Star Child

Twelve - Knights in Shining Armor

We landed on the massive rock, and as soon as the doors to the ship opened we were greeted by a group of nice armed soldiers. One of the more beefy ones shouted at us to get off the ship, while another asked us who we were and what we were doing here. Dyrnitix and I looked over to Kreg, who seemed as relaxed as ever. "Aren't you going to say something?" I asked him.

Then another Neo came over, this time unarmed and dressed differently, almost formally. He looked at the three of us, or more at Kreg than anyone. But nobody said anything, and it seemed like we stood there forever, just waiting for the moment when the brutes decided to end us. Then, all of a sudden, the soldiers lowered their weapons and relaxed. One of them even chuckled.

"Did I miss something?" I asked, stupefied. "What's so funny?"

Dyrnitix sneered like he usually did when he didn't have anything to say.

The boss Neo spoke aloud, so everyone could hear, "Well done, Krexyll. This will mark a fine score amongst our leagues of offenders. Put them through, we'll take care of the rest."

I became even more confused. I subconsciously put my hands in the air in a sign of puzzlement, but I found that I couldn't move my arms at all. I looked over to Dyrnitix, who had his own arms securely fastened behind him with a giant chunk of metal. I whipped my head back towards Kreg, but as I did so he kicked me off the ship, and I tumbled violently down, landing roughly on the solid surface of the asteroid. Dyrnitix followed after me, landing straight on top of me with surprising force.

Kreg hopped down, whistling cheerily as he picked both of us with incredible ease. We were lead to the center of the asteroid, where a large hole waited for us with a viscous, toothless grin. A low hum resonated below, almost like a creature was waiting for its lunch. I knew this was what the Neo meant by "sending us through", but I had no idea whether this was actually a portal to the hidden prison or just an endless pit where we would be destined to fall forever and ever without death to relieve us. My fox friend furrowed his brow, and I could tell he was getting nervous too.

"What's happening?" I managed through bruised ribs.

"Relax," Kreg said as he was handed what I assume to be some form of payment. He pocketed the cash and wiped his hands, as if to rid them of the blood that was on them. "It was just too easy to refuse the offer. I mean, you aren't much of a threat to tell the truth, even though your mother would've been worth a fortune. But Dyrnitix, now Dyrny Boy is worth quite a bit nowadays, what with the whole terrorism thing. Ya know what? I think I'm gonna go back into this business, it's just so exhilarating."

I grunted in pain, spitting red liquid at him. "You son of a -"

"Bro, chill out," he said calmly. He was like another person entirely. This guy stood straight up and with an air of cockiness, his head pumped up like a rooster. Even the way he spoke wanted me to punch him, though I wanted to do more than that for what he was doing at the moment.

As soon as the Neo who paid him left, however, Kreg looked around cautiously and told us to be quiet. "Listen, you won't be safe until you go through that portal and I cut the line on this end. They'll have to send word to the closest other station, which should give you enough time to do what you gotta do. I'll try as best as I can to be the first one there to come haul you outta there, but I can't promise anything." He then pulled out a shiny sphere and twisted it. The ball beeped ominously before flashing a red ring around its center. Kreg then pulled a small USB-looking thing from his pocket and placed it in my mouth.

"Wha tha?" I gagged. Dyrnitix grimaced at the sight, but he didn't intervene.

"Don't press that until you're through," Kreg instructed. "They don't let prisoners through unless they're restrained. I guess they learned from last time. They're still pretty dumb though."