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When a smoky image appears like a ghost from the dead, I stare in disbelief.
This can’t be happening again. Please, not again.
One freaky looking alien with whiskers—a Cadus, as I have since learned they’re called—steps out from the smoke like some mystical creature, then another, then another.
Tia grabs my arm roughly. “Myla, we need to run!”
She spins and sprints away, followed by me and Jax. Sounds of laser fire swish past my ears.
“They’re trying to kill us!” I cry.
“This way!” Tia’s voice trails behind her as she turns first left, then right down another corridor.
Glancing over my shoulder, I heave out, “I think we lost them!”
Tia abruptly stops in front of a small metal grate with square cutouts. Not wasting any time, she grips both sides and rips it off the wall, leaving a hollow opening.
Bending down, Tia crawls inside, followed by me, then Jax. My breath hitches at the sheer enormity of it. A small metal platform, around three feet wide, circles the edges on each floor, which are connected by metal ring ladders. The expanse is large, a true demonstration of the exact size of the ship.
“Come on,” Tia urges, turning toward the wall and grabbing the metal ladder, hauling herself upward one ring at a time.
“Where are we going?” I call after her as I grab the first ring to follow.
“Up a section.” When she reaches the top, she steps to the side and waits for me and Jax.
Joining her on the platform, I dust my hands on my pants. “Where does this lead to?”
“The crew’s quarters. Not that I’m ever allowed up here.”
Tia looks a little annoyed, or maybe frustrated about our current situation; it’s really hard to tell.
“Why’s that?” I ask.
Jax snorts, and I focus my attention on him instead. “Have you seen those three guys of hers? I’m surprised they haven’t ripped me apart yet.”
I scrunch my nose. “They’re that jealous?”
“No,” she grins over her shoulder, “that protective. I’ve had one or two near fatal incidents, so they try to keep me safe.”
Looking around at the vacant, mechanical workings of the ship, I wonder aloud, “Shouldn’t we just stay here for now?”
“No way!” Tia and Jax chime in unison.
“What if Bastian, Moak, or Serkan need me?” Tia adds.
“This is what I’ve been training for. I’m not hiding out like a coward.” Jax crosses his arms and I’m not sure if I just insulted him or not.
Does that make me a coward because I don’t want to go out there? Those, those—aliens—were the ones who attacked the Earth transport ship and sold me to the Acradidia. Are they looking for me, or is this some random attack? It doesn’t matter. I am not, I repeat, not going back!
Using the heel of his boot, Jax kicks the small covering away, kneels and crawls through the opening. Looking both directions, he calls back over his shoulder. “It’s clear!”
Tia crawls out next, then me, albeit reluctantly. Following Jax, Tia and I practically dance on our tiptoes after him and into someone’s quarters. I’m guessing it’s his.
He strides over and jerks open a closet door, reaches up top and grabs two weapons. After handing one to me and one to Tia, he grabs a third for himself.
Unlike the ones on the Acradidia home-world, this stun gun appears Earth-made.
“Let’s go,” he says, leading the way.
