Aria's Awakening - A Short Story (Patreon)

Aria’s Awakening

A rare breeze blew through the large cabin of the transport device that Aria was driving, causing her to tilt her head back to enjoy the cooler air it brought into the stuffy cockpit. Lifting the low ponytail she had hastily tied her hair back in earlier that morning allowed her to cool off a bit more.

Sighing, she turned around, and while leaning against the control panel she rolled the bottom of her pants up, exposing her short boots.  Still feeling uncomfortably hot, she then pulled her suspenders down over her shoulders, unbuttoning her short sleeved shirt so that all she had covering her upper half was her tank top.  Pulling the suspenders back in place, she threw her shirt into the swivel chair reserved for a co-pilot.

Overheated, tired, and very thirsty, Aria groaned at her luck.  Why did it have to be smack dab in the summer months that the Corporation decided to send their privatized Army to her home planet?  Because of their need to control all of the galaxy, her brother Jamie had to go into hiding and she had to take over his usual job.  While it was true that they were both extremely adept as pilots, and they both shared the same secret trait that had somehow skipped their four other brothers, that didn’t mean she was happy about sacrificing her free time as often as she was forced to do.  The fact that the Corporation knew of Jamie’s birth and not her own somehow made their parents believe that she would continue to go unnoticed, and therefore not be forced into indentured servitude.

Grumbling to herself over the unfairness of it all, her wrist band began to beep at her.  Squinting at the small screen, she ignored her stats, and the myriad of control buttons she was forbidden from pushing.  Those numbers hadn’t changed in the two years since she had put on the band, and the code to activate the buttons had eluded her multiple attempts at hacking.  She could definitively say it wasn’t any of her or her brothers’ birthdays.  However, the message that came across her screen was important to the work she was doing today.

<Soldiers flying by soon, round up the rest of the Mungi as quickly as possible to avoid any suspicion.>

Scowling at the message, Aria’s irritation only rose.  Grunting, she quickly sent her response.

<Understood.>

Knowing her short response would irritate her brother Gabriel, she grinned and closed out the communication.  Staying on the link for too long would only make it easier for the soldiers to pick up their line of communication, making exposure of their unique family more likely.  Something that, despite her irritation at pulling double duty, was not what she desired.  Nor would it free her from hard labor, just the opposite.  At least her family did not demand an oath of allegiance.

Jumping down the side of the ramp and slowing her fall with a tiny flex of her mage power, she ignored what sounded like an angry beep at her left wrist, only making her smile bigger.  Gabriel could stuff it.  Walking towards the back of the transporter, she came upon her two other brothers as they herded the Mungi - their main source of meat - into the large trailers hooked up in a row.  There were three trailers this time, each one measuring roughly thirty feet long and twelve feet wide.

The Mungi were a cross-breed from two animals that the first settlers brought with them centuries ago.  Two beasts called a ‘deer’ and a ‘mountain goat’ were genetically combined to improve survivability.  Whatever those were supposed to be.  Each Mungi was about five feet tall, brown shaggy fur, horns that either curled to the back or to the side of their heads, short fluffy tails, and weird slitted eyes.  Whatever the hell the animals were that they had spawned from, they were tasty and kept the people fed.  As well as keeping Aria’s family’s pockets lined with the funds needed to keep them fed and warm in the winter.

Luckily, the Mungi were being compliant today, and the herding seemed to be going faster than normal.  Tilting her head back, she shielded her eyes from the two suns moving across the sky.  The assigned name for their planet was #232 in the Gamma quadrant.  However, those who lived there long ago affectionately named their new world Promised Land.  Not knowing as much as her parents about the originating home planet, she wasn’t sure why it was so important to the ancient elders to give this rock that name specifically.  Something about a never-ending war in a desert part of the world they came from.

A yell from the end of the trailers pulled Aria from her thoughts.  Standing there with his hands on his hips was her brother, Benjamin.  Staring back at him she yelled back. “What did you say, Benji?”  He rolled his eyes so hard she could see it from her perch.  Irritated at his response, and the fact that she was even here, she snapped at him. “Damnit Benji, just repeat what you said, you don’t have to be so dramatic!”

He crossed his arms and growled back at her, then pointed at the trailer she was standing on. “Count the Mungi loaded in each trailer!”  Moving his finger so that he was pointing at her he continued, “And watch your language, little one!  Sixteen years old does not make you an adult.”  With that he turned around, disappearing behind the third trailer.

Gritting her teeth, she punched the part of the trailer next to her.  She instantly regretted it as soon as her fist made contact with the metal.  Sucking on the two knuckles that hurt the most, she allowed the pity of suffering under the unfairness of the overprotectiveness from five older brothers to overrule her feelings of embarrassment.  Muttering under her breath she turned towards the inside of the trailer.  “I’m old enough to know you’re an ass.”

Sighing, she began to count out loud. “One, two, three…eighteen, nineteen, twenty…twenty-eight.”  It was tedious, boring work, and the more she counted the Mungi, the sleepier she felt.  Yawning, she finished her count at thirty-two. If each trailer held this many, they were going to make a killing on this trip.  Maybe her father could finally hire some help, and she could practice more on her flying skills.  She knew her parents would never allow her to attend the academy because of her secret ability, but a girl could dream.

That was why they were on this fringe planet in the first place.  Her and Jamie’s ability had to be kept a secret, and this planet allowed their family to live in hiding.  The only time they had to worry about the Corporation was twice a year.  Knowing that #232 was the home to many retired war heroes, smugglers, and others who desired to live their life not under the scrutiny of a controlling society, made it an easy choice for her parents to make.  Most people were farmers or ranchers, like their family, and few of them would be easily bribed by those in the Corporation.

So when the Corporation did their fly-by’s and inspections, a lot of families hid their goods or certain family members.  The soldiers were notorious for arresting young women for ridiculous reasons, and goods had a way of disappearing.  They claimed they were just doing their jobs, since everything was under the purview of the Corporation.  Fucking proxy rules.  Both of her parents were war heroes, making it easy for them to blend in with everyone else.  Her father had been a pilot, and her mother a decorated foot soldier.  Every day, time was set aside for lessons in hand to hand combat, weapons training, and flying.

Her father was extremely proud of her abilities as a pilot.  Unfortunately, with her specific mage ability, if she was found out, she would be chained to the Corporation until she died. Which for many like her meant a short life, ended quickly due to burnout from overuse of their powers.  Mages like her and Jamie had no free time, no vacations, never allowed a family of their own, and were magically bound to the Corporation.  Closing her eyes, she rubbed the area between her eyebrows.  Why did she have to be born as a Space Bender?  Other mages didn’t have to worry about anything beyond a quick two-year commitment.  Space mages weren’t so lucky.

She climbed down the side and headed toward the second trailer.  Quickly climbing to the top, she started the process of counting again.  In the middle of her headcount, her wrist band began to beep almost continuously.  Damn Gabe and his incessant need for control.

Finishing her count, she looked down at her wrist band, pulling up the full screen this time so she could read all the messages coming in.

<Stay in the field!  Soldiers at the house!>

<Father was shot by the Captain, Jamie hiding in the cellar.  Do not, I repeat,

do not come home!>

<Shit!  They have an Examiner with them.>

After Gabe’s last written message, the next two were audio clips from her mother, Sia.  What she sent made Aria’s breath catch in her throat.

<Run. Hide.  The Examiner found Jamie.>

<Your father was ambushed.  He’s been shot.  Gabe, Henry, and I are going to try and fight them off.  Benji, get Aria to safety.  Aria, it’s time to use your wrist band the way it was meant to be used.  Hit the red button, and type in the date your father and I first met, 1218, to unlock all its functions.  Jackson, don’t be afraid of your power.  Don’t hesitate.  Remember your train->

The message immediately cut off.  Her heart started pounding and her breathing quickened.  This couldn’t be real.  It had to be some sort of trial, or test that her parents were doing.  They had done similar simulations in the past.  However, this time her father had been hurt.  Actually hurt.  That had never been included in their simulations.  And until now, she had been forbidden from touching the tiny red button that ran along the top edge of the control panel.  What did it even mean?

Looking up, she scanned the area on the other side of the trailers, searching for her two brothers, Jackson and Benji.  Jackson was running towards the trailers so quickly that he tripped, almost falling.  Benji stood next to a Mungi looking at his wrist band.  As soon as he finished checking the messages, his head snapped up, scanning the area where the transport was parked.

As soon as their eyes met, she knew this was not a simulation.  Their parents and three brothers had been caught by the Corporation’s soldiers.  Shit.  Noticing that Jackson had already moved into action, Aria knew that Benji’s next thought would be about getting them to the underground shelter at the base of the mountains.

Looking back at her, he hooked his fingers before straightening them, giving her the signal to unhook the trailers.  Keeping them attached would only slow them down, making capture more likely. Nodding to show she understood, Aria climbed down as quickly as she could and sprinted back to the cabin of the transporter.  Grateful she had taken her outer shirt off earlier, she wiped the sweat from her eyes as she ran up the ramp, boosting her speed as she released a small amount of magical power to flow throughout her body.

Leaning over the dashboard she punched in the code to release the tow pintle, allowing it to retract back into the transporter.  Moving over to the part of the dashboard that allowed her to input the coordinates, she felt a wave of fear wash over her.  Was her father alive?  She knew her brother Jamie would be sent for grueling training and then be attached to ship after ship because of his ability to jump objects through time and space.  However, what would happen to the rest of her family as punishment for hiding a Space Bender?  Would they send them to a prison mine, or would they go to the front lines as part of a penal company?  The Corporation was always at war with other planets, subjugating them to their rule.  Those unfortunate to be forced into the penal companies were always the first to die during an invasion.

As her brother Jackson ran into the cramped cabin, she turned her head.  Their eyes met, and she knew that her own face mirrored the fear on his. “Have you released the trailers yet?”  Afraid the tears she had been holding back would escape if she spoke, Aria simply nodded.  “Good.  Benji is coming, he just wanted to take one last look around before we go.”

She turned back towards the panel, unable to reply.  Her fear was intermingling with anger.  This was wrong, this was why their family left the comforts of a modern, more urban planet.  To be free, so that Jamie and her would never have to be chained to a ship, wasting their life force jumping ships from place to place.  They were supposed to be safe.  Her tears started to fall.  She furiously wiped them away, hating that she was an angry cryer.

Benji finally entered the transporter, and walked over to the panel where Aria was standing.  Placing his hand on her shoulder, she looked up into his face.  “Go sit down and do what mother told you to do with your wristband.  I will fly us there.”

She scrunched up her face at him.  “You’re not as good of a pilot as I am, Benji.  I can get us there a lot faster.”  She wasn’t sure how his face could get any sterner, but it did.  As the oldest, he tended to be more serious than the rest of them.  Except for Jamie.  Benji and Jamie both seemed to carry the world on their shoulders.

Squeezing her shoulder gently, he turned her so that she was completely facing him.  “Aria, it is important that you do as mother says.  Not only will it allow you to advance with your abilities, but it will fully activate the suppressor that father included in your wrist band.”  Confused at his words, her mouth opened a bit to reply.  “A suppressor is supposed to hide your abilities from Examiners.  Yes, Jamie had one included in his wristband as well.  No, I do not know why it failed.  You need to trust me.  I may not be as skilled as you are, but I am sufficient enough to get us to the shelter.”  Turning her around so that she faced the chair her shirt still rested on, he ended with one command.  “Go.”

Looking over her shoulder at Benji, she couldn’t help but feel guilty.  As he finished punching in the coordinates, the transporter gently lurched forward.  Worried, she sat down and turned her attention to her wristband.  She couldn’t understand why this was so important.  Nothing had changed in the last two years since she had put on this thing.

When she first got it from her parents she would sit for hours watching the stats, hoping they would change.  Nothing did.  When she went to her mother crying, her mother had smiled, hugged her, and told her that when the time was right she would be able to activate it.  Her mind would link to it, and the right code would unlock its full abilities.  Thinking about her mother caused another set of tears to well up.  Aria’s vision blurred and she used her forearm to wipe her eyes and her nose.  Time to focus, because that’s what her mother would have expected from her.

With slightly blurred vision, she pulled up her screen so that it was in front of her.  Pushing the tiny red button and typing in the code didn’t do anything that she could see.   Looking at her stats, they pretty much looked the same.  Except for… wait.  Some of her levels had changed:

Name: Aria

Health: 100/100

Mana: 25/25

Status: Unaffiliated

Bonds: None

Space Bender: Stage 1

Spells: Bend Gravity (Lvl 2)

Bend Time (Lvl 1)

Form Gateway (Lvl 1)

Shift Jump (Lvl 1)

Combined Spells: Unknown

Ability: Hand-to-hand (Lvl 6)

Piloting (Lvl 8)

Pistol (Lvl 3)

Equipment: Suppression Device - Basic

Status: Active - Effective through Bender Level 3

What did the Effective through Bender Level Three mean?  Was the suppression device only good for a little bit?  Groaning to herself, she now suspected why Jamie had been found so easily when the Examiner showed up today.  A few months back he had bragged about leveling up to stage four.  Luckily, she was still at stage one.  However, her piloting skills, hand-to-hand, and pistol had all leveled up.  So did her bend gravity, whatever that was.  It was probably from her using magic to get around easier while working.

The only downfall to living the way they did was that there were no teachers to help guide her and Jamie as they leveled up.  Her parents had told her that the suppressors would last a lifetime.  Apparently, that was a lie.  If Aria and her brother had never leveled up, never grown and adapted their power, then it would have been the deal that her parents thought it was.

Aside from the increases in her ‘ability’ category, not much had changed.  Confused as to what else was unlocked on her wristband, she tucked a piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear.  As she did so her eye caught a blinking video message in the upper right hand corner of her screen.  She reached over and tapped on it.  As soon as she did, a video of her mother popped up.

She looked at her sitting there in her black combat suit.  Her mother refused to change them out for regular clothes.  She always said that she wanted to be ready if anything happened, and a dress only got in her way.  Aria blinked back tears again as she took in her mother’s long brown hair, soft brown eyes that could sharpen and harden when needed, her narrow face that always seemed so elegant.  Would she see her again?  Would she see any of them again?

Sniffling, she tapped the video so it would play.  Her mother started with a smile that she only reserved for her children and her husband.

“Aria, hello baby girl.  If you are watching this, it means that either your father or I have been killed.”  At her words Aria choked on a sob.  Her mother sat there for a couple of minutes, sadly smiling at the screen.  She knew how Aria would react and was giving her a moment to mourn.

Aria looked up at her mother on the screen, gently smiling.  Everyone said she looked just like her.  Same brown hair, high cheekbones, full lips, and narrow face.  Her blue eyes came from her father.  Thinking about her father made her wonder if this little video meant he was dead, or her mother was dead, or if they were just in custody awaiting death.  Shaking her head, she knew that now was not the time to get lost in her grief.

Her mother smiled sadly and leaned forward in the video.  Suddenly her expression changed.  Her lips flattened as her eyebrows dipped down in the middle.  “Listen to me Aria.  What I’m about to tell you is extremely important and you must never forget it.”  Aria nodded her head in response, not caring if she looked silly responding to a recording.  “We found out about a month ago that the suppressors in your’s and Jamie’s wristbands only last up to stage three.  That information wasn’t available until after the bond was complete.”  Her mother leaned back, slumping in her chair.  A look of pain crossed over her face before she began again.

“My sweet girl, we are sorry that we failed you and Jamie.  My only hope is that neither you nor your brother will come across an Examiner.  When we bought the suppressors, we were told that they would last a lifetime.  However, when Jamie leveled up he received an alert from his wristband telling him his powers were no longer suppressed.  We are looking for another peddler in the hopes that we can purchase both you and your brother new suppressors.  Although, if you are watching this, it means we failed.”

Suddenly Aria felt a hand on her shoulder.  Her brother Jackson had sat down next to her.  The sorrow in his face told her that he could hear everything that her mother had been saying.  He nodded at her to continue listening.  He didn’t seem to be surprised at all by any of this information.  She shouldn’t have been surprised that once again everyone knew but her.

Her mother’s voice rang out clearly, causing her to look back at the screen.  “Aria.  Know that we love you so much.  We tried our best to raise you and your brothers so that you were prepared for the world.  I only hope you can forgive us for being human at times, and not always being your favorite people.”  Sighing, she continued.  “I know you have been chafing lately, wanting to do more, see more… be more.  Please understand that the rules we have in place were for your own protection.  Do not forget our teachings; in combat, in the cockpit, and in life.  Go directly to the bunker, if you aren’t there already.  Your brothers will know what to do.  There is food, water, weapons, and more importantly, a ship capable of outer-atmosphere travel.  I know you will want to do your own thing, but please listen to your brothers.  This is what we have all been training for, ever since your brother Jamie was born.  We knew at some point that any child after him could have the same power.  Fight Aria, but most importantly, live.”

Her mother leaned forward once again.  “I love you Aria, my sweet little song bird.”  With those last words, her mother kissed two fingers, touching them to the screen.  Aria watched as her mother smiled sadly, and finally reached up to turn the recorder off.  With that, her screen shut off and was absorbed by her wristband.

Choking on a sob, Aria tried desperately to hold back her tears.  Jackson let her sit there for the next few minutes, crying.  He reached out and pulled her into his shoulder, soothing her the best way he knew how, awkward as it was.  As she sat there, letting her tears fall, rage was quick to replace her anguish.

Leaning back, she brushed her hair back from her face.  “Jackson, what were our parent’s plans beyond escaping?”  Before Jackson could answer, the transporter swerved to the left, throwing both her and him to the side.  Pushing herself up so she was half sitting, she turned her head towards Benji.  “What the hell happened?!”

Benji was hunched over, punching codes into the panel.  He grunted, followed by an admonishment.  “Language, Aria!”

Snorting back at him, she stood up, running over to him.  “Seriously?  You’re scolding me for saying the word hell at a time like this?”  Looking at her sideways, he scowled at her.  She ignored him and pushed her way closer.  “What is going on, Benji?”

“A corporation ship came up behind us, and tapped us on the back.”  His voice turned sarcastic as he said, “I believe they are politely telling us to pull over.”  Aria looked at the screen that showed the rear of the transporter.  Just as Benji had said, there was a Corporation ship right behind them.  Seeing the insignia on the front of the transporter, she felt rage bubble to the surface again.

Clenching and unclenching her fist, she looked at the map that indicated how far from the bunker they were.  About fifteen miles to go.  “We can’t let them know we are headed for the bunker.”  Nodding his head at her, Benji looked down at her hands.

“I am going to erase the coordinates.  Now is not the time, Aria.”  Surprised, she looked up into his face. She saw understanding and realized that he knew what she was thinking.  Revenge.  “You are going to hide in the secret cargo room.  I promised our parents that I would protect you.”

“They killed our parents, Benji!  You want me to sit quietly and hide?  How could you?!”  Benji turned quickly, grabbing her by the shoulders, his face remained passive, but his eyes seemed to burn.

“You think I want to play nice with them?”  He hissed at her.  She felt his hot breath fan her face as he continued, his voice fierce. “All I want to do is kill them, and with my own bare hands.  But I made a promise to our parents to protect you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”  His hands tightened as he lightly shook her.  She glared back up into his face, hating that he was making sense.  “Damnit, Aria!  If you do not hide on your own, I will have Jackson tie you up and put you in there whether you like it or not.”  Shoving his hands off her shoulders she continued to glare at him.

They stood there staring at each other for a bit, until Jackson cleared his throat, gaining their attention.  “So, uh, should I tie her up?”  Growling at her brothers, she turned towards the back of the transporter, her arms swinging exaggeratedly as she stomped her way to the secret room that their parents had installed.

Before she pushed on the panel to slide it open, she turned back to both her brothers.  “Just so you know, I hate both of you right now.  I will get even with those bastards.”  Benji only nodded at her, his face strained.  He didn’t even mention her language this time.  For a moment she felt a flicker of regret over her behavior, but only a moment.  Pushing on the panel she slid the door over, stepping into the small, dark compartment.

Behind her Jackson appeared and slid the panel back in place, the dark swallowing her up.  She hated it every time she had to hide in here.  It was always hotter than the rest of the transporter, and it tended to smell like whatever cargo they had recently been hauling.  Which usually happened to be Mungi meat.

The cargo space was small, measuring roughly eight by four feet.  Enough to hide taxed cargo, or a couple of people.  Sliding her hand along the short end of the wall, she found her way to the opposite side and slid down to sit and wait.  She sat there in silence as Benji slowed the transporter down, and carefully landed.  Within a few minutes, she heard the soft swoosh of the door sliding open and the ramp dropping to the ground.

At the sound of an unfamiliar male voice, she ground her teeth together, clenching her hands into fists in her lap.  Damn them!  Damn them all!  They were going to pay for what they took from her.  Benji had been right though, as much as she hated to admit it.  That first voice was soon followed by several footsteps as more soldiers clambered into the transporter.  Frustrated, she leaned her head back, knowing they would’ve been captured, or killed almost immediately if she had tried anything.

She sat there, sweating, lost in her thoughts for a bit.  That is, until she heard a conversation right outside the panel.  Scooting closer to the opening, she pushed her ear against the door, listening.

The conversation seemed to be between a younger soldier and an older soldier.  The younger one’s voice was a bit higher and unsure, while the older voice was gravely and gruff.  The young voice was talking first, and had uttered the words that had initially caught her attention, ‘female foot soldier’.  Her mother!  It had to be.

“I thought I was a goner, sarge.  I mean, did you see her?  She came out of that house with a knife in each hand, a staff on her back, and pistols holstered on each side!  If it hadn’t been for you, I’d be dead now and you’d be writing to my ma.”

The rough voice of the older soldier silenced the voice of the younger soldier.  “Just shut up about it, kid.  I told you, I’m no hero.  That woman we took down today, she’s the hero.  I know she recognized me as soon as she saw me, just like I recognized her as soon as she stepped out those doors.”  She could hear his soft sigh of regret.  “She was a true warrior.  The only crime she committed was trying to protect her family.”

Tears dropped onto her hand as she sat there listening.  Her anger was so strong, that she hadn’t even realized she was crying.

“Quiet, sarge.”  The younger voice harshly whispered.  “If you’re not careful they’ll hear you.  You don’t want to be punished, do you?”

The older voice scoffed his reply.  “Son, death would be a mercy at this point.  The one you should pity is that young man they took.  He’s a Space Bender, and his life is no longer his own.  He’ll be lucky if he lives past his thirties.”

Surprise and joy mingled with her rage as she heard that her brother Jamie was still alive.  She wished she could pull the old man aside and question him about her parents and brothers.  It took every ounce of her self control to sit there quietly.

The two soldiers moved past the panel, leaving only the quiet rumblings of the transporter.  She could hear muffled voices as they searched the true cargo bay, their marked storage areas, and questioned her brothers.  Pulling up her screen, she looked at her stats again, noting that she was a Stage one Space Bender, and rereading the part about the suppressor only lasting up to Stage three.  Putting that information with what her mother had stated, she knew that her earlier supposition was correct.  For now, she could easily hide from an Examiner.  However, once she reached Stage Three, she lost that safety.

She sat there in the dark for the next twenty minutes or so, thinking about how she would convince her brothers to try and find the rest of their family.  She knew there were weapons and gear in the bunker, and she honestly didn’t feel that her family’s lives should be forfeited for hers.  It felt wrong.  It was wrong.

Lost in her daydream of personally stabbing the unknown Examiner in the face, the sound of the panel sliding open caused her to hold her hand over her eyes, protecting them from the light suddenly flooding the small cargo area.

Blinking up into Jackson’s eyes, he reached out his hand to her.  Still upset with them, she pushed his hand away and stood up on her own.  He brushed his hand through his chestnut hair, looking at her sheepishly.  “I’m sorry Aria.  You know I wasn’t really going to tie you up, right?”  Crossing her arms over her chest, she scowled at him.  Grinning at her, he used his finger to make an x over his heart.  “Cross my heart.”

She pushed him aside, walking past him.  “How can you joke at a time like this?”  He grimaced, looking at the wall, unable to say anything back.

He looked her in the eye, shrugging his shoulders.  “That's all I know to do, Aria.  You know humor is how I cope.  Thinking you’re the only one hurting right now, well, you’d be wrong.”  Well, shit.  He was right.  She knew Jackson was more laid back than the rest of them, preferring to laugh over arguing.  It didn’t mean he never felt anything.

“I… I’m sorry Jackson.  I was wrong.”  Feeling embarrassed and chagrined at the same time, heat crawled up her neck and her cheeks.  He walked over to her, and pulled her in for a hug.

“I know you are.  It’s ok.  This is a difficult time that none of us thought would actually happen.  I forgive you.”  Pulling back to look up into his face, he patted her head and smiled at her before his expression hardened.  Surprised by the change on her easy going brother’s face, her mouth dropped open a bit.

“We all want revenge, little bird.  We just need to get to safety first.  Let’s go talk to Benji.  It seems he found out some information.”  Still surprised at how quickly his demeanor changed, she could only nod back at him.  Together they walked the short distance to their older brother.

As they approached, he looked back over his shoulder at them.  “Good, you’re both here.  I let them leave first before having Jackson pull you out.  Are you ok?”

“I am.  Jackson said you were able to get some information from them?”  Aria stood on one side of Benji as Jackson pulled up on the other side of him.  Both were looking at him expectantly, eagerly.

“I did.  We’ll talk about that as soon as they are out of view.  Father told me once that they like to pull off and fly slowly to see if the individuals they have investigated will send out a comm link.  Sneaky, but effective.”  He looked out the front of the transporter and watched them as they slowly flew away.

She, too, watched the transporter as it slowly moved towards the plains.  As she did so, she memorized the emblem.  A yellow star, with a blue sash going from the upper left to the bottom right, and yellow sticks coming out from around it.  She assumed it was meant to be shining.

As soon as the transporter faded from view she shoved her way behind the panel. “I’ll fly us there, you tell us what you found out.”  Worn out, Benji agreed.  Pushing a button lifted a seat from the floor for her to sit on.  Making herself comfortable, she switched from auto to manual.  As she grabbed the joysticks, a sense of calm surrounded her.  This was her true joy in life.  Flying.

Jackson sat in the seat she had put her shirt in earlier, and Benji pushed another button allowing a second seat to appear. As soon as Benji sat he began talking.  “When I asked why we were being searched, the captain told me that they had found two AWOL soldiers earlier today, a pilot and a foot soldier.  He told me that they went missing when their second-born son was found to be a Space Bender.”

Benji paused as he leaned back to get more comfortable.  “He told me that they were lucky to find the traitors, saying they took a valuable asset from the Corporation.  He himself was hoping he could keep said asset for his ship, as his last Space Bender had died recently.”

As he talked, she felt her anger returning at hearing them describe her brother as an asset instead of a human being.  Looking at him, all she saw was weariness and pain.  Deciding she didn’t want to burden him with her own anger, she kept silent.

“When I asked about the family, they told me they had killed the parents and imprisoned the three sons at the house.  I wanted to smash his face in, the longer he bragged about taking our parents down.”  He wiped his face with his hand, leaning forward.  “Cowards, they’re all cowards.  They ambushed father and Henry.  Mother went down fighting, Gabe was caught in the field trying to distract them from Jamie.”

Jackson clapped him on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.  “It’s alright, Benji.  Laughing and joking with them was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.  We’ll find our brothers, and we’ll bring them back.”  Hearing those words, Aria felt grateful.  Grateful because she knew she wouldn’t have to convince her brothers to acquire the revenge she desired so badly.

Within minutes, they were within range of the hidden bunker.  However, as she scanned the horizon, she noticed there was something glinting in the sunlight, about one hundred yards to the north of the hidden bunker.  Squinting, she used the camera on the front of the transporter to zoom in farther.  “Shit!”  At her exclamation, both her brothers jumped up.  Scowling at her choice of language Benji looked at what she had pulled up on the screen.  Under his breath he mumbled something.  “What?”

Turning to look at her he clenched his jaw.  “I said shit.  Happy?”  Well ya, she was.  Just a little bit.

“Shit is right you two.  Listen, Aria, can you open the hatch so Benji and I can jump out?”  At his words Benji stiffened.  “I know, I know.  I don’t want to leave her either, but if we can get to the bunker and get the ship going while she distracts them, we can track this transporter, follow them, and shoot them out of the sky.”

Benji’s eyebrows shot up.  “Seriously?  That’s your plan?”  Looking at the transporter carrying the men that killed her family, Aria knew what she had to do.

“I’ll do it.”  At Beji’s exclamation, she pointed in front of  her at the screen.  “We’re running out of time, I’m the best pilot, and you don’t have a plan.”

“I can’t just leave you to fend for yourself, Aria!  What kind of a man do you think I am?”

“The kind that knows his sister is the best pilot in their family, and who will trust her to stay alive.”

Two sets of the same blue eyes met, clashing with unspoken anger and frustration.  All Aria knew was, she wanted a chance to take down some of the men responsible for the loss of her family.  Losing her life today was not an option.

Begrudgingly, Benji backed down, acknowledging that this was at least some kind of a plan.  Not necessarily a good one, but a plan.  Jackson’s plan seemed simple enough.  She would fly around their transporter, acting like she was going to land.  The closer they got to the ground the more dirt would fly up in the air, allowing them to quickly jump down, running for the door to the bunker.  His hope was that the dirt in the air would hide them long enough to reach safety.

As soon as their feet touched the ground, she would fly in the other direction, getting them to chase her, and giving them time to boot up the ship and come after her.  The one question on all their minds was, how had they found their bunker in the first place?  How did they know the coordinates?  They had deleted them before the soldiers had boarded earlier.

As they pulled up on the Corporation’s transporter, her brothers moved to the rear where the drop hatch was.  Looking back at them one last time, Aria took in the last two members of her family that she knew were ok.  She hated this feeling of helplessness.  Turning back to the screen, she pulled the transporter in slowly, smoothly moving around to the back of the Corporation’s.  Pushing the controls down, she slowly dropped their altitude.

As they lowered farther down to the ground, more and more dirt flew up into the air, engulfing them and the other transporter.  At about fifteen feet she opened the drop hatch door.  At the seven foot mark she lifted her thumb up in the air, the signal to her brothers to jump.  The plan was for Jackson to send her a pulse from his wristband to her’s as the signal that they had safely landed.  As soon as she felt the pulse on her wrist, she pushed towards the Corporation’s transporter and gave it a hard nudge.

Pulling back on her controls, she lifted the transporter up, immediately pushing the button for the thrusters and forcing her forward and ahead.  Within seconds, they were up and following her.  Scanning the area ahead of her, she knew she had the advantage.  This was her home, and she flew out here with her father all the time.

It only took her seconds to know she needed to head toward the other end of the mountains.  On their part of the planet, there were two major mountain ranges.  One going from north to south, the other going from east to west.  They were laid out so neatly that their family had many an after dinner debate on if someone had shaped the planet that way on purpose, instead of them forming naturally.

Their family had built their bunker within the mountains going from north to south.  Turning the transporter towards the southern area, she suddenly lurched forward, almost as though she had been hit.  What the hell?

She activated the screen that showed her the area behind her.  As she did so, she saw a blast shoot out from the front of the chasing transporter.  Damnit!  Benji never said they had weapons.  She knew he would never have left that out.  Which means, he hadn’t known it was an armed transport either.  Her brothers had better hurry up, or this was going to be the shortest distraction in Promised Land history.

Trying to look in front of her for the upcoming mountains, keeping an eye on the chasing transporter, and checking for damage was proving to be difficult.  Training had never been this hard.  Of course, there was never anyone shooting at her during training.  She felt the transporter shake again as another blast skimmed the side.

These damn Mungi-fuckers were not going to stop her today!  She was not going to die here, and most definitely not like this.  Pushing on the thrusters for more power, her speed picked up, allowing her to pull ahead of them, giving her time to see the next blast.  She dodged to the right, barely escaping another hit.

Gritting her teeth, she looked at her panel, trying to assess if there was any damage.  Luckily, all hits had been minor.  Which made her think they weren’t trying to kill her, but catch her.  Not today, dumbassess.

Blowing out the air she didn’t realize she was holding, she looked at the screen just in time to see another bolt of energy headed towards her.  This time she pushed the nose down so that it blasted over her.  Sweat was rolling down her face, her hands were hurting from clenching the joysticks too hard, and she was more than a little nervous.

As she came up on the mountains, she remembered something her father had told her.  ‘If you can’t shake’em, break’em’.  Yes!  Break them!  She had to buy her brothers some time.  Biting her bottom lip, she began to swerve the transporter back and forth, dodging between rock formations.  It took a lot to control the transporter.

Her arms were burning from pulling and pushing on the controls.  As she moved around a piece of rock that was jutting up from the ground, another blast came flying towards her.  Luckily, as she went around another rock, it took the hit instead.  Pieces of stone were hurled at her transporter, hitting the side hard enough to shake her in the cockpit.  Without thinking she ducked, as if she herself was dodging the flying debris.

Feeling stupid, she lifted up on the control, forcing herself higher in the air, hoping they would follow her.  Luckily, they did.  She was headed for a certain arch that was angled in such a way that it hid a part of the mountain. Only those familiar with the terrain would know to lift up as soon as they went through the arch.  Her hope was that she was as good as she thought she was to miss it herself.

Seeing what she was looking for, she smiled.  As she checked to see if they were still following her, her smile grew bigger.  “That’s right, Corporate scum.  Keep following me.”

Aria was focused so hard on getting to the arch that she didn’t realize she had chewed her lip to the point of drawing blood.  It was only when she tasted the tang of copper on her tongue that she released the delicate skin from her teeth.  Another blast shot out from behind, again aimed above her.

Figuring out that they were shooting at the rock formations above the transport in the hopes they would land on her, she pushed on the thrusters a little harder.  It was a risk in such an enclosed area, but she couldn’t allow them to trap her under a rockslide.  She would be finished before she even began.

With the sudden acceleration, she rocked back and forth.  Fearing she would lose control and spin out, she pulled back on the joystick to use the force of the acceleration to propel her even closer to the arch.  As the transporter rose in altitude the rocking began to ease, and she was able to stabilize the thruster output.

Licking her lips and tasting the blood from earlier, she flew through the arch and immediately pulled up to miss the top of the mountain that jutted up.  As she leaned back, she could feel the back of her transporter as it scraped along the rock, causing her to bounce off a couple of times.  Inside the cabin, she yelled loud enough to drown out the screaming warning sirens.  “Hold it together, baby!”  The space between the rock and the arch was narrow, with just enough space for her to scrape along without ripping apart the transporter.

Behind her she heard an explosion, the ship shaking as it was hit by the shockwave.  Catching a view from behind her, all she could see was smoke and flames.  “Yes!  Woo!  Suck it, Corporate bitches!”  Excited as she was to have killed them, she had just a little more to go before she was out of danger herself.  She pushed harder on the controls, forcing her way out.  As the debris hit the transporter, she thought it sounded a bit like hail.  A hard bump silenced the screaming alarms, which worried her more than their constant alerts.

Shooting over the top of the ravine, she let out a loud whoop of victory.  She was free!  She did it!  Turning the transporter around and leveling it off, she checked the panel for a damage report.  Parts of the siding had been scraped off, the ramp door was pushed in, the antenna was gone, and it was dented all to hell.  The engine and thrusters were still working in the spectrum of the acceptable output ranges, if barely.  Aria knew she was lucky.  She wasn’t one to believe in fate, but right here, right now, she knew that whatever god controlled ‘unfinished business’ was on  her side.

She looked above her, hoping to see her brothers hovering nearby in the ship.  Except for the smoke billowing up from beneath her, the skies were clear.  That was weird.  They should’ve found her by now.  Worried, she decided to fly back to the bunker in the hopes that she would meet them along the way.  She couldn’t broadcast a message using the ship’s antenna, so they would have to be in range of her wristband communicator.

As she continued on to the bunker she scanned the skies, hoping to see something.  Nothing.  The closer she got, the more worried she became.  Where were they?  Maybe they were having a hard time with the ship?

When she was close enough to zoom in and see the edge of the mountains, what she saw made her gut clench in fear.  Standing where the Corporation’s transporter had been earlier, were her brothers kneeling on the ground.  Behind them were three men.  Two appeared to be soldiers, while the third was unfamiliar to her.  There was omething about the unknown individual that made her skin crawl.

Whoever they were, they wore a long black robe over themselves, making it impossible to see if they were armed.  Bringing the transporter about twenty feet away from the group, she watched as one of the soldiers kicked Jackson.  Rage blossomed in her chest, making it hard for her to catch her breath.  He had just been kneeling there, being a good captive, and these animals had the audacity to kick him.  A few fires dotting the area were proof of him trying to use his Fire Mage powers, but with his hands tied behind his back, he was defenseless.

The rational part of her knew it was to force her out of hiding, exposing herself to them.  She didn’t think her brothers would crack under torture, and tell them who she was.  Or, more importantly, what she was.  Only recently had she begun to open to her powers, and that was just in little ways.  She was more comfortable behind a ship’s controls, or sparring with her mother.  Unfortunately for her, she had no weapons with her.  If she had to face down armed soldiers, Aria’s powers were the only thing in her arsenal.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, she stood up.  Time to show herself.  As she pushed the button on the panel to open the door, determination took over.  Now was not the time for fear to rule her.  She needed to be clear-headed in order to pull on her powers.  The only problem, she was afraid.  Afraid of losing more of her family.  Not in one day, and not to these tyrants.

Doing an about face, she walked towards the door, down the ramp, and around the front of the transporter.  She advanced another ten feet, then stopped.  Crossing her arms over her chest, she jutted her hip out.  She looked over her brothers, noting they were bloodied and bruised, but no worse for wear.

Forcing irritation into her voice, she tilted her chin up.  “Who the hell are you, and why are you illegally detaining my brothers?”  At the look of surprise on the unknown male’s face, she felt some satisfaction.  Because she in no way felt the bravado she was displaying.

He composed himself quickly, smirking at her.  She didn’t like his face at all.  He appeared to be in his fifties, older than most in the Corporation.  She remembered her father telling her that very few in the Corporation served past their forties.  Only those in charge, trainers, Examiners, and a very few of the lucky to survive endless battles.  His appearance screamed the grandfatherly type, until you saw his eyes.  Sharp, hard, and emotionlessly cold.  Once she got near, Aria could see a black aura that had not been visible until she got close enough to sense it.  It felt heavy, oily, and oppressive.  She immediately wanted to bathe.

At the appearance of the black mist, she knew immediately what he was.  An Examiner.  Her heart dropped.  Was this the Examiner that had caught her brother?  It had to be.  They weren’t as rare as a Space Bender, but no one could say they were common.  Her mother had told her that they usually only sent one per planet.

Great.  Not only was this an Examiner, but he was an older one at that.  Which meant he had plenty of experience wielding his powers.

Aria thought furiously, trying to remember any details about their abilities.  Detecting magic, as well as being able to tell what type of power each mage has.  Oh, and being a human lie detector.  Tall tales said the oldest and strongest could neutralize another mage’s powers, but that had never been confirmed.  Aria looked to the left and right of him, noting that the soldiers were just regular enforcers.  Each had a rifle and a stun club.  It was rare to find them with pistols.  Disregarding them, she turned her attention back to the smirking grandpa.

Stepping forward, he bowed at her.  Seriously?  Bowing?  Pretentious asshole.  “I am known as Bale, Fifth Examiner to the house of Rockofello, on a mission to collect missing assets that belong to the Corporation.  And who might you be?”  Great.  A lackey who worked closely with one of the six Houses of CEOs. Those who ruled the Corporation, who in turn, ruled us all.  It meant he was connected, and most likely powerful.

Inwardly, Aria was freaking out.  Outwardly, the only tell was a small wince.  She quickly hid it, forcing her face to be impassive.  When his lips curled at the edges, she knew he had seen her slip.  Whelp, as her mother would say, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Shrugging her shoulders, Aria shifted from one foot to the other.  “Who am I?  A Mungi herder, trying to do her job.  What does your mission have to do with me and my brothers?  Because as far as I can tell, you are illegally detaining two hard-working men, sending a transporter after me with murderous intentions, and destroying our profit margins.  In fact, you owe us.  Time lost, damage to our transport, and physical abuse that will cost credits to treat.  That’s no small sum.”

Bale’s eyebrows rose almost to his hairline.  Clearing his throat he turned his head a bit.  Was he laughing at her?  Aria wanted to call him some names that she knew would make Benji blush.  “How much would you say that we owe you, madam?  Because from where I am standing, you owe us.”  Holding his fist up he began to count all the reasons why they owed him.  “Your parents ran from the Corporation after their second son had been found to be a certain kind of mage that is badly needed, your mother attacked us, managing to kill several of my men.  Three of your brothers resisted arrest.  They are already on their way to our ship to serve the Corporation, so they can work off their debts.  These two here also fought us, and I’m thinking they should do the same.  Not to mention, I’m sure if we were to dig deeper we would find that you have sold goods without paying the taxes on them, meaning you should be joining the rest of your family, as employees of the Corporation.  You should be happy we are generous enough to allow you and your family to pay off your debt.”

Once he had finished, he walked around her brothers, sidestepping Jackson’s attempts to stop him.  As he passed them, he motioned with a hand to the soldiers, causing them to step towards her brothers and hit them both with the butt of their rifles.  Watching them being attacked and not being able to stop it, she dropped her hands to her sides.  She wanted to kill them so badly.

Bale the Fifth stopped about five feet in front of Aria, looking her up and down.  “You, however, I cannot sense.  It is unpleasant to feel this way.  I always know what everyone is, even if the only power they have is their life mana.”  His brow furrowed as he pondered her for a bit.  Then, he reached out as if to touch her.  She smacked his hand away, knowing that in no way did she want him touching her. Scowling at her, he rubbed his hand.  “How are you hiding your powers?  As an Examiner, it is my duty to know.”

Scowling back at him, her mind ran through some spells that Jamie had shown her.  He was close enough now that she could attack.  “When I was a little girl, my mother - you know, the one you killed - told me something that applies to you.  Here.  Now.”  He looked at her expectantly.  “It’s need to know, and you don’t need to know.”

Realizing she wasn’t going to comply with his demands, while mocking him at the same time, his face began to turn red.  Oh.  He was angry.  Perfect.  She thought to herself, Come closer, creepy dude.  While he had been talking earlier, she had been working on one of the first spells Jamie had shown her.  Manipulating gravity.  As a matter of fact, she bet part of the redness in his face was due to the pressure she had slowly been adding to his skull.

He shouted at her that he would have her brothers killed if she did not answer his questions.  She laughed at him, knowing that if she allowed her full rage to be unleashed, she could probably crush his whole body.  Instead, she wanted him to feel some of the pain that her family had felt that day.

“Do you feel it, Bale the Fifth?  That pressure?”  He stopped his tirade, seemingly realizing right then that something was off.  As she exerted a little more pressure on his skull, his eyes began to widen, going round.  “Hmmm.  Yes, that’s me, Bale the Fifth.”  Spitting out the word ‘fifth’, she walked over to him, knowing that he had to be feeling the pain associated with the added pressure.

She stood in front of him, watching his face.  As she exerted more pressure, he dropped to his knees.  Realization crossed his face, and he tried to back away.  He knew what she was, and a part of her relished in the fear that she saw there.  Blood began to seep out of his eyes, nose, and ears.  “That’s right, Bale.  My mother had two of us.  It pleases me to inform you of such joyous news.  Don’t worry though, you won’t have to worry about fighting over who gets the credit for the open bounty on Space Benders.  No one will report your discovery to the Corporation.”  As she stood there watching the blood leak out of his orifices, she seemed to zone out, watching as his blood slid down his face.

A part of her brain was screaming at her, telling her to snap out of it.  She felt it becoming harder and harder to control, embracing the flow of energy that swirled through her.  It was intoxicating, consuming, and every part of her relished the feeling of power.  Her brother Benji’s voice tried to penetrate through the haze she was in.  Aria felt herself being pulled deeper and deeper into the stream of power.  Until his words busted through her concentration.

“Aria!  Stop!  You control your powers, not the other way around!”  He shouted at her, trying to bring her back.  “This is not what our parents would have wanted!”

Looking at his face, she saw fear and worry.  Jackson’s face mirroried Benji’s, showing the same fear mingling with horror.  Seeing their faces snapped Aria out of the daze, causing her to hesitate and take a step back.  She did not want her family to fear her.  At the same time, she knew she could not let this man live.

As quickly as she started, she ended it.  The sound of his skull denting inwards filled the air around them with a crackling pop of exploding gray matter.  Walking past his body as it fell completely to the ground, Aria used gravity to make the rifles heavy, forcing the soldiers to drop them.  Not that they were doing much anyways.  The shock and horror on their faces at what she had done to their Examiner only fueled her confidence.  “Untie them.  Now.”

Afraid to look at her brothers, she instead chose to look at the soldiers.  Their horror was easier to deal with.  She had no connection to them, and therefore nothing to prove.  Irritated with their lack of movement, she lifted her hand toward them.  That one movement proved to be more effective than anything she had said.

They quickly got to work untying her brothers.  While one knelt down to untie Jackson, the other reached down and set Benji on his knees roughly.  Too roughly for Aria’s taste.  With her power still actively flowing through her, and still very angry with the Corporation, the space around the soldiers got heavier.  Letting him hear her low growl, she moved closer to the group.  “I guess your boss's death wasn't enough of a lesson.  Or are you looking for the same death?”

“Aria!  That’s enough!”  Finally looking at Benji’s face, she realized that she was once again about to lose herself to her power.  It was hard for her to care.

“Justice will be swift this time.”  At her words, the guard behind Benji took a few steps back towards his fallen rifle.  Aria gave him a sharp glance.  “You must be dumber than you look.”  He froze, sweat beading on his forehead.

Both Benji and Jackson had stood after being untied.  Rubbing his wrists, Benji looked Aria right in the eye before shaking his head.  “Not this time.  Jackson and I will handle these two.”  Her brothers turned around, facing the men who had captured and abused them.

Benji took a few steps toward the soldier, placing his foot on top of the rifle that he had been squatting down to reach for.  “You think you can come here, kill our parents, and walk away?”  Tilting his head, he clucked his tongue at him.  “Why would we ever allow you the opportunity to let your leaders know about us?”

Jackson had turned to the other soldier, grinning at him.  He lifted his thumb, pointing at their older brother.  “What he said.  I mean, thanks for untying me finally.  It makes it so much easier for me.”  At his words, the second soldier turned and ran, heading for the mountains.

Soldier number one decided to fight instead of running.  He spun to the side, crouching in a fighting stance.  Benji smirked at him.  “I only think it’s fair to tell you, I’m the best full-contact fighter in my family.  You got the drop on me before, but I think it’ll be fun to see how I measure up to a Corporation soldier.”  Rolling his neck, Benji also crouched.  Not one for small talk, he only raised his hand gesturing to the soldier to begin.  Infuriated, and probably ruled a bit by fear, soldier number one put his head down and charged Benji.  Her brother easily moved to the side, dodging the charge.

Frustrated, the soldier turned around, clenching his fists.  Gritting his teeth, his lips pulled back showing disturbingly white teeth.  Aria wondered how someone so bad could have such perfect-looking teeth.  The juxtaposition of it all made Aria feel a bit dizzy.  Or maybe that was her power subsiding.

Not learning the first time, the soldier charged Benji once again.  This time, Benji allowed him to slam into him, throwing them both to the ground with Benji on his back and the soldier on top.  Thinking he had the advantage, the soldier let out a loud exclamation of victory.  Before he could lift his fists to start pummeling Benji, Aria’s brother wrapped his legs around his hips, locking his feet together and pulling the soldier tight up against him.

The movement caused a flicker of surprise on the soldier’s face for a moment.  Trying to push himself up and off of Benji, he instead found himself being pulled in closer.  Benji’s face tightened as he shifted his arms up to the soldier’s head.  Exerting pressure, he twisted his upper body, forcing the soldier’s neck to twist to the side.  The soldier tried to fight back, Benji’s vice-like grip causing a gurgle of pain to bubble up from his throat.  Benji straightened his legs, and the soldier’s neck made a cracking noise.  The struggling stopped, and the soldier went limp.

With a look of distaste on his face, Benji rolled the dead soldier off his body and laid his head back on the ground.  Aria knew her brother well, and knew he disliked killing.  Loving a good fight, and loving the act of taking a life were two separate things.  To Benji, life was sacred, and he only killed when he needed to.  That is what their father taught them, and what they all tried to embrace.

Feeling shame at how she allowed her power to control her, Aria looked away.  Facing the man who mostly resembled their father, physically and temperament alike, only made her want to crawl in a hole somewhere and never show her face again.

She felt Benji’s presence before she heard him.  He reached out, grabbing her chin to make her look at him.  What she saw only made the tears of shame she had been holding back begin to fall.  The look of understanding and love.

“It’s alright Aria.  I know it is hard for you and Jamie to control your power at the start.”  Tears silently running down her cheeks, she stepped into his chest.  Wrapping her arms around him, she buried her face into his familiar chest.  As his arms wrapped around her, she only cried harder.

He patted her head, allowing her to grieve.  “I was there when Jamie was training in the beginning.  I will do my best to remember and help you.  It will be ok.”  At his words she felt everything rush to the forefront.  All the emotions she had felt that day seemed to flow through her: Anger, hate, fear, loss, uncertainty, and so much pain.

Through her tears she heard footsteps as someone behind her was running closer to them.  Her body stiffening, Benji rubbed her back.  “It’s Jackson, he’s alone.”  After a short pause, he continued.  “He’s unharmed.”  Knowing the two brothers she had left were alive, she slumped even farther into Benji.  She was exhausted and relieved to know she was not alone.

As Jackson pulled up to them, she could hear his heavy breathing from running.  “Is she ok?  Oh!  I saw you got yours.  I left mine back there.  Fucker should never have said what he said about our dad.  I never would’ve known he was the last to place the fatal shot.  Braggart got what he deserved.  There isn’t enough left of him to bury.  Just a pile of ashes.”  Realizing that the one responsible for their father’s last breath had been within reach made her feel nauseous.

Pushing away from Benji, she moved to the side, bending over and puking what little she had to eat that day.  After wiping off her face, she took a few steps away from the dead bodies.  “Why did this have to happen to us?  We didn’t do anything to these people.  All we wanted was to be left alone.”

“They don’t see it that way.  The Corporation owns all of us, and not submitting you and Jamie to their control is a sin worthy of death.”  Jackson shook his head, looking up at the sky.  “The real question is, what do we do now?”

“We get our brothers back.”  Benji cracked his knuckles, and bent over to pick up one of the rifles dropped by the soldiers.  “They don’t get to keep them.”

“Fine, but I’m flying.”  Aria firmed up her resolve, and headed for the ship their parents had come to the planet on long ago.  “We’ll get them back, and we’ll make sure the Corporation knows not to bother us again.”

To be continued…