Hey, sorry for the wait but I have been SO busy lately…anyway, without further ado, here is…
CHAPTER 5:The Show
The next few days were filled with agony and pain. I began to think that slavery would be the rest of my life until one day about three weeks after we arrived at the prison.
I woke up early that day. There were three humans standing outside of our cage, staring at myself and Eunan. Miraculously, I could hear what they were speaking.
"So which ones shall we take?" asked a short, fat human in a white coat.
"I don't know, but these two males would make excellent specimens," said a taller, thinner one. He was much younger than the white-haired short human. He looked about twenty five or so.
"I'm warning you, Professors," said the third, whom I recognized as Simon from the fields. "The older male can put up a pretty good fight."
I glared at them, and turned to Eunan, who had moved to the back of the cage, near me, once the humans had come in. How come we can understand what they're saying? I asked him.
Because they ripped off our gas emitters. They were also used to read minds, but instead, because we don't have them, we can understand human speech. he said, never taking his eyes off the humans.
The humans continued. "Well, Leonard, do you really think it wise to take the older one? As Simon said, he's been trouble in the field so far and-" started the fat one.
"Benjamin, I honestly think that he'll be no trouble at all. They know they can't move when they're shackled," said Leonard, who looked almost scarily familiar. "They're actually pretty smart."
"Smart? These things?" asked Benjamin. "You have to be kidding. All they want is to take over more and more land until everything is theirs. And they don't care if they kill us or each other, all they want is more power."
"No, I don't think that's true. I think they can feel emotion, and I think they have families, and know what it's like to have souls and…" began Leonard.
"That's a lie," interrupted Benjamin.
Leonard continued. "About 800 years back, it had to be my great-great grandfather's great-great-great grandfather, he actually battled one of them. In his journal, which I still have, he wrote that he could see emotion in the thing's eyes. 'It looked as if it had been through a lot, and was giving up on life,' he said." I almost jumped. This human was related to the one that had killed Orion.
Benjamin sighed. "Suicidal aliens, right," he muttered. Then, Benjamin continued, "Well, anyway, d'you want to use these two, and…" he turned around and spotted Kira and Jacob, both close to the bars and just waking up. "These two? It'd be good to have a female and adolescent in there, also."
Leonard thought for a little bit. "Well, OK," he finally said, quietly. "Simon, go get a couple leashes."
"Yes, sir," replied Simon, and he walked back down the long, cage-lined hall.
As Benjamin looked over the rest of our comrades, Leonard came closer to our cage. Both Eunan and I were in the back, giving him blank looks. "I know you can hear me," he said quietly. "And I know you are intelligent beings with souls and emotion, but try convincing them of that."
I never took my eyes off that human. He just stood there, staring at us as we stared back, until Simon returned with the leashes.
* * *
A short while later, I was shackled to three chains, one on my neck, and one on each of my ankles. They were all attached to a wall. A large, maroon cloth laid in front of us. I was on the end, Eunan was on my left, then Kira, and Jacob. None of us had any idea why we were here or what the humans were going to do to us.
I looked at Eunan, who was clutching Kira's hand and sweating madly. He looked so frightened; I thought he was going to pass out soon.
Suddenly, the cloth was moved, and we were facing many, many white coated humans, all holding a brown tool that they seemed to be writing on. Leonard and Benjamin then came out from Jacob's side, and began talking.
"These animals are the latest discovery in cheap labor. They are as obedient as dogs, but are very human-like in their abilities. They have opposable thumbs, and can master simple tasks, such as putting together small machines, and picking crops. We are hoping to begin selling them as pets next spring or summer," said Benjamin. "And if you aren't fully convinced now, here's a demonstration on the obedience level of the species."
Leonard turned towards us. "Sit," he said. I looked at everyone else. No one was moving. We may have been standing there, weak and caged, in front of about one hundred humans, but we still had some shreds of dignity left.
However, because we had not sat when told, Simon came out and whipped each of us severely. We were bloody and bruised, but still dignified.
Leonard looked at the snickering audience. "Uh, well, this brings us to the next part of the presentation-severe discipline. If a human is unfortunate enough to get one of these 'rebellious' ones that will not obey their commands, all the owner needs to do is pour a cup of common water on top of the pet's head. Watch."
Leonard took out a cup of the Chemical, and walked towards us. It just occurred to me that we hadn't taken our pills in three weeks.
However, later on, with help from Eunan, I realized that because we had been taking the pills for a little while, our immunity systems against the Chemical were stronger. As for Kira and Jacob, I don't know how they survived, maybe it was that "Miracle Liquid" of theirs.
I was the first to be "punished". It was an indescribable pain-everywhere a drop fell, my body became a dissolved, bloody mess. After Leonard moved, I reached up and felt the top of my head. Nothing but muscle and bone.
Leonard did the same to Eunan, Kira, and Jacob, cringing whenever he had to pour the Chemical on one of us. Although Eunan and Kira were squeezing each other's hands extremely hardly, they didn't scream. However, Jacob was howling madly with pain, which the humans somehow found funny. They wouldn't stop laughing as Jacob began crying and kept on yelling in pain. He was only twelve.
Benjamin quieted the rest of the humans down, and then walked towards us again. "Sit," he said, repeating Leonard, and this time, I sat, relieved, along with Eunan and Jacob. However, Kira remained standing.
Benjamin looked at Kira, with some incredulity that a common animal would have enough sense to stand up to him. Kira was simply standing there, not doing anything at all, but this was one of the most defiant acts I had ever seen.
"Don't you hear me? Sit," he said, slightly louder. Kira stared at him with wonder, a smirk on her face.
There were a few chuckles from the audience now. Benjamin sharply spun around, angry and embarrassed. His face was hot and his eyes were furious. He then tried to speak to Kira in our language. Obviously, he wasn't very good at it because instead of saying Sit, he screamed at Kira, Shit!.
I had been trying to hold my laughter at the frustrated primate in, but that did it. I began laughing at him hysterically. Eunan and Jacob followed. This was a very humorous scene: here we were, sitting on a platform in front of hundreds of official-looking humans, half-dead, laughing because Kira refused to sit.
Our laughter ceased. Simon came out on the platform, with his most severe whip. He hit us each about fifty times, until we were laying on the ground, helpless animals. Eunan and Jacob were both unconscious, and I was not far off. However, I managed to look up at Kira, who, amazingly, was still standing, although very shakily standing, absorbing the painful blows almost magically.
Benjamin was so furious that he just stormed off the platform, leaving Leonard alone. "Uh, well, this presentation is postponed until we can…find more decent specimens," he said quickly, rushing off the platform and pulling the cloth in front of us. He looked around for Benjamin, but his co-worker was nowhere to be found.
"Should I lead them back?" asked Simon, putting away his whip.
"No, I'll take them back," said Leonard, looking at the muscular, bulky slave driver.
"Suit yourself," said Simon, and he walked out the door.
Leonard picked up Jacob, holding him as carefully as if Jacob were his own son. He looked at Kira and I. You two-grab him and follow me, said Leonard, who had apparently mastered some of our language. He motioned towards Eunan. We picked him up and began carrying him.
As we walked down the freezing halls, I looked up at Kira, who was more blood than skin. She was panting heavily, and looked so very weak. I can carry him alone, I said, and Kira nodded, releasing her grip from Eunan's legs.
As we continued to walk down the hallways, I asked Kira, So why didn't you sit when the humans told you to?
She looked up at me. I didn't want to give in to those stupid animals, she replied. I will never forget that split second, right after she answered me. Her eyes looked exactly as Orion's had, right before he had died.
We reached our cages, and Leonard carefully laid Jacob down in his cage. Kira and I stood outside my cage and watched the human. Then, Leonard walked out of the cage and motioned for Kira to get in the cage. Kira looked up at me, then leaned over and kissed Eunan on the forehead, wiping away some blood. Eunan slowly opened his eyes and smiled weakly at Kira. Then, Leonard pushed Kira inside her cage, and opened ours. I laid Eunan close to the bars, facing Kira, and walked to the back of the cage. We had to escape from here, and we had to do it very soon.
That night, I sat there, staring at the stars through the crack in the wall and wondered, 'We had such a strong advantage last time. What happened?' It almost was as if we had switched places with the humans; we were now the slow, ignorant animals who didn't have enough sense to rebel.
Then, I asked myself, 'Why haven't we rebelled? What's stopping us?' Humans? No, we couldn't feel threatened by those…things. This was the first time since arriving at the prison that I thought a rebellion on our part was absolutely necessary.
I realized that I was one of the greatest generals in the Force and that this was just like General Training: a test. I was being put to a test. All the elements were here: protagonists (Eunan and I), antagonists (the humans), a challenging scenario, and lastly, a solution. All I needed now was a plan.
I stayed up all night, figuring out the rebellion. When I finally finished it at daybreak, all I could hope for was the best.
A/N: It would mean A LOT to me if you could just review this chapter cuz I spent a lot of time writing/perfecting it…Thanx! :-P
