Nebula Book 1: His Breeder
2

She really shouldn’t be yelling to the tank of a man– or alien. And she definitely shouldn’t be kicking dirt at him.

Nebula stomped away, and he dared to follow. He resumed that disturbing pose of his– falling to his knees, palming his thighs, and bowing his head.

Every time she walked away, he followed like a lost puppy. She tried her dammed best to avoid looking at his lap, wanting nothing to do with the terrifying appendage that rested on it.

That thing had nearly been shoved into her.

She shuddered.

Giving up on running away from him, she sat on the dirt and gave him her back. Then, she stated into the jungle and waited for someone to rescue her.

She knew better than to run. Her captor was faster, stronger, and a native of the planet. He knew every nook and cranny of this jungle, while she didn’t even know what planet she was on.

If only she hadn’t gotten so close to the teleporter, then she would still be on Earth. Which idiot at NASA even got the idea to throw a dismantling party for the device?

Well, I suppose I’m a bigger idiot for actually attending.

She would never forget the last breath she drew on Earth. Since Brandon got a last-minute ticket, she showed to the event in jeans and a t-shirt. No one seemed to notice, though. They were too taken by the star of the show– the teleporter.

She was mesmerized by the device too, and her greedy curiosity lured her forward. Her toes remained on the red tape on the floor, but she lifted her camera and leaned in. Although the machinery was many feet away and blocked by state-of-the-art glass, it managed to swallow her.

Click.

That was the last thing she heard before she was ripped from her planet– and possibly even Galaxy.

She was probably all over the news. When Kira was reported missing, there was an uproar in the political and religious communities. The government agreed to destroy the teleporter and pull the plug on similar projects out of fear that the invention would be weaponized.

The machine went out with a bang.

She looked up at the blue sky. While there were many questions she had no answers for, she knew that she still had power. With her PhD, she knew enough about the cosmos to map her rough location. She just needed the night, and she could start sailing through the stars.

While the teleporter took Earth from her, she was grateful that she still had her stars.

I can do this. I can replace out in which direction Kira and I can cry to.

Although she had only spent a few days with Kira, she was now practically family. She was the last piece of home she had left.

The alien she traveled with– Vrox, gave her some faith for this planet’s men. He was scary as shit, but seemed nice enough. It was a shame that her kidnapper didn’t get the whole don’t-rape-humans memo.

She remained sitting for many hours, just reminiscing about home and occasionally peeking at the alien. He made no attempts to get closer, a smart decision given that she was ready to kick the bastard’s balls so hard that he’d teleport to Earth.

When her stomach grumbled a demand for food, he rose from his position and returned minutes later with handfuls of food.

She glared at the man.

He was offering her life, while mere hours ago had been determined to kill a piece of her by raping her.

She ignored his offer, not wanting him to confuse acceptance as forgiveness.

Instead of eating, she grabbed a stick and began her map.

The alien remained seated, just watching her burn the few calories she had left.

“Okay. Here’s the Milky Way Galaxy, and the Sun is... on Orion’s arm, so it should be right here,” she mumbled. “Now...” she sighed. “What is next?”

She stared hard at the sketch. The year was 2203 on Earth, so technology allowed a little over five thousand planets in the Milky Way to be confirmed. Thousands more awaiting confirmation. There was a pitiful chance that she was on a planet in the galaxy that hadn’t been discovered yet. Space was just too obnoxious, and the Milky Way was only one galaxy in the billions that existed.

“Uh... the brightest star in the Milky Way is... Sirius, which is very visible to the naked eye on Earth. The second brightest star is Canopus.”

She mapped dots on the Galaxy where she estimated these stars were placed. If she could locate them in this planet’s sky, then she’d get a confirmation that she was still in the Milky Way. She was a fool for being hopeful, but a girl could only dream.

She stared at the map. Within the Milky Way, thousands of stars had planets rotating around them. Earth’s Sun was only one star that mothered planets in this giant daycare.

She kept drawing as many celestial bodies in the Milky Way that she could remember, before rolling her shoulders and drawing a second galaxy– Andromeda. It was one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way and so huge that it was visible from Earth with the naked eye.

“Okay, big girl. You’re up next.”

Just as she lowered her stick, a drop fell from the sky and splattered her hand.

“No,” she whimpered.

The sky opened and dropped a downpour, bringing war to her hard work. This planet, it seemed, wanted to keep its secrets buried.

Nebula scrambled as she tried to save her drawings, spreading her arms pathetically and chocking over sobs as her hopes melted into nothingness.

“Please!” she cried out to the sky.

Her palm fell on her solar system, trying to preserve her home.

“I just want to know which way is home! Can’t I at least know that? Can’t I mourn the right star?”

A hand fell on her shoulder, and she recoiled backward, collapsing on the dirt.

“Don’t touch me!”

Akdronis knew better than to try to help her up a second time.

She curled into a ball, over the two galaxies she had drawn. The Universe seemed to love that shape. Planets, suns, and moons were circular. The eyeballs that were producing her tears were circular. The hole in her gut was circular.

And so were her lips as she wailed.