A single order came through the comms. The language was clearly not one used on Earth, and Leo didn’t remember studying anything like it before.
Still, for some odd reason, he was able to understand the language inherently.
"Did you understand that?" he asked Timmy, wondering if he was the only one.
"Sounded like gibberish to me," Timmy answered, completely honestly.
’Was I really imagining things? I could’ve sworn it said to keep us safe until we reach him,’ Leo thought, his mind already spiralling in confusion.
Meanwhile, the alien creature put the communicator back in his pocket and issued instructions to the others.
One of the aliens grabbed Leo by his collar, lifting him into the air to help him stand. Another alien did the same for Timmy.
Once both were standing, the leader of the alien group gestured for Leo to follow him.
The other aliens kept their plasma guns aimed at them, leaving the two men with no choice but to comply.
They were brought to the lowest floor of the grand ship, which was at least ten times larger than Timmy’s ship. This alien ship was so massive that it had completely swallowed Timmy’s ship, which was now resting in the hangar.
Leo and Timmy were tossed into the prison cells. These cells had no bars to block an escape. Instead of bars, there were cross-shaped lasers that only became active after the two of them were thrown inside.
Within the laser grid, even the widest square gap was only a few centimeters, barely enough to push a finger through.
After locking Leo and Timmy inside, the alien leader picked up a nearby metal block and tossed it toward the cell.
The metal block struck the laser and was immediately sliced into hundreds of small pieces before falling inside the prison cell.
The alien captain didn’t say anything else, but Leo understood the meaning clearly. He was warning them against attempting any escape, unless they wanted to be pulverized into smithereens.
The aliens soon left, not even leaving a single guard to watch the place. In any case, it was impossible for a mere human to escape.
The prison walls were made from reinforced Adementite, one of the strongest materials in the universe.
Even if they attacked the walls with their plasma cannons, they wouldn’t be able to make a small hole without firing constantly for days straight in the same spot.
As for passing through the lasers, that was even more impossible.
The aliens left the prison floor, with one returning to the command center of the ship and the others to their posts.
Soon, the giant ship started moving after being stationary for hours in the place where it had captured Timmy’s ship.
Two hours after the alien ship departed, another ship, similar in size to Timmy’s, passed through the area, albeit going in a different direction than the alien ship that had kidnapped Leo.
The alien ship had long left this space sector and was unable to sense the presence of this new ship. Similarly, the new ship was unaware that a foreign alien vessel had been present here only hours ago.
...
In the prison cell, Leo was sitting near the wall, his hand already aching badly since the chains hadn’t been removed. His hands were still tied behind his back just as tightly as ever.
"They could’ve at least freed our hands. It’s not as if we could escape this place." Leo grumbled in frustration.
"You should be glad that we are still alive," Timmy said, lying on the ground like a weak shrimp.
"For how long, that’s the question."
"Please don’t scare me more."
"Didn’t I tell you not to be scared? We still have Plan T, after all."
"Don’t give me false hope. Even though I don’t know Plan T, nothing can help us in this situation."
"Are you always this pessimistic?’ Leo shrugged his shoulders. Even though he was in a bad situation, he preferred to think of a solution than to sulk.
"I didn’t used to be in the past. But after meeting a certain someone, I am starting to lose hope in life," Timmy weakly said.
"Yeah, there are some really bad people in this world. Fortunately you met me. With time, you’ll learn how useful it is to never lose hope."
Leo pushed his back against the wall and placed all his strength in his legs to push his body up.
’I am talking about you, you devil! Ever since I met you, I’ve been in a crash, I’ve been surrounded by the Hero Tower’s forces and now I’ve been kidnapped. You bad luck reincarnate!’
Timmy was screaming in his mind but he didn’t dare express this out loud.
He didn’t know that Leo had already stood up. It was only when he heard the sound of footsteps that he turned around.
"What are you doing?" He was shocked as he watched Leo approach the laser grid. "Are you trying to kill yourself before the others can?"
"Don’t worry. I have no plans to die anytime soon." Leo stopped just before the laser grid.
He observed the laser grid extremely carefully, as if he was trying to memorize everything about it.
After memorizing the laser grid, he looked down and memorized his footing and even the smallest of details. He closed his eyes and made some calculations before opening his eyes to once again confirm his observations.
"This should work...," he mumbled, taking a deep breath. He slowly and very carefully turned around, making very precise foot movements as per his calculations.
"I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?"
"My future itself is looking like bad news at this point. So please tell me some good news. Did you find a way to help us escape?" Timmy looked at Leo with eyes filled with expectations. Did this man really think of a way out? Is that why he looked so confident?
"The good news is that..." Leo didn’t finish his sentence as he took a step back, moving his arms closer to the laser.
He didn’t see behind him, so everything depended on his memories and his movements.
"The good news is that these Aliens really underestimated us a lot."