Resurrection

Deception

It was the cold that woke her. A bone deep chill that sent shivers coursing through her battered body. She tested each of her limbs in series to ensure their functionality before rolling over and sitting up. A groan escaped her lips with the pain spearing through her head and shoulders. Her hand went to the base of her head where most of the pain seemed to radiate and she found a fresh gauze dressing.

Shafira eased her legs over the side of the narrow cot, preparing herself against the agony of bruising and tenderness in her muscles. She slowly rose. And immediately sat again when dizziness overcame her.

Nice to see you awake, said a vaguely familiar voice.

Shafira looked around for the source, but found herself alone in what looked like a basement. The only light came from a small barred window high on the wall above the cot she sat on. The sun hung low in sky indicating that it was either early morning or late afternoon. Adding the temperature of the room to the equation, she deduced that morning was most likely.

Feeling better after your nap? he asked.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded with enough force to aggravate the throbbing pain in her head.

Many people have speculated that, he replied.

"You're being obtuse. Why did you bring me here?"

If we knew exactly why... he began but Shafira interrupted him.

"Quit playing stupid games and tell me where I am?"

He laughed. Her frustration grew.

The bowl of petunias had thought that we would know.

"What are you on? Who would know what?"

The bowl of petunias had thought that we would know, he repeated, a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now.

Shafira shook her head in an attempt to clear any lingering fuzziness. She was sure that she must have heard him wrong. "Did you just say bowl of petunias?"

A door banged closed in the house above, followed by footsteps directly overhead. Shafira stood in readiness of the owner entering the basement.

The door creaked as it opened, a man stepping forward to fill the doorframe. "I said," he replied with a chuckle, failing in his attempt to suppress his laughter. "That the human race had thought we would know a lot more about the Universe than we do now." The silhouetted figure descended the stairs until he stood at the bottom, his face remaining in shadow.

Shafira squared her shoulders and stood, defiant. "Will you answer my question and tell me where I am?"

He took a final step forward so his face was illuminated in the morning sun and smiled. "Perhaps the more important question is what you are, not where you are."

Recognition dawned and she made to leap on the young man responsible for her mother's certain death, but her feet wouldn't move. They were rooted to the spot. Her arms shot out in front of her in an attempt to break her fall as she tumbled forward. She never touched the floor.

"Now that I have your attention, perhaps we can start from the beginning?" He twisted his head down and around so he could look her in the eyes, his eyebrows raised in question. He then snapped his fingers so she straightened from her dangling-in-mid-air position.

"How did you...?"

"All in good time, Shafira. We have other things to talk about first."

Shafira stiffened and growled low in her throat. "You killed my mother."

"Your mother lives, in as much as a Biogen can live."

"You lie. There's no way they could have made it out before the explosion."

He produced a phone from his pocket and played about with it for a second before turning the screen toward her. An image of her mother clambering over the hotel rubble played in a video.

Shafira's shoulders relaxed with her sigh of relief. "What do you want from me?"

This brought another smile to his face. "Just for you to listen. To understand what you are."

"You said that before. What do you mean, what I am?"

"I think it best we start from the beginning. Did your mother tell you how she found you?"

Shafira hesitated a moment before answering. Her mind raced trying to work out the direction he was trying to take the conversation. "She adopted me after my birth mother, her sister, died giving birth to me."

He shook his head. "Close, but not quite true. While your mother did die giving birth to you, that's where the similarity ends. Captain Jones was in charge of the team sent to investigate an incident in the Middle East the night you were born. An incident involving an alien life form. Jones returned from the mission and immediately took a vacation."

"There's nothing mysterious about that."

"There is when the new born baby grows into a young woman in the space of two years. You only stopped growing a few months ago Shafira."

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she raised her head to look at him again. "What am I?" she whispered.

"We are the same, you and I. There's so much I want to show you."