Twelve Hours Beneath Earth

Tek Zu was being held captive. He shrieked and shouted and flailed his arms wildly. Wires and tubes were snaking through his body like electric eels and the glass container suppressed his senses. Although his gills allowed him to breathe comfortably in the tank, he gasped for oxygen. He wanted to feel the air hit his face and fill his lungs. 

He couldn't see much. In fact, the fluid they were holding him was so pumped with chemicals that it burnt the orbs of his eyes. They had strapped something over the majority of his face which bit into his skin. And whenever he opened his mouth to scream, a trail of black blood spurted from small lacerations in his cheek pouches. 

He could not calm himself. The restraints were forcing his instincts to fight. And although he had been in life and death situations before, he writhed about like a trapped animal. It was both terrifying and humiliating. 

Tek Zu gave an exceptionally powerful kick and, in his crazed state, felt a sense of triumph as he heard a crack in the glass. However, his captors punished him by sending a shock through the wires. The electric quickly shut down his nerves and as his body ceased to thrash, his brain allowed him a few moments of tranquillity. As he fell unconscious, he remembered how he came to be in this situation.

It was only 8 hours before that he had first recognised something wrong. He had been porting supplies from the martian waters to a new customer when the ship had begun to shake. As an experienced pilot, he had dealt with many small machinery hiccups but this had felt different. Not only did the ship shake, but it began to sway. As if an outside force were rocking it.   

As he opened the outer rafters, he noticed that small chunks of rock were floating in the space around the ship. They shone in the starlight like the glittering sea-caves beneath the surface of Mars. Then, with a cry of disbelief, Tek Zu came to the realisation that the material was in fact, parts of his ship breaking off. 

Before he got a chance to call for emergency, the ship plummeted. It sailed, spiralling and disintegrating through space with Tek Zu being thrown wall to wall inside. Just as the ship was about to hit a small moon, Tek managed to grasp onto the steering. Unfortunately, he had been too disorientated to realise that he had in fact turned the ship in the direction of the human-dominated planet, Earth. 

Tek Zu became conscious again. This time however, he was prepared and clenched his fists ready for whatever they would do to him. He would not panic. He was an aquamammalian from the planet Mars, not some savage underling. 

But, as he became aware of his senses, he found that he wasn't in the container anymore, but strapped down to an elevated block from the floor. He pulled at the metallic wires holding him down but was too weak to free himself. He remembered, bizarrely, that the last time he ate was over 24 hours ago. The humans hadn't once fed him and he didn't think they intended to. He had a feeling that once they'd finished experimenting, they were going to kill him. 

Outside the room there was a sudden commotion. Shouting voices were accompanied by gunfire and dull thuds. Tek tried once more to free himself from the wires but no matter how hard he tugged, he couldn't escape. 

The noises got closer. 

Suddenly, the door crashed open and a singular elderly human stepped in. He carried a weapon almost the same size as him and it rest on his shoulder, pointing towards Tek Zu. 

Tek Zu squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, ready for death.

'I'm not going to kill you,' said the human, 'But you better not try anything.' 

Tek opened his eyes. Behind the old man, several uniformed bodies lay still in the corridor. 

'Yes,' grumbled the old man, 'I'm going to die for this.'

He approached the block. Tek's heart hammered. What was going on?

'I know you don't speak our language,' he sighed, 'the examination confirmed that you do not have the correct verbal structure to communicate with our tongue.'

Tek Zu waited.

'But it's obvious you understand. Or you wouldn't have opened you're eyes just then when I told you I weren't going to shoot you.'

Tek Zu nodded, slowly. 

'Then are you a threat? You have come alone and it seems like it was an accident. Judging by the state of your ship.' 

Tek Zu shook his head. No, he had never meant to come here. It was illegal to reveal yourself to any sapient species, let alone humans. And now he understood why.

The old man studied him for a moment, his eyes questioning and doubtful.

Suddenly, an alarm began to wail from the far end of the corridor.

'Your ship. It is ruined. Destroyed on impact. If i release you, you will have no way of getting home.' 

He grabbed hold of Tek Zu's shoulders, his eyes wide and shining with terror.

'You have a choice. I can let you run. You're in the United States, Groom Lake. They're coming for me now but if you can get to the underground levels in time, there's a sewage system that you can escape through.' 

The old man began releasing latches from the block and Tek began to feel the blood rush through his arms again. 

'You just need to get to level 048 and then find the stairs that will lead you down to the sewage system.'

The old man chuckled to himself as he worked.

'You'll literally have to swim through shit, ha!'

The final latch released. Tek Zu stood, his frame towering over the man.

The old man raised the gun again to his shoulder.

'Of course, you do have another choice. I can do it for you, if you want. But, if you decide to run. Do me a favour.' 

He held the gun out towards Tek.

Tek took the gun. He wish he could ask why. Why was he doing this for him?

The old man chuckled again. 'we are a cruel species. I need you to understand that. And we are also afraid. You need to understand that too.' 

In the distance, Tek could hear heavily trod boots thumping from above. 

'They're coming.' said the old man. 

He pushed the gun into Tek's arms. 

'I'm not afraid. Go to the sea. Taste our waters. You'll have to live a solitary existence but better a lonely life than no life at all.'

Tek glanced towards the door and took a step but hesitated. His hand lay on the handle of the gun. 

'They'll kill me anyway. Shoot me and run!'

Tek pulled the trigger and watched as a red stain grew on the man's shirt. The human fell back and his eyes clouded over. 

Tek nodded towards the body as he made a vow to run away as far as he could. To run and live for this man who exchanged his life for his own.