They brought the algae with its mysterious new additions three times a day. At least, that’s what we called a day. We didn’t know where they stored it between our feedings, but it was wheeled in by the little monsters in our original tank from the Delta.
The tank had a lid.
We would lift the lid and eat with our bare hands. The green slop stuck to us up to the wrists, and our water trough stayed murky green after we all washed our hands after a meal. Where we missed a spot, it crusted into a hard, flaking shell. It actually tasted pretty good once it dried. Crunchy.
I told Shane my plan and held him while he cried about it.
“Please don’t go,” he whimpered into my chest. “Don’t leave me here alone.”
My arms held him close, and I rested my chin on his head. “I wish I didn’t have to, buddy. But somebody has to figure out what’s going on here. Somebody has to go look for the others.” And no one else was volunteering.
A few of the people tried to dissuade me, but once my mind was made up, there was no changing it. “I’m going out there. Once I see what’s happening on the rest of the ship, I’ll find my way back. Maybe I can get some of their guns.” Visions filled my head of us storming out of this grimy hold, guns blazing to take over whatever kind of spacecraft this was. Never mind that I hadn’t seen any kind of controls that a human could operate. Never mind that we had no real idea where we were in space. Never mind any of the questions and worries that raced through my mind.
We weren’t livestock. And we had a right to know what was going on.
The next “morning,” the aliens wheeled in the algae tank. They never stayed to watch us eat, just brought it in and left it for half an hour or so. They weren’t even tall enough to remove the cover by themselves, so I wasn’t worried they’d see me.
Against the wishes of half my hold-mates, and hardening my heart to my sniffling brother, I climbed into the tank.
The algae clung to every part of my skin, drenching the filthy uniform I’d been wearing since the Delta’s hull gave way days ago. Days? Weeks? I wasn’t even sure. But I knew I stank, despite my efforts to wash off in the water trough.
The top half of Shane’s face peered over the edge. “Please don’t go.”
I almost didn’t. Tears were welling up in his eyes. I was all he had left. But that was the point. No one was going to save us. Either I left the room like this or I left it when the little green things dragged me out. Either way, I would soon be separated from Shane.
“I have to go. But I’ll come back for you. Don’t ever give up hope. Promise?”
He nodded, sniffling. “Promise.”
I sank down into the goo so only my nostrils and the top of my head stuck out. The others pushed the lid over my head, and I settled into darkness. Algae squelched between my fingers. The smell was overpowering in the closed tank, and my head started to ache within minutes.
In the dark, squishy pool, I waited.
The aliens never seemed very interested in us when they came in, as long as we weren’t causing a ruckus. I listened to the sounds of our people moving away from the tank to huddle together in the corner, disguising the fact that they were one fewer than normal.
So many things could go wrong here.
They might realize the tank was heavier than normal. I was small for my age, but still. They might look inside. They might take it to some kind of processing area and dump the whole thing into a strainer that would chew me up without slowing down.
The hatch slid open, and I could hear the aliens scuttle in. Their feet made little noise on the smooth floor, but the tank gave a slopping lurch, splashing algae up over my head, and the bottom vibrated under me as they wheeled the tank out of our compartment.
I longed to pop my head out and look around but dared not move. There was no purchase to hold on to in the slippery tank beyond bracing my feet against the bottom sides of the slick surface. My butt slid around when the tank abruptly turned a corner, and I sank all the way under the algae’s surface. I clawed my way back up and tried to wipe my eyes, but my hands were coated with the slime. I could feel chunks of carrot in my hair but couldn’t risk moving around enough to dislodge them.
A hatchway hissed. Noises, feet moving on a floor.
The hatchway closed, and the lid of the tank was hauled away. I gasped for air, shoving my face up out of the tank.
A woman screamed. A human voice.
“Shhhh!” I whispered, blinking my eyes against the drippy slime. “It’s me. Jonah.”
“Jonah Campbell?”
Faces peered in at me from all sides, and questions peppered me.
“Where were you? Why are you in the tank? Do you have Doc Walsh with you? What about the others?”
There was no point getting out just to get in again, so I hung onto the edges of the tank and looked around at my fellow Delta survivors.
“There are ten of us now, in another room, I guess. We don’t have Doc. He’s not here?”
Of course he wasn’t. Did I think he would be?
I told them about Maria and Mr. Albert and Mr. Khatri. They had lost two of their own, which accounted for everyone that had been on our shuttle for those awful few days.
“I’m hiding in here because somebody needs to figure out what they’re doing with our people. We can’t just let them treat us like this.”
Heads nodded all around. “But you’re just a kid,” a man said. I thought it was Mr. Earle but couldn’t be sure with slime caking around my eyes.
“I’m small and light,” I countered. “They wheeled me in here, and they’ll wheel me out. Anyone heavier and they’d notice.”
“Is your brother okay?”
Shane was the youngest survivor. Thinking about him gave my heart a squeeze. I left him. I had to.
“He’s fine. For now. But they keep taking us. Where? What are they doing with our people?”
No one knew.
They took their handfuls of lumpy algae from the edge as far from my filthy form as possible.
“Sorry, guys,” I muttered. “I don’t like it any better than you do.” At least I got to pick some of the carrots out of my hair.
They slid the lid back on, and I hunkered down again. In a few minutes, I felt the tank bump and slosh again.
A hatchway hissed open, and when they wheeled it out, the algae splashed in the other direction. Wherever they were taking me, it wasn’t back to my people’s hold.
I pushed my feet against the insides of the tank and held my breath as the aliens pushed me along into the depths of their spaceship.