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The Dig

I awoke and there was darkness and nothing more.

My throat ached, like someone had wrung it out to dry. I tried to shout, but a wad of cloth was gagging my mouth.

I attempted to move, but my arms and legs were bound with leather straps to what felt like a mattress, if it were filled with solid cement.

The room was filled with a thick, heavy musky odor. It was like being crammed into a sauna full of aliens with damp, dirty fur. As to which aliens, I couldn't say, being a human with a little nose…

Argus. I remembered. He was choking me and then I blacked out. He said that he would send me someplace and…

That was all I remembered before I had blacked out. All things considered, I might as well have still been blacked out, were it not for the sensation of the bindings on my wrist and the scent of the room, which was, in retrospect, noticeably stronger than most aliens on Earth, or at the very least, unfamiliar, and thus I was not used to it. There was one layer of it that was so offensive, that I felt vomit build up in my throat, it smelled like being in a stable.

A heavy click rang out, like when flicking a circuit breaker, and the lights flashed on. Recoiling from the light, I shut my eyes.

A loudspeaker screamed out orders in a language I did not recognize, whether it was alien or human. People began rustling below and to the right of me, the noise of flapping linens suggesting I was in some kind of a dormitory.

The pain in my eyes began to fade and I squinted my lids open, finding myself in a room with three bunk beds. Standing below each were two men standing at attention, wearing steel collars with a metal loop on the front and simple, gray shirts and trousers. There was a brown Vulpeculan and an equally brown, short, floppy-eared Sirian who could be best described as a mutt, by the far-most beds; by the center beds were two raccoons, having a matching gray pattern with black masks; I had never seen such aliens before, but at this point, I suppose nothing could surprise me. I couldn't crane my neck hard enough to look down and see who was below mine, but I heard someone rustling down there.

Argus sent me to a slave training facility. That must be it...I need to get out of here. I need to get out and...

A door slammed open and two guards walked in. Both were mostly unfamiliar to me. One was a pitch-black horse whose heavy hooves shook the beds as he clopped in, and the other was a fat, brown bear. Both were wearing dark-green, ceramic body armor and were wielding heavy, metal batons that had wires running along the shaft of it.

They barked orders at the slaves one by one and each fell in line, allowing them to attach a drag chain to their collars, before they were led out. I caught a glimpse of the one below my bed, who was the last in line, and immediately noticed he was a human. I didn't get a good luck because the horse butted in and stuck his long face next to mine. His nostrils flared, shooting hot air in my face. He was the source of the strange smell in the air, it would seem, and I found that not only did he smell like a stable, he smelled like a sweaty horse in a stable. His breath smelled even fouler.

“So, will the human behave?" The horse said, speaking in perfect Regulian.

I nodded nervously.

“What does that mean?"

His thick hands, which were oddly human-like, ripped out the cloth gag from my mouth, letting it fall onto my chest.

“I..." I gasped. “I'll be good."

Snorting, he looked back at his partner, the bear, who grumbled in response.

“I don't believe you." He said. “I think we should leave you here without food."

“Please, I'll behave, I'll..."

His long muzzle pressed against my nose, dwarfing it easily. His thick lips whispered, releasing rancid, hot breath into my nostrils. “Kiss me, human, and I'll release you."

I didn't even resist. I puckered up my lips and kissed him. Going along with the situation or not, I was beginning to worry about how submissive I was allowing myself to become. Still, at that moment, I was more focused on not throwing up, and thankfully, the horse didn't seem interested in french kissing, because his breath was awful. He did nuzzle back firmly, rubbing his snout all over my lips, and I cringed when I felt them going over his nostrils.

Rearing his head back, he laughed with a whinny. Looking back at his co-worker, he chuckled. “See how weak they are? A species of bed-warmers."

I avoided mentioning that the only other alien horse I had met was a sex slave at the Duke's manor. Despite my pleasant, submissive attitude, this didn't stop him from jabbing me in the ribs with his baton. My body seized up with a jolt and the baton cracked with electricity.

“That's for being disloyal to your master." He said firmly, baring his square, flat teeth at me. He wasn't a carnivore like the rest of the aliens, but the threat was very much still there. I felt the straps loosen and saw that his friend was undoing them. The horse attached a chain to the loop of my collar that ran to a leather strap wrapped around his other hand. Dangling from the chain were two cuffs, which the bear immediately wrapped around my wrists, binding me once again.

I was lifted out of my bed by the bear and placed on my feet. My ankles shot with pain and I stumbled, falling into the horse's chest. I was at least two heads shorter than him, but his muzzle was long enough that he whispered straight into my ear.

“If anything happens to your master..." He trailed off, firmly nipping at my ear. “Well, I've had everyone else in this room already..."

The bear grumbled something in a different language that caused the horse to groan.

“Alright, alright." The horse said, stepping forward, his ebony tail trailing behind. He yanked my chain, pulling me forward. “The Overseer wants to see you personally."

“Why?"

A sharp pain exploded across my back, sending me reeling to the ground. Apparently the bear, taciturn though he was, was smart enough to know when a slave speaking Regulian was questioning orders.

The horse pulled me to my feet and admonished me for talking back. Prodding me forward with his baton, I was led outside into the halls.

The hallway was a dismal, gray affair. The walls were undecorated, save for the occasional slogan printed on the side, which were in a scratchy, foreign alphabet. It was pretty clear that there was not a janitorial staff, as dust and grime clung to the sides. No wonder this place reeked. These were no conditions for working in, slave or not, but it wasn't like I had a union representative I could file a grievance with.

“I'm an Equuleian and my associate over there is an Ursine." The horse said as he marched me forward. “We're the finest warriors that the Lacertan Empire has. If we had gotten Earth first, your people would be sucking our cocks instead of taking knots or spines up your asses."

We passed a window and I caught a glimpse of people toiling in a dry, empty field. They were striking at the ground with pickaxes and shovels. I was pushed away before I could stare too long.

“Maybe there's still time for that, hm?" The Equuleian said. “If every human looks as cute as you, I can't wait to have some fun. Break in and drag some young man or woman with me and make them mine."

The Ursine grumbled.

“Yes, yes, I know, we're working with them! But lets face it, if Argus's scheme collapses, Earth is fair game, as far as I'm concerned!"

Letting loose a small roar, the Ursine let his presence be known.

“If the Regulians could have their fun, so can we! The Reglian Emperor had countless human concubines. Countless concubines of any species! There's rumors that he hasn't even gotten around to his human ones yet, fifteen years after he ordered his soldiers to kidnap a harem of the most beautiful men and women from the planet!"

“Are you just about done?" An unfamiliar and chattery voice spoke out around the corner in perfect Regulian.

I was lead around the corner and nearly shoved into a bipedal raccoon, who refreshingly was the same height as me. He looked very similar to the twins I saw in the quarters, but he was wearing white, shimmering robes and his collar was made of platinum. A pair of round eyeglasses rested on his graying muzzle. Despite being a slave, he commanded an authority that I couldn't put my finger on.

“Forgive me, I..."

“Whyar, you're handling the beloved slave of the future Prime Minister of the Lupiad-Sirian Commonwealth. Any idiotic thing you say, he can tell his master. Do you want him telling him that the Overseer had him watched by by an Equuleian who dreams only of raping human civilians?"

Whyar bowed his long face. “No, I don't."

“Do you know what would happen to you if he were to do that?"

“Yes."

Scowling, the raccoon waved the two away and snatched my chain, violently yanking me with shocking force for his size.

“Come along now, the Overseer is not a patient man."

“What planet are you from?" I spoke, surprisingly frank, all things considered. Truthfully, I knew that no matter what I said or did, there was no way that I could have made it worse, especially since the huge aliens with the weapons were now out of sight. Worst thing I had to fear from this one was a potential rabies infection.

“Born in space." He sighed, leading me down the hallway without missing a beat.

“And your species is…?"

“Slave." He said, turning around and pushing his round glasses up his muzzle. “You seem to be under the impression that you're protected here."

“I didn't..."

“I would adjust your line of thinking. Do you understand?"

There was no chance to reply. Before I could even think of a reply, I was shoved through a door and onto my knees. My chain rattled, followed by a heavy thunk and my neck was yanked back.

“Don't resist. The pylon can be charged at a second's notice." A strange voice hissed severely in front of me. I looked back to see that my leash was attached to a pole a few feet behind me, stuck to it like glue.

“Raise your head." The voice hissed once again.

I raised my head, finding a thin, sinewy lizard sitting behind a metal desk, his long, razor sharp claws tapping idly on the top. His scales were as green as tarnished bronze and his eyes were blood-red. There was something about his very appearance that set my nerves on edge, perhaps it was the fact that no matter how alien the invaders of Earth were, they still resembled animals we admired and loved.

This Overseer looked like no particular reptile I knew of. For all I knew, he might as well have been evolved after a medieval monk's image of a dragon. A small horn was at the end of his narrow muzzle, surrounded by two round slitted nostrils.

“Nate." He rasped, revealing a row of long, needle-like fangs. It was not like the aliens of Earth, whom certainly had fangs, but they also had molars and incisors; this Overseer's teeth were nothing but fangs. “You have the honor of being the second human slave of the Lacertan Empire. You may speak freely, enjoy it while it lasts."

“I'm Argus's slave." I said, suppressing a shudder. If I had to pick, I guess I'd pick Argus over this lizard and his company. But if I really, really had the freedom to pick, I'd pick waking up in the morning a free man with a cute girl at my side, and immediately thought of Rit.

I didn't have time to linger on my thoughts though. The Overseer let loose a horrifying laugh, as if he were a man with chronic laryngitis.

“Yes, Argus. He's more of a slave than you could ever imagine." He muttered, flaring his nostrils. “But no matter. Yes, you will be returned to him in due time and you will be free to grovel as his feet like the lowly animal you are."

A biting insult rushed into my mind, but I forced myself to think of the electrified pylon I was attached to and keep it down.

“But if anything were to happen to him, he agreed that ownership of you would transfer to myself. This is certainly not legal by your overlord's code, but we're not exactly on good terms with them."

Vomit rushed to my throat. After all I'd been through, becoming the personal slave of a slimy lizard was not how I imagined this would end. I'd have taken Argus over this. I would have been grateful even, if I had known this would have been a possibility, as loathe as I was to admit. It couldn't possibly get worse...

“You seem disturbed..." the Overseer said, his face betraying not an inch of emotion. “Rest assured, I have no intention of keeping you."

I sighed in relief. I couldn't help it.

“You'll be auctioned off a soon as possible." He said bluntly. If his lips were capable of it, I imagine he'd be smirking now. “I understand one of the Equuleian guards is interested in bidding first..."

And there we have it: it got worse. I didn't even want to imagine what Whyar looked like naked, let alone imagine his cock…

“Take him away and get him to work." The Overseer hissed one last time before tapping a claw under the table. Every nerve in my body jolted and I collapsed like a rag-doll.

I didn't lose consciousness. The raccoon called in the guards and I was lifted up and carried on the shoulder of a brown Equuleian. Thankfully, he was more professional than Whyar, but with nothing to focus on except the imminent threat by the Overseer, I couldn't help but wonder if he was the bidder instead.

My muscles began to regain control when we left the building and entered a dry, dusty field that seemed to reach out forever. I couldn't even see a trace of a mountain in the distance. The whole area was surrounded by a tall chain-link fence that hummed with electricity. The slaves, many of which I recognized from my dorm, were striking at the ground with pick-axes while heavily-armed Ursines and Equuileians patrolled carefully.

The sun was bright yellow and blazing hot. Just like Earth.

Was I even on Earth? The very thought filled me with dread. Even if I was in the Mongolian steppes, there was still a chance I could make it back home, but if I were on another planet, I'd be stuck there. Chances are, this was a Lacertan-owned planet and I knew nothing about it. Neither English nor Regulian would get me far.

My leash was locked into a drag-chain with a click and I was given a shovel. The brown Equuileian sharply ordered me to dig and so I did. The ground was bone-dry in the summer heat and tough to dig in. I was not used to such work and it wasn't long before I started to get tired.

Shockingly, when I looked around, I found that the other workers were digging rather leisurely. Next to me was one of the raccoons and he was taking a five second break between each stomp of the shovel. The only one who was shoveling like his life depended on it was the other human, who was also next to me on the drag-chain. He took a brief second to wipe his brow and glanced back at me. I instantly recognized him, despite not having a single hair of his beard anymore.

A quick jolt in my back, much like a static shock, stopped me from calling out his name. Whyar appeared in front of me with a stomp of his hoof and waved his electric prod at me.

“Keep working! No breaks for humans."

Round beads of sweat rolled down Whyar's black muzzle. I guess he knew about humanity's built-in cooling system and there was no point in arguing, not that I had any rights to argue about to begin with.

Thrusting a plastic bottle in my face, he bade me to drink. The water was cool and refreshing. Still, it was not enough to get rid of the dry, scratchy feeling that was in my throat.

Whyar left silently and gave the other human some water, before leaving for the others. When I was certain he was out of earshot, I whispered.

“Bear, what are you doing here?"

“Flew too close to the sun." he grimaced, thrusting his shovel into the dirt. “And I understand Sirius has a large sun. That dog send you here?"

I nodded.

“Then you know about his plans?"

“Yeah, but I don't think Argus knows that I know. He sent me here after his daughter..." I cleared my throat. “Let's just say his daughter came onto me, he found out, thought I made the move and sent me away for obedience training."

Bear's heavy face grinned ever so slightly. “You're gonna be fetching sticks before you know it."

“Shut up."

“I don't know why I'm here. Why I'm alive." Bear muttered. “Maybe the Captain asked for a favor. Maybe she still thinks of me as a comrade, even if I think she's a traitor. She made the deal with that dog, it was all her. Guess I'll live to see us become slaves to those lizards."

“There's a chance the Commonwealth might succeed." I said, not fully believing the words. I saw the emails and they pained a dire picture of Argus's plans, even if the Claw didn't have suspicions.

The Claw. What did they have? I couldn't upload the emails, but I did run that remote tool. There's a chance they might have gotten what they needed and…

“There will be no rescue party."

The words of the letter echoed in my head. I fought very hard not to let my panic show.

“Not a chance, Nate. And even if he did have a chance, we'd just end up slaves to the dogs and wolves."

Which at this point, might have been my best option. The Regulians wouldn't send a rescue party and if Argus got found out, his plans would be stopped and I'd be the Overseer's property. I didn't even want to think about what his plans for selling me were, especially if it involved Whyar. I was banking on a miracle with everything I knew, but it was really my only hope: getting returned to Argus. Maybe then I'd have a chance to get loose and if not, at least with him, I can somewhat understand him. The Overseer looked at me like I was an insect and the other guards seemed to have bad intentions.

I should never have gone to the club. I should never have told Rit what I heard. If I hadn't, I would have still been at home and she would be with me and I wouldn't have known about her plans to get free. It would have been good.

It would have been good.

We were rushed inside the bunker as soon as night feel. I didn't have a chance to look at the stars, not that I would have recognized most of them even if I was on Earth, but I could have at least seen the big dipper and known where I was.

What I did see, and it gave me some hope, was seeing a flicker of light sparkle across the afternoon sky. It looked very similar to the orbital bombers that patrolled the orbit of Earth since the King's death. Still, it didn't add up to much, I could have been on another planet with a fleet patrol.

The food was surprisingly decent. One benefit of having aliens that are mostly carnivorous being so prevalent was that rations were mostly meat-based. Bear and I were given a smaller meat ration but had a side of oatmeal that looked to have been scooped right out of the Equuleian's meals and from their glares, they didn't seem too happy about it.

The days passed. Must have been about two weeks I went through that routine: wake up, dig, eat, sleep. None of the guards raised a baton to me during that time, I was a good little worker. I even found that they really didn't care if the workers talked while on the job as long as they spoke in Regulian or that awful, hissing language that I presumed was Lacertan, and as long as we didn't talk about escape or say anything bad about our hosts.

The Vulpeculan tried to dig a hole under the fence once. He didn't get far. They had us lock him in a box and bury him underground. A narrow, plastic tube ran out from the coffin to the surface, granting him a little bit of air. We dug him up the next day. He quivered non-stop for the rest of my time there, even when in bed, and never so much as spoke out of line again.

Aside from that, the work was repetitive but not overly hard or dangerous. Until one day…

It was a day like any other. The air was dry, the sun was hot, and I was chained up and digging. I was sandwiched between the two raccoons, who spoke not a word of Regulian, and so I had little else to do but dig. I slammed the spade into the ground and was stopped by a heavy thunk.

“Stop!" A voice screamed in multiple languages. I turned and found the Overseer's raccoon slave, wearing tinted shades over his round glasses, running towards me and flailing his arms. “Hands off the shovel and step back!"

The guards surrounded me, pulling me back away from the hole I was digging. The raccoon crept down, pulled out a brush and began gently shifting away the dust.

I grew increasingly concerned when I saw the bronze-scaled Overseer show up and silently observe the whole matter, crossing his arms patiently.

Something was under the dirt there, something round and thick. It wasn't until a good ten minutes of waiting anxiously that the raccoon's efforts revealed a skull with a long muzzle and razor sharp teeth.

The Overseer whispered something and clasped his claws together, bowing his head. Even the raccoons, platinum-collared or otherwise, and the guards were taken aback and bowing.

I wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but was too afraid. Something bigger than me was happening and it somehow involved these dinosaur bones.

The Overseer hissed something at Whyar and with a click, I was unlatched from the drag-chain. Whyar yanked my collar's chain and bade me to follow him back to the building.

“You're being rewarded. No more work today." Whyar muttered. “For finding an ancestor."

“What? Those old dinosaur bones?"

“Those are the Lacertan's ancestors. They once had a massive empire that ruled most of the galaxy until something happened that wiped them all out." Whyar snorted. “The Lacertans want to reclaim all of their ancestor's land."

Those words sent a chill down my spine. I could put two and two together, and for the first time since I got to the camp, I hoped this wasn't Earth. The story was probably bullshit, but it was clearly written to justify conquest and that was what concerned me.

We entered the drab hallways of the bunker. I was not marched to the bunks but was taken straight to the shower room. A small, mildewy, concrete shell with three shower heads lined up against the wall.

Suddenly, I felt very worried, being there alone with Whyar.

“Get washed. I'm not having you stink up the bunks."

Wrinkling my noise, I caught a whiff of his festering musk. If only I could have told him how badly he stunk.

Thinking of Argus, and how as long as I was his property, Whyar wouldn't try anything, I took off my clothes and turned on the tap. The water was ice cold, but after being outside in the high noon sun, it was refreshing. I closed my eyes and felt the droplets gently pummel my face and wash the grime off.

“They pay us a lot, you know, to be guards here."

Something about his choice of words made me uncomfortable. I replied simply with, “Is that so?"

“Once I'm done my tour here, I'll be free to go back home to Gamma Equulei, join a tribe, fight for leadership, get a harem of wives and live the good life. We're nomads, my people. We roam the planet underneath our twin suns as the seasons pass, never in one place for long."

“Sounds nice." I said, facing away and washing my body down with my hands.

Two heavy arms wrapped around my chest, pulling me back into an armored chest. Looking up, I found Whyar's black muzzle leaning down, resting next to my shoulder. Water ran through his long, ebony hair and dripped down onto me. The water only made his scent even more rancid and now it clung to me as the droplets passed onto me.

His flat teeth nipped at my ear.

“I'll take you there when I'm done here." He whispered, heavy hands groping at my cock. “An exotic slave such as you would be more than enough to pay a chieftain for admittance into a tribe."

Fear welled up in my chest. He couldn't do this to me.

“Don't worry." He whinnied. “I'll get you back when I win leadership and get my harem. We'll travel the planet together and I'll have you until the day you die."

“Argus..."

“Has been arrested by the Regulians." He said with a chuckle. “You're now the Overseer's property and he isn't interested in you one bit and wants you sold before we're off the planet."

The Claw. They must have remoted in and taken the emails. They got everything. “No. No this can't..."

“It's true. We're going to be getting out of here sooner rather than later." Whyar pulled away and stepped back, blocking the exit. “Now finish up. Give me a good show, would ya?"

My arms were numb. I continued washing lamely and slowly. I didn't even know if the dirt was washing off or not. All my hopes were dashed. I had nothing, nothing to hope for. For the first time in all of my ordeals, I wanted to sit down and cry. Maybe beat my skull against the shower head until it cracked open. Anything to avoid the inevitable.

But I couldn't. I couldn't cry. I couldn't kill myself either.

I had to escape. I was too weak to fight back, but if I found a way to get out, there was a chance, even if it was slim, to escape. I didn't know where I was, but I had to try. Even if there was no hope of surviving, I had to try. Even if death was certain, at least I tried and at least I would die like a man.

I peered back at Whyar, whose square teeth were exposed in a sick grin as he leered at my naked body. I turned my head away from him and smiled.

Enjoy the show, asshole. You're not getting anything more.

None of you are.