HUMANITY: A Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Novel (6 page)

“The Queen put him under Candy’s care. If they think he’s gone missing his first day here, they’ll be kicking down doors and questioning everyone in the city soon.”

“Damn, you’re right.” Walter looked at Mich sternly in the eyes. “Go back to your room, and If Candy or anyone else asks where you went, tell them you got lost or something. Whatever you do, don’t speak about us or the Crawlspace.”

Mich nodded, and the two humans started running again.

They reached a small ladder, and the pair climbed up into a small room of a house.

“Do you know how to get back to your room?” Tristyn asked.

“No, but I’ll figured it out.”

“Okay, be careful out there. When you’re alone and can return to The Crawlspace, go back to the poor corner and find Jimmy or one of the other children and whisper ‘Do you believe in freedom?’ They’ll bring you to where you need to go.”

Tristyn leaned in to Mich and briefly looked into his eyes. For a moment, Mich thought she was going to kiss him on the lips, but instead, he received a peck on the cheek and a pat on his shoulder. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

She opened the door and peeked outside of the house to make sure the coast was clear, and then motioned for Mich to go outside. Mich slipped out the door and immediately started strolling down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets as if he had been walking there all along.

It was nighttime, and he had no idea where he was or how to get back home. The streets were dimly lit, and stars were shining bright in the sky, but he saw no other people anywhere in sight.

Within a few minutes, a vehicle flew in the opposite direction of Mich and stopped slowly beside him. He could tell it was some sort of taxi by the brightly lit sign on the top of the cab.

The driver threw Mich a curious glance. “Where ya headed?”

“I’m not sure the exact location, but I think it’s near the Community Hall.”

“1 credit to Community Hall,” The taxi driver said.

“I don’t have any credits on me right now. How about just some directions?” Mich asked as he scratched the back of his head.

“Fuck off!” the taxi yelled and sped away.

Mich sighed. He continued walking and rounded a sharp corner, almost crashing into a pair of guards who happened to be turning the corner at the same time.

“Hey!” one of the guard snapped. “Aren’t you the human who was just brought into the city?”

“Yeah, the name’s Mich.”

“Why are you all the way out here?” The guard pointed at Mich’s chest.

Before Mich had the chance to reply, the guard lifted his hand and spoke into the back of the wrist. “Send a speeder to District 15. Tell Candy we’ve found the stray.”

The speeder that came had all the characteristics of a motorcycle, but without the wheels. Mich didn’t want to admit his fear, but his legs were a bit shaky when he got on.

As the guard whipped the speeder around corners and through the streets, Mich’s fear was neutralized as his mind was captivated by thoughts of Tristyn. Why was he thinking about this about this girl? He recollected Amy and the slew of girls he had conquered back on E-17, but Tristyn had a completely different effect on him.

She was certainly attractive, but she did not have the insatiable sex appeal that he normally looked for in women. Her red hair, freckles, and small breasts were all things that usually did not rouse him, but when he was close to Tristyn, his blood stirred. Maybe it was her strength, her attitude, or the way she looked him in the eyes. Maybe it was the tight fitting leather. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew he needed to see her again.

As the speeder neared Mich’s building, he could see Carl standing with a group of guards beside a hovering craft that was shooting multi colored lights in every direction. The speeder pulled up directly beside Carl, and Mich hopped off.

Carl ran up to Mich, and his eyes looked him up and down as if searching for damage. “Mich, where have you been? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry… um… I went out for a walk and kind of lost track of time.”

“You’ve been gone all day. We messaged all the nearby guards to look out for you a couple hours ago. Candy almost had me send out a special OPS unit to find out where you’d gone.”

“First day on a new fragment-planet,” Mich smiled. “I wanted to see as much as I could. Sorry I made you worry.”

“But where–”

“I’m tired and hungry,” Mich interrupted and patted Carl’s shoulder. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow. And in the meantime, don’t worry about me so much. I think I’ve got the hang of things now.” Something about meeting the rebel humans gave him a surge of confidence.

Mich turned to the guard sitting on the speeder and yelled, “Thanks for the ride!” before walking to towards the building. Behind him, Carl was debriefing the remaining guards and releasing them back to their command posts.

When Mich was inside his room, he opened his refrigerator and took a swig of a reddish liquid that reminded him of fruit punch. He pulled out a package that was labeled “roasted korg” and remembered that the korgs legs he had back on Nerria had been rather delicious. He wondered what a live korg could possibly look like.

He opened the package and placed the slivers of meat between two slices of bread and threw himself on the bed while he finished his boring meal. He again thought of Tristyn and the feeling of her soft lips on his cheek as she kissed him goodbye. He remembered the warmth of her tiny hand holding on to his as they ran through the halls of The Crawlspace. “Damn, she looked good in that bodysuit,” he whispered to himself.

He thought of Walt and Carl and Candy and wondered how much trouble he would be setting himself up for by returning to The Crawlspace. He wasn’t particularly interested in the whole rebellion thing, but he did want to get some more time with the rebel girl. He considered how soon he could logically go back without drawing too much attention to himself.

And then he remembered Lena… elegant, voluptuous, Lena. Tristyn and Lena seemed like total opposites. Lena was gorgeous and was the first alien who treated him as more than a 2
^nd
-class human. But Tristyn’s strength and desire to protect humanity added to her attractiveness. He wondered what both of them were doing right now, and soon found himself drifting into a peaceful dream filled with images of the two lovely women.

He breathed silently, completely unaware of the eyes staring at him from across the room.

A
strong
, gloved hand covered Mich’s mouth, causing to him to wake and reflexively try to get away. A knee was also placed on his hip, holding down his lower body and making it impossible for Mich to move.

“Shhhh,” the man whispered quietly as he placed a finger up to where his mouth should be. He was wearing a black robe and a completely white circular mask with a small hole in the area where his right eye should be.

Mich continued to struggle, but slowly stopped moving when he realized the man was far stronger than him, and there was little chance of him getting away. Mich’s eyes stung from the sudden disruption of sleep, but he held them open wide, and he could hear his heart pounding out of his chest.

The man pulled a small knife from his hip and held it up to Mich’s face. “If you scream, you die. If you fight, you die,” the man hissed. “Do you want to die tonight or do you want to live?”

Mich felt like any moment he would lose control of his bladder.

The man took his knee off of Mich’s body and slowly removed his hand from Mich’s mouth, testing his compliance. When Mich lay silent, he pulled him up and threw his arm around his neck and placed the knife beside his cheek.

“Follow and do not speak a word.”

The masked man led Mich out of the room and up the elevator to the roof of the building. When they reached the roof, a small flying vehicle with a clear open hatch was waiting. The man walked Mich to the passenger side and pushed him inside.

As the masked man was getting inside the driver’s seat, the door to the roof of the building swung open. A large, golden haired man with a huge copper sword stepped through the door and immediately started running toward the craft yelling, “Take the human out of the speeder now!”

Tamor.

The masked man briefly froze in surprise at the sight of the Keeper, but regained his bearings and quickly closed the roof of his craft. The thrusters in the 2-seated speeder fired up, and it turned towards the edge of the building. As the vehicle was pulling away, Tamor made a huge leap and grabbed on to speeder’s edge.

The vehicle quickly started sliding down the side of the building, and Tamor held on for his life. As the vehicle neared the ground, it veered upright and accelerated through the streets. While Tamor gripped tighter, the masked man increased the thrusters to full speed and quickly turned a corner, throwing him from the craft.

Tamor landed in a kneeling position on the street and slid a few feet, tearing up a portion of the asphalt. As he stood up, a blue light could be seen radiating from the points of impact of on his body, and no sooner, the light dissipated.

A guard riding a motorcycle-styled speeder sped towards Tamor, and he stood directly in front of it holding up his palm. As the speeder slowed, Tamor hopped on the back and said, “By order of the Queen,” and pushed the guard off with force. He immediately accelerated and gave chase to the masked man, leaving the guard dazed and confused.

“Where are you taking me?” Mich asked his captor. He was beginning to loathe his new life more and more.

The masked man did not reply.

It wasn’t long before Tamor could be seen behind them, and he was gaining on them by the second. The masked man cursed and slammed his hand against the control panel, shifting to a direction opposite of the ports.

Tamor did not let up. They exited the developed areas and entered into a lush forest, dipping and weaving through trees. Vines whipped apart and small branches were knocked down as the two crafts passed by. This proved to be advantageous to Tamor and his smaller craft, as he was soon right on their tail.

As the chase continued, they eventually reached a large clearing and a huge river could be seen in the distance. Tamor maxed his thrusters and slammed his speeder into the side of the masked man’s. The contact sent both speeders twirling, but did not knock either down.

When Tamor tried slamming against the speeder again, Mich saw an opportunity and grabbed the steering stick while the man was trying to regain control. This sent the fleeing craft crashing to the ground, bouncing, and landing a few meters from the edge of a steep cliff.

Tamor quickly landed right behind them and started marching towards the wreck.

The masked man opened the roof of the battered craft and jumped out agilely, leaving the disoriented and groaning Mich behind. From under his robe, he pulled two small copper swords, wielding one in each hand.

The river behind them, below the cliff, was raging white, and a few hundred meters downstream a waterfall could be seen, providing a roaring soundtrack to the scene.

“Lay down your weapons,” Tamor ordered and lifted the giant sword off from his back. “I’m not in the mood for killing anyone today.”

The man ignored the command and started charging for Tamor.

Tamor swung his sword at the man, and he dodged the sword effortlessly while lunging for Tamor’s stomach. Tamor back-stepped, barely missing a fatal blow. The man twirled and attacked furiously, copper ringing against copper as Tamor blocked each attack with his sword. As the man flung his blades towards Tamor’s head, Tamor lifted his knee, causing the man to keel over, and delivered a backhand fist to the side of the man’s face, knocking his mask off, and causing him to turn and fall to his knees.

“That’s enough!” Tamor growled.

Mich had since came to his senses and pulled himself from the crashed vehicle, walking to the edge of the cliff in an attempt to put as much distance between him and the fight as possible. He watched the scene in awe.

“Why do you want this human?” Tamor asked.

The robed man breathed heavily. “This man bears the disease of the humans’ past. He cannot be allowed to spread the ideas that could destroy us all.”

The feint sound of an electrical charge could be heard, and tiny bolts of energy starting to sparkle around the man’s hands and swords.

“You’re a Keeper?” Tamor asked with a bit of anxiousness in his voice. He stepped backwards, holding his weapon to the side, and energy began circling his sword as well.

The unmasked man turned, moving at an impossible speed, and Tamor raised his weapon to block his crossed swords at the last possible moment. They held their crackling blades together momentarily, and the unmasked man’s milky white eye was a mere inch from Tamor’s face. He recognized him as one of Kryle Yago’s henchmen.

“Yes, I am, Tamor.” The man smiled. “And as Keepers, it is our duty to protect the galaxy from dire threats.”

Tamor heaved the man away from him, and immediately the man pushed forward again, striking furiously as Tamor blocked and ducked his blows.

Tamor growled, “You betray the Council!”

“The Council betrays the galaxy!” the krawl hissed.

Tamor heaved his sword with a thunderous force, and the man reared his head back, dodging the weight of the swing. The man lifted his leg in the same motion and connected Tamor’s face with a powerful roundhouse. He reached out with one of his blades, slashing Tamor’s chest and then extended his foot straight into Tamor’s gut, sending him staggering several steps backward.

Tamor kneeled, coughing and spitting blood on the ground. His sword fell beside him and the energy that encompassed the blade had gone. Blood seeped out of the slash that had ripped through his chest armor.

The krawl paced slowly towards Tamor and spoke with malice in his voice. “Join us, and help us destroy Rashada. Help us eliminate the humans and remove a threat of another
Cleanse
.”

Tamor chuckled and spit more blood to the ground. “I hate humans.” He paused. “But I hate traitors even more!”

The robed man hissed, pushing his sword forward, aiming at Tamor’s neck, but Tamor quickly raised his hand and grabbed the man’s wrist as easily as if he had been catching a ball. Tamor’s hand glowed with a bluish hue, and he smiled while he slowly stood up, squeezing the wrist tighter and tighter. The dragon tattoo on his face began pulsing with a glowing energy.

The krawl cried out in agony as he heard the sound of his wrist bone being crushed, and one of the crackling swords in his hands fell to the ground.

Tamor swiftly lifted the front of his leg into the krawl’s stomach, the power sending him flying several meters closer to the river.

The krawl slowly struggled to get up from the grass and moaned various sounds at the pain in his wrist. As Tamor moved closer, the krawl questioned, “You will risk the galaxy for a wretched human?”

The krawl snarled his nose, clenched his teeth and spun quickly, releasing his remaining blade in the direction of the river.

The sword flew swiftly and accurately through the air, leaving Mich no time to respond as the blade pierced deep into his abdomen. He placed his hands around the protruding hilt, and looked up at the two Keepers with his eyes and mouth opened wide. He slowly tilted backwards like an old tree collapsing under its own weight, and fell with a confirming splash down the cliff and into the raging waters below.

The krawl began a futile half-limp and half-crawl in an attempt to flee, but Tamor simply marched over to the slow target and drove his massive sword through his back. He yanked out his bloodied sword and the krawl fell flat to the ground.

Tamor turned to the direction of the waterfall and thought deeply about his failed mission and his friend Kryle Yago. The Queen would be disappointed in his inability to protect the human, but it would be overshadowed by Kryle’s betrayal.

After a few moments, he could once again hear the robed figure stirring and attempting to rise to his feet. Tamor let out a big sigh and swung his sword in a circle, landing perfectly against the krawl’s neck. The severed head fell lifelessly to the ground and rolled several feet away.

He didn’t get back up and second time.