Chapter 4

AN: as Terre had gone to sleep, Kim is waking up.

The usual alarm clock went of with a vengeance waking one of its two usual owners. But now there was only one. Kim stretched off, cracked and snapped every bone in her body that she knew about and got to her feet. She was about to scream in her usual fashion to get her lazy room mate out of bed, only to notice that she wasn't there.

"Terre?" just to make sure, Kim walked over to her bed and pulled back the covers. Nothing. The bed, previously, didn't even have any sign of being slept in. she put her hand on the mattress and it was as cold as death. No one had slept in that bed all night. She at least thought that after her shift Terre would have just gone to bed like usual, the lazy Baka. But she hadn't even returned at all last night. Her hearing is usually very good and she would have woken up anyway if she had have entered last night. But she didn't need good hearing to hear Terre. She was in her opinion the world's loudest, most clumsy person in the world, even when trying to be quiet. So not only had there been no trace of Terre in the room, but from closer inspection of her clothes and belongings, he had defiantly not returned at all last night.

Kim pondered on this further as she took her routine shower and washed her face and teeth. Afterwards she reached automatically for her work shirt and lab coat, stopping at the last moment. All thoughts of her missing friend left her as she remembered back to her 'promotion'. She would be, as he phrased it, helping them with some prisoners. She played back in her mind exactly what he had said.

"I need fresh blood on my team. We have some unruly captives and I need someone one my team like you. With fire and the skill to get the job done."

Unruly captives huh? Well if they have 'unruly captives' that need my fire and skill to tame, then a lab coat is hardly going to work up much of an intimidation factor. And neither are smart trousers and a work shirt. I need something more durable and practical...

Her thoughts trailed off as Kim frantically raided her wardrobe for a special something that she had sneaked past security. Upon finding it, she ran to the bathroom and quickly changed. When she emerged she was dressed in baggy army meets combat trousers with a tight black buckle belt, army boots, a sports bra and an army green tank top that had straps over her shoulders and showed off just enough cleavage without being ridicules and still practical. Now she was ready. Before leaving for her routine breakfast, muesli, she checked herself on the mirror. She brought her hands forwards, over her face and brushed her dreadlock-like-braids behind her back into a pony tail. This was far more practical than having it cascade down her back and onto her face. Satisfied that she was finally ready, she turned on her heel and left her room. Once in the mess hall her thoughts returned to her friend and she scanned the room for her. No here in sight was a youthful blonde with the biggest blue eyes you have ever seen. With a sigh she filled a bowl with muesli and milk and took her usual seat, minus her companion.

Terre where are you? You never miss your fruity loops...

Feeling down, she consumed her breakfast slowly, thinking and worrying for the welfare of her friend. She placed her empty bowl and made her way to the card wall, alone for the first time in years. Kim sighed again as she reached for her card. It didn't seem right for her to be taking her card without the childish giggling of Terre, asking to see where she was posted today, knowing that it would be the same place that she was this time last week. Peering over the small orange card she saw a note on it. According to this she didn't work here anymore and was to be referred to the 3rd floor for missions.

Missions? Like the ones given to military personnel!"

Her mood improved dramatically. She steeled herself to prevent her feet from skipping down to the elevator. Once there, she saw someone was waiting for her.

"Good morning Kimberly. Good sleep?" Kim curled her lips downwards in disgust, baring her teeth at the use of her full first name. she forced her irritation under control and answered him.

"Yes sir. Thank you." Try as she might, frustration was apparent in her voice. But he either didn't notice, or didn't care.

"Good. You are gong to need it. I am your new boss. General Snide. But you will call me General or sir. Follow me and I will take you to meet the boys."

"Boys?" The general entered the elevator and she followed suit, waiting to find out who these 'boys' were.

"Your new colleges my dear."

"Do not call me dear, sir. I do not want any special treatment or pet names because I am a girl sir."

"Very well Kimberly. As you wish. Here we are." The doors opened and they both stepped out, Kim following Snide. "Boys! Meet Kimberly." The way he had said her name made her name seem like some sort of joke. She didn't find anything funny about it. She instantly scowled and partly frowned at her new 'colleges'. There were three of them. One was black with a bald cut, tattooed arms and 'love hate' marked onto his knuckles with a single ring through his ear. He had a large, wide but sort of muscular build. He sniggered at her and blew her a kiss. She decided that she didn't like him at all. She moved onto the next one. He was no better. He was completely identical to the first one but white, a small amount of blonde hair and instead of having tattoos on his arms, he had them everywhere so it was only just noticeable that he was white. He winked at her and she rolled her eyes, baring her teeth once again due to distaste. The third and final one was scrawny, had grey eyes and brown hair in curtains. He had studs in each ear and a smug grin on his face as he traced his eyes over her, in a disgustingly obvious manner. She had to use all her restraint to not attack him for being so vial.

"Kimberly" damn it I hate being called that! "Meet Brad" okay, that's the scrawny one. "Dom" the love hate guy "and Joe." Mister Multi colour. She thought to herself as he announced their names and pointed them out. The one called Brad licked his lips at her and she lost it. She launched forwards and punched him in the face.

"Let THAT teach you to be vulgar to ME!" With each word she emphasized, she backhanded his face as he knelt on the floor, kneeling there from the first punch and the second one to the gut. She was about to beat him further when Snide came to his rescue and pulled her off him.

"THAT is ENOUGH! Kimberly these are your colleges and you will be nice to them. UNDERSTAND!"

"APOLOGIES SIR BUT I AM NOT HERE TO ENTERTAIN THEM NOR HAVE THEIR EYES LOOK OVER ME LIKE THAT!"

"Calm your voice Kimberly my sweet. I like your fire though. No wonder I wanted you on my team." He released her and watched her as she stood firm, he noted just how much taller she was than him, being only 5 foot himself. She must have been approaching 6 foot herself. "Now Brad, Dom, Joe. Play nice and show her the ropes and what we do on this floor. Show her how to 'treat' our captives with the 'respect' that they deserve. I will be checking in on her so I will not tolerate slacking, or teasing. Behave or you know the penalty. To your duties NOW!" Snide left and all three men stared murder at Kim as Brad struggled to pick himself up off the floor.

"Now little Kimmy pie (smirk) lets go meet our, 'guests'." Brad took a firm hold of her hands and dragged her along. She was about to complain when she was suddenly thrown forwards into a smaller room with metal on every wall. Sheets of metal that looked like they could withstand anything, even a bomb from the looks of how thick it was.

"Where am I?"

"At our work station little Kimmy pie. Here, meet our friends!" all three of them launched forwards and pushed her backwards, leaving as if afraid of being caught by something.

She plummeted backwards with such a force, that she didn't stop until her back met with a thud against something hard, strong and slightly warm. Too angry to notice, she stood upright. Her long braids had fallen out of her bobble and now fell over her shoulders and face, and some still her back. She reached behind her until her hands met with a body, a stomach from the feel of it. She could feel the ripples of muscles shapes beneath her fingers through what felt like some sort of mesh. It must be some sort of padded wall. All of her 'colleges' had cleared off and were watching through a monitor, waiting for her to scream and beg to be allowed out. She heard a beep like a siren and then a clang, like huge chains of some sort had just been dropped to the ground. Which they had. Around her feet she could see large, thick silver chains and empty shackles. She leaned against what ever she was leaning against and caught her breath. Not realising just who she was leaning on. Kim started to mutter under her breath, cursing bloody murder to her so called colleges.

"When I get my hands on you yellow bellied cowards, I am going to rip out your spinal cords, bit by bit. Throw you in a dark room and then whip you with your own spine until you bleed cold. Then I will leave you to recover, just to beat you again the next day and crush your pathetic hopes that I have forgotten about you. Then after a long, long time." She stood straight, still against the meshed material and whom ever it clothed, that she thought was a wall. She brushed herself off and continued her silent threats. "I will gouge your eyes out with something blunt, something very, very blunt and leave you alone, blinded and infected from the rust. I will listen to your cries for help and laugh at you. But then. Then I will leave you in the generals 'loving care' while he nurses you back to health. Blind and motionless from having no spine you will have to live your life, long and painfully. That is what I will do when I get my hands on you"

"I like your mind ooman. I like your logic and violence." Kim rose her head, bolt upright from shock. Her thoughts had been interrupted by some sort of clicking noises, coming from right behind her. She reached behind her once more to check the 'wall'. It was breathing! She felt it start to rise and fall, flat against her back. Her fingers traced up its front and realised that what she had felt hadn't been muscle shapes but real muscles! She brought her hands above her head and placed them on a pair of strong, broad shoulders. Her hands came down to her sides, knowing that someone or something was behind her and had heard her. She took a deep breath and slowly turned round. Her eyes fixated upwards onto a cold, dark, steel mask with blue eyes pieces that looked like they could see in the dark. She was almost engulfed by its eyes and didn't move. It stared back at her, daring her to move. He brought his hands to his mask and she watched as he removed two black tubes from the mask. It made a popping sound and she opened her eyes wide as he pulled off his mask. Kim watched the mask lower to firstly reveal a large oval forehead with many back diamond like birthmarks around the rim of his head. Then two large amber eyes with what she thought to be a malicious gleam to them. but on closer inspection she saw a shadow in his pupils. What that meant she didn't know but didn't linger on his eyes as the mask left his face fully. The creature had four mandibles, two sets of them with a tusk like tooth at the end of them. Two of them pointed down at the top of hid mouth and were the smallest. The other two were much larger and ran on each side of his jaw, the tusked end pointing upwards. The mandibles on each side looked to be able to move with facial expression and touch on another. She stared for a moment, taking in all his appearance, blinked once and then relaxed.

"My name is Kim." She stated, smiling slightly but focused as this person is still a potential threat.

"Maktel, can you speak ooman?" The creature turned its head to the left and Kim cautiously followed its gaze, meeting yet another masked creature, just as powerful in appearance as the first. She didn't like this. If she was in danger, she was out matched and would easily be over powered. They were both 7 feet tall and rippled with full muscles. She would not be able to over brawn them. She would have to use her mind and stay alert.

"No Katel. I speak their language as much as you do." Kim couldn't help but feel nervous from their clicking and no doubt conversing, curious and frightened by what they could be saying. The masked being stood before her was very similar to the other one. But he was taller and had, that she noticed, a black fire like birth mark that covered his chest and began beneath his loin cloth. That she had also noticed. She was very observant and had a nak for processing details unnoticed.

"I can say my name in their language. Shall I tell her our names brother?" The masked being with the fire mark clicked to the other creature and waited for a response. Feeling just as nervous as before, Kim waited for it to answer too. It stared at her for a time, weighing her up. It focused deep into her eyes and she felt almost naked under his gaze. Then it nodded to the being with the fiery chest. Then the one before her looked down on her, its intimidating stance never faltering. He placed one hand in its chest and continued to look at her. "Katel." He pointed at the other creature and spoke again. "Maktel." They must be their names. She concentrated on them and memorised their names. Katel, Maktel. She placed her hand on her own chest and stated her name again for them.

"Kim." After a few clicking noises they seemed to pronounce her name perfectly. Katel managed it first. Their voices were not as clear as hers. They still clicked the letters and sounded croaky in their pronunciation, but it was better than nothing. "Can you understand me?" in unison they nodded and she smiled. "Well I can't understand you...can you speak my language?" they shook her heads and couldn't help but think that they wouldn't be much of conversationalists. Kim's eyes once again met with the chains on the floor, and couldn't help but ponder on them. "Were these attached to you? Were you restrained when I came in here?" Katel nodded and too a step towards her. She took a wary step back and remained calm. She may now know their names but that didn't mean that she was in any less danger. They could still jump her. And she was still out numbered and out matched. "Forgive me but I still do not know you. I am cautious by nature. I mean no offence." Katel nodded but still took a step towards her.

Outside three men were loving this. She was telling them she didn't trust them and backing away from one of the massive creatures. They didn't think it would be long until she would scream for help.

Kim however would never scream for help. Not even if it would save her life. Her eyes slowly dropped and she saw something that she hadn't noticed before. All up his arm were deep cuts and scars. She lost her control and ran forwards. She caught him off guard and traced his scars with her fingers. "How did you get these?" Kim looked around for something to sooth them as they were still burning under her touch. She saw a box on the opposite side of the room and smiled inwardly when she saw it had a red cross on it, indicating a first aid box. Opening it quickly she found some moisturising antiseptic cream and some bandages. She looked over to Maktel and saw he had the same injuries. Making sure she had enough, she returned over to them. She tended their wounds in silence, making sure she did everything properly and precisely. They simply watched her; curious to why an ooman would be helping them. After she was finished both hunters decided that they trusted her. In their culture, if someone tended to your wounds it was an act of respect and she had tended to them so carefully, so lovingly, that they instantly bowed to her once she had finished. Kim smiled back politely. She didn't know why they would be bowing to her, but she didn't mind the chivalry. Katel once again stepped towards her, and she once again backed off. Meeting with the wall she lowered in stance, preparing for anything. She didn't quiet think that they were about to attack her, but she would be ready of they did. Katel reached forwards, attempting on placing his hand on her shoulder and hold her tight, signifying their mutual respect. But the door opened quickly and she was dragged out of the room. The manacles suddenly came to life and took the wrists of the two hunters once more, enslaving them to the wall.

Once stationary she paused as she looked around her new surroundings. Brad, Dom and Joe were sat in front of three computer screens. One watched over both of the captives and the other two looked over them individually.

"So, what did you think to our 'guests' Kimmy pie?"

"Firstly, do not call me that of does your groin need a beating?"

"Why you little!"

"And secondly, what are they?"

"Well my love. They are hunters of the purest kind. They hunt for the hell of it. They love worthy pray and will kill you if they get their chance."

"They didn't kill me just now? And they had the chance then?"

"Women don't make good pray or even good trophies. To them you are good for making more of us for them to kill. You are just a baby machine to them my sweet."

"Fuck off with the baby names alright!"

"Make me sweet heart."

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" The General stormed in and seethed at them. "I will not have such harsh words exchanged between my people. Now have you told young Kimberly what we do here or have you been acting like pricks all day?"

"They just threw me in with Katel and Maktel."

"With who?" they all looked at her and the General was the one who asked the question.

"Katel and Maktel."

"They told you their names? They spoke to you?"

"Yes sir."

"Then I have just promoted you to the rank of interrogator. I think from the name you will know what your job is."

"They can't speak our language sir. Only their names."

"Still. You will go in with the others. You see they arrived on our planet for a hunt. We want to know what attracted two hunters to our backwater planet. What is about to happen that would be so good to hunt? Find out and from now on. You will go in alone. The others tend to get...carried away."

"But General. She isn't even a marine!"

"But she is better at this job then you and this is her first day! Do not challenge me Brad or I will put her in charge of your pay check and punishments. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Brad mumbled off and Kim smirked, feeling quiet smug with herself.

"Very good. Until tomorrow." The general left quickly and Kim looked to the others. Who had gotten up too?

"Where are you going?" Kim put her hands on her hips and waited for an explanation.

"For some action. You can come to if you want." Dom licked his lips. "But you will have to come and party with us, naked."

"Pass." Kim rolled her eyes and sat in the now vacant chair in front of the camera screens.

"Aww. No fun. I was looking forward to seeing you dance Kimmy Pie."

"That's it. leave or you wont have a groin to 'party' with."

"You'll loosen up once you get to know us. Bye bye Kimmy Pie." They left swiftly before she could beat them.

"Damn bastards." She huffed and sank in her chair. some where along the line she had lost her bobble so her dread lock braids fell over her face. She smiled and looked to the screens. The two Aliens were more courteous to her then any man she had ever met. If only she could understand them. Then she would find out why they had been captured. And why they are here.

In the cell

"That ooman. Kim. When we escape, do we kill her?"

"No. she has healed our wounds. It is against the code to hunt her now."

"Katel. You wish to take her with us. Don't you?" Katel looked to his brother.

"Yes Maktel. I do. There is something in her eyes. A fire. I must see that fire again."

"You wouldn't happen to have a crush on the ooman female would you?"

"Do you wish for me to wear your skin as my cloche? Or your mandibles as my jewellery?"

"No. but I think you have a soft spot for the ooman female. She helped you. And I don't know if you noticed, but she was surprised to see us here. She wasn't involved in our capture. To take her with us...would be acceptable."

"Do not talk of escape like a matter of time little brother. We must be focused and wait for the opportune moment. Unless, you have a plan?"

"No. but I would like you to have one."

They were both silent for a while, until Katel broke the silence.

"Kim."

"What?" Maktel turned to his brother; he wasn't looking at him but was deep in thought. This was good. It meant he had a plan.

"Kim. The ooman female. She might...help us. She seemed appalled at our injuries."

"But appealed to touch yours."

"SILENCE!" Katel hissed, catching his brother off guard.

"Thank you brother. Now I know I was right."

"About what?"

"That you have a soft spot for her."

"Why do you insist upon pairing me up all the time? Just because you have a mate doesn't mean that I should."

"I am younger than you and I have a mate Katel."

"Only by 5 minuets. And that doesn't mean I appreciate the constant reminder of my mate-less situation thank you. Now to the more important issues at hand. Kim."

"So you do like her!"

"NO I. She can help us escape. All we need to do is somehow learn ooman."

"Or get her to get our translators. I altered it so we can speak in our language and it will speak it in ooman or hard meat."

"Yes. Next time she comes in here we must recruit her."

"Katel?"

"Yes?"

"You know if she helps us escape, she would be honoured pray. And we could take her with us."

"Well it wouldn't be fair of us to leave her here to face the other oomans for helping us."

"So we will take her with us!"

"We will drop her off somewhere far away."

"Katel. Stop being a fool. I will be leaving you once we get off of this backwater mud ball. You will be alone in space in that ship and no one to train with. Once she is honoured pray, you have the right to train her. And she could keep you company."

"If I say I will think upon it. Will you drop the mating issue?"

"Yes."

"Deal. I will think on it further."

"I knew you would see it my way. All we need to do now is wait."

"Yes. And now we wait."