Cold Mark (2 page)

Peacefully alone, never intruding on the other.

It was how it was.

Kiera asked quietly, "Do you really think our village is how Greece appeared on Earth?"

I nodded gently, glancing away from the setting sun to our home. "Yes. Madam showed me pictures of Earth. It is the same."

"A
replica
," Jax clarified, speaking of how our people had used the technology brought with them to replicate certain cities of Earth.

I nodded again, agreeing. "Yes. It is a replica."

"A damn good one," Ola muttered, reaching across me to steal Jax's alcho-brew. "I've seen the pictures, too. Everything is the same."

"Indeed," I murmured, then hushed them gently. "
Shh
. The sun is almost gone."

The words were barely out of my mouth when all four of us went deathly quiet.

On their own accord, my eyes began to widen as I watched the Scape's shoreline recede from the white sand, pulling further ... and further ... and
further
out.

My whisper was the sound nightmares called love. "No ... "

Just as suddenly, all four of our halo-watches blared with a corrupt alarm.

We slammed our hands down on our watches, cutting the eerie noise off though we could still hear the echo from the village, everyone's watches warning them ... and then the church bells began singing the song of dread. Clanging over and over again. Not stopping, only getting louder in my ears as scalding tears threatened to spill over my lashes, burning to spill their fill onto my cheeks.

"
Fuck you
," Jax screamed, jumping to his feet and hurling his stolen drink far over the cliff to the receding Scape. It was an action of the damned, a furious battle he—we would not win. Joyal was mainly made of the Scape, a planet primarily consisting of water. Because of this, we had many meters to gauge seismic activity, even under the ocean. But the four of us did not need any alarm warning us with our heightened vantage point.

The ocean was still retreating.

It was our planet fighting back when we had only given it reverence.

Ola whispered, "We need to go."

"Go where?" Keira demanded, shoving to her feet and running her hands through her hair. "We are at the highest point in Plata. This is where," she pointed a finger down at the homes on the cliffside, "
they
need to come."

"Kiera's right," I heard myself mumble, my voice ... off ... monotone while my fingers tingled with approaching numbness. "We should stay here. Madam will arrive soon with the other children." They knew this, but it was all I could say. "She'll round them up from the boarding house."

"My bird is there," Ola croaked, peering over her shoulder to the woods. Toward our rooms at the boarding house. "Maybe I—"

"Don't even think about it," Jax barked gruffly, bending directly in front her and grabbing her chin so she would look him straight in the eye. "Your pet is not worth your death."

She swallowed, the sound audible even over the breeze, not pulling away from Jax's brutal, illegal hold on her chin. "Perhaps the tsunami will not be that bad?"

Jax said nothing, just held her gaze while the water receded deeper and deeper, leaving colorful fish flopping to their death on the wet sand, their bodies glistening in the vanishing pink light.

I made myself pat her back, my bones feeling like they were made of stone. "Perhaps."

With a full moon to watch by, it was not peace that filled me as the same two hooligans who had tossed dirt at me this afternoon clung to my legs. Their bitty fingernails bit into my skin as they screamed their panic loud enough to unnerve the devil. I did nothing to stop them as we stood at the edge of the cliff. Madam Ki and the rest of the school children were here, along with any of the townsfolk who had made it up the steep climb to fill the cliffside and woods.

No, instead of consoling the children, I tried to contain my own shout of terror as the largest wave I had ever seen advanced like the swelling doom of apocalypse. The water sparkled a death count under the moon's glow, reminiscent of the stars twinkling in the onyx sky while the villagers filled the night air with their own fear. Those still down below, stubborn or not taking the threat seriously, now understood their fatal mistake.

By the red shimmer of my halo-watch, the tsunami hit Plata at exactly 7:57 PM.

It was the most horrendous explosion of pain I had ever viewed.

The villagers racing for their lives through the streets ... taken, the ocean now their coffin.

The white houses ... taken, the ocean flooding over them like they were the pebbles I stepped on.

The church with the ringing bells ... taken, the oceans floor its destination.

Only the rush of water and wind was heard past the cries of the devastated.

I stood shivering in the night and prayed the blessed sun would be enough to heal our planet.

Jax and I walked side-by-side into the conference hall. We did not speak to one another. Our thoughts were our own, each of us clutching the letters we had received from the President. After the devastation of the tsunami wiping out our largest city, we had known it would come to this. But if we had needed any verification, the two ominous spacecrafts floating behind the building were our proof.

Our society had taken precautions when our people had first landed on Joyal. With our planet's lesser size, and the risk of natural disaster such as we'd had last week, our founders had made a deal with the Mian and the Kireg in exchange for our some of our technology. If a worldwide disaster ever plagued Joyal, the Mian and the Kireg would allow a certain number of Humans to be sent to their planets.

To live there. Amongst them.

Jax and I knew this. We had known the hush-hush information ever since our testing at the age of ten years old when our results had shown a proficiency in languages, political science, and combat practices. Joyal had no real need for policing their people against crimes. We were peaceful in nature thanks to selective genetics, but certain individuals had been trained should the need ever arise. Jax and I were part of those few. The choice had been ours after we had received our test grades. Our schooling would have led us to a seat in our government. It had continued to be our decision as we had grown older, and we had never changed our course. Even with the possibility of what we were now facing.

With our need to be a part of the controlling agents of Joyal, our worst fear was now our reality.

Jax bent, lowering his six-foot, well-built frame to whisper, "Which alien would you rather—"

"The Kireg," I mumbled, cutting him off. It was a no-brainer. "They may have psychic abilities, but at least they have some civility on Egyac."

Jax straightened, nodding his dark head of curly hair. "Same here."

My chin trembled the barest bit. "I hope we aren't separated." I glanced up at him as we came to a stop. There were Joyal agents checking letters at the door, and there were a few people ahead of us. "We're a team."

Jax's exhale was slow, his gray eyes softening, showing his fondness for me. "Braita, we still don't know how many they're taking. We may not even be picked." He lifted his hand and waved it just over the top of my head in a rare show of affection. "But if it is to be, say a small prayer to Mother Joyal that we will remain together."

Instantly, I nodded. "Already done."

Jax cracked a smile. "As I have done, too."

Finished checking our letters, an agent stated, "Females are to sit on the left, males on the right."

My lips pursed. "Why?"

He answered honestly, "I don't know, but it's what the President ordered." He glanced between Jax and I. "If you are chosen, stay safe."

As one, Jax and I moved forward through the doors, saying nothing more. The room was deathly silent when we entered, even though there appeared to be only a few vacant seats remaining. The individuals inside stared forward, watching where the President sat on a chair with his elite colleagues sitting on either side of him. The area where they sat was on a raised platform, so he was in full view of the audience. His own expression was troubled. His brows furrowed as he reviewed the paper he held in his hands. The list of names I was sure. If I were him, ready to name so many to an unknown fate, I would wear the weight on my shoulders, too.

With one last glance at each other, Jax and I separated. He moved to the right and I to the left.

There were far more males than females here. I sat on the lone seat remaining in the section I was led to by another agent. From my quick count, there were only one hundred females, and we only took up a tenth of the room. I knew for a fact there were more females than this in the government program, but a fast assessment showed those summoned today were mainly of a younger crowd. As it was, it was difficult for a female to test into the governing program, and many dropped out before the completion of it and chose an option of schooling that was far less grueling on the body and mind. I had never looked down upon anyone for dropping out, and now, I definitely wished I had been one of those individuals.

The President stood, his lips drawn into a thin line.

The conference hall, already so quiet, now felt like a tomb.

He was handed an inch-long microphone that he pinched between his fingers, staring at it as if he wanted to crush it. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed heavily. Finally, his eyes lifted to the crowd. It was there in his gaze. He did not know if we would survive what he was about to impart on us. His chest rose and fell before he lifted the mike. "You all know why you're here. It is a sacrifice that each of you knew may happen one day. With Plata no more, the agreements made by our founders with the Kireg and the Mian has now been initiated to give the remaining souls on Joyal a fighting chance of survival."

He cleared his throat. "Here are the facts that you do not know. Only those in the governing program between the ages of eighteen and thirty have been picked to come here today. That was my choice. I didn't believe those of younger or older years would be able to handle the transition to another planet."

Silently, I nodded. As did many others. The President's reasoning made sense. I could not imagine a thirteen-year-old or a seventy-year-old being thrown into the Mian or the Kireg world. It would have been a cruelty beyond reproach. But, I also silently cursed my birthday. I had only been eighteen for a month now. If only I had a December day of birth, rather than an August. But I did not. And now I sat, waiting with bated breath for my fate.

The President's eyes traveled from left to right, gazing at each of us. "Out of the thousand in this room, there will be three hundred sent to Triaz and three hundred sent to Egyac." He lifted the paper in his hand and began reading from it. "First, I'll start with the individuals randomly picked for Egyac. If you hear your name called, please exit through the door on your right. Kireg representatives will be waiting there, and you will leave within the hour."

My eyes widened and my jaw went slack. We were not even getting a chance to say goodbye to anyone. They were taking us now, not even allowing us to pack a bag. My regard slammed across the room where Jax sat, his own shock radiating from his features.