“Good morning, Pria.”
Pria opened her eyes and squinted into a bright white light that was shining above her head. She didn’t recognize the voice, and searched futilely for its source. It was a man’s voice she was fairly sure, though much more musical than the voices she normally heard. There was something pleasing about it, an ethereal quality that made her chest swell with comfort. But who was he?
“Don’t try to move, you’ve been sedated.”
Sedated? But why?
Pria went against the man’s request and tried sitting up. She panicked as she realized the helplessness of her body and she tried to speak, but all she succeeded in doing was opening her mouth.
“No need to be afraid, Pria,” the man said soothingly. She wished he would never stop talking. But who was he? And why had she been sedated? Something horrible must have happened to her. She couldn’t remember though. Had she been in a car accident maybe? Was this a hospital?
“I’m sure you have many questions. Unfortunately, the solution we have given you won’t allow you to ask any of them for quite a while yet. I can assure you that you are going to be fine. No harm will come to you. You are in a safe place.”
The way he was speaking gave her goosebumps. Had she finally gone off the deep end? Pria closed her eyes tightly and tried to remember something, anything. But everything was blank.
“I’m going to leave you alone now. You will probably be in and out of consciousness for a while longer. When you’re feeling better I’ll be back to explain more.”
Pria opened her eyes quickly, afraid of the prospect of being left alone in the strange room without any knowledge of what was happening with her. The man seemed to sense this and looked over her so that she could see his face.
She inhaled sharply. She must really have landed herself in the loony bin. He looked mostly like a man, but there were some marked differences. For one thing, his head was bigger, and proportioned differently. His eyes were shimmering down at her, a color she had never seen before. It looked like a combination of blue, green, and silver. He smiled kindly at her and she felt her heart warm despite herself. Whether she was insane or not, at least this man was there looking over her. For some reason she felt completely trusting of him, and closed her eyes as she was pulled back into a deep slumber.
***
Zander left the room where Pria was lying immobile. He had taken her aboard the Legend, a ship he co-captained with Captain Kane. He had stopped for a while to fuel up and had asked him for help. He had finally found the woman who was the key to fighting the sinister virus that was plaguing the galaxy. Once they were able to perfect the vaccine, nobody would be at the mercy of the terrible Codans, who had taken the opportunity to provide relief from the symptoms in the form of hyper-addictive drugs and a fear campaign that was in the process of enslaving entire masses of people all over the universe.
He had never seen a human before, and she made him nervous. He felt a stirring as he looked at her, something unlike anything he had ever felt. She was profound and exotic, he decided. So much different from the women he saw of his own race, the Driads. According to Captain Kane, the humans were the key. Capt. Kane had discovered a woman whose genetic sequence had unlocked the secrets of the vaccination.
Unfortunately, it had turned out to be more complicated than that. In order for the vaccine to work, they needed part of it to contain blood of another human – the type who could potentially carry the disease should she come into contact with it. She wouldn’t die. Instead, she would spread it wherever she went. That was a huge risk, but Kane had entrusted him with finding Pria and keeping the carrier safe. If the Codans knew such a person existed, they would immediately turn her into a living bio-weapon. The crew on the Legend would have to be extremely careful and deliver her to Kane as quickly as possible. But not before they made sure she was completely compatible with their needs.
“Captain Zander,” Shef exclaimed, turning the corner. He stopped, leaning against the wall and panting. Shef had been his right hand man since Kane had entrusted him with the Legend, and the small, older man had immediately grown on him. Zander had been afraid he would mess up being in charge of so many people, but with Shef there at his side, it was almost impossible. Shef was always on top of things, and seemed to know just what was needed before anyone else knew that something was lacking.
“Hey Shef. What’s wrong?”
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Shef said, taking in a long, shuddering breath. “Codans.”
“What? Here?”
Shef, unable to get any more words out, nodded. Zander pursed his lips and ran with Shef to the dock, where Shef pointed out into the massive open space beyond. Zander squinted as he peered out, his eyes searching for the ship. Sure enough, a huge black ship was in the distance, hovering near a gigantic meteor that was spinning slowly.
Zander studied the monstrosity. He had never seen one up close. It looked kind of circular, with a triangular piece cut out at the front, like it was missing a piece of pie. But Zander’s whimsical thoughts were lost on the Codans, who were bloodthirsty tyrants that would stop at nothing for domination.
“I don’t think they have seen us yet,” Shef said.
“Good, then maybe we can get away. If they get their hands on any of this new information, that’s it for us.”
“Right,” Shef said with a nod. “Let’s go.”
They raced to the bay, and Zander’s heart thudded in his chest. He still wasn’t very comfortable with being in control of such a large ship. He had only just been promoted, and having all the people on the ship’s lives in his hands was intimidating. He was terrified of failing them, and failing Kane. Their mission was a noble one, one that could liberate the thousands of races in the galaxy and keep the deadly virus at bay once and for all. One mistake and he could ruin everyone’s chances at liberation.
“Hyper drive!” Zander ordered. He paced until he heard the familiar charging sound and the ground began to shudder under his feet. Soon, they were traveling at warp speed through the stars, leaving the Codan ship far behind them.