An Angel With Scales

Chapter 7 - Exodus 14:13-14

Allen was on the floor of the cell with Tim straddling his chest, holding him down. Tim’s pulled punches made loud smacks as they collided with his face. Allen relaxed his neck to soften the false blows and make it look convincing.

“Help! Somebody help!” Allen screamed, his voice cut off by another theatrical fist to the cheek. Kess laid in her cell, eyes closed, breathing steady as the medication worked its way through her system.

“I don’t think anyone is coming,” Tim said in a whisper. “We’ve been at this for minutes, someone should have been here by now to break us up.”

“Ugh . . . so much for that idea,” Allen said as Tim got off of him. The man’s two boys, thinking it was some sort of game, started to play, punching at Allen as he got up. He waved their little fists away. “I suppose things don’t really work the same way as they do in the movies.”

The cruiser was moving, even through the inertial dampening they felt the take off a few minutes ago. They were running out of time before the ship left orbit. Allen wracked his brain, clinging to hope that there was still a way to escape.

Allen grimaced as an idea crossed his mind. He limped over to Mavis, who was standing in the blind spot of the cell, holding his leg brace like a softball bat. She offered it back to him.

“I just need a piece, we’ll still need the rest to club whoever comes to let us out,” he said, popping open a chassis and pulling the C14 battery from the device.

“What’s that?” She asked, “Some sort of hidden spy tool?”

“Y’know I used to think of myself as a spy of sorts when I took this job,” he said as he tapped the battery along the slats of the brig, trying to find a point where he could wedge the battery for leverage between the metal struts and the door. “Working on all sorts of surveillance gear, learning how to fix the gadgets.”

He found a place to stick the battery between the door and the frame.

“But, after a while it just sort of turned into a chore. Anyway, no, it’s not a gadget at all, but it should get someone in here.” Allen said as he grit his teeth and set his weight on the edge of the battery sticking out. There was a moment of exertion as he fought the composite material of the battery, but ultimately its elongated shape proved to be its weakness. The battery cracked in half with a slight spark. A few seconds later alarms started blaring.

“Alert! Radiation leak detected in cargo bay. Sector C1-5a. Alert!” A smooth male voice began repeating over the intercom.

“What did you DO?” Tim shouted as he advanced on Allen.

“I took us hostage. They won’t leave us here with a radiation source.” Allen stated evenly, half of the battery still in his hand. “Even one as low energy as carbon 14.”

A set of footsteps started thundering down the hall of the cell block. Allen gestured for everyone to get into position.

“What is going on in here!” A bulky Daxy shouted as she opened the electric door, the pheromone identifier validating her clearance.

Allen stood at the rear of the cell holding the battery half up to the light, as if appraising it.

“Put that down!” The saurian woman commanded as she stepped in, a hand outstretched to wrestle it from him.

Allen watched as Mavis took a batter’s pose and swung the metal shank of his brace at the back of the Daxy guard’s head. There was a short metallic thud as the improvised weapon collided, knocking the guard off center.

“Ow! What the?” There was a look of surprise and betrayal on her face as she turned to face the human woman. One hit wasn’t enough as Mavis swung wildly again, catching the poor Daxy in the face.

Tim and Allen both charged forward, pushing the scaly woman back into the hallway, clearing the cell door. The guard was just beginning to process what was happening and recover when a thick pair of arms reached through the cell bars behind her and wrenched her up against them in a stranglehold. Kess grunted in pain as she exerted herself, cutting off the guard’s circulation. Her victim struggled, bucking her body wildly trying to escape the hold, but eventually went limp.

Tim grabbed her firearm, noticing that she was still breathing.

“We should just put her down while we’re at it,” he pointed the coil gun at her head.

“No.” Allen pushed it away “She’s not a threat, there’s no reason to kill her.”

“Are you serious? Mercy? Right now?” Tim looked incredulous but didn’t raise his gun again.

“Yes.”

With some work they managed to heave the guard up to the cell door for the pheromone sensor to grant access. Kess lurched from her cell, her head swimming with the painkillers that were simultaneously keeping her aware and slowing her down.

“Come on, Kess, we need to find the escape pods!” Allen braced himself to her uninjured side.

“. . . Should be . . . on the aft end of the ship,” she heaved, her side felt hot and the bandages were wet. The adrenaline in her system was eating through the painkillers.

“Ok, we just need to find a way through. We’re almost out of here, Kess, stay with me!” They limped together to the entrance of the brig with Tim and his family in tow. They were greeted with a dozen armaments pointed their way.

The Major stood just behind the first rank of kneeling Daxy.

“It’s admirable that you’re intent on fighting to the end, Allen, but did you really think that the cells wouldn’t have surveillance?” she smirked at his frozen expression.

“Just accept it. You’ve lost. There’s no shame in losing to us, it’s the natural outcome,” she chided as though lecturing a child. “Just step away from the traitor, put your hands behind your head, and lay down. No one’s going to punish you.”

Anxiety boiled in Allen’s gut as his mind raced. He didn’t understand. He had received comfort from God that things were going to be alright, but his options just kept getting fewer and fewer. He had truly used all that he had left. Kess had done the same. Where was the miracle?

Tim pointed the gun at Allen’s head. The Major jumped forward in a start.

“Don’t move!” Tim shouted as he prodded the coil gun against Allen’s temple. She stopped with a growl. Kess tensed up, glaring down at the man who threatened her betrothed.

“It’s him you want, right? Then you’re going to do what I say!” Tim’s wife looked at him wide eyed, holding her sons to her.

“Tim-”

“I’m getting us out of here, I’ll do whatever it takes,” Tim said to his family, and then turned back to the blockade of Daxy. “If you want him alive, then you’ll let us go!”

“Be careful, little man, we don’t want either of you dead,” the Major said, raising her hands forward in a placating gesture. “Just put the gun down and-”

Tim pointed the coil gun upwards and fired a warning shot. The slug lodged itself in the ceiling somewhere. “I’m not playing around. You either let us go, or I’m blowing his brains out.”

There was a tense silence in the cargo bay. The soldiers looked to their commanding officer, unsure of what to do. The Major sighed.

“I’ll let you and your family go, but you have to leave him,” she pointed at Allen.

“No way,” Tim spat. “The second I let him go, I lose my leverage! You can have the lizard.”

“No!” Allen reacted.

“For any other man I would have agreed to those terms, but this one I will not give up again,” Major Kessex said forcefully. “You have my word, that no one will stop you if you leave them both.”

“What good is the promise of an invader? I need proof.”

“Lieutenant, prepare an escape pod for departure,” she said, keeping eye contact. Her pager buzzed, but she ignored it. “Is there any particular location you would like to be dropped off?”

“Alaska, as far from your outpost as possible. I want supplies as well.”

“Done. Prepare enough rations for a family of five for two weeks, survival blankets as well.” She issued the command and another Daxy split from the group, running to fulfill the order.

“Tim, don’t-” Allen started.

“It was your fault we got captured, you owe me. I’m not pretending to be noble, like you. I will do whatever it takes to keep my family safe,” Tim snarled.

Allen had no rebuttal.

A few minutes later the Daxy returned with supplies, loading them through an escape pod entrance near the rear of the cargo bay.

“Is this enough proof for you, human?” The Major asked.

“You haven’t proven anything. I don’t know where that escape pod is really set to land. You probably set it to put us right back at your base,” Tim accused.

“This is going nowhere,” the major sighed. “There’s no way to prove I’m not lying, is there?”

“Nothing comes to mind.” he replied.

“Then I am truly sorry, but I will not let you take Allen with you.”

“If he’s so important to you, why won’t you guarantee his safety? There’s nothing stopping me from ending him right now.”

“You won’t, Tim,” Major Kessex replied. Her stare wasn’t fixed on him, but on a spot behind him. “You’re not a killer. And besides, you’re no longer in a position to make demands.”

Tim cocked his head, then turned to follow her gaze. The downed guard stood behind them, Mavis held fast in the Daxy’s grip with a hand over her mouth. The human woman struggled impotently against the larger alien, unable to free herself.

“No!” he shouted, pointing the gun at the guard. She wrapped a hand around Mavis’ neck in a loose stranglehold.

“Just put the weapon down. I don’t want to hurt her, but I will if I have to,” the Major called out.

Allen could see the emotions playing across Tims face in real time. First a wild look as he aimed the gun at the threat to his wife. Then anguish as he saw his children struggling impotently to pull her from the scaled woman’s grasp. The baby was crying. He turned to Allen with murder in his eyes.

“This is why I didn’t want them back together, Allen. It only makes the parting worse,” the Major shook her head. Tim’s eyes widened in confusion, processing what had been said.

“You told them to . . . ? Why?”

“It was all I could do for an apology,” Allen replied, staring down the barrel of the coil gun.

Grief overtook Tim’s face as he stepped back and dropped the gun, defeated. The Daxy moved forward carefully and took them into custody.

“Bring these two to the commander’s quarters,” the Major gestured to Kess and Allen. Her pager buzzed again, forgotten.

Allen and Kess were separated again and moved through the hallways of the ship. One guard acted as a support for Kess, while the other stood on Allen’s bad side, pulling him to her hip and acting like a living crutch.

They were led by the Major to an electric bulkhead, which slid open at her identification.

“Hold him outside. I have some business with this one,” she gestured for Kess to be brought in. Allen gave what little fight he had to try and break free, but the large Daxy held him fast. He felt sick and nervous as he watched the doors close.

Kess knelt in the posh living quarters. The pain had returned as the drugs were wearing off. She was bound by cuffs and held in place by the officer who brought her.

“This is your last chance, Siv. We’ll be pulling up on the station in less than ten minutes. Tell me where Zion is and I’ll do everything in my power to save you.”

“And Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, Zion is Fled.” Kess recited in pained reverence. She thought of the painting in the old house where the chase began, and steeled herself. “You won’t find it. God has hidden us.”

“You won’t break, even when I have Allen in my custody? I could hurt him in front of you. Would that get you to talk?”

“You wouldn’t,” Kess had to restrain herself. “You like him too much.”

The major took a moment to respond, as though chewing on her words.

“So, you could see that, but you took him from me anyway?”

“The empire would have broken him.”

“He was already broken! I could have fixed him,” there was a heat to the Major’s words even as she held her impassive stare.

“At what cost? His freedom? His individuality? He needed a friend to help grow into himself, not just a mate,” Kess rebuked, remembering the evenings after their visits to the church house; when Xellis would talk of the things she would do to the Elder if given the chance.

“Well, I suppose I should thank you for being his friend,” Xellis said, sarcastically. “But I think I’ll take over from here.”

Kess struggled with her bindings, but lost strength as the pain flared up.

“Why did you betray me, Siv?” The Major asked, sincerely. “You were so close to being able to quit the Hunter Legion, you could have found a mate and been happy with them.”

“If you offered me any man in the world, I would still choose him,” Kess declared.

“So, if I gave him to you, would you come back to my side?”

“I cannot. We wish to be married in the temple of our God.”

“Why? Why do you always take what’s mine!?” Xellis lost control. “You took Mom’s approval and Dad’s love, what with you being their perfect child while I had to struggle for what I got.”

“Father loved you too, he just didn’t know how to show it. You didn’t let him,” Kess replied sadly.

“Oh, sure! And when you turned tail and ran off, they accused me of turning you against them. I’m sure they loved me just as much as you,” she reviled.

“I’m sorry, Xell. I wish you would have come with us.”

“And go be a Christian and sing hallelujah and eat casseroles? No, I want more than that, Siv. If there’s anything life has taught me it’s that you’re on your own. If you want something, you have to get it. Not your parents, not God, you.”

“What a lonely world you must live in.” Kess stated.

“It’s a world I control, and that’s enough for me.”

“You don’t have to do it alone.”

“And who am I supposed to count on? You, who stole my mate and ran from the consequences? My cadets, who struggle to fulfill even the most simple commands? My superiors, who don’t give a rat's ass about me? Axilis, who puts all the work on us and then demands to be praised?”

“Your heavenly father knows you,”

“Stop with the platitudes. Haven’t you figured it out? I don’t believe in anything I can’t touch, taste, smell, or see. Your God isn’t real, he’s just a feeling.”

“By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? I have seen the fruit, Xellis. I cannot deny the change that God has made in my life,” even chained, Kess’ spoke the words with such fervor that the Major sobered, realizing the conversation was over.

“Very well. I would have offered you a chance at redemption, but now I see that you’re beyond help. I’ll give you to the Hunters and be done with you,” the Major hissed.

“You may send me to God today, Xellis, but know this: I will be received by angels as a sister. Can you say the same?”

“Perhaps not. But angels or not, you’ll die in shame,” Major Kessex straightened her uniform and donned her composure. She opened the door. “Bring him in.”

Allen was firmly led into the room, his hands cuffed by the guard who had grown tired of his struggling. The major grabbed him by the cuffs. He dug his heels in but was dragged towards her. She pulled a syringe from her front pocket and uncapped the needle. He threw his weight back as he saw what she was doing. Kess growled and pulled against her restraints, the superalloy creaking with strain.

“No! I’m not going through that again!” Allen struggled with renewed desperation.

“Just this once, then never again, Love,” she pulled him tight to her, his head resting underneath her chest. He flailed his arms and legs, his whole weight being held up by her meaty hand.

“You said that you had to wait for approval!” He screamed in frustration.

“At this point you’re a danger to yourself. I think high command will forgive me for acting in your preservation.”

The cuff’s snapped and Kess roared as she pushed from the grip of the guard, her pain overridden by desperation. She was tackled to the floor by the second guard, and then the first piled on to hold her down. She let out a strangled cry as she watched in anguish as the Major put the syringe to Allen’s neck and pressed the plunger.

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