Heritage (Under Revision)

Chapter 32 - Ethan

“So where...” I stop to slice down a small branch with my knife, “the hell is this ship again?” I ask, finishing my sentence.

“It’s going to be a couple days for sure with as dense as this jungle is,” Damien answers me.

“Good God, I haven’t seen jungles this thick since Andromeda.”

“Yeah, you ain’t kiddin’.”

“Will you two stop whining?” Elena says to Damien and I in an exhausted tone.

“Sorry Elena,” Damien responds, apologizing for both of us.

The five of us trudged on through the jungle for hours in the sweltering heat, cutting through layer after layer of dense brush. I look back to check on the rest of the group and see that Leon is struggling, being that he has a broken arm. I fall back and try to help him up on to a ledge which requires a boost from the arms.

I extend my hand out to Leon to help him and he looks up at me, his chest heaving from exhaustion, a look of determination in his eyes. He then slaps my hand away and forces his other arm to lift him up and on top of the ledge.

“You shouldn’t push yourself so hard Leon, not in this jungle, you’re gonna pass out.”

“I’m fine, Dad, it’s just a minor complication. I can do these things by myself; I don’t need assistance.”

“He has a point Leon, the heat is killing temperatures out here if you push yourself too hard”, Stella says with a concerned tone.

“I’m alright Stella, let’s just keep moving before we lose Mom and Uncle Damien,” Leon says, putting his foot down and continuing his walk. Stella turns toward me with a stressed look on her face.

“He’s been getting more irritable as we’ve gotten closer to where we need to be. I don’t know why either,” she says to me, looking for an explanation.

“Hm...he could just be getting frustrated because he can’t do as much with his body as he could before his arm was broken.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Come on, he’ll be alright, don’t worry so much,” I say smiling a bit, reassuring her and motioning her to continue walking. Stella generates a small smile of her own and continues walking and I follow behind.

Night had begun to fall all too quickly and we decided to quit for the night and rest. I managed to find some fire wood and placed the branches on a stone slab on the left section of the area we were in. I use the fire starter kit to get the fire going on the pile of sticks and step back to avoid burning myself.

I look over and see Stella sitting on a branch like a bench and facing the direction of the twin moons starting to appear in the sky. I watch Leon walk up and place himself on the branch as well and wrap his good arm around Stella, pulling her close. Stella places her head on his shoulder. The moment brings a memory of nostalgia back to me as Elena and I used to do the same thing when we returned to Earth. I smile lightly to myself and sit down in front of the campfire.

I drift into my thoughts, pulling out old memories of Dante and I on the station, before the infection had gotten out. Dante always had that optimistic demeanor, even in the worst of times...even at the moment of his death. No matter how much of a bastard I was to him when I first got there, he always considered me a partner, and later, his friend. The guy was no slouch when it came to combat though. He could fire a rifle as well as me, and sometimes, better than me.

It’d be nice to have him watching my back again.

My thoughts are cut off by a loud plop of a bag on the ground.

“The area where the device is supposed to be is far enough to allow us to make it there tomorrow evening,” Damien says with a relieving exhale as he sits down across from me.

“You sure this ship that it’s attached to is even flyable?” I ask.

“Well, if it’s not, we have three of the most brilliant tech personnel I’ve ever seen. So, they’ll be able to fix it.”

“Yeah, you have a point there. But that leads me to my next question, how in the world are we gonna get to the wormhole without the fleet knowing and deciding to call us deserters? You know how they are with that these days, considering how many of them we’ve had over the last couple years.”

“True...hm...we’ll figure something out, I’m sure.”

Stella, Leon, and Elena arrive from where they were at and take a seat next to the fire themselves. Night had fallen by this time and we all sat in silence around the fire, staring into its warm glow. Leon looks up and at me.

“Hey, Dad, do you think you can tell us what Dante is like?” he asks me. I give a small grin and chuckle a bit.

“I was wondering when you were gonna ask that question. Well, what can I say about Dante? For one, he was more excited for you to come around then Elena and I were. He would go on and on about teaching you how to shoot a gun and whatnot. He wanted to be like a second father to you. Believe it or not, you two were very close, you just don’t remember because you weren’t born yet,” I say with a small laugh.

“Wow, I never knew that. What was his full name? I just wanna know.”

“Dante Michael Hall.”

“Hall? As in Blaze Hall Library?” Stella asks, inputting her own question.

“That’d be correct Stella. If Dante wasn’t chewing gum to pass the time, he was reading a book. Actually...” I say, stopping my sentence to reach into my pack. I pull out an old tattered book and hand it to Stella.

She takes it in her hands as if she were delicately holding a person’s life in her hands.

“That was his. I must’ve read it a thousand times; I always keep it on me. It’s yours now though. It really is a truly fascinating book,” I say finishing my statement. Stella acquires a grin and opens the book.

“Wow...I’m actually reading history; I’ve never read a book with real printed words in ink before. It’s all been digital text.”

“That right there is actually Sekrid literature, translated into human text. That’s the only copy in existence, written by Dr. Patrick Erickson. It was never fully published in digital text because it was deemed too controversial. And the government didn’t want any Sekrid literature on the market.”

“Really? What’s it about?” Stella asks once again.

“It’s the Sekrid legend of Kal’Za.”

“Who’s he?”

“The way the story depicts, is that Kal’Za is a great warrior, he’s never been defeated in battle. It says he took on a whole legion of soldiers and left them dead in his wake. That story however, depicts his great downfall after he meets a woman named Kin’Ael and falls in love. In essence, love turns him from a dark, merciless warrior, into a human, or in their case, Sekrid, who would go to any lengths to sacrifice himself to save the one he loves.”

“That sounds like a story back on Earth.”

“Yeah it does, doesn’t it, Stella? I think that’s why Dante read it. It showed him that Sekrid aren’t the mindless monsters we made them out to be.”

“Sounds like he was a brilliant man. I can’t wait to meet him,” Stella says with a smile on her face.

“I can’t wait for both of you to meet him. He’ll love you guys. Well, I think that’s enough Dante for the night. How’s about we get some sleep? Early day tomorrow,” I say as I lay down.

Elena lays next to me, facing her back to me and scooting in so that I’m directly behind her. I wrap my arm around her and we close our eyes.

“That was a very sweet thing you did, by giving her that book. I know you greatly cherish it,” Elena whispers to me.

“Yeah but I figured it was time to pass it on, and I know Stella will take care of it.”

“That’s true...goodnight honey.”

“Goodnight babe.”

“Who are they...Intruders? No...friends. Shut up...they are enemies...” I hear faintly through my sleep.

I slowly open my eyes to the sight of another pair staring back at me. The person’s head tilts slightly and my eyes widen at my realization.

“Gah, what the fuck?!” I yell.

The person darts off by the time I sit up and aim my pistol around. Damien jolts upright himself and looks around, then looks at me.

“What the hell are you yelling at man?”

“There was someone...staring right in my face.”

“You sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. There was something really odd about those eyes. I could swear I’ve seen them before...somewhere.

“Hm...guess we’ll keep an eye out then. Well, might as well start getting a move on,” Damien says, stretching and standing up.

Slowly we all come out of our slumber and gather our possessions and continue treading on our path. I keep my head on a swivel, glancing at every tree and looking behind every rock our group passes by, waiting for the mysterious person to appear once again. A few hours pass and the heat feels more sweltering than yesterday.

“Alright...alright, break time,” Damien says, breathing heavily and sweating.

He wipes the sweat from his brow and takes a drink from his canteen, still breathing heavily. None of us make any disagreements and simply sit down on the nearest rock. I however, continue on my way, and walk further into the jungle, still searching the surrounding area.

I look around all over me, as if I have eyes in the back of my head when I catch a glimpse of something. It’s a stain of something on a small leaf. I take a closer look and realize it’s familiar.

“Sekrid blood,” I say to myself.

I follow a trail of it that runs along the ground for about twenty yards until it just stops in front of a log. I slowly click the safety off my pistol and quickly jump on the log, aiming downward and I see a shocking sight before me.

“Rin’Gal? You should be dead,” I say.

With eyes half way open, Rin’Gal looks up at me with desperate and weak eyes. His breathing is labored and he’s near death. With one desperate act that uses the last of his strength, Rin’Gal extends an arm, his hand shaking from the effort. Before he can reach my leg, his arm drops and he passes out.

“Hm...just makes the job easier for me,” I say, as I jack the hammer back on my pistol.

Before I’m able to pull the trigger, my conscience decides to kick in and I hesitate pulling the trigger. No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to squeeze it. I grit my teeth and sigh in frustration as I lower my gun from his pathetic body.

“Man, I’m hungry,” Leon says speaking to no one specific. Damien tosses him a protein bar.

“Chew on that for a while, it’s all we have,” he says.

“Figures,” Leon says in a low tone.

“I wouldn’t complain Leon, at least you have something. Try to ration that too huh?” Damien replies.

“Yeah, yeah, let’s all listen to the military expert, not like he got us trapped in a ship wreck or anything.”

“You better watch your mouth, kid. I didn’t do a damn thing.”

“Well, maybe if you’re boys learned how to fly a ship better, we’d be fine.”

“Leon if you don’t shut your damn mouth right now, I’m gonna shut it for you, nephew or not!”

“Bring it on!” Leon says, with rage in his eyes.

“Leon! What has gotten into you?” Elena says, trying to snap Leon out of his rage.

“Blow it out your ass, Mom! You and Dad never take my side, it’s bullshit!” Leon screams.

Elena stands there dumbfounded and hurt by Leon’s words. Stella steps in front of Leon’s vision and places her hands on his face, keeping his eyes connected with hers.

“Hey, calm down, Leon. There’s no need for this okay? Just calm down baby, calm down,” Stella says in a soothing, calm tone.

Leon is so angry he’s grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. But in an instant, his expression changes back to normal and he falls to a sitting position.

“I’m...I’m so sorry...I don’t know what came over me...I couldn’t control myself I swear,” Leon says, ashamed.

“Don’t worry about it, Leon, just try to control it next time. Trust me, the heat is hitting all of us,” Damien replies.

“Little help here!” I yell, interjecting through their moment.

Damien rushes over to me and helps carry what I’m currently dragging by myself. He helps me haul it to a nearby log and set it down.

“So, what is th--. Is that...?” he asks.

“Yeah, it is.”

“Oh, I’ve been waiting for this!” Damien says, pulling out his pistol and aiming. I place my hand on his gun and lower it.

“Not this time, Damien,” I say, shaking my head.

“Are you nuts Ethan?! Is the heat really getting to your head that bad? This guy took down your ship,” Damien states, completely confused.

“I understand this, but he’s an injured soldier. We’d be cowards if we shot him. I have a sense of honor Damien.” Damien shakes his head with a look of disgust.

“Fine Ethan, it’s your funeral.”

“Yeah, yeah, Damien. Elena, can you hand me that emergency med pack in your bag?” I ask.

“Sure, here,” Elena says, handing me the med kit with an unsure look of her own. I open the med kit and take the bandage off the handless wrist that Rin’Gal had put it on.

“Oh, that is nasty! His body must’ve started the self-cauterizing mechanism,” I say, staring at the stump of a hand that remains from Leon’s mutilation.

“Well, good thing you’re not awake buddy,” I say as I pull out my knife.

“You may wanna look away... this won’t be pretty,” I state to Elena, Stella and Leon.

Stella and Elena immediately look away, while Leon continues to watch. I wait to see if Leon turns around before continuing my motive. I take my knife and start to slice off a layer of his flesh, to remove the cauterized area. Without proper treatment the wound would become infected.

With every pull back and forth of the blade, the flesh and soon, the bone, make a sickly crunching and sliding sound. I almost want to puke at the sound, but continue on until the layer of flesh falls to the ground. I take out the disinfectant and pour it over the wound.

It quickly bubbles into a yellow foam, showing the traces of infection setting in. The yellow then fades into a white as the wound is disinfected. I then wash off the wound with water and wrap it in a clean set of bandages.

“Alright, that should do it,” I say, smirking in accomplishment.

“Great, just one question though,” Damien replies.

“What?”

“How exactly are we gonna cart his ass to where we need to be?” Damien asks.

Rin’Gal then begins to stir from his sleep. I look back at Damien with a smirk still covering my face.

“Well, there’s your answer,” I say. Damien simply rolls his eyes and readies his pistol.

“Nng...Where, am I?” Rin’Gal says in a raspy voice.

“You’re in the jungles of Rayalis,” I reply. Rin’Gal’s head snaps to me and his eyes widen, almost out of fear.

I raise a hand, “Don’t worry, you’re safe with us. I fixed your wound,” I say to him, trying to make him relax. Rin’Gal looks at his wrist, then back at me with a stupefied look on his face.

“W...why? I tried to kill you,” he says.

“You’re an injured soldier Rin’Gal. I believe in helping the helpless, you were one of those people at the time.”

“Don’t think you get a free ride though, we’re still watching you, so don’t try anything funny,” Damien interjects. Rin’Gal glares at Damien with murder in his eyes.

“That’s enough Damien, he knows that already,” I say.

“Well, I just figured I’d remind his feeble little brain about it,” I glare at Damien myself, giving him a silent ‘knock it off,’ with my eyes.

“Alright, alright, I’m done. Look, if you can walk Rin’Gal, you need to, we have a long way, and you’re better off with us then out there with no one,” Damien says as he starts to walk, continuing the journey. Elena, Stella, and Leon follow behind him.

Elena pays no attention to Rin’Gal while Stella darts by quickly. Leon however, stops as Rin’Gal stands to his feet, just glaring at him. I tap Leon on the shoulder and motion my head toward the direction of walking. He looks at me, and then returns his gaze back to Rin’Gal.

“My uncle is right, don’t try anything stupid. Or I’ll kill you myself,” Leon says.

“I’m not even in the condition to do that if I wanted to,” Rin’Gal replies. Leon smirks at him sinisterly.

“Good, and if the thought ever crosses your mind, just take a good look at your wrist, and remember, I did that to you,” Leon says, before continuing his walk behind me. I catch up to Elena and walk close to her.

“Is it me, or is Leon acting really odd?” I say quietly.

“You think that’s bad? You weren’t there to see what happened when you found Rin’Gal,” Elena replies.

“Really? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later,” I nod my head in agreement and drop back to the back of the group and walk next to Rin’Gal.

I notice that Rin’Gal is walking with a posture of shame, staring at the ground.

“You didn’t have to save me. To be honest I would’ve rather died. My honor is gone now,” Rin’Gal says to me. I can’t help but smile at the last part of his sentence.

“What is honor truly Rin’Gal? To me, it’s not about how many people you can kill, but how many people you can save and defend. Honor is about having the courage to stand against your enemy, no matter the number, for the people living on your planet. But that doesn’t mean you write the whole species of your enemy off as what you see in their soldiers. You may have tried to kill me numerous times, but I’ve done the same. War makes people like you and I out to be monsters, but why should we give the galaxy what it wants by acting that way all the time? It’s acts like this, that separates us and breaks us from that mold.”

“I’ve, never looked at it that way before. Hm...you’re a brilliant soldier Ethan, now I see why I could never kill you,” Rin’Gal says, with a small raspy chuckle.

“I tr-- What was that?” I say as I hear leaves rustle. Damien turns around and looks at me.

“You hear that?” he asks me. I nod my head and begin to look around in the trees while Damien looks in the bushes around us.

“You find anything?” Damien asks, as we meet in the middle of the area.

“No, nothing. But I swear there’s something watching us, just have that feeling, you know?” I reply.

“Yeah. Let’s just keep our eyes open.”

“Got it.”

We walked for what seemed to be an eternity before we met our goal.

“Alright, we are exactly where we need to be. The ship is in this general area,” Damien says.

“This must be the thickest part of the jungle, it’s pitch black here, and the sun isn’t even completely set yet,” I say, changing the subject.

“Maybe we should...” Elena says cutting off her sentence.

“Elena? What were you gonna say?” Stella says, with a somewhat concerned look.

“She was taken,” Rin’Gal says.

“What? How do you know that?” Damien asks.

My eyesight is different than yours. When in the dark, people show up as detailed fluorescent shapes. Same with objects based on their heat.

“Show us,” I say.

Damien lights a small glowstick as Rin’Gal walks forward and we follow behind. As we walk through the dark jungle, a small amount of light comes into view. Damien instinctively throws down his glowstick so that he doesn’t alert any creature or person that lies ahead. We get into closer view of the light that turns out to be a fire burning.

“There’s Elena, this must be the place,” Stella says to the group as she looks through the bushes.

Elena is tied and has a torn piece of clothing over her mouth. Another person comes into view and begins stoking the fire.

“I think if you wish to do anything, you should do it now,” Rin’Gal says to us.

Without a word Damien and I jump through the bushes. I run towards Elena while Damien rushes the mysterious person. The person catches us immediately. She takes the object that she was stoking the fire with and bashes Damien across the face. It must be wood as it shattered into charred embers when it collides with Damien’s face.

I continue to untie Elena but am cut off guard when the woman lands behind me and heel kicks me in the side of my head. I fall to the ground wincing in pain. The woman walks over top of me and bends down. Her eyes staring directly into mine and I take a good look at her face.

“...Anika? Is that you?” I ask. The woman’s eyes immediately soften and she steps back.

“Who are you...and how do you know my name?” she asks quietly. I stand up and brush myself off.

“Do you not remember us? It’s me Ethan, Anika. The person you kidnapped is Elena. The one that attacked you is Damien. We knew Dante.”

“Dante? I have to save Dante...No, he’s gone forever...No, I will save him.”

I scan Anika to try and figure her out. She had apparently been here for a long time because her clothes were tattered and torn and her body was covered in dirt and her hair was filled with grime. She didn’t seem to have a true sense of reality anymore.

“Anika, why are you here? Were you trying to find the device?” I ask. Her vision snaps to me.

“Device? Yes...I was ran...general no more just to find it.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“Hey guys, I don’t think she has to answer that question!” Damien yells from across the area.

I look over and see a large metal sphere, with a door on the front of it. Various tubes circle around it. My guess is that they power the device. I look back at Anika and see her cut the binds on Elena. Elena stands and looks at Anika.

“Elena...ok?”

“Yes Anika, I’m fine. What has happened to you? How long have you been here?” Elena says.

“Two years, five weeks,” Anika replies as she moves back to the fire.

Leon, Stella and Rin’Gal then step out of the bushes, feeling the area is safe. Anika instantly readies herself to fight them off.

“Whoa, whoa, Anika, calm down. They’re friendlies. That’s my son Leon and his girlfriend Stella. And the Sekrid is Rin’Gal, he’s not like the other ones,” I say. Anika lowers her guard and stares at Leon for a moment and smiles.

“Happy eighteenth birthday, Leon,” Anika says with a grin. Leon shifts his eyes left to right with a weirded-out look.

“Um, thank you?” Leon says.

“Mmhm,” Anika says, still grinning before turning around and sitting by the fire. Leon then steps over to me and looks at the device.

“You know she’s off her rocker, right?” he says, whispering.

“Yeah Leon, I know. But she’s a part of our whacked family, so she’s coming,” I reply, as I turn around and sit at the fire myself.

“Tomorrow we start working on the device,” I say, staring at the flames. All of you might as well sit by the fire and get comfortable. Make sure you get some sleep too. Tomorrow I plan on having the device close to finished, so that means we’re working...all day,” I say, concluding my plans.

Everyone then joins me around the fire. Anika looks around and smiles at everyone as she stokes the fire.

“Almost a family again...” she says.