Through the mud-smeared metal frame windows of the mess hall, Josué watched the others in their tan tunics, lifting wooden spoons of mush to their mouths. What he wouldn’t give for one bite.
One by one, plow teams rose from their tables and headed to waiting hover lorries. Josué watched them and listened to the harsh talk of the guards. At least he wouldn’t be in the marsh under their whip today, though it was small comfort when he found he’d already lost the feeling in his legs.
When the last lorry left for the fields, stillness descended on the quad. Josué let out a sigh of relief after the guard finally got up and left. “Psst, Felisa,” he whispered.
She turned to him. Her dull amber eyes were filled with weariness. Her lips were cracked and blood-smeared.
“How is she?” he nodded at the elder woman.
Felisa looked and tried to reach over to touch the woman, her chain preventing it. “She’s breathing.”
“She doesn’t look good.”
“You two keep quiet,” the settler girl hissed at them. “I’m not getting in any more trouble because of you.”
Josué hardened his expression and focused across the quad. He couldn’t blame her for her anger. He just wondered how much her comment matched the attitude of the guards. How could she sit and watch a fellow human die?
No wonder she is a slave, he thought out loud.
Felisa froze. He knew she had heard him this time, no mistake. Why did she avoid looking at him? Why didn’t she talk back?
He shrugged and looked away. Maybe she was just shy. He decided he would keep quiet mentally and physically.
The condition of the elder woman worried Josué as the day progressed. Past midday, her skin was covered in goose bumps. When she started to shake uncontrollably, Josué searched for a guard. He wished the one from the morning would return.
Beads of sweat covered the neck and face of the woman. Her teeth chattered before the guard finally returned.
Josué leaned forward, fear tingling in his limbs. He knew he wasn’t supposed to talk, but he couldn’t let the lady die. He cleared his throat. “Can you take her to the infirmary?”
A whip handle across his mouth struck him to silence. “If you speak again, you’ll get another day,” the guard shouted at him then turned and strutted away.
Long after the other slaves had returned, eaten and gone to bed, the guard finally walked over to release them. By then, the night sun had been in the sky for over an hour.
Josué watched his feet fall to the ground as the guard opened his shackles. There was no feeling past the small in his back. His legs felt like plastic replacements connected to his hips.
As he rubbed, the cold clamminess of his own flesh turned his stomach. He hoped no permanent damage had been done. Surely other people had survived the stocks and lived to walk again, he told himself.
The moment of intense pain when he could finally bend his knee was interrupted by the elder slave’s complete collapse.
When he could, Josué crawled over to her, but the guard stood in his way. “Don’t touch her. She can go to the infirmary, herself,” the man growled. Then added with a smirk, “. . . if she gets up.” He lifted his whip to ward Josué off.
Josué set his teeth and stared up at the guard. His vision turned so yellow he could only see the color itself. When it returned to normal, the guard had turned and walked away.
Josué bent over the woman. Felisa appeared at his elbow. Together they rubbed her legs and set her to a sitting position. Her back was such a slippery mess, he was afraid he was doing more harm than good. He couldn’t see anything in the dim red of the night sun.
“Is she conscious?” Felisa asked.
She coughed into her hand. Dark flecks of blood colored her thumb and wrist. One last wrenching cough shook her before she leaned to the side and collapsed in his arms, motionless and all weight.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Josué said, tears forming in his eyes. Hadn’t it been his fault?
“We’ve got to go,” Felisa said, pulling at his arm.
Josué couldn’t say anything. He knew she was right, but how many people had died around him in the past two months? He was tired of not letting it bother him, and this woman had helped him.
“We can’t help her. The guards are coming. We have to go.” Josué could hear their footsteps. Reluctantly he set the woman against the wall and closed her eyes. He wondered how callous he would become toward death by the time this was all over.
“Come with me.” Felisa spoke coldly and took his hand in hers.
He hobbled after her, just as the guards entered the quad. She led him to the rubber hose hanging over a wooden barrier outside of the sleeping quarters – the only shower they had.
“So, you are native, then?” she asked when they were alone.
Josué felt his ears burn. He glanced down at his arms. They had a native hue, even in the night sun. The hours in the marsh had turned him a proper golden-brown. Why did people assume he was a settler, even if he had blue eyes?
“My mother was native.” He found himself saying it like a confession.
“But you have the link. How?” she asked. He could see her eyes in the red glow, peering at him with an uncomfortable intensity.
He crossed his arms. The way she had asked ‘how’ made him feel like he had been somewhere he shouldn’t have been or taken something that didn’t belong to him. “What link?” he asked.
“The mental link between elders.” Her voice was severe.
Josué shifted his feet. His question had obviously cost points in her opinion of him. He kicked at the ground. “You mean I spoke to you with my mind?” He had hoped the few mental words would have brought her closer to him. Obviously, he had been wrong.
She was silent for a moment as if considering then said, “Only elders and those who have been chosen to be elders have the link. You must not use it.” She handed him the hose, turned away and walked off.
Josué stared at her back as she entered the sleeping quarters. He closed his mouth and swallowed. Who did she think she was to tell him what he could and couldn’t do? He grabbed the water hose and turned it on with an angry twist. The cool liquid flowed down his back, reviving him. He wondered if he was allowed to enjoy the feeling of water cleansing his cuts, or did he need her permission for that, too?
Chapter 9, Tested
The next morning Josué rolled out of bed. The woman below him, who usually kicked him at night for snoring, handed him his sandals and looked him in the eye with a smile. Josué fell back in surprise, banging against in her bed and wincing at the pain in his back.
The bunk teetered. He managed a whispered, “Thank you,” and felt his ears and back burn like hot coals.
At breakfast, Josué went to find a seat. He didn’t have to pass the first table. The slaves there made eye contact with him, smiled and slid over to give him room. Josué sat down slowly, a wry smile pasted to his face.
As they ate in silence, he wondered at the stray looks aimed his way. Perhaps time in the stocks had raised his status.
His brow furrowed when he noticed Felisa walk by with her tray. She had to go all the way to the last table before she found a place to sit.
Josué gulped down his food so he could walk over to her. He hoped she would talk to him out loud, since their mental link was to be off-limits. “Have you noticed anything different this morning?” he asked, sitting across from her.
She looked at him and frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know – extra attention? People treating you differently?”
She shook her head.
After an awkward silence, she got up to put her tray away. Josué followed her to the tray dispenser then out onto the quad. When they reached the door, someone held it open for him. Josué leaned over to whisper to Felisa, “Like that for instance.”
She tilted her head to the side. “It must be the sauropod,” she said crisply.
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Josué gingerly scratched the top of his head. “The sauropod? What does the sauropod have to do with anything?”
“Aside from the prophecy,” Felisa continued, her voice laden with exaggerated patience. “Ancient ones are close to us as a people. They are connected to the link, like the Elders. If an ancient one protects you, it would be reason for people to treat you differently – especially natives.”
Josué wondered why she hadn’t treated him differently, other than her abrupt coldness he wished would go away.
The unwanted attention from the other slaves continued as they walked through the quad. The points and whispers, sly though they were, unsettled him. By the time he arrived at the lorry, the looks and smiles had become too noticeable. He scratched at his wrists. Nothing good could come of this.
His worst fears became reality when the Slave Master’s eyes met his. Josué’s heart beat like a drum. Eye contact was forbidden between slaves and masters. He quickly found a puddle in the corner of the lorry to focus on and keep his head fixed.
It felt like forever before they lifted to depart to their rice paddy. Josué stayed focused on the ripples in the puddle to keep from looking at the guard. The man’s unwavering gaze was almost tangible.
After a while, even Felisa began to fidget. The flight to the rice paddy was much longer than Josué could have thought possible.
When they finally arrived at the plow, the guard shackled the others, but left him unchained. A sinking feeling filled his breast and settled in his gut when the guard grabbed his arm.
The Slave Master led him from the plow to the side of the dinosaur. Josué’s knees trembled as the guard whirled him around to face the others.
“Look over here, you dino-waste,” the Slave Master shouted at the team. “You girls may have heard a rumor going around about this slave here.” The guard hit Josué on the back of the head.
A stinging pain burned there. He mouth turned as dry as a bone.
“Some say she has protection over her. I just wanted to assure your weak little minds that no Omri slave has protection. Omri slaves are the lowest-of-the-low.”
The Slave Master grabbed the back of Josué’s head and pulled it back. He was forced to look into the man’s eyes. Cold dispassionate murder lurked in there. Any hope of a happy ending vanished in that gaze.
“You don’t believe these rumors, do you, slave?” the guard asked Josué.
The stench of cheap, Omri wine filled Josué’s nose. He shook his head vigorously.
“They say even a guard armed with a blaster couldn’t hurt this slave. Do you believe that?” The guard turned back to the plow. Josué followed the man’s gaze out of the corner of his eye. Thankfully, the others shook their heads, though he knew it wouldn’t be enough to save him.
The guard pulled out a blaster then rested the muzzle on Josué’s temple. “Let’s just do a little test, so there isn’t any doubt.”
Josué gulped and tried to control his breathing, like he’d been taught. The guard stuck his face back into Josué’s, “You won’t mind, will you slave? You don’t want a bad rumor going around about you, do you?” Josué heard the man as though he spoke from another room.
The cold reality of the metallic blaster on his temple had cleared his vision. With it, his eyesight had turned bright amber and calm had spread through his limbs.
The guard pushed Josué’s head back with an extended arm. Josué watched the man’s finger turn white on the blaster trigger. The words of his old weapons master came back to him, “Drive circumstances. Never let them drive you.”
Josué let his knees buckle, closed his eyes and pretended to faint. Then he twisted and spun, lifting his feet and catching the guard’s wrist with a swift kick. The gun flew from the man’s hand.
It landed with a splash under the dinosaur. The sauropod’s leg immediately lifted and landed on the weapon with a crunch.
The guard’s face went blank, his mouth wide open. Then he snapped it shut and pulled a machete from his belt. Taking a step toward Josué, he held the blade high.
Josué put his hands in front of him, stretching his chain taut. He widened his stance and tried to slow his wildly beating heart. He could handle this man, if he had to – he hoped.
But before the guard could take another step, an inspection lorry flew over and stopped. The supervisor glared down at the Slave Master. “What is the meaning of this? Get that slave back on the plow. You’re behind schedule.”
“Just teaching a lesson, sir,” the guard said, machete held high as though he would lunge at Josué.
“What kind of a lesson would you teach that one? She hasn’t done anything wrong. If you can’t obey orders, you will be removed. Do I make myself clear, slave master?”
“Yes, sir.” The slave master sheathed his machete and set his jaw.
Josué saw a look of utter hatred for both him and the supervisor. The guard jerked his head toward the plow.
Josué stepped behind it in silence.
The slave master locked Josué’s wrists onto the plow, looking ruefully up at the inspection lorry before mounting his sauropod and giving it a kick. The dinosaur took a step forward.
Josué had the sinking feeling their encounter wasn’t over. As soon as the inspection lorry was out of sight, the slave master dismounted. He grinned with evil delight at Josué, drew his machete and broke into a run.
As the man drew close, Josué pulled back as far as his chains would allow. The man’s arm lifted. Josué winced, waiting for the death blow that never came.
Through squinted eyes, he saw as a bright flash surrounded the man’s body before exploding right through him. A stinging pain bore into Josué’s chest. He heard the echo of a laser blast before blackness washed over him.
Chapter 10, Freedom
A hot mass burned into Josué’s chest like viper jet wash. The smell of burnt flesh filled his nostrils. Felisa’s voice rang in his water-logged ears, calling his name. Chains bit into his wrists, holding him suspended from the plow. A mouthful of marsh water splashed down his throat. Josué blinked at the bright sun and coughed.
He shook his head, stood to his feet and crouched below the plow to hide his very pink and not-so-feminine chest – thankfully, still whole.
He must have been hit by the laze blast through the guard’s body. He felt at his chest, unable to believe he’d survived.
The Slave Master’s supervisor flew over in the inspection lorry, blaster to his shoulder. “Are you all right?” the man asked, leaning over to him.
Josué looked up in shock. Had an Omri supervisor just spoken to him? The man’s eyes didn’t hold the same lazy hatred Josué had become accustomed to in the guards. He looked down quickly when he realized he’d made eye-contact.
The supervisor pointed his gun at the dead man, looking like he’d take another shot. “The idiot. He deserved to die. I’ll send another rider. Stay where you are.” The supervisor maneuvered his lorry around the sauropod and left the way he’d come.
Josué hung his head and gulped oxygen. He looked at Felisa, his chest heaving from pain and fear. “That was close,” he choked out.
“Too close.” Felisa brushed her hair from her face.
The settler slave shouted from across the plow, “I’m not taking another beating for you, Aissa . . . Josué, whatever your name is.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Felisa retorted. “Shut your mouth.”
“So it is a he! You’ve got some nerve! If I didn’t think they’d punish me for it, I’d report you. You’d better just keep your distance from me.” Her eyes reflected more hatred toward him than he’d even seen in the guards.
Josué swallowed. His cover was blown. Even Felisa had called him a he. He wondered how long she had known and how many of the other slaves knew as well.
“Don’t you ever touch me, or I’ll scream and get us both killed,” the settler girl shouted and looked away.
Josué felt his ears burn.
What kind of a man was he to hide among a bunch of slave women, anyway? He slumped under the plow to avoid the stares of the others, wishing he were miles away.
He couldn’t blame the settler girl for her comments. The old woman at the stocks came back to his mind. How much suffering would he cause before this was over? Had his father ever intended for him to remain in disguise this long?
Then the worst kind of thought came to him, Have I disgraced my family?
He wished at that moment he could talk to his dad, perhaps for one more second. Or catch a glimpse of the man’s crooked smile. Josué closed his eyes, not liking the direction his thoughts were taking him. Had he done right?
The four of them sat in silence under the hot sun and waited for another dino-rider to arrive. When he did, the day finished with more sun, wet fields, and mud between his toes.
When it was finally over, he slunk back to the quad and crawled into his bed, not caring if he missed diner. Burying his head in his arm, he wondered how much longer he could go on. He’d failed in his disguise. The settler girl was breathing threats at him. What next?
Then he decided, and his breathing steadied. He would find a way to leave.
***
Josué awoke to darkness. Had he just heard the sound of a blaster or had it been part of his dream? He rubbed at his chest, still feeling tender there. His belly rumbled.
The distinct piercing high-pitched whine of a laser blast broke the quiet of the slave camp. Josué lifted his head and peered through the muddy window. Lights flashed beyond the quad, illuminating the outline of the mess hall.
He sat bolt upright, hope stirring in him. Could someone be attacking the Omri Family?
A detonation shook the ground.
Josué jumped off his bunk. As he landed, a ball of fire exploded against the windows. Glass blew into the room, knocking him backwards. Screams erupted around him. Another flash of light revealed huddled shapes and kicking sheets.
Slipping his shaking feet into his sandals, he decided this could be his answer. He stepped over to Felisa’s bunk.
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