by N. W. Harris
“We’ve got everyone from my team and yours on this floor, along with twenty of the backup soldiers provided by Jones and a handful of alien clones,” Anfisa reported, stepping close to Shane and speaking near his ear. “There are twenty more on the second floor all armed and ready to fight.”
“Maurice and Laura?” he asked, amazed and relieved they’d all survived.
“On the other side of the room,” Anfisa replied, pointing into the darkness. “What do you want us to do?”
Jones, Lily, and Dr. Blain crouched four feet away, yet Anfisa had come to him. Other than when the captain was training them, the aliens had never tried to take control of the humans. The tough Russian sounded anxious to turn over the reins. It seemed everyone had decided Shane was the boss, not just the Americans. He’d never asked to take care of anybody and felt an upwelling of guilt for wanting to shy away from the task now. Until Kelly was safe, he didn’t want to think about anything else.
“Have everyone stay quiet and calm,” he replied. “If we’re lucky, they’ll pass by.”
She nodded and slipped through the shadows to spread the word, Steve following closely behind. He couldn’t help feeling jealous that his big friend still had Anfisa. Shane looked over at Jones, wishing he’d be the one to take charge. Didn’t he have a lot more experience? Over fifty kids were in the building, and he was still reeling from his near-death experience in the escape pod. It seemed like the burden of everyone’s safety was just dropped in his lap.
He thought of the attack on the reactor compartment of the Anunnaki ship and remembered seeing the Aussie Liam get shot. Why had he left him behind? Apparently, Dr. Blain was able to patch up the rest of his friends. Shane felt like he’d murdered the boy by leaving him in the reactor compartment. He’d failed Liam, and he refused to forgive himself for it. The painful memory would be a reminder. Whether he was forced to lead or not, he’d never leave another member of his team behind again.
“Commander,” the bald Anunnaki who scanned Kelly said, eyes wide as he looked at floating holographic computer images displaying a complex array of graphs and Anunnaki symbols.
She sat on a silver chair, a white helmet resting on her head. She suspected it could look inside her mind and feared she’d just been discovered. While Kelly watched the scene through her own eyes, she could feel the cold, hard seat under her and pressing into her back, and could hear everything going on, yet her slave personality maintained absolute control of her body.
It was clear by the excited tone of the alien’s voice that he’d found an anomaly in her scan. She’d endured numerous tests over the last few hours and had apparently passed them all. But now something was wrong. Had they discovered she was not like the rest of the slaves? Had they found out she was still conscious and hiding inside the body they’d abducted? She’d just started to believe she’d make it through the screening process. All could be lost in an instant. It could be over, and there was nothing she could do about it.
“What do you have?” a Shock Troop soldier asked, his haughty voice not reflecting the scientist’s excitement.
He wore full armor, only his head exposed. Like most of the Anunnaki, he didn’t look like he was much over thirty. Streaks of gray in his otherwise black hair seemed purposefully colored in, giving him a distinguished appearance.
“She has heightened reflex activity, perhaps even extensive military training,” the scientist said, pointing at the fluctuating graphs and pie charts.
“Indeed, she does,” the commander replied, sounding more impressed as he studied the screen. “Any sign that she’s not fully engaged into our systems?”
“No, sir. She seems integrated. I’ve not seen any with these numbers though.”
The commander looked at Kelly, his stoic expression hiding his thoughts. Kelly was glad she wasn’t in control of her body or her facial expressions at that moment.
“There have been a few others with similar stats, but they’re rare. I don’t think any have scored quite so high,” he mused. “Generate a performance report and send it to command. We may have just found a unit captain. Once you’re done with the scan, send her to the officer candidates’ barrack.”
“Yes, sir,” the bald scientist replied.
The arrogant commander scrutinized her a moment longer, a gleam in his eyes like he was admiring a new sports car. An overwhelming sense that she’d lost all freedom burned through her under his objectifying gaze. More powerful than her fear and desperation, hatred and anger boiled in her veins. She wanted to dig her claws into his windpipe and tear it away from his throat. He turned away and continued strolling around the room with his hands clasped behind his back, stopping to check the results of other slave recruits being examined in the crowded, white-walled chamber.
She would’ve sighed with relief had she control of her lungs. Instead, her chest filled and emptied at a regular rhythm, her slave persona immune to her tides of rage, terror, and frustration. They must’ve detected the training she’d received via the rebel’s neural upload, but it didn’t inspire suspicion. In a less painful process than Dr. Blain had used, the Anunnaki had uploaded more information into her brain. She felt like a military encyclopedia, stuffed full of combat knowledge and simulated experience, but with no way to use it against her enemy.
Seated in the back of the room, she watched much of what went on. The Shock Troop soldier cast malevolent glances at her. The bastard looked eager to put her to use. It sickened her that these aliens would derive pleasure from forcing humans to kill other humans. It made her question her religious upbringing. How could the God she’d devoted so much of her heart to allow all this to happen? Was this just a test? She tried to have faith, but it became more impossible with each passing moment.
After twenty more minutes in the chair and another series of neural uploads, her butt grew numb from the lack of movement and her head ached from all the new information stuffed into it. Finally, the scientist removed the helmet and ordered her to stand. Her slave persona obeyed. Kelly rose to her feet and followed a regular Anunnaki soldier in full armor out of the room. She was taken into a smaller chamber with several doors around the perimeter. One opened and the soldier led her inside an elevator. He stood in front of her, seeming unconcerned that she might not be enslaved, that she might attack him. His disregard for her convinced Kelly. She’d made it through the screening process. The Anunnaki believed she was fully under their control. Unfortunately, at the moment, she was.
She didn’t sense the elevator moving, but after a few seconds, the doors opened and the soldier led her into a long, rectangular chamber with bunk beds on either side. She was immediately struck by how white the room was. Everything—floors, walls, and ceiling—was as bright and reflective as freshly fallen snow. She would’ve blinked her eyes to try and adjust them to the brilliance if she could. Her slave persona seemed unsurprised, looking to the soldier for her next orders.
“This is your berthing. You’re in rack fourteen,” he said abruptly, then turned and reentered the elevator.
“Yes, sir,” her slave persona replied, coming to a position of attention.
The elevator doors closed, and she pivoted and headed to the other end of the room. There were no dividers between bunks, and she could see everything in the relatively small chamber. She counted five sets of bunks on each side, a total of twenty beds. A rail ran along the walls between the bunks, and from it hung white jumpsuits with a black plus mark on the chests. She recalled from the neural upload that the plus mark indicated a higher-ranking slave than the single vertical black stripe.
The open area between the first two sets of bunks was empty. She could see other human slaves standing toward the back of the room near their bunks. Having no control over where her eyes were directed, she didn’t see their faces. Kelly hoped some of them were her friends. She’d felt so alone since they’d been separated, and even worse after she lost control of her body. She worried they’d been di
scovered during the screening process. Reaching the bunk with the number fourteen hanging at the foot of the bed, her slave persona finally stopped and looked across the aisle.
Joy and relief surged through her when her gaze fell on Jules and Ethan. Already wearing the white jumpsuits with black plus marks on the chests and backs, they were unfolding the stack of sheets on their racks and making their beds in silence, calm expressions on their faces. She’d never been so happy to see anyone in her life. In the periphery of her vision, she detected other people in the room, wishing she could look over and see if it was the rest of her team.
She crossed the aisle toward Jules and Ethan.
“Looks like the masters have chosen us for leadership positions,” her alter ego said, sounding friendly and less robotic than Kelly expected.
Jules and Ethan stopped and turned toward her, no surprise in their expressions. It was as if they’d never met before.
“Seems that way,” Jules proudly said.
“It’s an honor to have the masters’ faith and respect,” Ethan added, sounding sincere.
Kelly and her friends spoke Anunnaki, and no hint of Ethan’s Australian accent remained. The adoration in his voice made her ill. As if it wasn’t enough that the aliens controlled them, they’d programmed the humans to hold them in high esteem, to worship them and crave their approval.
“It is,” Kelly replied. “I only hope I can live up to their expectations.”
“I’m Jules.” The tall girl who’d fought and bled alongside her since the battle in Atlanta stuck out her hand.
Studying her eyes, Kelly searched for a sign that the real Jules was trapped inside this slave’s body, looking out at her. There was no indication that she was, but Kelly imagined it was the same with her. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made it through the screening process.
“Kelly,” she replied, shaking her hand and then Ethan’s when he introduced himself.
After introductions, she spun away and met the rest of the people in the room. Joey, Ben, and the other Australian boys were there. Her entire team had made it through the screening process, and they’d all been judged as superior to the rest of the recruits. They acted like total strangers, introducing themselves as if for the first time and repeating Ethan’s sentiments of how grateful they were to be selected for leadership roles. Four other teens she didn’t recognize were in the room. Was there any remnant of their original selves imprisoned inside their minds, or had the Anunnaki effectively killed them, using their bodies after ejecting their souls? What if she was the only one in this condition? Her friends might be fully enslaved with no part of their former selves remaining. The thought made her feel all the more desperate and alone.
After making the rounds, she returned to rack fourteen, which was a top bunk. There was an air of superiority in the way Kelly’s slave persona communicated with the other teenagers, as if she thought she outranked them. She wondered if it was incidental or if the Anunnaki neural upload had designated her to be a leader of the slaves. If the other slaves had been programmed to obey her, she could use it to her advantage if she regained control.
Kelly unfolded the linens and made her bed. She pulled the starchy white sheets tight and folded the corners into neat triangles, in exactly the same way the rest of the teens had done. It gave a hint as to the degree to which the aliens had programmed the human slaves. She removed a white jumpsuit and a small bag filled with toiletries hanging from the rod along the wall and walked to the back of the barracks.
The bathroom was nothing fancy or overly futuristic. It smelled and looked new, like the aliens had set it up just for the humans. She imagined they wanted to create a degree of familiarity in the living quarters so the slaves would not have trouble adjusting to their new home. She showered, put on the jump suit, brushed her teeth, and pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail.
It relieved her that they’d programmed in good personal hygiene. The rebels had made little mention of the slaves’ lodging on the ships during their hurried tutelage. Her imagination left to fill in the gaps, she had expected the evil aliens to just barely keep the humans alive, overcrowding them in communal prison cells and bringing them out when it was time for a fight.
When her alter ego looked into the mirror, Kelly searched for herself. Although the face looking back at her was familiar, it felt like she’d captured a stranger’s gaze, as if she’d met a long-lost twin for the first time. She and everyone else in this barracks were under the control of their slave personalities. They would do whatever the aliens ordered. Kelly feared those orders would include returning to Earth and helping to capture and enslave the rest of the kids.
She came out of the bathroom and was returning to her rack when the elevator door opened.
“Attention on deck!” her slave persona yelled, startling Kelly.
A helmetless Shock Troop soldier stepped out, followed by a young soldier who looked just like Captain Jones minus the scar. Two other Anunnaki armed with plasma rifles and with no insignia on their chests took up positions on either side of the elevator doors.
Kelly and the other slave soldiers she could see in the periphery of her vision stood motionless. She would’ve held her breath if she could. Her breathing stayed regular, her body not expressing any of the anxiety she felt. The personality in charge behaved as if she’d been an Anunnaki slave soldier forever.
Terror wound itself around Kelly, tightening its coils. With each minute that passed, the fear she’d never regain control grew. She felt claustrophobic, her body a prison and the walls closing in. She thought of her sister and, with no little effort, pushed aside the strangling terror. She had to pay attention, to learn everything she could from the Shock Troop soldier standing at the other end of the room. Panic would get her nowhere.
“Get your uniform on. I want you to join me at the council meeting,” Athos said to his nephew, entering the humble three-room quarters they shared.
“Yes, sir,” Pelros replied. His eyes grew wide and eager, and Athos could see he was dying to know what was going on.
Pelros stood from the table, hesitating as if he expected Athos might say something more.
“Hurry,” Athos ordered. “We have to be there in ten minutes.”
The young man nodded and rushed into his room. Despite the horrors Athos had seen that day, the nearness of his nephew sparked joy in him. He was the orphaned clone of his rebel brother, and Athos had taken him in after the rebellion was crushed. He’d come to think of the boy as his own son, and he had found him to be a worthy officer. If it weren’t for the dark cloud of his heritage, Pelros would quickly rise through the ranks. It was impressive that he’d made it to the rank of lieutenant as it was, even as the clone of a rebel, and Athos knew he would never get much higher than commander. However, Earth might change everything. Athos was going to make sure Pelros was with him every step of the way. Once they brought the harvest under control, Athos and Pelros’ connection to the deceased traitor would be forgotten.
Pelros came out of his room wearing his red armor. Athos smiled in admiration of how handsome he looked. He had not yet earned the right to wear the Shock Troop emblem on his chest and back, but this harvest could remedy that as well.
“Let’s go,” Athos said, stepping out of their quarters.
Pelros followed him into the hallway and to the elevator. “Will we be returning to Anu?” he asked after the elevator door closed.
“Not if I can convince the royals otherwise,” Athos said, unwilling to tell his nephew more in public. He was uncertain as to how the other ships were destroyed, and he couldn’t dismiss the notion that a rebel faction might still be in place. He didn’t expect any rebels were on the Pegasus or they would’ve attacked already, but he wasn’t going to take any unnecessary risks.
The door opened, and Athos stepped out into the ship’s urban center, three blocks from the coliseum. Above rose the transparent apex of the pyramid-shaped ship, poin
ted at the Earth as the vessel was inverted in its orbit. Athos looked up at the planet passing beneath them, its collage of bright blue, green, white, and tan brilliant with the reflected light of the isolated solar system’s medium-sized star.
“It has to be the most beautiful planet in the universe,” Pelros mused, his head tilted back as well.
“And perhaps the most dangerous,” Athos added with equal awe.
They headed toward the city center, to the meeting hall located next to the coliseum. Everyone they passed seemed in an unnatural hurry, apprehension plaguing their expressions as they encountered Athos and Pelros.
“They fear rebels have destroyed the other ships from the inside,” Athos observed.
“Is that what you think?” Pelros asked, speaking quietly though there was no need for secrecy on that subject.
“It’s possible.” Athos hated speculation, preferring to deal in facts. Where normally he’d scold a junior officer for asking his opinion, he couldn’t help humoring his nephew.
“Are there any survivors down there?” Pelros’ voice was a mix of concern, anger, and frustration. “Shouldn’t we be staging a rescue?”
“Unfortunately,” Athos replied, “whoever coordinated the attacks caused the human recruits to turn on the ships’ crews and passengers.”
“They’re all dead?” Pelros’ voice cracked.
“It appears so,” Athos said. He was more callous than Pelros, though the loss weighed heavy on his heart as well. “It is a horrible tragedy. But we honor the dead best by carrying on. If we regain control of this harvest, their sacrifice will mean something.”
On orders from Athos, Shock Troops guarded the doors of the council building. The round structure towered above the ship’s city, dwarfed only by the coliseum. Fluted pillars surrounding the exterior gave it a regal appearance, a small replica of the capital building back on Anu. The soldiers came to attention and stepped aside to allow Athos and Pelros to pass between the pillars into the building.