Page 2 of Devin (Warriors of Etlon #5)

Esmeralda freaked out like a wet cat. She gave out a squeal and ran up the stairs to hide.

"Yeah, I know," the housekeeper said before Val could open her mouth.

"I work for a real winner. Good luck, sweetheart.

" Marta handed over the glasses and then grabbed a purse that had been sitting on the table.

"This is not a knock off. You can get a grand for it at least." She transferred the contents of Val's purse into the new one and then opened the door.

A pair of burly soldiers stood on the other side.

"Did you pack a suitcase?"

"I- uh," Val stammered.

"It's all right, darling, don't worry, I put it in the closet last night." The housekeeper wheeled the thing out and parked it in front of the soldier. Val could probably get another couple of hundred for the bag as well. This was turning into a good deal.

"Are we doing this the hard way?" the soldier asked, eyeing her up and down.

"No. I'm coming. Don’t you know who I am?" Val said, trying to match Esmerelda’s attitude.

The soldier just rolled his eyes. "Well, let's get it into gear then. You're the last."

The soldier grabbed the suitcase and lifted it easily.

He eyed the housekeeper warily and she looked the other way.

He could tell that the case was empty, and assumed that the housekeeper was trying to get one last dig in if her employer did get taken away on a one way ticket to an alien planet where no one would care if her suitcase was empty.

If Esmerelda came back home, then she would be none the wiser, not being the type to lift her suitcase herself.

The soldier said nothing, and when Val headed for the bus, both of them visibly relaxed.

Some women panicked in the face of the prospect of leaving home.

But Val had done the math. The chance of matching was slim, and the older you got, the less chance that your DNA would magically become acceptable for available matches.

The bus was filled with nine women, all between the ages of eighteen and thirty five, all born on Esmeralda's birthday.

It was strange to see different faces on the bus, as she'd only ever been on the bus with women who shared her birthday before.

It was the same five or six every year. No one from her birthday had ever been chosen. Maybe it was just a lucky day.

If anyone was going to call fake Esmeralda on her bullshit, it was these nine women.

Most of them looked preoccupied with their own fate at the moment, but Val took a deep breath, hid behind her glasses and picked at the nail polish she probably should have been wearing, but wasn't. There hadn't been time for a manicure. Val couldn't afford one anyway.

Everyone was quiet. Being in a van escorted by men with laser rifles tended to quiet down even the nervous talkers. Val just kept minding her own business, trying desperately not to notice the woman that was staring at her.

Surely it was someone with a suspicion. Most of the women only saw each other once a year.

Was it too late to back out? To confess and let them go back for Esmeralda?

Yeah, Val thought, looking at the laser pistol closest to the door.

The penalties for running were really harsh.

She had no idea what a fake lottery sentence would be like, but it was probably a nice, pretty jail cell for longer than Val wanted to be in one.

The van drew to a stop, and the woman walked past. She paused to glare down at Val.

"Jeez. You are such a bitch."

Val's heart flipped in her chest, but at least whatever beef this woman had with her had nothing to do with Val. She took three deep breaths before standing and following the women into the testing center.

It had no windows, just a lot of fluorescent lights and some industrial carpet in the color of drab. Two soldiers stood at the exit door, while another two stood on either side of a man in a lab coat. His name tag declared that his name was Doug and he broke into his canned spiel immediately.

"Happy birthday and welcome to the lottery center. Good luck to you all! We're legally obligated to show you this short video, so have a seat and enjoy!"

Only a few of the women sat down. Val hung at the back and pretended to pick at her nail polish again.

"You guys are fuckin' late. Again," Doug whispered to one of the soldiers next to him.

"It's been a long day, and there were a few drama llamas."

"I told you I wanted to be out by noon!"

"You'll make it. Besides, today I got a bit on the side."

"Shit. Which one?"

"The blonde with the hot pink ass."

Val eyed the group of women. One of them had on a tight wrap around pink skirt that could be mistaken for a wad of chewing gum. It was not a flattering look, but apparently the soldier thought otherwise.

"You know the drill."

Doug nodded and gave him a wink.

Val was nervous, but then everyone was nervous. It was natural if you were looking at the possibility of being shipped out into space.

"Okay, ladies. Sit tight and we'll call you one by one," Doug announced as the video was ending.

In quick succession, each woman was called and each returned with a relieved look on her face.

"I am so getting drunk!" The woman who had given her the evil eye stated as she emerged. She paused to stare down at Val. "If for some miracle of modern science, you don't get chosen and pimped out to the aliens, you better not step one foot into my space. The Purple Leprechaun is mine!"

The woman whipped around and stomped off, and Val tried hard to suppress a smile.

It was comical. The Purple Leprechaun was a trendy bar on the other side of town that Val would have never chosen to frequent, mainly because she'd heard the manager was fond of sleeping with his waitresses.

The drinks were diluted and too expensive for her tastes anyway.

It was the one day of the year that she could probably get away with it, though, considering the local bars tended to offer alien specials if not rounds of free drinks for women who had just escaped the lottery.

Free clothes, free bags, free drinks, and if it weren't for the knot in her stomach, this would be a pretty good deal.

Drinks. Val suddenly realized the vial in her purse that she was supposed to drink.

Shit. She reached around in the purse and felt the little bottle.

She eyed the room. They were down to the last two women, the one in the pink skirt and herself.

Pinky looked really nervous too, and it wasn't the waiting-for-the lottery nervous either.

The guard was still busy imagining himself under that skirt.

Surely no one would think twice about a girl taking a nip, and if they did, they'd keep to themselves.

Val steeled herself, quickly brought it out of her bag and downed it like a shot.

She was expecting something nasty, but it was indiscernible from water.

Another wave of fear ran through the system.

What if it was just water and she got matched?

She shook off the fear as the next woman reappeared with her blinding smile.

"Esmerelda!" It took longer than it should have for Val to recognize he was calling her. She stood and walked, a little wobblier than she would have liked toward Doug and his little testing room.

"Do you have anything else you'd like to add to your previous plan?

" He flashed it up on the screen. Women got to choose who their marriage benefits went to, what charities got money.

It didn't take looking to know that none of Esmeralda's money would go to charity.

Val didn't want to mess with any of it, tempting as it would be to screw the woman over.

"No."

"Good, let's get started now."

Val was familiar with the machine. She put her hand in, and it would prick a random finger, yet another safeguard against the people trying to cheat the system.

It pricked her index finger this time, and she felt a bit like Sleeping Beauty, touching the spindle.

It was still tingly, a bit after, which was unusual.

The computer beeped, and then started blinking.

"Huh." Doug honestly looked perplexed.

"Huh?" Val asked nervously.

"It's never done that before."

"Done what?"

"That." Inconclusive, it read. He eyed her over. Val started to get antsy. Perhaps it was time to pull some of the Esmeralda privilege.

"Well, it doesn't say that I'm matched. That means I can go, right?"

"I, uh... Why don't you go out to the waiting room while we sort this all out?" His tone told her he had no idea what was wrong or how to fix it.

"Can't I go?"

"I'm sure the system just needs a minute to reboot," he said, making a few mad swipes on his tablet.

"That’s not a no," Val said, standing up. It was time to summon Esmeralda, entitled bitch queen.

Before he could say a word, Val opened the door and left the room. With all the bravado she could muster, she kept going. She hadn't expected Doug to follow her out, but he did, and she got as far as the guard at the exit door. The woman in the bubble gum skirt jumped away from his close proximity.

"Arlene,” Doug called out and the woman hurried to join him. “Wait,” he said to Val, “I said you needed to stay!"

The guard grabbed Val’s arm. "Don't you touch me," she said, trying to smack his hand away.

"Sit," he growled.

"I didn't match. I can go."

"Sit. You're making me late for a real hot date, and I'm getting pissed."

His hot date, Arlene, didn't look so enthused, but Val scurried into the room with Doug anyway.

"I know what you're doing," she said. "Don't think I'm not onto you. But I can get over it if you let me go right this second."

The guard grabbed her by the throat and thrust her up against the wall. He sneered and every nerve in her body screamed to give this guy a swift kick to the groin, but considering he was armed, and the only one standing between her and the door, she did what she thought a rich bitch would do.

She started blubbering. Big crocodile tears sprung up from nowhere and she began to sob. The guard released her and she collapsed, sucking in her breath in big wet sobs. Val lay there, feigning her fit while the guard put some distance between the two of them.

"Oh, I hardly touched you," the guard responded.

"What the fuck is going on?" Doug shouted from the room.

"I hardly touched her!"

Doug stuck his head out. "Not you. The computer. It matched her."

"Fucking hell, I thought you took care of that."

"I did!"

"Then what the fuck?"

These two had just admitted to high crimes against the state. They had been meddling with the lottery for favors. But apparently, trying to blackmail them wasn't going to be the best idea. The best she could do was sneak out while they were distracted.

The guard wasn't having any of that. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up. Val screeched with little choice of either walking or being dragged back to the computer.

"Put your fucking hand in," he ordered her.

"I already did!” Val couldn’t decide to bring out the tears or threaten to sue the pair for all they were worth.

The guard grabbed her hand and shoved it back into the machine. Before he withdrew his hand, she balled up her fingers and suddenly the guard cursed.

"Fuck! The thing just got me!" he exclaimed.

The computer began analysis and quickly spit out a result.

"You're a match," Doug said, wryly.

"I can't be a match, you stupid ass. I ain't got a vagina."

"Well, the computer says you are. Let’s see what it thinks of me.-"

Doug stuck his own hand in the machine. It gave him a prick and sure enough, he was a match too.

"Well, then. I guess the computer is broken," Doug declared.

"Then you have to let us go. Because I'm pretty sure Arelene's told someone about the deal, and if she doesn't come home safe and sound, there's gonna be hell to pay. Right, Arlene?"

Arlene had ducked back into the corner of the room by the transporter pad. She stood up and smoothed her skirt. It was finally becoming clear that she wouldn't actually have to sleep with this jerk.

"Yes. Esmeralda and I are going now, because you're not going to want me talking to your boss or the computer tech when they arrive," Arlene told them.

"Exactly. You're not going to want us to talk. And if we don't make it home, they're gonna tell the world the scam you assholes are pulling. But you know, if our names somehow get mysteriously wiped from the lists, permanently..." Val began.

"Then we won't have any reason to come back and talk," Arlene concluded.

It was a solid plan. A good plan. With the two of them sticking together, they could force the men into a pact. And even if they didn't stick to it, Val would be long gone and only Esmeralda would have to face the consequences. Val could live with that.

"Why don't you ladies wait out in the waiting room for a moment?" Doug suggested.

Val locked arms with Arlene and led the way out into the waiting room, closing the door behind them.

But this time, she didn't stop there. Now that there was no one guarding the door, she just kept walking.

When they got to the front desk, their suitcases were already there, waiting.

Whoever was supposed to be watching them had gotten tired of waiting.

"But what if they come after us?" Arlene said as she extended the handle on her bag.

"They don't have the balls. My advice is, though, even if you get your callup notice, just take a chance. Anything is gonna be better than sleeping with slimy back there.”

"I won't have to do it again. I'm actually engaged, but my fiance wanted to make some quick cash for the wedding. He's rented out to some rich bitch uptown."

Val nodded and wished her luck before wheeling her empty suitcase in the other direction.

Money made people make some really bad decisions.

At least she'd be able to afford a trip out of town and fresh start with the cash she'd made today.

Where could she go? Someplace boring with cheap rent.

Val planned to head back to her cheap apartment, pack her old suitcase with all of her worldly belongings and take off for parts unknown.

It was better than staying here in this rundown city where all the bosses were lecherous assholes.

Plus, she'd never have to see the neon-flavored crew again.