by Rena Marks
Staring at the grate that covers the floor gives me an idea. Inserting my fingers into the slots, I lift it. It is heavy and too dark to see all the way through. I could be falling to my death. However, it will get me away from this room, which surely they will search.
It takes a bit of effort, but I manage to push the grate to one side and then insert myself into the opening. With one hand clinging to the edge, and the other on the grate, I try to scoot it as close to the opening as it was. Luck is on my side as the ship suddenly moves and the grate comes slamming toward my hand. At the last second, I slide my fingers out of the way and barely save them from being smashed.
The grate is in place, the ship is swaying, and I’m barely hanging on from the inside. My fingers are not going to hold the weight of my body long, already they are sore from the sharp edges of the holes. I hold on as long as I can, but when I can’t feel them anymore, they slip, and I plummet down.
It’s not as far a drop as I first thought. The inner channel is built at an angle, which is why I couldn’t see the bottom. It might have worked as a wet slide when I hit, except the movement of the ship rocked me against the slide. Inside, it grows darker and darker.
And then I remembered the belly chain of tiny glow rocks that Diont and Atan insisted I wear beneath my clothes at all times. I shove my skirt down low on my hips and the glow of the rocks illuminates the dark.
“Oh, thank you, thank you,” I mutter, so glad my guys gave me this piece of advice.
The walls look slick and shiny but dark. There is still thick moisture from where the gray alien had sprayed Shen’robi and it dripped into the grate. Quickly I crawl further into the tunnel so I won’t be caught by someone who peers inside.
Somewhere, I hear the echo of voices. It sounds tinny as if coming from a great distance. I hold still, trying to make out the words. And then I wish I didn’t. It appears the grate I slipped into is a tunnel in the bowels of the ship that leads to other rooms. And whichever room I am underneath must be a torture chamber from the howls.
I hear heart-wrenching sobbing, and then a bloodcurdling scream. I cover my ears to drown out Shen’robi. As much as I hate her, the excruciating shrieks sicken me to no end.
Even with my ears blocked, I cannot drown out the sound. I would like to chant, to hum, anything, but I’m afraid any noise will echo up the tunnel system.
And then sirens sound within the walls of the ship. It drowns out Shen’robi’s screams, and it blares through my eardrums even with my hands covering them. I can hear footsteps pounding overhead. They are speaking frantically among themselves, and I know the aliens have discovered I am gone. Suddenly, the movement of the ship is halted. I hold very still lest I be seen through the next grate that shows light filtering through from up above. My heart is beating against the walls of my chest, and I can hear one alien barking orders to the others.
And then, everything goes quiet. My ears are left ringing with the echoes of the missing sounds. Someone is shining light into the tunnel from behind me, and I slide closer to the grate where Shen’robi screamed.
With the newfound light, I realize the walls aren’t wet with the water he’d sprayed earlier. They’re wet with the thick slime of blood.
As soon as I realize what it is, I gag. I hold my hand up over my mouth and then retch when I realize my hand is covered in it.
I am covered in Shen’robi’s blood. With as much blood as has dripped down the grate and into the tunnel which I crawl in, it’s impossible for her to still be alive. I’m not sure how I feel about knowing the screams I heard were her death rattles, but I do know one thing.
I’m next.
Just then, something cold clamps around my ankle and drags me backward.
Chapter Eleven
Diont:
After searching all day, we find no sign of either Eretar or Shen’robi. I would have thought that Shen’robi had something to do with this, however, she would not cause her own disappearance. Something else must have happened to them. And now, we don’t have long before the dark descends and the night monsters emerge. We may have time to search one last time with a crew before having to retire to a cave for the night—a more experienced hunting crew from our own village.
We left instructions for the group from Eretar’s tribe to make sure they get home from the mountain before darkness falls, and we will return in the morning with any news. With that, Atan and I race home. We run endlessly before the gates are finally within sights.
We burst through the main gates, frantically looking for leaders. Drakar is in the front yard and strides quickly to us.
“You have returned? Without another party?”
“Eretar has gone missing early this morning,” I growl between pants. “We’ve tried to look for her and Shen’robi, but they are nowhere to be found. I need a search party.”
A look of pity comes over his face, and I know what he’s thinking. There’s no way two underground tribal persons can stay alive with all of the horrors on the surface, and chances are we won’t find them before dark hits. But he doesn’t know all that we taught Eretar during our hunting trips. She can survive as well as a Blaedonian surface person if need be. But the fact that we cannot find a trail as to her whereabouts is puzzling.
“All we found was the pack she was carrying, which contained a bit of food and some first aid supplies. It was dropped in the dirt, but there are no footprints, no signs of a struggle, no blood, nothing.”
Then the air grows still, and a large object shimmers into sight briefly, as if it winks three times. This…this is exactly what we need. We have been visited by our planetary guardians once or twice before. Drakar shouts for others to clear the area, and the giant thing touches down. When the lights go out, the front door opens, and the Stargazer guardians come from the ship.
These alien guardians are our friends. They resemble the humans who have adapted to our community and have given us extra protection for our planet as well as the humans’ native planet. We are included in the protection because they say the glow rocks that grow naturally here are coveted by other species in space who will enslave us if they find our planet is rich with the living crystal forms. They are used as energy to power ships and the Stargazers know of them because their own planet also has them.
The difference between us is their planet grew technologically, figuring out how to put their glow rocks to use. Ours uses our glow rocks as a source of sun and light. They are magical, allowing plants to grow in dark areas and never burning out.
The human females have told us that Stargazers are not to interfere with our development as a species. But then again, they get a twinkle in their eye and tell us we are favored with the gifts they bring us during visits.
The male who is dressed in a Stargazer uniform is human, and he has a partner who is not. This person—a female— is of another species, marked by the odd coloring of her hair, which is very much not like our females. Our human females, that is. In the past, we were visited by a Stargazer male who had a human mate like we do. But from what I understand, the Stargazer guardians take turns in the protection of our planet, so these two are new. The Stargazer males look much like humans except for larger eyes that are brightly colored.
“Drakar.” The human lifts his hand in greeting.
“Jack. Persephone.” Drakar nods to both. He has obviously met them before. How he can remember such odd names is beyond me. But for the first time, I have hope. Surely the Stargazers, who have given us countless gifts, will help us to search before dark. If not, they will at least take our crew there and save us a journey.
“We have a huge problem,” Jack says. “A transmission was sent from the abandoned Drurian ship you and the others were abducted on. It sent coordinates out—the location to your planet. Earlier today, Persephone found ripples in the atmosphere that may show an incoming vessel. We are not sure because if there is one, it has not landed. It could be cloaked like we do with ours. But the only vessels with that c
apability are those powered with your glow rocks, and the Drurian vessels do not typically have those.”
“What? We recently visited the old ship, but no one touched anything. None of my people would—”
“It is the other tribe,” Atan says. “Even though we warned them not to touch anything.”
The Stargazers are to the point. “Another tribe? We need to know who visited the ship, Drakar.”
“Diont and Atan, here. Um, Eretar, one of the water people we have discovered who live in underground caverns, sent about a dozen others from her tribe. From our side, we had—”
“Shen’robi and Eretar,” I say suddenly. “Both are missing. Shen’robi was aboard that ship. That is why we couldn’t find them. Why Eretar’s backpack was lying in the dirt, but there were no signs of struggle or even footprints.”
Atan is looking at the ground where the Stargazer vessel hovered before landing. Sure enough, the ground looks swept with wind. No prints at all. Exactly like the mountain where we found Eretar’s pack.
“One of them made contact,” Jack says, with a look at Persephone.
Atan speaks up. “It would definitely be Shen’robi. That is why she was so eager for a trip outside. Eretar chose to go with her because she didn’t trust her around her brother, their king. Now they are both missing.”
“Does this Shen’robi have access to your glow rocks?” Jack asks.
“Yes. The underground people have their own supply. They are much larger and more powerful than ours.”
Jack curses under his breath. “Okay, there are only two of us here. The other two who you know, Neo and Jessie, have had their baby and are visiting Earth. So it’s up to us, and you all know the planet better. We’re going to need a team to find the general vicinity of the other ship, more than likely the last place you know of where they abducted the women. The good news is they have no idea we’re here. The bad news is I’m sure they have no intention of letting your females go. It’ll be a hard retrieval.”
“Hard retrieval?” I mutter.
“We’ll have to find the ship and force our way in. We’re not sure if your women are still alive, and if they are, how long they’ll remain that way. You’ll all remember the Drurians are a vicious, cold-blooded race.”
Considering the species was about to sell our people as pleasure slaves, I know how vitally important it is to get to Eretar no matter what.
“She is the queen to her tribe. Not only will Eretar protect her people, she will protect ours. She will fight to the death and not reveal any information about where the glow rocks are, no matter what they do to her.”
“Okay. Let’s grab a party and get to the place where we found their possessions.”
Drakar picks out some men, including Rayhaan, our second king in command. He has every faith in the Stargazers if he is willing to risk both of our leaders on this mission.
We all enter their ship. Persephone calls out commands as it lifts and hurls through the air. Atan and I are bemused by the differences between their world and ours, but like me, the only thing we can focus on right now is Eretar. With the others, we head to the large window and watch the tops of the trees whisk by. I direct the ship into the vicinity of her caverns and then beyond, to the largest mountain. It is quite a ways and I am surprised that Atan and I covered the journey home so quickly. I am sure that tomorrow the exhaustion will catch up with us. Right now, we are running on fear for our mate.
“It will be dark soon,” Atan says, clenching his fists as we stare out the window of the hovering spacecraft. “We covered this entire area on foot. There is not one sign of her beyond the backpack we found.”
Jack smiles. “Ahh, but you didn’t have this technology, my friend.” He pushes a button on his viewing screen and a red area appears on the map on the window. “Sensors which detect the radioactive waves of vehicles not powered by crystals—err, your glow rocks.”
“There we have them,” Persephone calls out. “The vessel has flown twenty-five miles northeast. I’m going to cloak us. It’ll feel funny. If anyone needs to get sick, grab a bucket.”
Jack pushes another button, and sure enough, the air in the ship gets thinner, making it harder to breathe. He flies swiftly toward the red area, the landscape blurring by in the window. It sways in front of me.
“Don’t stare straight at it,” Jack advises with a smile. “It’ll make you dizzy unless you’re used to it.”
He settles the flying vessel directly in the path of the strange looking vessel that is our target. I’m surprised they don’t rush out when we land. Before I can voice the question, Jack speaks.
“We’re invisible to them. It’s called cloaking. Our doors are behind us, so when we slip out, the rest of the ship blocks us with invisibility. They can’t see the ship and will not be able to see us until we turn the corner. Persephone will slip through first. She’ll attach these few devices to the doors of their ship. In a few seconds, they’ll explode, taking the door with them. We’ll rush into their ship.”
“What if they fly away?” I ask.
“They can’t. Not without a door. When a ship leaves the gravitational pull of a planet, everything will get sucked out of the vessel, so they’re forced to remain in place until they get another door. They won’t live long enough to replace it.” Jack cracks his knuckles. “We can’t let anyone live to tell others of this planet. The good news is, Drurians are greedy. Chances are they never told anyone about it. They would want to keep the supply of glow rocks to themselves without anyone else encroaching on their find.”
“When the doors are destroyed, I’ll rush into their ship first,” Persephone says. “I’ll be the closest. I’ll be in before the smoke even clears and will crouch onto my stomach. Those of you who run in behind me won’t shoot me in the back that way. But I’ll have first shot at the aliens who shoot at those of you rushing in through the smoke.”
“Smoke rises,” Jack adds. “So she’ll have a clear view from down there. Don’t worry, we’ve practiced the maneuver a ton of times. Let’s get moving before dark.”
From behind us, the door lifts. It is wide, at least as wide as I am tall. Persephone leads, and we sneak out behind her, using our hands to feel the smooth outer walls of the ship. It is eerie that we can see from the inside out, but from the outside, we cannot see the ship at all. We wait for her, using the walls to mask us, while she rushes to the next ship.
Persephone moves quickly, slapping round disks onto their door along the edges. She stands back, and within a few seconds, it blows. She disappears into the smoke-filled hole, and we charge in a few seconds behind her. Ugly, enormous gray aliens are shrieking, but they cannot move fast enough for the onslaught of our people, especially as those in the front line are shot down by Persephone’s red shots from the floor.
Lights are flashing yellow and sirens are shrieking.
Jack taps me on the shoulder as the shrieking is silenced by Persephone’s aim at one of the walls. Lightning crackles and fizzes from the box, and the aroma of singed flesh fills the air. He motions with his chin to follow him.
Jack turns down a hallway, and Atan and I follow. Behind us are Drakar and Cio. As we reach the end of a hall, Persephone blasts a small object on a door and the door slides open. We all quickly plunge inside after her, wanting to get out of the open hallway.
What is inside sickens me.
There is blood is everywhere. It covers the walls and drips onto the floor. The smell of death lingers with a metallic tang, coating the senses with a sharpness that burns the nose.
Persephone steps in front of Atan and me, trying to keep us from looking at the mess that is tied to a chair, but it is too late to unsee the horror. Even Drakar and Cio are shocked, staring with frozen, unblinking eyes.
It is a lump of meat.
There is no other way to describe the person that once was a living, breathing being. More horrific is the fact that from the few parts not burned, sliced, or bloodied, she is striped.
/> An eye has been gouged and has rolled onto the floor, looking up at us in a deathly stare. Other than that one, whole eye, the rest of the face is unrecognizable. The chest is splayed open and is a raw mess of tissue and muscle. The room would be a bloody mess save for the strange hole that the body sits astride. The hole has a grate covering made of the same metal material our humans use. It is a place for the death to drain into. Who would create such a room of torture?
“Don’t look,” Persephone whispers. “This isn’t what you want your last memory to be.”
“It is not Eretar,” Atan says clearly and looks at me, needing strength. His eyes are crazy wild, desperation at needing our mate right now. Needing to hug her, squeeze her tight and prove this image wrong.
I have the same, stomach-clenching fear. How long had it taken to reduce this person to a quivering mass of flesh? How long had she lived in this condition? Did these strange alien being have the technology to keep her alive and suffering instead of submitting to the natural relief of death?
“It’s not?” Drakar sounds dubious. “How can you tell?”
“It is Shen’robi,” Atan insists.
“The other one who Eretar was with?” Persephone turns to stare at the bloody lump again, but looks bewildered. “How can you tell?” She repeats Drakar’s question. There are no recognizable features.
My voice is solid. “There is no tail.”
There is quiet as the others study the broken body. I know it is possible to have removed the tail, just like the eye was removed. Like the arms. The legs. The toes. The feet. The fingers lying strewn around the room. But there would be evidence of it somewhere and there just…is not. No sign of an amputated tail, and it is not just me wanting to believe that.
