Authors: Samantha Leal
Kylie had been surprised when somebody burst into her apartment. She could tell by the light sound of the footsteps that it wasn't Kane, and when Gina appeared to her, she quirked her head and concern. She had recognized her as the bitchy woman from the testing room, but now the expression on her face was hardened and serious. Before she had a chance to ask what was going on, Gina pulled out a large needle and stuck it painfully into Kylie's arm. Kylie opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, she collapsed onto the floor.
She remained semi-conscious as Gina lifted her easily onto her back, carrying Kylie as if she were a lamb, and ran to the corner of the room where an ominous red light was blinking. It looked a lot like the same kind of light that had pulled her away from her summerhouse by the lake, and yet it looked much more sinister. She tried to squirm away from Gina's grip, but whatever she had been injected with left her weak and unable to struggle. She cursed out loudly, but the sound was muted by a whirring noise. The blood rushed into Kylie's ears as they were transported into another ship.
Terrifying beings glowered down at her. Gina had dropped her onto the floor unceremoniously, and they were all craning their long necks down to study her. Their faces were wilted, almost as if they were melting. The color of their skin was a wood-like brown, and at the back of their heads they had crowns that reminded her of a triceratops. She studied them in disgust, shivering despite herself on the cold floor of the ship. The ship wasn't well lit like the Legacy was. Instead, it was dark and somber, and she felt immediately afraid.
“I did as you asked," Gina said, pacing around the room anxiously. “Now I want my payment. You promised that I would get another dose. Something to ease the pain, you know. You said that the medicine would be able to help right?”
The beings surrounding Kylie made no indication that they had heard Gina, and simply continued to study Kylie. One of them, clearly the leader, extended a long, bony hand and opened his palm toward Gina.
“Where are the notes?" he asked, without looking away from Kylie.
Gina's face suddenly fell as she realized that she forgot to grab the notebook from the ship as she ran toward Kylie's room. She thought that it would be the main priority to get rid of the girl. But somehow, it had slipped her mind to bring her notes.
She didn't have to speak for all of them to realize her mistake. One by one, the Codans turned away from Kylie and fixed their steely gazes upon Gina.
“What? I delivered the girl just like you asked me to. That was the most important thing. They were right on the brink of figuring out how to fix this virus. But since you have her, you can find out first. You can be the ones to fix me like you promised. That was the deal."
“The deal was that you keep an eye on Capt. Kane and his absurd crew, get us all of the information possible, take meticulous notes, to be delivered to us on time when we arrived. You did a great job giving us the location and delivering the girl, but that was only part of your job. For the rest of it you have failed and therefore there is no deal between us any longer. Take her away."
Gina's face fell, and she began shaking her head and begging for them to reconsider.
“I brought the girl," she cried out loudly. “What more would you want?"
“I want what they have. The research they have done. Without it, she is almost useless. Show no mercy. Execute her at once. She knows too much already."
“No, please!" Gina cried, as they began to drag her away.
Finally, Kylie summoned up enough energy to be able to speak. Everybody paused and turned to her as the words began to escape her mouth.
“You stupid girl," Kylie said, her eyes closed. “They would have fixed you if you were just honest. And they would have done it for free.”
Gina stared at Kylie, her eyes widened and her face filled with fear. Kylie found it difficult to pity her for. Gina was going to be executed by the people that she thought would save her, and she had turned her back on her one chance of liberation. She had a strong feeling that Gina was addicted to the rush of the pharmaceutical medicine. Probably, the strength of the painkillers that they were offering her were too alluring to resist. She didn't want a cure – she wanted the rush of their drugs. And now she would get neither.
She had overheard Kane mumbling to Korda in the laboratory about how sad it was that so much of the population were being turned into zombies and addicted to the serums that the Codans were handing out. He saw it as a way to keep everybody dependent on what the Codans could offer rather than having to find a cure for the virus. He even speculated that they had started the virus themselves, as a form of germ warfare, so that they could begin to colonialize the universe and establish themselves as the ultimate power.
Listening to Kane talking was easy to dismiss. She didn't feel as if anything that he was saying pertained to her or was real. She had never experienced any of the things that he was talking about, and she found it difficult to believe and understand them. But now that she was looking into the faces of these ugly, terrifying beings known as the Codans, she believed everything that Kane was saying, and felt an urgent desire to see his handsome face, and get off of this terrifying ship where she was no longer safe.
***
Meanwhile, on the Legacy, Kane was barking orders to everybody. As soon as he realized that Kylie was missing, he had set out to do what only the most crazy and foolhardy people had ever tried to do. Find the Codans.
They were the most powerful race in the universe, between their ability to enslave the masses with their virus and being the only hope of cure for the pain associated with it, and the powerful army that was at the leader's beck and call. They had completely destroyed his planet decades ago, leaving him bound to the ship where he tried to avoid all detection. His race was known for their strength and intelligence, so it was no wonder why they had been pursued and obliterated. He had managed to save the crewmembers, but everybody else had been destroyed. It was why he was so well protected. Everybody was loyal to him because of his strength and bravery. He had kept them together as their worlds fell apart.
And now, they were being put to the test as he demanded them to put their lives on the line to save a woman they had accidentally abducted just a week ago. Many of them thought he was crazy, but they knew that he had his reasons. Although they were concerned with his personal feelings getting in the way, they followed him blindly and prepared the ship to take on the terrifying Codan army.
He knew that he was testing their resolve and he was proud of them for stepping up to the challenge even though it seemed impossible. It made him glad to be their captain, and soon they were on their way. He was happy to know that they were probably not prepared for an ambush, and that they wouldn't have had a chance to get very far since Kylie and Gina had just recently been abducted. He rushed around the ship demanding that they keep their sights targeted on the Codans and maintain as much of a cloak as possible to keep them out of the Codan's radar.
Kane was terrified that they might have already killed Kylie in cold blood just to keep the possibility of an antivirus as limited as possible. That would mean that he would no longer be able to liberate the races from their evil clutches and provide them all with a cure to the problem rather than a temporary and unhealthy solution that made them into zombies perfect for the Codans to control. He was filled with fury as soon as they were able to lock onto the target, and he told everybody to stay put as he leapt alone into the beam, where he was immediately transported into the cargo hold of the Codan's ship.
Kylie tried to squirm away as she was taken to a room that had no windows or furniture. It was completely dark, and she looked around with a squint as they closed the door on her and left her in complete silence. She tried to plead for help, but it didn't work. Whatever Gina had injected her with had left her unable to do much. All she could do was hope that Kane might be somewhere out there and willing to rescue her from the Codans.
In the meantime, Kane was moving cautiously through the cargo room, avoiding detection by dodging behind boxes. Nobody had noticed that he had been transported, which was all the better for him. He pulled his weapon out of the holster at his side and walked slowly toward the doorway. He had to try it a few times before he was able to crack the code and release himself from the hold.
Kane walked cautiously down the hallway, ducking behind corners whenever he saw a threat. E had a team following him wherever he went on the ship so that if he were in a bad position, they could just beam him back to the ship and make their escape. They didn't know where Kylie was, and he knew he had to find her quickly before they found him. Korda was on a small communication device in his ear, giving him coordinates. He had a ray fixed onto the ship so that he could sense the heat of everybody on board. The Codans had very low body temperatures, while Kylie was hot.
“It looks as if they have more than one human on board,” Korda said into the microphone. I am picking up at least two. They're on opposite ends of the ship. I really hope that you can make the right choice in time.”
Kane growled to himself in frustration. He felt obligated to save them both, but only one of them was Kylie. Only one of them he cared about. And not just because she could save the universe. There had been a sense of intimacy between them that he couldn't shake off. He wasn't stupid and knew that there were rumors around the ship about the two of them falling for each other, but he had not thought much about it until now. He would never have risked his life for any other person like this. They would have thought of something else to do. But this girl was different. Somehow, she had his heart.
In a moment of intense deliberation, Kane chose to go left. Korda gave him directions to follow through the ship and he did his best to avoid detection. Finally, he reached the end of the bay and peeked inside a dark room. He had to try for a while at the code to the door, and he knew that after three wrong tries the alarm would be sounded and he would be caught. Fortunately, he got the door open on the second try and pushed his way inside, his eyes wide and searching for Kylie.
He was crestfallen when he saw a man staring at him. It was an earthling, and his eyes were wide with fear.
“What are you going to do to me this time?" He asked, backing away as quickly as he could from Kane. “Please just leave me alone."
Kane's heart lurched in sympathy for this terrified man, and he lowered his weapon.
“I'll rescue you if you like, but if you make so much as a noise we're both dead, do you understand that?"
The man nodded dumbly, and Kane ordered Korda to set the coordinates to beam him away. He hoped that it wouldn't set off any alarm bells, and hurried away from the room before he was sucked into the beam as well.
It hadn't been Kylie, but he did manage to save somebody. The thought should've been comforting, but all it did was bring him a sense of dread and panic. If the Codans noticed the beam from his ship, they would all be doomed. He had to hurry.
He waited for Korda to give him the instructions and warn him of any codons coming his way. For some reason, they were all gathered in the top area of the ship. He wasn't sure what to make of this and did his best to run as quickly as he could to find Kylie.
Suddenly, the alarm bells began to blare. His heart lurched and he sped as quickly as he could down the hallway, where Korda promised that Kylie was laying. He fumbled with the lock, not caring if he set off any more alarms. Although it would alert everybody to his location, at least he would be able to escape by the skin of his teeth.
The door finally opened, just as Marxus appeared in front of Kane. Kane's stomach dropped, and he fired his weapon blindly, screaming for Korda to beam them into the ship.
“Just the man I've been wanting to see," Marxus said, unphased by Kane's weapon. Kane shot again and Marxus dodged out of the way, swooping into the room toward Kylie. Kane knew that if he didn't get there first, she would be dead.
Kane rushed forward, using his body to separate Marxus from the woman he loved, throwing himself fully in front of Marxus and colliding with his sickly body. A light began to flood the room and Kane clung to Kylie's limp form. He couldn't tell if she was breathing or not, and soon he was clinging to her on the floor of the Legacy. But there was a problem. Marxus had been beamed alongside them.
Kane paled as Marxus struck out at one of his crew members, knocking her dead where she stood. A cry of rage escaped his lips and he lunged forward toward Marxus. They both fell to the floor, tumbling together until Marxus pulled Kane up by the collar of his shirt. Suddenly, everybody on the ship rushed forward, separating Marxus from Kane and beating the ever-loving hell out of him. They formed a strong crowd, pushing Marxus toward a chute. He growled in anger as he stumbled into it, and Kane struggled to stand up and catch his breath, watching as his people got rid of Marxus once and for all. He was quickly sucked into the chute as one of his crew members, he recognized her as the sister of the woman Marxus had killed, pushed the button.
A furious cry echoed in the cabin as Marxus was sucked out into space, and they all looked away as he killed by the impact. They all watch this happen in a daze, until Kane came to his senses and commanded that the ship speed away quickly before anybody else came after them. He then ordered Korda to give Kylie something that would combat the effect of Gina's needle. He rested her side and picked her up carefully, carrying her to his own private chambers. Korda met him in the hallway before he walked in and gave him a small cup to allow Kylie to drink.
When she opened her eyes, tears of relief flowed from Kane's eyes, dampening his cheeks.
“I thought I had lost you forever," Kane said, his voice choking up. Everything happened so fast. Marxus was gone and now Kylie was back safe and sound. They were truly going to save the universe.
“I knew that you would come back for me," she said weakly.