Warrior of the Stars

by Lucee Joie

  However, reality starts to bleed in and I remember that I need to protect my delicate little human, to keep her from being passed on to another Ochek, one that might not care about her at all. Although, to be honest, even if she was given to someone that could look after her, I don’t want that to happen for my own selfish reasons.

  “I love you.”

  The words are out before I have even completed my own thoughts. I stare at Beth, the human that I never expected to love and wonder what her response will be.

  A single tear escapes as she repeats the words back to me and I pull her in close, not believing my luck.

  “We have to get out of here,” I whisper fiercely into her hair as I kiss the top of her head.

  Standing, I collect my clothing while Beth does the same. Ece’s room is down the hall from where we are now but if we encounter guards on the way there will be nowhere to hide.

  Closing my eyes, I crack open the door. I have bypassed the opening mechanism in order to leave no digital record that I have been here but if someone looks hard enough, a record of my action will still be found and a logical assumption can be made.

  Listening hard, I allow my senses to reach out, to hear any noise, no matter how small. So far, so good. All I can hear is the slight mechanical hum of the ship we are on.

  The fact that the place isn’t already overrun with guards unsettles me.

  Still, I push on. Darting through the door, I lead Beth along the sterile hall. She runs to keep up but it isn’t quick enough. I wish she could move as fast as I can but after studying her race, I know that they are not built for speed like my own people are.

  I can see Ece’s door up ahead and try to coax a little more speed out of Beth but I can hear her panting frantically already. It is better to move at her pace than to have her fall and injure herself I try to reason with myself but it doesn’t ease my anxiety at all.

  Raising my wrist to my lips I call out a quick message to Ece, whispering it and hoping he will hear me, that he is not as angry as his father is about our fight earlier. “Ece, can you let me in?”

  As we approach, the door hisses open and I am beginning to think that we will make it, that we will be safe.

  But Beth is pulling on my arm, trying to drag me to a stop and I am confused.

  “No, not him,” she whimpers and I turn my head to look at her.

  “He will keep us safe,” I try to reason but Beth is shaking her head and trying to pull her arm free form my paw.

  “No!” she yells more firmly this time. “He’s the one.”

  She is free from my hold and has turned, racing back down the hall from which we came and I stand still for only a moment before following after her. I have no idea what she means but I will follow her blindly rather than risk being separated.

  “Stop!” Ece calls and I turn to look back at my friend as I run. “You need to bring her back!”

  Suddenly I understand. Ece is not on my side, I can see it in the fierce glint in his eyes.

  Has he ever been on my side?

  I have no time to consider the idea as I pump my arms and quickly catch up with Beth. Scooping her up, I give her no choice as I fling her over one shoulder and break out into my own pace, one that is much more efficient than hers.

  The hall becomes a blur as I charge down it, my legs pumping until they begin to ache. I ignore the pain, however. I can run fast but I am like the creatures that Beth would call cheetahs on her home planet, my top speed only comes in relatively short bursts.

  We have passed the room that will now be forever etched into my mind as the first place we both truly made love to each other and I pump my arms harder. I must protect Beth at all costs. I don’t want that one moment in that room to be the only one we truly have together.

  We are closing in on the ship’s central hub, which is both a good and a bad thing. There are more rooms to hide in here but we will start to see more people as well.

  I slow down, ready to take Beth off my shoulder should I hear people coming. I look from side to side as we move, trying to find a quiet room, one in which we can stop and recoup without the risk of being found.

  Ece knows the layout of the ship better than I do, having been raised on it, so I need to be smart about this. I don’t enter the first door we pass. Instead, I keep moving, looking for a better option.

  We have passed three empty rooms, or ones so quiet that I suspect they are empty before I come across the door leading to the kitchen. Pausing, I listen closely, my ear pressed hard against the wall. There are people there but it is between shifts so there will likely not be as many people present. I can also hear the soft buzz of slumber, indicating that some of these people are catching sleep between shifts.

  This might work.

  “I’m putting you down now,” I say to Beth as we enter the dim hall. It is a service corridor so the walls are not as pristine as the ones we have just left. The lights are lower, the shadows longer.

  Beth doesn’t question me as I tuck her behind my body, hiding her from first sight should I come across anyone down here. It is unusual that my kind would be here, even more so, though, for a human, so I need to keep her in the shadows as we move.

  “Stay quiet,” I whisper as we approach. I can hear people there as I come around the corner and rush forward as though I am in a panic, which isn’t actually that far from the truth.

  “Oi! What do you want?” a Brux says with surprise. The creature is round, soft, used to working the kitchen rather than working his body. His skin has the greyish pallor that comes with working on a spaceship for long periods of time.

  “I am looking for someone,” I say breathlessly. My body is huge enough to cover Beth, to hide her from the Brux’s line of sight but only so long as I remain here in the shadows. “A human has escaped and all hands are required above deck to find her.”

  I allow plenty of urgency to bleed into my words. I have never been a good actor, but I hope it is enough to persuade the group to exit the room, to give us time to escape further. Leaning forward, I breathe heavily, catching my breath as the group of Brux rush past me, thankful that they will follow orders from any guard that comes their way.

  As the room clears, I step up to the door and tinker with the airlock until I hear a distinct pop, which lets me know that I have disabled the power to the door so that it won’t open with a key pass. Instead, they will have to use blunt force. It has as good as locked us in. Which is exactly what I want.

  It is only temporary though. Once the Brux meet up with guards and work out what has happened, they will lead the force straight back to us. However, I hope to be long gone by then.

  I pull Beth through the halls. We pass the kitchen, now empty, and circle around until I find another door. This one leads further into the bowels of the ship. We rush along a mesh walkway, which takes us over the docking bay. Looking down, I can see plenty of smaller crafts but I am not looking for one of them yet.

  Instead, I need to find our way into the air ducts that run between the levels. Once we are there, we are practically invisible to everyone else–unless they send guards into each duct and start a search.

  Chapter Thirteen: Beth

  I have no idea where Horgeer is leading me, I don’t even care because I know I can trust him, that he will protect me at all costs. We have been running through what feels like a maze of corridors and I can’t make sense of where we are headed or even how much danger we are in. Being held in a cell, not even knowing about the existence of aliens until recently, I constantly feel like I am on a strong learning curve.

  Finally, the corridor we are following opens out and I can see a huge room in front of me. I pull back, stunned by the view. Horgeer tugs at my arm but I stand my ground. I need a moment for this.

  Across the bay, huge doors are open as a small aircraft comes into land. Beyond that, all I can see is a great cavernous hole of … outer space.

  I gape in surprise and Horgeer finally allows me my moment.<
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  The view is staggering. I just can’t stop staring at it. I’ve seen images of outer space, as well as watched a lot of space movies. However, nothing compares to the real thing. Nothing can prepare you for the overwhelming sensation of staring into the dark night of space. Stars twinkle at me and I feel a strange sensation. It is like I am both being crushed under the sheer size of it as well as floating in a giddy euphoria of the realization of where I am.

  “It’s beautiful, scary,” I whisper in awe. “But, mostly, it’s beautiful.” A thought occurs to me. “How are we even breathing with the doors open like that?”

  “It’s an airlock shield,” Horgeer replies. “You can’t see it, but it’s there.”

  I am amazed at the technology and it gets me thinking about other things that I have been wondering about. “Do we even speak the same language?”

  “I know of your language. However, a universal adapter is placed via a microchip behind your ear that translates my language for you.”

  I touch my head and quickly locate a small raised bump that is new. I have no idea how this technology works but am amazed nonetheless.

  “We need to go now,” Horgeer gently prompts and I remember what we are doing here.

  Reaching out, I take his hand once more and we are on the move again. The giant docking bay quickly disappears as Horgeer leads me along another gangplank. At the end is a small door with a handle, the first I have seen aboard this ship. Horgeer opens it and we crouch down and crawl inside.

  It appears that even spaceships need air ducts.

  “Will we be safe here?” I whisper as we move through the tunnel. “Shouldn’t we try to nab one of those ships in the docking bay?”

  “We haven't seen a single guard yet, so I suspect hey will be expecting that. Instead, I want to wait it out a bit, let the security on this area drop back a little. This way, we might actually be able to escape.”

  “That makes sense.”

  We are quiet for a while after that. Horgeer leads the way and I follow until we come to a larger area with a metal grate. Sitting cross-legged, we can both see through the mesh to the docking bay below. Guards are now positioned at regular intervals, their gaze ever vigilant.

  “What did Ece do to you?” Horgeer asks after we are silent for a while. I turn to face him, and I can see the sadness in his eyes. “He was my only friend here.”

  “If it’s any consolation, he wasn’t the only one to grope me,” I say quietly but his face still drops.

  Horgeer closes his eyes and I can see the anguish there. “I need to know how bad it was.”

  I take a deep breath before answering, trying to delay the inevitable. “He started with just words. Typical stuff, ‘Show us ya tits,’ that sort of thing. He progressed on to touch me. First, it was just a quick grab or a light touch and I wasn’t even sure if he was doing it. But then he entered my room and grabbed at me for real. If it hadn’t been our breeding time, I don’t know how far he would have gone.”

  “Is that how you got that bruising?” Horgeer points to my arm and I can see the distinct black spots from where his paw has grabbed me recently. He did it so often that this one was a new bruise to me. I nod at Horgeer.

  “Then he is no longer a friend of mine. He is now my enemy.”

  Horgeer stares deep into my eyes and I get lost for a moment. His conviction is so strong that it melts my heart. Yet, I can see the sadness in his eyes. I reach up and cup his chin in my hands. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why are you sorry?”

  “I am sorry that you have just lost your friend. It’s not fair that that should happen.”

  Horgeer nods briefly. “I should have listened to my father when he said no one is ever to be trusted, not even my own kind.”

  “But you trust me, don’t you?” I ask, worried that I am saying the wrong thing.

  “I do,” Horgeer admits. “So, please don’t prove my father doubly right.”

  I lean in and kiss him tenderly. “I would never hurt you. You have to know that. It’s just you and me from here on in, you got that?”

  Horgeer smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I hope that turns out to be the case. However, sometimes good intentions get lost up here in space.”

  I bite my tongue. I want to argue the matter with him but I realize I might never change his mind. Considering we were trapped inside an air duct aboard a spaceship that is hurtling through space, I figured Horgeer was my only chance of escaping. I didn’t want to anger him on the matter.

  Shuddering, I imagined what it would be like negotiating the ship without his help. A deep desolation drops down on my shoulders at the realization of just how alone I really was at the moment. There is no way to contact my family or friends, or even the authorities. All I have is the good fortune to be paired with Horgeer in the first place.

  “Let me prove it to you then.” I finally say but there is still an uneasy energy between us.

  Chapter Fourteen: Horgeer

  I want to believe Beth in a way that I have never wanted to believe anyone in all my life. It was hard being who I was, being one of the last chances to make our race prosper. Plus, having the added complications of a friend who has now betrayed me also weighed down on me.

  “Why is your kind in danger?” Beth asks after an uncomfortable pause. I didn’t really want to talk about how our race was slowly dying, about how a pure arrogance and the requirement of male offspring being the preferred option over females had led to our downfall. However, I didn’t want to make the unease between us widen either and by refusing to talk about it.

  “The women in our breed have died out,” I answer, looking out of the metal grate rather than at Beth. “After generations of wanting a male born above all else, we managed to kill off the only thing that will keep us going.”

  “Surely, there are females somewhere?” Beth’s slight hand reaches out and clasps my giant one. I allow it but don’t squeeze her hand back. Instead, I continue on with my story.

  “There are some left, for sure. However, none have been born in recent years. It almost feels like our gods are laughing at us and punishing us for thinking the male species was so much more important than the females.”

  “Who organized this breeding program?”

  “The Galactic Union.”

  “Can we go to the Galactic Union,” Beth asks and then pauses. I glance over, she has her head cocked, as though thinking. She turns to me finally and I see hope gleaming in her eyes. “Surely, they will help us. Perhaps there are other races in the group that do not think fondly of this program, of the forcing of humans to participate. If we can get them to see that it is wrong, then maybe they will stop it or will try to work with Earth. Perhaps they’ll allow us to be together if they see that I am willing to help...”

  Her voice trails off and she cocks her head once more.

  “What is it?”

  “Did you hear that?” she asks.

  I strain my hearing trying to note anything out of the ordinary. “What does it sound like?”

  “I don’t know. Sort of like a metal scraping, I think.”

  I close my eyes, allowing my other senses to sharpen. All I can hear is the hum of the ship as it glides through space. The occasional click or whir interrupts the constant sound but nothing that is particularly out of place. Then, there is a noise. It is faint, a slight scape. It could be something not quite right and I wait for it to happen again. After a long time, I start to question whether I actually heard the strange noise or if it is just my mind playing tricks with me. After all, I have never been inside one of these air ducts before and it could distort sound somewhat.

  “I think it is just the sound of the ship,” I finally say.

  Beth is still listening and I follow her lead, tilting my head in the same direction as her. Finally, she shakes her head and speaks more quietly this time, as though she is worried someone is listening in on us. “You must be right. So, do you think this Union could help us?”
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  I shake my head. “It was created and is headed by my own kind, not other races. They have only agreed to sign the contracts relating to the breeding program, usually in return for better intergalactic trade deals. The leaders do not care so much about what is right or wrong, only that they do not want to die out. Plus, considering I punched the heir and the emperor is the head of the Union, I can’t see how they will just allow us to be together.”

  Beth’s brow scrunches up as she takes in the new information. She is quiet after that and I give her time to contemplate what I have said.

  “Perhaps if we–” Before Beth can finish, I catch the flash of laser fire out of the corner of my eye and further blasts take out the bottom of the air duct. I close my eyes even as I reach for Beth. They must have heard us talking.

  I can’t believe I didn’t hear them, that I thought the sounds Beth had pointed out were mechanical noises. I feel shame rising up at the knowledge that I can’t even protect her.

  Opening my eyes, I glance down as my fingers still search out Beth’s as we fall to the hard floor below and see that a line of Ochek guards is below us. Even as I berate myself, I also know that I couldn’t have heard my own kind sneaking up on us.

  We both hit the ground. I heard Beth’s sharp yell after the sudden thump of her landing. I am also shouting out in pain but it is lost amid my concern for Beth.

  “Horgeer,” she finally calls a moment before the world goes black around me.

  “Wake up!” someone commands and my stomach drops. I know that voice, it is General Rukkali and that means only one thing: my life is basically over.

  Slowly, I open my eyes, trying to assess the situation before he realizes that I am waking up. But I am already being hauled to my feet and barely get a chance to count the people in the room before I am fully upright.