Chapter 19
She had never seen anything like it. Okay, so Mimi hadn’t traveled as much of the galaxy as she’d like, but growing up as her father’s daughter, she had seen plenty of the Milky Way’s wonders. From the floating islands of the Alpha moons, to the triple suns of the Scorpion Cluster, she knew fully well that this galaxy had its fair share of surprises.
What was before her was….
Though they were presumably inside a spaceship and most definitely under the desert, it looked as if she had suddenly been transported into a forest. A massive room opened up before her. In fact, she wasn’t even sure it was a room; she couldn’t see the ceiling above nor the walls beyond. Instead, it was as if the hallway had abruptly ended and had somehow transported them to another planet.
The floor gave way to dirt and an array of dark, lustrous plants. There were ferns and vines and shrubs. A gray-green and purple – they were not too distinct from the flora of Earth, though here and there some more luminescent.
There was a strong breeze marching through the room, and it rustled the leaves causing a low but constant whisper.
The breeze brought with it the unmistakable scent of dirt, water, and plants.
Either she was staring at a very sophisticated hologram, or somehow there was a veritable forest in the middle of this ship underneath the baking sands of the planet above.
Though at first, she looked to Josh to figure out what was going on here, all too soon it became apparent he was just as surprised as she was.
There were no stars, no sun, and no moon down here, so the only light came from those softly luminescent purple leaves. It was enough to create a kind of eerie glow, but certainly not enough to discern the ceiling or walls, if in fact they were there.
“What is this place?” She finally broke the silence, keeping her voice low.
Josh jolted in surprise, turning to her quickly and pressing a finger over his lips. The last time he tried to shut her up, he’d slammed a hand over her mouth. It hadn’t hurt her, and yet for some reason, she could still feel the indent of his fingers against her lips. She tried not to let the memory distract her as she turned her attention back to whatever was before them. With a tentative, careful move she reached a hand out to touch the closest planet.
Immediately Josh grabbed her arm and pulled it back. In many ways, it was ironic. She had warned him not to touch that black spike, and he’d ignored her. Now he was the one on high alert. She could feel the tension in his hand as he clasped her wrist.
“We should go back,” he concluded. Still holding onto her arm, he pulled her backward.
She resisted. “Shouldn’t we… explore? We haven’t passed another way out. What if there’s one just beyond,” she swallowed hard, “This forest?”
Josh didn’t miss a beat. “We’re getting out of here. Come on.” He tried to pull her again.
She resisted. “Josh, shouldn’t we—”
“Leave? Yes, we should leave,” he concluded before she could finish. Then, with more force than before, he pulled her forward.
They almost reached the lip of the corridor again.
Suddenly, a noise filtered in from far down the hallway. Low and thumping, it was footfall. She stiffened, but it was nothing compared to Josh’s reaction; she could feel his whole body tense, and she watched as his eyes widened in frightened anticipation.
Before Mimi could question whether it was the wind or some lost animal, voices rang out. Though they were still too distant to discern, she could make out a low and ominous sounding laugh.
Without a word, Josh pushed her away from the hallway and into the forest. It was such a weird sensation to have the damp large leaves brush against her legs as she hurried forward. Barely an hour ago she’d been in the desert above, and a lush jungle had been the last thing on her mind.
He didn’t say anything. Didn’t tell her where they were headed, didn’t speculate about what or who could be behind. He pushed her forward, one hand locked on her shoulder as he took up position behind.
She tried to control her footfall, tried to be careful about where she stepped, but a few times she stumbled. Josh didn’t let her fall for long. He grabbed her up each time and kept pushing her onward.
Mimi had been frightened before in her life, terrified even. But she’d never endured an experience like this. Being chased. No, worse than that, she wasn’t even sure she was being chased. Maybe the group behind didn’t know she was here. Or maybe they were tracking her relentlessly. She had no idea. She had to keep her breathing controlled and her footfall measured nonetheless, and she had to worry that each noise she made advertised her position. If it weren’t for Josh right behind her, she would have become frantic long ago, likely falling over and breaking a leg on the uneven, vine-clogged terrain. With him by her side, though, he navigated a safe path through the jungle, maintaining a healthy pace, but never forcing her into a run.
She was more than thankful he was here with her, even though she’d cursed his very existence barely an hour ago. She’d accused Josh of changing his personality from moment to moment, but maybe she was the same. She kept oscillating from convincing herself he was a brute to realizing he was the only reason she was alive.
Now was not the time to ponder those facts. As Josh led her further into the jungle, the terrain changed. The vegetation became sparser, dense clumps of vines and ferns giving way to only a few bushes scattered across the dirt. They also began to approach… something. With the bare illumination offered by the luminescent leaves, it took a while to realize what it was. The closer they got, however, the more she recognized it was some kind of building. About 10 meters high and made of a pitch black matte metal, it was the oddest thing she’d ever seen – a building within a jungle within a ship. If she’d been in the right frame of mind, she would have realized this could make a great story for the news. Then again, an equally compelling tale could tell of how the only child of Theodore Chester was kidnapped and killed.
As they approached the strange building, Josh hesitated, but only for a fraction of a second. As he did, Mimi heard the voices even louder. There was now no mistaking they were being followed.
Though she barely had the time to notice, she was dimly aware that the building… didn’t feel right. It gave her the same creepy, foreboding sensation that the black spike had done.
She didn’t have the luxury of running from it. Josh grabbed her once more and led her around the side of the building.
Though they were running now, no matter how fast they went, the voices behind grew louder and louder.
Josh tightened his grip on her wrist. Either he was trying to stabilize her so she didn’t fall over, or he was trying to comfort her. Both were welcome.
They raced around the side of the building. There were no plants growing next to it, nothing but moist dirt piled against its walls.
The voices grew louder. She could hear footfall. Thump, thump, thump. It was heavy, it was fast.
Her heart felt like it would tear from her chest, her breath felt like it couldn’t come fast enough.
They rounded the edge of the building. Suddenly, there was light.
She had to bring a hand up and cover her eyes at the sudden brilliance of it.
It took her a moment to realize where it was coming from. Then she saw it.
A door was opening in the side of the building. The wall of smooth black metal was opening up, bleeding a bright white light as it did.
Josh hesitated.
The voices got louder. They were angry, excited, vicious, victorious.
Josh hesitated one single second before running away from the light. He tried to direct them into the forest, but the second he did, she started to hear voices in front of them.
This time Josh didn’t hesitate – reversing direction with a smooth turn, he pushed her toward the open door and into the light.
She barely had a chance to orient before something fantastic occurred: the doors closed. Whisper qui
et and impossibly fast, they shut, blocking off the desperate, angry voices from outside.
The doors were so thick that once they were in place, silence returned. No more scrabbling of feet, no more vicious laughter. Only the sound of her frantic breath.
It took only a few seconds for the thankful smile spreading across her face to freeze. She turned and looked at Josh. His eyes wide with terror, he stared back at her, his gaze shifting behind as he surveyed the room around them.
“We’re safe—” she began.
“We are trapped.”