30

Airi sat on the cold stone floor of the room she had been kept in for the last two days. She felt scared and miserable. How long would she last in here before they decided to seriously hurt her, or charge her with treachery and send her to a real jail? She shuddered at the thought. A week ago, life had been going in the perfect direction; her school, her dreams, her everyday life; even the thought of her mother's scolding felt comforting as she leaned against the unyielding wall, crying softly at how much things had changed.

What was she suffering for? Would war be stopped if she remained here? And what about Kenji? Would he be able to convince his father? Or would his father convince him? The thought made her feel more uncomfortable than ever. What if he turned against her, too? What if he decided that he hated humans after all, and forgot all about her? She looked down sadly and watched an ant slowly make its way across the floor and towards the opposite wall.

She stood up and walked towards it, when she heard a muffled sound beyond the wall, prompting her to press her ear against it to hear it better. There it was again! It sounded like a... whimper!

'Is someone there?' she called out. 'Are you all right?'

There was no reply.

Then she suddenly remembered that the captured alien was in a room next to her — unless she had been lied to for some reason. Should she call out again anyway? He was hostile and dangerous, after all, and perhaps it wasn't a good idea to try to talk to him — but then, he was Kenji's friend... Before she could make up her mind, she heard a voice call out faintly to her from the other side.

'Hello?'

'Who are you?' said Airi.

'I can't hear you!' called out the voice.

'I said, who are you?! Are you Kenji's friend?' called Airi, louder.

'You know Kenji? Is he okay? I'm Shen-ja!' called out the voice.

'So, you're Shen-ja!"

'Yes,' said Shen-ja weakly. 'And you must be that girl, Airi? I am so sorry I failed and messed things up for everyone...'

'It's not your fault, things happen,' said Airi. 'Listen, did you really mean to attack Earth? That's not very nice!'

'I meant to be part of an attack, but never in a cruel way!' said Shen-ja. 'But these men, they are more evil than I could ever imagine!'

'Are you very hurt?' said Airi worriedly.

'Yes,' said Shen-ja sadly. 'When we want to get information from someone, we ask them in a dignified way and logically present their options; if they don't agree, we just subject them to the Force; but these humans have very painful ways of asking simple questions!'

'Oh, that sounds awful!' exclaimed Airi. 'You need to get out of there somehow and go back home! I don't think they're letting you go any time soon!'

'Yeah, I figured,' said Shen-ja. 'But even if they must keep me prisoner, they could at least treat me better!'

'Yes, absolutely! This is against the law, you know!' said Airi.

'What is law?!'

'Like, your rights and stuff, and what will happen if someone goes against it!'

'I thought that was common sense! That's what we call it, anyway!'

'Well, things are a little different here,' said Airi. 'Anyway, like I said, you need to get out of there the first chance you get!'

'Why are you there, by the way?' said Shen-ja.

'They want me to support their evil plans and betray Kenji,' sighed Airi. 'But I won't do that, so they're keeping me here till I agree, I suppose.'

'That's impressive on your part,' said Shen-ja approvingly. 'Our commander always said that humans are disloyal and unprincipled, but you don't seem like that!'

'Well... thanks...' said Airi, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

'If you create a distraction, perhaps I could escape,' said Shen-ja thoughtfully. 'And then, when I'm running away, you could take advantage of that distraction and escape, too!'

Airi thought for a moment. 'I'm not sure,' she said. 'Would it really work? And then, you have a home to go back to, but I'm still in danger even if I escape — they might catch me again!'

'Well, you did say it was against the law, what they are doing,' said Shen-ja.

'You're right, it is!' said Airi. 'But I can never get justice unless I escape first — I will run away from here! And you, too!'

'Tonight, then!' said Shen-ja. 'At midnight, there's less people around, and we have a better chance.'

'All right, done!' said Airi, feeling hope rise up in her again as she sighed happily and leaned against the wall, sinking slowly into a short sleep. She would need all the energy she could get when the time came for escape.

A series of taps roused her in the dark until she awoke at last. Where was the sound coming from? Oh, of course it was Shen-ja, she realised, getting up.

'It's time!' he said softly from the other side, barely audible. 'A guard will come and open the door to check on me in about a minute! Please create a distraction, Airi!'

'Okay!' said Airi, and she walked at once towards the door and banged on it with all her might. 'You psychos!' she yelled. 'Let me out!! You want information? I'll give you information!!'

A chuckle on the other side told her the plan was working. 'Breaking now, huh, little girl?' said a mocking voice, opening the door. 'What have you got to say?'

'Kenji, um...' said Airi, wondering what to stay to stall him, 'he told me some very important things about aliens, and, um... their biggest weakness...'

'Really?' said the man, interested, about to take out a paper and pen, before he looked suspiciously towards the other room, which was open. 'Just a second,' he said, turning away, but Airi called out to him and made him stop in his tracks.

'Loser!'

'What did you say?!' he said furiously.

'I said what I said,' said Airi, pleased at the sound of the scuffle from the next room. 'You're a loser because you're supporting a pathetic, evil cause! And you're a coward, too!'

'You'll pay for that, you little—' started the man, advancing towards her, but a strong blow from someone sent him flying into the wall and onto the floor, knocked out.

'This one was the nastiest, apart from the colonel himself, of course,' said Shen-ja, looking at him with disgust before smiling at Airi.

'Thank you!' said Airi, still shaking from the sudden fear and excitement.

'Not at all! Thank you! Now, let's get out of here before they send anyone else to keep us in this dreadful place!' said Shen-ja, and Airi nodded and followed him as they made their way out of the narrow corridor which their rooms led into.

'It's awfully long...' said Shen-ja nervously, his ears quivering.

'Yes,' said Airi. 'And dark, too! It looks like an illegal prison somehow...'

'This place is terrifying,' said Shen-ja with a shudder.

'Ssh, don't let's make noise,' said Airi. 'There's a door at last!'

Shen-ja cautiously twisted the handle and tried to open it — only to find it locked!

'Bother! Now what do we do?' said Airi in frustration.

'Tut, tut, found ourselves in a fix, have we?' said an unpleasant voice behind them that they both knew all too well — it was Colonel Smith!

Shen-ja looked at him in panic and dread, and Airi noticed numerous cuts and bruises all over his skin for the first time since she had seen him in person. She looked at the colonel with a mix of fear and desperation and hate all rolled into one.

'Now, young ones, we are going to explore the consequences of such boldness and conspiracy,' said the colonel, walking slowly towards them with an evil smile and an odd object in his hand — a knucleduster?! 'Now you will find out what pain really is, you little freak—' he punched Shen-ja as he spoke, making him whelp.

'Can't you use the Force, Shen-ja?' whispered Airi anxiously.

'No, my body is too weak for it right now,' gasped Shen-ja, still writhing in pain from the ruthless blow.

Airi glared at the colonel. 'You beast!' she exclaimed. 'What have you done to him? You have no right to do this!'

'And you, Airi,' glowered the colonel, 'are an insolent, foolish girl who has no right to be saying this, because you are about to suffer the same fate as he is!'

Airi trembled as he walked towards her with his hand raised, and she closed her eyes. She was doomed and she knew it. The escape plan had failed, and all hope was lost.

The colonel yelled with rage and she braced herself for impact, but it never came.

Instead, she heard a loud crash and looked around, only to see the previously locked door literally blast away, knocking out a guard who stood behind the colonel before landing with a tremendous noise onto the floor.

It was dark beyond the door too, but the moon outside illuminated the silhouette of someone oddly familiar — that hair, those ears, those glowing eyes — it was Kenji!

'Did you really think you could get away with a cheap shot like that, Colonel?' he said in a menacing tone that Airi had never heard him use before — except, perhaps, when he had talked to Rei. 'Release those two right now, and maybe I'll leave you alone...'

The colonel laughed dryly. 'Oh, I'm supposed to be scared of you and your little antics?'

Kenji smiled coldly. 'Very well, then. I prefered the second option myself.'

The colonel's eyes widened as Kenji took a large, lighted ball from behind his back and threw it towards him; a few seconds later, it exploded, and the room was filled with rays of hot, blinding light in all directions, making everyone close their eyes in pain except Kenji, who stood unblinking through it all — two pinpoints of deep red piercing through the dazzling white.

'Open your eyes, Colonel,' said Kenji, walking towards him when the light began to subside and dim again. 'Your evil reign is over!'

'What, you think you can scare me with that light and fireworks show?' said the colonel, but he winced in pain as soon as he finished speaking.

The knucleduster on his hand had cracked and melted, and was dripping off his fingers as he struggled to remove it.

'It's a lot more than light,' said Kenji, smiling coldly at him. 'It melts all metal, including those cowardly weapons you call guns; you didn't think I was going to come unprepared, did you?'

'What?! I... I can't believe this!' exclaimed the colonel in horror, looking at the gun on his belt that had turned into a sloppy, melted mess.

'Now, sit down and don't even think about moving!' said Kenji, his eyes glowing terrifyingly as he used the Force on the colonel with all his energy.

'Y—yes!' nodded Colonel Smith, as he sat down promptly and stayed there in a practical stupor even after Kenji had turned away.

'Hurry, now!' said Kenji urgently, the sharpness gone from his expression as he looked concernedly at Airi and Shen-ja.

The two of them got up at once and followed Kenji out of the doorway, and they all made their way as fast as they could towards the main road, still in dazed surprise at the unexpected turn of events.