by Maia Starr
“He was speaking in Lonnie. He was telling me that there is a transmission station just up ahead here. I don't know how far the range will be, but if we are lucky, it will reach Xeion. Come: let's go,” he said grabbing my hand and leading me away.
“What is that over there?” I asked as we walked along. It looked like there were a lot of ships parked there.
“That looks like the spaceport. This is good. First, I will send the transmission, and then I will see about bartering for a ship,” he said.
“A spaceport. Interesting,” I said. I knew that an airport on Earth meant ships were coming in and out and so I assumed that a spaceport was the same but with ships coming in and out. This meant that some of those ships were coming in going to this planet. I needed to get off of this planet once I found Bridget: get back to Earth. Now I knew where we needed to go.
“There it is,” he said pointing to a large hub of commotion and mechanical panels. There was something that looked like a giant satellite dish, but much more complicated.
He walked right up to someone standing at the front. He spoke to them and the language I had never heard. I could only assume he was asking about transmitting a message to his home planet of Xeion. Then I saw something that surprised me. He opened one of the compartments on his belt. He pulled out two gems, like diamonds. But they couldn't be diamonds, could they? Did they have diamonds in space?
My mouth was wide open as I looked at them.
Then the guard said something, nodding his head in approval. He gestured for us to follow. Alicron grabbed my hand, and we were led inside. There was a lot of commotion going on. Different aliens were standing in front of screens talking to other aliens, like Skype calls. We were led to a corner of the room with a large panel that had a lot of knobs and monitors. The alien said something to Alicron. Alicron said something and nodded in approval. I wished that I understood what they were saying. Then the alien walked away.
“This is the only long-range transmission they have. He does not know if it is long enough to reach my planet: too far away and there are two black holes between here and my planet that the transmission can get lost in,” he said.
“So what does that mean? You can't contact?” I asked.
“It means I'm going to send out a message anyway. Maybe it will get picked up, maybe it won't. Maybe it will get picked up by one of my ships from a Xeion fleet. I just have to send it out at least, with the hope that someone will hear,” he said.
“Okay,” I said.
“Do not to move,” he said letting go of my hand. Then he walked to the panel and began to work. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't going to wander off, at least not far. I took a few steps back and quickly got bored. I wanted to know more about the spaceport.
I could hear all the different voices of different alien languages as there was lots of commotion. It reminded me of the loud screaming of wall street stock exchange, but with different languages. But then I thought I heard something familiar. I thought I heard one of the aliens say, “Earth,” so I walked in the direction of the voice. Then I thought I heard it again. Before I knew it, I was far away from Alicron. I was almost outside. I didn't know where it was coming from. But I saw something familiar: a corner of the spaceport. I saw several small spaceships. I didn't think it would hurt to ask. Besides, I needed to have a contact at the spaceport when I found Bridget. Once I found her, I knew that I would have to escape from Alicron. He was determined not to let me go back to Earth, and I wasn't going to stay his prisoner. I needed to make contact and know exactly where to go once I found Bridget because I would have very little time to do it in. So I wandered in the direction of the spaceport.
I was very impressed by what I saw when I arrived. There were so many ships. There were all different shapes and sizes. I could tell the bigger ones were for longer travel and the smaller ones looked like cars, obviously for traveling on this planet, wherever we were. I went directly toward one of the bigger ships.
“Earth?” I said pointing at a big ship to a purple alien standing next to it. He responded in a language that I did not know.
“Earth? I need to get to Earth? Does this ship go to Earth?” I asked knowing that he did not speak my language, but maybe someone else did.
“He moved his arms, and I did not know what it meant. It looked like a baseball signal. It was very unusual.
“Thank you,” I nodded my head not knowing that it probably meant something else on this planet. Then I walked to another large ship. Here I noticed that all different kinds and aliens were boarding with large bags, almost like watching people board an airplane with suitcases.
“Where does this go?” I asked one of the travelers.
They turned around to face me. I was very surprised. They had an unusual mouth that was covered with metal like a mesh screen. They responded in a language I did not now. I knew that this was going to be impossible without Alicron. But I couldn't have Alicron asking how to get me to Earth; that would be the last thing that he would do.
"Does no one speak my language?” I mumbled to myself as I turned to walk away.
“I understand your language,” I heard a familiar voice say. It brought a chill down my spine. It was a computer voice. It was a cyborg voice. I turned to see K8L standing directly in front of me.
“Shit.” I turned to run, but his arms were around me in a split second. His mechanical chrome hand covered my mouth. I tried to scream but I could not. Nothing came out. I struggled trying to get loose. No one in the area thought it was strange that this cyborg was picking me up and taking me away. It was like being in a rougher town of the wild west. No one thought it was strange when violence was happening. Shit. I never should have left Alicron.
Chapter 15
Captain Alicron Qinov
I was very glad to see the village Cantu. It was exactly what I needed. It had everything that your basic trading village had. This planet must be an outpost, I thought. This was a good thing. That meant that anything could be bought and I had the currency that would suffice: gems. It was the currency used throughout space travel. Therefore I would be able to get a ship. But first I wanted to get a signal out as soon as I could. If I could get a response from the base on my planet, then I could call for reinforcements.
I gave the transmission operator two diamonds, small ones. One was to allow me to send the transmission, and the other was to have him monitor it. I would return to it in a day or two to find out if there had been a response. It usually took that long. I stood there sending the message, carefully thinking about what to say, I knew that my father and my brothers would be pissed off. I never seemed to be able to satisfy them. It was one of the reasons I like to be a captain; it meant that I was gone from my home often. It wasn't easy being the youngest of four brothers and being the rebellious one, according to my father. Now, I had to send the bad news to them that they ship had wrecked on a cyborg planet, and I had lost the human cargo. They would be furious. But at least I knew the name of the planet, X003, according to the transmission operator. That would help.
When I finished sending out the signal, making sure it was strong, and typed in the correct coordinates of my planet and the surrounding reins of my fleet, I was done. I stepped away from the panel.
“Now we can see about…” I said to Vicki. But when I turned around, she wasn't there. Fuck. I walked around the area quickly. “Vicki? Vicki?”
Dammit. Where did she go? Didn't I tell her not to move? I should've known better. I should have watched her. I should have chained her to me. I already knew that she was prone to being stubborn and not listening to me. I was just so excited about finding the transmission station that I forgot about her recklessness. I walked back to the transmission operator.
“Did you see the creature I was with: the one with the yellow hair?” I asked in his language. He answered me. He had seen her wander down in that direction; he pointed to the spaceport. Motherfucker. I ran to it. I looked around. I climbed on top of a ladder
and looked around the bustling area. I could not see her. Where did she go? If she got on one of these spaceships, I would not be able to find her.
“I am looking for a female creature that looks like me with pale skin and yellow hair. Have you seen her?” I asked one port authority after another. They were standing at the gates leading to different gates of departure. Each one and then I asked said no and pushed me aside. They did not want to take time out of their busy day to deal with me.
I was growing frantic. I could not find her. What the hell had happened? Finally the last port authority I asked answered me with a real answer.
“Yes, I did see the creature. She was taken by K8L,” he said in his language.
“Mango? Who is K8L?” I asked.
“Mango is the leader of the Vindon cyborgs,” he said.
My hot blood ran cold. How did this happen so quickly? She was at my side fifteen minutes ago. It had been long enough for her to wander off and for the cyborg leader to take her from me, again. I slammed my fist into a wooden post.
“Where? Which way did they go?” I asked.
“That way. He left in his land cruiser with his soldiers,” he said.
"Motherfucker. Where can I buy a land speeder? Where can I hire some soldiers?” I asked him.
He gestured for me to follow him. I followed him across the spaceport to a large tavern. He walked over to a table. There were four alien creatures sitting there; they were Lana. This was good, considering that I knew the Lonnie language.
“This Kynon wishes to buy a land cruiser and is looking for hired guns,” he said. Then he turned and left.
“What is your mission?” the biggest Lana stood up and asked me.
“I will tell the mission to those that I hire and those that I hire only. But it is dangerous. We will be recovering something that has been stolen from me,” I said.
“And the payment?” he asked.
“For the land cruiser, half gram diamond. For the hired guns, one full gram diamond,” I said. “But we must leave right now. There is no time to lose,” I said.
The Lana looked at each other. Then they nodded in agreement. The biggest Lana that was standing in front of me put out his hand for me to shake, “My name is Keyna. This is Tila, Yivo, and Mabi,” he said introducing me to the others who all stirred up.
“Good, now let's get that land cruiser. Make sure that your guns, are charged and that you are weapon ready,” I said.
“We are always ready,” Keyna said. “Follow me. My land cruiser is yours.”
“I will meet you at your land cruiser. Which one is it?” I asked.
I followed him outside. He pointed at this large orange land cruiser that was long and narrow. It looked like it could cut through the air. It was the same color as the desert ground; that would it be good camouflage.
“Good. I am right behind you. I only have to get one more thing,” I said walking away from them. I did not need to get anything. I was ready. But I did not want to pull my payment for them out of my belt in front of them. These were ruffians. If they knew that I had the diamonds on me, then what would stop them from killing me and taking my belt? I knew better than that. So I stepped away from them, going into the market. Then I made a U-turn and went back into the tavern where they could not see me. I used the washroom to pull out the half gram diamond. Then I met them back at the land cruiser.
I got on board with them. They were preparing for takeoff.
“This is the half gram,” I set it on the table in front of them so that they could all see. Keyna picked it up and bit on it to make sure that it was real.
“And the rest?” he asked.
“You'll get it when the mission is complete,” I said.
“And if you die on the mission? Who will pay us then?” he asked.
“If I die, then see the transmission operator. He knows where I come from. He will be able to get your payment. It is not a problem, I assure you,” I said.
They all looked at each other. Then they agreed.
“What is this mission of yours, Kynon?” Keyna asked.
I looked at them, not sure if I could trust them. I wasn't from this planet. I didn't know if these ruffian Lana where allies of the Vindon cyborgs. But what choice did I have?
“I am going after K8L,” I said.
They went quiet. They looked shocked. Then Keyna let out a boisterous laugh.
“Mango? The leader of the Vindon? We cannot kill him,” he said.
“Friend of yours?” I asked.
“Hell no. We hate him, and we hate the cyborg scum. But the Vindon on this planet, killing the leader would cause a complete chaos,” he said.
“Well, I don't want to kill him. I mean, I do, but that is not the goal. He stole something from me. I had a cargo of twelve human females when I crashed onto this planet. He has two of them in his possession; he only just took one from me a few minutes ago. So if we hurry, maybe we can still catch him. She is a human female creature with yellow hair. She is mine; she is my mate,” I said.
Keyna stood up straight. He seemed to understand this. Perhaps this Lana was a fighter for love because he did not like the fact that K8L had stolen my mate.
“Then let's get going. I know exactly where he would have gone if he was here at the market. Strap in,” he said as he sat in the pilot chair and started his land cruiser.
“Those Vindon need to learn. But remember: you cannot kill him, none of us can. But that does not mean we cannot get your property back,” Keyna said as he pulled on the steering wheel and the land cruiser lifted up into the air.
“Thank you. I won't kill him. I might punch him, but I won't kill him,” I said.
Keyna laughed a boisterous laughed. “Hit him on the right side of the face. That is where they do not have their chrome mask,” he said.
“Thanks for the tip,” I said.
“Yes. Any tip to hurt the Vindon is a good tip. Now, let's see if we can catch up to his ship. If not, he will be in C2,” he said.
“What is C2?” I asked.
Keyna laughed again. “You are very lucky that you hired us, Kynon. You do not know anything about this planet, do you?” he asked.
"No, this planet was not my destination. We are here by accident.”
“C2 is the cyborg city.”
“There is an entire city full of them?” I asked.
“Yes, and it is like an impenetrable fortress,” he said.
“Fuck.”
“Yes, fuck is right. Lucky for you, you hired us. We have been inside the walls before. We know a way in. But we do not know where your creature would be kept. I don't think this female would be kept in the standard prison,” he said.
My blood began to boil as I thought about where this Vindon K8L would keep Vicki, “He said before that he wanted her as his own. So I think he would keep her close to him,” I said.
“Then she would be in his personal living quarters. But as you said, he is only a few miles ahead of us. So let us hope it is not enough time for him to do any damage to her. These Vindon are known for doing horrible things with female creatures of all species,” he said.
“Go faster,” I sneered. Now I didn't know if I could keep my promise not to kill K8L. If he hurt her, I would have to kill him.
Chapter 16
Vicki Varsa
I had made a big mistake. I thought I was being such a brave woman by going off on my own and making my own plans. All I wanted to do was to have a place to go to when I found Bridget. I wanted to have a plan ready to get us back to Earth, but leaving Alicron's side was a big mistake. Now I found myself back where I started when we crashed on this planet. I was being held prisoner by the cyborgs. And it wasn't just the cyborgs; it was their leader, K8L. The very same leader that I had run away from. The one that I heard say that he wanted me no matter what, and now he had me and I did not know what he was going to do. All I wanted was to see Alicron's face. But he had already rescued me once; why would he rescue me again? He was
probably extremely pissed off at me that I left his side in the first place. He would think that I was ungrateful and forget about me.
“There you are again, my strange creature,” K8L said to me as he walked around me. I was standing up inside of his land ship. It was speeding across the desert landscape so fast that it was a blur outside. It was almost like a very large flying bus. It scared me how fast we were going because it meant this was how fast we were moving away from the trading village of Cantu and from Alicron.
“Stay away from me,” I said to the cyborg as he came closer to me.
“You do not make commands here. I am the leader here; I am the one that makes commands. You should have never run away from me. Do you know that only made me angrier? It only made me want you more,” he said putting his face an inch from mine.