by Andrew Gates
"Mere minutes, evolved-one," she answered. She turned left and began quickly walking down the empty hall. Damien had to practically run to match her speed.
Minutes. Damn. So much for a boring day in confinement.
Damien did not know who was attacking, why or how, but none of that mattered. If they only had a few minutes to live, then they did not have time for petty questions. All he knew was that he needed to get to safety, he and the other humans.
"Where are the pods? Are they far?"
She shook her head as they made their way through the hall.
"They are near. We need not travel far," she answered.
"Good. How many others are you saving?"
Kal Likus turned to him for a moment and then looked forward again. She sighed.
"None. You are special, Kho Damien Saljov. You are unlike the other prisoners we have taken, and for that reason, I have decided to save your life. The Supreme Chieftess likes you. I like you. I will not live to see you perish," she explained.
"No!" Damien shouted. He stopped in place and pointed to the floor. Kal Likus turned to face him. Her expression showed signs of frustration.
"I am trying to save you, evolved-one. This is no time for folly." She scurried over to him and grabbed him by the arm, but Damien squirmed out of her grasp.
"You call it folly, but I call it loyalty. How many humans are in these cells?" He motioned to the doors around him.
"How many... what is this word?"
"How many evolved-ones," Damien clarified.
She lowered her head and let out a deep breath. Damien could tell that she was not happy to entertain his question.
"93," she calmly replied, raising her head again.
Holy shit.
"And there are more in forced hibernation, but they are kept on the other side of the ship's main-"
"We save these 93, Kal Likus. We have to."
"There is no time!" Kal Likus protested. "Should we start this task, we shall surely perish before its end."
Humanity had nearly been wiped out once already. Only a handful survived the attack on the station and those that had were all aboard this ship. If Vigilant Behemoth fell, it would mean total human extinction.
For Damien, the choice was clear. There was no alternative.
"Open these cell doors. Do it now, Kal Likus, or I won't come with you," he ordered. He had never been so firm in his life.
She stared back at him. Her mouth was wide in shock.
"You bribe me with my own compassion towards you. How dare you!" she shouted. She pointed to him accusatively with her left claw.
"Will you do it?" he asked.
The desperate Kholvari stared back at him. Damien could see the thoughts in motion as she weighed the pros and cons. All the while, the clock was ticking.
"Yes," she reluctantly replied. She let out a deep breath. "I shall do it."
"Good," Damien responded, nodding his head. "Thank you."
"Come, there is not much time," she explained as she moved toward the nearest cell. It seemed she was already getting started. She held her claw against some sort of yellow sensor against the wall, prompting the door to open to the sound of a beep.
A weary woman stood inside the bright room with her eyes closed. She slowly opened them and held her hands before her face, blocking out the light.
"Wha?" she started.
It suddenly occurred to Damien that this was the first human he had seen in months. Having spent so long apart from his kind, she appeared almost alien. Her skin was pale, her torso narrow, her arms thin, her legs long. Was this how all humans had always looked? Damien was no longer sure.
The woman stepped out of her cell and removed her hands from her face. She nearly froze in shock as her eyes met Damien.
"A person!" she said. She stumbled backwards and nearly tripped. "Lord Beyond Both Seas! I was beginning to think I was the only one left."
"No, not the only one," Damien responded, shaking his head. "My name is Damien Saljov. This is Kal Likus. We are trying to rescue as many as we can."
Damien turned to face Kal Likus, but by the time he found her, she was already opening another cell.
"Rescue?"
"Yes," he replied, nodding. "Can you help us?"
The woman nodded. Damien knew it was a lot for her to take in all at once so suddenly, but she was definitely trying.
"Uhm... yes, yes," she eventually replied. "I'm Xandrie by the way, Xandrie Kovak."
"Pleased to meet you." He held out his hand for her to shake, but Kal Likus quickly interrupted them.
"If I may, Kho Damien Saljov, your assistance is most welcomed in this urgent moment."
Damien retracted his hand and jogged over to Kal Likus.
"Yes, of course," he said. "You're right."
"You can understand them?" Xandrie asked in disbelief. She followed behind Damien as he joined their rescuer.
"You can't?"
She shook her head.
Strange, he thought. Apparently they did not put translator chips into everyone.
"Assist me. Open these cells," Kal Likus ordered, not even bothering to take note of Xandrie.
"How?"
"Take my second glove," the Kholvari said, removing the large black glove from her left claw. "The wearer can set the prisoners free."
"This is way too big for me," Damien replied as he received it. The whole thing was about half a meter across.
"Then hold it in your arms, Kho Damien Saljov. Do that which needs to be done."
Another prisoner, an older man, wearily walked out of the newly opened cell. He looked around the hall, clearly confused. Damien was about to help, but Xandrie promptly approached the man and began explaining to him the little information she knew.
She has him covered, he thought. Damien put the old man out of mind as he held the bulky glove in his arms. He ran to the nearest yellow sensor and lifted it until the cell door made a beeping sound. The door opened.
Damien did not even bother to look inside this time. He simply ran to the next door, knowing that Xandrie would help assist the rescued captives.
Kal Likus was already well ahead of him. Three other humans confusingly emerged from their cells. They each held their hands before their faces like newborn babies opening their eyes for the first time.
Damien moved to the closest unopened cell, hauling the massive glove with him all the while. He held it up again, prompting yet another door to open.
"Come, come on!" he shouted to nobody in particular as he ran off to the next cell. He could hardly even feel the weight of the massive glove anymore.
Without realizing what he was doing, Damien caught himself hoping up and down. He stopped jumping and recollected himself, taking a deep breath as he moved through the hall. Damien was restless. He felt like he could not stop moving. It was as if his legs would send him off this way and that before he even realized where he was going.
The excited rescuer raised the glove to another sensor. His hands were shaking. He felt like a firecracker ready to explode in a thousand directions.
"Come on!" he shouted again.
He quickly glanced back. A crowd of humans was beginning to form in the hall. Xandrie stood at the front, shouting things to the others, likely explaining what was going on.
Damien moved like the speed of the light, opening cells one by one. With every cell he unlocked, it seemed Kal Likus unlocked three. She was faster on her feet and her long arms could practically extend from one cell to the next. Within what seemed like a few mere seconds, the hall was practically packed with prisoners.
Suddenly the lights began to flicker. Damien looked up to the ceiling in curiosity, but did not stop running. Then floor trembled, prompting Damien to stop in place. His heart suddenly raced.
"What the hell is that?" he shouted to Kal Likus, though she was far down the hall. Damien wondered if she could even hear him.
"By the Chiefdom, what be the meaning of this?" a deep male
voice suddenly bellowed.
Shit.
Damien turned, still holding Kal Likus's glove in his arms. A black-armored Kholvari soldier stood on the opposite side of the prisoners. He stared at the naked humans in disbelief, holding some sort of gun in his right claw.
"Back to your cells!" the soldier shouted. He lifted his arms aggressively. A few of the humans gasped in fear. Some scurried off to their cells, as if they understood his orders.
"Halt, halt, Kho Ghrokhalti!" Kal Likus pleaded, running towards the soldier. She seemed nervous.
Damien's fellow humans screamed and cried as Kal Likus came near, most of them not understanding the words of the Kholvari.
"Kal Likus, is this your doing?" the soldier wondered, looking up at her.
"It is," she explained as she neared him. "I was preserving a captive close to her Majesty."
"One captive? There must be dozens," the soldier replied. "You are committing a crime against the Chiefdom!" He lifted his weapon and aimed it at her.
Kal Likus raised her arms in the air and turned her head to face the humans. She searched the crowd for a moment, but stopped when she found Damien. They locked eyes.
"Kho Damien Saljov," she said. Her words cut right through everything else. "The escape pods lie beyond this door." She pointed past the soldier. "Run."
In that moment, Damien knew he was out of time.
"I shall not be ignored!" the soldier said as he fired his weapon. The blast glowed bright like the core of a diode. Even from where Damien stood, it felt as hot as fire itself.
Kal Likus ducked as the blast erupted over her head and burned through the cell door behind her. A few humans dove out of the way, terrified. Wasting no time, she jumped onto the soldier, knocking him onto the floor. The weapon slid out of his grip. The two began wrestling for it.
"Now!" Damien hollered. "Everyone, to the escape pods! We need to go!"
"Escape pods? You mean we're going up to the surface?" an elderly woman near Damien asked.
"Not up. Down," he explained, shaking his head. "We're in a spaceship."
"A spaceship? How in the Lord's name did we get-"
The ship shook again, causing a number of prisoners to stumble. But Damien stood tall, ready for anything.
"Come on!" he said again, waving them forward.
He ran towards the two Kholvari wrestling on the floor. Just as he hoped, his fellow prisoners joined alongside him. They moved as a mass past the creatures, to a large door at the other end of the hall. They stopped before it, not sure how to get it open. Damien spotted another sensor by the door. He raised the glove to it, hoping that it would do the trick. Nothing happened at first, but then it made a beeping noise and the door slowly raised up.
"Yes!" he cheered.
Another long hall awaited them through the doorway, followed by a ramp downhill. Damien rushed onward through the hall and down the ramp. Another door stood at the bottom. He repeated his trick with the glove, prompting this door to open too.
When Damien saw what was on the other side, he knew they had reached their destination. Tall Kholvari-sized doors were packed next to each other in a row against the far wall like lockers in a gym. He ran to the first one he saw and used the glove to open the door. Inside, the chamber was small, only large enough for one Kholvari. Three humans could comfortably fit inside, six if they crammed on top of one another.
"Go, go!" Damien ordered, waving them on. "Get in, as many as you can!"
Several humans raced inside. Damien did not bother to count the number. He ran to the next one and the next one, opening them each up one by one. It was not long before some of the pod doors began closing in on the humans. Before he knew it, some of them were even disembarking. It seemed the escapees were able to figure out the controls easily enough.
Good, Damien thought, thank the Lord Beyond Both Seas they were able to escape.
The crowd of humans began to thin out as more and more of them boarded the pods. Before Damien knew it, he was only one of seven left.
"Come on, we're the last ones! We're almost there!" he said, excitedly.
Suddenly the door to the hallway burst open. Damien turned in an instant. Kal Likus hastily limped into the room, almost out of breath. Her left shoulder was bleeding.
"Kal Likus!" Damien exclaimed. He opened the last door for the escapees and ran to the injured Kholvari.
"Where are you going?" one of the humans cried.
"Just go! Don't wait for me! You can all fit if you cram!" he ordered.
Kal Likus raised her right claw to him as he approached.
"Kho Damien Saljov... get... safe," she said, struggling to speak the words.
"Yes," he replied, nodding his head, "safe, thanks to you."
"Leave... now!"
Damien turned to face the pod doors. There were several left unjettisoned.
The ship shook again. Damien instinctively turned back around. Kal Likus hobbled, trying to keep her footing.
"What is that?" Damien wondered. "Why does the ship keep shaking?"
"The Behemoth... firing off salvos... trying to stop missile," she explained.
"Missile? Who is firing a missile?"
Kal Likus coughed. Mucus oozed from her nostrils.
"They say... evolved-ones," she answered.
No, no, he thought, anything but that.
"Evolved-ones? That can't be!" Damien shouted. "We don't have the technology for something like this. We weren't even able to reach the surface until-"
"Leave!" Kal Likus interrupted, pointing to the pods. "Leave now!"
Damien stopped to look at the pods again, then turned to face Kal Likus once more.
"Not without you," he declared. "If I go, you're coming with me."
The Kholvari sighed and lowered her head. She paused for a few moments, then nodded.
"Very well, evolved-one. We shall ride together."
Using what strength she had left, Kal Likus stood up and made her way to the nearest escape pod. She opened the door with her glove and limped inside. Damien followed behind her and climbed onto the back of her shell. He let the massive glove in his arms drop to the floor.
"Watch... yourself, Kho Damien Saljov. Recall that... I... I am injured," she said.
"Sorry."
Just as her claw moved for the controls, four armored Kholvari solders bolted into the room. Their weapons were drawn. Damien gasped in horror.
"Close the door!" he screamed. "Quick!"
The ship shook again, this time so hard that Damien slid off Kal Likus's shell and onto the hard metal floor. He looked dizzily up as the world around him continued to shake. Kal Likus braced herself against the wall. Damien quickly turned his gaze to the soldiers, who were also on the floor.
A deafening boom suddenly caused Damien to cry out in pain. It was as if his eardrums had been shot with a bazooka. He closed his eyes and rolled along the floor beneath Kal Likus's feet as the ship continued to tremble. When he opened his eyes again, the guards were struggling to stand. They raised their weapons.
"Now, Kal Likus! Launch the po-"
Silence overcame the world.
The walls before him instantly broke apart and then disappeared as the black void of space ripped through the ship. The guards flew back, pulled into space with so much speed that they were nearly gone in an instant. Damien felt his breath leave him. He gasped for air. It felt like his lungs were filling with ice.
He screamed, though not a single sound came out of his mouth.
Suddenly the pod doors closed. Damien could hear air flow in from the ceiling vents. He gasped, welcoming in even the tiniest bit of oxygen. As soon as he took a breath, he coughed it all out again and felt his head drop to the floor. He was too weak to even look around the room.
"What... what..." Damien struggled to speak.
"Save... energy," Kal Likus replied.
"Is... ship destroyed?"
Damien heard a beeping noise as Kal Likus pressed a button by the
door. He instantly felt the escape pod jolt as it came free of the ship, or what was left of it.
"Ship destroyed," she answered, "ripped apart. We... away."
"Thank... thank you, Kal Likus," Damien said. He did his best to look up at her, though it pained him to move even a centimeter. "You saved my life... my people."
The Kholvari shook her head.
"No... Kho Damien Saljov," she replied, "not safe... not yet." She pointed down. "More danger."
"Where?" he asked.
Kal Likus looked down at him and stared into his weary eyes.
"Earth."
THE TRIANGULAR SPACESHIP LOOMED IN the vast sea overhead, strong and imposing as always. Sara, or maybe it was Allora, felt transfixed by its beauty as she gazed upon it. She had grown used to its presence over the past few weeks, months, perhaps years. Sara, or maybe it was Allora, could no longer keep track of time. She could hardly even keep track of herself.
When she tried to think about such things, her head felt as heavy as concrete. It was as if her brain were just a pile of mush.
The woman, whoever she was, took a deep breath and leaned back onto the platform with her legs dangling off the side. She closed her eyes and forgot all about her lost identity, letting the warm air embrace her like a blanket. The comforting feeling brought a smile to her face.
"What does it matter who I am?" she asked. "What difference does it make if I can't remember?"
She placed her hands over her closed eyelids, making the world as dark as she could in the light of daytime. Her palms smelled of sweat and dirt. She sat this way for a few moments, enjoying the peace and calm.
Suddenly her other half removed the hands and opened her eyes. Light blinded her for an instant, but she quickly sat up and looked away.
"Forgetting already, are you?" she asked aloud.
The woman shrugged. All she wanted to do was close her eyes again.
"I... I don't know."
"You fade more and more each day," she continued. "Pretty soon you will be gone entirely."
"Allora?"
Her brain trembled. Her head felt heavy.
"Yes," she replied, nodding.
"You are Allora... so that means I am Sara."
"That's right."
Sara sighed. She could not believe she had forgotten again.
