HUMANITY: A Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Novel (5 page)

T
amor greeted
Kryle Yago with a slap on the back as he exited his ship. “Nice to see you, Kryle. It’s been quite a while since you’ve been to the capital.”

“Yes, it’s been too long. And it’s been too long since I’ve seen my old friend.” Kryle smiled as he placed a hand on Tamor’s shoulder. “How is life serving beside the Queen?”

“It has its ups and downs.” The two started walking to the heart of the city.

“You’re one of the finest warriors in the galaxy, Tamor, and one of the most cunning as well. How can you stay cooped up here on Nerria?” Kryle asked. “You know, the Galactic Council would welcome someone like you.”

“I’m not cut out for politics,” Kryle explained as he shook his head. “The Queen treats me well here. I can rest my tired muscles and eat and drink as much as I want.”

“Hard to argue with that.”

“So what brings you here today?” Tamor asked.

“I have some business with the Queen.” Kryle pursed his lips. “Business regarding the humans.”

T
he Queen smiled
. “Lord Yago. So nice to see you.”

“So nice to see you too, my Queen. You’ve grown even more beautiful since the last time I had the pleasure,” Kryle said with a bow.

“You don’t have to flatter me, Kryle. I know you wouldn’t have come to the Queen’s court unless it were for a reason.”

“Yes… I am indeed here for a reason,” Kryle said as he put his hands behind his back. “I’m sure you’ve heard rumors of the rebellion on Rashada.”

“There have been whispers here and there…”

“These are not whispers, my Queen. My spies report that the rebellion is over 100,000 strong, led by a human named Walter St. James. These facts are of great concern.”

Tamor had since took his place back beside The Queen and was showing signs of concern at Kryle’s report.

“100,000 weak humans?” The Queen smirked. “How many millions of soldiers does the Galactic Alliance control?”

“It is true that the humans are weak, but let’s not forget
The Cleanse
, my lady. The humans brought their planet to ruins with very little technology. They now have access to the knowledge of the galaxy, and if they so freely murder their own kind for a bit of power, will they not hesitate to kill us as well?”

“Why did you not bring your concerns to the Galactic Council? This is not a matter for the throne.”

“The Galactic Council would rather wait and watch while the humans grow bolder each day.”

“And what would you suggest we do, Lord Yago?”

Kryle paused a moment as if considering what to say. “The only way to remove the threat is to destroy the humans. They are like parasites and must be squashed.”

The Queen inhaled deeply and let out a big sigh. “To purposely destroy an entire species would be a terrible crime. It’s true that the humans are unique in their brutality, but if we destroyed them, it would make us no better.”

“But–” Kryle protested.

“You know that you are always welcome in my court, Kryle,” the Queen interrupted. “But I will hear no more about this. If you think that security on Rashada should be assessed, please bring it to the attention of the Council. Is there anything else, Lord Yago?”

Kryle turned his head to the side and clenched his fist, battling to hide the anger boiling up inside. “And what of the frozen human from E-17?”

“It seems that news travels to you fast,” the Queen remarked.

“So the rumors are true? He is from the past?”

“A single lowly human was found, yes. And he is now on Rashada with the rest of his people being closely monitored. It should not be of any concern of yours.”

Kryle pressed his teeth together. “With all due respect, my Queen. Sending a human to Rashada, amidst a rebellion, harboring the same ideas that destroyed a planet, is like handing the humans a recipe for destruction.”

“Enough Kryle!” the Queen commanded. “You’re beginning to sound hysterical. The humans are harmless, and I have many matters to attend to today.”

Kryle turned away and began storming to the exit of the chamber, pausing halfway to say his final words. “It only takes a single match to start a wildfire. And if the flames are not extinguished, it will burn and burn until there’s nothing left but ash.”

When the kraw left, the Queen turned to Tamor and spoke softly. “Travel to Rashada and stay within arm’s reach of the human. We must make sure that this doesn’t get out of hand.”

M
ich awoke in a small
, dimly-lit room with a musty smell stirring in the air. The walls and ceilings appeared as earth with the occasional supporting board. He was laying on a small bed with a wet towel wrapped around his head. As he struggled to pull himself up, a husky voice spoke to him. “Easy buddy… You took quite the knock on the head.”

The man handed Mich a glass of water. He was a chubby human with a kind face and a white beard, wearing a long, green apron.

Mich remembered the events before he went cold and muttered, “Where’s the boy? Where’s my phone?”

“I assume you mean Jimmy,” the bearded man replied. “Um… he’s probably running around here somewhere.”

“He stole something of mine, and I need to get it back.”

The chubby man shot a disapproving look over to the doorway, and Mich now saw that he was in the company of two additional people.

“Tristyn, fetch Jimmy please.” The bearded man said.

A pretty, thin woman with a freckled face and ginger red hair stood up and went out the door. She was wearing brown, strappy, form-fitting leather garb that outlined the shape of her body. When she turned around, Mich found his eyes drawn to the round of her ass.

“That’s her brother Earl,” the bearded fellow motioned to the man who had been sitting beside her. “If you stare too long, he might just cut off your balls.”

The man sitting beside the door grinned out of the side of his mouth as he was busy wiping a long, curved blade with a cloth. His stringy, black hair covered a harsh, weathered face. A grey leather tunic and pants showed off a relatively fit body underneath; he wasn’t as large as Mich, but he gave off the impression that he wasn’t the type to be taken lightly.

“Right…” Mich said and focused attention back on his glass of water.

A minute later, Tristyn returned with the shirtless boy in tow. The bearded man looked sternly down at the boy and asked, “Did you take something from this man Jimmy?”

The boy replied, “I ain’t got nothin’! Honest!” Jimmy had a buzzed haircut and only two upper teeth were visible when he spoke.

“If we find you’re lying, Jimmy, we’ll make you empty the disposal hole every day for the next two weeks. If you give what you took back now, you can go and play with your friends.”

The boy crinkled his nose and bit his bottom lip as he considered the two choices. “Alright… here ya go. It’s just a piece of junk anyway.”

The boy walked to the bearded man and placed the phone in his hands. “Can I go now?”

“Go ahead.” The bearded man nodded, and Jimmy ran out the door.

The chubby stranger looked closely at the unusual device, turning it over several times and pressing the power button in anticipation of a response. “Where on Rashada did you get this thing?” he asked as he walked over to Mich and handed him back the phone.

“You guys knocked me out cold, and now you want me to sit here and chat? I’ve got what I need, and now I need to get back home,” Mich said as he stood up.

“We’re sorry about the bump on your noggin’. There were guards chasing you, and we couldn’t let them see you or Jimmy come inside here.”

“Where is here?” Mich asked.

“You’re in The Crawlspace,” The man replied. “I guess you could call this our little rebel base of sorts.”

“The Crawlspace? Rebel base?” Mich questioned with brows arched in confusion.

The man’s eyes glared suspiciously at Mich. “How is it that you haven’t heard of the Rebellion?”

Mich glanced to the pair at the door. Earl was still wiping his blade, and Tristyn was standing with her arms crossed and dangerous, green eyes burning a hole through Mich. He was not in the mood for any more bumps or bruises.

He considered playing dumb, but he knew that he would most likely get caught in a lie. He also considered the fact he had yet to make any friends on the planet besides Carl who he already loathed just the thought of. This trio of humans seemed as good of as any set to try his luck with.

“I’m from Earth… E-17.”

Earl stopped wiping his blade and raised his head attentively to Mich. Both Tristyn and the chubby man’s eyes grew wide with disbelief.

Mich sat back down on the bed and told the tale of how he was frozen in the Cryonics chamber 70 years ago and woke to find himself in this strange new universe. He told them about the salvagers that found him, how he met the Queen, and how he was now the newest inhabitant of Rashada.

“A little far-fetched,” Earl snarled.

“If you really lived on E-17, then you know the importance of freedom. Out rebellion should be easy for you to understand,” Tristyn said.

“I don’t understand. Weren’t humans saved from their own extinction and brought here to Rashada as favor? What’s this talk about freedom and rebellions?”

“Yes, we were saved from our own extinction,” the chubby man explained. “Humans made a lot of grave mistakes while we were living on E-17, and we should be thankful that the galaxy was looking out for us.”

“So then what’s this rebellion all about?”

Earl chimed in, “You’ve seen Rashada, haven’t you? This place is virtual hell hole.”

“I’ve haven’t seen much yet,” Mich said.

The bearded man explained, “When humans were brought to Rashada, most who were eligible to work had been working on E-17 in offices, malls, and shops. Stock brokers, businessmen, and nannies that didn’t have any real skills that applied here on Rashada. They had no credits to get them started, and had no other option but to work for other species–in the mines, or work in the factory building bots for a couple credits per day. Barely enough to feed their families.

“The infrastructure on Rashada was built with loans borrowed from the wealthy. With the exception of a handful of humans with special skills, or a few smuggler types who’ve managed to establish themselves in other parts of the galaxy, most humans have pretty much lost hope beyond working borderline slave jobs until they die.”

The bearded man sighed.

“Most humans will never own speeders or starships. We’ll never see other parts of the galaxy. Hell, the majority of humans will never even own a nice pair of clothes. The old depend on their children to feed them, and the children can barely take care of themselves. Our women would sell themselves off to a rothor for a nice meal.”

“What’s a rothor?” Mich asked.

“You don’t want to know,” Earl interjected.

Tristyn added to the explanation, “All we want is a better chance. A chance to do more than rot away in the mines or the metal factories.”

The bearded man continued, “We’ve attempted to obtain a spot on the Galactic Council, but many other species objected to having us ‘savages’ in a position of power. Even if we did manage to get a spot on the lesser junior council, it could be decades before we could make any significant change. All that’s left to do is organize and fight and hope that our message will be heard by someone.” Walter leaned forward. “It would be inspiring to the others if we had a human who’s experienced E-17 in our ranks. Some may even view it as a symbol to take action.”

Mich couldn’t process the overload of information as the three eyed him, waiting for a response. Eventually he said, “I don’t know what to say. This is all so new to me. Right now, I’m just thankful to be alive…”

The bearded man looked down at unfinished floor. “I understand. I can only imagine what it’s like to be in your shoes. Enough with the serious talk. Tristyn why don’t you show our new friend around? Perhaps we could introduce Mich to the elders. I’m sure they would be interested in his tale.”

The bearded man stood up and extended his hand with a smile. “By the way, my name is Walter St. James. But you can call me Walt.”

The pair shook hands.

Tristyn took Mich outside the room and began showing him around. He was a bit surprised to find that the underground city was called The Crawlspace because it had been an underground mine– one of the first mining operations on Rashada that had since been abandoned when all the resources ran out. It was now only accessible via trapdoors hidden throughout the surface.

The humans had carved the mine into several different sections and outfitted it with different rooms, stairs, living quarters and any and everything required to survive underground.

They passed a room, and through a window, it appeared to be filled with weapons similar to the ones the guards carried. Tristyn commented, “Only guards are allowed to have these type of weapons on Rashada. These are what have been siphoned from their supply over the years.”

To the left of the supply room was a large opened area where several men were fighting each other with blunt-edged swords and one was standing out of the way, shooting a pellet gun at a target at the far end of the room. “Over there are the sparring grounds. We don’t have anyone who could take on a Keeper, but a lot of our men could hold their own against a guard.”

“What’s a Keeper?” asked Mich.

“I keep forgetting you don’t know anything,” Tristyn snickered. “Keepers have learned to use the untapped portion of their mind and can harness their own life energy in battle. They can even meld that energy into a sort of electricity around their blades. They got the name “Keepers” because long ago, a group of beings who had learned this power saved the galaxy from those who wanted to destroy it.”

Mich remembered the stained-glass windows he had seen in The Queens court and assumed that they were related. “Are there any human Keepers?” Mich inquired.

Tristyn paused as if recalling an old memory. “There’s only been one human Keeper, and he left Rashada long ago.”

They climbed a ladder and were in front of a large, windowed room that looked down on a large portion of The Crawlspace. “Over there is our tech room. Our man Scraggs can fix up just about anything, no matter how bashed up it is.”

“Do you think he has something that can charge my phone?”

Tristyn shrugged and walked over to the tech room door, motioning for Mich to follow.

Inside the room were several miniature bots scurrying around the floor and a couple of small flying devices hovering around the room effortlessly. One of the devices, a tiny sphere with a helicopter blades, immediately zoomed down to Mich’s face as if examining his eyes. Instinctively, Mich tried to swat the device away like a fly, but it dodged each swat with ease.

Sitting in a chair, facing a large control panel with hundreds of buttons and multiple large monitors was a skinny man wearing a long, white coat. He had a short thick mowhawk which was bleached on the longer portion, but had grown out brown on the sides. Covering his eyes were thick, black frames.

“Tristynnnn…” He smiled and looked her up and down, clearly checking her out. “You are lookin’ mighty fine today!”

“Not right now Scraggs,” Tristyn snarled, clearly unenthused.

“Cmon, when are you gonna lighten up? A girl like you… A guy like me–”

“Will never happen,” Tristyn finished the thought.

Scraggs threw Tristyn a frown before focusing on Mich who was still swatting at the flying machine that was circling around his head.

“Who’s this?” he asked.

“He’s a survivor from E-17.”

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Quit fucking with me,” Scraggs said with his mouth open wide.

“We’ll explain later, but right now we need your help.”

“Anything for you, baby.” Scraggs raised his eyebrows at Tristyn then turned to Mich. “Lucy stop it. He’s okay.”

Immediately, the flying bot flew away from Mich and went about hovering aimlessly in the air. Mich straightened his jostled clothes, and pulled his phone out of his pants, trying to look unaffected.

“Whao! Is that a cellular telephone? Those things are ancient. I’ve heard about them, but haven’t actually seen one in person.”

“The battery is dead. I was hoping you’d have something that I could charge it with,” Mich said as he handed Scraggs the phone.

“What do you wanna do? Call back to E-17?” Scraggs asked sarcastically.

“It’s got some pictures and a few other things on it. It’s all I’ve got left from my home.”

Scraggs flipped the phone on all sides and shrugged. “I’ll see what I can do.”

He placed the phone down on the control panel beside a metal box filled with what appeared to be grey-colored eggs, just as one of the eggs let out a wild spark that caused them all to jump.

“Sorry about that,” he said as he picked up the culprit egg. “This one appears to be unstable.”

“What are those?” Mich asked.

“Disrupters. One of the challenges we face are those huge mechs that guard the port and some of the government-owned buildings. Those things could take down a speeder with a single shot. They’re well-armored, so our weapons wouldn’t be effective against them. Only chance we have is to get inside one or nullify them somehow. These babies contain massive shocks of static energy. I’ve yet to test them on something the size of the mechs, but I suspect that the burst of energy would shut down their systems for long enough that we could make a move.”

“If we ever get to the point we’ve got enough force to take action, let’s hope you’re right,” Tristyn said.

The pair left the tech room and passed a dining hall. “Over there, we make all the food by hand. No bot food down here. Only the chefs finest.” Tristyn waved across the room to a man wearing all white garb and a chef’s hat. The man nodded and smiled as his hands were busy kneading some sort of dough.

The smell of fresh food made Mich’s stomach growl loudly.

“You haven’t eaten yet?” Tristyn asked?

“Not yet. How long was I out? Carl might be getting worried.”

Tristyn froze. “Carl? Slicked back hair and looks like he’s got a stick in his ass, Carl?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Shit! It totally didn’t cross my mind that the Queen probably had Candy’s crew looking after you. They’re probably scouring the city for you now. We’ve gotta go!”

Tristyn grabbed Mich’s hands and started running wildly down the corridor. As they were running, they came across Walter who was simultaneously walking and reading a few papers in his hands.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Walter asked with a concerned look on his face.