by Zara Zenia
I was going to die slowly, and he would watch laughing, because the greatest crime a son can commit against his family is heresy, and my father valued tradition over everything else. My body passed through the hull, accompanied by the screams of a thousand tortured species, undergoing brutal torture to a melodic beat.
That was the Fiori equivalent of music.
The unholy sound traveled with me through the upper hall to my father's command chamber, a temple anointed in the blood of the massacred where he sat on a throne tempered from raw skulls, some lacquered with the remnants of the flesh that had been torn off of them.
“Kneel.” His voice echoed in my head, forcing me to kneel at the foot of the stairs leading up to his throne.
“You stole a human from the reproduction facility, fled your post and now you are hiding in the foreign district. You're to be sent for punishing.”
“There is something different about this human.” It killed me to betray her. “She is still alive, and her condition is stable. I am studying her.”
“Heresy. Why did you steal her?”
“Ambition. I have uncovered a unique opportunity to restore our species' ability to reproduce. You can punish me,” I raised my eye and took a step forward. “Or you can allow me to continue my research and give our family credit for saving the Imperium from extinction.”
He went quiet, so I seized the chance and climbed the stairs until I was standing directly in front of the throne with my eye meeting his.
“You can sit at the head of the Imperial council, and our family will be given enough currency and resources to shape an entire galaxy.”
His gray form lunged forward and he toppled me to the ground with one claw digging into a vital artery on my neck. “You will split the currency between me and your brother.”
I bit his finger, drawing dark droplets of blood and threw him off me so I could pin him down. “You will allow me anonymous, safe passage to any planet I wish so that I can move the human.”
He flipped me over and dug his teeth into the fur on my neck. “You will give me any territory gained.”
I threw him back against the throne and pinned him down. Then I stood up and brushed my fur down. “Agreed.” I gave him my hand to help him up.
“Agreed.” He took my hand and stood up. “You may leave.”
A Fiori contract is made by asserting one’s power over another. If the person could not overpower you, then they had no place negotiating with you. So we wrestled.
Once a contract is made, it's not broken. The only thing my species believed in was death and strength, once called the Holy Duality. To violate an agreement based on these things was a heresy.
Lainey and I would be allowed to escape. We'd find a place to raise our son, and finally end all of this trouble. I wanted to wake her up and tell her everything, but it was late and we were both going to need our sleep.
The next morning, I leapt out bed before the sun had risen, and walked out into the hall where I found a door sitting open near her room. I walked up to it and stood in the door frame.
“What's that?” Madge was standing in front of a robotic printer with a stack of human cloth sitting next to her.
She turned around. “Lainey doesn't have any clothes, and you're going to need them for the baby. I figured since I'm the only one that knows the pattern it might be helpful to send some along with you.”
“Madge, I am so sorry for the way that I treated you. You've been such a good friend. I wish that you could go with us.” She pulled a tiny human shaped shell out of the printer, folded it and set it on top of the stack.
“I never held your attitude against you. You're a good man and you care about her. That's the most refreshing thing.” She pulled a long plastic tube attached to a mechanical device out of the printer, along with a large set of human drink containers. Then she started printing dozens of rectangular pieces of thick cloth.
“I want her to have everything she needs.” Madge's back was to me.
I walked up behind her and put my hand on her shoulder. “You don't have to do all this.”
“Yes I do.” She sobbed and sat down on a chair next to the printer. “Life is so precious.”
I knew that there was something deeper going on inside her, but I didn't know what to do. Fiori females never cry like this, and when they get upset they make it quite clear what their problem is. I just stood by her side and rubbed her back while she sobbed into her hands.
“I wanted a baby so badly. Human women don't do well when they can't have children. It sticks with them for the rest of their lives, and it's even worse when they lose their children. Our heartbreak is nothing compared to that of a grieving mother. They lose their minds, become unstable and overemotional. Some women even start to hallucinate.” She looked up at me. “If you love that woman, you will never allow anything to happen to that child.”
“I promise.”
“Good. Now let me get my work done. You're welcome to print out breakfast. The kitchen's down the hall.”
I remembered crouching on the ground with my hands covering my ears when I saw our boy. I'd never felt anything more powerful in my entire life. If that child died, I would die, and I'm sure with Lainey the consequences would be even greater. Madge was right to tell me that.
I promised myself that if I ever got a chance, I would do something amazing for that woman.
I walked back into my room with Lainey, hoping to get some more sleep before I had to face the thought of leaving, but she was already up and sitting on the side of the bed.
“Sit down with me.” She patted the seat.
“Sure.” I sat down and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.
“What's wrong, Lainey?”
“Nobody will tell me what the planet is like or what I'll find there, and I'm worried that our son won't be safe there.”
“You don't have to worry.”
“Madge told me what the Fiori do to people if they break the law. She said they kill them slowly over a period of years and that if I'm caught that's what they'll do to me.”
“That's not a problem anymore, not for the moment.”
“And why not?” her lower lip quivered.
“Last night while you were sleeping, my father summoned me on my crown. He's the leader of the Fiori fleet. He planned on sending me to be punished when he called me, but I told him that I was using you to find the secret to saving the species and that I kidnapped you to give the glory to our family.”
“That's disgusting.”
“He's a warlord. If I gave him our secret, which I don't plan on doing, he'd be allowed to take leadership of the Fiori council, so he agreed. We'd be the richest, most powerful family in the Imperium. It worked. We made a contract allowing you and I to travel wherever we want without interference.”
She jumped up. “Really?”
“Lainey,” I stood up and took her hands. “For the first time since I found you at the reproduction facility I can honestly say that we're going to be OK.”
We hugged, kissed and stared at one another through tender eyes, smiling. I rubbed her belly and told her that I loved her while I dreamed of a future where we could travel the universe together, free from Fiori.
Chapter 18
Lainey
“You can take me home.” I pecked Markathus on the lips. “When I was in the freezer, I used to dream that I was laying under the covers on the couch with you stroking my cheek, telling me that you loved me. I wanna see the ocean and go hiking in the forest. Markathus, you have no idea just how much this means to me.”
His eyes were averted. “I can't take you to Earth, Lainey.”
“Oh, no.” I sat back down on the bed.
“I'm so sorry.”
“I'm pregnant. I need to be somewhere safe, where I can raise our son without having to worry. I know Earth. I know what dangers are out there and I'll know how to protect him. If we go to another planet, I won't know what to expect.”
“I will.”
“But it's my home.”
“Most of the Fiori fleet is in the Sol system. It's too dangerous. I'm taking you someplace where nobody is going to find you. It's the only way we'll be safe.”
I was displaced, set adrift with no place to call home. I might never get another chance to see my home. “I feel like I'm missing a part of myself and unless I go home, I'll never find it again.”
“Some species have that instinct. They're grounded. Their natural environment is their planet, and when they leave it, they have what is called terrestrial anxiety.”
I threw my head back in frustration. “I'll feel like this the rest of my life?”
“More than likely.” He sat down next to me and took my hand, “Your planet anchors you. It tells you that are in a safe, familiar place. What you need to do is to find another anchor. Use me. When I'm not there, or you feel like you're not home, just remember that I'm with you and that I love you.”
I set my hand on his leg and closed my eyes. He was on solid ground and so was I. He was there to protect me, and he loved me. So long as I was with him I was safe.
Markathus is my home. He will always be with me. Markathus is my home. He will always be with me.
I saw the logic in what he was saying, but I didn't feel the way I was supposed to feel. “It's not working.”
“It'll take time, but I've seen this work before.”
“Thank you.” I hugged him.
The door chimed and Madge walked in with red, puffy eyes from crying. She was holding a black, metal ball in her hand. “I have a surprise for you.”
“Really?” I stood up.
“Come on.” She motioned for us to follow her into the banquet hall which was completely empty.
“Where is it?”
“Here.” She touched the top of the ball, and set it on the ground. She stepped back and a few seconds later the ball grew, and became so black that it seemed to suck all of the light out of the room. When it had finally grown so that it took up half the width of the room, there was a blinding flash and I snapped my eyes shut, certain that I would've gone blind had I not. When I opened them I ran to Madge. The old woman was a saint. “Thank you,” I hugged her.
Sitting in front of me was a treasure trove of baby supplies. There was a wooden crib that could turn into a bed, and stacks and stacks of clothes for toddlers and infants. There were even baby bottles and medicine. She thought of everything.
“I hope it's up to your liking. There's Fiori medicine there too, and a stack of ammunition.” She walked up to the crib and shoved it aside to reveal a carbon box that went up to her waist. “Come here.” She opened the box. Inside were clothes for me, night gowns, pants and dresses, all of them made of the finest material. “I know the styles have changed, but I'm sure you'll enjoy these.”
I reached in and pulled out a lavender evening gown with silver rhinestones covering the bodice. “It's beautiful.”
“There's other things too—a synthesizer in case you run out of raw materials and a mini-printer.”
“Madge,” Markathus walked up behind me, “you're an amazing woman. I've been granted free passage through space and I'd like to invite you to come with us.”
“No.” She shook her head. I wanted to cry. “I've got things to do here. This is where I'm needed.” the old woman could've helped me so much. She'd be able to understand our child and tell us what to do when things went wrong. I didn't want to leave her.
“Will I ever be able to contact you again?” I asked.
“No.” She turned away. “It's not safe, but if you ever find yourself on Valice, you're welcome in my home.”
I hugged her again, and we both cried, promising one another that we'd survive.
When I left Madge's the magnitude of what we were doing hit me. All around me were creatures beyond my imagining, each of them speaking in their own languages, flying through the air and crawling on the ground.
There were spiked balls with black wings and ten-foot-tall purple beasts. Once I saw a blue bipedal with hair that looked like strands of illuminated gold. They never once looked at me, and when I gave them my attention they flew and looked away.
They pushed me through the crowd with a black hood covering my face toward a large, glass tunnel. When we walked inside I was scanned by a metal drone, similar to the one that Markathus watched me through when I was in the freezer. Then an invisible barrier was lifted and I was allowed to enter the hangar where Fiori watched silently as the creatures moved in and out of ovular, carbon ships the size of houses sitting on both ends of the long shaft.
We walked for what must've been a mile until Markathus finally stopped at the hovering structure encased in its own carbon cubicle. A staircase opened up on the side, and I climbed into the simple cabin comprised mostly of rows of straight backed chairs, each with a crown hanging behind it. There were three bedrooms, an empty room for storage and utility rooms with equipment I didn't understand.
I took the ball and set it on my bed. Then I naturally gravitated toward the bridge which was on the top floor. It was a domed room with viewing screens for walls and two flowing metal chairs that conformed to my body when I sat down next to Markathus.
“What's going to happen?”
“When the roof above us opens, the ship will propel itself outside the atmosphere, where we will be stopped and scanned by drones. Then we will leave orbit and the ship will accelerate to interstellar speeds.”
“It's as simple as that? Propulsion?”
“The complex part is what allows us to travel that fast without dying.” He took my hand and squeezed it tightly while I told myself that I was home. He was there so I was home. It didn't bring me any comfort. People had been dreaming of doing this since before the modern era. I was not going to be able to quiet my stomach. My mind wasn't going to be clear. I was going to scream the second we ascended, and I wasn't going to stop.
Going to another planet wasn't going to change things. I'd still be walking around with tired legs like there was no place to sit and even if I did sit down it wouldn't feel right, because I didn't have a home—a place to call my own, and that was something I needed.
It wasn't a selfish need. If it was just me I'd sit through it and ignore the feeling, but I didn't want my son feeling like he had no place to go. Children need to be grounded. He needed to live on Earth where he was conceived.
“Are you ready?” He asked.
“No, but you might as well do it now, because I'm never going to be prepared for this.”
He let my hand drop at my side and grabbed the crown sitting behind him. Once he had it on his head, I heard the sound of metal scraping on glass above us. “It won't be long.” Markathus stayed close by my side, stroking my cheek until we heard a crash and he sat back down on his seat. “It's a rush, Lainey. I need you to try and breathe deeply. I don't want you to pass out.”
My whole body seemed to melt with a fiery rush of adrenaline that knocked the air out of my lungs and crushed me with the full force of gravity. It was like a solid steel weight, threatening to slam my body through the bottom of the hull, back down to the ground miles below us.
No matter how hard I tried I couldn't breathe. My lungs simply weren't strong enough, and the force was too great. The lack of oxygen was getting to me. I felt like I was spinning, my head was dropping and black spots were forming over my vision.
My body was begging for air, fighting with everything that it had. It was unbearable. My eyes were drooping and I started to feel light headed. If this didn't let up soon, I would lose consciousness and eventually die from lack of oxygen.
I was being strangled. It was becoming too much for my body to handle, and my head was starting to fall forward. It was time. This was going to kill me. My eyes closed and a strange thought came to mind.
This planet is going to kill me. That's how it was meant to be.
“Aah! Help me! Help me! It hurts!” I kept my eyes closed, bracing myself a
gainst the cramps that were twisting through my calves, thighs and upper back like a snake coiling around my muscles. If the pain didn't stop, I was going to pass out again.
I felt the stab of a needle pressing into my neck. Then I sat back with a lunatic smile spreading over my lips. “Thank you.” Markathus was leaning over me in Fiori form, watching me closely. He had his hand on my chest and my jugular.
“You should be all right.”
“What happened?” I sat up and looked around. We were in a small rectangular room surrounded by unfamiliar equipment.
“Apparently the human body needs to be trained to withstand ascent into orbit.”
“I could've told you that. What about the humans that were taken to Valice?”
“They were drugged. That's different. I can avoid the problem in the future by putting you out during ascension. Or I can give you something that will allow you to breathe, but you'll still feel the gravitational pull.”
“I don't know.” I sat back and stared at the ceiling. “Are we on our way?”
“Look.” He turned around and pointed to the wall to my left.
I sat up to get a better view. It had become a transparent portal, offering an astounding vision of the black void encircling a vast, charcoal colored globe, shaded by thin, tan wisps of gas. “That's Valice, isn't it?” I asked quietly.
“Yes.”
“Is it the world your people come from or is it a colony?”
“It's our home world. It's such a shame what we've turned it into.”
“It's not natural. The entire surface of the world is made of corpses. Look how disgusting the atmosphere is. There's not one bit of exposed soil is there?”
“We paved it to allow for easy transportation.”
“And what about the animals? The native microbes, plants, fungi and the natural beauty of your planet's environment. Sentient species don't own their planets. Their planets gave them life, a place to evolve and the sustenance they need to survive. Nature should be respected, not dominated.”
Markathus was sitting on the ground with his fur standing on end, rocking back and forth with his eye pointed toward the floor. “I know. Our environment used to be a paradise. We evolved from animals similar to monkeys that would climb through a sea of green roots, up to the treetops where we made our home.