I crept as close to the mesh as I dared.
“Please save me. Please help me.” My voice was still a raw, scratchy mess, but no one evidenced any recognition that I was speaking words. They must think I’m just some other dumb beast, bleating against the walls of its cage.
None of the aliens that passed were any version of the green ones that held my people captive. And what would I do if one of them passed? Was I better off with them? At least if they found me, they’d take me back to my brother. I could die with other humans instead of here, on this foreign world, surrounded by alien livestock.
Long hours passed.
The gorillas would come into the cage and grab a bagful of the orange bugs or herd out a couple of the white shaggy things, always forcing me away from the gate. More of the silver stones changed hands. My already devastated throat grew more raw as the day passed without water, and a dusty wind blew more grit into my face. My pleas for help got weaker, and finally I gave up, sinking down onto the dry ground. Orange bugs slithered near me, and I ignored them. It didn’t matter. Wherever and however I died, surely it would be over soon. In all my panic, I hadn’t realized how chilly it was here. I shivered, curling into a ball on the ground.
Four tall figures passed the mesh. Their shadows passed over me, and I glanced up. All of them wore long, black, hooded cloaks. Sharp beaks poked out the fronts, with wicked, downward-curving hooks on the ends. Taloned hands poked out the sleeves.
I didn’t even bother to whisper for help. No one on this planet could possibly understand me.
The figures glided past. I wiped more brown snot from my nose, scraping my hands against my red, swollen eyes. All of the panic of the day had drained out of me, leaving me empty and exhausted. Despair clouded my vision, and my dry mouth tasted like ashy death.
One of the figures stopped and stared in at me. The hood shadowed its face, but the beak poking out reminded me of a falcon’s, or maybe an eagle’s. Its hands were buried in the folds of the cloak, which dragged the ground. Another of its kind returned to join it, and they made strange whistling noises to each other. Both of them were staring right at me.
Oh, no.
They’re going to buy me.
And they’re going to eat me.
I had no doubt of it. These were predators. The second one’s talons were as long as my little finger, and its feet were wrinkled skin with talons on the end. It pointed in at me, and one of the gorillas pointed its stick at me. The hooded thing pulled out a few of the shiny stones, and the gorilla snorted, clearly a negative.
They bargained. The gorilla gestured and barked, and the taloned thing flapped its arms, the cloak billowing out. Inside was a flash of iridescent green.
I looked down at my own green-plastered skin. It probably thinks I look delicious.
The gorilla barked again. That’s right, I silently willed it. Don’t sell me to those monsters. Just let me stay here. Or anywhere.
More of the silver stone glinted in the yellow, taloned hand.
No. Please, no. I jumped to my feet and waved my arms, trying to look less like food. “Go away!” I shouted. “I’m not your dinner.”
The first figure spun to stare at me. It made a gesture, raising one finger of a gloved hand to its beak. The gesture stopped me cold. If the thing had made a noise, I would have sworn it would have been to shush me.
Stunned, I stopped flapping around.
The gorilla took the stones, and the gate swung open. I stood there, shoulders slumped and head hanging as the beast lumbered in and picked me up. Like a sack of potatoes, I hung over its back. It plopped me down in front of one of the tall, hooded figures, and I looked up into the hood.
I was right. It was an eagle.
Sharp, black eyes peered down at me from a pale-green feathered face. It clacked its beak and whistled, a high, chirping noise that must have been its language. When it reached for me with its talons, I got a glimpse of the body covered in darker green feathers tipped with golden yellow. The thing that was going to eat me was beautiful. At least there was that.
Talons grabbed my left shoulder, and the other figure grabbed my right. Its talons were much shorter, covered in black gloves, and it didn’t speak. The feathers around its glassy eyes were light brown with black edges.
I didn’t even fight as they guided me away from the livestock pens. The other two walked behind us, and the strength of the talons digging into my shoulder told me there was no escape. I shuffled along between them.
They whistled and chirped back and forth. It was getting dark, and most of the stalls were empty. They pulled me into one and lowered a thick, brown curtain over the front. One of them pulled from its cloak a small silver disk. It tapped the disk with a talon, and it lit up with bright white light. I squinted and turned my face away.
The gloved one spun me around, gripping my shoulders on each side. I peered up into its brown face, and it cocked its head, turning this way and that. It wiped my face with a glove and pulled at the crust in my hair.
“Cut it out,” I muttered. “Just eat me already.”
The bird-thing stopped and gazed at me for a moment. Its shoulders jumped in what looked like laughter. The other three chirped and peered at me.
“Eat you?” The words were clear, unaccented English, and my heart nearly stopped. “There are a lot of words I could use to describe you right now, kid, but ‘food’ isn’t one of them. Although I swear that’s a carrot stuck in your hair.”
I raised a hand and pulled at the spot it was touching, pulling out a dried-up chunk of alien algae-carrot.
The thing raised its gloved hand and grabbed its own beak. It pulled, and the whole thing came off, beak and feathers together. A mask. A bird mask.
It lowered its hood. The face that looked at me was as human as mine, with clear olive skin and heavy brown eyes. Long black hair streaked with gray was tied back in a knot. It pulled off the glove, revealing strong, calloused hands.
The man leaned down and smiled at me.
“I don’t know who you are, kid, or how in the stars you got here.” The grin crinkled his eyes and my mouth dropped open as he continued. “But my name is Shiro Yamoto, and this is your lucky day.”