by Tammy Walsh
I froze.
Chitter. Chitter.
I turned and looked over my shoulder, afraid to see what I knew would be there.
Another giant insect.
It coiled its legs to leap at me.
“Argh!” I screamed.
I worked on pure instinct. I bolted forward, yanked the door open, and dropped to the floor as—
The insect in the room used the back wall to leap across the space in a single bound and sail directly into the insect on the other side of the door. There was a loud thud as the creatures collided and their long bamboo-like arms and legs flailed for purchase.
I couldn’t wait uselessly on the floor. I had to get up and move. But it was hard to get my body to obey my commands. I moved through treacle as I got to my feet and ran for the door.
One of the giant insects snapped its mandibles at my heels. It seized my gown and tore the fabric.
I looked back. The creatures were already getting to their feet. Behind them, an entire army of giant ants flooded the corridor and slithered after me.
“Argh!” I screamed, sprinting for one of the distant doors. The others could too easily contain the same monsters.
What the hell are those things?
The door opened automatically and I dived inside. I slapped my hand on the green light before I even landed.
Multiple thuds slammed against the door now. The metal frame bent beneath the blows, tossing one screw loose after another.
Remembering my earlier encounter, I spun around, expecting more of those disgusting insect creatures.
There were none. It was a much larger room than the previous one but there were no other doors out of there either.
At least this one had a window.
A massive window.
When I came up with my incredibly detailed (not) plan of “Escape!” I thought I would find a door that would bring me to a nondescript location in a wood somewhere or a hidden chamber in a science lab in the heart of a city.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
“No,” I said. “This can’t be…”
Staring back at me through that giant window was a sight few—if any—human eye had ever seen before.
An alien planet.
I was in space.
I didn’t find an exit because there was none to find.
I beat on the glass with my fist.
“No!” I cried. “Please, God. No!”
I had been abducted.
As the doorframe finally gave way and the creatures flooded the room, a sense of complete calm came over me.
After all, if there was nothing you could do about your situation, what else could you do but turn and face it head-on?
So I did.
A bright light greeted me. My body grew slack and my limbs hung by my sides. I couldn’t move a muscle.
I was in space.
Outer space.
We were parked in a spaceship outside a planet I’d never seen before.
Who was I kidding? I hadn’t ever seen any planet before.
Neither had any human eye. Not up close and personal, at least.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was happening—even if it was virtually impossible for me to wrap my head around.
I had been abducted. So had my friends.
They were right and I was wrong. That bright light we saw? The one making the minivan go up on its rubber tiptoes? It wasn’t just our imagination.
It was real.
Some alien asshole abducted us.
It could have been these insect assholes for all I knew.
I sniffed and felt a hot wad form at the back of my throat. It stung my nose and I knew what would happen next.
Tears.
They rolled out the corner of my eyes and down my cheeks.
I was doomed.
I’d read about alien abductions, what they did with their probes…
I didn’t want that to happen to me.
After they were done probing me, would they toss me in the galactic garbage van? Shoot me into space and watch me explode into a million pieces?
Would they use me for senseless acts of depravity?
Another set of tears quickly joined the first.
No!
It wouldn’t happen to me. It couldn’t happen to me. I was Sirena Flynn. I didn’t let assholes use me and get away with it. No matter what planet they were from. I was getting out of here! And they couldn’t stop me!
I needed to escape.
The goal was the same. It was the method that had to change. First, I needed to improve my current situation.
I was strapped to a trolley and couldn’t move a muscle.
I ordered my arms to punch but they hung uselessly by my sides as I was wheeled like Hannibal Lecter back down the hallways I’d come running up just a few minutes ago.
When I had total control over my limbs.
My head flopped forward and rested on my chest. I felt my heart fluttering and sweat roll down one cheek.
What was happening?
The scuff marks on the floors slid past like chevrons on a busy motorway. Then the trolley slowed, stopped, and turned to face a shut door.
I feared what might be behind it.
The figure pushing me along edged around the trolley. He lifted my chin with a finger so I looked straight ahead. It was Not George Clooney. Dried green blood formed an ugly gash on the side of his head where I’d bashed him hard with the wrench.
Clearly not hard enough.
“There, there,” he said, dabbing at the corner of my eyes with a dirty tissue. Then he ran his fingers through my hair and out of my eyes. “That’s better.”
Easy for him to say. He wasn’t strapped to this damn thing.
He checked over his shoulder, glancing in the direction of the door behind him.
“Listen to me,” he said. “You are safe now. We purchased you from the smugglers. If you want to be set free and returned home, you must listen to your new master’s demands. You’ll meet him soon, behind this door. He’ll make you an offer. In return, you will be allowed to return home, to your planet.”
My eyes would have bulged and I would have wiggled my fingers with joy if I could.
He smiled. It still looked fake but at least he was trying to be friendly.
“Before that can happen,” he said, “you need to do something for us, something you can do very quickly if you try. When I take you inside this room, he’s going to order me to release you. I will allow you to speak and move your face and head. But nothing else. You must be calm and respectful or he may not give you the mission. The mission is your ticket out of here. Blink if you understand.”
I blinked. It was the only part of my body I could control.
“Good,” he said. “You might be wondering why I’m being so kind to you.”
This is kind? Strapping me to this damn trolley?
“If you do not do as he asks, he will punish me,” the creature said. “It’s my job to find you. You were not easy to locate. If you cannot do the mission…”
He shook his head. And if something bad would happen to him, I dreaded to think what would happen to me.
For now, our destinies were entwined.
“Are you ready?” he said. “Blink if yes.”
I blinked.
He took a deep breath and then moved behind the trolley. He leaned it back and pushed me forward. The door slid open and we entered the dark room beyond.
At the end of the room, perched on a throne of alien skulls, sat one of the insect creatures. It looked identical to the others to my eyes. I couldn’t have identified him in a lineup.
“S’lec-Quos,” Not George Clooney said in a booming voice that echoed in the empty chamber. “I have the girl you requested.”
The insect on the throne—this S’lec-Quos character—sucked what remained from a creature’s decapitated head and slammed it on the armrest of the skull throne, adding to his collection. He stood up and marched toward
me.
Okay, so there was a difference between these creatures. This one was huge.
It was terrifying to see something so powerful head toward you without being able to move a single muscle to defend yourself. I also couldn’t scream or flail at it, which I most certainly would do if I had access to my limbs.
So, I just blinked.
A pair of creatures much smaller than S’lec-Quos clasped their legs together as they approached. They ran their hard-shell-like appendages over me, prodding, probing.
I wanted to slap their grab-happy legs as they squeezed my breasts and reached under the gown and rubbed me… down there.
And there was nothing I could do about it.
S’lec-Quos sniffed me, sending my hair cascading over my face. He sniffed me head to toe and looked me over. His mandibles flapped as he spoke.
“And this considered an attractive species?” he said. If he had a mouth, I would have said he was sneering.
“Yes, sir,” Not George Clooney said. “To virtually all human-like species.”
“Hm,” S’lec-Quos said.
His legs morphed, melting into a human figure…
Me!
The creature turned, checking itself out.
Man, my ass really does look big…
And then the two helpers shifted into me too. Now there were three copies. They looked each other over, comparing me to their replications. One had a chin that was a little too pointy, I thought. Another had slightly thicker thighs—asshole! They noticed their mistakes and morphed once again.
If humans had their ability, diets would disappear overnight.
This was my worst nightmare. Not that having multiple versions of me would be such a bad thing—I could send one of me to work each day and the rest of me could take time off. Or I could work a bunch of different jobs and earn four times more. I’d still manage to spend it all by the end of the month and need to live on Pop-Tarts though.
“She looks like her, doesn’t she?” one of the smaller creatures said.
“Oh, yes,” Not George Clooney said. “Very much like her. They could be twins—”
“Silence!” S’lec-Quos said, yellow eyes glowing in a face I knew so well. My friends always said I looked scary when I was angry. Now I knew they were right.
My skin tore and the creature morphed back into its original shape. It peered at me with its beady black eyes.
“You do not know who I am, do you?” it said.
My eyes started left to right. I wanted to speak but couldn’t.
S’lec-Quos turned to Not George Clooney.
“What’s wrong with her?” he said. “Is she defective?”
“No sir. I used the neuralizer on her.”
“Then deneuralize her, fool!”
Not George Clooney reached into his pocket and brought a device out. He aimed it at me.
“Remember to stay calm,” he murmured under his breath.
I felt the muscles in my face relax as I regained possession of them. I still couldn’t move the rest of my body but it was a start.
“Out of my way!” S’lec-Quos said, knocking Not George Clooney aside and moving in closer.
“That’s better,” I said.
“Why does the rest of her body not move?” S’lec-Quos said.
“Better safe than sorry, sir,” Not George Clooney said. “She attacked me earlier and escaped.”
S’lec-Quos chuckled—what sounded like a chitter to my ears.
“You don’t say,” he said. “She’s more like the barbarian Titans than we thought.” It turned to me. “Speak, child.”
Every muscle in me bristled at being called a child. I wanted to scream and shout for help but it would be no use. I was far from home and no one could help me even if they did hear me. I glanced at Not George Clooney and his words of warning came back to me.
I bowed my head.
“I am at your command,” I said.
S’lec-Quos raised a leg. Not George Clooney shrank back, but his master only tapped him on the back.
“Congratulations,” he said. “You have finally done something that pleases me.”
Not George Clooney relaxed and rubbed his head against the creature’s leg. Seeing that made me feel sick. He wasn’t human but he had the appearance of one. A pet human.
“You were abducted from your planet,” S’lec-Quos said. “I am now your master. You belong to me.”
He wanted me to be his pet human. Fine. I could play that game. I bowed again.
“Yes, master,” I said.
“Are all humans this submissive?” S’lec-Quos said. “We could crush them like bugs in an afternoon.”
Not before you watch Independence Day, asshole.
Every fiber of my being rallied against being submissive. I’d never been a sheep and tended to fight even when I didn’t need to.
“We are the Changelings,” S’lec-Quos said. “We recently led a successful war against a species named the Titans. I don’t expect this to mean anything to you. Your species is backward in the way of the galaxy. But there are still those who might resist us—as foolish as that would be.
“They are a warrior race and will fight us to the death if need be. But they are also skilled miners and we need the resources they can extract. They will not attack without the support of their emperor or most powerful lord, of House Taw. Their emperor has abandoned his people like a coward. For now, Lord Taw does as he is told, but we need you to get close to him, to learn where his allegiance truly lies. With us? Or with his people? It has taken many years for us to overpower the Titans. And now that we have, we do not wish to let this chance slip through our fingers.”
“Why not remove him?” I said. “Then you can choose whoever you want to take his place.”
“Because Titans will not follow just anyone. They follow the strong, and those from an honorable line. Replace him, and they would only rebel, and they will not follow us, will not dig for us. And that would be a disaster. You must gain his trust and learn where his loyalties lie.”
“What do I get in exchange?” I said.
A helper’s mandibles quivered.
“Exchange?” it said. “The honor of serving S’lec-Quos is not sufficient?”
Not George Clooney stiffened. I noticed the barely perceptible shake of his head.
I smiled.
“Of course it is,” I said. “But someone so mighty and powerful as S’lec-Quos would surely give a big reward for completing such a mission.”
The helper stepped forward and waved his insect arms.
“He does not need to give you anything!” it said.
S’lec-Quos raised a leg for silence and appraised me.
“What would you ask of me?” he said.
“Freedom,” I said. “Return me to my planet, my people.”
The leader shook his head.
“I paid very handsomely for you,” he said. “I cannot let you go after one mission.”
I darted a look at Not George Clooney, who shrugged. He brought me there with empty promises. Well, I wouldn’t be doing anything without assurances.
“Bringing the Titan’s mining empire under your control isn’t enough of a return on your investment?” I said.
The insect scratched himself.
“It is,” he said. “But only if it is brought entirely under my control.”
I had his attention, at least.
“And what does that entail?” I said.
“If he turns out to be a traitor to his new overlords, I want proof I can share with his people, make them see he is not worth following.”
“And if he’s loyal to you?”
“Then I want to know how we can ensure he will always be loyal to us.”
My heart rate spiked. I had no idea if I could do what he was asking me. But I was desperate to return home. I didn’t need to find proof of anything. I just needed to take advantage of the right opportunity to escape the first chance I got.
S’le
c-Quos cocked his head to one side. It looked so human I was taken by surprise.
“Very well,” he said. “Do this, and you shall win your freedom.”
“What about my friends?” I said.
“What about them?”
“If I do this mission, I want them to go home with me.”
S’lec-Quos’s mandibles made an irritated chitter noise.
“This mission is for you, not your friends,” he said, turning back to his throne. “Enough. I have spoken.”
Not George Clooney shook his head to prevent me from angering the beast. But how could I not try to rescue my friends?
He fumbled in his pocket for the deneuralizer device.
“Then I refuse the mission,” I said hastily.
Not George Clooney shut his eyes in desperation. He was too slow with the deneuralizer.
S’lec-Quos paused and turned back to face me.
My heart was in my throat. Had I gone too far?
The creature did not descend on me, did not pummel me into oblivion. Instead, it just stared at me with those coal-black eyes.
“You will carry out the mission,” he said coldly. “You have twenty-four hours. You will discover the lord’s allegiance. If you succeed… Fine. You and your friends shall return to your backwater planet. But if you fail, both you and all your friends shall die.”
My eyes bulged.
“That’s not what I meant—” I said.
“Remove her from me,” S’lec-Quos said, falling back upon his throne of skulls. “I have grown bored with her.”
“You can’t do this!” I screamed. “You can’t do this!”
A flash of white and Not George Clooney’s device turned my body floppy once more. He wheeled me out of the room and back into the hall.
Outside I might be dead to the world, inside, I screamed bloody murder—
A knock came at the palace suite door. The Changeling—Not George Clooney—stood over me, neutralizer primed to fire.
“Were you expecting somebody?” he said.
I shook my head, terrified of what he might do.
The knock came again.
Not George Clooney tucked the device away.
“Answer it,” he said. “If you try anything, it will not end well for you or your visitor.”
I got up, smoothed down my dress, and rearranged my hair in a mirror. My throat was parched. I moved for the door.