Redux

by S. A. Stephenson

  ‘You became a threat,’ Sinclair said.

  ‘We became a threat because we were the thing powerful enough to stop Galen and her rule, we were the ones powerful enough to fight off enemies that come from where they do,’ she said, gesturing to the screen. ‘We can end this war, because humans aren’t strong enough to go against the Others.’

  Sinclair smiled grimly at her. ‘We learnt a lot from this fella, and I think you’d be interested to hear what they have to say.’

  Evie glanced back at the screen. ‘How do I communicate with it?’ She asked.

  ‘Place your palm where it was before and let them come to you,’ Sinclair said. ‘Don’t worry, you’re quite safe.’

  Evie wants to believe her, but the nerves in her stomach was telling her otherwise. She placed her palm back on the screen and the icy cold ran through her. Moments later the creature’s tentacle appeared again and this time moved forward, revealing itself to her. It was a long black creature that had tentacles at its base that made Evie think of an octopus, its head was angular and shaped in a way Evie had never seen before. Its nose was pointed and looked razor sharp and it peered down at her as Evie’s heart raced quicker than it ever had done before. As Evie looked closer the creature didn’t look menacing, it looked like it was curious, almost intrigued by her. It moved so it was eye level with her and as the mist flowed over it, the creature’s shape changed. Evie gasped when she saw a naked man appear in front of her. Its frame was muscular, its chest rising and falling like any human, it had dark brown hair and when he looked at her his eyes were a bright sparkling blue.

  ‘You’re human?’ Evie whispered.

  ‘No,’ he replied, the voice echoed in Evie’s head, the man’s lips didn’t move as he spoke to her. ‘But I can assume human form.’

  ‘We would like to talk to you,’ Sinclair told him. ‘I would like you to explain to Evelyn what you have explained to us.’

  The man looked over to her, his sparkling blue eyes had captured Evie and she couldn’t look away from them. ‘You wish me to leave this cage?’ He asked.

  ‘Only if you promise to be good,’ Sinclair said.

  He smiled and nodded. He closed his eyes and for a moment disappeared. Evie drew her hand back in surprise and gasped when she saw him reappear in the room with them. Sinclair handed him some clothes that were folded up and to one side. ‘You humans do focus too much on your modesty,’ he said as he took them from her.

  ‘You can talk,’ Evie noted. ‘And dress.’

  ‘She’s a smart one,’ the man said sarcastically. ‘When I take on a human form I take on human mannerisms,’ he said.

  ‘It’s how we’ve been able to communicate,’ Sinclair told her. ‘And explains why he might be an ass.’

  ‘If I am an ass, it is because humans are asses,’ the man said and Evie couldn’t argue with his logic.

  ‘Do you have a name?’ Evie asked.

  The man considered the question and looked at Sinclair. ‘Have you named me?’ He asked.

  ‘A name isn’t important,’ Sinclair said.

  Evie looked at her surprised. ‘Maybe not to you, because they’re something you’re so used to, but there are so many Genics who are created who are known only as numbers until we give ourselves and our family names.’

  ‘What would you call me?’ The man asked her and Evie ignored Sinclair rolling her eyes. She looked at the man for a moment, there was no denying he looked strong and held himself with confidence and there was a sense of power around him that she hadn’t sensed with anyone else.

  ‘Garrett,’ Evie said. ‘Which means strong fighter.’

  Garrett considered her choice for a moment. ‘It is acceptable,’ he said.

  ‘Great, now that that is sorted…’ Sinclair said.

  Evie ignored the hostility. ‘What can you tell me?’ She asked.

  ‘I can tell you that this world has not been right for a very long time,’ Garrett said. ‘When my people first arrived over a century ago we were determined to claim the land as our own, we knew humans would not be able to survive the virus we brought with us and our plans were to eradicate all life so that ours could begin again.’

  ‘Why did you need to begin again?’

  ‘Because our planet is dying, it has not been cared for and the only one that had an atmosphere where we could survive is here,’ Garrett said. ‘My people were determined in their efforts but humans fought back, they were strong and brave and were not going to simply give in without a fight. Which given they were grossly outnumbered and out-skilled was admirable. We could see that we would suffer some loss if we allowed the fighting to continue,’ Garrett told her. ‘And so when your government people came to us with an offer we were ready to consider an alternative to bloodshed.’

  ‘And what was that offer?’ Evie asked.

  Garrett glanced at Sinclair who nodded for him to continue. ‘The offer was for us to cohabit,’ he said. ‘We would be allowed to settle here alongside humans, in exchange for humans being given some of our powers.’ Evie frowned at him, not sure if she was following his narrative of history. ‘The humans took what they could from us and were able to enslave us to their laboratories and testing cells. They cut us open and extracted our life from us to give to other humans and so the next human evolution began. Humans were being turned into alien life, your governments knew that we would stop at nothing to exist here and had decided that rather than try and fight it and defend their world, they would join us. They would become alien because they saw it as a better alternative to being human. We’re not the ones invading your land, we’re simply arriving because we’ve been invited.’

  Evie looked at him stunned. ‘You’re saying, Genics were created so that we could survive alongside the alien race?’ She asked. ‘Then why are we the enemy? Why did Galen treat us like slaves in her army?’

  ‘Because the government needed to save face,’ Garrett said. ‘They couldn’t exactly announce what they were doing and having been in the business of keeping our existence secret for years, it was a natural decision to continue perpetuating a lie.’

  ‘So we were created to survive the invasion?’ Evie asked.

  ‘You were created for more than one reason,’ Garrett said. ‘Like most good things, there is never one true reason, but multiple that exist together to form a whole.’

  Evie took a moment. ‘Well that was deep,’ she said.

  ‘They have a tendency to be like that,’ Sinclair said. ‘What we have been able to accomplish, however, is a unity, between our country and the alien race, the UK is no longer their enemy and until she was killed, Galen was our focus.’

  ‘And now that she’s out of the picture?’ Evie asked.

  ‘We want America,’ Sinclair told her. ‘There’s no point being polite about it, but we want to liberate your country from the dictatorship its been under and establish a democracy. The government will remain American, but we will be able to work together rather than as enemies. And we’d like you to help us with that.’

  ‘You want me to switch sides?’ Evie asked.

  ‘There are no sides when it comes to fighting for what’s right,’ Garrett told her. ‘Everyone must join together to fight for the future of not just your country but for humans.’

  Evie looked at him, he was one of them. He was one of the original invaders all those years ago, but here he was telling her that he had been wrong, his people had been wrong and was now wanting to put it right. ‘Will you be joining us in the fight?’ She asked. ‘Or will you be joining your friends?’

  Garrett considered the question for a moment. ‘I believe you are my friends,’ he said. ‘Human and Genic, you are both foreign to me, so I consider you both equal and deserving of my assistance.’

  ‘Well that’s noble,’ Sinclair said. ‘But we can’t exactly let you out of here.’

  ‘Why not?’ Evie asked. ‘Why should he be kept in a cage when he’s willing to help us?’

  Sinclair didn’
t say anything. ‘Very well,’ she said at last. ‘But you’re to maintain human form if anyone senses who you are I can’t guarantee you’ll get a welcomed reaction.’

  ‘Sounds like the story of my life,’ Evie said.

  ‘And we need to get you to training,’ Sinclair told her. ‘Your absence will have been noticed, and we don’t have long before we need to be shipping out.’

  Evie nodded. ‘Then what are we waiting for?’ She asked. ‘Let's get to work.’

  Chapter Sixteen

  Hawk had arrived back in Volt as the moon drew high into the night sky. The cold air bit at her dry skin as she stepped out of the plane and back onto the ground she was familiar with. She could sense a change in the air, she noticed it within herself, she walked taller, was thinking without hesitation and had a new found sense of drive and determination. She walked up the steps to the Capitol building, where Galen’s grandfather had once taken the stand and pledged his oath and loyalty to this country. She remembered seeing Madelina take the same vow and recalled how she had was so proud to work alongside her, how she wanted to make America the strongest nation on earth. Now though, the world hadn’t turned out like they had hoped, like they had dreamed of. America was on its knees, it wasn’t feared by other nations, there was no need for it to be. Hawk was going to change that. She was going to make sure that the world feared them, that the world knew of the power that they had and the allies they had made. This is why they had worked with the aliens in secret from the other nations, they wanted to be seen as the threat that could determine the fate of humanity. They wanted to be the ones in control and in charge of not just America and its politics, but of the rest of the world. Galen had never been that ambitious, she was too loyal to the ideals of her grandfather, but now she was gone, it was time for new ideas and a new direction.

  Hawk reached the President’s Office, the oak panel room with its grand desk in the centre was supposed to be reminiscent of the old Oval Office that had been destroyed in the first invasion. Hawk took a seat behind the desk and her heart became settled at the knowledge that she was finally where she was meant to be.

  ‘It suits you,’ she heard Polskin say from the doorway.

  ‘Where is Jenks?’ Hawk asked. ‘We have an announcement to make,’ she said.

  There was a woman trying to hide behind Polskin and Hawk hid a smirk when she saw the girl was quivering as she was holding a notebook. ‘Go fetch her,’ Polskin ordered and she scuttled away.

  ‘Remind me to have a talk to you about your hiring choices,’ Hawk smiled as she took a seat behind the oak desk.

  ‘We have a new situation on our hands,’ Polskin told her as he shut the door. ‘There are reports that there are virus outbreaks in the south, the pathogen has begun to spread.’

  Hawk’s eyes glistened. ‘Good,’ she said. ‘Which means the first phase of my plan is in action.’

  ‘Are you going to make me privy to the rest of the plan?’ Polskin asked. ‘Someone’s going to have to mobilise the troops.

  ‘The black virus that has been created targets Genics as well as humans,’ Hawk said. ‘It’s been manipulated to target Genics first so that when our good friends rock up and try and take us out we can fight back without losing too many of our men.’

  ‘You’re working with the aliens?’ A smile etched at Hawk’s mouth as she saw Polskin’s eyes widen in fear.

  ‘We’re forming a unity,’ Hawk said. ‘No longer will alien and human be separate, but will exist together, any Genic who isn’t part of my army, is an enemy and the virus is strong enough to kill them when our traditional methods will fail.’

  ‘And it’s going to kill humans along the way?’ Polskin asked.

  ‘Only the unfortunate ones,’ Hawk answered. ‘And we can spin it, we can say that the Fox girl poisoned Galen with the virus when she killed her and because of her it got unleashed back into the world.’

  ‘Will people buy that?’ Polskin asked her.

  ‘They’ll be so desperate to stay alive they won’t have time to question it,’ Hawk said. ‘And if they’re focusing on Fox and Valletta then they’re not focusing on us.’

  ‘True,’ Polskin said as there was a knock on the door.

  Polskin opened it and saw his assistant with Astrid Jenks. Jenks, the nations reporter, once smartly dressed and without a hair out of place was all of a sudden looking a bit draggled. Hawk watched with some amusement as she tried to straighten her hair and brush out the wrinkles in her work clothes. There were deep purple bags under her eyes and her face looked like it hadn’t seen it’s usual makeup brush in quite some time.

  ‘What happened to you?’ Hawk asked.

  ‘I was in New York ma’am when the riots broke out,’ she said. ‘I was trying to track down Valletta’s people and managed to catch up with one of her allies - Adam. He had quite a bit to say but couldn’t talk to me for too long, as the humans caught up with him and…well let's just say we’re down one more Genic.’

  Hawk smiled, it turned out today was going to be quite a good day after all. ‘So Valletta’s down another recruit, that’s a good thing,’ she said. ‘What about the Fox brother and the little tag along that were out in Alto? Is there any word on them?’

  ‘I-I’ve heard that they’ve joined Ryx’s crew,’ Jenks said. ‘After Fox helped attack Volt, they went to Alto to see if they could get Valletta more troops.’

  Hawk narrowed her eyes, ‘Galen believed he was working for her.’

  ‘It seems she’s been double-crossed,’ Jenks’ voice was quiet, there was a quiver in it which Hawk hadn’t heard before whenever she spoke to Galen. ‘Fox is and always will remain loyal to his sister.’

  Hawk rose to her feet, blood was coursing around her veins as her heart pumped furiously. ‘This is unacceptable,’ she said. ‘Fox is a soldier of our military and if he has deserted us then he is now officially AWOL and we need to either have him brought in or killed.’

  ‘Ma’am,’ Polskin interrupted. ‘If he’s gone to get help in Alto, my guess is Ryx is likely to have killed him already.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure,’ Jenks said. ‘It was Ryx who gave them planes to use against Volt. It seems that two divided factions of a Genic army are now united.’

  ‘Meaning they have more strength to fight us with,’ Polskin added.

  Hawk glared at him. ‘Do you think I’m going to let any amount of Genic army win this war?’ She demanded. ‘It’s time to get the American people into action and working for us, that’s why you’re here,’ she said to Jenks.

  ‘Of course Ma’am,’ Jenks said, there was something wavering about her tone that Hawk didn’t like. Something that made her question Jenks’ loyalty. For now though, she chose not to question it.

  ‘And the sister? Where is she?’ With this question the room fell deftly silent. Hawk watched as Polskin and Jenks exchanged glances but neither spoke. ‘Well?’ Hawk demanded.

  ‘We tried to contact you ma’am,’ Jenks said. ‘People in your control room, but you were unreachable.’

  ‘Tell me!’

  ‘A…a plane was able to leave the US airspace, we believe Valletta and Fox were on the plane.’

  Heat swarmed around Hawk’s mind, she doubled over as though Jenks’ words had hit her in the gut. She staggered over to the window to try and catch her breath. How could this have happened? This was a gross violation of every law that had been set up. ‘Why wasn’t the plane shot at? Why did no one try and stop them?’ Hawk asked.

  It was Polskin who answered, ‘From the reports ma’am it was unclear of what the protocol should be,’ he said. ‘People didn’t know if Galen was alive and what they were supposed to be doing. These people have been trained to follow orders and with no one to give them, they simply couldn’t act.’

  Hawk turned to him in disbelief. ‘You mean we have a group of people working for us who cannot think for themselves when a leader is absent?’

  Polskin hesitated for a moment. ‘In all honest
y ma’am, isn’t that what we’ve been wanting?’ He asked. ‘If you have people who think for themselves, well, then they do.’

  Hawk was blinded by rage and doing everything she could to refrain from pulling the gun that was on her waist and shooting one of them. ‘So Valletta and Fox have left the country?’ She asked.

  ‘It appears Valletta came back,’ Jenks said. ‘Along with a few of her soldiers. It’s only Fox who remains in England.’

  Hawk was trying to process the news, trying to understand what it all meant. But as she settled her thoughts on Valletta she was able to regain a sense of calm. Valletta had always been her focus and was the one she needed. She had made the mistake of coming back to America and Hawk was going to make her regret it. ‘Get the equipment set up,’ she ordered. ‘It’s time to address the nation.’

  It hadn’t taken long for the projector to be set up and for the video to be rolling, Jenks was stood in front of Hawk, and Hawk watched as she pulled on her skirt suit, trying to look a little more like how she was supposed to. ‘Can you handle this?’ Hawk asked her.

  ‘Yes ma’am,’ Jenks said, although there was no confidence in her voice.

  ‘Well then, let's begin,’ Hawk ordered and she heard the familiar Presidential music fill the room and knew across America this message would be broadcasted to all the citizens, all her citizens. Hawk cleared her throat as she imagined Valletta seeing this image, and she smirked at the thought.

  ‘Good evening residents of America,’ she said. ‘It is late in the hour but there is news that cannot wait till the morning. I can now confirm with a heavy heart that our President, Madelina Galen, is dead,’ she paused for a moment. ‘For a while, we thought we could revive her from her injuries but sadly there was nothing the doctors could do for her. We are holding Evelyn Fox officially accountable and will be seeking justice. Therefore there is a bounty on her head, five hundred thousand marks for anyone who brings her to me, dead or alive. This bounty is in place because not only did this Genic kill our President, she infected her with the alien virus, and as we tried to save her, the virus regrettably could not be contained. We are urging everyone to stay indoors and do not make contact with anyone, even if its someone you know. We are doing what we can to try and contain this outbreak but we are on the brink of war with the Others and my army has to focus on keeping us safe.’