Alien's Prize

by C. R Corbin

  "Hey, hey!" he said to me in the midst of my stupor and I glanced over at him before he sighed, "Don't feel bad. There's nothing that you could have done, nothing that we could have done. Let me heal her up, I'll have the systems translate this chip so you can find something. In the meantime, I'll be tending to her." He said with confidence as he rubbed my back before turning towards the bed.

  I can only look at the lines of numbers forming in front of me in addition to the variety of graphs that begin to perk up. There was nothing that I could do to make this any better so I might as well start focusing on what I can do, isn't that what he wants?

  I gazed at the frames before I begin to notice the patterns, when translated into the symbols that I was used to....it looked like these repeating lines were indicative of a location believe it or not. It was almost like it was a point on this strange coordinate system that they had in front of us.

  And it looked like the center of this coordinate system was the place that we were at if the translation was to be believed.

  I tried to delve deeper and I always simply grew sidetracked or frustrated by the differences. I continued to gaze over the lines in front of me before I finally figured out the missing piece that I needed to see. I deduced from examining another microchip, that the graphs were describing the main base in conjunction to this place.

  This strange line of grids was actually the systems of tunnels under their base and if we followed them then we would get where we wanted to go. My train of thought was interrupted by the Evelyn and I quickly shut off the computer before turning to her. I watched as she laid there, writhing with the sheets bundled up along her shoulder while her eyes slowly opened, an expression of shock settles onto her face.

  "Where the hell am I?" she asked aloud and I glanced down at her before smiling widely.

  She was safe after all.

  I stared at Jino who simply nodded at me before leaning against a wall in the back while I knelt beside Evelyn to drag the needles out of her arm. She winced as the dull pain shot through her body before I gazed into shoe brown orbs that were obscured by a curtain of gold. She sets her gaze on me and I sighed before she begins to speak once again.

  "Miriam? Is that really you? Oh god, what the hell happened?"

  "I could ask you the same thing. "

  She pauses and blinks before her voice descends into that drawl again, "The last thing I remember is watching that creep use those goddamn needles on me again. God, I think that my arm might never feel the same after that."

  "What did he do to you?" I asked.

  "He...he experimented on us. Took our blood, injected us with shit and saw how we reacted."

  "And?"

  "I don't' know. Some of us had a response and some of us didn't. The ones that were dragged off ...I don't really remember, It's all kind of a blur to be honest." She concluded with her head in her hands, she tries to sit up, but her body fails her and she falls back onto her back while hugging herself, shaking as she attempts to take in everything that has happened.

  I place a hand on her and glanced down at her softly, "It's okay, we're going to be fine...Listen, Evelyn, I need you to try and remember everything that you can so that we can stop this guy, start from when you were captured and go on from there." I stated and she glanced at me with a blank expression before she began to relay the story of her capture to me. And it certainly wasn't pretty in any sense.

  She tells me of how she was dragged away from the base and was taken down these stone tunnels while she was still severely wounded and her head was knocked about. She was groggy up until the point where she woke up in some kind of cage. The other prisoners had no idea what was going on until they were each taken away from their cells, only to return a couple of hours later with really weird ailments. Some of them collapsed, other's vomited, there was even one man, someone I didn’t entirely recognize, who began to grow something out of his arm, like a new piece of flesh that was much denser than the other bits of flesh on his body.

  I had no clue what to say to that.

  And then she tells me how those people were dragged away until it was her turn to come out. She was hooked up in some sort of vat and held there while the needles began to pierce her and inject her. She says that soon after that, everything went black, the moment she woke up she was laying here beside me.

  So that was what was happening. A shame she couldn't really tell me how many people were left unscathed by that madman, but it was clear that we had to act fast regardless. With the coordinates I have I suppose that we could leave as early as tomorrow.

  "So Evelyn, I want you to meet someone." I stated and turned to face Jino who was gazing at us intensely.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jino

  She took it quite well if I say so myself.

  Both Miriam and I were currently outside of the ship with our arms folded, we had left Evelyn inside with the meal so that she could process what had happened. We would be attacking shortly and it was imperative that she understood the full gravity of the scenario.

  That wasn't what was on my mind at the moment, however, it seemed like Miriam was far more preoccupied with the descriptions of what had been happening under the control of that madman.

  I gazed at her from my spot against the hull of the ship. She squats on the sands and aimlessly drags her fingers through the dirt while her lip quivers and her eyes shut. It was a lot to take in, that her former colleagues and friends were now being turned into abominations by this merakai. I could barely think of it myself as I glanced at her and waited for a reaction.

  "He has to pay, by god he has to pay." she muttered to herself.

  I nodded, "No disagreement there."

  She didn't seem to be one for words at the moment, but I could tell that she wanted to tell me more, so much more. She wanted to describe every bit of her hatred for this man and I wasn't about to stop her if she wished to do so, but there was also the matter of strategy to be had. We also had to focus on how we were going to attack him and put his forces down.

  And we would have to attack soon in order to strike while he was weakened. This was the perfect opportunity to take him down and I wasn't about to let it slip by simply because we were too busy recovering, as cold as that may have sounded. I knew that Evelyn was still somewhat weak and Miriam was also a bit lethargic at this point, but if we tried hard enough then we could easily take the power back and seize control.

  That's what we needed, that was what we would always need in the face of this kind of malevolence.

  "I'm sorry, I'm being stupid again aren't I?" she asked aloud and shook her head while a hand brushed over her face, she glances over at me and smiles sadly, "You know the thing I found about the entire system being basically a web? Yeah well ...I think that I may have found the epicenter of it all. There has to be a way to destroy all of them, however, not just the single base that I found."

  She had found the central location or at least what we presumed was it, due to the fact that its code kept on appearing in the data over and over again. If we attacked the place then there was no guarantee that Yurian would perish in the attack. The only way to guarantee that would be to destroy every inch of the compound and I wondered if we could even do that with our limited resources, besides, based on what we understood there might have still been survivors amongst the humans so our only clue was to go back to the wrecked base that they had left behind and try to derive some clues from there.

  I would go later.

  "I know you're afraid, I understand that, but we have to remain strong okay?" I asked her as I stumbled over, taking her hand in mine and holding her while she glances over and smiles. I feel her leaning in to embrace me and I returned the gesture as my lips just barely grazed her neck. Her breath scratches my cheek and I could feel her legs quivering as her arms tighten around me.

  She nestles her head into my shoulder and sighs, "I'm afraid of losing you too you know? I
t's all so dangerous and what if I can never see-" she began to prattle off, but I plant a kiss on her lips to silence her for a moment, she smiles while I pulled away.

  "Any more complaints?" I asked her humorously and she shook her head

  "I just want to say it before anything else happens, I have come to care for you far more than I had thought I ever would. You are my friend, my occasional comfort in bed, and now I realize that there is something else. I've only been with you for a couple of weeks, but I understand that I love you...I really do." She whispered and plants another kiss on my lips while I pulled her in, my lips hang near her ear and don't know what to say since the word "love" was never one that I had quite learned during my time as a Delosian.

  What did it mean? Was that what this warmth was? I presumed that it was simply the power of the mating bond, but perhaps there was more, there was so much more than just that.

  Yes, perhaps I did love her, I wanted to protect and to claim her more than anything else...so I did.

  "And I love you too." I whispered and she sighed with contentment dripping off of her voice as we returned to Evelyn who greeted us with a wide smile. There was this overwhelming sense of relief that was practically emanating off of her due to the fact that she was now free, I knew that I had to find this bastard faster than I was already searching and that he needed to pay immediately.

  That was why that night I snuck out.

  We let Evelyn have the bed while I set out some rolls on the floor for Miriam and I, although she didn't really notice me slipping away in the midst of the night after they had fallen asleep. I had injected a small drug into her before I left to ensure that she wouldn't be waking up before I intended her to do so.

  Now I was halfway across the desert in my armor, clutching onto the rocks and hoping that the camouflage field that was around me would hide me from the enemy for at least a little while.

  I heaved myself onto the sand mound as I stared at the large rock formation in the distance where the old base was. It was mostly abandoned and that little hatch on the base of the mountain was propped open so I could likely enter without much difficulty. I began to edge my way towards it with a hand on my blaster in case I spotted any danger. My boots clamor against the sand as I gently slide down the hole, I see the scratch marks on the sands and begin to realize that something might have entered during the time that this base has been open.

  I wandered down the corridor as the night vision of my visor flashes up and I looked around the corners to see a beast that had wandered in, it was waiting for me. I hold my blaster as I heard the growling get louder and louder, the corridor was thin so any combat in here would be incredibly limited, I could fire on the monster with my blaster, but that wouldn't be enough to stop it judging from what i've seen of the creatures here so ...a knife would have to do.

  And then I heard it.

  The pitter-patter of scratches above me, I glanced up and saw the beast crawling over the stone before he sees me and lunges. It shrieks loudly with its arms outstretched and I put my blaster in action as I fired off a couple of shots before jumping back to avoid a swipe of its claws. In the dark, it was hard to tell what it was exactly, but I could see that the beast had a long tail as well as a series of ridges on its back. Its skin was composed of scales and its claws were about as long as my fingers, the head had a severely wide maw and a single eye.

  That didn't matter to me as it lunged towards my face and I brought my knife upwards. I strike its jaw and cleaved through its face with my knife. I had slowed it with my blaster shots and was only able to stop it in its path with a nicely placed jab.

  Soon after the blood begins to trickle down onto my arm before the beast falls onto its side, panting and shivering before finally passing away.

  I sighed and glanced at the monster while my hands tightened around the knife. I get to my feet and begin to step over towards the depths of the caverns. With any luck, everything would still be open and it is, the power was off though. I did remember that.

  My boots slide over the bloodstained tan sands, my fingers pursed over the broken computer systems. We had searched this place in a rush, but perhaps there could still be something here that we could find...

  And I did find it eventually.

  It was a hard drive that was still working and I quickly pressed it into my gauntlet to scan the contents that would lead me to believe that the humans were being kept in a singular chamber down here in the depths.

  There was the knowledge that they had at most about 10 prisoners and that there would only be a couple that they could inevitably take and there would also be some that had perished in the experiments so all the humans couldn't have possibly survived. Thus they were only relegated to one base where all the experiments could be conducted, after all, it only made sense that they would be kept together based on Evelyn's testimony so there was only one place that they could be kept, it was the same place that Miriam had concluded was the main base.

  And it was all written down here in this hard drive, an emergency black box that was left behind in a very specific corner of the room, likely as a secret cache of information for anyone that they might have left behind.

  Once I found that I quickly scurried back to home base so that we could begin our assault and end this madness. I knew what to do already.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Miriam

  One of the pathways were below us and we began to fire onto the rock and sand until it ultimately collapsed. I had told him that this was a risky plan, but he had informed me that we were not firing on any prisoners due to the fact that he had found out where they were being kept which was in the center of the compound network.

  He once told me that he was a bit more comfortable with the idea of bombing Yurian's territories into smithereens, but I was still feeling a bit uneasy at the prospect of bombing so...indiscriminately. What if one of ours was caught in the crossfire?

  Of course, we couldn't just go flush him out manually as that would take far too much time, this was the better option.

  We continued our raids and watched as the plumes of sand and dust flow upwards before we finally finished our rounds and all that was left was the central base. We landed the ship on a sand mound that was hidden from the main base as we both began to inch our way closer and closer towards this final piece of the puzzle. I was right behind him with a small rifle in my hands, this would likely get ugly so I had to mentally prepare myself to really give it my all during the attack.

  I tighten my grasp around the rifle as we inched down onto the last hatch that would lead down to their main base, he presses the key into the little crest before the hatch opens and we hear roaring and watch as lasers singe the entrance.

  Jino tosses down the explosives as well as some smoke bombs to obscure their sight. It was a good plan since we had visors and could see through the dust and the darkness should it come to that.

  We move forward and Jino stands in front of me as he began to fire off his shots. I hang behind and provide fire when I can as well as cover our backs until we made our way into the chamber. Through a series of sand tunnels we travel, they would have confused everyone else, but we already had a sizeable majority of it mapped out. And after a fair bit more fighting we reached the central chamber.

  The room was dark at first, but then it lights up, we couldn't entire see that many people in this sort of environment, but I could see the massive blob of flesh that was standing in front of me. I yelled and ducked to the side behind a stray piece of hardware as the giant monster swings its arm across the ground, rippling the sands and the dust while it inches closer towards us.

  And slowly in the darkness, I begin to see the outlines of human faces and I want to vomit as a result. I could barely lift my rifle until I saw Jino spring back into action by firing off his shots at the beast.

  "What do we do?" I cried out as I rolled under another swing of its arm before firing off a lita
ny of shots towards its legs. The beast stumbles for a bit, but it regains its composure soon after and refocuses its attacks while I fired off several more shots at the human faces that were all over its bulbous body while it flails wildly in front of me.

  Jino doesn't say anything in response to my question and simply chucks some more of these explosives at the feet of the beast. The clouds of dust ripple upwards as I felt the vibrations of his grenades shock the beast which stumbled forward and crashed against the wall. Jino tosses his rifle towards me before he launches himself upwards with the massive knife in his hands. I ducked under another swipe of the beast's arm, but as a result of its strike a pile of rubble falls onto my back and I am trapped under the rocks. There is nothing that I could do except for wait for the battle to end.

  "Shit!" I cried as I watched Jino get hurled across the room, his back crashes against the sandstone and he falls onto his side as that beast continues to attack with every moment that passes. Its senses were keen, it aims its hand at me to strike the pile of rubble I was under, but I managed to distract it by firing a shot at its face which preoccupied it for, but a moment.

  I struggle to free myself from the weight of all of it, but then I see Jino spring into action with renewed life, his hands launched upwards and he clambered onto the beast with his knife digging into its skin before he reached one of the faces. He stabs the flesh and it causes a massive amount of blood to pool out, but no matter what we did it almost seemed like nothing was working

  There had to be a weakness!

  I begin to fire off more shots and notice that the ceiling was chipping and cringed as I watched the stones fall onto the beast. It was then that I realized that the cave was actually holding up, the ceiling wouldn't collapse even if we destroyed part of it so I kept on firing at the ceiling in an effort to get more of the stone to chip off to hopefully trap this beast beneath the weight of it. I shut my eye and prayed that it would be enough as I watched the monster clamor under the massive piles of rocks that were now falling onto it. It was then that I saw Jino and he quickly picked up on what I was doing so he kept on doing it with me.