by L. E. Thomas
Kad slapped the car into drive and looked forward.
"Wait!" Viper yelled. "You can't just leave me here! Some bad noise's happening! You can't leave me!"
Pressing on the gas, Kad moved away from the stairs. Viper jumped into the back with a grunt.
"Damn it!" Kad spun around. "What are you doing?"
"My friends ditched me, man!"
"I don't care."
"Come on! I got nowhere to go without my Tressa!"
Kad turned around, stomping on the gas. The engine strained as they sped through the campus. Viper unleashed a torrent of gratitude, but Nat understood little of the man's slang-filled ramblings as the wind drowned out most of his statements.
Nat leaned toward his father. "Where are we going?"
"Art studio first." Kad glanced in the rearview mirror at Viper, his eyebrows lowering. "Then we'll try her apartment."
His heart pounded, and he wiped sweat from his brow. He thought of the bridge collapsing from the enemy attack, the bridge leading to his mother. Greeva burned in a sea of flame. Somewhere in the center of the chaos, his mother was at work.
"I'm scared," he whispered without thinking. "I'm worried about Ma."
"Me, too, Nat," he said, negotiating a sharp turn around the primary building at the academy. "Try not to think about it and—"
An invading fighter screamed overhead, flying as fast as a missile and masking Kad's final word. Nat ducked.
"Easier said than done," he muttered.
If Kad heard him, he didn't respond. He drove to the front of the studio and put the vehicle in park.
"Stay here," he said, staring at Nat for an instant. He looked at Viper and said, "You're coming with me, buddy."
"Why?" he screamed. "I don't even know what class she'd be in, man. I don't know anything about this jacked place. Everything—"
Kad smacked him across the face with the back of his hand. The striking sound of flesh slapping together shocked Nat. His father had never hit him once in his life, even when he might have deserved it. He stared at the man next to him as if he was a stranger.
Viper recoiled like a child, flinching into the back seat.
"You hit me, man!"
Thrusting a finger in his face, Kad said, "I'll do it again, too. Your head clear?"
The fire in Viper's eyes faded. "Yes, sir."
Kad nodded. "Then come with me. We need to find her class."
Sliding his feet off the seat, Viper moved toward the door. Kad sighed and gripped Viper's leather coat, yanking him from the car.
"Let's go!" Kad yelled and looked at Nat. "Get in the driver's seat and keep it running."
"But I—"
"Just do it!"
“I’m not good with a stick!”
Kad hesitated for a heartbeat. "Time to improve.”
Towing Viper like an angry child, Kad stomped into the academy's art studio and left Nat in the passenger seat.
His chest tightened as he opened the door and got out. His feet scuffed the pavement as he trudged around to the other side of the vehicle. As he sat in the driver's seat, he surveyed the once idyllic streets of the affluent suburb surrounding Tressa's academy. Colorful townhomes with grand white porches lined the grand boulevards.
A red convertible sped past the parking lot, back seat full of luggage and large boxes. The driver glanced in his direction, eyes bulging, sweat pouring down his face. The car swerved around a corner, right tires bouncing over the curb, and disappeared down a side street.
Nat turned back to the academy grounds, his heart thudding as looked back at the building. The front door was ajar thanks to book bags and discarded notebooks. Crumpled papers and a bright purple purse littered the primary staircase where they had picked up Viper. The frantic scene around the academy had dissipated, and now it appeared apocalyptic. Had most students and teachers fled for home? Even the streets, once packed with aggressive drivers and sprinting pedestrians, had suddenly emptied, filling the air with an eerie silence.
But over the idling engine, he still heard the distant rumble of monstrous craft filling the sky and the high-pitched spitting sound of laser fire.
"Come on," he breathed, trembling fingers wrapping around the steering wheel. "What's taking so long?"
Glass shattered nearby, the crash jolting him. His ears buzzed as adrenaline surged through his body. Swinging around to his right, he watched a student dressed in a skin-tight leather one-piece the color of a cucumber removing the final shards of a bottom window from a studio classroom. Her neon pink hair fell around her shoulders like liquid candy as she used her elbow to knock the last sharp piece out of the way. She threw a black duffle bag out. Grabbing the top pane of glass, she hurled her legs through the opening and landed in the grass with the grace of a dancer. She stood, her violet eyes falling onto Nat.
"Who are you?" she asked, clutching the bag and pulling the strap around her shoulder.
"I, uh—" he stammered and paused. "What are you doing?"
She followed his gaze on the bag. "I can't afford these supplies. Thought I'd make the most of whatever's going on to get me through the next quarter or two. What do you care?"
He shook his head. "I don't, uh, aren't you worried about the invasion?"
With the word "invasion," the girl stopped and stared at him. "What are you talking about?"
Nat pointed to the sky. "We're being attacked."
She shrugged. "You might be. Army's not going to care a bit about me."
"No, it’s—"
Kad burst through the double doors, towing Tressa behind him. Her straight black hair swirled around her face in a tangle. Viper followed like a lost dog, glancing around at each of them and appearing to consider running back to his hyperbike or staying with them.
"I left my things back there, Da!" Tressa squealed, yanking her hand free of Kad's grasp. "Somebody's going to steal it and—"
"It doesn't matter!" he yelled, grabbing her shoulders. "We have to get out of the city!"
Tressa's mouth dropped open. She looked to Nat, who could only offer a lopsided smile.
"But we can't leave the city," she breathed. "What about Ma?"
Kad paused, upper teeth biting into his lip. "We'll have to come back for her."
"We can’t—"
"Tressa!" he shouted. "Let's go!"
Nat put the car in reverse as his father stepped around to the side.
Tressa looked at Viper. "Do you have your bike?"
"Is rain wet, babe?" he asked in a painful attempt to sound cool.
She nodded, looking back at her father. "I'm going with him."
Kad paused and stood on the running board, towering over them both. "We'll be safer if we stick together."
"Viper's good on the bike. We'll follow you."
Kad glared at Tressa. "I don't think you understand what's going on. We don't have time to—"
An engine blast shot through the suburb, the force thrusting through the trees. Leaves and twigs fell like snow across the academy grounds. One of the blocky vessels he'd seen before appeared low over the academy's polo grounds, hovering like a bird of prey.
"What the hell is that?" Viper asked, thrusting his finger toward the obvious.
Kad sat down. "We need to go, son," he whispered, almost to himself as his attention fell on the landing ship. "Get to the road."
The vessel hovered and spun eighty feet over the ground, dropping quicker with each second. Two enemy fighters zipped by in a whoosh, banking around the polo grounds as the other craft landed. Skids appeared under the hull and plunged into the immaculate grass. Two doors dropped on opposite sides of the vessel.
Nat swallowed, wondering for an instant if swarming alien insects would scurry down the ramps. Humanoids clad in red armor sprinted down the slope with precision, fierce rifles sweeping the perimeter. A leader in a crimson uniform trimmed with black marched down the left ramp behind the soldiers, touching his exposed ear and barking orders in a foreign language. Spinning
around, he pointed a gloved hand in their direction.
Nat wanted to flee, the pressing need to get far away from the enemy troops filling his mind.
But he sat paralyzed in the driver’s seat.
"Go!" Kad yelled, slapping Nat's shoulder. He looked at Tressa. "Come on!"
"Not without Viper!"
"Get in!" Kad shouted without delay.
Slamming his foot on the gas, Nat backed away from the studio as Tressa and Viper jumped in the rear seat. The pink-haired girl tossed the duffle bag and ran behind them, reaching forward. Viper pulled her into the back seat with a grunt.
"Who are you?"
Gasping, the girl said, "I'm Soola."
"Soola?" Tressa asked. "The dual-enrollment, girl?"
"Yep. Are you Tressa, the genius scholar?"
"Whatever." Tressa leaned over Kad's shoulder. "What's happening?"
"Hang on!"
Nat stopped listening, the blood rushing in his ears drowning out all sound. He shifted gears, rough, the car bouncing across the grass. Laser bolts seared past, burning through the air. He glanced in his rearview. The enemy soldiers swarmed from the polo grounds like a virus spreading to the townhomes and the academy.
"Don't look!" Kad yelled, pointing to the right. "Take this road north! We need to get out of the city!"
With relief, Nat dropped into its highest gear and floored it. He weaved through the parked cars, glancing at families throwing luggage into their vehicles and hoisting small children into car seats.
"Careful now," Kad said. "You're doing great. Stay calm."
But remaining calm was the furthest thing from his mind. His palms sweated, slipping across the steering wheel. He gripped it harder. The traffic lessened as they sped toward the outskirts, most of the hordes rushing to grocery stores and fighting for food.
Nat stopped looking at the desperation. He'd seen enough, and his mind tuned it out. He paid attention only to his father's instructions leading them out of the city.
In a few minutes that seemed like hours, they had reached the two-lane road leaving the Greeva suburbs. The small highway split the farmlands surrounding the city, leading toward the northern mountains.
"Creator's curse," Tressa breathed. "Greeva ..."
"What?" Kad asked, turning around and gasping.
Nat looked in the rearview mirror. His heart sank.
Flames as high as Greeva's skyscrapers towered over the city. The sky filled with black smoke as thick as a looming storm cloud. Laser fire flashed like lightning, but less than before. More fiery vessels broke through the atmosphere and descended into the chaos. In the distance, two of the small transport ships landed on the highway behind them. Enemy soldiers debarked, setting up roadblocks.
Tressa covered her mouth and wiped her cheeks. "Ma ... our home ..."
Putting his arm around her, Viper pulled her close. "Not anymore."
His ominous words hung over the car as they drove into the wilderness.
Chapter Two
The dark cabin with interlocking logs as thick as the car's tires appeared at the end of the winding mountain road. Cold air rushed into the open vehicle, helping Nat fight the weariness threatening to overtake him. When they shut off the engine, everyone inside the car sat in silence for a moment. Tressa inhaled deeply, rising from Viper's shoulder. The guy had mercifully shut his mouth once the sun had disappeared behind the mountains and the ringed image of Atheron appeared between the clouds.
Soola stretched and was the first to stand, arching her back until the joints popped. She hopped onto the gravel, surveying the cabin and peering into the dark trees as if expecting a predator to attack.
Nat looked at his father. Kad had continued trying the phone on their journey to the cabin, but Ma hadn't answered. Moving in a slow, deliberate fashion, he placed the phone into the cup holder once they reached the path off the road leading to Grandpa's cabin.
The wind brushed through the trees, branches clinking together and leaves whooshing. An owl released a brief hoot, flapping unseen through the treetops. For a fleeting moment, Nat wondered if the invasion had ended.
The distant thump of artillery answered him.
The cabin smelled of mold and wood as they entered, pushing cobwebs from their faces as they came looming like clouds in the flashlight beams. Tressa plopped on the couch in front of the fireplace. Viper clung to her. Soola treated the old house like an archeological find, peering at the photos lining the shelves and the paintings on the wall.
Kad hurried into the kitchen and turned on the lights over the stove, sighing as he turned off the flashlight. "We have power," he breathed. "For now."
He disappeared and checked the three bedrooms, leaving Nat standing next to the fireplace.
"You going to stand there all night, Natty-nat?" Tressa asked as Viper twirled her hair between his fingers.
Nat scowled. "I hate that name."
"Natty-nat?" Viper grinned, his artificial front tooth glowing bright orange with swirling blue lines in the dim light. "Love it, man."
"Shut up," he sighed, dragging his weary feet to the kitchen table. He pulled out a chair and collapsed onto the hard surface.
Kad scurried throughout the cabin, verifying the water flowed, and the toilet flushed. He said it'd be a few minutes before he knew if the hot water heater was working. After everyone declined his offer of a canned bean dinner, he emerged from a back room wearing an old flannel hunting jacket with an orange collar. He carried grandpa's shotgun and a box of shells. He sat across from Nat at the table, loading the weapon and filling the old jacket pockets with shells.
"The girls will bunk up together," Kad said, pumping the shotgun once. "Nat and Viper will take the other rooms."
Nat frowned. "What about you?"
"I'm standing watch on the porch until morning." He glanced at his watch. "That won't be for five more hours."
"You've got to be kidding," Tressa said. "Girls? What are we, twelve?"
Kad sighed, his eyes drifting toward the wall. "Not now, Tress."
"I'll sleep with—"
"I said not now!"
Nat jumped at his father's voice. Viper recoiled across the couch like Tressa carried the plague.
Releasing a long, deep breath, Kad ran his hands over his eyes.
Nat glanced at his sister and shook his head, hoping to force her to be quiet. She nodded, her expression softening as she looked at her father.
"I'm sorry," Kad said, rubbing his fingers on his forehead while still closing his eyes. "I just ... I miss your Ma. Do what you want."
He stood and trudged to the front door, his boots causing the floorboards to creak. Pausing with his hand on the handle, he cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, please stay in the cabin tonight, all right? We're very much alone out here."
He didn't wait for a response and went outside.
"I hope we are," Viper whispered, leaning back and staring at the ceiling.
Sleep eluded Nat, and he watched the early morning sunlight beam through thin curtains in the bedroom at the back of the cabin. He thought of Ma and the sight of Greeva burning in the distance. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the fleet of invaders dropping out of the sky. The memories prompted a thousand answerless questions, but one lingered above all others.
Who were they?
It was apparent they had not come from Ceroq across the ocean, and he didn't think Atheron had a force on its planet to invade the whole of Tarrafa. However, the invaders were human and not the purple little men he'd seen in a thousand science fantasy stories on his digi-glass since he was a kid.
He wanted to sleep in the hopes he'd wake up and discover it'd all been a dream.
But the pounding of what he assumed to be artillery continued through the night, although lesser with each passing hour.
Kicking off the thick quilt his grandma had knitted, Nat stood and winced at the cold floor. He pulled on his socks and put on the jacket his father had packed. He paused in the h
all leading to the living room.
"You're awake?" he whispered.
Tressa didn't turn, her attention drawn by the crackling fire. "I don't think the invaders are going to hear you," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Can't sleep?"
"No," he said, dragging his feet across the floor and dropping into the plush couch. "I'm tired of trying."
"I understand that."
She used the poker to probe the fire, her stabbing motions breaking apart the burning log and sending a flurry of sparks into the chimney.
"Been thinking about Ma," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "I hope she made it out."
"Don't think about it."
"Why?"
Tressa turned, old tears streaking down her face. "Everyone back there is probably dead."
"Don't say that," Nat said, clenching his jaw. "We have to believe—"
"I looked back at Greeva while you were driving. There were so many ships. Buildings were burning. Those troops closed off the highway leading to the city. If we hadn't acted so quickly, we'd be back there with them." She shook her head. "There's no going back now."
Nat frowned. He wanted to argue with her, but nothing formed in his mind. He’d spent most of his childhood learning about the power of the great Oshua military, how they could stand up against any force in the world and could probably defeat Ceroq. Along with his best friend, Glenn, he had spent countless hours as a child playing wargames and marching miniatures across the table in his parents' basement.
He shuddered at the memory of the Oshua copter coming apart in a spectacular ball of fire and the debris raining into the suburbs. The invaders had blasted through the Oshua defenses with ease and now probably occupied the entire city.
"What's going to happen to us?" he asked, staring into the fire.
She sighed. "I don't know. One way or the other, we'll have to find a way to fight."
Nat snorted. "That'd be suicide."
"Like there's a choice." Tressa stared at him. "A force with power like that could have wiped us off the face of Tarrafa, but they didn't. They’re coming to conquer." She gazed back at the fire. "I almost wish Ceroq had attacked us, make things easier to accept."