by J. L. Wood
Jessica smiled at Justin and stepped forward. He followed. The girls cheered as Chris gave the women their injections. She then watched as Sherrie blew out a cloud of dikap. They swarmed in the air and broke off into four groups.
“Accept them,” Sherrie said.
Chris opened his mouth, letting the dikap enter. Mary followed. Trembling, Jessica did as well. The creatures entered, and she could feel them swarming inside of her. It was a strange feeling, more uncomfortable than anything. She lowered herself to the grass. She could see visions of people, scenes, one on top of the other. They collided with one another, but her personal path and the paths of those close to her stood out.
She saw her father huddled over an old hand-cranked radio in the dark. Her brother sitting in line in front of a door, soldiers beside him. Mary and Lois alone at the pillar. The barrier still pulsing on the hundredth day. Missy with Michael and Amy on Amity. Delilah hiding, clutching two young boys. And then she saw Don in a cavern, lying still on a raft, still in his travel suit. She felt as if she were in all of their worlds at once. A silent bystander.
And then she saw the barrier falling. Hundreds of ships flew to Earth. She focused in on one of the soldiers. Amity was patched on his shoulder.
“Amity will come,” the group said in unison.
Jessica looked up at Sherrie, terrified. They weren’t only building unity. They were building an army.
– 38 –
Choices
Donald dipped his hands in the cool water at the base of the waterfall. “It feels like I remember it,” he whispered.
Kezmir ran one of his fingers over the surface of the water, creating a small ripple. “You could make it if you practiced, young Ambassador. You need to develop.”
Don sighed. He still wasn’t ready for the transformation. To transform was to gain the insight of the Akabko and the power to not only view but also understand millions of storylines at once. He would be able to see the effect of changing storylines. But with it, he would lose the last of his humanity, becoming as silent and closed off as the Akabko were. He tried to envision the Amity Stations, but they were blurry and unstable. Reluctantly, he looked at Kezmir. “Can you show me?”
Kezmir sat still and transformed the scene into Amity Station 2, showing him through the young boys on board that harbored the dikap. He watched as Missy sat in a room with Michael Stratis, a redheaded woman, and a man he did not know. It was disappointing to see them in fear, worried about him, worried about themselves. Amity was in the midst of corruption, and the corruptors would not stop until they reclaimed Earth. It would be known as the Descent, the arrival of the Archae, a hundred years in the future. The barrier would only hold for that long, and they would wait until it dropped.
“I wish I couldn’t feel in here,” Don whispered.
Kezmir placed his hand on the Ambassador’s shoulder. “Our life is sorrow, young one, for we see all. But feeling is dangerous and leads to misjudgment, so we choose not to feel. We protect from outside but not from within. This is why you are Ambassador. This is your choice. We have seen storylines can be changed. Destroy Amity now, and there will be no fight. Keep Amity, and there will be much death on Earth.”
Don watched the tears fall from Missy’s cheeks. He could feel the rebellion forming inside her. Small sprouts left unattended to grow into his nightmare. His Shame that showed its face in creation and enveloped him in guilt. There was hatred inside of him that was becoming difficult to control. “And after my choice is made?” Don whispered. “Can I go home?”
Kezmir returned the environment to the waterfall basin. “The choice is always yours,” he replied. “The barrier will last for one hundred years, and the Descent comes soon after. The humans that left will be known as the Archae. They will own Earth again, and many other civilizations.”
Don frowned. He’d never asked for this and was afraid his decision would be based on Missy. He had to separate himself.
“Young one,” Kezmir whispered, “what is your choice?”
Don picked up a small rock and rubbed his thumb against its smooth surface. There were thousands of people on Amity, including his friends. He couldn’t have that bloodshed on his hands. It wasn’t a choice he could make on his own. He closed his eyes and spoke to the hive. All of the responses filled his mind at once.
“Save them.”
“My dad is there.”
“Give them a chance to change.”
Don smiled. “You showed me their future,” he whispered. “But it is as of now. I want to give them a chance to choose to do the right thing. I will do it through the dikap and change the storyline. And when the time comes…if…if the time comes, I will go home and fight if need be. I will use the cavern to take me there.”
“Ambassador,” Kezmir whispered, “to change storylines is not easy. I do not know if dikap will take you to Earth.”
“Then I will use the escape pod.”
Kezmir changed the view to the Descent. “Are you sure, Ambassador?”
Don watched as the barrier around Earth collapsed and dozens of ships from Amity landed, ejecting armies that destroyed the people on land and enslaved them. One of the Chosen, now a woman with long curly brown hair, stood still on a battlefield, her black cape flowing around her thin figure, and then she was no more.
“I will prepare them,” Don said. “They will be ready if it comes to that.”
Kezmir returned them to the sleeping field. The duo walked around the bodies of Akabko kneeled on the ground, their arms outstretched in suffering. Don’s chest constricted as he saw the effect of the dikap already lost from protecting Earth. The dikap created an inseparable bond. The Akabko felt what their dikap felt. He couldn’t let their suffering be in vain. If he so chose, he could break the barrier after the three-month Fall and make them whole again. But he wasn’t sure if his hive would be ready.
“The dikap replicate quickly. They will be replenished in time,” Kezmir whispered, stepping around the bodies. “But remember this, young one. We protect from the outside, not within. And your Archae, they are within.”
Don nodded and forced his dikap to view Earth. He watched as Mary and Lois guarded one of the towers with his dog, Skiddy. Relieved to see him taken care of, he found Sherrie heading to the second tower with Justin, Jessica, Ariel, Chris, and another dog. As he looked deeper, he saw his other young Chosen making their way to their towers. Everything was going as planned.
“I understand the implications,” Don said. The scene returned to the waterfall, and Don skipped the small rock across the surface of the basin. “The Amity citizens will never become the Archae, and I will prove to you that even we can live in peace.”
“That is your choice, then. Can you show with dikap?”
Don nodded. “Yes, friend, I am ready now.”
About the Author
J.L. Wood was born and raised in Houston, Texas, as the middle child of a believer of all things extraterrestrial: her father. She would spend many nights with him looking up at the stars, hoping to one day meet an interplanetary traveler in person. Although this day has yet to arrive, her passion for writing lets her explore the depths of all of the what-ifs that dream of meeting E.T. presents in her imagination.
In the present day, she continues this dream and passion in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and three dogs Skiddy, Nikki, and Django, who keep her company while writing and also enjoy listening to her stories as she reads to them.
To find out more information about her books, please visit her website at: jlwood.net.
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