Raiyev Part 20
#20 of Raiyev
Raiyev was nonplussed. His lab partner, one of his closest friends, was standing right outside his cell door--but not as Dr. Frost had stood, no. She was on Raiyev's side, whereas Thomas stood a traitor. So many mixed emotions were going on inside the giant raccoon that, mixed with the stomach full of city he had somehow been coerced into ruining, he thought he was going to be sick.
"I know what you're thinking," Thomas began.
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!" Raiyev roared, heaving himself against the unyielding glass door. "I should rip off your beak and break your wings! You traitorous prick!"
Thomas bowed his head, shutting his eyes and sighing deeply. "I know," he said weakly. "I don't blame you for being upset at me."
"Let me out of here! Let me out now, so I can throttle you, you demented fuck!" Raiyev kept on raving, his eyes red from so many tears and his heavy fists throbbing from pounding them on the door, trying in vain to break out.
"Would you please calm down?" Thomas asked a bit firmly. "I WILL let you out, but you have to keep quiet or else we'll all be caught! They'll kill us if they catch us!"
Raiyev panted heavily, still fuming, and started to weep again, his ears folded back. "But why, Thomas?" he queried in a much softer voice. "You're supposed to be my...friend..."
"I know," the bird sighed. "I never wanted you to get hurt, but I didn't have much choice."
"What the hell do you mean?" Dr. Frost asked, stepping into the conversation.
"Look, it's like this," Thomas began. "The humans, if you haven't figured out by now, are extremely powerful and far advanced in science than we are. They have technologies we couldn't even begin to dream of. But that doesn't stop them from still being a violent race. They threatened me, just as I'm sure they've threatened others, to comply."
"Comply with what?" the two prisoners asked in unison.
"It's a war," Thomas explained. "They're at war with some other planet, far from here. And they chose you, Raiyev, to be used as a weapon. I don't know why," he added, seeing and knowing the question Raiyev was about to ask. "I DO know, however, that Dr. Paxton had plenty of dealings with the humans for many years now. She's a secret agent for some government agency that deals directly with humans. She and others in the agency traded information for bits and pieces of the humans' advanced technology."
"What sort of information?" Frost asked.
"A lot of basic information about our planet, the creatures living here...but then a lot of specific information including employee profiles, psych evaluations, that sort of thing."
"How do you know all of this?" Raiyev asked.
"I had my part to play," Thomas said, looking at the floor again in shame.
"And you just went along with them," Raiyev spat in disgust.
"I told you," Thomas said defensively, "They're too powerful to deny. They threatened me. And they lied to me."
"I'm sure they did," the raccoon responded, a bit sarcastically.
"They did! I swear it! They said they'd only use you once...and then you'd be free to go. Geez, Raiyev, I had no idea it was going to go on like this. That's why I have to get you two out of here now. No more time for questions. We have to get the hell out of this god-forsaken place."
"Now you're starting to talk a little bit of sense," Frost said. "Well, what are you just standing around for? Let us out!"
Thomas nodded and revealed the same glass plate controller that Frost had used to free Raiyev once before. Pointing it at the glass doors, he pressed on the plate, and Frost and Raiyev found themselves free. However, unlike last time, it wasn't a silent escape: all of the sudden, a loud alarm began going off. Great, Raiyev thought as he slipped into the corridor, they rigged it this time.
"C'mon!" Raiyev yelled and started to run in the direction he remembered going the first time, heading for the exit, before stopping to realize that Frost and Thomas couldn't go nearly as fast as he could. He doubled back, running towards Frost and Thomas--and a few humans running after them. One of them had a gun that Raiyev recognized from his last escape, and just as he was snatching up Frost, he heard and saw the loud red blast hit Thomas, the bird being sent several feet before stopping, laying on his back and--Raiyev gulped--very dead.
He ran, cupping Dr. Frost in his paws like a protective shell, darting through the corridors (now smaller than he remembered them from last time). For whatever reason, no more gun blasts came his way. Perhaps they don't want to kill their weapon, Raiyev thought in disgust. He could sense Frost's fear as she huddled in his paw, and he held her as tightly as he dared, fearful of inadvertently hurting her, but even more fearful of the humans getting to her.
In his panic, Raiyev trying to remember the way out, made some wrong turns and, reaching what he thought were the doors to the exit, he barreled into a room that he had only seen from one other perspective. In the middle of the room lay a huge metal table with wrist and ankle restraints. Above it, a large bright white lamp. Raiyev recognized it immediately--it was the room of his nightmares, the room where he was taken right before he became a monster for a short amount of time. Not just a monster, he realized, a weapon. I am a weapon.
He stood stunned for a moment, taking in everything he could see in the room. Right behind the head of the table was a large ring made up of electronics and stone. It looked rather crude, but Raiyev could only guess that it was how they transported him to the other planet. That poor planet, he thought, and all those innocent people. And these humans have the gall to drag me into their affairs, their war. Why me? Well, I refuse. I won't fight for them anymore.
Raiyev was resolute in not wanting to have any more part of this horrible war, but deep down he wondered how well he could withstand whatever influence the humans used to control him in the past. The sound of approaching voices jarred him from his thoughts, and he ran back out, twisting back around corridors, passing humans along the way.
He had to jump and dodge a lot of attacks, his paws still cupped around Frost, and nearly fell more than once. All he could think about was escaping--he didn't care how many humans were after him or how powerful they were. He just needed that exit. Turning down a vaguely familiar corridor--it could have been from anywhere--he saw the blessed daylight just ahead, peering in from windows on the double doors to his freedom. With a final mad dash, blindsiding a couple more humans, he was safely outside. He kept running for many more minutes until he thought he was well hidden in the forest. Finally, he opened his paws to peer down at Frost, hoping she was all right. She was very shaken, like Harper had been when he kidnapped her from the prison, but she seemed unharmed physically. Thank goodness, Raiyev thought.
"Are we out?" Frost asked, looking up. "Are we safe?"
"For now," Raiyev replied.