Behind the Glass

Chapter 4: Reunion

                                   ***

     I open my eyes to dark grey smoke and blinking red lights. 'Why aren't the lights on?' A slow growl rumbles in the back of my throat. "Dammit." I bark. Reaching over and hitting one of the eject buttons on my suit, the clinging fabric hisses as it releases me, letting off even more smoke into the air. I step away from the cockpit and head the the back so I could get a look at myself. I'd taken a beating, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. My left wing was bent at an odd angle, an obvious fracture. Black blood oozed from a cut on my forehead, running down the side of my face, trailing down the long narrow groves in my skin. The wound would heal in minutes. But the mess from the blood would be difficult to clean once it dried. I limped over to the emergency generator to figure out why it didn't start. "Fuck! Why is it that when I go on a damn mission I end up getting shit on? Fucking equipment." Kicking the yellow hunk of shit, I walk over to the door of the ship. Jammed. "Looks like I have to bust my way out." I slam into the door. Not like my injuries will last. Using my  body as a battering ram, I dent the metallic surface. Tap. Tap. Tap. "What the hell was that?"...

                                  ***

    My eyes shot open and I gasped for air. What did I just see? Was that Jayveece? Something was wrong.. I wasn't outside anymore. I was in a building, abandoned by the look of it. Racks of dust covered clothing lined the walls of the small room. It must be an abandoned clothing shop.

It wasn't uncommon to see abandoned stores and business buildings where I lived. After the great storms and mudslides that ravaged the area a few years back, people had to evacuate and leave everything behind. Just then it hit me, there wasn't a mud town for a good dozen miles from the mission site. How did I get here?

  I rolled my head to the left and saw something so bizarre that I began to laugh out loud. Jayveece was in human form and sporting a pair of black leather pants. His torso was bare and I noticed odd, aqua colored, honeycomb like scales patching his body. Some resided on his shoulders in small groups, another larger patch began at his chest and trailed down the middle of his stomach, thinning as they went.  The fact that he was checking himself out in the mirror made me lose it. His head snapped to the side and he sent me a death glare.

   "Well I see you are awake. How...are you feeling?" The tone of his voice made it sound like it was torture to ask that question. Like kindness wasn't part of his job description.

   "Fine I guess. My body aches." I propped myself up on my elbows and tried to keep my voice and face flat, but it was difficult while he stood shirtless. Damn hormones... Something occured to me just then.

   "How am I breathing? What did you do to me?" My voice held accusation. How the hell was I breathing with no P.A.R? I instinctively put my hand on my throat. This was getting really bizarre.

   Jayveece walked down the isle of clothes and kneeled next to me on the white, tile floor. His face held a look of annoyance.

His face was about a foot from mine, and his silver eyes took on a look of humor. I couldn't break my gaze away from his damaged eye. Up close, the scar was deeper than I originally thought. Around the outer edges of the eye, I noticed very tiny pulsing black veins. They were too small to see from a distance farther that a foot. His eyes narrowed and I could have sworn I saw the veins swell a bit.

  "You quite done? Last time I heard, staring was considered rude on this planet."

   His voice held an edge that caused me to flinch back. Why was he so irritable? Oh right...being imprisoned for two thousand years would do that to anyone..or thing.