Chapter 51: Volume II: Chapter 18: Out of the Frying Pan

The doctor, Shoke, slid the needle into Chleo’s arm. Will cringed in sympathy as she flinched. Almost a day had passed since the neons showed them the farm.

Back in their cell with, thankfully, enough slack in their leashes to pace, Will and Chleo used the time between Shoke’s frequent visits and endless questions to pitch escape ideas. They both had weapons, they just needed to find a way out of their harnesses.

“You said both of your parents are human, yes?” Shoke asked. Chleo nodded, only providing enough to seem like cooperation. “What about your grandparents?”

She shrugged. “I never met them.”

“Any pictures?”

She paused pretending to think. Will thought about the shack and it’s odd decorations, not a photo in sight. Mechanical cameras were kilometers outside the Mathews’ budget.

“Not that I remember,” she said her brow furrowed. The questioning continued, some repeated from earlier, others new and seemingly random. Will watched as she danced a delicate line. Lying would give his watch away. He berated himself for not giving it to Mic. Telling the truth would make them expendable, a position that rarely ended well for prisoners. He wished he could-

Something exploded. Their heads snapped toward the noise. They stood frozen, listening.

Shoke lifted his wristlet, tapping it a few times. Will watched his shoulders tense, recognized the fear shooting up the man’s spine. Chleo, close enough to see the wristlet’s screen, gasped.

Will sighed. “What now?”

~*~*~

Jack lay awake glaring at the space skimmer’s ceiling, the glow coming off of Dai, Merk, and Eelock lighting the cargo bay in a bright purple. Over the years with his hood on, he’d grown used to sleeping in the dark. He cursed the craft and the man who sold it to him.

It was small, it was noisy, and it wasn’t built for a trip to the moon. The adjustments to the engine took too long, and he doubted the hull would last during entry. Instead of riding in on a white horse, they were limping in with a lame donkey.

He turned to his side, the sleeping bag adjusting to the change. Merk let out a snore behind him. Closing his eyes, he tried to imagine Melody’s arms wrapped around him, Chleo safe in the next room.

“It will all work out,” she said, a promise whispered in the motion of the ship. The phantom of a kiss pressed against his temple. Her laugh tinkled in the vents as the life-support kicked on. “You worry too much.”

He almost smiled, a tear sneaking down his cheek. “You’re right,” he said into his pillow. “You’re always right… Please, be right.”

~*~*~

They rushed down the hall, Shoke’s glow lighting the way. Chleo spared a glare for the balls floating behind them. The doctor refused to release them despite the constant explosions rocking the mines. Her breathing hitched. Her vision narrowed.

They were in a mine. Sweat broke out on her palms. She forced her feet forward. Another blast rocked the walls, and the nearest brace shook. She tried to race forward, but her harness held her at Shoke’s pace. The restraint made her stumble.

Will, trailing a few steps behind, paused to help her up. “His wristlet,” he mumbled in her ear. “Are you all right?” he asked louder.

She sucked in a breath and tried to convince herself they were somewhere else. They were outside by the waterfall in Eelock’s village. The blasts weren’t bombs. They were… rocks banging together as they fell… yes, that would work. Will gave her a look. She must have said it out loud. “I’m not a huge fan of being underground apparently.”

The balls pulled at their leashes forcing them forward. She fell in step with Will. She bit her bottom lip as they ran. Shoke’s wristlet, bold idea, Will. Even the thought made her feel dirty. Only the worst kind of criminals stole wristlets. They were unique to each person, customized to their tastes and moods, their very identity in society.

The thought of someone else using hers, however basic the model, made her cringe. Still, it was their best chance to escape. They didn’t need to get out of the harnesses, just control the balls, something Shoke’s wristlet could do.

They turned a corner and froze. A wall of lab coat clad humans stood in front of the only door. Barrels of some sort of weapon sparked as they whipped around to point in their direction. The humans straightened to attention on the command of a man in the back, his black lab coat the only identifying feature in a sea of white.

Their goggles glimmered in the glow of almost a dozen Neons stuffed in a cage hovering near the door. Chleo scanned the group spotting Tilly’s glowering face and Renny’s terrified muttering among them. Shoke’s shoulders fell in resignation. He cast a look back at Will and Chleo, the apology clear.

“Step forward with your hands on your head,” the man giving the orders said. Shoke turned back to the humans.

“I won’t go back,” he told them calmly.

“Step forward with your hands on your head or we will shoot,” the man repeated. The first line of weapons buzzed, their sparks growing more agitated.

Shoke said something in Neonian, the others in the cage fidgeting at the message. Before the man could order the humans to fire, he pulled out a syringe and plunged it into his leg faster than Chleo could see. One second he stood tall and strong, the next his glow fluttered. He dropped to a knee. His glow sputtered. Then he fell into a dull heap on the floor.

Chleo stared in disbelief.

“Thank the Star you’re here,” Will exclaimed next to her. He rushed forward, stumbling over Shoke’s body. Chleo’s mouth hung open. They may be human, but she doubted this was a rescue. “They wanted our blood,” he said scrambling to his feet. “You’re here to help right? You can get us home?”

The man in the black lab coat cut through the group. They parted as he approached, falling back in line once he passed. He moved to stand in front of Will, a glint lighting his eye as he considered them. Chleo tensed biting her lip. There was no way she was getting in that cage.

“Sure kid,” he said, “we can get you home.” A smile mocked his words. “Someone get them out of those harnesses,” he said turning back to his group.

“But sir,” one of the women in the front protested, “we haven’t broken their locks yet. We’ll need the lab—”

She was cut off by a charge and a sizzle, dropping to her knees. The man giving the orders dropped the barrel of his weapon against his shoulder. It smoked as she spasmed.

“Then wait until we get back to the lab.” He shrugged, breezing his way back through the crowd.

Two of the humans broke away to gather Chleo and Will into their ranks, the others sneering down at their fallen comrade. Chleo lifted a questioning brow when the balls controlling their leashes followed. Will shot her a knowing smile. The door chimed at the front and slid open. They all shuffled into a metallic room, the fallen woman crawling in last.

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It was small and dark, only the neon’s glow lighting the space. Chleo searched for a way out. Her heart clenched as the only door slid closed. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to control her breathing. Why in the ‘verse would everyone voluntarily enter a room with only one door? She barely felt it when Will’s hand threaded hers.

She choked back a squeak when the room rumbled into motion, her eyes snapping back open. Her hand squeezed around Will’s. Never again. She was never going into a mine again. Unstable, underground tunnels were where she drew the line.

The room jerked to a stop. Will brushed her knuckles against his lips using the motion to loosen her grip. Letting their hands fall, he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, to comfort her or him, she wasn’t sure.

The door slid open and she sighed in relief. Light from terra flooded the space, the planet peaking in at them through the opening. Chleo’s breath fogged the air around her in the sudden chill. She tugged her jacket tighter with her free hand.

“Hey, what are you doing?” One of the men grunted at Will as they filed through the door. The room was set into the side of a small mound, nearly impossible to see if you didn’t know where to look.

“Nothing,” he said, slipping his hand out of his pocket.

“Nothing,” the man repeated, eyes narrowing behind his goggles. Chleo wished for her own pair, sitting somewhere in their stolen ship with Mic. Sand and dust swirled in the wind making her squint to see. “You won’t mind showing me what’s in your pocket then, will you?”

Will shrugged. He reached in and pulled out his wristlet. “The clasp keeps failing, and I didn’t want to lose it.”

The man gave him a long look before deciding they were beneath his notice. Chleo exchanged a look with Will. He tilted his head down and scratched his sleeve, a suspiciously familiar wristlet peeking out from beneath.

“Set some charges and send the lift back down,” the man in charge ordered. “The cave in should handle anyone we missed.”

Chleo watched as a few humans ran back into the room setting out small blocks of explosives. She felt a shiver run up her spine for anyone still stuck in the tunnels. Hopefully, they built another way out.

Their job done, the humans rushed back out, hitting a button on the way. They all stared, waiting. It seemed a lifetime before the blast sounded, the ground rumbling in response. Chleo half expected it to erupt in a fit of steam and Dancing Lava. She had to remind herself she wasn’t on Luna.

Glancing over at the cage of neons, she made eye contact with Tilly. The woman let a toothy grin spread across her face, the hair on the back of Chleo’s neck rising at the sight. She looked away focusing on Will instead.

“When should we—” she started, stopping when he shook his head.

“Stay close,” he muttered.

Once again they were herded into the center of the group. Chleo and Will walked next to the floating cage, the balls with their leashes following behind. She felt like cattle being led to slaughter.

The landscape stretched, cold, dark, and barren. It swallowed the group as they trudged on over dusty hills and sandy craters. One of the humans misstepped at one point, sinking waist deep into a sand trap before his feet hit the bottom. He waded out, glaring at his indifferent colleagues.

“I could have died, you know,” he grumbled, falling back in line before the leader noticed. The man shook out his white lab coat gritting his teeth. “If I’m gone, who would take over the reptile splicing project?” No one seemed to care, those who didn’t ignore him rolled their eyes.

The walk dragged on. Chleo found herself studying Terra in the sky. Only one continent was visible from their vantage point, the head of Torr poked up over the horizon, its horns reaching into a pristine blue ocean. She wondered what her dad was doing, whether Eelock, Dai, and Merk were with him hatching some half-brained plan to rescue her and Will.

“Hey, Will?” she asked getting his attention.

“Yes?”

“Have you learned what Torr means in Neonian, yet?” A few heads in the cage perked up. Will’s brow furrowed in thought.

“I’m not great with animals. Eelock focused more on plants first. I know Tlaf is tree.” He shrugged, not knowing enough to offer a guess.

“Bull,” a voice said from inside the cage. Chleo turned searching for the speaker. Renny leaned against the bars staring at Terra ignoring Tilly’s glare. “It means Bull.”

Chleo opened her mouth to ask another question, cut off by the sound of something slicing the air. She ducked, pulling Will lower behind the cage.

“What are you—” he started, stopping when something smacked against the metal bars above them. He reached down to pick it up. “Is this an arrow?” he asked in disbelief. Chleo’s mouth fell open. Energy weapons charged around them, buzzing pellets into the distance at the man in control’s command.

“It is,” she answered. “Who uses arrows?”

Another round filled the sky. They both flinched behind the cage as two more clattered to the ground. The humans shot another round into the open. Chleo couldn’t see where the attack was coming from, and she doubted they could either.

She felt it before she saw it. The ground vibrated their only warning, her hand reached up to grasp Will’s sleeve unsure what else to do. Then they were on them.

Horses galloped into view circling the group. Chleo first mistook the men and women riding them for Neons until she realized their glow came from planet light reflecting off their skin. Green scales, fine enough to miss at first glance, decorated their skin as they yelled and beat at noisemakers on their saddles.

The humans opened fire, their energy blasts sliding over their opponents as if they were nothing. The horses whinnied, but ran on, their riders unaffected. More arrows shot into the crowd, lab coats staining red in the chaos.

“Will,” Chleo said, hand tangling tighter into his sleeve.

“I know, I know,” he said tapping at Shoke’s wristlet, “I just need to find… There,” he said, the balls zipping to their backs. “Here goes nothing,” he muttered.

“Tilly,” one of the scaled men yelled, “you called.” He laughed as he unslung a bow from around his shoulders burying an arrow in the closest human.

Chleo felt the ball tug at her back, the harness pinching her arms as they shot into the sky.

“Stop messing around, Jones, and get the girl!” Tilly’s yell followed them as Will zipped them away as far and as fast as he could.

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