FORTY-FOUR
The far end of the Monstrum Ship seemed to grow darker as they left the Transport Hub. At first Christine thought she was imagining it, but their surroundings got dimmer and dimmer until it was so dark that she wouldn’t have been able to see where she was going if there hadn’t been strips of glowing blossoms planted in rows, which made a winding path for them to follow. She remembered that Commander Rarev had called this the “Dark Side” of the ship—apparently he hadn’t been kidding.
Just outside the perimeter of the lighted path, she could hear rustling, as though there was a vast forest on either side with immense trees swaying in the light breeze. It even smelled wild—there was a spicy scent on the wind that made her think of danger and adventure.
“Why does it have to be so dark on this end of the ship?” Christine asked, as she picked her way carefully down the glowing path. The blossoms here gave off a purple and blue glow, which reminded her of going to raves under black lights back when she’d been in college.
“Not all Monstrum are as adaptable to the light as the ones you have met so far,” Rarev answered. “Some of us are more…shall we say, animalistic than others and many of us are nocturnal.”
“Really?” Christine looked around, wide-eyed. After a moment, she saw several pairs of glowing eyes in the dark forest surrounding the path. A chill ran down her spine as she realized they were being watched.
“Yes, which is why those who are more adapted to the light, must stay on this path. I am afraid this area is where our more dangerous warriors are housed,” Rarev told her. “So please stay close by Emilia and me.”
He didn’t have to tell Christine twice. She had no desire to wander into the dark area surrounding them and be caught by a dangerous Monstrum. The only one she wanted was Roarn—she wondered how far they were from him now.
After walking down the winding path edged with glowing flowers for what seemed like a very long time, they at last came to an archway, which was lit with curling vines that glowed pink and gold like neon ropes. Within the archway were two metal doors, closed tight.
“Here we are—the holding cells.” Rarev put his hand to a panel on the wall and murmured something in a harsh language Christine couldn’t understand.
At once, the doors slid open, revealing a vast area that—while only dimly lit—was still considerably brighter than the dark forest they had just passed through. It was less like a jungle too, since the only vegetation was the glowing blossoms on their curling vines hanging from the ceiling. The ones in here had been cut quite short and to a uniform length so that they almost seemed businesslike.
The area was nearly as big as the Docking Bay but it was filled with large gray boxes—each one the size of a large room, Christine saw. Theses enormous room-boxes had opaque walls and no windows. Each had only a single door at one end.
“These are the holding cells,” Rarev explained. “Each is adapted to hold a different kind of Monstrum in his natural environment. See?”
He walked to the door of the nearest cell and placed a hand on the panel beside it. At once, the opaque walls of the cell went clear, so that Christine could see into the cell itself.
What she mainly saw was tropical plants—a kind of mini-jungle made up of dark blue and green and purple leaves and the ubiquitous glowing blossoms.
“This cell is empty, but it is much like the one Roarn is being housed in,” Rarev explained. “It is adapted to host a Felinus Monstrum. We have other cells that are for Monstrum who live in more desert-like areas and others for aquatic Monstrum as well.”
“Really?” Christine raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t know you had so many kinds of Monstrum—down on Earth, they’ve only talked about the ones like you and the Satyr guy, who was the first one of you to arrive.”
“That is because what the Earth press doesn’t know won’t hurt them,” Rarev said darkly. “We had a hard enough time getting them to accept Monstrum who looked like me, let alone those of us who look like this.”
He walked to another room and pressed his hand to the panel, causing the opaque walls to become clear.
This room was actually a giant tank, Christine saw. It was filled with deep purple water that looked nearly black near the bottom of the tank. Long tendrils of seaweed-type plants were waving in the currents and colorful anemones spread their petals, glowing neon yellow, orange, and pink.
At first Christine didn’t see anyone but the plants. Then, suddenly, there was a man in front of her, staring at her from the other side of the glass. But not really a man, she saw—or not completely a man—because the bottom half of him was a long fish tail with silver and blue scales. His eyes were luminous neon yellow like the anemones and his hair was jet black. It floated around his face, framing it in swirling darkness.