Defenders of Earth (Book 2 of the Keepers Trilogy)

Chapter 20

"Do you guys know what happened to that dude in Australia?" I ask. "Callie, did you even know about this?"

"The soldier? Yeah," she says distractedly. "Dunno about his eyes though..." her voice trails off to a mumble. Azudus watches her with interest and confusion.

"They refused to send the body to us," Dr. Wilson says.

"And why not?" Callie demands, stopping in her tracks. She seems almost confused, I think. 

"It's not really your concern. And aren't you suppose to be with the doctor right now?"

"Not really your concern," Callie says, throwing Dr. Wilson's words back at him. "Where's it now?"

"It was cremated. The body was burned. Go back to the doctor." 

"Are you sure? What if it was a lie? I wouldn't be surprised, humans don't like the truth-" 

"Go back to the doctor. You want answers? Go back to the doctor." 

Callie gives him a filthy look, then turns and storms out of the room. I follow her quickly. "Callie, you aren't seriously-" 

"I'm going exploring," she whispers to me. "Maybe we can find something." 

"Don't bother. Most of the doors are locked. I already tried."

Callie huffs. "It's like being on Azera again. Doing nothing, knowing nothing, being stuck inside while all the adults 'handle' everything. I'm freakin' sick of it!"

I thought for a moment. "Callie, I'm gonna go back to that front room. You should go back to the doctor. I know you don't like it-" Callie's glare could kill an army- "but I think that's the most you can do for now without hearing 'oh why're you here? Go back to the doctor'." 

"Fine," Callie says dourly. We walk in silence to the examining room. I give Callie a wan smile before the doctor shoos me away. I'm alone now, and for some reason it bothers me. I don't know where Mom and Dad are, Callie's preoccupied, and I don't know anyone else here. My gym shoes squeak against the tile as I trudge down the long hall. Even though I'm in the middle of the building, I can hear wind howling outside. The lights flicker and go out a couple times, and it occurs to me that we might just be snowed in. 

Glorious, I think. Just superb. 

The scientists clearly aren't happy. I hear so many voices of frustration as I enter the front room. I wander through, glancing at some computer screens. Many show loading screens. One scientist notices me looking and says, "I'm really hoping we don't lose power." 

"You guys don't have, like, alien tech to prevent power outages?" I ask jokingly. 

The woman half-chuckles. "God, I wish. And maybe I wouldn't lose all my work." She motions for me to come closer. "When the computer stops acting stupid, I wanna show you something." 

"Me?" 

"Yeah. I already showed your parents. It's pretty cool." 

"What is it?" I ask, looking over her shoulder. She clicks on an icon, and a rotating image of a person fills the screen. Flickers of movement appear all over the body, and the person bends one elbow, then the other. It's unnerving, but cool. 

"That's Callie," the scientist says. "It shows her entire body, inside and out. Right there?" She zooms on an organ. "That's her heart beating. From what I gather-" she types something in- "Callie's vascular system is unique. Her blood lacks erythrocytes or any other blood cell-at least, any human blood cell. It's this weird fluid that acts like our lymphatic and cardiovascular system in one. Bizarre, isn't it? And look." 

She moves away from one organ to a long tube running down the entire length of her body. "This is her digestive system. I think it's one organ that digests food, removes nutrients, and makes it into waste. I think it also acts like her kidneys, filtering-" 

"I think I got the image," I say quickly. "Exactly why are you showing me this?" 

"Oh, I just thought you were curious-" she says before the power goes completely out. "Damn it! Oh, this is such a serious setback..." 

The generators kick in, allowing the lights and several-but not all-computers to turn back on. The scientist sighs. "At least we got the info from the machine saved." 

Callie runs into the computer room, stops, and looks around. "Callie!" I call out to her, making my way to her. 

"Where's Leo and Emily?" she asks. "They're gonna send us home for now." 

"They are?" I ask. Then, "What do you mean, for now?" 

"I don't know. Where are they?" 

It takes us five minutes to find them and get ushered out of the building. None of us talk on the way home; none of us want to distract the driver, as the roads are slippery and dangerous. It's only when we're settled in the living room, in our pajamas, each of us holding a cup of homemade hot cocoa, that the conversation begins. 

"Mark, please don't wander off next time," Mom begins. She sighs and purses her lips. "We didn't know where you were, and we got scared." 

"Sorry, Mom. I didn't really go far, I just stayed on that floor." 

"Still. I don't...I need to keep you in sight. Understood?" 

"Em, he's fine," Dad reassures her. "He wasn't in danger, were you, Mark?" 

"Of course not," I say. "I couldn't have gone very far, anyhow. Where were you guys?" 

"We were in one of the labs, having everything explained to us. What would happen to Callie, what would happen to us, making plans...what about you, Callie? What happened to you?" 

"I met an ally." She tells them about Azudus. "They kept him in a tank for fifteen years, to 'heal' him."

"That's not going to happen to you," Emily says sternly. "I won't allow it." 

"That's not the point, Emily. I'm pissed that it happened, but I'm glad that I met him. He's trustworthy, and he at least understands what's really going on." 

"How do you know he's trustworthy?" Dad asks, leaning forward. "You just met him." 

"Turamese don't lie. It's not in their nature. They can avoid speaking the truth, but they can't lie. I know their kind well. They are our ally in the war."