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Final Days of Freedom

Day 1

I didn't know how much longer I had in this camp. I didn't even really know who would take ownership of me, though what I saw as most obvious seemed reprehensible beyond comprehension. What I did know was that I didn't have much time. Argus was arrested, and I really had no reason not to believe Whyar, aside from hating him for numerous reasons, and I was now the property of the Overseer whom had no interest in holding onto me.

Despite all of this, I felt a newfound resolve within me. I was going to escape, or at least try. In some ways, I already felt free.

But it was all a moot point as I began to count down the final days of freedom, however many there were left.

After my shower was done, I was escorted back to the dorm room and locked inside by myself. For a few hours and for the first time since I got there, I was alone and unchained. They must have assumed that I was not a threat or there was nothing I could have used in the room to resist with. I intended to prove them wrong.

Carefully tip-toeing, for I had no idea who might be listening on the other end of the day, I made my way from bunk to bunk, unveiling sheets and peeking under mattresses. This was a prison and every prison, no matter how airtight, had to have some contraband, right?

Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!

No shivs. No shanks. No blades. Nothing!

All except for one of the raccoon twins's mattresses. Duct taped to the bottom of it was a pack of something resembling cigarettes but much longer. It was a paper package with a cartoon logo of either a Lupiad or a wolfish-looking Sirian baring his teeth while clenching on a long stick with a flame coming out of it.

Slowly, I pulled back on the tape until it freed the package. Opening it up, I shook out a long cigarette with a strange metal knob where the filter should have been. There were air-holes on the tip of it, so I guess it was still a filter, but the ridges along the knob confused me, they almost looked like it was designed to be turned.

To my surprise, when I turned it, the whole stick hissed and the knob spat a quick burst of orange flame along the stick, until it reached the other end. The whole thing began to burn very slowly and with a lot more embers than a normal cigarette.

A foul, acrid odor began to seep from the cigarette and I stubbed it out immediately. Dread filled my stomach. I knew at least half of the aliens here had an incredible scent of smell and most likely the other ones did too. Even if I had a fan, there was no way I could make the room smell clean. And then there was the matter of the stub I had in my hand, where could I hide it?

I hid it in the only place I could think of: I opened my mouth and dropped it in, ashes and all. I almost choked on the metal and it tasted about as bad as overcooked, and burnt, brussels sprouts, but it went down.

Suddenly I wasn't feeling so good. The room began to spin and my mind began to race. Whatever it was, it was a stimulant and I had clearly taken too much, too fast. I was clear-headed enough to clean up after myself and decided that it would be a good time for me to lie down.

Satisfied that nothing was amiss, I climbed back onto my bunk, pulled the sheets over me and closed my eyes. I did not sleep, mind you, for my brain was in overdrive, but I rested nonetheless.

And I taped the pack of 'cigarettes' around my thigh.

I was brought out for dinner, which was an uneventful affair, and brought back to the dorm. I wasted no time in heading back to my bed.

All the alien slaves were smelling at the air with their big noses, all except for one of the raccoon twins. He simply laid down on his bed, the same bed where I found the contraband, and swiftly reached under.

He cast a silent, hateful gaze in my direction.

I ignored him.

I didn't sleep that night.

Day 2

We were woken up and ordered out of bed just like any other day. I was a little slower to get out of bed, a consequence of having not slept at all, and as soon as scrambled onto the floor, the raccoon who I stole from, launched himself out of his bed and shoved his chest against me, baring his fangs. I stood my ground and stared back.

“Hey!" Whyar barked, waving his baton at us. “Play nice!"

The raccoon hissed and backed off, taking his place by his bed.

We were counted and dragged outside as usual. I was worried they would have frisked me and found the contraband. They've never actually patted us down while we were here, too confident in their security I suppose, but I feared having it done nonetheless. It would have put an end to any plans I had.

Of course, I had no plan aside from the goal of escaping. I wasn't even sure why I had the package taped to my thigh. If anything, it was going to cause more trouble than solve, as I had to get rid of it before the evening shower.

We were digging in a fresh section in the enclosure, next to a large patch of dried out bushes. The pyromaniac in me almost reached for my thigh, but the sensible part of me overruled and commenced to digging. What would be the point?

Bear was my chain-partner once again. I guess even the slavers, as morally twisted as they were, felt I should have someone to talk to, and so long as not a whisper of mutiny reached the guard's ears, they couldn't care less.

“Argus has been arrested." I said, swinging a pickaxe with a grunt.

Bear looked over his shoulder at me. “Yeah?"

“Yeah." I said. “Shit's going sideways."

“Shit." He spat. “Guess you're stuck here with the rest of us."

“Yeah." I paused, glancing around. The Equuleians and the Ursines were conveniently pre-occupied with giving the other chain-gangs water. I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Whyar said they'll be packing up soon. Gonna sell me off."

“Probably us too. Shit, at least you're skinny. Won't get sent to the mines."

“Whyar is looking to buy."

“Shit." He said, rubbing his forehead. “Sorry."

A distant, low buzzing noise rumbled off far in the distance.

“I'm sorry we dragged you into this shit." He said. “I mean it. If I had known..."

“GET DOWN!" One of the guards screamed, switching between Regulian and Lacertan. “GET DOWN NOW OR BE SHOT!"

We both fell to the ground no questions asked, that was how you survived here. Rapid thump-thumps of foot and hoof-steps clamored throughout the camp and I didn't dare raised my head. The buzzing noise grew louder and louder. A dusty, gray blanket was thrown over my prone body.

Peeking out from under it, I saw Whyar rush to Bear and throw a similar blanket over him, before covering himself up with one as well and falling to the ground.

There was no point in being timid. I inched myself forward and gently pushed the blanket up with my fingertip until I could see the sky.

Slowly floating against the cerulean sky were a pack of lift-copters. They weren't going anywhere near as fast as they could be going and were also much lower in altitude than normal. Either they were conducting training or they were looking for something.

Now was my chance! I peeked open the blanket, getting a good view of the dried bush. As far as I could tell, no one was looking and at this point, did it really matter? If I got caught doing something stupid now, did it matter? What the hell did I have to lose.

I took one of the sticks, twisted the end and felt it light up, and tossed it towards the nearest bush. It landed near them with a dull, orange glow that quickly began to fade.

Come on! Come on! Light!

I twisted another and threw. Then another. Then four more at once. Their embers did not entirely fade, but they were clearly weakening.

I almost got my hopes up when I tossed the last one, right at the apex of the buzzing of the lift-copters, and a root began to smoke ever so slightly.

Please! Light! Please God, set it on fire! Please!

The thin smoke never abated, but it didn't grow thicker and it didn't catch aflame.

The lift-copter's whirrs began to fade and heavy hands fell on my body, throwing the blanket off and pulled me onto my feet. I thought I was caught now and I'll give myself credit, I didn't care nor fear. However, it was soon clear that I got away with it and they were merely ordering all of us into the bunker early.

As we were dragged in, I peeked back at the faint wisp of smoke. There was still hope. I needed this. I needed it to light.

After a hastily-prepared and nearly raw meal, we were herded into the showers. Whatever got the guards spooked so bad, it apparently did not take priority over their need to make sure we were clean. Or perhaps it was just part of their entertainment, as Whyar was standing at the door, leering at all the bare sheathes, in particular being fascinated by me and Bear's exposed penises, mostly mine. At one point I caught him rubbing at the protective armor over his crotch.

I kept myself calm, focusing on the gentle, if chilly, trickle of the beads of water rushing over my skin. I needed to focus on what I had and not what I was about to lose. I had a shower right now and judging by Whyar's smell, he probably doesn't have a shower back on his home planet.

Even with everything at stake, I could, I had to relax. They couldn't take that away from me. Even if the room smelled like wet fur.

Everyone gave me a wide berth except for Bear, who occasionally would glance at the raccoon twin that accosted me. He looked like he was worried that something was going to happen, but I was not concerned. As terrible was Whyar was, if that ring-tail tried anything, he would live to regret it and he knew it.

How wrong I was.

Over the rush of water came the sounds of muted screaming. Whyar's ears pricked and he flung open the door, shouting out something in Lacertan. He received a reply back that caused his tail to swish violently.

“Fire!" He barked back at us. “Stay put!"

Slipping out, he slammed the door shut. There was a heavy thump on the other end, letting us know that it was locked.

I swallowed and turned around. The raccoon was only a few feet away and baring down on me, his muzzle wrinkled back and his fangs exposed. I took a few steps back before planting my feet and standing my ground. I gritted my teeth in a snarl and scowled back at him.

The raccoon paused for a bit, a little surprised perhaps by my display of course, but then he growled and snapped, raising his claws. The other aliens began to watch, forming a circle as best as they could with only a Sirian, a Vulpeculan, another racoon, and a human. They began to howl and cheer, and from what I understood from the few words they said, they were not on my side.

“Nate. Lie face-down on the ground." Bear whispered to my side.

“What?"

“Let him do what he wants. It won't end well if you don't."

“Fuck that."

I was done caring about taking the easy road. I was done just lying back and thinking of England. Today I was going to fight back, not just against this asshole, but for everyone who tried to dominate me.

I saw Litho spinning that golden collar on the tip of his claw.

I punched him straight in the nose. The raccoon went tumbling to the ground, but quickly pushed himself to his feet.

I saw Argus rubbing his nose against my cheek and lingering.

I jabbed him in the face and the chest. He backed off, blocking a third blow from me and scraping my knuckle with his claw. I didn't feel anything.

I saw Whyar looming over me in the shower.

I punched forward and the raccoon caught the blow. He was down on his knees and the crowd was going wild. Jaws were hung open, even the raccoon's brother.

I thought of that Agent ordering me to seduce Argus and…

But he was so nice, wasn't he?

My guard faltered and that was all the raccoon needed. He lunched forward, wildly slashing at my face and chest with his claws. He fell into me and knocked me to the ground. I managed to grab one of his arms, but it took both of my hands to do so and that gave him plenty of time to rake his free hand across my chest, leaving four deep gashes.

I howled in pain as blood seeped out from my wound. All of my sudden strength came crashing down and I was now once against lying on my back while an alien stood above me.

The raccoon was no longer snarling. His muzzle straightened and a smirk wrapped around his lips. He had me and could do anything he wanted now. He lowered his face to my chest and mockingly ran his tongue across my wound, causing me to wince. Then he placed his claws into one of the gashes. I gritted my teeth.

A metallic thunk rang out through the shower and the raccoon was flung off of me head-first. He landed on the ground and started to twitch violently as if he were having a seizure. The remaining aliens ignored him, looking past me in shock.

Bear stepped in front of me, waving around a thick shower-head and pipe at the peanut gallery, in particular at the raccoon's brother. Everyone began to back away.

The door flew open with a crash and the guards rushed in. There was an echoing clang as Bear dropped his weapon and put his hands on his head.

As for me, I felt tired and could barely hold my eyes open.

Day 3

“Wake up."

A low, deep whisper roused me from my sleep. I was back in the dorm room, lying in bed. I smelled something unusual though: medical alcohol and a filthy stable. The former I quickly deduced was due to a thick layer of gauze on my chest and the latter…

“Wake the fuck up, human." Whyar whispered as there was a click around my neck, followed by a yank.

I was nearly pulled out of my bed, but I was able to avoid falling off the top bunk by grabbing the ladder and righting myself up before I landed. Whyar said nothing, he let the pull of the chain speak for himself and pulled me to my feet. He slammed me against the frame of the bunk bed, pulled my hands back and I felt two cuffs click into place.

Bear's bunk was empty.

The hallway was dark, with only the occasional red light illuminating the corridor. Something was wrong.

“Where are..."

“Shut up!" His hand cracked across my face, sending me spinning to the floor. Rubbing my nose, I felt a trickle of blood run out. My chain was pulled and Whyar grunted. “Get up!"

I complied and was led outside. It was dark out, nearly pitch black, except for a few waving lanterns that people were holding. I could make out the figures of the Overseer, scales glinting in the lamplight, and his raccoon slave standing side by side. Across from them, in the murk of the night, were two hunched over figures.

Whyar led me over to the silhouettes and kicked at the back of my knee, knocking me down to the ground face-first. A heavy hand pulled me up and got me on my knees. Briefly glancing to my left with the help of Whyar's light, I caught the green shimmer of the eyes of the raccoon who fought me and the large, round head of Bear's. Both were facing forward at the Overseer without any expression. Standing behind them, holding a heavy, square pistol, was the Ursine guard.

The Overseer crossed his legs on the folding chair he was sitting on and began to speak.

“It would seem the rules are mere jokes to you three, hm?" The Overseer spoke in Regulian, followed by Lacertan. “Have we been too lenient? I imagine so."

I looked up at the sky. With the limited lights around us, it was a cosmic marvel. More stars than I'd ever seen in the city before. They were all so gloriously incandescent. It was a shame that such horrible creatures came from them.

A jolt ran through my spine as I looked on the northern horizon. There it was: the Big Dipper.

I was on Earth. All this time, I was on Earth.

What did it matter? What the hell was I going to do now?

“Do you think you're irreplaceable? Is that it?"

Crack!

The shot echoed out through the open field and the raccoon fell to the ground with a thud. The Ursine stepped to the side behind Bear, and lowered the pistol to the back of his head.

“Let this be a lesson to you."

“No! Please!" I screamed.

The pistol rang out once more and Bear's heavy body collapsed.

Now the Ursine was behind me. I felt the steel barrel press up against my head. The sulphurous smell of cordite wafting into my nostrils.

I looked back at the Overseer, his reptilian eyes gleaming. He was waiting for me to say something, so I did.

“Do it."

A tittering hiss escaped from the Overseer's throat. He nudged his slave in the shoulder. “He shows courage, doesn't he?"

The slave nodded and spoke. “A terrible trait for a slave."

“Indeed." The Overseer muttered.

“Wait!" Whyar interjected, nudging between myself and the gun. “We had a deal."

“Oh yes, how could I forget?" The Overseer waved his scaled claw. “Look, the human's damaged goods now, you think your plan to sell him out to a chieftain as a sex slave on your planet is going to work? He's going to be covered in scars after what that Procyonid did! Besides, we can't keep him here for a day longer. He needs to be removed."

“I was going to rent him out to a chieftain. Not sell him. I wanted him for myself."

“By the Ancestors, you damned mammals..." The Overseer hissed. “You can have him for half an hour right now. Do what you want with him, I won't even take it out of your pay. But once time is up, he'd done, you hear me?"

Snorting, Whyar replied. “Fine."

“Good!" The Overseer clapped and bade his slave and the Ursine to follow. “Come along now, lets give the mammals some privacy, shall we?"

Their lanterns swayed back and forth as they made their way back into the bunker, until I was alone with nothing but Whyar's light to keep the place lit. I felt the edge of a knife run against my back and cut my shirt free, followed by my pants. Then I heard the clunk of Whyar's armor falling to the dirt floor.

“Sorry, human. I tried my best." He muttered, wrapping his hands around my throat and pulling my head back. I felt the bulge of something heavy against my head. “Lets make this last, okay?"

“Fuck you."

“Heh." His grip tightened around my neck. “I would have enjoyed breaking you in."

“Fuck you."

“Sharp mouth. Guess I'd better skip the oral." With a violent push, I was face-down on the ground. I felt his course hands grab at my cheeks and spread them. An impossibly thick shaft caressed against my back and I felt a bump in the middle of it, like a ring. There was no way it could fit. No way. Not unless…

His teeth clamped down on my neck and I felt his large nostrils exhale a huff of hot air.

“Maybe I'll make it easy on you if you..."

“Fuck you!"

“Heh." He chucked. His thick tongue running against my cheek. “You asked for..."

With a sharp snort, he pushed himself off of me and stood up. I manage to turn my head to face him and caught a glimpse of him in the moonlight, staring at the sky, ears flicking wildly.

“No. This can't be." He whispered.

And then I heard it.

It was distant, but I heard the faint rumblings of music off in the distance. It echoed throughout the plains so badly that you couldn't tell where it was coming from, but the tune was familiar. I would recognize the initial thumps of the drums and the brass chorus following it. In high school they made us march to it every year on the anniversary of the occupation.

It was the Anthem of the Imperial Family.

“ALARM!" Whyar shouted. “WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

Floodlights flicked on from the murk of the night sky and before I was blinded, I caught a glimpse of at least one lift-copter. It must have been a stealth model if they had been able to sneak up on both of us like this.

What came next was not even close to stealthy though. An ear-shattering salvo of machine-gun fire screamed through the field. Dirt flew up in great bursts and Whyar went down like a sack of potatoes. But the bullets didn't stop and I couldn't move.

A burst of pain erupted in my shoulder. I must have been hit, but I couldn't move at all where I was.

The pop-pop-pop of the guns continued and I whispered to myself. I whispered that the pain was good. The pain meant I was still alive. Only when the pain stopped, only then was I done for.

Then the guns stopped and for a moment, I was worried that I had in fact, died. Shortly after though, I was brought back to life as a series of heavy thumps landed on the ground, followed by the rumble of many boots on the ground. Looking up, towards the bunker, I saw heavily armored Regulians charge towards it, rifles in hand, before stacking up by the entrance and laying a charge.

“We have an injured human here! Injured human!" A voice rang out in Regulian. “Get a medic over here!"

A thick, furry paw landed on my shoulder, and for once, I was glad it was a paw and not the calloused hands that Whyar had, and pulled be back and onto my knees once again. A big, orange face with black stripes, and a thick muzzle with a pink nose pushed itself into my face.

“You alright there, human?"

“I've…" I gasped, pain shooting through my arm. Only then did I realize he grabbed me by my wounded shoulder. “I've been shot!"

“Good heavens! Well don't you worry, the Imperial Marines are here to rescue you!"

I could have just about kissed the striped Regulian, but instead I settled for a hug. Or at least tried to hug, but collapsed onto his shoulder, which was, I suppose, a close-enough approximation to their standard greeting. I didn't even care that he was one of the aliens who had invaded my planet. Right then, I was just glad to have a rescuer at all.

“I wish I could repay you." I muttered.

“There is a way, in fact!"

I instantly regretted my words. I knew where this was going. I made a pledge never to go through this again, but once again, I was giving myself up.

His thick arm wrapped around my throat and he knelt beside me. He forced me to look towards the bunker, where one of the soldiers was standing, facing us. The soldier was dressed in heavy armor, but even from the distance he was away, I could see he resembled a lion more than a tiger, unlike his superior.

“Private Raloth! Take a picture!" He ordered, pointing a claw at the solider. “This is going to be on the planetary news! Make sure you get my good side!"

“Yes sir."

“Wait! Stop!" The tiger-like Regulian held his palm out at his underling before reaching to my chest and ripping my bandages off. Blood began to pool up once more. “There! We don't want it to look like the Lacertans were treating his wounds, do we?"

“But sir, won't this look like we failed to treat his wounds before doing a photo op?"

“By the stars, you're right!" He slapped the bandages back on, taking care to make sure they covered up any unsightly wounds. His shoulder rubbed up against mine tightly, short fur brushing against my wound. “Does he look better now?"

“Forward a little bit. We still need to cover up that shoulder wound, sir."

He shifted a little bit forward.

“Good! That's perfect, sir!"

“Excellent, private! Fire at will!"

“Say cheese!"

“Why?" The striped Regulian asked, genuinely confused.

“It's an Earth saying sir, just say it."

“Well, okay!" He paused. “Cheese!"

The camera flashed and soon enough, the whole world was white.

Day 8

I had been in and out of unconsciousness ever since that fateful morning. I was never given enough time to dwell on my experience. I had no time to be sad or angry before my drugs kicked in and I was lulled back to sleep.

My dreams were my world and I didn't even know where I really was. Sometimes I'd feel like I was still at the camp. Other times I'd be lying on soft sheets waiting for either Horith or Argus to come and use me. Sometimes it would even be Rit, sauntering up to my bed wearing nothing but her fur, all the rows of her nipples exposed to me.

But despite the pain behind all of these settings, in my dreams they felt good. No one hurt me at the camp and I felt equally at home being the submissive to the Duke and Argus, and the dominant to Rit. It helped that when I felt even remotely uncomfortable, I could somehow switch the dream, like changing the channel, to any other world I wished.

It was almost a shame that I had to snap out of it eventually.

The room was pure white, just like the camera's flash. In fact, at first, I thought I was still in the camp, that I was still there with the solider and the officer, but my vision began to clear and soon enough I was able to tell that I was lying in bed in a room that was entirely white, except for a flat-screen TV that was hanging on the wall at the end of my bed.

Were it not for his black nose and blue robes, the Lupiad sitting next to me would have blended in perfectly with the wall.

“You're awake again, Nate." Horith said, his voice echoing inside my head. I was still a little woozy.

“What happened?"

“A lot."

Sighing, I leaned back into my bed. I felt something binding my wrist and almost panicked, but upon seeing an IV tube leading out from it, I calmed down. At least, for a moment, because shortly after, my facade of toughness, my don't give a shit attitude began to crumble and I started to cry. Tears rolled down my cheeks and sobs heaved in my chest. Because although I could be pushed to be like I was at the camp, it wasn't who I was. I wasn't a badass rebel. In the end, I was Nate. Nate the IT guy. I fixed computers and sold them to our naive alien nobles at exorbitant mark-up.

“Hey, hey!" Horith leaned over my bed and lapped at my cheek with his tongue. “It's all over now, okay?"

“He's dead!" Bear's faced flashed in my mind. Despite him being clean-shaven in the prison, I remembered his full beard from when I first met him. “He saved my life and he's dead!"

“The human?" He asked, tilting his head. “I'm sorry."

“Sorry!? After everything I've been through? You're sorry!?" I shouted, pointing a finger with my one freed arm. “I've been used by you, Argus, Rit, everyone! And you're sorry!?"

Horith's nose twitched silently.

“A second later..." I muttered. “A second later and I would have been dead. No rescue party...what the fuck is wrong with you?"

“You have every right to be upset." Horith said, his golden eyes staring unbroken at me. “I mean that. I had no choice but to force you to go along with this, but I'm not going to make any excuse for myself. It was a terrible thing to do and I never thought it would get this bad."

“You could say that again."

“But Rit never wanted it to be this way. She only wanted her freedom and never imagined for a second that you would have had to go through what she did as a child. If she had known you would have ended up in a camp like that, she would have kept it to herself." Horith paused, turning his face towards a window that was overlooking an overcast sky. “And Argus..."

“What about him?"

“The first thing Argus did when he was arrested was tell the Claw about this camp. The Claw didn't care about you, of course, but when they heard Lacertans had a camp on Earth..." Horith paused. “In some ways, I think he cared about you."

“If he cared, he would have never sent me to that place."

“Yes, I suppose you're right." Horith exhaled sharply. “It's a moot point. You won't see him again. His confession spared him the gallows, but he has been sent elsewhere and will not return."

Sighing, I looked away from the Duke, to my right. In front of the square, beeping, vitals monitor, was a nightstand with a six-pack of Iron Horse beer on it. I didn't have to read the Get Well Soon card to know it was from Shalth. I just about cried again and over receiving a pack of ghetto beer of all things. It meant that someone out there actually cared without having an ulterior motive.

Balanced on the table in front of the beer was a remote control. Not really feeling in the mood to talk further, I tapped the power button and the TV flickered to life.

“Nate, you should probably..."

“BREAKING NEWS!" Came the announcer as the news started. Once again, the newscasters were totally different people, in this case it was a young, sharp looking woman and a Regulian with a blonde, slicked back mane. I guess they ran out of human collaborators to be the face of the news.

The Regulian cleared his throat with a rumble before beginning. “The Imperial Marines, working in conjunction with the Royal Claw have uncovered a massive, illegal slaving operation in the prairies of Alberta."

Oh no. I thought to myself. Is about me?

“A rescue mission was conducted earlier this week, led by Colonol Hrolar of the Marines." A picture of a Regulian with tiger stripes flashed in the corner of of the screen. I recognized it immediately as the officer who posed with me in the picture. This was followed by a video clip of him in dress uniform, standing in a field as slaves, mostly humans, came up to him and he took off their bindings. One of them, a gorgeous young woman with messy hair, wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his mouth.

“Wait." I said, pointing at the screen. “I never saw her there. I never saw any of these people."

I looked at Horith, who only responded with a flick of his ear and stared at the screen.

“Thousands of prisoners have been reunited with their families, many of whom have been missing for over ten to fifteen years." The screen showed a clip of a tired-looking man hugging an older woman, likely his mother.

“Thousands!?" I exclaimed. “What the hell is going on?"

“The truth is flexible." Horith muttered, scratching behind his ear. “My guess is the imperial family purchased a few thousand slaves who were kidnapped by our soldiers during the invasion, conditioned their memories, and created this little drama."

My mouth hung open. If this was true, they were learning. They were learning how to effectively condition the planet without using force. They were creating a hero figure who broke up a universally despised operation, and they were about seconds away from shifting the blame to someone else.

“Reports have come in..." The human anchor continued. “That this operation was started by the Lacertan Empire with cooperation from Sirian and human rebels, funded by money funneled from real-estate developer Argus Corp. Argus has confessed and provided a list of known rebel leaders and they are available to browse on the government website, regardless of your internet package. If you have any information about them, please alert the authorities immediately. It could mean the dismantling of more of these facilities."

The Regulian anchor cut in. “And I am sure many of you listening are wondering...who are the Lacertans and why are you only learning about them now? We now go live to Colonel Hrolar who has a statement."

The feed switched to the Colonel in a steel, ornamental breastplate, standing in front of a podium. His arms were crossed behind his back.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this aggression on Earthen territory will not go forgotten. Any Lacertan incursion onto Earth soil will be met with unrestricted force." He paused, glancing about the invisible crowd in front of him. “We had hoped you would never have to learn about them. We wanted Earth to be at peace under our protectorate. That is why we kept their existence a secret. But it can be kept a secret no more."

He proceeded to give a long, detailed description of their history of aggression with them. It was nothing I didn't know already and heavily slanted in their favor. Granted, I certainly didn't know anything about the Lacertan's perspective.

“...I implore all of Earth to lend us your support in protecting this planet and all others under our protection from these hostile forces. At all costs, we hope to solve this issue diplomatically, but when diplomacy fails, only with your might behind us, can we succeed. This camp is a good example of how you can help us help you. We would have never found it unless a crafty human had started a fire to alert us. We owe him our thanks."

The feed switched back to the newscasters. The Regulian had his finger pressed against an ear-piece. “I'm just getting word that Colonel Hrolar's wife, her grace, the Princess Rala, is at Vancouver General Hospital with one of our field reporters and on her way to meet the brave human who saved the day."

My eyes went wide. “No, no..."

“What's wrong, Nate?" Horith peered over at me.

“I don't want them showing my face..." I gasped, trying to pull at my IV. It was a lot tighter than it looked. “I don't want to be..."

The face of human cooperation. The face of collaboration. A useful idiot.

It meant that if the tides ever turned, and who could tell when that might be, I could end up being targeting by the resistance.

The TV now showed an immaculate, sandy-yellow Regulian woman in a black dress with gold-trim walking down a hospital hallway. Each step was a rehearsed bit of grace. She stopped at a room.

“Is this his room?" She whispered to the cameraman in perfect English.

“Yes." Was his reply.

She put her paw on the latch and pushed.

My door flung open and I covered my face with my hands.

“What are you doing, Nate?"

Her voice was familiar. Too familiar. It was too high-pitched to be a Regulian.

I removed my hands from my face and saw, standing in the doorway, a red-furred Vulpeculan woman wearing a wavy, white summer dress that reached to her knees. Her neck was bare and she now had two amber-studded earrings near the tip of her sharp, black-trimmed ears.

“Rit..." I whispered. My heart skipped a beat and then I felt ashamed a second later. “But, wait…"

I looked to the television. The Regulian Princess was standing next to an injured human who was definitely not me. He sounded younger and was almost covered head to toe in bandages, but his brown eyes held a fire in them that stole the camera, even when a Princess was standing right next to him.

“How did you find the courage to act?" The Princess asked him, gently holding his hand in her palm.

“It was live or die. That's what." He said, voice full of confidence. “It's still live or die."

“What does that mean?"

“It means I'm going to join the Guard as soon as I'm out of here."

Horith stood up and stepped in front of my bed, covering up the TV. “Consider this my last gift to you, Nate. I pulled some strings and got them to hire an actor to play you. I figured you wouldn't appreciate the extra attention."

I was at a loss for words. I was still angry at him, at pretty much everyone, but he just saved my life. The last time he did that, I acted irrationally and did some things that I regret. So I kept my gratitude simple.

“Thank you."

“It was nothing." He shrugged. “Truth be told, they didn't like the picture the Colonel took with you and wanted to redo it anyways."

Rit glanced at him with an unreadable expression. The Duke sniffed once at the air.

“Well, I should give you two some privacy." Horith muttered before casually shuffling to the exit. “Nate, you're always welcome at my next party..."

“I think I'll have to take a rain-check."

With a smile, Horith closed the door behind him and left for good.

It was just me and Rit now. Seeing her stand by my side once more was conflicting. I didn't know what to think. She was still gorgeous and I remembered all those times we had together in bed, but did I really know her? Even if she wasn't there to spy on me, a slave would no doubt have to play a role to appease her master. Was I only attracted to her because of that persona? Or her looks?

I flicked the power button, shutting off the TV right when it showed a picture of the Colonel wrapping his arms around an injured human who was definitely not me.

Rit's paw gently ran across my face, her smooth pads massaging my cheek.

“You must hate me." She said.

“I don't know."

“I'm not going to make any excuses."

“Yeah." I said, coughing. “I mean, I guess you had your reasons."

“Yeah."

There was silence between us. Her paw never left my cheek and she stared down at me, golden eyes piercing into my soul. I was still attracted to her, after all this. But it couldn't work out, I still felt…

I suppose there was no sense in judging her. Was what she did to me so different from what I did to Argus? I pretended to love him and I betrayed him, justified or not.

Rit finally broke the silence. “Do I have to say it?"

“What?"

She lowered her gaze in irritation. “You know what I'm thinking! I can smell it on you!"

Perhaps if I was an alien, I could have smelled her emotions, but I was not. “I'm not sure..."

“Some master you were, making the slave take initiative..." She raised her head with a shocked gasp in mock outrage.

“You're not a slave anymore."

“And you're not my master, but..." she paused, bushy tail swishing behind her. “I know it might be a little awkward, but...do you want to grab dinner sometime? After you get better of course."

I looked back at her. At her amber eyes, at her tiny black nose, at her red coat and the little bit of white showing on her chest just above her dress.

“You want to go on a date with me?"

“Maybe, uh, maybe catch a movie too?" She said, tail wagging becoming even more fast and excited. “A human one."

“Rit." I said, looking into her eyes with a serious stare. “Do you think this can work?"

“I don't know." She said, looking downward. “I know what I did hurt you and I know relationships like these have bad track records, but I enjoyed our time together and want to see if we can take it somewhere."

“I want to, but..."

“We can try it, Nate. If we don't like it, we can call it off."

The pain still lingered, but her plea overruled it. Perhaps the wound would be reopened or perhaps it would heal in time. Either way, I wasn't going to let the chance pass by. Win or lose, I was taking a chance and that felt good.

“There's a place on the outskirts of the Foreign Quarter that shows old movies. Might even have something with Bogart in them, that's the guy from that movie we watched at the Duke's."

Rit's smile nearly wrapped around her head and her tail thumped against the side of the bed. “That would be nice. And don't worry, I think you're much more handsome than him!"

I paused to think for a second. I had one more question that I needed answered.

“Rit, I've had a lot of aliens express attraction to me lately." I said, clearing my throat. “I never had much luck with human women. I dunno, what is it that you and they, see in me?"

“It's your smell." She said, leaning in and pressing her wet nose against my cheek and sniffing heavily.

“My smell?"

“Mm." She purred, running her long tongue across my cheek. “It's the dust from the computers. You wash yourself off, but no matter how much soap you use, a trace of it remains on your skin. When it's only that trace amount, you smell..." She paused, retracting and rubbing her chin with a claw. “...There's several Regulian words that don't really translate that describe your scent. But I suppose spicy would be close enough."

“So, I stink?"

“In a good way!" She giggled, pressing her lips against mine. Her whiskers tickled my nostrils, but I didn't care, as I had her.

The kiss didn't last long. She pulled back and was once against standing by my side.

“I have to go now. I've got a job now. Gotta keep myself fed."

“So soon?"

“I'll be back tomorrow, I promise!"

“I'll hold you to that!"

She turned towards the exit, her tail swishing behind her the whole time. She took one last peek at me over my shoulder, winked, and left.

I was still unsure whether it would work out. Maybe I was making a big mistake, but I had to try. I had to live in the moment, even if it resulted in more pain down the road. I couldn't let my pain hold me back. Not the pain Litho caused, nor Whyar, nor Argus. I couldn't let Rit's actions hold me back either.

The world was getting larger. The galaxy opening up. The Regulians looked to be starting to learn how to make effective propaganda. Hell, it sounded like we were about to get dragged into a war.

Whether the resistance grew or faltered, I intended to keep myself out of their affairs, but I wouldn't go out of my way to support the Regulians. I had very little to give to either and I was done following someone else's plans. What was the point when either one of them could have ulterior motives? And what could I really have to give but my life? I wasn't a rebel leader, I wasn't a soldier, and most of all, I wasn't a slave.

I am Never Late Nate and I'm an IT guy.