Alpha Centauri

Twenty-Six - Nathan

 The next few hours are anxious ones.

Raev and I move around the ship in uncomfortable silence. My mind is madly at work, trying to formulate a plan. I've already tried resetting the course settings, and I'm just finishing my umpteenth failed attempt. I slump down in one of the chairs and stare out at the universe passing by.

"Come on! We have ten minutes until we arrive. We have to think of something!" I urge Raev.

"I've got something," Raev says, tapping in something on a holographic screen.

"Oh, well don't tell me or anything! I'm perfectly fine being a desperate, anxious mess!"

"Alright, I won't." Raev flops down on the bottom bunk.

I know I'm not going to get anything out of him.

Ten minutes later, Raev's space pod slows in front of the airlock of the massive Mikuris. I imagined the starship to be something like the Death Star from Star Wars, but it kind of resembles a huge, black galactic serpent, the body where the ships docked. There were at least fifty airlocks running down the belly of the serpent.

The pod stops in front of an airlock. Raev and I sit at the front of the pod and watch the enormous gate split horizontally and make way for the pod. The gate has to be at least as big as Amsterdam High School, which says a lot about the size of the Mikuris.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it?" Raev says, pulling me out of my awe.

"That's a bit of an understatement."

I can't wrap my head around any of this. This is all too big and sudden and overwhelming. There's so much I want to explore, but too much I have to survive.

The pod drifts into the airlock, and I'm nearly nearly blinded by the sudden light from inside the starship. When the light dims, I see that our ship is inside a chamber bigger than two football stadiums. Another gate opens, allowing them into the ship. Raev carefully steers us inside.

We enter an even bigger room, one that contains rows and rows of space pods like Raev's. I can't fathom the size of the starship. There are even more rooms as big as this one.

Raev hovers over the area, searching for an empty spot to land his vessel. As they near the floor, I see the hundreds of Scriosians milling about, all of them just tiny specs in the Mikuris.

The space pod settles to the floor, and two Scriosians rush from different parts of the dock.

"Now would be an excellent time to tell me that plan you have," I hiss.

"You're not gonna like it," Raev says. "Just play along."

The alien boy punches a button on the console, and the hatch to the pod slides open. Raev grabs me and forces me into a headlock.

"What the hell are you—"

Raev pulls my arms behind my back with two of his arms, covers my mouth with one, and keeps me in a headlock with the other. I struggle and squirm, but Raev seems to be just as strong as the other Scriosians, which is pretty strong, since they could slam a moving car off of the road.

"You asshole! Let go of me!" I say, my voice muffled.

"Perfect! Keep that up."

The two Scriosians jump up into the space pod.

"Nulak! Raim! How's it going, guys?" Raev says cheerfully.

The two Scriosians give him unimpressed looks. I take note of how similar Scriosians' faces are to humans'. These two look related. I also notice how much bigger these two are than Raev. Raev is big, about six foot three, but these two are probably pushing seven feet.

"We got word that you brought a human," Raim says. "Can we use it?"

"It?! What do you mean "it"?" I demand. Raev elbows me in the side.

"Yes. I found him with the twins."

"Why didn't you just kill the twins?" Nulak asks.

"The male—Julian—he as telekinetic abilities. He managed to save his sister and escape. But this human can help us."

The Scriosians are still obviously unimpressed. They turn and hop out of the pod, whispering two one another about Raev.

"I'd like to see them capture a human hostage," Raev mutters.

"You didn't capture me," I seethe. "You just put me in a headlock."

"Same difference."

"Get a move on, stupid human," Raev says, loud enough for Nulak and Raim to hear. He knees me in the back of the legs, urging me to move.

Raev practically flings me of out of the space pod. I try to escape for the sake of the act, and because my new friend is an absolute maniac, but with no success.

The two brothers snicker as Raev grabs hold of me again. Raev pulls out a knife with a black, serrated blade, and they instantly quiet. He grabs my hair and pulls my head back. Raev presses the knife to my neck. I stiffen, suddenly afraid that this alien isn't actually a friend.

"Come, Raev," Raim says, stepping in front of my restrainer. "We'll bring your captive to the commander, and we'll see how useful this human weakling really is." The alien leans down into my face, a grin spreading across his pale face. The light glints off his sharp teeth. I try to focus on the patterns shaved into his hair.

Raim laughs. "It's scared."

"Good," Raev replies. "It should be."