Caged Pearl: A Dark SciFi Romance

Chapter 1

Leah

I don’t notice the cold. I don’t notice the hard, sharp rocks rolling under my feet. I just run.

I don’t know exactly how much time I have before my bombs go off. I don’t even know if they will blow. I made several pockets of fire rock and explosive gas, but they have been sitting out in the frozen wastes. They might be dead.

My fuse lit and that’s a good sign. I know I have to keep running, no matter what. Even if my bombs don’t go off, this could be my only chance. Mahresh has called every last body to her battle and this is the only opportunity I’m ever going to get. 

I don’t know when I became obsessed with escape. Most of the poor, unfortunate creatures that end up here or were born here give up pretty quickly. Mahresh keeps people drugged, starving and cold. It sucks away the spirit. Even the caves we sleep in are far from the mines, so we don’t get any of their warmth. 

My chest is burning and my legs are aching. I just don’t stop. I can’t.

There is a low ridge of hills beyond the wide-open mouth of the mines. It’s far from the camp but acts as a little cradle for it. That’s where I’m headed.

People aren’t the only things that get discarded here. There is an absolute wealth of crashed ships on the plain. I’ve spent most of my life modifying two of them. I’d sneak out at night, wrapped in furs. I’d pick through the junk pile to collect tools and parts then return to my main ships, chosen because their bodies were still in excellent shape. That’s one thing I can’t fix, the outer shell and framework. 

Both of them should be space worthy. I pick the smaller one, my Rustbucket.

Even though she looks like she’s made out of a pile of square rocks, she’s comfortable inside. I’ve got a great little cockpit with a cushy chair. A nice bathroom and bedroom, even a living area and dining area. I was able to melt some ice to supply to the cooling system and bathroom as well as get the oxygen converter going.

Even a small amount of recycled air and water is enough to sustain me. This is my palace.

I’m free! I’m really going to make it!

I slam to a halt, running into my ship and ending up plastered against it. For a few seconds I just pant, waiting for the effects of my run to wear off. I’m not fit or strong—Mahresh doesn’t let us get strong.

Now I can do anything. I can be whatever I want. Anything but a slave.

Then I hear footsteps behind me.

Right on my heels is Aryssa, someone I would consider a good friend. Slaves really can’t have friends. It’s best to never get attached to anything or anyone. You never know when Mahresh is going to go on a killing spree. If it looks like you’re close to someone or something, she destroys it.

A guy had a pet rat for a while. He kept it in his pocket. When Mahresh found out, she ate it.

“Aryssa, what the fuck?” 

“Leah, you’re not leaving without me!” Aryssa’s long blonde har shimmers in the cold light as she charges towards me.

“You were always asking me to fix circuit boards or connections, now I know why. I risked my life to make those repairs! You can’t go without me!”

Groaning with real pain, I grudgingly accept that she has to come. I was so looking forward to being alone. Friends are such a liability. I step to the side to let her in.

“Alright. But don’t fucking argue with me.”

She gives a mock salute. “Aye aye, captain.”

I’m about to shut the door when several other black figures come charging out of the darkness. A tiny body with exceptionally long, thin limbs jumps up and down in front of me. 

“Take me, Leah Leah! Take me with you!”

“Valent.” My voice is filled with sorrow. I can’t leave him behind. He’s barely 4ft tall, with a curved spine and very long limbs. He looks like a spider. His face is hairy and deformed. He’s a fucking freak.

“Get on, Valent.” 

He giggles, sweeping past me. The other shapes come forward out of the darkness to plead their case. I almost shut the door on them, but they are too close. Some of them could probably break it down, compromising my takeoff.

Out of the rambling figures the shortest comes forward. I groan again. Why did it have to be the sorriest, kindest and most generous of all the slaves that chased me down?

The slender shape is Lorain. She’s a pure blood reaper female but horribly deformed. She’s tall and slender but almost skeletal in appearance. Her double joints are over calcified and locked, so she moves very slowly. Her face looks like a skull and her cord like black hair hangs down her back and over her face into her pale gold eyes.

“Please, Leah.” She says softly. “Please let us come.”

“You realize I’ve never done a flight test. We could all vaporize.” My tone is hard as I try to impress upon them this is a one-way ticket, but even I don’t know the destination.

Old Ricksan steps forward. He’s got to be well over a hundred years because he’s been in the slave camp a long time. He’s a fearsome size with the beautiful clean joints that enable reapers to leap and twist. He’s too old for all of that, though.

“It doesn’t matter, Leah.” He says softly. “Anywhere is better than here.”

I want to argue and dammit, I try to. The thing is I know if I send them back it’s either to a horrible death or into the arms of a very pissed off reaper queen. She wouldn’t kill them, but she would maim them and torture them.

I pull a hand over my face, close to tears. I step aside and let them go through.

Along with Lorain and Ricksan there is Sechen and Karviss, two young reaper males. Both are powerful and kept drugged by Mahresh. She loves to collect strong reapers to keep by her side, but if they show any resistance they are drugged and sent to the mines.

Neroy follows, a very short young reaper. He was often bullied in the mines and right behind him is his protector, Duvir.

Duvir is an especially sad case. An Alliance soldier in the great war, he landed here in a life pod. He set out to fight every reaper he could see. The fierce pride of the Alzhon demanded he fight or die.

Mahresh beat him in combat then severed his right arm at the shoulder and his left leg at the knee before sending him to the mines.

He found a piece of wood to use as a leg, so he hobbles painfully everywhere he goes. He looks up at me with hollow eyes as he goes past. I swallow my anxiety and try to think my way through this rapidly changing plan. 

I don’t know if there will be enough oxygen and water. The ship is not that big and we’ll trip over each other constantly. I only managed to bring a little food with me.

The ground shudders as a great boom covers the sounds of the nearby battle. Orange flares leap into the sky in a great cloud. Then another boom goes off, and another. I can hear screaming over the ridge. 

All my bombs are going off. Every single last one.

I bolt inside, hauling the door shut and locking it. I struggle through the messy hallway to the cock pit and fire her up.

The engine starts with a sick coughing sound. The original crystal core deep inside the ship doesn’t have much juice left. There weren’t a lot of options to choose from when it came to fuel and the Ishana crystal technology is some of the best ever invented. All I need is to fly past a sun or a charged nebula and the crystals will fully replenish themselves. 

They are designed to absorb cosmic rays, especially UV. They are continuously renewing if you are flying through space.

I grit my teeth as poor Rustbucket shudders and begins to hover off the ground. Horrible, clanging sounds accompany the vibration. 

“We’re all gonna die!” Screams Valent, and the others start to scream too.

“You wanted to come you fuckers!” I grab the main stick and start pointing the nose up into the sky. Ahead of me is black space. 

Rustbucket shudders again and then she starts to lift. Slowly, so slowly. I grit my teeth and keep her in low gear as she starts her ascent.

More explosions go off below me. I force myself not to look and turn my eyes to the sky. To the future. 

Because now, I have a future worth living for.