“No no….” I heard Rusty mumble. I frowned and slowly lifted my head, swallowing nervously when I found dirty pants legs in front of me. I hesitantly looked fully up and shrank back when Grizzly grinned down at me.
“Hello lil’ lady,” he joked, grabbing the back of my uniform and yanking me to my feet. My breathing hitched in panic as he forced me forward, the gun digging into my back as he laughed. I grunted in pain and I looked to pop for help. He was trying to get up, but two of the gang members had grabbed him and mom was looking at me with horror on her face. “You don’t look stupid kid. Tell me where the safe is and I’ll leave with only the money,” Grizzly said into my ear.
I quickly nodded and he released me, shoving me forward with the barrel of his gun. “Go on then!” he snapped. I quickly shuffled to the kitchen and inside, walking to the pantry in the far left corner of the room. I opened the door and grimaced when I found several men were eating some of the food. They frowned up at me before returning to their food when Grizzly shuffled over.
I reluctantly uncovered the hidden safe room and typed in the code on the keypad on the wall, grabbing the mostly hidden knob and opening it when the door clicked. I pulled it open and moved back as Grizzly ordered one of his underlings in with a jerk of his head. The man grunted and got up, shuffling over then into the room with a frown on his face.
He suddenly let out a loud sound of shock before coming back out with wide eyes. “They have a lot of money boss!” the man said in joy before gurgling as a shot rang out and he fell to the floor dead. I screamed as I watched blood pour from the new, rather large hole in his back while Grizzly huffed in what I could only guess was annoyance.
“Must be a delayed defense system,” Grizzly grumbled, not even caring about the dead man at his feet. I felt my body begin to tremble in fear and I shifted back a bit, the other man looking to Grizzly and beginning to speak. I swallowed down my growing nausea and looked around, trying to find an escape. I couldn’t get out through the back exit, and heading back into the diner was out of the question. I knew I couldn’t just kill Grizzly. He was much bigger, and more experienced than I was. I looked around the room before stopping on the grill as I remembered something. Pop always kept a weapon there, I was sure of it. Grizzly and his underling had begun to argue and I was easily able to shuffle over to the side of the grill, slipping my hand under the top and feeling around.
For a tense moment, I felt nothing but the comforting grip of pop’s special pistol brushed against my palm and finger-tips. Pop had been a police officer for a few years and after retiring bought a special laser pistol for protection. After buying it, pop taught mom, my sisters, and me how to use it. Now I was going to put my training to the test. All I hoped was that I could get him on the first shot.
I swallowed down my nerves and pulled out the pistol, aiming at Grizzly. I quickly switched off the safety and fired, the shot going wide and hitting his partner. I grimaced as the man went down and Grizzly jumped, spinning around in panic and lifted his pistol. His large eye opened wider in shock and everything seemed to freeze in that one moment. I could hear the blood rushing through my head and my heart beating a steady tempo in my ears as we stood like statues.
The next moment gave me the most disorienting experience of my whole life. The world shifted, the air around us shimmering, as everything seemed to melt and leave the two of us stagnate in darkness. As quickly as it happened, it ended and the world righted itself, my eyes darted around the room without my consent.
Different types of escape plans came to mind and I blinked rapidly to get my thoughts to calm. Instead of calming, more ideas assaulted my brain and I grimaced as my head sent out a painful throb. For another moment, my mind continued to go through a whirlwind of thoughts before I realized I should duck. I did just that, quickly jumping behind the grill and keeping my head down as I heard his pistol discharge.
He fired at me several more times and I took the pause to rub my head to try and alleviate the pain. “What was that?” I mumbled in worry. I shook my head in hopes of clearing it before looking around, another plan slowly coming to mind. There was a large metal wall in front of me and just enough space for me to squeeze behind it. I nodded to myself before putting the gun into the waistband of my skirt and crawling over, keeping as low as possible as I moved behind it.
I kneeled and pulled out the gun, listening to the heavy foot-fall of Grizzly, who let out a laugh as he stomped about. “Lil spitfire you are! You really think you can take me on? I’ve taken out more ASC officers than you think!” he laughed. I looked around slowly before my eyes traveled up. I took notice of one of the diner vents and grinned as my mind came up with another plan. I slowly stood, keeping as quiet as possible, and put the gun back into the waistband of my skirt before looking around for something to climb on.
I located an old metal box still behind the metal wall and walked over, grabbing it when it got to it. I grunted as I lifted it up, but I managed to carry it over and quietly placed it down under the vent. I slowly stepped onto it before grabbing the vent grate and pulling on it, wincing as it groaned lowly.
I sent up a silent prayer and sighed in relief when I slowly opened the vent and jumped up, managing to keep all of the actions silent. I quickly crawled forward a bit and shut the vent before sighing in relief as my mind calmed. I shuffled forward then managed to turn myself so I could look down, listening to him marching over to where I had been and fire into the spot. I could just see the tip of his head and grabbed the pistol, pulling it out and taking aim again. I slowly pushed the barrel of the pistol through the vent grate and watched as he looked around. Confusion registered on his face for a moment before he looked up and his eye widened.
I fired then growled in irritation when he moved back and laughed loudly. “Yer one hell of a kid! How about you join me and my crew?” he called. I remained silent as I pushed myself backwards, yelping when part of the vent exploded in front of me. “Didn’t kill you did I?” he laughed. I remained silent, moving further back until I got to the dining room, and right above most of his crew. Some of his crew was talking and the hostages were looking at the kitchens in horror.
I quickly crawled to another vent opening and slipped over it, listening as the kitchen doors open and the heavy footfall of Grizzly. He began to laugh again and so did the others, making my skin crawl. “Shifty lil’ girl got into the vents. If you git her out then you’ll get a surprise! Don’t lose her boys!” he said loudly. I swallowed when I heard the other men almost trip over themselves to get to the vents and quickly moved back.
My mind was instantly going a mile a minute again and I grimaced as my now pounding heart caused my head to throb at a painful tempo. I shook the feeling away and swallowed nervously as I heard vent doors being torn open. I heard shifting and looked around, swallowing when a mantis looking alien crawled into my line of vision and turned its large head. The pincers on its face began to click and its black eyes widened. “Found you,” it hissed before crawling towards me quickly. I grimaced and aimed the gun at his head, watching as he froze. “No need to do anything hasty,” he clicked out; lifting his fuzzy forearms in what I assumed was surrender.
I swallowed nervously before crying out when the vent suddenly became angled and I slid backwards. I fell out of the vent and hit the ground hard, my grip on the gun going slack and it slid away. It stopped right next to one of Princess Shi-Pluma’s guards who quickly sat on it. He looked at me with wide eyes while the mantis alien slipped from the vent and shoved the large alien above me back. “I found her first you stupid mutt!” the alien snarled, the clicking and hissing grating on my nerves instantly.
Grizzly marched out of the kitchens while the two began to fight on the ground and smirked before looking up and scowling. “Looks like we have company boys! Wonder who called the cops,” he said before walking over and delivering a swift kick to one of the gang members. The mantis alien looked to him with wide eyes and Grizzly jerked his head to me. �
�Go shove her in the freezer. She’s different than the others and I wanna know why,” he ordered. The mantis alien shoved the other man off of him and grabbed me roughly and harshly.
“Get off!” I snapped, squirming in his grip.
“Play nice and maybe Grizzly won’t kill you!” the mantis alien laughed. I scowled, feeling braver than before and elbowed him in the face, causing him to release me and yell out in pain. Grizzly laughed and so did the others while the mantis alien stumbled away from me. I was about to move but the large man he had been fighting grabbed the back of my uniform and lifted me up a bit, turning me to face him.
“Whoa! This little one is a human omega! Boss! Boss! Can I have her?!” the man asked with excitement in his voice. I began to struggle and he shook me roughly before looking at Grizzly again, the two wolf ears on his head twitching violently.
“After I figure out what the hell she is,” he said with a smirk. I glared at him in anger and I grimaced again, my head began to pound worse. I felt something touch my face and blinked, touching my nose with my hand. I pulled it away to find blood and frowned while the man carried me to the kitchen.
“I can’t believe I found an omega! You’re going to love it with Grizzly! He’s not that bad! When we get to our hide out I’ll show you around,” he gushed before shoving me into the diner freezer. I stumbled forward and spun around; watching as he quickly shut the door.
“Hey! Let me out!” I roared, running over and growling in rage when he shot me a wink before walking off. I gritted my teeth in anger before turning and heading over to where pop kept the sausages. I grabbed the thick box and shoved it to the side, beginning to search for the extra key he kept hidden around. He usually got locked in here when mom and I were busy, so we had made him a key. I smirked when I found it and looked back at the door before taking a seat to think.
My head was still pounding and the cold air was helping, but my mind still raced as I thought everything over. If I didn’t get out or help soon, we were going to be killed. I quickly shoved that thought out of my mind before pushing myself to my feet and heading over to the door. I peered out and at the large, wolf-eared alien that was shoving the mantis alien. The mantis alien shot the wolf alien a harsh look and I saw my chance. If I could get them to fight again then I would guarantee a way out. After that I’d just have to think on my feet.
I slowly uncovered the hidden key hole on the inside of the door and put the key into it, turning it and slowly opening the door. I silently slipped out as the two grumbled at one another and shut the door quietly before slowly moving around the back of the two and over to pop’s stove.
I kneeled at its side and watched as they poked fun at one another again, the wolf eared man growling when the mantis man said something snide. “How about you shut the hell up?!” the man roared.
“You don’t scare me,” the mantis man hissed out. They both shot one another a look of anger and I grabbed a rubber band, watching as they looked away from one another. I quickly shot a band at the wolf-eared man’s head and he spun around, slamming his fist into the mantis alien’s head. I smirked and quickly escaped to behind the long counter, listening to Grizzly grumble to one of his companions. Curiously, I realized the man sounded worried.
“Are you sure, Horace?” he growled out.
“Yes. They existed before your birth so I understand your hesitance to believe that she could be one, but I’m telling the truth. That girl is a Navigator, a true one at that,” an aged voice said lowly.
“What should we do?” Grizzly asked, concern now in his voice.
“We should leave. We leave and not come back. She’s a danger. Find Lox another mate,” the aged voice, Horace, said lowly.
“Alright. It’s going to be tough. They seem to have more ASC officers outside than normal,” Grizzly mumbled.
“You’ve gotten us out of worse,” Horace said. I bit my lip before turning and kneeling. I could just wait it out and hope that they just left.
“Do you think the kid knows about her ability?” Grizzly asked. Horace made a weird gurgling sound before they fell into silence.
“Her attitude shifted so suddenly, it was like whiplash. She doesn’t know about it. We should leave now. She’s only going to keep growing. This time it’s not worth it,” Horace said.
“Right. I’ll get the boys from the kitchen and-,” he began before I heard a loud crash. I looked to the kitchen door and watched as the large, wolf-eared man stumbled out with blood coming from his nose.
“She’s gone! My mate is gone!” he cried. I winced and quickly crawled into a small cabinet under the counter and shut the door.
“What do you mean she’s gone?!” Grizzly roared.
“I don’t know! She’s not in the freezer!” the man yelled. I winced and listened to various bickering before several loud crashes came from the dining area.
“How the hell did they get out?! Kill them!” I heard roared. My eyes widened in horror and I quickly kicked out the door to the cabinet and crawled out. I heard a gun discharge and flinched before I looked around. I instantly noticed one of Grizzly’s men was looking at me in shock and I quickly scrambled to my feet. I ran over and tackled him to the ground before he could pull out his gun. The both of us wrestled for a short moment before I pulled his gun from his grip and put it to his chest. He yelled out in alarm, but I fired into his chest twice without thinking.
He cried out and I lifted the gun, pointing it at a tall and thin man that was moving over to help him. He looked down at me blankly before putting his gun away and holding up his hands. He was dirty like the others, but his body seemed to be unevenly proportioned. His eyes were completely black and he had no hair.
“Hello, tiny Navigator,” he said lowly. The chaos around us seemed to melt away and I swallowed nervously before scrambling to my feet, keeping the barrel of my gun pointed at him as I did so.
“What did you just call me?” I asked.
“You’ll understand soon enough,” he said before turning and running for the kitchen. I was going to shoot him, but thought better of it and turned back to the fighting, ducking when a large gang member was thrown over my head.
“Rose Mary!” I heard called. I looked up and at the diner door, where several police officers had grabbed mom and pop as well as some of the others. I moved to follow, but Grizzly moved into my path and grabbed me by the front of my uniform, lifting me a foot off of the ground.
“You’ve cost me everything you lil’ bitch!” he roared in anger. I flinched then quickly pointed the gun at his chin, watching as his eyes bulged in horror.
“Drop the girl, Grizzly,” I heard. I kept the gun trained on Grizzly’s neck and covertly looked up. Standing in the doorway of the diner was a tall man with short, greying-black hair containing a white streak. He was dressed in a white military jacket, black dress pants, and on his face were thick, transparent, blue-tinted glasses. Behind the glasses his eyes looked to be white, but it could have been a trick of the light.
“Rockefeller!” the man snarled before spinning us and throwing me to the left. I hit a table and hissed in pain before scrambling back and watching them both. They glared at each other for a long while before Grizzly spoke, “It’s been years you sorry sack of-.” Before Grizzly could finish the other man held up a hand to stop him.
“Now,now. Keep a cool head, Grizzly. Why don’t we talk?” he asked, his eyes traveling around the room for a moment.
“Oh no! That’s what almost got me caught the last time!” Grizzly yelled. The window above me shattered and I screamed in shock as Grizzly’s head snapped to the side. Blood exploded from his face and he hit the ground with a loud thump while the other man sighed.
“Such a shame,” grumbled the man before he looked at me. “Are you alright, young one?” he asked in a concerned voice.
“Y-Yeah,” I stuttered out before pushing myself to my feet and looking around the diner. Everything had pretty much been destroyed and I grimaced, groaning inter
nally when I realized I was probably going to be helping mom and pop clean up for a long time. As morbid as the thought was, blood was hard to get off of fabric.
“That’s good. Let’s get out of here,” he said. I nodded and dropped my weapon before slowly walking over, mindful of the glass.
“One of those men. He said that I was something,” I said as we got out of the building. Several men ran past us into the building and I shivered, pushing the ordeal out of my head.
“What did he say?” the man asked with a curious edge to his voice.
“Navigator. A true one?” I said, testing the word and looking to the now confused looking man.
“Impossible,” he mumbled before stopping me and turning my head up. I blinked as he forced me to hold his gaze before recoiling. “How…how is that possible?” he mumbled before shaking his head. “Never mind that,” he said in a distracted voice. “Where are your parents?” he asked.
“Pop and mom are over there,” I said, pointing at them as they ran over.
“Rosie! Oh thank God you’re okay,” mom cried as she swept me into a tight hug before pulling away. I wheezed a bit before laughing then yelping as pop did the same but with more force.
“Are you okay kid?” he asked. I nodded when he pulled away before looking at the man, Rockefeller.
“Is this your daughter?” he asked. Pop and mom looked to one another before nodding while Rockefeller straightened out. “Right then. It seems like something extraordinary has happened today and I would like to bring your daughter in for testing on Planet Denia,” he said. Pop and mom looked concerned, but he waved them off and pulled off his transparent glasses to give them both a grin before looking at me with shining white eyes.
Chapter 3
What You Are
I tried not to press my face against the window to my right, but it was rather difficult to do since I was in space! It turned out that Rockefeller was the headmaster at the intergalactic military prep school, Starstream Academy. He also doubled as one of the highest military officials in the Alien Space Council. Yes, that was the real name of the intergalactic alien alliance. We were currently heading to the planet where the academy was located, Planet Denia, so I could get tested. For what, I didn’t know, but he seemed a mixture of excited and saddened. I turned and looked to mom, who was in the middle of talking to pop, both of them speaking too quietly for me to hear. They lost my interest in a moment and I curiously looked to Headmaster Rockefeller, who was speaking to the starship pilot. I rearranged myself in my seat so I was facing them and watched as they spoke animatedly.
Starstream Academy (The Navigators Book 1) Page 2
