Princess SOS (2 page)

He’s a machine, a killing machine
, I think as I take in the hard lines of his face and his menacing glowing red eyes. A body like that isn’t natural, it’s obtained and maintained, and in this environment, it must be because he’s a natural born predator.
I must be the prey.

I shiver and cross my arms over my chest. There’s something so familiar about him, he’s entirely too human looking. If he wasn’t purple, and it’s not even a vibrant purple, it’s more that he’s purple in all the places that I’m pink. And if he didn’t have the freaky eyes, I could totally mistake him for one of my own kind.

The alien steps up to the pod and places his hands against it. He begins to run his hands over the pod as if he’s searching for something. I bet he’s searching for a way inside.

I uncross my arms and push the blue button again, “Hey, you. Do you understand Galactic?”

He stops, cocks his head again but doesn’t respond.

I sigh. I want to assume his lack of response means he just doesn’t understand what I’m saying but there’s also the possibility that he does understand, he’s just not going to let me know it.

“I am Princess Ameia, daughter of Trivent the current sovereign of Terrea. My people are on their way to aid me. If you are still here when they arrive, they will use lethal force against you.”

Okay, so the last bit was a bit of a bluff but I really need him to think it’s not a good idea to keep messing around with me. If he even does understand me.

He takes a step back, away from the pod, yet his glowing eyes continue to bore into it. I hold my breath, waiting, hoping he’ll decide I’m too much trouble.

Outside, it continues to grow darker and darker. Inside the pod, the temperature feels like it's dropping. I can’t stop shivering. Outside, it must be just as cold yet the naked alien man doesn’t appear to be the least bit affected by it. The seconds tick by until it feels like minutes have passed. My heart is thumping like a drum in my ears.
Go, just go
, I mentally urge him.

He takes a step towards the pod, I almost cry out with disappointment. Then he seems to think better about it and turns away. I blink, and he disappears into the darkness.

I thought I would be relieved to see him go. I let go of the breath I was holding. But now that he’s gone, I only feel more nervous. Maybe it would have been better if I had just kept him where I could see him.

The thin blanket left in the storage box is surprisingly warm. I wrap myself in it and spend the rest of the night in the seat, dozing off then jerking awake. I keep dreading, even in my dreams that the alien will return. At one point, I even strap myself back up in the safety harness. If he does return and starts rolling the pod again, at least I’ll be somewhat prepared. At least I won’t die right away.

I’m not sure how much time has passed when I do finally decide to stay awake. It’s light outside. There’s a clock in the computer system, but it’s not set, it blinks zero, and I’m afraid of messing with anything I don’t understand.

My stomach growls so I unstrap myself and grab one of the foil wrapped bricks out of the storage box. I think this is probably the longest time I’ve gone without eating. I try to think of the last meal I had. Oh, yes, I had some finger foods at my birthday party but then Vrillum pulled me away.

The bar is so hard I can’t even take a bite out of it. I scrape at it with my teeth. It’s a dark mossy green color, probably packed with iron and protein, but it tastes so bitter I cough and almost choke. I wrap the brick back up and return it to the box then pull out a cup and the jug of water.

The water at least is sealed and seems to be okay. I gulp down two cups and feel a little better. The hunger eases. I think I might be able to survive without food for a couple of days. If I can find a way in the pod’s system to contact my father, I may only have to hold out for a few hours.

I spend the day searching through the various help functions, searching for a way to communicate or send a signal. After a few hours, I start to develop a creak in my neck from the way I’m standing and my back hurts from bending over. Then my eyes start to blur with strain. I plop myself down on the safety seat and take a break.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t even know what I’m doing. My stomach rumbles. I’m not used to going hungry. I drink a couple more cups of water, but I still need something to eat.

Maybe if I mix some of the bar with the water I’ll be able to get it down without gagging.

I scrape the bar against the edge of the box, filling the cup with mossy green shavings. When the bottom of the cup is covered, I then fill it up with water but the shavings stay stuck to the bottom. Maybe if it has some time to sit, it will soften. I rest the cup on the floor and wait.

After a while, I pick the cup up and swirl it around. The shavings have turned into a thick green sludge. It doesn’t look the least bit appetizing, but it’s all I have. My stomach rumbles again, I have to eat something. I pinch my nose and lift the cup to my lips. I tip my head back and drink. The water is easy but once it’s gone, the sludge is slow and sticky. I swallow it, just barely, and then chase it down with a bunch more water. Hands down it’s the worst thing I’ve ever eaten, or drank for that matter. The hunger goes away, but I’m stuck with a very bad taste in my mouth.

The rest of the day is uneventful. Once it starts to grow dark outside once more, I strap myself back into the seat and wait. I fall asleep and stay asleep until morning.

***

I wake up. I must have slept very deeply and very peaceful because I was drooling.  I wipe my mouth off with my hand and check the screen for any signs of life outside. It’s been a day now since I’ve seen the alien. If he came around last night, I think it would have disturbed me.

I take care of my business in the portable potty box. Thankfully the box does break down biowaste, so it’s not filling up the pod with a stink. The stink that’s starting to permeate through the pod is definitely coming from me. I need a wash, but I know it wouldn’t be a good use of the water I have left. Between using the water when I’m both hungry and thirsty, I’ve already gone through half the jug. If I’m not careful, I won’t have any water left by tomorrow morning.

I spend the rest of the day messing around with the help system, going through all the selections again and again, just trying to keep myself occupied throughout all this waiting.

I’m waiting for everything. Waiting for someone to help me. Waiting for the alien to reappear. Waiting for my water to run out. Waiting to go hungry. All this waiting is driving me so crazy. I’m just waiting for something to happen. Waiting for anything.

If I’m not waiting, I’m worrying.

Why has no one come yet? Surely my father must be looking for me…
It doesn’t make any sense. Vrillum didn’t take us out that far out. Whatever planet I crashed on must be only hours away from home. The UPS of the escape pod should easily be within range.

Something is wrong, very wrong.
Perhaps the UPS in the escape pod isn’t working…
It’s a sad fact that I find that thought even remotely reassuring, especially when compared to the other possibilities. I rather think that I’m stuck on this planet because of the ancient, decrepit escape pod’s malfunctioning capabilities then think I’m still here because no one is trying to come for me.

As the hours creep on, I start to feel like the walls of the pod are starting to close in on me. For an escape pod, it’s actually quite roomy. That’s why it’s designed the way it is, a perfect circle with retractable walls. On a ship, they’re stored with the walls down. They stack up like discs, then one by one the walls go up and the pods go shooting out into space when activated. But even for a roomy escape pod, it’s too small. I need fresh air. I need to move.

If the alien doesn’t come back tonight, I’m going to venture out tomorrow morning. I hope I don’t have to. I hope help arrives and I’m home by tomorrow morning.

Hopefully, this is just that story I’ll tell my Grandkids when I’m older.
Gather round, kiddies, let Grandma tell you about the time she crash landed on a remote planet and was chased by a purple alien with a huge penis. She survived with only sludge bars and a porta potty…

After another sludge dinner, I strap myself in the safety harness and spend the night sleeping fitfully. I dream of glowing eyes and crashing ships. Still, morning comes too quickly.

There’s no sign of help when I wake up. On the bright side, there’s no sign of the alien either. It’s not lost on me that this entire time I’ve been sitting in the pod, watching and waiting, there hasn’t been a sign of much of anything going on. I’m going to take it as a good sign, though, there must not be much outside, or at least in this area that can hurt me.

I’m not dressed for exploring and there’s not much I can do to remedy the situation, but I do decide to arm myself with one of the foil covered bricks.
Worse comes to worse, I can threaten to force feed it to them.

By now, I have almost all the buttons of the console and their related functions burned into my memory. It’s a simple push of a green button and part of one of the retractable walls hisses and drops down, disappearing into the floor. The gap left in its place serves as my door to outside.

Fresh air fills the pod, airing out my stink. Breathing it in, I’m reminded that it tastes strangely sweet. The first time I tasted it, it was new and refreshing. This time the sweetness is only making me more hungry.

Wanting to leave is one thing, actually doing it is another. I cast one last glance at the console screen. The area surrounding the escape pod is still empty. I walk up to the gap in the walls and peek my head outside. I wait and listen. I don’t hear anything but bugs hissing and chirping.

I stick one foot out and wait. Nothing happens so I step outside. I’m surrounded by trees. The trees look like normal trees to me. Most of them seem to be really old with thick brown trunks that reach high into the blue sky. Like the grass, their branches are covered in blue and green leaves. I wait another moment, in case something starts to come after me. When nothing does, I walk around the pod and look to the other side, expecting to see the path the pod squashed.

How did he roll me through the trees without crashing?
There’s no sign of the path the pod took. No knocked over trees or even trampled plants. I circle the pod to be sure. I remember the rolling, remember it quite vividly. I was rolling fast and didn’t feel as if any of it was controlled. Yet the alien must have obviously maneuvered the pod. I can’t even tell which direction the pod came from.

Why here? Why roll the pod here? Because of all the trees?

If I wanted to hide the pod, this would be the perfect place. Even from the sky it would be difficult to spot with all the leaves of the trees forming a thick canopy. This doesn’t bode well for me. Maybe this is why my help hasn’t been able to find me.

I walk back to the gap in the wall. I need to be closer to safety, I’m starting to get very creeped out. My eyes search through the trees, looking for anything that could be out of place. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but I get the feeling I’m not alone.

Is he out there? Watching me? Planning something?

I shiver at the thought. I hurry back inside the pod and push the little button, bringing the wall back up. I look to the screen, half expecting to see the alien coming out of the trees, making a run to get inside.

When the alien rolled the pod here, he must have been planning something at the time. If he is watching, how many days do I have until he thinks no one is coming to help me?

How many days until I?

***

I think the green sludge dinners are giving me bad dreams. Last night, after securing myself in the safety seat, I dreamt of the Ravagers.

I dreamt that after another day of searching through the pod’s help system, I finally stumbled upon its deep space communication system. I sent out an SOS, hoping it would reach someone from my homeworld, preferably my father.

Hours later, a ship arrived but it wasn’t a ship I was familiar with. In horror, I watched as a group of Ravagers, clad in their notorious obsidian body armor, encircled my pod and demanded in short, barking Galactic orders that I surrender and present myself.

The Ravagers are the boogeymen of space. They’re the specific reason on my homeworld, princesses are not permitted to leave the planet. Not only are they unmatched on the battlefield, decimating any enemy that stands in their way, but they’re infamous for stealing females of other species. Rumored to have no females of their own.

My great, great Aunt was carried off by a Ravager before the princess decree was put into place. She was the legitimate heir to the throne, traveling to her betroths homeworld for an official introduction. Her ship was intercepted somewhere along the way, and neither she nor the crew were ever heard of again.

In my dream, I was frozen in fear. I wanted to move, but I couldn’t. I wanted to present myself and beg on my knees, as a princess, to please spare me. To please ransom me to my father, he would pay whatever was demanded.

The Ravagers cut into the flexible steel walls of the pod with laser knives. Then one Ravager entered. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t run. I couldn’t hide. I couldn’t even scream. All I could do was quake with terror, completely impotent as it grabbed me.

The Ravager pulled me close, slamming me roughly into the hard obsidian plate covering its chest. Then it looked down at me and grinned. That’s when I realized it was missing the gruesome horned helmet they were so fond of. That’s when I could see the Ravager was purple with red glowing eyes.

“Mine,” the Ravager said then kissed me.

I awoke with a scream.