Page 11 of Dark Space
I shrieked and scrambled back, my shoulders hitting the smooth, cold wall behind me.
‘Well, that’s rather rude,’ the voice observed. The orbs blinked, and I realised they wereeyes. ‘You look odd to me, too, but you don’t see me commenting on it.’
‘You literally just did,’ I said wildly. ‘Where am I? Who are you?’
‘The first question is rather easier to answer than the second,’ the voice said cheerfully. ‘You’re in a cell. The highest security cell the Roth could manage, which would be a joke if it weren’t for this stupid dark matter cuff.’
I stared at the orbs. ‘I … I don’t know whatanyof that means.’
‘Oh. I forgot.Human. Hmm. Category-3 planet. Let’s see.’ The voice paused. ‘Well, you know that when you look up, you can see a sky? And when that sky goes dark, you can see more sparkly things than you can count? Well, those arestars, and –’
‘I know what space is,’ I said tersely.
‘Of course you do,’ the voice said condescendingly. ‘Well, each of those stars is part of a galaxy, and each of those galaxies has planets, and some of them are quite similar to Earth, I imagine, in that they have breathable air and drinkable water and they can sustain complex life. Now, over time –’
‘You’re not going to explain evolution to me, are you?’ I said, rubbing my throbbing temples.
‘Oh, you know that one? Good, that will save some time. So, the more complex species obviously developed and mastered space travel, and they came together to form the Intergalactic Council, and from that Council came the Intergalactic Pact, and the Council decreed that to be part of the pact, species had to meet a certain level of development. Anyway, Earth isn’t quite there yet, but there’s this species called Roth whoareat the levelof development but whoaren’tpart of the Pact, and they have an unhealthy obsession with expansion and for reasons unknown to me their Prince has flown his orb into the gutter of the galaxy. Anyway, the Prince’s friend, or minion – I have no idea what his job is, actually, but he has an overabundance of muscle and quite nice horns – went on an illegal sojourn to Earth and seems to have picked you up along the way. So now you’re here, in this cell, with me.’
I pulled the blanket – at least, Ihopedit was a blanket – tighter around my shoulders. ‘The …personwith the horns and the black eyes? He took me?’
‘All Roth have horns and black eyes, so definitely, yes, but he is absolutelynota person.’
‘And who areyou?’ I asked again, trying to tamp down my panic.
There was a moment of silence. ‘My name is Vesper,’ the voice said eventually. ‘I’m a starling. I got trapped in a humanoid form when the Prince captured me, so I don’t look like I’m supposed to. But I can turn the light up a bit, if that would make you more comfortable.’
‘Please.’
The orbs –eyes– glowed brighter, and a warm light spilled outwards, illuminating the room.
It was bare, with featureless black walls and a matching floor. There was a smaller wall opposite me, which seemed to be a kind of screen for whatever lay beyond it; carefully craning my sore neck, I could see a kind of bench and some fixtures that seemed like taps. It might have been a bathroom – but there was no door.
Eww.
I was sitting on a narrow, cot-like bed. It looked like a bench, but it was surprisingly comfortable; the mattress seemed to be made of something like firm memory foam, and I was wrappedlike a burrito in the softest blanket I’d ever felt, dyed a lovely forest-green.
I let my eyes focus on the owner of the voice.
He was sitting on the floor, one long leg stretched out before him, the other bent, his bare foot pressed into his thigh. His shape was entirely human – not a horn in sight – and if I’d seen him on the street, I would have stared. He was beautiful, with black curling hair and skin that seemed golden in the warm light. He had a straight nose and curving lips that were made to give devastating smiles.
But his eyes were still glowing, so … notentirelyhuman.
‘Um,’ I said, because honestly, what elsecouldI say?
He cocked his head. ‘Do you have a name? I don’t know much about humans. Do they use them?’
‘Y-yes,’ I stammered. ‘We use names. Anna.’
‘An-na?That’syour name?’
‘Anna, yes.’
‘That just sounds like … sounds. It’s one sound, forwards and then backwards. What kind of a name is that?’
‘Anyname is just sounds,’ I said crossly. ‘What kind of a name isVesper? You sound like a vehicle.’
‘At least vehicles go places,’ he said. ‘Where does anAn-nago?’
