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Cricket chirps at me before disappearing into the vent, but other than that, they ignore me and soon, I can’t even hear their happy insect noises. “Hmm. Alright. Whatever.” I shrug to myself. They’re free now, they can do whatever they want. “Who’s next?”
Over the next hour, I go around the cells, releasing the captives and removing their collars. I start with Nikolai, who stares at me with wonder and follows me around as I release the others. He’s a tall but somewhat gangly man, certainly not a fighter. He even admits to hating violence after he figures out that I can understand him.
He’s Russian, just as I’d suspected, but he doesn’t talk about his home much. He does, however, talk about secretly studying medicine despite his father’s wishes and he curiously examines the dead bodies and all the other aliens in the cellblock.
Tareq lets me know he signaled his friends and is hiding until they arrive, which shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. He also says that he sealed off the section of the ship containing our cellblock, meaning no guards should be able to get to us.
In one cell, there’s a feral wolf-like creature with eight spindly legs. He snarls as I approach, clearly not understanding I mean no harm. My lizardman guard snarls back at him so ferociously, a startled squeak escapes me. What a scary guy. I wonder who’d buy a slave like him. He’s certainly not cut out to be someone’s obedient exotic pet.
The eight-legged wolf whimpers in fear and tucks his long tail between his hind legs, showing his throat in a sign of submission. The lizardman grunts his approval and gestures to me to enter the cell.
I’m still a little wary, especially as I lean in to remove the wolf’s collar and see the long rows of his teeth from up close. He doesn’t attack me though, just whines and whimpers even after I’ve removed his collar.
“It’s alright, buddy,” I try to calm him, cautiously patting his neck. “The scary lizard won’t hurt you and neither will the slavers. You’re safe.” My hand is wet and I realize it’s covered in the wolf’s blood. “Oh, you’re hurt?”
I part his thick fur to see where he’s bleeding. It seems that his collar was either locked on too tight or he’s hurt himself trying to get it off. Either way, there’s a long wound around his throat and his fur is matted with blood.
“Did he hurt you?” Nikolai asks from the cell entrance, watching my bloodied hand.
I shake my head in response, pointing at the wolf’s neck. I don’t speak, because it’s making Nikolai nervous when I talk to him and he can’t understand me.
“Oh, he’s hurt from the collar,” he correctly concludes. “I’ll take a look at it.” He approaches, letting the wolf sniff his hand before patting his head. “Aren’t you a good boy?” he coos, scratching behind the wolf’s ears. “Oh, yes, you’re a good boy. You’re not going to eat me, are you? Of course, you aren’t. Let me look, alright? I promise I won’t hurt you.”
I smile as Nikolai continues whispering to the wolf, calming the creature down so that he can inspect the wound. Seeing that he’s got it covered, I move on to the next cell just as he rips his shirt to create improvised bandages.
By the time I’ve finished with the other captives, I’m sweating. It’s odd. The room has always felt rather chilly to me, especially since I’m almost naked, but right now? It’s like someone has cranked up the heat.
My headache has returned, too. It’s probably an aftereffect of holes being drilled into my head, I decide. Or dehydration. I gobble down a water bottle just to stay on top of it, then decide to sit down.
I’m tired. Perhaps it’s the adrenaline wearing off or something, but I feel like I could sleep for a week. My eyelids feel like they are made of lead. I’ll just take a tiny nap before Tareq comes back. I need to be rested for later.
Later. I giggle. It’s my new favorite word. Laaaater.
Damn, I’m tired. I’m not sure I’ll be able to fall asleep with the pounding headache, though. I need aspirin. Alien aspirin. Aliespirin?
Someone’s giggling. Oh, it’s me. Something’s not right.
“Astra!”
I groan. Why can’t people just let me sleep? It’s not Monday anymore, is it? I hate Mondays.
“Astra!” Someone shakes my shoulder. I pry my eyes open to see Nikolai’s worried face. “Astra, wake up!” he repeats. “You need to stay awake. The vents, they…” He staggers and leans against the bars for support. “There’s no air coming from them anymore. Everyone’s getting dizzy and weak and vomiting and… I think we have CO2 poisoning. We need to get out of here.”
“Ceeeee Oooooh Twooooo,” I repeat, giggling. It sounds funny. Alarm bells ring in the back of my mind and I shake my head, trying to clear it.
No air. That’s bad. That’s very, very bad. Veeeery baaaad. Dammit, I need to snap out of it.
“Door?” I ask, weakly pointing toward the cellblock door.
Nikolai nods and takes the keycard from my hand. Huh. I didn’t even know I was still holding it.
I watch him stumble through the corridor with uncertain steps. The lizardman follows, dropping on all four and panting heavily. All around, there are aliens staggering or outright lying on the floor. Some are clutching their heads, some are vomiting, some look unconscious. Fuck.
The situation is going downhill, fast. We need help. I should call Tareq, but my fingers feel too numb to press the buttons on the comm device.
Chapter 20
Tareq
