There would be better, more suitable places for humanity to start over, but as he walked toward the lakeshore, the pebbles grinding under his boots, he thought this was a good place to begin.
Footsteps distracted him, and Dex peered over his shoulder to see the large Yas coming toward him. “Each day the sun rises, we have a chance for a new beginning,” the Freeborn said, stopping near the water. He crouched, his knees cracking, and scooped up water, running it over his face and long, dark hair.
“I suppose you’re right,” Dex said. He copied the big man and instantly felt better at the touch of the cool water.
“We’re going to have a lot of work to do. It’ll do us well to remember that saying. Let us begin each morning with that mantra.” Yas stood, tying his hair into a long ponytail.
“I can do that. Why are you up so early?” Dex asked him.
“The bed… it’s too…”
“Lumpy?” Dex laughed.
“That’s the word,” Yas said with a smile.
The others hadn’t arrived yet, but Dex was being cautiously optimistic about their return. Monet and the Freeborn girl might have taken the submarine back, so there was a chance no one would see them for a couple weeks yet.
“Where are you going to head when this is done?” Dex asked.
Yas clasped his hands, staring at the lake. “Our people have already decided to remain with the majority. We do not want to isolate ourselves. Our skills of hunting and living off the land will be helpful to the population.”
The majority of their arrivals at camp had originated from work detail under the Occupation, and many of them had never needed to fend for themselves. Dex included. “That’s good of you.”
“And you?” Yas turned the question around on Dex, and he didn’t have a solid answer.
“I haven’t decided.” He had a new lease on life. A new beginning like Yas had mentioned.
“You’ll figure it out.” Yas turned and began walking toward the center structure, where people were starting to gather at.
Dex followed him, spotting Alec Mason. The young man had changed a lot since the first time Dex had gone with him and Tom to the University. He walked with assurance, confidence, and people expected his leadership. He reminded Dex of Tom as he watched him speaking to the group, a few of them laughing at some remark he made.
Dex saw Marisol emerge from the cabin, and he waved to her.
“The celebration will be tonight,” Alec told the gathered people.
“What about the aliens?” someone asked.
“According to our information, we estimate there are only a scattering of them left out there, and we’re setting our plan to destroy the gates tomorrow,” he told them.
“What about you brother? Where’s Cole?” a woman asked.
Alec shifted on his feet nervously. “We haven’t heard from him.” After a brief pause, he said, “But I expect we will very soon.”
Dex appreciated the man’s optimism, but his gut was telling him something bad had happened to the dynamic duo of Soares and Mason. Something howled near the edge of camp, and Dex peered over to see the coyote tromping along the shoreline, looking to the sky.
He heard the sound of the engines before he spotted the hovercar. His heart raced, pounding deeply as Marisol arrived at his side.
Alec reached for his radio. “Whittaker, do you have eyes on this?”
“Dis ship’s got a big letter R sprayed on the hull. I reckon that’s for Reclaimers?” the old man’s voice said through the speaker.
Alec pushed past Dex, walking toward the edge of camp where the others were parked. Dex glanced to the makeshift watchtower on this section of the lakeside cabins, and saw two guns aimed at the ship as it descended.
Alec was jogging now, and Dex followed along, the coyote racing past him.
From here, Dex could recognize the faces. One was a mirror image of Alec Mason’s, only with longer hair, and the second was none other than Captain Soares. The hovercar settled to the dirt patch, kicking up a layer of dust, and the pair clambered out of the ship, landing on the parking pad. Soares’ hands were bandaged, and his eyes were puffy… medicated.
Alec hugged his brother as what seemed like the entire camp arrived behind Dex. Now there was only one group left to return.
Cole
Coming in slowly to make sure no nervous survivor triggered off a weapon at them, Cole turned the hovercar to set it down amidst what looked like a massive ants’ nest. People, so many people, were milling about, carrying boxes of supplies or helping others. Cole couldn’t think of a time he’d ever seen so many humans out in the open at any one time before in his entire life.
He killed the engines in the shadow of a small, tubby cargo alien ship he didn’t recognize and unstrapped to open the doors, shouting a single phrase to grab the attention of everyone there.
“I need a medic,” he bawled, ducking inside to unstrap Soares ready to be taken and treated better than he could manage. People ran in, bundled him out of the way, and gave orders as he was carefully transported.
“What’s this?” a man with an unexpected British accent asked, lifting the half-spilled bags of gel. Cole shrugged.
“The label said it was for treating wounds,” he explained. “He got his hands burned badly a day ago. An alien gun thing did it. I’ve tried to keep his hands cool with water, but I had to keep him hydrated too, so…”
“You did well,” the man said. “And I dare say he’ll keep his hands, thanks to you.”
“He’ll be able to use them again? Properly, I mean?” Cole asked.
“Only time will tell, I’m afraid, but he has a fighting chance now, thanks to you.”
A bark from outside the car caught his attention. Pushing past the man he’d guessed was some kind of doctor, without realizing he was being rude, he barreled outside to see the coyote turning itself inside out as it wagged half its body, dropping to the ground to expose its belly before Cole could reach it.
“Buddy! How you been, boy?”
Another vessel arrived, this one strange, bigger and a little less fearsome than the warships. The camp was abuzz with excitement, and Cole spotted a line of Trackers rush to arrive at the ramp as it lowered.
“Tyrone, call them off!” his brother’s voice said as he arrived at Cole’s side. They hugged briefly, and Cole wanted to give Alec his full attention, but she was there. The Freeborn woman stepped off the ramp, two hundred yards away, and Buddy raced toward her. Lina had lived. He smiled so wide, it hurt. Dozens of people filed from the transport ship, landing with untrusting legs on the grass outside of this encampment.
“Cole, you made it,” Alec’s voice was small.
“Did you have any doubts?” Cole grinned, stalking toward Lina. “Come on, brother. Let’s see what happened.”
Buddy raced ahead, running around Lina’s feet. Their eyes met, and words couldn’t describe what he felt, so he said nothing, stepping fast toward her with two powerful strides. He snatched her up around the waist to lift her and turn her around in the air.
He lowered her until their faces were level and planted a kiss on her lips so hard, he squashed their faces together and made her squeak a little. The magic of the moment was killed by Monet walking nonchalantly past and speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Can’t you two even wait until the war’s over before you start repopulating the Earth? Everyone’s watching!”
Chapter 38
Alec
The cabin was stuffy, and Alec imagined it always would be. He and Izzy had the old greasy windows pried open, the nice autumn breeze blowing in from over the lake. The building was being used to house some of their population after the individual cottages had already been filled, but they’d cleared it out for the purpose of this meeting.
“Will this work?” Cole asked, walking in with Dexter helping him carry a long object. He propped it against the wall and tossed something at Alec. He caught it deftly and studied the white p
iece of chalk.
Dexter used an old cloth to wipe the board with, dipping it into the bucket of lake water they’d used to clean the widows.
“How’s everyone doing out there?” Izzy asked the ex-Hunter.
“People are happy. Lina and Monet are starting to learn what skills everyone has, and they’re marking them all down as requested,” Dex told them.
It was the first step to see what they were working with over here. Already they had another doctor, who had come up with the Barony group, and more than a few mechanically proficient people. As if on cue, Scott, the ex-police officer, walked into the room, wearing a holstered gun. He was taking charge as the head of their police force, which Alec hoped they wouldn’t need for a long time.
“Are we almost ready?” Scott asked.
“Almost there. Can you find the others and tell them we’re good in five?” Izzy asked, and Scott nodded, leaving the building.
Alec waited until a corner was dry and tested it out, a white streak being left behind on the cracked blackboard. “This will do the trick. Thanks, guys.” He could only draw a few letters, knowing how to read but never having the practice of actually writing. So many things had been lost since the Occupation, but Alec was determined to regain some of them.
He passed Izzy the chalk, since she’d been tutored in more than simple letters. Zhao had kept a library full of history books, and even fictional stories. Alec planned on returning to the site eventually to see if any of them survived. If not, there were countless libraries and schools still standing out there, and they were going to need a lot of those resources as they sought to restore civilization.
Buddy sauntered in, stopped, scratched his ear, and continued over to Cole’s feet, plopping to the floor with a sigh. Alec straightened out a few chairs around their tables, fashioned together to form an even square. Izzy had suggested they not place anyone at the head of the tables, so they were all evenly seated. This wasn’t the time for a power struggle.
“I wish we had…” Dex was cut off as Marisol and Yas came through the open double doors, carrying refreshments. There was a loaf of fresh bread, as well as some steaming coffee. They’d returned to the massive warehouse near Chicago that morning, and when it was clear there was no sign of the Occupation, they broke in, taking all the supplies they could get their hands on. There was enough available to sustain their group for a couple years, and Alec had filled another ship with goods for the Barony, which Dex was going to deliver in a few days’ time.
“You read my mind,” Alec said, taking a slice of bread. The butter was soft, hand churned by the Freeborn that morning.
With a cup of coffee in his grip, Alec took a seat beside Izzy as the others filed in. Whittaker and Becca, their finest pilots, came first, greeting them, followed by Lina and Monet. Scott and Soares entered, Soares smiling despite the severe burns on his hands. Marisol came and sat beside Dex, leaving their resident tech wizard, Tyrone.
“Do you mind closing the door?” Alec asked the drone tech, and he did as bid, taking a seat beside Scott at the table.
Alec caught the look Lina gave Cole as she arrived at his side, and Buddy was quick to come see Lina, hoping for a piece of the fragrant bread. Cole’s usual brooding mood was lightened over the last couple days since returning, and it showed. He understood why, because Alec felt the same thing. Lighter. Free.
“Is this everyone?” Izzy asked.
“Think so,” Cole said.
“All right. Then we should…” A knock on the door interrupted her. Tyrone dashed over and opened it to find Daniel and Sylvie. Izzy waved them in. “Glad you could make it.”
There were two empty seats saved for their partners from oversees, and Alec was grateful for their presence. Sylvie smiled at them, taking one of the chairs, Daniel the other. He whispered something in French to her, and she nodded. It looked like she had a translator.
“Okay. We know there’s a lot to do, and rebuilding our society from a few thousand people will be a challenge, but there’s an elephant in the room, and we’re going to deal with it first,” Izzy said, moving to the chalkboard. She drew three lines on it. “We think there are three enemy ships left. Maybe a handful of hovercars, tanks, and whatever else they have. Judging by the communications we were privy to, there appear to be less than a thousand left.”
“They might be trying to trick us,” Scott said. “You know… pretend to be weak, and strike.”
“I don’t think so,” Monet said. “I agree they are weak. But we need to hit them where it hurts and fast. End their reign.”
Alec waited patiently, listening to the conversation before speaking. They were all entitled to their opinions, and he wanted them to be heard.
Izzy drew ten circles. “These are the gateways. Cole has done us the favor of destroying the one in Detroit by himself.” She drew an X through the first circle. “So we only have nine to deal with. The idea is we break into three teams and deal with them by quadrants. Cole and Soares, you’ll go with Becca and take the one in Mexico, Brazil, and Antarctica. Daniel, you and Sylvie will take the one in Spain, Russia, and China.
“Whittaker will escort Scott and Alec to Zambia, India, and Australia. Bear in mind, we haven’t had eyes on most of these, and we suspect there will be people to rescue. We’ll take Wei to China, and we’re finding people among us that speak any local languages to travel with you, should we make contact with any survivors.” Izzy had the circles labeled now and grouped them into three sections.
“What about the aliens? There will be some of them at the gateways, right?” Yas asked.
“We will attempt to annihilate as many as we find, but this isn’t a search and destroy mission. This is to close the gateways,” Soares said, breaking his silence.
“And you’re sure they’re disabled on the other end?” Daniel asked.
“Damn right, I’m sure.” He frowned at the British man, but didn’t let the glower remain long. “Even if I know their hub is destroyed, they are relentless. They may attempt to rebuild and access Earth again. We cannot let them.”
Sylvie asked something in French and Daniel translated for her. “What was it like?”
Soares nodded to Cole, urging him to tell the story. Alec had heard it, but everyone leaned in, curiosity piqued. Soares kept talking before Cole took over. “We were nothing to them. Just another destination for resources. These gates take a long time to build, and their first fleet comes with the power to overtake us, then rule us as they make us build these monstrosities. By the time they are done, the population is so thin, there’s no room for retaliation. It’s an interesting system, but one that relies on patience by the aliens.
“We don’t have a lot to go on, other than the fact they want to strip us of resources, along with so many other worlds.”
Cole nodded and set his coffee down. Lina rubbed his back as he spoke about the hub they were inside. “We didn’t see that much, only what we were able to without being noticed. If I had to guess, I’d say there were dozens, maybe hundreds of access points in that warehouse hub alone. It was larger than any facility I’ve ever seen. If we have ten gates, that means there are so many more worlds out there that have fallen prey to them.”
“Let’s hope that our destroying the hub helped some of the other Occupied planets,” Alec said, and the others nodded along. “Okay, so it’s settled. The gates are dealt with right away, and then…”
“We have to deal with the aliens,” Monet said.
“We know that, but they will die off. Doctor Parvati says they will perish within two months, by her estimation.” Alec thought of the now dead alien they’d kept in captivity.
“What if they signal home, what if…” Monet started, but Izzy cut her off.
“We can’t control that, but I think we need to stay vigilant for the next few months. Rescue anyone we can find, and soon they will no longer be able to survive,” she told them.
“There will be misters out there,” Marisol said, drawi
ng attention to herself.
Dex shook his head. “Fan said they go through one a week. Even if there were a thousand of them, they’d need fifty-two thousand devices to last the year. They’re going to be sick very shortly and die off. I say let ‘em suffer. Why rush their suffering?”
Alec agreed, but it didn’t sit right. “If we find them, we kill the aliens. We’ll do them a favor and exterminate them outright, instead of the cruel slavery they forced upon us.” He sat up straight, and no one argued with his point.
“Tyrone, what information did you have?” Izzy asked the man in the baseball cap. He remained seated, but pulled a couple tablets from a backpack, sliding one to Daniel and the other to Alec, who picked it up, looking at the blank screen.
Tyrone took a third out and tapped it to life. “We have a way to communicate, and I’m working on getting more of these done. The aliens actually created a complex satellite network, which I’ve now been able to block them out from. We have our very own private and secure lines, and we’re going to be able to send information and discuss progress around the world. It’s nothing like before, but it’s a start.” The guy smiled, and Alec was glad they’d decided to infiltrate the Atlanta drone network building rather than destroy it when they had the chance. Tyrone was showing immense value.
“This is better than a start. This is amazing.” Daniel used it to send a message to Alec, who grinned as it blinked over his screen.
The Occupation is over.
Alec flipped it for the others to read. “Are we all on the same page?” he asked their eager group.
“Damn right we are,” Dex said.
Everyone had their tasks, and the groups weren’t going to waste time. They were heading out right away, but Alec stopped Cole before he left, and Soares watched them from the doorway. “Hold on, Cole.”
The rest departed, leaving the brothers inside alone. They’d had some time together since Cole returned, but not as much as Alec would have liked. “I need to see where your head’s at.”
Rise | Book 3 | Reclamation Page 24