by Paul Tassi
“You can’t!” Lucas yelled, ignoring the fact that he was no longer speaking their language. To his right, Alpha was calmly offering his outstretched hands to the troops who were encircling him. Lucas elbowed a soldier with his free arm, but Noah was ripped from his grasp. The admiral raised his pistol once more. Lucas felt the stinging impact, but all his pain faded away in a few seconds when the world went dark.
25
Only a few moments to dream this time. He was lying in bed, one bright summer morning. Sonya was beside him, her blond hair spilling onto the pillow next to her. In between them, Nathan, only a few months old. Lucas didn’t know if this time had ever actually existed, but he felt a sense of euphoria as he looked around the sun-soaked room and into Sonya’s oceanic blue eyes. She smiled at him in a way he hadn’t seen since . . .
And then she was gone. Nathan was gone. Lucas sat up straight, and rifled through the sheets, but there was no trace of them. He called out their names to no avail. The room was now baked in red light, the clouds outside menacing as lightning crackled between them.
He got out of bed and raced through his house. He should have been familiar with it, but it had become a labyrinth, with each door opening to somewhere he’d already been. Finally, he came to the front door and tore it open. He walked out into his yard, the grass scorched to a brown crisp. Ahead of him was not the road, but a vast chasm where the earth simply ceased to exist. He turned back to his house, which was now aflame and crumbling, and when he pivoted once more, Asha was standing on the precipice of the cliff in front of him. She held a child in her arms. One with dark hair and without burns. She looked intently at him, then smiled. That same smile.
Then, in an instant, she threw herself backward off the cliff. She hung suspended in midair, falling slowly as Lucas tried to sprint toward her, but he was moving at the same glacial pace. Clutching the child, she dipped from beneath his view. When he finally reached the edge, there was nothing but blackness. Blackness that was slowly fading as light crept into his eyes.
He blinked twice, three times. The darkness was lifted and white light was reintroduced to his vision. When his focus adjusted, he saw he was in a circular room with curved walls. He was sitting in a chair with both of his arms and legs secured by unmovable metal. To his right was a large viewscreen showing a dazzling array of stars. In front of him was the admiral seated on the other side of a long metal table. He was no longer armored but back to his green cloth uniform.
«Finally, you’ve stopped yelling.»
“Where am I?” Lucas said hazily, his mind still jumbled.
«What kind of daft language is that?»
«Where am I?» Lucas corrected.
«Onboard the SDI Starlight, en route back home, where you’ll be formally charged.»
Lucas shook his head. He wasn’t in any pain, which was a surprise.
«Charged with what? Where’s Asha? Where’s Noah?»
«The child is secure. The girl?» the admiral raised his eyebrows. «She’s still in medical; her injuries were more serious than yours. I’m surprised you allowed her to fight in her condition.»
«She’s . . . she’s pregnant?» Lucas stammered, recalling what had happened just before he blacked out.
«You didn’t know? In any case, she’ll be relieved of that burden soon enough.»
«You’re monsters,» Lucas spat out. The admiral looked at him, confused, as if he didn’t understand the accusation.
«Where are you from, son?» he said. «I won’t ask again.»
«I told you, Earth.»
«Earth? What province is that in? I can’t place your accent.»
«It’s not a province,» Lucas said. «It’s a planet. My homeworld was destroyed by the Xalans, and we escaped to seek out refuge on Sora once we learned of its existence.»
The admiral was not amused.
«I don’t have time for this, and insanity will not excuse you for your crimes. And I don’t care if you did kill a Shadow.»
«What crimes? Listen, you have to—»
«Let’s see, operating a vessel in restricted space. Piloting an unlicensed spacecraft. Consorting with an enemy combatant. Failure to register weapons. Engaging enemy troops without credentials or orders.»
Lucas was frustrated.
«You don’t understand. Talk to Alpha, he’ll—»
«That thing? He’s claiming to be some sort of scientist. He’s the first one I can remember who hasn’t self-destructed or slit his own throat after capture. They’re not usually a talkative bunch, but this one won’t shut up. Though he’s making about as much sense as you.»
The admiral slammed his fist on the table, and the sound echoed throughout the circular room.
«I have thirty-odd dead Xalans in pieces, a Shadow among them, a ship running technology my men can’t even fathom, eleven vegetative Sorans in stasis tanks, a pregnant girl, an infant, an enemy defector, and you. Running interrogations is way below my rank, but this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen and I want some damn answers!»
The man’s metal wrist cuff began to glow. He pressed it and a voice spoke.
«Admiral Vale, you’re needed on the bridge immediately.»
He pressed the same button on the cuff and got up to leave.
«Don’t go anywhere.»
A curved sliding door shut behind the admiral. Lucas’s thoughts immediately turned to Asha, and he struggled with his chair in futility. He swore he’d protect her, and this is what had happened? Now it wasn’t only her life in danger, but that of an unborn child. Had there been signs that he missed? Had she known? But according to what the admiral suggested, it was all for naught. Whatever was happening to her, Lucas swore he’d find her. He loved her, he knew that now without question or hesitation, and he hadn’t gotten a chance to tell her in the lulls of the firefight. As he struggled even more violently in the chair, the metal dug into his skin, and tore through his organic suit. A light went on in the armrest, and Lucas felt a wave of fatigue sweep over him. It appeared misbehavior wasn’t tolerated by the chair. A faint gas swirled around him, and in a few moments he was unconscious once more.
When he awoke, Lucas found the circular room packed with people. Six additional chairs had been added to the table in front of him, with the admiral in the middle. Behind him was a large assortment of other officers and a few men wearing ornate suits who didn’t look military. Armed guards stood a few feet apart along the wall. Next to him was a soldier injecting something into his arm. It surged through his system and he was fully awake almost immediately.
«There we go,» the admiral said, standing up from his chair and resting his palms on the table.
«What’s . . . what’s going on?» Lucas asked, finding twenty pairs of eyes looking directly into his own.
The admiral was no longer irritated, but spoke calmly.
«Preliminary results have come back from medical. Treatment of your injuries has revealed that your genetic makeup is not of . . . Soran origin.»
The room was silent. Someone coughed in the back. Lucas saw what appeared to be a tiny camera lens floating next to the admiral’s shoulder.
«We searched the flight logs of both Xalan ships, which are the first we’ve captured that haven’t subsequently exploded. In them we’ve found a great many things. We found Earth. Your Earth.»
The admiral presented a flat disc, which projected a floating hologram of Lucas’s home planet from it. It hung suspended on the table in its formerly lush green-and-blue state. Every face in the room wore an expression of unbridled awe.
«Tell me Lucas, who are you?»
They understood. They believed him. Everyone had assembled in this room because they knew a new chapter of history was being written with each word spoken.
«How did you get here?»
On the viewscreen to Lucas’s right, an enormous green-and-blue planet came into view. A gorgeous collection of unfamiliar continents and oceans appeared before him. His journey was over. A new on
e had begun.
«Why have you come?»