by Ethan Bibile
Quinn shot it in the stomach and sprinted off down the corridor towards the cockpit as the large creature doubled over in pain.
“Lights!” Quinn yelled as he ran, which almost instantly turned on at his command. There was no point in hiding now, nearly everyone was out in the open, bar one alien. Quinn would navigate his way through the Audion easier in the light.
His hopes were high as he ran into the human looking yet disordered alien. Both of then collapsed to the ground backwards as they ran into each other.
Quinn immediately got up and pointed his gun at the alien. He shot him in the right arm, which was completely severed from its purple body, flinging off and spinning down the hallway, leaving a disgusting trail of blood and guts behind it.
Quinn was about to flee, but this alien’s reaction was different to the other two’s. Instead of doubling over in pain or flying backwards, he simply stared at Quinn with an annoyed look.
“You know it’s really annoying when people keep on doing that,” He said, shaking his head.
Quinn knotted his eyebrows together, wondering how on earth anyone could be so calm about losing an arm. Then he noticed something incredibly strange. The skin was already beginning to heal, covering up the wound completely. However, that wasn’t the end of the healing.
Slowly, a purple lump began to grow from the alien’s shoulder, slowly pushing out. It continued growing, getting longer and growing thicker. It didn’t take long before it sprouted a hand from the stump, fingers slowly shooting up.
Within an instant, the entire arm and hand had been healed, like Quinn had never even shot his arm off in the first place.
“It’s a helpful little process, it is,” The purple alien said, grinning at Quinn’s shocked look. The next thing he knew, he had been hit in the stomach by a terrible electric pain. The volts spanned out over his body as he writhed about. He fell to the floor, dropping the gun as he fell. His body convulsed in all sorts of weird shapes. The pain was terrible. Much worse than the shocker Laura had shot him with back on Krezar.
Eventually, the pain stopped. Quinn lay on the ground, his nerves somehow stunned from the shock. No matter how hard he tried to move, his nerves wouldn’t allow his body to budge. To his horror, the alien popped its head over Quinn’s, grinning evilly.
“Sweet dreams,” He said, before shooting Quinn again, causing him to pass out.
When Quinn came to, he felt himself being shaken awake.
“Oi! Wake up kiddo, the Captain wants to talk to ya.”
Quinn opened his eyes, his senses fully coming to as he did so.
His ears were met with the roar of cheers and jests. Quinn grimaced as he could feel again, his chest feeling awfully sore after being electrocuted twice in the stomach. Luckily, his muscles were working again, although he quickly discovered his wrists were bound together.
Quinn looked down. His wrists were cuffed together by two metal rings connected with a single blue line that seemed to be pure energy. Quinn tugged at the rings, but they wouldn’t come apart.
Quinn looked up and saw where he was.
He was on the deck of the pirate ship, which was full of cheering crew members. They were aliens of all different species, all different sizes, yet they all had one thing in common. Every single one of them seemed to be deformed almost, it seemed unnatural that they all looked like that. All their clothes were very old and dirty.
Above and around the ship was space, billions upon billions of stars twinkling. The scene would have been beautiful if it wasn’t being disturbed by dozens of pirates.
The sails were all huge. There were three of them, each a deep crimson colour. They all formed a hood like shape, yet with the opening of the hood facing the back of the ship.
The ship itself was made up of mainly wood and metals. Quinn guessed that behind him was some sort of Captain’s quarters alongside dozens of other rooms too.
Quinn could hear the thrusters, all working hard to keep the ship flying. They were under the ship and there was a huge wind turbine at the back of the ship which drove air into the sails, pushing them forward at incredible speeds. The speeds should have been impossible considering the size of the ship. The fact that it had managed to fit the entire Audion inside it with ease and lots more room to spare said something.
“Hey!” Said a voice close to Quinn’s face. The purple alien that had captured Quinn was in front of him, a grimace upon his face. “The Captain wants to talk to you, you’d better show him respect.”
Quinn was suddenly hoisted up into a standing position, where he stood awkwardly, looking around. He noticed that the weapon the purple alien was holding was Quinn’s own gun. The purple alien seemed to be rather happy about acquiring a new weapon.
Suddenly the entire crew went silent as if a mute button had been used on them. Their faces showed fear, yet excitement at the same time.
Quinn was spun around by someone and nearly froze at what he saw.
In front of him stood a huge man. He wore clothes that had straps all over them and pieces of metal that clinked together whenever he walked. Behind him trailed a big, black cloak, a black pointed hat on his head. In one hand he held a gun. In the other, he held a yellow rod which crackled with electricity.
On top of all that, he was a Cyborg.
Half of his face was robotic, one arm that of a robot. It also explained why when he stepped forward with his right foot, it made a much louder thud than when he stepped forward with his left foot.
“Who is this you have brought to me,” He said. His voice was full of authority. It was low and rather slow.
When no one answered, he said in an even quieter voice, “I asked you a question.”
The purple alien nudged Quinn, raising his eyebrows at the Captain of the ship.
“Oh,” Quinn said. “You were talking to me. My name is Quinn Fenton,” Quinn saw no reason to lie. He had no ties to anything or anyone in this time, apart from Morgan and Laura. Technically, he didn’t exist. Telling the truth wouldn’t hurt him nor anyone else.
“Quinn Fenton,” The Captain said as if he was testing the name almost. He looked at Quinn, his black eyes boring into Quinn’s soul. “And for what reason, Mr Fenton, are you out here all by yourself? You look quite young to be out here alone.”
“I’m merely a traveller,” Quinn replied, making a crude attempt to match the pirate Captain’s stoniness. “Not belonging anywhere, never trying to get anywhere in particular.”
“A traveller are you?” The Captain said, and a cold smile crept up upon his face. Quinn noticed his crew seemed to be bounding with excitement. “Travellers often hear lots of information, going from planet to planet, don’t they? Now tell me, Quinn Fenton,” The Captain leaned forward, putting his face right in front of Quinn’s. Quinn didn’t know what smell hit his nostrils, but it was disgusting. “What do you know of the Time and Space Protection Agency?”
Quinn’s surprise showed on his face, but he instantly tried to hide it. Confusion would be normal, but surprise? It hinted that there was a possibility that he knew of T.A.S.P.A. He had to admit, excitement bubbled up inside of him. Did these pirates know of the very people he was searching for? Had he found answers in one of the most dangerous situations of his life?
“So, you’ve heard of them,” The Captain said, grinning. He had obviously picked up on Quinn’s surprise. “What do you know about them?”
“Not much,” Quinn said. “I know that they have one purpose. To stop Agross. Other than that, I know nothing,” Quinn attempted to stare directly back into the Captain’s eyes. The Captain won, Quinn looking down at the deck.
“So,” The Captain said, stepping back from Quinn. “You know only as much as the others. Or you are only letting on that you know that much. Put him in the brig.”
Quinn felt his arms being grasped by two pirates who began to drag him forward. The pirate Captain turned and walked off to the front of the ship, whilst Quinn was dragged down a flight of stairs, so he wa
s below deck. He was dragged through hallways, through rooms and down more flights of stairs, only bumping into a few pirates along the way down.
They went so far into the ship, Quinn was sure they had reached the bottom. It made perfect sense as he was being taken to the place that held people no one wanted aboard the ship.
The two crew members opened a metal door, which led to a long room. On either side there was cell after cell after cell, dozens of them all lined up against each wall. The cells compromised of four-cylinder poles, each made of a strong metal. Once a prisoner was put inside, a blue force field, not unlike the one that kept Quinn’s wrists together, formed, making four complete walls.
Inside each cell were only a few things. A toilet, a sink and a very sorry excuse for a bed.
Some of the cells were filled, each of them holding their own prisoner. The prisoners were of all different species. None looked as if they had been trapped for very long.
“Have fun,” One of the aliens said to Quinn as they shoved him into a cell. They took his cuffs off and then stunned him with their guns as they got out of his cell and put up the force field. They took off out of the room, both laughing their heads off.
Quinn ran a hand through his hair, terrified and annoyed at himself at the same time. How was he so careless to have been caught by a band of pirates? And now what were they going to do, torture him for information on T.A.S.P.A he didn’t have? They might already have some information aboard the ship that they’d gotten out of other prisoners. What he had been searching for weeks was potentially in his grasp, yet he couldn’t go looking for it.
In pure desperation, Quinn pushed against the force field, trying to break it.
“You’ll never break that,” Said a voice to his right. Quinn looked across. In the cell next to him sat an elderly alien. She had light sagging skin with large, kind eyes. She was rather small and had long, grey silver hair protruding from her scalp.
“I know,” Quinn said, sighing, smiling lightly at the elderly alien. He sat down on the ground, back against the force field. “There’s got to be a way out of here,” He asked, desperate. “There has got to be some way out of this place.”
The elderly alien shook her head.
“No. They never let us out of our cells, never. Threw me and my family in here when we arrived. Haven't let us out since. That was over a week ago.”
Quinn sighed. There had to be some sort of way out. Nothing was impossible.
“What’s your name, dear,” The elderly alien asked. “I’m Gantal.”
“Quinn,” He replied, smiling softly, despite not feeling any need to inside. “What’s his name. The Captain’s.”
“I’ve heard it from the guards. They call him Captain Aboan. He is a cruel and terrible, terrible man,” Gantal replied. Quinn nodded in thanks. “What are you doing all alone? You look young.”
“To be honest I was looking for anything, absolutely anything I could find on T.A.S.P.A or Agross,” Gantal looked at Quinn with a bemused look. “And now they want me to give them information on the people who I’m looking for. Who are these people?” Quinn asked, staring at Gantal for answers. He knew that there was only a slim chance that she knew what was going on. “Where are they taking us?”
“Ah,” Gantal replied. “That, some of us do know,” She said slowly, Quinn now hanging onto every word that came out of her mouth. “We hear rumours among the crew when they come down here. Apparently, we’re being taken to Agross.”
Her words hit Quinn like a spaceship. He froze. His eye widened as he stared at her in shock, confused almost. They were being taken to Agross? Now? He could feel his heart rate speeding up. He wasn’t ready to face Agross yet. Not now, especially. He wanted to see Agross as a free man, not some prisoner.
“Why?” Quinn demanded. “Why are we being taken to Agross?”
Gantal shook her head.
“None of us know that.”
Quinn sighed, his mind only focusing on one thing. He had to escape.
THE TREASURE TROVE
Quinn wasn’t sure how long he was in the jail cell for, but he was certain that it was only a few hours at the very most. Most of the time inside the prison was spent without talking to the other prisoners. Occasionally a chat with Gantal and a few of the other prisoners would break this silence.
The prisoners had all entered a period of silence when the door at the end of the hallway burst open. There stood the purple alien who had captured Quinn. He strode in, along with another crew member, both armed with their shockers.
“Lucky day, Fenton,” The purple alien said, grinning as he strode up to Quinn’s cell. Quinn stood up to face him. “We’re letting you go.”
Quinn was taken back.
“What?” He asked, bemused. “You’re going to let me go, just like that?”
Both aliens laughed, turning to each other and laughed before laughing right in Quinn’s face.
“Naw, not really. But you’re coming with us to the deck,” The purple alien pressed some buttons on one of the four poles, entering a series of numbers that Quinn couldn’t see. Once he did, the force field vanished.
The other alien pointed his shocker at Quinn whilst the purple alien put the handcuffs around Quinn’s wrists, activating them and the blue energy line appeared. As they led Quinn out of the room, he looked back at Gantal, whose eyes simply bade him good luck.
They led Quinn up the exact same way that he had come down. Up the same stairs, through the same rooms. It wasn’t long before they opened a door and Quinn was back on the deck of the ship.
It was as if every single one of the crew members hadn’t moved since he was first brought to the deck a few hours ago. They all watched Quinn in anticipation, jeering and make an awful lot of noise, this seeming to be their signature move.
The crowd parted, and Quinn saw Captain Aboan standing close to the side of the ship, grinning coldly at him.
“Well, Quinn Fenton, we welcome you back to the deck,” Aboan said. At these words, the entire crew erupted into even more cheers, as if he had just told some highly amusing joke.
“What am I doing here?” Quinn asked, looking around for a reason why he might be needed on deck, but saw none.
“You, Quinn Fenton, seem to be useless to us,” Aboan said, smiling. “I see nothing, nothing at all inside of you that could possibly be anything worth to us, or to our employer.”
“Your employer?” Quinn said, smiling in an almost cruel way. “Who, Agross?”
It was like he had killed the entire crew with one word. Their jeers and cheers immediately stopped, their faces falling and staring at Quinn as if wondering how dare he utter the name. Captain Aboan’s expression had changed along with the rest of the crew. He stared at Quinn as the crew did.
“Quinn Fenton,” Aboan said, his voice a deadly whisper. “Where did you possibly hear a thing like that,” Quinn stared back at Aboan, attempting to be stoic. He made no attempt at answering, knowing very well that his answer could get Gantal into trouble.
“No?” Aboan asked. “No answer?” A smile slowly crept up onto his robotic face. “Well then, I guess we can begin. Quinn Fenton, today, you’ll be walking the plank.”
It was like he set off a bomb, the entire crew broke the silence that they had fallen into upon the mention of Agross. They began jeering and crying out again, laughing in pure excitement.
“What?” Quinn said, pure shock completely taking over him. “The plank? No, you’re kidding, you’re kidding!” Quinn said, staring in pure terror at the side of the ship. Aboan pulled a lever that was situated next to him and from the side of the ship a thick, metal board began to slide out. It continued to come out from the side of the ship until it dangled over the star-filled abyss that would only lead to death.
The crowd cheered as he was pushed towards the plank by the purple alien. He laughed hysterically as he pushed Quinn forward with a gun. Quinn turned around to try to push further back onto the deck and he saw that the gun
pushing him towards the plank was his own that had been stolen from him.
Slowly, and with much struggle, he was pushed out onto the plank. Quinn spun around to see the entire crew, every single one of them laughing at him.
“Now Quinn,” Aboan said in almost a friendly manner as if this was a pleasant business. “You’ll fall, and for a while, you will be fine. That is until you pass right through the oxygen field and then, well,” He shrugged, smiling dangerously. “I think you can guess what will happen next.”
Quinn looked down, seeing the universe below him like a black backdrop dotted with stars. His mind began ticking away, terrified. Trying desperately to come up with some plan to escape plan.
“We don’t usually do this,” Aboan said. “It just gets the crew in a better mood.” At this the crew erupted into even more cheers, all continuing to laugh their heads off. One of them, however, clearly being impatient, began to chant;
“Push him! Push him! Push him!”
Within a few seconds, the entire crew was cheering along creating a single, superfluous chant. Aboan simply laughed at this as well as Quinn’s obvious distress.
“Guys,” Quinn said, now begging, edging closer to the deck that he had been forced off. “This won’t be interesting, really, I’m telling you that. I’ll just fall and that’s not great entertainment!”
His pleas did nothing. Several crew members remarked how desperate his attempt to save himself was.
Quinn looked down, his mind going frantic, looking for some sort of escape route from his impending doom. As he searched, Quinn noticed that there were several thin pieces of metal on the side of the ship. Each went right around the side of the ship, all spaced equally down the side of the ship. About average head height above the pieces of metal were windows spaced out, presumably leading into a room. If somehow, Quinn could land on the closest piece of metal without falling off and then break through a window, then he could fight his way out. Hopefully.