The Light That Shines From Above

Chapter 7

The planet was just like my mother described.

The sky was dark, no sun and only a few stars visible through the thick red clouds. They looked like storm clouds and yet no lightning brewed in them. They rolled quickly showing the variety of red. From cherry to garnet, then highlighting them was a blush which blurred with ruby.

The area was dimly lit by the stars above, the other light provided by large skyscraper-like buildings. They soared higher than any building I had ever seen before, some disappearing into the clouds. The ground was an orange red color and consisted of a light layer of sand and craters. Pooling into one of the craters was a green liquid, it appeared thick and bubbled as it crashed into the lake. Their water maybe.

There were others walking around too. They appeared to be the same as those on the ship, green skinned with black hair. I noticed how their hair was pin straight, the ones that wore it down anyway.

I wondered if these were the strange creatures my mother talked about or if there was more. If it was the latter I didn't want to know.

"Now." The woman barked at me.

I hurried down the steps that dropped several feet to the sand. I noticed how the others began to look my way, some stopping to observe me. Like those on the ship they showed nothing on their faces. No intrigue, no anger, or disgust. No one was smiling or frowning. Their faces remained neutral as their orange eyes looked over me.

I followed behind the woman again, only turning back to gaze at the ship I was on. It didn't look like the ones on media sites.

It was a rust color like the sand around us and almost shaped like an umbrella. The sides fanned out to a point while the top was rounded. It was large, too big to not be noticed even as it blended in with the ground. I would estimate it to be as big as a professional football field, maybe larger.

I flinched down as something zipped over my head. My eyes caught it as it continued on its path, another small ship. It was the same shape as the one I was on but smaller than my mom's van. With my eyes towards the sky, and much closer to the city, I started seeing more of them. They hovered and flew all around, dodging structures too close to be safe.

The woman led me to a building that was the same metallic color as the interior of the ship, pressing her hand against the seamless wall. The wall opened up and she stepped inside.

"Alum." A man rose from behind a desk.

That had to be her name. I waited in the entry way as they started speaking in another language. I caught the word I believed they used for human, Sypien, and the doctors name, Straxium.

They stopped speaking and she moved to signal me of follow her again. I made myself remember this way too.

We walked straight back to a wall, her making both of us stand ten feet from it. From above a flat metal panel dropped down in front of us, hovering an inch off the ground. She stepped onto it then when I hesitated pulled me by my arm so I was next to her. I guess she was growing impatient with me.

The panel moved too fast for me and there was nothing to hold on to. I only considered her tight cold grip lucky in this case because I would have fallen without it. I did not look down as we continued to go up.

We came to a slow halt then she pressed the third button on the wall and the panel moved forward to take us to the third door. There was no ledge in front of this door.

Well any plans to escape, though with my current location was impossible anyway, were squashed. I don't even think I'll go to the door willingly now.

The door opened with her hand and she pushed me in because I wouldn't step off the platform. It didn't even push up even with the door, leaving a three-inch gap that let me see ten stories down.