With the remainder of humanity in chains, Shasta keeps her head down and tries to weather the storm. Servicing the filthy needs of a superior alien race, each day passes in a blur, the struggle to survive outweighing everything else.
After ten years...
"Ok." I sit up, wiping my eyes. I don't know where we're going but if he's offering, I'm accepting.
Slipping on my metal dress, I smooth my hair down and follow him out into the hallway. Walking quickly behind him, I notice that everyone is actively avoiding eye contact with us. It's normal for people here to mind their own business but this is more than usual.
I'm expecting to enter one of the training rooms but he leads me past them.
"Where are we going?" I jog beside him. His long strides are impossible to keep up with.
"I am collecting surveillance on a planet on the outer rim of this universe. It is rich with resources and the current inhabitants are few. It will be a simple takeover." His voice is completely emotionless.
He's talking about annihilating another race, killing them, and taking their home. There is no care or guilt. It's clear he feels no pain in wiping them out to take their resources. Stealing. He wants to steal their land from under their feet.
The cruelty of the universe knows no end. He's so casual about it that it doesn't seem real. He's living up to his name, he is going to destroy with no remorse.
I hate it. I know what it is to be on the receiving end of a takeover. These people, whoever they are, are strangers to me but my heart hurts for them. What's about to happen to them, whether they know it's coming or not, will be devastating. If they're lucky he will just kill them, not use them for training or as pets.
By habit or instinct, my arms wrap around my chest, hiding and comforting myself. Slowing down, I move back to my place behind him.
The room he leads me into is massive and full of people.
Shrinking back further, I feel completely out of place as he leads me toward a window.
"Sit," he gestures before tapping the window and illuminating the screen. He moves and slides things, opening up different things.
Trying to be inconspicuous, I look around the busy room. All around us, there are other aliens watching other windows. No one is paying any attention to me so I'm able to peek at them easily.
The closest one to us, another warrior sitting on the other side of Destroyer, has a long, mangled looking scar running down one side of his face and one of his horns is cracked. I don't mean to stare but he looks so much different from Destroyer, older, harder, different.
He looks cold, not just emotionally but if I were to reach out and touch him, his skin would be icy.
Without turning his head, I can see his eyes, staring from the corners. He's spotted me.
I jerk away and look with intense interest down at the floor. Sweat gathers on my neck and brow. He's looking at me, I can feel his eyes on me like daggers.
After several seconds, the heat cools, I think he's turned back to his work. When I look up, I make sure not to look at him. My eyes bounce around the room, never landing on him as I turn to look at Destroyer's window.
Forgetting where I am and who is surrounding us, a loud gasp slips past my lips and I jump up as soon as I see the screen.
"Where is that?" All of my nervousness about doing or saying something wrong is gone. On the screen in front of me is miles and miles of soft, yellow sand. It's a desert stretching out as the screen will show. The blue, cloudless sky sits on top of the dunes.
"It is the planet I will conquer next."
"Is it Earth?" My chest aches, a breathless feeling of tightness closing around my lungs. It looks like Earth. I can hardly choke the words out. It's beautiful. I'm almost pressed against the glass as I study every detail.
"No." He turns to me, the sound of my voice drawing his attention away from the image. "Is this what your planet looked like?"
"Not the whole planet, but my home, yes. I was from the desert." I watch the screen in awe as he moves the image around, showing more. "It looks just like it."
I never thought I would see anything that looked even remotely like home again. It's bittersweet. I want to touch the sand, to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin, to stand in the hot desert wind.
He moves the image and it rolls over the terrain, like flying over the sand from the air. He stops at a settlement. Shiny black buildings dot the ground, a small city in the middle of nothing. He touches the screen, bringing our birdseye view closer to the ground.
"Are those-" the words die off as I watch small, hooded creatures move around on the screen. They look like they might only stand at the height of my shoulders. They wear dark robes with hoods that cover their heads.
They don't so much walk as they scurry. It's sort of - cute.
"Look at them." I giggle.
"They will be easily removed."
The laughter dies in my throat. He's going to kill them all. These little creatures are just minding their own business on their planet - their home.
Anger bursts like a bubble in my chest. Raw rage, like acid flows through me. Turning on my heels, I storm through the room, my feet pounding against the ground as I escape. I can't breathe in here.
Out in the hallway, I bite back a sob - not the sad, pitiful cry of a useless little girl from Earth but fury.
His hand is around my arm, pulling me back into the room before I am able to collect myself. The anger in my body is working faster than the logical part of my brain. Before my mind can talk my body down, I'm rearing my arm back and bringing it forward with as much force as I can muster.
The sound of my palm hitting his cheek echoes off the walls.
His shoulders hunch and a sound that strikes fear into my heart rumbles in his chest.
"You should not have done that, Shasta of Earth."
I should apologize, I should drop to my knees and grovel but I can't. All the years of hurt and abuse won't allow me to cower before this murderous monster.
We're locked in a staring contest with the highest stakes. First to blink forfeits their pride.
His lips curl into a sinister smile as he tugs me up the ramp. "You will pay for that."
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