The Slave Planet

by Seven Steps

  Eva squeezed her lips together, but not before Lex heard her. He tried not to let his hurt show.

  What’s gotten into her? This raging creature is not the woman I fell in love with.

  “Look, Lex, we are Venians. We don’t follow men, especially not men appointed by a woman who has a grudge against me.”

  “So what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that you can lead the way, but I won’t go quietly.”

  “And what about us?” He tried to take her hand, but she pulled it away again, staring at him defiantly. He got her message loud and clear.

  Us was over. With a broken Toma and a male leader, Us was now in the past.

  He felt his throat thicken. Sadness and rage bubbled inside of him. Why was she acting like this? He hadn’t done anything wrong! He was only following the orders of the Magistrate of their district. Why did she blame him? How could such a small thing make her stop loving him? He thought they would be together forever, not just a week.

  She stepped away from him, jogging to catch up with the rest of the group, leaving him to wonder what he’d done wrong.

  CHAPTER 25

  With no river breeze to cool them, the heat of the jungle hung heavy over their heads.

  “Why is it so hot?” Eva asked.

  “Why are there so many bugs?” Kiln added, slapping one on his arm.

  “Lex, how do you know that we’re supposed to go this way?” Nadira asked. “Is the Toma telling you?”

  “Not exactly,” Lex said. “I just know.”

  “So you don’t know where we’re going?” Eva asked.

  Lex sighed. “I feel like this is the right way to go.”

  “You feel like this is the right way to go?” Eva’s temper exploded. “We’re lost! I knew it. I knew it the second Embrya said that you were our leader that you would lead us straight to disaster! We have four days to get off of this planet, or else we’ll be stuck here with no memories and no way back home, and you are feeling your way through the jungle?”

  “Cut it out Eva,” Nadira whispered.

  “Cut it out, Eva?” Eva whined. “Why don’t you tell Lex that?” Eva ran toward Lex, grabbed his shoulder, and whipped him around. “Why don’t you admit that we are lost? Then we can get back on the ship and get out of here.”

  “And go where?” Lex asked.

  “Back to Venus,” Eva said.

  “And do what? Your house is gone. Your friends are dead. Your job is gone. What do you plan on doing back on Venus, Eva? And what do you think that Kiln and I are going to do back on Venus?”

  Eva looked at the ground, then back into Lex’s eyes.

  “Right now,” Lex said, “I’m the only thing standing between you and Jun-Su shooting you with a blaster the second you show your face on Venus.”

  “How dare you speak of Jun-Su that way!” Eva shouted. “She is a woman, and I will not have a slave speak of her with such familiarity.”

  “A free man,” Lex whispered.

  “What?”

  “Not a slave. A free man.”

  From the moment you loved me, I became a free man, his treacherous mind declared. Her accusing stares were like knives in his heart, and he turned from her, gripping his hands to keep himself from wrapping them around Eva’s throat. What had come over her lately?

  “You think that you are a leader, but you’re not,” Eva said. “You think that you’re a warrior but you’re not. You are just a common, ungrateful slave who is leading us to our death!”

  Flames of fury lit Lex’s eyes. With a flick of his eyebrow, Eva’s feet left the ground, and she soared ten feet upward grabbing at her throat as if an invisible hand was wrapped around it. Eyes bulging, Eva kicked her feet wildly. A choking sound escaped her lips as she clawed at her neck.

  Nadira placed a shaky hand on Lex’s shoulder. “Please don’t hurt her, Lex.” She looked nervously from Lex to Eva. “She didn’t mean it.”

  “I am not leading us to our death,” Lex growled. He allowed his angry gaze to burn through Eva for a moment more before he turned and stomped away.

  His attention gone, Eva crashed to the ground, landing hard on her backside.

  Nadira ran to her.

  Tears ran down Eva’s cheeks, her lips trembling.

  “Are you okay?” Nadira asked, her eyes raking over Eva’s shaking body.

  “He attacked me,” she whispered. “He attacked me!” She tried to get up, but Nadira pulled her into an embrace.

  Eva’s body shook in rage.

  “Eva, you can’t,” Nadira said. “I don’t know what he’ll do. You have to stay calm.”

  “That filthy slave attacked me!” Eva screamed.

  “Eva, please don’t—”

  “He choked me!” Eva shouted. “What are you going to do about it?” Eva looked up at Kiln. “What are you going to do about it, Kiln?”

  Kiln looked at the ground.

  Eva’s eyes widened. “You two thought that I deserved it?”

  “Eva, of course not.” Nadira tried to pull Eva back into an embrace, but Eva pushed her away.

  “Then why aren’t you standing up for me?” Eva asked.

  “Eva, to go against Lex is to go against the Magistrate,” Nadira said. “That is a battle we cannot win.”

  “Forget the Magistrate,” Eva said. “What about me? What about my justice?”

  “Eva, I’m not defending Lex, but—”

  “But what?” Eva interrupted.

  “Maybe you are not a helpless victim here,” Nadira said.

  Eva’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying?”

  “You goaded Lex, and he retaliated,” Nadira said. “You two need to learn how to get along with each other.”

  “Get along? I am your friend. I am your best friend, your sister. He attacked me. Why aren’t you standing up for me?”

  “What would you like me to do, Eva?” Nadira asked.

  Eva clenched her teeth. “Use the power that you have in your chest and strike back.”

  “Eva, please try to calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down! You always take their side over mine!” Eva’s rage melted into hurt, and she wiped tears from her cheeks. “Whether it be Kiln or Lex, you always choose men over me. I am your sister! Where is your loyalty to me?”

  “Eva, I am loyal to you. I love you. But you can’t antagonize him and expect him not to strike back. I don’t know what happened between you two, but obviously something has changed. And whatever it is, we have to work together and get through this.”

  “Don’t tell me that,” Eva said. “Tell him.”

  “Eva.”

  Eva leaped up and started after Lex. “If no one else is going to stand up for me, then I’ll stand up for myself.”

  “Eva, don’t!” Nadira called after her. “I don’t know what he’ll do!”

  CHAPTER 26

  A frown pulled at Lex’s handsome features. He wondered what had gotten into him. His attention focused on the cold Toma that sat in his chest.

  I shouldn’t have attacked her. By Venus, I’m still in love with her. Why would I do that? Maybe the Toma isn’t working correctly. Maybe I’m already starting to forget who I am ... or who I was...

  He bit his inner cheek.

  Who am I? Am I some crazed man who goes around attacking women? No. I’m better than that. The Magistrate demands that I be better than that. That is not the way a leader behaves. I can’t allow that to happen again. I have to control this new strength. I have to apologize. I have to get us back on the right foot. But there is no us.

  A pang formed in his chest as he thought over the last few days. He wondered how he had gone from drowning in Eva’s love to despising the ground she walked on. Hot anger pumped through him every time he thought of her. How dare she turn him away like she did! And all over a broken Toma.

  She probably thinks I’m the problem. But I’m not the one who has changed. Eva has gone from loving me to hating me in a matter of ho
urs. All I did was follow orders. Was that so wrong?

  Still pondering his place in the universe, Lex was unaware of Eva coming up behind him. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him to her, her temper blazing.

  “You will never do that again. Do you understand? I am a woman, and I demand respect.”

  “Then give respect,” Lex spat.

  “To who? To you?”

  “Yes. To me.”

  “What have you done to earn my respect?” Eva asked. “Because you attacked me, now I’m supposed to respect you? To fear you?”

  “I don’t need to earn your respect,” Lex said. “You should respect me because the Magistrate demands it.”

  “The longer I’m here, the less the Magistrate means to me.”

  “Then respect me because I loved you once,” Lex said. “Is that cause enough?”

  “Loved? You mean that you don’t love me anymore, Lex?”

  Lex shook his head. “No. You’ve made it perfectly clear that you don’t love me. So I am returning the favor.”

  “You couldn’t get me out of your system if you tried.” Eva placed her hands on her hips and took a seductive step toward him.

  Lex took a step back. “Stop it, Eva.”

  She narrowed her eyes and humphed. “The next time you attack me, you’d better kill me. Because the second I rise, rest assured that I will find a way to end you.”

  “You will never—”

  A rustling in the vines stopped Lex’s tongue.

  Nadira and Kiln had caught up with them.

  “Oh good, they haven’t killed each other yet,” Nadira said.

  “For now,” Eva snarled. “Let’s hurry up and find Arees so I can get off this rock.”

  A twig snapped nearby.

  Lex looked in the direction of the sound. “Did you hear that?”

  Kiln nodded. “I heard it.”

  They froze, closing into a tight circle.

  “Come out!” Lex called. “We know you’re there!”

  The jungle was silent.

  “I said, come out!” Lex shouted.

  Silence.

  Lex looked at Kiln.

  Kiln shrugged.

  Lex peered into the jungle. Someone else is here. I can feel them.

  Another snap.

  Intentional? A warning?

  A man emerged from the trees wearing a dirt-stained green cloth that wrapped around his waist and skirted his muscular thighs. His skin was the color of the rich soil beneath his feet, his hair a mass of thick, tight curls. His almond-shaped, dark eyes closely scrutinized them.

  “Who are you?” the man asked, a sharpened stick trembling within his large, tense hand.

  Lex stepped forward. “We are simply travelers passing through this area. We are looking for our friends.”

  “Who are your friends?” The hunter’s gruff voice demanded.

  “Seven and Pennick.”

  At the mention of the names, the hunter stiffened. “What is your purpose with them?”

  “We only want to talk to them.”

  The hunter whistled, and eight more hunters with spears emerged from the jungle and surrounded them.

  “You will come with us,” the man said. “The chief will want to have a word.”

  Lex caught Kiln’s eye and shook his head.

  They know Seven and Pennick. Just stay calm and follow orders.

  The circle of hunters tightened around them.

  “Where are you taking us?” Lex asked.

  “Chief Byron will want a word,” the hunter said.

  “Who is this Chief Byron?” Lex asked.

  “The father of the woman you seek,” the hunter replied.

  Lex nodded. He stood tall, faced the hunting party, and said, “Then we will go with you.” He gestured forward. “Lead on.”

  The hunters turned and lead the small group east through the jungle.

  They came upon a fallen tree that ran across a small creek. Lex pushed low hanging, green palms out of his way and followed the hunters as they silently crossed the narrow log in a single file. Keeping his feet as straight as he could, he tried to keep his balance by putting both arms out at his sides. The only other way that he could see to cross the creek was to wade through the water below. Judging by the snakes that slithered through the shallow pool, Lex guessed why this rotting bridge was the better option.

  They stepped down from the tree and over thick roots that rose knee high. The roots spread out like veins over the floor of the jungle, intertwining and locking together until they had no beginning and no end.

  A large, four-legged, striped animal sat in the branches of a large tree directly in front of them. Although it opened one eye lazily and watched them pass underneath, it didn’t move from its perch.

  Another earthquake rocked them back and forth, causing birds to clamor and scatter. The hunters stood in place, widening their stance to keep their balance. The travelers stumbled and fell until the earth stilled again.

  The first hunter made no attempt to mask a chuckle at theVenians expense before leading them deeper into the jungle.

  They briefly stopped by the bank of another narrow river. Trees hung over the water, as if trying to parch their thirsty leaves with a drink. Small, wide-faced animals with long tails and dark brown coats sat under the shade of the squat trees, chasing each other and swiping at the water.

  The hunters sat on the river bank, keeping a wary eye on the travelers. They took leaves from the trees above, formed them into sort funnels, plugged the bottom hole with their palms, filled them with water from the river and drank.

  Nadira reached into her bag and pulled out one hydration pill and one nutrition pill. She swallowed them and felt coolness slide down her throat, pooling in her belly.

  Kiln, Eva, and Lex did the same.

  The hunters picked fruit from the overhanging trees, broke them open, and sloppily ate from the brightly colored yellow pulp.

  The first hunter handed them each one of the greenish, gourd-shaped fruit. “Eat.”

  The travelers looked at each other and then at the strange fruit.

  Kiln was the first to break his open and take a bite. His lips spread into a wide smile, and he bit into it again. “It’s good.” He handed his fruit to Nadira.

  Nadira held it and took a small bite. Smiling and licking her lips, she took another.

  “Really good.”

  Kiln took her unopened fruit, broke it, and ate down to the hard pit. Now covered in the yellow juices, he moved down to the river’s edge, and put his face to the water to clean himself.

  Beneath the surface, a pair of yellow eyes looked back at him.

  Kiln moved back, the scaly body of a snake rising out of the water. Its massive head rose high over Kiln’s, its black tongue flickering in and out of its mouth.

  Before fear could take hold of him, a knife flew in from his right, sticking deeply into the snake’s coral-colored neck. Waving its body back and forth, the snake attempted to dislodge the weapon. Another knife came from Kiln’s left, lodging into the other side of the snake’s neck.

  The hunters cried out and rushed at the snake. Two of them jumped up, grabbed at the knives that were lodged in the snake’s neck, and hung there. Their combined body weight pulled the knives down and cut open the snake’s throat. After the snake fell to the shore, two more men flew onto the snake’s back, plunged their knives into the top of its neck and pushed down, decapitating it.

  The snake’s body thrashed and slid back into the river, its mouth opening and closing in fury.

  The hunters gave the snake’s head a wide berth and moved the group away from the shore.

  Nadira threw herself into Kiln’s arms. “Oh Kiln!” She pulled back and covered his face with wet kisses. “I was so afraid.”

  Kiln held her close. “I’m okay.”

  “It’s time to get moving,” the first hunter said. “We will reach the village by sundown if we hurry.”

  Kiln nodded. “Tha
nk you. All of you.”

  The head hunter nodded and prodded them forward and away from the shore.

  After walking through the draining, oppressive heat for what seemed like hours, they arrived at a small village just as the sun began to set.

  The rectangular, mud-walled homes were laid out in a circular formation around a central fire pit. The roofs and doors of the home were made of long sticks lashed together with thick vines and sealed with earth. Lex counted twenty huts, with more under construction.

  Women leisurely moved between the huts. Lex heard their high, feminine voices as they gossiped and tended children together. He smelled the meat that smoked on the rotating spit. He watched quick fingers part and braid thickly curled hair. Their bright eyes suspiciously examined the travelers as they stood in front of the fire pit.

  A knot formed in his chest. This place reminded him of Mahala, the free slave village on Venus. The one place that he longed for. But it no longer existed. Arees’ soldiers had made sure of that.

  He cursed Arees’ name.

  Two hunters stayed behind with them while the rest went into a nearby hut.

  The women gathered the children, shooing them into huts and closing doors.

  A commotion broke out inside one of the huts. A deep, angry voice rose above the others.

  The hunters reemerged, followed by what Lex could only assume was their leader.

  His body was strong, honed by a life of survival in the harsh jungle. He wore brown spotted animal skins lashed around his wide feet. Gray cloth was wrapped around a heavily muscled waist and stretched to the knee. An elaborate headdress with long gray fur down the back and short green feathers in the front sat atop his regal head.

  One of the hunters threw the leader a sharpened stick, and without looking, the leader caught it and held the point up to Lex’s throat. His almond shaped eyes were tight slits on his dark face.

  “Who are you?” He demanded. “And what do you want with my daughter?”

  Lex kept his voice even, “We just want to talk with her.”

  “About what?”

  Lex swallowed. “She has...uh...been called by a very high authority into service. Is your daughter here?”