Siltesa walked past the armed guards at the gates. Further and further from the whispers of the other children, the guards followed as she trudged along, clutching a small tablet against her chest. The school building and its little patch of grass had been moved so many times in the last few months. That day it rested in an empty metal cube far too big for it. It sat there awkwardly, away from the glass walls and the distant starlight, but safe.
“Everything alright, Esa?” asked one of the guards.
The little girl with her long brown hair and short button nose hummed yes. Her brown eyes were cast down on the scarred metal floor. She had not looked up in days. The guard looked around, her heavy visored helmet brushing against the armor’s thick metal collar. “Your mother would kill me but, wanna play that game on my slate?”
Siltesa shook her head and tried to stifle a sniffle. The footsteps behind her stopped. The kind guard knelt down and her black glass visor slid down into the painted white metal of her armored suit. Swinging her rifle back, she tried to get Siltesa to look at her. The little girl shied away from the guard’s eyes, pressing her own shut. The guard spoke up, “You can tell me what happened, Esa, I promise I won’t go back and tell them off.”
A faint “Not now” made its way out of Siltesa’s throat.
“Major Kerick,” said the other guard, “we should keep moving.” The roar of the protests was drawing closer. The man, Serus, peered around a corner. The words ‘We are not sick’ were seared into the metal walls leading down to Concord Plaza. Projected images flickered on the walls and, for the first time in a long time, Siltesa looked up. Quickly, the major held her close, shielding the girl's face. But it was too late, Siltesa saw the projections, the lifeless faces with the word ‘innocent’ written over lifeless blacked out eyes. Kerick looked at Serus, the pounding of her heart dampened by her armor but Siltesa could still hear it. Little thumps through metal.
“Major,” said Serus, “main parkway? Usual route is a little... crowded.”
Kerick nodded and held Siltesa’s shoulders to look at her. The little girl looked straight down. The beating of Kerick’s heart grew louder. “We’ll get you home quick.”
A few minutes later, the three of them exited a labyrinth of metal corridors onto Dorsal Park Alpha, where the treetops bathed in the light of the stars beyond the glass. There was a gathering in the main clearing, people marching in circles, chanting. Serus caught Kerick’s attention as they walked behind Siltesa. He pointed to the glass dome’s armature. Torn banners hung from the support beams, a hanging half read ‘PEACE WITH–‘. Something else was scribbled over, unreadable.
“We should tell Doctor Hemt when we get Siltesa home.” Siltesa peered up quickly before looking back down. In the distance, Inquisition soldiers in their pristine white uniforms leaned against the silver pipes that rose from the ground and into the tree trunks, the muzzles of their rifles dug into the grass. Scrambling into straightened stances with their guns’ barrels pointed up, they saluted Kerick.
“Major!” said one of the men. She said nothing and walked quietly behind Siltesa. Just as the little girl entered the service corridor Kerick turned back to one of the soldiers, and whispered, “We've lost better soldiers to rebels lately. They don't need guns, they don't even need to get close. The only way you’d be more useless is if you were actually dead, you fucking imbecile.” She joined Serus and Siltesa in the elevator and as the doors closed she shouted out, “and don’t lean on the oxy pipes, fish brains!”
Siltesa let out a giggle.
“Don’t tell your mother,” said Kerick as she ruffled Siltesa’s hair as the elevator started moving. When the door reopened, the pathway to Siltesa’s home opened up. To the right was the archway to the garden with a private window overlooking Annwyn VII, the fiery craters on the planet visible all the way from orbit. Kerick removed her white glove and pressed her open palm on a glass pane by the front door. A chime played out from above. “Siltesa is home, Dr. Hemt,” Kerick called out.
“Door’s unlocked,” said a woman’s weary voice. The metal inside the heavy oak moved with a thud, making the door swing open slowly.
“Alright,” Kerick put her gloveless hand on Siltesa’s head and caressed her hair with her thumb, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Rus has an assignment.”
Siltesa nodded without looking up. “Tomorrow,” she said as she pushed the door open and walked in. Serus walked away first, the pause of his stride drawing Kerick out of her stillness. Something within the house fell. Something heavy. They slowed down and a faint cry escaped the thick walls.
Kerick’s legs froze.
Serus exhaled and shook his head, “Major…”
“I gotta know, Serus.”
“It’s not our job, you already got demoted for trying last week. We’ll report it to command or—”
She took a deep breath, “You’re right.” She looked at Serus with a pained smile, “but I forgot to tell Dr. Hemt about the banner. I should… do that.”
“This won’t end well…”
“I have to tell her about the banner, right?” she repeated, backpedaling toward the house, “No one will know you were here, go.”
Serus’ shoulders sunk with a sigh and he left. Steeling herself, major Kerick rolled her shoulders. Clattering inside. The pounding that never left her chest redoubled roiled like a cloud waiting for rainfall. She grit her teeth and stepped forward. Something heavy fell. Siltesa’s little voice slipped through the walls. The scream set Kerick’s blood on fire. Shattering the door in half using her armored shoulder, Kerick ran to the kitchen where the crying came from.
The thin blonde hair of Siltesa’s mother fell like a torn veil over her face. She knelt on her daughter’s back, holding the girl’s arm up. Pulling, harder and harder. Kerick tackled the doctor and threw her to the floor. Aghast, she stepped back to the other side of the small kitchen, “What the fuck are you doing?”
The swinging ceiling light cast a grim shadow over the dug-in cheeks of Dr. Hemt. Her eyes alight with a frazzled fury, she panted. “She’s infected!” screeched the haggard specter, “Major, we have to contain her, fast!” Siltesa crawled then ran to Kerick and hid behind her. Siltesa’s mother continued breathlessly, “Look at the room, major! Look!”
Broken cupboards, an obliterated wooden and broken glass hovering above the cold white tiles. “Okay, doctor, I know you won’t like this but there are things we can do. It’s not just the camps or sending her down to Ann seven. I mean, you can see the fucking craters from your own window!” Siltesa held onto Kerick’s leg, terrified. Kerick looked down and the anger quickly left her. Her leg. If things didn’t calm down soon, it could be gone. The ceiling lamp started swinging faster. Kerick felt something crawl through the armor, through her skin. It gripped her bones. She looked at Siltesa. The little girl looked up, eyes filled with tears refracting the glow coming from her irises. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ll sneak you out, and it’ll all be better. We’ll find you others with azir and —”
Gunshot. Blood splattered on the walls.
Siltesa screamed. Kerick fell, her head sliding against the wall, her eyes lifeless. Siltesa’s world was nothing but silence. Her mother tackled her once more, forcing the girl’s face on the kitchen floor. The smoking gun careened along the floor until it came to a halt between her eyes and Kerick’s. Siltesa saw the blood drip in clots from the side of Kerick’s head. She reached for her only friend’s hand. Her trembling fingers found nothing but cold tiles and warm blood. The glow from her eyes like a sunset over the pooling blood crawling closer.
Her mother snatched her wrist, pulled Siltesa’s arm up, and broke it.
She was eight.