“Minions, put these intruders in the cage!”

A large cheer went up behind us. I felt a gun sharply pressing into my back forcing me to the rear of the room and into a large cage with black metal bars. I heard a large clinking sound just after the door slammed behind me. I quickly turned around to see that Tabitha was by my side.

The youngsters piled up against the bar, their eyes wide open gaping at us like we were some type of weird exotic animals. They just stared without fear or understanding.

“Get away from them! Pretend they are not there,” the large man bellowed.

Gradually, they averted their gaze away from us and back to him.

“You are not to messing with them. They are now valuable cargo and to be treated as such.”

When one of the younger ones fleetingly looked back at us, his face grew read and he hit him a thump reducing the young boy to tears.

Tabitha shuddered.

They were as much his prisoners as we were.

He then started giving them instructions on what goods they needed to bring where and when. They listened carefully. It was a mixture of weapons, drugs, and key parts needed for space infrastructure. Then after an hour or two they dispersed and went back to their duties.

I opened the heavy door and went out into a bright, white corridor. Tabitha followed close behind. We went slowly trying to ensure that we didn’t make a noise. It felt claustrophobic, so different to the other habitats I had been on. Each room we came across was full of the same boxes and they were in a similar state of disrepair. A repugnant smell of sweat pervaded the ship sickening the intrepid .

Then they heard the sound of shouting coming from in front of them. They continued on onwards to an open door at the end of the corridor. It led them onto a balcony. We peered down at what lay below. A big, heavy-set man was speaking to a large of people. What looked like a machine gun was strewn around his neck. They could just barely make out what he was saying –

“See I told ya. But did ya believe me? Not a chance. But the proof is with us now. I told you that there was a flaw in their security. Now we have their merchandise to sell to the highest bidder. And we will.”

Just then, I thought I felt something prodding my back. So intently was I listening that I ignored it, but then I got a much larger prod that sent a dart of pain into my side.

“What?” I whispered angrily as I looked back to guns pointing at my face.

“I have no idea. I’ve never seen such a shoddy ship before. How is it still even functioning?” I replied dryly.

Tabitha looked at me wide-eyed and then replied, “It must be a scavenger ship. I’ve heard about them. They bring goods of all types from one habitat to another for the lowest possible price. Many of the first-generation ships ended up getting purchased for this purpose and it was said that some of them are still out there. Scavengers have a very bad reputation for violence and I was told never to let my guard around them. There was one story about a group of rebels who asked to let them hide in their ship. The Scavengers said yes but they were not heard of or seen again. You ever hear about them?”

“No nothing. But the media and everything else were tightly controlled in my habitat so that might not mean much.”

A siren went off in the ceiling corner. We both froze. There was a scurrying sound coming from outside and instinctively we rushed behind some of the metal containers. The scurrying noise grew louder before receding away. Then the siren stopped.

I glanced at Tabitha knowingly.

“The siren is a summoning device. Come on, let’s see where they went.”

But she gripped my arm tightly.

“We have to see what’s going on. We’re not on the right ship.”

She let my arm go and nodded in agreement.

I went over and tried to help her. It was jammed closed so I gave it a thud. It clamored open. I suddenly froze and Tabitha gripped my arm tightly. My eyes frantically scanned my surroundings but nothing stirred. Tabitha slowly released her grip.

We got inside the holding bay of the spaceship. Our instructions were clear. We needed to open one of the steel containers, which was never locked. One of them would be empty. And that is what we did, although it took a few minutes to find one. We had been told that this was a ship for perishable and sensitive freight so we would only have to deal with slow acceleration and deceleration. Our destination was called Decon XXV. I knew not what to expect. So I squeezed into the container with Tabitha and pulled it closed. We held hands in the dark and waited.

After a few minutes, we could hear the roar of the engines. She gripped my hand more firmly. Then we felt the ship begin to move. After a few minutes, I began to feel sick from the motion and tried to concentrate my mind on the day’s events.

Hours passed. Then almost imperceptibly it began to decelerate.

After an exhausting few hours of traipsing over stony hillsides in the deadening heat, they finally reached the outskirts of the lush forest. It started with one lonesome tree but gradually they became densely packed. No longer would they have to keep one eye on the sky in terror.

Tabitha appeared to relish the change of environment as she ferociously hacked her way through the dense undergrowth. I simply let her at it. I was already tired and my face was burning sore from the light source. The shade was of immense comfort.

He smelled the threat over the flowers a few seconds before hearing it. It was the smell of rotten flesh. Tabitha froze before looking back at me. Her face was frozen in fear. Then we heard its roar. It reverberated through every cell in our bodies. The ground was shaking. I pointed to the base of a large tree and we both tried to hide behind it.

Then an enormous beast rushed passed us. Its long neck flapped back and forth before the beast sunk its teeth into its lower neck. The two of us looked into each other’s eyes and then ran trying not to trip on the roots and brambles. We need not have worried. It had its prey.

After a few minutes, we stopped and took a breath.

“Your face is all red. Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I replied, “it’s my white skin and the light.”

“Not good, I am worried about you. Come on, this way.”

Sometime later, we finally reached the railway line. The plan was simple. To stop the train so we could board.