Chapter 1 – Escape
The thrumming of her heart against her chest burnt a hole into her sternum as it pushed adrenaline faster and faster through her bloodstream. Dorthea's legs seemed to swell with every panicked lunge she took, the hormone urging her to keep going, don't give up. Though her head swam from lack of oxygen, Dorthea kept moving. There was no possible way that she could let the Tarkan at her tail get his grubby hands on her again. The large splashes of blue and purple that blossomed over her skin served as her motivation. That, and the fact that if she convinced her captors that she escaped, her sister would be safe to flee from this unknown planet.
Because currently, she ran under the name Eliza DeVult. Because currently, she was her sister. And if Eliza was running from them at that moment, Eliza could not be boarding a rescue ship, so why would they need to search for her elsewhere? Dorthea's own rescue waited for her only a mile away, if she could just reach it. When the concept of 5,280 feet wrapped itself around her brain, Dorthea's lungs caught fire. Her hundred-and-forty pounds of weight suddenly felt like tons, and her legs must've been filled with sand. She trembled but forced herself to run harder: the Tarkan's hand grabbed at the maroon locks of hair that billowed behind her as she ran. His nails clawed the skin of her back, leaving angry red trails between her shoulder blades.
The mile was long and short at the same time. Adrenaline sped up her perception of time, but the exhausted throbbing that pulsed persistently through the core of her being made the distance never-ending. When the docking yard welled in front of her, it came with an exhilarating jolt of shock that forced her to move with faster, longer strides. Unfortunately, the Tarkan didn't seem to be running out of breath sometime soon, unlike Dorthea, whose extremely helpful cocktail of adrenaline, fear, and surprise had died once laying eye upon the gigantic spacecrafts.
Security personnel stood guard at every entrance, so to avoid ambush Dorthea had to either clamber over the fence or burrow underneath. Neither seemed very likely. She stumbled forward, parallel to the chain link fence, to find a weak spot. There was no doubt in her mind that the fences would be booby-trapped; electrically charged or otherwise. Dorthea knew running wouldn't be much of an option soon and her eyes frantically scanned each and every inch of the fence, willing a hole into their impeccable defense systems. Luckily, for her pursuer fast gained on her heels, a glitch in the system jumped out and bit her. A gift from the gods. Dorthea made a mental note to pray more often and seized the opportunity gratefully.
A stretch of fence, bent down and misshaped out of weather or collision, Dorthea couldn't tell. Nor did she care. Her feet prepared to launch her body over the twisted metal, charging faster and faster to build power. The Tarkan sped with her, like he heard her thoughts. It occurred to her that he probably knew what she was intending to do. Ignoring this thought, she focused instead on the dangers a mere two seconds into her future. An invisible barrier accompanying the fence; an electric current if she so much as tipped the metal. But, there was also a way out. If she continued to run, there would be no doubt that she would be captured. Her knees bent, her calves and thighs tensed. The Tarkan let out a snarl of fury as she propelled her body over the disfigurement.
The surface and she did not connect smoothly. Dry, dusty ground peeled the skin from the heels of her palm, exposing the sweet-smelling silvery blue blood that pulsated under a thin film of torn chalky skin. The scrapes, she could deal with. But the impact had forced a sickening crack from the bones in her wrist and she gasped aloud. While the nerves in her wrist sent fiery charges up to her brain, the actual area wouldn't move no matter how hard she tried. Tears rolled down her cheeks, over her mouth and neck, tainting her lip with the tang of salt. However, there were more important things at hand, like the veil-like force that rippled around her body the instant she crossed over, and the ringing siren that now wailed over the entire area, warning of an intruder.
Guards barreled toward her, as if from thin air. Dorthea jumped to her feet and, cradling her broken wrist to her chest, managed to dash out of their reach. Her lopsided gait (lopsided because she couldn't pump her arm when she ran) carried her much too slowly, it felt like the more she moved the farther away the maze of ships got. As if she were moving so slow she went backward. This wouldn't do. Dorthea fixed her gaze on a spot some ten yards away, blinking away the tears that blurred her vision, and checked her predators' thoughts one more time before exerting her remaining strength.
They weren't worried, they were certain they would catch her. This worried her little, as her main concerns wrapped around their perceptions. She exhaled in a small, quick sigh and gave her last, determined effort. They still believed she was Eliza, and that's all that mattered. If Dorthea didn't make it out, at least her baby sister would. Otherwise the weeks of torture and planning she'd endured would all count for nothing. But she figured they were in the clear. It had been an hour since Eliza had left to meet her rescue, an hour since Dorthea weaseled her way from the cell. An hour of hiding and running. The first step she took onto the platform couldn't have been sweeter if it was coated in chocolate.
Heavy footfalls still thumped behind her, and she knew it wasn't over yet. She couldn't be certain, however, that her own escape was here. She could only hope. Dorthea turned into a small aisle and threw herself under one of the massive machines, despite the painful protests from her wrist. She cringed inwardly, twisting her face into a gruesome scowl, but held her breath as the footsteps thundered past her hiding place. They spoke in a language that she didn't understand, but she could hear in their thoughts well enough. The intentions, anyway. She was to be captured alive and taken back to the cell. They didn't want to kill Eliza, just experiment. Just a couple tests. Crossbreeds fascinated them. Dorthea didn't want either of them to be experimented on; she'd rather be killed. Still… the highway option was the best.
When she was certain that none remained, she crawled out from her hiding spot and checked the ship's name. USS Enterprise. Not her ship. A Mari ship wouldn't be in Earth language. Dorthea's eyes glazed over the surrounding fleet and stopped on a clock high up under the steel canopy. Her heart nearly stopped, her breath catching in her throat like it suddenly turned to a ball of cotton. Her estimations had been off by too much: ten minutes ago, her rescue had left. Took off without her.
Though tears built up in her eyes, Dorthea couldn't help but be angry with herself. She'd taken too long. They should have left. Why put them in danger for so long? But she'd thought that Eliza would've put up enough fight to keep them in limbo until Dorthea arrived. But she wanted 'liza to leave as soon as possible, to get to safety before any harm could come to her. But she wanted safety, she wanted to go home. But—the sirens blared louder to a scream, putting the internal warfare on halt. Rather, survival instincts bubbled up in her stomach, brewing hotter and hotter into her chest, morphing into a mad haze to live. The ache in her wrist seemed to disappear.
The ramp up to this USS Enterprise was raising rapidly, a few last minute stragglers hurrying on. A split second decision had Dorthea scrambling in desperation, clinging to the door with incredible strength from her one good hand. She kicked with her legs, exhausting her strength for good. Fortunately she made it, rolling onto the metal. It yanked on her wrist and grated the bone fragments against each other until she winced and inhaled to prevent the moan threatening to spill over her lips. The steel clanged under her clothes as she rolled with the incline. Dorthea bit her cheeks to keep from crying out when she landed with all her weight pressed onto her wrist. Flipping instantly off that arm, she lay panting on the spotless floor with her chest heaving and muscles relaxing. A female voice echoed in her ears from an invisible intercom.
"And we're going into warp six in three… two…." The sudden shift into a speed faster than light showed no physical evidence.
Dorthea hefted herself into a sitting position with her bad arm tucked into her chest and her good one tight for support. She'd done it. She'd escaped. She was safe. And now, to figure out where she was going, what she was doing, and with whom. She would worry about the wrist later; when she wasn't running for her life it didn't weigh so heavily on her thoughts. She stood up and followed the lights, down the length of the hallway to begin her exploration.
A/N: yo! so, i just wanted to say welcome to my mind! lol. a full explanation will be in the next chapter, because i'm running out of battery on my laptop and i'm currently far far far away from home, so i'll just have to say READ AND REVIEW here and hope you read to find out more! thanks!