The Sands Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

-Where Things Fall-

The smell of the violet leaf lulled Cee into a trance that, coupled with the gentle rocking of the airship, made the journey rather comfortable. She had no idea where she was going, or what she was going to do when she got there. The only thing she knew when she had climbed into the box at the oasis docks was that she couldn’t stay there.
 Move, the voice in her head had said.  Get away. And she had listened. Now she was stuck in a box going who knows where for who knows how long. it’s difficult to tell time when you’re in a box. She hadn’t eaten in a day or two, she guessed anyway. Though the fact that she was starting to feel the pangs of hunger must mean it had been at least a day. The lack of food didn’t bother her too much, she had always prided herself on not needing much food. Still it was a good way to measure time. She had accepted that she was going to stay in that haze of being till she eventually succumbed to hunger,  when things started happening in her little world, or more accurately to her little world. 
“Hurry up, haven’t got all day! Get these crates off!”
The sound of men grunting and crates banging on metal filled the room outside her box. Gradually the sounds grew louder and louder until they sounded like they were right next to her.
“We fucking done yet?” A high raspy voice said
“Ye ask me that every ten minutes and the answer’s always the same. No we ain’t fucking done yet!” Said a deeper, equally raspy voice.
“Must be getting close though.”
“You got fucking eyes don’t ya!”
“But I can’t see! It’s just a wall of cates.”
“Listen mother- oh yeah, we only got a couple more rows left.”
“What it must be like being tall.”
“Least you don’t have to worry about hittin’ your head all the time.” Cee’s box jostled as they picked her up. “Fuck this one’s heavy.”
“Huh, oh sorry didn’t know you were going for that one.”
“Which other one would I be going for!”
Cee felt herself tilt dangerously, followed by the feeling of falling. A violent stop, a loud crash. Light flooded the box.
“Look what ye did now!”
“What I did, you were the one who dropped it!” Cee heard footsteps coming towards her.
 They’re going to kill you. Cee scrambled out of the cracked crate on all fours like a cornered animal.
“What is that?” Said the deeper voice.
Whipping around to face her attackers Cee was able to put faces to the voices. The man who had just spoken, with the deeper voice, was the taller of the two. Head nearly scraping the roof of the cargo hold. His build was broad and muscular, to the point of being freakishly large. He wore no shirt and from what she could see was completely hairless. Reminding her of a large muscular baby. The second in stark contrast was short, even shorter than Cee. His frame was wiry and his movements sharp like he was experiencing occasional electric shocks that caused him to gesture wildly. His hair stood in thin wispy shocks like they too were in the midst of enduring electrocution. Both men wore large gas masks.
“Well, it seems to be a girl.” Said the wiry man “I know you don’t see many of them George but even you should know that.”
“I mean why is she here you idiot.” said George.
“Yeah, I knew that.” The small man said.
Cee straightened up while they spoke, eyes darting frantically. Looking for any kind of escape. She could see exactly one way out, an open cargo door that sloped down to the ground. Directly behind the two men.
“Must be a stowaway.” said George.
“Hey there girl.” The short wiry man said. “Didn’t anyone tell you that pretty little things shouldn’t go wandering out on your own.” Cee could swear she saw the man lick his lips. He suddenly looked a lot scarier than he had moments before. “How bout you let uncle Zue take care of you.” The electricity shot through him as he reached out towards Cee.Things seemed to move in slow motion.
 If you let him get a hold of you, you're finished. As the man known as Zue tried to grasp her. Cee, almost without thinking, swung her leg up with all the force she could muster. Her foot connected with the man’s most tender region with a crack. Zue’s expression of gut wrenching hunger shifted to surprise then anguish as the hand that was reaching towards Cee moved to cup the recipient of her attack. As Zue fell to the ground Cee darted past both the men to the exit.
The men had unloaded most of the cargo hold. Only a small section of the creates remained, besides a half-full floating cart there was nothing between her and her escape. Stepping outside the door of the ship was like running headlong into a wall of smoke and ash. The shock of the hot acidic smoke filling her every orifice sent Cee into a fit of coughing and weezing. Leaving her writhing on the ground clutching her face in an unsuccessful attempt at filtering out some of the smoke. A large rough hand gripped the back of her shirt. Lifting her up to its eye level. They were even bigger than George. Through eyes clouded with tears from the stinging smoke. Cee could see the man's face, or what parts of it weren’t covered, which wasn’t much. The man was wearing a black mask over his mouth and nose as well as absurdly oversized black tinted goggles. Cee wondered briefly how he could see through the dim smoky light, with the heavily tinted goggles. Then she decided that he reminded her of a character in a story she had read. Something about magic powers and swords made of light.
“This one, one of ours?” His voice boomed through the smoke.
 Enough thinking about books, it’s time to be afraid.
“She stowed away in one of the crates!” George’s voice came from the door behind her.
“Where’s the leaf?” The man said, still holding her off the ground like a doll. Cee kicked her legs about failing to find any purchase.  However she did succeed in landing a few blows  on the man’s shins, to little effect.
“It’s about half there. I imagine she threw the rest into the sands when she stowed away.”
“So we lost half a crate.” He said “take her to the bridge, we’ll deal with her later. Getting the ship unloaded is the top priority.”
“We’re almost done boss!” George said.
“Then hurry up and finish.”
Cee began to struggle again before feeling a heavy impact to the back of her head. Her world faded to black with an ear spitting ring. 

Cee groaned and gasped for breath. With all her strength she pried her eyes open. Thankfully there was no burn of thick black smoke rushing into her eyes and lung, small victories. Slowly the word around her came into focus. She was sitting on a rather comfortable chair, looking out a large window. Red letters would flash across the window. They informed her of things like engine temperature, battery percentage, solar input and countless other words and phrases she didn’t understand, or at the very least had no frame of reference for. Behind these words that faded in and out of existence was a view of a large factory that constantly issued smoke from its soaring towers. It looked like an evil king's fortress, the whole thing stained pitch black by its own pollutants. 
 We must be at the factory that processes raw violet leaf. she thought. She tried to stand but found her arms and legs tethered to the chair by cold metal cuffs. She heard the sound of a door opening and closing behind her. The slow rhythmic pounding of heavy boots on the iron floor. Stepping into her field of vision was a tall woman. Cee imagined it was this women people pictured when they thought “amazonian warrior”. Each muscle perfectly chiselled as she moved, as if she was a statue brought to life. Her long black hair hung down in a single braid. Her coppery skin, the same as Cee’s. If she described the woman in one word it would be “ravishing”. 
 No, that's a lie, she thought.  Scary also describes her pretty well.
“Glad you’re awake.” She said in a slow voice, positively dripping with confidence.
 I’ve heard that voice before she thought. A little different, less muffled, but the same calm self assured quality about it. Tall doesn’t really do her justice. Cee gave her a closer examination.
 She’s more like a massive immovable tower. She could dwarf any man by mere presence alone. Then it hit her where she knew this woman.
“You’re the one that picked me up outside the ship!” Cee said 
“Awe you remember me.” the woman said. The sound of the automatic door returned, accompanied by a new set of footsteps. These ones were lighter and more hurried than the woman’s had been.
“Vice captain Mora has the stowaway woken yet?” A squeamish voice came from behind Cee. She saw a flash of annoyance cross Mora’s face.
“Yes sir, it appears she has just woken.”
“Good, good, you haven’t done anything nasty to her I hope. I’m the Captain, that's my job.” The man let out a high pitched laugh, closer to a squeal.
Mora winced. “Of course not captain, in fact I was just about to come get you.”
“Good girl,” a small, round man with a large moustache and obnoxiously large tricorn hat came into Cee’s line of vision. “And here I thought we wouldn’t get along. ‘Wouldn’t trust that Mora with making lunch,’ everyone said. I told them, ‘I'm sure she makes a mighty fine sandwich,’ I said.” The man let out his high pitched laugh again. Like nails on a chalkboard. “Now hello there darling. What is a young thing like you doing stowing away on a corporate cargo ship.” he smiled menacingly. Cee said nothing to the ball like man. She wondered how he could speak so much without stopping for breath.
 He must be some sort of robot from the floating cities.
“Awe she’s a shy one, isn’t she. Well I’m sure we can get her talking. We have our ways, don't we Mora.” The man laughed again.
 Burn it with fire. The man took a large gulp of air, preparing to launch into another rant but Mora interrupted him.
“Captain you’re a busy man, why don’t you leave the girl with me. I’ll find out what she’s doing on the ship. Go deal with more important matters.”
“Yes, yes of course.” The man cleared his throat. “I’m quite busy, many important matters to deal with, pressing issues.”
“I’ll deal with the stowaway.” Mora said.
“Fine then I’ll leave her to you. Just make sure I get my money back somehow. The company's money, more importantly. She’s a pretty girl. I'm sure you can think of something.” The captain straightened himself up and puffed out his chest, in a way that looked particularly uncomfortable. He hurried from the room. Cee couldn’t help wondering if he would roll if pushed.
“Well, least I got rid of him.” Mora sighed in relief.
“He sounds like he’s running on the tips of his toes.” Cee said. Mora settled her leaded gaze on Cee sending shivers up her spine. Then, surprisingly, Mora laughed. Her laugh was full and deep. When Mora laughed she did it with her whole body. A sharp contrast to the captain’s screeching caw.
“I like you,” Mora said, collecting herself.
“Does that mean you’ll let me off?” Cee asked hopefully. 
Mora laughed again. “Oh no definitely not.” She pulled up a chair and sat across from Cee. Mora straddled the chair like you would a horse. Or how Cee had seen people straddle horses in books. Her arms draped across the backrest. “I’m not going to ask you why you stowed away. I’m going to guess you’re running from a bad situation.” Cee averted her gaze, staring at her lap. “Figured,” said Mora. “Look what the Captain said was true, you are good looking. If a little rough around the edges. I can use that.”
Cee swallowed, “ look, umm, I know I’m not really in a negotiating position but…”
“Don’t worry I’m not going to ask you to kill anyone or anything. I’ll handle that part.”
“Well that’s a relief I guess, but what I was going to say was that, I don’t really go for all that… stuff.”
“Stuff?”
“Well… you know… the romance… sex stuff.”
“Nobody’s asking you to fall in love, with any luck nothing will actually happen.”
“Still…”
“Look I can’t change the fact that you ruined a crate of product. It’s helping me or we sell you for scrap. I don’t think you’d be much good as labour. Imagine what they’d be buying you for.”
Cee shuddered, “ Alright I’ll help you, don’t have much of a choice.”
“That’s right you don’t! Glad we understand each other.” Mora flashed a brilliant smile. Somehow simultaneously cruel and sympathetic. “Look, if you help me I’ll do my best to make sure things don’t go too far.”
“Thank you,” Cee couldn’t help but admire the woman, despite the extortion.
“I like you.” Mora said again, “I don’t like putting kids in danger. But, help me with this and you’ll have no more debt to pay.” Cee nodded, still not looking at the vice captain. Her restraints suddenly retracted back into the seat and Cee looked up meeting Mora’s gaze. Mora smiled at Cee again, warmer this time.

Cee plodded down a long deserted corridor. Time slowed with each step she took towards the large wooden door at the end of the hall. An eternity later she stood in front of the massive door. It seemed twice the size of the hall she had just walked down. The door itself was stained almost black, decorated with intricate carvings of sailors like the ones she’d seen in books. In styles that were ancient at the dawn of the sands. She stood there at the door unable to take another step. 
 I’ve never been so uncomfortable in my life
 At least Mora thinks you look hot. Cee stood in the cold lifeless hallway, wearing the most revealing clothes she had ever seen, let alone worn herself. Lingerie Mora had called it.
 If Mora says it, it must be true, she’s attractive right?
 The idea of it is just so gross.
Mora had given her a little more information on the plan. Though Cee suspected that she was still hiding a lot. Cee’s job was to distract the Captain for as long as possible. The man had the whole ship under surveillance, and all the monitors were in his room. Cee guessed he didn’t trust anyone else to monitor them. She had to keep his eyes off those monitors. Mora wouldn’t tell her why, but Cee would do the job. She didn’t really have much of a choice.
Cee shivered at the thought of what she was about to do.  I never wanted to do anything like this.
 Who cares, you don’t have to like it, you're doing it to survive.
 He’s so gross.
 All humans are gross, you wouldn’t do  that with any of them if you had a choice. However, you don’t have a choice. Now do your job before whatever Mora’s plan goes up in flames and they sell you for scrap.
Cee knocked on the door hesitantly. The captain opened the door before she’d even finished. He stood there shirtless, his ghostly pale chest moist despite the cold air. His expression quickly changed from one of annoyance to one of surprise, to one of hunger.  Cee could feel the nausea welling up in her stomach. She could nearly see the man’s mouth watering as his eyes flickered over her flimsy coverings. 
“Well this is a surprise.” He had to pause to swallow the excess saliva. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“May I come in?” She said in her best shy little girl voice.
 You have to survive.
“Why of course, what kind of heartless man would I be to deny such a maiden? No man at all I would say.” He stepped aside, his eyes bulging. Reminding Cee of pictures of fish she’d seen. “Come in, come in!” He said hurriedly.
 At any cost. Cee stepped inside tentatively as the man ushered her over to his bed. Practically pushing her onto it.
“Could I get you a drink?” he asked. 
“Sure,” Cee said. She had no intention of actually drinking but she figured the man would be more at ease if he thought she was.
“Excellent, excellent” he scrambled over to a small table which had a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses. The wall opposite the table was entirely covered in monitors, showing different angles of every part of the ship. Cee couldn’t help noticing more monitors showing supposedly private areas namely bedrooms and bathrooms. 
 So that’s what I have to distract him from. The Captain returned to the bed with an excited shuffle, carrying two glasses of red wine. The Captain took a sip from his glass, his eyes roaming over Cee the entire time.
“Drink, drink!” he said. Cee quietly sipped from her glass, yet didn’t swallow it. “So can I ask why this unexpected visit?” The Captain looked towards his wall of monitors while he said this. Giving Cee an opportunity to spit the wine back into the glass. “Not that it’s unwelcome!” The man's head snapped suddenly back to Cee. “Don’t get me wrong, you're very, very welcome.”
“Thank you” Cee let out her most convincing giggle. “Actually, I am here for a reason.”
“Of course you are beautiful.” 
“Well, Mora said you were going to sell me for scrap, that I should.” Cee cleared her throat. “I should make my usefulness known.”
“Ah yes well I do need to get my value back from the crate you ruined.” He slid his hand around Cee’s waist. “There are other ways you could earn it back.” The man smiled a smile that made Cee want to gag. Behind the captain a man's head exploded, covering the camera in gore. If Cee hadn’t wanted to gag before she most certainly did now. Through the gore Cee saw a tall woman replace the dead man at the ship’s controls. Across the other monitors more people dropped dead. The engines roared to life and the ship began to lift from the docks.
“What the hell! We shouldn’t be moving yet!” The captain began to turn towards the monitors. Halfway through his turn Cee desperately grabbed his face on either side. Pulling his face to face hers She stared into his eyes they were dark and preetory. He attacked her lips. It was her first ever kiss. One more than she had ever wanted, and definitely not with this man.
 This is disgusting.
 Try your best not to vomit.
 That’s harder than it sounds. The muscles in the man’s body tensed as he threw himself into the kiss. I think I’ve managed to distract him.
 Here comes his tongue.
 No, no, no, no, no!
 You should bite it off.
 Make it stop please. Cee glanced past the man to check the monitors. It was utter chaos. There were bodies and blood everywhere. Cee thought, hoped, that  she saw a tall menacing woman in the hallways. Heading towards the captains quarters.
The Captain slurped his excess spit and disconnected himself from her lips. “Oh yeah baby.” He wheezed into her ear. This time Cee did gag. The man consumed her lips again, deciding not to notice.
 You think that he would notice I wasn’t that interested.
 You could drop dead right now and he would probably just continue as is. A pain shot through her shoulder as the man grasped it in a vice-like grip. Forcing her down onto the bed. Staining the bedsheets red with wine. 
The doors exploded inward with a defining blast. The Captain’s attention on Cee was broken. He ceased his assault and turned towards the door. Before he could do anything the small moist skinned man was lifted by his wrists like a child would they’re toy.
“That’s enough Captain.” The slow, calm, confident voice said.
“How dare you! I will have you killed! I have friends, powerful friends! The crew will throw you to the sands.” The Captain’s voice came out in a high pitched squeal, like a pig before slaughter. Cee sat up to see The Captain dangling a foot above the ground, kicking and squealing. Mora stood with a bemused smile on her face.
“Shut up.” Mora commanded. The man opened his mouth to say more but was, perhaps for the first time in his life, at a loss for words. “Your crews dead, another word and you’ll be following them.”  The Captain shook like a leaf in a strong breeze. “There we are, see we can get along.” Mora pulled out a knife with her free hand. A liquid dripped from the man’s trousers to an expanding puddle on the floor. “Relax, just making sure you can’t alert the authorities.” Mora brought the knife to his wrist, plunged the metal into his skin and pried out a small metallic square that emitted a blue light. The small chip fell to the floor followed by the former captain as Mora released her grip. The man curled into a ball and grasped at the piece of metal that had been in his wrist moments before. Mora stepped over the man lying in his urine on the floor, handing Cee a set of proper clothes. Not her own, but of a nicer quality than what she’d had at the farm.
“You did well, thank you.” said Mora.
Cee took the clothes from Mora, feeling a massive weight lift from her. As the tension fell off her the dam holding back everything she’d been feeling gave way. Cee grabbed the fringe of Mora’s jacket and brought it to her face. Staining it with tears and snot. Mora gently set her hand on Cee’s head.
Cee regained her composure as much as she could with snot still running from her nose. Cee threw the clothes over the scraps of fabric she already had on. Mora draped her harm around Cee and led her from the room, dragging the former captain behind them.

The cold night air bit at her skin. Sand whirled through  the air carried by the gusting winds. The crew that were still alive stood on the deck of the ship, which was essentially a flat section on the top of the titanic metal hull that made up the ship. Everyone wore masks and goggles to protect themselves from the sand. They stood around a small, round, almost naked man. Who stood there exposed to the elements, trembling furiously. 
“I can’t believe you would do this to me!” The small squeaky man screamed. “Was I not good to you?”
“Not particularly no,” said one of the mutineers. He was securing the captain with heavy chains. “But you know, this is purely a business decision, better profit split with Mora and we can work outside corporate contracts, if you catch my drift.”
“You won’t get away with this!” said the ex-captain.
“Really? Who's going to stop us?”
Cee stood in the corner of the deck leaning against a railing. Trying and failing to stay out of the sand. Mora approached the man in chains, She wore the black mask and goggles she had worn at Cee’s first meeting with her. Mora slowly led the man to the edge of the deck.
“Well I would love to say it’s been a pleasure.” Mora unlocked the latch on the railing causing it to swing outwards. Leaving nothing but space between them and the rolling sands beneath. “But it hasn’t really. Cee how bout you join us over here?” said Mora. Cee moved over to Mora and her crew of mutineers. Unable to look at the chained man teetering on the edge of the deck.
“Hey my little girl!” The ex-captain pleaded. “You wouldn’t let me die right? You don’t want me to die! Remember that beautiful moment we shared? Tell them to spare me and we can finish what we started. I’ll take you to the city, we can live there together.” She met his gaze. She hated him. More than she imagined she could hate anyone. She wanted him to die. To not be able to hurt anyone ever again.
 Kill him, one little push and it’ll be over. He’ll be over.
 I’m not a killer.
 You know you want to.
 I’m not a killer.
 He deserves it.
“I wanted to give you the opportunity.” Mora snapped Cee from her thoughts. “Figured you might want the honour.”
“Please my beautiful little girl wouldn’t do that. We have a special bond.” The man's confidence that they were somehow close made her sick. Mora giving her the go ahead sealed the man’s fate. She knew then that she was going to be the one to kill this pathetic excuse for a human being. Cee placed her hands on the man’s shoulder, bringing her face down to his.
“See I knew it! You felt it too. Now pull me in!”
Cee slowly moved her lips to his ear and whispered. “Goodbye.” With that she pushed the ex-captain off the edge of what hours ago was his own ship. Cee watched as the chain wrapped body spun in the wind falling closer and closer to the sands beneath. She watched as the body was swallowed by the sand. She continued to watch long after it was certain that he would never again breathe the air.