The Chosin

I did not know how I got here.

I awoke face down upon the forest floor and breathed slowly as my body crept from asleep to awake. The smell of ozone, of oxygen, was strong. Blinking, I looked about and saw I was surrounded by green. Everything was green, the trees, the leaves, the forest floor, miles and miles of green. Slowly, I stood, testing my legs. I did not appear injured. It was then, as I gingerly stepped on one ankle at a time, that I realized I was naked.

Horrified, I began to run. I had no idea where I was or what I was running to but I began to sprint through the green forest, always going forward, following what appeared to be a very overgrown path. I watched my feet carefully, as they were bare too, and I had no desire to step on anything squishy, especially snakes. I breathed deeply, the air so thick it filled my lungs so fully that I seemed to be able to actually float as I ran.

I continued forward. I could hear birds, going about their normal day, unperturbed by the naked woman running through their world. I heard other sounds as well, unknown sounds that spooked me but I knew stopping was not an option. Squinting, I could see ahead a break in the trees and headed for it. A clearing, water, anything different than this unending sea of green!

When I reached the clearing, I saw it contained a building. It was like no other building I had ever seen before. It was very tall, here in the midst of a forest. The two main walls front and back, rose up into the air until they met at the peak. They basically formed an inverted V. On the side of the V, there was another wall, connecting the two main walls. At the base of this wall was an entry way. I furtively glanced from left to right and seeing no one about, knocked softly upon the door.

There was no answer. I waited a moment, listening to the sounds of the forest around me, hearing the distinctive burble of a nearby stream then knocked again, louder.

Tapping my foot against the ground, I waited patiently for an answer and received none. Finally, I pressed against the door, there was no handle that I could see, and it swung open.

Stepping inside, I allowed my eyes to adjust to the change in light before I attempted to make a full inventory of the room. When they had, I saw that the room was sparsely furnished. There was a table of sorts, very large, the benches further off the floor than I was used to. I could see if I sat on one, my feet would barely reach the ground.

There was an iron stove, with a chair on each side. Again, the chairs seemed unusually high off the ground. To the side of the stove, there was a cupboard. Through the open doors, I could see plates, cups, bowls and the like. I realized this must be the kitchen of the building. I crossed to the other side of the room where a low lidded box was built into the wall. Lifting the lid, I saw the box contained cut wood, ready to be burnt. Another smaller box, lidded as the first, stood beside it. I lifted its lid but found the box empty and supposed it was probably used for storage, perhaps for food.

On the far wall, across from where I had entered, there was a ladder that leads to an upper floor. I crossed the room and climbed up it. When I reached the next level, I saw to access it you simply stepped off the ladder to the floor on either side. Behind me, at my back, was a railing, undoubtedly for safety precautions as the room opened behind me. Stepping into the room, I turned and took it in.

There were what appeared to be cots along the one side. They had frames made of stout wood and a leather-looking hide stretched across them, from corner to corner. There were three of these placed along the right wall, snug against the rising V of the wall. Along the left wall, there were again wood boxes built into the wall. The first one contained cut wood, the second one contained large bolts of cloth, what I assumed to be blankets and bedclothes, and the third one contained odds and ends, carvings, bones, strips of cloth. It was a bizarre collection. At the opposite wall from the ladder was another stove, again apparently made of iron, which vented out of the wall behind it.

Walking back to the ladder, I continued to climb up to the third and final floor. Being so close to the roof, it was small, narrow and short. The only things on this floor were a few smaller boxes and what appeared to be a large cage for storing animals. This floor was dark, as there were no windows. The other floors had two windows on each side of the main walls, four all together, facing each other. The air was stale up here and filled with dust so I began to climb back down to the main floor where I had entered.

When I reached it and turned to face the room, I saw I was no longer alone. There was a man looking at me, he was blond with blue eyes and pale. He also wore no clothes except for a strange bit of leather wrapped around his groin area. He smiled at me in welcome, his hands palms up before him, as he spoke, "hello, Lena."

Startled, I gasped, "You know my name?"

He smiled again, "Yes, I am William. I am your human guide here. I am here to make your transition more comfortable."

I looked at him again, confused, "My human guide? What? Where am I?"

He continued to look at me like an adult does a child he is trying to teach, "You are on Cho. I am here to help you. I am your friend. Come. Take my hand. I will explain it all to you."

Spellbound and with no other real alternative, I went to him and took his hand. He led me to the stove, which he had obviously lit while I was on the upper floors. He fell to the floor, sitting back upon his ass, and indicated I should do the same. I sat beside him and listened quietly while he spoke.

"Lena, you are no longer on Earth. You are on Cho. Many years ago, before either of us were born, a disease swept across this planet. It devastated the population. Many of the Chosin died. It was a very sad time for them. They were faced with the extinction of their entire race. So many dead and as the years passed, it appeared even worse. There were few female Chosin left. And none of them appeared able to bear children. With extinction of their race even more imminent, their scientists built probes to send out amongst the galaxies. These probes were sent to find a race compatible to the Chosin. Their hopes were to find a race that they could mate with, making a new hybrid of the Chosin. It took many years and many probes. They brought back what they hoped were suitable samples but they were failures.

"Finally, they received a sample from Earth. She was taken to Hakta, the leader of the Chosin, and they mated. It was a success and she gave birth to the first human/chosin hybrid, named Annhakta after her parents. It was decided that the humans were chosin as well. A small group of emissaries were sent to Earth where they met with a man named Frank Casper. An agreement was reached. The Chosin would supply him with the rich resources of his world, which he could sell and profit from. In return, he would supply the chosin with humans. For the most part, female humans but an occasional male was to be included to help handle the females and to act as slaves for the chosin. I am one of those males. I have been on Cho for close to five human years now.

"Perhaps you know of Frank Casper. He became a very wealthy man because of the Chosin. He was the founder of Casper Industries and CasRan Companies. When I was on Earth, I knew them well. I worked for them. I found out about the companies' agreement with the Chosin, quite accidentally. But it was enough. I was drugged and found myself here before I had the chance to defend myself. And I have been here ever since."

I knew full well of Casper Industries and CasRan. They were two of the largest, richest companies in the USA. I had never had any dealings with them, however, and questioned William about this.

"Oh the women! They are just taken. So many are needed. The chosin men are in a lottery, waiting for a mate. A new shipment arrives by transport nearly twice a month, and then the ship is filled with resources and goods and sent back to Casper Industries. Frank is long dead but his family continues his work. You were selected in advance. Each capture is well planned. You used to jog through your local park every other morning. Each time, you stopped at the news stand for a bottle of water. The day of your capture, a Casper Industries employee was in the news stand. He carefully injected the sealed bottle of water with sleeping drug. Two more Casper Industries employees followed you as you continued on with your jog. As you drank the water, you became dizzy and eventually stumbled. They came upon you as fellow joggers to aid you. They took you to a bench, close to the trail but out of sight of it. From there, you were taken to the transport.

"The females are kept drugged during the voyage, stripped, cleaned and prepared. When the transport lands, the chosin who hold tickets for mates in this shipment are waiting. The humans come off the transport virtually unaware of where they are and what is happening. Some manage to wade through the drug induced fog but it is easier on those that do not. You were one of the first selected off the ship. You were chosen by Kasra, a chosin who has never had a human mate. He has waited a long time for his voucher to be filled as he is not a rich chosin. Those that are have purchased vouchers from the poorer chosin. Some chosin have three, four even five human mates. But Kasra kept his voucher and was patient. He could have sold it and become wealthy. But his desire to have a mate was stronger than his desire for wealth. He saw you and knew you were his. He took you to the cave where he dwells. Chosin dwell in houses like this one, houses made of stone and in the caves along the side of Phenta-tak, the mountain on the other side of the forest. This is where Kasra dwells, on Phenta-tak. He locked his chain about your throat and carried you to his dwelling."

It was then my hand went to my throat and I realized for the first time there was a chain there. There was a small plaque upon the front with what appeared to be writing that I could not decipher. I looked up at William with questioning eyes. He nodded and continued.

"It says, in chosin, Property of Kasra. You belong to him. After he got to his dwelling, he laid you upon the packed dirt floor of the cave which is his home. He knelt between your parted thighs and he took you as his. You were a virgin, this was not expected. But he handled it as well as he could. You moaned beneath him, you were in and out of your drug induced haze. He fell asleep beside you, pleased with what he had won. You awoke and saw him. You screamed, frightened. You scrambled to your feet and began to run.

"He summoned me and instructed me to follow you, to teach and comfort you. And I did. I watched you run into the forest. I saw you collapse upon the ground. I let you sleep and guarded you as you did. I ran behind you to this clearing. I watched you slip inside. I came in silently behind you.

"You are an owned beast here. You belong to Kasra. We shall sit here quietly until you are ready, until you can accept your destiny within your heart. Then I shall take you back to your new home, the home of Kasra."

I breathed. The story was so bizarre it had to be true. I did remember jogging and feeling dizzy. That was the last thing I remembered before waking up on the forest floor. I did not remember Kasra at all and yet I wore his chain about my neck and now, that I had been brought to my attention, I knew I also wore his dried seed, sticky, between my thighs.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. But I knew it would serve no purpose so instead I looked into William's eyes. I knew from his look there was no escape. We were no longer on Earth. We were on Cho. And we were dependent on the chosin for everything. Foreigners on a foreign world.

"Will I ever be free?" I asked him softly, knowing the answer but needing to ask.

"It is not likely, Lena," he admitted. "If you are not fertile and do not produce a child, you will be sent to work helping to harvest the resources sent to Earth. They have returned a few women to Earth, it has been said. Those that proved very fertile, as a reward. But I do not know of them. These are stories told of long ago. Do not hope for anything more than to be here until you die."

I swallowed, taking in all he said. I was prepared as well as I could be. I thought of one more thing to ask him, "Do the chosin speak our language?"

He shook his head slowly. "No, and you will be expected to learn their language. I shall help you with that. I am fluent in English, Spanish, French and Chosin. It makes me very valuable here."

I sighed, breathing softly. Taking in the peaceful quiet, the warmth of the fire, the nearness of William, the sweet clean oxygen of this, my new home, Cho. Gazing into his blue eyes, my own green ones hazy still from the drugs but my thoughts much clearer now, I extended my hand to him. His fingers grasped mine, holding them tight, as I softly whispered, "I am ready, William. Take me home."