by M. Garnet
The silence lasted and ran on, until Set jumped up and ran from the area. I just waited, knowing that there wasn’t another solution. The king was blocked from GigasVnee, but if I was off world he might be able to help me. The Twinned Dissnue were somewhere on some other dimension and the two fathers were not aware of our war. I believed that they had a connection to their son. I hoped I was correct in all my assumptions.
It took Coro on his knees praying and Bower drinking half of a bottle of hard liquor before he could walk out and make the signal that the invaders had indicated that there was a traitor on the storm planet.
They had decided that Bower and Mikla would stand in the exit of the tunnel from her suite so that there was no danger to Coro’s gardening area. I liked the idea of being enclosed in the extra clothing of the outerwear we put on to move in the storm to the cave exit.
Bower was further embarrassed when the world wide strange announcement broadcast that the attackers were using, stated when the pickup would happen.
Bower had just turned on his com unit to a general broadcast to announce that he had the Princess on top of one mountain. He immediately broke the com unit to make sure the Commander couldn’t find him.
As I hung onto Bower when we moved in the storm to the cave opening, I noticed that the blasting from the invaders had ceased. We gripped the gate at the cave entry, as it seemed the storm was thrusting with eager winds to clear everything away.
We saw the first item that dropped down from above. I had no idea what it was. All I could see through the storm was a black misshapen item that the storm immediately picked up and tore away, out of our sight.
Next, we watched two dark figures drop onto the plateau and the whirl of a small tornado swirled them away before we could distinguish if they were living beings or robots. Whatever they were, the storm was destroying them.
Following, there was a strange-looking round heavy platform that dropped down. It looked like a metal spider as legs spread out to grip the ground and whatever was close. It slowly moved near to where Bower and I stood.
Bower tapped me on the shoulder. “I pray you are right in this effort.”
“Marshall Bower, are you sure you will be safe. I think the Commander will arrest you.”
“At least I will be with my people; you will be up there with those murderers.”
The spider machine rocking from the storm was close now. There was an opening with a short ramp swinging down on the side near them.
“Push me out, Bower.” I felt his hand though all the layers of cloth on my back as he softly shoved me toward the spider craft. Before I took a step, a tether with six fingers on it shot out and suddenly the fingers closed around me. I was being pulled into the opening.
At the same time a flash of light shot out and I realized that Bower had been shot. I knew he had been knocked back into the cave, so there was some chance that he could get help.
For me, I was pulled into the dark center of the spider. The ramp and door drew closed and I was in blackness. I was hanging with my feet dangling, enclosed in the tight grip of the metal fingers that were wrapped around me. My arms were trapped next to my body with one hand from the elbow out between the bars of the set of some of the fingers on that side.
Although the grip was tight, I could take in enough air and I could turn my head. Turning my head only let me see blackness in all directions. Suddenly we began to bump and I understood that we were trying to leave. The storm was tossing this contraption as soon as its spider legs let go of the ground.
Now I was grateful of being held so firmly in place, as the pod I was inside of was tossed from side to side and seemed to slam into something. I wondered if the planet was going to allow the invaders to take me off GigasVnee.
My stomach lurched as the machine was thrown from side to side as it struggled to rise. Then I was hanging sideways as the machine moved with the storm and found a way to move upward, off the planet.
Finally, the machine straightened up and I was hanging upright. It was not comfortable as the metal bars pressed against my arms, back, and front ribs. In front I was being pulled against a round metal pad that all the fingers were attached to and it had protruding bolts that were digging into my stomach and chest even through all my padding.
I kicked my legs, but felt nothing, so I was really hanging in the middle of nothing in this machine that was taking me out into space. It was not long that I was beginning to feel pain. I had to hope this trip was going to be short.
I rolled my head to ease my neck and kicked my legs again as circulation was beginning to be a problem. There was artificial gravity in this machine and it must have been the same as GigasVnee. As a result, as I hung in the grip of the metal fingers, my body was beginning to object. It was not just where the metal pressed into my body, but also where the blood moved downward, causing aches in my legs and ass.
At last there were a couple of bumps and the door opened with the reverberation of the small ramp moving down.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I looked over my shoulder as the fingers were holding me away from the door. The light out beyond the door was a pale red and then a large body stepped forward and reached into the doorway. Whatever it did, I was dropped to the floor instantly.
I rolled over and could only get up into a crawl position, still feeling the pain from the metal grips. The large figure outlined by the red glow behind it stepped forward and roughly pulled me upward by one of my upper arms.
The trip out and through the landing area inside the big ship was fast and rough. Still, I resisted and took every chance I had to look both at the being pulling me and at my surroundings. I looked up first at the being who had hold of me, taking me across the red haze from the small unit that had trapped me. He didn't have the DNA gene that was prevalent in our sector of the universe.
He was bald with no hair on his face. His eyes were deep set and there were no pupils. The entire almond-shaped opening was black. His nose was long and close to his face and his lips were narrow. As I looked up at him, it appeared like there were two or three small slits near his flat ears. Could this large muscular male be from an amphibian ancestor? I wondered how I decided that he was male. Still, something told me that he was a male of his species. As he pulled me with no difficulty, I guessed he was taller than King Quilliam or the Assassin. I would think about him and his genealogy later as I looked around the landing area.
In the dim red lighting, I could see that it was a large area with a variety of ships anchored around. They were all types with the markings from different worlds and governments.
The male pulling me had no insignia or marking that proclaimed what kingdom or militia he belonged to or announced his loyalty. As we moved into a lift that took us upward I could see others, all the tall muscular males dressed from the neck down in dark one-piece uniforms without any markings.
Just before we moved up to the next floor, I saw two males turn and begin to fight. I mean not argue, but throwing heavy blows. My sight of them was short, as the floor of the next level cut off the view. But it did seem to be serious and deadly as I saw the gleam of a knife.
We went past three pale blue-lit floors before the elevator stopped and I was marched off with the long strides of my guard. We passed singles and groups, all quiet and without any greetings. I felt some kind of strange tingling on my skin as some of the males passed. I also wondered where the females were on this ship.
I decided their eyes would not be acceptable to the bright white light that the sun above GigasVnee reflected outward. I thought they chose planets with suns that sent back colors in blue and green.
We came to a corner and there was what I called an old-fashioned barrier. It was a metal barred gate that obviously slid sideways, but reminded me of the gate of my cave. There was a little male sitting at a desk and my guard, holding me tight, leaned down to the desk. I felt that tingling again on my skin.
My guard took some small locking device
from the male at the desk and turned to me. He looked at me for a long moment. I was still covered from head to toe in the gardener topside clothes. He reached for my hood then stopped, almost as if he were confused.
The next thing I knew he had to let me go and was taking both hands to tear away my outer clothes. He was strong, as I heard the material rip into pieces. I tried to resist as I was turned and tossed. This tall strange being seemed to be in some wild rage to find out what was hidden under the topside protection outfit.
At last, with his hand gripping my long braid, he just stopped. He looked at my hair as I held my hands against his chest to steady myself. Pieces of my outerwear were all over the hall, the desk and around my ankles. The male at the desk was cowering against the other wall.
I felt a tingling all over my skin and I saw the smaller male sink down on his knees by the other wall. The big male holding me changed to move a black covered hand to the back of my neck, still restraining me tightly.
I was pulled with him as he turned to the desk and began to rummage through a box of items, all small round units until he found one. With his tight grip on my neck, he turned me sideways and leaned down to look at my ear.
I tried to pull back in my fear and anger, but his hold was too secure. I realized that when this was all over I was going to be covered in bruises from both the grab fingers on the little ship and this sentinel handling me so roughly.
With his free hand, he jammed the small item against my neck, right below my ear but behind my jugular. There were a pinch and a slight shock, like a touch of electricity.
"You hear now?"
He was looking at me closely without moving his mouth. I heard his words as a vibration on my neck. It was the attachment he had put on my neck.
At last, he let go of me and turned to the small male. "Help her take off her big shoes and the rest of this strange covering."
He had turned away to give that order and I realized it was his gills that were moving. He was amphibian and he had gills and that was where the sound came from. The strange small item he had put on my neck now allowed me to translate his pulses into words. That explained the tingling I was feeling on my skin, it was like sonar.
So all the beings we had passed in the hallway had talked and spoken to my warder, but at that time, I had heard nothing. The sounds were too high in the spectrum for my ears to register anything.
The small male was of a race from my sector, not an amphibian. He was trembling as he was on his knees in front of me, pulling at my tattered shreds. I lifted a leg to help push off the outer boot, but he looked up with a pleading grimace and used his own hands to remove the first one, and then nodded for the next one.
I raised my foot and allowed the removal of that boot as I looked over at the male who was our threat. He was pacing back and forth in the short length of the narrow part of the hallway.
When my boots were off, he turned and with a swipe of his hand he knocked the small male away, back behind the desk.
"No more touch, my trophy." This came through my neckpiece from the big guy. My guard was a maniac.
He again had my upper arm and was pulling me down the dim lit hallway. Suddenly, I could see into rooms on both sides of this pale blue walkway as the walls facing us were clear. I took only a moment to understand that these were cells and there was an individual in each cell. The cells were spare with everything open to sight from the hallway. The showers and toilets were in corners with no covers and some of the beings in the cells were without clothes. As we moved down the hall, the beings in the cells didn't look up and I decided that the glass was one way only. They were not aware that we were walking past and looking at them.
The hallway had a crossing hallway, with cells spreading out in both directions. I was twisting, trying to see how many individuals were held in cells on this ship. I was confused. Why would they put all of these beings in holding?
I thought about the fact that they asked for hostages. Were the hostages actually here as permanent prisoners? We turned and I saw that the cells were larger. Also, there were words and symbols on the front of the clear front of these cells.
There were covers on the bunks and chairs. Most of the individuals that I got a view of were covered with clothes. So these beings were more important. Was the King of Questes in this wing somewhere?
We stopped before a cell that had a female in it. My guard drew me over against the wall between two cells and my hands were attached to some type of cuffs.
My guard stepped back and roared. It wasn't a word, it was a sound like a deep bellow that made my skin and insides tingle. He then went to the clear wall and did something, afterwards a portion of the clear section opened. The female inside was surprised, so I was right, she hadn't seen us until the clear wall opened partway.
She stepped back, but my guard stalked her quickly and used the same technique he used on me. He grabbed her by one upper arm and pulled her out of the cell. He pushed her so hard down the hall she fell and slid on her back.
He then went to the outside section of the clear wall that had words and marks on it and began to use his hands and, seeming to blow on it, he was erasing everything that showed. About that time I could hear someone else running toward us, also bellowing in that strange way that did nothing but cause my skin to shrink.
Suddenly there were two large angry warriors facing each other. I had seen warriors on Questes and on so many other worlds and knew what the stance and attitude were, no matter that the being might have developed in some other world. These two were going to fight and it was not going to be pretty.
I tugged at my hand clamps to get away from this scene. Two males in a blood feud would forget anyone or anything around them. If this was the type of personality that was heading up the ships attacking GigasVnee, then there was no hope of meeting an agreement.
The fight began with swift movements from both males. They were hammering fists into each body. They were fast and tangled and it was hard to decide who might be ahead or even if anyone was taking damage.
The deep bellows were flowing from the two bodies and I knew it had to be like sonar. It pushed against me and especially the two fighters, causing strange injuries on the males. Next, there was noise as several other males of the same genre came running down the hall behind us.
All they did was stop and watch silently, covering their gills with their hands. This obviously was how this fighting race solved their problems.
As suddenly as it started, it stopped. The second male went down on a knee before my guard. My guard had won the battle. This was the life of these warriors. I heard the strange words of the others in the hallway as they approved of the fight and even the loser.
The loser got up and collected the female who was trying to run down the hall. She had not gotten very far as the long legs of the male soon had her scooped up. I watched as she was thrown into another cell.
My guard went back to the solid side of the clear part of the cell opening that he had been wiping clean and began to put some words on it and then some type of mark. I understood he was marking the cell as his. He turned to me, unhooked my hands and with no gentleness pushed me into the cell. The portion of the clear wall that was open slid quietly closed and from my eyes inside the cell, the wall now looked like the rest of the metal walls.
So those on the outside could see me, but I was denied the view of the fish men. I looked around and understood. I was in another prison. Well, I had been in one my entire life and survived, I would survive this one.
Better still, I would give them a show on my terms.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I knew they were watching me as I danced. It was the sonar sounds they made that I felt in my body. Not only that, I had hung bits of different strings around my room and I found that it was my hair that reacted to their thrumming.
So, I would unbraid my hair carefully and run my fingers through it to get all the tangles out. Then the few strands that came out, I
would drape over any bolt or air vent I could find. I tried different things I thought might get attention.
I did some marching, some exercises, and even some stretching. Finally, totally bored I did some of the dances the tutors taught me to entertain my husband.
I had taken off most of my clothes and loosened my hair. Barefoot I swayed my hips, dancing on my toes as the tutors instructed me. I raised my eyes to watch my hands and saw that my stray strands were shimmering against the walls where they were hanging. I had an audience.
I danced until I worked up a sweat and then collapsed down on the floor in the manner I was taught with my hair around me, my head between my arms on the floor. From this position, I heard the soft sound of half the wall sliding open.
I heard the anger in the loud rumble from the male standing in the opening and there was the sound of retreating feet.
"What are you doing?" I heard the words next to my ear, but knew it was from him.
I looked up through my hair at the tall male. "My name is Mikla. What is yours?"
I must have taken him by surprise, as he seemed to take a step back. He came into the room and closed the door. He fiddled with something on the wall. I guessed he was making the wall so that it was not clear from the outside, maybe. He might want a private talk with me. Or maybe he wanted to punish me in privacy.
He approached me and sat down on one heel, putting one arm on his other knee. He reached out and pulled a handful of my hair from the floor. He shook his head and raised his eyes from my hair to meet mine. It was hard to read him with those black orbs filling the almond-shaped openings.
"My name is Nim."
I nodded trying to think of what to say. "Do you have a title?"
"I am the Leader."
The way he said the word Leader I realized that was a title.
He looked down at my hair in his hand. "It is like the dil in the waters." That one word didn't translate.
He stood and I rose, pushing my hair back.
Beside him, I was like a child in size, but I still felt his interest in me. I hid the shudder I felt. Did these amphibian-based creatures intermix with the mammal-based creatures from our sector of the universe?
