Taken (Warriors of Karal Book 3) (13 page)

The quicker she got this over with, the more chance he would have of being left behind. If they were here too long, Malik would see, and he would try to save her. Chrissi couldn’t let that happen.

The ground shook. The alien craft had landed, and her life was about to change, when all she wanted was to stay here with Malik and make love under the stars.

A strangled sob escaped her, and her legs no longer wanted to support her. Before they gave out, she sat down on the seat, trying to calm herself down. Her heart was beating so hard she thought she was going to have a heart attack before she set eyes on one of the …
Hrokili
. The name filled her with dread.

There was a sound towards the back of the ship. Voices, but they weren’t talking, it sounded more like a rasping noise, but the rise and fall in tone made it sound like they were communicating. Great, she wouldn’t be able to understand what they were saying. Could the computer translate it?

Not wanting to activate the computer's voice, she decided it might at least be worth recording what was said, because Malik might be able to get it translated. She knew it might not lead to her rescue, and she hoped in some ways that he didn't try to get her back. But the recording might give the Karal some idea of how these aliens operated and what their goal was. Other than taking anyone they found as slaves.

“Computer set to audio record.”

“Recording.”

Chrissi tried to think straight. They might not be slavers; maybe the other species the last mission contacted were at war with the Hrokili. This might all be a misunderstanding. It might be all right, she told herself, trying to stay focused, trying to stay positive.

Then they were here on the control deck, pointing guns at her.

Chrissi raised her hands; she didn’t want to die. Although the alternative might be worse, at least if she was alive she had a chance of one-day escaping and finding her way back to Malik.

“What do you want?” she asked.

A series of rasping sounds emanated from one of the creatures. And
creatures
was all she could think of when she saw them. They were small and thin, very thin, as if they might snap if you hit them too hard. Frail. Yes,
frail
might be the right way to describe them, like little old men, wrinkled and dried up. She was sure that if she chose to fight, she would be able to beat them all.

But there were four of them and they all had guns. Or at least she presumed they were guns. They were certainly pointing them at her as if they were guns, and she wasn’t going to take any chances to find out.

One spoke again, indicating the ship and the control deck. Did he want her to switch it on? Well, that wasn’t going to happen.

“Broken,” she said, trying to make them understand with actions, as if she was playing charades.

There was some chatter between them, like dry paper rustling in the breeze. One indicated her, and then waved her towards the door. Chrissi sat still, not sure if she could stand. Should she fight? Should she try to overpower them?

But the guns were all pointing at her, and she figured if she was going to try, it should be when they were one on one, not four on one. So she got up from her seat, summoning her strength and courage. She would survive this. She hadn’t been chosen by the Karal and flown halfway across the universe to spend the rest of her life as a slave.

They moved to allow her to pass, and she thought about making a run for it, but when she reached the top of the ramp, she saw they had anticipated this and another of the Hrokili was waiting at the bottom, with his gun aimed at the entrance. No escape.

She went down the ramp, using her peripheral vision to take in everything around her. She could see the backpack she had left behind, sticking out of the bushes twenty feet away. She heard the birds across at the lake as they circled round and round, and that brought Malik to her mind. He wasn’t here. That was good.
That was good
, she repeated to herself.

Then she moved away from the Karalian ship, and saw the great Hrokili ship in front of her. What these aliens lacked in stature, they made up for in the size of their ship. Chrissi turned around, wanting to know if the rest of the Hrokili were coming. She had counted six of them altogether, but now she could only see five.

One of them had stayed on the Karal ship. Damn. There, at the bottom of the ramp was a Hrokili, his voice rasping like big metal plates, and she guessed he was giving orders to the one left on board. They intended to get the ship to work and take that too. Malik would be left here, stranded.

She hesitated. Was there anything she could do to make them leave the Karalian cruiser? If she fought, would they all come to help? A Hrokili spoke to her, his face like a dried-up orange, and she remembered her last day on Earth. If only she had never left her home planet.

Then she would never have met Malik.

The language barrier didn’t stop him making himself clear. He wanted her to go to the platform which had been lowered below the Hrokili ship. Chrissi walked towards it, no doubt in her mind what he was going to do with the gun he held if she disobeyed.

“Well, I’ll tell you what, buster, I’m going to get hold of one of those guns and use it on you one day soon,” she said.

Chrissi wasn’t sure if he understood her, because his expression changed, not that it showed fear. No, he actually looked as if he was laughing at her. Laughing! That made her so mad, his wizened old face creasing up even more and the rasping became a slow, rhythmical sound, almost musical.

“Yeah, you laugh, but I promise you, I am gonna shove that gun up your ass,” she said, smiling and nodding as if going along with his joke.

His face relaxed and he pointed at the platform and rasped his command once more. She moved forward, the other four Hrokili coming to flank her. One foot on the platform, and then another. Four Hrokili surrounding her while one stayed on the ground on guard.

Did they know Malik was out there? Were they waiting for him? Damn it, she hadn’t thought about that. She should have shut the ramp and delayed them; then when Malik came back they could have fought together. Instead she had made a sacrifice, one that left them weak and separate.

Stupid human.

His lungs burnt, his heart hammered in his chest as he ran back towards their cruiser. It was still there, they hadn’t taken it, but had they taken Chrissi? He had to know, and if they had, he had to save her.

The birds still circled overhead, their sound drowning out everything else. Occasionally one would dip down, to dive at him as if trying to chase him away. That was what kept the Hrokili from seeing him. Malik only realised this when he had almost reached the cruiser, and saw one of the creatures standing guard at the bottom of the ramp.

Slowing, he edged sideways, there were dunes to his left and they might provide him with some cover. Diving onto his stomach, he crawled up the slope, the sandy dirt getting in his overalls. Once he was hidden, he got up and ran, keeping low to the ground as he covered the distance quickly. Still the birds hovered above his head, becoming a nuisance. Would the Hrokili come to investigate the noise?

Malik stopped, diving under a small tree and keeping still. The birds hung around for a few minutes and then began to drift off back towards the lake. Five long minutes more, and then he felt it was safe enough for him to move again.

He crept out, moving slowly so as not to attract the damn birds again. They ignored him, content to feed and drink from the lake, with Malik no longer a threat. But he was a threat, not to them, but to the aliens who had landed on Lilith and possibly taken Chrissi with them. But he still held out hope that she was here, trapped on the ship.

An opening in the dunes led back out onto the plain where his cruiser was. Flat on his stomach again, he crawled slowly forward until he could see the cruiser. It was a hundred feet away, still too far for a surprise attack, but close enough for him to be able to do some reconnaissance. Looking carefully, he could only see one creature. It was small, like someone had stuck a few sticks together. But he had a weapon, a gun of some sort.

Nothing else moved. That didn’t tell him enough. Were there more Hrokili on the cruiser, or was it just this one standing guard? And where was Chrissi?

Slipping back into the cover of the dunes, he jogged along, having to go deeper in to keep his cover. At last he thought he was opposite the cruiser, and he made his way back towards the grassy plain. There was no opening. He would have to go over the top, an open assault that would leave him exposed.

Sitting down, he went over all the alternatives. There were none. If they were planning on stealing the cruiser, he couldn’t give them any more time. The override was difficult to break, but he didn’t know how advanced these aliens were. Advanced enough to be slavers, that told him enough.

Then there was Chrissi. If he left it much longer she would either be out of his reach on the Hrokili space ship, or hurt, or worse. He tried not to think of that, blocking out any thought of what they might do to the females they captured. He knew how other species were treated, because his own species had done terrible things in the past.

Malik closed his eyes. He had to become a warrior, he had to leave behind all personal fear of what might happen. The words Okil spoke to him came to him,
the mission is the most important thing, do not let it fail
. Getting the ship back was his priority; he could not let it fall into alien hands, because it might very well lead the Hrokili to Karal. That could not happen.

Focused, he moved forward up the dune. Keeping his head low, he peered down at the creature below. It was looking across to where the birds were, and then sweeping its gaze out across the plain. It turned in a slow, predictable circle. Malik ducked back down.

He counted to five, peered back up to see the creature looking at the birds again.

Now.

Malik propelled himself forward, silent, deadly. Only at the last minute did the thing deploy its weapon, but Malik dodged and the aim was off. The Hrokili didn’t stand a chance when Malik slammed into him, cutting him down, breaking him in two.

The thing lay dead. Its last gasping breath rasping from its lungs. Malik felt nothing. He was doing what he was trained to do, and the battle wasn’t over. Up on his feet, he climbed the ramp, slowly, silently entering the cruiser he knew so well. There was no sign of any more of the creatures. But he didn’t relax. Until the cruiser had been swept, room by room, and the computer could confirm there were no intruders, he could not let his guard down.

The hold was clear. He pulled the door to and locked it. Next he moved down the corridor towards the control deck. Again, it looked empty. Maybe there was no one there; the guard outside might have been waiting for backup.

And then from behind him, there was a small noise, and something hit him, an electrical shock. Malik turned to see one of the wizened Hrokili, his finger on a gun which wasn’t built to kill, but to stun. Of course, they wanted to keep their captives alive.

Slaves were no good dead.

The ship had been surprising, in an unpleasant way. First there was the smell, and then, as she entered the belly of the ship, she saw rows upon rows of barred cells, much like a prison towering above her head. Several of them were filled with other alien species, hands reaching out, moaning. But a raspy shout from the Hrokili set them to silence. Whatever the threat, it was enough to scare the poor creatures. And that alone chilled Chrissi’s blood.

A prod in the back sent her stumbling forward. “What the …” And then she understood. A Hrokili had a long stick like a cattle prod and had touched her with it. Her back felt as if it was on fire, but she didn’t fall to the ground. Instead she clung onto the bars of the first cell, keeping herself upright.

Another raspy command and she got her feet under her and took small steps forward, going deeper into the ship. Turning, she could see many frightened faces all looking at her, all scared. Whatever fate was waiting for her, these creatures knew there was no escape. The electric shock from the Hrokili’s weapons would see to that.

This was to be her fate: not killed, but controlled by these frail creatures. It seemed preposterous. And now she wished she had fought them on the planet instead of being taken; she could have outrun them, she could have warned Malik. Instead, she was about to be thrown into a cell.

An alarm sounded, and those in the other cells moved further away from the bars. To her left, one of the cells opened, and she guessed that was where she was going to be imprisoned. With no fight left in her, she took the three steps forward and stopped, the cell door sliding shut behind her, sealing her in.

No crying
. That was what she told herself when tears threatened. Crying would not help. But then nothing could help. Could it? She was trapped, and all she had to cling to was that once they reached their destination, she would have some chance to break for freedom. But when she went to the back of her empty cell, and slid down to sit on her haunches, her eyes were met with the fearful expression of the female creature next to her, and she knew that hope was not something that belonged on this space ship.

“Do you have a name?” she asked, the alien next to her. The creature, a long-limbed alien who had fur along her arms like an animal, but wore a cotton tunic, simply looked at her blankly. “Can you talk?”

The creature turned away, lying down facing the door, a sound like sobbing coming from her. It was such a melancholy sound that Chrissi was almost moved to tears herself. But she kept the mantra
don’t cry
in her head, and didn’t weaken.

***

Hours passed, long hours where she couldn’t sleep but didn’t want to stay awake either, because the sadness of the ship bore down on her, draining her spirit. She tried closing her eyes and conjuring up images of Karal and Lilith. The beauty, the life, the clean air and the hope she had felt when she walked freely amongst the lush green plants.