The Watcher [Alien Nation #1]

Chapter 26

Jules sat on a narrow bench on the maglift. It was quiet at this hour—the only other passengers were a young Ghraal woman cradling a baby, who got off at the CMCR, and an elderly, dozing human. As the maglift rumbled up through the layers of the colossal structure she called home, Jules had plenty of time to go over the events of the last few hours in the most precise detail possible.

They'd had to go through the standard decontamination procedure as soon as they'd disembarked from the Phoenix, so she wore a clean jumpsuit that was just a touch too big, and her hair was still damp from the disinfectant spray they'd all been showered with. It hung down to her waist in a chemical-smelling curtain. She hadn't had the energy to tie it back again.

The data core had been transferred to an airtight box, along with the ID tags of the two long-dead pilots. She now cradled the box to her chest, the weight mirroring the weight she felt in her heart.

Then, they'd all had to go their separate ways, at least for the time being. Erri had gone on to the ghraal wing of the CMCR to have his wounds treated, and the Phoenix was probably being hosed down with disinfectant at that very moment, inside and out. Cass would hate that, but she could avoid discovery as long as she stayed quiet, which Jules knew she was well accustomed to by then. She even felt bad for Avery, who had been ordered to Dr. Anderson's office before the Phoenix had even docked, so she was probably having her systems rooted around in for the second time that day.

And then there was Josh. He'd lived alone—how long would he stay there on that beach until someone realised he was missing? There was nobody who would know where they should even start to look. They'd probably just assume he'd been killed in the invasion. The only ones who knew the truth were light-years away.

And it was all her fault.

Eventually the maglift glided to a halt at the final stop at the Spire, by which point she was the only passenger. She had to check her datapad a few times before she found the meeting room Lara had told her to come to; a small, nondescript office near the middle of the labyrinth, with opaque privacy glass windows and an ID chip scanner on the door, which opened automatically as she approached.

Unlike at the unofficial Council meeting she'd been summoned to before her trip to Earth, this time the only ones waiting for her were Kei Kitano, Plagasa, and Lara. Lara leapt up out of her seat as Jules entered, as if she were about to throw her arms around her, but remembered where she was at the last minute, and hovered awkwardly around her seat.

"You're back!" she said instead, her eyes glittering. "I thought you might have—oh, thank all the stars, Jules. And you got the data core!"

"Yeah," she said, sliding down into an empty chair. "But not without sacrifice."

Lara's face fell. "Is it your pilot? Or the cyborg girl, she was reported missing--"

"They're all fine," Jules interrupted. "It was my cousin, Josh, who found the missing ship in the first place. The aliens..." She stopped to make sure her voice was steady. "They ambushed us. I guess you were right—they did know about the wreck, and probably followed us to find it. We escaped, but one of them grabbed Josh. I had to make a choice. Him or the data core." She slid the box containing the precious component over the polished black glass table, so that it landed almost in Kitano's lap. "That was my answer."

Kitano nodded approvingly, turning the box over in his hands. The core rattled around inside.

"It was the right choice, Agent Trentino," said Plagasa, the chirp of their voice soft. "One life for a hundred thousand? For a trillion? Most would have made the same choice, given time to weigh the consequences."

"Doesn't make it easy," said Jules.

"I know," Plagasa replied, a sympathetic rustle passing through their many limbs. "Believe me, I know."

"I'll make sure this gets wiped and the families of Agent suu Kantaal and Officer Eriksen get their tags," said Kitano, slipping the box into his pocket. "Now, before you came in we were just discussing what to do about you and your crew. This mission was originally devised as a yatt na' errtys as Councillor Tuu'kal put it, though with far better pronunciation than that, of course. Atonement, I suppose you might translate it to. But you and your crew performed far better than we expected under the conditions on Earth. We're going to have to keep a very close eye on the situation, and sometimes that might involve ground work that we can't trust a drone with, or observing Earth at a proximity that's normally too dangerous in peace time, let alone when it is under siege by hostile forces. You and Mr. suu Saykhel just earned yourselves places on our list of candidates for the Terran Task Force."

Jules stared at him for a moment. "Um—Task Force?"

Kitano took a sip from the coffee mug at his side, and made a face when he found it cold. "Yes, Task Force. We're going to need constant assessment of the situation, so we'll know when and where covert assistance to any human resistance forces that spring up is justified."

"Resistance? Councillor, I saw those aliens. I saw Erri shoot them—they've got natural armour that makes a ghraal look like they're wearing wet cardboard! And there's so many of them. When they've got through whatever military resistance Earth can throw at them, civilian forces will be mown down. Once humans resort to guerilla warfare, it's already over."

Kitano just smiled placidly, and Jules had never wanted to slap someone so badly. Even Avery had never looked so slappable. "We will be trying a diplomatic solution before resorting to any form of violence, of course. Commonwealth knowledge and Terran military might will be a deadly combination."

"It's a bit late for first contact," Jules huffed, ignoring Lara's venomous glare.

"It's not too late until all our options are exhausted," said Kitano, rising from his chair. "Anyway, Earth is just one planet, humanity just one species. There are plenty more."

"But it's our planet," said Jules, trying and failing to keep the despair from her voice. "Our species. Yours."

"Why?" said Kitano. "I've never been there. Before I sent you on this mission, you would've said the same. I know you would have." He paused by the door. "Think about my offer, Julia. Until next time."

As soon as the door closed with a hiss, Lara reached over and covered Jules' hand with hers. Jules had never considered what a contrast they were—freckled porcelain skin against smooth copper; manicured, plum-painted nails against hers, rough and bitten down to the quick.

"Josh would've wanted to see the Hub," said Jules, blinking away tears. "He spent his whole life lying to people, he made a living off it, but the whole time he was telling the truth. A version of it, anyway."

"Why don't you get some rest?" said Lara. "You look exhausted."

"I am," Jules sighed, though she knew this wasn't the type of exhaustion that could be cured with a nap and a cup of strong synthetic coffee.

She stood up and didn't look back as she walked back to her flat in a daze, hardly registering that she was still dressed as she collapsed into bed, turned the lights off, and slept.