Halfkinds Volume 1: Contact (39 page)

The Northern Lights flicker across
the sky so beautifully.  Its illumination is vibrant and haunting.  The colors
dance wildly, the stars are their partners.  It’s a sight that I thought I
would never see.

It’s been over a month since my
ordeal in Primm.  After my brother died, along with his murderer, Fenrir Snow
helped me escape from that hellhole.  He confirmed that I was dead to his
superiors and we waited until nightfall to make our move.  The Li station had
been damaged, but Fenrir made the quick fix and it became usable, so I said
goodbye to my home and left Primm forever.

We secretly arrived in the Wolf’s
Den, the northern part of Canada.  We journeyed far away from the cities, deep
into seclusion.  Using his contacts, he found me this abandoned cabin in the
woods.  It was rundown and empty, but in a month, I was able to shape it into
my home.  Thanks to the insta-item he provided me, I’m able to get what I need
to survive out in the cold.  It’s now furnished and I have enough food to last
me for months.  It’s just a start and eventually I’ll have to figure out a way
to make credits to sustain myself.  Perhaps I can sell things via the infospace,
while continuing to live anonymously.  I can’t rely on Fenrir forever, but, for
now, I am happy with what little I have.

I wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t
for him.  When he shot his partner and I saw the dog fall limply to the ground,
I was stunned.  I thought I was going to die right there and then, but when I
looked up, I only saw the affliction on Fenrir’s face.  He looked tired and
weary.  Perhaps he was broken from all the death that evening.  I felt the same
way and when he came to comfort me, I could sense his grief, his conflicted
feelings.  I hugged him because he needed one.

He still stops by once in a while,
to make sure I’m safe, and in this short month, we’ve gained a mutual respect
for each other.  Hell, it’s not even that, I’d say we’ve become foundations for
each other.

I consider this wolf that had a
heart of stone as my family, not as a replacement for what I’ve lost, but an
addition to what I will remember.  And, although he doesn’t say it, I have a
feeling I’ve become the one thing in this world that has helped him come into
terms with himself, his purpose in this world.

That is a bond that cannot break.

I look in the darkness of the
forest and it reminds me of the way I would view the world when I was young.  I
would look from my front porch in that house in Primm and see such a mysterious
and hardened place.  I was afraid of what it would bring to me, I was afraid of
all the things my mother told me.  There was so much uncertainty that it scared
me.  The only experience I had with living was in the confines of that house. 
Knowing that one day, I would face what lied beyond, it terrified me.  I looked
at my future and I saw the same darkness I see in the trees now.

When mother died, and then
Leonard, and then all the others, I felt my fears were justified.  We had faced
so much adversity and all we wanted to do was to be left alone.  That was
really it.  Oscar wanted to live in peace alone in Primm and even Tiago, though
hard headed and angry, just wanted to be left alone on the Moon.  But the
powers that be couldn’t let us go and the ones I loved paid the price.

Yet here I am, the last one, the
last halfkind, and I suppose I’ve done what my brothers wanted, I’m living in
solitude.  If only they could see me now, they would be so proud.

I take a sip from my hot chocolate
and realize that it’s getting cold, so I walk back into the cabin.  A fire is
burning in the fireplace and I cozy up in front of it.  I turn on my video feed
so I can catch the countdown to the new year.  The screen captures the
atmosphere.  Crowds are cheering, some drunk, but all look so happy.  I see
humans partying with dogs, pigs sharing the moment with tigers, rhinos and
crocodiles downing a New Year’s toast together.

The moment looks so joyous and I
think that could’ve been us.  We could’ve been mingling with all these animals,
we could’ve had the good times with them.  If only things had been different.

Exactly five hundred years ago,
the animals started their fight for freedom.  It seems I’m starting mine as
well.

I sit in the cabin and observe the
scene, my first New Year’s Eve alone.  I’m a bit envious.  They don’t know what
they have.  I didn’t know, until I lost it all.  But I won’t let it get me
down.  For the first time in my life, I feel hopeful about my future.  I don’t
know what it will bring, but I promise myself, I won’t be afraid anymore.

It’s 11:59, and the countdown starts.

Five…four…three…two…one.

Happy New Year.

January 1, 3041
9:05 AM

“Working on a holiday?” Bastion
says to me as he walks into my office.

“Of course,” I say.  “You know
there are always things to be done.”

“I sure do,” he replies.

“I take it you’re here to give me
your status.  I understand you’ve finished your report.”

“I have.”

“And?” I ask curiously.

“As you detailed in your findings,
Maya Lawton died of synconium poisoning.  It seems it was caused by our
implants.”

“That’s a shame,” I say
disappointedly.  “I hate it when our work goes to waste.  And what of her
children?”

“The United Species Alliance acted
fast.  They sent in a team to hunt and kill them.”

“Did they notice you?” I say
sternly.

“Negative, sir, I was able to
follow their movements unseen.”

“Good.  So what of her children?”

“The Alliance was able to kill ten
of them,” he tells me.  “But, fortunately, the one you’re interested in still
lives.”

“Excellent!” I exclaim.  “So,
where is she?”

“That’s the thing sir, she
disappeared,” he says.  I’m mildly annoyed by the news, but he carries on. 
“The United Species Alliance thinks she’s dead, but she was aided by the wolf
agent, Fenrir Snow.  They vanished through a teleporter.  I should’ve stopped
them.”

“No, that’s quite all right,
Bastion.  Remember, we are to remain in the dark at all costs.”

“Understood.  Since they left Primm,
we’ve failed to find any clues on Iris Lawton’s location.”

“Well our priority is to find
her.  She’s different from the others,” I say to a concerned Bastion.  “She’s
special.”