Chapter Four

The speed had caused the elastic in Shaye's hair to go flying. Her long light brown hair was dancing in all directions behind her. I was trying so hard to stay focused on where I was driving. The high speeds were making it difficult to see when something was in front of us. Shaye was tightened her seatbelt every few seconds. We were driving though a sandy desert planet that used to be known as Earth. There were crashed ships and abandoned buildings that had been soaked into the sand. I wish I could have seen earth before it was nothing but sand and metal. Shaye and I would always talk about what we thought the planet looked like before all this.

We left a deep cavern in the gray and black sand while we made our way to the mountains on the over side of the scavenging lands. I only had a narrow entrance in the right side of the mountains. The speeder car is too wide to go through the entryway in the side of mountain. Not knowing where the break had gone to, I turned the wheel as sharp as possible and pulled the emergency break. The speeder car turned to the left and slid straight, slamming into the rocks and blocking the entryway. I slowly lifted my head off the steering wheel. A sharp sound of running engines, I turned my head towards the sounds.

"Shaye… Shaye! Grab the engine" I said.

Shaye lifted her head off the dashboard. A little bit of blood smudged over her forehead. She wiggled her way out of her seatbelt and jumped out of the passenger seat. She crawled over the back seats and quickly unhooked the engine. I grabbed my seat belt, trying desperately to unhook it. Shaye pulled the engine over the side of the vehicle.

"Reuben! lets go!" Shaye yelled.

The speeders and armored cars were getting closer. Shaye started pulling the engine up the small dirt hill with great success.

"Reuben!?" she yelled again.

"Go… go… get my brother out of here, I'll hold them off... GO!" I yelled.

The speeders stopped only inches away from me. I looked over at Shaye, but her and the engine were gone. I tugged on my seat belt in a panic. Multiple slave hunters jumped out the cars and off their speeder bikes. They aimed their guns at me. I stopped fussing with my seat belt and held my hands above my head. Two of the slave hunters walked over to me. They cut the seat belt and I tried to jump out the other side. They grabbed my arms and pulled me back over the drivers' side door. Throwing me to the ground they held my arms behind my back and knelt on my lowing back as the others aimed their guns at my head. The two hunters holding me down loosened their grip after the hum of a ship engine blasted dust through the narrow path. The force of the ship leaving the ground caused the speeder car to be pushed away from the path entrance.

"Ship!"

"Their getting away!"

"Fire!" The hunters yelled.

They raised the guns up toward the hovering ship. All together they started firing. The ship rose higher as the engine roared louder. The ship turned and faced upward revealing the weak spot at the back. The ship didn't have any shields and it was swaying side to side. The hunters stopped firing and aimed for the ships weak point. Their fingers on the triggers.

"Noooo!" I yelled.

Pushing the two hunters off me, I rushed the group of hunters, knocking them off balance. Their shots just barely missed. My friends blasted the engine and they were thrusted into space. They won't be able to jump from planet to planet, they will have to take the long way around. The leader of the hunters swung his weapon. The back of his gun hit the right side of my forehead. I fell to the ground unable to move. I was surrounded by the hunters and they aren't exactly known for bring escapees back alive. The blow had blinded me. Faintly, I was able to feel hands grabbing my arms and pulling me up. My feet were unable to hold my body weight. They hooked their arms under mine and dragged me to their vehicle.

"Let's get her back, the boss will want to talk to her" one of the hunters said.

They dropped me on the cold metal floor of their prisoner transport vehicle. The metal felt like it was going to turn me to ice. For some reason it felt nice against my skin. Feeling faint and nauseated, I didn't fight the urge to pass out. My blurry sight slowly started going black.

Hours passed

A sharp pain crossed the left side of my face. My eyes slowly started to blink open, but I couldn't hold them like that. Only moments passed before something cold and wet was splashed into my face.

"Wake up" a demanding voice said.

My eyes shot open. I tried to move my hands and legs, but they would move. Why won't they move? I looked down at my hands expecting them not to be there. A thick metal banned was restraining my wrists, arms and legs to the wooden chair I was sitting in. Standing before me with his arms crossed and probably visible from the outer rims of space, the master.

"136, you can only imagine the disappointment I am feeling right now" he said.

"Sir" I tried to speak.

"DO NOT SPEAK!" he yelled.

I bowed my head. I know the master won't hesitate to remove my head or throw me in the pit with the giant, man eating mutant rats.

"How long have you and the other been planning this futile escape?" he asked.

I looked into his eyes with no response. He stared back into my eyes. This intimidation strategy of his used to work every time. But now I wasn't about to let him think that I still belonged to him. I stared back not even thinking about diverting my eyes.

"I see, so that is how it is now. I gave you a home, a job, food, a family and this is the thanks I get" he said.

"You didn't give me anyone, but a cell in this prison of yours" I said.

He walked over to his body guards by the door. Grouping them together he whispered orders into their ears. I tried to hear what he was saying. He was far to quiet for me to hear anything. Two of them smiled and opened the door for him. Two of his guards followed him out as the other two stayed. They closed and locked the door behind him.

"Let me guess… he wants you to find out where the others are going?" I said.

They didn't answer. To be fair they haven't spoken a word since they started working for the master.

"I won't talk" I said.

The two strolled over to a table with many shiny, sharp and pointy tools lying upon it. It has become clearer what the master's orders were.