Kidnaped

Second place winner of "Write the Next Disney Movie" contest

Kidnaped

          "Hold on, Freddy. This is going to be close." Mark crouched down on the skate board and slid under the security railing at the subway station. "Make way! Coming through!" Passengers scattered as the teenage boy, with a pet ferret around his neck, made his way to the open doors of the train. "Made it!" The doors closed as Mark and Freddy skidded to a stop inside.

          "Watch it, kid," yelled a well-dressed man he had almost bumped into.

          Mark ignored the man and sat on a nearby bench. "One quick trip downtown for some milk, and we'll head home for supper."

          Climbing down from his master's shoulder, Freddy jumped into the boy's lap and curled into a ball. He stayed this way until the train reached the next station.

          As the two friends prepared to leave, two strange creatures were watching the passengers get off the train from behind one of the station's pillars.

          "What about that one?" said the pig-faced creature with short black hair. He pointed a muscular arm in Mark's direction.

          "What? That woman. Much too big," said the green, lizard-faced humanoid.

          "No, no. The boy with the short black hair." Pig-face pointed a thick, black fingernail at Mark.

          "Isn't he a little young?" The lizard-man scratched his scaley head and looked at the boy.

          "No, I think he's old enough." Pig-face pulled a metal stick from a pocket of his gray uniform and pointed it at Mark. At the push of a button, a small dart flew out of the device and hit the boy.

          As Mark's body collapsed to the ground, Freddy climbed into the boy's backpack and hid.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          Several hours later, Mark awoke in a strange place.

          Where am I? This whole room is made of metal. Mark lifted his head from the soft pad he was lying on. What is that strange humming noise I hear? He got up and moved around the room, but the noise grew neither louder nor softer in any one part of the room. Wait, the wall seems different here. He examined the wall and noticed the outline of a door.

          "Hey! Is anyone out there?" Mark pounded on the door, but no response came. "Get me out of here! I don't like this room." He kicked the door, causing the whole room to ring with the sound.

          "Quiet in there!" came a male voice from the other side of the door.

          "Let me out!" Mark yelled. "This humming sound is driving me crazy."

          "What humming sound?" The voice asked. "Oh, you must mean the sound of the engines. I've been down here so long I don't notice them anymore."

          "Where am I and where's my ferret?" asked Mark.

          "You're in a prison cell in the belly of our spaceship, The Digget. I thought I saw a furry creature with you when we knocked you out, but I don't know where it went."

          "What about my backpack?" Mark asked.

          "Don't worry. Your stuff is safe." The door slid open and the lizard-man walked into the room carrying a large stick. "Now be quiet and get moving."

          The lizard-man guided Mark down a long metal-walled corridor with pipes and tubes running all along the sides. Every few feet, a fluorescent light was set in the ceiling.

          "This hallway isn't very friendly looking." Mark looked at the cracks in the walls and the poorly repaired pipes. "You should take better care of this place."

          "Quiet!" said the guard. "How we look after our ship is of no concern to you."

          "Fine." Mark climbed a steel ladder at the end of the hall. "I'm just glad I don't live here."

          The lizard-man let out a deep chuckle that Mark didn't like at all.

          At the top of the ladder, Mark could see that they had entered the living quarters. The walls were still metal, but there were doors set into the walls every twenty feet. Several of the doors were open, and many different alien creatures could be seen in the rooms. As Mark walked down the hall, he noticed a girl in one of the rooms. She was small and thin, like him, but her skin had a blue tinge and her hair was purple. A small, hairless, pink creature was wrapping her leg with gauze.

          "How's the patient, Doc?" asked the guard.

          "She won't be able to walk for a couple of weeks, but she seems to be all right otherwise." The doctor put some tools in a bag and walked out of the room.

          "Hi, Suzie," said the guard. "Meet your replacement." He pushed the boy forward. "Why don't you introduce yourself?"

          "Hi, I'm Mark." He walked forward with his hand outstretched.

          "Not so close. You can look but don't touch." The guard pulled Mark back into the hall.

          "Hi, pleased to meet you." Suzie picked up a pair of crutches leaning against the wall and stood to her feet. "I'm sorry you had to get involved in all this."

          "Involved in what?" Mark looked at the guard and then back at the girl.

          "Oh! No one's told you yet." Suzie waited for Mark and the guard to move out of the door way.

          "We're on our way to talk to the captain right now." The lizard-man held Mark back with one arm until Suzie had moved into the hallway. "I think he wants you there as well, if you're feeling up to it."

          "I'm fine. Let's go." Suzie led the way and the other two followed.

          After passing through a few more hallways, the group entered a nicer part of the ship. The walls were all polished and there were lamps set into the walls. A finely crafted wooden door stood at the end of the hall. The smell of flowers could be detected in the air.

          Suzie knocked on the door, and after a moment, opened it.

          Inside Mark could see beautiful rugs covering the floors. The walls were paneled with wood and the floor was polished stone. Well-crafted furniture was everywhere, including a long wooden desk. Behind the desk, sitting in a green padded chair, was a thin man with bark-like skin and green hair. The smell of flowers was stronger now. Mark could see several beautiful plants placed in various parts of the room.

          "Ah, our new driller has arrived." The man stood up and looked at the lizard-man. "You may leave now."

          The lizard-man nodded and left the room.

          "Let's have a look at you." The captain walked around the desk and looked Mark over. "Yes, I believe you will fit. In case you're wondering, you have been brought here to pilot our drilling machine. It was designed to drill through narrow veins of gold, but it needs a small, skilled person to run it. Suzie was our pilot until her accident, so you will be taking her place. Any questions?"

          "Yes. Where's my backpack?" Mark asked. All this craziness about piloting a drilling machine could wait.

          "It should be in storage room three. You better start training, kid. We arrive at Ebsol Five in two days. You may leave now." The captain returned to his chair and looked at some charts on his desk.

          "Come with me." Suzie led the way down a flight of stairs into an area of the ship Mark hadn't seen before. Large doors with strange symbols could be seen along the hallway. "Here we are, number three."

          Mark pulled on the long steel handle and opened the door. Inside were many boxes and bags on rows upon rows of shelves. Suddenly, there was a squeal of joy and a blur of brown fur ran out from under one of the shelves. "Freddy, you're all right." Mark picked up his ferret and spun in a circle. "Now, I need to find a way out of here."

          "What!" Suzie had to stop and regain her balance. "You can't possibly get away. There are too many guards."

          "How many mining machines do you have?" Mark pulled his backpack out from under a shelf and put it on.

          "Well, two. But the drill is broken on one of them," Suzie said.

          "That's okay. We don't need the drill." Mark searched the shelves for anything that might be useful. "Hey, food pellets. We can use these."

          "What are you doing?" Suzie walked over to the box Mark had opened. "There's food in the kitchen, if you're hungry."

          "Maybe later. We still have two days to get ready." Mark turned around and looked at Suzie. "Do you think you'll be able to walk by then?"

          "I guess. The doctor made the damage seem worse than it really was so that I could get some rest." Suzie looked down at her swollen ankle. "I didn't think the captain would find someone to take my place. Sorry."

          "That's all right." Mark headed for the door. "I'll need some practice in the mining machines if my plan is going to work. Let's go."

          "If you say so." Susan led the way to the training area.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          Over the next couple of days, Mark learned all he could about the mining equipment. He and Suzie were left alone most of the time and they became good friends. Freddy helped out by caring some of the tools needed to look after the equipment.

          About the time Mark was beginning to understand the equipment, the spaceship as orbiting Ebsol Five.

          "The ship will stay here, while we enter the nearby asteroids." Suzie helped Mark into his spacesuit. "Do you really think your plan will work?"

          "I don't plan to be a slave the rest of my life. Let's do it!" Mark opened the door into the hanger and got into the newer mining pod. "Do you remember the plan?"

          "I'll be ready." Suzie leaned over and gave Mark a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful, okay."

          "Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Mark closed the hatch and prepared to leave.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

          "I'm having a hard time controlling the suit," Mark said, as the mining pod collided with the ship. "Sorry, about that."

          "Careful," a voice said over the radio. "You'll damage the forward guns."

          "Darn, I pushed the wrong button." Mark turned on the drill and dragged it across the side of the ship, damaging most of the gun ports in the process.

          "Hey, you did that on purpose." The voice sounded angry now.

          Mark shut off the drill. That should be enough damage to help us get away. He changed the radio frequency and contacted the other pod. "Time to go."

          "Okay, I'm on my way," Suzie's distorted voice responded.

          The hatch opened and the other mining pod flew out and joined the first. The spaceship started to turn so that the undamaged guns could target the two pods.

          "Return now or we'll blast you into space dust." Although it was distorted, Mark could tell it was the captain's voice.

          "Sorry, we can't do that." Mark shut off the radio and steered the pod toward the asteroids.

          Some laser fire tried to cut off their escape, but the guns were not lined up properly. By the time the ship had turned all of its guns on the fleeing couple, they had the full cover of the asteroid field.

          Mark turned the radio back to the other pod's frequency. "All right! We did it."

          "But what should we do now?" Suzie asked.

          "Let's go home. My mother must be wondering what happened to her milk."

          "Milk?"

          "It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way." Mark steered his pod through the asteroids and Suzie followed.