Unfortunately, upon the death of Kel, Jerem used his newfound power to begin harassing Becca and just a few weeks into his tenure as Head Enforcer Corrin died under mysterious circumstances. Becca always believed that he had died at Jerem’s hands, but there had never been anything she could do about it. With Jonas out of the way he became progressively worse and one day his attentions took an unexpected twist when he proposed to her. Of course, she said no, but that only served to make him angry. He went into a blind rage and beat her senseless. He injured her so badly that she slipped into a coma. When she eventually woke, she was under the care of a Qharr healer. My sister had survived the attack, but unfortunately the child she was carrying hadn’t faired so well and the damage had been so severe that she’d had a miscarriage.
It took her a full month to recover, and during that entire time Jerem had been an almost constant presence. He proposed marriage again, and this time, afraid for her life, my sister agreed to marry him. Once they tied the knot, things seemed to improve and in many ways Jerem seemed like an entirely different person, but it didn’t last and he gradually returned to his bullying ways. As the years passed he got worse and became corrupted completely by the pittance of power provided him by the Qharr masters.
Becca first found him in bed with another woman about five years ago, and he showed no remorse at having done so. Each time a new group of slaves arrived he would hand pick some of the more attractive women to work in the kitchen. He slept with every single one of them, whether they wanted to share a bed with him or not, and made sure my sister knew all about it each time. He was violent and cruel and often beat the subjects of his attention just so that Becca would be forced to see them suffer. His vile ways also extended outside of the bedroom. He often found an excuse to torment someone and if anyone ever said or did anything that could be construed as disobedience he would have them beat without a second thought.
“Oh, Becca,” I whispered upon hearing her finish. She was trembling and weeping openly as she I reached out to put my arms around her. “I’m so sorry.”
She didn’t respond and I felt her arms tighten around me as her weeping gradually turned to sobs. Tears stung my own cheeks and I soon became lost in Becca’s warm embrace as I attempted to comfort her.
Chapter Three
“Lexa, you two alright?” Farris’s voice asked.
My eyes snapped back open and I glanced over to the side where he was standing the doorway. “Yeah, fine.”
He nodded, but I could see the skepticism in his eyes as he spoke, “Right. Well, the doctor sent me to come find you. Looks like he’s done with Kaya. He’s looking Rayland over now, but he thinks he’ll be finished by the time you get there.”
“Great, just what I wanted to hear,” I replied while gently grabbed my sister by the shoulders and pulled myself away. “Tell him we’ll be up in a minute.”
“Rebecca,” I muttered as Farris turned to leave. “We have to go. Are you going to be alright?”
She nodded reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Better than I’ve been since Corrin died.”
“If you need more time…” I trailed off.
“No,” she muttered. “I’d just as soon get this over and done with.”
Her eyes were red and swollen from all her tears and I wondered if my own face might be a mirror of hers in that regard. I bit my lip and reached up to touch my face. “They’ll be able tell we’ve been crying, but I guess there’s no help for it.”
Becca blinked and reached up to touch her face, “Maybe they will with me, but you look fine. Well, once you wipe those tears off your face.”
“That’s probably Khala’s doing,” I replied reaching up to wipe the tears from my eyes with the palms of my hands then turn to my sister with an arched eyebrow. “You sure you don’t need some time before we go?”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to make anyone wait. I’m ready to go now.”
I nodded and stood up from my bed and Becca followed suit. She reached out to grab my hand then glanced at me with an ever so slight smirk. “Ready whenever you are.”
We made our way up to the infirmary where everyone was waiting. Lily was absent, but that was to be expected since she was busy piloting the ship. Kaya, looking groggy and more than a little worse for the wear, glanced back at us as we entered the room. “Everything alright?”
“Fine,” I answered back the irony of her being concerned about my well-being after what she’d just been through not lost on me. “What about you?”
She gripped her shoulder, closed her eyes and let out a long drawn out groan. “I’ve been better, but I’ll live.”
“So, doctor,” Rayland said from the scanner platform. “Are we done?”
Vakrexid bobbed his head up and down as he studied the display.”Indeed, the scan is complete. Varkexid has found no evidence of any surgical, mechanical or chemical alterations to your mind.”
“Well that’s a relief,” Rayland grinned. “Although I can honestly say that never would have been a worry for me until now. Doesn’t sound much like the Qharr’s MO. It definitely doesn’t really fit into their code of honor.”
“Yeah,” I agreed folding my arms across my chest. “We’ve been over this before.”
“What I don’t get,” Farris said from behind me. “Is if they can subvert Strave so completely why don’t they do it to all the slaves? They could effectively end all resistance.”
“The means by which the Qharr subverted your co-patriot were extensive and would have required them to expend many resources. To use such means on a mass scale would not be economically feasible,” the doctor replied.
“Thank God for that,” Kaya grunted. “We can sit and speculate some other time. I think I’d be a lot more comfortable knowing whether or not Becca has been altered like Strave.”
My sister glared at Kaya, and gritted her teeth as she spoke.”I guess I could understand why someone like you would be worried about that.”
Kaya’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at the pure venom in Becca’s voice then she turned to me with a single eyebrow still raised. “What exactly did you tell her?”
“Nothing that wasn’t true,” I shrugged.
“Bitch,” Becca cursed under her breath her eyes never once having left Kaya.
Rayland watched the entire exchange then let out a soft chuckle as he moved away from the scanner platform. He grinned at Becca then held his hand out for her to step onto its raised surface. “It’s all yours.”
Becca glared at Kaya one final time then stepped up onto the platform, placed both her hands on the rods–almost perfectly mirroring the posture Rayland had assumed when he’d been on the platform–then closed her eyes, “I-I’m ready.”
Just as with previous scans the bars flared with bright light and Becca closed her eyes to guard against the luminescence. Once, the scan completed my sister stepped off the platform then turned to the doctor. “You didn’t find anything, did you?”
He tilted his head back and forth as he examined the display then, without warning, spun around wiggling his fingers in front of his face, “Your mind has not been tampered with and is most assuredly yours. Although, like most humans who live upon the feet of the Qharr you are most malnourished. Unfortunately, there is little Vakrexid can do about that at the moment.”
My sister looked up at the doctor with an amused grin then turned to me with a crooked eyebrow and mouthed the word “feet” no doubt in order to note the doctor’s misuse of such a common phrase. I returned her grin and shrugged before looking about the room. “Well, let’s head up to the bridge, shall we? I think it’s time we make some important decisions.”
“Jay– Lily,” Kaya said upon stepping into the control center. “God, that’s going to take some time to get used to. Have we reached an area where you’re comfortable setting down yet?”
Lily spun around in the seat. “Yeah, we’re pretty far up into Canada now somewhere in what
used to be the Yukon Territory. I’ve been going pretty slow or we would have gotten here a lot more quickly. Plus, it’s easier to fool the Qharr satellites.”
“Good thinking,” Kaya nodded. “The doctor has looked Becca and Rayland over and it looks like neither one has been brain-washed. Try to find a good place to set the ship down. Hopefully, some place where it can’t be seen overhead, then we’ll decide what to do from there.”
“Actually,” Lily bit her lip as she looked up at Kaya. “I was thinking Rayland might know of a better place for us to hide.”
Rayland who had only just barely stepped on the bridge looked around with wide eyes then folded his arms across his chest, “Oh? What makes you think that?”
“I don’t know ranger why would I think that?” Lily folded her arms across her chest and gave him a pointed look.
“Ranger?” Kaya asked. “Did I miss something?”
Rayland threw his head back laughing. “Was it so obvious? Tell me what gave me away?”
“Am I only one that’s confused?” Farris blurted out.
“No, Vakrexid is most befuddled… Of course, I am constantly perplexed by you humans.”
Kaya ran a hand down the entire length of her hair as she glanced at the doctor. “I’m sure once Lily and Rayland shed some light on some things we won’t be so confused.”
Lily sighed and pinched her fingers around the crest of her nose, “Rayland is a nester ranger… He’s bearing and demeanor is very obviously that of a military man and… when I caught a peek of the skull and crossed arrows tattoo on his arm I knew I was right.”
“A nester?” Farris choked then spun around to stare at Rayland with wide eyes. “What on Earth do you want with us?”
Rayland leaned back against wall then lightly tapped the back of his head against it as he closed his eyes. “There are certain factions among our leadership who are sympathetic to the resistance… when they learned of its destruction I was sent to find any remaining members and offer them sanctuary.”
I pursed my lips and folded my arms across my chest. “That would go a long way to explain some things, but there’s gotta be more to it than that. You said yourself that you knew about the key.”
Rayland smirked and pushed himself away from the wall. “Of course there was more to it than that. Your resistance and the nester movement share common roots. The resistance was formed to combat the Qharr and the nesters hid themselves away to preserve our culture should Earth ever be free again.”
“In other words we fight and die and while you damn nesters sit on your plump asses and do nothing!” Kaya yelled between gritted teeth.
Rayland bowed his head and let out a soft laugh. “You really don’t know do you?”
“Know what?” I blinked.
“All this time you’ve been fighting and you don’t even know the truth of what it’s all about! Gotta love the irony!” Rayland fell to his knees laughing so hard that he started to tear up. His reaction seemed a bit extreme, but as unusual as his amusement was, it did seem to be genuine. “It’s why I was sent to come find you in the first place! We knew that the only remaining key, the one that originally belonged to Harold Briggs, was in the hands of the resistance. After we caught wind of the attack from the Qharr we were sure that you’d go looking for either Jellfree Briggs or his sister, Becca, seeing as they’re the only two people who could activate the key. Our leaders sent agents to both of their last know locations.”
“Of course, had we known what had become of Harold’s nephew we never would have bothered sending an agent after him or would it be more accurate to say her?” he asked glancing up at me with a crooked eyebrow.
“Her would be correct,” I cleared my throat feeling my cheeks burn as I met his gaze
“So I was right. I presume whatever did that to you,” he extended an outreached hand at my breasts. “Also made it impossible for you to activate the key. Hence, why you decided to go find sister dearest.”
I narrowed my eyes and planted my hands on my hips. “I would have gone after her eventually, key or no key.”
“No one was suggesting otherwise, but I think we’re getting a bit off track don’t you? I could explain the intended function of the key and have you doubting every word I said or you could whip the thing out, hand it to Becca here and you’d know the truth of it without mincing any words.”
“I’m not sure what good that would do, other than confirming that the key would work,” I responded.
“Oh hell! They didn’t even tell you that much? There’s a message embedded in the key that will play once it’s been activated.”
Kaya nodded then glance over at Vakrexid. “Doctor.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” he responded as he reached inside his jacket, produced the key and held it out to my sister. “Take it, take it, take it!”
Becca bit her lip and slowly moved across the room until she was directly in front of the doctor. She looked down at the key with wide eyes, then reached out with tentative fingers and pulled it free from his outstretched hand. Its end began to glow and she let out a startled gasp, clenched her hand around the key and took a step back as the outline of a tall figure began to form a short distance away. The image fluttered and flashed before finally resolving itself into the figure of a very familiar looking man.
Becca’s eyes grew wide and she let out another gasp before whispering a single word. “D-daddy?”
“Rebecca, Jellfree,” the man pronounced bowing his head. “This is your uncle Harry and if you’re seeing this message then that means I’m probably dead. I don’t know which of you is viewing this and its possible both of you are. I don’t know if I took any part in your life after the invasion, but I like to think that I would have given the opportunity. In any case, that is immaterial to what I’m about to tell you. Listen well, once this message is played in its completeness it will be deleted from the key’s storage bank.”
The image of my uncle paused a moment before continuing, “Before the invasion we knew we were fighting a losing battle and that the Qharr were pressing their armies for Earth. The bastards came in droves and we knew that if our fleets were unable to fend them off that our world would either come under their domain or be eliminated. So, we developed a plan in the increasing likelihood that our enemy would succeed. When the Qharr invaded, a small portion of the defense fleet along with select sampling of the civilian population would escape and bide their time, building up a new force in the hopes of one day retaking Earth. They would wait twenty-five years, then return and give the gray-skins the fight of their lives.”
“Mara, I and a small group of others were to remain on Earth and form a resistance movement. We were to build our forces and fight the Qharr until it came time for the fleet’s return then a short time prior to the invasion we would make contact with the fleet and coordinate the plan. I knew that there was a good chance I wouldn’t survive, we all did, that’s why each of our keys are capable of holding three genetic signatures. Since I had no children of my own, I chose the both of you as my stand-ins should the worst happen.”
“Your goal now is to make contact with the remnants of the fleet and help them in whatever way you can to retake Earth. This key working in conjunction with a one of several communications arrays scattered across the North American continent will give you the means to do so. Be ready, the coordinates for each of the arrays will be listed once my message is completed.”
Kaya snapped her fingers and pointed at both Farris and Lily who both scrambled to comply to her wordless command.
“The key has limited memory for recording messages so I’m afraid that I must say goodbye.” Harold’s form flashed then faded away and was replaced by a list of coordinates.
“Tell me someone is getting those!” Kaya yelled swirling around in place and giving pointed looks to each of us.
“Got ’em,” Farris responded holding up a small piece of paper.
“Me too,” Lily added tapping her fingers against the conso
le.
“Fuck,” Kaya let out a long sigh and gripped the side of her head. “I don’t know what I was expecting, but God, I can’t hardly believe it! Mara did say what the key unlocked was the secret to saving Earth, but I figured that it would be some sort of doomsday weapon. This, hell, it changes everything!”
“Yeah well, that really begs the question, what are we going to do about it?” Farris gaped at her with wide-eyes then shook his head and folded his arms across his chest.
“What else? We find one of these arrays and make contact,” I answered instead of Kaya. “We’re talking about liberating Earth. Can we really let this opportunity fall through our fingers?”
“No, obviously not,” Rayland agreed. “You can’t honestly believe that the fleet would forsee that the resistance might fall. I think if they can plan that far ahead, they’d plan for all eventualities. There’s no need to rush things. My people can give you shelter until things settle down a bit. Then a month or two later we’ll help you find one of the communications arrays and use the key.”
Lily frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “No, I think Lexa’s right. We need to make contact and use the key as soon as possible. The message said that the fleet would be returning after twenty-five years that means we have nine months to coordinate with them.”
“Fucking hell!” Farris blurted out then looked about self-consciously and eyed us each in turn. “I mean… Look we can run away with our tails between our legs or we can do something. This isn’t another one of our missions, this… this is different. We have a chance at doing something big here… something that has real meaning.”
Rayland snorted and turned away from us. “What can you do? Your numbers have become so diminished that you pose virtually no threat to the gray skins.”
Battle For Earth Page 30
