by R. D. Hale
'So Dynah, you,' Eyris gawps at the telepath, 'you have superpowers? You can summon wind and fire and control minds?'
'Yes,' Dynah whispers.
'Oh my fucking Goddess, prove it!' Eyris shrieks.
'Give me a minute. I'll see if this works.' Dynah shuffles away from the bed, then crosses her legs on the thick chocolate carpet and closes her eyes. A few minutes pass and the phoenix appears above her head; this version about the size of her upper-body, its wings slowly flapping, fiery feathers swirling. It brings back memories of when I was awoken by a bright light and screamed as Dynah slept on my mattress, glowing. The gang ran into the room and Dynah floated out of bed as the phoenix emerged from her flesh. It scared the crap out of everyone that night, and yet these girls seem more impressed than afraid.
'That's not a trick, is it? Like a hologram?' Ané says.
'Can you not feel the heat?' Bex says as sweat builds on my forehead.
'Holy… shit… Wait till the others hear about this. I'm bringing you guys into the Order and I won't hear another thing about it!' Ané says.
'It's funny, when I met Zain, er Arturo, I thought he was a little different, but this? I just assumed he was a Level Three Citizen whose parents did well. You get them from time to time…
'Wow, to think I kept messing with him, giving him my devout Samarian act. We were trying to recruit Zain and Ana, er, you know who I mean, into the fold. We needed to see where their loyalties lied. Zain kept hinting about his rebellious ways, and I kept toying with him, freaking him out. I was disappointed when they suddenly vanished, and when Ana returned, I knew something was up. I could sense it.
'That was back when I was with my ex, Vytali. Heard he's with some skanky stripper from old town now. He had the nerve to talk to me at the last meeting he attended, a while back, to say he'd met Zain. Didn't even bother to mention his real name, or any of the details. Probably because we had an argument and he stormed out the meeting. He hasn't attended one since. The others blame me. He was quite popular.
'I guess I'll need to send him a message, let him know you guys have visited. Not that I want a reunion or anything, but he's part of this too,' Eyris says.
'So, just to be clear, you guys, the Order, you're against San Teria, just like the rebels are?' Bex says.
'Yeah, but we're against the rebels too. No offence, Dynah. I know you're not really one of them, but the rebel leaders can fuck themselves. We can't trust anyone in this shit-show,' Ané says.
'That's what I keep saying,' I say.
'Now I don't blame the coalition for invading, for trying to topple San Teria. I'd want the same in their position. The reason they were so determined to invade was Anatolia's monopoly on resources. The conditions of surrender after The Great War meant that San Teria took control of everything valuable and allocated as they saw fit. Countries were having to pay a fortune to use their own resources. Not only did this enrich Anatolia, but slowed down their rivals' redevelopment, condemning their people to long term poverty,' Ané says.
'War is always about resources, everything else is a smokescreen. I don't know how San Teria thought they could get away with this forever,' Eyris says.
'They're so much richer. They thought their opponents were too poor and disorganised to take them on, even together. But the reality is the rebels made a vow: Victory or extinction. They will literally take the planet down with them if they lose. They think their gods will reward them. San Teria think the same about their Goddess. Non-believers don't get a say,' Ané says and the group fall silent with our eyes low. Deep down, we all know the reality of the situation, but every time such words are spoken, it still hits hard. No feeling is worse than helplessness.
'Dynah, you still haven't said much about your return to Eryx,' I say and the telepath uncrosses her legs, then wraps her arms around her shins. 'I assume a lot has happened.' Dynah takes a deep breath as the firebird fades away and all eyes settle on her.
'The escape pod landed in the mountains a few hundred miles away. It was the middle of nowhere and I was exhausted, following the battle in Orbital City. All I wanted to do was rest, but Turbo and Anguson said we could be in danger, that a retrieval squad would be coming, so we fled the area.
'We travelled for days, lived off the land, saw strange animals, eventually found a small town. We called the Rebellion who came to retrieve us. The fighting had already begun at this point, but we had not seen it.
'When we returned to base, all anyone could talk about was putting me on the frontline. I wanted to speak to the gang, but they said you were all missing. I meditated but could not detect anyone's life signs. I feared you were dead, but I knew the interference meant I could not be certain. The war has heightened energies and the signals are chaotic.
'I demanded they take me back to Medio, said I would not fight anywhere else. My first instinct was to return to the Enclave, but something told me not to, so I stuck around, hoping I'd hear from you.
'I was assigned to a squadron with Anguson. We went into battle several times, saved each other's lives. The men were in awe of me. No-one wanted to leave my side. They said it was like having the Goddess on their side, but they didn't understand I was weakening.
'During our second battle I passed out. I woke at base. Anguson explained he carried me and fled from the battlefield. He was in trouble with his superiors. They said he should've finished the fight first, but it didn't matter. Our side won.
'I had barely recovered when they sent me into battle again. This time I was angry and the fight did not last long. I created an inferno. I can still hear the screams. Two of our men were badly burnt and carried away, but I was told not to feel bad, that because of my actions, we did not lose a single man in that battle. But I did feel bad. Their fight was not for me.
'I thought I heard you call my name, then thought maybe I had imagined it. The others collected weapons from the dead. I hid in the rubble of a building and meditated until I felt your presence. I believed I could sense your location, thought I must find out, so I fled to find you. After many hours walking, I saw a bright light in the sky. I felt confident it was leading me to you, so I continued in that direction and that's when we met.'
'Wow, when things have been tough, even for a superhuman, that's when you know the situation's bad,' Bex says.
'The other night, you meditated again, to find answers about the Enclave. You haven't mentioned anything since,' I say.
'All I could sense was chaos. For a brief moment, I thought maybe I'd detected Rupert's signal, but then nothing. All I can do is keep trying. When Arturo returns, perhaps we can investigate together, but first we must get you to safety,' Dynah says.
'Whoa, if the Order were privy to this conversation… It's just a shame we can't contact most of them. And a meeting is out the question,' Ané says. 'We have the intel to give San Teria a seriously bloody nose. Perhaps if you can reunite with the Enclave, we can pass that intel on, let you take the fight directly to the enemy.'
Fear
Sonet wishes me Happy Sixteenth Birthday as I log into my account. I would not have known and I do not care. I certainly do not plan to make an announcement. It seems so long ago that Nelson was promising he would get me a great present and yet a little over a fortnight has passed. Time runs at a different pace now. I wonder if he really thought about the present, if he had decided what he would get me. I wonder if he got it before… That I would like to know, like to see, but I cannot see… And so I cannot celebrate.
I sit at the holoscreen, numb. We have been staying at Eyris' house for days and still no contact from Arturo or Nelson or Myla or Killow or Smig. We have not visited Ané since our meeting, but Eyris occasionally mentions her and the Order. I simply tune out. All I can think about are the words Victory or Extinction. Victory seems impossible for either side to achieve, which leaves only the alternative.
'It's nothing to fear really, is it?' I murmur as Bex joins my side.
'What?' Bex whispers.
'Death, it's nothing to fear. I mean you're just returning to the time before you were born. It's just like that again. Everyone's been there. We've all been dead. Everyone who's ever lived has died, or will die again. Why do we get so hung up on it? What's even the big deal?' I say.
'Oh fuck, you're not gonna go all morbid on us?' Bex says.
'If they're dead, I'll miss them, while I'm alive, but I'll die too, and then it won't matter. Death is the normal state of things. Life is the weird exception. Just a pointless game,' I say.
'Fuck, Emmi, one minute you're delivering inspirational speeches and keeping everyone going, and now you're embracing nihilism?' Bex says.
'No, just perspective. There's no point in stressing, eh? We're probably never gonna see them again. No point living in agony. They wouldn't want us too,' I say.
'Who's they?' Bex says.
'The guys of course. They only wanted what's best for us. The best, right now, isn't much, but still they wouldn't want us to suffer just because they died,' I say.
'Do you know something I don't? Have you heard something?' Bex says.
'You don't get it, do you, Bex? We'll never hear anything. Their bodies won't be identified. There'll be no funeral. Do you want to spend your life waiting for them to come back from the dead? I don't.'
'Oh fuck, Emmi's lost it, guys. Can someone get her a beer?' Bex says to the others on the crescent sofa, but no-one responds, and I do not want alcohol anyways. I would rather spend my final days with a clear head, appreciating those rare glimpses of the perfect world we are destroying.
I head upstairs and enter the back garden to find Dynah sitting on the lawn with crossed legs. A sparrow is sitting on her shoulder, singing so sweetly. Sparrows never go near people, yet I am not surprised one would make an exception for the telepath. I am not even talking about her superpowers either. She has such a beautiful aura. If only everyone was like her, things would be so different. Dynah turns her head as I approach and the sparrow does not flinch.
'I like it out here. It's nice to go outside and see the flowers, yet remain secluded. There aren't many places we can do that,' Dynah says.
'Yeah, it's strangely tranquil out here, if you disregard the faint popping of bullets. They sound too gentle to be taking lives,' I say.
'It doesn't take much to take a life, only the desire to kill. Our bodies are so fragile. Even children can fight a war,' Dynah says.
'Yeah, there's nothing tough about it, is there? Pulling a trigger is so easy. Surviving without guns, that's tough. It requires far more than a trigger finger. You need to plan, think, adapt, be more than a grunt, and hope you get damn lucky. The sad thing is, the soldiers on all sides expect gratitude for the hell they've given us. How about they do something courageous and negotiate peace?' I say.
'Because they're only interested in a peace in which they hold the power,' Dynah says.
'You can say that again… Have you thought about what you'll do when this is all over, if you somehow make it through?' I say.
'I want to be somewhere like this, surrounded by trees and flowers, only far away from the city. I don't like large groups of people, they are infected with crazy ideas. Those ideas are more destructive than any plague,' Dynah says and the sparrow flutters into a palm tree.
'Yup, it's because of crazy ideas that we can't dream about the future.' I sigh.
'The devastation is hard to process, but my optimism remains intact. There are ways out for us,' Dynah says.
'You've not sensed Killow though, have you? Since he vanished, he's hardly been mentioned. Everyone was so caught up in everything else, he was just forgotten, one of our best friends. I feel so bad,' I say.
'So far, I've been unable to confirm his signal,' Dynah whispers. 'I've tried many times…'
'When you guys said he leapt from the fire, that was just wishful thinking, wasn't it?' I say bitterly. 'He never escaped that explosion.'
'I… dunno… You may be right…'
Back from the Dead
I sit at the crescent sofa in the living room, staring through the wall-sized window at the fish in the garden pond. They are all so beautiful. Silky tails swirling, scales glistening in orange, white, black, blue, pink, as sunlight streaks through the shimmering surface. The sight is soothing, hypnotising, as they swim around so gracefully. Poor things have no idea their existence is so brief. Actually I envy their ignorance.
'They're Batavian carp,' Eyris says. 'My Dad believes they're good for the soul. I used to think they were just fish, but I get it now. When I was getting shaky, I'd sit and stare out the window. There was nothing better to do, but it helped me gather myself.'
'This is the kind of thing they show to sick people in hospices, to ease them when they're dying. I can see why…' I say and Eyris' eyes bulge as she falls silent, probably coming to terms with the possibility our situation is terminal. Her home is kind of like a hospice for the perfectly healthy.
The gang are yapping to Jeffrey, bombarding him with requests until he vanishes through his hatch, probably seeking peace and quiet. They return to abusing the Mealmaker, demanding dessert after dessert, but the electronic display has already suggested rationing because it cannot order supplies, right now. Despite their grumbling, they seem to be having the time of their lives. We always dreamed of living in such luxury. I am glad we got to experience it before the end.
The doorbell buzzes, and I glance to the others, but they are so distracted, they do not return my gaze, apart from Eyris.
'Did you guys invite anyone?' Eyris says and the doorbell buzzes again.
'No,' I say and the others are unresponsive.
'Stay here. I'll check the monitor in the lobby. It's probably, Ané, she's always impatient. Dunno why she took the front door though. Probably thinks she's too girly to climb.' Eyris trots up the winding staircase, and we should probably have sent Dynah for safety, but she reassuringly yells: 'It's nothing to worry about, guys. I'll be down in a minute.'
Muffled voices, then clanking like mechanoid feet, which seems weird, but whatever, I do not have the energy to freak out… More muffled voices and the patter of many feet… Strange… Maybe this is the Order that Eyris and Ané were talking about. Maybe they have a mechanoid for protection.
Footsteps come down the winding silver staircase, and I turn my gaze away from the Batavian carp, then my body goes into spasm. My brother! He is standing across the room. Arturo. Alive. Unharmed, I think. Oh my Goddess!
His unshaven face looks different, older, as his mouth hangs open. It has not been long since he left, since he failed to contact me. But his time away, wow, the experience must have been rough. His eyes show exhaustion, fury, agony, relief, all in one. He has brought some friends along, but they are just blurs.
'Arturo, you're alive! Nobody believed me, but I knew you'd return!'
I run across the shiny floor tiles, skid to a stop, and wrap my arms around the idiot who almost killed me, again and again, with all this bastard stress and anxiety, but all is forgiven now.
'You've got that the other way around, Emmi!' Bex laughs.
Hi, Sis, how–'
'Hello, Rupert, what you doing with Arturo?' I wave disbelievingly at the telepath in white robes, still hugging my brother with the other arm, but Rupert says nothing. 'Oh never mind, I'm so relieved you're okay. What about the others?'
Rupert drops his head and his ginger dreadlocks flop over his face.
'I-I can't remember.'
To be continued…
Skye City: The Trials of Arturo
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N5AKJXU
My name is Arturo Basilides. I am an orphan living in the slums of Medio City – the capital of a nation ravaged by a war which was won by extremists. Offered a choice between slavery and disenfranchisement, we exist in an underclass so disconnected we effectively inhabit a different era.
Daily life involves scavenging, theft and substance abuse with a bunch of misfits who are somehow still in one
piece after years of abandonment. I am a natural born fighter and although I despise warfare, I must witness the downfall of those bastard elites whilst fulfilling my romantic intentions with the forever unattainable girl of my dreams.
Skye City: The Return to Medio
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014EDYVDK
'Don't you remember? You were their little experiment. Half boy, half monster. Horrific, isn't it?'
My name is Arturo Basilides - teenage slum dog turned rebel soldier. A smart mouth and sense of invulnerability have got me this far, but the plague they sent changed everything. The pain of losing a friend destroyed the best part of me. When another was taken, I was offered unlikely redemption and ascended to the stars for the sake of unrequited love.
Life is not easy for any slumdog but none can claim to have survived what I have: abandonment, imprisonment, torture, death… I was never told the price of reincarnation. And I am no longer human in body or mind as I float above this wretched planet I must return to. War is imminent. I do not know whose side I am on. Or what happens next…
Skye City: Sister of a Rebel Soldier
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N5YWALK
My name is Emmi Basilides. I am an orphan living in the slums of Medio city. Every slumdog I know underestimates me. They think I am a dumb kid who could not survive alone, not without my brother, but I have been through so much, and I have never asked anyone to fight my battles. My mother abandoned me when I was five years old and here I am – about to reach the grand old age of sixteen. Believe me, anyone who can survive ten years in this place deserves respect.
