A knock on the door woke me up and the Captain's voice came through the door. "Hey kid, time to wake up. Zig'Ridath will have breakfast ready any minute."

I stretched and tried to collect my thoughts. "Ok" I shouted and I could hear footsteps moving away. For a moment on waking I hadn't known where I was. Sitting up I pulled my clothes on from the last couple days. I needed to ask them about getting another outfit and cleaning this. I hadn't even showered since the night before I left basic training. I made my way to the lavatory and relieved myself and splashed my face with some water from the sink before heading to the galley.

"There he is." The Captain said boisterously. I made my way over and sat down next to him in the only empty chair. I was the last to arrive and apologized for being late to the meal. "Don't worry about it kid. Sleep good?"

"Better than last night for sure." I said while inspecting the food on the plate in front of me. There was a white mush and a few long stalks of some kind of vegetable. Looking around, everyone else was eating the same thing and appeared to be enjoying it.

Reaching down I picked up one of the stalks, it was about twice the length of a finger and half the width. It was cooked to a dark brown with black char on it and I could see fibrous hairs coming off it. I put the tip in my mouth and bit it off. The texture was satisfyingly crispy and it tasted almost like corn with a hint of cinnamon.

I next scooped up a small bit of the mush and tried it. The texture was like lumpy mashed potatoes but it had a mildly sweet citrus flavor that exploded across my tongue when I chewed on the lumps. Kasey was right, I did not need to know what I was eating. It tasted good and I was confident it wouldn't make me sick.

"Have you ever seen a Fajani?" Zig'Ridath asked me.

"No" i replied, and sipped some water

"Well you will today." Briggs said "We're meeting with a regular client. Should be soon actually."

"We're already in system, we're just waiting for them." Kasey said. "I'll head to the bridge to wait." She got to her feet and left the room. I watched her climb a ladder out of the gravity ring.

"The Fajani are really tall with pink skin and white hair. Also pretty much the entire race is female too." Briggs said "Don't want you to get scared when you see em, they don't like being gawked at."

I nodded, "Thanks for the heads up. Are we going to be doing a job for them?"

Kun climbed off his chair and left as the Captain answered, Pog and Zig'Ridath leaned back in their chairs and just listened as he spoke. "Maybe, depends on how this exchange goes. We actually just finished a job and if they pay up, we'd be happy to do another. "

"Diplomacy is critical when dealing with the Fajani." Zig'Ridath chimed in. "The species as a whole is submerged in strife. On their homeworld, factions war with one another daily; the race is known for having a difficult attitude as a result of millenia of such life. They take offense and anger quickly, they are also very slow to trust anyone outside of familiar bonds."

Briggs nodded and said "that's right, so you need to be on your best behavior around them kid."

"I have a name." I snapped at him

He smiled, "sorry. I know you're not some dumb kid Jon, but you are at least half my age. Won't happen again."

Kasey's voice came through the speaker in the ceiling "they just dropped out of warp, intercept in two minutes."

"Annnnd that's our cue. Com'n ki- Jon" The Captain stood and I followed him out of the gallery. He climbed the ladder against the wall just outside of it and behind me Pog and Zig'Ridath followed. After a few minutes we'd reached the airlock door to the hanger.

Through the window I could see the massive exterior doors were opened and a shuttle was drifting gently into the hanger. Kun was at the control console working the mechanism to close the doors and pressurize the room. After a few moments he waved to the Captain and Briggs opened the door.

The crew all had 'ship shoes' which were boots or shoes with a magnetic lining. Very useful for staying in one place. Unfortunately, I didn't; but Zig'Ridath was kind enough to let me hold onto his arm so I didn't just float around the room. As we stood there waiting on the Fajani, Kasey came through the door and stopped next to Briggs.

The shuttle door opened and three aliens emerged. The Captain's descriptions weren't enough to prepare me for the reality of what I saw. All three were not just tall, but towered over the rest of us. Their voluptuous bodies wrapped in skin tight bodysuits that showed off their feminine curves. I remembered not to gawk and pulled my eyes away from them.

"Arron Briggs, and crew. What a delight it is to see all of you again." The center Fajani touched a hand to the center of her chest as she spoke. Her voice dripped with sarcasm and false modesty.

"Hello Padgidar, it's wonderful to see you too. Did you bring everything?"

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"Of course, I have never lied to you Aaron. EVERYTHING I have ever told you was the absolute truth." She emphasized the word 'everything' and it was clear there was a deeper meaning that only the Captain understood because I saw him take a gulp when she said it. "Do you have any goodies for me?"

He took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. "Zig'Ridath" he said without looking over and before I knew what was happening the Arahnka grasped the back of my shirt and threw me into the air. I flailed wildly but couldn't stop my momentum as I crossed the gap between the two groups. The Fajani in the center caught me with one hand. It was so large that her thumb and fingers nearly wrapped entirely around my waist.

She looked me up and down before tossing me to one of the others behind her. "What's going on?" I screamed.

My question went unanswered but the Fajani that caught me whispered to me, "Padgidar likes the ones that scream." Her words shut me up real quick.

"That's one, where is the other one?" Padgidar asked.

"Dead, the Starforce killed him. But I can get you more. I just need more time." Briggs said

Padgidar dropped the mock politeness from her voice. "I warned you there would be no further extensions. I ordered thirty male humans and you failed to deliver. I gave you an extension and added an additional ten male humans. You failed again and I gave you yet another extension at the cost of another ten humans. I believe I have been rather generous and understanding, all things considered."

She gestured to me and said, "This one makes forty-nine and the deadline is now. If you have no one else hiding away back there, then I will consider you in forfeit." Padgidar concluded

"Wait, we have one more." Kasey said as she held a pistol out towards Briggs.

His hand shot to his hip to find his holster empty, his gun in her other hand. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back for a moment as his face flushed red. "Kasey, don't do this." He growled with clenched teeth. "You know how Bruiser will be when he finds out."

Fear flashed across her face, but she kicked him in the back just hard enough to lift him off the deck and push him across the space between both groups. "If I don't do this they will kill us all and take you anyway." She replied to Briggs, then turned to the Fajani "If we can get you more males will you trade them for Aaron?" She asked Padgidar

"Oooh, I like you. You're a smart one." She said in a pleased voice. "I will consider it." She caught the Captain and he didn't struggle, just kept his eyes closed. "I am going to enjoy tasting your flesh." She said as she dragged a finger down his chest. Turning Padgidar nodded to the third of her number who disappeared inside the shuttle and emerged holding a large box and a large cylindrical object. Both were tossed through the air to be caught by Kasey and Zig'Ridath. "Fifty gold bars, each worth at least a thousand credits and an old generation shield generator. As promised."

I was carried into the shuttle as Padgidar said "Bye for now, Captain, Kasey Avalon. I will consider your request and we shall speak again. To be honest though. It will depend entirely on how he tastes." Inside the shuttle, Briggs and I were strapped in and the Fajani sat in front of us. The trip to their mother ship was short and soon the two of us found ourselves locked in a cage.

All the Fajani left the room and after a few minutes the ship lurched as it jumped into warp. Briggs floated across the cell from me. My eyes were staring daggers at him but he kept his eyes closed and just ignored me. Padgidar's words put images of being cooked alive or just eaten raw while I screamed in pain. The fear was really getting to me until I remembered what else she had said. I was number forty-nine. Anger quickly burned in my chest.

"You deserve this." I said to him feeling a bit self-righteous. "This is karma for doing this to so many others. How could you sell people to these aliens to be slaughtered and eaten like cows?"

A laugh exploded out of his mouth so hard he rocked back. "You really are a dumbass naive kid aren't you." He shook his head, still laughing. "They have no intention of killing us, we are not food to them." He sighed and looked at me. "Human semen is an incredibly powerful and addictive narcotic to the Fajani. They intend to drain us, daily, until we're too old to produce".

My mind went blank but he continued. "Humans and Fajani both traffic sex slaves, and in both directions. There are brothels all throughout human space where you can get serviced by an eager Fajani, even on Earth. It's illegal of course, but that just drives the prices up."

"But how could you sell out other humans like that?" I asked him as I tried in vain to wrap my head around everything.

"Really I was doing them, and you, a favor."

"How so?"

"Everyone we grabbed were on prison transports bound for either Miranda, Io or Triton. All three are maximum security mining prisons where inmates are sentenced for life, or, like you, never even got a trial. These places are where the Starforce dumps anyone that becomes inconvenient. From criminals to political prisoners, it doesn't matter. It's where people are sent to be forgotten."

He ran a hand through his spikey blonde hair and finished. "I rather think a comfortable world with plenty of food and a comfortable place to sleep where you get sucked off three to five times a day is preferable to working yourself to the bone in a mine with barely any food with air filters that shorten your life by decades."

I wanted to yell at him. But I couldn't find any arguments to counter what he'd said. Anger swelled up inside me but without a vent it died just as quickly. In a small voice I asked, "is that what's going to happen to us?"

"Nah kid. We're busting out." Just then the door opened and a Fajani floated in. "Ah, perfect timing," Briggs said.

"Are the two of you hungry? Or would you like some refreshment?" She asked us.

Briggs began undoing his pants and I looked away as he pulled himself out. "We don't need anything, but I'm sure you might. When's the last time you had a taste?"

I thought he sounded ridiculous but the Fajani glanced nervously at the door and back at Briggs. "I really shouldn't." She said with her eyes fixated on what he held. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him wiggle his hips and her self-control broke. She floated over and opened the cage door, dropping low to take him in her mouth. He put his hands on her head as she moved in.

I looked away and almost missed the blur of motion as Briggs slammed one knee straight into her face. She gasped loudly as her head snapped back and faster than I could follow he snatched her gun from its holster and shot her through the neck. She was dead before she'd been able to recover her bearings.

He closed his pants back up and rotated to face me, the gun still clutched in one hand. "C'mon kid, let's get outta here." he said as blue blood floated through the air around him.