by L. S. O'Dea
“How is she?” asked Tim as he dropped on the chair next to Gaar.
“Doctor hasn’t come out yet,” said the Handler.
Hugh pulled another chair from down the hallway over by Gaar and sat.
“Did you kill him?” asked Gaar.
His eyes met the black ones of the Handler. For once their dark depths didn’t frighten him. There was no mercy there and he understood that. “Yes. How did you—”
“It was on your face.” Gaar snorted. “And if you hadn’t done it then I would’ve had to beat you senseless and do it myself.”
He smiled slightly at the joke, although he wasn’t sure the Handler was kidding. It didn’t matter. He’d killed Jason for harming Trinity, but he’d made it too quick. If Trinity...didn’t get better, he’d need someone as an outlet for his anguish.
“Mirra isn’t going to be happy when she finds out about this,” mumbled Gaar.
The Tracker wasn’t his primary concern but it did give him something else to focus on besides whether Trinity’s pulse still beat at her throat. “Gaar, I need to tell you what I found out about the serum that you and Mirra take.”
He should’ve told them right away. He should’ve let them decide, but he’d needed the Trackers and Handlers strong and fighting for him. He’d been selfish and now Gaar was injured and Sikka could be dead. “As you know, the serum makes you strong and Mirra weak. It’s the same with the other Handlers and Trackers.”
“Already knew all that,” grunted Gaar.
“Yes, but...” He’d promised the Forest Witch not to tell Gaar about his birth but he was tired of secrets. “You aren’t going to like what I have to tell you.”
“Seldom do.” Gaar’s black eyes were wary.
“Perhaps, this isn’t the best time.” Too much had happened that day. Emotions were raw.
“You brought it up. You might as well finish. I’m not some young fool who can’t handle the truths of life.”
“Fine.” If Gaar wanted the truth, here it was. “You and Mirra are twins. Almighty twins. Taken from your parents at birth.”
“What?” Gaar shifted on his seat so he faced Hugh.
“You have got to be kidding me,” said Tim.
“The Forest Witch is your great, great niece.” Verly wasn’t going to be happy with him. His eyes met Gaar’s. The Handler was confused and hurt. He could’ve been gentler with this news. “Those in control at the time took all twins born to Almightys and genetically altered them.”
“That’s not possible.” Gaar shook his head. “I remember my parents.”
“They weren’t your birth parents. Handlers and Trackers were designed to be sterile. Those in charge wanted to stay in control.” It was hard to say this out loud. The horror of what was done to these children had caused him to lose sleep. He wasn’t sure how this would affect someone who’d experienced it firsthand.
“So, that’s why Mirra and Sikka have lost their young.” Gaar’s eyes were bleak. “I remember friends of my parents going off and showing up weeks, months later with babies. I thought we went away and...mated a lot.” He smiled sadly. “Had kind of been looking forward to that.”
“You may be able to have live, healthy offspring.” This was going to be even harder to say because he was partially at fault.
“How? I won’t go and collect one you alter for me.” Gaar snarled. “That’s wrong.”
“That’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t do that.” He’d thought the Handler knew him better than that.
“Then explain how you can fix something that has been broken for centuries.”
He took a deep breath. “It’s because of the serum.” At the look of confusion and then rage on Gaar’s face he added. “I didn’t know. Not until recently. I would’ve never let you take the serum without telling you.”
“You just had us take another shot. You’ve been back from the lab for weeks.” Gaar’s lips curled, showing his teeth.
“Take it easy, Gaar.” Tim stood, backing away. “Hugh wouldn’t do anything to harm you or any of us.”
“I didn’t figure it out at the lab.” He didn’t want to lie to his friend, but he was going to because he’d let Gaar and the Handlers take another shot a few weeks before the battle. He’d needed them as strong as possible.
“Then where?”
He swallowed. He’d done what he’d had to do to win the war. “It was in the book that Verly gave me. Things she’d said made me think and then when I was going through the book, I put two and two together.” He stared Gaar right in the eyes. “I swear. I didn’t figure it out until after you’d taken the shots. I should’ve told you right away.” He held up his hands. “But, you couldn’t un-take the shot and...I needed your help with the war. I’m sorry. I still should’ve told you. All of you.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” The anger in Gaar’s face lessened. “The others would’ve been furious. Might’ve even killed you.”
“I had considered that.” They still might kill him.
“What exactly does this serum do to us?” Gaar’s face sobered.
Now, came the truly hard part in a difficult tale. “It keeps you linked.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The serum binds you and Mirra—Handlers and Trackers. It keeps the twins together by not letting you turn into what your genetics want you to become.”
“You’re wrong,” said Gaar, his face paling. “Before...That day when the Trackers and Handlers fought, there was no serum and you said we couldn’t have babies then.”
“I don’t know everything it does. I’m only starting to figure it out and Verly only told me so much.”
“That witch is lying. She prophesized that I’d abandon Mirra and she’s using you to make it come true.” Gaar crossed his arms over his chest.
“I don’t think so.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Everything she told me and what I discovered in the book lines up with the tests I performed.”
Gaar grunted. “Still don’t trust her.”
“It makes sense that you were designed to be sterile. That’d leave those who created your kind in control and controlling Trackers and Handlers is a powerful weapon.”
“It’s wrong.” Gaar bared his teeth.
“I didn’t say I agreed with it, only that it makes sense. Verly said that after her great, great grandfather discovered what they’d done, those in charge did something to the Trackers and Handlers which caused them to fight. Do you recall anything about that time—new food, shots, vitamins, anything?”
“No. Mirra and I had been away, but I don’t remember anything different...except the fighting when we returned.” Gaar scratched his head. “We did have yearly checkups with a doctor.” He shook his head. “But that happened weeks before the violence.”
“That’s it.” He almost jumped from his chair. “They were giving you something to keep you barren, keep you stable. Their own version of the serum.” He began pacing. “Or they could’ve given you something with a timed release. If it didn’t work right, they wouldn’t have wanted your kind to know they’d tried to exterminate you.”
“We would’ve killed all of you,” said Gaar. “There were enough of us back then.”
“That alone is reason for the Almightys to wipe you out,” said Tim.
“But they were in control.” He shook his head. “There’s no way they feared your father enough to wipe out the entire experiment. They would’ve just killed him and his family. The only thing that makes sense is that they considered your experiment a failure.” He stopped pacing. It all made sense now, horrible sense.
“We’re not an experiment,” growled Gaar.
“Well...” Tim shut up when Gaar’s eyes fell on him.
“But you were.” He sat back down. “Your kind was created by scientists. They took Almighty twins and inserted DNA of some long-extinct creatures, creating one Tracker and one Handler but they must not have anticipated the DNA of the other creatures being stronger than
Almighty DNA and invasive.” He smiled. “They wouldn’t expect that, not with their hubris.”
“What does this have to do with us now?” Gaar was losing patience.
“The serum keeps you balanced. Part Almighty and part some other creature or creatures.”
Tim scratched his head. “So, you’re saying that without the serum, they’ll become something else?”
“Yes. They’ll finish the metamorphosis that was started years ago.”
“Do you know what we’ll become?” Gaar’s face was tight with tension.
“No, but I think...think mind you...that you’ll become more like an Almighty. I believe your Almighty DNA is stronger than the other creature’s. That’d explain why the serum makes you stronger. It contains vitamins and chemicals which boosts the recessive DNA, triggering it to fight back, grow stronger. In you, that recessive DNA is from the other creature, in the Trackers it’s the Almighty DNA.”
“Mirra hadn’t had the serum in a long time when she’d gotten pregnant,” said Gaar.
“I know. I think if you allow your DNA to finish its transformation—let it change into whatever it should become—you’ll both be able to produce viable offspring.”
“So, the serum killed Mirra’s young?” Tim shook his head. “I don’t want to be around when you tell her that.”
“Is Tim right?” asked Gaar.
“I think so.”
“I made her take it. I thought it’d help her, keep her healthy, safe.” Gaar’s voice was rough and his black eyes shimmered with tears.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He looked at Tim. “It wasn’t any of our faults.”
“Don’t think Mirra will see it that way,” mumbled Tim. “I wouldn’t want to be you.”
“We didn’t know. None of us would’ve done anything to put her young in danger.” That was true. He may have used them for his war, but he wouldn’t have let her take the shot if he’d known what it would do.
“She’ll never forgive me,” said Gaar.
He hesitated a moment. “You don’t have to tell her.”
“She deserves to know.” Gaar glared at him.
“Does she? What good would it do? We can’t bring back her babies.” He hesitated again. “I think you can just let her stop taking the serum and she’ll get pregnant again.”
Gaar studied him a moment. “You’re hiding something.”
Before he could blink, the Handler’s hand was around his throat. It wasn’t tight but it was a threat.
“Let me go.” He wasn’t saying anything else unless they spoke as equals. He stared into Gaar’s black eyes, filled with pain and anger. “You’re my friend. I’ll tell you everything I know. I swear.”
Gaar dropped his hand.
He cleared his throat. “I believe that if Mirra stops taking the serum, she’ll change and become wilder. She won’t be able to be handled anymore.”
“We’ll grow apart.” Pain flashed in Gaar’s eyes.
“Yes. She’ll become less Almighty, less twin and more of the other creature that lives in her genes. I may be wrong, but I’m almost positive that whatever happens, you’ll no longer be bound together.”
Gaar turned away staring at the door where Trinity struggled for life. “She’ll be able to have young? Ones that’ll survive?”
“I believe so.”
“The Forest Witch was right after all. I have betrayed Mirra and I’ll send her away.” Gaar’s voice was harsh and his shoulders slumped. After all these years, the Handler was defeated.
“I don’t think I could be that strong.” He’d never let Trinity go, not if he had a chance or a choice.
“You’d do what was best for her.”
He wasn’t so sure about that.
CHAPTER 65: HUGH
HUGH STARED AT the door. Kalper should be done by now. He turned back toward Gaar. “There’s one more thing to consider.”
“I’m not sure I want to know.”
“You need to.” This wouldn’t be easy, but none of it had been. “I don’t know how you’ll age if you stop taking the serum.”
“What?”
“You and Mirra have aged slowly. That process may speed up without the serum.”
“So, we could grow old and die right away?”
“It’s possible. Did either of you feel older, weaker when you were off the serum?”
“I felt the weather in my bones a bit more, but Mirra”—Gaar’s eyes sparkled—“had tons of energy.”
“If you decide to stop taking it, you should stay close or keep some serum with you. You may need to take it a couple of times a year or something.”
“And how would that work with Mirra?”
“You said she was fine without it.”
“Yeah, but she’ll be wild, living without me. Maybe not even remembering me.” Gaar’s voice broke. “If she doesn’t take the serum, her memory will fade but I’ll”—he touched his chest—“feel her loss in my very DNA.”
“Probably.” He hated this, all of it. It was unfair and horrible and every other crappy thing he could imagine.
Gaar pushed himself out of the chair.
“Are you all right?”
“Someone’s coming.” Gaar nodded down the hallway.
Jackson rounded the corner. He wasn’t running but he was moving fast. “Hugh, the army has arrived.”
He didn’t want to deal with this, but it was his job, his responsibility.
“I’ll wait here.” Gaar’s huge hand landed on Hugh’s shoulder almost knocking him off his seat.
“Thanks.” He stood, shifting away from Gaar’s grasp. “Send word as soon as you get it.”
“I will.”
“How close are they?” He followed Jackson.
“They’re here. Right outside.”
“Is there fighting? Why weren’t we warned? You stationed troops—”
“Stop. Calm down. I didn’t mean that the troops were here in the Council Building. The Council Building is ours and so is most of the city. Captain Folgrant has stationed his army right outside the city. He’s come to talk.”
“In the building?”
“No. He’s outside with a small group of soldiers.”
“The front?”
“Yes.”
They entered the Hall of Truths. The prisoners were still there.
“Why aren’t they locked up?” he asked.
“We’re gathering names and occupations.” Jackson nodded toward the Servants who stood by the groups with pen and paper.
“Lock them up and get their information later.” He headed toward a hallway at the back of the room.
“I thought it’d be easier to separate—”
“They need to be locked up now, or do you want another shooting.”
“I’ll get it done right away.” Jackson’s tone was brusque.
He glanced at the Guard but Jackson was staring straight ahead. “Look. I’m sorry. Your idea is sound. Some of these prisoners deserve to be here, others don’t. All I’m saying is that we should lock them up and then decide who should go where. You can move them later.”
“You’re right. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.” Jackson glanced at him. “She’ll be fine.”
“I’m going to make this quick. I need to get back to her.”
They entered the hallway and climbed the stairs to the balcony. This was where the Supreme Almighty gave his speeches to the masses.
He walked to the front and leaned against the balustrade. Captain Calvin Folgrant and a group of about twenty soldiers stood below. It was a matter of honor that the captain expected to be allowed to leave, but Cal was fighting a different war for a different world.
“Captain Folgrant, you need to surrender. The city is ours. The Council Building is ours. The war is over,” he called out.
Cal and his soldiers weren’t the only ones here today. The city was full of creatures from all the classes, mingling in the shadows, waiting to see how this would play out. He hadn�
�t wanted his first address to the public to be like this, but he’d make the best of it.
“High Hugh Truent—”
“Stop! Titles such as those don’t exist anymore, not in this new world.” There were murmurs of approval from the crowd. “I am Hugh Truent. A man just like every other male here. I’m not above anyone.”
“You’re the ruler now,” whispered Jackson. “You may not want them to all think they’re your equal.”
He ignored the Guard. “Let’s make this simple, captain. We’ve known each other for years. I’ll call you Cal and you can call me Hugh. You and your soldiers will be given a fair evaluation and trial. I promise.”
“We’re not here to surrender. I have more troops, many more, and we can run a siege on this city.” Cal looked around. “Your troops are all here. You’re trapped. Eventually, you’ll need food.”
“Enough. I don’t have time for your war games. Someone I love has been wounded and I need to be at her side.” He turned to Jackson. “Bring the Supreme Almighty’s body up here.”
Jackson’s eyes widened a bit but he nodded and left.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Hugh,” said Cal. “But this is war and it’s not over.”
“What do you think to accomplish here? What do you want?”
“We want you to surrender.” Cal frowned at him. “But I doubt you’ll agree to that, not at the moment anyway.”
“That isn’t going to happen at any moment. What we fight for is too important. We will never surrender.”
The crowd roared their approval.
“You always were a great orator, Hugh, but not a great strategist.” Cal looked around the crowd. “Do any of these...soldiers understand what a siege is like? The hunger. The thirst. The desperation as starvation claws at their stomachs.”
“I’m sure every one of them has known far more hunger and desperation than a siege will bring. They’ve been starved, deprived and slaughtered by Almightys for centuries. Do you actually think they won’t suffer for their freedom?”
Jackson and Bo appeared at the top of the stairs.
He held up his hand, stopping them. “Cal, I want to show you something. It’s the start of the new world.”
