“What female?” I ask, eyeing him carefully.
“Do not play games,” he says, kneeling to my level. “We saw her. She brought us to you.”
She’s the only thing I care about in this universe, and she’s lost on our hellish planet. “Don’t hurt her.”
The sentinel turns and nods to one of the captains of the ship. He presses a button.
A great hum overtakes the mothership.
“Dont,” I plead.
The sentinel does not react.
First, the facility explodes. Then, they start blasting the entire city. It happens faster than I can blink.
“NO!” I scream.
My brethren grieve, but my mind cannot wrap my head around what I have just witnessed. It’s not possible.
She can’t die.
“What have you done?” Lök cries, tears falling down his scales.
Vraik is in shock. In silence, his mouth twitches.
The sentinels laugh. “Tit for tat,” the leader says. “You kill one of ours, we kill one of yours.”
“She was pregnant,” I shout.
They don’t give two shits about the fertility rites of our people. These monsters are solely dedicated to the path of evil.
I don’t know what to do.
My reaction is to lash out and kill every goddamn sentinel that comes our way, but with these cuffs, I am bound to Empire forever.
My love. Our love. She’s gone…
Maybe I should look away, but I can’t stop staring at the burning landscape below. Embers drift through the wind-stream, carried toward Empire City.
I remember her smile. I can still see that gleam of life flash before my very eyes as she laughed and felt the true emotion of love.
I still carry her scent on the frayed edges of my shirt. I miss her so fucking much, it’s more debilitating than the cuffs around my wrists.
Emma was a bright star in the darkness of space. She taught us how to feel. She taught us to love.
We didn’t cherish what we had. Didn’t give enough to it…
What’s life worth without love?
A sentinel nods toward his commander. “Empire City is approaching, sir.”
The leader nods. “Good. We will take them to Justice Quarters and hold a preliminary hearing. Then Slain will wish to speak to the criminals.”
“Criminals?” Vraik shouts. “We fought for his rebellion. We ensured his rise to power.”
“And you plotted to destroy him,” the alien thug responds.
“This is against intergalactic law,” I say. “You killed a female. She was bearing a child. They’ll kill you for this.”
He laughs. “There are plenty of females to choose from outside of this planet,” he says. “You and I both know this as truth.”
“What are you saying?” Lök asks, bloodied but still breathing.
The sentinel turns and eyes the quickly approaching city. “There is instability in the outer quadrants of the planet.”
“No shit,” I growl.
Lucky for me, he and his guards ignore my response.
He continues. “He planned for this moment. Every victorious rebellion faces attacks. It was only a matter of time until one of our own betrayed him.”
“Spit it out,” Vraik mutters.
“You are the source of instability. At least, the people will think you are,” he says.
“So your plan is to plaster our faces across the planet?” I ask. “Make up some lies to buy you an extra couple of years?”
He grins. “Yes. Once you are vilified, the Lottery system will be expanded. Slain will bring in a transport of exotic women. The best miners will be rewarded mates. That will buy us more than a few years.”
One of the lackey sentinels chuckles. “Slain will look like a hero.”
Give the people a little bread, and they’ll ask for more. That’s the plan, right? Well, it just might work. That is, if we let it happen.
“Bastards,” I mutter, teeth clenched.
The three of us share gazes. This isn’t good. We’re about to land in a sentinel haven, and we have no weapons to fight with, no Resnyx left to barter.
All in all, we’re not doing too well.
But Akron is still alive. Somewhere on Ferän, he is finishing harvesting Earth’s Resnyx. We have to count on him to save our asses. The question is will he actually help us, or will he take off with our riches and let us perish?
We fucked up his bar. Wouldn’t be too surprising if he went with the latter decision.
None of this matters. There is a strong biological urge to fight and live. And the more I try and think of a way out of this, the more I think of Emma’s sweet face. It only makes this harder.
My heart sinks and swells with grief. This is a lose-lose scenario, so I decide to just go with it.
Empire City is shrouded in a rich, purple haze. Argonon lights flash an outline of Slain’s face. Tall, ornate towers loom, but the insides look vacant.
For many moons I have wondered what it might be like to step foot here, and now I’m going to have that chance.
We land at a hanger inside Empire City.
Forced out of the sentinel drone, they push us against the pavement outside. Vehicles arrive at all corners of the road, lights flashing blue and red.
I’m not staring at the sentinels. I’m just looking at the empty streets, restaurants, the old publicly owned transports that look long since abandoned.
No one lives here anymore. It was all a facade.
“I don’t understand. I thought this was an area of riches,” I say to Lök.
He inhales, cheek squished against the concrete. Blood cakes his gums as he smiles. “It was a lie,” he says.
We should have known. Slain was powerful, but he never galvanized his rebellion. Once the wars stopped, he let this place go to waste.
He just wanted power. Whether he intended to keep it is another story.
Another electro-prod is jabbed into my back. Electricity rushes through my spine for the millionth time of the night.
A sentinel barks orders. “Both of you. Shut the hell up.”
I’m limp, and my lips are sealed. The sentinels take us toward a large building, at least twenty stories tall. I’ve seen this place in the holograms before. It’s the Justice Quarters, but it’s nothing like the name implies.
They kick the doors open to an empty building.
Inside, dust and debris covers the floors. Dirtied handprints cake the walls. The place is trashed.
At the other end of the hall, the sentinel leader forces another door open. “Up the stairs.”
I count each floor. One, two, three… When we get to the seventh floor, the sentinels stop at the door. The leader punches in a code and the metal slides open, revealing a very large room full of equipment.
Computers buzz and create a holographic glow that drapes across the room. Cables wrap around the walls like synthetic arms of a foreign plant.
Is this our future? Are we to be consumed by what we’ve built?
There is a space in the center. A blue flash of light circles between two cylinders that keep it stable. At first, I think it’s normal electricity. But as soon as my eyes see the light, I have to look away.
The leader grabs my shirt and points to the others. “Keep them back. I want to deal with this one first,” he says.
Adrenaline jolts my nerves awake again. “Wait, where are you taking me?” I cry.
“Rekker!” Vraik shouts.
Lök lunges, but is easily stopped. The door shuts, and I feel an unbearable pain sweep into my soul.
The sentinel nudges me toward the burning energy source.
“What… is it?” I ask, blinking and straining to look at it again.
I can feel my skin start to bubble…
“What is happening?” I scream.
The Empire’s main thug stares right at it. With his mechanical mask, he is well protected. And without real eyes, the brightness does not hurt him.
“We have killed your whore,” the leader says.
The light… it’s deadly. I feel hatred and contempt build inside my heart.
The sentinel kneels before me. “Your worthless seed barrel,” he continues.
I twist my head in agony. “Stop,” I say.
I fall to the floor, hardly able to move. I don’t know what’s happening to me, but it feels like I’m aging.
Without care, he turns his back to me, placing his hands near the energy source. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
It feels like my organs are turning inside out. I inch away, but the pressure keeps me pinned to the floor.
I’m changing, turning into something terrible.
“Help,” I choke. “I’m dying!”
He inhales. Deeply, he holds the oxygen in his lungs, proudly entranced by the blue beams of light. “This is where I became a sentinel,” he says.
I twist across the floor, falling into deep spasms. I can hear his words, but things are starting to cloud over, like my brain has aged ten years in ten-seconds.
“Radiation. Plain and simple. Pure Energy,” he says, turning once again.
His back glows blue as he marches forward to taunt me more.
“Power,” he whispers.
“You don’t know anything about power,” I manage to say.
Power doesn’t come from any type of soldier or Empire. It comes from within. I don’t give a fuck what any alpha says. The most powerful weapon of all is love.
“Maybe,” he says. “But we have managed to control it.”
“Control what?” I ask.
“Resnyx,” he says.
“Everyone knows that. It powers this planet,” I say.
He bends and releases my cuffs. Suddenly, I am free, but it no longer matters. My skin has started to sag and wrinkle. My bones ache. My veins protrude, blue and purple, and my skin has thinned.
I’m not young anymore.
I’m old…
They have robbed me of love. They have taken my heart. And they have stole my youth.
The one chance I had to start a new life is now over.
“You are wrong. The power of Resnyx is unscalable,” he says. “So Slain keeps it here for safe keeping. He uses it to make us, the sentinels. We are given small doses every day. Transformation is highly important to him.”
I groan. “You will die.”
“Perhaps that is our sad, but glorified fate. We cannot live a normal life, so we enforce it. The law is our only path toward righteousness before death. All sentinels are promised an afterlife,” he says.
He is foolish. “Open your eyes. Can’t you see you’re being used?”
The sentinel grins, wide and terrifying. “My eyes are open because Slain gave us new eyes. My eyes see an entirely different world. A world of beauty.”
I’ve heard the stories. They see energy, the grid of life itself.
Life is in the details. It is color, expression, and depth. Whatever these creatures see is something far less extravagant.
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask.
“Your file suggests you are more rational than the others. Before Slain deals with you, I want you to know the truth. Love is the enemy of all existence. Love is sorrow, and we will not stand for it.”
“You’ve never felt love in your entire life,” I scream.
“I am better off without it,” he says. “Children grow up to mate. Breeding begets kin. The cycle continues, but suffering never ends, and everyone wonders why?”
“You’re sick,” I say.
“There is one reason why. We choose life, but love always fades. The whore that we killed? You’d find a reason to hate her.”
“I could never hate her,” I mutter.
My voice has changed. My vision has started to fog. I try to stand, but I stumble into the sentinel’s chest.
Life is pain, an endless cycle of everlasting consequences of misplaced steps. In a way, he’s right. But that doesn’t mean I want to end this.
Somehow, life began. No one knows how it came to be, but light penetrated darkness. A burst of energy shattered the foundations of an illusory realm, and the planets spun all matter together.
From the get-go, it has hurt to be alive. From our oceanic beginnings to our late jungle ancestors, we have hurt.
That’s the bond we share. Human, alien, some other godly creatures... We all strive to end our suffering with love. Maybe that continues the cycle, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to end it.
He holds my wrist, laughing. “But I guess you’d rather suffer than destroy this,” he says.
“You’re damn right,” I say.
“Slain will never stand for your philosophy,” he says.
“It’s not philosophy. It’s how I win,” I say.
“Win?” the sentinel leader asks. “Do you really think this is a game someone can win?”
I may be degrading, but my will is stronger than any sentinel in Empire City. No matter the cost, I will always choose to fight for the good of my people. And I won’t let Emma’s name die in vain.
My heart is broken into a million pieces. No, there is no real winning this, but my case of vengeance will prevail.
I’ll never let Emma go, no matter what. It doesn’t matter if they destroyed her body, engulfed her in flames. She will always be here, within me, rebuilding my broken heart and soul. And though this is most likely another losing cause, I have faith that the truth will come out.
Our race will rise up and take power. They will take the progress Slain has made for himself, and use it to kill all of the sentinels.
If they hope to have a future, they must.
Slowly standing, I answer his question. “Maybe I should have phrased that better,” I say, gritting my teeth. “This is how the planet wins.”
The sentinel’s mechanized eyes analyze my every move. Since I’m about to strike, he grabs the front of my shirt. “No,” he growls. “This is the day you become a sentinel.”
It’s as if time has slowed down. The purest blue energy radiates across my body. I can feel it, quickly draining my soul.
The sentinel lifts me, forcing me nearer to the glowing Resnyx. “No,” I shout. “You can’t do this. Think of our people. Think of what we used to be.”
His grin is sharper than a warrior’s blade. His tongue shoots bullets. “You cannot destroy the past,” he says.
Maybe. But if that’s true, there is something else I can do instead. I can destroy their future and make sure they never have another chance to inflict harm ever again.
Every bone in my body aches, but I can’t let go of Emma. The thought of her gives me new strength.
I don’t know if I can come back from the effects of the Resnyx, but I can make sure this alien never sees the light of day again.
I force my hand forward, fingers gripping the cracks of his mask. Automatically, the hydro-joints open and expand. The mask falls off, revealing his scarred and eye-less face.
“I won’t die without her,” I say. “I refuse.”
He tries not to let go, but the radiation is far too powerful to let him keep his strength. Dropping me, he stumbles back.
“What have you done?” he screams and hisses, wildly searching for his mask.
I take the mask and hold it up to my face. Loosely placing it against my skin, the joints sink in and connect with my jaw. It forms to me, giving me new strength.
“I am no fool,” I say.
I am measured and calm, but my emotions for Emma give me strength.
I can see their world, red lines that make up a solid grid. Every movement he makes is registered. His weaknesses display in my retinas.
As I stare at his floundering body, I cannot see any heart beat. There is just a solid mass inside him, floating like a rock.
I can see him for what he really is. A nobody. A nothing entity. These aliens gave up their souls long ago.
“Slain will destroy this planet and seek refuge. He doe
s not care about anything but himself. You cannot comprehend the mess you have just made,” he screams.
But he is like a cornered cockroach, and I’m the one who is about to squash him.
He scrambles away, but I can see three steps ahead of him now. I kick his ankle out from underneath him and watch as he falls head-first into the energy source.
“N-N-No!” he shrieks.
Losing energy fast, I watch as the blue beams of light consume his body. In agony, he writhes. His face grows older. His armor immediately rusts over.
“You’ll pay...” he croaks.
Within seconds, he is gone. There is no left-over body to step over. There is only that great beam of light.
I’m shutting this place down.
I hobble toward the wires along the wall. Using the sentinel mask, I shoot a laser beam from my eyes, cutting through the tough cables.
The glow starts to fade. Soon, it’s gone.
The Resnyx that Slain has collected disappears into the atmosphere.
It’s hard to comprehend how I’m feeling. I take off my mask and realize tears are trailing down my cheeks. I’m crying. I’ve never cried before in my life.
With enough adrenaline coursing through my veins, I stumble toward a drawer. There is a foreign type of medicine, bearing a name I’ve never heard of. Without thinking, I grab them and swallow as much of the liquid as I can.
I groan and cough. The taste is bitter, but I start to feel stronger. My skin does not change, but I can feel my cells starting to regenerate. It’s going to be a long process of healing, if it even works at all.
Footsteps echo up the staircase.
This is no time for nostalgia. Behind me, the door opens. My alpha brethren are nowhere in sight, but a group of sentinels flood in to get me.
“He has killed our leader!” one shouts.
Placing the mask back on my face, I scan the room for an exit. Unfortunately, the only way out is through one of the windows.
We’re too high up.
A laser beam blows a hole through one of the hologram computers near my head. “Shit,” I groan.
I stand as a much older alien than before.
Laser beams shoot around me, but I am able to see them with clear vision. I dodge every shot before facing the window.
Alien Bride: A Dark Alien Sci-Fi Romance Page 12