by Megg Jensen
Leila could have given in to those circumstances. She could be like her brother and yearn for the way things used to be. Or she could take matters into her hands. She could choose her own destiny and fight every step of the way for it.
Coming in contact with the liquid dragzhi had been a pleasant surprise. Once Leila had lain eyes on them, she knew what to do. Join with one, just as Rell had. It would give her the same power as Rell, and when they met, Leila knew she'd be fighting against her on a level field.
You are a brave human, the dragzhi spoke in her mind. I am proud to be joined with you. Together we will find Rell. We will find the humans. We will find the other dragzhi. We will be triumphant in defeating all of them. Together.
The part of the dragzhi that had left her body on their ship was only a ghost of what was left inside. The other dragzhi knew. They played along, letting the humans believe Leila was in full control of herself.
They will never know. Together we will bring an end to this war. We will unite the dragzhi again. We will destroy the girl.
Leila nodded, afraid to speak aloud and wake the others. When they'd gone to sleep, Denestra had darkened the lights inside the orb. Leila was too excited to sleep, preferring instead to listen to the soothing sounds the dragzhi was making inside her head.
It sang a song to her, and though she didn't know the words, Leila somehow understood the meaning. They were an old species, who had once roamed the stars. They spread over the known universe, to places Leila had never heard of before, leaving pieces of themselves on any planet environmentally hospitable to their species.
Always in threes. One of each form. One liquid. One fire. One rock. Forever bound together.
Until the day the fire left one planet on their own, leaving the rock and liquid stranded. By the time they made it back into space, their fire counterparts were long gone.
They spent millennia searching, all the while encouraging reproduction among the rock and liquid who had been left behind. One day, they would find their fire. They would merge again.
As time went on, the other dragzhi who still retained all three parts shunned the abandoned tribe. They stopped helping, considering them an abomination to the species.
They were given a ship and jettisoned into space, told never to return to their home world.
Leila comforted the dragzhi inside with her thoughts. Coddling it with her mind. She knew how it felt to lose part of her family, to be betrayed by those who remained, to face threats from outsiders who wanted to tear away the remaining piece of her family.
Leila was alone, just as the liquid and rock dragzhi were. Her family had been torn asunder, never to be whole again.
All she had left was Torsten, and she wouldn't lose him to Rell. Not today. Not ever.
As her body cried out for sleep, Leila's eyes closed. She rested against Torsten, knowing that someday soon they would be a family again, and Rell would be dead.
29
Rell sat in the corner of a dark hallway, tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't tell Dr. Anderson what her father had told her that night under the stars. It would only cement the terrible truth: Rell was a murderer.
Killing him hadn’t been an accident. It had been her response to what he’d whispered in her ear.
Something she knew he shouldn't say.
Something she knew was wrong.
Her whole short life she'd been taught that the council was the sacred gateway to the gods. They alone taught the truth and the way to the light. It was her goal to someday meet the gods, and when her father said what he did... something inside her snapped.
Rell had known, with certainty, that he was bad. Evil. No devout person would utter the words that had fallen from his lips.
"We are the gods, Rell. You and I. All of us. Inside we hold the power to do and be anything we want. I know this deep in my heart when I look to the stars. I want you to see it, too." He kissed her cheek gently, his eyelashes fluttering against her soft skin.
The words he'd spoken were lies. Her father, the person she loved most in the world, didn't believe in the gods. Anyone who didn't believe in the gods wasn't worthy to be in the presence of the council, and yet he served like the others.
When the guard found them in the tunnel, threatening to turn them into the council, Rell's anger flared. Her father could no longer step before them in supplication. He could no longer perform the rituals they held so sacred.
The guard stoked her anger, but in the moment, the self-righteous mind of a child sparked the fire hiding inside her. As she watched her father burn, she repented for his sins as well as for hers, promising herself she would serve the Menelewen Dored faithfully until the day she died.
Until she discovered for herself the gods were a lie. Her father had been right all along, and he'd died because she didn't believe him.
Rell sobbed into her hands, her shoulders shaking. She had intended to hide in the room where she'd met Wade and Cordan, but she couldn't find the right doorway. Instead, she'd given up, collapsing in a hallway alone. She knew it wouldn't be long until someone discovered her. They would take her back to her room. Back to Dr. Anderson. Back to the truth she was so desperate to hide.
Particularly now that she knew they were attempting to extract something about her father from her memories. What it was, she still didn't know. How could it help them to know she'd killed her father on purpose?
Rell sat up, dropping her hands to the floor. Maybe it wasn't her father they were trying to learn about. Maybe it was Rell's powers.
But how could they know? Joshua had sworn he'd remained true to her, serving her as the Key, though she didn't want him to.
The only others who knew about her dragzhi parentage were far away on Phoenix. Torsten would never tell, and she couldn't see a moment when Malia or Rutger would give up her secret. And Leila? She wouldn't have believed it.
No one else knew. No human, at least. Only the dragzhi who'd taken her captive.
Rell bit her lip. The dragzhi. Of course. The EU personnel had gotten Rell from the dragzhi. Perhaps the dragzhi had told them about Rell after they couldn't kill her themselves. Maybe they hoped the humans would kill her instead.
Rell slammed her fists into the floor. She wished she were normal.
Her father would still be alive. She would still be underground on Phoenix, living her simple life worshipping gods who might not exist, but at least gave her comfort.
Joshua would be alive. Mellok would be alive. Markel would be alive. The list continued to grow in her mind.
Torsten would be free to live his life without any consideration for her safety. Though she'd never asked him to rescue her, he seemed to have dedicated his life to doing just that. He was foolish. He was in love. That she knew because he'd told her more times than she could count. And not once did she tell him she reciprocated those feelings.
They were too new, too frightening, to say out loud. Instead, she kept them inside, worried that if she spoke them aloud it would change everything.
But it didn't seem to matter to Torsten. He had attempted to be her savior at every turn. He loved her that much.
Rell's heart ached to think of him. At least she could imagine him alive now, back on Phoenix, helping to rebuild their colony after the dragzhi attack devastated their numbers. Eventually, he would find someone new to love. It would be their job to repopulate Phoenix. She thought how little the people of Earth United cared for those left behind on Phoenix. They seemed only to care about her.
If only she knew exactly what they wanted from her. She could decide to either give it to them or hide it away forever as she chose. Because if the dragzhi couldn't kill her, how could the humans? Could anyone?
The thought of immortality sent shivers down Rell's spine. Who would want to live forever, watching loved ones die over and over through the generations?
Rell would rather live alone on a secluded planet than face tragedy again until her heart could no longer take it.
"Rell?" Cordan walked down the hall toward her, the old twinkle back in his eyes. "Wade was able to program me again. I don't know how long it will last, so I want to apologize to you. I should have protected you and your friend. I am so sorry he died. I have little control over my core programming. Wade is not the only one who has learned to program me. We don't know who the other person is. We should have warned you, but we did not think they would try to hurt you. We know better now. You cannot trust anyone, Rell. No one."
"Except for you and Wade." Rell took Cordan's proffered hand and stood on shaky legs.
"Perhaps just Wade, as I proved earlier." Cordan thrust his elbow out to the side. Rell slipped her arm through it, using his sturdy cyborg body to balance her own.
"If I need Wade, how can I find him?" Rell asked as they walked through the halls.
"You cannot. He will find you, as he sent me to you just now. He always knows where you are, Rell, and he will do his best to help you."
"How can he find me so easily? Do I have a tracker implanted?" She wiped the tears from her face with her free arm.
Cordan looked down at her, and she could have sworn she saw pity in his eyes. "I cannot explain that to you now. Perhaps in the future."
Rell thought his answer strange, but refrained from asking more questions. If he could tell her, he would. She wouldn't waste either of their time with pointless questions.
"Now what? Are you taking me back to my room? Is Dr. Anderson still there?" Rell asked.
Cordan nodded. "The doctor sent me to find you. While walking the halls, I was restored to myself. Wade guided me to you. When we arrive back at your room, I will pretend to be a simple cyborg. It is best if no one knows the truth."
"Agreed," Rell said. They rounded a corner, and the halls began to look familiar as they passed the mess and the library where she'd met Wade.
Rell remained silent as they passed by other people, who looked at her only with mild curiosity. Perhaps they didn't know who she was, or why she was there. Dr. Anderson had told her there were thousands of people on the ship. It was unlikely all of them would know about the odd girl they'd taken from the dragzhi.
"We are almost there," Cordan said in a whisper. "I will be outside your door. Wade will be more vigilant in protecting me from outside influences. You must continue to hold your own, Rell, despite the challenges you are facing. Once we know what they want, we can use it to our advantage. Be careful, my friend."
She looked at the cyborg, pleased to find she felt the same way about him. He was, indeed, a friend. One she was glad she had in uncertain times.
"Thank you, Cordan."
Rell smiled at him, then entered her room, squaring her shoulders for the confrontation she was about to have with the doctor.
30
Dr. Anderson sat at the table, waiting patiently, as if she knew all along Rell would return to her.
"What do you want from me?" Rell asked, no longer caring about keeping secrets.
A smile slithered across Dr. Anderson's face. "It isn't about wants; it's about needs. We need information from you, Rell. If you decide to cooperate, we can make things easier for you."
"I want to go home, that's it. If I tell you what you want to know, will you take me back to Phoenix?" Rell crossed her arms over her chest.
"I told you, Phoenix is gone.”
"No, it isn't. It's still out there, and so are my friends. You tried to isolate me to get me to trust you. I'm done pretending. I hope you are, too."
Dr. Anderson sat back in her chair, resting her hands on her lap. "I want to know how you control your dragzhi side. What techniques do you use to keep yourself from shooting fire every time you're angry? How do you keep your thoughts sane?"
Rell stumbled backward, stunned at Dr. Anderson's candid questions. She sat on a nearby chair, her fingernails digging into the arms of the chair. These weren't the questions she'd expected. Perhaps something about her parentage. How she came to have a dragzhi side. Those were questions she had basic answers to. But this, Rell rarely found herself in control of her dragzhi side. It was only through great effort that she managed to keep it contained. Even then, she wasn't sure what it was, other than the strength of her will.
“Why do you want to know?" Rell asked.
"Despite what you and your friends might have assumed, this is not a warship. This vessel is for scientific research." Dr. Anderson's eyes sparkled. "We're conducting very important work, and we need your help."
"Mine?" Rell was still confused. What scientific knowledge could she offer? She'd spent her whole life underground serving non-existent gods.
"Come with me." Dr. Anderson stood, holding out a hand. "I have something to show you."
Rell followed the doctor out the door. She nodded once at Cordan, to let him know she was safe. He remained at her door, ever vigilant.
Dr. Anderson strode down the hallway at a fast clip. Rell struggled to keep up with the woman as her long white cloaked flapped behind her. She inserted a keycard into a slot, and a door opened in front of them.
Rell followed her through, her mouth agape. The walls were lined with glass cages. Humans were locked in them, their eyes blank and their lips slack.
"What is this?" Rell managed to ask.
"This is one of our labs. We've managed to splice human DNA with dragzhi DNA. We were hoping to create an army of warriors, but nothing seems to go right. Until the dragzhi told us about you. You see, Rell, they said they’d captured a human who also shared some of their DNA, but they couldn’t figure out how to control you. Of course they came to us, knowing we also had an interest in understanding someone like you.”
“If you knew, then why did you lie to me?”
Dr. Anderson raised her eyebrows. “The dragzhi also mentioned your disinterest in cooperation. I had hoped to get the information from you in another way. Unfortunately, I see now that nothing we do—not isolation or killing your friends—will sway you.”
Rell started as a flash of fire erupted from the mouth of one of the captives, a woman. She licked her lips, then closed her mouth as she reached out a hand toward Rell.
"She was trying to talk to you. Subject 483 cannot communicate by speaking. We've tried to teach her sign language, but she doesn't seem to grasp that either. We were hoping you could teach us how to help them." Dr. Anderson faced her. "Can you, Rell? Can you help these poor souls?"
"How many of them are there?" she asked.
"Thousands. This is only the first level of subjects."
"And if they learn how to control their dragzhi side, then what happens to them?" Rell asked, afraid of the answer.
"Then they become the greatest genetically engineered army Earth United has ever seen." Dr. Anderson beamed with pride while Rell swallowed the rising bile in her throat.
Dr. Anderson rested a hand on Rell's shoulder. "It's okay. They've never known a life like you or I. They were created in a lab and have lived here their whole lives. It's not as if we were kidnapping perfectly capable humans from Earth." Dr. Anderson laughed.
Rell didn't.
"So, you see, if you can teach us how you control your dragzhi side, it will help us leap ahead in our studies. Subject 483 might learn to speak properly. Subject 173 may stop setting her dinner on fire. Subject 9 could give birth without killing the baby." Dr. Anderson's eyes were sad for a moment.
"Give birth?" Rell asked. "How are they impregnated?"
"By artificial insemination, of course. We can't allow the subjects to mate. They'd kill each other, and we would lose very important scientific research," Dr. Anderson said.
Rell stepped closer to the glass prison holding Subject 483. She set her hand upon the glass. Subject 483 came closer, her hand resting opposite of Rell's. "I'm so sorry they've done this to you," she said, leaning her forehead on the glass.
Subject 483 mirrored Rell's action. Her mouth parted and a small puff of smoke swirled in the air. With a heavy heart, Rell backed away from the glas
s, turning her attention to Dr. Anderson. "If you feel it necessary to experiment with human subjects, why thousands? Why not only one or two?"
Dr. Anderson sighed. "In the early days, we had only a few subjects. We never intended to go past ten. But, we found something curious. The subjects wouldn't die. No matter what we did to them, they recovered. Much like yourself. It was then we realized we'd stumbled upon the greatest army known to man. Imagine, a being of flesh. Someone with the intelligence of humans. The cunning. The adaptability. But unstoppable. Our scientists may have gone overboard creating this army. Unfortunately, we have yet to learn to control it." Dr. Anderson motioned for Rell to follow her as she walked through the cages.
Rell saw humans of all shapes and sizes and colors. Their features were so varied, she felt as if she'd stumbled into the cradle of life. Everyone was represented in them. She bit her lip, holding back tears.
No one should live this way, even if they had been created in a lab. To her, they looked human. The pain in their eyes told her they felt the same things she did. Had Dr. Anderson’s scientific ambition blinded her to what she was doing to these innocent lives?
Rell wasn't sure she could teach any of the subjects to control their dragzhi side. If they couldn't communicate with her, how could she begin to teach them something so abstract, something she barely understood?
In a cage up ahead, a male thrashed against the walls, slamming his fists into the glass, his mouth moving. Rell could make out the two words he said over and over again, his vocalizations contained within the cage. Help me. He burst into flame, his body consumed with fire.
Rell gasped.
"It's okay," Dr. Anderson said, rolling her eyes. "Subject 94 does this all the time. He sets himself on fire, then it snuffs out on its own. His skin appears burned for a few days, but it heals itself."
Dr. Anderson grabbed Rell's hands, her eyes wide. "Do you see? We can build a virtually indestructible army to fight our enemies. They can't be killed. We would win every battle. Every war. Humans would rule the universe. We could bring our ideas to other species. Everyone would live in peace."
