Alien Betrayed

by Marie Dry

  The warriors lined up, eleven of them and the little one. Larz’s brother. She frowned. Shouldn’t he have gone through his change? His second change? He had a sword in his hand, almost as big as the other warriors. He might be small, but she’d never want to come face to face with him in a dark alley. Maybe it was the monster inside her recognising a fellow monster, but that little creep was dangerous.

  She searched for a tall handsome figure. Where was Larz? Even as she thought about him, he appeared from the direction of the cave, went around, and set out weapons in a neat row close to the warriors. He went about the task with quiet efficiency, while the warriors took up weapons and went back to their positions. They were something to see, their bare torsos muscled and gleaming in the winter sun.

  Instead of falling in with his brother and the other warriors, Larz merely stood aside, obviously ready to supply them with whatever they needed during the training exercise. Horror settled deep in her stomach. When they’d scaled the mountain, he’d been handing out water. She’d thought maybe they took turns to do the menial tasks.

  Now she had to wonder about it. Why did he do the same thing when the warriors trained on the mountain? Shouldn’t one of the others take a turn?

  I sacrificed for you.

  The words haunted her, but suddenly made a horrific kind of sense.

  She’d come to know the Zyrgins and their ideals. They took pride in being warriors. That was all they did, being a warrior. She knew--with the same certainty she knew a monster lived inside her--he was reduced to this because of her. After what she did to Sarah she deserved--

  She rubbed her brow. Wait, what? She did her duty. Dear Sarah had no business telling tales. Did she?

  For a moment, while a scream echoed around the mountain, she thought she’d shouted her frustration to the heavens. It was only when the warriors didn’t react that she realized the eagle soaring in the sky had made that soul-destroying sound, echoing her agony.

  The lashes on Larz’s back had taken months to heal. When she first woke with her memory gone, he’d used the word warrior in every other sentence. Now he never did. She should’ve realized what was happening. Her vision narrowed until the warriors and Larz appeared distorted and wavy. Curiously numb, she fell against the tree, barely noticing the bark scraping her arm. The scent of pine needles filled her nostrils until her stomach turned. Natalie, Julia, and Sarah were the first friends she’d ever had.

  Like a fist slamming down on her, she remembered struggling while Parnell and Abel put her into a machine. Now, she rocked with her hand still in front of her mouth. Why would she remember such a thing? Parnell was her mentor, wasn’t he?

  ‘You thought to escape me by changing into someone else?’ Parnell snarled in her mind. ‘I had Sarah taken to one of the camps. You will be her new best enemy. Put her under,’ he said to the friend who’d betrayed her.

  What did it mean? Parnell would never do that to her. She was his best agent. Maeve rubbed her aching temples. The strange thought receded.

  She looked around her, feeling dazed, as if she viewed the world through a distorted glass that cut off sound and faded the world around her until everywhere she looked she saw washed-out pastel colors. Was this a memory? Who was the man in the vision? Even as she thought it, the name and face faded from her mind.

  She opened her mouth to call Larz, to do something, and it hit her, like a fist to the temple. Her head jerked under the invisible blow...

  ***

  “I think we’ll get rid of Margaret. She’s too loyal to her friends,” Parnell said.

  Margaret tried to struggle. “I won’t let you steal my mind.” She’d worked hard to carve out a life for herself. To become Margaret, a woman strong enough to defy him. planning a life where he couldn’t reach her.

  “How will you stop me?”

  She came out of the nightmare and dry heaved.

  Bam!

  “You will be the tool I use to hurt your friend Sarah.”

  No, she didn’t want to remember anymore.

  Bam!

  “I admire the scientists from the golden age. So inventive. I found some nano technology. Abel made it work. Let’s test your loyalty to your friend, shall we? I’ve put the clever little nanos into Sarah.” He casually threw a vile with strange mercury like liquid into the air and lazily caught it.

  Bam!

  “Don’t you dare hurt Sarah,” she hissed.

  Parnell smiled at her, a terrible leer that frightened her almost as much as the box. “I’m going to make it so you can save her. Margaret, and her little acts of rebellion against me, will cease to exist. You will be Marcie but I will allow you a boon. You can prevent her from exploding into a million pieces if you drain your body of the neutralizing nanos I’m about to inject into you. You die, she lives.”

  “You monster.”

  “You think I’m a monster? Wait until you meet Marcie.”

  “I won’t let you do this. I’ll get her out of my mind.”

  “I have yet to meet an agent who can withstand the machine.”

  “I will. I’ll resist it and kill you when I get out of this machine, you worthless bastard.”

  “Such language. If you can overcome the Marcie personality, if you are willing to drain yourself dry, and die in the process, then maybe you can save your precious friend.”

  Abel turned on the machine. Cold soul-destroying terror gripped Margaret’s mind. She couldn’t lose herself. She’d seen the agents who’d been put through the machine--and the one who didn’t make it through the procedure. She’d rather be dead than like that.

  The pressure in her head intensified until she screamed with pain. She couldn’t die, couldn’t leave Sarah at the mercy of Parnell. Closing her eyes, still screaming with pain, she tried to imprint one thought on her brain. Help Sarah. Please God let me remember to help Sarah.

  Save Sarah

  Save Sarah

  Save Sarah

  She had to help Sarah. Make sure she didn’t explode. Marcie frowned down at her hands. What the hell?

  Her hands were all wrong. A dusky brown instead of pale and freckled. A strand of hair hanging over her shoulder caught her eyes. Black hair? She didn’t color her hair for this assignment. Did she? She didn’t understand the memory of the machine. It was already fading. All she knew was, in spite of her antipathy toward Sarah, she had to save her.

  Larz would help her. This alien who’d suddenly grown twice his size. Who claimed her and told her he would never call her breeder.

  What if the bomb went off before she could get to Sarah? She shook her head and viciously pulled the strange black hair until her scalp ached. Why would she want to get to Sarah before she exploded? As long as she took a lot of aliens with her, who cared if Sarah exploded? No. What the hell was wrong with her? She looked around at the strange landscape. What was she doing on a mountain? She never communed with nature. Who was she? How did she get out here? She forced deep calming breaths in and out of her lungs, closed her eyes until the chaos in her mind resolved into one thought.

  Save Sarah.

  “Human, what are you doing?”

  She opened her eyes and realized that she had her arms clutched around herself, rocking to and fro, moaning out loud. A part of her wanted to kill Sarah. Didn’t care what happened to her. “You have to take me to Sarah.”

  All the warriors behind him drew their swords.

  Larz stepped in front of her, shielding her from those warrior gazes and sharp swords. “Why?”

  “Parnell put a bomb inside her. It’s nano technology which is--”

  “I know what it is. How do you know this?”

  “I remembered. It’s fading but I’m hundred percent sure Sarah is a walking bomb.”

  Another warrior came to stand next to Larz and she recognised Zacar. “How do we know it’s the truth?” he asked. “You tried to get to her before.”

  “Well, if you want to save dear Sarah you’ll just have to take my word
, now don’t you?” She sounded wrong, her voice at a shrill pitch. And she sounded as if she hated Sarah. And she didn’t, did she? Even in her confusion, she thought it was strange that the warrior took a step back from her.

  She groaned and hit her head with her fist. “I think I’m going crazy, but believe me, Sarah has a bomb inside her and only I can help her.”

  “How can you help her?” Larz asked.

  Even with the turmoil in her mind, the conflicting urges to destroy and help Sarah, she knew he’d never allow her to save Sarah at her own expense. And she had to save Sarah, she knew that with every fibre of her being.

  At the same time, she didn’t want to sacrifice the life she had with Larz. For some reason Sarah was important to them. Larz would never allow her near Sarah if he realized she had to die to save her. Zacar would hurt him if he wouldn’t allow her to help Sarah and he’d been punished enough for her sins.

  Zacar stepped forward. “Stop crying, human. Tell us everything you know.”

  She touched her cheeks and frowned at the wetness she found there. She never cried. It was a sign of weakness she despised. She moved closer to Larz. “Parnell injected her with some kind of mini bomb. Something that bonded to her cells.”

  “Is it on a timer?”

  “He said--”

  She rubbed her forehead, the memory hazing, wanting to disappear. She clenched her fists. She had to remember. Had to tell them before she lost the facts. She had to save Sarah.

  Larz grabbed her hands and she realized she’d been banging her fists against her head.

  “He said--” She tried to grasp the memory. “He said she has nanos in her bloodstream. They will go nuclear when he presses the detonator. Or if a year passes.”

  Zacar grated something and one of the warriors ran to the cave. He moved so fast all she saw was a blur.

  Zacar stared at her and, while his face might have been expressionless, death stared at her out of his eyes. “You knew this the whole time.”

  “I remembered only now.” She looked up at Larz who knelt before her, almost as if he wanted to keep himself between her and the others.

  “You knew before you pretended to lose your memory,” Zacar said.

  He didn’t make sense, but they didn’t have the time for her to point that out to him.

  “How do we neutralize the bomb?” he asked.

  She was vaguely aware of a shuttle taking off with unusual speed. “Parnell said I had nanos in my bloodstream that will neutralize the bomb.”

  Larz grabbed her into his arms and ran. He did it so fast, by the time she realized what he’d done, they were halfway to the cave. “Where are you taking me?”

  It was hard to concentrate on reality when her mind was all jumbled with impressions and different personalities.

  “To Viglar. He will make sure you are not infected with inferior Earth technology.”

  Zacar and the others kept pace with him. Being infected with inferior earth technology was the least of her problems. “Wait, Parnell said you had to transfer the nanos direct from me to her or it won’t work.” She would wait until the last possible moment to tell him she had to die for Sarah to live. She tried to catch Zacar’s eye. He would do what needed to be done without hesitation.

  Instead of running to the cave, they went to a shuttle and Larz strapped her in while Zacar got behind the controls. When they’d taken her from the camp, the ride had been smooth. Now gravity pushed her back into her seat. After what felt like only a few minutes, they bumped against something and the door opened. Larz unhooked her and ran with her down silver corridors that looked exactly like those in the cave. She couldn’t see any windows, but she knew they were on their space ship.

  More harsh grating noises and then she lay on the metal slab that always reminded her of a mortuary. Zacar and Larz grunted at Viglar who pressed invisible buttons on the panel to her left. A laser beam moved over her body. She didn’t feel anything, but still shrank away from it.

  “Be still, Marcie,” Larz said.

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Be still, horrible human,” he said.

  Zacar stared at him then turned to Viglar and said something in their language.

  She didn’t care what they said to each other. She forced herself to lie still. They were wasting time, but trying to jump up wouldn’t get her to Sarah any faster. “We have to get to Sarah. I don’t know how long you’ve kept me here, but it’s close to a year. The bomb could go off at any time.”

  “We are making sure Parnell did not give you an illness.”

  “I don’t care what illnesses he gave me. I have to save her,” she screamed at them. So help her if they didn’t listen to her, she’d shoot them to get to Sarah. She needed to save Sarah before the monster in her head took her over. “You have to get me to Sarah, get the nanos I carry into her bloodstream. You have to get all of them out.” She looked at Zacar, tried to convey the urgency to him. He would ensure Sarah was safe, no matter what. His eyes narrowed and she knew he understood what she was trying to say.

  Larz snarled and moved her gaze back to him with his hand on her chin. “I am your warrior.”

  She blinked at him, confused. “I know that.”

  “You do not look at another warrior.”

  “Okay.” She grabbed his shirt. “Get me to her, Larz.”

  “How do we know you have not turned into Marcie again and want to kill her?” Zacar asked.

  She didn’t make the mistake of looking at Zacar this time. Instead she frowned up at Larz. “I’ve always been Marcie.”

  “Do you remember losing your memory?” Larz asked.

  She rubbed her throbbing temples. “No, I...I don’t know.”

  “What do you remember of the last six months?”

  “The camps, you rescued me, and you kept me in the guesthouse. You claimed me when you grew big. When you went through that third change thing--” She shook her head. “No that’s not right. I woke up and there was a man reptile.” This was going to drive her crazy. She was Marcie, she knew she was Marcie, but everything she believed suddenly seemed wrong. “Never mind what I remember. The nanos in me have to be transferred to Sarah.” She surged up and held onto Larz. Over his shoulder she gave Zacar a pointed glance. “All of it.”

  “Sarah is on her way to the home planet,” Zacar said quietly.

  Good, now you won’t have to die, the monster inside her head told her. “No.” This couldn’t be. If Sarah detonated on their home world, the Zyrgins would annihilate earth. Even the monster didn’t want that.

  “She has to turn back. I can meet her halfway.”

  “We have appraised the warriors with her of the situation. They will help her.”

  “What can they do without the nanos I carry in my blood? I have to get to her.” She tried to shake Larz. “You have to take me to her.”

  “The Zyrgin’s best scientist is on his way to her. He will get rid of the nanos.”

  “What if he can’t help her? She must be so scared.”

  “She’s in stasis.”

  “Oh.” Would that freeze the nanos? Give this scientist from their home world the time to get to her and help her?

  Zacar stepped forward. “We have a way of safely draining the nanos from you and getting them to Sarah. Do you agree to this?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Will it harm Marcie?” Larz asked.

  “It will kill her,” Zacar said matter-of-factly.

  Larz shifted his weight, moved between her and Zacar, keeping Viglar in his sights as well.

  She held onto him. “Please, Larz, let me do this.”

  “No.”

  “My mind is a mess. I know I’m Marcie but, at the same time, I hate her.” She clutched at him. “Larz, please look at me.”

  “I am listening to you, Marcie. But I cannot take my eyes from Zacar.”

  “I need to save Sarah. Oh God, Larz, don’t stop me from doing this. After everything I’ve done to h
er, if there is any way I can help her, I have to do it.”

  “You will not harm yourself.” He was ready to battle Zacar but it was a fight he could never win. If he somehow managed to overpower him, Viglar and the other warriors stationed here might kill him.

  “What happened in the camps--you know what I did. I have to redeem myself. Don’t deny me the chance to redeem my honor.”

  He stilled. That was the one argument she suspected no Zyrgin could refute. He nodded. His claws extended and retracted, and she thought it was an involuntary action.

  “Will it hurt?” she asked the doctor. “When you drain out the nanos, will I feel it? Will it hurt when I die?”

  Larz’s claws extended again with soundless threat.

  “Yes,” the doctor said.

  Larz shifted his weight again, facing the doctor. “You will not touch her.”

  Zacar stepped forward and drew his sword, the movement almost beautiful.

  Larz shifted to put himself between her and the two warriors. “You will not touch her,” he repeated.

  Marcie struggled upright, feeling curiously lethargic. “Please, Larz. Don’t take this chance away from me. I want to die a woman with honor. Someone you can admire.” For so long she’d lived with the motto that the end justified the means. She wanted to die better than she’d lived.

  “I admire you.”

  “No, you don’t. You won’t even take me as a breeder.”

  Zacar and the doctor swung their gazes to her with abrupt predatory movements. She ignored them and put her palm on Larz’s back. “Please, Larz.”

  “You are my breeder, I cannot lose you.” Still, he didn’t face her or take his attention from the other two.

  “Please hold me. If I can look at you while the doctor takes the nanos, I’ll have the courage to do the right thing.”

  He still kept his body between her and Zacar and Viglar. “You cannot ask this of me. I will find another way. You will live.”