Earth: Population 2 (Paradise Lost Book 1) (17 page)

Gale and I both turned as a Sparkie came at us, tail raised to strike. This one’s teeth had overgrown, spreading from its mouth in a vicious tangle that reminded me of a pin cushion. Gale shot without hesitation, hitting it in the chest. The Sparkie collapsed to the floor.

I blinked in confusion and shock, still trying to process the fact that something had attacked me and Gale had shot it dead. The noise from the shot echoed in the room, reverberating in the pit of my stomach.

Gale took its feet and dragged it behind the storage bins. “Help me hide him.”

The Sparkie smelled like a burnt-out hair dryer. I took its elongated fingers in my hands trying not to look at the black hole in its chest. The Sparkie’s skin was cool to the touch and oozed a layer of clear gel that stuck to my fingers. After we hid the body, I wiped my hands on my jeans, wishing I’d packed some hand sanitizer along with the granola bars.

“Over here.” Gale approached a console protruding from the metal floor. Screens like the one in the hovercraft stretched out in a semicircle around a small seat. Gale sat down and inserted his rock.

The screen lit with dim blue light.

“What are you doing?”

“Looking for a schematic.” Gale pressed a few lights, bringing up those strange chicken-scratch symbols. “I recognize some of these symbols from the ship.”

“Do you know what they mean?” I raised my hand to bite my fingernail and then remembered it had sticky goo on it. I stuck my hand in my pocket, totally grossed out.

“Only some of them, and even that’s a guess.”

Images from the ship flashed in the air, as if the space on top of the console was some giant screen. Sparkies mined salt at Boston’s Department of Transportation, filling their containers with the salt from the giant piles the city had set aside for the winter. More of them patrolled the streets, searching buildings. The giant gear churned, syphoning water from the ocean into a tank. Were the Sparkies mining salt from all over the world? How many of those large ships were out there? A glimmer of hope rose inside me as I thought of some government, somewhere on Earth fighting back.

I bounced on my toes. “Can you find any pictures of people? Anyone?”

“I’m trying.” Gale tapped the blue panel. More images of the Sparkies’ mining efforts popped up. Some of the images came from the ship we were on, showing room after room of containers of salt.

“That’s not it.” Gale opened another module of information. Several maps of Earth, all from an aerial view, flashed up with mining locations in the Dead Sea, Hawaii, and Greenland.

A cold certainty settled in my stomach. “So there’re all over the place.”

Gale nodded in resignation. “That’s what I feared.”

“But where are all the people?” I couldn’t give up. “Billions of people just don’t disappear. They must be keeping them somewhere.”

“Ah. Here’s a schematic.” Gale brought up a chart showing identical modules all equipped with alike containers. “Salt, salt, and more salt.” He pounded on the console, and the images flickered.

“What about other ships? Prison ships?” My voice rose into a shaky whimper.

Gale brought up module after module of information. “Nothing.”

“They’re not here.” Gale’s voice dropped to a cold tone of finality. “It’s all salt. Every last ship.”

“No.” I refused to believe him. “They’ve got to be somewhere. They couldn’t have just disappeared.”
Could they?

Gale turned toward me with soul-shattering dread in his eyes. “Think about it, Julie. Why would they keep everyone alive? They have no need for prisoners. They have what they want.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I should have thought of this before we came. I should have known.”

“If they’re not here, where the hell did everyone go?”

Gale shrugged. “All I know is, they’re not here.”

Emptiness so dark and overwhelming came over me along with the horrific feeling of being alone. I pictured everyone blinking out of existence, billions of people crying out and then silence. The horrible thought tore my soul apart. It was senseless, needless. We could have just given the damn aliens salt, if they’d asked.

A hard fist of frustration tightened inside me. “You’re gonna give up,” I snapped. “Just like that?”

“I’m not giving up. I just don’t know where else to go. We can search these rooms all we want, but all we’re going to find is salt. This is a processing plant, not a prison camp.”

I started pacing, feeling like my world had imploded around me, collapsing in minute by minute until all that existed was this cold metal ship. My chest tightened, and I struggled to breathe.

He pulled his rock from the console, and the blue lights died. “We have to get out of here, Julie. There’s nothing here for us.”

“No.” I stomped my foot and turned toward him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Your mom’s not here.”

“But the answers are.”

Gale raised both eyebrows in question.

I pointed my rifle to the ceiling, toward the higher level where the queen of Sparkies reigned. I refused to live in hiding the rest of my life, even if it was with Gale. This terrible act of injustice could not go unchecked. This time, they dealt with the wrong species. “Time to file our complaint.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CAPTAIN’S CHAIR

“Think about what you’re doing, Julie.” Gale followed me out of the room. We crept through the corridor with our rifles raised and ready to fire.

He whispered in my ear. “We could find another place to hide.”

I froze in my tracks. Sparkies were everywhere, but we had to talk this out. Gale couldn’t convince me otherwise, no matter what he said. I’d made up my mind. “Go back to what? To living inside a fence? To scavenging for food?”

“It’s better than being dead.”

I shook my head, even as I imagined my life with him in hiding—growing our own food, playing cards, making a life for ourselves with what we had left. But, I’d never be able to live with myself if I didn’t find out what happened. I’d always wonder if there had been a way to get everyone back. Besides, I could never bring my own kids up in such a lonely world. “This is something I have to do, and you can’t stop me. You don’t have to come with me. I’ll understand if you go back to the ship.”

Static came from the corridor behind us. Gale and I sprang ahead. We ran until I was sure we’d come full circle. But, we hadn’t because I hadn’t seen a way up before this.

On the opposite wall, ladder rungs led up to the next floor and down to the floors below in a never-ending length of vertical tunnel. I secured my rifle along my back, walked to the rungs, and stepped over the chasm below me to the bottom rung. Slowly, with determination, I wrapped my hands around the metal bar by my head. The point of no return loomed over me. I turned back to Gale. “I’m going up.”

Hard resolve set in his gaze. “I couldn’t live in a world without you.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “I’m going with you.”

Relief poured through me, along with a layer of guilt. Whatever happened to us up there would be my fault. Could I live with the consequences?

I’d have to.

I started to climb. Hand over hand, like a machine that wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t think about my destination, only the people I’d lost—Mom, Hailey, Gertrude, Raggedy Al, Ellen, even Mike. I climbed this ladder for them. Every time I looked down, Gale followed, giving me a comforting nod. By saving them, I risked losing him. I pushed that thought away before it ate all my courage.

In between the third and fourth floors up, static echoed from the top. I froze, wondering if we should climb to the fourth floor or go back to the third. Two Sparkies descended as quick as monkeys above us. There wasn’t enough time for either option.

My heart pounded in my chest.

Gale whispered, “Pssst.”

I glanced down. He had his rifle pointed up, ready to fire. I couldn’t reach mine on my back along with my backpack and the straps were all tangled together. Instead, I reached for the pistol in the back of my jeans. I cocked the gun and held my breath.

The Sparkies reached the floor above us and jumped off. Their clicking chatter echoed from down the hall.

I released my breath.

We waited a good five minutes before resuming our climb.

My hands grew sweaty, and every time I looked down past Gale’s face, the steepness of the drop below us made me dizzy.

“Are you okay?” Gale touched my foot.

I realized I’d stopped moving again. “I’m fine.”

“You’re slowing down. Maybe we should take a break on the next floor.”

“No.” The longer we dallied, the more we increased the chances of running into more Sparkies. “I’m fine.”

As I approached the next floor, static sizzled like a radio tuned out of control. I glanced up as a Sparkie’s tail whizzed by my face. I ducked, and I lost my grip on the bars. For a moment, I froze in midair and time slowed. I saw the Sparkie’s tail coming at me again, and then I began to fall.

A hand closed on my arm and caught me. Gale pulled me against the bars as my pistol fell to the tunnel below. His grip slipped from my arm to my wrist. Above him, the Sparkie climbed onto the ladder.

“Hold on.” Gale swung me to the ladder, and I grabbed hold.

“Watch out!” I screamed as I held on for dear life. Could the Sparkies electrocute us through the metal rungs?

The Sparkie speared his tail in Gale’s face, and he dodged the dandelion fibers by mere centimeters. I knew what that shock felt like. My whole body had gone limp and I lost all control. If the tail electrocuted Gale, he’d lose his grip.

I watched helpless from the ladder below.

Gale grunted and lunged at the Sparkie’s leg. He missed twice before he grabbed hold and yanked it down. The Sparkie fell on top of him, and he punched it in the chin. It lost its grip, flailing its arms and legs.

As the Sparkie passed me, it grabbed my backpack with a jerk that almost made me lose my grip again. I screamed as it crawled over me. Its hand pressed on my shoulder while another pressed on the top of my head. Its tail stabbed at my backpack, but it kept hitting my laptop in the front cover.

I shook my body, but the alien clung to me with elongated fingers in a vise grip, like a bad little kid on a piggyback ride.

A rifle shot echoed down the tunnel, deafening me. The Sparkie released its hold and fell. Above me, Gale’s rifle smoked.

I breathed unsteadily, my confidence shaken. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Gale slung his rifle over his back and offered his hand. “Let’s take a break on the next level.”

“No.” My tone came out a little angrier than it should, and I calmed myself. “I can climb.”

Concern shone in Gale’s gaze, but he nodded and continued. Gale reached the top level first and pulled me up and over the rim. I collapsed on the floor, panting. Never had I appreciated solid ground before.

He smoothed over my hair. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I nodded and pulled myself up to a sitting position. My body shook all over, but I held it together. “I’m fine. Besides, it took us so long to get here, I’m thinking we should stay awhile, appreciate the view.”

“Ha ha.” Gale helped me to my feet. “I know you too well, Julie. Well enough to know you’re hiding behind that sarcasm.”

I untangled my rifle and hefted my backpack on my back. It felt like two tons. Unless the queen Sparkie liked Kashi, all those granola bars were unnecessary. “Then, you also know how stubborn I can be.”

He nodded. “Stubborn enough to win Go Fish every time.”

We walked to a single panel on the floor with one indent for a rock. I made sure my rifle was ready to fire and glanced at Gale.

He nodded. “Let’s pay the queen a visit.”

I stuck the rock in, and the wall melted away.

The control chamber stretched the length of the ship. On one side, the dark city of Boston loomed like some tortured beast. On the other, the giant ball of lightning pulsated and sparked. In the center, upon a high, white seat sat the largest Sparkie I’d ever seen. It towered over eight feet tall, with a bald, oversized head with green veins running under the glimmery skin. Hundreds of fibrous strands sprouted from the head to the top of the ship and the control panel over the window. To call it a queen would have been denying the androgynous shape of its elongated body. But, all I could think of was a beehive, with an overly large queen at the core controlling the drones.

As we walked toward it with our guns raised, it turned to us and narrowed two large oval eyes. Long, needle-shaped teeth protruded from its mouth like it had been growing them for quite some time.

I cocked my gun. “Don’t move.”

“I don’t think she understands you,” Gale whispered beside me.

I shot lasers at her with my eyes. “Oh, I think she does.”

I shot my gun into the chamber with the lightning, and then pointed it again at the queen. “Tell me where my people are.”

The queen hissed, a long, drawn-out nasty one. Her black and bottomless eyes bore right into me, as if she could see my soul and pick it apart.

Anger ignited like a raging volcano. She’d taken Mom’s life in the blink of an eye along with billions of others for something as simple as salt. I wanted to shoot her right there, but that wouldn’t do me any good. “Where is my mom?”

Pain erupted behind my eyes, and I cringed back.

Gale held his hand to his forehead. “What’s going on?”

Static sounded
inside
my head, then, from the chaos, came one horrible, heartbreaking word.
Irretrievable.

Telepathy. She used our minds to translate her language.

I stared at her with defiance, making sure I still held my gun. “Why?”

The static surged again, and I covered one ear with my free hand.
Leave or die.

“No.” I stepped toward her, refusing to believe her. “Bring them back.”

Gale pulled me back. “Julie, I don’t think she can.”