Authors: Jeremy Laszlo
* * * * *
It was several hours later when one of the robotic servants of the invading aliens returned with a simple message which Tammy joined her companions at the door to receive. Peeking over both Sam and Jack’s shoulders, she looked at the robot, seeing nothing that would distinguish it from any other.
“All the species delivered to Earth have begun being collected and sorted for return to their planets. Within a few short weeks the task should be completed and those species with a safe home to return to will begin their voyages back.”
“Thank you for the update,” Jack replied to the metal visage of a humanoid.
Without another word the robot spun and stalked away, allowing them all to return to their meal. As they gathered around the table once more, Tammy sat with her friends and shared a meal of pickles, corn bread, and the remainder of the scavenged MRE meals from the elementary school what felt like a lifetime ago. It wasn’t anything particularly grand, or even tasty for that matter, as she had been eating the same things for some time now. But it was special.
It was nice to sit down and eat a meal with friends without fear that at any second you might have to run for your life. It was a wonderful change to know that you could sleep at night without fear of something finding you that might want to eat you. It made Tammy very happy to know that she was safe for the first time in what felt like forever, and now her people had a world that they could call home.
Finishing her meal, she stood and stretched, eyeing the bunk beds for what must have been the thousandth time.
“Do you guys think it is night?” she asked.
“It sure feels like it,” Jack answered.
“It always feels like it,” Sam added with a grin.
“Bed time?” Will asked.
“I think that’s a good idea,” Sam said, standing and pushing in her chair.
Tammy was impressed. A few hours to relax, and a fully belly seemed to have been just what all of them needed. And a shower. That had helped a lot too.
“Okay,” Will said, bouncing up from his own chair and making his way towards a bunk.
“Not so fast, little man,” Sam said, stopping him in his tracks.
“How come?” Will asked, tilting his head to the side.
“You need a bath first,” Sam replied with a semi-stern voice.”
“Aw, c’mon. I’ll still be dirty tomorrow. I can wash it off then.”
“Nope. Not happening. Go and take a bath,” Sam ordered, pointing towards the bathroom.
“You know I can make you change your mind, right?” Will asked.
“You know I can pin you down and tickle you till you pee, right?” Sam replied.
Tammy couldn’t help but laugh. Trying to fight it as it came, she wound up snorting, causing all of her friends to turn and look at her, each of them beginning to laugh as well. With her cheeks growing warm, Tammy turned to hide her embarrassment.
“Oh no you don’t, snorty!” Will said, giggling.
“Who are you calling snorty, stinky?” Tammy replied, “I’ve been around you after pickled eggs and didn’t say a word.”
“Well played, Tammy,” Will said before sticking out his tongue.
“That’s enough,” Jack chimed in,” You get in the tub.”
Tammy watched as Will’s chin dropped slightly, and he jutted out his lower lip a bit before stalking into the bathroom and closing the door. As she looked to her friends, they all smiled at Will’s display and went about clearing the table before choosing which beds they would be sleeping in.
Before lying down to go to sleep, Tammy gave thanks to the great prophet for guiding her to this moment. She wasn’t alone any longer. She was safe. And with all things considered, she was happy. It was a simple prayer of thanks, but one her father would have been proud of were he still living, and that was enough for her.
Closing her eyes she wondered what life would be like once they left the City of Angels. She dreamed of towering cities like the human ones she had seen in the encyclopedias. She imagined busy roads, and crowded sidewalks and children playing in parks. She knew that it would take time and effort to rebuild, let alone make peace with the fact that they were all sharing a planet, but she knew in her heart they would get there. All they had to do was believe, and work hard.
It was the third time in as many weeks, that Jack, Sam, and Will had been summoned to the lab to give more samples. Though the weeks had gone by without any bad news, it seemed to Jack that it was taking too long. Something seemed out of place. If they could clone tissue, why did they need to keep taking more samples? He had asked as many questions and more, and every time they were met with answers about tissue degradation, and proper nutrition of the cells to make them viable.
He wasn’t a scientist by a long shot and couldn’t even understand half of what was told to him, but Jack knew in his gut that something was going on behind the scenes, and he intended to figure out just what it was… as soon as he was done giving samples.
Though the first two few times they had undergone the process one at a time, now well aware of what it entailed, all three sat down as they were accustomed to doing to give samples simultaneously. As before their skin was numbed, and Jack watched right up until the point that the needle to draw his blood made contact with his skin. After that, he faced away, simply waiting for the process to be over.
As each time in the past, his blood was drawn, followed by an incision to his am through which tissue biopsies were taken and a small portion of marrow was core drilled from his bone. Listening as the process ensued, he waited patiently for the definitive snap that meant his flesh had been stapled closed and the process was over, but after hearing the drill there seemed a delay. Turning to see if he had somehow missed it, he witnessed as a syringe of thick yellow liquid was injected into his arm just above his incision.
Trying to pull away from the needle, he remembered his arm was secured to the chair, and yelled out just as the final tool moved into place to close his wound.
“What was that you injected us with?” Jack demanded, watching as fear filled the faces of his siblings.
“It is a remedy we have been preparing over these last weeks,” came the synthetic voice from the room.
“What kind of remedy?” Jack growled in anger.
“Apologies, Jack. In order to preserve your species as it is, it was necessary to mitigate the damage that has been done to your genetic structure.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
“Through the radiation that you have been subject to, your genetic code had begun to mutate, allowing you and your siblings abilities that are not innately human. In order to return you to the population of earth, it was deemed necessary to repair the damage done to your genes, and restore you to what you were prior to our arrival.”
“So you have taken our abilities?” Jack asked, wondering if it were even possible.
“Not immediately, no. It will take time for the therapy to work, but over time your telekinetic ability will weaken and eventually it will go dormant once more.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. We have been working on the antidote for weeks and have tested it thoroughly.”
Jack almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It made sense, they couldn’t just leave him and his siblings as superhuman freaks to roam around the world. What if they had an effect on other people and those near them started developing abilities of growing extra limbs and stuff? Jack didn’t know what was possible, and as such he didn’t argue. It did suck that he was just really getting used to his ability and now it would be taken away. In a sense, it felt sort of like having a piece of him locked up for no one to see. He didn’t like the feeling, but knew that a seven year old with the ability to get anything he wanted was dangerous under any circumstance.
“You didn’t have to hide it from us. We would have understood.”
“We are sorry for our deception, but it seemed the safest way.”
Jack supposed they were right. Had they said they planned to take away their abilities, what was to stop Will from going up to their chamber and simply telling them not to? It was wise not to take such a risk. He probably would have done the same himself had the roles been reversed.
“So how much longer do you suppose you will need to keep us around?” he asked, expecting the same answer as every time before.
“We expect you will be able to go tomorrow. We should have these samples tested by morning. At that time, we expect to be able to leave and keep our promise to humanity.”
Jack let the words sink in for a moment. He hadn’t expected to leave anytime soon. He was actually comfortable here. They all were. It was the closest thing to home any of them had had for too long, and it felt just like making the decision to leave the vault all over again. Jack felt sick to his stomach all of a sudden. He didn’t know where they would go or what they would do.
“Then what of your spire?”
“It will be deactivated, but left behind. Even now, that which we need is being moved to our ships in preparation for leaving.”
“And all species that don’t belong here are gone?”
“Yes. We have scanned the surface of your planet several times. All is as was promised. Humans have been released along with the Tolgorans and Gominates. All others have been divided onto appropriate world ships and most have already departed with orders to return their peoples to their original homes.”
“Thank you,” Jack said, not knowing what else to say.
“You are welcome, Jack. Thank you for your mercy, and showing us a way to a prosperous future.”
Jack simply nodded. Tomorrow they would leave the spire, or the City of Angels as Tammy called it. He didn’t know what awaited them outside. He didn’t know where they would go or what they would do. He supposed, just like before, they would simply have to pick a direction and do their best to survive. Maybe in time they would find a place to settle down and build a life for themselves. Judging by the past month or so, he supposed that anything was possible. All there was to do was wait and see.
* * * * *
Sam watched as the clamps were removed from her arm, and raised her wrist to rub it. She now had four matching wounds in her arm, though two had already healed, leaving nothing but a pair of crescent shaped scars, and two more remained with staples in them. She supposed Jack would have to remove them for her if the aliens and their machines were leaving. Leaving. It sounded funny after being here for weeks.
She had learned a lot about herself in the last month. She was strong, stronger than she would have ever believed before. She was also kinder than she would have given herself credit for. Looking across the room to Will, she knew that one day, when he was all grown up and on his own, that she would enjoy having children of her own. It wasn’t the reliance upon her that she enjoyed. No, it was the ability to care for someone so wholeheartedly, that you couldn’t picture your life without them. That was what Jack, Will and Tammy were to her. They were her life and she couldn’t imagine losing any one of them.
Climbing out of her chair, she rose to follow Jack and Will back down the hall to meet Tammy for dinner. They had plans for the evening that they were all looking forward to, and Sam could hardly hold back her excitement. This was their last night in the spire and it would be a memory for all of them to look back on for all their lives. Tomorrow it seemed it was time to start a new life and though that made her anxious, she couldn’t feel sad about it. She was ready to move on. It was time to rebuild all that was lost. Sam only hoped that this time, humanity would learn from the mistakes it had made in the past and that the future would be brighter than it had been a year ago.
Making their way down the hall, they stepped into the light transporter and traveled down the many floors to the one they resided on. After traversing the corridors, they entered their room and Sam tried her best to take it all in and to remember how she had felt upon seeing it for the first time just a few weeks ago. It was strange that it had made her uneasy then, yet now she knew that she would miss it dearly in the days to come.
Smiling at Tammy, who greeted them with a smile, she joined her brothers and friend at the table, which was now covered in food.
“Tammy, did you do all this?”
“Of course not, but I did ask for it all,” she smiled.
“What a great surprise,” Sam said, admiring all the food.
“We have a surprise too,” Jack began, “We’re free to leave tomorrow.”
Sam watched Tammy’s expression change from excitement to worry and back to excitement once again. It was apparent that she had the same concerns and fears that all of them likely had. Sam didn’t want it to blemish Tammy’s mood or surprise, so tried to turn the attention back to the food.
“Let’s worry about that tomorrow. Right now, I just want to gobble up as much of this as possible,” Sam said with a smile to her friend, who nodded happily in reply.
It was the most amazing looking meal they had seen in months. Better than any five star restaurant; they all admired the food before them for just a moment before picking and choosing what they wanted. Though each of them ended up taking a little of everything. Looking down at her plate, Sam eyed the fried chicken and her cheeseburger like a coyote might look at a hen. It was amazing what the aliens could do with the resources they had. Such technology could go a far way to re-establishing civilization for the humans. Perhaps that is why they intended to leave the spire behind. Maybe it was a gesture of good faith, allowing the humans to reverse engineer that which they needed to reclaim the Earth. Either way, it didn’t really matter now. What was important was a full belly to get their energy up and be ready for tomorrow. At least that’s what Sam kept telling herself as she went back for seconds and then thirds as well.
* * * * *
Will didn’t care how much food was on his chin, or his shirt, or even his lap. What was important was eating, and eating more, and then more until he felt like he was going to explode. For the first week they had eaten all their remaining supplies, supplemented by an oatmeal-like substance provided by the aliens. It was gross, but in speaking with the aliens’ robots, they discovered that the aliens had collected many livestock and other animals for genetic experimentation and transplantation onto other worlds, something they had learned now was perhaps not the wisest of ideas. Either way, it didn’t take too much begging for the aliens to concede in using some of the livestock for food.
Until now the meals had been simple. Meat, cooked without any seasoning or spice, and the oatmeal-like substance the aliens had used to feed their slaves and prisoners. At the request of Tammy, however, with her vast studying of encyclopedias and all, the aliens had created for them a meal that Will and his siblings were more familiar with, and boy, was Will glad she did. A cheeseburger! Seriously? He never thought he would have a cheeseburger again and if that weren’t enough, Tammy had gone over the top and had them make the most delicious thing ever created by man. Chicken. Freaking. Nuggets. Oh, how he loved Tammy.
Scarfing down plate after plate, Will didn’t even bother using the odd utensils provided. His fingers were all he needed to gulp down copious amounts of everything on the table. It had to have been an hour. Maybe five, Will didn’t know or care, but when he finished eating, he stuffed one last chicken nugget in his mouth and a handful in his pocket, just in case. Pushing back from the table he sighed just as Jack, Sam, and Tammy had done long ago, and looking up to the ceiling in a daze he could barely smile when his chair rumbled just a little.
“You nasty, nasty little man,” Sam said, causing him to giggle just a little.
“What did you expect?” Jack asked. “It doesn’t matter what he eats.”
“I know, I’m just thankful that you share a bunk with him and not me,” Sam replied with a smirk.
They relaxed a while around the table, just enjoying their full bellies. When it was nearing time to leave, Will joined his siblings and Tammy as they pushed themselves up and out of their chairs with swollen tummies before clearing the table. Making sure that everything was where it belonged, they left the room in a good mood and headed for the light transporter at the end of the corridor.
* * * * *
Tammy didn’t know whether to be excited about tomorrow or not as she walked down the hallway. She knew that eventually they would be leaving the City of Angels, but hadn’t anticipated that it would be so soon. She wondered what the world would be like in the days, weeks, and months to come. Would there be tension between the humans and her people? Would they be resentful of the arrival of her kind? Would there be fights? Where would she live? Where would she go? She had read a great deal about the Earth that was, but now all of that was gone. She had seen hundreds of pictures of places that she wanted to visit, but it was all destroyed now. Human history had been decimated. Nothing was left.
She supposed it was a good thing. If everyone was starting over, maybe they could learn to work together and live in peace. Maybe they would help each other recover from what was done to them. Maybe it didn’t matter where she went. Maybe with the whole world looking for a fresh start she could find a place to fit in and settle down. She hadn’t ever thought about it until now. It had never even seemed a possibility. She supposed she would just have to take it a day at a time and see where it led her. Hopefully, if things weren’t strained between her people and humans, she could live near Jack, Sam, and Will. That would be ideal, but only time would tell.
Focusing on where they were going, Tammy was the last to enter the light transporter and took the controls, guiding them up to the topmost floor. Stepping out of the transporter, they entered directly into a small room that was more like a balcony than anything else. Though metal supports formed six beams that arced over their heads to become one large pole that climbed into the sky above, all the walls were missing, leaving them open to the elements on all sides but the one with the transporter.