The Children of New Earth (9 page)

Several minutes passed, and I didn’t feel any more inclined to break this state of serenity. But then something began to disturb my repose. The darkness of my closed eyelids began to flash white. It got faster and faster until, with a single flash, I heard the crash of lightning surround me. Suddenly I found myself on a mountaintop, a thunderstorm roaring above me. The strong winds made it difficult to maintain my balance or even see my surroundings. But I was eventually able to make out the features of the thing in front of me. It was a female human from the waist up, but she was standing on eight, black, arachnid legs. Massive, reptilian wings spanning almost thirty feet extended from her back. Her skin was a dark shade of purple, and even from this distance I could see the red glow in her eyes.

She held out her right arm, as if inviting me to approach. I was more intrigued than frightened. Something told me this was, in fact, the Queen. But looking at her now, some part of me could not help but wonder what she wanted from me. I could almost hear her voice in my head telling me to go towards her, to see what she was offering. I took one step forward before breaking out of this trance. I realized what I was doing, and remembered that this wasn’t real. I began to back away, toward the edge of the cliff. She lowered her arm, looking displeased. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning crashed directly in front of me, sending chunks of rock flying into the windstorm racing around the mountain. The shaking earth threw me off balance and I fell back over the cliff. As the air rushed past my ears, I felt my mind go blank.

When I awoke, I was again floating on the water. In my panic, I broke the balance and sank under. I quickly stood up and struggled to adjust to the light, covering my face with my hands. When I cleared my eyes, I saw that the others were already on shore, and the sun was just beginning to meet the horizon. Calming down, I submerged below the surface of the waves once more, refreshing myself with the cool water. Then, I walked to shore.

That night, we camped out on the beach. Rachel used telekinesis to drain the water from our impromptu swimming garments and Aelia lit a fire. I never realized how convenient our abilities would be until now. Back at Sanctuary, it was relatively safe and so I never once needed to use my power for survival; I only utilized it to get a little extra sleep and maybe play a joke or two on my friends. On some occasions, I’d use it to complete a seemingly complex project. For me it would take days but for everyone else it’d be as if only hours had passed. As useful as it may have been, it wasn’t the most innovative utilization. But out here, the possibilities were almost endless. I was still hesitant, given the vision I had earlier, but I was beginning to feel more comfortable about it, as if it was a muscle I could finally exercise comfortably. And I sensed that the others felt the same way.

We sat around the fire, huddling in close to its warm embrace. Embers rose into the night sky and the firewood crackled as it burned away. Besides providing warmth, it helped us cook some fish we caught before leaving the water. Lynn wasn’t too pleased about that. But with our stomachs satisfied, Cora gave us something to settle our nerves.

“It’s called wine,” she explained. “It lowers your inhibitions, and makes you…happier. This bottle is nearly 20 years old, there’s no way I was gonna leave it for those anarchist savages.”

“But if it’s that old, why would you want to drink it?” I asked innocently.

“That’s cute,” she replied. “Um, Rachel, would you mind…?”

“No problem!” she fashioned six cups from the sand, and Cora poured each of us a drink.

“Mark, would you like some?” I asked facetiously.

“I’m afraid that substance would be detrimental to my circuits, but if you wish I can lower my inhibition settings.”

Rachel then raised her cub. “To life!”

“To friends!” Aaron raised his.

“To good health!” Aelia added.

“To our parents,” Cora said.

“To our powers!” Lynn said after a moment of silence.

“To our planet,” I raised my glass.

We drank our wine, then another cup, and then another.

“Wait, guys…” I was on my third when I realized something. “What if something attacks us?! This stuff won’t exactly improve our reflexes.”

“Shit…you’re right,” Aaron said, putting down his drink. “You go ahead, friends. That’s enough for me.”

We exchanged quick glances before putting down our own cups.

“That’s very noble of you, Aaron,” Cora said. “But we should all stay alert.”

“Hey, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but you’re awesome and I love you,” I told Aaron with a smile.

They all laughed.

“I think you humans are the strangest species I have ever had the privilege of storing in my information memory,” Mark said, floating above the fire.

“That could mean any number of things,” Aelia indicated. “Define strange.”

“I only meant a minimal amount of offense,” Mark said in a very human tone. “It is indeed your odd quirks that make you fascinating life forms.”

“I’ve never been complimented by a robot before,” Rachel said.

In actuality, we were all very flattered.

“You know what would be perfect right now?” Aaron said. “A good song.”

“Do any of you know any songs?” I inquired hopefully. Music was an Old Earth luxury, and the only songs available to us were those that we wrote on our own.

“Hey! Cora knows one!” Lynn pointed out.

“Yeah! Sing the one your mom taught you!” Aelia suggested.

“Oh, alright,” Cora agreed. “It’s a very old song, called ‘The Parting Glass.’” She sat up and looked into the fire.

The rest of did the opposite and laid down in the warm sand. She then began to sing with one of the most soothing voices I had ever heard. Her words spoke of a person looking back upon his or her life, comforted in knowing they lived fully and happily. There was a bittersweet verse about saying goodbye, the sadness in leaving one life but the hope of rising into a better one. It was a sweet, quaint song that I would remember for years to come.

When she finished, Aelia, Lynn, and Rachel had all fallen asleep. Even Mark had settled and powered down. I was lying in the sand, using my backpack as a pillow. The only thing stronger than the soft call of sleep was Cora’s song, and I wished nothing more than to hear it to the very end. Aaron had also been listening intently as she sang. When it was over, I felt a single tear escape my eyes. The last thing I saw before I let sleep take me was Cora turning her head to Aaron, and him looking back at her. Their eyes met, and then mine closed.

Chapter 7

I once again dreamt of a city from before the war, this time under the enchanting canopy of night. I was standing in a wide, crowded street. Buildings towered all around me, decorated in a rainbow of smooth, glossy lights. They displayed images of men and women wearing strange clothing, pictures of peculiar technological devices, and odd names spelled out in large, shiny letters.

The roads were devoid of cars since the crowd was overflowing onto the street. I noticed several people in dark blue uniforms walking about, apparently keeping the excited crowd in check. Most of the people around me were drinking from cans and bottles, wearing blue hats and waving tiny flags. They were all laughing and cheering amongst themselves, and many huddled up in groups to combat the cold.

It was a lot to take in. This rush of stimulus to my senses was nothing I’d ever experienced before. Shivering against the wind, I could only wonder what everyone was gathered here for. I was about to try and find out when a woman, probably no older than myself, bumped into me.

“Oh, real sorry about that,” she said. “Kinda maybe had a pint too many if you know what I mean.”

She was wearing a long, blue coat complemented by bright red boots. Her smooth, black hair extended slightly past her shoulders, a contrast to her white complexion and cheeks turned red from the cold.

“It’s no problem,” I said smiling. “Hey, do you what everyone’s doing here?”

“Wow, you must’ve had a lot more than I did,” she laughed.

She then disappeared into the crowd, leaving my question unanswered. However, it didn’t remain that way for long. After a couple more minutes, I noticed everyone was starting to look up at the peak of one of the buildings. I followed their gaze, and saw a huge, green sphere held in place above a massive screen. This display had begun to show numbers counting down from sixty.

59, 58, 57, 56, 55…
The cheering got a little louder.

46, 45, 44, 43, 42…
My heartbeat speed up, and I began to feel a strange excitement. I had absolutely no idea what was going on, but for some reason the energy of the crowd and my own curiosity was exhilarating.

32, 21, 30, 29, 28…
Halfway there. The cheering intensified.

24, 23, 22, 21, 20…
So close. Somewhere in the distance I started to hear people counting along with the screen.

15, 14, 13, 12, 11…
Now everyone was counting down, and even I joined in.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
The cheering reached a thunderous climax as the giant screen displayed the message: “Happy New Year!”

Of course! This was how the people of Old Earth celebrated the end of one year and the start of another. Interestingly enough, the air didn’t feel as cold anymore. Millions of colorful paper strips began to rain from the sky. Lights flashed in a celebratory manner, and lively music began to play loud enough to be heard over the crowd. All around me people were kissing and hugging each other in a beautiful display of affection. My joy was cut short, however, when I saw the next message on the screen.

It read “2050” in shiny, yellow characters.

This was the year the Demons would attack, the year mankind would begin the bloodiest war it had ever fought. I looked around at all these people and their loved ones, realizing that for most of them, this would be their last year on Earth.

There was, however, one face in the crowd that stood out from the rest. It was that of a woman, and she was looking right at me. As her blood-red eyes pierced my very soul, the music began to die down, and the cheering dulled to a point where all I could hear was my own heartbeat. Each second began to feel like a minute, and a shadow started to cloud my vision. She was just looking at me, but it was her expression that confused me the most. She seemed sad, almost upset. Before the darkness consumed my sight, I saw her mouth two words: “Wake up.”

I woke up with a start, sitting up with my hands in the warm sand for support. Reality came rushing back, and relief swept over me with the cool beach breeze. The fire had died down to nothing but a tiny red glow, and the light had only begun to creep up above the horizon. The others were still asleep, save Aaron and Cora. They were sitting together on a nearby boulder, forming silhouettes against the orange sky. Presumably, they were keeping watch over the camp. Their eyes scanned the horizon but I sensed that their minds entertained other thoughts.

Nevertheless, I laid back down feeling safe and surprisingly comfortable. The details of my dream began to fade, and though I remembered what had happened, my mind chose to protect me by allowing the fear I felt to melt away. Deciding that I had a couple more hours of rest, I fell asleep once again before I could give it another thought.

I don’t recall dreaming about anything the second time, and when I woke, the others were already up and about. Lynn was in cat form, licking herself clean. It seemed like a natural, practical process until I thought about what was actually happening, at which point I turned away in embarrassment. Aelia was packing some leftover fish, presumably for our impending journey. Rachel was experimenting with her Orb by the water; I couldn’t tell what she was trying to make, but it’d grown to be almost her size. Mark was floating next to her, apparently aiding in the construction. The only two missing were Aaron and Cora.

I walked up to Aelia.

“Morning,” I said nicely. “Need any help?”

“Nah, this is the last of it,” she said. “Just waiting on the others to get back.”

“Where are they?”

She shrugged. “Who knows?”

“When will they be back?”

She repeated her answer.

Her apathy bothered me a little. “They could be in trouble, you know.”

“They’re armed Neogens,” she said. “They’ll be fine.”

“Neither of them have offensive powers,” I said, slightly annoyed. “We aren’t in a Sanctuary anymore, we don’t know what’s out here.”

She stood up but before she could respond, she looked past my shoulder. “Well there you go. Told you they’d be fine.”

I turned to see two small figures approaching over a sandy hill. They were coming from the wooden walkway bordering the beach, most likely scavenging for supplies. I was almost relieved, but after a few seconds I could see that they were running. Cora was waving her arms and and Aaron seemed to have his gun out.

“I think something’s wrong,” I said nervously to Aeyla.

“What is it?” Lynn had walked up and followed my gaze. “Oh, they seem to be running…”

This caught Aelia’s attention. “What?”

The two were nearly upon us when we finally saw what they were running from. It was a Swarm. The flood of Demons came barreling over the mounds of sand, screeching and growling as they charged towards our position.

“Oh, shit,” my heart just about stopped. “How are they out in broad daylight?!”

“Doesn’t matter” Aelia charged a flame. “I’ll take care of it.”

Aaron and Cora finally reached us. “We need to get off this beach!” Cora said urgently.

“Guys, this way!” Rachel called out.

We looked over to see her standing on the shore next to a shiny, white boat. It took a second before I realized it was the Orb, sculpted into this huge flotation device. The real question was: could it carry our weight?

“Do not worry. This watercraft is perfectly seaworthy,” Mark said, reading my mind.

I called out for Aelia to come back. She was several meters ahead, strings of flame orbiting her arms. After some hesitation, she turned around, somewhat annoyed that she wouldn’t be able to set something on fire. Acknowledging the seemingly endless Swarm, she dissipated the flames and ran back to us.