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only seeing the big picture isn’t enough. That’s not what inspires loyalty. Take a good look at the Humans. All of them want to find Zack, and I think if you’d just use his name, he may actually matter more to you. At least it would show the Humans that you understand how difficult this is for them, and that the burden is shared in some small way,” Gaarokk said.
    Kladomaor didn’t say anything. It was for these moments that he had brought the scientist along. None of his soldiers would question him the way Gaarokk and Ma’jasalax had done. He nodded to his friend and headed back to the bridge, thinking about what had been said.

C HAPTER S IX

    Z ACK WAS DRAGGED away from Mar Arden. He tried to get a look at the Xiiginn soldiers who carried him, but he could barely lift his head. Wherever they took him, it was dark, with hardly any lighting at all. What had they done to him? Waves of exhaustion washed over him. He tried to get his feet under him so he could walk, but the brisk pace the soldiers set was too much for him. The soldiers came to a halt, and one of them keyed in a code. Zack glanced up at the pad and caught a glimpse of the sequence, but he couldn’t read the alien symbols. One of the soldiers caught him looking and struck him on the side of his head. His ear stung from the blow.
    The door retracted into the ceiling, opening the way, and amber lighting from the holoscreens drove the darkness back. There were other Xiiginns in the room. Some looked over in his direction as he was dragged inside. They were approached by another Xiiginn carrying a tablet computer. This one was covered head to toe in the black battle mesh all the Xiiginns seemed to be wearing. Zack couldn’t see its face, but the tail was a dead giveaway as to what species it was.  
    “What’s this?” the Xiiginn asked.
    “Special projects. This one is heading to the pit,” the soldier answered.
    “We’re already at capacity in the pit,” the Xiiginn said, and took a better look at Zack. “I doubt he’ll last long in there.”
    “My orders are from Mar Arden, and Kandra Rene will be overseeing. Here is the authorization,” the soldier said.
    The Xiiginn glanced at a new image on his tablet and nodded. He motioned to one of the techs standing by. “Tag him,” the Xiiginn said.
    Another Xiiginn approached, holding a chrome rod. One of the soldiers forced Zack to hold out his arm, and the Xiiginn jammed the rod against his forearm. Zack felt a pinch as something shot into his skin, but he didn’t have time to give it much thought as he was dragged to the other side of the room. Dim amber lighting formed a circle in the darkened area. The soldiers deposited Zack in the middle of the circle and quickly moved away from him. Zack had just enough time to raise his head before the floor beneath gave way and he plunged downward into darkness.
    Zack slid face-first down a dark tube. His body flopped to the side as he rounded a corner. He zipped past tiny globes of light, followed by another turn. Each time he saw a light in the distance, he braced himself for a turn in the small tunnel. He entered a long curve and the tunnel became steeper, increasing his speed. Zack gritted his teeth and tried to angle his body as best he could. He was flung around a sharp turn, the tunnel leveled off, and his body slowed down. A series of red flashing lights blazed up ahead, and a part of the wall fell away. Zack was thrust through the opening.  
    He tumbled down, and the night sky flashed into his field of vision as he was momentarily airborne, landing on the cold, wet ground and coming to a halt with his face in the mud. He lifted his head and spat the mud out in a half gag. It tasted like rotting garbage. He tried to push himself up, but his hands kept sliding away from him in the mud, and he decided to army-crawl toward what he hoped was drier ground. Zack reached ahead with one arm and drove his elbow down, moving slowly forward. He pushed with