Page 10 of Bonded

“Calm down, Ruzan, you nearly made her lose her balance.”

I didn’t think it was that dramatic, but at least Ruzan’s entrance cut through the mob mentality of the crew below. It was like they all just realized that they were fighting for no reason, and some had the grace to look embarrassed.

“Dammit, Vryek! Stop playing around,” Ruzan said through clenched teeth.

So, the guy behind me was Vryek, and he was getting closer, and the male named Ruzan was coming toward me, and mid-stride, unsheathed a wicked looking short sword, and plunged it into the wall.

With it, he climbed upward. He was so large, he’d be up here in moments. His reach was impressive. I shook my head. Not the time to go gaga over brute strength. I scurried away, almost to the opening.

“Get your shit together, all of you. She’s one of the chosen pilots now. You upset her, you upset the ship. You upset the ship, and you will find yourself pushed out of an airlock.” The four-armed one acted like a leader.

I heard the words, but I didn’t want to acknowledge their significance. Not yet. For now, I needed to get away. There were too many of them. And all of them were so much bigger than me.

I lunged through the opening, and as soon as I was through, it closed behind me.

The little lizard robots had little lights that glowed from their bodies, illuminating a long duct. It was roomier than I thought. I had imagined that this would be claustrophobic, even for my smaller frame. But once I crawled down and turned toward the left, it opened up again so that I could stand upright.

There were about ten of the little robots now, crawling on the walls and illuminating the path up ahead. It was like a secret other world behind these walls. I could forget that there was a crew of large alien males in what had been the cantina.

At that thought, my stomach grumbled. I went to the mess hall because I was looking for food, and now, well, I was trying to get as far away from there as possible.

I didn’t know if these lizard robots could communicate the way Gizmo could. Worth a try. I turned toward the closest one, scuttling alongside me. It could somehow scurry along the wall. “Excuse me? Are you able to talk, little guy?”

The front part of its body looked like a head as it paused and twisted it. It did a sort of side-to-side movement, as if evaluating before it stopped in alarming stillness. It blinked in a series of lights.

“Ah, I see. You can communicate, but not by sound, I take it?”

It lit up in a shimmering blue green light show. “I don’t suppose you could take me to another place where there might be food? Maybe a place where I can be alone?”

It lit up in a series of blinking white and red lights that reminded me of a Christmas tree display. The others started scuttling around as well. The one I was talking to went to a depression on the wall. It was something I would have completely overlooked. What looked like its tail plugged into the outlet, and it turned.

A door slid open to reveal an electrical room. It looked like a nest of glowing tubes and wires. The lizard robot wagged its tail toward me, and the rest ushered me inside. There was a little storage chest, and I was delightfully surprised to see a bunch of Meals-Ready-to-Eat. They were old, but still good. I guess that was the point of things like those.

The other lizard robots made encouraging type noises when I hesitated to pick things up. I plucked the first package I could find, and unable to restrain myself any longer, tore into the package and popped a piece in my mouth. It had a faint taste of meatloaf.

“Thanks guys, I appreciate it.” A tube of liquid was there, and with a lot of testing, realized that it opened with a twist. I guzzled the water down quicker than intended, which made me giggle. They showed me where to put the empty bottle and immediately received a replacement that I could sip at leisurely. I didn’t realize how thirsty I actually was.

There were more light strips for me to follow, and I followed them deeper into a quieter part of the ship. Though there were many turns and even a slight dip, I didn’t feel anxious. Odd how I thought I would never feel safe in small spaces ever again, and yet here I felt like I was coming home.

I felt more at home going deeper into this ship’s core than I ever did in the colony.

“Where are we going, little guys?”

There were a familiar series of robotic noises, and I saw Minion and Dash zooming toward me, then circled around my feet before following the parade of lizard robots, who kind of skirted out of the way. Even robots had their own hierarchy, it seemed.

Gizmo came along. “Hello, are you well? Did you get sustenance?” Though his robot voice was monotone, I imagined him speaking in a haughty Original British accent from Terra Prime’s second millennium.

“Yeah, I eventually found some.”

“We did not take the crew into account. We shall remember for next time. The captain has laid down ground rules that will be followed. Your presence was an unexpected variable.”

I could imagine. This whole thing was an unexpected variable. “Yeah, I can understand being unexpected. I didn’t expect to be here, either. Heck, I still don’t quite believe that I’m here.”

“Do you like being here, Priya?”

I knew they were robots, but only a monster would squash a question like that. “I definitely prefer it to where I was. Besides, this place makes me feel safe. Like I’m coming home.”

It was the truth, and there was no reason for me to deny it.

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