His uniform had been replaced with the leaf clothing she’d seen people wear, but he filled it out much better than that leader man who hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she’d woken. He was lean and wiry compared to Joe’s muscular frame. She wondered if they’d had to weave new clothing to fit him.
“You have nothing to worry about. They healed me.”
He’d been near collapse before he’d been led away and she’d been slung over a shoulder. “Are you sure?”
“Hexonians are notoriously hard to kill. Mother gave me an antidote and applied a salve to the wounds so they could heal,” Jo’Aquin said, gesturing to the old woman who cackled quietly. She seemed a little unhinged to Lauren, and she focussed on Joe again. So the old woman was called Mother. Strange name.
“Show me.” One thing she’d learned was never to take one person’s opinion for granted. Besides, judging by this leaf igloo and the way they dressed, this world was pretty basic. Primitive even. Medicine was something they might not even know about.
The sigh that left his mouth when she levelled her eyes at him was almost human. He lifted his arms above his head and twisted one way and then the other, “See? No pain.”
She lined up the man she only knew as the leader, “What the hell do you want with us?”
A grim smile escaped the lean man, “Perhaps you should eat. Then we will explain. You’ll need your strength.”
Mother pressed a bowl into her hands. A delicious scent of stewed meat and gravy made her salivate, and her stomach rumbled, protesting the lack of recent meals.
She did need food. Images of Mike too weak to even get up for the toilet surfaced. She’d helped him, of course, but the sour memory of a man who should be in the prime of his life stolen before he ever really had it, was depressing enough. She brutally pushed the memories aside. Now was not the time to reminisce. Painful times had caused her to be in the middle of the Nullabour Plain in the first place.
“You need food too.” Mother handed Jo’Aquin a bowl and stood over him until he accepted it. “He’s been hovering over you. Not caring a whit about his own injuries and threatening to undo all the good work I did with him. Now eat. She is awake just like I told you she would be.” She pointed a finger at Lauren. “Eat it all. I didn’t work so hard with both of you to have you die of starvation.”
He’d been at her side? Waiting for her to wake up? Really? She was usually the person waiting for Mike to wake up and recover from yet another procedure. Being on the other end was new. A mix of emotions welled, confusion being foremost with a healthy dose of questions, but the aroma from the stew was enough to scatter her thoughts.
She spooned a mouthful and carefully tasted it. Flavour exploded. It was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. It didn’t take long before she scraped the bottom of the bowl. She leaned her head back against a comfortable leaf with a sigh. At least her stomach stopped hurting, now it was filled.
“This is delicious, Mother. Thank you.” The leader was only halfway through his bowl and was eating at a much slower pace.
Lauren studied the old woman. Mother. It was hard to determine just how old she was. Her light orange hair was wiry and unkempt, her skin weathered, the joints in her fingers bulbous, but there was an energy in her movements, almost as though her aged body didn’t feel its years.
Mother bowed her head and sat down with creaky bones onto a small stool helping herself to a bowl. “You’re welcome, MalCom.”
The leader, MalCom, bowed his head and continued to eat. Now she had a name for both people – err, aliens. It was funny how quickly a person adjusted to the unbelievable when there was little choice. She’d been pushed so far, she might almost fail to even blink if the earth started crumbling down around her ears.
Jo’Aquin spoke. “I am sorry that you have suffered so much. You have to know, Lauren, that if there were any way, I would have saved you from the Reptiles.” He seemed genuinely upset that he hadn’t been able to help. Which seemed strange. He wasn’t responsible for any of this. Surely he couldn’t think he was.
“Tell me about the Reptiles.” There hadn’t been a real moment since they’d crashed landed and been found by these dubious and strange--make that, very strange--people. She still hadn’t made her mind up about them at all.
He took a deep breath and levelled grim eyes at her, “There are creatures in this universe that are nothing but pure evil. They prey on weaker species, those who are more primitive or not as technologically advanced as they are, with the sole intention of slavery.”
“Sounds like something straight from a science fiction novel.” She would have scoffed, except the situation was too real and too raw for that type of sarcasm.
“Earth has only been saved, so far, because of the extended protection of the Galactic Federation,” Jo’Aquin said.
“Not so much now they’ve found her,” MalCom interrupted.
A muscle worked at Jo’Aquin’s temple, but his attention remained on Lauren. “If I had been doing my job properly, you would have never been taken by them.”
Doing his job properly? From what she’d witnessed, he’d been willing to put his life on the line to save a nobody like her. However, being the Commander of this Starship, whatever that was, maybe he had an overinflated sense of duty. That had to be it.
“But...why take me? I’m...no-one,” Lauren shrugged. The only thing she was, was stupid enough to listen to her friend and drive an old rust bucket of a car across the Nullabour Plain in the middle of the night. Stupid with a capital S. He should be angry with her for having to go through the trouble of saving her, getting himself injured, losing his ship and being captured by Robin Hood and his band of somewhat merry men.
Her mind grappled with possibilities. “Can’t you just phone–or somehow contact–your ship? If you’ve mastered intergalactic travel, surely you have a communications system. Can’t you get someone to swing past and pick us up?”
“If only it were that easy,” MalCom said. “This world belongs to the Reptiles. The only way on or off this planet, or to communicate with anything else higher than fifty measurements off the ground, is through the Reptiles’ control centre.”
She frowned, squinting at MalCom. “Meaning?” She tried rubbing the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach away. It didn’t do any good.
“I can’t contact my crew, and we can’t leave this planet unless we can use the Reptiles’ control centre to call them,” Jo’Aquin said.
Her gaze flicked from Jo’Aquin to MalCom to Mother, then back to Jo’Aquin. She must not be getting something, but she didn’t see that as being a big problem. “Then we’ll go there. Make a call. They’ll come. Easy.” Three pairs of eyes studied her.
“Lauren, this planet is occupied by the Reptiles. This is a planet of the Enslaved. The people here are mindless, controlled by the Reptiles to do their bidding. They will maim. Kill. Rape. They can make a mother kill her child, and she can’t stop herself. The Enslaved are an army controlled by the Reptiles. They are used as chattel. Nothing but expendable. The people you see here, living in the trees have managed to escape, but at a great personal cost. We live by the skin of our teeth. Day to day. The planet–Florn–is brimming with Reptiles. It is their headquarters,” MalCom said.
Lauren stared at him, moments stretching as her mind reeled. A dark chill froze her spine as realisation set in. She drew in one breath. Another. “You mean...we’re never going to leave this planet? We...we’re stuck here?” Not just stuck. Stranded . On a planet of evil lizard people who could enslave races of people and force them to do terrible, terrible things.
Jo’Aquin didn’t shake his head. He didn’t say no, but by the grim clenching of his mouth and the way his shoulders slumped, she knew there was a good chance she would never see Earth again.
8
D espite the unreality of her dire situation, Lauren had slept. She supposed mental and physical exhaustion did that to a person. They’d spoken more, but that had bec
ome a jumble in the back of her mind after a while. They’d related horror upon horror about the Reptiles and what they’d done to the people of Florn until she’d slowly shut down. This was something similar to being in Nazi-occupied France in the height of the war, only much, much worse.
At any time, these Reptiles could find her and make a mind slave out of her. She’d have no control over her mind and body. From what she had made out, the people living in the tree had somehow escaped, but most of the planet hadn’t. All of their friends and families were gone. Nothing but vessels to be used by an evil race of creatures. She shuddered, thinking about what Earth might be like if something like this happened to it.
But...the reptiles had made an appearance. Hadn’t they? They’d abducted her. What if...what if they were planning to take over Earth just like this planet? That was a distinct possibility, and one that had only just come to her. She had to talk to Joe. To MalCom. Mother.
Forget getting back to Earth. There might be no Earth to get back to! She had to warn home about an attack from these Reptiles!
The little leaf igloo was empty. She shrugged aside the blanket made from leaves sewn together and stood. Her body was stiff but free from aches and pains, without so much as a headache, which was a surprise as much as a relief.
She brushed through the large overhanging leaves that served as a doorway and stepped out onto a massive branch, easily the width of three cars. The bark was worn smooth and was soft beneath her feet. Lush foliage surrounded her. Gigantic leaves sprouted from branches everywhere and hovered all over the gigantic trees. Flowers poked through the leaves in intense blazes of magentas, oranges, and yellows. All around, the flora was luxuriant and brilliant, similar to a rainforest on Earth, albeit more colourful.
The weather, though, was similar. The air was warm and moist. Uncomfortably dressed as she was, still in her thick denim jeans and jumper. She took off her jumper down to a ratty t-shirt and threw it back into the igloo. She wouldn’t need that anytime soon. What she wouldn’t give for some leaf clothing. If not stylish, they at least looked cool.
A cluster of similar igloos bordered the length of the branch, much like huts along a path, only tree house style. The igloos were made from cleverly shaped, intertwining branches, ingeniously meshed from the branch system of the tree and were perfectly spherical. Living leaves were woven through the branches and camouflaged beautifully in the canopy of the tree.
She was not alone. In fact, the ‘street’ was quite busy. Children played a game along the branch with thin sapling twigs and giant leaves. Groups of people chatted. Some carried baskets and disappeared into their igloos, a few people climbed the branches, latching onto the bark in the same manner as the man who had carried her up here. Each person wore similar clothing, made from the leaves. Colourful little Robin Hoods and bands of merry men–and children–and women.
They all turned to her when she emerged. Blue jeans and a ratty t-shirt didn’t exactly blend in well. She stood there a moment, wondering what in the hell she should do.
“Ah, you’re awake. Just in time for me to show you around.” MalCom melted from the leaves. He blended in so well, as he’d done at the crash site. She wondered fleetingly if he’d done that on purpose.
She took a faltering step back and hugged herself, nervous and unsure. “Yes. Thank you. I feel much better now. Where’s Joe?”
She was in over her head, and trust wasn’t something she was going to hand out easily. Although MalCom wasn’t Joe. She was safe around him. Anyone that had fought seven-foot-tall lizards and harmed himself to save her had already earned her trust.
A thrill-like shiver shot through her insides, leaving a heat trail in its wake. It was so unlike her to have these types of feelings about a man. Those things only happened in teenage years, brought on by massive doses of hormones. She was middle-aged, for Pete’s sake. She was over things like that. Old enough to have experienced the best and worst of what love had to offer. Now, standing on the downside of the worst, she wasn’t going rushing back into it.
Still, there was some type of pull, an urgency, a need, that fluttered around inside and made her want to seek him out. Probably because he was the only safe thing on this planet. Maybe.
Pull yourself together, Lauren. You’re a grown woman. What makes you think any man would even feel the same way about someone like you? Maybe she was experiencing some syndrome where victims fell in love with their rescuer. An emotional hiccup. Women her age had them all the time. She set the nagging feelings aside and concentrated on MalCom.
“He is safe.”
She gritted her teeth in frustration. “Can you take me to him, please?”
MalCom’s mouth stretched into almost a grimace, “Of course. First, I thought you might like to freshen up.”
She hadn’t stood with her legs crossed, but her bladder felt as full as if it would release at any moment. The igloo hadn’t contained any amenities she’d seen. Relieving herself, and a splash of cold water sounded like heaven in this humid weather. Maybe she’d been too quick in judging MalCom, although he still hadn’t apologised to her for trussing her up and marching them through the jungle without explanation.
She held a steady gaze with him, “Well, yes, that would be welcome.”
MalCom nodded, the leaves on his head rustling. He gestured along the street, “It isn’t far. Just hidden.”
“It seems like this whole village is hidden,” Lauren commented as they walked. People studied her as they passed. She tucked a strand of limp hair behind her ear, grimacing at the feel of dirt and grime. Maybe she could find a way to wash her hair as well.
“The tree provides us everything. Food. Shelter. Clothing. Protection,” MalCom said.
“I see everyone dressed in the leaves,” Lauren said.
“Yes. I’ll have some clothing provided to you. Your clothing isn’t suitable for this environment,” MalCom said.
That also sounded glorious. Maybe she should try and find out a little more about him, rather than merely judging. “So, you hide from the Reptiles up here?” An uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach when she even thought of those lizards.
MalCom wiggled his fingers, spreading out the suction cups on his fingertips. “They can’t climb like us. They have the technology to fly, of course, but they are unable to breach the leaves. They are not very good climbers.”
Lauren could very well believe that. She peered over the branch and all she could see was a sea of thickly interwoven leaves. At least it gave her a sense of security.
“But why live here at all? Surely living on the ground is a lot easier?”
“We are born and live in the trees. When we escaped the Reptiles, it was natural for us to live in our normal habitat. It also helps that we are relatively safe from the Reptile threat up here. We are only a few. Not so much of a worry for them. Not when they have thousands at their beck and call.”
“Thousands?” Lauren gasped.
MalCom nodded. His face became grim, his eyes sad. Lauren could only guess that he’d lost people he loved. “It is true.”
“How was your planet–Florn–invaded?”
“It happened very fast, as it normally does. We had no time to really offer much of a fight,” MalCom said, as though that explained anything at all.
“But...just because they invaded doesn’t mean they can enslave everyone on a planet that fast. Does it?” Lauren said.
MalCom stopped walking, “You have to understand. The Reptiles have billions of souls under their control. They come suddenly. They come with millions. They have enslavement down to a fine art. It only took a day, and every soul on our planet was captured and enslaved. The newly enslaved help the Reptiles enslave more of their own people. They are helpless but to obey.”
“But, how do they do that?” Lauren asked. She couldn’t process how an entire planet could possibly be taken under another’s control.
“They place a capsule into the brain of their victim. It’s
actually a simple process, but one that the Reptiles have finessed. They take victims from the planet they intend to invade and experiment on them to perfect the process and tailor it to the being’s DNA.”
Lauren stared with dawning horror at MalCom. “That’s what...they did to me!”
MalCom’s mouth firmed in a grim line. “Mother managed to take the capsule from your brain. That was what caused you to be so ill. You would have died if it remained in your skull.”
The pounding headache hadn’t been her imagination or brought on by panic and stress. She’d actually had a...thing ...in her brain. She ran her fingers over her scalp until she found a wound at the hairline on the back of her neck. She ran her fingertip along the wound, fighting down the bile that gurgled in her stomach. “What if she hadn’t taken it out of me?”
A shadow passed beneath his eyes. “You would have died. They haven’t perfected the process yet.”
“How...how can you tell?”
“Because your race isn’t enslaved yet.”
Lauren stared, dread working its way through her mind, thick and black and oozing. “Then I...we...have to do...something .” Dread pooled in the pit of her stomach. She was right. Earth was on the cusp of being invaded. Anytime.
MalCom’s lips twitched in a not altogether nice way. The way he peered at her made her feel like she was being set up for something big. Something she wasn’t necessarily going to like hearing. Something like she was invited to dinner because she was the main feast. She should have asked him if his people were vegetarians when he told her the tree provided everything. Because she was on the tree, and she could provide them a pretty good meal if she were cooked up with some potatoes and vegetables. “Now that you are here, we finally can do...something ....to help. If Mother is to be believed, you are the answer to our problems.”
JoAquin: An Alien Abduction Paranormal Romance (A Hexonian Alien Abduction Romance Book 1) Page 5