Part Four: Move Along

When Gwen’s eyes finally adjusted to the darkness she realized there was a figure standing by the grate. From the awkward shape, Gwen could tell it was Kevin. How long had he been standing there? Had he been staring at her? Was that grate strong enough to keep him from getting to her?

“K-Kevin?” she stammered, remaining in place. Her heart may go out to him, but she was still scared of him. Of what he was capable of.

“It’s Gwen, right?” He murmured, his voice unusually gentle.

“Y-yes.”

“Could you answer me something?” Thick, furred fingers rested on the grate.

“Depends. What is it?”

“I get that you goody-goody types would save your own family, but why would you try to save someone like Technorg?” Or me, for that matter.

Gwen frowned, a little offended at being called a goody-goody. She huffed, “It’s only natural for us goody-goodies to save people no matter who they are.”

“So those you save aren’t all that special to you.”

Tilting her head, Gwen looked at Kevin curiously. His form was different from a human, making it impossible to use the same tell-tale signs she must be making. But he was still human. Some things shouldn’t be too different, should it?

She noticed how his mouth was pressed into a grim line, the way the shoulder of his top pair of arms drooped and his inability to meet her gaze with any of his three eyes. Gwen had no idea why Kevin seemed, well for lack of a better word, disappointed by her answer.

“Not necessarily.” She ventured. She spied his eyes taper questioningly and continued “Sometimes the ones we save aren’t special to us at that moment, but they might eventually become special to us.”

It was Kevin’s turn to observe Gwen. He noticed she her knees pulled up to her chest, the way her hand absently tugged at the hem of her shirt, and that she was avoiding his gaze. She was trying to make herself appear smaller. She was scared of him but was trying her best not to let it show.

The dark-haired boy found it amusing.

“Does that answer your question?” Gwen chirped with a tilt of her head.

“It’ll do.” He grunted, leaning against the grate.

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From a small slot on the bottom of her cell door slid a tray filled with a runny, gray mass. Entering promptly after it was the spell book.

Gwen brightened considerably as she retrieved the small tome.

“What’s so special about that book?”

“Oh, it just might get us home.” She grinned, sitting back down on the cot to scan the pages.

Kevin blinked. Did she just say us? “You got a plan?”

“Maybe. I have to make sure of some things first.” Gwen didn’t sound as confident as she would have liked. Especially since she realized she had unwittingly included Kevin in the equation.

“And you actually think it’ll work?” Kevin sounded more than just skeptical, arms folded across his chest.

“If it doesn’t, there’s always Plan B.” Gwen carefully kept her eyes fixed on the spell book. After all, until that moment, she didn’t think she’d need a Plan B.

“Small one,” a gruff voice cut in. The young girl looked up to find a large silhouette appear beside Kevin. It was Technorg. “You should know why you’re being kept separate from the rest of the gladiators.”

“I thought it was because Slix thinks I’m too delicate to be a gladiator.” She snorted.

“That may be the case,” The large alien ignored the indignant glare Gwen shot him. “Since the only time Slix keeps anyone in there is if he wants them alive for the next match.”

The young girl didn’t think she liked where this conversation was going.

“When the mood strikes him, Slix offers a prize for the gladiator who meets certain conditions. It varies from being the last one standing, or killing the most number of opponents.”

“So what does that mean, exactly?” The young girl was sure she didn’t like where this conversation was going.

“The only thing I know for certain is you will be in danger. But for saving my life, I am honor-bound to serve you. And that entails keeping you safe.” The behemoth explained.

This didn’t sit well with the young girl, “As cool as it is that you’re willing to do all that, Technorg, this arrangement sounds a little too much like slavery for me. I saved you because it was the right thing to do.”

The large alien shook his head and lumbered off to brood in a corner.

Kevin snorted, mismatched eyes peering at Gwen. “Well someone’s self-righteous.”

“I thought the term was “Goody-goody”?” Gwen retorted, once again scanning her spell book. She’d have to find that teleportation spell and fast! But even if she did find it there was no guarantee she’d be able to master it in one sitting. After all, if it was such a simple spell, wouldn’t Charmcaster or her uncle Hex use it all the time?

To her dismay, the spell indeed was far more complicated than expected and required ingredients she had never heard of before.

“Looks like I’ll have to come up with Plan B after all.” She sighed, resting the small book on her lap.

Think, Gwen, think. Her mind ordered. You’re on a spaceship. Didn’t those spaceships on all the sci-fi cartoons Ben watched usually have escape pods?

Even if there were escape pods, how would she be able to navigate it back to Earth? She didn’t even know where she was in the vast universe. So many missing pieces, so many variables to account for, so many things she didn’t know or couldn’t figure out.

A cry of frustration escaped her lips, “Why can’t I come up Plan B?”

“Maybe it’s ‘cuz my plan would work better?” Gwen heard, rather than saw the smug arrogance displayed across Kevin’s features.

“Right, I’m supposed to trust you, the guy who keeps trying to kill my cousin.” She remarked with a roll of her eyes.

“Hey, a few minutes ago you were willing to trust me in your first plan.”

He had a point. She was planning on taking Kevin with her. As much of a threat Kevin proved to be back home, the red-haired girl couldn’t bring herself to leave a fellow human being behind. Reluctantly, Gwen agreed to hear out the misshapen youth’s idea.