CHAPTER SIX

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When Vay awoke nearly half an hour later, she found herself lying on the backseat of a four-wheeled Earth vehicle and covered with a large, black coat. She sat up slowly and looked around. It was dark. A low mumble caught her attention and she gasped when she realized that she was not alone inside the vehicle. Hearing her gasp, the human in the driver's seat glanced over his shoulder at her and she recognized him immediately. Agent Bubbles!

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, but just then Vay had several pressing questions of her own, and the first thing she did was demand to know what was going on. Agent Bubbles explained, everything from rescuing her from the lab to driving down this lonely stretch of road.

"Things didn't go exactly as planned," he told her. "My colleagues and I had everything worked out to bail you and your friends out of that hellhole, but when they took you into the lab, the plan fell flat and we had to improvise. I volunteered to oversee your 'examination' in order to rescue you, but the rest of your crew isn't going to be as easy to liberate. We've got about a dozen agents back at the base who are working to save them right now. We set up a rendezvous point out in the middle of the desert. That's where we're headed."

Vay accepted his explanation without question and they drove on in silence. There were too many things going through her mind just then to allow her to converse with the man. Shivering, she picked up the coat that he had covered her with earlier and wrapped it around herself. She had so many questions, but she couldn't possibly know which to ask first. Things were so much more complicated now than she could ever have expected them to be. Everything she had ever been told about this planet and its inhabitants had been called into question since the moment they landed. And now - now they were trapped, held captive by a hostile alien species still living in the dark ages, and it was all her fault. God, how could I be so naïve?

She felt the faint stirring of the baby and wrapped the warm coat protectively around her womb, sobbing. I'm so sorry, little one. Your mother is a fool. A reckless, good-for-nothing idiot who put her child in danger for the sake of her career. Haanlaan was right; I should have taken maternity leave a long time ago. But I swear, I will NEVER let anything bad happen to you. I'll see you safely into the universe, or die trying.

Almost expecting a response, Vay slid a hand over her belly and rubbed it in a gentle clockwise motion, but the baby lay still now, and she sighed. At least the pain had gone. What remained there now was only a dull throb, the kind that threatened to flare up at any given second, or not do anything at all.

Vay lay back down on the seat and closed her eye. Riding smoothly over flat, featureless desert created a tranquil sensation that soon relaxed her, so much so that before she knew it, she was sound asleep once again.

***Bright. Blinding white light like a sun glared through her closed eyelid, the heat of its source uncomfortably close to her face. Warm. Opening her eye, she saw nothing but white. A blurred motion. Figures moving toward her, over her. Hovering menacingly. Humans. Ghostly, faceless creatures bearing down on her, steel claws in place of fingers, slashing, ripping, opening her up. The stench of fresh entrails and the sound of flesh tearing, and something else… a baby's first cry, silenced. Her body emptying in a gush like the breaking of a dam. Drowning… drowning in terror, in pain…A life snuffed out in its womb… stolen, devoured, destroyed…taken.***

"NOOO!!!" Vay awoke from the nightmare sitting bolt upright and screaming. Breathing heavily, she looked around the car to find that Agent Bubbles was gone. She crawled to the window and peered out, trembling. The dark tinting in the glass made it rather difficult to see outside. There was nothing but dark desert out there, as far as she could tell. Dark, dark desert and not a single light for miles. Where was Bubbles?!! Terrified, she curled up into a ball and pulled the coat over her head. She was awake now, but the nightmare was not over. Pain blossomed inside her once again and she moaned. That must have been what had awakened her. If only she weren't alone at that moment. Something was wrong. She could deny it no longer. It shouldn't be hurting like this! The baby gave a sharp kick and Vay let out a yelp in response. She knew she needed help, but Dr. Haanlaan was miles away, and now even Agent Bubbles was nowhere to be found. She had to do something. She had to find help. Sitting up a little, she reached a hand out toward the nearest door and felt about blindly for a knob or button or latch, anything that would open it. Her fingers felt various objects, all of which she tried pulling and pushing and turning and jiggling, but to no avail. Trying the other door yielded no results, either. But she wasn't about to give up. There were still the front doors to try.

With considerable effort she pulled herself over the back of the front seat and tried first the front passenger door, then the driver's side door. No luck. Anxious now, Vay began to run her hands frantically over every surface of the vehicle's interior in hope of finding something that would help her. The car was completely empty save for a large metal flashlight lying on the floor under the front passenger's seat. This she picked up without hesitation and began beating it against the window. The glass was strong, though not quite as strong as she had expected it to be. She was accustomed to spacecrafts, whose windows were typically made of very thick, shatter-resistant glass. After pummeling the window with the flashlight a few times, it gave in. Panting now from her efforts, Vay clambered out of the vehicle and fell with a soft blump! on the ground outside. She picked herself up then and turned to inspect the damages she had just caused. Ooh, Bubbles is gonna be pissed when he sees this! Ashamed as she was, Vay convinced herself that she had had no choice, and if that CIA agent really was looking out for her and her baby, then he would understand. The only question remaining was why he had gone away, and where.

Outside of the vehicle, Vay could see much better. The deep blue sky filled with stars was bright against the velvet blackness of the horizon. The planet's single, nameless moon was not out tonight, and so it would be difficult finding her way without stumbling. Remembering the flashlight, she felt around for it with her feet until she found it a short distance away lying in the sand. She had inadvertently flung it out of the window as she was breaking it. Praying that the flashlight itself hadn't been broken, she flicked the switch and breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was still functional, albeit a little dim. Its beam did not travel more than twenty or thirty feet, but it was enough to see her safely through the desert without injuring herself. Though she had absolutely no idea where to go or what to do, Vay knew that she must find someone, someone who could help. She walked around to the other side of the car to find a trail of shoeprints leading away from the driver's side door and out into the desert. Perhaps if she followed them, she would find Agent Bubbles. Gazing out into the darkness where the shoeprints led, Vay felt a tiny twinge of fear. Who knew what lay out there, beyond the safe shelter of the car? The more she stood there thinking about the infinite possibilities, the more her fear grew, and the less she wanted to venture the unknown. But for the sake of her unborn baby, she would do this. She had already reasoned that sitting around waiting for help to show up was far more risky than going out to find that help herself.

The baby squirmed anxiously inside her, eliminating the last of her doubts. Flashlight in hand, Vay Pleakley took a deep breath and walked determinedly out into the desert.

Ten minutes later, Agent Bubbles returned to find his car vandalized and his pregnant protégé missing.

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I have some adorable pics of a newborn Pleakley and his mother by yours truly - available upon request!