by Turner, Ben
They walked through town, gathering a fair amount of glances from people who'd been at the execution. She knew they were all wondering how she was alive.
She was lead into Hazel's quartets. Hazel was seated at her desk, and looked up when Vivian entered. She stood and gestured for Vivian to take a seat. One of the guards shoved her roughly into a chair.
Vivian crossed her arms and looked up at Hazel, who was leaning against her desk. Vivian scanned the room until finally she saw it hiding under the desk. There was a root connecting Hazel's right ankle to the ground, just like the ones attached to Vivian, Ambrosia and the Andersons.
"You're one of them," said Vivian. "You're controlled by Seed."
Hazel laughed and looked up at her. "I'm not controlled by anything, my dear. My relationship with Seed is a partnership. I supply Seed with fresh food and nourishment, and in exchange this is my planet. I can do whatever I want. You know, I was quite surprised when Seed told me the rebels were gathering right underneath my city. It was quite easy to gather you all up. Right now, the last rebel’s groups are returning, and they are all meeting the same fate you, Gavin and those pesky rebels did. You don't seem to understand how much power Seed and I have here. You don't understand."
"Then explain it to me."
Hazel laughed. "All in good time. Right now, I need you to do a job for me."
"You killed Cornelius."
She nodded. "I also killed the executioner. Cornelius was one of my most loyal followers until you corrupted him. He was perfect. He took the outsiders, promised them jobs, and then sent them to become part of Seed. He never asked a single question up, until you made him doubt himself."
"You're killing people."
"Ambrosia warned me about this," said Hazel. "You know, I was shocked when Ambrosia said she wanted to fake her death. Cornelius loved her, but she never reciprocated the feelings. He was too blind to notice it. She claimed she wanted to live alone near the treetops to get closer to the new arrivals and take care of them, but I think it was really to get as far away from Cornelius as she could. I can't blame her."
"Cornelius was loyal," said Vivian, shocked that she was defending Cornelius. "And you killed him."
"Yes, I did." Hazel sighed. "Onto more important matters. We need your help. There is a device on the northern pole which we need your assistance in fixing."
Vivian thought of the black heat radiating device that she had seen on the northern pole.
"And if I refuse to help you?"
"Come in," said Hazel.
The door opened and in walked the two guards. Draped between them was Ellen. She was unconscious and her body draped over the arms of the guards. They grunted as they carried her into the room.
"If you don't help," said Hazel, "we kill Ellen. And we won't kill her quick and painlessly either. She will die slowly and painfully. You will listen to her screams as she dies. It will be your fault, and Ellen will know this."
Vivian's shoulders slumped over as she stared at the only person she'd ever loved. "Don't hurt her."
Hazel grinned. "I knew you would see reason. We head out immediately."
Chapter 31
They walked down to the surface, past the rebel base and out towards the northern pole of the planet.
Vivian walked with Hazel and four guards, two of whom were holding Ellen between them as an eternal reminder of what would happen if Vivian tried anything. Ellen hadn't so much as stirred in the time they had been walking, and the guards had been forcing her to drink a strange liquid whenever she began stirring.
In about a week, they made it to the northern pole. They stopped about a hundred meters from where the light was able to reach. The locals had heavy cloaks they were putting on, and Vivian had to remove the goggles and blink a few times to adjust to the dim light.
She turned to Hazel. "What do you need me to do?"
"There is a black panel," said Hazel through the cloak, "On the exact northern magnetic pole. There is grass growing over it. Go out there and pick all the grass until the panel is completely clear. Make a perimeter around which there is no grass."
"That's it?" said Vivian. It seemed so mundane and boring.
"This is very serious," said Hazel. "Seed will not be able to follow you into the light. You must wait while it gives you the necessary nourishment. Get back before you start feeling lightheaded."
"This is absurd," said Vivian. "Who was doing this before?"
"Ellen."
The answer shook Vivian to the core. "What do you mean?"
"Ellen has been coming here," said Hazel, "once a year and clearing away the debris. She's been amazingly loyal, and it's clear from your reaction that she never told you. She's done a great job."
"What?" Vivian couldn't bring herself to comprehend the words the Hazel was saying. "She's been coming out here?"
"Once a year," said Hazel.
Vivian swallowed. "Then why do you need me?"
"To make a point," said Hazel. "Just do it. Make sure that you don't break the connection. Let Seed do that."
Vivian suddenly felt her body pulsing with energy, more than she'd ever had in her life. She looked down at the root attached to her ankle and saw that it was pulsing as it pumped nutrients into her body. Then it detached, and Vivian winced in anticipation of the inevitable pain at the disconnect, but it didn't come.
"Be quick," said Hazel, "before the nutrients run out."
Vivian took a deep breath and walked into the light and the clearing. The sun beat down from overhead. She covered her eyes as they adjusted to the sunlight. She could feel her energy rapidly draining. She walked out to the metal plate. It radiated such immense heat that it was amazing it even existed. She grabbed the long pieces of grass that were overgrowing the panel. She looked back and saw Hazel standing at the edge of the forest, watching her every move. Ellen was still motionless, strung between the two the two guards.
Vivian looked down at the panel as she plucked, and a sudden realization dawned on her. Somehow, this was how Seed generated its power. It was sucking in solar power and using it to create and control the planet of Trella. This was the weak point.
She looked at the other side of the clearing, wondering whether she would be able to make it to that side.
Standing there, leaning against a tree, was her father. She stared at him for a moment then turned away. It wasn't him, not really. It was whatever Seed wanted him to be. Seed was using her father’s memories and his knowledge to get to her.
Vivian wondered what would happen if she destroyed the black solar panel.
She couldn't do it now. Ellen was in too much danger, not to mention herself. Seed had only given her enough to survive without its touch for a short period of time.
She continued plucking the weeds, clearing away the panel as she had been instructed. As she finished she began feeling weak and lightheaded. She stumbled out of the clearing and fell at the feet of Hazel and the guards.
Vivian felt Seed reconnect its roots and return her energy.
She realized something as she stood.
Seed couldn't operate in the sun, yet it needed the sun.
If Vivian got a chance, that was the answer. That panel was the secret to defeating Seed. She looked back once more at where her father had been standing, but he was gone.
Chapter 32
Dave could barely walk. The entire world seemed to be shaking and his head was on fire. He had broken the root attached to his ankle almost seven hours earlier. He had tried killing and eating a small bird, but his body had rejected the food and he had vomited all over the ground.
He was going to die. He was certain of it.
That was preferable to letting whatever monster controlled this planet take control of him.
He just needed to rest and he would be fine. He stumbled towards a small cave. He walked inside and fell against the wall, basking in the dryness and protection that the cave provided. He was about to fall asleep, when his hand grazed aga
inst something.
He paused, pulling back his hand and touching it again. Once he was certain that he knew what it was, he began feeling all around the skeleton, looking for anything that would indicate who this man was.
The planet hadn't devoured this dead man for some reason. Dave moved his hands over the body until he came to a book sitting on its waist. He grasped the book and pulled it out of the skeleton's grip.
It was a notebook, issued by the Intergalactic Council. Dave frowned.
Dave began flipping through the pages of the notebook, reading by the faint light coming through the entryway to the cave. He read the notes that the man had made about the planet, and it made a chill run down his spine.
"Immediate action is needed to save the occupants of this planet," said the notes. "The intrusion is a Level 4 experimental parasite, designed for planetary warfare and subsequently outlawed under the Jupiter Convention."
Dave's stomach fell. Whatever was on this planet wasn't a God of any kind. It was a parasite. He began flipping through the notes. There were enough unfamiliar acronyms that it was difficult to understand and the man’s handwriting was far from perfect, but he able to surmise enough to know that Seed was growing. Seed was getting to the point in its life cycle where it would crush the planet under its own weight and explode into a million seeds, sending them into the far reaches of the cosmos.
"Oh my god," said Dave, the realization suddenly dawning on him. "Everyone is going to die."
He turned the page and saw a drawing of the basilisk, and his heart leapt when he saw what was written there. It was simple, and not overly complicated.
The page was titled, simply, "How to control a Basilisk."
Chapter 33
Vivian was thrown into the same cell she'd occupied the first time she had been arrested and thrown into jail. This time they let her keep her goggles so she could see the cells around her. There was nothing to see anyways.
After half a day in jail, a voice said, "Hey, Vivian."
She hadn't heard anyone come into the room. She already knew who was talking. She looked up to see her father sitting in the cell next to her, leaning against the wall. He smiled at her and raised his leg to reveal the root attached to his leg.
"I suppose we're one and the same now," he said, laughing. "Welcome to the Seed Colony."
Vivian didn't look at him. "I'm nothing like you," she said. "I don't know what you are. You aren't my father."
"I am your father."
"Then explain something to me," she said. "How are you here? How do you just show up places like you teleport? Ambrosia and Hazel can't do that. The Anderson's can't do that. Why can you?"
Her father smiled. "Do you remember when you were supposed to be executed and you were hanging from the noose?"
She nodded.
"The drugs that the executioner gave you were herbs gathered from the trees around here," explained her father. "The drugs are a product of Seed."
"I drank pieces of Seed?" said Vivian.
"Yes. And that was why you saw me, and why you saw the crowd around you. You were seeing what Seed sees. You were tapping into its lifeline."
"What about the other rebels that were given the same mixture? Did they see the same thing?"
Her father shrugged. "Yes, but they're all dead."
She looked at her father. "What does that have to do with you being here now?"
"I'm not really here," he said. "You have residue of the Seed mixture in your bloodstream. I have never been present, and I've never really talked to you. I'm not a slave of Seed. I was absorbed by it almost a decade ago. I am part of Seed. It is only your connection to me that is allowing us to have this conversation at all."
"But I felt you," said Vivian. "I touched your hand."
"Feeling is created in the mind," said her father. "Wouldn't you say that the mind can create sensations? You're a medical expert, I'm sure you've considered it."
Vivian sighed. "I suppose so. So, if you're not a slave of Seed, why are you here?"
"To warn you," he said.
"Warn me of what?" Vivian said, laughing. "I'm already in prison and I'm basically a slave of Seed at this point." She lifted her leg to show him the root. "What else can you warn me of?"
"Don't trust Dave."
"What?" said Vivian, frowning.
"He's found something of great power," said her father. "It will be the end of this planet if he gets the other."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the basilisk's."
"What?"
"That's all I know," said her father. He began fading. "I'm sorry. I love you."
Vivian stared at him as he disappeared and faded into nothing, then frowned. He had mentioned multiple basilisk's, and that made Vivian nervous.
A scream came from somewhere nearby, followed by many more.
The sounds of screaming and destruction came from outside the jail. Vivian heard guns firing and soldiers screaming. She heard a baby crying.
Then the door to the prison opened and Dave stepped in.
He looked weak and haggard. He stumbled and had to support himself against the wall. He took a key from out of his pocket and unlocked Vivian's cell.
The door swung open and Dave held out a hand. "Come with me," he said, forcing a smile, "and we can make this world into something that we can be proud of."
She stared at his hand and his expectant expression. He seemed so honest and genuine that it was hard to believe what her father was saying.
She went to grab at his hand, but a glint of steel behind Dave's back made her hesitate for just a second.
"Sorry," said Dave, apparently noticing her suspicion. "You're not one of us. This isn't your home."
He pulled a long curved knife from behind him and swung it at Vivian. She ducked. A few strands of her hair got caught by the knife and floated down to the ground.
Dave pulled back again. There was an insanity in his eyes. His movements were slow and uneven, as though he was losing energy at an absurd rate and only staying upright through sheer willpower.
"Vivian!" said the scream coming from the doorway of the jail.
They both turned, but it was Dave who took the brunt of Ellen's assault.
Ellen swung a wooden stool through the air. It caught Dave across the right cheek and sent him stumbling backwards.
Vivian noticed a notebook lying on the ground. It must have fallen out of Dave's pocket where Ellen had hit him.
"Come on!" Ellen screamed, holding out a hand.
This time, Vivian didn't hesitate. She grabbed the notebook and Ellen's hand. They ran out of the jail.
Dave was cursing wildly and grabbing onto his head where he'd been hit.
As they went through the door, Vivian looked back and saw a crazed, terrifying look in Dave’s eyes. There was a piece of root attached to Dave's leg, but it had been snapped. she thought of her own brief experience with the broken root and how much pain and suffering it had brought her. How long had Dave been disconnected? How long had he been dealing with the inability to eat or drink, as well as the raging headaches and endless pain. It was amazing that he was even upright. As Dave looked up, drool dripped from his mouth and pure unmediated fury emanated from his eyes. Vivian wondered how much of Dave was still left inside him.
Ellen dragged Vivian onto the bridges, where chaos had taken over. Fires and carnage were all around them as everyone ran to and fro to get away.
Vivian looked down and jumped. The immense skeleton of a basilisk was lying motionless on the bridge in front of her.
"It won't move without Dave on it," said Ellen. "I don't know why. Come on, we're gathering in the meeting hall of the mother tree."
Vivian let herself be dragged, constantly glancing back at the root which trailed from her ankle and moved through the ground like it was water. She looked back at Dave as he stumbled through the pathways towards his waiting snake.
"Why the meeting hall?" said Vi
vian as they ran.
"That's where Hazel is waiting."
"I don't trust her," said Vivian, stopping and waiting for Ellen to notice.
Ellen turned back, giving Vivian a questioning look.
"Hazel threatened to kill you if I didn't help her," said Vivian. "She made me clear away the debris from that black panel on the northern pole. Something you've been doing for a long time and never told me about."
Ellen paused, glancing back at the carnage behind Vivian. "I'm sorry," she said. "Can we talk about this another time?"
Vivian looked back. Dave was slowly climbing on top of the Basilisk. She followed Ellen and they ran into the meeting hall of the Mother Tree.
Gathered inside were a few dozen people, all looking towards the front of the hall, towards where the great basilisk hung. It was only as she saw it now that she realized that it wasn't dead. The skeleton was its body and it was only active while being controlled.
Hazel stood to one side. Kneeling in front of the snake, chanting something which Vivian couldn't understand and raising her hands up towards the great snake, was Ambrosia. It seemed strange to see her among the general populace.
That oddity paled in comparison to what happened next. The snake, that had been sitting above the council’s table for as long as Vivian could remember, came alive. It looked down at Ambrosia, as though judging whether or not she was worthy. Then the snake slithered down from its place on the wall, taking itself off the hooks which held it there. Its immense body slithered down the wall and came to a curled stop in front of Ambrosia. Everyone in the hall shied away from the beast. Ambrosia stood and walked to the beast.
The beast looked at her with its empty eye sockets and lowered its head in submission. Ambrosia climbed up the beast, using its' nose as leverage to climb on top of its head. Once she was in position on top of its head, the beast turned and she waved to the crowd.