The Voyage Home

by D. J. Holmes

  “Then why the holo projector?” Sarah asked.

  “For this,” Vera said as she switched it on.

  The room was filled with the visual of a city. Most of the buildings in the city looked no more than several floors tall. However, at the center there were five towers that were more than forty. One stood out from the rest. It reached up more than a hundred stories above its comrades.

  “The Elder’s administrative building,” Vera explained. “From there they oversee our entire planet.”

  “So that is Washington,” Sarah said.

  “Yes. Now wait,” Vera replied.

  Sarah did. After about five seconds, the number ten appeared over the city. It then began to count down. When it reached zero, the image flew through the city, zooming in on one of the towers that stood beside the Elder administrative building. It then faded away and was replaced by the image of an office with a man sitting behind it.

  “Greetings,” the man said. “As you all know, I am Governor Adams. I would like to begin my weekly update with a message that Elder Oversees Kal’car asked me to pass on to you.”

  Sarah didn’t even hear Adams’ first words. Her mind had gone blank. It the blink of an eye she felt like she was back in her nightmare about the night her mother had been killed. This time she wasn’t looking into the eyes of the woman who had carried her to safety. Instead, she was looking at the man who had shot her mother. She let out a low growl. The two dogs who had been lying in from of the fire jumped to their feet.

  “What is it?” Vera asked as she paused the broadcast.

  Sarah didn’t hear her. Her mind was still too far away. She could see her mother being led out of the shuttle. Looking up into Melissa’s eyes, Sarah could see the fear there. Looking back at the platform, she helplessly called out for her mother. Her mother didn’t look up. She just walked dejectedly towards the center of the stage. Sarah shivered as she saw the Elder emerge from the shuttle along with a procession of officials.

  As a man stepped through the group of officials on the stage, Sarah looked at him, expecting to see a haze around his face. Just as she had done hundreds of times before. Instead, she saw the face she had just seen on Vera’s holo projector. Governor Adams. Anger flowed through Sarah.

  As it always did at this point in her dream, time slowed down. When the man spoke, it was with a voice she now recognized. “This woman has committed treason against the Overlord. She has spurned the peace, the great technologies and the protection that the Elders have given us all. For her crimes, she must face death.”

  As he spoke his last sentence, the man pulled a laser pistol out of his holster. Sarah now recognized it as an Elder weapon. Before she could scream, he pulled the trigger. The beam burnt a hole in her mother’s forehead. Blood splattered all around the stage. As her mother’s body hit the floor, Sarah’s screams finally came. In anger and anguish she shouted at the man who had killed her mother and at the Elder who had overseen it. Even as her small body was lifted into the air by the Elder’s gaze, Sarah continued to scream and curse. She knew what was coming, but she no longer feared it. Instead she raged against the two beings she hated more than anything else in the galaxy. Only when she felt the Elder’s teeth biting down into her did her screams of anger turn to ones of pain. Then, she fainted

  For a couple of minutes Sarah lay lifeless. Then slowly she opened her eyes. She was greeted by a very concerned looking Vera. “Are you alright?” the farmer’s wife asked. “What happened to you?”

  “I’m fine,” Sarah answered. “It was a dream.”

  “A dream?” Vera said as she helped Sarah into a sitting position. “That was no dream,” she said.

  “A nightmare then,” Sarah said, correcting herself.

  “It made you black out,” Vera pointed out.

  “A strong nightmare,” Sarah conceded. “I have been having it since I was a child. It is nothing. I can handle it.”

  “Well, have a sip of water,” Vera said as she handed Sarah a glass.

  “Thank you,” Sarah replied.

  After downing the glass, Vera helped her back onto the couch. As she stood, Sarah was embarrassed to find her legs were a little shaky. “Do you want to talk about it?” Vera asked.

  When Sarah didn’t answer, she followed her gaze to see Sarah was staring at the image paused on the holo projector. “We can turn this off,” Vera said as she reached over to the holo projector.

  “No,” Sarah said through gritted teeth. “Let it play. I want to hear it.”

  “Are you sure?” Vera asked.

  “Yes,” Sarah said as she turned her gaze to Vera.

  Vera shied away from her eyes and turned back to continue the broadcast. As Sarah listened, the rage in her belly steadily grew. This man killed my mother, she said to herself. He would have killed me. He is responsible for tearing up my family, for causing me to become a slave, for all the horrible things Draxler forced me to do.

  Thoughts of Draxler made Sarah hesitate for a moment. Killing him had haunted her. Yet not in the way her nightmare from her childhood did. I’m going to kill you, Sarah promised the image in front of her. Her mind went back to Ranack and how she had spared him. You have done far worse. I won’t be sparing you.

  “Who is he?” Sarah asked as soon as the visual message ended.

  “The Governor of Earth,” Vera said. “He leads the human government which runs most of the day to day business of the planet.”

  “And he lives in Washington?” Sarah followed up.

  “Yes,” Vera said. “That large building you saw at the beginning of the broadcast. That is where the Elders who oversee Earth live. The smaller buildings around it house Earth’s government. They basically make sure the rest of us obey the Elder’s rules. Why are you so interested in him? Does he have something to do with your nightmares?”

  “No,” Sarah lied. “How could he? I haven’t been on Earth since I was a child.”

  “I guess,” Vera said. “Would you like to see the broadcast again then?”

  “Yes,” Sarah answered. She forced herself to watch it again and again. She took in every detail, every facial expression of her mother’s killer. Soon, she would be seeing him in person. She was sure of that.

  Only when Harvey returned did she stop. She didn’t see the look of concern that passed between the married couple. But when Harvey reached over and switched off the holo projector, Sara didn’t complain. Her eyes were beginning to drop. With the help of both Harvey and Vera she made it to a small bed Vera had prepared for her. Within minutes, she was asleep.

  Her sleep was short lived. Again and again she dreamed of her mother’s death. Without Alexandra to wake her up before it happened, she had to watch Earth’s Governor kill her mother time and time again. Each time she woke up in a pool of sweat, her resolve grew. She knew she wouldn’t be able to rest until she had avenged her mother.

  Chapter 34

  The next day Sarah got up early with Harvey. He wanted to get into town before it got too busy. The sun was just rising. Once again Sarah was blown away by the beauty of her homeworld. Vera was there to see them off. She gave Sarah some clothes to wear to cover up her flight suit. Vera had wanted her to take it off, but Sarah had refused. She knew she would feel naked without the protection her flight suit gave her.

  “Thank you for everything,” Sarah said to Vera.

  “You are welcome,” Vera replied. “I hope your meeting goes well. The Resistance needs some good news for a change.”

  “If they will meet with me, they won’t be disappointed,” Sarah replied.

  “Have a safe journey then,” Vera said. “And make sure nothing happens to her,” she added as she kissed her husband.

  “I will,” Harvey promised.

  With Harvey’s help, Sarah climbed into his cart. The back two thirds were now filled with round brown things that were covered in mud.

  “What are those?” Sarah asked as Harvey flicked the ropes of the cart and started the hor
ses moving.

  “Potatoes,” Harvey answered. “A food crop. I’m taking them to town to sell. I have to have a reason to go into town.

  “Unless you are sneaking in after dark,” Sarah said with a smile. “People actually eat theses?” she asked as she picked one up to examine it.

  “You did,” Harvey said. “Last night, they were in the soup you ate.”

  “Oh,” Sarah said as she looked at the potato with a new appreciation.

  For the next three hours, she renewed her conversation with Harvey about crops and farming. Having not been in the Resistance, his knowledge of other things was limited.

  When they got to Remington, Sarah wasn’t surprised to see it was actually a very small town. Harvey said its main function was to serve the local farmers and the farmhands. The buildings were all wooden and even the main street was just a continuation of the dust road they had travelled on from Harvey’s farm. To one edge of the town however, there was a very modern looking metallic building.

  “It’s the elevator,” Harvey explained when Sarah asked about it. “There is a train that runs through Remington and on into Washington. It comes through once a day and takes our crops into the city.”

  “I see,” Sarah said.

  “I imagine it is how Vera’s friend intends to take you into Washington,” he said.

  “Where are we meeting this friend?” Sarah asked.

  “He should be waiting for us at the restaurant just before the elevator,” Harvey answered.

  Sure enough, when they got close enough to the elevator where Sarah could see its bottom, a man was sitting outside a building with a large sign that said Restaurant on it. He had dark hair and a sour expression. He was also the most muscled man Sarah had yet seen. As Harvey pulled his cart to a stop, he nodded up at them.

  “This is where you get off,” Harvey said. “It was nice to meet you.”

  “You too,” Sarah said as she swung her legs over the cart’s side and slipped down. “Thanks for everything.”

  “I hope we’ll see you again,” he said.

  “I would like that,” Sarah replied as Harvey began to move off.

  After waving goodbye, Sarah turned and sat down beside the man who was Vera’s contact. “Hello,” she said cautiously as she held out her hand. “My name is Sarah.”

  “No names,” the man said as he made no move to take her hand. “It is safer that way. You are an unknown entity.”

  “Right,” Sarah said, realizing that staying with Harvey and Vera had given her a false view of the Resistance. Of course they wouldn’t trust her. She wanted a meeting with their leaders. They would be suspicious. This man would probably be watching her all the way to Washington. “Well, shall we get going then?”

  “I’ll finish my meal,” the man said. “Then we can leave. The train won’t be here for another three hours and there is almost no security around here. Still, we don’t want too many people seeing us. Sooner or later people begin to talk.”

  Sarah sat in silence as the man ate. “Come on,” he said as he finished and stood up. “You’re not going to enjoy this next leg of the journey.”

  Sarah soon realized he hadn’t been exaggerating. Ten minutes later found her climbing the side of the elevator. Then, after watching her guide do it, she jumped into a large bin filled with potatoes. On their own, they had been fascinating to examine. Surrounded by them, they smelled with an odor Sarah didn’t find entirely pleasant.

  “How long are we going to be in here for?” Sarah asked.

  “Until the freight train comes,” the man answered.

  “But you said that would be in three hours,” Sarah complained.

  “Yes. We will wait until then. It is the quickest way into Washington. If we tried to walk we would come across a Blackshirt checkpoint or patrol at some point. I’m assuming you don’t have an identity card?”

  “No,” Sarah answered.

  “Then this is the way we will take,” the man answered. “If we waited until the train was about to arrive. There would be a lot more people about to see us.”

  “Fine,” Sarah answered. In the ensuing silence, she replayed the visual she had watched the night before. If this was the price she had to pay to get to her mother’s killer. It was a small one.

  When the train finally approached, Sarah poked her head out of the crop bin to look at it. She was surprised to see it was an antigrav train. She had seen them on several of the world’s she had visited. I guess the Elders’ allow modern tech when it benefits them, Sarah thought. Any other thoughts were cut short when her guide grabbed her foot and pulled her down.

  “Don’t,” he said. “The train has sensors we don’t fully understand. If they detect you, the train will stop and a Blackshirt squad will be sent to investigate.”

  “Ok,” Sarah said.

  “Brace yourself,” her guide said a few moments later when the train stopped adjacent to the elevator.

  Before Sarah could ask what he meant, the pile of potatoes they were lying on began to move. They were all falling towards the bottom of the bin. Sarah felt herself being sucked down with them. It quickly hit her, they were being sucked by some kind of vacuum into the train.

  Oh great, Sarah thought. Being on the ground seemed more dangerous than flying through space. Deciding it might be better not to see what was about to happen to her, she closed her eyes. Once closed, she was more attuned to the potatoes that kept bumping up against her body. Then as she hit the bottom of the bin, she felt her body being pulled through a wide tube. For a couple of seconds, she was freefalling. Then, with a thump that knocked the wind out of her, she landed on more potatoes.

  Sarah waited for a couple of seconds before she opened her eyes. When she did, she found herself staring up at the blue sky. Movement to her right caught her eye. It was her guide. He was lying beside her.

  “It’s not going to be the most comfortable journey, but it will be quick,” he said.

  More movement made Sarah look over the rim of the open top freight car. The train had begun to accelerate. As Sarah watched, her mouth opened. Silently the antigrav train rushed through the countryside. Trees and fields were going so fast she could hardly make out what she was looking at. At this rate, they would soon be in Washington.

  A thought occurred to her. “How are we going to get off this thing?”

  “We’re going to jump,” her guide responded.

  “Won’t there be a lot more people in Washington?” Sarah asked. “Presumably someone will be waiting to unload the crops from their freight cars?”

  “We won’t be on the train when it gets to the unloading yard,” her guide said. “We’re going to jump before then.”

  “We’re going to what?” Sarah said skeptically as she looked back out at the countryside whizzing by.

  “Jump,” her guide repeated. “Don’t worry, the Resistance has someone working in the antigrav train operations office. I have done this before. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

  Sarah wasn’t entirely convinced jumping was even close to a good idea, but she didn’t know what else to say. Giving up for now, she moved to the side of the freight car to look out again.

  “I said sit back,” her guide instructed her. “We’ll be getting to more inhabited areas soon. It’s best no one sees a head poking out of one of the crop cars.”

  “I guess,” Sarah said as she sat back down. Instead of the countryside, she decided to watch the sky to pass the time. Her guide certainly wasn’t going to entertain her with stimulating conversation.

  As she stared up at the sky, she reflected on where she was. Getting to Earth had been her dream for as far back as she could remember. When she had been a child, it had been an innocent dream. She had just wanted to see her birth place, to maybe find her family. Then, once she had found Destiny, she had begun to dream of beating the Elders, or freeing her people. Meeting Melissa had even given her hope that she might find her father. Now, those things were all in the background. E
arth certainly was beautiful. It was more than she had imagined. And her people were nice, even good. At least most of them, Sarah corrected herself as she looked over to her guide. Nice wasn’t exactly the best description for him.

  Yet despite all these things, she wasn’t satisfied. A dark cloud hung over all her dreams. There was a taint on the world she had longed to return to. Her mother’s killer ruled over everything. She couldn’t let that continue. Once she dealt with him, she would help the Resistance and look for her father. Someday she might even find a husband, like Melissa and Vera had. Yet Sarah knew that day wouldn’t be any time soon. She had other things to do.