Captive Omega Read online

  “They told me to pick an Earthborn name to make you feel more comfortable. That was my favorite that I came across. It’s kind of similar to my real name.”

  I watch her as she continues to fidget. She’s dressed like the rest of the aliens, in a military uniform that’s a combination of a leathery material and some kind of metal plating. But Peggy has on knee-high, high-heeled boots. Her black hair is twisted up into an elaborate bun, with braids and twists starting at the crown of her head. With her hair pulled back like that, I can see the faint outline of two nubs toward the middle of her skull. Oh god, these creatures have horns.

  It was easier to pretend that the aliens were just big, gray people before. But since I’ve had some time for my new reality to set in, I’m starting to wonder just how different the aliens are. In a moment of weakness, I wonder what the leader’s body looks like under his uniform. Then I think of his horns, and I snap out of it.

  Peggy’s gone still. I hope she can’t sense my revulsion. She’s like three heads taller than me, and I don’t want to make her angry. She blinks twice and continues to stare.

  “Uhh, is there something you need from me?” I ask, breaking the silence.

  “I should be asking you that!” she answers. “I’m your Beta attendant. I’m here to make sure that you are comfortable here and during launch and in space. It’s almost time for launch. I’m going to give you some medicine to help your Earthborn body tolerate space travel.”

  I open my mouth to ask one of the millions of questions I have about what she’s saying. Peggy sees my open mouth and pops in a handful of pills. She takes hold of the top of my head and my chin and forces my lips closed. Then, she rubs my throat to encourage me to swallow.

  The pills liquefy in my mouth, and I drink the mixture down instinctively. It has no taste, but the liquid is very cold. It’s like drinking a cup of icy water.

  I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and stare daggers at Peggy. “You don’t have to treat me like a dog, you know.”

  Peggy’s big eyes widen even more. She takes a step back from me. “I apologize, Omega. I seem to have upset you. What should I have done?”

  “You should have handed me the pills and told me to swallow them by myself.”

  “And you would have complied?”

  I hesitate for a nanosecond, but Peggy notices.

  “I see,” she says. “You will take some time to trust me. I promise you that you can trust me. My directive is to keep you safe and to show you how much value you have as an Omega.”

  It’s all too much. I admit she seems nice enough, but I explode.

  “I have value to you? You kidnapped me, and now you’re talking about my value? What exactly is so valuable about me? The organs you’ll harvest? The experiments you’ll do, huh? And why is everyone calling me Omega? I have a name—Kira—and I want you to use it. I want you to acknowledge that I’m a real person, a person you’ve stolen.”

  Peggy reaches out and places a hand on my arm. “You must know that you’re special … Kira.”

  She waits for me to shake my head in frustration.

  “Well, you are. Omegas are a critical part of the war effort. In the past, Fysians have never needed to travel this far to collect Omegas, but the Avekis have been taking all the Omegas on neighboring planets in order to cut off our supply. We’ll never beat the Avekis unless we have access to thousands of Omegas. Earth happens to have the thousands of Omegas we need. The problem is the Omegas are spread out all over your planet. We’ve launched a carefully coordinated mission to take all the Earthborn Omegas at once. Our battalion has been successful because we acquired our target: you.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, practically stomping my feet as I try to walk away from her.

  But Peggy holds me in place and tips my head so that I’m looking her in the eyes. “I am here to answer your questions,” she says. “What part did you not understand?”

  “I don’t even know what an Omega is.”

  She nods quickly and thinks over how she wants to respond. “All over the universe, there are three classes of beings,” she begins. “There are Alphas, who are in charge. There are Betas, like me, who follow the orders of the Alphas. And then there is the rarest type of all, the Omegas. Betas cannot bear young. Only Omegas can mate with Alphas and have the honor of being bred by them. We need you, Omega, to help us make more soldiers and win our war.”

  Chapter 4

  Kira

  Peggy takes me to the front doors. She keeps a tight grip on my shoulder, knowing instinctively that my mind is searching for a way to break away from these aliens and run and run until I’m too far to find.

  After she told me my “purpose,” we talked for the few remaining hours before the launch. I insisted I wasn’t an Omega and begged for her to let me go. Every time I protested, she was kind but dismissive. “You know you’re an Omega,” she kept saying. “You can feel it every time you’re near an Alpha.”

  It made me want to scream, but she wasn’t wrong. There was no denying that I had a physical response—an overwhelming one—whenever the leader alien was a few feet away. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is I don’t want to go. It’s not fair to ask me to leave for a war that has nothing to do with me.

  And even though Peggy assured me that I would be happy to be paired off with a mate chosen for me at the collection center, I knew she was wrong. She couldn’t make sense of why I’d want to have a choice in the matter. “The collection center knows better than you,” she said. Then she told me how they’d run tests for compatibility and that my Alpha would always take care of me and how lucky I’d be to have him.

  She looked on placidly as I got more and more worked up. In fact, the more agitated I got, the calmer Peggy seemed to be.

  When she told me we’d be leaving in fifteen minutes, I saw my chance, and I took it. I edged far enough away from her that she couldn’t grab me and then broke out into a run. I headed for the side door, running faster than I ever had.

  I looked back over my shoulder and she wasn’t chasing me. “There are guards at every door,” she said in her soft voice. I reached the door and pushed on it hard. It didn’t give at all. “Plus, they’re all locked,” she added.

  Peggy steers me until we’re nose to nose with the front doors. She taps on the door twice, and the guards let us out. The sun is coming up, and I feel like I haven’t been outside for days. Time passed strangely in the shrine. It seems impossible that I was home yesterday. Too much has happened—everything it took to steal my freedom from me shouldn’t fit into a single day.

  I refuse to move my feet, and Peggy starts to drag me along. I squint trying to make sense of what I see. A hundred yards away is a huge metal ramp. It’s propped at a 45-degree angle, and it leads to what looks like a gleaming metal skyscraper. It’s as though the Sears Tower has been dropped down next to the Alamo.

  I cower when I see the spaceship. I can’t wrap my head around its presence here. Nothing feels real anymore, and I start to get woozy. There are swarms and swarms of aliens all around me. They want me to get on their spaceship so that I can make alien super soldiers for them in space.

  I realize all at once that even Believers like me didn’t truly believe. There was no way any of us could have known what it would feel like to be invaded. We had ideas and theories. This is different. This is me being taken like a cow to slaughter. They say I’m special and they’ll treat me accordingly, but I don’t believe a word that comes out of their mouths.

  The soldiers line up and march aboard the ship. The ramp is so wide that they enter ten columns at once. The sound of their boots on the ramp makes a constant drumbeat.

  My body starts to react to the absolute dread I feel. My face gets hot and bile rises in my throat. I breathe in shallow bursts. I try to fight the waves of nausea, but it’s too late. I pivot and try to step away.

  Peggy wheels me around and pulls me toward her just in time for me to ge
t sick all over her high-heeled boots. I am doubled over now, waiting for her anger or disgust. Instead, she reaches out and strokes my hair. “You’ll feel better when you’re in your chamber,” she assures me. She pulls a small hand towel out of the bag she’s carrying and cleans up quickly as she chatters on with platitudes she thinks will make me feel better.

  Peggy waits for me to straighten up before putting a hand on the small of my back. She gently nudges me forward. I don’t know how I’m able to walk at a time like this, but I am. I’m in a daze, and soon we’re at the ramp. This is it. My last chance.

  Drax

  The entire battalion is on board, save for the guards assigned to the Omega. All the ship’s systems are operational. Everything is ready—everything except her.

  The Omega has flung herself on the ground at the bottom of the ramp. She has taken hold of some metal Earthborn creation a galaxar or two from the ramp. The Omega’s looped herself around it, and none of the guards wants to break her arms to make her let go.

  I pinch the bridge of my nose and shout at the useless Beta attendant to step aside from the spot where she’s leaning over the Omega, rubbing her back, and speaking in soothing tones.

  The Omega looks feral. She is kicking and screaming. Her whole body is shaking. I wish she could wait and have her breakdown at the collection center when she isn’t my problem anymore.

  “Get up,” I command. She scrunches her eyes shut and grips harder.

  “What is this thing you’ve attached yourself to?” I ask, kicking at the metal.

  “It’s a bike rack, you alien scum,” she shouts.

  “Oh, I’m the scum here?” I say with a laugh. I can’t help but chuckle; I wish she could see how ridiculous she looks on the ground throwing a tantrum.

  What I’ve said sets her off more. I sigh deeply, and my tone turns dark and serious in an instant.

  “Look, you’re welcome to stay here for all I care.”

  She perks up and opens her eyes to peer up at me. “Really?”

  I can tell she’s slick by the way she’s crossing her legs as she tries to focus on holding on to the bike rack. She’s wet and ready for me. I can imagine perfectly what it would be like to feel her walls squeezing around my knot. I want to hear her screaming my name. I catch my breath before I speak again.

  “Of course, you go ahead and stay here and die with everyone else,” I say. “We’re on a dead planet. The Avekis are coming any time now, and they will lay waste to Earth. They are merciless and twisted. They will likely toy with you before they kill you.”

  Defiance flashes in the Omega’s eyes. “I think you’re all liars. I’m not getting on that ship with you.”

  “Like I said, you can take your chances. We’re not kidnapping you—we’re rescuing you. If you’re too ungrateful and weak-minded to see that, then we’re better off leaving you here.”

  The Omega grips harder to the metal bar. But then, there’s a terrible flash in the far distance. The ground under us trembles. The Omega turns her head toward the sound, and a strangled cry comes from her mouth when she sees the billowing mushroom cloud.

  I nod at it. “The Avekis are here, and I’m not staying on your dying planet for another second.”

  The Omega’s face goes blank. She releases her grasp on what she’s holding, and she lets herself be taken.

  Kira

  I have an entire room of my own on the ship. An L-shaped desk runs along two of the walls. There’s a tiny bathroom with a sink and a toilet. A green toothbrush and a tube of whitening toothpaste sit in a cup on the corner of the sink. In the center of the room, there’s a wide chair that looks like a dentist’s chair.

  It’s a pretty stark room, but it’s comfortable and quiet. I do wish I had something to keep my mind off things, though. It’s been a long time since Peggy carried me onto the ship, and I’m getting worried that if we don’t take off soon, we’ll be targeted by the Avekis.

  Peggy notices I’m fussing with the hem of the uniform I put on after she pulled it from my closet, and she gestures for me to sit on the chair. I’m nearly frantic with worry about the Avekis and my family when she clicks a button. The chair adjusts, and I’m lying down. Then, she grabs my hand and waves it at the ceiling. A display screen switches on, and there’s a video of space playing.

  “Wow, I’ll have to focus on this when we launch,” I say. “I’m getting more and more nervous about it.”

  Peggy cocks her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  “I just don’t know what it will feel like to launch into space, and I’m getting scared. And with the Avekis closing in …”

  Peggy waits for me to trail off. “Kira, we took off as soon as you got into your chamber.” She points at the video screen on the ceiling. “This is what’s outside the ship.”

  “But how is that possible?” I ask, and I can hear my voice is a little hysterical. “I didn’t hear or feel anything.”

  Peggy’s big eyes narrow. I’ve noticed she squints when she’s working hard to understand me. “You wouldn’t want to feel or hear launch! Fysian ships are made to be comfortable for everyone on board.”

  Peggy’s pacing around with her hands behind her back. It’s like the only time she can be calm is when I need her to be.

  “Umm, is there somewhere else you need to be?”

  “No, I am assigned to you, Kira.”

  “Well, would you mind maybe giving me some time alone? You’re stressing me out a little.”

  Peggy looks down at her feet as though she’s willing them to be still. Then she looks up at me and gives a quick nod.

  “Of course. When you need me, you can press this button,” she says, pointing to a dime-sized red button to the left of the door.

  She pulls the door closed tight behind her when she leaves, and I hear a bolt sliding in place. As nice as Peggy can be, and as comfortable as she’s made this room for me, I’m still a prisoner here.

  Drax

  The control room is a quiet, orderly place. I demand that from all my soldiers onboard. That’s why the commotion spilling in from the hallway is disconcerting. I glance from the flashing lights of the control panel in front of me to the chair next to mine.

  Amiran is a good second in command, and he’s already trying to catch my eye, silently showing that he’s ready to handle whatever’s happening in the hall.

  I jerk my head toward the noise, and we both stand at once.

  “What’s going on here?” I say forcefully to the crew assembled in front of me. By the looks of it, there’s a gaggle of Betas talking excitedly. They’re all trying to get a word in, and their voices overlap into an annoying cacophony.

  “Enough!” I shout, and everyone in the hall goes silent at once.

  “You,” I point to one of the Betas. “Tell me what is happening on my ship that merits this much shouting outside of my control room.”

  The Beta clears his throat. “One of the Beta kitchen staff was trying to drop off the Omega’s afternoon meal. When she opened the door to the Omega’s chamber, two Alphas forced their way in. The Omega’s attendant wasn’t there, so the Omega had to fend for herself until Beta troops arrived.”

  Amiran breaks into a run, and I run alongside him down the hall. But when we round the bend to where the Omega’s chamber is, I dart out ahead. I feel my whole body protesting the punishing pace I’ve set. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter; I’d run back to Earth if I had to in order to keep the Omega safe.

  My boots clank across the metal-grate floor as I skid to a stop in front of the Omega’s door. The room sits open with the door blasted from the hinge. Inside, the Omega is wrapped in a blanket. Her attendant and a female Beta soldier sit on either side of her on her flexichair.

  Five soldiers are standing at attention along one wall. I want to kill everyone in the room who let this happen. I bite back the urge to roar or punch a hole in the wall. I can tell the Omega is traumatized, and I instinctively need to make her feel safe.

&
nbsp; Through clenched teeth, I ask the Beta attendant why she left her post.

  She answers me through tears. “The Omega’s translation device was ready, so I went to the med bay, sir.” She blinks at the ground for a minute before adding, “She should have been safe locked in her chamber.”

  I hear a hint of accusation in her voice, like I’m the same as the Alphas who attacked the Omega. I won’t have her disrespecting me that way.

  “You’re dismissed,” I hiss.

  “What?” She’s standing now, with one hand one the Omega’s shoulder. She twists her long hair with the other hand.

  “Another Beta will be assigned to the Omega. You are dismissed from your post.”

  “Sir, please. The Omega is starting to trust me, and she’s in a fragile state. I followed protocol. You have to see this isn’t my fault.”