Page 8 of Reaper

“Greetings. My name is Doom, and I am one of the leaders of the Vanguard. As you may be aware, we are the Peacekeepers of the Galactic Coalition. We are here on a rescue mission. The war with the Kryptids is over. We have won. We are now seeking to free all of General Khutu’s prisoners and experiment victims. Recently, we found out Creckels had been held in this location. We came here to rescue them, along with any other captives, to bring you all home.”

Doom gestured towards Stran, who slowly approached. Madeline shifted the camera to face him, and the Creckel began modulating a series of almost howling sounds. He moved his legs and head in a strange pattern, then shifted upwards the scales covering his body, as if he was readying to fire the bladed-darts that protruded beneath them whenever he entered into combat mode. But this time, that gesture was devoid of any threat. He made another keening sound before looking at Doom.

I had no idea what the heck Stran had just said to the other Creckels, but it could only appease them further to see one of their own.

“We understand how afraid you must be right now,” Doom said, taking over the message again. “You have been trapped down there for a long time. It was normal for your companions to protect you against an intruder. We are not angry. All is well. We should have announced ourselves better before coming down, but we thought there were no survivors. This time, we request your permission to come back into your base and to bring you the basic necessities, including fresh water and food. There is still too much debris blocking the way, so only one of our companions with the ability to fly can come assess your situation, while the rest of us continue to open the way. If you consent, you can either say ‘yes’ to this device or press on the blinking button. We look forward to meeting all of you.”

Madeline ended the recording and replayed it for us. A 3D hologram of Doom appeared, conveying his message. While pleased with it, I was beyond restless. My poor woman was probably freaking out right now, imagining with each passing second that we were busy mounting a retaliatory attack.

Reklig, whom I had not noticed stepping out of the Infirmary, returned with a probe already equipped with the adjustment clip to hold the holocard. As our tech expert, Madeline made quick work of configuring it so we could remotely activate it once it had reached them.

“Here,” Jessica said, shoving a field bag at me.

I slung it around my neck then carefully listened to her instructions as she showed me two large bottles of water.

“This is water with a bit of salt and glucose,” Jessica explained. “It will help rehydrate her and get a bit of sugar going in her blood. Depending on how advanced her state of starvation and dehydration is, she may not be able to even stomach that. She will probably want to gulp it down, so make sure to slow her down, or she’ll be sick. This is the fastest way to get her up to a healthier state,” she added while placing the bottles in the pouch. “But if she vomits, give her one of those tablets instead. She must suck on it.” Jessica waved the small box containing the tablets in front of me before adding it to the bag, and then showed me a hypospray. “In either case, you will inject her with this. It contains some proteins to help jumpstart her system.”

“Thank you,” I said with sincere gratitude. Jessica winked at me and squeezed my upper arm in a gesture of encouragement.

As we headed out of the Infirmary, my hearts filled with affection for our pilot Thanh who had busied herself filling a portable cooler with a variety of cut raw meats, matching the ones Stran enjoyed most. We made our way to the entrance of the secret base. I placed the probe on top of one of the rocks surrounding the opening and, using the remote control, Doom guided it down the shaft. Madeline fired up the holographic display of the probe’s camera feed.

Halfway down, Doom initiated the default warning message of the probe.

“Message incoming,” the synthetic voice of the device broadcast inside the lab.

It paused for five seconds before repeating the message in that same loop. The probe reached the ground floor, where my body had fallen. It was nowhere to be seen but tracks of blood down the hallway hinted that it had been dragged away. I didn’t want to speculate as to what had become of my corpse.

At a glance, the base was in an even worse state than I had presumed. Judging by the scarcity of ventilation and maintenance membranes left, it was a miracle any type of life support remained.

I realized my hearts had been racing, and that I’d been holding my breath only when the door at the end of the hallway finally opened. The head of the female Creckel that had seemed to lead the pack appeared first, spying for the source of the sound before she fully came out. Seconds later, my female fearfully stepped out, her other companions tagging along.

My hearts soared with joy, while my stomach knotted at the visible signs of the hardships she had endured. Barefoot, swallowed up in a beyond used lab coat, she carefully approached and stopped at least twenty meters away from the probe. Despite her ragged and starved appearance, my female was beautiful. Once I had nursed her back to health, the long strands of her blonde hair would delicately frame her thin, oval face where two large, dark brown—almost black—eyes stared at the device with worry.

Doom activated the recorded message. My woman gasped and slightly recoiled upon seeing the life-sized, holographic projection of Doom, who immediately began to speak. The Creckels, who had instantly taken a battle stance, slowly relaxed as the recording played on. But something was off. My mate kept blinking as if the image was blinding her. Noticing it as well, Doom tweaked the brightness and contrast from the remote control, but it didn’t seem to help.

My female fumbled with the half-torn pocket of her outfit and pulled out something which she pressed to each side of her temples. Whatever it had been, she winced within seconds and quickly removed it, seeming in intense pain.

“Zoom in on her face,” Jessica ordered her Warrior.

Doom complied, and his Soulcatcher’s curses echoed the ones that tumbled out of my mouth. Some kind of implant ports on her temples, probably for an old optical aid, were clearly swollen, inflamed, and likely infected.

“This girl needs some urgent medical attention,” Jessica said, the worry in her voice only heightening mine. “I’ll be right back. Wait for me before you go in.”

Without giving me a chance to respond, she spun on her heels and ran towards the ship.

I turned my attention back to the camera feed. The modified Creckels’ reaction to seeing Stran’s holographic projection was heartbreaking. They emitted a keening similar to the one he had made, and Stran became agitated again, his broad, flat tail tapping the ground with enthusiasm.

By the time the message finished and Doom asked permission for us to come down, my woman’s disbelieving look of hope had my hearts shredded to pieces.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Please, yes!” she said, her voice barely louder than a whisper even though she seemed to be attempting to project.

She stumbled forward and tapped frantically on the button to confirm she wanted us to come.

“Give me the remote,” I ordered Doom.

He complied without a word, and I promptly activated the com device on it.

“I will be there shortly,” I said in my kindest voice. “Please, do not be afraid.”

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