Shortly after reaching Florida, my host died of dysentery. I ended up inhabiting the alligator that ate him. To be honest, I did not mind. In the five centuries since I had first inhabited Torgeir or Torgo or whatever his name was, changing hosts had become a regular occurrence. While other Quasing grieved over their lost hosts, I had become numb to the transfer.
I hid in the Florida swamps for the next several decades, content to once again live within the animals while history passed me by.
Io waited until Cameron settled in to take over Dana’s watch before leaving. She went back downstairs to their room and checked who was still asleep; everyone was accounted for except for Dana. Io continued past the kitchen entrance and saw her eating breakfast at the corner. The woman gave her a lazy wave. Io waved back stiffly and noticed Dana frown quizzically and then focus again on her ragi idli.
Now was Io’s chance. Moving as fast as she could in Ella’s body, she walked to the front of the bath house and found Wiry Madras at the counter getting ready to open for business.
The old woman looked at Ella’s awkward gait. “What’s wrong with your leg, Black Cat? Are you hurt?”
“I need a tub, a private one.”
Madras’s eyes narrowed. “This early in the morning? Don’t be up to no good in my place of business, girl. I don’t allow–” Io plopped a stack of rupees on the counter. The money disappeared so quickly she didn’t even see Madras move. “First two are being drained and cleaned. Take the third on the right.”
Io hastened to the assigned room and closed the metal door behind her. She slid the lock over with a solid click, and then listened. Except for the dull gurgle of water in the pipes and Wiry Madras’s sharp voice penetrating through the walls, she couldn’t hear much else. Io moved to the tub, turned the water on halfway and waited, as the pipes rattled and the spout spit, until a small steady stream poured out.
Io took out her phone, dialed a number, and waited. Usually, Surrett picked up her calls in two rings. This time, it rang for ten minutes. That should have been her first inkling that something was wrong. The person that answered was definitely not her contact.
“Io.” It was a man with a thick Slavic accent.
“I need to speak with the minister.”
“You need only speak with me.”
“And you are?”
“What happened at the ambush site?”
“That was an unforeseen complication with my host. However, I fulfilled my part of the bargain to Shura. My cover is at risk. I need to come in.”
“Your vessel has inconvenienced me greatly. She allowed the Adonis and his people to escape.”
“I can fix this. I am with them right now. I can lead you right to them.”
“Are you still in Surat?”
One of the pipes began to rattle again, crescendoing until it sounded like someone was banging a hammer on it.
Ella’s body jerked and then the phone fell out of her hand. She reached down to pick it up and then suddenly lost control.
“Huh,” Ella yawned. “What’s going on? What am I doing here?”
She looked down and saw the phone, and froze. Slowly, she picked it up and brought it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Io,” a man said. “Can you hear me? Io? Repeat the location of the Adonis.”
“Who is this?” Ella asked.
“What do you mean… I see. I am speaking with the vessel now.”
Ella, tell the person on the other line you are at Wiry Madras’s Bath House. Just do it. I will explain everything later.
“You’re the Genjix,” she said softly. “Io was about to give away our location.”
“Listen, girl,” the voice said. “All you have to do is give me Cameron Tan and I will make you wealthier than you can possibly imagine. What do you say? Work with the Genjix and I will make all your dreams come true.”
“You know what I want?” asked Ella.
“Of course. You desire what every other human in this world wants. You want to escape the slum, to never worry about going hungry or cold ever again. You desire power and riches? I can give all that to you.”
Ella pulled the phone away and stared. Finally, she spoke. “I want my amma back, you son of a bitch.”
No!
She put both hands on the phone, gritted her teeth and strained until it bent. A crack appeared down the middle and then it snapped in two. She threw the two pieces into the bath.
“Can you give me that?” she spat as the two pieces sank to the bottom of the tub.
What have you done?
Ella was about to storm out of the room when she saw the steam rise from the water and the locked door. She sniffed herself and decided she might as well take advantage of this. She swung a leg at a time inside and slowly sank into the near scalding water until only her head was above the water’s surface.
“What I did, Io, is prevent you from betraying the Prophus anymore. Let me ask you: have you always been full of crap or is this a recent development?”
Why do you care what side I am on?
“Because my amma died. Because you lied to me. Because I actually like the Prophus people.”
The Genjix can offer you wealth and stability and power. Would you give all that up just because you like them? You hardly know them.
“Why do you want to be Genjix then?” Ella shot back.
There was a long silence before Io finally spoke. They are offering me something that has eluded me ever since I came to this planet.
“What’s that?”
To do something important, to be someone important again. I used to be a highly respected Quasing, admired for my position and knowledge. Ever since we came to this wretched planet, I have been marginalized, made inconsequential while others of lesser skill prospered.
The Genjix offer me a chance to reclaim my position. They are creating something big, important, something that needs my knowledge. They need me to succeed. It will change the world. I will finally leave my mark and save my people like I was supposed to when we crashed.
“What is it? What are you supposed to do?”
I will not tell you unless you join the Genjix.
“OK, I’ll join the Genjix. What is it?”
You cannot lie to me, Ella. I will know when you are actually ready. Until then, I will do everything in my power to support them.
“Wait, let me get this straight.” Ella spoke aloud as she organized her thoughts. “You are unhappy with the Prophus and with Earth because you’re not very good at anything anyone cares about on this planet?”
Well, not in so many words.
“And because of this, you think defecting to your enemy is going to make a difference? That it’s worth killing other Prophus? Did you kill Emily on purpose?”
That was unintentional. I had already defected by the time Emily came to India. She was tracking someone she believed responsible for her friend’s death almost ten years ago. The trail led her here. I tried to dissuade her from coming, but she would not listen. The two situations were unrelated originally.
“Originally?”
Like I said, things got complicated.
Ella waved her hands. “Did she want to join the Genjix? Was she complicit in switching sides so you could feel good about yourself?”
No, she was not.
“Then what do you think was going to happen once she found out what you planned to do? You didn’t care if she died, did you? She was your friend and you signed her death warrant, you awful, terrible, disgusting monster!” Ella emphasized her words by raising a fist in the air and smashing it down on the water’s surface, making a mess of the room.
Something in Io snapped. What little patience she had left evaporated, and her desperation blended with her frustration and anger. Whatever emotional concoction it produced was only exacerbated by the pressure of the defection and by the fact she had been so close to her goals so many times, only to have fallen short by some unforeseen circumstance.
STOP TALKING!
Ella froze.
You think you know what is right or wrong? You think you know everything? Well, yes, Emily probably would have had to die, and it is tragic those other Prophus agents had to die and maybe Cameron and his team may have to die, but you know what? Living things on Earth die. It is what happens.
I have roamed this planet since the dinosaurs. I watched them become extinct. I have been in fish and apes and cats and rodents. I have been in everything, thousands of creatures, and they all died. A human’s life is not even a drop of the Eternal Sea, so stop acting like life is some precious gift from a higher power. Death is not some tragic occurrence that must be prevented at all costs. Everything dies, Ella. Everything is expendable.
I have lived this cycle again and again and again. I have tried to follow what I felt was right and I cannot do it anymore because none of it makes a difference. I refuse to continue this futile existence. I am going to join the Genjix and I am going to break this cycle. You can either help me willingly, and I will guarantee your safety and a long life and all the wealth you can imagine, or you can oppose me. It will not matter, because I will find a way in the end with or without your help.
Ella stood up abruptly. “Not if I tell the Prophus about you being a traitor first. You’ll never get to join the Genjix then!”
No, you will not.
“Yes, I will!”
And here is why. If you tell them, they will do whatever it takes to stop me from defecting. The only way to do that is to either imprison me or to kill me. The only way they can do that is to inflict the same punishment on you. Even your friends the noble Prophus will lock you up or strangle you just to get to me. What do you think about that?
Ella was stunned. “They wouldn’t.”
They would. They will, so you will listen to me very carefully, Ella Patel. You will not tell the Prophus anything, because the moment you do, your life is forfeit. It will be over, and you will see how truly cheap a life is. The best case scenario is they will throw you into a maximum security prison and you will never see the light of day. The worst case scenario is they will lock you in a room without any means of escape, and then kill us both. It is in your best interest, in our best interest, for you to keep our little secret.
“Gahh!” Ella smashed the water again with her fists. “I hate you!”
Fortunately, that is irrelevant.
There was a banging on the door. “Black Cat, what is all that noise?” Wiry Madras said through the door. “The entire building can hear you scream. You better not be up to no good.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” Another voice, Cameron’s this time, joined Wiry Madras’s. “Ella, are you OK? I’m going to break the door down.”
“You better not hurt my door,” Wiry Madras barked back.
So what will it be? Keep our little secret, or risk death and imprisonment? The choice is yours, stupid girl. Choose wisely, because it will affect you for the rest of your short insignificant life.