by Eden Ember
After an hour of searching, I paused and beat my fist on the edge of the door. I had driven in circles. A tiny village nearby with steep ridges and hedges surrounding it would give me the answers I sought. The Egars filed out of their huts, their crude weapons drawn and pointing at me as I entered the village. I turned off the hovercraft and dismounted while lifting my hands. They cowered back, but held their weapons high, intending to shoot me if I threatened them.
“I come in peace. Please. I need to find Skleen’s lab,” I told them.
A female with an arched brow stepped forward and motioned for the others to lower their weapons.
“Why?” she demanded.
“They have my mate,” I answered her.
The answer gave the lot of them a collective sigh of relief that I wasn’t there to capture one of them. “Please,” I said, desperation settling upon me like hot oil.
“You need to know the path. It’s hidden for a reason. No one knowingly goes in there.” She kept her eyes on me, as I kept my hands lifted.
“They have my mate. I’ll kill the lot of them to save her,” I promised.
“They don’t have an Aaran. They have a Terran, we hear.”
“Yes, I know. My mate is a Terran named Mare,” I replied. I pulled up her likeness on my wrist comm. Several Egars stepped forward to look at the image. They chattered and I could barely understand what they said.
“Pilos will show you,” the Egar woman said to me.
The Egar mounted a Darie; the creature letting out a howl before trotting back toward the gate. I nodded at her and climbed back into the hovercraft and chased Pilos through the twisted paths. The hidden path I would have never found, except for the folk living in the Wood. Pilos’ Darie galloped fast through the covering, the leaves of the giant bushes parting in his wake enough for me to keep on his tail. Daries traveled fast. Finally, the Wood drew toward an opening. Pilos paused and pointed. I nodded, and he turned and galloped back into the Wood as I drove the hovercraft close, but not too close to the facility in the distance.
Once on foot, I pounded through the low-lying shrubs until I came upon the back of the facility, still far enough back so that no one could see me. I crept along the outer wall surrounding the facility, the smooth stone giving me no way of climbing. Heavy footfalls suddenly caused me to dive into the shrubs on my belly. Scooting forward, I saw the guards, Ds’traes. The giants of the Pknar System, their home planet, Buuzor, a place I’d never dare tread. Heavily guarded with the crass savages, I realized how futile it would be for me to march toward the entrance. I couldn’t take all of them alone.
Giving up on the entrance gave me pause as I crawled away and eventually stood up on both legs, running around to the other side of the facility. The fence stood low enough that I easily hopped over it and saw the fields growing food for their captives. Workers kept on task, not looking in my direction. Inside the shed were Ds’traes-sized suits. The rubbery skins that were meant to protect during an acid rain would give me enough of a disguise so that I might approach the facility unnoticed. Overhead, the overcast sky glowed a dusty orange, clouds rolling in the distance. They were close enough to merit wearing the rubbery gear. I heaved into the protective suit. I could pass for a small Ds’trae. Once I left the shed, I moved ahead, standing tall with a growl perched on my lips. Saving Mare became the sole purpose of my life.
A diversion would help in setting the one I love free. The trek back to the main village would take four hours. My comm mapped the place while I was there so that I’d be able to find it again. Hold on, Mare, I’ll rescue you yet.
Arriving back six hours later gave me the perfect covering of night. The hovercraft easily hid at the edge of the woods. The purchased camouflage tarp made it look as if it were part of the woods. The facility loomed ahead, dark and quiet, save for the Ds’trae guards pacing back and forth at the entrance of the gates.
It took me another hour of gathering supplies from the forest. The old wood provided the perfect set up as I made several piles, and strung the explosive line between, giving just enough time for the Ds’traes to chase after the explosions set off, leading them away from the facility. I mastered explosives while Gandrox and I had to escape the Kwobus years back while on Zeta.
The perfect time to start the fires slowly approached as dawn began to light the land once again. Guard shift changes meant that they would all run to check it out, the diversion offering me a chance to sneak into the facility from the back and rescue Mare. I would not leave her as a research experiment. They could never duplicate the perfection that she is, so they shouldn’t even try. But they’d kill her in trying to sell her exotic body parts on the black market. The beings in this world would harm poor unsuspecting creatures. I had to grab Mare and get out of there. If I came in too late, I’d have to kill the lot of them. They would never see another star rise again.
Chapter 5
MARE
The window overlooked the field where workers tirelessly plowed and planted from sunrise to sunset. Nothing changed. Nothing moved beyond the hedge-lined fences surrounding the area. The Egars introduced me to Dr. Skleen. The tall alien had tufts of white fuzz growing from the top of this bulbous head. Beady black eyes peered at me, looking me over to the point that I wanted to slap him. My gut told me not to provoke the thing, for he looked as if he could devour me in one bite. His giant mouth with rows of sharp teeth grinned at me, as if he’d found a delightful present. Only he wanted to peel me layer by layer to get to know me.
Dr. Skeen advanced in the room, set down the tray, and peered into my eyes with the natural light flowing through the window.
“Very nice. Very nice. You became sick with a dirty implant. We fixed that, you become well with cultures,” he told me.
“Am I well, then?” I asked. He peered at me as if not completely understanding what I had asked. “Am I healthy?” I asked again.
“Healthy; how do you feel?”
“Like a million bucks.” His brow furrows. “That means I feel fine,” I said as I peered out the window. Looking at the creep made me tremble, and I’d rather not.
“No. You’re here, we will do with you what we will,” he answered.
“Meaning?” I planted my eyes back on him.
“You’re too valuable to let go.”
There. He said it. Out loud. Never in my life had fear grabbed me by the throat like that. I’d much rather be with Xyru. Even though he was blue, he was much easier on the eyes. And he could be warm and only seemed to want what’s best for me. I realized that too late. What I’d give to see his light blue sparkling eyes gaze upon me as if he could claim me as his own. I might even let him have me if he were here.
“Arm,” he barked.
I shook myself out of the daydream I had entered and cowered away from my captor. “Please, not again,” I begged.
He roughly took hold of my arm and lifted the sleeve of the blazer. Deep purple and red bruises pulsed as he tightened his fingers around my bicep. The blood draws kept my arms raw and sore. I flinched as he prodded the needle within a bulging vein and drew out my life force. Sickeningly, I glanced away as my stomach rolled. I’m not one to enjoy seeing blood being withdrawn from my body. And this tyrant came in three or four times a day to take samples from me. When finished, he spat on his finger and rubbed it over the pinprick. The bleeding instantly stopped. His saliva must have some sort of clotting agent in it. I nearly gagged, but held back. Forbid it if I were to hurl at him right now.
“Are you ever going to let me go?”
He paused at the door, the thick vial of my blood in his hand and turned to me. “Why would I do that? I have a live Terran. You willingly came to us for help. You must repay the debt you owe for our services,” he said.
Sweat beaded on my forehead as my ears hissed. Helpless to escape from the clutches of this mad alien, my knuckles turned white as I squeezed the arms of the chair. Oh, how I missed Earth or even Zeta. Just then, my eyes swung to the wi
ndow, and a shadow rushed past. Familiar, tall, hulking, but surely not. My eyes betrayed me. Wishes and hopes surfaced, probably as an act of sheer survival. Hope. Dare I?
I had to do something when Skleen left. Each time they came into the room, the being’s door cards stayed attached to their uniforms. The doors couldn’t open or shut without scanning one. A few of the workers were goofy-looking lumps of creatures, who ambled on long bent legs reminding me of the grasshoppers from back home. I playfully thought of them as worker grunts, because they didn’t seem to have much intellect other than to deliver food trays and clean up the waste left behind. I decided to take my chance when one of them lopped into the room. One came in and set the food tray on the table and strode to the trash receptacle by my chair. I stood and stretched and feigned being a little dizzy. Upon tripping, I landed into their lumpy body, grasping at their hands full of garbage. The card on the hook on their waist slipped off easily. I laughed.
“Clumsy me. I’m so sorry, here, let me help you pick this up. I got dizzy and fell,” I said to him.
“Oh, oh. Should I call for help?” he asked. His eyes widened as he looked toward the door.
“Oh, no. I’m okay. Here, hand me a fresh container for the trash,” I said to him.
Like taking candy from a toddler, the creature bent forward and we picked up the trash together. I slipped the card into the back of my pants, sliding it next to my skin and hiding it away underneath. When he had finished cleaning up the mess I had made, I grabbed the food tray filled with sugary fruits grown natively on Av’Na.
“Oh, no. Oh, no,” he repeated as he walked to the door. He had discovered his card lanyard was missing.
I perched forward, a fresh bite of sugary fruit in my mouth. “Uh, oh. What did you lose?”
“Jacks,” they said.
“Oh, you mean those cards?”
“Jacks, cards. Yes. Did you see it?”
I peered at the trash container I had closed, and the tip of the lanyard protruded out of the top. “Is this it?” I asked as I plucked it up and smiled.
“Oh, yes, yes. Yes, you are good,” he said.
“Okay, I’m sorry about that. I accidentally threw it away, I guess,” I replied as I sat back down and took another bite of the fruit.
Lucky for me, they had several of the cards on the lanyard and slid it over the panel. When the door closed, I pulled out the card I had hidden and rushed to the door. My heart pounded deafeningly in my ears as I pushed it against the panel. It gave a sickly beep and nothing happened. It must be a key to another part of the facility. I slid it back inside the back of my pants in case I might need it later. Hopelessness flooded over me as I resumed my seat and shoved the tray of sweet fruit away. Hot tears stung my eyes as I looked out over the fields. The beings worked tirelessly on the crops. Surely, they were slaves like me. They didn’t seem to care who watched them as they did their work somewhat robotically. Who knows, maybe they were cyborgs or even androids.
The same being shrouded in dark I saw earlier moved along the wall outside as they walked along, acting as if they were busy with something. But I knew the stance. They were looking at the place. When the thing would stop, it stood even with my window, its light blue eyes glaring back at me and causing my heart to lurch. Xyru! Never in my life was I so happy to see an Aaran as I was at that moment when he locked eyes with me.
My hand moved to my chest, the heart within pounding hard. He was grinning and shaking his head. The door suddenly opened and I turned frantically to find my seat, acting as casually as I possibly could.
“Looking for Stolks’ jack,” the female Egar said. She had told me her name before, but I couldn’t pronounce it if I wanted. Something like Forgongersh. I’m sure that wasn’t it. These aliens had odd names. I didn’t want her to see Xyru standing at the window outside, so I turned the chair toward her.
“Yeah, I stumbled into them. We picked up the trash. His jack lanyard was in the trash, I handed it to him,” I said.
“He? Stolks is a female Berberstan,” Forngongersh replied flatly.
“Oh, of course,” I said somewhat sarcastically. She didn’t catch the sarcasm.
Her eyes trailed along the floor. I stood and looked around the window, my eyes locked with Xyru’s again. He started talking, and I joggled my head, my eyes swinging toward the Egar. He nodded and moved on, out of view of the window.
“They lost a jack,” she said again.
“I haven’t seen it.” I stared at her with my arms folded over my chest.
She stepped up to me, her eyes narrow slits. I held out my hands. “Maybe she lost it elsewhere. When she left she used a jack to leave the room,” I told her.
“Very well. Come here,” Forngongersh ordered.
I sat down heavily and thrust my hand behind me, pulling the card from my pants and stuffing it into the cushion of the chair. I grimaced as I stood. Forngongersh pulled me roughly to her as her hands brushed over my body. “See? No jack,” I said to her.
“Off with your clothes,” she barked.
Being naked in front of these crude aliens had become a routine. Skleen had already examined me to my humiliation. Thankfully, he prodded nothing inside me like I had heard had been done to other humans. I stepped out of my clothes and left them in a pile on the bed. Forngongersh slid her rough scaled hands over my chilled flesh until it satisfied her that I hid nothing on my person.
“Okay, you can dress.” Her upper lip protruded as she peered at me with her nose in the air, as if sniffing. Fine, let her bury her face in my ass, I’ll give her a cloud of something that she’ll never forget.
“Thank you,” I said as I turned my back to her and spied the very corner of the jack sticking up from the cushion. After grabbing my clothes, I sat on the chair and dressed while the warden of my prison cell looked around again.
“It’s not here,” she said.
“I told you that it wasn’t,” I replied. “I haven’t seen it. And like I said, Stolks used a card, er jack, to unlock my door. You know, you can trust me, I won’t run. I’d like the chance to see something other than these walls.”
“I’m sure that you would,” Forngongersh snorted and left.
I rushed back to the window, and my heart nearly stopped. Where did he go? Xyru stepped out of the shadows and glanced my way. His lips moved. My head shook, tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t read lips. He held up a finger and pointed to himself, then mouthed something and pointed to me.
“You’re coming to rescue me?” I asked.
“I am. Stay right there,” he appeared to say. He nodded. That’s all I needed to know as hope bloomed heavily in my heart while he rushed off and out of sight.
Chapter 6
XYRU
Mare compelled me as I skirted around the building. Perhaps I could make my way to the gates and enter the facility unseen. They weren’t the Kwobus and an Aaran wouldn’t be so alarming. After shedding the rubber skins, my feet pounded over the blackened dirt.
The explosives and supplies to cause a diversion would be a last resort. I planned to try the obvious first. Gandrox thought my accents offered significant help to the crew of the Torq Runner. The ability to match with the local dialect served us well in missions throughout the years. My head shook as I realized the magnitude of the error of my ways. I took full blame on what happened to Mare. It was my fault that she sat locked in a room where the evil doctor sought to use her precious body for research. He probably thought he had landed the best thing by capturing a Terran. Sure, I captured her first, but not with any intent to harm Mare. Her smile lit her face when she saw me standing near her window. Hope sparked my heart that maybe she’d accept me now. If she wanted to go back to Zeta, I’d take her, though. I would not keep her with me against her will.
A story formed in my mind. Aarans, known as barbarians, were very apt to conniving deals to gain the goods to aid Zeta. We weren’t exactly the kindest of beings and often struck deals with less than acceptable beings.
It wouldn’t cause any alarm for me to approach Skleen with such a deal. I pulled back my shoulders and marched toward the front gate.
“Hail, I am here to speak with Skleen about trades,” I said to the Ds’Trae guards. The fake Egar accent didn’t deter their stance as they stood tall and blocked the entrance, refusing to speak to me.
“Again, Skleen will be agreeable to the information and trade I have in mind. He will have your skin if he thought that you had denied him this opportunity,” I warned them. I kept my stare even with one of the guards, pouring out confidence as if I had something of value to trade. They didn’t know that I had come here to take back what was rightfully mine. No matter. Once I gained entrance, I would do what I could do to save Mare.
“No orders to receive anyone for a visit today,” the guard answered.
I could see immediately that I was wasting my time with the guards. I shook my head as I turned and walked away. I couldn’t infiltrate the facility through the front doors. Walking around the outer walls again, I realized that I could get in through another way. Going back to the rubber suit, I dressed quickly and made my way to the rear of the facility, where the walls didn’t reach. My eyes spied Mare’s room, but she didn’t stand at the window. The tall stacks and ventilation system stood out on the flat roof as I walked to a door on the side. It led to flights of stairs that took me straight to the roof. How convenient it was that I had marched across the sticky tiled area until I reached the giant vents. Hot to the touch, I kept my bare hands from brushing against the metal as I climbed into one and slid down until I reached the ventilation ductwork above the rooms. Crawling quietly, I crept along until I was over what I hoped was Mare’s room. I landed with a thud into a dark waste closet. The door slowly opened as I held my breath, ready to pound whoever was just on the other side into the walls.
Mare’s eyes widened as she turned on the light, and an enormous grin stretched across her face.