Avren: An Auxem Novel

by Lisa Lace

  I just couldn't wrap my head around everything that was going on. Having the real Dar with me for a few minutes, with all the depth of our relationship because of our shared experiences was heaven.

  But then there was this other Dar, who was some guy I just met and liked and slept with and was dating. There was something about being with him that was simple and easy. And he was so kind and gentle. There was no sense of Dar the king.

  It confused me that I liked him too. He was different from the real Dar somehow. I felt like I was betraying Dar by falling in love with this simulacrum.

  I closed my eyes, shaking my head. It was so fucked up. Dar looked over at me as I shook my head. He gazed at me for a moment, his eyes lingering on my face.

  "Kenna," he said softly, entwining his fingers with mine. I felt a tingle when he touched me.

  I bit my lip.

  "Yeah?"

  "I believe that if we overthink things, they get too complicated."

  I nodded.

  "But this..." he said, holding our clasped hands up between us. "This is simple. And this..." He gazed into my eyes. "This is easy. And this..." He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss on my lips. "This is how it's supposed to be. Us. Together. We belong together, Kenna."

  And as he said those words, I saw the transformation in his eyes.

  He was back.

  "And nothing in the universe is going to tear us apart," he said, an expression of awe and joy on his face. He couldn't believe what he was saying.

  "You..." I searched his eyes, not wanting to say it. To jinx it. "You..."

  He nodded.

  "I remember everything."

  DAR

  Kenna cried and cried when we woke up the next morning and my memories were gone again, but it was different this time. I didn't remember our conversation, but I had written it down, and reading my notes was helping with my short-term memory. She and I had discussed the alien problem and we had some new ideas.

  After she fell asleep in my arms yesterday, I made a note to myself that shocked me when I read it this morning. I didn't know if I should act on it or not, and the thought of it was burning in my mind.

  I pushed it aside. I needed to be alert today, not mooning over Kenna.

  We were having a meeting today with my mother to decide on our official course of action in response to the alien attack on our people.

  Kenna squeezed my hand as we approached the meeting room.

  "If you need a memory..." she said, tapping her temple. "I've got it all in here. Don't let your mother tell you no, okay? Be confident. You're the king, remember?"

  I stood up straight. Yes, I was the king. Although I didn't feel it, I would have to fake it until I felt it again.

  Who knew if or when my memories would ever come back completely?

  "Mother," I said, going around the desk to kiss her. Kenna made a graceful Susohnnan curtsy. She looked so beautiful when she did that, it was difficult to think of anything else. But I shook it off.

  We had a mission here today. To convince my mother that our idea was good, or get her to agree to it, even if she thought it was a bad idea.

  "Darvish." She smiled at me. "Kenna, you look lovely today."

  "Thank you, Sarallia," she said, bobbing her head.

  They exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes. I couldn't stand the small talk and I soon found an opportunity to introduce our idea.

  "Mother, Kenna and I have been discussing the problem of Wormhole 87 and the alien race."

  "You have?" she said. She didn't really have a reaction because she did not truly see me as her son. I was no one to her, really.

  What she didn't know was that I had been myself for a few hours last night. We had decided not to tell her unless we had to. Based on the engagement fiasco, we weren't sure how much she could really be trusted.

  "We have decided that our best course of action is to send a ship and follow the next droid ship that comes through. We must have information about our enemy. We need to get Mana and Jared back. They are an integral part of my team of advisors now and I can't rule without them."

  My mother snorted at this point but I ignored her, continuing on.

  "Kenna and I will be aboard a ship that will go with the exploratory space craft and our ship will be the base. We are hoping that the new technology that the Mirallaleyans recently developed to communicate between galaxies will be enough for us to keep communication lines open with the exploratory vessel."

  "Wait. You've got the new Mirallaley technology already?" my mother said, eyes widening in shock. I nodded. "But that's not being released to the general public until next year."

  "That's right," I said.

  "How did you get hold of it so soon?"

  "Jared's got a lot of contacts," Kenna said.

  "He negotiated with them for over a month and the first shipment just arrived yesterday."

  "Hm," she looked reluctantly impressed. "But you won't be endangering yourselves, of course."

  Her voice went up at the end as if it were a question but it was more of a command.

  "Of course not. We will merely accompany the ship that will actually go through the wormhole."

  She nodded, satisfied.

  "I agree. We need to know who or what we are up against. We don't have enough information to act intelligently."

  "Exactly," I said. "Kenna, let's make our preparations. Mother, I'll send you our requirements for the ships and crews so that you can arrange it."

  "Certainly," she said, looking pleased that the decisive, commanding son that she knew was back.

  I didn't have the heart to tell her I was acting.

  Two weeks later, Kenna and I stood on the bridge of the exploratory ship that would go in search of Jared and Mana. We were looking at Wormhole 87 out the view screen. It was beautiful with a spiral shape and swirling colors.

  But I held no illusions about it. If not properly stabilized, it would destroy a ship in a fraction of a second.

  Wormholes were new technology that we knew almost nothing about and could be very, very dangerous. You were taking your life in your hands when you used them for travel.

  We were inspecting the ship and then we would transport back to our vessel to watch it ship go through. I was entrusting the search to Captain Dor'lin, a good friend of mine who also served in the Susohnnan army.

  "You should probably beam back, Dar," Jakk said.

  "Yes, are you ready, Kenna?"

  "Can I run to the bathroom really quickly?" she said. "I'm afraid to be transported with a full bladder."

  I chuckled and Jakk watched her run off the bridge.

  "She's sweet and beautiful. Where did you find her?" he said.

  "Long story," I said. "A very long story. Suffice to say that I'm a lucky guy."

  "You sure are," he said.

  "How is Larka?" I said, forgetting my manners. I should have asked about his wife when we first met.

  The Susohnnan rules were so complex, I could barely keep them straight.

  He frowned.

  "We're so good. I think we may get divorced," he said.

  "Divorced?" That was serious. Nobody got divorced on Susohn. "Oh, Jakk, I'm sorry."

  "She's not happy anymore and I guess neither am I, though to tell you the truth, I don't know what happened, exactly."

  I clapped him on the shoulder.

  "I'm sorry," I said again.

  "Thanks, Dar," he said. "But you should get your little lady and get over to the transporter. Wait a second. What the hell is that?" he said. Something huge had appeared on the view screen.

  "Oh fuck," I said, fear filling my body. I remembered that shape very clearly. "It's one of the alien ships."

  He ran to his station, yelling orders to his crew.

  "Dar, get out of here!"

  I grabbed Kenna, who had just returned and we ran for the transporter room together. When we got there, the male Susohnnan on duty motioned for us to stand on the transporter pad
s. We positioned ourselves and waited. And waited. I glanced at him.

  "What's wrong?" I said.

  "They're trying to get a lock on all of us. It's interfering with my beams. Shit. There's no way I'm going to be able to transport you, right now, sir. I need to protect all of us right now."

  We returned to the bridge.

  "Jakk, we can't transport right now," I told him.

  "We've got a bigger problem on our hands," Jakk said, standing very still and staring at the view screen. Kenna and I turned to look. I heard her gasp and cover her mouth with her hand.

  The view screen didn't show one alien ship anymore. Now there were hundreds. I looked at the wormhole and saw that there was a ship coming through every few seconds. I wondered how many people these ships could transport. Jakk's voice broke into my thoughts.

  "What did you say those ships were for, Dar?"

  "They're slave ships," I said, feeling Kenna come up beside me and take my hand, pressing herself against my side.

  "And how many did you think one ship could hold?"

  I looked at Kenna.

  "Twenty million," she said, her voice dead.

  "And how many ships would you estimate are out there right now?"

  "Two hundred," I said, seeing where this was going.

  "Two hundred times twenty million," Kenna said.

  "So the ships we can see now would be able to hold four billion people." Jakk turned his head to look at me, his eyes scared. I had never seen Jakk afraid — he was as tough as they come.

  "And there's more coming through every few seconds," Kenna added, her voice small.

  "That seems like enough to enslave the entire galaxy." Jakk said softly.

  "I think that's what they're planning on doing." I said.

  If we couldn't stop one ship, how were we going to stop hundreds?

  Destruction

  DAR

  "We have to stop them," Jakk said, staring at the alien ships that filled the sector near the wormhole.

  "We can't," I said, "Look at them. There's nothing we can do." I felt fear pooling in the base of my stomach. Life as we knew it in the galaxy was over.

  "Then we need to run. Where can we go where they won't be able to transport us? Wait, let me ask Mo."

  Jakk activated his com unit.

  "Mo, what sort of field would a planet have to have to prevent us from being transported off of it?"

  There was silence, then Mo responded.

  "One that reverses its magnetic field every few seconds," he said. "Or one without an atmosphere."

  "Did everybody hear that?" Jakk said, looking nervous as another ship came through the wormhole. "What planets have fluctuating magnetic fields or don't have atmospheres?"

  I shrugged. I certainly didn't remember any, I was suffering from memory loss. Then I tried to look pensive. I was supposed to be myself and Dar the king would certainly have been trying to think of an appropriate planet.

  Mo listed off three that were too far away and one that was controlled by the Virans — out of the question. A few other crew members made suggestions but none were suitable hiding places.

  "Dobu has an oscillating magnetic field," Kenna said, quietly.

  "What? Be quiet, everyone," Jakk said, holding up his hands for silence. "What was that, Kenna?"

  "I said, Dobu has an oscillating magnetic field. It helps the plants to grow better. It was one of the reasons it was used as the site for our experimental plant program."

  I smiled. How did she know this stuff?

  "Holy shit, she's right," Jakk said, and he grinned admiringly at Kenna before running to his console and shouting coordinates. "Straight to hyperdrive. We've got to get out of here. Mo, continue to evade their transporter beams. Strap in everyone. We're going to Dobu."

  As Jakk and his crew expertly landed our space craft on Dobu, Kenna and I monitored the spread of the alien ships. Because they were so enormous, they were not able to use hyperdrive and it would take them days, weeks, or even months to reach all the corners of the galaxy.

  I didn't think they cared how long it took them as long as the slave ships came back full.

  On the small view screen we saw that there were currently three hundred ships that had come through and were slowly spreading out through the galaxy. Earth and Susohn were both quite close to the wormhole and would be some of the first to be captured. I closed my eyes in pain, thinking of all the innocent people that I had failed to protect.

  "Dar?" Kenna said, and I opened my eyes. "It's not your fault."

  I sighed.

  "I'm the king. It's my job to protect them. If they are enslaved by some mineral-crazy alien race, then I have failed. And it is my fault."

  She made a face and shook her head.

  "It's not your fault," she said again and took my hand. I ignored her words, which I didn't believe, and looked at her hand instead. Once the surgeons had got to it with the proper technology, they had been able to heal it without scarring. It was amazing considering how bad it had looked to begin with. There had been no skin left and there had been a lot of infection, which had worried the doctors. Thank goodness she had come out of it okay.

  "It looks pretty good, doesn't it?" she said, taking her hand away from mine and twisting and turning it in front of us. "Did I ever thank you for stopping the bleeding? They said you saved my life."

  I shrugged.

  "You would have done the same for me."

  "I would have. But thanks anyways."

  "You're welcome," I said.

  There was a slight bump and we looked at the large view screen.

  Dobu.

  We were there.

  Kenna glanced at me.

  "Come on, Dar. There's a meeting at oh two hundred." She smirked at me. "And you're running it. We have to figure out how to stop those bastards."

  I groaned. Now I would have to pretend a decisive guy who was in command and I wasn't. II wondered how I could be so different without my memories. Still, in spite of the differences between who I was now and who I had been before, I thought that I had been doing a marvelously good job pretending to be myself — so far anyway.

  "It won't be that bad," she said, patting my knee. "I'll be right beside you."

  "Kenna, I don't know who that guy was that I used to be but I'm not him anymore. I'm not confident. I'm not a decision-maker. I'm not a...a king. I can't do those things he used to do."

  I dropped my head, staring at my hands.

  "Dar, listen. Remember how I told you that I remember who you are? What I remember is that, yeah, you were this take charge, used to being in control, really assertive guy. But you also showed me a side of you that you didn't show many other people."

  "What?"

  "You told me about your grandfather and you taught me how to do birdcalls and you trusted me with your heart. When we were alone together, you were often like you are now. The first time I saw the kingly you was when we returned to Susohn. And don't get me wrong, that's you, too. But this softer Dar is just as real."

  I shook my head.

  "Look, I know it's going to be hard to go in there and act like you're in charge but you just have to remember, they believe that you are the Dar who remembers himself. All you have to do is act like that guy. You learned to be that way once. You can learn it again."

  Those were both good points. It wasn't much fun starting over learning these things now, but it could be done.

  I nodded decisively and Kenna smiled.

  "Okay. I'm ready." I said. "Let's do it."

  We walked into the meeting and Jakk had his high-level staff present — scientists, engineers, and his second in command. They were there to provide the front line perspective of people who were in the trenches.

  My mother was being patched in on a view screen from Susohn and the President on Earth was on another view screen. There were various other people who I assumed were either important or had information that could help the politicians make good decision
s. I didn't recognize any of them besides my mother and the President, but Kenna had told me that most planets were going to be represented.

  I was instantly intimidated and I stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I entered the room. Kenna was on my arm and immediately pulled me forward so that it appeared that I had only stumbled. Then she spoke out of the side of her mouth.

  "Don't show fear or weakness around these people. It's a bad idea. They can't know that you've lost your memory."

  "I can't do this," I whispered out of the side of my mouth.

  "You can and you will," she said, and we sat down at our place at the conference table.

  The reconstruction that had taken place on Dobu since we had left was amazing. It looked the way I imagined it was before it had been bombed by the AEA terrorists.

  After we entered, the buzz in the room died down and everyone became quiet. I stood up.

  "I'd like to welcome everyone here today," I said, my palms sweating and a feeling of absolute terror in my chest. "An alien threat has come to our galaxy and their intention is to enslave all of us. We need to decide what to do and how to neutralize this menace before all of our peoples are turned into slaves."

  So far, so good. I took a deep breath and went on. I gave a brief summary of what had happened so far, explaining about the space station disappearing and then the army we had assembled, which had also vanished. I talked about the slave ships and how many people we thought they could hold. For the parts that I didn't remember, I referred to the notes that Kenna had made for me.

  "So they have enough room, really to take the entire population of our galaxy back to their mines," one distinguished looking woman said. I saw her name tag indicated that she was from Mirallaley, where we had got our inter-galactic communications technology from. I nodded.

  "Yes, it is a grave threat to all of us."

  "So, what are we going to do about it," said a young blonde woman who represented the planet Novu.

  We discussed for well over an hour with many people giving their opinions and ideas. I felt weary and like we would never decide on a course of action. Then a human scientist who was a part of Jakk's crew — Elara — a small, quiet woman who hadn't said a word the whole time, spoke up.