There was no movement in space they could see. The Earth and her twin Solstice appeared small and suspended in silence. In the far distance, in the opposite direction, an enemy colony awaited. The last hundreds of years had sucked any other life out of the interstellar space, ever since the war between the races had begun. It had exploded violently, so long ago that experts and admirals themselves didn’t know what the quarrel was about anymore. No one knew. All they knew were the sides. The humans and the reptiles. They killed each other on sight. No questions asked. It had all come down to that, and no one doubted it, no one gave it a second thought, no one questioned it anymore.
Captain Brier didn’t have time for much thought either. His shuttle boasted with the sounds of computerized music. Even during the most fiercely frightening and violent encounters, he always had his favorite pieces playing, as if to soothe his own soul and convince him life on Earth was still worth protecting.
His shuttle and the two accompanying it were flying in perfect formation, ready for any unexpected attack. His mission was as important as his person. His partner needed rescue from the reptile colony. They each held half of a great weapon which, when put together, would decimate the entire lizard race. They were the only two who had been entrusted with it. Their general, on his deathbed, had split the weapon in two, so that no one man would be tempted to use it for another purpose.
The Marauder was dangerous if used by one man. It had the power to twist one’s sense and one’s mind, it had the power to melt en entire planet if not used right. The general had been afraid to use it alone, no matter how desperately lost the war seemed to become with every hundred years. As so had been every general that came before him. They had passed it along, while futile attempts to kill the enemy had only made the war more violent and hopeless. Brier and his partner had sworn to put it back together, as a last resort, before the human race was forever shattered into darkness.
He had been given thirty six hours for his rescue mission. After that, the ally fleet would intervene and attempt to destroy the enemy. Brier didn’t believe they could do it, they weren’t strong enough, and they had always been outnumbered. No one could figure out why and how. No one knew how the lizards procreated so fast. His plan was brazen to say the least but, if accomplished, they could rid themselves of the monsters once and for all.
Brier’s head rested against the black leather of his pilot chair, as he waited for his destination, the colony, to appear on the radar humming quietly to his right. The shuttle practically flew itself, so he could afford to close his eyes for a minute or two. The soft music still filled the artificial air around him, when the radar let him know something was up. I didn’t realize we were so close, he thought as his eyes opened, his back straightened, and his hands began playing the various keys on the board in front of him. He immediately tried to contact his companions. There was no answer. Maybe they’re cloaked, he reasoned and then gave up trying when there was no answer through subspace either.
It wouldn’t have been the first time he needed to act alone. He made sure all the fire power was armed and ready, and tensely waited for an enemy sign. Minute after minute passed while his hands hugged the controllers so tight that he could barely breathe. The cussing in his head didn’t help anything. Ten minutes passed before a message reached him. He pushed a few buttons, and the familiar face of one of his companions popped up on the display to the left.
“You can lower your shield, captain, it was just a false alarm,” the friendly face assured him.
Captain Brier didn’t quite believe it, but when the second friendly face popped on the screen, he did. He lowered his shields without thinking about it anymore.
Without any warning, and before Brier could react, his shuttle was drawn into the tractor beams of a craft he couldn’t even see. The faces on his displayed smirked at each other.
“Hmm, we never thought it would be this easy,” Brier heard their voices.
Two enemy warriors materialized aboard his ship, and Brier knew he was lost. He didn’t have a choice but let himself be taken away, quietly and effortlessly transported to an unknown place. He knew what they wanted. He knew they would try to make him give up the locations of all the different Earth fleet vessels. But humans still had the advantage. They didn’t know about The Marauder. He was determined not to say a word, although he had heard the horror stories about how their enemies always extracted secrets from anyone who held them.
In a few hours, they reached the enemy colony. Without any ceremonial displays, he was thrown into one of their prison cells. The heavy door closed behind him amazingly fast, and he was left to the cold embrace of cement. Brier got up slowly, leaning against a wall, trying to make out anything he could in the darkness before him. From up above, cold tears dripped through the grated ceiling along with echoes of tortured souls screams.
He couldn’t count the time he spent leaning against that wall. Maybe he even drifted off for a while. He opened his eyes and thought the dark wasn’t as dark as before. He couldn’t see the height of his cell. A half wall parted the space in two. In a corner, small wells of cements rose as mole hills. He went closer and checked them out, and saw they were covered in some kind of an unknown reed species. Above him, he could now observe the grate with openings large enough for a body to get through. The distance was too much, he couldn’t climb so far.
He looked for a dry spot, without finding one. The floor was soaked with some kind of viscous matter that prevented him from sitting. He began pacing back and forth, cussing out loud, although he knew full well no one could understand, except for maybe other prisoners.
His body temperature was dropping at an alarming rate, and he couldn’t figure out how to prevent it other than by continuing to pace. He thought about doing push-ups, but the sight of the floor stopped that thought immediately.
“There’s no use trying to keep warm,” he heard a small voice from behind the parting wall.
Brier was shocked, and a little afraid, he admitted to himself. He walked over to the wall while asking “Who’s there?”
Almost immediately, the owner of the voice came into his line of sight. He was taken aback by her pleasantly symmetrical features right away. He couldn’t help but stare at her almond-shaped purple eyes and heavy, silky hair. He started wondering what the girl was doing there, as she approached him cautiously. They silently studied at each other for a few moments.
“I can only warm up with push-ups,” her voice was soft, riddled with a strange accent, as if she had not spoken in a very long time and now it was difficult to do.
The captain started a sentence, but the girl didn’t hear him, as a huge lamprey slid over his feet, out of nowhere, darting towards one of the mole hills in the corner. The girl screamed but dashed after it, threw her body into the air, and landed on its enormous tail just in time. With precise movements, she ripped its horny mouth off and started sucking on the wound, bringing out gelatinous, slimy looking entrails she swallowed without giving it a second thought. When she was done, she threw the leftover skin away, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then wiped that on the little bit of fabric that still remained of her former uniform. A uniform, like mine, he thought but didn’t mention it.
As she watched him wince and grimace, probably because of her meal, she reached out a hand to shake his.
“Parker Lewis,” she said. “Volunteer, I’m afraid.”
He shook her hand but chose to keep quiet. Too many questions were fighting in his head.
As if guessing it, the girl continued, “I’ve been here eight months. At least I think it’s been eight months, if I haven’t miscounted… which is possible… It’s hard to keep track when you can’t tell if it’s daylight or nighttime out there. I was on a shuttle with my father, Captain Lewis of the third Earth Fleet. He… well, he was hurt badly when they took us, and he…” she couldn’t bring herself to say the words, even after all that time of repeating them over and over in her head. “He… he’s no longer with us,” she managed as her voice choked up. “It didn’t take him long, only a couple of days after they brought us here… I just… I just couldn’t do anything…” Tears welled up and started sheening her face. She didn’t wipe them away, but her face did well at not betraying her feelings. She wished she could control her voice that way, too.
Brier continued watching her as if he were a mute. What is she doing here? This doesn’t make any sense! No good captain would take a volunteer along, even if she’s his daughter, he couldn’t quite understand. Her eyes are too purple, her hair too well preserved, other than the shredded uniform, she doesn’t look like she’s wanting for much. Maybe I’m dreaming, maybe she’s not even real, he thought. He raised his hand and gently touched her shoulder. The solid contact made him start, and he apologized quickly. “I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure you’re real, that this is not a dream. This is…,” he didn’t really know how to go on.
“Definitely not a dream, unfortunately,” she finished his sentence as she stared at him with inquisitively. She wanted to ask questions, but the stripes on his uniform told her to wait. She was a volunteer, after all, the lowest on the military food chain. Under any other circumstances, she would have needed expressed permission to talk. She waited.
“Do you think there’s any way out of here?” He asked as he looked around the walls again, hoping for an affirmative answer.
“I’ve tried everything I could already. Obviously, with no good results,” she said and then added slowly, “Maybe we could try together?”
Brier didn’t answer. He’d only been there a few hours, but it felt like an eternity. Without a word, he began dissecting the cell with his eyes. Each wall, each mole hill, each protuberance larger than an egg, each fissure trickling water, the grated ceiling again, the viscous matter on the floor, the hinges of the heavy door, the empty iron sconces on a wall. The only idea he had was to try and reach one of the openings in the grate above. Maybe they could climb the wall somehow.
“We could get out through there,” he pointed up, “If we could climb the wall somehow.”
Parker reached in her shabby jacket and pulled out a rusted pocket knife. “It was my father’s,” she said, “Maybe we can use it to carve holes somehow, as a kind of ladder?”
Brier inspected the knife. It was dull, but it was worth trying. He started carving into stone right away, as Parker stood behind him, watching.
Six hours later, Brier was still carving the wall, with little progress to make a difference yet. Four holes started back at him, but it wasn’t enough. He needed more. Each movement jarred his forearms and wrists, and still he continued. He started letting himself hope. Parker had been there eight months, and she was still alive. How? He asked himself, not knowing how she had survived for so long. On lampreys? His hope shattered at the thought, as another lamprey slid by and Parker acted quickly, grabbing it just like she had the first one.
This time she saved him some. He looked at it and choked up. “It’s out of the question,” he said disgusted.
“Suit yourself, more for me,” Parker didn’t hesitate and swallowed what was left. “But it’s the only nourishment you’ll find around here. As you can see, the selection is rather… completely missing,” she smiled ironically. “We treat our own prisoners well. They don’t,” she added, still hoping to convince him. “Hunger will convince you eventually. I’ve already been through this, I’m just trying to save you time.”
As Brier ignored her and continued digging, sounds began approaching the heavy door of the cell. They both became still, with their eyes fixated on the door. It opened heavily, its hinges crying. The enemy guard came in, his spear ready to fire, he looked at both for a second, then grabbed Parker before Brier had time to react. In a second, they were gone.
Brier gasped for air in a panic. What is this? Why now? Damn it, damn it!! Soon, he thought the heard screaming from an adjacent cell. He forced himself to listen, and realized it was Parker. What are they doing to her? Torture? What could she possibly know? She’s just a volunteer. As much as he tried, he couldn’t make sense of it. He forgot about the carving, and began pacing the cell again, anxious to hear them come back. He paced for hours before the door opened again, and Parker’s body was thrown in. He dashed towards her, and tried to help her get up.
“Are you alright?” He couldn’t find anything else to ask.
“I am now, I’ll be okay,” she answered with half a voice.
“What did they do to you? Why you and not me? I don’t… What could you possibly know?” he was confused, he didn’t even know what question to ask first.
“I don’t know, I don’t know anything… but…”
“But what? Why?”
“You don’t understand… They’re changing me, they’re turning me…”
“What?” his confusion grew exponentially with each word she said.
Parker became quiet. Instead of words, she showed him. As she unbuttoned the front of her jacket, he noticed she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. Slowly, she turned around to show him her back. One look was enough. He knew they were turning her into one of them. They had started with the skin, working from the outside in. Once the skin was completely replaced, it would have taken over her internal organs and rearranged them one by one. Slowly, her organs would start producing their own lizard juice, which would eat her human blood until there were no more red cells left. And then the transformation would be complete.
“They do this to all the prisoners. Haven’t you ever wondered how we’re outnumbered all the time? They just have to take their time with the skin, it takes the longest because otherwise the epidermis wouldn’t resist and the body would crumble. Everything else happens quickly, I won’t even know it,” she started crying loudly this time, with no attempts to hide the pain. She did try to hide herself in a corner, with her face to the wall, her shoulders sunken into her body, as if that would have been enough to keep her from his sight.
Brier wanted to know more, but he could see her body shaking and left her alone. He went back to carving his holes, now more furiously than before. He couldn’t let this go on. They had to get out of there somehow, and there was no hope of outside help. In the back of his mind, the thought of his lost partner lurked. He still needed to find him.
He dug and dug, for hours on end, until more holes appeared. He used the holes he already had to support his weight against the wall, and keep digging upwards. The higher he got, the more difficult it became to keep balance, but still, he kept on. He finally reached the grate above, and was able to lift himself into a hollow space, maybe a vent.
“Parker, I made it up,” he had to yell to get her attention. “Your turn, you have to try, we may be able to get out through here, it’s gotta lead somewhere,” he urged her with the tone of his voice and the gestures of his arms.
“I can’t, I’m… I’m just too weak, I’ll never make it,” she answered from below. “Besides, I’ve always been afraid of heights,” added.
Afraid of heights, he thought, How can you be afraid if heights when you’re flying into the open space? He didn’t voice that. He only said, “Alright, wish me luck then.”
“Good luck, captain,” she said and then turned inwards again.
Brier started crawling to his right, into a narrow, toxic space with air he choked on at every move. He crawled through slimy mud until he reached a grated spot, like the one in the ceiling of his cell. He looked down and saw a gurney. On it, a human body was sprawled with limbs tightly cuffed. The man didn’t seem to be alive, but a sudden jerk of the head assured Brier he was. His hair color was familiar. It’s him, oh, it’s him. He knew he was looking at his partner, all helpless down there. Before he could even begin to think about a rescue, it was too late.
A burst of bright light blinded him for a second, and then he could see enemies around the table. They all wore outfits reminiscent of human lab coats. One was pushing a floating metal plank, on which strange tools were laid. As they gathered around the gurney, Brier’s line of sight became blurred. He heard a loud whooshing sound, and suddenly felt his body elongate beyond his control, as if a giant ventilator was trying to swallow him. He tried to hang on to the slime on the walls of the narrow space, and failed. A memory from his childhood flashed before his eyes, as he realized he was being drawn in the direction he had come from. The grate, I have to slide back in through the grate, he thought just as he fell through, into the grossness of his cell floor.
The sound of his body hitting the floor seemed to wake Parker up, as she had dozed off in her corner. The jarring impact with the floor broke one leg, and shooting pain took over his entire body. Parker was near in an instant, and tried to help. There was nothing she could do, but tell him to be still and quiet for a while.
“You have to rest, you have to…” Parker was crying again. “I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to do with broken bones,” she almost whined as Brier attempted to get up. He couldn’t. He couldn’t bare the pain and now he didn’t have any choice but try to be still for a while. He clenched his teeth and his fists, as if trying to hold the pain inside. Losing his cool was not an option. He had been hurt before, he knew how to deal with it. He closed his eyes and started short and shallow breaths, and it helped for a while. Parker settled by him, and put his head in her lap.
“Hang in there, Parker, you gotta hang in there, I found him, he’s here, he’s close, we can still do it,” he managed to slip through his teeth as if she was the one that was hurt.
She started slowly caressing his face with the reluctance of a girl touching a man for the first time. His breathing slowed down as he whispered: “My fleet has orders to come looking for me if I’m not back in thirty six hours. I’ve been here twenty already, that leaves us sixteen hours. I can find a way to get to the other half of the weapon in sixteen hours… And they’ll come looking and we’ll be fine, we’ll be fine, I promise,” he could barely speak anymore, he knew he didn’t make sense to her. She probably thinks I’m delirious because of the pain, he thought. He missed the serenity in her eyes.
The soft touch of her hands lulled him to sleep for a while, but the shooting pain still reigned and he woke up nervously, to find her hands still. He looked up and saw her eyes were closed. He didn’t dare move at all for fear of waking her up, but that was useless as she soon did so on her own. Her soothing hand started moving again, and Brier remembered his home and the touch of his own mother. We don’t have time for this, what if they come for her again, he thought as he attempted to get up. I have to get to him, I have to get to him now.
He managed to stand up despite the pain, and started towards the wall. He wanted to try climbing again. Parker followed closely behind, but when they reached the wall, she took his hand and forced him to turn around. With her eyes fixated on his, and her hand touching his face again, she said softly: “I’m only 17. I’m the youngest volunteer in the entire fleet. I was on the shuttle only because my father pulled some strings. I never considered what I had to lose,” she continued using her hands as if on the face of a lover, from his face down his neck, and lower to his chest, her eyes now lingering on his lips. “I’ve never…,” she said as she stretched up to him, to reach his mouth with hers. Brier didn’t move, and let her, for one second. She tasted like salt, but her lips were just as soft as any others. It lasted but a few heartbeats, because the heavy door opened again and the same monster as before snatched Parker once again, as Brier was paralyzed.
“Are we completely alone? Why is no one helping us? You said they’d come!” She yelled as she was being dragged away, her voice more agonizing than anything he had ever heard before, piercing through him, and twisting his entrails.
Then silence wrapped around him again, as he shrank into a corner, his heart beating fast with the anticipation of her screams. The pain in his leg was nothing compared to Parker’s torture. Soon, her shrills reached him and all he could do was cover his ears in a futile attempt to keep them out of his mind. He only removed his hands after Parker was thrown back in.
She stayed on the floor, face down, her shoulders barely moving at the rhythm of her inaudible tears. Brier approached slowly, as if afraid to startle her. He leaned over her body and gently rolled her over. He almost fell backwards when Parker faced him. The skin on her face had been replaced, and now two human eyes appeared grotesque amid the shiny scales of foreign tissue. They’re so close, he thought and his strength dissipated instantly.
It took all the will he had left to touch her without betraying his repulsion. He pulled her into an embrace and held her, as if that was enough to help. He had considered her last words, and decided to take a risk.
“We’re not alone, Parker,” he started, and never noticed the satisfaction in her eyes. “What I said before, about our allies, it’s all true. They’re waiting for our signal, they’re all gathered in waiting in the shadow of the Solstice. But… even if they don’t come, I have a weapon. Well, I have half of it. The other half is with my partner. There’s still hope. You can help me find him, and then we can destroy them. We can still do it. We haven’t been defeated yet.”
Parker broke the embrace as the heavy door opened again. He didn’t want to let go. She pushed him and saw the confusion on his face, as he turned around at the sound of hinges creaking. She started moving towards the guard, quietly and steadily, as if she knew something he didn’t. Before she walked out of her own free will, she turned around and said:
“You never saw it, Brier. You human fool! They are changing me… but they are changing me back. To what I was. You are defeated now.”
The heavy door slammed shut, leaving Brier behind to rage and convulse at the thought of what he’d done. It took him but a moment to understand. He stood there, letting a river of bitter tears flood him. He couldn’t think. There was no point in thinking at all. He had just decided the fate of the war. One man, a few words, a pretty face, and all human race was lost. Forever.