Looking down, Sam could see little to nothing below. Occasionally on her way up she had briefly noted splits and cracks in the duct work as she plummeted back down, but even those did not allow the intrusion of enough light into the shaft to allow her vision to penetrate the darkness. Blinking upwards over and over in rapid succession made her nauseated, and she no longer held any concept of just how far she had traveled up the ducting. Thus far there had been no branches in the duct. She could only assume that it traveled straight up the entire length of the alien structure. Even so, she was ready to be out of it. Though she normally wasn’t claustrophobic, the duct was beginning to make her feel more than a little uneasy.
It was quite some time before Sam began to hear the huffs and puffs of Will climbing beneath her, interspersed with reassuring comments from both Tammy and Jack. It seemed Will was growing tired of climbing. Straining her eyes beneath her, it was just minutes after hearing them that Sam began to notice movement in the darkness below and just minutes longer until she could make out Will’s silhouette.
Turning her attention back to the corridor beyond the vent, she still noted nothing but empty space. Whatever it was, it was sparsely traveled. Listening intently she could hear no sounds, unlike other portions of the ducting when she had come up. It seemed this area was vacant.
“Will,” Sam said, turning to again look down into the darkness.
“Yeah?” he sighed back, obviously exhausted.
Sam couldn’t help but feel sorry for her little brother. Both she and Jack could use their ability to climb, yet he was forced to strain for every inch.
“I’ve found a way out of here. Tell Tammy and Jack. I think it is safe.”
“Okay.”
Moments passed as Will relayed the short message below and, surprising to Sam, she could hear both Tammy and Jack’s replies. Even so, she waited for Will to relay their words to be certain.
“If you think it is safe, they say go ahead and check it out.”
Sam didn’t delay. Focusing on a point ahead in the vacant corridor, she closed her eyes and blinked out of the ventilation duct. Letting the dizziness pass, she opened her eyes once more to find the corridor just as it had been. Empty. Standing in the space, she realized that it was a three way intersection shaped like a tee in the corridor, leading off in three separate directions. Unlike large human habitations, there were no signs that she could see. No directions showing stairs or elevators, let alone invasion leaders’ quarters. Sam was at a loss. She didn’t want her siblings and Tammy to climb out of the shaft, only to find they had landed somewhere even less safe than before. No. Instead, she would have to do some scouting. Turning to her left she peered down the first leg of the tee and vanished, only to reappear where the corridor took a ninety degree turn.
She hadn’t been prepared for what she saw. Looking into the vast room ahead she witnessed the malnourished visages of hundreds if not thousands of humanoids not unlike Tammy. They were packed, dozens to a cell, in what appeared to be cramped rooms with glass walls. There was no room for them to rest. They had to remain standing to permit them all in such confined spaces. Cell after abhorrent cell lined both walls and beyond the first, where she could see through them, lay row after row as far as she could see. The smell of feces filled the air, and looking about she saw no sign that food or drink had even been given to these prisoners.
Turning in an attempt to look away, she noted a child in one of the nearer cells, looking out at her with wide eyes, tears streaming down its cheeks. Children. In cages. Starving. Then it struck her. If there were this many caged slaves down this one hall of the alien city, what were down the other halls? The other floors? Was it possible that all those they had thought lost were actually taken prisoner? Could it be possible all humans remained, enslaved by whoever was the reason for this invasion? Could Mom and Dad be alive? Was it possible?
Sam shook her head. She couldn’t get her hopes up. These weren’t humans. They weren’t her parents. But they were people. They were parents and children and brothers and sisters. She couldn’t just leave them like this. Whether or not they could understand her words, she raised her hands in gesture as tears began to stream down her own cheeks.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to help you,” Sam said to the room filled with cells, before turning to focus down the hall to the intersection once more.
She left them behind in an instant, returning to the tee in the hall before turning and blinking to the end of the middle corridor. Rounding the corner, it was just as she thought. Here, just like before, were hundreds of glass cells filled beyond capacity with thin, sickly looking people of a race she had not yet seen before. Though they banged upon the walls of their cells, and she could see some shouting and others crying uncontrollably, she heard not a single sound. The glass of their cells permitted not a peep to escape. Their screams carried to none, enveloped by the glass and consumed in silence. Sam’s shoulders shook with convulsive weeping that threatened to shatter her. No one deserved this. It was worse than torture, letting people slowly waste away beneath the feet of their families and loved ones. She had to set them free. Again, she blinked away from the room.
In the intersection once more, she peered down the last hall and vanished to reappear at the entrance to the third and final room. Opening her eyes as bile again rose in her throat, she crumpled to her knees as tears streamed from her unchecked. Before her, just as before, stood row after row of cells. Only this time they were filled with humans. She didn’t know how she knew. She could just feel it. They were the same as her, and she looked on them with pity and anger unlike anything she had ever felt before. Trying to see beyond her tears, she wiped her face with the back of her sleeve to reveal the cell that lay nearest to her. There, beyond the glass, a pair of deep brown eyes locked with her own as her tears were matched upon the face of another. Looking back at her, Sam saw a small girl, perhaps nine or ten, who stood within the glass, her shoulders squared and unafraid. Her skin was an almond color and her face was framed in a bob of chestnut hair, but it was the small girl’s eyes that didn’t fit. Thin and caged as she was, the girl’s eyes weren’t like those around her. The girl’s spirit was yet to be broken and Sam could see the ferocious intelligence behind the tear-rimmed eyes.
Unable to hear the prisoners, Sam knew they couldn’t hear her, so instead of shouting she looked to the small girl and mouthed just three words to her.
“I’ll be back.”
Turning her head back the way she had come, Sam blinked back to the intersection. Grasping the side of the vent, she pried with her fingers until she could slide them beyond its face, and bracing one booted foot up against the wall she yanked with all her might as the cover tore free of its moorings and fell to the floor with a clatter. Whether it was her emotions or the exertion of removing the vent, Sam wasn’t sure, but she found herself panting as she reached within the duct and wrapped her arms about Will to pull him free without so much as a greeting.
After hugging him tight and setting him down, Sam released Will and reached back into the duct to assist Tammy with the last few feet of the climb. As soon as Tammy was free, Jack appeared and he too joined them in the corridor. Though Sam hadn’t seen any signs of danger, she couldn’t contain her need to hurry back and free all of the prisoners she had found.
“What is it?” Jack asked, obviously noting that something was wrong.
“Prisoners,” Sam replied, realizing that she was still crying.
“You’re sure? Where?” Jack asked.
“All three ways. Some like Tammy, and humans too.”
“You’re certain?”
Sam nodded.
“Can we get them out?”
“We have to,” Sam replied.
* * * * *
It wasn’t like Sam to cry. Not lately, anyway. She was tough, and Will knew that it had to be serious. Rushing down the hallway with Tammy at his side, he followed both Jack and Sam towards what appeared to be a turn in
the hall ahead. Rounding the corner, he nearly ran into Jack who had come to an abrupt stop. Stepping past his brother he could see hundreds of pairs of eyes looking back at him. It was creepy in a way, and he got that uneasy feeling in his stomach, just like he had last year at the Christmas presentation at school when looking out at all of the parents in the auditorium. Swallowing back his fear, he turned to his older siblings in an effort to hear what it was they were saying above the pounding in his chest.
“There has to be a way to get them out. A door on the cells we can pry, a control panel, something,” Jack suggested.
“Nothing we can see from here. Let’s look,” suggested Sam.
“Should we split up?” Tammy questioned.
“Why don’t we just ask them how to get them out?” Will asked.
“They can’t hear us,” Sam answered. “The glass is soundproof.”
Ignoring his sister’s answer, Will walked past his companions, nearing the first cell where all eyes within fell upon him. It didn’t matter if they could hear them, they weren’t human, though Will supposed Tammy could talk to them. These were her people. Will liked their shiny metallic eyes.
Pointing to all of the people within the cell, Will then pointed outside the cell before holding up his hands and shrugging. It was like sign language but apparently better. It seemed to be universal, as everyone in the cell began pointing in the same direction towards the back of the room. There was their answer. Turning around, Will was met by the grinning faces of all three of his companions.
“You, little man…” Jack began before Will interrupted.
“I know. I’m a genius.”
All four turned and ran back in the direction the prisoners had pointed, weaving between cells in a beeline. Will, with his shorter legs, fell behind a bit, but with near absolute silence in the room there was no way to mistake the sounds of footfalls ahead.
Rounding what had to have been the hundredth transparent cell, Will slid to a stop. Perhaps a dozen yards ahead the wall they sought loomed, but between them and it stood something they had not yet encountered. A mass of gleaming metal, a thing Will could only label as a robot blocked the way, raising one large arm adorned with what he assumed was a weapon of some sort. Shorter and further back than his siblings, Will didn’t think the mechanical man had seen him yet as it began to advance first towards Jack.
Backing up slowly, Will skirted around the cell behind him. If the thing was there, it had to be guarding something. What would there be to guard, other than the controls to open the cells? Tiptoeing around the cell, he peered through it, between the legs of its inhabitants to watch as the robot closed in on Jack, who now began to back away from the thing. It was moving away from the wall. Perfect.
Taking it as his cue, Will turned and ran the rest of the way around the cell, not even pausing to look to see if the robot had spied him. Sprinting to the wall as fast as his little legs could carry him, he easily located the panel on it that appeared to be a modified LED TV with wires sticking out all over the place. Upon the flickering screen were tons of blue squares. Cautiously Will reached up and touched one of the boxes, watching as it blinked from blue to red. Screams and yells erupted from somewhere behind him. He’d opened a cell!
Tapping all over the screen, Will began opening the cells all over the room one after another until all boxes glowed red. The sound was deafening as bodies surged all about. Turning, Will spied both Jack and Sam before they were lost in the crowd, the alien robot upon them.
* * * * *
Tammy backed away from the towering mechanical being. She’d seen them before, just before arriving on Earth. These were the creations of their invaders, those who had kidnapped entire races. Standing all of eight foot tall, the things were humanoid in construction, though were not living. With a metallic outer shell, jointed in several places, the machines could be brought down. She had witnessed broken ones being hauled off for repair. She knew that beneath the exterior were mechanical bits that could break, rendering them immobile. The trick was getting to them.
Moving forward in Jack’s direction, the mechanical monstrosity closed the distance with each step, but now there were thousands of her race milling all about, keeping their distance from their slaver. Jack was running out of room to retreat. Not that running would do them any good now. Likely the robot had already sent a signal for help and reinforcements would be on their way.
As if to affirm her suspicions, a blasting alarm sounded as once again flashing lights filled the room. As if not noticing, however, Jack stood focused, the room behind him having run out. He’d backed himself up to one of the now empty cells. Those of her kind that had been milling about looking for a path to retreat, seemed to close in now, as if willing to fight but awaiting an opening. They obviously had a greater fear of the mechanical being than Jack did.
Watching as the bot stopped to look down upon Jack, Tammy witnessed as a blue light erupted from its chest, creating a line across Jack’s face that quickly traveled down to the base of his torso. After completing its apparent scan, the robot leveled its weapon arm at Jack’s head and did the unthinkable.
“Human,” it began in an almost human tone. “Surrender for questioning.”
Tammy was astonished. She’d never heard one speak, never fathomed it could, but here, it had proven beyond a simple defensive machine. Even so, Jack’s expression changed to one of determination and he threw up his hands; Tammy watched as the robot was flung from its mechanical feet, to land upon its back with a metallic clang that shook the floor. That was all it took. In less than a second, those who had just been freed were upon the machination, pulling and prying, stomping and kicking. In mere moments a cheer of victory went up from the center of the crowd as the machine’s weapon arm was tossed into the air. Just seconds later the mass of bodies that had concealed the robot broke up to reveal a pile of dismembered parts. Tammy could hardly believe that such weak and sick-looking people could be capable of such feats. She was proud of her people for standing up for themselves. Still the alarms split the air and flashes of light disoriented her. They needed to move.
“Tammy, c’mon,” she heard Jack shout, and turned to locate the source of his voice.
Looking about the crowd, she located her three friends and witnessed as Sam vanished.
“Where’s she going?” Tammy asked.
“Down the next hall. She can just blink in, open the cells, and let those in them do the rest. We’ll head down the last hall and meet her there.”
It was a good plan. A safer plan. She rejoined her friends, and they made their way through the crowd with thousands of eyes upon them. Like they were celebrities or other people of note, the crowd began parting for them at the same time that hands reached out to touch them as if they were holy. Then Tammy realized. All of these people were people of her faith. They had witnessed Jack’s ability and watched as Sam vanished. They knew. The Star Children had come to save them. Grinning with the knowledge that they had given hope to people whose spirits were broken, Tammy smiled at them as she passed, and reached out to touch those who offered their hands. It was little Will who took it a step further.
“Come with us,” he demanded. “We’re going to free our own people now.”
Tammy knew they didn’t understand the boy’s words, but with his ability it really didn’t matter. As if of one mind, they all turned and began to follow in the wake of those who had set them free. Will had gathered them an army in mere seconds. They might succeed after all.
Chapter Four
Sam blinked and blinked again until she reached the second slave room filled with humanoids that were unknown to her. She knew already that at the back of the cells would be a robot guard, but even knowing that didn’t slow her down. Blinking to the center of the room, she turned to look between the glass cells and ported again.
Gathering her wits, she knew that beyond the next few cages would be yet another robot, its sole purpose to keep her away. As of yet she had
no idea what it was capable of, and hoped she wouldn’t find out. She blinked.
Opening her eyes, she looked at the chest of the immense robot just inches from her face. Oops. A blast of blue light across her face forced her to close her eyes just as steel fingers clamped around her throat.
“You have been deemed a threat,” the robot proclaimed in the same voice as the previous.
Sam’s vision swam as her breath caught in her throat. She could feel her pulse beneath the pressure of the robot’s mechanical fingers and knew without a doubt that within seconds she would black out. Already her vision began to swim and a thrumming sound began in her ears. She had to act.
Closing her eyes, Sam tried her best to ignore the panic and fear that threatened to drown her. Focusing herself in the darkness, she concentrated on the rhythmic sounds of the alarms blasting throughout the huge prison, and blinked out of the mechanical guard’s grasp.
Standing atop the cell nearest the robot, she blinked again to reappear just behind it. Reaching up, she began pressing the blue boxes on the screen, hearing as those contained in cells behind her were set free. A metal hand clamped on her shoulder. She blinked. Turning to look back the way she had come, she watched as the metallic man swiveled in her direction and raised its weapon arm, emitting a pulse of blue light straight out of science fiction. Panicking, Sam blinked away, returning to the screen now behind the robot once more. Again she began selecting boxes.
Hearing the whirr of mechanical parts and the heavy clangs of metal feet upon the floor, Sam knew her time was up as she turned to look upon the robot yet again. For the second time it leveled its weapon on her and again she blinked, but this time she did not run away from the guard. Instead, she blinked into the air above the thing and brought her weight down beneath her, upon its head. As it was made of metal, her landing did little damage beyond a black scuff down the side of its face, but the added weight seemed to make the thing top-heavy. Leaning heavily forward, the robot tried to adjust for the added weight, but then Sam was forced to reposition lest she fall from the machine’s shoulders. Again the robot tried to adjust, leaning back, causing Sam to slide further as both began to fall, Sam beneath the immense robot. But then she was gone, vanished into thin air.
Children of the After: The Complete Series Page 39