Aftermath: A Star-Crossed Fan Fic
The only sound I heard was from the Suvek. It's whirling kept me on edge and it's pulsing, visible light waves echoed through the atmosphere. I suspected this signal was getting emitted beyond Earth, maybe even beyond this galaxy. Its strength had knocked every human in the surrounding area unconscious. From Emery's side, I had gathered that she was still breathing but her heart rate had immensely slowed. Grayson on the other hand had suffered from a bullet to the chest. Drake was applying pressure to the wound but with little prevail. He desperately needed a doctor. I left Emery's side to get a better look from the roof top. The Suvek knocked out everyone in a 50 mile radius. Cars smoked on the roads, the shock left a devastating aftermath.
Drake and I just looked at each other. No one knew who the signal was sent out to. No one knew how soon it would take for it to be received or how much time we had until the recipients of that message arrived. All we knew was that time was short and we had nothing to stand on. The Sector wasn't a place to build defenses. We had been banned from our own ship for a decade and I'm sure security would only be multiplied once the humans awoke and found what the Trags had done.
Someone was screaming.
In the horrifying silence someone was screeching at the top of their lungs. I glanced around the rooftop. Drake and I had were only ones in this area left unharmed. Zoe was crumpled over by the edge bleeding out and her Trag allies were comatose from the previous scuffle.
"I don't think the blast affected the Atrians in the area. That scream could be from Sophia." My hearts raced so fast I thought they'd pound themselves out of my chest cavity. "Stay here I'm going to find my sister. Keep pressure on Grayson's wound and watch Emery."
Drake gave me a strained look. "You don't know what's out there, Roman. There could be dozens of conscious Trags unaffected by the Suvek. I can't let you go out there without backup."
"I'll be fine." I protested and snagged the guns from the unconscious Trags. "Look, I'm armed. Just stay here and keep the Suvek and those two safe." My eyes went back to Emery. She lay still as a stone. Every one of my nerve ends was screaming. I had put her in danger, again. Plus, the whole future of this planet was at risk. I pulled my gaze away and ran for the elevator. The Suvek had severed all electricity. I headed for the edge of the building and threw myself over the side to scale the wall down. Just before leaving I glanced at Drake. "If I'm not back in an hour come find me."
He nodded in return and I lowered myself to the ledge of the top story window.
The whole town was rendered powerless by the looks of it. Destroyed electrical wire lay on the ground limp and dead. Not too far away I heard another scream.
"Roman?" From the shadows Sophia appeared. Her face was a little scratched up but otherwise she appeared unharmed.
"Sophia." I breathed a sigh of relief and embraced her. She held me tight but suddenly pulled away.
"Was that the Suvek? Will the humans be okay? Where's Zoe?"
"Slow down. Yes, we removed the Ikson key from the Suvek in time but Zoe programmed her own device to resume the detonator once we succeeded. The Suvek detonated, but Sophia, it's not a bomb it's a transmitter. The Trags wanted to send out a message or something. To whom, I don't know but we're going to find out. Right now, we have to make sure everyone's okay."
Another scream echoed in the distance.
"Who is that?" Sophia looked around, alarmed. My hand on her arm felt her muscles tense.
"We got to help them. They're most likely Atrian. Come on, let's go."
Sophia followed close behind but caught my arm and motioned towards the slumped over figures behind us. Lukas, Julia and Eric lay on the ground in the shadow of the towering buildings. Their limbs were tangled but I could see no blood or cuts.
"What will happen to them?" Sophia's face flooded with concern.
"They're fine, completely safe, I promise. They are merely unconscious. When they wake we'll fill them in."
Sophia nodded and followed the scream.
It was coming from a flipped car a few blocks away from the Suvek epicenter. Between screams the person beneath was panting and crying. Their breathing was shallow beneath the car's weight. I extended my arm to hold Sophia back while I crouched beside the vehicle.
There was Taylor, sobbing with glowing cheeks and wailing at the top of her lungs.
"Don't just stare at me! Please get me out of here!" She cried and tried to wipe her face but her tears still glowed.
I jumped to my feet and motioned Sophia to pull Taylor from the wreck while I tried to remove as much of the car weight from her as possible. On the count of three, I lifted and Sophia grabbed Taylor by the torso from the driver's seat. Her arms and legs were scratched from the wrecked car body and her clothes were tattered but when Sophia helped her from the ground, Taylor yelped in pain.
"My leg!" She winced. Her hand reached for her leg which was bloody and torn from the car. The way Taylor held herself up beside Sophia appeared contorted and painful. Her expression said it all. Sophia tightened her grip around Taylor. A strong but tender hold kept her upright.
Even in her state, Sophia turned to embrace her. Taylor at first was shocked by the sudden embrace but softened and leaned into the hug.
"Thank you, Sophia." Taylor whispered and kissed her gingerly on the cheek.
"Can you please explain the glowing?" I asked but as soon as I let the question leave my mouth I understood. The expecting women back on Atria would cry glowing tears as well as exhibit a multitude of hormonal symptoms. And then it all started to come together.
"Taylor, you're-"
"Yes. I am. Now can we PLEASE forget about my situation and can someone explain what's going on here?!"
"I'll explain when we're back by the Suvek. I don't know how many Trags are still conscious."
We arrived at the location of the Suvek. Sophia and I carried Taylor between us, limping on one leg. "Those power lines weren't live back there. If the power is out, how did you manage to get down from the roof?" Sophia questioned.
"I scaled the building." I replied.
"Even with supernatural Atrian hormone strength I still don't think I can scale a building, Roman. Especially with my leg." Taylor checked out the wall I climbed.
"While Lukas and I were scoping out the building for radiation readings, we found a staircase in this warehouse. Over here." Sophia led the way to a metal set of stairs in one of the back rooms. "They're narrow but the best we got. Do you think we could carry the others up here?"
I held on to my sister's shoulders. "Sophia, we don't have enough time. I'm sorry, but I assure you I'll keep them safe." To fulfill my promise, we retrieved Lukas, Julia and Eric and found a safe place for them to rest in the warehouse.
In the time while I was gone, Drake had tied up the Trag goons and Zoe. The Suvek still buzzed and whirled. As soon as he saw Taylor, he dropped everything and ran. His hands were on her in seconds, holding her face and kissing her. He stopped when he heard her whimper in pain. His jaw went slack. "I'm going to get you all fixed up, okay? I promise." He kissed her one last time before facing the rest of us. "First thing's first: we got to shut the Suvek down. Whatever message that's getting sent needs to be stopped as soon as possible."
"Roman, you said Zoe had some sort of device to restart the Suvek, there's got to be a control on that remote to turn it off." The remote had been tossed when Zoe was stabbed. It had landed a few feet from the elevator doors.
"Can anyone figure it out?"
"Lukas had some understanding of Atrian technology. He helped me recover data from a device a few months ago, I'm sure he could help us now."
"One problem, he's been knocked unconscious. Got any other more bright ideas?" Taylor snapped. She and Drake exchanged looks, after some silent conversation between them he retreated to her side and held her hand, gave it a few tight squeezes.
"Taylor's right, we need a plan B." Sophia interjected. "Let me see it." She took it from my grasp and studied it carefully. "If the Suvek is a transmitter and the Trag's only purpose was to send a message, the controls should just be a simple on and off, right?"
"Be careful, Sophia." I warned.
She pressed a few times on different spots on the remote and then suddenly the burdening sounds of the Suvek stopped. It collapsed on the ground and slowly, the beeping and whizzing noises faded away.
"Sophia, you did it!" Taylor was breathless. We all were.
As soon as the Suvek sputtered to a stop a new sound was heard around the town. The humans were awakening. In the streets of Edendale, everyone was sitting up and looking around. So many were clueless to what had just happened and so unaware of what was to come.
Her abrupt inhale of breath grabbed my attention so fast I almost lost my balance when I ran to her. Emery's eyelids fluttered open. Her brow furrowed in confusion. "Emery, Emery, are you alright?" I stuttered. My hand reached for hers. She took it and lifted herself up.
"I'm fine, Roman. It's just- what happened?"
"The Trags weren't stopped." Drake cut in. He went over to Grayson who was beginning to wake up. "We got to get him to a hospital."
Sophia crouched beside Emery and I. "The Suvek isn't a weapon. It's a transmitter. The Trags created a device to reach out to someone-"
"-Or something." Taylor corrected.
From Grayson's side, Drake spoke up again. "And whoever received that message is going to be on their way here. The Trags wanted to take over this planet. I'm sure whoever they contacted is well replenished in armies and weapons."
Emery held her head. "So I guess we prepare for intergalactic war."