Zoe stammers for a moment. “Let me get this straight, you’re actually in love with Damian, not Finn?”
“I don’t even know what that means.”
“Of course you do. You can trust me, Freya. You don’t have to keep everything bottled up inside you.”
There’s a second knock on the door. This time, Nya walks in. Her cheeks are all flushed, her breathing fast and short. She has been training as usual.
“I just came to say that I’m with you,” she says. “I’m ready to go get Damian out of that hellhole and blow things up in the process. Just say the word.”
“I appreciate that, Nya, but it has to be a team decision,” I say.
“We can help the team make that decision,” she says and her eyes gleam at the prospect.
“How?” Zoe asks.
Nya and Zoe have been a bit at odds over Theo ever since Nya stated she wanted to get closer to him. Zoe is not convinced of her sincerity and Nya doesn’t seem to want to give any indication either way.
“We can fake an attack,” Nya whispers and motions for us to move closer to her. “I can have Theo mess with the sensors, make it look as if the whole damned army of Slimies are on their way to our base. Like they already know we’re here. Then, attacking Plantation-15 might seem like the perfect retaliation.”
“You’re out of your mind,” Zoe says rolling her eyes. “Leave Theo out of your games.”
“Zoe, come on, she’s joking. How can you not see that?”
“Am I?” Nya says but then it doesn’t matter anymore whether she is or not because our touchpads start buzzing all at the same time. The red emergency lights at the top of our screens blink like crazy.
Theo is sending us a warning message.
Zoe glares at Nya with fire in her eyes. “What have you done?”
“Nothing!” Nya yells. “Don’t be dumb.”
Zoe looks at me. “Do you think this is real?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” I say as we head to the dining hall which is also the designated meeting area. It’s a large cavern with a long table and red metallic chairs. Candlelight casts enormous shadows on the cave walls.
Theo, Doc and Gritu are checking the signal on Theo’s brand new radar screen. I scan the room. Besides Gritu, three more Sliman are present as well as most of the Saviors. Finn and Rabbit are missing.
The thought of them being outside chills my blood. Whatever this is, it’s serious. There’s no mistaking the terror on Theo’s face.
“What’s happened?” I say breaking the silence.
“An unidentified craft approaches from above,” Theo says.
“A drone?” I ask as fear tightens my throat.
“No, it is smaller and faster,” Gritu says. “Something we have not seen before.”
“How long before it gets here?” I ask.
“Thirty seconds,” Theo estimates.
“Seconds? That’s all we have?”
Theo nods. His lips have turned white. If Damian were here, he would know what to say to keep us calm. He would start passing orders around, making everyone feel that they have a duty to perform.
“We let our guard down,” Theo says. “We should have been monitoring air traffic more closely.”
I turn to look at Pip, Tilly and Scout. They stand together with panic written all over their faces. I flash my eyes at Biscuit. He gets my message. He moves toward the girls and talks to them in his usual calm manner.
Finn and Rabbit come running in. They are disheveled and out of breath.
“There’s something up in the air,” Rabbit starts, “and it’s looking for us.”
“You were actually able to see it?” Theo asks.
“It’s going in circles scanning the area within a few miles around the base. It’s not random, they’re looking for a place to land,” Finn says. “We activated the camera at the entrance before we came in.”
The camera has been out of use for some time now because of a defect that causes it to overheat and shut down automatically within a few minutes of usage. Theo hasn’t gotten around to fixing it as there’s always something more urgent to do. The Sliman haven’t been able to bring in a new one, either, but now Theo has no option but to connect it to his screen. Even a few minutes of the feed could be useful.
Theo rotates the camera searching for the target. The image is blurry at first, but Theo clears it up as he zooms in. The small, shiny black hover craft emerges above the trees moving slowly, way too slow to fly without propeller blades. We can hear the wind in the microphone, but not the hover craft. It is completely silent. You’d never know it was there if you didn’t look up.
“What is this thing?” Doc asks. “How does it stay in the air?”
“It must be alien,” Gritu replies. “We have not seen such technology. We know they have many tricks they prefer not to show even us.”
“Looks like an optical lift technology,” Theo says.
The Sliman turn to Theo curiously.
“Yes, we have heard of their light energy,” Gritu says.
“Interesting,” Theo says. “It was just a theory on old Earth. When laser light passes through an object, it can generate a small lift.”
“Interesting is not the word I would use,” Finn says. “Deadly is a more accurate word.” The aircraft lowers itself near the entrance to the subterranean base. “They know we’re here,” Finn says. “Get ready for battle.”
I take out the receptor and test its readiness. It responds to my touch like a leaf to the wind, trembling and humming. Our relationship is developing and expanding daily. Everything I do has an immediate effect on the way I control my receptor and the way it responds to me.
Finn takes charge and orders us to follow him through the tunnels to the main entrance. I can hear Tilly’s shallow breath behind me as we hurry through the dark passage. Once we arrive near the entrance, we take positions in a circle formation while the four Sliman stand guard right underneath the trapdoor. If anyone tries to get through that door, they will be surrounded by weapons and raw muscle power.
Pip will be exposed to whatever it is that we’re going to face. She holds Scout’s hand. I feel like telling her to go back to her room but that wouldn’t protect her if we were defeated. Maybe it’s better that she’s here with us. She has no experience with battle but I can protect her. I will put a shield around her as soon as there’s need for it.
Silence deepens when you’re straining to listen. The tunnel becomes an eerie place. The world feels cold and damp suddenly. Tension pulses through the veins in my neck. The moment before the world comes to an end is a terrible moment. You struggle to even breathe.
Theo’s radar goes crazy as the aircraft lands safely at a short distance. We watch on our touchpads which Theo has linked to the camera feed. A few seconds later, the door to the craft releases, popping open just a few inches.
Seconds that feel like minutes pass. Nobody moves or speaks. Gritu stretches his neck to take a look over my shoulder.
“Whatever comes out of that door,” Finn says, “we will face it and we will prevail.”
“Freya will make sure,” Pip says fighting her fear.
The door of the hover craft falls slowly away from its seal until it touches down on the ground wide open. Anticipation shoots through our bodies.
A moment later we are stunned. Two humans descend from the small craft. They wear silver suits and white helmets. They appear to be stretching their arms and legs. They take a casual account of the surroundings and then remove their helmets.
Our jaws drop. These are not children or teens. The man seems to be in his early thirties and the woman slightly younger. They have a natural ease of expression that is foreign to our world. Wherever they come from, these people have never been in a plantation.
The camera feed crackles and dies.
3
Every second counts when you’re running away from danger. It’s equally important when you’re running toward it. E
specially when you’re bunkered in a small space that confines and blinds you at the same time.
“They may look unthreatening,” Finn says, “but don’t be fooled. They could have special abilities like us. They could be bait for a much bigger attack. Stay alert.”
The absence of time to consider options can be a good thing. We take hold of our weapons and follow Finn as he climbs out through the door that Gritu holds open for us.
The intruders step back in shock as we spring from the earth with our guns in hand and charge them. Within seconds we have the docile couple surrounded. Their discomfort turns into panic when our four menacing Sliman join us.
“We’ve come in peace,” the man says as he lifts his hands in surrender. He is like no other man I have seen before. His black hair is soft and wavy like a young girl’s. When he removes his gloves, his fingernails are clean and evenly clipped. He has exotic facial hair that circles his mouth and covers his chin.
Finn motions Rabbit and Scout to pat them down. They find two handguns, one on each of them.
“Did you expect us to travel down to Earth without any weapons?” the woman says as she removes a knife from her boot and hands it to Scout.
“Is there anybody else with you?” Finn asks ignoring the woman’s question.
The man shakes his head. “Just us,” he says. “It’s not easy nor wise to bring space pods down to Earth. One is more than enough.”
“Down to Earth?” Finn says. “What’s your meaning?” Finn does not wait for the answer. He shoves the man toward the trapdoor. The woman follows obediently. She fixes her worried eyes on the Sliman warriors, expecting them to jump her at any moment.
One by one, we descend back into the tunnels with our two new guests.
Finn grabs my wrist as he closes the trapdoor behind him. “We can’t let them know what we can do,” he says. “Especially not what you can do. Even if they claim allegiance to our cause. They cannot know.”
“Not ever?”
“Not ever.”
The prospect of having human allies is more than intriguing. A part of me feels elated by the possibility, but I will obey Finn.
In the comfort of our cavernous meeting chamber the humans seem to relax somewhat as they take seats next to each other. It’s obvious they don’t like to be out in the open, exposed to radars and sensors.
“My name is Joshua,” the man starts. “This is Ella. We have come to take you back with us.”
Gritu fumbles his pulse gun. It bounces loudly off the stone floor. Joshua and Ella tense up.
“You don’t have to fear the Sliman any more than us,” Finn says. “They are our allies and protectors.”
This doesn’t sit well with Joshua who scans Gritu from head to toe in search of a sign that he could truly be trustworthy. He turns to Finn. “I will believe you, brother, but then you have to start believing me, too.”
“Very little about you is believable,” Theo says. “You have fallen from the sky to save us. You fly a craft no human has ever seen or read about even in history books.”
“You have read history books?” Ella cuts in eagerly.
We all look to each other. “We have,” Finn finally answers. “We know much about the past and nothing about you reminds us of that past.”
“We are not from the past,” Joshua explains. “We are from the present like you. There is a place where human technology has evolved in the past hundred years.”
“We risked everything by coming here,” Ella explains. “The aliens have left us alone on the condition that we do not interfere with what transpires down here.”
“I think you better start from the beginning,” Zoe says.
Ella acknowledges this with a nod. She turns to Joshua. “You’re better at this than me,” she says.
“Please,” Joshua says, “everyone take a seat. You must all be stressed.”
Finn agrees and directs Gritu to sit right next to Joshua. Neither Gritu nor Joshua like the seating arrangement.
“We live on a tactical space station,” Joshua begins. “That’s where we come from. I hope this answers your main question. It was the first militarized space station to become partially functional before the invasion took place. It’s called Exodus L21. Sixty-eight humans were able to escape to it and start a new community on the station. The first sixty-eight worked hard to complete it. They had an energy shield protecting them. By the time they were fully weaponized, they had the ability to trigger a wave of missiles to destroy much of what the aliens had built down here. The first sixty-eight knew the plantations were the aliens’ key objective.”
“Then why didn’t your people destroy it all?” I ask.
“Good question,” Joshua says. He pauses to consider the growing suspicion at the table. “The station’s shield would have provided time to destroy the alien plantations, but the shield would have failed eventually against the advanced technology of the aliens.”
“So they let the rest of us be cut into and mutated to save their own asses?” Finn says growing hostile. “The cries of tortured children never reached their ears up in the starry skies.”
“Maybe,” Joshua says, “but they also made it their objective to save the species above all else.”
Finn sighs and shakes his head.
Joshua nods to Ella who nods back.
“Our predecessors made a deal so that they could continue living on Exodus L21,” Ella says. “The aliens didn’t seem to care whether the human race survived or not as long as they stayed clear of their endeavors on Earth.”
“You are only delaying the inevitable,” Doc says. “Surely you can see that.”
Joshua stares Doc in the eyes as if he is measuring him. “I can and the original leaders up on Exodus L21 could see that, too. When the aliens are done with whatever they are doing down here in these plantations, they will most likely turn their guns our way and finally destroy us.”
Silence falls over the room. The possibility of survivors of humanity before it was destroyed and enslaved had not crossed anyone’s mind up to this point.
“Why are you here then?” Finn asks finally. “If you’re supposed to stay away from Earth, why take the risk now?”
“Every six months, we get Exodus L21 into orbit around Earth. The journey stops at a different location every time,” Joshua goes on. “That way we can monitor progress on Earth. We are following closely the long, strenuous recovery of the planet since the days of the multiple environmental disasters that almost completely destroyed the ecosystem. That started way before the alien invasion. When the aliens decided to colonize Earth, they slowly started reversing the damage that had been done. Today you can hardly tell there was ever an environmental crisis on the planet.”
“Are you saying that the Earth was turning uninhabitable before the aliens even decided to take over the planet?” Zoe asks.
“We believe that the aliens picked Earth as their target because of how close it was to becoming a dead planet,” Ella replies.
“We keep a special eye on the plantations,” Joshua says. “As we speak, Exodus L21 is stationed right above this particular part of North America. The people of Exodus have been working around the clock for all these years developing advanced surveillance equipment, untraceable aircraft and stealth weaponry. We have always known the day would come when we would have to fight to survive.”
“You haven’t answered the question,” Finn says. “Why us? Why now?”
“We picked up your signal. Our sensors were designed specifically for that purpose. To locate human life living outside of captivity. When they discovered you, it was only for a very brief moment. We argued for a long time as to whether the report was accurate or not. This has never happened in over a century. We have not discovered any human life outside the plantations and the breeding villages. It was like a miracle for us.”
“This is why you risked everything?” I ask. “To save a few runaways?”
Joshua sits back almost impressed. “H
onestly, no, the risk would be too great for that.”
I watch Finn grind his teeth. I think he would like to punch Joshua.
“Then why?” I ask.
“It’s what we have been picking up from Plantation-15,” Ella says. “We don’t understand most of it, but the noise we’re hearing out of there is unprecedented.”
“That and the sheer number of personnel moves in and out of there have been alarming,” Joshua adds.
I squirm in my seat. I want to attack Plantation-15 right now.
“We believe their mission on the plantations is coming to an end,” Ella says gravely.
I take a better look at her. She’s pretty and stylish like she just walked out of a movie. Long curly brown hair, pink nails, loop earrings. This girl didn’t plan on going into battle today or any other day. Despite the gun and knife, she leads a charmed life up there above the clouds.
“So what you’re telling us is that there is a community of humans living in space? Free?” Biscuit says as if he had just woke up.
Joshua nods with a smile. “It’s true. You’re not the only free people left in the universe. You have us now.”
“We have been careless,” Finn says. “Going out without a secure signal shield is not an option. We should have known that.”
“You won’t have to worry about things like that from now on. We’re here to take you back to the space station with us. You won’t be fugitives anymore.”
I steal a glance at Finn. He knows what I’m thinking. If they knew what I am and what I mean to the aliens, they would rescind their offer instantly. Exodus L21 would quickly be marked for attack and when the aliens extracted me, there would be nothing left of their fine society but scattered embers floating off into anonymous space.
“No disrespect,” Finn begins, “but by your own admission your fancy space station might be the last place to be once the plantations close down.”
Ella seems to be rattled suddenly by the truth in Finn’s words.
“We thought you could help us,” Joshua says.
“We’d hardly be any good to you on a space station,” Finn says. “Our specialty is jumping out of trees.”
[scifan] plantation 03 - shadow empire Page 2
