Holding Cell 34, Groom Lake, Nevada

6:02 PM

My wrist felt like had I touched my Dad’s outdoor grill: it burned, it smelled like charred skin, and it oozed slowly with blood. They, as I was screaming getting my brand, used a cruel device that’s part office stamp and part hot iron. Fifty-two was my number and it showed as stencil lettering. Thank God we were lucky that it didn’t puncture the veins.

I kept on crying until I finally calmed down. I felt pain, both from the brand and my missing boyfriend. I could only imagine what they were doing to him. I wanted him in my arms so badly, to tell me that everything was alright, but it wasn’t. In the middle of the prison, I heard people yelling and screaming for dear life. I almost puked when I saw a doctor, or a surgeon, or an examiner, take out a woman’s mana heart and shove it in a jar. Imagining it was my heart being ripped out, I just fucking lost it, thinking my wonderful gift would be taken from me.

Mike was so strong from his military background he saw his brand as a battle scar. He focused his efforts to examine Reba’s unconscious body. I’m no doctor; Mike had to point out the early stages of infection.

“I don’t know my country anymore,” he said incredulously. “You holding up, Katie?”

I sat near the wall looking down at my brand and trying not to touch it. I ripped a piece from my shirt to bandage it up. I managed a short nod and said, “Will this be our future?”

Mike sighed like he didn’t want to hear that. I didn’t want to end up dead a hundred miles from the winery.

Reba took it three times more than me. Called a demon. Nearly killed by Tom. Then when she cried herself to sleep after getting branded, I started to fear for her mental state. It reminded me so much of Scott. They didn’t give her new clothes, just left her with the torn gown.

I’m homesick again, I thought.

Then in a shine of hope, I heard Scott’s voice. It got louder as he came closer to us. He came in view of the cell as two masked soldiers gripped his upper arms. He was complaining about his brand and that he needed medical attention. One soldier aimed his gun at us as he opened the door. The other punched my baby in the chest and he fell backwards. I crawled to him.

“Scott, I’m so happy you’re alive,” I said to him, partially hugging him. “Come on, let me check you out.” I saw his wrist, the same as mine, and his number was seventy-one. No other injury showed

“Sonofabitch, that guy is one sick man,” Scott said with clenched teeth. Not knowing who, my gut noted me about a second voice, a voice I wished to never hear again.

The alien was dragged by two other masked men and twitching uncontrollably, one holding down the stun gun’s trigger. He was lead to our cell and kicked in the back. The alien fell hard on the concrete next to Scott, screaming as his face made contact, then covered with his dreads.

The soldier pulled the wires out and said, “Have fun now, ya here.” They locked it and walked off.

“You bastard, why do you have to be here?” Scott exclaimed at the alien.

The alien got up on his weird looking legs and feet and looked square at my boyfriend, “Oh yeah, like I had a choice to be with you four.” Those eyes showed major defeat.

“Scott, what went on?” Mike asked like he didn’t care about Jaruka’s presence.

“What went on? Oh I know exactly what,” Scott said and got up. He jabbed his finger at Jaruka. “This sick alien was involved with Asteroid Helen all along. He was playing piggyback on the rock since last summer doing God knows what.” My first reaction was confusion at first, no living person can live on an asteroid from my understanding.

“Were you deaf in that office?” Jaruka barked, overlooking all of us, and he combed back his dreads to show the rage in his lower jaw. “I’m the real victim here, cheated out by a shady client I didn’t want to meet. I did nothing and you know it, cadat.” I didn’t know what it meant, but instinct told me it was an insult.

“Bullshit, you’re just saying that to cover your ass. Griffon told me everything I needed to know. That’s that.”

Jaruka huffed and rolled his eyes, “And practically ignore what happened to you? I bet that seizure you took loosened a few nerves in your skull.”

“Wait, what seizure?” I asked. Clearly he didn’t listen to me and kept on talking. Take note—when Scott has a seizure, alarms go off in my head. It’s been a while since he had one.

I got in front of Scott and made him back up, “Hold up, Scott. Slow down for a second. Both of you aren’t making sense. Take it slow and tell me what happened.”

Scott’s tail was wagging so hard I was afraid it would fall off. Still being hysterical, he explained it all. Yeah, I reacted more to Jaruka’s involvement, my hunch why he was in the truck was true. Scott even saw video of his ship, a real life spaceship, being destroyed by this General Griffon’s plasma cannon on the base. I asked him if it was staged and it wasn’t.

“Staged?” Jaruka scoffed. “Perfect. Just like any other human who wants to disprove the impossible.” He shook his head and went to an empty corner.

“I don’t like it, this seems suspicious even at this time,” Mike said. He had been being quietly learning things collectively.

“Well, what about the seizure? Did your nose bleed afterwards?” I asked. He does get nosebleeds from seizures, most of the time.

“No, thank goodness, but besides that, he has my parent’s files and used that against me.” I gasped while cupping my mouth. Mike didn’t understand what we meant; we never told him the real story of Scott and his parents.

“Oh no, this is not good. He can use that as leverage,” I guessed.

“Maybe more. That rat had them since the incident,” Scott added, along with a head twitch. Scott might go into a deep depression if those files weren’t deleted.

I heard Jaruka’s bare feet slid on the concrete. “You’re a wimp,” he beamed.

We all stared at him. “Come again? I didn’t catch that.” Scott bared his teeth.

“You heard me you magical freak. You’re the useless runt of the litter that never lives up to a military family’s honor. Heck, I hardly doubt you know how to fire a weapon.”

“Oh that tears it!” Scott moved away to get up and close to Jaruka, but Mike intervened.

“Whoa whoa whoa, settle down, Scott.” Mike placed a hand on Scott’s chest. “Let’s just think this through before we start throwing fists at each other. We don’t know if he has acid blood.” Highly unlikely. “I’m mad at him too, but that doesn’t mean we forego listening to his story first.”

“He lied, Mike, the whole time. Whatever he said about that survey job is bold face lies. I mean, what sort of idiot camps on an asteroid for a few months without leaving for money? You do.” Scott came closer, resulting in me tugging on his shoulder. “Because in those eyes, I swear to God you want to kill all of us.”

“Scott, please stop, Reba will wake up,” I complained. Scott was so mad that my own voice wasn’t enough to reach him. I told him I was interested in this mysterious survey job.

“Yeah, that’s it; assume that all space people want to destroy all humans. How typical of you humans, jumping to conclusions based on scientific fact or science fiction movies. What ever happened to common sense?”

Jaruka came closer as he waved his hands around, but stopped short as Mike laid a hand on his cargo vest. The look on his face was of being stung by a mosquito. I yelped really quietly, feeling an awful fight rising.

Jaruka pushed Mike’s hand away, and then punched him in the shoulder, causing the big man to fall next to Reba. If is tail wasn’t out of his scrubs he would’ve felt a lot of pain there. “Don’t you ever touch me!” Jaurka yelled.

“That does it!” Scott yelled and I lost my hold. I stood back in case I was caught in the fight. With Scott’s knowledge of karate, he instantly went aggressive. His new body helped with an added boost of agility, making a quick blow to Jaruka’s jaw.

To him it was a minor hit, he popped his jaw like it was nothing. He smirked then quickly stepped at Scott for a punch, it looked really goofy with his weird legs. Scott dodged it and swiftly swung a chop on Jaruka's lower neck. He huffed from that one, and then my boyfriend kicked one knee to loose his balance. Jaruka landed to kneel.

I never practiced karate, but a kick in the jewels would suffice for me. Wait, does he have them?

He coughed from the pulsing neck pain, "Good moves, kid. Reminds me of a Ïur'dar monk's fighting methods. How about a change-up!?" As fast as I could blink, Jaruka swiveled on one hand and kicked Scott's legs away with those strange cat-like feet. Jaruka, I guessed, was getting ready to drive his fist into Scott face when his head is lying on the concrete. I felt my knuckles whiten. Scott wasn't ready for it, or was he?

With quick thinking, and using his terran agility, Scott whipped his whole body around to land on all fours like a cat. When Jaruka faced him, Scott did too, and kicked Jaruka in the chest with both feet. I screamed as the alien flew across the cell, cracking the concrete wall with his back, and falling to the ground like a rag doll.

“That one’s for Mike,” Scott said and laid down to catch his breath.

Jaruka coughed and struggled back up, talking in this very strange Asian-Italian sounding language. That looked painful, but he was still able to fight, even though he had just been tased. Scott saw it and picked himself to insult him.

It had to stop or else someone would get seriously hurt. Scott could die just from Jaruka’s “death grip” or whatever his kind uses. Thinking boldly and feeling my confidence surface, I started focusing my mana. A second in, my focus was gone by Mike’s hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t do it,” Mike shook his head. “Remember what they said. They might kill you just like the others.”

Of course, I totally forgot about that problem. I nodded and relaxed my focus, but the verbal abuse from Scott and Jaruka was getting way too heated. The alien was making it personal, getting to the nitty gritty of human ideals.

I took a big gulp, got in between them, and whistled as loud as I could. Too loud that the other inmates caught my attention. I wondered if they noticed the alien before.

“Stop it. The both of you!” I shouted. They stopped yelling. “God you sound like my brothers during grape harvest. Just stop the fighting!”

“But Katie,” Scott started.

“But nothing, Scott, I’m way to stressed out, my arm hurts like hell, and I don’t want you in a body bag with his fist-prints all over you.” My outburst made him shudder and back off. He knows that when I’m made it is best to leave me alone to expel excess steam.

“And you…” I jabbed my finger at Jaruka, still sitting on the floor rubbing his sore chest. “You stay on that side of the room and if you come near us, you just hope your boys stay intact. We don’t need you to make things worse.”

Jaruka huffed and wiped a small drop of blood from his mouth, “Heh, such brass. I was banking on you to use your magic, then again you value your life more.” He laid back against the wall, trying hard to not come after me. “Fine, I’ll stop. I don’t need you guys. My life’s ruined as it is.”

“I can guess.” Mike picked Scott up, “Nothing has been making sense since I saw you back in the truck. We need to know too.”

“Know what? Nothing matters now. Soon almost half of these magical mutants are going to be dissected, including you four.”

“Is that a fact?” I asked.

“No, it was a flat out guess. What else did you expect, a shining moment of hope? Mine’s gone. What’s your excuse?”

It seemed that I had to tap into my talents of journalism. Scott didn’t want any part of it saying, “Forget it, Katie, he’s useless.”

“Not to me, there are so many things I want to ask him,” I told Scott with passion in my voice.

“Heh, good luck getting anything out of me,” Jaruka scoffed. “I can’t risk saying anything else to Griffon, he might move up my sentence.”

That tipped me off. Clearly from that defensive talk, he was hiding something. “Well then you better tell us what you can. It is best to know the truth before we die, right?”

Scott touched me and I looked, “Katie, you’re not yourself. This is silly, leave him be. This magic must be messing with your mind.”

“I don’t want to be left out of the loop, Scott. I have the right to know. All the magic is doing is boosting my confidence.” Scott had no other way to talk me out of it. He lowered his hand. I turned back at Jaruka with a glare of a mad woman, “After all, I’m betting you want to know more of what happened to us right?”

“You have no idea how bad. It’s amazing from all the magical energy flowing through you four; your bodies haven’t exploded in the process.” Jaruka kept sitting from in defeat, “And why do you want to know my story?”

“I’m a journalism major, it’s what I live for, and the occasional good bottle of homemade wine. We have time. Let’s talk.”

Salajon Valley, Creos

Councilman Denverbay’s Home Office

Thirty minutes prior…

“Expansion is beyond us. The cure for this disease is our priority. Once cured, and your carcass dispersed in several blocks, we will make the Galactic Council disconnect from Earth permanently and remember to not meddle in our business ever again.”

Humans knowing the existence of the Republic: it was a nightmare for Denverbay and me. Kantra didn’t tell us the details, he just made us listen. It came through Denverbay’s workstation as loud as it could. If I wasn’t in a chair shaking, I would be loosing my balance and turning hysterical, ordering the Endeavor to fly there without me.

The worst thing we feared could happen, happened.

As we listened more, I kept watch on my documents. They were placed in a sealed brown envelope with the Galactic Council’s wax seal. A single metal datakey was on top, containing registration codes, current star charts of the sector, and permission to allow us to enter without setting off the surrounding security protocols. I had thoughts of taking it without talking.

“Turn it off,” Denverbay shook his head. “Turn it off now, that’s enough.” My long-time Creosen friend looked nothing like the man I knew. Five years at the Academy with academic numbers rivaling mine, ten years in a Council seat earning the nickname “Hammer” after he accidentally smashed over a hundred gavels during high-profile cases, and is my lead into the political aspects of war; I saw him so scared I thought he would relinquish his seat.

Quills moved, one leg tapped the wood, all three eyes blinked randomly, and he kept rubbing his hands. It started as Kantra sent pictures of Sketch’s projections. One look at the mutant made him silent for the rest of the time, the General made him jittery.

“That’s what’s left until the nanites were destroyed, captain. We’re still figuring out the cause,” Kantra said cooly. The Commander was rather hesitant in revealing the findings to Denverbay. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. With those nanites destroyed, we had no clue if Jaruka was alive or dead. “It is safe to say that Jaruka isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The mission statement is ready for you, captain.”

“Thank you for sharing that, commander,” I said as calmly as I could.

“Not to be rude, but how are the permits coming?” He asked. I peered at Denverbay, looking scared like ever.

“I’m working on it. Tell the crew and the Assassin to be at their battle stations for the time being.” I was ready for anything; Denverbay was, I guessed, about to call the whole thing off. “Call you later,” I said to Kantra and cut the connection. I just realized I had scared Kantra if it didn’t go through.

Denverbay still didn’t talk; he kept looking down at his glass desk.

“This is why I hate waiting, Trygo,” I started. “We delay, delay, finally get authorization, then when it’s right to rescue him, everything stops to a grinding halt. This outcome is exactly how The Dalez War started. Nova wants to leave now.”

My friend shot his three eyes at me for a second. He looked away to think and that didn’t look good for me.

“Understand, Trygo. The humans will gain a revenge urge, accelerate their technology, and kill everything in their path believing every living soul in the galaxy is the enemy. It’s unavoidable, Trygo. We saw this happening just from learning how they think. Matters must be me…”

“Stop right there, Brill,” he interrupted me and held up one hand for silence.

Not wanting to wait any longer, I stood up and spoke my mind. “No, you stop. Nova Company had their waiting period. If you don’t tell me what has been scaring you since the meeting, then I shall take my things and go.” I approached the permits and datakey. My goal was coming into view. In no time at all, the crew will be roaring for battle.

But as I did, Denverbay was faster. He slammed his hand on the bundle. I shot my arms back, and then stared straight at him. He glared with irritated eyes.

He slid the bundle towards him and held them as he stood up from his seat, or stool for his tripodal stance. He wore normal robes, just to feel comfortable once in a while. Back rigid, he glided to the open window overlooking the small backyard of his estate. I was beginning to worry about the Republic’s future, that Denverbay was stalling in order to let it all crash. Countless species, cultures, governments, and economies rely on the Republic on one thing: communication.

At that moment, he almost let communication shatter.

He looked out at the backyard, sort of a lush garden of their homegrown food, a corner of the garden held their animals, their protein. Outside I noticed Denverbay’s mistress. Xima Tavel was hand knitting ceremonial robes for their little daughter’s birthday. He took up the Councilman seat for not just upholding Republic order, but to protect the ones he loves. Like Xima, like me.

His stance didn’t change, even while I demanded his decision. No matter how much I talked, his deep concern for something was greater.

The long, irritating silence ended. When he placed one hand on the window, staring deeply at his mistress, he said, “Tell me, Brill, my old friend, how well do you honor an agreement?”

My spine tingled for good things coming. “If it’s a classified agreement, branded with the Council code, I honor it with my life,” I answered.

He nodded once, “Good. Same old and respected honor. That’s what I admire of Nova Company: you keep your promises. Brill, forgive me for my attitude. I’m not myself. This matter troubled me than anything I ever dealt with.”

“Same for me and my crew,” I added. “Will you give me my right to fight?”

“Not just yet.” He faced me and his eyes looked sullen. “I very well understand this changes the outcome of the human’s future. I had high doubts what the mercenary described, that a non-magical species is changing to a magical one. I say it’s improbable, impossible, and ludicrous. But it’s happening, right now. This could spell doom for us all.”

“That’s what I said if you…”

A single finger from him silenced me again. “What matters most is lowering their impending advancement, but there’s more to it.” Denverbay approached me and so was my ticket, “As a Councilman, the duty requires sacrifice. The Act will fall eventually.”

“Lifting the Protection Act?” I asked. “Trygo, you can’t be serious.”

He shook his head, “We don’t know what’s happening to that under developed species.

“We know a few things.”

“Still, they have too many problems to deal with before joining the Republic. It is your job to not let a revenge war spark.” With that, he handed me my documents. The envelope was big under my arms. The datakey was longer than my hand and glistened to the late morning sunlight.

“Listen to my words, Brill. Eliminate attacking enemies, by any means necessary. Rescue Jaruka and contact me when that’s done. And whatever it takes, do not harm the human mutants.”

“Harm the mutants?” I felt skeptical what he wanted, mainly because I never heard of him wanting humans to survive.

“Don’t ask why, Brill, just go, but here is what I really want…” Denverbay explained. I felt concerned for those last strict demands. As hard as they were, I had to promise him. Denverbay then handed me one last item: a sealed metal box. His access code was required to be opened. “It’s for Jaruka.”

With the datakey and papers in my arm, I ran out.