Chapter Fifty-Two
We arrive on Earth on a sunny winter day, on a military base in Colorado. A place full of mountains cloaked in blankets of snow and hidden caves and people training to fight for the cause of freedom.
After a day of recuperation, Jophire and Tythoe offer to fly Kalen and me back to my home in the Midwest. It only takes three hours to fly over the wilderness until we’re in familiar territory. We glide over Alno’s plantation, the fields, now brown and harvested, stretching for miles and miles.
I twist Kalen’s ring around my middle finger. Three strands of silver welded together, a small empty space where the Starfinder key used to be held. I can’t believe he knew that whole time.
How am I going to explain to anyone in my community that I fell in love with a Tavdorian? Will they allow him to step onto our farm without killing him? They’ll have to—especially if they suspect he’s one of Alno’s men. They couldn’t kill a Tavdorian without consequences. But when I tell them I love him…no one will possibly understand.
We hover over the forests, then approach the two-story white farm house. I can barely make out the people below. They’re still here. Some shade their eyes and look up at the ship. Most run for cover. I don’t blame them. We never have ships hover this close, apart from the Rydell’s the day before I was captured. Alno’s ships always traveled north.
Jophire parks a half mile out, a safe distance, and out of sight.
“I’m not going with you,” he says, pressing a button so the door slides open. “Your people aren’t used to my kind, and will most likely try to kill me.”
“Are you sure this is safe?” Kalen asks me.
I shrug. “They’re going to have to learn that there are Tavdorians out there who fight for the sake of freedom. But if you don’t feel safe enough to come…I understand.”
“I trust your judgment.”
I try to breathe. I hope my judgment is right.
“Thanks, Jophire.”
“No, Lark.” Jophire looks at me with his one eye. “Thank you. Without you, this trip wouldn’t have been possible. You were brave to work with us, and even braver to come with us after we had everything we needed. And as for you, Kalen Rydell. I underestimated you. Thank you for letting us take your ship.”
Kalen nods and swallows. “I always meant for it to be a beacon of hope to the aliens.”
“We’ll be in contact,” I say. I’m so glad to be home, but I can’t imagine living the rest of my life in docile complacency while my people are slaving away and the Renegade is risking their lives for freedom.
Jophire places his bony hand over mine and squeezes. “Don’t wait too long. We could really continue using your help, you know. Few slaves know how to read and write, and those who do, value their lives too much to help the Renegade.” He looks at Kalen. “As for you, Rydell, you have close ties with royalty and other important officials. We could seriously use you in the Renegade as well.”
“I’m with Lark. Wherever she goes, whatever she chooses, I’ll be by her side.”
I smile. “I just need time with my family.”
“I understand,” Jophire says. “Until then, you’re going to go through some serious culture shock here. Everything you saw and experienced on Tavdora will haunt you, and no one here will understand.” He looks at Kalen. “I was in your shoes, once. A Tavdorian surrounded by skeptical Humans. Stay humble. Shove down your pride and be honest and open with them. And no matter how badly they treat you, or how much they might alienate you, never hesitate to be kind.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you, Jophire,” I whisper. “For everything.”
After I get out, I shade my eyes and watch Jophire’s ship hover above the ground and bolt out of sight. So bittersweet. I’m home, but I’ve left a life behind. I’ve left good friends like Vermilia and Bram and Cada and Terrence. And Kalen…
I feel him step behind me, place his hands on my shoulders, and I turn to face him. “Your family—”
“Will be fine.” He looks so at peace, so content with his decision to leave them for the sake of the Renegade. We’ve had two weeks on the ship to talk and plan. Two weeks for him to realize he’s left his old life behind by working with the space pirates. Two weeks of grieving.
A brisk wind sweeps in. Earth wind. It blows away my sorrow and pours joy into my soul. The freeing sense of homecoming consumes me, and I fall to my knees in the deep, deep grass. Grateful. Content.
Home.
A twig snaps behind us.
“Get off our property, Tavdorian, or prepare to meet your gods.”
Kalen slowly turns to face our intruder. I leap to my feet in time to find Josiah standing at the edge of the wood, ready to throw a dagger at Kalen.
“Josiah, drop the knife,” I say.
He takes a startled step back. His knife drops from his hands, and his eyes widen, like he’s seeing a ghost.
“That’s Josiah?” Kalen says in Tavdorian, then looks from me back to Josiah, his nose scrunched with disgust. “You fell for him?”
I wonder why I ever fell for him. He has good looks, yes. But within, he isn’t half the man Kalen is. Kalen—who risked his life and gave up his future for me. Josiah didn’t just choose not to save me—he turned me in.
Damned coward.
“Lark.” Josiah stares at Kalen in utter terror. “Tell me what’s happening.”
Kalen rolls his eyes, but I catch his gaze. “No arrogance, remember?”
He offers an apologetic smile.
“Josiah,” I begin, speaking in English again. “This is Kalen. He…he owns this land. But there’s no reason to panic, because he’s on our side.”
Josiah shakes his head too many times. “You can’t—you can’t be serious. He’s a parasite—”
“And you’re a traitor.”
His eyes dart to mine.
“For the good of the people, you’d said. Remember?” I grit my teeth at the mere memory.
“We looked for you,” he says. “I went back for you. But couldn’t find you anywhere. I was so afraid you had…died.” His Adam’s apple bobs in a hard swallow. “Oh, Lark. I am so sorry for what I did. I—” His voice cuts off. “I haven’t really been able to live with myself since you’ve been gone.”
The anger at his betrayal rises up to choke me. “Why did you do it?”
“Johnson convinced me it was what we should do to save everyone else. I thought I was doing the right thing. The heroic thing. God, I’m so sorry, Lark.” He steps forward to hug me, but I lift my arms, stopping him.
He’s got nothing next to Kalen. The feelings I had for him…they didn’t even match up close to the passion Kalen and I shared. And it’s hard to believe I actually cared what he thought about me. My deepest desire was to be beautiful, for him. But beauty is such a fleeting thing when measured next to things like freedom and home. Now, I don’t really care what people think. It’s so incredibly liberating not to hold myself up to anyone’s expectations anymore. To forgive who I was, be content with who I am, and to be utterly hopeful for what my future holds.
“Please,” Josiah says, stepping closer. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but if you could just try to under—”
“It’s okay, Josiah.” I step back, still blocking him from hugging me again. “Seems my going to Tavdora really was for the good of the people.”
Confusion clouds his eyes.
“I’m home,” I explain. “Daniel’s farm is okay.” Not to mention, the Renegade succeeded in escaping with thousands of runaways. “Kalen is here to help us.”
Josiah looks at Kalen again, both fear and disgust filling his eyes.
“Everything that happened, happened for a reason,” I add. I’ve come out a better person. Stronger.
“Everyone will be thrilled to see you,” he says. “But I can’t say the same for this parasite.”
Kalen stares at him with equal distaste, but Josiah finally backs down and turns toward home. “Come on.”
I’m too afraid to ask if Mom is still alive. We walk through the thick underbrush of the forest. The trees are bare, and a frigid winter wind sweeps in, sending goose bumps across my skin.
“How long have I been gone?” Time has to be different here than on Tavdora.
“A year and a half,” Josiah says.
Four months on Tavdora. One year and a half on Earth. It doesn’t seem like it was that long.
We step out of the forest onto the path, but I turn to Kalen. “Maybe you should hang back, just so I can prepare them.”
Understanding weaves through his eyes, and he steps back into the cloak of the wood. Josiah and I continue walking toward white farm house. I’ve dreamed of this moment for so long. If there’s anything I’ve learned the four months I’ve been gone, it’s that life is fragile, time is fleeting, and family is too precious to take for granted.
When we’re close enough to the house for people to recognize me, the doors burst open and Mom steps out.
And I break.
She’s thinner than I remember, and uses a walking stick as she limps toward me. I race to her side. She pulls me into a tight embrace, and I melt against her. Oh, how I’ve missed her. I let loose the tears of joy that have been threatening to surface since I left Tavdora. Everyone crowds around me, pounding me on the back, welcoming me home.
“Where have you been?” Mom asks when the excitement dies down. Tears stream down her sunken cheeks. “Johnson said you were captured.”
“I was captured.” I glare at Josiah. No need to rat him out just yet. “The Tavdorians sent me away the same day they captured me.”
“Sent you away…where?”
“To Tavdora.”
A collective gasp.
“You went to Tavdora?” Daniel says. I understand his shock. No one who goes to Tavdora ever returns. “But, how did you get back?”
“There was a group of rebels who recruited me to help others escape. Many of them are Tavdorians.”
“Tavdorians?” Daniel asks, his eyes widening.
“And…I brought one with me.” I gesture for Kalen to come out, and he steps out of the forest, into the sunlight. The excitement dies down, and a deathly silence falls over the crowd as they shrink back.
“This is Kalen,” I say. “H-he helped me escape.”
Silence. Dead silence.
And then: “You would bring a parasite to our community?” Johnson’s voice is low, harsh. “You just gave away our location.” He looks at the others, the veins popping out of his neck. “He’ll bring more! He’ll lead his people straight to our community and sell us all!”
Others nod their agreement.
“On the contrary.” I step back and grasp Kalen’s hand in mine—an act in itself that brings an audible gasp from the group. “Kalen purchased our land as a way to keep us protected. No one can capture us without going through him first.”
“He owns us?”
“I own no one,” Kalen cuts in. Everyone silences at the sound of his voice. My heart flutters just from hearing him speak my native language. I remember him saying he’d learned it, I had no idea he was near fluent. “I only ask to stay for a few weeks,” he says. “And then I’ll be out of your way. This land is in my name, but it’s yours to do with as you please.”
No one makes a sound.
Until Daniel finally gets the nerve to speak.
“Welcome,” he finally says, extending a hand. Though the gesture is foreign to Tavdorians, Kalen takes it, and bows at the waist. “And thank you,” Daniel continues, “for rescuing Lark.”
“Fate smiled down on her from the beginning.” He looks at me and winks. “Not to mention she has a stubborn tendency to get what she wants.”
A small chuckle erupts from the crowd.
“Kalen helped me escape Tavdora…along with the Renegade.”
Daniel arches a brow.
“The Colorado army,” I clarify. They’ll understand that. I grin and I look at Mom “They’re real. And Terrence is working with them.”
Her hand flies to her mouth. “Where is he?”
“Still on Tavdora. He’s leading rescue missions to help bring freedom to the empire.”
“My Terrence.” Mom pulls me into a tight hug again. “I feel like both my children were raised from the dead today. Elohim be praised. Come.” Mom takes my other hand. “It’s almost dinnertime, and I have your favorite potato soup cooking.” I lean into Mom’s embrace, and we make our way to the farmhouse that’s haunted my dreams since I left.
But this is no dream. It’s real. I’m really home. Mom is still alive.
I pull away, stare at her through my tears. “I-I have a cure for you, Mom.”
She shakes her head, confused. “A cure?”
I pull the vial out of my pocket. “Just one dose will do the trick. I’ve seen it work firsthand. Turns out, Tavdorians are way more advanced than us.” I pass her the vial. “Please take it right now.”
She stares at it warily but doesn’t make a move to take it from my hands. “I don’t think…”
“Please, Mom. I swear, you can trust me. It was a dear friend who got it for me. A friend who is a pharmacist, whose father is a doctor. They specialize in alien ailments.”
“Tavdorians would give you…this?”
I laugh. “He’s a Halfian. Half Tavdorian, half Human.” I press my lips together. “He’s…Terrence’s partner.”
She looks at me, hope replacing the fear. This seems to get to her, and she takes the vial, opens the lid, and drinks. And if I thought I’d felt any hesitance in leaving Tavdora, it’s gone now. If my purpose to go there was only to get this cure for Mom, it was so worth it.
…
That night, after a small feast of potato soup and corn on the cob, we gather around the fire just like old times. I sit between Mom and Kalen, nestle my head against Kalen’s shoulder and pull the blanket tighter around the both of us while Josiah plays the guitar. Lifting my clay mug to my lips, I sip Mom’s special lavender tea. My heart squeezes when Josiah sings my favorite song about county lines. I remember singing the song to Adeline during her sickness, just before that wonderful kiss Kalen and I shared in the courtyard.
I close my eyes, soaking in the memory.
And all I’ve ever wanted was to be the kind of man
who fights for what he believes in
All I’ve ever come up with are excuses
and a broken heart.
I’ve finally become the girl who fights for what she believes in. No more excuses. Mom has her cure. The community is safe, untouched by the nearby Tavdorians. Life will go back to normal.
And something about that thought makes my heart sink.
Because life out there continues to go on as well. Slaves being torn from their homes, beaten into submission, sold and resold and worked to the bone. I had an easy life as a slave, but most slaves can’t say that for themselves. Most slaves don’t have an Extrinsic Enthusiast master like I had.
And I can’t—I can’t turn a blind eye to the outside world anymore. I stare into the flames of the fire, and I see the faces of the slaves we liberated. I remember the joy in their eyes, the hope. Alternately, I remember the hopelessness in the aliens’ eyes when I was first brought to Tavdora. Someone needs to fight. And I know I can’t sit back any longer and allow the injustices to swallow my people’s freedom when there is so much I can do to fight it.
When I open my eyes, Josiah finishes the song, but he stares at me, a look of torn regret in his eyes. Across the circle, Ariana glares at us with cool hatred. I wonder why—when she was the one who turned me in. But apart from her and Johnson’s obvious dislike toward me, everyone else quickly warms up to Kalen, crowding around us and asking us questions.
They ask me about Terrence. They ask me about Rika, and a sorrow fills the air between us when I tell them about her death. I look at Josiah’s response to the news. If he hadn’t left and taken me along, Rika wouldn’t have followed. But nothing about his grief comforts me. Tears stream down his face. His hands dig into his shaggy blond hair. The veins in his neck pop out in obvious rage. Rage at himself.
“What about Tavdora?” Daniel asks. “What’s it like? What were your masters like?”
I cast a sidelong glance at Kalen. “A lot like him.”
“You were her master?” He draws back. Kalen takes his arm from around my shoulder and begins explaining what his father did for a living, how I came to be in his estate, and how I opened his eyes to the reality that freedom could come to be if we all fought hard enough for it.
“Lark saved thousands of people by risking her life that night,” he says, speaking of the escape. “And she saved me from bringing in more slaves just to prove to my father that I could own the company.”
Long into the night we talk. And as we talk, a new passion fills me. A courage I’d never encountered before going to Tavdora refuels me. While the others talk, Kalen catches my eye, and I see it there, too—the determination to go back to the Colorado base, to fight for the freedom of all, to bring liberation to the three Captive Planets and promote equality for all races.
Soon—soon we’ll join Terrence and the Renegade to bring peace to the Tavdorian Empire.