Change Shift

Shawnell was amazed as she looked for the first time into the large ship bay . The ships were standing proud and shining in the soft glow of light . In all her twenty eight years she had been on Earth Prime she had never seen anything like it . She looked at her brother Mav, her bright blue eyes glimmering with barely contained excitement .

“You sure you want to do this , Shawnie ? Kanta is not even in this galaxy. Tthe trip alone will take near a year,” her brother’s voice was filled with the concern .

“Yes, Mav, it’s the best offer I have gotten . It’s just a four year assignment, an agricultural colony . There aren’t any aliens there. I will be completely safe,” She smilde, brushing a strand of blond hair back from her face as she stood tip toe and kissed his cheek softly .

“I could come with you,” he frowne . They hadn’t been separated since they had found each other nearly ten years prior . They had been separated by the death of their parents at the age of ten, then sent to be fostered with two separate families . Since then Shawnell had majored in Xeno-biology, Botany and Horticulture, making her perfect for the Kanta project .

The Kanta project had been designed to create an outer colony world that would provide food to the outer rim. But there was one problem, Kanta’s sun produced a dangerous form of radiation as the Celestrial Government had found during its first colonization attempt . There had been no survivors . Now the colony was being reformed, this time underground . Large machines known as Harvestors and Seeders would be used to plant and harvest while the scientists watched from below ground where they would be safely shielded against the radiation that the planet received from its sun .

“And be bored to death . Plants have never been your thing, brother dear . I will be fine. Alpha team has already set up the shielding area and they have been living there for two years with no ill effects. Look, there is my ship .” She looked up at the Antares with awe . The huge star ship was the largest the Celestrial government had produced .

“Antares now boarding for Kanta . All passengers please approach access ramp two for boarding,” The loudspeaker rang out .

“That’s my call, Mav,” she kissed him again . “See you when I get back Love ya,” she smiled shouldering her bag and darting for the ship .

“Love you to,” he sighed and moved to the window to watch the ship depart .

That had been over a year and half ago . She smiled at the memory then turned back to the panel before her . Her fingers danced over the keys as she separated the grain’s DNA to merge its genes with that of a heartier cousin .

****
Pain blossomed behind closed eyes as the black emptiness turned gray . Her head throbbed painfully , the sticky sweet smell of blood filling her nostrils bringing her attention to the events of the day before, or was it a few days before ? That was not a dream but a horrid reality .
A soft clicking sound that caused lances of pain to shoot through her head was soon joined by a shrill high-pitched whisper . Shawnell opened her eyes hesitantly and was met by a sharp stab of pain and a wave of nausea that twisted her gut like a pretzel . Determination forced her stomach into place and her eyes to focus .
Flickering lights and an eerie green yellow glow met her gaze. Each flicker caused short stabs of pain to radiate through her head just behind her eyes . The shrilling whispers continued, causing her to turn her head to locate the source . As she turned, pain exploded, turning her vision a brilliant white as her stomach revolted . She barely managed to turn her head as she gagged, spilling out the components of her stomach . She wretched over and over again till she thought the pain in her head and gut would rip her in two, then as quickly as it came the pain subsided to throbbing ache . She panted softly rolling onto her back once more .
”I can’t see you, You can’t see me, I don't know what the hell you are but if I can’t see you can't see me, “ she thought to herself .
Something nudged her leg, almost causing her to jump out of her skin . A soft whimper escaped her lips . This was not supposed to be combat assignment, this should not be happening. A sickening sweet sour odor invaded her nostrils as the prodding continued and try as she might couldn’t shift away . She cracked an eye open as a burst of short high pitched whistles assailed her ears causing her to flinch . What she saw was enough to cause her to shiver in fear . Before her, prodding her with what looked to be a crude short stick that looked oddly like a seventeenth century terran rifle with a large crudely shaped stock, was a creature straight out of a nightmare . It stood approximately two meters tall with yellowish green skin that seemed to ooze a sticky putrid fluid that made the skin take on a sickly pus-like green color , while two scintillating deep set black eyes looked down at her from a rather humanish looking face .The thin scaled lips parted and emitted a soft sibilant hiss that was echoed by the squirming mass that was its hair . The creature twitched one of its arms, and a glob of the sour smelling ooze dripped from it, hitting the ground with a sucking splat pop . The spatter was hot and warm as it sprayed across her skin .
"Yrreeei ni kini," the creature warbled and was quickly joined by another .
She noticed the odd jilted movements as the other one stepped forward joining the first . It closed one of its eyelids, the lid tinting the eye an odd bluish purple . "Kini Vrrrrisee Yinvi," it hissed, gesturing with one of what she now saw was eight limbs . The bottom four which she presumed were feet, held four clawed digits with an opposable rear claw for balancing the bulk of its nearly nine foot tall frame . The two creatures whistled and murmured together in the odd, almost music-like language before one reached down with a triple jointed three digit hand and lifted her as if she were no more then a paper weight, then tossed her over its shoulder . She groaned as she felt her stomach contracted again uselessly . She opened her eyes once more looking down at what almost seemed a crustacean-like carapace that covered the lower abdomen and elongated to hold the extra limbs . She opened her eyes once more, looking at what was left of the lab around her .
It had been virtually destroyed; glass and plant matter lay scattered among the hydroponics trays . The watering and filtration system was still running, spraying down the room, the floor becoming slick small rivulets beginning to form small puddles of water throughout the lab .
She groaned softly as she bounced against the creature’s bony, ridged back, the slime from the creature slicking her hands, which were beginning to burn . At first she had thought that a reaction to lab chemicals, but the burning only seemed to intensify as time passed . She looked down and saw where her skin had begun to turn an odd shade of white, the skin puckering; when she reached to touch it, it sloughed away, leaving angry red lesions on her hands . She shuddered and began to think of what she had come in contact with since the attack had begun other than the odd pus like slime the creatures exuded and shuddered .
It was then she began to see the bright red spatters on the walls . She blinked softly, trying to think of what it might be . Then her eyes fell on what left of Dr. Densha. one of his arms had been severed at the elbow and his face was slightly bloated, his once lively eyes dead opaque and staring silently, accusingly, at the world around him .
A day or had it been two….Mav I don’t know anymore,” her mind whispered softly to itself .
What she saw next sickened her one of the technicians ,a young woman, head lay at an odd angle and was spilt in half like a coconut, dark grayish spatters of brain matter making a gruesome pattern on the wall . Shawnell coughed, gagging, bile spilling from her lips, as she was sick once more .
“Riii yeeeeiiinnni!” she heard the creature whistle .
“Peeeeeeniiirilyi Vreeeei,” came a chortled response .
She wondered what the hell the two could be saying and if they were carrying her perhaps to meet the rest of their people then kill her it seemed that there was no one else they had left alive . It seemed like hours they carried her and she began to wonder if they were taking her deeper within the planet or to the surface .
She was only half-conscious by the time they reached the facilities first level and she found herself suddenly dropped to the floor . Her head exploded from the pain and the world receded into the darkness .
“Shawnell………..Shawnie…….Please come on,” came a choked whisper .
She groaned as the voice triggered more pain to radiate in her head . She reached up her hand touching the back of her head and feeling a sticky wetness . She looked down at the redness on her fingers . “Blood,” she thought .
“Thank God, Shawnie, we have been so worried !” a hand touched her shoulder . “Here, some water will help. You need to stay with us, Shawnie, you have a bad concussion .” Dr. Xing gave her a tight-lipped smile . “But you will be okay .”
She felt a cup being set to her lips, then the sweet taste of water as it slipped past her lips . Her hands came up involuntarily, causing her to grip the glass in both her hands as she began to gulp the water . She looked forlornly at the glass once it was empty then looked back up at the doctor holding it out . “More.”
“No, Shawnie, it will make you sick . Lay here . I have to see the others…there are four of us…four out of…” the doctor shook her head . “But there might be more,” she added hopefully .
“ But there aren’t,” Shawnell thought to herself as once again the blackness claimed her .
Shawnie wasn’t certain how long she had been out this time when the blackness slowly faded to a soft gray but her mind was clearer and the pain in her head had turned into dull aching throb . She opened one eye carefully, testing if the nausea would return, but her stomach only lurched a little so she opened the other and took note of her surroundings . She thought she might be in one of the storage rooms, the dull orange light that filled the room let her see very little leaving the rest of the room in shadow . Shadows that she was reluctant to even begin to explore . She shuddered as she remembered the aliens that had destroyed the base .
“What purpose?” she whispered softly shaking her head .
“Shawnie, “ came a fearful whisper .
She turned toward the sound, recognizing Dr. Xing’s voice and then the hushed whispers of the other survivors . Six, six of them rather than the four there had been before .She noted the shining eyes in the dark six of near one hundred and one was but a child .
“Yeah Doc. “ she managed to croak her voice harsh and grating .
The clicking sound intruded on her and she cursed under her breath. The creatures were coming back, creatures that would haunt her nightmares forever if they ever got out of this hell alive.
The door grated metal against metal, making her want to bite off her fingernails, a habit that she had only recently been able to kick thanks, to the constant teasing of her brother . He had told her not to go . Matter of fact he had done everything to ensure that she wouldn’t go, everything but beg, that is . She closed her eyes ~I am sorry~~ she mentally whispered.
A brilliant white light filled the room as the door finally slid open and clicked into place . Normally it would have slid open under its own power but apparently the creatures had little or no knowledge of such devices .
“Lieeeerrri Atrrrck Ka,” came an authorative bleating sound from one of the creatures .
Shawnie lay there pretending she was still unconscious . Her mind absently wondered what the creature wanted, but it wouldn’t wonder for long as it came for her in its odd stilted gait and lifted her once more .
“No, she’s hurt! “ she heard the Doctor cry . A shuffling noise let Shawnie know the doctor was coming forward .
The creature slung her over its shoulder, her abdomen colliding with its bony slimy carapace forcing and the air from her lungs. She gave a shuddering gasp and went limp . A slight vibration accompanied by a low hiss told how the creature felt about the Doctor’s order . Then as if it cared little for anything the doctor might do it turned and left the room carrying her with it.
Brilliant white light exploded around her as she was taken from the dark storage room. She tried to make out where she was but the light was so bright it blinded her completely .
Down and darker down the spiral she thought as the creature took them down, the bright light fading to a soft yellow glow . Shawnie noticed a slight curve to the walls before the hallway opened up into what looked like a large, red walled room . The sickly stench and the heat caused her stomach to rebel once more and she fought to keep it in place .
She looked up, scrambling to her feet as her eyes fell on a large , bloated shape, covered in a sickly slime that seemed to pulse like a heart . Twin pools of ebony regarded her from what looked to be a human face . It chattered something its body undulating as it spoke . It raised on fattened limb, waving it at her .
The creature behind it pushed her, barking a guttural sound to her . She turned looking at it . “I don’t understand,” she blinked .
The creature wrinkled its lips in what looked to be a snarl, “ Crrrria yaniiiieeee .“ it pointed at her .
“What I don’t,” she murmured . Before she could blink the creature behind her lunged knocked her to ground, and the world once more went black .
Once more blackness turned to gray as her mind fumbled for consciousness . She kept her eyes closed for a moment pondering what had happened in the chamber . It was clear to her that the large one had been some kind of leader . Could that mean that the creatures wanted something, and if so what ...what could they want that she could give?
With the driving force of a new found determination she opened her eyes, once more intent on finding out what these creatures wanted . In the dim greenish light she saw that she had been moved once more . She tried to sit up, but found that she had been restrained. She looked down at her chest and saw tiny strands of a gossamer thread wrapped lightly over her chest almost like a delicate spiderweb . Shawnie wiggled her hips trying to get out from the fibers . Small daggers of pain blossomed on her arms and torso . She blinked and looked down to see small red dots blooming along her skin like small red flowers . Shawnell squinted, slightly staring once more at the fibers that coated her body and saw now that thanks to the crimson blots on the ends the fibers were coated with slender needle like barbs .
"Shit!" she muttered to herself .
A sickly wet plopping noise startled her and she turned towards the sound, her eyes straining to see what had caused the noise in the eerie half dark . There, glistening on the walls, were strange greenish amorphous bubbles straining and undulating in the dark. The fear grew, as in her mind she realized what they must be . Egg sacks....they meant to feed her to their young!
The clicking sound filled her ears once more . She shivered but managed to remain still as a grating sound enhanced her fear . Two of the creatures slipped inside, their silhouettes framed by the brilliant white light . It was clear that they were smaller then the others that she had seen , their coloration more a dingy green then the pus yellow, though they too were covered in slick mucus . They moved about the room carefully touching each of the sacks on the walls before they moved over to her .
" Where am I?" she asked hesitantly.
The smaller of the two leapt back as if struck, then turned to the other. " Riini miri anxaz?"
"Naz virrriii kini, " the other turned motioning with one of its feet or arms she wasn't sure , as it ran from the room leaving the other behind to watch or guard her .
The smaller of the creatures gave a soft trill of distress then looked down at her inclining its head first one way then another, then back again . It trilled softly at her then reached out with a oddly jointed hand brushing it over her cheek . Its ebon eyes went wide in surprise and in took another step back. "Ri ki kini...Aiiiyeenairi af?" it sniffed at her .
A grating noise drew her gaze once more and this time six of the creatures entered the chamber, each one bearing on its shoulder a golden pole atop which sat a large box with gossamer coverings . Shawnell blinked, slightly surprised that the large carriage could be brought into what seemed to be a small room but some how it fit . The smaller creature that had been left with her quickly threw itself down on the floor , as the six set the platform down before her . It took only a moment for the creature inside to emerge . Large and opulent like the one she had seen in the larger chamber before .
It came forward though it seemed more like slithering than the odd, jilted movements of the other creatures and the smell that emanated from it was enough to make her retch .It stared down with its black eyes .
"Vas Riiiyaniii imani" the creature hissed softly .
Two more creatures moved to join the first , surrounding her. Shawnie felt her mouth go dry and her heart began to race as fear gripped her, a fear that froze her there in place and kept her from screaming as the creatures as one lifted their arms six inch long spikes springing from what looked to be their elbow joints . She twisted violently trying to escape the razor fibers, the strands digging into her skin causing her flesh to burn . One of the carrier creatures came forward and turned the table on which she was laying over so that now she couldn't see what was happening .
She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came . The creatures brought the spikes down, one in the back of her neck, one down into the middle of her spine, and the last one its base . She tried to scream again as the pain exploded through her body, a hot searing pain spreading along her nerves like fire . She felt the spikes withdraw as the table turned, but she was blinded by the pain as the creatures withdrew to wait .
At first she thought she was going to die as the pain increased two-fold . They had killed her and her parting thought was of her brother Mav and how he would take her death. Then the pain flared, exploding in her brain and obliterating all thought and reason till all that was left was the burning of nerves as they flickered along their pathways . She might have lost consciousness, she was uncertain as the pain blurred all sense of time .
It might have been minutes, hours, or days before the pain receded enough for her to actually form thought again. I live . She chanted mentally, reminding herself to breath . She opened her eyes, making out a faint glimmer through something like gauze that clouded her vision . She could barely make out shadows as they moved about what . Something poked through the gauze, a long thin brownish tube . She shuddered, trying to move away, but it jabbed through, slipping itself between her lips and partially down her throat . She tried to scream as it began to pump some tasteless liquid into her mouth . It might have been water, or it might have been something else but regardless, it was needed .
After a moment she relaxed feeling the cool liquid hit her painfully empty stomach . Days then, she thought, for she hadn't realized how hungry she was until the cool liquid blossomed in her stomach, chilling it as well as filling the emptiness .
Had she screamed? She was uncertain . The worst pain was childbirth they said. Hell with that. Child birth had to be easy after this . She shifted her weight feeling the eb and flow of the soft casing around her . Completely different than the Feerini that had held her before . Feerini was designed to hold and the small barbs on the end would lock it to whatever it held till the Kaffyiee was told to remove it .
Shawnell went suddenly very, very still with the realization that she understood what had held her . She even knew the name of the spider like creature that made it. A picture of the blueish, gray green creature called a Kaffyiee flashed in her mind . What had happened, what had they done to her?
She began to take a slow careful measure of her body . Starting at her toes, she wiggled them slightly and found they were still there, the soft feel of the Feyirik against her skin . There it was again something that she shouldn't know but she did; Feyirik was produced by the same spider like being but was used to line their nests rather then to capture and hold their prey . She tried to turn her head to see herself, but while material was soft it held her firmly .
"Someone," she croaked out, only to be rewarded with a high pitched buzzing in her mind that seemed to get ever and ever closer .
Shawnell strained her eyes to see the shadows as they moved towards her . She felt something move along Feyirik causing it to ripple so seductively against her skin that she almost wanted to purr . The shadowy being moved away again trilling.
Oninkeaerian seemed to be the name of the strange creatures, the creatures that had destroyed the outpost killing the people that she was in charge of. The beings that she was certain were just defending their home....No, she didn't know that, at least not before today.
The Feyirik was quickly ripped away from her skin, a slick jellied blue green substance falling away revealing, her face to the creature. The light dim, as it was blinded her sensitive eyes causing her to emit a an odd clicking hiss. The creature stared at her with its flat black eyes seeming unimpressed as it looked down at her.
"Areki Vareeeni Khaeeeeri yeeew" the creature clicked at her.
By the way it clicked at her she could tell it expected some sort of answer . The buzzing sound in her mind grew louder then louder. In her minds eye, she saw a picture of herself . She didn't look like that.,the image in her minds eye had pupilless blue eyes her skin which had once been a pale milky white was now a scintillating gold that matched her long hair. No, she didn't look like that.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!" she screamed, her voice stronger now. struggled vainly against the material .
The creature looked over for a moment, then reached out a hand touching her motioning to something next to it . A strange creature that was a young Errwasi started to climb up the covering . It’s soft bluish silver plates made a tinkling sound that was almost musical. It looked at her with vaguely intelligent eyes before it lunged forward . Shawnell felt a sharp pain in her neck . She tried to move to get it off but she couldn't. The creature backed off after a moment and then slowly began weaving the gauzy substance over her again .
Had it been hours, days, possibly years in this dark place, a place devoid of sound or light? It was nothing and yet everything at the same time . The strange buzzing was quieter now but remained just out of reach like a dream . She reached for the sound, anything to break the silence, to break the darkness, to let her know that she was really still alive. She was alive wasn’t she?
Color burst across her vision images flickering by like stars . The noise was deafening. She staggered back but yet she didn’t move, trapped in the dark blackness by the tiny pinpoints whirling around her. She reached out to grab one, to hold it to her and take back into the darkness so she wouldn’t be alone . Color danced across her mind once more, not the torrent of images these were much clearer . Images of a creature, and she was talking to it before she turned to go back to smoothing one of the crystalline corridors .
~~No~~ she responded pulling away. She was not that creature was she? Someone was coming for her. She felt it easing away the loneness and the blackness making it easier to bear. ~~Who am I?~~ She called out hoping the presence would help her. Tell her who she was and what she was waiting for but she was met with only more silence.
Then she was falling, falling free, but she couldn’t be falling since she was floating . The hard ground came up to meet her driving the air from her lungs . She opened her eyes into the light all, white hot and blinding the clicking and whistling all but deafening her .
“Is reeyan..readiiiryan,” cane a soft clicking voice .
“I…ammei..suriiayan,” came the response .
She could see the images of the creatures in her mind, and yet she couldn’t understand try as she might . She looked up, blue pupiless eyes meeting black .
“Heeeeriii merre ? “ the large creature was strangely beautiful as she looked up and smiled .
Hear me…had it said hear me….Yes it was asking her if she had heard it but she was still hard pressed to understand. . She arched her body, bowing before the beautiful creature .
“I hear,” she whispered softly. She hoped it would understand her words though the soft whistles that escaped her slicked lips seemed somehow wrong .
“Cleaarrian it….Theain ri befo…the ricaokani,” the larger of the two creatures looked down at its companion .
She looked up trying to ascertain what it was trying to say.. Something about cleaning it before doing something she thought . Clean? she looked down realizing that she was coated in a sickly yellow green ichor . She felt her stomach clench as the smell of decay and sulfur hit her nose .
“Asi “ the creature motioned to her .
Shawnell inclined her head as the creature took a step forward and motioned again “Comsi” it nodded at her . The creature lead her to a large pool of liquid that looked similar to water. It motioned to her again. “Clearrian .”
She didn’t need a translator to understand it wanted her to get clean. So she stepped into the tepid blue green pool . The warm liquid was thick like pudding, and it sparked , warming her . As she moved through its depths, she felt something scrubbing at her skin. She looked down and the scintillating gold on her but saw nothing .
“Comsi” the creature motioned to her again a moment later. This time with some odd looking cloth between its clawed pincher like fingers .
Then before she knew it she was being polished and rubbed with rubbed with some odd liquid that left her skin smelling sweet . Then they began on her hair the sensation not at all unpleasant and somehow relaxing. Soon she was dozing beneath their careful ministrations.
A feeling of peace invaded her body in the days that followed. She found it easier to understand her brothers and sisters . She could hear their voices now, she was not alone, she never had been . She smiled her slick golden lips pursing slightly as she worked . A thick plant stalk before her giving up it’s fruit easily. A faint click-clacking to her left and right reminded her that she must keep up with the others. It was harder without her missing arms and legs but the arms she had moved with clean fluid movements that the others seemed to lack. There were strengths to having only two arms as there were weaknesses. For instance, she found it hard to climb the vertical tunnels that would take them to the surface and often needed to be carried, but her thin fingers made it easier to coat the reeeki holes that would hold the seasons younglings .
Suddenly another voice added to the soft comforting buzz of the others . The voice was vaguely familiar, but somehow it was outside the voices she could hear now. It was different. She pulled back out of the link she shared with the other Onerkerians and inclined her head slightly . She felt fear, concern coming from the other mind. She sent back the peace that she now felt . The other mind seemed to relax as she sent to it but it did answer with a sense of urgency and longing that she couldn’t identify .
A sharp pain touched her and she turned quickly . The small Errwaisi nipped her again as the small golden cat like creature clambered up her side chittering angrily. The small fuzzy creature looked like the unlikely combination of a cat , a rabbit and some sort of reptile. Its gold and blue fur glinted softly as it looked at her accusation in its green blue eyes . She smiled stroking its soft elongated head and let the others back into her mind . She felt the familiar mind withdraw in pain but thought nothing of it as she returned to the task before her .
“ Shawsi come the Elder ones wish to speak to thee,” a voice called into her mind.
She nodded, sending her mental acknowledgement . Shawnell unfolded her legs, rising slowly to her feet her hand holding the small Errwaisi to her shoulder . She headed down the long crystalline hallways that would take her to the gathering chamber where Relikk waited with the Elders . She pondered what it was they wanted from her. She was but a worker and as such they should pay her no mind . She bowed her head keeping her eyes to the ground . Relikk, the tall warrior that had brought her to the Elders the first time nodded, briefly to her motioning to the small multihued mosaic before the resting ledges that would soon hold the large bodies of the Elders .
Shawnell folded her legs beneath her touching her forehead to the blue square before her.. The Errewasi tucked itself beneath her thick golden hair. Ignoring the twisting of the Rak worms that had been seeded in her scalp .
Heavy scraping on the walls alerted her to the coming of the Elders , they would be brought in on a cart held by servants . She kept her head down as the soft clicking of the servants foot pads, announced their arrival .
“Shawsi,” came the deep thrum of the Elder as it spoke to her. “Rise.”
Shawnell straightened up but remained on her knees before the Elder, with her eyes down cast . Her Rak worms began moving once more, but slowly this time, making no sound as they slid over her scalp and shoulders .
“Who am I, Shawsi?” The Elder asked .
“You are the Elder Fymki,” she trilled softly in their language,
“Who are you?” she was asked again .
“I am , Shawsi, a worker, Elder , nothing more,” she kept her eyes on the blue of the mosaic before her .
“What of your life before here? Why did your people come here?” Fymki asked, her voice joined by another of the Elders .
“My people are you people Elder Fymki I do not understand .” she frowned .
“But yet you are not like us. You have four limbs to our eight, your skin is smooth where ours is armored . Your skin was dry till the Rak worms were able to coat your flesh. Why did your people come here?” The voices added .
“I..” she started but the images of the others still held captive within entered her mind . They were ugly creatures pale fleshy things .
A vision of a panel flicked across her memory . She could see the plants before her and their internal workings. Food it was, was it not? She shook her head trying to clear the images from it.
“Why did they come? Will they come again?” they asked.
“I …I don’t know…I don’t understand . I do not understand what it is they say to me. But I will try and learn, Elder Fymki .” she bowed her head .
“Good. You will go see these other beings . Listen to them . Remember and come to us .” The Elders hissed.
“Your will” she bowed acknowledging her dismissal . “Relikk, Take me to these Huumaans . “Her voice pronounced the name in her own tongue even as her nose wrinkled in disgust .
“Comsi then, Shawsi, and see what you once were?” he motioned to her turning and heading out of the chamber and up to the rooms that held the remnants of the colony .
Relikk lead her along a long, dark corridor, that at one time would have been blind to her human eyes, but the change had made it possible for her to pick her way through the piles of rubble with ease . Shawnell still , however, found herself hard pressed to keep up with her guide’s long jilted strides, but she did not ask him to slow or for rest . Her brothers and sisters were counting on her to find the reason for the human’s presence . A reason that Shawsi had to find . For she knew now that she had been one of those creatures before this gift had been given to her . If only she could remember .
Soon her breath came in sharp gasps and her legs burned as she jogged behind her guide. She fought now with each step to keep up, she no longer had time to think instead it was simply one foot in front of the other. One two…one two as fast as she could, and, soon she lost herself in the cadence of her footsteps, never realizing that Relikk stopped . She kept running till she collided with his lower abdomen and was backward. She reached out for balance and his outstretched arm as he moved to steady her .
“We are here . You should rest a moment .” He looked down at her concerned . “Yesssss .” She whispered breathlessly as she slumped against the wall for a moment, fighting for breath . Each time she inhaled, it felt like tiny shards of glass were imbedding into her lungs .
. ”I did not mean that you should not rest, Shawnsi” Relikk inclined his head watching the Rak worms that were imbedded in her scalp . Their sluggish movements told him that she should have rested long before now. “Here sip this “and he took a small silk bag from his shoulder and offered her the Errewasi milk .
She took the bag gratefully sipping the sugary-sweet substance within and smiling as her limbs began to tingle with renewed strength. “Thank you,” she straightened up. “I am ready .”
He nodded asd he pressed the panel before him and leaned his weight against the door forcing it to slide open .
Shawsi heard the whispers within the room suddenly quiet, all but the soft whimpers of a youngling and she felt a slight pain within her at the sound . “Relikk stay. You will frighten them.”
“Are you certain?” he trilled in answer.
“Yes,” she nodded .
“As you wish,” he motioned her inside.
Shawnsi took a step inside the room hearing the sighs of relief as Dr. Xing stepped forward out of the dim light . Then, suddenly, the Doctor froze .
“Sh…Shawnell?” The Doctor questioned .
Shawnsi frowned for a moment as the language switched and she had to fight to grasp the meaning of the words .Then a few moments later it clicked and she nodded in response .
“What have they done to you?” the doctor asked .
“Done? It is a gift . My brothers and sisters have sent me back to you . You have need to answer questions . Why are you in our home?” Shawnell forced the words from her lips and hoped she was understood
. “You know why we came here . You headed the Project, remember?” Xing seemed confused .
“If I knew then I would not ask. Why are your people here ?” She growled.
“The colony. It was an Agricultural colony. Put here to grow food . We didn’t know there were other entities here. If we had we would have left this place alone. If you tell them, perhaps they will let us go . The OCG is sure to send someone for us soon.” The Doctor took a step forward . “Then we can get you back to normal .”
“An Agricultural colony , yes I remember now, and I will see if they will allow you to leave if someone comes, but I stay. This is my home. There was no other reason for us to come here?” she asked curiously.
“No the radiation kept it from being viable for anything other then an Ag colony . You should know that. Unless the rays have leaked through…Have you been outside?”
Shawnell turned, rapping twice on the door. “I may return with more questions later,” and with that the door opened and she stepped out .
“Did you find out what was needed?” Relikk asked .
“Yes, and my memory has returned. Let us go to the Elders ,” she looked up slipping into the Onikerian’s language .
“As you wish .” He nodded to her and turned to move back down the corridor . Slowing his pace so that she could match it.
Shawnell found ther trip back to the Elders disturbing as images from her past flooded through her . There was something missing something important .. A frown touched her golden lips and sighed softly, earning her a glance from Relikk . But if he guessed what troubled her, he said nothing of it as they made their way back into the Chamber to the Elders that waited . She bowed low before them .
“What is it that you found?” The Elder asked .
“ Much ,Elder Fymki, and my memory has returned .” she smiled .
“Then tell us then.” he nodded .
“ My former self was chosen after I completed training in growing. The Elders decided that we must have more food . They sent ships here to grow the food for the other worlds . They knew not that there was a people here already . If the Elders had known they would not have sent us unguarded. If I am correct in time . We should have sent a message and are overdue . They will send more here to help us or find what happened,” she frowned slightly.
“And what should we do to these others that come and the ones that we hold?” Fymki asked .
“Make them like me, so that we might send a message and the others will not come,“ she said quickly .
“We will think on this, return to work.” Fymki nodded respectfully a gesture that caused her to almost glow with pride .
*******************
Eight months later they arrived just as she had thought., and the Elders chose her Xinh to meet them.. Calsi chattered from beneath her hair to the Errwasi that sat on the creature that used to be Dr. Xing’s shoulder. Shawsi reached up and stroked her gently.
“Look, they come,” Xinh whispered as they watched from the shadows..
The ship itself was of a military design; elegant , sleek and deadly by design, as were the twenty marines that disembarked , guns at the ready . However, it was not the guns that grabbed Shawnsi’s attention, it was another . Another that she knew almost as well as herself, her missing piece, and the one for which she had been searching .
“Commander, she is here. I feel it .” The man murmured, softly stepping forward .
Shawnsi’s motioned for Xinh to stay, as she straightened and stepped forward . The marines quickly turned, their guns pointed at her .She stopped , her eyes on the blond haired young man . “Mav,” her voice was thick and slurred .
“Shawnell,” he answered in shock . “Commander, don’t shoot her . “ he frowned . What had happened to her?
“Yes,” her voice was softer now . “Comsi…come . All come. Show.” She motioned them to follow .
“We need to help you, Shawnie,. Stay don’t go ” he took three quick steps after her .
Shawnell smiled and motioned again. “Come, we show, comsi now . Not safe here” she pointed above .
“Luietenant Cooke…is there radiation present?.” The commander turned.
“We scanned …” she began.
“Scan again!” he barked sharply .
“Yes, sir.” she took out a small device and began to scan .
Shawsi stamped a foot impatiently, looking back toward where her sister waited for her return . They must come if this plan was to work. She sent images of Xinh getting the warriors to come closer . They might need to attack sooner then planned. She felt a surge of agreement from the minds of the others and smiled softly as the warriors surged forward like ants from a nest .
The Marine’s were caught off guard . Shawsi raced forward, grabbing her brother and pulling him away into the tunnels and saftey. “No listen…not safe. “ she sighed .
“Shawnell what is…” he began but the small creature on her shoulder leaped to his shoulder and bit him sharply on the neck. For a moment he felt dizzy and sick . He reached out for her, his eyes reflecting her betrayal as he dropped into darkness.
“Better soon, Mavi, better soon,” she smiled lifting his limp body as she carried him down to the Elders so the change could begin .
***************************

It was weeks before they were able to repair the subspace relay and send a message back to Earth with a simple message:
Plague . Code Red . Repeat Plague no survivors . Code red do not respond.
That would keep them from returning or at least it should. However, humans were stupid creatures, and one hundred later, The ships returned .