Among The Stars: Phantom and Mercenary

Chapter 5 - Game On

In the cage built into the lower level of this alien spaceship, Michael sat in a corner in silence, watching the giant monster dropping a plate of food in his cage, then moved on to the next one, and did the same.
Michael got up, grabbed his food and started eating. There were other people kept here too, in the locked cages not far from him, he saw them screaming in fear upon seeing the monster entering the cage. When the monster left, they moved to the locked doors, shouting desperately. Michael heard them comparing and exchanging stories again, trying to find out how they ended up here and why.
The twin brothers asked Michael from across the aisle. Michael looked at them and shook his head. He was the first one to wake up, but he was just as clueless as the others. Just like the past few days, their efforts and investigation had gotten nowhere.

The occasional screams of ooman captives ripped through the air, reverberating like some animal call. Ra'toth snarled at them, but the oomans grew even more scared, then more crying and screaming. It drove Ra'toth into a bad mood. The door slammed shut after he exited the room.

"Why do we not sedate the oomans again?" Ra'toth came up and asked his brothers who were sitting near the console. His displeasure was evident.

"We must keep them in prime condition." Noh'ka, the trio's leader replied.

"Their screams are intolerable." Ra'toth couldn't hold back his complaints anymore. He was the one who actually feeds them everyday, their wailing sounds were even worse down there.

"Good. It is always the quiet ones you need to be concerned about." Tagan replied absentmindedly.

"Why is that?" Ra'toth asked, words slipped out of his mouth without thinking.

Ra'toth's question earned himself a cold stare from Tagan. He couldn't believe how stupid their youngest brother was sometimes.
Do you not think before asking questions? What a pauking idiot.
Tagan was going to lecture Ra'toth about his stupidity but a message came in, disrupted his thoughts.

"We must divert." Noh'ka said after reading the message, his hands already working on the controls to change their course.

"Why the deviation?" Tagan asked behind him with concerns.

"We are ahead of the schedule. Our clan leader thinks we can make a quick stop on Vorta before our returning." Noh'ka replied simply.

"Ferno plants again?" Tagan raised his brow in shock. The fire-spitting plants had clearly captured their clan leader's interest recently.

"Pauk. Now I have to spend more days feeding these oomans." Ra'toth grumbled some more.

"Quit complaining. You are the one who pushed our schedule ahead." Noh'ka silenced him with a stern look, engaged in the new course.

In a locked cage, Michael lay on the cold floor, thinking of his parents, unaware of the peril awaiting him.

Jane couldn't remember how long they had been traveling in space. Ten days or maybe a week? The flight seemed interminable. She rarely got to see Ghost as he almost lived in that invisibility suit, except a few times that she actually caught him entering or leaving the room.
He was purposely avoiding her and she still didn't know where they were going. The only progress she had made so far was she finally got to have exotic fruits with her meal. Jane growled in frustration and ran her fingers through her long hair. She looked at her hands, they were greasy.

That's it, screw this. She couldn't spend another day living in this survival mode no more. This hit her limit. She needed a bath. Now!

"Come on, Ghost. I haven't had a bath since I got here. This is inhuman and cruel. I must clean myself. Right now!" Jane complained and went on relentlessly in protest, "I need a bath. I need a bath. I need a bath."