The Captain grabbed some water and took a seat near us.
“When we got back, we had to find a way to make it work. They needed roles filled and we were the best choice since we had the experience that the V’Zenians didn’t have. Most of them were warriors or kids. So, it was a new thing for them to have to run a colony and any businesses needed here to keep things going.” Clarissa explained.
“There is even a pizza joint and an ice cream parlor near the residential areas. You should come join us tonight. We have a BBQ planned with live music. Most of us are settling in now. We know that we can’t go home. Lately, we have been creating things and places that remind us of home. Most of the VZ’s,” Clarissa put her hand out. “We call the aliens VZ’s, like the improvements we have made. Some aren’t a fan of ice cream, which just means more for us!” Clarissa announced cheerily.
“Do the leaders on the homeworld know that you have made all of these changes?" I asked. Paris and I had talked a little bit about making changes I wondered if it wouldn't be that difficult after all.
The Captain joined the conversation at that point, “No, and they don’t need to know do they?” She raised one eyebrow as she looked at me.
“I won’t say anything, but why not let them know about your advances? Especially since things are going so well here, and the homeworld likes the architectural changes. It seems to me that you have made happier humans who are now giving back a lot more than a slave would.” I looked over to Clarissa “Isn’t that right? None of this would have been possible with slaves.”
Clarissa hemmed and hawed as she looked everywhere but at me. “Um…well, the leadership believes that if a slave doesn't perform then they can just be replaced. They don't care too much about making us humans happy, even if it does mean that we are more productive."
“Ah, I see. Alright, I won’t say anything once we get to the homeworld.” I looked over to Zelan. Maybe it wasn’t going to be easy to make the necessary changes on V’Zenia after all.
"I won't say anything either, but I must tell you, I love what you are doing here. On the Commander's ship, we usually refer to the slaves as humans or lately as guests. None of us are comfortable with the term slave. I can't speak for the Commander but now that he has taken a human for his mate…" He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Paris.
“Yes, things are changing on Venay’s ship. What I want to see is all of us working with the government back home and get volunteers instead of abductees. But it won’t work until your,” Paris pointed at the Captain, “government treats humans with more decency and respect. That is something I would like to work on. It’s too bad we can’t show them how wonderfully this outpost is run now.”
“Commander Croso did try to feel out our leaders when he sent them the new office building plans and told them he wanted to staff it with more humans. They were not very receptive to having more humans work here. Especially since they had heard about our uprising five years ago.” The Captain put her drink in the sink and waved for us to follow her.
We spent the next hour touring the building and watching as the humans and aliens interacted just like any two groups of people who worked together would. This gave me hope. Hope that one day soon, humans would get their freedom.
Chapter 9
The Captain brought us to their guest quarters. I wasn't uncomfortable with Zelan at all today, until we were assigned our rooms. Since we were supposed to be mates, we had to sleep together. We weren't a real couple, and I was very nervous he would expect something from me. No one told me we were staying the night, or I would have said something sooner about wanting my own room.
Once we were in our room I asked Zelan, “Um, how is this going to work?”
“Don’t worry, I will sleep on the floor. You can have the bed. I only told them you were my mate so that you wouldn’t be treated like a slave today. Had I known they were forward thinkers, I wouldn’t have said anything. If this is too uncomfortable for you, let me know and I will come clean.” He scratched his head while looking at me and quirked the left side of his lips up.
“No, it’s fine. I knew why you did it, and I am thankful to you for looking out for me. I don’t like the idea of you sleeping on the floor though. If you promise to keep to your side of the bed, we can try sharing. It looks to be plenty big for both of us. Do you move around much in your sleep?” I walked over and sat on the bed and wondered if I made the right call. Would he keep his hands to himself? I knew I wouldn’t be grabbing him in the middle of the night.
Before he could answer, alarms went off. They sounded similar to the klaxon bells on the ship but not as loud. I jumped up “What is that?”
“Battle call, we are under attack. Stay here. I must go help defend the outpost. Please don’t leave the room. I would hate for you to get caught up in any of the fighting.” He kissed me on the top of my head and ran out. He didn’t even close the door behind him, he was in such a hurry.
I ran to the window, after closing the door, and looked out to see if I could find out what was going on. There really wasn't anything to see. If we were under attack, it must be a small group attacking one gate or something. I couldn't even hear weapons firing.
Someone knocked on my door. When I went to answer it, I found Paris loaded with weapons. “Come on. We’re going to go and help defend this place.”
“Who are we defending it from? It doesn’t look like there is anything attacking us.” I grabbed the door and shut it behind me as she pulled me with her.
“Here, take this phaser gun and a Taser too. The Taser is a one-time use thing, and it works great if a bug is on you. Much better than shooting their head off once they are on top of you.” She made a screwy face, and I remembered hearing about her experience with a bug getting its head blown off while crawling on her body. Eww. I could totally empathize.
That must mean that another group of mutant cockroaches were attacking. This was not going to be a fun night. We were supposed to go to a BBQ and have ice cream, for pete’s sake! Not fight the Zateelians again.
When we made our way outside, it was pandemonium. They were obviously not accustomed to battle. Aliens were yelling all over the place to try and calm the people down. Most of them looked scared to death. Kids were even running around crying and calling for their moms.
This was awful. I looked toward the closest wall, and it did seem to be manned. I could see orange bolts of energy as the warriors discharged their weapons.
Shoot, I should be inside, not out here in the middle of the battle. Zelan told me to stay in our room. I couldn’t understand what Paris thought we were going to be able to help with. I had never used a gun, nor had any training. Zelan promised to show me how to use a phaser gun after we were attacked the other day, but there hasn’t been time. I only knew something about the Taser because he had given me one to use. However, I never used it.
“Paris, what in the universe can I do to help? I have never even held a gun,” I complained as we ran towards a wall.
“Natalie, you don’t need experience. I didn’t have any before last week. Now I know how to use these weapons and can kill cockroaches with no problem. Just think of it as a giant bug swatter, and it won’t be a problem to kill them.” She smiled at me over her shoulder, eyes sparkling and a huge grin on her face. She looked like she was enjoying this.
I followed her and started panting, “I don’t have a problem killing bugs. I just don’t know how to use these guns.” I put one into the air and waved it about like I was holding a foam finger at a football game. My arm hurt from holding it up, so I brought it down quickly. Those phaser guns were heavier than they looked.
We made it to the wall, and I could barely hear the screeching from the other side. Those bugs weren’t very loud. Our guys were yelling orders left and right and shooting into the area outside of the wall like crazy.
“Come on! We have to find a way to that walkway. They need more people who can shoot at the bugs. Most of the humans here ar
e too used to the simple life, and they have forgotten how to handle an issue. Which really surprises me since they practically had to fight for their freedom.”
“Maybe they’re just tired of fighting? Or they know something about these bugs that we don’t? Paris, did the Commander ever tell you how the cockroaches reproduce?” She was walking quickly to the nearest stairwell. Their stairs were made of the same shiny metal but didn’t seem to make any noise as we ascended them.
“Yes, Venay told me. Did Zelan tell you?” She looked back over her shoulder at me and scowled.
“Yes, after we found those women in the jungle. The warriors had to kill them and burn their bodies in order to make sure none of the hatchlings survived. It was pretty gruesome. If I am ever infected, I hope you kill me right away and burn my body too! I don’t want to give them a way to increase their numbers using my body.” I shivered when the image of the women came to mind. I doubted I would ever forget the gore and horror of how a Zateelian used up a human body.
“Same here, sister! Now come on! Let’s find a spot where we can kill all the insectoids in our path! But remember, you have to shoot them in the head, it’s the only way to kill them.” I swear that chick had blood lust or something. Her eyes were alight with excitement as she smiled. She actually smiled as she shot at the first bug she found! Then she said, “Oh, yes! Take that, sucker!”
I shook my head at her and pointed my gun and tried firing. I missed the first couple of times. Once I hit one in the head, and it exploded, I was pretty proud of myself. There was no way I would be called a great shot, but I did hit quite a few of those things. Most of them were crawling along the ground so it was difficult to aim only for their head. A lot of my shots hit the ground in front of them instead of their head.
Paris yelled at me to stop, “Natalie, look out there. There must be hundreds still coming at us. What happened?” I looked out at the crowd and noticed how small they were.
“Paris, are those full-grown bugs? Or are they still maturing? Something tells me we won’t find any more escaped people alive.” I got shivers thinking about how they must have died. The thought of going through that pain and horror almost made me gag. Thank goodness we hadn’t eaten dinner yet!
“You’re right. They’re all young cockroaches. That could work to our advantage. Venay told me that once they fully mature their carapaces are almost impossible to penetrate. However, when they’re young, their bodies are still sensitive to our phasers. We don’t have to only aim for their faces. Let’s give it a try and see if slicing them open will kill them just as easily.” She took aim at a close bug and hit its back. It stopped and was writhing on the ground.
She hit it again and it stopped moving. That gave me hope that I could actually do something more than hit dirt. I changed my aim and I ended up tearing up quite a few of those mutant things.
Somehow, Zelan found me, and he was furious. His eyes were narrowed, and his mouth was pursed. He had his hands at his side and they were clenched. "What are you doing out here? It is too dangerous for you. I told you to stay in our room." He looked at Paris and gave her the evil eye.
“Did she talk you into coming out here?” He pointed to Paris with his thumb. “She has been known to get herself into a lot of trouble. You shouldn’t have followed her.” He shook his head at me when I shrugged my shoulders and brought my hands up in front of me.
“She kinda dragged me along. But now that I’m here, I think I’m doing pretty good. You should see how many I’ve killed. Stay here with us and watch.” I pointed my gun back out over the wall and started shooting them and hitting them on their backs.
“You won’t kill them that way. It only slows them down,” he said.
“Nuh uh, watch.” I hit one I had already hit in the back a second time, and it died. “We discovered that these are all youths. Can’t you tell how small they are?”
He hit his forehead and realization set in. “Of course! We have never seen them when they are young. They only send their fully mature cockroaches out to fight. Oh, crap! This means, oh no. I am so sorry."
“Yea, we figured it out already. There won’t be any more humans to find out there. At least we know what happened.” I shook my head and took aim again at another group headed toward us.
Zelan pushed the spot under his ear to turn on his communication device. “Commander, these are young Zateelians. It takes two shots to their body, and they die. I am going to pass the word around along the wall. Maybe you can get the warriors in the turret guns to start firing? Those should kill them easily.” I heard Zelan say when he called the Commander. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Commander Venay also figured it out. The word is spreading. We should have these suckers exterminated shortly. The transport ship has some weapons on it, so Haver and Aysiaer are going to take it up and start firing at the largest grouping of bugs.” We heard the ship coming towards us just as Zelan finished telling me about it.
I looked up and saw the turrets from their weapons take aim at a cluster and fire. Bugs and guts went flying all over the place. The warriors on the wall started cheering as we watched bug after bug die.
The three of us pointed our guns and started to take out the single cockroaches that got past the large phaser and cannon bursts. They just kept coming. How they had reproduced so many in such a short time was beyond me. I would have to remember to ask Zelan about this later.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one small bug trying to climb up the wall. It kept slipping. No wonder they used that metal for the wall. I had wondered about it. When we first arrived, it was a bit shiny, and I had to cover my eyes to keep them from hurting. It seemed like it would have been more of a pain than needed. Now it made perfect sense watching that cockroach slipping down the wall.
I decided to end his difficult climb. It was a perfect hit to its head, and the roach went splat. It also caught another one on its way down. I hoped none were getting inside. Paris pointed a few more out to me that had made it onto the wall.
“Natalie, let’s spread out so we can target different spots along the wall as they try to climb. Zelan, make sure your guys along the wall get back to fighting. They need to get their heads out of the clouds, literally.” Paris pointed to a few warriors who were watching the transport ship annihilate the bugs that were further out from the wall. I could understand why they were doing that, but they were supposed to be warriors, not spectators.
I moved down the wall a little bit, and Zelan followed me. “Natalie, I understand you want to help. However, this isn’t the best place for someone who has never had to fight a day in their life.” His comment actually hurt. I started to doubt myself and missed the next few shots.
“Zelan, if you can’t be helpful then you can just leave. I was doing fine without you. Now, I can’t concentrate.” I shot again and hit one right in the eye. That was just plain gross.
Now that I was upset, I pictured Zelan’s face on all of the bugs and hit them right on. Hmm, that might be the trick then. I wondered if it worked for Ben’s face too. “Hot dog! It does!” I said to no one in particular.
"What's that?" Zelan asked. He moved a bit closer and noticed how many I just obliterated. "Oh, you do have skills, don't you? Sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you." He looked at me and winked.
I pictured the next one with Zelan’s stupid face and blew it to bits. “Take that you stupid alien!”
“That’s the way, keep killing ‘em!” Zelan patted me on the back and kept shooting. How infuriating he was! The rest of the bugs I killed had his face on them. He was so condescending! Paris never treated me like that. She had faith that I could do this. I wondered if that was why Zelan wanted me to stay inside because he had no faith in me?
I scooted away from him and closer to another warrior along the wall. We needed to spread out anyway. Plus, I didn’t want him watching me. If I let slip his name while I was imagining his face on those bugs, it could get awkward. He didn’t need to know I was kil
ling him over and over in my mind.
There was no time to dwell on him. One of the bugs did get over the side of the wall and attacked a warrior. I was the closest person, so I ran to him and shot at the back of the bug. It was already on top of the warrior, and what I saw next was going to stay with me a very long time. There was a tube going from the bug down the inside of the warrior’s mouth. I could see something being pushed inside his body. It must have been egg sacks. I screamed as I shot its head off and the egg sack exploded all over the warrior.
He knew exactly what happened to him. His eyes were wide with shock and his mouth was still full of the reproductive organ that had been forced down his throat. He looked at me pleadingly since he couldn’t talk, and his arms reached out to my gun. I knew what he wanted. There was no way I could do it. Tears built up in my eyes as I looked at him and knew exactly what was going to happen, but I wasn’t strong enough to help him.
Zelan ran up behind me and saw the warrior laying there. He didn’t even hesitate. His gun aimed at the guy’s head, and he shot it. No warning, no apology, nothing. He shot the warrior’s head multiple times to ensure that nothing survived.
Tears streaked down my face as I kept seeing the image over and over in my head. I couldn’t believe how cold-hearted Zelan was. He didn’t even say anything to me. I saw him take something out of his pocket and he walked over to the body and set it on fire. Then he walked back to me, took my hand, and led me away from the fire.
Once we stopped, I yanked my hand out of his, “How could you be so callous and kill him like that? You didn’t even say you were sorry or ask him if he had any last words.” I started crying, and he took me in his arms and held me.
“Natalie, I can’t tell you how sorry I am you had to see that. Navoy was a brave warrior. It was exactly what he wanted.” He sighed. “Was that the first time you have seen a person die?” He held me tight while I cried. I just nodded my head into his chest. Other than the 2 bodies we had found the other day, I had never seen a dead body, let alone watch as someone killed a person. Or alien.
Worlds Collide Page 7
