Return

by Corrie Brundage

  “Jack, I’ve got your back. I’m coming in. If we don’t make it, just know I love you.” As I flung this thought at him he faltered for a moment. Our eyes locked across the battlefield, and he sent a wave of love my way. I gathered speed, flying over the scattered bodies of my fellow citizens. Their entrails hung wet over the broken branches, the blood slick and sticky. But the horror of it wouldn’t stop me, not just yet. Some of the people were charred beyond recognition, and I knew in my gut that the Travelers were using weaponry that inflicted as much pain and damage as possible. They could have easily eradicated our species in a clean, humane manner. And they had chosen not to, simply because this carnage was more satisfying to them. The fury rose in my chest and gave me an added speed. One of the half-morphs flanking Jack seemed to be falling out of the line he had ordered them into, and the copper hair that glinted in the harsh sunlight was familiar. It was Alyssa. She was about to take a leap at the General, ahead of Jack. In his mind, I heard him urging her to stop, to wait. She didn’t hear him, of course. She took aim, her maw opening to reveal a glint of ferocious teeth, and she jumped.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Alyssa

  When the freaks landed, and Jack gave us the orders that we needed to get out of our cages and into the forest as soon as possible, I’d also sensed the aliens’ closeness. Although I was in the grip of a rage I’d never experienced before, except maybe in that foggy time I’d been a full-fledged Eater, I still knew enough to decide that Jack’s life would take precedence over mine. I didn’t really have anything to live for, but he did. He had his family, and a future in his career. I was a glorified hooker, and no one would miss me. But I kept these thoughts to myself, making sure my body language didn’t convey any of this to Jack. Because if he knew, he’d try to stop me. It would be my final secret, and my gift to him. He deserved it.

  The nerds let us out of the cages and Jack told the rest of us to go ahead, he had to meet his wife and take her out to the alien landing site. I would always feel jealous of the bond he had with her, even though I was pretty sure I’d be dying soon enough. After that, there’d be no more jealousy. But I didn’t get sappy, I got strong. My bloodlust was up, running up and down my spine like electricity. And now, something had been triggered in our eyes so we could see light spectrums no one else could. Prisms and lines of light swooped and swerved around everything, people, animals, the ground, the trees. Even the stars were visible to me, in broad daylight. It was amazing.

  I ran with the other half-morphs to where we sensed those bastard Travelers would be landing. It felt great to be set free, after days of being kept cooped up in those horrible cages. Jack had warned us not to scare any of the happy campers, but I didn’t really care if I frightened those spoiled, privileged Originals. The thought of them fighting in a battle was amusing. But it was also pretty sad, I had to admit.

  The alien ship landed before we got to the clearing. Well, it became a clearing. That spacecraft leveled a huge radius of trees and probably killed lots of animals. This destruction pissed me off even more. The Travelers were duplicitous assholes. Promoting planetary health in one action, destroying it in another. Forbidding war in one breath, starting it in another. I couldn’t wait to give them a taste of pain.

  We could see the force field protecting the ship, and the light show was dazzling. We held back and waited for Jack to arrive, and soon he did with his wife in tow. We watched as Mina spoke to the Director, who had sort of appeared out of thin air. She didn’t have a force field protecting her though, so we were prepared to take her out right then and there. But Mina told Jack to back off, because she was attempting diplomacy. I could have told her it was pointless, but she seemed pretty intent on trying that tack anyway. I guess I sort of admired that about her. Always taking the high road. Soon it became clear it wasn’t going over very well, and Mina got pissed. By then my adrenaline was so powerfully high I felt like I could leap off the ground and take orbit around the planet. All of us did. We were ready, and I began to get irritated by Mina’s interference. Also, it was distracting Jack. My intention was still clear in my mind, although I hid it deep down. Protect Jack at all costs.

  Then the alien morons showed up outside their ship, and the Originals showed up too. The fight was on. Jack was instructing us all on how to go after the Travelers, because we could see where in their protective shields there were little weaknesses. They hadn’t counted on us being able to see that, and they were pretty angry when we started jumping at them in the order Jack had given us, sinking our teeth into their weird fabric that covered whatever the hell their bodies consisted of. The Originals joined in, and at first the Travelers just deflected the waves the human soldiers were sending out of their little guns. I hadn’t paid close attention to the technology they were using, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. No surprise there, this was going to be a cakewalk for the aliens and they knew it. Jack was still holding steady though, keeping us in formation. Obeying his commands was sort of ingrained in all our bodies, but I knew I could break out of it to make my move. The lead Traveler, the biggest one, was standing up in the front like some kind of tough guy. He reminded me of all the men who had ever put me down, and condescended to me in my first life, and now in this one. So I would go after him, and hopefully take a chunk out of him before he flung me away like he was doing with the other half-morphs. Some of them were hurt and dying, or dead. But we were distracting them, and maybe buying a little time. That’s all anyone could hope for. Because the Originals were being slaughtered. Some of them were severed in half but still alive. In my rage, I felt their pain, and it only made me angrier. Jack was commanding us to fall in line behind him, because he was gonna try to take out the big, ballsy alien I had my eye on already. His wife was running toward that same alien, as if she was going to accomplish something. Pfft. Good luck, lady.

  I wrenched myself away from the lure of Jack and his command, and crouched low past him. I had to make this count, because I wouldn’t have another chance. He was so focused on his own mission, and watching his wife, he didn’t see me when I took my leap at the big freak. I could see right where in his protective shield the light was dimmest, and it was around one of his huge arms. If I could get my mouth around that, and hang on long enough … well, I’d have to see. I took a deep breath, growled low in my throat, and dug my claws into the bloodied tree branches strewn around my feet. The jump was easy, fueled by my fear and anger, and I sailed through the air in a perfect arc. Jack emitted a sharp cry, but it was too late. I’d landed on the freak’s arm, and my teeth sliced into an oily material that gave off shocks that reverberated through my body. But I held on, and shook my head back and forth in an effort to tear both the fabric and whatever skin lay underneath it. The huge alien looked down at me, that freaky headdress obscuring any face or eyes, and for a brief moment paused his slaughter with whatever weapon it had built into its enormous hands. And for just a second, I felt triumph. It was just me and this disgusting monster from some other planet, and he was here to pick a fight, and so a fight he’d get. But then he lifted his other hand, slowly, and I saw it didn’t have fingers. It was just a big palm, with a point at the top. Crackling at the tip was another light, and this one glowed a color I didn’t have a word for. That asshole actually pointed it at me, and with a simple, effortless gesture, sent the light into my body. I flew through the air and I heard Jack cry out again, and the pain in his voice gave me a brief moment of pleasure through the ocean of pain that overwhelmed me. I knew that pain was for me, and for at least a few seconds, he was mourning my death.

  Mina

  I didn’t stop when I heard Jack wailing, both in my mind and from his own throat. Alyssa’s body was slumped out toward the edge of the rest of the half-morphs, and I knew he realized she was dead. But her last action had been brave, albeit futile. Then a familiar figure broke away from the melee up ahead, and called out to me. “Dr. Brice, stay back!”

  “Luke?” It was less a
question and more of a statement. He broke away from the crush of people to approach me, holding up his good hand with one of the guns in it. “Please, stay away, it’s no good.” He looked over his shoulder to see the General had turned his veiled gaze in my direction. He was looking right at me. Luke saw this, and in an instant, he covered the ground and launched himself at me, his arms lifted in a protective shield. “Luke, watch out!” My scream was cut off as Luke’s body went flying away from me, his lower half in one direction and his upper body in another. “Luke!” I screamed again, not believing I’d just seen him severed in two so easily, as if his torso was made of warm butter. It only took me a moment to realize he’d just given his life for mine, but in the spray of blood that dotted my face I didn’t slow my stride to ponder what that really meant. If I got out of this somehow, I’d think about it later.

  The General turned his attention to the rest of the half-morph pack, taking a moment from slaughtering the Originals that had built up in a wave around him. I still couldn’t see what weapons the Travelers were using, or why none of our own weapons seemed to be having any impact. But I was fast approaching Jack’s side, and I’d soon find out myself what these creatures were packing.

  “Jack, look out! He’s …” But my thought went unfinished as Jack leapt up to fix his own teeth around the same arm Alyssa had just been flung from.

  “NO!” The word tore from my throat in a gust of air. I’d seen what the General had just done to Alyssa and Luke, and that same fate awaited Jack. I strained my neck upward to watch Jack make contact with the arm, and hang there for a moment before falling off and landing near my feet in a heap. Frantically, I searched his mind for signs of life and felt confusion. The sun was directly in my eyes, but I could see I was next in the General’s line of vision. Up close, the headdress and strange fabric covering his body was even more terrifying. I threw my body over Jack’s to protect him. Certain that death was coming for us at any second, I looked at the lightweight gun in my hand, and decided it was worth the effort to try to discharge. All these thoughts took place in a moment, and despite my inexperience with mind-controlled technology, and not really knowing how to activate the gun, I flung my mind out toward the device hoping to set off a gravitational wave. My mind sailed out from my body but didn’t stop. Instead, it continued on, and in a jolt that shook my entire being, it latched onto the mind of the towering alien standing over us, about to deal us his death blow.

  At first there was nothing but surprise. My own, because I’d only ever been able to connect with the minds of animals, including Eaters and half-morphs. Yet here I was, latching onto an extraterrestrial’s consciousness. The other feeling of surprise was his. He hadn’t been expecting this either, and his shock was almost comical. Once inside his mind, I began to fan out within his consciousness. It flowed through me like an electrical current, and it was thrilling. Soon I began to sense the minds of many, many others. All of them Travelers like he was, and all of them connected to one another’s thoughts like a network. A global consciousness, and it was breathtaking. They were all connected to one another! I had my own thoughts still, within the miasma of his, and so many thousands of others situated in other cities around the world. And then, it expanded even more, to a connection with his entire race. Millions of minds, all linked up to each other, and I was in the middle of it looking out. Each mind was a pinpoint of light on a map of black, and that blackness was the universe itself. I sensed that not only was this just one universe within many, but that all the life in those other universes was connected too. And still, within this new plane of understanding, in which I was just a visitor standing in awe, was that sense of surprise. Then the irritation began, and it was almost human. The General had recognized what had just happened, but I was too caught up in my wonderment to care that he was growing frustrated. I was flying through his memories of his home planet, and it was incredible. There was a purple sky, with two suns hanging high above it. The pull of gravity on this planet was far stronger than Earth’s and the strength that rippled through my limbs because of this pull was immense and satisfying. So that’s why they were so tall and strong! I thought. And in the General’s thoughts came a cityscape, far more expansive than any cities we had on Earth. This was the size of an ocean, at the very least. I giggled in amazement at what I was seeing. And yet somehow, my own body was still connected to my mind and I was hearing shouts through the haze of alien thoughts. This alien was having new thoughts, they all were. All over the world, and elsewhere in the universe, their shock and frustration that a puny human had linked up to their network began to overwhelm me, and I had to shake myself out of the trance I was in to realize I’d just done something monumental. Their surprise wasn’t just because I was telepathically linked up to them, it was because I’d somehow put a stop to their technology. Theirs ran on thought control like ours, but far more sophisticatedly, and my alien presence had short-circuited their system. They were beginning to reject my presence in their thoughts like I was more than just a mosquito, a tiny nuisance. They were growing more and more desperate to rid me from their connection, and so I hung on, determined to keep their weapons from firing. Hanging on meant I was buying my people time. And in those moments that extended throughout an eternity, I latched my mind in deeper, like a rabid dog determined to not let go. My being, what made me, me, began to fray at the edges. I couldn’t stay in their minds for much longer. They were far more evolved, and I was just one lowly human. But I was a cog that had broken in their machinery. Rory’s voice, hectic and furious, cut through my haze.

  “They’re stopped” he shouted. “She’s doin’ somethin’ to ’em, I don’t know what, but take aim! Take aim and fire! Fire on ’em and don’t stop! Go go go! Get on the communicator and relay this to all other armies around the world, we’ve got them stopped!”

  Those sonic booms began to crack in my ears again, and the alarm in the alien mind grew exponentially. Suddenly it looked like the scales had tipped back into our favor, and although I sensed fear, I also sensed pride so wounded, egos so destroyed, that it was enough to stop a beating heart. Shame, they felt shame. That a meddling human mind could bring down their fun, their brilliance. Then some of the little pinpricks of light in my vision began to flicker out and fade. I sensed emptiness where those illuminations had been, and the blackness began to swell. Rory’s voice came through again, this time directed at me.

  “Hang on lass, just a little longer. Whatever ye’re doin’, keep doin’ it. Hang on just a little longer …” His voice began to fade away as I felt myself start to lose consciousness. I supposed being inside the telepathic network of aliens was a taxing thing, albeit wondrous. The sounds around me indicated victory, although the screams of pain from the wounded still filtered up through the hot air like a tortured dirge. So I hung on a little longer, watching more lights flicker and die out across my field of inner vision, and I knew they represented the deaths of the aliens, and I needed to hold on to convey my triumph to the bastard’s mind I was clinging to like a determined rock climber. “We’re winning, asshole. Bet you didn’t see that one coming …” Somehow I knew he would understand my English, because the intent behind them was emotion, which I now knew was a universal language. As I started to slip away, no longer able to keep my mind anchored to his, to all of theirs, he sent a direct thought back to me.

  “We can’t really die, human. Just our bodies. You’ve won nothing.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Little glimpses came to me through the blackness that shrouded my brain like a blanket. I had fainted, and that was embarrassing enough to make its way to my consciousness. And my poor brain, it felt fried. I wondered if this was what electroshock therapy had felt like for all those poor mental patients that had lived centuries ago. I saw glints of sunlight hitting the dust around me, and realized I was being carried. Back into a camp, it looked like, and I felt relief. I was away from the battlefield, the scents of blood and anguish behind me. But voices …
there were plenty of voices cutting through the dark, and they were asking frantic questions. Probably how we had won, if we had won, who was dead. I was too tired to try to answer them. Then darkness again, and it felt like sleep. But one voice jolted me out of my stupor, and my eyes flew open when I heard, “Mommy. Wake up!” Lulu! She was here, next to me, and as I pried my eyes open I saw I was on my bed, in our little shelter, in our camp. And another familiar face was there to welcome me too. Dr. Will Sheridan, the friendly physician who had been an ally of mine in the first rebel camp five years ago before I’d had my first confrontation with the Director.

  “Are you here to tell me I’m pregnant again?” I joked, my voice hoarse. He’d been the first person to diagnose my delicate condition in the rebel camp. He held a cup of water to my lips, and I drank it eagerly. Lulu was petting my head, picking bits of bark and leaves from my braid.

  “Not this time, Dr. Brice. When I heard you were here, I insisted on being the one to examine you. After last time, I wasn’t surprised to learn you were in the midst of this particular fray, too. There’s going to be a lot of attention focused on you very soon, but I’ve told everyone to stay outside while I examine you. But this little one insisted on being by your side, and I didn’t think you’d mind.” I smiled wanly, keeping my eyes on Lulu. I couldn’t believe my good luck to be with her again, and right now I didn’t care how or why.

  Will scanned his devices over my body, and Lulu was fascinated with the process. He frowned a little when he went over my head a few times, and I mustered some strength to ask what was wrong, and where was Jack?