I snapped. I shouldn’t have, but it was just too much—the false accusations, the vicious slander. I leapt at her. She anticipated me and jumped out of her chair. I grabbed for her head at the same time she threw her weight forward and before I knew it we were both on the ground wrestling like a couple of sixth grade boys.
And just like a principal, the Captain broke the fight up, pulling us apart and holding us at arm’s length. It probably would’ve been amusing to an observer, but to me it was infuriating.
“I’m not going to put up with whatever small-minded feud you two have going on,” he said, glaring. “You both need to stop this behavior now.”
Vanessa dropped her shoulders and her gaze, the picture of remorse; I glowered at them both.
“Do we have an understanding?” the Captain said.
“Yes sir,” Vanessa replied.
“Rhyan?”
“I’ll leave her alone if she’ll leave me alone.”
“Fine,” he said, letting his arms drop. “Now Rhyan, get out of here. If you have something you want to discuss, come back tomorrow.”
I turned on my heel, not even bothering to give them one last seething look. Neither of them were worth the energy.
Later that afternoon I found myself sitting in the hospital at Caleb’s bedside. I’d only met him the day before, but I felt partially responsible for what had happened to him. He had been my partner for the training, after all.
I couldn’t explain any of that to him, though. He lay still and pale, completely unconscious. The nurses said that he was stabilized, but then asked if I would be willing to give blood for him in the same breath. I hated the idea of more needles, but what could I say? No? It wasn’t like they had a line of people outside just waiting to donate.
After they were finished, they left, leaving me to stare at the white gauze wrapped thickly around Caleb’s chest. At least he was breathing on his own. The beepings and tinklings of the medical equipment in the room helped fill the quiet, but they couldn’t keep Vanessa’s words from echoing in my mind.
She’s a murderer.
Realistically, it was easy to argue the case of self-defense. John had been ready to kill me, so it followed that I had to defend myself. Simple logic. But my memory wouldn’t let it be that simple.
In the darkness of that night, it hadn’t only been about self-defense. It had also been about hatred. Hatred at John. Hatred that he had encouraged the thing that had slaughtered my family. And no matter how much I wanted to deny it, I knew I hadn’t killed John out of self-defense. I’d killed him out of rage.
Chapter 21
Lucky was restless, snorting noisily and swishing his tail. I was trying to sooth him with a thorough grooming, but he was obviously picking up on my mood. The wall of trucks surrounding the city had begun to feel confining, rather than comforting. Deciding some fresh air would do me good, I began saddling up for a ride.
Not that there’s a lack of fresh air here, I thought. The city’s skyscrapers were being consumed from the bottom by scaling vines and plagued at the top by an overabundance of eagles. There were lizards basking on abandoned cars, badgers skulking through alleys, and I’d even seen a deer nibbling on a bush next to a streetlight. The earth was probably healthier than it had been in decades, now that there weren’t millions of people polluting it.
Metaphorical fresh air then. Taking a break from people was a good idea. I couldn’t seem to get along with any of them anymore. I wondered if that was because of me or because of them. One of Dad’s favorite sayings was, “When everyone in the room is a jerk, there’s really only one,” but I still couldn’t help but think it wasn’t me who had the problem. Back before, I’d never gotten into fights—not even when Ashley-the-even-bigger-dunce-than-me stole my homework. The scuffle with Vanessa had been something of a revelation, and not a good one.
Scowling at the latigo, I gave it one last tug to make sure the saddle was tight, then pulled myself onto my horse’s back.
Lucky’s hooves echoed against the surrounding buildings as we made our way to the barricade. Sadie intercepted us when we got there. I had to really plead before she let us through, but before I knew it we were roaming freely through the grassland outside under a cloudless blue sky. I didn’t feel apprehensive, being out in the open, the way I had before. If anything, I was almost welcoming the chance of an alien encounter, so agitated was my mood.
Trotting, I steered Lucky a few hundred yards away from the city, but kept within sight. I didn’t want to get lost. Upset or no, I wasn’t about to give up hot meals and clean clothes. Some things transcended moodiness.
Insects filled the air—flying, hopping, buzzing. I didn’t mind them; in fact they felt like company. Although a light breeze tickled the hairs on my neck, the day was quite warm so I wasn’t surprised to see a moose cooling itself in a creek. Lucky looked at him sideways, but otherwise kept pace.
The laid-back ambience of the morning slowly eased the angst that had been festering in my chest. I began to think that maybe circumstances weren’t as bad as I’d feared. Maybe we would make it out of the mission alive; maybe afterward I’d be able to settle into a sense of normalcy.
A slash of steel startled me from my thoughts. From the corner of my eye I saw a woman stab and then kick a Vela that had apparently been concealed behind a boulder. The force of the kick knocked it onto the ground where she stabbed it again.
“Kalisha?”
“Oh, hey Rhyan,” she responded, wiping sweat and blue blood from her head with her forearm. She was wearing a blue tank top, cut-off jean shorts, and hiking boots.
“What are you doing?”
“Hunting, what’s it look like?”
A little bewildered, I asked, “Do you do this a lot?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “What are you doing out here?”
I gestured to Lucky. “Just stretching his legs,”
“Well, don’t stretch ‘em much farther. The more you get away from Springfield, the more of these there are.” She kicked the alien corpse again.
“What about you? You’re out pretty far.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said.
A little annoyed, I hopped down from the horse. She pulled a canteen from her side and took a drink.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“I just told you—hunting Vela,” she said after swallowing.
“No, I mean…. Are you even a twelve?”
She shook her head.
“What are you?”
She paused a moment before answering, “Two.”
Almost the top of the chain. She must’ve been valuable.
“Why are you leading this mission, then—wouldn’t you rather stay inside the city?”
She gave me a disgusted look before answering.
“No. I ain’t hiding away when there’s these to kill.”
“A lot of other people don’t seem to mind doing that.”
“Well, I ain’t them.”
She glared toward the city with pinched eyebrows and pursed lips. Thinking she wasn't going to say anything else, I turned back to the horse, but then she went on.
"They killed my daughter. We were on our own--just the two of us. We were sleepin' inside a pine tree--underneath it where no one can see, I thought. But I was wrong--they killed her right in front of me."
She didn't cry--didn't even have a sob in her voice. Just stared away at the horizon. I didn't know what to say. At this point, everybody had lost somebody.
Memories of Dad and Zach's wasted bodies came unbidden, unwanted to my mind. Images I had never once spoken of. I knew it wasn't the same for everybody, but for me tragedy and silence were best friends. I couldn't speak of it, ever.
I left Kalisha when she caught sight of more prey and wandered even farther from the city walls. It seemed she was planning on being out there all day, and I had an appointment with the Captain. I had a hunch that talking to him would be pointless, but I had to try. On behalf of the people who
were going to die, I had to try.
Chapter 22
The Captain sat with his fingers clasped, gazing at me with his wintry blue eyes. The meeting, thus far, had not gone smoothly. It seemed I had met my match in obstinacy.
“What you don’t understand, Rhyan, is that sacrifices must be made in times of need. Right now, we need information so the best decisions can be made for the future. It’s about the greater good.”
I scoffed.
“You said, when I got here, that people were a valuable asset—so is that true or not?”
“Of course it’s true. And one of the reasons people are valuable is because they can gather information. It’s really not that difficult to understand,” he said, not even trying to keep the condescension from his tone.
“Then why don’t you go?” I replied haughtily. “I’m sure the more people there are, the higher the chance of success.”
He took a deep breath and looked sideways at the wall like some sort of adult version of an eye roll, before answering.
“I’m not going to sit here and explain societal function—neither of us have the time. In fact, this conversation has already taken too much time and there’s no point continuing it. You’re going—“
“But—“
“You’re going, and that’s all there is to it.”
Inwardly seething, I stood up and said as calmly as I could, which wasn’t all that calmly, “Okay. I’ll go. But when I get back—and I will come back—you’re going to regret this. Any and all blood lost on this mission is on your hands, and I’ll be back to make sure you pay for it.”
The Captain stood as well, suddenly looking very tall.
“Don’t you threaten me, girl. I’ll have you out of here so fast you won’t even notice the walls are gone before an alien guts you right through your middle.”
We stood, glaring at each other for a long moment. Then he raised his finger and pointed at the door. More livid than ever, I left.
That night was the final training before leaving the next day. The meeting, originally scheduled at the park again, was relocated to the library. Didn’t want everyone reliving bad memories right before deployment, I supposed.
But there was no combat practice on the itinerary; we were reviewing personal responsibilities for go-time. The vaulted ceilings and marble flooring of the library’s foyer seemed like they would cause an echo-y atmosphere, but all was quiet, despite the dozens of people filling the seats. No one, apparently, was feeling very chatty.
Kalisha was making rounds, handing out printed sheets of paper to each person like a teacher passing out homework. I was curious about what assignments the others had, but wasn’t social enough to ask. Besides, no one had sat at my table. Caleb probably would have, if he hadn’t been lying in the hospital. I wondered if anyone else had been given his task of taking photos of alien writing.
Eventually Kalisha made her way over. Sitting opposite me, she skimmed a large manila envelope across the table.
“Those are the details of your assignment. When you complete each and every task, then you have the green light to contact me. After everyone has checked in, I’ll send out the signal for our recovery.”
I pulled the top sheet of paper from the envelope and looked it over.
Enemy Intent Inquiry
Observe and record enemy demands of yourself and others (i.e., Do the aliens require certain behaviors such as removal of clothing, eating or drinking offered substances, muteness, etc.)
Attempt communication in English with the enemy regarding human enclosure and observe and record reaction
Attempt communication by mimicking enemy dialect and observe and record reaction.
Display attached pictogram to enemy and observe and record reaction.
Offer enclosed benefaction to enemy and observe and record reaction.
Record any other enemy behaviors you believe may be beneficial to the collection of knowledge on the enemy.
Peering back inside the envelope I found a glossy paper that unfolded into a large poster. It was a printed copy of an artist’s depiction of a Vela spacecraft, an alien, two people—a man and a woman—all standing on planet earth. The Vela’s claws were tucked behind it, and it appeared to be conversing with the humans.
Also tucked inside the envelope was a small black pistol, broken into two pieces.
The final object was a small rectangular camera--a body cam. Clearly the "record" in the instructions meant videotape. How they expected me to record things if the aliens stripped us, I wasn't sure. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
When I looked up from the instructions, I saw Kalisha sitting back in her chair, observing me with an unreadable expression.
“Got any questions?”
I cleared my throat.
“Yeah. Why didn’t they try to do this stuff with the aliens that were caught? Seems like it could've saved me a trip.”
“Who says they didn’t?”
That caught me off guard. Maybe there was more going on here than I’d perceived.
Of course there is, dummy. The people here didn’t survive by being stupid.
Maybe I was the stupid one—coming in on my high horse (literally) with an attitude. In retrospect, a little more tact probably wouldn’t have hurt.
Kalisha was still waiting.
“Okay. I can handle this.”
“Good,” she sat up, suddenly all business. “We’re leavin’ the city at six o’clock in the morning. Meet at the same gate you came in by. You can bring your weapons, but I woudn’t bring any you’re fond of, ‘cause the first thing the Vela are gonna do is take ‘em away. We ain’t usin’ radios 'cause they're way too conspicuous, so here—take this.”
She handed me a small black device.
“It’s a pager—you know, like people used to have before cell phones?"
I looked at her blankly.
"You probably weren’t even alive then. There’s nothin’ to it. This one’s preprogrammed so all you have to do is push this button twice, like that, see, and then it’ll send me a message that you’re done with your job.”
“What if the Vela take this too? Should I just yell ‘help’? Or maybe I could drop a trail of bread crumbs on the way in.”
So much for tact. Kalisha wasn’t amused.
“We’re countin’ on a certain amount of improvisation. Just follow your instructions as best you can. Then when everyone’s done I’ll call in the rescue team and we’ll be out before you know it.”
Suddenly I was having a hard time remembering why I had agreed to this.
“Six am tomorrow,” Kalisha said firmly after she stood. “See you then.”
Chapter 23
The cold morning air nipped at my ears and nose, but I didn’t bother trying to warm them the way some people did. My hands were busy toying with a black-handled knife—spinning the point on my fingertip. We were only a couple dozen, milling about just inside the semi truck blockade. People shifted their weight and double-checked their equipment as we waited on the Captain, who was supposed to come send us off.
“Hey, kid. You okay?” an older woman asked in a low voice as she approached. She had short hair, a slight build, and eyes that seemed overly alert given the early hour. She stood too close and I stepped backward to reclaim my space.
“Fine.”
“You sure? You haven’t said a word all morning.”
Why did people always want me to talk? I doubted that cows mooed at each other on their way to the butcher block. She waited a moment for a response but thankfully left once she realized she wasn’t going to get one.
The Captain arrived, pulling up in a big white truck and stepping out in his suit. The low murmuring of the group quieted.
“This is a great sight,” he began. I bristled. “The sight of humanity uniting, even after everything, to exact retribution against a common enemy. An enemy that has taken far too much and lingered far too long. The time has come for these beasts to be driven back
into the blackness from which they emerged.”
He paused, looking solemnly at us.
“And you all—you will be a pivotal piece in turning the tides of this war. May fortune be with you.”
His gaze turned squarely on me, steely-eyed and threatening. I stared back as he said, “And may our enemy be eradicated.”
With that short pep talk, he began walking around, greeting individuals personally. A thumbs-up here and a light joke there seemed to lift the collective mood. Except mine. Evidently I was the enemy.
I avoided his attention and soon he was climbing back into his truck and driving away. I’d thought he had planned on giving us something—a weapon, information—anything useful, but apparently, that was it: thanks for being our guinea pigs--good luck.
Using the knife to cut the hospital bracelet from my wrist, I heard Kalisha order the barricade to be opened. Dropping the plastic shackle to the pavement, I trampled on it as I shuffled with the herd through the narrow exit. Some turned back to look as the passage closed behind us, wondering, I was sure, if it was the last time they’d see it.
“How do they know the Vela will take us alive?” I heard someone murmur to his companion as we trudged away.
I’d been wondering the same thing. Even though I’d seen the aliens taking people firsthand, I’d also witnessed numerous attacks since then as well. I tried to remember what might have been different about the abduction scenarios.
The first thing that came to mind was that the people who’d been taken were part of a large group. This brood seemed to fit that requisite. Also, the attacks I’d witnessed—against John, Kalisha, and myself—were all done by only one or two of the monsters, but the abductions occurred when there were a lot of them. If only one or two Vela showed up, we’d have no problem dealing with them anyway. So, big group of people plus big group of Vela equaled abduction, not killing.
Hopefully.
There was no way we would be able to handle a large-scale attack. Perhaps Kalisha had another way of ensuring the plan.
Girl Vs (Sinister Skies Book 1) Page 9
