“That is for my master to decide, he may use you as his personal playthings, slaves, or he might use you as sport. He might just chew on your frail little bodies though I can’t think why, there’s not much meat on you,” Axus said, looking them both up and down.
“Great,” Michael replied, feeling suddenly sick.
They rounded a gloomy corridor which entered out into a row of crowded cells. They contained humans and aliens of all shapes and sizes; the whole area stank.
Both Michael and Vargev noticed that two Krenarans were guarding the area. They were escorted to a cell containing only one other alien crouched in a corner; they had absolutely no idea who he was.
The blue-white haze of a force field appeared before them; one of the guards reached out and pressed a button and the force field disappeared. They were both shoved forcefully inside, the guard pressed the same button; and the haze of the force field re-appeared. Within a split second it had become transparent and invisible once more.
Michael ran to try and put his arm through the opening of the field. The haze appeared directly in front of him again; and with a crack a bolt of electricity shot into his fingers. Michael shuddered and was thrown backwards a pace or two, gripping his fingers in pain.
On the other side of the field Axus said laughing, “I would be careful if I was you, that is a pressure sensitive electric field. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” And with that; he and the rest of the Krenarans, except for the two guards, left the area.
“We’re trapped like fucking rats,” Vargev said.
Michael turned to face the other alien in the cell, “so, how long have you been here?”
The alien spoke; it was an unnerving sound, a little disconcerting. It was very soft, and had a slight echo to it, as if many voices were speaking all at the same time.
“Nearly a month,” it said.
“A month!” Michael gasped; shocked.
He noticed that the alien looked almost human, although with a slightly blue-ish tinge to its skin. It was bald and thinner than most humans; yet taller when it stood on its slender, thin legs, which almost looked like they couldn’t support the alien’s weight, yet strangely they did.
Vargev was watching the guards intently, while Michael continued to speak to this new alien.
Chapter 7
“Tell me about yourself; do you have a name, how did you get here?”
“My name is Kerulithar; I am from a race called the Solarians.” He took a slight breath. “We come from Solaris IV, and are a peaceful race. I am an ambassador for my people, and was on my way to peace talks on a far off world; when my ship was attacked and boarded.” His head bowed sadly as he remembered the incident. “The Krenarans killed those of us who resisted, and took the rest of us prisoner here. I managed to self destruct my ship just before I was captured; lest our technology fall into Krenaran hands.”
“Are you an advanced species then?”
“Yes; our people possess some of the most advanced technology in the known galaxy; however much of it is geared towards peaceful uses, exploration, and the sciences for example,” he said with a hint of pride in his voice. “We avoid conflict wherever we can, however in the very rare occasion when we are roused to war our military is extremely powerful and highly effective. That’s why the Krenarans try to pick off lone ships in our case; like mine.” Kerulithar said betraying just a hint of enmity.
“What do you think of the Krenarans?”
“We have a word for them; it is Kaeladron. It means wolves of the galaxy, they are the galaxies scavengers, and they prey on weaker races in their expansionist regime, putting the captured people to work in giant slave factories hidden deep within Krenaran space; where they build more ships and weapons so they can do the same all over again. They won’t rest until all the galaxy is theirs,” the Solarian said with a palpable disdain in his voice.
“How do we fight them?”
The Solarian laughed, a strange echoic sound. “The human spirit is a remarkable thing; even in this impossible situation, you still try to gain some sort of advantage.” A smile began to form across his previously sad lips.
“We know terra exists; we have been there. More than once in fact; watching from the shadows as it were, your race shows great promise. Tell me, do you think Roswell and Tunguska was a hoax?”
Michael thought back to his history classes as a child; eventually remembering the Roswell and Tunguska incidents, suddenly it dawned on him. “That was you?” Michael asked aloud, drawing looks from some of the myriad of other captured aliens; and an angry look from Vargev.
“Yes; in both situations unfortunate accidents, in the Tunguska incident one of our vessels developed a problem with its gravitic engines while surveying your planet and went into freefall,” Kerulithars blue tinged hairless brow furrowed as he remembered the story. “Fortunately the pilot managed to get the engines working again just before the ship was about to crash. However the sheer force of gravity emitted by the engines so close to a forest; flattened it,” he shifted in his seat as he spoke. “As for Roswell, one of your primitive jet fighters managed to hit one of our craft. The craft was not damaged; but the impact of the explosion forced us to crash,” he paused for a short breath. “Both pilots were injured and could not be saved by your limited medical facilities, we deemed at the time that you were not yet ready to be exposed to us. And we sent another ship on a rescue mission to retrieve the captured vessel and the dead pilots. A week later they were back in Solarian space.”
“How do you know this?” Michael asked; forehead furrowed in thought.
“Both incidents were common knowledge on Solaria. That is what we call our Homeworld; it was debated for weeks. What do you call your homeworld?”
“Earth.”
“Earth; interesting, on the galactic map it is called Terra III.”
The Krenaran guards started to relax, Vargev eyed them intently. The three of them could almost feel the vessel they were aboard start to accelerate rapidly.
“We are entering plasma drive,” the Solarian pointed out.
“You never answered my question, how do we fight the Krenarans?”
“We have been watching your war since it started, but we have a strict non-interference policy,” he said brows once again furrowed in thought. “Estimating your current technology level; and the weapons you have at your disposal, you will be destroyed within one year,” he betrayed a hint of sadness.
“The only advantage you have is your laser weaponry. Your ships are overlarge, slow, and cumbersome. Your main weapons lack power; but if your ships can get close enough your laser weapons may well do some damage, though I fear it may not be enough,” Kerulithar replied grimly.
“Then how can we win?”
“Put simply; you can’t, not without help. Humanity is a small emerging nation on the galactic scene, and you are not yet strong enough to oppose any of the major galactic powers, this is exactly why they chose to attack you.” He said, speaking slowly to allow Michael the chance to take this in. “The Krenarans are becoming more daring in their attacks; they have even begun attacking some of our own ships, testing our resolve, even though Krenaran ships cannot match our own in battle.”
“And you can’t interfere,” Michael said with a sigh. “So the human race is effectively doomed.”
“There is one way you may be able to turn the course of your war,” the Solarian said; his blue eyes looking down upon the dejected Michael. “You can formally ask our people for aid; an alliance would be beneficial to both our peoples.”
“What do we have that could possibly interest you?”
“Several of your planets have in abundance, one of the rarest natural resources in the known galaxy. You just don’t know it yet.”
“Which is what?”
“Water; why do you think that there are so few inhabited planets in the universe; they all lack water, you ferry it between colonies in vast freighters. We have to terraform our planets and install vast climate processors to maintain our water levels; but to have a supply to trade with other races, now that is worth something,” the Solarian said with awe.