Nibiru Xena 6
Chapter 1
I wake up, and a sharp pain stabs my back and my legs. Through faded vision, I could barely make out the shadow floating above me. The light flooding the gaps around it stung my eyes, making it even harder to see.
“This one’s still alive!” I could hear a girl’s voice whisper. My arm tries to reach out to the voice, but a warm blob grabs it.
“Not so fast, tough guy!” A male voice laughs. I feel strong hands lift me up, making my head spin.
“Well, well, well… Look what the Sonamera birds dragged in. Maarken, lift him into the hover ship. He’s coming with us.” A different female spoke quickly. Maarken; he must be the man holding me up. I feel his legs begin to bump into mine as he starts to walk. For a brief moment, I’m lifted into the air, then carefully laid down on a cold metal surface.
“H-hey…what-“ I stutter. God, I sound horrible.
“Hey, nothing. It’s either we save your ass or we leave out there to die.” The gruff female voice snapped. I could feel her breath against my burning skin as she leaned in to whisper to me.
“We are doing you a favor, mister, and I don’t do favors. You owe me big for this.” She stood up and shouted something I didn’t catch. As I fell through the blackness of sleep, I could have sworn I saw her smile.
“Rise and shine! I brought you breakfast!” I open my eyes, half expecting to see the burning light once more, but was relieved to notice only a small lamp was the only source of light. Funny, because the lamp was neon pink, but I could look at it without having to turn away.
“Do you like that lamp? I can make it change colors! Watch this!” A girl about my age leaned over the dresser next to my bed and gently tapped the lamp twice. It changed from the startling pink to a more comforting blue.
“That’s a pretty color.” I tell her. Her beautiful brown hair frames her fragile face, making her golden eyes pop. She smiles at me. Wow, it really makes her look stunning, even in her oily tank top. Wait, oily?
“Oh, these? I’m the group’s mechanic. I invented most of the equipment we use here.” I can hear the pride in her voice.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t tell you my name! I’m Sabriel.” She holds out her hand to me, and I take it. I delicately kiss her knuckles, and she yanks back her hand and blushes a deep crimson. She giggles, and two more people walk into the room.
“Sabriel! Every live one we find, you flirt with! It’s disgusting! Maarken, tell your sister to stop it.” I look up to a girl with choppy red hair hastily tied back into a braid. Strands of hair frame her slender face, bringing out her eyes; one a soothing shade of moss green, and the other as black as pitch. Aviator goggles sat awkwardly on the side of her head, hiding what looked like a bruise on her eyebrow.
“Sabriel, you heard Alinexx, you need to stop.” The guy names Maarken whispered in her ear. She nodded, and excused herself. As she left, her eyes met mine. I could almost feel a sad longing, like she had lost something dear to her.
“We know what she’s going through, but she doesn’t want to believe it.” Maarken broke the silence, but it only made it seem more strange to me. His amazing gold eyes and brown hair matched his sister’s perfectly, even though his hair was up in short spikes.
“Maarken, don’t. Please.” Alinexx sounded like she was going to burst into tears.
“Alinexx, I didn’t mean to-“
“Marken, don’t make this anymore awkward than it needs to be.” She cut him off abruptly. She turned to look at me. Uh-oh.
“What’s your name?” She asked me softly. I was taken aback by her quiet tone. I thought she would yell and scream and shout at me until I got the courage to speak.
“I’m… Zoran. That’s the only thing I can remember besides you saving me in the desert.” I told her. She raised an eyebrow, opposing my statement.
“Zoran, eh? Sounds like a tribe out in the Korainaken Zone.” The what Zone?
“I don’t think he known what that is, Alinexx.” Maarken interrupted.
“Thanks, genius. We should put you in the Scientist of the Galaxy contest!” Alinexx shouted sarcastically.
“If I’m such a genius, we should pull up one of my sister’s holograms and show him!” He fired back at her.
“Fine! C’mon, we don’t have all day. Move out!” Alinexx stormed out of the room, knuckles white with rage.
“We actually do have all day, but let’s not make her any angrier, shall we?” Maarken gestured for me to leave. I propped myself against the wall, trying to move my legs. I managed to move one, but pain electrocuted my nerves.
“Ooooohhhhhh!!” A moan tore its way through my throat. Sweat began to race down my forehead. My eyes started to blink rapidly, and I could barely see Maarken run out of the room, hollering for his sister to find him. I thought I was going to lose consciousness, but I felt a sharp jab in my arm, causing the pain to subside.
“It looks like Zitara poisoning; but I can’t be sure without a full body analysis.” Sabriel’s voice was the best thing in the world to me right now. Nobody could take that away.
“You mean those awful bugs got to him before we did?” Maarken asked her. She nodded grimly.
“We have to get better treatment for him, and fast. He looks stable now, but in a few weeks he’ll be toast! Whatever that is, I don’t think it’s a good thing.” Sabriel looked up at her brother. They nodded in unison, and then left the room. When they returned, Alinexx was with them.
“So you’re saying that we have to go to Biotope 192 to get medicine for him?” I heard Alinexx ask Sabriel.
“I’m afraid so, Alinexx. Now, before you yell at anybody, Maarken and I agreed that you can stay and take watch.” Sabriel seemed tense bartering with Alinexx.
“No, Sabriel. I’m going to the Biotope with you. Maarken can stay behind.” Alinexx joked. She actually made a joke! So she does have a sense of humor under that tough guy persona.
“Hey, I’m the one who needs the medicine, so I’m going with. Maarken and Sabriel can take watch.” I firmly put my thoughts in the conversation. I wanted them to agree with me, but all they did was shake their heads.
“I’m sorry, Zoran, but we can’t let you go to the Biotope. They don’t accept the sick or wounded, and we can’t identify your age.” Alinexx informed me.
“Wait, why is age so important?” The question made everybody freeze. Even time itself seemed to slow down.
“Should we tell him?” Maarken whispered to Alinexx.
“Not all of it. Give him only a little bit.” Alinexx replied.
“Anybody older than 19 is either executed or sent to Illyria, the planet of the Elders.” Maarken told me, sweat decorating his forehead.
“Why? Is it because we turn into mass murderers when we turn into adults?” The moment that sentence passed my lips; I wished I could take back every word.
“Mass murderers?!? You have no idea what happened to be throwing around ‘mass murderers’ so loosely!” And with that, he stormed out of the room the same way Alinexx did.
“Maybe we should show him the holograms now?” Sabriel asked.
“Yes, maybe we should; go get a hover chair for Zoran.” Alinexx agreed.
