TheMamluksANovelbyEdwardLake

Copyright©2013byEdwardLake

Allrightsreserved.No

partofthisbookshallbereproducedortransmittedinanyformwithoutpriorwrittenpermissionofthe

publisher.

Thisbookisaworkoffiction.Names,characters,places,andincidentsareeithertheproductofthe

author’simaginationorareusedfictitiously.Any

resemblancetoactualeventsorlocalesorpersons,living

ordead,isentirelycoincidental.

TableofContents

PartOne–TheArrivalPartTwo–NineMonths

LaterPartThree–NewWorld

OrderPartFour–TheGreat

EscapePartFive–TheRise

PartSix–ReturntoLos

Angeles

PartOne–TheArrival

Chapter1

Iwasflipping throughour

DVD collection, trying tofind something that lookedinteresting. My girlfriendEmilywassittingonthesofabehind me, eating somepopcorn. As I carefullychecked each cover beforegoingtothenext,Iheardher

huffinaggravation.“Justpickonealready.”I chuckled. “Hey, be

patient.I’mtryingtofindonethat we’ll both like. BecauseifIdon’t,you’llstartwhininghalfwaythroughit.”

It had been a while sincewewatchedamovietogether.For us, living in LA usuallymeant going out everyweekend.Itwasnicetosharea quiet evening at home for

once.Finally, I saw a movie I

likedandpulled it out. “Thislooks good.” I turned itaround to read the back. Itwas anoldermovie from theeighties—or maybe thenineties. I rememberedpicking it up at the Amoebamusic store on SunsetBoulevard.

“Letmesee.”I flipped it around and

helditoutsoEmilycouldseethecover.

Sheflashedaplayfulsmileand rolled her eyes. “OK,whatever.”You’re such a brat. But I

still love you. I opened thecaseandputthemovieinmyPlayStation 3, then went tothe sofa and cuddled withEmily.Shegrabbed thebowlof popcorn off the coffeetable and tucked it between

us. I picked up thePlayStation 3 controller andpressedplay.

Oddly, as I gotcomfortable, I heard ahorrifying scream fromoutside.“Didyouhear that?”I turned my head and staredatthewindow.

“No.Whatwasit?”I blinked and listened

carefully. “Sounded likesomeonescreaming.”

Emily laughed. “Babe,welive in Hollywood.Remember?”

I smiled and looked backat the TV. But as thepreviews played, anotherscream echoed from outside.And this one was muchlouderthanthefirst.Itookananxious glance at thewindow. There is somethinggoing on out there. I tried toget up and check it out, but

Emilypulledmeback.“Andrew,leaveit.”Iexhaledsoftlyandlooked

back at the television. Emilyrubbed my arm, trying tocalm me. The movie began,and within the first fewminutes,wewereyawning.Ithadbeena longday forbothofus—andalongweek.

Emily released a gentlesigh and rested her head onmy shoulder. “I don’t think

we’regoingtomakeit.”“That’sOK.Let’sjustfall

asleeprighthere.”She put the bowl of

popcorn on the coffee table.Then she reached over mychest, grabbed thePlayStation 3 controller andturnedthesystemoff.Shesetit down on the table andleaned into me, closing hereyes. I kissed her foreheadandwrappedmyarmsaround

her.Finally, it was quiet

outside.Iclosedmyeyesandenjoyed the peaceful silence.But within seconds, I heardmorescreams.“Keep going! Don’t look

back!”A thunderous boom

followed that shook thebuilding.

I opened my eyes andjumped to my feet, pulling

Emily up with me. “Shit—Ithinkitwasanearthquake.”

Out of nowhere, a loudbuzzing sound cameover us,followedbyabrightlightthatzipped past our window,shattering the glass andwrecking the wall. Emilyscreamed as we staggeredbackwards. I quickly shovedher behind me and movedtoward the front door,trembling.

More bright lights flashedoutside, followed by morethunderousexplosions.

“Getdown!”Ishouted.Wequicklydroppedtothe

floor. I jumped on top ofEmily and covered her head.She kept screaming, shakinginmyarms.

Finally, everythingstopped.Still, Iwaited a fewseconds before slowly liftingmy head and checking the

wall. There was a small fireon the edgeof thewreckage.Mymindwasracing,thinkingofall thepossibilities.“Whatthehellwasthat?”Iwobbledto my knees and crawledtoward the wreckage. “Stayhere.”

Emily reached out to me,still shaking. “No, don’t gooverthere.Let’sjustleave.”

I ignored her and keptmoving,hopingthatwhatever

hitourbuildingwasjustsomefreak accident. But as I gotcloser, I could hear morescreams. The sounds wereterrifying, like someone wasbeing burned alive. When Igot to the wall, I leanedagainstthesplinteredopeningand peeked over the smallfire.

“Whatisit?Whatcanyousee?”Emilybegged.

Iwas speechlessat first—

probably because I couldn’tbelieve what I was seeing.“They’re all dead.” Ishuddered as I looked on.“There’s a bunch of deadpeopleinthestreet.”

Emily got to her feet andran to me. “Come on; let’sgo. We have to get out ofhere.”

I couldn’t look away, stilltrying to comprehend whatmyeyeswere seeing.At that

moment, worrying aboutmyself, or Emily, seemedimpossible. I wanted to helpthose people, if I could.Because we were OK, andone of them might still bealive. But not for long if wedid nothing but run to saveourselves.

Chapter2

The only thing on my

mindwasgettingasfarawayfrom the area as fast as wecould. I loved Andrew withall my heart—but this was alife or death situation. Wedidn’t know what was outthere—and helping thosepeopleseemedfoolish.

I desperately tried to gotheotherway.“Please, listentome.Thisisnotimetobeahero.”

Andrew huffed as hepulled me along. “What if itwas you, huh? What if youwere out there, dying on thestreet, crying for help? Howwould you feel if no onecame?”

Iwantedtobreakfreeandrun—regardlessofeverything

—evenourlove.When we got to the exit,

Andrew pushed me againstthe wall. “Wait here. If I’mnot back in two minutes, goto the car.” He shoved thekeys in my hand and kissedmehard.

Andrew pulled away andlooked intomy eyes. “I loveyou.” Then he dashedoutside.

Istoodthere,sweatinglike

crazy,thinkingaboutrunningto the car. Waiting for himwas making my whole bodysting,likeapainfulitchthatIcould feel all over. Still,despite my overwhelmingfear,Istayed.

Down the hall, I saw aman and two little girlssprinting toward the parkinglot. The man caught mestanding by the wall andpaused—probably wondering

whyIwasn’t runningout thedoor.

“I just looked out mywindow. They’re comingback!They’recomingback!”Hequicklyliftedthetwolittlegirls into his arms and ranintotheparkinglot.

“Wait!Tellmewhat’soutthere!”

Seconds later, Andrewburst through the door,carrying a woman. She was

bleeding from the top of herhead. I hurried to the floorandheldherupashesetherdown.

“We’vegottogethertoahospital.”

Then,shockingly,Andrewturnedtogobackoutside.

“Wait!Ithinkwe’rebeingattacked.”

He spun around with afrustratedglareinhiseyes.

I ignored the troubling

look and tried my best toreason with him. “Andrew,please. We need to leavenow.”

“There are two more outthere that are still alive.We’retakingthem,too.”

Icoveredmyforeheadandcried out in agony, graduallyshakingmyhead.

“Emily! There is no timetowaste. Just take her to thecar.”

But before Andrew couldleaveagain,adeafeninghornsounded that shook thebuilding,knockinghimtothefloor.Moments later, I heardfootsteps approaching.Andrewstaggeredtohisfeet.The horn stopped, but thefootstepscontinued.

Watchfully, Andrewleaned his head outside andlooked up at something. “OhmyGod.”Trembling,hespun

around and quickly helpedmeandtheinjuredladytoourfeet.“Run!”

After that, the bright lightappeared again, zipping rightover our heads, rippingthrough the building. Blocksof concrete fell on top of uslike an avalanche. Andrewtried to pull us back, but itwastoolate.

Chapter3

Mybodywasaching,andI

was littered with cuts andbruises.Ipulledmyselfoutofthe rubble and rolled overonto my back. I could onlysee out of my left eye. Myright eye was covered inblood, seeping from thegashon my head. I wiped the

blood away and lookedaround.Emilywasafewfeetaway, covered in concreteblocks and broken beams.Her face was blanketed withdust and tiny rocks—andshelookedlifeless.

Thereafter, a powerfulwhooshcameover us, takingsome of the debris off. Ilooked up and saw the samecreature from before. It wasclearly a male of its kind,

resembling a human.Hewasabout ten feet tall, bare-chested, wearing black pantsthat looked like cargo pants,and black boots. He had abaldheadwithnohaironhisface, was ripped like abodybuilder,andhadadeviceon his arm that looked likesome kind of weapon,covering the area from hiswristtohiselbow.

The creature aimed at me

with the same device,confirming what I wasthinking.Heheldhisarmoutfor a second, and a brightlight flashed. The flashinglight looked like a laser, andhewasabouttoblastmewithit.

As I looked on, anotheronecameoutof theshadows—then more and more cameforward. All males, dressedlike the first one: shaved

heads,no facialhair.Finally,it hit me. They were aliens,andwewereinthemiddleofan invasion. At first, thethought seemed silly. But Iknew I wasn’t dreaming.EventhoughIwishedIwas.

One of the others cameclose and talked to the onethat was aiming at me. Hisvoice was incredibly deep. Itried to make out what theywere saying, but my ears

were buzzing. However, theblurrywords sounded a littlefamiliar, like they werespeaking our language. Theywentonforamoment,goingbackandforthwhile thefirstoneIsawcontinuedtoaimatme.Ikeptlookingbackathiscomrade, hoping he wouldstop him. Then my hearingslowlycameback.

And finally, the oneaiming at me lowered his

arm.“Callaship.”My eyes got wide,

realizing I was right. Rightaway, theotheroneliftedhisarmandhelditbyhismouth.He had a laser device, too. Itook a quick look at the restof them and realized theyeach had one of thosegadgets.

The creature radioed tosomeone, telling them tobringaship. Icouldhear the

other devices buzzing withthesamemessage.Atlast,thegroup marched along,obviously soldiers of somekind.IlookedbacktoEmily,thinking they were going tospareus.

Out of nowhere, aspaceship swooped downoverourheads.Secondslater,anotherglidedinandstoppedover us. They were massiveships, about the size of

houses. They landed, andrampspoppedout.Twomorealiens came marching downthe ramps and walked ontothe rubble. Surprisingly, theywere females—but dressedjust like the males fromearlier. Their chests werebare, too—whichwasa sightto see. And they had laserdevicesontheirarms.

Theygotclose,givingmea better look at them. They

hadstrongfacialfeatures,andtheir bodies were incrediblymuscularlikethemales.Theywere also just as tall. It wassounreal,lookingupattheseremarkable, yet frighteningcreatures.

The one on my right hadlong,platinumblondhairthatwasneatlykept.Andtheoneon my left had short brownhair, dipping evenlyover herears.

“Thesetwoarestillalive,”the one with the platinumblond hair said. She checkedusforasecondandpointedatEmily.“Takethatone.”

The brown haired soldierreached down and scoopedEmily out of the wreckage.She went into her ship andtherampclosedup.Theotheronepickedmeupandheadedtohership.No!Emily!

She carriedme like a bagof laundry as she walked uptheramp.Ilookedaroundandstudied all the gears. It wasright out of a space movie.Flashing lights, buttons allover theplace,weird lookingcontrols.Shepressedabuttonon her arm gadget thatopenedacirculardooronthefloor. She tossed me inside,andIlandedonsomeone.

“Getoffme!Getoff!”

“I’m sorry. Are you allright?”IsaidasIrolledoff.

It was pitch black. ThepersonIlandedonpulledouttheircellphoneanduseditasa flashlight. I could see theirface, barely, and realized itwasawoman.“Theygotyoutoo,huh?”

“Yeah.”“Well,atleastIhavesome

company now. My name’sMadison.”

“Nice to meet you,Madison. I’mAndrew. Sorryforfallingonyou.”

She laughed tensely. “It’sOK.”

“How longhaveyoubeeninhere?”

“Aboutanhour.”There was a brief,

unnervingsilence.“I always knew we

weren’t the only ones in theuniverse. But never in my

wildest dreams could I haveimaginedthis,”Isaid.

“How do you knowthey’re aliens? What ifthey’re robots that thegovernment’sbeenhidingforyears? And now they’rereleasingthemonustobeginsome kind of new worldtakeover.”

I laughed.“Thatwouldbemorereassuring,Iguess.”

Madison let out a

depressing sigh. “I wasjoking.”

“I figured as much.” Icrawled through the darkuntil I found the wall. “Iwonder what the military’sdoing.”

“I don’t think they’ll beable to stop them. I was onthe freewaywhen I first sawthe spaceships. They cameoutof the skyandblasteduswith lasers. I tried to drive

away, but carswere crashingleftandright.SoIgotoutandran.But I didn’t get far.Thelasers were going by likebullets,crisscrossingfromallangles. Idesperatelydroppeddown and hid behind awrecked car. I stayed thereandwatchedforawhile.Andmoments later, a fighter jetflew in. But by then, thespaceshipswerecoveredwithbright force fields. The

fighter jetfiredamissile,butitbounced rightoff the forcefieldandexploded.”

Hearingherstorymademeshiver a bit. “How did youendupinhere?”

“One of the ships landednearbyandanaliencameout.She checked the area andfoundme.Ifrozeandputmyhands up. Then she grabbedme and took me into theship.”

I exhaled and shook myhead. “I don’t understand.Why would they keep usalive?”

“Iknow,right?Makesmethink they’ve got somethinghorribleplanned.”

Chapter4

Madisonchecked the time

on her cell phone. It wasalmost two am, andwewerestillinthespaceship.Shehadbeen trying to pull up someinformation—or get throughto someone. But the servicewasout.

We had a few drop-ins,

too. There were nine of usnow,crammedinadark,coldhole. After introducingourselves,everyonegotquiet.But in the background, Icouldhearalotofcryingandpraying.

“Hey, Madison—youthere?”

“Yeah,I’mhere.”“Tellmeaboutyourself,”I

went on, moving closer,followinghervoice.

“There isn’t much to tell.Before this, I was just astruggling LACC student. Ihad a place in Hollywood,right off Santa MonicaBoulevard—just me and aroommate.”

Ibumpedintohershoulderandstopped.“Whatwereyougoingtoschoolfor?”

Madison chuckled.“Performingarts. Iwanted tobe an actress. LACC has a

really good program. So,yeah—thatwasmydream.”

I nodded and smiled,thinkingMadisonwasagreatnameforanactress.“I’msureyouwouldhavemadeit.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Butthatdoesn’tmatternow.Ijustwish I could call my parentsand see if they’re all right. Iwas actually on my way toSan Diego to visit them.That’swhereIgrewup.”

Suddenly,theshipstoppedmoving and the floor openedup. We all fell on a pile ofrubble. I grunted as I stoodup.Madisongotupandfacedme.Ipausedandstudiedher.She had long, light brownhair, light brown eyes, and amole on her cheek. Verypretty. Yes, you definitelywould have made it as anactress.

The ship flew away,

revealinganeverendingrowofpeoplelyingfacedownonademolishedterrain.

“Totheground,Humans,”a soldier said, marchingtowardus.

As we moved forward tothe line anddroppeddown, Ilooked into the distance andchecked thearea.Therewerehundreds, ifnot thousandsofsoldiers, spread out as far asmyeyescouldsee.Theywere

destroying the citywith theirlaser weapons, holding theirarmsoutandblastingaway.

That dreadful horn frombefore sounded, and anothersoldiercamemarchingby.

“Undress, Humans,” shecalledout.

Without hesitation,everyone rose to their kneesand stripped down to theirbirthday suits. I wastrembling, having trouble

taking my clothes off.Finally, I got it together andstripped down. I loweredagain and braced myself,feelingthepainofthejaggedrubble against my nakedbody.

“I can’t do this. I justcan’t,” someone said,weeping.

Ilookedupandsawamanwalking out of the line, stilldressed.

“Don’t be a fool! Just dowhat they want,” someonesaidtohim.

The soldier lifted her armand shot the man. His bodysplit in half like butter.Everyone nearbywinced andlookedaway.ButIcouldn’t.Ilookedonincompleteshock,andmy trembling gotworse.The soldier pressed a buttononherdeviceandshotagain,this time widening the range

and turning the man’sremains into dust. A coldwindwhooshedoverus,andIfinallylookedaway.

Thenaspaceshipcameoutoftheskyandlandedinfrontoftheline.Thesoldiersinthearea dropped to a knee andbowedtheirheads.

The ship opened, and analien came marching downthe ramp. He was bald liketheothermales,wearingared

cloak, beige shirt, navy-bluepantsandblackboots.Hehadtheweapononhisarm,too.

Themajesticfigureslowlywalked down the line,glancing from left to right.“Humans of Earth. We areMamluks, descendants of theplanet Marsden. I amAdomas, Champion of allMamluks. Today, theconquest of your planetbegins.Youwilldoaswesay

—ordie.”Adomasturnedaroundand

marchedbacktohisship.Thesoldiers waited until he wasin the air before rising.Thenthey got up and droppedwhitebodysuitsonus.Andtocomplete the odd wardrobe,theygaveuswhiteshoesthatlookedlikeslippers.

“To your feet, Humans.Dress yourselves,” a soldiercalledout.

We got up, grabbedbodysuits and shoes andquickly put them on. Thematerial was soft and lacedwith tiny holes, like a sportsjersey. They were a littlebaggy on us, too. But theshoesfitfine.

Seconds later, a group ofnarrow spaceships came outof the sky and landed besideus. A ramp opened at thecenter of each ship, and the

soldiers told us to go inside.MadisonandIstayedcloseaswe hurried to a ship. Butbeforegoingin,Iscannedthecrowd,tryingtofindEmily.Wherever you are—stay

strong.

Chapter5

I woke up in a dimly lit

room. My clothes had beentaken off, and I was nowwearingawhitebodysuitandmatching shoes that lookedlike house slippers. I lookedaround and realized I was insome kind of holding cellwithhundredsofpeople.

“Andrew?Andrew?”Isaidwitharaspyvoice.

The last thing Irememberedwashimhelpingmeandthatdyingwomanoffthe floor. I checked the areainadaze,tryingtofigureoutwhatwashappening.

“CansomeonetellmehowIgothere?”

A bearded man looked atmeandscootedover.“Itwasawful. They lined us up like

sheep, made everyone stripdown and threw us thesewhite get-ups. After that, abunchofshipsdroppeddownandtheysentusinside.”

“But what about me?Howdid I get like this? I’vebeenunconscious.”

“They had someone closeby undress you and put thebodysuit on you. And a fewothershelpedcarryyoutotheship.”

Isighedandmovedcloserto him. “What do you thinktheyare?”

“Aliens of some kind.Because they sure as hellain’t human—even thoughtheylooklikeus.”

“Whatdotheylooklike?”“They’re huge—each

standsabouttenfeettall,withmuscular bodies and facesthat look like they werechiseled out of stone. The

femaleshavehair—themalesarebald.”

I pictured them in myhead,andthefirst thingsthatcametomindweretheTitansfromGreekMythology.

“Do you think they’regoingtokillus?”

“I don’t know. Probably,at some point. But they’rekeeping us alive for somereason.” He flashed a kindsmile and extendedhis hand.

“I’mRobert,bytheway.”I reached out and shook

hishand.“I’mEmily.”As I letgoandpulledmy

handback,Iheardadreadfulsqueakingsound,likenailsona chalk board. I looked upand realized the top of theship was sliding open. Wewererightundertheopening,too. Large clumps ofsomethingcamedownonus.Robert and I, along with

everyone nearby, moved outoftheway.

Theclumpscontinuedandpiled up fast. Then, after afew seconds they stoppedfalling. The ship closed up,and we moved toward thepile. Robert dropped down,took a handful of the goopand sniffed it. Lastly, hetasted it and grew a thinsmile.

“It’sfood.”

Rightaway,likeapackofwolves, everyone startedpushing and shoving, tryingto get to the pile. Someoneknockedmetothefloorfrombehindanddoveonthepile.

“Stop, stop! That’senough!”Robertyelled. “Weneed to portion this out soeveryonecaneat.”

After hearing his wisewords,more joined in. “He’sright—he’s right,” a few

calledoutasone.They helped each other

holdbacktheoneswhowereattacking the pile. A smallscuffle broke out. But aftersome shouting, and morewords of wisdom fromRobert and the others,everyonecalmeddown.

Roberttookadeepbreath.“Don’t worry. Everyone willeat.” He turned and spreadeveryoneout.“Now,let’sget

in a line. Women andchildrenfirst.AndI’llneedafewvolunteers.”

Without thinking twice, Igot off the floor and steppedup. A few others came overas well. Robert got thevolunteers situated in a row,facing the line. There weresix of us including Robert,givingoutonehandfultooneperson at a time. It took awhile,butwegotaportionto

everyone.Afterward,wecheckedthe

remains. There wasn’t muchleft. Maybe four or fivehandfuls.

Robert put his head downandtriedtowalkaway.“Youguys eat up. I’m sure they’llsend more down at somepoint.”

I shook my head andgrabbed his arm. “No. Thereismorethanenoughforallof

us.”Wesatdowntogether.The

others took a seat beside usandgrabbedahandful.Itookthe last piece, split it in twoand put the other half inRobert’shand.

He smiled and gaveme awarmlook.“Thankyou.”

Chapter6

The food they sent us

tastedlikebeans.Therewasalittle pushing and shoving atfirst,butintheend,everyonegot a small portion.MadisonandIweresittingtogetherbythe wall, finishing off ourportions. Now that we had alittle information, I was

obsessively pondering thesituation.

ThebodysuitsletmeknowtheMamluks came prepared.Maybe they had beenwatching us somehow? Ormaybe theyhadalreadybeenhere?

Moments later, the shipstarted moving. “God, whatnow?”Igroaned,lookingup.

Wetookoffinahurryandlanded just as fast.The ramp

opened, and I could hear theMamluks shouting ordersfromoutside.“Come forward,

Humans!”We got up and headed

toward the exit. And as wewaited in the slow movingline, I heard people cryingandscreamingliketheywerewalking into a pit of deadbodies.

“It’s all gone!” a woman

criedoutinhorror.Finally, we reached the

exitandwentdowntheramp.Mymouthdroppedopenandmy eyes got wide. Madisonwas breathing out of control,like she was having anasthma attack. I went numbas we moved forward,lookingaroundindisbelief.

“God,no,”Icried.The entire city was

leveled. All that remained

was miles and miles ofblistering rubble.Wewalkedinto a sea of humanity andstopped when there was noroomtomove.

There were hundreds ofsoldiers patrolling the areaand dozens of ships flyingoverhead.

A soldier walked by,carrying a stack of shovels.“Humans—take these toolsanddigdeep.”Thenhethrew

theshovelstotheground.Hewent on, throwing more andmoreshovelsatus.

Still shaken, we eachstaggered to thegrowingpileofshovelsandpickedoneup.Wasting no time, MadisonandIgottowork.

“Well, at least we knowwhy they’re keeping usalive,”shesaid.

I let out amiserable sigh.“Yeah.”

Chapter7

I picked up a shovel and

let out a quiet, aggravatedscreech. “I can’t believe thisishappening.”

Robert reached out andgently rubbed my shoulder.“It’ll be all right, Kid.We’llfindawayoutofthis.”

One of the aliens came

over and crouched next tome. I trembled a bit and gotbusy. Robert picked up hispace,too.AsIbentdownandshoveledaway,herhandwentover me like a dark cloud. Icried, thinkingshewasgoingto hit me. Yearning forprotection, I glanced atRobert.Hewasstaringatme,ready to jump in at anymoment.

I felt her hand touch my

headandslowlygodownmyback. “This victory has beenunpleasant. I expected morefromyourkind.”

I inhaled and froze. Myheart was beating so fast.Pleasedon’t—pleasedon’t.

“You are fortunate to befemale,”shewenton,slidingher finger around to mystomachanduptomychin.

I looked up and saw herface. She was smiling, and

hadaneerielookinhereyes.Then, surprisingly, she

brushed some dirt off myface. “You are beautiful aswell. That gives you anadvantage.”

I tried to say somethingbut stammered over mywords. Desperate to relax, Islowly exhaled. “Myname’s…Emily.”

She chuckled. “Are youafraid,Emily?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes—I’mterrified.”

She laughed, turningtoward another alien. “Theyare very fragile. Perhaps wehave chosen the wrongspecies.”

He walked over andlooked me up and down.“Leave her alone.” Then hewavedtheotheralienaway.

She got up and gentlyshovedme.Still,thatlighttap

sent me stumbling to theground. She glanced at mebeforewalkingoff, smirking.Robert helped me up andbrushed some dirt off myback.

I heatedly slammed myshovel into the soil. “Great,now they’re humiliating us.Toyingwithusforfun.”

Robertgavemeaonearmhug.“Well,theylooklikeus.So I guess they act like us,

too. I’m just glad she didn’thurtyou.”

Iwas somad Iwanted toshovemy shovel up her ass.But having Robert therecalmedme.Ileanedintohimas the sun came over thehorizon. It was pleasing tosee the light after enduringthe darkest night of my life.Thewarmth coveredme likeablanketasIlookedon.

And lastly, I closed my

eyesandimaginedIwasbackinmyoldbed.“You’reright.We’llfindaway.”

Chapter8

It had been a while since

the first night. Most of theguys, including me, had fullbeards now. Our whitebodysuits were filthy, and Ihad lost count of how manyholes we had dug. Aboutseven people that I knew ofhadbrokendownandtriedto

run.Theywereallkilled.So far, theonly things the

Mamluks put in the holeswere giant trees and hugeplantsthathadstrangeleaves—indubitablyonesfromtheirplanet. Eventually, theyrealized we couldn’t worknonstop for long periods oftime.So they gave us breaksthroughout the day. And atnight, they let us sleep. Forfood, they were still feeding

us that goop that tasted likebeans. Along with that, theygave each area a barrel ofwater.

We'd been working forwhat seemed like half theday.Finally,asoldiersteppedforwardandsoundedthehornfor break. Everyone pluggedtheir ears as the annoyingblareechoedacrosstheland.

Madisonhunchedoverandletoutadeephuff.“It’sabout

time.”The Mamluks spread us

out and dropped a barrel ofwater.Thentheymadeuslineup. There were four soldierswatchingus.Oneat thefrontof the line, one on each sideof the line, and one in theback.

“Remember—get whatyou can and move on,” asoldiercalledout.

Thebarrelwasabouteight

feet tall. The soldier at thefront of the line yanked acork out the top of it, leanedthe barrel forward andallowed the first person tocome up. When it was myturn, I jogged to the runningwaterandtookafewgulps.Ihurried back to the hole wewere working on and took aseatontheedge.

After Madison got herdrink,shewalkedbacktothe

hole and took a seat besideme. She grunted sorely andreached down to her rightcalf.

“Youallright?”“Yeah,I’llbeOK.”Ijumpedintotheholeand

took her right leg. “Let mehelp with that.” I massagedthe calf tenderly whenevershewouldwince.

Madison smiled and puther hands back. “Thanks,

Andrew.”Afterward,wegotback to

work.TheMamluksmarchedpast us like hall monitors,crossing their arms andpausing to check certainareas. It was so degrading,and I realized that I’d hadenough.ButifIwasgoingtomake a run for it, I didn’twanttodoitalone.

“Have you thought abouttrying to escape?” I asked

Madison.She sternly shook her

head.“No.Thisisitforus.”“Come on. With a good

planwecouldmakeit.”Madisongavemeaheated

look. “Andrew—just stop.”She slammed her shovel intothe dirt and dug out a bigchunk.

I put my head down andgotbacktowork.

But luckily, a man to my

left leaned in and offeredsome helpful advice. “Youknow, I’ve heard whispersaboutopeningsintheground,scatteredallover this terrain.Looksliketheymissedafewspots when they tore up theroads.”

Gradually, Inodded. “Thesewers.”

“Exactly,” he went on. “Iwouldn’t be surprised ifsomeoneelsehastriedit.”

I glanced at him,wondering.“Wouldyou?”

Hequicklyshookhishead.“Hellno.Toorisky.”

“Iagree,”Madisoncutin.Ishookmyhead.“No,it’s

worth the risk. I mean, whathavewegottolose?”

Madison laughed. “Ourlives.”

“Not much of a lifeanymore,isit?”

Madison stopped and

glared atmeagain.Then shelooked away and went backto digging. “I’ll think aboutit.”

Chapter9

The next day during our

break, the Mamluks droppedsome food on us. The pilewas about six feet high,plentyforourarea.Wemadeacirclearound itanddug in.But just like with the water,we didn’t havemuch time. Istuffedmyface,gaggingasI

gobbledthefood.A horn sounded, and the

soldiers ordered us back towork.MadisonandIwent toourhole.Butbeforewecouldstartdigging,Ilookedupandsaw a group of shipsapproaching. They swoopedin and landed about twentyyardsfromus.

“Attention, Humans!” asoldiercalledout.“Allfemalehumans—totheship.”

Madison looked at mewith panic in her eyes. Iturnedaroundinaflusterandsaw women walking to theshipswiththeirhandsup.TheMamluks marched fromgroup to group, making sureallthewomenweremoving.

“Shit,”Isnapped,tryingtothinkofsomething.

Madisonput her handsupandwalkedforward.

I desperately grabbed her.

“No!”Ineedyou.She cried out and tried to

pullaway.“It’snouse.”The soldiers were getting

closer. Then, finally, it hitme.

“Getinthehole.”“What?”“Justdoit.”Madison hurried into the

hole. I grabbed my shovelandscoopedsomedirt.

“Liedownandstaystill.”I

shoveleddirtontoheras fastas I could. I kept looking upto check theMamluks. Theywere now a few feet away.Withonlysecondstospare,Istopped and put my shoveldown. Madison wasn’tcovered all the way, but itwas still hard to see her atfirstglance.

Asoldierwalkedpastme,pushing through the crowd,checking for women. Don’t

move,Madison. Please don’tmove. Shortly after, moresoldiers walked by, goingnear the hole. My heartpounded like crazy when Iheard them stop. I froze andclosedmyeyes,praying.“Theareaisclear.”I opened my eyes and let

out a huge breath as theycarriedon.Then,Iglancedatthe hole. “Just hold on,Madison. I’ll get you out of

there.”

Chapter10

An alien found me and

pushedmyback,pointingtoarow of spaceships that justlandednearby.

“Move,”shebarked.I stared at Robert as I

walked forward. He staredbackatme,givingmealookof encouragement. Finally, I

looked away and released afew tears. Thank you. Andgoodbye.

I walked to a ship andheaded up the ramp.When Igot inside, I took a seatagainst thewallandwrappedmy arms around my legs.Once the ship was full, therampclosedandwetookoff.Minutes later, we landedsomewhere and the rampopened. One by one, we left

thedarknessandwalked intothe light. I stepped off therampandrealizedwewereonthe roof of a sandstonebuilding.

Ilookedupoverourheadsandsawamassivehovercraftthat resembled an upside-down mixing pot. It stoppedaboutthirtyyardsfromusanda spaceship flewover it.Thetopof thehovercraft opened,and the ship poured a thick,

tan-colored sap into theopening.Afterafewseconds,the spaceship stopped andfewaway.

The hovercraft closed upandmade loud, swirlynoiseslike a blender. Finally, thebottomopenedupandablockof sandstone dropped to theground. A group of soldierswalked up to the block andbegan to mold it with theirlaser gadgets. Up until then,

I'dthoughttheirdeviceswerejustweapons.Itwasshockingto see that kind of advancedtechnology—and it mademewonderwhatelseitcoulddo.

Analiencameforwardandmovedus along.She tookusto an entrance at the far endoftheroofandheadedinside.We followed her and wentdown a long hallway. Theentire building was made ofsandstone,andcraftednicely.

The alien brought us to ahugeroomthathadapool inthe center of it. There wassteamcomingfromthewater,and tiny pellets of whatlooked like soap were linedupalongtheperimeter.

We all looked at eachother, not knowing what tothink. Another alien came inthe room and guarded thedoor. The onewho led us intookhergadgetoffandset it

on the floor. Then sheundressed, taking off herblackbootsandpants.

I froze and stared hard.Her body was an impressiveshowcase of muscles. Sheturned sideways, revealingher backside. Like herbreasts, it was so firm ithardlymoved as she steppedintothewater.

“Undressandfollowme.”I stepped forward and

quickly undressed. The otherwomen followed along. Wewent into the pool andfollowed her to the far end.Beinginthewaterfeltgreat.Ihadforgottenhowsoothingawarmbathcouldbe.

I stopped a few feet fromthe alien. She carefullyfluffed out her hair a bit.Watchfully,Icopied.

She reached over andpickeduponeofthepellets—

but it was bigger than theothers. And gently, shescraped it against her skin.“Go to the edge and take apieceofmula.”

We hurried to the pelletsandtookapiece.

“Cleanyourselves.”I softly scraped the

substance against my arm. Itwas a little sticky, and itsmelled like leaves. Therewas so much dirt caked on

our bodies that withinminutes the water was a bigpuddleofmud.

Thealiengotoutandwenttoasandstonebenchthatwasbuilt into the floor. Shegrabbed a thin piece of clothoff the top and dried herself.Then shewalked to the frontof the room and put herclotheson.

Theoneguardingthedoorlifted her arm to her mouth

and pressed a button on herdevice.

“Prepare the next group,”sheradioedtosomeone.

Seconds later, the pooldrained and sprinkling watercamedownfromtheceiling.

“Rinseyourselvesandexitthewater.”

I dropped the mula andstood in the water for aminute. Thiswas even betterthan stepping into the water

and feeling the blissfulwarmthtakeoverme.It’sthelittle things thataddup tosomuch.

I climbed out with theother women, and the alienguarding the door pointed toanother sandstone bench.There was a stack of thinclothson topof it.Whenwegot to the bench, the firstthingInoticedwasthatitwashuman sized. I looked at the

other bench to make sure.Clearly, itwaslarger.Istoodthere for a moment, at acompleteloss.Whywould they go out of

their way to make a smallerbenchforus?

Chapter11

At sundown, the

Mamluks ordered us to theground to sleep. All thewomen from our areaappearedtobegone.Still,thesoldiers took their time anddouble checked. There were

ships flying around, too,shininglightsonus.

Madisonwasstillinthehole,stickingherheadoutofthedirttobreathe.Iwaslyingrightbytheedgeof thehole,tryingtoshieldher.

A soldier stopped infrontofme. “Areyouhidingsomething,Human?”

“No,Sir.”Istumbledtomyfeetandmovedaway.Hekneeled and sniffed at theground. Then, he pressed abutton on his device, and aflashlightcameon.Mypalmsgot sweaty as Iwatched himscanthehole.

Finally,heputthelighton me. “Return to the

ground.” He got up andwalked away. I exhaled andgotdown.

After a while, thepatrollingdroppedoffalittle.

“Madison?” Iwhisperedintothehole.

“Yeah?” she whisperedback.

“I think it’s safe to

comeupnow.”“Noway.”“Trust me. They’ve

backedoffalittle.”Iwaitedandlistenedto

Madison climbing up. Shestayed low and got face toface with me. I reached upand helped her brush somedirtoffherface.

“So, have you thoughtaboutit?”

She nodded, trembling.“Yeah—I’min.”

Ismiled.“Allright.Butwehavetogonow.”

“What? Are youinsane?”

“If we wait untilmorning, they’ll catch you.

Thisisouronlychance.”“Andrew, I can’t. I’m

scaredtodeath.”“I know. So am I. But

wehavetotry.”“Psst,psst.Hey,it’sme

from before,” the guy frombefore said. “Word from thegrapevine is, there’s anopeningnottoofarfromhere.

Goingthatway,”hewenton,pointingtomyleft.“Iheardafew jumped in when theytookthewomen.”

I nodded and reachedout to him, tapping his arm.“Thanks, Buddy. Hey—yousure youdon’twant to comewith?”

He laughed. “No, I’m

notthatbrave—butgoodlucktoyou.”

Chapter12

We got on our stomachs

and checked the area. Therewerefoursoldiersnearbyandabout ten ships flyingoverhead.

I took a deep breath andlookedatMadison.“Allright.Wecandothis.Youready?”

Shegavemeaspeedynod.

I closed my eyes for amoment, said a small prayerinmy head, then openedmyeyes.

“OK—go.”Madison crawled ahead,

weaving through thesleepingcrowds. I stayed rightbehindher, watching the Mamluksfrom the corner of my eye.We went on for a fewminutesandstoppedwhenwegot close to a soldier. He

walked past us, shining hisflashlightafewfeetaway.

The soldier kept going,and when we were a gooddistance from him, Madisoncontinued. I followed her foranother five minutes or so.Thereafter, we came up toanother soldier, andMadisonstopped. She was thoroughlychecking the area with herflashlight. I looked atMadisonandsawhershaking

uncontrollably.“Relax. Relax,” I

whispered as the soldier gotcloser.“Curlupandputyourheaddown.”

Madison quickly got in aball andpretended to sleep. Idid the same and closed myeyes.The lightwentoverus,and I felt the soldier’sfootstepsgoby.IwaitedasIlistened to her move along.Finally,Iopenedmyeyesand

peekedatMadison.“Allclear.”She got up and went

ahead. The path we were onhadnoMamluksinsight.Wetookadvantageandspedupalittle. But after a while, wegot tired and slowed down.Then Madison stoppedcompletelyandgasped.

“What’swrong?”“My legs are cramping

up.”

I looked up and saw thesky turning blue. “We can’tstopnow,Madison.”

She tried to continue butquickly stopped and took ahugebreath.“Ican’t.Mylegsareshot.”

Someone tapped me frombehind. I crawledatanangleand looked back. It was ayoungboy.

“Are you trying to get totheholeintheground?”

Inodded.“Yes. Is itcloseby?”

“Yeah, I rememberpassing it right before theytoldustostopfortheday.”

It hurt to see someone soyoung going through this. Iexhaled and gave the boy asorrowingstare.

“Where,Kid?”He got up and pointed to

hisleft.“Overthere.”I looked up ahead and

glanced to my left. Theopeningwasaboutfiftyyardsaway.

“See, Madison? We’realmostthere.”

She took a quick look.“Allright,comeon.”

I crawled backwards andpatted the boy on his back.“Staystrong.”

Henodded.I looked back toMadison

and saw her dragging herself

forward. I followedher for afew minutes. Finally, shestopped and sat up, gaspingforair.

“Wemadeit.”Ismiledandletoutasigh

of relief. Then, like a sharpwind from a raging storm, ahornsoundedandashipflewoverus,shiningabrightlight.

“Run!” I yelled, jumpingtomyfeet.

I heard the ship make a

buzzing sound like it wasabout to shoot. I tackledMadison from behind andleaped into the opening. Aswe fell into the darkness, alaser came out of the ship,brighteningthehole.Itstruckthe splintered opening,evaporating the rocky edges.Chunksofdirtandrockcavedinonusaswedroppeddown.

We landed hard on a pileof rubble and got covered in

falling debris. I rolled awayand protected my head. Thedebrisstoppedsoonafter,andIstaggeredtomyfeet.

“Madison? Are you allright?”

Iheardhercoughingfromafar.“I’mfine.”

I limped forwardwithmyhandsout.“Whereareyou?”

Madisontappedtherubblehard.“Overhere.”

I carefully moved toward

thesound.“Keepdoingthat.”Iquicklyfoundherasshe

continued and pulled her up.“Come on. Let’s go beforetheysendsomeonedown.”

Chapter13

I was stunned to see the

kind of treatment we weregetting. At first, I thoughttheyweregoingto takeus toa dungeon and lock us in.Instead, they brought us tofurnished rooms that werevery spacious. And, we allgotourownroom.Theyeven

gave us silk nightgowns towear. But as I enjoyed thehospitality, I still couldn’thelpbutwonderwhy.

The rooms had no doors.Just wide entryways. Andthere were stone candlesembeddedinthewalls.

I sat on the edge of mybed, looking around like arestless child.Moments later,I heard a knock from thehallway. I turned my head

and saw a womanwaving atme,peekingintotheroom.

“Hey there. Can I comein?”

“Ah,sure.”Iwatched her carefully as

she came into the dim light.She had long red hair, lightgreeneyesandfreckles.“Myname’s Katie. I was justwalking around, looking forsomeonetotalkto.”

“It’s nice to meet you,

Katie. I’m Emily.” I movedoveralittle.“Haveaseat.”

Shewalkedtothebedandsatnexttome.“Thisisallsoexciting.”

“What?”“Well, yeah. I mean,

they’relikemakinguspartoftheirtribeorsomething.”

“How do you know that?What if they have somethingawfulplannedforus?”

Katiegavemethedreaded

airhead stare. “No, I don’tthink so. Imean,whywouldthey treat us so good, yaknow?”

Inarrowedmyeyes.“So…you’re OK with all this?You’reOKwith them takingall you’ve ever known anddestroyingit?”

“Well, it’smessed up andall.Butwhatcanwedo?”

“What about your friendsand family? Don’t you wish

youcouldseethemagain?”Katie looked down and

picked at her nails. The lookon her face told me I hadstruckanerve.

“They’realldead.”I didn’t knowwhat to say

atfirst.Then,Ireacheddownandtookherhand.

“I’msorry.”She cried a little before

going on. “I can’t get themback.SoImightaswellmake

the best of things.” Shereached up and wiped hereyes. “You probably thinkI’mcrazy.”

Ishookmyhead.“No.Butthere’sstillsomuchwedon’tknow. These are aliens fromanother world. Who knowswhat they have planned forus?”

Katie shrugged. “I know.But you have to admit—sofar things have been pretty

awesome.”I chuckled. “Sure—but

let’shopeitstaysthatway.”

Chapter14

Katiewasstillinmyroom

when morning came. Thesunlight coming from thewindows on the back walllightenedtheroom.

An alien walked in,carrying a wooden tray. Sheset it down on the woodentablebythebedandpresseda

button on her device thatmade all the candles go out.Lastly, she looked at us andsmiledkindlybefore leaving.“Enjoythisfood,Humans.”

Wasting no time, Katiewentrighttothetrayanddugin.“See,whatdidItellyou?”

Istoodupandcheckedthefood. It was an odd-lookingvegetable wrapped in a softshell. There was also awooden cup of something I

didn’t want to drink on thetray, and a wooden cup ofwater.Katie finishedoff halfthefoodandpattedherlips.

“Howwasit?”She flashed a wide smile.

“Prettygood.”I shrugged and moved to

the window. There was agroupofsoldiersstandingbythe building, having a livelyconversation. I putmyhandson the ledge of the window

andleanedmyheadoutside.Iturned slightly and stuck myear out. It sounded like theywere talking about thewomen.

Somemovement from thehallway caughtmy attention.I moved away from thewindowandsteppedforward.

A soldier stopped at theentry and leaned into theroom. “Finish your food andjoinusinthecorridor.”

We left the food andhurried into the hallway.They were gathering all thewomenonourfloor.Anothersoldiercamefromaroundthecornerandmarcheddownthehall.Hewalkedup tooneofthe other soldiers and liftedhis arm.He pressed a buttononhisdeviceandahologrampopped out. I looked closelyandstudiedit.Itwasthinandrectangular like a laptop

screen, and it was showingtext.

“I have a report of fortyfemale humans. Are thesenumbersaccurate?”hesaid.

“Yes. I have countedforty,”shesaid.

The soldier nodded anddid a quick head count. Toend, he pressed a button andthe hologram went away.“Humans,followme.”

We followed him into a

massive room at the end ofthe hall. There was an aliensitting on awooden chair onthefarside.

The soldier led us to himand dropped to a knee,bowing his head. “MyChampion, these are yourfirst subjects.” He rosequicklyandsteppedaside.

The alien sitting in thechair stood up and steppedforward. He was wearing a

white shirt that was opendown the middle, brownpantsandblackboots.

“Humans of Earth. I amAdomas, Champion of allMamluks. As the females ofyour species, you have beenbrought tome for selection.”Itookabiggulpashelookedusover.Then,atlast,hewentback to his chair and satdown. “I allow the firstsubjecttostepforward.”

I looked around andchecked the other women.They were all hesitant.Terrified, I exhaled andmoved forward. I stopped infront of Adomas and studiedhis face. He had ocean blueeyes, a strong chin and fulllips. Seeing his eyes on mefelt like a burn going rightthrough me. “Undress—andpresentyourselftome.”

I quickly took off my

nightgown and put my hairback.And instinctually, Iputmy hands on my hips andstraightenedmyposture.

Adomaslookedmeupanddown, nodding. “Very good—youmaygototheleftsideoftheroom.”

I pickedmy gown up andwent to the left side of theroom. The next womanstepped up. She was cryingandholdingherheaddown.I

glanced at Adomas and sawno emotion on his face. Thewoman undressed and stoodwithherhandsdown.

“Gototheright.”The woman snatched her

gownoff the floor andput iton in a hurry. Shewalked tothe other side of the roomwithherheadheldhigh.

Katie was up next. Shedanced like a fool as shewalked up to Adomas. Oh

God,whatisshedoing?IcheckedAdomas,andhe

was still looking on with ablank stare. Katie took hergown off and rubbed herhandsalloverherbodylikeastripper.Irolledmyeyesandlooked away. But when Iheard her snapping herfingers, I couldn’t help butlookbacktothesilliness.

Katie turnedsidewaysandshook her backside. Finally,

shestoppedandspunbacktoAdomas with her arms out,smiling. Surprisingly, hegrinnedandwavedher to theleft.

Katie did a lively fistpump. “Yes!” She happilygrabbed her nightgown offthefloorandprancedover tome with a big smile. “Howabout that?” she whispered,giving me a high five. “Iwasn’t going to waste my

chance.”I shrugged. “Hey, it

worked.”When it was over, there

were thirteen women on theleft side of the room andtwenty seven on the right. Iwas happy to be on the leftside. But I was also worriedfortheotherwomen.

One of the Mamluks ledmy group to the hallway.Aswe left the room, another set

of women entered. We werebroughttoaroomonthefirstfloor. There was a Mamlukinside, standing by a set ofwoodentablesthatwerefilledwithclothingandshoes.

“Humans,IamLinas.Thisis your attire,” he said,putting his hand out towardthe tables.Hewasdressed ina flashy outfit, which mademethinkhewassomekindofclothing designer. “Find a

bin, takewhatyouneed, andreturntoyourrooms.”

We glanced at each otherforasecond,thenheadedtoastackofwoodenbins.

Katielaughed.“Wow,thisjust keeps getting better andbetter.”

I picked up a bin and gotto work. They hadeverything. Funky lookingdresses—pants of all shapes,colorsandsizes—avarietyof

blouses. After picking a fewoutfits, I went to the shoes.ThereweresomanydifferentkindsIdidn’tknowwhere tostart.Finally,Igrabbedapairof weird-looking boots andsome shoes that lookedcomfortable.

I left and headed upstairs.WhenIgottomyroom,Iputmy stuff on the floor and saton thebed. Istayed there foramoment, desperately trying

to understand what washappening.

Feeling lonely, I lookedout the window and thoughtof Andrew, wondering if hewasstillalive.

Chapter15

Wehadbeenwalkingfora

long time. I was exhausted,and the foul smells weremakingusvomit.

“Wait, stop.” I dropped tomy knees, threw up, andcoughedwildly.

Madisongotdownandputherhandonmyback.“Thisis

awful.Weshouldneverhaveleft.”

I stood up and wiped mymouth.“We’llbeallright.”

Thereafter, I saw a lightcoming toward us.At first, IthoughtitwasaMamlukwitha flashlight. But as I lookedharder, I realized the lightwasaburningfire.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”avoicecalledout.

Ismiled.“Yes,overhere!”

A group of six cameforwardwith burning logs inhand. They walked up to usand raised the logs a littlehigher. The man in frontextendedahand.

“Hello—I’mRobert.”I nodded and shook his

hand.“I’mAndrew.”Madison leaned forward

and shook Robert’s hand.“Hello,I’mMadison.”

“It’s nice to meet you

both,” he said. “Come on,followus.Wefoundfoodandaplace to sleep.”Robert andthe others led us through therubble and into a smallencircled area. There was afireatthecenterofthespace.

“Make yourselves athome,” Robert said, placinghisburninglogonthefire.

Theothersdidthesame.There were about twenty

people crammed in the area.

Madison limped ahead andfound a spot by the fire. Ichecked along the walls andsawsomesupplies.

“Wheredidyouguys findallthisstuff?”

“It’s from the rubble thatfell throughthesurfacewhentheydemolished thecity.Wedugthroughittoseewhatwecould find. Eventually, wefound a lighter and made afire.” Robert walked to the

wall and collected a fewthings.“There’ssomeclothesoverthereinthecorner.Grabsomething to keep yourselfwarm.”

I went to the corner andfound a muddy, tatteredsweater. I shook off some ofthedirt andput iton.Then Iturnedandwalkedtothefire.

“How are you feeling?” Isaid, taking a seat byMadison. “I’m doing good.”

She reached down andgrabbed my hand. “Thankyou,Andrew.”

Istrengthenedourgripandgaveheracaringsmile.“Wedidittogether.”

Robert came over and satnext to us. “You’re probablystarved.”Hehandedus somecansofbeansandtwobottlesofwater.

“Thanks, Robert,”Madisonsaid.

“Thankyou,”Isaid.Weusedarocktopopthe

cans open, then poured thebeans in our hands and atethem quickly. To wash itdown, I opened the bottle ofwaterandtookabiggulp.

“How longhaveyoubeendownhere?”IaskedRobert.

“A day. Maybe two. Wefound an opening in theground right after they tookthe women—I’d seen

enough.”I took a deep breath. “I

can’t believe it’s come tothis.”

Robert nodded. “It’sunimaginable.”

I glanced at the wall andcheckedthesmallpileoffoodthey'd found. “Wewon’t lastlong down here. At somepoint—we’llhave togobacktothesurface.”

Robert looked around,

somberly.“Iknow.”

Chapter16

Afterward, we all tried toget some rest.But I couldn’tsleep.IsatupandsawRobertsitting by the wall. He wasstaring at the fire, twirling arockinhishand.Igotupandwalkedovertohim.

“Can’tsleep?”

Robert slowly shook hishead. “Ihaven’tgottenmuchsleep since the invasion. It’sbeennodifferentdownhere.”

“MindifIjoinyou?”“Notatall.”Isatdownandcrossedmy

arms. We stayed quiet for amoment,staringatthefire.

“Did you meet theirleader?”Iasked.

Robert chuckled. “No. Ididn’t know they had a

leader.”“They call him the

Champion. He had a redcloakandeverything.”

Robertexhaled.“Ibetthatwasasighttosee.”

“Yeah, it was terrifying.Not knowing what to expect—lying on the ground like ahelplessanimal.”

“I felt the samewaywithjust the soldiers. It was verydemeaning.”

IpausedandthoughtaboutEmily. “I’m still trying tofigure outwhy they took thewomen.”

“I’ve been thinking aboutthat, too. I met a really nicelady on the night of theinvasion.Whentheytookher,it was like losing a lifelongfriend.”

I couldn’t help butwonder. “What was hername?”

“Emily.”Myheartthumpedandmy

eyes grew wide as I quicklyfaced Robert. “What did shelooklike?”

“Uh—shehadbrownhair,sky-blueeyes,aslimbuild—abeautifulyoungwoman.”

I shed a few tears as Ilooked up at the ceiling.“ThankGod.”

“I can see that she’ssomeonespecialtoyou.”

“Yes. She’s mygirlfriend.” Now all I coulddo was hope Emily survivedwhatever the Mamluks hadplanned.

Chapter17

I lay on my bed, staringout the window. It was likebeing frozen in time,withoutmemories to look back on,andnofuturetolookforwardto. All my life I had beentaught to make the best of abad situation.But how could

anyone prepare for an alieninvasion? I was lost—andtherewasnowheretoturnforhelp.

I heard a knock at theentrance.Iturnedmyheadtocheck, thinking it was Katie.Surprisingly, it was a younggirl holding a tray of food,wearingaplainwhitedress.Igot up and walked to theentrance.

“Hello.Myname’sEmily.

Youcancomeinside.”The young girl had the

saddest look on her face.“Theytoldmetobringthistoyou.”

I stepped aside. “Please,comein.”

The girl hurried to thetable by my bed and set thetray down. She spun aroundandtriedtoleavejustasfast.

“Wait,”Ibegged,grabbingher arm. “Tell me what

happened.”She pulled her arm away

andtriedtorunawayagain.Iquickly,anddesperately,

reached out to her. “Please,comeback.”

The girl stopped andturnedaround.Iwalkeduptoher slowly. She looked awayand put her head down. Iopenedmyarmsandgaveherahug.

“It’s OK. I won’t harm

you.” Gently, I rubbed herback. “Please, tell me whathappened.”

She wept terribly, and itmademefearwhatshemightsay. “They brought us to aroom and made us put thesewhitedresseson.”

“What’s your name,Sweetheart?”

“Audrey.”“Howoldareyou,Dear?”“Eleven.”

I cringedafterhearingherage.“Comeon.Sitdownwithme and have something toeat.”

“I can’t. They told me tocomerightback.”

I held my tears back andlethergo.“Well…Ihope tosee you around. Good luck,Audrey.”

She hurried into thehallwayandranaway.Istoodthere for amoment, thinking

about the other women. Itwas disturbing to see theMamluks turning them intoservants.

I heard someone comingdown the hall. Seconds later,Katie walked inside withanotherlady.

“There you are. I waslookingalloverforyou,”shesaid. “Bridget—Emily,” shewenton.“Emily—Bridget.”

I reached out and shook

Bridget’s hand. “Hello. Nicetomeetyou.”

She had blond hair andbrown eyes. “Pleasure tomeetyou,Emily,”shesaidinaBritishaccent.

Katie moved past me andpranced to my bed. “Whatgoodies did you get fromdownstairs?”

“Justafewthings.”“Katie and I were headed

totherooftominglewiththe

others.Caretojoinus?”“Nothanks.I’mstilltrying

tocollectmythoughts.”Katie skipped to me.

“Well, don’t be a stranger.And don’t stay cooped up inyourroomallday.”

Ismiledandnodded.KatieleftwithBridget.Later on, I ate the food

Audreyhadbroughtme.Andshortly after, I decided to goforawalk.Iwentdownstairs

to the front entrance andfound a soldier standingnearby.Iapproachedherwithcaution.

“Hello.Howareyou?”She turned around,

smiling.“Whatisyourname,Human?”

“Emily.”“Are you looking for

something,Emily?”I pondered for a second.

“Yes, actually. I’m looking

foranswers.ButI’mafraidtoaskquestions.”

She gave me a firm look.“You humans are emotionalcreatures.”

“Yes,weare.”Another soldierwalked in

from outside. I moved awayas he drew near. He glancedat me before walking up totheothersoldier.

“Yourduties are completefortoday,”hesaidtoher.

She left her post andheaded outside. “Farewell,Emily.Keepsearchingfortheanswersyouseek.”

I stood there andwatchedher leave, thinking aboutwhat she'd said. Then, evenmore anxious than before, Ilookedupattheothersoldier.

“Where do you go whenyour duties are over for theday?”

“Home.”

“Whereishome?”He chuckled and looked

down at me. “Anywhere wechoose.”

Chapter18

Thenextmorning, Iwokeup and found Audrey in myroom.Shewascollectingmytray from last night andsettingdownanewtray.Isatup on the bed and stretched.Audrey glanced at me,frowning.

“Goodmorning,”shesaid.“Good morning, Audrey.

Howareyou?”“I’mfine.”I got up and went to the

bathroom.Therewasa large,tube shaped, sandstone thingsticking up from the groundthatwas used for excrement.The washing area near thebackwall looked likeagiantbowl with evenly placedholesonthefloorandceiling.

I tookmy clothes off andgot inside. I waited amoment, and the waterautomatically turnedon.AsIcleaned myself with somemula, I couldn’t help butwonder where they weregetting the water—consideringLosAngeles,andits water system, had beendestroyed.

After a long shower, Idried off and headed to the

dresserbymybed.A soldier came to the

entryway, startlingme. “It istime, Human. Dress yourselfand follow the othersupstairs,”shesaid, thenwentdownthehall.

I got dressed quickly andfollowed the other womenupstairs. We arrived at awidespread room. The areawaspackedwithhundredsofwomenandmalesoldiers.

“Emily, over here!” Katiecalledout,waving.

Bridgetwasthere,too.Ihurriedtothem.“What’s

goingon?”IaskedKatie.“Idon’tknow.Oneof the

Mamluks told us to comeuphere.”

A few minutes later,Adomas came upstairs. Allthesoldiersdroppedtoakneeand bowed their heads. Thewomen silenced as he

approached. My heartpounded as he came close.Adomas looked around andsmiled, holding his handsbehindhisback.

“I have chosen you well,Humans.”Hewent to the farendoftheroomandstopped.“Mysoldiers,youmaybeginyourselection.”

They rose and walkedfromplacetoplace,scanningthewomen.

Katie grabbed my hand.“Emily?”

“Calmdown.Itwillbeallright.”

I stood there and lookedon.Butforsomereason,noneof themwere looking atme.Finally, a soldier came up tous.

“You,”hesaid,pointingatKatie.“Comewithme.”

Sheletgoofmeandwentwith him. Then, another

soldier came over and tookBridget. Soon after, all thewomen were gone, leavingmealoneinthehallway.

I watched the last couplego downstairs, feelingconfused. Slowly, I turnedmy head and sawAdomas—stillstandingattheendoftheroom. I became numb as hewalked toward me. Adomasstopped in front of me. Ilooked up at him, shaking

likealeafinthewind.“Followme.”Adomas ledme toa room

onthenextfloordown.Therewas only a large bed inside.Hewalkedto thebedandsatdown.

“Undress.”My eyes watered as I

stripped down. I could feelhim watching me, and itmade my stomach curl. Icovered my chest as I stood

therenaked.“Cometome.”I walked to the bed and

stoppedathisfeet.Heslidhismassive hand onto my backand pulled me closer. Ibreathed heavily as he bentdown. Adomas sniffed mybody for a second, oozingwith pleasure. He took histime as he went on, gentlykissingmybreastandroughlyfondlingbetweenmylegs.

Adomas picked me upwitheaseandsetmedownonthebed.Hestoodupandtookhis clothes off. I lookedbelow his waist and winced.As he came onto the bed, Icrawled backwards and gotoff.

“No—Iwon’t,”Isnapped,coveringmychest.

Adomasglaredatme.I stared at him for a

moment, then fearfully

looked away. “Iwant to talkfirst.”

Adomas laughed. He satonthebedandleanedagainstthe backboard. “You arebravetodefyme.”

I slowly looked back athim.

“I was wise to chooseyou.” Adomas smiled andwavedmeover.

I climbed on the bed andcrawledtohim.

“Tellmeyourname.”I stopped by his arm.

“Emily.”Adomas reached up and

gentlyplacedhisindexfingeronmychin,liftingmyhead.

“What troubles you,Emily?”

IblinkeduncontrollablyasI looked into his eyes.“Everything.Please—tellmewhyyou’redoingthis.”

“Intime,youwill learnof

theMamluks.”Naturally, I was a little

relieved that he didn’t killme. So I slid down andopenedmy legs.Adomasgoton top. I inhaled deeply,tuckedmy lips, then exhaledthrough my nose and closedmyeyes.

Chapter19

Ourfoodandwatersupplywas almost out. Everyonegatheredaroundthefire.Iletout a nasty cough andwrappedmyarmsaroundmystomach, feeling the hunger.Madison was sitting next tome,holdingherhandsbythe

fire.“All right everyone. It’s

time tomake a decision.Wecan either stay here andcontinue to search the rubble—or go back to the surfaceandpray theydon’t findus,”Robertsaid.

No one said anything atfirst.

“Wehavenochoice.Evenif we find more food—itwon’tlast,”Isaid.

“No, we do have achoice,”amansaid.“Wecaneitherdiedownhereordieupthere.And I ain’t digging nomoreholes.”

I nodded. “He’s right.There’s no point debatingthis.”

Robertletoutadeepsigh.“Fine. Anyone who choosesto go back to the surface,followme.”

Madison and I got off the

floor.Weputsomefoodinamuddy shirt and tied it up.Robert did the same. Then,each of us grabbed asplintered log off the pile inthecornerandburnedthetop.Before we headed out, Ipausedandlookedovertotheothers.

“Isthereanyoneelse?”They said nothing and

lookedonwithblankstares.Istoodthereforamoment,

in shock. “Good luck to youall.”

We marched into thesewers and climbed throughtherubble.

“Keep your eyes open foranything valuable,” Robertsaid.

Wewentnonstopforwhatfelt like an eternity. Finally,we found light from above.Cautiously, we moved aheadand listened for any activity.

The area sounded clear. Wehurried to the light andcheckedit.

There was a narrowopening in the ceiling abouttwelve feet from the rubble.We desperately scanned thearea for something we coulduse to reach it. But aftersearching for a while wecameupwithnothing.

Icrumbledtothefloorandreleased a nasty cough.

Madisonsatdownnexttomeand patted my back. Robertcame over and sat downacrossfromus.

“Well, at leastwecan seethesurface,”hesaid, lookingupat theopening.“Let’sresthereforthenight.”

We put our logs together,made a fire and huddled up,lying back to back withMadison facing up in themiddle.

Lateron,as thelightfromabove faded away, I closedmy eyes and imagined Iwassleeping in my old bed. Iconcentrated hard, trying toseparate my mind from mybody.Eventually,Idozedoff.

I dreamt about Emily thatnight. We were back inHollywood, going for one ofour usual hikes up RunyonCanyon.Whenwegot to thetop, I dropped my water

bottle on purpose and gotdownonakneetopickitup.IshowedEmilytheringIhadbeenhiding andaskedher tomarry me. She said yes. Ijumped up and shoutedjoyously, grabbing her andtwirling around with thegentlebreeze.

Finally, I got back downandputtheringonherfinger.Iroseandleanedinforakiss.But before our lips could

touch, theskies turnedblack.I looked up and sawspaceships coming down onus.Thereafter,inthedistance,Isawamassiveexplosion.

Everything evaporated,and slowly the hilltop cavedin. Emily and I fell into adarkpit.Wekept falling andfallinguntilwefinallylandedon a demolished terrain. Wewere wearing the whitebodysuitsnow,andallIcould

see were fields of blacksmokeandfire.

TheMamluksmarchedoutof the darkness and cametoward us. There werehundredsofthemsurroundingus. One of the soldiersgrabbed Emily and took heraway. I reached out to her,screaming.Finally,aMamlukaimedatmeandalasercameout. But before the blastcouldhitme,Iwokeup.

I was sweating andbreathing frantically, lookingaround.“Emily?”

“Andrew? Are you allright?” Madison said,coughing.

I exhaled and closed myeyes. “I’m sorry, Madison.DidIwakeyou?

“No. I was up. What’swrong?”

“Nothing. Just had a baddream.”

Chapter20

It had been a few days,and we were still walkingwith limps. There was aMamluk named Giedre whogave us a liquid substancethat helped with the pain. Iwas sitting on my bedrubbing it between my legs

when I heard footstepsapproaching. I watched theentrance, and Adomasappeared.

“I can’t—I’m still inpain,”Ipleaded.

Adomas chuckled andwalkedtome.“Areyoureadytolearn,Emily?”

Inodded.Adomas crossed his arms

and casually walked around.“Tellmeyourquestions.”

I let out a sigh of relief.“Well, let’s start at thebeginning. Where are youfrom?AndwhydidyoucometoEarth?”

“We Mamluks aredescendants of the planetMarsden.Sometimeago,thefemales of our kindmysteriously lost the abilitytobearoffspring.”

I nodded slowly. “So youcame to Earth to continue

yourbloodline.”Adomas faced me. “That

iscorrect.”“Butwhyus?”“You were the only

compatiblespecies.”“But…howdidyouknow

that? Were you watching ussomehow?”

Adomas smiled. “Yourintellect is impressive,Emily.”

I shyly looked away.

“Thanks,Iguess.”“We examined your kind

thoroughlybeforetravelingtoEarth.”

“How?”Adomas gave me a cold

stare. “You are not privy tothatinformation.”

I nodded and glanced atthe device on his arm. “Iunderstand.”

He turned and headed tothe entrance. “You must

prove your allegiance tome,Emily.Onlythenwillyoubegranted all the knowledgeyouseek.”

“HowdoIprovemyself?”Adomas looked back at

me. “By nurturing ourspawn.”

Chapter21

Iwassittingonaconcreteblock, looking up at the skythrough the narrow opening.Twodayshadpassed,andwestill couldn’t find away out.Even worse, we were verydehydratedandhadlittlefoodleft.

“We have to go back,”Madisonsaid,standingunderthelight.

Robert walked to her andlookedup.“You’reright.”

I put my hand over mymouthandpondered.

“Come on. Let’s getmoving,”Madisonsaid.

I stayed still and lookedaroundastheymovedalong.

Madisonstoppedwhenshewalked by me. “Andrew?

Comeon.”ShelookedonasIcontinued to ponder. “Don’tworry. We’ll find anotherwayout.”

Finally,Igavein.AndasIgotup, Iputmyhandon theconcrete block I was sittingon and used it for support. Ipaused halfway and stared atit for a second, then I rosecompletely.

“Wait—therubble.”Robert turned around.

“Whataboutit?”“Look at the size of some

of these blocks.With a goodamount,wemight be able tostack them high enough toreachtheopening.”

Robert nodded. “That’s agoodidea.Let’stryit.”

We found the biggestblocksandcarriedthemtothelight. It took all of us to lifteach one, and my back wasstrainedbytheendof it.The

hard part was stacking themevenly. We went back andforth with different angles,getting frustrated at times.But eventually we were abletofindastablealignment.

The stack of blocks wasalmost the same height asMadison.Sheclimbedupfirstandgotherbalance.

“Allright.Nowjumphighandholdontight,”Isaid.

She was breathing heavy.

“OK.”“Try to relax, Madison,”

Robertsaid.Madison closed her eyes

forasecondandbreathedoutslowly.Then,sheopenedhereyes, stood up straight andleaped for the edge of theopening. She grabbed thejaggedconcreteandheldon.

I smiled. “Now pullyourselfup.”

Madison tried to kick her

legup,butitwasmakingherslip.

“No, don’t do that. Justpullup,”Robertsaid.

“I can’t—I’m not strongenough,” she grumbled,holdingonfordearlife.

“Yes you can, Madison.Comeon,”Isaid.

“I can’t—we should havewaited—I’m exhausted,” shecried.

“You can do it, Madison.

Justpull,”Robertsaid.She let out an animated

scream,pullingashardasshecould.Gradually,shewentuphigherandhigher.

“Keepgoing,”Isaid.Madison kept screaming

asshepulledandgotherkneeover the edge.And to finish,she leaned forward andclimbedtothesurface.

“Yes!”Icheered,pumpingmyfist.

“Way to go, Madison,”Robertsaid,smiling.

He went next and got tothesurface.Lastly, Iclimbedthe stepping stones andjumpedtotheedge.Iquicklypulledmyselfupandcrawledtothesurface.Thethreeofussat there for a moment,lookingupatthesun,smilingandlaughing.

Then, I saw a lightflashing in the distance. I

paused and stared at it. Thelight was getting closer andcloser.

“Shit, it’s them,” Ihuffed,pointing.

We looked around in apanic.

“Over there!” Madisonsaid, pointing at a set ofscatteredconcrete.

We ran to the biggestpiece and ducked down.Within seconds, I heard a

shiplandingnearby.“Theyfoundus,”Madison

whispered,shivering.“Just stay still,” Robert

said.I turned my head and

peekedthroughacrackintheconcrete. The ship wasparkedabout tenyardsaway.The ramp came down, andtwosoldierswalkedout.Theystood there for second, thenmarched toward us. I

shudderedas Iwatched themgetclose.

“Checkoverthere,”oneofthem said, pointing to hisright.

Theother soldiermarchedahead.The one coming at usstopped about six feet away.Hestayedstillandsniffedtheair, scanning the area like aneagle.

“Let us leave. It wasprobably an animal,” the

other soldier called out fromafar.

The soldier stayed for amoment. Finally, he turnedaround and headed back tothe ship with his partner.When they took off, I closedmyeyesandsighed.

Westayedputforawhile.“All right. I think it’ssafe

now,” Robert said, crawlingforward.

Istoodupandcheckedthe

skies.Theareawasclear.Buttherewasnotimetocelebratea small victory. “Let’s keepmoving.”

Chapter22

Iwasstandingbymybed,rubbing my stomach. Thethought of being a motherwas terrifying—especially inthesecircumstances.Evenso,it was something to lookforward to. And for the firsttime, I thought that maybe I

couldfindaplaceinthisnewworld.

“Hello, Emily,” someonesaid from the entrance,turningmearound.

I smiled, realizing it wasBridget. “Oh, hey. How areyou?”

“Inalotofpain.”“Thatmakes twoofus.” I

waved her inside. “Come inandhaveaseatwithme.”

I sat on the bed. Bridget

limped over and sat besideme.

“Howdoyoufeelaboutallthis?”sheasked.

Iwaitedamoment,staringinto the hallway. “I’mafraid.”

“SoamI.”Ilookedather,wondering.

“Did your mate tell youwhy?”

Bridgetnoddedsadly.Sharing my worries with

hermademefeelalotbetter.“I’m really glad you stoppedby. I get so lonely being inthisroomallday.”

“I know. It’s dreadful. Iwould rather be in fieldsdigging.”

We sat there all night,escaping our troubles withmemoriesandsmalltalk.Andlateron,whentheskyturnedblue, we lay down and fellasleep.

I dreamt about Andrew.We were walking down theSanta Monica Pier at night.My hair was blowing in thewind, and Andrew washolding me from behind.Then, he dropped somethingandwentdown topick itup.But before rising, hesurprisedmeandpulledoutaring. He asked me to marryhim.Isaidyes.

Andrew jumped up and

huggedme.Heliftedmeintohisarmsandspunmearound.Then he set me down andkneeled. Icriedasheput thering on my finger. Finally,Andrew got up and tried tokiss me. But a thunderousboom shuddered through us,andwe spunourheadsup tolookatthesky.

At first, I saw a bunch oflights in the distance. Whenthey got closer, I realized

they were coming from agroup of spaceships. Laserscame out of the ships andblastedeverything.

We dropped down, andAndrew coveredme.A laserhit the pier, and we fell intothe water. But we keptfalling, going deep underwater.Slowly,Andrew fadedinto the darkwaters, andmyringcameoff.

I fell through the water

and landed on a sandstoneroof. I was naked now, andAdomas was standing overme. He reached down andsaid,“Getup—Emily.”

Suddenly, I woke up toBridgetshakingme.

“Emily—wake up. Yourservantbroughtusfood.”

I sat up and saw Audreysetting a trayon the table bythebed.

“Myservant?” I saidwith

araspyvoice.“Yes.Theyassignedmeto

you,”Audreysaid.I sat there, staring at the

food. Audrey left the room.Bridget went to the tray andbegantoeat.Ilookedoninadaze.

“Emily?Getup.”

PartTwo–NineMonths

Later

Chapter23

I was lying on my bednaked with a blanket tuckedundermyhead.Adomaswasstandingby thewindowwithhis arms crossed, looking atmewithagravestare.Giedre,the Mamluk caregiver, wasrubbing a soothing gel all

overmybody.“Push, Emily,” she said.

“Push.”I grabbed the sheets,

closed my eyes and took ahuge breath, pushing hard asGiedre rubbed the gelbetween my legs. Slowly, Ifeltthebaby’sheadcomeout.Ikeptpushing,andthesweatfrom my face was drippingonto my lips. I opened myeyes and blew out in spurts,

flinging the sweat to mychest.

“I seeyour spawn, Emily.The birth is almostcomplete,”Giedresaid.

Finally,thebabycameout,gradually releasing thepressure on my body. And Iblackedout.

ItfeltlikesecondsbeforeIwas up again. I saw Giedrestandingby thebed, cradlinganenormousinfant.

“It is a male,” Adomassaid,smilingoverthebaby.

Giedre stepped forwardandkneeledbyme.

I cried tears of joy as Ileaned over, staring at hisbeautiful blue eyes. “He’sgorgeous.”

“You must name him,Emily,”Adomassaid.

I looked up at him,surprised—assuming hewould be more controlling.

“I’m not sure. I don’t knowanyMamluknames.”

“Then he will have ahumanname.”

Ilookeddownandstudiedour son long and hard as hetwitched in Giedre’s bighands. Finally, I shook myhead. “No—I want him tohaveaMamlukname.”

Ironically, Adomas gavemeasurprisedlook.

IglancedatGiedre.“What

doyouthink?”ShelookedupatAdomas,

like she was asking forapproval.Hegaveheranod.Giedreflashedawarmsmile.She kindly looked down atthebabyandwatchedhimforamoment.

“Juozas.”I pondered thename for a

second,nodding.“Ilikeit.”Adomas stepped forward

and kneeled. “Juozas—my

spawn.”

Chapter24

By destroying WilliamMulholland's water system,theMamluks had turned LosAngeles into a desert again.During our travels, wemanaged to find some foodand supplies in the scatteredrubble throughout the land.

But now, even that recoursehaddriedup.

We were on a mountain,far from any Mamlukactivity.IwokeupandfoundMadison spitting a deadsquirrelandsettingitoveranopen fire. I coughed andwheezedasIsatup,crawlingtoher.

“Good morning,” I saidwithascratchyvoice.

“Hey,”shesaidmiserably,

takingaseatbythefire.Afterward, Robert came

backwith a rusted bucket ofwater from the drying creekat the bottom of themountain.He set it down onthe fire, next to the roastingsquirrel. We waited a whileuntil the squirrel lookedready.

Robert grabbed thesweater I had gotten in thesewersandusedittotakethe

spit off the fire. Lastly, hetook the bucket of boilingwater off the fire and put itnext to thespit.Wewaitedalittle while longer untileverythingcooleddown.

Aftereating,wepassedthebucket around and took aswig. The water tasted likerubber. But by now I wasused to it. I coughed hard,feelingintensepressureinmyface. My condition was

gettingworsebytheday.AndMadison and Robert weren’tfar behind. Sadly, I finallyrealized a terrible truth. Wewere dying—slowly. Evenwithout asking, I knew thatthey felt it, too. Still, I washappy knowing that wewouldatleastbedyingfree.

Robertexhaled.“Ineedtoask you two something—something I’ve nevertalkedaboutbefore.”

“Sure,”Isaid.“Goahead,”Madisonsaid.Robert took a moment

before continuing. “I don’tknowifeitherofyoubelievein God, but I do. And, Iwanted you to know I’vebeenprayingforus.”

I nodded. “I believe inGod.”

Madison shook her head.“Idon’t.”

“Andthat’sfine,Madison.

ButIwouldreallyappreciatesharing prayer with both ofyou,”hewenton.“Youdon’thave to say it with me oranything. It would justmakeme feel better—knowing ourtimeonEarthmaybecomingtoanend.”

“Iwouldn’tmind,”Isaid.Madison shrugged. “It’s

allrightwithme.”Robertgotcloserandtook

ourhands.Thenheclosedhis

eyesandbowedhishead.“Dear,God.Iaskthatyou

watch over my friends and Iduringthisdifficulttime.Giveus peace in our final days—and bless those who aresufferingasslaves.InChrist'snamewepray,Amen.”

Chapter25

Adomas took me andJuozas to a ship parkedoutside the building I hadbeenlivingin.Itwasafancylooking aircraft, too—unlikethe ones the soldiers used.Whenwe got close,Adomaslifted his arm and pressed a

buttononhisdevice.Aramppopped out, and he allowedmetogoinfirst.

Iwalked up the ramp andlooked around. There werehuge cushioned seats builtinto the walls, and handlesright above them—like theones you would find on asubway.We took a seat nearthe front of the ship. Therewas a soldier operating thecontrols inside a narrow

cockpit.Adomasgrabbedahandle.

Then, he grabbed the oneabovemewithhisotherhandand moved it down a fewlevels so I could reach it. Ipressed Juozas intomy chesthard and took hold of thehandlewithmyotherhand.

“We are ready, Soldier,”Adomascalledout.

The pilot took off shortlyafter. Minutes later, we

landed, and the ramp openedup. There was a deafeningcelebration going on outside.Adomasstoodupandputhishand out toward the uproar.“Foryou,Emily.”

I moved ahead in a dazeand cautiously walked downthe ramp, holding Juozastight. There were thousandsof soldiers standing inparallel lines, dancing andthrowingtheirhandsintheair

while reciting a phrase. Ilistened carefully, lookingfrom side to side in totalconfusion.“We have birth—here on

Earth—we have birth—hereonEarth!”

When I got to the end ofthe line, I came upon anenormous, beautifully craftedsandstonebuilding.Thestepswere long and wide, withgiantpillarsgoingacrossthat

supportedtheupperlevels.Suddenly, everyone

stopped. I turned and lookedaround.Theywereallstaringat me. And from behind, Iheardsomeoneapproaching.Iturned back around andlooked up the steps. TherewasaMamlukstandingatthetop, staring at me with asmile. As she walked downthe steps, I studied herclosely. She had long, salt

andpepperhair.Butherfacelookedasyoungasmine.Shewas wearing a hooded bluecloak that showed her arms,revealing a device, and somestrangesandals.

Itrembledasshegotclose,thinking she was going totakeJuozasfromme.Finally,she moved off the steps andstopped in front of me. Iblinked nervously as I stoodunderhershadow.

“Emily of Earth. I amDalia,RulerofallMamluks.”

I was surprised to hearthis, having thought Adomaswastheirleader.

“YouwerechosentobirththespawnofourChampion.”She paused and caringlyglanced at Adomas. “Now,youbeartheresponsibilityofnurturing his spawn into aworthysuccessor.”

My heart rate increased

dramatically. I exhaled andproppedJuozasupalittle.

“Do you accept thisresponsibility?”

I glanced at Adomas.“Yes,Ido.”

Dalia flashed a lovingsmile. And right after, alongwith Adomas and all thesoldiers, she kneeled andbowed her head. It was abreathtaking experience—looking around at all these

astonishing creatures—bowingtolittleoldme.

“Whoa,” I huffed out,gettingtearyeyed.

Afterafewseconds,Dalialifted while everyone elsestayed down. She revealed ashiny, off-white marble thatwas linked to a goldennecklace. Dalia opened thenecklaceandputitonme.

“Soon—you will becomeonewithourgreatestpower.”

I looked down andchecked the marble. Therewassomethingmovinginsideit. I narrowed my eyes andtouchedit.

“Wow.Thankyou.”Daliaputherhandoutand

said,“Rise.”The crowd leaped up and

went back to dancing andcheering.

Dalia reached out toAdomas.“My Champion.”

Then she looked at me“Come,Emily.”

Wewent to the topof thesteps and faced the crowd. Icouldn’t help but smile as Iwatched them dance around.Feelinggreatlywelcomedandoverjoyed, I lookedatJuozasand whispered, “We havebirth.HereonEarth.”

Chapter26

Itwasstillearlyintheday.But I was exhausted. I wenttomyusual spot and tried togetsomesleep.Madisonwassittingbythefire.Robertwasorganizing a pile ofbrushwood.

My eyes began to flicker.

Then,IsawMadisonshaking,looking behind me likesomething was about to killme.

“Lookout!”I quickly turned my head

and saw a mountain lionrunningatme. Itpouncedonme and went for my neck.Robert came out of nowhereand tackled it off me. Istaggered to my feet andhelpedhimfightitoff.

Still, the lion wasrelentless.Itcamerightatus,leaping through the air andknocking us to the ground.Madisonkickedthefireatthelion, but that didn’t scare itoff. She picked up a stickfrom the pile of brushwoodandswipedat thelion.But itignored her and keptattackingmeandRobert.

Madison hit the lion hardand it finally turned around.

Robert and I were scratchedup and bleeding now. Westruggledtoourfeetandwentafter the lion. It jumped onMadison and pinned her tothe ground. She dropped thestick and I quickly picked itup.

Iswungatthelionwildly,tryingtoscareitaway.Butitwasn’t working. Robert triedtograbthelion’shead,but itwas too fast. Still, thatmove

got it away from Madison.She got up, and we chargedthelionasagroup.Itbackedupandcarefullystalkedus.

Seconds later, the lionrushed ahead and leapedthrough the air. We met ithead on and went to theground. Madison and I triedto hold the lion down whileRobert tried to grab its head.Butitwasabletobreakfree.

We staggered to our feet,

bleeding,takinghugebreaths.The lion came at us again.We kicked at it and madeloudnoises.Then,wewavedourarmshighoverourheadsand screamed. The lionpaused and growled, swipingatus.

We moved toward it,keeping our arms up,screaming at it. The lionbackedawayalittleaswegotcloser. We stomped the

ground, eying the relentlessbeast.Andfinally,itranoff.

Still,we stoodourgroundandwaited amoment.Whenthe adrenaline wore off, Icollapsed. Robert fell to hiskneesandcheckedthegasheson his arms. Madisonstumbled to the ground andtookadeepbreath.

“I think we should find anew home,” I wheezed,feeling the wound on my

neck.Robert and Madison

nodded together and said,“Yeah.”

Chapter27

My new room was threetimesthesizeof thefirstandplacedwithelegant furniture.I walked to the oval cradleacross from my bed andgently placed Juozas inside.Hewasgigglingadorablyandreaching for me with his

chubbyfingers.“What are you doing?

—what are you doing?” Isaid playfully, waving myhandoverhisfingers.

Audrey walked into theroomandcametome.“Hello,Emily.”

“Hey, Audrey. How areyou?”

She shrugged and put herhandstogether.“I’mallright.They brought me here this

morning and showed me tomy new room. So, I guessI’mstillyourservant.”

I looked up at the highceiling.“Yeah,thisismynewhome.”

“Wouldyoulikemetogetanything for you or thebaby?”

“Oh no, we’re fine.” Ismiled and looked back atJuozas. “Aren’t we? Yes weare—yes we are.” I paused

and released a silly laugh,gushing. “Ah, this is sowonderful.”

Audrey let out adepressing sigh. “I’m happyforyou.”

Iglancedatherandfinallyrealized how rude I wasbeing. “Oh, God. I’m sorry,Sweetheart.” I reached outand hugged her. “I’m just…overwhelmedbyallthis.”

“It’sOK.”

I let go.Shebackedawayand nervously scratched herarm.

“Well, Ihave togetgoingandprepareyournextmeal.”

“All right. I’ll see youaround.”

I watched her closely asshe left, feeling bad for her.She had grown up a lotduring my pregnancy. TheinnocenceI'dseeninhereyeswhen we first met was

replaced with a hopelessstare.

AsIstoodthere,losingtheemotionalhighIhadbeenon,a familiar voice cheered meupagain.

“Oh my God, where's thebaby?”Katiesaid,hurryingtomefromtheentrancewithherarmsout.

“Hey, Katie,” I said,surprised,openingmyarms.Isaw Bridget come in as we

hugged.“It’sgreattoseeyouguys.Howdidyougethere?”

“Weaskedtoseeyou,andthey flew us over,” Bridgetsaid.

Imoved away fromKatieand hugged Bridget. “Whereareyourbabies?Iwanttoseethem.”

“They’rewithourservantsright now. But don’t worry.We’llhave time forall that,”Katie said, stopping at

Juozas’scradle.“Aw, he’s socute.”

“Thanks.”“What did you name

him?”shewenton.“Juozas.”We gathered around the

cradleandwatchedhimforamoment.ButIwasanxioustohearabouttheirchildren.

“What did you have,Katie?” I asked, oozing withexcitement.

“Agirl.She’ssobeautiful.InamedherLauren-Lynn.”

Igaveheraconfusedlook.“Whytwonames?”

“I couldn’t decide. So Igaveherboth.”

I thought about the nameforasecond.“Ilikeit.Makesherunique.”

“Agreed,” Bridget said,smiling. “I had a boy. And,thiswon’tcomeasasurprise.InamedhimLondon.”

Iflashedanecstaticsmile.“That’swonderful,Bridget.”

“Yes. Awesome name,”Katieadded.

“Thank you both.” Then,Bridget gave me a puzzledlook.“However, I’mcurious,Emily. Why did you chooseJuozas?

“I didn’t. Giedre thoughtof it. Iwantedhim tohaveaMamlukname.”

“Why?”Katieasked.

I pondered for a second.“You know—I really can’tsay. I just looked at himand…it felt like the rightthingtodo.”

Bridget shook her head.“Nomatter. It’s a finename.Theyallare.”

Ismiled.“Howaboutthat?Lauren-Lynn—London—andJuozas.”

Chapter28

Wehadbeen traveling fora few days, trying to find anewrefuge.Thesunwasjustcomingupasweapproacheda rocky hill. We climbed tothetopandcheckedthearea.My body grew numb as Ilooked down on a landscape

filled with sandstonebuildings—surrounded by abeautiful forest of plants andtrees.

Madison gasped andcovered her mouth. It wasshocking to see how far theMamluks had come.Gradually, I looked up andsaw thousands of shipsgliding through the sky, liketrafficonthe405.

“My God,” Robert said,

pointing to his right. “Overthere.”

I looked to the right andrealized the Mamluk citystretchedonformiles—goingasfarasmyeyescouldsee.Itwasastarkreminderthattheyhad surely taken over theworld.

“Look,” Madison said,pointing at an approachingship.

But there was nowhere to

run this time. No concreteblocks to hide behind. Iturned and glanced atRobertand Madison, putting myhands up. They somberlyfollowedalong.Iputmyheaddownandlistenedastheshipdrew near. Finally, a lightcame over us, and the shiplandedonthehillside.

I trembled mightily,feeling like thiswas the end.Theshipopenedup,and two

soldiers came out. I closedmyeyesas theymarchedon.I heard them stop in front ofus and let out a sharp huff.They stayed quiet for amoment.Thentheyburstintolaughter.

“Lower your arms,Humans.”

Weputourhandsdown. Iopened my eyes and lookedup.

One of the soldiers came

up to Madison and kneeled.She put her finger underMadison's chinand liftedherhead.

“Why do you run fromus?”

Madison’s chest waspumping, and she had slowtears coming down her face.Still, she remained silent andlookedon.Thesoldiersmiledand glanced at her comrade.Then right after, she got up

andsteppedback.“Wouldyouliketoremain

free,Human?”Madisonstayedquiet.“Isaythis,Human.Knock

me down. And you shallremainfree.”

Theothersoldierchuckledand crossed his arms.Madisondidn’tmove.

“If you do notwish to befree—whyrun?”

Amessage came over the

radios on their devices.“Have you identified the lifeforce?”

Theothersoldierliftedhisdevice to his mouth andpressed a button. “Yes, MyChampion.Threehumans.”

Seconds later, theirdevices buzzed with anothermessage. “Bring them tome.”

The soldiers opened theramp and ordered us to the

ship.Wehurriedinside.Theyput us in a holding cell likethe first time and took off.We landed shortly after, andtheflooropened,droppingusto a grassy lawn. Then theshipflewaway.

I lookedaroundaswegotup.Wewerestandinginfrontof a building the size of apalace. The trees and plantssurrounding it were massiveand exotic. I wondered if

someofthemwereplantedinoneoftheholesIhelpeddig.I lookedup and sawagroupof hovercrafts gliding overtheforest,sprayingwaterlikecropdusters.

The buildingwas guardedby a few soldiers. But theyweren’t paying muchattention to us. Thereafter, aMamluk came out of thebuilding and walked downthelongentrancesteps.Itook

a good look at him andrealized it was Adomas. TheChampion.

He came right at us andbrieflylookedusover.

“Followme.”Adomas led us inside and

took us to a small, emptyroom on the firstfloor.“Undress.” We quicklytook off our tattered, filthybodysuitsandplacedthemonthe floor. Adomas lifted his

arm and pressed a button onhis device. A wide ranging,blinking light came out. Hescanned us with it and aholographic screen poppedout of the device. Adomasreadsomeinformationonthescreen.

“Have you escaped uslong?”

Westayed silent,glancingateachotherinfear.

“Answerme.Ordiewhere

youstand.”“Yes. We have,” I

mumbled.“Arethereanyothers?”“No.”Finally,hemovedthelight

away and turned it off.Adomas lifted the device tohis mouth and pressed abutton.

“Have the servant bringmetheessentials.”

A response came back

promptly. “Right away, MyChampion.”

Within minutes, a younggirl wearing a white dresscame to the room with awooden cart. Inside the cart,she had three wooden bowlsof goop, three wooden cupsof water and some clothing.She carefully set the bowlsandcupsonthefloor.

“Eat.Drink.”We ate in a hurry and

chuggedthewater.“Givethemtheirattire.”The girl took the clothing

outof thecartandwalked tous. She handed me andRobert new bodysuits, thenhandedMadisonaplainwhitedress.

Robert and I gave eachother horrified looks.Madisontrembledandlookedat us with watery eyes. Andas a group, we were frozen,

trying to grasp what washappening.

“Dress!”Weshudderedandjumped

intoourclothes.“Servant—take the female

to a vacant room and clarifyherduties.”

Theyounggirlpushed thecartintothehallway.“Please,followme,Miss.”

Madisonstaredatusashewalked on. I released a few

tears as I watched her leave.Robert looked down andwhisperedaprayer.

Afterward, Adomas tookme and Robert to a dry spotof land on the other side ofthe building and handed usoff to a soldier. Then heheadedbackinside.

The soldier threw twoshovels at us. “Begin yourwork.”

We picked them up in a

hurryandstarteddigging.Minutes later, I lookedup

andsawAdomaswatchingusfrom a balcony, sitting on asandstonechair thatappearedto be built into the floor. Istudied the balcony for asecondandrealizedtherewasanotherchairjustlikeitafewfeet from his. But oddly, itwashumansized.

Chapter29

Iwentupstairstothethirdfloor and found Adomassitting on the balcony. Iwalked over and took a seatonmychair.

“Hello,Adomas.”“Emily.”AservantIhadneverseen

before brought us somechilled drinks. I watched hercarefully, wondering whereshecamefrom.Themarksonher face and the horrendousconditionofherhairmademethink she was recentlyremoved from hard labor.Maybe they missed a fewwomen?

Theservantleft,givingmeaclearviewofthetwoslavesworkingon thedried soil for

thegardenwewereplanning.“Is Juozaswell?”Adomas

said.“Yes.He’swithAudrey.”Adomasliftedhisarmand

pressed some buttons on hisdevice. A vivid hologram ofanalienplantpoppedoutandgraduallyspunaround.

He clicked through a fewmore. “What is yourconsideration of theseplants?” I stopped him at a

purple and white plant thatlooked like a tropical flower.“Ilikethatone.”

“That is a Voz. Veryradiant.”

“AVoz?Wow—this is socool.”

Adomas kept clickingthrough. I stopped him at anorange plant that, oddlyenough, resembled a palmtree.

“Oh, what’s that one

called?”“ThatisaZawe.”I nodded. “Yeah,

definitely that one.” I felt alittle silly looking at plantswith him. Naturally, I wasvulnerable in the presence ofa Mamluk—especiallyAdomas. But for the firsttime,Iwascomfortablebeingaround him. And, I wasregainingsomeconfidence.

“You know…I get lonely

sometimes,Adomas.Itwouldbeniceifwespentmoretimetogether.”

He glanced at me andlaughed. “I am amused byyou,Emily.”

I rolled my eyes andlookedaway.“Icanseethat.”

“You humans are easilycontrolledbyyouremotions.”

“Do Mamluks haveemotions?” I askedsarcastically.

“Certainly. However, weare not controlled by them.”Adomas bent down. “Youmustletgoofyourfeelingstotruly be free. Only then willyou obtain the power werelish.”HeslidhisfingerpastthemarbleDaliagaveme.

I looked down and staredatitforasecond.“HowcanIignore my feelings? That’swhatmakesmehuman.”

“Abandon your

humanity.”Ichuckled.“How?”“By escaping your

emotions.”I was getting irritated.

“Adomas?Please—tellme.”“Only you can mend the

conflictofyoursoul.”Ipausedforamomentand

staredintothedistance.Then,gradually, I looked down atthe marble and watched themovingparts. “OhmyGod,”

Igasped.“Isthatwhatthisis?Mysoul?”

Chapter30

I lookedupat thebalconyandsawawomansittingnexttoAdomas.Istaredatherfora long while, studying hermannerisms. For somereason, she seemed sofamiliar. Finally, she lookeddown and our eyes locked,

andIrealizedwhoshewas.“No—it can’t be.” I

dropped my shovel andstaggeredahead.

From the corner of myeye, I saw a soldier lift hisarmandaimatme.

“Stop,Human!”I froze and yelled,

“Emily!”Adomas stood up and

walked to the railing. Emilygotupand ran to the railing.

She had to duck through theenormous pillars to get abetterlook.

“Andrew?”shecalledout.“Yes—it’sme!”“Emily!” Robert shouted.

“ThankGodyou’reallright.”“Soldier! Take them

underground,” Adomasbarked.

The soldier snatched usanddraggedustoatunnelontheothersideofthebuilding.

Heheadedinsideandwenttoa narrow entryway. Thesoldier threwus into adimlylit room. Then, he pressed abutton on his device, and ametaldoorslidfromtheedgeoftheentrywayandclosed.

“Are you all right,Robert?”

“Yeah,I’mfine.”Istoodupandsawthatthe

room had stone candlesembedded in the walls.

Feeling lightheaded, I leanedagainstthewallandcrumbledtothefloor.

“She’s alive and well.” Itwas gratifying to see thewoman I loved once more.But I was also afraid that itmightbethelasttime.

Chapter31

Adomasbroughtmetomyroom. Audrey was sitting onthesofatendingtoJuozas.

“Return Juozas to hiscradleandleaveus,”Adomassnapped.

Audrey hurried to thecradle, gently put Juozas

inside and zipped out of theroom.

Adomasglaredatmeashecame close. “What is yourassociationtothatslave?”

I tookadeepbreath. “Wewere in a relationship beforetheinvasion.”

Adomaslookedmeupanddown. “Have you deceivedme,Emily?”

“No—never.” I carefullywalked up to him. “Adomas,

when I accepted myresponsibility to nurtureJuozas,I left thepastbehind.Thisismylifenow.”

Adomas stared at me formoment. “Come to the mainentrance at sundown. Youwill be given an opportunitytoproveyourassertion.”

I closed my eyes as Ilistened to him walk out,dreadingmythoughts.

Atsundown, Iwent to the

main entrance and foundAdomas waiting for me. Hewas holding two circulardevices.

“Areyouready?”Inoddedanxiously.“Followme.”We went outside, and he

ledmetoadarktunnelontheright side of the building.Adomas lifted his arm andpressed a button, turning onthe candles in the wall. He

marched to the end of thetunnelandstoppedatametaldoor. Then, he pressed abuttononhisdevice, and thedoor slid open, revealing asmall,dimlylitroom.

Adomas put his hand outtowardthedoorway.Iwalkedinside and saw Andrew andRobertsittingonthefloor.

“Emily?”Andrewsaid.Rightaway,Irealizedthis

wasmychance to ignoremy

emotions. I said nothing andwaited for Adomas to givemeinstructions.

Chapter32

I stared at Emily andwaited for her to saysomething. Seeing Adomastheremademe thinkshewasbeing cautious. The rockyjewel she was wearingglowed in the murky light,making it easier to see her

face.Adomas reached through

the door and handedsomething to Emily. “Securethese collars around theirnecks.”

I didn’t know what tothink at first. In my heart, Ifelt that Emily could neverbring herself to kill me,thinking that’s what thecollars would do. But as shewalked tome, I looked deep

intohereyesandrealizedthewomanIlovedwasgone.

“My God, Emily. Whathavetheydonetoyou?”

She ignored me andkneeled. I kept looking intoher eyes, trying to find somecompassion.

“Don’t move.” Emilyforcefully put the collararoundmyneckandclosedit.ShequicklyshiftedtoRobertand put the other collar on

him.“Why, Emily?” he

groaned. As she rose, heclosed his eyes and loweredhis head. “God bless, myfriend.”

Emilyturnedawayandlefttheroom,neverlookingback.A slow, angry tear moveddown my face as I watchedher shadow fade away. Ilooked at Adomas and sawhim lifting his arm. He

pressed a button on hisdevice, and our collarsmadeabeeping sound.Suddenly, Ifelt a little more pressurearound my neck. Adomaspressed another button thatclosedthedoor.

I lowered my head andcovered my face. “Not this,Emily.Itcan’tbethis.”

PartThree–NewWorld

Order

Chapter33

I was at the beach withJuozas, playing in the water.Hewasoldernow.But sincethe Mamluks didn’t recordtime, I wasn’t sure of hisexactage.

Juozas was a little tallerthanme,andhelookedtobe

well over two hundredpounds. Like all theMamluks, his body wasincredibly muscular. And,likeallthemaleMamluks,hehad to keep his head shaved.In their culture, it wasbelieved that only femalesshouldhavehair.

We were engaged in afeistygameofcatandmouse.I coveredmy eyes as Juozaschasedme,splashingwaterat

me.Finally,hecaughtmeandpulled me down. I screamedcheerfully as I went underwater.Whenhepulledmeup,I coughed while laughing,andheardJuozassay,“Ihaveyounow,Mother.”

I spit out a few gulps ofwater.“Allright—Igiveup.”

Afterward, we relaxed inthesandanddriedoff.In thedistance, I could see a groupof hovercrafts collecting

water from the ocean. Eachone had a metal hose thatsucked the water into a vat.The water was thentransferred to the city andusedasneeded.

Some of the water wasbrought to the sandstonebuildings and spilled into ahole in the corner of eachroof.Sincetheinvasion,Ihadlearned that every buildinghad a filtration system that

ran through thewalls. Itwasyet another neat discoveryabout the Mamluk way oflife.

Whenwewere finished, Ihad a patrolling soldier callour ship. It arrived within afew minutes and landednearby, blowing some sandourway.

“Why can’t we staylonger,Mother?”

I brushed some sand off

Juozas’s shoulders. “Becauseyouhavetoeatandgetreadyfortraininginthemorning.”

Wegotonboardandtookoff. The pilot went to ourbuilding and landed by themain entrance. The rampopened,andweheadeduptheentrysteps.

“Gogetready,Sweetheart.Then meet us in the dininghall.”

After showering and

getting dressed, I wentdownstairs and foundAdomas in the dining hall.Our newest servant wassetting the table. Since herarrival,IhadlearnedthathernamewasMadison.

Iwalkedaheadandtookaseat by Adomas. Momentslater, Juozas came into thedining hall and sat acrossfrom me. Madison finishedsetting the tableandwheeled

hercartintothecateringhall.She came back shortly afterwithourfood.

Madison went to Juozasfirst and filled his plate withgrilled meat and steamedvegetables.

“Thank you,” he said,flashingakindsmile.

I quickly glared at him.“Son, we don’t say 'Thankyou'toservants.”

Juozas looked down and

frowned.“Sorry,Mother.”Madison finished her

dutiesandwentonherway.“Did you enjoy the shore,

Juozas?”Adomassaid.“Yes, Father. I won

against Mother in the gamewewereplaying.”

Adomas chuckled. “Whatisthis…game,youspeakof?”

“It’scalledcatandmouse.Iwasthecat,andMotherwasthemouse.”

Adomas glanced at me,smiling. “This surprises me,Emily. The cat, or felinebreed of this planet, issuperior to the mouse. Is itnot?”

Inodded.“Itis.”“Juozas has not matured.

Therefore, you should havebeenthecat.”

I laughed. “Are youkidding me? Have you seenour son lately? I’mnomatch

forhim.”Adomas narrowed his

eyes,chewing.“Whyareyounomatch?”

I leaned my head, givinghim a sarcastic look. “That’sobvious.”

Adomas shook his head.“You confuse size withstrength,Emily.”

I grinned and put myelbows on the table. “So,what are you saying? That I

couldbeatevenyou?Adomas nodded.

“Certainly.”I chuckled, shaking my

head.“That’simpossible.”Juozascutin.“Ithinkyou

couldbeatFather.”We all glanced at each

other for a second, thenbusted into laughter. It wassuch a delight to have thissilly debate at the dinnertable. Being part of a family

againmademefeelcomplete.And unlikemy previous life,I was determined to nevertakeitforgranted.

Chapter34

I was standing in a cave,waiting for the soldiers togive me orders. They wereblasting the walls with theirlasers,knockinglargechunksof rock to the ground. Aftergathering a nice sized pile, asoldier pressed a button on

her device and a thin laserpopped out. She turned aknobonthedevice,adjustingthe width of the laser. Andgradually, she moved thelaserovertherocks.

Shockingly, tiny pieces ofmetal extracted from therocks and fell to the ground.Seeing thatkindofadvancedtechnology sent chills downmy spine. Shewent on for awhile, moving the laser over

the rocks until there wereheapsofmetalontheground.Finally, she waved overanothersoldier.Hewalkeduptomeanddroppedastackofbins.

“Now, Human. Put theparticles in these bins,” shesaid.

I got down on my kneesandpickedthetinypiecesupoff the ground, placing themin thebins.Westayed in the

caveuntil sundown.By then,I had filled ten bins. Thesoldiers carried them out ofthecaveandloadedtheminahovercraft. And at last, theyorderedme toaship.Feelingexhausted and starved, Iwobbled to my feet anddraggedmyselftotheship.

The soldiers flew toAdomas’s building and putmeinthedungeonIhadbeenliving in for so long. There

was a bowl of food on thefloor and two cups of waternext to it. I satdownandatehalfthefood,leavingtherestforRobert.

A few minutes later, thedoor opened, and a soldierpushed Robert inside. HelookedjustasspentasIwas.Roberttookaseatagainstthewallandmassagedhislegs.

“How was the day?” Iasked.

“Numbing.”I handed him his cup and

the bowl. Robert drank thewater in a hurry and took adeepbreath,closinghiseyes.Thenhequicklyate.

“Whatdidyoudo today?”heasked,chomping.

I put my hands up andspread my fingers, showinghim the cuts and blisters.“They had me working in acave—picking up metal as

they extracted it from therocks.”

Robert sadly shook hishead. “I was working in theforest—gatheringcrops.”

I exhaled. “I would'vemuchratherbeendoingthat.”

At this point, sharing ourmiserywastheonlythingthatmade sense anymore. And,every night before sleep, Ijoined Robert in prayer. Itwas always pleasing to end

the day with someencouragement.“Dear Lord, even during

thesedark times, I know thatyou have not abandoned us.That is why we can neverabandon You. Give us thestrength to carry on, allmightyGod.Watchoverusaswe fight to survive. Watchover our beloved friendMadison, and all who suffer.In Christ's name we pray,

Amen.”

Chapter35

After being with Adomasforsolong,Inowknewmoredetails about hisresponsibilities.AsChampionof the Mamluks, he was incharge of security. However,his title could be taken awayatanytime.

Every soldier had theopportunity to challengeAdomas in hand-to-handcombat. If he were to lose,the soldierwhodefeatedhimwould then becomeChampion.

Remarkably, I was toldthat Adomas had beenChampion for a very longtime. But he was slowingdown. And in their society,the spawn of the Champion

was usually the one whodefeatedtheChampion.

A sandstone stadium thatresembledtheancientRomanColosseum was built toshowcase the competition. Itwaslocatedintheheartoftheforest, a few miles from ourbuilding. A soldier fromanother region had come tochallengeAdomas.

Juozas and I were headedto the stadium towatch.Our

ship landed a few minutesbefore the fight began, and asoldier escorted us to ourseats in the front row.Dalia,the Ruler of all Mamluks,was sitting next to us. I wassurprisedtoseeherinpublic.Since the celebration ofJuozas’s birth, she had beensomewhatofarecluse.

“Hello, Dalia. I haven’tseenyouinawhile.”

“Emily, it is wonderful to

see you again.” She bentdown a little. “And you aswell,Juozas.”

“Hello,” he mumbledshyly.

A horn sounded, and thechallenger walked out of atunnelontheothersideofthestadium. The soldier stoppednearthecenterofthestadiumfloor and scanned the arenawith fury in his eyes. Thecrowd cheered as he looked

on.Shortly after, a second

horn sounded, and Adomaswalked out of the tunnel onoursideofthestadium.Theywere both wearing thetraditional soldier’s outfit.Black cargo-looking pants,blackboots,withnoshirton.

To win the fight, acombatant had to make theiropponent submit eitherverbally or physically—or

knock them unconscious.Adomasputhisarmsoutandscreamed, glaring at thechallenger. And right then, athird horn went off, and thebattlebegan.

Adomas ran at thechallengerand tried to tacklehim to the ground. But thesoldierwas able to push himaway. The challenger cameforward and caught Adomaswith a quick jab. Adomas

respondedwithaswiftkicktothe soldier’s leg, bucklinghimabit.

The challenger came rightbackwithafastcombination,peppering Adomas withpunches and kicks. I wasgetting worried. Thechallenger was much fasterandmorefluid.Adomastriedto tackle him again, but itdidn’twork.Then,thesoldierjumped high and kneed

Adomasintheface.Theshotsent him stumblingbackwards.

The entire arena gaspedandrosetotheirfeet.Igotupand put my hand over myheart, trying to calm mynerves. But Adomas quicklyregained his awareness anddelivered a stinging blow tothechallenger’sstomach.Thestrike wobbled the soldier,and Adomas followed up

withatake-down.He pinned the challenger

to the ground and batteredhim with punches andelbows. Within seconds, thesoldier’s face was a bloodymess.Hedesperately tried togetup,butAdomasstayedontopandcontinuedtohammeraway. Finally, the challengerwaved his hand, signaling asubmission.

The crowd roared as

Adomas rose. I cheered loudand threw my hands in theair. Juozas was jumping upand down, imitating hisfather’s moves. Thechallengergotupandwalkedto Adomas. He gave him aquick nod, then got on theground and bowed atAdomas’sfeet,declaringhimthewinner.

I smiled. “Whew, still theChamp.”

Chapter36

Giedre came to ourbuilding to patch upAdomas’s wounds. I waslying on the bed in a silkrobe,watching.

“That was a close calltoday.”

“Yes, thesoldierwasvery

good.”Giedrewasusingherlaser

device to stitch up a cut onhischeek.

“Wow,thatthingcandoitall.”

“Thesijaisasuperbtool.”“Ah—so they’re called

sijas.” I nodded slowly,pondering. “How are theymade?”

“The programming is sentfrom Marsden. It is then

installed in the gears. Thephysicalexterioriscraftedbyoneofmyprisoners.”

“That’s interesting.Who’stheprisoner?”

“AnEcknornamedElos.”I blinked my eyes.

“What’sanEcknor?”“Theywere the dominant

species of the planet Eztu—beforewearrived.”

Myeyesgotwide.“Whoa,wait a minute. You’ve

conqueredotherplanets?”Adomas nodded. “Four to

be exact—including Earth.Eztuwastobethelast.Thenthe tragedy of our femalesoccurred.”

Giedre finished patchingup Adomas and left. I tookoff my robe and got on myback. Adomas came to thebed and undressed. I smiledashelookeddownatme.

“So, you’re just a big bad

bully.”“Abully?”“Yeah,anintimidator.”Adomas smiled and

nodded, climbing on top. Hegently brushed his fingersalongmybody, eyingme allover. “Yes, a magnificentbully.” Adomas lowered hisheadandkissedmybreast.

I closed my eyes andmoaned, feeling his soft,wetlips against my skin. “Yes,

youare.”

Chapter37

Two soldiers came to thedungeon and took me andRobert outside. I wasexpecting them to splitusuplikealways.Butinstead,theyled us to another tunnel ontheothersideofthebuilding.Wewalkeddownandstopped

at a metal door. One of thesoldiers pressed a button onher device that opened thedoor, revealing a steepstairway.

We went down the stepsand walked into a spaciousdungeon.Therewassomeoneonthefarside,organizinganassortment of gears on agroup of tables. The fewcandles lighting the roommadeitdifficulttosee.

“Humans—you will beworking with him now.Follow his orders—or youwillbekilled.”

The soldiers left andclosed the door. Themysterious figure turnedaroundandcameforward.Hehad reptilian skin, a lumpyfaceandwebbedhands.Evenstranger was the mask thecreature was wearing. Itcovered mostly the back of

his head, with a speakerfastenedtohismouth.

“I am Elos,” acomputerized voice said,comingfromthespeaker.

Robert and I glanced ateachother.

“Right this way.” Hequickly went back to wherehe’dbeen.

I studied the room as wefollowed him. There was amachinenearthefarwallthat

looked like something youwouldfindinafactory.Ithadall sorts of outlandishcontrols and a conveyor beltcomingouttheend.

I turned and checked thetables, scanning the unusualgears.“Whatisallthis?”

Robert walked to a tableand picked up a gear. Hestudied it for a second, thenhanded it to me. I narrowedmyeyesasIlookeditover.

Thereafter,Eloswalkedbyand took the gear. “I willexplain.” He set it down onthetable.

“Whoareyou?”Iasked.“I am a prisoner of

Adomas. My duties are tocraft the sija’s exterior andbinditwiththesegears.”

“What’s a sija?” Robertsaid.

“The device used tocombatyourkind.”

My body grew numb. IlookedatRobert likewehadjust won the lottery. Andright after, I looked back atEloswithwideeyes.“Thisiswhere their weapons aremade? But I don’tunderstand. Why would youhelpthem?

Elos pointed at the collararound his neck. “I have nochoice.”

Robertgavehimasomber

lookofunderstanding.“Whatis your species, Elos? Andwhereareyoufrom?

“I am an Ecknor, adescendant of the planetEztu.”

I stepped forward. “Howdidyouenduphere?”

“Dalia declared an end toher conquest after ourenslavement. Subsequently,the females of her societymysteriously lost the ability

to bear offspring. Daliasearched the universe forsome time, looking for acompatible species to carryontheirbloodline.Atlast,shefoundEarth.”

A huge weight was liftedafterhearing theadmission. Istood there for a moment,shaking my head as Ireflected. Then, I paused.“Wait—who’s Dalia? Ithought Adomas was their

leader.”“AdomasistheChampion.

DaliaistheRuler.”“Is she here, on Earth?”

Robertasked.“Yes. She resides in this

building.”I walked to one of the

tables and put my hands onthe surface, looking down atthe gears. It seemedunfathomablethatEloswouldremainaprisonerwithallthis

information. “Why haven’tyoutriedtoescape?”

“It is impossible toescape.”

“But you have access totheir weapons. Can’t youmakeoneforyourselfanduseitagainstthem?”Robertsaid.

“The sija is merely abinding of gears. It can onlybe activated by a powersourcecalledozlon.”

Ispunaroundandstaredat

Elos.“What’sozlon?”“Itisasubstancefoundon

the planet Marsden. Ozloncollects energy from abiological host until itstabilizes. When stable, thesubstance can be controlledby the host to create aprofusionofenergy.”

I smiled and graduallynodded“Thelasers.”

“What does ozlon looklike?”Robertasked.

“Itisabeigemarble.”I immediately recalled the

jewel Emily was wearing.“Whohandlestheozlon?”

“TheRuleristheonlyonewith access to the powersource.”

Robertchuckledandthrewhishandsup.“Soallwehavetodoistakeitfromher.”

“As I say, Human, it isimpossible toevadeAdomas.These collars we wear are

tracking devices, controlledbyhissija.Ifyouweretorun,he would apply pressure andstrangleyou.”

“Then let’s work togetherandfindawaytobreakthemoff,”Isaid.

Elos paused for a second.“Youhumansarepersistent.Iadmire such courage.However, I assure you: thesecollars are unbreakable.” Heturned toward the tables.

“Now,ifyourquestionshaveconcluded,we can begin ourwork.”

Iletoutanaggravatedhuffandturnedbacktothetables.“What will you have us do,Elos?”

He picked up one of thelargergears.Then,hepickedupa smallergear and lockedthemtogether.“Completethistask for each set, andorganize the combined

gears.”Inoddedandgot towork.

Robert came over and joinedme.Weglancedateachother,and I knew he was thinkingthesamething.AllwehadtodowasconvinceElostohelpus, and we would haveanotherchanceatfreedom.

Chapter38

Iwasstandingontheroofofourbuilding,onmywaytothe Soldiers’ Academy todrop Juozas off for training.Ourshipcameoutof theskyandlandedafewyardsaway.Juozas went in first, and Ifollowed. Minutes later, we

arrived and landed by themain entrance. We headedinsideandmetupwithKatie,Bridgetandtheirchildren.

The instructor was aformer Champion namedIgnas. And even though hedidn’t look it, Iwas told thathewasveryold.

“Hello,Ignas.”He gave me a kind nod.

“Emily.”“Juozastellsmehe’sbeen

excellingintraining.”“Excelisnottheword.He

hasbecomemybeststudent.”I saw London staring at

Juozas, smirking. “That’srubbish,Ignas.Iamyourbeststudent,” he said in a Britishaccent. He was a fiery boy,and the friendly competitionbetween him and Juozaswasfuntowatch.“Isn’tthatright,Lauren-Lynn?”

Lauren-Lynn crossed her

arms and put her chin up.“No. Because I am his beststudent.”

Ignas chucked. “You willall become great soldiers.However, the blood of theChampion runs throughJuozas’sveins.Heisdestinedto take the title. And hispromise showstremendously.”

London stepped awayfrom Bridget and got in

Juozas’s face. “That’s funny.Because all I see isweakness.”

JuozasglaredatLondon.“All right. That’s enough

out of you,” Bridget said,pullingLondonback.

Ignas headed toward thetraining room. “Come, mystudents.”

I gave Juozas a hug andkissedhischeek.“I’llseeyoulater, Love. Have a good

day.”“Goodbye,Mother.”Afterward, I flew back to

my building and foundAdomas in the security roomon the third floor. He wassitting at the control board,looking over a fewholographicmonitors.

Adomas glanced at me.“Emily.”

I walked up to him. “IhopeI’mnotdisturbingyou.”

“Certainly not. These arestandard procedures I mustattendto.”

I took a quick look at themonitors. Some of themshowedslavesworkingintheforest. And others showedrecreation sites for soldiersandcitizens.

I looked back to Adomasandputmyhandonhisarm.“IwanttoseeDalia.”

He nodded. “I shall send

hertherequest.”

Chapter39

That night, I was broughtto Dalia’s room on the topfloor. She was sitting on awoodenchairbythewindow,lookingoverahologramfromhersija.

She peeked at me andsmiled as I walked to her.

“Emily.”I stopped at the sofa next

to the chair and took a seat.“Hello,Dalia.” I checked thehologram and realized shewas reading text. “What areyoureading?”

“ReportsfromMarsden.”I nodded restlessly,

wishing I could visit. “Howarethingsbackhome?”

“Excellent.”Shepressedabutton that made the

hologram go away. “Youwishedtoseeme,Emily?”

I touched the marble shegave me and glanced at it.“Yes.It’saboutthis.”

Dalia leaned forward andchecked it. “There is greatconflictinyou.”

Inoddedsadlyandputmyhead down. After all thistime, Iwas still struggling toescapemyemotions.“Idon’tknowwhattodo.”

“Tostabilizethesubstance—thehostmustbe free fromuncertainty.”

I looked up at her,blinking. “What kind ofsubstanceisthis?”

“It is ozlon. Our greatestsourceofpower.”

“Why did you give it tome?”

Dalia waited a secondbefore responding. “WhenJuozas defeatsAdomas—you

willbecomemysuccessor.”I trembled and got a little

lightheaded.“What?”“That is the way of our

society. The mother of theChampionrulestheland.Andthe Champion protects themother.”

I looked off in a daze.“That means…Adomas isyourson.”

Dalianodded.“Heis.”“And that makes Juozas

your grandson.Wow—this isamazing.” Then, a troublingthought crossed my mind.“Wait—so if Lauren-Lynndefeats Adomas? WouldKatiebecometheRuler?

Dalianodded.My eyes gotwide. “Oh, I

see. Well, that would beinteresting,” I chuckled. “ButwhatifaRulerisunwiseanddoesn’tdowhat’sbestforthepeople?”

“An unfit mother couldnever nurture a worthysoldier. Therefore, anunworthy soldier couldneverbecomeChampion.”

It was flattering to knowthat Dalia had somuch faithin me. “I’ll do my best tomake sure Juozas is readywhenthetimecomes.”

Dalia reached down andgently brushed her handalong my hair. “Worry not,

Emily.Intime,youwillmendtheconflictofyoursoul.Andthe ozlon you carry willstabilize. Giving you thestrengthtoprepareJuozas.”

Chapter40

I was sitting on the flooreatingsomefood.Robertwassleeping. And Elos was stillworking. I finished the foodand grabbed a cup of water.Slowly,Idrankthewaterandclosedmyeyes, enjoying thesensation.

Afterward, I got up andwalked over to Elos. “Hey,don’tEcknorssleep,too?”

“We do not require muchsleep.”

I stood there andwatchedhim take sets of the sija’sexterioroff theconveyerbeltandput them inabin.“Why,Elos?”Ipausedandstaredathim.“Withalltheknowledgeyou have—why do you stillservethem?”

For the first time, heignoredme.Istudiedhisfaceand saw some discomfort inhis eyes, likehedidn’t knowhow to respond. It was as ifno one had ever shown himkindness.ItappedElosonhisshoulderandwalkedaway.

“I’ll leave you alone, myfriend.”

ButbeforeIcouldgobacktomyspot,Elosspunaroundandsteppedforward.Iturned

aroundandwaited.“Your behavior troubles

me,Human.”Ichuckled. “Look, Idon’t

knowhowthingsareonEztu.But here on Earth, we don’tgiveupsoeasily.”

Elosgotcloser.“Youmustunderstand, Human: this isnotyourplanetanymore.”

I glared at him and gotcloser. “First off, my nameisn’t human. It’s Andrew.

And I’m not afraid to fightbackagainstthesemonsters.”

He looked at me like hecouldn’t believe I would saysuchathing.“Youwoulddie—Andrew.”

“Freedom is worth dyingfor.”

Elos waited a moment,thenlookedaway.“Hopehasabandonedme for so long. Ifear your behavior isinspiring me to believe

again.”I nodded. “So—you have

triedtoescape.”“Yes.Inthebeginning.”I was thrilled to see a

change in him. And it mademe realize a satisfyingdynamic. The Mamluks hadmade their first mistake byputting us with Elos. Now,the compassion they sorelylacked was becoming ourgreatestweapon.

Chapter41

Iwasmeditatingbyalakein the forest, trying to mendtheconflictofmysoul.Daliawas right.Therewasa lotofuncertainty inside me. But Icouldn’t understand why. Ifocused hard, dissecting mythoughts as the soft wind

from the lake blew past myface.

Ilookeddowntoseeiftheozlon stopped moving. Still,nothing. Frustrated, I kickedmy feet out and stood up. Iexhaledandputmyhandsonmyhips,lookingdownatmyrefection in the water. Therewas a lot of shame in myeyes,likeachildwho’dbeencaught stealing for the firsttime.

I looked up, finallyrealizing my problem. I wascarrying a guilty conscience.Repressing my feelingswasn’t enough. I had to findsupremeconfidenceinwhatIwas doing—and completelyaltermymind-set.

Later on, I went back tomy building and took a longshower. Then I got dressedand went to Juozas’s room.He was practicing some

fighting techniques, unawareofmewatchinghimfromtheentryway. I stood there for amoment and imagined us asRuler and Champion,reigningforalongtime.

I casually walked inside.“Nicemoves.”

Juozasspunaroundwithaboyishsmile.“Mother.”

Ibouncedaroundplayfullyandrubbedmythumbagainstmynoselikeaboxer.“Come

on.Showmewhatyougot.”Juozasgotlowandstalked

me like a wolf. I inchedcloser, swiping at him withmy little hands. Juozasattacked me with frighteningspeed, grabbing me andliftingmeoverhishead.

I busted into laughter.“Okay!Iquit,already!”

But as he putme down, Iquickly reached under hisarm and tickled him. He

laughed outrageously, slowlyducking to the floor. I stayedonhim,ticklinghimallover.

“That’scheating,Mother,”Juozasgiggled.

He managed to get awayand run to the bed. I chasedhim and went in for anotherattack,thistimegoingforthestomach. Juozas curled upand tried to cover hisstomach. I bent down andgentlynibbledathisneck.He

reached up and tried to stopme, exposing his stomach. Ireached down in a flash,catching him with one lastbarrage.

We slowly calmed andfound a spot at the center ofthe bed, laughing as we layface to face. Juozas pokedme. I smiled and poked himback.

“Iloveyou,Sweetheart.”“Iloveyou,Mother.”

I poked him again.“Remember—Mom alwayswins.”

Juozas gave me a curiousstare,blinkinghiseyes. “Didyou play with your motherlikethis?”

I froze. He had neveraskedmeaquestion like thatbefore.“Yes…Idid.”

His face sparked withenthusiasm,likehewasaboutto hear a great story. “What

washername?”My heart rate increased

dramatically.Iquicklygotoffthebed.“Oh,I’msorry,Dear.I forgot to get something foryourfather.”

Juozas sat up and lookedatmelikeheknewsomethingwaswrong. I bent down andkissedhischeek,thenhurriedoutoftheroom.

Chapter42

EloswokemeandRobert.Still exhausted,we staggeredto seated positions. And likealways, the soldiers had setoutabowloffoodforusandsomecupsofwater.

After eating, I got up andwenttothetables.Butbefore

Icouldstartputtingthegearstogether,Eloscameoverandstopped me. Surprised, Iturnedand lookedhim in theeye.

“Wemusttalk.”Robert came to the tables

and did a double takebetween me and Elos.“What’sgoingon?”

Elos looked at Robert,thenbackatme.“Havingyouhere has affected me.” He

stepped back a little, lookingaround. “For so long, I havelivedwiththeknowledgethatescaping Adomas wasimpossible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” Isaid.“Together,wecanfindaway.”

Robertnodded.I lifted my arm and held

my hand out. “Let this be anewbeginning,Elos.”

Robert reached out and

firmlygrabbedmyhand.Elosstood there for a moment,staring at our united hands.Finally, he raised his handand joined us. I smiledproudly. Robert closed hiseyes and bowed his head,whisperingthankstoGod.

“For freedom.” I noddedsternly.“Forfreedom.”

PartFour–TheGreat

Escape

Chapter43

Lately, I was spendingmore time with Dalia,learning about the countlessresponsibilities of being theRuler. Now, I understoodwhy she hardly socializedwithothers.Shewas literallybusy fromsunup to sundown

almosteveryday.Goingoversecurity measures withAdomas,flyingtootherpartsof the world to monitordevelopment,younameit.

One of her major taskswas hearing cases of thosewho disobeyed her law—anddeciding on appropriatepunishments. It was mind-numbing to think I wouldhave that responsibility oneday. But I was certainly

thrilled to be her shadow forthetimebeing.

ImetDaliaon the roofofour building when the skywas just turning blue. Therewasashipwaitingforus.Wegot in and sat side by side. Igrabbed one of the humansized handles and braced forliftoff.

“You will need moresupportthanthat,”Daliasaid,gentlypushingmeagainstthe

wall. She carefully adjustedmybody.“Remainstill.”

Two metal strapswhooshed from behind andcovered my shoulders,locking me into the wall.Dalia let go and sat back.Two Mamluk sized strapspoppedoutandlockedher tothewall.

Shegrabbedthestrapsandheld on tight. “We will begoingmuchfastertoday.”

I copied her. Then, as wetookoff,Ifreakedoutalittle.Without warning, the shipblasted through the air,rattling my bones. We weremovingsofast,Icouldn’tsee.Iclosedmyeyesand tried torelax.Aftera fewminutesofsuffering, I got used to thespeedandsettleddown.

Whenwefinallylanded,itfelt like only an hour or sohad gone by. My ears were

ringing,andIwasverydizzy.Thestrapsreleased,andDaliastood up casually. Iwobbledto my feet and grabbed mystomach.“I thinkI’mgoing to—” I

launched forward and threwup.Iliftedslowlyandpeekedat Dalia, embarrassed, as Iwipedmymouth.

She laughed. “You willadjust in time,Emily.Come,followme.”

The rampopened, andweheaded into a forest ofevergreen trees. There werepatches of snow on theground, too. As we movedalong, I looked up at Daliaand saw utter disgust on herfaceasshewalkedaroundthesnowpatches.

We came up to twokneeling soldiers. Daliamarched past them and said,“Rise.”

The soldiers stood andfollowed us into a sandstonebuilding. We walked downthe hallway and entered acircular room. There wasanother soldier kneeling atthecenterof theroomwithacollararoundhisneck—andachairbuiltintothefloorabouttenfeetfromhim.

Daliawenttothechairandtookaseat,givingthesoldieradisappointedstare.“Whatis

yourcrime?”I looked at him and

watched closely. It wasshocking to seeaMamluk inthisposition.

“I captured severalservants from the localcitizens and offered them tomyallies.GreatDalia, I askformercy.”

Dalia looked on with ablank stare. “You havedisgracedyourtitleassoldier.

Why should you be allowedtolive?”

“I deserve to die. Myrequest for mercy is only awish to restore myallegiance.”

I glanced back and forthbetween the soldier andDalia, oozing withanticipation.

Dalia took a moment,looking him up and down.“As punishment—you shall

suffer an onslaught for everyservant you captured. If yousurvive—you will become aslave to the locals until theydeemyourdebtrepaid.”

The soldier got lower,bowinghisheadafewinchesoff the floor. “I cherish yourgrace,Dalia.”

“Identify your allies tothese soldiers. They willendure the sameconsequence.” Dalia waved

theshamedsoldieraway.He stood up and walked

out with the other soldiers. Iwasamazed toseehimshowso much appreciation afterreceiving such a harshpunishment. Dalia didn’tmessaround.

We left the building rightawayandheaded toournextstop. I was exhausted by thetime we got back to ourbuilding. I went straight to

my room and found Audreycleaning the floors. Justbefore saying hello, I pausedandstoppedmyself.

Audrey looked up at me,crouching over a wet spot.“Hello,Emily.Howwasyourday?”

I walked past her andstarted to undress. She stoodup and slowly walkedforward.

“Issomethingwrong?”

I turned around and gaveherasternlook.“Finishyourwork.” Without seeing herreaction,Iturnedbackaroundand tookoffmy lastpieceofclothing.“Emily?”shewept.I went into the bathroom

andgot in the shower.Whenthewater cameon, I reachedfor my neck and felt theozlon. Something wasdifferent. I looked down and

checked the substance. Themoving parts were slowingdown.Finally,Iwaslearning.

Chapter44

I was sitting on the floorwithRobertandElos.Wehadjustfinishedourworkfortheday, and it was time to gooversomestrategies.

“Anynewideas?”Iasked,lookingatElos.

“No.Ouronlyoptionisto

destroy the sija that controlsthecollars.”

Robertquickly stepped in.“Now,waitaminute.Whatifwe just found a way out ofherewithout themseeingus?I mean, is there an alarm orsomething that would gooff?”

“Yes.The sija alerts themif the collar moves from itsdesignated area. The devicewas designed for prisoners,

notslaves.”I exhaled and shook my

head,placingmyhandonmychin.Iponderedforasecond,then snapped my fingers.“Tell me this, Elos. WouldAdomasevertakehissijaoffforanyreason?”

“Perhaps.”“Well, how loud is the

alarm?Let’ssayhe takes thesija off during his sleep.Maybe we could get to it

beforeanyonenoticed.”“The alarm is loud.

Adomas would wake. Or apatrolling soldier would hearit.”

Ilookeddown,desperatelyrubbing my hands together.Andmomentslater,Ithoughtofadearfriend.

“Madison.”Robert nodded. “That’s a

goodidea.Buthowwouldwereachherfromhere?”

“Madison?”Elossaid.“She’s a friend.” I looked

aroundinafret.“Iftherewasonly a way we could writeher a note or something.”Right then, I spotted anempty cup by the stairway.“Thecups!”

“Thecups?”Robertsaid.“Yeah. We can scratch a

noteonthecupstheybringusevery day. I’m sure theservantshandleallthedishes.

Ifwe’relucky,shemightseeit.”

“They would kill yourfriend if she was seen tryingto take the sija fromAdomas.”

Ifrownedandputmyheaddown. “You’re right. Wecan’taskhertodothat.”

Robert stepped in.“Andrew. I know it may behard for you to think aboutthis.ButwhataboutEmily?I

mean, she is close toAdomas.”

I quickly shook my head.“Shewon’thelpus.”Itappedmy hand on the ground,looking up at the ceiling.After another night ofdebating, we were still stuckatsquareone.

Chapter45

IleanedintoAdomasashelookedoversomeinformationonahologram.“Let’sgoouttonight.”

“Out?”“Yeah. Let’s go out and

havesomefun.”Adomas flashed a wicked

smile. “Do you dance,Emily?”

I nodded slowly, eyinghimflirtatiously.“Yes.”

Hegrinned and turnedoffwhatever he was looking at.“Come with me.” Adomastook me upstairs to the roofand ledme to a parked ship.He opened it, and we got inthecockpit.

On his sija, he pressed abutton that started the ship. I

watchedcloselyasheworkedthe control board. He pulledback on the handle, and wewent up. I stared out thewindow as we drifted away.The traffic in the sky wascalm, and there were a fewhovercrafts watering theforest.

Minutes later, we arrivedat the beach. There werehundreds of Mamluks andwomen dancing to drums,

standing around a hugebonfire.Adomas landedby arow of parked ships, aboutfifty yards from the action.Wegotoutandswaggeredtothescene.

Whenwegottothecrowd,Adomas bobbed his head tothebeat. I smiled andcopiedhim.Wewent to the frontofthecrowdandgotclosetothefire. Slowly, the musicstopped and everyone

silenced.Ilookedaroundandsaw a band of drummersspreadoutaroundthecrowd.

“The Champion hasarrived!” one of themshouted.Thentheystartedthedrumsupagain.

“Now, you wanted todance,Emily?”Adomassaid,over the drums, like I didn’tknow what I was gettingmyselfinto.

I smiled and nodded. The

drumsgot louder and louder.Adomas stomped with thebeat, bouncing his shoulders.And then swiftly, he leanedhis head back and howled atthe moon. Everyone wentcrazy. The drummers playedwildly, and the crowdstomped with the beat. Istaggered around like apinball for a second beforefallingdown.

The beat slowed, and

everyone backed off. Iquickly got up. Adomas wassmiling, dancing around measI lookedon.Hejumpedatme, daring me to dosomething.

“Dance, Emily,” helaughed, like he had caughtmeinatrap.

I smiled and rocked myhead to the beat. Adomaspaused and casually swayed,like he was giving me the

floor. I stomped the sand,inchingclosertothefire.Thebeatpickeduplittlebylittle.Ileanedmy head back, closedmy eyes and screamed asloudasIcould.

Thedrummerswentcrazy,and everyone bouncedaround.Adomas got close tome, gracefully popping hisshoulders with the drums. Ilike theway youmove. I putmy hands up and jumped all

over, bumping intoeverybody. It was anextraordinaryexperience.ThebestnightIeverhad.

Chapter46

All I could think aboutwas the escape. I sat againstthe wall for a long while,staring at the lights on themachinery. Robert wassleeping on the other side ofthe room, snoring. Elos wassitting a few feet from me,

puttinghismaskon. I turnedmyheada little andwatchedhim.

“Why do you wear that,Elos?”

He took a moment,adjusting the speaker. “Icannot pronounce thelanguage. This device wasdesignedtoassistme.”

I nodded, trying toimagine his home planet.“What’sitlikeonEztu?”

“It is like Earth. Full ofplantsandwater.”

I smiled, thinking abouthowcoolitwouldbetovisit.“Didyouhavefamilythere?”

“Family?”“Like, someone you cared

about.”“Yes.AmatenamedEna.

ShewasbearingmyoffspringwhentheMamluksarrived.”

“What happened whentheyarrived?”

“She was killed byAdomas.”

I gave him a sorrowinglook, and bowed my head.“So, that means yourchildren…I mean, offspring,whereneverborn.”

“Yes. All female andundeveloped Ecknors weredeemeduseless.”

My heart ached, hearingabout the slaughter of youngsouls.Iwonderedifthesame

thinghappenedonEarth.Thinkingaboutitmademe

angry. “We’re going to getoutofhereandgettheozlon.Then we’ll give thesebastards something to besorryabout.”

“I have considered everyoption.There is nomeans ofescape. Perhaps the courageyou have shown has proventobeunwise.”

I sternly shook my head.

“No, there’s always a way.We’re just overlookingsomething.”

Robertwoke up, snorting.“What’sgoingon?”

Ilookedoverandcheckedonhim.“It’sjustus,Rob.Didwewakeyou?”

“Maybe. But it doesn’tmatter.” He got up, walkedacross the room and satbesideme.“Anynewideas?”

“No.Justcan’tsleep.”

Elos gradually lifted hishand.“Itis,Robert,yes?”

Robertnodded.Elos pointed at his neck.

“Youhaveblood.”Robertreachedupandfelt

around his neck. He pulledhis hand away and checkedhis fingers, showing someblood.“Oh,don’tworry.Thishappens sometimes when Isleep.The collar presses intomyskinandcutsme.”

I looked at his neck andstaredforamoment,blinkingmy eyes. “You said thecollars are unbreakable,Elos?”

“Yes.”“Areyousure?” Iglanced

at him. “What about thelasers? Could they breakthem?”

“Yes. However, thecorrect blast would benecessary. Perhaps a small,

rapidshot.”I narrowed my eyes. “A

rapidshot?”“The sija can adjust to

different firing speeds andranges.”

Robert quickly cut in.“Guys, we’re jumping thegun here. The only way wecangetourownlaserisifwegettheozlon.”

I felt a sharp pain mychest, afraid of what I was

abouttosay.“Theybringoneto us every day.” I looked atRobert,thenElos.

I saw Robert shaking hishead from the corner of myeye.“No.Forgetit,Andrew.”

“I do not understand,”Elossaid.

I stood up and lookedaround. “We’re going to killone of them and take theirsija.”

“Haveyoulostyourmind?

We might as well killourselves first,” Robertbarked.

I looked down at him.“You’re wrong. We’reprisoners,right?Solet’sstartacting like prisoners.” Iwalkedtothewallandpulledout one of the flat, stonecandles.

“Whatareyousuggesting,Andrew?”

“Well you see,Elos.Here

on Earth, there was this TVshowcalledLockup.Itwasadocumentary series aboutprisoners from around theworld. I used to watch itsometimes, andon the show,the prisoners would makeweapons out of just aboutanything.” I blew out thecandle and turned around.“Remember,they’rejustfleshandbloodlikeus.”

Robert stoodup. “No.We

arenotdoingthis.”Elos stood up. “The

proposalismostinteresting.”Ismiled.“Indeeditis.”Robert lowered his head

andwalkedtome.Heputhishand on my shoulder andlooked up, giving me aserious stare. “My friend,listen to me. This is not theway.Theywillkillus.”

“No, Robert. It’s the onlyway.” I reached up and took

his hand off my shoulder.“Look, I know you’reterrified. And so am I. Butthat’sexactlywhattheywant.They control their victimswith fear and intimidation.We have to overcome thatandfightback.”

Elos came over and stoodby me. Robert crossed hisarmsandheldhisheaddown,sighing. Istood there,staringathim,waitingforhimtojoin

in.Finally, he looked up and

shrugged. “All right. Whatthehell.Mightaswellgooutswinging,”

I smiled and nodded,looking back and forthbetween Robert and Elos.“Let’ssharpensomegears.”

Chapter47

I was jogging through theforest with the girls. Linas,the Mamluk who designedeveryone’s attire, made ussome pretty cool runningshoes.Theylookedlikego-goboots, but the bottoms wereflatlikesneakersandmadeof

a rubber-likematerial.Alongwith the shoes, we woreskintightbodysuits.

We came across amountain and hiked to thetop.Ilookedintothedistanceand saw a sea of slavesworking on an openlandscape. Katie and Bridgetnoticedthem,too—andweallstopped and stared for amoment.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?

We’ll never have to workanother day in our lives,”Bridgetsaid.

I smiled just thinkingabout it. Then, unexpectedly,I looked away and thoughtabout Juozas. I was stilltroubled by the question heasked me—afraid he wouldcontinue asking about mypast.

“Hey, you OK?” Bridgetsaid, reaching out and

rubbingmyshoulder.“You’ve been acting

strange lately,” Katie said,crossingherarms.

I sighed. “It’s Juozas. Heasked me about my mothertheotherday.”

Therewasabriefsilence.“Oh my,” Bridget said.

“Well,whatdidyousay?”“Nothing.” I turned and

looked at her closely “AndnowI’malittleconcerned.”I

waited a second beforecontinuing. “What’s going tohappen when the kids growup and start figuring thingsoutontheirown?”

Katienodded.“Youknow,Ineverthoughtaboutthat.”

“I don’t think anything’sgoing to happen,” Bridgetsaid.

I crossedmyarms.“Well,what would you say ifLondonaskedyouwhereyou

were born? Or what is waslikegrowingupthere?”

Bridget shrugged. “Iwouldlie.”

“Ofcourseyouwould.Butitwouldn’tbethateasy.Theycansensedishonestyjustlikeanyone else. And that wouldcreatesomedistrust.”

“You may be right. But Idon’t think it will affectmuch.”

I exhaled and faced the

forest. “I’m just afraid I’lllose my bond with Juozas ifhe knows I’m feeding himfalsehoods.”

“Well,itwouldhelpifyouweren’tsoplayfulwithhim,”Bridgetwenton.

I turned and gave her acold stare. “What do youmean?”

She paused, giving me alookofpity.“You’retoofun-loving and cheery when

you’rearoundhim.Youneedtobemorefirm.”

I laughed. “What? He’sjust a child. That’s how it’ssupposedtobe.”

Bridget walked up to me.“What I’m saying, Emily, is—youtreathimlikeahuman.He’s a Mamluk. And heshouldbefirmlikethem.”

“He’s not just a Mamluk.He’sparthuman,too.Allthechildrenare.”

“Yes, but that doesn’tmeantheyshouldgrowuptobesympathetic.Toughenhimupalittle.Youwillalwaysbeable to enjoy fun activitieswith Juozas.But in your dayto day interactions, don’t besolighthearted.”

Ihuffed.“Youdon’tknowwhat you’re talking about. Iteachhimalltherightthings.He knows not to be kind toslavesorservants.”

“But as you say, Emily.Hewill start to figure thingsout on his own. And hissensitive manner mightchangehisviews.”

I didn’t want to admit it,butshewasright.Isomberlywalked to the edge of themountain and took a deepbreath.“Idon’tknow.I’lltalktoDalia about it.” I bouncedonmyfeetforamomentasIlooked down the hillside.

“Comeon.Let’sheadback.”

Chapter48

I was on my way toDalia’s room when I sawJuozas running through thehallway.

“Hey,slowdownthere.”Juozasstoppedandjogged

tome. “Hey,Mother.Whereareyou going?”Heplayfully

marched beside me, smilingwide.

“Stop that, Juozas. I’monmywaytoseeDalia.”

Hisfacegotsadashewentintoanormalwalk.WecametotheendofthehallandranintoAudrey.Shewasholdingawooden bucket in one armandastackofcleaningclothsintheother.Iignoredherandcarriedon,glancingatJuozasto make sure he was doing

thesame.But just before we could

turn the corner, Audreyslippedandfellintothewall,dropping the bucket andspillingwaterallover.Juozasquicklywentbackandhelpedherup.

“Areyouallright?”I spun around in a rage,

huffing like I was about toblowsmoke.“Juozas!”

He shuddered and looked

at me in shock as I glaredback at him. Audrey pickedup her things and ran off.Juozas slowly came back tome. I put my hand on hisshoulder and watched himlikeahawk.

“What was that? Youknowrightfromwrong.”

His eyes watered. “I’msorry.”

I sighed and putmy headdown for a second, then

looked up. “Son, I love you.Butyoucan’t showkindnessto those who are lesser thanweare.”

Juozas reached up andwiped his eye. “Yes,Mother.”

I smiled and gave him anencouraging look. “Neveragain.Okay?”

Juozasnodded.

Chapter49

I foundDalia in her roomand asked to speakwith her.She kindly agreed, and wedecided to go for a walk inthegarden.Weheadedtothefront entrance and wentoutside. It was perfect for awalk. The air was still, and

thesunwasjustsetting.When we got to the

garden, I took a second toappreciate the growth of ouramazing plants. They werealmost as tall as me. Andeveryspecieshadabeautyallitsown.

“This is most enjoyable,Emily. Ihavenotwalked thegardeninsometime.”

I came across a row ofzawe and smiled,

remembering the timeAdomas showed them tome.“Thanksforseeingme,Dalia.I’ve been dealing with someissues, and I wanted youradvice.”

“Whattroublesyou?”“Well, it’s about Juozas. I

wastalkingtothegirlstoday,andtheytoldmeIwasbeingtooplayfulwithhim.Ididn’twanttobelieveitatfirst.Butas they explained further, I

finallyunderstood.Anyway,IcamehomeandsawJuozasinthe hallway. We passedAudrey, and she fell as wewere turning the corner.Juozaswentback tohelpherup. It was awful, Dalia. I’vetold him so many timesbefore to disregard servantsand slaves. But it seems hehasn’t been listening to me.Or maybe my fun-lovingattitude has rubbed off, and

he’s becoming toocompassionate.”

I looked up at Dalia andsaw concern in her eyes. “Itappears that way.” Westopped at a leafy plant, andshe pulled some leaves off.“However, with properguidance, Juozas willamend.” She handed me aleaf,thenateanother.

I checked the leaf, feelingthe thickness.Then I bit half

off it and chomped slowly.Tomy surprise, itwas sweetand chewy, like a piece ofcandy.“Wow,thesearereallygood.”

I took some more leavesbeforecarryingonwithDalia.Walking through the gardenwith her was just anotherreminder of how wonderfullife had become with theMamluks.

Chapter50

We were sitting on thefloor, sharpening the gearswith the stone candles fromthewall.Buteventhoughwehad decided on what wewantedtodo,westillneededto comeupwith an effectivestrategy.

“Do you know how toworkthesija,Elos?”Iasked.

“Yes.However,ifthehostof the ozlon is killed, theenergy will decreasedramatically,andthesijawilldeactivate.”

“How much time will wehave?”Robertsaid.

“Notlong.”“We need specifics.

Hours,minutes?”Isaid.Elos paused. “I do not

understand.”Perplexed, Robert and I

glancedateachother.ThenIlookedatElos.“It’s

a measurement of time. Forexample—’’ I paused andclicked my fingers. “It tookmeasecondtodothat.”

Elos looked around.“Perhaps the time it wouldtaketocraftasija.”

Wegotupandwenttothemachinery. Robert and I

stoodby,watchingElosbuilda sija from start to finish.First, he dumped a pile ofmetal into the front of themachine.Thenhewenttothecontrol board and pressedsome buttons. The machinemadesomeweirdnoises,andthingsstartedmoving.

I focused hard, estimatinghowmuchtimewasgoingby.After what seemed like adecent amount of time, the

exterior of the sija came outon the conveyor belt. Elospickeditupandtookittothetables.Hegrabbedabiggearand locked it into a smallgear. Finally, he slid thecombined gears into theexterior, locking them inplace.

Elos handed me the sija.“That is the time we willhave.”

The weight of the device

dropped my arms. “What doyouthink,Rob?”

Hereleasedasolemnsigh.“That was about thirtyminutes.”

Inoddedrestlessly.“Yeah,Iwasthinkingthat,too.”Iputthe sija on a table. “Sowhatdoyouthink,Elos?”

“Itwillbedifficult tofindtheozloninthattime.”

“And Madison.” I huffedand shook my head “Shit—

this is going to be reallytricky.”

Robertcrossedhisarms.“Ijust thought of something.When the soldiers bring usfood,therearealwaystwo.”

“Yes. A soldier nevercompletes a task on theirown. Even the smallest dutyrequiresanally.”

I shrugged. “That justmeans we’ll have two sijasinsteadofone.”

Robert rolledhiseyesandcovered his face. “Oh, dearGod. I can’t believe I agreedtodothis.”

“Comeon,myfriend.Stopfillingyourheadwithdoubt.”

He chuckled a bit as helowered his hand and smiledtensely. “Yeah, sure. Let’stake a snap shot of this.Wekill the soldiers, take theirsijas,break thecollars,sneakinto the building, find

Madisonand theozlon.Thenescapetheareawithoutbeingseen—allinthirtyminutes.”

After hearing thesuccessionof it all—I finallyadmitted to myself that wewere probably going to dietrying to escape.But I didn’tcare. I was happy knowingthatIwouldbegoingoutmyway.

Chapter51

Everyonegotinposition.Iwas hiding on the right sideofthestairswhileRoberthidon the left. We had brokentwo legs off the woodentablesandwereholdingthemhorizontally across ourchests.Tiedtothechair legs,

we each had a gear that hadbeen sharpened into aspearhead.Eloswaskneelingabout six feet from thestairway, pretending like hewas fixing something on hismask.

Finally, I heard the metaldoor slide open. The lightfromoutsideshineddownthestairway. My heart rateincreased, andmy palms gotsweaty. I tried to relax as I

listened to the soldiersmarchingdown the steps.Asthe shadows got closer, IglancedatRobert toseehowhe was doing. His lips werefirmly pursed, and he wastremblingworsethanme.

Thefirstsoldierpassedby.She looked around for asecond.Thenshesetthebowlof foodandcupsofwateronthe floor. The other soldiercame forward and stood

beside her, looking down atElos like he knew somethingwas wrong. I glanced atRobert and gave him thesignal.

We ran out of our hidingspots and charged thesoldiers, slamming the logsinto the backs of their legs.They fell backwards, andwejumpedoutofthewaybeforebeing crushed. We quicklyraised the spearheads high

overourheads.Robert screeched and

stabbed the soldier nearesthim in her head. I let out ascreamandstabbed theothersoldier in his head. Westepped back and watchedthem slowly fizzle. Bloodleakedfromtheirwoundsandmade a large puddle on thefloor. We carefully steppedaround it and went to theirarms.Eloshelpedusfindthe

latcheson their sijas, andwetookthemoff.

First, Robert got on thefloor and closed his eyes.Elosliftedthesijaandangleditasheadjustedtherangeandfiringspeed.

“Remainstill.”Heshotaquicklaserbeam

at Robert’s neck. It was aperfect hit, snapping thecollarinhalf.Robertstoodupandrippeditoff.

I rushed to the floor andclosed my eyes. I heard thesija starting up again andbraced myself. Elos fired.Thelaserconnected,breakingmy collar. I jumped off thefloorandyanked theremainsaway.

I hurried toElos and tookthesija.“Allright,nowshowmewhattodo.”

“Thelaserisset.Aimwellandpresshere.”

Hepointedatthebutton.Inodded and wiped somesweat off my forehead. Elosgot on the floor. I held thesija out and tried to get agoodaim,butmyhandswereshaking.

“Come on, Andrew—relax,”Robertsaid.

I took a deep breath andfocused.“Just do it,” he went on,

panicking.

Finally, I pressed thebutton.Thelasershotoutandhit Elos’s collar, snapping itapart. I released a deep sighand smiled. Elos got up andtook off the remains. I gavethe sija back to him andgrabbedtheotherone.

Hehelditoutandpointedat another button. “Toactivate the force field, presshere.”

I gave him a quick nod.

Wesnuckupthestairwayandwent into the tunnel. On hissija, Elos pressed a buttonthat closed the door. RobertandIfollowedhisleadaswewent ahead. The area wasclear.We headed around thecorner, staying as low aspossible.

The building wassupported by enormouspillars. We used them forcover as we hurried to an

entrywayonthefarendofthepassage. Elos went in first,lookingfromlefttoright.

“Theroomisclear.”We followed him inside

andlookedaround.“Let’s find Madison.

She’ll know where Dalia’sroomis,”Isaid.

Chapter52

I was at the stadiumwithAdomas.Hewaspracticingafew techniques on thestadiumfloor.Thearenawasempty, and I was sittingnearbyinthefrontrow,aboutten feet up from where hewas.

“So who’s your nextopponent?” I called out, myvoice echoing through thearena.

“That has not beendetermined. However, a trueChampion must always bereadytodefendthetitle.”Helunged into a high kick, thenfollowed with an array ofpunches.

I nodded and smiled.“Verynice.”

Adomashad takenhissijaoffandputit intheseatnextto me. Suddenly, it beeped,and a holographic screenpopped out. I bent over andchecked it. There were threered lights flashing at thecenter, and a messagescrolling across the top thatread, “UnauthorizedDeactivation.”

“Adomas?There’sanalertonyoursija.”

He paused and faced me.“Throwitdown.”

I struggled to pick it upandthrewitoverthebarrier.

Adomascaughtitwithonehandandchecked thescreen.His face quickly becameinfuriated.“Impossible.”

I put my hands on thebarrier and looked down. “Iseverythingallright?”

“Wemustleave.”Adomasput the sija on and called a

ship.“Jumptome.”Hestoodtall and opened his armswide.

I climbed over the barrierand leaped into his arms.Heput me down as a ship flewinto the stadium.We hurriedtotheshipasitlanded.

“What’shappened?”“Three prisoners have

deactivated frommy securitysystem.And their designatedlocationisourbuilding.”

Chapter53

Finally,wefoundMadisonon the second floor.Shewaswalking through the hallsholding a stack of foldedclothing.

“Madison, over here,” Iwhispered,waving.

Shespottedusandputher

hand over her chest like shewasabout to faint. “Andrew?Robert?”

Itwasanupliftingmomentforallofus.Buttherewasnotimeforawarmreunion.

I kept waving her over.“Comeon,hurry.”

Madison put the clothingdown and jogged to us. “Idon’t understand. How didyou—’’

“There’s no time to

explain.We’re gettingout ofhere. But first, you have totakeustotheroomoftheonetheycall,Dalia.”

Madison nodded and gotlowwiththerestofus.“Thisway.”

We followed her as shesneaked to a stairway at theend of the hall. We went tothe top floor, and she led usinto a room at the center ofthehallway.Itwasincredibly

spacious, yet sparselyfurnished.

“All right—let’s find theozlon and get out of here,”Robertsaid.

Not even knowing whatwe were talking about,Madison jumped right in.“Whatdoesitlooklike?”

“Itisabeigemarble,”Elossaid.

We spread out andsearched the room. Robert

looked under the bed.Madison checked a talldresser. Elos searched thefloor. And I looked behindthe sofa by the window.Nothingcameup.Then,Elossawsomething.

“There.”He was pointing at the

centerofthefloor.Wejoggedto theemptyspotand lookedaround. The symbol of arocky planet was etched into

the sandstone.Elospressedabutton on his sija, and thefloor opened, revealing ahole.We leaned forward andcheckedinside.Theholewasfilled with ozlon, and itlookedtobeprettydeep.

“Let’s takewhatwe can,”Isaid.

Since Elos and I wereholding the sijas, Robert andMadison grabbed as manymarbles as they could. Elos

pressed a button that closedthe hole. We hurried out ofthe room and went back tothe stairway. But before wecouldgodown,thesoundsofmarching soldiers turned usaround.

We went the other way.Madison led us to anotherstairway, and when we gotdownstairs, a group ofsoldiers scanning the hallsmadeuspauseatthelaststep

and hide behind the edge ofthewall.

I listened closely andheard soldiers approachingfrom above. “Shit. We’retrapped.”

Elos looked back at me,holding his sija up.“Andrew.”

Robert shook his head.“No.Pleasedon’t.”

“Wehavenochoice,”Elossaid.

I gave him a somber nod.Elos pressed the button toactivatetheforcefield.AndIpressed mine. Bright lightsbloomed from both devicesand grew into enormousspheres,coveringusinatightcocoon. Elos went into thehallway and blasted thesoldiers with rapid-fire laserbeams.Wefollowedhimandstayedclose.

The soldiers blocked the

shots with rapid-fire of theirown.Werantoanexitattheend of the hall and fled thebuilding.The soldiers chasedusandturnedontheirshields,shooting at us from behind.The lasers bounced off theforcefieldasweran.Elosledus around the building. Westopped and hid behind acorner.

“With the force fields on,theozlonwilldrainfaster.”

“So let’s put a new onein!”Madisonbarked.

“Itwon’twork.Theozlonhas to stabilize first,” Robertsaid.

“Quick. We must find aship,”Elossaid.

We ran around the cornerto the front of the building.There were a few shipsparked in theyard, andmoreflying in from all over. Theships in theskyshotatusas

we ran. We made it to aparkedship,andElospresseda button that opened theramp. Hewatched our backsaswerushedinside.“Hurry.”Elos ran in from behind

and went to the cockpit. Hepressed a button on his sija,and the rampbegan to close.But before it could shut alltheway, a soldier running atthe ship got off a few shots

and hit our shield. The forcefield flickered for a second.Then it went out completelyjustastherampclosed.

Elossatdownandquicklyworked the control board,turning on a force field thatcovered the ship. Then hegrabbedthehandleandpulledback.Weflewhighandwentfast, dipping through all theincomingships.Istaggeredtothe cockpit and sat in the

otherchair.“How long before they

knockouttheforcefield?”“Not long. We must

protect ourselves andaccelerate.”Eloslookedbackat Madison and Robert.“Hurry,toyourseats.”

They put the ozlon downandsatontheseatsthatwerebuiltintothewall.

“Push your backs into thewall,andremainstill.”

Madison and Robertfollowed the directions.Automatically, metal strapspopped out of the wall andlockedtheminplace.

Elos leaned back.“Andrew,pushyourbackintothechairandremainstill.”

I leaned back and froze.Metal straps popped out ofthe chairs and locked us inplace. There were more andmore ships coming at us,

firinglasersfromallangles.Elos pressed a button on

the control board. “Try torelax.”

I heard the ship make anoise like it was about todetonate. Suddenly, we tookoff at a staggering speed. Ifelt my body tense from thepressureaswerippedthroughthe sky. Even with thenauseating pain, I closedmyeyes and smiled. At last, we

werefree.

Chapter54

Adomas had been ratherquietonourwayback to thebuilding, only sending out afew orders over the radio onhis sija.Aswe landed, I sawdozens of ships parkedoutside our building. It waslike driving past a crime

scene, knowing somethingterriblehadtakenplace.

Adomashurriedoutoftheship, and I stayed closebehind.Weweregreetedbyagroupofsoldiers.

Still fuming, Adomasmarched right past them.“Followme.”Heledustothetunnelontheothersideofthebuilding.

IlookedawayasIwalked,blinkingmyeyes.“Andrew.”

Adomas went to the doorat the end of the tunnel andopened it with his sija. Hequickly marched down anarrow stairway. I got out ofthe way and let the soldierspass.Andwhentheycleared,I went in and followed thegroupdownstairs.

Everyone huddled up atthe end of the steps. Theywere silent and still, lookingdown at the floor. I hurried

around the group and frozewhenIsawtwodeadsoldierson the floor. I covered mymouth and looked up atAdomas.

He walked forward andchecked them. There wereblades stuck in their heads,attached to crudely brokenpieces of furniture. Adomaskneeled into a puddle ofdrying blood and pulled thebladesout.

He tossed them away andput his hand on the femalesoldier’s face. “Ilona.” Hefroze for a moment beforegraduallyshiftingtothemale.“Henrikas.”

Finally, he reached downand checked their arms—makingme realize their sijasweregone.

Adomas stood up with aglare in his eyes. “Begin theinvestigation.”

The soldiers spread outand searched the room. Istood by and looked on, stillinshock.Adomaswalkedtoawooden table that had twolegs broken off. He stoodthereforamoment,staringatthesplinteredends.

“MyChampion,”asoldiercalled out, walking to himwithsomethinginherhand.

She handed it to Adomasandstoodby.Ilookedclosely

and realized it was a brokencollar. Adomas studied it forasecond,shiftinghiseyes.

“Take the bodies to myship. And gather ourcommunity for theceremony.”

Chapter55

Later on, when the sunwas setting, there was aceremony held at the beachforIlonaandHenrikas.Iwasthere with Dalia, the girls,and the kids. We werestanding close to theshoreline, in parallel lines of

soldiers,citizens,women,andchildren,stretchedfarbeyondthesand.

Ilookeddownthelineandsaw Adomas carryingHenrikas in his arms, on hiswaytotheshore.Therewasasoldier walking beside him,carrying Ilona.They came tothe front of the line andstooped at the edge of thewater. Then, together, theygentlyputHenrikasandIlona

in the water and steppedback.

Dalia came forward andstood between Adomas andthesoldier.Thereafter,alltheMamluks turned and facedthe ocean. I followed along,as did the women andchildren.

Dalia put her hand out aswe watched the bodies floataway. “Become onewith theplanet Earth, Ilona and

Henrikas. Fly with the sea.Let yours souls escape theflesh and return to thesource.”

Icriedandletthetearsrundownmyface.Ilookedtomyleft and saw Juozas crying,too.Iputmyarmaroundhimandrubbedhisside.

He looked at me andwiped his eyes. “Mother?Whathappenswhenwedie?”

Without thinking twice, I

glanced at Dalia and said,“Wereturntothesource.”

Chapter56

We flewnorth and landedon a snowy terrain. “Whyhere?” I asked as Elospowered down the ship,releasingthemetalstraps.

“There will be noMamlukshere.”Heturnedhischair and faced me. “They

detestsnow.”I nodded and smiled,

putting my hand on hisshoulder. “Elos, without you—none of this would havebeen possible. I trulyappreciate and honor yourfriendship.”

MadisonandRobert cameover. Then Madison huggedElosandkissedhischeek.

“Thankyou.”Elos sat there with his

arms out. Madison steppedbackandwipedhereyes.

“Yes—thank you, Elos,”Robertsaid.

“You forget. It was yourcouragethatinspiredme.”

“But it was yourknowledgethatgotusout,”Isaid.

Robert looked down andsaw one of the ozlon by hisfeet. He reached down andpickeditup.“So,whatnow?”

Istoodupandwatchedthesubstance closely. Therewassomething moving on theinside.

“Whatisthat?”“It is the one who carries

theozlon.”Madison narrowed her

eyes.“Idon’tunderstand.”“The substance collects

energy from the host until itstabilizes.”

Ismiled.“Wow—so that’s

what those moving parts aredoing?Collectingenergy?”

“Yes.”“How longdoes it take to

stabilize?”Robertasked.“Itdependson thehost. If

the energy from the body isunbalanced, it may taketime.”

I saw another marble onthe floor and picked it up.“Then let’s hope our energyisn’tunbalanced.”

PartFive–TheRise

Chapter57

Juozas was grown now.But like all the half-breeds,hisphysicalmasswasa littlesmaller than the naturalMamluks, and he was abouttwo feet shorter. He hadbecome a soldier, too, alongwith Lauren-Lynn and

London.But sadly,outofallthe new graduates of Ignas’steachings, Juozas was theonly onewithout a stabilizedozlon.

It was the first time inMamluk history that aChampion’sspawnhadfailedtostabilizetheirozlonbeforereaching maturity. And withAdomas aging, the risk oflosing the lineage of theChampionshipwas too great.

We were forced to moveJuozas along to secure hisopportunitytotakethetitle.

By contrast, I hadn’tchangedmuch.ItseemedliketheMamlukdietwaskeepingme young. My face lookedthesame.Ihadnograyhairs.AndIfeltstrongerthanever.

Judging from theprogression of things—andmy overall impression basedonmemories—Iwasguessing

that Iwas inmy late thirtiesorearly forties.Nevertheless,itwasliberating,notknowingmyactualage.

Iwas sitting on awoodenchair in the backyard,watchingJuozasandAdomassparring.Unlikeme,Adomaswasstarting to showhis age.Hisspeedandawarenesshaddecreased dramatically.Juozaswasbeatinghimtothepunch every time—jabbing

himwithease.“Keepup,Father,”hesaid

arrogantly,hisvoicesodeep.Finally, Adomas grabbed

hisarmandpulledhimtotheground.HekeptJuozasdowneasily, smiling. “Your speedis impressive, my spawn.However, my strengthremains far greater thanyours.”

Adomas let him up andsteppedback. Juozaskneeled

andbowedhishead.I stood up and walked to

them,clapping.“AndstilltheChampion,Adomas!”

Juozasexhaledasherose.“In the real fight—theoutcomewillbedifferent.”

Adomassmiled.“Weshallsee.”Thenheleft.

Icrossedmyarms,lookingupatJuozas.“Well,nowthatyou’ve broken a good sweat,whatdoyouhaveplannedfor

the rest of the day?” I wasalways on his case, makingsureIknewwherehewasandwhat he was doing. Itreminded me of my motherwhenIwasateenager.

“I’m going to a gatheringat the shore tonight withLauren-Lynn and London.It’s a celebration for all thenew graduates.” He firmlycrossed his arms, clearlyshowingoffhismuscles.“But

untilthen,IsupposeI’llworkonsomemoretechniques.”

“Don’ttraintoohard.Youmaynothaveanyenergyleftforthegathering.”

Juozas smiled. “Of coursenot,Mother.”

Suddenly, a familiarvoiceshouted,“Hey,friends!”

IturnedandsawKatieandLauren-Lynn approachingfrom around the building.Katie walked up to me, and

we shared a big hug. “Hello,my dear.How are you?” shesaid,gushing.

I kissed her cheek. “I’mdoing well, Katie. How areyou?”

She stepped back.“Fantasticasalways.”

“Were you training,Juozas?” Lauren-Lynn said,sizinghimup.

“I was—and I’m notfinished.”

Lauren-Lynn flashed afierce smile. Lately, I couldsee their affection for oneanother growing beyond afriendship.

Katie walked betweenthem. “Now, now. Settledown,youtwo.”

“I just think it’s amusingthat you train so hard—considering your failure tostabilize the ozlon. Withoutit, you will not be strong

enoughtodefeatAdomas.”Juozas gave her a teasing

look. “Well, if notme—thanwho else? You forget, myfriend. I was still strongenough todefeat everyone intraining—includingyou.”

Theysharedaplayfulstaredown.

I quickly stepped in.“Don’t worry. I’m sure bothof you will get a chance toprove yourselves. Because

Adomas isn’t giving up histitleanytimesoon.”

“Oh, shut up. You’realways rubbing it in thatyou’re with the Champion,”Katie blurted, poutinghumorously.

I laughed. “Come on,Katie—let’s head inside. I’llhave Audrey fetch us somerefreshments.” I walked offwith Katie. Then, beforeturning the corner, I looked

back. “And you two—don’thurteachother.”

Chapter58

Wehadbeen living in thenorth for some time now.Madison and I had salt andpepperhair,andRobert’swascompletely gray. Elos’sreptilianlikeskinhadbecomescalier—and he walked withahunchback.

We used rocks andbrushwoodtomakefire.Andto make a pot for boilingdrinking water, we usedbigger rocks to smash up aninconsequential,interiorpieceof the ship and tore somemetal off. Then we bent themetalintoabowlshape.

I was headed back to theship with some fish I hadcaught froma lake.Someonesaw me coming and opened

the rampwhen I got close. Iwalked inside and foundMadison sitting in thecockpit. Since our arrival,Elos had taught us how tooperate the ship. And everyso often, we gave it a testflight tomake surewe couldstillhandleit.

I put the fish down.“Thanks.”

Madison closed the ramp.“Howmanydidyouget?”

Speedily, I rubbed myhandstogetherandblewoverthem.“Four.”

Elos and Robert weresleeping on the floor. Iwalkedpastthemandwenttothecockpit. I sat in theotherchairandletoutanexhaustedsigh. Madison and I stayedquiet for a moment, lookingonwithblankstares.

“Maybe I should wakeRobandElossowecaneat,”

shesaid.This was our everyday

routine.Catchfish.Cookfish.Eat fish. Sit around and talkaboutnothing.

“Sure.”Madisonhuffedandshook

her head. “Andrew—you’vebeensodistant lately.Please,tell me what’s botheringyou.”

I exhaled. “It’s just hard,Madison. Living like this—

it’s—notright.”“Wehavenochoice.”“I know.But life is about

serving a purpose. And wedon’thavethat.”

“Our purpose is to staytogetherandtakecareofeachother.”

“Yeah. Butwhat about allthe others who’re still outthere?”

“There’s nothing we candoaboutthem.”

We had each tied someozlon to our wrist. I leanedforwardandputmyarmout,checking mine for a second.Themovingpartshadsloweda little. But it had also beenstuck at that pace for a longtime.

“Don’t you see? That’swhy the ozlon hasn’tstabilized. Our dejectedattitudes are feeding itunbalancedenergy.”

“You may be right. Butnothingwouldchangeifitdidstabilize.We’d still be stuckinthenorth.”

I looked at her. “That’swhatI’mgettingat,Madison.It’stimeforustotakeaction.We’ve languished for longenough.”

She quickly shook herhead. “We can’t stop them,Andrew.We’re outnumberedbymillions—ifnotbillions.”

“Butweknowaboutozlonandthesija.Weknowhowtooperate their ships. Weshould be sharing thatknowledge with the rest oftheworld.”

Madison leaned forward.“How? Ifwe leave this area,we’ll be sitting ducks. All itwould take is one barragefrom their ships to take usdown.”

I sat there for a moment,

staring into the distance.Then, I leaned back and putmyhandonmyforehead.Shewas right. Even in freedom,we had become prisoners ofhiding.

Madison reached out andtouched my leg, flashing anencouraging smile. “I knowthings seem bleak. But westillhaveeachother.”

Ismiledback.“Always.”

Chapter59

Dalia and I were sittingside by side in an assemblyroom a few miles from ourbuilding.Theroomwasfilledwithcitizensfromaroundtheworld.Theyhadcometoourregion to discuss theirconcernswithDalia.

“My citizens, I will hearyour worries, and here toassistmeisEmilyofEarth.”

She looked down at mewith a smile. I widened myeyesandshylyglancedatthecrowd.Daliahadneverletmespeak at an assemblymeeting. I looked up at herandfretfullystared.

“Youarereadytotestyourwisdom.”

I smiled and gave her a

thankful nod. We looked tothecrowdandwaited.

The first citizen steppedforward. He was dressed inlavishattire,wearinga funkylooking hat. “Great Dalia.Emily of Earth. I amMykolas.”

Dalia folded her hands.“State your concerns,Mykolas.”

“Production in our regionhas slowed during recent

times. Many of our slaveshave died off. And othershavebeenkilledfor tryingtoflee.Iaskthatyousupplyourland with more slaves tomaintainourwayoflife.”

“Breeding of slaves hasnotyetcommenced.”

“My Ruler, we must startnow. Soon, there will not beenough slaves to harvest thecrops.”

There was an unsettling

silence.Dalia lookedonwithablankstare.Then,Mykolasturnedtome.

“What do you suggest,Emily?”

My heart thumped. IlookedatDalia,notknowingwhat to say. She glanced atme and smiled, like she wastelling me this was mymoment. I slowly lookedback at Mykolas and stoodup.ThecrowdwhisperedasI

steppedforward.“Well, I agree that we

should start now. The slavesaregettingolder.And itwilltake time to grow a newgeneration.”

I turned to look at Daliafor approval. She was stillsmiling, staring at me like aproud mother. I returned asmile to her, but quicklymade a serious face as Ilookedbacktothecrowd.

“The breeding of slaves

shall commence at once. Inthe meantime, I will gatherwhatslavesIcanfromaroundthe world and send them toareasinneed.”

Chapter60

The next day, Adomasgatheredtensofthousandsofslaves in our region for anurgent announcement. Theywerelinedupinverticalrowsabout ten feet apart, spreadout across an open terrain.There were hundreds of

soldiers walking through therows,monitoringthecrowd.

Iwas standing on ametalstage thathadbeenplaced infrontofthecrowd.Daliawasatcenterstage,whileAdomasandJuozasstoodbyme.

A series of globe-shapeddevices had been placedaround thecrowd.Daliaheldher sija to her mouth andpressed a button, and thedevices let off a steadybuzz.

“Humans!”Hervoiceechoedseamlessly across thelandscape.“At sundown, youwill begin reproduction withthe females of your species.Anyslavewhorefuseswillbekilled.”

She lowered her arm andturned off the amplifiers.Then she left the stage withAdomas and headed back toourship.

Juozas and I stayed close

as we stepped off the stage.And not surprisingly, Iglanced at him and saw anuncomfortable look in hiseyes.

Lateron,atsunset,IfoundJuozas standing on thebalcony that looked over ourgarden. He had his armsplacedontherailing,holdinghis hands together, lookingdownwithafrown.

I quietly walked to my

chairandtookaseat.Juozas turned around,

surprised. “Oh…hello,Mother.”

“Hello, Son. Is somethingtroublingyou?”

Juozas shook his head.“No.Iwasjustthinking.”

I studied him intensely,suspicious. “Well, have aseat.Tellmeaboutit.”

Juozas sat down and tooka second before starting.

“Mother?—Why do we needslaves?”

I let out a deep huff.“Because someone has to dothework.”

Juozas leaned forward alittle.“Yes,but—couldn’twedoourownwork?”

I thought of my answercarefully. “Son, you mustunderstand that everything inlife serves a purpose. Fromthe sun to the soil—

everything contributes to oursurvival. Slaves are nodifferent. Their duty is toservethedominantspeciesofthisplanet.”

Juozas put his hand overhis mouth and leaned back,staring into the distance. Iwatched his face and sawgraveconcerninhiseyes.

Then he lowered his handand looked at me, smilingtensely. “I was just

wondering.”“It’s all right, Dear. And

remember—I’m always herewheneveryouwanttotalk.”

Juozas got up and kissedmy cheek. “Thank you,Mother.Iloveyou.”

“Iloveyou,Son.”

Chapter61

Itwastime.Allservantsinour region were ordered tothe main entrance of theirbuilding. I was standing bywiththesoldierstomakesurethe servants in our buildingwere accounted for. As wechecked them, I realized

Audreywasmissing.I went upstairs and

marched to her room. Shewassittingontheedgeofherbed,holdingherhandsinherlap.

I pointeddown thehall ina rage. “Audrey! Go to themainentrance.Now!”

Even as a grown woman,shewasstillanervouswreck.“Emily—I’mafraid.”

I stampeded inside and

stoodoverher. “Idon’tcare.Getupandgodownstairs.Oryou will be killed fordisobeyingorders.”

Audrey looked up at mewith tears running down herface. “I remember when wefirst met. You were so kindand appreciative. But sincethen—you’ve become ascruelasthem.”

Iturnedandwalkedtotheentryway.

She got up and hurriedpast me. “All right—I’mgoing.Pleaseforgiveme.”

I followed Audreydownstairs and watched thesoldierstakeheraway.Whenthe area was clear, I turnedand headed down thehallway.

But as I approached thestairway, I felt a sharp painshootthroughoutmybody.Inshock, I grabbed my chest

and stumbled into thewall. Islidtomykneesandcheckedmy hands. There was lightflashing under my skin. Iquickly looked at my armsand realized the light wasflashingallover.

“Help!”Iscreamed.A soldier came running

from around the corner andkneeled beside me. “Emily?Whathashappened?”

I shookmyhead. “I don’t

know. Call Giedre.” Then,slowly,Iblackedout.

Chapter62

Iwokeupinmyroomandsaw Giedre and Adomasstandingoverme. I satup inbed and checked my hands.Theflashinglightwasgone.

I lookedupatGiedre inadaze.“Whathappened?”

“You have become one

with the ozlon. It seems thestabilization shocked yoursystem.”

I looked down andchecked the substance. Theinside was solid. “Wow.” Iclimbed off the bed. I couldfeel a steady flow of energycoursingthroughmyveins.Itwas like an incredible highthat lingered on and on.Finally, I checked my armsand realizedmymuscle tone

hadincreased.Irippedthemarbleoffmy

necklace and held it upbetween two fingers. Then,carefully,Imadeafistaroundit and closedmy eyes. “Um,thisfeelsgood.”Iopenedmyeyesandtookadeepbreath.

Adomas stepped forward.“Followme,Emily.”

We went to the roof andboardedaship.Hetookmetoa mountaintop and landed at

thecenter.Wegotoutof theship and walked to the edgeofthemountain.

Adomas stood beside meas the wind blew my hair.“Like fire, ozlon can growand become stronger.” Heturned and faced the sky.“Now, open your hand andexpandtheenergy.”

I put my fist out andturned it palm up. I releasedmy fingers and carefully

watched the ozlon, trying tomake it grow.Gradually, themarblegotbiggerandbigger.After a few seconds, thesubstanceturnedintoabright,whiteorbandfloatedovermypalm.

Adomas backed away.“More,Emily.”

Ifocusedhardandtheorbsparked.Icouldfeelmybodygettingstrongerastheenergygrew. Seconds later, the orb

formed into a massive laserbeam and shot out into thesky.

I screamed as I felt theoverwhelming power in thepalm of my hand. Afterholding it for a second, Iquickly closed my hand andpulledmy arm back,makingthe laserbeamdisappear intothemarble.

I took a huge breath andraised my fist.

“Unbelievable.”Adomaswalkedup tome.

“Thatiswhywewearthese.”Hehandedmeahuman-sizedsija.

It was such a rewardingmoment,somethingI’llneverforget. I held the sija andstaredatitforasecond.“I’mspeechless. Thank you—somuch.”

Adomas pointed at a holeonthebackendofthedevice.

“Inserttheozlonhere.”I felt a rush of adrenaline

as I put the marble in thehole. The sija made somenoises and something on thedevice shifted, closing thehole.

Afewlightscameon,andahologramofa rockyplanetpopped out, graduallyspinning around. “Identityyourself,” a computerizedvoicesaid.

I smiled wide. “This isEmilyofEarth.”

Once more, the sija madesome quick noises, and thelights flashed.“Authentication complete.”Thehologramwentaway.

Proudly, I put the sija onmy arm and closed it up.Then I turned and stared atAdomas.

“Iloveyou.”Helookedonwithablank

stare. But Iwasn’t expectinghim to say it back.Mamluksdidn’t speak of love. Theyshowedit.

“You have earned thispower,Emily.Whenthetimecomes,useittorulewell.”

Chapter63

IkeptthinkingaboutwhatMadisontoldme,and—atlast—I realized there was onlyone resolution that wouldgiveussalvation.

Iwas bymyself, lying onthe cold floor of our ship,staring at the ozlon on my

wrist.Isawthemovingpartsslow down. My eyes grewwide, and I looked harder.The substancewas becomingalmost non-moving. I sat upandtoreitoffmywrist.Iheldthe ozlon in my hand andstared, nodding.“Yes. That’sit.”

Suddenly, there was aknock at the ramp, breakingmy concentration. I got upquickly and let everyone

inside. They were carryingsome fish and set what theyhad on the floor. Then theyspreadout.Elos founda seatin the cockpit, while RobertandMadison saton the seatsthatwerebuiltintothewall.

I closed the ramp andwalkedforward.“Wehavetotalk.”

Elosturnedinhisseatandfaced me. Madison andRobertlookedatme.

I paused and held theozlonout.“Look.”

Robert got up, narrowinghis eyes. “My God. It’sstabilizing.”

“Yeah, and I think Iknowwhy.”Ipulledmyhandbackand waited a second beforecontinuing. “I have to gobacktoLosAngeles.”

Madisonhuffedandshookherhead.“Andrew,wetalkedaboutthis.”

“Just listen to me for asecond,allright?”Iexhaled.“I’mnotaskinganyofyoutogo with me. But I have totaketheship.”

Robert gave me anaggravated look. “You’dleave us? After everythingwe’vebeenthrough?”

I looked down with greatsorrow. “You don’tunderstand, Rob. I’m notgoingbacktolive.”

A cold silence came overus.

“No.Itdoesn’thavetoendthatway,”Madisonsaid.

I looked up and stared ather. “You’re wrong. That ismy purpose: to send amessage to the rest of theworld—and let them knowwecanfightback.”

Shecrossedherarms.“Butof all places, why LosAngeles?”

“It’s just like you said,Madison. If we leave thisarea, we’ll be sitting ducks,soifIhaveoneshottosendamessage—I’mgoingafterthebiggesttarget.”

Robert walked up to me.“Why, Andrew? We’re free.Sure, it’s not ideal, but wehaveaplacetolayourheads.Foodtoeat.Landwithplentyofwater.”

“Sure, that’s great for us.

Butwhatabouttherestoftheworld?” I widened my eyes,glaring at him. “Don’t yougetit?Ifwestayhereanddie—all thatwe’ve learned dieswithus.”

Robert looked away,blinkinghiseyes.“GoodGod—you’reright.”

Madison stood up andstared atme. “So—youwantustospreadtheword—whileyougobacktodie?”

Inoddedsadly.Robert lookedbackatme.

“What ifwejust left theshiphere?Thatway,wecouldallstaytogether.”

Ishookmyhead.“No,myfriend. I have to do this.Imagine the kind ofmessageit would send if I killedAdomasorDalia.”

Elosgotupandwalkedtome. “I will join you,Andrew.”

I gave him a gracioussmileandputmyhandonhisshoulder. “No, Elos. Yourknowledge is too important.If there’sanyonewhoshouldshare what they know withtheworld—it’syou.”

Madison stepped closer.We were all standing in acirclenow.

“It would be a crime forany of us to let you do thisalone.”Sheeruptedintotears.

“SoI’mgoingwithyou.Andthat’sfinal.”

I released a few tears andaggressivelypulledherclose.We hugged and squeezedhard.Robertopenedhisarmsand hugged us. I peeked atElos and saw him standingthere clueless. I reached outandpulledhimclose.

Moments later, I felt asharp pain throughout mybody. I dropped to the floor

andshivereduncontrollably.“Andrew!”Robertyelled.Madison stumbled

backwards and collapsed. Ilooked at her and saw lightflashing under her skin. Icheckedmyhandandsawthesame thing. Then, I passedout.

Chapter64

I woke up lying in thesnow.Someonehelpedmetomyfeet,andwhenmyvisioncleared,IrealizeditwasElos.

“Whathappenedtome?”“The ozlon you carry has

stabilized.”He let go and handed me

themarble. I held it out andstared. There was a tinglingsensationflowingthroughmybody,andIfeltstronger thanever.

Robert walked up frombehind, holding Madison.Watchfully,helethergoandgave her the ozlon she wascarrying. It had stabilized,too.

Shehelditout,stillshakenfrombefore.“Howdoweuse

it,Elos?”He reached down and

picked up the two sijas wehadtakenfromtheMamluks.Hegaveone toMadisonandtheother tome.Elospointedataholenearthebackofthedevice.

“Inserttheozlonhere.”We followed the

instructions. Somethingshifted on the devices, andtheholesclosedup.Thenthe

sijas made some noises, andthelightscameon.

I held mine up in daze.“Thisis—amazing.”

A hologram of a rockyplanet popped out of bothsijas,slowlyspinningaround.“Identifyyourself.”

Madison and I looked atElos,confused.

“What should we do?” Iasked.

Elos stepped forward.

“You cannot mimic thevoices of the dead soldiers.However, this device I wearcan mimic the voice ofAdomas. After being hisprisoner forso long—Iknowitwell.”

He made someadjustments to his mask.“Bringthesijasclose.”

We held the sijas closetogether.

Elos bent down. “Bypass

theauthentication.”Thevoicesounded just like Adomas’s,deepandintimidating.

The lights on the sijasblinked. “Confirmauthorization to bypass theauthentication.”

“This is Adomas.ChampionofallMamluks.”

Thesijasmadesomequicknoises. “Authorizationcomplete. Authenticationbypassed.” The holograms

wentaway.Ismiled.“You’retheman,

Elos.Imean…theEcknor.”He looked on with an

empty stare. “I do notunderstand.”

Madison chucked. “Itmeansyou’reawesome.”

Elosgaveherasubtlenod.Then he stepped back andpointedatthesky.“Testyoursijas.”

Robert stepped back, too.

MadisonandIspreadoutandheldthesijaslikeshotguns.

I glanced at the device.“Nowwhat?”

“Expandtheenergy.”“How?”Madisonasked.“Remember, when stable,

theozloncanbecontrolledbythe host. You feel it in yourbodies,yes?”

Wenodded.“Focus, and expand the

energy.”

Together, we looked intothe sky and aimed high. Iconcentratedhardandfelttheenergy building up. Withinseconds, a bright lightsparked from the edgeof thesija. The light grew into anorb and hovered over theedge. I glanced at Madisonandsawthesamething.

Finally, massive laserbeams shot out of our sijasandblasted through the air. I

feltthepowertakingovermybody as my beam grew. Iquickly lowered the sija andthe laser went away. Theweight of the device carriedme to the snow. I landed onmysideanddroppedit.

Madison pulled back,making her laser go away.The sija slipped out of herhands and splashed in thesnow.Shewenttothegroundandkneeled by it. “Thatwas

incredible.”Ismiledather.“Hellyeah

itwas.”Elos walked up to us.

“Whenyoureturntothelandof the Champion—go to hisbuilding and destroy thesecurity room. That willtemporarily disrupt theircommunications—andprevent them from callingmoresoldiers.”

Isatupandnodded.

Elos turned andwaved uson. “Come, I will teach youthecontrolsofthedevice.”

Chapter65

I arrived at the Soldiers’Academy and found Ignas inthe training room. He waslistening to music whilestretching. I looked aroundand realized the music wascoming from his sija. Itsounded like opera, and

whoever was singing it hadanamazingvoice.

In shock, I put my handsonmyhipsandgasped.“Nowwhy hasn’t anyone told meaboutthis?”

Ignasturnedtowardme.“Ithought I heard someoneapproaching.”

“Sorrytodisturbyou.”Ignaswalkeduptomeand

kneeled, bowing his head.“No, Emily. You are always

welcome.”I was stunned by the

gesture, feeling it wasinappropriate. “Thank you,Ignas. But I’m not the Ruleryet.”

He rose and flashed aloving smile. “Soon—youwillbe.”

I blushed and lookedaway,crossingmyarms.

Ignas walked to a ray oflight coming from the

window. “To what do I owethepleasureofthisvisit?”

“Well, first, tell me aboutthissingeryou’replaying.”

“Hername isKamile.Sheis considered the greatestsingerofourkind.”

I nodded. “I can seewhy.Wheredoesshelive?”

“Here on Earth. Shetravels from region to regionand sings for the locals.These are her private

recordings.”I took a moment and

listened. “When is shecominghere?”

Ignas turned and gavemea smug look. “I’m sure arequestfromsomeoneofyourstaturewouldreceiveaquickresponse.”Thenhewent intoastretch.“Inthemeantime,Ishall send the recordings toyoursija.”

I smiled. “Why, thank

you.”I walked forward and

stretched with him. “I’d liketo learn some fightingtechniques.”

“Certainly.” Ignas stoodup,backedawayandgotinafightingstance.“Attack.”

I faced him and put mytiny hands up. I inchedforward and watchedcarefully.

Ignas circled around me,

stalking me with hisexperienced eyes. “Attack,Emily.”

Ibouncedonmyfeetforasecond.AndafterbuildingupthecourageIneeded,Iranathimand tried tokickhis leg.HeeasilysidesteppedmeandIfelltothefloor.IlaughedasI got up and shook off theslight pain inmy arm. “Thisisimpossible.”

“Why would you attack

frommyvantagepoint?”Bashfully,Ilookedaround

and threw my hands in theair. “Because I can’t fight. Idon’tknow.”

“Everyone can fight,Emily. However, you mustuseyouradvantages.”

Ichuckled.“Whatpossibleadvantage do I have againstyou?”

IgnasgavemealooklikeIalreadyknew the answer.He

waited,butIcouldn’tthinkofanything.

“Come now, Emily. It isobvious.”

Isighedandputmyhandson my hips. And right then,hetriedtokickme.Iquicklyjumped out of the way androlled tomyfeet. I frozeandlookedupathim.

Hesmiled.“Yousee?”I grinned and gave him a

pondering stare.

“I’m…faster?”Ignas nodded. “Precisely.

Use your speed to movearoundme.Andnever attackfrom my vantage point. If Ican’t see you—I can’t strikeyou.”

I nodded and got in afighting stance. Ignaswatchedmeclosely. I slowlysteppedforward.Heswungatme, and I leaped out of theway. I ran behind him and

kicked his leg. He turned. Iquickly slid throughhis legs.Iliftedandkickedhimagain.He tripped me as I tried torun. I stumbled forward andfell down—landing on mybutt.

Ignas chuckled as hewalked to me. “Very good,Emily.”

I smiled and looked up athim. “Howwas that good? Ilost.”

He reached down andhelpedmeup.“No.Itoldyoutoattackme,andyoudid.”

I brushed some dust offmy shirt. “Thanks.” But notwantingtostop,Ieagerlygotinto a fighting stance. “So,what’smynextlesson?”

“I want you to practiceyour movements. Go to theforest and use the trees astargets. Find a good rhythm.Strike the trees and quickly

moveaway.”I relaxed my body and

nodded.“I’lldothat.”“In time,youwillbecome

anexcellentcombatant.”It was an honor to be

praised by a formerChampionof theMamluks. Iimaginedallthegreatsoldiersand Champions he hadtrained,wondering if I couldreallybeasgoodasthem.

As I lookedup at Ignas, I

paused and studied his face.My eyes got wide when Irealized something for thefirst time. He looked likeAdomas.

I stepped closer. “Wait aminute—you’re not just aformerChampion.You’retheformerChampion.”

Ignasnodded.“Adomas defeated you.” I

grewabigsmile.“You’rehisfather.”

“Yes.Iam.”“But—whysuchsecrecy?”“When the spawn defeats

the Champion—the formerChampion must fade intoobscurity. The spawn hasproven their maturity—andshould be free from furtherguidance.”

I nodded, giving him anosy look. “So…what aboutDalia?” I paused and wavedmy hand around before

continuing. “Imean…doyoutwostill…?”

Ignas grinned. “Yes. Wewill always have our nights.Sheis…magnificent.”

I smiled and crossed myarms—thinking about Daliasneaking out at night to gethergrooveon.

It was thrilling to hearthesenewdetails.ItmademeappreciatehowblessedIwasto be part of a royal family

withsuchrichtradition.

Chapter66

Afewdayspassed,andwewere ready to leave. But asthe realization sunk in, Ibroke down and let myemotions take over. Sayinggoodbye to Robert and Eloswas the hardest thing I everhadtodo.

First, I hugged Robert.“Stay strong, my friend. Mybrother.”

“Iwill.AndGodbless.”Madison hugged Elos and

kissedhischeek. “Takecare,Elos.”

“Farewell,Madison.”We switched. I hugged

Elos and Madison huggedRobert.

“You’remyhero,Elos.” Isteppedbackand looked into

his eyes. “Search the worldforotherswhohavemanagedto escape—and share withthemtheknowledgeyougaveus.”

Elos nodded. “You areextraordinary, Andrew—aleader among your kind.Farewell…myfriend.”

Hearing Elos call me afriend for the first time gaveme some peace of mind. Ismiled and gave him another

hug.“Thankyou.”Robert’s eyes watered as

heheldMadison.“Iloveyou,Kid.

She released some tearsand kissed his cheek. “Takecare,Rob.”

Before we headed to theship, Robert gatheredeveryoneforaprayer.“Dear Lord, give Andrew

and Madison the strength tosendan inspiringmessage to

therestoftheworld.Lettheiractions speak to those whosuffer.MayithelpthepeopleofEarthriseonceagain,andshow the Mamluks that thehuman spirit can never bebroken. In Christ’s name wepray,Amen.”

Madison and I slowlybacked away—never takingour eyesoffRobert andElosas we headed to the ship. Iopened the ramp and we

waved goodbye. Robert andEloswavedback.

Wewentinsideandgotinthecockpit.Iclosedtheramp.Out the window, we couldstillseeRobertandElos.Wepausedandgavethemawarmstare.

Then,Ilookeddownatthecontrol board and pressed abutton that brought up aholographic map of Earth. Ireached out to the map and

touchedNorthAmerica.Itgotbigger, and the othercontinents got smaller. Ipressed Southern Californiaandheldmy fingerdown fora second. The ship made anoise, telling me ourdestinationwasset.Finally,Ipressedanotherbuttononthecontrolboardtoconfirmit.

We leaned back in ourchairs, and the metal strapscame out and locked us in. I

grabbedthehandleandpulledback. We went up, and theship slowly turned. Lettingout a long sigh, I caughtonelast glimpse of Robert andElos.

And at last, I pressed thebutton for acceleration.Madison reached down andtookmyhandastheshipspedup.We closed our eyes, andwithin seconds, the shipblastedaway.

PartSix–ReturntoLos

Angeles

Chapter67

I was on the roof of ourbuildingwithDalia.Shewasheadedoverseastocheckonafew production sites.Unfortunately for me, Iwouldn’t be accompanyingher on this trip. Instead, shewantedmetostaybehindand

keep an eye on the breedingofslaves.

“Whenwillyoureturn?”“Soon,Emily.”Waving goodbye, I

watched her board the ship.Daliasmiledandwavedback.

Afterward, I wentdownstairs to the securityroom.Adomaswastherewithafewsoldiers,goingoverthesecurity updates sent fromMarsden. After the tragic

deathsofIlonaandHenrikas,he vowed to keep everyonesafe.

Now,everyshipwasbuiltwith a tracking device thatwas linked to theauthentication system—andthe older ships had themmanually installed. Also, therampswerereprogrammedsothat only a code could openthem.

But the most important

revision was made to theprisoner collars. Now, if thedevicewassomehowbroken,every sija in the area wouldbealerted,ratherthanjusttheChampion’ssija.

It had taken some time todevelop the security updatesand have them sent fromMarsden. I could see thereliefonAdomas’sfaceashereadthereportonhissija.“Atlast,wearemoresecurethan

everbefore.”Thereafter, an alert came

upononeof theholographicmonitors. We all turned andstaredatthescreen.Thealertwas making a loud beepingnoise, and there was ablinking red spot on thescreen.

Adomas got closer andnarrowed his eyes. Hepressed a button on his sijathat made the blinking spot

bigger. “There is anunidentified shipapproaching.”

I shook my head. “Buthow is that possible?All theships have tracking devicesnow,right?”

Adomas nodded andlookedaway.

“Perhaps the installationon this shipwasmissed,MyChampion,” one of thesoldierssaid.

Adomaslookedbackatthescreen. “No, consider themodel.Itisanoldership,oneI have not seen since—’’Hepaused and his face becameenraged. Then, slowly, hecalmedandcrossedhisarms.“My prisoners havereturned.”

Chapter68

We were drifting throughtraffic, looking around at alltheprogresstheyhadmade.Itwas stunning to see theMamluk city from this view,inanareathatwasonceacityIcalledhome.

We concentrated on the

landscape, looking forsomethingfamiliar.

“Over there,” Madisonsaid,pointing.

I took a quick look andnodded when I saw thebuilding shewas pointing at.“Yeah,that’sit.”

AllIneededtoseewasthemassive garden on the farright of the building. Thebalcony overseeing it mademe think of the last time I

sawEmily.I exhaled deeply and

lookedatMadison.“Allright—thisisit.”

She looked at me andsmiled.“Let’sgive‘emhell.”

I paused and stared at herfor a moment. “Madison…I—’’

She quickly reached overand put two fingers on mylips. “Don’t say it.” Staringback at me, she carefully

leanedover.My heart throbbed as she

inched closer. Then, I leanedforward and we closed oureyes at the same time.Finally,ourlipstouched,andwe kissed for a while—thengraduallypulledaway.

Madison smiled and puther hand on my cheek,rubbing along my beard. Igentlyplacedmyhandonherhead and brushed her hair

back. She gaveme a solemnlook, telling me she wasready.

I turned back to thewindow.“Okay.”

Madison turned to thewindow and took a deepbreath.

And right after, suddenly,a message came over thespeakersonthecontrolboard.“Ship #7428. Identifyyourself.”

We ignored it and carriedon.

Within seconds, anothermessage buzzed from thespeakers. “I repeat. Ship#7428.Identifyyourself.”

I huffed and glanced atMadison. She gave me aquick nod and wiped somesweat off her forehead. Inodded back and activatedtheforcefield.

We were right over the

building now. “OK—youwantustoidentityourselves?Howaboutthis?”

I readied the laser on theship and shot at the buildingwith rapid-fire. Withinseconds, a group of ships inthe sky changed course andflew at us from all angles,blastinguswithrapid-fire.

I kept shooting, adjustingthelasertoafasterspeed.Outthe window, I could see

soldiers, servants and slavesrunningfromthebuilding.

After a few minutes, Ilanded on the roof. Wequickly stood up andactivated the force fields onoursijas.

“Do you rememberwherethesecurityroomis?”

Madisondidaspeedynod.“Yes—whenwegetoutthere,followme.”

Chapter69

I opened the ramp andfollowed Madison outside.We ran to an entrance at theend of the roof that led to astairway. We hurried downthe stairs as lasers bouncedoffourshieldsfromabove.

We made it to the top-

floor hallway and ran to thenext stairway. Madison ledme downstairs to the thirdfloor and into a roomwith abunch of holographicmonitors. We looked aroundforasecond,thenbackedintothehallway.

Iaimedmysija.“Allright,ready?”

Madison nodded andaimed her sija. We firedtogether and destroyed the

controlboard.Tofinish,wentinsideandblastedeverything.Afterafewsecondstherewasnothing there but scraps ofmetalonthefloor.

I quickly backed into thehallway. “That’s enough.Let’sgetbacktotheship.”

We went back to the topfloor and ran to the stairwaythatledtotheroof.

I stopped Madison beforeshe could run up the stairs.

“Wait!” I listened for amoment, trying to pick upany activity from above. Butsurprisingly,theareasoundedclear.“Allright,comeon.”

I jogged up the stairway.Whenwegottotheentryway,I leaned against the wall.Madison got in position onthe other side and held hersija up. I held mine up andgave her a nod. She noddedback, and together, we ran

ontotheroofandfiredashot.Therewas a soldier in the

distance,firingalaserbackatus. Our shots collided inmidairanddisappeared.

I lowered my sija andnarrowedmyeyesasIlookedthrough the force field.Finally, I checked the roofand realized our ship wasgone.

Iheardagroupofsoldiersmarchingupthestairsbehind

us. We turned around andbacked away. But then, wespun back around as thesoldier on the roof walkedforward.

The soldiers rushedoutofthe entryway and gatheredalong the perimeter,surrounding us. I looked upand saw a group of shipsflyingoveruslikeaswarmofbees. Madison and I gaveeach other a sorrowful look.

Still, I knew we hadaccomplished what wewanted. We turned back toback as the soldiers aimedtheirsijas.

The first soldier we sawwalked closer. “Stand down,my soldiers.” He stopped infront of us with his handsheldbehindhisback.

I looked up at him andrealized who he was.“Adomas.”

He smiled. “So, yourememberme,Human.Good,because I remember you.”Adomas walked away. “AreyouresponsibleforthedeathsofIlonaandHenrikas?”

Ilookedaroundatsomeofthe soldiers and saw fury intheireyes.“Yes,Iam.”

The soldiers rambledheatedly.

I squeezed my sija andpreparedtoshoot.

“Calm yourselves, mysoldiers.” Adomas walkedbacktome.“Beforewecameto Earth—I studied youhumans for some time. Ibelieveditwasimpossibleforoneofyoutokilloneofus.”

I glared at him, breathinghardthroughmynose.

“What is your name,Human?”

I stood tall and said,“Andrew.”

Adomas nodded. “Releaseyourshields.Iwillgiveyouachancetobefree.”

Iturnedoffmyforcefieldandsteppeduptohim.

Madison reached out tome.“Andrew—no!”

“This is what we wanted,Madison.”

Thesoldierslaughed.Madison looked around

forasecond.Andfinally,sheapprehensively turnedoffher

forcefieldandgotbesideme.Adomassmiledandturned

hisbackonus.“Now—ifyoucan kill me, Andrew—mysoldiers will allow you andyourallytoleave.”

Some of the soldierstaunted us and crossed theirarms.

I glanced at Madison andsawhernodding.

Proudly,Inoddedwithherand looked back at Adomas.

“Allright.”He turned around and put

hisarmsout.“Attack.”

Chapter70

I jumped in front ofMadison and sparked mylaser. Adomas ignited hislaser and got in a fightingstance.He fireda laserbeamatme,butIquicklyfiredoneback and blocked the shot.Then, Adomas rolled

backwardsandshotatuswithrapid-fire.

We ran toward the crowdof soldiers. Adomas pulledhisfirebackaswegotclose.Without pause, the soldierspushed us away. I stumbledforward and shot at Adomaswith rapid-fire. Madison ranto the other side of the roofandsenthimrapid-fire.

Hestoodstillandcreatedalaser orb around his fist. All

of our shots bounced off theorb and faded away. Westopped and glanced at eachother.Thentogether,weheldoursijasoutandcreatedlaserorbsofourown.

Adomas screamed andleaped through the air. Helanded a few feet away andswung at me. I staggeredbackwards and put my sijaup, blocking the shot.Adomasswattedatmeagain.

I held my sija up high andblocked the shot, but theforce knocked me to thefloor.

Madison came out ofnowhereandblockedanotherstrike with her sija. Adomasslapped her away with hisother arm. She flew acrossthe roof and landed hard,droppinghersija.

I quickly rolled throughAdomas’s legs and tried to

swipe him with my orb. Buthe put his hand down andblocked me. The laserssparked against each other,creating a flash of light thatblindedme. Adomas tried tokickme, but I ran out of thewayjustintime.

I glanced to my left andsaw Madison dazed on thefloor. In a hurry, I lookedbackatAdomasandsawhimaimingather.

“No!” I ignited my laserwithnotimetospareandsenthimrapid-fire.

Adomas put his hand upand blocked my shots withhislaserorb.Thenheheldhisarmoutandcreatedamassivelaserbeam.Irantothecornerof the roof—toward a groupof soldiers. They spread out,givingAdomasaclearshot.Iturned around and created amassive orb. Adomas aimed

atme.Thelaserbeamgrazedthe sandstone floor and senttiny rocks flying through theair like popcorn. And rightthen, it connected with myorb.

The light fromboth lasersblinded me as I staggeredtowardtheedgeoftheroof.Iscreamed as I felt the powerof the beam weighing medown. Finally, it faded away—andIwasstillstanding.

I heard a collective gaspfrom the soldiers. I lookedatAdomas and saw intenseconfusion in his eyes.Quickly,hebecameirate,andhe ran at me. I held my sijahighandslidthroughhislegs.Adomas spun around. In thecorner of my eye, I sawMadison staggering to herfeet,pickinguphersija.

Adomas aimed at me andfired rapid shots. Thereafter,

he rolled to the side andlunged at me, still shooting.He landed right next to me,andIquicklyslidthroughhislegs.But this time, I lostmybalance and flew down. Iglancedat thefloor,realizingtherewasasplitintheroof.Ispun my head back and sawthat the split went pastAdomas’sfeet.

I hurried and aimed mysija.“Madison,thefloor!”

Aneeriesilencecameoverus.

Shecaughtonandquicklyaimedhersija.“MyChampion!”asoldier

calledout.“Now!”Iyelled.Wefiredtogetherandsent

a massive laser beam to thesplit in the floor. Adomastried to jumpoutof theway,but itwas too late.The floorcaved in, and he went

tumbling down.He slammedintotheedgeofthecrumblingroof and made a biggeropening.

Madison lost her balanceandfellintothehole.“No!”Icriedout,tryingto

get up. The roof keptbreaking up, and I stumbledintothewreckage.

Adomas crashed throughthe topfloorand landedonaheap of boulders. I fell

through the hole and landedonmyside,lettingoutasharpscream.Idesperatelygrabbedmyshoulderandrolledover.

Therewas a cloudofdusthovering over me, and Icouldn’t see Madisonanywhere.

“Madison? Are you allright?”

Iwobbledtomykneesandcrawled forward, swiping thedust away. Then, I bumped

into something and put myhanddown.Ifeltaroundforasecondandrealizeditwasherleg.

“Oh,thankGod.”Ilookedup and checked the hole.“Comeon,let’sgo.”

Shedidn’trespond.“Madison?”

Chapter71

The dust cleared, and Isaw her face. Her eyes andmouthwereclosed,andtherewas blood seeping from thebackofherhead.Ifranticallylowered to the floor andlookedcloser.

“Oh no—please God no

—Madison!”My eyes filled with tears

as I shook her limp body.“Comeon,wakeup.”

Finally,ithitme.Shewasgone.

I buried my face next toher head and cried my eyesout. Moments later, Igradually looked up andbrushed some dust off herface. I smiled tensely andstared at her for moment. “I

love you.” And finally, Iclosedmyeyesandkissedhercheek.

Inthebackground,Icouldhear the soldiers marchingdown the steps. I openedmyeyes and gently rubbed herhair. “We’re gunna win,Madison.Ipromise.” Istrucka kiss on her lips as themarching got louder. “Okay—Igottago.”

I hobbled to my feet and

staggered past Adomas’slifeless body. I wanted tocheck if he was dead, butthere was no time. I lookedaround and found my sijaburied in a pile of rocks. Iquickly reached down andgrabbed it, then limped to astairway at the end of thecorridor.

As I went along, theadrenaline surging throughmy body numbed the pain. I

made it to the first floor andfound themainentrance.Butas I headed outside, I saw afewshipslandinginthefrontyard. I turned around in ahurryandrandownthehall.

There was a wideentryway at the far end. Iwent through it and walkedinto an enormous room thatlookedlikeafancyballroom.I leaned against thewall andsnucktotheexitontheother

side of the room. Again,before I could go outside, Isaw a group of soldiersmarching around thebuilding.

“Shit.”Iturnedaroundandjoggedback to the entryway.Then,before I could leave, awomanwalkedintotheroom.

Ibackedawayandstudiedher from the ground up. Shewas wearing all black, andshe had a sija on her arm.

Andsadly,when Igot toherface,Irealizedwhoshewas.

“Emily.”

Chapter72

I could hardly recognizeAndrew. But that didn’tmatter. He was the enemy.And he needed to be dealtwith.

“Why have you comeback?”

Heslowlyshookhishead,

eying me hard. “It hurts myheart to see what you’vebecome.”

I gave him a stern look.“I’ve become wise, Andrew.The world is a better placenow.AndI’mgoingtomakesureitstaysthatway.”

We started circling eachother.

“No,Emily.Behindallthegrandeur—you’re just acoward.”

I chuckled. “I couldneverexpect someone of lesserimportancetounderstand.”

Andrew’s face becameheated. “No. I get it. Youbetrayed your own kind tobecome a part of theirsociety.”

I shook my head. “No. Ididn’t betraymyownkind. Iacceptedrealityandmadethebest of things. And in doingso, I discovered a wonderful

world.”Andrew stood still and

glaredatme.“So,whatnow?Yougoingtocallthesoldiersandhavemekilled?”

Ipausedandgrinned.“No.Itwould be fitting forme tofinishyou.”Then,withstyle,I got in a fighting stance.“And besides, I need somepractice.”

Andrewnoddedandgotina fighting stance. “If this is

how it ends—you betterbelieve I’m taking you withme.”

We shared a brief staredown.

And right after, I ignitedmylaserandrushedforward,shooting at him with rapid-fire.Herespondedwithrapid-fire of his own, blockingmyshots.Iranathimandcreateda laser orb around my fist.Andrew quickly created an

orb of his own and blockedmystrike.Wewentbackandforth for a moment. I threwpunches with my orb, andAndrew used his sija like asword, swinging it around asIattacked.

I put my hands togetherand made a bigger orb. Iswung it like a baseball bat,jumping from side to side.Andrew copied me and weattacked each other

relentlessly.I kept coming at Andrew,

making him back up. Theflashinglightsfromthelaserswere blinding. I rolled to thesideandquicklyshotasteadylaser beam at Andrew. Hejumped out of the way, andthe laser hit the wall. Rocksfell to the floor as he circledaway.

I created a constant beamand aimed at Andrew’s feet.

He ran. I followed him withthebeam.The floorbegan tobreakapart. I lifted thebeamand aimed over his head.Boulders came down, nearlyhittingAndrewashesprintedacrossthefloor.Aluckyescape.He shot atmewith rapid-

fire. I ducked and created anorb, blocking the shots.Andrew ran atme screamingand tackled me to the floor.

He got on top and punchedmyface.Ikickedmylegsoutand grabbed his arm. Then,gradually, I rolled him overandgotontop.

Iputmyhandsaroundhisneck and choked him. I triedto spark my laser, butAndrewquicklyreachedforarock and grabbed it. Heswungatmehardandhitmyhead. I fell to the floor andwinced,grippingmyhead.

Andrewgottohisfeetandshot at me. I quickly leanedbackandshotathimfromthefloor.Then,Istaggeredtomyfeet, still shooting. ButAndrewcamerightatmeandelbowedmy face. I stumbledbackward, and I tried toshoot, but he kickedmy armaway.

Desperately, I ducked andavoided some rapid-fire.Then, I created an orb and

leaped upwith a punch. Thelaser sparked against thecontinuousrapid-fireAndrewwas sendingme. He stoppedshooting and staggeredbackward.

Iranathimandkneedhischest.Andrewfelltothefloorand shielded himselfwith anorb. I putmy hands togetherandmadeamassiveorb.Andwithit,Ichoppedathimlikean axe. Andrew quickly

created a constant beam,makingmerunaway.

But as he rose, I made aconstant beam of my own. Iaimedathim,andourbeamscollided.Weheld it there foramoment, and the lasers gotbigger and bigger. Andrewrolled away. I lowered myarm, trying to follow him.The laser beam hit the floor,andthefloorgraduallycavedin.

We both ran away fromthe crumbling floor, goingtoward each other.And rightthen,alargepieceofthefloorcamedown andwe slid ontoit, falling into a dark pit.Bouldersfollowedusdown.Islid off the piece we camedownonandlandedonapileof rocks. And before thefalling boulders could crushme, I hurried tomy feet andranaway.

Chapter73

I got to my feet and ranintothedarknessastherockscame down. Luckily, theystopped just as I got to thewall. I paused and took adeep breath. Falling downhadknocked thewind out ofme, and I could feel myself

bleeding from a gash on myarm.

The opening from abovegavemeenoughlighttosee.Ilooked around, trying to findEmily, wondering if she hadbeencrushedbytheboulders.Cautiously,Iwalkedforward,scanning every inch of thearea.

I looked up and realizedthe rockshadpiledon topofeach other, creating some

steppingstones that led backto the ballroom. I hurried tothe stones and climbed up,steppingintothelight.

Out of nowhere, I saw abright light out of the cornerofmyeye.Ispunaroundwithonly seconds to spare andblockedEmily’sshotwithanorb. She ran out of theshadows, sending rapid-firemyway. I jumpedoutof thelightand tried tohidebehind

a boulder. But Emily stayedon me. She leaped throughthe air like a ballerina andlandedinfrontofme.

There was blood runningdowntheleftsideofherface,andshehadasinisterlookinher eyes.Wewent at it withorbs, leaping from place toplace. Seconds later, Emilynailedmewithaswiftkicktothe side. The strike sent mecrumblingtomyknees.

Emilywastedno timeandtried to crush me with aconstantbeam.But Iblockeditwithanorb.Theforcefromthe colliding lasers sent herstumblingbackwards,andtheconstant beam went away. Igot up, then quickly loweredto my knees, clutching myside.It felt likemyribswerebroken.

Emily ran up to me andfiredawaywithrapidshots.I

was able to block themwithanorb,butmyawarenesswasslipping away. I tackledEmilyoutofdesperation.Butsheeasilypushedmeoffandgotup.Itriedtogetup,butIwashurtandexhausted.

Emily kept shootingfuriously. I blocked a fewmoreshots,then—shecaughtme. A laser zipped past mystomach, cutting deep. Iscreamedandfellbackwards.

The sija slipped out of myhands and tumbled away. Itrembled as I gripped mystomach.

Emily stopped shootingandletoutaslowexhale.Shewalkeduptomeandaimed.Ilaythere,takingdeepbreaths,looking up at the woman Ionce loved. There was noemotion in her eyes. Just acoldness that made her seemmore frightening than the

Mamluks.I rolled over and crawled

to the light. I made it to thefirststeppingstoneandpulledmyself up. My vision wasgettingblurry,andeverythingsounded likea steadybuzz. Icollapsed on my back andspread my arms out. I sawEmilywalkupandstandoverme,stillaiminghersija.

At that moment, I leanedmy head back and saw

someone standing at the topof the wreckage. Strugglingwith my blurred vision, ittookmeasecondtorealizeitwas a Mamluk. He washolding his hand out, like hewanted Emily to stop. Hehurried down the stones andsaid something to her.Finally, just before I blackedout,hekneeledandlookedatmewithconcerninhiseyes.

Chapter74

Juozas lowered my arm.“Mother—he’sdead.”

I checked Andrew’s faceand saw no life in his eyes.Juozas rose and gentlycheckedthegashonmyhead.

“Areyouallright?”I stayed silent for a

moment, still looking atAndrew. “Yes. I’m fine.” Ilooked up at Juozas andsmiled. Then I hiked out ofthewreckage.

There was a group ofsoldiers standing by the exiton the far side of thedemolished room. Theynoticedmeandcameover.

Secondslater,Juozascameoutofthewreckage,carryingAndrew. I turned with the

soldiers andwatched him setthe corpse on the floor.Juozas backed away andslowlylookedatme,hiseyesfullofguilt.

Therewasalongsilence.Finally, a soldier stepped

forward.“EmilyofEarth.Theother

intruder is dead. However,Adomas is unconscious.Andwe’ve lost communicationwithDalia.”

Ilookedupathim,thentoall the others. Finally, Irealizedtheywerewaitingforme to give them orders. Iglanced at Juozas—thenlookedbacktothesoldiers.

“Take the intruders to theforest. Have the slaves burytheirbodies.”

Thesoldiersgotright to itandscoopedAndrew’scorpseoffthefloor.

“Giedreisstandingbyata

secure location. We have ashipwaitingforyououtside.”

I nodded and headed outwiththesoldiers.ButbeforeIcould leave, I looked backand saw Juozas standing inthe same spot, holding hisheaddown.“Son?”Helookedupandstaredat

me for a moment. Then hewalked over and joined therestofus.

“Forgiveme,Mother.”Iletoutatroubledsighas

Iwatchedhimgopastusandheadtotheship.

“Come, Emily. Yourwoundsneedtending.”

Chapter75

Thatnight,Giedrepatchedme and Adomas up.Afterward,wegatheredatthebeachforacelebration.Daliacut her trip short and cameback to join us. The soldierswereplayingthedrums—andeveryone found a dance

partner. Dalia was dancingwith Ignas. And I wasdancingwithAdomas.

Ilookedaround,smiling—hoping toseeJuozasdancingwith Lauren-Lynn. Instead, Isaw him sitting by theshoreline,lookingoutintotheocean. I gave Adomas aconcernedlook—andhegaveme a nod. I danced awayfromhimand joggedover toJuozas.

Isatdownbesidehimandrubbedhisarm.“Hey,what’swrong?”

Hewasquietforasecond.“I don’t know, Mother.Something doesn’t feelright.”

I leaned my head againsthis hulking arm. “Youworrytoomuch,Son.Everything ishowitshouldbe.”

Juozas exhaled. “WhatshouldIdo?”

“Let goof your emotions.Only thenwill youmend theconflictofyoursoul.”

Heslowlynodded.I looked up and saw

Lauren-Lynn approaching.Shestoppedbesideme,andIflashedawarmsmile.

“Here’s someone to cheeryouup.”

Lauren-Lynn smiled andputherhandout.“Dancewithme,Juozas.”

I stood up and backedaway,crossingmyarms.

Finally, Juozas looked upand smiled back at Lauren-Lynn. He took her hand androse to his feet. “Come, wewill show them how todance.” Juozas led her to thecrowd.

Adomas came over andstoodbyme.Westayedtherefor a moment and watchedJuozas.

“What do you think?”Adomasglancedatme.“Canheescapethecompassion?”

IwantedtobeconfidentinJuozas’s abilities. But theuncertainty that had plaguedhimforsolongseemedlikeitwas getting worse. I worriedthat it would eventually leadtoanearlydemise.

“For his sake—I reallyhopeso.”

Chapter76

The sun was just comingover the horizon as Iwalkedalong the edge of the forest,monitoringafieldofworkingslaves—making sure theywere doing their jobs well.Still,asIlookeddownattheirmiserable faces, I felt utter

guilt. Mother was right. Tofindpeace,Ineededtoletgoof my emotions and acceptreality.

I exhaled and held myhead high as I stepped awayfrom the forest, out of theshade.Iwalkedontoanopenterrainandfeltthewarmthofthe sun. Then, suddenly, Iheard someone humming adelightfultune.

Ilookedaroundandfound

the singer. It was a slave,working about twelve feetfrom me. He had dark skinandaheadfullofgrayhair.Ipaused and listened as headdedwordstothehumming.

First, he sang about beingborn by a river, in a tent.Then, he ended with aremarkablephrase thatstruckme likea rock.“Achange isgonnacome.”

My heart raced and my

eyesgotwide.Theslavehadan amazing voice, unlikeanything I’d ever heardbefore. Slowly, I walkedtoward the man as he keptsinging. The words weregripping, like a benevolentforcecallingtome.

Theslavewenton,singingabouthowhardlifehadbeenand about his fear of death.Again, that phrase at the endstruck me. “A change is

gonnacome.”I stopped in front of the

man, smiling. “You have anincrediblevoice.”

The slave looked up andput a hand over his eyes.“Well now—I ain’t neverseenoneofyouMamlukssaysomethingnicetous.”

Iquicklycheckedthearea,making sure I was a gooddistance from the othersoldiers.

“Where did you learn tosinglikethat?”

The slave chuckled. “Iusedtobeasomebodyinthistown before your kindarrived.Thatwas ‘AChangeIs Gonna Come’ you justheard. Sam Cooke—Nineteen-sixty-three.”

Inarrowedmyeyes.“SamCooke? Nineteen-sixty-three?”

The man shook his head

and got back to work. “MyLord—I guess our historydieswithus.”

I watched him shovel thedirtforasecond, likehewasshoveling away the precioushistoryhespokeoff.Iwantedto stay there and learnmore.But I knew I couldn’t.Finally, I snapped out ofmydaze and let out a desolatesigh. I moved on, lookingdown at the soil. But in the

background, I could hear theslave continue the song. Ismiledandlistenedcarefully.“A change is gonna

come.”