by Andrew Gates
Sanja sighed. She hoped he wouldn’t ask that.
“If you refuse to come peacefully, there are a whole bunch of soldiers right down that hill who can make you go. And trust me, they’ll be more persuasive than me. Don’t make this difficult. Take it from me: you want to come.”
Daniel slowly began to lift his gun.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret,” Sanja said.
Selena pressed down on Daniel’s gun, prompting him to lower it back down.
“Dan, think of the kids,” the woman said to him.
“Yes,” Sanja agreed, “think of the kids.”
Daniel sighed, closed his eyes, bobbed his head, then slowly opened his eyes again.
“It doesn’t sound like we really have much of a choice,” Daniel muttered.
“No, you really don’t. Coming with me and meeting the Supreme Chieftain is the only option that makes any sense. If you try to fight this, and let’s say you somehow manage to succeed and stay here in your little dome-cave, it’s only a matter of time before the zombies find and kill you all.”
“We killed the zombie that lived here. The other zombies are too afraid to come here. We’re safe,” the man replied.
“You sound pretty confident. Are you suddenly the zombie expert?”
“She could be right, Dan,” Greyson said.
“Don’t encourage her,” Daniel shot back.
“But think about it. How do you know the zombies won’t come here eventually? Maybe they will.”
“Dammit,” Daniel said, reluctantly. “You’re right. I hate to say it, but you’re right.”
Sanja smiled.
“Good. I’m glad you came to your senses.”
“I still don’t like you, though. You betrayed everyone in the FCP. Those people are down there now, abandoned, because of you. I will never forgive you for that,” he said, pointing right to her.
He doesn’t know that they’re all dead now. He doesn’t know I slaughtered them. He just knows I left them there to die.
“I’m not asking for you to like me,” Sanja said. She looked at each one of them. “I can’t imagine any of you will ever like me. But I hope you all see the value that I can offer.”
“You’re twisted, Parnel,” Greyson muttered.
Sanja ignored the comment and looked up to the sky.
“Fruitful Spring is somewhere up there. That’s our destination. You’ll like it there,” Sanja said as she lowered her gaze to the others again. “The kids will like it too. Lots of shiny floors and fancy technology.”
Selena sighed.
“Allow us some time to share this news with the kids. This will be a lot for them to take in,” she said.
“I understand,” Sanja replied. “I’ll go back down and wait. Call me when you’re ready.”
With those words, Sanja turned and walked down the hill. She felt giddy with joy.
She had done it. She had convinced the humans to come with her peacefully and in doing so, had finally proven herself to Kho Ikharus. He would be so proud of her when he learned of her successful mission.
Sanja excitedly rubbed her hands together. As much as she loved the forest, she could not wait to return to Fruitful Spring.
* * *
Nearly an hour passed.
Sanja wondered if the human survivors would ever join them, or if Daniel had lied to her. She supposed it must have been difficult for them to leave their shelter. It seemed they had made a life for themselves here, wherever they were. It was not unreasonable to expect that they would want to stay.
Still, Sanja knew how to read people and she knew that she had won them over. She doubted that Daniel had lied.
She plucked at some grass and tossed it aside as she sat down on a large rock.
“Where are they?” the officer huffed as he stomped her way. “You assured us they were coming.”
“They are, at least, they should be,” Sanja replied, looking up from the grass.
“Do not be so hard on her. She has led us to them and initiated dialog. That was the task. She cannot be blamed for their tardiness,” added Mopan, the soldier who had spoken to her back in the transport.
The officer sighed and wiped his face.
“I thank you for your words, Kho Mopan, but you speak out of place.”
“Understood. I apologize,” Mopan replied. He bowed, then continued along.
“He’s right though,” Sanja said to the officer. “I brought you to them and initiated contact. That was the job.”
“Then why have they yet to show themselves?”
“The humans aren’t in a rush to leave. They want to come, but they’re just taking their time,” Sanja explained. She stood up from the rock and turned to face the hill.
Sure enough, as if right on cue, the humans had finally arrived. Daniel led the way, still carrying his shotgun in hand. He had a pack of supplies strung over his shoulder.
The grizzly man paused as he beheld the sight of Kholvari soldiers standing next to Sanja. He stood still for a few seconds, then let out an exhale and reluctantly proceeded down the hill.
“The evolved-ones!” the officer said, smiling.
“Told you,” Sanja added.
Greyson came next, with a young child by his side. Then came Selena, also with a child by her side. Taking up the rear were the three older kids. Sanja could not recall their names. One at a time, they each stopped and gasped as they took in the sight of the Kholvari soldiers for the first time. But each of them eventually proceeded along after a few seconds of pause, putting their fears behind them.
“Daniel,” Sanja said, walking up to the first in the group.
The man was on edge, even more so than when they’d first made contact almost an hour ago. His eyes darted in every direction. His hands trembled.
“Sanja Parnel,” he replied. He stopped before her and looked to the Kholvari at her back. “Are they… you know… safe?”
“They are,” Sanja replied, ignoring the fact that he declined to address her as doctor Sanja Parnel.
Now a bit farther down the hill, and closer to the Kholvari, one of the young girls started kicking and screaming. Selena had to lift her up and place her on her shoulders, though that did not stop the kid from shouting and crying.
“No! Mommy, no!” the kid yelled.
“Are they okay?” Sanja asked, motioning to the children.
“No. They’re terrified,” Daniel replied. “They’ve only ever known the mantises as killers. They don’t know how to trust them. This whole thing is a bit confusing for them.”
“I understand,” Sanja replied.
The second little girl started reacting the same way now, kicking and screaming and shouting. Greyson lifted her up too, hoping to calm her down.
“You can imagine what it’s like for them,” the man said.
“Yes, yes, I can,” Sanja replied.
Selena and Greyson both stopped beside Daniel now. Their loud children shrieked like animals.
“Thank you all for coming. You really did make the right choice,” Sanja said, projecting enough to be heard over the shouts.
“Since when do you care about making the right choice?” Greyson asked.
I don’t, Sanja wanted to say. I’m just doing this to look good for Kho Ikharus. All that bullshit about brokering peace between us was nothing but nonsense. But, of course, she did not dare say that.
“Believe it or not, I do care about your wellbeing,” she lied. “I’m not the monster you might think.”
“You’ll have to prove it,” Greyson said over the loud protests of his flailing daughters. “This is a start, but you have a long way to go.”
“Good to know I’m off to a good start, then,” Sanja replied, “and speaking of a long way to go, the ship we’re taking is a few hundred meters away. If you’ll please follow me, I’ll take you to it. Don’t mind the mantises. They won’t harm you.”
The older kids stopped by the others now.
“
What’s going on?” asked a hairy dark-skinned boy. “Is this her?”
“If by ‘her’ you mean, Dr. Sanja Parnel,” Sanja greeted, holding out her hand.
“Jallah,” the kid replied, shaking it.
“Margery,” the girl to his right introduced. She was the shortest in height of the three and showed more visible injury than any of the others.
“Ophelia,” added the one to Margery’s right.
Ophelia. Suddenly Sanja remembered who she was. That’s Tracey Saljov’s daughter, the one who disappeared. How could I have forgotten?
Just thinking about Tracey Saljov again made Sanja clench her fists.
“Pleased to meet you all. I was just about to lead you to the transport that will take us off the planet.”
“Are we really going to space?” the boy named Jallah asked, his mouth open wide.
“We are,” Sanja said.
The boy grinned. The others seemed less excited, almost fearful.
“It’s safe,” Sanja assured them. “I’ve already been up there and back.”
“How far is the transport?” Daniel asked.
“Not far. A few minutes’ walk,” Sanja replied.
“And the mantises will keep their distance?” Daniel continued.
“If you’d like that, I can tell them to keep their distance for now, but once we get into the transport, we’ll have to huddle together,” Sanja explained.
“I’m just concerned about the kids.”
“I get it. I’ll see what I can do,” Sanja said.
She turned from the humans and walked to the officer.
“Good news. They’re ready. They’ll come, but they ask that you keep your distance until we get to the ship,” she explained.
“I can do this, but I do not understand the reason. Are they not aware that we come in peace?”
“They are aware, but it’s still new for them. They’ve been afraid of you guys for as long as they’ve known about you. Now you’re suddenly their friends. It’s a bit of a shock.”
“Shock? You mean like electricity? I do not understand.”
“No, not that kind of a shock. Look, just keep your distance, alright? Can you do that?”
“I can, yes,” the officer confirmed.
“Okay. Good. Do that,” Sanja replied.
She walked back to the humans now.
“Alright,” she said. “They’ve agreed to keep their distance until we get to the ship. Does that work for you?”
Daniel nodded.
“Yes, thank you,” he said.
“Good,” Sanja replied. She turned to the Kholvari and motioned for them to move. “Alright, let’s go!” she said.
The Kholvari nodded back to her, then turned and began walking back to the ship.
“They’re on the move. Let’s follow,” she said.
The humans each looked at one another. Some of them gulped, others nervously clenched their fists or blinked their eyes. But ultimately, they each inevitably took a step forward and followed behind.
“Goodbye, Country Roads,” Jallah said, looking back up the hill.
“Goodbye, Earth,” Margery added.
The group walked off now. The Kholvari took the lead, several meters ahead. Then came Sanja, then the others. They passed by the line of downed trees and shrubbery caused by the bipedal tank, then by the plucked spinach and onward into the forest until they finally came to the muddy clearing.
Suddenly a black-armored claw darted to the sky and the Kholvari troops stopped in place. Sanja nearly collided into her honor guard escort, not expecting such an immediate halt.
“What is it? Why are we stopping?” Sanja asked.
“We are receiving an emergency transmission from orbit,” the guard answered.
“An emergency transmission? Now?”
The officer quickly pushed through the ranks of soldiers until he found her.
“Kal Sanja,” he said, slightly out of breath.
The humans at Sanja’s back nervously took a step back as the officer neared.
“It’s alright,” she said to them. “He is safe.”
“How is she speaking to them?” murmured one of the girls.
“What is going on?” Sanja asked, turning back to the officer.
“Kal Sanja, I am afraid we cannot return to Fruitful Spring. We have just received word from High Command. The Chiefdom is on high alert. It is unsafe to travel to space in this hour.”
“What? How can that be? Supreme Chieftain Kho Ikharus ordered me to bring these humans back to the ship!” Sanja protested.
“Those orders have changed. We are told to redirect to the nearby city of Rakhaan.”
“Why? Tell me why!” Sanja retorted.
The officer shook his head.
“I apologize, Kal Sanja, but I cannot share any additional details.”
“But… but…” As Sanja tried to plead with the officer, he quickly turned and pushed his way back to the front of the squad.
Sanja slowly turned around to face the humans.
“What is it?” Daniel asked.
“I… I’m not sure. They’re rerouting us, but I don’t understand why. He said something about the Chiefdom being put on high alert.”
“High alert? Is this a trap?” Greyson replied, stepping closer to her.
“No, no, I assure you, I’m telling the truth. They’re taking us to safety, just… not to the spaceship.”
“We’re not going to space?” Jallah asked.
Sanja turned on her heels again. The Kholvari were now several meters ahead of her.
I don’t understand. I did the job. I got the humans to come along. She sighed and looked up to the sky. What the hell is happening up there?
Chapter Ten
Swarm
Sup-Chief. Kho Ikharus
High alert! High alert! High alert!
Attention all crew, we are on high alert.
All hands to emergency stations!
This is not a drill. Repeat: This is not a drill.
The ship’s bridge was in chaos. Red emergency lights flickered on and off. Kholvari scrambled from station to station, studying data before their eyes or nervously tapping away at their panels. The bridge crew was so distracted, none of them seemed to notice that Kho Ikharus and four of his guards had entered the room.
The bridge was laid out like an arena, with a circular floor called “the pit” in the center. A massive holographic projection of Fruitful Spring and other nearby ships filled the room, which could be seen from the many rows of stations around the pit on higher levels. A massive window stood on the opposite side of the room, with the moon in perfect view.
“What is happening? Tell me, now!” Kho Ikharus demanded as the emergency message echoed throughout the ship’s speakers. He hobbled to the nearest tactical officer and leaned over his shoulder as he stared at the hologram.
“Your Majesty!” the tactical officer responded in a tone of shock as their eyes met. It was as if he expected Ikharus to be anywhere but here.
“That is my name. What is yours?”
“I am Kho Takom, your Majesty,” he replied.
“And tell me, Kho Takom, what is happening? Why are we on high alert? My honor guards have told me nothing. They rushed me here without word.”
“Your guards told you nothing because they know nothing, your Majesty. We are only just now making sense of it here.”
“Sense of what?”
“Sense of the presence,” answered First Mate Kho Plokah. He promptly stepped in for the unhelpfully vague tactical officer. He quickly bowed, but did not wait for permission to rise back up. “Your Majesty, a mysterious presence has just entered visible range and is slowly on course to the moon. We did not spot the presence until recently. It is incredibly well-cloaked.”
“A mysterious presence? What do you mean by this, Kho Plokah?”
“We are scanning the presence now. We will have more data in a matter of seconds,” Plokah replied.
“Where is the captain?”
“At the helm, down below,” Plokah said, motioning to the pit a few steps down. “But I would stay back here, your Majesty. The captain is too burdened now to be disturbed.”
“I understand,” Ikharus replied, nodding.
“Data coming in from the mysterious presence, Captain!” Science Officer Kal Krikom shouted from a few levels down as she studied information on her terminal.
“What do you see?” the captain demanded, spinning to meet the science officer’s gaze.
“Numerous life signs detected, too many to count. There must be millions,” Krikom read. “I also read high traces of methane gas emanating from somewhere inside the presence.”
“More data coming in,” Takom added, prompting everyone to turn to him now. “I am receiving information on the presence’s size. You will not believe this. According to our sensors, the presence is roughly 300,000 kotans3. It is enormous, Captain.”
“By the Chiefdom, that is twice the size of Vigilant Behemoth,” someone muttered nearby.
“I am generating a live holographic projection of the entity now,” Takom continued. “It should be up in a few seconds.”
“If there are lifeforms in that thing, it must be a vessel. Perhaps we can hail it,” Plokah proposed. He turned to the communications officer, a younger Kholvari whose name Ikharus could not recall. “Can you reach them?”
“I am trying, Kho Plokah,” the communications officer replied. “I have had no luck.”
“Keep trying.”
“Projection coming in now,” Takom said.
Suddenly the hologram in the center of the room zoomed out, displaying a vast view of space. The moon was now visible in the projection, along with a strange collection of swirling objects clustered together in what appeared to be a massive ovular shape.
Ikharus had never seen anything like it before. It seemed so foreign, like something from another culture entirely. And it was gigantic. The mysterious oval was hardly smaller than the moon. The Supreme Chieftain practically let go of the scepter in his grasp, but clenched it at the last second before it could fall to the floor.
“In the name of the Chiefdom,” Ikharus said, stepping forward toward the projection. The room was suddenly silent. Ikharus quickly turned to the first officer and interrupted the quietness of it all. “Kho Plokah, what am I seeing?”