[scifan] plantation 02 - dark legion

by Stella Samiotou Fitzsimons

  I don’t know if I’m strong enough but I need to be and that’s all that counts. When I open my eyes, the ground starts trembling. A purple whirlwind forms in front of my eyes. At first, it’s so small, it can fit in my palm, but a moment later it starts building up until it becomes gigantic and reaches the drone. It encircles it furiously and shakes it with incredible violence.

  I see Damian out of the corner of my eye as he climbs onto the rocks.

  “Stay down,” I say but he can’t hear me. And he probably wouldn’t stay down even if he could hear me. “Keep everyone safe,” I whisper as I am getting ready to deliver the blow that will bring the drone down.

  I know that my hand will not be able to handle the ferocity of my attempt even before I feel the piercing pain that shoots through my shoulder blade, neck and arm. It’s such an unbearable feeling that I have to clench my teeth and tighten every muscle in my body so as not to fall to the ground. Finn senses how weak my knees get and supports me with his entire body.

  Then the underside of the drone opens again and a blue beam penetrates my whirlwind traveling fast toward Finn and me. It takes all I have to stop it from striking us but I know I won’t be able to for long.

  The pain extends to my spine, my knees and even my feet. My ears ring with the shrillest of sounds. I get lightheaded. I can barely see Damian and the rest of the band run towards Finn and me. Rabbit outruns everyone and gets to me first.

  He holds on to me in an effort to offer extra support. But I don’t need physical support. I need internal strength, I need to find a second source of energy within me and I don’t know how to do that.

  I think of my mother’s hands bathing me as a girl. I hear my big brother’s voice and I scream as loud as I can. The surge of energy obliterates the blue beam and explodes the drone.

  I fall to the ground depleted of all strength managing somehow to create a shield above us all to deflect the sudden tornado of metal raining down on us from the destroyed drone. Everyone falls to the ground screaming as the assault of metal shards crash down onto us. The Saviors bury their heads beneath their arms.

  The last of the metal hits and slides down my curved shield. I fade out and the shield disappears.

  My mother’s hands in the bath water. The sun through the window.

  “Wake up,” I hear Damian’s voice.

  “Freya, open your eyes,” Pip begs of me.

  I blindly reach out for the receptor and someone places it in my hand. I need you, I whisper. I need your energy. Fix me.

  Then I feel the jolt. A different kind of jolt. Like an invigorating stream of warm fluids running through my spine and arteries. The physical warmth and strength is accompanied by an exhilaration of emotions like I have never experienced before.

  I spring onto my feet with renewed energy. I don’t know how long it will last so I’m not going to waste any time. I get ready to attack the drone again but, I remember, I destroyed it. Rabbit, Biscuit, Tilly, Pip, Scout and even Nya get up from the ground and start cheering.

  Our joy is short-lived when we see a second drone approach. At the same time, Zolkon shows up with a legion of bloodthirsty Sliman behind him. I’ve never seen Sliman that looked more lethal. They must be a new breed. The Dark Legion, I remember Zolkon’s words.

  I attack them with my electric field but most of them manage to escape it. I note that they are faster and more agile than any other Sliman before them. I work my blue shield to protect all Saviors as more than a hundred Sliman attack us from two different fronts. They don’t shoot at the shield. They know. They’ve been trained for me and my receptor.

  My main concern now is the new drone that hovers above our heads. When the rope ladders are thrown down, I know we’ll be surrounded by Sliman in no time.

  “I’m dropping the shield,” I yell. “I’m going to attack.”

  We form a circle so our backs are protected. Then I let go of the shield and immediately release a green energy field that sweeps the Sliman off the ground and lifts them hundreds of feet up in the air before they drop. I reform the shield, choose a new target area and then drop the shield a second time. I blast as many Sliman as I can.

  I’m blasting them left and right. A lot of them get up for a second round but their numbers are diminishing slowly. We work like a synchronized machine. When I lift the shield, we all get in attack mode.

  The defeat of the Sliman is exhausting, but nearly complete. Zolkon is watching us from a distance with a grin on his face and I don’t understand what he’s so happy about until Rabbit drops to the ground with a hole the size of a quarter in his left shoulder blade and a smaller one in his upper chest. Laser beams are shot through the drone above us.

  We find ourselves under assault from above as laser blasts rain down.

  I get the shield up and Doc runs to aid Rabbit. I realize we’re trapped. More Sliman begin to show up on the ground in armored vehicles. If I attack the drone, we will be open to a ferocious assault from land.

  “Take the drone out,” Damian says. “I will take care of the Sliman.” He turns to Nya. “Get your explosive arrows in order, we have work to do.”

  Nya quickly draws her three explosive arrows out of their sheath. They’re the last ones she has. They could be the last ones she will ever have.

  I lift the shield and target the drone with a whirlwind.

  Nya blows up a bunch of Sliman with one of her arrows while Damian and Finn cover her. They turn slightly and she launches the second arrow. My whirlwind grinds against the drone’s blue beam as I glance to my right to watch Nya’s arrow arc down and deliver its payload of vengeance. The Sliman are shredded by the massive explosion when the arrow hits the ground.

  A few surviving Sliman start to retreat. Nya’s final arrow chases after them and wipes them out. I try not to think about Rabbit. If I do that, I will break and everything will be lost.

  I feel the drone submitting to my will. It feels like a leaf in the wind. I can blow it away with a simple wave of my hand. And I would do that except my focus is divided by the arrival of another drone.

  I hear Zolkon shouting behind me, “They are both here! Position 1-8-4.”

  I turn and see him talking on a touchpad. When the magnetic hook falls towards me from the first drone, I react only because the receptor wants me to react. It practically forces my hand to send an energy blast at the hook and blow it up. I point the receptor at the drone when I suddenly feel something hit my left calf like a sharp rock.

  Zolkon shot me.

  It all happens very fast now. I fall down. I lose the receptor. Dozens of magnetic hooks descend from the sky among a shower of laser beams. They pulse with energy as if they were alive. Finn jumps on the ropes that hold the hooks and cuts them off one after the other while everyone runs off to avoid being pierced or shot.

  Pip sits down next to me and I put my arms around her to protect her. Rabbit is unconscious and Doc and Theo carry him away from danger. A penetrating rage consumes me as Zolkon picks up the receptor and faces me.

  “I’m sorry it had to come to this, my dear girl, but if I have to choose between you and me, well, you lose every time.”

  He grabs Pip by the hair to pull her out of the way. Another Sliman grabs Pip as Zolkon searches for the tiny slot for the core chip. He finds it. He begins his hideous laugh and the next moment he is shot in the shoulder from above.

  “Looks like the aliens have no more use for you,” I say and call to the receptor. It jumps back to my hand. It knows to reboot my body’s energy. I feel the refreshing jolt and then wield its power like it’s all mine. The Sliman guard releases Pip and raises his hands in surrender. I let him run away.

  As I attack the first drone, I turn the energy field into a heat wave and hit the fuel deposit setting it on fire. The drone burns a moment before exploding into the sky. I create a magnetic field around Finn, Pip and me to protect us from the blast wave. The other Saviors are at a safe distance forming a ground perimeter.

 
Sweat drips down into my eyes as my breathing increases and becomes shallow. I will not give out now. I have to finish this. I take aim at the last drone that starts to retreat. My final trick is something I feel, but have never trained or even heard Wudak mention. I send a purple field up in the sky and grab the drone. I stop its flight. I hold it there and concentrate on my idea.

  I want to throw the drone against the fortress to smash it like a bug.

  Then I hear him screaming. Damian. The drone has lifted him off the ground with two hooks that have pierced through both his arms. My heart stops. How did I lose focus? My rage blinded me. Wudak warned me of this.

  “No,” I yell and let the drone go. It would kill him to destroy the drone. Damian is too high to cut the ropes. He is too far for me to catch him. I run after him. I’m a puny human. A small girl. I cannot catch them. I run anyway until the drone is a speck on the horizon.

  I hear footsteps behind me. I turn and collapse in Finn’s arms.

  “We have to get him,” I yell through sobs, “we have to run, Finn.”

  “He’s gone, Freya,” he whispers.

  “No,” I yell and slap him all over his face and chest.

  He shakes me by the shoulders. “You have to accept it. He’s gone. He’s as good as dead. Even if they don’t kill hill him, even if they keep him alive, he’ll never be the same.”

  He kisses my forehead and I push him away. “Rabbit needs you,” he says, hurt. “You’re his only hope.”

  I don’t know how to say this to him. I am empty, I don’t know how to help anyone. He lifts me up and carries me back. My tears are hot and salty. Everything hurts now. My hand, my arm, my legs, my heart. Everything that I am screams in agony.

  Finn puts me down, grabs my hand and pulls me. I am useless. The sunrise greets the world with a deathly desert orange. Every face is different now. The Saviors are stained with a filthy truth about a filthy lie, the lie that we could win without any sacrifices.

  I drop to my knees beside Rabbit. Then I notice something odd. A few feet away another body lies on the ground. The body of a Sliman. Wudak.

  “How did he get here?” I ask.

  Zoe hugs me. Her eyes are hollow with a pain almost a deep as mine.

  “Gritu found him and brought him here,” she says pointing at a dark figure several yards away. “Wudak said the receptor has healing powers. You have to feel it in you, you have to save Rabbit.”

  “I want to,” I say as my voice breaks. “I don’t know how.”

  “You almost did it for Daphne. I know you can do it now,” she says.

  “There’s nothing I can do anymore,” Doc says in anguish.

  “Please, Freya,” Scout says through her tears.

  “I will try,” I say, “but I am just a girl.”

  Wudak’s hand reaches out to me.

  “It’s deep within, find it,” he says.

  I nod. “First Rabbit and then you.”

  “The first one… will almost kill you,” he whispers. “Just the boy.”

  I have to pull myself together. I touch Rabbit’s forehead. It’s burning. I close my eyes and concentrate on the receptor in my tight fist. Nothing happens. I try again and I can’t get the device to respond.

  Then I remember Wudak’s words. You will become the receptor and it will become you. Its heart beats within you. You are bonded.

  Bonded? That word. Zolkon said that Wudak had bonded with me when we touched. The receptor has bonded with me. All three can be one.

  “Guide me, Wudak. Guide me while you yet breathe.”

  Wudak smiles up to me. “Take anything you want,” he whispers.

  I close my eyes and think it. Take anything you want. Immediately, a rainbow of light jumps out of my fingers. The other Saviors stagger back in awe. It’s the same rainbow that helped Daphne open her eyes. Is it enough to keep Rabbit among the living?

  The flood of light grows wider and brighter. I can barely see anything through it. I turn it on Rabbit and the rays reduce suddenly to light up his face. The light spills down onto his shoulder and chest where the deep wounds are killing him. Now a yellow light sparks out of the receptor and rushes into the wounds. Rabbit convulses as the light flows into him.

  I fight to hold the energy as steady as I can and a void gradually grows inside me, numbing entire areas of my body. Rabbit opens his eyes with a jolt. I have to keep him here. I’ll bring him back even if it costs me my life.

  His wounds start to heal right in front of our stunned eyes. First the bleeding stops, then the flesh mends together and scabs over.

  When the skin starts to heal around the wounds, I pass out.

  22

  When I come to, Rabbit is bending over me.

  “Welcome back,” he says.

  “Rabbit, are we alive?” I mutter.

  “We are. You saved me, Freya. Thank you.”

  I try to sit up but the vertigo pushes me right back.

  “Stay still,” Doc says. “I don’t want to scare you, but your heart stopped. For a moment, you were gone. I wasn’t sure we’d get you back. I need you to take it easy.”

  I realize we’re in the fortress and I lie on a bed but not the one that was supposed to be mine. I haven’t seen this room before. “How long have I been out?” I ask.

  “A few hours,” Doc says. “I took care of your calf as best I could. I found medical supplies in here.”

  “Where’s Pip? Finn?”

  “They’re right outside, I’ll get them for you.”

  “Rabbit,” I say, “I’m so glad you’re okay. I wanted to see you run again.”

  Finn and Pip arrive and Pip runs to me. I realize how bad it must be when even Pip knows not to hug me. I cannot even raise my hand to touch her.

  Finn kisses my forehead softly. “Don’t ever do that again,” he says.

  “Finn, why are we still here?”

  “Gritu and Malzod have raised the shield again around the fortress. They have also reported false information about our escape. They’re on our side.”

  “Wudak?” I ask.

  Finn shakes his head.

  “Wudak,” I say quietly. I feel his loss in my soul.

  Tilly and Scout come in the room. I can see the rawness in their eyes. They have been crying. They both hold my right hand together.

  Then come Theo and Nya, Biscuit, Zoe and Doc.

  Everybody except Damian.

  “Freya, there’s something that you need to know,” Finn says.

  “What?”

  “Zolkon survived. He’s our prisoner. He says he has some important information but he will talk only to you.”

  “And then can we kill him?” I say groggily.

  I don’t know why, but this makes every Savior laugh quietly.

  I nod and Gritu brings Zolkon in the room. Everyone exits. He’s in chains and in bad shape but Doc says he’ll live. I ask Finn to stay. I don’t want to be alone with this monster.

  Zolkon looks at me. “I hear you performed a miracle,” he says and his horrible laughter follows soon afterwards.

  “Buddy, laugh again, and I am going to kill you.”

  I lift my hand and the receptor flies across the room and plants itself firmly in my grasp. He stops laughing. Finn rolls his eyes and takes the receptor out of my hand.

  “I think it’d be better for you if we were alone when we talked,” he says looking at Finn.

  “Not an option,” I say. “Trust me. You don’t want him to leave. He just saved your life.”

  “Very well,” he says. “I want to make a deal with you. In exchange for my freedom, I will tell you all you need to know about your Sliman. And I don’t mean Wudak.”

  “What does that mean?” I say not liking the tone in his voice one bit.

  “You didn’t know? Your friend, the one who was captured, he’s a Sliman.”

  “What on earth are you talking about?” Finn says.

  “Well, he’s a different model, an experimental one. To this day, nob
ody knew one of the experiments had survived and thrived without the Omicron 5. Now the aliens know. That’s why they took him.”

  “You’re insane,” I say.

  “Am I? Haven’t you noticed anything different about him? His strength? His determination? His coldness and severity? His ease with violence? Let me guess, he told you that he loved you. Of course, he did. All Sliman are conditioned to love you.”

  I want to vomit or die. I think dying would be more graceful.

  “We wouldn’t be Sliman if we didn’t love you. Not you specifically, but every alien host. It’s like we have a chip in our brains that turns on the moment your hands touch us. That’s what happened to Wudak, that’s why he died for you. And your lad, once he touched you the first time, he grew to love you. He didn’t understand it. He might have fought it, but he could not resist.”

  My mind wanders now to the day of my escape. Damian’s strong arms around me, carrying me through the woods. He would not let go.

  “Even I felt a little jolt when you first walked in here. And you’re not so bad on the eyes either. Am I right, boy?”

  Finn glances to Zolkon vacantly. “Freya?”

  Zolkon shakes his head at Finn. “Youth is wasted on the wrong people.”

  “Why not you, then?” Finn asks.

  “I am too intelligent, too old to be caught in the web the aliens have woven into my cells.” He laughs again and he’s lucky my mind wanders back to Damian. Every moment we shared.

  I look at Finn. Will I ever tell him what Damian and I shared? What dark secret awaited him?

  “Your friend and Wudak, they both bonded with you through touching you. Wudak knew what he was doing, the idiot. Your friend probably didn’t. He didn’t know that the price would be his own life.”

  My head hurts and I reach out for Finn’s hand. He takes it and rubs it with his, reassuring me he’s here.

  “He is the ultimate Sliman,” Zolkon goes on, “the model they have been trying to create ever since they came to this planet. But unlike Sliman, he doesn’t need Omicron 5 to stay alive. They hadn’t predicted that. They might tear him apart limb by limb trying to discover how it happened.”