by Lisa Lace
It was skin.
"Well, this is gross."
The semitransparent skin looked reptilian. Although science was never one of her best subjects, she was confident in asserting one particular fact. Whatever had shed the skin was enormous. She shook her head, tossing the twig to the corner. As with every clue that came her way, she was growing increasingly dumbfounded about her whereabouts.
What was more, she was usually an annoyingly light sleeper. She woke up multiple times every night to her sister Janine's tossing and turning. It still boggled her mind how she was able to sleep through the plane ride, boat voyage, or however they smuggled her to this godforsaken place.
"Okay, snap out of it," Eden reminded herself, consciously clearing her mind of all the questions pecking away at her.
She dropped to her knees and rifled through the tents, hoping to find a forgotten cell phone or tablet left behind by the drifters. Instead, she uncovered bags of trinkets and devices she'd never seen before, as well as more shed skin tucked away beneath the sheets. Her mouth dropped open, the worst of possibilities beginning to run through her mind. What if the drifters hadn't left the site, and a dangerous animal ate them? What if that thing decided to revisit the campsite?
Panicking, she quickly crawled out of the tent, coming face to boots with two thin, lanky men in oversized vests and fitted leggings. The shadows cast by one of the leafless trees behind them hid their faces. Overwhelmed with gratitude for any company, she quickly bounced up to her feet.
"Hey guys, I'm sorry to intrude," she said, raising her hands cautiously. "I wasn't trying to steal anything. I seem to be lost. Could you help a girl out?"
The men lowered their heads. They appeared to be listening to her but chose to remain silent.
"I know this is going to sound crazy, but could you tell me where we are? Do you even speak English?"
Eden was desperate, and she wasn't going to give up. She stepped forward and pretended she was using a phone. "Can I borrow one of your phones?"
Their features became distinct the closer she approached. To a distant eye, the men could pass for another pair of broke, slightly underfed transients drifting from city to city. A careful observer would realize they were not transients. Along with their greasy, grayish mops of hair, the cracked flesh of the humanoid creatures was sickly white. They looked like dropped porcelain dolls hastily glued back together. A marking of a red "U" intersected with two arrows facing up was on each of their foreheads.
"Sorry," Eden squeaked, edging away from them. "I'll just be on my way now. Please don't kill me."
They lunged at her. Eden managed to throw out her leg and hook onto one of their ankles, sweeping one of the attackers off of his feet. Attacking the one made her vulnerable to the other, who was now looking at her back. The one on his feet leered, snaking his hands under Eden's arms and hauling her to the ground. Rubbing his head, the fallen drifter regained his balance, wrapping her flailing legs in a tight, unbreakable grip.
"Let go of me!"
Eden's screams rang into the night, making the pulsating beat in her ears go into overdrive. Out of nowhere, a vicious hissing sounded next to her. The velvet bristles of Hercules' legs wrapped around each of her attackers. Stunned, the two instantly released Eden to deal with the new threat, dropping her carelessly onto the ground. Hercules' rock-solid grip had trapped the aliens. The growling Arachtera flung the men to the side and catapulted them high into the air.
"Hercules, good boy!" Eden gushed, stroking the creature's head as he nuzzled against her, cooing appreciatively.
"Is there a problem here?"
Thiago stalked towards her. As he bent forward, offering his hand, his hood fell onto his shoulders. Eden's pupils swelled. The knots in her chest unraveled as she gazed intensely at him. He was clean-shaven and appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with unusual patterns shaved into his bed of pale, platinum-blonde hair. She found it especially difficult to tear away from the surreal, steely blue stare of his eyes.
Two golden hoops on Thiago's cocked left eyebrow wiggled as he waved his hand in front of her face.
"Are you going take my hand or not?"
"Sorry," Eden muttered, grabbing his hand. She glanced up at Thiago fleetingly, who stood a head taller than her. She noticed a similar flesh-toned marking on his forehead as on her attackers. Thiago's mark was subtle. "What were those things?"
"Arkadians," Thiago replied curtly. Apparently he thought that would answer her question.
"Huh? Never mind. But listen. Thanks for coming after me. I guess we got off on the wrong foot."
"I told you to stay. You should have listened to me," said Thiago unpleasantly, strutting off in the opposite direction. "Humans."
"Don't give me the side-eye," Eden called after him, jogging to stay alongside Thiago as Hercules skipped next to the heated pair. "Could you blame me? I still have no idea where I am."
"Are all of you like this?"
"All of us? You mean, women?" Eden yelled, unable to contain herself. "What are we like exactly?"
"No. Humans. Are you all this ungrateful?"
"Wow," said Eden, clapping her hands dryly. "That's rich coming from someone who took an abducted victim."
"You know what?"
"No, I don't know what."
Thiago reached into his cloak and pulled out a device, whispering a few words into it. Eden's words cut short as the ground vibrated underneath them. Thiago's spaceship maneuvered to them on auto-pilot. As wind came from the engine, blowing the hair out of Eden's face, not a single sound escaped her mouth. The ship made a shaky landing as it lowered itself to the ground, landing a few feet away from them.
"I saved you." Thiago shook his head. "Why don't I just show you?"
Petrified but intrigued, Eden followed him, tentatively boarding the spaceship.
Thiago set coordinates for the nearest city. Eden sat shotgun next to Thiago as Hercules entertained himself in the back with his scratching post. She appeared tense. Her back was rigidly placed an inch away from the triangular end of her chair. Her fingers unconsciously drummed along her thighs.
"What are we doing?"
"I'm proving my point," Thiago replied. He reached over his control panel to lower the shields on the window from the passenger's side. "Go ahead. Look for yourself."
"No way," Eden whispered. Her breath fogged up the glass as she peered through the window. "This can't be real."
Thiago steered the spaceship with double-pronged controls, smoothly coasting past buildings and infrastructure set on multiple levels of the city. Eden was amazed to see robust, circular tubes crisscrossing elevated pods like interlinking elevators. She gasped, pointing her finger at a group of blue-skinned creatures in formal suits moving up a pipe, separating at an intersection and disembarking into different pods. Spotting a family of big creatures with chubby, humanoid torsos and six tentacles, she squealed.
"What did I tell you?" asked Thiago softly, clicking his tongue as he looked out his side of the window.
"They're adorable!"
Thiago followed her line of vision and shook his head. "No, not those weirdos." The craft jerked sideways, flying over an exceptionally busy pod that featured tall casino towers and gambling stations. He pulled down a lever to enlarge the view through their primary window. Thiago leaned back in his seat as he folded his arms across his chest.
"Those weirdos."
As she watched, Eden could feel the blood in her veins grow cold. Creatures wearing expensive clothing and glittering jewels swarmed in and out of the pod. Although dolled-up alien partners accompanied a few, most were dragging scantily-clad human women with leashes hooked onto their shock collars. The women seemed well-fed and had faces donned with glittery, colorful make-up and hair pulled back in elaborate up-dos, but misery was written all over their vapid expressions.
"To my knowledge, there's no return trip to Earth. Have you finally gotten it through that thick human skull of yours?"
Th
iago paused, his face softening abruptly as his eyes rested on the passenger next to him. Her head was hung low. Her large, mossy-green eyes glistened as they welled with tears. Deliberately blinking to keep them from falling, she turned away from the alien. She chose instead to look out her side of the window with her chin cupped in her hands.
Thiago cringed, feeling a sharp pulse on his forehead. The self-righteous, superior feeling of being correct quickly subsided as he pulled back the throttle and flew them out of the city.
Chapter 5
"Eden."
"What?"
"Get up."
"No."
Thiago grunted, shutting his eyes and reminding himself to tread lightly. He cracked his neck from side to side, still sore from spending a night in the pilot seat. After getting a wrapped package from his closet, he crossed over to where Eden was sleeping. Still dressed in her sweaty tank top and muddied jeans, she was lounging on his bed with her face buried in his pillows and her hands hanging off each side of the mattress. He placed the package next to her and awkwardly nudged her with his foot as if he were afraid of angering a wild beast.
"I didn't think you'd like the outfits TerraMates left you with, so I had something ordered before you arrived. You can wash off in the room next to you. Everything's labeled. If it's any consolation, I confirmed they sent the credits promised in your contract to your father's bank account. I can pull up the transaction for you later if you want. If you need anything else, I'll be in the cockpit."
Eden rose from the pillows. Her mouth stretched out in a wide yawn as Thiago headed down the steps and into the control room. Peeking over the railing, she saw Hercules by his scratching pole, his mouth smeared with blue juice as he slurped up a fruit. As she yanked over the package grumpily, she suddenly rubbed her stomach, blushing as it spewed inhuman noises announcing its neglect to anyone who would listen.
She grabbed a flask Thiago had thoughtfully put on the nightstand next to her. Drinking the contents to moisten her dry throat, she tore the package open, the tips of her toes curling in anticipation.
She pulled out three sets of clothes, noting with a sigh that there were a lot of jumpsuits on this planet. Chewing on her lip, she slipped on one of the coats. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise as the fabric became thinner than before. It was automatically adjusting to the temperature around her.
She felt happier as she vetted each article of clothing. Although it wasn't her usual style, it certainly wasn't anything close to the metal bikinis she had imagined. Still, it was too soon to tell Thiago's intentions. She wouldn't be letting her guard down.
Opting for one of the onyx-black jumpsuits, she headed into the bathroom.
* * *
"What's the name of this planet again?"
Thiago glanced over his shoulder. Eden was sliding into the cockpit. Fresh from the shower, her damp hair hung limply around her shoulders, still dripping lightly on the ends as she sat in the swiveling passenger's seat. Thiago reached for a peeled pomado fruit, tossing the neon-red, cube-shaped plant onto her lap.
"HT-007."
"That's a terribly ugly name." Eden crinkled her nose, sniffing the pomado. She bit into the fruit and nearly gagged at the unexpectedly bitter tang of the juices. Her face severely puckered, she exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure fruit's not supposed to taste like old diapers. What is it? Do people eat it?"
"Those are pomados. They're an acquired taste, but they'll fill you up nicely."
"Don't you have anything else around here that's edible? What I wouldn't give for some of my Dad's amazing mac-and-cheese right now."
"What's a mac-and-cheese?"
"It's one of the most significant culinary discoveries in America and on Earth. They're macaroni shells baked with thick, gooey cheese. Dad would cut up little hot dogs..."
"I have no idea what any of that is, but it all sounds revolting."
"Well, what would you know about it?"
"We're not scheduled to stop for another couple of hours," Thiago replied coolly, steering left on his controls. He popped open a compartment under the control panel and removed a large syringe with a thick needle. "I think I've got a few supplement packs somewhere around here. If you inject vitamins into your system, it should keep you going for at least a day."
"You've got to be kidding me. I'm not going to inject my food." Eden muttered under her breath and took another painful bite of the pomado. With Thiago's straight-faced, casual figure lingering in the corner of her eye, she couldn't keep the question that had been on her mind all night bottled in any longer.
"What are you, exactly?"
He grinned. "I'm half-Arkadian, half-human. Father and mother, respectively."
"Uh-huh," said Eden slowly. She tapped on her chin inquisitively. "Sorry, this is all a lot for me to process. I mean, on Earth we're still excited about finding liquid water on Mars. We're also in the grieving process for Pluto, which is no longer a planet."
"I'm impressed with your technological sophistication. Your Earthling governments must be doing a terrific job keeping you ignorant lot in the dark."
"Well, go ahead and enlighten me. What's going on here?"
Denying the pure enthusiasm coming from Eden was difficult. Thiago shifted in his seat and decided to start from the beginning.
"Over three hundred years ago, a group of Arkadian explorers stumbled onto this planet. Back then, the land was incredibly rich and fertile, and it contained massive mineral supplies of raw puranium. That's what we use in power plants and for fueling our shuttles and spaceships. A puranium rush took over the planet. Different alien colonies came in to get a piece of the puranium surplus. After a century, the minerals were bled dry, but more and more families remained to build communities. And here we are today."
"Fascinating," said Eden quietly, her brows knitted in thought. "Hang on a second. What did you mean when you said our governments were keeping us ignorant?"
"I cannot say with any certainty they have anything to do with TerraMates, but there's been intergalactic peace conferences with a few Earth representatives present."
"How many agencies are there, exactly?" asked Eden, her mouth going dry at the thought of all the helpless women smuggled to space over the years.
"Last I heard, TerraMates had over forty branches Earth-wide. I don't know how many of them work directly with the Noxx, but the branch that processed you certainly does."
"And who are the Noxx?"
Thiago motioned to the right, glancing out the windshield. He had suspended the craft about twenty feet above the docking station of a city. In broad daylight, the city was teeming with life. People moved around malls, office buildings, and various restaurants.
The lively atmosphere quickly changed as large spacecraft resembling army tanks hovered into view. Their ships, equipped with barbs, spikes, and rusted missile launchers, cast terrorizing shadows over the community before landing in front of the storefronts. Noxx officials climbed out of the ships, dressed in identical silver uniforms and armed with menacing weaponry strapped to their backs. Eden was appalled as she observed civilians fleeing away from the soldiers storming into the buildings. Hoping to prevent of a repeat of Eden's panic last night, Thiago flew away before the scene could get any uglier.
"They're the most notorious group of underground criminals on the planet. Their leader is Malatov, a demented dictator who controls most significant illegal operations on HT-007. Being born Noxx is a double-edged sword. You're practically untouchable by the law, but those that refuse to do Malatov's bidding and try to escape never make it far. They're very efficient."
"You sure know a lot about this stuff. Do you work for the police or something?"
"Hardly," Thiago laughed darkly. "I guess you could say I'm an independent contractor of sorts. There's a few of us out there. Some choose to work in groups, but I'm a solitary bounty hunter. Governments post notices about the large-scale criminals on the run they want to capture. I haul them in and collect the reward money
."
"Well, that explains the aisle of weaponry you have going on back there. I'm slightly relieved. I mean, it sounds interesting," said Eden earnestly. She sighed, her shoulders sagging. "Listen, I'm still not sure what it is you want out of me. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm not exactly wealthy."
"No, you're poor. Judging by the state of your clothes, lack of jewelry, and your decision to step foot in TerraMates, I gathered as much."
"Wow, okay," said Eden, amused. "I guess you were born without a filter too, huh? Do you say everything that pops into your head?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," said Thiago, genuinely confused. "Why wouldn't I?"
"So you don't hurt other people, for one thing. Whoa. What's that?"
Eden gaped at the massive cemetery to their right. The land seemed to stretch on forever. It had many mounds of grass and simple gravestones. The majority were unmarked. Thiago didn't bat an eye and kept his eyes fixed straight out the window.
"It's the Land of the Fallen. It's an old graveyard. Most of the inhabitants are Noxx victims."
"It looks beautiful from up here," Eden whispered, without thinking through the connotations. Thiago wasn't the only one on the spaceship with filter issues. "Have you ever been there?"
"I visit the graves of my parents whenever possible."
"I'm sorry," said Eden in a hushed voice
"Why are you sorry? You didn't kill them. They were civilian casualties of a rogue bombing during a Noxx territory conflict war two decades ago."
Thiago could feel the marking on his forehead beginning to pound. It physically ached with the memories of his parents. He had intentionally pushed them aside to the corner of his mind for years. For the first time in ages, he could hear the throaty timbre of his father's laughter. He felt a fleeting sensation against a spot on his cheek his mother used to touch after he had played around in the dirt for hours.