Gamma Stellaris

Chapter 12

        Leanne was really starting to worry about Jared. There were certain times when he would just... talk to people that weren't there. She was pretty sure that he was hallucinating that Kassidy was still around.

          Boy did she feel horrible for him.

          She really missed Kassidy. Although they hadn't been as close recently as they had been, she still loved Kassidy like a sister.

          She continued down the hallway, trying to shake away her uneasiness and sorrow.

           It was impossible to even be in the same room as her friends at some points now. Everyone was so beaten down. They all just sat around in silence. It was nothing like how they'd been around each other even a few days ago.

           They had all been sitting around, joking nonstop. Their evenings, although stuck on the ship, were filled with laughter.

        Now everything was so tense. They were all so worried about Stefanie and upset about Kassidy dying and so scared for themselves that it was hard to do anything else.

         She just wished she knew how to ease the tension a bit.

         Leanne arrived back at the classroom, slowly shouldering the door open.

          Charity looked over to her with a hesitant smile. "How are you?"

            "None of the others are back yet?"

             "Not yet."

           Leanne sighed, leaning against one of the desks. "At least Stefanie felt well enough to tag along today."

            "Why didn't you go with the rest of your friends?"

            "I can't stand how suffocating everything feels. We're all thinking too much, and we're all too hurt and upset. And everyone else is so bummed out and afraind and-"

          "You're not afraid?"

          "Never have been."

           "Never?"

           Leanne shrugged. "Not once."

          "Wow."

          The door to the classroom was flung open and Leanne looked back in shock. Two aliens stormed into the room and Leanne's eyes widened. She quickly dove beneath one of the desks, even though it was obvious that she'd been spotted already.

        "Ms. Velles, clearly you should be aware of the fact that harboring other humans has serious consequences." One of the aliens said.

        Charity tried to draw in a shaky breath. "I... well you see... I uhh..."

         Leanne let out a surprised shout as a tentacle wrapped around her ankle, dragging her out from under the desk.

        "Punte, Ngxurj, why don't we all calm down and talk about this?" Charity said softly.

        Ngxurj forced Leanne to her feet, forcing her wrists behind her back before using one of his tentacles to hold them still.

           Despite how useless she knew it was, Leanne struggled anyway.

           Punte grabbed Charity by the arm, forcing her out the door to the classroom.

           Leanne knew she should have felt terrified, but she still wasn't yet. How horrible was it that she was being kidnapped by two aliens and she still wasn't even slightly scared?

          As they rounded the corner of the hallway,  Leanne's eyes widened as she made eye contact with Brian, who was hidden in a supply closet but had the door cracked open.

        "What are you gonna do with us?" Leanne asked softly, trying again to loosen the tentacle around her wrists.

        "Ms. Velles will be put on trial. As for you, that remains to be decided." Punte answered.

          Charity went pale as a sheet, refusing to look anywhere other than at the floor in front of her.

           "I'll go without a fight, but let Charity go! She didn't do anything wrong!"

           Ngxurj chuckled. "That's adorable that you think that's how this works."

          "Let her go!"

           "Don't test my patience."

          "You can't just-"

           Another one of Ngxurj's tentacles moved, covering Leanne's mouth. She tried to shout against it, but everything came out muffled and unintelligible.

          They were led to a large room that had dozens of rows of chairs. Charity was forced to sit down in one of the chairs as Leanne was led out through a different door.

          In the next room Leanne was shoved down to the floor, Ngxurj's tentacles releasing her.

          "Charity did nothing wrong!" She hissed.

           "I'm going to make this short and simple." A woman said from behind Leanne. "Tell me whhere the rest of your friends are and perhaps we'll let you go."

          "Bite me!"

           The woman grabbed Leanne's chin with one of her tentacles. "I will be spoken to with respect! And I sure as hell won't have you little twerps running around and ruining my ship! So where are the rest of you?"

           "I fail to see how that's any of your business."

          The woman kicked Leanne hard in the stomach and she let out a gasp. Tears stung her eyes as she grit her teeth, staring up at the woman.

        "Change your mind yet?"

         "Do your worst, bitch."

          The woman kicked Leanne's stomach so hard that a small amount of vomit spilled out of her mouth.

          "Get this pitiful thing  out of my sight. I'll try to reason with her later."

         Ngxurj forced Leanne to her feet before shoving her through another doorway. Before she could react, she was shoved down onto a metal table and cuffs closed down around her wrists and ankles.

          "Hold still!" Ngxurj hissed as Leanne began immediately struggling against the restraints.

         Punte walked into the room, carrying a purple slimy blob.

         "It's been a while since we've had to use the Otlorzxgzout hruh." Ngxurj said with a smirk.

        Punte placed the blob on Leanne's forehead and she had to stop herself from gagging. It was wet and sticky and she hated the feeling of it against her forehead.

         She felt queasy as her eyes started fluttering shut.

        She caught Punte smirking before her eyes rolled into the back of her head.