"It's time we go," she said. She opened the log door with some effort, and motioned for him to follow her. He did. The hot sun felt good upon his face. He looked around and figured they must be in a courtyard, with the deciduous tree setting in the center. It was an oak tree, he was sure of it. There is an oak tree on Alton. He smiled.
She set a hand on the small of his back. "It is beautiful is it not?"
"Amazing!" The courtyard was surrounded by rooms. He counted ten, with each having an entry way covered by a log door, just like the one he had just come through. Various flowers that he had seen on earth were decoratively landscaped along the rooms, and around the tree in the middle.
There were daisies and pansies and Jasmine and roses and lilies and many more he could not name. At the corners of the rooms plain white round columns added a taste that reminded him of the giant structures of ancient Greece he saw in various books and websites back home.
The rooms around the courtyard were arranged in a large rectangle that was open in the direction the sun came from, and whether it was east, west, north or south he had no idea. The ground ground he stood on was a reddish clay, and the path went to a large circle in the middle of the courtyard around the oak tree. Paths went from this circle to each of the doors. Between the paths was rich, thick and full green grass, like Kentucky grass.
In the circle around the tree were various wooden tables and wooden chairs. The air was redolent of smoke and some kind of meal; something like a roast or some kind of soup. His stomach growled. He looked to the right he saw smoke billowing from the roof of one of the rooms. "Come," she said, grabbing his hand. She lead him down the path, to the tables, and then down another path that lead to an open door.
She lead him through the door into a room slightly larger than the one he woke up in. This one had a fire pit in the middle of it with a pot hanging between two black metal poles. Smoke billowed up and escaped through a hole in the ceiling. An elderly looking female alien was stirring the contents, and as we came in she looked up with. He face looked worn by age, her expression humorless. "Mary, why do you bring him here?"
"I thought you would like to meat this one," Mary said, rubbing her hand up and down Lance's back.
She continued stirring the contents of the pot as she spoke. "You must NEVER bring them in here. You must follow the Sassa Guidelines. GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" She pointed at the door .
"Come then!" Mary, who was still holding Lance's hand, forced him to follow her back into the courtyard. "Food will be done soon. We must sit at the tables and wait. You can ask more questions if you like."
She let go of Lance's hand and sat at a table made to serve eight, two on each side. Another young lady with her hair in a plump bun and lots of makeup came from one of the other rooms and sat on the opposite side of the table. Behind her trudged a middle aged man with high shoulders who walked with an arched back. He used a cane to walk, and he heaved with each breath.
"Sit down, Lance Goodman," said Mary. "We have time to talk before breakfast and before you met father."
Lance sat in the chair next to Mary, concentrating as he did so as to not fall back into the low seat. He stretched his legs under the table, and there was plenty of room to do so.
"I hear there's a whole ship full of them landed by Rithoer," aid the alien with all the makeup. "Why do you suppose your human is the only one to be sent to us?"
"My human is awesome!" Mary smiled, and looked bright eyed at lance. "This is Sarah. She's charged with taking care of Mithor. He used to be a leader among the Altonians and now he's a Sassa Prisoner. It's her job to care for him."
"Sarah?" Lance said, leaning forward as he spoke. "That's a beautiful name. My girlfriend had that name."
"You better shut your prisoner up before we all get killed," Sarah said.
"My prisoner is a hero. He will get the greatest job of any slave on Sassa."
"Lance here is a special human. Not even he knows how special he is?"
Special alien? What did Mary mean by that. As the two young, female aliens continued to go at it, Lance watched as the elderly alien, was it Mithor? made his way to the table, occasionally stopping to catch his breath. He finally sat down in a chair next to Sarah. He set both his elbows on the table and his entire body shook as he took in a difficult breath. His chest barely moved as he did so, yet his shoulders went up.
"But why do I have to get this prisoner. I want a human." Sarah said, lifting her nose in the direction of Mithor. "Instead I have to have him."
"You last human, what was his name? Gary Smith?"
"Yes, he was a great guy. Too bad he was sent to the quarry. I thought he would have made a good public servant. Now I'll never see him again." She looked down at the table. "Oh well, I will get another one soon, as soon as Mithor dies, anyway. Which I'm sure will be soon."
"
Lance makes the man breathe better.
She stood before him, and took his hands in her own. She looked up at her, and he down at her. He studied her face, and she his. The moment was short, although to him it seemed long.
She stepped aside and invited hi
, and whips it across the room.
"Stop!" the voice says.
Long building. crowded. The end up in a restaruant, they eat with the queen, and after dinner it's so croweded lance gets separated unchained. He makes it to the end of the building, walks past two guys doing karati, walks past a fight. The people are ignoring. It appears they are used to such brawls. Or, Lance wonders if the fights are just shows. Kind of like water sprouts in malls are displays. Here people are used for such purposes. He ends up standing in one spot. As the old saying goes, "if you are lost, stay in one place until you are found." he wasn't so sure this was such a good idea, as if the wrong person found him he might be better off lost in the woods, or dead. Yet fortunately, the slave girl found him, and took him to another building. He was stripped of his clothing and touched and prodded as though he were some kind of material, as a horse or a dog, or even a ring or a piece of clothing. He had one person stick his finger up his behind and order him to cough. Another placed a beeping object over his chest, and ....
Mikes owner doesn't want any of this. he doesn't want to sell Mmike. But Mike is lined to be sold. naked. He is inspected by many aliens. Then he hears a whoosh and looks up adn a dragon omes down, swoops Mike up, and takes him away.
The dragon and the crystal ball is the next chapter.
He is sold as a slave. He winds up traveling as a slave through the woods for milds and miles. And he has no idea where he is traveling to. He ends up being sold to a general and he ends up traveling as a soldier among the Sassa guard. He is told that in exchange for his life, he must kill Altonians in the war that is to come. I must describe the battle scars on the soldiers. I must describe how their skin is affected by the glaring hot sun upon their faces, and how most of their bodies are scarred with old knife wounds. They all have families and children, although they are well disiplined and conditioned warriors. They are trained to follow instructions, and even as they enter into a German encampment and are told to murder everyone in the camp, Lance knows he must do as he is told. The cries of women and children do not stop them from killing them. He slaughers a dad as his wife and son run into the woods. He chases the mother and, knowing his brothers are wathcing, he has no choice but to slit her throat. He corners the boy by the River Nex, and, having no place to run or hide, the boy jumps into the water. Lance grabs a hold of the boy's wrist and holds up his knife as if to stab the boy, and seeing fear in the boy's eyes, he lets the boy go. The boy stands there staring at Lance, and Lance wonders what the boy is doing. Then it occurs to him that he has probably never seen a human before. Lance says, "Go! Get the hell out of here!" The boy appears mezmirized for a moment, then smiles. The boy dives into the water and swims away. Lance returns to the killing to find out those who were supposed to be slaughtered were running at King Wooton. He finds a good hiding spot in an underground cave. Over him he can hear people rushing toward his cave, and a man stumbles and falls near the front of the cave. Lance was not seen, but realizes that the fallen man is the king. Risking his life, Lance exits his shelter and pulls the king into the cave. Moments later the Alton soldiers are running past the cave, and are quickly lost in the distance. Lance can hear them shouting, but soon there are no sounds heard. Exhausted, Lance falls asleep.
Obviously, he winds up winning the favor of the king. He takes him back to the Sassa castle where Lance earns his freedom. But there is little Lance can do, because he does not want to be inside the Sassa kingdom. However, while he is there he takes advantage of the king's favor. He is planning his escape. In order to do this he wins the favor of some of his brothers. On the evening he was planning his risky escape, a woman who had snuck into the castle through the back door enters his room. He did not know it was the Altonian Queen. She removes her tunic and she is naked. She seduces the earthling
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