Charged - Book One (13 page)

“So you are the last one made?” This was a really sad
thought, that she watched all her brothers and sisters die.

“Actually, a law was put in place about two hundred
years ago that companion production would cease forever.”

“You’re two hundred years old!” Aaron blurted this
out; I wasn’t sure if he was amazed or laughing.

I knew she would be older, but I didn’t think she
would be that old.

“No, Danel broke the law when he made me. He went
against Ben’s wishes and put an order in for me and because of his
rank, I was produced. It’s complicated. Danel’s wife died before
they were able to clone themselves, so his grief governed his
actions. Ben could feel his grief; all of them could. To say the
least, it was disruptive to the others. So Ben let me live and now
Ben loves me as Danel does. You see, everyone here is my brother,
my sister, my mother, my father… do you understand?”

Her expression was almost pleading for us to accept
her people. I nodded and so did Aaron.

This explained the sorrow behind her brief smiles.
She was the last of her kind and also she was created at a time in
which she was the only one.

Aaron and I were quiet for a while, trying to absorb
everything she’d said. She leaned back in her chair, tilting her
head to the left, crossing her arms. It was a protective position;
she was almost curled up into a ball. She was staring at me —
probably sizing me up, too. I found myself focusing on her full
lips and thick, long eyelashes.

“So why isn’t Ben in charge instead of Danel, if he’s
the oldest?” Aaron said. This was a question I hadn’t thought of,
but had my attention.

“He’s what you would call ‘retired,’” she said,
smiling again. She found us amusing and I think she was expecting
harder questions.

She got up and poured herself a cup of black coffee
out of the new pot Aaron just made. Thank God, they had coffee down
here. She didn’t drink it, though, but instead sat down with it
smelling it occasionally, appearing to enjoy the aroma.

“So they are just content to stay down here?”

“Yes. The Earth was given to you first. They are
happy to have a place in it at all,” she said. “It’s already 7 p.m.
Do you need me to get you something else to eat?”

I hadn’t realized the time passed so quickly.

“What time did we get up?”

“Around 1 p.m.”

“That would be great. I know you must have other
things to do.”

“It’s been a long day for you, with the knee and all.
You need to rest. I’ll be back in a few minutes. Do you want steaks
or chicken?”

“Steaks,” Aaron said.

“Thank you… for everything,” I said to her, on her
way out.

“We’ll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow. Be right
back.”

My fears started to fade. Danel was still terrifying
to look at, but I was somewhat reassured that they also had laws to
abide by. And so far, only one was broken, when Danel demanded the
production of Kye, like ordering a new car. Now I had a moment to
talk to Aaron.

“Did you catch the clone info?”

“Yes. And I know what you’re going to say. But I
don’t think cloning themselves in masses is their intent,” he
whispered. He got up and turned the water on in the kitchenette
sink and sat back down. We were probably still being recorded and
I’d totally forgotten.

“What makes you think that?” I whispered back.

“If the light in here makes Danel cringe, it most
likely affects the rest in the same way. I don’t think living
topside is a possibility for them, even if they wanted to.”

“What if they could reside in a place like Seattle,
with little to almost no direct sunlight?” I said.

“Based on the very low blue light settings they have
now, I would say it would be very uncomfortable for them.”

“But is it possible?”

“It depends on a lot of factors. This is artificial
light here,” he said, pointing up. “The UV rays of the sun could
blind them entirely. They could’ve landed on the dark side of Earth
when they got here, only to find out it rotated at a much faster
rate than their planet and had to literally run from the sun. I
don’t think you embed your ship hundreds of feet into the ground,
in a place where it’s surrounded by thousand-foot-high canyon
walls, if you’re not terrified of the sun.”

I understood what he was saying, but I still thought
it was possible and he saw this in my expression.

“Lewis, we are talking about photons and spectrums
here. The very dim blue light in this station has a very short
wavelength and scatters easily. It’s probably why they’re somewhat
translucent. And did you see how their suns moved in the hologram?
None of them were ever in the same place until the planets had
rotated each other fifteen times. I think our sun would cause them
great damage over time. I also think that if they were ever topside
communicating with us, that it was after sunset.”

I’d gave some thought to what he’d said and after a
few minutes Kye was knocking on the door. Aaron was up in lightning
speed, making it look like he was getting a glass of water when she
let herself in. She brought back steaks, baked potatoes and what
looked like grilled asparagus with lemon sauce. Aaron was
drooling.

“You have a replicator back there?” Aaron said,
shocked at the food.

Kye smiled really big. “No, but Collin’s been making
me steaks for a while now. I should have said earlier that everyone
but me is a vegetarian. I’ll be by around nine to wake you.” She
left quickly and the door remained unlocked, but I found it amusing
it had inside bolts. They were probably useless really.

Everything was on the table. There was butter, sour
cream, steak sauce, even a few Cokes.

“Wow, I’m liking her,” Aaron said, sitting down.
“We’re eating now, right? I’m still starving.”

“Definitely.”

I sat down at the tiny table after flicking on the
kitchen light to see better and proceeded to consume everything
she’d brought.

“I don’t think she’s your type, bro,” Aaron said,
trying to lighten the situation a little, with a mouth half-full of
steak.

“I know she’s not your type, Aaron.” I played along;
the day had been too serious for us both.

“She’s half your age, dude.”

“Actually, I’m pretty sure she’s twice my age.” He
laughed at this comment and we continued to enjoy our dinner.

Aaron and I spoke very little after dinner. I washed
the plates in the sink with the dish soap I found. The suite was
definitely made for humans. I was washing dishes. Surely they had
some kind of beam that would just evaporate the remaining food and
bacteria. I had to laugh at it.

Afterwards, Aaron and I both seemed deep in thought,
still unsure of our situation. Were we really safe down here with
them? I wanted to believe they were vegetarians. I wanted to
believe they had no weapons. But I couldn’t believe Danel and I
felt a strange sadness for Kye.

Around eleven o’clock, Aaron was still jotting down
questions for Kye. I made sure Aaron had a loaded gun under his
spare pillow and rolled into the other queen bed across from his
and put my .357 where I always did.

I had to admit things didn’t play out the way I
expected them. The assumptions I’d made didn’t even slightly
resemble what had actually occurred. I was more than glad to be
wrong about most of it and I trusted the rest would be revealed in
time. Currently, the circumstances were not volatile and there was
a hint of compassion in Danel’s voice. Although there were more
unanswered questions, I knew Kye wanted us here. An image of Kye
lingered in my mind; the tight calves, the shiny dark brown hair,
the slight smile and almond-shaped eyes. I drifted off with all of
these things lingering in my mind.

“GOOD MORNING! I have coffee and bagels and donuts!
And we are meeting everyone today, so get up, you guys!”

The sound of her voice made me smile and I awoke in
the same suite we were in yesterday. It was still not a dream, but
this time I didn’t feel the need to pull my gun on her. I searched
for any discomfort in my knee; there was none. This was real. All
of it was real. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t
dreading getting up. But Aaron was moving slower than molasses. I
looked at Kye and she was riveting in a tight blue silk dress and
matching heels. Her thick hair was set in large shiny curls and I
gave her a dazzling smile and she smiled softly back at me.

She set down the tray on the little kitchen table for
two and on her arm was a black duffel bag. She tossed it on the
kitchen counter with a renewed sense of energy. It was full of
toothbrushes, toothpaste, shavers, soap, everything down to dental
floss and nose-hair trimmers, which I laughed at, ‘cause they were
clearly meant for me. She laughed, too.

“Am I being too subtle?” she said, with a big
smile.

“No, you’re being very clear,” I said, smiling
back.

Everything was still so unreal. I looked at her for a
long moment, taking in her translucent skin and gold glowing eyes.
I wanted to reach out and touch her for a second, but I restrained
myself. When I walked across the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee,
everything sank in. My knee didn’t fail me, not once.

Kye seemed to glow today. Yes, her skin did have
glowing swirly things under it, but her face just beamed with
excitement. She reached into the hall beyond our door and brought
in more duffel bags of new clothes: jeans and button-up shirts,
socks and underwear. She had thought of everything.

After coffee and donuts, we showered, shaved and
dressed and she inspected us. I felt significantly underdressed
compared to her and her new modern outfit was distracting me. The
dress, from the waist down, was slightly see-through in our
lighting, which I’m sure was not noticeable at all in the dim blue
light. When she noticed I was staring, I shifted my eyes down,
slightly embarrassed.

“I kind of need a haircut,” I said, brushing at the
thick curls at the back of my head with my hand.

“No, you’re fine,” she responded.

“Are there things, subjects we shouldn’t approach?”
Aaron asked. His excitement emulated hers.

I shook my head at my tall, lanky friend and hoped he
wouldn’t ask any questions today that were accusatory or
embarrassing.

“Just be yourselves. They haven’t interacted with
humans in years. They adore humans, in a simple way.”

Now I was a little nervous and a little
disheartened.

“So they think we’re pets?”

“No, it’s not like that,” she said, shaking her
head.

“Then what’s it like?” Aaron said directly.

“Well, humans are beautiful and frail to them… like
children and there haven’t been a lot of children here, if you know
what I mean.”

I wanted to trust Kye and I knew this would be
different, but I wanted to stay and so did Aaron, so we would
appease those we met for now.

I put the shoulder holster on and Kye looked
disappointed.

“You won’t need that,” she said, staring at the
loaded gun I placed in it. The excitement left her face and her
smile straightened into a stiff line. It was like she was scolding
me.

I couldn’t remember the last time I didn’t have my
gun on me. I just couldn’t bring myself to take it off. I pulled a
light jacket on over it to conceal it. I would’ve been out of my
mind to go meet a tribe of aliens on day three without a weapon.
After a few seconds, Aaron gave me the same look and I was starting
to think I was the only sane person in the room.

Kye led us down several long corridors to what looked
like a café.

“Okay, we’re at the main hall. This is where we eat.
They are expecting you, so be kind.” That was all she said as she
led us into the center of the room. I thought it was odd that she
was telling us to be kind; they were nine feet tall or taller and I
was thinking she should be more worried about us.

All at once, the creatures in the room rose to look
at us. I counted fifteen of them and my heart drummed faster. Most
were wearing white lab coats, though some were wearing casual human
clothes. There were two wearing grey robes that hung to the floor
and the fabric seemed worn and old. The dim blue lights had been
turned way up for us and I could easily see all the way to the back
of the room. I walked in farther and Aaron followed. It was
intimidating and I could feel the tension in the air.

Some were taller than others, some were heavier, but
all of them were over eight feet tall. I felt trivial and my hands
started trembling. I was completely in awe at the size of them.
Then the tallest of the group walked forward and held out its giant
spider-like hand. Immediately, I felt a slight hitch in my
breathing and my heart was pounding double-time. I had to look way
up at it. For a second, I thought I was experiencing vertigo. The
room swayed slightly as I peered at the colossal creature towering
over me.

“I’m Ben. Nice to meet you,” it said.

Ben was taller and stockier than Danel. I put my hand
in his, but he didn’t shake it. He closed all seven of his large
fingers around it, dwarfing it considerably and turning what I
thought was a large manly hand into an infant’s, then he closed his
eyes.

I didn’t mean to, but I was staring at his thumbs; he
had two of them, one on each side of his palm and five fingers
between them. I’m sure he could sense I was nervous and if he
didn’t, my sweaty palms definitely gave it away.

His eyes emitted a soft greenish-blue light with a
hint of yellow around the edges; I couldn’t name the color exactly.
I don’t think it existed on Earth. I waited for a moment. After a
few seconds, he opened his eyes and I was really hoping he was
smiling as he parted back his lipless mouth into a straight
horizontal line. And then he let go of my hand. I mustered up some
courage and smiled back. I didn’t know if he could see who I was by
a simple handshake, but I remembered he could feel the others. I
wished we had more time to ask Kye additional questions before this
meeting. A few seconds passed then he waved the others forward.