THEY CAME Part 16
There she was, my sister, and next to her, my brother-in-law. They were pale with dark circles under their eyes. Those eyes, however, did not reflect people who had been broken but those who were resolved to survive. When their eyes met mine, that resolve changed to joy and then worry.
I ran to them, throwing my arms around both at the same time. They tried to do the same, but their arms were still attached to the table. They were able to do their work but that was the total reach of their chains.
My sister pulled away and reached to touch my face with her hand. Her fingers barely brushed my skin. “What are you doing here? Did they take you too?” She glanced over at the maimer standing behind me. Hatred reflected on her face.
I stepped back and looked to the alien. “Oh, yeah. You don’t have to worry about this one. It’s a long story but it’s our way out.”
“What do you mean we don’t have to worry about it? It’s one of them.” This time it was my brother-in-law who spoke. The way he said ‘them’ dripped with venom.
“Like I said. Long story.” I went over to the maimer. “Does this alien have keys to release them?”
The other me spoke through the alien’s mouth. “Yes. Let me get them free.”
Confusion and fear ran a close race over my family’s faces. The aliens never talked, much less in English. When it approached them, they tensed every muscle until it was clear they weren’t going to be harmed. With their shackled removed, they both stood on shaky legs. Their black shirt and pants hung loosely off their bodies.
Shoving down my overwhelming emotions, I looked them over to make sure they could walk. I needed to be levelheaded, and emotions wouldn’t do any of us any good. We had to find a way out of here and fast. “Ok, let’s go.”
My sister looked at all the others in the room. “What about them? We can’t just leave them here.”
I place both hands on her shoulders. “I came for you two. No one else. I can’t save everyone. Does it suck? Yeah. Does it make me a bad person? I don’t care. We will find a way to stop all of this and then they can be free, but for now, it’s just us.”
She took one last glimpse at the other prisoners working away at their individual projects. Not a single one had looked up from what they were doing this whole time. With a nod, she and her husband moved closer to me and the alien. “Ok.”
My other self lead the way. We walked behind it as if we were still prisoners. I whispered back to them, “keep your heads down as if you are just being moved from one location to another.” I tried to mentally talk to my other self but only received static. Her being inside the maimer must have caused our mental connection to sever.
We left the last room and made our way over the long bridge. None of us spoke or lifted our heads. Just when we made it off the bridge and onto the other side, a large group of humans came running around from the right corridor. It took me a moment, but I recognized Doug and the rest of the group. There were countless others, however. All of them were dressed exactly as my sister and brother-in-law. As soon as they saw the maimer, their guns were pointed directly at it.
I stepped out of our formation and approached the rebel leader. “What do you think you are doing? How the hell are we going to get everyone off the ship?”
Doug’s eyes never left the alien. “We have a plan. What’s up with this thing?”
“I have it under control.” I tapped the side of my head. The motion drew Doug’s attention and he nodded.
A sudden idea came to my mind. “Hey, there are more prisoners across that bridge.” I grabbed the keys from my other self and threw them to Doug. “Go grab them. I have something I think will help.”
He stared between me and the alien and then the keys. “Ok but be careful. Meet us back in the hanger.” His eyes searched mine. “Should I ask what you are about to do?”
“It’s probably best you don’t. You’ll know what I did when it happens.” I couldn’t help but smile.
Shaking his head, he motioned for his group to stay put while a select few followed him to the other humans. One of the tech guys worked on the pad to enter the room. My group took off to the left, towards the control room. I really hoped this worked.
