Alex cried out in her mind from Tallisa’s words. She sagged against Dallin, unable to stand and whimpering from the agonizing pain reverberating throughout her body. He dragged her out of the room, but as they approached her door, his demeanor shifted and he cradled her in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his eyes darting down the hallway. “I never thought she would really go this far.”
“Please help me,” Alex wept, her voice barely a whisper.
He set her on the ground, back in her prison. “I can’t. Tallisa means everything to me.” He quieted, looking over at the door. “Four more days and this will be over. Rest now. Someone will bring you food and water.” He left without another word, leaving Alex to mend her wounds.
The food that was sent through a slot in the wall, was bland and mushy, but Alex was famished and ate every single bite. The water was the best part of the whole meal. She gulped it down quickly, enjoying the feel of it rushing down her throat and cooling the fire within her stomach. After she was done, the exhaustion overcame her and she rested her head on the cold floor, welcoming the darkness of sleep.
Alex heard the voice from the blackness of her dreamless sleep, calling for her to wake up. “Five more minutes,” she mumbled, pushing away from the voice.
“Alex, we have to leave.” That voice again. “Tallisa will return soon.”
Alex sat up straight from the mention of Tallisa’s name. Her eyes darted around the gray room and she remembered where she was. Rubbing her eyes, she looked up again and saw Henry standing a few feet away from her.
“Henry.” Fear gripped her chest, unsure if this was a dream. “How did you make it in here?”
“I used my machine.” He grasped her elbow, easing her off the ground and pointed behind him at a purple and silver light pulsating in the wall. “It’s a long story and I’ll divulge it all to you later, but for now, we need to leave.”
Alex nodded, stumbling alongside Henry toward the light. “Are you going to kill me?”
Henry halted in his tracks and turned to face his niece. “Never.” He leaned over and swooped her up in his arms. “I’m here to take you away from that vicious woman. Your parents are waiting on the other end.”
Alex sighed in relief, allowing herself to melt into Henry’s embrace, as he entered the light. She watched as the gray room faded away and her parents’ quarters came into view. Henry set her down on the couch and she felt her mother’s arms wrap around her body, followed by her father’s.
“We are so sorry,” her mother whispered into her ear.
Relaxing for the first time in over a day, Alex nestled into her mother’s embrace. She was content to not move, but after a few minutes her mother squirmed away and her father lifted her into his arms, carrying her back to her room. He settled her onto the bed and stroked her head as she curled her arms around a pillow.
“Don’t leave me,” she pleaded, looking over at her mother.
Adina shook her head and smiled. “Of course I won’t. I’ll remain here all night long.”
Chapter Seven
Revelations
The next day Alex woke with a start, sighing with relief when she saw her mother asleep next to her. She snuggled up with her pillow and stared at the wall next to her, remembering the events with Tallisa. Her heart rate increased, as she pulled up her sleeve and examined her arm where Tallisa had sliced it open and then cauterized it.
Her eyes widened when she saw the wound was no longer there. Twisting to face her mother, she perched herself up on her other elbow as her mom’s eyes flashed open.
“Are you okay?” Adina asked. Her fingers stroked Alex’s cheek.
Alex nodded. “Yes, but where are my scars?”
Adina lips set in a straight line. “After you fell asleep, I rubbed a medicinal herb on all your wounds and waited for it to heal all the scarring. Once it was done, I cleaned it up and fell asleep next to you.”
“What medicinal herb?” Alex asked, sitting up straight.
“It wasn’t available back in 2025,” her mother said, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking over at Alex. “In fact, the anamans brought it here from their home planet thousands of years ago and we’ve been using it to heal our people, since that time.”
“Are you going to return me to 2025?” Alex questioned, changing the subject. “I love that you are in my life, but I don’t think I can survive here.”
“We have a better plan,” her mother replied, rising from the bed and clutching Alex’s hand to help her up. “Henry has discovered a number of ways to use his device. Let’s go have breakfast and we’ll explain it to you.”
The kitchen was bustling with noise and Alex’s father turned to face them when they entered the room. His hand was covered with a peculiar glove that Alex realized was an oven mitt after she ventured nearer. Looking up at her father, his eyes were heavy with sorrow and his frown lines were deeply creased around his eyes and mouth.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked, shooting her a tight smile. He stepped over to the table with the hot pan.
“I’m starving,” Alex replied, eyeing the scrambled eggs and bacon, along with what appeared like German pancakes inside the pan.
“Good.” Her father pulled out a chair and signaled for her to sit. “We have plenty of food.” His smile widened, but his eyes wore the grief like a badge.
Alex curled her hand around her father’s forearm. “I’m sorry about Tallisa.”
“Me too.” He nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. “I’m sorrier she hurt you. I should’ve known she was playing us after—” He paused and pursed his lips. “We can talk about it later. For now let’s eat and go over our plans of escape.”
Settling onto her chair, Alex poured herself some juice and guzzled it down before filling her plate with all her favorite foods from home. “At least this time period still has eggs and bacon.” She grinned up at her parents and shoved another mouthful of eggs past her lips.
“Yes, we have gardens and farms on our ships,” her mother replied. “Once we are ready for the day, I can take you on a tour of the ship.”
A door opened down the hallway and Alex glanced over to see Henry emerge, rubbing his eyes as he strolled down the corridor. “If Henry was always on your side, how did Tallisa convince you otherwise?” Alex asked, her eyes straying back to her parents. In her peripheral vision she could see Henry dish up his plate with food and settle onto the chair next to her.
Her father sat up straight and cleared his throat. “Tallisa was conceived nearly ten years after I was born and was one of the first hybrids that we knew about. At that time, the law only stated that the mother and father of the hybrid child would be executed, so Tallisa was raised by my father, as his own.”
Alex’s eyes widened with surprise, as she set down her fork and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. “How did your father treat her?”
“He was kind to her, but as she became older and her human features began to become more dominate, he turned his back on her and allowed her to be taunted by humans and anamans alike.” Jax sighed, his eyes falling to his lap. “At times, I was just as awful and enjoyed seeing her ridiculed by others. My father had his good side, but the tyrant in him was passed onto me and I’ve had to fight that side for many years.” He glanced over at Alex, his eyes shadowed with agony and regret. “I should have protected Tallisa. Her state of mind is because of my lack of love and loyalty toward her, during the most sensitive moments of her life. I just wish I had known how deeply her revenge had grown. I would’ve never trusted her with your well-being, if I’d been aware of the hatred she held for me.”
Alex nodded, twisting to look at Henry. “How do you feel about my parents turning their back on you?”
Henry’s brows furrowed, setting his glass down on the table. “It’s more complicated than that, Alex. I haven’t always been forthcoming with your parents and vice versa. We’ve all learned in the most difficult way.�
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“So, what now?” Alex asked, her eyes flashing back to her mother. “You said you had discovered another way to escape.”
“Yes, we have,” her mother replied, pointing her fork at Henry. “Our ships are preparing to make the jump today. After all that has happened, we have no choice but to depart as quickly as possible.”
Henry nodded. “My device has the capability to not only take us through time, but I have discovered a way to hurtle us into another dimension. I stumbled on it by chance, traveling to this parallel universe where the moon was never struck by an asteroid and humans and anamans live in peace with one another. It’s not perfect and it has its own issues, but we can jump there and find a place to live without the threat of annihilation from the moon and our own people.”
“We can remain on Earth?” Alex asked, her eyes perking up from the thought.
“Yes,” her father replied, smiling at the sight of Alex’s happy face. “Henry is taking us back in time to the year 4034. In this alternate universe, the Earth was hit by multiple small asteroids in the year 2567 and went through its own transition and repopulation, but now—” he hesitated for a moment as he sat up straight. “Well, you will see. It’s a stunning view and Henry has the pictures, along with the history of this universe, if you want to educate yourself before we arrive.”
“Do you want to see the ship, before we make the jump?” her mother asked.
Alex shook her head, leaning back in her chair. “I want to go with Henry and see the entire event as it unfolds. I can explore later.”
Henry grinned in between chewing his food, and her parents nodded in agreement. Alex slid her chair back and rose from her seat, taking her dishes to the kitchen. “How do I wash these?” she asked, not seeing a wash sink or dishwasher.
Puzzlement passed over her mother’s face as she stood and followed Alex into the kitchen. “You don’t wash the dishes.” She walked over to small door next to the refrigerator and opened it. “Put all the dishes in here and then press this button.” She pointed to a red button above the door. “And it will move the dishes to the washing machine and return them to their proper place, until we need them again.”
A smile spread across Alex’s face. “No more cleaning my dishes? That has seriously got to be the best part of all your technology here in the future.”
The other three burst into laughter and for the first time since she had arrived, she felt like she belonged with these people. Her new family.
Chapter Eight
Attacked
The separated into their own rooms in preparation for their day. Alex was ready within an hour, taking her time in the shower, allowing her previous day to be scrubbed and rinsed completely off her skin. The scars had faded and she was able to breathe and relax with the water cascading down her body.
Meeting her family in the main room, she finally felt clean and fresh, with a smile plastered across her face, despite the memory of her hours of torture. Her mother clasped her hand within her own and they followed the two men out of their quarters and down the corridor to the elevator. Entering the main control room fifteen minutes later, Alex glanced around at the floor to ceiling computers.
“These control every inch of this ship,” Henry explained, his hand sweeping around the massive room. He looked at Alex and then strolled to the middle of the room where a black ball, the size of a yoga ball, floated inside protective glass.
Henry swept his hand across the glass, revealing a keyboard with strange symbols and began to type on it. “This connects the twelve ships of the rebellion together and will allow the wormhole we’ll travel through today, to transport all of us at the same time.” He continued to type, as Alex watched over his shoulder. “When the connection is complete and the wormhole has opened, we will leave this universe behind.”
He paused what he was doing and glanced back at Alex. She had been holding her breath and with his gaze on her, she let it out with a whoosh. Drawing in another deep breath, her eyes darted around the room. “What’s to stop Tallisa from following us or any other followers of the human or anaman leaders?”
“If they stow away on one of these twelve ships,” Henry began, pursing his lips in thought. “Nothing will stop them. However, if they attempt to follow us in their own ship, they will be sucked up into a black hole and disappear forever.” He pointed to the far end of the room. “If you want a front row seat to the wormhole, the windows over there can be opened.”
Alex didn’t wait for any more instruction. She trotted over to the window with her father and mother right behind her. Her father reached past her and pressed a series of numbers on a panel next to the windows. Moments later the black wall faded and space opened up before her. “When did we arrive up here?” she asked, startled that they had made the trip out of the atmosphere without her knowing.
“As soon as Henry retrieved you, our ships departed,” her father replied. “We had no reason to stay any longer, and the chance of them taking you again was too great.” He reclined in one of the chairs near the windows, watching Alex. “We couldn’t take any more chances.”
“Your people have agreed to leave this universe and time period?” Alex asked, staring down at Earth, noticing the blue water had turned a shade of teal and the land was swallowing up what little remained of the ocean water.
Her mother’s hand curled around her waist. “We are all tired of the fighting and our Earth is a lost cause.” Alex smiled when her mom squeezed her side, feeling loved for the first time in her life. “Yes, our people are overjoyed to find a place of peace and live out their lives exactly the way they please.”
“Doesn’t this parallel universe have laws of the land?” Alex questioned, twisting to see her mother.
“Not entirely,” her father spoke up. “After the asteroids nearly killed off all the species of this Earth, it took hundreds of years to return it to a livable place. Humans and anamans are just beginning to create civilization again. They could use direction and guidance.” A smile surfaced on his lips and for the first time today, in his eyes as well. “I think we can make this Earth our own heaven.”
Alex leaned against her mom’s chest, allowing her to be folded in her mother’s embrace, while watching the stars and the Earth. In the far distance she could see a massive rock hanging in space and she pointed at it. “What’s that?”
“That’s our moon,” her mother replied, her breath warm on Alex’s cheek. “It appears so calm up here. Hard to believe it will destroy our home in just a matter of weeks.”
Alex chewed on her bottom lip, seeing for the first time why it was imperative they escaped. She could hear Henry mumbling to himself and her father’s eyes had glossed over, his thoughts apparently a million miles away. Enjoying the quiet and the beauty of space, Alex breathed in deep, observing the other ships lining up around them.
“We have company,” Henry spoke up behind them.
Jax sat up straight, glancing out the windows and then flew out of his seat, racing toward the door. “Henry, when you are ready to make the jump, call me on the bridge.” The door slid open and Alex’s father disappeared down the corridor.
Placing her hand over her heart, Alex’s gaze darted around searching for whatever her father had seen. “Who’s here?” she asked, looking back at her mother and Henry.
“It looks like the Anaman have arrived.” Her mother stood with a calm grace, eyeing a television screen near the computers. “Most humans have begun the journey to Europa, aside from a select few hundred who were charged with your captivity and torture. The Anaman are far more difficult to reason with, but their compassion runs deeper. I’m not sure how long they will give us before they begin fighting, and this time they have the entire rebellion in front of them, at their disposal to annihilate.” Her mother’s eyes fell to the ground for a moment, before meeting Alex’s gaze. “It could become deadly.”
“What can I do?” Alex asked, moving closer to Henry.
Henry shook his head
, his eyes slanted in concentration. “All I need is time. Less than thirty minutes and the wormhole will open, but if they damage any of the other ships connection with us, we could fail at bringing everyone through.”
“Do we have shields to defend the ships?” Alex glanced between her mother and Henry, desperate to be of use.
Adina nodded, her finger hovering over what looked like a communication device in her ear. “The shields are all secure, but if they bring their full force on one ship, they’ll destroy it with ease. They can pick us off, one by one.”
As her mother pressed down on the device in her ear, the ship next to them was struck with a force that exploded through their shields. Alex screamed, stumbling backward and cowering in the corner, keeping an eye on her mother as she spoke to someone on the other side of her device. Henry continued to work furiously on his keyboard and screen.
Alex’s gaze strayed back to the window. A section of the neighboring ship was on fire and Alex watched in horror, her hands over her mouth, as another explosion rocked the same ship.
“Are we not going to retaliate?” Alex cried out. As soon as the words escaped her lips, she heard a deafening blast, followed by the darkness outside the window lighting up from another ship outside of her view being struck.
“We are retaliating,” Henry replied, his fingers flashing rapidly over the screen.
Adina hurried over to Alex, holding out her hand to help her up. “It’s going to become worse, before it gets better. The Anamans had no intention of waiting for a discussion. They were already prepared to terminate us the moment they arrived. We can wait here with Henry or we can return to our quarters and settle in there, until it is over.”
“I don’t want to leave,” Alex insisted, pressing her back up against the wall behind her. “I’m scared out of my mind, but I’m not leaving. Can you remove the device in my neck? I want to remember everything.”
A Web Through Time Page 4
