Oriehn

Chapter 36- Taliesin

Chapter 36- Taliesin

The surveillance cameras hardly did the attack justice. The feed broke in and out sporadically, warping the picture and overpowering the audio with raging static. But the message was still clear: Alice, and the numerous Oriehns on board the shuttle, faced a wall of approaching human-controlled capsules.

And they did not stand a chance against them.

Dr. Prose chuckled dryly. "I wonder what must be going through their minds, now?" He paced around the room, eyes glued to the screen. "Fear," he settled on. "Absolute fear."

I bucked against my chains, the wardens having opted to use inanimate objects to hold me still at less risk to their own bodies. "Your ships will never make it."

"Ah, but they already have." He gestured to the screen, where the picture, although distorted, portrayed the shuttle picking up speed as the capsules form together in a thick mass.

It would not matter at what speed Alice barreled through the wall, considerable damage would be done to the shuttle, and it would be a miracle if any of the Oriehns on board, feeble as they were, survived such a crash.

"Stop this," I grit out. "You have the power to, so do it."

"I think not. We want to stop Alice from reaching the garrison. This is how we will do it," He explained haughtily.

"Have you not had enough bloodshed, Prose?" I bucked once more, my eyes now the ones that were unable to look away. Alice directed the shuttle towards the middle of the pack, gaining speed with every passing second. Surely, she would swerve to the side, just as she was about to hit the wall. Right?

Each machines fired off their weapons in a smooth pattern, easily showing they were programmed for war, and each time Alice would lean the shuttle away to avoid being hit, but she never diverged from her intended path. She was headed straight towards it.

"Prose!" I strained against the binding steel.

"Taliesin Graile, you can not convince me otherwise that this is not the way to move forward. Your kind do not belong here, on our planet, and now you are learning your lesson."

"I do not want to watch," I bit my lip, tearing my gaze away. "I will not watch my people die."

The helplessness that crept up my throat constricted my voice. I felt like I was drowning, although I was dry. Once again, all I could do was sit, and watch, as my kin fell around me.

"Show mercy, Doctor, or when you seek it out, it will never be there."

"Mercy?" he spat. "Where was the mercy when you invaded my home?" I continued, "It was a peaceful endeavor, we brought new technologies and advancement for the benefit our your species. Our presence saved your people from starvation and petty civil wars."

"Wrong," Dr. Prose finally turned away from the screen, and I could solely focus on him. "Your presence toppled entire governments, sowed doubt amongst the populace in our scientific capabilities. Your presence injected fear into the masses."

"You would decimate a peaceful race," I said and raised an eyebrow, my anger rising, "because we made you look bad?"

"I? Decimate a race? No." He chuckled. "But Alice? I believe that she did."

I fell silent, staring him dead in the eye. "I don't want to watch."

"But you will," He provoked, and I bared my teeth. He grab the hair on my head, forcefully turning it to the screen. "You will watch."

The shuttle raced past pockets of dust and crystallized particles, its path still unchanged. She had less than a second to swerve away from impact, before it was too late. When that second passed, all doubt melted away.

"No!" I shouted, rearing against the doctor's hold. The shuttle tore a hole through the wall in a fiery display. An engine whining down sounded out over the static and the shuttle spiraled down in wide curls, smoke left in its trail.

"No!" I panicked. "Alice!" I looked away, the vulnerability thickening the air.

The doctor stood, stock still. "T-there is no way that anyone could have survived that."

"Of course not, you son of a-" I had raised my head to look him in the eye, but instead was frozen by the sight playing on the screen behind him. The shuttle, broken and scorched, had landed on the frozen tundra of Crious, a snow bank cushioning their landing.

"There is no way that anyone could survive a crash like that." The doctor's voice raised higher. "Wardens! Order the machines to follow! Use the master mainframe so their movements are synchronized."

"They won't be able to. They may land on the planet—or crash rather—once their mainframes freeze over, and by the time you send in reinforcements with improved circuitry, they will have reached the garrison," I whispered softly, but regardless he heard me.

He raised his hand, landing a hard blow to my face. "They are dead. It does not matter if we can land or not. They are dead, for the impact once they hit the wall would be enough to kill them, let alone the impact once they hit the ground," He paused, eyes flickering as he reiterated what he said earlier. "They are dead."

And with that, he turned on his heel, leaving my to watch the broken feed alone. Even the wardens had left, too preoccupied with the possibility of their plan failing, that they left me unguarded.

I lifted my wrist, the chains mimicking my movement. I smiled, gazing at the lock. It was far too simple to pick, and a plan of escape began formulating in my mind.

"Unlock chains," I muttered, twisting a small pin in the keyhole. "Steal another capsule, fly to Crious, join my kin in the resistance." The lock clicked, and fell to the ground.

I stood up rubbing my wrist to encourage the blood flow and feeling to return. I looked around the room, to the open door in the corner and smiled again. "Are they truly this stupid?" I whispered.

I ventured a step towards the exit, until a wave of static caught my attention. The feed on the screen was normal, so it was not the video that caused such a noise. I walked towards the console, where all the controls to the video and intercom system lay. A small black box lay on the sheet metal top. It had a large antennae, and a speaker gracing the middle.

"A radio?" I lifted the radio up quickly turning it around to examine the back side and the batteries. "A radio!" I exclaimed and chuckled. "They left me with a portable radio." I shoved it into my pants pocket, the radio unnoticeable.

Footsteps sounded off behind me, encouraging me to turn back towards the door. A warden appeared, gun raised. "He is out!" he called over to his shoulder. "The prisoner is trying to escape."

Another white-clad soldier stood in the door frame. "Let's take it back to its cell, before Prose realizes our mistake."

"I won't say anything if you don't." I raised my wrists and put them together, assisting them in my capture and watched their eyebrows rise. "The last thing I want is to be beaten again due to your ignorance."

A new plan, a better plan, began formulating in my mind. Stay in the research facility, observe the people and the scientists, and report back to the garrison on Crious. I would be an informant, hidden just under the warden's noses. I grinned as I was escorted back to my cell and they roughly pushed me in.

When I was sure they were gone, I took the radio out of my pocket, fiddling with the channel tuner until I was sure that the station read out the number thirteen. The same frequency we had used earlier, to spy on the human insurgence.

Clicking the receiver, in the dark corner of my prison, I spoke. "Ground to shuttle, ground to shuttle. This is Captain Taliesin Graile. I have some news for you."