I almost grabbed the communicator to make contact, but waited. I stepped toward the couch, and the woman said something quietly to the child before turning to me.
For a Bhlat, she was stunning. Her wide face was framed by thick black braids, and her eyes were a light swirling red, making me think of molten lava. Her lips parted in a thin smile, sharp teeth making her look like a dangerous predator.
“I wondered when someone would make it up here. I expected it from the Kraski, if I’m being honest, but not a human.” She spoke in perfect English, and I was caught off-guard. I closed my mouth, not wanting her to see my surprise.
“We’re craftier than you think,” I said, playing along with her banter.
“Whom am I addressing?” she asked. Beside her, the little girl’s blue eyes danced as she stared at me intently.
“Dean Parker,” I said, glad to get a reaction from her.
“You’re a hard man to kill, it seems. Admiral Blel told me only a while ago he had your friends, and that you were dead. They seemed to want to barter but claimed they wouldn’t talk yet.”
“The timing just had to be right.”
“Yes, so it seems.” She looked over my shoulder to where Leonard was holding a gun to the guard; then she glanced to the floor, where the dead one lay in a pile. “What is it you want?”
“I want peace. I want you to leave Earth and never come back.”
“It’s too late for that. We’ve already begun the harvest. There’s no going back.”
I cringed inwardly. I had to pivot. “Then let us leave, and you can have it.” I was literally bartering away a planet, but given the circumstance, I didn’t have a choice.
She looked intrigued. “Is that so?”
“Yes. Take the planet. Use its water, use its ore, but let us leave. Don’t make contact ever again.”
“Or what?” she asked.
“You don’t want to find out,” I said, almost bluffing, but knowing I could still end their city with the touch of a button.
She stood silent for a minute, analyzing the situation.
“We have a deal,” she said, and I felt a fraction of the tension in my back ease up. She moved for the table and tapped an icon glowing on a built-in screen.
She said something in Bhlat, and I caught the name Blel. A gruff voice called back, and they went back and forth. I heard the name Mary carry over, and I gripped the rifle harder.
“What did he say?” I asked, remembering the dreams I’d had in which Mary was killed in our final confrontation with the Bhlat.
She didn’t say anything for a long minute, and my eyes started to well up. “What did he say?” I yelled.
“He said there was an altercation. One of the human guests has been killed.”
My gut clenched, and my vision went black. “Which guest?” I asked, knowing the answer.
One word escaped through her sharp teeth, her swirling eyes conveying a touch of sympathy. “Mary.”
The door blew open before I had a chance to let it soak in. I almost didn’t turn to the concussion blast. If she was gone, then what was the point?
Leonard’s yelling voice brought me back, and I spun, firing at the incoming guards. Red pulses erupted from my rifle, and Leonard’s pistol joined me as a dozen armed Bhlat raced into the room. I just needed to touch the Empress and Leonard, and we could get out of here. Only when I looked back at her, she and the child were near the window.
We ducked behind the table, trading fire with the newcomers. I made a lucky shot and saw one of them drop dead. Leonard had his hand up over his head, firing backwards with his eyes closed. One of his shots hit, and footsteps started coming our way, closer to us.
The Empress called out a command, and the firing instantly stopped. She said another string of words, and the warriors lowered their weapons. I didn’t do the same. For all I knew, we’d raise our hands and get killed for our efforts.
I stood up, rifle pointed at the eight or so standing guards, and crossed the room to the imposing woman at the window. The Relocator was in my other palm now, and Leonard got close.
The Empress looked at us, and to the dead guards on the floor. She held her daughter’s hand as I reached to touch her and Leonard with my bare hands. I touched the Relocator.
TWENTY-SIX
“If we made a deal, why did we take their Empress?” Leonard asked, his hands still shaking. I was impressed with how well he’d handled himself and told him so.
“For insurance. I don’t trust them, and right before we got rudely interrupted, we heard that… they killed someone.” I wouldn’t believe she was dead or let myself dwell on the implications, because I’d be a mess on the ground if I did.
“Where are we?” the Empress asked, her child finally done crying. We were in the portal cave, but I wouldn’t let her see outside and let her know where the portal was located.
“Don’t worry about that. Leonard, blindfold them.” I ripped some fabric from the woman’s robe, and Leonard gently tied the red fabric around her face, then the girl’s. Neither protested.
Once they couldn’t see, we led them to the portal room. The last few days’ events raced through my mind. Mary’s last words to me rang in my ears, and I almost stopped right there. We were close to the end, I knew it. I just didn’t know what the end meant. The end of the conflict, or the end of us?
Soon we were standing behind the table in the center of the room, and I found Earth’s symbol with a shaky hand.
“Dean?” Leonard asked, breaking me from my daze.
Instead of answering him, I just tapped the icon, and light enveloped the four of us.
____________
The trip to the surface took a while, since we had to rise through the thick earth in pairs. This time, I kept my eyes closed the whole time, our counterparts not having to think about it with theirs covered. The child whimpered in my arms, but I ignored her. Their comfort meant nothing to me. All I could think about was getting up to the invading Bhlat ship where Mary was.
Once we made it outside, I nearly doubled over. Last time we’d left, the Bhlat mining machines had been lowering. Now the sky was covered in clouds, the atmosphere thin and breaking up.
The huge mining vessels didn’t seem still active, so maybe the Bhlat were here to barter. Looking around, I knew it was too late to salvage our world. My stomach sank, and my already morose mood took on an all-time low.
I’d lost the woman I loved and a planet in the same day.
Leonard looked around in wide-eyed wonder, his face having gone pale the instant he’d stepped outside.
With no other option, I took out my communicator. “This is Dean Parker. I have your Empress. Send a ship to me, and we end this now.” I was done messing around.
A Bhlat voice spoke through the communicator, and the Empress translated for me.
“They have dispatched a ship and are willing to parley peacefully.” Her voice was firm, even though her hands were tied and her eyes covered.
“Peacefully? Look at this!” I yelled, ripping the cloth from around her head. She stared upward with bright red eyes. The sky crackled, wind angrily blowing dust around the pyramids.
“I’m sorry,” she said, voice smaller than I’d heard it yet.
“For what? For taking our water to expand your fleet, so you can do this to another world?” I was shouting now, tears flowing down my dusty face.
She looked down, abashed. “I heard you were barbarians. No better than a Tarkan from the outer reaches. When I gave my support, I thought we were doing the universe a favor. You killed the Kraski and most of the Deltra,” she said, as if this were a good enough reason for what her people had done.
“They tried to kill us first. The damn Kraski were on the run from you! It all starts with you! You’re a discredit to the universe, and the Theos would be ashamed.” I wasn’t sure why I said their ancient race’s name, but it seemed to strike a chord.
Her tense posture loosened. “You’re probably r
ight. But all my family has done is solidify our standing in the pecking order. It’s kill or be killed.”
“I understand that more than you know.” And I did.
Minutes ticked by in silence before a boxy ship lowered from above, blue thrusters pointing at the earth as it flew down before stopping a couple hundred yards from our position. The Empress was holding the girl now, and I pointed my rifle at them.
“Leonard, take the girl,” I said firmly. He hesitated. “Take the damn girl!” He rushed over and set a hand on her small shoulder. “Get your pistol out.”
He looked back at me, a grim expression on his chubby face. I hated to force his hand on this, but he wanted to be in the middle of it, so this was it.
A large Bhlat warrior stepped out, oversized gun in hand. He wore an EVA suit, the air probably nearly unbreathable for them as well. I could feel the thin air making my head light. Mix in the lack of sleep, and I worried I wouldn’t be on two feet for long.
He motioned for us to come closer, and we walked toward him, the Bhlat woman and child between us and the ship.
The Empress said a few words in Bhlat and he nodded, lowering the gun. We entered the ship, but my finger didn’t leave the trigger for a second.
We entered the rough-looking fifty-foot ship through a side ramp, and I got stared down by a few hulking armored soldiers, each kneeling as the Empress stepped on board. It looked to be a drop ship of some sort, and I wondered how many of these they usually used on an invasion. Or did they just steal the resources from space, defending the miners when needed? It was dimly lit, and we stayed in the bay, weapons and cold metal seats with belts lining the walls.
No one spoke until we’d been inside for five minutes or so.
“Dean Parker, we can still make our deal.” The Empress turned her head and spoke softly into my ear.
“Mary,” was all I said back.
“If this was your mate, then I’m truly sorry. I lost a mate once, far too young. Linna there is all I have left of him.” She nodded to the little one, scared to death under Leonard’s light grip.
“What do you know of the Gatekeepers?” I asked before thinking.
She stiffened. “Why do you use that name?”
“Answer the question.”
“The Theos left us. Yes, we once walked worlds with them. It is said that the first Bhlat were found by them on a distant planet. One day they left, and rumors said they were seen on countless worlds sporadically over the next century or so. We never knew what they were doing, but the name Gatekeeper made it back to us eventually. That you ask me about it now is of extreme interest to me.”
“Why?”
“Because you speak of things long lost and forbidden to our people. That you do so at such a tumultuous time for your people brings great importance to the portent it bears.”
“For someone who hasn’t met a human before today, you sure have a way with our words.” This from Leonard. His voice was light, his hand still shaking, but not nearly as much as it had been. His gaze lifted from us to the large guards across from us.
“I can share thousands of languages with you if you so desire. It is but a simple procedure, mastered centuries ago by our scientists,” the Empress said, and I wasn’t sure if she was trying to impress us or distract us.
“Enough about that. That’s all you know about the Gatekeepers?” I asked, anger still thick on my tongue.
“Yes. I have no reason to deceive you.”
“Why is it forbidden to speak of the Theos?” I asked, curious, recalling the Bhlat on the street, worried they would be overheard using the name.
“The Theos abandoned the universe. Many beings out there think they are gods, that they created all.”
“And you? What do you believe?” I asked.
She looked at me sidelong from her spot to my left, where I still aimed my gun at her. “I believe they were a wise race, far beyond our scope of understanding. They grew bored and left us all behind. The universe is a large place, one where they may still be hiding.”
“Maybe they aren’t hiding, just living their lives out in peace,” I said.
“Peace. That is such a powerful world, but rarely one anyone takes at face value.”
“Will we make this deal?” I asked, trying to read her expression. Her deep red eyes danced while staying still.
“We will.”
“Will you keep doing this to other worlds?”
“We will.”
“Why?” I asked, my lips sticking together as I moved my mouth.
“My world’s water is contaminated. We are many, billions upon billions, and water becomes the most important resource in the universe.”
I thought back to exiting the forest on the way to the Bhlat city, and how life crept away from the snaking river we’d passed.
“What about the metals?” I asked, knowing they weren’t just mining water on Earth.
“If we’re taking water, why not take every resource we can? It would be foolish.”
Kareem’s face floated to the forefront of my mind. Change the universe.
“Empress, what if I had a solution to your resource problem? What if I offered you coordinates to places out there that you could colonize with fresh water, and metals unheard of? Would you be willing to stop invading? Stop killing innocents for your own sake? Would you work with me, and change…” I cut myself off, not wanting to make it too cheesy. “Change the future?”
Her red eyes twitched, and a wet line streamed down her cheek. She glanced to her daughter, who looked back with wide eyes at her mother. “I would.”
If she was acting, I was buying it, but I had to proceed with caution. The ship jostled and landed, presumably inside the Bhlat ship where my friends were being kept. Mary. I had to end this all and see her one more time. I felt like screaming in anguish for my lost love. It was my fault. If only I’d brought her with me to get the Empress, none of this would have happened. She’d still be at my side. I was so selfish, and I’d never live it down.
The doors whistled open, jarring me from my own thoughts. We started to walk forward; the Empress turned to me and said, “Dean Parker, we will give in to your terms. Let me speak with Blel, and you will be allowed to leave with your…” She cut herself off, remembering my mate. “You will be allowed to leave and evacuate your planet.”
The guards went first, and when no one was looking, I slipped the Relocator out and saved our current location into it. A quick escape might be necessary, and I wasn’t taking any chances.
Leonard went in front of me, still holding the little Bhlat girl near him. We exited the ship, and the Empress called out in her native language as a large group of Bhlat warriors lined the immense open hangar we’d landed in.
The ship must have been huge, because there were at least twenty drop ships inside the hangar, and a full hundred or so warriors stood there, suited up and ready for battle. I felt like a fool wearing an oversized Bhlat servant’s robe, but at the end of the day, I didn’t really care what they thought of me. I only wanted to get my friends and leave.
The group of Bhlat separated, making a path for us to walk out of the large room. The hair on the back of my neck rose as I moved forward, leaving dozens of armed soldiers at my back. I waited for the feeling of a pulse blast ripping through me, but it didn’t come.
We exited through a cold metal slab of a door, the two guards from the ship still leading the way. I wanted to look around, to see the inside of a great warship from one of the universe’s most deadly races, but I kept my eyes forward, watching the back of the Empress’ head as we passed groups of gawking Bhlat. Here we found Bhlat in normal uniforms, men only slightly taller than humans, and women of all sizes. A ship this size wasn’t housed by warriors and guns alone.
“Where’s Blel?” I asked the Empress, who shrugged.
“They’re taking us to him now,” she said, her posture stronger and straighter than it had been since we’d first met.
We moved
slowly down a couple of wide hallways. Some people shouted out to the Empress; others kneeled when whispers about who she was reached their ears. We kept moving, the Empress stoic and unresponsive to her people as we went.
My grip was tight on the pulse rifle, anxious sweat making my palm slick. I was almost there; I only needed to hold on for a little while longer. Long enough to make the deal and start moving our people.
TWENTY-SEVEN
The walk felt like an hour, but after a few more minutes, we were brought to an elevator. I didn’t like the idea of entering the cramped space with the guards.
“Where does this lead? To Blel?” I asked.
The Empress asked something in Bhlat, and the guard grunted and nodded. “Yes, to the bridge.”
“Then the four of us go alone,” I said.
She relayed it, and one of the guards looked ready to pull a weapon. I tightened my grasp on the Empress, and she said something to them in a calming voice. He stepped back and let us enter the lift alone.
Unlike the elevator back at her palace, this one functioned like a normal one, and once inside, we lifted quickly. When the doors opened, I was ready for the fight of my life, but didn’t need to be as we were greeted by two tall thin Bhlat in dark gray uniforms.
The first one spoke, her words coming through a translator. “Welcome, Dean Parker. Your Majesty.” She bowed, and the other followed suit. “This way.” They turned and walked toward the main bridge.
It was immense, at least ten times the size of our small ships’ bridges. I spotted around twelve Bhlat officers on board. The lights were bright but not severe, and the space was spotless and shiny. This Blel was obviously a man of cleanliness and order. Almost familiar sounds emanated from the computers, once again reminding me that our races might not be as different as we seemed on the surface. I could use that.
“Mr. Parker,” a thick accented voice said in English. The man rose from what could only be his captain’s seat, front and center to the thirty-foot viewscreen at the far end of the bridge. He turned, and I expected to see an eight-foot-tall behemoth of a Bhlat warrior. Instead, I was greeted with a shrivelled, ancient-looking creature, shorter than myself and hunched at the back. He was bald, save for a tuft of hair that stuck out to one side from the top of his head. His eyes were black and beady; from this distance, I couldn’t make out any of the swirling visage the other Bhlat had. Blel wasn’t a young man. He breathed heavily, and gray hairs fluttered by his three nostrils as he did so.
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