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.