Page 12 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
For now, I still had access to all the station's systems.They'd revoke my accounts soon enough, so I had to be quick and subtle.I couldn't turn the Bloodstar into a target by directly communicating with them.
Wait, there was a new ship approaching Kalumbu.Something in the alert didn't seem right.I dived into the code, examining it from all sides.If the situation hadn't been so serious, I would have chuckled.
The ship wasn't real.It was a simulation.A good one, granted, but it was obvious once you knew.Fascinating.Who'd go through the trouble of creating a ship that didn't exist?Maybe it was a training programme designed to test the planet's alert systems.Or maybe...could it be?I examined the code in even more detail, hoping this wasn't a waste of time.
There it was.
>>
B for Bloodstar?It had to be.They must have spotted the hidden messages I left when I helped them.Excellent.Now they could return the favour.
"Get out of there now!"Briarra called suddenly."We have blasters trained at the door.If you don't come out, we will shoot.You'll be nothin' but stinkin' naga soup!"
Fuck.It might be a bluff – I was sure they wanted to interrogate me first to know who I worked for and how much information I'd stolen – but Briarra's uncle was wounded and she likely wasn't thinking straight.
I quickly checked on my mate again.She was still following the lights, stumbling and looking increasingly weary.I'd programmed them to lead them to an exit in a rarely used part of the station.I'd planned to meet her there.Now, that was looking increasingly unlikely.
Glycon, what was I supposed to do?Even if I contacted the Bloodstar right away, they couldn't dock at the station.The only place they could reach was the planet's surface – with my help – and that was the last place I wanted to go.I was on my own for now.
I could take on a few of Briarra's grunts.I didn't carry a weapon, but I had enough venom stored to kill five or incapacitate ten average aliens.Very few species were immune to naga venom, but there was always that chance that it might not work on one of the guards on the other side of the door.Even if I fought, spent all my venom, somehow made it out of the data centre, I wouldn't get far.I had stashes of weapons and supplies hidden away in multiple hiding places across the station, but it was unlikely I'd reach the closest one.There was no way I could shoot my way off the station.
"I'm counting to three!"Brianna shouted."Come out now!"
Fuck, fuck, fuck.This was hopeless.I had no idea what to do.
If I got killed now, my mate would not survive.
There was no other way.
I sent a quick message to the Bloodstar, embedding it in the security protocols they were likely to monitor.I enclosed the key I used to quickly break through the planet’s defences.Hopefully, they would get it.
"Two!"
I couldn't let them recapture my mate.Maybe… No, the portal was made for me.She might not survive the journey.But I had a feeling the game makers would send her to Kalumbu when they captured her.If she used my portal, at least I'd know where she'd end up.And it was a fairly safe area, if you could say that about any area in a monster-infested planet where even the plants want to kill you.
I typed two more messages, one of them to my mate with further instructions.Then I stretched, relaxed my coils, and opened the door.
6
Unknown
I was desperate for sunlight.My eyes were itchy and strained from peering through the almost-darkness.The stars had led me through the labyrinth of pipes for what felt like hours.Whatever this place was, it was gigantic.Every time I expected the pipe to end, it would lead to yet another intersection.Without the stars guiding me, I would have probably ended up walking in circles.
My feet were sore.I bet I had blisters.And my mouth was drier than the Sahara Desert.The pipes seemed to be getting hotter.I wouldn't be able to continue for much longer.It was a miracle I'd managed for this long.Whatever I had been in my life before all this, I must have kept fit.Maybe I'd enjoyed going to the gym.Or maybe my job had involved exercise.My mind was still foggy where my memories should have lived.I'd almost got used to that blankness whenever I tried to access a memory.
My guiding stars suddenly flashed.I stopped walking.What the hell was going on now?If they disappeared, I doubted I'd ever find my way out of here.I'd die in a giant pipe, dehydrated, turning into a mummy never to be found.
The stars expanded, filling an entire stretch of the curved wall until it was almost bright in here.Black lines appeared on the green background, first just random squiggles, then slowly turning into letters.Maybe I should have been surprised to see English words in the Latin alphabet, but I was too curious and desperate to take much notice.
I am sorry.I tried to keep you safe and failed.They are coming.Don't resist.Don't fight.If they send you to the surface, look for the chii.Small feathered beings with multiple tails.They will look after you until I can.Continue following the stars for as long as possible.I am very sorry.Venom.
I sat on the floor and re-read the message several times.Venom, that had to be the man I'd been speaking to.A code name or his real name?I supposed it didn't matter.It was over.I'd tried to escape, but it had all been for nothing.They were coming for me, that was what he was saying.All the walking, the falls, the lack of food and water.I was much weaker than I had been when I'd escaped from the monster.Even if I went against Venom's command and fought whoever came to capture me, I didn't stand a chance.
It was over.
Except…
Continue following the stars.Was there hope?Should I continue to walk despite the thirst and blisters until my legs gave in?Where were the stars leading me?Or was it only prolonging my certain capture?
