Silence filled the small space and Matthew nodded. The state of the capsule was evidence of an extended period of time, perhaps years. “Do you know how to turn the force field off?”
The crease between his eyes became more prominent.
“The controls, the switch, you know—a button?”
The boy shook his head, still wearing a perplexed expression, like Matthew was one shy of a deck of cards. “There isn’t a button.”
Shit. How do I get him out of here?
A slight laugh filtered through the sphere. “The force field isn’t created by this thing.” He waved a skeletal hand at his surroundings and the effort seemed to suck a fraction of life from his eyes.
Shock skittered across Matthew’s skin, pooling at the base of his spine and morphing into a slight chill. The only other explanation, one that defied logic, popped out of his mouth. “Did you do that?”
The boy nodded and Matthew inched a step back toward the opening, the president’s directive echoing in his mind. Seek and destroy. Matthew’s mind reeled, taking in the now shaking form of the filthy boy; his eyes widened as if he was reading Matthew’s thoughts. Matthew blinked, swallowed and took a shallow breath.
If this truly was a child, he couldn’t kill him, no matter where he came from. His duty was to serve and protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. “Do you remember how old you were when you were put in here?”
A shadow passed over the boy’s face and he nodded. “Six.”
Matthew did some rough calculations and came to the conclusion that the kid had to be at least eight, maybe older, based on the slim carvings counting the passage of time, and that cinched his decision: dangerous or not, he couldn’t destroy this child.
“Do you know where you are?” Matthew asked.
The boy’s expression changed to guarded confusion, and an eyebrow rose, shifting the layer of muck on his face. He glanced around the windowless craft, shaking his head.
“You are in the Sol System. What we on Earth call the Milky Way. Your...” He paused, looked around and then returned his gaze to the boy. “Your ship is in the loading bay of my star cruiser.”
“Earth?”
“Yes, Earth.” Matthew crouched down so he was at eye level with the boy. “Where are you from?”
The boy just stared at him.
“Do you know where you’re from?”
He nodded, still wary, his eyes bouncing between Matthew and the insignia on his shirt and beyond at the opening.
“Do you want to get out of here?” Matthew asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder to the open hatch. He wanted out of the vile sphere. He wanted to scrub the scum off both the boy and himself, to feel clean again and not have the stink permeating in his nose.
The boy’s eyes shot to his face and widened. His teeth slid on his lower lip and for the first time since he entered the sphere, he saw a light in his eyes. Hope and fear mixed in his expression and he nodded.
“What’s your name?” the boy croaked.
Matthew stood. “Colonel Matthew Robbins. What’s yours?”
“André,” the boy replied and the slight electrical crackle filling the sphere suddenly cut off. He pushed himself off the ground but his legs wobbled beneath him and he sat down hard on the floor.
Matthew’s heart went out to the kid. He certainly showed signs of bravery and resourcefulness, surviving in a windowless pod for so long. But he wondered if André would trust him enough to help. “Will you let me help?”
The conflict was clear in the boy’s eyes: the want, the hope, the fear all screaming from the blue depths as he finally met Matthew’s gaze and nodded. Matthew leaned down and scooped up the boy and a measure of alarm shot through him. The kid weighed less than fifty pounds. Much less. God, how did he ever survive out here?
Matthew offered a smile, sweeping the concern from his face, and focused on getting out of the pod. He carried André into the decontamination room and set him down, closing the doors before hitting the button. Warm soapy water sprayed from all sides, blasting years of filth from the boy’s skin and soaking Matthew’s clothes. He helped André to his feet, steadying him, watching his eyes close and his head tilt into the warm stream.
After several wash and rinse cycles, including using the exfoliating system, André stood clean, his skin the color of a deep Texan tan, his hair reminding Matthew of raw sienna. With a physique identical to that of a ten-year-old boy, Matthew guessed he could easily pass as a human child and for the first time since he stepped into the pod, he had an idea of how to protect this kid, but he needed agreement from his superiors and that would be sticky.
André flashed a line of straight shiny white teeth in his direction and without the layers of dirt, his eyes shone bright azure, bordering on metallic. They held gratitude. Gratitude so deep that Matthew cleared the lump from his throat and flipped the drying jets on, closing his eyes against the powerful blast of air.
Rummaging through the cabinet, Matthew grabbed a shirt and handed it to André. The material covered his emaciated body almost to his bony knees. Refreshed and clean, Matthew led him into the cockpit, pointing to the co-pilot seat and nodding as André slid onto the soft cushion.
Staring out the window with his hands on the controls, Matthew’s mind raced. All the B-rated horror movies about aliens filtered through his head and he shot a glance at the boy.
André stared at him, his eyes wide and a grin playing on his lips. “You have moving pictures too?”
Matthew’s gaze snapped to his passenger. You can read minds?
“Yeah, can’t everyone?” André glanced back at him like he had two heads and a forked tongue.
Matthew shook his head. First the force fields, now mind reading. What else can this kid do?
“A lot of things. That’s why I was exiled,” André answered.
“Exiled?” What the hell have I gotten myself into? He turned toward the loading bay, wondering about the lack of any instruments in the alien ship.
“It’s not a ship. It’s a death capsule.”
Matthew’s eyes shot to André’s. Revulsion snaked across his skin and he blinked, his mouth dropping open to speak but no words formed. He looked back at the loading bay doors and collected his flying thoughts. “Were you alone?”
“Yes.” He looked at his hands fidgeting in his lap.
Alone. Years in a death capsule—alone. Matthew couldn’t fathom why anyone would do that to a child. “Why in God’s name would anyone exile a six-year-old?”
“My father told me once that I was gifted.” His voice cracked with emotion and he stopped talking, his eyes welling up with tears.
Matthew recoiled, his eyes widening as thick drops of blood flowed from the corner of André’s eyes. “Jesus! Are you okay?” Matthew reached for him but André put his hand up, stopping Matthew.
He swiped his hand over his eyes. “I’m just crying,” he said.
“Your eyes bleed when you cry?” Matthew grabbed some tissue and handed the wad to André, still skeptical even though he nodded. Maybe the kid just needed hydration. Matthew turned, pressing a few buttons on the side panel. A moment later, a tall bottle of cool water popped into the order tray. He unscrewed the top and handed the drink to André. “Maybe this will help.”
“It’s normal,” André answered and took the bottle of water. The first sip turned into a guzzle, and he downed the entire bottle of water within seconds. “Thank you,” André said and looked at the empty plastic container. “Can I have another one?”
“When was the last time you had something to eat or drink?”
He shrugged in answer and handed over the empty bottle.
“If you’re anything like we are, you might want to wait a few minutes…”
André scrunched his face and doubled over. Matthew reacted quickly, grabbing a container from the corner and putting it under André’s face just in time to catch the spew of water that came from the boy’s stomach.
On
ce he finished retching, Matthew stood and disposed of the contents. When he returned, he punched in the command for another bottle and this time he gave a warning. “As I was saying, if you’re anything like we are, and it looks like you are, your stomach won’t take too kindly to a rush of food or water after not having any for an extended period of time. Drink slowly this time.”
Taking a small sip, André leaned back in the seat and squeezed his eyes closed. His lower lip quivered and his jaw line clenched. A slow stream of bloody tears rolled down his cheek.
“You’re going to be okay,” Matthew said, even though he wasn’t sure how close to death the kid was. He shook his head, kicking himself for not insisting on a medic for the trip. He placed his hand on André’s shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze before focusing back on the loading bay doors, wondering again what this kid could have done to be sentenced to death.
Without prompting, André continued, “The emperor believed in an old Zyclonian legend, one that foretold the end of our civilization. I guess I fit the description and he figured I was a threat. He had both my parents and me arrested.” Again his voice hitched and he took a sip of water. “He charged my parents with treason and killed them and then he sealed me in the capsule. At least they gave me a little food and liquid, but it wasn’t enough to last long. He expected me to die…alone.”
The rush of anger that filled Matthew surprised him as much as the tightened grip on the controls. “You were just a child. Hell, you still are just a child.”
André shrugged. “Yeah, well, the emperor didn’t care.” A measure of sarcasm laced his voice and Matthew returned his focus on the boy.
“If I ever see him again…” His eyes glimmered with red tears and radiated a hatred so strong Matthew felt it fill the small craft. “I will kill him.”
A smile spread across his lips, one that never should have graced the face of a child, and Matthew shivered. He cleared his throat and looked at the bay doors again. Matthew reached across the instrument panel and pressed a button. The sucking sound of de-pressurization leaked into the cockpit as the loading dock outer doors opened, emptying the contents of the room into space. Their attention diverted to the monitor and the sphere meant to be André’s coffin drifted away from their ship.
The transmitter squawked. “Colonel Robbins, come in.”
He flipped the channel open. “Colonel Robbins here.”
“Can you confirm the success of the mission?”
Matthew inhaled. He turned his attention toward the sphere and pressed another button on the control panel, lining up the trajectory between the spacecraft and the death pod with the mouse controls. He glanced at André and squeezed the trigger on the control; a second later, the pod vaporized.
“Mission success confirmed,” he said, keeping eye contact with the boy, wondering just how far up shit’s creek he was going to be when he got back home with his visitor in tow.
“Confirmation received.” A pause. “Colonel, we’re showing another life-form aboard your craft.”
“Affirmative.”
“Please advise.”
Now for the shit storm. “I found a boy onboard the alien craft.”
“Sir, your orders—”
“—I’m aware of my orders,” he interrupted the officer on the other end of the transmission. “I’ll deal with Commander Lawrence when I land. In the meantime, the spin to the media is this was a rescue mission for one of our own.” I’m going to get my ass handed to me on a platter.
“Excuse me, sir?”
“Tell the media a kid got stuck in a waste pod and we successfully retrieved him.”
“Word already leaked out, sir.”
Damn it. “Then I suggest you correct the mistake.”
Silence greeted his statement.
“That’s an order.”
More silence.
Matthew closed his eyes and sighed. “It’s just a kid.”
“But, sir, your orders.”
He raked his hand through his hair and glanced at André, knowing full well the kid was reading the flurry of thoughts and memories spinning through his head. He was disobeying a presidential directive. Deep shit didn’t begin to describe it. This was more like a deep grave.
“I’m aware of the orders and if I had been met with hostility, I would have carried them out without issue. But I’m not in the business of terminating children, no matter what their origin. Tell Commander Lawrence he can start court-martial proceedings if he disagrees.” More silence. “I need a medical transport when we land. The kid is in bad shape.” He scanned the boy. “Physiologically, he’s similar to our race and I need someone who will have the utmost discretion.”
“Yes, sir.”
Matthew closed the communication channel and directed the spacecraft toward Earth, giving André the first look at his new home. His eyes went wide with wonder at the mixture of swirls of white overlaying a deep blue background and sporadic masses of brown, green, and white. “Earth,” he whispered.
André stared at the planet in the window, the colonel’s conversation and his thoughts all forgotten in the wake of the beauty before him. He blinked, wondering when this hallucination would give way to reality. He’d had so many over the last couple of years, but this one beat them all. Even the drink, what the man next to him had called water, felt so real. Cool and refreshing going down but hot and acidic coming back up. His eyes dropped to the bottle in his hand and he squeezed it, listening to the crumple of plastic under his fingers.
How can I trust this?
Sighing, he took another sip. Cool liquid slid down his sore throat, coating, calming the burn and causing his stomach to rumble, drawing Colonel Robbins’s attention away from the controls.
“What types of food do you eat?” Colonel Robbins asked.
André stared at the colonel. This has got to be a dream. Why else would I be able to understand what he’s saying? The irony caught him off guard. The odds of this being real were insane and he knew it, but the dream was so damn tangible, the thought of food caused his saliva glands to kick into gear and he decided to go along with wherever this vision would take him. “Mainly protein,” he answered. “My mother tried to get me to eat vegetation but I don’t really like it.”
Colonel Robbins let out a small laugh. “What about fruit?” he asked and produced a round red sphere out of the food compartment, handing it to André.
The sphere weighed a few ounces and he studied it, running his fingers over the smooth surface and rolling the stub of a stem through his fingers, twirling it until it broke from the center. A delectable scent drifted from the fruit and he brought it to his nose, inhaling the sweet perfume.
Again he was struck by the vivid sensations of this dream and his gaze drifted to the approaching planet. André looked at the fruit in his hand. An apple, according to the colonel’s thoughts, and he sank his teeth into the red flesh, relishing the tangy sweetness as juices bled into his mouth with the chunk he bit off, setting his hunger reflex into overdrive.
Here’s the part where I wake up.
But he didn’t. Instead he devoured the apple, down to the small hard nub on the bottom and licked the juice off his fingers. “Can I have another?”
Colonel Robbins nodded and smiled, handing André a second apple before returning his attention back to navigating the ship.
André stared out the window, splitting his attention between the apple and the approaching planet, still waiting for the dream to end when a new thought dawned on him. Maybe I’m already dead.
He didn’t have time to explore that further. The engines revved and the ship plummeted through the clouds, darting toward the deep blue mass of water. To their left lay a beige landmass that reminded André of the sand dunes on Zyclon.
“We’re flying over the Atlantic Ocean,” Colonel Robbins explained waving a hand toward the vast blue expanse of water. “In a little while you’ll be able to see the eastern shoreline of North America, where we live.”
“Will do,” he replied and closed the transmitter. “You’re in luck André; you get to see the ruins of our nation’s capital today.”
André smiled, sifting through the colonel’s thoughts. History had been one of his favorite subjects and the demise of the great capital of the United States was one the colonel studied until he could recite it word for word.
The decay of mankind started some two hundred years before, precipitated by religious zealots who got a hold of nuclear weapons, launching them at the colossal giant. The United States returned in kind and then other nuclear nations jumped in and an all-out holocaust ensued. But what drove mankind to near extinction wasn’t the nuclear winter, but a meteor strike that flooded the entire eastern hemisphere, submerging Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia, annihilating life in that part of the world. The northern ice cap shifted, covering Alaska and Canada in a glacial sheet that continued to creep toward the United States. The rain forests of South America withered, leaving a burning desert in its wake, and tipping the balance of oxygen in the atmosphere to almost nil, threatening all remaining life forms on Earth.
The creation and construction of domes rose out of these disasters and had been the American way of life ever since.
“There’s the Virginia shore.” Colonel Robbins pointed to the white sands, turning the space ship in the same direction.
The pristine beaches gave way to the wreckage that was once Washington DC, the capital of the United States. Broken structures rose out of the overgrowth, but none as majestic as the solitary unbroken golden dome of the Capitol building lying on the wasted shoreline.
The colonel sighed, his gaze locked on the gold dome until they passed over it.
“You live in domes?”
Colonel Robbins turned toward André, one eyebrow cocked higher than the other. “Are you reading my thoughts again?”
André’s cheeks grew hot at the piercing stare and he swallowed, nodding.
Wicked Legends: A Dystopian Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection Page 96