Displaced, p.27
Displaced, page 27
“Jacob, get up. They won’t hurt you if you do what they say.”
Jacob’s face craned to see her and his one visible, small pale eye stared into hers. “We’re dead anyway, so might as well die on our own terms.”
Eliza was speechless. She had remembered just a short time ago when Jacob would try his hardest to stay out of harm’s way and refuse to do anything that looked like hard work. But the man before her was refusing to listen to his captors, even if it meant bringing more pain. She was reminded of the loyalty she used to have to The Cause before she realized the truth. Maybe she could get Jacob to see it too.
Another savage kick from the nearest Skeen sent Jacob wheezing. She tried to kneel beside him, but a soldier placed an iron-grip on her injured shoulder. She grimaced and stayed where she was.
Eventually, soldiers hauled Jacob to his feet and made him stumble toward the door alongside Eliza.
The Skeen pushed them through the door and into a large room. Here, black cloth was tied around Jacob’s eyes and then Eliza’s.
Plunged into darkness, Eliza had only her sense of touch, hearing, and smell to guide her. It was the former of those senses that allowed her to finally feel the agony in her palms. She hadn’t seen the damage in detail, but the suit was torn and her skin shredded, so she imagined her palms blistering from the radiation. While she’d been lucky enough to avoid damage when exposed before, she doubted she’d be so fortunate this time around.
Eliza kept as outwardly calm as she could. She pushed the pain to the back of her mind and instead focused on the feeling of her boots hitting the floor as the Skeen led her down what felt like a long passage. She was shoved to the right and heard a door opening.
Fresh air and the sounds of people in the distance told her she was outside.
“Jacob?”
A Skeen shoved her to silence, but not before she heard his response nearby.
“I’m here.”
Good. They’re keeping us together.
A long time passed before the creaking of a door preceded Eliza and she entered what she thought was another building. She was pushed into a room that smelled of iron. She had the feeling she had been there before but didn’t have a chance to think on it as she was forced to sit onto a hard chair.
A scraping noise echoed loudly next to her.
Finally, the material was untied from Eliza’s face, and she blinked into light. She immediately turned to her left and saw the outline of Jacob beside her, sitting in a chair like her own. Her eyes were blurry from being blindfolded for so long, but they were already sharpening. A familiar voice came from the figure looming above her. It growled, “Ikh ve kkhi ḷa abyig, Eliza.”
Her eyes adjusted enough to see who was speaking to her, and even without the translator pin she knew he was angry.
“It’s not what it looks like, Lordak.”
His eyes were burning hot, and he raised his hand, bringing it across her face with a loud slap. Eliza cried out from surprise more than pain; that was yet to come. It was then that she saw Iriel and Vito behind Lordak, smirking at her. Beyond them was the dome Talis had encouraged her to get dressed in. The one originally used for torturing humans.
Lordak waved the other soldiers away, but Iriel and Vito stayed behind. The lab suddenly became a lot colder. Eliza trembled under Lordak’s glare.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jacob’s blindfold was still tied, but Eliza didn’t doubt that he was painting a picture in his head of what was happening.
Eliza bowed her head and thought of what she’d say to Lordak. She was only trying to get the cure to him, but from his position it looked like she’d gone back to her people to steal the Skeen’s supplies. Lordak had always seemed mistrustful of her, so finding her inside a high-security supplies building would confirm his suspicions. Eliza knew she had to convince him otherwise.
Lordak clicked his tongue and made a quick sound that Eliza translated as a demand for answers. Eliza’s skill with the language was enough to understand him decently, but she didn’t want him to know that. Her head rose, and she met his eyes.
“My translator is in my belt,” she said.
Lordak’s pin was already against his temple, and he paused a moment as her words came to him in Strutit. A moment later, he bent angrily to her and ripped open the small pouch at her waist. He tipped it upside down and the pin fell onto his palm. With a jerk of his hand, he plunged it painfully into Eliza’s temple.
Now, tell me what you were doing in the Yinwu. How did you get in?
Eliza tried to ignore Vito and Iriel glaring at her from behind Lordak. Jacob shuffled in the chair beside her and mumbled, “Eliza, what’s going on?”
She ignored him and stared into Lordak’s hard eyes. “Monica left my bag inside and I had to retrieve it. I got held up and had to… collect supplies. But we never take too much whenever we’re there, and it’s to fix things on Ear-”
I don’t care what you needed to fix! You have betrayed and stolen from me. You were never planning on giving me the cure. I should end your life here.
Eliza saw Lordak place a hand on the hilt of his sword. She talked quickly. “No, I haven’t! I was getting the bag back. If you kill me, you won’t get the cure for your people.”
Lordak’s eyes squinted as he scrutinized her, then went to the bag at her feet.
You found the cure?
“No, I think Monica took it. But I promise I’ll get it!”
The look on Lordak’s face turned her legs to mud; if she weren’t already sitting down, she would have fallen.
“When I go back to Earth tonight, I will get it and return here with the next raid.”
What makes you think you are leaving this room?
Lordak picked up Monica’s bag and unzipped it. He riffled through, finding Monica’s weapons but not much else. He threw the bag to Vito, who picked up a plasma gun with fascination.
“Because I’m the only one who can get you the cure. I’m so close… I just need another chance,” Eliza stuttered.
Jacob hissed beside her. “What cure? What are you talking about? He’s a Skeen! Don’t give him a thing!” He rocked his chair violently, but nobody paid him any attention.
“Jacob, you’re not part of this, so just trust me.”
Her friend scowled.
Actually, I think he already is part of this Lordak said. He went behind Jacob’s chair and grabbed a fistful of the boy’s glued wig and jerked his neck back.
He knows too much. One human I can accept, but not two. Two is too risky. He pulled a long hilt from his waist and Eliza watched the fulgur blade appear as Lordak channeled his power through it. He pressed the bright, flickering blade to Jacob’s throat. There was the sizzling of the suit’s fabric and the flesh beneath.
Eliza had thought Lordak would use the dome behind her to torture her somehow, but seeing the knife at Jacob’s throat seemed worse than what he could do to her inside there.
Eliza’s heart lurched. “Wait, don’t! He can… he can help me get the bag back. I promise he won’t say a thing to anyone about this. Please, give me another chance.”
Lordak’s eyes betrayed his thin patience.
I have no more chances to give you. Tell me how you got inside the Yinwu. No one entered through those doors today, so how? Tell me or he dies.
Jacob remained still as Lordak cut through his suit. A trickle of blood slid down his throat and disappeared under his Skeen clothes he wore. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he whispered, “Don’t tell him how, Eliza. We need… those supplies.” The purple light from the blade reflected in his eyes.
Though Jacob’s knowledge of Strutit wasn’t the greatest, he knew enough to piece together what Lordak was asking her.
Lordak stared at Eliza as if daring her to stay quiet. His eyes glistened with unsuppressed glee when he saw the blood flowing down Jacob’s skin.
Eliza had always known deep down that Lordak had a vicious side, but knowing her friend could die by the Skeen’s hand because of her made something inside Eliza break.
Jacob winced, either from the pain of the knife or from the radiation searing his exposed skin.
With her head spinning, Eliza agonized over what to do. Desperation clawed up her throat and her hands shook. The tunnel had been kept a secret for over a century, and many had died protecting its whereabouts. But looking at Jacob, helpless and moments from being slaughtered, made her decide.
I’ve already screwed everything up, what’s one more thing?
“Okay! I’ll tell you!”
Lordak took the pressure off the knife but didn’t lift it.
Go on.
“Eliza, don’t!” Jacob spluttered.
With a deep breath, she said, “It’s a tunnel built long ago, near the back wall in the Yin, covered by a metal cover. It leads to the surface and onto the street behind the building. You’ll see the cover there… a circle of silver around the stones.”
Lordak released the knife and stepped back. Vito made a sound of triumph and Iriel smirked, saying, Well, that was easy. We should have threatened her friends before. Anything else you want to reveal?
Eliza tensed as Iriel stalked closer to her, green eyes predatory. But Lordak walked around the chair and placed a hand on the Skeen’s shoulder. He shook his head at Iriel and turned back to Eliza.
No more of these, as you humans say, ‘cat and mouse’ games. Get me the cure. You have no more chances left.
In an instant, his anger melted away, and a grin took its place. He clapped his hands together.
Good. Now, we celebrate! After all, we stopped the pitiful assassination attempt by the humans. It is a good day. Stay with us and eat, Eliza.
Eliza was once again perplexed by the sudden change in him, but this time it made her more afraid than ever. He ordered Vito to cut Eliza’s ties, but left Jacob bound to the chair with his blindfold still on.
Lordak took her by the arm tightly, making her shoulder twinge. She wasn’t sure if she was a prisoner or not. She was petrified and suddenly wished that Talis was with her. His gentle eyes would have given her comfort.
The silence from Jacob was a clear sign of his disapproval.
Vito, Iriel, come to the feast. Have another soldier here to guard the human boy.
With that, Lordak dragged Eliza out of the lab and across the short distance to reach the barracks. It was still dark out and the glow from the rising suns told her it was very early morning, so Eliza was surprised to see that the outside of the barracks was swarming with Skeen soldiers. They saluted Lordak and nodded to Vito and Iriel but gave only blank stares to Eliza. They moved out of their way as the group walked through the door.
The inside was just as busy as it had been the last time Eliza had been there. Skeen soldiers sat on stools and benches surrounding the mix of tables scattered around the room and talked, laughed, and danced in all corners except near Lordak’s table.
Lordak kept a hand wrapped tightly around Eliza’s wrist. Vito and Iriel remained beside her. Eliza knew that if Lordak ever gave the word to hurt or kill her, they would do it without hesitation — probably with gladness.
Lordak released Eliza once they arrived at his wooden table. It was usually the only vacant space in the room, and even the rug in front of it was given a wide berth by the other soldiers. However, Eliza saw Talis already sitting at the table. He stared at her, then at Lordak. His eyes were questioning.
Eliza’s heart leapt when she was shoved onto the bench beside Talis, who gave her a small smile. She felt a need to speak with him, but the others were watching her closely.
Iriel, Vito, and Lordak sat opposite Eliza.
The rest of Lordak’s soldiers approached the table from somewhere in the room. Garrus, who was already drunk from the liquor in his cup, sat heavily at the end of the table. Dressed in a casual dress and with her hair down was Oola, who’d come from a group of Skeen women gathered near the door. She smoothly slid in the seat to Eliza’s right but didn’t speak to her. It was a tense moment as everyone looked from Eliza to Lordak.
Skeen food servers broke the charged atmosphere, bringing several dishes with the new variety of plumberries. Garrus was the first to take a serving of fruit salad and pudding drenched in oonug custard. Not long after, the others helped themselves too. The plumberry differed from the one Eliza was used to. It had a darker purple flesh and dark lines running along its length. Its scent was sweeter too, permeating the air like perfume.
Eliza would have eaten it at any other time, but she couldn’t manage to rouse an appetite. And besides, her hands were still raw and bleeding. She felt them stinging from being exposed to air and finally had enough courage to look at them properly. It was no different from a normal wound. She frowned. Where were the blisters? The peeling? Surely, she’d have at least the nausea and dizziness that went with radiation exposure.
Still, even without the obvious radiation damage, she couldn’t pick up a cup or fork even if she tried. Worried about the invisible damage she was no doubt getting, she made a note to take an iodine pill later. Until then, all she could do was wait until Lordak let her go.
Her thoughts turned to Jacob. She felt shame knowing he was alone and going hungry while she was here. He had a wound too, and she hoped he didn’t react to the radiation either.
He must hate me… she had revealed the secret tunnel that represented Earth’s only hope for fresh supplies. For that, he would never forgive her. She couldn’t blame him.
The surrounding Skeen devoured the berries with such ferocity that Eliza wondered if they’d eaten at all for the past week. Even Talis was enjoying a plumberry pie with scoopfuls of what looked like oonug milk ice cream.
Eliza occasionally caught Talis looking at her. She couldn’t help but notice how different he was from the rest of the Skeen. He was quiet, considerate, and kind. In another time or place Eliza might fancy him… But she shook her head free of the thoughts. There was no time for romance when she and her planet were in danger. And a human and a Skeen? She tried to imagine Monica’s face at telling her the news. She smiled at the thought.
As if reading her thoughts, Talis spoke to Eliza in his mother tongue. The translator pin overlapped with two tones in her head.
Do you have a partner back on Earth?
She blinked several times and felt herself reddening, but managed a shy smile and made the hand sign for ‘no’.
He grinned, and his hand grazed hers under the table. Eliza had the urge to grasp his hand in hers, but the pain in her raw palms stopped her. That, and the fact that she barely knew him. He was just a friendly soul amongst those who wanted her dead.
Lordak noticed that she wasn’t eating and slid a plate full of plumberry pie from his end of the table to hers.
Eat. This type of plumberry only blooms once a millennium.
Eliza risked refusing it and shook her head. Still, she didn’t want to rouse his anger again and asked a question to distract him.
“Lordak, where do the thousand-year blooming plumberries come from? Who discovered them?”
Lordak’s eyes flashed with displeasure, but he answered her question after taking another bite of his dessert. Most of its history has faded from our books and paintings, but it’s always been here. They’re found growing along the outskirts of the forest, he said as purple juice ran down his chin.
Their leaves are bigger than the ordinary plumberry plants, and the fruit is smaller, but sweeter. They’ll be around for another month before they fall off and rot.
She nodded and Lordak went back to hid food. Eliza took that chance to looked around her. A lot of Skeen turned their heads towards her, their eyes wandering over her unfamiliar face.
It seemed that most of them knew who she was now. Lordak may have kept her identity a secret at the start, but there was no reason for him to help her now she’d been caught stealing from him.
What did he think us humans were doing in Vakdon anyway?
She thought the answer was obvious, but she had no idea how much information he’d actually squeezed from the soldiers he’d caught. Maybe no one had leaked the fact that they were constantly stealing from the Skeen. If not that, then what? Just to be a thorn in their side?
She turned back to the surrounding faces, which twisted with sneers and furrowed brows. Eliza wanted to curl into a ball and hide under the table, but she wouldn’t let any of them see how their looks affected her. She sat glued to her chair and tried to look bored.
Lordak was the only reason she could even sit amongst his people. It was clear his comrades held him in high esteem. She still didn’t know who he really was, but after their interrogation, she almost didn’t want to know.
The Skeen seemed unaware of her inner turmoil as they stuffed plumberry cakes, soups, sandwiches, and drinks into their mouths. As time went on, they stared less at her and concentrated more on their own groups and conversations.
Eliza was getting restless and knew that Monica was probably worrying about her, despite the fight they had earlier. But before she left, Eliza wanted to somehow visit Kira, and make sure that she’d gotten back alright.
“Lordak?” Eliza started.
He made a noise through a mouth filled with purple liquid. His eyes moved to hers.
She continued carefully. “Did Kira get through the wormhole? I want to see her and make sure she’s alright.”
He almost spat out his drink. He wiped his mouth before continuing.
You, see Kira? The next in line for the throne? No, I don’t think so. He laughed.
Eliza frowned. “Why not? If you just asked her, I’m sure she would–”
“Dlatkhush.”
No.
He continued without taking his steely eyes off hers.
Skeen royalty are from a powerful line and do not involve themselves with the common people… let alone humans.
But she couldn’t let it go. The old Eliza would have nodded and sat in silence, but this version of herself was pissed off.
“I was the one who rescued her, so I don’t see why I can’t visit. I’ll find her myself then.” She knew it was a risk to stand up to him in front of the other soldiers, but she was tired of feeling like a prisoner. Eliza tried to walk away, but her body was gripped by some invisible force.
