VICTORIA'S POV

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just said that.

I turned to see his reaction.

Nope, I'm glad I did.

He looked mad. He deserved it. First, I'm kidnaped and then I'm forced to train for my life? He'd be an idiot to expect me to be nice and happy about all of this.

I continued eating my meal. I fully expected him to blast back at me or storm out like a little girl. But he didn't. Instead, he went to order his own food and sat down next to me.

"Looks like you're good for more than falling unconscious. I was starting to think I got a defective one," he said and shoved a spoonful of food into his mouth.

DEFECTIVE!?!

I inwardly fumed.

Nope, I was going to be the bigger person. I wouldn't fall for his taunts. I wasn't going to stoop to his level. So, I continued eating, acting like he hadn't said a thing. Once I was done, I put the dishes away. I went and took a vial of water because I was feeling a little thirsty.

Now what?

I didn't know this place at all. I had only been here for a couple of hours. Or so I thought.

"How long have I been here?"

I wasn't expecting him to answer but I threw my question out there anyway.

"A few days, less than a week. You were among the last to be taken. You've been conscious for less than a day, what with your...episodes," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes, but he couldn't see because I wasn't looking at him. It felt like I had been here forever. But I didn't miss home, I didn't even want to go home. This place was the most exciting place I had ever been to. Strangely, here, I felt like I belonged. Like this was the missing puzzle piece in my life. It felt like I had a purpose. Like I was actually needed. Even though I was stuck with...him.

I went to the sitting area and sat in the chair that had a view of the kitchen. I watched him finish his meal. I had so many questions still unanswered. Today I would get the answers I needed.

"So, when exactly do I get to ask my questions?" I noticed that he was barefoot, like me. He had pretty toes.

I looked back up and saw him approach me. He sat down and said, "now."

I took a moment. "will you answer all of my questions or tell me, 'in due time'?"

One side of his mouth rose, "all of your questions, I shall answer."

Why does he speak like that, like an old person?

"Why did you abduct girls from Earth?"

"We need them."

"For what?"

"Our planet's future."

"You're going to have to elaborate on that for me pal, cause I'm thinking of a whole lot of things right now."

He smiled at that.

"Our future, meaning to prevent our extinction."

Extinction? Was someone killing them off? Is that why I needed to train?

"No, we are not being hunted."

Can he read minds now? How did he know what I was thinking?

I squinted.

"And no, I can't read your mind. You just have a very expressive face."

"Then what do you mean?" I tried to put on my poker face.

"I, as well as most of the males on this ship, were among the last to be born on my Planet. The last recorded birth on Thanzor was when I was four. For over a decade after that, no babies were born. We did not know what the cause of this was, not until one of our prophets got a vision. Thanzor had been too isolated from Earth and as such, had started harbouring ill feelings towards it. Thanzorians looked down on it as a sin filled wasteland. God is punishing us for our sinful hearts towards our brethren and wants us to fix it by living in harmony with you."

"And you thought kidnapping us was a good idea? How do you expect us to live in harmony with you if we are forced to?"

"Let me finish. Yes, kidnapping you was wrong of us, we accept that. But, it was the best option."

He must be joking.

"The best option? Are you kidding me right now? There were other options, better options than this."

"Oh, and what are those?"

"Well, for starters, you could have made your existence known to us. You could have shown that you came in peace and needed our help. We could have come to an agreement as two people and each benefited from this."

He scoffed. "Oh really? Do you really think that would have worked out?"

"Yes, I do."

"I don't."

"Why? Tell me why not?"

"Because you are Earthians."

"That isn't an explanation."

"That is more than enough of an explanation."

"Not to me. Please, oh high and mighty Thanzorian, enlighten this low and stupid little Earthian."

He sighed while smiling and ran his hand down his face. He seemed to do that a lot.

"Earthians are sceptical, greedy and self-serving beings. If we came to you openly, seeking your help, first thing you would have done was doubt us. Speculate on our ulterior motives because it would be too incomprehensible for a technologically advanced species to need your help. You wouldn't trust us, or our existence. From all I've learnt about your people, you would have thought of us as a threat and looked for ways to destroy us, but of course, not before you bled us dry of our information and knowledge."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Really? Are you honestly asking me that because you do not know, or because you're trying to confirm what you already know?"

I didn't respond and just kept looking at him.

"All of your 'motion pictures' about life forms not from earth are filled with destruction and war. It's all about how you are the victims. How you are the targets. How everyone is out to get you."

I couldn't argue with that one.

"Another thing, do you really think that your people would have given us so many girls willingly? They would have suspected as you did. That we wanted to experiment on you, find your weaknesses and exploit them so that we could 'take over your planet' because Earth is apparently the best planet to live on in the universe." He said that last part sarcastically.

He continued, "let's just say, and this is completely hypothetical, that your people agreed to help us. It would take ages for you to come to that consensus and that wasted time would be detrimental to my planet; and of course, it would come with a hefty price. Your leaders would find a way of slipping in their own spies among the girls so they could gather intel on us, not that that would do them any good. And if they realised this, they would decide to get rid of us by sacrificing all those girls along with us through devilish means, like the all so common suicide bombings you have. Should I go on?"

Whoa, that was quite a speech.

Funny thing was, I couldn't bring myself to dispute it. He was right. Our history proved that he was right. Everything he had just said was spot on.

"We are only human."

"Ah, there it is, the excuse for all your wrongdoing. Being human should make you become better, not be the reason that you fall short."

I fell back in my seat.

"Why twenty million? Why only girls? How will living in harmony with us help your planet?"

He looked tense. "Twenty million is what we calculated we would need. Our planet may be larger than yours, but we have less people than you do. We only took girls because our medical specialists discovered that the reason there weren't any births on Thanzor was because of our women, not our men. That is how living in harmony with you Earth women will help Thanzor."

Is he saying what I think he's saying? We were taken to be sex slaves and give birth to babies for them?

"Let me get this straight, you kidnapped us, so that we could......so that we could.... produce babies for you?"

I looked up at him hoping he would deny it, but he didn't.

"You're going to use us for our bodies for as long as we can produce babies, is that right? We are basically livestock to you, a means to an end. And you say Earthians are evil?"

I stood up, shaking. He stood up as well and took a step towards me. I took a step back.

"I didn't finish enlightening you," his attempt at a joke failed. But it did put me at ease a little.

"Please, sit down. Let me finish explaining everything to you, and then you can judge."

At first, I didn't move. Then he took a step back and sat down. I sat down as well.

"If you hadn't noticed, there is only you and I in this apartment."

Was he trying to scare me? If he was, he succeeded. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

"No, I did not say that to scare you." He ran his hand down his face.

"Look, I know how this may seem, but Thanzor's fate rests in your hands. Yes, we forced you to be here, and yes, you cannot leave. But that is because we, the hope of Thanzor, must try our hardest to convince you to help us. All of my earlier threats are void. We would never do anything to hurt you women. You are...precious gems to us. Invaluable gems. You hold all the power over us. What you say, goes. We are at your mercy. You have a choice; you have your own free will. If you decide not to help us, we can't and we won't force you to. But if you decide to help us, we would be most grateful."

It's my choice. They aren't going to force me. They are at my mercy?

"How can I trust your words?"

He smiled, "because, on Thanzor, our word means everything."

Can I trust that?

"If all you need me for is my baby making factory, why do I have to train?"

"We do not want what happened to our Thanzorian women to happen to you. The only way we can do that is ensure that you are as healthy and fit as possible."

"So, if I decide not to do this, does the training stop?"

"Well, that would be your decision. If you decide to opt out of training because you don't want to, then no one would force you to train. However, if you still wish to be as healthy and as fit as possible, training continues."

Are they really giving me full reign? Is this some sort of trick?

"This is not a trick. Trust me."

I really should learn to control my facials.

"Why should I trust you? You've been nothing but mean to me since I got here."

He sighed, "true. But that is just...who I am. Someone told me, you cannot judge an entire people based on the actions of some."

He's using my words.

"If the problem is with me, then maybe someone else on Thanzor would make you say yes."

"And when do we get to Thanzor?"

"In five years."

He smirked.

"I guess I'll just have to work that much harder in order to convince you."

Convince me? Convince me how? What does he mean?