Chapter Five: Stupidity
As I neared the gates, the mother ship seemed to loom over me. Mocking. My mind set was dangerous; I felt like ripping something to pieces. But I wasn't facing what I wanted to kill; the real enemies rested at my back. Feral. Lethal. No human that supported the discrimination and mistreatment of the prawns should be allowed to continue as they did. Perhaps not death. But not happiness or contentment, either.
It was hotter than normal this year. Through heat waves, I could see the statue that guarded the entry gate. A human. An alien. Rock hands united.
It wavered, as if even the statue's residents knew that they were a lie. There were so many lies here, and at MNU. A person easily lost track of them. Many aliens were too focused on surviving to see it all. Both of our worlds were crumbling, though. I knew something unprecedented was about to happen.
Soon, I was close enough to touch the statue. It was decaying. Graffiti covered it, and pieces of limbs had fallen off, breaking against the ground. So easily shattered. Legs and arms, trickling away. It almost sickened me.
In the distance, I could hear music and the din of voices, clicks, and cooking meat. A pot of sins mixed here. The Nigerians were pulled into it like a fly to honey. The aliens were forced to stay.
I bent to a crouch, and fingered the slogan at the bottom of the statue. "Paving the way to unity." What better lie was there?
A sigh escaped me. I wished it were real; peace and unity between us. Being accepting of the aliens was probably the only way to help expand ourselves. They were much more advanced in many ways. The chance to study another race was altogether priceless. Not to mention, they were at least at the same level of intelligence as humans. They were equals.
Why can't anyone see that we're alike in so many ways? I wondered to myself, head drooped. The dry, cracked earth stared up at me. Golden weeds. A few ants, traveling home to their queen.
And footsteps. Slow, careful. Made to be quieter. Perhaps to sneak up on me.
I hastily turned, only to have my head meet with something painful. The blow reverberated within me; the sound seemed metallic. It was probably a pipe.
I fell back, dazed. Stars danced haughtily. Twirling. Prancing.
Above me stood a prawn. It seemed gigantic; most of them were at least seven feet tall. Facing that standing up was one thing. Being on the ground with a pissed alien looming over you? I didn't feel so at ease.
It clicked at me, and then looked away. A group of them was approaching. They called out to the one who had hit me, distracting it. Slowly, I moved into a backwards crab walk. They didn't notice my small escape.
I turned over, to my hands and knees. The world seemed frozen. Sweat turned to ice. Fear held my heart in its grip. My limbs ached.
I broke into a sprint.
The city lay so far away, but I knew that there was a guard building nearby. It was stationed only for emergencies; the guards rarely came out. They were my only chance, however.
Again, I felt it. Sinew, and bone. Muscles, skin. Bending. Forever bending. I felt fast. Adrenaline pumped through me almost as fast as my blood. But it wasn't enough.
Somehow, a prawn ended up in front of me. The others were behind me. Before, they had been chasing. Now, I only heard stillness. They were frozen. I was frozen. The world was frozen.
But the prawn in front of me wasn't. Chips of ice broke off as it adjusted its feet. Shards of natural glass. It clicked in a way that could only be described as an order. A threatening one.
My head swam. I was dizzy. The pipe still played its damage.
This is too much, I thought, too much.
I backed away as the prawn approached. It was pointless. Without a head start, I would not get away. But fight or flight lingered within, and I couldn't fight. The prawns were naturally stronger. If I would have a hard time against a male human, a prawn was past the point of no return.
Click, click.
I took a dive to the right, ignoring common sense. For a moment, fear shook me, as did hope. It burned. Then the alien surged forward; back covered with alien skin, knees to the ground, elbows dug into pebbles. Hands to my head, and a blinding whiteness came over me. A burning sensation. Tingling behind my ears. It moved deeper. In my ears. In my brain. In my eyes. It tickled, almost.
I couldn't move, and my vision stayed impaired. What did it do? I was panicked.
I could feel myself hoisted over its shoulders. It clicked a few times, seemingly to itself, for the other prawns were gone. It began walking, leisurely, as if my weight didn't bother it at all. I rocked with its body. Left, right. Left, right. An arm was set around my waist.
My eyes must have been open. I felt finger-like appendages close them, and the world slipped away. Limbs turned to Jell-o. Against my will, the edges of the universe closed in. A blanket of clouds, stars fizzing against my skin. Tiny fires within a sheet of black ice.