Chapter 3
LILY RETRON - EARTH COUNCIL EMBASSY DIRECTOR
"Dammit. Think Lily think” I said to myself as I walked back and forth in my new prison, a living quarters inside of a massive mothership belonging to the Corillion.
I could not believe that I was in this situation. The Corillion were up to something, and it was something massive. “Why the hell would they want to get into the archive? It makes no sense,” I whispered to myself.
I did not know who this Corillion was, but he was obviously in charge of something. He had mentioned a second in command, which meant that he was the first in command, but in command of what? In the ridiculous argument during our encounter I had forgotten to find out what his name was. It was very unfair. He knew everything, and I mean everything, there was to know about me, and that terrified me. How long had the Corillion been watching me? How much did they know? How much did they hear? How much did this particular Corillion see or know himself? It was very unnerving and frustrating.
"Who the hell was he?” I whispered to myself as I sat on the small bed. I thought about what had happened--not the battle on Earth and the fact that I had been taken--but the fact that I felt my body respond to him when he pressed his body against mine.
"Lily, you fool!” I shouted at myself in anger. I hated the Corillion. They disgusted me. I hated them with every fiber of my being and with good reason. But just moments ago I was responding to one of them, one who was very attractive and that had me forgetting my hate toward the Corillion. I hated my body for betraying my mind. Why the hell did I feel turned on in that moment? Was it just the danger of the situation? Or was it something else? I did not know what to think of it because I had never been in this situation. The truth was I had never been that close to a Corillion in real life before. It was very different than I thought it was going to be. I imagined something much worse, but there was something very familiar about it. His mannerisms were very human. In fact, he was very much like a human male; a dominant and arrogant human male jackass, but still a human male. That thought had me feeling very confused.
"Concentrate Lily. Stop thinking about that moment and concentrate on the matter at hand. They want the archive code to get access to the archived city plans of every city on Earth. Now concentrate and figure out what that could possibly mean. The lives of millions of humans and the planet itself relies on it,” I said to myself as I got up from the bed and paced the room. I thought better when I was moving. Of course, this Corillion was correct in that I did know the code. There were very few humans that did, but I was one of them. They had done their homework correctly. However, there was no way in hell that I was going to give that code to him. I didn't care if they killed me. I would be dying for a good cause. I would be dying to save humankind and Earth, and that was something that I was willing to do. I wouldn't think twice about it. But right now, I had to do more than that. I had to figure out why they wanted the code and get word to the Earth counsel about what was happening. I didn't know how I was going to do that but I had to try. The ship was absolutely massive and I could see getting lost inside of it. Of course, I didn't look like anyone else I had seen aboard, except something told me that there had to be some human females on the ship as well. Like I said, it looked like an entire city.
When I had walked out of the ship on to the landing port I could not believe my eyes. They were prepping for a massive invasion. There were thousands and thousands of battle ships waiting to be flown. There were masses of Corillion warriors preparing artillery that could last several years. And that was just one floor of the massive ship, the landing port floor. When I looked out my window, I could see that it was several stories high and so big that I could hardly see from one into the other. They were prepared for an invasion of a planet, and not just a battle, but something that would defeat and conquer and determine who would stay on Earth. The thought sent chills up my spine. I had to do something. Then I remembered that right before the transport I was in had crashed, I had called my own scientist, Dr. Waldrorf, to analyze the report from Mr. Richardson.
"Yes… that's good, that's really good. If anyone can figure it out it is Dr. Waldrorf. He will figure out that it is a countdown to an invasion and the Earth council will know in a few days.”
Then I remembered something else that the Corillion had said to me. He had said that everyone on Earth would think that I was dead because they had shot down my transport.
"Shit. If they do not send a hunting party for me, then they will not launch into space. They have to launch, so that they will see the massive mothership on the other side of the moon. Shit. I have to communicate with them somehow! I have to get out of this room,” I said as I walked over to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge. It was locked. I would have to figure out something else.
I racked my brain over the next few hours trying to figure out something. I looked down at my bare feet, wishing that I had worn more sensible shoes that day. As I was staring at my polished toes the door opened. I was expecting it to be the Corillion who had taken me, and I was prepared to give him a series of questions that would perhaps give me a clue about what they were doing, but it was not him. Instead another Corillion stepped in the doorway. I disliked him instantly. There was something about him that was very menacing. His brown hair and brown eyes gave him a very dark look, but different than the other Corillion’s dark good looks. His blues scales on the right side of his body had many battle scars including a very large one that went from the top of his shoulder down to his sternum. He frightened me. But I stuck my chin in the air and crossed my arms and stared at him.
"Lily Retron, director of the Earth counsel. It is an honor to have you with us. My name is Yiri,” he said to me in a regal manner. I was already familiar with the name as it was the other Corillion’s second in command. He had spoke of him and his methods of getting answers, which I knew meant torture. Goosebumps appeared all over my body as I realized that he was here to harm me to get those answers.
"I want to show you something. Come with me,” he said as he gestured with his arm toward the door. I was scared to follow him. Was I being led to a torture chamber? I imagined chains and hooks with small dirty tools to carve me with. I did not move.
I realized that this was an opportunity. Wherever he was taking me, it would give me a chance to scope out my surroundings and gather information. Perhaps I could figure out a way to get communication back to Earth. I had to take the chance. I nodded to him and walked out the door into a brightly lit hallway.
"This way,” he said to me. I followed him down the hall and looked to the left and right, taking it all in. It was a long narrow hall with doors all the way down it, but they all looked like my door. It seemed we were in the hallway of living quarters like mine. I needed something else. I needed a communication floor or technologically advanced area of the ship. Even the landing port would be great because I could possibly get onto a ship and use the communications, but the landing port was crawling with Corillion warriors. A quiet room where I could lock myself in and send a transmission would be best and that's what I was keeping a look out for.
"I suppose that my superior has told you why you are here,” he said to me.
"Your superior?” I said, pretending that I did not know who he was speaking of, simply as a tactic. Now he was going to tell me the name of the Corillion that had taken me.
"Yes, Zian Crace, my superior. I am his second in command,” he said to me.
"Yes, of course, Zian. He did tell me,” I said to him. It worked. I now had the name of the Corillion that had abducted me.
"And are you ready to hand that information over to me?” He said in a very polite way that scared me. It was always the most menacing torturers that used a pleasant tone and smile. It was almost worse than if they were yelling and being mean. It only showed that they were completely psychotic, and Yiri had a good set of crazy eyes to match his eerie smile.
"I won't hand it over. I have already told Zian that," I said to him as we turned down another hallway and into an elevator. I watched him push the buttons in an attempt to learn everything that I could. Then the elevator moved and I could feel that we were going down.
"I understand your reluctance to give me the information. But I must encourage you to give it peacefully,” he said looking at me.
"Or what? You are going to torture me until I give it over? Do it. I am ready to die for it,” I said to him.
He laughed. His laugh was very boisterous like a madman. It just made me more nervous. The elevator doors opened and we walked out into a hallway. This was more like it. The walls were covered in electronics, flashing buttons, and more. There were doors that led to various rooms and a few of them were open. As I peeked inside the doors as we walked I could see that they were rooms with technology. It was possibly what I needed to communicate with Earth. I would have to remember everything about how we got here and how to do it quietly.
"I thought you might say something like that. I admire that. It is always you diplomat types that are so regal, abstinent and defiant. You are not the first one that I have come across that would rather die than betray their kind. Please, this way,” he said as he opened a door to a room.
I walked in and was surprised at what I saw. I was not in a torture room at all. In fact, it was a quite comfortable room with a seating area and a large screen communication device. It was perfect. It was exactly what I had hoped I would come across. This would be a way to contact Earth. I now knew exactly what I needed to do. I needed to somehow come back to this room secretly in order to contact Earth. Or, I could find some way to knock out this Corillion warrior named Yiri and do it now. As I walked toward the long bench I searched the room for something heavy to hit him on the head with, even though I knew that would not be an easy thing since he was about 8 feet tall, as all Corillion were.
"Please sit down,” he said, pointing to a couch. I sat down, hoping that he would do the same. At least he would be a lot lower if he sat and I could figure out how to knock him out. But instead of sitting down, he went to the communication device.
"As I said, I have come across many like you, the martyrs. The ones that are willing to die for their cause. It has always been a tricky situation for me, since trying to get answers out of someone that is not afraid of death is not easy. Trying to get answers out of someone that is not afraid of pain is not easy. But then again, I do love a challenge,” he said with that menacing smile again.
"I do, I really do. But I enjoy my work, and like I said before, you are not the first that I have come across like this. So, I already have a system in place to deal with humans like you. So far, this system has always given me results. I know that it will work on you as well. You are not really a challenge, and I am just going through the motions at this point.” he said as he crossed his arms and legs at the ankles and leaned against the console of the communication device.
"I do not know what you are getting at. If you are going to kill me then just do it already. If you're going to torture me then just do it already. You will get nothing out of me.” I wanted to egg him on, hoping that he would try to something on me because I might be able to hit him over the head with something in the struggle. Then that would give me enough time to contact Earth.
He chuckled. ”You are a fiery human female. I can see why you are the director of the Earth counsel. You are tough. Too bad you are not a Corillion warrior, because you would be a great one, maybe even greater than Zian Crace, ruler of all Corillion.” he said as he turned his back to me and begin to push buttons. I processed what he had just said. Did he say that Zian was the ruler of all Corillion? How could that be? I knew that the Corillion were ruled by the High Council, but I had never heard of an all ruling leader. How could we not know of this? And furthermore, how could it possibly be the same Zian that had pinned me against the wall? That Corillion was nothing but a brute and not a wise and old Corillion, worthy of ruling an entire race and galaxy. I was so caught up in this thought that I did not see what Yiri was up to until he turned to me and said,
"I am not going to get on with killing you or torturing you as you requested to go ahead and get it on with. In fact, I am not going to harm you at all... physically."
"What is that supposed to mean?” I said, getting annoyed by his strange ways.
"As I said before, I have dealt with your kind and the only way to get you to cooperate is not to hurt you, but to hurt someone that you love,” he said as he began to type on the communication device.
My heart fell to my stomach and I hoped that he was not going to do what I knew in the pit of my stomach that he was going to do. The screen on the wall was black and then suddenly a video image appeared. It was Earth as though from the satellite and zoomed down closer and closer into the capital city. Then suddenly it was on a very familiar building.
"I won't. As long as you give me what we are asking you for,” he said as he turned and looked at me with a smile. Behind him on the screen the image zoomed into a very specific spot and a photo headshot came up of my sister Adelaine. That was her building and her apartment and her photo. Next to it was a lot of data, just like the report they had on me.
"Your sister Adelaine is going to suffer for your lack of cooperation. If you do not tell us what we know that you know, then we will kill her. We will kill her slowly and she will suffer. Her life is in your hands, Director."
"You are evil,” I said to him as tears begin to form in my eyes. Adelaine was my baby sister and I took care of her and looked after her. I would do anything to keep her safe, and they knew that as they knew everything about me. Fuck. I was going to have to tell them. I would not put her life on the line the way that I was comfortable putting mine on the line.
"As I said before, I am used to dealing with your kind. This is the system I have in place and it has never failed me. The martyr types are always willing to die for their cause, but they are never willing to make someone else die for their own cause. It works every time,” he said smugly and very proud of himself.
"Fine. It has worked on me as you said. But I will tell Zian directly and no one else,” I said to him, knowing that this would at least buy me some time so that I could think of a plan.
He shrugged his shoulders and said, “That can easily be arranged. Now let's get you back to your room, where there will be a pleasant meal coming to you," he said with all the happiness of a cruise director, although it only came off as very creepy coming from him. I stared at the photo of my sister. I missed her already. It was possible that I would never see her again. But I wanted her to live a long and happy life and I sure as hell wasn't going to allow her to die by the hands of the Corillion, not after what happened to our father, not again. I stood up from my chair and started to walk toward her photo wanting to memorize every feature in line to burn it into my memory knowing that it could be the last time I looked at her face. But as I stepped forward staring at her photo I was doing something else, I was looking at the buttons that Yiri was pushing. I was trying to learn how to use this communication device. Then the screen went black and he turned to me and said,” Let's get you back. Zian will be pleased to hear my report that you want to speak with him and have a gift for him,” he said as he pointed toward the door.
I narrowed my eyes at him with hate and turned toward the door. When we walked down the hallway I counted every single door to remember which one we were in, the sixth door on the right from the elevator. That would be easy to remember. In the elevator we went up three floors. Once I was back in my prison living quarters a tray of food was brought to me, but I was too nervous to eat. I had to think of a plan and I had to think of something fast. I looked down at the food and it was unfamiliar to me. I was scared to eat it because it would probably make me sick. I could not be sick, as I had too much to do and too much to figure out.
"No, that is it. Maybe I do want to be sick. Zian said I was too important and they needed me alive. I had the information they wanted. They needed to keep me alive and well," I said to myself as I moved over the tray of food. I began to eat and drink and it was actually very good. I didn't think that it was really going to make me sick, I am sure they were used to feeding humans. But that would not stop me from pretending to be sick. It was the perfect plan.
"What the hell?!” He said as he ran over to me. I was lying on the floor against the wall in a fetal position. I was wet with my damp hair sticking to my head from sweat. My face was flushed and I was very, very, hot.
"Food… I ate the food… sick,” I said as I groaned and faked a sharp stomach cramp as I yelled out.
"Shit!” He said as he scooped me up off the ground and ran me out of the room. “Call a medic and tell them I am on my way with a very sick human that needs immediate attention! She is very important! Food poisoning!” he shouted at the guard as he ran past them.
"Just hang in there. We're going to get you some help,” he said to me quietly.
I faked another stomach cramp as I moaned loudly and began to gag as though I was going to throw up. Good, it was working. My plan was working and I would soon be in a medic room where it should be much easier to escape than a locked living quarters. I was being moved into a busier part of the ship where I could disappear down to the communication device and get a message to Earth. It was my only hope.