Beast in the Cage: A Scifi Alien Romance

his nose as if he’d been hard at work and hadn’t stopped all day for a nap, a break, or even something to eat.
“It’s the cells of a species called blinkers,” he said. “There are stories of them in every ancient civilization throughout the galaxy. Creatures that could see into the future and decide which course of action to follow next.”
“If you have their cells, I guess they must be real, huh?”
“Exactly. But we only have the sample. The creature eluded us. But we’ll continue our hunt. The question is, once we have him, what will we do with him?”
“You’re not going to use him to fight?”
It felt strange having this conversation with the man in charge of one of the Ikmal prisons.
Did he have anything to do with me being brought here? I wondered.
“The unique thing about the blinkers is that they can see into the future, not far mind you, about ten seconds,” the Supervisor said.
“Wow.”
“Indeed. Their bodies evolved to detect danger to such a degree that they can tap into God’s own design. He can see each of the potential pathways and then snap back to the moment ten seconds earlier and make a decision on the best course of action. Of course, that will always be the right one.”
It sounded like something from the X-Men, I thought. But something about the ability confused me.
“If he can see in the future like that, how do you intend on catching him?”
The Supervisor smiled warmly.
“Very good question! The answer is: with great difficulty. There are various weaknesses with his ability. He can’t see anything when he’s asleep, for instance, so if you put something in his coffee that won’t take effect for thirty seconds or more, you can catch him easily. The blinkers are an exceptionally rare species. He might be the only one in the entire galaxy for all we know, and it’s our duty to ensure his species doesn’t die with him. Do you agree?”
“I guess so.”
“Excellent. How about we take a seat?”
He led me toward a pair of short sofas that faced each other.
The Supervisor hurried to pick up a stack of papers and dump them on a side table.
“Please. Take a seat.”
I did. I glanced out the window at the landscape beyond. It wasn’t much different from the view I saw earlier.
Save for one crucial difference:
An arm extended out from the side of the building that led from the next room in the Supervisor’s quarters.
On the arm sat a vehicle.
I’d never seen anything like it before but I would recognize it anywhere.
A shuttlecraft.
The Supervisor noticed me looking at it and turned back to me.
“Are you a fan of shuttlecraft?” he said.
My mouth turned dry.
You could say that, I thought. I’m interested in them getting me the hell out of here and back home.
I had all the ingredients I needed to make a break for it.
On a series of long shelves sat a bunch of items from various cultures.
The skull of a small creature. A hooked nail. A horn. Rocks that glinted in the semi-darkness.
Any one of which could be used as a weapon to knock the Supervisor to the floor.
Then I could run to the backroom, climb aboard the shuttlecraft, and command it to fly me home.
The guards were just outside the door but they weren’t close enough to catch me… especially if I hit the Supervisor hard enough across the head so he couldn’t shout for help.
Could I do it? Did I want to do it?
You bet I did.
But I didn’t.
What if I needed some form of identification like I did in Kren’s room?
What if I didn’t have the right voice or the right fingerprint or whatever these things needed to get me the hell out of here?
And if I made the attempt to escape now, I might never get another chance in the future.
Much better for me to develop a relationship with the Supervisor and learn the details of what I’d need to escape.
The Supervisor was still waiting for a response.
“We don’t have shuttlecraft like that on our planet,” I said tearing my eyes from it. “It looks very futuristic, like something from our movies.”
So close to escaping and yet so far.
One day, I promised myself. One day.
The Supervisor leaned back and rested a spindly arm on the back of the sofa.
“I understand you’ve met our most famous resident.”
He could have been referring to Harper but surely even she couldn’t have been chosen by that many prisoners during her time here.
He must have been referring to Kren.
“Yes,” I said. “He chose me yesterday.”
“Quite remarkable. Especially when one considers he’s never chosen any of the Prizes before. Why do you think he chose you?”
I’d been asking myself that same question ever since he peered at me with those golden eyes of his.
“I don’t know.”
“Besides the fact you’re beautiful and smart, of course,” the Supervisor said, smiling at me. “Seriously. Why do you think he chose you?”
I threw up my hands.
“I don’t know. Because I’m new?”
The Supervisor nodded as if he had been expecting that response but didn’t buy it.
“Did you know he’s the last of his kind?”
I blinked.
“He is?”
“He came to us when he was very young. His species was wiped out in a war and they never recovered. It’s not something he likes to talk about. His parents were crossing borders with weapons they meant to deliver to the rebellion but they got caught. They were sent here to serve their jail terms.
“His father was sent to the fighting pits and died during an unfortunate incident. His mother contracted a terrible disease and died a few weeks later. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with him, so I took him under my wing. I nurtured him, educated him… but he couldn’t take his eyes off the fighting pits.
“It’s what his species likes to do, traditionally. He turned out to have quite a knack for it. I discouraged him from following his baser instincts but there’s no talking to him