“The first time I brought Joe here, they snatched him because he was a TSS Agent. These are the Outer Colonies, Agent Sky. I don’t know what they told you, but these people have as much respect for you as they do a dog.”
“I’ll take my chances. You shouldn’t go alone.”
“I’m not going alone. Trix is flying the shuttle.”
When Skyler refused to leave, Iza shrugged. “Fine, but if they take you as a hostage, I’m leaving you behind.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Iza sat in the co-pilot seat beside Trix as they made their approach to the surface. Her mind was a jumble of questions, and unlike the last time she’d spoken with her aunt, she planned to get answers. After getting over the shock of her mother having a twin sister, it hadn’t gone well. Iza could see where she’d gone wrong, that time. She’d blamed her aunt for not doing more, not reaching out sooner—but putting that on her hadn’t made Iza feel any better. In fact, she’d realized too late the woman might be the last connection she had to her mother.
Like Joe, Skyler was pleasantly quiet on the way to the surface, allowing Iza to ruminate in peace. She’d chosen the seat behind Trix where Iza could easily see her, but when she glanced back, Skyler had her eyes closed as if she were sleeping.
Trix piloted their shuttle to the coordinates they’d been given. On the outskirts of town, the small property had been cleared of boulders and bore a small structure at one end. To call it a cottage seemed too generous. The sheet-metal shanty probably had only one room for sleeping. A stove made out of constructed blocks sat to one side of the structure. Primitive was putting it lightly.
As soon as the shuttle powered down, the small wooden door of the place flew open and her aunt ran toward them. Before Trix had opened the hatch, her aunt was there waiting and wringing her hands.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Iza asked reaching out to stop her nervous hand wrestling.
“They’re almost here.”
“Who?”
Reagan didn’t seem to hear her and continued to mumble as she glanced around, then she focused her attention back on Iza. “They’ve found me, and I believe they’ve taken your cousin. I knew you’d come. If they find you here, they won’t let you leave alive.”
That got Skyler’s attention; her head snapped up and she tracked Reagan’s movements.
They followed Iza’s aunt into the small hut. Inside, it was as Iza feared. A small bed covered in a dark gray blanket sat against the far wall with a square, two-drawer nightstand at the head; on top sat a framed photo of her aunt and cousin. One metal chair faced the bed, near the corner stove that would give off enough heat to warm the place on cold nights.
“If you’re worried about someone finding you here, maybe we should go,” Iza said as she looked around the room, concerned that it wouldn’t keep out a stiff breeze let alone anyone else.
“Have you ever heard of the Gatekeepers?” Reagan asked Iza, her eyes focused.
“I’ve recently been acquainted. Short version: they hate us and are willing to take out planets to keep us from using their tech.”
“That’s what the government knows.” Reagan waved a hand in the air in the direction of Skyler as she reached for a duffle and tossed it on the bed. “Your mother probably never spoke of them, though now I wish she had. If you knew about your past, you might have seen some of this coming. You see, I knew this would happen. I’ve prepared Jaidyn for this day ever since his father left.”
“I thought he died?” Iza asked, looking over the woman as if catching her in a lie.
“You misunderstand me. Your father and my husband are Gatekeepers. They cannot die in the same manner as you and me. They are a physical manifestation of beings that exist on a higher dimensional plane, able to change forms by creating hybrid vessels for their essence in our reality. They cannot be killed in the manner we know.”
Skyler listened intently to this information, no doubt absorbing every detail to bring back to TSS Command. Iza suddenly wished she’d asked her to stay outside.
“I don’t understand. Are you saying my father was an alien… from another dimension?” Iza wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. She glanced at Skyler, but her glasses hid her eyes, and her mouth was set giving nothing away about her feelings
“He’s an ancient and powerful being that took the form of a Taran man in order to study our race’s development in recent years. Your father and my husband were sent to the Taran worlds to travel around from planet to planet, learning all they could about our modern culture and what has changed since the Gatekeepers last dealt with Tarans millennia ago.”
“If these aliens are still around, then how come we haven’t seen them?”
“The Gatekeepers are xenophobic by nature. From our vantage, their race is made of pure energy with the ability to take a piece of themselves to manifest in whatever form they choose,” Reagan explained.
“Like taking off a finger and creating a clone of yourself that can go off and does its own thing,” Skyler said. “Huh, neat trick.”
“Essentially,” she said looking at Skyler as if for the first time. “The Gatekeepers, in their native form, have remained hidden. But the Taran hybrid clones—as you called them—that were sent to investigate are still out there in the general population. When they took our form, they also got our impulsive desires and need for connection. They fell in love. And that’s how you and your cousin came to be.”
Iza’s stomach knotted. “Wait, you’re saying I’m an alien hybrid myself?”
“The genetic markers are so minute, no one would know unless they knew what to look for.”
Her mind was racing. “Is that why I’m immune to telepathy?”
“That was always a trait of my husband and your father. But there’s no time to get into the details now.” Reagan resumed pacing the shack, shoving random things into a duffle. She picked up the picture from the nightstand and slipped it inside.
Her movements reminding Iza too much of her mother. Hadn’t she been just like this the day she left? I can’t remember, or maybe I don’t want to remember.
“Did you know about them being alien hybrids? Did they really just seem like normal guys?” Iza asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“We always knew they were special, but it wasn’t until later we realized why.” Reagan got a far-off look in her eye then. It was as if she was living back in that time when she first met her husband. “Your mother was enamored with your father—almost to the point of obsession. Wherever he went, she went, too. You have to know they loved each other, but your mother loved harder than most. It was a shock when we learned the truth about them. They insisted on telling us themselves and at the time, I’ll admit, it was hard to accept at first. We knew nothing of the Gatekeepers’ existence. When your mother and I had a falling out, we decided it was best we part ways for good.”
“What did you fight about?”
“Nothing of consequence,” she said, waving her hand in the air. Then, she continued filling the duffle. She grabbed a small blanket and a small journal she pulled from a drawer. “Looking back now, I can hardly remember. We were always fighting. I let it get the best of us, and I’ll always regret that we never made amends before her death. If we had, perhaps we—” Reagan stared at Iza.
Does she regret not being there for me? What if my mother didn’t leave by choice? It was the one answer her aunt didn’t have but the one Iza needed most.
Reagan pulled another photo out of the small nightstand of her mother and her and slipped it into the bag before zipping it closed.
“You and your cousin, Jaidyn, are the same age. I did some overdue research after you left and discovered you were born days apart. Now, his life is in danger. Or, worse, he may already be dead. I didn’t know who else to call.”
“What was he doing out here?” Iza asked.
“He was trying to protect me. At first, he went in search of you, against my wishes. Then when he knew my life w
as in danger, he tried to lure them away.” Reagan shook her head. “He didn’t understand, I tried to tell him it was useless, but he wouldn’t listen.”
Iza shook her head and looked to Skyler to see what she thought of these ravings. The woman wasn’t making any sense at all, but Skyler seemed to be listening.
“Where would they take him?” the Agent asked.
“I don’t know,” Reagan replied with a slight shake of her head, her eyes filling. “I can only hope that wherever they’ve taken him, he might be close to his father.”
Iza’s breath caught in her chest. “Are you saying they might still be alive?”
“It’s a very strong possibility, but I don’t understand enough about them to know for sure. As far as I know, you and your cousin are the only Gatekeeper-Taran mixed children in the universe. That makes you special—able to do things others can’t. My husband never elaborated on what that would mean, only that we were to keep you hidden. If the Gatekeepers ever learned of your existence, it would destroy the delicate peace between our peoples established so long ago. Do you understand?” Reagan took her hands and stared into her eyes waiting for an answer.
“I think so,” Iza said, though her mind still swirled with questions.
“I only wish that I’d known about you. I would’ve done something, been there. I can’t make up for that now. You’re a woman now. Please forgive me and help me find my son.”
Iza didn’t know what to say. The woman’s hands were warm in her own. They were weathered with gardening and the life of a mother who raised a son without help. She had the face of her mother, the same lines the same here. Everything about her except her demeanor was the same. She was asking her to do something her own mother had not done. It was a lot to swallow, but Iza gulped around the knot in her throat. She nodded.
“Remember, you represent the one thing they fear the most: exposure. Your existence is a threat to that. It makes you not only a target but something for them to fear,” Reagan said. “There’s no place you can hide here, but there’s something you need to take with you.”
“I thought you said they already had my cousin?” Iza clarified.
“Yes, they do, but you can find him.” Reagan held up a necklace with the symbol from the sphere. It was identical to the one Iza wore. “It’s the one thing that his father left for him. I found it here on the floor; he must have lost it in the struggle.”
Iza put a hand inside her shirt and pulled out her necklace, rubbing it between her fingers.
“Oh, that’s wonderful. You have one, too.” Her hand reached out and clasped the symbol on the bottom. “Good. Well, then, this one belongs to your cousin when you find him.”
Iza glanced back at Skyler, who was standing rigid behind her. They were supposed to be tracking down Joe. She didn’t have time to look for both men, but she slipped the necklace into the pocket of her pants.
“How would I even begin to find him?”
“You won’t have to; they’ll find you. They’ll have a ship of some kind, not easy to pick up on regular sensors, I’d suspect. Don’t deal with any of the ones walking around on the surface of the planet. Once they identify you, they won’t ask questions, they’ll just kill you. And they’re coming for me. They can’t find you here. You have to run,” Reagan said as she pushed Iza through the small door toward their shuttle.
Trix was standing outside the shuttle transfixed. Skyler took two steps outside and stopped, looking up.
Iza did the same. Dark clouds had rolled in out of nowhere and blacked out the sun. A thunder rumbled from her toes and up her body, making her teeth chatter together.
Iza reached out to her aunt grasping her by the wrist. “Come with us.”
Reagan shook her head. Then as if just remembering the duffle, she ran back inside and then shoved it into Iza’s arms.
“When you see my son, tell him that I protected him until the end. I only wish I’d been there for you sooner. You’ve got to run and don’t look back. I’ll hold them off as long as I can, but if you don’t hurry back to your ship, they’ll take you.”
Iza glanced back at the rundown shack. Hold them off with what—a broom? What was she going to use to fight off a hybrid alien being from another dimension?
The sky above them had turned an angry black. The clouds seemed ready to drop buckets of rain on them in seconds, but the charge of electromagnetic energy in the air was so strong it hummed all around and through her. She slipped the duffle strap over her body and behind her so she could start running.
“Hubyria isn’t known for freak rainstorms,” Skyler said looking around at the worrisome clouds.
Iza couldn’t make her legs work as she stared up at the sky again. Remembering where she’d seen those ominous clouds before. In a dream, while she’d had the sphere. She’d been still holding Joe’s hand and the feeling of immense joy fading at the sight of the dark cloud rolling in. The clouds hadn’t been bringing rain, and she doubted that this one was either. She remembered looking down at their joined hands in confusion.
Something behind them crackled, and Iza felt the heat of it run down her back. Then another thunder crack. The sky opened up, and it was an ocean of water falling from the sky. So heavy it pushed them to the ground with the weight of it. Iza pushed herself up from the ground and looked back. Her aunt stood inside the shanty, the water already pooling inside. Skyler waded back to her then grabbed Iza’s arm, pulling her toward the shuttle through the steady sheet of rain pounding on them from above.
Iza called out to Trix. She was as stiff as a board and her eyes were open as if frozen on something behind her. Iza looked back and she heard her aunt waving and yelling something; the water was up to their thighs.
“Trix!” Iza yelled.
As if on cue her eyes fluttered, and she looked down at Iza. “I apologize. I had to purge the alien signal from my system. We should leave immediately.”
“Tell us something we don’t know!” Skyler yelled as she pulled the duffle from off Iza’s back and telekinetically levitated it up to Trix. “Get the shuttle prepped for immediate take off. Now!”
Trix obeyed, but Iza struggled to keep her feet under her as she waded to the open hatch through the water and mud at her hips. Her aunt had told her to keep going and not turn back, but Iza couldn’t help herself. She yanked her wrist out of Skyler’s grasp, forcing the other woman to stop.
As Iza turned to go back, her aunt and the shanty burst into a ball of flames.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Iza’s knees buckled and she sank into waist high water, watching the debris drown under the weight of the water. The smoke blackened the sky, reaching up into the dark clouds above.
“No!” Iza’s throat ached from screaming.
Skyler half dragged her, putting an arm around her as she awkwardly ran and swam to the shuttle.
Trix had control of the shuttle as it lifted up out of the water and through the onslaught of rain with the hatch open. Skyler used telekinesis to lift Iza into the shuttle and leaped in behind her. Iza was still in shock when the shuttle hatch closed.
“Head back to the Verity. we need to try and outrun this thing,” Skyler instructed.
“The planet is currently being transformed. The signals are the same as Uephus. Someone should warn the inhabitants of the planet to seek shelter or cover and contact the Enforcers,” Trix stated in her monotone voice.
“Yes. I assume you’re capable of sending that message?”
“I am.”
“Then do it! Let the Verity know we’re coming in and that Iza isn’t well.”
Iza heard the exchange, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words that would make the horror she witnessed real. Her aunt was gone, and the Gatekeepers had killed her. Her cousin might already be dead. It was the one thing that her aunt hadn’t wanted to admit, but after seeing what they could do, it was a strong possibility. It was then she noticed her hands had found the duffle bag. She clung to it, not wantin
g to put it down.
“Captain, I have contacted Yeaga and informed her of the situation. I will not repeat what she said, but it seems they are already aware.”
Iza stared at the opposite wall of the shuttle, unable to focus. Inside, she screamed. Instead of taking one of the seats, she curled into herself, wrapping her arms around the bag.
Iza’s body was numb and her heart broken for another mother figure she’d never know. She reflected on her aunt’s last words; they hung in her mind like wisps of truth in a web of questions. Did she say my father might be alive? Why didn’t she try and leave with us?
“We’re docking,” Skyler said, coming to her side.
She’d been kind enough to leave her alone for the ride back to the ship, but now Skyler pulled Iza to her feet with a strength Iza didn’t know she possessed. She left the duffle for Trix to retrieve. Skyler’s gentle yet firm hands guided Iza off the shuttle as if she were made of glass. Iza wasn’t glass and she didn’t need Skyler. It was Joe in the dream; he’d been the one to make her feel better, not his sister. She was about to say so when her knees gave out. She would have fallen face first onto the deck if Skyler hadn’t been there to catch her.
“I’ve got you. there you go.” Her voice sounding too gentle, too motherly.
Braedon was waiting for them. “Iz, are you okay?” He reached for her, helping her off the ramp.
“She just lost her aunt. We need to get out of these wet clothes. She’s going to need something to help her sleep. Trix, we need to get the ship as far away from here as possible.”
“Yes, Agent Anderson. I presume we do not have a destination at this time?”
“No, we don’t. Just move the ship out of here, and fast.”
“I’m sorry, who put you in charge?” Karter asked as he joined the others in the cargo hold.
“As the only ranking TSS officer, I did. If you have a problem with it, feel free to send your complaints to TSS Headquarters.”
Iza would have enjoyed the banter if she’d been able to erase the image of her aunt disappearing before her eyes. Braedon must have dashed off, though Iza didn’t see him leave. Trix was a blur as she passed them. Karter didn’t struggle or rush as he took over from Skyler, helping Iza to her cabin.
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