Nerf... don't much like this bit, but it was late when I worte it, and I can't be arsed to change it, so... *shrugs* Maybe get better soon...
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*****“Ooh, look… pretty lady…” a bony little one poked her with his gun. “Reckon the Boss’ll let us have this one…?”
*****“Doubt it,” the taller, bony one replied, dourly. “Ain’t many ladies about back home, they’ll likely want her fer experiments an’ suchlike…”
*****“Or, uh… other entertainment, if y’know what I mean…” The big one – ugly, too, Aura added, mentally – gave a hoot of laughter. “We could have some fun wi’ her on the way home, though, hey lads?” he gave her a sharp prod with the barrel of his gun. She snarled at him, a deep grating sound at the back of her throat, so he gave her a smart clout over the head and she went sprawling.
*****“Leave her alone…!” Jan stepped forwards, only to get the butt of another guard’s rifle in his stomach, doubling him up on the grass.
*****“Aw, c’mon lads, leave ‘em alone,” the Alpha said, tiredly, stubbing his cigarette out on the tank. “Orders was t’jus’ catch ‘em, not bash ‘em silly.”
*****“Yer a damn killjoy, Lar,” one snorted, but they all left them pretty much alone after that; they assembled by the Alpha – Lar, apparently – and argued.
*****“Aura…?” Jan shuffled closer to her on his knees. “What do you think’s going to happen…?”
*****“We’re going to be made into slaves, that’s what,” she replied, dismally. “Don’ know where, don’ know how long for, but that’s pretty much the extent of it, I guess…” she sighed and flopped onto her chin. “Less we can get out of this mess wi’ our skins intact before then. Which I doubt.”
*****“Doomsaying must be an art I have yet to master,” he replied, dryly. “It’ll be okay, they’ll realise they’ve got the wrong people for whatever it is they want them, and let us go, and it’ll be fine.”
*****“You ain’t got a clue, have yer, Jan?” she lifted her gaze to watch him, but not moving otherwise. “One slave’s as good as the next, far as they’re concerned…”
*****The guards had finished their heated discussion by now – the Alpha retreated off to the cab, and the other four went back to their prisoners.
*****“You, mud…” the biggest one said, pointed with his gun at the tank’s rear doors, which stood open. “In.”
*****“Uh, are you sure this is really necessary…?” he asked, standing up nevertheless. “I mean, I’m sure there’s someone else you’re after; we’re no-one, really…”
*****The slig laughed. “Well, if yer no-one, so much the better. No-one will miss yer when yer gone.”
*****“Smart move, fish-head,” came a thin comment from behind, but Jan ignored her. With a sigh, he clambered up the ladder and into the tank, warily. It was gloomy inside, but once his eyes had got used to the light – or lack thereof – he could see it was a pretty sparse place, but no hidden dangers to leap out and eat them… Then a rifle jabbed him in the spine and coaxed him off to the far end of the compartment. There was a low snik! and he looked down to find one of the guards had locked a cuff around his ankle. He tugged at it, experimentally, but in spite of its fragile appearance it was tough – likely some kind of alloy, he guessed, the sligs working in salvage and biomechanics back home had been discussing it…
*****There was a sudden ruction at the door – he lifted his gaze – naturally, Aura was causing problems. One had picked her up, to lift her inside, and she was busy trying to bite the one that he was trying to pass her to. A sharp clout to the back of her head stunned her just long enough to get a temporary muzzle round her jaws, and then she was in, snarling inarticulate fury behind her gag. One quickly secured a slim cuff on her wrist, and jerked the muzzle off her in the same movement – she lunged and managed to graze his hand with her teeth, but he was already too far away to damage any further. The chain brought her up short; the guard pulled a face and hopped down off the tailgate, then slammed the door in her face.
*****Lar sighed and watched the landscape roll past the window, and gave his neck an annoyed scratch. He’d had one of those accursed Enn-Esses there a while ago, thanks to his participation in the Uprising, and it hadn’t been put in very well; although the implant itself was gone, the nerve damage was still there, and it itched like mad some days. He wished he’d never got involved in the first place, but then it was a tempting prospect – being your own boss, not getting shot at every short while, no risk of severe retribution if you fouled up at work… No wonder employees still deserted their posts. They still left in a regular trickle, but nowadays they tended to go in harder-to-trace twos and threes – not entire barracks at a time. He wondered, absently, if he’d ever manage to get out, now he was Alpha…
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