River’s Run

Chapter 3-1

Chapter Three

River moved swiftly through the vents. She was a pro at navigating her way through them now. She had even pack-ratted items she thought might come in handy. She had food and water stored throughout the ship. She had found a storeroom filled with weapons.

She had taken as much as she thought she could get away with and hidden them in strategic places as well. Her biggest find had been what looked like explosives. She figured they could always find a good use for those. Moving down, she followed a group of creatures running toward the shuttle bay. They seemed to be very excited about something.

Running, she made the quick climb down the vents until she came to the vent she had originally slipped into almost three weeks before. Staying to the shadows, she moved quietly out onto the catwalk using the pipes to move around. There was a large square duct hanging down she could hide behind, but be close enough to hear what was going on as she would be almost directly above them. Crossing the thick metal beam, she made her way across and hid behind it just as the huge creature that obviously was in charge stormed into the shuttle bay with almost twenty armed men following him.

Another ten men stood surrounding a shuttle with their weapons drawn. A small explosion caused the platform at the back of the shuttle to open. The men rushed in.

A few minutes later they came out, followed by a group of almost a dozen men. River caught her breath at her first look at the men. They were much different than the creatures that had captured Jo and Star. They were tall, about six and a half feet, but had long, black hair pulled back at their necks.

They were all dressed in leather pants and had on different colored shirts except for the one in the front who was older and wore some type of formal cloak. They were so handsome, River would have to call them almost beautiful.

They appeared almost human in form. She couldn’t tell what it was about them from this distance, but she knew there was something different about them. Maybe it was their builds, which were very muscular, or the way they carried themselves, but something was different.

River watched as the huge creature named Trolis walked up to the man in the long cloak and hissed at him.

“So, Krail Taurus, we meet again. This time there will be no peace negotiations,” the huge creature hissed.

“Trolis, you have broken the treaty signed by your people by attacking an Alliance vessel on a diplomatic mission,” Krail Taurus replied calmly. “This will be seen as an act of war.”

Trolis grinned nastily before replying, “No, this will be seen as an act of war.”

Before anyone knew what Trolis planned, he swung a double-edge sword and sliced the older man across his neck, severing his head clean off his shoulders. The other men roared with rage and moved to attack. Suddenly, the ten men surrounding them opened fire and all the men dropped to the floor.

River shoved her fist into her mouth to keep from crying out. Silent tears coursed down her cheeks as she watched all the men drop. She almost fell from her hiding place when she heard Trolis tell the men to drag the men to the holding cells.

They aren’t dead, just unconscious! she thought with relief.

She waited to hear what else Trolis had to say. She needed to know what he planned on doing to the other men. If he planned on killing them, she was going to have to tell Jo and Star they were moving up their attack on the creatures.

“Commander Trolis, what do you want us to do with the others?” one of the creatures hissed out.

Trolis swung his large head back and forth. “Two of the men are part of the royal family. I think a demonstration of who is in charge is necessary. Strap them to walls. Take the younger one with the red shirt and secure him to the center of cell block eight. I want the others to watch as he is gutted. I have plans for his older brother to suffer.”

“Yes, commander,” hissed the creature.

Trolis called out to two other creatures, “Clean up this mess.”

River watched as Trolis walked out of the shuttle bay. She moved back along the metal beam, climbed back into the vent, and took off at a run. She had to let Jo and Star know about what happened and get to cell block eight before they had a chance to kill anyone else. She didn’t know why, but she knew those men were their only hope of finding their way off this ship and back home. They had to free them.