by Maia Starr
“This one got lost. Open the door,” the cyborg said.
The guard opened the door and pushed me in. I could hear the door close and lock behind me. I walked into the room, and the girls were there. They stood up and their mouths fell open. I put my finger to my mouth so that they wouldn't start shouting in surprise. It didn't want to alert the guard to anything unusual. I quickly ran to them and whispered. “Stay quiet. I am so glad to see you guys.”
“Emma. We thought you were dead. Oh my God, we are so glad to see you,” Sarah said giving me a hug.
“What happened to you?” Amber said giving me hug.
“I’m so happy to see you,” Diana said.
I gave them all hugs. We were all in tears. They were all there, except for one. As I looked around, I realized that someone was missing.
“Where is Veronica?” I asked. They all looked at each other. “What? What is it? Tell me,” I said.
“Veronica has been taken by the leader. She comes back and forth between him and us. He has taken her as his favorite,” Diana said.
“The leader they call K8L? I asked.
“No. Something happened to that leader, and now K2Q is in charge. He is the new leader.”
A chill ran over my body. My blood group cold. K2Q was here, and not only was he here, but he was also in charge of all of these cyborgs. He would soon find out that I was here, and he would punish me. He would be brutal. I couldn't think about it. We had to get out of there.
“We will get her back. Listen, I did not come alone. I came here to get you guys out. I wasn't captured; I came here with a Kynon alien, the one that took us from Earth. He is going to help us escape.
Chapter Twelve
Elonu Fiul
I knew that what we were doing was completely insane. The city was massive, and it was full of cyborgs. But we were in too deep to stop. I relied on the cover of darkness and doing it quietly in order to get in and out unnoticed. But how could we possibly find the human females in such a large city? Emma had a good idea, which was to go find the leader, probably in the best-looking building within the city. So we made a play for a building, but along the way, something horrible happened: I lost her. I was sliding across the wall hunting down with my blaster in my hands. We were inching our way toward the target building. I looked over my shoulder to tell her to stop, but when I looked back, she wasn't there.
“Emma,” I whispered. She didn't answer. I called for her again. She didn't answer. “Shit.”
I felt a wave of panic come over me. I couldn’t lose her. She was my everything. I felt rage growing as I thought about the possibility that a cyborg may have found her. No, I couldn’t let that happen to her. I didn’t know what they did to the human females, but I knew that it wasn’t good.
I backtracked my steps, looking for her. She had just vanished. I didn't hear any commotion around me; if she had been taken, she didn't bother to scream. What the hell had happened? I looked everywhere for her, retracing my steps. Then I remembered the communication cuff I gave her. I looked at mine and turned it on. I didn't want to attract any attention from the cyborgs, but if she was calling me, then I needed to hear her. I waited. Where could she have gone? I was ready to just go in guns blazing and shoot every single one of these cyborgs just to find her. I couldn't lose her. Being without her was something that I could not handle. I was cursing myself for bringing her along; I knew that I should have left her with the fleet. If anyone hurt her or harmed her, I would have to kill them. I looked around for a good five minutes and became more and more frantic. I didn’t understand how she could have got away from me.
“Elonu,” I heard her whisper. It was coming from the cuff. I squatted down behind a wall and lowered the volume.
“Emma? Where are you? Are you safe?” I whispered.
“I am safe. I am with the women. Listen closely and I will tell you where we are. I am in a tall building with two towers. It is made of a pink concrete, a light pink. It is a massive ornate building. We are on the fifth floor; when you get to the top of the stairs, go left. We are in a door at the end of the hall on the right. There is a guard posted outside the door. There is a guard at the main entrance of the building. You might run into a few up and down the stairs,” she said.
I was impressed. I looked for a building with two towers. I could see it. But how the hell had she gotten there so fast? I would have to save those questions for later.
“I see it. I see the building; I am coming,” I said.
“Be safe,” she said.
I started to make my way quietly toward the building with the two towers.
“Elonu, come in,” I heard over the communication cuff. I knew the voice well. It was Captain Qinov. Shit. But how were they communicating over the cuff? You had to be in close range to do that. I looked off into the distance and could see the lights of the fleet coming toward the city. I smiled.
“I am here, Captain. I am headed toward the building with the two towers; that is where the human females are being kept. I could use a little distraction,” I said.
“Damn it, Elonu. You are reckless,” he said.
Then it was quiet. I didn’t know what was going to happen. Then he finally said, “Cover coming right up. Get in there and get them. A transport will hover on the roof,” he said.
“Yes, Captain,” I said.
Boom! Suddenly missile fire shot from the fleet hitting the outskirts of the city. Then another and another, around the outside of the city as the fleet came toward me. Commotion erupted all around the city. This was the cover that I needed. I ran full speed toward the pink tower. I didn't bother with the front door as the guard was occupied looking at the explosions going on. I jumped into a window; the room was empty. I ran out of it and ran straight towards the stairs. I ran up and was greeted by a cyborg coming down.
“How did you get in here?”
I didn’t give him an answer. Instead, I started firing my gun in the direction of his neck, he came tumbling on top of me. We rolled down the stairs together wrestling. He punched me, and I punched him back. I pulled a knife from my boot and stuck it in the side of his neck. His body went limp. I pushed him off of me. I got up and ran up the stairs again getting to the fifth floor. I followed the directions, going left. There was a guard, but his back was turned as he was leaning out the window at the end of the hallway. I quietly made my way toward him. I quickly pushed my knife into his neck. He went limp. I could hear the battle going on outside. It was full-on chaos.
“Emma! I’m here! I’m kicking open the door! Stand back!” I shouted. Then I kicked the door open. There were six frightened humans huddled on a bed.
“Emma!” I shouted. I looked around the room. She wasn't in the room. The other human females were though; I had the right room.
“Where is she? Where is Emma?” I said shouting over the bombs explosions and blaster guns firing outside.
“He took her,” one of the girls said.
Rage built up inside of me. Who the hell took her? Whoever it was, I was going to kill him. Hearing those words stirred something inside of me. “Who? Who took her? Where”
“K2Q, the leader. He took her only minutes ago,” a human said.
“Help! Elonu!” I heard a distant scream. I knew it was her. I ran to the window and looked out of the tower. Below, I could see Emma. She was being yanked by the arm by a cyborg across the courtyard. I snarled.
“Come! I need to get you to the roof! You will be picked up by a ship!” I shouted. “Follow me!”
I ran out of the room, looking over my shoulder to make sure they were following. They all ran after me. I got to the staircase and ran up the stairs one more flight; there was a cyborg there.
“Stop!” he shouted. I shot at him. He aimed his gun at me, and I pushed it out of the way just in time. It's shot at the wall. The human females screamed and ducked. I fought with the cyborg; he was very strong, even for me.
“Get to the roof!” I shouted to the humans.
“Come on, let’s go!” one of them shouted and led the way.
I finally got close enough to use my knife on the cyborg. I stuck it in his neck, and he fell to the ground. I ran up the stairs to find the girls struggling to open the door.
“Stand back!” I shouted. I kicked open the door. We all ran onto the roof. I pressed my cuff.
“The humans are on the roof of the two towers building awaiting transport,” I said.
I saw a ship coming toward us.
“Get on the ship. I have to get Emma!” I said to them. I didn’t wait for the ship to arrive. I went to the edge of the roof and looked down. I could see Emma being pulled by the cyborg. There was a long wire leading from the tower down to the plaza. I grabbed it and jumped off the roof. I slid all the way down the wire until I rolled onto the plaza ground and sprang to my feet. I ran fast and hard.
The plaza was filled with Kynon soldiers and cyborgs fighting. I had to admit that the captain really came through. There was a real battle going on. I ran through the gunfire whizzing by me. I had to get to her. I had to get to Emma.
Chapter Thirteen
Emma Garrett
I remembered the communication cuff hidden in my boot. I pulled it out after telling the girls that we would be getting out of there together. I knew that Elonu would be very pissed off, but I would have to deal with that later. I used the cuff in called his name. I gave him the information that he needed to find us. Then I put the cuff back into my boot.
“Who was that?” Diana asked.
“That is Elonu. He is one of the blue aliens that took us from Earth. He is the one that found me when I escaped from K2Q. He has been kind. The rest of the fleet is here on the planet, the Kynon Fleet. They will help us. Just be patient,” I said squeezing her hand.
Then I heard the noise of someone coming down the hall. I knew that it couldn't be Elonu. It had not been enough time. I could hear the sound of chrome hitting the floor. I knew that it was cyborgs. The door unlocked, and a cyborg guard walked in, followed by K2Q. My heart dropped to my stomach. I began to panic and breathe heavily. Hurry, Elonu, please hurry, I thought to myself.
“Well, look who has returned. When I heard the news that a human female was taken to this room saying she was lost, I knew that it had to be a mistake. But now I see that you have returned. How did you get here? Have you been wandering through the desert this whole time?” he said as he grabbed Veronica from the hallway and pushed her in. Diana grabbed her and consoled her. I knew that look that Veronica had on her face. I felt guilty. If I had been there, then he wouldn't have been using her. He wouldn't have broken her the way he broke me. I should have been there to take the pain for her.
“There is no need to tell me your story. I don't care. You are here now; now I can exchange you for that one. She has been a bore. Not as good as you. Grab her,” K2Q said to the guard. The guard wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me from the girls. The girls shouted after me.
“It's going to be okay,” I nodded to them.
K2Q just laughed. He walked out of the room and the guard pushed me out. He locked the door. Then K2Q grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hallway. I was expecting Elonu to appear at the top of the stairs at any moment. But it didn't happen. K2Q pulled me down the stairs and out a back door. I was looking around looking for Elonu.
“We have a lot of catching up to do, Emma,” he said as he led me across the plaza of the city.
“No, we don’t. You are not going to touch me every again K2Q!” I spat at him.
He laughed. “There it is. There is the fire that I like. I missed that,” he said.
Boom!
I was startled and dropped to the ground as the loud explosion echoed through the city.
“What the fuck?” K2Q said squatting down next to me. Then another explosion went off, and another. They were on the outside of the city. It was terrifying.
“Sir! We are under attack by a fleet! It is an unidentified fleet!” a cyborg said running over to us.
“Shit. Man all ships. Get the fleet in the air. Prepare for ground battle! Go give the orders!” K2Q shouted.
“Yes, sir!” the cyborg shouted.
I smiled. I knew what this meant. It was the Kynon fleet. We were saved.
“Come. This may be our last chance,” K2Q said as he yanked me up to my feet.
“What?” I shouted. I was confused. I thought he would order me to be taken back to the tower while he dealt with this invasion. But he didn’t. He was still going to go through with violating me.
“Help! Elonu!” I shouted as I tried to twist out of his hand. There were loud explosions going on around us, and I didn’t know if I would be heard.
“Shut up!” K2Q shouted and continued to drag me. “I’m taking you to my bed. I will have you one last time. I don’t care if this invasion is going on.”
“You are insane! We are going to be shot!” I shouted.
K2Q pushed on the door. It didn’t open. “Shit. The auto locks. It happens in times of battle,” he said to himself.
Suddenly I could hear Kynon troops hitting the ground as they got out of the ships and started the ground battle. It was so loud.
“If I can’t take you in my bed, then I will do it wherever I can,” K2Q shouted as he pulled me.
“No! Let me go! I hate you!” I shouted. He pulled me into an alley between two tall buildings. It was dark and sheltered from the battle going on. He grabbed me and pushed my face against the wall.
“No! Stop! Help!” I shouted trying to get free. He ripped at the back of the dress I wore, and I was very glad to be wearing the Kynon pantsuit that I had fabricated.
“Take this off!” he shouted in frustration. I remembered the knife in my boot. If only I could get to it, but he was so strong. He pressed on my back, pressing me against the wall.
“Let her go!” I heard a deep familiar voice say.
Then I felt the pressure release from my back. I looked to see Elonu pulling K2Q away from me. I was so relieved to see him that tears poured down my cheeks.
“Elonu…” I whispered.
But there was no time to savor it because they immediately started fighting. K2Q punched Elonu hard in the gut with his chrome-covered hand. Elonu doubled over, letting out a grunt. I screamed. Then Elonu punched K2Q in the face with an uppercut as he came up, but I only heard the sound of bone hitting metal and Elonu crying out in pain. K2Q laughed at him. Elonu rushed him and knocked him off his feet. They rolled from side to side, hitting and punching in the long alleyway, bouncing off the walls. I didn’t know what to do.
Then they rolled toward me, toward my feet. Elonu looked at my boot and looked at me. I knew what he was thinking. I pushed my foot toward him. In a quick movement, he pulled the knife from my boot and stuck it in the side of K2Q’s neck.
K2Q went limp. I could hear the circuits dying inside of him. Then he was gone. Elonu stood up.
“Are you hurt? What did he do to you? Did he—”
“No, you got here just in time,” I said as I hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”
“The fucker. When I saw him touching you like that, I lost it,” he said. Then he kicked the dead cyborg. I could see the rage in Elonu’s face.
“The girls. We have to get to them and—”
“They are safe. They are already on a transport. I made sure of it. Come, we need to get out of here,” he said grabbing the knife in one hand and his gun in the other. “Grab my arm and don’t let go. We are going back to the two towers building. We need to get to the roof,” he said. He placed a kiss on my cheek and gave me a look: a look filled with love. But could I dare to hope that was what it was?
“Go,” he said. Then he ran out of the alley with me holding onto his arm and shielding myself behind his strong back. I watched as Elonu shot at cyborgs in the distance. He fought his way across the wide-open plaza as I ran behind him.
“Hold on, Emma! Hold on! Don’t you let go!” he shouted over and
over at me. This brave alien warrior. He was my hero. He had rescued me over and over again. He had gone behind his captain’s back for me. He had thrown himself into a cyborg city just because he didn’t want to break his promise to me to rescue my friends. Then he saved me from the evil of K2Q and got rid of him forever. He had done so much for me, and now at this moment, he was using his body to shield me from death and battle. Damn, he was brave. I wanted him. I needed him. He was everything to me. How could I live without him now?