by Richard Sosa
“What? You don’t like your food? Don’t eat it then.”
“Is this nasty bug parts or something? I’ll throw up if this is an arachnid.”
“I am not saying. Grab your food lets watch the evening star,” she smiled to herself.
They stepped out to the patio. Iris was carrying Rik’s laptop as well as her plate and looking at the data then pointing to it. “This is a timeline and this language is commentary?”
Rik looked over at it. “Yes, the timeline is a universal log and it combines with known data to determine the location of the planet and the date of the harrow relative to the entire sequence of planetary harrows. Our locator technology updates the timeline when it determines the next planetary system that the Orb prinks are going to invade. The timeline links with every other planet that is harrowed regardless of the distance. It takes a while sometimes.”
Iris examined the laptop and frowned. “Can you reverse the data on your locator? We can speak your language and maybe the languages of all these harrowed planets. Maybe we can data mine. Most importantly for us to learn something before it’s our turn?”
He beheld Iris’ eyes for the first time and lost his next thought. “Well,” he pondered and shook his head slightly, “no one has ever asked me that. My data for this planet location has not uploaded yet. Sometimes the calculations take time to catch up to a location as I said but, probably what has happened is they were uploaded to Neil’s locator and not mine. I can’t answer your question about invasion timing. I have technology that tells me in general that an invasion is near, but something is messed up with all my tools.” Rik leaned back and smiled. “I am enjoying talking like this. I’ve never explained my situation to anyone before, I’ve never encountered someone like you before.”
Iris pointed up at the sky. “Look.”
The night sky was filled with bright and dim stars. There were three dim stars in a horizontal line and a larger bright star. Rik noticed the lights of the neighborhood and the city itself was dimmed. There was enough light to navigate but no light pollution. A cool breeze moved Iris' hair across her face. He sideways watched her looking skyward. She leaned on the wall and stretched holding the banister.
“Your hair is beautiful,” Rik said before he thought, “I am sorry I hadn’t noticed before. I am a bit slow about those things.”
She forced a smile at him and then seriously re-examined the images on his laptop and pointed, “What's happening here?”
Rik peered over. “The Orb machines operate to nourish the ‘prinks’ inside We call those machines the Capital ships. The machines are also partially organic. That laser is a ‘thresher,’ it vaporizes the food for them. If they are particularly hungry, they will leave the ship.” The images, real and violent, even with no sound bothered Rik. “It’s such a beautiful evening, can we give this a rest?”
“F-me. Vaporized? They’ll destroy everything, right? No survivors? Help us. You can. Right?”
Rik bowed his head. “If I just blended into this environment you wouldn’t know me or this shitty information. It would be more comforting for all. No, I can't help you. Your world’s arrogance, ignorance, and intolerance will facilitate the harrow. I can't do anything to change that condition, I am one person.”
Iris disagreed and her expression was demanding. “You have a responsibility to—”
“I can't be responsible for anything. Damn it. Right now, I should be bleeding out, alone in the park over there,” he pointed in that direction, “maybe that’s what happened to my brother.”
Iris stared out toward the park. “I wouldn’t let anything bad like that happen to you,” she said softly.
“Someone wants my technology and will kill me for it,” Rik frowned and shifted, “can we change the subject?”
“Not true, who would do that? Something like that will not happen here.”
“Then someone is stepping up the game. It occurs when Lares are uncovered. I am not safe anymore and maybe my brother has been uncovered. I am so worried about him now.”
Iris said to herself, while in deep thought, “I don’t know if I am supposed to protect you,” then at Rik, “I not sure if I am commissioned or anything but I shouldn’t wait. I am such a mess up.”
“Commissioned?”
“Yeah, on the job. I am a stand-by gunnery Tech. I don’t have a rank.”
“You’re military? Why the hell didn’t you say something? I gotta leave. No reflection on you but if the military is already involved then my life is in danger. I have to find my brother and get moving,” he stopped as something came into his mind, “protocol nine.”
“What’s that, ‘protocol nine’?”
“When the Lares are threatened we have a routine with our apps to go underground. Neil is hiding. He couldn’t locate me at first and probably the military was pursuing, so he went underground. That means he’s safe.”
“I thought you were here to help us?”
“The seedlings will resist any effort to be helped and facilitate their destruction. If Neil is underground that means someone has tried to kill him already.”
Iris stared at Rik’s face seeing his beaten-up face, tired eyes, a not so well masked terrified expression. “I am stupid. A better-adjusted person would feel compassion for you. You just came from one of these battles, I forget. Are you saying you can’t help us? Are we already doomed? Is your role here to stop us from fighting and give you time so you and your brother can survive by running?”
The muscles on Rik jaw tightened. “No. I mean. Why would you ask that? I need to save my brother, yes but that’s because he’s all I have left of my family. I don’t want to run anymore. The world’s I’ve been to have killed my family. When my mother died, I lost all hope. My only purpose is to make sure my little brother survives. I don’t care about me.”
“What if we are not like that? Those worlds you talk about don’t exist here.”
Rik smiled but it’s not genuine. “The division between humans is so permanent an attribute. The tribes, religions, political parties, superstitions, hatred. You have reached a point where you’re unable to objectively consider complexity in issues and zero net sum solutions are impossible for you to reach, your politics becomes gridlocked. The worsts worlds are the theocratic ones.”
Iris turned from him and looked up at the sky. They both ate the rest of the meal in silence. Iris stared at him annoyed by his candor and bit her lip. Rik challenged not caring about the impact of his words on her. “You told me to tell the truth and stop evading and it looks like you’ve shared all the images with who knows. If there is widespread panic in the streets and a rush on the stores for toilet paper, it’s not my fault.”
Iris leaned into him so close he could smell honey and Grit-ar on her breath when she said, “no.”
Rik pointed his fork at her for emphasis. “Yes, there won’t be any toilet paper on the shelves so get used to that. The highways will be log-jammed and lots of people will use this time to commit murder. I can’t change what will happen and I certainly can’t be responsible for it.”
Iris smiled nervously. “That’s a torrent of information. Do you have no compliments to our mothers? Don’t you have any faith in our humanity.”
He laughed bitterly. “That’s a choice word. Common in all the seedling worlds. As individuals, you are humane in relationships with each other and in known comfortable circumstances or where there is no competition for resources. As societies and planets, you as a food source species in the end. Brutal, destructive, competitive—”
“O.K. I get it. We’re not as advanced as you.” Iris pondered and keyed in a search routine on her IARI, “tell me again, what’s toilet paper? Is that a weapon?”
Rik turned to look at the bright star in the sky, pointing.
“What’s the—”
The sliding glass door exploded with two laser shots striking the patio. A sharp buzz sound and flash resulted in wood splinters flying into the air, plates and gla
sses crashed to the floor and Rik watched one laser casing chirr ricochet back toward the park. Another laser flashed by his face; blood covered his arm.
Iris screamed. “Drop. Incoming.” They fell instantly to the floor of the patio and Iris crawled back inside dragging her arm. She moaned as blood trailed on the floor. Rik scampered inside after her with his palms bloody from broken glass on the ground. She rested sitting on the floor with her back against her couch breathing hard. A wind, as if warning them, blew into the house through the shattered balcony door and the curtains parted like untethered sails.
Rik’s reached up and closed them and then crawled up to Iris. “Someone tried to kill us.”
“No way. Really? Man, you're a dumb ass. Gods I am hurt.”
Rik inspected her quickly. “Damn you're injured. I'll have to get help. Wait here, O.K.”
Iris held his arm. “You can't leave, you'll get caught or killed. Just leave me alone, I'll die here in my home.”
“No. No, god damn it. No one is going to die tonight. Everyone I give damn about dies.” Rik frantically pulled his shirt off and started tearing the sleeves. Iris watched impressed with his field medical skills.
“Rik settle down. Stop that. You don’t need to do any of that,” Iris tried to push him away. He ignored her and wrapped a bandage around her limp arm.
He scooted to his bag and pulled a narrow tube from his bag and attempted to work it over here body. “Damn it, this thing isn’t working here. Damn it. Please, Gods, work.” He moved the unit over her body with no effect.
“Why help me now if you’re willing to let my entire world die? Stay here and help us. Help me,” Iris pleaded.
Rik contemplated her eyes. “I can't. I can't help this damn place. I can’t. Look what just happened. This is because I am here with you. Look how they hurt you. I want to help, I can't. I can't. I don’t know how anymore, and I am not going to have your blood on my conscience as well. I am out of here.”
Iris was paralyzed by his raw emotion and shaken by his frantic efforts as he tied her wounded arm with a stripe of material. She said softly, “Da-earra? You tried to help them win right. I know you did, you’re a good person. You didn’t run. You can help us? There must be a planet in all these harrows that survived. That's why you're sent to us.”
Rik’s eyes were wide with terror. “I am not that person. Sent? No, damn it. Da-earra
was where I lost everything. Don’t you get it, Da-earra is gone, that’s where my mother died. Don’t you understand? Everything was lost and Da-earra doesn’t exist anymore. I should have died there too.” He held a loose end of a bloodied stripe and wanted to throw it down, “now, where else are you hurt? There's blood everywhere. These gods damn brutal worlds I am sick of these places.” Rik fought to hold back tears when he forcefully rolled her over. Blood covered her back. “Gods, your bleeding from the back,” he choked back a sob. He moved quickly over to her on his knees.
She whimpered and then said. “Ouch, you’re hurting me. She clenches her teeth and repeated, “ouch, Rik stop. That hurts.”
He ignored her and pushed her forward, “just give me a second.”
Iris spoke softly. “Why tell me all this? Stay with me.” She was distracted by pain.
Rik continued to inspect her body feeling for an exit wound and pleaded to the universe as he watched her turn away from him. “Don't die girl. Where are you hit? Please don't die. Stay with me.” Rik suddenly held her in his arms, “don’t die. I can’t live on if you die. Gods, don’t die.”
Iris could hardly breathe and said, “stay with you? Why?” He’s lost in her lovely eyes. She agreed with her head bobbing ‘yes’ and a tear formed in her eye. She grabbed his hand hard and squeezed.
“I can't do anything more,” Rik said, “I'll stay. This is as good as any place for me to die,” Rik gently touched her face and their eyes locked for a moment, “don’t die.”
She pushed at him. “You won't die. I won't die. Get your knee off my leg. It’s twisted back and you’re hurting the hell out of me. I am about ready to cry and then kick your ass when I gt up.”
Rik leaned back and scanned her leg and its situation, surprised. “All the blood?”
Iris put her hand on her back and looked at the stain then rubbed her leg, “Grit-ar-roo juice.”
She rolled over and opened a low cupboard, pulled out a weapon and futuristic binoculars then peered outside. “Stay down,” she scanned the park for a long time and then the street, “no one decided to stick around.” She refocused on the night sky and pointed to the sky. Her shirt was stained red but not with blood. She's drawn to the bright star they looked at earlier. While still looking at the sky she said, “I think it's clear now. Look. See that star.”
She handed the binoculars to Rik and he scanned the park and then tentatively peered at the bright large star. “Yeah, that’s known on Da-earra as Veninus or maybe Nepturia, but they seem closer here.”
She forcefully grabbed the binoculars away from him. “Give me those. What are you looking at? You can’t see Vennicus Seven Three Six from here with these.”
Rik watched her looking heavenward and rubbed away a tear at the corner of his eye and he realized he was relieved. “You're not injured in any place else except that small wound on your arm? You’re a tough woman.”
Iris spoke without taking her sight off the star in the sky. “Politics and religion, one is stupid and the other unaccountable. Holy wars with fission weapons, we've been there.”
“What? What did you say?”
“Me, ‘tough’? I like that.”
“No. What did you say about holy wars?”
She sat down the binoculars. “You said we ‘doomed’ ourselves. That’s what
happened to us. The religious Fata-Ra released an engineered virus. It was supposed to selectively kill only nonbelievers or at least that was what they were praying for.”
“What happened?”
“Duh.”
“No really, what happened?”
Suddenly, lights flooded the room with bands of wavy green light glaring over them. Iris looked outside, “we're being scanned,” she said casually.
Rik panicked and scooted on the floor ducking lower. “What? Scanned?”
“Stay still. It’s nothing to concern yourself. Where was I? Yes, electromagnetic rockets, that’s how the survivors came to Aoife. All of them were very ill from radiation poisoning and that damn virus but they gathered the strength to conduct space travel and rebuilt this society.”
“What are you talking about?” Rik flinched as the light passed over his shoulder.
Iris watched Rik squirm away from the light. “Stay still. What’s wrong with you? Let me finish. Where was I? Yes, our system has two ‘suns’ and Aoife became the new home on this side of the lesser sun. The evening star up there is ancient Aoife or Aoife Prime, poisoned and burned out. It reminds us of our messed-up past. That’s what happens when you have religious theocracy rule a society. They ended up torching the world and rejoicing about it. There’s life there now but it’s primitive according to our scientists. We have put a beacon near it to monitor if solar flares shift radiation toward us but we’re safe here.” Rik watched the soft light pass over him and flattened himself on the carpet. Iris looked at him. “Why are you doing that? Sit up you’re acting like a child.”
Rik noticed how messy he was with food spilled on him and he tried to brush himself off.
“Someone is closing in or has caught my brother. He's confined somewhere. It's the only explanation why he can't contact me. I need to find that out. I hope he isn’t hurt.”
“Are you afraid of the scan? You haven’t experienced anything like this before?” The soft light in the room abruptly stopped. Iris smiled, “O.K. all clear. That wasn’t so bad right. If your brother was doing something that is deemed dangerous to others on Aoife, he’s confined somewhere. Is there anything you or he could do that will harm the people of Aoife? Dask has the authority to g
uard him if your brother got caught doing something like that. Dask is a powerful authority here.”
“Are there a lot of people confined,” Rik wondered, “can you give me locations of your prisons?”
“Prisons? What are those? Wait don’t tell me. Let the app work.” Iris waited for a translation, “a glass triangle that separates white light by its component colors?”
“No, that’s a prism, I am talking about the facilities that lock up criminals and political prisoners, prison.”
“There is one such unit, called a Jrabar-eight facility on planet Yartin 784. You must be caught harming someone and your crime is so dangerous that a monitor will not protect others around you. If your brother is like you, it’s not likely he is at Yartin.” She tapped a few keys on her unit. “I just did a scan and Lea-ger, my data contractor, also just did a scan of the Yartin population and Neil Onanes doesn’t show up in a search.”
“Well, I guess it’s good to get confirmation. It would have been great just to locate him. Thanks. Do you know anyone at Yartin? I figure with your violent tendencies maybe you hang with a rough crowd.”
“Watch it. I do hang with a rough crowd, but we don’t get caught. Others?” Iris tapped data into her IARI and read, “a crowd murdering musician named Jerri, a politician serial killer named Rabghamore and end of times religious nuts accused of murdering children. I’ll give this to the common net and get them working on this information. But given the facts I am seeing; I am concluding that you don’t have a brother. No such person exists.”
Rik ignored her and looked up through a sky window. “Who’s doing the scan? Is it Dask and the military? Is he a dangerous person?”
Iris frowned. “Dask gets what he wants”
“Do you think Dask has my brother?”
“The lack of any signature from your brother and believe me I have lots of people searching for him indicates that he is off the grid. Dask has him or…maybe…it’s a long shot.”