by Lisa Lace
“You can,” Kylu answered for them. “They are who they say they are.”
I breathed in, my rage instantly swelling as my fear of being taken to Captain Fore disappeared. “Which means you are not. You lied to me.”
Kylu didn’t lose a bit of his confidence. “Not quite, cupcake, but you’ll see.” With his hands still tightly bound, he took a step towards the glider. “We heading to the rodeo or not?”
The soldier beside Kylu grabbed his arm but looked at me. “What about her?” he asked his partner.
“What about me?” I demanded.
“The desert isn’t a place for a woman to be roaming on her own. We can provide you with a ride.”
Imitating Gallia’s strength, I picked up my fighting stick and stood tall, hoping to look defiant. My dark auburn hair blazed like a shadow against the sun, and I wore the leather leggings and a black sleeveless tunic of warriors past. “Do I look like I need rescuing?”
Kylu whistled, but the soldier with the blaster wasn’t impressed. “There’s no point playing heroine when–”
“For Nelti’s sake, she’s Terra Lynch, Commander of the Fortuna,” Kylu revealed. “This is her house. She’s looking for her family.”
I hadn’t told Kylu why I was here, but it was easy to deduce. There was no other reason I would have returned to my family home.
The soldier eyed me. He couldn’t believe it. “You’re Terra Lynch?”
“Yes.”
“You’re light bonded to Lead Officer Jidden?”
“That’s correct.”
He let his blaster fall. “It’s an honor to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I returned, relaxing. “Now, can you help me find my brother Daniel, or is our time here finished?”
“We can take you to him. It’s a little off course, but we’ll make it worth the trip. It’ll give us a chance to dump this bastard off with the resistance. Saves us going to headquarters.”
“Thank you,” I said, realizing I’d soon see my brother again. “What can I do for you in return?”
“Don’t get caught. And next time you see Jidden, tell him he’s no traitor. We stand beside him.”
“He will be happy to hear that,” I said solemnly, trying not to think about how I had betrayed the man I loved.
“You make a good prisoner,” I said to Kylu. I was in the back of the glider, sitting across from him, feeling much more comfortable around him now that I had a blaster in my hand.
“You make a good jailer,” Kylu responded from his seat on the hard metal floor. “A sexy jailer, may I add.”
“No, you may not add,” I told him, angry. “Why did you lie to me?”
Though his hands were still bound, he managed to bounce a ball of twine against the wall. “I never lied to you.”
I briefly closed my eyes, trying to be patient. “You may not have lied, but you’re hiding something. You didn’t just wander into my house. There’s more to the story here, and I want to know what it is. Tell me who you are.”
“Is that why you let the other soldier take your glider?” he asked, avoiding the question. “So you could interrogate me?”
“Yes. And to protect my interests. If we were followed by the Surtu military and had to separate, I wouldn’t know where to find my brother.”
“He’ll be happy to see you.”
Aggravated, I grabbed the ball of twine from the air as he bounced it. “Who are you?”
“I’ll give you two choices,” he replied, as if it were a riddle. “Either I tell you who I am, or I tell you about your family.”
I considered it. “Is Kylu your real name?”
“Yes.”
“Then I guess the rest isn’t necessary. Tell me about my family.” I threw him back his twine.
“Ouch,” he said. “That hurts.”
“Not as much as it’s going to if you don’t start talking.”
He laughed. “Daniel didn’t tell me you were feisty. In fact, he always spoke of you as a mousy pacifist. I guess war changes people.”
I leaned against the wall of the glider, unashamed of who I’d become. “I guess it does.”
“I’m glad we agree on that. The last time I saw your family, I was still a Surtu soldier, and I was standing outside your house demanding your parents surrender.”
“Go on,” I encouraged Kylu bitterly, my thoughts turning dark. “What did you do to my family?”
“It was only your parents. Daniel had already left to fight in the resistance with your other brothers. I called out for their surrender, and your father showed himself. He insisted he was the only one in the house, but I knew better. Men don’t sacrifice themselves so willingly unless they’re protecting someone they love. I ordered my men to invade the house and we found your mother. She fought us off like a real warrior, but there were many of us and only one of her.”
My hand squeezed in fury on the blaster. If I didn’t need answers, Kylu would be dead. “Did you touch her?”
“Of course not,” Kylu said. All the humor had vanished. He spoke as a man who knew his strength and found it a burden. “I’m no barbarian, and neither were my soldiers. We took your parents prisoner and transported them with the others for processing in our northern base. I don’t know what happened to them after that.”
“How do you know my brother Daniel?”
“He found me and cornered me while I was on a mission. He’d done his research and knew I was the soldier who oversaw the capture of your parents. Naturally, he wanted to know what happened to them. I couldn’t tell him. I honestly didn’t know. By then I was sickened by the atrocities committed by my people. I knew we had come to dominate Earth. Leaving home, the speeches the High Command gave energized me. They said we were the superior race, and human women were necessary for our survival. But seeing innocent men killed and women locked away like toy tore at my soul. I didn’t want anything to do it. Our forefathers would disown us if they knew what we were doing. When I informed your brother of my views, he could have killed me. Daniel introduced me to the network instead.”
I believed Kylu, his sincerity was real, but he was still holding back something. “My brother is a decent man, and he’s trusting, but he isn’t naive. He wouldn’t risk exposing the network, no matter how remorseful you appeared.”
“You know your brother well. He didn’t introduce me immediately. I had to prove myself.”
“How?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“I don’t know how,” he whispered back, his voice thick with emotion. “It’s going to hurt, cupcake.”
I looked down, knowing it would be bad. “Go ahead.”
“We learned a Surtu killed your oldest brother in the war,” he whispered, “so I was instructed to avenge his death personally.”
Dumbstruck by the news, I leaned against the wall and slid to the ground beside him. “Ethan is dead?” I hadn’t thought myself capable of more heartbreak.
“I’m sorry.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them away, but it was useless. “What did you do to avenge him?”
“I knew the soldiers who killed him, so I lured them onto a glider, and I used a tank to shoot them straight down into a ravine.”
“Good,” I sniffled. “And what of my other brothers?”
“They’re fine. They frequently communicate with Daniel. They are all fighting in the resistance and looking for your parents.”
My tears dried as I focused. “So my parents are slaves, and my brothers are fighting in a losing war to save Earth. It’s a far cry from making lemonade.”
“Are you talking about the lemon tree Daniel planted?”
The memory brought me some comfort. “You know about that?”
“Yeah. He told me about it.”
“You are close friends, aren’t you?”
“He saved me from myself.”
I laughed awkwardly, a laugh that existed somewhere between tears
and hope. “He has a tendency to do that.” I studied Kylu intently. “So tell me who you are. Why don’t these soldiers recognize you as a member of the network?”
“My work is mostly covert. Technically, I’m still part of the Surtu military. Only a few know of my involvement with the network. It’s better for everyone that way.”
“You’re still hiding something from me. I can sense it. My instincts are strong.” I put my hand over his. “Tell me.”
He eased back, using his humor as a shield again. “Sorry, cupcake. Too many questions. You made your choice. I told you about your family. The only other thing you need to know from me is that I’m on your side first. Not the resistance. Not the network. Your side, and that of your family. I owe it to Daniel. He’s like a brother.”
I fell silent. Before returning to Earth, while I was still at the secret refuge, I’d had a vision of Daniel. An orb of light had led me up a hillside to a cave where a narrow stream of water poured down its side. Looking into the stream was like looking into a window. Daniel appeared in the water. He was in a cave, he wore military gear, and he looked exhausted. I had thought his sadness was a consequence of the war, but now I knew it had a more personal meaning. It was the grief of losing his family and of losing Ethan.
It was not a coincidence that I was heading towards Daniel now, out of all my brothers. Mysterious forces worked around us, but I didn’t know if they worked in our favor or if they were setting us up for failure.
Our glider flew into the mouth of a cave.
“Surtu technology is more advanced than Earth’s, but the rock here is so thick it is impossible for scanners to penetrate.” One of the soldiers was giving a lecture as he led us to the back of the cave. His partner waited near the gliders, on guard with his blaster out.
“It makes sense,” I said, ducking my head as we left the colossal outer chamber and headed for a much smaller passage. “With hundreds of miles of caves in this area, it’d be impossible to guess which one, if any, conceals an outpost.”
To my right was a tribal pictograph. I paused for a moment, tracing the primal markings with my hand, wondering how old it was. The markings resembled hunters throwing spears at a bird, which flew away under a full moon. I felt for the bird and imagined it escaping the wall, flying away from the hunters to its freedom.
“Are you coming?” Kylu asked.
“Yeah,” I said, and I continued moving, letting my hand linger against the cold rock for a moment.
The light from the mouth of the cave faded the further we walked, slowly casting us into darkness. To compensate, the soldier lifted his wristband and pressed a button. A transparent wall projected in front of us. Looking through the wall was like wearing nighttime goggles. The rock around us glowed with a green light, making the cave seem like a swampy wasteland.
“Can’t you just use the light inside you?” I asked.
“I’m not a flashlight,” the soldier grumbled. “It’s tiring.”
There were no signs of life around us as we pressed deeper into the cave. I glanced at Kylu. He had said I could trust the soldiers, but there were many things he had not said. If it weren’t for the vision I’d had of Daniel in a cave, I never would have trapped myself in with strangers.
After an arduous hike, we reached a bridge that connected two sides of a ridge together. The bridge was sturdy, but I hesitated before crossing it, peering down into the chasm below.
“You won’t fall,” Kylu reassured me. “I’ll make sure you don’t.”
“Those are big words coming from a man with his hands tied together,” I said, but it was the push I needed to cross.
Once we were on the other side, the scent of cabbage stew annihilated me with its sweetness. We turned a corner, following the odor, and a faint light greeted us. It grew stronger as we approached.
The soldier turned off his wristband. “We’re here.”
The outpost didn’t look like much. There were no civilians. Every man and woman wore a military uniform. Their faces were war-hardened, and they sat grimly on their cots. Some loaded weapons, others healed from battle wounds.
We walked through the sleeping quarters to an adjacent cavern where the dining hall was. More soldiers sat at metal folding tables eating cabbage stew. There was little chatter.
I realized they knew the Earth was lost.
Beside me, Kylu whistled. I knew the tune. I had forgotten the words, but it was a song Daniel and I had sung to each other as children. We were the youngest of the siblings and we had always been close. That song was our invention.
“Enough,” demanded the soldier restraining Kylu.
Kylu stopped, but I heard someone whistling back from the dining hall.
“Daniel!” I called out.
A man stood up. The back of his head was the same mousy brown mine had once been. “Terra?” he asked, turning around.
Once again, my eyes filled with tears, but I succeeded in holding them back this time. Happiness was much easier to rein in than sorrow. “I’m here,” I said, looking into his earthy eyes. They were nearly a match for my own, but mine also had a hint of green within them.
Leaving the table, he ran to me and picked me up, swinging me in the air. He was much stronger than when I’d seen him last. The war had filled his muscles out. “You live,” he sang. “My sister lives.”
“Of course she does,” Kylu said. “I told you she did. She’s a legend. Everyone knows about the Commander who saved everyone on the Fortuna.”
Daniel set me down. “And who freely light bonded with an alien.”
“I’m not ashamed,” I said.
“Nor should you be. You inspired the network. With some Surtu on our side, you’ve given us a chance.”
“And she’s not stuck with him,” Kylu mentioned casually. “People stray from their light bonded all the time.”
I ignored him. A light bond was a soul connection. No matter how far apart we were, I felt what Jidden felt. If he was in despair, I knew. If he was in physical pain, I knew. If ecstasy ever filled him, and his body found pleasure with another, I would be pissed, and I would know.
All of his emotions were accessible to me, just as mine were to him. It was how I knew how much he loved me, how much he missed me, and how angry he was at me for breaking my promise by leaving without him.
He could have come, I reminded myself. He chose to stay as much as I decided to leave.
“How much has Kylu told you?” Daniel asked me. “Do you know about Ethan?”
“I do,” I murmured. “And my heart breaks.”
Daniel put a hand on my shoulder. “He watches over us now. We fight for him.”
A moment of silence passed between us. The words in our hearts were too difficult to speak.
Kylu twisted in his bonds. “Sorry to break up the reunion, but I’m in a bit of a fix here, Daniel.”
“You probably deserve it,” Daniel speculated, his smile returning.
“He does,” I said. “He refuses to tell me who he is.”
The soldier pushed Kylu forward. “What do we do with him?”
“Let him go,” Daniel instructed. “He’s one of us.”
Shocked, the soldier refused. “But he’s–”
“I know,” Daniel said, cutting him off. “But he’s still one of us. He has demonstrated his loyalty multiple times. Trust me.”
“Fine,” the soldier mumbled as he removed Kylu’s bonds. “Are you aware Captain Fore is looking for him?”
“Grossly aware.”
Kylu rubbed his wrists. “Next time you see Captain Fore, you can tell him to stick it.”
“Tell him yourself,” the soldier called as he walked back towards the gliders. “He’d probably prefer to hear it from you. I think we all would.”
I remembered my glider and told Daniel. “If the scanners see it in the cave, it will give you away.”
“I’ll send someone to handle it. We have a special place we keep the gliders.”
I
didn’t ask where. I didn’t care. I was just happy to have my brother by my side once more. My family would never be whole again, but at least we could now fight together.
The first battle would be to save our parents. I asked Daniel about them. “Did you ever find out where the Surtu took them?”
“So Kylu told you the entire story?” he guessed.
“Yes.”
“Do you forgive him?”
The thought repelled me. “Of course not. But I’ll tolerate him, for your sake.”
“That’s not fair,” Daniel protested. “He avenged Ethan’s death.”
“And he took our parents captive.”
“I’m used to it,” Kylu said casually. He seemed bored with the discussion. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get me some grub.”
“How can you work with him?” I asked Daniel when Kylu had departed, lost in the crowded dining hall.
“He’s a good guy. You should give him a chance. Not many people do.”
I folded my arms. “Nor should they.”
“Everyone makes mistakes, Terra. Out of everyone, you should understand Kylu the most. Your light bonded took your entire space station hostage, and you fell in love with him despite his actions.”
I couldn’t argue with him, and yet my instincts were telling me something wasn’t right. “There’s more to the story here. Who is he? Why all the secrecy?”
Daniel ran a hand through his hair. “So you don’t know the entire story. Does it matter if you do?”
“It’s war. Everything matters.”
“I’ll tell you,” Daniel relented. “But you can’t hold it against him. Promise me.”
I shook my head. “You know I can’t make that pledge.”
“Then I can’t tell you.”
“I’ll ask someone else. It seems like everyone else knows but me.”
My words pleased Daniel. I saw memories fill his eyes. “You’re the same as always, sis. Nice hair, by the way.”
My heart softened, but I wouldn’t stop asking. “Don’t distract me from learning what I want to know.”
He looked towards where Kylu had disappeared with an apologetic face. “I guess you’ll find out sooner or later. Kylu is Captain Fore’s son. His full name is Kylu Fore.”