Risking a glance behind her, she noticed the light moving steadily in her direction, as if floating on air. She turned to face forward, panic building in her so much she felt her heart would explode. Coming around one of the small hills, her heart leapt into her throat as the ship suddenly came into view. But before she could take one more step, a light brighter than any she had ever seen flashed before her eyes, instantly blinding her. She felt her body falling and pain exploding in her head before darkness quickly enveloped her.
3
Rescued?
THE FIRST sensation that seeped into Rebecca's consciousness was not the cold hard metal beneath her or the sound of an old unmaintained diesel engine, or even the back-and-forth motion of a vehicle passing over uneven ground, but rather it was the overpowering stench of engine exhaust fumes. The air was permeated with it. She choked and gasped, her lungs burning.
Opening her eyes didn't improve the situation much. Her vision was blurred and spotty, and whatever was producing the exhaust fumes seemed to be gleefully belching them in her face. Despite the uneven gait of the vehicle, she managed to get up on her hands and knees and crawl to her left until her head bumped into a thin, cylindrical piece of metal. Groping the surrounding space, she soon discovered several other cylinders spaced at even intervals. Although she knew she should recognize the objects, it took her sluggish brain a moment to identify them as the rusted bars of a cage. Thankful that the air was less polluted here, Rebecca propped herself up against the cold metal and took several deep breaths. Her eyes watered, and she blinked numerous times in an attempt to clear her vision. After nearly a minute, she could see sufficiently enough to form a general idea of her immediate surroundings.
She was in the back of some sort of moving vehicle—that much was certain. From what she could see with her limited vision, the cage was roughly eight square feet in size and about four feet high. The floor looked like it hadn't been cleaned since it was built, which, judging by the dents and rust, must have been a long time ago. Every inch was covered with dirt, grime, oil, grease, and other fluids that Rebecca didn't care to identify. What am I doing in the back of a truck? And what's with the cage? Whose truck is this anyway? Where am I going?
No sooner had the questions flashed through her mind than the memories of the events after landing on the planet came back to her in a rush. Adrenaline flooded her body like a tidal wave, threatening to drown her in panic. I'm still on 2021 PK! But where am I? Where are the others? How long was I out? Am I going blind?
Feeling more and more like a caged animal with each bump of the road, Rebecca grabbed the bars and stared out at the terrain, squinting to try to clear the image before her. What she saw only confirmed her fears. The landscape was exactly as she remembered: devoid of vegetation and dotted with rolling hills covered by dull gray dirt. The sky was bloodred and overcast with the dark, luminous clouds threatening to release torrential rains at any moment.
The hot wind suddenly changed directions, sending the carbon dioxide smoke cloud back into her face. Covering her mouth and nose with her gloved hand, she crawled to the other side of the truck bed. Pull yourself together. Panicking won't do you any good, she chided herself. I've gotta think. I still have my gloves and uniform, but my helmet's gone. What else do I have? After a quick inventory, her hopes diminished as she realized that they took her backpack, weapon, helmet, commlink, andpocket tool. At least, nothings broken. But how am I going to get out? How much time do I have before we stop?
As if on cue, the vehicle came to a sudden halt, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. Rebecca quickly got to her knees and crawled to the center of the cage, her body facing the rear of the vehicle and her eyes darting frantically from side to side, searching for any movement.
An odd chittering sound coming from somewhere near the front of the vehicle caused Rebecca to spin around, her every muscle tense with fear. After a few seconds of hunting for the source of the sounds, she finally caught a glimpse of movement to her left followed by another on her right. Then to her utmost horror, the indefinable movements took shape. Creeping slowly toward her from the front of the vehicle were creatures from out of a nightmare. Their insectoid, bulbous bodies stretched for at least five feet and were as thick as a human torso. The gray and yellow designs on their bloated hides looked almost alive as flashes of lightning splayed across the darkening sky, followed seconds later by menacing rolls of thunder. They crawled ever closer to her on multitudes of small six-inch legs that protruded from the underside of nearly their entire bodies. Every creature had a different number of eyes, each of which stared at her from eyestalks positioned on random areas of their heads. But most horrifying of all, however, were the long appendages that stuck out in front of their bodies. The gangly arms ended with pincers that looked capable of easily snatching unsuspecting prey and shoving it mercilessly toward a gaping maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.
All reason fled from Rebecca's mind and was replaced by pure, unadulterated terror. Expecting the things to open the cage and devour her at any second, she curled into a ball and covered her head with her arms, as much to shut out the sight of them as to shut out the sloshing, gurgling, and clacking sounds they produced.
She waited for several terrifying moments, barely daring to breathe, when suddenly the awful sounds ceased. There was a flash of light followed immediately by thunder. Rain began to fall slowly, but still no other sounds could be heard. Gathering her courage, she lowered her arms and gazed at the creatures. What she saw astonished her so much that she momentarily forgot her fear.
Six of the insect-like aliens stood frozen to the spot, the upper half of their bodies standing erect. They were positioned in a defensive formation around the vehicle: two on each side, one behind, and one on top of the cage. Due to her limited vision, she was unable to tell if there were any more in front. The only parts of their bodies that moved were their eyestalks, which were slowly and methodically scanning the surrounding landscape. Small clusters of the six-inch legs on the upper segment of their bodies were wrapped around conical, metallic objects, giving Rebecca the distinctive impression of a hand holding a gun. Could these things be intelligent? The thought caused a shudder to ripple through her tense muscles.
A sudden flash startled her, causing her to reflexively shield her eyes with her arm. It wasn't until she saw the second and third flashes in quick succession, however, that she realized they were not the result of lightning but were actually being produced by the bug-like aliens' bodies! Before she could begin to wonder as to the reason for the light show, the answer presented itself. Appearing suddenly out of the darkness and moving swiftly toward the vehicle came several dark shapes.
The illumination from the alien bodies gave the entire scene an eerie strobe light effect, making it nearly impossible for Rebecca to make out the exact forms of the assailants. Judging by the precision of their attacks, however, it seemed that they were completely unhindered by the dancing lights.
Having come to the same conclusion themselves, the insect-like aliens stopped producing the flashes almost as quickly as they had begun and started firing their cone-shaped weapons. Several of the shadowy figures fell to the ground as the weapons tore through them, but it was apparent that Rebecca's kidnappers were hopelessly outnumbered.
The alien perched atop Rebecca's cage leapt to the ground behind the vehicle, its claws snapping at the air. Suddenly, a small figure appeared out of the darkness and landed heavily on top of it. The insectoid alien twisted its pincers around as far as possible in a desperate attempt to crush its assailant, but to no avail. The combatant's quick movements combined with Rebecca's already weak eyesight and the deepening darkness of the storm made it nearly impossible for her to distinguish what was happening. Seconds later, the heavy body of the giant insect splashed into a gathering puddle of water, where it lay in the final throes of death.
Deep in her heart, Rebecca had held the hope that the attackers were her crew come to
rescue her. But in that instant, her fledgling hope vanished and was replaced by a numbness that spread like a poison through her body. From the spot where the alien had fallen, two slanted, bloodred eyes stared back at her through the curtain of rain. As they fixed upon her, she could feel the bloodlust of the creature intensify.
Still on her hands and knees, she slowly backed away from the cage door, the sounds of the continuing battle fading from her consciousness. The diminutive form sprang toward the bars, the suddenness of its movements catching Rebecca by surprise.
With her back pressed against the far side of the cage, she watched helplessly as the thing began fumbling with the locking mechanism. Within moments, the cage door swung free, and the devilish red eyes began moving steadily toward her, its stature short enough that it could stand upright in the cage without hitting its head on the four-foot ceiling. The outline of a twisted, impish face attached to a body that was armored with thick scales slowly coalesced out of the darkness. A wicked grin splayed across the creature's mutated face as it approached, its forked tongue moving from side to side, saliva dripping down its chin. As it drew nearer, Rebecca could hear what sounded like a maniacal, guttural laugh coming from the lopsided, vicious mouth.
In that moment, with the creature nearly on top of her, Rebecca's survival instincts and military training kicked in. Gathering her strength, she kicked out at her attacker. Her foot connected solidly with its left shoulder, spinning it around and sending it sprawling into the side of the cage. Not even daring to see if it was injured, she dove toward the open cage door. The upper portion of her body had just passed through the opening when two incredibly strong arms suddenly grabbed her left ankle in a vice-like grip. Letting out a gasp of pain and surprise, she kicked several more times with her right foot and managed to extricate herself from its grasp, the momentum of her sudden freedom sending her tumbling out of the cage and onto the ground below.
Climbing to her feet as quickly as she could, she stumbled off blindly into the rain, her only thought being to escape those horrid, crooked red eyes. She had barely taken more than three steps, however, when she was knocked off her feet again by a heavy weight slamming onto her back. She fell hard onto her stomach, her face landing in a shallow pool of dirty water and her arms splayed out in front of her. Raising her head out of the water and gasping for air, she expected to feel the searing pain of razor-sharp claws tearing through her flesh at any second.
But the blows never came.
Instead, she heard a quick harsh growl coming from somewhere in front of her followed by a gradual easing up of the pressure on her back. She risked a quick glance over her left shoulder and saw the devilish creature standing just behind her. But this time, its cruel red eyes were not focused on her but on something just beyond where she lay.
Following its gaze, she snapped her head back around to see what new horror awaited her, the motion causing several strands of wet hair to cling to her face. Through the steady downpour of rain, Rebecca could see yet another alien being standing not more than four feet in front of her. But before she could even think or react, she heard its deep voice growl in unmistakable English, "Well, now, what do we have here?"
4
The High Crala
STANDING BEFORE her was a being that exuded both awe and respect. From her position on the ground, she guessed it to be at least a full seven feet in height. Its arms were crossed, and its entire body seemed to be wrapped in a leathery cape. The darkness and rain obscured its face, but Rebecca could, nevertheless, feel its eyes scrutinizing her from head to toe.
"Stand up," it commanded in a gravelly voice. "We aren't going to hurt you...yet," it added, almost as an afterthought. Despite her terror and shock, she summoned all of her willpower and forced herself to her feet, even though it felt like the gravity of the planet had suddenly tripled.
Once erect, she could better make out the features of the strange being, and under other circumstances, the sight before her may almost have been amusing. The creature had a clearly feline look about it, yet reptilian scales could be seen under its thin layer of fur. But what caught her attention the most was that its eyes were obscured by an odd pair of dark goggles.
As if reading her thoughts, the being slowly reached up and removed them. The eyes that stared back at her through the rain were such a deep violet and seemed to hold such an unexplainable power and incredible intelligence that Rebecca nearly gasped in awe. She couldn't explain why, but just looking into those velvety depths caused her to feel both terrified and comforted at the same time.
She stared for several seconds, transfixed by the being's eyes, until she noticed them suddenly shift to look at something behind her. "Galkor trrign cu lir kta jonu," it commanded. The spell broken, Rebecca looked around to see that the battle was over. Several dark shapes were moving in and around the cage vehicle, obviously searching it for anything that might be of use. The barked command seemed to be directed at the devilish creature that had, just moments ago, been intent on making her its evening meal. The red-eyed monstrosity nodded its misshapen head, which seemed to be perpetually cocked to the left, and began to turn away. As it turned, however, it glanced sideways at her and licked its lips in a decidedly uncomfortable manner, as if to say, "Dinner will be delayed, but not for long!" An involuntary shudder ran down her spine, and as it bounded off into the darkness, she thought she heard what sounded like a high maniacal laugh.
"Now what do I do with you?"
Rebecca returned her attention to the feline alien that stood before her, all the while attempting to control her frantic breathing and her fluttering heart. The creature uncrossed its massive arms, and to her surprise, the leathery cape revealed itself to be long folds of skin that attached to the being's wrists and ankles.
As the adrenaline began to recede, Rebecca was able to successfully repress her survival instincts and win back control of her rattled mind. "You...you speak English?" she managed to say, her words coming out as both a statement and a question. "But...how?"
The feline creature merely stared at her for a moment, its expression unreadable. Then abruptly, it motioned with its clawed hands, and before she could even comprehend what was happening, three strong arms grabbed her from behind. A blindfold was quickly placed over her head, and her wrists were bound securely in front of her with something that felt like spaghetti but was stronger than rope.
"Wait! I—" She pleaded but was jostled so roughly that she had to concentrate just to remain on her feet. She was herded off to her right but soon lost all sense of direction as she stumbled on blindly through the mud and rain. The sounds of alien voices surrounded her, but Rebecca heard no trace of English from any of them, only bizarre growls, slurps, and grunts that were eventually drowned out by the deafening roar of an idling engine. They came to a sudden halt, and the same strong arms that had bound her and pushed her along grabbed her once again and shoved her unceremoniously into the idling vehicle.
The overpowering stench of oil and gas assailed her as her new captors dropped her onto the hard metallic floor of the machine. Before she could even rearrange herself into a more comfortable position, the vehicle lurched and began to move.
Rebecca was quickly bruised and battered as the machine made its way over the rough terrain to its unknown destination. Time began to lose all meaning as she was constantly thrown around, the unforgiving, cold metal beneath her doing little to ease her discomfort. Her body ached in every conceivable area, and the aftermath of the extreme adrenaline rush left her exhausted beyond endurance. She didn't realize they had stopped until all-too-familiar hands dragged her to her feet.
In her current state, Rebecca couldn't react quick enough to keep her balance, and her knees buckled, dropping her hard onto her left knee. Giving out a cry of pain, she grasped her injured leg and lay still, praying that she would suddenly wake up to find that this whole event had been a horrible nightmare.
Instead, she felt as if a sledgehammer had been driven i
nto her stomach by a giant. Sharp stabs of pain shot through her head as the alien withdrew its foot for a second kick. She braced herself for the next wave of pain but was once again saved by the familiar feline growl.
"Col grrrin cha!"
Rebecca heard shuffling near her head, then arms that were almost gentle yet incredibly strong lifted her and set her once again upon her feet. They held her steady until she regained her breath and felt the strength return to her legs and sore knee.
Finally, after several minutes, she was half-carried to what she assumed to be the vehicle's door, based on the sounds coming from it. The jumble of noise around her increased in volume, but before she could even attempt to sort out the sources, her task was made easier by the sudden removal of her blindfold.
It took Rebecca several moments to make sense of her surroundings. She was in a large, cavernous room about the size of an airplane hangar. Vehicles of all shapes and sizes were parked in various places with no apparent organization. The room's floor, walls, and ceiling were the same dull, off-white color as the surrounding countryside and were rough and uneven, giving Rebecca the impression that this room had been hastily carved out of the rock and never smoothed out to completion. The entire scene was lit by large overhead lamps, the wires of which could be seen snaking along the ceiling like the long tentacles of some massive sea creature.
As she surveyed the area, she noticed several beings of various species engrossed in their individual tasks. Rebecca looked intently at the odd assortment of aliens, her scientific curiosity temporarily overriding her fear of her current predicament.
The reprieve from fear was short-lived. This time, however, it was interspersed with bewilderment, for moving out from behind a nearby vehicle on her left came an alien shape that caused her knees to grow weak with recognition. Its four misshapen eyestalks didn't give her much more than a casual glance as its multitudinous legs carried its segmented body smoothly through a nearby door. As it departed, her fear slowly receded, giving way to confusion.
Logic's End Page 4
