Luke tore through the forest, and I clung to my seat, certain he’d plow into a tree trunk. We were about to cross the same river we’d had trouble with earlier when a beam of light pierced the windshield. Luke jammed to a stop, and we looked upward. The light was as bright as the sun, but it didn’t hurt my eyes. I heard Luke say something, and move to get out of his seat, when suddenly I wasn’t in the car anymore. I somehow moved from the car to someplace else. I felt and saw nothing, a blackness surrounded me. I gasped in a breath only to find there was no air. The movement continued, but my panic demanded I breathe, and breathe soon. All around me the blackness was endless. Not again, I thought, remembering my drowning, my heart drumming a tempo of fear.
And then I was gasping air once more, my eyes wildly taking in my surroundings. I was in a sterile white room similar to the one I had woken up in inside the Facility. But no machines were connected to me here. The light was dim and revealed no discernible features of this strange room. What was this place? How had I gotten here?
I began to call out when a figure moved in the darkness and a familiar voice rasped, “I knew you were going to be trouble, Dr. Brice.”
The shadowy form moved into the light, and I saw the trim silhouette of the Director. I bucked upward, thinking I had to flee from this place, wherever it was, and found myself trapped in a reclining chair. My wrists and ankles clamped, all I could do was crane my head in her direction.
“Where am I? How did I get here?” The panic was disorienting. I made no attempt to keep it out of my voice.
She moved closer, but did not touch me. “Look to your left.
There’s a little window there. That should answer your questions.”
I turned my head and saw Earth far below me. The white clouds, the quiet continents. I was on the spacecraft. I whipped my head back to the steely visage of the Director.
All I could ask was, “Why?”
She smiled, but her eyes narrowed. “I should congratulate you on your pregnancy. It wasn’t something I expected to happen. But then, this whole situation is unexpected.”
“Are you going to hurt us?” I longed to cover my belly with a protective hand, but couldn’t.
“That depends. But for now, rest assured that your child is completely normal, although a bit more fast-growing than the average fetus. And it hasn’t been tampered with genetically. It won’t become what you so greatly fear. I gather you’ve been having symptoms lately?”
I didn’t move.
“Yes, well, you can expect to give birth in about six months.” I remained quiet, absorbing this information. She walked over to the window beside me, and I cringed away from her. She glanced at me, then looked back out at the panorama below us.
“Relax, please. We have some things to discuss. Mind if I smoke?”
It wasn’t a question. She produced a pack of cigarettes and lit one. The smell of tobacco reached my nostrils. She inhaled and exhaled for what seemed like an eternity before turning back to me, the smoke obscuring her face. Her hair was in its usual taut bun. The room was still a mystery, and my eyes continued to roam around it, looking for any indication that we were aboard an alien craft.
“Perhaps you’re not aware of what your little band of rebels is planning down there, right now. They’ve managed to find old nuclear warheads, stashed in out-of-the-way places around the world. They’re coordinating with one another, on each continent, to launch them at this craft.”
I felt my eyes widen. So that’s what they had been creating the clearing for.
“I didn’t know, actually. They don’t trust me,” I stuttered.
She walked across the room and sat in a chair I hadn’t noticed before. It looked like any other chair you might find on Earth. In fact, nothing about this room suggested an alien presence.
“You likely have many questions for me. But time is short, so I’ll keep this brief.” She crossed a neatly dressed leg, and her cigarette glowed. “If they launch those missiles, not much will happen to this craft. It’s far more protected than you could fathom. But the intention behind them is far more harmful.”
“Are you … one of … them?” I quavered.
She snorted. “I’m human. Of course I am. But my family has a long history of working directly with the Travelers. We have a relationship that goes as far back as the original natural-borns. And so I speak for them. Trust what I say, as it’s what they would say. But you won’t be meeting any of them, so you can put that out of your head right now.”
She shifted forward in her chair, and the light fell across her face, putting her eyes in shadow. But I felt her gaze on me, and kept still.
“You found Dr. MacConnell quite quickly. I knew you would eventually, but the speed with which you two reunited was surprising. That day, in my office, I had to gauge your response by lying to you about your other team member, Dr. Ingari, being cloned instead. I saw it all over your face when I told you Dr. MacConnell hadn’t been resurrected. It was really quite pathetic. You were desperately in love. It helped us decide your role in all this.” She was wearing a smirk now, and I suddenly wanted to smack it off her face.
“What you did to Jack … what you did to all of them … was abhorrent. Who do you think you are, to have done such a thing?”
The Director stood up and was standing over me before I could stop talking.
“My motivations are the motivations of the Travelers. And for you to call us abhorrent is an opinion you would do well to keep to yourself. Look at that planet.”
I turned my head to the window again.
“It was in tatters when we showed up to resurrect it. Your history, human history, was a tragic story of waste. Of destruction. And we offered a fresh start any inhabited planet would rejoice at.”
I turned back to her. She had sat down again, composed once more. Don’t anger her, I told myself. I relaxed my face and body. If I got through this, it would be with diplomacy, not temper tantrums.
“And here you sit, ready to throw all that away again. I chose you, out of all the other clones, because of an ability you tried to keep a secret your entire professional life. Almost all of the other clones became the creatures you now fear, but you were spared that particular fate, because you’re an animal telepath.” I started at this statement, and she chuckled, her laugh joyless. “Yes, Dr. Brice. Your telepathic abilities were not a secret to me. Nothing in your brain was, and that you would think you could keep it a secret was truly naïve.” I stayed motionless, sensing this moment was crucial to my survival. “It might not surprise you to know that your ability is rare. And we had hoped we could use it to our benefit. Your being able to connect with creatures of all kinds was a gem, a treasure for our goals. It was the main reason we chose to clone you, because, although you’d been successful in your career, you weren’t exactly the most qualified. Yes, it was your inhuman ability to communicate with animals that interested the Travelers the most.” She was looking out the window again, a loving gaze now softening the harsh lines of her face. “You would have been our communicator with these … Eaters? Is that what you’re calling them? Well, whatever the name you’ve come up with they are truly our most magnificent creation.” I winced at this description of the human/monster hybrids, but she didn’t seem to notice. “You would have ensured they never truly decimated the human population; it would have always stayed in perfect balance. Your unique talents would have acted as a sort of … liaison … with the Eaters. The fact that you’re in love with an Eater was just too good to be true. And it was your telepathic ability that kept you from being engineered as one of them, by the way. So you see, you should be grateful you were utterly unique. Our plan was truly foolproof….”
She sighed at this, slowly exhaling a plume of smoke, and then abruptly turned her eyes back to my supine body. I could see in her gaze that she had decided something, and I was terrified of what she would say next. She would pronounce her sentence on all of humanity. She finished her cigarette and dropped the butt on the floor. Her heel crushed it out. Interminable moments passed, and then she spoke.
“So here’s what happens now. We’ll leave. It’s clear our plan isn’t going to work. All the technology, all the advancements we’ve given you will still be yours, intact.” She paused, as if casting her mind back on a memory. “You know, Dr. Brice, the Travelers are a race of great warriors. On their planet, the Eaters are indigenous predators, and for many millennia they had to learn to fight them off. They were even more vicious than the breed we engineered here on this planet, so you can imagine how fierce the Travelers had to become. But eventually, they evolved and adapted until they were safe from any threats, either on their home planet or from elsewhere in the Universe. They didn’t need to have their populations diminished after they learned how to control themselves and their resources. But the perfection of that predator was the model for the ones we created here. And, I might add, this creature had another purpose. It wasn’t just for population control, although that was reason enough, if you ask me.” She stopped for a moment to reach down and brush away a bit of ash from her high heel, then looked back up at me as if a thought had just dawned on her. “We used cloned scientists to become Eaters because of your advanced intellects, in relation to the general population, as well as your extensive life experiences and the fact that we had control over your entire cloning process. You likely wondered why we singled clones out, didn’t you?”
She was carefully gauging my response, so I kept my face placid. Yes, I had wondered, but her reasoning was far-fetched. Superior intelligence and a hard life were what helped make an Eater so deadly? I could only accept this explanation, as I was in no position to question it.
She continued, “For centuries now, the human population has had everything handed to them on a silver platter. There’s been no real strife; no one has encountered the kind of difficulty that was so prevalent in your era. And here, in the form of the Eaters, was a perfect opportunity to further toughen up a placid population. A little survival drama to help you all realize how good you’ve got it. You see, like the Travelers, you would have had to fight, and then adapt and evolve at a greater rate. You would have become better citizens of the Universe, when you finally ventured out into space travel once more. Our plan might seem cruel. I can tell by your face you think I’m heartless, but surely you, a scientist, can see that the plan was ingenious. A perfect biosphere kept under control by the ultimate apex predator, the people living up to their evolutionary potential by figuring out how to fight for survival, just a teeny little bit. Because eventually you humans would find a way to destroy the good thing you’ve been given once more. It would have been inevitable, don’t you agree?”
This time her question was directly aimed at me, and I thought for a moment before replying. I sensed my response was crucial.
“I think we learned our lesson, Director. Long ago, back when I was first alive. Trying to make us … tough … again, well, I think everyone realizes how good they have it now. People are happy, peaceful. I see the changes in their faces. I see the youth, the vitality. You should have had more faith we would continue in that direction. Would we have made mistakes eventually? Yes. But that’s what makes my species so great. Learning from those mistakes.”
I fell silent, hoping my words weren’t too fervent. The Director sighed, and reached for another cigarette. “So, Dr. Brice. What now?” Her voice was weary now, the starch of it gone.
“Let me go. Let me go back down there and tell them to back off. And you can just leave us. There doesn’t need to be a fight. We can’t fight back anyway. Just … go. And we’ll remember all you did for us. I’ll make sure of that.”
I held my breath. She was silent for several minutes. When she finally answered me, it was in a tone of resignation. “Bear this in mind at all times. There are other alien races watching you as well. And they are not as beneficent as we are, and have been. They will not suffer fools gladly.”
I remained silent at this revelation, intent on not showing alarm. She stood. “Very well. We’ll go. I’ll send you back. I expect chaos will overcome your planet once more, and while you can’t expect us to help your race any further, we’ll be watching, too.”
She turned her head to the side, as if the sight of me was repellent. I supposed maybe I was, in her estimation. A lowly, unevolved savage. But I felt a ray of hope that I might be returned to Earth’s surface. And I would tell them everything. That is, if they didn’t kill me.
She looked at me again, this time smiling that taut smirk. “I don’t expect the rebels down there will be comfortable with the fact that you can communicate with our Eaters, so, if I were you, I’d keep it a secret. They’re perfectly fine with being able to command their technology with their minds, but commanding actual living things? You’ll be an outcast if they ever find out. Beyond that, it’s up to you how to handle it.” She sighed once more, letting her guard down slightly. I could see a glimpse of a woman who had truly believed she had the best interests of the planet at heart, and for a brief moment I felt sorry for her. She spoke once more, and all the weight of the world was in her voice. “I knew you would be a problem, Dr. Brice. Take a deep breath and hold it. Goodbye.”
I barely had a moment to gasp for air before the blackness consumed me once more, and the rapid movement through space overcame me. Within seconds I felt a hard, scratchy surface under me, and I slowly opened my eyes to see a circle of shocked faces and beams of light trained on me.
“It’s her!”
“Get back!”
“Where did she come from?”
I cringed into the dirt, realizing I was in the clearing of the camp once more. I lifted my hands in a show of surrender. “Please,” I said, and hoped that would suffice.
They marched me past an antique tanker with a very recognizable nuclear missile attached to its top, poised for launch. We walked past the clearing and into the camp I felt I hadn’t seen in years. Rory stood with Zeke and Luke by the fire. Dawn was coming, and I looked up at the red tinge thrown across the sky.
“Ye’ve got two minutes to explain everything, and then Luke here gets to do what he’s been champing at the bit to do,” Rory said.
The dart guns were trained on me, and I suppressed the urge to laugh. I had just been on an alien spacecraft bargaining for their lives, for the lives of all mankind. Instead, I slowly and clearly spoke of my impromptu meeting with the Director. People gasped at this revelation, but listened intently. Zeke went to the telescope and looked up. I waited. When he raised his head, his face reflected confusion and hope.
“They’re … gone. The craft is gone.”
Everyone turned their heads upward, then back to me. My little group of allies stood around me, helping me stand up straight. My legs weren’t working right. Will and Betsy stood close by, too. Marilyn had been able to find some water for me, and I drank it as if I hadn’t tasted water in centuries. The adrenaline was still coursing through my veins. But, above all, I wanted to be with Jack.
Rory told Luke to stand down, but his glare was still trained on me. I expected he was disappointed that it turned out I was being truthful. His bloodlust would go unfulfilled today. Several people took turns looking into the telescope. Zeke ran back to where the tank was positioned, and I imagined it was to disarm the missile. Rory directed someone to start contacting other groups around the globe with my tale of what had just occurred. Unable to stand any longer, I plopped down in the grass. Will checked my vitals, and Betsy insisted I get to the bed to lie down. I shook my head. I was getting on a train and going to the Facility to be with Jack. The rest of the camp stood around talking excitedly. The attention had left me and now they were discussing what they would do next. I was weary, but smiling.
Marilyn looked around at the disarray, and shook her head in wonder. “Well? What now?” she asked, and I laughed.