14. Hold All Questions
Hold All Questions
The atmosphere changed when they walked onto the ship, from the cool recycled air of the shuttle to an oppressive blanket of humidity that rivaled a sweltering Midwest summer.
Nicole grabbed for Krir, belatedly realizing she wasn’t supposed to seek his comfort.
He was acting as her guard, escorting her back from her escape attempt.
But the last time she was here, she’d had no one and nothing. Now, at least, she had him.
His fingers squeezed hers for an instant, then let go. Nicole gulped down her anxiety, straightened her shoulders, and marched on. For good measure, he prodded her with the gun he’d liberated from the commander whose face he wore. She curled her manacled hands into fists.
A Giuk stood in the entrance to the cargo bay, a shorter one, but he was wide.
She couldn’t help but think of the Giuk as a “he.” Perhaps because Krir looked like them.
Perhaps because of the brutality. Whatever the reason, she recognized this one.
A purplish scar ran over his cheek. He’d been the first to raise a hand to any straggler, the first to figure out when someone was sick or injured and drag them to who knew where, never to return.
His eyes glinted cruelly as they approached.
“I will enjoy making it regret ever running away.” His fingers flexed on the weapon on his belt, shiny and brand new. It was longer than the old clubs, with metal prongs at the end. “Where did you find it, Commander?”
A shiver went through her. She could ignore them before, ignorant of their language. But now, she knew exactly what was coming if their plan didn’t work.
“Vrul 4,” Krir grunted.
“Where are Chobos and Nossor?”
“Dead.” He kept his answers short, using his limited Giuk vocabulary.
The cruel glint turned murderous. “How?”
There was no way Krir could answer without blowing his cover. Time for a distraction, an excuse to take her to the prisoners’ level right the fuck now.
With a growl that would scare her neighbor’s pit bull, Nicole lunged for the guard, grabbing for the weapon on his belt.
He slapped away her hand and drew the weapon.
Before either she or Krir could react, he jabbed it into her stomach and released an electrical charge.
Nicole fell like a load of bricks, every neuron on fire.
Black spots swam in her vision and her jaw clenched tight.
She had no control over her arms and legs.
The only things working were her ears, and since she could still understand the Giuk, the electric shock hadn’t shorted out her translator disc.
The guard leaned over her. “I can take it for you, Commander. No need to bother yourself with this piece of dorix dung.”
“No, it’s mine.” Krir grabbed the chain between her wrists and dragged her down the hall.
Her clothes let her glide on the smooth metal floor. Unlike on the prisoner level, the floors here were free of jagged bits of metal. They turned a corner as the black spots vanished and her muscles finally relaxed.
“That was close.” Krir stopped and looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed. The hall remained empty and quiet, and he crouched in front of her. “How are you?”
Nicole worked her jaw, clenched and released her fists, and rotated her ankles.
“Fucking ouch.”
“Has the plan gone off the rails yet?”
She pushed on his shoulder. “Don’t ask!”
“Why? That was not in the plan, so—”
“You’ll jinx it.”
She propped herself against the wall, the feeling finally returning to her legs. His brow furrowed as he opened his mouth, and she raised a hand to stop him.
“Hold all questions to the end,” she said. “But we’re not off the rails yet. Just a little bump. We’d better get it done before someone clocks what’s going on.”
Nicole struggled to stand. Krir grabbed her elbow to steady her. She recoiled. They couldn’t risk any sign of care or concern. With a dull expression, Krir straightened as she broke contact. He took his position behind her, pointing his gun at her, and they trudged along the corridor.
They found the elevator at the end of the ship.
“I know you want me to hold all questions, but how does this work?” Krir muttered after making sure they were still alone.
“I was joking. And I wish I knew. They housed and worked us on the engineering level.”
“At least we know where we’re going.” He waved a hand at waist level on the left. When nothing happened, he tried again on the right. A light came on, and they waited.
The door opened. Two Giuk exited, staring at her with bulging eyes and giving her a wide berth.
“What are you looking at?” Nicole snapped.
Krir grunted and poked her in the back with his gun. The Giuk hurried on their way, chattering to each other.
“Watch it, lizard boy,” Nicole said under her breath.
“I know what I’m doing.” He studied the panel and pressed a symbol at the bottom. It lit up and the doors closed. “And don’t call me lizard boy.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. He twittered at her. She wanted this over so she could hug him, take comfort in his solid presence, and kiss him because he was a damn good kisser.
With a beep, the doors opened. The corridor sounded different from the last time she was here, the occasional cough and grunt of discomfort replaced by constant muffled moans.
It smelled different, too. The scent of iron and copper flowed with the odor of unwashed bodies and rot.
Death and decay. Even as a paramedic, she had to stifle her gag response. Krir’s reddish complexion grayed.
“Try to breathe through your mouth,” Nicole murmured.
“It will not work, unfortunately.” He rubbed his face. “But I’ll manage. Where next?”
She pointed, though there was no other direction to go.
Her booted feet scuffed along the floor, occasionally catching on the bits of metal scattered about.
They ricocheted off the walls, and the clinks announced their presence.
Two Giuk guards at the far end watched as Krir prodded her forward.
Their half-baked plan might actually work.
If all it took was a single unfortunate run-in with a cattle prod, she could live with that.
But as they approached the guards, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Something was off. She couldn’t stop, couldn’t even slow without tipping them off, but she paid attention, gaze darting over both guards and their surroundings.
One guard stood next to a control panel beside a solid door.
The other guard was a little further down, standing next to an identical setup.
Everything seemed exactly as it had when she’d stumbled through the corridors, exhausted after a shift.
Wait—they didn’t have the usual club. They had prods, same as the Giuk above. Oh, oh no.
Nicole slowed as horror dawned. Krir’s gun poked her.
“What’s wrong?” Krir breathed.
They were too close for her to answer. She didn’t have a solid response, but the prods were a bad sign.
The guards had been happy enough to batter and bruise on her previous stay, but after her experience, Nicole was aware of how much damage the prods could do, especially with how often the guards were likely to use them.
“Never thought I’d see this ungrateful ape again,” the guard on the left said.
Nicole recognized his voice. He was a guard for the other shift, and she’d often heard him yelling at the other workers. No idea what he’d said back then, but based on the words out of his mouth, she doubted it was anything nice.
Krir grunted, but he hesitated at turning her over. Nicole stumbled forward, pretending he’d pushed her, anything to get their attention off him.
“It give you any trouble, Commander?” the other one said.
“No.”
The first squinted at Krir. “Wait, you’re not Commander Rudt. Who—”
Shit!
Krir punched him before he could say any more, his fist making a satisfying crunch as it hit the guard’s nose.
The other guard grabbed his prod, and Nicole threw herself at him, knocking them both to the floor.
Metal shards scraped her knees, but the guard took the brunt of the fall, the air whooshing out of his lungs.
She grabbed the prod and threw it as far down the hall as she could.
The chances she’d win a brawl with a Giuk were virtually zero, so she’d best buy time before he could fetch his weapon.
More fists hit flesh behind her, but she concentrated on the enemy in front of her.
Or beneath her, whatever. His arm moved, and she skittered back, letting his fist strike the air instead of her head.
If she could keep him distracted until Krir had dealt with the first guard, they could team up against him.
Or, if God, luck, or providence smiled on her, she might find an opportunity to open the doors to the humans’ cells. They’d have a chance.
Nicole jumped to her feet and kicked her guard in the side. He grabbed for her foot, but she jerked it back. Off-balance, she fell hard against the wall. Murmurs from the cell reached her. Good, she had their attention.
The guard lumbered to his feet and lurched toward her. She dodged to her right, moving slightly closer to the cattle prod. The guard kept coming, a rhinoceros charging once he got going. She scrambled across the floor, his hot breath on her neck.
A thick hand grabbed her upper arm and spun her around. She stared right into the Giuk’s yellow eyes. Rage lit them, then surprise as her fist connected with his temple. They rolled back into his head and he collapsed, carrying her to the floor.
Jesus, she hadn’t even hit him hard. A soft spot in the skull? A nerve cluster? Whatever it was, she was grateful.
She tore her arm loose and ran for the prod. The thing was heavier than it looked but seemed simple enough. There was a big red button. She knew exactly what to do with a big red button.
She spun around and rushed back to Krir, who still grappled with the guard. Pink blood dribbled from the Giuk’s mouth, and Krir’s green blood dotted his knuckles. The murmurs from the cells grew to worried rumbles as she dashed by.
“Krir, back off!”
He didn’t question her, didn’t even look her way. He scuttled back as she lunged at the guard and pressed the button. The guard’s eyes rounded with shock right before he joined his friend, unconscious on the floor.
Well, the rescue went better than she’d expected. She pulled the key card from around the guard’s neck and held it out for Krir.
“Open the door on the right.” That’s where she’d heard the people making noise.
“Are you injured?”
“Nothing a Band-Aid won’t fix.”
He opened his mouth but seemed to change his mind and took the card. He hurried to the panel by the door, and a few seconds later, the door rose. Nicole stepped into the opening.
“Nicole?” a familiar voice to her left said. “We thought…we thought you were dead.”
She was surprised anyone had survived. If she were a gambling woman, she would have bet the Giuk would have killed them all and found new people to enslave.
“Nope, very much alive, and I’m here to rescue you.”
Someone at the rear of the cell snorted. “And how do you plan to do that?”
“I have help, and we have you.”
“What about the others?” said the first voice. “My son is with them. I won’t go without him.”
“Nicole,” Krir murmured from behind her.
“Behind you!” the snorter shouted. A bowl flew through the air and hit Krir in the shoulder.
“Ow.”
“He’s with me. He’s the help—despite how he looks, Krir isn’t Giuk.”
“What’s a Giuk?” the quiet voice said.
Nicole found her in the shadows, a woman a decade older than her with short brown hair threaded with silver.
Brooke, if she remembered correctly. There were so many new faces, enough to replace those who’d died during her escape.
Dammit. She blinked away the tears. Time to mourn later, and with any luck, the new people would soon be free.
“The aliens who kidnapped us. But they aren’t the only aliens out there. Krir is a Qilffir. They have a camouflage ability, so he can look like someone else.”
“Are you sure he’s on our side?” the snorter—Mr. Killjoy, she decided to dub him—asked. Getting a better look as he drew closer to the door, she recognized him as an instigator of the last escape attempt. He was missing an eye. “He’s not here to sell you back to these Gee-uk?”
“No, he’s my friend. He took care of me after I escaped.”
“Why did he bring you back?”
“Because I asked him to. A few Giuk found me, and we were afraid if we waited for the authorities, they might kill you all.”
“But—”
“No more.” Krir chopped his arm through the air, and everyone fell silent. “We are running out of time, and we still need to figure out how to rescue those currently on shift.”
“What did he say?” Brooke asked.
“And how the fuck can you understand?” Mr. Killjoy glowered at Krir.
“I have a translator thingy, and he said we’re running out of time. How do we rescue the rest?”
The elevator at the far end of the hall opened, disgorging a half dozen Giuk guards. Too late to plan, all they could do was react.
“Are we off the rails now?” Krir raised his weapon.
Nicole readied her prod. “Yes, we are officially off the rails.”