“Are each of these pods connected to another civilization?” I asked.
“Our Seedlings, yes,” Baska said.
“Are we… Seedlings?”
Baska laughed, his voice booming. “You are indeed.”
I had a million questions but couldn’t decide which to ask. Instead, I observed the world through the transport window, catching glimpses of the desert continent. We eventually latched to the hub, and Gren began to disembark.
The door opened to a foyer. A round desk sat unguarded in the middle of the room. “We created this to house our Thresholds. We watch from our home and greet our descendants upon arrival.”
“How often does someone show up?” Veronica asked him.
“It’s been three hundred and four years.” Gren seemed admonished by the fact.
The ceilings were high, the lights dim, like it was after hours in an office building. “Was it different before?”
“Earth is one of the later experiments. We lived there for a time, leaving our Seedlings to prosper. Often they fail, and this saddens us. It is good to see you have flourished.”
“I don’t know if ‘flourished’ is the proper word for it,” Veronica muttered.
“Is that so?” Lewen opened the hatch to the ship and walked into the connecting tube, which was at least eight feet high.
“Humans have struggled to coexist, even with the most basic tendencies in common,” Dirk added as we entered the vessel.
It was bigger than I’d thought, and even though it was latched vertically to the hub, the moment we climbed into the tube, we shifted ninety degrees and our feet hit the floor. Veronica clutched my arm for balance as she went through, and Dirk gawked around, hopping twice to test the gravity.
Gren closed the door, and we gathered in a circle. “Do not think that your situation and history is much different than most of our Seedlings. It isn’t uncommon for them to quarrel until there is nothing left. But it is rare to seek out the Threshold. This tells us you are ready.”
“For what?” I asked.
“To come home.” Lewen’s eyes bore into me, and I sensed her presence. My thoughts grew muddled, and I suddenly felt protected, like a child being comforted by their mother.
“We just want to save our people.” I said it, but was intrigued by their proposition.
“That is what we will discuss.” Gren was the first to leave, and the moment he sat on a white chair, the ship unlatched from the station. There were no controls that I could see, only a seat and a viewscreen, with lights encircling it.
“How does he…” Dirk started to ask as we veered away, softly thrusting through the arms of the station. The vessel flew between two pods, moving silently for the planet. Gren controlled the ship with his mind.
We piled onto the bridge, and I stopped behind Gren’s seat. There were benches along the wall, and Baska and Lewen occupied one. Like the rest of the room, they were made of a molded white material, blending into the floor.
“What is your world called?” I asked them.
“Kabos. This is our origin world, but the Rodax live elsewhere.” Lewen answered me, since Gren was busy flying the craft.
We neared the planet, and it was absolutely stunning to see a world from this view. We watched in bewildered silence as the vessel descended through orbit into the atmosphere and continued to sink, moving above the vast desert landscape. From here, it looked like the world was uninhabited, but as we traveled around the planet, the star’s light vanished beyond the horizon. A few minutes after we’d entered the darkness, the lights from a city glowed in the distance.
Veronica stood next to me, our arms touching as we gawked in disbelief. “Is that your home?”
“That is our destination,” Baska said.
The lights grew brighter. It was like something from a dream. Hundreds of skyscrapers rose into the air, their shapes seeming to defy gravity. A few jutted from the desert at forty-five-degree angles, stretching like plants hungry for sunlight.
Flying crafts shuttled across the sky in organized lanes, and we descended to the center of the city. There were people everywhere. Thousands of them were gathering in the streets, marching to the courtyard.
Lewen smirked. “They are here for you.”
“For us?”
“Yes. It’s been three hundred and four years. They are curious. It’s not often our Children come home.”
The hair on my arms rose when she spoke.
We landed near two more ships identical to the one we rode in, and I peered out the viewscreen, watching as thousands of locals arrived in steady streams.
The lights around the bridge softened as Gren rose from the seat, and he led us to the ship’s open exit hatch. “Fear not. The air is compatible,” he told us before a glowing energy platform emerged.
The moment I stepped onto the blue platform, their thoughts overwhelmed me. The excitement of the crowd jostled inside my mind, and I almost stumbled off the lift as it lowered for the ground. Lewen grabbed my arm and set her hands on my face, closing her eyes. The noise vacated my head, leaving me clear. She did the same to Veronica and Dirk, who would be experiencing similar issues as me.
“That should help. It’s difficult to contain our emotions at a time like this. We’re used to building walls, but often, our Children have been unable to reach this capacity.” Lewen probably assumed this would make sense to us.
The Rodax arriving were much like our three hosts: quite humanoid, all in unique forms of clothing. They were as different from one another as a group of people on Earth would be in an assembly.
We walked from the ship, strolling across the giant open square to a massive building. The ground was solid, a substance resembling asphalt covering it. The round courtyard was unlike anything I’d ever seen, with space for ten thousand people. A garden centered it, with tall and lush vegetation growing from it. Even from a hundred yards away, I could smell the flowering plants. It was a display of wonder amidst the desert city.
Veronica stopped, spinning around slowly as she took in the sights. “Rex, can you believe this?”
I shook my head, unable to speak. I wished Marcus could be here to witness this with me. We’d often discussed what life on another planet might look like, but it had never ended with extrasensory advanced humans in a metropolis in the middle of a desert.
The people filed into the square, and their presence no longer felt restrictive. They stopped a fair distance away, leaving a direct line for our destination. I watched them, their faces full of awe and anticipation. I waved at the closest group, and once again felt the pressure of their thoughts trying to enter the barrier Lewen erected.
Gren waited for us by the building, which was over a city block in width. The top of the structure wasn’t visible from the ground level.
Gren gave a slight bow, and the doors opened. “Welcome to Kabos.”
Dirk went in first, followed by Veronica, and I entered last. There were over fifty beings inside, and it was obvious they were each distinct from their neighbor.
“These are our other Seedlings grown to Children. Welcome home,” Gren said.
8
The view from the top floor was intense. In the clear-skied night, it seemed like I could see halfway across the continent. The room was comfortable, but we hadn’t come to vacation. Three hours had passed since they’d ushered us here, and we were growing tired of waiting.
“How long do you think it’s been?” Dirk asked.
“Only a few hours.”
“No, I mean since we used the first Bridge. How close are the Objects?” Dirk clarified.
“Four days? I think we have a couple of weeks before they’re at Earth.”
“I hate that time passing becomes so convoluted.” Veronica sat on their version of a couch; it lacked a backrest and was only a cushioned bench.
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.” I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. “Do you think they’ll help us?”
“
They have to,” Dirk suggested. He lay on a second couch, fiddling with a pillow.
“Did you see all those people? It’s like they’ve been collecting their Children.” Veronica was the least impressed with the operation. “If they care so much about their Seedlings, shouldn’t they be eager to send reinforcements?”
Dirk shrugged. “They might only want a sample of them. From what I gather, each of the races has a city here on Kabos, and they also intermingle here.”
The door opened, and a short man entered, holding folded clothing. “The Nobles asked that you don these.” He pointed to another door. “You can clean in there.”
“Shower?” I asked. The guy didn’t answer.
Veronica hopped to her feet and investigated for us. After a five-minute explanation from the local, we figured out how to use their facilities. We took turns steaming, and I came out feeling fresher than I’d ever been, with the scent of a floral concoction covering my skin. The jumpsuit fit me perfectly, as did Dirk’s and Veronica’s on them.
Next, they brought us food, and I demanded to know where Gren and the others were. The serving person didn’t have a clue, so we waited, talking until we’d run the entire course of speculation. I had a feeling they were observing us, assessing our thoughts, but there was no way to be sure.
Finally, an hour after Dirk had dozed off, Gren arrived. “Come with me, Children.”
We were led to another room, where ten of the Rodax sat waiting, along with an elderly man at the head of the table. Gren motioned for us to have a seat, and Dirk told me to take the end of table, putting me in charge.
The older man rose slowly, his beard long and white. He was dark, with bright green eyes and a creased brow. “I am Pleck, the leader of the Rodax Nobles. Welcome home.”
“We’re pleased to be here.” I rose, not sure of their formalities. The last thing I wanted to do was insult them.
“You have traveled a vast distance, from a world on which we propagated Seedlings millions of years ago. Gren tells me things are dire. The Zalt have invaded?” Pleck sat, and I copied him.
“The Zalt are coming. Days away. We’re here to seek your assistance,” I said.
The man nodded somberly. “I’m afraid the Zalt are someone we wish not to cross again.”
“You’d send us back to our deaths? Is this how you treat all your Children?” Dirk asked, and I cut him off with a glare.
“What my father is trying to say is, we desperately need your assistance. The Zalt have allies on our planet, a cult called the Believers. If you left us as Seedlings, then this cult has been built on lies. Come with us, and we might be able to stop the cult from rolling out the welcoming mat.” I doubted that Jessica would ever concede, but it was worth a shot.
“No. The Zalt will not stop, even if your enemies fail.”
“Who are they?” Veronica asked. The Rodax watched uncomfortably in their seats.
“The Zalt are ancient, and without a home of their own. They venture off, securing worlds they can plunder and exploit. They are not flesh and blood like you and I, making them more difficult to fight than you could imagine.”
Not flesh? “Then what are they?”
“We’re not here to discuss physiology,” Pleck informed me. “We left the Threshold for you to meet the beings of Rimia. We apologize for the short-sightedness. They were destroyed, but we never did leave the proper access for you on Earth. I hope this was not too much of a bother.”
“A bother,” Dirk mumbled. “I was stuck there for decades by Earth time.”
“What’s done is done.” I had to get them on my side. “All we ask is that you help our people. We can’t do this without you.”
Pleck steepled his long fingers. “And what will you give us in exchange?”
“You want a trade?” Veronica asked.
“This is unexpected. We usually meet our Children with a boisterous ceremony, and they rush to join our kind. Contact is special. Would you not agree?” Pleck asked.
“I’ll admit, we’re just people. We’re not leaders, and we don’t speak for the rest of our race, but I’d be willing to trade anything necessary to save the planet.” I held my breath while he considered my statement.
“Very well. We can send a strong contingent to Earth with you to help dispel the Zalt.”
I laughed, and Veronica cracked a smile. “Thank you.”
Dirk didn’t break his scowl. “What do you want in return for this barter?”
“You will join us when it’s over. We will need a few hundred humans, minimum.” Pleck stared at me, a smile forming beneath his long beard.
“That’s… we don’t have the power to—”
“You will decide. You made it here, as you said. If you save your planet, your people will have no choice but to abide by our agreement, wouldn’t you say?” Pleck appeared to be enjoying himself.
I slapped my palms on the table. “It’s a deal.”
“Good. You will be part of the bargain.”
“Us?” Veronica asked.
“That’s correct. You will live here after the Zalt have been dealt with.” Pleck looked at each of us, as if seeking a rebuttal.
Veronica glanced at me with a sad smile. “At least we’ll be together.”
“That’s what we promised,” I whispered.
____________
I tried to picture Jessica before sleeping, wanting to see where the Zalt were in relation to the Earth, but I only slept dreamlessly. I woke hours later, feeling more rested than I had in years. I utilized the steam unit again, dressing before the other two were awake, and I exited the room, searching for something to eat.
I was anxious to leave, but half the battle had been won already. The fact that we were giving ourselves to these people after they helped us felt like a small price to pay. I hoped we stood a fighting chance.
The hallways were wide and tall, with solid molded flooring, the same texture as their spacecraft. I strolled by the room where we’d met with Pleck yesterday, and the door opened as I walked near it.
Gren sat by himself at the table, eyes closed. “Hello, Rexford.”
“Rex is fine.”
“Your friends are resting?”
“They are.”
“Good. We are leaving shortly.” Gren blinked as he gazed in my direction. “I’ve been instructed to assist you.”
“You?”
“As well as Baska and Lewen. A few others.” Gren didn’t seem pleased with the news.
“I’m sorry you were tied up in this, but we do really appreciate it,” I said.
“The Zalt are unpredictable, but we’ve faced them before. Pleck has confidence in our defense, but I am not so sure.”
“How do we beat them?” I asked.
Gren rose from the table and walked past me, into the hall. “You will see.”
“Do we take the pod?” I tried to picture the group of us returning through Rimia, wandering through the mountain range toward the dome in the destroyed city.
“No, Rex. We have other options.”
“When do we leave?” I asked as Gren walked away from me.
“An hour.” And he was gone.
My dad was seated on the couch, eating a plate of rubbery green vegetables, and Veronica stepped out of the bathroom, her uniform on. I filled them in, and when Lewen came for us, we were ready.
Dirk was reserved this morning, and I knew he was mourning Opor, wondering where she’d ended up, since he hadn’t found her body.
We were brought outside, and I was shocked to see how many Rodax were here. It was becoming easier to recognize the different beings among them. I was told these were other Seedlings, returned to this world. Would humans one day be among the group gathered while another Child race found their home? Now that we’d had a night to consider our future, given the fact that we even had one, I was curious to return to Kabos after the battle. What could these people teach us? It was the ultimate test of my profession.
Gren had a blac
k uniform on, as did Baska and Lewen, and a dozen other Rodax soldiers were inside the ship when we entered it. Dirk held back in the hatch, shaking his head and mumbling to himself.
“Dad, what is it?”
“I can’t go.”
“Why not? We’re going to Earth.”
“I don’t want Earth, son. I want to find Opor.”
“She’s dead, Dad. You saw what happened to those people.” I wanted to slap some sense into him and toss him into the ship with the rest of us. But the look on his face stopped me.
“You don’t know her. She’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever met. She’s there somewhere. Scared. Alone.” He glanced at Veronica. “I’ve already lost my best friend. I can’t lose her too.”
Gren frowned at Dirk. “Is there an issue?”
“Bring me to the pod. I’d like to return to Rimia,” Dirk said.
Gren glanced at me, as if seeking my approval.
“Dad, we can go together when this is over. We’ll—”
“I’ve made up my mind, Rex.”
“What about Beverly? What about me?” I asked.
“You’ve already proven to be twice the man I ever was. You’ll take care of her.”
“So this is it?” I stepped closer, seeing a man who was less than a decade older than me. It was surreal. I’d found him against all odds, and now he was asking to separate again, in our time of need. I glanced at Veronica and wondered if I’d make the same decision if it was us and she was somewhere on Rimia.
He pulled me into a hug, his hand resting on the back of my head. “I love you, son. If there’s any way I can return to you, I will.”
I didn’t want to let go. All the years without him, all the hours spent trying to find out where he’d gone and why he’d left us, and he was doing it again. But I finally understood. “I love you too, Dad.” I turned to Gren. “Please do as he asks.”
Gren nodded, and two people came to escort Dirk to the shuttle. Veronica waved at him, and the doors to the ship closed abruptly.
“I’m sorry, Rex.” Veronica had lost her dad in a far different manner.
Lost Time (The Bridge Sequence Book Two) Page 29