Page 10 of Journey to the Forbidden Zone
Work lights from Zed’s chassis and the overheads pierced the mist, illuminating the contents. Not burlap sacks. Not vacuum-sealed beans.
A transparent, coffin-sized life-support chamber occupied most of the container’s space. Thick cables snaked from its base to a compact power unit bolted to the container floor. Inside the chamber, sleeping in suspended animation, lay a creature.
Carmen’s breath caught. Intrigue, sharp and sudden, cut through the dread.
“Looks like you’re right, Zed,” she said. “It’s medical equipment, all right – a life-support chamber. And it’s occupied.”
The thing inside was roughly humanoid but utterly alien. Covered head to toe in a pelt of short, dense fur – yellow streaked with vivid red stripes along its limbs and back, stark white on its chest and vaguely feline face that was dominated by large, closed eyes. Tufts of slightly longer fur sprouted from its cheeks. Sharp, claw-like nails tipped its fingers.
But the most striking feature was the thick, short tail curving up from its waist and hips, ending just above the small of the back. No buttocks, just that smooth, furred curve, as though the torso kept going past its hips.
“What the hell is that?” Carmen whispered, speaking for them all.
The crew crowded around the life-support chamber, circling in wonder. Everyone’s eyes were wide, their faces thunderstruck. Even Zed’s metallic, emotionless face seemed to convey astonishment.
This wasn’t contraband. It was alive. What the holy hell had Maltese involved them in?
“Whatever it is,” Sark said, “it’s female.”
“How can you tell?” Letitia asked.
“Because that’s obviously a vagina,” the Sensoori pilot answered, pointing between the thing’s legs.
Carmen’s gaze followed his finger. Oh, yeah, he wasn’t wrong. The creature had large labia covered in white fur. A mound of flesh above them no doubt hooded a clitoris.
“Yes, and I suspect those nubs on the lower abdomen are nipples,” Norvik observed.
Carmen stared at them – six of them arranged in two neat rows. Whatever this thing was, it seemed more animal than sentient. Was someone planning to breed it?
“I don’t get it,” Sark said.
“What do you mean?” Norvik replied.
“If Maltese was trying to screw us over, why put something like this aboard?” Sark asked. “It seems like it would be a lot more valuable than coffee.”
Dread burbled thick in Carmen’s stomach. Sark was right. Whatever was sleeping in her cargo hold had some greater intrinsic value than providing UPA senators with illegal java. This creature was the tip of some horrible iceberg. She was a disaster, andAntilleshad wandered into the vortex of whatever maelstrom she represented.
“I believe I can answer your question, Mr. T’Raan,” Zed said, addressing Sark. “You are correct that the specimen is of much greater value than coffee beans, no matter their origin. Our passenger is a Xena.”
“Holy shit,” Sark gasped, edging closer despite himself, his orange face a mask of awe and confusion. “You mean…?”
“Affirmative,” Zed replied. “She is a XenX female. “Origin: Sector Theta-Seven in the Forbidden Zone.”
Oh, no. No, that greasy bastard Maltese didn’t.
“Hold up,” Letitia said. “Aren’t XenX outlawed in UPA space?”
“Yes,” Norvik said. “Due to their cultural practice of voluntary sexual slavery.”
Reality slammed into Carmen with the force of a grav-hammer. The energy signature. The environmental fluctuations. The smell. It wasn’t a bomb. It was infinitely worse. Maltese hadn’t sent them with illicit coffee. He’d sent them withsentient contraband. The most illegal cargo in the entire fucking UPA.
“Mierda,” Carmen breathed, the word barely a whisper.
She stared, transfixed, at the unconscious alien. The fur looked incredibly soft. The stripes were hypnotic. And whatNorvik just said?Voluntarysexualslavery? What all did that imply?
Letitia pushed past Sark, her earlier reserve shattered. She stared into the chamber, her brown eyes wide with horror.
“We’re trafficking a sentient being?” Her voice rose, sharp with outrage. “Maltese loaded aslaveonto our ship?”