Dark Humanity

by Gwynn White

  “What do you mean?”

  “Never mind. Just know that she’s no longer with us.”

  “How did you know about Marla, anyway?”

  “I know a lot about my new host, including his secrets. One of them being his feelings toward you.” He smiled coldly. “He cares about you deeply.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Very much. Because of this, I’m willing to put our differences aside and offer you, along with your family, total amnesty when we reach Planet Z.”

  “What exactly are you saying?”

  “Help me put a stop to The Resistance and your family will be given anything you want. Basically, you’ll be given free reign of our planet and will never, ever be forced into hosting one of our kind. A Cylf.”

  “I don’t trust you.”

  “I’m sure you don’t. But, truthfully, do you really have a choice?”

  I didn’t say anything.

  He grunted. “What are you going to do? Shoot Blayze? End his life? I’ll just jump into your body.”

  “Maybe, I have the toxin in my bloodstream. Did you ever think of that?”

  “Right,” he sneered.

  “Ask Hartkish. Oh, wait, you can’t. You see, he’s dead. Why is he dead? Because he tried jumping out of Jimmy’s body and into mine. Bad move.”

  He scowled. “You’re lying. He didn’t want to be female.”

  “What he didn’t want to do was die. We tricked him, you see. I stuck Jimmy with a needle, pretending to insert the toxin that would destroy Hartkish. He panicked and left Jimmy’s body. Once he entered mine, he died a very painful death.”

  We stared at each other for several seconds.

  “What do you want from me?” he asked, hatred burning in his eyes.

  “I want you to leave Blayze’s body,” relieved that he believed me.

  He laughed coldly. “No.”

  “It was never yours to have. You’ve outlived your own body, many times over, I imagine. Now give him back his own!”

  “You may as well just give yourself up now. You can’t win,” he said with a sneer. “There are too many of us on this ship.”

  “And there are others who want nothing more than to destroy you, Maelshuck. And, they will. In time.”

  “I don’t think so,” he said as someone reached around and grabbed the phaser from me.

  I turned around and stared in horror at my mother. “Mom! What are you doing?”

  “Stand back Alex,” she said, pointing the weapon at me.

  My heart felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. She was threatening me? “Mom?”

  “My name is Doranti,” she replied and then sighed. “You’ve really made a mess out of everything, Alex.”

  “Doranti?” I repeated in shock.

  “Yes,” said Maelshuck, moving to her side. He grinned. “That’s Queen Doranti to you.”

  “Queen?” I whispered hoarsely.

  “Yes, Alex. I’m their queen.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “How long have you been inside of my mother?!” I screamed.

  Blayze grabbed my arm. “Be careful how you speak to her,” he hissed.

  “It’s okay,” said Doranti. “Her anguish is quite understandable.”

  “Still, she shouldn’t be allowed to talk to you in that way.”

  Tears streamed down my face as I stared at her. “How long?” I asked, sobbing.

  “Six months,” she said.

  “Is she really alive in there?” I asked, searching her eyes. “My mother?”

  “She is,” she smiled and moved in front of me. “And if you agree to help us find the traitor, you can have her back. For good.”

  “Why should I trust you?”

  “Haven’t I kept you safe all of this time?” she said, touching my cheek gently.

  I jerked away from her. “Only for your own benefit.”

  “What benefit is that?” she said.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  “If you give up the person responsible for creating the toxin, you can have your family back. And, you can live without us. Without fear. If you don’t, you’re all going to die.”

  I stared at her.

  She walked back over to stand next to Blayze. “I overheard you lying to Maelshuck. We both know that you don’t have any of the toxin inside of you.”

  “She doesn’t?” said Blayze, his face darkening. “It was a lie?”

  The queen nodded. “Yes, she lied. It was quite impressive under such pressure, I have to admit.”

  “Then forget about staying inside of your current body. Take hers. Then we can be together, my queen,” said Blayze, staring at her adoringly. “In every way.”

  Seeing Blayze, even though I knew he was really Maelshuck, talk to my mother in that way, made my stomach convulse. “So, you two have something going?” I said in disgust.

  “Yes and we always will,” she replied, smiling at him. “For eternity.”

  “Does my father know any of this?”

  She chuckled. “No. He’s very intelligent but easily fooled.”

  I felt sad for him now, too. He’d been living with an alien for six months. Someone who had only pretended to love him. Someone he’d shared everything with. I hated Queen Doranti even more than Maelshuck.

  She studied my face as I glared at her with revulsion and hatred. She smiled. “You know, I could just do what he says. It would be so easy and you are an ideal host. Young, but mature enough. Beautiful. Strong.”

  “Then why don’t you?” I snapped, feeling repulsed by everything happening. I felt like my world was crashing down around me.

  “Because I value loyalty more than vanity,” she replied, smiling. “Don’t I, Maelshuck?”

  He sighed wearily. “Yes, you do.”

  “I do.” Her smile fell and she looked me in the eye. “On my honor, I say to you – give up the traitor and I will give you back your family. I will also guarantee that all of your lives will be spared.”

  “And I ask you, again, why should I trust you?” I asked sarcastically. “Why?”

  “Because, I give you my word,” she said. “And, really… think about your current position. Right here. Right now. What other choice do you have, Alex?”

  “I –”

  “The answer is simple,” she said. “Your family’s life for the name of one Cylf. One individual who is probably lying to you anyway. Did you ever think of that? Their real motive?”

  My eyes widened.

  “Alex, it’s in a Cylf’s nature to want to live forever. It’s in our genetics. This one does have an agenda. I can guarantee, and it’s not to save you from us. It’s to save you for them.”

  I stared at her, now more confused than ever.

  She smiled at me gently. Lovingly. It was my mother’s smile. “I’m going to ask you one last time, you give me their name and I’ll give you what you want. Your mother, your father, your entire family. All of your freedom. My word is gold, isn’t it, Maelshuck?”

  “It is,” he replied a little stiffly.

  “So, what’s it going to be?” she asked.

  I closed my eyes and told her.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Four Days Later

  * * *

  Planet Z

  * * *

  Ejournal Entry #3

  “Well, here I am again, EeJ. Talking to you. Did you miss me?”

  I laughed out loud and rolled my eyes. Was this really the closest thing I’d have to a friend for the next few months? Well, besides my brother?

  “Funny, I’d forgotten all about doing this until Mom took you out of my suitcase and insisted that I resume our daily recordings.” I stared around the room, thankful it would be one of our last days on the ship. I was going stir-crazy.

  I continued. “To be honest, the last few days have been kind of a blur. I guess Jimmy and I caught some kind of virus that made us so sick, we both ended up in comas. Weird, huh?” I closed my eyes. “We
’re both okay now though. I mean, I guess we are. Everything is still a little fuzzy. I remember leaving Earth and then… well, that’s about it.” I sneezed three times, covering my face with my sleeve. “Excuse me. I guess I’m still a little under the weather. Anyway, yesterday, I woke up in the infirmary, with Jimmy lying next to me. That’s when we first found out that we’d been asleep for almost five days. Five days! Can you believe it? Anyway, it’s not all bad. We’ve actually landed and are about to take our first step onto Planet Z. Surprisingly enough, I can’t wait. Like I said, I’m going stir-crazy and although I’ve been asleep for most of the journey, I’m ready to check out this new planet. I’m so over being in this ship. It actually gives me the creeps.”

  There was a knock on the door and then Dad walked in with Jimmy.

  “You ready to go?” asked Jimmy, his face lit up with excitement. “They’re letting us off the ship.”

  “Yes!” I said, turning off the Ejournal. “Finally.”

  “Guess what?” said Dad. “We don’t have to wear our space-suits either. They’ve approved it.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Really? Is it safe?”

  “Yes. The scientists who’ve been staying here stopped wearing theirs about three weeks ago, I guess. They say it’s safe. Very safe. Safer than our planet.”

  “Cool,” I said, getting up.

  “It’s a little chilly, though. So, you might want to put on a jacket. You too, kiddo,” he said to Jimmy.

  “Okay,” he replied.

  I grabbed my jacket from the closet. “Where’s Mom?”

  “She’s coming. She’s trying to find her camera. She wants to take both of your pictures the moment you step off of the ship. She’s on this new kick about photographing everything for her scrap ebook collection.”

  “Well, it’s a good idea,” I said slipping on my shoes. “Plus, it might end up in history books someday.”

  “That’s what she said,” he replied.

  We walked out of the cabin and found her in the hallway, fiddling with the camera.

  “There you are. Are you having problems with it?” he asked.

  “No,” she said, frowning. “But, the disk is almost full. I might be able to get a couple of good pictures, though.”

  “That’s all we need,” he said. “Right?”

  “Yeah. How are you doing, kiddo?” she asked, putting her arm around my shoulders as we walked down the hallway. “Getting your strength back?”

  I nodded. “Yes. I’m still a little dizzy but other than that, I feel pretty good.”

  She kissed my cheek. “You can’t imagine how worried we were about you both. It was such a nightmare. We didn’t know what was going on.”

  I smiled. “At least you two didn’t get sick.”

  “No. We were very lucky.”

  “No kidding, we were,” said Dad, over his shoulder. He turned back to Jimmy, who was walking beside him. “How about you? You doing okay?”

  “I’m fine,” he said, smiling up at him.

  “Good.”

  We walked through the ship and met up with several other people getting ready to explore the planet. Everyone was excited.

  “I feel like we’re on some kind of a vacation,” said an older woman walking in front of us. “The only thing missing is my camera.”

  “I have a camera,” said Mom, holding it up. She smiled sheepishly. “Just not much memory to hold pictures.”

  The older woman laughed. “Well, I’m sure there’s plenty of it in the labs. Maybe you can borrow some.”

  Mom snorted. “Are you kidding? They’re being very stingy with the research equipment. I’m sure if I used some of their film, they’d have me arrested.”

  “You’re probably right,” said the woman, her eyes sparkling. “You have to really be careful. They watch everyone like hawks, too. Sometimes I feel like we’re the ones being studied.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Mom.

  “You’re moving pretty good with that walker,” said Dad, as we followed behind her. “Don’t wear yourself out before we get off the ship, though.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about me. In fact, there’s a wheelchair with my name on it at the exit,” she replied, smiling.

  “Good for you,” said Dad. “What was your name again? Margie?”

  “My closest friends call me Dorey,” she said.

  Something about that name struck a chord.

  “Did you say Dorey?” I said, moving next to her.

  “Yes,” she said. “Have we met?”

  “Um, I don’t think so,” I said.

  “Dad, can we go faster?” whispered Jimmy, loudly.

  “Jimmy,” said Dad in a stern voice.

  “Oh, my… you can go around me,” said Dorey. “I don’t want to hold any of you up.”

  “It’s okay,” replied Mom. “We can wait. This isn’t a race.”

  Jimmy sighed.

  “No. I insist. Then I won’t feel like I have to rush,” replied Dorey.

  “I’m terribly sorry for our son’s rudeness,” said Dad. “He’s usually not so bad.”

  “Oh, it’s quite all right. I know how kids are and I’m sure he’s excited to go exploring,” she said.

  “They’re opening the door!” shouted Jimmy, sneaking around people so he could have a better look.

  “Jimmy!” called Dad, following him. “Wait a minute.”

  I pointed toward them. “You’d better get a picture of his expression, Mom. I have a feeling he’ll never have another one like it.”

  She frowned. “Yeah, I’d better. That boy. I tell you… so impatient,” she said, rushing after them.

  I was excited, too, but something compelled me to stay with Dorey.

  She looked at me and smiled. “Alex, isn’t it?”

  My eyes widened. “Yes. How did you know my name? I don’t think we’ve ever met.”

  “We have met and I know a lot about you. In fact, I know more about you than you probably know about yourself.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  She stopped walking and people stepped around us, eager to leave the ship. She grabbed onto my sleeve. “Thanks for being so sweet and waiting for an old woman, Alex,” she said loudly as more people moved by us.

  “Of course.”

  “I wanted to talk to you alone,” she said when we were out of earshot of everyone else.

  “Why?”

  “To let you know that everything is going to be okay.” I stared at her in confusion, but she just smiled. “They did a good job on your memory. Obviously, the machine is fixed.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that.

  They did a good job on my memory?

  “Let’s start walking again before we cause any suspicion.”

  “Okay,” I said, still confused. Part of me wanted to get away from the crazy old woman. Another part of me knew that she had something important to say. Something I’d want to hear.

  She smiled at me again. “We’ve met before, only I looked different. You knew me as Ellie.”

  “Ellie?”

  “Yes. Ellie. I’m part of The Resistance.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We are a group of individuals fighting for all of mankind.”

  I bit back a smile. I didn’t even know we were at war with anyone. She was obviously a little kooky. “I don’t get it. Is there some kind of war going on?”

  She laughed. “Well, there was. But, it’s coming to an end. In fact, I’m pretty sure that we’re in the clear now.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess I haven’t been filled in on any of this,” I said, playing along.

  “It’s probably better that you don’t remember anything. I just want you to know that Maelshuck has received the toxin and so has the queen’s newest host.”

  I laughed. “Excuse me?”

  She sighed wearily. “I’m sorry. I’m probably confusing the heck out of you. I just need to get this off of my chest because very soon, I wil
l be giving Margie back her body in full. She was so lovely to let me borrow it.”

  I just stared at her. Who was Margie?

  “Oh, before I forget, I have something for you,” she said, handing me a flash-drive.

  I looked down at it. “What is this?”

  “All of the information that you’ll need to ensure the continuous survival of mankind. Oh, and there’s a list of names of all the people you’ll need to deliver the toxin to. The ones still hosting aliens.”

  I frowned. She was obviously mad, but I felt like I’d had a similar conversation before. “What?”

  She spoke quickly. “There is also a map of where you will find more of the Bargonite. It’s the element used in the toxin. You should have enough.”

  “I don’t understand any of this,” I said, although I didn’t fully believe my own words. Bargonite sounded familiar. So did her reference to ‘host’.

  “Simply put – we’ve taken out the queen and Maelshuck, but there are dozens of people on this mission who still need the toxin. The information is on the flash-drive. Promise me you’ll look at it?”

  “Uh, sure.”

  “I know you’re confused, but this isn’t a joke. Does the term Cylf sound familiar?”

  I felt as if my legs were about to give out. It did sound familiar. I stared at her in horror as flashbacks of what appeared to be me, fighting Bruce’s parents, popped into my head. They’d been Cylf. “Yes.”

  She nodded in approval. “Good. I can see that it’s all starting to make a little more sense to you.”

  “Yes and no. What about my parents? Can I show them what is on the flash-drive?” I asked, wondering what they would say to all of this.

  Her eyes softened. “Yes. It’s time to trust them. The queen has no control on them anymore. Especially, your mother. Once they see what is on this flash-drive, they’ll start to remember, too.”

  “Are you saying that we all knew about this before?” I asked, shocked.

  “Yes. Your memories were erased. All of yours. Blayze will know, though. His memory should be intact. Find him.”

  “Blayze Watkins?” I said, my heart skipping a beat.

  Her eyes twinkled. “You are starting to remember that young man, too, aren’t you? He’s very special.”