by Maia Starr
I walked cautiously forward, gripping my piece of metal tightly in my hand. If nothing else, I would be able to protect myself at least a little bit.
“Come forward, child,” a deep, spooky voice rang out to me.
Fear curdled in my chest, but I couldn’t help but do as the voice commanded. It wasn’t that it seemed unfriendly, but it was definitely something that I hadn’t expected. I knew that wasn’t the voice of a Raither or a Bardan, and I was worried that maybe I was being tricked. Still, I couldn’t seem to stop myself from following the strange voice.
“You are a human,” the voice said. I looked around, frowning. At first, I didn’t see anybody, even though the area was lit up. And then I saw what appeared to be a speaking rock. It had soulful eyes and a serious disposition, and on its chest was a small fixture that put out light in front of it, wherever it turned.
“Yes, but I’m afraid I don’t know what you are.”
“Oh, I am a native of this planet. One of only a few of the ancients that are left. We keep to the underground, but I found this tunnel curious, so I thought I would explore. Where have you come from?”
I really didn’t want to trust this creature, and yet some part of me was compelled to step forward.
“I have been wrongfully imprisoned, and now I am in great danger,” I said, taking the greatest chance I had ever taken. “Can you help me?”
“My name all is Shen,” the creature said with a gentle bow. “And I am at your service.”
Chapter 7
Captain Zern Krechan
I was getting tired of these dark rooms in Parra’s prison. Everything about it was making me feel agitated and restless. I wanted to fight, and yet, I knew that I was at a disadvantage. How was I supposed to get out of this without some sort of miracle? Being trapped infuriated me.
“Zern, are you in there?”
And now I was hallucinating too. That was just great.
“Answer me if you are, or we are going to leave you here.”
I sat up and went to the door, now fully aware of Lila standing outside. She had been consuming my thoughts all this time, and I was unbelievably glad to know that she was all right.
“I’m here, but you should be getting yourself out of this place. It’s dangerous.”
“He’s in there,” Lila said, completely ignoring everything I said. In a few short moments, the doorway to my small cell had been forced open, and Lila was standing outside the room, smiling at me. “This is Shen. Shen, this is Zern. Now we have to get out of here. They will be back anytime now.”
I was shocked to encounter my very first Olpa. The Olpa were an ancient race, thought to be extinct by most in the universe. They had been rumored to live in the center of many planets, much like the magma worms. The difference was that they were a peaceful and wise species, who kept to themselves and remained neutral in all affairs unless personally affected. Apparently, Parra’s vast tunnel system was starting to affect them. It was the first glimmer of hope that I had had for quite a while.
“There is no time for formalities,” I said. “We need to find our way out of here. Olpa, can you show us the way?”
The Olpa nodded. “There is a way out of this labyrinth. But you will have to go it yourself. We do not see the light of day and avoid easy detection. It was by chance that the human found me. Come and follow; I can take you to a safer place.”
We followed the large creature silently as he led the way. He seemed disgusted by the place. And I couldn’t blame him. Although it was somewhat impressive for Parra to have figured out a way to utilize the planet this way, apparently it was interfering with everything that the Olpa stood for.
When he stopped suddenly and then hefted a huge boulder out of the wall, Lila and I were both shocked. It was a tunnel that glittered with beautiful minerals. The Bardans and the Raithers clearly had not created it.
“I will take you as far as the fork, but I cannot travel into the light. It is forbidden.”
Shen moved forward laboriously until we came upon the area that he had been speaking about.
“I trust the two of you can take it from here,” he said. “Safe travels.”
And with that, he left us staring at him as he disappeared into the darkness.
***
“You really shouldn’t have come back for me, you know. He could have taken you here without me.”
The human looked hurt by my accusing tone, and I sighed, softening my features as much as I could. Still, I was angry. All I wanted to do was ensure her safety. Why did she keep risking her neck for me?
“I don’t care what he could do. I’m not leaving without you. What would the point be?”
“Maybe the point would be to make sure that you are safe. What happens to me does not matter. You should take care of yourself and yourself alone.”
“What, like you do?” Lila asked, raising her brow at me. “You do a really good job of practicing what you preach. No, and let’s get the hell out of here. We don’t need to be fighting about this. It’s stupid. Both of us are just going to keep doing whatever we want to do, and that’s the end of that.”
I sighed but nodded curtly. We were just wasting time bickering like this. If we spoke too loudly, it was possible that we would be overheard by the Raithers or the Bardans. It was lucky that they were so few in number and so busy attempting to make their plans work out that they had nobody to guard any of the prisoners.
And yet, I could not shake the feeling that there was still danger. I could not place it, but it was there nonetheless.
“There,” Lila exclaimed, pointing ahead. “I see the sky. We’re almost out of here. Come on!”
I couldn’t help but be affected by her enthusiasm, and we ran forward without caution, eager to finally escape this hellish underground tunnel.
But as soon as we emerged, smiling and laughing and sucking in deep, gratifying breath of fresh air, somebody stepped out in front of us and cast a shadow over our happiness.
“Well, look at that. So the Olpa found you, did they? I was going to let them live, but now, those pesky little rocks are going to regret ever having interfered.”
I glared up at Parra, who was standing beside his entire army. And although they were few in number, we were surrounded. It seemed hopeless.
“Go back in the tunnel, human,” I shouted. “And stay there until I call you. Now!”
I was relieved when, for once, the human actually listened to me without a complaint and disappeared into the tunnel.
I didn’t wait for any more formalities and immediately began my attack. I grabbed a Bardan and held him in front of me as the others began to fire. He acted as my shield, crying out in pain as the pellets struck him. I managed to grab the gun out of his holster and fire at the enemy shooting at me, aiming for their eyes. Cries of agony filled the air as the Bardans dropped their weapons and I continued onward, taking out everybody but the three Raithers, who were already aware of my strategy and preparing themselves to retaliate.
I was attacked by the first group of two Raithers, who came at me, one from in front and one from behind. I thrust the body of the Bardan at the Raither in front of me, and they both fell to the ground. I quickly shot the Raither in the head and whipped around just in time to get a hard punch to the face. I stumbled backward as I was struck by the Raither’s bullet and then quickly dodged another blow. I wrenched the gun away from him and caught him with a bullet to the throat. He began to gargle in pain and dropped to the ground.
Parra watched the whole event with interest, smirking the entire time. He didn’t seem too keen on helping his comrades, and a surge of fury washed over me. Why would a man like this have so many followers? It made no sense.
“And you wonder why I was hoping to recruit you,” Parra said, shaking his head approvingly. “Well done. Now let’s see how you do up against a real fighter.”
I was suddenly on the ground with the wind knocked out of me. The gun that I had managed to grab from my en
emy was flung for my hand, and I was left defenseless. Parra’s attack had been impossible to detect, and part of me was holding myself back. All those years I had been vowing to myself that if I ever encountered Parra again, I would apologize for our past misdeeds and try to find some peace. But peace was no longer an option. I had to protect the human. There was no other choice.
A deep growl began to rise in my throat, and I got back to my feet, taking the knife from my belt. Parra’s eyes grew wide. Apparently, he recognized it.
“I’ve been looking for that,” he said, lunging toward me.
I managed to slice him in the legs as I dodged his attack, and I was hit once again with another hard blow. He grabbed the gun out of his holster and shot at me, and I cried out in rage and pain. It had struck my shoulder, but I managed to keep a firm grip on the knife. I switched it to my other hand just as he was coming in for one more attack, and plunged it deep into his chest.
“Zern…”
He gasped in pain and crumpled to the ground, and I closed my eyes, plunging the knife into his back one last time. He collapsed, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was never going to deal with him again.
I ran back into the cavern, my eyes searching wildly for Lila. We had to get out of there. There was nothing left for us.
“Lila, come on,” I hissed. She stepped out of the shadows, her beautiful face racked with concern and fear.
“I had no idea what was going to happen,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m so glad that you’re all right.”
“Yes, but it is time for us to get out of here. Come, we have to go back to the ship now. I have to call the others for help, otherwise, we will be trapped on this insidious planet forever.”
Lila’s eyes grew wide, and I took her into my arms, consoling her with a brief hug. “We cannot waste any more time here. It is time to leave.”
Lila nodded, and we left the underground prison, leaving all memories of the tormented and corrupt species behind us.
Chapter 8
Dr. Lila Andrews
We ran as quickly as we could to the ship, both of us instinctively knowing exactly where to go, despite our toils. When we arrived, Zern raised his arm to his lips and attempted communication with his ship. All that happened was a strange mechanical gurgling noise, and I sighed, taking his arm in mine and pulling the mechanical cuff toward me.
“Let me fix it,” I grumbled, messing with it quickly until the static noise became clear again. “There. Try it now.”
He looked at me as if I were from another planet, which made me chuckle to myself.
“Therna 68, do you copy?”
“Commander Zern? We thought you were dead! Where have you been?”
“I ran into some trouble, but everything is fine now. We can proceed with the mission. The sooner, the better. And I have a human that requires transport.”
“We can’t transport a human. And we were already given orders to return to the planet Yala. I don’t know what to tell you. You are just going to have to protect the ship until we return as your duty to the Raithers.”
“I really hope that you are joking right now,” Zern said, his voice a low growl. I watched him as his handsome features turned fierce, and I felt a sudden pang of admiration and respect for him, despite how fearful he could appear. “I require transport, and I require it immediately. Send someone back to Hexa so that I can go home. I don’t belong here. I am not a prisoner.”
“Be that as it may, I do not follow your orders. I have to follow the orders of the Resha Federation. And you know how slowly they operate. You might as well get comfortable there for a while. I mean, we can keep in touch, and we will definitely try to figure something out, but I can’t help you. Only they can.”
Zern growled in rage and tore the communication device off of his wrist and slammed it into the ground.
“Hey, careful with that. I just fixed it,” I said rushing to it and cradling it in my hands. “You never know when we might need it.”
“Human, we are never going to need it. Because you are going to fix the engine of the ship, and we are getting the gred off of this planet for good.”
“What are you saying?” I asked, my heart thudding dully in my chest. I could scarcely believe what I was hearing. “Are you going to get in trouble on your planet if you do that?”
“No, because I am not going back to my planet. We are going to Earth. Now come on and get that engine working. I refuse to be aligned with the Raithers any longer. Please, human. Take me to your planet.”
“Do you really mean that?” I asked, my voice hushed. It was almost too good to be true. But somehow, I knew that he was telling the truth. “You want me to go to Earth?”
“I want you to go to Earth. I want us to have a chance in a new place, away from all of this. You can do it, can’t you? You can fix the engine?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice. “I can definitely fix the engine.”
“Good,” Zern said, stepping past me and walking into the ship. “Then let us begin.”
***
The next week went by in a blur. I was allowed to use the tools that Zern had brought with him without any fear of punishment. Instead of me feeding him now, as he attempted to deconstruct the ship, he instead began to feed me, and we worked together to get everything back into working order.
Finally, it came time to give the engine its first real test. I wasn’t sure whether or not I had managed to fix it successfully, but I had a strong belief that I had. Zern had been working hard on making sure the weapons were reinstalled and operational, although the ship that had abandoned him to go back to Yala had already taken away two of the major lasers.
“Are you ready, human?” he asked me, smiling into my eyes.
My heart was pounding, and I nodded. “I am ready.”
“Come on; let’s give it a try.”
Zern reached over my shoulder and pointed at the button that indicated we were going to start the engines.
“You need to press this and pull that throttle lever toward you at the same time. It should make a sound, much like the surging of energy. You will feel turbulence at first, but then the rise into the air will be smooth as silk.”
“Are you sure you want me to do this?” I asked, suddenly nervous. Sure, I had imagined this moment ever since I had found the ship, but that didn’t give me the confidence to actually drive it. That seemed like a task better left to a Raither. It was his ship, after all, technically. I was just the person responsible for repairing the engine. At least, I hoped I had.
“You could not do any more damage to this ship than has already been done,” Zern said, chuckling at me. “Besides, flying this is bound to be intuitive. I can teach you everything I know. I know that you are interested. Plus, you’ve earned it. You are the one who knew what to do. All I did was help. I have a new respect for the human mind now, thanks to you.”
The statement filled me with a strange sense of pride, and I nodded. “All right then, let’s see if I did this right. If not, you might just have to save that respect for the human mind for later.”
Zern chuckled and stood behind me, wrapping his strong arms around my waist and holding me close. “I don’t think that there is anything that would keep me from this new respect. I am lucky to know you, human. Now come on and take me to Earth.”
My heart pounded hard in my chest as I pressed the button down firmly and slowly pulled the throttle toward me. Just as Zern had promised, there was a strange energetic sound that filled the air. He held me tightly as the turbulence began to shake the machine. I became suddenly terrified that all the work that I had done had been completely wrong, and even if we did start to lift off the ground, the machine would ultimately shatter into one million pieces and leave us worse off than we had been to begin with.
But to my surprise, the ship began to levitate, almost as if of its own accord, and soon we were rising higher and higher above the huge, Paleolithi
c trees until we were leaving the atmosphere of the planet Hexa behind us forever.
***
“I can’t believe it worked,” I breathed.
We had been floating through space for the past three days, ambling at a comfortable speed as Zern taught me how to navigate the ship. It was a fascinating subject, especially after having spent so much time working on the engine blindly, using only my mind to try to puzzle together the pieces so that I could escape once and for all. It seemed impossible to believe that all of my efforts had finally culminated into something worthwhile, and I was going to actually return back to Earth where I belonged. All thanks to Zern.
“I can believe that it worked,” Zern said, smiling gently at me. We had just finished a meal and were sitting cozily together at what could only be described as a window seat, where we could gaze out the window into the stars. “I believe that you just may be the most intelligent being that I have ever encountered.”
“Don’t flatter me,” I said, laughing. Complements always embarrassed me, especially any that came from Zern. “All I did was what any scientist in my position would have done.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Zern said. “The scientists from my planet have been working on that engine for months, and they had gotten nowhere. You worked on it for weeks, and now we are flying through the cosmos and headed toward Earth. I would say that you are something pretty special.”
He didn’t give me the chance to argue, and soon his broad hands were on my shoulders, and he was pulling me closer, his soft lips suddenly pressed against my own. I gasped in surprise, and then pleasure as I felt the heat of his tongue against mine.
My body was immediately set ablaze with longing.
“Zern…”
My words were cut off by a soft gasp of pleasure as his strong hands found themselves against the soft warmth of my skin. I shuddered in surprise as a hot desire consumed me. I wanted him more now than I had ever wanted anything in my life.