the cage's bars. As it came near, Lanie scooted further back on the bed and stared in horror at something out of her nightmares.
The creature’s lips never moved, but Lanie heard its voice in her mind. “You are to be told that you were sold for experimentation. You will not live beyond another day or two at the most. Senator Patrosi and her family send their regards.”
The alien's words weren’t what had Lanie screaming, “No!”
Bob flew through the air and latched himself onto the back of the alien’s neck. With claws and teeth tearing at the creature, green blood was flying, and the alien stumbled closer to the cage as he tried to grab hold of Bob.
Rushing from the bed, Lanie reached through the bars and grabbed the alien around the front of its neck, trying to avoid the cat’s claws and teeth at its back. She tried not to think about what they were doing, pulled the creature closer to the cage, and squeezed as hard as she could.
Lanie’s longer arms allowed her to avoid the creature’s smaller ones as it fought against her with one four-fingered hand and tried to stop the cat with the other. Time seemed to slow for Lanie, and she had no idea how long she’d been holding the dead alien until she heard a loud, squishy plop.
Looking down, Lanie let go of the alien and threw up on the floor, trying not to look at the hand Bob had severed and was dragging towards her. Gaining control of herself, Lanie ignored the alien body and watched Bob drop the hand in front of the cage a few feet away from the creature.
Moving to the cat, Lanie saw Bob stretch himself out, his front paws sliding up the bars of the cage. Lanie shook her head in wonder at the intelligent animal and stuck her hand through the bars a little further up from Bob’s feet.
Lanie’s face curled in disgust when she looked at the alien hand, oozing green blood from where Bob had bitten it off. The cat’s paw shot out and pushed the severed appendage closer to the cage.
Taking a deep breath for courage, Lanie grabbed the hand and slapped it against what she hoped was the cage's hand scanner. When nothing happened, Lanie looked down at Bob and saw him turn his back to her.
Looking at the severed hand in her own, Lanie saw she was putting the back of it on the scanner and not the palm. Turning it around, she tried again and nearly cried when the cage popped open. Running outside of her prison, Lanie was going to drop the severed appendage when Bob moved to the room's main door.
“Shouldn’t we find some weapons first?” Lanie was terrified of what was on the other side of the door.
Bob merely yawned and stretched himself against the wall with the hand scanner attached.
“OK.” Lanie took a deep breath and placed the hand against the scanner.
Bob immediately ran through the open door, and Lanie hesitated only a second before following the cat. She looked down both ends of the hallway, struck by how everything was exactly the same.
“Where are we going, Bob?” Lanie whispered, trying to stay close to the wall of the metallic hallway.
The cat didn’t stop, and Lanie continued to follow him, holding onto the severed alien hand in case they needed it to open any other doors. They hadn’t gone too far before Bob stopped in the middle of the hallway and faced the wall.
Looking both ways to make sure no one was coming, Lanie knelt beside the cat and scanned the wall to see why Bob had suddenly stopped. It didn’t take long to find the small access panel.
Lanie put the hand on the panel, and it opened, revealing what appeared to be an air duct system. Figuring it was as good a place to hide as any until she could decide what to do and maybe get back home, Lanie pushed Bob inside.
“I have to clean up the floor,” Lanie told the wide-eyed cat. “The blood trail will lead them right to us.”
Lanie left Bob in the air duct and ran back down the hall to the room with the cage. Rushing inside, she grabbed two blankets and went back outside. Lanie dropped one to the floor and used her foot to clean up the green drops leading down the corridor to the duct system.
Bob moved out of the way when Lanie threw the dirty blanket