The Fractured World 5

by David Aries

  “Are you sure?”

  “Completely. You rest,” I said as I headed over.

  Knowing the metaleaters, I didn’t expect to find a thing, but I was willing to try after what had happened.

  Call it me wanting to punish myself for not getting the job done.

  Besides, who knew? There was always a chance some objects had slipped through the cracks, especially in an environment like this.

  My initial wade said differently. Finding the crater left behind by the spacecraft was easy enough, as was realizing the place had been licked clean. Not a grain of metal had been left behind.

  I’ve got to give it to those robot bastards, they’re thorough.

  After doing a second check to make sure, I let out another sigh and began the short journey back.

  As I approached the shore, my bare foot smacked into something hard.

  I winced and pulled my stubbed toe away from… well, whatever I’d kicked.

  What was that? It felt like metal.

  My head said a piece of the ship had survived after all, likely after being flung away during the crash. However, what I ripped from beneath the surface said otherwise.

  Is this what I think it is?

  It was a busted metaleater’s head, likely belonging to one we’d destroyed during the battle.

  We had killed quite a lot of them, for all the good it had done.

  I went to drop the useless piece of junk when I noticed something peculiar. A blue glow rose to the surface, coming from where I’d torn the metaleater’s skull from its submerged carcass.

  Is that a gem?

  Nope. What I wrestled out of the metal corpse’s chest was a glowing blue cylinder the size of a baton in a relay race.

  What have I stumbled upon now?

  “Brandon!” Faris said from the shore, eyes wide.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” I replied, giving the fluorescence tube a rattle. “You know what this is?”

  She rushed to my side and snatched the object from my hand.

  “Hey. What’s—”

  “It is,” Faris said, more to herself than me. “It’s a battery.”

  I tripped over the end of my sentence, finishing off with, “What did you say?”

  Her flame-red eyes, tinted blue by the tube’s shine, snapped to mine. “This is a battery meant for powering robots. A working battery.”

  My jaw dove for the water as I gawped without restraint. “Y-you’re joking, right?”

  “I would never joke about this.”

  “Hand it here,” Demi said as she splashed her way over. After inspecting it with a child-like glint of her own, she mumbled, “There’s not a doubt about it—this is a working battery.”

  My mouth got wider and wider by the second.

  I guess that makes sense from a logical perspective.

  Metaleaters are robots; something has to be powering them.

  But still…

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. My skin stood on guard waiting for the pinch that would wake me from this dream.

  Nobody arrived to deliver it.

  “Th-this battery,” I said. “Could we use it?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Demi replied. “Of course, this isn’t my area. You’d need to ask an expert to make sure, but I don’t see why we couldn’t.”

  “Trez has been dying for something to power her drill. Maybe this could do the trick?”

  We were still convinced something important lurked behind the hidden door buried where the ji’s once ruled. Even with new allies on our side, the drill remained our best shot at opening it up.

  Vay scoffed, as she plodded around the shallows, seemingly at random. “Do you really think one little battery could power such a large drill?”

  My heart sank. “Well…”

  She responded with her trademark laughter. “Then it’s a good thing we don’t just have one, is it not?”

  I jolted to attention. “Huh?!”

  Vay reached under the surface and dragged out another metaleater corpse. She punched into its chest and pulled out a cylinder identical to the one Demi was holding. “Look what I found!”

  For a moment, all I could do was stop and stare. I soon broke out in crazed laughter I couldn’t hold back. Just when I thought we’d been handed a total defeat, we’d secured ourselves a game-changing consolation.

  It had yet to be confirmed, but I already knew: we’d gotten ourselves the means to bring technology to this fractured planet.

  Chapter 2

  The orange shine of the evening sun bounced off the metaleater corpses. They rattled away on a makeshift wooden sledge bouncing across the grassland.

  I patted Rocket’s flank as I walked by her side. “Don’t worry, girl. We’re almost there. You can rest soon.”

  She yipped as she powered ahead in a rope harness, not a hint of fatigue to be seen.

  I grinned. That was my always reliable mount.

  Seriously, she was a blessing. Ask a gemu to do a little hauling and they wouldn’t budge. Rocket, on the other hand, hadn’t whined once during the hours it took to get from the lake to Ulium.

  I’m not sure what we’d do without her.

  Rocket had earned herself a long kip and plenty of hay. There was a lot of feed to go around, or so said the legion of crops that welcomed us home.

  The charred-black wasteland caused by Bogdan’s orders was no more—our farm had returned with a vengeance. It wasn’t just back to being the way it had been before the attack. Oh, no. It was better. Bigger.

  It had to be with so many new mouths to feed.

  With the addition of the herixes, the xioths and their boy toys, as well as a few more stragglers who’d found their way to Ulium, our population was a breath below the two hundred mark.

  That was a lot of people to keep fed.

  The first in that group had been a major reason for the farm’s return to grace. Even as we trundled down the dirt road heading to camp, plenty of herixes were busy in the fields. They were working hard to make amends under the watchful eye of the Don of Farming.

  Zolly waved as we moseyed by. “Howdy, y’all. Welcome back.”

  “Appreciate it, Zolly,” I replied. “Keep up the good work. This place is looking more vibrant every time I pass.”

  She chuckled. “Will do, sugar. You can count on me.”

  I didn’t doubt it. Zolly was yet another invaluable star who made Ulium what it was.

  We sure have come a long way from seven of us and two tents.

  On the subject of founding members, I couldn’t help noticing a certain bouncy, blue bundle of energy rushing down the dirt path at speed.

  I grinned and braced myself for impact.

  “My Brandon!” Casella cheered as she threw herself into my chest.

  I chuckled as I wrapped her in my arms. “Hey there, beautiful. Miss me?”

  “Mhm,” she replied as she rested her chin on my pecs and embraced my face with her big yellow eyes. “You know I always miss my Brandon. I am ever so glad you’ve returned.”

  “Same here.” And I proved as much by giving her delightfully plump lips a kiss.

  “Oi!” Sylvetty snapped as she glided toward us, silver wings spread wide. “Dinnae go using up all those kisses before I’ve had a turn.”

  Akko wasn’t far behind. She huffed and puffed as she rushed down the road, ravishing violet curves barely contained by a flimsy makeshift swimsuit. “W-what she said!”

  I swallowed a laugh before catching Sylvetty and giving her a big ol’ dose of physical affection. Then it was Akko’s turn to feel the terror of my overbearing smooches.

  Her sizzling complexion was the sign of a job well done.

  “You should know by now there’s no need for jealousy,” I said to the group. “Haven’t you realized there’s always more than enough of me to go around?”

  “Aye… but what if that changes?” Sylvetty replied. “I dinnae wanna be the one missing out!”

  “You greedy girl.”
>
  “Nothing greedy about it! A bit of mouth-on-mouth action with yer lover should be the standard, not a prize. It’s right up there with air, food, and water: a basic necessity.”

  “A basic necessity,” Casella agreed.

  “Without a doubt,” Akko said.

  Another amused snort snuck through my smirk.

  Well, I can’t say I disagree.

  I don’t know how I’d get through the day if I didn’t have my girls to keep me powered up.

  Their lips were energizing. A peck from any of them filled me with the strength needed to take on the world

  Nay, the universe.

  “Did I hear someone was handing out kisses?” Vay said as she sauntered up from further down the convoy. “And you didn’t invite me? How cruel.”

  “Hi, Vay!” Casella said.

  “Hello, little one. And two, and three.”

  “Would ya stop calling me ‘little’?!” Sylvetty said. “Yer the one ducking clouds.”

  “True. Very true!” Vay replied with a chuckle before leaning forward. “It’s also the only way I can meet you eye to eye.”

  Sylvetty scoffed! “Why you—”

  “Is this your idea of getting things moving?” Faris said as she marched the same path Vay had.

  Casella waved. “Hi, Faris!”

  Faris did so in return, lips curled into a big smile, before meeting me with her game face. “You’re blocking the road.”

  Sure enough, there was a line of gemus waiting to get by.

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “Sorry about that. My bad.”

  The corner of her mouth twitched upward. “Don’t worry about it. You have fun. We’ll handle things from here.”

  “Hey, you don’t—”

  Faris silenced me with a kiss, before taking Rocket’s reins and setting off.

  Before I could recover, it was Vay’s turn to grab my face and steal my breath away.

  “Later, stud,” she said. “I’ll be expecting a prize to celebrate my hard-earned victory.

  “You didn’t win,” Faris called back.

  “In what universe did I not?” Vay replied as she went along with the convoy.

  For a moment, all I could do was stand around like an idiot as I brushed my fingers over my lips.

  Yep. Definitely a basic necessity.

  Casella tugged on my waistband, pulling me from my reverie. “My Brandon, whatever is that?” She pointed at the sledge Rocket was transporting.

  “That doesn’t look like a ship,” Akko said.

  I exhaled and shook my head. “Sorry. I screwed up.”

  Her shoulders drooped. “Oh…”

  “Then what is it?” Sylvetty said. “I know metal when I see it.”

  My grin returned. “That, my darlings, is a big pile of metaleater corpses.”

  Casella gasped. “Really and truly?!”

  “That’s right. And you’ll never guess what we found in them.” I went to pull the batteries from a pelt messenger bag that complemented my trousered caveman look, but I hesitated. A rather obvious fact struck me. “Wait, where’s Trez?” It wasn’t that her not coming to greet me was weird, but this was a grand reveal that wouldn’t feel right without her front and center.

  “She’s with Eret in the medical bay,” Casella said.

  A shockwave struck my heart. “What?!”

  “D-don’t worry, sweetie,” Akko said, gesturing for me to calm. “It’s nothing serious. He just dragged her away for a routine check-up, is all.”

  I grabbed my chest and breathed out. “I see. For a moment, I feared…”

  The words refused to leave my tongue. It was an unpleasant enough thought as was without me vocalizing it.

  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go pick her up.”

  Together, my girls and I followed the convoy down the dirt path to our new and expanded camp.

  This particular entrance had been reduced to ash a few months ago but was back to being as good as new. It led to a huge residential sector that more than made up for what had been destroyed during the battle against Bogdan’s forces.

  Seriously, this district made up around half of Ulium’s size.

  The majority of its population was those who had led the way in building it—the herixes and the xioths—but it was by no means a spot for them only, no matter what the arena in the middle might have indicated. There were also those who had needed their homes rebuilt from scratch, newcomers who had been happy to take whatever spots were available, as well as the boy toys—a phrase that hadn’t stopped irking me—who never wanted to be too far away from their idols.

  I guess it’s kind of sweet in its own way.

  The end result of all these new developments was a Ulium bigger, safer, and livelier than ever.

  In my totally unbiased opinion, I couldn’t think of a better place to live on this entire crazy planet.

  But that doesn’t mean we can stay here…

  It wasn’t just the new district where the herixes showed their commitment to winning back hearts and minds—a mission they refused to accept was over. As well as some fresh watchtowers, including one located at the top of the nearby hillock, several of our key buildings had been given a major upgrade. Both the canteen and Eret’s medical hut had been expanded to keep up with our population influx. The former had become a behemoth that could shelter at least a hundred people at once, while the latter had turned into a multi-roomed tribal hospital.

  It even had a receptionist and everything.

  “Hi, Brandon,” Millith said as she sat behind our log interpretation of a desk.

  “Hey, Millith,” I responded with a quick wave. “Is it fine if I go through?”

  “Of course! But it might be a little busy if you all go…”

  Casella giggled. “We’ll wait outside. Don’t be long.”

  It wasn’t hard to track down which room Eret and Trez was in. You could hear him from the lobby.

  “I appreciate that your morning sickness has waned, and your energy levels are experiencing an upswing, but that is no license for disregarding your body's limitations,” Eret said. “Whether you like it or not, pregnancy is a taxing phenomenon. I will not condone strenuous labor, heavy lifting, or any sort of climbing.” Eret sighed and pinched his brow. “Honestly, what could have possessed you to scale a tree in your condition? Do you enjoy treating my guidance as codswallop? All regarding me with disdain will achieve is…”

  While Eret ranted, Trez slumped in the examination chair with an unfocused gaze.

  It was a look I’d seen many of Eret’s patients wear.

  “Are you even listening to me?” Eret snapped.

  Trez flinched and wiped the drool from her chin. “Oh… yeah, totally!”

  “Then what did I just say?”

  “Erm… something about taking it easy coz I’m up the duffer?”

  Eret crossed his arms and grumbled. “While that was the vague scope of my explanation, your response doesn’t provide me with confidence. You can’t treat this experience like it’s a game. Without the proper facilities, pregnancy can be highly dangerous to both mother and fetus. If complications should transpire, there is little I can do with our present resources. Therefore, it is in our best interests to…”

  While Eret rambled, Trez’s eyes drifted to mine. They burrowed into my soul and begged for help.

  I sighed and knocked on the door frame.

  Sometimes, I’m too soft my own good.

  Eret jumped out of his red skin but exhaled when he spotted me. “It’s just you.”

  “Sorry to interrupt,” I said, “but I’m going to need to take my mate back for a bit, if that’s okay.”

  “Quite so, as long as she remembers to behave herself.” He glared at Trez.

  She wafted a hand. “Come on, you know me. I’m a good girl! Don’t forget, I’m no punk when it comes to medical stuff.”

  “If you mean a little textbook knowledge has left you overconfident, I quite agree.”


  “Aww! I love you too, bud. Now lemme get out of your fur… hair… whatever you have, real quick.” Trez bolted from her seat and squeezed past me. As she did so, she whispered, “Thank you.”

  “I heard that,” Eret said before pinching the bridge of his nose. “Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I bother. It seems half the advice I hand out falls on deaf antennae.”

  I laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t be like that. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

  “In this current matter, likely no worse than if I wasn’t present. All I’ve been able to do is issue disregarded suggestions and speculate on how this conception came to be.”

  The fact he hadn’t proposed the idea the child wasn’t mine made me all the more glad to call him my friend.

  It was also an idea which hadn’t crossed my mind.

  There’s no doubt it’s mine, but it’s still hard to understand how.

  Eret and Trez had both backed up Aya’s claim that such a pregnancy shouldn’t have happened… yet it had. That much was certain.

  “You’re doing the best you can,” I said. “That’s all we can ask of you.”

  “That doesn’t stop me from wanting to do more,” Eret replied. “We’ve managed to safely navigate the often perilous first trimester, but that is no guarantee complications will not arise from here on. Even if we take her… idiosyncratic personality out of the equation, there is still the childbirth itself to contend with.”

  “Yeah,” I mumbled under my breath as I squeezed my trembling hands into fists.

  “It’s too early for such an expression. Women have been safely giving birth since the dawn of time, long before medical technology advanced to even a fraction of its current level. There is little reason Trez cannot do likewise… but I will not deny that having the appropriate equipment will help quell my collywobbles, especially when we’re dealing with a half-breed pregnancy.”

  I nipped my bottom lip. None of this was new information to me, yet I’d still let that spacecraft slip me by.

  I’d still let a chance at getting Trez the help she needed go to the metaleaters.

  “I’ll find a way to get Trez off this planet before it comes to that,” I assured Eret. “I’m not going to let her down…”

  If only that was as easily done as it was said.