and the leader, but an entirely different thing for the society to be at the mercy of the men here. Particularly one man. The women were all very fearful when Kaneer walked in here, and the way they discussed how he plans to keep me, basically imprisoned, just makes my blood boil. I know I’m not equipped to get out of here right now, but I’m determined to try. Let them all watch.
My eyes land on the bag that Kaneer dropped when he stepped in. Perfect. That’d be ideal.
It’s one of their bags, so it’s more like a ‘murse,’ a male purse or satchel that goes over one shoulder. Since I don’t know where he put the backpack I arrived with—probably hidden from me far, far away—this will have to do. But when I flip open the top, I freeze.
Inside is an old style canteen, identical to the ones that were in my bag. In fact, if it wasn’t for the subtle engraving on the side of the metal container, I’d assume it was mine. Instead, the name Gail is carved into the surface in script.
What the hell? My mind carefully flits through the information I know. Kaneer took off to go find someone that he’s been hunting as an assignment from the underground low dwellers since before we got together. He’s mentioned something about there being a bounty on this guy’s head. That it would supply the encampment with food and… drugs. And his guys spotted the convict near to here early this morning. That’s really why he took off.
But now, it’s clear in my mind that this convict they’ve been chasing must have run into one of the other Earth women that came down with me. How else would he have one of their canteens?
Oh, God! I hope she’s still alive!
Pawing through the bag further, my hand uncovers two of the granola bars like mine. This is bad. Very bad.
All plans to escape vanish from my thoughts with this new revelation. This man knows where another Earth woman is, or heaven forbid, died. It’s a horrible thought, but not one that hasn’t crossed my mind.
I think about the woman who was shot out of our spacecraft first, and how her pod had the black discoloured glass from whatever malfunction or attack it sustained. Did that woman make it safely to the ground? It’s so hard to say, and I’m desperate for any information about them.
No. Instead of taking off, I need to try to talk to him. As much as it’s been fun having my brains fucked out by Kaneer, I can’t just give up on potentially going back to Earth.
At the very least, I have to exhaust all the possibilities of why I’m here. It feels like this is the right thing to do. I can’t explain it. Over the last twenty-four hours, my insatiable need to have sex slowed down, but my desire to figure this out has multiplied. I can’t just sit around and accept my fate as a new fuck toy for the Alpha of a bizarre species on a strange planet.
Over the last three days, I haven’t left this tent. The furthest I’ve made it is to the door… or flap, I guess you’d say. No sooner have I lifted it, then Kaneer would be right outside. Not necessarily right there, but within sight, and it was as if he could sense me. Every time, his eyes would dart to me, and a scowl would cross his face, scaring me back inside.
This time though, when I open the flap, I’m exposed to only one person. They’ve left one woman at the large fire outside of our tent. With her back to me, I can’t confirm it’s Carnell until I’m walking. She’s chopping something that I don’t recognize and tossing it into a large pot hanging over the fire. When I realize it’s indeed her, my heart sinks.
Ignoring her, I scramble around the fire and pretend like she isn’t there. Pulling myself to my full five feet, I walk with purpose to the opening I can see between the trees where all the commotion is coming from. They’re shouting as I break through the bushes just to the right of the trail, spotting probably twenty people in what appears to be a clearing that was just formed.
Thinking back, I don’t remember it looking like this when I arrived, and I glance back at the tent where I’ve been staying. As I study my surroundings,