Page 3 of Meteor Storm

When humans introduced themselves to the galaxy as a spacefaring species, we needed friends. The valerians knew it. It turned out, they needed us, too. A dwindling population wounded by centuries of war with the gek’tal meant they needed military numbers. And humans were good at numbers. We were overpopulated, so in exchange for a promise to help them in their time of need, we were provided power. We couldn’t mine syfer ourselves since they had control over a highway leading to their main territories and we were not granted full access to it. The warp abilities of their gates were the only way to get from one place to another without spending 70,000 years in cryo.

As far as we knew…

So, we were trading. Military numbers to aid a war that may or may not get rekindled for unlimited energy to power the Nexus. We were on retainer, you could say, but no one believed any war would actually come knocking.

I knew the ins and outs of the Nexus and its functions. I was a quick learner. I knew how to be useful. I had training and an ability to follow orders.

Which is why I knew that military power wasn’t the only thing humans were giving to the valerians. Humans were trading something else and keeping it from the general population. And when one secret is kept, then you know there are more. And there are always powerful people that don’t like things being kept from them.

I was fairly certain the gek’tal knew something, too, and that’s why we were attacked.

I didn’t expect a full-on assault to interrupt my mission. I was so caught off guard that half the people I was responsible for died before we even knew what hit us.

I was devastated.

Maybe it was better to be knocked out in the chaos after that. That way I didn’t have to see the horrors unfold during the assault. That way I didn’t have to think. Hope. See. I could die in peace in an ocean of blackness.

But again, things weren’t going to be that easy.

Next thing I knew, I was waking up in small bursts, the world around me changing. I saw darkness at one point and were it not for the pain in my right leg, I would have thought I was dead. The next time I woke, I saw blurred images through a dirty pane of glass and heard muffled voices all around me. Unfamiliar voices. The vague shapes I could see through the glass were anything but human.

I wasn’t sure if I meant to pass out again or if I was truly in that bad of shape, but the world disappeared again for some time.

I’m not saying I expected it to be fine when I finally woke up again, but I was hoping the situation would have improved.

I was lying in what looked like a glass tube, my body naked and on display. Yellowed lights surrounded me, illuminating me from all angles. Outside my tube was a group of onlookers with faces that didn’t look real. I took a deep breath, hoping I’d gain control of my limbs, but alas, I felt paralyzed. My heart started to race. My fingers tingled. My eyes felt hot and dry.

My worst nightmares didn’t involve violence or monsters. They involved me being powerless.

I needed to gain control.

Breathe. Just breathe.

Another few deep breaths and I could logically take in my surroundings. I counted three different species—or what I thought were three species of aliens—standing around me. There were half a dozen of them looking at my naked body and knowing I couldn’t do anything about it made me feel sick. A tall one with large eyes and a skinny face was cocking his head from side to side as if sizing up a racehorse. Another with a gray, ape-like face and wiry, sparse strands of hair snorted and stepped up to my tube to place a thick hand on the glass. Lastly, a dull green mountain of muscle stood at the back with another of what I assumed was the same species, arms crossed over his broad chest. Any other details escaped me through the glare on the glass around me.

Muffled words were exchanged in a language I couldn’t understand and then two of the aliens seemed to come to an agreement. The tall one with big eyes and another ape-like creature pulled out small devices and seemed to trade something between them. Finally, the tall one waved a hand at his equally lanky companion and they approached my tube.

The whole thing began to move, but to where, I couldn’t tell, because the glass seemed to darken until it was tinted nearly black and all I could see outside of it was shadows. I blinked, my eyes stinging, and hoped that when I woke again—if I woke again—I would have control of my body. I begged God to at least give me that.

Give me the chance to fight for myself…

2: Penny

When I woke, I almost thought I’d lost my sight. It took a minute for my eyes to focus and by then I realized I hadn’t gone blind. The room was just sickeningly white.

I was in a small, square cell with slick walls. The entire ceiling was some kind of light, and it immediately gave me a headache. I rolled over on a hard floor and gasped with surprise when I realized I wasn’t alone.

A couple blinks and I recognized I’d just been startled by my own reflection.

Which was still completely naked and almost unrecognizable.

“Shit,” I hissed, covering myself with my hands and sliding into the farthest corner to get my bearings.

Cold, naked, confused, and helpless. I had never felt quite like that in my life. There weren’t even any seams in the walls to tell me there was a door to leave through. There was no cot to sleep on. Nothing. For all I knew, I was going to starve or suffocate in that box.

Then I heard a little whirring mechanism somewhere in the room and in the corner of my eye, I noticed a slit open in the wall. Through it came a silver tray with a few items vaguely resembling food stacked on top of it. When the slit closed, I crawled over to the tray to sort through my options.

My stomach hurt, it was so empty. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been unconscious or if I’d eaten anything in that time, but it felt like I’d been starving for ages and I was beyond dehydrated.