“Don’t worry, E. No one here is going to rat on us,” laughs Selene as she snorts one of the three lines of gorganite Vulcan arranged. “Their laws are no good here."
Seconds after I inhale my line the bar spins, all the clocks fixed to the walls tick madly. The lights dance and twirl in the vacuum of darkness.
“Eye shots!” scream Selene.
I lean my head back and part my eyelids.
“No, not that one. This one,” she smiles as a single bead from her dropper splashes against the lens of my upgraded eye. It immediately hits me, lifting me above the barstools.
The music steals my attention away. It loops within my fading mind as the bass links with my heartbeat speeding from me.
Selene wants to dance so, we dance.
She looks more beautiful tonight than I’ve ever seen her. Without speaking she takes my face and gently pushes her lips against mine. For a second the world stands still.
Reality warps.
We’re all laughing. I can’t remember what about.
Tick. Tock.
More dancing. Who am I anymore?
Tick. Tock.
My eyes close and I feel her warm lips sucking on my neck.
They open and we’re in my bed.
Just the two of us, alone at last.
Chapter 9
We arrive at Elysium in the still, early hours of the morning after shallowly burying the fallen. It wasn’t my idea to bring them here. We wait patiently outside the gates while one of the guards summon Xander. Exhaustion has overcome us. Hunger is the sole muse of my present desire.
Xander greets Jason and the others with open arms just as Cyrus predicted he would. His hospitality feeds and clothes each one of the survivors from this mysterious Argo that I haven’t dared to mention again, at least not in the presence of the crazy, old man.
Running into the dining hall seconds after she heard we were back, Jacee bombards me, unaware of the damage the storm did to my shoulder. Her affection is a knife, dropping me straight to my knees. Of course, she immediately apologizes… in between her snorts of uncontrollable laughter. She’s evil.
The first order of business is a feast in honor of the survivors, Xander’s orders. I’m not sure how long it’s been since they’ve eaten. Judging by the thin layer of skin stretched over their ribs, probably days.
After Xander announces that the visitors will stay until further notice, I see Leon head straight for the gate. I follow.
Here we go again.
If someone has to talk to him, it might as well be me.
“Leon, wait up,” I shout just steps outside the gate. “What’s up, big guy?”
“Call me that again, and I’m gonna fuck ya up, little guy, and Xander ain’t here to save ya,” he snaps balling his giant’s fist at me. “Why’s he bringing strangers into our homes - into where we sleep? Who does he think he is? These people could be murderers or workin’ with Lethe!”
“I wasn’t,” I say staring defiantly into his frustration. “He took me in and I’m not a murderer or working for Lethe.”
“That’s different.” His electric spear flies full force into the sand a few meters away.
“Look. These people have no place to go. If we don’t let them in, it’s the same as killing them,” I reason. “I’m with you.. I really am. We should keep an eye on them, but we can’t just send them to their deaths. That would make us no better than Lethe.”
He looks a little calmer despite the bulging veins in his neck. Opening his mouth to speak, he chooses to shake his head instead. I guess we agree to disagree.
“I ain’t always been this way, ya know?” he says with his head still down staring off blankly into the vacant horizon.
I feel a speech brewing and begin to regret coming after him.
“When Xander saved me, I was too weak to walk. Lethe was runnin’ all types of tests and marked me to be executed. They claimed their computers detected a problem with my blood, a rare recessive gene. He looked me straight in tha eye and told me my existence is a threat to tha Lethe Corporation. ‘The collective is simply of greater importance,’ Fuck that. Xander gave up his Olympian lifestyle to break me out. I’m forever grateful for that, but he doesn’t understand. There are some evil people out there, Palin. Not everyone is like us.”
“Just give them a chance. This isn’t a bad idea. There is strength in numbers.”
“And there is death in ignorance.”
I leave him angry and head back towards the dining hall. Cyrus stops me on the way.
“You want to help me out tomorrow or you gonna sit on your ass all day licking your wounds? First thing in the morning we’re heading to Argo to pick up any remaining survivors and any supplies they might have. Normally I wouldn’t ask since you just got back, but we still have two squads on an overnight to 22.”
I’m not sure if I’m physically capable. The ghost storm really messed up my shoulder. Although, I am curious about the ark the old man, Jason, was rambling over. I can’t wait to see it in person if it’s even real. “Of course, I’ll help. I’ve got to pull my weight somehow.”
“That’s the spirit.”
The rest of the day is spent resting. Turns out my arm is only bruised, and already feels much better after a cool bath and a long nap. I stay half out of it until I hear the bass from the drums echoing through the cool tunnels of Elysium.
My ears throb to the beat as I enter the dining hall. This is where the party is at. There’s always a party here, almost every night after hours. Drunken people, bathed in the blue glow of their berries, sway and dance all over each other. An energy is alive here. Pulsing, touching each of us, connecting everyone, pulling us to its center. After a few short seconds, I’m drawn into it, connected.
Jacee
