She is turning out to be quite the baker since she became Biscuit’s apprentice.
It’s late afternoon and the breeze gently rustles the branches over our heads. We are gathered to
honor the siblings that we will never see again. It was Pip’s idea and all the girls agreed to
participate wholeheartedly. We’ve spent the last hour talking about the ones we’ve lost. We’ve
mentioned details of our everyday lives at the breeding villages and shared certain memories for the
first time.
Scout is the only one who grew up without siblings but she had friends at the village that she
misses. Tilly had two younger brothers. Nya had an older brother and a younger sister. Zoe had three
sisters, all of them older than her. Zoe has no hope of ever finding any of them, unless maybe in a
breeding village and in that case they would barely remember her.
We sit in the shade of the fir trees and we eat our cookies slowly to savor the flavors and
textures. Nya has to keep her injured leg stretched out to let it heal. She makes loud noises as she
chews to show her satisfaction. It is an act but it’s fun to hear her try so hard. Scout raises her hand.
“Go on,” Zoe says. She has been appointed the moderator of the conversation so we don’t all
talk at the same time.
“Is it okay to gossip?” Scout says.
“What do you mean? Who can we gossip about? We’re all here,” Zoe says.
“I don’t know, the guys maybe. Or the Sliman,” Scout says.
“I don’t want to talk about the Sliman, yikes,” Tilly says.
“We could gossip about ourselves,” Pip offers.
“Gossip isn’t gossip if the gossiped about person is present when the gossiping is taking place,”
Nya says.
“What?” Pip says staring at Nya.
“Ok, that’s enough,” Zoe says. “Scout, since it was your idea, you go first. I don’t care what it’s
about, just start.”
I can’t help but notice that Scout is a bit too excited about this. She puts her entire body behind
her words as she spits them out. “Biscuit has been visiting our tent a lot to talk to Tilly. Sometimes they disappear together.”
“Hey!” Tilly protests, “that’s not gossiping, that’s telling!”
“Is that it?” I say.
“Well, the way you say it, it’s like you expected something earth-shattering,” Scout scolds me.
“The way I see it, everybody knows about that already.”
“What does everyone know, Freya?” Tilly asks.
“That you and Biscuit are love birds,” Nya jumps in.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Tilly commands.
“Tilly,” I say, “you can relax, we’re glad you have something cooking with Biscuit.”
The girls all laugh and Tilly smiles as she blushes. “Very funny, Tick,” she says to me. “At least
I’m not the one with a cute nickname.”
Now it’s my turn to blush. All the other girls are enjoying this gathering more than Tilly and I.
“Neither of you have to be so secretive about it,” Scout says. “I just thought you can save a lot of
energy if you put it out in the open.”
“It’s okay to have secrets,” Pip says. “Especially in a family.”
“I don’t have any secrets,” I tell them, “You all know that I am an alien bride. What else is there
to hide?”
I meant this as a joke, but judging from the girls’ faces… Not a joke.
“And really,” I try again to lighten the mood, “we should not tease Tilly. She likes to be the one
doing the teasing.”
The other girls smile again, but Pip seems concerned about my first statement. I have to
remember she is very new to the free world. She takes everything literally. She hasn’t been exposed
to books or movies. She hasn’t been a part of the endless conversations we’ve had around our fires. I
can’t throw complex situations and emotions around she doesn’t understand.
“It’s true, I like to tease. But always in good spirit,” Tilly says
“You are probably one of the nicest people in the history of the world, Tilly,” Zoe says. “You
make everyone smile.”
Tilly makes a decision. “I like Biscuit and I trust you with this information. Don’t make me
regret it,” she says.
“Finally,” Scout says. “That’s what I was hoping for. You don’t have to play hide-and-seek with
us.”
I think that’s the end of that conversation but I’m wrong. It doesn’t come from Pip like I feared. It
comes from Tilly. “Maybe you would like to trust us with the same kind of information, Freya,” she
says.
I shake my head in panic.
“Yes, it’s about time,” Scout chips in. “Tell us.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I say. “We’ve talked about this, Tilly.”
“I didn’t believe you then and I don’t believe you now,” she says.
“Do we have to spell it out for you?” Zoe teases me.
“Zoe, come on, you too?” I scold her.
“Why not me? I can tease same as everyone else.”
“So I see. Are you done yet?” I don’t know the way out of this. I’ve seen them ambush aliens and
now they are ambushing me.
“Hmm, let’s see. No, not quite,” she says. “Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?”
Nya bends her face at that. “I think they are less Romeo and Juliet and more Heathcliff and
Cathy.”
I am not enjoying this.
“Anthony and Cleopatra,” Tilly suggests.
Pip is confused, but adds, “Finn and Freya.”
The aliens will not have a chance with these girls after them.
“What do they mean exactly, Freya?” she says. “Didn’t they know Finn is your best friend?”
“Of course, they know. They are just playing a game.”
I know how to answer Pip, but not the other girls. I will sound stupid defending myself. Or
should I even try? They could be right after all.
“Didn’t all those people die miserable deaths?” I ask. It’s the best I can do.
“I like Theo,” Nya confesses.
Thank you, Nya, I think. The newness of what she has said turns the attention away from me in an instant.
“You like Theo?” Zoe asks suspicious of Nya’s declaration.
“I don’t even know why. He’s kind of cute, I guess,” Nya says and starts nibbling on a cookie.
“Now wait a moment, you can’t just throw a thing like that and then act like it’s the most normal
thing in the world,” Zoe says.
“Do you like him, too?” Nya says.
“That’s not it. Well, of course I like him, I care for him, but not like that. I just don’t want you to make a fool out of him.”
“Good. He’s too young for you,” Nya says through bouts of loud chewing.
Zoe is about to say something when we hear a rustling sound in the nearby trees. The sound
stops almost immediately but when it starts again, it has moved closer.
“What is that?” Tilly wonders.
“Shy Boy,” Pip says and it’s the first time I hear her say his name.
“Your chimp?” Zoe asks me.
“He’s not ours but yes,” I say. Then I turn to Pip. “We have to say goodbye.”
Pip nods and a sweet sorrow overtakes the smile on her face.
We excuse ourselves to find Shy Boy. He sits at the root of his favorite tree, the tree where we
first met him. We give him our cookies and he chuckles at the sight of them. He eats fast and when
he’s done, he offer
s us a handful of berries.
“Yum, Shy Boy, where did you get those? Those are good,” I say.
“They are delicious,” Pip says.
Shy Boy is startled. He has never heard Pip talk before. Not in full sentences. Not intentionally.
He walks around her sniffing the air, trying to figure out what is different about her. Then he bares his upper teeth and makes some shrilling sounds.
“Stop going around, you’re making me dizzy,” Pip says laughing. Shy Boy sits on the ground
with a heavy thud and Pip climbs on his lap.
“We have to tell you something, Shy Boy,” I start.
He turns his face to me and my heart breaks. I don’t know how I’m going to tell him that we’re
probably never going to see him again.
“We have to go,” Pip says.
“Yes, and we will not be back for a very long time. Maybe never,” I say.
Shy Boy stays silent. Then he starts picking at Pip’s hair.
“No, Shy Boy. You can’t make this go away. Pip and I have to go. We will be in danger if we
stay. You will be safe with your friends.” I speak slowly looking into his eyes. Shy Boy can
understand a good three hundred words by my calculations. I know he understands “go” and “danger”.
I know he can follow short sentences. His face grows sad and he starts whimpering.
“It will be fine,” I say. “You will have fun here. We will try to come back. We will miss you.”
I run my fingers through the black fur on his back. I scratch his head and I kiss his face. I will
miss him but maybe it’s better for him not to be near us. We are wanted and we will be hunted, but he
is free to roam the forest.
Shy Boy hides his face in his hands when Zoe, Tilly, Nya and Scout show up. They’ve been
curious about Shy Boy for some time now and it’s their last chance to interact with him.
Shy Boy trusts Pip and me completely and he has warmed up to Finn but he is reluctant to open
up with a whole bunch of us.
“Silly thing,” Zoe says. “Closing your eyes won’t make us go away.”
Shy Boy peeks at her through an opening between his fingers.
“It’s okay,” Pip reassures him. “Those are our friends. They want to say goodbye, too.”
“Can I touch him?” Tilly asks and I hold Shy Boy’s hand out for her to make the initial contact.
He doesn’t pull away which surprises me at first but when I let go of his hand, he immediately
panics. When I hold him, he feels more at ease with humans. Maybe we would both have been better
off if we hadn’t met at all. My eyes well up and I realize it’s time to let go.
I pat his head while the girls hug him and say goodbye.
Then it’s Pip’s turn. “Goodbye, Shy Boy,” she says. “I will never forget you. I will come back
for you with Freya and Finn and we will be a family again.”
“Goodbye, Shy Boy,” I whisper. “You will always be in my heart.”
*
WE WALK BACK to the camp with our heads hung and our hearts sunk. We can feel the finality
of what lays ahead for us. Pip and I have bonded with Shy Boy, but all of us have sensed his
disappointment and sadness. We are leaving a whole bright world behind us to move down into a
dark dungeon.
Finn and Theo walk toward us. Tilly reaches over and pinches Nya’s arm. Nya screeches and
drops her crutch. Zoe gets it for her and shushes Tilly.
“Are you guys doing okay?” Finn asks as he hurries to help Nya.
“Sure, we’re fine. Where are you going?” Zoe says.
“Looking for you,” Theo says. “We thought you might like to go to the training ring before we
pack everything up.”
“Okay, yes, we’re in,” Zoe says. Our final day of training here in the mountain camp. It’s
anyone’s guess when it will be safe for us to come and live out in the open again. If it will ever be
safe once the drones are here. My responsibility suddenly feels a thousand times heavier.
“We said goodbye to Shy Boy,” I say to Finn. I want to dive into his arms and cry, but we are
not alone.
“You have him in your heart and he has you in his,” Finn says. “You can carry each other
wherever you go.”
“I wish I had your faith in things.”
“All you have to do is decide to have it,” he explains.
“Is life really so easy for you?” I say. Sometimes he eludes me.
“What are you two talking about?” Tilly asks.
“Shy Boy,” I reply but then I see that her question was a pretext. Her eyes point towards Nya
and Theo who are walking next to each other. Theo’s arm wraps around her waist to support her. Nya
doesn’t waste her time once she has made up her mind.
“What are we looking at?” Finn asks following my gaze.
“Nothing that would interest you,” I say with mixed feelings. Is he blind to the concept of love or
is he just blind to seeing me as a woman?
“We need to talk,” he says. “Alone.”
8
I have managed to avoid a conversation with Finn. He attempted to get me alone several times
last night and this morning, but I’ve made myself unavailable, what with the training and packing,
what with the excuse of spending time with Pip. I am more preoccupied with my future with Finn than
with the future of our planet.
The Sliman returned sometime in the afternoon. They explained that the plantations were
panicking after our attack on the convoy. The first drones will arrive in three days and they will
change the playing field forever. We would have been destroyed immediately after the drones arrived
if it weren’t for the help offered by Wudak and the rebels.
We set out in the early evening. The Sliman brought a stretcher for Nya but she prefers to walk
most of the way. No matter the circumstance, Nya will never give in. She is always a warrior.
The Sliman have said it will take us several hours to get to the base. We don’t mind walking
long distances, that’s what we do, but between all the weight that we have to carry and the memories
the forest brings rushing back to us, the trip seems to take an eternity.
We cut through the edge of the forest that surrounded our abandoned facilities, the place where
we spent two years of training, preparing and getting to know each other. The place where I struggled
to become a valuable member of the team. Also the place where Daphne was alive and thrived.
Thinking about Daphne as we stroll through the dark forest hurts as much as it did the night we
lost her. Her beauty, her strength, her courage, the way she sacrificed herself to save Damian and
myself are things that I can never forget.
I believe we are connected now, Daphne and me. She reached out to me in her final hour and
mended our strenuous relationship with her one last gesture of self-giving. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to bring her back. I would have gladly taken her place. But Daphne was prepared to die that day
and she sealed her own fate.
Damian and I have not exchanged a single glance all day. We have been unable to talk about
Daphne since that night when she passed away but I think that we need to. Everything we do or say to
each other is somehow overwrought by her memory.
I have a feeling that he senses that as well and tries a bit too hard to project all of his mixed
emotions onto what I represent for him now. In reality, I believe he misses Daphne a lot more than he
would have thought possible. Her love has
grown in value to him now that it’s gone. He needs
closure.
Wudak’s doing his best to stay close to me. I’m doing my best to escape him, yet, he always
ends up next to me, behind me or right in front of me. I understand he wouldn’t even be here if it
weren’t for me but it doesn’t make me feel any less uncomfortable.
We leave the forest behind and head south through the hills. We’re lucky to have a clear sky
tonight, I think, when Wudak orders us to stop in the middle of nowhere. There are shrubs and hedge
plants all around and in the far distance we can see the spot where the big south sierras begin.
Gritu turns his sensor to the east and it starts beeping. He walks eastwards and the beeping gets
louder. Then all of a sudden, it stops.
“It’s here,” Gritu says and kicks the ground with his boot. Malzod and Wudak go to him and all
three of them get on their knees. I turn to Finn puzzled. He shrugs his shoulders and turns his attention back to whatever it is that the Sliman are doing.
Seconds later the Sliman open some sort of trapdoor and they urge us to get inside as fast as
possible.
“Just jump,” Wudak says when he sees my hesitation. All I can see is a black hole. “Trust starts
here,” Wudak says and his words resonate inside me. I take a deep breath and jump down the hole.
A moment later, I land safely in what seems to be the beginning of a long tunnel. In the distance,
I make out a big torch on the wall. I instinctively reach out and grab Finn’s hand who’s just landed
behind me.
When everyone stands together, we begin to stagger down the long tunnel as it goes deeper and
deeper. Wudak moves ahead and takes the torch off the wall. We follow the Sliman in absolute
silence.
We walk for ten minutes or so before we reach a crossroads. The tunnel we’ve been following
all this time continues straight ahead but another tunnel crosses it and we could go either left or right.
The vastness of the place is overwhelming.
Wudak motions to us to keep walking straight. We see some carvings on the walls. We stop to
take a closer look but Wudak says we have to keep moving.
The tunnel leads to a big round cavern that is lit with torches and candles on a small table. Wax
is dripping down the silver candleholders and the flames are trembling. There’s a ventilation system
[scifan] plantation - books one to three Page 19