Chapter 16 Jessa #2
If the males organized a strike, if every single one of them just...refused to follow orders, what could she do?
Nothing. She had no power but what they gave her and the realization was infuriating.
They were terrified of her, she treated them like shit, she got them killed, forced them to sleep in hard chairs while she lounged on a nice bed, fed them ration bars while they went out risking their lives to get her canned peaches and random treats.
Not a single one of them benefitted from serving her, and yet they did whatever she said.
Tovis said they didn’t know any better, that they were brainwashed. He pitied him. He was a better person than I was, because even as I understood that they didn’t know any other way, I was mad as a wet cat that they didn’t stand up for themselves.
I rinsed my hands off and surveyed the large selection of booze on the shelves. I was tempted to grab a bottle, get drunk and feel bad for myself. Who could blame me? I was a psychotic alien’s pet, I was in constant danger, and being threatened with a terrible fate.
But I hesitated as I reached for the bottle of vodka over my head. I wanted to down the whole thing and just check out for a few hours, but it would be a mistake. I needed my wits about me.
I flipped off the shelf like it was the liquors’ fault I couldn’t afford to indulge and grabbed the jug of margarita mix instead. The plastic was warm and sticky with old residue and when I took a swig it was so thick and sweet I gagged.
Nope, wasn’t doing that again.
Feeling bad for myself and mad about it, I rifled through the bar supplies as quietly as I could. Waking up the Kwin wouldn’t be good for anyone, and I felt eyes on my back as the sytos watched me act like an angry raccoon in a dumpster.
I found a container of cheese puffs, and a single tiny can of ginger beer, and perched on my stool like a vulture; chomping down salty snacks and glaring at every syto that looked my way.
It made sense that they didn’t revolt. If they could be certain everyone was willing to ignore the Kwin, I’d bet they would. But no one wanted to be the lone traitor facing down the pack, and so everyone just kept going along with her orders and suffering for it.
Even bringing up the idea of betraying her would be too dangerous for them, one rat could bring the whole house of cards down.
But dammit, I needed someone to blame.
I debated befriending them, trying to radicalize the masses from the inside, but tossed the thought.
That would take time I didn’t have. I’d only spoken to Jiith, who was currently useless, and Rijish who’d essentially told me to shut up when I introduced myself.
These guys were too wary of being punished to risk catching the Kwin’s murderous attention.
By the time I’d finished my ginger beer, my eyes were burning with exhaustion, my feet were throbbing and my head was a whirring mess of hopelessness and determination.
I didn’t see a way out. I had to find a way out.
Both statements were equally true and I didn’t know how to reconcile them. Everything felt too big for me to handle and so simple I could scream. I slipped off the stool, ready to retreat to the sad little blanket in the corner I called my bed, when I heard a faint bird call from outside.
Whip-poor-will. It came again. My senses pricked as I held my breath, listening intently.
Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will.
There was no mistaking it. The aptly named Whip-poor-will bird had a call that I remembered from a childhood of camping trips.
But nostalgia wasn’t what I was feeling in that moment.
Texas did have Whip-poor-wills, but only in the eastern half of the state, and we were not in the eastern half of the state.
That wasn’t a bird I was hearing.
Unless sytos or percers had recently taken up birdwatching, that was a human. I froze, heart pounding, my first thought was the human women Tovis knew, that his friends had come for him and we were saved.
Then reality set in. Tovis was the only turoch I knew, but he wouldn’t bring me on a dangerous rescue mission against dozens of opponents. He just wouldn’t. From the moment I’d met, him he’d been trying to keep me happy and safe.
What were the odds the other turochs were any different?
If it wasn’t Tovis’s friends...the only other humans he’d mention were the gang that had been driven away from their camp. The dangerous gang, all men.
I lurched forward a step, knowing to my bones that something big was about to happen, but not knowing what direction it would go.
Humans felt safer, more familiar, but humans weren’t a monolith of kindness and integrity.
There was a very good chance that encountering a gang of men would go even worse for me than getting captured by sytos.
I didn’t get the time to agonize over it any longer. A shot rang out, the sharp crack shattering the quiet stillness of the night. Every syto in the building jumped, streaming toward the door before the Kwin even made the order.
More shots erupted, it sounded like an army had descended, the sound doubling as the door opened. There were shouts, and gunshots and the distinctive revving of a diesel engine joined the chaos.
The noises, while terrifying, were so distinctly human, I almost doubted my instinct to run. They had a truck, guns, human voices, I craved the humanity of the sounds even as they warned me not to get any closer.
The Kwin was yelling at the guards, her voice drowned out by the war happening outside and I darted toward the shadows at the edges of the room. My sparkly dress made for awful camouflage, but this moment of distraction was the best chance I was getting.
I had to get out of the strip club and get to Tovis. Staked out and cuffed, he was completely vulnerable to any human who just saw all aliens as the enemy. Even potential good guys were a threat right now.
And the deranged laughter between shots didn’t sound very ‘good guy’.
I reached the door that led to backstage and flipped the deadbolt, flinging it open and dashing outside before thinking that was maybe a bad idea.
Too late now. I sprinted on sore feet around the edge of the building and peered around the corner.
The arena stood between me and Tovis, the metal poles glowing against the darkness as I tried to make sense of the fight happening in the parking lot.
A lifted truck was covered in armed men, flashes of light bursting from their guns as they fired at the panicking sytos. A few of the aliens had guns of their own, and I watched as a syto aimed it at a man on the ground and his whole body crumbled like he’d been smashed by an invisible fist.
Luckily the fight was focused near the front of the building, it didn’t look like they’d spotted the two helpless prisoners staked out under the moonlight.
Taking a breath, I sprinted toward Tovis. He was watching the battle but looked up at the sound of my pounding steps.
“Jessa,” he breathed, worry creasing his forehead. “You shouldn’t be out here.”
A breathless laugh escaped me. He was the perfect target, and he was worried about me?
“Are you joking?’ I demanded. “This is the perfect distraction.” I waved a hand at the fight, cringing as another human got blasted by an alien gun.
They were probably bad guys anyway, I told myself, feeling like a traitor at the thought. In an us vs them scenario, shouldn’t humans be my ‘us’?
Tovis’ ears tilted back and he tugged at his cuffed hands, the movement jostling Jiith where they were still connected. “We need a remote to unlock these.”
We both looked at the bloodbath in the parking lot. There was no way I could get in, find a remote I’d never seen, and get out.
Jiith looked up, his tentacles flaring weakly. “I can’t unlock the cuffs, but I can disable the tether.”
I gaped at him. “You could have escaped this whole time?” I hissed.
He cringed. “Escaped to where? The Kwin would have me followed and I’m too weak to get far on my own.”
I flapped my hands at him. “Hurry up and do it, we need to go now.”
He hesitated. “You might kill me, how can I trust you?”
“I fed you,” I said harshly. “I didn’t have to. Don’t make me regret it.”
Jiith blinked at me and turned to the stake, fiddling with tiny dials and buttons I could barely see.
I looked around, wishing there was a handy stack of weapons and supplies laying around. My eyes lit on the percer, standing stiffly at the edge of the arena. Its hide twitched with every gun shot, the bloody wounds on its side standing out even in the darkness.
“How do I open the gate?” I asked.
Jiith looked up and eyed the percer warily. “It’s not locked,” he said slowly. “All you have to do is press the white lever on the main post.”
“How long until you’re done?” I demanded. Something clicked and their cuffs flashed twice.
I didn’t wait for them to tell me to stop, I just darted to the gate and found the lever. For a second I questioned my sanity, the percer stood less than a yard away, its sides heaving as it lowered its head and stared at me.
But if we were staging a jail break, it seemed only fair to let out all the prisoners. I flipped the lever and bolted.