up, she
could make out the webbing of veins beneath her skin. But her hearing still
seemed to be heightened so maybe she’d get to keep her superhero senses after
her eyesight came back.
“Hey, this really is a bare room. Where are we supposed
to...you know?” Ashley stood and almost pitched to the ground as dizziness
rushed up to slap her.
“You know” climbed into the back seat on her list of problems
as she sank into a crouch. Her stomach cramped with hunger and she couldn’t
remember the last time she’d wet her parched mouth. No one had bothered to
mention how long they’d been knocked out on the spaceship, let alone how long
she’d been in the probe room or how long she’d been unconscious.
“I’ve been...um...holding it,” Natalie admitted. “I’m pretty
sure it’s going to get nasty in here soon. When they brought you, it was the
first signs of life I’d seen, so I’m not expecting a bathroom escort.”
Reality sank in. Aliens held them hostage, the rest of their
companions were missing and they faced slow starvation in inhumane conditions.
Nobody here cared if she was a prize-winning scientist or a world-famous movie
star. She and Natalie were exactly the same to them. Prisoners.
Voices rang out from the hall. Alien voices.
Her pulse thundered in her ears. The aliens were coming back.
For her. To invade her head again. To make her remember things. Shameful things,
humiliating things, things she’d tried to forget, to erase. She cowered against
the wall, mindlessly seeking invisibility.
Two guards stopped in front of their cell. A moan spurted out
through her cracked lips. Two more appeared, but none of them paid any attention
to her and Natalie. They were half dragging, half herding another prisoner.
One of the aliens keyed on his white handheld contraption and
the four of them shoved the guy into the opposite cell. Since the guards weren’t
interested in her, Ashley swallowed away the spurt of terror and craned her neck
to see through the guard’s legs. Natalie pressed up against her, eyes trained on
the drama.
The aliens disappeared without a word.
The new prisoner lay there, crumpled and unmoving, just inside
the opening of his cell. He’d probably been blinded, as she and Natalie had
been, and might be scared too.
“Looks like one of their own,” Natalie whispered with a nod at
the prisoner.
Ashley winced. Yeah, he wasn’t naked. How could she have not
realized he was an alien? Maybe he deserved to be scared. “I’m not sure if it’s
better or worse to find out they treat their own species as badly as us.”
A groan snapped their attention back to the heap across the
hall. The prisoner stirred and rolled over, palm to his forehead. Agony twisted
his features.
“If you scoot back against the far wall, the pain isn’t as bad.
There’s like a sonic death ray surrounding the opening to the cells,” Ashley
told him in as loud of a whisper as she dared. She didn’t think the aliens cared
enough to come investigate if they heard the prisoners talking, but she’d prefer
not to give them a reason to start. “Oh, I guess I should ask if you speak
English first,” she threw in.
He lifted his head and peered at a spot above Ashley’s face,
eyes unfocused and glassy. “I am familiar with most common words,” the stranger
said.
Yep. Alien. He had the same bizarre accent as the talker from
when they’d first arrived. This alien wore the cookie-cutter uniform of the
other aliens, with one sleeve partially ripped from the jacket torso. A brown
streak marred the collar. They must take clothes from just humans, then.
So, he was the enemy. She summoned up some serious hatred, but
he was hurt and abandoned and she couldn’t hang onto it. He was the enemy, but also an enemy of his own people and therefore
worth befriending. Maybe he knew how to get out of here.
“The blindness is temporary, but it takes a while to wear off.”
Ashley inched closer, and recoiled as pressure
could make out the webbing of veins beneath her skin. But her hearing still
seemed to be heightened so maybe she’d get to keep her superhero senses after
her eyesight came back.
“Hey, this really is a bare room. Where are we supposed
to...you know?” Ashley stood and almost pitched to the ground as dizziness
rushed up to slap her.
“You know” climbed into the back seat on her list of problems
as she sank into a crouch. Her stomach cramped with hunger and she couldn’t
remember the last time she’d wet her parched mouth. No one had bothered to
mention how long they’d been knocked out on the spaceship, let alone how long
she’d been in the probe room or how long she’d been unconscious.
“I’ve been...um...holding it,” Natalie admitted. “I’m pretty
sure it’s going to get nasty in here soon. When they brought you, it was the
first signs of life I’d seen, so I’m not expecting a bathroom escort.”
Reality sank in. Aliens held them hostage, the rest of their
companions were missing and they faced slow starvation in inhumane conditions.
Nobody here cared if she was a prize-winning scientist or a world-famous movie
star. She and Natalie were exactly the same to them. Prisoners.
Voices rang out from the hall. Alien voices.
Her pulse thundered in her ears. The aliens were coming back.
For her. To invade her head again. To make her remember things. Shameful things,
humiliating things, things she’d tried to forget, to erase. She cowered against
the wall, mindlessly seeking invisibility.
Two guards stopped in front of their cell. A moan spurted out
through her cracked lips. Two more appeared, but none of them paid any attention
to her and Natalie. They were half dragging, half herding another prisoner.
One of the aliens keyed on his white handheld contraption and
the four of them shoved the guy into the opposite cell. Since the guards weren’t
interested in her, Ashley swallowed away the spurt of terror and craned her neck
to see through the guard’s legs. Natalie pressed up against her, eyes trained on
the drama.
The aliens disappeared without a word.
The new prisoner lay there, crumpled and unmoving, just inside
the opening of his cell. He’d probably been blinded, as she and Natalie had
been, and might be scared too.
“Looks like one of their own,” Natalie whispered with a nod at
the prisoner.
Ashley winced. Yeah, he wasn’t naked. How could she have not
realized he was an alien? Maybe he deserved to be scared. “I’m not sure if it’s
better or worse to find out they treat their own species as badly as us.”
A groan snapped their attention back to the heap across the
hall. The prisoner stirred and rolled over, palm to his forehead. Agony twisted
his features.
“If you scoot back against the far wall, the pain isn’t as bad.
There’s like a sonic death ray surrounding the opening to the cells,” Ashley
told him in as loud of a whisper as she dared. She didn’t think the aliens cared
enough to come investigate if they heard the prisoners talking, but she’d prefer
not to give them a reason to start. “Oh, I guess I should ask if you speak
English first,” she threw in.
He lifted his head and peered at a spot above Ashley’s face,
eyes unfocused and glassy. “I am familiar with most common words,” the stranger
said.
Yep. Alien. He had the same bizarre accent as the talker from
when they’d first arrived. This alien wore the cookie-cutter uniform of the
other aliens, with one sleeve partially ripped from the jacket torso. A brown
streak marred the collar. They must take clothes from just humans, then.
So, he was the enemy. She summoned up some serious hatred, but
he was hurt and abandoned and she couldn’t hang onto it. He was the enemy, but also an enemy of his own people and therefore
worth befriending. Maybe he knew how to get out of here.
“The blindness is temporary, but it takes a while to wear off.”
Ashley inched closer, and recoiled as pressure
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