Chapter X
"What do you mean 'in the air'?" inquired Miriallia.
"Well, when they arrived on earth, Zala had long been… preparing for them." The woman turned back to the dresser and began closing a small suitcase. "There were a number of compounds they were sent to."
"Compounds?" Ezaria turned and walked over to sit on the couch.
"You may wish to sit." she said. Mirillia did exactly that. "They were more like death camps I should say. They were sent there to be exterminated." Miri's mouth dropped slowly but she could find no words. "At first, they used a bullet each, but it became too costly with the war. So Zala had his men find more cost effective ways of doing it, and eventually, they figured that it would be easier to work the strong ones until they dropped, then gassed the weak ones. Zala needed those 2 million bullets for his war." Miriallia began to shake slightly as Ezaria continued to talk. "And then, they burned the bodies. Thus, they became smoke, and were resettled in the air."
"They…killed all the naturals?"
"Well, the naturals at first, but later on, they did the same with the lunatics, the deformed, the cripples, the half-breeds." She opened a drawer on her dresser and removed from it a large parcel, handing it Miriallia. "I was removed from the council for attempting to speak against it, but I managed to hold onto these. Take them." Again, the silver-haired woman turned and packed some more things. "Will there be a cab coming?" she asked.
"Y…yes." stuttered Miriallia as she started to back out the door. "Than…thank you." she said as she left the penthouse and made her way back down to the street. Phil watched as she ran passed the car and into an adjacent park. He quickly got out and gave chase.
"Miri! Miri, where the hell are you going?" he shouted as she continued to run, eventually coming to rest on a park bench. "Miriallia, what the hell has gotten into you?"
"They killed all the naturals." she said as she opened the package and began to rifle through the photos.
"What?"
"They killed all the naturals. Zavey, Patrick Zala had all the naturals in the colonies killed."
"That's bullshit. They were resettled on earth." he replied as she handed him some pictures.
"Look at these Phil." He cringed as he looked at the first one which depicted a mound of half-starved corpses. The inspector continued to look through them. "What are these?" he asked disgustedly.
"They're photographs from the death camps."
"What death camps?"
"The death camps on earth. Zala had the naturals deported so he could send them there to be exterminated." Phil's face changed from one of surprise and puzzlement to horror and denial.
"These…no. These must be fake."
"Why would anyone fake them Phil?" The colonel didn't respond as he continued to flip through the ghastly collection of scenes. "Publicity, a good story?" Miri grabbed a piece of paper. "Look at these. They were deported on shuttles to Earth. Sixty people to a shuttle, one-hundred shuttles leaving per day. That's six-thousand people every day." Zavey sat down on the bench and began to stare blankly.
"I served murderers all my life." he said to himself.
"Zavey what's Cyclosarin?" He nodded his head weakly.
"I…I don't know." Miriallia continued to read on. "It's gas. Zavey look at this. They gassed all the naturals, then burned the bodies." Phil slumped down onto the bench.
"How could this happen? We always thought they had been deported. I always knew he lied, but never like this." The brunette woman turned to the clearly shaken man who slowly moved his head and looked at her. "Miri. If your Prime Minister knew about this, would she still meet with Zala?"
"I don't know."
"Listen to me Miri. You have to get these to Attha before she signs the treaty. She has to know about this." Phil slowly turned his head away from the woman. "What will I tell my son? How can I tell him that this wasn't some glorious struggle for survival? " The journalist took Zavey's head and hugged it to her body.
"You didn't do this Phil. You didn't even know. He doesn't have to know yet." She released his head and he looked up at her. "I'll try to make it safe for you and him to come to earth with me." she said before turning and walking out of the park. The policeman still sat on the bench, a vacant look on his face and a tear slowly rolling down his cheek.
"How do I tell him it was a war of annhilation?"
Half-breeds. After finding the cure for impotence among third generation coordinators, it became illegal for any coordinator to engage in sexual activity with a natural. A half-breed is the offspring of a coordinator-natural union.
