everything though.”
“This all sounds a little too convenient,” Damian says.
“There’s nothing convenient about what we’re doing. If the aliens suspect there’s an insurgency
building up within the Sliman ranks, they will destroy us on the spot.”
“You’re stronger than them, you know how they operate, what their weaknesses are,” Finn says.
“This whole time we’ve thought you were brainless but it’s obvious now that there’s a certain degree
of intelligence in you. Why not use what you know to bring the aliens down and free yourselves? Why
come to us? Why are you seeking out Freya?”
Wudak sighs and his companions lower their heads. “We are not as lucky as you,” he says. “We
do not enjoy the gift of autonomy. We depend on the aliens for our survival.”
Doc is intrigued by that. “What do you mean?” he asks.
“Once a month we receive an injection. It’s called Omicron 5 and we believe it’s made up of
different minerals, perhaps from different planets, and some forms of bacteria. That combination
keeps us alive. Without it, all our body systems start to shut down one after the other. Only the aliens know how to prepare the formula and only the sensory receptors can bind it into a transmittable fluid.
The aliens produce the minimum amount that is needed for one month so that we can never find any
additional supplies. We could try to steal a sample and have it analyzed, but even if we managed to
analyze and recreate it, which is doubtful, it would be useless without the receptor.”
“Without someone who can yield the power inside it,” Finn concludes.
“So this is all about you. You need Freya for her powers. The rest is a smokescreen,” Damian
says.
Gritu speaks for the first time. “What we are trying to say is that we have a common enemy. We
are earthlings now, just like you. We were born on this planet just like you. We want to be free just
like you. There is room for everyone.”
“We need you and you need us,” Wudak says. “You’ll never beat the aliens without our help.
Trust me on this. A thousand receptors would not be enough.”
Silence overtakes the cave as we all try to determine whether what the Sliman say can be trusted
or not. Even Tilly is stunned into muteness.
“Why did you say that Freya is in danger? What was that all about?” Damian wants to know.
“There’s nothing that the aliens want more than to get their hands on her right now.” Wudak’s
words sink in slowly, turning my blood to ice. “They have been preparing for you, Freya. They will
come for you. And they will try to take you by surprise.”
“Do they know where we are?” Damian says.
“No, but that will change soon.”
“Why? Are you going to tell them?”
“I understand that you want to protect your companions, that you want to protect Freya, but if you
don’t listen to me, you will all be captives again. Or dead. Soon.”
Damian begins to lose the little patience he has left. “You’re in no position to make threats,” he
says.
“The aliens are bringing in their drone air vehicles,” Wudak says. “There’s no escaping those
things. They will scan the entire district within twenty minutes, they will pick up your position and
they will blow you up. But not before they have captured Freya.”
“Where are those aircrafts?” Theo asks. “We have never seen them.”
“They are on their way to Earth as we speak. They are being transferred by two massive
cargospheres. They run on synthetic fuel that cannot be found or composed here. They have to bring in
the fuel, too. Normally, they wouldn’t do that because certain elements in the Earth’s atmosphere can
cause the fuel to explode. But they will risk it on this one occasion. That’s how much they want you
eliminated.”
I turn to Finn. I can see that he, too, remembers our conversation from yesterday. There’s no time
to dream about planes anymore. Not if what we’re hearing is true.
Theo’s face has sunk. Zoe puts one consoling arm around him. Tilly holds Biscuit’s hand.
Something is going on between those two, I think, as if trying to disentangle myself from the horrible news by sticking to simple thoughts.
“I still don’t know why we should believe any of this,” Damian says.
“We have already said a lot more than we should have. We have taken a great risk by coming
here. By letting you know about the Omicron 5,” Wudak says.
Damian shakes his head. “It’s not enough,” he determines.
Wudak thinks for a moment. Then he takes a long glance at each of his companions. Both Malzod
and Gritu nod reluctantly as if giving him permission for something.
“As you wish,” Wudak says. “If I am honest, I’ve always known it would come to this. You
want proof that we are sincere. How would you like to kill a few aliens?”
His words produce the desired effect. We can barely breathe. Scout and Rabbit both exclaim in
unison, “We’d like that!”
Damian can’t shake his doubts. “What do you mean kill a few aliens?”
“We can help you attack an alien convoy that will pass through the district’s lowland tomorrow.
We can tell you all you need to know to turn the encounter into a complete and absolute victory.”
Damian is intrigued by the possibility. He raises his eyebrows the way he always does when he
sniffs out opportunity. Finn gets fidgety, he shifts his weight from leg to leg. I know he has a million things he wants to ask Wudak. I take his hand in mine to steady him. Even Nya drops her post and
comes closer.
“I’m listening,” Damian says.
“Three aliens are leaving Plantation-9 and Earth,” Wudak begins but is interrupted by Biscuit.
“Terrible place,” he says as he reminisces Plantation-9. “Horrible food.”
Wudak doesn’t know what to make of this. He continues, “They will travel to a predetermined
landing area a few miles north of the plantation. They will carry equipment and food to take back with them. There’s several spots along the way where you could attack them.”
“What about a Sliman escort?” Finn asks.
“Yes, there will be one. Eight guards. You can take them if you surprise them. And you will.
They won’t see you coming.”
“You’d have us kill your own kind?” Damian says disgusted.
“They’re not our kind. They’re killing machines,” Wudak says staring into Damian’s puzzled
eyes.
“If only you knew how much bloodshed there has been among humans,” Gritu says. “Genocides,
holocausts, civil wars. There’s always some reason behind it. Most of them illogical. How do you
think the aliens were able to take over this planet? The humans were not unified. They were already
weakened by a war over a primitive energy source called oil. They were killing each other before the
first alien ship arrived.”
Wudak wants to get back to making his point. “Only those who have evolved to the point of
hungering freedom are our kind as you say.”
“And how many of your kind are there exactly?” Damian asks.
“I could say there are many, but that would be a lie. I didn’t come here to lie. I can say the
number is growing as word of the Queen spreads.”
“Yet,” Damian persists, “despite low numbers you sound extremely confident.”
“Any confidence is extreme in this world.” Wudak seems to
be losing patience for the first time.
“Do you want the aliens or not?”
“For all we know, you are setting a trap for us,” Damian says.
“And why would I do that? Why wouldn’t I have attacked you here with all my forces when you
least expected it? I’ve known for weeks about your location. Why would I risk my own hide dropping
my weapons at your feet? Why wouldn’t I lead my entire Regiment here?”
“He is telling the truth,” Gritu adds as if his corroboration could make all the difference in the
world.
“You are scared of Freya’s receptor, that’s why,” Damian says to Wudak.
“There are ways around the receptor,” Wudak says. “While she doesn’t understand it, it can
always be taken from her. It would probably take many Sliman lives, but it can be done. There are a
few aliens left that can handle their receptors, too. They could be brought in. The only reason it hasn’t been done is because they don’t know where you are.”
“You still haven’t given me a shred of evidence,” Damian says.
“Fine, don’t believe me, just let us take you to the alien convoy,” Wudak says. “We’re at your
mercy, keep us tethered. You can kill us on the spot if what we have said is not true. ”
“You see, there’s a problem with that. It’s only worth killing you if we can go on living after
you’re dead,” Damian says.
“Don’t you trust in your skills at all? Each one of you is special, I know that. You can sense
danger. Don’t you have faith in Freya’s power? I do. That’s why I’m here.”
“Which one is it? Is she invincible or not?”
“Against eight Sliman and three aliens, she is. With us, she is.”
Damian laughs but the laughter is short and unconvincing. He turns to me. “What do you think?”
he says.
“I think he’s telling the truth,” I say and I’m not even sure why. I wish Daphne was here. She
would have known whether the Sliman are sincere or not. Her psychic powers would have penetrated
through the deepest connections in their brain.
I go to Wudak and untie the rope on his right hand. “Don’t make me regret this,” I say. “I know
how to use the receptor. Maybe not in a perfect way, but I can make a mess of you.”
Wudak extends his hand to invite Pip over. She goes to him without any fear. Wudak places the
palm of his hand over Pip’s face. “You are back,” he says. “You are here. You are whole.”
Wudak lets his hand drop. Pip looks exactly the same as before. Then to our great surprise, she
smiles at Wudak.
“Pip, are you okay?” I ask her.
She nods. “Freya, you are beautiful.”
I laugh and I hug her. Then I turn to Wudak. “What was that?” I say. “What did you do to her?”
“Just hypnosis, nothing too strange,” Wudak says. “There’s a few among us who have been
trained to do that.” Then he turns to Pip. “Sorry about that,” he says. “Talking about things can unlock blocked memories. I had to block part of your memory. We didn’t want you to have any memories that
you wouldn’t be able to handle without us here to help you.”
*
DAMIAN CATCHES UP with me on my way to find Finn. It’s dark. The plan has been laid out
and rehashed several times. In the morning, the Sliman will lead us on the path to the spaceship
landing area. With any luck, the mission won’t turn out to be a complete fiasco like the last time we
attempted something similar.
“Are you sure about this?” he says. His intense gaze makes me feel uncomfortable.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t want to keep running for the rest of my life.”
“I’m going to trust you. Just don’t let go of that receptor. And don’t leave my side tomorrow.
You stay close to me no matter what.”
“It’s part of the plan, I know.”
How different things are now. I was told to stay behind last time, now I have a central part along
with Damian, Finn and Nya. Scout and Tilly will stay at the camp with Pip. Theo, Zoe, Doc, Biscuit
and Rabbit will be our backup forces.
“Where are you going?” Damian asks.
“I’m looking for Finn.”
He narrows his eyes. “It’s late, you should rest.”
“Right, Damian, as if I can sleep.”
He nods and puts his hands in his pockets. As he turns to go, I get a strange pang in my stomach.
I can’t help but think that I owe him. Big time.
“Damian, wait,” I say. “I know I’ve said this many times already but I’m grateful to you for so
many things. I appreciate how you try to keep an eye on me without being too meddlesome. We’ve
come a long way, haven’t we?”
“Just don’t let your guard down,” he says, but I can see he has a million things going through his
mind. The responsibility he carries weighs on him even more now with the Sliman among us. Making
the smallest mistake could cost us our lives.
I hold his hand in mine for a moment before I head to Finn’s tent. I find him there with Rabbit
who is fidgety as usual and is hovering around Finn. Rabbit is not good at hiding excitement, fear or
any intense emotion.
“Pip’s with Scout and Tilly, Rabbit. Can you go check on her for me?” I say.
“Why? If she’s with Scout and Tilly, she’s fine. I won’t be fine though with all the chattering and
blabbering and gossiping that will be going on in there. Now that Pip’s verbal, they will want to make up for lost time. No, thank you.”
His nervous energy has been transformed into nonsensical talk.
“Rabbit!” I cut him short.
“Oh,” he finally gets it. “Right, I’ll go check on her.”
“Well, that was subtle,” Finn says as soon as Rabbit’s gone.
“He drives me crazy with all his bouncing around.”
“No, he doesn’t. You just want me all to yourself,” Finn jokes.
“Yeah, that too.”
I let my body drop to the floor like a heavy sack of rocks. I pull my knees to my chin. I feel
drained. Finn gets down next to me. I feel safe and cozy with him like I always have. The tragedy with Daphne, our quarrels, my fears and concerns have not been able to change that. Finn and I are as close as ever. Our friendship has recovered. It’s probably because of Finn mostly. Finn the loyal. Finn the
true. The place he has reserved for me in his heart will always be there. I know this now.
“It’s happening,” I say. “Again.”
“So it is. And this time you’re welcoming it.”
“I am. It’s necessary.”
“Let’s hope your instincts are better than mine,” he says. Then he hurries to add, “They are. You
have great instincts. I should listen to you more.”
“Don’t take that resigned attitude with me, Finn. You are nothing but a blessing to me, to the
Saviors, to the entire planet.”
He smiles. “The planet might be a stretch, but thanks.”
The proximity to Finn brings my guard down once again. It’s easy to allow melancholy to creep
in when warmth replaces tension. Finn’s warmth. I could use even more of it.
“I feel like a hypocrite,” I say.
“Why? What have you done now?”
“Nothing, Finn! I need you to be on my side right now.”
“What’s up, Tick?”
“I can’t help thinking about what the Sliman said about my sister. I don’t know why it weighs on
me so much. She’s not the only child to have vanished from the plantations. It happ
ens every day, we
know that. Why does it matter more when it’s my sister? Everybody has had their losses. You had a
sister, too. At least I got Pip back. Nobody else had anything like that happen to them. I shouldn’t be complaining.”
“It’s not a competition, Freya. How you feel is nobody’s business. You are allowed to be
vulnerable and deal with your losses in your own way.”
He pulls me closer and we stay that way for a while. I like it. Outside the night birds sing their
beautiful cries of loneliness.
“I’ll go get Pip,” I say fighting every cell in my body. “It’s getting late and we need to rest.” I
kiss his cheek and get up.
“Tick,” he says, “everything will go as planned tomorrow. We’ll strike our first big victory.”
I nod with a half-smile. “The receptor will make sure of that.”
“Whatever happens,” Finn says, “I love you, Freya. Never forget that.”
“Yeah, me too,” I say feeling his words in my blood. I do my best to get out of the tent as fast as
possible.
4
Dust and leaves fly up in the air behind Rabbit’s feet as he runs back to us at full speed. He can
run without making noise, his feet produce no audible signals. It’s as if they don’t even touch the
ground. Rabbit running is a thing of wonder.
“They’re on their way,” he says. “I spotted the convoy. Five miles out. They’re moving slow.
They should be here in ten minutes.”
Damian nods and unlocks his pulse gun. Finn does the same. Nya caresses her shock bow. I
squeeze my fingers around the sensory receptor. Wudak has instructed me how to use it to create an
invisible shield around us, a shield that will prevent even the alien sensors from locating us when
they get close.
Creating the shield felt strange at first. My fingers had pins and needles and my vision got
blurry, but now I can hold the shield in place without too much effort. The trick will be to switch from a defense mode to an attack mode within a split second. As soon as Wudak gives the sign, I’ll have to
let the shield down and build up an energy blast. I’ve never done this but Wudak is confident I will
pull it off. There’s so much I have yet to learn.
The Sliman cannot help us in the fight. They cannot be seen. They cannot leave any trace behind.
[scifan] plantation - books one to three Page 16