Beyond our Earth

6: Abiding

---------------------Sara's POV----------------------------------------------

The automatic door opened, leading to a stark white hallway. The floor, ceiling and walls were made up of illuminated panels. The orange alien walked in front of me, leading at a quick pace. I was almost jogging to keep up with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I came up beside him.

He stopped. We had reached the end of the hall.  "You'll see." he said. The door at the end of the hall opened, revealing a huge greenhouse. A warm mist steamed out at us. There were plants and trees everywhere. A narrow path lead through the gardens. We started to walk.

"Well, this is what I call the terrarium. Basically it's a collection of vegetation from various planets. I'm not exactly sure why we have it. But it's open for anyone to come to. Sometimes it reminds species of their home." He said as we walked through.

I gave a small laugh. "Not me. I'm from New York." I said.

Obviously he had no idea what that was.

We had only been walking for a minute and I already felt uncomfortably hot. The humidity combined with the intense heat made the air thick to breath. 

I followed closely behind him as he lead me along the path. It was finally beginning to hit me that this was all real. Ducking under branches, I was already trying to figure out a way to get back home. I would try to find the leader of this whole thing. I'd convince her to let me go.  

He held back a large leaf and I stepped past him. We had reached the end of the terrarium and came to yet another door.

After going through a short hallway, we entered a long corridor with many doors lining the walls.

"And these are the cells. This is where they keep the class B specimens. Behind every door is a  small, and I mean small, room. And that's where they want you to stay."

I looked up at him, my eyes widened. "You're not going to lock me up in there are you?"

"It's okay. The doors don't really lock. How do you think I got into the preparation room?" he said.

"Don't you work here?" I said.

"You haven't been listening, have you? I'm just another specimen, love. I'm no different than you."

He stopped in front of one of the doors and turned the handle. "I guess this'll be your room, darling" 

He stepped in, holding the door open for me to follow. I was reluctant, but something about him made me trust him a little. I stepped in and the door swung closed behind us. He wasn't kidding when he said the rooms were small. It was maybe the size of a closet. The floor and walls were a dull blue colour. There was a simple metallic bench against one of the walls, just big enough for one human to sit on. The thing that took up most of the room was a wide tube that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. There was a mechanical component near the top of it with one button that lit up green. 

The alien smiled warmly at me. "Now comes the fun part, sweetie." He said.

I took a seat on the bench. I couldn't help it. My legs felt like they were about to give out.

"You're tired arn't you?" he asked.

I nodded weakly, feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion. Whatever they had done to me was beginning to take it's tole. There was nowhere to sleep in this room, though. How was I supposed to stay here?  

He extended his hand towards me. "Come on. Come over here" He said softly. I stood up, taking his hand. I was almost too tired to notice the burning warmth that came off his skin. My reflexes jolted my hand away from his.

"Step in here." He said, motioning to the shimmering tube. As I got closer I could see that it wasn't made out of glass. The smooth surface had a holographic sheen of colour to it.

"But- what is it?" I asked.

"Honey, I can't explain that to you right now." He said.

I stood there, frozen.

"It's not solid. Just step right through." He said.

I reached out and touched the surface of the tube. It was like the skin of a bubble. but it didn't pop when you touched it. It just gave way and let my hand poke through to the inside.

"It's like a force field" I mumbled.

I looked over to the alien who was motioning for me to go into it. I followed his instructions and stepped in. I went through the translucent wall effortlessly. But I felt strange once I was inside. It was like a field of energy. It was strong. I looked down at my feet. I wasn't standing on anything. This tube had no bottom. I was just floating there. but it felt like my feet were on the ground.

The alien was standing right next to me, outside the tube. My eyes locked with his.

"Don't worry darling, you'll be fine. I'll see you in a bit" His voice sounded muffled and distorted from inside the tube. He stepped closer, pushing the green button above. Suddenly the energy I had felt before grew even more intense. My vision got fuzzier until all I could see was blackness. I tried to cry out but my voice failed to come. I felt my head drop down, consciousness slowly evading me.