‘Never,’ Kit said and Evie saw some colour came back into her cheeks as she leant over her. ‘It’s pretty spectacular and not something I thought I’d see in my lifetime.’
‘When I was growing up, my Mom used to tell me that people believed in a God who lived in the clouds and looked over everyone, I came to believe more in science but seeing this, makes me question how science can create all of this,’ Evie said.
‘My mom only told me that space is where the aliens came from,’ Kit said. ‘So if we meet anyone up here it’s likely to be them.’
Evie didn’t know how to reply so for a moment she allowed herself to be lost in the memory of her mother and how she had tried to provide comfort during the most difficult of times. A woman who despite everything, was relentlessly positive and determined. Evie had often come home from the science experiments and it was her mother who would take care of her. She would gently swab wounds and cook her succulent beef stew in gravy. They would curl up in bed together, reading a book Evie’s father found or making up their own stories. Erin always tried to explain the world they were into Evie in a calm and simple way and she always believed the world could change. That’s what gave Evie hope that things could be better, her mother’s relentless belief that no matter what they were going through, things could change. Evie’s nerves became settled by the memory, having grown so used to not allowing herself to think of her mother she realised she welcomed the thoughts like an old friend. Then her thoughts turned to Jack and her stomach churned again. She wanted to know what he was doing, what he was working on and for who. She hated him for not wanting to work with her and Kit, but mostly she just wanted him to be safe, and even that thought made her sad with guilt.
Evie was grateful when Evans came over to join them and her thoughts were interrupted. ‘It’s safe to walk about the cabin now,’ he said. ‘We need you to join us so we can give you a debrief.’
Evie and Kit unbuckled their belts and followed him down the aisle, Evie saw some of the soldiers clutching paper bags and looking a little green and she gave them a sympathetic smile but they turned away from her. Evans led them through the curtained wall to the pods of desks and offered them a seat. A waitress offered them a glass of water and a small bowl of fruit.
Evie looked at the table in front of them that Evans had turned into a screen. It was an interactive holograph and showed a map of the world. She had seen this type of technology before but it wasn’t easily accessible, whoever equipped this plane must have had some high ranking contacts. She chose not to question where it came from as Evans began to explain what they were looking at.
‘This is North America,’ he told her as he swiped to the country. ‘Originally there were two countries, America and Canada but when the virus hit, Canada was pretty much wiped out and became part of America so the people there could survive. South America also nearly had all of their population wiped out and is a dangerous landscape but refused to join the States. Across the water, where we’re travelling is a new continent for us, it was known as Europe. Lots of different countries all combined to one union, London was part of it, till it wasn’t and is now an isolated island.’
‘What happened to them when the aliens attacked?’ Kit asked.
‘They survived,’ Evans said. ‘They’ve been used to invasions so knew how to cope when the enemy was approaching, they survived underground and built another world under the streets. It’s quite fascinating hearing about it and if America had something similar we may have had a better chance.’
‘Do they have Genics?’ Evie asked.
‘They have some,’ Evans said as Princeps Cerkis came over to them. Evie saw Kit get to her feet in a gesture of respect and so did the same. The woman nodded at them as she took a seat. She looked a little older than Evie remembered, a couple extra wrinkles seemed to have grown in the corner of her eyes and her eyes were drooping shut as she struggled to keep them open.
‘My source tells me that Great Britain didn’t have an extensive genetics testing program like we did,’ she said as she took a small piece of watermelon. ‘But they do have Genics, some of ours who escaped and bred. We believe they’re from the X-8 series.’
Evie exchanged glances with Kit, they were both from the X-9 series, a group of Genics that most resembled humans and could blend into normal society if needed. X-8’s stood out a little more. A lot more. ‘I operated on a couple in the lab,’ Evie told them. ‘They’re genetic makeup is remarkable. Deadly, but remarkable. The ones who’ve survived outside of Volt are known as Death Marks, they can travel differently to us and have powers designed purely to kill.’ She thought of Kingsley in the University, how he had appeared through a shadow attack, and then how she had managed to kill him. She shook the memory away, trying to work out how she had been able to kill an X-8 was too much for her to try and process right now.
‘There’s going to be a lot of interest in Genics in Europe,’ Evans said. ‘It’s likely they wouldn’t have had much exposure to people like you so it’s best to tread carefully while we’re there, we don’t want to have them see us as the enemy.’
‘But if they see what we can do they might be more willing to help us, we could offer them something that they might want,’ Kit said.
‘Which could open us up to being exploited,’ Cerkis said. ‘Our power needs to remain our own, we can’t share it on good faith.’
‘But if we keep it to ourselves they could see it as dangerous,’ Kit said. ‘Then we’ll be right back where we were with Galen.’
‘London is different,’ Evans interjected. ‘This is the file I have, I suggest you read, relax for a bit and we’ll reconvene in a few hours.’
Evie could see Kit’s furrowed brow and her frustration at being sidelined but she reluctantly took a seat on one of the beds and opened the folder. ‘You should rest,’ Evie told her.
Kit shook her head. ‘I need to know what we’re going to be facing,’ she said.
Evie spotted the curtains hanging above the bed and pulled them round so they had privacy. ‘You’ll work yourself to the ground,’ she said.
She saw Kit frown for a moment before she turned to her. ‘I need to know what we’re facing so that I can protect you,’ she said. ‘We don’t know who we’re meeting and I can’t risk them doing something to you that we can’t undo.’
Evie sat back in her seat with discomfort growing in her stomach. Kit took her hand. ‘Sorry,’ she said and put the file to one side. ‘Just a little on edge and not enough sleep.’
Evie lifted the armrest that was between them and pulled the blanket over them. ‘Then we need to sleep,’ she said. ‘We can deal with this better when we’re rested.’
As Kit nestled next to her, Evie didn’t tell her that she was dreading going to London, fearing what would happen when they saw the council.
Chapter Five
When Kit settled into the seat the weight of exhaustion pulled on her eyes. She wanted to keep going, to push past her own limits until she felt like she had the situation under control but she couldn’t keep fighting her own body. She allowed her eyes to shut as she rested her head on Evie’s shoulder. As the world around her became dark she woke in her subconscious in a darkened room. As she tried to see through the darkness she walked forward. This was different from a normal dream, the images were normally fleeting, an apparition. In this dream she could feel the world around her, she could control her tentative movements forward and could think the way she would normally.
This is a dream, she told herself as the hairs on her neck stood on end. She heard something move behind her, it rustled the air and darted away like a shadow when Kit turned around. ‘Who’s there?’ She asked.
Her question was met with silence, her heart pounded and sweat dripped down the back of her neck as she tried desperately to see through the dark. Something in the corner of the room caught her eye and she moved slowly, she could sense a creature lurking in the shadows. Her blood moved differently under her ski
n, her heart beat a little quicker and her mouth went dry in anticipation. ‘Who’s there? Show yourself!’
The creature made a low throaty noise, if Kit didn’t know better she would have sworn it was almost a laugh. A piercing noise shot through her head, it was a loud screech that felt like it was burning her brain. ‘Who has entered my lair?’ She heard a voice ask in her head but the pain scored through her made her unable to answer. ‘A Genic?’ The voice asked. It was deep, scratchy and certainly didn’t sound human. Kit fell to her knees as she gripped the side of her head and the creature moved closer to her. She was able to open her eyes and felt the pain ebb away. The creature she saw was dark grey, it’s skin rippled with scales as it crawled on all fours and it’s face was large and angular at the chin. But it was it’s wide black eyes slanted towards its fanged mouth that made Kit’s breath catch in her throat.
She tried to speak but couldn’t make a sound. The creature looked at her curiously and she sensed her mind clicking and joining its. ‘You’re one of them, aren’t you?’ Her mind asked. ‘An Other?’
‘Some call us Others,’ the creature replied. ‘Some call us alien, we call ourselves Inhabitants, the original species of this world. Then your kind came along and we had to go underground, living in different lifeforms until we could regenerate and reclaim the planet for ourselves.’
‘You colonised us?’ Kit asked.
‘We have been colonising you,’ the creature told her. ‘Genics are alien, you’re part of us, we’re your history, your present and we’re going to be your future. You get your powers from us and humans will never accept you because of it.’
‘You don’t know that,’ Kit said.
‘I’ve seen the future,’ the creature told her. ‘Now you will too.’
Before Kit could do anything there was a bright flash of white light. She was standing in the Stacks, or at least what used to be the Stacks. The buildings made out of large cargo carriers were burning, the ground was covered in ash and bone and the smell of burning flesh tore through the air and made her want to vomit. A man appeared next to her and when she turned to him she saw the same black oval eyes of the alien and when it blinked, it reminded Kit of reptiles and how they looked at her.
‘What is this?’ Kit asked.
‘This is what happens if Genics succeed,’ the alien replied. ‘There will be no order only chaos, there will be one who gets too much power and it will lead to destruction.’
Kit swallowed hard as she saw the scenes of carnage erupt around her. ‘Who would do this?’ She asked.
The scene in front of her changed to an abandoned room, it was dark and shrouded in shadow. A figure was leaning against the side of the window looking over the burning landscape below. Kit took a couple steps forward and saw a svelte figure with long hair standing in front of her. She could smell the faint smell of perfume and as her heart reacted in a familiar pitter-patter thump she tried to catch her breath. In front of her was Evie.
‘She’ll destroy us all,’ the creature said and Kit’s eyes flew open.
Kit gasped for air as she sat bolt upright in the aeroplane seat. Evie woke next to her and Kit could hear her fussing over her but was trying to catch her breath. Amongst the confusion, she felt someone put a gas mask over her and her breathing slowed and her eyes adjusted to her surroundings. She looked down at her mouth and saw that it wasn’t a gas mask but a plastic breathing mask, she could feel something wet under her nose and she looked over to Evie as her eyes felt like they were going to fade.
‘Stay with me,’ Evie said. ‘Breath slowly, deep breaths.’
Kit did as she was told and found herself become steady again. She took the mask off and touched under her nose where she saw blood. ‘What happened?’ Evans asked.
Kit tried to talk but she tasted a deeply bitter taste in her mouth that made her want to gag.
‘Can we get some water? And a tissue?’ Evie asked and Evans hurried away. ’It’s okay,’ Evie told her, but she couldn’t think clearly or understand properly what anyone was saying. ‘Did you just have a nightmare?’
Kit looked at her, if only she knew what she had seen, she would know it wasn’t just a nightmare. It was the worse thing Kit could have imagined.
Evans came back with a cup of water and some tissues and Kit removed the mask and wiped her nose and a rush of fear flooded her when she saw the blood on the white paper. She took a sip of the water and saw her hand shaking. She sipped again and sat back in the seat as she tried to compose herself. Had she done anything while she was asleep? What should she tell them?
‘Feel better?’ Evie asked. Kit looked at her and saw the sweet, intelligent woman she had fallen in love with. The vision had to be wrong, Evie couldn’t be the destruction of them all.
‘I think so,’ Kit managed to say but her head was swarming. ‘Must be because of the plane,’ she tried to get them to believe it wasn’t worth the fuss but she should have known better, when you have people in your life who care, they’re going to try and make sure you’re okay no matter what, even it was just to reassure themselves.
Cerkis came over to them with a nurse and Evie got out of her seat so the nurse could examine her. She took her temperature, blood pressure and made her get to her feet just as a bout of turbulence hit them causing them all to fall and Kit held her stomach as it lurched again.
Thankfully, Evie took over and helped Kit back into her seat. ‘I think she’s fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll keep an eye on her and will shout if we need anything.’
Cerkis and Evans seemed to take the hint. ‘We’ll be close by,’ Evans said and Kit saw the familiar look of concern in his eyes. It had only been a couple of months since he had last seen her when she was sick, she had been given surgery in Fort Isa then after Evie had given her an infusion on the highway. She knew infusions were always the quick solution to getting better but this wasn’t like how it was then, there was something different happening to her and she was trying to do what she could to hide the fact that it scared her.
‘Thanks,’ Kit said to Evie as she sat back in the seat and pulled the blanket up over her chest. The plane shook again with turbulence and Kit closed her eyes. Scared she was going to slip back to the unknown place she quickly opened them. ‘I can’t wait to be out of this blasted thing,’ she said.
‘Same,’ Evie said. ‘Do you want to talk about what happened?’ She asked.
Kit shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t even know how to tell you,’ she said and saw Evie go quiet and Kit took her hand. ‘Not because I don’t want to,’ she said and Evie gave her a weak smile. ‘How are you feeling about London?’ She asked.
‘Better,’ Evie said. ‘I’ve decided that I’m going to fight for justice, I didn’t kill Galen out of malice, and I’m tired of repenting for something I’m not sorry for,’ Evie was speaking in a whisper, and Kit could see that she didn’t want to be overheard but she was glad to hear what Evie was saying. ‘I’m glad Galen’s gone, I’m glad we have the chance to explore our powers more and see what type of world we can create for Genics.’
Kit’s stomach twinged at the vision she had been given, she needed answers on what happened and what it meant. She wanted Evie to grow and find confidence but not if it meant the destruction of the rest of them. She didn’t believe that Evie would let that amount of destruction happen but she knew that power could corrupt people. She took Evie’s hand. ‘And I’ll be right by your side,’ she said. ‘I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I promise.’
Evie smiled at her and Kit felt her nerves settle a little and as their lips met Kit found a new sense of purpose growing inside her. She may not be a leader of an army, but she could protect someone she loved. Kit settled on that thought, for now, and found it calmed her. She hadn’t considered that she was falling for Evie, but now that she had thought the word she liked how it sounded and how it made her chest feel warm and comforted. She had found a place to rest with Evie, and knew she could trust her to do the right t
hing, regardless of what the vision had told her.
The plane landed with a heavy thud and as it pulled to a stop Evie gripped onto her seat to try and steady herself. When the plane finally parked she looked over to Kit and smiled. ‘We survived,’ she said.
‘Thank God,’ Kit breathed as she opened her eyes. ‘All I want is a hot shower and a bed.’
‘We might have to wait for that,’ Evie pointed out the window, where they saw at least 50 guards lining the runway armed with rifles. They were dressed in army fatigues and all wore the same ferocious expression.
‘Well that’s a welcome committee,’ Kit said, as a lump rose in Evie’s throat. ’Key is not to panic, whatever happens, stay calm and we’ll get through it.’
Evie nodded and braced herself for what may happen, her muscles tensed and thoughts swam through her as she readied herself for action. They unbuckled their seat belts and Evie looked over to Evans for guidance. If he hadn’t come with them she was certain they would be lost amongst the world of bureaucracy and foreign politics but he seemed to know how to guide the situation with ease.
‘Okay, when we get out there, remain calm, don’t fight back and act courteous, remember you’re not just representing the first American visitors in nearly a hundred years, but a whole new race of human that they’ve never encountered,’ he told them. ‘Acting rash could have disastrous consequences.’
Redux Page 5
