by Elin Wyn
General Rouhr and the others might be convinced, but I wasn’t ready to believe the Puppet Master was a gentle giant.
Too much had happened to allow me to believe that.
Miri
When Zarik entered my hospital room the next day, I was in the middle of the muscle strengthening stretches Dr. Parr had showed me how to do. Already, I was feeling much better and stronger, though I still needed to gain back some weight.
I smiled when he came in, but my smile vanished when I saw his face. He looked agitated. There was a small wrinkle between his eyes where his brow furrowed.
“Is everything all right?” I asked from my bent over position. I was trying to touch my toes without bending my knees. It wasn’t going well. I straightened up slowly and then turned around to face Zarik, who looked less agitated now. In fact, he looked a little dazed. His eyes roved over my body, which was fairly exposed in the hospital gown I wore.
Dr. Parr had brought me a change of clothes a few hours before, but I hadn’t planned on changing until after I completed my stretches.
“Zarik?” I prompted. His eyes locked on mine for a moment, before he shook his head and went back to scowling.
“I’d like for you to speak with the general,” he said.
Now it was my turn to scowl.
“Why?” I asked. “I mean, I’m happy to, but I still don’t remember very much. I don’t think I’ll be of any help.”
“Don’t worry about that.” His voice suddenly went soft. He placed his hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. His hand was so large, my shoulder was completely covered by his palm. I could feel the warmth radiating from him.
I fought the urge to step closer.
I looked up at him and gave him a reassuring nod.
“Let me change first, okay?” I asked. “I don’t want to meet your boss in hospital rags.”
“That’s a good idea,” he nodded. “I’ll be waiting just over here.” He pointed to the door.
I walked back to my bed and closed the privacy curtain. The clothing laid out before me was going to be big on me, but it looked comfortable.
I pulled on the pair of soft black leggings and the plain white shirt that fell to my mid-thigh. I briefly wondered whose clothes these were. I guessed they belonged to Dr. Parr. I made a mental note to thank her later.
Dr. Parr had set the shoes I’d been wearing before to the side of the bed. They looked clumsy and awkward now. I didn’t have another option, and I certainly wasn’t going to meet the general barefoot, so I pulled them on. They were a bit big.
“Okay, I’m ready.” I threw back the privacy curtain. Zarik gave me another long look.
“You look comfortable,” he said finally.
“I am,” I grinned.
“You’re in a good mood.” As I passed him, he put his hand on the small of my back to guide me in the direction of the door.
“Staying in the hospital was boring,” I shrugged.
As we walked through the corridors, he kept his hand lightly touching my back. We received odd stares. I wasn’t sure why. I was grateful for his guiding hand. I definitely would’ve gotten hopelessly lost if I had to navigate through this place on my own.
Again, the halls were filled with aliens and humans. Evie had explained to me, reminded me, I guess, that the green guys were Valorni, the few gray ones were K’ver.
And the red ones with scales were Skotans. She’d blushed just a bit at that, and I had to wonder why.
But no time for that now, as Zarik knocked on General Rouhr’s door. A deep voice bid us to enter. When we stepped in, a red alien looked up from his desk. I realized he was a Skotan, same as Zarik. But Zarik’s skin was white, only red in some places.
I thought back to the aliens I’d seen in passing. Nope. Not a single other Skotan with that coloring before.
Was it rude to ask about the color of their skin?
General Rouhr looked surprised to see me, but quickly rose to greet me.
Was this meeting not his idea?
Hell. That couldn’t be good.
“General Rouhr, this is Miri,” Zarik gestured between me and the general.
“Nice to meet you.” I felt like I should bow. Was I supposed to bow? I had no idea. Even with my memory intact, I wouldn’t know how to address different military ranks.
“It’s an honor,” General Rouhr dipped his head. I mimicked the gesture. “Though I must confess, I’m not sure why you’re here. Shouldn’t she be in the hospital wing receiving treatment?”
“That’s the thing, sir,” Zarik replied. “Dr. Parr ran some tests and we found out Miri was exposed to the memory-erasing gas secreted by the Puppet Master.”
“She was in one of the settlements that were attacked?” the general asked.
“No,” Zarik clarified. “She wasn’t.”
“That is deeply concerning news,” he said thoughtfully. “Whatever happened to you, Miri, I’m sorry. But I don’t think we should discard our alliance with the Puppet Master just yet.”
“Why not?” Zarik demanded. “It attacked her recently. How can you be sure it didn’t say whatever you wanted to hear so that nothing stood in its way as it took over the planet?”
Up until that point, I’d assumed the Puppet Master was a person. But they kept referring to it as an it. And they said it wanted to take over the planet. That didn’t sound like something a single person could do. For the first time since Zarik brought me here, I felt unsafe.
“I spoke to it. Several members of the crew spoke to it. It was sensible. I would even call it kind. Are you telling me you doubt my judgment?” General Rouhr fixed Zarik with a dark look that made me take a step back.
“No, sir,” Zarik replied, uncowed. “I just wasn’t sure if you had all the available facts at your disposal.”
There was a long silence, while the general considered.
“It’s ridiculous to speculate without adequate information, when the answers are readily available. We are going to the home of the Puppet Master,” General Rouhr declared.
“I don’t think that’s wise,” Zarik blurted. “We could be walking into a trap.”
“I’ve given the Puppet Master my trust. You know as well as anyone that my trust is not easily won. In fact, you know that better than most,” General Rouhr replied.
I looked up at Zarik, wondering what the general meant. Zarik’s face was hard and expressionless. Clearly, General Rouhr had struck a nerve. I wanted to ask, but I held my tongue.
“And don’t think I’d be so foolish as to do so without insurance. You know me better than that.” the general smiled wryly as he pulled out his comm unit.
He motioned for us to follow him. Zarik’s hand found its place to my back once more as we moved through the crowded corridors in the general’s wake.
He led us to an open foyer with a high ceiling. Within minutes, several large, well-armed aliens of different species approached us. They said nothing but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that every single one of them was capable of killing me in multiple ways.
“Will this do, Zarik?” the general asked. He gave me a reassuring smile.
“This will do fine,” Zarik agreed.
“We’ll keep the rift open in case something goes wrong,” the general added. “If something does go wrong, your only job is to get Miri to safety.”
“Miri’s coming?” Zarik asked. “She shouldn’t be put at risk.”
“She’s the one at the center of all this,” General Rouhr replied. “Perhaps the Puppet Master can help her.”
“Your optimism is inspiring.” I didn’t miss the note of sarcasm in Zarik’s voice. “Shouldn’t Miri be given a say in the matter?” He looked down at me with a small smile.
“Yes, I think I should,” I spoke up.
“Very well,” the general asked. “Miri, are you willing to meet the Puppet Master?”
“That depends,” I replied. “What is the Puppet Master?”
“It’s
difficult to explain.” General Rouhr rubbed the back of his neck. “Think of the Puppet Master as the heart of the planet.”
“I don’t understand.” My brow furrowed.
“I know,” the general replied. “Like I said, it’s hard to explain. It’s far easier to explain once you meet it. It’s fond of human females.”
I gave the general a curious look.
“Oh, no, not in that way,” the general assured me. “A human female was the first one to make contact with it. I think it likes the gentle nature of the human females it’s met so far.”
“Better not send Leena down to meet it,” one of the soldiers called out, and another one, one of the large green ones, smacked the speaker. Hard.
“I see,” I replied even though I still didn’t understand. I felt like I was supposed to know what General Rouhr meant by that way, but I couldn’t remember.
“If you think it can help me, I’d like to go,” I decided.
“At the very least, I think it can provide you with some clarity,” the general replied. He lifted his comm unit and spoke to a mechanical sounding voice as he input coordinates.
“You can change your mind at any time,” Zarik assured me.
“Good to know.”
I watched with wide eyes as a shimmering strip of light again appeared in front of General Rouhr and his troops. The strip widened, almost like a window. But it wasn’t the foyer on the other side. It looked like an underground cave.
I watched the general and his troops step through. When it was my turn, I reached for Zarik’s hand and held it tight. The first time had been nerve-racking.
Once again, I found myself in an unfamiliar place I didn’t understand. We were in an entrance to a large tunnel that descended steeply as we entered a cavern.
I held fast to Zarik’s hand, desperate to be near the only thing that made sense.
Zarik
A biting coldness chilled my bones as we stepped into the rift, its embrace already familiar to me. Miri, though, gasped and pressed her body tight against mine. She hadn’t used the rift as many times as I had, and she still suffered every time she had to travel through it.
“I’ll never get used to this,” she muttered the moment our feet found solid ground.
“Yes, you will,” I smiled. “Everyone eventually does. It’s just a matter of patience.”
“If you say so.”
She didn’t sound convinced, but her focus was now on the large cavern entrance ahead of us. With the general leading the way, we all headed straight into the cavern, its shadows swallowing us whole. We pushed the darkness away with our flashlights, but none of that seemed to make Miri relax. She was tense and on edge, but I wasn’t exactly surprised.
A meeting with the Puppet Master would leave anyone on edge.
“Don’t worry,” I said, trying to calm her. “Everyone says the Puppet Master is actually quite nice once you get to know him.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I didn’t want her worried any further.
“Him? It’s a he?”
“Well, not exactly.” Scratching my chin with one hand, I tried to think of a way to explain it. “It’s not a ‘he’, and it’s not a ‘she’. It’s something different.”
“I’m not sure if I understand.”
“Don’t worry,” I chuckled. “There’s a lot I don’t understand, either. We only learned of the Puppet Master a few weeks ago, so this is all new to everyone involved, really. What’s important for you to remember is what the general said: the Puppet Master is the heart of the planet.”
My words echoed through the cavern complex, and a few of the team members looked back at me, as if my voice was making them nervous. It seemed that it wasn’t just Miri who was on edge. To be fair, I was a little nervous myself. I had never met the Puppet Master but, going by everyone’s reports, I was in for a surreal experience.
“How can anything be the heart of a planet? That just sounds even more confusing.” Frowning slightly, she let out a sigh. “I mean, why is it friendly now? Evie’s been trying to fill me in. I thought it was fighting us just a few weeks ago, when it trapped the city with a dome of vines.”
“That’s true,” I nodded. “But apparently that was just a knee-jerk reaction of sorts while he was waking up. Sort of. He was trying to look after everyone, and stop more damage from happening.” Skrell. Even I didn’t sound convinced. Probably because I wasn’t.
“And do you think the Puppet Master can help me?”
“Well, we’re about to find out, aren’t we?”
She said nothing at that and, for a long moment, the only sound echoing throughout the cavern was that of heavy boots stepping on the rocky cavern floor.
Miri’s grip tightened on my hand as we moved farther into the cavern, the shadows growing longer and darker all around us. When I glanced down, her knuckles were white. I covered the top of her hand with my other hand and squeezed gently.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “Am I squeezing too hard?”
“Not for me,” I replied. “But your knuckles might feel otherwise.”
Miri loosened her grip enough to allow blood to flow back into her hand.
“You’ve been here before, right?” she asked, casting nervous glances in every direction.
“General Rouhr has. Many of the crew escorting us has. I, personally, have not.” I decided to be honest with her, even though that could potentially make her more nervous.
“What’s going to happen now?” she asked. “How are we going to talk with the Puppet Master?”
“General Rouhr is going to talk to the Puppet Master. Hopefully, if it’s honest, it will tell us if something happened to you.”
“What do you mean, if it’s honest? Didn’t you say you believe General Rouhr, and that the Puppet Master is an ally?” Miri asked. Without giving me a chance to reply, she continued. “But then, yeah, that thing with the dome happened. And it did attack human settlements. This is all a mess.” I heard the distress in her voice.
“It’s a complicated situation. I haven’t provided you with an adequate explanation yet. Mostly because there’s a lot I don’t know myself, but also because I didn’t want to overwhelm you,” I explained. “Believe me, I wouldn’t have let you come if I thought you weren’t going to be properly protected.”
“Thank you.” She gave my hand another squeeze. That time fear wasn’t the motive.
“Keep the rift open.” I heard General Rouhr speak into his comm unit to the AI that Fen had set up.
Good. Miri and I would have an easy escape should something go wrong.
“You always have such an intense look on your face,” Miri commented. Before I could say anything back, I felt her soft, cool fingers against my cheek. “I suppose intensity is a good trait for the person responsible for my safety to have.”
“Intimidation comes in handy more often than combat skills,” I replied.
“I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Miri replied. “Though, I don’t know about anything right now. Maybe I do know about stuff like that.” She peered up at me. “Do you think I look like someone who knows things about combat?”
I looked her over.
“I don’t get that sense from you,” I replied. “Even if your mind didn’t remember, your muscles would. You’d move differently.”
“Then it’s doubly good I have someone like you to look out for me.” She appeared to be more at ease. I was glad to help her. As I focused on the feel of her hand in mine, I realized that I missed having people rely on me. I wouldn’t let her down. I would prove to her, and to everyone here, that I could be trusted to keep a life safe.
I’d make up for my terrible mistakes in the past.
Before I could rein in my thoughts, my mind wandered to the last family I’d been charged with protecting.
The family that never reached their destination.
Because of my failure.
Reality melted away as I heard their screams again.
“This place is amazing,” Miri spoke suddenly, dragging me back to the present. I realized I’d been holding my breath. “I didn’t know anything like this existed on this planet.” She paused and laughed at herself.
“I should stop saying things like that. It’s pretty redundant that this point.”
“At least you’re in good spirits about the situation,” I replied.
“I have to laugh about it,” she replied. “If I didn’t laugh, I’d cry.”
“We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”
I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she took in her surroundings. Suddenly, her eyes went wide.
“What’s that?” She pointed with a trembling hand. I followed her gaze. Suspended by thick, ropy vines was what looked like a giant flower bulb.
“That’s the Puppet Master,” General Rouhr called back to her.
“I was not expecting you,” A voice in my mind put me on edge. I’d heard of the Puppet Master’s ability to speak into one’s consciousness. I hadn’t thought to prepare myself for it. From the shocked expression on Miri’s face, I could tell she’s heard the voice, too.
“I should’ve warned you about that,” I murmured to her.
“That would’ve been helpful.” I looked down at her and saw the glint of humor in her eyes. She was teasing me.
“Next time we meet an ancient telepathic lifeform, I’ll be sure to warn you,” I teased back.
“There are none like me here,” the voice came again.
“Pardon our intrusion,” General Rouhr spoke up. “I’ve received some troubling news concerning your ability to erase memories. I wanted to give you a chance to answer our questions.”
“How diplomatic,” the Puppet Master replied.
“My goal is to preserve our alliance. We simply want answers,” the general explained.
“I will do my best to accommodate you,” the Puppet Master agreed.
“We thank you,” General Rouhr dipped his head.
“This seems to be going well,” Miri whispered to me.
“It’s always best to let General Rouhr do the talking,” I replied.
“Really? You’re much more charming,” she whispered back.