Page 30 of Ava Greasemonkey

Rhutg was not feigning sleep this visit. When she moved in front of his cell, she reached forward to offer a fruit to him. It was the first time she had ever seen him awake, sitting up on the pallet bed. She quickly withdrew her hand after he stared at her coolly, his eyes not holding any of the warmth Vox’s did when they met hers.

“You are taking too long. Hurry up.” One of the Tuxa came into the area where she was still lingering.

Ava still had the fruit aloft in her hands through Rhutg’s cell bars. The Tuxa’s eyes narrowed on it. She put the fruit behind her back, hoping he didn’t see. There was no such luck, and the Tuxa started storming forward, a glare on his ugly face.

“Where did you get this?” he hissed, reaching for the fruit Ava had hurriedly put into her robes.

Ava startled before she put her arm over her chest deferentially, not wanting him to probe her further.

The Tuxa reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling it roughly. “What are you doing here with the prisoners?”

Ava gasped as he shook her before throwing her down to the floor. Her hologram became dislodged from her face. Her knees and side rang with pain from the fall. She covered her face with her hands and curled into the fetal position.

She heard a clatter behind her. “You Tuxa scum. We will not rest until all your corpses litter your planet.” Vox snarled. He picked up his food tray and threw it through the bars, sideways, at the Tuxa. It clattered by Ava’s feet.

Lirell also threw his out of his bars as well, yelling.

The Tuxa stopped from where he was towering over Ava to turn to look at Vox, cruelty playing on his ugly snout.

Ava used the opportunity to readjust the hologram, sighing in relief as it clicked back on, her hands shaking.

Vox looked from her to where the Tuxa stood. The Tuxa was fingering the control switch to the silga string Vox still had in place around his back.

“Go,” Vox said. When she didn’t move, he said it louder. “Go!” He began shining.

Ava ran for the door, dragging her cart quickly. She was grateful it was only the one Tuxa that came into the prison cells and that the noise didn’t carry to the main room. The rest of the Tuxa in the other room were still glued to their feeds, unaware of the close call she just had. Ava forced her trembling limbs to go slower and breathe normally as she walked past them out of the room, not wanting their attention from looking out of place. She skipped the cleaning she usually did and hoped they wouldn't notice.

Once out of their sight, Ava hurried back to the engine hall and sobbed. She didn’t know how she would do the next rotation.

“It is a bit sooner than I would have wanted.”Erox sighed, tapping the wall.“We will need to keep prisoners longer to keep up the ruse.”

Vox tore the silga string off his body. “I cannot tolerate it anymore.”

His calm was shaken at seeing Ava tossed to the floor. There would not be another incident like that, not if he could help it. Rage flooded his insides, boiling his blood. He replayed her terrified reaction in his mind.

Lirell was also shaken. Vox felt his determination as they moved the timeline of their plans forward.

“Do not let that female dictate our plans,”Erox cautioned, but he was already taking the silga string off his body as well. He snapped the circuits like they were butter. His mental strain was evident, and even though he did not physically react to Ava being threatened by the guard, he was not as indifferent as he pretended to be.

The Tuxa that had threatened Ava now stood silent. He was their first broken husk, staring at the wall in front of their cells.

“Rhutg?”Vox questioned.

The answer was slow to come, but Vox heard the strings snapping on his body as well. “I am ready to kill them whenever.”

Chapter 11

The intercoms were blaring. “Alert! Alert! Alert!”

Ava’s heartbeat picked up. She looked up from her desk where she was playing a card game on her tablet and caught Ebel’s eye. Dread was still swirling in her stomach as she thought about how the last visit with Vox went.

Ebel turned his screen to the mainframe security feed and immediately let out a gasp.

The Vorbax.

They were in the hallway near the animal cages, walking in a line. There was blood and Tuxa parts in the hallway where she had seen them sitting, playing guard, every time she walked in.

Ava’s hands began shaking, her mouth suddenly dry. She and Ebel watched the feeds as one of them, Rhutg, opened the control panel like it was butter. It immediately began to glow when he touched it. The alert overhead turned off a second later. The cameras also went out, static replacing the video feed on the screen.

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