Alpha Nebula

  Val knew that voice. It was Slade. The bounty hunter had apparently tended to his wounds.

  “Why are you helping me?” Vanakis wondered.

  “We work together until we’re out of here, remember?” Slade reminded him. “Until then, I need you alive. You’re the only one of us with a ship, after all.”

  “Were’s Jaroot?” Val asked.

  “Don’t know. Disappeared,” said Slade.

  “Where’s Akrillis?” Laurelle asked.

  “He’s not with you?” Val wondered.

  “Same as you. Never came back,” said Slade.

  “I have him to thank for this,” Vanakis tried to raise his throbbing body off the ground.

  “Akrillis did this to you?” Laurelle wondered in confusion.

  “Doesn’t surprise me,” Slade remarked.

  “Did anyone ask for your opinion, dick-weed?” Val snapped.

  “I just saved your ass,” Slade commented.

  “You want a prize now?”

  “Or better yet, that bounty on your head,” Slade snapped.

  “You know, I never asked for your assistance, thanks,” Vanakis noted. “Neither of you,” Val turned and began to walk off.

  “You’re welcome, by the way!” Slade shouted.

  “Leave me the hell alone!” Replied Vanakis. The Tarian stormed off and left the young girl with the bounty hunter.

  “What happens now?” Laurelle asked Slade.

  Slade stared off into space while in his own world for a moment.

  “We go after him. He’s the only one of us with a ship somewhere nearby,” he said.

  As Slade and Laurelle tried to find Vanakis, the young girl started to fall behind. Slade pushed past branches, shrubs, vines, and the occasional snake. Laurelle was a little too curious for her own good. She wandered down a different path and became further and further separated from Slade. Eventually, Laurelle decided to sit down for a moment and catch her breath. Only then did she realise she was burning up. She felt the moist sweat on her legs as she went to scratch the tingling sensation they were host to.

  She noticed something had moved behind her. Laurelle quickly turned, ready for a predator. Instead, she found a not-so-scary kitty. It was half her size and looked to be soft as a cloud. The young girl approached it with a warming smile before its eyes shot wide open. They were big and yellow and staring right at Laurelle.

  “It’s okay.”

  The cat bolted.

  “I’m not that scary, am I?” She turned around to see it.

  It stood taller than her. Its skin was leathery and dry. It was a green-brown colour that blended perfectly with the jungle. It was strangely disfigured, having two elbows on its front legs. It crept slowly on all fours. Its body and tail moved almost like it was a snake as it remained low to the ground and its weight was evident by the fallen trunk that snapped as it walked over its hollow remains. She remembered what Vanakis had mentioned earlier about ravagers. In that moment Laurelle’s instincts took control and they told her one thing.

  She dashed off with her back to the creature as it sprang into action. She ran faster than she ever had before. She felt the numbing sensation in her hands and feet as her body worked to send blood that way. She didn’t dare to look back for the sight she was afraid to find. Laurelle darted past trees and shrubs. The creature’s size proved an advantage for Laurelle as it was unable to squeeze past the thick jungle plant life. Instead, it had to push and force its way through; slowing it down. It was so close behind Laurelle that she could smell its horrible breath, droplets of sticky saliva landed on the back of her neck. The ravager smashed through trees behind her. Little shards of wood came poking at her from behind. She paid little attention to the legs she couldn’t feel anymore.

  Suddenly, she experienced its talons just graze her back as she fell to the ground. The ravager struggled to reach her as it was stuck behind a trunk which had split in two as it tried to squeeze its way through. She screamed as she hit the ground. It was like being stabbed in the back. Laurelle quickly ascended to her feet once more and rushed away. The beast backed up and scurried around its obstacle. Laurelle ran into a field of grass—an opening in the jungle that was surrounded by the forest. Horror kept her moving towards a grazing herd. Large herbivores—orange and bulky four-legged creatures—socialised. As Laurelle rushed into the cluster of grass-eaters, they panicked and began to run. The ravager entered the grass field to find a herd of animals in a stampede across the plain. Laurelle was caught in the middle of it. As she ran with the herd, she was relatively safe from the carnivore, but the stampede was a threat all on its own. Huge hulking beasts ran side by side. Laurelle was an ant walking among giants. She tried to keep as far from them as she could as her tired little legs carried her through the grass. One herbivore knocked her off her feet, and she flew through the air before landing back on Veeraan.

  The rest of the herd passed her. As she steadily got back up, her stomach rapidly contorted into a knot at the sight of the ravager in the distance. As the beast took a bite from a herbivore it had killed, it ripped meat and flesh from the bone. It quickly noticed Laurelle. The Tarian once again dashed and the ravager resumed its hot pursuit. Laurelle hurried to the other side and into the trees once more. Laurelle’s enervation made it a struggle to leap over branches and around tree trunks. Fatigue decided to say hello. Laurelle staggered across a shallow river with her ferocious tag-along quick to follow. She came to a clearing, an opening in the jungle canopy. Below were several hundred metres of cliffside. Only once she stopped did she suddenly feel her heart about to beat right out of her chest with palpitations that felt like an earthquake within her body. The sound of her incoming pursuer was an alarm bell that told her to keep moving. Moments before the ravager could sink its claws into her, she shot away. She ran alongside the cliff and eventually back into the jungle. Laurelle stopped. She breathed rapidly. Her pulse was out of control. She felt light-headed and partially disconnected from her surroundings.

  She turned and the vicious ravager crept out of the trees. The two stood in a slight rocky aperture. Laurelle suddenly felt trapped as if walls were closing in, and a monster was about to feast on her insides. The beast slowly zeroed in on her. Its jaw opened wide, ready to devour her with teeth that would tear through her like butter. As it slowly came closer and closer, Laurelle froze. Her muscles were locked in place by terror. Just inches away from it now, she became a victim to its murderous breath. It leaned its head back and then lunged forward to pounce on its prey.

  He shot out from nowhere and flew past with a solid kick to the ravager, square in its head. Vanakis landed and rolled in the dirt just beside them and then came back up on his feet with the momentum, staggering in the process. Vanakis held his abdomen wound. The pain was almost unbearable. The bandage was still wrapped tightly as blood stains peered through it. Laurelle noticed a second ravager fast-approaching from behind. The supplemental ravager pounced at the Tarian and Val rolled out of harm’s way.

  There had been two vicious ravagers, brutal creatures, ready to chow down on a little girl. Standing between them was an injured Tarian who struggled to stay on his feet. Vanakis drew his sword as the ravagers closed in quick. He slashed one beast then got clawed in the back by the other. A pointy tail gashed his leg. The meat-eating duo was already proving to be too much for the strained Tarian. Vanakis found himself crashing down to the ground as a tail tripped him. Exhaustion kicked in quickly. Blood pumped fast, and dehydration teamed up against the prince.

  Suddenly, a slap of pain came from nowhere as one creature bit down hard on his arm. Vanakis screamed in agony. He barely managed to ward himself with his sword. Vanakis was thrown to the dirt once more and was dragged across the ground as a ravager tugged on his leg. Val was hauled quickly along the dirty jungle floor, and the Tarian lost his blade in the struggle. Finally, he kicked with what little strength he had left. The beast gave way at last as it released him and shrugged off the attack to
the face. Vanakis got back to his worn-out feet and struggled to run to his fallen sword. With a ravager close behind, he grabbed his blade and continued to run. Eventually, he turned to lash at the beast before it bowled him over. The two of them barged into both Laurelle and her pursuing ravager. All of them now tumbled down a steep slope which led to the cliff’s edge. One ravager went over the verge and fell to its fate. Val desperately tried to grab a hold of anything he could. As the edge came racing closer the anxiety swirling in his abdomen grew stronger. The red bandana he wore around his neck was constantly flinging up in his face. At the end of the slope, Vanakis took hold of the cliff’s edge with one hand while he held Laurelle in the other. The strain left Val’s wound coursing through him with agony. Pain screamed its way up his body. He attempted to lift her to safety, but his strength quickly gave way, and he screamed once more. Vanakis dangled from the cliffside and barely managed to hold on to both his own life and Laurelle’s. The second ravager presented itself over the cliffs edge and looked down at them with hunger in its eyes.

  ‘Gimme a fucking break,’ Vanakis thought to himself. He couldn’t climb back up onto the cliff, so he reluctantly took the only alternative. He let go.

  He and Laurelle fell for dozens of metres until crashing hard into the water below.

  An icy blanket was wrapped around Laurelle with a shock to all her senses. She watched as Val’s stupor body sunk into the darkness beneath them. The ravager suddenly plunged into the water as a ball of froth. Laurelle quickly tried to flee. She struggled out of the shallowing water, shaking and chilled to the bone. The sight of the ravager crawling out from the water was one that penetrated her soul with fright. Laurelle was left to face the beast alone. As it crept closer, she began to shake even more. Laurelle’s legs turned to jelly. She had lived her entire life inside a concentration camp, but nothing was more terrifying than staring into the mouth of the creature about to devour her.

  Vanakis wrestled his way out of the water and struggled to his feet. He felt the pain of his wound as it pulsed with his heartbeat. Then, he noticed his sword sticking out of the ground not far away.

  The creature and the Tarian ran towards each other. Vanakis managed to lift its head out of the way and go for the throat—an obvious weak point. Val copped a clawing to the head and span away from the beast and near his blade. His head had never ached so much in all his life, even when getting a lecture. The surrounding sounds were suddenly cut off, and a ringing in his ear took over. He slid in the foot of water as he landed and then quickly got back up and grabbed the sword. Then, he leapt onto the ravager. The beast struggled to get him off as it shook violently. After a chaotic endeavour, Vanakis forced his blade through the back of its head. He grasped the sword’s handle tighter than ever as he was thrown from side to side like being on a mechanical bull. The beast fell to the ground after a brief struggle to hold itself up. Val, unable to hold his own weight, collapsed.

  Laurelle ran to his aid as his eyes quickly closed. Laurelle pulled him. She tried to get him out of the open as it started to rain. She strived to move him but found it to be a colossal effort. Nevertheless, she didn’t give up. She never stopped until he was safe.

  Laurelle sat beneath a rock with an unconscious Vanakis beside her. Rain poured down from the night sky with lightning and thunder all around. The constant flashes of light were blinding. She noticed Vanakis shaking in his sleep, just as she, too, felt her bones jitter. Laurelle cuddled up to him and kept both of them a little warmer.

  Okay, how much more can he take? He’s been stabbed, shot, clawed, bitten, and has fallen off a cliff… twice. This is complete crap.

  TWENTY ONE

  “This choke point here is going to be a disaster if we can’t find some way around it,” Mantis explained to Trydon. “It gives them the upper hand and will herd us into a slaughter.”

  “Once the coup begins, we need to reach a terminal. From there, we can obtain a full set of floor plans. Won’t be flying blind that way,” Trydon suggested.

  Mantis and Trydon stood in a dark room, concealed and hidden from the guards. Between them was a table with papers and strategies as they planned their escape.

  “Now,” Trydon said, “what about this watchtower?” Pointing to a poorly drawn blueprint.

  The door suddenly burst open, and Avayan guards flooded the room.

  “On the floor! Now!” They yelled.

  Well, that plan’s over.

  Trydon awoke to find himself cuffed to a chair with Mantis beside him. The Tarian tugged his arm, and the restraints around his wrist dug into his skin more and more as he struggled. “Where are we?” he asked Mantis.

  “We’ve been caught,” Mantis said. The red around Mantis’s wrists was far worse. He must have been trying to get free for some time.

  “Well, what do we do now?” Trydon wondered. “Use your telekinesis to get us out of here.”

  “We’d still be trapped in this prison. It will only end up worse,” Mantis regretted to inform. Now that they were caught, they would most likely be executed like the others before them, or maybe death was too kind of a punishment for them. Torture and rape were far more likely of a fate in this devilish place.

  Zurey entered the small room and took a careful look at them both. “Busy slaves,” the overseer said.

  Well, mowing down guards, possession of stolen property, explosions and fire, destruction of a guards’ tower, single-handedly planning out the attack and murder of every Avayan in the facility... Yep, I’d say that ‘busy’ is an understatement.

  He began circling the two bound captives. “Now, I’m not sure whether you two are solely responsible or just largely involved, but some of the things we found in that room with you…” He shook his head. “That’s some dangerously serious stuff.”

  “Small price to pay,” Trydon jumped in, “for our freedom—to be rid of you and your oppression.”

  Zurey laughed at the remark, “Oppression? Hardly. We give you a home, a place to keep you safe, food, and a roof over your heads. And yet this is the thanks we get. You people are so ungrateful.”

  “Ungrateful?” Trydon’s raised voice leapt from his lips, “you torture us, you beat us, you kill us!”

  “Like any other home, we must have order. We must have laws. If those laws aren’t obeyed, there are consequences. Sounds fair to me,” Zurey said.

  “You act like you’re doing us a favour, like this isn’t for your own personal gain,” Trydon frowned.

  “I wonder if your silent friend here shares the same opinion.” Zurey zeroed in on Mantis, who remained quiet. “I think you two know something, and you’re going to tell me.”

  “We’re not telling you shit,” Trydon informed him.

  “The girl that escaped—where is she going?” The overseer asked. Both of his prisoners remained silent. “You know, don’t you?!” Zurey snapped. He leant forward and rested his tense hands on the armrests of Trydon’s chair. “Tell me!”

  “We have no idea where she is,” Trydon revealed, “but why do you even care? She’s one slave—one of millions.”

  Zurey turned his back to them while deep in thought.

  “Because he needs her,” Mantis finally chimed in. Zurey turned to the Zantian with scrunched brows. “She’s not just a slave,” Mantis continued. “She’s blood. She’s the result of your unknown side activities—the flesh evidence of your actions.”

  “Shut up!” Zurey shouted.

  “It’s you,” Trydon realised. “You’re her father. You had an affair with a slave woman. She’s your daughter. That’s why you’re so eager to find her.”

  “How do you know all this?” Zurey asked Mantis.

  “My friend, here, can do some pretty interesting things,” Trydon noted. “You let your own daughter live in this hell. You let her suffer,” Trydon questioned.

  “No one can know of our blood ties,” Zurey told him. “It was the only way to keep her alive. You will both die,” Zurey promised as he left.<
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  Oh, jeez, she’s this guys daughter? What next? I swear, if there’s a zombie in the next scene…

  TWENTY TWO

  The jungle was sunny. Beams of light shone through the canopy. Laurelle crept over a fallen log with a poorly-crafted bow in hand. She was wearing a bandana around her neck—the same one Vanakis used to wear. Just ahead of her was a wild cat, just like the little ones she had seen earlier in the jungle. She pulled an arrow out from her backpack and aligned it with the bow. She pulled back and waited. The arrow was simply a stick that had been refined to a sharp point on one end. The bow was made of twigs that had been tied together.

  When she finally let go, it flew towards the cat like death travelling at one-hundred-and-fifty kilometres an hour. Straight through the air it flew, hitting the tree just beyond. The cat bolted.

  “Shit,” she said as she ran after it. “I’ve been at this for hours now,” Laurelle muttered as she hurried onwards. ‘It’s been almost five days since eating anything decent. I can’t give up,’ she thought to herself. ‘There it is,’ she said in her head when she saw it. Laurelle grabbed another arrow, readied the bow, and fired. She missed again. “Oh, come on!” she complained to no one and then ran after it yet again.

  Once it was in her view, she got her last arrow and aligned it with the questionable bow. When she was ready, she pulled back the bow and prepared herself to shoot. The cat flew several metres when a sniper blast hit it. She immediately ducked in the hopes she hadn’t been seen. A strange man approached the cat. Its small body had been mangled, but it was still worthy of a feed. The shooter bent down to recover his kill. Laurelle hurried down to him.

  “Turn around. Slowly,” she ordered.

  The man stood up and turned himself. He looked almost human, except for the blue skin and markings on his body which looked like tattoos. He quickly raised his hands when he noticed the small girl with the bow and arrow aimed at him.