Annexation

by Marisa Chenery

  Kiri looked at the discs and then at Drace. “Why are you giving me these?”

  “I already told you.”

  “I get that part. I just don’t understand why you’d feel you’d want to do it for me. I’m nobody to you.”

  Drace shook his head and sighed. “I don’t like the thought of you living here by yourself. You’re too young.”

  “Hey,” she said with a scowl. “You aren’t that much older than me.”

  “True, but Atres children have to grow up faster than Earth ones. Those of us who become warriors, our training starts at age eight. Two years after that, we’re expected to be able to stand against an adult.”

  Kiri already knew that, thanks to Cax, but Drace didn’t need to know. “Well, we don’t have warrior training, but a lot of eighteen-year-olds do move out and go to college. So as I said before, I’m allowed to live here alone.”

  “All right. I believe you.” Drace nodded to the discs. “Be sure to use those at night. I have to leave. Vas will have finished with your friend’s family and be continuing the survey of the rest of the street. I must rejoin him.”

  She stood near the door as he opened it and walked out. Kiri waited until he’d headed down the sidewalk in the direction of Meg’s house before she closed herself inside.

  Kiri looked at the discs. Well, she wouldn’t be using them much. Not when she spent all her nights hunting. It was nice of Drace to give them to her, though. If he hadn’t been Atres, she had a feeling they would have ended up friends.

  * * * *

  Two more weeks rolled by with Kiri continuing her nightly hunting of Atres warriors. She’d wounded so many of them, she’d lost count. Her forays into downtown had proved very fruitful. There were always plenty of aliens for her to pull sneak attacks on. She’d had to replenish her stock of arrows a couple of times since she never let it run too low.

  That night, Kiri had brought down seven Atres. None of them had seen her coming. She was getting good at stealthily sneaking around in the dark. She’d determine who her targets would be and move right in without any hesitation. She never made a sound. It’d almost become second nature. She found she had to stop herself from going into stealth mode while walking outside during the day.

  It was nearly dawn as Kiri made a dash for home. She’d stayed out later than she liked. The darkness was her friend. It wrapped her in its embrace and kept her safe. Already there were bits of the horizon lightening.

  Kiri didn’t breathe easy until she was safely locked inside. She pressed the center of the silver disc she’d attached to the door. The edges of it glowed a brilliant red. She hurried to activate the one on the back door in the kitchen. That set, she turned and headed upstairs. Her bed was calling her.

  She covered a large yawn with her hand as she walked into the bathroom. Kiri turned on the faucet before she proceeded to wash off the camouflage face paint. The new waterproof stuff held up way better in the heat. It was a little harder to remove, but it was worth it.

  Before changing her black clothes for her pajamas, Kiri stored her quiver and bow in the attic. She now kept a folding stepladder in her closet since she was in and out of there so often. Her parents hadn’t used the space for anything so it was basically empty, except for her weapon of choice and her stock of spare arrows.

  She yawned again. She’d sleep until almost noon, and start her day with her usual routine. Kiri climbed into her bed and pulled up the covers. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep in a matter of seconds.

  It felt as if she’d only just fallen asleep when there was a loud banging on the front door. Kiri jerked awake and propped herself up on her arm. A quick look at her alarm clock showed it was six o’clock. She’d been asleep for a little over an hour.

  The banging came again, but this time it was followed by what sounded like a loudspeaker outside on the street somewhere. The voice that came over it stated that all residents were to immediately leave their homes and stand on the sidewalk in front of their houses.

  Kiri wondered what the heck the Atres were up to now as she flipped back her covers to climb out of bed. She didn’t bother changing since she wore pajama bottoms and a tank top.

  The banging continued while she hurried down the stairs. Kiri remembered to deactivate the alien disc before she opened her door. Much to her surprise it was Drace who’d done the pounding and stood on her porch. This was the first time she’d seen him since he’d come to do the survey.

  His expression was grim. “You have to come outside, Kiri. Now.”

  “Why?”

  Drace looked around before he said in a hushed voice, “I can’t explain. Do as ordered. Just know I don’t agree with this.”

  A chill of unease swept down Kiri’s spine. She didn’t know what to expect, but it couldn’t be anything good.

  She walked past Drace and went to stand on the sidewalk, the cement cool under her bare feet. Kiri looked at her neighbors to find them also standing outside. There was a large troop of Atres warriors going to each house and ushering out the people who lived there. A large shuttle craft was parked in the middle of the street. It was bigger than the ones she normally saw flying around downtown. Warriors with their guns drawn stood near the opening to it. The sight of them had warning bells going off in her head.

  Once all the neighbors whose houses she could see had been rousted out of bed and stood on the sidewalk, the Atres seemed to stand guard over them. Drace had stayed with Kiri, but he stood close by, facing the street, not her. She had the impression he was going to protect her instead of making sure she didn’t try to leave.

  A male who appeared to be the head of this group of warriors came to stand in the middle of the street, not far from the shuttle. He held a small, black, flat, square box against the hollow of his throat. As he spoke, it made it sound as if he talked into a microphone attached to a loudspeaker. His voice was the one Kiri had heard from inside her house, commanding everyone to come outside.

  “Earthlings,” he said as he scanned the street. “All adults must step forward. That includes anyone from the age of twenty and up. There has been a new decree made for your city. All adults will be rounded up and taken to our ships.”

  Shouts of outrage rang out. A woman who lived a couple of doors down who held a baby in her arms cried that she couldn’t leave her infant daughter. There was at least a handful of households that had small children and babies in them.

  One of the Atres fired his gun into the air until everyone quieted. The one in charge continued to speak. “Those children who don’t have older siblings to look after them, a non-warrior Atres female will be assigned to their care. Your children will not be removed from their homes.”

  “Why are you doing this?” the man who lived directly across from Kiri asked in a loud, angry voice.

  “Your city will be used as an example for those who’d think to strike against the Atres. Someone in El Centro has taken it upon themselves to try to take out warriors by night, shooting them with arrows to incapacitate them. This person breaks the curfew and thinks to thwart our rules. The best way to eliminate the problem is to round up all who can be a potential threat.”

  Kiri bit back a gasp. It was because of her. The Atres would punish all the adults for something she’d done. Could she just stand there and let those people be taken and not step forward as the one who’d shot the warriors? What kind of person would she be if she did nothing? She was the one who took the risk each night, and she should be the one to pay the price. Not the adults.

  She went to take a step forward, but Drace turned his head and gave her a hard stare. He said very quietly, “Don’t. You can’t do anything to stop this. This order came from the leader of all the Atres. Once he sets a decree, there is no point going against it. It can’t be overturned.”

  Kiri opened her mouth to tell Drace that she was the one they wanted, but before she got one word out, the whole street erupted into chaos. Small childr
en and babies were ripped from their parents’ arms as the warriors forced the adults out to the street, herding them toward the waiting shuttle. Anyone under the age of twenty was left standing in front of their homes. Children’s cries for their moms or dads mingled with the outraged shouts of the adults and the harsh demands of the Atres warriors.

  She balled her hands into fists behind her back. There was nothing she could do. It was too late. The warriors wouldn’t let anyone go, even if she shouted to everyone that she’d been the one to shoot the Atres each night. Kiri had a feeling they’d take her along with everyone else, not stopping this madness in the least.

  The Atres corralled all the adults into the shuttle. The door slowly lifted to seal them and a couple of warriors with guns drawn inside. It was some minutes before the engines came to life, and the craft rose into the air. Kiri followed it with her gaze as it picked up speed before zooming from the street. Another and another shuttle appeared from farther away. They too left the area in the same direction.

  Drace turned to face Kiri the same time the other warriors who remained behind ushered kids into their houses. Some carried infants as they disappeared inside.

  “Go into your home, Kiri,” Drace said calmly.

  “What’s going to happen to them?”

  He gave her a grim look. “You already know.”

  “Do something to stop it. You have no right,” she said harshly.

  “I can’t do anything. It’s not me doing it. It’s them. There are too few of us, those who think the same as me.”

  He took hold of her arm and turned her before he walked her inside her house. He shut the door behind them. Kiri yanked free as soon as they were out of sight of the others and took a few steps away.

  She scowled. “What’s to happen to the kids?”

  “As you were told, non-warrior females will be assigned to households of small children who don’t have siblings old enough to take care of them.”

  “What about the rest of us? How are we supposed to live? How are we to get food, let alone cook it?”

  “You’ll be provided for. Three times a day a shuttle with food will arrive on the street and hand out meals.”

  “So, what are we supposed to do? Stay locked in our houses?”

  “No. You’ll be free to go where you wish. You’ll be expected to remain in your homes once night falls, the same as it has been.”

  “Basically, you’re saying we’re going to be allowed to go wild with no supervision.”

  “Basically.” Drace sighed. “I don’t like it any more than you do. You should stay inside today until everything settles down. The shuttles with the non-warrior females will arrive soon. Until then, there will be quite a few troops on the street. Stay away from them. We’ve been ordered to subdue any of the older children if they should step out of line.”

  “Nice,” she said sarcastically. “Hadn’t you better get back outside? There might be some teenagers you need to beat into submission.”

  “I’m only trying to help you.”

  Kiri let some of her anger rise to the surface. “I didn’t ask for it,” she said in a harsh tone.

  “I don’t want to be your enemy.”

  “Well, you already are. You’re Atres, which makes you that, especially after today.”

  Drace silently stared at her, no emotion showing on his face. “Please stay inside. They’ll announce when the food shuttle arrives in a few hours. Only come out for that.”

  He turned and let himself out the front door, leaving it open. Kiri crossed to it and shut it harder than needed as Drace walked away.

  Chapter 8

  Kiri hadn’t been able to go back to bed. She’d been too angry to sleep. Even though she really hadn’t wanted to do as Drace had told her, she’d done it anyway. She’d only left the house when the food shuttle arrived. Three times, as he’d stated. The meals were a far cry from what she was used to eating. She’d asked the Atres warrior what she’d been given for her breakfast—a cold pile of neon red goop that had the consistency of oatmeal—and was told it was some Atres name that she couldn’t even pronounce let alone remember. She’d taken it into the house. She emptied the container into the garbage without trying it. There was enough food in the pantry and fridge to last her a bit before she had to resort to eating alien meals that she couldn’t even properly get her tongue around. The lunch and dinner meals had been as appealing as breakfast. They’d ended up in the same spot as breakfast.

  The following day after she’d taken and thrown out her morning meal, Kiri left the house and went to Meg’s. Her friend answered the door and quickly pulled her inside. Meg hugged her.

  Kiri returned the embrace before she stepped back. “What’s that all about?”

  “I was worried you’d gone hunting last night. All I could think was that you’d gotten caught.”

  “I stayed home. I’m going to lay low for some nights before I go out again. How are you and Luke doing? They took your mom, right?”

  Meg nodded, a look of pain flashing across her face. “Yeah, they took her. We’re doing okay. Luke won’t come out of his room, except for when we have to get our meals, if you want to call them that.”

  “They’re nasty. I throw mine into the trash. I’ll eat them when I run out of food, and I’d probably have to be close to starving before I even do that.”

  “They look disgusting, but they don’t taste it. At least not too bad. We’re really low on food here. Mom hadn’t had a chance to do the shopping before…yesterday. Have you met any of the non-warrior females?”

  “No. And I’m not going out of my way to do it.”

  “The one next door, she stopped by yesterday to check on us. She seems nice enough. And she was good with the neighbor’s baby.”

  “I don’t care how nice they are. She’s still Atres. You can’t trust them.”

  “What about your Cax? If you meet him again, will you treat him like the enemy?”

  “Of course. He’s Atres like the rest. And he never really was mine.”

  “Even after he trained you for years so you’d be prepared for this?”

  Kiri scowled. “Why are you taking his side? You don’t even know him. Besides, he had to have known his people were coming to Earth. He could have told me. Instead, he chose to leave me in the dark. Not once did he tell me why he trained me to fight. Why he pushed me so hard to get better and stronger, to learn the things I needed to.”

  “You were twelve when he started. What could you have done? No one would have believed you. You ended up seeing a shrink anyway.”

  “Yes, but I would have known. I would have found a way to have my parents, at least, believe me. I trusted him, Meg. He meant something to me, and to now find out what his people have planned for all of us, I can’t think about him in that way.”

  “So, if you happen to see him one night, you’ll shoot him like you do the others?”

  “Yes.”

  Meg shook her head. “Whatever. I think we’d better drop the topic of this discussion. I don’t want to fight with you. I’m already upset enough about my mom.”

  Kiri took a deep breath and let it out. “Sorry. I’m not angry at you. Just them. Have you seen anyone else?”

  “Not really. Just Tim and Sean when we go to the shuttle for meals. They both have younger brothers who they have to look after now.”

  Kiri remembered the two boys lived on Meg’s street. With no adults around anymore, the night patrols would stop. Kiri, on the other hand, would start up her hunts again once she figured things had settled into a routine. A week, maybe two, and she’d be back out there, letting the Atres know that they hadn’t eliminated the threat to them yet.

  * * * *

  Kiri stayed at Meg’s house until shortly before the lunch shuttle was due to arrive. She figured it’d be best if she were on her street for it. To make it look as if she were actually eating the meals in case one of the Atres noticed. Not that s
he really thought that would happen. She just didn’t want to have any attention directed her way, especially once she took up her nightly hunt again.

  She said goodbye to Meg as left her friend’s house. Kiri had to dodge a few younger kids who ran toward her on the sidewalk, laughing as they played some game. Obviously, they’d quickly gotten over losing their parents. Plus, they were young enough that they’d probably forget what it was like living with them after a while.

  On her street, Kiri spotted one of the non-warrior Atres females pushing a baby stroller close to her house, coming toward her. Her long, dark blonde hair fell around her shoulders. She didn’t wear the fitted pants and tops like the female warriors. She wore a lavender loose, billowy, short-sleeved gown that was made from a lightweight material. She wasn’t as tall or muscular as a female warrior. Kiri guessed her to be about an inch shorter than her. Not wanting to acknowledge that she saw her, she kept her head down and kept walking with the intention of going around her.

  “Hello.”

  Kiri lifted her head to find the female had come to a stop in front of her with the stroller between them. Kiri reluctantly stopped as well. “Hi.”

  “Are you Kiri?”

  She stiffened. “Yeah. How did you know?”

  The female smiled. “Drace told me about you, and what you looked like. I’m his older sister, Lemeah. He asked that I check on you.”

  “As you can see, I’m fine. You can tell him that.”

  Lemeah chuckled. “He did say you had an independent spirit.”

  “I’ve had to have one, considering my parents died, or should I say were killed, when your people first arrived. I’ve been alone ever since.”

  Lemeah looked around. “I’m sorry for your loss.” She lowered her voice. “Drace has told you that not all of us agree with how our leader has handled our coming to Earth.”

  Kiri shook her head. “Don’t you mean your annexation?” At Lemeah’s questioning look, Kiri added, “It means invasion. That is what you Atres did. You came and invaded my planet, took it over as yours.”