by Ella Maven
“Who are you?”
I answered the way they told me. “Warrior.”
“And who is your maste?”
I looked straight into the round, flat face belonging to the one speaking to me. “You.”
His three mouths opened with gaping smiles. “Yes. Good job. At ease, warrior.”
I relaxed my shoulders from where I stood at attention. I couldn’t be sure how long we’d been in this room. A nagging tug in the back of my neck seemed to want to pull me toward the door, but I ignored it because my master told me to stay in place. A weapon sat on a table next to me, and it was familiar, so it must be mine. He told me I’d been hurt in battle, but I had no injuries except for my memory. He told me he’d help me remember.
He spoke to another of his species, and near the door stood two guards. If they worked for master too, then they were my allies, but I didn’t like the look of their yellow eyes. My fingers itched to touch my weapon, but I had to obey.
Master turned to me. “We need you to do one thing for us, Warrior. And then we’ll provide you food and rest.”
My stomach rumbled. Food sounded good. I nodded.
He picked up my weapon, which was a long stick with a spiked ball on the end. “There is a prisoner who caused many deaths. We have it caged, and we require you to end its life.”
This was an order, not a question. I nodded.
The mouths stretched into a smile. A bolt of pain streaked down my neck, and I flinched just as an image flashed in front of my eyes—a wreath of blooms. But just as quickly as it came, it was gone. I shook my head.
With the weapon pressed into my hand, they led me back down the hallway where I’d just been. The door opened and my Master walked inside first, but abruptly stopped. “Wha—where is she?”
He whirled around to face the two armored guards behind us. “Where is she?”
They looked around frantically, and I peered into the cage, remembering now the dark-haired, light-skinned creature that had been screeching when I first woke up. She wasn’t there, but the cage was bolted shut.
“Open it!” Master shouted. “Open the cage and check for holes or tunnels in the floor and walls.”
The other flat-faced master unlocked the cage door, and I waited, weapon on hand, while the armored guards raced past me. They entered the cage and searched the floor and walls with large paws. But it was empty.
I felt anger for my Master. How dare this prisoner escape? My lips curled back into a snarl just as I inhaled a scent—warm and spicy at the same time, it made my head spin. Something brushed my arm, a flutter of softness, and I glanced down as the floor seemed to blur. The scent flooded my nostrils and heated my blood. I groaned and went down on one knee as my temples pounded. My skull felt like it was going to crack open as images flashed relentlessly. One after another. Blooms. So many blooms. And then a face with green eyes. Cravus, she mouthed the word with pink lips. You know me.
“Warrior?” The Ubilque said.
I stood up and slammed my weapon into his face.
Bloom
I didn’t dare stay in the room, terrified that one of them would detect me or my body would involuntarily unblank. I brushed past a stoic and unmoving Cravus, determined not to cry, and dashed out of the room. Jukren had left the door open, so it was easy for me to slip out undetected.
Once outside, I had no idea where I was, and a long hallway stretched to my left and my right. Disoriented for a moment, I debated which direction to take. The stone floor looked more worn to the right, so I took a chance and sprinted that way. I heard a commotion behind me, and I knew it was them looking for me. I didn’t turn back, committed now to saving Cravus, Skags, and myself. This was who I was. I didn’t give up. I didn’t turn back. I went forward. Always forward. And I didn’t lose hope.
I sped past a few rooms, constantly checking to make sure I was still invisible. A distant voice caught my attention, and I finally came to a door that was ajar. I peeked inside to see a massive control panel with screens. A creature, similar to the ones who’d caged me back before I met Cravus, sat his legs propped up on the table in front of him, and he was speaking into a device attached to his mouth. He had gray hair and wore a ratty vest covered in medallions. His skin was a dull green, and he had long claws. His position was casual, but his voice was all business. “I’m sorry, we are doing everything we can looking for him.” Pause. “Yes, we understand he’s important to you, pardux, and we will continue our search.”
Pardux. Pardux. They had to be taking to a Kaluma. And from the sounds of it, it was Sherif, as he was the current pardux. My fingers curled into fists. This asshole was lying. They knew right where Cravus was. I needed to get on that comm. If I could talk to Cravus’s pardux, I could tell him the truth, and just maybe he’d get us the hell out of here. I glanced around for a weapon, anything, as the creature continued to babble into the comm.
Finding a pole propped up against the wall, I grabbed it, careful to make no noise, and crept closer to creature, who was facing away from me. Lifting the pole above my head, I let out a grunt as I slammed it down on top of his head. He cried out with a gurgle before whirling around to face me. I stared at his skull, which had a definite lump in it, and his one eye socket didn’t look so good. “Whaaaa—” he moaned, and made to stand, but his legs gave out. He crashed to the ground, coughed up some dark liquid, and went still.
My hands shook. I didn’t want to think about if I just killed someone. My breath came in stuttered pants as he lay unmoving. Panic bloomed in my chest as ice water flowed through my veins. “Shit,” I murmured to myself. “Shit, shit, shit.”
A voice crackled on the comm still attached to the creature’s voice. Feeling about a minute away from a meltdown, I bent down and jerked the device off the creature’s head. It was sticky with its blood, and I closed my eyes, ignoring the stain on my hands, as I attached the device to my head.
“Rogastix?” A deep voice boomed over the line. “Where are you?”
“Hi.” My voice was barely a whisper. I swallowed and tried again. “I’m Bloom, a human, and Cravus’s linyx. The Council is compromised by a mutiny. They…” My voice failed me.
Heavy breathing came over the line. “This is Sherif. Tell me what you know.”
So, I did. From the beginning, how they met us, injected Cravus, and caged us. How Cravus woke up with no memories. How I could blank. I tried to speak as fast as I could, and I was sure approximately half of what I said made no sense.
“We had suspicions that the Council had been compromised. We tried to tell Cravus, but the line wasn’t stable. I need you to travel to H-2 dock. We were already on our way there and should dock soon. Do you understand?”
I swallowed. “What about Cravus?”
“We will move to rescue him. For now, get yourself to the dock.” He rattled off directions because he knew where I was based on the comm location. “You can do it, Bloom. For Cravus.”
I nodded. “For Cravus.”
I dropped the comm back on the body beneath me, shuddering again at what I did, but knowing I had to move on. This wasn’t a game. I turned around and came face to face with the spiked ball of Cravus’s weapon swinging inches from my face. I let out a scream and dropped to a crouch.
Eleven
Cravus
My weapon slammed into the head of a Rogastix entering the room, but not before I heard a cry that sent my heart plummeting to my feet. I searched the room frantically. “Where are you? Bloom?”
There was a sharp intake of breath, and then the outline of a form flickered until a human female was present. “Bloom.” I nearly wept as I fell to the floor and gathered her in my arms. “I thought they took you somewhere. I searched everywhere—”
She slapped her palms on my cheeks, her eyes so wide they took up half her face. “Do you know who I am?”
I nodded, looking her right in the eyes. “You’re my Bloom. My kotche. And we’re going to get out of here and go home.”
I shook my head. “No, but it was only temporary. It only took your scent to remind me. To bring it all back.”
“You promised me in my dreams.” She sniffled. “You promised me you wouldn’t forget me, and I believed you. I also knew I had to help get us out of here. I blanked, Cravus. I don’t know how, but I did, and I snuck out. I came in here and overhead this guy…” She gestured vaguely to one of the two bodies on the floor. “Talking to your pardux, so I, um, hit him. I talked to Sherif. He said to get to H-2 dock because they were already on their way.”
I brushed her sweaty bangs off her forehead. Her hand was shaking, and she looked pale. This wasn’t my Bloom to commit violence, but she did what she had to do. For us. “You did good, kotche. I’m so proud of you.” She smiled through the tears, just as I heard some shouts from down the hall. “I need you to blank again. Can you do it?”
“I…” she frowned. “I don’t know. I’m still not sure what I did before. It just happened.”
“What were you thinking about?”
The shouts were closer.
“I was thinking about…” she jutted out her chin and set her jaw. “I was thinking that I knew myself, and I knew what I had to do.”
Suddenly her body flickered, and her eyes went wide a split second before she vanished. I grinned. “Good kotche.”
“Well damn,” came her disembodied voice.
I let the blank take over me. My scales clicked, and when a half dozen armored guards rushed down the hallway, they didn’t even glance inside the room we were in. I grabbed for Bloom’s hand, and it met mine. I tugged her after me as we left the room and ran down the hallway.
I knew where we were now. It’d taken a little studying, but I knew the scent of the coast when I smelled it. We weren’t near Haliya, so while the Council might have taken over, they were still committing their atrocities away from town at the nearby military encampment. Which meant the H-2 dock would not be far.
We were in one of the many bunkers, and while we climbed the ladder out of one of the many tunnels, sirens began to sound to announce our escape. They had to know the serum didn’t work on me. I still felt a little foggy, and I hoped my sense of direction held up, but I remembered Bloom. I remembered who and what I was. I remembered home. The rest would come later.
While I grew more confident of our escape with every passing moment, I became more and more fearful for what lay ahead. The Council had been completely compromised, which meant Haliya would fall, if it hadn’t already. The city, and this planet, were the hub of the Rinian Galaxy, and if its major city was home to exploiters, that meant bad news for the whole planetary system. It might be time to contact our Drixonian allies.
Once we reached the top of the ladder, we pulled ourselves out of the exit hatch to the surface of the coast. Bloom was still behind me—I could hear her breath and smell her scent, but even if I hadn’t, she gripped the waistband of my pants tightly.
I reached back for her, grabbing her hand, and surveyed the easiest route to H-2. We stood on top of a grassy hillside. To the left was a cliff leading into a churning sea and to the right were the many buildings housing a large portion of the Gorsich defense, made up largely of Kulks, a simple-minded battle species.
The terrain was rocky, cold, and windy. I could feel Bloom already shivering behind me, but she didn’t make a peep. I bent down. “On my back,” I urged quietly. We were alone now, but not far from rushing squadrons of troops. I thought she would protest but then I felt her cold hands on my neck, and her legs wrap around my waist. Skags squirmed between my back and her chest, and I smiled, knowing my Bloom would never leave him behind. I was grateful to him, too. He’d been there for her during the times I couldn’t.
With Bloom secured on my back, I took off on a steady run along the coast. I could just barely make out the looming black lines of the dock in the distance.
Knowing Sherif, he wasn’t content with their platitudes. He wanted to find me, so he’d do it himself. If they were already close, then they might beat us to the dock. I trusted my childhood friend and pardux with my life. I could also imagine how much Bosa was raging at the thought of the Ubilques attempting to yerk with us.
Soon the sound of the military installation grew dimmer as we placed some distance between us and them. With the adrenaline running through my veins, I felt like I could have held my blank for several rotations. I worried about Bloom, but every time I glanced down, I couldn’t see her legs, so I knew she was hanging in there. I was so damn proud of her.
I ran until my legs were nearly numb, until the wind had chilled even my tough skin, and I could hear Bloom’s teeth chattering in my ear. But the dock was close, and I pushed forward until the ground gave way to packed dirt and the stairs to the loading dock were within sight.
At first, I didn’t see anything except for some Council cruisers and cargo ships but Bloom pointed to the sky, and there in the distance I could see a tiny speck, growing larger with every moment.
Sherif would likely have gained permission to dock here, but with me escaping and them desperate to find me, the Council may have revoked his privileges. But I knew Sherif—he wouldn’t give a yerk. He’d dock for me and take any battle that came with it.
I glanced behind us, seeing a few dirt clouds gaining ground toward us. As suspected, they wanted to meet Sherif, or suspected I was here. While still blanked, I didn’t want to take any chances, so I ducked out of sight behind the dock’s solid loading stairs.
“We’ll hide here until Sherif docks,” I said to Bloom, gathering her in my arms where I crouched. Her skin was too cold for my liking, so I rubbed my hands on her arms to warm her up.
“I’m all ri-right,” she chattered.
“It’s cool on the coast. We’ll be on our ship soon, warm and safe.”
She pressed a cold hand to my chest in answer, and Skags gave a half-hearted squawk.
“They’re coming for us,” she whispered.
“They are most likely trying to halt Sherif from searching for us—” my voice trailed off as a horrible though occurred to me. “Wait, what if they... Oh yerk, what if they planned to draw Sherif here, and give him the same injection they gave me?”
“Sherif said he knew the Council was compromised. He’ll come prepared, I’m sure.”
I gritted my teeth. “If they harm my pardux…”
Bloom’s figure flickered, and then her pretty face came into view, inches from mine. Her green eyes held compassion and understanding. “We won’t let that happen. We didn’t come this far only to fail at the finish line.”
“What’s the finish line?”
She pressed her lips together in a small smile. “It’s one step away from succeeding.”
The engine roar of the Kaluma cruiser drew closer, and the hot air of the jets warmed my scalp. “Blank again, Bloom,” I murmured, pressing her to my chest. “Until I say so.”
She blanked, and we waited, listening to the cruiser dock and the engine power down. Just as the airlock hissed the cruiser door opened above us, the hover vehicles of the Council came to a stop near us. Boots thudded on the grates overhead, and I glanced up to see Sherif striding across the dock, the twin warriors Grego and Uthor at his back, as well as about a dozen Kaluma warriors. Sherif’s long white hair flowed down his back, and the rays of the sun glistened off his twin blades strapped to his back—blades I’d forged myself. Every Kaluma was armed. Bloom was right—Sherif had come prepared.
Kulks emerged from the vehicles behind a pair of Ubliques and another species I’d only ever heard of before, but never seen. In fact, I wasn’t sure they existed. The vizpek was an egg-laying species that produced asexually and heterosexually. This was a female, with two sets of piercing-studded mammaries. Her two arms were draped with a se
e-through fabric while her torso was legless—with a thin body that snaked across the ground. She also wore a crown of jeweled spikes, and an odd belt that seemed to highlight her cloaca. Three Ubilques—I killed the two who’d drugged me—shuffled behind the vizpek. I fisted my hands. So, this was the leader of whatever mutiny had been committed. The vizpek were an old species of Gorsich who had mostly gone extinct as the females had begun to prefer asexual reproduction over diversifying the gene pool. They’d been limited in their temperate tolerance and had to remain in the warmer areas of the planet. But something must have changed, because this one was evolved.
Sherif sensed the danger immediately—I could tell by the tight way he held himself. He didn’t mince words. “Has my warrior been found?”
The vizpek didn’t have a mouth, but rather a series of slits in her throat that fluttered in a humming voice that made my translator implant screech. “Apologies, pardux, but no.”
“Who are you?” He asked sharply. He wasn’t showing respect, and I had a feeling his patience ran out about five rotations ago.
“I am Drukil, newly appointed Rinian Galaxy Council Chief.”
“Newly appointed, huh?” Sherif stretched his spine with a slight lean back and folded his arms across his chest. “Who voted? I don’t remember getting the ballot.”
The Drukil narrowed her eyes, bulbous ones with horizontal pupils. “Must have gotten lost in transit. Again, my apologies. Please come with us to Haliya. We have a meal prepared and would love to have a talk about the council’s future plans.”
Sherif took one step forward and his warriors echoed his movements, but Drukil held up her hand. “Only the pardux, please.” Sherif’s brow lifted, and Drukil went on. “We can take them to the base along the coast for some rest.”
Oh yerk no. I imagined needles going into their necks. Grego and Uthor’s eyes glazing over…
I made to stand, but Bloom tugged on me. “Cravus, wait,” she whispered harshly.