Dissension (The Convergence Saga Book 3)

by Rick Kueber

  Elle stopped dead in her tracks, and her arms fell to her sides, dropping everything when she saw the unthinkable. Jenny was gone, and four Takers were carrying Bailey from the room, leaving behind a large muddy-red stain on the beige carpeting. More than the shock of what she’d seen, was the trauma caused by what she didn’t... Phoenix.

  Frozen for a moment, Elle tried to wrap her mind around what was going on. It made no sense to her and so she shook herself back to the present truth and scrambled across the room. The short pile of the carpeting was so saturated with the pooled blood that the slick sole of her worn shoe slipped across it like the blade of a skate across an icy pond. Her balance was lost, and though she tried to catch herself, she landed hard on her side and like muddy water from a rain puddle on a dirt road, she was soaked and spattered with the dark red life that had poured from Bailey’s wound.

  The only thing that was hurt was Elle’s confidence that she was the warrior she had once been. Taking a full breath, she stood and saw the second dark stain on the floor where Jenny had fallen. Elle took extra care to avoid the next crimson hazard. Cautiously yet swiftly, her feet carried her through the house and out of the back door.

  It wasn’t unexpected by any definition of the word, but it still took Elle’s breath away when she saw the humongous grayish-blue Titan with its legs folded and its belly flat on the ground just beyond the fenced backyard. The Takers packed Bailey’s limp body through a gate at the rear of the property. Elle took aim with the semi-automatic, assault rifle and as she exhaled slowly, she squeezed the trigger. An echoing ‘CRACK’ bounced between the house and the fence as she watched the left side of the head and skull of the Taker in the rear explode and its form fall to the earth like a limp egg noodle, wilting awkwardly and purposelessly. The other three Takers did not even flinch or take notice of any kind but instead continued on speeding up only slightly. Elle continued to walk towards the alien captors and only paused long enough to draw down on the second Taker in the rear and without hesitation, she fired a second round. It seemed in slow motion to Elle as the empty shell casing flew from the side of the rifle. The echoing sound, wisps of smoke and the smell of spent gunpowder filled her senses. Her sight was given a very temporary satisfaction. Elle watched as the Taker’s neck and head whipped backwards and its blood sprayed rhythmically from the hole that her shot had bored though its neck.

  She lowered the rifle only slightly as she stepped over the first slain Taker and passed through the gate. Only a few dozen yards from the Titan, Elle was raising the rifle again when something caught her eye and shattered her heart. Jenny’s lifeless body, her skin already graying from the lack of blood, had been discarded behind the fence like the withering core of an apple. Her fury grew, and though the distance between her and her targets had grown, she put the stock of the gun to her shoulder. Shaking with anger and hatred, she snapped off another shot, but her aim was off. The bullet caught the Taker just below its right ear and its jaw unhinged and flapped forward as the blood gushed down its neck and shoulder. It continued on undeterred, and Elle paused. Finding her center, she focused her thought and slowly squeezed the trigger dropping the third Taker to the ground.

  Suddenly, Elle had a realization. She had fired three noisy shots and killed three Takers. Where were the rest of them? Just outside of the Titan, she expected Takers to flood out and surround her with number greater than she could overtake, even with a semiautomatic weapon, but they didn’t. She Placed the gun-sights on the back of the last Taker’s head and calmly, she began to squeeze the trigger.

  “STOP!!!” A voice shouted from the darkened interior of the Titan.

  Elle staggered backward as the final Taker vanished, dragging Bailey’s body apathetically into the mysterious hidden interior. The tone, the volume and the fluctuation of the one syllable word sunk into her brain and was instantaneously dissected. She knew this voice, but how could it be possible?

  “Tory?” Elle’s mouth was parched, and her throat tightened as she tried to speak. “Tory? Is that really you?” She thought that she was losing her mind under the duress of the traumatic events of the last few hours.

  “Elle.” The woman stepped forward. Dressed in all black, she appeared taller and thinner than Elle remembered, but her face had not changed. “It is good to have you join us. It is really the only way.”

  “Are you still ...you?” Elle wasn’t sure how to ask the question because Tory had been Taken before Tanner’s change, before Maddie, Daniel and before everyone at the CCC.

  “Come inside. We have much to do and a long way to go.” Tory avoided answering her question.

  “What’s going on here Tory? Where is my son?” Elle raised and lowered the barrel of the assault rifle hesitantly several times. She had already shot two women who used to be her friends, and her soul ached at the thought of pulling the trigger again. “Don’t make me do this.” Her voice quivered, and her hands were far from steady.

  “Come.” Tory had always been a woman of few words, but once upon a time she was timid and meek, now her words had depth and intent, and they beckoned to Elle, tempting her, swaying her to follow their sound, as Tory turned and disappeared into the same abyss that the Taker and Bailey had sunken into.

  Elle followed.

  Chapter 12

  Illuminated

  Her feet carried her forward involuntarily, but Elle stopped herself short of entering the mysterious interior of the Titan. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the discarded remains of her friend and to leave her like that would show no respect and be nothing short of disgraceful and inhumane. Elle was torn between her love and respect of all natural things and the need to move forward to learn what had gone so wrong with the plans for revolution and find her infant son.

  “I can’t go with you, but I will not let them take my child.” Elle’s words were monotone as if she were telling herself. She turned her back on the Titan with no fear that she was an easy target.

  “Do not worry for your star child. He is in very good hands, but we cannot wait. There is a coming together that we must not miss.” Tory reappeared, and the sunlight caught her hair and shadowed her face giving her a look that was both angelic and powerful.

  “I will not leave Jenny this way. She should have a proper burial.” Elle didn’t feel that she had to explain anything to Tory. The words, once again, were for herself. Elle returned to the home to find blankets, sleeping bags, or sheets to wrap Jenny’s body in. So many memories drifted in and out of her thoughts; moments with Jenny, her brother Bobby’s life, death and burial, Bus-driver Bob and the fact that he was left with no last rites, Tanner and her short time with him and whether or not he was alive and if she might ever see him again. When her arms were filled with sheets and blankets, she headed to the back door. Sorrow crept deeper into her heart as she passed over the permanent reminder of what she had done, stained darkly into the carpeting. Elle was startled and dismayed to find the backyard crawling with Takers. The small shed in the corner of the fenced yard was opened, and the Takers had every tool imaginable, from shovels to sheers to hammers, methodically and feverishly digging large holes in the sandy ground.

  “We will wait for you, and they will bury their own,” Tory said, standing just beyond the gate.

  “Bury their own...” Elle lipped the words silently but it made her question why. She had probably seen thousands or tens of thousands of Takers and humans dead in the streets since this had all begun. Why would they suddenly decide to bury their dead? She passed them by and did not make eye contact. In all honesty, the creepy gray pupils surrounded by blood red instead of whites still gave her an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “We will bury your friend.” Tory offered her help and then with a simple hand motion, called one of the takers over and took the spade from it. She handed it to Elle. “You should choose the resting place and break ground.”

  And so she did. After a few minutes of digging Tory took a turn. While she dug,
Elle laid out the blankets and sheets, one on top of another next to the body of Jenny. She pressed her hands against the blankets, smoothing them out obsessively. When she had them as perfectly flat and straight as humanly possible, Elle knelt down near Jenny’s head and taking her by the shoulder, rolled her on to her back. The dead stare in Jenny’s lifeless eyes glared up at Elle, and she rocked back onto her butt.

  “I’m so sorry.” She whispered to the empty vessel that once held the life of her roommate.

  A shadow loomed over Elle and her first acquaintance after the invasion, Tory, knelt down beside her. Tory’s slender hand reached over Jenny’s face and closed her eyelids. “Let me help you.” She and Elle lifted the dead weight of the body and placed it on the stack. One at a time, Elle folded the sheets and blankets over Jenny’s corpse. With each layer, she spoke part of a Zuni prayer in her native tongue.

  “This is difficult for you,” Tory said to Elle and seemed surprised by the fact.

  “It was an accident, really.” Elle’s voice trembled. “I was angry at her and Bailey, and I wanted to kill them, sort of, but I only planned to hurt Bailey because she was an Ahsusha.”

  “Many, many people have died. Many you have known and many you have seen... Millions more that you have not... Do not carry this burden. It will only hinder your true purpose.” Tory seemed very different than Elle remembered, much different than the timid young woman in the dirty, primitive cave in the desert. “Life does not go on forever; not even for the alien beings. There is not always a tomorrow, another chance. We all make decisions that we may regret, but Elle, do not let those regrets define who you are. You saved my life when I would have certainly died or become a slave to the aliens. I may have been taken by them from the cabin, but it made all the difference in the world. Let’s lay your friend to rest and then come with us and I will tell you what has happened and what I know.”

  “And you will take me to my son?” Elle posed the statement as a question.

  “And I will take you to your child.” Tory’s eyes held sorrow as she said the words.

  “Then I will go with you.” The two spoke no more. Earnestly, they buried Jenny and Elle marked the site with stones from the rock garden, arranged in the shape of a capitol ‘J.' She was moved by the Takers having buried the three she had shot. More than that, it was the fact that they worked side by side with the one who shot them without judging or condemning her. Perhaps they weren’t intelligent enough to make the connection between Elle and the death of their comrades, but then again, she thought, they were intelligent enough, human enough, to want to bury they fallen without being told to do so. Elle looked at the four mounds of turned dirt and thought aside from the ‘J,' they were no different. Wandering over to the rock garden again, she chose three fairly large and beautiful stones. As she placed one stone on each grave of the Takers, she spoke. “My brothers, my sisters, this life is finished. Join Mother Earth and Father Sun and be children of the stars. May your energy be the light that guides our way in our darkest hours. Be at peace and we will see you on the roads we travel...the roads of our yesterdays. Today and tomorrow... When our journey here is finished, in the waters of life we will join you.”

  The Takers stood in a small group, and Elle thought they seemed sorrowful at the loss of life they had experienced, which seemed very odd to her. She blew a kiss to the shallow graves as a farewell and tucked her hair behind her left ear. Looking up, her eyes met Tory’s and she once again felt the calling to enter the Titan. Perhaps it was the intuition of a new mother to find her child.

  “Come,” Tory said again, and Elle, and the Takers followed her call.

  “Phoenix?” Elle asked, and Tory shot her a puzzled look. “Take me to my son Phoenix, now.”

  “Of course.” Tory calmly replied, holding her hand out to Elle. “I said I would, and so, I will.”

  Tory entered the opening in the massive Titan, followed by Elle and then the small group of Takers. Even though Elle was being followed closely by the Takers and felt a sense of intimidation having her back to them. She also believed that they had no ill intentions towards her. It was a confusing feeling, but now, her first glimpses inside of a Titan were a welcomed a distraction from the barrage of feelings that were fighting inside of her head for her attention. The space they entered was light grayish in color, and it seemed to be self-illuminated. Though it was a large space, it was dwarfed by the over-all size of the Titan. The entrance closed behind them and sealed itself with no seams and literally disappeared into the wall. There were no apparent corners, but the room still seemed rectangular with no openings or doors. Elle followed Tory forward, and the Takers made a ninety-degree turn and walked straight into and through the wall leaving the two of them alone.

  “Your child is this way.” Tory faced the wall directly in front of her and with her hands together, flat against themselves, she slipped them into the wall and pulling them apart, caused the wall to open before them.

  She didn’t think anything could surprise her after all she had been through, but when Elle saw what was hidden on the other side of the wall, she gasped out loud. There was an obvious tremor and movement of the Titan, but it was so mild that a a full glass of water would have barely shown a ripple. Stepping through the opening, which closed behind her, Elle saw a smaller and brighter space, adorned with the comforts of an earthly home. Two brown leather sofas, sleek black end tables, and a large area rug filled one corner of the room. A row of freestanding cabinets lined part of an opposite wall with a large stained oak dining room table and six chairs, and wedged in the far corner between the two was a very well adorned king sized bed, covered in a beautiful comforter and far too many plump decorative pillows. Next to it was a six drawer dresser and an actual baby bed. The only truly empty wall space had a contoured circular frame that was part of the wall. This space actually had corners, and the circular frame had defined edges and both exterior and interior corners, which gave it a more earthly feeling and subconsciously put Elle slightly at ease.

  “Okay Tory... Where is my boy?” Elle finally mustered up the nerve to ask and hoped she was not disappointed by the answer.

  “Have a seat...please,” Tory said in a kind but monotone voice.

  Tory crossed the space elegantly and like before, she slipped her hands through the wall and opened it like a magical curtain. Elle struggled to believe this was the same timid woman who she had corralled into a cave to save her and her child’s life... Her child... Elle’s thought was interrupted by a flood of memories that waltzed into the room as if they were arriving at a birthday party to celebrate. With arms open wide Maya, Mark and Darcy rushed into the room with smiling faces and cheers of ‘Elle!” Several steps behind them, and an elderly woman with silver hair and a green flowing satin gown strode majestically in, with bright green glowing eyes and carrying little Phoenix, cradled in her arms.

  “Do you remember Irene?” Tory leaned in and whispered to Elle.

  “Irene!” Elle rushed over to the woman and stripped the infant from her. “It’s so good to see you.” Though she was still unsure if she could trust the woman.

  “We’re all that’s left.” Maya began to explain. “Mel was the first, then Ally, Trevor and ...the others...” She couldn’t bring herself to mention the names of the children. “Ally and Trevor are Takers now. The rest didn’t survive.” The room became somber, but only momentarily.

  “Maddie...” Elle immediately had everyone’s attention. “She survived.” Elle continued to tell the story of how she, Tanner and Maddie had escaped the Takers and she had stayed behind in Barnhill. She told every detail of her amazing adventures and even divulged the story of Maddie’s near death experience and how she had been miraculously healed. She held little ‘Nix close and bounced gently as she recanted the tale.

  “Come. See.” Tory called Elle over to the unusual circle on the wall.

  “What?” Elle asked, crossing the room.

  With a wave of her hand, the inn
er circle became perfectly transparent. Elle’s jaw dropped to see the ground far below them, flying by. The city of Phoenix, Arizona, below them, was torn by the battle of the Titans and the rebellion she had been part of instigating. She watched as the Titan’s gigantic steps distanced them until the city was no more than a jagged speck on the distant horizon. She took the tiny infant hand in her’s and waved it good-bye to the remains of the city he was born in and named after.

  “Where are we going?” Elle asked.

  “East,” Tory answered but didn’t leave her to wonder. “A few months ago a wormhole opened up the sky and another wave of Titans came crashing to earth. Most of them headed east, and we are going to find them and continue our fight for humanity, independence, and life for all.”

  “How are we going to do that? Stomping into town on a rogue Titan, yelling, ‘Join us! We’re here to save you!’ You really think that’s going to work?” Elle’s sarcasm was harsh but to the point.

  “Yes. Something like that, I expect. We have already had some success, and now we have you and more importantly, Phoenix.” Tory placed her hand on Elle’s shoulder as they both stared out of the window as day waned.

  “My baby is not a tool for you, or anyone, to use.” Elle shrugged Troy’s hand from her shoulder and rolled her eyes up to her friend in disgust. The desire to slap Tory was strong, but her self-control was impressive, even to her.