by Andi Feron
“I see them. One of them has an injured leg, and they are trying to get him back. They’ll never make it at the rate they are going,” Seraphine said.
Allie jumped up and was out the door without a word. Kais jumped up behind her.
“Where are you going?” I demanded.
“Getting a transport and getting those kids in.” She grabbed a radiation blanket and walked to a rover.
“Allie, I’m going. You stay here,” Kais said.
“Kais. No,” she countered.
He moved to her and gently grabbed her hand. They shared a look, and he took the blanket.
“You’re not winning this one, Allie.” He jumped in what looked like an oversized golf cart.
“At least put on a bio-suit.” I glanced around and noticed the bio-suits had been moved to an unknown location. I tried to think of better solutions. Even if we made it to our ship which was on the other side of our enclosure, it would take too long to warm it up and get to Kais and the children.
“No time to track the suits down!” Kais sped away.
The ambassador informed the rest of the Valdonrians that we located the children and were sending help. At ten minutes until the wave, we were all on edge.
“I’m going after them,” Allie said.
I shook my head. “No, everyone is staying put. We can’t risk anyone else out there.”
“I’m the best choice. I’ll heal the leg and be able to heal anyone injured by the sun wave.”
“Not if you go blind, lose your way, and become ashes before your healing power can kick in. That’s an order, you’re not going. Besides, Kais is a healer.”
Allie was more aggravated than she outwardly revealed. The alarm sounded again indicating five minutes and Kais and the kids were still not in the safe zone. We had to lock the inner barrier and hope Kais could make it far enough in to be minimally injured and be healed by himself or Allie.
“He’s not going to make it!” I could hear the panicked tone Seraphine emitted.
“We have to close the outer gate!” the ambassador cried.
“No! Please give them more time!” Allie pleaded, and I could feel her fear intensify.
The ambassador waited for the last possible second, then ordered the gate closed. The Valdonrian who had interrupted the meeting screeched a horrific cry. The wave lasted ten minutes, and we all held our breath. When the wave faded, the gate was lifted, and Talon led us to a pocket in the side of one of the tunnels.
Kais lay on top of the radiation blanket which had been only large enough to cover the children. Allie let out a stuttered cry and her whole body shook as she saw Kais charred onto the blanket. She didn’t hesitate and ran to him. The children were crying inside as we carefully lifted the blanket. Lila and Gabriel led the children back to their parents.
Allie stood for a minute. I assumed that she was hoping Kais would heal himself, but when too much time had passed she seemed to be his only hope. Allie reached for what was left of Kais. She touched him gently, but his arm crumbled. Her hand reeled back, and she let out a shocked cry. The rest of him rapidly crumbled to ashes. Allie sat and sobbed for several minutes before Gabriel came and asked her to heal a some of the kids.
Allie stood up and walked to the inner rooms, healing everyone without a word. The Valdonrians were so grateful for our sacrifice that they immediately signed the treaty. We had sealed the deal. As commander of the mission, I went to Kais’ temporary quarters to make sure his things weren’t left behind on this planet. It would be my job to get his things to his family. I picked up a book to put in his bag, and a picture fell out. I bent down to pick it up and froze.
It was Kais holding Allie, and they were both laughing. Allie looked happier than I’d seen her in a long time. They were together. I felt a ping of guilt as it seemed very close to an invasion of privacy. I didn’t want to think that anyone would be worthy of Allie but me, but the truth was that I never was. The way Kais died showed that he was a man of honor. I heard a noise behind me and turned to see Lucius smiling disturbingly.
“That’s how you form alliances,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“You know, send some kids out, tell them there’s some sintare spice that their mothers would love to make them treats with. Tell them you have magic sensors that say no waves will be coming all day, so they have plenty of time to collect it and surprise their mothers. Ensure there are two healers, one that loves the other and knows her well, knows she will go because she thinks she can heal the children. You make sure the idea is put in his head, and his love for her makes him do the rest.
“Then make sure there is only one radiation blanket, just big enough for the kids. Make sure all the bio-suits go missing. Make sure the tires are rigged to go out on the transport so he can’t quite make it back. Of course, he will cover the children. The sacrifice of our species saving theirs makes the alliance a shoo-in.” Lucius stood there, beaming.
I ran at him and slammed him against the cave wall. “You bastard! I’ll have you locked up for this.”
“Come on, John, play nice. I’m a manipulator. I speak the words, and you forget all of this. I wanted you to know I frown on your acceleration to leadership. And if you aren’t careful, Althea will pay the price. Neither of us want that, now do we?”
“What do you want?!”
“Give me credit for the alliance. I don’t care how, figure it out.”
“Why not just manipulate me to?”
“Because the council can tell when words were tranced by a manipulator.”
I clenched my fists. “And if I don’t?”
“Allie might get to join her boyfriend. It’s kind of a shame they have to be apart now.”
I gritted my teeth. “One day, Lucius, you’ll get what you deserve.”
“At least that’s one thing we can agree on, even if the outcome is different than you think.”
I released him, and he walked out of the room. Allie stayed silent all the way back to base. I could feel her emotions come in phases. When we made it back to base, Allie gave her statement then left without another word. What Allie needed right now was space, and I needed to provide a casualty report. I had to go against all I believed and make Lucius the hero of our new alliance.
Chapter Sixteen
Althea-October 10, 2013
I made my way to my quarters. I desperately tried to maintain my composure, and once inside the door, I slid against it. The table holding Kais’ flowers was directly in view. That was all it took for me to lose any resemblance of control and I sobbed until exhaustion consumed me. I fell asleep on the floor, paralyzed within my sorrow.
Admiral Fayard Mason, who was Kais’ best friend, stopped by. I’d first met him when we went to the orphanage planet, but it was only briefly. He went to a movie with Kais and me once. After the movie, the three of us went back to Kais’ quarters to talk.
My mind thought back to that night. I sat next to Kais, and his arms were wrapped tightly around my waist. We chatted for quite a while, and I had gotten tired. I leaned my head on Kais, and he kissed my head. Fayard stopped and smiled at us.
“You mind if I take a picture?” he had asked.
“Sure. Fair warning, my ugly mug might break the camera, but Allie’s beauty is probably enough to make it okay,” Kais joked, and I smiled up at him with a slight laugh.
Fayard snapped the picture, then he took another with us both looking at the camera. My mind was forced to return to the fact that Kais was dead and never coming back. Admiral Mason stood in front of me. He looked like he hadn’t slept. I let him in and we sat on the couch.
I wore my bathrobe and pajama pants. My hair looked disheveled, and I imagined there were deep bags under my eyes. Crying was my continual state now. Even as we sat in the living room my cheeks were streaked with tears. Fayard handed me two photos of Kais and me. Kais was supposed to get them printed for me. We had been extremely happy together.
“I’ve known
Kais a long time. He’s not an easy shell to crack. He never lets people in.” Fayard talked about Kais in present tense, and I realized that he still hadn’t fully processed the loss of his friend. He continued, “When he was a boy, he was mischievous and caused a lot of trouble, as he was impulsive. When his father died, that all changed. He was serious all the time.
“Then, when you two got together, I saw him come alive again, as I knew him before his father’s death. You made him happy, and he loved you very much. He told me he had a weird feeling and he thought something might happen to him soon. I thought it was an odd statement from a healer. You guys are practically immortal.”
Immortal. Fayard was right in a sense; Kais shouldn’t have been there. He should have been on a different assignment where any damage done to him would have been healed. Nothing made sense. First Zalseph and now Kais. I didn’t want to think about who I would lose next. John, Talon, Seraphine, and Gabriel were the ones left whose losses felt unbearable. I wanted to give in and die. I couldn’t take this war anymore. I turned one of the pictures over, and on the back, it read: Althea, keep your light. -Kais.
Tears fell as I hugged Fayard and thanked him. He told me that he was here if I needed anything at all and left. It would put Kais’ sacrifice to shame if I gave up, so if nothing more I would continue because of him. Our base held a memorial service, and Fayard was the one to deliver Kais’ eulogy. The room was packed. They gave an opportunity for people to speak. I stayed in my chair, wishing to keep the intimacy we shared in my heart. Talon got up and spoke. He talked about how he knew Kais as a boy, and how he was a good kid who would be greatly missed.
Three weeks passed and I was finally starting to not wake up every morning crying. I told Talon that I was working on a project, so he wouldn’t wonder too much about my dinner absences. John benched me and simply told me that they were low-level missions, and not everyone was needed. I was too out of it to question his motives. Three months after Kais’ death, I started going on missions again and was on autopilot. I was getting better at focusing my ability and not burning myself out.
No one knew the depth of the loss I felt, so I kept it to myself. Three more months passed. Fayard checked on me every now and then, and it was nice to have him around to talk about Kais with. Six months after Kais’ death I was starting to find my normal again. I knew even in that normal that Kais would be forever carried with me no matter what the future brought my way. My first love would be held in the most vulnerable portion of my heart.
I missed John, but he still kept me at a distance. I wanted to run to him and fix our friendship, but I was emotionally drained and didn’t know how. I decided to take small steps and make casual conversation here and there. If I learned anything from Kais’ death, it was that in a moment anyone could be gone, even the seemingly invincible.
I threw myself into saving everyone that I could. John and I were finally on speaking terms. We weren’t as close as we were before all of this started, but we could hang out together during movie nights with other friends. There were times when I ached for my best friend and wanted so much to tell him all he didn’t know about the past year for me and then hear all his new as well.
One morning after we docked from a mission John stopped me before I left to my quarters.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go bowling tonight? I mean we don’t have to. We can do something else.” I wasn’t sure why he sounded so nervous.
“Sure. We can go bowling.”
“Alright. I have to go write up the mission report but I can meet you there in an hour?”
I nodded and he smiled. I went back to my quarters to shower and change. I glanced at the clock and realized it would be another thirty minutes before I needed to meet John. I grabbed my copy of Crime and Punishment and plopped on the couch. Three pages in I fell sound asleep. When I woke up four hours later, I had two messages on my com device. One was from John asking me if I was still coming. The second was from Seraphine asking me to dinner. I picked up my com device and told Seraphine dinner tonight would be fine.”
I messaged John. Sorry! I fell asleep.
He replied, It’s okay. We can meet up another time.
I was doing a terrible job at fixing our relationship. Grief was so exhausting and, while it was slowly lessening, falling asleep was something I found too easy. It was almost as if escaping consciousness made living doable. I would have to make sure John and I went bowling within the next week. I wanted to show him I didn’t stand him up intentionally.
Dinner time arrived, and I forced myself to get dressed. I accepted Seraphine’s invitation, realizing that I missed them and needed to move forward. I forced myself to push away the idea that it lessened the impact of Kais being gone. He was still very loved and valued by me. Me living my life would be what he wanted.
Before leaving for dinner, I opened up the box that I put everything from our relationship in. I looked at the pictures of us together and the flowers I had pressed, two from the bouquet and the floating flower he had placed in my hair at the ball. I kissed one of the pictures, wishing I could find myself inside of it. I put everything away, and the box went back under my bed. I knocked on their door and Seraphine answered. She gave me a hug and let me inside. The food smelled amazing. She fixed a roast and potatoes which were Talon’s favorite.
“Been too long, stranger,” Talon said as he set the table.
The dinner tasted as good as it smelled. The meat fell apart in my mouth, and the flavor flowed perfectly over my tongue.
“Talon told me you were working on a big project. How’s that going?” Seraphine asked.
“Pretty much finished with it.” I sipped my tea.
“Well, we’ve missed you at dinner and movie nights. I was thrilled when you accepted our invitation.”
“I’ve missed you two as well. The food is amazing as always.”
“Seraphine makes the best food. If it weren’t for keeping up in the gym for battles, I’d probably be pretty pudgy by now.” Talon laughed.
“Nah, you two have perfect genetics. I bet you could lay on the couch all day eating tubs of ice cream and stay perfect,” Seraphine said with a slight laugh.
I pushed my food around with my fork. “That’s a tempting state to put myself into.” The couch was where I spent the last few months since Kais passed, but food had been an afterthought. I forced myself to eat because I didn’t want anyone to know I was in turmoil.
Seraphine and Talon asked if I wanted to stay and watch a movie. I declined and used the excuse of being tired. I felt drained and wanted to get back to my quarters. I wondered when social interactions would be pleasant again.
“Hey, Allie!” Gabriel ran down the hall toward me.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Not much. You’re a girl, right?”
“Yeah, last time I checked.”
He grinned. “No, I mean I need girl advice.”
“I’ll give you my best.”
“You think I should make a big deal out of asking Lila to be my girlfriend or should I straight up ask her?”
“Most girls like flowers, but Lila really likes flowers. That might be a good place to start.”
“Actually, you’ve given me a great idea.” He ran off in the opposite direction.
I was pleased that Gabriel was finding happiness on base. Part of me blamed myself for him being here in the first place. His entire life was turned upside down because he wanted to go see a movie. He and Lila were the cutest couple, and it was nice to see it was working out. I went back to my quarters, lonely. I missed Kais, and I would for the rest of my life. I also missed John, and I hoped that relationship would be fixed soon.
Chapter Seventeen
Gabriel-March 20, 2014
I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought about it before because Lila loved plants. Before she was recruited, she studied botany at college. I set everything up for a grand surprise then sent Lila a message to meet me for dinner. I took her
to Verne’s Cuisine, a candlelit Italian place on level forty-five. Lila arrived with her blonde hair curled, wearing a red dress and a pearl necklace.
“Wow, you look amazing!” I said.
“Thank you. The food here is great.”
“Yeah, Verne is a pretty good chef. He completed his training in France and Italy.”
We finished dinner, and then I told her, “I have a surprise for you, if you’re ready?”
“That sounds exciting.”
“I hope so anyway.”
We left the restaurant and went to level twenty-three. I led Lila down a long hallway and explained what we were doing there. “Back when I first got here, I was resistant to fighting, having been kidnapped and all. They put me to work cleaning out old rooms. There were several on this level, and they have remained empty. I talked to Admiral Parks, and she said I could make use of one.”
We made it to the room I picked and I pulled out the key. “Close your eyes.” Lila did what I asked. I guided her by the hand into the room. “Open your eyes.”
Lila gasped as she looked around. “You made me a hydroponics system!”
“I also have an account for you set up at the warehouse, so go there and pick out whatever plants you want to grow. Feel free to order any as well.”
Lila threw her arms around me. “Thank you, Gabriel!” Lila looked through all of the equipment I set up. “I’m impressed. You set up everything right.”
I was pretty proud of myself and thrilled that she loved it.
I grabbed her hand and led her to the table. “Lila, I want to show you this work table. I put the first of your seeds on it.”
Using seeds, I had spelled: Will you be my Girlfriend?
She looked up and smiled. “Absolutely!” She kissed me.
*
I was walking on air. Lila and I had a great date, and she was now officially my girlfriend. I had never felt so connected with someone. I could even ramble about my conspiracy theories, and she would always have something to add rather than merely putting up with it. After knowing aliens existed, I was sure that made my conspiracy theories seem more likely.