Christmas has always been his favorite time of year. People were happier, disagreements were put aside and overall, it was a time of year for solidarity, compassion and... gifts. And of course, that mattered a lot to Austin Anderson.
Braera, their home world, was a small planet with less than two billion inhabitants. He wasn't even part of the Planetary Union. The Council of 13 prided themselves on the planet's autonomy, on being so self-sufficient that they weren't dependent on outside resources.
The reason for this? Despite being small, the planet had one of the most advanced technologies in the known worlds and, thanks to it, they lived in perfect balance with nature. That way they could produce all the necessary food, generate energy, and not harm the ecosystem. Furthermore, they have never been through a war, neither external nor internal. If one word could describe it, it would be peaceful.
There was not even a need for a police or army. The closest thing to that were the "peacemakers", but their job was basically to take note if you threw trash in the wrong place.
If there were crimes? Why would there be? People were able to get what they wanted, whether it was consumer goods, health care or housing, so no one had to take something from someone else. Violence? No way. From early childhood, the inhabitants were taught to solve problems using dialogue and, as much as that was good... it was very boring. At least for a teenager who always dreamed of living something more, of having adventures he could be proud of.
Austin was one of those people who didn't fit in, a "troublemaker". Which is to say, he may or may not have spray-painted some walls, pasted some tests, cut class, and filled one of the professors' cars with manure.
He had had a rough year, the first student in decades to be expelled from a school. The director had to check the disciplinary record from decades ago to be sure of how to punish him. After that his parents made it very clear that things had to change.
They were given two choices: get a car if he behaved again, and if there was one thing Austin loved, it was flying cars, or be sent to one of the harvest fields and spend the rest of his life as a farmer.
Obviously, he rejected the second option with all his might. In Braera being sent to the fields was the same as being discarded by society, everyone who ends up there never returns to the city. Perhaps because farmers were considered unskilled labor, since even the simplest functions in the city required great technological knowledge.
So, it only remains to improve the performance. Austin got into a new school, cut himself off from friends who encouraged his risky behavior despite not having half his reckless courage, studied like a damned man, and stayed out of trouble all year.
That was why this would be her big day. Not just because it was Christmas, but also because it was his birthday. Besides, he had already found the signed contract, he even knew the model of the car. He was just waiting for his parents to wake up to hand over the key.
It wasn't one of the high-end flying cars, but it would be his car. And that was all that mattered. Austin was so anxious that he couldn't even sleep that night. His desire was to run out to wake up his parents like he did in childhood, counting it was being the most difficult task until then.
Everything in his life was coming together, it wasn't the adventure he wanted, but it was the best he could hope for in Braera. He would have his car, get good grades at his new school so college would still be possible, and he could even use the expulsion to spruce up his application since no one else would have gone through that. What could go wrong?
Everything went dark. For a minute Austin thought a cloud was covering the sun, but then he remembered it hadn't even dawned. He made the big mistake of sticking his head out the window, and his heart froze.
Spaceships, spaceships, and more spaceships, was all he could see. They were huge and shaped like a bat. Large metallic bats with cannons the size of buses, even so high in the sky, could not go unnoticed,
Austin didn't know what was going on, but he got a bad feeling, and suddenly the car didn't matter anymore. He turned on the TV, they didn't talk about anything else.
Reporters said the council tried to talk to them, offered resources in exchange for leaving the airspace, but the invaders refused and simply wouldn't say what they wanted in Braera or how long they would stay.
Austin didn't find it difficult to guess. People wouldn't break into someone's home with a gun unless they wanted to hurt the residents.
Suddenly, one of the newspaper's anchors said that viewers should gather with families and pray for salvation. Austin understood right away what it meant: everyone was going to die.
As Braera did not have an army, the few crises they had, one or another asteroid, an alien monster accidentally falling on the planet, were resolved by a group of heroes who called themselves the Guardians of the Universe.
Council members were likely in touch with those seeking help, but by the time they arrived, many could die.
A siren started to go off, it was deafening and seemed to be coming from all sides at once. Austin had never listened to her before, didn't even know there was an evacuation signal.
In a matter of a few hours, they were stuck on the main road in the middle of a huge line of cars. His father's expression when entering the room ordering him to get ready would never be forgotten. All they took from home were three backpacks with a change of clothes, little food, and the family photo album.
The spaceships dropped low enough that it was possible to see that underneath all of them there was a gold M stamped on the purple bodywork. Austin had no idea what that meant, but the radio announcers were desperate as they repeated the information.
Austin was about to think they'll make it out, or at least leave the capital and find shelter, when the ships start shooting. He didn't know why they waited so long, or why they decided it was time to finally strike, but he was sure he hated whoever was responsible for this.
He'd seen it in movies before, but in real life... it was just too awful. People started to die, buildings to fall or catch fire, he heard the screams of despair and knew there was nothing he could do to help.
Suddenly, people started to get out of their cars on the road and scream in desperation. It took Austin only a second to understand: there were troops on the ground. His father sounded cold, he looked in the rearview mirror, punched the steering wheel and then screamed. There was no room to maneuver the car, either forward or backward.
"We must leave. I can't keep driving," he said, with regret and a drop of hope.
"We're not going to make it far. The soldiers are advancing very fast," his mother replied. She looked around, startled, as if hoping for some divine intervention.
"If we stand here, we're going to die!" His father turned off the car and took a deep breath.
"Don't say that in front of him, Charlie!"
Susan was always scolding her husband, but she had never said his name in that tone. She was terrified, but she wanted to stay strong in front of her son.
"What's the use of euphemism now? You want me to say we're going to get out of this?! Do you want him to die believing that everything will be okay?" he snapped, his eyes filled with tears.
"Yes! For the gods, yes! It's better than having no hope at all! And no matter what happens to us, he must be okay!"
Austin felt like telling them to shut up. It wasn't the time to argue. And he didn't want to be okay if his parents weren't, too. But despite opening his mouth, he couldn't say anything. Not until he sees a small golden dot on the horizon.
"Look! It's the spaceship of the Guardians of the Universe!"
"It's no use celebrating yet, if those soldiers catch us..." their father reminded them.
They didn't wait to start running. Every now and then Austin craned his neck back to see what was going on. All he wanted most was for the madness to come to an end, he didn't even care about the car or boredom anymore, he just wanted to survive.
In a way, his prayers were answered. Suddenly the invaders stopped moving. He looked up and saw a huge explosion in the biggest of all ships, everything shook, and he almost fell to the ground.
For a second Austin thought everything was going to be okay, but it wasn't. The wreckage of the ship began to fall from the sky like balls of fire, a green bubble began to form around the ship and meanwhile beams of light crossed the sky like fireworks.
He looked for just a second and one of those beams of light, a cobalt blue one, came towards him and hit him right in the chest. Austin thought he was going to die, but nothing happened, at least until one of the pieces of debris decided to fall right on top of them.
The last thing he heard was his parents calling his name, then everything turned into a chaos of flames and deafening sounds.
…
"I died? Is this what it's like to be dead?"
Austin opened his eyes without having any idea where he was or how much time had passed, but he concluded that he could be in the afterlife when faced with all the white in that room. The place didn't even have doors or windows. It was to be expected that even beyond Braera would be boring.
Despite the first thought, he could still feel his body, so much so that he noticed that there was something heavy on his belly. Austin tried to get up but couldn't, the blue wolf on top of him just stared at him curiously.
"There is a blue wolf on top of me!"
He jumped out of bed at once, desperate. The animal looked at him, confused, its ears flattened as if it took offense. And that was his only reaction. He didn't attack, nor did he show any signs of being a threat.
"What the fuck is this?! Austin pointed at him.
The wolf lowered his head even further and hid his muzzle in the covers. Austin felt that he had hurt him, but he couldn't care about it now.
"Where am I?" he asked aloud, even without anyone around to answer.
His eyes then focused on his own body and he realized he was wearing some kind of blue and white pajamas. Whoever changed his clothes was the least of his problems. Who had taken him there, and why?
Austin started to walk around looking for a door, but there didn't seem to be any way out. The wolf then jumped out of bed and stopped in front of one of the walls, he looked at her as if he wanted to say something.
Austin moved closer and felt static in the air. It was a holographic wall. He tried to touch her, but he got shocked right away. He was trapped. It gave him a new sense of desperation, he needed to get away and find his parents.
His heart almost stopped beating with the idea that just crossed his mind: Had he been captured by the invaders? If that were true, dying might be better. Austin shook his head. He couldn't think about it. He had to focus on the current problem: the door.
As if the wolf understood, he howled and then reared up on his hind legs and blew. At first Austin thought it was silly, but only until he felt a wave of cold air fill the room and everything was frozen in front of the wolf.
He swallowed hard; he was sure it was best not to piss the beast off. The wolf took the lead and Austin followed, feeling he could be trusted. And if they were indeed trapped, he would need all the help he could get to escape.
They walked through corridors as white as the room and he saw people walking back and forth. They looked like soldiers, but that was wrong, Braera had no soldiers.
Everywhere I went everyone looked at him like something was wrong or like he was some TV star. Suddenly a group of lab coats spotted him, and they started to run, as if there was something very important going on.
The soldiers have stopped in front of him and are pointing their weapons. Austin frowned and the wolf started to growl, apparently, he really had a partner. He thought about facing them, but he didn't know how to fight, he wasn't even strong enough to risk exchanging blows with a grown man.
One of the Council of 13 members walked towards him and the soldiers stepped aside.
"Calm down. Our guest has finally woken up and just needs to get his bearings." he waved slightly, and everyone lowered their weapons.
The man must have been in his fifties, but he looked at least ten years older, probably the result of a planetary invasion. He was bald and the few hairs he had were white, his gray eyes were full of dark circles, and he was wearing one of the council tunics, which in Austin's opinion were hideous.
"Mr. Anderson, we have a lot to talk about and very little time. Come with me!" He started walking in the direction he'd come from, and with no choice, Austin followed.
He had no idea what was going on, but he had a bad feeling. The invasion might be over, but the danger was far from over.