Hudson nodded, walking across the room to fulfill her request. “Do you need medical attention?”
“No, I just haven’t had anything to drink for a while. I may need an exam, but I wasn’t pregnant, so let the doctors take care of them first,” she said, nodding toward the exam rooms.
Both men nodded to her, indicating they would like her to continue.
“So, where was I? Oh yeah, I prepared for my escort to arrive. Two warriors showed up. I had never met either one of them and they didn’t really talk much. I can’t even say that I would be able to describe them for you. I was just trying to keep up. They were in such a hurry. I don’t remember them even saying their names.”
She paused to take a sip of the water Hudson had fetched her. “We got to a room on a part of the ship I had never been to. There were four men in the room. Again, none of them were familiar. Before I could ask questions, they handed me paperwork. I read it and saw that it was the same forms I had filled out previously.”
“When you saw this, did it raise any concerns for you?” Kaine questioned.
“Not really, paperwork gets lost all the time on Earth. I just figured that my forms had been misplaced and you guys needed me to do them again,” she gave as an explanation.
“Continue,” he said with a nod.
“While I filled out the forms, the main guy said he had a vaccine I needed to take. I asked him why I needed it. He said that it was protocol for the human brides to be vaccinated. He pointed out that he had vaccines for all of us for our own safety.” She rolled her eyes. “Since I was still messing with the paperwork, I didn’t immediately take it. No offense, but I wasn’t about to take a medication without a list of the side effects. I palmed the pill and distracted him with questions about the paperwork instead. Then a couple of the warriors worked on removing my bridal band. I remember one of them saying that he should have gotten the proper tool to cut it off, but hadn’t had the time. I thought that was strange, but didn’t want to be accidently nicked while they cut it off so I kept my mouth shut and stayed still. Once it was loose he tossed it into the trash and said I was no longer a Phaeton bride. It felt strange to have it off my wrist…I’d worn it since I arrived and guess I’d gotten used to the feel of it.”
“What happened then?” Hudson questioned.
“I handed the papers to him and was told that I would be shuttled to Earth today. I started to feel uncomfortable at that point. I remember Zane had said we were too far from Earth for a shuttle make the distance. When I asked the warriors about it, they explained I would be taken to a passing ship. It seemed plausible so I followed them to the docking bay,” she explained.
“They took you to the main docking bay?” There was surprise in Kaine’s voice when he interrupted.
“There’s another one?”
“As a matter of fact, there is. We have a smaller bay for overflow shuttles to land,” he replied.
“Oh, well. As far as I can tell it was the main bay. I remember it was the same bay where Zane worked since he had shown me around there when I arrived.” Andi sipped her water again, wetting her lips. She tried to remember every step she had taken in case even a small part was important.
“When we walked through the bay, the men who were escorting me seemed to block my view. I remember that specifically because I was watching for Zane.”
Hudson raised his eyebrow at her, causing Andi to continue.
“He was, actually is, one of my best friends. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.” Andi made a sad face. “Part of me thinks if I had seen him and gotten his attention, he might have realized something was fishy and stopped me from getting on that shuttle.”
“Do not doubt your actions. It will accomplish nothing. You were following what you assumed were council orders. The actions that you later took to help the brides should erase any doubt that you have for being there. Imagine what would have happened if you did question the warriors? What if you hadn’t been on that ship? Those women would have been alone without anyone who had medical training,” Hudson argued, smiling at her sadly.
“That makes me feel a little better, I guess,” she admitted. “Well, after I got on the shuttle, I noticed there was another woman there. She was already strapped in a seat and was sleeping. I didn’t pay much attention because I was starting to feel nervous about everything. A few minutes passed before I noticed another group of warriors walking up the ramp of the shuttle, but this time they were dragging someone.”
“Dragging?” Kaine’s voice was incredulous. “And not one warrior stopped the group?”
“Yeah, it was Isabel. She was kind of propped up between them with the other warriors in front and back. I wouldn’t have even noticed her except I saw one of her shoes fall off. The men carrying her just kept moving like they didn’t notice it. When I pointed it out, they told me to shut up.” She huffed angrily. “First, don’t ever tell me to shut up. I don’t care who the fuck you are. Second, it was obvious something was wrong with her. She kept mumbling about her husband and asking for him. I remember her saying something about it all being a mistake.
“By the time she was buckled, there was another group of warriors bringing up more women.” Andi shook her head at the memory. “Both of them were being carried as well. I knew without a doubt at that point there was something definitely wrong with what was happening. I was about to start screaming when the guy in charge walked up the ramp.” She swallowed hard.
“Then what happened?” Kaine prodded when she didn’t speak for a moment.
“By that point, I was in full-blown panic mode. The only other woman on the ship who was conscious was scared out of her mind. She said her name was Brandy and they were taking her from her husband. I started to unbuckle my belt and before I knew it, the little guy was in my face.” Andi frowned. “I kept trying to undo the buckle, but my hands were so sweaty I couldn’t get a grip.”
Andi felt a tear slide down her cheek. “I could hear the women behind me moaning and then I heard Brandy get sick.” Pausing to wipe her running nose, Andi took a deep breath.
“We need to know everything you remember.” Hudson’s soothing voice helped calm her slightly.
“I said something to the man in front of me. I remember his face clearly. He seemed so…satisfied. It made me mad. I remember spitting in his face and then he hit me.” Andi stopped and pointed to the bruise on her cheek. “I was stunned. I haven’t been hit since I was working in the ER and we had a drunk come in one night. It helped clear my head a little bit and I focused on the pain in my face instead of my stomach.” Stopping for another sip of water, Andi pushed her bangs from her face. “After that, everyone strapped in and the shuttle left.
“I tried to pay attention to where we were going, but nothing was familiar. It was just a blur of stars until I saw a ship that was just like this one. Now that I know there is more than one docking bay, it makes sense,” she said directly to Kaine. “Where we landed, it was quiet and much smaller than the main bay area here. All the shuttles were tied with tarps like they weren’t in commission. Anyway, from there they took us to a room with a cell in it. One of the warriors stayed there to guard me and Brandy since we were the only ones awake. The rest were carried in by the warriors one at a time.”
“And then what happened?” Hudson prodded, his fingers typing quickly on the tablet.
“Well, they put all of us together, locked the cell and left. Nobody said anything or explained what was happening. They just left us.”
“How many warriors total took part in the entire kidnapping?” Kaine’s voice was strong with anger.
“I remember seeing ten total, including the men who escorted me to the meeting this morning. But after we left this ship, I saw only six of them. It was the leader and then five of the goons who came to the cell for the next few hours.”
“Please go on.”
“Well, it wasn’t long after we got there that three of the women started bleeding.” Bot
h of the men grimaced at her words. Paying them no mind, she continued, “Both Brandy and I had gotten sick in the toilet, our nerves were shot. I quickly realized that they were miscarrying their babies.”
Andi’s voice started to take on her nurse’s tone. “I monitored the women, making sure if they got sick that they didn’t choke. We stripped the cots and tried to stop the bleeding as much as we could. I remember wishing we were all still wearing our bridal bands…Zane mentioned to me once that they monitored our health as well as being communication devices on the ship. It seems that that those assholes were smart to remember to cut them all off before we were taken from the ship. Those would have been our quick way out if they’d forgotten.” Andi rubbed her wrist for a moment, lost in the memory.
Kaine cleared his throat. “Andi, all of the humans will be refitted with bands. You are right, it would have been to our advantage if they had forgotten to remove them. Our engineers are working on a way to reconfigure them to signal when one is removed without permission of the council. Please continue with what you remember happening next.” He motioned for her to go on, waiting while she took a sip of water.
“It was then that Val and Poppy woke up. Both of them were nauseous but they weren’t exhibiting any other symptoms. Val explained that she had not taken the ‘vaccine’, but when she’d struggled, the men had given her a shot of some sort. We figured that was why both she and Poppy were sick. It was most likely a reaction to whatever they’d been dosed with. After that, it became a matter of waiting for help.”
“Did the original warriors make any further contact with you during your abduction?” Kaine inquired.
“Oh yeah, make sure you ask Poppy what happened.” Andi’s answer was accompanied by an evil grin.
“Why is that?” Hudson asked, confused.
“Because the leader got a little too close to her, considering how angry she was. I was surprised at how quickly she moved. If I’d known what she was planning, I would have jumped in on the action.”
“Explain how you ended up getting out of the cell,” Kaine requested, smiling at her bloodthirsty attitude.
“Well, a warrior who Poppy and Val knew came by the room where we were being held. I was too busy taking care of the three on the cots to pay much attention, but from what I could hear he went and found someone who could access the lock for the door. After he got back, we skedaddled,” she finished, then thinking of last part she tacked on, “Oh, before we made it to a shuttle, the dudes saving us made us hide in a closet.”
“A closet?” one of the men repeated.
Unsure which one had spoken, Andi didn’t answer. Her attention had been distracted by voices in the exam room.
She listened in on the conversation behind her, her head cocked to the side so her ear was tilted in the direction of the doctors’ voices. Part of her felt bad for spying on the doctors, but when she heard one of the women cry out in pain, her first instinct had been to stop what she was doing and pay attention.
“Andrea?” The voice came from a concerned-sounding Hudson.
“Just a second.” Andi brushed him off, her ear still trained behind her.
Focused on the voices that were coming from the exam room, she leaped up.
“Excuse me, gentlemen,” she said quickly, walking into the other room.
Without knocking, she walked right into the exam room, her eyes trained on the men beside the bed of Staci, one of the women who had suffered at the hands of their kidnappers. Before Andi was able to announce her presence, the man spoke, without glancing up from his tablet.
“The pregnancy has been terminated from the pill that you ingested. Our preliminary findings show that you may not be able to carry future children to term,” came the emotionless voice from the doctor.
Andi couldn’t help herself. She stalked forward, grabbed the elbows of each of the doctors and tugged them sharply toward the door. Turning to the crying woman on the exam table, she said quickly, “Just a moment, Staci. I need to speak to these men real quick.”
Both of them had been startled when she had essentially snatched them from their patient’s room, but followed her without a fight. She knew the doctors’ names were Tamin and Rodin, but other than that, she had never been introduced to them personally. Not like that small detail would have stopped her anyway.
She acknowledged the pair of men still sitting at the table, waiting for her to finish her debriefing. “I’ll be just a second. There’s something I need to do first.” Not waiting for them to acknowledge her statement, Andi kept her grip on the doctors and marched them to an empty room.
Once they were safely inside the room with no witnesses, she stopped and turned to face them both. They were watching her just as closely. Each had confusion plain on his features.
“Did you—” Tamin started to speak only to close his mouth when she thrust her finger into the air sharply.
“What. The. Fuck.” She enunciated every word very carefully.
“Pardon?” Rodin, the taller one, spoke.
“What the fuck are you doing in there?!” When he appeared as if he were going to speak, she held up her hand yet again. “Save it! I know what you were doing. You were torturing that poor woman. Jesus, what kind of fucking doctors are you?”
“Wait a minute—” Tamin started to argue.
“Shut it,” Andi snapped, having reached the end of her patience for the day.
“Who are you?” Tamin finally asked.
“I’m Andi, and let me tell you something else.” Her anger had taken over her ability to control her mouth. “You are lucky I was the one who heard that bullshit you were spouting. If one of their husbands had heard you, I can assure you that both of you dicks would have been laid out flat on your asses.”
“We were giving her the prognosis from her regen scan,” Tamin said plainly.
“Not like that you weren’t! That woman in there is completely beaten down after what she’s been through. You have just succeeded in taking someone who has already been put through the wringer today and basically smacked her in the face again.”
“We did no such thing!” Tamin’s tone told her how offensive he found her statement.
‘“The pregnancy has been terminated from the pill that you ingested. Our preliminary findings show that you may not be able to carry future children to term’,” she mocked in a deep voice. “Jesus Christ, guys. Where did you get your training? From what I have seen of your bedside manner, I wouldn’t trust you to talk to a pet fish!”
Tamin studied her for a moment. “I know you. You are the bride who dissolved her union to her warrior.”
His observation was the last thing that mattered at this moment in her opinion. Who the hell cared who she was when these guys were fucking up left and right. Before Andi could say anything, she heard his partner mumble under his breath.
“What did you just say?” she asked, sneering at the jerk.
“I said that it is no wonder your warrior husband didn’t want to proceed with the contract,” Rodin repeated, speaking slowly and clearly as if he were talking to a dimwit.
Oh. Hell. No. That was it. All the anger that Andi had felt throughout the day came to a boil. Drugged. Kidnapped. Having to witness the shit she’d been through. Now the man in front of her was implying that she was inferior or lacking in some way?
She lost it. As the sound echoed in the room, everyone seemed to freeze at the same moment. Andi stood stock-still, unable to believe she had actually hit someone. Rodin stood wide-eyed, clutching his red cheek, while Tamin stared at the two of them as if he could not believe what had just transpired. His gaze bounced between them as if he were watching a tennis match.
The spell was broken when Wheaton called out from an exam room at the end of the hall, “Tamin. Rodin. My wife is awake.”
The men answered the council member’s summons immediately, turning to walk away as if she hadn’t been screaming at them just moments earlier.
As he followed h
is fellow doctor, Tamin glanced back at her. “We will adjust our interaction with the brides,” he said quietly.
Immediate shame at her actions swept through her. Never in her life had she resorted to physical violence. The feeling of regret almost made her ill. Her response to the situation was apparently clear on her face when he gave her an understanding nod and followed the other doctor out of the room.
“Fuck,” she whispered, covering her face with her hands.
To top it off she had to go and finish her interview. This day couldn’t get any worse. Andi took a moment to peek into the exam room where Staci had been. Seeing that Staci’s husband had arrived and was rocking her crying form back and forth on the bed, Andi backed away from the door. At least now Staci would get the comfort she needed. Straightening her shoulders, Andi walked out and to the table where the council members were sitting with shock on their faces.
“Let’s finish this please.” She smiled weakly at the pair. “It’s been a long day.”
Chapter Three
Present day
“Andi, you don’t mind if I call you by the name that my wife does, do you? Andrea just seems so formal.” When she shook her head, Wheaton continued, “The council believes it would be in the brides’ best interest for you to extend your stay here on Squadron One.” After this explanation, Wheaton handed her some paperwork.
“Wheaton, I understand what you’re saying but I have a life I need to start over,” she said, flipping through the forms.
“And we understand that. We have also realized that your sacrifice will need to be compensated in a manner sufficient to convince you that this is the right decision to make.” Wheaton gestured to the papers in her hand. “If you agree to stay for the next two months and help the injured brides, we are not only willing to pay you handsomely but your government will make concessions as well.”