Humble Beginnings (Tri System's Edge Series Book 1)

by Ron Schrader

  “I promise it gets easier,” she heard Jarek say from the hallway where she caught him watching her. “Just keep trying,” he encouraged.

  Annoyed by his comment, Kalla raced to the opening of the cave and grabbed hold of the outside wall, digging her fingers into the rock. Swinging out into the bright daylight, she began to climb. Headed for the top of the cliff, she ignored the way the sun burned every inch of her skin. She was determined to make the best of what she’d become, and avoiding the sun the rest of her life was not part of that plan.

  ~

  The bright sunlight became almost blinding when Anna suddenly awoke to a powerful bright light over her head, accompanied by the usual haze that seemed to always surround her whenever she was awake. It was the blurriness of a world that did not feel real to her, and yet this was her reality, one she couldn’t seem to escape, except in her dreams. Even when she felt most alert, a looming cloud remained intent on keeping her trapped in this life that she knew deep down could not possibly belong to her. But every day was the same.

  “Good morning, Anna,” said Dr. Carter as he entered the room for his daily visit. “And how did we sleep last night?”

  Anna stared at the wall as if in a trance. She had heard the question but had become tired of this whole existence. Finally, after several minutes of silence, Dr. Carter still waiting patiently for a response, she turned to face him. “Nothing new,” she said with no feeling in her response, turning immediately back to the important business of staring at the wall.

  “Perhaps you could tell me how you . . .”

  “Dr. Carter,” she interrupted, “what do I have?”

  He shot a confused look toward her. “I . . . I’m not sure I understand.”

  “What disease?” she asked bluntly. “You ask me about my dreams all the time and then shoot me up with meds. Are you even a real doctor?”

  “Um . . . well, uh . . .” he mumbled.

  “That’s it!” she said with authority. “I’m done taking my pills. No more. If I die, then so be it. Death has got to be better than a life strapped to this bed, sleeping more than I’m awake.” She continued to stare at the doctor as he stumbled for a response he seemed unable to find.

  “But, Anna,” he pleaded, “if you stop taking your medication . . .” He paused as though he was thinking up an excuse. “You’ll die a slow and painful death. I just couldn’t allow it,” he finally insisted. But there was no convincing her. In spite of his best efforts to change her mind, she’d made her choice. Still, he continued to try. “I can’t allow this. It would reflect poorly on my skills as a physician and—”

  “Dr. Carter,” she interrupted, making eye contact with him. “I have made my decision and you’ll just have to live with it.”

  “But, Anna, I simply can’t let you—”

  “No!” she yelled, becoming more irritated than usual.

  With that, Dr. Carter promptly stood and left the room in silence, leaving Anna to sit alone in her room, still confined to her bed but feeling stronger than she had in a long time.

  She sat for what seemed to be several hours, alone, staring at the wall. She wondered what death would feel like. Had the medication kept her from feeling pain? Would she feel the pain as it wore off? But one thought kept creeping back, the thought that she might not be sick at all.

  Voices outside her door soon interrupted her thoughts as they moved closer, until at last the door swung open to reveal a large man she’d never seen before. Unlike the rest of the staff, this man was not dressed in the standard blue suit and white coat. No, this man was clearly military, dressed in a green camouflage uniform tightly fitted to his muscular physique. His large black boots were polished to a shine, running up each leg, stopping just below the knee, pants tucked out of sight. His face was rough looking, with a faint shadow of whiskers surrounding his mouth and flowing evenly across his cheeks and neck. His hair was a sandy brown color and cut short, with shades of gray and white interwoven into the color scheme. His arms were large and muscular, sporting noticeable scars, proof he’d seen battle as a soldier. He carried a large pistol at his side that was rather intimidating on its own, but his gruff voice, which quickly gained her attention and ended the visual assessment she’d been making, scared her the most.

  “What’s this I hear?” His voice rattled the room as he spoke. He frowned at her with narrowed eyes. His jaw was clenched and his arms were folded. One look at him and she knew he was not happy. “The good doctor says you’ve decided to stop taking your medication. Is that true?”

  Looking away from the military figure before her, she only nodded her head to confirm the man’s question.

  “Well, let’s be clear on something, young miss. You’ll need to get that silly idea out of your head and understand that I just can’t allow it.” He smiled as he spoke calmly yet firmly.

  The wrinkled forehead and gruff look about him added to his frightening voice, all of which made her feel very uneasy. She knew he was not to be trusted.

  “Now, the doctor will continue as scheduled. I ask that you please just be cooperative so we can all avoid any unnecessary pain, all right?”

  She made no attempt to respond as her heart thumped loudly in her chest. What does the military have to do with any of this? she wondered.

  When the soldier was finished, Dr. Carter, who stood cowering behind him, reluctantly spoke in a now-shaken tone. “But, uh, General, sir? We can’t really force her, now can we?”

  “Please, doctor, come with me,” he responded. This time he made no effort to smile as he grabbed Carter’s arm and led him toward the door.

  She strained to hear the conversation in the hall while the men spoke. She could just barely see them.

  “We most certainly can, and we will!” she heard the soldier say without so much as a pause. “It’s not as though she really has a choice anyway, so just do what you’ve been told.” With that, the soldier turned abruptly and walked down the hallway, disappearing around a corner and out of her view.

  Dr. Carter stood still for a moment and glanced back into the room before quickly pulling the door shut.

  Sitting alone now, she continued to wonder why the military was involved and why a soldier had insisted she keep taking her meds. Had they infected her with something? Were there others here with her? Nothing made sense, and, yet, so far she’d felt nothing that would indicate she was even sick at all. Other than being regularly knocked out by the medication, she’d felt fine since coming here. Something just wasn’t right.

  An hour must have passed before she realized that no one had come to give her more meds since she’d told Dr. Carter she was done taking them, and she began to notice an unusual clarity instead of the pain Dr. Carter had been so vocal about. She felt better than she had in a long time. Maybe I’d be better off somewhere else, she thought. “Yes,” she said out loud, having made her decision. It was time to get out of this place while her wits were about her. One problem, though, the straps on her arms and legs were tight enough that it was going to be difficult, if not impossible, to get free. But she had to try.

  Without wasting another second, she immediately leaned her mouth down toward her left arm and began to pull at the straps with her teeth until she had successfully freed an arm. Voices outside the door moved closer as she struggled to undo the other three straps, one by one. Just as she loosened the last strap that held her right leg, an orderly opened the door holding a tray with a needle and some pills. Her freedom within reach, she jumped out of the bed. As she barreled through the doorway, she pushed the tray into the orderly’s face, knocking him to the floor and scattering its contents all around him.

  She barely made it a few feet outside the room when she reached a fork in the hallway. From the right she could see a few armed guards walking away from her down the hall while the left hallway appeared empty, so she went left. About halfway down the hallway, an alarm sounded. She continued running, but the hallway seemed to grow longer as she ran until
finally, she felt the sudden sting of several needles pierce her neck and upper back, bringing with them a dizziness that forced her body to the floor.

  As her face slapped against the cold tile, she could see a humanlike creature, blacker than night, running full speed down the hallway toward her. Its skin was tight across its bones, black and smooth like rubber. Its mouth was wide open, giving her a full view of the sharp fangs inside. “Vie!” she yelled, recognizing the creature from her dreams. At the moment her eyes faded to black, she smiled, believing that she would finally get her wish—to meet death and end this miserable existence she’d been living.

  Chapter 6

  General Quinn stood on the bridge of his ship, looking out of the large window into the vast landscape of the planet Esaria. In spite of the amount of time his fleet had been stationed here—over two years now—he never seemed to tire of the planet’s vast mountain ranges surrounding the massive valley where the fleet had taken up camp. The mountains were covered in forest vegetation, resources that could be lived on indefinitely if he were to remain here with his fleet long-term, a prospect that wouldn’t bother him, except for the fact that he had a much larger agenda in mind.

  As the leader of the largest underground militia faction in the Tri Systems—the Alkani Organization—General Nathan Quinn had become accustomed to getting what he wanted. His militia had made some great progress in undermining the efforts of the Tri System Republic, known as the Directive. As a republic, the Directive had worked hard to serve the people of the Tri Systems, but with the vast distance, it was not an easy task. The Tri Systems effectively covered three solar systems with over forty known habitable planets between them, and many more not yet explored. While the Directive still outnumbered the militias when it came to technology and brute force, General Quinn had plans and was determined to end their reign.

  He’d been working hard for many years to overthrow the Directive, but thanks to a recent discovery, the girl now in his possession, he believed the wheels of change were finally in motion. She just needed to cooperate, something she wasn’t exactly doing at the moment.

  Taking in the beauty of the lush and seemingly endless wilderness that spanned his view from the bridge of his ship, the general’s eyes finally stopped as they reached a large manmade structure.

  The giant three-dimensional, decagon-shaped building had been erected above a large breach in the earth that spanned a fifteen-meter radius and funneled downward into the ground many kilometers deep. Large steel beams shot out from each of the ten points on the structure, dropping toward the edge of the breach in an arch-like manner. At first glance, the strange building almost looked like a giant steel spider standing still in the middle of the forest, but this was nothing nature could have imagined. Its design was specifically developed for the purpose of mining this very section of earth, where several years ago, his science team had picked up the readings that brought the general and his fleet here in the first place. The readings his team had taken resulted in the largest known deposits of meyrite that had ever been found in the Tri Systems. And because of its rarity, this particular ore also happened to be one of the most sought-after resources known to man—one that would give the general the political edge he needed to finally take down the current Directive leadership. With control of such a sought-after resource, he would have no problem buying his way to the top, right where he belonged.

  “Sir?” An unfamiliar voice broke the general’s train of thought. He turned to find a scrawny, unkempt man standing before him. The man wore the clothes of a farmer, worn and faded, but was otherwise clean in appearance. He held a tray with a single glass and pitcher of liquid in an attempt to offer the general something to drink. After a brief pause with a complete look of awe on his face, the general quickly swiped the tray from the man’s shaking arms and began to yell.

  “Who let this . . . this thing onto my ship?” Silence filled the room for no more than a few seconds when a young officer boisterously spoke up.

  “I did, sir!” said the young man with a proud smile on his face. “I thought it would make sense to have the slaves take over some of the more menial tasks, allowing your soldiers to tend to more important matters.”

  Without hesitation, the general unholstered his custom brushed-steel Machada 45 and fired off two shots with deadly accuracy, dropping both the officer and his poor choice of help with shots to the head. “Get this mess out of here now!” he barked in the direction of several other soldiers in the room, who stood watching in complete shock.

  Two of the men quickly worked together to dispose of the bodies, dragging them out of the room while several others began the unpleasant task of cleaning the blood from the dark, glass-like floor.

  The dead officer had apparently been unaware of the general’s utter disgust for the indigenous people of Esaria, a simple people that reminded him of the savages he’d had run-ins with as a boy. On his home world, primitive people were all but extinct now, which suited him just fine, but there had been a time when that was not the case. In fact, it was these very savages that had helped the general to become the man he was today—a decisive and calculated leader without remorse.

  Here on Esaria, the locals did at least make for a useful slave labor force for now, so long as he didn’t have to spend much time around them. And anyone stupid enough to let them on his ship wouldn’t be getting any second chances. He would only put up with what he had to for now, and when he was finished on this planet, he planned to terminate them all.

  While he did have a special hatred for more primitive civilizations like the people of Esaria, when it came right down to it, he had a problem with people in general. His experience growing up on Ezlin had made certain of that. One of the outer moons of Etmon, Ezlin was also at the far edge of the Gellar System, and after that, empty space stretched beyond for light years. Being the rocky desert it was, Ezlin was a great place for the worst kind of people to escape the reach of the law, and the native people—very primitive in nature—seemed to fit right in with those crowds.

  His arrival on Ezlin was quite ironic. As lowlife con artists, his parents had been trying to escape the law on the capital planet of Gaialandra, and as fate would have it, they were duped into buying land on Ezlin. They learned too late that Ezlin was a dangerous place, but it was either take their chances and leave or face prison time. So they’d run from their small-time woes right into a den of wolves, sealing their own fate with their blood and leaving their young son to make his own way among the thieves and murderers who called Ezlin home.

  His hate for others may as well have been bred into his DNA, thanks to the irresponsible lives his parents had led. And because of their untimely deaths, he was forced to do the unthinkable at times, just to survive. Without parents to take care of him, lying and stealing had become his way of life. Killing would eventually become the inevitable next step, something he quickly found to be a powerful tool. In his circle, a man willing to kill when necessary earned respect, though his respect was more fear induced.

  While his men were cleaning up his mess, the general turned back to his view of the planet. He had almost achieved his lifelong dream of ruling over the Tri Systems, but this girl he believed held the final key that would make his dream a reality wasn’t being as cooperative as he’d expected.

  “Why won’t she just break!” he yelled out as he stared into the lush, forest-covered surface of the planet. She had been weighing heavily on his mind now for weeks as a constant reminder of an ever-growing failure at his hands. Never before had the general encountered one with such a strong will as hers, and learning the secret of her power had become an unbearable itch that he just couldn’t seem to satisfy, even with all the technologically advanced resources available to him.

  “General . . . sir?” One of the low-ranking soldiers currently assigned to guard duty interrupted the general’s thoughts. Somewhat small in stature, the young soldier stood before the general with such a lack of confidence tha
t he couldn’t help but shake slightly with fear. After taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, the young man continued. “She’s been, uh, heavily sedated again with almost double the last dose. But, um, Dr. Carter insists that her, uh, body is slowly adapting to the drugs. He, uh, can’t say for certain how long we can, um, keep her under.” Sweat dripped from his brow as he finished speaking.

  General Quinn turned to face the soldier who stood before him at a noticeable distance. With a scowl, the general waved his arm at the young soldier, motioning him to leave. The soldier quickly disappeared from the bridge while the general wondered if he’d been too lenient on the poor excuse of a soldier. Fortunately, however, the general had already been given the opportunity to release some tension just moments earlier, sparing the young soldier from punishment—for now.

  With the soldier gone, General Quinn imagined what the consequences would be if this girl were to wake up. If they couldn’t keep her under, he would have to find a way to terminate her, but without knowing her secret, termination just couldn’t be an option. Carter needed to buy them more time. He needed to know more about her. Without wasting any more time, the general abruptly turned to one of the officers on the deck. “Get Carter up here NOW!” he barked.

  The officer immediately picked up his comm unit and called the doctor’s research lab, the tone of his voice stressing the urgency of Carter’s immediate presence on the bridge.

  Once satisfied that his order had been properly fulfilled, the general turned back toward the massive window, where he gazed once more upon the beautiful landscape that seemed to be the only element of calm in his life at the moment. As his eyes rolled from hillside to hillside, taking in all of the textures and colors in their extravagance, his mind recalled the moment he’d first met this incredible girl just a few short weeks ago. He could recall a sense of angst in his first encounter with her, knowing instinctively that she was a real threat to him and his way of life. Something about her had reeked of power from the moment he laid eyes on her, and now, knowing that his senses had served him well, he knew that in order to survive he would have to take that power from her. He wanted and needed to achieve that end and knew that if she awoke before he could complete that task, it would not likely end well for him.