The way my head is throbbing has me worrying at the damage their procedure has inflicted. The infection all those bone chips are going to cause, not to mention the chewed-up brain cells. Closing my eyes against a wave of dizziness, I wonder absently what they’d do if I vomited.
They are talking above me in their strange growl-whistle language. Only it sounds… weird. More weird than it did. Like their words are being rearranged… the whistles and growls changing to understandable words inside my brain. The more they talk over me, the easier it is to understand them.
“… the last*whistle*didn’t live long after*growl*placed the translator,” one of them says. “Buyers might pay double if they come with a language implant, but it’s a waste if they die before we can offload them.”
“How was I to know that’s where their brain stem was located? These kinds of things wouldn’t happen if all species were put together the same way.”
Something bony, a finger maybe, prods behind my ear, and I moan at the flare of pain.
“This one is taking it well. We should be able to get full price.”
“We should charge double to make up for the one we lost.”
“Do you suppose it’s male or female?”
Cold, bony fingers brush across my belly, making my skin crawls at its unwanted touch.
“Female, I think,” the one doing the touching says.
“We might get double if it’s female,” another interjects.
Looking down my nose, I watch in horror as the strange fingers trail up my stomach to my chest, where it cups the soft flesh of my breast.
“These look like mammary glands,” the one with a handful of boob says, testing the give of my flesh before pinching my nipple between bony fingers, ignoring my whimper. “It does not seem to be lactating, although they appear engorged.” Releasing my nipple, the alien points down my body. “Check its sex organs. Maybe that will prove what it is.”
“No, no, don’t,” I quietly plead when my legs are split apart. “Don’t touch me.” Tears slide down the sides of my face from frustration, humiliation and fear. No matter how much I try to fight against them, it’s useless. I have no control of my body, but they can do whatever they like to me.
I’m hit with a blast of cool air when it spreads my labia apart. Unwanted alien fingers attach themselves to my most private place, and something, a finger probably, pauses at the entrance to my vagina.
“No.” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Don’t. Please.”
Ignoring me, the alien pushes its finger inside of me. Fear has made my vagina bone-dry, and I wail at the painful intrusion.
“It’s female. I’m certain of it.” The alien removes its fingers and announces it proudly, as if it just made a grand discovery.
“I could have told you that,” I hiss. “You could have just asked.”
Confirming hums come from the other two aliens, and my legs are abruptly dropped back to the table. I want to pull them closed then pull them up until my knees rest against my belly. To curl into an impenetrable ball, so the aliens can’t touch me anymore.
The lights above me grow brighter, and the aliens disappear from my line of sight. My gaze is drawn to the increasing glow above me until I’m plunged into darkness. Again.
3
Anna
It’s impossible to tell time with the constant light flooding the cargo hold. My circadian clock is so turned around that I only have a vague idea of how much time is passing.
I’m still naked, which wasn’t as much a shock as waking up inside a cage.I squeeze my eyes shut against the continuous drone vibrating through the floor and into my skull, making the headache pounding behind my eyes worse.The air is stale and smells sharp, like metal. With shaking fingers, I prod at the tender spot behind my ear where a smooth disk, about the size of a nickel, now sits flush against my skull.Oh my god. They really drilled something into my head!
The horror of everything that’s happened resonates through me. My bottom lip starts to quiver as the realization that I’ve been abducted by aliens really hits me. When I blink, two fat tears roll down my cheeks.
What will my friends think? My family? My job?
People will look for me. My parents will be worried sick.
My throat burns as more tears roll down my face when I think of my parents. I’m the baby of the family, and they’ve always been a bit overprotective of me. My disappearance will devastate them.
Burying my face in my hands, I give in and let myself sob. Crying for myself, my family, friends and because I’m terrified and angry. I cry at the unfairness of it all until there are no tears left to cry, and I’m completely wrung out.
