Escape 1: Escape From Aliens Read Free

sapients with excellent visual perceptor to manipulator integration.” Mentally he translated that to mean good eye-hand coordination. “We captured you, and a . . . a Human female elsewhere in the mountains you occupied. We have also captured sixteen more sapients from nine other planets filled with oxygen-nitrogen air, gravity similar to what is normal on your Earth, and a local culture unable to detect our starship and its collector pods.” A pause ensued that lasted three seconds. During which time Bill realized these Collector people had some kind of artificial gravity control. No floating around like he’d seen for the NASA space station geeks. “Our ship is what you Humans have labeled as ‘stealthy’ in all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. As for our plans for you, they are the same for all our captives. Shortly this starcraft will leave your star system, enter an alternate space-time continuum, and head for a Market world where some or all of you will be sold to Buyers desiring your visual-digital dexterity.”
    He grit his teeth. This Market world sounded like the Roman Coliseum on a planetary scale. “The other human captive! Where did you capture him, rather, her?”
    A rasping sounded, followed by a hum. “You sexually dimorphic sapients are so amusing! Instinct and hormones drive you to your opposites, even at the risk of survival.” A pause happened, lasting five seconds. “The Human female was captured three of your star rises ago, in a place you call Chasm Lake, a location not far from your capture site. Like you she was resting beside the lake in a fabric shelter similar to yours.”
    Bill knew the place. It was in Rocky Mountain National Park. He’d hiked past the lake on the way up to Longs Peak. “Will you bring her to my cell? We humans do not do well in solitary captivity.”
    More rasping sounded, followed by a hum. “Entertaining you Humans are. No, the female will not be brought to you. That violates the Rules of Captivity.”
    When the unseen voice did not continue, Bill prompted it. “What are the rules of captivity?”
    “Good. You progress through your fifteen minutes quite swiftly. Perhaps you will use your remaining minutes to scream and attempt to damage your containment module.” Seven seconds passed and Bill kept his mouth shut. “No threats? Interesting. The Rules of Captivity are simple. They are that no ship crewmember will ever enter your containment module. No captive will ever be allowed to exit his module. Only one captive per module is permitted. Upon sale to a Buyer on a Market world, your module will be detached from our craft and transferred to the custody of the Buyer. Until then food, water and air will be provided to the captive by way of simple delivery outlets, all of which are one-way devices. Waste will be collected in a depression to your left, near the space you called a firepit. Water is provided to your right by way of an exit hole in the wall. Touch the wall and you will feel a mesh. Touch the wall above the mesh and water will exit. You may use your . . . your canteen to collect such water. The water flow ceases when your touch is removed. Food packets will be provided to you by an outlet to the rear of your fabric shelter. In short, there is no escape. There is no threat you can make that will allow you to exit from your module. And if you cooperate, we may consider your good behavior when considering bids from Buyers.”
    Fuck you , he thought. “Why do you sell thinking people to these Buyers? For what purpose are sapients bought?”
    “Logical you are,” muttered the mech voice. A hum sounded. “Sapient beings are captured on low-tech worlds mainly due to their visual-manipulator dexterity. Such dexterity exceeds the ability of even the most intelligent robotic subsystem.” A pause happened, which ended after two seconds. “Captives are bought by Buyers for multiple reasons. A few Buyers purchase captives to be subjects of biogenetic