Page 4 of No Strings Attached

“Right. She lost her weapon at that point and the primary QRF tackled her. It took all ten of them in a pile to get her controlled. They called us in to grab a hold of her while she was restrained by all those bodies, while Qlu hauled his fat ass off the floor and proceeded to verbally flay the surviving Ulu.”

“So, you successfully got her into the cage?”

“Sure. Well…there were a few narrow misses by the claws of the Garoxian next to her once we made it to the cage. She screamed, bucked, and thrashed the whole way into the holding area. Really riled up the other captives.”

“Do you know where she’s from?”

“No clue, never seen anything the likes of her before. If she’s what the females of her world are like, I’m amazed that the males can get in and out for breeding with their cocks still attached.”

“I just hope I can survive night cycle watch withmycock still attached.”

Bahbi braced himself heading toward the control room for his first watch. He had donned his baggy prison-style coverall and slung the bag of kibble crosswise across his shoulders, and he now carried his insufferable shock stick in his right hand.

Earlier, Trak had helped him figure out “chow.” Feeding was done once per day cycle, with a couple of Trallians wheeling a cart carrying a big bin of kibble. You showed up at the cart with your sack, had your sack number scanned, and got a big scoopful dumped in, allowing you to eat whenever or wherever.

He and Trak had both walked back to their bunks, munching, and Bahbi had said, “It’s nice to know that kibble tastes like pounded and dehydrated fish assholes everywhere you go. Very comforting.” He was increasingly feeling the pull of a very unfamiliar urge. An urge to simply be himself and speak his mind around Trak, rather than behaving in the ingratiating way expected of a runt. It was both liberating and a little terrifying.

Trak had nodded, “Yep, the consistency and persistence of terrible things is a balm on the soul. I guess that means you don’t want me to smuggle you in some flarn during your first night cycle watch?”

Evidently, Trak had an in with Qlu’s chef, another hapless Trallian but with better-than-average cooking skills. Bahbi would welcome some fresh flarn, but if he were being honest with himself, he’d welcome Trak’s company for any duration during his first night cycle watch even more. He was intimidated by the duty and downright scared of the aliens, even though he didn’t know anything about most of them. If anything, hisignorance made his fear worse, because his imagination filled in the blanks.

The Garoxian was the only one he had recognized on sight, but that was because the whole galaxy had seen them for the first time a few years back when The Zig had attempted to invade their planet and the Ogobians had broadcast it galaxy-wide. Every member of The Zig landing force had been savagely torn apart within the first hour of the invasion, all of it captured and recorded, and Ogobian Broadcasting still played the highlights any time galactic entertainment got a little slow.

No one knew anything at all about their species or their ice planet, other than they could decimate a battalion of The Zig in minutes. And that was probably enough to know. Before that attempted invasion, The Zig had been the most feared fighting force among the inhabited planets. In fairness, they still were, but now it was also known that there was something even scarier. And Bahbi was about to be in the same room with one.

Walking down the hallway, he thought about that empty cage next to the Garoxian and Trak’s story about the female in the cargo bay, imaging those two going at each other through the shared cage wall—fur and blood flying—and him having to get between them to protect Qlu’s investment. Bahbi shuddered.

Despite Trak’s description of her as essentially defenseless, in his imagination she was a slavering hell-beast with razor-sharp claws and fangs, covered in spikes, and hiding a cunt full of gnashing teeth between her legs.

He was almost to the control room when Alved came up beside him in the hallway and said, “Let’s get this shit over with, boy.”

Bahbi nodded and Alved reached past him to open the door. He shouted at the group holding the day cycle watch, lounging idly in front of the monitors, “Hold the lights for a few minutes while I give the new runt the tour.”

Grumbles followed, and someone shouted, “Watch out for that female—she’ll bite your cock off!” Then laughter from the whole group. Bahbi shuddered again since it recalled a precise and unsettling image from his own mind just moments earlier.

Alved moved to place his palm on a scanner at the side of a heavy metal door, then thought better of it and said, “You do it, so we can make sure you’re coded in the system.”

Bahbi placed his shaking hand on the scanner and held it for 3 seconds before it flashed, and the door clicked. His heart, which had been doing double time, started to pound so hard his vision wavered as the door opened. Alved pushed through the door first, and Bahbi was looking at his back when he heard a female voice say, “Oh good, more otters.” Then he was looking across the room directly into her cage at her face. The moment stretched and distorted with his heart hammering like it was, and he jumped when Alved spoke.

“Although I have no idea what an ‘otter’ is, we all already have her language loaded. But there’s been no way to get a translator into her, yet. Those goddamn Ulus don’t need them with their fucking mind-speak. Qlu wants it done within the next few days, so I guess we’re going to have to wait her out.” He turned his head toward her and said brightly, “Gotta sleep sometime, you nasty little shorg.”

She grabbed the bars, then barred her teeth.

“So, she can’t understand us?”

“Nope. Not her and not that Garoxian next to her, since no one has their language translated, yet.”

A low voice came from the first cage on their right, though no one was immediately visible. “Wellll, I dooo, Traaallian, andI know you can underssstand my language…I sssmell unwashed female and Uluuu blood. One isss making my cock twitch and the other isss making me sssalivaaate. I’m not enjoying either sssensssation at the moment, so MAAAKE IT FUCKING SSSTOP.” A giant snake suddenly slammed against the bars in the front of the cage. It was positioned two feet higher than the top of Bahbi’s head, with its lower body coiling and receding toward the back of the cage, its head and body at least as wide as his.

Alved sighed and turned away from the cage toward Bahbi, holding out his hand palm up, “The Ophidian. They get bought for espionage, mainly, on the rare occasions someone catches one.”

Bahbi felt himself backing away before he realized that Alved had positioned them in the middle of the room, equidistant from the five cages that lined the two opposing walls. It was the safest place in the room, and he definitely didn’t want to back up into that opposing wall of cages. He broke the enthralling eye contact with the Ophidian and took in the whole room. He noticed all the sets of eyes boring holes into him and Alved, then unsuccessfully tried to suppress another shudder.

Alved took a few steps forward and pointed toward the next cage. “Estranian.” Yes, that registered for Bahbi now, looking at him, in a way it hadn’t when he viewed the occupants through the monitors yesterday. The naked male was light brown, at least 8-feet tall and with a cock like a club; he had a line of snow-white hair that stood straight up—running from the bridge of his nose, across the top of his head, and down to the crack of his ass. “Highly prized as berserkers.”

The Estranian grinned, then looked at the female and grabbed the base of his cock, “I have other talents. If you need any help subduing the female, just give her an hour with Acken.” His deep voice boomed.

Bahbi hazarded a glance behind him at the female, a look of horror on his face. Acken’s cock was almost as long as one of her forearms and twice as big around. She was giving Acken back a fierce look and showing him a single finger. He guessed that the exchange hadn’t really needed a translator.

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