The Day They Came (WATTY AWARDS 2016)

Chapter 28

Claire managed to open her eyes. Whatever had been in the syringe Nexivox used on her had knocked her out cold for what felt like hours.

Despite somewhat intense pain in her abdomen from the surgery, she couldn't feel anything. She felt as if she were floating.

What she saw made her both intensely curious and fearful. She was being held in a glass tube, suspended in some sort of light blue gel. A pair of goggles shielded her eyes, and she noticed a white tube running out of the larger glass tube. The smaller tube ran into her nose.

Then she noticed a small mask over her nose and mouth. It was very similar to the one she had had placed over her mouth when she was in surgery. This particular mask seemed to be glued to her nose; it held the tubing in place.

She looked down. Immediately, the gel felt much thicker as it slowed her movement through it. It took much more effort to look down at herself than it should have.

She was now dressed in a black bodysuit – like the one she had been in during her initial two month visit on the ship. Interestingly enough, she could not feel the gel on her bare skin.

A noise outside the tube caught her attention. She struggled against the gel to bring her head back up.

When she finally oriented her head correctly, she saw a distorted pink-colored alien. The facial structure and height gave her a good idea of who had her in this odd containment set up.

Something beeped as the alien – whom Claire believed to be Nexivox based on skin color, height, build, etc. – clicked a button and flipped a switch.

"Hello again, Miss Davidson." The voice, which she could hear clearly, was the final evidence. It was Nexivox in the room with her. "Don't try to speak; there's very limited oxygen in the room."

Was he trying to kill her? She glared at him through the goggles.

"If the humans surrender, you will be allowed to live. They have an hour. Oh, and the surrender must come from my son." The beep happened again.

As he left the room, she couldn't help but wonder whether or not there was simply another hour's worth of oxygen in the room, or whether her supply would be cut off in an hour.

She tried to move her hands, but found that she could not. Despite how much energy she had to use to move her head, she commenced on it once more. In her peripheral vision, she started to make out a gray-ish color. The gel made everything feel fuzzy and faded.

She attempted to jerk her arm again, and heard a dull "thunk thunk". That noise was very distinctive. Chains.

It all made sense. The gel, the chains, the oxygen mask...it seemed like she was going to undergo surgery if Xyzle failed to surrender to his father. However, knowing Nexivox, it wouldn't be mere surgery.

If she stayed here...she would die and undergo an autopsy. She would become a science project.

She tried to struggle against the chains, break the glass, something. Even a drugged escape could be possible, knowing their technology as she did.

Another beep startled her. The gel acted like an instant stopper as she stopped struggling. She looked up, suddenly incredibly frightened.

"Do not be afraid." He spoke gently. "My name is Xilnos. Xyzle sent me to protect you. I will not let you be harmed, but I cannot free you. I've increased the oxygen flow into the tank, but that's all I can do."

"Th...thank you." It took her a moment to find her voice after hours of not speaking. He nodded a little as he let go of the little button. The intercom – that's all it could be – beeped off.

He then pressed his hand against the glass, as if to say that he would come back. Then he left the room. As he did, he tapped something. She assumed he wanted to bring it to her attention.

With a little squinting, she managed to figure out what it was. An oxygen meter for the tank sat on that wall.

At the moment, she was getting enough oxygen. She knew that. The needle was almost at 50%, but it wouldn't last.

To conserve what oxygen she did have, she closed her eyes, and attempted to fall asleep. Hopefully it would combat the adrenaline of being kidnapped a second time – and this time being treated how she had expected to be treated the first time.

She managed to fall asleep. However, she didn't realize it until something tapped the glass. She was startled awake.

The red colored alien was back. His name escaped her mind.

"Are you alright? Blink once for yes, and twice for no, please." The alien seemed to be checking on her.

She blinked once. She felt alright.

"Xyzle's deadline has passed. His father has asked me to make sure you die. You will pass out in five minutes. When you wake up, and you will wake up, you will be on a different ship. Hopefully, Xyzle will be there when you wake. If not, I will be there." He turned the oxygen down to a critical level.

She immediately felt the effects of oxygen deprivation. Her heart beat began to race. Her eye lids felt heavy. However, she knew it'd take more than five minutes for her to pass out.

She struggled with the racing heart beat for what felt like hours. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes; she watched the clock above the oxygen meter.

As her eyelids finally seemed to give out, thealien approached the tank. A reassuring smile was the last thing she saw as thelack of oxygen finally made her pass out.0Qϵ