by Troy Dukart
“Yessa, I'm gonna have to hop back on my cycle unless you got something to slow these guys up!” I told her.
“I might have something!” she said, “When we hit this corner I've got you!”
Right as we did, she tossed an emp grenade on the road. When the police Mag-Cars drove through, it shorted their engines and brought them to a holt.
“You go girl!” my mom applauded.
“Could've used that a lot earlier,” Zixin ribbed over the comms. It was good to see my brother's spirit lifted. Yessa rode by Zixin and waved to him to show her support.
Suddenly windows began shattering across every building in the city. People started jumping out and falling onto the street like rain.
“What the hell?” Sergei said.
Black clouds formed over us.
“Strafe, come look at this,” my mom told me.
I patted Esper, Goliath, and Pup on the head as I moved to the front. Between Zixin and her was some sort of computer screen filled with red dots across it. It almost seemed broken with how many appeared.
“This is a life-form scanner set to detect Slates,” Sergei said.
“You've gotta be shitting me!” my mom said.
“Strafe, we've only got two more miles to go!” Yessa said.
“Lead the charge!” I cheered.
Hundreds of people infected by the Black Plague chased us down the streets. Yessa did a graceful job of bobbing in and out between them while Sergei simply ran over the unlucky Slates that got in his way.
“We're almost there!” Yessa pointed towards the naval port.
“Alexei! Ready our ticket out of here!” Sergei said over the intercom.
“Roger comrade!” he acknowledged.
Ahead of us, people in hazmat suits were fighting against the Slates, and losing badly. Gunfire echoed and bullets whizzed around our ship.
“Got a problem, Yessa,” I said.
“Go stealth mode, you goof!” she told us.
“Oh, right!”
Sergei pushed the button and to our relief, powered on. To avoid as much fighting as possible, we drove on a different side of the port. Our invisibility helped us lose the Slates that chased us.
“Strafe, the gate's up. Too high to jump over,” Sergei said.
“Yeah, but not strong enough to hold us back either,” I replied.
“What're you gonna do duraki? Bash your way through?”
“We got the best rides in town.” I looked back at Esper, Goliath, and Pup, “I'll take Zixin with me on Goliath, you three can ride the others.”
“Honey, Goliath's not in good condition to run, he's still got a limp,” mom reminded me.
“Shit!”
“We'll smash the gate by blowing up your Mag-Cycle Strafe,” Yessa told me.
“You really are crazy Americans. Cowboys!” Sergei laughed.
I set my cycle's cruise control to 100 miles per hour and let it fly. Mag-Cycles never veered off-course unless a rider commanded them too. It shot forward like a rocket and smashed through the gate with ease.
We drove on swiftly but carefully through the area, now filled with dead bodies and blood all over the streets. The scene was pretty gruesome. The remaining soldiers were deeply locked in battle against the Slates, fighting for their lives. To our benefit, it distracted them enough for us to make it to the Mag-Ship.
“Alexei! You ready” I asked.
“Hurry!” he shouted.
I carried Zixin and set him down in one of the passenger seats. The Whiteclouds entered next along with my mom.
“Get in!” Yessa ordered.
“Yes, ma'am!” I smiled back.
Sergei, Yessa and I rushed to the cockpit. With a few hurried button presses, the engine ignited, and we took off. Usually, I would've gone through the normal safety procedures, but, ya know, we had a horde of Slates to escape from.
Looking out the window, I could see that the city had been lost. Local military and police had moved in, but the Black Plague didn't discriminate. No matter what they did, they couldn't stop the onslaught. Those who weren't killed in battle eventually turned into Slates themselves from inhaling the virus or contracting it through a black secretion the Slates coughed on the bodies.
Yessa turned on the radio to try contacting anyone on international frequencies. Europe had gone dark, as well as Asia and South America. The island countries remained unaffected but dealt with hundreds of thousands of refugees from their neighbors. North America was stable but under heavy military and government lock-downs. Nobody entered or exited.
“Wow, the world's fucked,” Yessa sighed.
“Tiras,” I pounded my knee. “Why the hell is he doing this?”
“That bastard isn't working alone here. The Federation was always about control, but they wanted to rule the world, not kill it.”
“Kill the world?” I paused, “You're right.”
“What?”
“On Eternia, Bethlehem tried to wipe out the planet with Slates and corrupting governments into fighting each other. Some Venerates protected humans, some hated us.”
“So, what're you trying to say?” Yessa twirled her hand.
“Barzakh, the Slates, the war. Bethlehem was at the center of the whole thing. Someone is pulling all these strings.”
“Oh my god, are you saying that...”
“The Venerates. They're weakening us to achieve what they want.”
“What exactly are they after?” Sergei asked.
“Anything like last time? To destroy the image of God,” I explained.
“Why?”
“Because He rejected them.”
CHAPTER 26
Yessa
The whereabouts of my parents weighed heavy on my conscious. The entire reason I joined the Space Force was to find them; so far it'd been a failure with nothing definite. Parker said the Salvators had them. I hadn't thought through what I would do if they did. I wasn't truly on anyone's side anymore.
Strafe and Sergei sat in the cockpit while the rest of the group hung out in the back. I wanted to apologize to him, for abandoning them, but I also wanted the truth. We both were fighting to save our families.
Tapping Sergei on the shoulder I asked, “Can Strafe and I have a moment?”
He got out his chair and bowed, “Anything for you, my love.”
After he walked away I sat down; seat still warm. I wrapped a blanket around my legs and looked out at the sky through the windshield.
“The calm sure is nice,” Strafe exhaled while switching to autopilot.
“Yeah, no doubt,” I nodded while looking between my knees.
Strafe put a hand on my forearm, “You doing alright?”
I sobbed and shook my head, “I'm sorry.” A tear fell from one of my eyes, “I'm sorry I left you guys.”
He gave me a hug and then leaned back in the chair and smiled, “Don't worry Yessa. We're back together now, and that's all that matters.”
I tried to smile but couldn't help but be a little emotional. The military demanded me to be strong 24/7, but with him, I could show vulnerability. He would never judge me or turn me away.
“I won't ever leave your side again. Parker took advantage of me and so many others. He knew we had a connection, and used me as a scapegoat to pursue the Federation agenda.”
Strafe held a stress ball that he would squish and juggle in the air. “I asked about your parents.”
The revelation caught me off-guard. He beat me to the punch. I think he realized why I wanted to talk to him privately.
“I talked to the leader of the Salvators, Ibrahim in Dublin about it. He swore they didn't have them.”
The news frustrated as much as it liberated me. “Damn,” I sighed, “I really appreciate that.”
“How lucky was it to find my mom in that fricken headquarters? Took me by complete surprise but I'm happy, especially for my brother. He's been much more stable
with her around.”
Zixin remained a little leery around me. He didn't genuinely know me and I was an enemy of his for a brief moment. I'd have to earn his trust back.
Looking down at a computer screen, I said, “So what's next for us?”
Strafe hit a few buttons near the joystick and said, “We're going to try to get some more help. I'm not actually sure what's going on out there. No one does. There's gotta be a way to stop the plague from spreading.”
“After Eternia, this should be a walk-in-the-park for you huh?” I joked.
We laughed together, for the first time in years. Just like the old days. The same feelings of excitement and nervousness came back to me. Ya know, how you feel when you like someone. I yearned for human touch and connection. I wanted to kiss him on the neck and work my way up to his lips, push his skin into mine, and intertwine our fingers. I wanted him to whisper dirty words into my ear while we looked out on the ocean. I wanted to go on a date again at the beach, and somehow trick him into taking off his clothes like I always used to. I wanted to fall in love with him again. I reached out to grab his hand on instinct but jerked away slightly the moment we touched. To my delight, he held onto it.
“I'm glad you're back with us,” he said.
“Me too,” I beamed.
CHAPTER 27
Yessa
Feeling like I did years before was the greatest therapy I could’ve asked for. The old adage is, you don’t know what you got until it’s gone, rang true to me, now more than ever. Sometimes in life we have to step away from our home, family, or loved ones to truly see how lucky we are. This is a lesson we all have to learn on our own, you can’t teach it or read about it in a book.
Life is one big learning experience.
After an hour, we reached the Israeli coastline. Off in the distance, I noticed something shining. I turned on the collision warning system and it began to pick something up. A beep on the radar screen caught my eye, “Hmm?”
It was small, but approaching fast. Really fast!
“Oh shit!” Sergei yelled, “That's not a food delivery!”
I maneuvered us away as a missile flew past our vehicle, which almost clipped the wing off. Strafe ran up to the front, “What's going on?”
“We just got shot at,” I typed in some commands, “Hang on to something!”
“That wasn't the Israeli's. They don't miss,” Sergei said.
Suddenly hundreds of dots populated across the screen, closing in fast.
“Oh god...” Strafe gasped before they hit us.
Slates in space-suits slammed all over the ship's hull.
“Yessa, they're destroying the engines!”
The weight of the Slates, plus the damage they inflicted by slashing and piercing the ship caused us to go into freefall.
“We're going down, brace for impact!” I warned.
The Whiteclouds and Claire huddled with Zixin while Sergei ran over to Alexei. I glanced over to Strafe, who sat next to me in the cockpit.
My life flashed before my eyes. The last memory I experienced? Meeting him on the beach as teenagers. The sights, the sounds, the smells; I remembered everything about that moment.
The wings had been ripped off and the Slates had sliced through the hull. It's funny, how when facing death, people want the last thing they do is to be loved. Moments before impact, he pulled me close and kissed me.
The way he tasted and the softness of his lips reminded me of our first time, years ago. I rested my hand on his neck and he put his hand across my face. The wind blew through my hair as the window shattered. Regardless, time slowed down for me, as if my soul wanted to live in this moment just a little bit longer. I felt at peace. It would've been a good way to die.
There was a thud as we hit the shallow water and were thrown forward in our seats. Everything went dark.
CHAPTER 28
Yessa
I woke up in a deep sweat. My vision was blurred and slowed. A wool sack covered my head. Sunlight danced across my face through the itchy square threads. As I squinted, I felt a sting on my left temple; I was cut. Blood dripped from the wound. The mix of sweat and blood running down from my forehead to my mouth tasted of iron and salt.
Up to this point, I hadn't noticed my lost hearing. When it started to come back I heard grunting and strange noises. The Slates sounded like zombies, making all sorts of creepy sounds. Zixin was moaning in pain. I fell back asleep from exhaustion.
Upon waking, the sack still covered me. They had me lying belly down on the ground. Some sand flowed through and I had to spit it out. Noticing my movement, the creatures ran over and yanked me up. They dragged me, tossed me down and ripped off the sack. I threw up my bound hands to block the blinding sunlight from my eyes.
As I pushed myself up and sat on my knees, I noticed some shadowy figures in front of me, standing in a line. I couldn't keep my eyes open for more than a second or two due to how bright it was, but I tried hard to see who they were. The heat of the desert made their outlines wave back and forth, like a mirage. “Lieutenant Urena, you impress me,” one of them spoke.
That voice sounded familiar... could it be?
“You managed to pile up an impressive amount of criminal charges. Wanted internationally now, not just by us.”
I opened my eyes as much as I could.
No way.
“Colonel, Blaney!?” I said in disbelief.
The figure to my left stepped forward and close enough for me to identify them. In a desert-camouflaged Space Suit, was my commander. “To think one of my own, betrayed me.”
“This is way deeper than you are aware, I...” he cut me off before I could explain myself.
“You will sit there and shut up. Do not speak unless spoken to.”
Asshole.
He walked back to the group and started chatting with them.
Looking around, I didn't spot anybody else from our ship, only Slates. They all stood by, eerily, as if at attention. Were they following his orders too?
Next, someone I knew all too well approached, that bastard Parker.
“You know,” he began as he knelt down in front of me, “I've gotta hand it to you. Everything we've been trying to accomplish is all thanks to your actions. You've led us to your crazy ex-boyfriend and all the people we needed to either kill or capture. But, like a whore, you're only of value to me while pleasuring my desires. The only reason I didn't cap you myself is that I've got one more need to fulfill; you're going to help bring Strafe to us.”
“You know,” I mocked as I spit on the ground in front of him, “I've gotta hand it to you too. You've played the insecure, brown-nosing, Federation slimeball act pretty well. You'll be promoted again in NO time!”
I expected to be back-handed or punched in the gut by this guy, but he surprised me. He merely gritted his teeth but then smiled. He nodded to the right, “His life is in your hands. Your words. It's not up to me if he lives or dies, but I will get to pull the trigger. And I'll do it, gladly.”
The Slates took turns striking Zixin. There was a lot of blood on the sand.
“Damnit, tell them to stop!”
“They don't answer to me!” Parker exclaimed, walking away.
“Fuck!” I yelled as I bent down toward the ground.
Another figure approached me. My old squadron commander, Lt Col Fabian, “How you doing Urena?”
“Sir?” I said in surprise, “You're alive!?”
“Yes. Things in the world are looking dire. Entire populations have been decimated worldwide. Even the Space Force and military numbers are dwindling.”
“Help me. Please,” I begged him.
He shook his head as he lowered it, “I'm sorry Urena. There's not much I can do. You broke some serious orders and protocol. Leadership labeled you AWOL and a traitor.”
“How's the crew doing?”
“They're fine. They're with me.”
“Glad to hea
r,” I said. “Sir, those bastards aren't fighting for our country! They're...”
Lt Col Fabian pulled away before I could finish, “Just do as they say. Hopefully, this will all be over soon.”
He returned to the ranks.
I assumed they were trying to break my will as quickly as possible, with the immense heat and the responsibility of Zixin's life. It was working.
Two people approached next who I didn't recognize. They wore beautiful white desert garb with Arabic writings all over. One man's face was full of scars, but his eyes were blue and brighter than the sky.
He held a canteen of water and brought it to my lips. At first, I hesitated, but the thirst always wins. I drank all of the water inside. After wiping my lip, I looked up to him.
“Deserts aren't designed for life to survive,” the man said in an Irish accent.
“Who are you?” I asked. He didn't look military.
The man stood up and fastened the cap on his canteen. After he tucked it away, he pointed to Zixin, “Little girl, we don't have much time. Where is Mr. Rocknus?”
“Who?”
“Tell me where he is or his brother will be eaten alive,” the man informed me.
“After the crash I have no clue what happened. Honestly, I blacked out.”
“Hmm,” the man grunted. “Strange. They left you to die.”
The old man turned and walked back to the group. The other person wore goggles and a scarf over his head, so I couldn't identify him.
Some radio chatter on Parker's Space-Suit caught his attention. Holograms and feeds started pouring in and he relayed it to Colonel Blaney. I tried to crawl towards Zixin but one of the Slates snarled and tugged me back.
“It's settled then. Follow through with the plan,” I heard in the distance.
Colonel Blaney walked away with the old man while Parker and the goggled man stayed behind. With a snap of his fingers, the Slates picked me up and dragged me beside Parker as we ambled towards a personal Mag-Ship.
