John had managed to bluff his way over to Charrack's cell and take the guards down. Now he was getting punched in the face by the person he came to rescue. He tumbled on the ground, the glasses shattering and cutting his cheek.
"Dude! You broke doctor Newman's glasses!" He shouted at Charrack.
Charrack ignored him and lumbered over to the guard that lay on the ground with a dislocated shoulder. He stopped down and tore the arm off her body. The guard let out an ear piercing scream and curled up in a ball.
John pulled the glasses off his face, "Charrack what is wrong with you?"
"I'm hungry and she said her family tasted good." Charrack took a bite out of the bicep and nodded approvingly.
John was bewildered by his new behavior. He assumed whatever they had done to get information could have caused severe brain damage.
"Do you think we can get out of here without, um, eating any more people." As John looked at Charrack tearing chunks of flesh off the arm he threw up in his mouth.
Charrack snapped the forearm and sucked out the bone marrow, "Why should I trust you?"
"It's me, John."
Charrack looked the strange man up and down, "You humans all look alike. And I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place if it wasn't for you."
John looked around them incredulously, "What are you talking about? You would still be locked in a cell: no, you would have died in the trenches if it wasn't for me."
"From where I stand," Charrack picked his teeth as he spoke, "I'd be better off dead than starving in a human prison."
"We have only been here for two days Charrack!" John couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Charrack shrugged and went back to eating. He didn't trust John anymore, he just waited for him to make a false move so he could knock him out and take off running.
John picked up a baton and twirled it in his fingers. He couldn't force Charrack to follow him, nor could he knock him out and drag him along. But how could he convince him they were on the same side?
"Look Charrack, if we don't start moving, more guards are going to show up and put us both in cells."
"Fine by me," Charrack bit down on another chunk of human flesh.
John tugged at his hair in frustration, "Doctor Newman gave us an open path to get out of the facility, I'm guessing through a portal. If we don't go now, it'll be too late."
Charrack perked up at the mention of the doctor, "She's helping us escape?"
John saw his opportunity to get through to him and took it, "Yeah, she was really impressed by you and didn't want the military to keep you locked up, so she helped me get you out."
John bit his lip and watched Charrack nibble on the fingers as he thought it over. At last he nodded and dropped the mangled, and mostly consumed, arm on the ground.
"By the way," he said to the guard, "you actually do taste delicious."
The two companions rushed off down an empty hallway to find a portal.
"Do you know of anywhere safe we can hide?" John asked Charrack.
Charrack shook his head, "Not since the war. All the hunting grounds have been turned into outposts, and my people won't accept us anymore."
"What about another planet like the one we were at before?"
Charrack racked his brain as they rushed past half a dozen different quarantine storage rooms. He wasn't familiar with any unexplored planets, and places ruined by war could be unstable.
"Maybe we are thinking about this the wrong way," he suggested.
John signaled for a halt and peered around a corner, "You mean hijack a spaceship instead of going through a portal?"
"You know, I hadn't thought of that." Charrack mused.
The idea of hijacking a ship my have seemed good at the moment, but there were long term issues with it as well. Another problem was they would be doing it all on their own, Sarah could probably open a door for them, but to help them steal from the military was another thing altogether.
The checkpoint ahead was unmanned at the moment, which must have been a sign that Sarah had cleared it for them. They rushed through without a word and continued on their way.
"Do you know where to find the portals?" Charrack asked.
John answered tentatively, "Kinda. I'm looking for a sign that says 'portal hub' or something like that."
Charrack picked John up off the ground and skidded to a halt, "Are you serious?"
John held his palms out on either side of his chest, "Yes?"
Charrack switched to the Valk language, "Stupid human you are going to get us lost."
"You want a more definite sign?" John responded in the same language, "we just have to follow the path of checkpoints that aren't manned, because 'Sarah' cleared them."
Charrack huffed and dropped John, "Lead on."
John led the way through two more checkpoints that were abandoned before they ran into Sarah, standing outside of an open door.
"What took you so long? Get in!" She ushered for the two to enter the room.
Charrack stooped his head down to fit through the doorway and John followed close behind. Once they were all inside, Sarah locked the door and they let out a collective sigh.
The small room was bare, except for a portal that stood against the far wall. It remained inactive at the moment but it was hooked up to the power grid.
Sarah turned to the John and squinted, "Where are my glasses."
John laughed nervously, "We may have broken them between my face and his fist."
Charrack half smiled and lowered his head.
Sarah smiled at him and shrugged, "I can always get a new pair. Right now we need to focus on getting you out of here. Have you figured out a safe place to portal to?"
Charrack shook his head, "About that, my people won't exactly lend us a helping hand either, so we don't know anywhere that is safe."
Sarah sighed and pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket, "I thought that may be the case, so I grabbed this."
John unfolded the paper to reveal a map of portal accessable planets. Some he recognized as active warzones, others as resource bases, but there were a few that seemed unfamiliar.
"Is there anywhere that doesn't have an active military presence?" John asked.
Sarah nodded and pointed to a planet closer to Earth, "Resort planets like Isa are privately operated, the military has no jurisdiction on private property."
Charrack nodded enthusiastically, "Then let's go there."
Sarah shook her head, "Unless you want to freeze to death, I wouldn't. Isa is a glacial resort. You would solidify within minutes if you didn't go with proper cold weather gear."
"Wouldn't they put the entrance indoors?" John asked.
"Well, it is." Sarah explained, "but the entire resort is kept below freezing temperatures as part of the experience. I went there once before, but we had to enter in winter coats and such."
"Where would you suggest?" Charrack asked.
"Probably the 'House of Poseidon', it's a water resort. Well the whole planet is one big ocean. It's really beautiful."
John thought about their other options, but he couldn't think of any, "as long as you believe it is safe we should be fine. It's not like we're going on vacation or anything."
"But we might as well have fun." Charrack grinned.
"You won't exactly blend in Charrack, I don't think any planet on our chart will be safe, or fun." Sarah pointed out.
A banging was heard on the door, causing John to rush over to the inactive portal and switch the panel on.
Sarah Newman responded to the pounding, "What do you want?"
The answer came, "we are searching all the portal rooms to make sure the escaped prisoners haven't gotten through."
"Wonderful, you go check the other rooms. I'm waiting for my assistant to return, now get out of here." Sarah gestured for John to hurry up.
"Isn't there somewhere better we can go? Maybe a forest lodge would work." He whispered.
Sarah rolled her eyes, "check the Markland Lodge."
John looked for it on the list and started inputting the portal code in the panel.
The man outside the room knocked again, "I'm going to need to see your ID, now open the door "
"Give me a minute!" Sarah yelled.
Charrack looked back at her as the portal sprang to life, "Won't you come with us?"
"Just go Charrack, don't worry about me." She gave him one last smile as John pulled him through the portal....