Cage (Dark World Book 1) (10 page)

“Perhaps our Mountain of Creation saw something you needed which it could not give. You have too much passion for me. I wished for my son and a strong mate, nothing more. Your mate has a zealous heart, her passion matches yours. I saw her shove past you. Any other than a mate would be furious, you were amused and saddened. There is talk she struck you; no female here would dare strike a tribe leader, in all of our history it has never happened. You are in need of someone who is not from this world to give you what you must have. My mate would not touch me the way you just did. You change too much, anger to tenderness to frustration. It must be why you turned me cold. I cannot keep up with your level of emotion. You are killing me.”

Cage was aghast. She was right, she stood dying before him. He took a step back. He was angry.

“This isn’t right. I only wanted my child and a mate to love me. Why has the Mountain forsaken me? I am a good leader. I could protect a mate.”

“If your mate was dead you would be able to take me. But she must be alive. You cannot cheat on a mate, you are the tribe leader. There is one female out there made for you.”

“How is it possible to turn you so cold?”

Strangely enough she smiled at him, though she looked sad. “You are a leader. You can’t manifest your own fears in your mind. But you can give them over to another. You fear a life filled with cold emotion. Without love you feel frozen. I think I envy your little mate. You will be hard to beat in a contest. As long as she’s safe, you will never fear anything.

“The moment I felt your touch I realized something is coming to our world, something dark and foreboding, my sisters feel it, each one you stole. The female of our species is too accepting of our fate. We listen to what our mates say, knowing they can protect us. Now we are not so sure.”

“What is coming?” Cage asked.

“Something evil.”

From her confused look, Cage knew she didn’t understand. He knew she would tell him if she did, females were created to listen to their mate and obey males. Cage released the female. She sighed with relief as some color returned to her. She was right. Cage had touched Cyra numerous times and she was fine. Every other female he had touched shivered under his skin. All this time wasted. Zenon had been right. He should have listened. He was listening now. Cyra belonged to him.

When he gazed out into his tribe his heart began to race, Cyra was gone. For an instant, he began to panic until he closed his eyes. If she were truly his mate, he could see where she was. An image formed. Cyra was determined and Cage sighed. His little human female mate had escaped to the garbage pile. Cage ordered Zenon to return the captured female to her rightful tribe mate while he went to retrieve his. Zenon looked relieved.

Tension was high in the tribe. All eyes were on Cage. Which meant no one was watching Cyra. Her ankle protesting in a small way, as it had been well over a week, Cyra inched away from the males and was soon fleeing through the forest. She was safe enough. All tribe leaders and their warriors were concentrating on their mates or protecting their leader’s mate. Cage had everyone in an upheaval.

There were many well-defined paths as she limp-ran, watching for anything familiar. The warrior who spotted the garbage had been animated when he spoke. His hand signals and gestures were informative. Cyra had a general direction. As she hobbled a little slower, she noted the intricacies of the forest. Smells, textures that lingered on the tip of her tongue. What she saw of the planet was beautiful. Cage told her the planet had three seasons, the living season, the aging season and the at rest season. She guessed it was like Earth except his people lumped spring with summer.

Cyra stopped for a moment and placed her hands on her knees. Her heart was pounding. She was all alone. Cyra knew the female brought to Cage would be his last. She couldn’t imagine Cage forcing himself on any female. The way he explained his actions, declaring his need to save his tribe by producing an heir didn’t make her think his actions were in any way honorable. Cyra didn’t know how he couldn’t see the fear on those females’ faces. Cyra saw their confusion. Each female to leave untouched lifted her hopes. Cage knew she would never stay with him if he took a female against her will.

Determined to get away, Cyra continued on. She ignored the beautiful ice flowers, they reminded her too much of the planet’s females when Cage touched them. She didn’t feel cold when the warmth of Cage’s skin touched her. It was frightening to see skin turn to a frozen white. Why was it different with her? Her thoughts were depressing.

The garbage heap, when she stumbled onto it, was horrible. The damage, the destruction the garbage made after hitting the ground was phenomenal. Indentations in the surrounding ground here were astronomical. The tribe people were lucky it hadn’t hit their home. Death would have immediately followed. Even Cage wouldn’t survive being hit by a car falling from the atmosphere. Patches of blackened earth sizzled.

The smell was putrid. Toxins from canisters formed little clouds throughout the area. Cage mentioned warriors from different tribes were falling ill. Strangely enough, Cage’s warriors weren’t affected. It was a mystery why they were protected. Cage mentioned his warriors and he would have any immunity the Mountain gave a chosen female. A female’s presence was enough to ward off any physical damage. The toxins of Earth should affect any warrior on the planet. It was all very strange to Cyra. If it was an Earth disease or toxin, Cyra was protected, as were all humans, inoculated against everything while in the womb. Cage’s people would have no such safety. But any baby Cyra had would be safe. The newest drug invented was a means to protect all children born thereafter. Cyra had opted for the inoculation eight months prior; she wanted children eventually.

If the toxins were poisons, Cyra still had an advantage. The toxins were spread by wind blowing through the Earth’s atmosphere. It was why the monorails were linked. All humans were exposed to each part of the world, each poison, each toxin. After time, immunity developed. As children, humans developed a resistance which grew. Cyra was wrapped in antibodies. The garbage was from Earth; there was nothing there that could harm her. She wondered if it was her close proximity giving Cage’s warriors immunity.

Gingerly, Cyra rummaged through the mess. She was careful not to burn her hands or feet. She paused at a red car and caressed the hood. She had loved her first car, it had been red. Annoyingly, she and Cage had the color in common. Though she despised her red attire from the space station, she had once been smitten with it. After years of the same thing, she wished the science lab would opt to change color with the computer nerds. Not that it would make any difference now. Her skin wrap was at least some type of covering.

Grumbling, she realized, would get her nowhere and she focused her thoughts. She wandered farther in the pile of mess and screamed when her ankle was grabbed. An AIF, at least half of it had her. There was no head or legs, barely any torso and one arm. Cyra kicked her leg in the air trying to dislodge it.

“Let go, you damned creepy thing.”

The hand released her and from somewhere under the rubble she heard something telling her to have a stellar day. After that she searched with more caution. On a proud note, she was dry as a bone and smiled with her new prowess. Cage’s constant badgering had halted because she wouldn’t let him torment her. With her newfound courage came control. Her bladder was no longer an issue. Cyra had a backbone after all. Success was hers when she rescued a laptop. It was battered but survived the crash amidst Styrofoam and old papers wrapped in a box. Fingers crossed, she wished for a charge. She was in luck, the laptop had a built-in solar panel. Exposed to the sun, the battery began charging.

Cyra found a place away from the garbage on an open patch of grass. She glanced in the direction she had come wondering if they had noticed she was missing. No one appeared. Cage had his new female; Cyra was chopped liver. At half charge, Cyra turned the computer on. It flickered. She turned it over and accessed the main panel. Inside, wires were fried, so was one side of the solar panels.

“Damn.”

Back to the pile she went. She located foil paper, toothpicks and duct tape. After rummaging through bags she pulled out a pair of solar light-up shoes, size eight children’s. Cyra guessed they might have been used only once. Parents’ overindulgence matched their own needs. Children picked up on it. Everything had to be new.

Cyra took her items back to the computer. She tore off the solar sparkle lights on the tops of the shoes in one strip. Using the toothpicks, she gently pulled the wires apart on the computer where her somewhat larger fingers wouldn’t maneuver. She ripped off the foil paper and pressed two different wires together. She ripped off a Band-Aid-sized piece of duct tape and pressed it across the wires. She flipped the computer back over. She attached the solar lights to the broken panel and set the computer in the sun, watching the battery power up.

“Good heavens; if they saw me do that on the satellite, I’d never hear the end of it. A quick fix for nickels when I charge tens of thousands.”

The laptop was otherwise fine but older. The computer was incapable of transporting objects through the view screen. It was the kind given to children under three, who not so accidently transported diapers to daddy or mommy from daycare, so they were banned. Earth’s society was out of control, the need for newer items was at an all-time high. The second a new device was built, the old was outdated—even if it was barely a month. People had to have the best; it was why their garbage problem had gotten so out of hand. Humans invented compact gadgets, companies racing to add new features as must haves. Smart phones could do a load of laundry at the click of a button and slide of a wrist. If your hand held device didn’t connect you to whomever you wished wherever with video—enhancing video making even the ugly look stunning—you were considered poor.

The video enhanced your voice, added expensive hologram jewelry, covered blemishes. Plus all the rage was a heated device in winter, cooler in summer with built-in personal air conditioning. Texting was voice activated for the texting impaired. But looking at the mess nearby, at what cost? What planets were now harboring the Earth’s mess? What medieval planet or Neanderthal planet now had technology too advanced for them? For Cyra it was a scary thought.

The computer hummed. Cyra whacked it. Again, another quick fix. The machine flickered to life. Cyra punched in the coordinates of her place of work. Leo was an associate, he lived at the office; she hoped he was there. The background, when the picture came into view, was strange. Cyra was certain it was Earth. Video signs, torn but readable were in the distance. Smoke was spiraling from some source. She wondered if she were looking out a window. The computer should be inside.

The laptop picture was fuzzy. “Leo?” Cyra yelled. She had a visual of an arm for a split second.

A frazzled man looked into the other side. His hair was a mess, he was unshaven, his glasses broken and taped. It took Cyra a moment to realize it was Leo. She had gotten through to Earth. Her heart began to race, freedom was at her fingertips.

“Leo, it’s me, Cyra. I’m on a different planet. Send some help and hurry, I’ll get you the coordinates in a second.” Her hands flew over the laptop figuring latitude and longitude.

“Cyra? I can’t help you,
no one can
.”

Her heart skipped a beat and she stopped what she was doing.

“What is it? What’s happened? You have to come and get me. I know the government will pay to get me back. These barbarians on this planet are into trade.”

“Earth has been crippled. The worm holes we’ve been sending our garbage through, we’ve killed aliens. It’s anarchy here. Women and children are being stolen by those who claim we killed most of their own. The toxins sent through wiped out all the males on another planet. Aliens are claiming retribution.”

“What?” Cyra whispered. “Oh God no.”

“Look, see for yourself.”

Leo turned the computer around. Cyra screamed when a car fell to the ground ten feet from where Leo was standing. The shelter she thought him in was nothing more than two walls. An inferno billowed in the distance. People were on fire, screaming. A building toppled and crashed leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Leo half turned the computer, he was frantic.

“Don’t come back, Cyra. There’s nowhere to hide on Earth. A multitude of different aliens are everywhere. If you’re relatively safe, stay where you are. The military is losing, our defenses have been crushed. We are fighting too many enraged worlds. We weren’t prepared. We’re all going to die.”

“Leo, is there nowhere for you to hide?”

Cyra screamed when a fireball crashed into the wall Leo was hiding behind. The picture went blank. There was no sound, no static, nothing. Cyra was grateful she was on her knees, or she would have toppled over in her grief. Not just for Leo but for everyone. Aliens and humans alike. Earth was a death trap. Her hand rose to her mouth, she was trapped and alone. The laptop fell to the ground. A hand on her shoulder startled her. She twisted to look up at Cage. He was unaccompanied.

“You don’t need me anymore, you have enough images,” she said, battling her tears. “You have another female. I can’t stand to be near you knowing what you want. I’m sorry for your tribe, but there must be another way, Cage. How could you not see her fear? Compliance isn’t acceptance.”

“I let the female go. Her worst fear was me. To keep her would have meant her death. Her death would mean the loss of a tribe leader even before his conception. I would kill no child.” Cage squatted down beside her.

“Then we’re both alone,” Cyra said. “My planet is under attack. I can’t go back.”

“I don’t think you were ever supposed to.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you are my mate.”

“Are you nuts?”

“I think my expectations of a mate superseded what the Mountain of Creation could do here. After witnessing what you saw on the image before you, I think there is something coming to our universe. I think the Mountain knew I would need you.”