Hope Everlasting: A Dystopian Sci-fi Novel (The Variant Saga Book 3) Read online

  Terry smiled. “We have to find your family, right? This is no big deal.”

  “Thank you,” said Ludo, placing his hand on Terry’s shoulder, then began his descent along the hillside.

  Terry followed after him, and together they made their way through the valley, toward the bustling seaside town.

  ******

  Terry and Ludo entered Capeside, suddenly finding themselves surrounded by stone buildings and passing natives. Local chatter filled the streets, coming from all around them. Terry could hear a variety of dialects and languages, if he listened closely, erupting from all across the village.

  The scent of the sea floated in the air, filling his nose and lungs. The taste of salt water lingered, and for a moment he felt reinvigorated, and a sudden urge to go swimming.

  They passed by several shops, curving along the path between the many buildings. Several were selling various foods, and their scents hit Terry quickly. Baked goods, fish, and broths. All of them culminated into a fresh aroma, inciting his stomach to growl. He was suddenly so hungry.

  Ludo motioned for him to hurry, so Terry doubled his pace, and together they rounded a nearby alleyway, finally stopping before a faded green door at the side of a thin building. Ludo knocked twice, and someone shuffled on the other side, clambering to answer. When the door swung open, they were met by the face of an aged woman with thin black hair and frail hands. Ludo smiled and bowed his head. “Grandmother.”

  The old woman’s eyes appeared to focus, lingering on the man in front of her, before finally widening into realization. “Grandson?” she asked. “Is it you?”

  Ludo smiled warmly. “It is!” he exclaimed, opening his arms to embrace her.

  She laughed and fell into him, disappearing briefly underneath the farmer’s large torso. Letting go of him, she chuckled, spiritedly. “It has been too long. Have you come for your son?”

  A look of relief washed over Ludo’s face. “So, he is here?”

  “Oh, yes,” she told him. “Little Talo arrived several days ago. I was so pleased to see him. He looks exactly like your father did at that age.”

  “Where is he now?” asked Ludo, quickly.

  “At the docks, fetching tonight’s dinner. Had I known you were coming, I would have told him to get more,” she said, laughing. “Oh well. He can always go back.”

  Ludo glanced at Terry. “I need to find him. Do you mind waiting here?”

  Terry removed the bag from his head. “Not a problem.”

  “Who is this?” asked the old woman, finally taking notice of him.

  “I apologize,” said Ludo. “This is Terry, my chakka-kin.”

  Terry cocked an eye at the term. What was a chakka-kin? He’d never heard Ludo say such a thing before.

  The old woman nodded. “Any chakka-kin of my family is welcome here,” she said, warmly, extending her hand to Terry.

  He took it. “Thank you.”

  She led him through the door, shutting it once they were inside. Ludo remained in the street, no doubt to go look for his son. Terry wondered how long it would take to find the boy and return. He knew nothing of this place, and this elderly woman was a stranger to him, despite being Ludo’s grandmother. “Please, rest in the sitting room. Be at home.”

  The sitting room, as she called it, was similar in many respects to Ludo’s farm. Large and circular, with a small fire pit in the center, though it wasn’t lit at the moment. Terry took a seat on one of the cushions, relieved to be off his feet.

  The old woman brought him a cup with steam coming from it. He recognized the smell. Ludo had made this drink for him several times before, back on the farm. “Fissin?” he asked.

  She smiled. “You have had it before?”

  “Yes,” he said, accepting the drink. He took a sip, and it warmed his mouth and throat, relaxing him.

  “It is our family drink,” she explained. “Not for outsiders.”

  “Outsiders?” he asked, pausing to look at the cup. “Isn’t that what I am?”

  “You are chakka-kin to Ludo,” she said, matter-of-factly, as though this should tell him everything.

  “What’s that mean?” he asked.

  She tilted her head, blinking. “You don’t know?”

  He hesitated. “I’m…from far away,” he answered, quickly. “Another country.”

  “Ah,” she said. “I wondered about your accent and appearance. That explains a great deal. So, you are unfamiliar with our customs.”

  He nodded. “Where I come from, it’s very different.”

  She took a sip of fissin. “A chakka-kin is an outsider who has become like family. This can happen in different ways, but it always means the same thing.” She motioned at the cup in Terry’s hand.

  He looked at it, nodding slowly, and drank from it. He hadn’t known it at the time, back on the farm, but when Ludo had shared this drink with him, it had been a great honor. He felt embarrassed now that he finally understood.

  She smiled. “He trusts you as he would a brother. For what reason, I do not know, nor should I. A chakka-kin is not made easily, and the bond must be respected. For this reason, I shall look at you the same as my own grandson…a member of my family and this house.”

  “Thank you…I…” He paused, not knowing what else to say.

  She smiled warmly. “Let us drink now, Terry, my new grandson, and talk about the outside world. It has been too long since I last saw it.”

  ******

  Ludo arrived in less than an hour, his son close behind him. “We are back! We are here!”

  The grandmother rose to her feet with trembling knees and headed to greet them.

  Terry lingered in the sitting room, letting the old woman go ahead of him, and then followed. Ludo had his arm around the boy, a wide smile across his face. “Talo, look! Terry has come, too.”

  Talo beamed a smile. “Terry! It is good to see you!”

  “You, too,” said Terry, smiling.

  “We must give thanks to the Eye for this reunion today,” said Ludo. “Truly, we are blessed!”

  As the evening stretched on, Ludo spent time talking with Talo, and Terry listened while trying not to interrupt the pair. The farmer and his son seemed more than happy, as though their home hadn’t been burned to the ground and everything was normal. Terry admired their joy, and before long he found himself longing for a reunion of his own.

  But such a meeting would never take place, he knew. There could be no going home. He had accepted that hard truth, and he understood the reality of his situation. He would never see John or Mei again, nor his mother and sister, and that was okay. He was certain they were alive and well. He refused to believe otherwise.

  It helped that he was no longer alone. He’d found a new family, however long it might have taken, here on this distant world. Ludo, Talo, Ysa, and now this old grandmother, too. They had rescued him from himself, and he would do everything in his power to protect them.

  Whatever the cost.

  CHAPTER 3

  S.O.F.T. Mission Report

  Play Audio File 24

  Recorded: February 7, 2351

  CURIE: Tell me you didn’t kill it.

  FINN: Babe, I’m telling you. I didn’t have a choice. That thing was out for blood!

  CURIE: Did you do something to startle it?

  FINN: I don’t know. We were scouting out the woods when we ran into it. Damn thing was pissed.

  CURIE: Was anyone hurt?

  FINN: No, as soon as it charged, we opened fire. Everyone’s fine.

  CURIE: Except for the animal you killed.

  FINN: Hey, I said I’m sorry. What do you want me to do?

  CURIE: We have no idea what kind of effect that will have on the other wildlife.

  FINN: Judging by the size and look of it, they’ll probably thank us. Damn thing had swords for teeth.

  CURIE: Did you at least secure the body?

  FINN: We left it there. No one’s carrying that thing. It weighs more than a d
irt cab.

  CURIE: Any pictures, then?

  FINN: Oh, yeah. Don’t worry, babe. I’ve got you covered.

  CURIE: Thanks. I’d like to examine it before it begins decomposing.

  FINN: Are you planning on sending someone?

  CURIE: I was thinking I’d go, personally, but not for too long. A day at the most. Can you watch the body until I get there?

  FINN: Sure thing. I’ll put Brooks on it.

  CURIE: Thanks. In the meantime, if you encounter another animal, please just try not to kill it. I know your job is basically to hunt monsters, but do me a favor and try to make an exception.

  End Audio File

  Bravo Gate Point

  February 7, 2351

  John stood beside a large tree, staring curiously at the glowing blue foliage. He plucked a leaf from one of the branches, twirling it in his fingers. He bent it in half, breaking the film and smudging his skin with the guts of the leaf. He’d done this before back home, and he was always fascinated by how long the glow would last on his fingers. It usually faded after a minute or two, sometimes less. He couldn’t help but wonder why. He was certain the scientists in Central knew exactly the reason behind this strange phenomenon, so all he really had to do was ask, but doing so would take all the fun out of it. He enjoyed the harmless mystery of it.

  His com clicked on, and a voice came through. “John, I’m about done over here,” said Mei. “Do you want to meet me at the CHUs?”

  He wiped his hand on the side of his jacket, smearing the plant matter, which had already stopped glowing. “Sure thing. Get everything you needed from the animal?”

  “I could spend days examining the body, but I have enough samples to keep me busy for a while. It’s been productive.”

  “So, you’re having fun?” asked John.

  “I suppose you could say that,” she said. “It’s not every day you get to travel to another planet.”

  “Hard to get used to the idea,” he said, glancing at the two suns overhead.

  “I suspect we’ll adjust eventually.”

  John ended the call and made his way through the woods, back toward the camp. He’d come this way to check out a malfunctioning scanner, which only had to be turned off and on. He could have sent one of his troops, but why should they get all the fun? He enjoyed taking walks, and this world was so much more lively than back home.

  His pad beeped, and he stopped to check it. The screen showed another malfunctioning scanner a short distance from him. He was the closest to it. “Better check it out,” he muttered.

  After radioing the team to let them know, John set off toward the scanner. Birds, or what he assumed were birds, chirped in the treetops overhead, and he listened to them intently. The native animal population seemed sparse on this planet, a stark contrast to Earth. He wondered what kind of creatures there were beyond this forest. How large were the oceans, rivers, mountains, and jungles of the world? How many types of insects and animals waited there to be discovered? How many monsters?

  Back home, Central had only catalogued about sixty different species of wildlife to date on the surface. Many had been scattered. Half of them, he recalled, were pretty tough to find, except in caves and underground tunnels. But here, the world was so alive and teeming with animals and crawling things. It was all a bit overwhelming.

  John found the scanner soon. Like the one before, he only had to reset the power to get it going again. What could be setting them off like this? He didn’t see any animals around, and wouldn’t the scanner pick them up?

  Must be malfunctioning, he thought. Better have Brooks check them out before anything happens. Something might—

  The ground trembled beneath him, and he wavered. He cocked his eye at the sudden motion. Could it be a tremor like the kind they used to get in the city back home? Maybe—

  Another earthquake, only this time stronger, and John lost his balance. He fell against a nearby tree, snagging a branch to catch himself. His fingers clutched at the bark so hard they stung.

  Dirt sprayed up from the ground before him, going everywhere and floating in the air. A creature appeared, snarling from within a fresh hole. It towered over him, wearing a coat of brown fur, with a dozen black eyes on each side of its head, all of them staring at John. The beast let out a series of fast clicks, opening its mouth to reveal several moving teeth, all of which seemed to be rattling. The animal’s body stretched far into the earth, like a snake.

  John stared at it, amazed at its size. “Don’t you look friendly,” he muttered, wide-eyed. With one hand on the tree, he gripped the rifle on his side, tilting the barrel toward the creature’s head. “Come on, monster. Don’t make me have to kill you. Mei will be pissed.”

  The animal stood there, staring and looming, rattling its teeth. Its gaze seemed curious more than anything else, and for a moment John wondered if it might move on.

  “That’s it,” he whispered. “Nice bug demon. Nice—”

  The beast lunged at him, leaving the hole completely. Screaming wildly as it leapt into the air. John didn’t hesitate, pulling the trigger and unleashing a storm of bullets. The life in its eyes disappeared, but its body continued to fall toward him. He dodged to the ground, rolling away from the heavy carcass to avoid getting crushed. As the lifeless body fell, yellow blood poured from the fresh bullet holes in its flesh, pooling in the dirt and grass.

  The clicking in its mouth continued for nearly half a minute, though it was most certainly dead.

  John nudged the side of its head with his boot, then activated his communicator. “Tech Shop, Huck.”

  A moment later, Brooks answered. “Huck, this is Tech Shop. What’s up?”

  “Might have a problem with where we placed the sensors,” he explained. “Over.”

  “They not picking up a signal? Over.”

  He stared at the dead thing on the ground. “Seems like they’re having some unexpected side effects.”

  ******

  Capeside

  February 7, 2351

  Terry wandered around the docks, taking in the sights. A saltwater breeze carried through the marketplace, blending with the bakery and butcher, becoming something both delicious and relaxing.

  He took a deep breath, staring across the water, observing each of the ships, some of which were newly docked and still loading and unloading cargo. He wondered where their travels would take them…or where they had been.

  Grandmother had given him a shawl to wear around his head so he didn’t have to use the old bag Ludo had found. It was a nice alternative since it felt fresher and didn’t make him look like a vagabond.

  A small girl came running past him, carrying a basket of goods from the market. Terry spied some fruit, bread, and something resembling cheese. Whatever they were, he wanted them. Thankfully, Ludo had given him a few coins to buy whatever he wanted. Maybe he’d start with some of that.

  “You there!” called a voice from one of the docks. He had a strange accent.

  Terry turned to see who it was, only to find a large, bearded fellow standing near one of the ships. He had several piercings on his face and neck, with a wide variety of reflecting jewelry ranging from hoops to gauges. Terry didn’t know what to say, so he only stared at the stranger.

  “You, the one with the thing on your head! Come here!”

  “You mean me?” asked Terry.

  The sailor nodded, grinning.

  A moment later, Terry had found his way to the dock and approached the odd man. “Yes?”

  The man examined him, bending a little, as though he were trying to see beneath the shawl. “Ah, just as I thought,” he muttered. “You mind taking that off for a second?”

  “Sorry, but I can’t,” said Terry.

  The sailor furrowed his brow. “Where are you from, child?”

  “What’s that matter?” asked Terry.

  The man stared at him. “My name’s Hux, friend, and I’ve been all over the world. I’ve seen a wide range of people her
e and there, but never one like you.”

  Terry turned to leave.

  The stranger leapt at him, snatching Terry’s shawl with his fingers. Terry slid the man’s hand away, preparing himself to fight. As he did, the cloth around his forehead fell, revealing his face.

  The man with the beard laughed. “I knew it!”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Terry demanded to know.

  “You’re not from around here, eh? I’ve sailed the world and never seen a face like yours. Tell me, where do you come from?”

  “None of your business. I’m a traveler from a faraway country. Don’t concern yourself with specifics.” He flipped the shawl back over his forehead.

  Hux stroked his thick beard. “No specifics, you say?” he asked, curiously.

  “None,” said Terry.

  “Then I apologize, little traveler. I didn’t mean to show you any disrespect. I’ve just never seen anyone like you.”

  “We’re very good at hiding.”

  “Interesting,” said Hux. “So, why are you here, so far from your home? This village has nothing in it, besides a few hundred fishermen and shepherds. Perhaps you are a merchant, come to sell your wares?”

  “I’m here with a friend, helping him recover something that was lost. The details are my business, if you don’t mind.”

  Hux smiled. “Of course, little traveler. I shall ask no more of it.”

  “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back now,” said Terry, knowing the longer he stayed here, the more he risked revealing the truth. He had to be careful.

  The stranger let out another laugh, deep from his belly. “Don’t worry, little traveler. Your secret is safe with old Hux. I’ve got a whole book of secrets rattling around my head.”

  Terry left without another word. He’d made a mistake in coming here, thinking the shawl could hide him. If anyone realized who he was—that he and Ludo had escaped from the prison and killed one of the high priests—there could be hell to pay.

  He had to tell Ludo about this quickly, before anything came of it. If the sailor decided to tell someone, especially a visiting soldier, about this encounter, word would spread and the military would soon be after them.