Dissident

by Lisa Beeson

  “Do you promise to behave?” she asked Petra.

  The girl stared daggers at her.

  “These men won’t harm you,” Ari promised. “But just know that whatever you do to any of my people I’ll do it right back to you. Behave civilly and we will treat you civilly. Do you understand?”

  Petra still had murder in her eyes, but she nodded.

  “Same goes for you,” Ari said to Gregory.

  He nodded that he understood, even though his face was still sour with contempt.

  Ari unfroze their muscles, then the two men with paracord quickly bound their wrists behind them.

  “Where are you taking us?” Petra asked.

  “Up to the transportation hangar, just as you wanted,” Roche answered. “We’ll be able to get all the answers we want from you there,” he said to Gregory. “We have men who specialize in getting the truth out of people.” He aimed a dark gaze at Zachary, letting him know exactly how they got those truthful answers.

  “Or,” Ari said to their captives. “We could do this the painless way, and you can just tell us the truth.”

  “We will never betray the Cause,” Gregory stated.

  “You don’t need to say a word against the Cause, just grant me access to your minds and let me find out what we want to know that way.”

  Gregory’s brow furrowed. “Why ask for our permission, if you can just do it?”

  “Because it is the decent thing to do,” she answered. “And unlike your brother, I try to respect people’s privacy.”

  “Well that’s just stupid,” Petra said with a sneer.

  “Do you grant me permission or not?” Ari asked.

  “No,” Gregory said, daring her to keep her word.

  “Me neither,” Petra said with a self-satisfied grin, confident in Ari’s stupidity.

  “Neither do I,” Zachary said, his face tight with the pain in his hand.

  “Well, that’s unfortunate,” Ari said evenly, masking her fierce disappointment, and immediately regretting her gambit.

  “For you…,” Roche said to them, his dark grin spreading. He wanted retribution for his squad and had no qualms with exacting revenge. “She gave you a painless alternative to torture and you all chose not to take it. Looks like you three are the stupid ones.”

  Ari felt petty enough to enjoy the look of “Oh crap, what did I just do?” on Petra’s face, but she would never let them be tortured. They would find another way.

  “I give you permission,” one of the guards said.

  Ari recognized him as the one who had stomped out the flaming millipede.

  “Coward!” Gregory shouted at him. “How dare you betray the Cause!”

  “What has the Cause done for me except get my friends killed?” the guard asked, standing his ground.

  “Where was this brave defiance a moment ago when you mercilessly shot my men as they stood there helpless, and as one of them was burned alive?” Roche asked the guard, eyeing him in disgust.

  “How many of our men did you kill?” the guard asked, challenging them all with his glare. “How many of our people died in the tunnels and buildings you destroyed? None of us are innocent.”

  “No, but we’re not the ones supporting an evil madman and his sadistic underlings who want to destroy the world as we know it,” Cam countered. “Why the sudden change of heart, henchmen number one?”

  “My name is Johnson,” he said, in a tight voice with a sour glare. “And the change wasn’t sudden. I just didn’t know there was another option to kill or be killed. But I refuse to be tortured for people who wouldn’t think twice about my death.” He turned to Gregory. “You recruited us at our lowest points. You told us that we would be fighting for a better future. That in helping you, we’d be helping ourselves and future generations. But all you’ve done is experiment on us and use us as bullet fodder while you all hide up in your tower.”

  “As you can see,” Gregory said; his eyes full of distain, “We are down here fighting with you.”

  “Fighting with us?” Johnson asked, incredulous. “More like using us for a human shield as you destroy the evidence of what you’ve done before they can find it.” He turned to Roche and motioned his head toward Zachary. “The housing he burned down has been empty for more than a year. The families that lived there, the people that believed in their Cause… were used as test subjects for the virus and anything else Dr. Schweinhardt decided to do to them. A virus they unleashed by forcing us down into those ruins like human canaries. When they saw that they weren’t affected, that’s when they got the bright idea to unleash it on the rest of the world – the world that we were supposed to be making better.”

  Ari looked at Gregory, appalled. “How can you still believe that your Cause is good?”

  “People are fallible. The Cause is not,” Gregory declared with a haughty obstinance. “Sacrifices must be made for the sake of progress. It will be righted in the end.”

  “The Cause gives us purpose and direction,” Zachary added.

  “The Cause will bring the Progeny back to our ancestors’ former glory. We are meant to be gods to hold dominion over men,” Petra chimed in; her eyes alight with righteous fervor. “And we will no longer have to hide what makes us great.”

  “Yeeeeah,” Cam said with a sarcastic shake of his head. “You all don’t sound brainwashed at all.”

  “Your ancestors were never gods,” Ari insisted, her anger rising, “…they were beings just as fallible as anyone one else. The only things they achieved were enslaving humans to do their bidding, and warring amongst themselves until the destruction they caused forced the Anu’Kainat to shut the whole thing down. They cared nothing for their numerous crossbred children, because how could they?” The truth of her realization washed over her like an ice cold wave, chilling her to the bone. “The humanity in their offspring made them frail and vulnerable. Even the brightest and most remarkable of them would bloom and fade in the blink of an eye. Humans were only brief distractions to them – a favored pet at best.”

  She could feel Cam try to hide the wounds her words unintentionally inflicted, but she felt them all the same as if they were her own. He taken her words as if they were directed at him, instead of the condemnation of the Higher Races they were meant to be. His hurt and despair were like poisoned barbs embedded in her heart.

  She had to fix it, but she didn’t know how.

  “Those were the mistakes of the past. Markus believes we can be better,” Gregory insisted with the arrogance of untested certainty. “With the virus taking care of the overpopulation problem that is draining our resources, and the Selective Genetics program propelling us into the next phase of our evolution, we will lead with the abilities our ancestors possessed and the humanity they lacked. The petty squabbles of corrupt and failing governments will be a thing of the past. Under the rule of the Progeny, all of humanity will finally achieve the peace and prosperity we have always longed for.”

  “Well, you’ve certainly done a bang up job here, guys. Well done all around,” Cam said with a sarcastic clap.

  “Forgive us if we don’t have much faith in your qualifications as benevolent rulers over those deemed weaker than yourselves,” Ari added.

  “You could have easily protected us the way you did those two,” Johnson said looking towards Petra and Zachary. “But you didn’t, because we’re not worthy of your consideration.” He turned to Ari. “You told them that if they act civilly then they’d be treated civilly. Does that extend to us?”

  The four guards eyed her with varying degrees of hope, curiosity, and wariness.

  Ari nodded. “Of course. You have my word.” She looked at them each in turn, gauging them. “And if you help us bring the Reinholds and their Cause down you will be treated as our own. But if you wish to stay loyal then you will continue to be our captives.”

  “This is only temporary,” Gregory assured them. “Markus always gets his way in the end. I can assure you, the Cause will be seen to f
ruition. If you stay loyal, you will be greatly rewarded when we triumph over this…,” he eyed Ari and the mercenaries, “…minor setback.”

  “She could have killed us,” Johnson said to the other three. “She’s obviously more powerful than they are, but she spared us and put us to sleep instead.” Johnson stepped forward and said, “I’m not sure about your companions,” he said glancing at Roche, Cam, and the other mercenaries. “But I’m with you.”

  The others nodded and said the same.

  Ari checked their intentions.

  “They’re all telling the truth,” she said to Roche. “Except him.” She pointed to the man with a dark keloid running across his chin. He was intending to set the captives free and escape back to the tower as soon as he could.

  His eyes widened in surprise at the accusation. “What? No. I’m with you. I swear it.”

  Ari shook her head sadly. “I wish that was true.”

  Once the three guards were untied, Ari followed one of the mercenaries towards a path winding up to the top of the plateau towards the outpost; more determined than ever to end this as quickly as possible before her strength ran out. She was feeling shaky from tapping into her growing power.

  “Come on weirdos, up you go,” she heard Cam say to the three Progeny and Scar-chin, as he and the others followed close behind them.

  Ari could feel Cam encase his heartache in a haze of fatalistic numbness. She hated what she was doing to him.

  There was no discord when she thought of the ways they were connected, but was that the Aethos blessing their union or just her greatest desires blinding her to reality?

  Humans are not made to love Fluxxai…

  There had to be something between callous cruelty and becoming a husk of grief when it came to humans. There just had to be; or why did Absolem bring her here if she could not gain something from their humanity besides a broken heart?

  When they reached the top of the plateau, it was near the western side of the hangar and Ari stopped in her tracks.

  “He’s here.”

  Chapter 25

  Ari sifted into the transport hangar. Ignoring everything except the pull of Kael’s xjaasa, she headed straight towards an office space in the back corner of the building.

  Smoothly slipping down to normal speed, she stood in front of the door – the only thing separating her from the man she had nearly sacrificed her life for; the man who walked away when she was no longer useful to him. Oan’s long lost father. Her olen

  She could also feel the pull of the stones he had collected. Remembering the pull that she had felt beneath her feet back near the spring, she realized there was only one thing that could pull at her that strongly. There had to be a gate in the belly of this island and Kael knew it. However, he was still missing one last stone. Her hand went up to touch the broken one hanging from its chain beneath her shirt. Good luck getting through without it.

  Looking through the door, the sight of him was like a punch to the gut. He had his back to her as he and Myles worked on some high-tech computer monstrosity. Tuning-in her enhanced hearing, while blocking out the raucous background noise of the hangar, she could hear them discussing what happened to the ship and their next course of action as they worked.

  Ari knew Kael felt the blood bond as strongly as she did. He knew she was standing there, but still he refused to acknowledge her presence.

  He had once told her that she should be proud of the Ayan blood running through her veins. But it wasn’t just Ayan blood, it was his blood and he had known it. Yet, he never said a thing.

  How could this cold, unfeeling man be the father of her Oan? How could they look so much alike yet be so different?

  Gathering herself, Ari raised her hand to knock on the door, but it remained suspended in that sluggish moment before action. What if I just walk away? This confrontation didn’t need to happen. She did not need him anymore. She had the Xjaamin Order on her side. She could find her own way back to Absolem.

  Enzo’s words echoed through her mind: You can never outrun your demons. You have to face them head on… or you’ll never be free.

  If she did not face Kael now, he would haunt her forever. She needed closure.

  C’mon Ari, you can do this…

  Putting up an impenetrable shield of impassivity, Ari knocked on the door with a decisive rap.

  Myles looked between the door and Kael questioningly. Kael motioned with a slight jerk of his head for him to answer it as he kept working.

  Myles came over and opened the door with a blink of surprise. “Oh, Ari, hey, what’s up?” he asked, looking warily between her and Kael.

  “Can you please give us a minute, Myles? Kael and I need to speak alone,” she said with a cool detachment.

  “Oh, uh… yeah sure, of course,” he mumbled as he made to leave and she stepped into the room. But before he went through the door he leaned in to whisper, “Just…” he began hesitantly, not sure if it was his place to say anything. “Just know that we’re all on the same side.” He gave her meaningful look and curt nod before leaving.

  Even after Myles closed the door and they were alone, Kael still insisted on working on the computer, as if his current task was more important than her sudden appearance.

  Always with the damn power moves…

  Ari hated that she still yearned for his love and approval. She hated that he could still stir up feelings of worthlessness in her.

  No, she thought, internally shaking herself. It was him who was not worthy of her. She was the daughter of T’leh sem Utyr and Lioran Jorek, the most courageous beings she has ever known. She possessed the royal blood of two great races. She was a Fluxxai with the potential power to control the cosmos. She would not let this man make her feel low. She did not have to justify her existence or worth to anyone ever again.

  “Are you that much of a coward that you can’t even look at me?”

  The muscles in his back tensed. Then he slowly stood up and turned to face her.

  He had abandoned the posh executive look. His hair was longer and a thick beard covered half his face, but he still had the same haughty inscrutability she remembered so well.

  His eyes took her in, her scars, her leg, but they still revealed nothing. His thoughts were as guarded as if he were made of stone.

  Really? Nothing? The last time you saw me I was a broken bloody mess on the pavement. Feel SOMETHING, you miserable bastard!

  Ari surged forward, aiming a double-fisted blow to the center of his chest. They broke through the back wall, tumbling with the momentum until they were both back on their feet.

  Ari sifted in. Feinting left, she twisted in the air to hit him with a vicious roundhouse kick to the face. He ducked, but she was able to grab ahold of his arm and used her momentum to fling him towards the back of the building.

  He slammed against the corrugated metal with the force of a wrecking ball, denting the wall inward. It stunned him for only a beat before he was able to dodge her fist aimed at his jaw, summersaulting forward and smoothly regaining his fighter’s stance.

  Ari removed her arm from the hole her punch made in the metal, swiftly healing the long gashes in her skin. Chin down, eyes aflame, she ran at him. She then feinted with a right hook, only to crouch and pivot at the last minute to sweep his legs out from under him. He fell onto his back with a hard thud, raising a cloud of dust from the ground.

  Grabbing his legs, she tossed him up into the air and hit him with a brutal front kick to the abdomen. The force of which propelled him backwards off the side of the plateau, tumbling down into the jungle below.

  You’re not getting off that easily.

  *****

  Cam was trying to give Ari the space she obviously wanted, but he couldn’t help being hyperaware of her every move and reaction. Pathetically searching for any crumb of kindness or affection thrown his way, hoping to glimpse his Ari behind the wall she had erected between them. He hated himself for it; feeling like a dumb fly bashing itself
against a window in an attempt to reach the sky. She could not have been clearer about how she felt about humans now.

  Have some freakin’ dignity, you dope.

  As they reached the top of the plateau, Ari tensed with a quick intake of breath. “He’s here.”

  Before he could get a word out, she disappeared with a rush of air.

  “Mierda!”

  He turned to Roche. “You got this?” he asked, motioning to the three Progenies and the one stupid guard.

  Roche nodded and Cam took off towards the entrance to the hangar.

  Searching the large space, Cam saw Myles walking over to talk to Reid, who was working on a helicopter, just as a loud crash came from the office in the back. The back wall suddenly dented inward as if by a huge force, right before a fist punched of hole through the metal.

  That’s not good.

  Everyone in the hangar stopped what they were doing to look, while Cam sprinted the rest of the way towards the office and busted through the door. He was just in time to glimpse Ari through a giant hole in the back wall. She was taking a running leap down the back of the plateau.

  Easily hurtling the desk and jumping out of the hole, he was about to go after her when he felt a strong hand on his arm holding him back. He glanced back in frustration, to see that it was Adam with Paloma and a very shell-shocked Randall behind him.

  “It’s a family matter,” Adam said, as if two titans fighting each other was no big deal. “Best to stay out of it and let them hash it out on their own.” He looked down into the jungle with a distant, knowing stare, then turned back to Cam and gave him an industrious pat on the back. “So don’t sweat it. We’ve got plenty to do in the meantime.”

  *****

  With a cat-like grace, Ari leaped, swung, and flipped her way through the canopy of the trees, just as Rysura had taught her, until she found Kael slumped down against the roots of a giant tree at the bottom of the plateau.

  His journey down had left him a bit dazed, but otherwise fine.