New York City trembled, burned, crumbled . . . yet kept fighting.
And through day and night of war, the Eastern Forces kept landing. They lost thousands. But they kept storming the beaches, kept fighting in air and sea, kept filling the city and the ruins beyond.
Within three days, a million troops—Europeans and Africans—landed in North America and raised the flags of Earth in the ruins.
On the fourth dawn, Addy stood on the roof of the Chrysler Building, and she gazed upon a city in ruins. Fallen skyscrapers. Mountains of rubble. Dead warships in the water and ravagers smoking on city blocks. Standing here, hundreds of meters above the city streets, she raised a flag.
It was not a flag of America, this land. It was not a flag of Canada, her homeland. It was not a flag from Europe or Africa from where so many soldiers had come, had died here, had fought to liberate this city.
It was a flag of Earth.
A blue planet on a dark sky. From the distance, just a pale blue dot. A mote of dust in the dark cosmos, yet a world that meant everything. The homeworld of humanity. A world in ruins.
"A world we will reclaim," Addy whispered.
Across the ruins, the soldiers of humanity raised their fists, and they chanted her name. From the rooftop, Addy returned the salute.
"We have won one battle!" she cried into her megaphone. "But the war rages on. In the north, in the ruins of Toronto, he lurks. Lord Malphas, leader of the enemy." The crowd booed, and Addy spoke louder. "Lord Malphas! Hear me now! We are coming for you. We are coming to kill you. We are coming to reclaim our world. This is Earth!"
And from across the city, they roared. "This is Earth!"
"Earth rises!" Addy cried, and they repeated her call.
"Earth rises! Earth rises!"
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
For the first time in a million years, the Ghost Fleet flew to war.
Soulships, the yurei called them. Ships as small as starfighters. Ships as large as cities. Thousands of ships, each formed of two dark disks sandwiching a glowing center. The great fleet of the yurei, their home destroyed, flew to war.
Marco gazed through a viewport at them.
"Hope," he whispered. "From the darkness—light."
Lailani stood at his side. She chewed her lip. "I'm telling you, they're flying Oreos. I always did want to fly inside of a giant cookie."
Marco looked around them. They stood inside one of the yurei soulships, the one where they had met Eldest, the ancient yurei who had given him the conch. Ben-Ari and Kemi were back aboard the Marilyn—Marco could see the retro starship outside, so small by the massive soulships, barely a speck.
"The Marilyn looks so small from here," he said.
Lailani nodded. "Like an Oreo crumb."
He rolled his eyes. "You think Oreos are everything."
"Oreos are everything! They are the light and the way."
Marco had asked Eldest if he could stay a while longer on her ship. It was still a long flight back to Earth, and he wanted to soak up the magic of this forest. Lailani had opted to stay too, saying she had never gone hiking in a forest before, and if all she had was a forest aboard an alien starship, well, she would take it. Ben-Ari had grumbled a bit at first, but she relented after Marco and Lailani had agreed to take double cooking, cleaning, and maintenance shifts on the Marilyn the following week. Marco wasn't sure how they'd cook the alien foods the yurei had given them—a variety of breathing fruits and tentacled plants—but figured that anything would taste good after some time in the deep fryer.
He turned away from the porthole, ready to explore that forest right now. The yurei soulship was several kilometers in diameter, providing enough room—several times the size of Central Park—for a rich biosphere. There were no corridors, not even trails, just the trees growing from the dark soil, their bark silvery, their leaves luminous. Alien plants grew between their roots, sprouting feathery appendages, bulbous pods, and gleaming flowers. There were animals too—pets to the yurei, perhaps. Glowing caterpillars crawled on branches, and furry little creatures peered from holes in the trunks, eyes large and luminous.
"They look like tarsiers," Lailani said.
"What are tarsiers?" Marco said.
"A kind of monkey we have in the Philippines," she said. "They're only about the size of a hamster, but they have massive round eyes. Half their head is just eyes! Tourists buy them sometimes. Illegal pet trade. I've never seen them in the wild, though." She hopped toward a tree where the alien critters were burrowing. "Hey there, little buddies!"
Several aliens emerged from a burrow. These ones too were hamster-sized. They had no limbs that Marco could see, however.
"They're balls of fluff with eyes," Marco said.
The creatures hopped along Lailani's arms and nuzzled her. She cooed to them. "Cute little guys. Think the yurei would let me keep one?"
"Not if they've seen 'The Trouble with Tribbles,'" Marco said.
She groaned. "You think twentieth-century references are everything."
He nodded. "They are the light and the way."
Lailani rolled her eyes. They kept walking through the terrarium. They saw only a handful of yurei, and only from the corner of their eyes. The ghostly aliens drifted through the forest, robes fluttering, vanishing whenever Marco or Lailani turned toward them.
"Shy creatures," Lailani said. "Like me."
"You're shy?" he said. "Only last week on the Marilyn, I saw you dancing around in your underwear, rapping that you like big butts."
"I wasn't rapping that!" Lailani said. "It was a hiphop song I had playing on the speakers. I might have just mouthed the words a bit." She looked over her shoulder and sighed. "Besides, my butt is tiny. The tarsiers have more ass than I do." She looked back at him. "And yes, I'm shy around strangers. I'm only comfortable around people I know. Around you and the others. Remember how shy I was at boot camp?"
"I don't remember you rapping there," Marco confessed.
"See? Shy. I remember how—" She frowned. She took a few steps. "What's that?"
Marco saw it. A tree, but different than the others. Its bark was white, its roots twisting, and crystals hung from its branches instead of leaves. As the soulship moved through space, the crystals jangled. Images flickered within them.
"I saw . . ." Lailani touched one crystal, and her eyes widened. "Poet! Look!"
He looked into the crystal with her. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. "It's us. How could it be us?"
They gazed into the crystal together. It showed an image from RASCOM, their first day in the military, almost eight years ago. Marco was standing in formation with Addy and the others. Elvis was there. And Beast. And Caveman. And Sheriff. His lost friends. Sergeant Singh was there, putting the platoon together. In the crystal, Lailani ran up to them, late to join the group. She was so young, so small. Her hair was buzzed short, and she looked like a little boy in her father's uniform.
There was no sound in the crystal, but Lailani—the current Lailani, twenty-six years old, her hair longer—whispered the words with her younger self.
"I'm here, Sergeant!" Tears flowed down the present Lailani's cheeks. "I'm here and ready to kill fucking scum."
Marco watched as the younger Lailani did her push-ups, punishment for being late, then came to stand by Marco—by the younger Marco, that scrawny teenager with the ill-fitting uniform.
"How can this be?" he whispered.
Lailani pointed. "Look! There's something in that crystal too."
They turned toward a second crystal that hung from a branch. It showed an image of a beautiful town in Greece. The soldiers of their platoon were there. God, they were all so young. Addy and Elvis were joking around; she wore a hockey jersey, and he wore leather pants and a leather jacket. Marco was there too, wearing an undersized pink shirt and green trousers. Lailani looked beautiful in a blue summer dress and a wide hat. In the crystal, they sneaked into a house's yard, seeking a place to relieve themselves. A granny fled into the
house, but then emerged moments later, carrying a pot of stuffed cabbages for the platoon.
"I remember that day," Marco whispered. "We had the drill in Greece. We all had to pretend to be casualties of a scum attack, to let the medics practice on us. But God, we goofed around all day. It was a great day." He smiled, his eyes damp. "I loved that dress of yours. I told you that you looked like Audrey Hepburn."
Lailani smiled and slipped her hand into his. "I look nothing like her! Well, maybe the Asian version of her?" She leaned against him. "It was the best day of my life."
The other crystals showed other scenes from their past. Eating in the mess hall. Playing soccer in the desert. Discovering the vending machine and emptying it of candy. Laughing. Lots of laughing.
"It's a memory tree," Marco said. "It's showing our memories." His eyes widened. "Look at that one!"
He held the crystal. Lailani looked with him. In this crystal too, they appeared back at boot camp, their first Sunday there—their first day of freedom. Addy, Elvis, and the others all left the tent to play ball. Left alone with Marco, the young Lailani pulled off her uniform, then lay naked on the bed.
She gasped. "My tiny little butt!" She covered the crystal. "Don't look!"
"I thought you weren't shy with those you know." Gently, he pulled her hand away, watching them make love. When his own backside made an appearance, he shoved the crystal away. "Yeah, this one is boring."
"Hey, I was watching that!" Lailani grabbed it again. She grinned. "Look how skinny you were."
"Hey, I'm still skinny!" Marco said.
She shook her head. "No. You've filled out. In a good way. You're not a scrawny teenager anymore." She sighed. "I still have the body of a broomstick, though." She tapped her chest. "Two mosquito bites."
"I like your body," Marco said. "I think you're perfect."
She lowered her eyes. "Now you're making me shy again." She leaned against him. "Tank you."
"Tank you? You want to run me over with a tank?"
She nodded and gave him a little shove. "Boom."
He feigned injury, falling down onto the forest floor, then grabbed her hand and pulled her down too. Lailani squealed and fell onto him.
"Careful!" she said. "I'll squish you."
He lay on his back, and she lay atop him, and they stared into each other's eyes. He caressed her hair—black, silky, just long enough to run his fingers through.
"I like you with longer hair than that old buzz cut," he said. "Less androgynous."
"You mean I looked like a robot once?"
"Androgynous, not an android," he said.
She spoke in a robotic voice. "I am Lailani the android! Resistance is futile! Surrender, human!"
"I surrender," he said, then kissed her lips.
She blinked. She looked away.
"I'm shy," she whispered. "I'm scared."
"Of what?" he whispered, holding her against him.
"Of hurting you." She nestled against him. "Of being hurt. Of losing somebody I love." Tears filled her eyes. "The yurei said we'll lose somebody. I'm so afraid."
Marco kissed away her tears. "I'm afraid too. And I love you."
She looked at him through her tears. "You ruv me?"
"I love you," he whispered. "For real. I'm not afraid to say it."
She smiled, tears on her lashes. She had always been shy about kissing, even in their youth, perhaps fearing the intimacy. At most, she had given him quick pecks on the lips. Now, for the first time, she kissed him deeply.
They undressed while kissing, and his hands explored her, caressing the curve of her hip, stroking her thigh, and when he moved his fingers farther down she laughed.
"You're touching my tiny little butt!"
He kissed away her words, and her fingers moved down too, stroking him. Their bodies had changed, grown harder, scarred with war, but it felt like they were eighteen again, just two youths in love, hesitantly exploring. They made love for what felt like hours. She sat on his lap, rocking slowly, then lay him down and rode him wildly, his hands on her hips, and when she rolled onto her back, when he lay atop her, she moaned into his neck, eyes closed.
"I love you," she whispered, and they climaxed together under the tree of memories, creating a new memory, one to warm them in the darkness again.
They lay on their backs under the crystals, naked, sweaty, holding hands.
"That," Marco said, "was amazing."
She stuck her tongue out at him. "You mean it was nicer than an army cot with sergeants barking outside?"
He nodded. "Much nicer."
She cuddled him, and he held her close. Eldest's words, the deal she had struck with them, echoed in his mind.
One life.
One life for the fleet.
Him or Ben-Ari or Kemi or Lailani.
I don't want to lose you, Lailani. I don't want to lose any one of you.
He gazed up at the tree of memories, at the visions in the crystal leaves. So many good times. He could see some of his own memories in those leaves: himself with Lailani, but also his days with Kemi back in Toronto, and good times with Addy, and beautiful, bittersweet memories of him and his father. So many moments of his life, all reflected here in this alien tree. Lailani's memories filled the leaves too. Some Marco recognized; they were shared memories. But the tree also reflected memories that belonged only to her. In one leaf, he saw Lailani as a child, scrawny, dressed in rags, playing with a stray cat. In another leaf, she was only a toddler, held in the arms of a girl no older than thirteen—her mother, he surmised. In some memories, Lailani was an adult, standing in an observatory, perhaps in the Oort Cloud, watching the stars and laughing with friends. In another memory she was strolling through a park with Sofia, her lost lover.
And in one crystal leaf . . .
Marco frowned.
In one crystal, high above, Lailani was back in the Marilyn. And she was with Captain Ben-Ari. Kissing her. Making love to her.
He looked at Lailani. She was still cuddling against him, eyes closed.
"You and Ben-Ari?" he whispered.
She opened her eyes and looked up. "Shit."
Marco sat up. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Lailani sat on the forest floor. "I didn't know I had to report to you every detail of my sex life." She sighed. "I'm sorry. That sounded harsh. I just . . . You're not hurt, are you?"
He got dressed quickly. He stood up. "No."
Lailani hopped up too and pulled on her clothes. "Great. You're hurt. You're sulking."
He turned away. "I'm not sulking."
She laughed mirthlessly. "That's sulking!" She stepped around him and held his hands. "Look, Marco, you don't need to be upset. It's not like I cheated on you."
He nodded. He couldn't meet her eyes. "It's not. We're not together or married or anything, after all. I get it. We all like sex. You have it. With me. With Ben-Ari. With whoever."
"Hey." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not like that. Don't you say that. Don't you insult me."
"Then don't keep secrets from me!" He gave a bitter laugh of his own. "You come here, and you sleep with me, and you tell me that you love me, and you make me feel like . . . like there's a chance. That we could be together again. A couple. An actual, real couple. And then I see that?" He gestured at the tree.
Anger filled her eyes. "As if you weren't making moon eyes at Kemi all this time. I know about you two and your little dance and milkshake dates. And besides, I'm sure you slept with other women in Haven. So what? I never said a word about that! I didn't care. I wanted you to be happy!"
"And I want you to be happy." He looked away again. "If Ben-Ari makes you happy, then I won't get in the way. I'll—"
"Marco!" She groaned. "For fuck's sake. When I said that I love you, I meant it. I didn't know the tree would show you that!"
"You didn't know." He nodded. "That explains it."
She let out a longer, louder groan. "Don't be a baby. God! Marco, I was scared, all right? I thought we'd die o
n that planet. I still think we might die! Ben-Ari was lonely. She was scared too. The woman hadn't had sex since the Beatles broke up. She needed somebody to hold her, to be with her, if only for a short while. And . . . I needed her too, all right? After I lost Sofia, I . . . I just needed somebody to hold me. Somebody strong, who could make me feel safe. Make me feel loved."
"I could have been that person," he whispered. "I love you. I've always loved you. And you left me, Lailani. You didn't wait for me. When we were stationed at different bases, you didn't wait. And even on the Marilyn, when we were together again . . ."
Tears now filled her eyes. She looked away, blinking too much. "Marco, haven't you learned that already about me?"
"Learned what?"
Lailani's tears fell. "That I'm broken. That I can't be the woman you want. I can't be sweet and kind and loyal like Kemi. You want a wife. Somebody holy, somebody who'll cook you dinner every day, who'll be forever yours, who'll go on dates and drink milkshakes and be sweet and wholesome. And I can't be that person. I can never be Kemi. I . . . I'm someone who'll always come and go, Marco." She held his hands, gazing at him through her tears. "I'm someone who can never settle down, never be that perfect wife that you want. That you deserve."
"Lailani! I didn't fall in love with you because I thought you'd cook me dinner or be a sweet, charming housewife. I fell in love with you because you're strong, brave, a warrior."
"Then I'm sorry I hurt you," she whispered, trembling, and wiped her eyes. "But I'm not sorry for who I am. For what I did. And you're wrong to make me feel bad."
Earth Valor (Earthrise Book 6) Page 14