Alex turned to Jaycee for a reaction. He needn’t have bothered - Jaycee was just as confused as anyone else.
The wolves gathered together and trundled after Jelly as she traversed the rocky ground. One by one, they filtered between the two men on a pilgrimage with their new master.
Furie extended her two front legs and tried to paw at her mother’s shoulders, “Mommy.”
“Honey.”
“I’m c-cold.”
Jelly stopped walking and shot Alex an evil glance, “Hughes.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Give me your jacket.”
Without delay, Alex pulled the zipper down from his neck and removed his arms from the sleeves, “Is she cold?”
“No, she’s suddenly got all fashion conscious,” Jelly snapped. “Of course she’s cold. Give me the jacket before I puncture your face—”
“—Jeez. Okay, okay,” Alex huffed as he bunched the jacket into his hands, “Here, take it—”
“—No. Stay away from me. I’m toxic,” she said and nodded at Jaycee, “Give it to the murderer and have him hand it to me.”
Alex turned to Jaycee and offered him the jacket, “Here.”
Jaycee took the jacket and thought twice about approaching the one being who had it in for him.
“Uh—”
“—Today, dickhead,” Jelly snapped, startling the two men.
She snapped her infinity claws together and indicated her frustration.
“What’s the problem, Nayall?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t want to go near me? You’re nothing but a treacherous Androgyne. You are perfectly safe, now give me the damn jacket before I twist your head off and finish what I started.”
Jaycee gulped and threw the jacket onto her left paw.
“Thank you.”
“Jelly, I—”
“—Shut the hell up and get away from me and my daughter.”
“Yes, okay.”
Jaycee did as instructed and stepped over to Alex. It seemed as if the wolves knew that he was the bad guy, too. They gnashed their teeth at him. If it weren’t for Jelly, they’d have decided to tear him apart.
Jelly pinched the jacket and threw the back end toward the floor. It unraveled over her right arm.
“Okay, honey,” she said as she draped the flap over Furie’s body, “This will keep you warm till we get back to Charlie.”
Furie snuggled into the jacket and relaxed in her mother’s arms. Satisfied that her daughter was safe, she began her journey back to Charlie.
Space Opera Charlie wasn’t much of a walk, by all accounts. It took about ten minutes for Jelly to chase Mastazita to the Colosseum.
The crashed spacecraft where she first encountered the enemy provided a unique milestone for the journey. It also indicated that they were headed in the right direction.
Alex helped Jaycee walk across the uneven ground.
“My b-battery took a lot of d-damage,” he whispered. “I’m n-not sure h-how much longer I’ve g-got.”
“That’s the least of our problems, Nayall,” Alex whispered back. “Charlie is in no fit state to get us home.”
The bulb in Jaycee’s eye flashed three times, “I c-can’t think s-straight. My head hurts.”
“Just keep walking.”
Jaycee clocked a deep vein of reservation in Alex’s voice. His lack of assurance suggested he knew something that the others didn’t.
“So we’re stuck here?”
“Literally, I think,” Alex said. “I don’t even know if we can get inside Charlie at this point.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I think she’s processed what’s going on.”
The wolves ran ahead of Jelly and made their way to the crashed spaceship, howling and grunting all the way.
Jelly turned around and looked at Alex, “What do you know about this spacecraft?”
“We don’t know anything.”
“You saw the bodies, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Alex said. “Cosmonauts. Next to the beast you killed.”
The trio approached the spacecraft as the wolves ran around it, clawing at the sides.
The airlock had been torn off and discarded.
Everything looked crystal clear in the bright light of their new sun.
Much of the Cyrillic writing on the side of the ship had burned away and was barely legible.
Lyulka-451
A few of the wolves entered the craft and rummaged around.
“Heel,” Jelly ordered.
Without haste, they sat on their hind legs and obeyed the order. The wolves who entered the craft hadn’t heard the instruction.
“This is not their ship,” she said. “The interior was designed for human occupation.”
“What are you saying, Jelly?” Alex asked.
“What I’m saying, Hughes, is that these creatures have been here the whole time. They had visitors from Earth, but they weren’t from USARIC.”
Jelly crouched and opened up Alex’s jacket. Furie hopped out and exercised her legs.
“If it isn’t a USARIC vessel, then whose is it?” Jelly posited. “Why is it written in Russian?”
Alex shrugged his shoulders, “Lyulka-451. I don’t know?”
Jelly stood up straight and observed Furie run around, building up a sweat. She looked at Jaycee and feigned a smile - which may or may not have shielded a sinister undertone.
He pricked up his ears and tried to remain upright.
“USARIC thought we went missing, and so sent a search and rescue vessel to get us, right?”
“Right,” Jaycee said.
“Wrong,” Jelly snapped and pointed at Alex, “Hughes?”
Alex took a deep breath, “Charlie wasn’t a search and rescue operation. It was a search and destroy venture, ordered by Maar Sheck.”
“Why did they want us dead?” Jelly asked. “Why go to all that trouble?”
“They wanted you, Jelly. The last communication the IMS and USARIC had was that you had deciphered the code. If it hadn’t have been for me joining the crew of Charlie, everyone except you would be dead.”
Jaycee looked around, finally realizing that he was the only one of Opera Beta left alive.
“Fat lot of good that did,” he said.
Furie butted her head against her mother’s bloodied left shin.
“USARIC wants you, Jelly,” Alex said. “Whatever you did, whatever you found. They want you, and to hell with everyone else.”
“Well, they certainly got that last part right. They managed to kill everyone except me and Jaycee.”
Jelly scowled at Alex and lifted her left foot with Furie clinging to the heel.
“To hell with USARIC,” she sniffed. “If they want me, then they can have me. All of me. Angry, unfiltered, unforgiving, and in an exceptionally pissed-off mood.”
Furie yawned and opened her eyes, “Miew.”
“What’s happening, Jelly?” Alex chanced, this time, knowing his question might be answered now that she’d calmed down.
She cradled her daughter in her arm and lifted her tiny paw up, “Say hello, Furie.”
“Huh-hello,” the kitten said.
Alex cleared his throat and did his absolute best to process the bizarre events unfolding in front of him.
“J-Jelly, I’m g-going to level with you,” Alex said. “I’m really scared.”
“I know you are, Alex,” Jelly wiggled her nose and ran her tongue across her teeth, “Do you know how I know that?”
“No, how?”
“I can smell it.”
She swallowed and smiled at him with great confidence.
“Fear of the unknown. You don’t know what’s happening. How could you possibly know?”
“Please. Tell us what’s going on. What happened to Saturn? Why is your daughter acting strangely? Why are the wolves suddenly your best friends?”
Jelly chuckled to herself, “Oh, Alex. So young and wet behind the ears.”
&
nbsp; “Jelly?” he asked again. “What’s happening?”
“Something fantastic, Hughes.”
CHAPTER THREE
R.A.G.E. Arena
Laguna Vista, South Texas, USA
“What the hell is that thing?”
“I’m not sure. It looks like a tree?” Sierra moved back to the dome as the Gulf water rushed across the ground and around their feet.
The tree that wasn’t a tree loomed a few miles in the distance. A charcoaled stem thrusting out of the Gulf of Mexico like a bizarre antenna.
It had grown to over one hundred feet in height.
Jamie, Leesa, and Remy couldn’t tear their eyes away from the charcoaled beast that lay to the east.
Leesa clutched Jamie’s arm for comfort, “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “I’m sure it’s there for a reason.”
Noyin ran through the exit door with a pained expression on his face. He hollered at Sierra, Rana, and the children.
“Everyone, quick. Come in and see this.”
***
A giant holographic feed hung by the holoscope. It displayed footage of a giant vessel named EXODUS-23 making its way through a dark, featureless ocean.
A familiar male voice narrated over the footage as everyone watched.
“The IRI tankers, much like many thousands before it, made its way to the Russian coast. Naukan Harbor via Diomede Island. It contained more than one thousand Russian nationals. And then, disaster struck.”
The ship burst into a cataclysmic ball of fire into the dark sky and filled the water with light.
“Jesus Christ,” Sierra gasped. “What the hell do they think they’re doing?”
Noyin ran his hands through his hair with despair, “It was unexpected. It just exploded.”
“They’re meant to be transporting them. Not massacring them.”
Leesa burst into tears as the visual burned into her retinas. She buried her head in Jamie’s arms, “What are they doing?”
Remy looked at his feet and felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach.
“They’re killing us.”
Jamie turned to Sierra, “Why are they killing them?”
Sierra just about managed to look away from the footage. She never had to explain what was happening between the two nations - until now. In her mind the answer was simple, but the moment she tried to convert that information into speech, she stumbled.
“You know the Bering Treaty of 2085?”
“No.”
Sierra shook her head and looked to Rana for help. An utter waste of time, judging by her response.
“Nearly thirty years ago, America and Russia became a combined nation state. Infrastructure, free movement of people. Even space exploration. The idea was to come together and advance people’s lives.”
“Like two countries combined?”
“Yes, something like that. The government halted funding for space exploration and privatized it when we teamed up with Russia.”
“So what happened?”
“In the twentieth century, Russia and America were enemies, pretty much. They fought to be the first in space. We had good leaders, and they didn’t. It got messy. The Bering Treaty of 2085 was designed to ensure it never happened again. In fact, exactly the opposite happened.”
Jamie, Leesa, and Remy couldn’t fathom why such an idea couldn’t work. They’d learn soon enough.
“So we all became friends,” Jamie smiled and turned to Remy. “That’s a good thing, right?”
Remy snorted and turned away.
“It worked at first, but it was never going to last,” Sierra said. “One side was bound to get jealous. Power-hungry. A Russian diplomat was executed. Shortly after that, Dimitri Vasilov was executed, and it sparked a huge war conflict.”
“I’ve met him,” Jamie said. “Dimitri Vasilov was one of the heads at USARIC with the other guy.”
“Exactly. We were the ones who killed him.”
Noyin folded his arms and shook his head, “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Sierra turned to the screen to find a young girl with a yellow bow in her hair being dragged away from the port kicking, screaming, and crying.
“We just wanted to do good. But we kicked off a chain of events that we couldn’t stop. The Russians decided they wanted their sovereignty back. Before they enacted it, we forced them out.”
The footage of the burning vessel reflected in Sierra’s wet eyes.
“We can never go back,” she muttered. “You can’t turn back time.”
The narrator continued over the footage, “It’s yet to be determined whether or not the explosion was an accident. What we do know is that an attempt to sabotage the process occurred just moments before.”
A stern-looking IRI official named Keller addressed the camera. His name appeared in text in the bottom right-hand corner of the visual.
“If any Misfit is found to interfere with our repatriation process they can expect the full force of the International Repatriation Initiative to take matters into their own hands. Let us be clear. We will not tolerate defiance,” he said as he moved into the camera. “Russians. Make yourselves known to us so we can ensure your safe return to your country.”
Jamie pointed at Keller, “Who is that?”
“The head of the IRI. The government is forcing all Russians to return home now that the dissolution of the Bering Treaty has been ratified.”
The footage displayed graffiti on a wall reading “Misfits Out!” followed by various gang attacks on random individuals.
“The IRI has requested that both documented and undocumented Russian nationals, which they refer to as Misfits, make themselves known to authorities without delay.”
Remy couldn’t stand to watch the recording. He wiped the tears from his face to reveal two thoroughly bloodshot eyes full of anger.
“First, they kill my pet. Then they destroy my life. And now they are breaking us apart,” he said. “Why do they do this? They think they can just ruin lives?”
Noyin threw the Russian boy a smile, “Don’t worry, Remy. You’re safe here with us. As a matter of fact, you’ll be instrumental in rectifying this situation.”
Remy stomped his feet to the floor, “Are you kidding me, American? If anyone knows I am here, they will force me back home.”
“Well, we’ll just have to make sure you’re not found,” Sierra quipped.
A distraught woman appeared on the display. Jamie recognized her immediately.
“Mom?”
Santiago Sibald appeared next to her and began a conversation.
“The devastating event occurs at a time when Jamie Anderson went missing. I talked to his mother, Emily, about her reaction to the events.”
Jamie held his breath at the sight of his mother addressing the camera.
“I don’t know where you are, poppet,” she sniffed. “But, please, let me know you’re okay.”
“How are you feeling at this moment in time, Emily?” Santiago asked.
“I j-just—” she halted her answer and looked at the floor. “I just need to know he’s okay. That they haven’t done anything to him.”
Santiago broke the dead air between them, “He’s not the only one who was taken, of course. Leesa and Remy are gone, too.”
“I know how their parents are feeling,” Emily said. “We all need to know our children are safe, that those who took them didn’t hurt them.”
Jamie reached out at the screen, “I’m okay, mom.”
She didn’t respond. She couldn’t see or hear him, but she stared right into his eyes quite by accident.
“Jamie. Please. We’re so worried about you. Please, come home.”
A tear rolled down Jamie’s cheek. The others watched and took pity on him.
“I’m coming home, mom—”
The screen fizzled away. Out of the blue, the interior of the dome rumbled around like a madhouse.
Jamie, Leesa, and Remy stagger
ed around as the floor shook from side to side.
Sierra looked up and around at the vibrating walls, “What the hell is that?”
Rana pointed at the exit and ran towards the door, “It’s coming from out there.”
Da-da-da-dum.
“Huh?” As Rana booted the door open, scores of cats rushed past her legs and infiltrated the earthquake-riddled dome.
Meows and shrieks from the disturbed cats echoed all around the room as they took cover under the central table.
Da-da-da-dummmm.
“Outside, look,” Rana yelled as she stepped through the door. “Look at this.”
The top half of the giant, blackened tree-like structure in the middle of the Gulf swayed from side to side.
Small waves rumbled toward them as the tip of the tree angled itself towards the moon.
Jamie ran out with Leesa and Remy to find Mau and Leesa’s cat, Suzie Q-Two, meowing at the moon.
Leesa approached Suzie Q-Two with the intention of picking her up, “Hey, girl. What’s happening?”
Suzie ignored her owner and continued to howl at the moon.
Leesa’s eyes traveled from the back of her cat’s head, up along the structure in the distance and settled on the bright, gray ball in the sky.
“Wh-what’s g-going on, girl?”
Mau lifted his right paw and tried to claw at the gray ball in the sky.
“Meow, meow.”
Rana pressed her palms to her ears.
“What is that?”
Da-da-da-dummmm.
Sierra screwed her face at the strange rhythmic thudding coming from the tree .
“Is that Beethoven’s Fifth?”
“Sure sounds familiar,” Rana said.
She trained her eyes on the tree as it moved away from the constellation of stars in the north and bent its tip in the direction of the moon.
“I do not like this one little bit,” Remy added, utterly astonished at the strange display. “Why are all the cats scared?”
“Meow,” Mau howled once again, determined to grab the moon in his paws.
The tip of the tree cracked apart and began to cough which only amplified the cacophony of noise coming from its stem.
Sierra shouted over the commotion. “Look at that thing. It’s pointing itself at the moon—”
Star Cat: Exodus: A Science Fiction & Fantasy Adventure (The Star Cat Series - Book 5) Page 3
