Undertow

Undertow
By Nalani
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Change

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Eceri hasn’t intended this to last for so long. Her screams bite into his heart, his mind is trying and failing at blocking out the horror in the sound. Even standing a ways away from the interrogation room, he can still hear her. He can still hear the ragged, sobbing breaths she takes before she lets it out in a scream so deep and heartbreaking. He needs to leave. He can’t stand this. But he can’t. The other Yautja who had been there, even the Healer who had given him the injection, left because of the cries. But he can’t leave. Not only because his reputation would drop a few notches, but because he just can’t leave her. Regret drips off his face in beads of sweat as he times how long this has lasted. One hour. Two hours. Three. Four. Five. When will it stop?

“” “” “” “”

Kate keeps replaying what she had done to cause such torture. But she cannot think of a single thing to warrant any being suffering this fate. Eceri had instantly dropped her once warning that she would regret breaking his jaw, she didn’t have a moment even to apologize. And she would have. Profusely and from the heart. The time in between visits was too long to even bother counting and the next thing she could remember was waking up from a sleep deep enough that no dreams tormented her. No nightmares. Eceri came in not to long after she woke up and without a word he cornered her, pinned her against the wall with his forearm and stuck a thin but unnaturally long needle into her neck. She’ll swear to anyone who asks, it went into her heart, into her soul. The pain was dull and her eyes bulged out in pure shock, but her mouth stayed wide and silent in the pain. Eceri had time to leave the room and mutter under his breath that he is sorry it came to this. And so was she. Whatever he had injected into her body took its time. It was slow. Quiet.

It started out as an itch, like the feeling of a spider as it crawls up your arm. You can barely feel it, the hair on your skin moves slightly at the tiny weight. She had brushed it off but it stayed and it grew. Spots around her body became hot, but blowing on them didn’t help at all. Then it turned into a surge of pain, a sharp and twisted jolt happening all over the left side of her body. Her lip had felt like it was three times the size it was normally, but feeling it with her fingers found it normal. Within an hour the whole left side of her body was on fire, twitching and moving of its own will. At first the pain was something she could handle, she has handled a lot of pain in her life. But this was new. This was alien to her in every sense of the word. The intense burn started from within her body and by the next hour Kate was screaming in agony, every part of her left side felt like it was being ripped off. Her eye sight was blurry by the third hour, but the pain was ever present. Her voice was getting rough from the screams, and the taste of blood didn’t even warn her to stop. So she kept screaming. And screaming. In the fourth hour, the pain changed so abruptly Kate found herself breathless. What was once a burn so deep and hot was now so cold her mind was frozen in awe. She couldn’t will herself to get up from the floor, only wriggling and rolling in place was optional. Perhaps in the fifth hour she lost her hold on the world. She has no idea. But suddenly there was nothing. No pain. No agony. No screams. There was just blackness, a safety that she has always wanted. And she finally had it. And she hoped she was dead.

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When it ends, Eceri heaves a sigh he has been holding for hours. His body is stiff from standing so still, but he doesn’t care. He cares about the poor being in that small room. He cares about the mistake that has caused her such pain. He told his healer the Oomans weight, her approximate age, the fact she hasn’t eaten in near two days. And still, the dumbass got the dose wrong. He hadn’t thought to double check what was in the injection and he will never make that mistake again. Nor will the healer. But his punishment is both in knowing the horror the poor being has faced and the broken bones. He stands at the door to the room and again he is met with hesitation. He doesn’t know what state she is in, he hadn’t checked. Didn’t want to. Didn’t want to see her. But taking a step in, the door opening before him, he sees her motionless on the floor and he stops at the sight. It wasn’t that she was there, he had fully expected to see her on the ground. It was her skin. Whatever was in the injection, which was intended to do nothing more than stimulate her skin into pain, had changed its pigment. Well, considering the pain caused and how long it lasted, this kind of after effect was completely random. A strange color of blue starts from her toes and ribbons up her legs, twisting in odd patterns and spots up to her bottom, curves around her stomach, a breast and then along her left arm. The injection spot on her neck is a darker blue, a little spot of blood at the point as well. This has never happened to any other being that had received the same product. So strange.

Doing a quick turnaround, he nearly runs to get a bowl of cool water, clean cloths and something for her to lie on. She is still out cold when he gets back and after moving the table to one side, placing a thick blanket on the floor and her on top of it, Eceri starts to clean her body. Soaking the cloth, he wrings it out before wiping across her sweat soaked brow. Her lips move suddenly and he moves his hand back, but she still doesn’t wake. Good. He really doesn’t need her to freak out right now seeing him cleaning her. Looking close at the ribbons of new color, they blend with her true skin and her rather appealing spots are still visible through the color, to his delight. He slowly cleans around her lips, around her neck, each arm and breast. Her skin was soft to the touch, softer than anything he has ever felt. Hunting Oomans and getting trophies from them doesn’t really allow a hunter time to admire things like skin texture. Rarely, though extremely astounding, is to have an Ooman skin as a trophy. Tattooing is popular among some Oomans and when you find one on a prey that is beautiful, why not cut it off, dry it and display it in your room?

But Kates skin, as subtle as it is, soft and supple and innocent, Eceri can’t imagine doing such a thing. Going over her stomach and down her legs, he can see how a male of her kind would find her attractive. Her hip bones make a shape appealing even to him, but he shakes his head and smiles at his moment of stupidity. When he finishes with her toes, he notices her breathing has evened out. So slowly standing, Eceri moves to the table and sits down, waiting for her to wake up.

And her first site is nothing but the ceiling. Her lips are dry, her throat sore. Her hands clench slowly and it feels glorious. She takes a deep breath and that is when the pain starts. A tightness around her chest makes her flinch, her left leg feeling tight too. And then the memory hits her. Eceri had put something into her neck and whatever it was, it hurt. Kate slowly sits up, using the one arm that doesn’t hurt, and closes her eyes to breathe through the pain. But in that breath she can smell something else, something different. His low grumble confirms her suspicions and regrettably she looks over to find her captor sitting rather lazily on a chair.

“I must apologize,” He starts.

“Fuck you.” She doesn’t let him finish. But Eceri just laughs at her.


“No, I really must. Doing this kind of thing, it is not a respectable, highly sought after job.” He looks down when she tries to look him in the eye. He doesn’t know where this need to talk to her comes from, this need to tell her things. She is meant to be a source of information that is all. But she has a heartbeat, she has a mind. “But I digress, I really must apologize for the amount that was injected into you, someone of your size could have taken a quarter of what was given. The results are...odd.”

“What results? I haven’t told you shit!” And she was right, as it so suddenly dawned on Eceri. Not once during her near six hour torture did she scream for him so she could give him what he has been looking for. Extraordinary.

“I guess you didn’t, no. However, it is custom that when one wakes up in an unknown environment, they should see if they are okay.” Eceri looks to her arm, and Kates eyes follow. The color was outrageous, and at first she tries to wipe it off.

“What the hell did you do?” She screams as she stands up, looking at the rest of her body.

“I did not know this could happen. I suppose the injection caused the cells in your body to react and change. Does it discomfort you?” The next few words should not be written down, Kate begins to spill out every single profane word she ever knew. “I will not continue to interrogate you, today.” He adds quickly. “It is your choice to stay in this room or the other.” He looks up and into her eyes finally, and he wishes he hadn’t. Tears are falling slowly, dripping off her chin as they collected. Her bottom lip is trembling as well as her eyes would not stop blinking. Something inside of Eceri jumps, something in his heart. He has a sudden urge to comfort this poor thing, to make things better for her. To give her anything that would help. But then he remembers he caused this. He needs to do this. Maybe, just maybe, when they are done and if she is still alive, he can let her go. Without another word he leaves and locks the door behind him, she’ll be okay in there. She has a bed now, a table to sit. She’ll be okay.

“” “” “” “”


Knowing he has a long day ahead of him, Eceri had eaten a rather large meal before heading to the docking bay where Kates ships are being held. Not only was the little jumper she used to get from ship to ground there, but also her large ship. It wasn’t guarded, it didn’t need to be. Nor is it really locked down. The main ship is so small that he would have considered it a transport vessel he would use to send a little bit of cargo between passing ships. And as he walks inside, needing to duck under the frame, he laughs lightly at the size. The hallways are thin and narrow, bare metal decorating every inch. His mandibles click together lightly at the smell, it was exactly like Kate. Well, of course. What else would it smell like. He weight makes the metal floor creak, and each slow step seems to get louder and louder as he walks around. Eceri decides to look from top to bottom, hoping that he can sniff out any other Yautja items. And so starting from the bottom, he looks through Kates’ rather expansive and impressive food collection. Everything is properly labeled, in its own spot and perfectly packaged. Remarkable. To think an Ooman can be so perfect.

On the second deck, he finds a rather unused and poorly kept weapons system. At one point and time, maybe, this ship was an asset in a war. It is small, agile, and by the looks of things it had enough weapons power to hold its own. But seeing as Kate is only scavenger, he can see how she didn’t want the expense of up keep. The third level, however, gives him a little more to look at. The main deck was at the front of the ship, the proper screens in place. When he is done, he will send the more technology savvy hunters to come in and collect maps, histories and whatnot. Towards the back, Eceri finds her personal space. Her smell is so thick here that he spends a minute and just takes it in. It was like fresh water he decides then, and delicate scent for an Ooman. Usually around the males of the species, Eceri has only ever known the musky and rather overbearing stench of them. Walking inside of her room, he can’t help but see how basic it is. A bed, a table, a shelf. Nothing really homely. Even he had made his space into something welcoming.

Taking a closer look at the shelving, he sees a few photos of a young Kate and a girl with black hair. They are both small children, obviously malnourished, but happy. He picks up one which seems to be from a more recent trip, perhaps even from a week ago as Kates hair is the exact same. Her smile is bright and something about it makes Eceri want to see it for real. Even though she is Ooman, he can’t stop the thought that she is beautiful. Setting it back into place, he then starts to look at all of her trinkets placed as well. From a small toy to a brush covered in her hair, he sees that she has made this a home, as much as she could. In her closet he finds more items from Yautja technology, at least made from the idea of it. Retrofitting Yautja ideas is hard when Ooman don’t have the proper metals and even metal workers, they are still off by many, many years. And that makes Eceri very happy.

Suddenly Eceri finds himself sitting on Kates bed, it creaks, just a little. He looks around the meek room and can’t understand why she is alone. Who would choose to be alone?

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The blanket around her body makes something better, even if it was just the comfort. Kate tightens it as she hears another set of feet walk by the door, and she closes her eyes until she hears it walk away. She doesn’t want her tormentor to come back. Not at all. Looking at her left hand, Kate begins to cry again as she see the light blue color of her skin. It doesn’t feel any different, doesn’t smell or taste any different. She hopes it is not permanent. Her stomach growls but she is used to the hunger. She’s felt this pain before. All she can do until she eats, however, is sleep.

A few hours later she is awoken as the doors open and Eceri strolls in without looking at her. She straightens her back against the wall and stares at him until he sits down at the table. He sighs loudly and she can’t help but look at his size. His thighs are the size of her waist, his feet larger than her face. How can a being this large even exist. His own face, its features as scary as they are, is slack and rather tired looking. At least they share that in common.

“Your ship, Kate, has been more forthcoming with information than you.” He says quietly, he is truly disappointed at how long it is taking to get the information from her ship. But for different reasons. Though as before, his acting skills will be very handy in this next conversation. “Did you have another, larger ship with you Kate? Other than the small one that was on the planet.” Her eyes brighten up. Perfect. It is not Eceris intention for her to know he has all the information he needs, not at all. He needs her to think all he has on her is her little ship. After he gets all the information from the larger of the pair, he will close up her ship and set it adrift. Being Yautja, he couldn’t possibly have missed a ship that was right in front of him. He could, however, not notice a ship that had drifted as some ships do. And he guesses that when Kate is released, and he plans that she will be no matter the objections, she will guess its waywardness and go searching for it.

“No, I used it to get to planets only, then I would go back to meet up with Jenkins.” Kate tires and hopes that he doesn’t ask her anything else. There are holes in her story, rather large and ghastly ones.

“Tell me everything you know about the Yautja trading at any Ooman trading post.” Eceri shifts in his seat as he realizes she is staring at his body. He doesn’t feel inappropriately dressed, so why is she examining him? Ah. Right. He is most likely the first, and last, Yautja she will ever see this close.

“I don’t know much, all I know are the steps that I am involved in, for this specific reason I am guessing.” Suddenly her stomach lurches forwards and lets out a large growl, its emptiness coming to ahead. “Eceri…” She whispers and looks down sheepishly. Eceri smiles down at the gestures, how sweet. “Please, I am so hungry.” She hates begging, hates the taste it leaves in her mouth. And she tells him so.

“You think you are in a position to ask for things?” He asks, tilting his head in question.

“You want to keep me alive? I am kind of missing a few main items to do so.” She smirks, one side of her mouth perking up. It was almost a full smile, and Eceri liked it. If he could, he would get a few food items from her ship and its large stock. However, seeing how he needs her to think he has no knowledge of its existence, he needs to give her nothing from it. But what to give her?

“I might have a few things to give you.” He starts, but she starts to shake her head.

“I was warned not to trust you.” The memory of her dead friends makes a pain in her chest start, a sadness that she has tried to keep down springs up. “Not to eat anything you give me.”

“I know, but that is how your friend died, no?” He asks her, gaining a reluctant nod. “I will make you an offer Kate,” He says and waits for her to look up. Her eyes as they meet his are full of tears, and full of a sad regret he caused. And he is so sorry for that. “I will bring food here and we will share a meal, it will be of something your stomach can handle. I will eat parts of each item so you can see nothing is poisoned, nothing will harm you. I promise not to let anything like this happen again.” He tells her, motioning to her body. But as he does, Kate hides every part of her that has her new color. The poor thing.

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“What are trying to do? It is not a pet Eceri!” Tog tries to talk to his Arbitrator, walking in circles around him as he gathers a wide arrange of food items.

“But she is still my responsibility.” He says back meekly, wondering if her stomach could handle meats or only light fruits.

“What happened to her was unfortunate, yes, but it was not your fault.” Tog tries again, gaining a heavy sigh from Eceri. “It was a mistake and I understand that you feel you need to rectify with this being, but it is an Ooman, you can’t think to feed it and walk it and hope it doesn’t shit in your trophy room.” They both smiles slightly, though the feeling of a heavy chest doesn’t leave him.

“I believe it is more that I can do something for her, to make her more comfortable. She is Ooman yes, but a female too. She did not react to the same treatments as the men did, she has not broken, she hasn’t told me a bloody thing.” Placing a small round fruit into his large bowl, he decides that this is enough of a sampling for Kate to choose from. “How can an Ooman stand a pain like that and still keep her mouth shut? So-to-speak.”

“Even if she opens up now it does not matter. Out technicians have gotten into her system and her data is quite intense.” Following his Arbitrator, Tog starts behind Eceri slowly, knowing they have a while yet to get to where the Ooman is kept, and he has a lot of news. “It seems there is a large gathering of Oomans, called ‘Padua’, and there is where all her trading happened. She received a substantial amount in return, something by our investigations would have kept her for many years. She was summoned to this place when her friends first went missing, this is where we must go.” Just nodding in concurrence, he doesn’t say anything else until they reach their destination and he enters into the interrogation room.

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“This one, I like this one.” Kate smiles and picks up an oblong, orange colored fruit. “It takes like a pineapple.” She says as she munches down.

“Haven’t had a pineapple before.” Eceri tells her, inwardly happy to see her eating. “I’m glad you like it, it is one of my favorites you know.” In the time it took for him to convince her to try a single bite, he probably could have hunted a dozen Oomans. But the moment he opened one up, its juices dripping off his fingers, she began to lick her lips at the thought of eating it. Now, being an Arbitrator doesn’t mean Eceri isn’t young, he is merely on the older side of young. So when she had licked her lips, her small tongue darting from one side to the other, something inside of him stirred.

“How long am I going to be here?” Asked rather absently, like one would enquire about the weather, the question put him off for a moment.

“I don’t know, depends on what you give me I suppose.”

“What is stopping me from making up a bullshit story, giving you a place to go to that doesn’t exist just for you to let me go.” Eceri stops chewing him bite and looks are her rather blatantly.

“I’d be able to find you, I’m a hunter remember. That, that my dear girl, is my specialty. Not wasting my time talking to Ooman girls about trading.” He shakes his head at his own misfortune.

“Firstly, sir,” Kate adds spitefully. “I am no girl. Living in space, you grow up fast. Secondly, I know what the Yautja do. I know what you are.”

“Highly doubt you know even half of what you think you do.” He laughs at her, plopping in another bite of a different fruit.

“And if you think you are wasting your time, let me go.” Shifting on her chair, Kate has to tuck in the corners of her blanket to keep some level of decency while sitting at a table with a Yautja.

“Because I was asked to find out what, if anything, is happening with our property, our hunters and our safety. Something larger than you or I is happening and I need to figure it out. Fast.” She merely nods her head, chewing slowly.

“You could try Earth, people there will buy anything that will help in fights and wars and bullshit.” Slowly as she is talking, the blanket slips off a shoulder to allow the gentle curve of it to annoy Eceri, a tiny line of blue showing by the edge. The couture of her shoulder is smoother than a female Yautja, almost childlike in its shape and size. But like she pointed out to him before, she is not a girl. But Kate, following his eyes, sees her bare skin and quickly covers it.

“I’m sorry, I did not mean to stare. The color makes me worry. Show me your arm.” He reaches out for it but she doesn’t give it to him. “If I need to ask again I will take the cover from you and look at the blue everywhere else.” His mandibles click slowly, rubbing against each other to make a ticking sound. The carvings he long ago had done were placed perfectly so in order to make sounds that he would use to communicate with other hunters. In fact, the very mandible Kate broke was completely hollow inside, its sound so similar to that of a tree being hit by passing bird that no prey would think twice of it. Only he and a few other have the knowledge and the tools in place to do such a thing. Then again, Eceri never hunts with anyone outside his group. So what, he’s picky.

“It doesn’t hurt or anything anymore.” Kate tells him as she slowly puts her hand on the table. “Before, it burned. Then it was so cold. Now, it’s just skin.” He picks up her hand gently and places it palm down onto his own, its softness alarming at first. With his thumb, he rubs the blue tinted skin lightly. Taken a back suddenly at seeing his talon tipped finger, his ribbed Yautja skin over hers, he can’t understand why he even wants to see her skin. But he does. He wants to know something that soft, wants to know how it gets like that. He wants to know if all of her is like that.

“I do believe that all you are is a scavenger, Kate.” He puts her hand down unceremoniously. His mind is confused about his thoughts, he doesn’t like at all. “But my leads are weak right now, my people are being hunted and killed for their possessions. And from what is taken, weapons and horrible, horrible things are being made. When was the last time you were on Earth?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been. I might have been born there, I don’t know.” She tells, shrugging. But as to why she told him that, she doesn’t know.

“There isn’t much left to see. That place has become the ass end of a beast for sure.” He laughs.

“Impossible, that is our home, every Human knows that. We still have people there. We have to.” She didn’t know is she was convincing him or herself.

“Well, to put it into perspective, imagine there are ten people in a room and its cramped. Three of them leave to another room, wanting more space. Four of the remaining seven become friends and split the room into two. But, of chance of course, all the resources are on their side. Now, the other three don’t like that. So it was war. Three verse four, seems easy, no? Now, imagine if the three people contact the three who left and get their help. So it is now six to four. Seeing defeat looming, and knowing that with the help from those who left they had no chance, the four alone decide to destroy everything on their side. Including themselves. Now the three in the room have nothing to live off of, and the three from the other room see no reason to help any longer. Soon the three in the room become two, then one. Then none. And the three in the other room have no idea.” Kate blinks hard, taking it all in.

“Are you saying there is no one left of Earth?” The idea was stupid, of course there were some left. Why else would people never go back? If it were empty then Humans could have a real home again.

“Perhaps, but the last time any Yautja were there, hunting was slim pickings. Who knows, who cares.” Eceri lifts an eyes brow in a challenge, testing if Kate would react, but she doesn’t. “All we do know, is that someone, somewhere got a hold of our weapons on a hunter and suddenly little parts began to blow up. It is my job to stop the thieving in order to stop your species from completely eradicating itself. And others.”

“And you think I, a girl with no history or knowledge of anything, can help you? I am a scavenger, Eceri. I’m not a hero.”

“Nor am I.”

“” “” “” “”

“I don’t understand why the Ooman is still alive.” Gede, the Patriarch, couldn’t seem to comprehend the taxing decision that is on Eceris shoulders. He doesn’t want to kill Kate, for many reasons.


“Because she is innocent of the crimes,”

“She is not!” He yells, quieting the Arbitrator. “She stole from us, sold it for gain. And you think her innocent?” Eceri kicks himself for using such a word. For an Ooman. Stupid.

“I mean to say, Patriarch, that she has not committed a crime that I would find death the proper justice. She by happenstance came upon our set up, but she did not kill. She did not hunt. What we can get from letting her go is a lead to follow.” Even sitting in front of the Patriarch via a COM screen is unnerving. Eceri finds himself always needing to look put together and proper for him. “She is but a girl, Gede, so young.”

“We are too old, Eceri, to even recognize youth.” They both lightly laugh.

“Gede, I have already set up plans to free her, but I need to do it just so. I need her to believe I am doing it secretly, and from there she will go warn her friends. And of her friends, hopefully, there will be the ones we do want. And we will follow them, and so on and so on. Until we find out who these Oomans who are hunting us are, and where they are. And we will kill them.”

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Authors note: Apologies for the lateness, the internet is a dastardly little thing in my home. This chapter isn’t so full of fun yet. Next one, I promise, you will like. Thank you for all your reviews. E.M.