by Rishi Sriram
younger sister.
She glanced at her, paused for a moment, and then looked away in shock,
“You guys took in children? What were you thinking? They’re going to be a
huge hindrance if you really want to get out of here. You have to leave
them.” Jessica looked at her sister as if she had seen a ghost, while Max and
Parker were entirely confused.
“No. And that’s final. I thought you wanted to find your sister, and if you
don’t like that then you can leave,” Nemiah said, glaring at her with knives in
his eyes.
Tears formed in her eyes. Nemiah was shocked; he only spoke the truth.
She wiped her eyes quickly and regained her composure. “Sorry. It’s just
that on top of seeing my sister again and, well…the thing is when I asked
another group if they would take care of my sister…they turned me down. I
just wanted to understand your perspective on taking in children, and now
I’m happy I asked.” She sniffled, her voice getting thicker.
“They said that I should abandon her, and that she would only drag me
down. That was when my sister ran away, because she didn’t want to burden
me. And it seems you’ve found her.” The three of them looked at Jessica in
surprise; she had told them that she had been separated from her family, not
that she had run away, but it made sense now. Emily opened her arms toward
her sister, who promptly greeted her with a warm hug. Emily stuck her arm
out toward Nemiah, and said, “Thanks to all of you. I can rest safe that I’ve
found my sister. I promise not to cause problems. Shall we start fresh?”
Nemiah took her hand willingly and nodded with a smile.
They leaned against the wall, and Nemiah told her what had happened so
far: “We’ve already defeated one Rava, and we took her belongings. The
Rava seemed to regain its human qualities at death’s door and—” he looked
at the other two pensively; they dipped their heads, looking away a little.
Emily’s reaction was tranquil. She didn’t seem the slightest bit shocked
that they had defeated a Rava. Nemiah picked up a rock from behind him and
began to draw on the walls. He drew out a map of the dome, and made a
circle to show where they were. Halfway across the map he drew a bright red
X. “It’s simple really, we start by secretly infiltrating the research laboratory,
and obtaining all the information we can get. From there we act, fight if
necessary, return to the shuttle and find someone to pilot it back to Earth. It
doesn’t seem like much of a plan, but from the importance the enemy seems
to treat the research laboratory with—” he suddenly looked unsure, “It’s our
best shot.”
Her brow furrowed, “But how are we going to get inside?” He rubbed his
hands together and smiled mischievously. “You see, this is where years of
mischief come in hand. There’s only one way things go in and out of that
building. That’s when someone dies.” Their expressions darkened.
He sighed, “Geez, people. Relax a little. I meant we fake our deaths? The
only issues that lie there are us getting caught. And, well…having to act
dead. But I’m sure you can handle it. I’ll give you guys a tip. The most
important thing about a fake death is the dying scene itself. I’d explain how
exactly it should go down, but I feel it would be more convincing if it
happened impromptu.”
Kara’s face was stiff, struggling to conceal her nervousness. Acting had
never been her strong suit. If it would save someone’s life, she would put
aside her fears in a heartbeat. Which happened to be the case, the only
concern was the risk of getting caught.
Her fears had been answered, and Nemiah’s smile widened. He said,
“Kara, I’m giving you the most important job.” She winced at the sound of
her name.
“We’re going to disguise you as a Rava, and you’re going to drag us into
the building. Not sure how the doors will open but I have a feeling that’ll
come easily.” Heart sinking, she agreed reluctantly. He noticed the hesitant
look on her face and was flexible to change.
“Only if that’s alright with you; I mean, if it’s too much work then I can
—”
“No. It’s fine,” she responded firmly.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Nathan laughed quietly, “Thank goodness it’s
you. I feel relieved. We know you can do it, don’t worry.” Her heartbeat
calmed down a little, comforted that he felt that way. When they had
encountered the Rava the day before, she felt that she wasn’t needed, and this
was her chance to prove herself in action.
Wiping droplets of sweat off her forehead, she took a deep breath,
“Alright. Let’s get to work—so how exactly am I going to be disguised? The
only thing that we have that could fool them is these amplified steel-lined
gloves and shoes.”
Nemiah shook his head, clicking his teeth together, “Not necessarily.” He
paced around the area, staring at the ground ideas pacing in his mind. His
mouth dropped in an “o” and he picked up a couple smoky stones. He
exchanged one stone to his right hand and cupped his left hand in the shape
of a “u” on the wall. Shaking his right hand, he scraped off light powdery
pieces of the stone on the wall, which slowly fell into his cupped hand. He
took his finger, and placed it in the middle of the powder. Then he traced his
finger on his forearm, making a light gray imprint, nearly identical to the
color of the Ravas’ skin.
They were astounded; none of them could have thought that the dust on a
stone would be able to suffice for what they needed. None of them said a
word; he merely smiled and handed the remaining stones to Kara. The stones
were quite soft and chalky, so it didn’t take too long to turn it into a pale
powder. Kara rubbed her hands and applied it onto her face and arms. Her
jeans stretched down to her ankles, so there was no need to use any more
powder, she looked convincing already. Her pupils rolled to the top of her
head, and she stuck her tongue out like a zombie, “What do you guys think?
Convincing enough?”
It was too convincing for one of them. Max hid behind the wall, arms up
in front of him defensively. They all laughed. Nathan gently grabbed his arm
and bent his knees to get on his eye level, “It’s alright Max, and she’s still the
Kara we know.” Max calmed down and went back to talking with the other
two children.
The others smiled at him. “Then let’s go, what are we waiting for,” Kara
spoke, eager to get it over with.
“Well, what do we do with our resources?” Nathan questioned.
They were stumped; that wasn’t something they had thought of, and they
didn’t want to leave anyone behind to watch over it. Parker crept on his
knees, and tucked a package of food under some debris. “We could hide it
here,” he spoke softly.
Nemiah patted him on the back, telling him, “Great idea, that way only
we’ll know where it is and we can come back and dig it up.” He dropped to
the floor and dug up a large hole, neatly placing the packages and bottles
inside, then tucking it in with dirt, covered by an inconspicuous layer, it was
foolproof.
Parker grinned, he was happy to help.
“We just have to remember where exactly this spot is.” Nemiah looked up
on top of the nearest building; there was a green light above it. “That green
light is enough information; we can trace ourselves back here once we see the
green light. Let’s get going.” They moved toward the center, completely
quiet. There were numerous people on the streets, crouched against the walls,
the life force sucked out of them. They had lost the will to live, the hope had
been stripped from them, the only thing they had left were their bones, flesh,
and organs. Nathan’s pulse grew quicker as they neared the research lab,
tossing other thoughts aside. With Kara’s disguise, she was nearly
unrecognizable, which put him at some ease; he was worried that he would
end up being the cause of their deaths.
Kara hid behind another building, as the other six walked further away,
opposite the building. The “Rava” stepped out of her position, and pretended
to spot the others. The expression on her face was wicked, a dark sneer on her
face, and her lips curled at the ends. Her act was selling, it was going well.
The three children played along just as smoothly, giving a piercing cry and
cowering in fear behind the others. They knew it was a ruse; however Kara’s
portrayal of the Rava instilled actual distress into their hearts, making their
acting more veritable. Kara ran toward the group and threw a soft but
convincing punch in their stomachs. All at once, they dropped to the floor
and remained motionless on the ground, including the children. Taking hold
of their arms one by one, in an unsure manner she began to drag them toward
the entrance door. It was tempting for them to yell out in pain or make a face
when they were being dragged, but no one moved, they held it all in. The
sound of their heartbeats was resonant in their ears; this was the decisive
moment, if they couldn’t get in then all hope was lost.
There was silence for a mere moment, and then the doors opened with an
fssshh, the same sound as the Space Center’s on Earth. Nathan still found it
hard to grasp that the same company he admired as a kid could have been
responsible for attempted mass murder. Kara had dragged them all inside
when an actual Rava approached them, a skeptical look on his face. The Rava
was built like a college team linebacker. He had broad shoulders, and was a
good six feet tall. It was clear that it would be a pain to fight him if it ever
came to it.
Kara was calm, and didn’t let the Rava intimidate her, asking, “Is there a
problem?”
CHAPTER 8
THE RESEARCH LAB
Fact: Mars is the second-smallest planet in the solar system, and Earth is
the fourth-smallest.
“No not at all,” he replied, a cold fire in his eyes, “Just thought you
looked a little like the pilot’s daughter. It must have been my
imagination.” Kara’s face went dark, but she didn’t give in.
“Oh that’s all? And here I was thinking you were going to fight me or
something.” She laughed, “Yes it’s true I do look a little like her, don’t I?”
He nodded and walked away, saying, “You said you thought I was going
to fight you? Well, maybe not today, but we will meet again. Till then...” The
Rava walked out of the building and she entered with a heavy heart, the door
closing with a thud. Nathan was perturbed; there was something they didn’t
know. It didn’t make sense why this Rava spoke ordinarily without restraint,
whereas the other Rava couldn’t talk until her consciousness had been
punched back into her.
The facts were like finding a puzzle piece that seemed to fit, only to find
that it didn’t belong anywhere. These unconnected scraps of thoughts didn’t
help Nathan at all; it drove him completely out of his wits. There were too
many things going on, so they had to focus on what was at hand. Inside the
building were two hollow passages leading into different directions,
surrounded by material that glinted with a metallic sheen. The air was thin;
the smell of iron blood smothered their air passages. The sickening smell
traveled down their windpipes, stirring in their stomachs. It was an unsettling
feeling.
There was a rattling silence; no one knew what to do.
It was Nathan who spoke first: “I think we should split into two teams,
that way we can cover more ground and get more information. It might leave
us vulnerable but that’s a chance we have to be willing to take.”
They all agreed. “Sounds like a plan,” said Nemiah. “I’ll go with Kara
and Emily through the left passage, while Nathan, Max, Parker, and Jessica
will go to the right. He’s the most reliable person to trust the children with.”
“I think you’ll need this,” Kara said, handing the two gloves to Nathan
and parting with a subtle nod. The pressure on his shoulders was immense,
not only was he carrying the burden of his own life, but rather three other
children as well. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if anything happened
to any of them. The guilt would ruin him. The three children walked through
the passageway, showing no signs of fear; handling faces of steel as they took
each footstep. Nathan walked forward cautiously, fists up in front of his
body, ready for an ambush. The hall led them to a large laboratory, people
strapped to white stretchers, appearing dead. Their faces were sullen, their
skin a pale gray; eyes cold as ice. It seemed as though the drug had been
injected in their bodies, their bodies couldn’t sustain it and they ended up
dying.
The pain they had been through was clear, as if their last ounces of breath
had been sucked out of their lungs. Nathan clenched his fists tightly, he
couldn’t bear to see these people being treated so inhumanely, to such an
extent that the hues in their skin had been turned a pale gray. They were
surrounded by projected notebooks, digital formulas, vials of liquid and
syringes filled with black substances. He sent the kids to gather whatever
important books they could find, while he looked for any mediums of
communication. He frantically opened drawers and moved things around,
tossing sheets of paper into the air until he came across a flaming chamber—
it was an incineration chamber! Nathan could only assume that this was what
the Ravas were doing with the dead bodies: they were burning them to ashes.
He’d have to remember to tell the others later.
Nathan passed the chamber and continued searching. And for once, luck
seemed to be on his side, there was only one blue vial in the entire area—it
had to be the antidote. He picked it up and placed it deep in his pocket.
“I found something,” Max said, holding his hand up. “Here’s a blank
journal and a lighter—it was hidden underneath the stretchers. But there’s
nothing written in the book though, so should I leave it?”
“No, its fine, keep the book—toss me the lighter, though. I don’t want
you to hurt yourself with it,” N
athan spoke, catching the silver lighter and
shoving it down his pocket. He felt optimistic—there had to be something
else there. He searched and searched but there was nothing; either that or it
was hidden somewhere far from his sight. In annoyance he leaned against the
wall and gave it a soft punch. There was a hollow echo, waves of sound
bouncing back and forth. There was something behind that wall.
He was tempted to punch the wall down but the point of the mission was
to be subtle, so quiet that no one would know they were ever there. It didn’t
hurt to search for another opening, so his eyes flew around the place,
searching for a secret lever or panel to get past. He strummed his fingers
against the wall, and traced it in circles. There was no response. He pushed
his palms against the wall to check for any discreet buttons. There was still
nothing. He slid his hand from one side to the other and his hand hit
something hard. Hiding from his line of sight was a small iron handle
sticking out of the wall around waist-height. It didn’t seem like a trap, and he
didn’t have any other choice, so he pulled it hard. The wall slid open in the
shape of a door; it was hidden in plain sight.
There was a small room behind the door, and to the right side, a phone
attached to the wall. Nathan was confused, it was like one of those phones he
had seen in old movies, and wondered what such a thing was doing in a
modernized lab on Mars. It seemed pretty self-explanatory what he had to do.
Easy enough, he thought, grabbing the phone and pulling hard. It was a
wrong move; an alarm rang loudly, screeching at his ears through the
corridors of the building. Nathan growled in exasperation. It was all a trap, of
course it was. Why would there have been a phone simply hanging on the
wall? He still wasn’t convinced; he felt that there was something else he
wasn’t seeing; however he didn’t have the time to search. Jessica was
agitated, tapping her foot frantically; she wanted to get out of there. Every
single second they remained there was setting them up for an attack, and the
only chance they had of getting out of there relied on them leaving
immediately. Attached to the wall directly in front of him, was a large, paper-
thin, digital map of the blue planet. Having nothing more to lose, he moved