Until Midnight

by Melissa Landers

  As the shuttle descended, she could make out a settlement in the distance. She quickly identified the capitol building based on its position at the heart of the city. Offices, apartments, shops, and dormitories splayed out from the humble three-story structure like satellites in orbit, each as neutral as the next. It seemed that architecture, like every other aspect of life on L’eihr, focused on practicality over aesthetics. The small city reminded Cara of how the ancient, sandy-colored ruins in the Middle East might have looked in their prime.

  When she turned toward the other window, she caught Jaxen observing her reaction. He held her gaze for a few beats and leaned forward as far as his restraints would allow. “What do you think?”

  As soon as Cara found her voice, she told him, “It’s spectacular.”

  “I think so, too,” he said. “This is the smallest of the five precincts, but it’s my favorite.”

  “For good reason,” Aisly added. “Everything important is here: the academic and scientific archives, the genetics labs, the cultural galleries.”

  “Not to mention your government,” Cara said. The tiny capital reminded her of Washington, DC. “Do all ten members of The Way live here?”

  “Yes and no.” Jaxen gestured out his window toward the city. “We rotate living in different precincts and shuttle to the capital when we need to convene. It allows us to oversee the local governments while ensuring each region’s needs are fairly represented.”

  “Except Alona,” Aisly said. “The head Elder always resides at the capital.”

  “Kind of like our president in Ameri—” A sudden dropping sensation made Cara gasp, and she glanced outside to see the shuttle touch down in the shorn beige grass outside the capitol building.

  Once her heart quit thumping, she scanned the open courtyard, noting a cluster of silver-leafed willow trees and shrubs near a side entry. At this early hour, there was only one L’eihr in sight: a middle-age guard standing at attention near the front entrance. Cara’s eyes darted to the iphal holstered to the man’s side. It was a handgun of sorts, but with the power to stop a victim’s heart with a concentrated pulse of energy.

  Welcome to L’eihr. Start anything and we’ll end you. Have a nice day!

  Cara unbuckled her harness and waited for the dozen passengers ahead of her to de-board. Then she followed her brother down the shuttle steps and paused to draw her first breath on an alien world.

  The air was warm and humid—slightly heavier than she’d expected, smelling faintly of bitter citrus. It was an oddly pleasant scent, especially compared to the exhaust fumes she’d grown accustomed to on Earth. The gentle morning sun warmed her shoulders, a sensation she hadn’t felt in weeks. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the feel of sunlight on her skin. The main transport had provided ultraviolet lamps to encourage vitamin D production, but they couldn’t replicate the breeze that stirred loose wisps of hair against the back of her neck. She’d missed that, too.

  Right away, she noticed Earth’s vibrant color spectrum didn’t exist here. Aelyx had once compared L’eihr to Midtown in winter, when the few remaining leaves had shriveled and turned brown. It was a fair comparison, but much less dreary. These tan leaves glistened with an opalescent sparkle that made Cara want to string them together and wear them around her neck.

  She observed a great stone wall in the distance, hugging the rolling hills until it disappeared behind a multistory apartment complex. She wondered what was on the other side and why they bothered with walls when shuttles could easily fly over them.

  “A credit for your thoughts,” said Jaxen, studying her again with a smile.

  “A credit.” Cara laughed at his spin on the American expression. “Guess my pennies are worthless here.”

  Jaxen held up his wrist. “Your nano-chip will track your credits, among other things.” He strode to the doorway and gestured for her to follow. “Come here and I’ll show you.”

  Cara glanced at her inoculation scar. She’d forgotten that in addition to a thousand vaccines, the medic had implanted a data chip beneath her skin.

  Jaxen pointed to a light switch–size box affixed to the outside wall. “There are stations like this everywhere—even inside your quarters. Hold your wrist under here, like this.” When he demonstrated, a beam of light danced over his flesh. “The system will scan you for personalized notifications.”

  Cara extended her arm, palm up. Seconds later, a woman’s soft voice ordered, “Cah-ra Sweeney, please report to the first Aegis at your leisure.”

  Impressive. They’d even programmed the system to speak English for her.

  “The first Aegis is ours,” Troy said, pointing to the complex by the city wall. “It’s the closest school to the capital. Students from the other four campuses have to take the air train to get here.”

  “What train?” Cara asked.

  He pointed to a set of metallic pillars she hadn’t noticed before. Her gaze followed them upward to a monorail track.

  “And at your leisure really means now,” Elle advised her.

  “I’m staying at the Aegis?” Cara asked, a little disappointed. “Not the colony?”

  Jaxen drew back in surprise. “No. The colony is on the other side of the world and still under construction.”

  “The other side of the world?” But the entire population of L’eihr lived here, divided into five small precincts on a continent half the size of Canada. There was nowhere else to go except…“On an island?” She didn’t say marooned, but that was what came to mind.

  Again, Jaxen seemed to have tasted her thoughts. “Yes, but don’t worry. The intent is to allow colonists the liberty to form a unique society, free from our influence…to some extent.”

  Cara supposed that made sense, though she wondered to what “extent” The Way would interfere.

  Jaxen turned to Troy and Elle. “I have sensitive matters to discuss with Miss Sweeney. I’ll deliver her to the Aegis shortly. You’re free to go.”

  Troy hesitated, but Jaxen’s word was law, and the tone of his dismissal left no room for negotiation. Once Troy and Elle had strode out of sight, Jaxen led the way down the same path, motioning for Cara and Aisly to follow.

  “Is everything okay?” Cara asked while glancing at the pavement beneath her boots. It had a slight bounce to it, like shock-absorbent indoor track. She hopped on the balls of her feet and grinned, realizing she’d always have a spring in her step.

  Aisly shot her a curious glance and they began at an easy stroll. “Yes. We only wanted to give you a proper welcome.”

  A soft whoosh sounded from above, and an air train jettisoned into the city at lightning speed. Somehow, it managed the job with barely a breath of wind. Cara craned her neck, marveling like a child as another train passed above her. Even higher, sky lanes directed a few shuttles to and from the city, though she had no clue how their pilots avoided midair collisions without visible boundaries.

  “I imagine this is difficult to process,” Jaxen said.

  Cara laughed dryly as her gaze darted from one unfamiliar object to the next. “I need another pair of eyes.”

  “It was the same for me,” Jaxen said, “my first time on your world.”

  She whipped her head around. “You’ve been to Earth?”

  “Many times. I love your people—you possess such passion and creativity, the traits L’eihrs have lost over time.” Jaxen brushed aside an overgrown dandelion seed. At the contact, the thing flitted away like a jellyfish. “I can’t wait to return and explore other human cultures. I’ve never traveled much farther than the ambassador’s residence in Manhattan.”

  “That’s where Aelyx is now.” A glance at the tan and gray trees lining the walkway brought a question to mind. “He told me there’s no green here because your plants don’t use photosynthesis. So what would happen if I brought a maple from Earth? Would it be compatible with your sun?”

  “Irrelevant, as The Way would never allow it. Destroying an ecosystem
is easier than you think.” Then with a slightly haughty tone, he added, “Earth’s current predicament should’ve taught you that. It’s a shame that such a dynamic race can’t be trusted to care for their own planet.”

  Cara took her tongue between her teeth, literally biting back a scathing response. You forgot about the sh’alear, jerkwad. The clones didn’t hesitate to meddle with our ecosystem when it suited them.

  “Your cheeks are flushing,” he said, as if this greatly amused him. “I’ve made you angry. See? Such passion. I envy you.”

  Cara gestured at the trees and blatantly changed the subject. “So how do they derive nutrients if not from the sun?”

  “From the air.” He reached over her head and plucked a leaf from its branch, then handed it to her.

  “That’s right, like Spanish moss. Aelyx told me.” She rubbed the leaf between her fingers. It felt light and spongy, and when she brought it to her nose, she recognized the citrusy scent. “This is what I smelled when I stepped off the shuttle.”

  “Ilar trees,” Aisly said. “They’re fragrant.”

  “And plentiful,” Cara said, scanning the landscape. Ilars were everywhere. Their branches even loomed over the stone wall surrounding the city.

  “Only in this precinct,” Jaxen told her. “In the marshlands to the south, you’d find shallow-rooted trees that absorb nutrients through their scaly bark.”

  “They’re ugly,” Aisly said with a flick of her wrist. “The most beautiful trees are in the mountains. At that altitude, they have to grow higher to find nourishment, and their leaves are twice the size of your hand.”

  Cara gazed to the west, recalling the quartz forest she’d admired from the shuttle. Now she couldn’t see anything beyond the great wall. “What’s on the other side of that?”

  Jaxen’s eyes darted to the stonework. “We’ve kept the majority of our landmass in its natural state. The wall protects wildlife from our influence.” He pointed overhead at a flock of spotted birds resembling doves. “Except those that fly.”

  “Or climb,” Aisly added darkly.

  They were quiet until they reached the Aegis grounds, and then a nervous flutter tickled Cara’s chest. Suddenly she wanted the walk to last longer. She wasn’t ready for her first day of school.

  “You won’t start classes until tomorrow,” Jaxen said.

  Cara paused for a moment and studied him. On the surface, Jaxen resembled the others of his kind—tawny skin and silvery eyes. He wore his light-brown hair in a ponytail, his athletic frame concealed beneath the standard uniform. But there was something different about him. Maybe he had unique abilities. That would explain his position on The Way.

  “Can you read minds?” she asked.

  He laughed at her. “No, but I can read expressions, and your translucent cheeks tell me you’re afraid.”

  Cara couldn’t deny it, so she turned to survey her surroundings. The Aegis reminded her of the community college back home—a large boxy dormitory opening to a courtyard, half a dozen scattered outbuildings, and multiple trails that led into a thicket of woods. She leaned forward and squinted, bringing an obstacle course into focus.

  Aisly followed Cara’s gaze. “That’s where you’ll take your physical conditioning class.”

  Cara groaned inwardly. Even in another galaxy, she couldn’t escape PE.

  “But don’t worry,” Aisly continued. “The instructor will adjust your target time to compensate for your inferior respiratory system.”

  Awesome. Add to the equation Cara’s inferior human brain, and after Troy left, she’d be the most worthless person on the planet. Quite the downgrade from her previous title of Midtown High valedictorian.

  “Do you go to school in this Aegis, too?” she asked. From what she understood, children stayed in their local Aegis from birth until the end of their twenty-first year, when they received a job assignment and moved to the occupational barracks. But surely any L’eihr gifted enough to be appointed to The Way wouldn’t take classes with the rest of the students.

  “We do now,” Jaxen said. When she waited for him to elaborate, he didn’t.

  The three of them climbed the front steps leading to the dormitory, and Aisly extended her wrist for the scanner. In response, a pair of metallic doors hissed aside to allow them into the vacant lobby. Cara braced herself for an icy burst of air-conditioning, but a cross breeze from open windows along the adjacent corridors brushed her skin, reminding her that the temperature here hovered around seventy year-round. The next sensation to reach her was the warm, welcoming scent of baking bread. Her stomach growled in response.

  “Must be breakfast time,” she mused. That would explain the absence of students.

  “Yes,” Aisly said. “Our morning staple here is t’ahinni. It’s made from larun, which is a flat—”

  “Flatbread,” Cara finished. A bittersweet smile curved her lips. “I tried re-creating it on Earth for Aelyx, but I never got it right.”

  From there, they whisked her to the headmaster’s office and outfitted her with a supply of clean uniforms and a palm-size tablet.

  “Bring this to each class,” Jaxen said. “All the texts and essays you’ll need are preloaded and translated into English.”

  Even after his demonstration, Cara didn’t understand how to use the device, but she kept quiet for fear of looking stupid. She’d ask Elle to explain it later. Next, Jaxen and Aisly escorted her to her room, which was near the lobby on the first floor.

  Jaxen paused outside her door. “Is it still your intention to remain here permanently, as Aelyx’s l’ihan?”

  Cara nodded, even though “remain here permanently” sounded so…permanent.

  “Excellent,” Aisly said. “Then we can resolve the issue of your citizenship.”

  Cara’s stomach dipped. Just because she’d left Earth didn’t mean she wanted to sever all ties to her people. “Can I have dual citizenship?”

  “Absolutely,” Aisly promised. “But the process remains the same. In order to become a citizen, you have to hold a Sh’ovah.”

  A Sh’ovah? Why did that sound familiar?

  Cara searched her memory. When nothing came, she turned to Jaxen for clarification, but by the time their eyes met, the answer hit like a cannonball to the gut. It sounded familiar because several months ago she’d written a blog post about the rite of passage: You swear an oath to the Sacred Mother, and then all your peers stand in line and smear mud on your naked body to symbolize your union with Her. Mazel tov!

  All the blood in Cara’s face went south, settling somewhere in the vicinity of her socks. She’d have to stand before her new classmates in her birthday suit? And let them cover her with mud? There had to be another way.

  “Cah-ra,” Jaxen said, “we don’t sexualize nudity here. I promise the sight of your body won’t faze anyone.”

  So maybe the clones wouldn’t leer, but surely they’d gawk at her pasty skin and the freckles peppering her butt. Why couldn’t they give her a pass, just this once?

  “If you’re having second thoughts…” Jaxen trailed off, his voice heavy with implication.

  Before she had a chance to change her mind, Cara blurted, “I’ll do it.”

  “This isn’t a choice to make in haste,” Aisly warned. “Becoming a citizen means accepting and supporting our customs and following The Way in all things. We’re not a democracy.”

  Cara knew that. She and Aelyx had spent hours debating the differences between their governments. Minor offenses such as mouthing off—just a matter of time for her—would result in the electric lash. When she considered the penalty for other crimes, her mind wandered to the brushed chrome iphal holstered to the capital guard’s hip. This place was no utopia, but if she wanted a life with Aelyx on his planet, she had to abide by his people’s rules and respect their culture, even if she didn’t agree with it. Cara stiffened her spine. She was a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them.

  “I understand,” she told Aisly. “And I a
gree.”

  “Then I’ll tell the others,” Aisly chirped. “I know The Way will be pleased.”

  Jaxen pressed two fingers to Cara’s throat in the standard farewell. “We’ll schedule your Sh’ovah for next week.” Ducking down to meet her height, he added, “As they say in your country, sleep on it. There’s no shame in changing your mind.”

  Cara returned the good-bye and pulled her hand free. “I won’t change my mind.”

  Chapter Three

  Aelyx watched the L’eihr ambassador sweep a wrinkled hand across the surface of the dining room table, knocking the newspaper to the floor. It landed face-up and revealed a mocking headline: HALO Denies Attack on L’eihr Youth.

  “Humans Against L’eihr Occupation,” Stepha said through clenched teeth while he glared at Director-General Kendrick. “On my planet, we would have terminated those savages after their first rebellion—rooted them out like the cancer they are.” In a rare display of emotion, he slapped both palms on the glossy mahogany. “How many of our young must die before you assume control of your people? Or perhaps this alliance isn’t a priority for you. In which case, we’ll return to L’eihr on the next transport.”

  The ambassador’s final words chilled Aelyx to the core. Without L’eihr technology to decontaminate Earth’s water supply, the planet would cease to sustain life within a decade. But the release of that technology hinged on the alliance, and everyone in the room knew it. Even Syrine looked nervous, and she despised humans.

  “I can assure you,” Kendrick said, shifting in his seat, “there’s nothing’s more important to the World Trade Organization than this alliance. We’ve partnered with the milit—”

  “Whatever you’re doing, it is ineffective.” Stepha sat back in his chair and folded his hands, resuming his usual monotone. “Negotiations cannot continue while our safety is threatened.”

  Kendrick scratched the back of his neck, then splayed both hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Ambassador, there’s nothing to negotiate. The world’s leaders have voted unanimously—they’ll agree to an alliance on your terms.”