Free Alien Alliance by Maxine Millar Page A

he survived? Did
he want to?
    Over the next two hours, he managed to
breathe properly, sit up, and look around. A Zeobani he didn’t know
brought him some water. Reduced to drinking water like a slave,
which he was. He drank, finding the headache eased a little over a
few minutes. He must be dehydrated. He wondered how long he had
been unconscious. He remained dizzy and knew he couldn’t stand.
Another three hours went by before he could stand up but he didn’t
know this as his watch had disappeared with his data link. Which
was now owned by one of the juveniles. It wouldn’t work for them
though. At least he could console himself a fraction with that.
    He carefully got up and staggered around
looking for Aswin but couldn’t find him. He drank more water from
the communal container. Seeing the Zeobani sitting in a group, he
went over, sitting down beside Disixim, one of the other pilots
whom he recognised.
    “What happened? he asked, “I thought we were
winning.”
    “We suspect foul play. We were attacked by
ships we did not recognize. We have lost the planet. We had to
surrender.”
    Kaswa gasped. This was terrible. The Zeobani
had developed this planet at enormous cost. Now those hateful Nashi
had it. There were over 850 million here, mostly Zeobani. It also
meant he and Aswin had lost all their money which was in the
Zeobani investment houses. He sighed, all they had now was their
qualifications. They hadn’t sent their money home because of the
10% transfer fee applied to any money you didn’t take with you.
This was to reduce the amount of money earned and then sent off
planet. The rules of war now meant the whole planet, everything on
it and all resources now belonged to the Nashi. Every home,
apartment, vehicle and every item in a shop, factory, home etc now
belonged to the Nashi. Private property abolished. The rules of war
were simple. Hand it over or die. The surviving Zeobani, now they
had surrendered, were not supposed to be killed. But what would
actually happen now is that almost every Zeobani on the planet
would try to leave. And since all their money and other assets had
effectively been pinched, it would be up to the other Zeobani
planets to help transport them to another world. Which they would
do. But the Nashi were likely to charge an exit fee. Kaswa was very
sorry. He liked the Zeobani and they had been very good to the
Niseyen. He wondered what would happen to himself and if his
parents would be able to raise the exit fee. If he was allowed to
leave. He now had no rights. He could be sold. He could already
have been sold. He would be the last to know.
    The Zeobani had had five developed planets
which gave them superpower status. This was therefore a huge blow,
he realised. The repercussions would be enormous up to and
including a reduction in their overall credit rating. This applied
to all four of their remaining planets. There would also be a
re-negotiation of any political alliance they had. Individual
businesses would also be affected. Everything would be affected. It
was a mess.
    “What did they tell you or ask you? How did
you upset them?”
    “They asked me, well they told me, that I
was to pilot gas planes. I refused. I don’t understand how I’m
still alive. I thought I was hit with a disrupter.”
    “They have a stun version of a
disrupter.”
    “Oh. I hadn’t heard that. How long was I
out?”
    “A day and a half.”
    “What now? Why did they keep us alive? Why
enslaved?”
    “We don’t know. Some have already been
rounded up and taken away. We guess to be sold. We don’t know.”
    Kaswa sat in silence. The usually cheerful
and exuberant Zeobani were in shock, still and quiet. Their eight
tentacles, usually endlessly in motion or playing tricks, were
slumped on the ground. They looked greyer than normal. Having no
clothes was their normal state of dress since they were amphibian
but all their jewellery and technology was gone. The belts or mesh
holders worn so proudly as