Page 20 of There’s an Alien Down My Chimney

They tussled wildly, crashing into a wall, and bumping into the bolted-down table, and I had to scramble out of the way to prevent myself from getting trampled. They were not fighting quietly and just as that thought struck me, I saw the door to the interrogation room swing open. Seeing a clear target, I aimed the gun and squeezed the trigger straight into the group of soldiers charging in.

The blast was so fierce that my arms flew up and I fought to keep hold of the weapon. It made very little sound, however, so I heard the shocked screams and moans the soldiers in the blast zone made. I stared in surprise at the huge gaping hole the gun had created in the interrogation room wall. It was a smoldering, melted mess, with debris scattered around, and half a dozen bodies on the ground.

I flinched and looked away and my eyes landed on Ru, standing triumphantly over the crumpled body of the wolf-man. “Are you hurt, Stella?” he asked, then he wrinkled his nose and leaped over the slightly dented metal table. Around each of his thick wrists, a manacle dangled, with deep welts cutting into his tough skin. Somehow, he’d yanked his shackles apart.

“I’m okay, you?” I shot back, my eyes darting briefly back to the massive destruction in the hall. I hadn’t meant to cause that but this gun was clearly extremely powerful. Getting to my feet, my legs trembled from the adrenaline crash, and we weren’t even out of the woods yet. Besides a few pained moans, there were no signs of more guards approaching, yet. That wasn’t going to last.

“I am fine,” he said, stepping over the prone form of the big wolf-alien he’d fought, he trotted over and gingerly took the blaster from my still-cuffed hands. “But just to be sure, why don’t I take this?” his dark red eyes flicked to the mess I’d made, a smile hovering around his mouth.

I flinched, guilt creeping in, some of these people might not be so bad, they were just here doing their jobs. I really hadn’t meant to be this destructive, I’d just meant to shoot a warning shot, and deter them from coming in.

Ru took my hand and started pulling me out of the room, helping me step over some of the largest pieces of concrete, some of which had fallen from the ceiling even. We ducked into the mirrored viewing room attached to the interrogation room and retrieved our things. I hurried to slip on my backpack as soon as Ru snapped the chain between my cuffs. Sadly, my gun was toast, so I made do by picking up a broken bit of rebar, unwilling to trust any of the guns the soldiers had carried after that blast. Then we set off down the corridor, following Ru’s device with the map.

Chapter 14

Ru’ol

I don’t think I had ever been as scared as I was when Stella had just collapsed at my side. Not when I was navigating a warship in a space battle at Ar’tax’s side. Not when said warship was hit by enemy fire and fried my brain, killing my best friend. I hadn’t felt this scared when my ship was sent hurtling through time and space either, even though I thought I was about to die.

That tiny nudge of her foot? That was like my heart restarting, my body was shaking from the shock of it. I thought she had died. It could happen, I had heard it said more than once that humans were fragile, especially compared to tough Kertinal bodies. That nudge told me she was not dead, she was playing, but by then I’d already roared in fear, struggling against my bonds.

She was all fire the next moment, hitting that Dragnell where it counted, a devastating blow to any warrior. I was still terrified for her, but it was different now, mixed with admiration. She was lithe and fast as she dodged the crippled alien. He easily outweighed her twice over, probably three times, she was outclassed but she knew what she had to do. I knew her plan, she wanted to grab his laser-pistol, and hopefully disable the guy completely, it was her only shot against such a big opponent.

I fought against my bonds, wanting to join the fight, my tail finally slipping out the last bit so that I could curl it back and cut at the ties with the tip. My eyes were on Stella and her fight the entire time, I yelled in warning when the Dragnell made to swipe at her back and cheered when she dodged just in time.

Then the claws struck true and the metallic scent of her blood filled the air. Overcome with rage at the sight of her injury, I barely noticed it when I finally yanked my hands free of their bindings. I was on the alien invader in a flash, clawing at him, swiping and stabbing with my tail. There was no stopping me, even if he was the biggest opponent I’d ever fought. I had only one thought in mind, punish this bastard for hurting my girl.

I had subdued him just as a blast went off and the portal to this room became one big, gaping hole. My eyes scanned for Stella, frantic with worry that she was hurt, but she was on her back, pointing the laser-pistol at the hole. The stunned expression on her face made it clear that this wasn’t what she’d meant to do. It was a good thing though because she’d taken out all the Dragnell’s backup in one fell sweep. I wasn’t sure I could have fought my way through that many soldiers, not with my personal shield removed.

It was the first thing I strapped back on when the two of us ducked into the observation room. I wish I had one to put on Stella, but mine was calibrated to my size and movements. I’d need it if I wanted to continue to draw their fire, I’d make sure I was her shield. With our gear back, sadly minus my precious cocoa, and the artifact tucked under my arm, the two of us set out to find a way back to the surface, ready to liberate my ship.

My com device had all the maps of this base, scanned from the blueprints Stella’s friend had provided for us. I still had to make sure I had our correct position figured out but the next split of the corridors told me I had it. It definitely looked like barracks to the left and training rooms to the right. It was fortunate that these interrogation rooms were on one of the higher levels, this Dragnell had partially done our work for us. It wasn’t far now.

There was just one glaring problem. Stella had been exposed, and her face has been caught on camera in the interrogation room. She’d be hunted by her government if she stayed here on Earth as we’d planned. I should feel guilty and sad that she was going to have to leave her planet if she wanted to stay safe… I only felt a deep sense of elation, of relief. Now, we had no choice but to leap into the Scintilla together, she got to stay with me. That was worth the loss of the marvelous cocoa a dozen times over, even if it was incredibly selfish of me.

The sound of an alarm blaring brought me back to full focus. Red lights started flashing on the ceiling at intervals, along with an awful, loud noise. “Shit, I think they discovered the mess in the interrogation room, we should hurry!” Stella said, her small hand finding mine and squeezing tightly. We broke out into a run, darting through hallways and up a set of metal stairs.

We needed to exit on the side where the ship was, to minimize the amount of ground we had to run across without any cover. At least we were almost there, but our luck wasn’t going to hold, we were bound to run into more soldiers before we left this base. I hoped Pike was still in position and hadn’t been discovered, we were going to need his cover fire.

The soldiers we encountered were right there, around a corner we took at a sprint. I bowled into the pair, knocking them on their asses, and neither Stella nor I paused to see if they got back up. We hurled around the next bend, then I had to pause to fight through a foursome that lit up my personal shield with their flimsy little bullets.

The guard post for the exit was just beyond it and I could see more soldiers rushing in from outside, their weapons at the ready. I didn’t want to use lethal force if I could avoid it, but it was us or them, so I pulled the laser-pistol from my belt, aimed, and fired at the door. Glass shattered and melted, this time some kind of fire suppression system kicked in and water started raining from the ceiling.

With soldiers hurling themselves out of the way of the blast, I started running, Stella hot on my tail. As soon as we were outside Pike should be there to help us, we could make it. Beyond the now broken door, I could see my ship loom in the distance, glaring lights placed all around her hull, and strangers in white suits crawling all over her. At least I could tell that they still hadn’t managed to get in, so that was good.

With the artifact under one arm, and my other hand wielding the laser-pistol, I couldn’t pick up Stella. She had to keep up at my side. Now that I thought about this, I realized there never was a chance she could have made it home, what was I going to do? Drop her off with my spaceship? I took my eyes briefly off the ship ahead of us, landing on Stella and the big black backpack she had with her. Had she known it all along? My heart leaped in elation again, making my body feel light as a feather as I leaped over a counter, barreling into the two soldiers crouching there.

A few knocks, followed by Stella landing solidly with her boots in the face of a third ducking around the piece of cover, and we were off, shooting through the broken door into the cold air. The Scintilla was bigger than she looked, and that meant she was further away than I liked. Especially, since bullets started flying my way from several directions, too many for Pike to provide all the cover we needed.

I should have had more faith in Stella’s friend. As she and I pelted across the stretch of snow between the facility and my ship, the shots pinging off my personal shield stopped. That didn’t keep me from wreaking havoc with my laser-pistol, shooting it backward behind me and causing a massive crater. Then I shot to the left where some kind of big armaments were set up, causing these weapons to blow up with satisfying results. This was almost fun!

“Keep going, Ru,” Stella panted at my side. “Almost there.” I knew we’d make it, but I was terrified that a stray bullet was going to make its way to my female. Abandoning shooting, I shoved the laser-pistol into her hands, sweeping her under my arm and then up on my shoulder so she was facing back the way we’d come.

I didn’t have to tell her what to do, I heard the effects of a blast going off barely a second later. Stella knew this wasn’t about aim, this was about aiming just enough that the soldiers behind us didn’t want to risk their necks by firing back. Pike was taking care of the clumps of soldiers ahead of us. He was supposed to just shoot into their midst without harming them, but I could scent blood and I was pretty sure Pike had moved on to lethal force with zero compunction.

The Scintilla was so close now, her matte black hull looming up in front of me. She was awkwardly perched on the back of a big Earth land vehicle, straps still holding her to the trailer. That wouldn’t stop us from taking off. The scientists in their white clothing had scrambled away, running for cover, so they couldn’t block us either. Good.

Only a few more steps before I’d reach the most easily accessible hatch. I had no hands free to use my com to open the hatch so I ran all the way up to it, sliding Stella to her feet between the cover of the ship and my own body. Then, under the sound of many people shouting, I slammed my hand to the access panel beside the hatch.