by L H Whitlock
“I’m going to call Rowan and see if he can dispatch units to each of these locations. Allie, send me the coordinates for all the planets. We do not have time to make any pit stops but Rowan can. This is what the Renegade does,” Lily said, already punching in a call to Rowan.
“Alberta, do you think you can fly this thing?” Ulrick asked.
Alberta snorted. “Of course I fly.”
“I thought you were going to drop us off,” Tally said.
“We wasted a lot of time with this little detour; we do not have time for another. This ship will be easier to get to the Developers’ home world since they will not anticipate it to be hostile,” Ulrick said.
“Come on! Let us take the other ship,” Evin complained.
“The other no fly,” Alberta said.
Gloria slinked her arms around Tally’s and Evin’s shoulders. “Looks like you guys are along for the ride.”
“What is the ETA for arrival in the Developers’ system?” Lily asked.
“It won’t be long. This ship much more powerful than other, only two TIP needed,” Alberta responded.
Ulrick nodded. “I will update the Hilians. Try to get some rest; it is going to be a journey getting there.”
39
Alyssa groaned. Her head throbbed and her bones ached. A drop of water—she hoped it was water—fell onto her forehead and trickled down the side of her face. She opened one heavy eyelid, then the other, and stared at the dim lights strung along the underbelly of the Developers’ city.
Rusty iron bars surrounded her and her legs dangled between the gaps. She pulled herself up with a groan and slid her legs back inside. She shook the bars and her cage rattled and swayed. The cage hung from the underbelly of the city about thirty, maybe fifty feet from the surface of the water.
“Hello?” she called out. Her voice seemed to get lost in the humidity and darkness.
She couldn’t remember exactly what had happened. One moment she was swimming. She had turned around just in time to see Brock getting attacked, then a sharp pain seared the back of her head. That was all she remembered. Was Brock okay? Had Bixom gotten to him in time? Was Bixom okay?
“Hello!” she yelled again. “Brock…. Bixom… Are you guys there?”
“Yeah,” came Brock’s groggy voice. “I’m here.”
“I am also here,” said Bixom.
“Are you guys all right?”
The men grunted in response. Alyssa released a breath, slumped against the side of the cage, and stretched out her legs. She wished she could see the two men, that would help put her mind at ease. But she could only see a few feet in front of her in the darkness.
Her thoughts wandered back to the beginning of the evening. It had been perfect. Why couldn’t it have stayed that way? Heat rushed to her cheeks. She loved being embraced in Brock’s arms, feeling his strong body pressed against hers. His hot breath on her skin. Him inside of her.
Half of her wondered how the Developers could not experience such an amazing thing. But she knew the truth to that. If they allowed people to be attached the way she was to Brock, they wouldn’t be as easy to control. What she felt with Brock would rule above everything, and the Kaidillian couldn’t have that.
Brock yelled out in the darkness, “Hey! Hey! Let us out of here you shit holes! I know someone’s out there! You better fucking start talking.” Alyssa heard him bang against the bars and rock his cage. It creaked as it swayed slightly from the ceiling.
“Oh, hush up, you,” came an older, shaky voice.
“You have some explaining to do!” Brock yelled back.
“I do believe it is you who has some explaining to do. A rocket. Trying to get to the top. No one gets to the top. This is not allowed.”
“We have to get to our friends.”
“You will stay in cage now, like any other munich.”
“Listen, you don’t understand. My friends are in trouble, the Developers are trying to kill them. I have to warn them.”
“You compromised us, now you rot in the cages.”
“Just let us out and we can talk about this.”
The water below rippled and a rhythmic swishing sound filled the air as whoever it was paddled their boat away.
“Come on, just listen to us for a minute. We didn’t do anything. Just listen.” Silence followed Brock’s screams and Alyssa heard him growl and plop down.
Alyssa leaned back and looked up at the dim light of the ceiling. She allowed her eyelids to drop. No matter how exhausted she was, sleep would not find her. It was her fault that they were stuck in these cages. What if they couldn’t get out of here and warn Brock’s team in time? What if they did and it was too late? She gnawed on her lip. She needed to make a RAB, and hopefully Brock’s team was still using the same frequency. If not, they wouldn’t be able to locate them anyway. But if they did, there was a chance that they would be close enough to hear the signal. She should have thought about that sooner because now she had no way to get a RAB.
Her cage swayed slightly, and she opened her heavy lids to glance at the ceiling. Her eyes were cloudy and they took a moment to settle on the thin, gray-haired man hanging upside down on the chain to her cage.
She startled and let loose a scream.
“Shh!” May said, holding one finger up. “The guards will hear.”
“Guards?”
“Of course. You don’t see them, its dark, but they’re out there. You didn’t think they would allow prisoners without guards, did you?”
“Well, no,” Alyssa mumbled.
“Everything okay?” Brock yelled.
“Yeah…” she didn’t want to alert the guards. “Just, uh, thought I saw one of those creatures again. False alarm.”
“Why are you here?” she whispered to May.
May lowered himself so he sat on the cage. His legs dangled down and his gray linen pants rode up, showing his ankles. His mechanical leg had been hidden beneath the fabric before, but now she could see the gleam of the metal on his left leg. It was a thin design, mimicking the limbs of several races. She knew the model, it was an older one. She knew that the metal tubing would make up a bulging calf and mirror the tendons in the thigh. The knee of this particular model had a recall, as it got stuck a lot. The gears of the joint would be hidden beneath a plastic material.
“I should ask you the same thing. Why are you in this cage?”
Alyssa glared. “You know why.”
“Ah, yes, I suppose I do.” He swung his legs, causing the cage to sway gently.
“So why are you here?”
“Well, I have a proposition for you.”
“What kind of proposition?”
“It seems you want out of this place just as badly as I do.”
“That could be true.”
“Well, let’s help each other out.”
“Help each other out… I’m not sure…”
“Why? Don’t trust me?”
“Not entirely. You turned us in.”
May chuckled. “You incriminated yourself.”
“What?”
“Haven’t you seen all the eyes? Well, they aren’t just for show. Heng has eyes everywhere.” May slapped his knee and laughed. “Literally.”
Alyssa bit her lip and thought back to the iris she saw in the wall of the room. She had assumed it was just some creepy old attachment that just happened to have a peculiar placement. She clenched her fist. How idiotic of her!
“Anyway, I heard about the ship you built.”
Alyssa sighed. “I’m sure it’s not there anymore. They probably destroyed it.”
“Oh yes, they certainly destroyed it, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make another one.”
“We’re locked up, we can’t make another one.”
May pouted. “That’s true. But your friends have friends on the outside, right?”
Alyssa’s breath caught. That’s it! “They do have connections on the outside. I was about to call them, but we were attacke
d before I could place a call to them on a RAB.”
May’s eyes lit up. “A RAB? I can get you a RAB. But you must do something for me.”
Alyssa bit the inside of her cheek. “And what’s that?”
“When they come to get you, which I imagine they will, then you will take me with you.”
“I don’t even know you, why would I agree to take you with us?”
May pouted. “Don’t know me? I don’t know you either, but looks like we need each other. Besides, I’m no harm; all I want is to get out of this hell hole. Can’t you see that I’m like you? Emotional? Irrational? Non-conforming? We were recycled for the same reason, I just happened to meet my demise a while before you.”
Alyssa stared at May for a moment, a little unnerved by his half-mechanical gaze. “All right, fine, we’ll take you with us. Now, listen closely, I need some items to get the RAB to work.”
May nodded eagerly and dropped down so he could hear her instructions. Alyssa began her list, hoping that the man had at least a basic level of mechanical knowledge.
40
Brock’s stomach groaned. It had been nearly a day since they got locked up, and he had to be honest: his ass was numb and he would kill for one of those nasty-ass meal bars. He adjusted himself once again in the small cage, but it did little to ease his discomfort. A tinkling sounded from Bixom’s cage and Brock rolled his eyes.
“Didn’t you just go?”
“Mind your own business.”
“I’m trying, but you piss louder than and you fucking snore.”
“Oh, like you do not? You sound like a cave monster trying to get through a long winter.”
“Haha, you’re so fucking funny.”
“So, you and Alyssa enjoy your night together?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Brock scratched at his oil-coated beard.
“You know exactly what I am talking about. You care for her, don’t you?”
Brock took a deep breath. That was putting it lightly. Alyssa consumed his thoughts. She was strong, though she didn’t seem to realize it, and smart. Very smart. She hid beneath a bubbly, immature personality but that had to have been the only thing that helped her cope with living in such a cold world. She had to be her own light.
Bixom was silent for a moment. “You are lucky, you know?”
“I know.”
“No, I mean you are very lucky. I have not yet found my Ja’ Keo Gruna and it appears my time is running out. There are so few Hilians now that I was sure I would find the woman made for me when I was on Aray. But I didn’t. Maybe that means she is not out there.”
“I am sure she is.”
“Do you know how rare it is to find a Hilian off of Aray? Ulrick finding Lily was a miracle. Each time a woman came of age back on Aray they presented themselves to him to see if they were a match, but, over and over again, they weren’t. Ulrick never showed it, but I knew he had given up. He kept searching worlds for her and that necklace became a distraction, an obsession. Anyway, all I am saying is that I do not think a miracle is out there for me.”
“You’re young.”
“Not that young. In Hilian years, I am fifty.”
“Just don’t give up, bub. When we get out of here you can go back to searching for your woman.” Brock thought he would be more bitter about this topic. He had cared very much for Lily and was furious when she chose Ulrick, a man she hardly knew, when she had known him for years. But the more he thought about it and the more he allowed himself to get to know Alyssa, he realized that Lily was right: she was more like a sister to him, a best friend.
“What I am saying is do not take it for granted. It is rare to find what you and Alyssa have.”
“We don’t have anything.” Even Brock thought that reeked of denial.
“You know you do. It is easy to see. I would love for a woman to look at me the way Alyssa looks at you, like you are a king and you can do no wrong.”
Brock’s face flushed. “Uh, Thanks.” His cage swayed slightly and a creek echoed through the humid air.
“Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I guess being locked up got me all mopey.”
Brock chuckled. “Don’t get all emotional, we have to start devising a plan to get out of here.”
“Maybe I can help?” May collided with the top of Brock’s cage with a bang. He sat and dangled his legs down the side of the metal.
Brock startled. “What the fuck!”
“Good to see you too.”
“What is going on?” Bixom asked.
“It’s May,” Brock whispered.
“You son of a bitch,” Bixom hissed, his cage jostling. Brock couldn’t have said it better himself, though he couldn’t recall ever hearing the Hilian curse. In fact, he couldn’t remember Ulrick cursing either.
“What do you want? You narc.”
May gasped. “Narc? I am certainly no narc. As I tried to explain to the little lady, you got yourselves caught.”
“Bull.”
“Yep ya did. All those eyes everywhere. They were not just decoration, you know. Anyway, your girlfriend and I have an agreement. You help me and I help you.”
“I didn’t make an agreement with you.”
“No, but I think you’ll like the terms I’ve propositioned.”
Brock gritted his teeth. “What terms?”
“It’s simple. I help you, you help me.”
“In what way do you mean?”
“I give you this…” May dangled a RAB from his fingers. “And you take me with you when your team comes.”
“How do I know that even works and it’s not some trap?”
“Your little female fixed it. So, if it doesn’t work, that’s on her.”
Brock clenched his jaw.
“Brock,” Bixom said, “just do it. We don’t have another choice. Even if it does not work, we can not possibly get ourselves in a worse position.”
“What about my team? What if it gives their location to the Developers? I can’t risk it.”
“We do not have any other choice. We will die in these cells and your team will be in danger if not already.”
Brock growled. He’s right. “Fine. You have a deal. Give me the RAB. What did Alyssa say we have to do?”
May grinned. “She said all you have to do is tune it to the frequency your team uses, then call. Of course you will have to answer any security questions that they have in place, but you shouldn’t have a problem with that.” He slipped the device between the bars.
Brock raised an eyebrow. “You can leave now, you have your deal.”
“I think I’ll hang around and make sure you don’t try anything fishy.”
“Yeah, maybe it is best to keep you in my sight and make sure you don’t try anything fishy.”
May gave a thin smile. “Good, I’m glad we’re in agreement.”
41
“It’s Brock! It’s Brock!” Gloria shrieked as she ran down the hallway, her RAB raised above her head. “He’s calling!”
Lily darted out of her room with Ulrick in tow and ran after Gloria and into the control room. The entire team had followed and they were all eagerly waiting to talk to Brock. Gloria pressed on the RAB.
“Brock? Brock? Can you hear us?”
“Yeah, barely, but I can hear ya.”
Lily covered her mouth with a shaky hand and the sting of tears lingered in her eyes. She couldn’t believe it! It was really him!
“Brock!” She yanked the RAB away from Gloria. “Gods, I thought… I thought I would never talk to you again.”
Brock’s slight laugh filtered through the device. “Nah, I ain’t that easy to off.”
Lily shook her head. She didn’t know whether to be relieved or to slap him for making a joke in a time like this. Either way, it appeared he was really okay.
“Where are you? What happened?”
“Before I get into all that, the Developers are after you, and they are Harvesting a lot of planets. I can’t f
orward the locations to you but you need to find out where they are and what they are up to.”
Gloria butted in. “We know that they are Harvesting planets. We happened to run into one of their ships while they were destroying a planet. We attacked them and stole their ship.” Gloria grinned.
“Hah! Atta girl! So did you get Rowan to help stop them?”
“Yeah, Rowan is dispatching ships to each of the locations we were able to pull from the ship’s computers. They are Harvesting planets to try and keep their star alive,” Lily responded.
“To keep the damn star alive? This thing is ready to blow, it’s beyond help,” Brock said.
“Yeah, we know, we saw that report too,” Gustavo said.
“They’re fucking crazy. For a race of cyborgs, they could use a bit of logic. Why would they want to stay here?” Brock asked.
Before anyone on Lily’s end could respond, the answer was provided from a man on Brock’s side of the call.
“Oh, you know how highly advanced races of cyborgs can be: big-headed, narcissistic assholes who think they’re too powerful, too advanced to be destroyed. Even by something like a red giant.”
“Who is with you?” Lily asked.
Brock groaned. “That’s May.”
“May?”
“Yeah, he’s a cyborg who got recycled, or eliminated, like the rest of us.”
“What?”
“It’s a long story. Basically I was discovered and they ‘threw’ me into the planet’s core. Turns out, they just threw me in a hole that leads to the planet’s real surface, which they have been building on top of for centuries, and apparently they forgot there was an actual planet beneath them.”
May spoke again. “As I said, narcissistic, big-headed assholes.”
“Shut it, May,” Brock said.
Lily’s brows furrowed. “That does not make much sense.”
“I don’t know how to explain it. Anyway, May helped us get in contact with you, so now I have to take him with me, apparently.”
“Apparently?” May’s voice cut in. “We have a deal.”
“I know,” Brock snapped.
“We have the coordinates for the Developer’s home. Where do we go when we get there? How can we find you?”