The Birth of a Rebellion

by Adam Sipperly

  “You really don’t quite understand yet, do you, Patrick?”

  As she said his name, Patrick stopped dead in his tracks. She had said his name dozens of times before as they became close friends while he was a prisoner. But this time, she said his name with a sense of concern that reminded him of his mother. He felt a sudden pang of guilt, remorse, and homesickness unlike what he had felt before. It was in this moment that Patrick actually looked at Flupotia as another being, another soul on her own personal journey.

  She was the same dark fuchsia as the other aliens, but she also seemed to radiate dimly, like a glow-stick near the end of its life. She had dark red hair that reached her shoulders and shined as bright as a fire-engine siren. Her eyes were big and almond-shaped and seemed to take in the whole world at once. Her lips were set in a permanent smirk, which at this point was directed at Patrick. He cleared his throat and straightened up, painfully aware of the red color rushing to his cheeks.

  Flupotia continued, well aware of the momentary effect she had on Patrick. “As I was saying, it’s all rumor and speculation. But I believe there to be three guardians. I’ve come down this way before and can say with certainty that the first are snakes from Saturn. The second I believe to be man-eating Martians from Mars, we brought quite a few down on transport ships when we landed. The third and final guardian is shrouded in mystery, but I believe it to either be the Unvisited Jaguar from Jupiter, or the Lonely Unicorn, also from Jupiter. If we can get past these three guardians, we get the chance to survive climates where the air you breathe feels like fire in your lungs it is so hot. Survive that, we should reach the orb. Think that’s an adventure you’d read about?”

  “Honestly, you couldn’t have told me all this sooner? Think I’d like to take my chances of escaping to the surface.”

  “Doubtful you’d make it. As I already told you, everything is controlled by biometric scanners. There’s no way you’d make it out.”

  “I could force you to help me,” Patrick suggested, knowing full well his mind was already made up to continue on this adventure, regardless of the dangers that lie ahead.

  “You want to try, go ahead. I’m sure your plan will fall apart, and I’ll just have to wait for the next hero to come my way.”

  Patrick waited in silence, as if pondering his options while fully aware he needed Flupotia. “I’ll stick with you for now. But I’m going to need more details. Like how are we supposed to fight these guardians when the only weapon we have is this tiny gun? And what about food? How long are we going to be down here? Aren’t we going to need supplies and what not?” the panic in Patrick’s voice was impossible to hide.

  “Relax. I planned ahead. Just trust me.” She laughed to herself and continued forward, Patrick still holding the gun at her back, finger firmly pressed against the safety.

  ◆◆◆

  It was only the first week of summer break and Mark was already annoyed. He spent four hours, three days a week, sitting in school sweating profusely. The town had refused to power on the AC for a handful of degenerates. Instead, they sat in a cramped classroom, large fans creating a tornado of smells in the room.

  While Mark had spent the past three summers in this same room, this summer was different. Patrick had grown distant and reserved since school let out, not wanting to hang out at any of their usual spots. Guess I’m not Ivy League-worthy, he thought to himself, I knew it was only a matter of time before he abandoned me for a better life. He pushed Patrick from his mind and picked up his history textbook, ready to finally be done with high school.

  ◆◆◆

  The Agent who was meant to watch Patrick was lying in his own bunk, slightly hungover after playing Drablan with a few of the other Agents the previous night. Agent 3527AS had enjoyed himself a little too much and was now paying the price. He sluggishly climbed from his bed, knowing he was late for duties, but not really caring. He knew his position wasn’t that important, periodically watching some kid from the surface who accidentally stumbled into their hideout. Short of making sure he didn’t go anywhere, all the Agent had to do was take out his empty meal trays. Nobody really cared about the position, so he could get away with not caring much himself. Knowing that nobody was going to check in on him, he took his time taking a shower and waking up. He went to the mess hall next to enjoy a hot breakfast the only perk of this assignment, he thought as he sat down in the empty mess hall. With his belly full and the hangover finally subsiding, Agent 3527AS made his way to his post.

  He sat down outside the door, drinking his third cup of coffee that morning. The Agent swirled his cup in front of him, the bitter aromas of the coffee waking his senses up. It was interesting to him, as he realized the further the aliens traveled, the more their culture changed. Coffee wasn’t something he had ever encountered before Earth, and now he felt as if he couldn’t live without it. Most of the aliens had hated the taste of coffee, and the few who did enjoy it liked to drink it fast. But Agent 3527AS liked to enjoy every sip. He had a nice trick, where he would transform his arm into that of a Hithagor. Their bodies emanated heat, and it kept his coffee piping hot. This also meant it took him much longer to drink than others.

  As he downed the last few drops of coffee he stood up, finally ready to attend to Patrick. He looked through the window and saw his body, bundled up on the bed. The tray of food was sitting on the desk, looking as if it had barely been touched. The Agent thought nothing of this, unlocked the door and took the tray out. He left Patrick sleeping and locked the door behind him. He picked at the tray of food a little bit, then tossed it on the ground next to him. He knew Flupotia would be back sometime at the end of his shift with dinner for the boy and himself. Until then, it was time for a nap.

  ◆◆◆

  It was hours of walking and conversation for Patrick and Flupotia. Patrick was starting to feel more and more comfortable around her, too comfortable. Every now and then he would catch himself with the gun hanging by his side and he would quickly whip it back up to point at her back. Flupotia could hear the motion each time and couldn’t stop herself from letting out a small laugh. The journey continued this way for some time, only coming to an end when the silence was broken by the sound of voices ahead of them.

  “Patrick, at this point, I need you to trust me. There’s a patrol up ahead, probably just getting back from dropping off food for the snakes. They see you, they’ll attack without question. You have to stay hidden, and you have to let me take the gun now.”

  Patrick felt his heart speed up and his stomach drop. Sure, he had learned to trust Flupotia a little bit, but he was in no way comfortable giving up the small security he had. Even if he had no idea how to use the gun, it was still comforting to him. The internal battle raged in Patrick. There were two options, with potentially multiple endings. He could give her the gun and trust her, or keep the gun and try to take on the patrol himself.

  Patrick felt smaller and more insignificant than he ever had at that moment. He knew nothing of the gun with dozens of levers and buttons. He hated to admit it, but he didn’t even know how to fire it. Well, that rules out keeping the gun. Knowing he had to let her have the gun, he said a silent prayer that she was really on his side.

  As he went to hand over the gun, he realized if she was really on this quest, she was probably better off without him. What use was he, a puny and pathetic human, to her? Ultimately, Patrick knew it didn’t matter and he handed over the gun. His heart raced as she flipped a few switches on the gun, but quickly returned to its normal pace as she turned to walk away from him.

  Flupotia took the corner briskly and made her way to the two aliens on patrol. One was an older agent, by the book and incredibly loyal to their king. The second was a younger agent, newer to the force but desperate to prove himself to everyone and climb in rank. The two agents saw Flupotia, and at first, didn’t question another alien down here. By the time she was close enough for them to recognize her, it was too late. *Pop* *Pop* two shots fired off and P
atrick quickly ran towards the sound. She stood there, a blank look on her face, the two aliens dead on the ground in front of her.

  “W-w-what?! You killed them?!” Patrick was trying and failing to suppress his panic.

  “They fought for the King, Patrick. They fought for an unfair and unjust system. I need you to get used to the idea of killing quickly, there is a fair deal of it ahead of us. Oh, and here’s the gun back, thanks for trusting me.” He could sense the annoyance in her voice.

  As she started to hand the gun back, Patrick held up his hands as if to surrender. “Nope. You keep the thing. I honestly don’t even know how to work it. Definitely wasn’t really planning on using it.” The last part stung Flupotia a little. While she had gained his trust, she could feel that she had lost a little of his respect.

  “I figured you were harmless. Just so you know, you had your finger on the safety the whole time. Here’s the trigger.” She held up the gun and pointed to a button Patrick hadn’t even been near. His face flushed red as she again laughed silently to herself.

  “Come on, we’re almost there.”

  “There?” Patrick asked the tense moment now past them.

  “Just follow me.”

  It was only a short while later that Flupotia came to a sudden stop. She stood under a giant rock that appeared to hang in the pathway like a chandelier. Patrick stood in confusion watching as she began to walk in a pattern, counting steps as she went. Five steps forward, two to the left, three steps backward, and so on. Finally, she reached a point at the wall where she began digging into the soft Earth. Within moments she pulled out a large black box. Within the box was Flupotia’s planning-ahead scheme. There were two backpacks inside the box, both a light shade of purple. Without a word, she handed one to Patrick and tossed the other over her shoulder. She also rummaged through the box for a moment and produced two large guns and long silver swords. She pulled the swords out of their sheath, tossing an empty one at Patrick, which he quickly realized was connected to a belt. He tied the belt around his waist and Flupotia slid the sword back into place, followed by one of the large guns on the other side.

  “Best to travel light, don’t think we’ll be needing this one.” She tossed the small gun she had been carrying into the box and slid the box back into the wall.

  As she worked on reburying her hidden stash, Patrick pulled off his backpack to see what goodies it held. Inside he found some food, a change of clothes and a few other essentials. With the box hidden again, Flupotia gave Patrick a quick rundown on how to use the gun. There were three levers which controlled what kind of blast the gun would emit. There was a normal bullet, an explosive one, and a laser beam. There was another set of levers on the other side that could customize the emitted blast even further. Patrick didn’t have time to learn them all but understood at a base level he could increase or decrease the power, distance, and radius of each attack. Patrick shot off three shots, one of them accidental before the gun felt right in his hands. With both of them now ready to go, they continued on their trek.

  The path continued, carved through the Earth for what seemed to be miles. As they continued, the hissing of the snakes could be heard long before they came upon the entrance to their home. The entrance to the cave was carved directly into the tunnel, a massive metal archway covered in mysterious symbols. The sheer volume at which the hissing reached was enough to scare anyone. Even Patrick, who had actually been fond of snakes, lizards and the likes, was completely freaked out. But he had come this far and wasn’t about to turn back.

  The two of them walked under the archway, weapons drawn. As they crossed the threshold, it felt like they had stepped through a frozen waterfall. There was no physical evidence of it, but Patrick was certain there was some sort of barrier held in place by the impressive archway. As he shook the cold from his bones, he almost fell backward through the archway again. The cave in front of him was not filled with thousands of snakes as he had predicted, there were only four of them. Four massive snakes, at least a few hundred feet long each. Next to the snakes, Patrick and Flupotia were mere specks.

  Patrick felt certain in this moment that he had been led to his death, even if Flupotia hadn’t done so purposefully. His body went numb, the only thing keeping him progressing was Flupotia’s hand gently ushering him forward. Only a few steps in, the hissing stopped as the snakes turned from their meal to address the newcomers.

  “Well, well, well. Look what we have here.” The snake closest to Patrick and Flupotia bowed down low to get a better view. “A couple of brave sssoliders come to whip usss into shape? To make sure we’re taking our guardian duties sssseriously?” The snake sniffed the air around Flupotia. “No, wait. Thissss one is a female.” The snake raised back up to his full height and the snakes began to speak as if they were alone.

  “They’ve never sssent a female down before?”

  “She mussst be one of those rebels we were warned about.”

  “And with her mate no doubt. In human form for sssome reason?”

  “Clever rebelsss, hiding their true identities.”

  “We need not worry. They will be dead ssssoon enough. Their true identities will be revealed.”

  Patrick stood, glued to the spot with no idea of how to get out of this. Four massive snakes, larger than anything he could have imagined, versus him and Flupotia. If she had chosen someone stronger and more capable, she might have survived this. But Patrick wasn’t made for this kind of action, he had barely any practice shooting the gun at an unmoving target.

  “Yes, we are most indeed rebels,” Flupotia spoke, “we are here fighting to free the universe. I would ask that you join us in our quest, but I know you are all dim-witted and such a thing would never happen. You prefer to hide away, letting others make your decisions and decide which path you will take. You make for great pets, never questioning authority. Instead, I call upon the honor of your kind. It is my wish that you let us have a fair fight. Two against two.”

  The snakes hissed loudly at the insults, and Patrick winced, bracing for an attack he was sure of. Instead, the same snake spoke up again.

  “You think you can kill two of usss? You would be lucky to kill one of usss in a fight. But, we are fair and honorable. If your request is to fight only two of us, we will grant that. My brother Bine and I will be the onesss to fight you and your mate.”

  Flupotia bowed deeply, guiding Patrick down with a hand on his back. As he stumbled into a bow, she thanked the snakes for granting her request. Standing back up, she made it clear, “He is not my mate.

  Two of the snakes slithered off to one end of the cave and curled around the pillars there. It was as if they were settling in to watch a movie, one where two tiny creatures are destroyed by their family. Patrick was stuck wondering not how the aliens managed to capture them here but how they kept them here. Their size alone should have been motivation enough to race up the tunnel and kill the aliens. Flupotia snapped Patrick out of his shock, pulling him aside.

  “You with me? I need you to focus here. We’ve got this.”

  “You’re kidding, right? I can put all my focus into this, there’s no way I can kill those things! Their fangs are at least three times the size of me alone! A fair fight?! It wouldn’t even be a fair fight against one of them. You do realize we’re going to die down here?”

  “I have a plan. I need you to keep trusting me. I have a power, one not many others know about. Please, just trust me.”

  “Trusting you is all I have left.”

  The snakes began to circle Patrick and hiss so loudly he thought his eardrums were going to burst. One snake flicked the end of his tongue against Patrick’s left calf, tearing a hole in the pant leg and drawing blood. Patrick cried out in surprise and pain as he hopped around, trying to keep his eyes on both snakes. The pain wasn’t horrible, but it was enough that Patrick began to lose focus.

  “My, my. What’sss the matter dear?” The snake that had whipped Patrick was playing games with him.<
br />
  “Nothing,” Patrick said as straight-faced as he could, trying to maintain his composure. “And you better be careful, we have a secret weapon to destroy you both!”

  “Is that so?” This time it was Bine laughing. “Did your friend leave to go and get it? Because it looks like she’s fled and left you here to die!”

  Patrick looked around in a panic and realized that Bine was right. Flupotia had disappeared on him. A deep sense of betrayal and regret swept through him. Why didn’t she just kill me sooner? Was I only a distraction for her to get past the snakes? Knowing he would never get answers to his questions, Patrick felt the sudden weight of his predicament land heavily on his chest.

  It was then that the snakes made their first attack. Bine lunged directly at Patrick and would have taken him down had Patrick not miraculously tripped out of his way. Using the momentum from his fall, Patrick rolled behind a large rock and pulled out his weapons. He was trying desperately to hear which direction the snakes were coming from, but the hissing was overpowering any other sounds. There was nothing left for Patrick to do, he knew this was the end. He dropped his weapons in front of him and covered his ears. Sitting there, in a tight ball he prayed that this was all just a nightmare and he was about to wake up at home. He knew it was the coward's way to die, but also knew it didn’t matter whether he tried to fight back. He was a dead man.

  ◆◆◆

  Agent 3527AS woke with a start as his coffee mug slid from his hand and shattered on the ground.

  “Damnit!”

  He looked down at the time and realized his shift was long over. He had no idea where Flupotia was, but thanked her for leaving him sleeping in peace while she dropped off the prisoner's dinner. He got up and, slightly mad at himself, began picking up the shattered remains of his mug. It had been his favorite one, a gift from his niece given just before he left Pluto to come to Earth. He looked into the cell behind him and saw that Patrick was back in his bed, bundled up in the same position. He also noticed there was no new tray of food for him to clean up.