Agra grabbed Austin to him and pressed his lips on Austin’s. But this was not a kiss. Austin struggled, but Agra’s grasp was unmovable. Through his touch, Agra showed him great armies of Sundogs covering the Earth. That Agra and his kind led these armies and humans were their slaves. This was the past and the future.
Agra released Austin and folded his hands in front of him. “Now allow Eve to show you to your living quarters.” He turned to leave.
“Wait. What about my friends?”
Agra paused, but did not turn around. “If they have good blood they will be harvested.”
“What?” Images of the warehouses flashed before him. The meaning of harvest became clear. “No. No you can’t do that.” Austin pleaded, but it was for naught. Agra and the saciva departed without another word. Austin ran over to Luke and Zack.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Austin pulled on the shackles, but the heavy wrought iron was not going to give. “God damn it.”
“Get outta here man.” Zack said. “Save yourself.”
“I’m not leaving you guys.”
“You have to captain.” Luke rasped. “You have to.”
Austin buried his head in his hands. He’d never been in a situation this dire, this desperate and without an acceptable resolution. He jerked when Eve laid her hand on his shoulder; her energy flowed from her finger tips into his body.
“I will help you, but you must leave our son with me. If you take him, Agra will come for you and he will have no mercy. Your boy will grow fast. My people can wait for him. They do not need you.”
“Then why didn’t he kill me?” He asked, but the words ‘our son’ echoed loudly in his head.
“It was my wish.” She replied. “We must hurry.” She handed Austin’s son to him and knelt down near Luke. With a slight snap of her wrist she broke the restraints freeing him and then Zack. They got up slow, their muscles soar and their wounds fresh. Eve found robes for them to wear.
She returned to where Austin stood holding his son, staring into his eyes, marveling over his existence. All those months of not knowing if he would ever see his boy or hold him in his arms threatened to dissolve his will. How could he give him back to these creatures? To Agra? How could life be this cruel? Despite knowing what he had to do, it didn’t make the decision logical or any easier.
Eve laid her hand on Austin’s arm. “We must go now.” Austin hugged his boy tight and handed him back to her. His eyes were dry, but his heart was breaking. “He will be well taken care of.” She promised.
“What about you? Won’t your father be angry?”
The muscles in her face eased, almost relaxed. “I have wandered the Earth for thousands of years never knowing where I came from, never knowing how alone I was.” She replied. “Not until something is removed from your life, from your thinking, do you truly know what it meant to you. I am free now.”
After a moment Austin nodded in understanding and reluctantly followed her down the corridor. When they came to the dead end Eve laid her hand on the wall and repeated the words Arati spoke earlier. The door slid open. Luke and Zack didn’t need an invitation, but Austin paused at the threshold.
He looked into his son’s eyes, his eyes. Leaning down he kissed his forehead. “I love you.” The baby reached up and touched Austin’s face. Austin couldn’t hold the flood of emotions back and a single tear escaped falling on the baby’s cheek.
Shaking his head, Austin straightened and took a deep breath. Eve reached out to him, holding his arm. He felt a surge of energy rush through his body. “You must go. Leave the planet and don’t come back. Destroy the portal as soon as you return.”
“Wait, what about all those people?”
“You cannot help them. They have been harvested. They are mere vessels now, no longer living.” She glanced over her shoulder, listening. “Please you have to go.”
“Roxanne?” He asked, unable to believe she was dead.
“Press your lips to mine.” Eve instructed.
Austin hesitated, but she insisted. Leaning over, he touched his lips to hers. Although cold, the sweetness was unexpected and the scent reminded him of Roxanne. Images flashed before him, alternating between Eve and Roxanne until they melded together and the truth became evident. Not because he understood the truth, he just knew it was so. Roxanne was never real for him, only Eve had ever existed.
“I would like to give to you a gift.” She announced when he pulled away from her.
“A gift?” Austin looked at his son, the only gift he could want.
“It will help you in the battles to come.”
“Battles?”
“Please. There isn’t much time.” She took his hand and pressed his wrist to her lips and bit into his skin. She held on for a few seconds before releasing his arm. “Good bye Austin.” Eve stepped back and the door closed between them.
The baby began to whimper and fuss, stretching his hand out to the door. “Don’t cry little Austin. We’ll see daddy again.” She hummed softly and his cries turned to coos.
41 THE FUTURE
Austin slowed the hummer to stop outside the barn. The door slid open and Colin, along with German, came barreling out to greet them. Charlie, Madison and Edward followed close behind. Zack slid out of the vehicle and was immediately engulfed by his brother.
“Careful bro. I’ve got war wounds.” Zack joked when Colin patted him on the back. Zack looked around for Madison and found her hugging Luke hello. She stepped back and turned, their eyes met. At that moment Zack realized how much he cared for her. No, he thought, not cared, loved, he was in love with her and this was almost as frightening as lying face down waiting to die in the devil’s lair.
“Man. I didn’t think we’d see you again.” Colin beamed, unable or willing to hold back his excitement over their return, over Zack’s return.
“Come on twerp. We were only gone a couple of days.”
“A couple of days? Shit Zack. You’ve been gone a month.” This caught Luke and Austin’s attention.
Austin glanced at his watch. Colin was right. An entire month had passed by while they were space traveling. The trip through the portal had been instantaneous. This Austin was sure of, so they must have lost time on Bliss. A fact he’d have to consider when timing his return.
“What’s in the back?” Edward peered through the Hummer’s windows at the boxes inside.
“Diaries of a madman.” Austin replied. “I’m going to drive around to the other entrance. Is there room to park below?” Austin asked Colin.
“I can put the Monster in the barn, then there’ll be room.” Colin answered. “Come on German.” He called to the dog, but German ignored him. The dog was in alert mode, his eyes honed in on Austin.
“What’s wrong with you?” Colin approached the dog.
“Wait.” Austin grabbed Colin’s arm. German bared his teeth, snarled at Austin and prepared to attack. Austin released Colin and stared into the dog’s eyes. German growled and pawed the ground wanting to attack, but then, like the Sundogs obeyed Eve, lowered himself to the ground into a submissive position.
“What the hell was that all about?” Colin asked, but no one answered. All eyes were on Austin and German.
After a moment Austin replied. “I don’t know.” But he had a hunch.
“Maybe it’s the way you smell.” Zack offered.
Ed jumped in, “Of course that’s it. Hell even I can smell you.” With this everyone relaxed, wanting to accept Zack’s explanation because it made sense, because they were tired of unknowns. No one wanted to question why only Austin’s scent upset the dog. No one wanted to ask questions that had no answers.
Austin turned to Colin. “Let’s get the vehicle down below.”
Ed decided to ride along with Austin. Luke, Colin and Charlie jumped in the back as well. German, although in a submissive state, refused to follow Colin into the vehicle, so they left him behind with Zack.
After they’d left, Madison, who hadn’t said
much, walked over to Zack and hugged him. “I’m glad you’re back and safe.” She said.
“You look good.” Zack eyed her hair, which had grown out from the G.I. Jane hairstyle she first sported.
She reached up touching her hair. “You like that?”
“What’s not to like?” Zack took her hand. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Same here.” Madison stared up into his face, her thoughts swirling around in a confused state.
“Can I kiss you?” Zack held his breath, not believing he asked that out loud.
Madison hesitated. Sadness filled her eyes.
“I understand.” Zack replied to her unspoken words, letting go of her hand.
“I’m sorry.” Madison fumbled, wishing she could feel different.
“Don’t be. You can’t help who you love right?” He smiled. “Let’s go inside. I’m beat.”
Madison followed Zack into the barn. She felt twisted and heartbroken. She’d plenty of time to think while the guys were away and the thing that surprised her most was how much she missed Zack. After considerable soul searching she realized her feelings for him were deeper than mere friendship. However, even her best efforts to reconcile her heart to what her head was telling her had failed miserably. Zack’s face wasn’t the face in her dreams or the person she thought of first when she woke in the middle of the night.
***
A few nights later the entire group, now fourteen in total, joined together in the Viking room. Charlie, Colin and Jeremy rolled in carts containing a meal fit for royalty and in quantities large enough to feed a small army. The conversation was easy and although it was on the minds of many present, no one asked about Bliss.
Sitting at opposite ends of the table Zack and Madison went through the motions. To the others there was nothing out of the ordinary, but Austin, who had an eye for the slightest detail, noticed Zack’s gaze wandering in Madison’s direction and her avoiding his. Austin knew he was to blame. More than he understood her feelings, he heard them. Eve’s gift to him.
Feeling his eyes upon her, Madison looked across the table at Austin, steeling herself against the reaction she expected. Her heart, as always, rammed against her rib cage causing her breath to stop in her throat. Her resolve was spineless and weak, angering her as much as it made her sad. She gave Austin a half smile and returned to stirring her food.
Austin wasn’t the only one who picked up on the vibe. Edward too noticed the strangeness and experienced sadness for everyone involved, but especially Madison. During their absence she’d shared the emotional roller coaster she’d road before the Sundogs appeared. He knew better than anyone that she deserved someone who could love her exclusively, someone who didn’t live with ghosts.
On the subject of ghosts, the silence from the man next to Edward resonated loudly. Austin hadn’t touched his food, other than to push it around his plate. This meant one thing, the captain wasn’t going to stay for long and this time Ed wanted to go with him, to wherever he might be heading. Glancing across the table, Ed and Luke’s eyes met. Ed got the sense Luke was thinking the same thing.
Luke understood full and well what the expression on Austin’s face meant, and this time better than Ed. The captain was planning to return to Bliss. He was going to go back for his son. He was going back to destroy the vampire things. Luke thought of them as vampires, knowing they weren’t really vampires, for lack of another name to call them. He didn’t care what they were, if Austin was going back, Luke was going with him.
A couple of hours after dinner, per Austin’s request, Madison, Edward, Luke, and Zack met Austin in the control room. All but Austin sat in the recliners. The screens on the walls were black. The climate on Earth had not changed. The three suns hung in the sky during the day, temperatures hovered at zero and the night skies were void of all light. The aliens were still very much in control.
They had discussed the time flip on the ride back from Cheyenne and shared with Ed and Madison. Zack theorized the switch was orchestrated in order to provide the Sundogs optimal time for eradicating humans from the Earth. In the first forty eight hours it was critical for them to create mass confusion. From there on the humans who remained were under the Sundog’s control.
Austin partly agreed with Zack’s theory, but thought there was still too much they didn’t understand about Eve’s people or the Sundogs. He believed Agra had every intention of returning to Earth and would bring his armies along with him. When Ed asked why they would need armies when they’d already killed most all humans. Austin replied they had no proof this was the case. He went on to say the U.S. might have been first because of Eve and if so it was possible they’d only just begun to take over the planet.
The tale of the temple was retold by Austin, excluding the truth discovered when he’d kissed Eve. Excluding the strange effect her bite was having on him. To the question of Roxanne he simply replied she was dead. All were befuddled by his lack of emotion, but no one dared ask more about his wife.
Austin went on to describe the warehouses full of people and although Eve had said they were beyond saving, Austin no longer believed this to be accurate. The monitors showed hearts still beating, and some had beats stronger than others, indicating to him there was life left in their bodies.
Heartbeats aside, the warehouses he saw on Bliss only held thirty thousand people at the most. Not even a drop in the ocean compared to the number gone and that was taking into account those dropped back to Earth. Knowing now that there was a time differential between Bliss and Earth, Austin questioned if it was plausible the Sundogs were carting bodies back and forth through the portal.
“Maybe they have a base here.” Madison offered. “Or many.” She told them of the map she confiscated from Roth’s office.
“It makes more sense that way.” Austin replied. “Which is why I brought Roth’s files and journals. Somewhere in all his rants is the answer. Or at least a clue.”
“What’s your plan?” Ed asked.
Looking them over as they waited for him to answer, he again questioned if he was doing the right thing. But what choice did he have? He didn’t. This was the only choice.
“First, go through Roth’s stuff until I find that clue. And while I’m looking at pictures, Zack’s gonna design a weapon. One that will kill a Sundog.” Zack gave him a nod, his mind already kicking around prototypes.
“What about the vampires?” Luke looked down embarrassed. “I mean the alien people?”
Austin shook his head at Luke’s question. He didn’t know what to do about them. His son was one of them. Eve, who was somehow his son’s mother and his wife, was also one of them. Eve, who had saved his life on numerous occasions over the years, had risked her father’s displeasure by letting Luke and Zack go free. She’d done this for Austin. And Austin, despite his efforts to the contrary, was conflicted in his feelings about her.
“And second?” Ed asked.
Austin smiled at Ed’s attentiveness. “And second, but more important, I’m going back to Bliss.”
“How? You destroyed the portal.”
Austin gave Luke a half smile. “I only shut it down.”
“They’ll kill you.” Zack said.
“Then they kill me. But I’m not abandoning my son without a fight.”
“I’m going with you.” Luke stood up. “And don’t say no or try to sneak outta here. I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
“Ditto.” Edward stood up next to Luke. “If there’s a chance at saving even a few people I want in.”
“Don’t even think about it.” Austin raised his hand when Zack stood up. “You’re needed here.” He glanced at Madison. “The world needs you man. They need your brains, your ability to create and solve shit so things can be made right again. When Eve’s people return, we have to be prepared to stop them. You’re the only one smart enough to figure out how.”
Zack opened his mouth to protest, but Austin shook his head at him. Zack plopped back down
, knowing Austin was right, but hating the thought of missing out on the adventure. The only plus was having Madison here. And, guilt aside, if Austin wasn’t around, maybe Zack stood a chance at winning her over. It didn’t go unnoticed by him, or Austin, that she didn’t put up a fuss about staying behind.
“I’m leaving in a week for Bliss with whatever information I have.” He knew he was rushing, but the time lapse could make all the difference. One week would be over a month gone by on Bliss. “Zack can you have something for me by then?”
“I’ll do my best.” Zack replied, knowing he’d do better.
“Madison, Luke and Edward, you’ll help me look through the files?” He’d make faster progress with them helping.
“Of course.” They answered in unison.
“We leave in a week then.” Austin looked around at them. Their thoughts mingled with his and he resisted the urge to rub his head, as if this action alone could silence their voices. He hoped the gift Eve bestowed upon him would provide the strength he needed to see this thing through.
EPILOGUE
COLOGNE, GERMANY
12:00am
Military Counterintelligence Service
Sitting in a room filled with computers and tech gear a soldier looked up at the large screen on the wall with disinterest. The live stream of video gave a bird’s eye view of the United States or at least where it should be. His eyelids drooped, threatening to close down at any second. He fought the sleepiness by tapping his foot. Tap. Tap. Tap. He rubbed his face. It was a losing battle. His eyelids fell.
He jerked awake and immediately glanced behind him to see if any of his superiors noticed. They did not. He turned his attention back to the large screen. At first all he saw was the same white mass that had covered the United States for over a year. As he watched his eyes opened wide, he leaned forward and then stood. He absently waved his arm to catch someone’s attention.
One of the officers noticed the soldier waving and walked over to him. About to say something to the soldier, he stopped when he saw the white mass moving, spreading down towards South America.
The Harvest Page 36
