In Search of Home

Chapter 92

It took them three entire weeks to sort out the consequences of the accidental alien invasion, the subsequent abduction, the very not accidental return of abductees, and the hopeful offer of peace from said aliens. 

By the end of the first week, Viktor could tell Vok'Rul was getting irritated with how slow things were progressing. He was very vocal about it. 

"-and why must it be held in that stuffy, smelly old room? They're all so slow! Back and forth about acquiring gemstones, for Spirit's sake! A1-308 has so many; I don't care!" he seethed, pacing around Oskar and Viktor's room. His head brushed against the ceiling in certain places, but he was prowling around, hunched over like an angry ox, so it didn't seem to deter him too much. Or his rant. "Honestly, Kohgrash, I do not know how you coped with this for years of your life! And you're just a hatchling!!" 

Viktor, who was freshly seventeen now (his birthday had passed while he had been in the facility, ironically), simply scowled at him. "I am not a hatchling." 

"Of course not," Vok'Rul stopped in his pacing to look at him, any trace of annoyance leaving his expression. A slow smile curled on his face. "You're much too ugly to be a hatchling." 

The alien swiftly got a pillow to the face. 

"'Sides," Viktor grumped after crowing victory at the solid hit. "It's not like I followed politics very much before all this." His eyes wandered to the TV. It was on the news channels - all three of them wanted to keep track of the public's opinions, even if Vok'Rul's fascination with the news originated from the TV itself other than any other real interest in human opinions. So far, people seemed more curious than anything. The people who had been abducted had already gone so far as to conduct interviews through news outlets, TV show hosts, and other influencers. 

Most weren't awful, Viktor guessed. They talked of being treated like animals, but those who were treated well sang the aliens' praises. Others were neutral in their stances, talking more about the experience of being abducted than the actual daily life they had for over a year on the planet. 

Some, though... 

The first time he had seen Zach on the TV had been two and a half weeks after they had started the talks with the leaders of Earth. He and Vok'Rul had tiredly tromped through the hallways back to their rooms to recuperate when Oskar had exploded into the hallway with a deadly serious expression on his face. 

"You might wanna see this," was all he said. Viktor and Vok'Rul exchanged wary, weary looks and headed inside. 

He looked better - he was alive, which was what really mattered to Viktor - but from a healthy person's point of view, the man looked like he had just crawled out of Hell. Which was true. Hell on Earth, Zach had said, bitterly. 

His legs were gone. Amputation, his dad had explained, was done by Earth doctors as soon as Zach had gotten to one. Viktor could've figured that one out himself. The healing done by doctors on A1-308 was subpar for Zach. 

"You said that they experimented on you, Mr. Lowsky?" the interviewer said, pity written all over her face. Viktor didn't know how Zach could look at her with such a straight face. He didn't know how he could even be there with such a straight face. 

Zach nodded, a strange look flicking across his face. "For the first seven- no, eight, months that I was there, me and a few others were held captive in a warehouse. Cages were what we called home. We were forced to fight these monsters every single day. If we didn't, we didn't get meals or we got shocked. There was a..." Zach cleared his throat, shaking his head. "If I'm honest, Miss, that was heaven compared to where I spent the rest of my days on that wretched planet."