I'M YOUR CAPTAIN… I'M YOUR CAPTAIN…

CHAPTER 3

Sarah's eyes fluttered open as she rose from sleep. Something wasn't right. She couldn't see. 'Am I blind? Did I die?' she wondered. 'No, what the…' She reached up, feeling a cold metal object over her head. Sarah panicked, and began to claw at the contraption on her face. She thrashed about violently, and scream aloud only to have her voice muffled by the metal guard covering her mouth.

Suddenly, something flickered inside the mask. A bright light flashed in her eyes and Sarah was temporarily blinded. She squinted, adjusting to the new image. Bright colors surrounded her. Most shades of blue and red, but there were green spots too. One bright red spot came up as Sarah reached her hand out. 'Am I dreaming? Or…' Sarah thought back to her 'experimental' years as a teenager. Particularly a weekend she spent with her friend from high school. "No, I don't remember taking anything." Sarah said aloud.

Something grabbed her arm, lifting her up. She felt a hand on the metal covering her face. Sarah's breath quickened, unsure of what was touching her. She felt the cold of steel on her wrist. A strong clawed hand grabbed her by the arm, guiding her right hand to the metal piece it attached to her. It pushed her finger onto a button, and the image she saw became clear. Her normal eyesight had been returned.

Upon seeing his face, she stared in wonderment. It was hideous! Yet somehow, it seemed beautiful. Not attractive, for sure. It was the perfect face of a warrior; striking fear into the heart's of his victims. Yet somehow, this time she was not scared; more intrigued at the four powerful looking mandibles.

Suddenly it all came back to her; the fight between hunters, the confusing escape before the explosion. She had passed out. 'He saved my life,' she thought. She reached up to the metal on her face, realizing what it was. 'He gave me his mask so I could breath!'

She leaped up, throwing her arms around the hunter. Bewildered by the action, the hunter pushed her away, onto the hard floor. He stood, looking down at her. The hunter stretched his lower mandibles. He reached down beside him, picking up the blade that the green hunter had used.

"What is your name?" The hunter asked.

Sarah gasped in surprise. "You speak my language?" She stuttered, "M, My name is Sarah."

The hunter turned, and began to walk away. He stopped, looking over his shoulder, and said, "It's best to know your enemy."

This remark stuck her hard. 'Is he planning on killing me?' her mind raced with uncertainty.

Sarah shot after him. "Why did you save me if you're just going to kill me?"

The hunter turned, roaring into her face. Sarah fell flat on her behind. She looked up, wondering why she was stupid enough to anger an eight foot giant. "My brother dishonored my clan. You never kill unarmed prey. You are weak. You are unworthy prey."

Sarah looked down at her hands, then back at him. "Why do you let me live then, if I am of no value?"

The hunter pulled her to her feet. Looking her up and down. "I will need a slave to clean my trophies. You will do that."

Desperation overwhelmed her. She was to be his servant girl? She had a lot of trouble with authority, and she knew this would end poorly. She looked into his eyes. "What other options do I have?" she questioned.

The hunter reared back, making strange noises. Sarah almost thought he was choking. But suddenly she realized, he was laughing at her. He looked her in the eyes again, speaking in a commanding voice. "You are no warrior; you have no honor, so you have no choice!" He grabbed her by the arm, and began to lead her down the hallway.

Sarah ripped her arm from his grasp. He shot his wrist blades out, and swung around as if to strike her, and suddenly stopped himself only inches from her cowering face. He grunted in contempt. "You test my patients little one."

"Teach me!" she shouted at him. He cocked his head, not believing what he was hearing. "Teach me to be a warrior. Teach me to be honorable." She said again.

"You? Be a warrior?" the hunter scoffed. "You are weak!"

"But I could train!" she begged.

He hesitated, not sure what to make of the spunky little human female. "You are unworthy." He replied.

"Well what makes someone worthy?" she questioned, knowing she was overstepping the line with him.

"Power! Wisdom! Control! Many things make one worthy, but your race has shown none of these traits in battle!" He clicked at her dismissively, turning away.

She grabbed his arm, without thinking. He turned, dropping the sword on the ground. He grabbed her by the shoulder, lifting her up. Her mouth dropped, fearing what he may do to her. She squirmed, but he held her tight, bringing her face to face with his mandibles. He roared loudly in her face. "You want to learn? First I will teach you honor!"

The hunter sat her back down on the floor. "It is disrespectful to talk that way to your betters. Do NOT do it again!" He grabbed the sword off the ground, clamping it to his armor. "You will call me master." He down to her, and grabbed her hair. He thrust her head down. "Lower your head to your betters. Disrespect is NOT tolerated." She nodded, making sure not to meet is gaze.

"I will follow your command." She spoke in a submissive tone. "I will do whatever it takes to gain…honor."

The hunter let go of her, taking a step back. "You will learn more later," he grunted. "We will land on a nearby planet. You will need water and food. And you can groom yourself." With that, he turned his back to her and began to put his weapons away on a nearby rack.

She reached down, remembering the gun she had slid in her pants. She pulled it out, looking it over. She could kill him, or could she. After seeing what happened to Brad, she doubted that mere bullets could stop this creature. Deciding against it, she slid the gun back into her pants.

Sarah fumbled around with the mini computer attached to her left forearm. 'What button did that again?'' she wondered. Sarah pushed a series of buttons, and the computer sprang to life. The screen on the mask flashed green and white. She could see the bright metal mini computer shimmer in the image she saw. 'Interesting' she thought. She pushed it again, and all went red. She moved her head around, unable to see much. Pushing it a third time brought back the bright red and blue colors, and then returned it to her normal vision. Sarah wasn't sure what each was for, but she would find out.

She continued pressing different buttons, wondering what they did. After a few clicks, she brought up a screen with different lines. They all began to move, giving off a beeping sound, and slowly started disappearing. The Hunter's head snapped around to her. He ran over and grabbed her by the wrist, furiously pushing buttons. He relaxed his muscles as the screen shut off.

"You stupid human!" He roared furiously. "Don't touch things you don't understand! You activated a plasma bomb!" Sarah looked down at the mini computer, eyes wide.

"You mean I have a bomb strapped to me?" She looked up to him. "Get it off!"

The hunter grunted at her in annoyance. "If I take it off, you wont be able to see. And the mask let's you breath." He grabbed her wrist firmly, but not aggressively. "Just don't touch it and you… we will be fine." The hunter then turned and walked to the door. Looking back he said, "Don't touch anything!" With that he walked out of the room, leaving Sarah alone.

Sarah stood, and began to walk around the room, examining it. There was a long slab of metal, with some kind of animal pelt on it. She ran her hand down the pelt, feeling how strangely soft and fluffy it was. On the opposite wall there was a table, or counter, suspended from pole attached to the ceiling. On the wall opposite the door, there was a small oval window. Next to it was a large stack of shelves, which held his weapons.

She thought about her family, wondering what they were doing. They were probably enjoying some tropical getaway. Her father was rich, so they spent a lot of time on exotic planets, seeing the galaxy. They never spent much time together. Maybe that would all change, if she ever got back to them.

Sarah missed Kyle mostly. He had asked her to marry him before she went away to that stupid academy. 'I should have said yes!' she thought to herself. 'But no, I had to have my stupid career in genetic researching.'

Sarah sat on the bed feeling so alone. Tears began to well in her eyes. She never had missed her family much, but now she would give anything to be with them. She wanted so much for someone to hold her, and tell her it would be alright; someone who could make this nightmare go away.

She began to sob uncontrollably, and buried her head in her hands. Why did she have to leave Kyle? Why did she have to go away to school? Why couldn't she just be happy as a wife? Her principals didn't amount to shit now; stuck on an alien spacecraft god knows where in space.

As she lay back onto the pelt, she let out a long sigh, and wiped the tears from her eyes. With a half hearted chuckled, she muttered, "What a day…" Somehow, she felt things wouldn't look much better in the morning. Sarah closed her eyes, slowly drifting off into the dream world.