by Erica Rue
“Go back to the plains, then.”
“It’s a Ven killing ground! I won’t go back there.”
“There’s nothing else. The Aratian plateaus are too far, and also not a good idea. Can you find a clearing?”
“It’s too dark, and the AutoNav isn’t working, so I’d have to do it by sight.
Brian though a moment. “The lake.”
“Yeah,” she said sarcastically, “these things don’t land on water. They sink.”
“We’re almost over the lake, just hover over the water near the shore. It’ll be deep enough we can jump in, then swim to the shore.”
“I guess that could work. Can everyone swim?” Lithia asked the group.
At that moment, the baby wailed. She had forgotten about the baby. From the look on Brian’s face, so had he.
“We’ll figure it out,” he said.
***
The lake was easy to find, like a change in the texture of the dark. She thought she’d seen a clearing or two but couldn’t be sure, and she really didn’t want to crash.
When she began hovering over the water, it was about a three meter drop. Brian urged people out. The bolder ones went first, and as the shuttle dropped, little by little, others took the plunge and accepted guidance to the shore.
There were only a few people left when Nate hit the surface and began to sink. The woman with the baby hurried out to where another man was waiting to help her swim while keeping her baby above water.
Finally it was just Lithia, Brian, and a girl who didn’t know how to swim.
“Roll over onto your back, push your belly up, and lean your head back, and I’ll swim you in. You should mostly float in that position,” Brian said.
They all went out out together, just in time. Lithia swam away from the sinking shuttle, but soon found herself being choked by something. An arm.
The girl was not following Brian’s directions. Instead she was grabbing on to Lithia, who probably could have kept both of them afloat if the girl weren’t panicking and flailing all over the place.
Lithia’s head plunged underwater, and she struggled back up for air. She gasped another breath before being pushed under again, deeper this time. She was not going to make it back up.
She could bite the girl, but that might not work. As she sank deeper, she noticed the grip around her neck loosen. That was it. She needed to go the one place this girl did not want to be: underwater.
Lithia put all of her effort into swimming down, and sure enough, once her assailant realized that she was not headed in the right direction, she released her. Lithia was able to swim away and pop back up to the surface.
“Brian, do you see her?”
“No,” he sputtered. “She went under. I couldn’t get her.”
She heard him take a breath and go underwater, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to see anything. She tread water, waiting, trying to see anything beneath the black surface.
After what seemed like forever, Brian reemerged with the girl. By the time they reached the shore, the girl was coughing.
“Are you all right?” Melanie asked when they slogged ashore.
“Yeah,” he said. “Did everyone else make it?”
Melanie nodded. “A few are gathering firewood. My communicator is working, and there’s a Flyer that will come get us.”
***
They had barely started the fire when the shuttle arrived. The pilot was a little heavy-handed with his maneuvering, but he was good enough to fly with the AutoNav. There were a few others already on board. Some had blood on their clothes and faces, and Lithia couldn’t tell if it was their own blood or not. A few were crying.
As each of her own crew found a place to sit or stand, water pooled under them, and she could hear teeth chattering. She shivered, and Brian reflexively put his arms around her. His warmth was dulled by the water’s chill, but it was warmth all the same.
She didn’t like it. She felt like he was trying to comfort her, keep more than the cold at bay. His embrace felt like an apology, full of regret, and she didn’t want that. She pulled away and approached the copilot.
“You came from the settlement?” she asked.
“Yes,” the copilot replied.
“Did you go in the hangar?”
“Yeah,” she said, “but it was overrun with Vens by the time we got there. We found a few survivors in the fields.”
“When you were in the hangar bay, did you see any bodies?”
The copilot was silent a moment before answering. “Yes.”
“Did you…” Lithia wasn’t sure she could get the question out. “Was a there a blond boy with blue eyes there? Named Roy?”
“He was already dead when we arrived.”
The memory of Roy’s face as she flew off flashed in vivid detail across the walls of her mind. The fear. He knew what would happen.
Lithia returned to her seat. You could have saved him. He didn’t need to die.
19. LITHIA
Lithia was so lost in her thoughts that Brian had to shake her out of them when they arrived at the Mountain Base.
The scene that met them was chaos. Armed men and women shouted and ran to and from the shuttles. Somewhere, a small child was crying and screaming for his mother. Lithia wondered if his mother was still alive. Some carried guns, some carried the wounded. She could smell the sharp, iron scent of blood. There were pools and splashes of it on the landing area.
The people on their shuttle were mostly unharmed, but when another shuttle landed roughly opposite them, she could see that was an anomaly. The survivors in these second- and third-wave shuttles had not gotten out in time.
A woman ran out first, screaming and clutching a limp child. She ran to another woman who ushered her inside. Others followed, and she felt Brian tug her in their direction. That was not where she wanted to go, but her headstrong voice of dissent was not there. There were no words.
“I’m going inside to see what I can do,” Melanie said, tears in her eyes.
“All right,” Brian said.
Many of the injuries were serious. Though survivors walked or limped off together, guided by other Ficarans into the mountain, several stayed put until makeshift stretchers dotted with blood could be brought over. One man’s leg looked like it had been severely broken by a Ven club. Another man looked like he had been shot.
“What happened to him? That’s a gunshot wound,” Lithia said.
“Friendly fire?” asked Brian.
“Ven bit him. He went crazy. I—we didn’t have a choice,” said the soldier who was holding a scrap of fabric to the man’s chest.
“I know. You did the right thing,” Brian said.
When the next stretcher arrived, Lithia and Brian lifted the man onto it and helped carry him while the soldier kept pressure on the wound.
Inside, the main atrium had been converted into a hospital. They were met by a severe-looking woman. One glance at the stretcher and she directed them down a hallway to the area for critical cases. They moved the patient into some sort of office with just a few other wounded. One was already dead by the looks of it.
A bearded man met them and spoke in a brusque voice. “We’ll take it from here.”
“I’m staying,” said the soldier, still applying pressure.
“Fine,” the man said. “You two, go.”
Lithia hesitated, but Brian pulled her away. “Come on, let’s see what else we can do,” he said.
“Yeah.” It was all she could manage.
They returned to the atrium to find Bel and Evy passing out blankets and food.
“Lithia!” Bel said, running over, followed closely by Evy. “Thank the void. Turn your damn manumed back on.” Evy said nothing but hugged her, wrapping her tiny arms around Lithia’s waist, burying her head in her stomach. Evy shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t have to see this.
Lithia turned her manumed on. She hadn’t even checked in when Melanie returned it to her in the cell. Something abo
ut hearing Bel’s voice snapped her out of the daze she had been trapped in. Or maybe it was Evy’s warmth. “What’s going on? Who’s organizing it all?”
“Sam, mostly. She’s guiding the medics and creating a catalog of survivors and where they’re staying. Her consciousness or whatever can only be in one place at a time, though. Victoria had a chat with her and agreed, I think mostly because she is too busy coordinating the rescue efforts.”
“Sam,” Brian said. “My mother, Bethany Caldwin, where is she?”
“Apartment B24,” Sam replied.
“I’ll be back. I just need to check on her. See her with my own eyes.”
Without another word, Brian sprinted off toward the stairs.
“Sam, how many survivors accounted for so far?” Lithia asked.
“I have only cataloged the ones who have been moved into the apartments. Everyone still outside or in the triage and hospital areas have not been counted.”
“Okay, how many in the apartments?”
“Two hundred and fifty-four.” Her heart sank. Brian had told her there were over six hundred Ficarans, but there were definitely not three hundred people upstairs and outside.
“That’s it? How many are in the hospital area?” Lithia said.
Bel answered. “A lot of people are running around the main floor. It’s just a preliminary number.”
Lithia began shivering. She was still wet from the lake, and she felt so numb.
“Get changed,” Bel said. “Sam has a few people going through all the clothes and sorting them by size downstairs for the refugees.”
Refugees. The word hit her. The Ficarans were displaced. Homeless. Refugees.
Wars had refugees. This was war.
***
Lithia received fresh clothes from some tired Ficarans who were gathering and cataloging a variety of supplies. Clothes in hand, she ducked into the apartment they had all shared a couple of nights ago. She needed a moment alone to change and get her bearings.
As she peeled off her wet clothes, someone came out of the bathroom. It was Brian. He looked startled to see her, half-naked in the living room.
He looked at her for a moment in confusion before turning. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you had come in.”
“It’s fine. I thought you were with your mom.” Lithia put each leg quickly into the shorts she had been issued.
“I checked on her, but she’s sleeping. I didn’t want to bother her.”
Lithia pulled the loose-fitting shirt over her head. “All dressed.” He had also changed into dry clothes. She hung her wet clothes over the back of a chair and looked at him. She couldn’t imagine what he was feeling. He looked broken.
Lithia wrapped her arms around him, and he hugged her back. She rubbed his back in a soothing motion. He felt warm, and took the chill from her cold, damp skin. Boys were always so warm. This hug was nothing like what she had felt last night when she had put her arms around him. There was no fire, no lust. This was comfort. This was an apology. This was friendship. Nothing more.
“Lithia, that kiss last night… it’s not that I don’t find you attractive, but there’s someone else.”
“No need to explain. It was fun, but it won’t happen again.”
He nodded. “I want to go back out and look for survivors.”
Roy’s face flashed through her thoughts again. She hadn’t saved him, but she would save others.
“Let me come with you,” Lithia said.
***
Victoria was outside on her communicator with someone, directing people this way and that. “There’s a team on their way already,” she was saying to the person on the other end.
Brian looked like he was ready to punch her, but when Victoria saw them she waved him over. Lithia couldn’t decide whether to try and hold him back, or punch her herself. Luckily it didn’t come to that, because Victoria spoke first.
“I’m sorry,” she said to Brian. “I should have listened to you.”
“Yeah, you should have. Do you know how many people are dead? Do you? Because it’s all on you.” Brian was shouting, and Victoria let him. “We told you. We warned you! We gave you a plan that could have saved everyone, but you let your hatred of the Aratians blind you. This blood is on your hands.”
“I know. A true leader accepts responsibility for her decisions. I accept responsibility. I made a mistake, and our people, the people that I love just as much as you do, are suffering for it. I will not make the same mistake again. I have no energy to waste on self-pity, though, not when I can save a few more lives.” Victoria turned her cold stare on Lithia, who blazed with anger. “Just remember that I’m not the one who led the Vens here.”
“No,” she shook her head furiously, “you don’t get to pin this on me. It was just a matter of time before the Vens found you. Sam wouldn’t have been able to protect you forever. Be glad that we were here to help you. Without us, you’d all be dead. No Flyers, no information about the Vens, and another full Invader class vessel on its way.”
Lithia had said the words, and on some level she knew they were true, but deep down, she believed Victoria. She blamed herself. They had come to this planet because of her, because she had these coordinates. Even though all her research led her to believe this was an uninhabited planet and her grandma had not come here, she had been wrong. Maybe if she had told Dione about her search, her friend would have seen something she missed, some sign that this planet was home to so many people.
“And for those reasons, I’m letting you live,” Victoria said. At that moment, her communicator came to life with Colm’s voice. “Victoria, I’ve found them, but the Vens are in pursuit.”
“Keep moving,” she ordered him. “I’m sending someone now.”
“We’re going,” Brian said.
“Fine,” Victoria said. She called over a few other soldiers. “Take that Flyer.” With Sam’s help, they would be able to find Colm using his communicator. “Colm was searching for a group that made it to the woods. It’s a large group, Brian. Bring them back.”
Energized by her seething anger and regret, Lithia hopped into the copilot seat, ready to go.
20. DIONE
“Is that a Bolma tree?” Professor Oberon pointed at a large tree oozing thick, dark sap.
Dione smiled. She was glad the professor was feeling better after some food and rest. Lithia had called in the middle of the night. She was okay. Brian was okay. They needed rest, but would come get them later in the day once things at the Mountain Base settled down. Meanwhile, she, Zane, and the professor, along with Canto, would be heading toward the Ven distress beacon.
He approached the tree and inspected it. “It’s been grafted!” He turned back to Dione and Zane. “What is this place?”
Professor Oberon had not been in much of a talking mood yesterday, so they hadn’t explained much to him yet.
“This is a garden planet called Kepos,” Dione said. “The scientists who worked here created and manipulated species for use in terraforming, but about fifty years ago, they were evacuated when the Vens showed up in our part of the galaxy.”
“Why evacuate the…” Professor Oberon paused as realization sank in. “We’re outside the Bubble, aren’t we?”
“Yes,” Dione said. “There weren’t a lot of options after the attack. There was a tracer, and we couldn’t go to an inhabited planet. Lithia thought this place was abandoned.”
The professor raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t ask how Lithia got the coordinates for a planet outside the Bubble.
Dione told him about Bel’s infection, how the anti-parasitics were on the planet, and the ensuing conflict with Aratians, Ficarans, and even Samantha. She touched on the mythology of the Farmer and Architect, and through it all, his frown deepened.
“So one of the scientists brought all these people here to control them, and the other scientist killed him and uploaded her consciousness into a computer to defend the planet?”
“Basically,” Dion
e said. She left out the part about Miranda Min. That was not her secret to tell, and she doubted Zane would say anything. Lithia could tell him if she wanted.
Dione scratched Canto behind the ear. His wounds had scabbed over and didn’t look infected. She imagined they would leave nasty scars, though. Dione had forgotten to mention Canto’s injuries to Lithia when she called, so Brian would probably not be happy when he saw Canto. He had trusted her, and now Canto was injured. He had blamed her for the Vens, and now he would probably blame her for what had happened to his beloved maximute.
Apparently Victoria had used the shuttle Lithia crashed to start the others, and because of that, there were not enough shuttles to evacuate everyone in time. Lithia had left out the details, but they had been running rescue ops all night, looking for survivors. Dione should have been there to help, but she was too busy making up for another mistake.
Now that they had found the professor, though, things were looking up. He would know what to do.
Dione led the way toward the beacon, so lost in thought that by the time she noticed them, she had nearly tripped over them.
Two bodies. A man and his machi. They’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time, it seemed. The Vens had probably killed them while searching for the professor.
The others stopped behind her. Professor Oberon put a hand on her shoulder and gently urged her away, but she couldn’t move. She recognized the man. He still had a black eye, healed to a grim shade of yellow, from where Brian had punched him. He had been the man foraging, and his machi, dead beside him, was the one they’d stolen.
Dione knelt and struggled to wipe away her tears with no sleeves. Was this her fault? Was this man out in this area because of her? Had she thrown off his schedule and forced him to ride into harm’s way?
If she hadn’t gotten to the Field Temple, and then to the Mountain Base, so many more Vens would be here. She had to think of that. They would have been doomed for sure. At the time, she hadn’t realized any of that. She had just wanted to save Bel, and she hadn’t cared about what happened to this man.
