“A break isn’t going to bring my friend back,” I said before I slid the door up and exited the vehicle.
That evening, I had dinner in my room and used my abula to search for anything I didn’t already know about the Bremoir. I didn’t find much more, and what I did find got me no closer to a plan. I waited for the admiral to call and transmit the interrogation to me. When the call finally came, the sky was turning a shade of deep blue.
“Lenai Carsona, I hope it isn’t too late,” the Admiral said.
“It is just dusk here,” I replied and went over to the table, taking a seat in the chair next to my bed.
“We are ready to begin, but I want to warn you that we may not get much out of him. He hasn’t spoken at all since he arrived. The Bremoir will go through anything to keep their secrets.”
“I understand,” I said impatiently.
Admiral Radeon gave a quick nod, and the screen switched over. I could see a damp, rocky room. I squinted, trying to see the prisoner, and my heart thudded quickly, afraid he had escaped. But my worry dissipated when I saw him half-buried in the rock wall. His legs and arms were spread out against the wall, and the work of an Aríenom had covered them with rock, suspending him there.
I had never seen a true Bremoir before. The closest I had come was pictures. Even in the Alice attack there were only the Borain Warriors, who obeyed the Bremoir.
When the Emréian soldier walked in, I realized how tall the enemy was compared to us. I refocused the camera to get a closer look, zooming in on his pasty-white, lanky body. His pale eyes showed a new form of evil as they stared fearlessly into the world.
I heard the Emréian speak in Bremoir, so I told the abula to translate to Emréian for me.
“Where is the Bremoir’s next target?” The Emréian pulled out an urex.
The prisoner said nothing, but gave the soldier a piercing look.
The Emréian aimed the gun at his arm. “One shot, and I break your bones to pieces.”
The Bremoir gave a wide grin, revealing his serrated teeth. Then he started to bellow—an awful sound. My hands clammed up, and my stomach churned; the Bremoir was laughing.
“Go ahead and shoot me. I have no fear.” The Bremoir cackled some more. “You can torture me, but it won’t break me.”
The Bremoir then turned his head toward his shoulder. He opened his mouth widely and leaned forward. His teeth sank into his own flesh; dark blood pooled from the wound.“What are you doing?” the Emréian cried, taking a step back, horrified. The Bremoir chewed on his own flesh, causing the blood to splatter onto the floor. He yanked his head back, taking a big piece of meat with it. He spat the fatty tissue at the Emréian, hitting him in the face.
The Emréian wiped the blood from his face and clutched his stomach. His face had a green tint. He left the room quickly, and I could hear his vomit splattering the floor in the hallway.
My eyes stayed on the Bremoir. His laughter got louder, and the blood sprayed from his barbed teeth.
“The Bremoir will rise against all and take over the skies!” The Bremoir started to sing. “The sky is ours! The sky is ours!”
The abula wobbled back and forth; my hands were starting to shake. I quickly turned it off and threw it on my bed. I wrapped my arms around me, trying to shake off the chill that had crept up my spine. A loud crack of thunder startled me, sending adrenaline shooting through my body. I did not want to be alone.
I left my room quickly and walked down the hall. I rounded the corner and found my destination—Kyle’s room. While my bond’s first instinct was to go to Aaronmon, I didn’t want him to know that he was right. There was also the fact that Kyle had known Karlie for as long as I had. I needed someone who understood the relationship I had had with her and shared that feeling.
Waiting for Kyle to answer the door, I shifted from foot to foot. I couldn’t let anyone see me go into his room. I didn’t want anyone being suspicious about our past relationship. Finally, the door swooshed open, and I hurried in.
“Carson? What are you doing here?” Kyle asked. He always spoke in English.
I sat at the table and pursed my lips. “Today I went to see Karlie.”
Kyle’s eyes widened, and he sat down next to me. “I’m sorry, Carson,” he said, as if he knew the horrors that I had just seen.
“Kyle, I can’t send her back to Earth like that! It’s awful what they did to her! Her fingers were eaten, she is covered in bruises, and I’m afraid she tried to kill herself, and they wouldn’t allow her that!” The words came out in sobs. Everything I was holding in was starting to release.
Kyle leaned over and guided my head down to his shoulder, stroking my hair as I cried.
“I wish I could have saved her before. But they had me and my dad on a different ship,” Kyle said. I could feel his guilt with my empathy, and I pushed it aside.
“There was nothing you could do.” I pulled away from his comfort. “I saw an interrogation of one of the Bremoir—they are literally crazy! They have no reasoning, no remorse. How did you survive at all?”
Kyle sighed heavily. “It was not easy. In fact, it was difficult and life threatening. You have to prove your worth to them.”
I wiped away my tears and studied Kyle’s changes since we left Earth. What had he gone through while he was with them? His skin was tougher, his muscles were more defined, and his soft golden eyes had become harder. After everything I had learned today, I decided I didn’t want to ask.
“Kyle, I’m so glad you are alive,” I said.
He smiled sweetly. I could sense him considering for just a second before he leaned in and gave me a warm kiss on the forehead. I had forgotten what his touch had felt like; instantly comforting, but something seemed wrong, as well.
“I wish we could be together.” Kyle reached for my hands. Even recognizing his touch did not mask my confusion. A year ago, his touch would have eased any fear or stress, but now it had changed. He had changed. I had changed.
I pulled my hand from his. “Kyle, I can’t do this. Everything is different now. You’re not the same man I knew back then. You lied to me for years.”
“I did it to protect you. My dad would do anything to get the throne back. If I had interfered, he would have acted on that and killed us both.”
I didn’t feel like having this conversation. “It doesn’t matter. I have to worry about my people now, and I’m betrothed to Aaronmon.”
Kyle sighed heavily and stood up. “I know. It was just wishful thinking. Your duty is to your people. If it wasn’t for that, we would be together.”
Those last words stuck with me. If it wasn’t for that, we would be together. Would we? When I left his room, I was not feeling any better than I had before. That thought followed me to bed. My bond with Aaronmon was growing stronger every day. Every moment we spent together gave it strength. If things had played out differently and Kyle and I were still together, would I have ended up hurting him and still leaving with Aaronmon? But what if what I was feeling for Aaronmon was more than the bond?
CHAPTER TWELVE
I wandered down the hallway, Nouse following close behind. I had been coming to visit Karlie at the medical center for a Hurmon moon, every day for lunch. Nouse was the only garnix that came with me. I only needed one as the place was already heavily guarded to keep the patients safe, and to keep them from attempting to escape because they were still too detached from reality to be let out alone. I rounded the corner to Karlie’s room. I didn’t see the doctor first anymore; instead, I saw for myself how she had improved, and if I had any questions I would find Dr. Guildionaious. I entered Karlie’s room, clutching the food in the aluminum bag tightly.
I found Karlie sitting in a yellow memory foam-style armchair. She was curled up in a ball with her knees against her chest. She looked healthier than she had when she first arrived. Her bruises had faded, leaving only her scars. Her hair, although still streaked with gray, was growing back more thickly. She was gaining her weigh
t back, too. It had taken a while. For the first few weeks, she wouldn’t even touch the food I brought. I worried that she would never eat again, that she would forever be a lifeless zombie being fed through a tube. But she finally came around after I brought something a little more earthly. It was the closest thing to a hamburger there in Emréiana. The meat tasted a little different, and the bread was more flat, but all in all it was close enough. Today, though, I had brought her bonskins. I took the seat next to her and opened the bag, putting the Emréian food on the table in between us. Bonskins were similar to shrimp. I opened the dipping sauce and took in the sweet aroma.
“Hey Karlie,” I said, “I brought some bonskins.” I had brought them before, and she had seemed to enjoy them.
She looked over at the food, giving it an empty stare. Then she leaned over, grabbed it, messily dipped it in the sauce, and shoved it in her mouth, smacking loudly as she ate.
“So I’ll tell you about my day,” I said, trying to be casual. Even though Kyle was around now, I still didn’t use English much except when I talked to Karlie. It was the most I ever spoke the language now. At first it was weird, but I had gotten used to it. “Today we have been preparing the back of the palace for the bonding ceremony. I wish you could see it; it is so beautiful and unworldly. It’s like a rain forest back there, but with a gorgeous clearing and waterfall. Anyway, Meak was having fun with the workers. She used to be really skittish, but she comes out more now.”
“Meak—your pet?” Karlie mumbled. Every time she tried to speak it sounded strained, but it was better than her usual blank stares.
I nodded slightly and smiled. “I want to show her to you, but they won’t let me yet.” They didn’t think she was ready to handle the concept of alien technology just yet, as it might bring back some unpleasant memories.
Kalrlie looked down at her hands. I could see that she was beginning to allow her consciousness into reality a bit more today. Her memonai treatment must be working. Typically, she would just stare at the wall, without saying a word; she never gave any hints that she even knew what I was saying. The first time she spoke around me had been just a few weeks ago, and it was my name, but even then it was typically without emotion. Today she seemed to have a bit more life in her. I could feel her mental walls starting to break down more and more each day.
“So Aaronmon is going to take me somewhere tonight.” I changed the subject. “He won’t tell me what it is, but apparently it is supposed to be beautiful and rare.”
“Your husband…” Karlie said, still looking at her hands. I had slowly been telling Karlie about my new life, but I told her only a little every day, not wanting to impose too much on her yet. I still hadn’t told her about Kyle being an alien too. She had never even known he had died, since she had been abducted before his supposed death. Luckily, she had not asked me anything about him yet.
“He will be next month,” I said tightly.
She looked confused when she looked up at me. But I didn’t ask. I knew she was still trying to put the pieces together on her own.
I spent the rest of the hour with her, talking about the weather in Emréiana. The rainy season was starting to ease up. She mentioned the sun, and I told her that in a few weeks I would see about taking her outside to see it. I realized that she had been cooped up in this room for a month. Some of the other victims had been able to go outside, but they were more stable than Karlie. They wanted her mental health to be better before she tried to deal with the outside world. Sadly, it was hard for them to know for sure. A week after releasing one patient, he had committed suicide. After I was told, I feared for Karlie even more. She was getting better, but she still wasn’t anything like the friend I had had back on Earth. At times, I wondered if she would ever make a full recovery.
After the lunch ended, I went to a private room and made a call to Karlie’s father on the abula. I had had an Emréian soldier on Earth equip her father with an abula of his own so that I could keep him updated on her recovery. It would be very late for him right now, but it was a ritual to call every five days around this time.
“Carson.” He yawned. “I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I told him. “It’s just a small update today, nothing major.”
“Anything helps.”
“She was talking a little bit more today, and she seemed more alert. I talked to the doctor, and he has noticed that, too. He said that in her memonais she actually goes along with the dream sequence and participates now.”
Karlie’s dad sat up. I could see that this news made him more awake. “So, how much longer do you think it will be before she can come back?”
“I can’t give any promises. But the doctor told me hopefully just a few months. The most important thing is that she can cope properly and not harm herself.”
“She won’t ever be the same, though.” I felt a twinge of pain at his words and shook my head, unable to argue.
We talked for ten more minutes before I ended the transmission. I was glad that I could deliver a little bit of good news, but in the end he was right. Karlie would never be the girl I knew. Every time I felt any more emotions around her, I could feel the damage that had been done to her. It was a scar she would carry with her for the rest of her life.
The onmore took me to the Inae air base. Aaronmon wanted me to meet him there, although I still didn’t know where he was taking me. As we flew, I turned the windows that surrounded the vehicle to glass mode so that I could see outside. Everywhere in Emréiana was covered in rain forests, so we rode high above the massive trees. I always enjoyed looking at the animals down below and the city that had thrived inside the forest. The air base was closer to the mountains, where it was a little more barren. As we got closer I could see several spaceships lined up, including the one I arrived on from Earth last amona. There was a group of people around a very small ship, and when my onmore came in to land, I could see that one of them was Aaronmon. Nouse escorted me off the onmore and led me toward him.
“Lenai Carsona.” Aaronmon greeted me formally. “Did you have a nice lunch?”
“I did. Karlie seems to be improving.” I gave him a small bow of the head in greeting.
The group of people who were busy talking together grew quiet on my arrival. Almost in unison they all gave a short bow and came toward me.
“Carsona,” Aaronmon said, holding out his hand. “This is our crew for the evening.”
“Our crew?” I raised an eyebrow and Aaronmon nodded, smiling.
“And where might this crew be taking us?” I asked playfully.
“My Lenai, I told you it was a surprise.” Aaronmon held his arm out to escort me into the ship.
This ship was different from the massive one I arrived on. This one was smaller, and instead of having several rooms, it was a single open one. There were several seats lined up, facing a massive window that gave a clear view of the outside. The crew started to make their way in.
“Lenai Carsona, Aaronmon,” someone behind us said. I turned to see a young man slightly taller than I was.
“Arrow,” Aaronmon greeted him with a smile, then introduced us. “Lenai, this is Arrow, he will be our fighter to protect our ship in case anything should happen. He is also one of my most trusted friends.”
“Friend?” I said, shocked. “You have a friend? I’ve never seen you associate with anyone as a close friend!”
Arrow frowned at me, confused. I realized my sarcasm was inappropriate for a Lenai, but instead of chastising me about it, Aaronmon just laughed.
“Yes, I have a friend. We met while I was at Taeu Annonun. He was in training.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I told him.
“No, I have the pleasure of meeting you, Lenai,” Arrow said.
An hour later, Arrow had left so that he could take flight, and we secured ourselves as well. The flight was as smooth as I remembered on my ventures out from Earth. I hadn’t left the Emréian planet si
nce I had arrived last year, so I wasn’t surprised that my heart rate had escalated during the trip. It probably didn’t help that for the entire trip we were facing the giant wide window. It reminded me of going to one of those giant movie theaters on Earth, where the screen was stories high. Space was flying by us and while it was beautiful, I felt vulnerable.
“Are you okay?” Aaronmon asked, taking my hand.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, this is just different.”
“Don’t worry, the flight isn’t that long.” He squeezed my hand.
He was right. The trip only lasted about ten minutes. The ship was now floating along in space. I knew they had locks on the gravity, but as before, I had a slight sensation of weightlessness. The air was a bit drier, and its chill started to raise goose bumps on my arm.
“I brought you a shawl.” Aaronmon said, standing up. He made his way over to a small closet and reached inside. He pulled out a silver shawl and also a tote. He came over to me and put the tote next to us on the floor. Then he opened the soft material and wrapped it over my shoulders. I pulled it closer. I wished they would just wear jackets, but because the planet was warm, they didn’t make them. They wore cloaks and shawls instead. Unfortunately, I hadn’t brought any Earth clothes with me to Emréiana.
“Thank you.” I eyed the tote curiously. “What is in there?”
“Our dinner.” Aaronmon grinned.
“Ah, and why couldn’t we just eat dinner back home?”
“Because the view wouldn’t be as pretty.”
“I have to say, while space is beautiful, I still would have preferred to eat under the stars. That window is so big I feel like I am going to fall right out,” I pointed out.
“But tonight is special,” Aaronmon said, pulling out the dinner that was neatly wrapped in cloth. My stomach growled once my nose got a whiff of the sweet bread and the fish stew.
“What’s so special?”
“You’ll see in about ten minutes,” Aaronmon answered.
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