by Devi Mara
The cornstalks grew close together and towered over her head by nearly two feet. She turned in a slow circle. Every direction looked the same. Her heartbeat pounded in her head so loud she did not feel it at first. A rumble like thunder that sent tremors through the earth. Robin jerked her head around at the first scream. Less than a second later, there was a third and a fourth. Soon it all blended into one.
Robin froze in indecision. Everything in her told her to run in the opposite direction, but there were innocent people at the base. Children. The supplies dropped from her arms and she began to stumble back toward the camp, toward the terrible screaming.
…
Addar stalked through the bedlam, as his people worked their way across the base. He had given the standard orders, spare unarmed civilians, but he was still tense. Robin was there somewhere, in the chaos. If she managed to find a weapon, the orders would not apply. She could be killed. He ground his teeth.
He had to find her. Addar tuned out the screaming and checked each tent he passed. Most were empty aside from a few blood splatters. Those that were not held only the dead. He checked each of them, but it was never Robin’s bronze skin and dark curls. She was still alive somewhere. Addar stepped out of another tent to hear one of his people yelling.
Odd. They were nearly silent when in battle. He walked toward the sound until he could make out the words.
“…may hit Vanor!”
Addar scowled. His second was not to be off the ship until she had fed. The first thing he saw when he entered the small clearing was a group of his people glaring in the same direction. Addar made a mental note to make an example of them later, but when he turned to see what held their attention, he froze.
Robin had found a knife somewhere and was holding it to a pale Vanor’s neck. His second was sprawled out on the ground with her eyes closed. Robin’s gaze was flitting from person to person, as the knife in her hand shook. Addar sighed.
“Put down the knife,” he ordered.
Robin’s head snapped toward him at the sound of his voice. “Addar?”
He removed his helmet to reveal his face. Pure relief filled Robin’s face, before her eyes narrowed.
“Stop this.”
Addar could feel his people watching him. “No.”
Robin stared at him, shock slowly shifting to anger. “Yes.”
He turned away from her. “She will not harm Vanor,” he said in his native tongue. “Take the weapon from her.”
Addar forced himself to walk away. He could not afford to show his feelings. If he had to watch her fighting his soldiers, he would not hesitate to kill his own people. Addar walked faster. He could hear Robin yelling. She sounded furious, but not pained. It was all that kept him from turning back. If they knew he was fond of her, she would be dead by nightfall.
Once the yelling faded, he took a deep breath and returned to where he had left her. Robin lay on her side on the ground, her braid coiled behind her. His heart seized. It was only when he heard her heartbeat, that he felt feeling return to his limbs. He stalked toward her.
His people moved away, one of them carrying Vanor’s limp form.
“Take my second back to the ship.”
He turned his attention back to Robin once they were gone. His people still wandered the base, their eyes watching him. Addar stopped at Robin’s side and forced himself not to kneel at her side. He nudged her with his booted foot, until she rolled over onto her back. Blood was smeared across one cheek, but she looked otherwise unhurt.
“Shall I put her with the others?”
Addar turned on his soldier, barely holding back a snarl. “No.”
“As you say.”
Addar watched him walk away, before he looked down at Robin. He could not leave her there, surrounded by the dead. If she did not already loathe him, she would then. He knelt and scooped her into his arms, careful to hold her away from him as if touching her disgusted him. Anything less would inspire questions, whispers.
He carried her toward the highway. On the other side, there was a military jeep covered by a camouflage tarp. Addar ordered privacy and all of his soldiers moved to the other side of the highway without a backwards glance. He jerked back the tarp. The jeep was painted the same color green as the tents. From what he had learned of vehicles, it would serve Robin well.
Addar cradled Robin against him and pulled open the door. The interior smelled like cheap cologne and bubble gum. Addar frowned at the unpleasant scent and gently sat Robin in the driver’s seat, careful not to bump her knees. As he leaned her back against the seat, her hair brushed his face. He could not resist the urge to inhale her scent.
When she woke, she would drive away from him. She had to. Her sweet scent was all he would have to get him through the time until they saw each other. If they did. His mind rebelled at the thought of never seeing her again. He pulled back to look at her face. Addar could not keep his fingertips from tracing the line of her jaw.
She was so beautiful. So strong. Addar leaned in until his lips hovered over hers. He wanted to kiss her, but knew she would never permit it while awake. He pulled back. Rifling through his pockets, he pulled out the compass he had lifted from a dead human soldier. He set it on the dash in plain sight along with the note he had written for her.
Go West. The ground forces will move east to west.
Addar moved around to the passenger side of the vehicle and opened the glove box. As he had assumed, there were several maps. He spread out the map of Illinois and tucked the rest away. He scanned the towns along the Missouri border, until he found the one he had located on the ship’s navigation. Quincy.
Unlike most of the large towns, he had not burned it. After marching through, he left most of it standing. Addar circled it on Robin’s map with a black marker he found in the glove box. He had just refolded the map, when he realized Robin was watching him. Addar slowly raised his head to meet her gaze.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a harsh whisper.
“I marked a suitable place—”
“That is not what I mean,” she cut him off.
Addar looked away.
“You don’t know, do you?”
He looked up at her quiet question. “You should go.”
They stared at each other, until Addar closed the passenger door and stepped back from the jeep. Robin frowned at him.
“I don’t understand you,” she muttered. The thought seemed to irritate her.
He gave her a tight smile, but did not answer.
Again, he watched her start the vehicle and drive away from him. When she was out of sight, he returned to his people. Burning what remained of the base and ushering the survivors aboard his ship.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Robin only made it ten miles down the road before she pulled off onto a gravel driveway and parked. Addar was insane. On one hand, he helped her to escape from his own people. On the other, he was part of the army currently devastating her country. And the world beyond that. His loyalties were clearly split. Robin pushed open the door of the jeep and climbed out to look back toward the base.
Black smoke rose like storm clouds in the east. Robin looked away. All of those people, gone now. And it was at least in part Addar’s fault. Yet, he had saved her life. Robin slowly sank down to sit on the ground, her back against the side of the jeep. What did it all mean? The look in Addar’s eyes was the same as it had been the morning after her late night with Marty. An odd mix of protectiveness and something else. Something soft and out of place in his usually cool gaze.
Robin watched the black smoke drift with the wind until it was a ribbon of darkness stretching for miles. Whatever Addar’s loyalties, whatever his feelings for her, they were enemies now. He had chosen his side. Robin rose from the ground and dusted off the back of her jeans. She had to choose her own. With one last glance toward the east, she climbed into the old military jeep and pulled back onto the road.
Quincy, he said. Robin pulled the
map into her lap and glanced at it as she drove. On the other side of the state, near the Missouri border. She sighed and set the map aside. She would need to stop somewhere for water at the very least.
After she merged onto I-72 W, Robin pulled into a rest stop. The main building backed up to a picnic area with a sidewalk that wrapped around the cluster of trees. Robin parked as close to the building as possible and let the engine idle as she looked out the window. The place looked deserted. The truck parking lot was empty and, as she looked both ways, Robin did not see so much as a stray cat.
She killed the engine and stepped out. A crumpled newspaper drifted across the wide expanse of empty interstate. Robin shut the driver’s side door and the clang echoed in the silence. She looked both ways, as she stepped onto the sidewalk and made her way up to the front doors. Neatly trimmed hedges bracketed the door. The ground beneath them still held a dusting of snow.
Robin paused outside the glass doors of the building and peeked inside. For a moment, she thought she saw a shadow move. She held up her hands to the glass and squinted. The tiled interior was empty. She shook her head at herself and grabbed the door handle. The large door swung open soundlessly and the warm air inside the building reached out to embrace her.
Her boots thudded on the clean tile floor, tracking bits of mud and dried leaves. Robin winced, but let the door close behind her. It shut with a whisper. She headed for the wall of vending machines directly across from the door. Three kinds of soda machines, two snack machines, a coffee machine, and one that served up food to be heated in the nearby microwave.
Robin eyed the refrigerated food with interest. The machine displayed its wares in small compartments, each with its own clear door. Her stomach growled. A hot ham and cheese sandwich sounded nice after nothing but chips, beef jerky, and a single serving of lukewarm oatmeal from the base. Robin moved closer to the machine to study the security. She tested one of the doors. A mechanism stopped it from opening.
She turned her attention to the control panel. A series of buttons and a slot for money. Money she did not have. Robin sighed. Force, then. She trotted to the door marked for employees only. As she stepped into the room, she smiled. A janitor’s closet. Perfect.
The left wall held a shelf with nothing but toilet paper rolls and paper towels, but the other wall held a few possibilities. She moved to the red tool box sitting on top of a worn table. Ignoring the grease covering it liberally, Robin flipped the latch open and dug through the contents. She found a hammer and a flathead screwdriver.
Hurrying back to the vending machine, she jammed the end of the screw driver between the edge of the plastic door and the piece of metal that kept it closed. Robin jerked hard, but the door stayed closed. She scowled. No matter. Bringing the hammer up, she slammed it into the screwdriver. The plastic door popped open with a crunch.
“Yes!” Robin said with a grin.
She tossed the tools on the table beside the microwave and pulled out her spoils. The sandwich smelled divine as it heated for two minutes. Robin spent the time exploring the rest stop. The wall left of the door held a large map of the state with a red flag to indicate the current location. The other wall was for pamphlets. She skimmed them, raising her eyebrows at some of the odd attractions in her state.
The microwave beeped and Robin hurried over to retrieve the sandwich. She carefully pulled the food from the microwave, steam seeping from the bright yellow package. Robin looked over the map, as she munched on her sandwich. The edges were burnt and the middle was cold, but it was still the best thing she had eaten in days.
She paused at the sound of a car door slamming. A second and then a third followed. Robin ran to the front doors to look out. Parked next to her jeep sat a late model SUV. Two women and a man stood on the sidewalk looking from her jeep to the front of the building. Robin watched them with growing apprehension, as one of the women returned to the SUV and pulled out a baseball bat.
“Great,” Robin muttered.
She looked around and her gaze landed on the door out to the picnic area. The group of people had moved on from her jeep and were walking up the sidewalk toward the building. Robin slipped out the backdoor just as the glass doors were opening. She pressed her back up against the wall outside and listened to the three talk amongst themselves.
“…belongs to somebody,” the man said.
“Maybe it was abandoned,” a female voice muttered. “Broke down or something.”
“Yeah, maybe,”
“Or maybe not,” another female voice cut in.
Robin heard the scrape of metal on tile and closed her eyes. The tools. She had left them on the table by the microwave. Her eyes darted to the nearby picnic tables.
“They may have something we can use. Check the bathrooms, I’ll check out back,” the man said.
Robin inched down the wall, making it around the corner a moment before the backdoor opened. She froze and listened to the man walk away, toward the walking trail. Once his footsteps faded, she ran along the side of the building and crouched behind the shrubs. She should go while the women were checking the bathroom.
Pulling her keys from her pocket, she took off for the jeep at a run. Someone shouted from behind her, but she did not slow down. She jerked open the driver’s side door and shoved the key into the ignition. As the jeep roared to life, the front doors of the building flew open. The man ran across the side yard at the same time the women started down the sidewalk.
Robin slammed the car into reverse and jammed her foot down on the gas pedal. The jeep rocketed backwards and over the curb behind it. She threw it in drive and sped out of the parking lot, tires squealing. Robin flew down the on ramp and pushed down harder on the accelerator once she hit the open highway. She checked her rearview mirror as she raced down the interstate, but the SUV did not appear behind her.
…
“Repeat that?” Addar demanded.
Vanor dutifully repeated what she had just said. “The high commander has seen fit to meet with the rulers of this land.”
Addar scowled. “Why?”
“He finds it amusing.”
“I see.”
Addar looked out the window at the ground hundreds of feet below. His army spread out over several square miles, as they marched north. He had chosen to sweep the state in a grid pattern, moving north and south until he reached the western most edge of the state. It would give Robin days of safety, rather than hours.
“And what are his intentions?”
“I would not presume to ask, brother.”
Addar glanced over his shoulder at his second. She looked back at him with an unreadable expression in her eyes. Vanor had been acting oddly since she last set foot on Earth. When Robin held a knife to her throat.
“Brother?”
Addar narrowed his eyes. “Yes?”
“May I be so bold as to inquire about your time on Earth?”
“What do you wish to know?”
Vanor came closer, stopping when she stood beside him at the window. She simply looked out at the land spread beneath them for several seconds. She turned her head to stare at him.
“What are the humans like?”
Addar turned his head away to hide his shock. “Why do you ask?”
“Ilan speaks ill of them. He says they are little more than beasts. Crude animals.”
“And do you believe him?” Addar asked her sharply.
“I reserve judgment. After all, if they are intelligent are they not more valuable?”
Addar stared at her for a moment, before nodding.
“Then, it is best if they have some small amount of appeal.”
“Indeed,” Addar muttered.
“Do they, brother?”
Addar raised one eyebrow in question.
“Have appeal?” Vanor clarified.
She did not know, Addar told himself. Her curiosity was simply showing itself. She knew nothing of his feelings for Robin. He had been very careful to erase any doc
umentation of his actions at the human base. His second did not know his secret.
“Clarify?” he said.
Vanor looked away. “How many are to be captured?”
Addar studied her face, taking in the shadows in her burgundy eyes. “Not many. No more than are necessary.”
His second nodded and turned to face him. He watched her bow her head and walk quickly from the room. He would need to watch her. It would be a pity to kill her, but if she became a danger to Robin he would have no choice. Addar looked out the window and sighed. The army was moving faster than he anticipated. He would have to keep close tabs on their progress.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
She arrived at the outskirts of Quincy when the sun was directly overhead. The dashboard clock in the jeep was broken, proudly proclaiming it to be 22:00. The daylight disagreed. Robin stopped at the city limits sign and let the jeep idle. She glanced around. For the past few miles she had been driving past signs for subdivisions, but the city limits was made up of car dealerships.
The rows of shiny vehicles gleamed, even in the weak winter sunlight. The clean windshields reflected the slow moving gray clouds overhead. Robin frowned. She might be better off on foot. The jeep’s engine was loud, just as the truck had been, and she did not want to attract attention. She eased her foot off the brake pedal and drove into the nearest dealership.
She parked the jeep on the back row, between two totaled vehicles waiting for repair in the dealership’s shop. Robin killed the engine and stepped out. A chain link fence marked the line between the dealership’s parking lot and the houses behind it. She could just make out the roof of a house over a neatly trimmed hedge.
Robin turned back to the jeep and began to gather her supplies. A stop at a general store had provided two large bottles of water, several cans of hearty stew, and a rucksack. She tucked the food and water into the bag and closed the door to the jeep. The slam sounded like a gunshot in the silence. Robin frowned.
