by Astra Lynne
Warriors of Mari-Ur:
The Reaping
By:
Astra Lynne
This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people (living or dead), places or events are entirely coincidental. Not to mention pretty freakin’ cool you should hit me up and tell me more about it.
First edition: May 28, 2018
Copyright © 2018 Astra Lynne
Written by Astra Lynne
Chapter 1
Amelia stood sipping her afternoon coffee and staring at the pigeon feeding her brand new hatchlings. Every day for just over two weeks, she had rushed into her office with anticipation to check the status of the two tiny, perfect white eggs, but looking at them now, bald and squawking, brought her only a bittersweet joy. The Optimist side of her wanted to hold on to the hope that somehow life would find a way, but the Researcher in her had run the numbers thousands of times and the results were always the same. It affected her more than she expected to think pigeons were the only babies she could watch grow. There would be none of her own to watch grow. There would be no days of wondering, followed by weeks of smiling coyly at the secret only she knew. No watching her body grow and change to accommodate the simplest and most wondrous of all gifts. All of that joy would have to be satisfied by only these tiny naked birds. She smiled at the absurdity of being jealous of a bird and took another sip of her coffee.
"Hey beautiful! Dinner." Derrick's voice, louder than it ever needed to be, interrupted her thoughts. It was a statement, not an invitation, as was his way.
"I can't, I have to give my findings to Ellen in a few and I'm pretty sure it's going to keep me busy for a while," Amelia answered, turning back to the new family on her ledge.
"You can't turn me down to hang out with Ellen, I'll wait," he said, weaving his arms around her waist and kissing the back of her neck.
"I'm not 'hanging out' with Ellen, I'm presenting my findings."
"What? That little bumblebee study? You can give her that anytime," Derrick mused dismissively. On instinct, Amelia wrestled out of his embrace and faced him, ready for a fight. To her, it wasn't just a little bumble bee study, it was the most significant finding she, or anyone, could make in a career. It was, quite possibly, the most significant finding anyone would make in a lifetime, and it irritated her to hear him criticize or diminish it in anyway, especially since he hadn't bothered to read it when she asked.
As soon as she faced him, however, Amelia's fight completely left her. Yes, she was annoyed with his condescending attitude about her study. She was irritated at how much it pained him to admit she was an equally brilliant scientist. On the surface, Derrick was everything she was supposed to want: handsome, driven, brilliant and successful, yet she could not will herself to settle into the role of Dr. Derrick Bufo's girlfriend. Try as she might, she cringed each time he cut her off to talk about his own research. She dreaded each Sunday brunch with Derrick's assorted friends, each more legend in their own mind than the next. She hated going to gala openings for artwork she didn't understand and discussing books she didn't even want to read. It wasn't because she was uncultured, she just liked what she liked, and it never seemed to match anything Derrick liked. In that moment, she finally asked herself the question she had tried to avoid so many times before: what in the heck were they doing together? She took a deep breath and placed a hand on his chest. In true Derrick fashion, he waggled his eyes at her, thinking this was an invitation to sex.
"You know Derrick, you have no idea how very true this is, but life really is too short," she began. "You are a talented and successful scientist."
"Why thank you," Derrick smiled and moved in for a kiss. Amelia placed a finger on his lips and dodged away.
"And you deserve someone who will be at least half as impressed with you as you are with yourself. Unfortunately, that is not me." Amelia pushed Derrick away and grabbed the papers from her desk, ignoring the way his face fell in response.
"Wait, what are you saying," Derrick asked.
"I'm saying, it's over, we're done, kaput, no more, breaking up, 'it's not you it's me', whatever you want to call it," she answered with exasperation.
"You're breaking up with ME?"
"Brilliant as always," Amelia called over her shoulder walking out the door. She did not turn around or look back, even when she heard Derrick's voice full of bravado yelling "Are you serious? You'll be back." The notion was so ridiculous she could not even manage an argument in her head.
Amelia took the flight of stairs to Ellen's office two at a time, feeling the lightness that can only come from getting something you had been dreading finally over with. Now, she just had this other thing she had been dreading to get over. She wasn't looking forward to this part. This was the hard part. This was the saying it out loud part that transformed it from abstract to concrete. Somehow not telling someone made it not quite real. As long as she was the only one who knew, it wasn't quite real. The folder of paper in her hand got heavier by the second. Standing just outside of Ellen's office, she stopped for just a beat to take a deep breath before walking in. Ellen, dressed in a sequined evening gown had her back turned. Waving her in without even looking, Ellen never missed a beat of her conversation. Ellen dropped the volume of her voice but Amelia could not understand what she was saying anyway. Ellen was speaking softly and in a foreign language. Try as she may Amelia could not place the language. Farsi? Urdu? Sanskrit maybe? Who knew? She was too distracted to even think about it or care.
"If this is about the Bumblebees," Ellen began with annoyance hanging up the phone.
"I sent you my findings this morning, this is just the condensed numbers," Amelia explained handing the folder to Ellen. Ellen dropped the folder on her desk without even opening it and continued to pack her small evening purse.
"I don't have time for all of this 'Doom and Gloom' tonight," Ellen explained with exasperation.
"Well I'm sorry the end of life as we know it isn't a happier report at a more convenient time."
"Sarcasm doesn't suit you," Ellen shot a brief withering look in Amelia's direction. Tall and lithe, Ellen was an imposing figure at any time, but especially when she was annoyed and hurried. She commanded respect with her very presence and she very often got it. Being the head of a multibillion-dollar research center was unusual for a woman, especially one barely in her forties, which is what Amelia always assumed was Ellen's age, though she did not know for sure since Ellen had managed to not age a day in the nearly ten years she had known her. A brilliant scientist and mentor, Ellen had handpicked Amelia as an undergrad and brought her in as an intern. Later, she hired her as a full-time researcher. Amelia was indebted to her for her career and more life coaching than she could ever repay.
"Sorry. I just broke up with Derrick," Amelia offered.
"Well that took 6 months longer than I thought it would." Ellen had never hidden her disapproval of Amelia and Derrick's relationship. "How long did you date again?"
"We only dated 4 months," Amelia smiled.
"Well it seemed like a whole lot longer. Listen, Amelia," Ellen began, "I'm on my way to a Gala with some of our donors, I promise to look at this in the morning, but if you want to move up here, you need to concentrate on research that won't scare the hell out of everyone and gives them a little hope."
"I'm an Evolutionary Biologist, Ellen. It’s why you hired me, why you brought me here. When did you become such a bureaucrat?"
"When I realized my mortgage wouldn't pay itself."
"I'm insulted you would even suggest I temper my research for the sake of money," Amelia shot back. "But, when you find the time to actually look at my results, you will see I won't have very long to live w
ith that insult." Amelia stood and turned to walk out.
"What do you mean," Ellen asked, more interested now.
"Well on the bright side, I can stop buying that expensive face cream because we won't be here long enough to wrinkle." Amelia felt a flash of satisfaction when Ellen's face dropped in understanding.
"How long?"
"Maybe 20 years, 30 if we're really lucky, but from a Sociological standpoint, society is going to break down long before that so we'll all wish we were dead."
Ellen sat down and opened the folder, "Go on," she urged.
"The bees. We've known their populations have been dying off for several years now, but it's more than that. Other species are falling off in reproduction."
"Such as?"
"Humans." The word hung so thick between them neither woman could meet the other's eyes.
"I need to continue to monitor it," Amelia began again, unable to stand the silence a moment longer, "but there have been no new reported pregnancies in human females for six weeks."
"How big was your sample," Ellen asked.
"Two thousand Ob/Gyns, midwives and clinics, encompassing four states on the East Coast."
"You'll need a bigger sample to publish, there are too many variables. It could be a regional anomaly," Ellen offered.
"To publish, yes, but this is bigger than just us," Amelia pleaded. "I think we need to put the information out there informally. We don't have a moment to spare. I have to think, maybe, the scientific community can do something."
Ellen sighed heavily as she stood and walked around her desk. Even in her regular shoes, she was tall, easily over six feet, but she seemed even taller to Amelia right now. "I think we are beyond the scientific community, Amelia. At least the Human Scientific Community."
"We have to try Ellen! We have to put it out there; we can't just curl up and die. Wait, what…," Amelia furrowed her brow, not quite sure she heard her correctly. Ellen took Amelia's hand and sat facing her.
"Amelia, “Ellen began softly, "Do you remember when we first met?"
"Yes, of course."
"You were a freshman in college, and even though you were not presenting a paper that day, I sought you out."
Amelia nodded, mesmerized by the shimmering in Ellen's eyes.
"Did you ever wonder why? Did you ever wonder why I injected myself into your life so early and advised you as I have all these years?"
Amelia's brow knitted. She had never thought about it before. She tried to think about it now, but her thoughts were thick and her eyes were heavy.
"I put you on a path," Ellen explained. "We've known this day was coming for a long time, and I've always known you would be instrumental to these findings."
Amelia was more confused than ever. There were questions swimming around in her mind, but she couldn't form any of them. She felt so strange. Maybe she was in shock. Maybe it was the stress of the last few weeks catching up to her. Maybe she just needed to sleep for a little while.
"Have I ever advised you wrong," Ellen asked. Amelia slowly shook her heavy head. Ellen's eyes were so brilliant, so black and shimmering. Her mind was so foggy she couldn't speak.
"I'm going to need you to trust me," Ellen soothed. They were the last words Amelia heard before the room went black.
Chapter 2
"Amelia? Amelia, wake up." Ellen's voice was gentle but commanding. Her heart was pounding so loud in her ears it was a wonder she could hear Ellen at all. She had the strangest sensation of being both heavy and weightless all at once. Someone was groaning so loudly she wanted to help them, but she slowly came to the realization it was her. Feeling groggy, Amelia struggled to come around. She thought she must have fainted. It wasn't surprising, she had been putting so many hours into her research she hadn't had a decent meal or slept more than a few hours in months. She made a mental note to take it easy this weekend, but it seemed a bit self-indulgent considering she knew the world was ending.
"Shhhhh, relax," Ellen soothed from somewhere closer now. Amelia's eyes fluttered open but she was blinded by bright lights.
"Ellen?" Amelia tried but could not lift her arms to shield her eyes from the lights. Despite it all, she was surprisingly calm.
"I'm right here."
"I can't move my arms," Amelia stated matter of fact.
"That will wear off shortly, just remain calm and wake up slowly. It will help with the sickness."
"I'm not sick," Amelia stated right before a wave of nausea overtook her. She turned her head sharply to the side and choked down a dry heave that left her gasping for air.
"There, there," Ellen whispered laying a hand on Amelia's forehead. "Here, try to sit up and sip some water."
Though she felt heavy and slow, Amelia managed to sit up on the side of the table. Her arms felt limp and weak but she took the water she was offered. The water was so cold she felt it rushing down her throat and spreading into her empty stomach. She didn't realize how parched she was until her sips turned into gulps.
"Easy, don't overdo it," Ellen cautioned.
"Thank you." Amelia obeyed and took several more sips. She looked around the room as her sight adjusted. She was wearing a paper gown while Ellen had changed into a pantsuit and lab coat. The room appeared to be an examining room, but not the typical type in a hospital. This was more like an observation room in a lab. There were no windows and if there was a door she couldn't see it. The room had no decorations and no furniture, save the table she was sitting on and a light that must have been secured from the ceiling as Amelia could see no base.
"What happened," Amelia asked. "Did I faint or something?"
Ellen smiled at her and put her hands in the pockets of her lab coat.
"Ellen? Where are we? This isn't our lab, this is somewhere else."
"In due time," Ellen answered, "For now, you should get some more rest."
"No, I am fine, what's going on?"
Ellen smiled, taking an instrument from her lab coat as small as a credit card and unlike anything Amelia had ever seen before. She waved the instrument in front of Amelia's face and placed it back in her pocket. Clearing her throat, she pushed a strand of hair from Amelia's face and looked her in the eye. It was then Amelia noticed again how starry Ellen's eyes were. They were black, with no discernible pupil, but thousands of tiny dots like a galaxy. They were beautiful, but they didn't seem…human. She wondered how she had failed to notice it in all the years she had known her, but they were so beautiful and otherworldly she could feel herself being mesmerized.
"Amelia," Ellen began softly. "I need to reveal some information to you that may be a bit frightening, unbelievable and will make you question your sanity a bit, but I want you to remain calm and know that you are now, and always have been completely sane, but more importantly, safe."
Amelia narrowed her eyes. She couldn't imagine what Ellen could tell her that would shock her, but the gentle hand on her shoulder assured her everything would be fine.
"Have you ever gone outside on a clear night and looked up to the night sky and wondered if we were alone," Ellen asked.
"Sure," she replied. "Hasn't everyone?"
"What if that answer could be provided for you? How would you feel?"
"I guess it would depend on what the answer was." From somewhere beyond the lights, Amelia heard something akin to quiet laughter and realized they were not alone. She strained again to see past the lights but it was no use. "Who was that," Amelia asked.
"Never mind that for now. Tell me what you would think if I told you Earth wasn't all there was? That humans were not alone in the Universe," Ellen asked.
"Well," Amelia began thoughtfully, "As a Scientist, I would want proof. I mean statistically, it's only logical to conclude there are other life forms, but as a person I would be skeptical."
"Exactly how I thought you would respond," Ellen chuckled. She always loved the way Amelia's mind worked. She took Amelia's hand and with a deep breath forced her to look into her eyes once
more. "Amelia, I need you to relax and just listen to me for a moment. You will have questions, you may be shocked, but just know everything will be ok."
"Ellen, you're scaring me," Amelia pleaded.
"Don't be scared. Deep breath."
Amelia obeyed.
"Many millennia ago, Earth was visited by a collective of scientists who wished to study the process you know as Evolution. Not long after their initial experiments, they realized it was an enormous mistake to interfere with the natural process already in place. Unfortunately, by that time, several other factions had come to colonize other parts of the Earth. Committees were formed, councils passed mandates, the best Scientists in the Universe were tasked with cleaning up the mess they had made, and 6,000 Earth years ago, it was decided the Mari-Ursians would be tasked with overseeing the ongoing, natural evolution of your planet."
Amelia was starting to feel lightheaded again. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head to clear the cobwebs. Any logical person would think it was all a joke, maybe a dream, but she knew Ellen well enough to know she wasn't playing an elaborate joke.
"Over the centuries, our scientists have blended among you," Ellen continued. "They have been in the background giving a gentle nudge where needed to affect the outcomes our models predicted would have transpired without interference long ago. Unfortunately, however, 200 years ago the human race began to shift in a pattern we were not prepared for. It set your planet on a trajectory we could no longer influence due to the bureaucracy in place to prevent the results we had before. Behind the scenes, we have had ambassadors pleading for permission to set things right again, Scientists studying the best way to reset the earth back to before our interference, and an entire Universe vying for the right to harvest Earth altogether."
"We? Harvest?!" Amelia felt tears burn her eyes as she realized the gravity of what Ellen was saying. Earth would either hit an enormous, unconscionable reset button and undo millennia of humanity, or the rest of the universe would just let it die and divide up the parts. How did Ellen fit into everything? Why was she telling her this? Where was she? She felt as if she was drowning in questions.
