“You’re right. So what’s the plan?”
“I’m not a hundred percent sure yet. But if we can capture a senior officer of the ship, maybe we can bargain our way back to Earth.”
Darcy thinks for a long time and then says, “That’s a bold plan. How the hell do we know who ranks the highest?”
“I bet it’s the one with the most wrinkles. When I was first captured, he was the one giving all the orders. I bet he’s the top dog.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right about that but…” Darcy looks sideways at the other girls, uncertain.
I grab her shoulders and look into her eyes. I’ve never felt such urgency before.
“Look, I know we may fail,” My whisper is harsh. “But this is the only way we can go back to Earth. Do you want to be raped and then sold to some gross aliens?”
Darcy shakes her head.
“That’s right, girl. We have to do this. Can you help me with one thing?” I ask.
“Sure. Anything.”
“Figure out where the top alien stays most the time.”
She gulps then says, “I believe I know. Most time, he gives orders from a control room. It’s at the end of the hallway.” She points out of our cell.
“Is it far from here?” I ask.
“I don’t think so. But there are guards on the way. I can always hear them talking.”
“How many?”
She tilts her head and listens carefully. “Two? I’m not so sure but that’s how many I can hear now.”
“Great. Look, we can outnumber them.”
“You mean with all the girls?”
“Yup.”
She looks around and shakes her head.
I look and see weary faces. Every girl looks so tired and scared. I highly doubt that they have any energy or courage to fight the armed aliens.
I need to come up with a well thought out plan. We have only one opportunity. Once everything is laid out in my head, I’ll have to talk to the girls one by one, to motivate them.
I spend two more days watching, putting the pieces together in my head. I find that once a day, three fat aliens come to give us food. Then two leave. One stays nearby as the guard. The guard comes to the door and looks inside every fifteen minutes or so. He may stroll away and disappear for a long while.
“See, here’s my plan.” I look at the door and turn back to Darcy. “We will have to get the guard into the cage.”
Chapter Four
LEILA
“You mean to get the guard into this cage so we can then disarm him?” Darcy looks at me.
“Yup. We can knock him out and take his gun. Then we can capture the two guards with our gun.”
Darcy looks up at the ceiling, thinking hard. “Hmmm, we can pin the guy with all the girls. Then… with the gun... Right. Good. Um… What if the two guards down the hallway fight back with their guns?”
“Then we will shoot them.” I know how to use a shotgun and I’m sure that I can shoot with the alien gun, too. It looks like a rifle and should be easy to use.
We begin to discuss the details. The most obvious idea is to start an argument, making it really loud to get the guard’s attention. Hopefully, he will come in to deal with it. Then all the girls will jump on him.
“I hope there is a rock somewhere.” I look around but see no rock.
“We can use our fists.” Darcy raises her fist.
“Right.” I raise my fist, too.
“Wait, what if the guard calls for backup? I mean, to break up the fight?”
Darcy is right. If he calls for help, we’ll be doomed. This is no good.
We are quiet again, deep in thought. We finally settle on faking sickness. A girl is going to moan and gasp, and the other girls will cry for help. Hopefully, the guard will come in to handle the situation.
We begin to spread our ideas to the other girls. Only half of the girls feel that it’s a doable plan and agree to join. The rest remain silent, shaking their heads.
“I don’t understand, Darcy. Don’t they want freedom?”
“I think they do, but they’re too scared.”
A few more girls are dragged in the next couple of days. Then, it all gets quiet. “They are talking about the plan to sell us now.” Darcy tells me.
“Are we on the way to an alien planet?”
“Guess so. They keep talking about something like… A-f-f-e-n-d-o-r?”
“Is that their home planet?”
“It sounds like it, Leila.” She listens carefully. “They’re talking about something dirty. Like… the pretty and cheap girls they have fucked. Gosh. These assholes.”
“Are they going to sell us there?” I ask.
“That’s what they’re saying, Leila.”
“Darcy, we need to take action now.” I grab her arm.
“I know, Leila. I know. Let’s get the girls together.”
We gather all the girls who agreed to join us. “We’re flying toward their home planet as we speak. That is where they plan to sell us. If we want to escape, we need to act now.” I speak slowly and clearly.
“What if we fail?” a girl pipes up.
“Then we die.” I look at her. “Would you rather die or be sold to a gross alien?”
“There’s no way I would live like that.” Her eyes are spitting fire.
To my surprise, a few of the girls are backing out. “Let’s think about it,” they mutter, their eyes not meeting mine.
“There’s nothing to think about, okay?” I urge.
But they simply look at the floor, saying nothing.
“Okay, just make your decision quickly. We’re running out of time.”
I shake my head and sigh. What the hell, what’s going on in their heads? “Maybe we should go ahead without those girls?” I look at Darcy.
“But we don’t have enough people.”
“Yes, we do. We can still outnumber one alien.”
“But everyone is weakened from hunger.”
Darcy is right. Two tiny straw balls a day is nothing. I’ve lost at least thirty pounds.
The aliens are shorter than me, but they are very muscled. They have weapons, too.
I drop to a corner. “Darcy, we’re going to be sold. What’s going to happen next?”
“We work as slaves?” Darcy blinks her eyes.
“Come on, Darcy, don’t fool yourself. They want only single young women. What’s that for? To sell us as wives. Right? Fuck, this is so gross.” I stare at the roof.
Maybe we should have tried to escape back in Earth’s orbit? Back then, we had more energy.
Slowly, I fall into sleep.
“Leila, Leila, wake up.” It’s Darcy.
“What’s up?” I sit up and wipe my eyes.
“They’re talking about the landing now. We have to move. This is our last opportunity.”
We get all the girls together right away. “Look, in a few moments, they are going to land. Then they’re going to sell us to other aliens as wives. Do you want that to happen to you?” I look at the girls one by one.
Some return my stare but many look at the floor.
“No matter what’s going to happen, I want you to jump on the guard and pin him down on the floor.” I look at the girls, saying one word at a time.
Darcy walks to the far end of the cage and lays on the floor. She begins to moan.
“Darcy, are you okay? Oh, gosh, help, help!” A few girls begin to call.
Soon, the guard strolls to the door. He lets out a wicked whistle, looking at the far corner.
“Please help!” I step forward.
The guard looks for a few moments and then turns back, strolling away.
What the hell. He doesn’t care at all. Our plan is doomed.
“Where the fuck are you going?” I scream.
He turns around and stares right into my eyes. His gaze i
s so vicious, I have a hard time keeping my heart in my chest.
Then he smiles, turning back again.
“Fuck you!” I yell.
He turns to looks at me. His smile turns dirty. My heart thumps. He tosses me a kiss and then turns back again.
Holy crap, this alien asshole is leaving for sure. What am I going to do now?
Chapter Five
LEILA
There is no way I’ll let him go. I rub my boobs and wiggle my body. “Come get me.”
His dirty smile grows wider. He moves to the door and reach in for my boobs. I step back.
He tries a few times and then steps back, tossing me a kiss again.
Fuck, he is going to leave.
I spit on his face. “You dirty asshole.”
The alien is upset. He wipes his face and then pulls out a key. He opens the door and storms in. I step back quickly. “Come get me.”
He chases me, letting out sharp whistles. I’m sure he is angry now.
“Girls, get him.” I look around, but all the girls have retreated to the walls, leaving me alone in the middle.
“What the fuck are you waiting for? Jump him!” I yell, stepping back.
Suddenly, I fall over someone. I turn over. “Darcy?”
Darcy gives me a broad smile. The next moment, she sends her shoulder all the way into the alien’s belly.
The alien tumbles a few times and then drops to the floor.
Darcy lands hard on his fat form, turning her head and yelling, “Come on, girls.”
A few girls respond to the call, running to crush the alien.
The fat monster kicks, screaming.
I pick up the gun but can’t shoot. So many girls are on him, I worry I may shoot them.
“Hurry up, Leila.” Darcy screams. The alien is pushing her off his body.
I lift the gun high and bring the butt down onto his ugly head. The alien screams louder. The smell from his wound is terrible. Green blood spills out, wetting the floor.
I keep hitting and hitting. After a while, Darcy holds my hand and gasps, “He’s dead, Leila.”
The alien is now motionless. I wipe the green blood off my face. “Let’s go.” I look at the girls.
Suddenly, a girl at the door begins to scream. I raise my head and see an alien running our way, with his gun on his shoulder.
I aim at him with the dead alien’s gun and reach for the trigger, but I touch nothing. “Shoot, Leila, shoot!” Darcy screams.
“No fucking trigger.” I scream back, my hand searching for the trigger all over. Suddenly, a sharp laser beam shoots into the alien’s chest. He stumbles a few times and then drops flat on the floor.
I look down and see my finger on a button. “Let’s go.” I run out of the door.
Darcy runs right behind me. “The gun, the gun.” she calls.
We pull hard to get the gun from under the second fat alien body. “This is the trigger.” I show Darcy the button.
“Got it.” She smiles.
We run down the hallway as quickly as we can. Suddenly, we see the control room. It’s a huge room with large screens and control panels. “Hurry up.” I wave my arm. We will have to capture the top alien and force him to send us back to Earth before the spaceship lands.
Suddenly, loud gunshots fill the air as an alien appears from the control room, shooting at us, bullets zooming by my ears. Gosh, they sound more powerful than the laser guns.
Without thinking, Darcy and I open fire at him. Laser beams hit his body but he keeps shooting.
“Fuck, he is bullet proof.” Darcy keeps shooting.
I see green beams from his eyes. I aim my gun higher. The laser beam cuts through his face and sends him down to the floor.
Behind him, the control panel goes up in flames. My laser is burning through it. “Oh, fuck!” I let go of the trigger immediately, but it’s too late. The spaceship begins to tumble. Huge amounts of fire and smoke spew out of the control room.
“Back!” I cough, running back down the hallway.
The spaceship is quaking like crazy. It’s hard to keep our balance. “Hell, we’re going to die.” Darcy screams with the other girls.
“No fucking wa—” I fall into a pitch dark world.
I open my eyes and look around. Where am I?
I see a pile of girls. It doesn’t take long for me to remember what happened: we crashed the spaceship.
Most of the spaceship is gone. The hallway and control room are no more. We’re only still alive because we’ve retreated to the tail of the spaceship.
“Darcy… Darcy?” I look.
“I’m here.” I hear Darcy’s weak voice. Two girls lay prone on top of her. I pull the girls away. Their bodies are cold. God, they are dead.
“Darcy, you okay?” I wipe the blood off her face.
“Yeah. I’m still alive, right?” She gives me a tiny smile.
We regroup, and take the time to tend to the wounded, stopping any bleeding with strips of the girls’ own clothing.
Six girls were killed during the crash. All the aliens are gone, the only two left are the two we killed in the cage.
It’s deadly cold. Snowflakes dance in a strong wind, making their way through a few cracks in the hull. The largest hole is at the top.
“Are we back on Earth?” one of the girls asked.
“No way. I heard them talking about Affendor for a long time. I think this is their home planet.” Darcy says. She stops for a short while and then points at the sky. “Look. The sky is pink. Our sky is blue.”
I look through the hole. She is right. The sky is all pink.
“Shoot. What are we going to do now?” My head swirls fast. See, because this is their home land, we may probably see more aliens. The same vicious kind. Hell, this isn’t good.
What are our options? We need food, clothing, and medical aid. We can only get these from the local habitants.
“Maybe we should go to find help.” I murmur.
“Sure. It’s the only way.” Darcy agrees right away.
“Who’s going, then?”
“You.” She smiles.
She’s right. Other girls are either wounded or super weak. Darcy’s leg is badly hurt.
I smile. “Okay, I’ll do it, but I need some warm clothing.” I look around. Every girl is wearing only a little.
Strong wind is blowing snow into my face. I shiver. “Heck, I can’t go out like this.”
“You can take my blouse.” Darcy begins to unbutton.
“Are you crazy, Darcy?” I stop her right away.
I think for a while and then smile.
“Girls, I’m going to need your help.” I walk toward the alien’s body.
Soon, we remove everything from the body. Then we take the clothes from the second body, too. They are too short and tight for me, and they smell like shit, but I put every piece on except for the shirt that is soaked in the green blood.
“Do I look good?” I do a 360, spreading my arms.
“You look terrific.” Darcy gives me a weak smile. “Take this.” She gives me the earring.
“Thank you, Darcy.” I put the earring on. Now I can understand the Affendor language. That reminds me something. “Darcy, do you think they’ll understand me?”
“I’m not sure, Leila. But at least you can understand them.”
It takes a long time for us to make the hole at the top big enough for my body to go through. I hug each girl. “I’ll look ‘til I drop. Or until I find help,” I smile. “Whichever comes first.”
“I’m sure you can do it, Leila.” Darcy says.
“Don’t wait for me if I don’t come back.” I squeeze out a smile.
With help from a few girls, I climb through the hole and slide down the hull. The moment my feet touch the ground, my body begins to roll down the steep slope.
I spread my arms
and scream…
Chapter Six
LEILA
Finally, my body stops rolling. I stand up and look. The wreckage of the spaceship is now far away, near the top of the hill.
I look down and see a deep valley. Hell, it’s going to take a huge amount of time and effort to get down there. There isn’t a trace of civilization.
Is it worth it to take the risk? I look down at the boots that I’d picked up at Bergdorfs on sale. They are the latest style and great for downtown Manhattan shopping but are awful when filled with snow.
I have lived in New York for all my life. Yeah, there is snow there, but I can stay in my cozy department. Everywhere I go is warm: the shopping mall, the office, the subway… I’ve never liked winter and I think the weather here is ten times worse than New York.
I look at the valley and worry what’s under all this snow. If I fall, then what? Maybe I will trigger an avalanche and disappear in the snow forever.
Shoot, I forgot to bring the alien gun with me, which will be extremely helpful if I’m challenged by a bad alien or some dangerous creatures.
I look at the wreckage and feel the pull of safety. I want to go back, but I know I will have to do everything I can. The girls are counting for me. I am their only hope. If I go back, we will all die.
I look down again and see trees covered by snow at the bottom of the valley. Maybe someone lives nearby?
I step down slowly. The wind is chilly. Luckily, I’ve covered my face and hands with the clothes from the alien bodies. The smell is worse than shit but it keeps me warm.
I tread carefully down the incline until the hill flattens out. Here, the valley narrows into a small path. And in my way, is a big rock. The only way through is up over this boulder. There is grass on the rock, all white. I grab hold of the grass, hauling myself onto the rock. Suddenly, the grass raises, pulling my hand up. I turn and see a huge brown eye staring at me. The grass I’m holding is the whiskers on the huge mouth. Two or three giant teeth appear right beside those whiskers.
I scream and let go of the ‘grass’, tumbling down as fast as I can.
I hear growling from the sky. I turn and see a huge white monster standing right above me. It looks like a polar bear but not the same. The head itself is at least two or three stories high.