Page 84 of Tribute
“Yeah, I do. Why do you think I’m standing here?”
Rehz slapped him hard on the back. “Then let’s do this thing.”
The portal opened to reveal the metal floor of the entrance chamber. The only difference he could see since he’d last been in there was that the walls of the room weren’t glistening pink.
“They aren’t here.”
Rehz paused to fiddle with something on the inner side of the door and then came to stand with him in the middle of the platform. “Don’t worry. Shut the door and they will come.”
He watched as the door swung slowly closed, and braced himself for impact.
CHAPTER
TWO
Rehz noticed it first, the slight increase in temperature and the way the previously clear walls clouded over and pulsed with alien energy.
“They’re coming. Let me do the talking.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Kai murmured.
“I’ll be nice.”
“You’d better be.”
Rehz tensed as the wall behind him undulated, releasing a tangle of tentacle-like probes, one of which immediately wrapped around his neck, neatly puncturing the old scar on his throat and creating the telepathic connection.
“Why are you here?”
“You have broken the treaty and taken more than your allotted Tributes. The Mitan government respectfully demands the return of its citizens Anna Lee and Aled Price.”
Kai yelped as a second probe shot out and attached itself around his throat.
Rehz said nothing as the tentacle tightened around his neck.
“The treaty is secure.”
“No, it is not. You were provided Tributes and returned them to us, only to take two of our people again. This is an act of aggression toward our race. Return our citizens immediately .”
He caught his breath as the wall in front of him exploded outward, gathering him and Kai within a writhing mass of probes and pulling them deep intoUngrichspace. He gagged as his throat was filled, stopping his breathing and compelling him to rely on theUngrichto survive the murky soup.
Forcing his eyes to stay open, he focused on a square of brighter light that they appeared to be heading for, which eventually turned out to be a series of transparent cube-like structures. He and Kai were unceremoniously thrust through the thick membrane of one of them and dropped to the floor.
Kai grabbed at his throat and started coughing. “There’s oxygen in here.”
Rehz took a cautious breath. “Yeah. Who knew? At least they didn’t kill us outright.”
“There’s still plenty of time.”
He went to the side of the cube and tried to peer through the thick, rubbery film. He could see nothing but the glow coming from what he assumed were other cells, and the floating shapes of entwinedUngrich. He had to assume they couldn’t insert themselves completely into the air-filled cubes. His bare feet sank into the floor, which had the consistency of gellac.
“I wonder how they are getting the oxygen in here?” he mused. “It must come from the surface.”
“Or they can manufacture it.”
“Why would they need to do that when they don’t need to breathe?”
Kai’s smile was all teeth. “Good question. It goes right along with the one about wanting human DNA.”
