by A. G. Wilde
Her eyes landed on the body of someone about a foot away. In the dust that was now circulating in the room, she could hardly see, but she was sure it was the curly-haired woman who’d spoken up earlier.
There was blood on the woman’s forehead and her eyes were closed.
Wriggling, she tried to free herself from the Ajos’ arms, but he held her even tighter.
“I have to help her.” She turned her brown eyes to gold ones.
“It is not safe. We might get hit again.”
She didn’t even have to think about it. She could never live with herself if that woman died and she didn’t help when she had the chance to.
“I don’t care,” she said. “Let me help her.”
Ajos searched her gaze for a moment before he released her enough for her to slip from his arms.
Screams, cries, groans of pain—she could hear it all now, as clear as she could see the dust that choked the air.
Coughing, she covered her nose and mouth with one hand as she crawled over to the woman.
Her legs couldn’t carry her, they were too weak from the shock of it all, but luckily, the woman wasn’t too far away.
She checked the woman’s pulse, and relief flooded her when she felt the faint movement in the woman’s neck.
“We have to get to safety,” a deep voice said over her shoulder.
She hadn’t realized Ajos had followed her over to the woman.
“I have to move her. Can you help me?”
Ajos jerked his head before grasping the woman as if she weighed nothing.
He looked around the hold—apparently he could see better than she could in the dust because she couldn’t see shit. Everywhere else must be chaos, because he moved the woman to the spot where he and Kerena had just moved from.
He turned to look at her then, and in the lessening dust, she saw there was a sort of film over his eyes.
A nictitating membrane.
Mild shock made her stare at him for a few beats. She wished she had one of those. It felt like there were grains of sand trying to get into her eyes and she was squinting so hard, she could hardly see her hand in front of her face now.
Nodding to him, she kept her nose and mouth covered as she scrambled over to where he’d placed the woman.
As she touched the woman’s cheek, noting the thin line of blood running from the woman’s forehead, Kerena was sure she saw the lady’s eyelids move.
“Hey! Can you hear me?”
The woman frowned and groaned, her eyes opening a little.
“I can’t see…” the woman groaned.
“Hey! You’re ok. We’re going to be all right.” Fuck her if she was lying to herself as well.
Her heart was still hammering in her chest and she was frickin’ terrified. But she needed to surpass her fear. Survival was paramount, and she needed to check if the woman had a concussion.
“What’s your name?”
“Alaina,” the woman said, raising her hand to touch her head. “What the hell happened?”
The woman answered fast and her speech wasn’t slurred…that was good.
Kerena glanced at Ajos and he was looking at her with a grim expression on his face.
Possibly he knew what happened because she had no true idea. If they’d really been bombed…
“I need to help the others,” he said.
Kerena was nodding before she even could form the words. “Of course. Do what you have to do.”
The alien hesitated for a second, his gaze traveling over her, and Kerena realized he was checking whether she had injuries.
“I’m fine,” she smiled. “You saved me.”
The alien’s throat moved as he regarded her some more before he jerked his head and disappeared into the lessening dust.
“What happened?” Alaina groaned again. “I can hardly see anything.”
Kerena gulped. She wasn’t sure if Alaina was referring to the dust or the bright light that had almost blinded her.
Ajos had shielded her from the light. How he’d known in that split second that the bomb was coming, she didn’t know.
She’d seen his face change, seen the terror that had transformed his features suddenly. If not for his quick thinking, she would have been suffering more than a few broken bones.
She’d possibly have lasting effects on her eyes as well.
“I’m not sure what happened.” Kerena looked over the woman. Choosing to keep her thoughts to herself, Kerena focused on Alaina instead. “Do you feel pain anywhere except your head?”
Alaina shook her head. Her face had a pained expression and she was squinting hard as well, but she seemed to be in her right mind.
“Okay.” Kerena looked behind her. There were a lot of women who needed help. “I have to go see if I can help the others,” she murmured.
“Go.” Alaina grimaced but sat up straighter to lean against the stasis pod behind her.
Pushing strength into her feet, Kerena stood.
The dust had settled somewhat and she could see better now, but despite what she’d been expecting, she still wasn’t ready for what she saw.
There were people strewn everywhere, over and under the stasis pods.
Above them was another row of stasis pods and Kerena realized the stasis hold had indeed fallen unto its side.
At the front of the hold, she spotted Ajos and the other aliens moving the injured humans toward what was now the floor at the front of the room.
She headed that way.
She’d had to take a first-aid class as part of her new job and now was the time to use that knowledge.
Dust covered everyone and the pained cries she heard as she moved toward the front pulled at her heartstrings.
Athena was there tending as best as she could to the injured females, and Kerena joined her to check the pulse of the next woman in line.
The woman was alive, but from the way her arm was set, it looked broken.
“Is there a hospital? Can we get them to it?” Kerena asked.
“There’s a med bay. We’ve sent word. They’ll be coming as soon as they can, but I’m afraid they’re already overwhelmed with casualties.” Athena glanced her way as she moved to another victim.
Her words puzzled Kerena for a moment before realization dawned. Still, she asked, “What do you mean?”
Athena’s look was grim. “Those fuckers bombed the entire perimeter. There were people—there were other beings out there. They didn’t have the cover of this stasis hold. They hit them directly and without warning.”
Kerena swallowed hard, her eyes moving to the hole in the wall.
The hole was above them now because the stasis hold had flipped, and she was looking up into a cloudless, brownish sky.
Dust.
Outside was filled with dust.
“How will the doctors get in?”
Athena glanced up, her gaze focusing on the hole in what was now the roof.
“They’ll find a way.”
As she spoke, the head of an alien popped into the hole and his dark eyes flicked over everything before he seemed to find his mark and jumped down.
Kerena noted the shark-like fins on his back before her eyes widened as an angel followed behind him, floating down on huge iridescent wings.
They rushed over to two of the women in black and white and she couldn’t help but stare.
One of the women was pregnant, it seemed. She was gripping her belly, her gaze worried as she met the alien’s eyes. The alien with the fins crouched to place his face against her baby bump, but his dark eyes seemed murderous.
Alarm bells rang in Kerena’s head.
“Are they—”
“They’re friendly,” Athena said. “They’re their husbands.”
Oh…okay.
Someone groaned beside her, and Kerena pulled her attention away from the couples before quickly moving to the injured woman.
This one definitely had a concussion.
Her words were sl
ow, slurred, and she didn’t answer any of Kerena’s questions.
Gulping, Kerena’s gaze traveled over the stasis hold. The dust had settled enough for her to see, and she watched as Ajos and the other aliens moved to help the humans.
There were so many injured people, she could only hope they didn’t end up with any casualties.
As Ajos and his comrades brought the women from wherever they’d fallen, she worked with Athena checking vitals.
She didn’t know how long she and Athena worked, but it felt like time moved slowly.
Medical supplies were lowered inside as the aliens worked to cut another hole into the side of the stasis hold.
The medical supplies consisted of a bunch of small packets she didn’t how to use, but with Athena’s help, they managed to tend to most of those who were the least injured.
However, there were those they couldn’t immediately help.
There were broken legs, broken arms, a few people seemed to have concussions and there was one woman who couldn’t move at all.
She didn’t even want to think about what that could mean.
The angel alien airlifted the emergency cases out through the hole in the top. Meanwhile, they did everything they could to tend to the women before the hole in the side was open and more aliens rushed in with floating gurneys.
The curly-haired woman she’d helped, Alaina, had been the last one to be pushed away on a gurney and as they took her away, Kerena sank to the floor.
She was more exhausted than she’d thought. Adrenaline had been what had kept her energy up.
A shadow fell over her immediately and, for some reason, she knew exactly who it was without even lifting her gaze.
“It is your turn to go.”
Her eyes met Ajos’. “Go where?”
“To the med bay. You must get checked for injuries.”
Kerena couldn’t help but smile. “I think you should get checked. You’re the one that took all the beating while you protected me.”
“Beating?” Ajos’ head tilted a little and Kerena opened her mouth to explain, but she only ended up staring at him instead.
His eyes were back to their normal golden color now, the nictitating membrane gone.
“You got damaged because of me,” she finally said. “You protected me when you didn’t have to.”
“It is my oath,” he said.
His response was a little cryptic, and she was about to ask if all of them took oaths to fight with the Restitution, but a conversation between Xul, Athena, and the robot caught her ear.
“—was a warning. They know we have them and they want their humans back,” Xul said.
She didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help but cock her ears.
“I believe they targeted the stasis hold, knowing the explosion wouldn’t destroy it,” V’Alen said. “The perimeter, however…they killed those beings on purpose.”
“But bomb the stasis hold? What if they’d killed everyone inside?! It could have crumpled on us,” Athena said.
“Negative,” V’Alen answered. “They made the hold of talix metal. It is bomb proof.”
“Still…” Athena suddenly sobbed, and her next words were mostly muffled as the bull-alien pulled her into his chest. “…they killed so many people outside.”
“We have what they deem as theirs and they are irrational beings,” V’Alen said. “It was indeed a warning.”
“What warning?” All eyes turned on her and Kerena felt mildly embarrassed. She doubted it was a conversation that she should have been listening in on.
“A warning that the second Great War has begun,” Ajos said from above her.
War?
Her worried gaze met his and the resignation in his eyes chilled her.
He wasn’t joking.
He was dead serious.
Ajos’ words seemed to pass through the others like a bad omen, and even though she’d just been thrust into this world, Kerena could feel the tension as if it was in the air itself.
“They are not safe,” V’Alen said. “The humans are not safe.”
“We all are not safe,” Athena corrected.
“Nor will we ever be…” Ajos’ golden eyes bored into hers.
A feeling she’d never felt before passed through Kerena, one of complete trust as she looked up at this tall alien being, and Kerena wasn’t sure what to make of it.
He’d saved her twice, but it wasn’t even that. The short time she’d spent around him felt like it had been stretched out over many days.
She felt like she’d known him for more than just a few hours, even though that wasn’t the case.
Kerena held his gaze, unable to look away.
She knew what this was—it was the mysterious power of near-death experiences.
It could draw people closer, even strangers…it could even bring an alien and a human together.
The thought made her eyes widen a little as she stared up into the alien’s eyes.
“So what do we do now?” she whispered.
“There is only one thing to do…” Ajos said, his gaze moving from hers to focus on the others.
“…We fight.”
7
“We should leave this area,” Ajos said before glancing down at her. “And you need to go to the med bay.”
“I’m fine.” Kerena forced a smile.
Granted, she was a bit shaken, but she didn’t feel physically out of sorts.
To be fair, she was surprising even herself with how well she was taking this entire situation.
Not only did she wake up among aliens, but she survived a bombing not long after.
Her mind should be frazzled.
“You should both go to the med bay,” Xul said, his eyes on Athena.
Athena nodded, her shoulders sagging a little. She’d kept her emotions firmly in check for the entire time they’d been working to patch up the few women they could assist. It was the first time Kerena saw an ounce of exhaustion reflected on the woman, and it reminded her it must be hard for Athena and the others who’d been rescued first.
They probably felt like the wellbeing of all the humans that had been trapped in the stasis hold was on their shoulders—and then this happened.
The already terrified females were now even more traumatized.
“Do you need me to carry you?” Ajos’ gaze flicked over her and though his voice sounded firm, Kerena realized he wasn’t being rude. He was looking at her as if he was genuinely concerned that she wouldn’t be able to walk.
She shook her head. “I’m fine. I can walk.”
As the group began walking from the stasis hold, Kerena looked back. Ajos was behind her and she had to look around him to see the place she was leaving.
Brown dust had settled over the pods inside, and their pristine appearance was no more. Her gaze traveled over the entire thing before she swallowed hard and looked toward the light coming through the hole in the structure's side.
This was going to be her first step on alien soil.
Outside, the entire area was bathed in bright sunlight that kissed her skin.
The air was dead, there was no movement, and an unnatural stillness permeated the space.
The hue was different here, different from on Earth.
The sun’s light was whiter, brighter.
Below her feet was hardened orange-brown dirt, and the buildings close by were of a similar color—but that wasn’t what struck her the most.
First, there was rubble…everywhere, and as her gaze adjusted to the brightness of the outside, horror gripped her as her hands flew over her mouth.
Athena’s sharp intake of air reflected her feelings.
There were bodies strewn everywhere. Non-human bodies. Aliens.
Piling those bodies into huge carts were other aliens, their faces grim.
It looked like pictures she’d seen of the Aleppo bombings.
She’d known the bombs had dropped. She’d known there’d be damage, but
nothing she’d imagined came close to reality.
V’Alen had been right when he’d said their enemies had known they’d be safe within the stasis hold.
Glancing back at the huge structure now. It looked mostly untouched, but everything around it had been completely decimated.
“My God…” Kerena muttered, her feet pulling her over to one of the carts.
She didn’t want to look. She didn’t want to face it. Yet, it was as if she couldn’t pull her eyes away.
The dusty face of an alien with round protrusions on its head stared back at her with lifeless eyes.
She didn’t know she was shaking till she felt a strong hand on her shoulder.
“You don’t have to face this,” Ajos said. “Not now. Not after what you just endured.”
Tears filled her eyes as she pulled her gaze away from the dead being in front of her, but everywhere she looked, she saw another and another.
So many.
They’d been killed so viciously, snuffed out as if their lives meant nothing.
All these aliens, these sentient beings, died because another group saw their lives as inconsequential.
All because the Restitution had rescued her and the others…
“Who—” Her voice broke. “Who could do something like this?”
Ajos gripped her and turned her away from the carnage so she was looking at him.
“The same beings who took you away from your home. They are a scourge across the universe that will be eliminated. Be strong, Keh-reh-nah.” Ajos gripped her a little tighter. “Vengeance will be ours…and it will be yours. The Tasqals will pay for what they’ve done.”
Kerena nodded, but her mind couldn’t help going back to the carnage around them.
How could she ignore it?
If there were innocent children here that died…
Forcing away the sudden pain she felt inside, her gaze moved to the others and she realized they had been watching the exchange between her and Ajos.
There was pain in their eyes too, and she knew they were probably thinking the same thing she was.
Keeping her gaze averted as much as she could, she walked alongside Ajos as he led her with a hand on her shoulder.