Roman

The awful sound of the temblor gun rang through what used to be the Atrian market. Roman stared straight ahead, past the body of the recently-executed Trag, a solemn look on his face. Distantly, he heard a woman scream, probably the mother of the dead Atrian, mourning the loss of her traitorous son.

"Let me remind you all," cried a deep, booming male voice, "that this is the consequence that awaits you if you chose to strike against the human race. We will not tolerate even the slightest hint of terrorism on our planet. Consider yourselves lucky, that you were not all locked in your pods and this Sector lit on fire. That we spare those proven innocent. Those who want to try to integrate into human society."

Beside him, his sister Sophia let out a small sob, as the guard lit a match and tossed it on the Trag's remains. Roman reached down and took her hand in his.

This was how the Sector had been since the Trags detonated the Suvek at Mardi Gras. The Sector had been on complete lockdown. The federal government had swept in, overthrowing Gloria's authority in Edendale. The Atrians were now prisoners in their own pods, only allowed to walk outside during scheduled hours, or for terrorist executions, which took place almost every two days.

The population had dwindled, from executions as well as those who were taken away for questioning and never returned. Rumors were that they had begun building new Sectors in secret locations, with fewer Atrians in each so they could control them better. There were also the Atrians who couldn't handle this life anymore, and swallowed herbs that would kill them. The government officials, who had replaced the SEU guards, deemed those deaths as acts of guilt and called them all terrorists.

Roman's mother had been one of them. She had gotten her hands on black cyper, snuck it into their pod and was dead by morning, when Roman found her. After everything that happened after his father's death, he wasn't taken aback by his mother's choice. He and his sister knew she was no Trag.

The alarm sounded, signalling for the Atrians to return to their pods for the night. Roman placed his hand on Sophia's back, ushering her quickly back to their pod. When the door was opened, the heat from the panels on the walls blasted in their faces like a desert wind. The government men used them to keep the Atrians subdued. They were weakened by heat and lack of humidity in the room.

Sophia shuffled off to her bed, curling up in a ball. Roman was shortly behind her, slumping to the ground beside her bed.

"What did we do to deserve this?" Sophia whispered in Sondiv.

"We tried to help them", Roman replied in English, bitterness seeping into his words.

"We did the right thing. Why can't they see that?"

"Because they're arrogant. We know we did the right thing. We tried to save them from what we thought was a bomb. We had no idea it was a signal."

Sophia sighed, drifting off into sleep.

They had the same conversation every day. Why.

Roman stood up and climbed the ladder to his bunk. Lying on his back he lifted the tile of the ceiling above him and pulled out a star made of string. Emery had shown him how to make them, when he first arrived on Earth ten years ago.

He hadn't seen Emery in three months. Not since she'd been yanked from his arms on the roof after the shock wave from the Suvek blasted the town. He hadn't even been sure if she was even alive for two weeks. It was the worst two weeks of his life.

He closed his eyes, drifting off into the same memory he did every night.

"Emery! Emery!" he cried, shaking her in his arms. Her eyes were shut, her mouth slack, her hair tangled in her face.

"Please Emery! Please! Wake up Emery!" he sobbed, "Don't leave me! Emery! You can't leave me… I need you…" He buried his face in her hair.

Drake grabbed his shoulders, "Roman, dude, come on. We have to get out of here. We have to go get help!"

"I can't leave her. I can't. This is all my fault," he sobbed, "all my fault…"

Suddenly, shouts erupted on the ground level, and boot steps thundered up the stairs.

"They're coming! Someone's coming!" Drake stood up quickly, preparing to attack if necessary.

The door crashed open and out poured SEU guards.

Everything after was a blur. Suddenly, someone was pulling Emery out of his arms, away from him. "No!" he cried. He lunged to grab her, save her, but he felt a stab in his back and suddenly his body was on fire. He cried out, and fell to the ground, the world going black.

Roman awoke with a start, almost hitting his head on the ceiling of the pod. The pounding on the door got louder. He shoved Emery's star back into it hiding place and rolled to get out of bed, moving too quickly and landing hard on the floor.

Sophia jumped, but Roman shushed her, telling her to go back to sleep.

He walked towards the door and opened it to reveal three armed guards. The biggest one stepped forward, "You have been summoned by Commander Sinclair. Come with us."

The two behind him slapped cuffs onto him and led him out the door. Distantly he heard his sister call out for him.

Confused with sleep, Roman shook his head harshly, realising there was only one reason for the Commander to summon him…

It must be time for his execution.