Earth (The Invasion Trilogy Book 1) (20 page)

Mattie pulls back in my arms, her hair a mess, her eyes red and puffy from crying
, sweat glistening her skin even as goose bumps appear, telling me she’s going into shock. Given all of this, there is something about her that makes my heart swell, that makes her look beautiful in my eyes. My arms lock around her, needing to protect and keep her safe.

“Logan?” she yells his name, her voice beginning to sound a little clearer as the ringing becomes more of a background noise now.

“In the forest. We should find him.” I recall the distress he’d been under when I left him.

I stand up, bringing Mattie up with me
. I debate carrying her in my arms, but she takes my hand instead and nods her head for me to lead the way.

I don’t give a backwards glance at Ival. I don’t look to see if his body is now burning.

Perhaps if I had looked back, I’d have seen that he used the monit on himself to get away safely.

Chapter 19

Marduke

Light from the fire is still visible when we reach Logan. I find he hasn’t moved an inch from where I’ve left him. He’s still tightly wound into a ball and is shaking. At first, I think it’s a good thing and tell him so when we reach him. I say that he did a good job and pat him on the back. He doesn’t react, though. He doesn’t even react to Mattie. He stays holding himself and looking dazed and unfocused.

I find this new Logan curious,
yet Mattie appears completely freaked out.

“What
’s happened to him?” she yells. I finally start to hear her properly to know for sure she is yelling, although I think this time her yelling has been done intentionally and not just to be heard over the ringing.

I shrug my shoulders at her. “I don’t know
. When I left him, he just balled himself up like this.”

She frowns
, but I think it’s at the situation and not me. Her eyes look distant for a moment.

“Okay, let’s just get out of here and deal with this
later,” she eventually says, grabbing hold of Logan’s arms and pulling him upwards until he’s wrapped in her arms against her chest. “He’s shaking,” she tells me, moving him back onto the ground and taking off her sweater. Underneath, she’s only wearing a t-shirt, so the argu is visible when she moves her arms.

I curse myself for giving it to her. I thought it’d protect her
, and instead, it’s just put an even bigger target on her head. I should have known that Ival would find it on her and read into her having it. He’ll see the gesture as being huge because it’s law that we never take it off during a mission. The fact that I’ve taken it off not only during a mission, but when Ival is trying to kill me, will be very interesting to him. Add in that I then gave it to Mattie—a human—that speaks a lot towards how I feel about her. She’s important to me, and now I’ve just put a giant target on her back.

Except maybe I haven’t. The one person
who’ll want her dead is possibly dead himself, or at least, on his way to death. We’ll have time now to rest, and hopefully, we can be left alone for a while. I think we could all use the break.

I watch Mattie wrapping Logan up in her sweater, which is more like a strange full length dress on him, and then she picks him up, whispering something in his ear.
I think she’s telling him that everything will be okay and that he’s safe.

Given everything that’s just happened in the past hour, I’m waiting for her to tell me to leave. I’m expecting her to tell me that I’m the reason for all of her hurt and loss
, and that she hates me. So I’m surprised when she settles Logan against her chest and gives me a small smile.

“I suppose I’ll let you lead the way.”

“Lead the way where?”

“Wherever you think we’ll be safest.”

“You trust me?” I don’t want to remind her that she doesn’t trust me, however she sounds sincere and also exhausted. Maybe she’s too tired to remember that she hates me?

“Yes
. I think we should get as far away from here as possible. We’ll go to the middle of the forest or wherever you think we should go.” She now sounds defeated.

“I think we’ll have to stay closer to the edge so we can still see where we’re going. In the morning
, we can move deeper into the forest,” I suggest, watching her carefully.

“Okay.” She
then walks forward with Logan, moving along the forest, not deeper into it.

We’re silent for a long time
as I wonder what she’s thinking or where her mood is. I’m waiting for her to turn on me, waiting for her to start yelling and accusing me of ruining her life, spoiling everything. It has to be several hours before she does open her mouth, but it isn’t to yell or accuse.

“What did your brother do to Lisa, Hank and the girls? Are they dead?” She sounds dazed, perhaps still in shock over what she’s just seen and
has had happen in front of her.

“No, he just transported them to our spaceships.”

“Why would he do that?”

“We’re not here to kill everyone
. In fact, as far as I was aware, we weren’t here to kill anyone. They can’t leave anyone on Earth while we take it over, though. They’ll be transporting humans onto the spaceships and taking them to Oden.”

“Oden is your home planet?”

“Yes.”

She appears to take that in, her disbelief and frustration colliding
in her expression. “Why exactly are you here?”

“We’re here because Earth has many resources that
—”

“No, I mean
, you being here with me right now? Is it really just because we saved your life back in Vancouver? Do you feel like you owe me? Because you’ve already saved my life, too. I’d say we’re definitely even now.”

I wonder over her words. Is this her way of wanting me to leave her alone again?

“I don’t agree with what we’re doing to humans, and I know I’ve failed to put a stop to this. It’s too late to save Earth, but I hoped it wouldn’t be too late to save you.”

“Why me?”

I don’t know how to answer that because I don’t know what that answer is, but for her, I’ll try.

“I felt an attraction to you immediately. One I haven’t felt for any other human or person back on Oden. I don’t understand what it means
. At first, I thought I had caught a virus perhaps, but I think it’s just what you humans call love.”

“You love me?” Mattie gapes.

“Have I used that word wrong?”

“You can’t fall in love with someone in such a short amount of time
—well, I mean, they say there is love at first sight, but that is crap. You have to know someone to fall in love with them. We don’t know each other. I only just found out yesterday that you’re not even human!” Mattie rambles, her voice pitching loudly. I get the feeling she’s more talking to herself than me.

“Perhaps I am saying it wrong. We don’t have love on Oden, not really. We aren’t ruled by our emotions, but
rather our duties and rules. We live respectfully and do what is expected of us. Love and other emotions are of no use to us.”

Mattie frowns at me. “You don’t love anyone?”

“I care for my people, my family and our future. I don’t want to hurt them, but I also don’t want to hurt you or Logan. Before you, if Ival hadn’t been trying to murder me, I would have served my family and never stepped out of line. I would have done anything that was in my people’s best interest. Now, I can’t see past you. I want you safe and protected and the thought of giving you up or watching you die feels like agony to me. I don’t know why, but I can’t even think about the possibility without hurting. I just…” I trail off, not knowing how to explain myself.

“So you’re saying that
, if you hadn’t met me, and if Ival hadn’t been trying to kill you, you’d have been okay with all of this death?” she growls, and I know I’ve angered her.

“I don’t know. I didn’t start seeing humans as being
compassionate until I met you. You added light where before there was none. I started seeing kindness and love in humans. I realised you—
they
—didn’t deserve this. I wanted to put a stop to it, but it was too late. Ival had moved up the invasion by six months, and I didn’t get a chance to send out word that this was wrong.”

“But you only met me in Vancouver with Hank?”

“No, I met you in a park while you were running.”

She thinks for a moment and then gasps. “That was you?”

“Yes. I watched you almost every day after that. I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and that is when I started seeing mothers playing with their children. Seeing elderly couples lovingly hold hands. Strangers helping other humans. You were all helping to kill the planet, but I knew you could be taught to take better care of Earth. I knew we could help you save it rather than take it away.”

She’s silent for a while after that
, and I’m afraid that I’ve said it all wrong. Then she finally speaks, and it isn’t with anger.

“What is Oden like?”

With both hands, I latch onto the new topic, away from the invasion and my feelings.

“It’s not as big as Earth, or as beautiful. Our sun is distant
, and therefore, our planet runs cold most of the time. Our nights are longer and days shorter. The atmosphere is the same; we breathe oxygen just like you.”

“Why do we look so similar? You look human.”

“I don’t know. Maybe we were all the same once upon a time then we split off, and that time was lost in our histories? Or maybe we’ve just evolved in a similar way? We’ve never come across something like this.”

“So if Hank, Lisa and the girls are alive, then my family might be alive
, too?” she asks hopefully.

“They might be
. I can’t be sure, though. There wasn’t meant to be killing, but your people know how to fight. Originally, we were going to have hinemas invade every continent at once. It should have been over in hours, but whatever reason Ival gave to speed the invasion meant we weren’t ready. There weren’t as many hinemas as there should have been. It gave some people time to prepare, time to fight, and it meant that the hinemas attacked, too. Australia was taken early, which means your family wouldn’t have been likely fighting them, and therefore, I think there is a good chance they would have been taken to Oden.”

“So
, if I get taken, too, then I might be able to find them on Oden?”

“Yes, if they’re alive
, I’d make sure you found them.”

She’s silent longer now
, and I wish I could know what she’s thinking.

“I want to see my family more than I’ve wanted anything else before
, but I don’t want to give up Earth. It feels wrong to surrender,” she admits.

“At this point, it’s safer on Oden for you than here.”

“Would I see you on Oden? Or would they have us separated, like in prisoner camps?”

“I’m not sure what they’ll do on Oden with you. To be honest
, I’m not sure how they expected to fit you all on our planet. I wouldn’t easily be able to see you, though.”

“Why?”

“Because, on my planet, my father is our leader, and one day he expects me to take over. It’s why Ival wants to kill me. My father was going to pass over him and choose me. As future leader, I won’t be able to be seen with any humans.”

“So I’d never see you again?”

I’m heartened by her distress over that, even if I feel that same sadness. “I doubt it.”

“As future leader, can you right this? Can you give us back our planet?”

I hesitate. Technically, I could, but it would be a huge deal, one that would cause my family a lot of problems.

“My family is in charge and has been for many generations because we’re known for our ruthlessness. Gaining Earth as a planet for us is an enormous deal. It’ll put my father on a short list of greats. He’ll be remembered
forever. If I was to give back Earth, I’d undo that. It’ll make us seem weak, it’ll put doubt in our people’s minds.”

“So you won’t change it?”

“I don’t know, Mattie. Even if I could, I won’t be leader for many years. My father will have to train me properly for leadership. I’ll need experience working directly under him. So not only will it mean years of training, I’ll also still be carefully watched after I take over. My decisions won’t be final until my father is dead. He would still be able to overrule me. There are twelve families that are able to be leaders. We were elected to lead, and since then, no one has had a problem with us. We bring our people planets, we keep peace, and we provide everything that our people need. Something like giving Earth away would put that all into serious doubt. We’d lose leadership for sure.”

Mattie stops walking
. I take several steps before I realise she’s no longer next to me.

“Mattie?”

“You would do the wrong thing just because it’s easier?” She sounds disappointed, and for some reason, that makes me angry at myself.

“I’m just saying that it’s not as simple as you’re saying.”

“If you’re not going to do the right thing, then I definitely don’t want to leave Earth. I want to stay here for as long as I can.”

“They’ll find you eventually.”

“Then I’ll die here. This is my home, and I refuse to give it up,” she says stubbornly.

We walk in silence after that. I don’t know what to say, and again
, my fear rises inside me that she’s going to leave me again.

“Do you hate me?” I finally ask, desperate to know even if it kills me.

She doesn’t answer me for a long time, and every second that passes tests my restraint to not just shake the answer out of her.

“I’m disappointed with your answer about giving Earth back, and I want to be angry at you. I want to hate you. I want to wait for you to sleep and take off again. I want to be nowhere near you.”

My heart falters, and I’m the one to stop moving this time. She takes several steps and then turns around to face me.