. “Where did she go?”
“Another?” I stared at him. There was no way I would tell him about Val. If she had managed to hide, she’d be better off staying hidden. “No. Just me. I’m the only one left alive,” I said quickly. “Listen, I’m appealing to you as the leader—”
“No,” the captain cut me off. “Wyck is in charge of you. Tell him what you need. Wyck, take her out of here, the rest of you...” he faced the males filling in the space. “You all will have to help me remove the equipment tonight.”
Everyone seemed to be moving on, leaving Wyck, the errock who had just fought for the right to rape me, “in charge” of me.