Children of Chaos

Chapter 11

Magra greets us outside our room when we wake up, preventing us from exploring on our own.

"Where's Keptana?" Bekah asks as Magra leads us down the hallway.

"He's with the main crew in the control room," she says.

"Why aren't you with the crew? You seem important," Bekah says, pointing to the shining patch on Magra's lavender-grey uniform. Sofie shoots her a look, but Bekah widens her eyes innocently, mouthing "What?"

"Somebody has to show the newcomers around," Magra says dismissively. "And this is Keptana's project after all. It's important to make him feel included in the first few days."

"So wait, Captain isn't the captain anymore? It's you?" Alexis asks. Magra stares pointedly ahead, nodding to a few passing aliens.

"Keptana was the leader of the original mission to Earth, which he managed well given the circumstances, but I am technically the leader of this second mission to rescue you girls and bring you back home." As she talks, Bekah's knowing grin widens, and I have a feeling that whatever she's thinking can't be good for Magra.

"So where are you taking us?" I speak up, preventing Bekah from saying anything.

"Yeah Mags, I'm hungry," Alexis says. A loud growl sounds behind us, and I turn around to find Sofie's embarrassed face.

"Sorry," she whispers.

"First, we eat," Magra laughs, stopping in front of two large door portals. She allows us through first, and we step through to a large open room that looks vaguely like a school cafeteria. There are tables rising up through the freeform with benches surrounding them, many seated with aliens chattering and eating. Magra points us to a table near the door.

"Where do we get food?" Alexis asks, and Magra chuckles.

"Have a seat and you'll see," she says.

The tabletop turns milky white when we sit down, and a metallic box rises up from the center. Magra slides the top off the box, revealing an assortment of foods, none from Earth.

Magra notices our faces and laughs. "This won't be what you're used to, but it won't kill you."

"How comforting," Alexis mumbles.

"Try a little of everything," Magra continues, "and you'll have the right amount of energy to start the day." She grabs a few red bubbly things from a bowl and pops them into her mouth. Thinking its fruit, I take one and bite down, but a pungent taste fills my mouth, making me gag. The others look at me expectantly.

"It tastes like fish," I sputter. Magra laughs.

"The less expectations you have while adapting to life with us, the better your time will be," she says. "Try this, it's the sweetest thing on the plate." She points to a pile of purple mush, and grabs a green cracker, scoops a bite from the mush and bites into it. Sofie copies her hesitantly, and we watch closely for her reaction. After a moment, she nods and swallows.

"Tastes like nut butter, I think," she says, and takes another bite.

"I'm too hungry for this," Bekah says. "Let's dig in." We laugh, breaking the tense silence, and the meal becomes the most fun we've had so far, as we chatter and try all of the strange alien foods. I sit back and observe the room, watching aliens eat, talk, and laugh, then get up and leave for business.

I'm reminded of my mother's memory, and it brings a chill over me. Even though she wasn't being tortured like previous memories, she had the same self-destructive thoughts, the same feeling of not belonging. And was I imagining her jealousy of her sister liking Keptana? If they were family friends, that would explain Keptana's friendliness to me. But liking him?