Page 5 of Venomous Lust
Shit. I’m still in the container.
She must have fallen asleep, waiting for the Eoks to go away. Hazel cursed internally but didn’t move. Her brain worked on overdrive as she rapidly sorted through her options. None was good, but the worst was still to have to move back to the Tower.
She stayed quiet as the world filled with sounds in her darkness, voices around her, speaking fast and preoccupied, muffled by the thick metal.
“This one, too,” a deep voice said; male and definitively not human. She had no idea what species the alien was, but the chances were it was either an Eok or a Relany. Both were big and strong enough that she would stand no chance in a fight. “Commander Khal won’t be back for rations for a long time.”
“Aren’t you just a tad concerned that we don’t even know why the Commander is leaving, what his mission is?” another male voice answered, this one filled with doubt, higher pitched. Human. “We don’t even know who’s going to replace him.”
“Chief Arlen will choose a replacement soon enough,” that alien, even voice replied in a cool tone, full of some deep, unshakable trust. An Eok, then. No others were as loyal as those blue assholes. “The Commander leaves within the hour. This needed to be done last night.”
The human answered with something Hazel couldn’t make out, as everything was swallowed by the sound of blood pulsing in her jugular. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as a stunned blank filled her mind.
They’re loading the container with me in it!
The world inside the pure blackness of the container moved, shifting the contents as she braced herself as best as she could. Thoughts blazed through her mind, too fast for her to focus on. She blinked furiously as tiny pieces of whatever was in that metal box flew into her eyes.
Shitshitshitshit.
She was trapped, and the only way out meant she would be going back where she started. In the Tower. With Bobbie and his friends looming around like dogs sniffing a female in heat.
She wasn’t going back for anything in the world. She was going to get to Earth and to Sally if it killed her.
But how? Hazel stayed silent in the container as it moved, possibilities pushing themselves inside her brain as fear immobilized her body. The darkness moved and rocked until it settled with a mighty bang, then there were more banging sounds of metal on metal. Voices rang all around, human and alien mixed together. Orders were shouted and followed, then the ruckus lowered and got more distant.
The sound of footsteps got farther away, then stopped altogether. Silence filtered through the metal walls of the container and into the enclosed space until all she could do to stop herself from screaming was bite the inside of her cheek until blood covered her tongue.
Time passed—how long, she had no idea. Terror froze her senses as the vague sensation of movement began anew.
Some ungodly pressure pushed her body against the contents of the container and Hazel shut her eyes despite the all-encompassing darkness. She knew what this meant. This meant the Myrador had shot up at a high speed, far away into the atmosphere like some majestic metallic bird. She wasn’t on Aveyn anymore. She was somewhere out there, in the aseptic infinity of space.
And it terrified her more than she could think.
Now what?
Hazel let time pass and flow by until her limbs screamed in agony. She had gone too long without moving and now every inch of her body hurt.
That, and she needed to empty her bladder or it would explode.
Pure, sheer terror still held each of her limbs captive, but Hazel moved inside the steel body of the container, coming to a crouch over the piles and piles of what felt like plastic bags filled with liquid.
What if it’s locked? I’ll die in here, alone.
Her fingers trembled as she pushed on the lid. When it didn’t move, panic fluttered in her gut and she pushed up with all her strength. The heavy lid finally moved and a ray of light entered the enclosed space. It was harsh and flat white, industrial in strength, and Hazel’s eyes instinctively closed. She had been confined to darkness for so long, she had to blink furiously before her sensitive pupils adapted to the light. A quick glance down confirmed what she had suspected: she had been asleep on piles and piles of water rations.
How long is Commander Khal going away for?
And where to?
Her throat closed up and terror threatened to push inside her brain again but she shoved it aside. It was done. She couldn’t go back now, all she could do was figure out what to do next.
The story of her life, really.
Hazel cautiously pushed the heavy metal lid out of the way and stared at the storage room she was in. It wasn’t big by any standards, just two rows of large metal containers, each five feet tall by five feet wide on each side of the metal walls. Thirty of them, by a quick count. The walkway between the rows of containers was lit by linear, fluorescent lighting on the ceiling, casting the entire room in a flat, lusterless glow.
She did her best to jump down without a sound, then walked quickly to the ladder leading up to the upper levels. Hazel hesitated at the bottom, but not for long.
She had no choice. So why fuss?
