The Fate of Nations Book II The Harvest

by Laura Watson

  Mikel showed sincere interest in everything they were showing him, he was a polite guest. Sarah mimicked Mikel's gestures as she followed along numbly. At every stop now there was a new horror to behold.

  There was a machine that processed the stripped bones, crushing them into a powdery meal. There was a small thin rectangle of a machine that processed eyeballs and a duo of round oblong hovering machines that processed the internal organs.

  The liver was separated from all of the other surrounding organs and was highly prized by these beings. The leader made excited gestures when he showed them the strange hovering machine that separated it from the other organs and the process they had invented to extract the green bile from the gallbladder, which they used in many of their sacred rituals.

  One of the Grays carefully picked up one of the separated livers, holding it reverently out to Mikel to sample. Even as polite a guest as Mikel was, he couldn't accept the gift. This enraged the Gray who offered it and it turned its' back to Mikel and screeched a horrible ratcheting, tinny, sound that drilled into Sarah ears. She felt hot blood spurt out of her nose as the screech reverberated in her ears, in her mind, and in her bones.

  The other Grays stared at Mikel and Sarah, waiting for Mikel to explain. Sarah watched the exchange with wide, startled eyes that were hidden safely behind her helmet's protective lenses. She felt the hot blood ooze from her nose down her chin to her neck, where it caked and dried. She didn't know what had just happened, but it looked like Mikel sure had pissed that Gray off.

  After a series of guttural sounds and low pitched screeches, Mikel managed to calm the enraged Gray. It turned once more to face him and solemnly placed the liver back on the pile to be wrapped. It traced the edges of the dark organ, lovingly, with its' long curled claws.

  The Grays continued their tour, stopping at each section of new machinery to allow Mikel to examine their craftsmanship. The Grays were masters of machines. They took their pleasure in their innovative techniques and the workmanship of each of their creations. The group of Grays, along with Mikel and Sarah, covered the whole length of the plant after several more hours of walking, and standing on a mobile hovering platform to examine the machines.

  They reached another entrance way, this one heavily guarded and securely fastened from the outside by enormous metal bars that could only be lifted by a machine. One of the Grays pushed on a panel next to the entrance and a machine swung over and grasped the heavy bars and pulled them upwards and away from the door. The door swung silently open to reveal the most horrid sight yet.

  The first thing Sarah noticed was the smell. It was a familiar foul odor. It was the smell of an outhouse her parents made her use one day when they had gone camping in the mountains near Utah. It was fecal matter, urine, old shit as her father called it, and the odor was so strong that it almost overpowered her senses.

  Her eyes teared up from the sharp stringent smell of it. When she could see again, she staggered and sagged against Mikel. There in front of her was an incalculable number of human beings milling around aimlessly in a large octagonal enclosure. They were surrounded by Grays who stood around the perimeter of the enclosure with their stick-like tails with the barbs on the ends of them in their hands. Just as she noticed this, one of the Grays lunged forward with its' tail in hand and pierced one of the humans who had strayed too close to the edge of the enclosure.

  The human, a man of about forty years old, instantly fell to the ground. His hand swelled rapidly where it had been pierced. The man howled in pain, writhing around and holding out his other arm to ward off any more punishment. Sarah remembered the liquid fire that had raced through her own veins when she was pierced by the same type of poisonous barb and grit her teeth. She watched as he vomited and fell unconscious.

  The Gray walked back to his former station and stood looking pitilessly, down at the unconscious man.

  Mikel held Sarah's arm tightly or she would have bolted over to the man. Mikel warned her once again not to scream. Sarah couldn't scream, she couldn't show the Grays that she too was human. Mikel knew that people were beasts to the Grays, and if they even suspected that there was a human under that bio suit she wore, Sarah would be put into the pen with the rest of them.

  Mikel kept a firm grip on Sarah's arm as the two of them followed the Grays around the perimeter of the holding pen. Sarah watched the people in there as she walked, and she noticed that there were no children.

  In the enclosure, there were people dressed in the clothes that she was used to seeing on Earth. There were many more humans that were strangely clad in every imaginable style of dress.

  The mass of people stood in groups or milled around the large enclosure. Some were clad in uniforms, some were in jeans and tee shirts. She saw tall people in high necked linen blouses that fell below their knees with linen pants underneath. There were women dressed in shawls, their undergarments oddly matched to their shawls. Some of the people were completely naked and huddled together for warmth in that chilly enclosure.

  Although their dress was extraordinarily different, they all wore the same expressions, disbelief, shock, bewilderment.

  An older man, around fifty, aimlessly walked around, gripping his neck tie. He had on round gold-rimmed glasses, a suit jacket, shirt and tie, but had lost his trousers, his underwear, socks and shoes somewhere on his long journey there. He seemed oblivious and uncaring of the fact that he was wearing nothing from the waist down.

  He wandered around with wide, vacant eyes, gripping his tie. The impossibility of this situation too much for his mind to process. Once a man in charge of many men, he now milled around his enclosure senselessly, not understanding where he was or what was happening.

  As the group filed past the enclosure, some of the milling crowd turned to watch them. They huddled together there in the dimness of their grimy prison, fearfully watching their masters with their cruel barbed tails. Some of the people dared to call out to Mikel and her, pleading for help. “Where are we...are we in hell?”

  they cried, as they reached for Mikel, “can you help us... OH PLEASE HELP US!!!”

  Mikel and Sarah couldn't respond to their pitiful cries. Mikel gripped Sarah's arm tighter and he hurried her along telling her not to look at them, not to respond.

  Sarah was numb with horror and allowed herself to be pulled along by Mikel. The image of that business man wandering around, gripping his tie, would haunt her mind from that time on, until she died many years later. He never left her thoughts. It may have been the sheer indignity of a human being in that condition, or his vacant, bewildered eyes. It only occurred to her many years later that he had gone insane.

  It became obvious why there were no children milling around with all of the other human beings when they entered another room. There behind a protective glass-like enclosure were the children. They ranged from four years old to approximately twelve years old.

  There were over three hundred of them in there, all sitting on the floor, huddled together for comfort. They were sitting in what looked like a display case to Sarah, their sad, small faces looking hopefully at she and Mikel.

  They looked clean and well fed, in direct contrast to their adult counterparts in the other area. There were no Grays guarding them either, they had ample space to move around and there were items strewn around the tidy floor of their pen, presumably toys for the smaller ones to play with, but Sarah could not be sure, they did not resemble anything she had ever seen before.

  The Gray leading the tour informed Mikel that those items were machines that kept the children from running around, so they would not spoil the tender meat on their bodies with bruises or cuts. They emitted a sharp sting to any of the children who ran around or began playing too roughly. As the Gray was detailing this for Mikel, Sarah ventured over to the glass and touched the strange surface with her gloved hand.

  “You're Sarah” she heard a young man's voice in her mind. She looked up suddenly, startled. “I know who you are” the youn
g man's voice said. “I am Adam.”

  Sarah looked at the throng of small faces, scanning them to find the owner of the voice. Her eyes rested on a young man of about twelve. He had dark hair, fair skin and large dark eyes. He had the rugged, stark features of a Roman Gladiator but somehow the appearance of youth superseded them. He sat with the other children who pressed close to him on both sides, and held two smaller children on his lap. He was talking to her but his mouth wasn't moving.

  Adam gazed steadily at Sarah as he talked. “I know you're not sick” he said. “ I won't tell them,” he added hurriedly. sensing that she was alarmed. “Hello”

  Sarah replied haltingly, unsure of just what she should do. “Listen to me,” he said softly. “We have to get out of here. We need your help Sarah, or we're going to die.” Sarah nodded her head slowly, almost imperceptibly, to everyone except Mikel. He looked past her to where Adam sat. “You know what they are doing here?” Adam asked. “I think so” she replied, feeling her stomach begin to churn again. “Then, you know that you can't leave us behind.” Adam stated matter of factly.

  Sarah explained to Adam that the ship they came in belonged to Mikel, not her, and she'd have to ask him. “I'll ask him, Sarah, but you have to help us get out of here.” “What can I do?” Sarah said helplessly, “You can see the Grays are all around us.” “Don't worry about that right now Sarah, just promise me that you'll help when I ask.”

  Sarah looked at Adam, taking in his calm, pale face, and the faces of the hundreds of other children in that showcase. She felt an immediate connection to Adam and the other children. A strangely familiar feeling of being compelled settled over her. Sarah replied “I promise, Adam, I'll help you.”

  “I am Adam from Crios” he said softly. “You are now my friend.” Sarah felt the words burn into her mind. Each letter was visible, pulsing, burning red hot, indelibly printed there in the foremost part of her consciousness.

  Adam had permanently marked her. She knew it instinctively. He was not from Earth, she also knew this instinctively, even before he sent her mind images of his home planet.

  Adam's mind projected snapshots of a small green world with cities of blinding white in the glow of their sun. The city Adam had lived in was a Metropolis of exquisitely constructed buildings that looked more like natural structures to Sarah than buildings.

  The lines and curves of the structures were balanced and symmetrical, each flowing into the next.

  There were plants that she had never seen before, great towering bushes with hanging purple and orange flowers and foliage that decorated and enhanced the beauty of the city. The plants and the flowers smelled of a sweet, soft perfume and were edible.

  Adam shared his considerable knowledge with her. She saw his world, his life before the Harvest, before his capture. His was a life of joy and intense peace. Adam aspired to be a teacher, a learned and wise professor of engineering and advanced mathematics. He had been working out a theory about space travel and travel through dimensions as a shortcut through the vast reaches of space.

  His father, David, a Commander of their Space Flotilla, wanted Adam to follow him into the outer universes on his missions, but had resignedly agreed to allow Adam to pursue the field of his choice. “Perhaps you can revolutionize the cumbersome chore of space travel, my son,” David remarked one day as Adam detailed his new theory to his father.

  “My father is looking for me,” Adam said. “He will stop at nothing to find me.” David had immediately ordered the Space Flotilla to pursue the Grays after discovering that his beloved son had been captured.

  David had been fortunate enough to be indoors when the harvest began on Crios, as had millions of others because of the daily ritual of noonday rest that each of the city dwellers adhered to. Outside of the city, the ritual rest was not mandatory since many people who lived in the beyond areas lived according to the old ways.

  David had gone into hiding as soon as he saw the ships, but Adam had been away from the city when the Grays descended and began taking their people away.

  Adam had been captured and bound before he was able to gain entrance into one of the Gray's minds.

  He was unable to free himself from the wickedly clever bonds the Grays used to bind him, but he was able to contact his father telepathically, and others, to tell them to remain hidden until The Harvest ended. Adam had prevented millions of deaths on his planet.

  David could not have been prouder of his brave son, and swore that he would find him and return him to Crios if he had to cover every inch of space and time to do it.

  The Grays were furious that they didn't reap the millions they had expected to get, leaving instead with only a thousand or more of the humans from the green planet Crios, mostly gathered from the beyond regions.

  They were all scrawny and lean with work and toil too.

  The Elect would not look upon them favorably when this shipment returned to Kryox.

  Adam knew what the Grays were doing, he read their thoughts, but they couldn't read his. He was like Mikel in that regard, he could block them out. Sarah asked him if all of his people could communicate telepathically and Adam replied “Only those who believe they can.” The others refused to believe that it was possible, until they discovered that Adam had saved them by doing just that.

  Adam began to experiment with the Grays during his long captivity. He was adept at mental projection and had kept the majority of the children that were there with him from the beginning of his stay alive.

  The Guardians would not serve bruised or cut delicacies to their Elect. Adam had repeatedly convinced them that the children they came to select were unfit for consumption. The Guardians had no other choice but to wait until the bruises and cuts healed to make their selection for the Elect. Only once, while Adam slept, were the Guardians able to pick out three of the smallest children and carry them away. Adam began to teach the other children the art of mental projection after that happened. The older children each took turns standing watch now to keep the Guardians at bay.

  Adam was not satisfied just to keep the others alive, however, he wanted to get them out of there. He began to introduce more sophisticated suggestions into the Gray's minds, slowly, ascertaining the results. He was now able to make them see objects that weren't there, like something on the floor, or something crawling on the wall. He smiled to himself when the Grays batted at the air in front of them, attempting to swat away a flying object that was in fact not even there.

  Adam was confident that he would get out of there, now, along with all of the children. He quickly formulated an idea to escape the holding pen. Sarah and Mikel were the solution to their escape from this wretched world. He would leave with them.

  “We will be waiting at the ship you came in” he told Sarah. Adam's gaze never faltered as he told her these things. His face remained expressionless, his lips never moved. Sarah felt Mikel's hand on her arm.

  He turned her quickly around and gripped her arm tightly. Mikel immediately looked over the crowd of children directly at Adam. Adam smiled at Mikel.

  Mikel turned, still holding onto Sarah's arm and followed the Grays as they continued their tour. “I told you not to walk off by yourself” Mikel said sternly.

  “Do not do that again.” Once again, the warning of “or else” in his tone. Mikel was not a hurtful being, but he would punish Sarah if she didn't listen to him.

  Mikel's punishments were swift and painful, but mercifully brief and Sarah didn't normally have to be warned twice. He could deliver a blow to her mind that felt like a hammer pounding her head in. It was blinding, and excruciatingly painful, but quick and very effective. Sarah tried her best to avoid getting punished.

  The children looked up pitifully from where they sat cross-legged on the floor, the hope slowly fading in their eyes as the group left their area, except for Adam, who looked at Sarah and smiled.

  Adam sat with Cherish on his lap, tugging

  pitifully on his sleeve. “Adam, are you
going to finish the story or not,” she asked sadly. Adam suddenly remembered that he had been telling the children an old Crios story. He blinked his eyes slowly and looked down at Cherish.

  What a beautiful little girl she is, he thought, with her black hair and pale porcelain skin. Her eyes were a striking dusky violet color. She was from the large planet called Grewsta, a planet of endless orange seas, from the Grewsta human colony there. He recognized their distinctive features in her.

  It was said that the the chemical calebra, found in the bright orange seas gave them their fair appearance, their violet eyes, their polished porcelain skin, almost marble like. She didn't look real. She was so intensely beautiful, and here she sat, on his lap, in the middle of this disgusting meat plant, awaiting her turn to be selected for a banquet.

  Adam's anger rose frighteningly in his mind. He wanted to lash out at the Grays with all of the ferocious hatred of them he felt. “Of course I'll finish the story angel,” Adam cooed softly to Cherish, who looked up at him with her wide beautiful eyes. “What do you want of me? ” Mikel suddenly spoke in his mind.

  “You are Mikel?” Adam asked hesitantly. “None other,” Mikel replied casually. “We need your help,”

  Adam said, Cherish now tugging at his sleeve impatiently again. “I cannot take all of you,” Mikel replied cautiously, already gleaning from Sarah's mind the question Adam would be asking.

  “My ship is only a small craft, there is not enough room for you all.” “No!” Adam cried, “I can't leave anyone here, Mikel, there must be some way to get them all in your ship! You see what they're doing to humans here, don't you? You know what will happen to the ones we leave behind!”

  Mikel spoke carefully and softly to Adam,

  “Adam, you must choose fifty from among you. That is as many as my craft can hold. I would take all of the humans from here if I had a ship large enough, but I can't. You must choose.” Tears slid down Adam's face, dropping onto Cherish's raven black hair, “I understand,” Adam said, after a few minutes, “I will do as you say, thank you Mikel. We will meet you at your ship.” Mikel had no doubt of this. He had encountered humans from Crios before and they were very inventive, very resilient.