by Megg Jensen
Torsten knew his sister was too harsh. There was a middle ground in their feelings for Rell. Rutger and Malia's interest in helping proved that. They'd seen how hard Rell fought against both the liquid and the rock dragzhi, and they were willing to risk their lives to save Rell's.
"Before the meeting is adjourned, we need someone who can fix the window." Leila's eyes scanned the crowd.
A grounder stood. "I crafted glass in Hadar. I can do it."
"I was a smith," another man across the room said. "I can help, too."
"Thank you. Then this meeting is adjourned. Feel free to go back to your rooms and take a rest. I think everyone needs one." Leila bestowed her best smile on the dispersing crowd.
After everyone else had left, Leila made her way over to Torsten, Rutger, Malia, and Tatsuru. She yanked on Torsten's collar, pulling him to the side.
"You know, if Mellok were still alive, he probably could have done something to the scout to make it withstand the sand." She let go of Torsten's collar with a flick of her wrist.
"Don't you think I know that?" Torsten asked. "Maybe if Mellok hadn't charged Rell, and left the underground as she asked, he'd still be alive. You can't blame Rell for everything."
"Yes, I can." Leila took a deep, shuddering breath. "She took Mellok away, and she's taking you away from me, too."
Torsten tried to argue, but Leila rested a finger over his lips.
"I know there are things you aren't telling me, Tor. I've known that since you and Rell walked back into the church after the tremors. You haven't been the same since. Something happened to you out there. At first, I thought maybe you'd lost your virginity to that girl. Maybe that was why you were acting so weird. It would explain why you defended her after she killed Mellok."
"God, Leila.” Torsten ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't have sex with her. I haven't."
Leila raised an eyebrow. "Never? It's been weeks, though." She shrugged. "Anyway, I discarded that notion after you ranted about being on a dragzhi ship with her. I didn't believe you. Then the next thing I know you're rescuing me, claiming you flew that dragzhi ship that crashed in the jungle." Leila rested a hand on Torsten's cheek. "What happened to you after the volcano shook? I know on Earth, they often talked about alien abduction. Maybe..."
"You're closer to the truth than you know." Torsten thought of their mother, who he'd met on the dragzhi ship. She wasn't the same woman he'd known as a child. There was something different about her, too. "But I can't tell you everything. Not yet. I will, though, I promise."
Torsten kissed Leila on the cheek. "You're my sister. No one will ever take me away from you."
Leila sniffled back tears. "I've lost so many people. Our parents. Mellok. Andessa. I don't want you to be the next."
"I won't be. I promise." Torsten smiled at his little sister, then straightened out his tunic. He still needed a new uniform. With all the chaos, he hadn't thought to ask for one. Besides, he thought the quartermaster died in the dragzhi battle.
Leila bit her lower lip, then turned and left the conference room.
"Okay, why don't you all pack, and we'll leave soon," Torsten said to his friends and Tatsuru.
"What should I bring?" Tatsuru asked.
"Bring anything you think might keep you alive," Malia said. "A change of clothes. Food. Weapons. Ropes. Scarves to block the blowing sand."
"And a lot of hope," Torsten said. "We're going to need it if we want to return alive."
11
Torsten slung a pack over his shoulder, his electric sword held in his left hand. He'd traded in his ill-fitting tunic and dress pants for a more practical grounder outfit. After the battle with the dragzhi, a scouting party went back to Hadar to look for survivors. They also scavenged clothes and other useful items and brought them back to the tower for the survivors to use.
Someone out there had been Torsten's size, and he silently thanked them as he pulled the loose tunic over his head. It chilled him to think the owner had died at the hands of the dragzhi. So many human lives lost.
Torsten had another bag in his hand. This one would carry the dragzhi he'd found in the jungle. The prison was the safest place to keep the dragzhi away from the humans, and to keep the humans from it. Taking it into the desert probably wasn't his smartest idea, but Torsten had seen the veiled threat in Leila's eyes. Take the dragzhi, or expect to find it dead when he returned.
Besides, he still felt the dragzhi was their best chance at deciphering the ship. Though they'd found a similar crashed dragzhi ship during a desert exploration expedition some years ago, the humans hadn't been able to figure out the ship's most complicated systems. Who better to explain than one of the creatures who’d piloted it?
Keeping this thing alive and trying to communicate with it was the most important task Torsten had ever laid on himself. It was one he feared he'd fail.
"Come back to visit your pet?" Rene asked from behind the desk at the entrance to the brig. His bushy brown mustache crawled across his upper lip as he sneered at Torsten.
"You won't have to worry about it for a while," Torsten said as he waved his hand over the security plate. "I'm leaving and taking it with me."
"Isn't that sweet," Rene said as Torsten walked away. "Make sure to take some water and a poop bag."
Torsten rolled his eyes. No one on Phoenix had pets. The native animals were few and far between, and they were used either for meat or labor. Sometimes for both. Pets were an old Earth convention.
Torsten bypassed the security settings on the dragzhi's cell. He stepped in and set the bag on the floor.
"We're going on a little trip," he said to it, not knowing if the puddle of silver liquid could even understand him. "I'll take care of you as best I can, but if there's something you need, you should tell me."
Torsten paused for a moment.
"I'd like a beer!" The voice came from the cell next door. Rutger's brother, Charlie.
Torsten ignored him, too. He scooped up the dragzhi in hands and slid it into his small bag. Shivers gave birth to goose bumps. The dragzhi was cold, much colder than it had been out in the jungle. "I hope you're not dead," Torsten whispered. The last thing he needed was for rumors to spread. He'd be the laughingstock of the tower if everyone thought he was carrying around a dead dragzhi specimen.
Torsten cradled the bag in his arms. He walked past Rutger's brother, refusing to acknowledge his cackling.
"Have a nice trip," Rene said as Torsten walked out of the brig.
Torsten held his tongue, swallowing the angry words racing through his mind.
He took the lift down to the bottom of the tower, where he was supposed to meet his companions. He had thought to say goodbye to Leila, but after their last conversation, he was afraid to say more. They had parted on somewhat decent terms. If he tried saying anything else, it was likely he'd only upset her again. It was best to leave well enough alone.
Tatsuru was at the bottom, pacing. His dark brows were furrowed on his light brown skin.
"It's okay if you change your mind," Torsten said as he exited the lift.
"It's not that," Tatsuru said. "I'm worried for Rell. There was something wrong with that little girl."
"Obviously," Rutger said with a laugh, coming up behind them from a different lift. Malia was with him. "I've never met a little girl who could fly."
"It wasn't just the flying. The girl seemed strange. Not quite human." Tatsuru dropped his pack on the floor. He let his arms hang, but turned his palms so they faced away from his body.
"That looks uncomfortable," Malia said.
"It is. And that is how the little girl carried herself." Tatsuru walked around the tunnel awkwardly. "It's hard to keep my balance like this."
"Maybe she used that creepy doll to balance," Rutger said, shivering.
"I'm not worried about the doll," Torsten said. "That's the last on my list of concerns. Look, whatever that little girl was—and I’m with Tatsuru, I'm fairly certain she wasn’t human—
she took Rell."
"First we have to find a reliable way across the sands. It's too bad we can't travel the same way Rell can." Malia holstered her electric shotgun on her hip. It hung down so far, it almost looked as if she had a third leg.
"That's right!" Rutger snapped his fingers. "So why hasn't Rell come back? She's certainly capable of it. I mean, I can barely even explain what happened when she took us into space."
"How?" Tatsuru asked, confused. He looked to Rutger, and when Rutger didn't offer an answer, his gaze turned to Torsten.
"There are some things about Rell..." Torsten wasn't sure how to tell Tatsuru the truth.
"You can tell me," Tatsuru said. "When I saw her pray and cause the dragzhi to disappear, I knew there was more to her than met the eye. She showed up at my inn when the people of Hadar needed her most. If she isn't like us, I will understand."
"Rell is special," Torsten said, choosing his words carefully. He wouldn't bring up the Key until he knew exactly what it meant in regards to Rell. Nor would he try to explain the fire dragzhi. "Rell is human, like you and me. But there are things she can do that the rest of us cannot."
"Like magic," Tatsuru said. "Like a god."
"No, she's not a god," Rutger said, laughing. "Well, maybe Torsten thinks she is." Rutger winked at Torsten while Malia bumped Rutger with an elbow.
Malia rested a hand on Tatsuru's shoulder. "There’s a lot we don't understand about Rell. Often, I think she doesn't understand herself. We love her, though. She's our friend."
Tatsuru smiled. "I would like to be her friend one day, too."
"Are we ready, then?" Torsten asked. "Everyone here is still willing to go? I'm not forcing anyone to come with me."
"Of course we're coming,” Rutger said. “Now, let's get that land scout your sister promised us." He took off ahead of everyone, practically charging the exterior door.
"Take it easy," said one of the defenders guarding it. "We'll unlock this at our pace. Come any closer, and we'll disable you."
Rutger hung back, a scowl on his face as the two guards unlocked the giant metal door to the tower. The guards each grabbed a door and heaved, opening the tower to the quiet jungle outside.
Leading the way to the huge shed behind the tower, Torsten felt his anxiety returning. Rell was in danger. Part of him wondered whether, if they'd been sitting together in the conference room instead of ignoring each other during their ridiculous fight, he'd have been able to save her.
Torsten waved his hand over the security panel. The doors groaned as they creaked open.
"I didn't know you had access to this shed," Rutger said, coming up alongside Torsten.
"Neither did I. It looks like Leila is more than willing to let us go. She must have had the computer reprogrammed to accept my prints."
"That didn't take long." Malia pushed past her companions, laying claim to a silver scout close to the door. "This is the one we want. It can traverse the jungle floor without too much trouble. I say we give it a go in the sand."
"It won't last long," Rutger said. "The sand makes the scout work harder, sucking up too much fuel. We won’t travel far."
"So what do you suggest?" Torsten asked.
"May I offer an idea?" Tatsuru asked. He tapped his chin with a long finger. "I once provided the medivacs with a little something to keep them running longer. Perhaps if the scout had some of my special juice, it wouldn't give up so easily in the sand. If the scout exerts less energy, it may travel farther."
"What have you got, old man?" Rutger asked, his eyes wide.
"Let's drive this thing back to my inn. There I will show you exactly what I mean."
"Like some special sauce you put on intaba ribs?" Malia asked, smacking her lips. "That's one thing I miss about grounder life. The food."
"Kind of." Tatsuru winked as he climbed onto the bench seat in the back of the scout.
Torsten climbed in next to him as Rutger and Malia slid into the front seat. Rutger rolled his window down, setting his plasma rifle on the sill. Malia started the scout. It sputtered, then rumbled to life.
"That's not very comforting," Torsten said, concerned about the noise it was making.
"Don't you worry." Malia put the scout into gear, then roared out of the shed. She braked hard while turning the wheel to the side. The scout spun, and stopped next to the side of the shed. "Lock her up."
Torsten reached a shaking hand out the window, waving it in front of the security panel. The doors closed slowly behind them as Malia sped away toward Hadar.
Torsten swallowed hard, attempting to keep his lunch in his stomach where it belonged. Rutger whooped, shooting a few trees out the window with his rifle.
"They are enjoying this," Tatsuru said with a laugh. "I haven't ridden in a scout in years. This reminds me of my childhood." He clapped his hands together, a smile on his face.
"Yeah, it's great." Torsten wished he was driving. Slower. Steadier. Malia was enjoying herself far too much.
After fifteen minutes of hair-raising turns and jumps over piles of dead rock dragzhi, Malia pulled into the main street of Hadar. The lights had gone out after the dragzhi attack. Electric signs sagged, dead, next to the wooden buildings built next to them. The city had always been such a strange mix of tech and hand-built buildings. Their resources on Phoenix were slim and rationed. The military hoarded the vast majority of tech, and the grounders kept life going. They were the strong base of the humans on Phoenix, living their lives despite the war in the stars. It was their efforts that kept the humans alive.
Except now it had all been destroyed. The fires extinguished. Buildings leaned to the side, their supports destroyed.
"Are you sure your inn is still standing?" Torsten asked Tatsuru as Malia coasted down the street.
"Yes. At least it was the last time I was here." Tatsuru pointed, Malia following his directions. "Ah, there. See! The Leaping Dog can't be destroyed."
Malia pulled up next to the inn, which was missing its facade. A gaping hole stood in place of the front door.
Tatsuru leaped out of the scout, jumping through the hole in his inn.
"He's pretty spry for an old guy," Rutger said.
"I don't care how old he is. If he can do something to help the scout keep going in the sand, I'm all for it." Torsten followed Tatsuru into the dilapidated inn. He blinked a few times, adjusting to the darkness. Sunlight filtered in through the broken windows. "What are we looking for?"
"Wait one moment. I'll be right back." Tatsuru disappeared into the back room.
Rutger sat at one of the tables, pulling Malia down on his lap. "Imagine if we were regular customers here. A couple looking to rent a room." He waggled his eyebrows.
Malia pinched Rutger's chin, pulling him toward her lips. She planted a kiss on his waiting pucker, then rested her forehead on his. "I wish our lives could go back to normal."
Torsten watched the two of them, so easy with one another. "How long have you two been together?"
"Oh, four years?" Malia looked at Rutger.
"Forever. I can't even remember that far back." Rutger took Malia's hand, twining their fingers together.
"But I sat with you at meals for the last year. You acted like you didn't even know each other!" Torsten said, recalling how both of them had pointedly ignored him—and each other.
"Defenders aren't supposed to date," Malia said with a shrug. "We were good at pretending."
Torsten laughed until a grating sound interrupted him. "Are you okay back there, Tatsuru?" he called out.
"Maybe I need a little help! Someone strong, please!"
Malia sprang off Rutger's lap, joining Tatsuru in the back of the room. "What is this?"
"The answer to our problems," Tatsuru said as they dragged a large pot into the common room.
Torsten looked, but all he saw was a vat of congealed fat.
12
Rell's feet drifted to the ground until they rested on the sand.
"This is where you bel
ong," the doll said.
The dragzhi inside Rell was still silent. Instead of feeling finally in control, she worried. It was so powerful, yet the dragzhi cowered somewhere deep inside her, afraid of the doll.
"What's your name?" Rell asked.
"Isobel, but you already knew that." The doll let go of Rell's hand and floated a few meters away. It hovered above the grassy field.
"I thought that was the little girl's name. The one that’s..." Rell didn't want to say it for fear of angering the doll.
"Dead? Yes, she is, but she died many years ago. We preserved her body in case we had a need to use it. We have an entire cavern full of them. Foolish humans. You can't traverse the desert, but you keep trying. When your bodies give out, we harvest them and put them to good use. We are sensible beings."
Rell bit her tongue. Human bodies shouldn't be used after death. It was disrespectful at best, disgusting at worst. The doll—the alien, she must think of it as an alien from now on—blinked her vacant eyes, seemingly waiting for a reaction.
Rell's curiosity outweighed her caution. "What do you call your people?" She needed answers as to why she'd been brought there. She refused to believe it had anything to do with worshipping the dragzhi inside.
"We are the tark. We have been on this planet, Setion, for time immemorial. It's ours. You are trespassers." Isobel's eyes flashed, turning red momentarily, then returning to an expressionless black. "We tolerated the humans until they interfered with our gods. You shouldn't have one inside you, yet you do. We will expel it, then return you where you belong."
"You can extract the dragzhi?" Rell's heart fluttered. She wanted it gone, for good. "What will you do with it?"
"Don't worry your pretty head." Isobel reached out, running a hand over Rell's short hair. "Once you have been cleansed, your sins will be forgiven, and your soul will be immaculate again."
"Your words," Rell said with a gasp. "They are so similar to the words my people used in worshipping the Menelewen Dored."
