In this chapter you will finally (!!) get to know the name of the girl in my story! I managed to keep it a secret for, oh yes, three chapters, so about 3800 words ;D

Out from Under

Chapter 4

"This is the last cable I have to plug.. Now it should be running smoothly again" the muffed male voice came from under a computer table. The man rose up to his full height. He was your normal height guy, not small but not a basketball player either. He had black, short hair that grew longer on top of his head. He had blue eyes and eyeglasses, and he wore a white lab coat. The stubble on his chin made him look like he had been deprived of sleep lately.

"Can I boost the system now, Dad?" the girl sitting on one of the work chairs asked. He had violet hair and same coloured eyes.

"Yes you can, dear" her father said gently and came to stand behind her, observing the proceedings. Just as she was about to type down the last command the door to the space shuttle's laboratory was burst open with force.

"What the..?" her father started, but was caught mid sentence when he saw the aliens. The same ones he was trying to save the Earth from. About the same size as her father, their height didn't scare, but the fish like appearance and the terrible smell was icky enough. Their angry faces however did make her scared. She grabbed her father's arm for support and strength. His father didn't seem to even notice her death grip.

"Woyrn oien urhk!" one of the greenish aliens said and pointed some sort of a blaster at them. His voice sounded angry and his actions spoke of violence as well. Her father came between her and the aliens, trying to keep her safe.

"Marnia," her father whispered to her, "type the last commands to the computer. Quickly!" Obeying her father, she slowly turned her back to him so the aliens wouldn't notice and started to type the last few lines to complete the safety shield.

"What do you.. What do you fishes want?" his father asked from the aliens, his voice a little shaky, but determined otherwise.

"Byoen gref.. We.. want.. you.. to.. come.. with us" a gruff voice said, keeping pauses between every word, as if he had trouble remembering them. Marnia had finished typing and hit the Enter key to complete it. A whooshing sound could be heard and then, by looking out of the small shuttle window, a faint blue coloured and orb shaped shield came up and covered the Earth.

The fish looking aliens went ballistic when they saw what had happened. One of them pointed his gun at Marnia's father, and with an evil smile shot him to the chest.

Hearing her father's pained cry she turned and had the most horrific view of seeing her father fell down to the floor, a huge, bloody hole on his chest. "NOOO!" she cried out and went down beside her father. He was gasping for air and his breath hissed every time he tried to breath in air.

She had tears in her eyes as she was trying to control the bleeding. It didn't help though, the wound was too big. Her hands were completely covered in her father's warm blood and she couldn't stop looking to his eyes, which were full of horror and shock.

One of his arms reached out and then grabbed her arm, pulling her closer to him. "Marnia.. Promise.. Promise that you won't tell them code. Protect it.. with your life.. Please.." blood was already coming out of his mouth as he spoke. "For the sake of hum.. huma.. humanity.. you.. hav.. e.. to.. to.." and then his hand loosened on her arm and dropped down. His eyes closed and his head rolled back.

"Dad?" she managed to whisper out among her tears. "Dad?" she tried again and shook his father's shoulders. "DAD!?" she finally screamed out. Then a hand was grabbing her by her shoulder, ordering her to get up from the floor.

"No.. No.." she tried to get the hand away from her, "NO! Leave me alone you son of a bitch!" she shrieked and turned so that she could attack the alien.

--

She woke up with a gasp. She had stood up from the couch and she could feel cold sweat ran down her back. Her breathing was irregular and she tried to even it out quickly. That's when she saw everyone in the room, including the grey mouse who had returned with a young boy mouse, was looking at her in wonder.

She could hear someone moaning right next to her. She turned to see the white mouse sitting on the floor, massaging his arm and giving her a questionable look. 'Oh Gods, what did I do now?' she thought, although she had a pretty good idea.

The young boy mouse came to her when the grey one gave him a gentle push. Looking a little shy, he came to her and gave her a small smile. Then he extended his hand and said in English, "Hello, my name is Rimfire"

I know this chapter was veeeery short, but I like the cliffhanger feeling in the end ;D Don't worry thought, I'm writing chapter 5 right as we speak. Well, actually, as I write this :)

Marnia the Maid of the Sea

I love names that actually MEAN something (: