The Ravager Chronicles: The Complete Series

by Sara Page

  How did he roll me through the trees without crashing? There’s no sign of the path the pod took. No knocked over trees or even trampled plants. I circle the pod to be sure. I remember the rolling, remember it quite vividly. I was rolling fast and didn’t feel as if any of it was controlled. Yet the alien must have obviously maneuvered the pod. I can’t even tell which direction the pod came from.

  Why here? Why roll the pod here? Because of all the trees?

  If I wanted to hide the pod, this would be the perfect place. Even from the sky it would be difficult to spot with all the leaves of the trees forming a thick canopy. This doesn’t bode well for me. Maybe this is why my help hasn’t been able to find me.

  I walk back to the gap in the wall. I need to be closer to safety, I’m starting to get very creeped out. My eyes search through the trees, looking for anything that could be out of place. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but I get the feeling I’m not alone.

  Is he out there? Watching me? Planning something?

  I shiver at the thought. I hurry back inside the pod and push the little button, bringing the wall back up. I look to the screen, half expecting to see the alien coming out of the trees, making a run to get inside.

  When the alien rolled the pod here, he must have been planning something at the time. If he is watching, how many days do I have until he thinks no one is coming to help me?

  How many days until I?

  * * *

  I think the green sludge dinners are giving me bad dreams. Last night, after securing myself in the safety seat, I dreamt of the Ravagers.

  I dreamt that after another day of searching through the pod’s help system, I finally stumbled upon its deep space communication system. I sent out an SOS, hoping it would reach someone from my homeworld, preferably my father.

  Hours later, a ship arrived but it wasn’t a ship I was familiar with. In horror, I watched as a group of Ravagers, clad in their notorious obsidian body armor, encircle my pod and demanded in short, barking Galactic orders that I surrender and present myself.

  The Ravagers are the boogeymen of space. They’re the specific reason on my homeworld, princesses are not permitted to leave the planet. Not only are they unmatched on the battlefield, decimating any enemy that stands in their way, but they’re infamous for stealing females of other species. Rumored to have no females of their own.

  My great, great Aunt was carried off by a Ravager before the princess decree was put into place. She was the legitimate heir to the throne, traveling to her betroths homeworld for an official introduction. Her ship was intercepted somewhere along the way, and neither she nor the crew were ever heard of again.

  In my dream, I was frozen in fear. I wanted to move, but I couldn’t. I wanted to present myself and beg on my knees, as a princess, to please spare me. To please ransom me to my father, he would pay whatever was demanded.

  The Ravagers cut into the flexible steel walls of the pod with laser knives. Then one Ravager entered. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t hide. I couldn’t even scream. All I could do was quake with terror, completely impotent as it grabbed me.

  The Ravager pulled me close, slamming me roughly into the hard obsidian plate covering its chest. Then it looked down at me and grinned. That’s when I realized it was missing the gruesome horned helmet they were so fond of. That’s when I could see the Ravager was purple with red glowing eyes.

  “Mine,” the Ravager said then kissed me.

  I awoke with a scream.

  Chapter Five

  For the first time since I’ve crashed, I’m in utter despair. I awoke, disturbed and afraid after my nightmare. But then, after the fear wore off and I realized I was still very much alone, I started to cry.

  I can’t stop crying.

  No one is coming for me. It’s been what, four days? Five? I’m Princess Ameia, beloved daughter of Trivent, sole heir to the Kingdom of Terrea. Someone should be looking for me… but if they were, I would have been found by now.

  I’ll never see my father again, or my friends. I’ll never go home again. I’m stuck here, all alone. I’ll die strapped to the safety seat, sitting next to a portable potty. That’s how they’ll find me. If someone ever does.

  I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to survive. I’m still dressed in this pretty pink gown I wore to my birthday party and my best satin slippers. I have plenty of rock hard, probably expired ration bars, but I’m almost out of water. The only way to get more water is by going out and looking for it.

  I cry because I’m alone and afraid, and everything feels helpless. My nose starts to drip and I just let it. I cry because I’ll spend the rest of my life eating sludge dinners. I cry because I’m starting to get thirsty and I only have a little water left, but I don’t want to drink it.

  Once the water is gone, it’s the end. I’m dead. But then, if I’m dead anyway, why not die while looking for more?

  Gradually, my will and reason starts to come back to me. I start to realize I’m feeling sorry for myself and that things could be so much worse. I grab on to that fact for dear life. Things could be worse. I still have a chance if I take it.

  Whenever I used to cry at home, there was someone always quick to chastise me for it. More often than not it would have been my nanny chastising me when I was younger, and occasionally, when he could find the time, it would be my father. But as I grew older, I learned to do it myself. I am a princess, they would often remind me, unmoved by my tears. I was born into privilege and destined for greatness, what were my troubles when compared to others? Princesses do not cry, princesses are above crying. If there is a problem, we fix it. If we cannot fix it, we move on.

  I feel drained, but a little bit relieved after getting all the tears out. It was like I was holding too much inside me and just needed to relieve the pressure by letting go of some of it. Now that the pressure is out of the way, I can think a little better.

  Perhaps, there is still hope.

  I wipe at my nose, drink a little bit of my water, and then check the surveillance cameras. It’s light outside. Nothing has moved for days. If I’m careful, I can go out and search. There’s so much vegetation about, there should be at least one source of water nearby. Hopefully.

  I eye my jug of water, there’s only about an inch left on the bottom. I check the screen again, the conditions outside haven’t changed.

  What am I waiting for? Now or never, I can do this. I stand up, gripping the jug.

  I need to do this before I lose my nerve.

  If nothing moves outside, if there’s no sign of the alien man, I’ll search the surrounding area for water. I’ll stay close to the pod, so I don’t get lost. I’ll just walk out a span or so and see what I can find.

  I walk up to the dashboard and push the green button on the console. There’s a hiss and then part of the wall lowers down, disappearing into the floor. Just like before, sweet, fresh air flows into the pod and I greedily breathe it in. I didn’t quite realize how stuffy and stagnant it was in here until now. Maybe, while I’m gone everything will air out. Who are you kidding? Your stinky princess funk is forever imprinted in this pod. They’ll have to burn it.

  Still gripping my jug in my hand, I step out and down. Rays of sunlight beam through the thick canopy of leaves overhead, I welcome the warmth. It feels good to be outside, in the sun, instead of surrounded by metal. My eyes scan my surroundings, but nothing moves. I wait another couple of minutes just to be sure.

  Part of me wants there to be a disturbance, I think. It makes me hesitate. It’s the part of me that’s still afraid, the part that wants to run back into the pod to hide and die. But I don’t want to die, I remind myself, I want to live. So I put one foot in front of the other and I don’t look back. I keep my eyes forward.

  I walk half a span away and nothing happens. The biggest obstacle so far is not tripping over fallen branches and tree roots. I keep walking, carefully, while keeping an ear out. There’s strange buzzes, hums, and clicks tha
t I’ve always assumed were just insects. But now that I’m out here, and taking in how different this place truly is compared to my home planet, I realize those sounds could just as likely come from animals.

  I turn back and discover I walked further than I intended to. As I see just how far away I am from my unprotected pod, panic’s icy fingers start to grip my heart. I start to rush more than I should, but I manage to make it back to the pod with my only hiccup being a stubbed toe.

  Nothing happens when I get there, still there is no one around. I start to feel silly for all my worrying. Perhaps it is true in this situation that the only thing to fear is fear itself.

  I set out to search for water from the other side of the pod. If I keep the pod at my back, all I have to do is turn around and look for it to keep from getting lost. I get to about half a span away when I hear it, fresh flowing water must be nearby. I can hear it bubbling and splashing against what I assume are rocks. If I breathe in deeply enough, I can even smell it.

  I start to get excited and I start to rush. I follow my ears forward and before I know it, I’ve gone another half a span and then more. I find the pool of water tucked behind a tight grouping of trees. As I come upon it, small, fuzzy creatures scurry off, disturbed by my presence, into the brush.

  My first glimpse of animals reminds me that I need to slow down and pay attention. There are other things about, and they’re not so fuzzy, and not so quick to scurry at the sight of me.

  Cautiously, I approach the pool of water and then bend down. The water is clear and appears to be clean but the reflection mirrored back to me gives me a scare.

  No wonder I frightened off the local wildlife, sheesh.

  I stare into the water and I can hardly recognize myself. The woman staring back at me is not the poised young woman I know. It’s like looking at a complete stranger. A stranger who is disheveled and dirty with her oily blonde curls clinging to her face and tangling around her ears. At one time, her blue eyes probably glittered like dark sapphires but now her eyes are puffy and tired and stained with dark circles. I splash my fingers in the water to make her disappear. Then I lift my fingers to my lips to taste the water.

  Something hits me in the back of the head and I cry out, “Ow!”

  I look down and there’s a small fruit of some sort. I pick it up, it’s red and soft but when it hit my head, it sure hurt like it was hard. I look up to see if perhaps it fell down. But none of the trees appear to be fruit bearing trees and I don’t see any other fruits hanging from the branches or growing from the ground.

  Maybe it’s my lucky day and not only did I find water but I scored some yummy food as well?

  I hang on to the fruit and bend back down. I start to dip my jug into the water when something hits me in the back of the head again.

  “Hey!” I cry out this time and spin around.

  I don’t know what I was expecting to find, maybe an ornery monkey or something? Certainly not the big, scary alien guy I see staring angrily at me.

  I don’t even think about it, I just run. I push my way through the brush, stumble over the bumps and stub my toes on the rocks. My gown catches, snagging on the branches, but I don’t stop, I let it tear.

  I can hear him behind me, growling and yelling something in his alien tongue. If I slow down for a second, I know he’ll catch me. I don’t understand a word he’s saying, but if I had to guess, I guess it would be something about killing me or eating me, or perhaps something even worse.

  My lungs burn, my knees ache, but I don’t stop until I make it back to the pod. I jump through the opening and pray to the stars I can close the door before he catches up. I hit the green button and spin back around.

  He’s almost there, he’s reaching for me. The wall is going up. His hand goes over the top, then it blindly searches for something to latch on. I jump back and watch. Up, up the wall goes. He’s tall but if he doesn’t pull his hand back in the next couple of seconds, it’s soon going to join me in the pod, alone.

  The alien yanks his hand back and roars loudly in his alien tongue. The wall reaches the top. The pod is fully closed. I’m safe. I sag in relief against the console.

  I catch my breath for a minute and then watch him on the screen. He stares angrily at the wall, huffing. I half expect him to start crashing into the pod again, and consider strapping myself into the safety seat. Before I move, he turns his head and I swear his glowing eyes are staring at me. It’s as if he can see me, the way he is looking at me. Our eyes are locked, we’re face to face. His lips even begin to curve into a knowing smile. What the hell? I’m so frightened about what’s going on, I hit the button for the surveillance system and turn it off.

  He can’t see me. He can’t see through the metal, I tell myself. But cold shivers travel down my spine. I’m seriously creeped out.

  I still strap myself into the safety seat, just in case. I know he’s still out there. I can feel it. I know, too, that I won’t be able to relax until he’s gone. A minute later, I get thirsty and reach for my jug. It’s not there in its usual spot. Oh no, oh no. I must have dropped it back at the pool of water.

  Now I’m really fucked.

  Chapter Six

  I’m going to die. Maybe I’m going insane but I don’t feel upset over it. I feel more like I’ve been waiting for this, that it’s been inevitable. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to die. I want to live. If a ship from Terrea suddenly touched down, I’d gladly board it. I want nothing more than to be rescued and returned to my home. But the grim reality is that I have only hours left, if even that.

  I’m out of water. I have plenty of ration bars to eat, but I don’t dare even try to gnaw on them because I know their bitter nastiness will only make me thirstier.

  Daylight has come. I’ve rested as best as I could. The question now is how do I want to die?

  Do I stay here, locked in my little pod, and wither away alone? Or do I go out fighting?

  I’ve never been much of a fighter. I’ve always had others ready to fight and die for me. I don’t think anyone has ever encouraged or wanted me to fight for myself. I’ve turned the surveillance system back on. All has been quiet. But I know he’s out there. It’s the type of knowing I can feel in my bones. He’s out there, hiding, watching, and waiting for me to come out.

  I arm myself with a ration bar. It’s as hard as a brick and it’s all I’ve got. I’ll fight him if I have to, but I have no delusions who will win if it comes to that. My only hope right now is that I can somehow make it to my water jug and back to the pod without him noticing.

  I hit the green button and the wall drops down, disappearing into the floor. I take a step out and freeze. I don’t know what I was expecting. I think I was expecting this time to be much like the last, that I’d walk out, there would be no sign of him, and I would gain the courage to explore.

  I certainly wasn’t expecting to see him out there in the distance, crouched and watching me.

  He doesn’t blend. His purple contrasts too much against the brown, blue, and green of the surrounding forest. He rises slowly, vaguely I realize he’s wearing pants. He begins to walk towards me.

  I lose all my nerve.

  I jump back and pound the green button. The wall begins to slide up. I turn my eyes to watch him on the screen. I know he sees the wall, but he doesn’t rush. If anything, it looks like he’s taking his time. He’s sauntering, confidently. It’s kinda starting to piss me off.

  “Damn you,” I curse at the screen. My throat is dry and my voice sounds scratchy.

  If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this situation. I’d have water. I’d have so much time left, days, maybe even weeks, to wait for a rescue.

  This is all his fault. I want to scream in frustration, but I know it would only make my throat hurt worse. Damn you giant, purple alien man.

  I throw the ration brick at the wall. It connects with a thud then bounces back. The cursed thing hits me in the head. Now, not only am I cursing in a very unprincess li
ke manner but I’m also crying.

  I hate crying.

  I’m a coward. His appearance has reminded me of that. My situation hasn’t changed. I’m still without water but instead of injecting myself with false bravado, and convincing myself that I’m capable of doing things I am so not capable of doing, I’ll not only die here, pathetically, I’ll go out knowing I didn’t even try to save myself.

  I hate him. I hate him so much that I’m shaking with it. I hate what he’s done to me, hate how he’s tortured me. I hate how he’s made me see myself.

  I want to push the green button and lob this ration brick right at his head. I’m reaching for the green button when I glimpse the screen and pause.

  Something is different.

  Not only is he wearing pants, black very tight fitting pants but he’s holding something in his hand. How did I not notice that?

  Again, he looks at the camera as if he’s looking directly at me. He bends down, his glowing eyes never leaving mine and rests my water jug just outside the door. He straightens, turns away, and walks off, disappearing into the forest.

  What just happened? Did I just imagine that?

  I wait, and I wait. I’m so sick of waiting. I’m half convinced he brought the water jug as a means for me to open the wall, but I had the wall down. I can’t make sense of it.

  The jug is full of water. I can see it. I can’t stop staring at it on my screen. I lick my dry lips.

  It must be poisoned or drugged. Why else give me a means to survive longer inside here?

  It’s a trick. Maybe I’ll push the button, the wall will go down, and the jug won’t even be there.

  I do just that. I push the button and the wall goes down. I’m surprised that the jug is there. I’m even more surprised when my fingers wrap around it and lift it. It’s very much real. I pull the jug in while my eyes scan the forest. There’s nothing, no movement. I pull the jug in, push the button, and the wall goes back up without incident.