“Sir, there’s something on the road!”
“Where exactly?”
“Straight ahead, right next to the road. To the right of it.”
“… yeah, I see it. Looks like a foot mobile. But something is odd here.”
“It doesn’t look like a soldier. Probably a civilian.”
“A civilian, all alone, in a combat zone?”
“Should I keep going straight sir?”
“Yeah, just keep going down the road. Our roaring, metal beast will scare them and they’ll move away.”
“Sir I … I think that’s a kid.”
“You can see that form this far away?”
“Got plenty of experience with NVGs sir.”
“Me too but I still haven’t learned how to focus the damn thing properly.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely a kid. Not a little kid, more like a teenager, but still a kid. And she’s of that cat sort.”
“I see now. Can you see what is it that she’s holding in her hand?”
“Looks like some kind of doll to me. Like how kids back home would hold a teddy bear or some similar shit.”
“A young girl, walking down the road, all alone, at night …”
“Plenty of disturbing shit going on during the time of war. She probably escaped. There’s no way she’ll last long all alone though. Thirst will get her first.”
“Why isn’t she moving away from us? They scatter away as soon as they see our headlights, so why is she still walking towards us?”
“Maybe trauma? It’s only natural for people to lose their shit when they go through it.”
“Hmm … ok, stop the vehicle.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do you think we should just let her go?”
“No, of course not. But it won’t be my ass on the line for letting a civilian into the Humvee.”
“What is she going to do, shoot a TOW? Let the others know we’re making a short stop. Interpreter, with me!”
”All victors, be advised, we’re making a short stop to interrogate a civilian, over.”
“…”
“First of all, tell her that we mean her no harm … now, ask her where her parents are.”
“She says that bad people have killed them.”
“When did this happen?”
“A week ago.”
“A week ago? Check that, just to be sure.”
“She claims it was a week ago. Some bandits came and fucked shit up. Her mother helped her escape but the rest of her family is gone.”
“Is it the village? If it’s bandits then they’ve probably left and her people have returned to the village.”
“No, she says they were a part of a caravan.”
“Is the caravan down the road?”
“No. She walked off-road so the bandits wouldn’t find her.”
“Damn … we can’t go off course. I was hoping we could just give her a ride back to her village.”
“Sir … she’s asking to come with us.”
“Isn’t she scared of big, bad demons?”
“She says she got nowhere to go and that she’ll do anything we ask.”
“… fuck it. Get her on board. Put her with the doc, he’ll know how to handle her. Actually, let me go with you … hey, doc!”
“What’s up?”
“We got a lost, traumatized girl here. She’ll die for sure if we leave her alone so she’s coming with us. We’ll leave her at the next village we find but I need you to take care of her in the meantime. She claims she didn’t eat or drink anything for a week.”
“That’s fine, I’ll give her some of our rations. I’ll make sure she doesn’t overeat.”
“And also make sure the other guys don’t do anything funny. I’m making you responsible for everything.”
“You got nothing to worry about sir, she’s just like my little sister. But do let the other guys know I might rip their balls off if they try anything funny.”
“Huh, roger that.”
“Oh, one more thing. I’m not fluent in timkik, let alone this cat language. Can you leave the interpreter with us? There’s no way I’ll be able to reason with her otherwise.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Jake, you’re with me! I’ll switch you with the interpreter.”
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
“Aye aye.”
---
“Sir, I have to report something.”
“Is it about our passenger?”
“Yes. She’s refusing to eat or drink anything.”
“What do you mean? I thought she didn’t eat anything for a week?”
“That’s the thing. When people don’t eat for a week their stomach compresses itself, so they don’t feel hungry anymore.”
“Shouldn’t she at least feel thirsty?”
“We’re dealing with aliens here, so who knows? The point is, she refuses to eat anything and won’t listen to reason.”
“And if she doesn’t eat anything she’ll die.”
“Exactly. And I don’t think that leaving her in some village would fix the issue. She’d probably refuse to eat there too.”
“And then the villagers will think we did something terrible to her and are the ones to blame.”
“That’s right. I was thinking of giving her some infusion until she can finally be reasoned with, to at least prevent dehydration. But then I remembered that these people are terrified of needles. And if she starts resisting it could sever her vein. We’d stop the bleeding but then she’d have to be casevaced and I doubt they’ll approve it for some local girl.”
“Can’t we just force-feed her?”
“None of us know how to do it properly. I was never trained to do that and I doubt anyone else was. And it’s all the more dangerous to do it to an alien we know nothing about.”
“So, what are our options?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want to risk infusion but if she doesn’t drink something soon she’s almost certainly going to die. I just wanted to let you know.”
“Yeah … I see. I’ve also checked the aerial photos again and found no villages on our path for several days. And taking a detour is out of the question.”
“I understand that.”
“Hmm … as I understand our casualties are minimal, and we’re not in a hot zone. We could try a casevac.”
“You think they’ll approve it for a local? Under these circumstances?”
“We’ll report a casualty of our own. Say we had a misfire during regular maintenance.”
“Elite soldiers having a misfire casualty?”
“Stupidity happens everywhere doc, you should know that by now. The important thing is that our casevac resources aren’t strained at the moment, so why the fuck not.”
“You know you won’t get away with it, sir.”
“I won’t get away with it anyway. I’d rather have my salary docked than regret not doing anything in twenty years.”
---
“Ok, bring the next one in!”
“Our next patient is a young hosagian female.”
“Aww, look at her! She’s like a human kitty-cat! So cute! Anyway, what’s wrong with her?”
“Apparently, she didn’t eat or drink anything for a week.”
“Couldn’t the soldiers give her something instead of sending her all the way here?”
“That’s the thing. They tried but she refuses to eat.”
“Hmm … that could indicate some mental trauma. But let’s check her first. Can you tell her I’m just going to examine her? I don’t want her thinking I’m some pervert.”
“We’re all women here.”
“Just to be sure. We can never be too careful with the natives.”
“…”
“Hmm …”
“That’s strange.”
“Yeah, it is. You’d expect starvation to show but she appears to be in peak condition. Especially considering that these people aren’t as durable as we are.”
“And she claims she didn’t drink any water for a week.”
“Something is wrong here. How long has she been with the soldiers?”
“I think a day or two?”
“Maybe she lied to them for some reason?”
“She should be hungry even after a single day. Hell, I get hungry after a few hours.”
“Maybe she’s afraid. We’ll do some additional testing, just to be sure, but I think there’s nothing for us to do here. This is a job for psychologists.”
---
“Hi Osveta, how are you doing today?”
“How long do these demons intend to hold me here?”
“Until you finally eat something. Your willpower is amazing but you’re being way too childish with it.”
“I’m not childish. I’m just not hungry nor thirsty.”
“That’s all the more reason to eat. The demons have explained how the stomach works to you, right? Come on, at least half a cup of water. I’ll even take it first so you know it’s not poisonous.”
“I’m not afraid of that. They could’ve done so many things to me yet they didn’t. I’m not afraid they’ll hurt me.”
“So why not?”
“I’ve told you, repeatedly, that I’m fine! By the way, why are you working for these demons?”
“Why not? They don’t appear to be bad.”
“Aren’t they at war with your people?”
“You mean, our people?”
“No, I mean your people.”
“Huh, aren’t you forgetting that you’re a hosagian too?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Now you’re just being silly.”
“I’m not a mortal, which is why I don’t have to eat or drink, fool!”
“…”
“Osveta isn’t a hosagian name. Have you ever heard of a hosagian with a name like that?”
“I … I think you have some … issues … which is why you’re …”
“How many days, three? Yeah, you’re with me for three days, and you still didn’t figure it out?”
“I … what?”
“What do these demons want with me?”
“I …”
“There’s no way they’d be this generous with some random girl. They knew what I was from the start. How did they know it?”
“I …”
“It’s no wonder they didn’t try to violate me. Now I’ve wasted more than a week with these idiots, doing all kinds of tests on me. And the worst thing is that I don’t have the right to retaliate! These demons are playing me for a fool, and I’m tired of it!”
“Whe … where are you going?”
“Out of here! I’ve had enough of these demons messing with me and wasting my time!”
The hosagian girl rushed towards the door, opening them aggressively and stepping outside. As soon as she did, her body disintegrated like a pile of sand swept up by the wind, disappearing completely.
---
“Ahahahahahaha!!!”
“They already told you, huh?”
“Ahahahahahaha!!!”
“Go on ahead.”
“Ahahahahahaha!!!”
“Yeah, go ahead and laugh it out.”
“Serves you right! Ahahahahahaha!!!”
“Stop pretending you knew about it. None of us had any idea mortals could recognize us.”
“That’s the thing! They didn’t! Ahahahahahaha!!!”
“Are you messing with me?”
“Ah, dude, you’re such a fool! I mean, I always knew that, but this is a whole new level! Like, you’re up here!”
“What do you mean they didn’t know?”
“They didn’t recognize you!”
“Then why didn’t …”
“Why didn’t they violate a lonely lost girl? I don’t know, you tell me?”
“Because they knew I’m immortal.”
“Now you’re just being stupid, even more than usual. Tell me, why do you insist on eating bad people only?”
“Because they deserve it. I just don’t feel like hurting good people, and most of them are good.”
“So, isn’t it possible that you just ran into some good people?”
“No, there’s no way. Those were soldiers and not ordinary ones. They appeared to be professionals. I’m certain they’re paid to do what they do, and no good person would kill others for money.”
“But is it wrong to kill? I mean, I know I’m just repeating myself now, but killing is a perfectly natural thing to do. Those people you love so much kill animals each and every single day! By thousands!”
“Yes, you’re just repeating yourself now!”
“So, when a butcher kills an animal, is he evil?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m trying to say that there’s nothing wrong with killing. It’s just that these people are smart enough to realize the same thing. They know killing is just a part of nature so they don’t feel bad about it. But assaulting a defenseless girl does. Just because they’re ok with killing that doesn’t mean they’re bad. After all, do you consider yourself to be bad?”
“It’s not the same thing! I kill evil people!”
“And who’s to say those guys don’t believe the same thing? They could’ve just tried to kill you right away but they didn’t. In fact, they tried to help you. What makes you think those guys aren’t selective about who they kill just like you are?”
“Ah … you think that’s the case?”
“It would be stupid but hey, you exist. So why wouldn’t the same thing be true for some mortals out there?”
“I guess that could make sense. After all, not all soldiers are bad, I know that. But the mortals who fight and kill for money usually are.”
“Usually. That’s the thing. Usually.”
“Huh … I didn’t consider it like that. Yes, that could make sense.”
“The others know for sure. Ask them if you don’t trust me. Still … ahahahahahaha!!! Serves you right for having those stupid morals! Now tell me, what does starvation feel like?”