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Authors: CM Doporto

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BOOK: The Arrival
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“Stay close
to me,” Mom said, pulling us to her side.

We walked
out the front door to Broadway Street. Police cruisers blocked the area, their
lights flashing but their sirens on mute. A few fire trucks and ambulances
parked near the curb, but I still couldn’t figure out the cause. On tiptoes, I tried
to see past the police officers in front of me. A large crowd gathered around
city hall, right behind the blue barriers.

“Chief
McCarthy.”  With Larry at his left, Dad extended a hand.  “What’s the problem?”

Sweat
trickled down the sides of the chief’s face. He pulled off his hat and wiped
his forehead with his shirtsleeve. “This man would like to talk to you.” The
chief pointed to an impressive young guy dressed in black.

A small,
all-male entourage, equally imposing, stood behind what I assumed was their
leader. At six feet tall with bulging muscles, they could have passed for a
Navy SEAL team or some other Special Forces unit. And although none of them appeared
to have weapons, they didn’t look friendly. Their black and gray outfits appeared
rubbery, almost like a wet suit, and kind of futuristic. For whatever reason, I
didn’t trust them.

“Can we
help you with something?” Dad held his head high and kept his arms crossed in front
of him.  

“Are you
the leader of this town?” The young man asked. He walked closer, stopping a few
feet in front of Dad, Larry, and the chief. In unison, the police officers moved
their hands to their guns, ready to protect the city officials at a moment’s
notice.

“Yes, sir.
I am Richard Mays, Mayor of Myrtle Beach.” Dad canted his head but stood firm. “And
who are you?”

“I am Dimas
of Etheron.” He extended his arm, offering to shake Dad’s hand. Muscles flexed
beneath the odd fabric of his clothes. Either he spent quite a bit of time in
the gym, or he played some type of sport to be in that shape.

Dad
hesitated for a moment and then accepted the universal gesture of friendship. “Dimas
of Etheron, you look a little lost. Universal Studios is five hundred miles
from here. Just take I-95 south.”  Dad narrowed his stare and then retracted
his hand.
I had to
bite
back a snicker, but a chorus of nervous laughter hung over the crowd.

With a
furrowed brow, Dimas surveyed the gathering, and then his lips curved to a
slight smile that made me shudder. His pale eyes widened every time they passed
a female, and dark circles flickered when his gaze caught mine, which left a
disconcerting, otherworldly feeling in the pit of my stomach. That guy’s
intentions weren’t good.

“Apparently
there has been some confusion with your military. They fired on our ship, and
we had to make an emergency landing on your shores.” Dimas kept a straight,
emotionless face.

“I’ve been
informed one of our jets crashed, too. Care to explain how that happened?” Dad straightened,
squaring his broad shoulders and showing no signs of fear.

“In the midst
of the confusion, we inadvertently fired back,” Dimas said with a smirk. “We
meant your pilot no harm, and if you check the wreckage you will see we shot at
the tail and not the cockpit. He ejected before impact, and I assume is waiting
for pickup somewhere in the ocean.”

With an audible
exhale; Dad visibly relaxed his shoulders, as did Larry and the chief. The
police officers remained on alert, with a steady watch on Dimas’ men. In the
area surrounding City Hall, the chaos and looting ceased, as curiosity lured an
ever-growing crowd in search of an answer to the most obvious question.

Who were
those people, and why were they there?

“I see.” Keeping
eye contact, Dad lowered his chin and said, “We will have to detain you, along
with your crew, for questioning by our military.”

Dimas waved
a dismissive hand in the air. “I don’t think that will be necessary unless you
can bring your leader, I believe you call him President, to speak with me.”

“You want
to speak with the president?” Dad stumbled at the words. “Where exactly did you
say you guys are from?”

Several of Dimas’
men laughed. Grinning, they cast each other mischievous glances. Dimas
chuckled, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood. “I did not say. Since you
asked, we are from a planet called Ephesus.”

“Ephesus?”
Chief McCarthy blurted. “Where the hell’s that?”

Dimas gave the
chief a disdainful stare. “Do your subordinates always speak so freely?”

Dad ignored
the question. “What is it that you want from us?”

Moving slow
and confident, Dimas walked beyond the barricades, surveying the crowd again. His
nose twitched as though smelling his way through the people. A smile played at
the edge of his lips. It set off every alarm in my body, warning me that he
could not be trusted. He stopped in front of a teenage girl and took her hand
in his. Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink as he kissed her knuckles. Then
he released her, turned, and said, “Your females, of course.”

θ

Chapter
1

Two Years and Nine Months Later

 

“That
wasn’t so bad.” I walked into Gaby Garza’s room, where several of the girls
hung out during our free time.

Kate peered
up from a fashion magazine, twirling a lock of blonde curls around her fingers.
“Do you think you got an
‘A’?
I mean, I’m sure you did. After all,
computers are your thing.”

I sat next
to her on the floor, sliding my backpack off my shoulder. “I don’t know, I
guess.” I relaxed against Gaby’s bed, glad to be done with school for the year.
Although I didn’t have much to be excited about, since I was still at Nidus,
the Eslite facility in Martinsburg, West Virginia, along with the other girls.

Gaby leaned
over her bed, sticking her head between Kate and me. “What do you mean,
‘I
don’t know’
. Whatever, you aced it.”

“Don’t act
like you didn’t.” Jessica Chen, the oldest of the group, stood in the doorway,
swinging her ear buds around and around in a circle as she chewed a wad of gum.

I didn’t
respond, because I didn’t have the energy. I had to be prepared to step into
the ring when I spoke to Jessica. We never talked without arguing back and
forth, probably because we were a lot alike.

“Jessica,
come in.” Gaby waved a welcome.

“This
really sucks.”

Obviously
something bothered her, but I didn’t want to ask. Unlike me, she tended to
complain a lot.

“What’s
wrong, Jessica?” Kate inquired, and I wanted to smack her.

Leave it to
Kate to open the floodgates.

“Everything.”
Jessica huffed and then plunged into Gaby’s desk chair. “I’m supposed to be
happy because this is the last day of school, and I’m
‘graduating’
,” she
said, using her fingers to accent the words. “But how can I be happy with no
ceremony to celebrate, and I’m not home with my friends? I should be out
shopping for a new outfit!”

I felt bad
for her. She entered the facility during her senior year. I couldn’t even
imagine spending the last year of school at Nidus. It really did suck for her.
Even though most of us had attended the school at Nidus since we arrived, we
knew our time would be coming to an end, and we would be going home soon. The
question was, when? As the Eslite order stated, they promised to do no more
than three egg extractions from us. After that, we could return home.

Home.

I let out a
big sigh.

“Why all
the sad faces?” Aliah Das asked, as she practically skipped into the room. At
times her overly cheerful attitude wore on me. Then again, Nidus seemed to be
wearing on me, too.

“Did you
forget where we are?” Destiny Jones replied, glancing up from the romance book
she was reading.

“Sorry.”
Aliah’s shoulders caved, and her smile faded making her appear smaller.

“Why do
they give us this crap to read?” Destiny shook her head. “I want the newspaper,
not this lame piece of writing that’s a poor excuse for literature.”

“Newspaper.”
Jessica huffed. “Screw that, I want my cell phone so I can text my friends. Do
you know how hard it is to keep up with the latest gossip when this piece of crap
electronic network takes forever to send and receive messages?” She tossed her
blinged-out tablet onto Gaby’s built-in desk.

“That’s because
they monitor every bit of communication that comes to us, as well as what we
send,” I reminded her.

“I know
that.”  She rolled her eyes at me. “Did you forget I work in the Communication
Lab?”

“Between
the two of you,” Destiny said, pointing to Jessica and then me. “Can’t you
figure out a way to access the Internet? I don’t understand why they won’t they
let us read about current events on our tablets. Why are they keeping everything
a secret?”

Destiny
caused concern for everyone. After her cousin died a few months ago from
complications of an egg extraction, Destiny seemed overly depressed and
somewhat suicidal. Typically, I didn’t like hanging around negative people, but
she was Gaby’s suitemate, so I didn’t have a choice.

“I’ve
already tried and I—” Everyone stared at me. “What? It’s not that hard to go into
the system and makes some changes.” I shrugged it off. I really didn’t care
what they thought.

“If it
that’s easy, then why can’t we surf the net?” Jessica strummed her fingers
across the desk, scraping the wood with her dagger-like nails.

“Because I
prefer to stay out of trouble,” I responded through gritted teeth.

“Since
we’re done with school, I wonder if they are going to let us go home for a few
weeks,” Kate quickly interjected, which changed the subject. That happened to
be a good thing, because Jessica and I probably would’ve started arguing.

“Wouldn’t
that be awesome?” Gaby chimed.

“Yeah, it
would.” Kate sighed.

Gaby leaned
her head against Kate’s. “I bet they’re calling our parents right now and
arranging for all of us to leave.”

Gaby could
spin a negative situation into a hopeful one.  I always looked to her for sound
advice. She was the thinker, the one who thought before she acted and usually
made the best decisions. As Dr. Ridus’ main student assistant, I knew she would
make an excellent nurse or doctor someday.

“I doubt
it.” Aliah had shifted to the glass-half empty attitude. “They’ll come with
some excuse for keeping us here. I just know they will.”

“Oh, my
God, I swear. First you’re all happy, and now you’re all negative.” Jessica
huffed. “They need to check your meds, girly.”

 “Hey,
Aliah.” Kate patted the floor. “Come sit next to me.”

Kate was,
for all intents and purposes, an older sister to Aliah. Their special bond
matured Kate, while Aliah needed the support.

 “No,
that’s okay, Kate.” Aliah dropped her backpack decorated with beads and drawn
on flowers to the floor. It made a loud thump, which got our attention. “You
know, you’re not the only one who deserves to leave, Jessica.”

 “What?” Jessica
zoned in on Aliah. The hate burning in her eyes could set fire to a match with
one blink.

“You heard
me. Just because you’re a senior, and I’m a freshman, doesn’t give you any more
right to be homesick. We’re
all
tired of being here.”

“You need
to keep your mouth shut,” Jessica said, working her neck with some serious
attitude. “You have no idea what I’m going through.”

“As if you
two are the only ones with issues.” Destiny slammed her book shut with such
force that everyone retreated as she stood, resting her hands on her hips.
“What about me?  None of you know what I’m dealing with. My cousin died for
these fools.”

What had
been minor tension erupted into a bonfire, even though we got along most of the
time, except for the angst between Jessica and me.  Things were coming to a
head, and if we didn’t result in a fight; then we would all end up crying,
which we needed to do, anyway. I hopped to my feet and hit the close button on
the wall. The door retracted and slid shut.

“Good
idea,” Gaby mouthed.

“Come on,
girls.”  I moved to the center of the room. “Fighting won’t resolve anything.
We are
all
more than ready to go home.”

 “I’m
sorry.” Tears streaked Destiny’s smooth mocha face. She stared at me, with her
molasses-brown eyes, but her gaze was a bottomless abyss. It kind of gave me
the creeps, wondering what went through her mind. Pushing past the thoughts, I
reached for her, but she turned away and slumped to the floor, beside Kate.

Kate hugged
Destiny close. “It’s going to be okay.”

Destiny
nodded, while she sobbed silently into her hands.

And just when
everyone appeared to calm down, Aliah lunged at Jessica. “Don’t tell me to keep
my mouth shut.” 

“Aliah!” I
grabbed her by the arms, holding her back. “Aliah stop.” She tugged and pulled,
determined to break free and get her hands on Jessica.

 “I won’t
be told what to do any longer,” Aliah said in a deep, demonic tone that
conveyed the depth of her anger and frustration.

“It’s not
worth it. Trust me.” I struggled to control her, but the small, feisty girl
moved so fast I considered using a karate restraint on her.

“Let me
go,” Aliah demanded, twisting and squirming in my grasp.

“If you
stop fighting me, I will,” I snapped.

It took a
few seconds before Aliah finally relaxed. Slowly, I released her, watching to
make sure she didn’t go after Jessica again. Jessica folded her arms across her
chest and smirked, and I regretted stopping the fight. She deserved a slap or
two in the face.

Pacing,
with hands balled into fists and cheeks reddened, Aliah huffed. Never had I
seen her so upset. That petite girl was a firecracker with a lit fuse, and we
had front row access to the show.

She stomped
her foot on the floor. “I can’t take this any longer. These clothes,” she said
as she tugged on the top of her black scrub shirt. “This place…we were supposed
to be home months ago. I don’t care if I’m only fifteen. Don’t I have rights
when it comes to my body? Just because I’m a girl, does that mean I don’t have
a say in what I agree or don’t agree with?”

When no one
responded, Aliah continued, “This is America, right?”

“Yes…yeah,”
Kate and Destiny said simultaneously, as they perched on Gaby’s bed.

Gaby took a
few steps to the left, positioning herself behind Jessica. But Jessica didn’t
budge. She stayed in her chair.

“Back home,
I had to deal with my dad’s Indian family traditions, telling me how to act,
what to say, and what to wear.”  Aliah broke into another rant.  “This isn’t
India. If that wasn’t bad enough, I come here, and now I’m…I’m a slave to these
friggin’ Eslites. I’m so tired of the injections and the acne. Look at my poor
face.” Aliah touched her forehead and then her cheeks. “I never had this many
pimples until I came here.”

“Tell me
about it,” Kate sympathized, while focusing her stare on the red dot at the tip
of her nose.

“I’m done.
I’m so done with all of this.” Aliah quickened her steps and then zigzagged
around the room. “I have to get out. We have to find a way out.”

“Aliah,
don’t,” Kate cried, reaching for her arm. Gaby looked at me, at Aliah, and then
at me, as though expecting me to do something.

Aliah
slammed her body against the large curved window. She banged on it with her
fist, yelling, “Let me out of here. I want out of here now!”

I
approached her slowly, taking extra caution. “Aliah, that’s plate glass, probably
bullet proof, sound proof, and who knows what else.”

“It’s no
use.” Jessica loomed behind me. Her sarcastic tone warned me that she didn’t
have any intention of calming down Aliah.

“You can’t
break it.”  I returned my attention to Aliah, ignoring the fact that Jessica
hovered over my shoulder, dying for me to argue with her. “I know, because I
already tried. Besides, all you’re going to do is set off an alarm and put us
under restrictions.”  Her hands trembled and shook. The poor girl had lost it.

“Aliah, If
you don’t stop, a guard will take you to the Medical Center, and Dr. Ridus will
give you a sedative,” Gaby declared.

Aliah
paused. She had to know that Gaby spoke the truth. Several girls, including
myself, had that not so great experience in the Med Center when we let our emotions
get the best of us.

She pressed
her head against the window. “I want out of here, please.” She whimpered as
tears poured.

“I know.”  I
placed a hand on her back, trying to comfort her. “We all do. We want to return
home to our families—”

And then it
hit me.
What the hell was I thinking?
I was done with those stupid
Eslites, too. I had given them two egg extractions over the past nine months
and had seen a dozen or so fetuses die. I had done my part. Now they had to do
theirs.

I leaned
against the wall of windows. My mind swirled with dangerous thoughts. Thoughts
that refused to stop. Thoughts that could get us killed.

Had I
snapped, too?

I slid to
the floor and covered my face with my hands. I repeated the phrase chiseled
deep in my brain.

Mays are leaders.
We never show our weaknesses.

“Miranda?
Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Jessica shook me a few times. “Are you okay?” I
wanted to smack the fake look of concern off her face.

I took a
deep breath. When I opened my mouth, the words eased out effortlessly. “Aliah’s
right.”

Aliah
snapped to attention. “I am?”

“What? Are
you crazy? Do I need to slap some sense into you?” Jessica raised her hand,
threatening to give me a wakeup call. Even though I may have needed it, I
wasn’t about to let her hit me.

“No.” I
blocked her with a swift move. Even though it had been three years since I
practiced karate, my muscles still remembered what to do.

BOOK: The Arrival
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