Alienation by S E Anderson

Author:S E Anderson [Anderson, S E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bolide Publishing Limited
Published: 2017-10-23T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I climb the anti-social ladder

I was dangling for a split-second before a hand grabbed my wrist.

“Hold on tight. I've got ya,” came a warm voice. The skin was silky smooth, like the paw of a cat, and the grip firm, instantly reassuring. I swung my feet forward to grab the ladder, relying on the hand to stop me from plunging back to the Downdwellers, failing before my mission had even began.

“Thanks,” I grumbled, out of breath, as I climbed up to the metal. It must have been a car or a ship or something like that because there was an actual solid floor. A very inviting one at that.

The arm dragged me up, and I collapsed on the metal, my arms screaming. I hadn't started any kind of workout regime—never expecting Zander to take me into any kind of space danger—so I was, unfortunately, out of shape and I felt it now.

Note to self: if you ever want to explore the universe, you need to exercise sometimes.

“You okay?” The person who had saved me crouched at my side. We were in a van, like the old VWs from the sixties back home, at least in terms of space. Someone else shut the door, sliding it off the roof like it was a storefront.

“Yeah, never better,” I groaned.

The lights were out, but I could tell there were three people in the van with me: the silk-handed person, the one closing the door, and the one at the wheel. I guessed these were the militants fighting for Downdweller rights, the big shots with the money and contacts.

“Punch it, Mal!” the door person shouted to the driver, then threw themselves in the passenger seat. The driver didn’t need to be told twice. The second the door shut, they forced the car forward, rising like an elevator on steroids.

“Five, four, three, two, one ...” the driver named Mal counted, “and we're back on the drive-grid. Resuming power to the mags now.”

They hit the switch, and the van was bathed in light. Finally, my saviors came into view, and my heart joined the Olympic gymnastics team.

The one who had grabbed my arm was humanoid but certainly not human. Her entire body was covered in a short, thick film of white, velvety hair. Her features were arranged more closely to the center of her face, and she had wide, open ears, like she was a rabbit-human hybrid. And yet, as outlandish as that was for me, she looked amazingly classy. She sported a tight, dark blue robe, embroidered around the waist and elbows.

The person at the door had skin like a gummy worm: semi-transparent yet bending light like Jell-O. They looked fragile, like poking them would cause permanent damage. They were bipedal but had an extra pair of arms hanging out of the backpack they wore. Their eyes were wide and childlike.

Finally, the driver turned around, and I realized with a start that this person could have been on Earth, and I wouldn't have paid any attention to him.

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