by Nina Silver
“Which one?” Jo hissed urgently unwitting to my thoughts. “There’s like five of them.”
“I don’t know, I can’t see them!” I hissed back, tension rising within me at her stubbornness to answer any of my concerns or questions.
“There’s one that’s a square with a triangle and a line intersecting them…”
“Not that one.” I hastily answered recognizing the symbol for prisoner.
“There’s a triangle one with a square and two horizontal lines within the square. There’s another square with an inverted 7 crossed by an x. There’s one of two X’s next to each other crossed by a horizontal line through them. The last one is an inverted 7 with a triangle in the upper corner and an X inside the triangle.” My mind worked furiously taking in her descriptions… What would mean release? The X often translated to free so it must be one with that - it must be the two Xs with the horizontal line - a horizontal line often meant an action. Think Iolee think! Is that it?
“Try the two X’s.” I whispered my heart pounding. Lucky stars, please let that be right.
We both held our breath as Jo cautiously pushed down on the symbol. A few minutes of tense silence went by and as if by magic the cuff vanished from my wrist getting sucked back into the metal wall.
“Thank God.” Jo whispered and quickly pressed something on the other cuff and then the ones on my legs. Within minutes I was free and with Jo’s help up on my feet. I swayed for a few seconds, a rush of weakness and dizziness sweeping me up. Jo reached out to steady me, and I took a deep breath.
“Let’s go.” Jo said.
“Where? How will we know where to go? What if we’re caught?” What if she was leading me into a trap - what if the Ourupta were manipulating her and she didn’t even know?
“Stop.” Jo hissed. “Stop doubting me - I can see it in your eyes. I know you have no reason to trust me - but even if we are caught, we at least tried to get away. Much better than just waiting in there for them to come do whatever they want.”
I swallowed the waxy orange taste of fear that coated my mouth and nodded. She was right - we had to try to escape. As quietly as we could we walked down the darkened corridor, the faint green light barely making it possible for us to see. My ears strained, and the beat of my heart and sounds of my breath seemed to echo all around us - would the Ourupta hear them? Would they find us?
We came out of the corridor and upon something that looked like a door on the rocky wall. I pointed it out to Jo who tensely shrugged and then made her way over to it, her shoulders scrunched up in a protective kind of gesture.
We approached the door, and it slid open smoothly, a stronger green light making me rear back and blink my itching eyes. After my eyes became more used to the stronger light, I could take in the sight before me. With a pang, I realized I knew where we were. Rows of the otherworldly green vats with the floating humans stretched before us.
I excitedly grabbed Jo’s arm pulling her back. “I know where we are. I know how to get back to New Hope.” If there was still a New Hope. Anxiety frothed up inside me like bubbling acid, but I shook my head trying to focus on the moment.
“You do?”
“Yes! This is the underground base - the one we found after the collapse.”
“Are you sure it’s the same?” Her eyebrows knit together. “What if it’s another one?”
“How many of them can there be?” I looked around making sure no Ourupta were around to see us. I quickly ran to the vats hearing Jo whisper-yell my name and then shuffling along behind me. I moved through the vats as quietly and carefully as I could until I reached the vat with the woman. “This is the same one...” I pointed to the floating petite form of the woman I had been so reluctant to leave two days ago. “I remember her from before.”
“Alright then - how do we get out?” Jo shrugged, looking around us anxiously, her hands visibly shaking. “This place is giving me the creeps Jesus Christ.”
“I know - but…” I looked at the woman again. I’d walk away and leave all of them here trapped once more? The thought upset me.
“No buts, I don’t want Ourupta to catch us - we need to go.”
I nodded and for the second time walked away from the vat leaving those poor people trapped… I led the way, Jo behind me holding securely onto the fabric of my shirt. My heart pounded fiercely in my chest when I reached the door of the building, and I hesitated to approach… what if Ourupta were out there and saw us. Jo’s hand flexed on my back, and she gripped the fabric of my shirt tighter constricting my ribcage.
“I hear something…” Her words came out in a hushed whisper just as I heard shuffling and stomping movements right beyond the darkened doors.
I bit my lip shut as Jo pulled me towards the wall and a darkened corner, then crouched low with her next to me.
“Shhhh, it's Ourupta…” Jo barely whispered right as the door swung open and about six Ourupta came in. My heart stopped in fear at seeing so many of them. I was still in a state of disbelief that I was seeing real life-size Ourupta. I guess in the back of my mind I might have considered this possibility. But for the most part had always thought it wouldn’t be until much later - maybe after we had translated more of their language and were able to find out their home world. But now they were back on New Earth again, and I had no idea whether we were the only ones that knew or not. I shook my head - all this overthinking had me getting lost within my mind - I had to stay present if I wanted to escape with Jo.
The Ourupta were talking with each other, and I threw a side glance at Jo who seemed enraptured watching them with a frown and her mouth half open. I was dying to ask what they were talking about but knew what a bad idea that would be at this moment. How was it possible that she could even understand them? Why would they want her to understand them was even more of a question.
The Ourupta did their weird laughter thing and then headed back towards the green vats - the way we’d come through. As soon as they were out of sight, Jo jumped up and pulled me with her.
“They’re going to take you…”
“We better hurry off then.” I said the urgency in her voice propelling my tired limbs to move.
Twenty-Four
Iolee
We exited through the doors out to the base, and I looked around hoping there were no more Ourupta. Seeing no one I made to rush towards the tunnel I knew would lead us out to the Red Desert.
We were a few feet away from the structure when green lights started flashing all around us. I looked at Jo with wide eyes - crap “Is that the alarm?”
Jo shrugged, her hazel eyes wild with a hint of panic within them. Stomping sounded from different varying locations, and I looked around helplessly for a place to hide.
I stumbled turning around looking for cover and started feeling panicked as the thumping noises, and the vibration of the ground came closer and closer.
“This way.” Jo called out and grabbed me pulling me after her. We approached the building we were just in and kneeled behind a structure attached to it. It was not a good hiding spot - not at all, but at least we wouldn’t be out in the open. I heard more thumping and then a lot of the screeching sounds the Ourupta made.
My nerves tingled, and the hair on my arms rose. I felt my breathing slow down, the beat of my heart sounding thundering. Would it give us away? More screeching from the Ourupta sounding closer. I grabbed Jo’s arm and looked at her. I’m sure the terrified look on her face perfectly mirrored mine. “What’s going on?” I mouthed.
She shrugged. “Trouble - they keep saying intruders.” She softly whispered back, as she craned her head this way and that. The screeching intensified, this time accompanied by bellowing clunking and crackling noises. The ground shook so hard that pieces of rock started falling from the ceiling.
More squawking from the Ourupta, more ground shaking, and noise. “What’s going on?” I asked Jo who shook her head. “I don’t know - something about relocating cargo and intruders- I don’t know
what is happening.”
The thundering ground shaking and noises had my nerves all shot up. I wanted to sneak a peek and see what was going on. Did I dare to? I shuffled to my side and slowly rose to my knees. Jo’s hand clamped on my arm, and she pulled on me. I shook her off, giving her an intense look, meant to keep her quiet. I saw her mouth tense, the corners crinkling with dislike but she said nothing and made no other attempt to hold me back. I scooched closer to the structure that hid us, and then with great caution, popped my head up to eye level.
I bit my lip as I observed a group of about ten Ourupta screeching at each other a few hundred feet away. The ground shaking and noises continued, the Ourupta completely unperturbed continued their talking. Another one came down a path hurriedly and started speaking, in its hands it held something very similar to the sphere that we had been investigating just days ago. This one was much smaller, and it fit in the alien's one hand comfortably. The Ourupta continued speaking as he pressed some glowing green symbols on the ball. The ground shook again, and with a swallowed sound of surprise, I watched as one of the buildings started closing in on itself making those strange crackling and clunking noises. The building neatly folded into a cube probably as half as tall as me. I watched with wide eyes as the Ourupta pressed more symbols and more buildings started collapsing into cubes. What kind of tech was this? The Ourupta started pointing towards the building we were taking cover, and with my heart beating out of my chest I swooped down next to Jo.
“They’re packing up - looks like they are getting ready to leave.”
“How?” Jo asked with a frown, and I explained to her what I had seen. “Fuck… we’ll have to move?” Her forehead crinkled in concern.
I shrugged, dread eating at me. I opened my mouth, but no words came out, desperation and defeat taking root within me. The ground vibrations increased, and the building behind our backs shook, a breath escaped my lips. If the building was being collapsed what would happen to us? What would happen to the people in the vats inside the building?
There was a beat of silence, the screeching, the shaking, the rumbling all seizing. I looked at Jo my heart in my throat. Then it was as if all hell broke loose. The Ourupta screeching started again, the ground shook, and what surprisingly sounded like explosions echoed throughout the cave. Once more rocks started falling around us, and I hastily covered my head with my arms. It wouldn’t do for me to get hit unconscious by a falling rock at this moment.
Louder booming sounds shook the cave, and the Ourupta screeching increased, then loud popping sounds came through. What was happening? I burrowed deeper under my arms, taking rushed breaths. The explosions and popping sound stopped, the cave not shaking anymore. A hand gripped my arm, and I jerked turning to see Jo.
She jumped up and pulled on me, disoriented I followed. She dashed in between falling rocks as she tugged me behind her. She was leading us behind the building, the cavernous wall to our left. We seemed to have circled behind it, and when we reached the front the sight of at least ten Ourupta with their laser rifles shooting out at a distance greeted us.
We stopped in our frantic steps and watched them as they kept shooting, they had their back to us, and it seemed that no one had seen or heard us. Putting my hand over my mouth, Jo silently continued our trip. We were a few feet away when more popping sounds and ground shaking started again. One of the Ourupta screeched something, and the rest began firing their laser rifles off somewhere in the distance. What the heck was happening? If I didn’t know better, I’d say that sounded like gunshots. But I had never heard any before to be sure.
We kept running as screeching and rocks continued falling. We rounded another corner. Jo paused, my momentum sending me careening into her form. Two Ourupta stood before us staring at us, their monstrous faces moving into expressions that oddly looked like surprise. Jo and I gawked at them wide-eyed and then not missing a beat made a run for it. The Ourupta screeched at us their hands going to some weird belt-like structures around their hips. Jo grabbed me once more and dragged me quickly inside the building.
“Shit shit shit.” She called out as we entered the room with the vats full of humans. It seemed whatever we did we couldn’t get away from this building. Thoughts of the collapsing cubes came to mind, and a picture of Jo and I crushed to death ratcheted up my heart beat.
Pounding steps sounding closer to us thrust me into action, and now I was the one running pulling Jo behind me. “We have to hide.”
We ran down the endless rows of green colored vats, my mind not even processing how huge they were and how many people floated trapped inside them. We must’ve been towards the back rows because here the vats were even bigger and they held dozens of people inside them, unlike the singular ones out in the front rows. We ran past several big vats, but the thumping footsteps behind us continued. With shock, I noticed that there were no more sounds from outside, or maybe I couldn’t hear them over the rush of my blood and the thumps of my heart.
The steps behind us got closer and closer, and desperately I pumped my legs faster, sweat pouring over my face and into my eyes making them sting. Rashly I veered off to the left and continued speeding down the rows of vats, Jo behind me.
The footsteps continued sounding closer and closer, and in front of me, I saw the green light becoming stronger. We were almost to another hallway, and then perhaps a room we could hide in.
Ourupta screeching sounded from behind us and with a terrified yelp, Jo and I attempted to run harder. My legs shook, and pain lanced through my left ankle. I sprawled on the ground, the breath gone from my body completely.
Jo stopped and grabbed me to help me up, but it was too late. The two Ourupta were there, their sleek metal lasers trained on us. One of them opened its terrifying mouth and screeched something. Sweat poured into my eyes, but I didn’t even dare blink to get rid of the sting.
“It said to get up and follow them. They know I can understand their language.” Jo said slowly, her hands helping me up but her eyes never leaving the Ourupta. The alien spoke again, the high-pitched clicking sounds assaulting my ears. “It said we were stupid to think we could run from them.” The Ourupta tipped their lasers in a jerky indication for us to move. Reluctantly I forced my feet to move, Jo in front of me, her hand still wrapped around mine. I felt her tremble, and I squeezed back showing her we were in this together, regardless of how much she hated me or disliked me because of Cove.
My heart fluttered at the thought of Cove. The Ourupta screeched something, their guns pointing ahead. I felt Jo tremble in front of me even more.
“What is it? What are they saying?” I whispered anxiously, only for the Ourupta to screech again.
Jo just shook her head in a forbidding gesture her shoulders slumping, her half-fallen ponytail limply swaying as if it too had lost all its previous vivacity - the fight having completely left her.
The Ourupta with their screeching and guns led us all the way to the back in front of what seemed like a small circular glass cage. With horror, I realized that it was an empty vat. The Ourupta talked with each other, their faces making different kinds of expressions that were oddly human-like. Jo’s trembling increased and an uneasy gnawing feeling overtook my body. Would they put us in there?
One of the Ourupta strapped the gun to its side and took out another small black sphere from its belt. It toyed with it until an opening appeared in the glass cage.
I quivered, they were going to put us in the vats!
The Ourupta talked to Jo, and I shook my head. “No, we are not going in there.” My voice came out thick and shaky sounding odd and distant even to my own ears. The Ourupta menacingly screeched out ugly words and pointed the lasers at us meaningfully.
“Come on…” Jo said determined and slowly entered the vat. “They’ll shoot you otherwise.”
“They’ll kill us anyway.” The words bubbled out of my lips. My hands shaking.
“Come in…” Jo said, her eyes not leaving the Ourupta. “There’s no
thing we can do.” Their screeching prompted me to go inside the vat, and in shock watched as the glass became solid once more trapping us inside.
“What are they going to do?” I turned and asked Jo who looked catatonic and pale.
She remained quiet and just pointed to the tanks filled with green water. The Ourupta continued their talking, one of them playing with the sphere. This was bad, this was super bad. To make matters worse, a high-pitched whizzing sound echoed around us, and green water started frothing under our feet.
I yelled and started banging on the glass. “Let us out!”
Jo still looking very much catatonic spurred into action by my yelling, she collapsed onto the vat’s floor, her legs pulled up against her. Not the kind of action I was hoping for... “Jo - get up, help me - come on.” I yelled at her as the green water came now up to my calves, rapidly swallowing Jo’s form up to her waist. Jo didn’t even flinch she just rocked back and forth. I beat the glass with my bare fists, but nothing happened. I looked down at the rushing water seeing it reach my knees. “Jo!” I called again urgently, the water up to her neck. If she didn’t get up, she’d be fully under soon. A small whimper escaped her lips, but she continued rocking back and forth, her eyes shut tightly.
I hopelessly beat my fists against the glass to no avail. I looked down only to see the water rising even higher. I saw Jo completely immersed under the green liquid and with an urgent yelp I dove for her. She had stopped moving, and I hastily pulled at her loose limbs. She effortlessly floated to the surface, her stillness worrying me. Surely, she hadn’t been under that long?
“Jo! Wake up, get up, Jo!” I shook her as she eerily floated in the rising green liquid. I panted with panic as the water reached my chest now and shook her again without any result. The floor shook, and a high screeching noise sounded. The whole building shook, the vat with it, the green water sloshing violently around us. My mind went back to the collapsible buildings, and my urgency increased. Where we about to get drowned and then crushed? The water was up to my mouth, and Jo’s body floated next to my head.
