Chapter 3

Waking up was like trying to make a dull, rusty knife slice cleanly through titanium chains.

It's worse than waking up from a hangover. she thought bleakly to herself. Even her thoughts were sluggish. Remembering those hangovers, she purposefully kept her eyes completely shut. She strained her ears to hear whatever there was to hear. A constant hum resonated close to her right. It was pitched so low that she felt it rather than heard it. Every few seconds, the machine would beep, making her heart beat. A life support machine? What the hell? Then the memories flooded back in a torrent into her mind. There were so many that she had to tell herself to calm down.

The Drej.

They attacked us.

Us…

Tejor!

She desperately tried to sit up, forcing her eyes open. She didn't know what shocked her more; the agonizing pain that shot through her left arm and neck, or the blackness that met her gaping eyes.

The lights are off. she tried reassuring herself. She tried not crying out in pain, and quickly breathed in as she brought the arm that would move up to her face. She waved her hand in front of her eyes. She could only see a great void. She couldn't see anything.

Shit.

Where's Tej?

She purposefully stood, biting her tongue against crying out, and put her good arm out in front. She felt something snag on the inside of her elbow, and tear out. With a sharp gasp, she drew her arm back towards her, clutching her elbow. She could feel something wet and sticky trickle down her arm; her own blood. She continued to move forward putting her arm out in front of her. Her thighs bumped into something. She frantically put her arm down and searched what she had run into. It was long and flat.

Another palette, but it's empty. "Tej?" she cried out, but came out in no more than a rasp. Pushing her lungs to draw another searing breath, she cried out more forcefully, "Tej!" It was little better. She moved around more frenziedly. She stumbled as she tripped over something, and landed on a very cold, very hard, very dead floor. She must have knocked something over on the way down, for the room was soon echoing incessantly with clatters. Standing up, she ran into another object, falling to the floor again, swearing in almost coherent streams. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't find a way out. She only kept colliding with things and staggering around. It was horrible not being able to see anything.

Amid the entire clamor, she heard the whoosh of a door opening almost directly behind her. She felt arms encircle her and try to hold her still.

"It's all right, calm down human," a mocking, silken voice said hurriedly.

She jerked her head backwards to where his head should be. She felt a satisfying thump, even if it did hurt her own neck severely. It was enough to stun him, and they started to fall backwards. She threw her hand back and felt something jutting from his belt. She snatched it rapidly before they hit the floor. As soon as they hit it, she rolled away, clutching her prize and her injured arm close to her chest. By the way it fit comfortably into her hand, she knew it was a ray gun. She leapt to her feet, holding the ray gun out in front of her, spinning to find the person that had tried to suppress her.

She heard him cough as he struggled to his feet. She immediately pointed the ray gun to where the sound emanated from.

"You can put that down, precious." Then, by his footsteps she could tell that he moved closer. "No one's going to hurt you."

She moved backwards carefully, not wanting to trip on something. She kept the ray gun pointed in the direction of the droning voice. "You'll plant you fucking feet right where you are and only speak when I ask you a fucking question!" She didn't want to get caught unawares, blind though she was.

"No one's-" the voice began.

She squeezed the lever, sending a blast the other creature's way.

"There's no need to get gun happy," he said. "That spot is already filled," he added in an undertone.

"Fuck you!" she roared, pressing the lever again, but before she could, the ray gun was knocked out of her hand.

Before she could react, a strong pair of hands encircled her, twisting her good arm around her. She felt something prick her neck, and she felt suddenly drowsy. She pushed her mind to not succumb to the blackness surrounding it, and focused on her situation.

"My thanks to you, Korso." It was the one she had tried wound, or worse. "Had you not been there, I probably would have had the other side blown off."

Then she blacked out…