by Laura Pohl
“That sounds amazingly vague and unhelpful,” Rayen offers.
“Andromeda is correct,” the computer says. “An emotional bond must be formed between the Universal and the cosmos itself, resulting in comprehension of the fleeting nature of existence.”
“Could you say something that actually make sense?” I ask.
“The data is locked,” the computer says. “The only alternative is data reproduction, although the process is long and may take thousands of years.”
“I don’t have thousands of years!” Andy exclaims.
I turn to her. “Andy, you’re the hacker,” I say. “You’re the computer nerd. And you understand whatever is going on here. If there is one person who can do this, it’s you.”
Andy hesitates. “I don’t know if I can,” she says quietly, looking at each of us. “It’s just not that simple.”
“You can,” Violet says firmly. But it’s not the voice of authority. It’s something else. For the first time, she faces Andy and looks her straight in the eye. “I’ve seen you do amazing things,” Violet says. “I know how great you are. It doesn’t matter whether or not you have supernatural powers. I know that you can get this information.”
“I don’t—”
“Yeah, you do,” Violet says. “I know you better than anyone else. Even if you did lie to me.”
I feel like I’m intruding on this moment between two girls who grew up together, who have always been best friends, almost like sisters—inseparable, except for the fact that they come from two completely different species.
“I know that it wasn’t right,” Andy says, her voice pained. “I should have told you. But I thought you might have kicked me out.”
“Kicked you out?” Violet scoffs. “Friends don’t do that, Andy. Even if they are from another planet.”
Andy winces, shrinking again. “Listen, I—”
“No, you listen!” Violet commands. She looks tired but beautiful, and there’s a warmth that spreads around her. If Violet does represent the last of the humans, it’s enough. “You lied to me,” she says. “You lied to everyone, and you kept trying to convince me not to fight. Trust is something that you have taken from me, and I might never forgive you for it.”
Violet breathes once, hard, her hands on her hips. “But you are my friend,” she continues, “and you will always be the girl I grew up with. My best friend. The one who came with me to the end of the world, who protected and defended me when I couldn’t do it. You came to this planet seeking refuge, and even if you’ve learned nothing from this, I still hope that you’ve found the meaning of friendship.” Violet sighs and looks deeply into Andy’s eyes. “Even if I had to do this all over again, I would. If it meant that you would still be my friend.”
Andy starts to cry. Tears that she hasn’t shed before, that she has been avoiding, come flooding out like she’s crying the light of galaxies. Andy comes forward and embraces Violet, and Violet wraps her arms around her.
“Thank you,” she whispers quietly to Violet. “Thank you.”
I don’t know if aliens have this concept called friendship, but I know that it’s the one thing that planet Earth had to offer. Friends are the family you choose, the one you fight for. And it’s a pity that it took me so long to see it.
The only thing I see now is Andy and Violet, and for a few seconds, I can believe that the universe is actually in the right place.
“Right,” Andy says, wiping her nose. “Let’s do this.”
Chapter 45
It feels strange to be back in the war room the next morning, planning our attack. It’s only been two weeks since the last time we did this. Adam’s scribbling is still on the whiteboard, and no one has the courage to erase it. This is our last chance, and we have to be ready.
We sit in the same positions as before, as if nothing has changed, but of course, everything has. Everyone’s gaze occasionally shifts to Andy, who now has just a bit more color in her cheeks and eyes, like she isn’t afraid to show herself anymore.
“All right,” Violet says. “Now is the time to make our move, before they can come after us again. We have to be the first to strike—in their territory.”
“And how are we going to do that?” Avani asks.
Violet turns to Andy. “Your turn.”
Andy clears her throat and spins in her chair. “Okay,” she begins. “You know how we’ve arrived at the conclusion that they’re a hive mind?”
Flint nods. “Get on with it.”
“It’s an easy target,” says Andy. “They might not all be able to see what every single one of them can see, but they work together toward a certain purpose. They need orders to do that.”
“So what are you saying?” Brooklyn raises an eyebrow.
“Their orders have to come from somewhere,” I cut in. “They’re a hive. They must have some sort of queen.”
Andy tries to look like I haven’t just ruined her big moment.
Rayen nods by Violet’s side. “Makes sense. But the problem is, we don’t know where she is.”
“Actually, we kind of do,” Andy says, opening up her laptop. Beneath its translucent cover, I catch a glimpse of the Milky Way and the stars. On the screen, a globe appears. A million dots cover the world, all shining bright red.
“Those dots are the signals that the spaceships have been sending out,” she says. “All the shells that landed on our planet.”
Then, above Earth, another bright dot appears, except that it’s not a dot. It’s a spaceship so big that it must be the size of a continent, rotating in our orbit, just above us.
“Excuse me, but what the hell is that?” exclaims Brooklyn in surprise.
“Their mother ship and base,” Andy answers. “Above Earth’s atmosphere.”
“Wouldn’t a thing like that be visible in the sky?” Avani asks. “It seems strange that we haven’t seen it before. It’s big enough to cause an eclipse.”
“It might,” Andy concedes. “But it’s been staying far enough away that no one would necessarily consider it a threat. Especially now that humans have been eliminated.”
“So what are you suggesting? That we go up there?” Brooklyn asks.
“Yeah. With a spaceship.”
Brooklyn refrains from rolling her eyes. “So what do you expect us to do? Wave a towel and hope that they pick up hitchhikers?”
No one dignifies that comment with an answer.
“They’ll notice a spaceship coming,” I say to Violet. “It’s impossible to sneak up from that kind of distance.”
“Unless we have some cover,” Andy says.
I frown, not understanding.
“We recall all of the shells to the base and use them for cover,” she continues. “There are about a million shells on Earth. We can go unnoticed.”
“But how do we get them to recall their shells?” I ask.
“It’ll be a peace offering,” Andy says. “I’ll go up in one of them. The only thing they’re looking for here on Earth is me. If I come to them, they’ll have no reason to leave their shells here.”
It doesn’t sound like a particularly good plan.
“And then what?” Flint asks.
Violet sighs. “We can’t kill the queen. It’d be too dangerous, and we’d be facing a lot of security. But Andy says that, like us, the Hostemn can’t survive if exposed to outer space.”
“Meaning that we have to break their ship,” Flint says. “So we blow it up.”
Violet nods. “We’ll need to create a diversion. Something to draw them away from where we intend to attack. That’s where you come in, Clover.”
“Me?” I raise an eyebrow.
“You steal a ship,” Andy explains. “Meanwhile, another team plants a bomb in the core of the mother ship. The bomb disables the whole system, and the ship goes down.”
“A bo
mb?” Rayen asks, suddenly paying attention.
“I can make one,” Violet says. “We have plenty of firepower here, of the nuclear kind. I know the protocols to set it up.”
“That’s reassuring,” Brooklyn mutters. “Nuclear weapons in the hands of teenagers.”
We all ignore her.
“My arrival will keep them busy for a while,” Andy says. “With a million shells coming back at the same time, they could spend hours looking for the one with me in it. I can buy you time to get to the core and plant the bomb.”
“Then we get Andy,” Violet says. “And we get the hell out of there.”
“And when we blow up that ship, we end the Hostemn once and for all,” Andy finishes.
It sounds nuts. It sounds impossible.
“That’s a plan, but how can we be certain that everything will work? That we’re not going to be running right into some kind of trap?” Flint wonders.
“Oh, it’s a trap,” says Avani. “We’ll be going right into our enemy’s lair, like complete idiots. How are we supposed to do this?”
“Take over the ship’s controls,” says Brooklyn, and we all turn to her. “It’s probably a computer, right?”
She looks at Andy, who nods slightly.
“So we take it over,” Brooklyn says, like it’s the easiest thing in the world. “Disable the shields and the weapons system, so they can’t fire at us. Then all that’s left to worry about is the aliens. And then, like Violet says, we plant the bomb and get the hell out.”
It’s a damn good idea. Losing control of the ship would throw the aliens into chaos, at least for a while. We might actually have a chance.
Three teams. One to disable the controls and one to plant the bomb. A third to go get Andy.
These aliens aren’t counting on us. It’s going to be one hell of a surprise when they open up their hatch and find us there. But by then, it’ll be too late. We’ve got nothing else to lose, and luck is on our side. And even if we can’t exactly save Earth, we’ll at least avenge it.
I guess that’s the only thing left for us to do.
A light feeling spreads over me, and I realize that it’s hope. It feels strange to have it again, even if it means that we might all be dead by the end of the week. But as I look at all my friends around the table, I have faith. We’ll get by. We’ll find a way.
And we’ll make our plan work.
Chapter 46
This might be my last night on Earth. Tomorrow, I officially leave my planet for the first time. I wonder what it’ll feel like, bursting out of the atmosphere, seeing the stars. Flying in outer space, like I’d dreamed of doing before the aliens came. I’m ready to fly through galaxies.
In true human fashion, Brooklyn decides that it’s time to throw a party. A goodbye party. A party to rock the end of the world.
Music is blasting in the messroom so loudly that my ears are barely functioning. Brooklyn decided to look through some of the old quarters for new clothes to wear, and now even Rayen is wearing a dress, which flatters her figure incredibly, showing off all her curves and tattoos. She raises an eyebrow when she catches me looking, and I roll my eyes. Flint is wearing a nice shirt that actually looks clean for once, and I let Brooklyn dress me up in a loose black tank top. Even Sputnik gets a new outfit, a ridiculous pink bow tie that she proudly struts around in.
Brooklyn also produced an impressive stock of alcoholic beverages, to Violet’s utter disapproval. Violet had complained that no one could afford to have a hangover tomorrow, but Avani had countered that with the fact that we have more than enough medicine for that. Violet didn’t argue, and now I see her across the room, sipping vodka from a plastic cup.
Flint, Avani, Andy, and Brooklyn are together on an improvised dance floor, shouting song lyrics at the top of their lungs, acting like regular teenagers for once. Sputnik roams between them, and Brooklyn picks her up by the paws and waltzes from side to side as if they’re dance partners. Even Rayen is swaying. I stand in the corner and sip my drink, watching them.
“Not going to join in?” Violet asks as she steps by my side.
“Never been one for dancing.”
Violet watches them carefully. She still looks like she’s set apart from the others. Now, more than ever, we know that she’s different. It’s only 3 percent of our DNA, but I guess it’s enough. Enough to change things forever.
“Excited for tomorrow?” I ask.
It takes a minute for her to notice that I’m talking to her. “Nervous, more like,” she answers.
“I thought you didn’t get nervous.”
Violet snorts, a half-smile playing on her rose-colored lips. With her bright blue dress, it’s easy to picture her shining on a runway, had things been different. “You’re not the only one who pretends.”
We exchange a look, remembering the other night, in her office.
“I don’t pretend.”
She laughs again, and I think it’s the first time that I’ve ever seen her truly smile. For a moment, she manages to let go of everything else. Watching everyone, I wish that this night could last forever. There’s nothing like a party at the end of the world.
“Do you think we can succeed?” I ask.
“You tell me. I know you’re good at running numbers.”
“Running the numbers won’t help,” I tell her truthfully. “The odds are crazy. And definitely not in our favor.”
“Not looking so good, then, huh?” she says lightly.
Violet has an unwavering strength, the kind that very few people possess. She’s not scared of the truth. She knows her own worth, and I wish that I was half as confident as her that we can do this. I want to believe it more than anything. She’ll sacrifice everything to make this work. And so will I.
“Look on the bright side,” I say. “The odds of aliens invading our planet twenty years ago were also pretty low.”
Violet smiles at me affectionately, patting my shoulder lightly. “Let’s go dance, Clover.”
“Are you inviting me?”
Violet grins and moves toward the dance floor. Brooklyn sees us coming and howls, then turns up the music even louder. We dance, sing, spin around the room, and drink and eat like it’s our last night on Earth, because it might well be. Brooklyn changes songs, putting on our favorites, making us sing out loud to stuff that we used to sing as kids and choreograph it perfectly in time with the music. Sputnik dances with us, her paws heavy on the dance floor as she jumps and barks. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.
By the end of the playlist, we’re all sweaty and dizzy and falling down laughing. My breath comes out in gasps, and my head swirls from all the drinks I’ve had. We sit down, one next to the other, interconnected by the touch of our shoulders. Sputnik sprawls on the floor at our feet, her tongue hanging out.
“Okay,” announces Brooklyn. “Last night on Earth. What do you wish you could’ve done?”
We all hold our breaths. It’s a sincere question, not just a joke, so we have to make our answers count.
“I’ll go,” says Flint. “See England one more time and eat fish and chips by Big Ben. The place where Mum and Dad first met.”
Brooklyn boos him, but we’re all smiling. Small things, easy things matter now. We know that we can’t long for the big stuff anymore. And it’s the little stuff that we’ll miss the most.
“Take my brother to school every day, even though I used to hate doing it,” says Rayen. Then, as an afterthought, she adds, “Star in a movie with Jet Li.”
“Beat Dark Souls,” Andy says with a tired sigh, like this is the last challenge she’ll ever have to go through. Violet pats her back.
“Go to the amusement park,” Avani answers. “It was by my place. I wish I could go one more time.”
“Go on a date.” Violet surprises us all and then bursts into a fit of gig
gles. Her smile spreads across her lips and her eyes shine an impossible blue.
“You’ve never been on a date?” Rayen asks incredulously.
“No,” says Violet. “It sounds clichéd, I know. But I’d like to go on one.”
“I’ll take you,” Rayen says firmly, and Violet giggles even more.
“Oh, it figures,” Flint says. “Every single person left on the planet is gay.”
All of us start laughing at the irony. Then everyone turns to face me. I look at the ceiling. I don’t know what to say. I want my answer to be true and from my heart. But I don’t know what I would’ve done differently. Or what I would change, if I could. Everything that’s happened has made me who I am, has changed and shaped me. But there’s one thing that doesn’t feel like too much to ask for.
“I guess I want to belong in the sky again,” I answer quietly. “Just to fly, without anybody coming after me.”
They all smile, secretly, the kind of smile that you give to your friends when you know what they mean, even if they can’t fully understand it themselves. And then it’s Brooklyn’s turn, and she gets up.
“There’s something that I’ve been meaning to do,” she says. “I guess I’m fully drunk, to have enough courage, and besides, what the hell? Last night on Earth and all that.” She breathes once. And then she leans down and kisses Avani on the lips.
We all watch, surprised, and Flint cheers in the background. Avani blushes a deep crimson. Her mouth is open, and she stares at Brooklyn.
“Will you be my girlfriend for as long as we live?” Brooklyn asks dramatically, and Avani frowns, giving her that deep, Avani-like expression that she reserves only for Brooklyn. “Bear in mind, that might only be for the next twenty-four hours.”
“Oh Lord.”
Brooklyn grins. “I knew you’d say yes.”
And then they’re kissing again. We all roll our eyes, but there’s a bubble of happiness growing inside me, and it doesn’t matter how long it will last, because at least for tonight, it exists.
And that’s all that matters.