Chapter 16
The Terrans find themselves trapped and forced to navigate through a seemingly abandoned facility. Unaware they are being watched by researchers.
Previously: Denny experiences the virtual preservation network that stores alien consciouses and meets an alien guide before being forced back into reality. Helvos discusses his suspicions regarding Mokvel with the Warmakers, who also elude to the struggles currently plaguing the Red Zetans. They authorise him to deal with Mokvel, and the Grey is ejected from the airlock.
Something was off about all this. When he awoke, he was not in his cell. Instead, he was propped up against a cracked, moss-strewn wall, bleeding water. The corridor itself lingered in darkness, and it took a moment for Tabun’s eyes to adjust to his new surroundings. Has this game already begun?
He tentatively got back to his feet and heard footsteps fast approaching him. He threw up his guard but knew that if they had any of those projectile-firing weapons; he was as good as dead. Soon enough they reached him and, to his surprise, it was a small, Terran woman with ragged and cropped brown hair. She also looked a little lost.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise. At least you’re not an alien.”
“Do you know where we are?”
“No,” she answered sullenly. “and I don’t know what they expect us to do. All I’ve done is wander. This place is eerie, but abandoned.”
He looked past her. “So, nothing back that way?”
“Nope, it’s all empty rooms with weird stuff inside, kind of like what they have going on onboard the ship, just much less intact.”
He looked down the corridor to where she was heading. “I guess it’s this way, then.”
She just nodded, and they began walking. Their joint footsteps reverberated across the facility, each room held unknowable secrets. That was beginning to become a pattern. It left him yearning for his simple life back on the home world.
“I wonder if this is more preparation,” said Tabun. “They plan on having us participate in something called the War Games. It involves fighting others and winning.”
“I don’t know about that, but they downloaded my consciousness somewhere. Maybe this is where we are and we’re just the ghosts while our real selves are somewhere else,” she said before coming to a sudden stop. She looked back the way she came. “Xen would know…”
Tabun folded his arms. “Xen?”
“I met them in the World Inbetween. It’s not just us they captured. Other aliens are being held captive too!”
“Either way, this must be some form of test. We shouldn’t let our guard drop. No telling what aliens will be lying in wait for us.”
The two continued their aimless journey until they reached a large, sealed double door. Unlike previous ones, this one appeared to be locked. The woman approached the nearby door control console and began tinkering with it.
“You know how that works?”
“I don’t know if it’s related to being uploaded to their neural preservation network, but not only do I understand their language better. I can roughly guess what their various symbols mean, like this one here. Should open the door!” she exclaimed while pressing a button.
Tabun snorted, raising an eyebrow. The old doors creaked open and, to his surprise, someone else also was trying to head their way. They had a beetle head with a pair of great horns and instead of hands, they were more like pincers. Not giving Tabun any choice to react properly, the alien lunged at him, forcing him to block his face. The sharp edges of the pincer penetrated his gun and began pushing him back. The woman attempted to spear the alien off of him, but it merely chittered at her feeble effort. Its rough skin also left cuts on her face as it easily shrugged her off with enough effort to ground her. Tabun threw a counter punch that barely phased the beetle alien.
“Stubborn little thing, aren’t you?”
The alien cocked its head and went for his head with its mandibles, but before it could get him even more in its grasp, something rocked the side of its head and sent it spinning to the floor. Behind where it had come from stood another human. One Tabun recognised, at least.
“Wise.”
“Tabun, I heard something happening and snuck closer to get a look. Saw the beetle thing and decided to give you a helping hand. Are you okay?”
Tabun’s eyes could barely focus on the man as the blood loss made him lose balance and stagger into the wall. The woman leapt into action and ripped off some of the strange clothing that the now-dead beetle alien wore. “This will only be temporary, but it should stop the blood.”
She made a quick tourniquet that stopped the blood from running off his hands. Tabun steadied himself against the wall and looked at his companions. “I guess that makes us a team and I owe you both.”
“No, problem. Just call me Denny. We should go back the way Wise came. Something tells me that’s actually our way out. I just need you to get me to one of those consoles the aliens use.”
“Why?” asked Tabun.
Wise smiled, realising why she wanted to do this. “You think it will have a map of this place?”
“Absolutely, it’s our best shot at not just wandering blind.”
Tabun nodded. “Agreed, and if we can find something for this,” he said, pointing to his bandaged hand. “That would be great, too.”
“I will say out of all the scenarios put forward, this is the most unusual,” said Nurn.
“As we approach the planet that the games will take place on, it makes sense to test each subject’s capacity for teamwork and how effective they are with it,” said the blue Zetan beside them.
Nurn had come to know most of the science division since being stationed aboard the vessel, but this newcomer was somehow someone he had yet to have any real interaction with. Their excuse being, ‘I prefer my privacy.’ Still, he couldn’t disagree with their idea. By putting the alien subjects into a secure test environment, they could observe any of their fatal flaws.
“Tell me, the girl, is it common for them to adopt our language and understand how our technology works?”
Nurn scratched the bottom of his chin with the long nail of his blue finger. “It’s happened in the past, but not this quickly. She’s learning fast, we could restore her to her original self if it concerns you.”
The Blue Zetan they knew as Kolvem shook their head. “That won’t be necessary, if we’re to win this game and have one of our subjects be crowned champion, our tributes need to be as resourceful as possible.”
“Even if it has the potential to compromise us.”
For a minute Kolvem was silent as if remembering something, they muttered something before speaking, “We have plenty of security in case they get any bright ideas. What I’m curious to see is how strong their teamwork is. The Gethrl insectoid isn’t the only one of his people in the simulation, either.”
Nurn began walking along the row of pods that contained various alien subjects. Above them, footage inside the simulation showed their collective progress. Unfortunately, for many, teamwork didn’t come naturally, but for those where it did. They were making short work of their enemies. It would only be a matter of time before they each closed on the exit. The winner in Nurn’s mind would mean they stand a strong chance at winning overall… but a concern snuck into his mind. He looked back at Kolvem. “Did you hear the Reds were having trouble sourcing their primary tribute?”
“I did not. What’s stopping them?”
Nurn looked uncomfortable. “The races they’ve found work in tandem together, they possess power like we’ve never even seen before.”
“How do you know about this?”
“I have my ways.”
“Does any of these tributes match up to what these informants told you?”
Nurn rejoined his fellow scientist and looked at the Terran group. “Honestly, the Terrans might be our best shot, after the trouble they gave us and the Greys… but still, I’ll have to see the Red’s tributes to know for sure. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, Kolvem.”
Kieran, I saw this whole episode as if it were a movie in my head. I think I kep turning the insectile alien into the creatures from "This Island Earth." Another exciting installment in a serialized novel that just builds and builds. Thank you.