by Maia Starr
We were all trying to yell at each other through the mask.
"What happened?"
"What type of gas is this?"
"Guns, we need guns! Everyone to the artillery!"
Soldiers shouted in the chaos. We all began to run toward the artillery at the end of the hall. Mason kicked the door open. Within minutes, we were all armed, and ready to hunt.
"Call the deck! Get the captain on radio!" I shouted. A soldier went to the wall and pressed the intercom communication.
"Captain! Captain, report! What have we hit?" The soldier yelled over and over into the radio. But there was no response.
"We have to get there. We have to get to the command deck. They may need us. They may need support," Mason said.
"Or they're all dead," another soldier said. We were all quiet, but only for a moment.
Then Mason took charge again as he said, "We're stuck on the ship. Retreat is not an option out here in space. Whatever it is, we either fight to keep our ship, or we die trying."
We all looked at each other and realized that he was right. We did not have any options here and we were trained for this. We were just caught off guard and it shook us up a little. But this was our ship and we could still come out victorious to this situation. I knew how hardcore Mason was and he was willing to give his life. He stood proud and strong in front of the battalion and shouted, “Are you with me, Soldiers?!”
Every single soldier let out a grunting "Who-ha!" in agreement. We were armed and ready, but we had no idea what we were walking into. Had I known exactly what was going to happen, I would've forced Mason to retreat with me into an escape pod. True, they were not capable of long-distance travel to get us back to Earth. But I would've taken my chances alone with him on some foreign planet. It was better than the fate that lay ahead of me. I looked at Mason as he led us quietly down the long and massive corridors to the deck.
He turned me and gave me a knowing look, and then he signaled quietly with his hand as everyone fell in behind him. We quietly ran to the command deck. As soon as we came into view of the door—
Pew! Dew! Pew! The sounds of blaster guns flew by our ears. We shot back, not knowing exactly what we were firing at in the gas-filled fog of the ship. A full on battle raged, and we seemed to hold our own for a few minutes. It was a dangerous situation. These ships were made to handle a certain amount of gun blasts, as could be expected. But this was an all-out battle, and at any minute, it could blow a hole in the ship and we would all be sucked into space.
I crouched down, trying to get a better view. The gas began to clear and we were able to finally see the enemy. I knew who they were as soon as I saw them, even though I had never seen one before. But their reputation and appearance had preceded them.
It was the warrior race known as the Kalazaron. The blue tint of the skin that was exposed under their battle garments, their extremely tall size, and their close resemblance to man made it unquestionable that it was the Kalazaron. They had been known to act like pirates in space. They would send out scouting parties thousands of light-years away from their planet and commandeer other space ships. They would the passengers as prisoners and slaves. They were known to be ruthless, and we only had fleeting reports that were made before capture, as no one ever returned from their planet back to Earth. I sneered at them.
"The captain is down! The whole command deck crew is down!" Mason shouted.
"Are they dead?!" another soldier asked.
"I think they are just gassed! We have to go in there and pull them out!" Mason shouted.
"No! Don't" I shouted at him but it was too late. He was already charging forward. Every soldier looked at each other for a second, and then we blindly and faithfully followed our rebellious leader on to the command deck.
Gun fire grew heavier. One soldier after another went down beside me. I went as low as I could. I did a somersault across the floor, dodging laser bullets. I couldn't see Mason anymore. My heart raced. Now there were physical altercations breaking out as some soldiers began to fight in hand-to-hand combat with the Kalazarons. We all still had our gas masks on and it made it very hard to see.
A very strong arm came across my waist and lifted me off my feet. I looked down at the arm and saw the blue tint of the skin and unusual tattoo designs that I had never seen before. I was not going to let this Kalazaron take me. I squeezed his forearm with my hand digging my thumbs between my belly and his arm just enough to push him off and slither downward, dipping underneath his arm but still holding it in my grasp and twisting it around.
I now had his arm twisted behind his back and I stuck my foot out in front of his ankle and pushed him forward. I did all of this in a blink of an eye, before he even knew what had hit him as he went crashing forward onto his belly. I grabbed my gun and held it to his head. I was about to shoot when I heard, "Drop it! Or he dies!"
I turned around to see very clearly what the situation now was. Every soldier was either dead or down. There were over one hundred Kalazaron pointing guns at the soldiers. We had lost. But the one that was shouting was directing his shouts at me.
I looked to him. He had jet-black hair with a large, light-blue streak framing his face. One side of his head was shaved just above his ear and his hair fell over to the other side, like some punk rocker from Old Earth times. He had lots of tattoos, and his thick, black eyebrows were furrowed at me over brown eyes that pierced right through me with hate.
In his hand was a gun. That gun was aimed at Mason's head. My heart dropped to my stomach. I felt so much hatred for this Kalazaron warrior as he held my lover’s life in his hands.
"Drop it!" he shouted one more time. He did not need to shout again. I stopped, backed away from the warrior that I had knocked on the ground, and dropped my gun. I put my hands up and surrendered. The warrior sneered at me. His lips curled into a devilish grin. He looked at Mason. Pew!
He shot anyway. He shot Mason in the head. I screamed in panic as I ran toward him, "No!"
Then I felt a sharp stinging on the back of my head and everything went black.
When I awoke, I was sitting on a blue-colored floor. My hands were tied behind my back. My ankles were tied together and there was a gag in my mouth. I looked to the side of me to see that Margaret, Sarah, Elizabeth, and Maria were all tied the exact same way, sitting on the floor. They had looks of anger, fear, and disbelief on their faces.
I looked around and realized that the room was foreign to me. My heart sank to my stomach as I realized that I was no longer on the Madera. We were now on the Kalazaron ship. There were many blinking lights and lots of smooth surfaces with holographs on them. Then I remembered. Mason was dead.
Anger filled me and I quickly rolled to my side and pulled my arms around my body over my bottom and behind my knees all the way past my feet until they were in front of me. I untied the rope around my ankles and pulled off the gag. I got up and ran toward a small, circular window. Outside the glass, I could see the Madera. It had lots of damage to it and various liquids and smoke were floating out from it in the vacuum of space. Then, out of nowhere, an orange streak of light hit it. The ship exploded on impact.
"No!" I could not believe it. The Kalazaron were ruthless. We had done nothing to them. They roamed the universe, scouting ships to take for their own plundering. I looked back at the women and said, "They've blown up the Madera."
They began to cry and shake with anger. I was angry too. But I did not cry. I would be damned if I was going to allow them to take me captive and make me some sort of slave. No, I would die. If I were going to die, I would do it while getting revenge for Mason. The face of the Kalazaron that killed him flashed in my mind. I would never forget him. He was now my enemy and I was going to do everything I could in order to bring about his demise.
I moved over to the door and looked out the small, rectangular window. I could see Kalazaron warriors loading artillery into a massive room. It was artillery from the Madera. Weapons from Earth. Why did th
ey need our weapons? Their weapons were far more advanced than ours.
Then I saw him. The Kalazaron that had killed my Mason was headed toward the door. I quickly looked around and found a pipe-like piece of metal in the corner in some clutter. I picked it up and stood behind the door, waiting for him. The women were moaning, urging me not to do anything stupid. But I was unreachable. I was in a range for what he did.
The door opened and as soon as he stepped in I swung the pipe at his head. But I misjudged his height and it hit his shoulder. He quickly turned and grabbed the pipe in his hand and tried to yank it out of mine. But I held onto it. He growled at me as I lifted my leg and kicked him in the side. He moved his hand to hit my leg but I quickly blocked it with my other arm. He looked up at me, startled. He threw the pipe on the ground and smiled. It only made me angrier. I was ready to get in another blow, but before I knew it, he went low and grabbed my waist and flung me over his shoulder.
"Let me go, you alien bastard! I will kill you!" I shouted as I banged my fists against his back. I hit him as hard as I could and I heard a groan come from him and I knew that at least I was hurting him just a little bit. He threw me on the ground sitting next to the other women. I was about to get back up and kick him when he said, "Move and one of them dies!" He was pointing at the women.
I narrowed my eyes at him in anger and I could do nothing but obey. He walked back and forth in front of us, and he was a very commanding presence. If I didn't hate him, I would have been intrigued by him. But now I would hate him for the rest of my life. He was the worst alien being I had ever encountered.
"You have been taken by the Kalazaron of the planet Kaethon. I am Commander Jaylin Brakin. This is my ship. You will obey me. You will respect the ship, and no harm will come to you. I guarantee it. You are now property of the Blue Mountain Base. You are our captives. You are being taken to our home, which is now your home. It is a long journey. You will be brought nourishment. You will be allowed to sleep. Anyone caught out of this room will be forced to kill one of you. Is that clear?" he said as he looked at me particularly.
I looked away from him. I could not look at him without thinking about Mason. The other women nodded in agreement.
Then he knelt down and picked up the ties that were on my hands and feet. They were now thrown on the ground. He looked at me and said, "Untie the other human female slaves. There is nowhere for you to go." He threw the ties at my face and then he walked out of the room. I was so angry that tears actually began to water my eyes. I fought them back. We were in a hopeless situation. He was right. There was nowhere to go. Unless….
I stopped untying Maria's ties and she gave me a look. But I was lost in thought and planning. Every ship, no matter what alien race, had escape pods. They were lifeboats. I knew that I was in space where I could never be rescued. But being in an escape pod would at least give me hope and give me the freedom of not being a slave to the Kalazaron. Maria nudged my arm.
"Sorry," I said as I continued to untie her. Moments later, all of the women were untied and together we paced back-and-forth in the room, not saying anything. This sudden change in our life was a lot to take in. None of us had the words for it.
About an hour later, or what I assumed was an hour, a warrior walked in, followed by two more. They were all carrying trays of food. They set them on the floor without even making eye contact with us. I thought it was unusual. They were males, and I assumed they would tease us or try to touch us. But they acted like we weren't even there.
We ate and drank quietly. After the meal I looked at them and said, "Escape pods. There must be some on the ship. If we all escape together at the same time, then he can't force us to kill each other."
"Serena! Are you serious? We will never make it to the escape pods. We will only be caught outside the room and he will make us kill each other."
"We don't even know if there are escape pods or where they are on the ship," Margaret said nervously.
"We could try. So we end up dying: Is that worse or better than being a captive? Who knows what they will do to us once we arrive on their planet."
"But we will be drifting aimlessly in space, if we even make it that far. I think I would rather take my chances on the planet," Sarah said. The women nodded in agreement with her. Dammit. I couldn't do it alone. If it was just me that was caught, he would definitely make me kill the others, or he would try. But looking at their faces, I could not make this decision on my own. We were either all in or I couldn't do it. They were all still in shock and not ready for action. Perhaps once we were on the planet, I could engage them once more and plan and escape there.
Later, we all slept on the floor. Then we ate. Then we slept again. It went on like this for days and I was getting tired of it. I began to practice punches in the air and kicks. I did sit ups and pull-ups. I was not going to wither away and become weak.
Finally, as I stood looking out the small window, I saw it. A big blue planet came into view and I knew that this giant ball with two moons orbiting was our destination. A part of me was excited. Not because I was excited to see the planet—I had no love for this place or the alien race that lived on it. I was excited to get out of the ship. I was excited to have another opportunity to escape. Even if I had to live alone in the wilds of this planet, I would do it. I was a fighter. I was a soldier. I knew how to sustain myself and I would take my chances out there in the great blue.
Then the ship slowed down and the motors grew quieter. We were all skilled and knew that this meant the ship was preparing for atmospheric entry. We all looked at each other and everyone stiffened a little. Now we would be put through the trials and tribulations of having to deal with being on a new planet. We did not know what our fate held for us, but in a male-dominated alien race full of brutes, we did not think it could be good.
I planted my feet firmly on the floor and pressed my palms against the wall as I watched out the window. The entry into the atmosphere was smooth, and I was impressed by the technology. We did not need to be buckled into any seats or secured. This race was far more advanced than we were and I wondered what other wonders would be on their planet. I pictured we would soon be coming to a giant city. A city with flying speed pods, majestic skyscrapers, and amazing, systemic structures. I watched, waiting for the city to come into view, but it never did.
Instead, the ship was moving over vast terrain that reminded me of wilderness on earth. We ventured over a mile or two of rocky terrain with patches of green wilderness here and there. Then we came to a large mountain range in the distance. I suddenly remembered what Jaylin had mentioned before: Blue Mountain Base. So we would not be heading into a city; instead, we were heading to the mountains. It looked like an isolated place. There was nothing else around it for miles.
"What is it? What do you see?" Maria asked as the woman sat on the ground behind me.
"We are in the wilderness. We're landing on the side of a mountain. It's mostly rocky terrain, but there are trees here and there. I see a waterfall. Actually, it is quite beautiful—if it weren't about to be our prison," I said as I turned to look at them.
They all frowned and their breathing grew rapid as they began to panic. Then with a loud thud and a shudder through the ship, she landed. We were now on this planet, as foreign to us as any. But we were no longer with our own kind; we were now with the Kalazaron warriors. Everything would be different.
We could hear the commotion of the ship. I peered once more out the small window, only getting a slight view of what was going on. We had definitely landed in a military installation of sorts. I could see other ships part in the distance. There were many warriors in the area attending to their responsibilities. Then I saw the bay door of our ship open and large, eight-foot-long carts were pulled off the ship and they were filled with our weapons. It was the entire arsenal of the Madera. I still did not understand why they would want our weapons.
Chapter 2
COMMANDER JAYLIN BRAKIN
I was a
third generation rebel. My great, great, great, father and mother both left the capital city of Konthos over sixty years ago. They were great followers of the cause and they persuaded fifty other Kalazaron to follow them out of the capital city. They helped to establish Blue Mountain Base as a functional and sustainable society.
I was born on the base and knew nothing else. I had never been into the capital city. I only knew outside wilderness and space. I was the long-distance scouting commander, and I did my job damn well. Now that my birthing parents were deceased, I was even deeper into the cause than I had ever been.
There was nothing like being born and bred at Blue Mountain Base. This was home, and I would die for it. I would kill anyone trying to mess up the delicate balance of society structures that we had come up with.
It took many years to find this balance. It was a self-sustaining society and everyone contributed to it. There were many systems that needed to be looked after. We had engineers that looked after the water, working mechanical structures, and our ships. Water was very important, but the rebels that chose the space many years before chose it wisely. It was a mountain with plenty of food to be hunted and harvested from the wild. There was a large water source and a river ran nearby, but it did not compare to the beauty of the waterfall that cascaded down one side of the mountain. This provided the base with plenty of water.
