Page 112 of Exiles on Earth
“Floss, can you hear him?”
‘No. Not him.’
“What about smell him?”
Floss scents the air, then sneezes. Her tail tucks between her legs as she trots. ‘I’m sorry.’
Grabbing my hair in handfuls, I barely resist the urge to scream to the reddening sky as we run to the Gerverstocks.
Once we get closer, one calls, “El-len.” Ilia’s voice, but the wrong intonation.
“El-len, here. El-len.” Not looking me in the eyes, a yellow-green tinted Gerverstock points back the way they came. Dark purple splotches discolor the scales on his side.
I slip my earphones on. “I can understand you now, what is it?”
“We found him, he’s over here,” another reports, turning around and sprinting back.
My heart leaps. At last! I follow going as fast as I can, Floss and Rex at my heels.
‘Rex says he hears him!’ Floss’s legs bunch under her body as she speeds up. Rex appears to be floating as he sprints, gray fur waving in all directions.
‘He’s going to see!’ Floss reports, and before I can answer, Rex streaks away, into a circular tunnel sticking out of the ground. It turns into a corridor as wide as a warehouse, dim red lights strobing in the distance like an ambulance.
The Gerverstocks immediately join a circle of others. Purple Parthiastocks make an inside ring, faces grim and hands on glowing batons at their hips. Rex snarls at the edge of the ring, but no one pays him any attention.
Inside that circle, another Parthiastock wrestles a Gerverstock to the ground, grinding his face in the concrete. Red scales ripple up the adventurer’s arms, but his hands are preoccupied, holding onto his throat.
“345961LIA, you have been sentenced to euthanization. Comply!” The Parthiastock barks. With a swift tug backwards like hauling a galloping horse’s reins, the purple enforcer yanks the Gerverstock upright.
Ilia.
Ilia, fighting, a blue cord wrapped around his throat and the Parthiastock pulling mercilessly at it. All of Ilia’s strength pumps into his arms, trying to keep the cord from digging into his throat, his eyes closed and his grunts and snorts echoing off the walls as he catches snatches of breaths.
I shove my way in, clones dropping to their knees like dominoes knocked over. The Parthiastocks in the circle freeze, then close ranks.
“Apologies, female, for the public nature of this event. We’ve apprehended a convicted criminal and, for your safety, need to carry out his sentence. Please look away, as the event can be distressing.”
“Let him go!” I order.
The Parthiastocks cock their heads. They can’t understand me yet, I have to keep talking.
But Ilia hears me. His eyes snap open, tortured, red and strained. I choke back a sob. He reaches for me, arms wide.
The Parthiastock twists the cord behind his neck, and Ilia’s mouth drops open. No sound comes out. He bucks and writhes, but the Parthiastock holds on relentlessly.
I shove past the enforcers, and they resist only slightly before letting me through. Ilia’s scales wash out to a dull gray right in front of me, eyes turning into the back of his head, but his arms never stop reaching for me.
“Stop!” I shout at the top of my lungs, taking his hands.There’s no strength in them, but he curls his fingers around mine.
“Please… move… to a safe distance,” the Parthiastock grunts, sweat running down his scales. He gives another tug, and Ilia’s hands spasm before falling utterly limp.
“Enough!” I grab the blue cord. It stings like a bitch, like an electric fence turned all the way to maximum.
“Female!” The Parthiastock pulls away, dropping the handle with a gasp. It’s some kind of whip, the long tail shivering with current pulsing through it. I take hold of it and wind it back around Ilia’s neck. The enforcer managed to wrap it around him twice, and when my trembling fingers wrench the last piece of shock-cord free, Ilia takes a big gasping breath and falls to his chest on the dusty concrete floor, coughing.
I fling the whip to one side and throw myself next to him. Floss and Rex flank us, growling at the Parthiastocks standing in shocked silence around us.
My hand roves over Ilia’s back, fingers mapping every single scale edge, feeling the tremble of his muscles under my touch.
