Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
There are other humans here, but they seem happy and for the most part, uncontrolled by aliens. A couple of them are on leashes, but they look like they’re enjoying it.
“We could get one of those for our pet,” Kronos muses.
“If you tie me up, I will freak out,” I say when Kronos so much as suggests it.
“If you move more than five feet away from me, I will absolutely leash you,” he says. “This is a busy station, and it is a lawful one. You are expected to be under effective control.”
“My skull is still stuck together with craft glue,” I say. “What do you think I am going to do?”
He extends his hand to me, and I take it, though it’s easier to hold a few of his fingers than his entire hand. I have to trust him, even as I sort through a jumble of memories that effectively took place in completely different timelines.
We walk through the station, which is as big as a small city. There are businesses and shops and aliens and… it’s almost pedestrian, and not just because we’re walking. It feels wholesome here. I can see low-slung houses all the way down the very far ends.
“Are there suburbs here?”
“Hmm? Yes, I suppose so,” Sharp says. “This is a well-established station. Very law abiding.” He says the last part of the phrase in a sort of pointed way, as if I might not be law abiding, or well-established, for that matter.
The station orbits a sun that emits a kind of liquid warm glow. It feels like I’ve been transported back in time, somehow. It gives me nostalgia for things that never were. It’s like part of my mind that has memories from my species and not just my own memories has been activated.
My mates lead me through the streets, until we come to a place that has pictures of happy smiling humans romping through fields on the windows. This has to be the vet clinic.
I am not the only human here.
There are two others. One is a tall, lanky man with a balding pate. He is wearing a chunky red sweater and blue shorts for reasons I’ll probably never be privy to. He also has a pair of cowboy boots on.
The other is also a man, heavyset, bearded. He has a trucker cap, a top coat with tails, and he’s wearing jeans with sneakers. Both men are barely being held back at the end of harnesses held by gray aliens with six eyes on stalks and a sort of round body with two flappy feet at the bottom.
“Nice hat, asshole,” the bald man says.
“Bro! Come at me, bro! I’ll fucking kill you, bro!” trucker hat shouts back.
“I’m not your bro, bro,” the other guy responds.
“Steve! That’s enough!” One of the aliens snaps the leash, but it doesn’t do much.
“I’m sorry,” the other one says. “He’s a rescue. He was used for breeding. We’re going to get him fixed to try to curb some of this aggression.”
“I’m sorry too,” the first alien says. “My boy just gets so excited when he sees other males. The vet says he’ll calm down if we keep socializing him. He suggested sports, but he’s already put more than one human in the vet hospital.”
“Oh, I know,” the other alien says. “You don’t have to tell me. My human is absolutely feral. I think he could easily kill a man if I let him.”
Meanwhile, the two men are having the equivalent of a slap fight at the ends of their respective leashes.
“What is with the clothing?” I mutter the question.
“Some aliens mix and match from old Earth styles,” Sharp explains.
“If you ever try to dress me up like that…”
“We never would, pet,” Kronos says. “The kind of aliens who keep male humans are… well… not the sort of entities who make good choices, generally speaking.”
“I’m gonna fucking rip your nuts off!”
The fight continues at high volume, but remarkably little damage is done.
“This is why keeping male humans is miserable,” Kronos says to Sharp.
“I never wanted a human male,” Sharp says.
“Why would a man be here?” I ask the question.
“Some males are necessary so their seed can be harvested to impregnate human females. It’s very rare that any owner keeps a male and female human together,” Kronos explains. “Males tend to take out their aggression on the smaller and more agreeable females. There are illegal fighting rings in some places that channel male aggression for profit, but they are cruel.”
“I’m not an agreeable female,” I say.
“You are very agreeable,” Boss disagrees, ruffling my hair a little. “You know all too well.”
“I’m not. I’m a terrible creature,” I say.
“Girl!”
The males have caught sight of me. They forget about their little slap fight and turn to me with wide eyes.
“Hey, sexy!” balding guy yells in my direction.