“Oh, of course. I can do that. Is there anything else I can do while I wait for you?”
“No, you should rest. It looks like your internal bleeding is all fixed, but I don’t want you to re-open any wounds. We should all get some rest while we wait for the troops to rescue us.” I laughed at that thought. “Like we are damsels in distress or something.” Sheila joined me in the laugh, however short lived it was. But it did help to relieve a bit of stress.
I spent the next hour going through the rooms and bringing stuff back. I also set up the dresser in front of the bedroom doorway. It would make a good wall to hide behind if the aliens made it this far. Plus that thing was super strong and thick! If they fired back, it would take a while for the lasers to get through, that is if they used lasers.
One of the last rooms I searched was more of a supply closet, and in it were some weapons, ration packs, more med kits with bandages and cleaning supplies-things we could probably really use in bulk. But I also found a couple of night vision goggles, or at least that what I thought they were. I put the lenses over my eyes and I could see everything in green, but in better detail. It seemed that the emergency lighting was dimming, or the natural light came in more than I realized. It was possible that there were a lot of holes in the ship and some of what I thought was emergency lights were actually pinhole lights from outside.
I kept them on as I made my way back to the room. This was going to be my last haul for now. I needed a break and I wanted to go check something out before all of the light was gone.
“Sheila, you good here? I want to go check one last thing before we hunker down for the night.”
“Sure, what did you see?”
“It is getting dark and I found these goggles that I think will help me see in the distance, at night. I want to try to see what is around us. There is a hole in the ship not far from here and we are pretty high up, so I might get an idea of what is around us.”
“Is it safe? I mean if those insectoid aliens are anywhere near here, won’t they see you?”
“I doubt they will see me up high like we are, in the dark. But I might be able to see them. I brought a pair for you too. If it gets too dark, put them on if you hear any noise so you can see what it is. When I come back, I will knock three times quick and two times slow, like this.” I demonstrated my knock for her. I wanted to make sure she knew it was me and didn’t shoot me when I came back.
“But Sheila, if I am not back within an hour, you have to assume something happened and stay here. Don’t go anywhere. Call Venay and let him know what happened. Ok?”
“Paris, if it is dangerous why are you going?”
“Danger is my middle name. Didn’t I ever tell you that?” I smirked at her and walked off without another word. I did close the front door, in hopes that the aliens wouldn’t be able to open it. All I took with me was one power bar, a water bottle, two laser guns, a Taser, and the night vision goggles. I didn’t plan on being gone long, but after all of my experiences, I have learned to pack for the worst.
Chapter 16
I quickly made my way to the edge of this part of the ship, where I had climbed down earlier to get across to the other side. Just before I turned the corner to the drop off I heard screaming. I stopped at the edge of the corner and slowly angled my head around that corner to see what was going on. I saw what I guessed where the insectoids. They had found some humans and were grabbing them and taking them away from the ship.
These things were called insectoid for a reason. They looked to be a cross between a giant, mutant cockroach and a grasshopper. They were taller than I expected, about my height. And they were either camouflaged or they just had the same coloring as the trees all over the outer parts of the ship. They were various shades of green with bits of brown on the edges. It wasn’t quite dark yet but with the night vision goggles I could see pretty well at a distance. They stood on two legs, or what acted as legs.
This was going to be a problem, I was covered in goosebumps and the heebie jeebies. It was really difficult getting their image out of my head. On the one hand I wanted to step on them and squash them like the bugs they were, but on the other, giant, mutant, cockroaches! Gross!
Before I pulled out my laser gun, I shook my body trying to get rid of the goosebumps, and then I looked to see if I could get a good aim. I counted thirteen of them, and they were corralling more than a dozen people down the side of the ship and towards a giant hole that led outside. I needed to make sure my people wouldn’t get shot in the process. It was a mix of men and women who were their prisoners. I didn’t recognize any of them but that didn’t matter, they were my people and I was going to do whatever I had to in order to protect them.
So far, I had a good aim on several of those giant bugs. However, to get the rest I would need all of their prisoners to drop to the ground.
I decided to risk it, and I took aim and fired on the one closest to me. It was a direct hit! The humans did what I assumed they would naturally do, and they dropped to the ground. A few in the back of the group did try to get back inside the ship, out of my range, which was a good thing.
Another bug went down with my next shot, and after my third one, they knew where I was at and pulled their weapons and started shooting at me. One of them got close, his laser shot hit the wall next to me and sparks flew towards me but with those goggles on, my eyes were protected from the sparks, but not from the glare. I had to back up and take off the goggles and rub my eyes a few times before my vision cleared up.
However, I had the high ground and they were in a bottle neck, for the most part. I shot a couple more and then the cavalry showed up. My guess is they were the ones who were coming for me.
They were on the other side of the chasm from me and they started firing at the mutant bugs from their side, I counted five warriors. We had a real chance now.
One of the humans went down, but it looked like a mutant cockroach hit her with its arm, hand? Not sure what those things are called. But she went down hard, so I aimed for that thing and hit it dead on its chest. It wasn’t moving again.
While I was shooting at the remaining bugs, I received a call from Venay, “Paris what in the universe are you doing? I thought we agreed you would stay inside with Lisa and Sheila and wait for my warriors to get you?”
“Kinda busy now, I will call you back when the bad guys are all dead.”
I went back to focusing on killing those suckers and it looked like the warriors had finished them off for me. A strange feeling came over me, I think I had bloodlust and wanted to be the one who killed them all, or at least the last of them. Anger was bubbling to the surface of my emotions and I didn’t like it one bit. I should have been happy, or even grateful for the assist. Instead, I was mad that I wasn’t the one who finished them off. What a weird feeling. That came out of nowhere.
Since the warriors were making their way down to my people, I called Venay back, “Sorry about that. I found these night vision goggles when scavenging and I only wanted to try them out. I had no idea I would find those mutant cockroaches ferrying out any of my people. Once I saw that, I couldn’t help it. I started killing them and your warriors showed and finished them off.”
“I can’t believe you! What am I going to do with you?”
“Train me?” I shrugged my shoulders and smiled, even though I knew he couldn’t see what I was doing.
“I guess I will have to if you keep this up.” He sighed, “Paris, are you ok? They didn’t hit you, did they?”
“No, they didn’t. I am just fine. Now that your warriors are here, I will go and get Lisa and Sheila and we can all go back with my people as well.”
“Alright, I will contact Zelan and let him know to expect you three. Do you need any help?”
“I could probably use one warrior, the rest should stay there and protect the people. There were at least a dozen of them and one was hurt in the fighting.”
“Ok, wait where you are and I will send one warrior to
help you.”
“Great…” I was cut off when out of nowhere a huge bug came at me with its pinchers? Up close it looked like it had pinchers.
I moved back to get out of its reach, but it had a long reach. It grabbed my arm and I was forced to drop the weapon I was holding. But I had another gun in my pocket, and using my free arm I grabbed it quickly and tried to shoot it, but his other arm knocked it away from me.
It was pinching my arm so tightly that it broke skin and my arm was bleeding. I screamed out loud and tried to kick the thing in what would normally be a man’s softest spot, but it didn’t do anything to the mutant in front of me.
Venay was yelling into my communication device but I couldn’t focus on him. A warrior from across the chasm yelled at me to duck. I did the best I could and he shot at the bug as it was going to punch me in the face. Thankfully I ducked just in time, its pincher hit the wall behind my head and the laser shot hit it in the neck.
Its head hit the wall and I grabbed the Taser I had in my pocket and shot it. That released its hold on me. And I backed up and grabbed one of my guns on the floor and shot it in its chest. If that didn’t kill it, I was in trouble. But it fell back to the ground and stopped moving.
The warrior yelled across the divide, “Back up. I see another one climbing towards you.”
I did as commanded and I saw three warriors shoot at the floor right below me, or from my angle that is what it looked like. I heard a high pitched squeak or squeal, not sure what it was. But it hurt my ears. And then a thump as it fell to the ground.
Venay was still yelling at me. “Venay, I am fine. My right arm might need some help, but other than that I am fine.”
“What happened?” He was breathing heavily, almost like he was running.
“A couple of the bugs crawled up to my location. One got a hold of me, they are really strong. I had no idea what it would be like to fight them. And kicking them in the crotch does nothing! Where are their reproductive organs located?”
He laughed, and what a welcome sound that was. “So you are really alright, besides your arm?”
“Yes, I am waiting here until a warrior climbs up. I am not walking back to Lisa’s without an armed escort.”
“Good, make sure you keep your eyes and ears open. They make a clicking noise when they get close to you, so pay attention. I am almost to the holding cells so I will see you soon.”
“Venay, stay on the bridge, I am fine.”
“No Paris, I am not taking any more chances with you. Besides, sounds like you have a lot of humans you might need some help with.”
“Ok, thank you Venay! I can’t wait to see you.”
We ended our talk while I waited for the warrior to get to me. As he made his way up each level he took the time to check the surrounding area, which turned out to be a good thing as one of those monsters was lying in wait for him. But the warrior, who I learned later was no other than Zelan himself, was a very tough pureblood. He heard the thing or sensed it or something because he pulled his weapon out and was aiming for it before the cockroach knew what hit him.
I had been leaning over the side watching his ascent when I noticed him take his weapon out and shoot. How all of those bugs got so close to me, I will never know. The only thing I can think is that they were a scouting party and were already on their way to my side of the ship.
He got to the top and asked, “Paris, are you alright?”
“Yes, I am. Thank you.” I was wrapping my arm in some cloth that I found on the ground near me.
“Let me take a look. Do you have a med-kit with you?”
“No, I didn’t think to bring one.”
“No problem, we can find one on our way back to your quarters.”
We found one in the first room we checked and he used it to clean my wound and then put some gook on it that seemed to seal the cuts in my arm. It also had some sort of numbing agent as the pain went away and I couldn’t really feel my right bicep any longer.
“Don’t try using your right arm for at least an hour. If you do, you could break open the wounds. It is just a sealant used in the field to help get you to the doctor so he can sew your arm up properly.”
“Can’t you use that square device in the med kit that looks like a tablet? Wouldn’t that seal my arm up?”
“Yes, but you can’t move while it is working. We don’t have time to sit down and wait. It is very important that we hurry up and get your friends and get back to the other side of the ship.”
“Oh, yea I guess there could be more bugs here huh?”
“Yes, and I don’t feel like fighting with three injured females in my company.”
I chuckled, “I guess I deserved that. But you must admit I did pretty good, all things considered.” I puffed up my chest with pride and stood a bit taller as I thought about what I had accomplished so far today.
“Yes, for a civilian human you did really well. Now let’s get moving.”
It didn’t take us long at all to get Lisa and Sheila, along with all of the stuff we scavenged. Zelan had a very large backpack which he used to haul most of our stuff. He gave me one to wear and it was as full as I could handle. Granted, that wasn’t as much as he could handle, but I did my part.
He made a comment that he was going to have to send some teams back during the day to scavenge for more food, weapons, and med-kits. We would need it all.
“Zelan, how far are we from the settlement on this planet? Why haven’t they come to get us yet?”
“They don’t have ships that can easily fly here. They have one space ship, but it is more of a cargo ship. They are a small settlement and don’t have many warriors with them. There haven’t been any issues for this planet in decades. But I can see that we are going to have to change that way of thinking.”
“That still doesn’t explain why they haven’t come to help us.”
“We are a long way from them, and using their land transports, it will take them several days to get here. But, we have asked them to stay put for now.”
“Why? We could use their help.”
“Because they have children in their compound. It is more important that they protect their families. We aren’t sure what the Zateelians are up to. The Commander felt that we could make our way there easier and safer than if they tried coming to us. But we won’t have to wait long. There are a couple of ships on their way here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they made it here in two or three days’ time. It would be much safer for the settlement to stay put and defend itself and their children.”
“Yeah, I can see that would be a problem. Divide and conquer and all that. Why are these bugs attacking you guys? I don’t get it. Venay told me that your two species had an agreement of sorts.”
We kept walking and had made it to the end of our section of the ship. All chatting stopped while we surveyed our surroundings and decided which way to go down.
“Paris, I want you to take the rear. I will take lead and when I say to follow I want first Lisa and then Sheila to climb down to my level. Then you will come last. I need you to pay close attention and have your laser pistol ready at all times. Can you handle that?”
“Yes sir, I can.”
“Alright, I am going to go down to the next level, but wait until I give you the all clear before you come down. Paris, keep an eye behind us, in case any of the enemy troops have already made it to this level.
Zelan made his way to the first level while two of the warriors were across the way keeping watch on our path.
Once we all made it to the lower floor, Zelan went again to the next floor. We almost made it all the way without any issues.
Chapter 17
I was getting ready to climb down to the level with the semi bridge that went across to the other part of the ship when I heard a clicking noise. My night vision goggles were around my neck so I put them on really quickly as the sun had already set and we were operating mostly by starlight. I couldn’t see a moon yet, but I also didn’t k
now if there was a moon orbiting this planet.
I could see a slight movement down the hallway. “Paris to Zelan”
“Zelan here, what’s the holdup?”
“I hear something and I see some movement close by. Keep an eye out for bugs.”
“I am going to term our comm and call to the warriors across the way to get a light shining on your floor.”
I took off my night vision goggles so I wouldn’t lose my sight. Right after I took them off I sensed something close, I pulled them back up to my eyes but I couldn’t see anything in front of me.
But I felt something along my leg. I looked down to the floor and those stupid bugs could crawl! I aimed my laser gun at its back and fired. It grabbed my ankle and pulled me down on the ground. I fell with a hard thump and knew I was going to be sore.
My one shot didn’t do much damage to its back, but once I was down on the ground it tried to crawl on top of me and I was able to shoot its head. Note to self, next time I shoot big mutant bug that is on top of me, close my eyes and mouth. Its head burst and got goo all over me and in my mouth! That wasn’t coming out anytime soon.
Before I had a chance to even think about what happened, much less throw up, more bugs came at me.
I heard some more scuttling but the warriors across the way had their light shining and yelled at me to stay down. They started shooting and hit two more bugs.
“Yeah, sure no problem. I can get this bug carcass off all by myself,” I grumbled. It was tough, those things were heavy, but I got it off. Then I laid there trying to clean my face off and listening for more clicking or scuttling sounds.
There were none so I stood up and looked down the hall but couldn’t see anything. I quickly ran to the edge of the floor and made my way down to where Zelan was.
“Hey, you ok?” He looked at me and was checked my limbs. Then he looked at my arm that was injured from earlier.
Worlds Away: Sci-fi Alien Romance (Alpha Alien Abduction Tale Book 1) Page 13