Beyond the Stars (35 page)

I found myself lying on a hard, cold table with bright operating room lights suspended directly above me. The room surrounding me was almost pitch black. I saw shadows of ghostly figures moving around the perimeter of the large room in the blackness. The fabric of their light-colored robes picked up some light. Dreons dressed in the same long, flowing white gowns surrounded me on all sides and hovered over me but did not speak. I fought to get up with all of my might but couldn’t. Their long, clawlike fingers, with sharp, jagged fingernails, were clenched tightly around my arms and legs, pinning me down. Their faces stared down on me, watching my every move. I heard a woman scream out in terrible pain in a nearby room.

“
What are you doing to her? Stop it! Leave her alone,
” I demanded. I listened to the sound of the horrific torture coming through the wall. Her screams could only be caused by severe suffering. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one being held captive against my will.

“
Oh, you do not like what you hear? Perhaps you should worry more about yourself,
” said a tall, thin Dreon in a sinister voice, approaching my restrained body.
“Now, tell me where you live or you will find out why she is screaming
,” he threatened me. He leaned his sunken, emaciated face over mine while holding a forbidding glare. I swore I could see his bony skeleton shining through his paperthin skin. His matted hair resembled gray, twisted rope. He looked more like a bug than a man. His giant, glossy eyes were bulging out an inch from his head, and his pasty white skin made him look severely anemic.

“
Get away from me!
” I shouted back in a shaky voice.

“
You told us you are from Kataria, but we have no record
of you on file. Why do you think that is? Are your people hiding you for some reason, or are you from someplace else
?” His mouth was so close I could feel his hot, stinky breath blow against my face when he spoke.

“
No, I am from Kataria. Your records are wrong. You’ve made a mistake
,” I retorted.

“
Tissk, tissk, mistakes; we do not make mistakes. We are not burdened with your flaws
,” he scoffed before he leaned back and started pacing around the table where I lay.

“
Well, if I am so beneath you, why do you even bother with me at all?
”

“
It is not of your concern.”
He paused and wrung his hands together
. “Where are you from?
” He asked, waiting only seconds before he abruptly surged his face down over me.

“
Get away from me!
” I shouted. He was so close, I thought about biting his nose, but the other aliens quickly pinned my head down when I lifted it up from the table.

“
I should kill you right now for your defiance.
” He clenched his hand tightly around my neck, pushing my head forcefully against the hard table. “
You will tell us
what we want to know
.
We have ways to make you comply
,” he seethed.

“
Let me go!
” I screamed, despite my crushed throat.

“
Show me your home
,” he said in a roaring voice. His black eyes loomed closer to mine. He looked as though he was ready to do a mind sweep on me. I prepared myself for the intrusion. I would die before I gave him what he wanted. Nothing—I would think of nothing to shield my memories. I pictured a blank white room in my mind. I focused my thoughts on its emptiness. It was easy to do with the bright lights shining in my eyes. Soon, I felt the burrowing weight of his eyes on mine. The invisible force was trying to worm its way into my mind. I fought back by harnessing my attention on my vision while I matched his glare and didn’t move. I held my stare firmly on his eyes to compete in the showdown. He seemed caught off guard when I looked directly at him. He hesitated for a moment before he released his hand from my neck and backed away.

He was unable to penetrate my mind. He looked too frail to summon the energy required to complete the task. He had to alter his interrogation technique. “
We can take you home. We only want to meet your people. It would be beneficial for us to become allies
.” I remained perfectly still, not saying a word. “
You insolent woman
,” he huffed impatiently at my silence. He reached his hand back to a table full of metal instruments and held up a stick with a glowing orange tip. Without warning, he sadistically delved his tool into my forehead while the others restrained my head. It felt like a hot lead weight was sinking through my skin like quicksand. I yelled out in agony. My body jerked in response to the pain it caused as it penetrated through each layer of my face like a burning coal.

“
I will be listening to your every thought, invading your mind, knowing your every move. You will be powerless and begging for my mercy when I am through with you. Then, you will help us
.”

“
Stop
,” interrupted a screeching voice from the darkness. I couldn’t see where it came from with the bright lights hovering above me. The interrogating alien turned to face its source.

“
You are lucky. You have made a friend. Hyril seems to think you will be a valuable addition to our kind. He believes you possess unusual capabilities unlike our own
.” I could tell by the length of his explanation, they were speaking to one another telepathically.

“
Hyril
,” I said. Wasn’t he the enemy? Surely, he was a bad guy. His pale face came into view as he approached the table when I called out his name.

“
Samantha
,” Hyril answered me in a detached, unemotional tone. He walked up silently and stood stiffly at my side. Hyril looked remarkably human next to the Dreon trying to hurt me. “
Leave us. I will talk to her
,” he demanded to the others. The surrounding Dreons let me go and left the room. As a defensive reflex, I sat up on the table and quickly hopped down on the floor. Ouch, I thought. Its surface was so hot it felt like it would burn holes through the soles of my feet. Hyril rushed in front of me in order to block my body with his. His strong, hypnotic stare easily permeated my mind like a tractor beam on its target. “
Are you ready to talk?”

“
I’ve already told you everything.
”

“
Look, for your sake, you must cooperate. Your life depends on it. They are planning on torturing you to the brink of death.
”

“
I don’t understand. Why are you helping me?
” I asked, afraid to trust him.

“
Do you not understand that I only follow my commands? Haven’t you figured that out by now? Did you not realize I never physically hurt you on Decca? I could blow your mind apart—shattering it into a million pieces if I wanted to. I was merely trying to get information out of you,”
he lashed out angrily. He let out a gruff moan as if it was obvious.

“Oh yeah, it was so much fun. Let’s do it again,”
I replied sarcastically
. “Where am I?”
I asked. I looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. The walls were smooth, windowless, and appeared to be made out of sheets of gray metal. The doorway the other aliens exited blended evenly into the surrounding room, making its location a mystery.

“You are on our ship.”

“What? How did I get here?”

“We brought you aboard. It is your fault you are here. Your fresh DNA and mental capacity to resist me has made you an interesting commodity,”
Hyril said forcefully.

“How do you know that?
”

“
We took a sample.”

“No, the other thing. How did you know I resisted you?”

“We know everything,”
he said, walking ponderously around me. I turned and watched him closely as he kept his eyes glued to mine.
“When I was in your mind, I could feel and see everything you were thinking, your fear and your pain. But you would not answer my question and show me your
home. I am curious, though. You pictured a boy and a girl.”

“Yes.”
I remembered thinking about Leah and Jackson when I thought I was going to die.

“When you saw them, you had this feeling, this feeling
of joy, of warmth? I do not know why you were happy to see them.”

“It is called love.”

“What is love?”

“Ahh, I can’t say.”

“No, please, I do not mean you any harm. I want to know,”
he said, sounding sincere.

I reluctantly answered.
“Love is a good feeling. It is something you have when you care deeply for another person or creature.”

“Would you consider me a creature?”

“No … I would consider you a person, I guess.”
I studied his body in search of human traits. They outnumbered his unnamed terrestrial features. Perhaps a makeover and some contacts would help him look more like us.

“So you love the boy and the girl.”

“Yes, they are my children. I brought them into this world, raised them, and care deeply for them.”
I was careful not to reveal too much information. I was taking no chances. Perhaps this was some roundabout way of getting me to picture my life.

“Is it common to feel that way about children?”

“I believe so, yes. I think all parents love their children. Do you love anyone?”

“No,”
he said shortly.

“What about your parents?”

“I do not know them. I was born aboard the ship in order to serve,”
he said with a feeble huff. I suddenly realized that he must have chased the others away for his own personal agenda. I had sparked his interest when I thought about the love I felt for my family, and he wanted to know more. It was something he’d never experienced. I looked at him more closely. He appeared depressed, almost completely devoid of all happiness. He was unclear of who he was and even what he was. The Dreons had entangled themselves into a real mess when they took creation into their own hands. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Hyril after seeing this side of him. He was a victim of circumstance. His life was not his own.

“Can you find them?”
I asked empathetically. His face turned defensive.

“No, it is forbidden.”
He looked away with a saddened expression and then walked silently around the room.

“
Are you okay?
” I asked. He didn’t answer me, because he must have missed my question. Gaelan was right. The Dreons’ ability to communicate seemed dependent on eye contact.
“Why are you doing this?”
I asked when his eyes returned to mine
.

“It is our purpose.”

“What, to take people against their will and perform experiments on them? It’s morally wrong. Don’t you have rules against that sort of thing?”

“Yes, we have rules, and you broke them by not complying. Now, you can end this right now. Just tell me where you live,
” he pleaded.

“
Kataria
,” I answered.

“
Fine, I can wait. We are out of time. I have to send you back now, but know that I can only protect you for so long. They will be back for you, and you will have no choice but to obey,”
he said in an echoed voice.

***

“
Ahh, ahh
, no!” I screamed. I bolted straight up in the bed, awakened from the horrible dream.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Someone stroked my back.

“Don’t, don’t touch me!” I shouted and pushed away the figure.

“Hey, it’s okay; it’s only me,” Gaelan said with alarm.

“Huh … where am I?” I moaned, confused by my surroundings. “Oh, I just had an
awful
dream.”

“About what, having to live on a Katarian starship? Oh, wait a minute, that already happened,” he teased.

“No, I was on the Dreon ship. They took my clothes off and were examining me on a hard, cold, metal table. I couldn’t move. I was struggling to get away, but they were holding me down or I was paralyzed or something. They were trying to make me tell them where I was from. Hyril, or whatever his name is, was there, too, but he was nice in a weird way. For some strange reason, I felt like I knew him before Decca. He gave me a déjà vu feeling. I can’t explain it. Oh, I don’t know. I can’t remember now.”

“I’m sorry. This trip must be very hard on you. Stress is causing your imagination to be overly active. It’s okay; it was just a dream. Those disgusting creatures give
me
nightmares. Let’s go back to sleep.” He wrapped me snugly in the covers and rested down next to me. I tugged on the neckline of my shirt to keep it from strangling me.

“Gaelan,” I sat back up suddenly, “if it was a dream, then why is my nightgown on backwards?” I asked, mortified. Gaelan jumped up and flicked on the light beside the bed. A look of horror spread across his face.

“What!” He quickly inspected my clothing. “This can’t happen. I’m going to
kill them
if they touched you!” he said through clenched teeth.