“Let me stop you.” The creature in front of him held up a hand, “Earth and Venus are both void of life. We’ve sent hundreds of probes to other planets and have found no hint of life.”
“And up until about thirty seconds ago, we thought this planet had no life either!” Zinta jumped in front of Patrick.
One of the creatures to the left of the one speaking didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger of his weapon. A small device shot from the gun and latched onto Zinta’s chest. A shockwave ripped through his body as he went to pull it off. His face went white and he stumbled backward into the wall of flames.
“Zinta!” Patrick dropped his weapons and released the flames, rushing to Zinta’s side to swat out the flames that had caught. “What are you doing! We’re here to help you!”
“He will be fine. Just a small shock meant to subdue.” The lead creature turned to the one who had shot. “Although the timing was not the best.” He turned back to Patrick. “Apologies for him landing in the fires, although it would appear you are partially to blame for that.”
Patrick stared the creature down. “Are you serious?”
“As serious as I can possibly be. I’m not sure what you hope to gain from spewing the lies you do. But we will get to the bottom of it. Shim, Lanson,” he lifted his right hand in the air and motioned two of the creatures forward, “subdue this Patrick and bring him to the cages.”
“Why won’t you listen to me!” Patrick stood up and took two steps forward.
He felt something hit his chest before he even saw a weapon raised. As a wave of pain crashed over his body he fell to the ground and blacked out.
◆◆◆
Gin-us and Gneiss were frozen in place as they sunk deeper and deeper into the red sea. Both tried in vain to swim upwards but found their movements heavily restricted. It was as if a thousand small hands were holding them in place, guiding them to a destination unknown. It didn’t take long before they felt their feet touch solid ground, the liquid around them pushing their bodies into an upright position. And then, the red sea around them pulled back, leaving them standing in a small clearing surrounded on all sides by the red liquid.
“Who are you?” A strange voice asked both of them, the sound only resonating in their heads.
“No you?”
Gneiss stepped forward and punched the wall of red. His fist bounced back with such force that he was thrown to the ground.
“Do not fight. We only wish to speak with you.”
“Then show yourself.” Gin-us stared into the red menacingly.
Slowly, a small blob of red pulled free from the rest of the sea around them. It rolled across the floor like sticky tar until it was inches from Gin-us. It then began to grow upwards like a tree, two trunks planted on the ground. The blob continued to contort until it was in a shape very similar to that of Gin-us. Two slits opened at the top of its head, light passing through from the back.
“Do you find this form more suitable?” The blob had no mouth to move as it spoke to Gin-us only.
“Who, what are you?” Gin-us reached out to touch the blob, and it didn’t pull back from his touch or fight him off.
“We are the Rojozic, and you are an invader in our lands. This is not something we take kindly to.”
“We are not here to invade your lands. We have come to warn you of a different invader, one who plans to take over.”
“We’ve heard this all before.”
“From who?” Is the King already here?
“There is no King here. Only the Chancellor.”
“Did you just listen to my thoughts?!” Gin-us took a step back from the Rojozic.
“It is a much faster and more honest method of communication. We hide nothing here.”
“What do they say?” Gneiss was standing behind Gin-us, only hearing his half of the conversation.
“We do not like this one.” The Rojozic raised an arm and pointed to Gneiss. “He has many angry thoughts. We hide our words from him.”
“They just want to talk with me right now.” Gin-us turned to Gneiss and held an open palm to the ground, motioning for him to calm down. “I got this.” He turned back to the Rojozic. “What can I call you?”
“We are Rojozic.”
“All of this, is just you?”
“We are many, but we are all Rojozic.”
“Okay, Rojozic then. Who is this Chancellor?”
“He came to our lands. Told us of an enemy from beyond our world. One that wished to come and control us. We hid the Chancellor and his people until they turned on us. They learned our weakness and sent us running from our lands. We have not stopped running since.”
“We are not with the Chancellor.” Although our enemy may be one in the same.
“You share his enemy yet say you are not on his side?”
“I don’t know who this Chancellor is!” That’s the truth! “We came to Mercury to build a resistance against a King from Pluto who has waged war across the galaxy.” And taken countless innocent lives in the process. “We are here in the hopes that you will aid us. But if this is something you can’t or won’t do, then we only ask that you let us go on our way.” And prepare for an attack, because he will come for you.
“We will think about all you have said and not said. We will then decide what to do with you.”
The Rojozic deformed and fell to the ground. The mass slowly rolled backward across the floor, forming back up with the red sea behind it.
“Well?” Gneiss remained motionless and looked at Gin-us.
“Now we wait.” Gin-us sat down on the ground and tried to get comfortable.
◆◆◆
Patrick woke hours later in a dark, musty room with no sense of the hour. He had been stripped of all but his Stretto Skin. He was in a cell with walls of green and black. The only light came from the bars of the cell which were jagged and covered in sharp spikes. They were glowing a bright white, casting strange shadows in every direction. There was no lock or key on the bars and no windows or air vents in the room. From where Patrick sat, he could see no easy means of escape.
Why am I so tired? Patrick tried to sit up and felt his arms trembling with the effort. Where is Zinta? He looked around the room and noticed that he was alone. Standing on shaky feet he took two steps towards the white bars and collapsed to the ground.
“Ahh!” he screamed out as he went to catch his fall and felt his left wrist break. “What…” Patrick finally stopped as he looked down at his limp hand.
His body was unfamiliar and no longer his own. His muscle mass had all but deteriorated, leaving him a pile of skin and bones. How long have I been down here!
“Hey!” he hollered into the hallway, hoping someone was around. “I need help!”
He heard the sound of a door opening followed by footsteps shuffling on the floor. Within seconds, one of the creatures dressed in black was standing at his door.
“Hands where I can see them, please.” He was unarmed, but in Patrick’s current state he knew he couldn’t fight back.
“Please, my wrist.” He held up his hand.
“Curse science.” The creature pulled a small green device from his hand that matched the color on the walls. He placed it on the white bars of the cage and stood back. Each of the bars began to morph then, slowly crawling their way towards the green device.
“Come on.” The creature stepped carefully around the bars and helped Patrick to his feet. “Let’s get you to the medical wing.”
The creature removed the green device from the bars and they instantly reached back out to the walls around them. He pocketed the device and then led Patrick down the hallway. There were several cages, most empty. There was one cage housing a creature with translucent skin, curled into a small ball in a corner. The other Patrick saw was a red blob, slowly pulsing.
Patrick was pulled from his cell into a new hallway, the creature letting out a low grunt. Patrick was shuffling his feet trying to keep up as they continued on. He fo
llowed his captor around dozens of corners and through countless doors. Eventually, he collapsed on the floor, no longer able to carry his own weight. Without a word, the creature picked Patrick up, tossed him over his shoulder and continued on.
He was in and out of consciousness as he was carried further and further. They finally stopped in front of two large green doors with a black X across them. The creature pushed the doors open and they were met with blinding white light. Patrick tried to raise his hand to cover his eyes but didn’t have the strength. Instead, he let his eyes water until they adjusted to the brightness around them.
“Angesh!” The creature holding Patrick hollered into the room and another creature came running over. “He needs a shot of the kuat right away. He was drained far too fast.”
“Get him over to bay seven.” The creature nodded and placed Patrick on a nearby cot. “Sorry about all of this, but they’ll take care of you in here.”
“Thank you.” Thank you? What am I thinking? It was the last thought Patrick had before he fell asleep.
◆◆◆
Patrick woke up sometime later and found himself still lying in the bright white room. His legs and arms had been tied down to the bed he was on. His broken wrist was now wrapped in bright green fabric that matched the color of the liquid that was pumping through several tubes connected to his body. He watched the liquid for a few minutes, transfixed by the swirling patterns. Once he snapped out of the trance he saw that his body had started to return to normal. He wasn’t yet as strong as he once was, but some of his muscle mass had certainly returned. He propped himself up in bed as far as his restraints would allow.
In the bed next to him he saw Zinta, the same green liquid pumping into his weakened body. On the table between them sat a large loaf of bread. The sight of it made Patrick realize just how hungry he was and without hesitation, he broke a large chunk off and began eating it. He had been so satisfied with the food entering his stomach that he did not hear the door open nor see the creature approaching the foot of his bed.
“I’m glad you have arisen.” Patrick jumped as the creature addressed him. “Sorry, I did not mean to frighten you.”
Patrick stared at the creature who was not wearing the same black hazmat suit he had seen the others in. Instead, this creature was wearing heavy pants of cobalt blue with gold accents and a matching robe that hung loosely from his shoulders. He stood over six feet tall and had sharp angular features. His skin was translucent, allowing Patrick to observe the pulsing blue blood vessels extending from both hearts in his chest. His ears were pointed upwards in a sharp point, sticking out from under his jet black hair.
“Who are you?”
“I am Chowsin, Chancellor of the Yakopiz.”
“How long have I been imprisoned here?”
“Let’s see…” Chowsin pulled a small sphere from his pocket and observed the location of several dials across its face. “By Earth time, it’s only been a few hours. Not very long at all.”
“Don’t lie to me!” Patrick shouted and bread flew from his mouth. “There is no way it’s been hours! Look at how my body has deteriorated and grown again! That kind of thing takes years!”
“Maybe on Earth, if left to happen naturally. But you have been locked away in our siphoning cells.”
“Your what?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Let’s call it a failed experiment gone right?” The question was clear on Patrick’s face.
“What we do here, the experiments we run; they’re far beyond anything you could imagine. What you see as magic, we simply see as a science not yet understood. Enter our siphoning cells. We were working with a material capable of bestowing great strength upon any who consumed it. Kuat it was called, and we were growing it at rates far beyond our wildest dreams. Our society was booming.”
Chowsin walked to the side of Patrick’s bed and held one of the green tubes up.
“This very liquid was created from it. Hence your body recovering so rapidly.”
“That still doesn’t explain why I withered away in the first place!”
“I’m getting there. Patience.” He lay the tube down on the bed and walked over to Zinta. “It seems it has taken to you far quicker than your friend. He will recover, but it may take longer.” He sighed. “I must apologize for all of this. The restraints, the siphoning, all of it. But you have to understand where we are coming from. We had no idea who you were.”
“And now?”
“And now I have to figure out what to do with you both. But first!” He held up a finger, long and slender. “Let me finish my story. As our society was booming, we discovered a new material. This one had the opposite effect of the kuat. Instead of giving strength, the svag took it.” He paused, attempting to add a dramatic pause.
“We didn’t understand it at first. The svag took over the entire lab without regard for what it consumed in the process. We locked the labs up and built new ones nearby to continue to study it. But every time it was nearly dead and we would send someone in to retrieve it, they would shrivel up and die within seconds. Several scientists died in this manner yet each time we learned more. We built suits but the svag got through the masks so we added breathing tanks. The svag would then eat the battery up and the scientists would run out of air. On and on it went, until finally we just tossed the kuat in the room with the svag. It was beautiful enough to make even myself believe in magic. But again, with time we were able to control the balance of the two and created the siphoning cells amongst other things.”
“You really expect me to believe all of this?”
“What is the alternative?”
“I ignore your stories and blast my way out of here.”
“You may be able to overpower me, but you don’t know what lies beyond those doors.” He nodded over his shoulder. “I could have an army waiting outside, loaded to the teeth.”
“Or you could be entirely alone, not realizing how strong I truly am.”
“In that case,” he pushed a button on the panel of instruments next to him, “let’s take you down a notch.”
“What?”
The green liquid flowing through the tubes quickly turned white as the svag flowed through eating up the kuat. Patrick felt it hit his body and watched his arm shrivel up.
“Stop!”
Patrick called out in horror and Chowsin flipped another switch. The fluid stopped and Patrick fell backward, exhausted.
“Now, I don’t have to worry about any tricks you may try and pull. As you have seen, I can easily fix.” He turned to Patrick and sneered. “Or I can break you further. With that in mind,” he held his hand above the equipment buttons, “I ask what your purpose here is?”
“I told your people already. I came from Earth to protect you, to help you prepare for what is coming!”
“I had managed to keep your existence a secret from my people for so many years. They were convinced Earth was a dead planet, but upon your arrival, I have been forced to send a ship. They report back tomorrow. By then, you need to have a better story for them. Because as of now, you’re an invader on our planet, and there is little I can do to help you.” Unless… his thoughts trailed off.
“You have to listen to me! Send more scouts. There was a small group of them nearby, they were setting up a large piece of equipment. And they have a small fleet flying just above the planet!”
“Yes. We spotted that fleet when we left for Earth. You claim this is not your doing? Then explain how you got here.”
“I can’t tell you that without putting my people in harm’s way! I don’t know what else I can tell you for you to believe me! We’ve been searching the planet in hopes of finding you. We’re wasting time here!”
“Then I’ll send more of my people to scour the planet until we find yours. We’ll round them up, bring them here and then we can work out some sort of peace agreement.”
“Chowsin, correct?”
“Chancellor Chowsin, yes.”
“Chance
llor Chowsin, you understand how this looks for my people? You’ve held me here against my will and are now sending your own people out to hunt them down? They will fight back and do what is necessary to rescue me. We can avoid all of that death if you just let me go!”
“So you admit to hostilities. How can I trust someone with such violence in them? No, I think it’s best we do things my way. Angesh! Ravol!” He turned to the door and two others entered. “Lower his dosage of kuat, he’s rebounding too quickly now.”
Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic Page 18