Chapter 181: Chapter 181
Tempest was covered in blood.
Aliq’s blood.
She was petrified for him. Petrified and absolutely furious.
With every pull of the wire that kept him captive, he bled just a bit more, and he moaned in pain. By the time she got to the end, he was bleeding from nearly everywhere, and she was worried that he might not make it.
"Just hold on, Aliq. I’m going to get you some help. I’m sorry." She apologized as she grabbed hold of him and tried to get him steady on his feet.
Every breath he took was thick and coming out in a full wheeze. He didn’t have much time.
She’d called up a few times prior for someone to come down and help her, but no one came. Not even Rynax or Gerax called back.
She was worried that they might have succumbed to their allergy as well. She didn’t want to think about what she would see if she got back up the stairs and they’d all passed out.
She came to the human settlement simply because she wanted to see what was going on, but if their prejudice and overcautiousness managed to kill any of her friends, she would burn this entire place to the ground.
"Temp—" Aliq tried to talk, but Tempest told him to hush.
"Save your breath. We have to get you out of here first, okay? It’s going to be fine. I’ll make this better." Tempest promised him, and she hoped that she would be able to keep that promise.
It was hard to get Aliq up the stairs. It felt like dragging a one hundred pound weight up a hill. Still she wasn’t going to give up. A few times she’d almost dropped him, but she kept going.
When she got back up to the surface dragging Aliq along with her, but she let him go right as they got out. What she saw there only fueled the rage inside of her.
"I told you that he couldn’t be released." Hen was standing there along with at least a dozen other women, all of them fully armed and dressed as if they were waiting for battle. Gerax and Rynax had both fallen to the ground in their weakened state.
"And I told you that these men were not a hazard to you." Tempest stormed in Hen’s direction. Minnie was there and tried to stand in her way. "I don’t have a problem, but if you don’t move, I will." She snarled at the woman.
Instead of being intimidated, Hen actually laughed. "You would fight to your death to protect these men?"
"Yes, as they would for me. Look at them. Look at what you’ve done to them. I understand that you’ve had trouble trusting other people from this planet before, but you can’t go around torturing and holding everyone hostage that comes in your vicinity. It’s just...inhumane."
Hen raised her eyebrows at that, "In case you haven’t noticed, we aren’t on a human planet any longer."
"No, but we are still human. You are so worried about me being brainwashed that you don’t realize you’re the ones who are being brainwashed. You’re becoming more and more like the so-called enemy. How does this prove you are any different from the ones who hurt you in the first place?"
Hen opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by one of the other guards that were there. "We have to protect ourselves. This is the only way we know how. There are so many of them, and I refuse to be forced into sexual servitude just because you think we should give them the benefit of the doubt."
Tempest turned in the woman’s direction, "I hear you. Trust me, I do. When I first got here, that was my concern. I was given an option. Either I marry for six months and play a role or I be put out in the wilderness to die. At the time I didn’t know anything about this settlement. I didn’t think it was possible to survive...."
There were a couple of grumbles from the crowd. It seemed like this was something many of them had heard.
"I chose to marry. I worried I’d become a sex slave. That I’d be tortured. That I’d be locked up in something they referred to as the black cells."
Aliq grumbled from where he was on the ground. "Never. We would never."
Hen heard him. "Never! You lie. I watched as they carted dozens of women from a space ship and into rooms where they assaulted them in every way possible. I heard them scream. I was there. I’ve seen first hand the evilness that your kind is capable of."
Tempest closed her eyes. She felt some of the anger leaving her. Here she was, believing these women were just overly paranoid. There was real trauma here. Trauma that she couldn’t just dismiss.
"You’re right. Not everyone on this planet is as honorable as the men that I’ve met. But there are some who are. I’ve been lucky enough to see some of the good here. I’ve seen some of the bad too, so I know your fears are warranted, but there has to be a different way."
"You want us to just let everyone in? To just meld ourselves into this world." Hen narrowed her eyes on Tempest.
"I don’t think you have much of a choice. Unless you have found a way to get back to earth, this planet is where you’re going to spend your life. You can’t live here cut off from civilization, trying to kill everyone who steps foot close to you. What if I helped you vouch for some of the aliens in the area? Helped you weed out the bad from the good. You could have an entire army of alpha males ready to protect you at a moment’s notice if you just let your guard down a little bit." Tempest was starting to think of a plan.
The stronghold. There were men there that would come here to help. She also knew thanks to Aliq that there were men there that wouldn’t hesitate to do the wrong thing, but that came with every population. It was the same on earth. People were good, and people were bad. It wasn’t all or nothing.
"And what happens when you leave? Or are you planning on staying?" Hen questioned.
Tempest gulped hard at that.
She couldn’t lie, the thought had crossed her mind more than once. Mostly before she stepped foot in the settlement and found herself a captive.
"My life is back on Thraqe and right now I don’t see that changing. I’m not saying it can’t...I’d have to think about it." She shrugged.
"Then there is no way to ensure these so-called good eggs you get in here won’t spoil. If we let them in, we’ll be overrun, and no matter how many of us there are we’d fall. I can’t allow that to happen. This place is a refuge for all those who come from our home with nowhere else to go. To those given the same choice you were given. We survive here. We survive here because it’s secure."
Tempest knew that she wouldn’t get much further. She understood the need to be safe she only wished she was able to convince them that this world wasn’t as bad as they’d initially been told.
"I understand, but right now, I’m worried about my friends. I’ve shown you that they aren’t a threat." Tempest pointed to Rynax and Gerax. "They didn’t try to harm you. They walked right alongside of you and did nothing threatening."
"They were being affected by the pollen."
"What is it? What is it that’s making me feel this way?" Gerax asked from where he was on the ground. He was weak but still had enough of his wits about him to want to gather information.
Tempest was the one to answer, "Lavendar."
"What?" Rynax croaked.
"What is that? We don’t have anything named lavender on Ustea." Gerax continued.
Hen sighed, "It’s a flower native to our planet. One of the women abducted to this planet was a herbologist. She was taken with a small satchel full of seeds and sprouts. The aliens never took it away from her. We have been able to grow some things. It’s hard because the plants have to adapt to this climate, but there are some that make it."
"That’s...amazing. I’d love to see what other plants you managed to grow." Gerax looked up, nearly excited.
Tempest shook her head, always in search of knowledge, that one.
"Did you have any sunflower seeds? Coffee?" She thought back on the times Dron had surprised her with things from her planet. She wondered if somehow these seeds had made it to Thraqe all the way from this small settlement.
"We did have sunflower seeds, but it was too hot here. Too arid. They didn’t grow. " Hen replied, her brows furrowing at the question.
"They’ve grown on Thraqe." Tempest smiled at the woman. "I’ve seen them. Held them. They made me feel a little closer to home."
"How? I don’t know how they would’ve gotten there."
It was yet another mystery. Someone from this settlement was either trading with someone outside of it or there was another human running around in Thraqe no one knew about.
Tempest shrugged, she wouldn’t get to the bottom of this right now. What she had to worry about was her friends. "Can we agree that I’m not here to hurt you?"
Hen nodded slowly.
"Good, and I vouch and would put my life on the fact that the three men I am with mean you no harm. If they do anything you see as threatening, I’ll take full responsibility. You can punish me how you see fit."
Hen crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want?"
"A shower. Someone to bandage up my friend here. I want them not to die."
A different one of the guards spoke up, "I thought all the aliens were able to heal themselves."
"Yes, most of them can, but they are too badly injured and don’t have access to the life nectar."
Hen questioned, "What’s life nectar?"
Tempest smiled. "Oh, there’s so much to tell you. I’ll share with you everything I know, but first let’s get this pollen off them. I don’t expect you to trust me explicitly, but can we agree to be allies?"
"Allies?" Hen chuckled. "Seems like the best option in my book." She put her hand out for Tempest to shake.
It was a small step, but it was a step in the right direction. She only hoped she didn’t broker the deal too late.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP
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