Read Online Captive by K. M. Fawcett - Free Book Online Page A

could see for herself there was no way out. Duncan agreed to the trek only on the condition they take multiple stops to rest and eat some food they picked along the way. He led her around like a proud museum curator, spouting facts and numbers about the Yard.
    She committed every detail to memory.
    “The Yard is over 2,800 acres. We’ve training fields, woodlands, farmland, and many water bodies. All the flora and fauna ye’ll find is indigenous to Earth.”
    Just how many times had he’d given this little everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-Yard speech? It sounded way too rehearsed to be off the top of his head.
    The sun crossed the sky as they strolled passed people swimming, fishing, and lounging in hammocks. Groups played soccer or practiced some kind of martial arts. They passed three pregnant women knitting baby blankets. Duncan waved to someone farming in a field.
    Only two Hyboreans had been in the Yard until the sun lowered and the temperature fell. Then more aliens—children, presumably, by their shorter stature—had come out to play catch with their full-grown human pets. None of the aliens had paid Duncan or her any attention, thankfully.
    “How come some people wear chokers and others don’t?” If she didn’t want to get zapped while escaping, she had to get rid of hers.
    “The decision is up to the individual master. Mostly though, gladiators, Earthlings, and anyone new to or visiting the Yard wear them. Most Hyborea-born humans—or Hyborhus, as they’re called—don’t.”
    “Do you and Tess wear one?”
    “No, lass. Except when Ferly Mor takes us on his travels.”
    “He lets you out? Where does he take you? How often do you leave? Will he be going back to Earth?”
    “Och. I hope yere no’ of a mind to escape. Ferly Mor won’t let that happen.”
    The metal around her neck seemed to tighten. She tugged on it, though not as hard as yesterday. She didn’t want to risk pissing off the Hyboreans. Would they remove this damn shock collar if she demonstrated good behavior? Searching for an answer her gaze drifted up at the holographic mural. The wall could barely be seen behind it.
    “Duncan, how high would you say that wall is?”
    “Too high for what I think ye’re thinking.”
    “You don’t believe I could climb over it?”
    “No.” Before she had a chance to get riled up and prove her athleticism, he said, “The Yard is no’ what it appears. The walls enclose us in a synthetic habitat. Our sky is nothing more than a brilliantly engineered holographic dome. Hundreds of ultraviolet lights brighten and dim in correlation to the Hyboreans’ solar system.”
    “Wait a minute. Are you saying we’re actually inside a giant atrium...with a planetaium roof?”
    “Aye. That about sums it up. Ye must agree the 3-D forest mural is a nice touch. We don’t have to look at ugly buildings like in the subclass’s Yards.”
    The sun setting behind the trees painted the sky in a pink-and-orange glow. Hair swept across her face by a gentle breeze that carried the scent of wild onions.
    How could all of that be fake?
    Duncan’s eyes shone with tenderness. “I ken this is difficult for ye to understand, but what I show ye tonight will help. Come, lass. We’re nearly home.”
    By the time darkness covered the Yard, Duncan pressed a black button in the camouflaged wall. A section sublimated. Hyborean doors didn’t open on a hinge, slide, or revolve. Their matter transitioned from a solid state to a gaseous state without becoming a liquid first, like dry ice.
    She remembered Max appearing in her bed as if out of a white fog. That must have been when the Hyboreans sublimated the door and placed him into the breeding box.
    They stepped through the swirling white vapor into Duncan’s kitchen. The doorway crackled as the gas transitioned into its solid state once again. She never would have guessed they’d been standing outside of Duncan’s home. When she’d sprinted out of there that afternoon,