by Angel Lawson
I steady myself and approach the education wing. Mercy Ladd isn’t my only concern—she should barely be a concern at all. She’s like everyone else in this facility—an aspect of my duty.
I open the door and greet the women I serve, and make sure I keep them safe.
4
Mercy
When I arrive downstairs the following morning for work, I expect Kai. Instead I find another Custo, Dimka, waiting. He’s tall with broad shoulders, inches taller than the other men including the Athionans. His coloring is a bit darker and the shape of his eyes slightly different. There’s a long scar along his neck that travels beneath his collar. The skin is slightly discolored and it looks like whatever caused it was painful.
I can’t help my curiosity about these males. Although they are completely different from human men like Dr. Kane, I still find them very appealing.
“Good morning, Ms. Ladd.”
“Hello, Dimka. I was expecting Kai. Is everything okay?”
His hesitation is barely noticeable but I notice a quick line appear between his eyes. “Just a small incident on the eastern border. Nothing to worry about. I volunteered to take his place.”
“I hate to drag you from something important. I could have gone alone—it’s not very far.”
His eyes cloud and he shakes his head. “No. Your safety is our highest priority.” He gestures for me to go ahead and I hear him say under his breath, “And trust me, it’s not an inconvenience.”
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to hear that comment, but I do, and it sends a thrill up my spine. Having the full attention of these strong, warrior-like Athions is a surprising pleasure.
Dimka doesn’t speak to me as much as Kai, and it only gives me time to study the man next to me. There are differences between the two Custos besides size and coloring.
“Watch your step,” he says as we get to an uneven part of the sidewalk. Dimka has a slight accent—one I don’t think I’ve heard in my time here.
“Your accent—it’s different from the others.”
He gives me a wary look. “I’m from a place called the Southern Tip.”
“Oh, I’m from the south too. Not the Athion one, but the one in the United States. We talk differently, too.”
“I noticed.”
It’s like the gates open and I start to babble.
“I grew up in one of the southern states, North Carolina. It’s not the ’Deep South,’ but I think that depends on where you lived. Our area was pretty rural, although my parents did okay. My mother is a school teacher. I always knew I wanted to go into the medical field.”
I don’t expect him to ask me anything, but to my surprise, he does.
“Was it just you? Do you have any siblings?”
I swallow the lump that formed automatically in my throat. “Yes. A sister.”
“I had brothers.”
“Are you close?” I ask.
“We were.”
Past tense and his eyes cloud when he mentions this.
“My sister and I were very close. We did everything together. Same college, she was in nursing and I shifted into mid-wifery.”
“And you left her behind when you chose to come to Athion?”
“No. Well, not exactly.” I want to tell him the truth. It feels like a betrayal to her life to do anything differently. “She was seduced by a Trad and was impregnated.”
“Oh,” he says, eyes softening. “Was she taken?”
I shake my head. “No. They didn’t get the chance. She killed herself before they could take her or the baby.”
“That…” his hands ball into tight, angry fists and there’s no mistaking the anger in his eyes. “That is a devastating story.”
It’s not a story. Not for me. It’s reality and I should have been there to protect her—the woman in my life that needed my help. Instead, I was too busy helping everyone else. “It was difficult for me and my parents.”
We walk toward the clinic in silence and I’m not sure how I feel about revealing so much of myself to this man I barely know. Maybe that’s why it was easy.
“I was forced to leave my brothers as well—my whole family, actually.” He looks up at me with soulful eyes. “I’m glad you had an opportunity for something different, something new.”
“I’m hoping this will be a fresh start,” I tell him.
“I hope for that for you, too.”
He leaves me at the clinic and I start the day feeling lighter. Dr. Kane notices.
“You seem in good spirits today, Ms. Ladd.”
“I am, thank you.” I hand him the data for the next client we’ll see in a few minutes. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“This morning, Dimka escorted me from the dormitory and he mentioned he’s from the Southern Tip. Do you know anything about that region?”
He looks up from the data pad where he’d been jotting down notes and looks at me quizzically. “I do.”
“Well?” I prompt, unsure of his hesitation.
“It’s a small series of islands. They have different customs and cultures in their regions as well as a few different physical markers.”
“Like skin tone?”
“Yes, among other things.” He clears his throat. “It’s sort of like how people are on Earth. Different ethnicities and accents depending on where we were raised. Different features such as eye shape or features.”
“That makes sense.” I wipe down the counter with sterilizing pads.
“Ms. Ladd, are you spending a lot of time with the Custos?”
I glance up and frown. “What? No. Just the time it takes to escort me back and forth to the dormitory.”
“And do you speak personally with them during these walks? Share things about yourself?”
“I…” After today I couldn’t deny that I felt comfortable with them, even Dimka. “Is that wrong?”
His expression softens. “It’s not wrong, but I’ve been here longer than you have and maybe I just have a little more awareness of the customs. The Custos are an elite squad, similar to our S.E.A.L. teams or Rangers. They should not be distracted from their duties.”
“I assure you I am not doing anything to distract them from their duties,” I say defensively.
“Not on purpose.” He chuckles. “The Custos are Athion men like all others on this planet. They are hormonally designed to seek a fertile mate. Sure, they follow a code for their service, but nature can’t be overruled. They’re attracted to you. Distracted by you.” He settles his piercing eyes on me. “I can understand why.”
Heat flames my cheeks and I move to straighten the counter. “I think you’re overestimating my ability to distract men, Dr. Kane.”
“I don’t think so.” I hear him move and turn, finding him right behind me. “Despite what you’ve been told, not all of the men here are just like human men. Some have…differences that you may find unsettling. Please be careful, Ms. Ladd. I know you came here for a reason—just like I did—to help the women of Earth as they enter this society. I’d hate for that to become derailed.”
He’s very close to me and although he’s suggesting I not get distracted from my goals, he’s not making it very easy.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Dr. Kane. We both know I’m well outside the prime birthing age desired by men on this planet.” I pick up the next file in the holder by the door. “Our next patient is here. I’ll make sure she’s ready.”
He blinks. “Thank you, Ms. Ladd.”
We don’t discuss it again but all day I think of his warnings, his closeness and his scent, and wonder what he was really warning me about. The Custos or himself?
5
Dimka
Proceed to the Eastern Border
I swipe a finger over the communication, clearing that I’ve received it, and head across the facility toward the crime scene. My explicit order had been to get Mercy Ladd to the medical clinic safely and I’d done as instructed. Kai is
well aware of my hesitation to be alone with the woman.
She unnerves me.
He thinks it’s hilarious—that a strong warrior from the Southern Tip can’t handle being around a midwife from Earth. It’s just that she smells so good and her features are so soft. There’s a tug that I feel from her and it’s wholly unexpected.
I’d spent my youth playing hard with my brothers. We lived near the coast and our days were filled with swimming, running, climbing, hunting. That was where I learned to have no fear, diving from the cliffs into the ocean below. We were competitive and a bit wild. As much as we fought, we loved one another as well.
All of that ended the day I was hunting in the jungle near my home and I fell into a Fatau’s pit, plunging to a deep hole, ankles dangling from ropes made of vines.
I didn’t know it was the Fatau at first, I assumed it was a basic hunting trap, but when the men arrived, their faces wrapped in dark cloth, I knew my fate was sealed.
Growing up, the Fatau were almost like a myth, a scary tale whispered after dark. These Trads, cloaked in black, would sneak into homes, villages, forests, and snatch able-bodied boys and men out of thin air.
I never fully believed they existed until that day. By then it was too late.
I was shoved with others from my island into the bottom of a rusted ship, starved, shackled and beaten. We arrived on the dusty moon a month later and taken to The Pits.
There I spent the next two years fighting for my master’s pleasure, for sport, and for my life. It was there that I honed my skills as a killer. I lost sight of the world outside. It was just this tiny hole on the moon, a place of death for sport. I didn’t make friends because I’d have to kill them. I shut out my memories of the past and assumed I’d die at the hands of another, my corpse rotting on that Laird-forsaken moon.
Until the raid.
I was in the ring when it happened, pummeling an Athion from the Northern Realm. A surge of Athion soldiers—or what I thought was soldiers--swarmed the pits, arresting the workers and seizing property. The fighters were corralled and taken on another ship, this time with food, although we were still prisoners.
When we docked, I was taken to a medical clinic, given a physical and psychological exam and put through a series of tests and challenges. Two years before, I would have fought back, but by then I was exhausted. I did everything they asked with the ultimate desire of being left alone.
To my surprise, the people testing me saw something they liked—in fact, they’d been searching for me the whole time. Apparently, I’d been on the Athion radar since childhood and when I went missing, they started looking across the planet, the moons, and galaxy.
The Custo.
They wanted me for their Elite unit. Me. A wild child. A prisoner. A fighter. A killer.
I accepted and ultimately found myself on Kai’s squad at the transition facility, guarding the most precious and vulnerable. Women that had sacrificed their homes to restart their lives on Athion. Women like Mercy Ladd, who gave up everything for our society.
When we signed up for this mission, there was only one question they’d asked us. “Would you give your life for the women you’re assigned to protect?”
The answer, obviously, was yes.
I hasten my movements to get across the grounds, eager to know what Kai found. The thought of a breach angered me to the point of rage. How dare someone enter this sacred place?
I pretended my upset was over the breach alone, but I knew it was more than that.
At the time I accepted this position, I knew I believed in the mission, but what I didn’t understand was how I would feel about Mercy Ladd. That I’m not just willing to die for a cause, but I’m willing to die for a specific woman.
Because she’s just that damn important.
6
Mercy
Dr. Kane would be happy to know that on our walk back to the dormitory that night, Kai is quiet. There seems to be a slow boil under the surface, one that I find both curious and scary, so I don’t ask. It’s none of my business but there’s a nagging worry about his mention of the breach the day before. Surely, if it’s something that is a widespread concern, we would be notified.
I’m about to walk into my building when he calls my name, “Ms. Ladd.”
“Yes?”
“Promise me you’ll stay in the building at night—please don’t wander around.”
I frown. “Is there something wrong?”
“Just adhere to the curfew.”
“I will.”
Later that night I’m sitting with my roommate, a woman from South Dakota who is also about a month away from processing into society. She has lovely long, silky, dark hair and dark eyes. She’s a school teacher who plans on teaching in the Athion educational system. Her mother is full-blooded Native American and she wanted to be one of the first to colonize another planet.
“Rose,” I ask her, while stretched out on my bed, “have you heard anything about the Athions being different for one reason or the other?”
She puts down her book. “Like how?”
“Dr. Kane just mentioned the men from the Southern Tip as being different.”
A small smile twisted on her lips. “I did hear a rumor.”
“What kind of rumor?” My curiosity is piqued.
“That those men have two, you know.” She points between her legs. I almost sigh. Rose is young and even though she’s finished college, the difference in our ages is obvious sometimes.
“Penises?” It comes out with exasperation before realizing exactly what I’ve just said. “Wait. They have two penises? You’re…oh my god.”
Dimka has—or may have—two penises. I didn’t even understand how that would work.
She shrugs. “That’s what a girl in Athion history class told me. I think she’s been seeing one of the instructors on the side.”
Seeing one of the instructors? It’s not exactly a surprise, we do have a few pregnant women in the facility.
Since Rose seems to be privy to gossip, I decide to ask her one other thing. “Have you heard about a breach in the border of the transition center? Something about a woman getting taken?”
She nods. “I did hear something. A few of my instructors were talking about it. A girl over in the agricultural school hasn’t been seen since yesterday. We’ve been walking to and from class in a group with a Custo.”
“What do you think about them? The Custo?”
“I don’t, really. I mean, they’re okay. Professional. I’ve never really spoken to any.”
I find this interesting. Maybe Dr. Kane was right. Maybe I am distracting my officers with personal conversation. “Are there any theories about the girl and where she went?”
She leans against her pillow. “I heard two rumors. One was that she ran off with a friend—tired of being in quarantine.”
“And the other?”
“That a Trad took her.”
A Tradrych.
I shiver at the word. These were the beings that invaded Earth, kidnapping women and impregnating them. They too have a limit in female companionship and a lack of fertility. Their population is declining—like the Athion, but unlike the Athion, they take what they want and are deceitful about it. They can easily morph into human men, cloaking their own features. It’s also imperative for the Trads to impregnate women on Earth before kidnapping them back to their own planet. It’s the only way. Their atmosphere is not compatible for human procreation.
When the Trads first invaded Earth, it was confusing. The aliens look like men—handsome, attractive, and appealing men. They seduced women, coerced or forced them into sex with the sheer goal of procreation. I’d personally lived in fear until the government made a deal with Athion, offering women safety and protection. My skills as a midwife made me an attractive prospect and my application was fast-tracked. I’d never felt as safe as I did once I arrived on Athion. After living in fear for so long—the concern about being manipulated or tricked mad
e me a little neurotic. Here that wasn’t an issue. Or it hadn’t been. The idea of there being a Trad in our midst?
“Do you think it’s true?” I ask, trying to keep my fear in check.
“I really don’t know. It’s possible, I guess; they’re tricky bastards.” Rose touches the button next to the bed, dousing the room of light. We both had to get up early and quickly she fell asleep. I didn’t go so easily, laying in my bed for hours, feeling my heartrate quicken every time I thought of a Trad in our midst.
7
Mercy
Sleep eludes me and it’s not the first time since arriving at Athion. Although there’s no science to prove it, I’m convinced the six-month journey was enough sleep for a lifetime. Four hours a night seemed to be enough for me no matter how hard I tried.
Since the dormitories are locked down overnight for safety, I’ve taken to setting up in the first-floor lounge with a book. I’m not the only one awake in the middle of the night. Alex, the Custo assigned to overnight duty, sits at a small desk when not on patrol. Tonight is no different, although I can sense he’s on alert.
There’s something different about Alex from Dimka or Kai, and not in the way they’re different from one another. Alex is a human—a man from Earth—which is something that surprised me when I first got here.
I’d encountered him one of the first nights after I arrived when I timidly approached the lounge. My room felt suffocating and I couldn’t sleep. I grabbed my data pad, loaded with thousands of books, and crept downstairs to avoid waking Rose.
I saw Alex, with close-shorn dark hair and a tan face, before he saw me, and for a moment I froze, scared. On Earth we’d become wary of handsome men. The Trads took their form as a way to infiltrate society, seduce women. My reaction, at the time, was instinct, self-preservation. After a moment he looked up and saw me.
