Chapter 4
The top of my pod was still open and a pleasant-looking man appeared above me.
"Hello, Leia. You are my only passenger today."
"Yes," I said, not really knowing what else to say when he paused.
"The flight from Earth to Uoria takes approximately five days when the conditions are good. If you prefer, I can put you to sleep so that you can pass the trip in your pod rather than experiencing all of it. Would you like me to do that for you?"
My mind immediately panicked at the thought of him doing anything that would put me into a state of not being able to control myself or make decisions. It was much too close to what the men had done to me, how they had controlled me for years using drugs and manipulation to keep me as their compliant servant. I shook my head adamantly.
"No. I'll stay awake."
The pilot got a strange look on his face, but nodded.
"That's fine. We have plenty of supplies to sustain you through the trip. If you change your mind, though, just let me know."
"I will. Thank you."
"I'm going to go ahead and close your pod up now. It will open when we get out of orbit and it is safe for you to move around the rest of the ship. Make sure your seatbelt is secure and just relax. The takeoff is the worst part."
He smiled, but I didn't find his words terribly reassuring, and when he closed the pod, the loud clicking sound of the lid clamping into place made my stomach flip. I rested my head back on the seat and gave my seatbelt another tug just to make sure that it was tight around me. A few moments later I felt the pod around me start to shake slightly as the pilot began the lift-off process. The shaking grew more intense and right as I felt like I couldn't take it anymore, the shaking eased and I felt a tremendous surge upwards.
What felt like hours later, there was a click and a hissing sound as the lid to my pod popped open and eased upward a few inches. I released my seatbelt and pushed the lid up the rest of the way so that I could climb out. We were still days away from the planet where I planned to spend the next six months, but I already felt like Earth was a lifetime away. The sense of freedom and possibility surrounded me and for the first time in years I felt all of the tension, fear, and worry ease out of my shoulders. It would be less than 24 hours before it all returned and what was supposed to be my salvation became my hell.
I had just eaten a huge lunch and was settling into my pod for a nap on the second day of the journey when I felt the ship lurch and shudder. It settled only for a moment before shaking even more violently and tilting to the side so harshly I tumbled out of my pod and onto the floor. I heard a scream from the front of the ship where the flight attendant stayed for the majority of the time and then a series of pounding sounds that felt like they were shaking my bones.
The door between the chamber where my pod sat along with a table and cluster of chairs and the small room where the flight attendant stayed dented then split, and my breath caught in my throat as a loathsome-looking creature climbed through the break into my chamber. It looked like a slimy skeleton covered with ghastly white skin and oily strings of hair coming from its comparatively tiny head. Steeply pointed teeth jutted from its mouth and claws several inches long protruded from the ends of its thin fingers.
I scrambled backwards as four more of the creatures climbed into the room, the last one dragging the pilot along with him. They seemed to notice me suddenly, all of them turning their eyes to me at the same time and approaching with long strides that covered the floor space between us in seconds.
"What are you?" I screamed, flattening my back against the far wall of the chamber and starting to work my way around the room toward my pod.
"We are Klimnu," the first creature that had come into the chamber said in a voice that made my skin crawl.
"Run!" the pilot screamed, thrashing against the hands of the creature that held him, "Get into my cockpit and call for help."
The Klimnu that held him pulled the pilot up off of the ground and pulled his head back by his hair. The pilot kicked and another of the Klimnu grabbed his legs so that he couldn't move anymore. An instant later the one who held him slashed his throat with his fangs. The blood poured in a thick, glistening curtain down the front of his body and I felt my stomach turn. Pulling his head back further, the Klimnu burrowed his mouth into the pilot's neck until he found his spine, then bit through it with a sickening crunch. The rest of the man's body collapsed to the floor and the Klimnu held up his head like a trophy.
I fought the vomit that rose in my throat, struggling to stay in control and keep my mind clear so that I would have any chance at all to get into the cockpit and call for emergency help.
"What are you?" I asked in a strangled voice, still working my way around the wall.
The first Klimnu took a step toward me and I gasped, pressing myself harder against the wall.
"We are Klimnu," he repeated angrily.
"Why are you here?" I asked, the tears pouring down my cheeks like acid.
"Ynn, our planet, has become a wasteland. There is nothing there and even we are struggling to survive. We are going to Uoria to join our brethren there. There is no famine, especially with the Denynso to sustain us."
"What do you mean?"
The creature gave a horrific sound that might have been a laugh and was suddenly only inches from me, blocking me against the wall with his disgusting, slimy body. Instead of answering my question, he reached up and ran the tips of his sharp claws along my cheek and down my neck. I shuddered at the feeling, but when I tried to wriggle away from him, he tilted his hand so that the points of the claws bit into my skin like needles.
"You are a pretty little thing," he said, his voice lower now like he was trying to cajole me with his words, "I don't think I am going to let my men kill you. I would much rather keep you as my pet."
He looked at me the way that the men who had bought, sold, and traded me did and I felt myself grow dizzy with fear and disgust.
"I would rather die," I hissed and I felt his claws slash across my neck, digging deeply enough to make my blood flow but not enough to comply with my wishes.
I withheld the cry of pain that bubbled up in my throat. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of making me appear weak and vulnerable in front of him.
"Perhaps you will have the opportunity to experience both," he said and grabbed me by the front of my shirt, dragging me toward the door.
I felt the warmth of the pilot's blood soaking through my clothes as the creature dragged me through it on our way through the ship. No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't free myself from his grasp. I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was dragging me through the side hatch of the ship and I grabbed onto the sides, desperately trying to stay within the ship, but he pulled me so hard the skin tore from my hands and I couldn't hold on any longer. A moment later I was in a dark hallway and I knew my life was no longer my own.