by Bethany Shaw
Addison stumbled back, bumping into a crumbling brick wall. She covered her mouth with her hands as her mind fought to process everything. Anyone who already came into contact with an Imanji was dead. Thousands, if not millions, of Earth’s inhabitants had already been murdered.
“I truly wish there was more we could do to help,” Zephyr said.
“Because you feel responsible?” she asked, her voice tinging with anger.
“No.” He opened his mouth like he might say more, but instead only shook his head. “We should keep moving. The other shuttle was looking for survivors in a place called The White House.”
Addison’s head snapped up and she twirled around, trying to place where she was. This couldn’t be Washington DC, could it? If there were indeed survivors at the White House, her dad could still be alive.
Chapter Six
Zephyr watched Addison as she slowly turned in a circle while trying to get her bearings. He couldn’t help but admire her. She was short and fit, much like the women of his planet. No woman on his planet looked quite like her, though. Strong, yet fragile, too. She was mesmerizing.
He inhaled a breath and let it out, chasing those thoughts away. It was getting dark outside and he needed to focus before they ended up under attack.
“We should seek shelter for the night.” He broke the silence. “The Imanji hunt better at dark and come out in greater numbers.”
Addison shook her head and spun back to face him. “I think we’re close. The White House is a few miles this way, I think.” She pointed in the direction she was facing as she nibbled on her lower lip. “We’re in one of the suburbs. If we were a little closer I’d be able to identify a landmark.”
He narrowed his eyes watching as her tongue darted out to wet her lips. She frowned and glanced around again, tucking her lip between her teeth. The city was in ruins, making it difficult to tell where anything was. They didn’t have time if she was wrong and, judging by her demeanor, she wasn’t as sure as she’d like to be.
“First thing in the morning.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook his head. “We can’t risk running into one of their contingents. You’ve seen what they can do.”
Addison sighed and looked at the ground. “Okay. Where should we go?”
“I remember flying over some mountains.”
She whipped her head back around to look at him. “The Blue Ridge Mountains? Those are like an hour away from here.”
It might be an hour away for humans, but it would only be a few short minutes for him. “I fly fast and I’ll keep low to the ground. It’s not safe to stay in areas that were heavily populated. They’ll be here looking for survivors.”
He didn’t give her a chance to argue. His long, fiery wings sprouted from his back as his form shifted effortlessly into a phoenix. She swallowed when he took a step toward her, squeezing her eyes shut and covering them with her hands.
Zephyr leapt, grasped her gingerly by the shoulders, and lifted her into the air. He flew only a few feet over the buildings, hoping not to draw attention to them. Nothing was in sight, but that could change at any moment. He flapped his wings harder, increasing his speed. The sooner they reached the mountains the better.
He glanced at the destroyed city beneath them. Trivial fires still flared from some of the smaller buildings. Vehicles lined the highway, abandoned and broken. There was no sign of life—Imanji or human.
They arrived at the peaks within a matter of moments. Houses, untouched by the Imanji’s violence were scattered across the mountain range. He narrowed his eyes, searching for movement, but found none. This will do.
He swooped down, setting Addison on her feet before landing in a crouch atop a rock. Closing his eyes, he pictured his human form. His bones popped, snapping and realigning until he stood, fully changed.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
He turned to meet Addison’s wide amber eyes. Her gaze was locked on him and she offered him a smile that lit up her entire face before looking away.
She shuffled on her feet. “Does it hurt when you do that? Change into a phoenix, I mean.”
“No. After being onboard the ship for so long it feels good to stretch my wings properly.”
“Is your planet far from here?” she asked as they began the small trek to one of the cabins.
Zephyr ran a hand through his hair. He doubted she would comprehend how many light years away they were from Delphi. “It took us several Earth weeks to get here and that was pushing our engines to the max.”
“Wow, and to think I used to complain about the car ride to Disney.” She laughed out loud as she tilted her head back to look up at the stars that were beginning to pepper the sky.
He frowned, perplexed. What was this Disney she spoke of? Deciding it didn’t matter he said, “The trip back to my planet will be just as long, but Delphi is safe. The Imanji return to space as well for a period of time, until their food supply begins to dwindle.”
Addison sniffled and wrapped her arms around her middle. “There were billions of people on Earth. Who knows how many people they’ve killed.”
Zephyr blew out a breath. He’d read the population numbers and it was nauseating to think of all the people lost. “I know.”
“Is there nothing we can do to save more?” she asked her voice breaking.
“Orion told me there are several continents on your planet, yes?” he asked.
She nodded her head.
“The Imanji will have sent more than one ship to secure the population, at least one for each continent. Perhaps two for the larger land masses. The Retribution is a great warship, but she cannot withstand an assault against that many ships. We will do everything we can to save as many lives as possible.”
“Why only one ship? If your race is so advanced why wouldn’t you send more?”
Zephyr looked to the rugged ground as they walked to find shelter. “When the war with the Imanji first began we had a fleet of twenty ships. They had even more hidden in an underground bunker on their planet. My people never scanned their planet. At the time we had no reason to. The Imanji have been terrorizing the galaxy for a long time. Long before my people discovered them. We never anticipated their deception; we thought we were helping them. The planet was dying according to our scientist. We just didn’t realize they were the ones destroying it. In our short time on their planet they stole the coordinates to all the planets in our database and used our technology to improve their ships ability to feed from the planet. Our understanding is the process used to take months, and with our science they were able to modify it and can now destroy a planet within a few days. Once they had what they wanted, the Imanji attacked our fleet, obliterating all but three of our ships.”
“Can’t you build more?” Addison asked as she chewed on her fingernails.
“No. The ore we used to construct the hull is mined on Catatica.”
She furrowed her forehead, halting her movements. “Huh?”
“It’s a desolate planet that shares the same sun as Delphi, but we are able to mine ore from it,” he explained. As she continued walking to the cabin, he continued, “The Imanjis have an armada of ships blocking passage to the planet. We can’t reach it. Our initial space travel didn’t consist of the ore, obviously, but our first few ships were never designed for interstellar travel like our current warships. The previous technology we used when we first ventured into the galaxy wouldn’t support long distance travel. This is why we only have three ships. Two ships stay in orbit around Delphi, within the protection of the planet’s shield. The Retribution goes out on explorative missions to assist others in the universe.” He glanced up at the sky, still seeing no sign of their enemy. “We should continue this conversation inside.”
She stared at him a long moment and he blinked, realizing she was waiting for him to do something. But what?
“Are we staying in one of these cabins?” she asked as she motioned to the three
cabins that circled around the court he’d landed them in. “Do you think they are empty? I’m guessing probably. No one came out with a shotgun,” she said answering her own question.
“This shotgun...is it a weapon?”
“Yeah. Most people that stay in these types of cabins are hunters. It’s off-season, though. They are probably empty anyway, but it’d be best to let me go in first just to be sure. I imagine a gun would hurt you as much as it would any human.”
He gritted his teeth. The innate urge to step in front of her and verify it was safe nearly overwhelmed him. He should be the one to enter first to ensure no lingering threats were in the dwelling. However, his eyes would give him away in a second and he didn’t want a standoff.
She hustled ahead to the cabin in the middle as he sprinted to catch up, not wanting to leave her alone.
Her hand trembled as she placed it on the knob. She twisted, but it didn’t budge.
“Allow me.” He reached around her and twisted hard. A crack rippled through the air and he shoved the door open.
“You broke the lock?” She spun around rapidly to look at him.
He gulped at their closeness. Her lush lips were only mere inches from his. “A locked door won’t keep the Imanji out.”
She laughed, her breath ghosting over his mouth. “I figured. I mean, you’re super strong?” Her hand reached out and touched his bicep.
He followed her fingers as they massaged his muscle.
“Sorry.” She snapped her hand back, turned on her heel and marched into the house.
He shut the door behind them, which would give the appearance it hadn’t been tampered with should someone show up.
Addison glanced around the room and he followed her gaze. There were two other rooms and a kitchen. Upholstered furniture sat in the middle of the room and a big ugly box sat against a far wall.
Addison clapped her hands together. “Nice!”
Zephyr watched as Addison rushed toward the tall, wide silver box.
“Do you think you can open this?” She turned to him as she placed her hand on the door.
He shrugged as he followed her to the box. Placing his hand on a round knob, he yanked back. The door came off in his hand and he set it on the back of one of the couches.
She gawked at him. “I can’t believe you broke the door off the safe like it was nothing.” She shook her head before turning to peek inside. “Yes!”
“What?” he asked, peering into the safe. He didn’t see what she was excited about. The weapons inside seemed primitive.
“There are three shotguns and a glock.” She knelt down and picked up a small cardboard box. “Plus enough bullets to put up a good defense.”
He grunted instead of answering. Compared to the laser pistols the Imanji possessed, these weapons seemed useless.
“Do you have weapons?” she asked as she stood back up.
“No. We don’t need any except for what is on the warship. Our phoenix form is very effective against the Imanji. They’ve only been able to outfit their ships with the ice weapon they use on us. I’m not sure why they haven’t used it in their other weapons, but I’m not going to complain. The laser pistols they have are more for you than for a phoenix.”
All he or his people had to do was shift and they could take out the Imanji. Their human form was fragile, like a human’s, but as phoenixes their embers, long claws, and fire kept them protected.
“I’ll feel better having these with us when we go back out tomorrow morning.” She set the box back down and moved past him to the kitchen area. “Do you eat?” She opened a few cupboards before she pulled out some cans and set them on the counter. Then she went back to rifling through the drawers, finally stopping when she pulled out a silver contraption of some sort.
“I enjoy food,” he said.
“Can you eat these?” She held up the cans for his approval.
He squinted at the labels on the cans as he walked toward her. They appeared to be some form of beans and vegetables. His nose crinkled in distaste. Humans canned their food?
“Is that a no?” she asked, mistaking his silence.
“I should be able to eat that.” Orion said human’s food consumption needs were very similar to theirs. He couldn’t help but wonder how long the vegetables and beans had been sitting in that can. Would the food even taste good?
Addison put the device on the cans and spun it around, pulling the top off. He leaned forward to peer into the can. It looks disgusting. Even on the ship they grew their own food and though they had to dehydrate their meat for long voyages, they had devices to put the moisture back into it. This, however, looked atrocious.
Addison pulled out a pot and set it on the stove, lighting a fire. She dumped the contents into one and then put the beans into another pot.
“It isn’t much, but it’s better than starving. I’m just glad the power is still on here.”
He disagreed about the food, but didn’t say anything.
She pursed her lips and asked, “Do you think we are safe here for the night?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” That was a promise he intended to keep.
“We’re going back to look for survivors tomorrow?”
“Yes. We need to look for the other shuttle, too. Trust me, we don’t want to be on the planet when the Imanji destroy it.”
He looked toward the window. The lush emerald trees swayed in the wind and he sighed. It was nice here. Plants thrived, the air was mostly clean, and he’d seen the glorious blue hue of the water when they flew over it the other day. Delphi was nice, but it consisted of rigid rocks formed by lava and red oceans that stretched across half the planet.
“When you say destroy, what does that mean exactly? They kill all living things or...”
He turned back to meet her gaze. “They destroy the planet, literally. We’ll need to be aboard The Retribution and jump into FTL, faster than light travel, before the planet reaches critical mass, otherwise the ship will blow up, too.”
Addison placed her hand over her chest, walked to the ragged couch, and sat down. She leaned forward, burying her face in her hands.
“I’m sorry.” Apologizing wouldn’t change the planet’s fate. He ran a hand through his hair and took a seat next to her. “Orion, my science officer, is always figuring out new things. We don’t want your planet destroyed anymore than you do.”
Addison looked up and met his gaze. Tears swam in her eyes. “Why? Why are you so set on helping us? It still doesn’t make sense.”
“I already told you.”
“It seems like there’s more to it.” Addison held his gaze, daring him to deny her accusation.
Zephyr blew out a breath and looked away. He stood and went to the stove, flicking the burner off. “Dinner’s ready.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” she said her voice barely above a whisper.
He sighed as he fumbled through the cupboards looking for utensils. “My family lived on the space station the Imanji destroyed. My parents were the dignitaries on the Imanji’s planet when they turned against us. My parents were the ones that discovered their species and pursued making contacts with them. It’s their fault all of this has happened,” he said as he stared at the goop in the pot. His family’s exploration and insistence on finding other life in the galaxy had cost countless people their lives, including those of his family. “In one day I lost my parents, two brothers, and a sister. My people lost thousands of its citizens. Worlds have been destroyed, their populations decimated. I do this, most of my crew does this, because we don’t want to see others suffer the way we have.”
Her face softened. “How old were you?”
Zephyr gritted his teeth. “Thirteen.”
Addison stood up and walked to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. Nobody should have to go through that.”
He tapped his hand on the counter as he glanced at a spot on the wall. “I’d just left the space station a day be
fore the attack to return to Delphi. At thirteen, every phoenix attends training to learn how to manage changing from one form to another. There were domes on the space station for adults to change to stretch their wings; The Retribution has them too, but younglings don’t have as much control and its safer to do it on the planet or run the risk of blowing a hole in the ship. I don’t know if I was lucky or cursed by not being there. After it happened, I enrolled in the military and worked my way up until I was ranked high enough to command my own ship. I convinced our council to let me leave the planet’s orbit and pursue the Imanji.”
“To seek retribution for what they’ve done?”
“Yes.”
He wouldn’t rest until the universe was free from the tyranny of the Imanji. It didn’t matter if he didn’t know how to defeat them; if he kept pursuing them, he would find a weakness. Then he’d exploit it.
Chapter Seven
Addison shoved her fingers through her hair, doing her best to comb it. The snarls and tangles made it impossible to get it back neatly, but she gazed into the mirror until it was as good as it would get. She snatched the hair tie from her wrist and wrapped it around her hair.
She blew out a breath and tossed her dirty towel into the washer behind her. The bathroom was larger than she’d expected, but it was still a tight space since it housed a washer and dryer unit. She grabbed her clothes out of the dryer and dressed before making her way out into the main room.
Zephyr stood at the counter washing something in one of the colanders in the sink.
“I assume everything is clear out there?” she asked as she leaned her hip against the counter. Her gaze flicked to the window; the curtains were drawn shut, making it impossible to see anything. They’d dimmed the lights in the house to a soft glow, just enough for her to see, but hopefully low enough to keep anyone from finding them.
“Yes. No signs of life, but I did find these.” He shut off the faucet and pulled up the colander to show her. It was full of ripe blackberries. “I assume these are edible?”