by Maia Starr
“I am going to deal with this the natural way,” I said stubbornly, drinking the tonic down. As always, it tasted of herbs, and I sat the glass back on the tray and handed it to the Pelin.
“Perhaps that is best,” Barvaa said quietly.
I didn’t have time to consider what that meant before he had hurried out of the room and left me to my own thoughts. How was it that there was nothing lonelier than being the man who walked the line between the Doyan’s council and the opposition. Shouldn’t being a leader mean I shouldn’t have to want for attention?
I sighed. It was no use to feel sorry for myself. What I had to do was find a way to share the important information with the opposition, without compromising Ariel’s safety or loyalty to her planet. There had to be a way.
I would just share the most pertinent information with them. That was all I could do.
With the solution firmly set in my mind, I allowed the Pelin’s tonic to work its magic and send me spiraling into a deep, restorative slumber.
***
“Welcome back, Yul Juno,” Blaithe said sarcastically. He was still bruised from our altercation, and the other men in his home glared at me with suspicion.
“I’ve finally retrieved the information from the human. I will share it with you all, under the condition that you use it only against the Doyan. You are not to use it against the people of Earth. They are not our enemies here. Not in this particular fight.”
“Are you getting soft on us, Yul?” Jae Gronda asked, exchanging contemptuous looks with Blaithe.
“No. I want you to keep your head in the fight. No thinking outside the box. Not until we win power back from the Doyan. We have to play this smart. He has the super soldiers. Not enough to invade Earth yet, but enough to easily wipe us out if he called them back to Helna. We cannot be reckless.”
“You’ve already been reckless,” Blaithe said, thrusting a thumb toward his battered face. “And I don’t think you’re fit to lead anymore with a temper like that!”
“If you want to hear anything from me pertaining to the human then you’ll sit down and keep your mouth shut until I’m finished, Yul Corra.”
Blaithe glared at me, but the rest of the group encouraged him to sit. I could tell that the tensions were high though, so I decided to make my information drop quick and get the freg out of there.
“I have two very useful sources of information. One is how to counteract the natural nuclear energy harnessed from the planet Helna. The other is how to use that very energy to counteract the debilitating stages of the disease that renders a warrior impotent.”
“Are you sure?” Jae gasped. “That could change everything…”
“If he has all that knowledge then, why is he getting weaker by the day?” Blaithe demanded, glaring at me. “He’s full of it! He doesn’t know anything!”
The room erupted into murmurs of agreement until I began to recite the formulas that Ariel had recited to me. The men were quiet immediately as they took in the knowledge.
“Do what you will with the information,” I said. “And leave the human alone. She knows nothing else that could further our cause, and I would rather die than to know she is being pushed around by the likes of someone like you, Blaithe.”
All eyes turned to Blaithe, whose face turned a dark cream color. He was furious.
“We are to dispose of the human! That is the only way! The Doyan already believes her to be dead, and if she is discovered, then that could mean the end of the opposition!”
Now it was my turn to darken with fury. I was not used to being second-guessed. It was my job to lead, and now Blaithe was attempting to call the shots. And nothing, not even the opposition, was worth the human’s life.
“We will do no such thing!” I growled, ready to get right into Blaithe’s face if need be. “We are not going to harm the human. She is an innocent in this!”
“And we are all innocents to the Doyan’s wrath, don’t you think?” Jae Gronda said, stepping forward to stand between Blaithe and me. “I’m afraid I am with Yul Corra on this one. We must get rid of the human or risk far more serious consequences.”
“I already told you all, that is not an option!”
“Well, you can’t stop us, Pyre. Not only are you outnumbered, but it’s obvious that the disease is getting worse in you, isn’t it? You can barely stand up without supporting yourself against something!” Blaithe growled. “We’re coming to take the girl, whether you like it or not!”
“You can’t,” I said. “Not yet. There is one last thing we must do with her.”
I was lying through my teeth, and if the others sensed it, they would descend upon me like a pack of wild dogs. As far as I was concerned, this was mutiny, but they were putting the cause first, before the life of the human; Ariel, who I cared for so deeply it nearly drove me insane.
“What was your plan, Yul Pyre?” Jae asked, speaking calmly to try to keep the mood between us all as even as possible. He had always been a grounded and rational man; that’s why I had chosen to come to him when I’d come up with the idea for the opposition. Blaithe had always longed for the same power, but not only was his disease complex, but he was short-tempered and arrogant. He would never make a good leader.
“I want to get my hands on the Doyan’s serum. The one that will make her talk; tell us everything as honestly as possible with the most detail. It’s the only way to know whether she is telling the truth. The human is clever. She could just be saying things that would endanger us. If we use her formulas without double checking first, then we would be the foolish ones ending the opposition before it even began.”
Blaithe was glowering at me from over Jae’s shoulder, but the men were all silent as they considered the possibility that the human had given us faulty information. She would have nothing to lose for it, especially if she presumed that we would be rid of her after we got what we needed.
“We will give you two days, Pyre. And if you haven’t gotten what you need to know from her, we will handle this ourselves,” Blaithe promised, his eyes hard.
I looked around the room, at the men standing around us, staring at us as the tension mounted. I realized with a sudden cold wave of fear that if the opposition turned against me, I would be a man without a country. Worse yet, a man without a planet. Neither side would want me. Blaithe wouldn’t think twice about turning me in as a traitor to the Doyan and seeing me executed. In fact, he was just power-hungry enough to do it.
“Two days is all I need,” I said coldly.
I left the meeting, my blood boiling. How could they care so little about the well-being of the human? Sure, it was illegal to love them, but she was a living being, with thoughts and feelings, and a smile that made me want to kiss the corners of it again and again…
It didn’t matter what they wanted. I would not do anything to harm a hair on the human’s head. Even if that meant that I would make an enemy of the opposition, a group I had led through the harshest of times. I would do whatever it took to save Ariel.
***
“You’re not supposed to be here, Yul Juno. Leave now, or show me your clearance.”
“Relax yourself,” I said, digging out my clearance card. It had been forged, but there was no way that the guard would be able to tell it. The Pelins did intricate work, and since they were in charge of creating such things, Barvaa had been able to replicate one exactly for me. As long as I didn’t get caught by the Doyan’s special guard, I would be fine.
“I see.”
Lort Falen squinted at the card, almost as if he couldn’t decide whether or not it was legitimate, and a wave of relief washed over me when he finally handed it back with a small nod.
“Can’t fathom what the freg they would have you come back here for, but just make it fast. We’re closing up in a few minutes.”
I nodded. Even if I didn’t intend to use the serum on Ariel, it was better to have it. Instead of using it on the human, however, I intended to use it on the Doyan. May
be then the Verian people would finally see just how brutal he was at heart. Their ignorance alone would be the opposition’s downfall, and if there was any way I could enlighten them, I would do it.
The lab was empty but for a Pelin sweeping the floors tiredly. I ignored him and walked purposefully to the small cooler where the serums were held, keying in the code that I had learned from one of the other undercover members of the opposition. He had been too afraid to do it himself, but he had been eager to volunteer any information that might be considered useful.
I thumbed through the small vials until I came across the one I wanted, then stuck it quickly in my pocket. I hesitated before closing the safe, and grabbed one other serum; it was experimental, like a steroid that lasted only a brief time for the men who were losing themselves to the disease. I might need it.
My stomach was in knots when I closed the safe again, then took a long look at the room around me. I needed a believable reason to enter the lab should any of the Doyan’s men ask, so I grabbed a sheet of paper that had been pinned to the wall. It had the names of the next humans up for abduction on it: scientists in high-ranking positions on Earth. Finally, I stepped out and gave the guard a jovial bow.
“Have a good evening,” I said, waving so that he could see the paper in my hand.
He nodded curtly, and I went on my way, eager to get back to my home, where Ariel was waiting alone in her cell with only the Pelin to guard her. I no longer trusted Blaithe and the rest of the opposition to follow my orders regarding her and knew that if I wasn’t careful, I would have to defend myself against both the men in the opposition and the Verian government. And on top of it all, my strength was failing miserably. How would I defend anybody like this? I would have to act fast, and act smart.
“Barvaa, how is the human?” I asked, pushing through the door of my home and walking frantically to the cell where Ariel was being held.
“She’s fine, Yul Pyre,” Barvaa said, following me as quickly as his little legs could move in order to keep up with my hurried strides. “She was just having her mid-day meal. All signs of illness are gone, and nobody has been by the home to disrupt our peace.”
I didn’t dare to believe it until I saw Ariel myself, sitting at the little writing desk, chewing meditatively on the meal of oka that the Pelin had prepared for her.
“Ariel,” I said, doubling over to catch my breath. Somehow, just standing up and moving rapidly to check on the human had nearly done me in.
“Pyre?”
Ariel stopped eating abruptly to come to me, reaching through the bars to touch my face.
“Open your mouth for me.”
I quirked a brow at her. “I’m fine!”
“Do it!”
I grumbled to myself in my native Verian and opened my mouth.
“Shit, that’s what I thought. Barvaa, please get him something to drink. And have him sit down.”
“I told you, I’m fine!”
But even as I spoke, the room was spinning. The Pelin was right behind me as I crumpled to the floor, and Ariel held tight to the lapels of my uniform so that I didn’t injure myself.
“Yul Pyre, you must rest now,” Barvaa said, dragging me laboriously to the sitting room. I crawled up onto the couch, resenting his help, and laid back, closing my eyes. How was I going to defend the human in this condition? The serum I’d stolen would only last so long. This was a nightmare.
“Use the formula I gave you!” Ariel shouted down the hall to me from her cell. “It will save you! Even if it can save nobody else I care for, it can save you!”
But my convictions were clear, and I had been raised an honorable man. I would never take something that hadn’t been freely given to me. I would not gratify myself of a formula extracted by force. If that meant I died trying to save the human, at least she would know that I hadn’t meant to harm her. I would never intentionally cause her pain.
By the time the Pelin returned with my drink, I was already beginning to feel myself again. I stood and crossed the room, and he held the tray up to me.
“Please, you shouldn’t be up yet, Yul Pyre.”
“Nonsense, Barvaa. Thank you for tending to me, but I am fine,” I said, downing the drink.
The Pelin looked at me doubtfully but said nothing.
“Do you hear that human?” I bellowed. “I’m fine!”
I heard an exasperated sigh come from Ariel’s cell, but I ignored it and made my way to the Red Room. All I really needed was some time away from everyone and everything. The stress of dealing with the opposition and the Verian government was just exacerbating the symptoms of the disease. If I could just center myself once again, I would be fine. But to do that, I would need to be alone.
I spent the rest of the night holed up in the Red Room, doing everything I could to gain my strength. Something bad was coming. I could feel it. And I had to do everything in my power to see to it that I was prepared. No harm would come to the human on my watch. Whether I was succumbing to the disease or not, she would be safe.
***
“Wake, human.”
Ariel sat up, looking at me through bleary, confused eyes.
“What are you doing in here?”
“We must prepare you for your journey.”
“My journey?”
“I am sending you back to Earth. The opposition will come to see to it that I disposed of you, but I am not going to kill you. I will send you home.”
Ariel’s face went from confusion to disbelief, then, bewilderingly enough, to anger.
“I’m not just letting you send me away! You’re unwell! I can help you, I swear it.”
“It isn’t safe for you here, and my health is none of your concern,” I said firmly, shaking my head. “You will not budge me on that.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Ariel said, setting her jaw stubbornly. “I can cure you.”
“Nothing will cure me, human. Least of all, you. I am not going to take anything more from you than I already have. This is my fate. So be it.”
I gripped her by the arm and led her to the opening of her cell. We walked in silence through my house, and then descended to my underground bunker. Inside was my pride and joy: the ship I used most frequently to travel back and from Earth.
“You can’t be serious,” Ariel whispered. “I don’t want to leave you like this.”
“It is no concern of yours,” I repeated. “I will show you how to take over the controls if need be. The Pelin will go with you; he knows as much about the craft as I do. Half of it is technology gifted by his people.”
Ariel was quiet as I began the tour of the ship, and didn’t speak until I had finished.
“You expect me to drive this thing to Earth without you?”
I hesitated. “The Pelin will come as well. He will ensure you land safely and make it back to your people.”
That was the end of the conversation, and we were silent the whole way back into the house, where the human rested back in her cell, and I resigned myself to standing guard over her for the rest of the night.
Chapter 9
Dr. Ariel Landon
“Let us see her, Juno! You have no right to keep the prisoner from us!”
My stomach sank as the voice of Blaithe Corra, the man who had brought me to Pyre’s home on his thuse, reached my cell. There was something about him I didn’t like at all, especially after forcing his way into Pyre’s home and mistreating the poor little Pelin who had been on guard to protect me.
“You have no right to this human!” Pyre growled, his voice terrifying despite his disease. I wished I had a better vantage point, but all I could see from my cell was the wall opposite to me. “Barvaa, now!”
The Pelin was soon in front of my cell, keying in the combination to the door. I ducked in terror as the sound of tremendous banging filled the house, and Barvaa led me as calmly as he could down to the underground bunker. He closed the door and stood against it, panting heavily.
“Perhaps it
is time for you to return to Earth now. They have come for you. I fear it is the end for Yul Pyre now.”
“No,” I said, stamping my foot. “I refuse to go anywhere!”
“But Ariel! You must listen! He wanted you to–”
“I’m tired of doing everything everyone wants me to do! This is my life, Barvaa, and I choose to do what’s right, not what’s convenient or safe, all right?”
“But Yula!”
I felt bad for bodily lifting the Pelin man–who was much heavier than I thought he would be–and setting him out of the way of the door, and he scrambled behind me, trying to catch up to me as I ran down the hallway toward the source of the commotion.
“Got you!”
“Ariel! Why?”
I growled in anger and in pain when I was roughly yanked into Blaithe’s body, and he laughed maliciously.
“This is what you were trying so hard to protect, Juno? She is nothing! She is a tool! What happened to you? I thought you cared about the opposition!”
“I care about the human more,” Pyre said, his eyes flashing with fury. “She is mine to care for, not yours to dispose of!”
Blaithe let out another unkind laugh, and I cried out in pain as a knife tip was stuck against my throat. There were several other Verian men standing in Pyre’s sitting room, and all of the furniture was all but destroyed. Pyre was in the center, breathing heavily, his face bloodied and angry. He had certainly held his ground against this group of men; two of them were leaning against the wall, panting in pain.
“You’re a fool, Yul Juno,” Blaithe said, shaking his head. “She will be the end of the opposition. I refuse to let that happen!”
Just as Blaithe prepared to plunge the knife into my neck, Pyre emptied a small vial of liquid into his mouth.
Suddenly I was on the ground, and Blaithe was grunting in pain. I struggled to my feet, shocked to see Pyre’s body moving at a supernatural speed as he beat Blaithe to the floor. Another Verian started toward me and Pyre abandoned his task, leaving Blaithe’s limp body on the floor, and intercepted him, punching him so hard that he flew against the wall.