Ruby Read online

  Ruby pulled her gun from her back holster and readied it in her lap. She sat still and watched as the ship hit the side of them hard. It didn't hurt it at all but the insides of the ship started to fall into chaos. People's bags were everywhere, some hitting others in the head. The straps around her chest bit into her painfully as the ship lurched forward. Screams from everywhere alerted her that some people hadn't gotten back to their seats. A kid slid by her as the ship leaned forward.

  “Mawri,” a woman screeched, she leapt from her chair grabbing the kid and Ruby saw to her surprise her husband had a hold of her leg. He pulled the woman and child back up to him and Ruby recognized they were the same couple. He also had a gun and was holding it up. Nodding at her, he turned his attention back to the danger.

  “Her strap snapped Charles, I had her tied down,” the mother was losing it. “She should have just been in my lap!”

  “Sammie, it's okay. I got you, but you need to be calm now for Mawri, okay.”

  The woman nodded and the ship righted itself again. She strapped herself and the child into a seat. Ruby prepared for whatever was next.

  She noticed a large black hole now swirled in front of the ship and something was cracking the glass open. The suction from the portal started pulling things from the ship.

  Large gray creatures were entering the ship.

  She fired but it did no good, the Craintors she recognized from one of her brother's books were already on them and one touch from the creature would put you under. She struggled to unbuckle, but they were too fast. Just like it had dodged the bullet it raced towards her and put its hand on her head. Everything went black as she heard Sammie screaming, “shoot it again!”

  The next thing she knew Ruby woke in shackles in the underbelly of a dark, dingy, foul-smelling ship. She could hear others near her, but it was so dark she couldn't see.

  “Someone there? I can hear you, but I can’t see anything!” Ruby whimpered as she raised her shackled hands up to her swollen face. Her mouth tasted of dried iron, and she knew there was blood in it. She hissed when she touched the large lump on her head. They must have hit her after knocking her out. Bastards. She saw a dim glow next to her, someone had sat up and was glowing like her.

  Then, as if someone finally answered her prayers, she saw a dim light directly to her right. It was someone else! She wasn’t alone. There were others here with her.

  A Lingonian! Her brain woke up. What were the chances?

  “How long have you been here? Do you know where we’re going?” Ruby whispered to the glowing being next to her.

  “I’ve been down here for months. I listen to them when the monsters come by. I think we’re going to Hallaw. But I’m not sure.” It was a small girl, they had taken a child and she'd been there for months! It angered her to think of it. She was very articulate and couldn’t have been older than five, if she was that old.

  “The prisoner planet!” She hated more than a bit that her mother had been right. Anger seeped into her voice mixed with a little fear. She felt the child jump and took deep breaths then remembered her gun and communication device. It had been with her when they were taken. She tried to reach around and find the gun to no avail. It had clearly been removed from her during capture. She saw her communication device lay at the girl's feet.

  “What's your name?” She asked her soothingly.

  “It's Rori, I miss my mommy. She lets me braid her hair.”

  Ruby's heart broke and in that moment she wanted to get her back to her mother if she was still alive.

  “Where is mommy?”

  “Sarta, they took me from the mall. They took a lot of people from the mall. Some of them have their eyes closed.”

  Ruby took that to mean they'd killed a lot of them. She hoped they didn't get her mother but the chances of that seemed slim.

  “Daddy is at home though,” the little girl brightened and smiled up at her. Her eyes were starting to adjust to the low lighting and she could see her face now. She was missing one of her front two teeth and it just made her look even more adorable.

  “Can you hand me the metal thing at your feet, Rori? You may have to toss it to me. Use your foot.”

  The little girl reached towards it with her foot and kicked it at her. She was thankful her fingertips could get it, but she couldn't bring it to her mouth.

  “Good girl! You did so well. Now let’s get you out of here,” Ruby said, and smiled in the dark. She pushed the button on it. “This is Ruby, is anyone there? We were attacked, and I’ve been kidnapped. Can someone, anyone, hear me?”

  Just as Ruby thought she heard the communicator start to crackle, the ship came to a stop. One of the Craintors pushed the door open and she quickly put her foot over the communicator. A Craintor, taller than the ones who'd captured them, grabbed Ruby by the wrists. She kicked him in the legs hoping to hit a shin in the strange curled up legs. It made him angry and he backhanded her across the face. The touch was quick so she only felt lightheaded for a minute.

  “Bastard!” Ruby mumbled as he unfastened her shackles from the pole, and dragged her up some stairs. She realized there were more cells than the one she had been in with Rori. There were hundreds of doors just like the one she'd just been grabbed from. He was careful not to touch her skin. Whatever they were going to do, they wanted her awake. He tossed her to another waiting Craintor and went back down to get Rori.

  The one she'd been tossed at reached down and grabbed Ruby's hair. Ruby swung her feet at it, kicking it in the chest as she was lifted by her hair. Could they be on Hallaw already?

  She wasn't sure but managed to bite the nasty creature before she passed out and hit the ground. When she came to she was being dragged by her feet and looking up into Rori's eyes. The little girl was slung over the back of the big ass dragging her. She decided to wait and see where they ended up.

  They were taken off the ship and Ruby's head hit the ground painfully as she was dragged off the edge of it. Instinctively, she started to kick her legs which got her slung right over the alien's other shoulder. She grabbed Rori's hand and squeezed it.

  Once they'd reached their destination, they were thrown on the ground. Ruby looked around and saw lots of her fellow travelers, and others she didn't recognize, being tossed down as well. The Hallaw inhabitants were handing large bags of currency to the Craintors and they were retreating.

  The Hallaw grabbed them by the arms forcing them to stand and presented to another Hallaw guard standing nearby. He pointed between them and nodded, which Ruby took to mean they were saying they were the same. He touched his skin and pointed. She didn't understand the language but knew he was saying they both glowed. Ruby hoped that meant she'd be kept with Rori, she didn't want to lose sight of the child.

  They were thrown into another holding cell and the illumination of their skin revealed three other people in the cell with them. Instantly angry that she'd been moved from one prisoner cell to another.

  “Who are you?”

  Surprisingly, she saw Sammie, Charles, and Mawri move forward so she could see their faces.

  “Hi, I'm sorry. I've just been roughed up a bit.” She moved closer to Rori, who wrapped herself around her, squeezing her tightly. She tensed, realizing her ribs were badly bruised if not broken.

  “I'm Ruby, this is Rori.”

  “Sammie,” the woman said. Her voice was hoarse and Ruby assumed it was from screaming, “This is Charles and this adorable nugget is Mawri.”

  She held the small girl to her chest and Ruby instantly felt for her. She was maybe two-years-old and with Rori, probably around four, they would have to be very careful how they got out.

  “Okay, we're going to escape.”

  Charles said, “Hell yeah. The bastards took my gun. What's the plan?”

  Chapter Three

  As her eyes adjusted once again to new lighting, Ruby realized there were two other people in the cell with them. When she got to talking she discovered one was an older man n
amed Gary, and the other was a younger girl named Tori. The cells were all interlocked and she could see a long row of prisoners. This was not going to be easy. The door they were behind was thick and they'd have to take someone by surprise to even make their escape. From what she could tell, the cells had a long hallway in front of them they could run down if they incapacitated their guard.

  “We wouldn't be able to go up the ladder, they'd capture us. If we can get past our one guard when he comes to move us we can run in front of the cells,” Charles said and she agreed.

  “Yes. Remember the people in these cells are going to want us to help them, we can't. Our goal is to escape and letting everyone go will just slow us down.”

  “How sad,” Sammie said and looked down. Ruby noticed for the first time how beautiful she was. Her long auburn hair hung messy down her back, but still appealing as it brushed her shoulders. She had bright eyes and a small nose.

  “It is, but it has to be done,” she replied as she placed a hand on Sammie's arm, feeling a little spark run over her skin.

  As it got later, Charles found some food in his pockets and split it between Mawri and Rori. The two girls giggled as they shared crackers. It was good to see them smile in such rough circumstances. When morning came, Ruby prepared to go.

  “I think this is stupid. You're going to get us all killed. We should just wait and see where they are placing us,” Gary said.

  “Are you going to be a problem, Gary?” Charles asked as he stood and faced the older man.

  “I'll yell if you try to do it. I'm not going along with it.”

  Charles sighed loudly and tore a piece of his pants away. At first, Ruby didn't know what he was doing.

  Charles was quick in binding Gary's wrists and then tying them to bars of the cage they were in. Once he had tied it off, he tore another piece from his pants and tied it around Gary's mouth.

  It happened so fast Gary didn't have time to complain. Once Gary was taken care of, Charles looked around daring anyone else to say anything about their plan.

  They heard the Hallaw coming before he’d even gotten close. Charles readied himself with a piece of the bench he’d broken off. There weren’t many choices in the way of weapons in the cell. They had to make do with what they had.

  The tall alien opened the door and appeared to have a tray of food for them. Charles didn’t hesitate. He rushed him, knocking the food to the floor. He pressed the Hallaw back against the wall outside the cell. Ruby raced to help and the two of them pulled him into the cell and slammed the door closed once they were all out.

  They didn’t wait to hear what the Hallaw was yelling they took off running down the hallway of cells. Hands reached out and grabbed Ruby as she ran by them. The cells seemed to stretch on forever and people pleaded with them to let them out. It broke Ruby’s heart and she hoped somehow she could report what was happening and get them rescued, but she had to focus on their main goal. Escaping.

  After what seemed like forever they passed the last of the cells and stopped to take a breath. Charles was carrying both girls and he set them down for a breather.

  They found themselves in a long dark tunnel of sorts. It was impossible to know how far they'd run, but Ruby was happy there weren't arms reaching out to her anymore. They'd made it past the prisoners.

  Chapter Four

  “We have to take a detour, Ruby. I need you to take care of the girls,” Charles said.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Our friend was taken the same time as us. He was a crew member on the ship. We have to get him out somehow.”

  “You said we couldn’t risk taking anyone with us,” Sammie cried.

  “We have to try Sammie, think of his family.”

  Charles stroked his wife’s face and stared intently into her eyes. Ruby stared in awe. They were a beautiful couple. Ruby would be sad to see them killed by Hallaw guards because they were acting foolish.

  Ruby wasn’t sure if he’d just had this epiphany when they had escaped, or if he had planned to figure out how they’d escape then go back for him. Anger flooded through her, they’d almost made it.

  “Mawri sweetie, Ruby is going to get you to the outside. We’ll see you there,” Sammie said. Her eyes were wet and she didn’t sound very confident.

  Charles took the gun he’d taken from the guard out and handed it to her. “Use this if you need to.”

  She studied the gun. It was foreign to her. He quickly pointed how to ready it, charge it, and where the trigger was. She nodded and hoped it wasn’t the last time they’d see each other.

  Ruby watched as they walked back towards where they’d come from.

  Ruby grabbed a small hand in each of hers and headed towards the darkness.

  “Okay girls, let’s get out of here. We’re going to play the quiet game.”

  They moved slowly down the hall. It was quiet and there was no way to know how deep the tunnel they were in went or where they’d be when they reached the end of it. Occasionally, a bug or animal of some kind scurried past and Ruby had to keep herself from shuddering. The light she and Rori put off gave them just enough light, but she could still step on a snake or something unseen just ahead.

  Just as she had that thought, footsteps echoed around them. It sounded like the Hallaw guard was coming straight towards them. Ruby pushed the girls into an alcove naturally made in the rock around them and squeezed in front of them. The opening was small and the three of them just fit. She prayed the baby didn’t make any noise, but the little girl was smart and seemed to sense that they should be quiet.

  The guard came close to them and sniffed the air. The Hallaw were a race of people with scales and an affinity for water. They could breathe on land and underwater, which made it easy for them to sneak up on their enemies. She searched her brain for anything else she might have read about them in her brother’s book. Ruby could only help their sense of smell was not great. She held the gun ready at her chest, hoping she wouldn’t have to use it.

  The guard moved past them walking back towards the cells. He would soon discover his comrade inside theirs and come after them. They needed to hurry. Quietly, she slid from her hiding place and helped the girls after her. She grabbed Rori’s hand and pointed for her to grab Mawri’s. The tunnel had gotten thinner and they couldn’t walk three wide anymore.

  Ruby thought she saw light up ahead and sighed with relief. Not knowing the planet she wasn’t sure what they’d run into, but getting out of the tunnels would be a good first step. They made their way towards the light, but it just seemed to get further and further away. They’d been walking for over an hour when Rori tugged on her arm.

  “Mawri keeps sitting down, I don’t think she can walk anymore.”

  Ruby picked the small child up and let her rest on her shoulder. She was tired and Ruby hoped they found her parents soon.

  Footsteps came from the wall this time and Ruby readied herself having nowhere to go. The walls of the tunnel had narrowed.

  The wall burst open, a door she hadn’t seen allowing someone to spill into the tunnel in front of them.

  “It’s us, it’s Charles. We know how to get out of here.”

  Sammie peered out behind him and pulled her sleeping child from Ruby, pressing her to her chest.

  “How do we get out of here?” Ruby was relieved to see them.

  “We can go out at the end of the tunnel. We’ll be in a control room, which leads to the outside. Not sure what we’ll run up against when we get outside, but if we can make it to one of their service ships, we can hide underneath and get out on a safe planet.

  “The guard was going back towards the cells, soon our escape will be discovered,” Ruby said.

  Charles nodded, “I managed to steal one more gun. We need to move fast.”

  They moved quickly down the tunnel. Rori tripped and cried out. Charles moved back and scooped her up. They heard footsteps moving quickly behind them and started to run.

  The light final
ly started to get brighter up ahead and they determined they were finally reaching the end. Once they did get to the end of the tunnel, there was a ladder leading up to a door. Charles climbed the ladder and pushed the door open looking around. He nodded, jumping back down and helped each of them up into the control room.

  It was a hundred degrees and equipment buzzed all around them. He slammed the door shut as shouts were heard below them. They didn’t have a lot of time before the Hallaw were on them.

  “Our best bet when we get out of here is to hide in the woods. If we run through the open field out back we’ll be shot or captured for sure. If we can find a ship somewhere on the planet that would be better, but we have to take this one step at a time,” Charles whispered to them.

  “The woods are a terrible place to hide on my planet,” Ruby said. “What if there’s something worse in there?”

  “That’s a chance we’ll have to take,” Charles said. “I managed to get one of their weapons and we can rely on our survival skills in the woods.

  Ruby didn’t want to tell him the survival skills she’d been taught were a little different, but she did realize they didn’t have many options.

  They moved slowly past the equipment. She wondered what it did. There had to be a way they could report what was happening on Hallaw, and with the Craintors. It couldn’t be okay to hold people prisoner, could it?

  They made it to the edge of the room and listened at the door. There wasn’t any yelling, but it would still be hard to determine if there were guards outside. Finally, Charles went for it, opening the door and rushing out looking both ways. They all followed him and ran towards the trees, which seemed impossibly far away.

  Still, they didn’t hear any yelling and nothing gave her the impression they were being chased. They didn’t stop running until they made it deep into the woods and knew they couldn’t be seen from outside the trees.