Chapter 6

Da'dtou-di: Small Knife (Feminine)

Hiram got the female out of her chains quickly. He walked her down a dark hallway quickly, keeping a stern hand on her shoulder the entire time. They reached the end of the hallway and with a hard jerk to one side; she was forcibly turned to go down another dark hallway. When they reached a large, empty room, Hiram stopped her.

The room was lit by only a few bright lights. They did their job, illuminating the entire room. There was only one other door and a couple of ventilation shafts. A lone chair sat in the middle of the empty room.

Aleris looked around the room. The Ugly Jamaican was there along with another, less ugly one. Her friend shoved her harshly into the lonely chair and then walked to his friends. She studied them. They stood side by side, watching her ever so closely. They were using her, but for what, she wasn't sure.

She brought her feet up to the seat of the chair and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. She was confident that her friend would not put her in danger. All she could do now was wait until she found out why they brought her here.

The voices. They returned to her once again. Strange, she thought to herself, how could they be here? She put one foot back onto the floor. She had to be prepared when the dragons came. A fight would surely ensue and she wouldn't want to be caught in the middle of it. She would much rather prefer being a spectator.

Hiram and Xerxes watched the female closely. They knew that the Ooman Female could sense when the Kainde Amedha came near; they just didn't know how. The Ooman female looked around the room carefully. They stood there, muscles tense, weapons ready.

There. A scratching noise in one of the ventilation shafts. The Kainde Amedha had found the room with them in it. The Yautja just hoped that the Female would not send the Kainde Amedha to kill them. Such a small room would prove difficult in a hand-to-hand combat situation.

One of the wingless dragons peeked out of the shaft. It slowly looked around, hissing at the sight of the Jamaicans. Another dragon appeared in one of the other shafts. They hissed at one another. Aleris heard them talking. They were trying to figure out how to get their Queen out. She still didn't know who this Queen person was they kept talking about.

One of the dragons jumped out of the shaft. It landed on the floor with little noise. It slowly crept slowly towards Aleris. She sat there, dead still.

'You are safe. We are glad' it breathlessly said to her

Aleris slowed her breathing in an effort to calm down. It wasn't going to kill her. Yet.

She reached out one hand to the Kainde Amedha. The Yautja stood on edge. They didn't have time to formulate a plan with the Ooman female. She could be doing anything right now. She could even turn against them and send the Kainde Amedha after them. Hiram hoped that his new found relationship with the female would sway her to not kill them.

The dragon nuzzled Aleris' hand. She moved her hand over the elongated head of the creature. It hissed in satisfaction. The other dragon jumped down from the shaft along with a third one. The came up to Aleris, checking her over. They spoke calmly to her.

They wanted to take her back to the hive, but knew they were in space now. They would have to either try to get back to the planet with the other Queen or set up a new hive somewhere else.

Aleris stood up slowly. The dragons surrounded her. The Jamaicans were just seven feet away from them. She understood that these dragons would protect her at all costs. She wasn't trying to understand why they were doing this. She gave up on that a while ago. She turned to the three Jamaicans.

"Let me stay with you and I will let you kill my dragons" She said in a strong voice

The third Yautja was the only one with a face mask on. He had the translator on and clicked what the Ooman female said to Xerxes. He looked at the female. She was willing to use her power to kill him. This would be a problem if he refused her. Did he have a choice?

Aleris took his silence as a no. She yelled out at the dragons. "Go!"

The three dragons jumped up back to the shafts and disappeared within them. Hiram looked at the female. She wanted to stay with them. She wanted to be with them always. He couldn't blame her though. Who in their right mind would want to go back to a planet full of several billion Kainde Amedha? Not him, that's for sure.

xXx

Aleris was returned to the Quarantine cell and back into the numerous chains. She didn't care much though. As long as she was in there and the Jamaicans were out there, she was safe.

Hiram watched her closely. He wanted her to stay with them and he knew she wanted to stay with them as well. If only he could convince Xerxes that she was essential organism that they had to hang onto. They could use her to save fellow Yautja in danger from Kainde Amedha. They could use her to make the Kainde Amedha breed faster. But most o fall, they could study her in an effort to make the Pyode Amedha stronger as a whole.

Xerxes came behind Hiram and set his hand on Hiram's shoulder. Hiram did not stir, but merely clicked. Xerxes understood. Hiram had grown attached to this Ooman female. But he couldn't blame him any.

Hiram was an only child and his mother died when he was young. A needless casualty in The Hunt. Hiram was forced into the field of Pyode Amedha Study by his father. He was trying to protect Hiram and it worked, to a point. Hiram was lonely and didn't have the love of a mother. Since his father had forbidden him to participate in The Hunt, Hiram was unable to mate and thus, remain an outcast with little honor. His father died not long after he began studying to be a scientist. His father was trying to move a Kainde Amedha Queen to one of the shifting Pyramids. Now Hiram was completely alone.

"The Kainde Amedhas have disabled our image sensors. We need her to get them into the airlock so we may send them out into space before they kill a warrior" Xerxes said softly

"She won't do it unless you let her stay with us"

Xerxes sighed deeply. He was hoping he wouldn't say that. Xerxes was hesitant to bring the Ooman female aboard his ship and now there was almost no way to get rid of her. But she may prove herself worthy to live among them. Maybe. First she would have to rid the ship of the Kainde Amedha pests.

"Make sure she understands that if she stays with us, that she will do as I say" With that said, Xerxes walked away

Hiram turned and watched him leave. This was good news. The female would stay with them and help them as well.

He reached to the control panel and pressed one of the buttons, opening the door. The female turned her head slowly to see him. When she saw him, she smiled sweetly at him. Hiram held up a rectangular device. It was a translator.

Hiram clicked into it.

The voice that came out was computerized. It sounded like a British guy with a chest cold trying to sing soprano.

"Help us and you may stay"

Aleris was surprised. The first, almost human, sounds she had heard in some time. She smiled and nodded to her friend. She was glad they had some way of communicating now besides body language. It was starting to get boring, talking to a bunch of walls and all.

Hiram made haste taking the chains off of the female's body. He helped her up off the floor and the two ran off towards the Docking Bay.

xXx

Xerxes stood in the Docking Bay. He was waiting patiently for Hiram and the Ooman Female to come in. He expected it to some time since the Pyode Amedha were known to be stubborn at times.

Not far from him were four, smaller Yautja. They had just begun to study to be scientists in the field of the Pyode Amedha. Many of the Scientists in the field now were old and ready to retire from the examination of the Pyode Amedha. They needed fresh blood to take over the heavy manual labor. This was an excellent opportunity for these young Yautja to view a Pyode Amedha up close with being alive and not trying to kill them.

Hiram slowed is jogging when he entered the docking bay. He stopped and gave a slight bow to Xerxes.

"Where is the female?" Xerxes asked

The sound of light foot steps were followed by a thud sound. The female had not been paying attention and ran full force into Hiram. Hiram barely moved when she made contact. She fell backwards to the ground and laid there silently for several seconds.

Hiram turned and with one hand, lifted her completely off the ground and set her back down onto the floor. He guided her to face the group of young Yautja.

Aleris saw this group of not quite as big Jamaicans. They were several inches shorter and much slimmer than the ugly Jamaican but that was still bigger than she was. She tried to take a step back, but her friend placed his hands on her shoulders. He rubbed her shoulders slightly in a reassuring way. She sighed and stood still.

The young group of Yautja took note of the visual appearance of the Pyode Amedha Female. She came up only to Hiram's chest. Her pale skin stood out against the green and beige of Hiram's.

"It's time to get the Kainde Amedha off my ship" The British guy with a chest cold said again

"Kainde Amedha?" Aleris asked out load. She paused for a second and asked, "Do you mean the dragons?"

The ugly Jamaican nodded. This was great. Just one last thing to do and she could relax for five minutes without getting a heart attack. Her friend pushed her forward gently to the front of the airlock.

The four Yautja scientists stepped to the back of the docking bay, quietly observing everything she did. Hiram let go of her shoulders and stepped away from her. She turned her head to give a glance to him, but turned back when the scratching noise of the Kainde Amedha was heard through the shafts. The four Yautja waiting impatiently to see the Pyode Amedha female interact with the deadly Kainde Amedha with being torn limb from limb.

Finally. A Kainde Amedha poked its head through a shaft opening. It hissed at the sight of all the Yautja. It jumped out of the shaft, landing softly and jolted across the floor towards the elder.

Aleris shouted at it to stop. It stopped just inches from the elder. The dragon waved its tail behind it, waiting for its Queen to give it the order to kill the Jamaican.

"Come here" The female said softly

She extended her hand towards the black beast. It turned away from the Yautja. It jumped out at her, landing softly in front of her. It kept its head lowered, rubbing its long, shiny head against her leg lovingly.

The other two dragons slowly exposed their heads from the shafts. They saw the third one there, with their Queen.

They flew out of the shafts for the female. They wanted to go after all the Yautja that were standing nearby. Their Queen told them not to, so they stood by her.

She motioned them into the open airlock. They hesitated, but did as she asked when she stamped her foot at them. Slowly, they walked into it, one by one, unsure of why she wanted them in there.

As soon as the tail of the last Kainde Amedha was inside the air lock, Hiram reached out to the control panel and pressed one of the buttons. The door closed quickly between the Ooman female and the Kainde Amedha. They roared and began to viciously attack the door. Xerxes typed in a few things into the computers next to the air lock and the door on the other side of the Kainde Amedha opened, propelling them out into space.

Aleris watched the dragons fly off into space. Their screams could still be heard for a short time. She turned around to see the four small Jamaicans standing in front of her, clip boards in hand. This made her very uncomfortable. She looked to her friend for some sort of answer.

He, in turn, clicked something to the small Jamaicans.

"You can examine her later" He told them

Hiram reached for the female's arm and pulled her out of the docking bay.