[scifan] plantation 03 - shadow empire

by Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  “You appeared out of nowhere, didn’t you? The governments of Earth didn’t react because they didn’t see you until it was too late.”

  “First we took over the nuclear facilities,” he says with great satisfaction in his voice. “The rest was easy.”

  “Genocide is never easy. And if it is, it means you are evil, bloodthirsty murderers and everything we do to get rid of you is justified.”

  “I like your spirit,” he says. “I will enjoy having you here.”

  “Why do you want me so badly? Why don’t you just kill me? Especially if the girl that talked to me truly is the same as me.”

  The alien moves his hand over the console and the screens come alive again.

  “You know what you are. You are what I used to be. What all of us used to be. Strong, powerful, energized, skilled and determined. I look at you and I don’t see our future, I see our past. We used to be the brightest race of intelligent life in the universe. I have to preserve that. You will be safe with me. You can trust me now.”

  “I’d sooner die than trust an invader,” I say.

  “There’s nowhere to go, Freya. Isn’t that what you call yourself?”

  “Is it supposed to scare me that you know my name?”

  “I was amazed at how you managed to get Damian out of the most secure plantation. Even though I know what you’re capable of, I didn’t see that coming. I was proud of you. After all, you are my creation. And so is Damian. He’s probably my most special child. Parts of his DNA strand were created by my own father. Make no mistake, I will claim him back. The seed is in him already and it will grow daily. When I call him, he will not be able to resist. He will team up with Kroll. With them and you by my side, I will restore the empire to its past splendor and take over the universe.”

  “Kroll? The Dark Leader? He’s a special child of yours, too?”

  The alien looks more than puzzled now. I don’t care if he knows I know about Kroll. It will all be clear by the end of the day. His frustration might be helpful for what I have in mind.

  “You know about Kroll, too?” he says. “Maybe I have underestimated you. You understand you can’t blame it all on your dead friend. In time you will have to tell me how you came to know all this. For now, what’s important is that Kroll’s allegiance is mine. Damian is turning day by day. His total conversion has been set in motion even if you took him away from me. You were the only piece missing from the puzzle and now you’re here. Whoever has the three of you will rule the Earth and beyond.”

  His eyes sparkle in the morning light that is filtered through the windows. He stretches his arm and lets his hand hang freely over the console.

  “Do you see this black key?” he says.

  I lean over to see what he’s pointing at. It’s a tiny triangle surrounded by bigger buttons and switches.

  “When I push it, the whole plantation will explode,” he says. “Only this building will remain standing. The guards have been safely shielded also. But all two thousand children are locked in the dorms. Including the man we know to be your brother.”

  “But you won’t push that button,” I say. “Because I’m here and you need me. I won’t co-operate if you do that.”

  The alien snaps his fingers again and a new transparent glass screen emerges above the console. This one is the size of the console itself. I can see clear and detailed images from within the dorms. Hundreds sets of eyes, little hands and feet, patiently waiting to learn their fate.

  “Do they know the place is rigged to explode?” I say.

  “Yes. They also know who will be responsible if that happens. Now give me the receptor or everybody dies,” he says raising his voice as he calls his own receptor to his left hand. The right hand is still hanging above the triangle key of doom. It would take less than a split second for him to send down the pulsing energy that will activate the explosion.

  “You can do whatever you want,” I say. “I’m not giving you my receptor. There’s a wonderful union between the two of us now. I’m not ready to give that up.”

  Anger creeps into the alien’s eyes.

  “Stop playing games with me,” he says. “You can’t bluff your way out of this dilemma. You would never risk so many innocent lives. No human ever would.”

  “Bluff? Who’s bluffing?” I say employing a stunned face. “I think you are forgetting something.”

  “What could I have possibly forgotten?”

  “I am your creation,” I tell him. “Which means I am not human.”

  As casual as can be I reach forward to the console and push the black triangle key with as much force as I can muster.

  17

  The time comes when you have to make the ultimate decision. When you stack up all your cards and pull out the one you think will help you win. But there are no guarantees. A calculated risk can still lead to disaster.

  I have pushed the button that’s supposed to cause a chain of explosions that will blow the entire plantation to smithereens except for the HQ building.

  The alien is shocked, there’s no question about that. He starts shrieking. Incomprehensible sounds come out of his mouth and his hands are shaking. He runs to the window to make sure that he is not dreaming.

  There’s no fire, no smoke, no loud explosions, no breaking glass. The plantation remains quiet and undisturbed. Nothing has happened.

  The alien runs back to the console and pushes the triangle button again and again. Then he raises his face and locks his eyes with mine.

  “You!” he yells. “You did this. You knew the whole time.”

  I nod. “To be fair, I wasn’t sure. I was hoping my army had succeeded in deactivating the explosive mechanisms but I took a risk when I pushed that button.”

  “It’s not possible. No army could get past my security systems. Not today and not here,” he says with a shrilling tone that is less than becoming. His anxiety levels are so high, I could sense his nervous energy in my fingertips.

  “No army? Are you sure? What about the one you trust the most? How about the leader of that army? The one that knows all about your security systems and their flaws?”

  “No,” he says. “I won’t believe that.”

  Winning feels good. I may not have won the war yet, but this battle is mine. I wonder if that’s the kind of fulfillment the alien was talking about.

  “What was it that you said?” I go on. “Whoever has Damian and Kroll will rule? Is that right? I don’t need the whole universe. Just this one little rock. Third from the Sun.”

  I take out my receptor as I walk backward to the window. I switch on the communication channel. “Kroll,” I say. “Show your face.”

  Nothing happens at first, but when Kroll responds to my call, he does so in a way that leaves no room for doubt. “At your service,” he says and the alien’s eyes turn red in their fury.

  I connect the feed from the receptor to the console. Multiple images of Kroll come up on the screen. He looks majestic and ferocious as he walks about Plantation-8 in a long crimson cloak.

  “Thank you for a job well done,” I say. “Now kneel down.”

  The fierce warrior that was created to destroy all resistance against the Shadow Empire kneels down on the dirty ground just because I said so.

  I turn to the alien. “He’s mine,” I say. “So is Damian. I win.”

  “Don’t be so sure, little human girl. I can switch Kroll back. And Damian has no imprinted loyalty to you anymore.”

  “Who needs loyalty when you can have love? He’ll never come to you. We are lovers now. How could you compete with that? Game over.”

  The alien raises his hand at me, the one that holds the receptor. I meet his energy blast with mine and quickly disarm it. Then I send a small beam at the top of his head and get the mask and hood off his face.

  I am not prepared for what I see. I lower the receptor and stare at the alien that stands before me shaking violently. Against all logic, that creature is not male. I am looking at a female a
lien and a beautiful one at that.

  The shock doesn’t wear off even after I walk to her and touch her long silver hair. I have never seen a female alien before and she’s not at all what I would have expected. She looks like the beautiful elves in picture books and movies from the past. Her ears are a little pointy and her eyebrows stretch in a beautiful curve above her eyes like rainbows. Her lips tremble in what I feel is shame. She does not like to be looked upon. She can’t stand my curiosity.

  “I’m afraid you will have to be my prisoner,” I say. “There’s so much you have to tell me. Like why you don’t breed your own little freaks. You probably can’t, can you?”

  But I am the one who has underestimated her powers now. As soon as I try to get hold of her hand, a violet beam shoots down from the ceiling and encircles her. When I try to get my hand inside the beam, I feel a sharp stinging pain as if I’d been electrocuted.

  The beam gets thicker and the female alien gets thinner. Her consistency changes till she’s almost transparent. The beam starts pulling her upward.

  “It’s you and me now, Freya,” she says, “and the fate of this world lies between us. I am an Empress and you are a girl. I will win. But you will put up a good little fight.”

  “Run! It’s all you have left,” I command as she vanishes into thin air.

  *

  I RACE DOWN THE STAIRS and out of the HQ building. I spot Kroll a few feet away and run to him.

  “The legion?” I say.

  “On their way,” he replies.

  “Help me get the children out.”

  I notice that his gaze is fixed somewhere behind me. I turn and I see a group of Sliman walking in our direction.

  “The guards,” I say.

  “I will take care of them,” Kroll says. “You get your children.”

  I run to the first dorm but stop before I blow the door open with the receptor. The sounds behind me are too disturbing for me not to want to look. I do so and freeze in place.

  Kroll fights the Sliman guards with his bare hands. He has had enough time to turn his thick skin on and it works like an armor. It’s so effective and advanced that the pulse blasts cannot penetrate it. Kroll grabs Sliman after Sliman and tears them apart limb by limb. His fury is out of control and I feel like I’m going to faint.

  I have unleashed a monster upon the world. A monster that knows no allegiance besides the one I have forced upon him. But will it last? What if there’s some other code in him I don’t know about? What will I do if he turns against me? How will I protect the children from this killing machine?

  “Kroll!” I yell.

  He pauses instantly and looks to me for guidance.

  “Kill them in a more elegant way,” I say. “I don’t want the children seeing this type of carnage.”

  He nods and takes out his pulse gun. I notice that he uses low energy to knock the guards out rather than to kill them. Maybe I judged him too harshly. The children look at me in disbelief. “It’s okay,” I say. “You’re safe now. You will come with me. You will be free.”

  I get them out of the dorm and move to the next one.

  “Freya!” I hear Kroll calling me. I get out of the dorm and tell the children to form a line. What I see, gets my heart racing. A group of aliens has walked into the plantation carrying sensory receptors. They are followed by a new horde of Sliman.

  “This isn’t good,” I whisper. I turn to Kroll. “Tell Finn and the Dark Legion that they have to hurry,” I yell. “We need them here!”

  I hastily get the children to return to the dorms. I know that only a fraction of the Dark Legion could be called to Plantation-8 without raising suspicions. Most of them are still scattered at whatever post they were assigned to and only five-hundred will be here today. Afterward, if there is an afterward, I will pull them all out of the plantations and start my own community in a different district far away from the plantation network.

  “Let’s hope they will be enough,” I say and go out to face the aliens. I count twelve receptors but there are probably more. I don’t know how strong each alien is individually but all of them combined will be strong enough to bring me down.

  I opt for the element of surprise. Instead of waiting for them to make a move, I attack them at full strength. I use the highest energy blasts I can produce and create a circular field that hits the front row of the aliens bringing two of them to their knees. The second row steps forward and heals the two weakened aliens. These guys are good.

  The aliens of the third row attack me simultaneously. Five receptors against one. I feel the weight of the energy field they create on my shoulders and legs. It feels like I have to carry a heavy rock strapped around my neck. But I’ve had worse. I can persevere as long as I stay focused.

  It doesn’t take long before more receptors are turned against me. The pain blinds me and I can’t see how many I have to fight against anymore.

  I would be lost if not for Kroll. He jumps in front of me and takes the full blast of the energy field on his chest. Any other creature would have disintegrated on the spot.

  He falls to his knees. I immediately fire at the aliens to protect him. His intervention has given me a very brief break, enough to renew my energy momentarily.

  The pack of Sliman that accompany the aliens see their chance to attack Kroll now that he’s down. I cannot help him. I don’t think I will have the time to build up a shield around us both if I drop my personal energy field. The aliens will strike me down before I even have a chance to blink.

  I do the only thing I can. I get in front of him hoping it will give the Sliman some pause. I have to believe I am still important to the alien Empress and she doesn’t want to do away with me just yet.

  My assumption proves to be correct but my victory doesn’t last long. The Sliman go around me and soon I feel an empty space where Kroll used to be. They have dragged him away and although I can’t see what’s going on behind me, I have a pretty good idea. They are beating him until he succumbs. Then they will take him away as a gift to their mistress who will reprogram him.

  But now I have my own problems to worry about. The aliens are advancing and there’s nothing I can do to stop them. My power lessens more and more. As strong as I am with the receptor, it will soon be impossible for me to keep my energy field up.

  My knees start to tremble. I feel the familiar pains that shoot across my limbs and spine every time I overexert myself with the receptor when two hands pick me up. Kroll has broken free and has come to my rescue. He must be immortal. I maintain the shield as he carries me away.

  “We can’t leave the dorms,” I say. “The children are my priority.”

  His support gives me some strength and I keep fighting, holding the aliens at bay. I lose a little ground every time, but my determination remains.

  “There,” Kroll says pointing into the distance. “The Legion comes.”

  He puts me down gently and takes his pulse gun out. He shoots an alien on the leg. Immediately, two aliens break from the collective energy field and target Kroll.

  My burden lessens but Kroll is exposed. I don’t know if he will survive this second assault for long.

  The Dark Legion approach at full trot. I can see them clearly now. My heart soars with hope when I spot Damian and Finn among the dark warriors. The aliens drop their energy field and form a circle to protect their backs. They are shooting to kill now.

  The Dark Legion fall upon them like rabid hyenas. They are blasted backward again and again but they keep coming back. Finn comes to my side.

  “How are you feeling?” he says.

  “Had a little too much sun today,” I say. “I’m fine. Check on Kroll.”

  “What about the children?” he says.

  “They’re okay. Go see about Kroll. He has to survive the day.”

  Finn hurries to Kroll while I try to refocus. I close my eyes and call to the receptor to infuse some white energy into me. The jolt comes and flows through my veins like a magic potio
n. I open my eyes and stretch my arms. I swing the receptor and create a magnetic field of enormous force. I throw it at the circle of aliens and trap them inside. They can barely move now. Their plans for the day have gone terribly wrong.

  “Stop, you’ll hurt yourselves,” I order the Dark Legion who are still trying to penetrate the field and get their hands on the aliens.

  Four aliens are dead. At least twenty of my warriors have also perished on the field of battle. I scan the area quickly and spot Damian. I feel an overwhelming sense of relief.

  “Kroll is alive,” Finn says. “He’s hurt but I think you can bring him back.”

  “Good,” I say but then the energy inside me goes cold. “Something’s wrong, Finn.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. It just seems too easy. The way I was able to control them.”

  “They didn’t know about the Dark Legion,” Finn says. “They weren’t prepared for them.”

  “No, they know.”

  “How?”

  “I told them.”

  Damian steps up to us. I study his face for a moment but there’s nothing there for me to see. He is as unmoved as always.

  “Is it over?” he says.

  “I don’t think so. Where’s Joshua and the others?”

  “They are waiting for our signal,” Damian says. “They will come to help with the children when the plantation has been cleared and secured.”

  It is a dark warrior that notices it first. A wave of drones approaching from the east, another from the west.

  “Doombirds,” he yells.

  “What does he mean?” I say.

  Kroll comes to me dragging his left leg. His armor has protected his body but his legs and arms are badly burned.

  “They are bomber drones,” he says. “They’ll rain down liquid explosives. They are coming to destroy the plantation as promised. And us.”

  Maybe the Empress has decided she’d rather have me dead than running free after all. Maybe it’s not worth her effort trying to preserve me. Not now that I have the precious Dark Legion on my side. The doombirds are just specks on the horizon moving slowly our way but they will be here within minutes.