by Ethan Proud
The rover offered little protection from the elements, with sand sucked through the vents and striking the passengers in the face, but the lack of side doors allowed for a cool breeze to rustle through their hair and give the illusion of a pleasant atmosphere. As soon as the rovers stopped though, that unbearable, weighty atmosphere descended on the Exos like a blanket of humidity and despair. AE625 was hardly a livable planet. The massive vehicles weren’t designed to be driven through sand, and as a result they sashayed over each dune, sending bits of gravel flying with each rotation of the tires. A rooster tail of burning sand kicked up behind the rear tires and the three rovers teetered across the desert like blind mice, nearly bumping into one another, but at the last minute, as if sensing the other’s presence, peeled off in the opposite direction.
Rhea, the woman with the red hair, drove expertly. The wheel moved loosely in her hands as the vehicle sank in the sand before popping back up, sending another plume into the air. If she had kept a tighter grip, the rover would have jerked back and forth instead of the smooth (a subjective term) ride the passengers were now experiencing. The sun had since breached its zenith and was now reaching for its nadir far below the horizon. Earth 2.0 followed it dutifully across the sky, despite the unfathomable miles that lay between the star and the two planets. In the distance, barely visible over the horizon, lights began to gleam, casting their radiance over the spine of a dune that jutted into the sky. The fingers of light reached higher as the sun began to melt, and twin moons rose directly where the Original Settlement came into vision, as if its own light heralded the two moons, or the pale orbs were sent from the city itself.
It didn’t take much longer for the eccentric woman’s expert driving to get the rover through the looming front gates of the Shrike’s wreckage turned colony. The perimeter fence was fifteen feet tall and made from shrapnel and looked haphazard at best, but the secondary wall had been carved from stone and was forty feet high. Guards patrolled the top of the wall with long barreled guns, gas masks, and night vision goggles. Behind this wall, the ground sloped into a crater, a relic from the impact of the Shrike. The ground here was more solid and makeshift roads had been blasted and paved into the crater wall, winding their way down to what was left of the Shrike. The ship had been designed to carry 25,000 humans from Earth as part of a mass sojourn to Earth 2.0. As such, everything needed to sustain life on AE625 was easily salvageable: hydroponic gardens, medical supplies, clothing, manufacturing stations, water purifiers, etc. The ship’s shell hummed and glowed with pale greenish blue light as it generated the electricity for the blooming colony of Exos. If human life on AE625 went by seasons, it would be late summer or early fall, harvest time, and the Exos were reaping the rewards sown by generations who had lived long before them.
Rumo and Treya felt a slight pang of guilt for their decimated colony of Hydras. None of them knew this lifestyle was possible. Here in the Original Settlement, no one drank their own piss or birthed cold fetuses or spent their entire day searching for water and returning empty handed. The guilt was short-lived, as the elders realized that their colony was dead, and they were here in the Original Settlement. Rhea glanced over at them, read their expression and sneered.
“Just because you are scum doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself.” Her green eyes flashed with derision.
Treya ignored this, but Rumo spluttered for a moment before going silent. Treya’s old eyes scanned the walls of the crater where tunnels had been bored into the rock wall and little hatches that glowed with the same light as the ship marked the entrance to an underground abode. The network of roughly circular doors looked like it belonged to insects such as bees or ants, the term colony never more appropriate.
“Where are we headed?” Rumo asked, and half expected a sarcastic answer.
“Tonight you will rest in the palace. Tomorrow you will meet with the commanding family,” Rhea answered dully. Despite it being well after dark, she didn’t seem tired. Her eyes were bright, though traces of ruptured blood vessels could be seen underneath her dark lashes. Treya looked closer and could see the dark ring that framed the woman’s right nostril. Molla. Even in the Original Settlement drug addicts ran rampant, and apparently played a pivotal role in society.
“Where are our gonis?” Rumo asked, and Treya felt her heart sink. Both of the elders knew that the Original Colony inoculated themselves with lab-grown bacteria synthesized from the saliva of sand dingos, and no longer needed the gonis, and hadn’t for hundreds of years.
“They are in the rover behind us. But I doubt you will want to see them again,” Rhea answered without looking forward.
“So they are dead?” Rumo asked.
Rhea looked slightly annoyed and her answer unveiled just how cold and cruel she could be. “Slaughtered and soon to be eaten.”
The rest of the drive was held in silence. Treya and Rumo were escorted to their room, which had been carved into the crater walls, entry gained by opening a heavy stone door. Rhea easily opened the door, but the elders knew that it would take their combined strength to shut it when the woman left. On either side of the door were glass jars, filled with strange mushroom-like growths with long twisting stems and hastate, flat projections growing intermittently along the stem. The strange organism emitted a pale sea-green light. The edges of the glass were covered in condensation. At the end of the stem, a colorful cap pressed against the glass. The cap was divided into five separate pieces, each as billowy as a blouse, yet undoubtedly more colorful. At the center of this mass were five finger-length projections, placed equidistantly around one slightly longer and thicker projection. These projections bent against the glass playfully like a tongue.
“It’s a plant,” Rhea said, and her face softened when she saw the bewilderment on the old Exos’ faces. “Take them inside in the morning or the sun will kill them. We call them Martian Flares. They only grow underground. They are my second favorite thing on this planet. Now rest, tomorrow will be long,” she added and smoothly swung the door shut as Rumo and Treya entered their room.
Chapter Ten
Deirde and Yuto trudged through the desolate sandscape. The laces of their boots were laden with grit and with each gust of wind, another wave of sand washed over their feet and more particles nestled their way between toes and down to the soles. Blistered feet were nothing new to the pair, but the silence that stretched between them was. Yuto had not forgiven her for ‘killing’ Rio and Deirde refused to acknowledge that her previous lover was dead. Their gonis seemed to acknowledge the awkwardness and floated together several yards away from the estranged humans.
Ahead of them, the aquifer Yuto had discovered was revealed, a mere fissure in the ground, barely visible as sand whipped across its maw. Yuto led the way and gracefully dipped between the yawning granite and disappeared. He shook his hair free of sand after he was safe from the vicious winds and heard Deirde lowering herself gingerly behind him. She shook her mane of hair to rid the sand from it, same as Yuto…though the two of them could still feel the gravel clinging to their scalps. The gonis illuminated the way before them, lighting the tunnel surprisingly well. Deirde reached out and brushed her hand against the cave wall and felt moisture. She recoiled from the alien feeling for a moment, before reaching her hand out again and reveling in the coolness.
After winding deeper through the subterranean refuge for nearly a quarter mile, Yuto stopped and Deirde stepped around him to see a strange mechanism. Yuto had clearly seen this before and figured out how to use it when he initially stumbled across the manmade aquifer. He put a canteen underneath a spigot and pulled a handle. Water rushed out. Deirde gasped in astonishment. She had never seen such a constant stream of water. After filling the water compartments of their packs, and every canteen they had, they began to harvest the molla their gonis were already munching on. Wordlessly, they dug their nails under the caps and snorted the black spores deep into their sinuses. Instantly their bodies felt the cold rush followed by the g
alloping heartbeats. Yuto glanced at Deirde as she was filling her pack with the mushrooms and felt a pang of excitement travel from his navel down to his loins. Embarrassed, he turned away. This woman was responsible for the death of his best friend and was his best friend’s lover. He brushed the dirty thoughts from his mind and harvested more of the mollas.
“There are three more aquifers,” he managed to mumble out, his voice gravelly and sticky. He felt awkward. When Rio had been around he never felt an attraction to the female Exo. Sure, he had noticed she was attractive, but he had never felt it.
“I remember,” Deirde said, sounding timid and meek. She didn’t know how to handle herself around Yuto now that he blamed her for the death of his friend.
“I wasn’t sure,” Yuto said lamely and his voice caught again.
This time Deirde looked up at him. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said and looked away from her gaze. “We should get going.”
Deirde nodded as he turned around and led them away from the manmade water source.
X
Rumo and Treya sat at a small metal table while they waited for the Commanding Family. They had met the family once before, and family was a poor term. Polyamorous quadruple was more accurate. The Commanding family was comprised of two men, Fleet and Kilo, and two women, Mertensia and Aqi.
The Exo Elders stared at the ornate filigree of shimmery material that laced over the table in a webwork of mushrooms, humans, gonis, and sand dingos. The surrounding room was just as ornate with a high vaulted ceiling. Halfway along its length wires and remnants of support beams could be seen where a floor or adjoining wall had been removed after the initial crash to make more room. Small and large tables, seating either six or twelve Exos were scattered around, in a somewhat alternating pattern. No one else was in the room, save for Rhea who stood by the entrance with her arms crossed. Her red hair was now tipped with neon purple, her eyes hidden behind a pair of dark lenses. Between her index and middle finger she held a piece of rolled paper containing molla spores and caps, burning lazily from one end. Periodically she would raise it to her lips and inhale a lungful, before exhaling a plume of scintillating smoke.
The door next to her boomed open but she didn’t flinch or move as the Commanding Family entered. They came two by two. Each time Treya and Rumo met the family they had been paired off differently. Today Fleet and Kilo walked side by side while Mertensia and Aqi trailed behind; whether their pairing reflected that week’s sexuality, the aged Hydras could only guess. Their median age was twenty-four, though had they been on Earth they would be mistaken for being in their late forties or early fifties. Fleet was the tallest, with broad shoulders despite his lean musculature, short cropped brown hair and blue, narrow eyes. Kilo was shorter and had dark brown skin and his curly hair climbed away from his head in short spires. Mertensia had a demure build and blonde hair that cascaded halfway down her back, while her counterpart Aqi was a tall, willowy woman with almond eyes only a shade darker than amber in the current light, her dark hair even shorter than Fleet’s. Her skin was so dark it seemed to absorb all the light around her, giving the air around her the appearance of a halo around a black hole. Her lips were painted gold, as were her eyelashes, and her fingers were adorned with many flashy jewels. As she passed the threshold of the room she looked Rhea up and down wolfishly. A muscle flexed in Rhea’s jaw as she continued to smoke on her molla. Once the authoritative woman passed, Rhea’s lips puckered in a cheeky smile.
The Commanding Family sat down at the table with Treya and Rumo.
Fleet was the first to speak. “We are so glad you survived. What happened at Hydra Camp Seven was very unfortunate. We have sent emissaries out to the other seven camps to ensure the elders are warned of the current developments. The work your colonies do is very important,” he said in a tone that was nothing if not political.
“We are very aware of our standing with you,” Treya said brusquely. It was not openly rude, but her message was clear.
Aqi’s eyes flashed dangerously. “You are alive, are you not?”
“Not all of the Council of Elders survived your attack. Yuron, Hugo, and Nitra were struck down by your bullets. We have been deceiving our people for years, believing it was for the greater good, and this is how you repay us,” Treya said coldly.
Rumo placed his wizened hand on hers to belay her rising temper.
Fleet waved his hand dismissively. “The policy and procedures on this matter were set long before we came into office and long before you were even born. We simply follow the mandates to accomplish our mission. If anyone is to blame here, it is the malcontent Jarrod,” Fleet explained casually.
“He refused to listen to us when we tried to justify the current situation. His own conclusions were enough for him to start off on his crusade. He rallied some of our best men and women to his cause…” Kilo’s brown eyes were pensive as he spoke, as if he was speaking to someone farther away than the two Hydras at the table.
“Yes, we all want to get off this planet and we appreciate your efforts,” Rumo started and Treya snorted at his submissive stance.
They were too old themselves to be rescued from the desolate AE625, and their people had been destroyed. They needed retribution.
He ignored her. “But we feel that our colony was needless collateral damage. Enough aquifers have been established that all of the Hydra Colonies could return home.”
“I thank you for your opinion, but it is not warranted here,” Kilo said coolly. “You may have been leaders in Hydra Camp Seven, but here you will hold your tongue unless we ask for it.”
“Now, Kilo that was unkind and insensitive,” Fleet said with an easy grin as he held up his hands as if to pacify both parties.
“Regardless of anyone’s feelings on this matter, we must move forward and prevent any more casualties of war,” Mertensia said. Her voice was melodic and bounced around the tin can that had become the Original Settlement.
“War?” Treya asked incredulously. “It was a massacre. Not an act of war. Hydra Seven was eradicated.”
“Not everyone was destroyed. We have reason to believe that Jarrod and some of your hunters survived. If they reach the other Hydra Colonies before our emissaries do, the consequences could be disastrous.”
“True, if the Hydra Colonies band together and march on The Wreckage, everything we have worked for could be doomed,” Fleet said, his fingertips pressed against each other in a gesture reminiscent of a steeple. “We made contact with Earth 2.0 three years ago. A mission has been launched to rescue us. In three months, they will be here.”
“Why weren’t we alerted to these new developments?” Rumo burst out.
“The number of errors that could doom such a mission are innumerable. To give the people false hope would be unwise. A party led by Rhea was underway to bring the Hydra Colonies home. However, after learning of Jarrod’s deception, we rerouted her to intercept him.”
“Why did Jarrod embark on his crusade if he knew that rescue is imminent?” Treya demanded.
The Commanding Family looked apprehensively between themselves.
“The only persons aware of the Earth 2.0 Mission are in this room. The disappointment of a failed rescue would be too much for the Exos,” Mertensia said tactfully.
Treya snorted derisively and shared a look with Rumo.
“You kept your Colonists in the dark, did you not?” Aqi said tersely and both Rumo and Treya blanched. “Just as I thought. We are not so different.”
“Perhaps not. But I wish we were,” Treya said and looked down at her feet.
“No point in dwelling on the past,” Fleet said sagaciously. “We can all save our legacies if we act now and serve all of our people.”
Rumo nodded in agreement. Treya looked expectantly at Fleet.
“We will be sending out three parties to the remaining Hydra Colonies. You will each lead a party, while Rhea will track down the survivors of Hydra Seven,” Fleet said, the last sta
tement sounding slightly reluctant.
“And do what to them? You don’t even know if there are survivors!” Treya fumed.
“We can’t have any witnesses to hinder our progress. Salvation is on the horizon,” Fleet said calmly. He raised a hand to stop any forthcoming arguments. “I know you have your objections, but we cannot sacrifice our entire existence for a few.”
X
Late that evening, Rhea was packing her bags and preparing for the hunt ahead of her when she heard a knock at the door. She heard the hinges squeak nearly imperceptibly before her guest entered without waiting to be ushered in. The figure’s silhouette was barely illuminated by the bioluminescent plants that lined the entryway. Perhaps it was only because of how dark the woman’s skin was. On a dark night, Aqi could travel undetected unless a full moon, or two full moons, revealed her presence.
Aqi leaned her sinuous body against the doorframe that led to the kitchen and living space of Rhea’s abode. It was the only room with electricity. In every house only one room was wired to the generator on the Shrike, because if any more rooms were powered the generator would kick off, something the original colonists had discovered several times.
Without looking, Rhea said, “Had to see me off?” Rhea’s grey-green eyes glinted as she smirked.
Aqi said nothing, but instead flitted over behind Rhea and wrapped her arms around Rhea’s waist and ran her hands down the soldier’s thighs. Aqi’s gold-painted lips teased Rhea’s earlobe before her pearlescent teeth bit down playfully. Rhea continued to fill her pack, tossing in a water filter and a mobile cooking set along with bagged dehydrated food, ignoring the other woman’s advances. Aqi pulled Rhea’s hips, dragging her away from the task at hand. Despite her thin limbs and delicate structure, Aqi was strong, her muscles powerful.