It didn't see me! she thought in amazement. As she watched, both creatures turned away from her, their arms gesticulating angrily. Immediately seizing the opportunity, she dashed toward the nearby rock and continued running, not even turning to look to see if they were pursuing her.
She weaved in and out among the boulders and hills, always keeping a hill or boulder between her and her former companions. She couldn't be exactly sure where the ship was, but she knew if she kept running away from the mountain, she would sooner or later make it to the clearing in which the ship rested.
After several minutes of frantic running, her translator suddenly crackled to life, scaring her so much as to nearly cause her to stumble. The monotonous voice spoke, relaying its cryptic message with calm matter-of-factness.
"Run, Rebecca Clan Evans. We are coming for you."
The simple message succeeded in driving the last vestiges of conscious thought from her mind. Resolutely setting her will upon the task of reaching the ship, she ran on. She knew she had to be close, for the small hills were diminishing in size, affording her less and less cover the farther on she went. At any rate, she would have to find it soon, for her wounded knee was beginning to throb once again, and her battered and bruised body was nearly spent from prolonged anxiety and sheer exhaustion.
Then as she rounded the latest hill, her strength was instantly renewed. For in front of her, not more than a hundred yards away was the Vanguard sitting dormant on its landing skids. Knowing that she would be visible as she sprinted across the clearing, she gathered everything within her and urged her body on. As she ran, she opened a channel from her commlink.
"Open the hatch! Please! This is Rebecca. Open the hatch!"
Static.
Behind her, she could hear sounds of the others as they pursued her with abandon, all thoughts of caution having been tossed aside. Don't look, Rebecca. Just keep running, she thought, knowing that if she turned to look, she may lose all remaining courage. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed upon the control panel next to the ramp that was even now only twenty yards away. Code #482–48–736, she repeated to herself. 482–48–73–
Suddenly, from underneath the ship, the sinewy form of the Grinathian leader emerged, its piercing eyes narrowed dangerously. Back-pedaling in horror, Rebecca tried to turn and run back towards the hills, only to find Ch'ran's small form bounding towards her with giant leaps, its shrill voice cackling with pure exhilaration.
Then, before she even had a chance to react, she felt a thin, rope-like object wrap itself tightly around her waist. An instant later, her breath escaped from her body as she was yanked violently off her feet from behind. She doubled over in pain as she hit the cracked surface of the planet, her lungs screaming for oxygen.
"A very good try. You almost made it, Rebecca Clan Evans," Rysth-nuul hissed as it uncoiled its tail from about her waist.
Oh, let it be over quick, she thought, her eyes closed tightly to ward off the image of the mutated aliens around her. Yet, she found that the images conjured in her mind were worse than those facing her in reality. For in her mind's eye, the memory of Errhu's torture and death came unbidden to the forefront of her thoughts.
"NO!" she shouted aloud, her body shaking from terror both within and from without.
"Do not worry," Rysth-nuul said, its voice oozing sarcasm. "We will not torture you as much as we did the Lid."
"Wait, Rysth-nuul," Sikaris said. As it strode over to where she lay, its gaze darted warily back and forth, as if expecting the hills to erupt with alien attackers at any moment. "Rebecca, how do we enter your ship? Tell us that, and we will still let you live."
Emotional numbness had begun to override her fear and rational thought processes, causing her to chuckle derisively. "Right. Like you promised the Lidrilian? No, Sikaris. I've learned how things work on Ka'esch. 'Power to the Strong and Intelligent, Death to the Weak and Stupid.' But this time, I hold the power, and I'll never give it to you, so you might as well kill me now!"
For a moment, no one moved. Then, almost imperceptibly, Sikaris nodded at Rysth-nuul. Grinning wickedly, the snake alien raised its double-tipped tail in preparation to strike. All of the blood immediately drained from Rebecca's face as realization struck. They were going to do it! They were calling her bluff!
"Wait! I...I...I'm sure we can work something out," she cried, panic causing her voice to quaver uncontrollably. "Prin, tell them ..." She looked pleadingly at the ferret alien that had become closest to a friend, but the alien just stared at her blankly.
From behind her, she heard Ch'ran laugh hysterically. "Two dinners in one day! I want the thigh!"
"Wait," Tarrsk said, striding forward and placing a claw on Sikaris shoulder. "I think that we should—"
Suddenly, from seemingly out of nowhere, several sharp bullet-like objects slammed into Rysth-nuul's body, sending the alien crashing to the ground beside Rebecca. Immediately, Sikaris and the others spun around in search of the attacker.
They didn't have to look very hard, for they now found themselves surrounded on all sides by what Rebecca assumed to be Tarrsk's clanmates. Each of the mutated, alligator beings had either hand-held weapons, or projectile spewing tentacles pointed in their direction.
"Torlig," Prin cursed as more and more of the aliens seemed to materialize from out of thin air.
Rebecca sat up slowly, sudden comprehension dawning on her. Her mind flashed back to the times she had seen Tarrsk attempt to blend in with its background like a chameleon, only to be given away by its diseased patches of dead, white skin. These creatures obviously had no such hindrances.
"Do not touch the strange being." The speaker was a particularly large specimen who had three tentacles protruding from its back: two long, thin ones similar to Tarrsk's, and one shorter, wide one. As it spoke, the creature took several steps towards their group, its three disfigured eyes resting upon Tarrsk. "Congratulations, Diseased One. You actually did it. The being still lives."
Rysth-nuul stirred beside her. Although clearly wounded in several places from the attack, its thick Dakkar-nil hide had absorbed the brunt of the damage, protecting its body from serious injury. Slowly raising itself up so as not to startle its edgy captors, Rysth-nuul cursed loudly at its former companion. "You traitorous scum. You sold us out."
Tarrsk turned and regarded Rysth-nuul coldly. "Yes, I did. And you are jealous that you did not figure out a way to profit from this alien first. My clan had already captured this ship when I contacted them, but it seems that the hunting party that found it made the mistake of murdering all of Rebecca's clan mates before they realized what they had found."
The large Torlig leader narrowed its eyes at Tarrsk, its expression revealing its displeasure at the criticism. At the same time, Rebecca sat up straight, startling the nearby hunters with her sudden movement as the translation reached her ears. "What? What...did you say?"
"That is right, I forgot,"Tarrsk sneered, moving closer to her until its foul, mouthless face was mere inches from her own. "You still hoped they were alive."
Rebecca felt as if all life had suddenly drained from her body, leaving her nothing but an empty void. Dead? No, they couldn't be. It has to be lying. Yet despite all efforts to convince herself otherwise, she knew it had to be true. She was now truly all alone.
Tarrsk continued, enjoying the spotlight. "However, before they died, your clan mates managed to lock up your ship. Barraca was very mad, but when he found out that I could bring you to him, he was willing to offer me whatever I wanted."
Sikaris narrowed its eyes in fury. "And what was the payment you were promised?"
"Can you not guess?" Tarrsk said smugly. "My clan has agreed to allow me to rejoin them. I am clan less no more."
At this statement, the Torlig leader gestured toward them with one of its massive claws. "Enough of this. Bind them all."
"What?" Tarrsk shouted in dismay as it spun around to look at the larger clan member.
Without expression
of any kind, the creature spoke. "I am tired of your talking. You have been very useful, but you are a fool to believe that Clan Torlig would allow such a worthless, sickened being like yourself to return."
"No!" Tarrsk cried as its fellow Torlig threw netting over its body and began pinning the struggling creature to the hard, cracked ground. Ch'ran's hysterical laughter at its companion's misfortune was suddenly drowned out by a cry of fury as Rysth-nuul lashed out at the nearby captors with its whip-like tail. "I will not be a slave again!"
The tense scene immediately dissolved into chaos. In the split second of distraction afforded by Rysth-nuul's outburst, Sikaris vaulted into action. Striking out at the nearest attacker, the great alien felled its opponent in one single swipe of its mighty claw. Without hesitation, it sent a blast of sonically charged particles toward the Torlig that had nearly enveloped Prin in a tangle of netting, knocking the alligator creature senseless.
Once it had extricated itself from the net, Prin leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding an onslaught of sharpened projectiles. Rolling to its feet, it grabbed the last of its explosives from its bandolier and prepared to launch it.
Ch'ran, meanwhile, who was laughing like a child playing tag, jumped about, shooting madly at anything and everything with its small handheld pistol. Weaving and bobbing as it went, the insane creature found itself heading straight toward the Torlig leader. "Fifty points for killing the leader, Nix! I will win for sure!" it cackled loudly.
Weaponless, Rebecca knew her only hope for survival was to make it to the ship. Climbing to her feet, she dashed toward the Vanguard. She had barely taken a dozen strides, however, when one of the Torlig swept her legs out from under her with a well-placed throw of its net.
A low throaty laugh emanated from the creature's torso as it prepared to secure its prize. Suddenly, an explosion erupted behind it, sending the mutated alien sprawling forward to land on Rebecca's legs, pinning her helplessly to the ground.
Summoning every ounce of strength in her body, she pushed hard upon the body of the unconscious alien, but despite her efforts, she was unable to free her legs. Trapped, she watched as a now grenade-less Prin fought desperately against three Torlig as they proceeded to ensnare it in one of their nets.
Nearby, Rysth-nuul was quickly losing ground. Then letting out one final scream of frustration, the snake alien collapsed under a barrage of fists and tentacles that rendered it unconscious. In her mind, the remainder of the battle seemed to move in slow motion as one by one she watched each of her former comrades fall.
A shrill, high-pitched cackle drew her attention. Ch'ran, who was leaping through the air, landed squarely upon the back of the large Torlig leader. The muscular alien twisted its torso and flailed its three tentacles about wildly in an attempt to dislodge the mad attacker. Ch'ran's face was a mask of devilish delight as it lifted its tail high, ready to plunge it deep into the unprotected flesh of its victim.
Then unexpectedly, the impish creature's features contorted horribly as the large third tentacle found its mark. The razor-sharp teeth that protruded from the end of the tentacle sunk firmly into Ch'ran's underside. After a brief instant, they withdrew, allowing Ch'ran's body to fall limply to the ground.
Although she would never have considered these creatures as friends, it, nonetheless, made her feel an even deeper sense of loneliness to see them fall. Looking up from Ch'ran's body, she saw Sikaris, surrounded by wounded or dead Torlig, fighting its way slowly back toward the hills.
But deep down inside, Rebecca knew the feline alien wouldn't make it. Even as it ran, its limp became more pronounced and its fatigue more apparent. The Torlig surrounding it seemed to be almost toying with the great hunter, feigning attacks from all directions and keeping Sikaris off balance. Finally, they struck. With its attention divided between many foes, Sikaris did not notice the heavy club-like tentacle slipping in under its defenses. Even as far away as she was, Rebecca could still hear the sickening thud as the tentacle connected with Sikaris's head.
As quickly as it had begun, it was over. Each of the five remaining members of the Grinathian hunting party lay motionless, either unconscious or dead.
Struck dumfounded by the rush of events, Rebecca didn't even struggle as a group of Torlig hauled her to her feet. The remainder of the alligator creatures was dragging her companions back toward the large alien commander, who was staring down at the now bound and helpless Tarrsk.
The large creature sneered in disdain. "You stupid, worthless being. You do not deserve to live. You do not even understand the depth of your stupidity. Did you really think we would trust you to bring us the last of these creatures? We knew that your deal with the Mrdangam would fail, so we made one of our own. But since the rest of them did not attack your transport, it seems that the stupid being who made the deal with us must have been greedy and not shared our offer with its clan mates."
Moving even closer to Tarrsk, it grabbed it by the throat and held it in a vise-like grip. "And the Ryazan, you fool, attacked because you were not careful with your transmission to us. They overheard and found you before we could, hoping to capture the strange being and sell him to us. We learned this after torturing several of the ones who survived when our hunting party surprised them right after the avalanche buried you in the Modir Cave." Releasing Tarrsk, it took several steps back and motioned for its clan mates to bring Rebecca toward it.
She was dragged before the large Torlig hunter without resisting, her mind still in shock. The creature sized her up with a critical gaze. "Barraca will be pleased." Turning to one of the others standing nearby, it pointed toward the Vanguard. "Bring the Wryll and tow this vehicle back to the base. And bring this slave fodder for the games."
Looking at her once more, its abdominal mouth split into a wide grin. "Yes, Barraca will be pleased indeed."
As they began marching her away from the field of carnage, she heard a soft yet high-pitched whisper being carried by the hot wind. Looking down, she saw Ch'ran's body lying in a pool of its own blood, its face turned upward. Rebecca was surprised to see a look of peace on the creature's face as its twisted lips moved slightly.
"I will be there soon, Nix..."
19
Hope Rekindled
THE CELL door shut with the grating sound of rusted metal that rang loudly in the dank cellar, which served as the Torlig prison. The fetid air surrounding her reeked of the smells of dead and dying creatures, and the steady pulse of dripping water could be heard echoing down the ancient corridors, mingling with the moans and cries of the other prison occupants.
But all of this escaped Rebecca's notice. For in her defeated and stunned brain, only one thought was present, caught forever in a cycle of numb repetition, like a scratched and broken record: they're all dead.
Even the trip from the Vanguards landing site to the Torlig base seemed nothing more than a blur. Did it matter that Sikaris, Prin, Rysth-nuul, and even Tarrsk still lived and were prisoners like her? Or did it even matter that the Torlig had managed to tow the Vanguard to this base? As far as she was concerned, what difference did any of that make? It was all over now, for Lisa and the others were dead. She would never return to Earth. She was going to die alone on this cruel planet millions of miles from home. She would never see her parents, her sister, or her husband ever again.
Jeffrey. Would he even miss her? He had been so wrapped up in his archaeological excavations on the other side of the world that they rarely saw each other. She was amazed that he had even shown up to see her off. Maybe it was best that they could never have children. At least, that way they wouldn't be left without their mother like...like...
Overcome with grief, Rebecca began to weep. In her mind's eye, she could see Jenny and Amanda, their innocent faces suddenly marred by sorrow, their childhood forever robbed by the news that their mother would never be coming back. First Brad, now Lisa. Why hadn't she listened? Why had she been so set on leaving her children? Now they were left to face life without both
of their parents.
"Where's Mommy? Why isn't Mommy coming home?"
Letting out a groan of pain, Rebecca fell to her knees and doubled over, her shoulders wracking with sobs as the words echoed in her mind.
Physically and emotionally spent, she kneeled on the cold stone floor for many long minutes without moving. Finally, the soreness in her knees began to draw her mind out of hibernation and focus it upon her present condition. Shifting positions, she sat down cross-legged on the floor and stared blankly at her surroundings.
What little she could see from the dim light that filtered through a grate in the ceiling revealed a small dank chamber about ten feet square with a single rectangular gate made of rusting bars bent in a crisscrossed pattern. The typical slipshod workmanship of the creatures of this planet was again apparent in the uneven walls and floor as well as the open wiring that led to the now darkened lighting system in the corridor.
Shivering in the cold, she crossed her arms over her chest, wishing she still had the Dakkar-nil armor. As her hands hugged her sides, she felt a bulge on the inside of her jumpsuit that made her pause. They had taken her protective outfit that Prin had given her, but they had left her with her jumpsuit as well as her translator unit. Reaching into the inside pocket, she withdrew the object.
Why didn't they search my jumpsuit? she thought numbly, turning her journal over in her hand. Staring down at it, she punched in the code and, for lack of anything better to do, began listening to her previous entries. She found it strangely humorous to see how her thought processes had changed since having landed here merely a day ago. So much had happened. And now...
Flipping the switch to record, she began speaking, her voice sounding hollow in the small chamber.
Journal Entry #6
I was wrong.
In my last entry, I said that waiting was worse than any fate. But that was because I failed to imagine that my situation could become more horrible than death. Yet here I am. Lisa, Captain Coffner, and the others are dead, the ship is locked away in some secure hangar, and I'm alone in a cell. Escape is impossible. And even if I could manage to get out of the Torlig base, what would be the point? I can never return home. I'll never see my family again. Why should I want to go on living?
Logic's End Page 24
