Paradise Awakened Trilogy

by Mackenzie Morris

  "Interesting."

  "Despite the terrible rumors you have undoubtedly been told about our people, we are a peaceful race who want nothing more than to live in peace and harmony with the galaxy and technology. Our symbol used to be just the golden apple, but after those IGR planets were created, we added the spider as a sign of peace and friendship towards the humans."

  * * *

  Apollo leads them off the space transport and past the vine-covered golden city gates. The warm sunlight is heaven on Jarred's skin and he takes a deep breath of the air perfumed with the scent of blooming flowers. Children in white clothes run up to them asking all kinds of questions, but the soldiers push them away. By the time they turn down a side road, there is a group of excited children watching them with their large black eyes.

  Jarred has to know. "Apollo?"

  "Yes, my friend?"

  "I was told that Nymphs never had sex."

  "Not true. That's only what the outlanders have tried to do. It's ridiculous. The pure Nymphs see the beauty in love and having children the natural and intended way. I'm actually a new father myself. My lovely wife gave birth six months ago to our wonderful son Troy. Are you a father?"

  A hint of sadness shoots through his mind. "Yeah. My son Zodiac is back on Himmel."

  "You'll be back with him soon. Don't look so sad."

  "Sorry. I have a lot on my mind."

  Jarred walks down the colorful streets where Nymph women wave at him as they tend to the flowers growing outside the windows of their houses and the men bow to him. The Nymph soldiers clear the streets in front of him and Apollo who hasn't stopped talking about everything he thinks Jarred, Katarina, and Zach need to know about Olympus. Jarred's mind is somewhere else entirely so he doesn't catch much at all. The Nymphs are planting tulips.

  When they stop outside a small house in a more rundown part of the city, Apollo sends the other soldiers away. "Jarred, this is the impure sector of Olympus, where the dark-haired Nymphs live when they are not with their masters. I wouldn't suggest coming here alone. Things can get rough."

  "Trust me, I'm no stranger to roughness."

  "That may be true, but you are now one of the pure and the impure will never accept you. That being said, there is a woman who lives here that I believe you will remember. She is going to be arrested after you receive a . . . package from her."

  "Arrested for what?" Jarred asks.

  "Unlawfully extracting human DNA for the purpose of polluting the Nymph bloodlines."

  Suddenly Jarred feels nervous as he remembers what happened on Barren Void. His entire body hurts just thinking about it. Surely it's not the same woman. And what kind of package does she need to give him?

  "Well, go on in. She's waiting for you."

  Here goes nothing. Jarred pushes the wooden door open and steps into the small house where a fire is crackling in the hearth and multicolored tapestries hang on the wooden walls above the piles of blankets and pillows scattered around the room. The sweet scent of baking pastries makes his mouth water, nearly distracting him enough to forget about his growing anxiety, but his violently trembling hands are proof of that. It's getting worse and these headaches aren't very reassuring. He can't focus on that, though.

  A thin woman with long black hair comes in from a back room and gives Jarred a warm smile. "Hello there. I see you've recovered from our . . . procedure."

  He backs up away from her. "It's you. Stay away from me."

  "I'm not going to hurt you." She says as she reaches out to him. "I'm about to pay for what I did to you on Barren Void, but there's one thing I have to ask you to do. Because of the artificial gestation technology, babies grow at faster rates than if conceived normally. I never intended to burden you with her."

  "Her?"

  The woman removes a blanket from the top of a woven basket and picks up a black-haired baby girl with a Nymph tattoo on her right shoulder blade. She places her in Jarred's arms. "This is your daughter, Nova."

  Is this real? He cradles the baby against his chest and notices her hazel eyes, not black like the Nymphs. She looks just like Zodiac to the point that they could be twins. Jarred knows he's the father aside from his blonde hair. The resemblance to Zodiac is undeniable.

  "You have to take Nova with you. I will be in the dungeon for years and she has no one to take care of her. Even the pure ones won't buy her. Please don't let her die."

  "I thought you told me I'd never see my child."

  The woman sighs and braids her hair. "That was before the military found me and discovered what I'd done. I know you hate me for hurting you like I did, but that baby is your daughter. Don't let them kill her."

  "Kill her? Why would they kill her?"

  "If you don't accept her as your own and deem her worthy of life, then she will be declared imperfect and they'll throw her in the well."

  What kind of backwards culture is this? He instinctually shelters his daughter in his arms. "She's worthy! Don't kill her."

  "So you will care for her?"

  "Of course!"

  She sets a vial of clear liquid on the table and touches Jarred's arm. "Good. Thank you. You can use this sling to carry her on your back. She has been given some medicine to keep her quiet and sedated like that. It should last for a few hours."

  "You drugged your own daughter?"

  "It won't hurt her. I have more if you want it."

  Now he's getting angry. "No. I'm not going to drug her. She's an infant."

  "So?"

  "What is wrong with you people?" Jarred asks as he wraps Nova in the sling and secures it around his back. "She's coming with me so none of you can hurt her anymore."

  The guards come in and take the Nymph woman away in handcuffs, leaving Jarred with more questions than answers. He leaves the house where Katarina and Zach look at him questioningly. "Turns out that I have a daughter. Meet Nova Cunningham."

  Katarina looks at Nova. "Uh . . ."

  "She wasn't created the natural way. Don't worry about that."

  "How did they get your DNA?" Zach asks.

  "I don't want to talk about it."

  Apollo claps his hands. "We will have plenty of time to discuss these things after Jarred meets with King Menelaus. Ready to go?"

  "Do I have a choice?"

  "Of course not. It's just a lot friendlier than restraining you and making you march at gunpoint."

  Jarred glares at him.

  "I'm joking. Lighten up a bit. We're brothers now."

  "I don't think so."

  "You will. You'll come back here when things aren't so hectic and we'll have a drink then go shooting together."

  "Now you're speaking my language." Jarred says.

  "Good, good. See that tall white square building over there surrounded by gardens?"

  "Sure."

  "That's where we're going." Apollo says. "Be respectful of our king and he will be respectful to you. And if anyone asks, you must say that Queen Helen is the most perfect woman in existence."

  "I'm not the best judge of feminine beauty."

  "It's just a formality. You know how women are. They have to be the prettiest."

  "True. So childish."

  Katarina crosses her arms. "Says the man who has to be the manliest and strongest ever."

  Jarred shrugs his shoulders. "Point taken."

  * * *

  Before going through the tall golden doors, Jarred takes Katarina in his arms. "Wish me luck."

  "You'll be fine. What happened to that charisma and silver tongue?"

  "Gone."

  Katarina takes his face in her hands and kisses his lips. "It's still there. You can do this. You're strong."

  "You think so?"

  "I know so."

  "Thanks. I knew there was a reason I bought you."

  She laughs and pushes him forward. "I'll see you in a bit."

  Jarred walks into the vaulted room where stained glass windows line the walls and cast rainbow patterns on the red carpet
stretching the length of the marble floor that looks more like it's from a cathedral than anything else. Two guards bow to him as he approaches the two silver thrones. What is he supposed to do? Faced with the king and queen of this foreign land, he bows and avoids eye contact. It's better to be safe than sorry.

  The king with his large white beard and golden leafed crown smiles and walks down the steps from his throne to stand in front of Jarred. He places a hand on his shoulder. "Jarred Cunningham, welcome to Olympus. I do hope you are enjoying your time among us. Forgive my haste, but we are in desperate need of your help. As a human and a Nymph, you have more influence in the galaxy than we do. In addition, your colleagues have technology that we need on our side to defend against Adam Clark's army of robots."

  He meet eyes with the Nymph king. "A robot army? Is that what he's doing?"

  "I use the term robot loosely. As you've seen, we have power armor that imbues the wearer with abilities and combat programs. Clark's Shadow Spies have recently stolen our technology and our spies have reported that he is modifying it to enslave our people in that armor and make them fight for his own galactic conquests. I am asking you to garner support for our cause. Please get Kazimir Dark and Axel Velex to come here so they can work alongside our scientists."

  "I don't know if they'll-"

  "We know what you want more than anything, Mr. Cunningham." King Menelaus says. "If you help us, we will hack into the Paradise security network and free your husband."

  Really? Without thinking, Jarred agrees. "I'll do it. I'll do whatever you want if you free Jayce."

  "That's what we thought you'd say. When will you be able to return to Himmel?"

  "Immediately."

  "We will send General Adonis to you when the transport is ready."

  * * *

  Jarred sits on a large broken column overlooking the sparkling river where white cranes wade in the slow moving water and orange dragonflies dart in the pale blue sky. Harmonious singing fills the air from the marble amphitheatre on the other side of the wheat field. A group of soldiers on horseback ride by and they wave at Jarred, their white horses prancing in the tall reeds by the riverbank. Jayce would love this place. What will Jayce's reaction be when he finds out about Nova?

  He unties the sling and holds his sleeping daughter in his arms. He never thought he'd be a father, much less the father of two perfect babies. Normally Jarred would be on edge and reluctant to accept this kind of major change in his life, but as he watches Nova's tiny pink fingers clutching is shirt and her lips moving in her sleep, he realizes he wants this. He wants to be a father. He can do this. For the first time in months, Jarred has hope for the future. No matter what happens from here on, he has to be strong for his children.

  Soft footsteps come up behind him. "Hey."

  He scoots over so Katarina can sit next to him. "Nice dress."

  She twirls around as the white fabric shimmers in the sunlight. "I figured I could try to fit in around here."

  "You look beautiful."

  "Thank you." Katarina joins him on the column and rests her head on his shoulder as she smoothes Nova's hair. "Isn't she adorable? You make pretty children, Jarred."

  "I sure do." He kisses Nova's cheek. "I'm starting to worry."

  "About what?"

  "Why these people want our help so badly. I mean, there have to be other scientists than Kazimir, right? And why do they call on us now? Why now? Then they offer me something they know I can't refuse. It sounded like such an easy decision when I agreed to help them, but now that I'm thinking about it, something doesn't sit well with me. They've been following us for a while. They were on Vergessen. That's how they knew we had come in contact with the irradiated armor. They're the ones who shot those Blood Force agents. But why? How long have they been following us? What all do they know? Am I being too paranoid?"

  "Not at all. If the Shadow Spies thought Kazimir's research was important enough to steal it, then others will as well. When we get back to Himmel, I think it will be time for Kazimir to come clean and tell us everything. If we are in danger because of it, then we deserve to know details."

  "No. We need to stay out of it." Jarred says.

  "Why?"

  "I was fifteen years old and we had taken a job from a shady client who wouldn't tell us anything. That was nothing new, but when Jayce noticed we were being followed by some children, he got crazy suspicious. I thought he was just freaking out until the children surrounded us in a dead end street and pulled out pistols."

  "Really?"

  "No joke." Jarred says. "Here were these kids, no more than nine years old with guns pointed at us. We weren't in the position to fight anyone at close range, much less a bunch of little kids. So we let them take us into a warehouse where we were strip searched and tied to a metal pipe on the wall. Some men came in and began asking us all kinds of questions regarding our client and the man we were hired to kill. We didn't know anything. For six hours, we were interrogated and tortured until our client was found and revealed that we didn't know about his dealings with the street gang he owed drug money to. So because we didn't know anything, we survived when our client took a crowbar to his skull."

  "You flirt with danger a lot, don't you?"

  "You don't even know the half of it. No risk, no reward."

  "Did it ever bother you to kill people all the time?" Katarina asks as she laces her fingers with his.

  "I look at it this way. We killed people for money. Without that money, we would have starved to death. It's kill or be killed. You grew up as the president's daughter with everything you needed. You never went to sleep hungry or had to watch the man you love suffer because you couldn't afford medicine for his fever. You didn't wake up in the middle of the night to thugs who robbed you of even the clothes you were wearing. I bet you loved it when the weather simulator switched to winter so you could play in the snow. For us, it was hell. I quickly learned that hell isn't hot. It's frozen. We had to burn everything we could find just to not freeze to death. We dealt with frostbite, hypothermia, and a constant dull chill you just can't get rid of that hurts deep down to your bones. One night, some bullies thought it would be funny to dump a bucket of water on Jayce. He's an android, but when you're soaked and have no other clothes when it's snowing and below freezing, you're not gonna last very long. I would have lost him if I hadn't stolen some blankets from a department store. That's why we did what we did. And I'll do it again in a heartbeat to provide for Jayce or my children."

  "I know jobs were hard to come by, but surely there was something legal you could have done."

  "You're truly clueless, aren't you?" Jarred asks. "Every business knew who lived in the under city and they'd never hire anyone who was homeless. My security job was a good job until I got accused of inappropriately touching some female androids at the auction."

  "No."

  "Yes. That was the end of that job."

  The clanking of armor and a friendly voice come from behind them. "Sorry to sneak up on you, but the ship is ready to take you back to Himmel." Apollo walks around in front of them. "Jarred, I was not aware of the hardships you had to endure."

  Jarred bundles Nova back up. "It doesn't matter. Where is Zach?"

  "The mad man with the ridiculous red hat he's never washed? He's on the ship already."

  "Then let's go. And Apollo? The next time you spy on me, it will be your last."

  15

  After landing out in the fields far enough away from the city to not draw attention to a Nymph ship, Katarina, Jarred, and Zach step out into the falling snow. With Apollo waving goodbye and bowing from on board, the space transport leaves, blowing around the snow even more. Nova stirs awake and fusses a bit with the cold. Something else catches Katarina's attention, though. Across the icy fields, she can see the city where plumes of black smoke are rising from the buildings among a haze of orange. "Jarred, I think something happened."

  "Let's go."

  * * *

 
People are screaming and crying as they clutch the lifeless bodies of their loved ones to their chests in the middle of the burning streets where rubble lines the city and blood is staining the sidewalks. Why aren't the sirens sounding? Where is the Inquisition? It is pure chaos here.

  Katarina is the first one to reach the entrance to the laboratory and she immediately knows something is wrong. The entry hologram panel is busted and still sparking where something must have overloaded it. As soon as she pushes the metal door open, the smell of blood hits her and she covers her mouth with her shaking hand. In the entrance of the hallway, smeared on the walls and dripping down from the ceiling, is dark red blood. Shell casings litter the floor and hundreds of bullet holes fill the wall beside the doorway into the main room. Stepping over the corpses of fallen Blood Force agents, she goes into the main room. The computers have been pulled from the walls and smashed to pieces. Papers and broken consoles are scattered across the floor. Then she sees the one thing that makes her scream. White metal feathers.

  "Oh my God." Jarred says as he and Zach join her. He bends down and picks up a jade feather. "Look at this. Archon feathers from Doss, Zerachiel, and Gabriel. They must have fought and gotten injured. If they could all be overpowered like this, there's no telling what kind of force did this. Something's not right here."

  Zach kicks over some of the broken equipment and picks something up. "Jarred, get over here."

  "What is it?"

  He holds out a torn blue blanket soaked with blood.

  "Zodiac." Jarred takes off the sling and hands Nova to Katarina. "Hold Nova. Zach, watch my back."

  "What are you doing?" Katarina asks.

  "I have to find my son."

  Katarina follows closely behind Jarred who pulls away the heavy debris blocking the hallway to the kitchen. She avoids the broken glass and splintered wood from the broken table. Then she sees it and her stomach turns. A dull glimmer of copper wings below the pile of collapsed metal by Jarred's feet. "Jarred, look down."