Jackson (2 page)

“We are not friends if you’re going to treat me like a gullible little kid. Or a stupid hick.”

“You know I think you’re very smart. Please come back and let’s talk.”

For a moment I didn’t move. Then I crossed my arms over my stomach and slowly walked back to the sunny spot. I sat on the blanket, arms still crossed, ready to hear this story. I expected a whopper, too. My brother and the biggest guy in the camp had bought the whole thing.

He smiled watching me, then he came and sat on the blanket, too. Cross-legged, facing me. I scooted back a little, and he took a deep breath studying, me with his weird “hazel” eyes.

“You were going to tell me the story,” I said.

He looked down and picked up a blade of grass that had fallen onto the blanket. Not meeting my eyes, he began to speak.

“The night I was born, my uncle Acona, my father’s brother, assassinated my parents and thirty-two members of their ruling party, their cabinet. A spy, one of my sister’s kinsmen, had word of what was coming. She warned Ovett, and he sneaked Cato and me out with a small group of loyalists. We’ve been running from planet to planet, hiding ever since.”

For a moment, I sat in silence. My eyebrows were still clutched together, but my arms had loosened at my waist. “So your parents were... kings and queens or something?”

“We don’t have royalty on my planet. The power rotates through the three nations every third generation. Cato would’ve been the last to rule from the Protectors’ line, and then the power would pass to the Shifters, then the Warriors, my father’s nation.”

“So that’s why everyone treats Cato like a princess. Because she is one.”

“More like your President. Except over all of Gliese.”

“Gliese.”

“In the Libra constellation. We’ve been studying your planet and others like it for centuries.”

At that I jumped up and started walking again. I stomped around in a circle before starting toward the camp, but Gallatin caught up to me, holding my arm.

“You’re mad again?”

I didn’t answer as I jerked my arm back, but he caught my waist.

“Why are you angry? Talk to me.”

I couldn’t run with him holding me, but I wasn’t letting him hold me. I pulled his hands off my waist and pushed back. Anger and fear were slugging it out in my chest, and so many arguments were filling my head, they all jammed up trying to come out of my mouth at the same time. Finally I spat out the most obvious.

“You really expect me to believe that? Any of it? That’s the most ridiculous story—”

“It’s true! I’m telling you the truth.”

I was still panting, but I reached out and poked his bare chest. It was warm like human skin and soft. I pressed harder, and when I pulled back, a light spot quickly faded where the pressure had been.

“That’s human,” I said.

Then I pinched his arm as hard as I could, and he yelped in pain. His yellow eyes sparked.

“See?” I shouted. “You ouched! There is nothing alien about ouching. Nothing! So quit lying to me!”

I turned and started walking again, but before I could get away, he caught my waist in one arm and with his other, he slid his palm up to my cheek. Instantly that familiar calm washed over me like warm water.

My eyelids closed, and I took a deep breath. It was as if all the anger dissipated, and I wanted to sit and smile. Or sing a song.

He released me, and I stood in front of him dazed, trying to remember why I was so angry. The sun was shining so happily, and we were supposed to go swimming. I loved swimming.

But just as quickly, the happy feeling faded. I shook my head. It was the lies. He was telling me crazy stories, treating me like I was an idiot. Like they all clearly thought we were. My heartbeat picked up, and I started to get mad again.

“And another thing?” My voice rose. “If you’re so alien, how can you walk around here without a gas mask or anything? And why do you need to hold us in prison? Prison! None of it—none! Makes any sense.”

He caught me again and pulled me to his chest, sliding his palm over my forehead, looking into my eyes as he did it. Again, my anger flew away like smoke in a strong breeze. I stared into his warm eyes and this time, I decided they were beautiful.

All his colors blended together with the colors of the forest into a harmonious, glowing palette of browns and tans, golds and greens. I gazed over his shoulder at the light flickering through the leaves, and I noticed the treetops had become translucent in the sun, a glowing, neon-green canopy above us. All around, the noises of the forest came together in a soothing melodious backdrop. My heart rose, and I wanted to close my eyes and listen and feel and never leave. My eyes found his, and now they were smiling, too. I blinked and watched as his gaze moved lower, drifting to my lips.

“I so want to kiss you, Prentiss,” he whispered.

I studied his mouth. His lips were full and soft and inviting. I was sure my kissing them was the only thing to do in this absolutely magical moment. I closed my eyes and leaned forward, and then I remembered.

“No,” I whispered. “I can’t kiss you.”

He sighed and released me, but my anger didn’t come back this time. In its place was confusion.

“I know I’m angry with you,” I said. “But now I can’t remember why. Everything is so beautiful... You were lying to me, saying you were from another planet...”

“You’re so strong.” His voice was almost proud, and I remembered how him being proud of me made me feel proud. “Will you sit down with me so I can explain more?”

I nodded, and he took my hand, leading me back to the big log with the fuzzy green fungus covering its side. I sat and rubbed my finger across the top. My eyes traveled around the woods in amazement. Everything was hazy and ethereal.

“Prentiss?”

I looked at him.

“I did something to you. It might cause you to be angry again when I tell you.”

“What did you do?” I couldn’t imagine how I could possibly feel anything but bliss ever again.

“Will you try to understand?”

“Of course! How could I be angry with you?”

“I controlled your emotions. It’s one of my powers as a Guard.”

For a moment I only blinked back at him, unsure what he meant.

“You were very upset, but I made your brain feel happiness. I made you see the beauty of the forest instead.”

“How—”

“I’m not exactly sure. Shubuta thinks it’s like a blast of serotonin that relaxes your mind, but it’s only temporary.”

As if waking up from a dream, I looked down. Then my eyes filled with tears. It was wonderful, and it was all fake. I was humiliated remembering how much I’d wanted to kiss him just now.

“So you’re a hypnotist.”

“It’s not really hypnosis. It’s more manipulating the electrical currents in our bodies. I can show you with our eyes closed if it helps—”

“Don’t ever do that to me again.” My voice was flat as I stood and walked around the water to the blanket.

I wasn’t sure why I was crying, whether it was because I believed him or because I didn’t. Or because I was a fool. Then I realized he’d done it before—when Bully was born, and when we’d sneaked back the first time and Cato and Ovett almost caught us. Those gentle touches that had flooded me with calm. My body trembled, but the residual effect of his touch kept me from completely losing it.

“You did it in the barn when Bully was born. And that other time, when we stayed out too long and were almost caught.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, back at my side. “I won’t ever do it again without your permission. I promise. I just had to make you believe me, and it was the only way—”

“The only way? That’s your only alien power?”

“Yes. Well, and as a Guard, I can communicate telepathically with high warriors like Cato and Ovett, but not with you. At least I don’t think—”

“Communicate telepathically?”

“We’re in the ruling class because of our gifts. Cato can deflect the cutting power Ovett possesses. My uncle can do both, cut and deflect, which is very rare. It’s what makes him so difficult to overpower. It’s how I got my scars.”

His voice grew quiet, as if it was a memory too painful to share, but I had to know. “How did you get them?”

Golden eyes flickered to mine. “Two planets ago, he found me. I was just a little boy, and I was alone.”

“Cato left you alone?” After the way she acted, I could hardly believe it.

“Well, not entirely. Sontag was there. He was betrothed to my sister, but he had no powers. He had only his shoulder armor, and it was no match for my uncle.” Gallatin made a fist and studied the scar across the back of his hand. “When he realized he was lost, Sontag laid his body over mine like a shield, a sacrifice, and all I could do was hold onto him. Acona kept cutting and cutting trying to reach me, until Sontag was shredded. I’ll never forget his screams, the blood...”

A knot was in my throat. “It’s so horrible.”

“I don’t remember Ovett’s arrival. My arms were over my face when he finally got to me.” He took a deep breath. “It’s why we still have to run. We’re not strong enough to defeat Acona.”

I sank to my knees on the blanket. Then I leaned forward putting my head on my hands. My brain felt like it was coming apart inside my head—like there really was a chip being activated. The chip, I had to ask about that, but I felt Gallatin’s hand on my back.

I jumped up, using my feet to increase the space between us. “Don’t!”

He winced as if I’d slapped him, then he looked down at his hands. “It doesn’t happen with every touch. I have to focus, and I have to know which emotion I’m trying to project.”

“Just keep your hands to yourself for now.”

He nodded. “Of course. Whatever you want.”

“So when you’re cut, do you bleed green or something?”

“It’s actually very dark, almost black. Shubuta says it’s because of the composition of the oxygen molecules here and how it reacts with our blood.”

I didn’t know what to say, and for the moment we were quiet. The space between us clumsy and awkward. It was all so much, so fast. Like we were friends who’d spent a whole summer apart and were now meeting up again to discover everything we knew about each other had completely changed over the break.

“That used to be the hardest part for me,” he finally said. “The changes in our bodies as a result of being in different environments can be a shock. Our planets are similar, but still—”

“What color is your blood on your own planet?”

He glanced up at me. “I was only a baby when I left Gliese, but Cato says it’s clear.”

“Like water?”

“No, more like with the cow? The stuff you swallowed?”

“I’m already close to throwing up.”

“I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t believe it, yet he was so calm and at ease with the story. It was seamless, and there was an explanation for everything I asked. Almost everything.

“So why hold us prisoners? You said you were only going to be here a day? Two? What happened?”

“Evacuation, escape—we always have to be prepared to flee. In this case, we chose remote locations, places where there were very few people, or where the small population tended to be isolated.”

“Like Dabb Creek?”

“Cato liked it here—the forest, the flowers, the green. I was only here a short time before I asked to go to the desert.”

“Whatever, so then what?”

“Well, a few years passed. I studied about your inhabitants and animals. It was actually
my
idea to create the sustainable farm. I outlined how we could hold a small group in a camp like this for up to a week if necessary and all the food, everything would provide itself.”

“Where’d you get that idea? A book?”

“Yes, actually, but it was only a theory. I wasn’t proposing it as the first course of action.”

“Yet here we are. Why?”

He exhaled deeply, studying his palm. “When we prepare to leave, we have to uncover the ships, which are quite large and difficult to hide.”

“You bury them?”

“No, we cloak them, sort of like under an invisible dome. But we also build up the landscape for added protection.”

“And you can’t get them out?”

“It’s not that. Getting them out is relatively easy and quick. All of this should’ve taken a day to a day and a half, but just as we were leaving, word came that we couldn’t evacuate. Acona’s scouts were detected in this quadrant, scanning every planet, moon, and asteroid for us. We had to wait until they passed, but the ships were out. Some humans had seen us, seen them. It was too late to hide again.”

“I still don’t understand why you had to hold us here. Why not just erase our memories?”

He shook his head. “We didn’t know how long we’d have to wait, and it isn’t feasible to keep rounding you all up. The old ones were given heavy sedatives and are being monitored in their homes, but there aren’t enough of us to watch everyone that way.”

“So some people are still in their homes?” My thoughts went to my dad, Dr. Green, Jackson.

“Ovett also secured these two abandoned facilities—”

“There’s another camp?”

“A ways from us, closer to your town. Many of the workers are being held there. Underground.”

“Underground! They must be terrified!”

“They’re also sedated. Asleep.”

“The man in the ditch,” I murmured, remembering the day I was taken. “So that just left us.”

“The overflow. Shubuta convinced the others to let her experiment with my plan in this camp. You might say it was pure chance that brought you here.”

“Then Cato brought you here.”

He glanced at me with an expression that was too warm. I chose to ignore it. I wouldn’t believe Fate had brought us together. Could I even believe in something like Fate now that I knew there were aliens? I was becoming like Braxton, suddenly doubting everything I knew.

“But if your uncle’s scouts were scanning everything, why wait? They’d find you if you stayed here.”

“My grandfather and the other Guard are loyal to our way of life, to our civilization. They’ve been protecting us all along while trying to negotiate a truce with my uncle. Because of our connection, my grandfather is able to set up a vibration, like a shield that makes Cato and me invisible to Acona’s hunters.”