34. A Spine for the Taking
THIRTY-FOUR
A SPINE FOR THE TAKING
Syasku
Led to an enormous room surrounded on all sides by ascending benches, the female, Omari, and several others sit on a raised platform at the back. Surrounding us on those benches are more humans than I have ever seen. Countless in their numbers, their eyes bore holes into me.
Their voices hum with conversation coming from every direction, awe, disbelief, curiosity, and fear bleeding from their words. Scanning them, many hold weapons—guns, bats, blades, and metal rods.
Vivian is not among them. Frustrated, my jaw ticks, clenched tightly.
Muffin and Kyle stand at my side, displaying courage I know is fake, hearing their pulses race like thunder in my ears.
“So you’re from Earth,” Omari announces, and the conversations around me stop. Rising from her seat, she carries with her a metal staff in her right hand, the tip jagged, cut into a sharp point at the end.
“Can you speak, alien?” she asks.
“I can.”
The voices rise as Omari turns back to address two males sitting behind her. They speak briefly. Facing us once more, and walking to the edge of the platform, the people hush.
“What is your name?” she asks me, ignoring Kyle and Muffin.
“Syasku,” I hiss. “I am told you, or someone here, can… help me.” The word tastes bitter in my mouth.
“We will get to that. First, me and my colleagues want to know how you ended up here?—”
“I am from Earth,” I speak over her. “If you won’t help me, then say so.” I level Omari with my gaze.
Kyle turns to me. “I forgot to mention this, but you should show them some respect.”
Her lips twitch with a smile. “You’re not very patient, are you?”
“No.”
Her brow arches. “If I can’t question you, how will we know if we can trust you?”
“Because I want the same thing you want.”
“And what is that? Pray tell.”
“To escape this ship with my female and take her back to Earth.”
All around, hushed voices arise.
Omari looks up in surprise, and she glances behind her at the seated males. Stamping her rod against the metal floor, she turns her attention to the crowd. “Quiet!” she shouts, the banging of her rod, echoing across the room.
Keeping my focus on Omari, I speak louder. “I was captured and brought here against my will, taken from my land, only to be bound, tortured, and studied like an animal,” I spit the words like acid in my throat. “Since then, my mate, a female of your kind has been taken from me. I am owed your help,” I growl as the watching humans go quiet.
“A female of my kind? A human, you mean? It’s odd for an alien to take a mate outside their species. Why do you think we, who had nothing to do with your capture, should pay for the crimes of those who did? When they have already taken so much?” she quips back, her eyes narrowing. “You are not the only one who’s been harmed by those above.”
Kyle steps forward. “Because Volp will not lift the lockdown. You can keep him rooted, keep him from moving the ship, but he’s not going to budge and give into your demands. He’s where he wants to be, and has no need or interest to fly the ship elsewhere.”
Omari faces him. “And how would you know that?”
“Because, until recently, I was one of his soldiers.”
Omari scowls, hatred brimming her dark eyes at Kyle’s omission. “If what you say is true, the ship can’t be with partial power indefinitely. He can’t keep us locked down forever. All we need to do is wait it out.”
“How has that been working for you so far?” Kyle waves his arm. “Without food coming in, without medicine?” Some of the people shout in response. “What do you think it’ll be like down here in another six months? A year? Two? How long are you willing to wait in the dark? Because from where I’m standing, it could be a lot longer than a couple of years.”
“We will not concede!” someone from the crowd yells.
Kyle turns toward the voice. “You are not forcing his hand any more than he is forcing yours! Nothing will change—but taking down two reactors will cripple him enough to give in.”
“Disabling a second cripples everyone, not just Volp,” Omari argues. “What you’re asking is mass suicide. Where would we go if the second reactor fails to be reignited? Even if we destabilize the systems and take over the ship, we could end up in a giant coffin, no better than where we are now.”
“No better? There are thousands of ships waiting to take you to Earth.”
“You say that as if you know Earth is habitable.”
“Of course I know it’s habitable. Do you not see the fucking alien that’s in front of you? Not to mention I’ve fucking been there.”
Omari sneers at him. “Soldier,” she says the word like it’s a curse. “Talking like that, you won’t leave this place alive. And even if what you say is true, I would still need to get my people safely to the ports. It would be a battle even if we take Volp by surprise.”
Moving toward the platform where she stands, I have realized something I failed to earlier. “You need my help more than I need yourssss,” I hiss.
She bursts out in laughter, facing me. “You think we need your help? We don’t even know what you and your soldier boy—” she spits the word “—say is true. For all I know you could be some lab-created robot cooked up with preprogrammed AI to scare us into killing ourselves.”
“Give me a knife,” I demand, “and I will prove to you I am real.”
Omari pulls her rod close and crosses her arms. “What do you plan to do? Cut yourself open and bleed for us?”
I cock my head.
She’s quiet as she considers me, and her lips lift into a smirk. “I’m curious. Someone get him a blade. Quick, before I change my mind.”
There is commotion as the humans convene amongst themselves while someone decides what type of blade they want to give me. Muffin, remaining quiet at left, shoots me a look while Kyle shakes with anger. All I can think of is Vivian, and getting to her. I will do whatever it takes to do that. A cut from a knife is nothing to what I am willing to sacrifice.
A blade is produced by one of the males behind Omari. She waves him forward after testing the weapon against her own palm.
Muffin walks to the platform and takes the blade offered, returning to hand it to me. “Don’t be stupid. They will kill us if you try something.”
He steps back, and I test the blade in my grip. Holding out my arm for Omari to see, I press the blade hard and slice my forearm open. Blood gushes from the wound, pooling over to dribble on the floor. Compared to what I have sustained, the slice is small in comparison.
I raise the blade and drop it, showing Omari my empty hands.
Slitting my eyes in warning, I pull back my lips, showing her my fangs, letting my venom drip. “Do you need another slice, or are we done?”
She and the male who produced the blade shift close and talk.
Over waiting, I hiss, putting all my anger into it. “I bleed, like you. I have no reason to lie. I live in the wetlands, a span of land and water that is covered in high grass, teaming with wildlife. In the distance there are mountains that rise into the sky and forests that go as far as the eye can see. There are lakes, human ruins that have been untouched, and rain—where water falls from the sky. It is a far better place than… thissss,” I hiss again with disgust. “If it is food you seek, there is fruit, fish, and meat. There is more water than any of you can drink in a lifetime. Whether you lend me your help or not, I will fight my way to my mate and make it back there, but if it is fear stopping you from taking action, you will die long before you ever see a sunrise.”
“Pretty words for someone who claims to be an alien, someone who doesn’t have to consider the lives of thousands of people. Shutting off a second reactor is as dangerous as taking the fight straight to Volp. Even if Earth is habitable, and we have a place to go, we still need to get to the ports.”
“You have weaponssss.” I glower, glancing around at the humans. “You are ready for a fight.”
“We are ready to defend ourselves. Fighting must be avoided.”
“You want to avoid a fight?” Kyle bursts out with laughter. “Were you born yesterday, or did you forget we’re at war?” His laughter dies, and he swallows when he sees everyone staring at him.
“You will turn off a second reactor,” I say, staring down Omari and the male at her side. “And in doing so, I will give you what you need to get your people safely to your shipssss.”
“How?”
Muffin sighs and shakes his head.
I straighten. “While you power down the reactor, I will advance first and distract the soldiers. They are searching for me. Volp wants me dead. While the soldiers deal with me, you lead your people to the ships. That, female, is why you need me more than I need you.”
Another hush descends as Omari and those with her consider me once more.
After a moment, she takes a step forward. “Why do they want you dead, alien?”
“I tore the throat out of their commander,” I growl. “And I plan to do the same to Volp.”
Chaos breaks out around me.