Chapter 14: A Glimmer of Hope

“Mina?”

Dina shuddered and peeled herself away from the wall and unfurled her body. The dried fluids of her healing wound cracked from the effort and she winced as it scraped against her senses. Sweat from where she ground her knees into her breast prickled along her skin, bringing a fresh wave of cool air across the damp flesh.

The last few days had lessened some of the pain but it still hurt to do anything other than lie still and stare at the wall.

It took most of her effort to look over her shoulder at Harmmon who stood at the wall.

"Mina vavfa ma Harmmon?”

Dina shook her head. “Why?”

A tremble coursed through her body and she clenched her nether muscles to keep it in check. Her last meal wasn’t sitting well but she didn’t dare crawl away from the wall to use the bathroom or even throw up. The cool air tickled at her exposed buttocks and slit. The bench granted no comfort or shelter.

“Harmmon goo chi Mina niffo.” The alien’s quills were flat against her back. She had only a pair of shorts on and her nipples were standing up. She cocked her head. "Mina niffo?”

Dina thought for a moment. She was breaking down. It had been hours since she moved from the bench. Glancing around, she looked at the dead-eyed women in the other cells. There were a few fresh ones, replacements for those who Lumme had taken away and murdered on his cock. They were already broken, a few of them before they even arrived after walking past the corpses and mess.

She winced and shook her head. "Mina niffo,” she said.

Harmmon’s quills rippled. "Ki Mina niffo. Ki niffo.”

Dina shivered and shook her head. “No more Dina.”

The female alien sighed and then held up a tablet in her hand. "Ki Mina niffo. Mina lama Korin. Mina sasomu Korin.”

She tapped the tablet against the glass. "Lama Korin.”

The strange words threw Dina for a moment but she recognized Korin’s name. That brought a quickening of her heart and pried her from her funk. Slowly, she pushed herself around, wincing and tearing up from the pain from the healing wounds deep inside her body. “Korin? You found Korin?”

"Ho.”

Dina’s lips parted. “Is he okay?”

Harmmon frowned, her quills quivering. After a second, she held up the tablet and made a show of putting it into the tray that would deliver it inside the cell. "Mina lama Korin.”

Despite the agony, Dina found the strength to pull herself off the bench. Her bladder protested the movement, it had been hours, but the hope that Harmmon had found Korin pushed it away as only a wave of discomfort. She hobbled over to the tray as it rotated around. As soon as she could, she snatched the tablet from the tray and looked at it.

She couldn’t read a single thing on the page. There were controls all around the side. They were labeled in a language that had a lot of swirls and straight lines. Unable to comprehend it, she held her hand over it and looked up. “What do I press?”

"Lama.” Harmmon repeated herself a second time and then sighed. She held up her thick finger and drew an image in the air. It looked like a cross with a bowl at the end of it.

Blood rushing in her ears, Dina looked down. She found the image on the bottom left. It was in a yellow button that was pulsating faintly. With a gasp, she jammed it with her thumb.

The screen of the tablet flashed twice. Images came swirling on the screen. They only took a second to solidify. It looked like the inside of a large hanger. Along the wall, she could see the name of the sleeper ship on the side, FCM Dilifin 3. The paint was faded slightly but otherwise looked as fresh as the day she spotted it while they were putting her stasis pod into place.

The center of the hanger had been cleared out for a large ring made of waist-high dividers. The fliers that were housed in the hangers had been moved around so the wings formed seats for almost a hundred of the aliens. The mostly naked creatures were sprawled out on blankets and buckets; a couple of them had taken mattresses from the quarters and used them to form cushioned seats. Their size made even the largest of beds—a double for married couples—appear to be nothing more than a pillow or throw cushion.

The aliens were cheering but Dina couldn’t see the reason. She stroked the side of the tablet, anxious to see Korin but also knowing that it would happen soon enough. She glanced up at Harmmon who gestured down.

The cheering grew louder, a high-pitched humming noise as a few stamped their feet.

The camera panned around until it focused on a pair of humans in firm suits walking toward the ring. They were both holding what appeared to be spears in their hands but there was an obvious battery pack and the tip looked like a crystal of some sort. She frowned for a moment, it looked like a plasma touch, an oxygen-fueled device for cutting thick metal in space. It wasn’t something anyone would carry for no reason.

Her eyes scanned back and forth between the two humans. They were too far away to see. Without thinking, she reached up and pressed two fingers against the surface of the tablet and pulled them apart, the almost universal gesture for zooming.

The image contracted instantly.

She whimpered and reversed her direction, pinching across the screen as the images zoomed in toward the two humans. She couldn’t change the angle of the view but she found she could pan around using two fingers against the glass.

It only took her a second to find her husband. Korin was the one on the right. She could tell by his name on the label and the brief sight of his eyes through the visor.

Dina realized she was crying. Slowly, she sank down on the ground as she clutched the tablet. “Korin,” she gasped. “Korin. I found you,” she whispered.

The video continued forward. She tried to pause it by taping but that didn’t work. After a few moment, she found she could stop the video by using three fingers and swiping down. It took a few more moments to figure out how to rewind so she could look at her husband in more detail.

His firm suit was far more damaged than her own. There were scorch marks along the shoulders, chest, and even his thighs. Other scratches exposed the carbon fiber and metal frame underneath the ceramic coating, the shocking silver and black material made it looked like he was only seconds away from being exposed to the toxic atmosphere. A few of the cuts had tape and cloth shoved into them while the others appeared to be nothing more than superficial damage.

Tears ran down her cheeks. She ran a finger along his face, sobbing quietly as she looked at her husband of centuries. She couldn’t see his face, but there was a hardness in his eyes. It was obvious that he had been woken up long before her.

Korin wasn’t being prepared for surgery though. Remembering the ring she saw earlier and the way he held the plasma torch in his hand, it would obvious that he was being forced into some sort of gladiator game.

She didn’t want to see more, but the morbid part of her needed to see how the video ended. She unpaused it and zoomed out, watching through shimmering eyes as Korin and the other human entered the ring.

The surrounding aliens cheered louder, stamping their feet and humming in a hundred different voices. None of them entered the room.

With a sick feeling and anticipation rising in her throat, she watched as the two humans turned and faced each other. They bowed slightly.

An alien, a male with his barbed cock dangling down, jumped into the room and hummed loudly to the others.

Slowly, the crowd’s din died down until there was only the scrape of metal and the occasional hum.

The announcer hummed some sort of brief speech. Dina didn’t catch a single word of it. Instead, she focused on Korin and watched his body. When he stepped, it looked like he was favoring his left foot lightly. There was a dent in his firm suit digging into his hip; it no doubt was making it harder for him to maneuver.

“Please don’t die,” she whispered.

The alien walked over to the side of the arena and then yelled out "Laman!”

Korin and the other human slammed their lances on the ground. A spear of plasma burst out of the far end. The light was too bright to look at and the video blurred from the intensity.

Her husband held back while the other human attacked him. The plasma torch left a burning arc in the air as he swung it around.

Korin stepped back at the last instant and then swung with his own weapon. It cut through the barrier before coming in underneath the other man’s arm. The bright flame seemed to bend and twist before it washed over his leg.

The scream that followed would haunt Dina for the rest of her life. The super-heated flame melted away part of the metal.

The other man attacked again, wild and violent.

Korin parried with his own weapon, barely avoiding the long jet of brilliant white.

Dina found herself holding her breath, an aching in her lungs as she watched her hu78sband fighting for his life. The tears kept rolling as she watched the swing and parried. She was convinced that he was going to die with every blow but somehow he managed to keep safe.

Then, the attacking man swung a little too high. Korin slid the haft of his plasma torch down until his hand was less than a meter from the oxygen-fueled flame and then jammed it right into his opponent’s chest.

Flames didn’t burst or splash, they just cut through metal and ceramic as if it wasn’t there. A second later, the brilliant white burst out the other side of the man’s chest, right where his spine would be.

With a surge of strength, Korin twisted the torch around and burned a large hole out of the man’s back. Then, he pulled it back and shoved the corpse to the ground.

Seconds later, even through the charred opening, Dina could see the acidic environment beginning to bubble the exposed flesh. She panned away violently as her stomach grew queasy.

After a few seconds, she focused on her husband. Korin only rised his hand in a fist, which seemed to bring a wave of cheers from the aliens.

As the announcer approached, his plasma torch went out. Dina could see a blinking device the announcer’s hand, it flashed in time with the flickering flames and then glowed steadily as the torch grew dark.

She watched him being escorted off camera. When she looked up, there were still tears rolling down her face.

"Mina muf sasomu Korin?” Mina is thinking of Korin?

Dina sobbed. “Y-Yes.”

"Mina sasomu Korin. Mina nagamo Korin.” Harmmon held up her hands and the thick fingers. She inverted them and moved scissored them together, mimicking walking. Slowly, she brought them together. "Nagamo.”

“I-I can see him?”

"Ho? Ho.” The quills rippled along Harmmon’s back, the fluttering of orange and red. "Mina sasomu. Nogo?”

Wiping the tears from her face, Dina forced herself up. Her body hurt, her insides burned, but the hope of seeing her husband pushed back both. She swayed for a moment and then nodded. “For Korin.”

“Korin.” Harmmon nodded. She pointed to the tablet. "Mina lama.” Dina watch.

Dina looked down at it. She should watch it?

When she looked up, the female alien was walking away.