Chapter 11
Edna
"Kain, bring the vehicle to this place." Tekita said to the male alien with strange hair.
Nobody moved.
Everybody might be bidding their time like me.
I was worried about the woman that tried to escape though.
She didn't think things through.
I won't lie, she wasn't the kind of person I wanted to work with.
Her idiotic actions had given us the saddening results of escaping though. Escaping now wouldn't work.
Kain nodded and left.
Tekita turned to us with a smile, "Now, it's time for the introductions. You guys can go first. Everyone except Jimmy should say their names." Jimmy's face darkened and his fists clenched by his sides.
We were eleven humans present.
The only woman from the military force straightened up.
"My name is Yulia." She introduced.
"My name is Joey." One of the men among the military trio spoke aloud.
"I am Griffin." The last military member said.
I glanced at the military personnel.
They acted fast.
This was not the time to show the strength of the human race.
"My name is Edna." I introduced slowly.
The other civilians gave their names.
Their names are Habiba, Gianna, Bryant, Turner, Ryker and Tobias.
There was four females in the exploration team, including me.
The shrill sound of a vehicle's tires rubbing against the floor broke the silence that ensued after the forced introduction.
"Please, gather around. I have news to share." Tekita announced.
We moved closer to him.
The satisfaction shining through his eyes for our obedience was too obvious.
'Edna, you must be very calm.' I encouraged myself.
I would only be able to find the mystery man in my dreams by escaping my captors.
After that, any information I gained during my adventures would be sent to the humans on the battleship.
"Forget all your past experiences. You are under my control now. I know none of you have given up on the thoughts of escape, that's okay. Our customers like a little dash of feistiness in their goods to spice things up." Tekita began, "What I will not tolerate is the actual escape. You can have wild thoughts but I will have a problem with whoever acts on that thought. Whoever you end up with would be your forever home."
His threatening words did nothing to dissuade my plans.
I was not going to follow his every instruction like a marionette. I don't know the character of the person I would get sold too.
The only thing Tekita cared about was profit. Whether the patrons that wanted to buy us would treat the humans in the right way would not be in his consideration at all.
Tekita continued, "Let me lay a few rules first. If you obey everything I instruct you to do, we won't have issues. You would be treated like the precious things you are. Disobeying me would bring its own consequences. Habiba, you have the grace of this escape being your first. This is why you were not punished."
"Thank you." Habiba, the civilian woman that tried to escape bowed her head.
Her expression could not be seen clearly.
"You are welcome. If any one of you escapes again, everyone in your group will be punished. If none of you wants encounter with death, don't do anything stupid. We are going to the capital." Tekita finished.
Nobody from the exploration team spoke.
The stoic gazes of the human exploration team hid the thoughts brewing in each person's head.
"Now, climb into the car." Tekita ordered.
The vehicle his friend or subordinate brought was some kind of modified monstrosity.
There was little bumps on the tires to generate friction.
The body of the vehicle was painted with dark green and black.
The colors were reminiscent of the human's signature army picks.
We climbed in.
I was among the first people that boarded the car.
The vehicle's interior was bigger than I imagined.
I don't know if it was normal or if it was expanded with supernatural means.
The vehicle had numerous seats that was divided into two separate groups.
There was a straight space running through the two seat groups.
The driver's seat and shotgun seat was not demarcated. It made it easier for Tekita and his group to monitor is from the driver's position.
Tekita sat in the shotgun seat and his friend, Kain, sat in the driver's seat.
The other three sat in the numerous seats in the vehicle with us.
Kain pressed something.
I could not see what it was clearly because his body blocked my view.
[Welcome Kain, 087 is here to assist and serve you.]
The voice was emitted by the whole vehicle.
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It sounded like an alien female and it had a cheery voice.
There was a hint of rigidness and static undercurrents in the voice. These rigidness and static undercurrents was reminiscent of the robots I heard my brother describe in the past. "Formulate the fastest route to the capital from our current location." Kain instructed.
His hair still moved like it was breathing.
My face changed.
A dull ache attacked my head.
Oh no!
This situation is getting worse. Everything is going downhill, fast.
These aliens had technology that was far superior to whatever humans had created.
Before the apocalypse, humans had invented robots.
Still, a robot or AI would not be in any random slave trader's hands.
The best way to judge how a rule or technology is implemented is by observing the common people.
If normal people are already using it, it was already guaranteed that the leaders of this planet would be using the technology or rules too.
Humanity was doomed.
I pray the human leaders won't send any other exploration teams because of their haste for results.
The faces of the three military personnel darkened.
It was very obvious that they thought as far as I did.
[Fastest route to the capital from your current location has been generated. You would get to the capital in 27 hours, 40 minutes.] The Artificial voice said after a while. There was a screen on the dashboard of the vehicle.
A map appeared on the screen with a red dot.
Tekita leaned down and studied the map.
Kain glanced at it too.
"We would have to pass through Micano Desert. I heard it's been a bit dangerous lately. Should 087 generate another route?" Kain looked at Tekita. Tekita rubbed his brows.
"If 087 generates another route, it would be slower than this one and I want to get to the capital as soon as possible." Tekita sighed.
"That's a no, then." Kain shrugged.
He pressed something and the car revved up.
The sound coming from the vehicle wasn't too loud.
"Tekita, I have another idea. We have to leave one of them behind." Kain said, "They came from the space outside the planet. There might be more of them."
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I knew who the 'them' Kain was referring to meant.
The humans are the 'them'.
Kain was spot on with his guess.
There is a huge battleship hovering on this planet.
I perked my ears and listened carefully.
"I know. I have thought of that." Tekita replied, "They surely have more people hidden somewhere. I plan to present one of them to the King's research center in the capital. We should be able to get something to work with. The money and merits from doing this would supplement the income we would get from selling the rest."
My heart dropped to the pits of my stomach.
I don't want to be sent to a research center.
Tekita and Kain was not afraid of discussing our fates in front of us.
Their lowly evaluation of the humans in their grasp was very obvious.
They didn't try to hide away as they talked about our end.
To them, we were just exotic goods, nothing more or less.
"Tekita, you are so awesome!" Kain laughed, "This is why you are the boss and we are the subordinates."
"You are pretty smart too. I have to work harder so you won't overtake me when I blink." Tekita joked.
"True." Kain responded with a smile.
There were little windows littering the two opposite walls of the vehicle.
I sat near a window.
The sky outside the vehicle was darkening slowly.
Night would soon arrive.
The humans in the vehicle didn't communicate with each other and the other three aliens sitting with us didn't speak either.
Kain and Tekita had gone quiet too.
The oppressive silence in the car was suffocating.
Blinking stars started appearing in the sky.
The nighttime on this planet seemed to be very similar to the one on earth.
My eyes fluttered close as leaned against the window.
My thoughts were all over the place.
Even with the tense situation I was in, I was thankful that Tekita had not taken our bags and belongings from us.
I don't know if he would confiscate our belongings later and I didn't want to worry about it now.
All I knew was that the bags on me gave me some security. I was going to enjoy it for as long as it lasted.