Captain Zern Krechan
I was getting tired of these dark rooms in Parra’s prison. Everything about it was making me feel agitated and restless. I wanted to fight, and yet, I knew that I was at a disadvantage. How was I supposed to get out of this without some sort of miracle? Being trapped infuriated me.
“Zern, are you in there?”
And now I was hallucinating too. That was just great.
“Answer me if you are, or we are going to leave you here.”
I sat up and went to the door, now fully aware of Lila standing outside. She had been consuming my thoughts all this time, and I was unbelievably glad to know that she was all right.
“I’m here, but you should be getting yourself out of this place. It’s dangerous.”
“He’s in there,” Lila said, completely ignoring everything I said. In a few short moments, the doorway to my small cell had been forced open, and Lila was standing outside the room, smiling at me. “This is Shen. Shen, this is Zern. Now we have to get out of here. They will be back anytime now.”
I was shocked to encounter my very first Olpa. The Olpa were an ancient race, thought to be extinct by most in the universe. They had been rumored to live in the center of many planets, much like the magma worms. The difference was that they were a peaceful and wise species, who kept to themselves and remained neutral in all affairs unless personally affected. Apparently, Parra’s vast tunnel system was starting to affect them. It was the first glimmer of hope that I had had for quite a while.
“There is no time for formalities,” I said. “We need to find our way out of here. Olpa, can you show us the way?”
The Olpa nodded. “There is a way out of this labyrinth. But you will have to go it yourself. We do not see the light of day and avoid easy detection. It was by chance that the human found me. Come and follow; I can take you to a safer place.”
We followed the large creature silently as he led the way. He seemed disgusted by the place. And I couldn’t blame him. Although it was somewhat impressive for Parra to have figured out a way to utilize the planet this way, apparently it was interfering with everything that the Olpa stood for.
When he stopped suddenly and then hefted a huge boulder out of the wall, Lila and I were both shocked. It was a tunnel that glittered with beautiful minerals. The Bardans and the Raithers clearly had not created it.
“I will take you as far as the fork, but I cannot travel into the light. It is forbidden.”
Shen moved forward laboriously until we came upon the area that he had been speaking about.
“I trust the two of you can take it from here,” he said. “Safe travels.”
And with that, he left us staring at him as he disappeared into the darkness.
***
“You really shouldn’t have come back for me, you know. He could have taken you here without me.”
The human looked hurt by my accusing tone, and I sighed, softening my features as much as I could. Still, I was angry. All I wanted to do was ensure her safety. Why did she keep risking her neck for me?
“I don’t care what he could do. I’m not leaving without you. What would the point be?”
“Maybe the point would be to make sure that you are safe. What happens to me does not matter. You should take care of yourself and yourself alone.”
“What, like you do?” Lila asked, raising her brow at me. “You do a really good job of practicing what you preach. No, and let’s get the hell out of here. We don’t need to be fighting about this. It’s stupid. Both of us are just going to keep doing whatever we want to do, and that’s the end of that.”
I sighed but nodded curtly. We were just wasting time bickering like this. If we spoke too loudly, it was possible that we would be overheard by the Raithers or the Bardans. It was lucky that they were so few in number and so busy attempting to make their plans work out that they had nobody to guard any of the prisoners.
And yet, I could not shake the feeling that there was still danger. I could not place it, but it was there nonetheless.
“There,” Lila exclaimed, pointing ahead. “I see the sky. We’re almost out of here. Come on!”
I couldn’t help but be affected by her enthusiasm, and we ran forward without caution, eager to finally escape this hellish underground tunnel.
But as soon as we emerged, smiling and laughing and sucking in deep, gratifying breath of fresh air, somebody stepped out in front of us and cast a shadow over our happiness.
“Well, look at that. So the Olpa found you, did they? I was going to let them live, but now, those pesky little rocks are going to regret ever having interfered.”
I glared up at Parra, who was standing beside his entire army. And although they were few in number, we were surrounded. It seemed hopeless.
“Go back in the tunnel, human,” I shouted. “And stay there until I call you. Now!”
I was relieved when, for once, the human actually listened to me without a complaint and disappeared into the tunnel.
I didn’t wait for any more formalities and immediately began my attack. I grabbed a Bardan and held him in front of me as the others began to fire. He acted as my shield, crying out in pain as the pellets struck him. I managed to grab the gun out of his holster and fire at the enemy shooting at me, aiming for their eyes. Cries of agony filled the air as the Bardans dropped their weapons and I continued onward, taking out everybody but the three Raithers, who were already aware of my strategy and preparing themselves to retaliate.
I was attacked by the first group of two Raithers, who came at me, one from in front and one from behind. I thrust the body of the Bardan at the Raither in front of me, and they both fell to the ground. I quickly shot the Raither in the head and whipped around just in time to get a hard punch to the face. I stumbled backward as I was struck by the Raither’s bullet and then quickly dodged another blow. I wrenched the gun away from him and caught him with a bullet to the throat. He began to gargle in pain and dropped to the ground.
Parra watched the whole event with interest, smirking the entire time. He didn’t seem too keen on helping his comrades, and a surge of fury washed over me. Why would a man like this have so many followers? It made no sense.
“And you wonder why I was hoping to recruit you,” Parra said, shaking his head approvingly. “Well done. Now let’s see how you do up against a real fighter.”
I was suddenly on the ground with the wind knocked out of me. The gun that I had managed to grab from my enemy was flung for my hand, and I was left defenseless. Parra’s attack had been impossible to detect, and part of me was holding myself back. All those years I had been vowing to myself that if I ever encountered Parra again, I would apologize for our past misdeeds and try to find some peace. But peace was no longer an option. I had to protect the human. There was no other choice.
A deep growl began to rise in my throat, and I got back to my feet, taking the knife from my belt. Parra’s eyes grew wide. Apparently, he recognized it.
“I’ve been looking for that,” he said, lunging toward me.
I managed to slice him in the legs as I dodged his attack, and I was hit once again with another hard blow. He grabbed the gun out of his holster and shot at me, and I cried out in rage and pain. It had struck my shoulder, but I managed to keep a firm grip on the knife. I switched it to my other hand just as he was coming in for one more attack, and plunged it deep into his chest.
He gasped in pain and crumpled to the ground, and I closed my eyes, plunging the knife into his back one last time. He collapsed, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was never going to deal with him again.
I ran back into the cavern, my eyes searching wildly for Lila. We had to get out of there. There was nothing left for us.
“Lila, come on,” I hissed. She stepped out of the shadows, her beautiful face racked with concern and fear.
“I had no idea what was going to happen,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m so glad that you’re all right.”
“Yes, but it is time for us to get out of here. Come, we have to go back to the ship now. I have to call the others for help, otherwise, we will be trapped on this insidious planet forever.”
Lila’s eyes grew wide, and I took her into my arms, consoling her with a brief hug. “We cannot waste any more time here. It is time to leave.”
Lila nodded, and we left the underground prison, leaving all memories of the tormented and corrupt species behind us.