by J. D. Hale
Salah managed to glance over, and then we smashed into the water. On impact, Rowan jolted alert. Of course, we sunk down to the bottom – sixty feet under – in a matter of seconds from the sheer momentum of our fall. I was out of breath after having the wind knocked out of me from the fall, and now there was no air around me.
At the rocky bottom, I pushed off as best as possible with limited strength eating at my legs. Rowan was close to the top of the water, as was Salah. Somehow, it was impossible to move. My lungs constricted, an uncomfortable sensation filled my chest. Then, there was pain as my lungs tried to expand again, filling with carbon dioxide instead of oxygen. It was fire in my chest, and I couldn’t move. My feet were entangled in some sort of mesh, and laughter almost escaped out of my lungs when I figured out what it was. I had trapped myself! My feet were tangled in my own trap, something set up in order to keep out people trying to break in.
Caught in my own trap.
I couldn’t help it – I had to suck in a breath. As the water traveled down my trachea, a feeling of dread passed over me. I knew I wouldn’t die – that’s a ridiculous presumption. I would pass out, and then I would begin breathing. Of course, I would have to be above water when that happened, or I will die.
Those were the last thoughts I had before I passed out.
ﻬﻬﻬ
June 16th 10:46 pm
The Dublin Hilton.
I woke up coughing and gagging, attempting to drain the salt water from my lungs. When I finally blinked my eyes wearily open, I saw nothing – too blurry. I batted my eye lids a few more times before my vision became are clearer. I glanced around what appeared to be a hotel room. Not a shabby room, but not up to my usual standards either. It was a suite with one main room and, as far as I could tell, three bedrooms and a bathroom. Of course, I could only assume that three of the doors were bedrooms and one was a bathroom, it didn’t really mean anything that I assumed as they could be any room. That’s wasn’t the point, though. Salah and Rowan were standing opposite where I was on a piece of furniture…a couch? Yes, a couch. More to the point, they were arguing about me in a very heated fashion. Rowan looked like he you smack Salah across the face, and Salah seemed like he was ready to explode. When my brain began working again, I was able to understand their debate.
“I can’t see why you’re mad at me!” Salah whispered. They were trying to be quiet, as they thought I was still sleeping.
“You could’ve killed her, not to mention the both of us!” Rowan retorted angrily, his eyes narrowing to slits as he tried to keep himself under control
“I saved her life! You should be grateful!” Salah snapped in return.
“Grateful?!” Rowan rejoined, “She almost died!”
“Listen,” Salah riposted, “just because you wouldn’t save your sister from drowning, doesn’t mean you should be pissed at me for saving her life!”
“Well,” Rowan squelched, “there was an explosion behind us, all the walls were going to explode, and they did, and you just had to jump back into the water. Kairee would’ve gotten herself out of it just fine!”
“You’d risk your own sister’s life for ours?!” Salah was disgusted by this assumption. I wasn’t. Rowan and I had agreed several times in the past to save ourselves if the other was in danger.
“No! Shut up! It wasn’t a risk if Kairee was going to get out of it.”
I decided it was time for me to step in.
“Boys!” I interjected into their conversation with more force than I thought possible. I swung my legs over and decided that if I could handle this, I could get up. Walking over, I could tell that Salah was nervous as to how much of that conversation I had heard. “You two need to stop it. Now. Again, I say this, but this is the last time. I need both of you, and it’s imperative that you both get a grip. You’re not in charge of this theft, I am. So, to keep me happy, which I know you both want to do,” I said with a smile, “you need to get over yourselves. Rowan, be happy I’m alive. Salah, be happy Rowan hasn’t strangled you yet. Now, before I kill both of you, I have one very, very simple order that you have yet to follow: stay away from each other. Unless you’re training or we’re in a meeting, don’t say a word to each other. If you have something to say, say it to me.” I told them angrily.
Salah nodded, and Rowan grunted his approval.
“And,” I added, “If you don’t follow that instruction, you will be punished. I don’t want to treat you like children, but you’ve proven I have to. Now, where are we?” I asked.
“We’re still in Dublin, in some hotel.” Rowan answered, “But we should leave soon, if Zenda’s after us.”
“You’re right, as always. But where do we go? We know she’s following us, and I will not have any more of our mansions destroyed. We’ve only got a few thousand of them around the universe. We need to go to another planet.” I reasoned.
“But if she’s tracking us, then-”
“Then there’s no chance she has a space craft as fast as ours. It’ll take her at least a month to reach Saize, while we can get there in minutes.” I said, cutting Salah off.
“But…” He attempted to think of a rebuttal.
“Spit it out!” Rowan snapped, his old anger still boiling from.
“I’ve never been off Earth!” Salah said quickly.
“What?” I whispered, shocked. Of course, it wasn’t a problem, just a surprise. Most criminals, in a criminal family, had at least been to one other planet in this day and age.
Rowan was taken aback, and for a moment didn’t know what to say. But then, as always, his hardened resolve returned.
“Well you’ll have to get used to it.” Rowan said, “We travel all the time.”
“Whatever.” I said with a yawn.
“Tired?” Rowan laughed, “You’ve had a long day, I suppose. We’ll reconvene…here, I guess, tomorrow morning?”
I nodded and stalked off to the nearest door, which I made my room. One double bed, two windows, and a painting of a rose. The whole room was red and white, romantically themed, obviously. The window overlooked the Dublin Bay, and at night the view was stunning – a million stars reflected off of crystal waters.
I hardly had any time – or it could have been hours, I wouldn’t have been able to tell – when I heard a knock at the door.
“Come in.” I sighed.
The door cracked open, and Salah’s face peered in.
“Hey,” I smiled, “What’s up?”
“Nothing I just wanted to…apologize. For being like I am with Rowan.” He smiled sadly.
“It’s fine.” I replied, and he closed the door behind him. He sat down on the bed next to me, and I looked into his bright green eyes. I scanned the face I had come to know so well.
“It’s not. I shouldn’t act like a little kid – not around you at least,” He chuckled.
I was hardly paying attention to his words; I was paying attention to him. It was strange how I could feel my heart pounding when his glittering green eyes searched mine, cold and black. Both of our eyes, when they met, seemed to warm and butterflies took flight in my stomach. There was truly no point in doing what I was so good at – denying – any longer. I knew in my heart, for the first time, what I really felt. I could know how I felt about Salah, but I couldn’t act on it. The mission to get the Xeron would be jeopardized if we have requited affection for each other. I knew one thing about the Institute: at the bottom level, a choice must be made. Only one can go into that room, and that person must make the choice. I can’t even begin to imagine what’s in that room, but I know that whoever goes down there might not come back. And, more importantly, if two people go into that room, the second will be struck down. So, I know that if Salah cares for me as much as my brother (in a different way, of course), one of them is bound to follow me. If either of them dies, it will be my fault, and I can’t let that happen.
“Listen…” I began awkwardly, “no matter what Rowan says…you did the right thing.” I tried qui
etly, “Thank you. Rowan was wrong – I was fainting, my lungs were full of water, and my feet were tangled. You saved my life.” I felt a sudden impulse to kiss him, and I couldn’t help but act on it. For a second, I pressed my lips to his. For a few flustered moments, I was searching for what to say, but Salah spoke first.
“You should get some rest. You’ve had a long day, like your brother said. I’ll, um, see you tomorrow…” He uneasily got up and stepped out of the door.
Them moment the door shut, I had a strange feeling – like I was being…watched.
I whipped around, and, looking in my window was someone I had not expected.
I exhaled in relief.
“Mahar,” I smiled, “Don’t scare me like that.”
But when I looked at him more closely, I notice some garish things. His dark skin was scratched by nails, bleeding over his lips. A bruise had blossomed over his sharp chin, discoloring his features. Tears of dread ran down his face.
“Oh god…what hap-” I began to ask, but I knew.
“Pay attention.” He said sullenly, sadness lacing his voice, “She only gave me two hours. Here are the maps, be careful. I’ll miss you, Kairee Dunham.” He handed me a large cylinder, blue and silver, with a TOP SECRET label on the top.
“What?! She’s going to kill you?!” I was outraged.
“Yes. Don’t fight it. She said ‘I kill you, or I kill her,’ and then she left. She said I had two hours to live my last. Goodbye. I really hope this goes well for you. Don’t make my last moments in vain.” With those last words to me, he climbed down and out.
That night, for the first time in a long time, I cried for someone. But, when that was over, I vowed to destroy Zenda.
June 17th 8:55 am
Unami, Planet Saize
“Welcome to my home planet,” I said shakily as I stepped out of the Wasp. I couldn’t help but smile as I stepped foot back somewhere I ad grown up with. We had not landed in front of my estate, as Rowan expected, but instead on my favorite area on this half of the planet. Of course, I haven’t been everywhere in this world, but I’d been to enough places to know this was my favorite.
We were standing on a large, hilly valley. A twisting river wound its way between the hills, reflecting light onto the plants around it. Tall trees with white bark and clear leaves danced in the wind. I could see the water pulsing through the large leaves, creating one of Saize’s famous marks, the river trees. They only grew near rivers, and it looked as if a river was living inside the tree. The ‘sun’ on this planet was four time’s larger than the Earth’s, but also about two times colder. In my solar system, it is much colder than Earth’s. The ‘sun’ was, instead of a great yellow star, and larger than life silver star. It provided clean white light, until sunset when the light turned blue. Another…strange thing about my planet is that the planet isn't seventy percent water like Earth’s (closer to twenty percent water, since Saizians don’t drink water), and so the sky isn't blue here – it varies. Over the right hemisphere, where I live, the sky is mostly light green, as it reflects the light green grass. The water is so clear I can see the shocking red fish swimming alongside the gray rocks.
Earth has nothing like my planet. The plants here required no carbon dioxide, as the native beings, the Saizian, didn’t perform cellular respiration, and thus didn’t give off carbon dioxide. The air was so pure here, as the Prime Minister, Areesta Nayathi, passed a law against factories. On my home, we manage to create things without mass producing, creating something that Earth got rid of in the 1700’s – family owned shops. Self employed people create goods which other people buy. The economy is thriving since there are jobs and people buying from others to keep their jobs running. It’s perfect. No cars. There’s no need since we have teleporting and non-pollutant emitting space ships. The Saizians could really teach those living on Earth something: You can be advanced in technology without destroying your planet.
Salah looked mind blown, gazing over the planes of glimmering grass and crystal waters.
“Rowan, can you alert mother to our arrival. I’ll try to help Salah adjust to this new environment.” I smiled at my brother. He nodded curtly and stalked away.
“This,” Salah gawked, “is amazing.”
“I know. This is where I grew up.” I grinned.
“I can’t believe I’m on another planet! Wait,” he said curiously, “If you were born here and grew up here, are you still considered human?”
I almost laughed out loud, but didn’t, instead choosing to grin at him, “I get that question a lot, more than you’d think, actually. I’m half human, doesn’t that count?”
His eyes almost popped out of his head, “What’s the other half?”
“Saizian.” I shrugged – it’s obvious.
“Sazian? But you look completely human,” His eyebrows furrowed in thought.
I couldn’t help but giggle.
“No I don’t,” I smiled, having a hard time controlling my laughter, “Do I look like any human you’ve ever met?”
“Well, no, I suppose not. But, you could pass for human. So, you look…Saizian?”
“Obviously. If I’m half human and half Saizian, and I don’t look human…then what else could I look like? My high cheekbones, full lips, and big eyes are all Saizian. Even my insides are Saizian; I don’t have half of the organs you do, and at the same time I have so many more,” I shrugged it off.
“Organs? Like what?” He asked.
“For example, I have two hearts. That’s why I can lose so much blood and live, how I can be shot through the chest and stay alive for hours. Don’t tell anyone that, though. If my enemies knew, they could kill me in a moment. But, despite my…alien-ness, I still feel more human than you’ll ever know.” I told him quietly.
He gawked at me, somehow surprised by my confession, “How do you feel more human?”
“I’ve still got human…emotions and two human hearts, and those are the only things that really classify you as human in the first place.”
“Human emotions? What’s the different between human and Saizian emotions?” He was oblivious to the power of his own feelings.
“Human emotions are much more…intense. And I’ve got the Dunham trait of having an overly functional Deep Limbic System.” I replied shakily, referring to the part of the brain that controls emotional memories. I was suddenly over- whelmed by my heart beating. My eyesight was acute as my natural sense for danger came on.
“Salah,” I whispered, “stay calm, but don’t move an inch.” I said, springing up.
“What’s going on Kairee?” He asked nervously.
“My mother’s coming.” I said tersely.
He laughed, “So? She can’t be that bad…can she?”
“She’s bad. Problem is-”
“Hello, Kairee.” My mother’s brusque voice came from behind m, cutting me off.
I saw Rowan out of the corner of my eye, looking at Salah with a glare.
“Hello, mother.” I said, playing along. A plan was already forming in my brain.
“Who’s y-your friend?” She asked with a stutter, glancing at Salah. I saw a blue glint in her black eyes, and took immediate action.
I lunged at my mother, taking her by surprise. Rowan’s face was suddenly contorted with indecision. He had no clue what was going on in the split second that I was attacking the woman that was supposedly my mother, but he knew to trust my judgment.
I took the woman in a headlock, her neck in the deathly grip of my arm.
“Rowan!” I snapped.
“What?” He asked, still looking baffled.
“You’ve lost your touch. This isn't our mother,” I said, pushing my new hostage down on the ground.
“What?! How can you tell?!”
“You really want to know? Her roots are showing, she’s wearing contacts, she’s two inches shorter than me, she stuttered, and she’s slouching. Our mother doesn’t dye her hair, her eyes are actually black, we’re the same height, and
she has immaculate speech and perfect posture. Those are just five of the obvious signs giving this fraud away.” I tell him quickly, my voice laden with malice.
Rowan swore under his breath, and Salah’s eyes opened so wide they could’ve popped out of his head.
“Alright. I’m going to take her inside, and then find our mother.” I said with a glare at Rowan for his ignorance, “Why don’t you boys get to know each other a bit better?”
Rowan nodded angrily and curtly in my direction, aware that if he didn’t agree, I’d take matters into my own hands – even on my own brother, I would do anything I had to in order to keep stability.
I sent a malevolent glower in the direction of the boys, my mood taking a nose dive in the negative direction, and sauntered away in the direction of my house.
June 17th 10:31 am
The Wythe Mansion, Unami, Planet Saize
The morning on Saize is glorious, making me realize how much I had truly missed my home planet in the days I had left it. Earth holds hardly anything that could even be compared to the abounding beauty of Saize. I took in the bright, pure white sun that allowed light to filter down through the clear sky to the vibrant land below. Next to this, earth is such a dull place to be. This planet is truly my home, and it could never be replaced.
“This place is…gigantic,” Salah gaped when he reached our mansion. I had already brought my fair-haired prisoner to the…dungeon? I don’t know if that’s the right word or not – the room is simply a dark, dank basement that I hastily put a few pairs of shackles in a few months ago when I started taking prisoners.
The mansion is front of us was on a vast, two-thousand acre plot of land. Even with all the land, the mansion heavily over-shadowed any of the beautiful, natural features on Saize. This more traditional mansion was the dream I had stuck in my brain when I was a child, and when I was twelve, I set out to build it. The mansion itself is made of a rare, white stone laced with crushed blue sapphires, giving the effect I had dreamed of when I was little – the whole house seemed to sparkle wherever the sun hit it, at any time of day. The gems in the structure of the house glistened most brightly at sunset. Blue and white were my theme for the outside of the house – from the white birch trees around the doorway to the blue siding around the windows and front door. Light gray stone paths led to the glass door, lined with bright blue flowers and white fencing.
