by Carlos Hardy
Bree manages to budge from their grasp, turning and running away at full sprint. The light from the sphere forces her back, lifting her body from the floor. Bree begins helplessly clawing at the open air as the light extracts the pigment from her arms, then her legs, and at last, her face. The light burns with a blazing heat against her skin.
“Make it stop! Make it stop!” She screams, straining her voice to the point of breaking. Her pigment is completely gone, sucked into the sphere before it propels back into its spot on the wall. Her clothes had been shredded in the process, and now, her pale, naked body lay unresponsive on the ground.
Caleb rushes over towards her, noting that the guards didn’t try to stop him this time. Bree shivers as he cradles her body. “Bree, are you okay?”
“Why didn’t you help me, Caleb?” She asks, her voice deeper, her body more rigid and rough than before.
“I tried, Bree. I tried.”
“Get away from me!” She shouts, forcing Caleb backwards into the air, flinging him viciously onto the ground as he slides away. As he looks up, he sees two of the cloaked guards grab her by the arms, and drag her into the distance.
“That only happened at your hands, Kaleo?” Caleb drops to his knees. Tears begin to fall against his will, forming a small puddle in his hands.
“Why did you do it?” He asks meekly, watching his tears fall from his palms and onto small indentations on the floor. They travel from there and begin gliding up the wall into several of the hovering spheres, magnifying their apparent electrical power. Soon, light begins to illuminate the space, cascading everywhere.
“The power of a Dominant One.” Karnitu says.
“What do you want with me?” Caleb asks, rising to his feet.
With a flick of the wrist, Karnitu sends the remaining Akache out of the room. The blind man’s tone shifts from husky to gruff in seconds. “We have journeyed the galaxies for a billion lifetimes. Resilience is our birthright. We bend, we don’t break…” Karnitu looks at Caleb, ensuring that the cloak covers his face fully. “In your pigment, there is the Belivian gene. This is the most powerful gene in the Imperial Eastern Galaxy, where our planet Ahku currently resides. For centuries we have searched for the B gene, to no avail, watching nearly all of our population die out over time. The power in your Belivian gene remains a mystery, yet it strengthens our planet’s failing resources.”
“Belivian?” Caleb asks.
“Yes. Melanin enhanced earthlings. It’s where your kind originally derived from,” Karnitu continues. “As far back as one billion of your earth years, Belivian was a galaxy in the Eastern Core.”
“We gave you what you asked for,” Caleb says, cutting off Karnitu.
“Kaleo, that was never the purpose.” The surrogate’s voice strains further. “Most Belivians on your planet have become weak and forgotten their fight, which weakens the B gene. Belivians on earth are mentally enslaved. With my guidance, the B gene will release them to be the warriors they were meant to be.”
A nearby door shoots open, unveiling a platoon of Akache tribesmen entering the space. Spears by their side, their brownish pink skin color glows. They’re covered in tattoos of ancient writing like Caleb saw on the corridor walls, partially covered by silver chest plates and vambraces. They surround Caleb and raise their spears in a non-threatening way, to greet him.
“The B gene has grown dormant… until now.” Karnitu continues.
“How does the gene receive its power?” Caleb asks.
“Despair, defeat, anguish and resentment are all factors that power the ability to strengthen. Palecies on your planet have enriched a deep hatred that only powers the B gene further.”
“Palecies?” Caleb questions.
“Call them what you may. They control most of your resources and rule over your government. The valuable B gene embeds itself deep in melanin, hiding in plain sight, waiting to resurface, only to be suppressed by the Palecies.” Caleb tries his best to piece together what Karnitu is suggesting.
“Wait, are you saying that adversity and circumstances powers this gene in African Americans…Belevians?”
“The Palecies was created eons ago to forge the B gene ahead in time. Strengthen it with their immoral compromises on your kind, so that it may be ready for Akache to seize its power.”
“So this was a setup to help the Akache maintain their resources?”
“To help us, Kaleo. Your Melanin is a combination of hatred and resentment fixed in history for centuries. It’s what gives your pigment the hue it has for generations. It has always belonged to Akache. Belivians must unite with Akache, and become whole. They will forge into the future knowing their fight.” Caleb’s tone softens.
“What does that mean? What are you going to do?”
Karnitu lobs the surrogate violently to the floor and then removes his red cloak. His terrifying mugshot of a face is finally revealed; fangs protrude from his mouth, his claws come out of his fingers, and his muscular body is positioned with defiance, covered in tattoos with his planet’s writings. Under the blue lighting, a long reddish string of hair hangs in the center of his bald head.
“Seni forc cucio,” he says on his own. The ailing surrogate struggles to his knees, transcribing Karnitu’s final words before falling dead.
“The pale on Earth must die.”
Chapter Nineteen:
Bridge to Nowhere
Hours after Bree’s pigment extraction, Akache tribesmen wander the corridors, ignoring the rapid banging and echoes of flesh clashing with metal. Imprisoned lottery recipients haven’t had their spirits broken just yet; they’re not going down without a fight, and they’re letting the Akache know it.
Caleb tiptoes through a pathway, desperately hoping not to be seen. He places his palms on several doors in the corridor, feeling the prisoners inside like he felt the Akache coming earlier. His hands drop by his side, seemingly in defeat, when an echo plays in his head.
Cal, you have a purpose.
His father’s lasting words ring in his head, forcing him to shake away his longing for answers. Caleb continues walking up the hallway, noting the sudden silence that’s fallen over the ship. As he approaches the end of the corridor, he spots a bridge with glass on either side, leading from one half of the ship to the other. Caleb peers his head out hesitantly, looking around to make sure the coast is clear. What he sees drives a calming sensation through his entire body.
From the bridge, he notices the open sky. There’s nothing between him and the beauty of mother nature but a glass floor, and for a moment, he looks down on a few small houses below, before sharply turning on his heel. The moon, the stars, they captivate him for a moment as fear temporarily eludes him.
As he nears the center of the bridge, he turns to view the city before him from every angle. Caleb places his hands on the clear glass walls, feeling the sting of cold on his fingertips.
Breaking his trance from the cosmos, Caleb notices a Boeing 747 coming straight for the ship. He quickly crouches backwards in shock, rushing back towards his end of the bridge. It’s not going to be enough to close the gap; Caleb turns to the plane as it begins to collide with the ship. Bracing for impact, he slides against the floor, his hands covering his head.
But there’s no crash.
Instead, he hears a warping sound, and looks to see the tail end of the plane phasing through the ship, and looks to see the plane exiting through the other side without ever leaving a dent. As it passes by, Caleb hears an engine revving up, but he knows it’s not the plane. As he looks out the window, hundreds of pod-shaped ships begin exiting the larger ship that he’s on right now, disappearing into the night.
This can’t be good. Flashes of Bree’s extraction flood his mind as he looks up to the night sky. God, how did I get here? I thought you were only supposed to give people what they could handle, and I can’t handle this.
Caleb grabs the entryway arch, leaning for a moment to collect hi
s thoughts. Just then, he feels something, forcing his heart to race. An unforgiving heat oozes from the entryway, then appears by his feet. Caleb begins to run, but immediately smashes into Karnitu before falling backways, his back hitting the floor of the glass bridge.
Karnitu stands tall, simply staring at him. “What do you want from me?” Caleb asks, watching his red ponytail swaying from side to side, the crimson shade of the Commander’s cape by his back. He raises his nose in the air, inhaling deeply through his nostrils.
Caleb inches backwards, stopped by the realization that his dark skin is releasing a light haze, like a smokestack in the distance. Karnitu steps closer, sharply inhales again, and his face twists into a dark smirk. In an instant, the bridge disappears, as does everything around them. They both stand, shrouded by darkness, with nothing more than twinkling stars encircling them.
Without making an attempt, Caleb is lifted to his feet. Karnitu’s long fingers extend around the neck of a man, hanging in the air, barely holding onto his life. That same grim tone from before escapes this man’s lips.
“Why are you afraid?” the surrogate asks.
“I am unafraid. I just wish to go home.”
“Home is where the blood flows most, Kaleo.” His grip tightens on the man’s neck. “The Belivians are a dying species. Oppression is what delivers triumph. The pale has had their way with you in every timeline across the galaxy. Isn’t a fight just the beginning, can’t there be a new way to combat your enemies?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Caleb returns. “There is oppression everywhere.”
“Not like yours, Kaleo.”
“Why do you keep calling me that?”
“You know nothing of your sacred name, not yet. In the days to come, it will all be revealed. The pale have even taken that away from you.”
“We’ve made strives as a nation to get better. The abolishment of racism and oppression takes time.”
Karnitu’s posture straightens as he eyes Caleb. “The curve of living civility takes time to master.”
“You can’t just eliminate an entire species or race based on the actions of a few.”
“Why do you protect them?” Karnitu asks, his gaze piercing through Caleb’s, bringing fear and discontent. “They hate you with every morsel of their being.”
“We are taught to forgive.”
“Under the pale, you have will of your own.”
“And what makes you so sure that this is the right thing to do?”
“Your natural talents are being controlled by the them. The Akache have watched your fight from a distance for centuries, waiting. Our kind have wondered why you, the Belivians don’t act, muster the strength to fight back.” Karnitu takes a moment to inspect the head of his spear. “Younger Belivians are easily exterminated, and you turn a blind eye. The rivers in your cities are poisoned, and you do nothing. Your civilization has been ripped away, and you know not even yourself, Kaleo. It is now time to act. Akache DNA, when combined with Belivians, presents an unbreakable, undeniable dominance.
The very heart of the Akache.” Caleb reads between the lines, he’s obviously torn on as to what to say or do. His thoughts carry him to the impoverished and disenfranchised urban cities in America.
Am I missing something?
Caleb’s sole purpose was to conquer college and return to his community and provide must needed leadership. Karnitu remains unmoved, he studies Caleb’s troubled expression.
“What if I help you.” Caleb asks softly, his eyes fixated on the Karnitu’s lit-up expression.
“This is for your kind’s own survival, Kaleo. A life where every Belivian being is taken in by Akache will provide great hope. Our super hybrid race, one million galaxies away, has nothing left to do but bring the pale to their knees.” Caleb shoulders slump as he concedes to help.
“And how are we going to do that?”
“With your permission?” The surrogate slowly shakes, falling to the floor. Karnitu travels to the dark recess of the room, grabbing another surrogate and returning. Each one he uses causes his voice to grow deeper, darker. “I will answer that for you: you have everything to lose. Belivians will go extinct if a plan isn’t devised.”
Standing still, Caleb unleashes the question that’s been burning on his tongue for some time now. “Why haven’t you killed me?”
“I require a vessel… to set you free.”
“That doesn’t make much sense to me.”
“The galaxy is a place of possibilities. As its inhibitors, we create its outcome.”
“God decides the outcome.” Caleb demands, but his faith is shaken.
“The pale have increasingly given you faith in their God. Your God isn’t what you think; it’s what you feel. Your emotions are your feeling of God.” Karnitu lifts his spear in the air. “God will only be defined by your fight. God was never a choice Kaloe, open your eyes.”
“You’re killing that man,” Caleb says, nudging towards the surrogate. “Why not just kill me and get it over with?”
“You’re not dead yet, because the other Belivians need you against them. The war will rage until the very end, and enough is enough.” The Commander turns away, the glass bridge reappearing beneath his feet. “Come.”
Caleb stands still, until two tribesmen appear by his sides, ushering him to follow the Commander. They pass through the ship and down a dark passageway as Caleb looks over his shoulder, noting that the tribesmen are keeping close distance to him. They latch onto his arms to upkeep his pace.
“Slow down.” He says out loud. They drag him up the staircase ahead, their spears poking at his sides, tearing away at his clothes. They throw him forward, forcing him to hit the metal floor with full force. “Easy there, I am going” he says, looking to his left to see the Commander sitting in a throne-like chair.
Caleb looks forward to an enormous spacious room, fitted with a gladiatorial combat chamber. Covered by a colorful, retractable dome, the combat chamber is designed to host training exercises and sparring to advance the power of the Akache. A huge bay-style door in the center of the pit opens, allowing spectators to rise into the stadium and into their seats.
Out from the sliding wall comes Jahi. Jahi is six feet five inches tall. His skin is a brownish pink color. He’s bald with lacerations on his left cheek bone. Like most Akache tribesmen he has inscriptions all over his body. The ground underneath vibrates as he marches toward the pit’s platform. His back is wide with bulging muscles. His eyes are a penetrating grey and small in nature. He marches with confidence. He’s walked that ramp for combat a million times and he has the battle wounds to prove it. He plants his feet in the center of the pit.
From the opposing corner, a door opens to reveal someone who looks strikingly familiar. Caleb struggles, but notices Tony from Lanier University, or what’s left of him. Caleb walks over to the edge of the room’s ledge, looking down and thinking back to Tony’s frame: built like a linebacker, standing at about the same height. The Commander’s words start running through his head once again.
Tony’s once bronze skin has been turned a dark gray. His full head of hair has been turned into two single, long braids hanging from a bald dome.
What did they do to you?
Caleb looks back to see the Commander glaring at him, observing every emotional response piece by piece. The Commander slams his spear into the floor, shouting “Ona!” as he does.
Two separate chants rise from either side of the arena: Jahi and Ona. Caleb realizes that Tony is gone, and whatever Akache monster Ona really is doesn’t bear any resemblance to the bright-faced Lanier student any longer.
Jahi and Ona strut up a ramp to one another, locking their arms and raising them to the sky. The dome above them dissipates, revealing a black sky filled with dancing stars and darkness. Karnitu lifts to his feet and glances down into the pit, watching as the ground dissolves into an open hole with an endless bottom.
Ona rushes Jahi with several deadly blows, forcing Jahi to the edge of the endless pit below. Even from a distance, Caleb’s nerves are on overdrive, especially when he looks up to Karnitu’s unforgiving gaze.
“Sui somo en.” The Commander says.
“No, don’t finish him.” Caleb blurts out, dazed by the fact that he understood exactly what Karnitu said, like a fluent second language. Karnitu isn’t shocked; he’s pleased beyond belief that Caleb was able to understand him.
Below, Jahi struggles to his feet. He closes his eyes, surrendering as Ona looks up to Karnitu for a gesture of approval. Ona jumps up, delivering a spinning kick into Jahi’s chest. The severed halves of the Akache tribesman warrior propels into the darkness below, forcing Ona to kneel down in exhilaration at his victory.
In the pit, one of the tribesmen gestures towards Caleb, catching his attention. As the cloaked figure pulls down his hood, Caleb sees Jaylen. He quickly glances around the chamber, feeling everything around him begin to energize. With one reassuring nod to Jaylen, Caleb’s confidence boosts, his power runs through his veins like a rapid river.
Caleb runs towards the pit, leaping from the platform and landing below, splitting the metal upon landing. Jaylen rushes for the platform, tossing his cloak to the side as he nears the gap between them: twenty feet of darkness divide the two. He rushes and leaps across the gap, trying to call on his muscle memory from the high school track team. Halfway through the air, he realizes that there isn’t enough space; he’s not going to make the jump.
Caleb leaps through the air, meeting him halfway. “I’ve got you!”
“But who’s got you?” Jaylen returns. They instantly begin free falling into the abyss below, plummeting through the darkness to the distant image of earth below. Jaylen’s screams muffle and disappear in the atmosphere. As their velocity increases, Caleb’s mind begins to race as his emotions flood through him again.