Alien Genes 1: Daughter of Atuk

by Petra Theunissen

An eerie silence fell over the Great Council Hall as her words sank in. Eqin wasn't sure anyone actually believed what she'd just told them, but they couldn't be sure it wasn't the truth.

  The Satraps seemed to struggle with what he'd just heard. “What do you want from us?” he asked haltingly.

  Cathy was quiet for a moment, and Eqin wondered what was going on in her mind at that precise point. Then she turned away abruptly. “Nothing. I want Eqin to be released,” she said curtly.

  The Council Satraps shook his head. “Impossible. He has been judged, and will hear his sentence today."

  Clearly, the Satraps wasn't convinced that the human had told him the truth, and Eqin felt like grabbing and shaking him. Why wouldn't they believe her? Didn't they realise that their arrogance would bring about their downfall?

  Cathy stood motionless for a few seconds with her back turned towards the Council, and he could sense she was struggling to control her anger.

  She suddenly spun around. “You will do as I say or I will destroy you all!"

  Eqin was stunned, and so were the Council and the audience. The change of demeanour from calm and collected to violently aggressive was completely unexpected. It was like she was two people at once.

  The Satraps opened his mouth to say something, but he seemed unable to get out a single word. He seemed flabbergasted.

  Hasan stepped forward, pushing the shocked Satraps out of the way. “You wouldn't dare,” he hissed.

  “I demand my right to be the Council Satraps!"

  “You will never have a place on Krinis."

  Eqin watched Cathy's expression and he could see she was struggling to regain her self-control. She was glaring at Hasan in a way that made Eqin think of a hunter seeking its prey and he suddenly felt sorry for the old man.

  Then she changed. It was as if she'd suddenly realised something, and she stepped closer to Hasan who stood his ground.

  “I know you,” she said in a low voice. “You are the descendent of the man who murdered me."

  It was just loud enough for Eqin to hear, and he frowned. What did she mean—who murdered her? It didn't make any sense. He caught Anya's eye and she shook her head as if to tell him to not pay attention to what Cathy was saying.

  But the old man did and for the first time since he had known him, he saw Hasan wince. Then, like a cornered dog, he snarled and attacked Cathy with a speed that surprised even Eqin. He didn't know the old man had it in him still. People scattered as an energy beam sprang from Hasan's hand.

  Cathy, however, hardly seemed surprised. With an equally fast movement of her hand, she countered Hasan's attack with her own beam of energy and as the two met, a powerful explosion rocked the Great Council Hall.

  Suddenly chaos reigned. Several of the spectators screamed and ducked for cover. Others started running for their lives, trying to get out of the Hall as fast as their legs could carry them. Some stumbled and fell, but the rest continued, trampling over the fallen bodies. Some guards tried to restore order, but they were simply pushed out of the way. The Resistance fighters let go of their hostages and jumped down the steps, surrounding Hasan and Cathy, but Anya shook her head and motioned them to leave. She rushed over to help Eqin, but a guard stopped her. She hesitated a few moments before tackling him. He was down in a few seconds and she continued towards Eqin. As she removed the restraints, she said, “We have to go."

  He shook his head. “No, we can't leave her."

  He looked at Cathy and Hasan, facing each other. They circled each other like wounded animals in battle, seemingly oblivious of what was going on around them. Hasan sent out another bolt of energy, and again Cathy countered it. Another shockwave exploded through the Hall, and the structure shuddered as the pressure hit it. Eqin felt himself literally swept off his feet by their force. Specks of building material rained down on him and he looked up. The hall would collapse if they were to continue the battle. Cathy had become more powerful than even he had anticipated.

  She sent out an energy beam to Hasan, and when he countered it with his own, a new tremor shook the building. More dust fell from the roof and tiny cracks appeared in the walls.

  Eqin glanced at Cathy, who seemed oblivious of anyone around her except Hasan. She seemed as if she were under some kind of spell. He'd never seen her like that and instinctively knew that she was not herself.

  “Cathy, stop! The building will collapse if you continue this,” he yelled at her.

  His words seemed to bring her momentarily out of her trance, and she glanced at the cracks in the wall. Concern was etched on her face, but before she could do anything, Hasan had seized the opportunity to shoot out another destructive bolt of energy. The next moment Eqin saw her flying across the room and crashing into a pillar. She grimaced.

  He sprinted to help her, but a flash of energy whirled him to the other side of the room, and he groaned as he hit the wall. Dazed, he struggled to his feet. On the other side of the Hall, Cathy tried to roll out of the way of another bolt, but she wasn't fast enough and it hit her full on in the back. He saw her flinch, but somehow she managed to struggle up. Without any evident fear, she walked towards Hasan and shot out a bolt in his direction.

  To Eqin's surprise, the bolt hit Hasan straight on and the old man was flung against the wall. He waited for Hasan to get up, but the old man remained motionless. Cathy walked slowly towards the crumpled figure. Her face was drawn, and Eqin wondered how much energy she had left in her. Fighting a man as powerful as Hasan would have taken a lot out of her.

  Anya nudged him on the arm. “We have to go, Eqin. They will be looking for you"

  Although she was addressing him, her eyes were fixed on Cathy and Hasan.

  “We can't just leave them. They'll both be killed."

  “We have to. The structure will collapse, and it will kill us all if we do not get out now", she urged, pulling him towards the doorway.

  He knew she was right, but he couldn't leave Cathy behind. He saw her standing over Hasan. She seemed different somehow, as if she were haunted by an outside force.

  Then he noticed the slight movement in Hasan's hand and as if in some frightening slow-motion scene, he saw the old man directing both hands towards Cathy. “Cathy, watch out!"

  But his warning came too late. Before she could react, Hasan had shot out a powerful energy bolt and as if in a nightmare, Eqin saw the bolt hit her. No! Not after everything they had been through.

  There was an almost imperceptible thud and he opened his eyes just in time to see the energy bolt deflect off the force field around Cathy, straight back to its source. In the split second before the bolt hit Hasan, Eqin saw the terror in the old man's eyes. Then the energy passed through him and hit the floor, leaving Hasan lying motionless.

  The impact was severe enough to send cracks through to the wall. All around them the building started crumbling, and through the dust and falling debris, Eqin saw Cathy slumped on the floor. She was completely exhausted.

  “Cathy!” he yelled as he desperately tried to reach her. “Cathy!"

  She looked up at him. “Eqin..."

  A huge piece of rock came crashing down, barely missing him, and blocking his way. Straining to see through the grey haze of dust and debris, he glanced around desperately for another way to reach her. He ran to the other side, but another marble block smashed into the floor—this time only a few feet from where Cathy was slumped. He saw her struggle to her knees and then collapse again.

  With a sinking feeling, he realised that he couldn't reach her. There simply wasn't enough time. Within minutes, the whole building would fall.

  Anya tugged him towards the exit. “We have to go."

  “Cathy...” he whispered without taking his eyes off her. He saw her reach out her hand to him in despair. And he heard her in his mind.

  Eqin ... You must go. Save yourself.

  I can't leave you.

  You have to. Go. Now. She covered her face as more debris fell on her. Please...

&n
bsp; Then something dashed past him. Like a strange animal, it grabbed Cathy, slinging her over its shoulder.

  “Get out! Now!” The creature shouted as it leapt past Eqin and Anya.

  Anya didn't need a second invitation. Above them, the roof was disintegrating and huge cracks were appearing in the walls. There was little time left. She pulled Eqin towards a doorway.

  They got out in the nick of time and headed directly towards the docking bays.

  An energy beam zoomed past Eqin and he glanced over his shoulder. The guards were in pursuit.

  “We have to get to the light spheres,” Anya yelled, but she didn't need to have. He knew where they had to go.

  When they reached the docking bays, they jumped on the platform, and Anya moved her hand over the panel. An energy beam narrowly missed her before the light sphere covered them. They raced out the docking area. Eqin held on for dear life, secretly wondering if they would survive her driving skills.

  They'd scarcely left when the fiftieth floor of the Piros collapsed entirely, and he watched in horror as the capstone storey was reduced to a heap of rubble. He watched as fleeing government officials raced away in light spheres, and in his heart, he hoped everyone had made it out safely. Especially Cathy.

  “This is a disaster,” Anya said as she glanced at the building behind them. “It was not supposed to happen."

  Suddenly their sphere wobbled as if something had hit it and there was a hissing sound of energy escaping. Anya swore.

  “What the...?” Eqin said, looking at the shell of the light sphere. Out of the corner of his eye he saw two sentry spheres approaching at high speed, shooting some sort of energy weapon.

  Standing firmly at the helm, Anya placed her hand on the control panel. “Hold on,” she said.

  Increasing speed, she maneuvered the sphere out of the conventional airways to a travel path much closer to the city streets. He held his breath. Did she know what she was doing? The slightest error in judgment and they'd smash into a building. He wasn't ready to die just yet. Not after he had just escaped Judgment Day.

  When they narrowly missed a building, he glanced at her, but she seemed unaware of his concern. Her face was unreadable as she concentrated to stay out of reach of the guards.

  When I say ‘jump’ you'll have to jump—no matter what, alright? she said without taking her scrutiny from the path as they headed at high speed towards the city's force field. The exit is bound to be heavily guarded, and there is only one way out.

  Yes, sure, he answered, not entirely convinced he understood her correctly. Surely, she was planning to stop before they reached the city's energy field. But as they approached the force field, she increased speed, and Eqin felt his heart racing. The woman was mad! There was no way they would get out safely. But it was too late to do anything.

  Only seconds before their sphere hit the shield, Anya yelled, “Jump!"

  He was left with no choice, and he felt himself plummeting towards the earth. Just above him, their transport exploded in a flurry of energy, and the ensuing blast shielded them from the eyes of the guards.

  He closed his eyes. Well, that was it. Now all he could do was to wait for the impact when he hit the ground.

  Crunch! He felt a sharp pain go through his body, but it was less than he'd expected. He opened his eyes, and realized he was still alive. Then he noticed he was still moving and realized instantly that they'd been intercepted by another craft. At its helm was a woman in a blue uniform, steering it carefully through the protective shield out into the exposed surroundings of the city. He staggered to his feet.

  “They won't follow us just yet."

  Anya? Her voice came from beside him and he turned to find her offering him a thick coat and a pair of gloves.

  “Put these on. It's cold out here.” She said the words matter-of-factly, as if they were tourists on holiday somewhere.

  Eqin was still numb with shock. A few seconds later and they would have been dead. How had they done it? And being able to fly through the energy field ... Amazing!

  He shivered and put on the coat. He'd forgotten how cold it got outside the city. It had been many years since he'd last ventured outside the temperature-controlled boundaries of Regnos Navis.

  “It will be night soon. We'll have to hurry to find shelter before it gets dark,” Anya said. She took over the controls from the woman in the blue uniform.

  “Where's Cathy?” he asked.

  “I'm not sure, but wherever she is, I'm sure she's okay.” She barely glanced at him. “There is an old stopover a few miles from here. We should be able to find shelter there."

  Eqin looked out over the snow-swept, icy plains, and wondered where Cathy was. How could he be sure she was alright?

  Cathy, where are you?

  * * *

  Chapter 17

  Slung like a sack of potatoes over Karu's shoulder, Cathy complained as he leapt over yet another obstacle.

  “Where are you taking me?” she demanded.

  “To a safe place,” Karu said brusquely as he jumped over a piece of debris. “Would you stop complaining?"

  Cathy noticed the irritation in his voice and frowned. “Why don't you hang like a sack of potatoes over someone's shoulder and see how it feels?” she sniped.

  “I saved your life,” Karu carped. “I didn't have time to ask your permission."

  “Well, thank you so much! Now, could you please let me down?"

  Karu bounced over a few more hurdles before he answered, “No, not before we're in a safe place."

  She decided not to argue. He was probably right. He had saved her life. After her battle with Hasan, she simply didn't have enough energy left to leave the Hall and if it wasn't for Karu's unconventional entrance, she probably wouldn't make it out.

  Some discomfort was a small price to pay for her life, but it still felt like an eternity before he finally put her down in a deserted alley some distance from the Piros. A hot pain went through her back when he dumped her unceremoniously, and she cringed. Hasan's energy bolt had to have injured her more than she'd thought.

  Karu must have noticed a change in her expression, because he glanced at her sharply. “Are you alright?"

  “Yeah, it's just where that damn energy beam hit me that it hurts a bit."

  'A bit’ was an understatement. It hurt like hell.

  His yellow eyes seemed concerned and he moved her hand aside to take a closer look. He was silent for a moment. “You'll live,” he said and then looked up at the skies as if expecting someone. “We need to move. They'll be here soon."

  She looked around, wondering where they would go. The alley seemed like a dead end. She got her answer when Karu removed a heavy piece of rock to expose a gaping hole in the ground. Holding out his hand towards her, he motioned towards the hole. “Let's go."

  Cathy looked down the pitch-black hole, and felt her throat restrict. There was no way she was going in there. She hated dark, cramped spaces.

  She shook her head. “No, I don't think...” But before she could finish her sentence, Karu had pushed her down the hole and she felt herself sliding at a blinding speed into the darkness. Petrified she covered her face and held her breath, wondering if she would ever reach the bottom ... safely.

  After what felt like forever, her speed reduced suddenly, and then she stopped dropping altogether. She felt around with one hand, cautiously—she'd reached even ground.

  “Karu?” she called out.

  She couldn't see a damn thing. It was pitch dark.

  She jumped as something brushed past her. “Follow me."

  Her heart was hammering in her ears. “How? I can't see you,” she said, trying hard to stay calm.

  He didn't respond and she wondered if he'd even heard her. “Karu?"

  Someone touched her head and she drew back, suddenly scared. Then the tunnel filled with a dimmed light. She put a hand to her forehead, found a protrusion there. “What's this?” Karu had stuck something to it.

&
nbsp; “I took it from the Algidans. It reacts to brainwaves. Neat, isn't it?” he said, evidently proud of himself. Whatever the thing was, it provided a little illumination.

  She could swear there was a hint of a smile in his yellow eyes. “Yeah, thanks,” she said. At least it wasn't dark anymore, but she suddenly felt silly for having been so scared.

  “Now follow me,” he ordered and started scurrying along the tunnel too fast for her to keep up—even if she hadn't been exhausted from the tussle with Hasan.

  “Hey!” she called after him as he disappeared in the distance. “Slow down."

  He reduced speed for her to catch up. “Sorry. I thought you'd be much faster than that. I guess humans aren't as agile as I had thought."

  “Well, we don't usually crawl around in tunnels,” she said, feeling rather annoyed. Even at his reduced pace she struggled to keep up with him, but she realized it had little to do with her ability and more with her injury.

  “By the way,” she said. “Did I tell you that I'm claustrophobic?"

  Karu stopped for a second. “Claustro ... what?"

  “Claustrophobic. I'm petrified of small spaces."

  “Small spaces?” He seemed confused, and she wondered if he even knew what it meant.

  “Yes. Like tunnels."

  “Tunnels?"

  “Yes, like this."

  He seemed to think about it for a moment and then scurried along again. “It's our safest way out. They'll be looking for you above ground."

  “No kidding,” she snipped.

  Yes, the Algidans were most likely looking for her and the others by now. After all, they'd destroyed the Great Council Hall, the Algidan's centre of governance. She sighed. It wasn't what she'd intended. She simply wanted to get Eqin out safely. Atuk wouldn't be happy when she found out...

  As they crawled along the narrow, dark tunnel with the musty smell of damp, cold soil, her thoughts went back to her battle with Hasan. If Hasan hadn't attacked her, things might have turned out differently. She'd defeated him, but was he dead? She couldn't be sure. She wasn't even sure what happened to her in the Great Council Hall. It was all a bit blurry. The one moment she was in complete control of her emotions, and the next she was overcome by inexplicable anger and an urge to take revenge. She desperately tried to regain control, but it was a fruitless effort.