Page 10 of My Big Scaly Alien Naga
I'd only taken a few steps when a voice echoed through the space, seemingly coming from everywhere around me at once.
"Ssssstop.Wait there.I will come for you."
It was a male voice, lisping slightly, in an accent I couldn't place.
I froze, spinning around as if I could see who'd spoken.But of course, I didn't.
"Who are you?"I asked in a cautious whisper.
No reply.In the distance, something dripped, but the voice didn't talk to me again.
Should I do what he'd said?It hadn't been the monster from earlier.I would have recognised him anywhere.This voice hadn't sounded as creepy and threatening.But it could be a trap.
No.Ithadto be a trap.
There was nobody here to save me.Even without my memory, I knew that I was alone.Why would anyone want to help me, a human on an alien planet or space station or spaceship – whatever.It was highly unlikely.Staying here was stupid.I'd just make it easier for them to find me.
I licked my lips, realising how thirsty I was.I couldn't do anything about that.
I had to make a decision.Stay and wait or go on.It wasn't really a question.I wasn't going to become a sitting duck.
Rolling my aching shoulders, I turned right and started walking again.
The humid air felt nice against my naked skin.I was finally warm, hot even, for the first time in...who knew.I'd woken up cold in the metal coffin and had been freezing ever since.But just because I was now warm didn't mean I was any less scared.Fear drove me on, even though I was becoming markedly slower.The floor in this pipe was curved and uneven.Piles of cables and debris regularly blocked part of the way.If anyone had been in here recently, they hadn't bothered to clean up.It made me feel just a tiny bit safer from the five-eyed monster.
But had moving away from the portal been the right decision?I kept asking that myself as I walked through the semi-darkness.On reflection, that lisping voice hadn't sounded unfriendly.Or maybe it had – who was I to know what a friendly alien-monster sounded like.
The green lines flashing past me suddenly winked out of existence, leaving me in complete darkness.I stopped walking.What new terror awaited me?Had they found me?Was I about to be returned to the monster?
No.Fucking.Way.
I would fight.I would run.I would not simply give in.In his rooms, the five-eye monster had made it very clear what he intended to do to me.The pink mist had saved me – for now.
The darkness painted vivid scenes of pain and terror in my imagination.A shudder ran down my back.I had to move on before they caught me.I stumbled along, almost tripping several times.At least the pipe was entirely straight.
Something caught around my foot, and I fell.My hands hit a hill of what felt like metal wires, thin and sharp.Pain raced across my palms.I didn't need any light to know that I'd cut myself.I let myself drop back, catching my breath for a moment.My hands were burning.I pressed them against my chest, feeling warm liquid on my skin.I suppose I should be glad I hadn't fallen face first into the wires.I could have cut my throat.
Maybe I could use them as a weapon.If only the lights returned so I could see what I was doing.
As if they'd heard my wish, two single green circles appeared on the walls on either side of me, like giant eyes.Instinctively, I cowered low, making myself as small as possible.
"I told you...to stay...in place..."
His familiar voice was almost a relief.
"Glad...you moved...Change of plans.Follow the stars."
Stars?
"Who are you?"I asked, neither too loud nor too quiet.
"A...friend."
He sounded exhausted.Or maybe in pain.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
An amused hiss echoed through the pipe.
