His by Right Read Free

her by her wrist and threw her onto the floor. Meredith hit the metal plating with a grunt that knocked the air from her lungs, and she skidded partly on her chest and stomach before coming to a stop. Her chin struck the floor, scraping away the skin and leaving a slick of blood. Pain blossomed and spiked in her head with a hot, red flash.
                Dazed, it took her a moment to realize what had happened. Turning her head so that she rested on her cheek, Meredith stared at her cuffed arm. It resisted any attempt to lift it. She could move, but her wrist appeared to be permanently adhered to the plating.
                Something approached from her blind side.
                "Will you try to escape again?"
                "No. I've learned my lesson."
                And just like that, she could move her arm. She rolled over to find the creature hunched over her. A single tentacle squirmed out and touched her chin.
                "We will heal that."
                Oddly, the thing no longer frightened her. It withdrew its extension and stepped away. Meredith slowly, painfully, got to her feet. She would have bruises to show for that stunt, but she didn't regret trying. At least, now she knew her limitations.
                Facing the thing, she realized her original estimate wasn't too far off. She was five foot five, and the top of her head barely reached its mouth. "Where are we going?"
                "To your room."
                " My room?"
                Without commenting further, the creature turned and began undulating toward one of the far walls. Meredith turned around to see the huge, almost dome-shaped area held nearly a hundred of the crystalline boxes, like the one she had been inside. And every one of them contained something beyond description. A catwalk of sorts circled the room, overlooking the floor below. A few aliens patrolled from overhead. Although she couldn't see any weapons, or recognized any, she bet they were armed with some way of stopping her.
                A hard tug on her cuffed arm was her signal to follow her captor. Reluctantly, she obeyed.
     

Chapter Three
Gleeth
     
     
                Meredith hobbled along. She must have busted her knee during her attempted escape, but it was difficult to see the extent of damage unless she stopped and dropped her pants. Biting her lips, she endured the increasing agony as she followed the giant millipede through the wall and down several corridors until it stopped in front of another section of wall. To her, there didn't appear to be a door anywhere, just long seamless and endless partitions of grayish-white. Even the ceiling and floor blended together. But apparently the thing could tell where the openings were.
                If I tried to make a run for it again, I'd probably crash right into the barriers, but I guess that's the intent of this whole thing. Don't want to make any escape any easier by showing the way out.
                "This is your room." It waved a tentacle at a spot. Frowning, Meredith started to walk inside when she stopped and turned to face the creature.
                "I don't know your name. What do I call you?"
                "I am called Gleeth."
                "Sorry. What?"
                "You may call me Gleeth."
                "Glee th ? Or Glee f ?" She circled her mouth with an index finger. "I'm sorry, but it's hard to tell because you don't have any lips, just a bunch of shark teeth."
                "It makes no difference. Go inside."
                "But I—"
                The creature suddenly loomed over her, its normally purplish exterior now a definite lavender. The voice inside her head sounded peeved. "Go inside before I activate your containment band."
                Meredith hurried into