Clone Earth: MELVIN

Chapter Five: ARI

Her lungs and sides burned, suggesting she had been running for a very long time. However she hadn't moved. Her hands reached out in front of her and she felt a light wet substance touch her fingertips. Its surface was slippery, her eyes finally focused and discovered it was green and smooth looking with little veins running through its center. But the object fit into the palm of her hand.

She closed her hand around it and the flat object began to crinkle. Unable to pull it closer she focused on the wire coming out from the end of it. Somehow it was connected to a thick cord, producing several more of the same green objects. Blinking furiously the rest of the scene came into focus. The one cord she thought she saw, was thick and brown, it connected to more, and more and more. Each producing the same green objects.

She'd seen these things before when studying, Planet Life. They grew from the ground on their own and had no consistency, no programing.

Trees?

She focused again on the object in her hand, squeezing and flattening it, allowing it to slide between her fingers. She'd forgotten about her heavy breathing, until something grabbed her from behind, it threw her backward, and she sprawled out on the dirt -

Ari shot up, looking around wildly. Her eyes struggled to see through the black to the solid metal and plastic crates around her. She felt her duffel tucked beneath her head and with no light to support her, that is where her vision stopped. No trees. No dirt. Nothing that could relate to what she had just felt and dreamed.

Hovering her hand close to her face she rubbed her fingers together remembering the sensation. Though that's all it was, a remembrance which was quickly fading from her mind. Her fingers were dry, a bit chapped from the changing cabin pressure. Her heart, beat at its regular pace. All that could be heard was the jolting scrapes of the shuttle attaching to its destination port.

They'd arrived. She had made it to Midway.

Midway, was a tiny thing, floating in the middle of the sector. It served primarily as a transfer-station. Short-range shuttles connected to drop off passengers bound for further destinations, and long-range shuttles picked up those passengers. Most of the shuttles that launched from Meckam were sent by Midway and had now returned to their home.

Ari's fingers tapped the floor. Trevon had come to this port, and would have met up with a Military transport bound for Tirragen Station. Those transports had very specific schedules to keep, which meant there was little chance she would run into him.

Exactly as she planned.

The airlock door on the cargo bay gave a loud thunk as it connected to the port's cargo shaft. Ari didn't waste a minute. As she felt her way to the door she discovered that some of the cargo had shifted in flight blocking her previous route. With no security encryptions on the inside she easily unlatched the airlock. Strangely Ari had to push with all her might to make an opening large enough to poke her head out.

Peering down the extra large shaft, Ari suspected she only had a few minutes to make a clear getaway before workers came to unload the cargo.

Witnessing no signs of approaching workers, she squeezed through the small opening and turned to close the airlock behind her. She hadn't pushed the hatch more than an inch when a sudden pinch as her arm was twisted behind her back. A small yelp escaped her throat but the angle made it impossible to pull away or see her capture. All that was visible was the large blackened and calloused fingers holding her firmly in place.

"Security to cargo shaft B6," a gruff accented voice stated directly following the sound of a comm being activated. "We have a stowaway."

Gritting through the pain Ari demanded he let her go, stomping as hard as she could on the set of boots behind her. Her ankle kinked when her heel connected with his standard issued metal toed boots, and he laughed at her failed attempt to inflict harm. Though Ari didn't have experience with someone his size she did have practice with certain escape tactics.