Текст книги "Alien Tyrant"
Автор книги: Ursa Dox
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CHAPTER TWO Cece
“Y’all think she’s OK?”
“How the hell should I know? I don’t even know if we’re OK.”
“You know what I mean. She’s the only one who hasn’t woken up yet. She looks like she got banged up real good.”
“Hold up! I feel like I just saw her eyelids move.”
“Bullshit.”
“I swear! Dude, look! She’s totally waking up.”
Strange voices swirled around me, their words coming tantalizingly close to being understood in my foggy brain. I was tired. So tired. Everything felt heavy. Even my tongue. And especially my eyelids. There was pain, too. In my arm and my shoulder and my face.
I’m just going to sleep a little more...
“Oh, no you don’t.”
I was being shaken, now. And the words were coming in more clearly.
“This is no time for nappin’, hun. Wake up.”
Is that you, Grammy?
I forced my eyelids open, my eyes tracking left and right as I tried to focus in on the face in front of me. It wasn’t Grammy. Of course not. Idiot.
The face above me was young, maybe even a year or two younger than me, with high cheekbones and almost invisible blond brows, one of which was pierced, set over deep blue eyes. A stud in her nostril glimmered, and she had another piercing in her nose, a ring that hung down low, between her nostrils. In my confusion, I couldn’t remember the name of that kind of piercing. All I could conjure up was the image of a bull. I looked closer at her, trying to get my eyes to focus better. Though her features were lovely, delicate, even, her shaved head gave her a take-no-shit appearance, and her stormy expression could rival the anger of any bull on the planet.
“Why isn’t she answering? Maybe she hit her head.”
Huh? Had someone been asking me a question?
“Give her a minute and let her catch her breath. Dang.”
The piercings girl’s face got closer.
“Whaaat’s youuur naaaaaame?” She said slowly, dragging the syllables out. I heard someone scoff behind her.
My name? That was something I could remember.
“Celia. Cece.” My voice cracked. Damn, my mouth was dry.
“Here, give her this.”
A hand came into view, passing Piercings Girl a metal bottle which she opened and pressed to my lips.
Um. Should I really be drinking this?
I had no idea where the hell I was, or how I’d gotten there. But I was so, so thirsty.
Screw it.
I took a sip, relieved to find it seemed to be just plain old water. I took another sip before inhaling some and starting to choke, each cough sending shooting pain through my head.
“Quick, get her sittin’ up.”
Piercings Girl passed the bottle to someone else, then reached around my back, helping to pull me upright. It took a minute for the coughing and the pounding in my head to subside, and when it did, I finally raised my eyes and looked around.
I, we, were in a strange-looking room. The walls were grey, as were the floors, shining like brushed metal. I was sitting on the bottom of what seemed to be a bunk bed. There was another set of bunks directly across from where I sat, and I noticed another girl sitting there, staring at me. Her pale face had a bruise blooming along one side, and when she saw me looking, she shifted her glossy black hair to try to hide it.
“I’m Katerina. Kat for short,” the girl with the piercings, who was sitting next to me, said. She had the water bottle back and held it out to me again, and I drank, being careful not to confuse my stomach and my lungs this time. “That’s Melanie.” She pointed at the dark-haired girl across from me, who nodded stiffly.
“And I’m Theresa,” said a voice from beside me. I looked to the side, then up, to meet the gaze of another girl around my age standing next to me, leaning one elbow against the metal frame of the top bunk. Her straw-coloured hair was cut bluntly at her shoulders, and her brown eyes were looking at me kindly. Her yellow sundress looked strangely out of place in the metallic grey of the room. When I looked closer, I noticed one of the straps was ripped and hanging down by her side. As if someone had torn it. As if she’d been in a struggle.
“Here,” she said, sitting down on the mattress beside me and reaching for the water bottle.
Wordlessly, I handed it to her, and she poured a little of the liquid into her hand before moving her cupped palm up to my chin. I sucked in a breath and jerked back at the stinging sensation. She dabbed lightly at my skin, then frowned.
“Well, that didn’t do a whole heck of a lot, hun. Sorry. Nasty gash you got there.” It was only then I noticed the Southern drawl that shaped her voice. She must be American. An international student?
But wait. This definitely didn’t seem to be the University of Toronto. At least, no building I had ever seen.
“Where are we?” I croaked, gently touching my chin and wincing.
Kat snorted.
“No fucking clue, dude.”
Melanie’s mouth thinned into a grim line and Theresa shook her head.
“Yeah, none of us know. I was the first one to wake up in this here room. Then some army guys brought in Melanie, then Kat. And then you.”
“Army guys?”
What was she talking about? None of this made any sense.
“Yeah. They were wearin’ army uniforms of some kind. And they spoke English when they talked to each other. But they didn’t say anythin’ to us.”
“Are we... Are we in the US?”
“Fuck if I know,” Kat replied. “I mean, I kind of hope we are. That means we haven’t left the country yet.”
“Well, I’m from Canada, so I don’t know what that tells us,” I said with a harsh sigh.
Kat’s pale brows shot up.
“Seriously? Shit. Well, I have no clue then. The three of us are American.”
“Do you know how we got here?”
There was a series of memories flickering at the edge of my brain. I was doing everything I could to latch onto them, but they kept fluttering away.
“I woke up the soonest, and so far I remember the most,” Theresa said. “But even that ain’t a whole lot. I remember I was walkin’ home from my boyfriend’s. Well, ex-boyfriend’s. I’d just dumped his cheatin’ ass. It was late and dark, and then someone grabbed me and tossed me into a truck or a van or somethin’. Then I woke up here. And that’s all I got.”
A van.
That was just enough to click things into place. I stared down at my outfit. Running clothes.
“Yeah, I think I was out for a run. Someone grabbed me...”
Melanie nodded from across the small space.
“Yup. It’s the same story for all of us. From what we can remember. We think we were drugged.”
“Well, that would explain the memory loss and headache,” I muttered, rubbing my fingertips against my temples in small circles. I knew I should be thinking, trying to come up with a plan, trying to do something. But I just couldn’t. It was like my brain and body had just totally given up.
“Anyway, that basically brings you up to speed. You know what we know,” Kat said, scooting her hips forward then flopping back on the mattress, arms akimbo.
It didn’t feel like I had been brought up to any kind of speed. At all. It felt like I was at a total standstill.
A sudden sound at the door at the far end of the small room made us all jump. Kat immediately shimmied upright, and Theresa and Melanie both stood. I followed suit, the four of us turning to face the door as it swung inward.
“Oh good. You’re all awake.”
A woman with ginger hair pulled into a tight bun strolled into the room. Like Theresa had said, she was wearing a camo military uniform, with words embroidered on either side of her chest. On the left, in black thread, it said, “Chapman.” On the right, “US Army.”
“Everyone’s waiting in the mess hall. You’re the last group. Let’s go.”
“Go where?” I said shakily, already inching away from her. Theresa grabbed my hand and squeezed.
The red-haired soldier looked at me flatly, like I was half brain dead.
“We’re going to the mess hall,” she said slowly, as if I were too dumb to understand.
Kat exploded from beside me, saying all the words that were flying through my own head.
“Fuck you. You what what she meant. What mess hall? Where the fuck are we?”
She didn’t reply, but instead turned on her heel, her tan boots squeaking against the smooth floor, and stepped out into the hallway.
The four of us looked at each other.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” said Melanie. Kat looked like she was about to fight a bitch, but Theresa nodded solemnly.
“At the very least maybe we’ll get some information,” I said. It was decided. I was going to go out there and see what the hell was up, even if Kat or the others didn’t want to.
I stepped forward, towards the door, and the other three girls followed.
Out in the hallway Chapman stood with two other soldiers, both men.
“Let’s go,” she said, walking ahead of us.
The two men positioned themselves behind us, caging us into our formation, and we started to walk down a long hallway. The floor and walls were of the same brushed metal as our room, with subtle glowing lights built into the arched ceiling. The hallway seemed to be curving, like we were following it around the outside of a massive oval.
“Feels like we’re in goddamn Star Trek,” Kat muttered.
Chapman glanced back, her expression a warning, but Kat met her gaze head on.
“Honestly, yeah,” I said, subtly glancing around. This place was like nothing I’d ever seen. All smooth edges, blinking lights, and shining chrome.
Eventually we were led through a large, open door and into something that seemed a little more familiar. The mess hall, as Chapman had called it, looked a lot like the cafeterias I was used to at school. Only instead of large windows and wood and plastic and bright lights, everything was made from the same silvery surface, and the light was low, with no windows. At one end of the room, a long row of counters, the kind you’d see at a buffet or in a cafeteria, stood empty.
Guess it’s not chow time. My stomach rolled nauseously at the thought of any kind of food.
“Here,” Chapman said, leading the four of us to sit at the closest table. We did so, looking around. The large room’s other tables were also occupied. My heart sank as I saw all the people, all the young women, in the exact same situation as us. Looking confused, angry, scared, some of them with torn clothing, bruises, and cuts.
This is not good. The fact that we were all young women was leading me more and more to the conclusion that we were in some bizarro sex trafficking ring. My hands curled tightly on the edge of the table, and I saw Kat, Theresa, and Melanie’s faces darken with thoughts just like mine.
But when a tall, broad shouldered man with silver hair, also wearing a US military uniform, strolled to the front of the room, my confusion only deepened.
“Why the fuck is the army here?” Kat hissed quietly from beside me.
Melanie’s dark eyes tracked the man’s movements. “Maybe they’re in costume or pretending. Maybe it’s some kind of setup.”
“OK, but look at this place,” I whispered, and we all cast furtive glances around the room. “This doesn’t seem like your average criminal enterprise. It’s not like we woke up in a warehouse somewhere.” The more I thought about the insanity of the situation, the less and less everything made sense. If this was a legitimate military operation of some kind, with the budget needed to create a building like this, why the hell were we kidnapped off the streets and drugged?
There were similar whispered conversations happening at the tables all around us, and the man at the front called out.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Colonel Anthony Jackson.”
“Colonel, that’s high up, right?” I asked, and Theresa nodded from across the table.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’ve been brought here.”
Kat snorted, and a girl from somewhere in the room yelled out, “You mean abducted?”
Colonel Jackson didn’t even flinch. He ignored the girl who yelled and continued smoothly, his eyes grey and flat. A shiver ran through me.
“You have all been specially selected to serve your planet on a confidential mission. This mission is one of the first of its kind, and its secrecy is of the utmost importance. Thus, you were selected and taken before any information could be leaked.”
“Yo, what the actual fuck are you talking about?” Kat shouted, standing. Colonel Jackson eyed her, then shifted his gaze somewhere behind her, nodding once. Chapman stepped forward and clocked Kat on the back of the head with the butt of what looked to be a pistol.
“Oh my God,” I stammered, barely catching her as she fell with a yelp. She crumpled back into her seat beside me, rubbing her shaved head, which I could see was already swelling where she’d been hit. “Are you OK?”
“What do you think?” She replied, staring viciously at Chapman, then back at the Colonel. But he ignored her, as if she were a fly that had been squashed and was no longer buzzing annoyingly nearby.
“As I was saying, this mission is of the utmost secrecy. You have all been selected for your areas of expertise – chemistry, biology, anthropology, botany, linguistics.” My throat tightened at the mention of my PhD program. So it wasn’t some insane mistake that I’d been brought here.
“I don’t have any expertise! I’m just a student. Please, I want to go home.” The voice was a quiet and trembling one, coming from a girl I couldn’t see well on the other side of the room.
“I’m happy to say that if our mission is successful, you will all be allowed to go home,” Colonel Jackson replied, his voice devoid of emotion.
“Allowed?!” An angry voice piped up. “What do you mean, allowed? I’m an American citizen, I have rights.” Several heads nodded, and murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd. It emboldened me, and I raised my voice.
“And what about me? I’m not even American! You kidnapped a Canadian citizen!”
Someone else shouted, “Moi aussi, I’m from France!”
The Colonel took a breath and closed his eyes for a moment, as if dealing with a bunch of irritating children. His expression filled me with rage. For him, apparently, this was just another annoying day on the job. But to us, it was our whole life, hanging in whatever fucked-up balance he had orchestrated.
After a moment, when most of the talking and questions had died down again, he spoke.
“While this particular mission is largely US military-run, rest assured the program at large is a global effort. The governments from every country represented in this room have sanctioned the mission and our actions.”
The breath rushed out of me, leaving me deflated and shaken. My own government was OK with this? They offered me up like some kind of lamb to slaughter?
But was it slaughter? Maybe the fact that this appeared to be some kind of legitimate, massively funded military operation meant that we weren’t about to disappear off the face of the earth, murdered and thrown in a ditch somewhere...
Another voice piped up, and I realized with a jerk that it was Melanie. Quiet Melanie from our table. Her eyes were hard, her voice steady.
“You said we get to go home if this mission is successful. What is it exactly that you want us to do?”
There was a cold determination in her eyes that I admired. I gulped, trying to fortify myself with some of whatever she had. Theresa sat up straighter at the question, and Kat stopped rubbing the back of her head, leaning forward. I licked my lips, mouth suddenly incredibly dry.
“Unbeknownst to the public, Earth has a large space program, much more advanced than what you see on TV with rockets and moon-landings. We have been searching for energy and materials to sustain life on Earth, and have been also searching for planets to eventually host human colonies.”
A collective gasp ran through the crowd, and Colonel Jackson raised his hand for silence, continuing.
“We have discovered numerous new energy sources and resources we need to study further. One of these is a compound we have called IX189, on a planet we have called P14256ABX.”
“That isn’t, like, Mars or something, right?” I said, stomach sinking. Were we going to be flung out of our entire galaxy? I’ve never even been outside of North America.
“This planet exists in a small galaxy we have named the Ophis Cluster.”
“Ophis... That sounds like the Greek word for serpent,” I whispered. My thoughts were confirmed when suddenly the blank silver wall behind the colonel lit up, an image being projected on its smooth surface. A hushed silence fell over the room as we stared at a star system none of us had ever seen before, the planets and glittering spray of stars swirling, snakelike, across the screen. The image suddenly shifted, showing a large brownish-looking planet with a ring of what looked to be asteroid chunks, or some other kind of space rocks, surrounding it like the rings of Saturn.
“This is P14256ABX. Our radar technology has picked up a massive energy source on this planet, the compound we have labelled IX189. The problem is that we can’t just go down and get it. This planet is inhabited by a primitive, warlike species that we have yet to establish contact with. We have not yet been down to the surface of the planet, but have orbited it for some time, collecting data. Now that we’ve collected enough data, our orbiting vessel has left to move on to other projects, and our mission can begin.”
Another image flashed on the screen, this one blurry and difficult to make out. I realized with a small cry it was a photo of one of the planet’s inhabitants, an honest-to-goodness real life alien. Another round of gasps ran through the room, and someone burst into tears.
Holy fucking fuck. I’d always assumed that with a universe as wide an unknown as ours that there would be life out there somewhere. I just never thought that I’d get a chance to come face to face with it, even as a grainy photo like this.
“For fuck’s sake,” Kat said, squinting and leaning forward as far as she could across the table. “Is this some conspiracy UFO type shit? They couldn’t get a better photo?”
She wasn’t wrong. The photo looked like one of the Loch Ness Monster, or Big Foot. I couldn’t make out any distinct features on the creature at all, only that it seemed to be bipedal, standing tall on two legs. Or was it three? Before I could look closer, the image vanished, replaced with an image of desert.
“From what we’ve gathered the atmosphere on the planet is similar to our own, with slightly less oxygen. Similar to high altitude climates on Earth. It shouldn’t cause too much of a problem for any of you unless you’re vigorously exercising. We’ve examined your medical records and you all should be fit for such an environment.”
Hold the phone. Why did it matter to us what the atmosphere was like? Why did we need to know about the aliens down there? Unless they were planning to...
“Oh my God,” Theresa said, her face going pale under her tan. “They’re gonna drop us down there. They’re literally gonna drop us on the surface of an alien planet.”
“No, no way,” I shot back quickly, goosebumps breaking out over my skin. That made no sense. At all. “I’m a PhD candidate in the linguistics department. Don’t you need tons of training to become an astronaut?”
Theresa’s voice fell to a broken whisper.
“Honey, I’m a vet tech. I sure as hell shouldn’t be here.”
Kat shook her head, and then Melanie turned her dark eyes on us, her face looking resigned.
“Linguistics PhD sounds an awful lot like someone to be an alien translator. And vet tech – well, someone to make conclusions about the local wildlife, I guess? Didn’t he say there’s a botanist around here somewhere?”
“Um, no,” I interjected. “My area of research is translation in pop culture, specifically the creation of subtitles for popular films and TV shows. I literally watch anime for research. That’s going to do fuck-all on an alien planet. I assure you.”
Melanie just shrugged and turned back to the front of the room. Yeah, yeah, I get it, you don’t make the rules. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, it seemed more and more likely that she was right.
The screen at the front had darkened back to a blank metal slate. I blinked at it, unbelieving. That’s it? That’s all we’re gonna get?
“It will take approximately two weeks to reach P14256ABX. During that time, you will receive more thorough instructions on the mission and your duties.”
“Our duties?” Kat snarled, jumping up again. Chapman stepped towards her, but Colonel Jackson held up a hand. “My only duty is to get away from you and this whole clusterfuck.”
I stood, too, in solidarity, as did Theresa and Melanie. No way was I going to get sucked into some interstellar alien translation job without my consent. I had school to think about, students, a life to get back to. Others were standing now, grumbling, their voices getting louder. Kat continued, grinning at the sight of all the angry women getting out of their chairs.
“See? We don’t want to and you can’t make us. You may have been able to toss us into vans and get us here, but there’s no fucking way you’re getting us off this planet.”
Colonel Jackson’s face remained impassive. The entire room was standing now, waiting for him to make a move. He said nothing, instead pulling a small black object out of his pocket and aiming at the wall that had been a screen a moment before. He pushed a button, and the entire wall seemed to disappear, shimmering out of existence right before our eyes. And what we saw sent me falling back into my chair with a strangled huff, my chest tightening as my knees gave out.
It was earth. The size of a marble, and getting smaller every second, swallowed up by black on all sides as it got further away. No. As we got further away. Kat’s mouth fell open, and more girls started to cry.
“I’m afraid, Katerina,” the Colonel said, his voice like ice, “that that ship has already sailed.”
AS SOON AS THE PRESENTATION ended, we were all trundled back into our rooms, escorted by soldiers every step of the way. Although at that point, none of us had much fight left, even Kat. After seeing our planet, the only thing we’d ever known disappear before our eyes... Well... It had kind of stopped any chance of escape in its tracks.
Theresa and Kat climbed the ladders to the top bunks, and Melanie and I collapsed into the bottom ones. There was silence for a moment, as we all contemplated just what on Earth – or what in wherever we were now – was going on. But it wasn’t long before Kat spoke up, her voice dripping with venom.
“I don’t buy this for a fucking second.”
“Don’t buy what? You think they’re lyin’? You think we’re still on Earth somewhere?” The note of hope in Theresa’s voice from the bunk above me almost broke my heart.
“No, I think that part is real,” Melanie interjected, and I nodded. Every instinct was telling me that we were no longer anywhere close to home.
“No, yeah, I get that. Bye bye, big blue planet. See you never,” Kat said. “I just don’t believe for a second that A, this mission is actually legit, and B, that they’re going to let us go home afterwards.”
I gritted my teeth against an onslaught of threatening tears.
“Don’t say that,” I managed to choke out.
“Sorry, dude, but I think it’s true. Think about it. This mission is so top secret that they literally had to kidnap us and drug us to get us here, you think they’re going to just let us waltz back into our lives afterwards? And what about the fact that we’re all women, huh? And the fact that we’re all young or students and definitely not the kind of experts you’d want on a mission like this? Why aren’t they sending the crème de la crème, top notch scientists and shit, to deal with this?”
I pressed the palms of my hands to my burning eyes. I had no answers for her.
But Melanie did.
“They’re not sending the best they have because they think we’re going to die.” Her words crashed through the air, heavy as stone. “They’re hoping that, if by some miracle, we can do something for them, then at least we have some knowledge that may be useful. But they’re not going to send their best scientists on a suicide mission.” Her voice fell, hard and low. “And the fact that we’re all women, well... I bet they’re hoping that if we don’t get murdered on sight, then maybe we’ll just get raped instead.”
“Oh my God, no, Melanie,” I said, sitting up and looking at her. She was laying still, staring up at the underside of Kat’s bunk. Her voice was a whisper when she spoke again.
“I don’t know about you guys, but if I don’t come back, if I disappear, there’s no one who would look for me.”
Kat sighed from above her.
“Girl, same. My mom’s an addict who I haven’t seen in years and my dad’s in jail.”
Theresa groaned. “Oh my God. Shit. Same. I grew up in the foster care system and I just moved to a new town and dumped my boyfriend, literally the only person who knows me there.”
Panic swelled inside me. No way, this couldn’t be true. I wasn’t like that, was I? Someone who could disappear and barely leave a trace? Somebody no one would miss? I had Grammy! Had Grammy. Past tense. But what about my PhD supervisor, Dr MacLaren? He would file a police report, for sure. But then again... What if my whole university was in on whatever this was?
My throat tightened painfully, and I bit down on my lips so hard I tasted blood. They were right. They were absolutely right. We were nobodies on Earth, and we were about to be nobodies who died on a faraway planet.
Hell no.
Everything in my body rebelled against that possibility. I got up, pacing the room, the other girls watching me.
“OK, maybe you’re right. You probably are. But I sure as hell do not plan to die in the middle of another galaxy.”
Kat sat up, her eyes burning with blue fire.
“What do you have in mind? I’m all for some mutiny.”
I laughed, a short, humourless bark.
“They’ve got armed soldiers every few metres in this place. I don’t think we stand a chance with something like that.”
“So?” Kat said. “At least we’ll go out in a blaze of glory. Go out on our terms.”
“Look, if we try something like that, we’re basically guaranteed to die. Melanie already outlined why we’re expendable. But what if we do everything we can to learn in the next few weeks, do everything we can to ensure our survival down there? He said we can breathe the atmosphere. Maybe we could escape and survive somehow.”
“And,” Theresa added, that heart-breaking note of hope back in her voice, “maybe the aliens will be friendly.”
Kat burst out laughing.
“You’re nuts! Did you see the thing in that photo? It’s not gonna be like some golden retriever at your vet’s office.”
“We don’t know that. We don’t know anythin’ about them. We do know whoever’s runnin’ this brought a linguist.” Theresa looked at me over the edge of her bunk. “So they must have reason to think the aliens have language, some kind of intelligence. Maybe we can communicate with them.”
“Yeah, that’ll go over well. ‘Hey, aliens. Please don’t try to fuck or murder us. By the way, will you give our military all the special energy juice your planet’s running on?’”
“OK, well, I don’t know,” Theresa responded with a huff, flopping back onto her bunk. “But Cece’s right. A mutiny will get us shot instantly. Honestly, I’d rather take my chances on the planet.”
“Shot by my own people or eaten by an alien. Who the fuck cares. Whatever,” Kat mumbled, lying down again. Melanie rolled over, facing the wall.
“Look, we don’t have to figure all of this out now,” I said, slowly lowering myself to my bunk. “But let’s just promise each other that we’ll do our best to get out of this alive somehow. That we pay attention, learn everything we can over the next couple of weeks, and give this thing the best shot we have.”
“I will,” Theresa said instantly from above me.
“Fine,” Kat said.
Melanie said nothing, but I saw a small nod of her head.
I swallowed, nodding to myself. Well, that’s something at least. I laid back in my bunk, trying to ignore the intense pressure building in my chest. Theresa’s words repeated over and over in my head. Maybe we can communicate with them... Damn. If anyone was going to have a hope of making friends with our new alien buddies, it was going to be me.
And, so help me God, if that didn’t light the hottest fucking fire under my ass.
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