Page 58 of The Alien Who Saved Christmas
…Please?
From “Hark! The Herald Aliens Sing”
A Christmas Carol for Non-Earthlings by Sadie Malone
“The Vipri was right.” Xane grumbled. “We should not have brought him on the mission.”
“Yeah, okay, Lord C’don has an attitude problem.” Sadie admitted. “But he’s gotten on board with the plan. Mostly.”
The two of them were scouting around the edges of the blue salt mine, looking for a way into the guard tower. The moon overhead was bright enough that they didn’t need external lights, which was good and bad for their plan. It meant they could move around the desert landscape without tripping over purple sand dunes, but it also meant they might be spotted.
Lord C’don was hiding near an outcropping of rocks, waiting for Xane and Sadie to give him a signal that they’d finished the hard work. Not very helpful, but at least he was out of the way.
Xane shook his head in annoyance, following her gaze. “We rescued that ungrateful Vipri from servitude in that tavern, and I have regretted it ever since. He is useless.”
That was kinda fair. Lord C’don had come along with them to facilitate the rescue, but he’d complained every step of the way. Physical exertion upset him, and he kept squealing when bugs skittered by.
“I think he’s scared of those cyborg-vampire-bats.” Sadie defended, pointing to the flying things circling above them. They looked like some unholy combination of flying rodent and digital camera. “Who can blame him?”
“I blame him.” Xane answered seriously. Rhetorical questions weren’t a thing for Rtaharions. “If he is terrified of drones, how will he find the courage to help free the slaves?”
“I’m sure he’s just getting his second wind. Besides, those things are a lot scarier than regular drones. They’ve probably got ray-guns attached to their wings.”
“Ray-guns?”
“From comic books. Rays shoot out and --like-- zap people.”
“A glint-weapon, you mean?”
Sadie’s eyebrows rose at his translation. “Hang on… You guys seriously haveray-guns?”
“Not here on Corono.” He sighed in lament. “It is proprietary Rtaharion tech. Unfortunate. We could’ve rendered the guards unconscious with a glint-weapon and saved ourselves the effort of killing them.”
Sadie couldn’t think of anything to say to that.
Xane kept them hidden as the cyborg-vampire-bats buzzed overhead, but they didn’t seem to be a big concern for him. “See that boulder by the tower base?” He nodded towards it. “We will run to that, as soon as the drones pass by us.”
“Do you think they’ll spot us, sneaking around out here?”
“No. Their sensors face inward. They are interested in keeping prisoners contained, not keeping intruders out. Who would wish to break into a slave-camp?”
“People who want to rescue the slaves.”
“Which is no one, except you.”
“Exceptus, big guy.”
“No. It’s just you.”
“Have I mentioned it’s Christmas? Try and get into the holiday spirit, Xane. This is a night for peace and brotherhood.”
“We’re about to kill many men.”
“Only bad ones. It’ll be fine. Still seasonally appropriate, if you considerDie Harda Christmas movie, which I totally do.”
Xane grunted. His attention was fixed on the guard tower, which was about three stories high. To Sadie, it resembled a forest service fire-lookout station. A not-very-large room, built atop very tall stilts. It allowed for sweeping views of the surrounding terrain.
There wasn’t very much to see, though. Dirt and mountains stretched out into infinity. Not in a pretty “Arizona postcard” kind of way. In a “no one will ever find your body” kind of way. Everything looked desolate and spooky and hopeless.
