Redux

by S. A. Stephenson

  ‘Because humans do not know how to react with that which is different from them,’ the alien said. ‘If we come to this planet in the form that we’re in, we would be attacked, killed, studied, and more. We hoped that by having a human form, the fear would be less. Alas, we were wrong.’

  Kit turned from them, shaking her head in disbelief and the scene changed again. When Kit looked up she saw they were in a field, there was a valley below with little houses that looked like a bustling little village. ‘Where is this?’ She asked, pain throbbing in her temples once more.

  ‘This is the future,’ the alien told her. ‘As we like to see it. The world is filled with so much pain and agony, that we want to create a united country, a peaceful place where we can live and work together as one.’

  ‘This will never be possible,’ Kit told him.

  ‘Not at present,’ the alien said. ‘But if you work with us, become one with us, rather than the humans, then we will make this possible for you. You can have the future you desire, with the partner you desire and you can live a life we were all meant to live.’

  ‘At the expense of the human race,’ Kit added.

  ‘Humans don’t know what’s good for them, they’ll fight, they’ll wage wars, but it will not get them what they most desire,’ the alien told her. ‘You know this to be true. If you agree to join us, then this life will be your reward.’

  ‘And if I don’t agree?’ Kit asked.

  The alien was silent for a moment. ‘Then I’m afraid you are against us.’

  The world turned a brilliant white again and nausea rushed through Kit. When she opened her eyes she was back on the plane, gasping for breath. Evans was holding onto her, the other passengers were looking at her with concern, but she couldn’t say anything, she couldn’t speak. She held onto Evans as though he were the only solid thing in her world she could grasp onto, as everything she knew slipped from her hands.

  Pain radiated through Kit’s head in a way she had never experienced before. Everything was as though it was burning her, threatening to tear her apart from the inside out. She couldn’t open her eyes and could only make limp gestures to Evans as he fussed over her. She squirmed in her seat, desperately wanting to be off the plane and back on solid ground. Why did they have to keep her in here? Who thought planes were a good way to travel?. She could remember everything the aliens had told her in painstaking detail, hearing their voices in her head sent stabbing jolts through her temple.

  ‘We need to get her to a doctor,’ she heard Evans say. ‘I’ve never seen her like this before.’

  Kit forced her eyes open and through a wave of colours she could see him talking to Cerkis. Suddenly she was nauseous again and as if on instinct Evans handed her a container. Thankfully she saved her dignity but for a moment the pain lifted and she looked over to Evans.

  ‘Tell me we’re landing soon?’ She asked, her voice was dry and cracked and her throat was hurting.

  ‘We’ve decided to reroute to Little Rock,’ Evans said. ‘We’ve had word that it’s where Rook and Lil have gone to so they could start working with the army there.’

  ‘Are they okay?’ Kit asked.

  ‘They seem to be,’ Evans said. ‘I’m more concerned about you right now.

  Kit’s hands began to shake and she quickly placed them under her legs, the way she did as a child to stop the doctors from seeing, but Evans had already noticed. ‘Do you remember what happened?’ His voice was soft, it reminded Kit of how her father used to be with her when she had been sick growing up. He had tended to her in her bunk, made sure she was eating enough and told her funny stories to try and make her feel better again. Kit tried to push away the intense sadness that came with those memories, no matter how many times she had tried to process the emotions that came with those she had lost, there were some days when it just never made sense to her.

  Kit squirmed, she didn’t want to tell him that their greatest fears had been confirmed, that everything they feared was about to arrive on their doorstep but she couldn’t deny the threat that could kill them all. ‘They wanted me to join them,’ she said quietly. ‘To become one of them and turn my back on everything here in return for guaranteed survival.’

  ‘Woah,’ Evans sat back in his seat.

  ‘I said no,’ Kit told him quickly. ‘Meaning they’re now going to attack us and all hell’s going to break loose.’

  ‘You did the right thing,’ Evans said taking her hand. ‘Besides, you’re way too human to become one of them.’

  Kit gave him a weak smile. ‘I have to admit I was tempted, the thought of escaping this war in an easy way was appealing.’

  Evans gave her a small hug and kissed her forehead lightly. ‘You need to rest,’ he said. ‘I’ll wake you when we’re close to landing.’

  Kit was grateful and took the blanket he offered her. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For always being on my side.’

  ‘It’s what we do,’ he said.

  Kit watched as Evans went to join Cerkis, she saw Cerkis glance over to her and tried not to think about what they were talking about. She wanted to sleep, wanted to get off the plane, have a really long shower but mostly she just wanted Evie. She had always prided herself on being independent, she had people in her life but she didn’t think she needed a partner. After Gia, she hadn’t wanted anyone close in her life in fear of the hurt it would bring. But with Evie it was different, she didn’t believe she would be hurt because Evie gave her a sense of strength that she hadn’t had before. Everything about her was stronger now, her muscles were no longer sore, as though they had been renewed. There was a sense of power there that Kit hadn’t experienced before, she could command her powers now, she had complete ownership over what she could do, and it was going to make her unstoppable in this war. The aliens had finally given her something she could use against Hawk and it was going to help them win this war.

  Chapter Twelve

  Evie looked at the silver gauze that had been strapped down her waist and as she tried to move with it the muscles flexed differently. The metallic plate that had been used to bind her skin back together moved almost like liquid. It had been designed to fit skin in a way that armour she had been used to could never achieve. This technology acted like it almost wanted to be part of humans, as though it was something missing from humans and people just hadn’t realised it yet. As Evie became used to the new part of her, it was as though it had repaired her in ways she didn’t know she needed. A sense of strength came with the fitting and it made Evie believe she had the abilities to take on anything. She heard a knock on her door and quickly lowered her top as Lawson came into her hospital room.

  ‘Feel better?’ He asked. ‘I heard the surgeon was able to remove bullet fragments that were causing you pain and you were happy for some…modifications,’ he nodded towards her ribs.

  ‘As a scientist, I was curious to see what the technology could do,’ she said.

  ‘And are you liking the results?’ Lawson asked.

  Evie could see that he was proud of what his country had been able to achieve and she knew better than to make an enemy by insulting something that brought him pride. ‘It’s given me the strength I think I needed,’ she said. ‘Like I now have the power to take on Hawk.’

  ‘That’s good because we need to get started on this op,’ Lawson said. ‘I want you in training, I want a strategy in place and I want to be going after Hawk.’

  Evie sensed the atmosphere in the room change, like the tension that had been building for years, had filtered itself into the world around them and was prepared to nestle there. ‘I will do what’s needed of me,’ Evie said.

  ‘Good,’ Lawson said as Sinclair appeared at the doorway. ‘When you’re signed out of here, we need you to get to work.’

  He turned and walked past Sinclair without a word. She watched him for a moment before turning to Evie. ‘Don’t worry about him,’ she said. ‘There’s been an attack in London and it’s adding to his stress.’ />
  ‘An attack?’ Evie asked.

  She saw Sinclair hesitate. ‘In central London,’ she said. ‘There were…protests, about Genics coming to the country and people got hurt.’

  Waves rippled through Evie, and she tried to control her breathing. ‘How many?’ She asked. Sinclair couldn’t look at her. ‘How many were hurt?’

  ‘Figures are still coming in,’ she said, not able to look at Evie. ‘But at least fifty.’

  ‘Fifty?’ Evie’s voice caught in her throat.

  ‘We anticipated there would be some friction,’ Sinclair said. ‘Genics in the UK are very different to America, they’ve been accepted into our society, so a new form of Genic entering our country was bound to spark fear amongst people.’

  ‘But for people to be killed,’ Evie said as Sinclair opened the holdall she had brought with her.

  ‘It’s best not to dwell on it,’ she said. ‘Not when you have a job to do.’ She pulled out clothes that had been selected and Evie looked at them sceptically. A pair of tight black army trousers to match a long-sleeved grey sweater and heavy duty gillet. ‘It’s basic, but it’ll do.’

  ‘I’ve never been one for fashion,’ Evie commented. ‘How bad is this going to get?’ She then asked.

  Sinclair looked at her and it as a look Evie had seen before, in her mother when she was younger and the scientists were wanting to do their tests. ‘It’s going to get a hell of a lot worse before it gets better,’ Sinclair said. ‘All our lives are on the line, yours most of all.’

  Evie took a moment to steady herself as her throat began to constrict. Thankfully it cleared before any anxiety could properly manifest itself and she looked at Sinclair. ‘Then we need to make sure that those we’re fighting know that their lives are on the line as well,’ she said.

  Sinclair nodded and seemed to agree. ‘I’ll let you get ready,’ she said as she headed out of the room. ‘We’ve got some long days and nights ahead of us.’

  Evie nodded and watched as she went through the door. She looked down at the clothes and saw a new life taking shape around her. She thought of the people who had died because she had come here because she had been created and a surge of determination flowed through her. She wasn’t going to let their pain, their deaths be in vain. She pulled on the clothes and steeled herself as she prepared to do what she had to.

  Evie followed Sinclair to where Lawson was waiting for them and when they got to the meeting room, Evie saw a group of men and women dressed in suits sat around a table having an animated conversation. When they saw her they quickly composed themselves and Evie was a little unnerved by how different they suddenly were in her presence. Evie prepared herself for the worse but hoped she was able to come across with some confidence.

  Sinclair opened the door and the men and women rose to their feet, a lump caught in Evie’s throat and she saw her hands begin to shake. She couldn’t read the faces of the people in front of her, they were all blank until Sinclair stepped to one side and slowly a smattering of applause reverberated around the table. One of the men sat at the head spoke. ‘Thank you for joining us Doctor Fox,’ he told her. ‘We’re honoured that you’re here to fight alongside us.’

  ‘Uh…thanks?’ Evie said and her cheeks burned red. ‘I’m not sure-’

  ‘You killed Galen,’ one of the women told her. ‘We’ve been trying for years to get a successful hit but we couldn’t get anywhere close. We never figured that she could only be killed by a Genic,’

  Evie looked at Sinclair as they took their seats. ‘I don’t know what that means,’ she said quietly.

  ‘It means that it’s likely Galen was experimenting on herself as well as other innocent humans, trying to see how she could manipulate her own DNA to make her stronger and therefore unable to be killed by any natural causes,’ Sinclair answered.

  ‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ Evie said quietly then saw all the eyes in the room were on her. ‘Galen’s presidency was made upon a hatred towards the Others and their invasion and how they attacked American people and caused our DNA to change,’ she said. ‘When our genetic makeup began to evolve to a point where we were developing abilities that were more…supernatural, Galen used it as an excuse to introduce a new kind of segregation. There’s no way that Hawk would make us the enemy and then try and turn herself into one of us.’

  The man at the head of the table spoke again, ’That’s where we think we can shed some light,’ he said and some murmurs began to flow around the table.

  Sinclair leaned over to Evie as the man got up to load a projector screen. ‘He’s Special General Darius McCord,’ she said. ’He’s been leading the investigation into Galen’s government for the last ten years.’

  Evie tried to hide her surprise. She had no idea that people would have been trying to bring down Galen’s government for so long with no success, but she realised that a nation couldn’t just go rogue without the rest of the world wanting to know the impact. Someone turned off the lights and the screen flickered into life.

  ‘We have footage from archives which might help explain things and remind us all why we’re about to undertake one of the biggest missions we’ve ever completed,’ McCord said. He pushed a button on a remote control and Evie watched as a newsroom appeared on the screen.

  ’This is the BBC, with presenter Andrea Jones,’ the voiceover said and a black skinned woman appeared on the screen with a serious expression. The footage was old, Evie guessed from the start of the first invasion.

  ‘Tonight, terror has struck the heart of America,’ Jones started, her voice calm and measured, there was none of the vibratos or show that Jenks normally delivered. ‘Aircrafts, that some are calling ships, appeared over the skies of at least ten states and launched what can only be described as a catastrophic attack followed by what’s being reported as a biological agent. It’s unclear who has launched this attack, but there have been a number of claims that the aircraft can’t be identified to any known agency.’

  The camera cut to show cities in America laying in ruins, the sky was dark and a chill ran through Evie’s bones. The screen flickered to the steps of the old Capitol Building in Washington D.C., Evie had heard about it, even seen old photos but hadn’t believed that there was a capital outside of Volt. The camera zoomed into the main ceremony and Evie saw a middle-aged, slender man with dark hair and a navy suit standing in front of what looked like a minister. ’Today marks the inauguration of President Galen,’ the newsreader told the camera. ‘As America embarks on a new era of recovery and restoration after the Great Attack.’

  ‘That was the start of 2023,’ Sinclair whispered to Evie. ‘The country was on its knees at this point.’

  Evie watched Galen’s grandfather, the man who turned America into what it is now and wondered what would have happened if someone had assassinated him all those years ago. If the country would be what is now, if they would have gone through so much but then Evie realised that she may not have existed, Kit wouldn’t have existed. They may be in a world that wasn’t perfect but it was a world that had allowed them to be and Evie found herself struggling to process it. The fact that there might be some good in the world that Galen’s legacy created.

  The camera shifted again to an army officer. ‘This is a message for every officer in every division of the Armed Services,’ the man said. ‘We have received word that President Galen has closed the borders of the United States. No unauthorised personnel are allowed to enter and no citizen is allowed to leave. The country is going through biological warfare and any interaction with citizens poses a significant risk to our own health. America is to be quarantined until further notice.’

  McCord turned off the screen and the lights came back on, he took a moment before he spoke. ‘America entered its dark days, we learnt through covert intelligence gathering that a military operation known as the Genesis Project was underway. Initially thought to be creating an army of what was referred to as super soldiers, we now know they were creating
Genics. Genetically altered humans who possess alien DNA,’ he said. ‘We’ve reached another turning point in history, the Galen presidency has come to an end and we have one last threat to remove before America can begin to be restored to a country that can be part of this world again.’

  ‘Are we part of a world that wants Genics in them?’ Evie asked. She hadn’t meant to ask the question so boldly, but its one that she had been wondering ever since she had left America and she needed to know where she stood.

  ‘We’ve become more progressive than our American counterparts,’ McCord said. ‘We have some Genics who’ve escaped and made their way here. They’ve helped us immeasurably and have never posed a threat to us.’

  Evie considered what he was saying for a moment. ‘So do you mean that when this war is over there’s a chance Genics would be welcomed here?’ She asked.

  She saw McCord look over to Sinclair who gave a brief nod. ‘It’s a matter we’ve been considering,’ he said but didn’t dwell on the topic for too long. ‘So now we’re at a point where we need to maximise a moment of weakness in the American government because we might not get this chance again and we cannot let Hawk gain power.’

  ‘She’s already in power,’ Evie told him. ‘She’s been running the show even when Galen was alive, the fact that Galen’s gone is just a formality.’

  ‘All the more reason why we need to be swift,’ McCord said.

  ‘So why are we sat around here gas bagging when we need to be out there?’ A woman asked. ‘We need to be getting ready, not going over everything that’s happened.’

  ‘And we will Garrix,’ McCord said. ‘But war isn’t won by shooting aimlessly in the wind,’ he said and Evie saw a couple men snigger at their own jokes. ‘We’ve got to know our enemy, know what we’re facing if we’re going to be successful.’

  There was a hush that fell over the room as though they knew that there was no room for them to argue the approach. ‘Right,’ McCord said. ‘Over to you Dr. Fox, tell us what you think we should know.’