by J. N. Chaney
The alarm clock by the bunk beds Ricky and I shared stood on one of the few pieces of furniture in our tent, a four-drawer dresser we shared, which contained the few changes of clothes we owned.
The alarm numbers stared at me bright red in the darkness, showing an ungodly early time. I elected the night before to get a solid night’s sleep and talk to Tong in the morning. The others would meet me at the alien’s mountain base, and we would leave. Iris had already informed Tong of our plan. My going was more out of courtesy than anything else to make sure the alien was ready.
I yawned, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My cargo pants and long-sleeve shirt would work for another day. The fleeting idea that they needed to be washed came and went as I shoved my feet into my black boots.
Outside, only the suits on guard duty and the very earliest of risers were about. Cooks in charge of preparing breakfast walked down the road with large containers and supplies. A shift of mechanics that worked around the clock were busy on the watchtowers by the front gate.
I touched the earpiece in my right ear to speak with Iris. “You tell Tong I’m on my way?”
“He knows and he’s very excited,” Iris said. “His English has gotten better even since the last time you talked to him. He should be able to communicate with you on a very normal level.”
“Can’t wait,” I said, making my way to the gates.
“Stacy asked me to inform you that she will load the body armor into the crawler. You will be able to gear up Tong’s mountain installation before you depart on your journey,” Iris said.
“Right, the armor we found in the jungle, the gear David came across along with the crawler,” I said, remembering the body armor well.
The air was chilly in the morning before the planet’s twin suns beat the dawn back. I heard someone grunting and the familiar sounds of a bag being struck as I walked toward the gates.
The sounds piqued my interest. They were the same I had heard every day for the better part of my life. I missed the rhythm of gladiators hard at work, grunting and panting as they landed punches in the training room.
I weaved my way down a pair of tents, surprised to find myself at the northern section of the wall where the Civil Authority Department had constructed their headquarters. From behind the massive tent they used to run their operation, someone had set up a punching bag, bench, and weight rack.
John Bowers landed blows from his meaty hands on the bag. His fists were wrapped in white cloth. He had great form: head down, chin tucked, hands protecting his face.
The man knew what he was doing.
“You come to train too?” John asked without even looking at me.
“Not today,” I said, not missing a beat. “I’m on my way out. Heard someone trying to train, so I thought I’d come and leave some pointers.”
John slammed one more fist into the bag so hard, it nearly toppled the entire structure holding it in place. He looked over at me with a smile. “Anytime you want to step into the pit, you know where to find me.”
“Too few of us already,” I said, walking closer and examining his workout area. “I can’t have you out of commission while you’re recovering. Stacy would kill me.”
John grinned. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and motioned to the impromptu gym around him. “It’s not much, but I salvaged what I could.”
“It looks great to me,” I said, finding myself missing the smell of sweat and the sounds of lifting. “You said you were a gladiator too?”
“Trained under the best,” John said, taking a seat on the bench before grabbing his water bottle. “Never made it to the level you did because of an injury to my left knee, but I would have. I worked out at George Lopez gym.”
“No way,” I said, taking in John again and finding a new level of respect for the man. “I worked with George for a few years. Did he kill you with his cardio drills?”
A wide grin split John’s face. “I thought I was going to die more than once with that routine he had with all those burpees and sprints.”
“I puked a few times,” I said, remembering those years with fondness. “Couldn’t eat jalapenos for a while after they came up one day.”
We both grinned. A moment of easy silence passed between us as we found neutral ground.
“You know, I had you pegged wrong,” I said to John. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but it’s nice to have another gladiator in this mess.”
“If it makes you feel better, I didn’t really like you either,” John said with a lopsided grin. His face suddenly turned sober as he remembered something. “I uh—I know it was kept quiet in the media, but in the circuit, amongst the other gladiators, I know why you retired. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, yeah, me too,” I said, faced once again with the memory of my past. “Well hey, I gotta get going, but I’ll see you around.”
“Anytime you want to use my little area to train, open invitation,” John said, rising to his feet.
“I’ll take you up on that,” I said. “It’s been too long.”
“Doesn’t seem like you’ve lost much,” John said. “That was quite a clinic you put on last week.”
“Yeah, John, I guess old habits die hard,” I said.
John nodded. “My friends call me JB.”
“See you around, JB,” I said. I left reminding myself to try being nicer to people I didn’t know. I had written JB off the first time I met him and then again at the gate yesterday. Now after taking even a few minutes getting to know him, he wasn’t that bad of a guy after all.
I made my way to the front gate, where a pair of suits recognized me and allowed me to exit. The gate was reinforced with a steel panel as well as two extra anchors that secured it to the rest of the wall. It wasn’t exactly impenetrable, but it was twice as strong as before.
The chill morning air encouraged me to jog the rest of the way around the wall and make my way east behind the Orion. I stopped when I reached the hill, hearing barking coming from behind me.
Mutt galloped to my side and gave me dirty look.
“What?” I said. “I didn’t know if you wanted to come on this one. Remember what happened last time?”
Mutt huffed out of his mouth. He kept pace with me, nose to the ground, sniffing all around him.
We reached the open mountain doors leading into the chamber where we first met Tong. The alien was there waiting for us. His reptilian face broke into a wide grin when he saw Mutt.
Tong knelt down on the ground with his mouth open in a surprised and delighted smile.
I heard Mutt growl beside me.
“Easy, boy,” I said. “He’s a friend.”
“Great Dawn,” Tong said, looking at me and then Mutt. “Is this your companion? I’ve never seen a companion such as this.”
“Dean, remember?” I asked. “Not Great Dawn. Just call me Dean.”
“Dean,” Tong repeated. “Is this your companion?”
“He’s an animal—a dog named Mutt,” I said, exchanging looks with the pup. “I guess he’s a companion. I’d call him a pet, but he found me and pretty much takes care of himself.”
“Hello, companion Mutt,” Tong said, waving his three-fingered hand. Tong looked at me, stopping his wave in mid-action. “Am I performing the wave action appropriately, Dean? Iris instructed me. This is the way humans say hello?”
“Yeah, that’s great,” I said, scratching at the underside of my jaw. “Did Iris tell you about our plan? To head out this morning?”
“Yes, she did, and I have a few concerns,” Tong said, still waving his hand at Mutt and now at me.
“You can stop waving now,” I told him. “We just do like two or three waves and that’s it.”
“Oh, how interesting,” Tong said, blinking rapidly. “I have so much still to learn.”
“Don’t worry about it; even some humans don’t have stuff like this nailed down. We call those people awkward,” I said. “But that doesn’t matter right now. What concerns do you have with
our plan?”
“Well, to begin with, there is no need to secure the communication section of your colony ship.”
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“My own people have a communication installation set inside where we are headed. Also, there is no one to communicate with.” Tong shrugged his slender shoulders. “My species is very advanced. We’ve sent out signals trying to communicate with any other life in the galaxy and there has never been any response.”
“Did your people ever construct ships to go out and explore?” I asked.
“Never,” Tong said with a look of concern. “The idea had been brought up before. We sent out unmanned crafts, but our resources were always better spent elsewhere, and then the war broke out with the Rung faction. After that, we were locked in a civil war.”
“You said you weren’t able to defeat Legion, so you went into hiding,” I said listing off the many questions I wanted to ask Tong. “What makes you think we will be able to defeat it now?”
“Because your people are the Dawn foretold of in prophecy,” Tong answered with another of his wide smiles.
“Right, I should have seen that one coming,” I said. “You have weapons and supplies in that underground base where your people sleep?”
“Oh, yes, many,” Tong said with a nod.
“All right, I guess we have a plan, then. We’ll swing by to see what happened to our expedition team and then head down to your installation,” I said.
“Yes, I am eager to be off.” Tong opened his arms to take in the large chamber. “I am also eager to meet more humans. Iris tells me you are such an interesting people. I want to know more about your digestive system, and your inability to see in the dark truly baffles me.”
“Yeah, well you can ask someone else about their digestive system,” I told Tong. “I—”
“We’re loading the crawler now,” Arun said into my earpiece, cutting me off. “Is Tong ready?”
“Yeah, we’re ready,” I said, answering Arun’s question. “Tong has a few questions for you about your digestive tract.”
Tong looked at me, nodding emphatically.
“Riiiiight,” Arun said. “We’ll be there soon.”
“They’re on their way,” I told the alien. “I’m going to wait for them outside. Gather whatever you need and come join me.”
Tong nodded.
I traveled back up the slightly inclined tunnel that led to the giant doors of the alien cave chamber. Mutt remained content to stay behind and explore the cave. I stretched weary muscles as the cool morning air hit me. Motion caught my attention from my right.
When I looked over, I saw a rock the size of my fist bearing down at my skull. I didn’t have time to register who was holding it. Pain exploded behind my eyes, stars filled my vision, then blackness.
9
I wasn’t fully conscious, I knew that much. Warm blood soaked the back of my hair and ran down my back. I was being dragged by someone. I didn’t have the strength to turn back and see who.
I swam in and out of consciousness. Memories of being taken somewhere came to me in short spurts like a heartbeat while I was being dragged by the back of my shirt over rough terrain, then nothing.
When I came to, I had no idea how much time had passed. Someone had tied me to the trunk of a tree, then things faded to black once more. My arms had been taken behind the tree and my wrists secured so tight, I thought my shoulders would pop out of their sockets, then the world faded to black again.
“Wake up, wake up,” I heard a voice playfully chant through the darkness of my unconsciousness. A hard slap across my face brought the taste of blood to my mouth. “I said wake up. It’s rude to ignore guests.”
My head felt like a baseball must feel after a homerun. I felt sick to my stomach. The light hurt my eyes and sent pain knifing through my skull. I looked up to see the back of a tall man. He wore black pants and black hood, but I knew who it was. I recognized his voice.
“I was wondering when you’d show up,” I said, spitting a mixture of blood and saliva to the side. “Thanks for your handkerchief the other day. It was thoughtful.”
Maksim still didn’t turn around. His shoulders shuddered with laughter. While the moment of manic glee passed over him, I took the time to test my bonds.
I was seated with my back against a wide tree trunk, and my arms were stretched behind me, making my joints scream with pain. Either a rope or some kind of leather strap held my wrists securely behind the tree. There was absolutely no give in the material securing my hands. Already it was biting into my wrists, cutting off circulation.
“You looked like you could use it more than me,” Maksim said, shaking his head. “That alien smelled horrible. It always surprised me how one can hide in plain sight. I slipped past the guards on the wall the night before. When that beast attacked, it gave me the perfect opportunity to get lost in the crowd. How many survivors do you have in your little compound now? Two thousand? It can’t be more than three.”
I didn’t give him anything. I didn’t know why he wanted me alive unless it was to torture me for information. He could have killed me at the exit of the cave. Instead, he took the time to take me all the way out here.
I looked around to see if I could recognize anything around me. The trees were those that belonged in a forest, not a jungle. They were interspersed and still thin, not close together like in the thick part of the forest near the mist marsh.
I could only guess, but I imagined he’d taken me to where the forest began, just south of the Orion. I would be barely out of yelling range, just far enough for no one to hear us.
“Not going to say anything?” Maksim said. “I didn’t expect you would. I imagined it would take some coaxing to get information from you.”
Maksim finally turned around. What I saw made my already sour stomach want to vomit on the forest floor. The right side of his face was burned to the extent it didn’t even look like skin clinging to his skull anymore, but rather bright pink mush that wrinkled like some kind of scaled snake.
The lip on the right side of his face curled up to reveal his teeth. He wore his hood, so I couldn’t see how much of his hair was burned, but to be honest, I didn’t want to.
“You see what I’ve sacrificed for my cause?” Maksim leaned in close to my face. “You see how deep my resolve lies?”
The stench coming off his burned flesh smelled like charred meat. He leaned in so close, our noses almost touched. “You see, Dean, this is what I’ve sacrificed. What are you willing to sacrifice, I wonder?”
“That fire that burned your mug must have cooked your brain too if you think I’m going to tell you or help you with anything,” I said. “What’s your plan now, to live a life bent on seeing the colony destroyed? Your Disciple friend already killed thousands and stranded the rest of us here. What more do you want?”
“I want the death of the Eternals and all who follow them,” Maksim said, rearing up to his full height. “And you’re going to help me.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said, not being able to help a smile crossing my lips. “Good luck with that, Two Face.”
Apparently, Maksim didn’t appreciate my choice of words to describe his new appearance. A fist collided with the left side of my jaw and another with my right cheek.
If nothing else, I could take a punch. Not a rock to the back of my head, but a punch, I could deal with.
I laughed, shrugging off the blows.
That pissed off Maksim even more. He sent another blow to my left eye then pulled up short.
“No, no, you’re used to this kind of brutality, aren’t you?” Maksim said, standing up straight. He let his fist fall to his side. “I could beat you into a bloody pulp and you’d just sit there and laugh. In that way, you and I are the same.”
“Yeah, you keep on saying that, but if we were so similar, you’d think we’d get along better,” I said with a long sigh. I worked my jaw around; it was already beginning to swell.
“If I can’t get you to talk or help me on your own”—Maksim paused here dramatically to let the tension build— “you’re going to force me to kidnap another.”
A sick feeling swept over me as I understood what Maksim was getting at.
“Who would I bring?” Maksim asked rhetorically. “I’ve seen the way you look at Stacy. She would be the obvious choice. But I wonder if you’d let an Eternal die right in front of you? I hear those abominations can grow back their own limbs. I wonder how many pieces I can cut them into before they would die. What do you think?”
I didn’t say anything. I knew this was all an act to try and get me angry. It was working, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. My mind was running on overtime, trying to see past the fog of pain and concentrate on an escape plan.
Think, I told myself. You’ve been in bad spots before. Think about how you’re going to get out of this one.
“The girl it is,” Maksim said as if he’d just made up his mind. “If you’ll watch her die, then I’ll grab an Eternal next.”
“What is it that you want to know?” I asked. “You know everything already if you were there inside our walls. Arun announced it. You know about the aliens, the virus, our numbers—you already know it all.”
“I know most, but not all.” Maksim turned to me again. “This virus, how is it spread? Where did it come from, and most of all, can it be manipulated to work on an Eternal?”
Puzzle pieces began to fit in place in my mind as I worked on exactly what Maksim was getting at.
“Why would you want the virus to work on an Eternal?” I asked, already suspecting the answer.
Maksim gave me a grin that held no true joy. The right side of his burnt lip receded up to show all of his teeth on that side of his face.
“What if there existed a narrative where the Eternals did all of this?” Maksim asked. He moved his hands in the air as if he were painting a grand picture. “What if the Eternals did this all on their own? A master plan to kill off hundreds of thousands of Transients while only sacrificing a handful of their own? What if, after the crash, they started a virus to kill the transients that remained, sacrificing themselves to the virus in the process?”
