Awakening The Warriors by S E Gilchrist Page B

Females from a planet lost to our worlds many cycles past have given them hope.”
    â€œSo?” I swung round and strode to the door to grip the bars once more. Did she mean this race was in some kind of coma? A Sleeping Beauty scenario? I choked off a bubble of laughter. Hysteria alert . To regain control, I quickly muttered the table of geological timelines of every single age under my breath.
    Behind me, Relia cleared her throat and said, “I have heard they fight with renewed ferocity and determination against the Elite Forces. The Supreme Leader has recalled all fleets from the outer rim to assemble a strike against the Darkons’ home world.”
    â€œI have heard this also,” said another Purkon female.
    â€œIf we can free the Darkon prisoners, we may have a chance,” continued Relia.
    â€œI assume you are speaking about those poor bastards down the corridor. They could already be dead, and if they’re not, the guards have been beating on them since we’ve been here. God knows, they wouldn’t be in any condition to fight.” I uttered a short, humourless laugh. “We’d have to carry them out.”
    I whirled round. My hands involuntarily clenched at my sides as I took in the scene. The aliens (in my mind that was everyone not from Earth, no matter how human they appeared) had bunched together and they all looked at me. Not a good sign . Reminded me of the phrase— thrown to the wolves .
    The two Jurians nodded their heads in unison like a chorus line. Relia drew in a deep breath before continuing, “If you can awaken the Darkons…”
    Ana and her Jurian pal had their heads together, their creepy sibilant voices hushed as they muttered and poked at the lock with a device that resembled a fork. Despite over an hour of protest and recrimination, all on my part, I had achieved nothing.
    I was still the sacrificial goat.
    The Jurians were still unrepentant re failing to declare the existence of this handy little tool they’d pocketed when one of the night guards dropped it outside our cell yesterday. As they told me repeatedly, unlocking the gates was not the problem. The problem was overpowering the guards and getting off the planet unscathed. It can only be you , Relia’s words knocked about my head like marbles in a bathtub, of the other two of your kind, one is too young and the other, terrified. She has not spoken since yesterday .
    So here I stood outside the other cell, my hands bunched into balls so tight, my nails cut into my palms. Unlike our prison, this one was secured by way of a thick metal door with one square cut out close to the top. The square was covered with a kind of Perspex or glass.
    â€œIt is done,” said Ana, stepping aside. She ducked her head, not wanting to look me in the face. “We will wait in our cell, in case the guards return.”
    Yeah right , leaving me sticking out like a snowman in a desert. They scurried back down the corridor and I stared at the lock, wishing for a pair of Dorothy’s red shoes, doubting my ability to do the task ahead of me. In the silence, my heartbeats pounded a marching tune and I knew time was ticking against us. If I was going to do this, it had to be now. Experience had told us the guards rarely returned for several hours after one of their beating forays. But I no longer took anything for granted.
    My hand shook so badly it took me a few precious minutes to grasp the handle and turn back the lock. Holding the edges of the door with my fingertips, I pushed inch by inch until a large enough gap appeared and I poked my head round. No movement. I opened the door wider and stepped into the cell.
    On three walls of the room, close to the ceiling, a torch burnt throwing a wavering light over the occupants. My breath caught. I forgot my fear, when I smelt the metallic scent of fresh blood.
    Three Darkon warriors were staked out on top of metal tables. None turned to look at me as