“How long have we been here?” She pulled on her restraints again.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think those restraints are going to loosen any time soon.”
“I can’t just sit here and wait for those alligator people to do whatever they please with me.” She blew some hair off her face.
“I agree, but I think we have to wait and see what they do with us next. You don’t want to gain their attention as the problematic cargo, do you?”
Julie went still and shook her head. “No,” she whispered.
“Me neither, so let's take a few deep breaths and be as quiet as possible.”
Julie closed her eyes and took in a few deep breaths. I drew in some deep breaths right alongside her and tried not to think too much about the situation we were in. If I did, I’d be spiraling right along with Julie.
“Destination has been reached. Approaching Valo Prime,” A robotic voice intoned.
“Valo Prime?” Julie turned to me stating the location name as a question.
I shrugged my shoulders the best I could given the restraints. I didn’t have any more information than she did. My only advantage was that I was woken up first.
“That’s it then. Time to dump the cargo,” the male in the tunic stated. The male in the orange vest nodded his head and left the room. The tunic-clad alligator approached a woman with long dark hair who had a defiant look on her face. She didn’t say anything, which I thought was smart, but she looked ready for a fight.
The male’s finger hovered over a button when an alarm sounded. “Miscalculation of atmospheric pressure. Crash imminent. Security precautions advised,” a robotic voice instructed over the sound of the alarm.
“Bif me!” The ship started to shake as the other alien ran out of the room.
“What’s going on?” a teenage girl with the longest light brown hair I’d ever seen asked.
“We’re going to crash. We’re going to crash!” Julie was panting again and I heard another woman crying.
My heart started to race and my palms grew sweaty as the severity of our situation started to sink in. I could stay calm under pressure. I was an air traffic controller. I’d faced athousand stressful situations, but being a hostage on an alien ship that was set to crash was beyond my limit.
The ship rocked and then suddenly dropped about twenty feet straight down before it slowed again. Then, as if we were on the worst Tower of Terror ride ever, it dropped again and again.
“Thrusters offline. Crash imminent. Brace for impact.” That couldn’t be good. The ship tipped forward and I was pressed into my cryotube from the pressure of our free fall through the atmosphere.
“Impact in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” My restraints tightened, I clenched my jaw, and readied myself for the worst. We hit the planet with a jarring amount of force, but the restraints held firm. The room went dark and for a brief moment everything was silent.
Chapter 2
Gabby
Was I really alive? Dust filled the room and I coughed along with a few other women. Dim orange lights dotted the floor in a trail that led out of the room.Click. A refreshing woosh of air hit my skin on my ankles, wrists, and waist where my restraints had been.
“Thank god!” Julie was the first to step out of her cryotube. She pushed her short hair behind her ears and bent over to catch her breath like I’d seen runners do after finishing a marathon.
I stepped out of my tube next and almost fell before I found my footing. As the other women stepped out of their cryotubes, I followed a line of dotted orange lights on the floor that led to an open doorway. The hallway was dark but the dotted lights continued to make a path on the ship’s floor. I turned around and saw Julie along with the other women crowded behind me.
“Where do you think it goes?” Julie asked as she chewed on her nails.
“I’m not sure, but I’m hoping it’s a safety feature similar to what airplanes have.” I turned back around and slowly walked down the hall. The lights led me down another hallway. As I neared the end I saw a light shining around the corner. I knew I should be cautious and walk slowly but I was too eager to get off this ship.
I rounded the corner and was met with blissful light and a fresh warm breeze. A hatch had come ajar and was half open. I started to walk up to it when I noticed what looked like a cockpit to my left. There were two chairs, one was empty and the other held the male in the orange vest. His body had been crushed between his chair and the console. The impact of the ship hitting the ground must have been too much for the structure to hold. He laid limp across the dashboard full of buttons and knobs that sat dormant from the ship’s lack of power.
“Where’s the other one?” Julie was close behind me now. There was no sign of the other alien. A knot formed in my stomach at the thought that he might still be on this ship or wandering around outside waiting for us to run into him.
“Let’s just get out of here,” a woman with brown skin slightly darker than mine and long braids suggested.
“Agreed,” I nodded. I walked to the hatch and pushed the metal door open the rest of the way. I held up a hand over my eyes to block the sun. After being on this dark ship the bright light of the sun was overwhelming. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust before I could proceed forward. A ramp extended down from the ship to the ground below. I tentatively put one foot down and when it held firm I stepped down from the ship onto the metal and started my descent to the surface.
