Pelros kept his head down, avoiding eye contact with his father or any of the other Anunnaki surrounding him. Compounded by the exhaustion of the hike in Earth gravity, the pain from his injuries left him trembling with each step. He thanked the gods they’d only had to go downhill so far.
He’d been wounded before when his transport crashed on a surveillance mission just after he’d gotten out of the academy, but those cuts and bruises the medic quickly healed. Glancing down at his bandages, he couldn’t help but to feel a little pride mixed in with all the pain. Not many soldiers could claim they’d been shot by such a primitive and yet powerful weapon, not to mention by a human behind the trigger.
He wasn’t overly surprised to learn the rebels had been behind the human resistance all along. However, what were the chances that his father was with them? And if that wasn’t enough, it couldn’t be a random accident he was the only one in the transport to survive the blast by the primitive Earth cannon. This had to be the gods playing with him. He imagined them laughing themselves out of their thrones at the predicament they’d landed him in.
“I never thought I’d have the chance to see you again,” his father hesitantly said.
“I don’t even know your name,” Pelros blurted, forgetting he’d intended to keep silent. “It was stricken from the records by my uncle.”
“Here, I am known as Jones.” His voice sounded unnervingly like General Athos’. “How is my brother?”
“I’ll answer none of your questions.” Pelros fixed his eyes on the forest adjacent to the road. “You are the enemy. Do not assume your contribution of genetic material toward my creation will be of any benefit in your interrogation of me.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jones’ brow furrow with sadness, but he didn’t flinch. This was not his father. His uncle was as close to a father as Pelros had ever known. If he had the chance, it was his sworn duty to kill this man and any other rebels he encountered.
“You must see that everything has changed,” Jones said. “The Anunnaki have been rendered powerless and weak. This new enemy has said that all Anunnaki must die. We don’t even know where to begin to resist this thing.”
Pelros didn’t answer, trying to act as if he didn’t hear a word Jones said. The rebel shook his head in disappointment.
“You’re stuck with me for the brief time we have left,” Jones said in a quieter voice. “I don’t expect you to call me Father or anything, but can we not be civil?”
Pelros remained stone silent.
“Have it your way,” Jones said quietly, shifting his attention to the forest.
Pelros tried to relax, to settle into his new role as a prisoner. He had to resist and tell this man nothing. It was his duty to escape. These were the standing orders for any soldier in captivity. He braced himself for rougher interrogation. He’d be tortured. Jones would continue his soft approach, his frustration increasing. When he decided Pelros would remain steadfast, he’d have to try other measures. In the absence of information-extracting technology, the only resort left would be pain. It was what he’d do in Jones’ place. Pelros would remain strong—he’d do his part to maintain the legendary demeanor of the Shock Troop soldier. He’d die before he divulged anything to these criminals.
One of Jones’ illegal clones offered Pelros a sandwich and a bottle of water. He had none of the phenotype modification utilized for all new people born on Anu. Jones’ clones looked just like their creator, minus the scar. He could see a lot of himself in their features and a bit of his uncle. There were also a few female clones standing guard. He guessed they must’ve been created from another rebel who had escaped the war with Jones.
Without acknowledging the clone, Pelros accepted the offering. His stomach growled as he tore open the bag, but he took his time eating the sandwich. He couldn’t appear weak or too grateful. Acting as if he suspected the sandwich might be poisoned, he carefully chewed each bite, taking this time to study the enemy.
Jones and his people seemed accustomed to the planet’s gravity. They might have the edge in hand-to-hand combat. Pelros would have to rely on his training if he were to beat them. Jones was the only rebel here who’d attended the academy, and he’d be the hardest one to take down.
A bigger problem was the humans. He glanced over and saw the one called Jules staring at him. Of all the slaves harvested, she was one of the deadliest. Second maybe to the girl called Kelly who sat nearby. They’d been the two slaves tested in the arena. They’d defeated the massive Stilapian wolves, and he doubted he’d survive for more than a minute fighting either one of them. He found minuscule peace noting Kelly appeared disinterested in him, talking to the boy who seemed to be in charge.
Several of the kids who were giving the orders appeared to know Kelly and Jules. He could only assume that these two girls, and probably the five others with tactical screening scores that were off the charts, were sent by the rebels to infiltrate the Pegasus. They’d tried to destroy the ship like the others, but something went wrong.
Together, these rebels and humans had done the impossible. They’d eliminated an entire fleet. Was it possible the green entity that disabled his transport and the Pegasus was another secret weapon being used by the rebels?
It didn’t seem unlikely. They were well equipped with weapons that didn’t require electricity to function, like maybe they’d planned it. Plasma rifles weren’t that hard to build, so why else would Jones have a stockpile of primitive weapons?
He decided he needed to learn more before he escaped. If he could figure out how they’d shut down the ship and take the information back to the Pegasus, maybe they could get the power working again and could crush these rebels.
As much as it disgusted him, he concluded he’d have to pretend to befriend Jones if he wanted a chance to learn something before escaping. He glanced over at the rebel, who had a sad and thoughtful expression and was staring out into the forest. When Jones glanced his way, he diverted his eyes. He needed to play the role of the hurt son and slowly warm up to Jones. He’d gain his trust and then learn everything he could. Jones would lower his guard, and then he’d make his escape. To celebrate his strategy, Pelros took the last bite of his sandwich and drank the bottle of water.
“Are they your slaves?” Pelros asked, nodding toward the humans from the base.
“No.” Jones chuckled. “You must know I’m opposed to slavery. They’re free, and I don’t try to control them. They decide what we do. We’re the visitors here; this is their home.”
“You really believe that?” Pelros had no desire to hear such insanity, but he had to persist.
“Yes, I do.” Jones’ eyes filled with hope. “I guess I left before you were old enough to remember me.”
“I would’ve remembered that scar,” Pelros said.
“Your uncle gave it to me,” Jones said. His gaze seemed to lose focus as he ran his fingers over the raised slash on his face. “It was the last time I saw him, when he’d discovered who I was. They took you before I could get back to our home.”
“Uncle told me.” Pelros returned his gaze for a moment, but then he looked away. “You made your choice.”
“I made a sacrifice,” Jones replied. “Dying would’ve been easier.”
Jones was silent for a moment, staring out into the forest with sad regret pushing his dark brow down.
“What the Anunnaki do is wrong,” he said, returning his attention to Pelros. “I didn’t want to lose my family, but it is my duty to fight for what I believe is right.”
“It was your duty to attack your own people?” Pelros snapped, anger eroding his control. “You’re responsible for so much death.”
“I tried to save our people,” Jones growled. “The Anunnaki abused the freedom of too many worlds. Now we will pay for it.” He pointed at the sky.
“We have defeated many formidable enemies,” Pelros replied. “I assure you General Athos is already working on a way to defeat this new foe.” He prayed his uncle was still alive.
“He’s a general now,” Jones mused. “I imagine killing me had something to do with that.”
“Let’s get moving,” the young male who Jones seemed to take orders from shouted.
Jones and his clones stood, pulling Pelros to his feet with them. It disgusted him the way they obeyed the human. Pelros’ legs ached from the hiking they’d done earlier, but he tried not to limp, not wanting to hint at how weak he felt. He kept a wary eye on Jules as they walked past the humans. At least the rebel clones surrounding him offered some protection if the crazed slave came after him. He doubted they could stop her, but they’d at least slow her down.