Page 4 of Angel Unchained
Samantha
Iwas led away from court in handcuffs by one of the AI staff. No amount of pleading would do any good, not that I hadn’t tried.
Xerlon.
The prison planet had a reputation for humanoid species going in and never coming back. I couldn’t go there. “Please,” I begged the guards taking me. “I’ll sell one of my kidneys, my spleen—you could live without that, right?—and half of my liver in order not to go there.”
“We have orders,” came back the robotic response.
“No, I’m innocent. Please.” My body shook as I dug my heels in, but they forced me forward. Shit! If it wasn’t for me, that unruly Nebobite teen, Preston would’ve hit that poor kid. “Fuck Preston and his rich family little snot deserves to be in prison, not me.”
And the trial hadn’t even been fair. Had his family paid off the judge?
A shiver pressed through me.
I was led out to a spaceship that hummed and hovered to life once and the other prisoners and I were onboard.
The Minbari, an alien race that resembled spiders but walked on three of their legs, embraced one another and managed to board the last flight that was scheduled to get us all to the prison. AI guards checked our chains, ensuring we were secured. The space flight zipped along at warp speed and I felt ill. We landed on Xerlon two hours later. A bright blue sun shone overhead and majestic mountains and cliffs surrounded us. We were escorted to our cellblocks a few hundred feet below ground level. It was dank and dark and smelled of blood and urine. Iron bars on the doors, with thick cement blocks lined the walls making the place appear like a medieval prison despite the gadgets the reptilian guards carried. Their bodies were covered with scales and they wore an army-green uniform. Which looked odd as they had tails and looked more like walking dinosaurs than prison guards.
I was forced to strip naked, wash with a weird-smelling soap and shampoo, then dressed in a white prison shirt two sizes too large and pants that rode up my knees. On the front of the shirt was the number twelve forty-nine stamped across my boobs. Metal bands were snapped on each wrist and I flinched. I pulled at them but they weren’t connected like handcuffs. My fear clawing up my throat.
The guard laughed in a gruff voice that didn’t sound natural. “Those are never coming off while you’re a prisoner.”
I imagined the cuffs would give me a shock or something if I tried to escape. Could also be some kind of monitor or tracking device?
I had no idea what species ran this prison planet. Never thought I’d end up here. Bile surged up in the back of my throat. Something tight hit deep in my chest. My head felt dizzy like I was going to pass out.
“Please, there has to be a mistake. I-I can’t be here.”
The guards poked and prodded along with stick that had a metal end on them until we arrived at an open cell where they thrust me inside and the barred door clanked closed.
The cell was small, about the size of a bedroom. The metal barred door blocked my escape, but the stone walls appeared ancient. I wondered if I could chip my way out through one of them. Just would need a metal object of some kind. Beads of sweat rolled down my back. I was never getting out of this place. That realization sunk into my gut. I blinked back tears, my life was one huge shit-storm.
“Prisoner Twelve Forty-nine?” a rough voice asked, and I jumped.
Squinting at me from the door was a Roulex or a Saljinn species. Never could tell either apart. Both had scaled, green skin, were cold-blooded, and hated humans. And this one glared at me like he wanted to bite me and I started shaking all over.
“Um…I’m Samanth—”
“Here you are no one,” he snapped. “Here you are ours to do with as we please.”
“No!” I crossed my arms. “There is no way I—”
“She’s got wide hips, maybe she’ll be a good breeder.”
“Wait—” My skin grew cold and I shuddered with revulsion. Surly I hadn’t heard them right. It had to be a translation error.
Another reptilian guard shuffled forward. “Throw him in.”
“Him…who?” Another prisoner? I scuttled backward when four of the aliens carried in an unconscious huge winged creature.
It was covered in blood, and feathered wings were shaking, covering it. Why had they put it in here with me?
As the guards turned to leave the creature in the cell with me, I rushed forward, stopping when they raise their laser guns at me.
“Wait. Why is this creature in here with me?” Please don’t say that it eats meat and I’m its snack.”
The reptilian grinned and my stomach rolled at how monstrous their scaled faces looked. Imagine a velociraptor grinning. Yeah, like that.