by Seven Steps
“Sweep in Progress,” a robotic voice said.
Nadira’s body turned to jelly and she collapsed.
I can’t move. What’s happening?
Everyone fell to the floor, eyes darting, bodies limp.
The door to the prison opened. Two guards walked out.
“Do you see them down there?”
“God, this stench is making my eyes water.”
Feet shuffled down the cement staircase.
“The women are all here, at least.”
“Are they dead or knocked out from the gas?”
The guards entered the cell and kicked a foot into Nadira’s side. Her mind screamed, but her body didn’t respond.
“No, they’re alive.”
“Here are the men over here.”
“What are all these burn marks on the ceiling?”
“Probably trying to cook the meat and something went wrong.”
“What were they cooking it with? A flame thrower?”
“Let’s get them upstairs. She’ll be here soon.”
The voices started to move away.
Where did they go? What’s happening?
CHAPTER 12
Nadira found herself face down in wet dirt.
The guards had dragged them out of Gomorrah prison, and dropped them back in the spaceport.
With her eyes covered by dirt, she could only wonder at what the others were thinking.
Were they as afraid as her? Where were they being taken?
Dissonant beeps echoed throughout the room.
For a moment, Nadira worried that they would be drenched with the burning, acidic water again. Then, the room heated, and the sound of metal against metal rose over the beeping.
A ship was landing.
She was suddenly blasted with dirt and pebbles. Unable to move, the debris painfully scratched and lodged into her skin.
More metal on metal followed by a thump.
One of the guards spoke up first. “They’re all here. They caused a riot in the prison. You didn’t say anything about riots.”
“So what? They’re prisoners. Who cares if they live or die?” Eva’s voice sent chills down Nadira’s back.
What was she doing here?
“We can’t have them killing all of the prisoners,” the man argued. “We’ll lose our jobs.”
“I didn’t want to come back to all of them. I’d hoped that at least the men would be dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“I’ll be taking my deposit along with me.”
“You dropped them here. That was our deal. We only had to hold them.”
“I didn’t plan on picking them up early. Or whole. They were barely here for a day.”
“Not our problem.”
Someone roughly picked Nadira up by both of her arms and dragged her into Eva’s ship.
Whomever drug her over the rocky ground stopped in front of Eva, forcing Nadira to look into eyes that she had once loved.
“Hello again, my friend.” Eva sneered.
Without the use of her mouth, Nadira could only swear at Eva with her thoughts.
The love they once shared was long gone.
“I hope you had fun on Gomorrah. You’ll soon be praying to come back. It’s time to take you to your final resting place.”
She nodded to the woman who held fast to Nadira’s arms.
With no other outlet, Nadira’s mind went wild.
What could be worse than this place?
~()~()~()~()~
Eva’s ship hovered in the atmosphere of The Dark.
There was no light.
There was no sound.
It was a rock in the middle of space, close enough to a star for life, but far enough to protect civilization from the beast that lived there.
She’d given her four prisoners the last dose of blocker juice, the one thing that could stop the power within the tomas. Boikis’ sleazy scientist said that it would last for at least three days.
Idiot. Leave it to a man to get the calculations wrong.
She sat in her chair and watched the screen as the large crate - fitted with booster jets- puffed its way toward the ground.
Her former friend, her former lover, her former ruler, and Kiln were all about to meet their demise, and it was at her own hands.
I thought that victory would be sweeter then this. Why do I feel so empty? No joy, no relief. There’s nothing. When did I become this person? When did I lose myself? Perhaps I should bring them back up? Show them mercy? What would I say? What would they say? No. I can’t. The deed is done. They will die, and I will move on with my life with out them.
A single tear fell onto her hands.
Without anyone.
“Empress, we have incoming.”
A bulky green dot raced across the radar at an incredible speed.
The window in front of Eva fuzzed, then blanked. Someone was overriding her ships controls and sending an incoming comm.
But who would be comming her out here?
Jun-Su’s angry face filled the screen, Boikis baring his teeth behind her.
“I bet you never thought you’d see me again.”
“How did you find me, Jun-Su?”
“Easy. I followed the traitorous smell coming from your ship. Where are they?”
“None of your business.”
“Tell me, and I will spare your life, for now.”
“You’ll never find them.”
Jun-Su laughed out loud. “I’ve heard that before.” She turned to Boikis. “Destroy the ship. Bring Eva to me.”
The screen blacked out.
Eva tried to keep her hands steady as she barked out orders to her small crew.
“We will defend this ship until it is confirmed that the box is destroyed!” she cried.
If she was going to go down today, she would at least make sure that her former friends were no longer breathing.
Her ship vibrated as it fired on Jun-Su’s much larger one.
Two ships shot out from the sides of Jun-Su’s ship, and headed toward her.
“Destroy the ships!” Eva cried. “Don’t let them dock!”
Blue beams flew through the air, hitting Jun-Su’s ships on the left side.
The bigger ship barely shook.
Suddenly, Eva’s ship was surrounded by a white light.
“We’re caught in their tractor beam, Empress,” someone called.
Eva’s small ship swung right, then left, trying to break the beams hold, but the Martian ship was too powerful.
A loud clang sounded as the smaller ship connected with Eva’s.
“They’ve docked with us, Empress,” the woman at the main controls said.
“Send a team! Don’t let them up here!”
Even as she said it, Eva knew that whatever women she sent would not be coming back. There were only ten women aboard this small ship. What would they do against the army that stood with Jun-Su and Boikis?
“We’ve been breached!”
“Where is the team?”
“On their way, Empress.”
“Tell them to go faster!” Eva’s eyes darted around the small cabin. “Lock us down now!”
“Locking down the cabin, Empress.”
Loud banging echoed off the metal walls.
A harsh voice came from beyond the door. A man’s voice. “Eva, come out!”
Eva shot out of her chair, grabbed the blaster from her hip, and aimed it at the door.
“Never!”
“Final warning, Eva. Come out peacefully and you will be spared.”
He didn’t even call me Empress! This vile Martian man didn’t even give me the title due to me as a woman.
Indignation bubbled within her.
“Arm yourselves!” She cried to the woman behind her.
“But, the stations-”
“Your stations won’t matter if those Martian beasts make it in here,” Eva spat.
The sound of metal against m
etal.
They were cutting through the door.
She felt the presence of her last six crew women behind her. She wondered what happened to the other three. Were they already dead?
A red circular outline, as tall and wide as a man, burned through the door.
“Don’t let them take me,” Eva whispered, her blaster shaking in her palm. “Please.”
The sawing sound ended, followed by a might bang. The Martian men kicked in the door open, filling the room with their musky, sulfuric smell.
Heart pounding, breath coming in quick, Eva screamed, shooting off her Venian blaster at anything that moved.
One of the yellow beams hit a man in the face, disintegrating him into a pile of jelly.
Another man rushed forward, his hand clasped in front of him as if he were holding something.
Eva pointed her blaster at him and fired.
The yellow beams stopped short, deflected by the man’s colorful shield. Each yellow blaster beam lit up the shield like fireworks, protecting the man behind it.
Another man came in, crouched behind his invisible shield.
Then another, and another, until they had formed a wall of bent over men, each covered by the shields that lit purple, blue, orange, yellow and green whenever they were struck.
They grunted, and took a single step forward.
Eva and her crew took a step back.
Another grunt. A step.
A retreat.
The room filled with sounds of screams, the whistle of Venian Blaster’s, and the grunts of the men.
Eva didn’t realize what was happening until her and her six crew women were backed against the front window, shields tight against their chest.
The men had boxed them in, making it impossible to move.
A scream.
The final sound of a blaster.
One of the women disintegrated, killing herself rather then to subject herself to the Martians own brand of sick torture.
The shields dropped, and Eva found herself staring down the barrel of a Martian rifle. Bulky, square, with a trigger that hung down nearly a foot.
She could barely see the man’s face in front of her. The bottom half was covered with a thick, brown beard, while the top half covered by a hard helmet that came to a point down his nose.
Another man came from behind the first, spinning her around and putting handcuffs on her. She pulled at the two pieces of warm metal that squeezed her wrist tight. They were attached in the middle by a chain.
The man led her and her remaining five crew members down the hallway to the cargo bay.
It seemed that there were hundreds of the men. All of them were covered with black leather body hugging suits. Long strips of leather laced with metal hung from their hips, giving them the appearance of wearing strange leather skirts. Aside from the Martian Rifles on their left hips, they wore swords on their right. A leather banner ran across their chest, holding what Eva could only assume were the invisible shields. They each had a beard, and the same metal helmets that covered their noses.
Animals.
Eva was marched into a ship and strapped in. A man stood next to her, holding onto a leather strap that hung from the ceiling.
Suddenly, panicked beeping filled the ship.
“We have incoming!” Someone cried.
A flurry of activity. The ship doors were slammed shut, the engines fired, and they blasted out of the hold of Eva’s ship, heading toward Jun-Su’s.
“We got bogies on each side.”
“They’re coming in hot.”
“Shield is up.”
“What’s happening?” Eva demanded.
Something bumped the ship.
The inside of the ship sparked as the shields activated.
“What was that?”
Another bump.
Another spark.
“What’s going on out there?”
“Fire!”
Blue lasers shot out of the front of the ship, tracking something through the sky.
“They’re quick.”
“Another one’s coming in on the left.”
More shots.
“Dead ahead.”
Eva’s eyes went wide as she stared out of the front window at the approaching beast.
A spider-like body. Bat-like wings. The color of pale flesh. It had no eyes, only razor sharp teeth and a tongue. It attached itself to the window, wrapping its long legs around the front of the ship, holding on tight.
The ship swerved right, then left, trying to shake it off.
It wouldn’t budge, only continued to gnaw at the window, its flat, black tongue leaving traces of slime and ooze.
Three more bumps followed in quick succession.
“They’re attacking the shield!”
“Get us out of here!”
The inside of the ship sparked as the shields electrocuted the beasts that cling to it.
Eva was pushed back into her seat as the ship went vertical, desperate to get out of the deadly planet’s atmosphere.
Something groaned from the top of the ship. Then, a snap.
“We’ve lost the shield.”
“Just a few more seconds!”
The beast on the front window fell off as they left the planet’s atmosphere and flew deeper into space.
“Docking with mother in three, two, one.”
The ship rattled, then stopped.
Eva didn’t know when she’d started crying, but her tears flowed freely down her face.
Was that what she was sending Nadira off to? She’d heard about the Dark Planet, but it didn’t occur to her how awful it was until that very second. Before, when she fed them to the Preyers back on Earth, they had their toma’s to protect them.
This time, they were powerless.
What have I done?
The Martian men marched her out of the ship, and through the cargo bay, where Jun-Su waited for her.
“Where are they, Eva?” Jun-Su demanded.
Eva’s throat was thick with regret, but she refused to reply.
What good would it do, anyway? They’re probably already dead.
“They’re not on the ship,” Jun-Su said. “The men have searched it from top to bottom. Where did you stash them?”
“Did you kill them?” Boikis asked, his brows pressed down in fury.
“I might as well have.”
“Where are they?” Boikis roared. He was immediately upon her, his large tanned hand wrapped around her throat, lifting her from the ground. “Tell me!”
“In a box,” Eva choked out, her feet kicking beneath her, terror rising in her chest.
“In a box where?”
“In the Dark.”
He released her, dropping her to the ground. She landed wrong on her left shoulder, and felt it pop. With her hands still cuffed behind her back, she could only groan in pain.
“In a box...” Jun-Su’s eyes widened, her voice trailing off. “Call down to the ship,” she said. “Have them bring up radar. Tell them to look for anything that shaped like a box. We may already be too late.”
Boikis and Jun-Su locked eyes.
“If they are gone, our plan is ruined,” he growled. “I need Kiln alive.”
Boikis turned, and sent a vicious kick to Eva’s side. Then another.
She felt her ribs shatter as he silently abused her.
“Boikis.” Jun-Su said, placing a hand on his arm. He stopped his assault, allowing Eva to turn over on her other side. The broken ribs were pressing on her lungs, making it hard to breathe.
“Let me deal with her.”
“She’s a traitor.”
“I know.”
They stared at each other again, as if they were passing some secret message between each other.
“When you are done with her, patch her up. I’ll throw her to my men.”
Eva’s mind raced and she closed her eyes against the awful sight. Being thrown to Martian men? She’d rather die.
�
�I understand.”
“No mercy.” Boikis spat on Eva, the warm liquid hitting her hair.
“No mercy.”
And with that he was gone, stomping his way up the stairs.
“Oh, Eva,” Jun-Su whispered. She bent down next to her, and placed a hand on Eva’s aching shoulder. “So much potential.” She clicked her tongue. “I had planned on killing you myself once everything was over, but you beat me to it. I guess I am too good of a teacher.”
Eva’s head swam in pain from her ribs and her shoulder, from her guilt and her anguish.
“I do have good news, however. I don’t plan on letting the Martians have you. I guess that, with Boikis around, I’m feeling generous. Merciful.”
Jun-Su stood, grabbed one of Eva’s ankles, and pulled her across the floor. Each pull over the rough metal floor rattled Eva’s aching body, making her cry out in pain. Pain that seemed to last forever, that consumed her.
Finally, Jun-Su dropped Eva’s foot and stepped away.
“Consider this mercy.”
The walls around Eva fell away.
What?
She found herself floating in the blackness of space, shot out of the cargo bay.
She didn’t even have time to scream.
CHAPTER 13
THE DARK
The large metal crate landed on the Dark with a gentle thump. The boosters hissed, then silenced.
Darkness as black as the deepest recesses of space covered them. No one moved. No one spoke. An overpowering smell of rotting meat drifted in, turning their stomach’s.
“What is this place?” Arees asked.
Something thumped the roof.
Their eyes shot up, searching the blackness of signs of life.
Another thump.
“Maybe someone's trying to get in. Should we say something?” Nadira asked.
“If Eva dropped us here, I’m sure it won’t be a warm welcome,” Arees replied.
Thump.
Scratch.
“We’ll hold them off as long as we can.”
Scratch.
Thump.
“How?” Lex asked. “We can’t even see them!”
Kiln’s hands instinctively found Nadira’s, pulled her to him, and crashed his lips to hers.
A desperate kiss.
A goodbye.
“Whatever happens, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Thump.
Scratch.
Scrape.