Alien Betrayed

by Marie Dry

  He left, deep in thought. Was that what happened to Marcie? Did Parnell get a hold of her when she was too young to resist his evil? Did she get amnesia to escape who Parnell made her? He had no doubt that Parnell beat Marcie, the way he did that young female in the recording. For that, his death would be slow.

  Marcie had been acting strangely the last few weeks. She only seemed happy when he took her outside. Even then, her speech would change at unexpected times--sometimes in the middle of a sentence. One moment, she’d talk in the shrill voice that made him mourn the fact that he’d chosen a woman with a voice at the same pitch as sonic weapons. Then, suddenly, she would speak like a very young, very polite girl child. And other times she spoke in a well-modulated pleasing voice. Thankfully, the lower pitched voice was gaining the upper hand. He’d noticed her mannerisms subtly changing as well. She never seemed to realize, always acted confused when he questioned her. It was like seeing several personalities fight for supremacy over her body.

  Her hair had grown out a beautiful midnight black. Some red streaks remained. Viglar had assured him that the red wouldn’t grow back. All that would remain was the red streaks. Even so, Larz made sure to reassure her about the red hair. If it did come back, she needed to know he accepted her, even with ugly hair. She insisted her natural color was red but he was beginning to wonder what kind of equipment Agent Parnell had at his disposal.

  Viglar told him she’d been changed on a cellular level and her original DNA was reasserting itself.

  He remembered his plan to get a hold of the club and went in search of Azagor. Larz found Azagor working on a panel in the corridor leading to the communications room that also did double duty as secret assembly room.

  “I need the club,” he told Azagor.

  “I need it more.”

  “I’ll bring it back to you tomorrow.”

  “Have you finally come to your senses and found a good human to take as breeder?”

  “I want Marcie. I will never want another female,” Larz said through gritted teeth.

  At times like this, he missed being a warrior the most. He could’ve hammered Azagor into the ground every time he suggested he find another breeder.

  Azagor stared at him and then nodded. “I have it in my trunk. Come with me.”

  They walked to the warrior quarters and Azagor handed over the club. “After you do your duty with Zurian tonight, come to me.”

  Larz nodded. He would always remember and appreciate what the warriors did for him. If it took him a thousand centuries, he would repay them. Without the warriors practicing with him and Azagor repeating all the technical classes with him, he would’ve emerged from his punishment far behind the other warriors.

  He went to his dwelling, to his breeder who, he suspected more and more, did not deserve the hatred she received from everyone.

  There was a time when humans had advanced rapidly, had invented amazing technologies. Parnell had some of those inventions in his building. Did she volunteer to have her appearance changed with some of the equipment in Parnell’s basement? Her ugly eyes were turning a pleasing brown with green flecks in them. He’d noticed she never looked in the mirror. The first six months after he’d claimed her, she’d spend hours dressing and putting creams and potions on her face. Now she rarely looked in the mirror. Didn’t demand hard-to-obtain products he couldn’t see the use for.

  They knew she was sent to infiltrate them. The question was, did she volunteer? If she did, he was afraid he’d have to keep her in their dwelling for the rest of her life, and he knew how much she’d hate them. Sometimes, she woke at night and the Marcie who had gone after Sarah stared at him. Then she’d blink and that person was gone from her eyes.

  He entered their dwelling and found her frantically touching the primitive TC menu hanging in front of her, seeming to be searching for something.

  “Human, what are you doing?”

  “Searching the phone list.” She frowned up at him. “I wonder why it’s called a phone list and not a TC list.” Shaking her head, she went back to scrolling, occasionally giving voice commands. “And don’t call me human,” she muttered.

  He studied her preoccupied expression. She had the glassy look in her eyes she got whenever she remembered something.

  “What are you looking for on this phone list?”

  “The name of the sheriff in No Name Town.”

  “It’s Adam and why do you want to know his name?” He reached for the sword he wasn’t allowed to use anymore. If he was someone she wanted before him, No Name Town had just lost a sheriff. It wouldn’t take long to run to town, kill the sheriff, and be back in time to execute his duties.

  She frantically shook her head, her hair flying around her face. “No, I want the name of the man who came before him. And I don’t know why I want to know. I just know that I’m going out of my mind searching for it.” She slapped her head so hard he feared she’d injure herself.

  He held her hands when she went to hit herself again. “What is wrong? Do not injure yourself.”

  “I don’t know what’s happening to me. I get these images and dreams and ideas in my head, and it’s driving me crazy.”

  She moved a section of text away and he noticed how thin her arm had become. He fed her every meal and still she lost weight. She insisted it was normal, but he wouldn’t be guilty of bringing the same dishonor on their blood that The Zyrgin had. He accessed the Zyrgin databases on his armguard and did a quick search. It would take her forever on that antiquated machine. “It is William Tate.”

  She didn’t react, just continued to browse frantically through the names hovering in front of her.

  He stepped closer, took her chin in his hand. “Maeve, his name was William Tate.”

  “Who?” She frowned and looked up at him, then looked around as if she’d forgotten where she was. “Who’s William Tate?”

  “He was the sheriff in No Name town before Adam Cowell.”

  She frowned at him, her forehead crinkled with lines. “Why are you telling me that?”

  He gestured to the names hanging in the air. “You were searching through the names when I walked in and told me you were looking for the name of the previous sheriff.”

  “Oh.” She stared up at him, her eyes vacant. “He gave me away,” she said, sounding like a young girl.

  If Zyrgins got chills down their spines like weak humans, his back would be frozen solid. Her eyes were eerily empty and her voice so hollow he expected her words to echo.

  “Who gave you away?”

  “Father. He was supposed to protect me. A sheriff protects you, even if he doesn’t love you,” she said, still in that child’s voice. “Isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?”

  He did a quick search. The sheriff had a daughter. “Maeve?”

  She blinked her eyes and stared at Larz. “Who’s Maeve?”

  “You don’t remember?”

  “No, should I?” She looked at him with unblinking eyes. Eyes that for a moment appeared more green than brown. Eyes that for that one second belonged to Marcie. To the woman Maeve called a monster.

  “No, come and sit down.”

  “All right,” she said, unnaturally docile.

  Even with her loss of memory, she couldn’t be described as a meek human. She threw food at him last week when he asked her if she made it hard to chew on purpose.

  She looked up at him. “I wish...”

  “What do you wish?”

  ***

  Maeve looked around. She’d spaced out again. She sat on the couch with Larz and had no idea how she got there.

  Larz caressed her cheek, his large claw so gentle she barely felt it. “What do you wish?”

  She had no idea what she’d said while she’d been out of it. More and more, she was losing pieces of herself. She feared one of these days she’d wake up and be someone else. The monster would win and Larz would never know how much she loved him.

  She cupped his cheek in her shaking han
d. “Nothing. Remember, this horrible human in front of you cares for you very much.” She couldn’t refer to herself as Marcie. She didn’t know what else they could call her, but she hated that name. And sometimes she thought she was not quite Maeve either.

  She would give him this, make sure he knew how much she loved him, if she lost herself, if the monster won, at least he’d have that.

  “This lizard man cares for you very much as well,” he said.

  She laughed and cried a little, and they sat in silence for a time. Maeve wondered if his heart was capable of being as sad and heavy as hers was. She noticed the wooden club in his hand. “What’s that?”

  He looked down at it and then gave it to her. She gingerly accepted it. “What am I supposed to do with it?”

  “You hit me over the head with it.”

  She recoiled. “What? Why?”

  “It is an old Earth custom. If a woman wanted a man, she hit him over the head with it, and he knew she chose him and he claimed her for his breeder.”

  “Who exactly told you of this Earth custom?”

  “Zacar.”

  “Do you believe it?”

  “No. Natalie hit Zacar over the head with it, and he convinced Zurian that Julia had to hit him with it before he could claim her. Azagor is going to get his breeder to hit him with it as soon as he works up the courage to approach her.”

  “He’s the warrior who fiddles with the equipment?”

  “Yes.”

  She looked down at the club in her hand. She loved the fact that he wanted her to hit him the way Natalie and Julia hit their warriors. Still, she couldn’t just bash him in the head. There were times she was tempted, but she’d never really do it. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Inferior human wood cannot hurt me.”

  All right, maybe she could hurt him a little. She meant to give him a token tap but she got up and, in one smooth motion, swung the club and hit him at the base of his skull. She watched in horror as he swayed in place.

  She dropped the club and knelt next to him. “Larz, are you all right. Call the doctor before you pass out.”

  “I am all right.”

  “No, you’re not. I hit you really hard and he needs to take a scan. Oh, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Larz, in that moment it was as if someone else was in charge of my body and that someone wanted you dead.”

  “You cannot hurt me. Zyrgins are made stronger than humans. Even if you shot me with a pistol, you could not harm me.”

  She lay her head on his knee. “What’s happening to me? It’s as if there’s a monster inside me, wanting to take over. Sometimes, it feels as if the monster is winning.”

  He picked her up and carried her to their room. He contacted Zacar to let him know his breeder needed him and received permission to stay with her.

  They lay on the bed and stared up at the transparent ceiling.

  She smiled when the eagle flew over them. “Eagles are my favorite birds.”

  Maeve appreciated the way Larz simply lay with her staring up at the sky. When the moon came up, she pointed out the different constellations to him.

  He told her of the sky on his home world and, by the time she fell asleep, she didn’t feel as if the monster was about to drive her out of her own mind and take over.

  That night she dreamed of being in the camp, of laughing while some men dragged a woman into a tent. “Have fun, boys.”

  A vile shrill laugh jerked her awake. She sat upright and knew she never wanted to remember. Because that had not been a dream but a memory. And, for the first time since she woke not knowing who she was, the nightmare didn’t fade.

  Maeve knew what she had to do, knew who could help her. She just had to figure out a way to evade Larz and get to him. As usual he was up and had left already. Zyrgins seemed to function with very little sleep. And they took the meaning of “idle hands are the devil’s tools” to new heights. They built or trained every hour of the day.

  She got up, showered, and dressed in jeans and a heavy sweater. It was while she ate breakfast that the solution came to her.

  She had Natalie’s TC address and now she gathered her strength and used it.

  “Hallo, Marcie, what can I do for you?” Natalie was scrupulously polite, but her expressionless face said it all. She’d dealt with the monster lurking inside Maeve.

  Maeve suppressed the need to snarl at her not to call her that. “I need the doctor, but I know Larz will freak out.”

  Natalie studied her with those kind brown eyes and then nodded. “I think I can help you. Just continue as you normally do, and I’ll make sure you can come to visit me.”

  They said goodbye. Desperate for some distraction, Maeve accessed the design program on the TC, trying to design a space ship. It didn’t work. She needed at least a rudimentary knowledge of how something worked before she could design a shape for it. Sometimes she wanted to scream in frustration. How could she know how she normally designed if she didn’t even know what her normal life was like?

  Larz came home about half an hour later. He came over and pressed his forehead against hers. She loved the feel of his warm skin. “I have come to take you to Natalie. She and Julia plan to watch movies on the TC and asked if you would like to join them.”

  Maeve jumped up from the couch. “I’d love to go.” To avoid looking too eager she added, “I’d even watch those stupid Space Ranger episodes if it means getting out.” She rushed to dress and comb her hair and forced herself to walk at a normal pace when she joined him in the living room. “I’m ready.”

  They walked in silence all the way to the cave entrance, Maeve jerking her neck this way and that, trying to spot a bird.

  She’d never get tired of being outside, of seeing an Eagle soar against the blue sky. They went through the big door of the cave they’d converted into one large silver room.

  Natalie and Julia sat on the couch and the two little girls played on a blanket at their feet. The scene was so relaxed and happy that Maeve faltered for a moment.

  At the door of the cave, Larz held her back. “I will leave you here. Do not insult Zacar’s breeder.” He seemed to think about it. “And not Zurian’s either.”

  She sighed. “You’d think I go around insulting everyone around me all the time.”

  He stared at her.

  She pushed her hair back, feeling vulnerable. She was doing the right thing. For all of them. “Oh yeah, I forgot, I’m the most despised person around. Baby killers have nothing on me.”

  He bent down and kissed her. “They will learn to like you when they know you better.”

  She smiled, a twisted bitter smile. “Will they?” Maeve turned and walked over to join the domestic scene.

  Maeve knew Natalie had a house inside the cave, but she also knew she’d never be invited there. It was a miracle they allowed her inside the cave.

  Natalie and Julia sat on the couches, the movie frozen in preparation of her joining them.

  “I forgot to bring the popcorn,” she told her best friends.

  Julia jerked and looked at her with wide surprised eyes. “Why did you say that, in that voice?”

  “Say what?”

  Julia looked shaken. “Never mind.”

  Maeve shook her head at the flat image above the TC. The Touch Comm had been invented three hundred years ago and had been hailed as the beginning of new technology. Wireless and incorporating things called a television and their databases they called the internet, it allowed viewing of anything in 3-D images of any size you preferred. And yet Natalie and Julia preferred to watch movies that appeared flat and were so old they looked painted and almost cartoonish with the faded colors and the blurry edges of the characters.

  “I don’t know how you guys can watch those boring flat images,” she said and, as seemed to be happening more and more, it sounded as if a stranger had spoken. The pitch of her voice was changing, lower than the high-pitched voice she knew Larz didn’t like.


  Natalie and Julia jumped up and turned. “Margaret?” they exclaimed together and then frowned and looked around--as if this Margaret would be hiding somewhere in the cave.

  “Nope, just me. Your friendly neighbourhood joiner,” Maeve said.

  She still couldn’t believe that she’d helped the raiders. It must be a mistake. Joiners were considered the lowest of the low because they betrayed their own kind in exchange for money and a promise from the raiders not to attack their homes.

  Natalie’s smile was a little stiff. “For a moment there you sounded just like her. Come and sit here, if you can navigate the monsters.” She motioned to the two little girls on the floor.

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ll call Viglar and ask him to come and see me. He’s out at the moment.”

  Maeve carefully skirted the little girls on the floor who looked at her with the open curious eyes of childhood.

  “Thank you. Who’s Margaret?”

  “She was our friend. She left town shortly before Sarah was taken,” Julia said.

  They all avoided each other’s eyes in the uncomfortable silence that followed her statement.

  “Are we really going to watch one of those flat movies?” Maeve asked them.

  “It’s a classic. It’s a miracle it survived as long as it did,” Julia said.

  “Maybe nothing should survive that long,” Maeve mumbled.

  Julia stared at her. “With the weight you’ve lost, you appear taller.” She turned to Natalie. “And her hair’s the same now that it’s growing out black. It could be her.”

  Natalie shook her head. “It’s impossible.”

  Maeve ignored their strange conversation and frowned down at the blue pelt on the floor. “Is that a blue bear pelt?” she asked, to get their attention off the subject of the changes in her body. It had to be synthetic. Bears became extinct centuries ago and, as far as she was aware, there was no blue bears. There had been white ones, before the ice melted. And maybe black and brown ones. She was positive no blue bears ever walked Earth.

  “It’s my Eduki pelt,” Julia said.

  “I love the color of yours,” Natalie said.