by N. W. Harris
Opening the door, he stepped into the common room. Pelros sat at his usual place, the table with his computer lit up in front of him. Athos recognized and admired the boy’s advanced curiosity when he was still so young that he struggled to express it through speech.
Athos walked in and took a seat at the table. Junip brought out a vegetable stew that he only made when Pelros was down. He slid a bowl in front of the general, and Athos studied the short Balpezian’s face. He was one of the taller examples of his species, and yet he only came up to Athos’ waist. Simple creatures, they were useless as warriors but had massive hearts and a nurturing spirit that made them ideal house slaves. Old Junip had been with Athos since he was a boy, and he was very fond of him. He wouldn’t have been able to adopt Pelros if it weren’t for Junip.
The squat slave caught his gaze and pursed his lips, his emerald eyes conveying that Pelros had been in a foul mood since he’d returned home. Athos gave a slight nod to show he understood, and Junip left the room.
Athos looked across the table at his nephew, who hadn’t seemed to perceive that he’d come home. Pelros hated seeing good soldiers wasted in the games in the coliseum with that capacity for passion that was shared by all youth. Fortunately, he’d taken Athos’ advice early on and had always kept his opinions to himself. Like the general, he made a showing at enough of the events so as not to raise suspicion. Before the rebellion, many people avoided the coliseum. But it had become a symbol of national pride. Not attending was enough to cause suspicion, and speaking out against the games could lead to imprisonment. As they were trying to clear their family name, Athos and Pelros couldn’t afford not to be enthusiastic about anything considered patriotic.
Athos didn’t like the blood sports either, but he long ago accepted that it was an unchangeable aspect of the world in which he belonged. There was too much good in the Anunnaki people to be overly critical of their faults. They had reined in so many barbaric species across the universe, bringing divine order to the chaos. It was their purpose.
“Studying for your Shock Troop exams?” Athos asked, his voice stoic as to not give away his inner turmoil over seeing the wormhole destroyed.
“Wha…?” Pelros looked up, eyes wide with surprise. “Sorry, Uncle. I didn’t see you come in.”
“We’ll have to work on that,” Athos said. “Shock Troops should not be easy to sneak up on.”
“Yes, sir,” Pelros replied, his focus returning to the screen floating in front of him.
“By the gods. What’s got you so enthralled?”
“My apologies, sir,” Pelros replied. He deactivated the computer and slid his bowl closer. “I was reviewing the test results of the human slaves. Particularly the female who killed the lone wolf.”
“And?”
“And, she’s amazing,” he said, a smile rising on his face. “Most of the humans scored higher than any soldiers recruited from other planets, but she’s off the charts. It is fortunate she wasn’t killed today. The male who perished was nearly as impressive.” He looked down at his soup as if to hide the anger that flushed his cheeks.
“It was a shame. But we lost one soldier to win the vote, which in turn will allow us to take control of the entire species.”
Though he was upset over the loss as well, Athos’ practiced voice was stoic, and his expression would never betray his thoughts. He couldn’t encourage animosity toward the system. Those types of sentiments would only be a detriment to his nephew’s career.
“Once we win the vote,” Pelros said, “I’d like to be on the first team down to test the darting technology.”
“I knew you would,” Athos replied, smiling. “I’ve already made arrangements.”
“How many will be going?” Pelros’ eyes lit up. He was brave and always one to volunteer for dangerous missions. Athos didn’t like putting him in harm’s way, but success in battle was the surest route to guaranteeing his promotion.
“Just a small contingent—ten humans, five Shock Troop soldiers, and a pilot. You’ll command.”
“Me, sir?” Pelros sat taller, the news clearly putting him in a better mood.
“I think you’re ready,” Athos replied with a calm smile. “You’ll take a transport down to the surface and dart a small group of humans. When the darts work and they come under your control, you’ll bring them back to the Pegasus for scanning. The research gathered in your mission will help us decide if it is safe to continue the harvest.”
“I will not disappoint you, sir.”
“I know you won’t,” Athos replied, smiling at his nephew. “You’ll need to select the slaves who will go with you. I’ve granted you full access to all the human profiles.” He nodded toward Pelros’ computer.
The young officer turned the computer back on and directed his attention toward the screen with infectious enthusiasm. Athos’ heart swelled. He still had the ability to make Pelros smile. It didn’t seem so long ago that this boy looked up to him as if he were a god. Pelros leaned closer when the images of the two females who’d defeated the wolves appeared on the screen.
“The polls close in an hour, and the vote will be counted shortly thereafter. If they decide in our favor, you’ll go on your mission first thing tomorrow.” He took the last bite of his soup and stood from the table. “You should get some rest.”
“Yes, sir,” Pelros replied without looking away from the file. “Just going to review this information.”
“Very well.”
Athos entered his chamber and closed the door. He stopped in front of a mirror, his reflection returning his stare.
His skin was flawless, and a visit to the doctor once a year kept him looking youthful. But he could see the parsecs in his eyes. The wars he’d fought, both physical and political, left their mark where no medicine could erase them.
There were more soldiers on the Pegasus than all her other passengers combined. His heart galloped at the thought that he became the most powerful person on the ship the moment the wormhole collapsed. He felt guilty for lusting for command, but he couldn’t help it. It had always been his nature to want to rise, though he also wanted to live honorably as the Code prescribed.
Athos turned on the monitor, and a live picture of the Earth spinning beneath the ship appeared. He felt guilty for lying to Pelros about the mission. He wasn’t planning on bringing him back after a test run. Pelros would be spearheading the invasion of Earth, and if Athos’ plan worked, his nephew would be a hero of legendary status in a few days.
“Lights,” he whispered. Other than the illumination from the screen, the room went dark.
Staring at the beautiful green-and-blue sphere, he tried to remove all emotions from his thoughts. After replaying the transmission from the collapsing wormhole in his mind, Athos settled on some possible conclusions. Either Anu was gone and they were the only survivors, or Anu was still in the fight and needed reinforcements. At any moment, the wormhole could reopen. If his people on Anu reopened it, they’d be expecting the recruit ships to return with human soldiers to help fight off the attack. If the enemy reopened it, Athos needed to be ready for a war with a species that was powerful enough to have captured the home world.
Either way, there was only one course of action. He did his best to put aside all ambition and still came to the same conclusion. The aristocrats would make a mess of this delicate situation by arguing over every decision. He didn’t have a choice. Once the harvest was going smoothly and a majority of the humans was enslaved, he would have to declare martial law. And if they didn’t vote to continue the harvest, he’d be forced to make the declaration earlier.
“Can you grab the potato salad, sweetheart?” Kelly’s mom asked, nodding toward the large, plastic bowl. She held a tray with glasses on it and a pitcher of her famous pink lemonade.
“Yep,” Kelly replied, hoisting the bowl and following her mom to the kitchen door.
Descending the stairs that led to the side yard, she not
iced the pond behind her house looked bigger than it should be. She’d always wished it were bigger. Looking down behind the house, she saw her old Labrador running in circles, chasing her tail like she used to when she was a puppy. The whole reality seemed askew, too perfect. Her mom looked back at her and smiled, and then Kelly remembered her parents were dead.
She lay in the rack on the Anunnaki ship, imprisoned inside her own body. This appeared to be some sort of unusual dream where she was actually conscious that she was dreaming. She had full control of her body. It was a liberating sensation to be able to move her arms and legs at will, but it was also heartbreaking to know that when she woke up, her mom would still be dead.
She looked toward the gazebo down by the water where they were headed, searching for the rest of her family. Her heart fluttered, and her eyes grew cloudy. She hadn’t dreamed of them in too long, and she feared she’d forget what they looked like.
Her mom’s blonde hair caught the sunlight and seemed to glow from within. She looked just like an angel.
“You got it?” she said, looking back at Kelly again with a warm smile.
“Yeah, I got it,” she replied, trying to reflect her emotion. She wanted to burst into tears and pull her into her arms. She missed her mom so much. But she didn’t want to ruin the dream, didn’t want to do anything that might make her wake up.
In real life, Kelly would’ve scoffed. Her mom sometimes forgot that she was seventeen and talked to her as if she was a little kid again. Those complaints were so trivial, and she felt guilty about having ever griped about anything. She’d had the perfect family, the perfect life before the Anunnaki’s limbic manipulator weapon killed them.
The sun hung low in the sky, its reflection stretching out across the pond and glittering on ripples kicked up by a gentle breeze and jumping bass. Nat wore her Sunday dress, a little white nymph chasing butterflies near the steps of the gazebo. The wiry forms of her father and grandfather stood next to the railing, looking out across the pond. A third man was there. Kelly strained her eyes to make out who, but the sun rendered them all silhouettes. His shape was familiar—tall, with broad shoulders that looked strong enough to carry the world.
Shane?
Kelly wanted to run to the gazebo. All the people she cared about most in the world waited for her there. She feared any rash action would cause the dream to end, and she’d be returned to the hopeless reality of being trapped in a body over which she had no control. Taking deep breaths of the piney air, she continued at a normal pace alongside her mother.
“Is that taytoe salad?” Nat asked when they approached, her eyes as big as silver dollars.
“It is,” Kelly replied, receiving her sister in her free arm.
Nat squealed with joy and leaned against her, looking up at the bowl. “I love taytoe salad,” she said, smiling broadly.
“I know you do,” Kelly replied, squeezing her sister against her. It felt like her heart would burst.
Nat darted out from under her arm and up the steps onto the gazebo. Kelly and her mom followed. Her father and grandfather, also dressed in their Sunday bests, turned around and moved toward the table, food seeming to be the only thing on their minds. Kelly’s eyes met Shane’s. He stood next to the railing, looking at her with a slack jaw and sad eyes. Everyone else seemed to be a part of the dream, carrying on about their business like Kelly expected they would. Shane’s presence didn’t make sense. He’d never been over to her house for dinner, and the furrow in his brow and ever-present bags under his eyes were products of everything that had happened since the adults were killed—not the face of innocence and youthfulness he wore before the world ended.
He smiled at her, and his expression was like that of one who’d found a loved one who he thought might be dead. He seemed too real, like he couldn’t be a creation of her mind. Shane nodded toward the table, as if he were worried the dream wouldn’t continue if they didn’t play out their parts.
“So, Shane,” her dad began while helping himself to the fried chicken. “Kelly tells me you’re the B-team quarterback?”
“Uh,” Shane cleared his throat. “Yes, sir.”
“Are we looking at varsity next year?”
“Hopefully, sir,” Shane replied, a little crack in his voice like the question made him miss the life that was forever lost. “I just have to do a good job this season, and Coach says it could be mine.”
“Well, you keep your head in the game and off my daughter, and I’m sure you’ll get it.”
Kelly’s grandfather laughed.
“Thomas Oliver Douglas,” her mom scolded.
“I’m just kidding,” her dad said with a snicker.
Kelly smiled at the joke but remained silent, eating her food and looking at each of her family members and then Shane. She wanted to burn their images in her mind, afraid this could be the last time she dreamed of them. All the panic and terror she’d felt at being trapped inside her body with her slave persona in charge was subdued. She was certain she could regain control of her body and fight her way to freedom as long as she remembered these people were her motivation. She wanted revenge for the death of her parents and her grandfather, and she wanted to be reunited with Nat and Shane.
After they’d eaten, and he’d politely endured a hundred questions from her mom and dad and a bit of chiding from her gramps, Shane stood.
“Want to walk by the lake?” he asked Kelly.
“Sure,” she replied, unable to keep from blushing.
Kelly’s mom smiled, her approval of Shane clear in her face. Her dad cast a look of warning to both her and Shane. Shane nodded to him with respect and walked to the gazebo steps. Kelly followed him, and he took her hand. With their backs to her family, they walked to the pond and along the shore.
Shane looked at her as they walked, his expression saying he wanted to say something but was afraid. His shoulder touched hers, and he took her hand.
“I wish this were real,” he whispered, seeming to speak to himself more than to her.
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking at him.
He smiled at her, but his eyes overflowed with melancholy. “Nothing.”
They walked on, and she tried to read him. “I wish it were too,” she said, squeezing his hand.
He stopped and faced her. “You realize this is a dream?”
“Yes. My dream.” She flinched, afraid her verbal acknowledgement of it would cause it to come to an end. “I’m so grateful I can see you and my family, even if it is in my sleep. It’s a gift.”
Shane’s brow furrowed with confusion. He started to say something, but instead, he turned and continued walking. “Where are you right now?” he asked. “I mean, where are you sleeping and having this dream?”
“I’m on the Anunnaki ship,” Kelly said. “But I don’t want to think about that. I just want to be here, with you and them.”
Shane guided her behind the dock house, out of view of her family. He pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers. Surprised by the sudden kiss, she worried her father might bust them. She started to pull away, but the softness of his lips against hers and the feel of his thick arms pulling her tight into his chest made her melt. He’d never kissed her with this much intensity. She could sense his misery, his desire to save her. There was sadness in his eyes, but also determination. She knew he loved her; he’d made that much clear in the past. But it seemed his love had evolved into something more since they’d been separated.
“Wow, assertive, aren’t we?” she whispered, feeling dizzy after the long kiss.
“I just wanted to do that before I woke up,” he replied.
“But it’s my dream, silly,” she said, putting a finger to her lips, which tingled as if he were still there. “You’ll stay here when I wake.”
“No, Kelly,” Shane said. “I’m the one who’s dreaming. I’m on a submarine headed back to America, back to Nat.”
“Is it possible that we
’re both dreaming?” Kelly wondered. “That somehow our minds have found each other while we sleep?”
“I guess anything is possible,” he replied, still not seeming to believe that she was not just a part of his dream. “How are you? Are they treating you well?”
“It’s horrible, Shane,” she replied, a noose of emotion tightening around her throat. “There’s this alter ego in control of my body who does whatever the Anunnaki say. I’m trapped inside, watching and feeling this nightmare. All my senses work, but I can’t even make myself blink.”
She started to tell him more, to tell him about the coliseum and how they’d forced her to kill Ethan. But she didn’t have the stomach to relive that horrifying event. Just thinking of it filled her with caustic guilt. She looked at Shane and could see so much sadness in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he replied, glancing out at the pond.
She pressed her cheek against his chest, her head tucked under his chin.
“You’re going back to Nat?” She remembered him mentioning it earlier.
If somehow this was more than a dream, which she doubted, she didn’t want to waste the chance to talk to him.
“Yeah,” he replied with a gentle voice. “I’m going to make sure she’s safe.”
“Thank you, Shane,” Kelly whispered, her voice wavering.
“Hey,” Shane said, holding her tighter. “Once I check on Nat, I’m going to rescue you.”
“I know,” she said, a tear sliding down her face.
“Seriously,” he continued. “Jones and Lily told us they have the spaceship they crashed in.” He leaned away and looked in her eyes. “You are going to see your sister again,” he promised.
