Joan and the Juggernaut (Alien Abduction #9) - Honey Phillips
Chapter One
Joan stood against the wall of the small dining room, watching anxiously as Overseer Ukhaan took the first bite of his meal. He grunted, and her body relaxed. It was a small sign of approval, but it meant she was unlikely to feel a blow from his enormous fist. Tonight.
The Zameetans, the race of aliens in charge of the mines of Drahana, were all large, but Ukhaan was exceptionally so. Though the majority of the guards spent hours working out, Ukhaan didn’t bother, and his stomach strained against his heavily decorated black uniform. Dark grey skin with the sickly green iridescence of an oil slick covered a wide head that sloped down into thick shoulders and a shapeless, slug-like body. But she had learned early on not to be fooled into thinking that his size made him less fast, brutal, or quick to punish.
Waiting silently, she watched him eat—a disgusting sight as he shoveled mouthfuls of food into his gaping maw. The Zameetans didn’t have teeth. Instead, they had hard ridges that ground the food between them as they chewed, a good deal escaping in the process. But despite his appalling table manners, Ukhaan had a surprisingly discerning palate. She’d gone to bed with bruises every night for the first few weeks, until she managed to figure out not only how to use the strange kitchen equipment but how he preferred his meals.
Since cooking for him was the only thing that had saved her from becoming one of the females awarded to a slave who beat his daily quota in the mine, she did her best to please him. Only the fact that his previous cook died as a result of Ukhaan’s rage just as the ship containing her and the other slaves landed had saved her from that fate.
He had stormed into the hangar where the cages were being unloaded and barked at the guard.
“I need a cook.”
The guard, a small green alien, looked nervously at his companion. “That wasn’t in the procurement request, Master Ukhaan.”
“It is now.”
The two males exchanged glances, then Ukhaan gave an inpatient grunt and began inspecting the new arrivals. On one side of the space, a large cage held a number of aliens, mostly small and inoffensive looking. The two exceptions were huge, brutal looking males confined in individual cages. Her side of the room held two other females, each of them by themselves, and a variety of smaller animals.
Ignoring the males, Ukhaan stopped at the first female’s cage.
“Can you cook?” he barked.
The thin purple female just stared up at him, her whole body trembling. He grunted and moved on, stopping in front of Joan and repeating the question.
“Yes,” she said truthfully. “I won the prize for zucchini bread at the state fair and—”
“She’ll do.”
The aliens exchanged a doubtful look. “But, sir… We were contracted to provide three female slaves for the reward system. This will leave us one short.”
“Not my problem. You’ll have to find another.” He gestured at the group of smaller males. “Or designate one of them. A lot of the miners don’t care as long as they have a hole to fuck. Now get her out of there.”
Grumbling under his breath, one of the green aliens released her. He started to put cuffs on her wrists, but Ukhaan stopped him.
“Never mind. Can’t cook with those on.”
“But, sir… What if she tries to escape?”
“Where’s she gonna go? The surface is unlivable and she doesn’t look stupid enough to prefer being a gift female. Are you stupid, girl?”
“No. Sir,” she added hastily when he glared at her.
“Good. Then as long as you can actually cook, you’ll stay out of the mines. Follow me.”
She’d been cooking for him ever since.
“Acceptable,” he said finally, pushing his plate away.
That was the most praise he ever bestowed, and she made a mental note to add this dish to the roster.
“I am expecting a guest for dinner tomorrow,” he added.
She had a hard time keeping the shock off her face. He almost never dined with anyone else. The transport supervisor came once a week to report on production levels, and a company representative came once a month, but he’d had no other visitors since she arrived.
“Yes, sir.”
“I think perhaps the geflin fish.”
She bit back a groan. The small fish required hours to clean, even to make a portion large enough for one person. “Yes, sir.”
He fastened beady little eyes on her. “This could be important for my future. Everything must be perfect.”