by Maia Starr
I knocked on my locked door very loudly. Finally, it opened. But it was not Zian, it was a warrior guard.
"I wish to see Zian Crace immediately. It is very very important. I have information for him,” I said to the guard. He gave me a silent nod and then close the door, locking me in once more. I paced the room, getting my thoughts in order. I had a pitch to make to Zian, and it would have to make sense. It would have to be beneficial to both the Corillion and humans, and Earth itself. It would have to be in order for him to accept it. He was in fact the leader of the Corillion and he could make these decisions. Perhaps I could convince him to stop his master plan. Not every single human would have drunk the water by now and there would be plenty of time to get the word out to the water treatment plants to stop water flow. Good, this was good. I should feel fortunate that I was the one that was taken. I now saw how important it was for me to be here and to have the sole audience of the Corillion leader. I was going to go into war negotiations. I was ready. I only hoped that it would work.
An hour later, Zian opened the door and walked in. He stood by the door away. He stared at me and said,” you wish to see me? Do you wish to give me more insults? I am a monster you have made that clear,” he said to me.
"Zian Crace, I come to you with words and information. You said that I was very valuable, because of my position on the Earth counsel embassy. I come to you now as the director to speak with you and I hope that you will take what I have to say into consideration. I hope that you will take it seriously and listen to it as the words from the director and not from Lily,” I sent to him.
His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms.” I am listening.”
"I urge you to stop your plan, and accept an alternate plan. There is still time.
"What plan? There is no alternate plan,” he said.
"But there can be. It is a plan that will be beneficial to the Corillion as well as to humans on Earth. It is a new plan that I have devised and I am bringing it to the table,” I said to him.
"The table?” He arched an eyebrow at me.
"The negotiations table,” I said to him.
"I didn't realize we were in negotiations,” he said, almost playfully.
"Zian Crace, we are at war. That always requires negotiations,” I said to him.
"Understood. Let me hear your alternate plan,” he said.
"If you allow Earth to know about what you have done to the water treatment plant systems in every city, then we of the Earth counsel embassy and Earth army will declare peace with the Corillion. There will be no more battles. There will be no more war. Your entire war is based on the fact that you need human females in order to carry on your race. We can still do that. But the human females must be willing to go on their own choice. We will set up the registration system. All females that wish to register to become a bride of a Corillion warrior can do so. We will have a matching system to match the human female with the Corillion warrior. With time this can be done. I know that I can. I believe that it can. Then we will have peace. We will coexist together,” I said to him. Then, he was quiet for a long time. I did not know what he was thinking.
"That is a very big plan. But you are one person. How can you guarantee peace when you are not on Earth right now speaking for the rest of the Earth counsel and embassy?” He asked.
"There is one more thing. There is one more part of the plan. In order to prove that Earth is very serious about creating the system, I propose that the first marriage of this new system be one of two high-ranking and powerful representatives of each. A high-ranking female of the Earth matched to a high-ranking Corillion. Through this marriage peace will be brought,” I said as I took a deep breath.
"And who will these representatives be?” He said teasingly, as though he already knew.
"It would be you and I,” I said to him.
"But you hate me. I am a monster, remember?” he responded. The smile faded from his face and I knew that my words had affected him.
"Yes, I will never get over what you have done. But if a marriage to you will bring peace than that is what I will do.”
"I like this plan. If it is a plan that you think can actually be executed then I will actually consider it. But I have terms of my own,” he said to me.
"I am listening,” I said, feeling very excited that I had the leader of the Corillion actually taking my negotiation seriously. It felt good. I felt useful. I felt like I was on fire as I negotiated the entire fate of the Earth.
"I only want you to listen,” he said to me.
"OK, I can do that,” I said in response.
"I must admit that my master plan was something I have worked on for years. It was something that I have been very proud of. It was my way of stopping the high rate of casualties on both sides of this war. It was a solution once and for all. I didn't think twice about it, until I met you. Seeing your reaction after I told you what I had done made me feel like a monster, as you said. I don't feel the same way about my plan now and it is because of you Lily. I don't know what you have done to me, but you have affected me. If you want me to one Earth about what I have done to the water, then I will. But not as part of your war tactics and negotiations, I would do it for one reason and one reason only,” he said to me.
My breath caught in my throat. I could not believe what I was hearing. I was not expecting this, I was not expecting this at all. I did not know how to react to it. Did I react as the director of the Earth counsel embassy, or should I react as the human female that had slept with a Corillion?
"What reason is that?” I asked him.
"The reason is because I have fallen for you. I won't do anything that you ask of me unless you forgive me for what I have done. I need you to forgive me, Lily. I can't have you look at me like a monster, the way you looked at me before. It was too much to handle, even for a strong warrior like myself. I will do this for you. I will do it because you ask it of me. I am yours,” he said to me. ”You have changed me. Me, the great leader of the Corillion race and galaxy. You have made me see the errors of my ways. With your guidance, I can be a better Corillion. I can be the Corillion that brings peace between humans and Corillion. I believe that we can do it together. If you believe it then I believe it,” he said, as he timidly took a step toward me.
My mouth was wide open in shock. I hadn’t been expecting to hear any of this.” Zian, do you really mean it? Is this some sort of trick on me?” I asked him.
He stepped forward and took my hands in his hands.” It is no trick. I would go now if you wish it of me. I will go contact the High Council and tell them the new plan of peace with Earth. I will set it in motion immediately. All you have to do is tell me that you want me to do it,” he said.
I smiled and pushed one strand of thick black hair away from his face.” Yes, it is what I want. I ask it of you. I ask you to contact your High Council and speak of peace on my behalf and yours,” I said.
"As you wish, Lily,” he said, as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. I felt great relief and tenderness all at the same time. I would never expect that I would have such strong feelings for a Corillion warrior, especially not the leader of all Corrilion. But now it all made sense; this was meant to be. We were meant to fall for each other because through our desire we would bring peace to Earth. Our union was bigger than both of us. Knowing this made the adrenaline rush through my body as he kissed me and rubbed his hands up and down my back. Finally, he pulled away from me.
"I will go now. I will go speak to the High Council about this plan of yours. They may not like it, but I will give them no choice. They have to do what I say. It is the way of the Corillion,” he said to me as he turned and open the door. Then he turned back to me and said, “this is going to remain locked. But I am not locking you in, I am locking others out. It is not safe for you. I will return soon,” he said as he closed the door and locked it.
I stood there and a big smile came across my face. I had done it. I had convinced the leader of t
he Corillion to give peace a chance. I had done it alone. I have done it without reports, without tables full of analysts and scientists, and without data. I did it with my heart. I had captured the heart of the leader of the Corillion, and now he would do anything that I asked. Suddenly, the monster that he was had redeemed himself in my eyes and in my heart. I felt a hopefulness that I have not felt since I was taken. Now, all I would have to do was wait.
Chapter 8
ZIAN CRACE - CORILLION LEADER
I wasn't lying. Lily had changed me. It only took a short while, but it all came down to one moment, the moment she called me a monster. She was right. I have only thought about the Corillion for so long that I did not think about what we were doing to the humans. I wasn't supposed to think of that, and yet the offspring that Corillion had with humans were half human. So, in truth we were at war with our own kind and something had to stop. I had to admit that Lily was extremely smart, and her alternate plan was brilliant. It was a plan that I could not come up with, because I was not a representative of Earth, but she was. She knew how the embassy worked and she knew whether or not a plan like this would be accepted. She would not have proposed it if she did not think so. It gave me hope. It gave me hope that I could still have her heart. Sure, she proposed marriage, but she proposed it as part of the negotiation for peace, not because she loved me. I hope that one day I would hear those words from her beautiful mouth, but that could come later. For now we were in the middle of an invasion, an invasion that I started and now needed to stop. I was going to stop at just for her.
"It is a brilliant plan and one that I think will work in time,” I said as I stared at the screen of the communication device. On the other end was the High Council far away in the Corillion galaxy.
"So, you would stop phase 1 of your plan?” The Aston confusion.
"Phase 1 has already been put into action. There is no stopping it, but there is a possibility that if the humans are warned they will figure out a way to filter it out of the water, or stop the humans from drinking the contaminated water and find another source. The director has all the resources and information necessary to figure out that end of it. We will of course hand over the solution so that it can be studied and stopped. In return they will create a registration were human females that are willing to match with a Corillion warrior will be able to do so on their own. There will be no more stealing of human females, these will be ones that want to join us. It will be better for all involved,” I said to them.
"And what guarantees has this director made? She is not with the Earth embassy now so she cannot speak for all of them,” they asked.
"Marriage,” I said.
"Marriage? We do not understand, Zian,” he responded.
"The director and I will marry. We are both powerful representatives of each side. We will be the first match of the system. She is marrying me of her own will and will make it a norm. It will be a marriage to bring peace,” I said to them.
"I do love a good wedding,” Yiri remarked, as he entered the room.
"What are you doing here?” I asked him.
"Arresting you,” he said as 10 warriors poured into the room after him with their guns aimed at me.
"Is this a joke?” I said getting angry.
"No, this is phase 2,” Yiri said.
"Yiri, what are you doing?” The High Council shouted at him.
"Enough of that," Yiri said, as he turned off the screen.
"Throw him in with the director. Let them die together if they want to. We do not need either one of them anymore,” Yiri said as three warriors grabbed my arms.
"What the hell is going on here?” I shouted.
"I am taking over this mission. We will have no talks of peace. We are at war. We are so close to dominating the Earth and you want to throw it all away simply so you can marry this human? That is ridiculous. That is not the Zian that I know. She has fogged your mind. You are a lost cause, Zian. Now I am in charge. Phase 2 is mine and it starts now,” he said.
"Now? Phase 2 was not supposed to start for months. It will not be effective if you invade Earth now without giving the humans time to drink the water. It will be a waste,” I said growling at him.
"It does not matter. We have a grand military presence here just waiting. We must strike, and we must strike now! We have to strike before they discover us hiding here and take down the entire mothership. We have the advantage and I am going to take it. I am also taking your position. Lock him up,” he bellowed.
"You won't get away with this, Yiri! You are dead! I'm going to kill you!” I shouted as I struggled against my own warriors.
I could hear Yiri laughing like a madman. He had finally lost it. He had grown more brazen then he had ever before. Now he was going to ruin any chance at peace. He was going to create the biggest battle that Earth had ever seen. As I was struggling in the hallway against the warriors that restrained me I could feel a small tremble. It was very familiar and I knew what it meant.
"What is it? What is happening?” Lily shouted as the guards throw me into her room and lock the door.
"I can tell you, but you're not going to like it,” I said to her.
"I think that is obvious. Just tell me what it is?” She shouted at me.
"It is Yiri. I was in the middle of telling the high Council your alternate plan when he came in and arrested me. He is going through with phase 2 of the plan right now. The fleet of thousands of ships are leaving the mothership as we speak. I can feel the tremors of them taking off."
"What do you mean? What do you mean? I don't understand!” She yelled.
"Phase 2 of the plan was to show our military strength and to invade Earth with battleships, causing a great battle. This was after months had passed and the water supply would have been in the system of every human. But Yiri has launched the attack,” I said to her.
"You mean Earth is under attack right now? This very second?!” She yelled.
"The fleet is leaving now. The ships are on the way and Earth will be under attack in less than 10 minutes.”
"Zian! We have to stop it!” She shouted at me.
"I am way ahead of you,” I said to her as I slid my hand across the wall. Bam! I punched a hole in the wall next to the door.
"What are you doing?” She asked.
"I'm getting us out of here,” I said to her, as I yanked the wires hard. The lights flickered off and on and the door opened.
"Oh, that is clever,” she said.
"Follow me,” I said to her, cautiously making sure that guards were not waiting at the door. They were not.
"I have to go to the floor with the communications. I have to get a message to Earth. They have to be warned. By the time the Earth army is in position the invasion will be more than 10 minutes in,” she said as she ran towards the elevator.
"I can get you to a communication device but not on that floor. We have to get out of here at the same time. Yiri is in charge, we are wanted fugitives. This way,” I said as I grabbed her and pulled her into the stairwell.
"What do you mean we have to get out of here? We are on a ship! We can't exactly walk outside and run," she said as she followed me down the stairs breathlessly.
I kicked open a door.
"No, not run,” I said as I pointed at a small ship. “Stay low and follow me,” I said as I ran toward it. In all the chaos of warriors getting ready for battle no one noticed us.
"I can't believe this is happening, I can't believe this is happening,” she quietly said over and over.
"Get in!” I opened the door to the ship. She climbed in.
"Here,” I said and say turn on the communication device and dialed the Earth embassy.
"Director?” A young female said on the screen.
"Yes! It is me! There is no time to lose. I need you to do two things! One, I need you to sound the alarm! The Corillion are invading the Earth as we speak, thousands of ships are headed your way!” Lily said. I quickly saw the young girls face go
into panic as I was flipping switches and turning on the engines preparing for takeoff.
"The second thing is I need you to patch me through to Dr. Waldrorf!"
The girl was stunned silence and motionless.
"Do it! Sound the alarm now!" Lily shouted at her snapping her out of her daze.
"Yes! Sorry!” She said as she pressed a few buttons and an air raid siren went on. Then she typed and another man came on the screen.
Meanwhile, I was driving the small ship out of the mothership along with thousands of battle ships loaded with warriors.
"Director? Holy shit we thought you were dead,” the man said.
"Dr. Waldrorf! Listen to me. The countdown I gave you is a countdown to an invasion, and it is happening right now this very second. More Corillion warriors than you have ever seen in your life are headed to Earth. But most importantly they have contaminated the water supply with a solution that will force all human men to become sterile,” Lily said.
