by Maya Kane
She was the only one whose Uniton was fluent enough to understand what he just said. Kate and Danni were still beaming with delight. She knew what was going through their minds—they thought they were free.
And we are. Why can’t I believe this?
She shook her head. “You’re sure?” she whispered to Aron. “You’re sure there was no enemy fire?”
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
Athena sunk to her knees. “I don’t understand.” She looked around and realized that the others would see her anguish straight away. She stood and plastered a smile on her face even though smiling was the last thing she felt like doing.
Aron shrugged. “Their defenses may be different to ours. The beams. You saw them.”
“You remember?”
He nodded. “Yes. That’s how we know there was no enemy fire. We would have remembered the rush. The sight of that destructive beam is forever stuck in my memory.”
“I don’t…” Athena stopped.
It’s over, she told herself. You’re just tetchy from all the adrenaline and lack of sleep.
She watched Aron as he and Redon spoke in hushed tones with the other Dreon. It was time for them to figure out the rest of their lives. She felt giddy at the thought. It was almost luxurious, the knowledge that they could have months of uninterrupted time together without worrying about a strange unknown attacker coming after them. They’d still have to deal with the fallout, but at least they’d be safe.
She turned back around to Kate and Danni. They hadn’t made any plans for after this moment. All they had focused on was attacking as quickly as possible and getting out of there.
“Wow,” she said, whistling through her teeth.
It wasn’t like they were far from the city—Philadelphia was just a few miles away. But it was as dark as if they were in the desert. Who was going to switch on their lights if everybody had gone? She spun around slowly. That was all there was as far as her eyes could see—darkness. And stars. She looked up.
“Do you think there’s anybody else out there?” she whispered. “Other survivors?”
Kate shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve seen no signs.”
“Maybe now we can find out for sure. I was thinking—we flew over the cities during the day. We might see more if we do a flyover at night. If anybody’s still out there, they’ll have rigged up some kind of lighting and heating. Especially in the north. They’d freeze otherwise.”
“Good idea,” Danni said, nodding and rubbing her hands together. They had all climbed out of their spacesuits, but the night air was starting to bite now they weren’t moving.
“Come on,” Athena said. She had finally worked out what was bugging her and she knew how to fix it. “Let’s get back to base and figure out how we can move on with this. There’s just one stop I want to make.”
“This is it?” Kate asked.
Athena nodded. Of course, they couldn’t feel anything through their thick boots. She hunkered down and paused before putting her hands on the ground.
“This is the moment of truth.”
“They’re gone,” Kate said.
Athena nodded. “I know. I know. It’s just… I never figured out what this thing was for.” She counted to three silently and leaned forward, planting her palms on the ground.
At first, she wasn’t sure if it was her own racing pulse she felt. It soon became obvious from the look on Kate’s face that it wasn’t.
“What is this?” Kate gasped.
Athena shook her head. “That’s what we’ve got to figure out. It feels the same as it did the first time. I think it’s some kind of energy source.”
Kate jumped to her feet and stared at the ground. “But how? It doesn’t look like the earth has been disturbed.”
Athena shook her head. “I don’t know. That’s what creeps me out about this. It feels like it’s alive; it’s obviously not human. So how did it get in there?”
Kate pinched her lip between thumb and forefinger and turned back to where the others were standing behind them. “Can we come back another day?”
Athena stared at the others. Each one of them looked utterly exhausted, though light with relief. They should go back to the base and celebrate; leave this for another time.
She shook her head. “I’d rather not wait. What if…” she stopped herself.
Danni groaned. “Come on, Athena. Live a little. We deserve some fun after what we’ve been through.”
“Half an hour,” Athena said quickly, holding up her hands to try and stop them from arguing with her. “Help me search for a half hour. Just to see. And if we don’t find anything, we all go back to the ship and relax.”
The others looked at each other for a couple of moments before nodding their agreement.
26
Athena bit her lip and bent to put her hand to the ground. It was so frustrating—they’d been searching the area for what felt like hours but according to Danni was only fifteen minutes. They had split into groups of two and paced away from where they landed.
Athena had expected to find evidence of the aliens’ presence, but so far there had been nothing. And yet the ground pulsed as hard as ever. They had stumbled onto something big—she just knew it. Too bad she had no way to prove it.
“Come on,” Danni said with a yawn. “We’re not going to find anything. It’s too dark.”
Athena set her jaw. Secretly, she agreed with Danni, but she didn’t want to give up. Not yet.
“What is it you’re looking for?” Danni asked, trailing behind Athena—she was obviously bored out of her mind. Athena didn’t exactly blame her.
“I don’t know,” she said, brimming with frustration. “I just… I thought I’d find something here. Come on—you’ve felt the ground. It’s not normal.”
Danni shrugged. “So? Nothing’s normal right now. My city’s been destroyed. Everybody on the planet seems to have just disappeared without a trace. Our commander thinks we’re traitors. So you’ll forgive me for not caring about the weird pulsey ground. Because I’ve seen a lot of weird shit the past couple days.”
Athena sighed. “What are we supposed to do, just call this a new beginning and try to move on? Shouldn’t we at least try to find out what happened to all of those people?”
Danni made a face. “I saw the feeds. LA was wiped out. I don’t need to know exactly what happened. I just want to move on.”
Athena bristled. “You think you’re the only person who lost everything? I flew over Baltimore. There were no lights; nothing. Utter desertion just like everywhere else. I want to know where they went.”
“Why does it matter?” Danni snapped.
“It matters to me. I want to know what happened. I owe them that much.”
‘Them’ was her stepmother and teenage step-sister. She hadn’t been in contact with them much in the years since she joined the UEF, but now she felt a burning need to know their fate. And it wasn’t just them. It was all the colleagues and friends she’d known over the years.
“We’ll find out,” Danni said, softer this time. “But for now we need to rest.”
Athena stared into her exhausted face and realized Danni was right. There was time to look for answers—it wouldn’t do any of them any good to stay there, shuffling around in the cold and dark until their fingers were numb and unresponsive.
“Let’s go find the others.”
A small light of hope had burned within Athena that maybe one of the others would have found something. A hidden trapdoor under a rock—anything that gave them entry to the secret base and proved her theory wasn’t completely off the wall. But they hadn’t. Eren and Melen were sitting on rocks looking sullen. Kate and Redon had emerged from a thick cluster of trees as she arrived back at the meeting place, giggling and whispering to each other.
Athena looked at Aron and felt a pang of foolishness—why had she sent herself off on such a fool’s errand when she could have been snuggling up to him? She went to him and he opened hi
s arms, pulling her tight to him.
“I didn’t find anything.”
“I’m sorry,” she started to say. “I shouldn’t have insisted we come back here. I just thought…”
She stopped. What had she thought? That the answers would be all laid out for them, neatly wrapping up everything.
“It still doesn’t make sense to me,” she whispered. “Why earth?”
He squeezed her tighter. “I don’t know. But we’ll find out. We’ll rest and go to the scene of their ships tomorrow. Then we’ll come back here when it’s light. Don’t worry, Athena. We’ll find out what happened. Redon will request reinforcements from Dreon.”
“Dreon.” The word was like a punch that knocked the air out of her. “You’ll go back?”
He stared into her eyes for a long time. “Yes. It is my home. You will come too?”
Athena looked around. Never in a million years would she have bet on having a conversation like that with a guy she had only just met—and an alien at that. But she found herself nodding. What was left on earth for her?
“On one condition,” she said, heart leaping at the sight of his happy reaction. “I won’t leave here until I know what happened.”
He nodded. “I promise you. If we can’t do it ourselves, we’ll enlist the help of as many Dreon warriors as it takes.”
Athena woke with a start and looked around. She could have sworn she’d heard the now-familiar drone of the enemy ships. She blinked. There was a tiny window in the wall of Aron’s cabin. She glanced at it, suddenly fearful.
Was there something out there?
She tiptoed over and glanced out.
No, there was nothing outside except for perfect darkness.
She moved back to the bed and pulled back the cover. Aron didn’t even stir from his deep slumber. She lay back down, doing her best not to disturb him.
The strange unsettled feeling had returned to plague her, even though she could think of no reason why. They had defeated the enemy. She was falling hard for Aron, who was now enthusiastically pursuing her to move to Dreon with him. She should have been on top of the world.
She climbed out of bed again and began to pace.
Sure, it had been a long shot. But so what? Kate and Redon defeated one of those ships by themselves. It wasn’t crazy that an entire unit of them had managed to defeat the enemies. She was sure somebody had suggested it before—these guys were technologically advanced but perhaps they weren’t physically strong themselves.
She shook her head and walked another circuit of the cabin. None of it made sense. If they were so physically advanced, what were they doing on earth? And what kind of civilization built weapons that could wipe out a whole planet and then did nothing to protect themselves from attack?
27
Aron opened his eyes. He’d been awake for most of the night, listening to Athena restlessly pace the room. She had thought he was asleep and he’d let her go on thinking that. Now, she was fast asleep at his side.
He sat up carefully and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. He looked forward to the day where he and Athena could enjoy each other’s company without worry or distraction.
He’d lied the day before.
There was much to worry about.
He hadn’t told her about the prophecy in the end. It wasn’t his place to do that. If the elders found out he had shared classified information with an alien, then the repercussions could be severe.
But it was more than that. He wasn’t stupid: he knew how he’d have reacted if an alien had landed on Dreon and told him that his planet held the key to her species’ survival. No matter how attractive, he would have questioned her motives.
He didn’t want Athena to doubt him. She was his other—he knew that now. But how would it look? How would she feel if she knew he had his own reasons for wanting to destroy the enemy?
He sighed and looked away from her. There’d be time to admire her later—plenty of time, he hoped.
Redon was waiting in the strategy room. He looked up and nodded. It seemed to Aron that his commander knew exactly the reason for the strain he was sure was written all over his face.
Aron nodded. “They’re defeated.”
“Yes,” Redon said, yawning and looking around.
Aron cleared his throat. This conversation was not an easy one to initiate, but he knew that’s what he needed to do. “Have you told Kate? Of the prophecy?”
The commander’s face reddened. “No. Of course not. You know what would happen if the elders found out I had done something like that. We’re forbidden from—”
Aron held up his hands. “I know. I didn’t doubt it. I wondered—”
“Have you told Athena?”
Aron shook his head. He saw no reason to elaborate that he’d been unable to sleep because he was so caught up in wondering if he should do exactly that. He closed the door. “You think they sought the same thing as we did?”
Redon shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Well…” Aron took a breath. This was hard for him to say: he’d kept the truth to himself for so many years now. “Have you seen it?”
“Seen…” Redon scratched his head.
“Seen the gift of the prophecy. The thing that will save our planet and help us defeat the Collective.”
Redon shrugged and waved his huge hand. “I’m not the scholar. Out of the two of us, I thought you’d be the one looking.”
Aron tried to smile. He imagined the look on his face seemed strange. “No. I was… too focused on locating the enemy who knocked us out of the sky.”
Redon nodded. “Understandable.” He glanced at the door. “Let us find Zalon. I ordered him to keep trying the radio. He hadn’t managed contact with Dreon last time we spoke.”
Aron nodded, following his commander out of the room. His stomach churned with dread. It had been the perfect time to bring up the subject, but he had been too cowardly to do so.
What was he supposed to say? That he didn’t know exactly what the prophecy referred to? How could he have missed such a vital piece of information?
Redon would surely look down on him. What sort of Higher hadn’t been allowed into the inner circle who knew of such things? Perhaps he should keep the truth to himself.
But then…
Aron sighed as quietly as he could. He had more to think of than just himself. He needed to ensure safe passage for Athena. But they also had a duty to check that everything was as it should be. Because what if the Dreon warriors of the future arrived on earth and found it compromised? What if the enemy had damaged it in some way? Or worse—what if they had managed to spirit it away to whatever planet they originated from? The future of Dreon was at stake—he couldn’t just ignore that.
“Redon,” he said quietly.
“Yes?” the commander said, without turning around or slowing his pace.
Aron’s heart beat rapidly in his chest. He had never felt this nervous before, especially not around Redon. The two of them were like brothers in all but blood.
“I don’t—”
Zalon came barreling out of the engineering room before he could get the rest of the words out.
“What is it?” Aron asked irritably.
Zalon’s eyes were wide and watery. “I did it!” he exclaimed. “I spoke to the high command.”
Redon clapped him on the back and rushed ahead. Zalon had obviously intended to find them because he turned around and accompanied them back to the radio. Aron forgot his nerves and anxiety—this was huge. It meant they might soon return to Dreon, something they had all tacitly accepted might never be possible.
“High Commander,” Redon said authoritatively, sitting on the stool in front of the console.
The radio crackled and fizzed. Redon turned and frowned. “I can’t hear anything.”
“That’s funny,” Zalon said, squeezing past him and scrutinizing the display. “It worked just a moment ago.”
“You spoke to the high command?”
Zalon nodded. “Briefly, sir. I told them I’d go and find you.”
“Did you tell them we needed reinforcements?”
“Yes,” Zalon said. “I told them exactly what you instructed me to tell them.”
“That’s something,” Redon said, wiping his brow. “Come on. We must return to the alien settlement now that it’s light.”
They turned and left. As they did so, Zalon hunched over the radio. “I don’t understand,” he muttered. “It was working perfectly. It shouldn’t have just cut out like that. It’s never done that before.”
28
All the way across the country, Athena couldn’t keep her mind on the gorgeous scenery. The sense of doom and foreboding in the pit of her stomach had only grown now.
She’d run through every possible scenario in her mind. All of them seemed plausible.
She was fully expecting the alien ships to have disappeared by the time they got there. She had convinced herself that it had all been a trap; that the ships had withstood the explosions. It explained why nobody had tried to attack them—it was the equivalent of a human not bothering to swat away a tiny fly.
So she was almost surprised when the burned husks came into view.
“Whoa,” she whispered as they landed.
She jumped off Aron’s back in a movement that was now so familiar it had become effortless. She threw off her helmet and gloves—she wanted to be able to experience as much of this place as possible, because who knew what extra clarity her senses might provide.
She turned and rushed back to Kate.
“My goodness,” she exhaled, wanting to laugh at her own paranoia. “You know, I was awake half the night thinking that this was all a trick and that these bastards just flew away.”
Kate didn’t laugh, though. She touched Athena’s arm. “I knew there was something bothering you,” she said quietly.
Athena laughed. “I know, right? I feel so stupid now. I guess… it seemed weird that it was so easy.”