HMS Valediction

Chapter 20.3

"Who's coming?" I hold Knuckle's shoulder to stand straighter.

"The bulls. They're coming this way and they're armed. There's fifteen."

It's now or never. "We lay low until an opportunity presents itself. Follow the crowd. Keep the people safe."

Moyra and Coodi return to my side.

"We follow their instructions until we can confirm what this is. I'll give the signal. We engage. I don't know what's supposed to happen next—"

Knuckles peers over my shoulder. "I'm afraid we're about to find out."

The bulls have all lined up against one side of the glass. They place their black, bony hands against it. They push and our entire room rolls. Just like the tubes, we stay still while an outer layer rolls separately from us.

The people of the URE cling to each other and cry. I don't blame them. Fear would have seized me too, but now there's nearly nothing left for me to lose.

Our journey with the yaks doesn't last long. We travel, crunching over the terrain of black sand in our massive containment. They move us slowly, an inch, a lurch at a time, until we are presented with the true hopelessness of our situation.

It's a marketplace. It's an open space with a raised dias carved out from between stone buildings. Creatures mill around. Some form small groups to watch us go by, some ignore us, and some steer clear of our path.

Will all my worst memories always be around these places? These markets?

How many innocent beings are mingling around today?

How many will end up in puddles of their own blood just because they were snagged in the crossfire?

My breath hitches as I spot a group of what looks like humans. They're a species that is so similar to us with the exception of skin tinted bluish gray. Their bodies are eerily proportionate to ours. Everything about them is so familiar, it turns my stomach. I clench my fists. They see us, things that are so alike to them, creatures that share noses, eyes, hands, breasts even, and they look on with abject curiosity like we're some unidentified mold on the underside of a rock.

When the people of ARC10 spot these blue humanoids, they scream, equally horrified by the species gawking at us.

But there aren't just grayish blue humans who have come for a show. There are many different bodies that have lined up to see us paraded through.

Coodi appears at my side again. "We're a spectacle." 

I nod. "They're showing off the goods."

"They're going to have to let us out at some point," Knuckles says.

I cross my arms over my chest. The stiff fabric makes it an uncomfortable feat. "Just like eggs, you have to hand them over once they're..." I can't say it.

"Sold?" Love offers. His eyes glaze over.

"Yeah. That."

The people of ARC10 fall into silence inside our container. We're all holding our breath, unsure of what each new second will bring. We brace ourselves.

"Coodi?"

She shuffles closer to my side. "Commander?"

I try to move my lips as minimally as possible. I don't want them to notice our scheming. "When we discover how this thing opens, you and Ump get to the front. I need you on the outside."

"Roger that." Coodi steps back into the crowd.

Knuckles takes her place. "I assume you have a plan? You have that ridiculous look in your eye."