Annexation

by Marisa Chenery

  Kiri stood with the rest of her classmates as the students in the row in front of them filed off the bleachers. She couldn’t get the image of the spaceship out of her mind. It made her think about all the dreams she’d had of Cax, and of traveling through space to reach his planet. It’d been almost exactly two years since he’d told her that he was going into stasis because he was leaving. Was this a huge coincidence or had her subconscious mind known all those years ago that she needed to train for this?

  She gave herself a mental shake as she followed the crowd out the doors that led to the school’s parking lot. Kiri still questioned whether Cax had been real. And she highly doubted she had some unknown ability to predict the future.

  On the sidewalk that edged the parking lot, she stood with the kids who took the same bus she did. The conversations going on around her were all about aliens. A lot of the students speculated whether it was an invasion. Most of the boys were interested in seeing what the aliens looked like. If they’d be similar to the scary ones in movies. More creature than humanoid.

  Kiri climbed onto the bus with everyone else, taking a seat near the door. She stared out the window next to her as it pulled away from the school. The streets were full of cars. It looked as if the majority of the city’s population was trying to get home. So much for them taking the reporter’s advice and remaining calm.

  Instead of the usual fifteen-minute bus ride it took to reach Kiri’s stop, it was a good forty-five minutes before she arrived. As she walked toward her home, she noticed some people loading their cars with suitcases and boxes of supplies as if they were going on a long trip. Where they thought they’d go to be safe, she had no idea. The ships were all over the world. There was nowhere really to run. They were freaking spaceships and could go anywhere.

  She opened the front door, walked inside, and closed it as she called, “Mom, I’m home.”

  Her mother came rushing out of the living room. “Thank goodness.”

  “The principal decided to cancel school for the rest of the day and announced it after they showed us some news footage of the spaceship.”

  “I got the call from the school. He did the right thing. I’ve been watching the news since they first showed the ship. Everyone seems to have lost their minds.”

  Kiri put her backpack on the floor by the stairs before she followed her mom into the living room where a large LED hung on the wall above the gas fireplace. The news showed a scene of the streets in San Diego. The traffic was three times worse than what her bus had gone through. People not in cars ran on the sidewalks, glancing skyward from time to time. The camera would pan to the large spaceship that loomed over the city.

  She sat beside her mom on the couch. “Is Dad still in San Diego?”

  Her father had been on a business trip to that city the day before and had stayed the night in a hotel since he had meetings until quite late and a last one in the morning. He hadn’t wanted to drive home in between them.

  “I’m not sure. I spoke to him about twenty minutes ago. He planned to leave shortly after that. I figure he’s stuck in that traffic.”

  “He more than likely is.” From what Kiri saw on the television, he’d be lucky to make it home at all by tonight. She could imagine what condition the Interstate would be in.

  As if she were watching a sci-fi movie, the news camera panned to the spaceship. An opening in the side was now visible. The shot zoomed closer, and Kiri sucked in a breath as small spacecrafts came shooting out of the larger one. They flew so swiftly it was almost hard to track them.

  They were in formation until they came closer to the bustling city streets, then they broke apart. Kiri couldn’t tear her gaze off the TV screen as those smaller ships opened fire, shooting red beams of light that made whatever they hit explode like a firebomb. Pandemonium erupted as cars and people were struck. It quickly turned into a war zone.

  “No,” her mother shouted. She grabbed her cell phone from the coffee table and touched the screen. “No, this can’t be happening. Your dad is somewhere in there.” She held the phone to her ear. After a few seconds, she said, “Come on, come on. Drew, answer your cell.”

  Kiri turned her attention back to the TV. The person holding the camera had to be running while still recording the scene around them since the picture was no longer steady. Others ran past them, screaming. The sound of the smaller ships buzzing overhead were easily heard. They sent a chill down her spine. People hit by the light beams just seemed to instantly disintegrate into ash. What was even worse was when one of the shots found a target and it exploded into flames. The camera person dodged to the left, the noise of a spacecraft so very close. The screen went black.

  The same female news reporter from earlier appeared in the studio. Even with the amount of makeup she wore, her complexion was pale. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. She took a visible deep breath before she spoke.

  “We…we have reports that San Diego isn’t the only city the aliens have launched an attack on. All the major cities where the ships first appeared have not been spared. The attacks seemed to have been coordinated to take place at the same time all over the world. As of yet, there are no numbers for casualties or fatalities. We will pass along that information once we have those figures.”

  The reporter went on to give instructions for everyone to find shelter. Kiri turned to her mom. “Did Dad answer?”

  Her mother looked at her and shook her head. There were tears in her eyes. “No. I’ve tried five times and it rings until it goes to his voice mail. Oh, Kiri, what if…” She didn’t finish the sentence as she cried.

  Kiri grabbed her hand. “Don’t think like that. He could be okay. He just might not be able to answer the phone is all.”

  Her mom took a deep breath and wiped away her tears. “You’re right. Now isn’t the time to be jumping to conclusions. I’ll keep trying him until he does answer.”

  Kiri left her mother in the living room and went around the house, including the upper level, making sure all the windows were locked, same with the doors. From the looks of those smaller ships, it wouldn’t take very long for them to reach El Centro. They had to be prepared, just in case. She even took her compound bow and quiver of arrows out of her closet and carried them downstairs.

  Her mom looked up once Kiri entered the living room, her gaze landing on the bow and quiver before she looked at her. “Do you really think you’ll need those?”

  Kiri shrugged. “I don’t know, but I feel better having them close at hand. We have no idea what to expect. Did you get a hold of Dad?”

  “No. My cell phone suddenly lost its signal.”

  Kiri took hers out of her jeans pocket and turned on the screen. “Same with mine. I wonder if—”

  Before she could finish her sentence, there was a loud screech over the TV and the news channel was replaced with something altogether different. The picture was at first pixelated. It quickly sharpened, giving a good view of the man who was prominently in the forefront. It looked as if he stood in what she’d come to think of a spaceship’s bridge from sci-fi shows. He was tall and very muscular. His long, blond hair flowed around his shoulders. It was his eyes that captured her attention. They were copper, and had a slight glow to them.

  “People of Earth,” he said in a deep baritone. “I am Thalar, the leader of the Atres. As of now, your planet is under our control. We have taken ownership of your satellites. Our ships are in position over your cities, with enough firepower to reduce them to rubble. We have shown you our strength. If you accept what is to be, there will be no more attacks. Resistance will not be tolerated. You may go on with your lives, do your jobs, except for those in the military and law enforcement. They will be disbanded at once.”

  “Jesus,” said her mom. “They’ve stolen our planet out from under us. All in a matter of hours.”

  Kiri kept her gaze on the TV. There was some movement in the background behind Thalar as he continued to speak, outlining h
ow he expected the Earth’s population to accept him as their ruler. She gasped as a figure behind Thalar stepped into clear view. “Cax,” she said with some shock.

  “What?” her mom asked.

  Kiri stepped closer to the television and pointed to the blond-haired boy who had come to mean so much to her. “That’s Cax. He’s real. I didn’t make him up.”

  “Honey, I have no idea what you’re talking about. How can you know one of the aliens who up until today we had no idea existed?”

  She’d never told her parents about her dream visits to another planet, not even her shrink. Of course her mom would be clueless as to how Kiri knew the name of an alien and recognized one.

  Thalar finished his speech with, “There will be further communication once we’ve established bases on your world.” The screen went black.

  Her mom picked up the TV remote and switched channels. Each one was the same. Nothing. No news, no shows, no commercials, just nothing. Her mother sighed. “They’ve taken out the cell phones and now the televisions, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they somehow shut down the Internet. I think they want to keep us from knowing what’s going on around the world. They’ll send us into another Dark Age.” She looked at Kiri and patted the couch for her to sit next to her. “Now tell me who this Cax is to you.”

  Kiri sat. “You sound so calm. Aren’t you scared?”

  “Yes, but letting it get the best of me isn’t going to change anything. You telling me about Cax will distract me from the fact your father is out there somewhere, alive or dead, and aliens have taken over.”

  “All right.” Kiri had no idea how to start. She’d kept Cax a secret for so long.

  Her mom smiled. “It’s okay. You can tell me anything. Just take it from the beginning.”

  “You know when I started waking up bruised and the doctors decided I was doing it to myself? Well, I wasn’t. It began the first night I ‘dreamed’ of meeting Cax. It always started the same. I’d find myself shooting through space until I reached another planet. I’d touch down in a large roofless room. Cax was there. He said out of all the people on Earth, he could only summon me. He said I needed to learn how to fight. From that night on, he trained me. The last time I saw him was two years ago. He’d said he’d be in stasis for that exact number of years.” Kiri met her mom’s gaze. “I’d thought maybe I had made him up. Now, I think he knew what would happen and wanted me prepared to face the invasion.”

  “So that’s why you wanted to take karate and learn how to use a bow and arrow.”

  “Yes. To help with my training. Cax had started his when he was eight. He was years ahead of me. He kept stressing I had to learn faster.”

  Her mother sighed. “All those years we sent you to the psychiatrist and there was nothing wrong with you. Can you forgive us?”

  Kiri hugged her. “Of course. You didn’t know. I never told anyone about Cax.”

  “Though I have to say I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told the truth before today. Now the big question is, what had Cax intended for you to do with this training he gave you? Did he want you to be able to defend yourself if the occasion arose that had you in the middle of a confrontation with his people, or did he want you to play a hero to yours?”

  Kiri shook her head. “He never said. I can only think he did it for the first option, for some reason.”

  “Hon, I have to say it. What happens if—and I mean a big if—you and Cax meet here in real life and he turns out to be like the rest of his race?”

  She didn’t want to think about that. To her, Cax would always be the boy who’d come to mean a great deal to her. He’d been tough on her during their training sessions, but he’d never purposely set out to hurt her.

  Kiri shrugged. “I don’t know. If he’s the same Cax from my dreams, I won’t have to worry about it. He wouldn’t be like that.” At least she hoped he wouldn’t.

  Chapter 3

  Two weeks had passed since the arrival of the Atres. It was amazing what changes fourteen days could have over an entire planet. Presidents, queens, kings, prime ministers, and dictators alike had been taken out of power. Made obsolete.

  In some ways, Kiri’s life wasn’t all that different. She still went to school the same as before, and even looked forward to it being over. The only difference was there would be no graduation ceremony. Large public gatherings such as that were strictly forbidden.

  The Atres had taken over completely. They were everywhere, even in El Centro. Their ships could be seen flying over the city or on the ground. Their troops patrolled the streets, carrying alien-looking hand weapons that shot the same light beam as their ships did. Their job was to make sure humans didn’t step out of line, didn’t do or say anything that showed their displeasure at having the Atres as overlords. The troops also enforced the nightly curfew that had been set in place. No human was allowed outside their homes after ten o’clock. Those who broke it were usually not heard or seen again.

  Kiri sat on the bus on the way to school. She stared out the window. Each time they passed a group of Atres, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at each one. As a race, they were good-looking. They didn’t have different shades of hair like humans, only tones of blond from dark to light, and their eyes were all the same. Copper. They were tall, always around six feet, even the women, who could be warriors as well. They wore the same type of clothes—formfitting light gray pants and a sleeveless shirt, made from a material that was like a thick cotton.

  She wasn’t looking at them out of curiosity. No, she did it to search for a particular face, a familiar one in a sea of alien difference. Cax. Kiri had only seen him on the TV that one time. The Atres had taken over the television stations and now broadcasted updates of the world of what they wanted humans to see.

  The bus arrived and stopped in the parking lot to let them out. Kiri filed down the steps with the rest of the students. She did her best to ignore the Atres who patrolled there. She never wanted to make eye contact with them. It would only make her angry, something she felt a lot since their coming. Her father had never made it home from San Diego. Hers and her mother’s hopes of ever seeing him again had gradually diminished—as the days went by and then turned into weeks—to the point they’d had no choice but to come to the conclusion that he’d been one of the casualties of that fateful first day.

  Kiri walked inside the school. The Atres were even in there, walking the halls. What used to be, at times, a loud and rowdy place was now subdued. She went to her locker, opened it, and took out the books she needed for her first class.

  As she headed down the hall, Kiri spotted Meg, standing with her back against the wall with one of the Atres warriors directly in front of her, almost looming over her. Meg had her gaze cast to the floor, and from her expression, Kiri could tell the other girl was extremely uncomfortable. She appeared afraid.

  If she were a spiteful person, Kiri would have continued walking past, not caring, but she wasn’t like that. It didn’t matter that Meg treated her like dirt. There was no way Kiri could ignore the fear that Meg seemed to give off. The Atres was too much of an unknown not to be worried why he’d singled out the other girl.

  She increased her pace as she rushed up to Meg. She ignored the Atres and looped her arm through Meg’s. “Hurry up, Meg. We don’t want to be late for the first class.” Kiri tugged her away from the alien. They’d only gone a few steps before he brought them to a halt.

  “I wasn’t finished talking to her,” he said sharply.

  Kiri turned her head to look him square in the face. There was hint of cruelty that was just underneath the surface. His lips were formed in a sneer. “Our teacher doesn’t like any student to arrive late. The first bell is going to ring any minute.” As if to prove her correct, it rang. “See? We have five minutes to get to class.”

  He gave a curt nod. “Fine.” He trained his gaze on Meg. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”

  Meg stiff
ened, the only outward sign she showed that his last statement bothered her.

  Kiri set them into motion again, walking toward their classroom. “Just keep moving,” she whispered. She felt the alien’s gaze boring into her. He set all her nerve endings on alert. She couldn’t get away from him fast enough.

  Once inside their class, Kiri let go of Meg’s arm and went and sat at her desk. Meg stopped next to her before going to hers. “Thanks for getting me away from him,” she said softly. “Can I sit with you at lunch?”

  “Sure…okay, if you want,” Kiri said slowly.

  Meg gave her a half-smile and headed for her desk. The teacher stood and began the class. As Kiri pulled her books out of her backpack, she had to wonder why Meg wanted to sit with her at lunch. Until today, Meg had continued to treat her like the crazy kid of the school.

  * * * *

  At lunch break, Kiri stood in line for food. She pushed her tray along, looking for Meg. So far, she hadn’t seen her. She did see the group of popular girls Meg normally hung out with. They completely ignored Kiri as she walked by, headed to one of the tables closest to the doors where she usually ate.

  Kiri placed her tray on the table, then sat. She’d just started to eat when Meg pulled out the chair across from her and took a seat. Meg didn’t have any food. She looked at Kiri and gave her a small smile.

  “Thanks for letting me sit with you, and for what you did earlier in the hall,” Meg said.

  Kiri nodded. “You’re welcome. I could tell you weren’t happy with the attention he showed you. It was the right thing to do.” She took a mouthful of food, thinking that was all Meg wanted to do before joining her group of friends. That didn’t turn out to be the case.

  Meg looked at her. “Not everyone would have done it. They wouldn’t want to put themselves at risk.”

  “At risk how?”

  The other girl looked around before meeting Kiri’s gaze again. “My father. He’s gone.”