“Today, you start the Genesis Dictata stage of your training, aka the GD Phase. This is the last stage before specifics training. Once you are assigned your specific you will start there. If you fail GD phase, you will have the choice of returning to the beginning of indoctrination, or going back down to the civvies. Are there any further questions?”
I’ve been here long enough to understand that they will only ever give you the information that you need to perform a task. No matter how small the amount of information you receive, you will get nothing more than what they give, and you will get no less than what they are willing to offer. It’s survival of the fittest, and if you aren’t fit enough then you don’t make the cut. We all know what happens if you don’t make the cut.
Our training gear is very simple. I heard it’s from the earlier models of what was considered high tech back in 2460. We were moved to the colony closest to the Lechter station when our training facility was being evacuated due to a lowering of oxygen levels. The planet is still habitable, for us who are GMO. That’s what they call us, only not quite. By ‘they’ I mean the normal enlistees. They don’t know about the program at all, but they noticed how we are different. So they call us GMS’s; genetic freak soldiers. I am glad that I am the way I am, even though I’m different even from those who were subject to the same treatments as I was. I believe it was the way my genetics varied from everyone else’s, even my ancestry record traces different genetic samples all the way as far back as you can trace it, (they only started genetic tracing a few centuries ago. It’s fairly old technology, but it’s reliable.) We spent years training for this, now we are finally here; some of us might not even make it.
We head to the G-Out room. Our armor is waiting, refined and cleaned to the smallest detail; just as we were trained to do. On the signal we open the lock panels and remove our gear, putting on each piece with muscle memory. At the 40 second mark I’m finished. My bioskin is clean and each tack plate is in place. My helmet is double checked to be functioning. HUD: online. Infrared and chem. flares: online. Life support systems: online. All of my gear checked out. It’s slightly uncomfortable due to my different anatomy. Most of this gear was designed before the program started so that it would fit the expected outcomes; up until I came along it fit perfectly on every other candidate. Few of us will make it past even this test.
At 60 seconds the last candidate calls weapons check. Barely passing beneath the limit will definitely get a dock on today’s mark. After G-Out we head to our training mod. First up is a boarding-flank breach on a 3.5 mile shuttle, we perform our maneuvers to a T. Afterward is a hull breach and detonation requirement. We easily clear it out. Then comes LO; land operations. We move from the simulation rooms to the outdoor training sites. This is the most old-fashioned set up. Our objective was to stay onsite and await evac; then clear for an LZ without casualty. We were all on our own for this.

I walk past the gate into my sector. Keeping a good watch on my radar, I looked for any threats. Out in the caged training facilities we were set up against the elements. There were sites with provisions, should we need them. We rarely needed food or water, the sites usually contained crates with medical supply. I decided to head to my closest site and look for anything useful. Grenades, morphine, HUD repair kits: all of it in the first crate. We have to trek along a fifty mile ridge to the LZ point, where we clear and wait for evac to the G-Out facility. With us we keep an old fashioned needle point .45 caliber pistol and a .16 cal. AR.
Every HUD comes automatically equipped with a vital reader that connects to neural implants via macro waves. I leave the first site and continue on my way east toward the next checkpoint. Along the way we can find data that is helpful with updates on the area. I plan out my route as I go. Over-planning usually leads to a conflict of decisions. At the second checkpoint I find a data chip. I read the logs. After a quick look through on the crates, I gather some more ammunition, along with a vial of neuro-gel. The neuro-gel is for the implant sites. It adds a catalyst to your stimulation. In other words, you gain more focus, it’s like a boost for every part of you. I move on and save the neuro-gel for later. About an hour out from the last checkpoint it starts to rain, and the sun goes down. I turn the NOD’s in my HUD on. The NOD technology is extremely detailed, even in pitch black. I start to make my way to the next checkpoint. As I get closer, I hear a signal ping on my radar. Its blue, indicating an unknown, but what would anyone who is marked as unknown be doing in the middle of an outdoor training sector? I decide to try and slowly pass around; I’m not looking to get trouble.
As I get farther, I notice the signal ping still hasn’t left my radar. It seems to be following me. I make a 360 vision check, I’m already 35 miles in; I can spend a little time investigating. I kneel and activate my camouflage unit. I check for any movement through my NODs. All I see is a figure in the distance. It’s hard to tell its shape or even if it’s alive or just a rock. I get back up and move along. I don’t want any trouble. If it comes for me, I’ll give it hell and kill it if needed. Fortunately I see no more of this creature, although the ping is still slightly opaque on my radar. I get to the 40 mile mark and stop to use my neuro-gel. A good blast should help speed along the last ten miles. I check the time, it’s about 2500. I set down my weapons on a crate and open the bright blue neuro gel. I remove my helmet.
The gel feels cool on my neck as the wind passes over it. It dissolves quickly into my neck and I replace my helmet. I get moving to the LZ, on a blast of neuro gel. We get back to the G-Out facility and rack our gear for inspection. We turn in all collected data and the recording chips from our HUD units. I head to the showers to get cleaned up. As I walk in I can feel the tone within my muscles shifting. It is something they told us is normal when we first started indoctrination, although most candidates stop having tone shifts and additions at age 17.
I take it as something that has to do with my genotype. I continue to the showers. The cool water feels good after being in a bioskin for a few hours. It’s interesting to hear how long others have worn theirs at one time. Most of us GMO’s don’t produce body odor. Our bodies are uninhabitable for the bacteria that cause them, so we only sweat. The bioskin layer is designed to release moisture, but it still feels good to get it off. After washing up I put my hair up and head to my lock panel.
I put on a j-brace (a small unnoticeable device that sticks to an implant close to where the jugular vein is on a non-GMO) and wait for the light to turn blue. It doesn’t. This worries me, why would the j-brace be unable to read my vitals? It makes a ringing sound to alert of a malfunction, either in me or in the device itself. They come in and rush me to the med hall. They inject me with something and I fade into stasis.

I wake up and I have no idea what happened. I remember completing the first day of GD phase but nothing else. I’m wearing a white, cloth-style bioskin connected to a monitor. I lay still as a scan passes over me, checking for any shifts or damages. Once the monitor is done I sit up and look at the image displayed on the med hub. My anatomy has changed, yet again. Nothing has disappeared; there were slight shifts and additions. Places that were being used most often had become stronger and places that weren’t grew to match.
The shifts were strange to me, why would I still be shifting two years after the stopping date? Am I more different from the others than I thought I was? Is this good or bad? The questions racing through my mind, I hear voices walking down the hall and stopping outside of my room. I lie down quickly and cause a small bout of vertigo. The doctors walk in and ask me average questions. Then it’s my turn. I ask what was going through my mind. They tell me there is nothing bad about it, that for me it seems to be normal shifting. I finish my questions and the first doctor says to me, “Alright Joe, we are just going to finish up this paperwork and shift you back to the units.”

They didn’t even know my name. I am most definitely no average Joe. My name is Ricky. I know it’s not a girl’s name. When we came here, we had to choose our names. Rather than assigning names to us and causing hissy fits, they allowed us one thing that we could choose about ourselves; a name. I chose Ricky, being the strange child that I was. Now I believe the name suits me well. I am a tomboy. When I get back to the units my j-brace is working again. I get to my room and relax before they call us out to the next training op. I wake up to the sound of a siren, what had just happened? Then it all starts flowing back to me. I’m in GD phase now. I get up and run along with all of the other candidates to the G-Out facility. We dress in our gear and call weapons check. My gear is being particularly pesky today; it might have something to do with the shift. The candidate next to me, Thomas, leans over and whispers to me.
“I heard they’re working on some special gear for you mate.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, I heard it’s special gear with inner workings that adapt. Hell, maybe we’ll all get in on the prize.”
“How did you even hear that? I figured they’d keep something like that classified to the maximum.”
“Nah mate, we all know you’re something special. There ain’t a single freak among us quite like you. How the hell did you get so weird anyway eh?”
“Well, for as long as I’ve ever known I haven’t been like anyone else.”
“Maybe you’re a half-breed.”
I stopped. I thought of what Tomas said, “Maybe you’re a half-breed.” I’d never thought of that. Maybe I am not only human. That’s insane to think though, who would spend that long planning something like this? It definitely wasn’t the scientists. The program hasn’t been successful enough that long off with lineage in order to do something like that. The next moment I snap out of thought and get back into action. We head out for another day of training; hopefully it will be a challenge this time.
Just another breach run…
After training, we all look forward to a cool shower.
As we head back to the G-Out, I feel sharpness in my core. Not a pain, but something that feels as though it’s supposed to be good, but it’s so strong it’s hard to handle. Thomas walks over.
“Hey mate, you alright? You look like you’re about to kill over.”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
The words were hard to form. I focus on the intensity and try to bring it down. I force it and hope that I can make it the rest of the way to the G-Out. Once we get there, we dress back and head to the showers. Today was a team force maneuver test. I peel off my bioskin and it feels amazing to remove it after five hours on the outdoor sector. Beads of sweat form as the cool air hits my skin. I pull my hair out of the standard bun and step into the cool running water. I stand and let it run down my face and through my sweat soaked hair. Suddenly I feel sharpness; the same I had felt earlier.
I stare at the shower wall; I can feel my pupils rapidly dilating. The sharpness changes into a pulsating electric feeling. It goes in waves, it’s as if I am split in half and the core separates me. Half of the pulse moves upward over the higher half of my body, the other part of the pulse moves from just below my ribcage and downward; covering the rest of my body. I hold on to the rail, waiting for it to stop. My vision changes and I can feel the pulses growing faster as I stand there. I feel paralyzed; I am unable to move of my own free will. I stare unwillingly at the steel reflective panel on my shower. I move my eyes towards the wall just outside the shower door. The medic button; I would press it if only I could move. The moments pass by like I am fast forwarding time. Slowly my movement comes back to me. Still practically immobile, I slowly slide my back down the shower wall. My vision fades, and I am out.

I wake up yet again, in the med hall. I hear doctors talking outside of my window. The one way glass is impossible to see through. Their muffled voices, practically inaudible, are hard to make out. I don’t feel tired whatsoever. I look around the solid white room, waiting for someone to come in yet again and release me. It seems to be taking quite a while, but I’ve got patience. They keep talking, their voices sound concerned yet excited at the same time. I’m unsure just of what this is about. After nearly thirty minutes of looking around the room, one of the geneticists comes in and sits in the chair next to my bed. I look over, and he returns my gaze.
“How are you feeling right now, miss Ricky?”
“I’m fine, just slightly confused as to what is taking so long.”
“Nothing important is going on out there, what is important is what is happening to you. You aren’t like any of our other candidates Ricky, do you know why?”
“Of course.”
A little lie.
“Well, I never said that. We will release you shortly and someone will be by your bunker to see you in a while. Your clothes are on the table over there. Feel free to change and a nurse will be in with your release.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
With that, he leaves and closes the door. I move over to the table and grab the fatigue uniform. I slip off the cloth hospital suit and put on my own clothes. I sit back down on the bed and wait for the nurse to come in. After some time, a small nurse walks in with a release tab. She hands me a tablet and tells me where to sign. Once I finish the form I hand it back, I receive my release chip. I leave the med hall and head back to my bunker.

I walk in to my bunker and sit down on my bed. It’s barely 1900. The others are probably all at dinner. I don’t feel hungry or tired in the slightest. I move to my comm. and start it up. I look through the history of the GMS Genesis program. As I look through the videos, a file I had never seen before pops up. A blueprint of a suit; it looks unlike any other suit for the Genesis program. I’m sure this is what Tomas was talking about just the other day. I look at the angles of the suit.
Tomas must be right, either that or they are making entirely new armor for anyone involved in the functioning mechanics side of the program. I save the file and close my comm. I go over to my dressing panel. I key in the pin code and reorganize my uniforms. Just as I am closing my panel, a man in a suit walks in with a short petite woman. They come fully into my bunker and sit down on the wall opposite of my comm. where two chairs are. The man begins speaking to me.
“Hello, miss…”
“Ricky, candidate number 610 sir.”
“Yes, Miss Ricky. We have some news for you.”
He sounds almost sinister with the way he says things. I turn to the woman as she pulls out a file and sets it on a side table she moved in front of her feet.
“Miss Ricky, we are changing you to the new program. You are now in your own project; this project name is Freefall.”
“Freefall, might I ask what exactly this change is about ma’am?”
“Yes, Ricky, you see you are unlike any of our other candidates. We are going to put you within your own program so that we may further help you develop and work. You will still operate within your same unit and the same other candidates; you will just be referred to as Ricky, in the Freefall, Program 1. Your regimen will start two days from now. Until then your suit is still in development.”
“The training you will receive puts you in to be graduated with the rest of your teams.”
“So I am in a program of my own now? How does that work?”
“Miss Ricky, you are part of our newest classified program. You will be the only operative member of this program. You no longer need to go through any GD Phase training. You will receive separate training from the others.”
“Okay. Thank you, is that all you need from me as of right now?”
I look at the two of them. There is so much contrast between the two. He is large, burly, and deep. She seems to be a mouse compared to him. They nod, hand me a file with all of the information I need on Operation: Freefall, Program 1. I see them out of my bunker and sit down to look through exactly what this program is.
Tomas walks down the hall and stops in my doorway, his shoulders take up practically the entire frame. It’s hard to believe he can even fit through. I look up from my files as he gives me a look of, “what have you there?” I set down the file, making sure none of the paperwork slips out. He looks down at the file as I stand up and walk closer to the door.
“Yes Tomas? Are you looking for someone?”
“Actually, I am. I’ve been looking for you since they rushed you from the G-Out building in a med pod. What happened to you mate, drown in the shower?”
“No, Tomas. I have no idea what happened, but you were right about the suit.”

“Oh, I know. Did you see the file I put there for you?”
“Yes, the blueprint. It’s strange. I was actually looking at the material coding. It’s made from strange elements. I haven’t heard of things like that before. I think it comes from the excavation sites.”
“Yeah, they have quite a bit of messed up s*** they don’t tell us about don’t they?”
“Yes. It seems they do.”
“What’s that file there on your desk mate?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just my release forms. They wanted me to look over them. Since I have no idea what happened.”
“Mind if I take a gander?”
“Actually I prefer that you don’t, please Tomas.”
“Alright, fine by me. Just make sure to give me the details once you’re through. I want to hear what happened to our unit’s little half-breed, alright?”
“Sure Tomas. I’ll tell you, after I find out for myself.”
Tomas always has had a sense of humor to lighten up any topic. He and I were candidates in the same age group. He was just two years older than I was. At the beginning of training I looked up to him. He was like a big brother, or at least what I imagined big brothers were like. He looked out for me, and I returned the favor. We work well together, but getting too close when you’re in the programs can give you heartache from hell. We keep our distance; just enough to stay close, but not so much to be separated completely. He looks one more time at the file, then waves a half salute with a funny, crooked smile on his maw. I return his half salute and move the file to a drawer beneath my comm. once he walks away.
I sit in front of the holographic screen. I open the file he got for me. It doesn’t look like much, at least not for now. Just a rough draft is what this seems to be. I wonder if there is anything else for this. I decide to look for myself. It doesn’t seem like a smart first try, but I search “freefall armor” in the program information files. Nothing found. I know there has to be something – then I remember the file they had given to me. I didn’t get a good look at it. I close out my comm. and pull the file from the drawer. I rest my elbows on my knees and flip through the basic files to find the more detailed ones that are specific to Freefall, Program 1. Then I start to think. Freefall, Program 1? Were there going to be more Freefall programs? Most likely not, since I am the only one like myself. Maybe it stands for something else. I return to the files and start looking through. There is no specific program operation detail. It seems practically the same as the Genesis Program, except for one thing I find; I am the only one in my program, and it states that I have a higher authority, as well as a slightly modified directive. There is nothing that is much different from the Genesis Program descriptions. I look through for the armory file. I try to find any form of blueprint for a suit. There doesn’t seem to be a diagram. I close the file and return it to my drawer, being sure to lock it.
I get up and head to the recreation hall, that’s where I can find Tom. As I am walking I start to think. I wish I could tell Tom about the program, but it strictly specifies to not make any other candidate aware of the program until a briefing has been given to them by a commander. I have no idea which commander will be giving the briefing, but this is basic protocol for any new program. As I walk down the hall, other candidates watch me fluidly move closer to the rec. hall. I pass by without a sideways glance. Once I reach the hall, I get to the room and step inside. I look around for Tom. I see him off in the corner with some other candidates talking, drinking, and having what looks like a good time. I stop to think about disturbing him. This is important; I also really just need reassurance. I walk coolly over to their table.
“Hey Tom.”
“Hey mate, figure out what happened yet?”
“No, there wasn’t any information about what happened other than my passing out.”
“Oh, shame they couldn’t figure out. Either that or they didn’t feel like telling        you.”
“You never really know do you?”
One of his friends sneaks his way into the conversation, obviously irritated by the lack of attention.
“Hey can’t you see were tryin’ to have a drink here? Go hang out with those girls over there. We didn’t ask for you to join did we?”
“Hey, cool it mates. It’s fine.”
“Just head back, I’ll be there in a while Ricky, okay?”
I nod and give the candidate a glance before I walk out. I head back to my bunker and cool off. It’s easy for me to keep calm, but he would have been worth the effort to throw through a wall. I already know I’m different from all the others, and I am fine with it; it’s just that nobody else seems to be. Most of the other females in the program are around 5’9” and petite, with light blond hair and green eyes. I am about 6’3” and broad shouldered, my hair is a twisted mess of earthy brown, and my eyes are silver with streaks of indigo, green and violet spattered about. I feel as though I strike fear in my fellow female candidates. I don’t mean to. Some of the ones who are afraid to show feelings call me peacock, because of my eyes.
Apparently a peacock is a bird from earth that is hard to find nowadays. I don’t see how that is much of an insult, but that’s the way they seem to mean it. I get up and pour a glass of water. I think as I bring the glass to my lips. Water is strange, it gives so many things life, yet I can live without it for months at a time. I pour the rest of the glass on a succulent plant they allowed me to have. It reminds me of living on Recius. My home planet was named after the general who started the colony there. I stare at the bright orange flowers, and then a knock on the door interrupts my focus.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Tom.”
“Just a moment, please.”
I walk over to the door and open the lock. Tom walks in and closes it behind him. I go back to my succulent plant and rest my chin on the windowsill, staring intently at its meticulously patterned flowers. Tom walks over towards me.
“What are you thinking about Ricky?”
“Nothing, I’m just focusing. These flowers are like me; just as strange.”
“Just as beautiful too.”
I feel my ears and face get hot and try my hardest to keep from looking back at him.
“You’re like Earth, the way it used to be. Full of life and vitality.”
“What does Earth look like Tom? I’ve never seen it, not with my own eyes at least.”
“There are no words for it; it’s full of green and blue; yellow and red. Every color you can imagine, and depending on where you go each place is different.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Have you really seen Earth before Tom?”
“Yes I have. You never knew? Earth was home.”
I look at the different flowers on the succulent; each one with its own pattern. They seem so fragile, yet they are impossible to pick from the plant.
“So I’m like home then?”
“Yes, I guess you are - taste of home in the midst of space.”
I look at him. He has deep blue eyes, dark black hair, and he is at least 7 feet tall. He smiles, my face gets hot and I turn back to the window. I remember why I am here and I feel a small amount of guilt. I wait for my face to stop burning, and then turn back towards him.
“So, do you have questions for me or are you going to watch me admire a cactus for the next few hours?”
He laughs. “I came by to see if you had found out anything more, remember?”
“No, I have yet to. However, I’ve heard the entire unit is going to be getting a very important briefing soon.”
“Oh and where did you hear this, little miss teapot?”
“I have my connections, just like you do.”
“Ah, I see. Classified is it?”
He smiles that crooked smile and raises one brow.
“Well, I guess if there’s nothing left to discuss I’ll be heading on my way. See you later Ricky.”
“Alright I’ll see you later too.”
I watch as he leaves. Once he is gone, I speed to the sink and splash water on my face. I watch my pupils dilate in the mirror. No sensation this time; I wonder if this is just part of the indoctrination or if there’s something serious. Then I think; if it were serious they would have admitted me and kept watch until they knew what it was. I backed away from the sink and sat down on my bunk. I support myself with my hands on the side of the mattress. I blink, then check the time, 1830. I get up and walk to the window. The sun is setting as the stars seem to push it out of the sky. I spend the rest of my night counting them.
I watch as the sun lights up my view from the other side of the sky, crawling its way back towards the top.
I check the time, 0500. I walk over to the sink and clean my face, and then I open my lock panel and take out a fresh uniform. I study it; a deep marine blue uniform with grey shoulder pads. The suit is seamed on the front and sides to fit a female physique. Technologically I have no idea what to expect. I put it on and take out my pair of standard shoes. I put them on as well while I hear the intercom come to life as they call our unit to a briefing. I grab my brush and pull my hair up into a bun, making sure not to let a hair out of place. I walk along with the other candidates down to the board room for the briefing.
Once I’m there seats are filling as candidates chat about how they weren’t expecting any briefings. I must be the only one who knew whatsoever. I grab a cup of coffee from the refreshment table and take a seat toward the back of the room. I silently sip the coffee as everyone around me mingles. My eyes flash from group to group; picking up bits of conversations here and there. Some are talking about how they heard that there was a new armor suit for the unit, while others talked about how they believe it to be something negative, like a new war. As I start to run low on coffee, an officer walks in. Everyone stands at attention and takes their seats. The officer brushes off their salutes and shushes them.
“Alright now, we have some of our scientists here to talk about a new unit. What about it - I’m not entirely sure. They will inform you of the rest. Allow me to introduce Dr. Feinberg and Dr. Smith. Thank you, at ease.”
Two particularly small looking scientists walk in with files and lab coats, how cliché. The taller one speaks first; I can barely read her nametag, Dr. Feinberg.
“Hello candidates. We are here to brief you all on the new program, it is called Project Freefall. We have a few images to show you as well.”
The slightly shorter man, Dr. Smith I presume, speaks next as a slide appears on the hologram behind him.
“Here, we have the suit for Project Freefall. Notice the shifting spaces, it contains the highest technology we have available made from natural elements excavated on our digging sites. As well as some more familiar materials.”
I can’t see the slide from as far away as I am. Dr. Feinberg steps back to the podium and begins talking about how the older programs were formed and how Genesis ties in with Freefall. I read all of what she is saying earlier in my files. Genesis and Freefall are side by side programs, but Freefall is more privileged and more active.
“That is all we have for you candidates. If you have questions about whether or not you have been selected to be in Project Freefall please report to the commanding officers of your unit. They have lists of who is and who isn’t set to be in Freefall. For now you may only find out if you have made it or not, you will find out who else has tomorrow.”
“Until then, you are not to talk about your position in Freefall without further notice. You are dismissed.”
Soon, everyone starts walking out of the board room. They have a training session scheduled for 0800. I go back to my room and check my comm. for any notices. I have one notice, from Dr. Smith and Dr. Feinberg.

To: Ricky Arbiter Animus, Candidate 610 ID: 6610
From: Dr. Smith and Dr. Feinberg
Subject: Project Freefall (Codename: Profall)
Dear Ricky,
We are pleased that you have come along to Genesis. We are excited to have created “Profall”. We thank you. Please come to room six in the machinery wing tomorrow. We have more information for you about “Profall”. Keep all information classified until further notice. Once again, thank you; we are excited to have you here.

Signed,
Dr. Smith and Dr. Feinberg

P.S. Please come down at 0730. Remember, all information in this article is not disclosed.

They used my full name. Ricky Arbiter Animus, it’s not much of a name really. We were only allowed to pick our first names; the others were decided at random by a machine that scanned our retina. I look over the message again. I wonder what it is they have for me. Possibly a suit? A new weapon? Who knows, it really could be anything if they’re having me meet them in the machinery wing.
The intercom comes to life, announcing the return of the unit for showers. I went back to my comm. looking for any other notices. There was one more; from Tomas.

To: Ricky Arbiter Animus, Candidate 610 ID: 6610
From: Tomas Abbas Bellus, Candidate 605 ID: 6501
Subject: Today’s Briefing
Hey Ricky,
Did you know anything about that briefing today? I mean, informational things. I know you heard that there would be one, but did you know what it was about at all? Well, after the training I’ll be heading to the commander’s quarters to ask for more on this.

Tomas – out.

I wish I could tell him, but if the scientists stay true to their word then everyone will know soon enough. I’m slightly anxious for tomorrow. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep. I should reply to Tomas.

To: Tomas Abbas Bellus, Candidate 605 ID: 6501
From: Ricky Arbiter Animus, Candidate 610 ID: 6610
Subject: RE: Today’s Briefing

Hey Tomas,
No, I actually had no idea. I’ve heard everyone talking though, supposedly all of the information will be disclosed within the next few days or so. I might head up to command as well. Sorry I wasn’t at training today, they pulled me to the med wing to check in. Took them forever.
Ricky (teapot) – out.

That should be good enough to keep him from getting suspicious. I know he’s in the showers now. I’m going to change and head out, I need to run and clear my head. I put on my running gear; mid length spandex shorts, a slightly baggy tank top and some pulse shoes. I strap on my MP5 and head out.

It’s cool and calm outside. Perfect running weather, the sky is tinted slightly orange by the reflections in the clouds. I set my pulse shoes to calibrate and turn on my MP5. I run off towards the cadence and tactics facility. I run along the track and watch the newer candidates practice tactical skills on each other. Music is a good escape for me. I’m glad they allowed me to have an MP5. It’s loaded with a lot of older “electronic” genre songs. The beat just feels as mechanical as I am. I match my breathing and change my movement to gain speed. I am surrounded by my own breeze as the settled air separates so that I can pass through easily.
Air cutting, I stop thinking and become sound. I run a few laps around the candidates then head back to the facility at about 1400. I head to the showers and clean up. Once I get back to my bunker I check the time again, 1430. I look at my pulse shoes and check the recorded speed, 21 mph. Seems about average. I rack my towel in the cleaning chute and put away my shoes. Today just doesn’t seem to be going by quickly at all, it usually doesn’t when I’m not working to the limit. I’m thankful that I have plans tomorrow. Yesterday and today were practically off days; days that are given to us before shifting into a new phase. I look at my comm. I sit staring at it, wondering if I should check to see if I got a reply from Tom. I give in and sit in front of the comm. looking for a reply message.
0 New Notices
I stare at the screen, slightly disappointed. I guess he must’ve gone to talk with command. I shouldn’t be disappointed; he isn’t obligated to reply to me anyway. I check the time, 1450. There are still a few hours before I can even begin thinking about sleeping. I go over to my book shelf; I grab the first book I see. “War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells; this book is insanely old. I start on the first page.

"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency men went to and fro over this globe about their little affairs, serene in their assurance of their empire over matter. It is possible that the infusoria under the microscope do the same. No one gave a thought to the older worlds of space as sources of human danger, or thought of them only to dismiss the idea of life upon them as impossible or improbable. It is curious to recall some of the mental habits of those departed days.”
Seems like a good enough start, we’ve gotten farther than they ever would have believed. Old English literature has such dissimilar spelling. I continue reading and get lost in the book. I finish and check the time, 1600. There’s still two more hours before I can head to bed. Maybe I can watch the sunset. I walk over to the window. The sun is barely touching the horizon. I wonder if sunsets look the same on Earth, I’ll have to ask Tomas.
Then I remember, Tomas! I forgot to check if he had replied. I quickly step away from the window and walk over to the comm.
1 New Notice
I open the notice and read it.

To: Ricky Arbiter Animus, Candidate 610 ID: 6610
From: Tomas Abbas Bellus, Candidate 605 ID: 6501
Subject: RE: RE: Today’s Briefing
Hey Ricky,
So do you believe that they’ll be disclosing it all? It seems strange that they would do that. Maybe only to our unit? Who knows, I’ll be by your bunker around 1620. We have another set to do, this time it’s only weaponry. So we’ll be indoors. We can talk more about this when I come by.
Tomas (earth kid) – out.

1620? It’s already 1610. I close out my comm. and pull my hair out of its, (now distorted) bun. I shake it out; it feels good to let my hair fall down after being up for so long. It’s clean and smells like the soaps they issue, a generic “fresh rain” scent. I pick up my book from the side table and put it back on the shelf. I look out the window and see that the sun is setting. I walk over and gaze at the sun; it looks almost as if it’s melting into the ground. The moons are climbing to the top of the sky. I can barely see them from the top of my window frame. Then I hear a knock at my door.
“Come in Tomas.”
He walks in, his hair is slightly messy and he looks a little tired.
“Are you alright Tom? You look so disheveled.”
“Yeah mate, I’m fine. Only a little tired, just got out from the showers.”
“I wish I could’ve been at training. I got so tired of waiting around that I went out for a run where the new candidates practice their tactical skills. 21 mph. I was disappointed when I looked at the time after I finished. I hate having off days, I need to be out and working.”
“This - coming from the one who was least athletic in our entire unit? No wonder the med hall is keeping an eye on you, do you have a fever?”
I laugh. “No Tomas, I’m fine. I just had the urge to run; shifting after the normal stopping point gives me a lot of energy to burn off. I had to work my newer muscles; they were practically crawling under my skin! Did you expect me to sit around while you were out working? I couldn’t possibly do that.”
His voice changes and he sounds concerned.
“So that’s what has been going on?”
I look down at my feet, a little guilty.
“Yeah, I’m still shifting. They told me it isn’t anything to worry about. Nothing but some delayed shifts.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, it isn’t anything I can’t handle.”
“That’s not what I asked Ricky, are you okay?”
“Yes Tomas, I’m perfectly fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”
“I can’t help but worry about you. I care about you Ricky.”
I feel a well of guilt swelling up to my throat. I look at him; his eyes are full of concern. I’ve never had anyone care about me in that way before. It’s strange, alien almost. I lean into his shoulders and hug him. He pulls up his shoulders a little, my affection surprised him. He sighs and hugs me back. We sit for a while. Then he speaks up, joking.
“You do know I can’t stay here all night don’t you?”
“Ha-ha, yes. I guess you should get going. Talked to command yet?”
“No, I’ve got to head over there right now. See you later, okay teapot?”
“Alright, see you later – earth kid.”
“Okay.”
“Wait! Tomas, I have a question for you.”
“Yes?”
“Are the sunsets here like the ones on Earth?”
“Almost, I’ve got to get going. I’ll tell you about them later, okay kiddo?”
“Okay. Bye Tomas.”
With that, he walks out the door and closes it behind him. He still calls me kiddo even though I’m nineteen. He must be just what big brothers are like. I look back out the window and the stars occupy the entire sky. I look at the clock on the wall, 1900. I can finally go to sleep. I open the top end of my blanket and crawl into the covers. I shut off the lights and look out the window at the stars. I start to count them, and I doze into sleep.
I wake up; only half aware of what happened last night. I check the time, 0700. I’d better get ready. I grab a uniform from my lock panel and pull my hair back in a bun. Just like always, not a hair out of place. I check the time once more, 0715. I head out of my bunker towards the machinery wing. Room six, was it? I think so. I head there and walk into the room.
I walked into a solid white room with four chairs. On the opposite wall there was a glass panel, showing another room. Inside the room, on a rack of its own, was the armor. It was solid white, just like the room itself. On the chest plate were several ring shaped markings - smaller rings inside of larger ones. Located somewhere on each ring was a separation, in each broken space was a small triangle. The chest plate itself was quite smooth. There were no visible seams. The back was open down the center and had a brace built from the front collar to the back of the neck, just below the skull. Down the spine was a rig. The rig contained many bars, one on each vertebra.
At the top, close to the brace, was a slightly concave circle shaped plate: about four inches in diameter. Just as the front of the chest plate, it had several rings. The shoulders flowed into the bicep plates. The bicep plates were smooth and large, shaped to that of a shield covering almost the entire outer arm. The top was flat while the bottom near the outer part of the bicep was pointed. The inner arm was shaped ergonomically. The forearm plates were conical tubes.
The abdominal plates were shaped like an hourglass in three pieces; one on the core, and one each of the sides underneath the ribcage. The leg plates were separated into two pieces as well. The thighs were plated front like the forearms, conical. No specific pattern was there other than matching up in round curves to the torso. The lower leg muscle plates were also in front and back. They rounded out just below the kneecap for free movement.
At the ankles, a separation was formed. The "shoes", if you are to call them such, were shaped almost as the front of an old Japanese bullet train. The helmet looked to be entirely some sort of one way glass, except around the jaw, neck, and back of the head. The helmet was plated all the way around the jaw and back of the head the same way the rest of the suit was. The front of the helmet had a jaw line that peaked into a trapezoid in the middle, where the bridge of the nose would be. The HUD and vital readers most likely linked via the spinal support. The entire suit seemed so fragile, and so smooth. I sat down and admired it as I waited for the scientists to come in and brief me on its devices.
The suit was quite slender. It covered most of the body, the same way an exoskeleton acts. I start to think of what they might have named the suit when Dr. Smith and Dr. Feinberg walk in, they take seats on either side of me.
“So Ricky, what do you think of the suit?”
“It looks a little fragile honestly, but you should never judge a book by its cover.”
“That’s quite an old saying, and you’re right. Shall we begin going over its properties?”
“Of course, begin.”

Dr. Smith begins talking about the suit.
“The entire suit has been built ergonomically. It will shift as you do. One of the newest technologies we have developed is the camouflage. You may change the suit to have active camouflaging or environmental camouflaging. In active camouflage the suit will change to be entirely transparent. The environmental camouflaging changes the color or pattern on the suit to match that of your environment.
Now, the other basic functions of the suit are a shield, ballistic repellent, and kinesis. The suit connects at the top of the spine and the base of the skull. Vitals are magnetically transmitted. The helmet contains the highest NOD technology as well as a new type of sensor. The sensor can read enemy position as well as friendly position. The suit has been tested against high heat, extreme weather conditions, and extreme cold. It has outer shields rated for external galactic travel, should you ever find yourself abandoning ship. It contains a life support system that generates oxygen from the CO2 you exhale. The carbon gas is used as propellant for the jets built into the shoulder blades. That should be everything we need to cover.”
Dr. Feinberg moves her attention away from Dr. Smith to me.
“The suit has neurological message reading; it will do what you tell it to mentally. So, as we have been speaking right now, the other candidates were called to briefing and are being given the disclosed information on Freefall.”
“What is the suit called?”
They look at each other.
“We haven’t named the suit. Do you have a suggestion, since it was made for you?”
“Eventus.”
“Good name choice Ricky. Would you like to take it out for a spin?”
I look at the suit, then at Dr. Smith, and back to Dr. Feinberg.
“Sure why not.”
We get up and robotic arms come out and support the suit. They touch in key codes on sides of the armor and pull it into pieces. The seams were there, but invisible until the suit was taken apart. They handed me a special white bioskin suit to change into. I come back after about three minutes. The glass panel wall has opened, and the suit is entirely disassembled.
“Go ahead and step on those two platforms Ricky, hold your arms out to the sides and relax your muscles.”
I do as told. The machines piece the armor back together on me. As each piece attaches it makes a small noise like an air brake. Then I stand still as the mechanical arms release me. The helmet is on a table next to me, I grab it, staring into the reflective glass. I slide on the helmet and a loud airy hissing sound is made as the connections are finalized. The suit is light and silent as I walk. I think, “Active Camouflage” and watch as I disappear from the mirror I am looking into. I think, “Environmental Camouflage” the suit changes back to white, like the room around me. I read the HUD and check the sonar. Everything is in check. I try out the kinesis on a glass of water, successfully picking it up and placing it back on the table from ten feet away.
“What is the range of the kinesis?”
Dr. Feinberg and Dr. Smith look at each other with big grins.
“One hundred yards.”
“Do you mind if I take the suit out for a walk?”
They turn around and talk amongst each other.
“Alright. When you’re done the suit can be kept in your lock panel, provided you use the special unit we will have placed in the back of your bunker.” I nod and salute them, then head out the door and away from the machinery wing.
As I walk down the hall, candidates on their commutes stare and whisper to each other. I go towards the board room. As I get closer I wonder if they are still in a briefing. I don’t want to make a big show of myself so I look in through the window first. It seems to look like they are barely in the middle of the briefing. I open the door silently, and then think “active camouflage” I walk unnoticed to a side pillar on the outer section of the room, close to the front and podiums. I listen in on their information. Sounds like everything in the files I was given, information on the functions of the program, its status, the program’s objectives and such.
I look away from the commanders at the podium and look amongst the crowd to see who is here. It doesn’t look like anyone else is in Freefall. Then I see Tomas, he is probably wondering where I’m at. He is on the second to end seat in a row next to the aisle. I walk over, still in active camouflage, and take a seat next to him in the empty aisle chair. He doesn’t notice me at all; I guess this camouflage works better than I thought. I wait towards the last part of the briefing then, with one leg over the other and my chin resting on my finger and thumb, I think “no camouflage” as I slowly reappear next to Tomas. He looks over as the other recruits are halfway out of their seats. They look over as well. I probably look quite comical; I get my humor from Tomas. They look at the sheets they were given for the briefing and then back towards me.
They have no idea who I am, but they do know now that whoever must be in this suit is also in Freefall. I move my leg down to the floor and let my arms go slack at my sides, and then I shrug at all of them while they stare at me. I get up and start to walk away. Once I get to the door I stop as I’m being tapped on the shoulder. I turn around and a candidate who is slightly shorter than I am puts his hand forward. I look down and return a firm handshake, he walks out the door. Then I realize that every other candidate has started to form a haphazard line for the door. Everyone is waiting to shake my hand as they leave. Now I remember how real this all is and how important I must be.
In Freefall, the main goal is to be a single unit which shifts positions within other units, temporarily becoming the silent leader of that squad. You can be assigned to a squad from a unit within Genesis, or within a military branch that is not a part of the programs. What you do within the time you are assigned has an immense effect on the members of that squad.
As the last candidate shakes my hand and walks out the door I look back into the room, Tomas is standing right in front of me. He has a look of pride mixed with fear on his face. I look at him and thrust my hand towards him. He returns a firm handshake and looks at me. He reaches around my neck and holds his fingers on the top spinal plate. A loud hissing sound breaks the silence. He looks into the glass of the helmet. I realize he is trying to take off my helmet, I remove it the rest of the way and hold it between my elbow and side. I look him in the eye. He looks as though he is about to cry, then he leans in and whispers into my ear.
“Promise me; promise me that you won’t get hurt. Please?”
I look into his worried expression. I have no words as my throat grows tight. I nod as tears well in my eyes. He walks off to his bunker. I can’t cry. I don’t even see why I started to. I’ve got plenty of training ahead before they send me out anyway. I wipe the tears from my eyes and put the helmet back on, with its hissing air brake sound, and then I walk down the hall to my bunker.
I don’t know why it made me sad. I understand the program fully. Tomas does as well now. Why would he be so concerned for me? It’s just me. I’m nothing special; at least I don’t feel very special. I am in no way better in my own eyes. I am just as capable as anyone else in the programs. Why would Tomas care so much about me? It’s disconcerting; I have never had anyone care for me at all really. I’ve got nothing to give, so why would someone want to give to me? I’m not sure what to feel, happiness, sadness? I feel like I should push him away, yet I want to pull him closer, keep him where he is. Feelings that I have never experienced before are flowing through my nerves and spreading across my body. I need to stop thinking about him. I rush to the sink and splash water on my face. I take off the armor pieces and place them on the rack along with the bioskin. I change into a pair of old clothes and head to the showers.
I connect my MP5 to the system and play my music. I sit down in the corner of the shower, clothes and all. I sit there, staring at nothing in particular as the steam builds and water pummels my clothes. I sit, listening to the thumping sound of the fat water drops on the shower walls; they fall in tune with the beat of the music. I relax and just let the water soak me. It’s warm, it feels like a hug; just what I needed, a hug, but not from a person. I needed embrace from something that wouldn’t be judgmental and talk back to me. Something that wouldn’t tell me that what I was feeling was what I thought it was.
I don’t know how long I was sitting there. I got up once the last song was done playing. I change into clean clothes. I feel like I just took the longest nap ever. I head back to my bunker. I throw the wet clothes down the chute and remember what I was told. I look in the cabinet above the sink. There it was, Abeoneurosin.
They said to take it in case of any sort of “panic attack.” I take down the bottle, reading the label. I stare at the bottle of small capsules and wonder whether or not I should swallow one. What would happen if I did? Would all of my emotion disappear? How long does one dose last? I don’t fully understand the medications. I turn over the bottle, contemplating once more.
I think, I set the bottle back in the cabinet and sit down on my bed, frustration overtaking me in every way. I can’t let this get to me. I relax every muscle in my body and clear out my head. That moment I am not sure what was happening. It all went so fast. You would have to have milliseconds recorded picture by picture in your brain to understand. It felt like forever, but it was only seconds. I come back and my head is clear. I have no worry, no guilt, nothing negative. I look around the room; some things are slightly disheveled here and there. Other than a few misplaced items, the room is in exact order. Then I look over at the window. My succulent. I walk over to it; the plant itself seems to be glowing. It is making a sound almost like stretching fabric. I stare at it for a few moments, and then the flowers bloom all at once. The brilliance and caution it made me feel was in itself an entire experience alone. I turn away as I hear a knock on my door.
“Who is it?”
My voice is slightly forceful, bellowing almost.
“It’s Tomas, what happened in there? The entire wing has no power!”
“You know the code.”
Tomas walks in, he’s right. The hallway is almost pitch black, my room seems to be the only one that is illuminated. He walks in and looks around as though there were blood on every wall.
“That’s strange, why is your room the only one with power?”
“I have no idea. What do you think is going on?”
“I’m not sure mate, usually they fix these things before they become problems.”
I think did I do that? I couldn’t have done that. I don’t even know what I did in the first place. It doesn’t make sense that I did it if I don’t even know what I did. Maybe I did. I didn’t mean to do anything at all really. It just sort of happened. I feel a sensation in my face. I go to the mirror. A violet colored electric pulse is flowing over my face, traveling along my veins, and my pupils are dilated to their maximum. I stare at my face in awe as the violet colored pulses fade away. My eyes stay dilated.
“Are you alright mate?”
Tomas’s voice is full of concern and uncertainty.
“Yes I’m fine. Maybe one of the generators busted.”
Now I know that whatever it was I did, even if I had no idea what it was and I didn’t mean to do it, was the reason. I start to consider what Tomas suggested so long ago; half-breed, half-breed, half-breed. It plays over and over in my mind. The possibility of what Tomas said creeps out from the back of my mind and takes over my thought. I’m unsure whether or not I should feel bad or good about it. I want to push the thought away. My muscles relax. Another EMP blasts out the power in my room, everything becomes clear and I feel free again. I turn around to Tomas. His face is in awe and astonishment; he stares at me open-mouthed and wide eyed.
I’m unsure of what to say to him. I turn towards him, exhausted. I try to form words, but nothing comes out. I’m conscious but my body goes slack and I fall into Tomas. His strong figure doesn’t flinch; he picks me up and lays me down on the bed. I have to tell him that I’m okay. His face is tense and his eyebrows are pursed together in a peak at the center of his forehead. He’s talking but I can’t hear him, I can’t hear anything. Everything is ringing, my vision is blurring in and out.
I look up at him. I can’t form any words. I look at him and try to smile, a symbol that he will hopefully interpret as my being fine. I start feel as though my strength is slowly coming back to me. I don’t even realize when I fall asleep.
I wake up, there is no light coming in from the window and there’s no light seeping in through the doorway. I look over to my chair; it’s hard to see in such darkness. I see a large figure slightly hunched over in the almost too small frame of the chair. Tomas, he stayed to make sure I would be okay.
I feel a knot starting to well up in my throat. My eyes burn with the sensation of forming tears. I want to say his name, call out and let him know that I’m alright. I feel perfectly fine. I look out the window and back to Tomas. I clear my throat as silently as possible and attempt to form words. Everything is sore, I can only move so fast.
“Tomas?”
My whisper is almost inaudible. It’s a good thing that my room is as silent as death himself. Tomas startles from his sleep and rubs his eyes, then his neck.
“Is that you Ricky? Are you okay?”
He sounds exhausted.
“Yes, I’m fine. Are you alright?”
“I think so, why?”
“I have no idea what went on earlier. I didn’t even mean to do whatever that was…”
He sounds raspy and tired, even slowed a bit.
“It’s okay.”
“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”
“I’m glad too, then who would be here for you when you screw things up?”
He was right. Without him I was alone, but I had been alone for most of my life. What was so different about being alone now? I sit up in the bed. I need to be grateful. I get up and slowly walk over to him as he sits in the chair, making sure to be as silent as possible. I try to sit him up, he must have fallen back to sleep. I slowly move the chair closer to the extra bunk and pull him over onto it; he should be more comfortable there. I look down at him as he sleeps. He has a gentle face.
A good amount of gruff chisel, and softness. He has a chiseled jaw, his brow is strong, but not too prominent. His nose is the perfect shape, almost Greek looking. Everything about him looks perfect. My face turns flush.
I watch him for a few seconds more, contemplating whether I should or not. His breath, rhythmic and deep, his chest and shoulders rising and falling with each inhale and exhale.
I was wrong. I didn’t need embrace from something I needed embrace from someone. I needed someone to tell me that it was okay. To tell me that everything that I felt was okay. Tomas was such an amazing person. He didn’t even have to say anything at all. I look once more at his face, and lie down in my bed, leaving him sleeping soundly on the couch. With that, I don’t even remember falling back to sleep.
I wake up alone. Tomas must have gotten up before I did. They must have had training. My training starts today. I check the time, 0740. I have to wear the suit for my training. For now until I’m completed I will wear the suit for each training simulation. Each day will be different. New things thrown at me, different climates, different weapons, different situations. New everything every day. I go over to the locked case and open it.
The suit is just as clean as it was yesterday when it was fresh out of the lab. I put on the bioskin and the suit is taken apart by smaller versions of the robotic arms as I put my hair up in a bun. I step on the platform and wait as the arms place the armor, with its tiny air brake sounds, onto my body. I step off of the platform when the suit is put together. I grab the helmet and slide it on for about the fourth time, even though I have never actually done anything in it. The loud hissing sound comes to a stop as all of the connections are finalized within milliseconds. I head to the simulation hall for my training.
I walk into the assigned room. I hear a voice over the intercom.
“We are going to have you use the armor in different random defenses. The suit can read you; you don’t have to specify what you want it to do. It will sense what you need or an emotion and do what is needed accordingly, so long as you are to have it do so. For now you can think the entire phrase - but later on you will need to be fast.”
They talk to me like I don’t learn quickly.
I walk to the platform. I’ve done this before, only not quite the same. The other times I wasn’t controlling an almost invincible billion dollar suit with my mind. Today I’m. They start to throw ballistic rounds, turrets, and missile troops at me one at a time. I counter and defense each attack. This should be easy. I hope they plan to tire me out, I’ve gotten sick of waiting around.
Training – no more free time from here on out.

After months of repetitive training and flux, we are finally complete. I have talked to Tomas a little bit in the past three months, but mainly at rare mess hall lunches. I have been quite occupied with training since the incident three months ago when the power was knocked out by an EMP. Today, I can say hello to Tomas in person again.. Regardless I’m excited to finally have time to see him again. I miss his crooked smile, his humor. I’ve got to focus. I dress in my blues and look in the mirror as I set on my beret. White gloves, blue suit, tight bun, black shoes that shine like obsidian. This is what I’m here for. I look one last time at my eyes. I wonder if I should put in the green contacts I got from someone “anonymous”. I received them in a rude letter the other day.
The letter didn’t bother me. Honestly I only want to meet the person who wrote it and see if they could say such naïve things directly to my face. I open the contact case and flush them down the drain. I throw the case in a waste bin and head out to the court for our ceremony.
Once I get out into the court, I look for Tomas. I wonder if he remembers that night with the EMP. I spot him towards an outer seat, per usual. I walk over to him.
“Hey, Tomas!”
“Ricky? Is that you?”
He looks the same as I last saw him. I look at him as he stands up to turn around and face me. I want to run up and hug him, but I know I shouldn’t. It isn’t appropriate right now. I walk over and shake his hand. He puts his hand on my shoulder.
“How have you been?’
He sounds slightly distant.
“I’ve been good. They threw all they could at me in training. You would’ve liked what they did.”
“They had you wear just blues to graduation? I figured they would want to have you flaunt their new suit.”
I give a smile to his crack at the overenthusiastic scientists.
“Well, I’ve got good news for you Tomas.”
“What is your good news mate?”
“I’m sure they are going to have a new suit similar to mine designed for the whole unit. Being that I’m functioning mainly with our squads. I’ll get sent in charge of a squad with a follow squad from the program to help out.”
He seems a little distracted.
“That’s great.”
“What’s wrong Tomas?”
“Oh, nothing.”
I can’t believe that. A commander walks in just as I think of something to say. She stands at the podium. Along with every other candidate in the stands, I stand at attention. She calls “at ease”.
The graduation ceremony starts with a speech about our mission, etc. etc. etc.
They call out each candidate’s name and they walk up to receive a handshake from every one of the sponsors/officers. Somewhere along the way they get assigned a locker. In that locker is all of their gear. Along with one of the new suits they designed for the units. I won’t receive a locker. My gear is in my bunker. It will be moved out of the training facility once I get assigned an operation or TMS (temporary moving station) I will only move as my unit does.
There are about 100 candidates in my unit including Tomas and I, well, no longer candidates- GMS’s. We are all officially GMSs as of today. This marks where our journey officially begins. However, we will stay in the training facility until the unit is assigned.
Once we are assigned we can be sent on ops. Right now, we are waging no war. We are being sent in for reconnaissance of planets they are looking to colonize. Although deep down I feel what waits for us isn’t going to be peaceful. I watch as each candidate is called up and transitions into a GMS.
It’s almost like they’re walking through portals, becoming something they weren’t before. Like they’ve gained something they didn’t have before walking up there. Tomas is called, and then I am soon after. We go up, and then head to our bunkers to pack up. Official units usually get called to assignments within a week of being considered official. I head to the mess hall with Tomas. There is a banquet for every new GMS on site. I’m assigned to patrol in my suit around the site to watch over the new recruits tomorrow. The comm. systems have been acting up lately, apparently someone has been attempting to hack them.

After the banquet I head to my bunk. It’s already late. I’m quite tired. I change into comfortable clothing and try to fall asleep to the rain outside. Every one of us is unaware. I can’t seem to get to sleep. I sit up and look at my arms and legs; I feel a sensation of electricity almost. Symbols I don’t understand pulse in and out of my mind, as though someone is writing them with luminescent ink that disappears seconds later. My pupils dilate, the room grows to extreme detail and I sit down on my bed. All of my muscles go slack. I stare up at the ceiling. My mind is racing. After a few moments I get all of my feeling back. I get a drink of water and look at the bottle of Abeoneurosin in the cabinet. Should I take one? I open the bottle and slide out one of the clear pills. They look to be filled with some sort of metallic gel. I look at it, rolling it between my thumb and forefinger - down the hatch. The pill itself tastes slightly bitter. I turn out the light and finally get some rest.

I wake up that morning to an alarm I had set. 0545: that’s when the recruits start their runs and drills. I will be out all day patrolling the perimeters to make sure there are no infiltrations. There will be marines out with me, only not in the same spots. I put on my suit and grab my sniper rifle as well as my M16. Such an outdated weapon, but it seems to have been reliable enough. My sidearm hatched to a holster on the outer side of my right thigh. Looking in the mirror you can’t tell me from a male or a female. I don’t look human either, yet I look full of humanity. I make checks to be sure that all of my weapons are on safe. Once I’m sure that there is nothing left to grab I head out to the outdoor facilities. Sergeant Keyes is waiting for me on a field with about two squads of marines. He disbands them as I walk up. He turns and I salute him.
“At ease, soldier.”
I stand as tall as he does, maybe even an inch taller now that I am in my suit.
I stand at ease, sniper on my shoulder and M16 pointed in a direction where it can’t hurt anyone.
“We had reports last night of strange celestial bodies coming in from the west at about 2400 last night. There have been scout teams sent out along with a few specks from the lab to investigate. For now, you can patrol the west perimeters. There might be a few recruits running cadence. They’ll be coming back through that west gate. All right? Head out Animus.”
I nod and run over to the west gate. There are two guard towers. I walk up alone, the marine operating the gate unit looks down at me and I give him a thumbs-up. He opens the gate and I head out. A few marines stand at attention outside of the gate while others stand watch at the ready around the corners. I walk around the sides toward the tracks. I reach them and watch as recruits go ‘round and ‘round. A few slow their pace and look over my way.
The suit is bright white in the morning sunrise. It quickly shifts to a more military hue. I guess they were perfectly right about it reading me. I walk alertly around the western areas of the base. Most of the day goes smoothly. At lunch I shift out with a marine and head to the mess hall. I’m not hungry really; I just want to see who is in there. You get a whole new perspective on everything once you are no longer in training. I walk in to find almost every candidate and recruit sitting near the televisions. I can hardly see the screen over the masses. There’s something on fire. I walk over and decide to take a look for myself. They move out of my way, must be strange to see a robot walking through a cafeteria. I get close enough to the screen to see just what it is, below is a headline saying “extraterrestrial attack on one of Earth’s colonies.”
The image is what looks to be about a quarter of a planet with towers of smoke billowing out. Lights are out near a lower half of the view. It looks devastating. Then I read the headline again “extraterrestrial attack…” Who other than us knows about our colonies? I always felt we weren’t alone in the universe, but I guess this isn’t what I’d expected. My heart sinks down to my stomach as I think of the innocent people killed; children, women, fellow soldiers. Why did this happen? What reasoning could they possibly have to take on one of our colonies when there are plenty of uninhabited, of sentient life, planets they could have chosen? Why?
I look down at my hands and realize I’ve put two inch deep dents into the metal of my rifle. I loosen my grip and look at the recruits around me as they watch in astonishment. I can’t bear to watch anymore. I head out at a slightly faster pace than when I came in. I don’t want to go around breaking the floors. I ask Keyes permission to be relieved of duty for the rest of the day, and I head to the gym. With my workout clothes on and my hands wrapped I go over to a body bag and take my anger out on it. After about ten hits it flies off the chain onto the floor mat. I pick it up and hook it back on to the chain. I continue hitting it, knocking it off about three more times in the process.
I head over to an empty mat and practice moves on a big blue foam dummy. I work on until my knuckles are bleeding. I look at them- that might hurt, but right now I don’t care. I head off to the showers and get cleaned up. Once I’m showered I head to a sink to bandage my knuckles, but as I take out the gauze the raw skin is no longer showing. I look over my hands and do a double take. I look more closely to make sure that it is actually healed and not just rinsed of blood. Where there used to be red sore flesh, there is now a new layer of skin, uncut, unscathed. It’s baffling. I decide to worry about it later. I take my bent up rifle and turn it in to the armory. The soldier on duty looks at the rifle then back up to me and says not to worry about it with an utterly confused look.
I head back to my bunker, it’s getting late. I want to be sure I’m not tired. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty calm, but I’ve run out of patience. We need to do something about what’s going on.
Before it becomes a bigger issue.

Sirens. Sirens? Red lights are flashing all through the halls. I quickly get up and change into my suit. It takes only seconds compared to what it would normally take. The system must be running on an evac set up. I grab my helmet and newly issued weapons and head out marching to the hangars. Candidates are rushing to get on flights. Tomas runs up to me and gives me a briefing; it’s hard to hear over the sirens and rush of the engines, he’s practically screaming.
“You alright mate? They’re evacuating everyone to the nearest Base. They’ve said that something has shut down all major systems. Every bit of information and anything about the programs is being transferred or erased right now! We’ve got to get these guys out of here before anything else major happens.”
I nod. He puts his hand on my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, there is something falling out of the sky, directly towards the opposite side of the station. It’s bright green. I look more closely, my helmet’s targeting system traces and zooms in on it. It looks like some sort of pod, or cluster. All of the noise around me seems to fade. I watch it as it comes crashing down. Tomas shakes my shoulder, I can’t hear what he’s saying, all I can see is the pod, now quickly growing larger as it becomes nearer.
Within milliseconds of it hitting, I throw Tomas down and activate my shield. The ground trembles as the pod cracks it. Even though it’s about a half a mile away, a shockwave bursts, blasting quite a few candidates over, as well as shattering nearly every window in the buildings. Once the ground slows a bit I pick up Tomas and tell him to hurry the hell up, because this is no longer just a breach. Whatever they are, they’ve come for something, and I don’t think they care about what happens to anything else. I run over with him to the candidates and start fitting as many as possible onto the frigates. It’s not long before another blast drops, about a mile out. I tell everyone to keep moving. Focus if you want to live. That morning seemed to have taken years. Once all of the candidates were safely on their way to the base, we had only one more thing to do.

Tomas, the squad and I run as quickly as possible to the armory and grab the biggest explosive charge we have. It’s fairly small, only wipes out within a twenty mile radius. It’s spherical, about two feet in diameter, and weighs about three hundred pounds. We take it as close to the center of the facilities as we can get it. We prime it, about five minutes should give us plenty of time to run over to the hangars and get on the last Hawk. We set it all up. We run as fast as we can, but it doesn’t feel fast enough.
All of the buildings have broken windows, doors are left open. Comms are flickering, fires burn where wiring sparked timbers. A few bodies lie here and there crushed by collapsed buildings. Some glass breaks and flies at us as a wire strikes it. We turn back.
Blasts are falling in one minute intervals now, almost like rain. The ground shakes beneath us. We can barely hear the distinct charging sound. The hangars are empty now, as the last Hawks set out. Ours is at the far west side. “Hangman” as we call him, is our pilot. His name is Adam. He starts up our ship. My helmet is going off, showing me the location of the bomb; a countdown at the top of my helmet: 00:01:55.
“Hurry the hell up Hangman!”
00:01:45
00:01:30
00:01:15
“The systems are checking. The blast has set off some of the systems with the calibration!”
00:00:55
The green light means go. He pulls up, we head straight out. We get about 160k feet up, and it goes off. Soundless, all you can see is a line of light, and a blast of wind. The only sound made is the one of the buildings and the grounds around them crumbling. We’re finally on our way out. Hangman, Tomas and the others are giving sighs of relief and high fives. I feel strange. The cabin is changing to a shade of neon violet. My rifle drops to the floor of the cabin. I hear muffled voices. Hangman turns around from his seat and asks Tomas what’s up with me. The cabin blurs in and out of view. Symbols flash through my head. Tomas looks over and holds my helmet toward his face. I’m strapped into the buckles on the seat; my rifle lies down on the floor. My arms are slack at my sides, and I can barely hold my head up. I can’t understand a word that Tomas is saying.
Something in my mind speaks. We know where you are, we know what you are. Do you? Tomas finds a drip system in my helmet. He attaches an IV. I can feel needles from my suit going into the inner part of my elbow. Would you like to? I nod my head. Tomas looks confused. We can find you.
Tomas’ voice comes clear for a few moments.
“She’s got shrapnel in her leg!”
Are you going to harm any more people?
A few moments pass, I’m still dizzy and nothing is quite clear other than my own voice along with the one that is speaking to me.
I hear Tomas again. “What the hell is she mumbling?”
If we can help it.
If they can help it?
Wait, they?
They? Are you the ones who invaded our colonies? You invaded our facility. Why?
We did not invade your colonies, however we’ve been waiting for you for quite a while. You didn’t think your evolution was in behalf of their researches did you? What they’ve done has had no effect whatsoever on you or your biology.
Then how am I the way I am? I’m human aren’t I?
We can speak of this later. It is not of importance at the moment. You need to be alive. For now, go back to your comrades. They seem to underestimate you.
Wait!
Too late, the voice is gone.
Damn. It feels like I’m being pulled back into my body. I gasp; I must have run out of air. I come back into myself instantly. Everything happens in milliseconds but it feels like an eternity. I rip off my helmet and brace myself on the chair. I have to struggle to gasp for breath. I’ve got to relax and slow my breathing. Tomas and the rest of the squad look at me. Hangman talks to Tomas from the cockpit.
“She okay back there Tomcat?”
“I don’t know, her vitals are coming in and out, readable one moment then not the next.”
“Just keep her stable ‘til we get to base, alright?”
“Hopefully we have enough in the damned med kit to keep her that way for that long.”
Tomas presses an O2 mask to my face.
Soon, the vital reader comes on with a female AI voice.
“Warning: Biohazard Detected”
I don’t feel any different, why would it say that? Tomas and Hangman talk frantically back and forth.
“What the hell?! How in damned hell is there a biohazard here?”
“I don’t know. Check her drips.”
My vision is slightly blurred but I turn my head and check the drip tubing in my arm. A slightly viscous black fluid is pressing against the water. I turn off the drip and the needle pulls itself out of my arm. I drop the tubing on the floor. The fluid splashes out of the tube onto my shoe. It’s purple. It beads up like mercury and slides off. Tomas grabs gauze from the kit and soaks up the liquid. In the background the AI voice of the vital reader is going off.
“Warning: Biohazard Detected”
“What in bloody hell is this?”
“Is it blood?”
“Doesn’t look like any goddamned blood to me Hangman, it’s f*in’ purple.”
I can hear the tension in Tomas’s voice. I reach out and touch his arm, I try to give him a reassuring look, I can’t form words but I mouth out, it’s okay. Tomas picks up the gauze with gloved hands and puts it into a container marked with biohazard symbols. I lean back as far as I can in the seat. I feel drained. I look down at my bioskin; it’s soaking with the purple fluid.
I look at my leg, I see the shrapnel in my thigh. I pull it out slowly, biting my cheek.
I reach down to grip my arm to stop the flow. It doesn’t work, the fluid crawls in both directions on the bioskin; down towards my hand, and across the rest of my body: turning the bioskin a deep purple color; almost black. It starts to run down my leg as well.
I lay there, there isn’t anything Tomas, any of the squad or I can do about it. It dries instantly, it isn’t tarry or sticky. It looks like glass. Tomas gets new tubing and tries to hook up the IV another way. He connects it and holds my arm still to put the needle in place. I turn my head and watch drowsily, but the needle doesn’t go in, the instant he presses it into the material it breaks. He stops and gazes in astonishment. Even I am clueless as to what it is. He puts away the drip system and hands me a canteen.
“Mate, it’s apparently the only way we’re going to be able to get water in you.”
I reach for the canteen and open the top. I pull off my O2 mask. I press the opening to my lips and pour cool water down my throat.
“Go slow mate, you don’t want to go into shock.”
I drink more slowly. I empty the canteen and hand it back to Tomas. It feels like it’s been hours, and it probably has been. I let my arms fall to my sides. Tomas puts the O2 mask back on my face. I slide in and out of an extremely light sleep. Hangman shouts from the cockpit.
“Two minutes to friendly airspace!”
I sit up, it’s hard to do everything right now. My movements are slow and groggy. It takes a few attempts to reach my helmet before Tomas grabs it and puts it on for me. I sit back, slightly frustrated at Tomas for not letting me do it myself. I sit up and secure my rifle from the floor. I start to come back little by little the closer we get to base.
“We are now in friendly airspace. We are heading straight for the hangars and then Ricky has transfer to the medical building.”
Tomas sits next to me. The vital reader has finally shut off. Tomas puts the container with the fluid soaked gauze into his cargo pouch. I’m still in and out of sleeping. Tomas and Gills, (our other medic) help me up and hand me to the response team waiting by the back of our Hawk in the hangar. I figure I would be too much of a load for them, but they manage to get me going after a few moments.
Tomas says something to Hangman and runs up to me and comes along with us. The medics help me into a med pod. He says something to me but I can’t hear him very well. I can see other squads watching us rush past, me on the stretcher, secured with heavy straps.
I must have fallen asleep for the rest of the trip to the medical building, because I wake up in a room in only hospital clothing. I’m under a blanket. Tomas is in a chair in the corner, reading something. I can’t see the title from here. It looks like a book. I look to see what they have me hooked up to.
My head itches, I reach back and the bun I have my hair in is solid, and heavy. It must have gotten soaked in the fluid. Well, that will have to come off sooner or later. I know it won’t come off with water. I’m only hooked up to a vital reader and a fluid drip. I start to sit up. Despite how I was on the Hawk I feel like I could run ten miles right now. Tomas must have heard me; he looks up from his book and sets it down on the table beside him.
“Do you have any scissors Tomas?”
“No mate, why?”
“I need to cut off my hair.”
“Why?”
“It’s pretty jacked up.”
I take out my hair tie and try to pull down my hair. At least ten inches of my hair is stuck and solid.
“Why not wash it out?”
“Tomas, you know that isn’t going to work.”
“Well, you won’t have to cut it all will you?”
“It’s just hair Tomas, it will grow back.”
“I guess you’re right. I’ll take you to the barber in a few hours. You’ve been out all night. They took your suit to the research facility. The scientists from our facility have been fussing over it this entire time. Something about how it’s ‘completely ruined, two billion down the drain.’ The fluid soaked some of the circuitry and dissolved the data and commands. They say there’s no fixing it. Sorry about that mate.”
“That’s fine.”
My mind wanders off to the voice. They know where I am. They are going to come and get me; I wonder when. I wonder if they will even have to physically come to get me. They might just send a small flagship. Maybe I should tell Tomas. I can’t tell him exactly, he would think I’m crazy, but then again considering there was an invasion on a colony and on our facility he might believe anything. I’d better not chance it. I’ll just have to have him tell the commander of this base to prepare and have open communications ready.
“Tomas, there is something important you need to do.”
“Yes what is it?”
“You need to get to the highest up on this damned base, tell them to have open comm.”
“They have high security here, I don’t think we should worry. I don’t know, they’ve been alerted and have all squads on duty on every base. They won’t let anyone else get hurt.”
He nods, and turns to leave.
“Is there anything you need Ricky?”
“No, I’m fine. Go.”
He leaves. I look around the room, nothing to do. I see my things on a chair next to me. A combat knife, my personal pistol (locked in a plexi case) and my tags. I sling my legs over and reach for the knife. I pull it out of the sheath. Just how sharp are you? I take one of my hairs, and splice it straight down the middle. Perfect. I unhook my drip and walk to the bathroom. My hair is set and stone like in the areas where it was soaked. Maybe I should try water first. I can slightly agree that it would be a shame to lose so much hair, but it would grow back.
I pull the solid bits of hair to the sink and run hot water over them, nothing. Shame, looks like my knife will be used after all. I cut off as much of the solid ends as I can. My hair feels better. There are still bits here and there, and I utterly murdered my hair, but I can go to the barber when Tomas comes back after my release. I pull up my hair in a ponytail. It still goes past my collar bone. I lie back down in the bed and put my drip on again. I wait for hours until finally a nurse arrives with my release papers.
“Just sign here, here and here.”
She says nothing, I start signing. As I finish, she glances around the room and speaks up.
“Oh, where did your boyfriend go? He seemed awfully worried to just leave.”
My face turns flush and I’m blushing all at the same time.
“Oh, he isn’t my boyfriend. He’s my squad leader.”
I hand her the paperwork.
“Oh, I’m sorry. He sure is eye candy isn’t he? Did a good job on that one they did.”
I guess she’s talking about angels when she says “they”, I’m not sure if I am or ever was religious. I can’t be now. She hands me a key to the plexi case and I change into a temporary uniform. The pants are hard to get around my bandage. It feels strange and slightly uncomfortable to be out of my suit. I attach my pistol to a holster on my hip. I slide the knife on my belt and put on the cap. I make sure to leave nothing behind. I start to head out the door, then I remember Tomas’s book. I look back through the door and see it sitting on the table. “War of the Worlds” It’s a good book, ironic that he would read it at a time like this. I put it into a cargo pocket and head out to find my squad.

I check at the hangars and ask a pilot if he has heard anything of where anyone who came in on evac last night might be. He tells me to check in the lodging barracks. I head over, after being given some vague direction as to where it was. I reach it and walk in to the lobby. Keyes is standing at the front talking to a smallish woman. I walk up and salute.
“Well, hello there sleeping beauty, got caught up and struck, needed to head to the medical I heard? What was that about soldier? And what happened to your fancy suit?”
“Not sure why I was set in medical sir. No wounds. Suit got ruined by…well, I’m not sure what it was sir but it was in my blood. Irreparable sir.”
“That’s quite a shame, strange story Animus. I knew you were a tough bastard Animus. Anyway, your squad is on the third floor in rooms twenty six, and twenty seven. You look like you could use a haircut. Barber is just a few minutes west. Head out and get settled.”
“Yes sir!”
I head towards the barber first. West, a few minutes. After a few seconds I see Tomas heading my way, from the direction of the medical buildings. He takes a few moments to notice me and rushes over.
“Ricky! You got released earlier than I thought mate. Where you headed?”
“The barber.”
I pull down my massacred hair, in all of its messy glory.
“Why did you do that? They’re going to have to take off even more now.”
“It’s just hair Tomas. It’s not the biggest thing we should be worrying about anyway. Did you talk to whoever is in charge here yet?”
“Yes, it took a while, he was in a conference, had to wait forever. Took quite some convincing to get him to open the comm. it will be a few hours before he opens them. Around 1800.”
“I guess if that’s the best we can get we’ll have to take it. I only hope it isn’t too late.”
“I’ll walk with you to the barber.”
I put my hair in a ponytail and we walk silently to the building. Old 1940’s style music plays. This stuff is ancient. The chairs are red leather with plastic covers. The floors are wooden and shiny. There are twelve chairs, each with a mirror. Little hair cutting stations. It smells like shaving cream and cigarettes. A bald old man with a white handlebar mustache walks over to me. He is slightly plump, and his voice is one you would hear on a radio.
“Well now, which one of you is getting the trim?”
“I am.”
He looks from Tomas over to me.
“Ah, now what’ll you have darlin?”
“I don’t know, I’ve messed it up. Just fix it I guess. Something that won’t make me look ridiculous.”
“Well, I’ve seen some bad self done haircuts in my day. What am I workin’ with doll?”
I pull my hair out of its disheveled ponytail.
“Oh my. Looks like you’ve done it. Quite a bit is going to have to come off. Are you okay with that?”
“Yes, it’s just hair. Just fix it. I don’t care what it looks like; just make it look not so awful.”
“Alrighty then, let’s get started, if you would please.”
He holds his hand open towards a chair. I walk over and sit down in it. He turns the chair around so the mirror is to my back and puts a smock over me. I close my eyes as he turns on the electric clippers. Goodbye hair. I feel little hairs falling down on the smock as he runs the clippers over my head. After a few minutes of snipping and shaving, he takes a fluffy brush and brushes hair off my neck. He sweeps up the hair on the floor and turns me around to look in the mirror.
My hair is cut into short, choppy layers. On the left it’s angled, long bangs framed the left side of my face, down my shoulder and angling higher the farther back you went along my jaw line. The cut looked good on my face. I felt my hair. That man has extreme skill to do this when he was working only with combs, old clippers and a pair of scissors. It’s definitely much better than I had done. I walk up to the register and realize I have no money.
“I’ve got it Ricky, don’t worry about it. If you want you can pay me back later.”
The old man looks at Tomas and puts the money into the register.
“You’ve got a good man here, and you sir have quite a little gem on your shoulder.”
I blush. Tomas thanks the man and I put my cap back on. We head to the barracks silently.
We get inside and head up to the room. Hangman, Gills, and Harp (our sniper) have already made themselves at home. Hangman and Gills are cleaning their weapons while Harp (short for Harper) sits in the corner with my helmet, trying to figure it out.
“It doesn’t work anymore Harp.”
“Oh hell, you’re back Ripper. You got real f*ed up didn’t you? What happened man, and where did you get that ridiculous outfit?”
“Honestly I have no idea what happened Harp, got this issued to me because the whole suit won’t function anymore. Some nurse came in and explained that an external force dissolved the processors and erased data, broke it with some weird technology. So you can give up on the helmet.”
Harp looks up and sarcastically puts on the helmet. He stands up and puts his hands on his hips, overly exaggerating a lean on one hip.
“Hey check me out I’m sergeant Animus, I’m so cool with my fancy suit. Too bad some alien dipshit used fancy future technology to break it, now I have to run around in a soldier costume.”
Gills and Hangman laugh at Harp’s joke. My mouth forms a crooked smile. Harp takes off the helmet and tosses it to me. I grab it and put it in the other room on an empty bunk. Tomas walks in and sets down his gear. He takes off his suit and reclines himself on a bunk.
“You’re just going to sit back and relax Tomas?”
“Of course, there isn’t anything else we can do right now. All of the big wigs are in meetings about all of this. They took what I said as a large piece of evidence. The comm. will be open at 1800. There isn’t a thing we can do until then.”
“I guess you’re right, but Tomas, there’s something you need to know. When, I mean if they speak over the comm. I’m going to have to leave for a while, alright?”
“Wait, what are you talking about Ricky? What do you mean leave for a while? Where will you be going?”
“I don’t know where I’m going, not specifically, but I promise I’ll be back. Okay? You’ve got to stay.”
“Why can’t I come along Ricky? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Tomas, just promise me you’ll be on this side when I need you.”
“Goddamn, why can’t you tell me?”
He spaces out on the distance, thinking it over. He looks at the ceiling as if the answer is written up there.
“Fine, I promise, but you better not get your ass killed doing whatever it is you’ve got planned.”
I remember I have his book. I take it out of my cargo pocket and hand it to him. He looks at me.
“Oh, I must have left this at the hospital. Thanks.”
I sit down on the bunk and take off my boots and jacket. I loosen the tucking on my shirt and lie back on the mattress. Maybe I can get some sleep.
So that’s what they call you is it? Ricky? Peculiar name, not one your parents would have come up with.
You’ve been watching me haven’t you?
Yes.
What the hell was that fluid?
No mere fluid, dear…Ricky…
Then what was it?
That was blood.
What kind of blood turns a bioskin into an impenetrable surface?
You speak as though you have been poisoned. It is your blood after all. Adaptive qualities are in your genetics. Your body does what it needs to do in order to protect itself. Even if you don’t recognize it, your body learns just as quickly as you do. No matter how much you deny it, you are not what you think you are.
I don’t think of myself as anything. If even I don’t know what I am, how do you know?
You will find out in time. By the way, I much prefer your other name, Animus. Last name, correct? Ricky Arbiter Animus. Animus - courage, vivacity, bravery, will, spirit, soul. It describes you well.
I would ask how you know so much about me, but that is a pointless question. What is your name? Since you know mine.
Smart girl, but not as smart as you could be. You’ve got such high potential. It’s a shame you didn’t have the right teacher.
All right then, don’t tell me your name. When are you coming?
We will be there soon. You must be enticed, correct?
That doesn’t answer my question. I’ve gotten them to leave communications open so you can speak directly with them.
Silly girl. We won’t be speaking with them. We will only be speaking with you. You might need your mate to be there with you, he seems to help keep you stabilized during conscious communication. We wouldn’t want you to be harmed on your way.
He isn’t my ‘mate’. Are you sending a flagship or something?
Yes. You’re quite clever. We will have one come fetch you. Don’t worry about bringing anything with you. Come alone, except for your mate. He can help you, but no others. We will let you know where and when once the time comes.
I told you he isn’t my ‘mate’ and how will I know? You’re just going to randomly contact me telepathically?
He seems like a good mate for you. Why do you say that he isn’t? He seems to be, by what we have seen so far.
You are avoiding my questions. You’re just going to ram into my head and start speaking to me?
Goodness, you’ve got fire. Yes, I will call upon you. The flagship’s location will be given to you. Only bring your mate. You must wake up now. We will speak later.
I told you he isn’t my ‘mate’!
Later, Animus.
I wake up with Tomas standing over me. He’s holding a rag on my forehead. Gills, Hangman, and Harp are around the edge of my bed.
“You’ve got a bad habit there Ripper. One day you’re gonna make Tomas cry.”
Tomas’s face turns flush and he flashes Harp an angry look.
“What Tomcat? We all know you’ve got a soft spot for Ripper.”
“Shut up Harp, I’m a medic it’s my job.”
“Come on now Tom, she was only stone still with a fever. It could have just been some weird side effect of the drugs they gave her in the ‘horrorspital’.”
“Shut up, Harper!”
Harp gives a look of dissatisfaction.
“I’m fine Tomas, it’s okay.”
“That’s what you said on the Hawk when that, stuff came out of your arm!”
“It was blood Tom.”
“What kind of blood soaks a bioskin and makes it break needles? What kind of blood is black and purple?”
“I don’t know Tomas! All of this bullshit is linked together.”
Gills, usually the quiet one, speaks up.
“She could be right Tomas, strange stuff has been happening. I mean, as far as we’ve advanced we should have expected other life within an entire universe. It’s still bizarre.”
Tomas looks at Gills.
“I guess so. Ricky, you need rest.”
“Tomas, I’m fine. I could run a marathon right now honestly. I’ve been nothing but problematic. You guys relax. However, I do need to speak to you privately Tomas.”
Harp’s face lights up, he must have some sort of joke to crack, but one shooting look and he turns to leave with Gills and Hangman. They close the door behind them.
“Tomas, later I need you to come with me. Don’t ask any questions- now or then. Just come along and do as I say, okay? I need your help. If I could do it alone I wouldn’t have asked. Just help me out. Can you do that?”
“I don’t understand…but okay, whatever. Gills is right, this is bizarre, even though we should have expected it.”
I give Tomas a hug. For all I know it could be the last one I ever give. What lies ahead is something I’ve got to do. I feel a tear stream down my face. Maybe they’re right, Tomas is worth so much. I hold on tighter. I want this to last as long as I can. If I could stop time, I would do so for just this moment. They said they’d be here soon. We’ll just have to see how quickly soon comes along.

I lie down on the bunk as Tomas scans the comm. waiting for it to go open. I know they told me that they wouldn’t use the comm. but it would be pointless to tell Tomas. I stare at the ceiling, waiting for the time. I have so many questions, some about myself, others about everything else. I don’t plan on going anywhere, other than speaking with them. They won’t be taking me to wherever it is they came from, but what if I am partially one of them? Wouldn’t that make it kind of like my home as well? None of it makes any sense. I stop thinking about it. I’ve got something to ask Tomas.
“Tomas, remember when I asked you what sunsets on Earth are like?”
“Yes, why?”
“You told me you would explain to me what they were like; you had to go before you told me.”
“Well, I suppose I could tell you now. Since it seems we’re playing a waiting game. Now, let me make a picture for you. You’re sitting in a field, there’s a cool breeze wafting over you, through your hair. You watch as the sky changes color. The white underbellies of clouds fade to shades of pink and orange. The sun is so bright, cresting over the horizon. Everything around you is bathed in a faint orange glow. The sky opposite of the sun melts with the orange and changes to purple, getting darker black as you look towards the other sky. The moon climbs up into place, along with the stars. The dark of night swallows the orange glow as the sun grows lower into the ground, until it’s gone.”
There’s a long silence.
“Thank you Tomas.”
He nods and looks back at the frequencies on the comm. system. I continue looking at the ceiling; watching the colors of the sunset come into play. I close my eyes; maybe I can contact them first.
It’s getting late.
Silence, I wait.
Can you hear me? Whoever you are?
A few moments pass. I can feel myself becoming frustrated. I try harder.
Will you be coming later than I think? Hello!? Are you going to answer me?
I feel foolish talking to something that doesn’t appear to be there.
Yes Animus, I can hear you.
Why don’t you answer my question?
It is probably later than you are thinking it to be. We have to time it right, so that the flagship might go unnoticed. The sun will be at a good peak so light may pass for optimal invisibility. I figured you might have thought of that, being that you have ultraviolet receptors in your retina. I thought of you to most likely know about Rayleigh effects.
All right, we can stop talking about the sun now. So, you’ll come when the sun is where in the sky?
When it is primal. Would you like me to elaborate?”
Yes, please, I don’t know what your idea of ‘primal’ sun positioning is.
If you are speaking degrees from your coordinate, about thirty degrees, now if you are speaking time-wise, about 7 pm, or 1900 in your military time standard.
Thank you, now I know when to head out. Where exactly will I be going?
If you desire I may have specific coordinates sent to the communicative device in your resting area.
Yes. As soon as you can.
Is that all Animus?
Yes.
Your mate seems worried. What is troubling him?
I told you – never mind. He’s waiting for you to access the comm.
Ah, well. He shan’t be too disappointed. The coordinates will arrive. It’s a shame your armor is no longer effective, or we could have sent them to that device. Regardless, the human format should be transferable to a geographic transponder. See you soon, Animus.
And along comes the pulling feeling. This time I simply wake up, no fever, no side effects.
“Tomas, there will be coordinate data sent to this comm. make sure we are the only ones to see it. Load it straight to a GPS. We’ve got to start heading to the location at 1800.”
“Um, okay. Abrupt demands but it shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Make sure that we are the only ones who see it, alright? It’s extremely important.”
“I have no idea what’s going on, but whatever. What the hell is up with this comm.?”
The comm. distorts and the coordinate data displays red. Tomas shuffles for the GPS and loads it before deleting the data from everywhere in the comm.
“Done, it’s already 1730. Should we get ready?”
“Yeah that’s a good idea. Not too much, and no major weapons.”
“It doesn’t sound like a good idea to go minimal out there Ricky, you sure with what you’re talking about?”
“Yes I’m sure.”
Tomas sighs and grabs a small pack and starts to gather supply. I put on my uniform and grab the helmet. It’s still shiny, not a single scratch. I know exactly what to do with it. I make sure I have three clips for my pistol. I study the helmet.
So much time and effort was put into a suit that was destroyed by the wearer herself, and it wasn’t even consciously. I suppose it wasn’t meant to be. I look at the inside of the helmet. The sweat bands are stained with mixed blood and sweat. The blood is slightly more of a deep maroon purple instead of the usual brownish red.
I wait for Tomas to finish suiting up. His armor suits him. I sport an old soldier’s camouflage cloth uniform. I put my pistol back in the holster. Tomas finishes and we start to head to the coordinates. I stop a few yards out from the base and set the helmet on an old tree stump.
I take out my pistol and aim. I blast a hole straight through the center of the face. I take out my smaller combat knife and jam it through the helmet. I pick it up and hang it from a branch on a tree. It needs just one more touch. I grab my other knife and slice the palm of my hand. I wipe the dark purple blood over the hole and blade. Perfect. Tomas looks at me with a strange face. I smile back at him and we head out once more. Goodbye, old acquaintance. I have a feeling a lot is going to change.

The trek is a few miles out west. It’s deathly quiet, other than the wind. Tomas pays close attention to the screen of the GPS. I follow a few feet behind. Few colonies are like this. Most are covered with urban cities, very few travel into the natural part of the world, because to them the natural part is the city. Tomas and I are coming up to the coordinates. I look up at the sky. There seems to be nothing but the sunset occupying it. We reach the spot a few minutes early. Tomas sits down and stares toward the sun. I can’t see exactly where he’s looking; the visor on his helmet is taking the glare. I sit down next to him.
Almost, Animus; your flagship is on its way. Descending now.
I look up into the sky, a small glint is coming toward us. I look over at Tomas.
“I promise.”
“You promise what?”
“I won’t get hurt.”
“What are you talking abo— What is that?”
Tomas takes off his helmet and squints at the distance, he is looking directly at the flagship overhead. It’s a dark grey that shifts through ultraviolet shades in the light. It’s a small flagship, the hull is smooth and geometrical at the same time, like the way a diamond is cut. It’s about the size of a football field and shaped like an old Cadillac, without the wheels. There doesn’t seem to be any glass or an opening. It comes as low to the treetops as possible.
They’re going to set down the beam. Walk into it when you’re ready, but make haste, we don’t want to be seen.
I turn to Tomas.
“It will be okay.”
“Aren’t they the ones who invaded our facility? Why the hell are you going with them?”
“I promise I’ll explain when I get back Tomas. Alright? I promise.”
“You’d better. This time don’t keep anything from me.”
Are you ready Animus?
Yes. Just a moment.
I walk over to Tomas and hand him my pistol.
He looks down at it, then back to me.
“Goddamnit Ricky. You’d better be back.”
I look at him and put my hand to his cheek. What the hell am I doing? I look into his eyes and wrap my arms around his neck. Before I can stop myself my lips are pressed against his. He closes his eyes and wraps his arms around me. It isn’t one of those cheesy romantic goodbye kisses. It’s an ‘I promise I’ll be back’ meaningful kiss. I take off my hat and put it on his head. I walk over to the beam and turn to face him. He stands there, my pistol in his hand and my cap on his head, just watching the flagship.
I thought you said he wasn’t your mate?
Just shut up, okay?

I get to the upper deck. The flagship is mainly empty. There doesn’t seem to be any pilot or engineer working on board. It must be run by AI. I wander around.
What do you think Animus? This is only some of our technology.
What the hell is running it?
AI, as you already guessed. Strictly kept AI mind you. The trip to our main ship will be short. You can relax on the lower deck if you wish. Being a flagship there isn’t much that is interesting on board.
So, this is a question I have barely thought of now. What in the world do you look like?
Very similar to you actually. The main differences between us and humans are our abilities and our genetics. We were built far more advanced. Humans are simple creatures, but with the correct mixes and splices what you get is far more complex than any of us.
So you look just like humans?
Not quite dear, we have different retina material, different pigmentation.
You aren’t blue or anything are you?
Are you?
No.
Then you’ve nothing to worry about.
Well, you seem to know just about everything about me. Can I ask things about you?
Certainly, since you are no longer in a spot where such information may bring you to harm us.
You sound like a male, are you male?
Yes.
Who are you?
I am Orson.
That’s a very human name isn’t it?
Or is it a very alien name, taken by humans?
So you’re the President? Why would someone so high up like you speak to me personally?
You are of utmost importance dear.
He speaks to me as though he has known me forever.
We’ve known of your existence.
Why did you wait so long?
It was hard to find you once you were taken from your home.
Why am I so important anyway?
Silly girl, you ask such strange questions.
Why won’t you tell me?
That is something we must speak of face to face. Don’t worry, you’re almost here.
Even after I agree to come along you still don’t answer my questions.
I understand your anger, being that you were left with no choice but to keep your fellow humans safe. You care quite a bit for those you don’t even know.
I do without expecting in return. No matter if they are innocent or not, it is my purpose to keep them safe.
Your place among us is grander than you believe.
Another question, what am I?
Aptohumanoid, dear.
What the hell does that mean?
Half Aptean , half human. Well, more like seventy five percent Aptean , twenty five percent human.
You are Aptean , aren’t you?
Yes.
How does something like this even happen?
We can talk more later. Your flagship is docking. The guards will show you to temporary quarters.
Will I be going back?
Damn, the bastard left. I try to find the door. I can tell that the ship is docking sideways. It must be to either flank. I check the right, nothing. It must be on the left. There doesn’t look to be any seam, but I’ve been fooled by that before. It will probably open once the ship is fully docked.
I wait a few moments, and then I realize I’m dressed in an old camouflage uniform. What will they think? How tall will they be? The door opens. I look out and two guards in armor look in. They are taller than me in height. They have elongated helmets that are round to their heads in the back and slightly overlapping their chins in the front coming to a blunt end. The jaw line of the helmet is chiseled and frames in with the cheekbones. Like faces without eyes, or noses, or mouths. Their armor is very lean looking and has many plates that seem to be floating.
The plates on their bodies are steel colored and there looks to be one plate per muscle. I walk along with them, having no other choice. They lead me down the halls and past a lot of rooms. There don’t seem to be any civilians. Everyone looks to have the same suit. It must be a military ship. We stop at a room where one of the guards holds their hand up to a panel. The glove on his hand seems to dissolve away, and he places his hand on the panel. It looks human enough. I stop, realizing that I’m staring. The door opens. The room has deep grey walls. There are sparse lights here and there dimly lighting the room. I feel no fear, yet at the same time, as the guards close the door on me, I feel fear that I might never see Tomas again, I feel alone. There is a bed in the far left corner, a chair to the right, and a sink along the wall near the chair.
Do not be afraid Animus. My soldiers are taking a suit to you as we speak.
Is it just another one of your military suits, or is it something else?
I believe you will like it very much. It is nothing like the other suits, and over powers your other suit by far.
You made a suit for me? Why?
I knew somewhere along the line the one first given to you would not match well with your body, and become irreparable. This suit, will not do so.
So, if you are my ally, you are humanity’s ally as well?
Your suit has arrived dear.
Damn, he avoids my questions too well. I sit down on the bed as they tow in the suit in a large case. The case itself is steel colored. It has cylinders on the front with glowing green fluid. The soldiers insert one key into each cylinder and the fluid turns red. It separates down the middle and the case opens.
The soldiers leave me to change. Inside the case is my suit. The body armor plates are similar to the soldier’s suits. One plate each, per muscle, however my suit is solid black all over. The chest plate is designed differently as well. It goes over my shoulders and has a peculiar shape. The mid-section of the torso is in separate plates as well, and fits together like a corset puzzle. The back has no rig. There are small clear spaces that look carved out and hollow, with a glass covering. The helmet is a piece in and of itself.
There seems to be no visor. It is solid black all over and has a jaw structure; it has peaks and shapes like my face. Yet, it has no face; it looks shapeless from most views. The only part not peaked is where my nose would be. It’s almost like a skull, but smoother. Without paying attention to detail, it looks as though someone carved a sharp monstrous skull into it. It’s beautiful. I put on the suit. It is unbelievably light.
I pull on the helmet. I walk to a full mirror. I look, strange almost. I’m used to seeing myself in the armor built by the scientists. On closer inspection, I see the small spaces around the edges of the armor filling. It looks like, my blood. My blood is crawling into the spaces of the suit. The fuller the spaces get the more they light up. Each space turns an ultraviolet, glowing purple. I walk closer into the light. The plates on the suit shift ultraviolet purples and greens as the light passes over. It’s almost overwhelming.

They will be escorting you to my quarters soon. Are you ready to meet your maker?
Meet my maker? What is that supposed to mean?
He doesn’t answer; all of this evasion is pissing me off. I take one more look in the case; to be sure I didn’t forget anything. There is a small chip, and a piece of paper. I read the note.
Extremely well done handwriting for an alien. I guess I can’t really say it that way anymore, being that I’m mostly alien myself. What will Tomas say? If I even get to see him again. To hell with it, I put the chip into the slot in the back of my helmet. Everything does final links, suit to helmet, suit to shoes. I can see perfectly out of my helmet, even though there is no visor. I wait. It doesn’t take very long for four guards to open my door. One of them speaks to me.
The President would like to know if you wish to make contact with your mate.
I guess I should stop wasting my breath trying to convince him that Tomas isn’t my ‘mate’.
Sure. Why not?
Very well.
He stops in front of me, and faces me. He gently touches several spaces on my forearm, in which symbols light up correspondingly with each touch. In, you guessed it, violet. Something switches inside of me, like I’m reaching out. I hear Tomas.
What the hell?
Tomas don’t worry. It’s me.
Me who?
Ricky.
How in the hell did you get inside of my head?
It’s a long story. I promise, I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry about finding me. I will find you. Okay?
You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do once you get back.
I know. I’ll talk later.
I come back, this time I feel nothing. It’s as though I’ve been using telepathy my whole life. The guard looks at me expectantly. I nod, he turns around and the guards continue escorting me upwards. This ship must be enormous. So many halls and rooms, everything bathed in a steel color. I wonder how these guys keep from getting lost. After several floors of hallways busy with soldiers, we get towards the top of the ship. We walk straight down a hall towards two large double doors. They are black, and have a crest on them I don’t understand.
It’s arrowhead shaped and made of several lines of light, along with a ring around it and symbols I can’t read. The same soldier, who pressed keys on my suit, walks up to the door, holds his hand up and the glove disappears. The symbol lights up and the doors open. He steps aside and only one of the soldiers accompanies me in. There are several chairs, and a large desk in the middle. Drinks are sitting on a glass table to the left. The chair behind the desk is facing backwards. I sit in the chair nearest to the drinks.
“You are dismissed Faber.”
The voice is deep. It radiates from the chair. The soldier turns and walks out, the doors closing behind him. I sit back and relax in the chair. No need to feel fear.
“Hello Animus.”
“Hello, Orson.”
He turns the chair to face me.
“My, it suits you very well. What an honor to finally meet you in person. May I ask that you remove the helmet, please?”
I sit up slightly, and pull off the helmet. I set it on the table next to the drinks, and I study his face. His eyes are the same color as mine. His hair is dark brown. He has a fine roman nose. A neatly kept beard occupies the lower half of his face. He has a wide stoic face. His hair is slicked back, but it isn’t very long. He looks to be in his mid twenties. Broad shouldered, with a large and fit physique.
“Are you going to answer my questions now?”
“Are you going to ask better questions?”
This guy has the remedy for everything doesn’t he?
“I feel as though my questions should be answered. No matter how naïve you deem them. I agreed to come here, the least you can do is answer me.”
“I see. Ask away dear.”
“Why do you keep calling me dear?”
“Well, that’s not the right question is it?”
I want to slap this guy.
“Who are you to me?”
“Ah, there’s the golden ticket. Are you sure you want to know?”
I look him dead in the eyes.
“Yes.”
He settles in his chair and takes a breath, he looks down at his desk then back at me.
“Well, you see. It started about twenty years ago. We lived in peace, you humans unknowing of our presence. My assignment was to land on your home planet, Recius, and find someone in particular - your mother.”
I don’t know if I like where this is going…
“You see, my objective was to kill her. I thought it would be easy, until I saw her. You probably don’t remember her. They wanted me to kill her, because she was the descendant of a half-breed. At the time our government was going through a reform. After a few months of revolution going down on my home planet, they dropped all assassination operations. It took a while for me to build courage enough to speak with your mother. After a few more months, she fell in love with me as well. I would have died for her, and she would have done the same. After a while, I was called back home. I didn’t know why. I tried everything to be able to stay, but I couldn’t. It broke my heart to leave her. I heard nothing of her for years. Then I remembered you. I was being voted into office for our newly formed government. Now I’m here.”
“So, that means…”
“Yes Animus.”
My mind was going a quintillion miles a minute. I leaned back in the chair, unable to keep myself sitting up. This man I don’t even know, is the one in charge of an entire race, and he calls me to his ship, to tell me that he is my father? Years of letting me live my childhood, even as bad as my life was, and he only now comes to find me? I want to punch him right in his stone face, but I don’t. Instead, my face gets hot, my eyes fill with tears, and they stream down my face. I have no expression. I stare at his face blankly as hot streams flow from my eyes down my cheeks and onto my suit.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why now?”
“Well-”
“What was everything that happened to me at the facility? What was it that happened on the Hawk? Why did you wait so long? You have some shitty timing you know.”
“Animus, you don’t understand. There is something bigger than even you and I going on right under our noses. Something none of the human race even knows about and it will kill you all; unless you accept my help.”
“Explain to me, explain to me everything about myself and I will consider what you have to say.”
“Animus!”
His voice booms. He presses the sides of his brow.
“We need to form an alliance, if we don’t then humans are not the only ones who are doomed. I will tell you everything you ask to know, if you only hear me out.”
I cool down. I hate him, but at the same time knowing that he is my father sinks in, and I want to get to know him.
“Okay.”
“Thank you. I have to ask you to take a message from us to your hierarchy down on that base. I can keep you here for a few hours. We can hook you up to an adaption database. You can learn everything you need to know about Aptean . I will tell you everything you want, if you can do that for me. Can you?”
“Yes. Now please explain why there is such grave danger.”
“I will tell you in short. There is an army, which wishes to eliminate us from every place we exist. They are brutal. They have no greater want than to eliminate the two most advanced and most closely related races. They live among you right now.”
“How do you know who is who?”
“They are starting their invasion as we speak. Those who are in hiding are already setting in motion the plans of their overseer.”
“I assume they don’t look remotely human?”
“Close, they look quite like humans. They dream of our extinction. We have to hurry. I would like to meet your mate before this war progresses.”
“I told you-”
“Come now, you cannot deny it any longer. I will send for him. Faber will take you to the adaption database.”
“Okay.”
Faber, the door soldier, walks in and waits for me to get up. I grab my helmet and put it on. There’s so much to do, yet nothing to do; peculiar. Faber walks me along as we set out to the adaption database. He is deathly quiet.
We get to a room at the side of a hall. He opens the door with his magical disappearing glove hand and I step inside. It’s mostly black, but there’s a beam on a platform at the end of a catwalk. I walk over and step into the blue light. I feel instantly paralyzed. Information flows through me from a million directions. Histories and language, sciences and so many studies are stored in my memory forever. The beam shuts down once I reach the most current information. I land on one knee, panting slightly. There are no words to describe what just happened. There was no end and no beginning to me. I get up and Faber opens the door to walk me to my quarters.

“You don’t say much.”
He keeps staring straight ahead.
“Why not?”
He takes a few moments to answer me.
“I wouldn’t want to say anything ignorant in your presence miss.”
His voice is deep, but gentle.
“I’m sure there isn’t anything you could say to me that would seem ignorant. I would much prefer your idea of ignorance over silence anyway.”
“I thank you miss, but I’ve nothing to say really.”
“Why do you talk to me like I’m going to slap you if you say something wrong?”
Silence.
“I warn you to only fear me once you underestimate me. Once you do that you’ve signed your own death warrant. For now you can be my friend.”
He seems as though he wants to laugh at me.
“Go ahead and laugh Faber. If you don’t even attempt to get to know me then you might as well just be another face in my memory, well…not face, but character.”
“Miss, do you wish for me to remove my helmet?”
I’m surprised. He’s actually trying now.
“Sure go ahead.”
He removes his helmet. His hair is jet black and shaved, but slightly long. He has a strong jaw, and bright green and blue eyes. He has some stubble lining his face. I wonder if it’s just me or if every Aptean  male is indigenously bound to be handsome. He gives a crooked smile. I smile back. He replaces the helmet on his head.
“Let’s continue miss.”
“You can call me Ricky.”
“Alright, Ricky.”
We head down the maze of corridors and to my quarters. He opens the door and steps aside to let me in.
“Thank you Faber.”
“Your mate will be arriving soon. Word from Orson has reached him. A flagship is departing now to pick him up. Would you like for me to contact you when he arrives?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, until then miss Ricky.”
He leaves and the door closes. I lie down. I could use some rest. I go back over all of my new knowledge. I guess practicing the things I’ve learned about my suit is okay. I practice removing it properly. I lie down and rest on the bed comfortably. It seems like a strange thing to do at the start of a war. I get up. Maybe I can do a little exploring. There’s bound to be some sort of training room. I definitely can’t sleep at a time like this. I get up and walk to the door. It should be easy to get around now that I know more about all of this.
Surprisingly the door is based solely on a connection from someone who operates on or from the ship. It will only open for them. However, I am in the system now. I should be able to do it. I concentrate. I lift my hand to the panel, slowly the glove seems to disintegrate into ash and disappear before it even gets an inch away. The door opens. My glove replaces itself like moss growing on a tree. Let’s take a look around, shall we?
I open a map of the ship on my helmet’s system. I’m not entirely sure about how the operation system works, but it does. I’ll figure it out in time. There looks to be a room on this deck that is for training. I walk down the hall, attempting to attract minimal attention. The room is straight ahead, then left, and then the second right. I walk coolly past soldiers on their way to stations.
I’m glad I have this suit of armor, it helps me stand out less, seeming to be the only female on this ship. Alright, turn left, now, the second right. I hold my hand up to the door, just like I did for my room. The doors split open. The room is black. I step inside and lights come on. Every wall is white; just by looking around you can’t see any corners.
The room looks endless on every wall other than the one with the door (which clearly has the Aptean  crest.)  Now, to operate it. I hold out my hand in front of me. The floor opens and a table with weaponry comes up from the split. Several guns are before me. All look very small compared to my human cache. If I remember correctly, the five weapons on the table top are, from left to right, a splitter, a binary plasmid rifle, a gamma flare beam, a Caross gun, and a micro atomic wave generator (a.k.a. MAWG.)
The splitter is similar to a sniper rifle. It is quite long, and generates no sound. It uses electron charged “cartridges” similar to a .50 caliber bullet. They paralyze on impact. The binary plasmid rifle is a cruel gun really. It’s like an AR, but on impact the charges separate any genetic material. The target, if hit, will “disintegrate” into a pile of ash. The gamma flare beam looks like a shotgun. It holds no “bullets” there are several types of cartridges used with it. The most common is the basic gamma charge. It fires a 1000 rem. blast of gamma radiation. The target is killed on impact, if not, within a few minutes. All of the radiation is output on the target.
The Caross gun is the simplest gun. It was made by a male named Caross. The gun fires caustic case charges. The charges cut through the target in a way similar to an average bullet. The MAWG is a gun unlike any other. It is short, and holds a small canister. The canister contains charged, unstable, energy. The gun uses small micro atomic waves to blast several “bolts” of heat energy at the target. All of the guns are built similarly to the flagship. Each one has a geometric shape, which has no sharp edges. They look seamless. They look almost like human guns. I take the splitter, the gamma flare and the binary plasmid. The table goes back down. I open a training sequence.
A battlefield forms around me. I take cover. No enemies are showing up on my radial view. My insight optics shift; I can see them, through the wall. Seven virtual soldiers stand, weapons at the ready. They give the go signal. One steps forward and the others follow suit. I take out my plasmid. I wait. They separate evenly among the walls. One stays in the aisle and walks forward. He checks the corners of the walls next to me. My pulse slows and I wait for him to get close enough. He takes a step closer to the corner of my wall and quickly turns around facing me.
I raise my gun, and time seems to slow. I fire off a few rounds straight into his face, bye-bye Mr. Soldier, sir. My optics shift back and I wait for the others to come and check. I hear another coming towards me. He turns to face me, in the split second he advances to get a grip on me. Symbols appear on the front of his helmet. Objective found: marking location. It doesn’t say that in English, but that is rough translation. I pull out my knife and shove him by his shoulders. He falls to the floor beneath me and I force the knife through the side of his neck, and out the other. I pull it out, and drag his body behind the wall. The others are making no sound. I get my plasmid rifle ready. My optics shift again. They are trying to flank me. I put away my gun and get a firm grip on my knife. Three on the left, three on the right. The first two come at me. I stare straight forward.
I can tell they think I don’t notice them. Once they get close enough I grab their helmets and smash them together, the knife goes through one head, then out, and then through the other. It happens so much faster than it feels. The other four walk out and try to shoot me. I dodge their bullets and take them out with a few charges and slashes. Then, from above, a charge whizzes past my head. I run to take cover behind the wall. I get my splitter. I back away from the wall and scan the area above me. About forty meters away, on what looks like a balcony is a sniper. He is reloading. I raise my gun and sight him in. Crosshairs right between the eyes. Don’t pull the trigger, you squeeze it. He’s down.
Miss Ricky, he is here. I am coming to your location.
Alright.
I decide maybe to keep the guns. I grab some extra ammunition from a cabinet on the back wall and put it into a rucksack. Faber opens the door and walks in.
“Miss, Tomas is here.”
I only just now noticed Faber’s slight accent when he said Tomas’s name. It sounds like a Greek accent in a way, but also strange. Like a French accent mixed in as well.
“Thank you Faber.”
Faber walks out. Tomas exchanges places with him.
“You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”
He sounds mad, but he rushes up and hugs me.
I laugh. “Tomas, President Orson I’m sure would like to meet you.”
“Who in the hell is President Orson? Why does he have a human name?”
“Tomas, he doesn’t have a human name, humans have alien names.”
“If we were in any other circumstance I would have to call you crazy.”
I remove the simulation and take Tomas out of the room. I check the map again and find Orson’s room.
Orson, I’m heading to your quarters with Tomas.
Wonderful. I’ve been wanting to meet him personally.
We’ll be there in a few minutes.
“Come with me Tomas, I’ll take you to him.”
I grab Tomas’s hand.
“So he gave you a suit?”
“He’s had it for quite some time actually.”
“All of this is bizarre.”
“Just come with me Tomas. I promise it’s fine.”
He reluctantly follows. We walk down the main corridor up to an elevator. We step inside and go to the deck with Orson’s quarters. I walk Tomas down the long hall to the door. I put my hand on the symbol. The doors split. Orson’s room looks the same as when I walked in.
“Only Tomas please, Animus. I’ve got to come up with something else to call you dear.”
“Alright. Tomas, you can go inside. I promise, he’ll explain everything.”
He gives me an unsure look. I put my palm against his, and a symbol lights up purple on the back plate of my hand. A small electric wave goes up Tomas’s arm and he lets go, then walks in. The doors close behind him. I wait outside. Faber walks up and stands by the door to guard it.
“Faber, what would you call me if you had to come up with a name for me?”
“I don’t understand miss.”
“What do you think is a good name for me?”
“Well, what is wrong with the one you have?”
“I don’t see anything wrong with it, but Orson calls me Animus.”
“I see, so you ask for me to come up with an alias which he can call you by?”
“Sure. That’s one way to put it.”
“I’m not really sure.”
We stand in silence for a while. Then the doors open, and Tomas walks out.
“My god Ricky, he’s your father?”
“Looks like you were right Tomas, I’m a half breed. Almost, more like seventy five percent alien, twenty five percent human.”
“Goddamn. This is almost too much.”
“You’ve met my friend here, not with proper introduction but Tomas, this is Faber. Faber, you know Tomas.”
“Hello Tomas.”
“Hello Faber.”
“Good, now that you’ve met, I must say farewell to someone. Excuse me please.”
I leave Tomas with Faber and walk into Orson’s room.
“So you’ve told him everything?”
“Yes, I see he suits you well. We had quite the conversation.”
“I can tell by how long you spoke.”
“I assume you’ll be on your way back? We will stay sure to keep in contact. Please promise you’ll be safe. I have no doubt in your skill, but it does not cease my worry.”
“Yes. We will take a flagship.”
“I shall see to it. I will send Faber along with you. He will not go farther than the ship, but will accompany you on the trip. The suit and weapons you have may go with you. They can only be used by you. I’m sure you may have noticed the suit only functions when you wear it. If you are not wearing it, it is nothing more than mere material with no technology. I will also have a cache of ammunition sent along.”
“Alright. We’ll head out now. I will speak with you later Orson.”
“Once you get more comfortable I assume you will call me father?”
“Once you have redeemed that title, I will call you father.”
He nods and folds his hands. I get up and walk to his desk.
“For now, I bid you farewell with a human custom.”
I pull him up out of the chair and wrap my arms as far around his giant chest as I can reach. He is stiff but pats me on the back. I stop and nod. He returns my nod. I walk out to Tomas, and the three of us head to the flagship.
“So what are those gadgets you’re hauling around Ricky?”
“Weapons.”
“Alien suit, alien weapons. You’d better steer clear of the specks.”
“I know. Even if they were to get a hold of it, they can’t do anything with it.”
“So technically it’s just plating?”
“Not really, I don’t know what it is.”
We board the flagship. Faber enters the coordinates and we dock away. He takes a spot towards the front of the ship. Tomas and I hang back and sit down in side-seats near the mapping room. Tomas falls asleep before long, and I sit, checking my weapons. Orson said that the ammunition was loaded in the lower deck of the hull. Faber can help me find it. I sit with Tomas for the rest of the ride. We get back and it’s nearly dawn. The sun is barely breaking light into the sky. I wake Tomas and we head to the door. Faber uses a gravity beam and we land just below the ship. It’s closer to the ground than last time. Faber gets into the hull panel and takes out two large bags full of ammunition. I sling one over my shoulder and so does Tomas.
“I’ll see you later Faber, you should get going before they can spot the flagship.”
“You almost forgot the message miss.”
“Oh, thanks Faber.”
Faber hands me the message container. He boards the ship once more and Tomas and I start the Trek back to base. We walk quite a ways before the sun peaks over the horizon. The stars are crawling into the western ground as once more the sun claims its place. We barely reach the gates around 0645. The guard on duty is asleep, making it easy to get in unnoticed. Not that we would need to be, but seeing me – in all my alien glory- would raise suspicion.
We make it back to our bunker in the barracks. Gills, Hangman, and Harp are in the other room. We can hear them talking with each other. I set down my bag and Tomas puts the one he was carrying on my bed next to the other. I take off my weapons and hide them underneath the bags. Tomas peeks into the other room through the connecting door. Harp speaks up first.
“The hell have you been Tomas? And where’s Ripper?”
“It’s a long story, you’ll hear about it later. Ricky’s in here.”
“Hell, I’m going in there too.”
I sit nonchalantly on the chair next to the comm.
Harp walks in.
“What the f*** is that?!”
“Shut the hell up Harp you’re going to wake someone up!”
Gills and Hangman walk in as well.
Gills, Hangman and Harp stand confused - gawking at me; the strange looking figure. They stare, waiting for Tomas to explain.
“Where the hell is Ripper I don’t see her.”
“That is Ripper you asshat. We need you guys to help us get to command without being seen. She has nothing else to wear. We can take the rooftops, alright?”
“The hell is she wearing? Some goddamned alien suit?”
“That’s exactly what she’s wearing Harp.”
Gills walks up and gestures for my arm. I lift it up and he takes a close look at it.
“That purple s*** is in this thing.”
“That’s blood Gills.”
“Damn, you were right Tomas. She is a half breed.”
“More like three quarters alien, one quarter human; if you want to be specific.”
Gills lets go of my arm and stands looking at Tomas.
“So when are we heading out?”
“Now.”
Gills walks into the other room.
“Then we’d better get geared up.”
Harp and Hangman follow Gills. They go to get their gear on and Tomas sits down on his bed.
“So he just gave you weapons?”
“He is my father.”
“Oh yeah.”
Tomas gets a flush look on his face.
“Did I just hear what I thought I heard?”
Harp’s voice radiates from the other room.
“You found Ripper’s daddy huh? You better not have pissed him off Tomas, or you’ve lost every chance with her.”
“Would you shut up Harp? You’ll know soon enough.”
Gills, Hangman and Harp walk in with their gear on. Tomas gets up and we walk out of the barracks. Nobody is out and about yet. We get to the back of the building and go up the ladder to the roof. Tomas points out the main command building. We start going rooftop to rooftop. There’s just enough dark left to be unseen, but the perfect amount of light to tell where we’re going. We get to the last rooftop and drop down the ladder to the ground. A few people are milling around now. We walk into the command building and Tomas goes up to the clerk.
“We have an important message for Commander Hulves. About the recent invasion on a facility nearby that led to evacuation of that base.”
“Just a moment sir.”
She looks him up and down then dials some numbers on the phone.
“Please head up to the fifth floor. Commander Hulves will be waiting in his office.”
“Thank you.”
We walk over to the elevator and go to the fifth floor. Tomas leads us down to the office. He knocks on the door.
“Come in.”
His voice is gravelly and deep. Tomas opens the door and we walk in.
“We have a message.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Commander Hulves turns around and has an astonished look on his face as he sees me. Tomas takes the container out of his pocket and hands it to me. I try to remember how to use it. Then it comes to me. I press the top of the container and a chip is exerted from it. I place the chip in a slot in the back of my helmet and hold out my palm. A small holographic Orson appears. He faces forward and begins the message.
“Hello. I trust that you are the commander of this base. A soldier has brought you this message. Contained within is information vital to knowing about our common enemy. There is also a set of legal documents for alliance. This is intel on a new war, deadly to both humans and Aptean. Please take this chip, and accept my offer of treaty and peacekeeping. I apologize for the informality and abrupt nature of my message. Thank you.”
The tiny hologram disappears and I take the chip from the back of my helmet and put it into the container again. I hand it to Hulves.
He reaches for a phone and starts dialing numbers. As it rings he speaks to us.
“I will be calling a meeting right away and have this information reviewed. You are dismissed.”
Hulves looks me up and down once more. I stare in return. As we walk out he calls someone, his receptionist I presume, to have a meeting immediately. We walk out and back to the barracks as people start to rush around base, and flood into the command building. Some soldiers stare as we walk down the street. I know that I’m the one they’re looking at. Some start to follow or approach and back off once they get a closer look. We make it back into the barracks and to our rooms. I move the bags of ammunition under the bed. Revealing my weapons in the process. Harp stares at the guns on my bed.
“What? You act like this is the strangest thing to happen all day.
He turns and goes back to his bunk.

My weapons are safely kept in a case under my bed. Hulves has taken two weeks to come to a conclusion on the treaty. Two weeks, and today we will be notified of a decision. I suppose it makes sense, he had to contact the major government, and since this is concerning such a situation as invasion the government pushed aside its other duties to come to a conclusion on this one. Orson has not contacted me in these two weeks. I’m sure he understands the way our government works, being a President of an entire race and all; it seems like something he would know about. I don’t work politics, I work enforcement. I’m not a dictator in any way shape or form, but I’m on the side who’s sacrificing their lives for a greater cause. They sit back at home in offices, safely nowhere near a battlefield any longer, and the only risk they face being invasion, but even that is nearly impossible with the orbital defense systems.
My suit is stashed along with the guns in a case (I had Faber send down cases for my things; I don’t want to risk them in a human case.) Now, I take out my suit once more. It has been retired for these two weeks, ever since I received fatigues from our head honcho. The suit slips on like liquid. My helmet fits perfectly. Tomas has been out all morning speaking with lower chains of command. Gills, Hangman and Harp are in the other room cleaning out their weapons. Harp and Hangman got hold of an old game system and have been bumming it out.
Gills has been going to the gym while they vegetate. I’ve been going out on runs. There isn’t much to do when you’ve just been evacuated from a facility that was destroyed beyond repair. I also learned over time that the glowing pods that were falling from the ship were reconnaissance teams. Most of them made it out of the blast radius.
Tomas should be back any time now. Our meeting with Hulves is scheduled at 1230, twenty minutes from now. At one point Gills asked if I would like to come along to the gym. I told him that I would after today’s meeting. I’m sure he’s looking forward to that. I found out that my MP5 was in my cargo pocket of my suit. It wasn’t heavily damaged. I was able to get every song off of it and load it onto a new one. I take off my helmet and look at it. It’s still as black as obsidian. Tomas walks in.
“Hey mate, what’s up?”
“Hey Tomas, I just got done changing. The guys are in the other room working on weapons checking.”
“Alright. We’ve got to head over in about ten minutes. Full dress orders. I’ll go tell the guys.”
“Okay.”
He walks into the other room. I can’t hear what he is saying, most likely the same thing he told me. I take out my weapons, and open the case. The Aptean  writing is impossible to translate perfectly, but the speech is very easy; if you know what you’re talking about. My guns are splayed neatly in the case. I check to see that they are all still there. None of the scientists, or “specks” as Tomas calls them, have seen or heard about my weapons. However they have heard of my suit. I’m sure they are crawling inside their skins to have a look.
I’ve denied all access for anyone to come in the room that isn’t visiting for a good purpose. Any specks who wanted to stop me to talk were politely denied, if they pressed on they were “politely” ignored. Today they will probably gather around the command office to watch me walk in. They’ll get down as much information about the structure of the suit as they can, from what they see.
No cameras are allowed in or near the command office without a month’s notice. Any cameras found within the area are removed (they get spotted by sensors located on the roof of the building.) Tomas walks back in and I put away my guns. My pistol is on a strap holster to my thigh. Tomas gave it back to me and when I got it, it was engraved with “Baby, shoot me down.” on the side of the barrel. Tomas turns and gives me a thumbs up, along with a questioning look.
“Let’s go.”
“Alright.”

Tomas opens the other door and gives the sign to head out. Gills, Hangman, and Harp walk out with full gear, if you can consider full armor with only pistols “full gear”. We head out to the lobby, more people than expected are milling around close to the building. I knew that people were notified over the local military news channel of us and the treaty, but I had no idea how many people cared. Tomas steps in behind me, they form a sort of triangle.
I step out first, nobody says a thing. I look around, some people in the back whistle. I have my right hand on my hip close to my pistol. My other hand is just resting normally at my side. I shrug it off and walk past the haphazard crowd toward the command building. This isn’t a goddamned parade. People farther away from the building mingle casually. We loosen up our group slightly and walk in the direction of the command building. Few people stare. Once we can see the command building, a few soldiers and a large group of “specks” crowd at the door; facing in. They must think that we’re already inside. The time of our meeting was not disclosed on the channels.
We get closer and some specks turn around as well as a few outlying soldiers. They try to get close to me, but Tomas, Gills and Hangman keep them back. Harp and I make it in the door as the scientists pile up and try to speak out at me. The other three barely make it in behind me as two guards at the door close and lock it behind us. We look out at the crowd, and then make our way upstairs. The office is a different one than last time. The one we are meeting in now is like a boardroom, with a large oval table and about twenty five chairs. We walk in and take the seats closest to the doors. About ten commanding officers are sitting at the end of the table. As we take our seats, Hulves stacks some papers at the end of the table.
“Alright, we are going to cut this short so that the crowd downstairs doesn’t start a riot. There were several intel documents as well as several legal documents contained. We managed so safely move the files. All of the files were thereafter sent to Earth Comm and reported to all bases within the systems. After going through the files given to us, we accept the treaty. We’ve sent word to President Orson via our comm. system. That’s the gist of it, do you have any questions?”
“Sir, no sir.”
“Then you are dismissed.”

That was a pitiful meeting. They could have told us about that over the comm. and avoided all of the crowding. I get up and walk out. The crowds are still there, waiting for us to come out. Tomas and Hangman start to clear them out. I’m slightly irritated, but I’ve got my answer, and I should hear word from Orson within a few days, maybe even hours; that is if our enemy doesn’t start an invasion of their own.
Once we get back to the bunks, I change out into gym clothes. I always keep promises, in this case - it was to Gills. We are going to the gym. Gills walks in as I’m putting on my shoes.
“Hey Ricky, I’ve been keeping it on the down low at the gym. Before now nobody had any idea about us. They didn’t know we came from the program. I’m just letting you know, it’s okay to actually work out now.”
“Okay, thanks Lucas.”
He smiled and walked into the other bunker to change. I grabbed my MP5 and checked to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. My suit and weapons were safely kept away. I’d better make sure Tomas doesn’t let anything happen to them.
Tomas walks in, he was clearing things up with the clerk downstairs about the crowds outside.
“Tomas, I’m going to the gym with Gills, make sure nobody gets any access to my stuff. Okay?”
He looks tired, but anxious at the same time. He looks like he wants to say something, but doesn’t retaliate.
“Alright, I won’t let anything happen to it.”
“Thanks”
I smile and walk out to wait for Gills. After a few minutes of waiting in the hall, he steps out of the bunker. He has a grey tank top, some black shorts, and running shoes on. He looks fit to wear the outfit; he is the type of person you would see at a gym. I don’t think I look like that type of person, black workout leggings, a baggy grey shirt with the sides cut out, a purple tank top, and some running shoes; the same as the pair I had before. (I managed to get the issuers to let me pick some up, my other workout clothes were destroyed with the facilities.)
“Shall we?”
He smiles. He’s usually the quiet, stoic one, but he has a nice smile. Light brownish hair, blue eyes, strong jaw, and a beard. He looks almost like a lumberjack. We head downstairs. The crowd looks at us, but doesn’t recognize us without our uniforms. I’m glad they don’t. I’m not one for the “glamour” life of being attacked by dozens of people who want to at least speak with me. We walk out the door and towards the gym; the crowds are talking in low voices amongst each other. They all seem to be talking about the same thing, everyone had some opinion in their conspiracies. In the end it was all the same subject – the aliens. I guess I can’t technically say “aliens”, being that I’m one of them. It’s been eating away at me ever since Orson told me.
Not human. Alien- well, at least seventy five percent.
Not human. Only a small part of human descent.
Aptean . Not human.
If I’m not human, why do I function like one? At least for the most part. If you were to just take a quick look at me, you couldn’t tell me from any other human, other than my height – there are no other distinguishing features at a glance. If you were to speak with me, I talk like a human. No accent – at least not one I could tell- and for a while I only spoke in human tongues. After being through their “data field” I’ve learned almost everything about them. I don’t think about any of it. I don’t want to. It may seem strange to not want to know anything about yourself, but once you know what you are, you don’t need to know anything else. Well, at least I didn’t.
The walk to the gym was quiet. Once we got inside, Gills walked over to the weights. There were a good few people in the gym, not too many, not too few. The people in there were the typical people you’d see inside a gym. Fit, athletic looking people with protein shakes and almost perfect physiques. I looked around and decided to go with Gills. He wouldn’t need a spotter- I knew that, but maybe we can make a little contest out of this. He loads a few hundred-pound plates onto the bench bar. It looks slightly bowed. About 445 pounds, a good lifting weight. A few people in front of the mirrors slow their lifting and watch Gills’ reflection. He sits on the bench.
“There’s a small stereo right there Ricky. If you want to plug in your music.”
I guess he didn’t want to lift in silence. Well, silence other than the sound of plates and dumbbells clinging on racks. I turned on my MP5 and plugged it into the stereo. Play, and an uplifting song with good bass and deep guitar starts to play. He nods to me, his expression changes as if to say, good choice. I load 400 pounds onto the bar to match Gills.
It’s 445 pounds, including the bar. I sit on the bench. The men looking into the mirrors have slowed even more and are watching the both of us. We lay back on the benches and start lifting. It’s a pretty small amount of weight, for us. After about twenty five reps we rack the bars on the benches. I sit up. Gills grabs four more plates. Two one-hundred pound plates and two twenty-five pound plates. He slides them onto the bar, it bows a little more. I grab two one-hundred pound plates and two forty-five pound plates. I turn at Gills and smile. He sits on the bench and glances at my bar and starts lifting, so that’s how we’re playing this is it? He lies back down on the bench.
The weight lifters are focusing back and forth on Gills and I. I lay down on the bench. We pick up the bars, push up- breathe out, let down- breathe in. We go fluidly for another twenty five reps. He puts all of the weights up except for two one-hundred pound plates. I match the weight. We lie on the bench and lift. This is nothing, but it’s the trick to gaining muscle. Trick your muscles, do something different each set. After another set, we rack the last of the weight. We go over to the leg press. These are the newest machines in here it seems. They are black and shiny.
There is a pressure meter and a setter. You load the weight, and it calculates automatically while measuring the end of each press. Very simple technology. We each load as many one-hundred pound plates as we can on the bars. We fit about 14 plates on each side.
By now, the casual weight lifters have started to stare at us rather than themselves in the mirror. I sit on the bench, and start to push the weight. I can feel my leg muscles shifting. They start to form in a way where they can push the most. It’s not necessarily a strange feeling, but I can tell Gills has stopped lifting and is watching them shift. They don’t necessarily look weird, or inhuman. They shift and look close to human structure. Gills continues watching.
“Did indoc. do that to you?”
“As far as I’ve been told- no, it’s all part of being me.”
“Goddamn, you’re a crazy bastard.”
He gets a sly smile on his face. I continue to push the weight. We stop after one set and rack the weight. I grab my MP5 and we go to the upper floor. I plug my MP5 into the treadmill and Gills gets on one next to me. I grab some ankle weights and put them on, ten pounds.
We start off slow. I stop, and set my shoes to calibrate. He keeps on going. The music is playing upbeat. I can’t stand walking when my motivation is going faster than I am. I bring up the speed to a run. About 15 mph, I keep a steady pace. Gills shifts up as well. We keep on going for a while. The female runners are watching the television above. It’s some gossip show. Then the news breaks the flow of the channel. The anchorman starts to talk, and an image of the commander’s quarters on base shows up.
“We come to you live, from outside the commanding office building of Lenghel Military Base.”
      Commander Hulves appears on screen standing at a podium.
“We have received word of treaty from those responsible for the recent invasions, one being on Facility 01. We received word from our ground team of a possible treaty, as well as intel on the team who were confronted by our recent “visitors.” There will be a ceremony for a squad which happened to be one evacuated from Facility 01, who brought the treaty to us. You can get to know the heroes then, it will be televised at 1700 this evening in the Cornelius Hall. Thank you to all of our soldiers on this base for working hard to make sure every evacuated person from Facility 01 made it safely down.”
Commander Hulves steps down from the podium and the camera flashes back to the anchorman.
“You heard him; the heroes will be awarded in a ceremony tonight at 5 pm in the Cornelius Hall. We will be feeding the event to you live, so stay tuned.”
The T.V. flashes to commercials. I suspect they will want us to dress up for the show. We bring more publicity to this base than you believe. Dependants of soldiers stationed here will come to watch, and more soldiers will want to be stationed here, bringing more dependants, bringing more income for this base. Not that they need it, this is the second largest base, the first being the one on Earth. I look over at Gills.
“It would have been nice to be notified that they are holding a ceremony for us. It’s a bunch of bull if you ask me. It’s nothing but a publicity stunt.”
“I guess in the end that’s all it really is.”
We finish up our running and head to the showers. We didn’t work up much of a sweat, but the cool water would feel nice. He stepped off to the men’s showers, and I went into the women’s. The water was nice. I could see other women staring as I changed. I didn’t mind, but it gets annoying after a while. I just put on my clothes and step out of the room. Gills was waiting for me by the entrances.
“You ready to head back?”
“Yeah.”
As we head to the door one the men who was lifting weights walks over.
“Hey, was that some kind of hoax back there? How in the hell did you manage to pull that off. What kind of prank is this?”
“No hoax.”
“Oh really? What kind of normal human being can do that s***? Is this that stupid prank show?”
“I’ve got news for you buddy, we aren’t normal human beings. And if you’ve got a bone to pick I’ll gladly break yours right here – right now.”
Gills’ face was stone cold and his voice was sharp and sure. He didn’t look mad, or afraid, or embarrassed. He stared the man straight in the face.
The man looked like he wanted to say something, but he had no idea what to say. He was speechless. He mumbled something under his breath, went to his bag and gathered his things, then headed to the showers looking slightly ticked off. I couldn’t hold in a laugh. Gills stared at the door and shook his head. We headed outside. We had to hurry, people knew that something was up now and would be frantic on the streets. We get back to the bunks without trouble. We walk in; Harp and Hangman are playing poker. Harp looks like an angry little kid. The pile of chips was on Hangman’s side. I’m the youngest of us all, 19. Harp is 22, Hangman is 25, Gills is 24, and Tomas is 21. Hangman looks up from his fan of cards, and then looks back down at them.
“Hey.”
His usual greeting.
Harp mumbles under his breath.
“Tomas is in the other room, not sure what he’s up to.”
Harp speaks up.
“Probably sitting in there wha-”
Hangman kicks him under the table, so he stops midsentence.
“What was that for?”
“Come on Harp, we all know what that was for.”
He settles back down.
Gills takes a seat on the opposite side of the room and grabs out a duffel bag, full of clothes. I go into the other room. Tomas is sharpening a knife. He looks calm, and a bit worried. He looks up as I walk in.
“Oh, hey. How was the gym?”
“Pretty okay. Some testosterone buff tried to pick a fight with Gills; he lost before it even started.”
He has a look of surprise on his face.“Gills beat someone up?”
“Not quite, mentally. Not physically.”
“Oh, I thought I was about to hear a good story.”
He smiles and sets down the knife, resting his elbows on his knees.
“I have to change. Gimme’ a sec, okay?”
He nods and sits back in the chair turning towards the comm. away from me. I take off my workout clothes and throw them to the side of my bed. I grab my armor underskin and put it on. I can feel Tomas peeking out of the corner of his eye over his shoulder at me the entire time. It’s like he is studying my movements. I turn back toward him. He turns back around, red faced, and crooked smiled. I cross my arms. Then his eyes move to every part of my face.
“You’re a work of art.”
I can feel my face growing red. Inside, I feel something that I’ve never felt before, and I’ve felt some strange things. It goes from my spine and climbs all the way up to my heart. I feel warm. I study Tomas. His brow is strong, yet gentle. He has a structured jaw, and nice cheekbones. His hair is deep black. His eyes are deep blue, a clear blue. He has soft looking lips, and a small, perfectly Greek shaped nose. His shoulders are broad. He has the shape of a man. My mind starts to wander. How do you kill a human? Take away their humanity, but I’m not human. Not anymore. I stare deep into his eyes. I know what I want. “Tomas, I want to show you something.”
“Yeah mate?”
I lean in close to him. He leans in close to me. I grab his hands.
“Are you willing to see it?”
“Yeah.”
He gets a slightly confused look on his face.
“Don’t worry.”
I stare deep into his eyes, and then- everything starts to flow. Parts of my soul joining with parts of his. It’s just he and I. My entire life and emotion, my being is shared with him, and in return- I get to know his. It’s only a few seconds, but it’s all I need. We come out of it, and his eyes are wide. He looks at me. For a few moments I forget that I’m not human. He stares into my eyes. I hear a knock on the door. Tomas looks at it sharply, shaking his head.
“It’s Harp. You guys, we have to get ready.”
Tomas answers back. “For what?”
“Ripper didn’t tell you? Big man Hulves set up a goddamn ceremony for us. Get your arse in gear.”
Tomas gets up and changes into his armor suit. I change into mine. I take a look at my helmet, and then I put it on. It feels good to be in it again.
Tomas’s suit is similar to the rest of the squad’s, the rest of our entire program actually. He has a helmet like my old one, but with a smaller visor. This one had a space that covered the eyes similarly to sunglasses. The nose, mouth, chin, and half of the cheeks had no visor. The forehead was concealed as well. The eyes were the only thing open, well not technically open. They were just the only parts with visor. His armor had the standard plating. Chest, arms, legs, and torso: all of it geometrically plated.
His suit is nothing like my suit, mine was small; it had a plate for each muscle. It was built for me. My suit flowed with my physique. His was slightly bulky. There were major technological differences. Human armor material was thicker; mine was thinner and added the same, if not better protection. We finished changing, and I sat down on the bed.
Tomas stood up, looking at me. There was nothing he didn’t know about me, and nothing I didn’t know about him. And all I did was show him myself, my being, everything, in return- I got to see all of him. We didn’t even need to physically look at each other. Not that that would stop us anyway. I knew Tomas could tell that I knew everything, and he could tell that I knew he knew everything. There was nothing we could lie about. I couldn’t see his eyes behind the visor.
He turned and walked out of the room into the next one over. I pressed characters on my armor, making sure everything was working correctly. No problems with any function. It was already 1610. We’d better head to the hall. I walk into the other room. Tomas is standing quietly in the corner, Gills is near him leaning against the wall. Hangman is checking Harp’s armor. I close the door behind me and lean against it. Gills looks up at me, and then back down at Tomas’s feet. Tomas keeps looking straight up, his arms crossing his chest one foot rested against the wall. Hangman finishes Harp’s suit and stands up.
“Alright, you’re all done.”
Gills is the most quiet, but Hangman is close in the silence. Gills has an Irish accent. Harp and I are the only Americans in our squad. Hangman and Tomas came from Australia’s public.
Hangman rubs his hand against the back of his neck, then over his jaw. Harp stands up and shakes out his arms. I think back to how we got our nicknames in the first place.
Lucas became Gills because of how well he swims. “He’s just like a fish, the boy’s got gills.” That’s what Hangman always used to say. Adam became Hangman because he was always taking chances, doing whatever he could to make sure everyone made it out. He used to hang his legs over the ledge of the hawk in flight training. Harper, he became Harp because of his voice. He sang old military songs every time we did a training run. Tomas became Tomcat because he likes to fight. He has fire in him; he’ll take any chance he can at a spar. Me, Ricky, Ripper. I became Ripper because I could snipe off a limb in a matter of seconds, ripping it of the target. Ripper because it sounded like Reaper, the carrier of the dead.  Ripper because, “Rip your heart out, that one could.” it’s what the scientists and doctors at the facility said.
When I come from my thoughts back into reality Tomas was still across the room, only now he was looking at me instead of the ceiling. Gills was looking at Tomas, he probably had on a “hello, what are you looking at?” face on behind the visor of his helmet. Harp was just looking at the two of them, so was Hangman. Gills eventually gave in and waved a hand in front of Tomas’s face. Tomas kept looking at me. I stopped leaning on the wall and walked up to him. He seemed to tower inches over me. I looked up at him, and took off his helmet. His face was gentle, almost tired looking. His arms were still crossed, and he was still leaning into the wall. He stared directly at me, a half smile on his face. I’m sure the other three were all keeping in their laughter. Tomas looked smug, like he was hiding a dirty secret. After a few moments Harp spoke up.
“Are you high or somethin’ Tomcat?”
It sounded slightly genuine, but it was still brimming with humor. He was on the brink of laughing hysterically. Tomas looked up at him.
“Practically.”
And with that he gently took his helmet from me, placed it on and walked out, crookedly, all without taking his eyes off me – nearly tripping in the doorway.
Gills shrugged and Hangman just gave him palms up. Harp walked out after him. We all followed after the exchanged glances. Now we were on our way to Cornelius Hall, for a ceremony.

The hall was quite the show. We had gone to the back entrance, avoiding the crowds was one of our main priorities. The auditorium where we would be receiving our “awards” was large, and I mean large. People were starting to walk in and sit down. No fancy clothes, no fancy anything really. Only the officers and higher ups were dressed to impress. Everyone else seemed to be a soldier or civilian in their everyday clothes- soldiers in uniform, and dependants in civilian clothing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The officers and commanders were in front rows at a large table that spanned the front of the “stage” passing around papers and talking while soldiers greeted people as they walked in.
I couldn’t help thinking about the event. It seemed a bit strange despite the normality of the current situation. There didn’t seem to be anything suspicious about the event itself, but the amount of people all in one place worried me. If anything did happen, we could get most of the people out safely, but who knows what would have been waiting outside if something did happen? Nobody outside of the program knows about the programs on Facility 01. To everyone not involved, we’re just Special Forces. I had no clues whatsoever about our common enemy other than that they despised us, what for? There was probably an extremely deep story behind it. I wasn’t up for trying to figure it out right now. The thoughts were racing, but I needed to focus on my composure. Gills and Hangman were trying to sober up Tomas.
He was slightly dazed, but mostly taking a while to absorb everything I had shown him. Histories, my personal past, my life. I didn’t know what effects it would have on a human. The auditorium was filling up quickly. There were only a few rows empty now. The news cameras were starting to show up as well.
Two cameras towards the front and two in the back to get a full view, they were unmanned cameras. Most cameras were, but usually the crews wanted to be there making double checks on the equipment before the event, I dismissed it. They must be getting paid quite a bit to cover this, it’s just us. Then again, what had we done in the past few weeks? Going over it all, it was more than I’d expected. Gills and Hangman didn’t seem to be making much progress with Tomas. I should help; it would definitely get my mind off of all this. I walk away from the stage curtain, and over to Tomas. Hangman was talking in a confused tone.
“What do you mean you’re busy, Tomas?”
Tomas’s voice was slightly drunk sounding, but still steady. He sounded like a child. He was a bit aloof, and by accident at that.
“I told you! I’m talking to him right now, okay?”
“Who the hell are you talking to other than me Tomas? There’s nobody else here!”
“Shhhh! She’s right behind you, I don’t want her to hear this. It’s super secret okay?”
“Tomas, what are you talking about.”
Tomas looked at me and tried to look as unsuspicious as possible. Gills turned and looked at me.
“Do you have any idea what the hell he’s talking about? Who is he talking to?”
I thought for a moment. He couldn’t be talking to anyone other than Orson if nobody else could hear his conversation. Unless he was talking to Faber somehow, but I seriously doubted that.
“Are you talking to Orson?”
Tomas rocked on his heels and raised his head in a way that didn’t hide the truth as well as he was hoping.
“No, what made you think that?”
It was a matter-of-fact tone, added to his usual intelligent voice. He was being a smart-ass.
“Who the hell else would you be talking to that nobody can hear?”
“Maybe I’m talking to Santa Claus. Why do you care anyway?”
It was an accusing tone.
“You need to get your head out of the stars sunshine. We are on stage, on the news, in less than twenty minutes and you can’t go onstage like a drunk.”

He crossed his arms and looked at me with one raised eyebrow and a half smiled smirk. I slapped him and shoved him backwards so hard it knocks him square onto his ass. Then I proceed to pick him up over my shoulder like a rucksack. I take him all the way to the back exit and set him down. He looks dazed, that I would do that to him.
“What was that for?”
He sounded a little mad.
“You need to pick up all the little melted pieces of yourself and put them back where they belong. You can talk to Orson later.”
I shoved his helmet into his chest, he grabbed it and held it in one hand.
“But this is important.”
“How?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. I asked Orson not to tell either.”
Damn, I can worry about that later. I have to get Tomas back into his brain before any more of him spills out. He looks at me. I stare back.
“Come on, get your ass in gear. We have five minutes before they call us out there to get ‘awards’.”
Something so many people went through hell to get and we are getting them for a simple treaty. I guess it was mostly for show. I snapped back out of my thoughts and led Tomas back to Gills and Hangman. Harper stood close by, probably locked and loaded with a snarky comment. I was surprised when he said nothing. He seemed all business right now.
We had never been given formal medals before, but Harp always seemed to get this composure when something structured happened. He was like this at our graduation as well, but now he seemed more edgy, ready to snap if needed. I could tell he felt the same as I did. We were both worried about the enormity of the crowd waiting in the auditorium. What better time to strike then at a weak moment with a large amount of civilians? When they’re unarmed and not expecting?
Tomas was self-aware enough to get through the ceremony. I did last checks on mine and Tomas’s armor before we walked out and sat in the chairs waiting near a podium onstage.
The stage was brightly lit with luminescent spotlights. I didn’t bother shielding my eyes. The civilian and soldier crowd in the seats were busy talking and stopped dead silent as we walked across to our seats. They started to clap once we were half way across the stage. Tomas was behind me. I tried to politely acknowledge the crowd without going blind from staring at the lights for too long. Hulves was in dress blues at the podium half turned toward us clapping along with the crowd, only less enthusiastically.
We got to our chairs and sat. Ricky, Tomas, Gills, Harper, Hangman. That was the order we sat in the chairs. I was closest to the podium. Once in our seats the lights dimmed and I could see the crowd below. It was even larger than I thought it would be. Hulves began a speech about our awards and what we had done. I let it drone into the background noises. Then I heard a voice in my head.
Hello?
It was slightly deep and a bit sinister. It had touches of an accent I couldn’t place. It was almost inhuman.
What? Who are you?
Ha! It works.
Terrible English…
Who the hell is this?
Keep calm Ricky. You don’t want to piss them off.
A deep laugh was in my head. It was intrusive and unfamiliar.
We know who you are, and we know what you’re planning.
What are you talking about? I’m done dealing with the voices that claim to be “we” in my head. Explain this s*** to me. What the hell do I have to do with anything about you; I don’t even know who you are?
Oh, who we are doesn’t matter, who you are does. You’re in the way.
The voice snapped out of my head. Out of existence, like it was never there. I needed to have a long talk with Orson. How many people, or species, actually had total access to speak with me whenever they liked? It’s frustrating. That moment another voice came into my head.

Can you hear me Ricky?
Who is it now?
I sounded more aggressive than I wanted to.
It’s just me; Orson told me I could do this.
I was fine with Tomas being able to speak with me.
What’s the whole attitude for anyway?
He was talking about my slightly less-than-sugarcoated greeting.
Who else was talking to you?
Nobody. It doesn’t matter. What the hell were you hiding from me? What else were you talking to Orson about, and why were you acting like that?
Sorry, I’m a little scrambled. You went inside my head you know. Most normal girls can’t do that.
I’m not a normal girl. If you want one of those there’s plenty down in the auditorium seats over there.
A matter-of-fact tone took over his voice.
If I wanted a normal girl I would have fallen for one in the first place.
Not now.
Tomas, do you think they’ll invade now? There’re so many people in one place, and there’s no weaponry available.
What are you talking about? Your guns were brought backstage.
No time to think about why or how they got there.
Why do you keep changing the subject Ricky?
We can talk about that later. He’s about to give us our medals. Just shut up and pay attention now.
He sits up a little higher in his seat. I tune back in to Hulves’ speaking.
“…And so I award the members of squad sixty four, Sergeants Animus, and Bellus, Corporals Accendus (Lucas), Cognosco (Harper), and Conscindo (Adam) with the Peace medals, for bringing forth a treaty with those who would have otherwise brought up a new war. No doubt, they will compensate and help us rebuild. Please, soldiers if you would step up and accept them.”
We stood up, and stepped forward. He walked in front of us each. We stood at attention as he gave us the medals- handing me mine and pinning the other’s medals on their blues, which were neatly folded in their arms. After finishing he saluted us, then turned around and clapped along with the crowd as they roared up.
I’m sure another speech is coming. We turn around and go to sit back down. I thought for sure they would’ve come in by now if they were invading. My nerves start to calm. I can see the crowd’s faces as they try to study my suit from so far away. I notice the front cameras haven’t been recording anything. The rear cameras follow Hulves. He starts another speech – hopefully a shorter one. I’m glad none of them can see my expression.

I keep watch on the cameras. I think about how insane I seem. I relax and try to forget about it. We get half way through Hulves’ speech when a scrawny, nervous-looking secretary walks in with a clipboard clutched to her chest and whispers into his ear. He makes a worried expression at her, and she nods back. He turns back to the crowd and starts to cut it short. His speech finishes early. The crowd starts to dissolve out the doors. We stand, and a short soldier with a cart takes the blue dress uniforms. We look at Hulves, he has a stone face but I can tell he’s nervous. Just like the secretary.
“Alright, we’ve got something going on here.’
We look back coolly and collectively. I’ve never been one to get worried, other than today I hadn’t felt it before.
“A message was received from our alliance proponents-“
I cut him off. “President Orson.”

“-yes, him. He would like to speak with you all immediately. He’s sent down several squads with a combat ship for you. The worry was that this was an invasion, thank God the transmission told us otherwise. Good luck.”
And with that, he shakes our hands and walks off to the command building for the predisposed meeting of our government officials, Aptean and human. Gills, Hangman and Harp are staring straight at Tomas and I. I head back to grab my weapons. My handgun, rifle, and everything else fit neatly in some space on my suit. I imagine there’s some sort of electromagnetic connection. Fully geared up, I head back to the squad.
They stare at me.
“Let’s go, goddamn it you heard the man. Get your asses in gear.”
I walk towards the door and hold it open. They walk out and start to jog to the armory for weapons, being that theirs were destroyed. I wait patiently for them to get the weapons. On the inside I’ve got my get up and go attitude, on the outside you wouldn’t be able to tell that I’m about to bring my squad into a new war.
I lead them to the gate and they follow behind, it isn’t that hard to find the spot. You couldn’t see or hear the ships even if you had the latest micro sensors, but I had my suit, and it had a tracker. I know it sounds invulnerable, but it isn’t. I can still die. We load into a humvee and I drive to the spot. I can tell the others had a rough ride. They jump out and Tomas slightly doubles over.
I look up, the ship reveals itself. Glistening and structured, just like its parent – the flag, carrier class Warship. Gills and Hangman look collected – Harp on the other hand, looks like a kid. His arms are hanging limp at his sides and he cranes his neck and spine backward to get a better look. I could imagine his face being jaw dropped inside his helmet. I imagine the three of them have that expression, at least on the inside. I start walking up to the ship, Gills and Hangman follow me.
Tomas walks over to Harp and pulls him back down from the clouds - figuratively of course. I stop, there’s something in the distance, and it sounds like it could be a siren. The others stop short behind me. I look back towards the base, I can’t see any lights. I turn around synced perfectly to see a giant red missile slam itself into the ship. It breaks in two and the halves crash. One coming down just yards away from us, I stare in disbelief.
You have to leave, scratch the meeting plan. Get somewhere safe, help your comrades.
I don’t ask questions. I know who said it, and I know they’ll be fine.
Alright.
With that I run to the humvee with the squad following behind. I can hear them start to talk over the helmet transmissions. I start up the humvee and speed away in a cloud of dust towards the base. As we get closer the sound of the siren grows louder. I tune in to their transmissions.
Hangman, “What in the hell was that?”
“How in the hell should I know?”
“Shut up, Ripper probably knows. We can ask her when we get back to base.”
“The hell is the siren coming from?”
“We can figure this out later. For now we assess the situation as it comes. Remember your training? It wasn’t for nothing.”
Tomas talked some sense back in to them. Only I could have seen it was coming.
The sun is starting to set, I don’t know if night would be to our advantage or theirs. I don’t know who they are, or what they’re after. The only thing I know is they want all of us dead. Humans and Aptean. We are in their way. In the way of what? What in the hell do they have planned?
The gravelly accented voice pays a visit to my head once again.
You try to escape your fate. There is nowhere to run little bastard.
What the f*** do you want?
You, oracle, are a part of something this universe doesn’t need any more. Our plans exactly, you think I would tell you?
He laughs sinisterly.
You go first. All of you shall perish!
F*** YOU!
He’s gone. They must not have figured out that I’m a half breed down in their science labs. I pull in to the gate at about eighty miles an hour. I pull a fishtail. Soldiers are running back and forth. Some are heading to the hangars, others are pulling out convoys. I don’t realize what for until I look north. A large frigate occupies that side of the sky – more appear through the cloud cover. I can see carrier ships and drop pods touching ground, and dropping reinforcements. This planet is mostly uninhabited other than the base, there are several other bases, but most are spread out.
I saw it coming, but not at this scale. For now I have to focus on this. Keyes comes running towards us fully geared. He tells something to the guys, and I focus on their frigates. They’re unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
Damn. I want to figure this entire thing out so badly, but I know what’s more important. I need to keep them from getting any closer than they are. Tomas comes over and tells me what we’re doing. Suppress enemies. All other bases on the planet have been eliminated as of last night. All other bases on this planet have been eliminated… holy s***.
I jump back into the humvee and wait for the guys to jump in. I release the turret from the rear bed. Gills jumps to the position. Tomas is in the passenger seat. Harper and Hangman are in the rear seat positions. I focus on the road before me. We head north, straight to their goddamned forces. No point in waiting until they get closer. After we get off this hell hole I’m going to piece this s*** together.
I pull off towards a ravine, low on gas. We’re about a mile or two out from their drop sites.
It’s dark, I don’t hear any movement. I figured they would have advanced at least this far. Then, out of nowhere- a shot whizzes past Tomas. We jump out of the humvee. Gills stays watch on the turret, scanning the trees. I pull out my plasma, and turn on the optics. No one on ground force, where the hell did the shot come from? Another one strikes the ground right next to my feet. I crouch next to the humvee and then I scan the treetops.
There it is- a figure. It’s strange; it looks larger than a human. It has oddly shaped legs, and fewer fingers. It has a large blocky head. I raise my gun and aim for the head. The bright blue plasma moves across the air faster than I can track, and he’s down. Warm blood makes bright splatter marks on the tree in my night vision. Now how many more are there? I hear the turret; this isn’t going to be nearly as easy as I first thought. Holy s***, here they come.
I look through the windows of the humvee and see heat signatures in the same shape as the one in the tree stealthily making their way towards the road from the opposite treeline. All of their guns are aimed for Gills, he can’t see them, but I can. I grab his shoulder and yank him down to the ground as several shots zip past the now empty turret space.
Tomas comes across the street from the other tree line. Harp and Hangman sit at the tailgate of the humvee. Hangman in a prone position underneath the rear wheel well. Tomas sees us crouched down and looks at the other side of the Humvee, then hurries to sit next to Gills and I. I don’t need to fill him in. I lie down on my stomach and look under the Humvee. Their feet are moving steadily toward us. I want to be able to study what they look like, but there’s no time. We need to make a quick getaway, there’s no way we’ll get through with just our guns. I grab my bag of ammo from the bed of the humvee and strap it across my chest. I sit back down and look over to Tomas. They’re only about twenty yards away now.
I’m nearly whispering.
“Tomas, we need to make our way around and get somewhere that we have an advantage. We can’t take them like this. We need to rally with the troops here and try to help them out. We know where they’re headed.”
He nods. Gills tells Hangman and Harper. I look back underneath the humvee and see how far out they are; about ten yards out, and getting closer. I sit up, and make a run for the tree line opposite of our position. Tomas follows me, the others come along one by one to keep from attracting attention. We lie in the ravine looking at the road from the safety of the trees. I can hear them talking in a strange language. One that looks to be their leader walks to the middle of the road and starts speaking to several others. I study their bodies. Their midsections look similar to humans. They have odd legs, like the rear feet of rabbits. They have jackal like heads, and four fingered hands. They have a slouched posture with forward leaning hips. I listen more closely to them. Their voices are very deep and raspy.
“Ree-had, mahi. Tu se iht kah. Roh idh, se ahn, ku tei!”
“Re mi tah iht roh sah. Te mi eid kahn.”
I don’t understand them. They gather near the lead and look at a holographic map he is holding. He points to a space that looks like the base.
“Hei mahi tu se iht kah, Ripper. Hei mahi tu se iht kah, Animus. Ree-had tu se iht kah, Oracle.”
I didn’t need to understand their language to know they were talking about me. I crouched down lower. It would be easy to kill them right now, but I know we shouldn’t it would reveal our position to any nearby troops. For now, we watch and then try to get to the nearest friendly troops.
The leader points to the humvee. “Se iht tu mah rahi. Ga iht se tu kah.”
I see one of their soldiers walk over with a small silver disc. He places it onto the side of the humvee and presses several symbols. It lights up purple, and then red. They walk off down the road towards the base. The disc starts to flash and beep. I duck down as it blows up. There was a loud deep sound and a flash of flame. As soon as it was over I got up and ran in the direction the other troops were headed. The others quickly followed. We didn’t need to know where any of us were going. We all knew where we needed to be.
This is how you start a war.
 

It was dark and only getting darker. It wouldn’t be morning any time soon. I imagine they’ll be sending down more troops, and along with the troops, more bright red missiles. Missiles exactly like the one that blew up my father’s battle ship that had come to collect us. It made me wonder what he was going to do in this situation. Without a doubt, he probably knows the part where all other humans on every other part of the planet ceased to exist as of yesterday night. He probably won’t send anyone down, there’s no optimism about it. We were getting closer to what few troops were left out trying to keep the invaders at bay. Such lovely hosts they are. Throwing us a big war party…
We were running in to an interesting scene. There were hardly any troops, the ones that were there were getting mowed down if they weren’t in cover. There were a few hiding behind humvees, shooting from below the undercarriage. We stopped at the tree line to the clearing. The soldiers didn’t notice us. At the least we could try to help them out of there. I knew that trying to gain back the planet would be all for naught, so they must only be protecting the base while the information is gathered or erased. And by protecting I mean stalling, there wasn’t much of any protecting going on. It was more like just getting in the way of the Hosts, and slowing them down by having to be shot.
I put my back toward the soldiers and got out my long range rifle.
I use my helmet radio.
“When you see them drop, run towards the tree line to your right. We’ve got to get out of here, I’ve got your six.”
They stopped shooting for a few moments and started watching the Hosts. I shoot from nearest and started taking out the ones farthest. What I didn’t know – they had someone posted on top of a parked humvee.
The soldiers had already run to Tomas and Hangman. I only knew a few moments after it happened. The majority of the Hosts that were alive were farther away. The bastard missed. Then I thought for another moment, he hadn’t missed. He wasn’t aiming to kill me. I looked down at a spot of blood flowing from a new hole in my calf. It was a clean cut through the other side. The pain was numbed by adrenaline. I took him out, and half limped to Tomas.
Tomas was staring at me with an upright position and his head straight. Almost as if he was standing at attention. It was dark, so I don’t suspect he could tell that I was sort of limping. I got close to him and reached into the pouch on his side. I grabbed out a needle.
I knew the contents of the med kits. All of the needles were loaded with one dose of a temporary local site coagulant. I stabbed it into my leg right above the wound in a soft spot on my armor. I felt a slowing of blood flow. He looked a bit more worried now. He moved his gun out of the way and bent down to look at the back of my leg. I tried to shoo him away but he insisted on looking. He was fast; he poked around it and felt the edge of the entry wound.
I could start to feel the pain now, especially now that I heard it on my voice. It wasn’t normal pain I associated with bullets.
I’d seen how people reacted and showed the pain when they were shot by bullets. This pain was burning and acidic. The blood was dripping off my suit in mercury-like beads onto the ground. The part of my suit that was soaked was mending with the blood, becoming the fabric. This wound would take a bit more time to heal than any others I’ve had. The bleeding stopped, but now we needed to catch up with the others, who were guiding the four or five soldiers who managed to make it away, toward the base.
I could run now, slower than normal, but I could run. I was starting to piece things together; I shoved the thoughts back and decided once we were on our way off the planet I could think again. For right now, it was just go with it. It didn’t take too long to catch up with everyone. We made it outside the gate.
It looked uninhabited. I scanned the area. There was nobody there. It seems too good to be true. I offer to go out first, but Tomas – pointing out my gun wound – decided to go first. He made it inside the gate, and then called for us to follow. We went in a bit haphazard (it’s too easy to take out enemies when they line up, remember the revolution?) we were nearer to the hangars than I thought. This was the north gate. The hangars were a few blocks away, barricaded in with electric fencing and razor wire.
All of the lights on base were out, except for the ones that weren’t automatic. That was only a few shop lights. We walked toward the hangars. My leg still hurt, it didn’t burn anymore but it definitely felt sore with every movement.
We got to the fence for the hangars. The comms were out, no doubt due to the failsafe to purge information. Harp got out a few small pieces of wire. They looked like ordinary wire. He wrapped them around the links in the fence in several places, and connected them in the center. He got out a small device and placed the wire in a metal clamp at the top. He flipped a switch, the metal turned blue and the wires fell to the ground, along with the piece that once filled the hole which was now cleanly cut into the fence. He pulled the wire from the clamp in his device and put it away. We crawled through the hole one at a time. Now all we needed to do was find a working bird.

Several hawks were severely damaged; they didn’t have the proper shielding. There were two large passenger shuttles. They had the right shielding and equipment, but how in the hell were we going to get them out in time? No choice. They were the only things there. My squad would fit perfectly into one. The hangar lights are on, I try to keep watch for anyone while Hangman and Tomas check out the systems and make sure it’ll get off the ground.
One of the soldiers goes outside for a cigarette. They’ve been frantic and impatient. There were only four of them left. Thank god one of them was a pilot. I wouldn’t be able to stand sharing a shuttle with them for a flight to wherever we were going. That’s something I didn’t think about, where were we going to go? There were no more bases left on this planet.
Everyone who did evacuate went to the nearest off-planet, installation base. Even that was a few days away. It makes me think even more. Who did make it off the planet? It’s too dark outside to see if there are any bodies. I lean against a support beam. Hangman walks over to me (I’ve been babysitting the soldiers) and tells me we’re clear to go. Both of the shuttles are in good condition. Thank you, fate. Now I only need to think of where we are going to go, then I can start to try and piece this together. I start walking toward our shuttle with Hangman, when one of the soldiers makes an outburst.
“Where’s Carson?”
I walk over to the door with my gun raised; I open it and look out for any signs of him. He isn’t anywhere to be seen. I don’t even see the cherry of his cigarette in the dark. I close the door there’s no time to find out what happened to him. We have to assume KIA. I’m more than certain he won’t ever be coming back.
I rush the soldiers to hurry and start their shuttle and I tell them to go to the nearest base with the rest of the evacuees. I limp-run to the big red door-opening button in front of their gate. My leg is starting to hurt like hell now that I’ve run out of adrenaline. I slam down on the button and try to run to my shuttle. I don’t see if they make it out. I get inside the shuttle and pat Hangman on the shoulder to let him know I’m in. He nods his head and starts up our shuttle.
I sit in the last available seat. Tomas, Gills, and Harp are in the other three seats. I’m in back, with only an empty chair next to me. I focus on getting out. Hangman opens the gate remotely, and we start off slow. He turns on the boosts and we head up at an almost ninety degree angle. I feel myself being held against the seat by gravity. My leg hurts, I try to lift my head from the seat, there’s still too much force.
We gain altitude until the soldier’s shuttle comes into view. I’m helpless as the missile crashes into their ship ahead of us.
Hangman struggles to dodge the flaming debris, barely making it past. We start to slow down as we leave the atmosphere. I relax a bit. I start to look back at my bullet hole. The suit is patched back up, but underneath the blood is still soaking it. I get up out of the seat, and get over to Tomas. He looks over at me and starts frantically taking off his seatbelt.
I can see through the front window of the shuttle. I barely notice the giant green light headed for our right side. The blood starts leaking from the soaked patch on the suit and beads up on the shuttle floor. I’m about to pass out.
I try to warn Tomas and Hangman, but it’s too late. The green lights smacks into our shuttle like turbulence. All of the systems shut down. I can see Hangman messing with the controls. I see the backup power button and try to reach it. We are falling out of the sky, great time to pass out Ricky. Tomas sees what I’m reaching for stops bandaging my leg. He slams the button and I hear a sound like CO2 and Nitrous Oxide mixing together, or maybe my hearing is skewed.
I grab the needle from the floor and light-headedly press it into the skin by my entry wound. I inject the serum, and grab a bottle of bio-gel. I cut a piece of gel with my knife, and shove it into the bullet wound. It hurts like hell, and the gel is cold. I put away my knife and wait for the suit to repair itself where it was cut. I get up and sit back into my chair. I can hear Hangman and Tomas discussing where to go. Then I remember, and I see it in the distance. My father’s ship.
“Orson.” My voice is choked. My throat is dry, and my lips are cracked.
Tomas looks in the direction I point. He tells Hangman that it’s where we have to go. After they have a debate I can feel the shuttle moving in a new direction.
I strap into my seat and make sure my bag full of ammo is nearby. I feel worn out. Not really tired, but worn. I sit in my seat with my head resting in the palm of my hand. I close my eyes, and hear my crew’s talking fade into the background. I’m half awake, and I can feel the blood start to seep around the bio-gel. I feel faint. You have such amazing timing Ricky.
I wake up as we dock into the ship.
I can hear a familiar voice.
Faber? No, it’s deeper and gruffer. Orson. He’s asking about me. My neck is stiff, and I can feel the bandages on my leg where someone wrapped it to try and stop the bleeding. I can hear them talking back and forth. Orson’s voice turns shallow, and choked. He calls for someone in the hall. I hear Faber’s accented voice and a rush of several others feet.
They come in, white suits. They are blurry and start to remove the straps from me. They grab my bag and put it on the bottom rack of what looks like a stretcher. They pick me up and put me on top of it. They hook up several monitors to different parts of my arms, neck, and chest. It takes a few moments to realize that time has passed and I’m in a different room. They were hooking up different nodes and meters. I had a blood IV in my right arm. I wonder who that came from. My armor was in the corner. It’s cold, well, I’m cold. I’ve got on a blanket, as well as some wrapped bandages over my chest, and a bandage over my leg wound. I have on a pair of spandex as well. I focus on the nurses, they’re female. They’re checking monitors and adjusting knobs. I look up at one of them, She has a mask covering her entire face. She’s in armor very similar to mine, but white.
I try to ask a question, but my mouth is dry. She grabs a cup from the table and hands it to me. I take a drink.
“What happened?”
“You had severe blood loss from an anticoagulant bullet wound.” Her voice is smooth like butter, and accented like Faber’s.
“Where’s my squad? And Orson? And Faber?”
She puts a hand on my shoulder.
“They are fine; your father was quite shocked. He was afraid for your life. He couldn’t give you blood. So he called someone who could.”
“Who?”
“Your brother. We had to mix it with some from one of your partner’s as well.” She said it like I knew who she was talking about.
I have a brother? I don’t bother asking any more questions about the blood. I could ask Orson.
“When will I be able to see them?”
“They will come and visit you in about an hour. Not too many at a time, and don’t worry we have a set of clothes for you over there.”
She points to a small white chair in the corner. My blood bag is practically empty. She unhooks it and takes out the needle as carefully as possible. All of the other monitors are wireless. She says something to the other nurse and they walk out. I get up and grab the white set of clothes. I put it on. It’s a white dress. It has long sleeves and the skirt reaches my knees. There is a hole right above my collar bone.
The collar goes halfway up my neck. I’m barefoot. For the first time I get a clear look at my cleaned wound. The gel was removed. There is a dent where the bullet went in and one on the other side where it left. It wasn’t very big. It hurt to touch. I noticed a pair of shoes leaning against the chair. I pull them on. They go just below my knees and have slightly raised heels. The heels are hollow and have triangle shaped arcs for support.
There’s about a foot between the skirt of my dress and my boot tops. My hair is a mess. It’s grown quite quickly. Deep brown tousled waves against my bright white dress. I feel a bit strange. I’ve never worn a dress before. I brush out my hair with my fingers and some water from the cup. That’s better. My armor is in a glass case. It’s covered in dirt and ash. I run my finger along the edge of the box. I have no mirror to see what I look like in this dress. I sit on the bed thinking about it for a minute, and then I remember everything else that happened tonight. I take off my monitors and set them on the mattress.

They wanted me out of the way. Why? There’s something they know that I don’t. They must be trying to keep me from being found out by the scientists. I sit and piece together different things, but it doesn’t come together very well. I hear a knock on the door.
“Who is it?”
“We’re here to visit.”
I hear multiple voices in the hall.
“Come in.”
I stand up and brush a stray hair behind my ear. My father walks in first. His face is full of relief. If it’s even possible, I think he grew a few grey hairs in his beard. He looks at me in astonishment.
“You have hair just like your mother.”
Even in my boots I stood a good few inches below him. He walks over and hugs me. His eyes were teary. I hug him back. I hold him close and he shivers a bit.
Is he crying? I can’t blame him, his only daughter, whom he just met, nearly died and he had no clear way to keep her alive. Then I remember. I have a brother. When I open my eyes and we stop hugging, Faber and Tomas are over by the door. This is when I ask.
“The nurse said I’d needed blood, which I guess I should have figured. She said it came from my brother…?”
He has a slightly puzzled look, and then a relieved smile takes over his face. His nose and cheeks are still reddish and he looks a good five years older than when I last saw him. He chuckles.
“Faber is your half-brother.”
Faber stands a few inches above Tomas in a suit like Dad’s and a big smile on his baby-face. I look into his green-blue eyes, and I see it. He looks so much like Orson. From his grin to his jaw line, he looks so similar. His stubble is gone from the last time I saw him. I walk over and hug him. Tomas is a few feet away closer to the door.
Tomas’s hair is a mess, but he’s shaven and wearing a suit, most likely given to him by my father. Orson starts to walk out. His expression changes back to business.
He gives a small wave of his hand to Faber and they walk out. Tomas looks so different than from any other time I’ve seen him. He looks me up and down.
“You look amazing for, you know – nearly bleeding out and dying for the hundredth time.”
A big smile spreads across his face.

     Tomas places his hands on my chin, and sweeps the loose piece of hair behind my ear. He looks straight into my eyes, and brings his face closer to mine. He kisses my forehead. Then he studies my eyes, I lean into his shoulders and kiss him.
I hear a cat call, and Tomas looks at the door, it’s half opened with Harp standing front and center leaning in the doorway. Hangman and Gills are behind him.
“Where the hell is ripper? Who’s this girly girl?”He says it sarcastically, but with a tinge of jealousy.
Hangman gives an equal reply, “That girly girl, Harp, is Ripper.”
I took in what he said, and then I remembered we’re at war. We need to figure this out. I pushed past Harp and walk over to the door. I get past Hangman and Gills. I look at the number on the door; I have to remember in case I get lost. I need to find a place to think.
Maybe there’s some sort of library. I walk quickly past guards and soldiers in the halls. I don’t have my map, I’m glad I remembered the room number I was in, 216. I head back towards the room. The squad is walking the opposite direction away from my room. I just have to wait for them to get far enough away so that I can get back into my room and get my suit. I’ve got to put it in a safe place.
Inside my room, it’s exactly the way I left it. I grab my suit, in its glass case. I can bring it to my father. He can tell me where a library is. I close the door behind me and walk back down the hall toward the lift. I get on and go to the top, where his office is. It takes a few moments to get up, but once I do the hallway is void. I go to his office, but it’s empty. Maybe he went to the bridge. Those are the only two places I can imagine the master of a ship being. That’s where they usually are in the books I read. (Old books have such insane ideas about what they thought life would be like now.)
I head down a few floors on the lift to ask someone where the bridge is, or where Orson is, if they know.
I get down to the thirtieth platform and there are some soldiers there. It’s helpful that I was put into the database. It’s good to remove the language barriers. A few soldiers are standing by a door. I walk over, the closer I get the less they say. I walk to the one closest, who also looks to be their sergeant. He changes his posture and is trying to look impressive. I ask him in Apte what he knows.
“Where’s the bridge?”
“Ah, why would you be going there miss, and why such a hurry?”
He gets a smolder on his face and brushes a hair behind my ear, I push away his hand.
“I’m trying to find someone.”
“Hm, why don’t you stay here with us and have a chat? It’s been a while since we’ve been back on Atteius. Come closer and we can talk.”
“No, this is important. I need to find President Orson.”
“Oh, why do you need to speak with that old man so badly, and why are you holding a soldier’s suit?”
He runs his thumb on my bottom lip and chin. He took extra care to say soldier with emphasis.
    

“I need to speak with him because—“
Midsentence he reaches for my arm and tries to pull me toward him. I elbow him in the ribcage. He leans forward slightly, keeping himself from doubling over. He picks up his posture, his hand still on his ribcage.
“Come on now, no need to be violent. We just wanna have a little chat.”
“I am going to ask you one more time, where is President Orson?”
“Why do you need to know so badly?”
“I have to speak with my goddamn father about this war! I need one of you to tell me where he is right now, or I’ll have to beat it out of all of you.”

His posture changes and he seems to stiffen a little bit.
“Your father? President Orson? He’s your father?”
His tone is a little pale. Then he looks almost intrigued, the corner of his mouth turns up slightly.
“Yes, goddamn it and I would appreciate knowing where he is so I may speak with him.”
“Whose suit is that?”
“You ask too many damn questions. It’s mine. Now tell me, where is he?”
“He’s in the bridge. Just down the hall. That way.”
I start walking down the hall, regretting the fact that I know they’re behind me and I’m in a dress. I push away the thought and reach a door marked Bridge. I open it, and walk into a large dark room, with a huge transparent hull. There are billions of tiny white dots – stars in the far off distance. I shift my gaze toward my father. He is near the middle part of the room, talking to one of the operators. There are a good fifty or so people working on systems and schematics. I walk down the stairs and go over to him.
“Yes Animus?”
“Is there a library?”
“Fiftieth sector. It’s the largest room there.”
He gives me the answer quickly; he’s preoccupied with speaking to the operator. He takes my suit and hands it to someone, telling them to lock it in some safe and have it cleaned and repaired.
I leave the room and go to the lift; I come up to the rude soldier. I can’t see his face, due to the fact that he’s wearing a helmet. The hall is small, so as I go past, he grabs my butt. I turn around and punch him right in the gut. He doubles over half way. His soldier buddies back off, he takes off his helmet and spits on the floor. He has a doll face, the kind of face human girls’ dream of. It’s so perfect it’s disgusting. He’s the opposite of my type. When he raises his face and takes a look at me with his hands on his knees, he says the dumbest thing he could possibly say to me.
“You hit just like a girl.”
I fill with rage. I uppercut his face and his neck flips backward. I put my hand around his throat and lift him up against the wall, my other hand forms a fist and looms in a ready position threatening to slam into his pretty face. He speaks chokingly beyond my grip; his face is full of fear.
“Your eyes…”
He starts to choke and I drop him on the ground. He takes in gasping breaths.
“What the f*** are you?”
I take this to my advantage.
“Something you might just regret having angered.”
I turn and walk down the hall. Tomas and Harp are at the end of it, they must’ve seen every part of that. I get up to them.
“What the hell were you two talking about, what pissed you off so much, and what’s up with your eyes? – they’ve got black around the edges.”
I look for one of the mirrors on the wall. I walk up to it. There’s a black inky color receding from the whites of my eyes, my pupils are fading from a reddish color. I blink a few times – still receding. I have no questions about that right now; I just have to add it to my list of evidence for reasons of why they want me gone. Why the Hosts want everyone gone. I walk past them and toward the lift. I need to get to the fiftieth floor. They run to catch up and get on the lift with me. I push the characters for fifty.
The lift goes up for a few moments, then it opens to the fiftieth floor and I step off, looking for the larges set of doors. It’s at the end of the left hall; I walk down quickly and open the doors. The room is huge and full ceiling to floor with books. It will take forever to look through. I look for some sort of computer or sorting system. A large holopanel is by the far left wall, I walk up to it and search for “human and Aptean” a few books separately on either humans or Aptean.
I change my search to “Huteus”, then “Apthuman”. Finally, I search “hybrid human” about 100 files show up. I look through, most are on other human hybrids. I get towards the seventy fifth titles, and see “Aptean Homo sapien sapien Hybrids” I click on it and a number next to the title shows the location of the book. I write it down. 1000974, it’s probably toward the right hand wall. I head over there and look. The higher parts of the library shelves are nearly impossible to see. Where I can see the number closest to mine is at the bottom, labeled 1000965.
I see a small panel lit up on the wall at the end of the bookcase; it says “Please enter title number” in Apte. I put in 1000974 and a small laser light pops out of the side of the panel, it flows up the shelves and goes toward the mid-top. A thin metal bar pops out where the laser light was and the book slides neatly from its place on the shelf. Little metal wings on the side of the bar hold onto the book and it follows the same path it did when it was going up to find the book. The bar comes back to its place by the panel and the wings fold down from the book, then back inside the bar. I grab the book. The bar slides into place in the shelf, and the little laser goes behind the panel.
I look at the number on the spine of the book, 1000974. It’s the one I’m looking for - it’s heavy, and thick. I open it up, and start to read. I walk over to a chair and sit down. I read every last word. After a few hours I’m done and I come to a new realization. I understand why they want us gone, however I don’t understand why their reason is such a big deal to them. This book is very old; I don’t think Orson even knew it existed. In the beginning of the book, it said the copy I was reading was the only copy in existence. There was no author. I lean back and go over everything I just learned.
Aptean themselves are an advanced race, more advanced than humans. Humans are also advanced. They are the two most advanced in the universe. Below them are Heirantan – by the description, they are the Hosts. However, there were so many facts within the book about the humans and Aptean . It got to a conclusion toward the end; all of the facts supported the conclusion. Were human and Aptean to start interbreeding, a new – more physically and mentally advanced race would exist. It would be more advanced than imaginable. Unfathomable statuses and advancements within a being.
However there was a low survival rate for first generation hybrids. Although, it stated if the first generation hybrid survived to adulthood, then its offspring would thereon survive indubitably. The Hosts didn’t want that information to be found out, but why? That- I may never know, however I knew now that I was a first generation hybrid, also termed as Novus aetas. I close the book and hold it to my chest. I walk quickly to the lift. Tomas and Harp must have gone back downstairs, since they didn’t seem to follow me into the library.
I get to his office, and he’s sitting in his chair, my suit is clean and neatly placed in a plexi case on his desk. I set the book on his desk and start to tell him what I know. He keeps a straight, acknowledging face the whole time, absorbing the information. Once I finish he asks a question.
“Why is it that they don’t want such a race to exist?”
He is speaking to me in Apte, it’s the first time he’s done that. He has an honestly questioning look. I tell him the truth.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, I’ve done studies on Heirantan and I know a lot of their philosophy and history. It figures that they are as aggressive as they are, they’re beryllium based life forms. I can try to figure out what it is they’re after.”
A question burns inside my head. When I was telling him what I learned he said he knew about the survival rate of Novus aetas infants, but nothing else.
“How did you know I existed?”
He concentrates, and takes a deep breath. I sit on the chair in front of him.

“I didn’t know your mother was pregnant. When I was called back, a friend was sent in to replace my position. He notified me when he saw her in public places. I was astonished, filled with hatred for the old President. I had burning questions, why would he do this? I know now why he did. He was trying to prevent a war. He knew if the hybrid generation was formed, the Heirantan would find out. To him, the loss of a life was not a problem. He took me back, so that I wouldn’t be able to stay with your mother. However, he didn’t know you existed. Neither did I. I decided that I would try to find you at all costs. Once I had found out where you were, I knew it was imperative that I find you. I was ecstatic with the knowledge that you had lived beyond infancy.”
I had no words. His eyes were slightly teary, and he had a small smile on his face. I wasn’t mad at him, not anymore.
“I’m glad you found me.”

My ship descends onto the beaten planet. Hot ash and dust cover nearly every inch of ground. There’s no sign that anything had ever lived here. The sun covers the sky in a deep reddish color, or maybe it’s the lingering destruction. It’s slightly dim outside. A few scraps of hot metal lie here and there on the ground. Smoke from fires can be seen in a few directions. It’s getting cold. I step off. The ground gives beneath my feet. If you hadn’t known what had happened here, you would think the ashes were snow. Falling from the sky, and landing on me, coating the trees in a dust of destruction.
It was quieter than Death himself. I would know, I’ve shaken hands with the fellow. You could hear every miniscule sound. There was a silent breeze. It had been my idea – to come back down. Of course I would only come back once we knew the planet was no longer occupied. There wasn’t another living being other than the foliage. I step forward into the clearing. It’s so quiet, even the flagship makes sound in the stale air. Steam rises from the hot piles of ash on the ground. I start walking. Well, won’t get done just standing around in the death.
The trees are thick. I head towards a stack of smoke. It’s thick and black, towering into the atmosphere. It’s a few miles west. I make sure to tread lightly; I have to be aware of everything else. A charred skeleton, or at least what’s left of it, is scattered on the left side of my path. I’m alone. The sky is overcast, ashes land on my arms and shoulders as I walk. I’m getting closer to the fire now. I can hear the crack of timber in the distance.
I arrive, a large charred hunk of metal is half way buried into the ground, bits are on fire, the trees fallen around it are burning lightly. I can’t really tell what it used to be from so far away. I get in closer, the metal is too hot to get a good look. I try to change angles. After a few moments, I head to the left. It’s going to be a while before it’s cooled enough to check out.
I head into the direction it crashed. South. Each step gets softer as the layers of ash get thicker.
Up ahead, I can see the outline of something large and dark in a small clearing. I go a little faster. I reach it, a tall stone. It’s covered in strange markings. I walk closer to it. The stone starts to glow, a faint greenish. The closer I get the brighter it gets. I step back a few feet. The stone continues to glow. I can hear a small humming sound. The light of the glowing symbols on the stone swirls beneath the surface like smoke.

I step away, into a deep pile of ash. The ashes rise in a cloud of swirling dust around my legs. The humming gets deeper; the sound reverberates through the trees. I can feel the vibrations in my bones. I fall backward. The ash cloud puffs around me from the pile beneath. The stone gets brighter and brighter. I hear a voice beyond the stone’s hum. I don’t know who it is, it’s female. I can see a brighter whitish light coming from the center of the stone. I shield my eyes. The voice is practically singing along with the reverberating hum.
Stabit coram te mors, iniuriosa destructionem vobis timere – nam qui lapsi sunt ante tempus suum et vox.
He shall stand before thee, O Death; it is the destruction of injurious fear, for you – for those who have fallen before, their time, and the voice.

It was then that I felt realization, and everything came to me at once.
Now, Death stands by my side.
Fate has carried the message.
Dream of Solace, a message of assurance.
I will carry on.

. . .

I wake up in a sweat, I’m still on my father’s ship.
It was a dream.
I have to go back. I have to see if it’s there. I can barely remember the images from my dream. I’ve got to tell Orson about my dream. I get out of bed and wash my face to cool off. I fell asleep after meeting with father in his office. I left his office and went to my quarters. My suit is still on the chair where I left it. The lights are dimmed, I have no idea what time it is. I check my clock, something I seem to do too often, it’s about 0900. Definitely time to get up. I check my map and go to the dining quarters once I’m dressed. Tomas, Gills, Harp, and Hangman are all at a table – drinking coffee. I walk over.
“Any news on the war?”
“They’ve been attacking the smaller colonies. Most are gone, or down to nearly nothing.”
I stare at the ground, taking it in. I think of my dream.
“What are you thinking about mate?”
I look up at him. “I have to do something.”
I sit down in a chair.
Orson. Hello?
Yes?
I have a favor to ask of you.
Anything.

Our ship descends onto the beaten planet. Hot ash and dust cover nearly every inch of ground. There’s no sign that anything had ever lived here. The sun covers the sky in a deep reddish color, or maybe it’s the lingering destruction. It’s slightly dim outside. A few scraps of hot metal lie here and there on the ground. Smoke from fires can be seen in a few directions. It’s getting cold. We step off. The ground gives way beneath my feet. If you hadn’t known what had happened here, you would think the ashes were snow. Falling from the sky, and landing on me, coating the trees in a dust of destruction.
. . .
It took a bit of convincing, but he let me come down so long as I didn’t go alone. I told Tomas, Faber and everyone to stay with the ship. Despite Orson’s orders, I have to go alone.
I walk in the direction of the western smoke tower. It climbs into the atmosphere, thick, miasmic, black. I walk, farther and farther. The skeleton is in place, half buried in ash. Death left the signs of his presence among me. I reach the burning metal. It should be just left of here. I head in that direction. Lo’ and behold, the towering stone. I can barely see the markings. This may be different than I remember. I walk up to the stone and touch it. The surface is cold. It starts to hum, and glow.
Inside my mind, she speaks to me.
Quare reversi estis hic? Tibi abeundum est.
Why are you here? You must go.
Illi sunt adventus.
They are coming.
Illi scitis.
They know.
I can’t see her. I can see only her light. I pull my hand away from the stone, and the world comes into view. Still dead, still ashen. Then I hear a sound. Normally I would leave the sound alone, but something compels me to go toward it. I move closer. There she is, in the midst of an ashy clearing – singing indecipherable words, another language.
She has no hair, her head looks freshly shaven. She is very pale, a bright orange skirt flows behind her. She’s bare footed. A white band wrapping covers her chest. I can only see the back of her. She stares on, as the breeze ripples into her skirt like tidal waves. She kneels down, and picks the one living flower in the entire clearing. She holds it up to her face, and breathes it in. She turns in my direction, dropping the flower – but she isn’t looking at me. I can see her face. She has bright orange eyes, a fine nose. Her lips are perfectly shaped, her cheekbones are prominent and high, along with her brow.
She turns back, takes the flower, and picks it from the main part of the stem. She touches each petal with her lean finger and then holds it between the pads of her forefinger and middle finger. She blows away the flower on the breeze and it falls into ash among the rest of the bits. She takes her lean arm and drags her nail along a large vein. She knows I’m here now. She flicks her wrists, and she’s gone in a beam of light.
I take her word for it. I run as quickly as possible back to Faber, Tomas, and the squad. It’s still as quiet, and the breeze is blowing. I can hear a ship in the background. It isn’t mine, but it’s close. I try to run faster, but it took me an hour just walking down here. The breeze picks up, I can hear a whisper on the wind but I don’t know what it’s saying for a few moments.
I’m by your side.
It sounds like a man.
But I don’t even know where I’m going - until I get shot down.
A dart blasts into the back of my neck. I fall over and watch the ashes fall down. It’s still grey, still deathly quiet, still the same place, only I’m not going back home this time. I don’t know where I’m going. Round and round the worlds go, but around what? In my spinning visions I see a few flashes of a black figure, hello Death. Then the whole world changes to match his color.

I can see once more. I’m in a black steel room, restrained to a chair, by bars. The bars have nails through their middles, through the middles of my wrists – palms up. My blood is pooling around the holes the bars made in my wrists, it dribbles down my arm and beads up once it comes in contact with the chair. I have a headache. Then I hear someone talking.
“Say something. Please, say something. We have to get out of here.”
I move my head around, and the room spins. It hurts my head to move. My jaw clenches and I press my head against the back of the chair. My ankles are restrained by straps.
“Come on, I’m not taking you. Not today. You’ve got to try.”
I look up at the ceiling and swallow. My mouth is dry. I turn my neck as slowly as possible, looking for this mystery person. There he is, right next to me. Unrestrained. How? I don’t have time for questions. Questions hurt my brain. I try to speak, but I can’t. He puts his hands to his side and grabs a flask. He puts it to my mouth. I don’t know what’s in it but I have no choice, I’m restrained. Vodka - just what I need. I swallow the flaming liquid, at least my mouth isn’t dry anymore.
“Who are you?”
“You know who I am.”
He was right.
I blink back the pain. I knew who he was, but I didn’t know who he was. I really have no choice but to trust him.
“This is going to hurt – a lot. Try not to scream.”
He pulls on the bars over my wrists, one at a time. The pain is unbearable. I hold my breath and clench my teeth. I can feel the bars sliding from inside my wrists. He takes his flask of vodka and pours it on the punctures in my wrists. I nearly scream. He removes the straps from my ankles and I’m free – minus the one thing I didn’t know was restraining me.

There are two large spikes, protruding from my sides, right below my ribcage. I’m glad I came down without my armor, but at the same time I feel a bit dumb. My white dress is stained reddish purple wherever my blood has touched it. I look up at Death. He has a hood, and a mask. I can’t see his face. The only things I can see are his hands. He looks at the spikes. He holds his hand right below my ribcage, and tells me to allow my sides to relax, then pull myself off. I do as I’m told, I can feel the spikes. They slide through my muscle tissue, and scrape the bottom bones of my ribcage.
Nearly out of breath, and blood, I sit, hunched over in my chair, finally freed – but unable to leave, dry heaving and wheezing.
“Someone’s coming.”
The voice is familiar.
Death.
I forgot he was here. The door opens.
“Reh iht kah! Mi it su ha nu te. Roh mi te kah nu ihot. Rehot!”
The jackal faced soldiers walk in. Much larger than I thought, and their appearance is different. Their legs are very similar to humans, and their calf muscles are different – not to the extent I figured. They have not less fingers than humans, but more – about six per hand. One grabs me up, another grabs me from the other side. They hold onto my shoulders, everything still hurts. I used most of my strength getting out of that chair. I allowed myself to be dragged. I was taken up to the leading soldier.
He picked up my chin and lifted each eyelid, looking into my eyes. I saw my reflection in his jackal helmet. I didn’t know what I was being taken to, but I wasn’t afraid. I decided to use the last of my extra energy to contact everyone, all at once. In the midst of my thought, they put a large needle into my abdomen. I can’t feel any of what they’ve done anymore. With my reserved strength – it’s time to contact everyone.

Don’t come for me. They know. Keep some stardust for when this is over. Stay safe.
A saying, it means – wish me luck, hell’s about to break loose. I get nothing back, but I know they all got the message. I’m still being dragged to wherever it is, but I haven’t been paying attention to where they are taking me. I can see Death ahead of them all. Why aren’t they noticing him? He’s right in front of them! They walk up to a room and open the door. They lay me down on a padded table, and some feminine figures come away from their stations at the counters and tend to me. The soldiers leave, all but one. The females try to shoo him off, but he rudely insists on staying.
They wash off my arms, my legs, and my abdomen. They’ve cut up my dress. They take it off of me. I feel them tending my wounds again. I lay, immobilized, on a table, while two female figures wash my wounds, and an overbearing soldier stands by. Death is nearby as well. I don’t know where, but he’s here. The females grab a black item from the counter. They dress me in it. They take a mask, and put it over my face. It covers everything but my eyes, and ties in the back. It’s black, just like the clothing. My eyes are only drowsily opened. The soldier finally leaves. I guess he saw what he wanted to see.
The females have strange jackal masks just like the soldiers. They pull off my boots and grab some black platform type shoes from the counter. They put them onto my feet. The next thing I know, I’m sitting up. I feel a sharp pain in my spine. I start to wake up. The females leave the room. I am practically entirely awake now. I only look around the room. I feel a bit high. I can’t stop blinking like a ditz. The females come back in. They don’t speak to me.
They know I don’t speak their language, and even if they could talk to me, I’m sure they wouldn’t. I sit there. They grab a bag from a cabinet, and take out tweezers, and a small black case. They pick something very shiny from the case – a gem. It’s dazzlingly white. They place the flat end on the outer corner of my eye, close to my brow. They take an identical one, and do the same on the other side. Next – they take a small gold one, and put it where the corner of my eye meets the bridge of my nose, and repeat this on the other side. It doesn’t hurt.
They pull my hair up into a tight, neat bun. Wait a minute, are they decorating me? What for? I thought I was their enemy. They stand me up. The dress is long sleeved, but short, extensively so. The shoes make my legs look entirely different. The male soldier comes in, he looks me up and down, and shoos away the females. They walk back and start to put their things away. He grabs hold of my bicep, and starts to pull me out of the room. I have no choice but to follow. He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he is looking at me from the corner of his eye. He has a very strong grip on my arm. It hurts. I decide to break the silence, being as brave as I am right now.
“You’re hurting me.”
He stops walking and turns toward me, grunting and taking a deep, low breath. I look back at him. He takes his hand off my arm and picks me up. He has my legs draped over his one arm and is supporting my back with his other arm – like someone would hold a child. I’m not sure if he understood me, I’m also unsure if this is any better. Then, surprisingly – he speaks up, with a thick and deep accent. Just like the one that spoke to me during the ceremony.
“Royal descendants are inconsiderate fools, with no sense of work.”
“So you do speak my language.”
“Of course I do you idiot. It’s my job as an ambassador and protector to speak all known languages.”
“I’ll have you know I’m a soldier.”
He doesn’t say anything for a while.
“Have you lost anyone in battle? Have you ever been in a battle? What have you done that makes you believe you have the right to call yourself a soldier?”
I am speechless for a moment.
“My ability to be brave in the midst of a war, where I’ve nearly died more times than anyone - my fearlessness of death.”
He is silent.
“He who hath not wallowed in pain, nor self-sacrifice, should swallow his pride with nothing to lose, and still yet nothing to gain. Not one single tear, shed for another loved, or another lost, no greater purpose, found. His selfishness clouded in greed, overtakes within him. He subdues into the darkness of lone sobriety, when in reality, he who hath not committed a crime, nor lost anything, or held close something to his own self, shall wallow in pain and the very drunkenness of his own lone heart…A saying of my people. You understand, yet I believe you have not actually felt it.”
I’m not sure if I have. I’m quiet. I don’t know whether I am allowed to ask questions. Maybe if I ask if I’m allowed to ask questions it won’t make him mad.
“May I ask any questions?”
“No questions. Keep quiet.”
I make a bold move.
“Where are we headed?”
“You’ll know when we get there.”
I shut up.
He walks down a few halls. I can’t tell any difference between this turn or that turn. Every hallway looks the same. We reach a large corridor. He sets me down, abruptly, and grabs my arm again. He walks me down two more halls and to a large black door. It swings open. Soldiers line the hall to the left and right. Everything is guarded with the highest caution. He walks me into the room. A man in the same uniform as the ambassador, but more elaborate, is sitting in a large chair. They are all wearing the same jackal-like mask. The ambassador says something in their language, then turns to leave.
The man in the jackal mask looks me up and down.
“I’m sure you have many questions.”
I say nothing. He continues looking me over.
“What’s that on your neck? What is it on your wrists?”
I put my hand up to my neck. I don’t feel anything. I look down at my wrists. My wrists don’t look good. I put my hands back down and look up at him. I have nothing to say.
“I - apologize.” It sounds fake and insincere.
He has the voice from the ceremony.
Death stands behind the man’s chair. I have nothing to say to this man. The only question I can think of is what he looks like. He reaches up to his mask and runs his hand along it. He goes to the sides of it and holds his fingers down. He pulls off the mask. I get a look at his face. He is quite pale. His eyes are solid black, with fiery orange irises. He is older than I thought. He has deep black hair. I can see small lines going from the corners of his mouth to the back of his jaw. There is another splitting his bottom lip, going down his chin. They are very small, faint lines.
“No surprise here.”
I keep my mouth shut. He keeps his helmet off.
“I’ve got a story to tell you young one.”
I just keep eye contact.
“Long ago, there was a very strong, brave leader here. He had a woman, on your planet Earth. This woman loved him as well. They were together, until she died. He took her to see the stars. Her child was born among them. It was not until the moments before she passed among the stars that she knew her lover was not human. Her child, a girl, was half of his species, and half of hers. She grew to be a woman. She grew and alone, she had to bear a child - it was not her lover’s fault...then she died, the new leader of this race, decided it a good idea to put a bullet through her head. The child was orphaned. She lost her way. She knew something more. She went after it. But that brave leader is gone.”
I didn’t need to hear any more. I’m not just a half breed. I’m so many things. I’m unclear. I think for a moment. One quarter human, one quarter Heirantan, two quarters Aptean . He killed my mother.
Death peeks from behind. I keep my focus.
He gets up from his desk and walks up to me. He grips my jaw and turns my face to look at it.
“Pitiful.”
He grips my neck and I feel the burn of his hand. He lets go and slaps me. I spit in his face, he flinches and looks at me with disgust.
“Do what you want you ugly son of a b**** – I’ll end you.”
I laugh at him the same way he did at me.
He says no more, and calls for a guard.
Several guards walk in and grab me by the arms. They take me away. I’m dragged down multiple hallways and to a room, the room has a window. The entire corridor they put me in is locked. I can see the stars outside. The guards leave. I walk into the locked corridor. Death shows up.
“We have to leave.”
“Hey I have an idea, why don’t we ask nicely and tell them we’ll send a batch of cookies when we get home!”
My sarcasm didn’t seem to affect him. He walks off nonchalantly.
“Here! This should work.”
I walk over to him. A large closet has a maintenance suit in it. I can see the planet below through the window. Maybe if I escape, I can find a pod, I think I saw some on the way to this hall.
I change into the soldier suit. I still have the gems and dress on underneath the suit. The only thing I can’t keep on is the shoes. I hide them in the closet. Time to find a way out.
I walk up to the exit from the corridor. Death follows closely. I think again of my question, why hadn’t the soldiers seen him? I walk away from the exit toward the closet. I sit down on the prisoner chamber bed. I look at Death.
“Why didn’t they see you?”
He says nothing.
“Are you going to tell me?”
“When you’re nothing you can’t be seen.”
I think for a moment. Is Death a ghost or something?
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying, when you’re nothing, you can’t be seen.”
“So you’re nothing?”
“Exactly.”
Stubborn jackass.
“I’ll have you know, I will find out what you are eventually.”
“Eventually, but right now you’ve got to focus on leaving.”
I get off the bed, and think of a plan. I grab some old cloths from the closet and put them under the thin prison blanket. I smooth and shift the cloth pile until it looks like a sleeping person. I walk up to the door and knock. I try to keep from being too eager. At this point I’m glad the Heirantan soldier suit is very bulky, you can’t tell that I’m a girl. Very helpful here. I stand in front of the door with a soldier stance. A soldier opens the door. He looks at me expectantly. I step slightly out of the way so he can see the figure on the bed. He looks to it then back at me.
“Rhu iht se kah?”
I have no idea what he just asked. I nod my head.
He looks back at the figure then steps aside to let me out of the corridor. I step out and he closes the door, standing back to his guard position. I walk down the hall I came from as nonchalantly as I can. Death appears in front of me.
“This way.”
I’m glad one of us knows where we’re going.
I follow him.
We walk down the halls and to a dark, unoccupied closet. Death looks at me, and then the wall. A ladder leads up to some sort of duct. I look at him, and then climb the ladder. In a deadly situation where you’re up against one hundred thousand some odd soldiers, follow Death if you want to make it out alive. Death leads. The duct is barely large enough to fit through. This must be a maintenance duct. I follow him past several turns. His hood nearly comes off when we get close to a fan. We’re passing a room when I hear a familiar voice. I stop to listen. Death looks back at me and sits with his back resting against the wall of the duct. I can hear them talking, in English.
“Yes sir. The raid for Earth will be conducted once our disbanded units are informed.”
“Good. Check in on the prisoner once you’re done with your rounds.”
Great, I need to hurry.
“Yes sir.”
I hear him walk out.
I look at Death; his hood still covers his face. Now I’m starting to wonder what he looks like. For now, I try to keep my focus on getting out. Death looks at me, and then starts to move again. I follow for a while. We reach a panel and look out. A room with several manual pods, good thing I know a little bit of piloting. The room is empty of any soldiers. Death opens the panel and we step down from the duct. The pods line the bay walls.

I hear a siren go off and see several soldiers run past the door through the small window. They know I’m gone, now I have to hurry the hell up. I go to the panel for a pod and press the only button I can see as being the open button, a green one. I press it, and with my luck – it opens the pod. I run inside as the sirens continue going off. I pull the pod door closed. Death is standing by the pilot chair. I turn the lock and look out the small window. Soldiers are gathering outside the bay door. Death quickly walks up to the pod door. He opens it.
“Get us out of here, I can stall.”
I sit down in the pilot’s chair and start revving things up. The controls are very similar to the ones on human ships. I turn back while the systems are checking. Death is by the door, his sleeve is rolled down and his arm is covered in bright red markings. He’s holding his hand up and staring out at the soldiers. I get up and look out the open door. Soldiers are falling down and turning into ash. I guess this is why he’s called Death. I swallow a lump and sit back down in the pilot chair.
“It’d be great if you could hurry the hell up here.”
“I’m trying!”
I was the only one who sounded a bit worried. New questions formed as I started to pull the pod out. As we were lifting from the bay he pulled the door shut and locked it. He sat down in a passenger seat with a sigh. He started rubbing his arm. He sounds so familiar. I look back at him as I set the pod into autopilot. I forget the view of the frantic enemy ship outside. We’re safe for now. I can hear Death swallow the vodka from his flask. Even as he tipped back his head I couldn’t see his face. He pulls down the sleeve on his arm and tries to relax in the chair. I get up and squat in front of him, remembering that I’ve still got on the bulky soldier suit. It’s a little hard to move in. I look into the black space of Death’s hood. I can’t tell if he’s looking back but his head is turned towards me.
“What are you?”
“Death. I’m sure that should be obvious.”
His accent is familiar. He sounds older than I thought he was.
“That back there, can you – would you be able to do that to anyone?”
“Anyone but you.”
Wait, what? Now I’m even more confused.
“What do you mean?”
He takes a deep breath.
“You’ll know.”
“You saved my life and I have no idea why, why do you care about me? I know this isn’t some ‘for the safety of the universe’ bullshit.”
I stand up.
“Who are you?”
“Do you really need to know?”
“Yes I kind of do.”
He sighs. He reaches up to the top of his hood and pulls it back away from his face. For a moment I’m reeling back and my thoughts are racing, then I get a better look. He has jet black hair, buzzed in snakelike patterns. He has a clean cut beard on his chin, and a scar running horizontally across his neck. There’s a familiar marking tattooed on the side of his neck. Wrinkles run along his face, he looks to be about forty. For a moment tears well in my eyes – he looks just like Tomas. My knees feel a bit weak, and then I remember. Tomas isn’t this old. They look the same, they sound the same, but they aren’t the same person.
“Who are you? Why do you care so much?”
I felt I knew the answers, but I needed to hear it directly from him.
“Death – a biotic. I’m sure you already know why I care.”
“You’re Tomas’s father?”
He blinks a little slower than normal. Confirmation.
I enter the coordinates of the warship’s last location – turning the pilot chair around to sit down. I stare at his face, studying every wrinkle.
“Explain this to me.”
He takes a deep breath.

.      .          .

We arrive in the warship’s orbit array a few hours later.
We manage to pull up into the docks without any alarms going off. Death has his hood back on. His flask is empty – I’ll have to get him some more, it’s the least I can do for him. I can hear the marching of several guards toward our dock. I stand up, Death follows slowly. I open the door and several guards are there to clear the dock. They raise their guns at me; I realize I’m still in the suit.
I take off the helmet and shrug off the jumpsuit. I pull my hair out of the bun. They see that it’s me, and lower their guns, turning to salute. Death follows me and they watch him. We walk out of the docks and I see my father standing at the doors - I run up to him and hug him. He returns my hug. I can feel his breath on the top of my head. He looks up at Death with amazement and awe on his face. I’m sure Death will explain everything to him just as he explained it to me. Right now – I needed to find Tomas.
“Where’s Tomas?”
I can feel the air around Death tense up. He hasn’t seen Tomas since he was born. He had to leave him - Tomas’s mother died giving birth. Tomas reminded him too much of his mother. He was adopted out because his father was a member of a military biotic testing group. He ended up being a biotic soldier on Earth. He was decommissioned after attempted suicide on honorable, medical terms.

Father looked from Death to me and told a guard to get Tomas.
He turned back to Death.
“You’ve got to tell me everything.”
I think he knew who Death was.
Tomas walks frantically to the doorway. I can see him turn toward us. I take a few steps and he runs up to me. His shoulders and arms envelop me. I return his hug and feel his face pressing into my hair. He rubs his hands along my back, feeling the bandaging. He takes in deep breaths and I can hear him breathing a little differently – he’s crying. I press my cheek into his shoulder. He pulls himself away from me and moves in to kiss me. I don’t hesitate to return the favor.

All the while I can feel Death staring at us; I think I can feel him smiling too.
Tomas lets go of me and holds my head in his hands. He looks over my face and studies every detail. I do the same. I pick my hands up and trace my thumb over his cheek bone and along his jaw. I hug him again and then return to the situation. He looks at Death with a hint of angry curiosity, and I remember they don’t know each other.
“Who’s this.”
He says it to me without looking away from Death’s hood.
“Let’s explain it all in Orson’s office.”
“You’ve got a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”
A small smile creeps across my face.
Father leads the way to his office. Tomas holds my hand and Death follows behind. Tomas whispers to me.
“What the hell happened?”
“Let’s just say I had a close encounter with Death.”
He furrows his brow and then turns back to walking.
We get to the captain’s quarters, each of us taking a seat in front of the enormous desk. Tomas is to my right, Death is to my left, and my father takes his place in front. He looks to Death, as he begins to explain.
I can feel the air around Tomas become tense and still as Death speaks.
Tomas’s face turns slightly pale as Death finishes explaining how Tomas was taken. Something like anger and then sadness washes over his face. His brow is pursed in concern. I grab his hand and look at him. He keeps staring at Death’s hood. I look to Death, and he takes off his hood. Tomas’s expression changes to something I can’t read.
Next, I explain the enemy plans to raid Earth. Father’s expression changes and he speaks to a few guards that he called in. I turn to Tomas and he nods in acknowledgement. He stands up and looks at Death.
“Thank you.”
Death nods in reply, and stands up next to Tomas – they nearly match in height. His father is only an inch or two taller. Death reaches forward to give him a handshake. Tomas takes his hand and then pulls him in to a half hug. Death looks a bit surprised but returns it. It ends almost as quickly as it started. Tomas looks down to me and offers his hand. I take it, and stand up next to him.
“We’ve got a world to save.”
I say it with a smile. Tomas’s face lights up, and his crooked smile crawls across his face. Death smiles at the both of us and his wrinkles deepen. We walk out of the office and leave Death to talk with my father. We head to my quarters

The warship arrives at Earth just in time. The enemy ship hovers above Earth. Their ships have already landed on the planet; I can see places in the upper halves of the New Ark public darkened by the war through my window. They must’ve started there. No doubt they’re advancing toward New London and the Canadian provinces from the Union State. Tomas is in his quarters gearing up. I’m doing final checks on my weapons and ammunition pouches. Soldiers are rushing around in the halls preparing. We got a call from Earth’s command, they are accepting our help, and their troops will be alongside.
They’ve started pushing back the enemy forces but it seems to be a stalemate. Our plan is to push their forces into one space on the ground, and then execute the final assault on their headquarters. Our ground forces will coincide and make assault on the other ground teams. We’ve been notified of the academies and schools that have been evacuated and the civilians still in the war zone.
We’re heading in on the southern half of the New Ark public. We’ll get in unnoticed – moving in with stealth teams after our reconnaissance.
I finish gathering my gear and strap my guns up. I walk out the door and go past the rushing soldiers to Tomas’s quarters. I walk in and Tomas is wearing his bioskin - cleaning up his weapons. They’re all laid out on his bed. He looks like the soldiers from our textbooks in the programs ... I walk up to him. He turns to me. I take off my helmet and set it on the bed. In the week it took us to get here, my father had a suit of armor made for him and the rest of the squad. I look up at him. I study his face, and he puts on a crooked smile. I can’t keep a smile from spreading its way along my face.

Tomas walks over to his window and grabs something from the windowsill. He comes back with a succulent plant, just like the one I had in the Program facility.
I look at the small plant, then up to his face.
“Just as beautiful.”
I take the succulent from him and place it on the bed.
“Just as beautiful.” I say it in return, in a definitive and confident whisper, almost like I’m confirming it, to him.
Tomas looks at my face, he puts both hands on my neck and moves them up to my cheeks – holding my face ever so gently. He closes his eyes, then moves in and kisses me.
I close my eyes and forget the light show. He pulls away and smiles a crooked, drunk smile at me. I grab my helmet from the bed.
He looks at me as I stand and head toward the doorway.
“You’d better come back alive god damn it – that’s an order.”
I walk out as he goes back to his weapons. I see Faber walking down the hall; he nods a hello at me and continues on his way.
I keep walking to where our squad is supposed to meet. Gills, Hangman and Harp are all in our gearing bay. I walk in.
“God damn it, Ripper!”
Hangman says it with surprise.
Harp and Gills turn around. Their helmets are on the bench; their weapons are next to them. We gather into a group hug. We disperse and I can see the questions raging in them as though they’re written all over their faces.
“What the hell happened?”
“I’ve lost my goddamned mind. It happens all the time.”

I smile at them and they go silent. Tomas walks in with his helmet on. We’re a few minutes away from being sent down. My father’s troops are joining; they’re going to help the SSEC forces. The rest of us put on our helmets and finish the last details for getting ready. The release call is given and we enter the hangar. Our ship is docked and ready for us. We load up. The Aptean troops rush to get into their ships as well. Each one of us is loaded up and ready. We’re all heading down in drop pods set to land in the same one mile vicinity. We’re locked and loaded in five minutes. I hear Orson’s voice over an intercom.
“Good luck. Together we will rise.”
We all answer simultaneously.
“Together we will prevail.”
“Godspeed.”
With the message of luck, we head off. Our ship is first out. The others will head in separately.
Our ship hits turbulence as we start to enter the atmosphere. We reach our dropping height above New Ark. We load into pods and get ready. Each pod has enough space to fit one person and their weapons.
The onboard VI counts down.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1…
The pods fall with a loud whistling sound. The ordnance ship above, unmanned, gets shot down, the engine catches fire and falls uncontrolled. It breaks into pieces. Our pods spread a bit. We get closer and closer. I can hear the wind passing over the pod, it sounds surreal. Debris whizzes by, flaming and nearly molten.
Time to go to war…
I land with a loud thud, into a thick, humid forest. The pod opens. I step out; the pod is steaming with heat – even in a jungle. I start walking towards our meeting point. Harper was assigned with hacking the signals of the Heirantan forces. Any messages they were sending, he could intercept. Hopefully he would have something by the time we meet up. I walk for a few minutes before I reach a small clearing and hear footsteps across the way. A small creek runs through the middle of the clearing. I check my radar to see if the footsteps belong to someone friendly. Green means go. I walk into the clearing with caution. I’m glad when I see Gills walk from across the way. Tomas and Hangman join us soon afterward. The moment we start to breathe easy, Harp runs into the clearing. He looks a little scared, but also excited.
“I- I intercepted a transmission.”
He’s out of breath.
Hangman replies to him.
“Well? What’d it say boy?”
Harp catches his breath and takes a gulp.
“Their fleet commander is going to some temple up north.”
We all look at each other. I check my compass and start walking off north. Death’s voice rumbles in over my comm.
“I’m sorry, I can’t help with this.”
stop for a drink and to rest a bit. A few fallen logs provide seats for us. We were getting closer to enemy territory. The commander wouldn’t be arriving until morning. I sit back, Orson contacts me.
“Faber’s been hurt.”
“What?!”
“He’s at the medical camp just a few minutes west.”
“I’ll check on him. You can’t keep him down here for long; he isn’t going to fight like that.”
Maybe this is what Death meant. I can’t sleep. I’m too worried about Faber. I get up and stare at the stars climbing their way up from the eastern sky. It will have to wait until morning. I spend the first night counting them.
I wait for everyone to wake up. It’s about 0600. Everyone is up by 0630. I tell them about Faber and how we have to head to the med camp before the assault. They are hesitant at first, but I convince them to come along.
We start walking west. After about twenty minutes I see a small green tent. It’s a SSEC tent. I move a little faster, rushing into the tent; looking for Faber among the soldiers on medical fold out cots. I see him toward the back. He has no IV. I guess the human medics have no idea what to give him. I rush up to his cot. He smiles up at me. I see a bandage on his shoulder. The purplish blood soaked one spot. I unwrap the bandage. A scrawny nurse is staring at me like I’m nuts.
“You can’t take off his bandage, he’ll bleed out.”
“He’ll bleed out if I don’t work on this!”
I practically shouted it. The nurse swallows hard and walks away. I turn my attention back to Faber. I remove the rest of the bandage and grab out my med kit. He’s covered in bruises and small bits of shrapnel are sticking out of his arms and back. His shoulder is severe, I take out a syringe of coagulant and I press the needle gently into the skin near the wound.
Faber’s face contorts in pain; he grinds his teeth and sucks in breath. I give him one dose and put new gauze on the laceration. The small beads of blood on his mattress easily soak into a patch of gauze. I look through a drawer by his cot and find a dose of morphine.
“This will stop your pain, okay?”
I secretly take out the needle without a nurse seeing. I pump one dose as gently as I can into his veins. He looks up at me.
“Thank you.”
“I love you too Faber.”
I loved my brother. There was no doubt about that, he was the only genetic tie to my mother – even if I barely knew him.
I grab a cup of water and hand it to his good arm. He grabs it and takes a long gulp. I set the cup down for him and brush some dirt off of his face. I push his hair back and let him go to sleep. I find the scrawny nurse.
“Get him on some fluids – and take that shrapnel out before he gets an infection!”
The nurse nods and goes to work on him. I leave the tent, satisfied.
Tomas, Harper, and Gills were waiting outside the tent.
“How’s he going to be?”
“He’ll be fine.”
We head north into combat.
“Move out!”

We reach the drop site a few kilometers away from the headquarters. I can see smoke and hear gunfire in the distance. We’re only one kilometer away from an academy that had been evacuated; they reported nearly 150 MIA persons. We were instructed by SSEC to evacuate any civilians we come in contact with.

“Fortnight this is OnyxDrop 1 actual, can we get a status and ETA on our ordnance drop please?”
I wait for the reply over the radio.
“OD 1 actual this is Fortnight, ETA is 2 mikes – fully operational. CO wanted us to send down some heavies and a hum for you. Blow those bastards to hell for us. HOORAH!”
We reply in unison.
“HOORAH!”
I can see the enemy setup down below. Cables and barricades block in the masses of snipers and assault troopers that line the academy rooftop and forefront. A few vehicles and some drop pods are scattered about. There are patrols on each side of the main building.
“OD 1 actual this is CO main, head into the perimeter and confirm as many casualties as you can. Evac any survivors – and don’t be a hero Tom. You know the drill, shoot to kill. Clear all rooms. CO out.”
“Sir yes sir!”
Our orders end just as the Hawk drones in.
“Merry Christmas, blast ‘em to hell! HOORAH!”
The hummer drops down. A crate is in the back with rocket launchers and ammunition. I hop in the driver’s seat – everyone jumps in. Gills on turret. I fire up the switches as the Hawk takes off.
We speed down the roads toward the academy building. Around half a kilometer away from the perimeter we’ll turn toward the west and park on the opposite side – heading up to clear the building.
I pull off and we make our way around as quietly as possible. Gills aims toward the building, scoping out our targets. Hangman and Tomas check our surroundings and Harper listens for communications.
We reach the other side and I shut down the hummer. Everyone jumps out – Gills and I lie out to snipe. Tomas and Hangman head around to the other side to take out the ground troops. Harper goes to work on jamming their radars.
I attach the silencer to the barrel and sight in my gun. Gills does the same. We take aim and wait for Tomas to clear us.
“We’ve reached the south side, starting the assault…”
We wait…
“Now.”
I take the first shot as I hear the rifles in the distance. Gills starts picking off the others. We clear the roof and move onto the ones we can see on the ground. Harper finalizes the jammer and takes out his gun. After we clear what we can see all we hear is gunfire to the south. We throw our snipers onto our backs and grab our assault weapons. Harper stands nervously.
“Just aim and shoot. Watch for Tomas and Hangman, you hear me? You’ll be fine”
I place a hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s go.”
We sprint out of the tree cover and head south. It isn’t long before we reach some resistance. I take cover behind a barricade. Gills and Harp are close behind. I lean out and a shot whizzes by. I try again, counting the enemies. I look back mouthing 7 and 3. Gills and Harp move up. I head out and aim at the 7 on the left. Taking out one, then two, then three – the three on the left are down and Gills takes out two more. Harp moves and takes out one more. Gills grabs his left forearm and sucks in air through his teeth.

Harp drops his gun and grips his hand as tightly as he can – grunting. I move the two of them behind cover as quickly as I can and take a look at their wounds. Gills needs a wrap and medical gel. I get to work filling the bullet hole and wrapping his arm with the black rubbery bandaging. I place his armor plates back on and move to Harper. He waves a hand at me.
“I’ve got it. Give me some isopropanol and that bandage.”
I hand both to him. He takes off his glove and I see where he was hit. His right hand was grazed and bloody along the outer edge. He pours the isopropanol and his hand twitches. He takes in deep breaths and rinses away the rest of the blood. He tosses the empty bottle and wraps the bandage around his hand. He replaces his glove.
“Let’s get going.”
We pick up our weapons. I look out from cover to see where the shooter went. He peeks his head over the barricade and I shoot him down. We rush the rest of the left side of the building – taking out all of their soldiers.
Tomas and Hangman rushed the left side and were going to enter through the northern door. We would do the opposite, and meet in the middle.

“Reaching Northern entranceway. Head in and clear all rooms.”
We get to the door and walk inside. Papers are everywhere, carbon burns are all along the walls. We go up first. Dirt and blood are smeared together on the floor. A table or two turned on their sides – serving as a barricade to cover behind. As we walk through Gills, Harp and I take turns checking each room. All of the automatic doors are stuck half open, or completely closed. Loose wires hang down where the ceiling panels have fallen or been blasted off.
We head back downstairs and into the main hall. What we see is even worse…
“CO main, OD 1 actual; heavy casualties on alpha 1 – I repeat, excessive cas-”
Just then something small and metallic rolls in on the floor with a solid thunk. Harp looks at it for a moment, and then it starts to beep. A small red light flashes.
“GET DOWN!”
We rush to the other end of the hall, just as the blast goes off. It doesn’t do much damage, it was a simple fragmentation grenade.
“If there are any cadets in here, stand down! This is commander Arbiter Animus of SSEC X-unit 4-6-3, drop your weapons and file out immediately for evac.”
I aim my sights down the doors as I pass by slowly, Gills and Harper are behind me. I go for a door closer to where the grenade came from. I can hear nearly inaudible whispering.
“What do we do?”
“Shhhh! They’ll hear you, they’ve probably got someone hostage!”
“They said X-unit…what the hell is that?”
Their voices are shaky and full of adrenaline. I slowly walk toward the door, I can hear their breathing – low and slow. I turn into the door frame quickly.
“Drop your weapons!’
They stand up and back toward the wall.
“Please don’t kill us!”
“Shut up you idiot.”
They’re traumatized, they’ve never seen combat. Three cadets still standing. CO main’s voice comes on the radio.
“OD 1 actual, what was that?! OD 1 actual I repeat ~”
Static, they put up a jammer…
“We’ve got to get you out of here.”
They look at each other and then back toward the three of us.
“We won’t go anywhere with you.”
I take a deep breath.
“We don’t have time for this. We need to go, now!”
They stay standing. God damn it…
“God damn it…”
I look around; at this point I’m frustrated beyond all belief. I reach over, grabbing the leg of a table which was acting as their cover. I rip it off of the tabletop and bend it in two, throwing it out at a door across the hall that was stuck opening and shutting on debris. I take a deep breath and push the rest of the table aside.
“F*ng, god, damn it.”
I hand my gun to Harp and take off my helmet – wiping sweat off my brow and taking a sip of water.
The three petrified cadets look at me and seem to relax a little.
“Any distress calls you might have made barely made it through to CO main. If you want to make it out of here alive I suggest you come with us. Otherwise we have to report every MIA as KIA – and trust me, on your own you will be KIA.”
The girl looks over at me, looking me up and down.
“Alright.”
“Well hot damn. Call me Ripper.”
Just then, I hear gunfire outside, and in the hall – the southern half of the building starts to collapse.
“Get the hell out of here.”
I put my helmet back on. Harp tosses me my gun and the three follow Gills.
“Rip I’m heading out toward Hangman and Tomcat.”
“Go. Get them out of here. Harp and I will finish clearing the building.”
Gills runs down with the cadets, Harp stays behind with me.
We turn around to a gaping hole, rebar and wires hang down from the collapsed concrete of the upper floor. Troops start walking in, cautiously. Harper looks to me, and we make a run for the stairwell. We wait, their footsteps grow louder and closer in the near dead silence.
“Hickory dickory dock,”
“Harp what are you doing?”
“Your lives are on the clock,”
“Harp…”
“You have no fear, but your end is near,”
The footsteps get louder. Each of us is on either side of the doorway.
“Hickory dickory dock,”
“You want to stop the clock,”
“The clock strikes twelve,”
“You’ve missed your shot…”
The first soldier peeks in the door, Harper makes the shot.
“Hickory dickory dock.”
The soldier falls to the floor and the others come rushing toward us. Harper fumbles with an explosive charge set; the soldiers get closer and closer.
“Harp let’s go!”
He finishes one last wire. We go up and rush down the hall toward where Tom should have brought the hummer. The enemy soldiers rush up behind us and are only moments behind. We speed up and slam through the balcony doors as a grenade clinks down, only feet from the doorway. We run across the balcony and down to the ground below just as it explodes. Just in time, Tom drives the hummer up. I help Harp up off the ground. We jump in and drive off toward the pickup point.
“Harp why did you set that charge?” I say, nearly out of breath.
“Hickory dickory dock.”
He smiles and pulls out a small switch. He presses the button. I turn around just in time to see the entire building go down in smoke, collapsing on itself; almost in slow motion.
“Hickory dickory dock, Harp. Hickory dickory dock.”

We reach the LZ pickup point and safeguard the cadets as the Hawk arrives. They sit on a rock, waiting as the sun sets. Their faces are pale and covered in soot. Two of them have cuts, all three of them will have bruises. They’re breathing heavy. They look dead. As the Hawk whips the air around, they look up and stand. I watch them board, the paratrooper helping them looks at me, and salutes.
“Commander Animus.”
I nod and I think it dawns on the cadets who we were. Their faces light up, and they look almost like they’d rather stay. They look alive. The five of us salute them as they take off. The paratrooper waves and the hatch closes. I jump into the driver’s seat of the hummer. The four of my squad pick up their guns.

There’s not a damned one of them I’d rather fight with.
“Hoorah.”

And harper begins to sing…

We get a few kilometers away from the temple which serves as their headquarters. We jump out of the hummer and cover it with a mesh in the tree line. We walk into the clearing.
I hear a noise above. I stop and raise my weapon. Everyone else does the same. We scan the area for any movement. Then out of nowhere I hear it - the sound of a bullet whizzing by. I look in the direction of the sound and see him in the trees. I take him out with a headshot. He drops. I start to breathe again, then I hear a strange gurgling sound. I turn around – Harp.
Harp is holding a hand to his abdomen, just below his ribcage but just above his stomach. His helmet is on the ground. My face, still covered in soot – goes cold. Harp looks down at his hand. Bright red blood flows from between his fingers and drips from the corner of his mouth. I rush over and try to catch him as he falls to his knees. He’s kneeling, leaning against my shoulder. I take off his helmet. His eyes are wide, his mouth is open. His eyes are dilated, and he’s struggling to breathe. He looks slowly to me, then back. I lean him back and lie him down. He takes shallow breaths. His right hand is stained with blood. I know there’s no saving him.
He swallows - staring straight up at the sky.
“Don’t worry.”
I try to calm him.
“I’m not afraid.”
He says it with a blank face.
“Kill that bastard for me, will you?”
I take Harp’s pistol from his side holster and put it in his hand.
He looks at his helmet, and his combat knife.
“You know what to do. Just aim and shoot…”
He takes one more shallow breath. The pool of blood beneath him is still warm.
“I’ll see you on the other side.” He says it definitely.
And for the last time – he sings, shallow, quiet, and slow.
“Save me some stardust.”

He smiles and then he’s gone.
I don’t say a word. I close his eyes. I clean up his face and move him from the pool of blood. I look into the reflective surface of his helmet. He’s just – gone. My eyes burn. He wouldn’t want me to cry, he would crack some lame joke about being a pu**y, but I cried anyway – a silent kind of crying. I put his hand into the pool of blood and smear the surface of his helmet with it. I set his hand back down and stab the knife into the front of the helmet. The helmet cracks around the knife, a streak of blood covers the surface. I look for a place to put it, a fallen tree nearby. I set his helmet there, and to back to get his body. I set him up against the tree and make it look like he fell asleep there. I take his tags and latch them onto my own. I get up.
That makes two.
I walk back over to Tomas, Gills and Hangman. They stare at me. I take off my helmet and wipe my eyes. I replace my helmet and head toward the temple.
The temple is about 25,000 years old. I know nothing else about it. We run into no trouble the rest of the way there. We say nothing. We reach the outskirts. The commander is heading in, a few soldiers are milling around outside. Tomas and I lie down in sniping positions. Gills and Hangman stay prone, watching through their scopes. I line up my sights with the farthest soldier, and we wait until the commander heads in. I watch the ambassador walk in with the commander. The three soldiers hold their positions.
With the commander and Ambassador inside, we would have no witnesses. I line it up, and squeeze the trigger simultaneously with Tomas. Two of the soldiers drop, I move quickly to the next before he notices his buddies are dead. He drops. We move in closer to the temple and rush in the entrance. We reach a splitting hallway and try to sort out who goes where. Tomas offers to go with me, but I beg him to stay guard at the entrance. I don’t want him getting hurt. He tries to argue about it.
“Stay here. I promise I’ll be back.”
“You’d better be back.”
I nod and walk off into the temple with Gills. Hangman and Tom are sticking back.
Gills and I walk into the dim Temple. There are no guards on any post, but there’s no doubt they’ll be arriving soon. We rush. It’s a really large interior. Every wall is made from rock that is eons old. It’s cool and damp. We turn on our NODs and continue down the hall. We come to a split in the path. I look down at the ground, foot prints match one suit of armor, and the other set of footprints going the other way matches another suit of armor. I look at the patterns. The more intricate one probably matches a grander suit of armor, like the one on the commander.
I tell him to take the path with the simpler prints. Hopefully I’m right. He hesitantly splits ways with me. I know he can take the ambassador. Once we’re done we are all going to meet up at the clearing where we landed.
I head off down the path. It’s dark and damp. After about twenty minutes I arrive to a dimly lit opening from the small halls. I hear marching behind me.
I look for a spot to take cover. I hide behind a beam that fell from the ceiling. The soldiers march in. About five or six. They stop abruptly and look around the room; I can tell they know someone is in here. I slow my breath, you can hardly hear me. I hear my heartbeat in my ears and the slow footsteps of the soldiers.
They mumble to each other in their language. I listen to try and pinpoint their locations. They check around corners and everywhere, except behind the beam. Then, as I hope they’re leaving, one of them comes up to my hiding spot. I slow my breathing to an impossible rate and listen to my heartbeat and his footsteps. Every other sound fades away. The soldier barely peeks by my rock and then walks away.
I wait until they are down the hall on the other side of the cavern and I get up. I bring my breathing up a little and slowly go to the hall. I can hear my breath inside my helmet. Water drips down the walls. The ceiling is only a few inches above my head. Every few feet a small closet type opening makes a concave shadow in the wall. The hall opens a little bit. Then I hear footsteps. I slowly walk up to the sound. The soldiers formed a line going down. Not a good idea.
Remember the revolution?
I sneak up behind the soldier; I grab his throat and choke him out. I take my knife and dig it into his back. I sever what feels like a spinal cord and shove him into one of the concave spaces in the wall. I keep quiet and continue following the soldiers. I take out the second one. A new cavern opens up. I try to go after the next one, but I slip and knock a few rocks from the wall when I land. I try to hide myself, but the soldiers know there’s something up now. There’s only four left.
They scan around and try to make some sort of formation. I take out my pistol. I shoot at the closest one, barely missing by an inch. He sees me and points. I try to creep into a dark spot. The soldiers are out of my view as I hide behind a large columnar piece of rock. I slow my breath, but I can’t hear their footsteps. I turn around one corner to see if they’re still there.
Someone grabs my wrist and tries to knock the gun out of my hand. I pull my hand inward and he punches me in the gut. I double over, and he tries to knock my head against the column. I hit him upside the head with my free hand and kick him back.
Another soldier comes up behind. He grabs my hand. I pull him toward me and grab his wrist. I feel a wrath boiling up inside me. I holster my gun and grab his wrist with my other hand. I hold tight on his arm and kick his torso away from me. I hear a loud tearing and cracking sound. Off comes his arm. He screams in agonizing pain.
Yet another soldier comes up and kicks me in the back. I feel a rib crack. I turn around and pull out my pistol. I shoot him between the eyes. The soldier I kicked away walks back up and punches me in the side. I uppercut him and put my knife in his windpipe.
The last soldier walks up and puts forth more of a fight. He punches me in the side and smacks the side of his hand against my throat. I can’t breathe fully, and I punch him in the shoulder. I raise my gun and shoot him in the face. He falls over. The soldier whose arm is now gone, is hyperventilating on the floor. I put him out of his misery - continuing on my way down the next hall.

More soldiers would probably be coming down. I get to the last part of the hall; a large room is at the end of it. I can see the commander looking at some sort of tablet. He has a gun on his holster. It doesn’t look like a gun, but I know it is. I check to make sure my gun is loaded properly. I take out a small explosive charge that my father had given to me. I set it and throw it as far as I can down the opposite side of the hall. That should block the path of any soldiers coming in, the commander would most definitely know I was here once it went off – but I was going to kill him anyway. It didn’t matter.
I walk in behind him, take aim, and shoot the gun from his side. He lifts his head from his tablet. He turns looks at me and starts clapping. I’m confused. The temple starts to rumble around me. Soldiers come in from halls to the left and right sides of him. Only about ten. At the same moment three or four of my father’s soldiers come in through temple hallway right before my tiny bomb goes off. They run towards the commander and try to take him down.
I start to attack the soldiers and take them out one by one. In the process I cracked about two more ribs. The temple continues to rumble. I see the commander’s tablet fall. It’s a map of the temple. I shoot it. I already know the map of this tunnel. Harp intercepted the map before he died. He sent it to each of our helmets. I won’t let him die in vain. I won’t let my mother’s death go without being avenged either. I never knew her – that was his fault. Parts of the temple ceiling start falling in onto the floor. It’s dark outside and the stars hardly light the room. I run away from the falling debris. It forms a large pile in the middle of the room. I look toward the commander. My father’s soldiers lie dead on the floor.

I looked into his eyes - cold, blank, soulless. There was nothing there, you could dig into the deepest parts of him and still come up with nothing. I looked over to his hand. The barrel of the gun pointed directly at the space between my eyes. He looked weak, broken down. A drop of blood dripped down his lip, he was hopeless. Like a ragdoll dragged through the apocalypse. His hair was a mess and his breathing was unsteady. Yet he seemed to stand tall, even at his breaking point. Either way this went, it was all over if he shot me. He needed me to help him out of here. He doesn't know how it's really going to be. We are the last two standing. I can't help but think about what he must think of me. I laugh at him, he scowls. I raise my gun to match with his. No matter what, we aren't both going to make it anyway. It's one or the other, and Death is waiting for Fate to pick what trigger will be pulled. I take one last look into his eyes, still empty. I don't believe him to have ever been capable of any emotion other than hatred. Do I pull first? Fate decides. I wonder what he will do next.
“You’re only just about to see what I’m capable of.”
I watch. Death stands by my side, waiting patiently. The temple around us rumbles. Fate makes a reappearance, not physically – but mentally. She takes her words and throws them into my mind.
I look him dead in the eye.
“Faze me.”
The gun in my hand is light as a feather. It’s equal and perfectly aimed at him.
I waste no time. Within milliseconds of saying it, I squeeze the trigger. The moments pass by in slow motion. I can see it all happening. The bullet chambering and firing from the casing, the force pushing it along to its final destination – the space between his eyes.
He falls to his knees and drops the gun. I look directly into his eyes, his last conscious moments.

I say to him.

“He who hath not wallowed in pain, nor self-sacrifice, should swallow his pride with nothing to lose, and still yet nothing to gain. Not one single tear, shed for another loved, or another lost, no greater purpose, found. His selfishness clouded in greed, overtakes within him. He subdues into the darkness of lone sobriety, when in reality, he who hath committed a crime, not lost anything, or held close something to his own self, shall wallow in pain and the very drunkenness of his own lone heart.”

“For I am Life, you were brought out by the universe – even so, I dictate who deserves to stay - and I don’t believe you do.”
He looks into my eyes and falls lifeless to the floor. I contact Gills, Tomas, and Hangman. They’re ready to go. Tomas and Hangman cleared most of the soldiers that were entering but got a little battered in the fight. We all head out to meet in the clearing. I contact my father on the way, he’s readied an air strike. The forces are centered. No civilians within range. He fires it. The Earth rumbles beneath me as I see the beam climb through the sky and hit the northern part of New Ark.
Goodbye.
I take a seat on a fallen tree and watch the air strike from the top of a hill – it’s about time I got a chance to be the bystander.

I head to the clearing as the last rounds of gunfire go off, and the airstrike goes down.
“Go ahead and ruin this temple. There’s nothing we can get from it.”
My throat is dry; my face is covered in soot. Everything hurts. But that’ll clear up.
For the first time I’m exhausted…

Faber is on the same ship as we are. We’re heading back up to the warship. I sit next to him on his cot. Tomas is to my left. Hangman and Gills sit in silence next to each other – across from us.
Nobody says a word.
We don’t need to.
We all know what happened.

We’re going to have the funeral for Harp down on Earth. His hometown of Clear Lake, Old Pennsburg. His body was burned in the forest when the medical camp was attacked. His helmet survived. I made sure to grab it. It has its own seat on the ride back up.

We are all in dress blues. Our squad is taking part in a 21 gun salute for Harp. We’re in a field by his old home, his old school. A small, close knit town. The soldiers from our unit take the seats, along with some soldiers who were in battle with us, our General and a few others. Harp’s coffin is black, and shines immaculately. A large red white and blue flag is laid over the top of it. A bunch of yellow flowers are piled on top. I take his helmet from the chair behind me and put in on his coffin. The ceremony goes on. I hold in my tears. He would’ve made some lame joke about crying. They put his coffin in the ground. We each throw on some dirt. His helmet from his old suit is the one on the coffin. I’ve got a special place for the one with the knife.
We take our places as the sun sets. The old white rifles are polished and shining. We each take our shots into the air. Nobody says a word as the soldiers disbands. The pile of dirt on his grave is fresh and black. I take his knifed helmet, and I put it on the pile. We walk away silently.
I stop at the edge of the chairs.
You may have been an asshole at some times Harp, but you were a damned good soldier. Good bye.
I almost heard him inside my head-
Goodbye means you’re gone. I’m not gone.
“You’re right.”
I know the guys might think I’m a bit crazy at the moment, but I’m not.

We go back up to the ship. Silence seems to be our friend at the moment.
My father meets us at the dock. I don’t need to say anything. Gills and Hangman go to their quarters to play poker. I wonder what it will be like, without Harp there to lose the game and crack a joke. I push aside the thought.
I turn back to Tomas.
“Do you remember my promise?”
He looks a bit curious. We walk off to his quarters.
The succulent is still where we left it. I change into my dress and sit down on one side of the bed. I pat the mattress, Tomas joins me. I lean back on the pillows. I look at the succulent. Then to Tomas.
“Just as beautiful.”
He smiles.
“I promise I’ll tell you everything.”
He smiles even more and his eyes are brighter than ever. He has a gentle face - good amount of gruff, and softness. He has a chiseled jaw; his brow is strong, but not too prominent. Everything about him seems perfect, his voice – gruff and low, but calming. I needed someone to tell me that it was okay. To tell me that everything that I felt was normal. Tomas was the right person. He didn’t even have to say anything at all.
He leaned closer and whispered in my ear.
“It’s okay.”
He came close to my face and kissed me, unlike any other time before – a long, loving, passionate kiss.
I’m not one to be girly, but you have to admit – I’m pretty damn lucky.