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The deadline would be the moment the sun rose.
Then, I would be trapped with no chance of escape.
A shout issued from one of the other rooms.
Maybe it was one of the guards on duty, I thought. I lowered my head and returned to considering my situation.
Another voice shouted in the dark.
It was loud, frantic.
The translator chip in my arm couldn’t understand it.
For once, I understood the sound from the alien’s throat better than the device did.
It sent a shiver up my spine and chilled me to the bone.
The scream was one of fear and pain.
I didn’t need to know what the word was.
I didn’t want to know what it was.
It couldn’t be anything good.
Then another shout rang out, louder this time, closer, from a different throat.
Men burst from the neighboring rooms, boots scuffing the soft sand outside.
Should I go out there?
Did I even want to see what was causing the commotion?
I moved to the front to peer through the slit when a helmet slipped inside.
“Ah!” I said, starting back.
“You must leave now,” the guard said, voice hissing via his communicator. “You must leave now.”
He reached for me and I pulled back.
The guard stretched inside further, and then stopped, unable to come any closer.
He shuddered and paused for a moment.
He glanced over his shoulder and then turned back to look at me.
Although I couldn’t see his expression, I knew terror when I saw it.
He shot back, quick as a flash, into the darkness beyond.
The flap waved gently, disturbed by his rapid departure.
He hadn’t chosen to leave.
Something had forced him to leave.
I swallowed and gingerly pressed the fabric aside.
