Page 27 of Infala: Bonded to the Enemy
“I am aware of that. But, as you so considerately pointed out, we do not have much of a choice. Take her aboard the shuttle and prepare for launch.”
“Are we leaving a detachment to crew the encampment?”
“We are shorthanded as it is due to the additional men we had working on the surface during this harvest, so the answer is no. The next rotation was to shift the bulk back into orbit, but that is clearly not happening now. We will continue our work on the station and send daily work teams to harvest what can be saved.”
“We’re abandoning the camp? That’s a dereliction of—” Grallox began.
“I am doing no such thing! And you would be wise to watch your tone, as well as your tongue if you wish for it to remain in your mouth,” Valin bellowed, looming over the smaller man. “Somehow, our men were either killed or captured. It doesn’t matter which, what does is that they are gone. All of them. And ifforces capable of that are present, we must operate with heightened security. That means guards on standby while others gather the crops. And we only work in daylight. I will send a priority message to the fleet. Only when reinforcements arrive will we be able to begin operating the camp normally. Do you understand?”
That was clearly not a question.
Grallox, wisely, remained silent.
Valin gestured toward Shalia. “Take her. She will live aboard the ship until she can be transferred off. For now, she will be put to work. Cleaning. Cooking. Just as any other slave would do. Now, load up. Night approaches and we are finished here. Tomorrow you will be given new duties to adjust the workload until the next group of prisoners arrive.”
A grumble rose from the men.
“I assure you, while I know none of you are pleased with this turn of events, I am even less so than the lot of you. But we are Dohrags. We do not fear adversity. We are strong. We overcome. Load up. We leave at once.”
14
Shalia was unceremoniously unbound and hauled aboard the Dohrag shuttle. No one bothered to refasten her restraints. There were a dozen of them, they were all far larger than she was, and, of course, they were all sealed inside the small ship.
She had nowhere to run.
The shuttle lurched upward with a jerk. Apparently, whomever was flying it was either no better than Orvus, or the ship was more damaged than she’d realized, rendering it difficult to fly. Whatever the case, she was about to witness something she’d only dreamed of. She would be exiting into space.
Yes, she had technically already done this, but it had been while unconscious as a Raxxian prisoner. And when she’d come crashing down onto this planet it had been in a sealed container craft with no windows. This was the first time she could actually see what was going on, and despite the circumstances, it was incredible.
The Dohrags didn’t much care about sightseeing. Space flight was like crossing the street for them. No big deal and nothing to be excited about. For Shalia, however, it was amazing. The hull glowed orange then abruptly shifted back to its normal colors asthe ship forced its way through the exosphere and into the frigid vacuum of space.
“Holy shit,” she gasped as she finally got to see the planet from above. It was absolutely beautiful. Unlike anything she’d ever seen, not just in terms of being in space, but also the geography and colors of the alien world.
Vast swaths of ocean covered portions of the surface, but so too did soaring mountain ranges cloaked in clouds. There were jungles by the look of them, dense pockets of not only green foliage, but also burgundy, orange, and yellow. It was all so, well,alien, and the sheer beauty of it brought tears to her eyes.
“Aww, look. She’s scared,” one of the Dohrags said with a cruel laugh.
Shalia knew he was baiting her. Looking for an excuse to let off a bit of that trademark Dohrag aggression. She bit her tongue and kept her face glued to the window. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. That, and she wanted to get a good look at where they were going if at all possible.
As it turned out, the transit station lazily floating in a low orbit wasn’t terribly big at all. Perhaps the size of one of a few large warehouses all bolted together. That actually made sense as this was a food processing and transfer facility for arriving warships. Lots of storage space, but not many bells and whistles.
It was wide, looking as though the whole thing was perhaps only a few levels tall. There were a trio of enormous rectangular projections from three of the four corners. They were folded back over the top of the station at the moment, but Shalia could see they were designed to pivot as they flew closer.
These must be how they resupply the arriving ships, she realized. It was straightforward, if inelegant. But then the overall appearance was all quite utilitarian. As for an actual landing area, there was a now-open landing bay off to the fourth side where no transfer apparatus was attached. As they flew in, they passed through a bumpy series of light-based force walls of some kind. Shalia saw people working inside the empty area,confirming her suspicion there had to be an atmospheric seal of some sort.
A pile of parts was spread out near where the shuttle set down. Spares, likely. That or salvaged bits they used to make this thing flyable. Whatever the case, it seemed clear there wasn’t enough for another craft. There was barely enough to fix this one.
A rough hand grabbed Shalia by the clothing and shoved her toward the hatch as it cycled open.
“Out!”
She did as she was told, stepping out onto the landing deck. The two workers present stopped and gawked at the female in their midst. She’d been told the Dohrags had no women aboard their ships, but from what she’d learned of the orbiting station, those who wanted to have their fun with a captive had to do so on the planet’s surface. Having a female aboard their living space was simply unheard of.
This has the potential to get really ugly, really fast, she realized as she was ushered ahead.
Valin was already off the shuttle and speaking angrily with the two men. Techs, apparently, by the way he was pointing at the craft in a heated manner. Whatever it was he wanted, they’d have to make do with the parts they had on hand, and quickly at that. Valin turned and gestured across the landing bay toward a heavy door. The Dohrag leading their visitor nodded his understanding.
“Where are you taking me?” she dared ask.
