Life & Death Awaits (8.3)

Dan awoke not knowing how long he had slept.

'Good gosh, that was a weird dream. When was the last time we ate? Is this what starvation does to you?' Dan thought to himself.

He rubbed his hollow stomach and sat up, stretching his stiff muscles.

'When was the last time we ate?'

He looked toward the other bench expecting to see Rivi lying there, still sleeping. Rivi may have been on the other bench at one point, but she did not sleep. If it were possible, she looked worse than before he fell asleep.

The Aruk must have taken her away again while I was asleep. How much more can she take? Dan thought.

Rivi sat on the floor in the corner of the room, with her arms wrapped around her knees and pulled up to her chest.

"Are you okay?" Dan asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah. I just ... I don't know."

"Want to go home," Dan said, finishing the thought for her.

"I don't want to be scared anymore! I want freedom," Rivi said, crying, as two Aruk guards opened the cell door.

One guard herded Rivi out of the room and down the hall. The other guard grabbed Dan and led him in the opposite direction.

Rivi totally surrendered to the fact that she was an Aruk captive. She let herself be led down each hall, knowing it would be pointless to fight them. With each passing moment, she felt her mind becoming limp as she slowly lost confidence. Her confidence slipped even further each time she realized she could no longer defend herself or fight each new torture.

It did not help much for her to know what the Aruk had used against her and the other children before. Now, she could imagine how much worse it could get. The Aruk seemed to find a way to make each trial worse than the one before. She could only assume that they desired to push until they found the point at which her body, mind, and spirit would just completely unravel.

The guard led her into a large room filled with about twenty other physically-fit looking Aruk guards. Each held a long, wooden pole. Rivi looked around wondering what this challenge could be, when suddenly the room around her changed into a small path. Confused, Rivi frowned and looked around her.

This must be a hologram. I probably would have noticed, but my comp amalgamator's senses are still shut down. No doubt they have that same irritating noise in here, so I won't try to change anything, but, what do they want me to do? Rivi thought to herself.

All of the sudden, an Aruk guard came up behind her and smacked her on the back of the head with his stick. Pain radiated from the back of her head and stars blurred Rivi's vision. She turned, and before the guard could strike again, she ducked and started to run. She ran down winding passageways, making split-second decisions at intersections in the maze, and continued to run.

It almost seemed as if the Aruk knew where she was. Every turn she made, she'd be confronted by an Aruk carrying a stick. Some of the sticks turned into whips that stung her skin as the Aruk snapped them at her. Some of the sticks stayed straight and firm. The Aruk used these to knock her down before she scrambled away again. A few of the Aruk had poles that would light up with electricity and zap her as they struck her.

Each time the Aruk caught her, tears filled her eyes as the pole struck. Her robes were torn in various places on her legs, back and arms. Where her skin was now exposed, Rivi could feel the stinging of the red welts that she knew she would find on her skin later. Rivi continued to run on in fear, knowing her strength wouldn't hold out for much longer.

Finally, with her strength growing short, determination set in. Rivi stopped running and found the nearest intersection. She stood squarely in the middle, looking down the paths, waiting.

Soon, she heard what she'd been waiting for. She turned to face the Aruk running toward her, preparing to swing out with his pole. Rivi's face was hard as stone, and as the guard's pole whacked the side of her face and the electricity in the pole coursed through her body, Rivi clenched her teeth against the pain, but held her ground. The guard withdrew his pole to his side and stood, glaring at her. Before he decided to strike her again, Rivi put her hands on her hips defiantly. Blood slowly trickled from the side of her face.

"I cannot and will not run any further," Rivi said, setting her jaw.

The Aruk guard turned on the spot and walked back the way he came. Rivi stood her ground as the hologram flickered and then faded, leaving her once more in a room full of Aruk. Rivi's face was still and emotionless as she noticed Twelve standing off to one side. Rivi, having had enough of this near-death escapade the Aruk were trying to play, crossed her arms and glared at Twelve standing there.

"What's next?" She demanded, pursing her lips.

Twelve frowned in anger and brought out an odd object. He pressed a button, and something small flew out of the end. As the object connected with her arm, she realized it was an electrical shock dart. The electricity was much stronger than the electricity in the sticks. As electricity flew through her whole body, she shook and her teeth chattered. The electric shock ceased, and Rivi's knees hit the floor. Rivi lost consciousness as two guards came and dragged her out of the room and back to the cell.

They dropped Rivi in the middle of the cell and she rolled onto her left side, the only side of her that didn't ache. Rivi laid there for what seemed like an hour before Dan was finally pushed into the room. He noticed Rivi lying there and dropped down on his knees beside her.

"How's your head feeling?" Rivi asked opening her eyes slightly.

"It doesn't hurt so bad anymore. How about you? You don't look so great."

"Did you go through the same maze I did?" Rivi asked with a grim smile, as her eyes closed once more.

Dan laid his hand on hers as he assessed the severity of her injuries. Rivi squeezed her eyes shut against the pain from just the weight of his hand. The backs of her hands were welted and bruised. Her knuckles were scuffed and bloody. Her face was bruised, and a trail of blood drained down the side of her face. He could see where the whips had torn through both her krodel and akruv and had even left red swelling stripes on the skin on her legs, back, and arms. Her breathing was ragged in a way that indicated a broken rib or two.

Concern washed over Dan's face as she let out a cough followed by a short, quiet whimper. Suddenly, his face went slack and took on a far-off look. A tingling sensation traveled from her hand and spread through her whole body. Rivi opened her eyes wide in shock, only to have her eyes roll back into her head before her eyelids closed again, and she fell into a calm sleep.

#

Rivi later woke, still lying on the floor. Amazingly, she felt better than she had when she fell asleep. She sat up and stretched her arms out in front of her. She paused, gaping at her hands. They had begun to heal. The bruises were fading, and the cuts had almost completely disappeared. She reached up and touched her forehead. The cut was barely a scratch.

Rivi looked up, surprised, at Daniel, who was sitting on one of the benches. He sat there in a daze as though he was sleeping with his eyes open. Rivi finally noticed that the cut on his head was also no longer there.

"Did the Aruk send a healer in here?" Rivi asked in surprise.

Dan shook his head. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

"Then how did—" Rivi began. Dan cut her off.

"I did it. I don't know how. I touched your hand, and suddenly, you fell asleep. I couldn't move. My eyes shut, I saw a whirl of color, and when I opened my eyes, you were still unconscious, but all of your wounds were gone," Dan recounted, still shocked.

Rivi smiled, suddenly understanding.

"Does your head bother you?" Rivi asked, already knowing the answer.

"No."

"I should have figured it out sooner," Rivi said, then stood and went to sit beside Dan on the bench.

"Dan, you have broken through to the other part of your brain that many humans don't ever use! You are a healer!" Rivi continued, as she turned to face him.

Dan smiled, a bit embarrassed.

"I couldn't heal all of your injuries as completely as you were able to heal my knee back on Earth."

Rivi shook her head and patted his shoulder with a grin.

"You'll get better at it with practice. Just don't reveal this to the Aruk or they're bound to come up with a way to tie your hands behind your back, so to speak, like they did me," Rivi said scowling.

Dan nodded just as the door to their cell opened again.

"PS3-36-9G11, One wishes to speak to you," the guard replied stiffly.

Rivi looked at Dan and rolled her eyes, sighing. She stood, and the guard led her down many winding halls and into a highly decorated, large, domed room. Large piles of embroidered pillows were arranged in the center of the room. A tall and lanky Aruk lounged among the pillows. The Aruk guard left her side and stood by the door behind her. Rivi stood there for a second, taking in her surroundings, as she did not believe she was in any danger, for the moment, anyway.

"You must be One," Rivi said flatly.

"Yes, PS3-36-9G11 ... That is who you are, is it not?" the male, One, asked smoothly.

"I do have a name," Rivi replied.

"Do you, now? We are so used to calling you by your number. It would be very hard to remember," One said smoothly, "I seem to remember my guards informing me that they dropped you in your cell with many injuries and in a rather weak condition, but it looks like they have exaggerated. Or, perhaps your friend has a secret of his own," One added slyly, observing her with his head cocked to one side.

"I'm certainly not going to tell you," Rivi declared.

"Eh, I don't need you to tell me. I do have one thing I would like you to do, however," One said.

"What is it?" Rivi asked, sounding suspicious.

"I have heard that humans often dance for fun. Show me what you have learned from your short time back on Earth."

"I do not dance well," Rivi replied.

"You will dance. Keep up with the beat of the music," One commanded.

Some Aruk off to the side began playing instruments in a tune Rivi did not recognize. She started to sway lamely and then tried a series of twirls and twists. As soon as she caught up with the music, the musicians played faster. They did this four times before Rivi fell to her knees. Worn out and irritated, Rivi stayed on the floor. The Aruk all around her laughed heartily.

"The little earth child can't even dance properly!" One said, mocking her.

"All right, these games are becoming more and more pointless and idiotic," she growled. "What are you trying to accomplish with keeping us here? What do you want with us? Why did you take us from our homes in the first place?"

"So many questions from someone who is in no place to demand answers," One said icily, "However, I do feel like a funny story.

"We took you from your homes because our futurity histographers knew that a group of children from Earth would be the ones to spread the ideas of freedom, independence, and most powerful of all, governments run 'by the people, for the people'. This dangerous weapon would unite all the different species in the galaxy against any foe who would seek to divide and rule them all. We couldn't let that happen, now, could we? It wouldn't be in our best interests. We destroyed the government facility researching these ideas. We kidnapped the children to figure out your weaknesses as a species. We were even going to keep an eye on Earth to make sure they didn't start up a similar organization, but that all changed when the government of Aun found you and had you rescued.

"We knew they would strive to teach you the same 'human' ideals. Our new plan has been to recapture all of the children. Why don't we kill you after we capture you and get it over with, you ask? Why kill you when we can break you, turn you all into our mindless puppets? Say to everyone in the galaxy, 'Here are your would-be heroes!'" One announced with a nasty sneer.

"You wish to keep us around just so you can gloat to the galaxy if you eventually conquer all of it?" Rivi replied, horrified.

"Not if. When!" One yelled with fierce conviction.

One's expression morphed into a haughtier look as his gaze broke from Rivi's face.

"We have noticed the fierce connection your species has with its offspring. We may be able to use you as bartering tools to gain Earth's surrender," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

An Aruk came over and said something in a whisper to One, who gave a slight smile.

"It seems as though one of the ships containing the earth children has been found. Unfortunately, they have decided to fight back. As a comp amalgamator, you should be able to listen to the audio transmissions of the ships during the battle, PS3-36-9G11," One said, waving his hand pompously.

"I have shut my amalgamatory senses down because of the irritating noise you have turned on in any room I am put in," Rivi replied dryly.

"I think you'll want to hear this. Perhaps it might give you strength, if the children win. Let free your amalgamatory senses, and we will let you listen," One replied with a strange smile.

Rivi looked at him for a moment, and then, closing her eyes, she released her comp amalgamation. In a few seconds, she found that she was listening to the children on the ship itself. The children must be at their assigned stations and calling to each other over the intercom. Every now and then, she would hear an Aunantet guardian call out a series of orders and the children respond in turn.

She knew the voices. Kitinger and Draeton—they were both in her class with Ankh. Kitinger was ten, and Draeton was only nine. She also recognized the voices of Milenis, who was twelve, and Gester, who was eleven, from her applied sciences class. Another voice, Alianton's, stuck out. It seemed like just yesterday Rivi had been teaching Alianton how to swim. The other voices were mixed together incoherently as the children tried to talk over one another as they worked together in the battle.

Rivi held her breath as the imagined pictures of the battle swam around inside her head. She could tell that the children's ship was outmaneuvered by the much faster Aruk ship. A chill ran down Rivi's spine, as she suddenly realized that this was the end. The Aruk ship came just close enough and fired their weapons one last time.

Rivi's knees hit the floor as the transmission was cut, and she knew the children's ship was no longer there. The Aruk had destroyed them. Rivi covered her face with her hands. She would never see her friends again. When she lowered her hands and looked up at One, tears poured down her cheeks.

"Why?" Rivi choked in a harsh whisper.

"We wanted to take them alive, but unfortunately, they decided to fight back. You would do well to learn from their lesson," One replied smugly.

Rivi hung her head.