by Anna Lewis
The workers in the break room listened carefully while Ulita spoke, turning her cup around in her hands but not drinking from it. Underneath Ulita’s story, Erika could hear the other workers in the room whispering.
Heard she’s seeing a field worker.
That sounds preposterous!
Such a scandal to be dating someone lower.
I mean, is he attractive? If she’s a scientist, she can always alter her children.
Erika looked around the room and the whispers stopped, each of the workers returning their attention to each other and switching topics. Had she really heard them whispering about her?
“Erika? What’s the matter?” Ulita asked.
“Hm?” Erika asked, looking up from her cup of tea. “Oh, nothing. I was just lost in thought.”
“What, is my story boring you?” Ulita asked.
“No, Ulita. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get distracted,” Erika replied.
“It’s alright. You just look so worried,” Ulita commented.
“It’s really nothing. I swear,” Erika insisted. “So, what were you saying about the spa?”
“They have these little squid aliens that wrap around your feet and the massage is simply to die for, amiga,” Ulita continued.
Erika nodded and raised the cup to her lips, sipping slowly. She tried to ignore the chatter surrounding her, but she simply couldn’t concentrate.
“You would love it up there. We could go on your next vacation. What do you think?” Ulita asked. “Erika? You’re totally gone again, amiga.”
“I’m sorry,” Erika said.
“Seriously, what’s bothering you?” Ulita asked.
“It’s just...” Erika trailed off and lowered her voice. “Everybody is talking about us.”
“Who?” Ulita asked in the same whisper.
“Our co-workers are discussing Leonard and me,” Erika explained. “Like, I think they’re talking about us and how we’re dating.”
“Really?” Ulita asked. “That sounds terrible, amiga. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I mean...” Erika trailed off. “I guess I can’t control it, but it still hurts. Why does it matter if he’s a field hand?”
“You know, as advanced as we’ve gotten, people still hold these beliefs that a woman should date lower than herself,” Ulita said.
“But he’s not lower than me. He just has a different skill, right?” Erika asked rhetorically. “He’s different and that’s why I like him.”
“Then, ignore everybody else. None of that is important,” Ulita said.
“I know that. I’m just a little worried about the judgment,” Erika admitted.
“Well, that’s not your problem,” Ulita pointed out. “It’s your business and not theirs, right?”
Erika smiled, running her finger along the edge of her cup.
“Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “Thank you, amiga. You’ve been really helpful about this.”
“Any time. I want you to be happy. If this guy makes you happy, then go for it. Who cares what others think?” Ulita said.
“I mean, I’m still going worry a little bit,” Erika said.
“It’s not worth your time,” Ulita reminded her. “Trust me. Just go with your gut.”
~~~
Feeling exceptionally bold, Erika headed out to the fields after lunch and walked past the workers to find Leonard. He was in the center, holding a large mattock in his hands that he raised over his head and struck the soil with. She smiled. He looked incredibly handsome in the afternoon sun, his muscles glittering with sweat and arousing her instantly. When she approached, he set the axe on the ground and held out his arms to embrace her.
For a moment, Erika hesitated. She knew the workers were watching. She recalled how Ulita had said she shouldn’t care, that she should embrace the bond she had formed with this man. She leaned into his arms and gave him a kiss on the cheek, enjoying the wonderful feeling of his skin touching hers.
“How are you, mi amor?” he asked when they pulled away.
“I’m doing well. And yourself?” she asked in return.
“I’m great now,” he replied. “Now that you’re here.”
Erika smiled and looked down at the ground.
“How’s work?” she asked.
“It’s been great thus far. How about for you?”
“Well, it’s been alright.”
“Just alright?”
“People have been talking.”
“About what?”
“About us.”
Leonard chuckled.
“That’s just because they’re jealous,” he said.
Erika giggled.
“Are you sure? It feels like they’re judging us for more than that,” she said.
“It’s not our problem, darling,” Leonard said proudly. “It’s their problem if they want to judge us.”
Erika smiled.
“I get that. It just worries me. I’m a little concerned this might have an effect on my job,” she said.
“It shouldn’t,” he said.
“And if it does?” she asked pensively.
“Then, we’ll face it,” he replied. “Together.”
Erika leaned in for a kiss, but was interrupted by a loud whirring coming from the distance, causing her and Leonard to turn towards the sound. A large ship was hovering over the field, causing many of the crops to bend and sway under the great breeze. The couple raised their hands to guard their eyes and held on to each other as the ship came closer to the ground.
“What is it doing?” Erika called over the roaring sound of galactic engines.
“I think it’s looking for a place to land,” he yelled in reply.
“Well, it’s in the wrong place!” she cried.
The ship hovered momentarily, causing some of the workers to scatter and alert their superiors who were standing outside the main office building. Erika looked around. She couldn’t tell what was going on or what was about to happen. As the ship hovered back and forth, Erika and Leonard continued to watch with the rest of the field. It was an unmarked ship, possibly Horrtian, but not showing any significant indicators of what it was doing.
It roared louder, appearing to move closer to the ground. They held up their hands to shield their ears from the powerful motors that screeched.
***
The cumbersome and hefty ship yielded for a moment, then headed for the military base on the other side of the field. It landed gracefully in the docking area and Leonard heaved a sigh of relief.
“Well, that was something,” Erika commented. “I have to get back to the dome. I’ll see you after work?”
“Of course, darling,” he said while kissing her cheek. “I look forward to it.”
Leonard watched as Erika walked across the field, admiring the way her hips swayed side to side. A smile was plastered to his lips and he felt something poke his left arm.
“So, how’s that going?” Peter asked.
Turning, Leonard found Peter poking him with the handle of a tool and playfully swatted it away.
“It’s going great,” he replied.
“That’s good to hear. The other amigos wanted to know if she has any single friends,” Peter commented while pointing to a group a few yards away.
Leonard chuckled.
“Well, I’m sure I could find out for you,” he replied.
“That would be great, amigo,” Peter commented. “And while we’re on the topic, I could totally use--”
An explosion filled the air. Behind them, the military base had gone up in flames, orange and red licking up at the ship that was now beginning to take flight. A number of drones appeared at the site to contain the fire, spraying down the flames with white foam that would immediately begin dispersing them. In an instant, the ship shot down all five drones and began zapping the field, sending workers in every direction.
Leonard sprinted for the greenhouse where he knew Erika was working. When he arrived, he typed his code into
the keypad hoping it would work. It beeped and turned red.
“Oh, come on!” he shouted.
Just as he was about to try another code, the door flew up with a hiss. Ulita was standing there, her blue face filled with fright.
“We have to go,” she instructed him.
“Where’s Erika?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Ulita replied. “But we need to catch the monorail over to the next province. Haven’t you received any alerts on your chip?”
Leonard tapped his temple to check the news. A flurry of news anchors were chatting at once, informing the entire province of the invasion that was happening. Who was this species and what did they want? They couldn’t get a hold of the military general, as the base was under attack.
“We need to find Erika,” Leonard said sternly.
“We need to get out of here,” Ulita said.
“Please,” he begged, grabbing her blue arm before she could flee. “Help me find her. I can’t leave without her.”
Ulita paused for a moment, eying him with some thought, and then nodded in agreement.
“Alright,” she said. “But we better make this quick.”
Leonard thanked her and then turned to examine the field, watching as the beautiful green field crackled with fire. The ship headed past the dining hall and was firing at the buildings behind it, sending multiple workers who were hiding back to the flame-filled fields. Ulita grabbed his shoulder.
“Is it coming back?” she asked, concern causing her voice to shake.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell,” Leonard replied. “Where do you think Erika would be?”
“Well, she’s always checking Factory G,” Ulita said, pointing ahead to the building that was mostly intact.
“Let’s check there,” he said while pulling her blue hand.
The two sprinted in the direction of the factory, Leonard leading the way. They cut through the path and reached the door, Ulita jumping ahead to punch her code into the keypad. Inside, Leonard searched frantically in every corner and office to find Erika until he found her hiding underneath a desk. The office was mostly bare, likely having not been used in a long time. He knelt down next to her and held out his hand.
“Is it safe?” she asked timidly.
“Yes, darling. We have to go,” he said.
“The reports on my chip have said we need to head to the monorail. The next province is our only hope for safety. So many have already died,” Erika whispered while grabbing Leonard’s hand.
He pulled her out from under the desk and into his arms, his bulky muscles providing a place of comfort for her to hide from the horror outside the building.
“Come on,” Ulita insisted. “My chip is beeping. We must go now.”
“But what about our work?” Erika asked. “I don’t want to leave my plants behind. Will we even be able to return?”
“I don’t know, amiga. All I know is we need to get to the monorail before that ship returns and attacks us,” Ulita insisted. “Please, let’s hurry.”
Erika sprang into action, taking Leonard by the hand and pulling him to the door. The sky was darkening with black clouds, the smoke from the fields billowing up over the buildings and casting a shadow over the province. There were screams in the distance. Erika gripped Leonard’s arm, his muscles tensing as he listened to the sound of suffering from the wounded. They had to move fast.
The trio moved quickly across the field towards the path leading to the monorail, Leonard gripping his lover’s hand in an effort to keep hold of her. As they approached the monorail platform, Leonard noticed the large group of people arguing to board the pods that were speeding through.
“Higher class workers get priority. Please, stand by while we sort out higher class workers,” announced a digital voice over the intercom.
“Oh, really?” Leonard huffed.
He held Erika’s hand hard and kept her from approaching the crowd, looking deep into her eyes. She smiled weakly.
“I would never leave you behind,” she whispered under the chaotic mess of voices shouting their concerns.
“I believe you,” he said, leaning in to steal a kiss.
When Leonard pulled away, he looked towards the platform. There was no one around to contain the crowd except the cameras in the corners which were zapping lower class workers via their chips if they tried stepping over the yellow line. The zap didn’t look incredibly harmful, but it was enough to send a wave of concern through the crowd as each body tumbled backwards and briefly seized up.
“How are we getting you two past that?” Ulita asked, her eyes darting between the couple and the crowd. “Those cameras are everywhere. He’ll get zapped.”
“I can override it,” Erika said. “I can hack the system and override it with my own code.”
“But you don’t have that level of clearance yet,” Ulita stated.
“I know someone who does,” Erika said.
Leonard watched as Erika zoned out into one of the cameras, tapping her palm intermittently as she mouthed indecipherable words. After a few minutes, she looked at him and smiled.
“It’s done. Let’s move,” she said.
As they approached the platform, one of the people in attendance pointed at Leonard and called him out.
“Wait, he’s just a field worker!” he cried.
“Yeah, why does he get to step up to the platform?” another one yelled.
Without warning, the platform erupted into chaos, bodies colliding into each other while trying to grab Leonard. A pod pulled up and Ulita yanked Erika’s arm who in turn grabbed Leonard and pulled him inside. The three of them collapsed into a heap, a small group of higher class workers following and helping them off the ground.
“Are you alright?” asked a woman with red hair.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Erika replied.
“That was quite a mess back there,” said the woman.
“Indeed,” Leonard commented. “Why are they separating people by class?”
“It’s to preserve the knowledge banks,” the woman replied.
“But that doesn’t make any sense. We have computerized knowledge banks,” Erika commented.
“That’s true. If anything, the separation will only polarize us against each other so that...” Ulita trailed off. “Do you think the attack was planned?”
The pod went silent, many of them retreating to their chips to check news sources. Leonard gave Ulita a sympathetic look.
“I don’t think it was planned. The ship didn’t have any identifying marks and the news sources are saying they’re not sure who even invaded,” Leonard said.
“It could be anyone,” Erika commented.
“Or anything,” said the woman.
Erika looked up at Leonard, tears brimming in her eyes. He frowned. It was difficult seeing her this way. All he wanted to do was pull her into an embrace and whisper her worries away. He wanted to transport her into another world entirely where they wouldn’t have to worry about this mess any longer.
“Darling,” he whispered while pulling her close. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. None of this if your fault,” Erika said with a chuckle. “It’s going to be alright.”
“I hope so,” he whispered. “I really do hope so.”
***
The pod was speeding up the monorail and out over the ocean, carrying the eight passengers with it. All eight of them were wrapped up in their chips while trying to get any information from the news, which was now just repeating the incident that happened on the field. Erika tuned in briefly to get a good idea of their situation.
...The situation has worsened. Military bases the world over have been attacked by what appears to be unmarked ships flown by an unknown species. No one is able to identify the species in question, although reports have varied as to who it might be…
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Erika commented while tapping her palm to turn off the news. “If all the military bases ar
e being attacked, who says the next province will be any safer than our own?”
“That’s a good question,” Ulita said. “What should we do?”
“Well, we can’t head back,” Leonard said. “That would just be going back towards disaster.”
“But we’re already heading for disaster,” said the woman with the red hair. “At least, according to the news.”
“That may be, but they could have reinforcements by now,” Leonard said.
“How would you know that?” asked the woman.
“I don’t. I just have faith that our planet will pull through,” Leonard replied.
“I believe the same,” Erika said.
“I’m worried about our bases being taken out,” Ulita said. “If the bases disappear, then who is left to help?”
“We can help ourselves. We have the technology,” Leonard replied.
“Are you sure?” Ulita asked.
“Of course, I’m sure,” he said. “I’ve got the extended serum. I can do just about anything.”
“Perhaps we can use that to our advantage. Maybe if we--”
The pod clunked and vibrated forward, picking up speed as the passengers looked around in a daze. A violent blast came from up ahead, Erika craning her neck to look through the front window. She gasped loudly.
“The tracks!” she cried while pointing.
Leonard jumped forward to look at the broken tracks, Erika shouting for someone to pull the emergency brake on the pod. A tall man wearing a suit reached up and pulled a red lever, causing the pod to squeak and rattle again. Everyone grabbed hold of a bar to brace themselves for the pod to stop.
But it didn’t.
Gasping for breath, Erika watched as they rapidly approached the broken part of the monorail, the passengers behind her beginning to panic. Ulita cried for someone to do something. Another woman began sobbing. Erika looked up at Leonard with a fearful gaze, searching her brain for a solution to this crisis.
“I have an idea,” Leonard said “But I’ll have to climb outside the pod.”
“No, baby, don’t do that,” Erika begged. “Please.”
“It’s the only way,” he said while heading towards the middle of the pod.
Erika watched with concern as Leonard reached up to undo the latch of the safety door, tossing it aside while pushing the door open. He looked at Erika.