Chapter 7

Marla was now in a mock up of a bed-sitting room, that contained all rooms in one, so that she could learn all the skills and commands that her owners had paid for. Her orb had told her to clean the carpet, the cartoon showing a person using a gadget that looked like a vacuum cleaner.

As she swept the device over the carpet, she repeated the alien command for 'clean the carpet' in her head, in the hope of memorising it, because she really hated those static shocks to her neck. Who'd have thought that a hike down the Grand Canyon would end like this? At least she had two secret agents looking out for her, she didn't know if she would have coped without their support.

And it was Rose Smith of all people, who'd have thought it. She had seen her over the years, in the newspapers and gossip magazines, not paying much attention, thinking she was a spoilt little rich girl. And then she'd married that really cute scientist in a private, celebrity wedding in Somerset, again she didn't pay that much attention. But then they'd been interviewed by Parkinson, and they seemed really nice and down to earth, not at all like she was expecting.

"Ketch," the orb said, bringing her out of her musings, and she switched off the cleaner. "Good girl, you have earned a reward." She held her hands under the orb for a jelly bean, what the hell, she might as well get something out of all this. A real reward would be getting out of this hell hole and going home.

There were more domestic chores to be learned, and by the end of her day, she was feeling exhausted. An evening meal of dough balls and a walk in the park with Rose and Jack sounded brilliant right about now. That was another annoying and dispiriting thing about this prison, there were no clocks, so it could be morning, noon or night, and you would never know, and you had no idea how long you had been training or when it would finish.

Eventually though, her orb said 'ketch', and 'mehlie na tral', which meant it was leading her out of here, and back to the dining hall. She walked 'to heel' down the grey corridors, with the orb at her left shoulder and her leash hanging loose between them, until they came to the dining room, where she tugged the orb behind her as she headed for a table. She looked around for Rose and Jack, they normally all waved at each other when one of them spotted the other, but this evening, they weren't there.

This was a worrying development, from what Marla had seen of this place in the couple of days that she'd been here, she knew that everything ran like clockwork and to military precision. If Rose and Jack weren't here, it was because something had happened. Her mind started to run through various scenarios, based on the little she knew of this place.

Had they tried to escape and been injured like 'Tarzan' on the fence yesterday? She dismissed that one, she felt sure they wouldn't try any escape without her, although, they were trained agents, and maybe they thought it was too dangerous for a civilian. No, they would have told her, and they said 'see you later', which implied they intended to come back.

What if they'd been taken ill suddenly? Again, she dismissed that theory, she was a doctor, and she would have seen any signs of them being unwell at breakfast. The one thought that wouldn't go away, and she didn't want to contemplate, was that they had finished their training, and had been collected by their owners, which meant that she would be here all on her own.

It was at this point that Marla Jones in this universe, showed that she was an exact copy of Martha Jones in the other. She took stock of her situation and realised that if her main allies had gone, then it was time to win friends, influence people and make new allegiances.

She sat down at a table and started to eat, although suddenly, she was no longer very hungry. It was the only food she would get until breakfast, so she forced it down, looking around nervously, and feeling very vulnerable. She saw the Catkind couple shagging again, and remembered Rose saying that they were a nice couple, and at the moment, 'nice' sounded very inviting, knowing that there was an alien here who wasn't averse to having a go at doing to her, what Tom cat was doing to his partner.

She knew that the collars shocked you if you didn't follow instructions, or took actions that weren't deemed acceptable, but if the Catkind couple could go 'at it' all the time, then she figured that sexual intercourse was an acceptable action, consensual or otherwise. She quickly finished her food and water, and waited for the cats to finish eating (and shagging). She knew that loving couples that had a lot of sex, tended to be relaxed, easy going, and compassionate. She didn't know it at the time, but she had just described John and Rose Smith perfectly.

The Tom cat helped his partner stand up, after she'd lain face down on the table, and they walked towards the doors with their arms around each other, their tails intertwined. Marla checked to see if the big, Amazonian Lothario was anywhere between her and the Catkind couple, and set off after them.

The cats walked across the grass towards a tree, where yesterday she had seen them relaxing in the branches. They quickly climbed the trunk, using their claws and lay in each others arms. Marla walked over to the tree and looked up, there didn't seem to be any branches or handholds she could use to climb the tree. She looked around to see if there was anything she could use to help her up, and her heart froze. The dark skinned alien had finished eating and was heading her way.

She looked back up at the cats, but they were too preoccupied with each other to see her predicament. When she looked back at the alien, she could see by his face that he had seen her and was coming to claim what he had been refused the day before. She couldn't call out, the collar would freeze her vocal chords with an electric shock the instant it detected a sound. She looked over her shoulder, to see him getting closer, he was grinning at her now, seeing the panic in her eyes.

If she ran, where or who would she run to, and could she outrun him? No, she reckoned her best chance of rescue was up there with the Catkind couple, but how to attract their attention. She had an idea from when her brother Leon had taken her to see a football match, and the crowd had clapped in a rhythm before chanting the team name.

CLAP - CLAP - CLA-CLA-CLAP - CLA-CLA-CLA- CLAP - CLAP-CLAP.

She looked up and repeated the pattern until the couple in the tree looked down at her. She thought that there was one gesture that everyone here knew, and held her hands together in the begging gesture that they used to get a reward. The cats looked at each other to see if the other had any idea what was going on, and then back at Marla, who had now flattened her back against the tree and was pointing at the approaching alien with a trembling hand.

She looked back up at them again and repeated the begging gesture. The tomcat understood what she meant and turned his back on her. 'NO!' Marla thought, 'Rose said you were nice, don't let this happen, please'. The dark skinned alien was taking his time now, he knew he could take her anytime he wished, and he was going to savour his prize.

As Marla contemplated what would happen next, she felt something tickle her ear, and looked to the side to see a cats tail dangling by her face. She looked up to see the tomcat squatting down so that his tail would hang down from the branch. The she-cat was gesturing for her to grab the tail and come on up. She grabbed the tail and immediately started to rise into the tree as the tomcat climbed higher in the tree, dragging her up behind him.

She felt warm, furry hands grab her and pull her into a hug, and she held on, crying silent tears. The she-cat rubbed and patted her back, and the tomcat climbed back down and joined in the hug. He looked over the branch at the alien below and bared his vicious looking teeth at him. The disgusted alien spat at him and stormed off. They continued to hug, while the she-cat rocked and patted her until she had finished sobbing.

Marla mouthed 'thank you', but that didn't seem enough, and even if she could speak, she doubted they would be able to understand her. She took both of the she-cats hands and held them together, kissing her knuckles, in a hope that she would understand how grateful she was. She did the same with the tomcat, and he smiled at her, nodding a 'you're welcome'.

The she-cat then looked coy and embarrassed as she looked at her partner and used her forefinger to point between them and then stroked his private parts. Ah, Marla understood that message loud and clear. She looked around the branches, and saw one that was a discreet distance away. She pointed to herself and then along the branch. The she-cat smiled in gratitude and gently stroked Marla's cheek.

While her two new friends shagged each other (again), she touched her orb and went over the days lessons to distract herself. Having studied for a medical degree, she knew that you could never have too much revision. Just before her orb announced that it was time to walk to heel, she felt a gentle furry hand on her shoulder. The she-cat climbed around the branch to face her, took both her hands and kissed Marla's knuckles. Marla smiled at her, and they hugged until it was time to go in for the night.

Marla felt a little self conscious about being naked, and wrapping her arms around the tomcat's neck and her legs around his waist, but the couple were quite relaxed about it, and he climbed down the tree with Marla on his back. On the ground, they stood either side of Marla, and wrapped their arms around her shoulders. Being a high profile couple that openly shagged in public had its advantages, because when they waved at other aliens and pointed at Marla between them, they got waves and nods of understanding. Marla was their friend and needed protecting.

They were led down the corridors into the kennels, and then had to go their separate ways. Marla stepped into her cage, and the hole shrank until it was six inches across, after which, the leash unlocked itself, and the orb floated silently away in a line with all the others, passing through the hole in the wall, which shrank until the wall became solid once more.

The lights dimmed, and Marla moved over to the hole in the floor, where she emptied her bowel and her bladder, followed by the jet of warm water and the blast of warm air. That done, she went over to the mattress and lay down with her hands behind her head, staring up at the ceiling and thinking. Where were Rose and Jack now? Had they been released and gone back home, to sleep in their own beds, in their own homes?

Had they been able to contact the authorities, or were they still slaves, unable to escape their servitude? That was unthinkable, because if that were the case, then there was no hope for her. 'It's a bit complicated, but don't worry, we'll get you out of here' Rose had told her, and she seemed so confident. And somehow she'd heard from her husband, John. 'John's found us, and has found the gang of collectors that captured you', how was she able to talk to him without getting electrocuted.

No, they had to have escaped, they were trained agents. 'Once Jack and me have been collected by our owners, we can find out who sold us, who kidnapped us, and then bust them'. Maybe they had to arrest the bad guys before setting everyone free; that was it, if they raided this place first, the bad guys would just disappear, never to be heard of again. 'Good luck, see you later' Rose and Jack had mouthed to her and to each other. She held on to that thought, 'see you later', it would just be a bit later than she thought.

Something occurred to her as she laid there, Rose's and Jack's cages were still empty. Over the last two days, as people left, they were replaced by new arrivals on these floating cots. There hadn't been any today, and that got her wondering, maybe Rose's husband HAD found this place like she'd said, and was rescuing the abductees before they got here. That thought definitely got her excited, if she woke up in the morning, and the cages were still empty, then surely that would prove it.

She didn't have to wait until morning to get her proof, and for things to get complicated.