“Ah!” Carter shouts, suddenly releasing me.
Oxygen floods my brain and I see two enormous Arthropods pull Carter off of me—and kill him with a bolt of electricity. A third keeper confiscates my shiv. I look down, gasping for breath, and am grateful to see that my clothes are still on and intact. Carter’s body lies at an unnatural angle, his forearm singeing. The sight of his dead body should disturb me. He’s my last connection to home. But I feel nothing but relief.
Tap. Tap. Tapity tap. Urgent rapping behind me makes me spin around. My friend hops up and down on its six legs, its parent right next to it. The toy-me is broken in half, and the glass wall is cracked where the doll beat against the glass. That must be what got the keepers’ attention.
I reach my hand out to where my friend’s antennae waits. “You saved me!” I smoosh my face up against the glass and two tears spill down my cheek.
Tap. Tap. Tapity tap. My friend stops jumping and stands still, its parent’s antenna now motioning for the two of them to leave.
A keeper scurries forward and offers me a tube of juice, a treat reserved for special occasions. I take the juice without opening it. More keepers crawl over, and what feels like hundreds of feathers brush over me as their antennae scan me for injuries. My focus is still on my friend, standing outside the glass, so I don’t realize the keepers have brought in a traveling cage until it’s too late.
The delicious aroma of fresh-baked brownies catches my attention and I turn my head to investigate. By the time I look back toward the window, my Arthropod-friend is gone.
Its sudden disappearance is more than I can take.
No friend. No future. No hope. I might as well eat brownies.
I walk into the glass box and let them trap me. One of the keepers hoists my cage onto his back and marches me out of the exhibit.
I stuff chocolate into my mouth and let my tears fall.
It’s been three years since I’ve been outside my enclosure. The only parts of the zoo I’ve seen are the human beings exhibit, and the quarantine area where I was first housed. I wonder if that’s where they’ll take me now in preparation for trading me to another zoo. Carter always threatened that this could happen. I bet my description will say, “violent female” from now on. Or maybe “unmateable.”
I lick the last brownie crumbs off my fingers and peer out my glass box. The outside environment is made up of soft turf, tropical vegetation, and concrete paths leading from one enclosure to another. Elephants. Tigers... Pterodactyls... Kangaroos... My eyes go wide as we pass each exhibit. The zoo visitors stare at my conveyance, curious to see an animal being transported. I scan their bodies for some sign of my friend, but one Roach blends into the next. Nobody reaches out to tap my glass.
My stomach twists from motion sickness. Or maybe it was the rich brownies eaten too fast. Where are they taking me? Was this my last meal? Nerves tangle my intestines. I hug my knees tight and rest my forehead against my legs. Then, a moment later, it feels like the floor drops out from under me. My glass box crashes to the ground and tumbles onto its side.
Why did the keeper drop me?
Whoosh. A hissing noise spins around my box and gray smoke blocks out visibility.
Whiz. Hiss. Whoosh. A fog of smoke blankets the area. Tendrils of gas sneak into my box through the perforated air holes until I plug them with my hand to protect my air space. Hisssssssss! The noises continue, each sound bringing more smoke.
How much oxygen do I have left? My rusty geometry skills fail me. This box is about six feet by eight feet by five feet. That means I have… Hell, I don’t know.
My heart sounds like a snare drum. I squeeze my eyes shut and force myself to be calm. Breathing too rapidly will only waste air. Whoosh! I focus on the noises. What’s happening?
Panic builds until I dare to look. I open my eyes and see swirling clouds of black smoke obscuring the atmosphere all around my glass crate. My arm aches from lifting it up to block the air holes, but I don’t dare let the mysterious vapor enter my space.
Then, as abruptly as the smoking noises began, they stop and the outside world becomes quiet. Too quiet. All I can hear is my own ragged breathing.
The smoke rolls away, melting into the atmosphere one poof at a time.
First I see swirls of gray mist. Then patches of green and brown. And then finally, the fog lifts and I see what’s become of the outside world.
My keepers, and all their Arthropod comrades, lie flat on their back, with their lifeless legs pointed straight at the sky. Every living creature is dead, even the zoo animals I see in the distance.
Shoot! I think. Now what? I look at the carcasses around me and see a small Arthropod clutching a broken humanoid action figure. My friend!
That’s the moment when I feel totally alone. Maybe I should release my hand and allow whatever poison is outside to kill me too. My shoulders shake with sobs.
But then I see a small figure in neon green stomp toward me. The creature is my height and walks on two feet, with a face hidden by a large plastic bubble. The closer it gets, the more I freak out. No matter who or what this unknown alien is, I need to be ready for it. I stop crying and plaster on a brave expression. It circles my box four times, carefully inspecting me, before reaching into a side pouch and pulling out a gas mask. The figure points to the mask and then to me.
“You want me to wear that?” I call through my box. I’m not sure if this is a good idea. Still, I don’t have much choice. With one last gasp of air, I hold my breath as the creature lifts off the lid and shoves the mask on my face. I don’t breathe until the straps are tight around my ears and I hear a mechanical device click on. Sweet, clean oxygen rushes into my system and I feel giddy for a second.
My neon-clad rescuer grabs my arm and drags me through the carnage. We make our way through a maze of corpses. A blinking red light guides us to our destination, a small shuttle that looks like something NASA built twenty years ago. In fact, I see the letters “nasa” spelled out on the side.
I look sharply at the figure that grips my elbow. Maybe I wasn’t being kidnapped by aliens after all!
We race up the ladder into the air-locked entryway of the shuttle. Blinking lights beep all around me and a sliding door clenches shut. When we are safely sealed inside, my rescuer pulls off the bubble mask, revealing a short crop of gray hair and a face I know by heart.
“Mom?” I gasp. I rip my mask off with sweaty hands.
“Emilia! Baby!” Mom throws her arms around me and I’m enveloped in a tight hug, the synthetic fabric of her spacesuit swishing against my cheeks. “I told myself not to hope.” Mom sniffs. “But here you are!”
“Oh. My. God.” That’s all I can get out before I become speechless.
“Your father is waiting for us at the International Space Station. Earth is still a mess right now, but we should be home in a few months.” Mom tucks a strand of hair behind my ears and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ve searched the galaxy for you. Our sources indicated that you, Lex, and Carter might all three have survived. Every planet we visit exterminating Roaches, I tune my sensors to look for your DNA. But they failed! I had no idea there was any human being alive on that planet, let alone my own daughter, until your signal pinged while I was on the ground.”
A door behind us opens and an astronaut interrupts our reunion. “Excuse me, Captain Reid. Should we prepare for liftoff?”
Mom looks at me expectantly. “Yes, unless Emilia knows of any reason to stay.”
I think of my friend’s lifeless body, and the four primitive women who are most likely dead, and shake my head. “No,” I answer. “There’s only me left.” I reach for my neck where bruises are forming. “And the sooner we leave this roach motel, the better.”
—ABOUT THE AUTHOR—
Jennifer Bardsley is the author of the YA Sci-Fi thrillers “Genesis Girl” and “Damaged Goods” from Month9Books. Visit her website for updates: www.jenniferbardsley.net.
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THE GUARDIANS
SL Morgan
Introduction
“We’re going to have to initiate flight mode on this vehicle!” Harrison shouted over the high pitched sounds of their car, which was aggressively pacing the humans in the car in front of them.
“We have our orders,” Levi returned, gripping his communication device tightly. “Samuel and Vincent are monitoring our situation closely.”
As a beam of light projected out of the craft and onto the speeding vehicle in front of them, Harrison sighed in annoyance.
“These guidelines that we are following are working in favor of these insolent creatures.”
“Harrison, relax. We will save the humans from the Laktons whether or not they abduct them.”
“Abduct them?” Harrison glared over at Levi, “Is it not our job to prevent such occurrences?”
“It is our job to prevent the humans from being terrorized and to prevent any other humans from encountering strange objects darting through the sky.”
Harrison glanced up into his rearview mirror, “Another craft is swiftly approaching. I believe it is time to think for ourselves for once.”
Levi looked up into the skies, “You risk everything by placing this car in flight mode. It goes against all of our training.”
Harrison gripped the wheel tightly when he watched the humans in the vehicle being extracted into the bright light and brought into the craft.
“Flight mode, now,” he ordered the car.
Before Levi could interject, the car followed Harrison’s command. Instantly the vehicle left the road, racing into the pitch black skies. In flight mode, the car gathered more speed, pacing the craft as it sped toward the portal that led toward its dimension.
Levi glanced back, “The craft who is trailing us has engaged their weapons.”
“Then it’s time to play.”
Blue lasers shot toward their car and Harrison swiftly responded to avoid the dangerous beams. Over and over, Harrison avoided the strikes from the craft behind them.
“There is only one way in which we are going to end this assault.”
“The vehicle is not a war machine, Harrison.”
“I know.” He nodded toward Levi, “We’re taking this battle to a level to where we can defeat these fools. Get ready to board that ship.”
Levi exhaled, “Your plans from there?”
“Take control of the ship, and we will deal with the others when we enter their realm. It’s our only option.”
“This is irrational.”
“This just got fun.”
Levi reached back to the weapons in the back seat of the car. He sheathed four daggers, two on each hip and two in each boot. He lowered his window. “Slow the vehicle down,” he ordered Harrison as he positioned himself to leap from the car.
Harrison brought the car to match the speed of the craft following them. Once the vehicle was directly under the craft, he waited for the transporting beam to shed light on their vehicle.
“Any day now,” he alerted Levi.
Levi glanced up at the spacecraft and then into the car at Harrison, “Once they open their transportation gateway, I will gladly board the craft, but until then—”
“Until then?” Harrison returned. “Use some of your talents to get into that craft! We are about to enter the portal, and I’m in no mood to watch you explode into a million particles.”
Levi looked up at the sealed entrance of the craft. If Harrison brought the car closer, there was a chance he could pry it open.
“You must use your talents as well, my friend,” he answered as he ducked back into the car. “Get the car as close to the entrance of the craft as you can.”
Harrison grinned. “Now you’re talking.”
Harrison brought the speeding car within a few feet of the spacecraft as they soared through the sky. Levi leaned back out of the car, wind threatening to send him out of the vehicle and forcing him to fight against it while using his dagger to unseal the entrance of the craft. Once he could slip his fingers into the small opening, he used all of his energy to pry the entrance open.
“Now!” he yelled at Harrison.
As the Pemdai car dropped suddenly beneath Levi, leaving his legs dangling in the air, Levi hoisted his feet to the craft and used every last ounce of energy to pull the door open enough to slip in. Just as he rolled into the spacecraft, the door slamming shut in resistance from behind him, a bright green light flashed throughout the metallic interior of the ship he boarded.
Knowing that they just entered the dimension of Tetron, Levi began assessing the beings on the ship by reading through the minds of the Laktons aboard it. Terror and fear overruled the thoughts of the creature’s minds he needed to read.
Great! There are humans aboard this ship as well! He thought in agitation.
The Laktons were intelligent beings; however, their new-found obsession with abducting humans for experimentation had them constantly at war with the Guardians. They had received numerous threats from the Emperor of Pemdas to cease their abductions, yet they continually ignored the Guardians demands. Levi’s father, Emperor Navarre, had grown weary of the constant attempts, and as the Emperor of Pemdas, he had given the commander of the Guardians permission to stop these beings at any cost if they should continue to terrorize the humans of Earth.
Levi knelt down and closed his eyes. He forced his eyes to see through the eerie darkness in order to make his attacks on the abductors. When his eyes opened, he still saw the darkness around him.
Come on, Levi, you have done this before, he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and exhaled.
The Guardians were talented beings, and even though they resembled human beings, their minds did not function as human’s minds did. They were able to use one hundred percent of their brain power, which helped them in swiftly calculating attacks against them, reading minds of others, and numerous other enhanced abilities. The one ability that did not come as easily to them was seeing through darkness as if it were daylight. It was an arduous task to gain this talent, and Levi and his cousin ensured they would gain it as swiftly as possible. The ability had awoken in him and Harrison, but there were times, such as now, when the ability failed them.
Levi exhaled again and forced the warrior within him to take over all of his natural genetics. His mindset changed and the bold warrior opened his eyes to steel walls surrounding him. Instead of following the fearful cries of the humans that filled the ship, he tuned them out and listened only to the minds of their captors.
There is an intruder on this ship! A gruff voice said with desperation.
There is no way our ship could be boarded mid-flight. Those Guardians are bringing their vessel into our realm, and I am quite sure their people won’t miss them. Let us remain focused on that victory.
The beings were so involved with arguing that they didn’t see it coming. Levi stared intensely at the steel walls surrounding him. The ship was built like a maze, and he had to find a way through it quickly. The craft would be landing soon, and he couldn’t risk the Laktons aboard the ship being in control when it did.
As he suspected, the walls that surrounded him were built to trap any intruder. His gaze penetrated through their solid form, and with extreme focus, he managed to see through the walls surrounding him. He looked through the walls at his left and through them, he saw all of the beings situated at the front of the ship. This was an easy takedown.
He stealthily walked toward the entrance of the room where the Laktons were congregated, and before they could turn to acknowledge him, Levi had one scaly creature’s throat crushed against the inside of his elbow as another came at him from the side. Levi used the velocity of the being’s attack to his advantage. As the creature came at him, he used his free arm to swipe out at him, delivering a crushing blow to his head and rendering the being unconscious a
t the same time the one in his other arm went limp. Both dropped to the ground as the other three pursued him, saliva dripping from their venomous fangs. In that instant, Levi unsheathed both daggers, hurling them toward the two men on each side of their leader. The daggers forcefully speared through each being’s shoulders, knocking both to the ground with force. Levi marched toward the leader and wrapped his fingers dangerously around its neck. As the other two tried to get up, Levi stepped onto the handle of one of the daggers, pinning the man’s shoulder and body to the floor of the ship. His unique dagger blade pierced through the metal like butter. He turned to see the other rolled over, fighting his way to his knees. With the same attack as the other, he pinned the man face down to the surface of the ship.
When he was assured the room was secured, he brought his attention back to the being in front of him. He subtly smiled when he felt the fear coursing through its scaly body.
“Land this contraption and no further harm shall come to your people.”
“You speak our language, Guardian?” he muttered.
Levi narrowed his eyes. “You must be new to this,” he responded. “Land the craft. You are owed no explanations from me.”
“If I don’t?” he responded impertinently.
His grip tightened around the creature’s throat. “I can land it on my own, but I would rather you do as I command.”
“We are bred never to give up.”
Levi sighed, “You are prepared to meet with your death, then?”
The beings’ irises became slits.
“That is what I suspected, you are all cowards. Now, land the craft.”
Without any further argument, the being followed Levi’s command and prepared the ship to land. Once the craft was safely on the black surface of the dimension they were in, Levi forced the being up and out of the craft. Harrison stood outside of where the ramp slowly extended from the craft. He had seven Laktons cuffed as he leaned against the black Pemdai car, arms and legs crossed.
“Thanks for the backup,” Levi said as he forced the man into the black, dusty surface of the dimension.
That Moment When: An Anthology of Young Adult Fiction Page 18