by A.L. Svartz
The three made their way through the city. Kaj looked around, staring at the buildings and people. Everyone in this city seemed sluggish and depressed. They all looked down, not even glancing up. The buildings were poorly made. They all seemed to be made of cheap, thin metal nailed together. Most of the buildings were damaged in some way, whether it'd be the roof missing or a collapsed wall. It was a let-down for Kaj. The way he remembered it as a kid was far better. The city to him was exciting and lively. Now, it was depressing and disappointing.
One poor old man grabbed a hold of Kaj's shoulder. "Please son, can you spare some money," he said in a raspy, tired voice. He let out a few violent coughs. "Please." His long beard was stained brown, and his clothes were falling off his bony body.
"Hey!" The Galactic Soldier yelled, noticing the situation that was going on. He pulled out his rifle and aimed it at the old man. "What have I told you! No harassing the newcomers! Besides, what do you need money for? Your world is ending. You'd probably just blow it anyway. Now, release him!"
The old man released his grip on Kaj. He dusted off his shoulder. Kaj felt sorry for the man, but there was nothing he could do.
"Let's go," the Galactic Soldier instructed. They both followed.
As they were leaving, Kaj turned around and mouthed the words, "I'm sorry" to the poor old man. He sat there on his knees, watching them walk away.
The Galactic Soldier led them to the line of people that were waiting to board the ship. Most of them were Galactic Soldiers, with a few groups of Daj accompanying them. Kaj tried looking around to see if he could spot anyone who was on the shuttle he was on, mainly Maj, but could not.
"I can't believe it," Phos said. "Today I woke up, thinking it was going to be another ordinary day. But it took just one person to make it an extraordinary day." He looked down at Kaj and patted him on the back.
The line moved fairly quickly, with just a few more people ahead of them. Kaj couldn't have been more excited. He looked over at the ship. It stood up tall, like a rocket ship. The ship was a dark red with several streaks of silver lines running down it. A few windows were located on the ship.
One young Daj, about the same age as Kaj was standing in front of him, waiting patiently to be boarded. "I'll be right back," Kaj said to Phos as he walked up to talk to the Daj.
He tapped the Daj's exposed shoulder. His skin was far more tan than Kaj's. The young Daj turned around, facing Kaj. His short dark hair didn't move out of place as he did so.
"Hey man," the young Daj said to Kaj. He seemed happy that someone actually wanted to talk to him.
"Hey," Kaj responded back. "Aren't you excited?"
"You bet!" The Daj shouted. "I won't miss this place for a second. Nothing but bad stuff has happened to me here. I'm glad we're all getting a second chance to live our lives. To be more than the sand crawlers our galaxy thinks we are."
"I'm defiantly going to miss this place," Kaj admitted. The young Daj gave him a weird look, but allowed Kaj to explain why. "It's just … we've lived our whole lives here. We don't know anything else about any other planet. I don't know what village you grew up in, but we weren't taught anything about any of the other planets in our solar system in my village. Even though we all knew this day would come, that the Galactic Soldiers would leave and our planet being destroyed, they still taught us about our history. Teaching us all about where we came from and how our world became how it is today. They taught us about life before the Oce came here. They taught us that all life is sacred. They taught us to never give up. And that's exactly what I did."
The young Daj didn't really know how to respond to Kaj's speech. "We didn't have any teacher at the village I was at," he said. "It sounds like my village wasn't as good as the village you grew up in. I guess you were the lucky one then."
"Next!" The Galactic Soldier at the front of the line yelled.
"Well, it was nice talking to you, huh?" the young Daj said, not knowing the name of his new friend.
"Kaj," he said. They both shook hands.
"My name's Gaj," he said. "Hey, I'll see you on board."
As the rest of the people in front of Phos and Kaj made it on the ship, the Galactic Soldier that cleared people to get on the ship said he had an announcement to make. "Last call for shuttle 9812!" He yelled out. The Galactic Soldier overlooked the area, trying to see if they were heading to the city right now. He turned to the Galactic Soldier next to him and said, "That’s the only shuttle that hasn't arrived. I don't see them."
"Well, we have to take off now," the other Galactic Soldier said. "We don't have time to wait for them. Everyone on board is waiting to leave." He then walked onto the ship.
"Ok you two," the Galactic Soldier said, pointing at Phos and Kaj. They both walked up to the Galactic Soldier. "Show me your passes."
"Passes?" Phos asked. "From where?"
"Look," the Galactic Soldier said in a distressed voice. "I don't have time to explain to you how to get these passes. You either have them or you don't."
"Listen," Phos said. "I am a former Galactic Soldier myself you see ..."
"Do you have any proof of this?" The Galactic Solider asked, interrupting. Phos again reached into his vest and pulled out his badge. The Galactic Solider examined it closely. "Alright, you're clear to board." Phos and Kaj proceeded to board the ship. "Excuse me son. Where's your pass?"
"Oh, I'm with him," Kaj told the Galactic Soldier while Phos walked past him. Kaj tried to tug on Phos' shirt as he walked by but didn't.
"Sorry, you need to have a pass, son," the Galactic Soldier told Kaj.
Kaj looked over at Phos who just stood there. There was nothing he could do.
"Do you have a pass son?" The Galactic Soldier asked.
"No," Kaj said, keeping his eyes locked with Phos'. Even though he couldn't do anything to help, Kaj still felt it was Phos' fault that he didn't come over and at least try.
"Sorry son, I can't let you on," the Galactic Soldier said. He pressed a small button on his wrist. "Start the ship." He pressed the button again. The Galactic Soldier walked behind the gate that was cutting off the entrance to the ship from the citizens of United City, closing it. The Galactic Soldier walked by Phos. "Get on the ship!" He told him.
"Just give me a minute," Phos said to the Galactic Soldier. He patted the soldier on the back as he walked towards the ship.
Kaj ran up to the gate, wrapping his hands around the bars. Phos casually walked up to him. "Please Phos, you've got to do something … anything," Kaj said. He held back the tears that tried to escape from his eyes. "Look at what we both went through. We went through all of it together just so we can make it to this point, except we're both supposed to be standing behind this gate. Not splitting us apart."
"Kaj, I haven't been fully truthful with you. I've never cared about this planet or about protecting your species. But after today, I've started to. You changed the way I view your people. Anyway, that whole story about me protecting a village with my squad was false. Same for what had happened to my legs. The truth is, I was betrayed. The very people that worked for me stabbed me in the back. It was my second in command. He wanted the position of Captain, and knew that I wouldn't give it up for a while. So, he decided to gather a group of soldiers and attack me. They shot off my legs and tossed me off into the wasteland to die. Ever since that day, I've planned my revenge. That's why I was so hostile to you about looking through my papers. But now, thanks to you Kaj, you've made my dream for revenge a reality. I will infiltrate the Galactic Soldiers' facility and destroy them from the inside."
"But Phos," Kaj said. "What about the Oce? What about my people? We can change everything! My planet won't die!"
"I'm sorry Kaj," Phos said as he started to walk ove
r to the ship. "When change has begun, no force can stop it. I'll come back for you Kaj. And when I do, I will be Captain again, and I'll have my honor back!" Phos boarded the ship without another word. The door slid closed.
"But Phos, I know the secret to destroy the Oce! Phos! Come back!" His words didn't do anything. He tried climbing up the gate, but halfway up, slipped and fell back down.
The ship's engines kicked on and began to lift off the ground. Followed by a bunch of weird sounds, the ship was now at a decent height in the sky. The triangular object was gone. Kaj watched it until it had left the atmosphere.
Kaj then dropped his sac and pulled out the small container carrying the leaves. His hands were shaking. When he opened the container, he noticed that the corners of the leaves began to brown.