River’s Run

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

River looked out the front of the spaceship she had stowed away on for what seemed like the millionth time. It turned out the spaceship the creatures used on Earth was just a shuttle to a much, much larger ship. Once they docked with the larger ship, the creatures carried Jo and Star out. River remained in hiding until she felt sure all the creatures had left the shuttle. Now, she moved about the empty shuttle, trying to get familiar with what she had gotten herself into and waiting for the shuttle area to clear out a little.

Peeking out the front view panel, River watched as about ten of the creatures moved containers about. She watched as the one creature who she suspected was the leader of the shuttle crew who had taken Jo and Star argued with another one who was almost twice as big as it was.

The bigger creature hissed loudly and pointed at Jo’s and Star’s unconscious bodies wrapped tightly in the blankets. The smaller creature hissed something back, then flinched when the other one roared. The other two creatures took a step back and looked like they would have preferred to have been anywhere but there. Finally the huge creature hissed something at the two holding River’s friends, and they followed him. The other creature just hissed and left the shuttle bay by another exit.

River knew she needed to find a way around the ship without being seen. These creatures were huge compared to her, Star, and Jo. Looking up, she noticed a series of platforms leading to the ventilation system. If she could get to it unseen, she could move through the vents. The creatures were too large to fit in them. Besides, wasn’t that what they did in the movies? If she could stay with them, she could find her friends and they could hide out until they figured out a way to get off the ship.

Satisfied with her plan, she just needed to wait until things calmed down a little. In the meantime, she explored the shuttle for any type of food or drinks and a restroom. Finding a box with what appeared to be emergency rations, she stuffed as much as she felt she could safely carry into her duffel bag. She needed to get ready in case she needed to defend herself.

Opening her duffel bag, she pulled out some of the harnesses she used to carry her knives during her performances. She pulled her sweater off, placing it in the duffel bag. She might need it later but not while she was climbing.

Pulling on a tight, long-sleeved, form fitting black spandex shirt, she strapped on two of her leather wrist holders which contained seven small knives in each holder. Next, she grabbed her back and chest holder. It crisscrossed her front and back and allowed her to put all types of knives and throwing stars in it, including two small swords which fit in an X-formation on her back. Pulling on her belt, she put additional small throwing stars in it. She used this belt when she was riding bareback and throwing them at candles lit around the ring. She had maybe twenty-five very sharp throwing stars in it.

Lastly, she pulled out several of her favorite throwing knives and placed them in the inserts she had in her leather boots. Closing the duffel bag, she pulled the straps tight so she could run faster if she needed to.

River waited almost two hours before the shuttle area had become deathly quiet. She watched as the last creature left the area, and the lights dimmed. Moving toward the opened ramp which had been left down after their arrival, River stayed as low as possible, moving slowly so she could listen for any noises.

Grabbing the side of the ramp, she flipped under it so she was covered. Peering out, she moved swiftly when she felt confident she was safe toward the nearest stack of cargo boxes, slipping between two of them. She followed the tight corridor between the crates until she was in the shadows under the catwalks leading up to the ventilation system.

River turned and grabbed the piping and began climbing. She hoped there was no video surveillance of the area. If so, she should have had company already.

Rolling over the catwalk, she took the stairs up to the highest level before grabbing hold of the piping and climbing it up to the vent. It was small, but she wouldn’t have any problems sliding through it. They didn’t even have a grill over it. Holding on to the pipe with both hands, she stretched her legs out until she could slide them in, then pushed off, letting the rest of her body follow. She moved back about ten feet into the vent before she leaned back and took a deep breath to calm her shaking body. She had never been so scared in all her life. The only thing keeping her going was the knowledge Jo and Star had to be even more scared than she was.

River crawled until she reached an intersection in the vent. Here it was high enough, she could actually stand up straight. She guessed whoever built it was a lot smaller than the creatures on it now.

They would have a hard time crawling as each one of them had to be over eight and a half feet tall and almost as wide. Moving to the left, which she hoped was the direction the creatures had headed when they took Jo and Star, she followed the ventilation system for hours, marking sections as she came to them with a permanent marker. Luckily she had always been good with directions, probably because she had traveled so much her whole life. It almost reminded her of the passageways under Paris, she, Star, and Jo had explored one summer.

River almost cried out with relief when she saw a schematic of the ship attached to one intersection. Pulling out one of her knives, she pried it off the wall. Sinking down, she looked over the map. It looked like there was some type of holding cells two levels up.

If she followed the ventilation system another hundred feet to the left, there should be a vent leading up to the next level. She needed to do this again at the next level to get to the one she wanted. Sliding the stiff map into her shirt, she moved off to the left.

Sure enough, she came to a vent that went straight up. It was narrow, but it had what looked like foot holds. Grabbing hold of the first rung, River began climbing.

River spent the better part of the next three hours moving through the ventilation system. She had made it to the level with the holding cells. It had taken her longer to climb up to them than she expected. They were much further apart than she expected. Once she had made it to the level she wanted, she had paused to rest and get something to drink.

At first she was leery of what was in the bottle, but on smelling it and then finally taking a sip, she was relieved to find it was water. She drank half the bottle before realizing she needed to conserve what she had. Closing her eyes, River felt the fatigue take over her body.

She needed to rest before she moved any further. She had been up for over seventy-two hours between arriving back in the States and her long flight and drive. Then there had been the wait in the shuttle until everyone had left.

Leaning her head back against the cold metal, River felt a shiver run through her body. She had no idea how they were ever going to get home. No one would even begin looking for them for at least three months when they didn’t return from the mountain. By then, who knew where they would be.

Shaking off the depressing thoughts, River focused on finding her friends first. She had to make sure they were safe. Her last thought as her body shut down was that she would worry about the rest later.

River woke disoriented. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Taking a drink, she rubbed her eyes, trying to get them to focus. She wasn’t far from the first row of cells. She figured she would leave her duffel bag here and check out each cell through the vent until she hopefully found Jo and Star. Shrugging the bag off her back, she checked to make sure all her knives were securely fastened so she didn’t make any noise.

Standing up, she moved to the first cell. Peering through, she saw it was empty. Moving to the next one, she found the same. On her third cell she saw a familiar pink-and-white comforter lying across what looked like some type of bed. Peeking around the room, River waited a good five minutes, listening.

“Jo, I’m scared,” Star whispered. “Do you think they are going to hurt us?”

“I don’t know, baby,” Jo replied softly. “I hope not.”

“Psst. Jo, Star,” River called out softly.

“River?” Star whispered excitedly.

River pulled the vent grill up. Man, whoever designed these cells must have been thinking whatever was going to be in them would be too big to fit through the opening. It was a perfect fit for River’s, Jo’s, and Star’s petite figures.

“You alone?” River asked quietly.

“Yes. They only come by once a day. They bring us something to eat and drink, then don’t come back again until the same time the next day,” Jo replied.

River was surprised. She didn’t realize they had already been in here that long. She had fallen asleep earlier in the ventilation system, but hadn’t thought so much time had passed. She felt guilty at having slept so long.

“When will they be back?” River asked huskily.

“Not for another eight hours by my calculations,” Jo said.

River laughed softly. Jo was always the level-headed one of the three of them. River slowly lowered herself through the vent opening and dropped lightly to her feet. Star rushed off the bed and wrapped her arms around River tightly.

“Oh River, you shouldn’t be here,” Star cried softly.

“Oh? And where else do you think I should be?” River teased softly, pushing Star’s hair back. “Whatever adventure we go on, we go together,” River said softly, repeating a mantra they had said since they had become friends.

Jo smiled through her tears. “Yeah, but even we aren’t stupid enough to have invited you on this one.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else without you,” River said. “Now, we need to think about how we are going to get out of here and back home.”

“What do you suggest? If we are on a spaceship, and I have to believe we are, God only knows where we are. Even if we were able to get off, where would we go? It’s not like any of us know how to fly one of these things,” Jo said sadly, sinking down onto the bed.

“Can you understand anything the creatures are saying?” River asked, trying to think of ways to get the girls in a fighting-back mood. Usually it was Jo who was the one shaking everyone up out of the doldrums. This was a new experience for River.

“Yes. They gave us some type of translator to wear,” Star said, pulling her hair back to reveal a device that looked almost like a small hearing aid.

“I need one. I‘ve been scouting the ship. If worse comes to worst, we can disappear into the ventilation system until we can figure out a way to get off this boat,” River said, holding out her hand.

Star handed her translator to River. “What should I tell them when they discover it missing?”

“Tell them it fell in the toilet,” River grinned. “I bet they’ve dropped stuff down it before.”

Jo laughed. “You are so bad.” Sighing, she couldn’t help but admit, “I’m glad you’re here, River.”

River smiled softly. “Me, too. If I am going to be hanging out here some, I need to use your bathroom. I left my duffel bag up in the vents a few cells down. I figured I could spend part of the day with you and the other part doing reconnaissance. I need you two to stay here just in case someone decides to put in a surprise visit. I’ll leave you some of my knives just in case you need them. Whatever happens, don’t be afraid to use them,” River added seriously.

Jo and Star nodded as they took the knives River handed them from her boots. They knew this was for real, and they wouldn’t get a second chance if they hesitated. River used the bathroom to freshen up and refilled her water bottle.

The three of them talked for the next few hours planning different strategies. River had Jo copy the map she had of the ship, and they made plans on where to meet if they had to disappear into the ventilation system. They had three places they set where they would meet if they should get separated from each other.

Jo insisted River get a couple hours sleep, and she would wake her an hour before their next scheduled visit from their captors, so she could hide. River was going to stay close to make sure the translator worked before she would explore more.

Over the next two weeks, they did the same routine. River began having Jo and Star explore the vents to get familiar with the ship while she stayed with one or the other. They figured she could cover up with the bedspread and act like she was sleeping if the creatures came back early.

So far, they had been left alone. It wasn’t until the beginning of their third week of captivity that they knew something major was happening. The ship jerked and shuddered, tossing them to the floor as the lights in the cell dimmed.

“What’s happening?” Star asked, frightened. She gripped the edge of the bed trying to keep from falling again.

“I don’t know. I’m going to go check it out,” River said. “Give me a boost.”

Jo and Star stood and cupped their hands, giving River a boost through the vent. River closed the vent grill before whispering, “I’ll be back shortly.”

The sisters nodded as they staggered under another shudder. The ship moaned, then everything seemed to become deathly quiet. Moving over, they sat on the edge of the bed, holding on to each other as they waited for River to return.