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“KORUN! PLEASE!...Don’t let them take me!”
“GUARDS! SEIZE HER!”
“I promise you Lacey, that I will make sure no harm comes to you.”
“No one gets in or out of Radiance Magnus...choose your battles wisely...”
A sharp inhale, and Lacey’s big blue eyes opened only to see darkness. As if it were all a distant memory, all their voices played over and over again like a broken record. She didn’t know what day it was. She had no idea if anyone knew she’d been taken. Worst of all, both Korun and Blaen let it happen. After they promised...
The floor was cold, but also smooth, like some sort of metal. The walls felt the same. She had imagined an intergalactic prison would be different, noisy, with lights. Not a voice could be heard. Not a person or alien to be seen. Lacey had no idea which way was out. On top of everything else, thoughts of Emily came to her. Their last argument was the reason why she ended up in this mess.
Just when her inner dialogue was close to driving her insane the sound of a door opening echoed around the room. The light shined in. It was bright enough to shield the face of whoever was coming...well...slithering toward her. Lacey bit her bottom lip, urging herself to keep quiet as the being moved closer to her. It groaned and then grunted before flipping on the light switch.
“Hey!” Lacey blurted out with her forearm shielding her eyes from the light. “How long has that been there? How long have I been in here? Where am I? This doesn’t seem like a maximum security holding facility for the criminals of the galaxy! Where’s the Royal Guard of Ubos? How long do I have to be here?!”
“Easy Fleshy!” the voice seemed to vibrate around the room. The creature was tall, orange, and tubular. Scales lined the front of its body as it balanced on its tail. He had six arms and three eyes that appeared to glow a vibrant yellow to match the scales down his front.
“Wait, you speak English?”
“No,” the creature pointed to the speakers in the corners of the room. “Built in translator. A learning language translator. All the rooms on Terra 5 have them.”
While extremely thankful for the wonderful advancement of technology, Lacey was still confused. “So I’m not on Radiance Magnus?”
“Ha,” the alien laughed and continued to laugh for a moment longer than Lacey found humorous. “No, no, no Fleshy. You are on Terra 5.”
Lacey paused for a moment. Her eyes adjusted to the room around her. There was a long table pressed against a back wall and that was it. In her fright, while she thought she made her way around the entire room, she’d managed to only move about three feet in either direction of her original position. Fear had rendered her sense direction useless. But after talking to the seemingly pleasant terrestrial, her need to escape returned with ferocity.
Lacey stood up and began making her way toward the door, but the creature slid in her way, “I can’t let you leave. I only came in to check and see if you were still alive, still breathing. Now that I know you are, I can go and you must stay here.”
“I can’t stay here. I need to find out what’s going on. What am I doing here? And I need to know what’s happened with the hostages that are being held here,” Lacey widened her eyes hoping for some sympathy.
The alien sighed. “I can’t let you leave but I can tell you that you are here because Briegrot thinks you’ll be useful when negotiating. I’m only being nice to you because I’m sure his Imperial Lord Kryz’uhr, will surely invade this place shortly and if you’re valuable to the Ubosian royal family then you can put in a good word for me. You may call me Clek. Just let me keep you safe for now and in return you help me get off this damn station alive.”
“I can do that,” Lacey lied. “I can absolutely convince his Imperial Lord to pardon you. But in order for you to keep me alive, you have to do a few things for me. I assure you, the tasks won’t be life threatening and it will be worth your life to save mine.”
He nodded.
“Okay, first things first...I need to eat. And find out which one of the Ubosian Royal Guards is in charge. I doubt that Briegrot could have taken over without one of them helping him.”
“Food and who’s in charge...fine,” the creature sighed. “Anything else?”
“If you can find out if any other humans are on board and if they’re alive?” she shrugged.
“I’ll see what I can do.” The alien turned and left, but he closed and locked the door behind him. At least he left the light on. There weren’t any windows that she could see. Lacey used the time alone to search every nook and cranny she could, but the only thing she discovered was that she was in an empty room. It appeared to be a conference room of sorts. Perhaps there was a phone or communications device. She needed to find the control panel. Or maybe it was just a storage space? Lacey would have to ask the alien more when he returned. She only hoped he was as friendly as he seemed. Although saving his life had everything to do with his attitude toward her, she needed to work his amicable nature to her advantage.
When Clek returned, Lacey sat on the table in the back of the room. She wasn’t sure what he’d bring her, as she wasn’t specific, but food was food. The apple in the bag she recognized, but everything else was much more foreign than she anticipated. Grabbing the fruit, she took a bite and it was perfect. It could have been the hunger, or the simple fact of enjoying something Earthly off the planet itself, but it was the best apple she’d ever eaten. Sighing with contentment, she offered the rest of the food to the alien. “I’m sorry, what’s your name again?”
“Clek, but if you like you can call me Alex,” the creature grinned widely showing a horrifying row of jagged teeth. He quickly stopped smiling, noticing her reaction. “I’ve always liked the Earth culture. Alex is my favorite name. But, as it’s been pointed out to me several times before, I scare the majority of you.”
“It’s the teeth,” Lacey admitted. She picked up her arm and wiggled it, “Fleshy is indeed, fleshy. Lots of teeth typically mean flesh eating on our planet.”
“But you guys are so soft,” he twisted his face in disgust. “And no offense, but your planet has one of the dirtiest atmospheres in the galaxy, it makes your flesh taste funny. Humans are like, what your species likes to call garbage fish. Many of us don’t have a taste for you, but you do make fabulous servants and slaves...so many pleasure holes.”
Lacey nearly choked as she laughed, “You’re kidding, right?”
Alex shook his head. “Oh no. It’s a rare honor to have human slaves. Your planet doesn’t give them up willingly and it’s a diplomatic nightmare if you take them from Earth.”
“But what about hijacking them from a Space Station?”
“It’s frowned upon, but it’s understood by all inhabitants of the galaxy that once you leave your home planet, you’re liable to be taken or killed. It is still frowned upon, but not as aggressively fought for their return. The humans on board here, that survived the initial onslaught are being held a few rooms down. They’ve not yet been distributed amongst Briegrot and his men as they haven’t been able to identify them all yet. Once they know who’s who, they can determine who to keep safe, and who they can discard.”
Lacey hoped Emily was one of those people. She tried another piece of food. While it wasn’t the most pleasant thing she’d ever eaten, it wasn’t the worst either. “What about the Royal Guard? Who’s controlling them?”
“The guards who survived the hijacking are being held captive in a room, but I don’t know where. The one in charge of the rogues is a stocky one called Arganock. He seems to be calling the shots and advising Briegrot as well.”
“Thank you,” Lacey smiled. “Your information has been very helpful. Is there anything you want to know from me? I feel like there should be more things coming from me to help you.”
“No, when the Imperial Lord is ready to make this situation go away, I’ll need your help then. Save all of your energy for that because I know he’s not easily reasoned with. But if the Prince cares for you as much as Arganock has convinced Briegrot he does, then it should be a much easier task. I just hope he negotiates and doesn’t blow us out of the stars.”
“He wouldn’t do that right?” Lacey wondered. She remembered that was Kryz’uhr’s original plan, but Korun was able to change his mind.
“Of course he would. His Imperial Lord of Ubos does not negotiate. He annihilates and keeps moving. But apparently, there are some negotiations trying to take place. I really don’t know much more than that.”
“How much longer do I have to stay in here?” Lacey asked.
“I don’t know that either. I was simply told to look after you and the people in the other room.”
“Can you tell me who’s in the other room?”
The creature wiggled his head. “It’s more than five Fleshies and more than eight terrestrials.”
Lacey sighed. “How about you ask if there’s someone named Emily in there and then come back and tell me?”
“I could do that...but not right now. This will be my last stop here for another few hours. I don’t think they want you talking to me or anyone else or they would have put you in the other room. Just relax. From what I’ve heard they’re going to keep you safe and as comfortable as possible in here until Prince Korun or his father come to some sort of agreement with Briegrot. So, sit tight and I’ll be back soon.”
Lacey did as she was told and watched Alex slither out of the room. She wanted to chase after him. She wanted to run down the hall to see who was in the other room. There was a part of her that believed she was going to find Emily in there, but it wouldn’t be certain until Alex came back. The only thing she could do now was sit and wait. Whatever was going to happen, she wouldn’t know until it happened...