Bounty Hunter

Chapter 28

I step around the blood oozing from his chest and slowly crawl up to the peep through the window. My chin lifts to see through the glass without being caught. Two uniform clad aliens walk past and I quickly duck down with my heart in my chest. My back slides down against the two doors as my pulse starts to jackhammer against my wrists. "I don't know what to do. How the hell am I going to get back to Red?" My eyes roll up to spy a grated ceiling vent. Moving forward on my knees I climb toward the vent and avoid the bloody mess across from me. My neck whips behind me to make sure no one is passing in the window. I run as quietly as I can up to the vent and extend my arms out to catch the rails with my fingers. The rail comes off and I gently place it down. Once again I leap up to pull myself into the darkness of the vent system. The metal is cold against the thin material of my prison suit. The tight confinements of the vents constrict my intestines into a tight knot. The alien language can be heard beneath me as the clank of boots sounds against the floor in a formal march. I continue to go forward as noiselessly as I can but I have no idea where I'm going. When I get to the next grate I quietly peer through the bars to see where I am. The empty corridor triggers no familiarities with me so I continue to move on. I've tried going backwards to return to where I was taken from but when I peer through the bars nothing remotely familiar greets me. I stop cold when I hear the word Sashira drift up towards me. "Ohnsha was found dead," one of them says. The language sounds strangely familiar as I manage to translate the talking underneath me, almost as if a memory from my childhood was triggered by it. "Go check Shashira. I'll find the girl," I hear. Peering out, I listen to the footsteps of the guy who was told to follow Shashira and carefully note the sound of his footsteps. His distinct walk across the floor is stamped in my head the same way my dad's foot creaky foot pattern is stamped in my head. Without seeing who it is at the door I always know once they walk in. I crawl forward and then stop with a jolt as the sound of his feet disappears. My breath sticks in my throat as I peer through the vent bars to see the guard slowly look around. His head turns up at the vent and I rip my head away. He continues walking and I crawl with him but then he stops abruptly again. "If I could just summon the lightning again I could knock him down and get rid of him. But then I wouldn't know where to find Red. Fuckin hell." I wait for him to step forward and strain my ears to hear him. My mind flashes back to the training sessions I had on Kai's ship. "Kai," my mind sighs. Channeling all my senses I allow my energy to flow and concentrate on the sounds around me to single out the guard's footsteps. When he's far away enough I begin to follow him and I can hear as his hand slides across Red's cell door. I slide my hand flat against the metal supporting me. The cold smooth plane kisses my flattened palm. I take deep but silent breaths to concentrate on the flow of chi. I recall the exact sensation that ran through my fingertips and out into the air. A crackling energy forms between my fingers and I shoot it out against the guard's left arm causing him to drop his gun in surprise. I leap down onto him without wasting a single second and tie my legs around his waist. My hand goes to his mouth so that he can't let loose a scream to alert someone of my assault. The length of my forearm wraps around his neck squeezing relentlessly until his neck goes slack. Gently, I lower him to the ground and grab his gun. Coming in fast is another guard who sees me standing in front of Red's cell. A heavy blue light in the shape of a bullet rips from my gun's mouth and ricochets into the ceiling creating a wall between the guard and I. She leaps to a stance and franticly motions to me. I wave at her to stand back before shooting the cell's electric lock. The glass slides open and I run into the cell.

"You took long enough!" Red growls. I shove the key into the lock of her chains releasing her. Her chest leaps forward and the rest of her body follows like a cheetah being released by a pack of men to chase a rabbit. "Let's go!" she screams. She yanks the gun from my hands and I almost jump to attack her until I realize she is running ahead. "I'm a weapons master. You're just an Earthling," she explains.

I know this is crazy short but this is my first update in about a year. I'm updating again tomorrow though so don't worry. I love you all. Good night. Au revoir till tomorrow.