Authors: Lizzy Ford
“Like pajamas,” she said in approval at the comfortable outfit.
Mandy looked at each necklace again as she lifted the peach medallion to tuck it beneath her shirt. The one filled with broken glass shards she removed. She slung the water satchel across her chest and moved to the open area outside the room, where Urik and Penal waited for her.
Interested in trying to open the necklace, she didn’t notice when they stopped talking and stared at her. She glanced up and held out the small storage box.
“This is the one Gonor said to give to you,” she said to Urik. “He put stuff inside, but I don’t know how to get it out.”
Urik blinked and took it. He shook it once, twice, then opened it and dumped the glass shards onto his hand.
He shared a look with Pinal then smiled.
“I knew he was good,” Pinal said, once again pleased.
“It’s pretty,” Mandy said and leaned closer. Urik held out his hand to her. “But why do you want broken glass?”
“It’s only the rarest type of currency we have, outside of energy shards,” Pinal explained. “This amount will buy us a city.”
“Glass?” she asked. She touched it. The edges of the glass were worn down from time, but there was no mistaking the translucent colors, like colorful vases lined up in an antique store’s window. Amber, clear, pink, green, blue … all glinted in the light of the flameless fires. “It’s plentiful in my time.”
“This
is
from your time. Or so historians believe,” Urik said. “Which is why it’s so rare. Ten thousand-year-old fragments from a world long gone.”
Her gasp made them both look up. Mandy’s throat was almost too tight for her to breathe. Urik replaced the glass in its box.
She stared at the box containing the fragments of her world. She knew how valuable ancient Roman coins and Egyptian artifacts were in her time. These were even rarer. She watched him place the necklace around his neck, trying hard not to think of all she’d lost. If she didn’t continue telling herself this was a long dream, she’d just fall over and cry herself to death.
“I’m ready,” she said with a deep breath. “I want to leave. Can you take me to a star gate?”
She thought Urik looked amused.
“There is one near. We can leave the city soon but not now,” he said. “We have to wait until the patrols subside.”
“We’ll show you first where we must go.” Pinal said.
Dread settled heavier into her stomach. Mandy trailed them as they took her through a narrow doorway and up a set of stone stairs, these normally spaced. The stairs exited at another door-less doorway – a staple in the future, she mused – and onto the roof of one of the large Lego-block buildings.
“This is the city,” Urik said, sweeping his arms out. “There are the gates and the great beyond.”
The city consisted of dark cubes, fog and grayness. She faced the gates. They were made of larger blocks, lower than the surrounding buildings. She could glimpse what looked like black sand beyond and maybe, a river. But between them and the walls was half the city.
“The city ends at the River of Sludge. It’s filled with a thousand years of chemicals that will paralyze a man with its scent alone,” Urik said.
“Then the scorching sands start,” Pinal added. “They burn through our boots, even when it’s cold. We must cross both to get to the star gate.”
“You are more …” Urik looked her up and down “… delicate than we are. Your pure human blood makes you valuable but it renders you vulnerable to our world.”
Burning sands. A poisonous river. Foam Twinkies.
“We can’t just ask Akkadi? He seemed decent to me. Maybe he’ll understand?” she asked, feeling ill at the description of their path.
“If he didn’t kill you, there’s even more reason for us to flee fast,” Urik said. “He might be tracking you to find us. I don’t trust the Naki-gods and definitely don’t want them knowing where I am.”
“If they catch you, they’ll peel your skin and melt your eyeballs,” Pinal said. “Do you want that?”
“No, of course not,” she replied, confused. “But if he wants something from me, like my genes or whatever, then why not bargain for my trip home?”
The two laughed.
“Even if we knew where to find him, his kind would kill us long before we got near enough for you to speak to him,” Urik said, smiling. “No one survives an encounter with Akkadi.”
“I did,” she pointed out.
“That worries me. I can’t take you to the clouds. But I might be able to get you to the star gate.”
She mulled his words and looked up, unable to see the clouds beyond the black fog. They were convinced of her danger from Akkadi, but she wasn’t. He had more than a chance to do whatever he wanted to her and rather than hurt her, he comforted her.
“The star gate is no good with no power to make it work,” Pinal said.
“What do you mean?” she asked. “Even if we get there, I can’t get home?”
“Energy is always in short supply,” Urik said with a sharp look at the half-human.
“You’re right. We have to survive the journey first.”
Mandy looked between them, her hope of leaving wavering.
“We’ll do our best to get there and worry about the energy shards later,” Urik added at her look of dismay. “We’ll leave in the morning. Eat and sleep. You will need your strength.”
“Come, human,” Pinal said, not unkindly. “I’ll take you back to your room.”
He led her off the rooftop. Mandy went, not sure how they thought she could sleep after such news. Pinal left her with more edible space foam and another lunch box of water. The lights dimmed as she lay down again and stared at the ceiling.
This was real. Her one hope to get home lay with a lizard-man and a stranger, and even they weren’t convinced they could help her. Mandy’s hand wrapped around the shard Akkadi had given her. The way it changed temperature made it seem alive.
She wanted to think she’d wake up on the plane, but she knew now that wasn’t likely. No, she was stuck ten thousand years in the future on a dead planet filled with diseased half-aliens.
I need a drink.
Chapter Three
She didn’t remember falling asleep but awoke with the medallion still clutched in her hand. Shouting came from outside her room. She pulled on the sock-like shoes and walked out, shocked to see what looked like an all out battle raging around the auditorium. She recognized the men in black as Urik’s and those in silver as Akkadi’s. There was a third group of men in green she took to be the Ishta.
They all fought each other with weapons that made no sound but burst with light. Men fell, indicating there was some sort of impact from the light weapons. Her eyes sought Urik and Pinal, but they were impossible to find in the melee.
A figure in green vaulted onto the block before her, and she scrambled back from the edge of the stairs. It approached, tall and thin, with its head covered in some sort of hood and mask.
“Urik!” she cried, backing into her room.
“Mandy, stay in –” Pinal bellowed from somewhere in the auditorium.
She darted into the room and looked around wildly for something she could use as a weapon. Her heels met the back wall. The creature in green reached for her. She squeezed her eyes closed.
Now would be a good time to wake up.
She didn’t.
He flung a hood over her head, bound her wrists before her and grabbed her arm, leading her out of the room. Suddenly, his grip fell away, and she heard the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the stone floor. Before she could react, someone else grabbed her and yanked her a few feet before he, too, released her and fell to the ground.
Mandy was still, listening to the scuffling around her without any ability to see what was going on. The sounds settled and someone took her arm again. He hurried her through what felt like a maze of hallways. Finally, she felt the heavy breeze and the dampness of fog, indicating they were outside. Her abductor slung her over his shoulder. The breeze disappeared, replaced by the sensation of being in an elevator that lasted for a few minutes.
He began walking again but didn’t go far. She was deposited in a heap on the floor. He removed her hood. She recoiled. Pinal was a half-lizard; this creature was a full lizard. He released her hands and stepped away. A glass-like door closed behind him.
Mandy shivered. She looked around and found herself in some sort of cell with transparent walls. The transparent cage was six feet square with no sign of a door or a window. There were different variants of half-human, half-alien creatures imprisoned on either side of her. The one on her right was staring at his feet.
She followed his gaze and gasped.
The cages dangled over an open bay leading into space. Far, far below was the Earth, empty space filling the area between her and the planet. Suddenly dizzy, she fought back her sense of nausea. She wasn’t normally afraid of heights, but there was nothing normal about dangling in the middle of space.
Movement in front of their cells drew her attention. Cloaked and hooded figures lined the small chamber, the openings of their hoods facing the cells. One of them in a green sash paraded in front of the mysterious figures, pointing to cages as he gave a speech muffled by the cell walls.
Mandy pressed her hands to the front of her cell, trying to determine if Urik or Pinal was among those there. When she saw no one familiar, she focused on trying to open the door. There were no hinges or knobs or levers she could see. Panic growing, she ventured a look down and almost threw up.
Calm. Stay with Urik.
Yeah, she wasn’t following Akkadi’s instructions at all.
The robed figures spoke from the shadows of their hoods. Every once in awhile, one moved, lifting a hand. She watched for a moment before realizing they were at some kind of auction, and the auctioneer with the green sash was going down the row of cages, raffling off the prisoners.
He reached the cell beside hers. No one raised a hand for the prisoner. Instead of moving on, the auctioneer touched the front of the cell. The floor dropped out from under the prisoner, sending him into space. Horrified, Mandy covered her face. The prisoner’s scream ended abruptly. She dared not look at what happened to a body dumped into space. Her breathing was ragged and loud in her ears by the time the auctioneer reached her cube.
Mandy gripped the medallion, heart somersaulting in her chest. He spoke and gesticulated, paused then spoke again.
No one bid for the human. The creature in the green sash approached her cube.
“No!” she cried.
Just as his hand moved towards the invisible button that would dump her into space, someone bid. And then someone else. Suddenly, everyone’s hand was raised. Mandy sucked in a breath, staring at the display. The bidding slowed, until only two still had their hands raised. One fell.
The auctioneer bowed his head then stepped to the next cube. Mandy released her breath, sinking into a corner, trembling. No one bid for her neighbor, either. She closed her eyes at the sound of his scream. Four more prisoners were released into space. Mandy stayed in her corner, willing this nightmare to be over at last.
Finally, the raffle ended.
The auctioneer and most of the bidders filed out. Those who’d won approached the cubes. A ten-foot tall figure in silver opened the door to her cell. Mandy stood. Beckoning her to follow, her bidder started towards the exit at the other end of the room. She risked a look at the others. Most prisoners were placed in collars or shackles and led away.
Mandy hurried after the man who freed her, unwilling to wind up back in a cage.
He led her into the ship, through a hallway that glowed with bright, filtered light from tall panels lining the walls. Her footsteps made no sound on the smooth floor. She looked around for intersections with other halls or doorways but saw nothing, just the seemingly endless corridor. The creature she trailed passed through one of the lighted panels. Mandy hesitated then followed, bracing herself to run into a wall.
She walked through it. It seemed to be a mirage; there was nothing there.
He waited for her on the other side in a small room with two bright walls and two the same shade of the very solid floor. He pointed to a spot on the floor near a solid wall. She went, too shocked to run.
When he didn’t return after a few minutes, she sat down on the floor. Was being thrown out into space a better fate than what awaited her now? How did she get back down to the Earth and Urik? Why did a river of chemicals and poisonous sands sound appealing right about now?
She sat for what felt like an hour before growing restless. She stood, needing to find a way out of the small room and afraid this was a cell of some sort. Hesitating only a moment, she closed her eyes and stepped through the lighted wall they’d come through, only to smack into someone on the other side. This hooded figure also wore silver and backed her into the room. Mandy scrambled out of his way, heart pounding.
The figure motioned for her to follow. He went through one of the other lighted walls. She looked towards the hallway again then trailed him, surprised at what lay beyond. She had been so close to this room, and it was far more pleasant than anywhere she’d been yet. The spacious quarters reminded her of a penthouse apartment. The walls wrapping around the room were windows into space and the floor plan divided into four spaces by a thick, central block.
The figure disappeared into the block.
Drawn by the image of Earth, Mandy went to the windows. They were so clear, she wasn’t sure there was anything between her and the universe. She put her hands on the windows to reassure herself and gazed at the world that was hers. The images of the earth she’d seen on the television showed a planet that glowed blue and brown. The Earth she saw out the windows was black and brown.
Her attention was caught by the movement of sleek spacecraft moving between the planet and the space station she was on. She watched it, astounded at the idea this was real. She heard clothing rustle as someone approach her and stop a short distance away.
“What happened to Earth?” she asked, dismayed. “It used to be so beautiful.”