The room itself, with its gray walls and long, thin lights embedded in the ceiling, wasn’t completely unpleasant, but the locked heavy metal door and the lack of windows made it clear this was nothing but a sparsely furnished cell.
A sagging twin bed was crammed into one corner of the room, another small table was pushed alongside it, and what she could only assume was an odd-looking lamp stood on top. Across from her was a doorway, through which she could see a small bathroom. A large, simple rug covered most of the floor in front of her, and a chair sat by the door.
Alice sank onto the bed’s rough navy fabric, head in her hands.
What do I know? She tried to focus, her mind racing. I know that one guy had fucking wings, and the other had yellow eyes. I know there are symbols I’ve never seen before on the doors. I know they all spoke English, and they didn’t have an accent. I think I know that a green, scaly monster took me from work.
Alice shook her head, incredulous. A few minutes ago, she’d thought she’d made up the green monster, that she’d hit her head and had a concussion or was hallucinating. Only now was she starting to accept it might’ve been real.
Alice remembered clearly that one of the men had said, “Who knows what could have happened to her on that ship?”
Sitting up a little straighter, she mused out loud. “The other one said the green guy was from a species called Cae. Species of what? Angels? Mutants? Am I in an X-Men bunker or something?”
But…a ship. What kind of ship? Her breaths quickened.
Her cell door opened, jarring her from the inevitable conclusion she was reaching.
She jumped back, grabbing the lamp from the side table. Alice glared at the man she now knew was the boss, and held the brown metal of the cordless lamp in front of her.
He stood in the doorway, hands resting in his pockets, and over his shoulder said, “Gishen, Sal, get in here.”
The two men who’d dragged her through the hall a few moments ago shuffled through the door behind their leader.
“You can call me Helas,” he said, eyeing the lamp in her hands. “Did they hurt you after I told them not to?”
Alice glanced to the two men glaring at her. If looks could kill. “No, they didn’t.” It was better not to make them hate her any more than they already did, she concluded warily.
Helas stared at her for a moment longer, then addressed the men. “You’ll not touch her again. She’s just become a very important part of our research.”
Gishen and Sal looked at him quizzically.
“Research?” Alice interrupted, dread running through her. What kind of ship was it?
Ignoring her, Helas spoke to the men. “Luka recognized her.”
With slackened jaws, both men’s gazes ping-ponged between her and Helas.
“Someone here knows me?” Alice asked hopefully.
Once again, he continued to speak to the men while ignoring her completely. She gritted her teeth in annoyance. “Find a secure communicator and tell the other outposts what has occurred. Anyone who touches her will have to answer to me. This could be the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for.”
Both men nodded and began to leave. The winged man didn’t spare her a glance, but the other man’s unreadable yellow eyes stayed trained on her for a few fleeting moments before he finally left too. When they were gone, Helas closed the door and moved to sit in the chair near the small table with food. He motioned to the lamp Alice was clutching in a death grip. “You can put that down. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Alice snorted. “I think I’ll hang on to it anyway. Maybe just until my arm bruises fade and I can leave this room without permission.”
He raised his manicured brows, and the corner of his thin mouth lifted in a smile. “As you wish.”
Now that she could see him more clearly, she realized he too had white tattoos, although his were much fainter than the other man’s had been. Her forehead creased. There was still something off about him that she couldn’t place. Were his eyes just slightly too large? The teeth he exposed when he smiled were small, but she could swear he had more of them than normal.
Again, she asked, “What are you?”
Surprisingly, he answered. “I am Clecanian. Lignas is my race. You’re human, correct?”
“Yes. Are you human?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“I am Clecanian,” he repeated.
She licked her chapped lips, weighing whether she really wanted to ask her next question. His eyes shone as he waited for her to speak. Is this asshole enjoying this? “What’s a Clecanian?”
“A Clecanian is a species made up of many races. We live on the planet Clecania. That’s where we are right now.”
Alice’s palms were slick against the lamp, and a buzzing sounded in her ears. “I was on a spaceship,” she mumbled absently.
“Yes, indeed. Brought here from Earth by a species known as the Cae,” Helas said, coolly.
Anger at his uncaring tone caused Alice’s mind to focus. “Why was I brought here? What research are you doing? Who is Luka, and how did he recognize me?” The name hadn’t sounded familiar. She didn’t even know a Luke. There was a guy named Luther who lived in her apartment complex. Had he been taken too?
“I don’t have time for this,” he said, but his relaxed posture made her question that. “I’ll only explain what you need to know, and if you do what
