Nathan Hystad - The Survivors - Books 1-3

“T hank you for following through on your word,” Leslie said, giving us each a hug. The normally cranky hybrid woman was in high spirits, having her friends back. The rescued hybrids were doing well, their ailments fixed and their body weights rising. We’d said goodbye to them before Terrance gathered us to fly us down to the portal.

“Look us up if you ever need anything.” This from Terrance.

“We will. You two take care of the others,” Magnus said with a wink. “And each other.”

The two of them looked at one another and smiled.

We left them behind, just the three of us on our way to another impossible mission.

“After it’s all said and done, I don’t mind those two,” Magnus said.

“You weren’t the one chasing them around on a fool’s errand,” Mary said, mirroring my own thoughts.

Soon we were back in the portal room, where Kareem’s body still lay. Some of his people had covered him with a veil, and a glowing shield surrounded him so he wouldn’t be tampered with. Mary looked at him uneasily, as if he would rise from the dead and walk toward us with his white sheet covering him. We were told the shield would prevent his body traveling with the portal.

“Time to get back to New Spero,” I said, scrolling to the right icon. The walls were glowing when I tapped the symbol for our destination, and when I opened my eyes, we were back in the mountainside portal room near Terran Five. I slid out the relocating device Kareem had gifted me and added this location into it. It would be a time-saver to be able to travel right here from Terran One later.

As soon as we got out of the tunnels and into the transport ship, exhaustion took over. We’d been up for a long time and needed to sleep before we took the next step. Running around alien worlds half asleep wasn’t going to do anything but get us killed.

My eyes fell closed, and as we took off for Terran One, I turned to a light sleep. Dreams of Kareem dying, of the dirty Siberian prison, and the impending trip to the Bhlat world hit me as my subconscious took over. In one of the visions, Mary ended up dying. It was a terrible glimpse into a potential future I was going to make sure didn’t happen.

When I woke, Mary’s head was leaned against my shoulder. Magnus was in the front piloting us safely back to the landing pad at the home base. It was dark outside, a cloud-covered night sky casting an unusual blackness to the surroundings. I woke Mary and hesitantly stepped down out of the comfort of the transport’s cab.

It was nighttime on New Spero, but that didn’t stop the base from being a bustle of activity.

“General, are we ever glad to see you back in one piece. Unless something happened, our fleet is due to arrive at Earth in less than two days,” a breathless uniformed officer said.

“Anything else, Tucker?” Magnus asked. He looked like he was almost asleep on his feet.

“One of our transport vessels went missing this morning,” Tucker said.

“Can’t you track it?”

The man shook his head. “The tracking was cut off. The culprit knew what they were doing.”

“Probably some kids going for a joyride. If nothing else is urgently needed, restock our supplies and charge our weapons. We leave at first light. Mary, Dean, are we good with that?” Magnus asked us. He was using his take-charge “general” voice.

“Yes, sir.” Tucker turned around and left at a brisk walk.

“You two want to go home for a few hours?” This from Magnus.

Mary nodded, and I knew Magnus was aching to see his family. I tapped the base location into the Relocator before we left. Then we were heading back down the dirt roads that had led us away from our house just a couple of days ago. So much had happened since then, and the weight of it all pressed on my temples as my head pounded.

Our house appeared, and we told Magnus we’d see him in a few hours.

“Say hi to Nat for us,” Mary said. “And Magnus?”

“Yeah?”

“Get some sleep. We need to be on our toes for this to work,” she finished.

He threw the Jeep in reverse and left us standing in front of our house in the dark.

Mary’s hand slipped into mine, assuredly squeezing my fingers. It was her way of telling me everything was going to work out, without saying it.

In less than ten minutes, we were both showered, hair still wet as we crawled into bed. The pillow felt like heaven as my head hit it, and I only had enough time to tell Mary I loved her before drifting off into a deep sleep.

D reams riddled my sleep, and I tossed and turned as I future-projected our upcoming day. Every way I saw it, Mary ended up dead. In one of the dreams, I saw us walking fictitious streets on the Bhlat world, and I walked into a house where a thin woman lay on a bed. My old bed. The one I’d shared with Janine. Only it was Mary coughing up blood. She looked at me with sad eyes. “When the ships come…wear the necklace.”

I woke in a pool of sweat, fumbling for my neck, where the chain still hung after all this time. Mary was still sleeping soundly beside me, and I leaned in, kissing her cheek lightly. I couldn’t let anything happen to her, and while I knew it was my subconscious worrying, my gut told me she couldn’t come to the Bhlat world with me. I needed to do this by myself.

The floor was cold to the touch as my bare feet hit it. I nearly tripped over the pants I’d left on the floor, and I snatched them up, careful to not let the belt jangle.

I fumbled in the closet, found a long-sleeved shirt of an unknown color, and walked to the hallway with the clothes. Once dressed, I made for the kitchen, where a notepad sat beside a pen. Mary’s gardening notes were listed on the first few pages, and I ripped a blank page out from the middle.

Mary was going to be pissed with me, but I felt like there was no choice. Our fleet was arriving soon, and bringing in a half-dozen war machines wasn’t going to end well. We needed to beat them to the punch and use the warships only as backup.

My thoughts swung to my friends: Slate, Clare, and Nick, alongside Patty. They were up there with the Bhlat. I had no idea if they were alive or dead, and the irrational part of my brain blamed myself for not going with them, for somehow not protecting them from the Bhlat when I clearly couldn’t have changed the outcome.

After a brief stop in the safe under the living room floorboards, I took inventory. I had the small Kalentrek with the Bhlat DNA spec still loaded into it; the communicators that allowed us to talk in real time over any distance; and the Relocator Kareem had just given me. I could do this job by myself.

I scrawled out a long note on the paper, my hand cramping from the frantic writing by the end of the message. They had a big part to do, and I’d do mine. We’d reconvene when it was all over. One of the communicators sat on the counter beside the note.

When I was satisfied I had the plan relayed properly, I snuck back down the hall and gently pushed the bedroom door open. Soft light from the kitchen wound its way into the room, and I watched Mary as she slept, her chest rising and falling in even movements. I wanted nothing more than to just get back into bed, stick my head under the pillow, and let someone else deal with the second invasion of Earth, but I couldn’t.

“ Dean. This is your destiny.” Kareem’s words echoed through my head.

I made a silent promise to my fiancée that I’d be back. That we’d have the wedding we both wanted, surrounded by our friends and family. That the threat would be ended in a day’s time.

With that done, I turned, leaving the door open a crack, and walked out onto the porch with my supplies.