The Coveting of Eden by Raven

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Chapter III: The Power of One

Shock and horror played across Julia’s visage as she rose from her seat and faced the doctor, the man, to whom she had given her faith so trustingly. The darkness that surrounded them seemed to encroach on the meager light given off by the desk lamp, and shadows painted Vasquez’s face, making it appear distorted, almost evil. “Julia,” he said, a hint of regret apparent in his voice, “you have no idea what’s at stake here.”

Searching his face, Julia was unable to find a trace of the man with whom she had been infatuated, the man whose world had seemed so glorious to her. Their “relationship” seemed further in the past than the twenty-two light years they had spent in cold sleep coming to this planet. In truth, Julia did not recognize the man that stood before her. “You had no right! They are innocent children, Pablo!”

The senior doctor held up his hand, attempting to quell her rising agitation. “The Government has known about the Terrians long before the Eden Project was even a twinkle in Devon Adair’s eye. They are an ever-present threat to our existence here, and these experiments hold the key to mankind’s survival.”

Julia shook her head slowly in disgust, her blue eyes blazing with betrayal. “The Council brought those children here to be used as lab rats, guinea pigs, and you knew about it all along,” she accused. Vasquez lowered his eyes as if unable or unwilling to defend himself. “What did your loyalty cost, Pablo? What was the price of your conscience?” Each word she uttered was a dagger impaling the already abased Vasquez, but Julia continued, her emotions rapidly overflowing the meager, Council-constructed barriers that used to contain them. “Those twelve children trusted you . . . I trusted you!”

Though he was wounded deeply by her lost faith in him, Vasquez could still see the innocent, young intern that he had fallen in love with, and the hurt that glistened in her eyes beckoned him. “Mi amor,” he said tenderly, reaching out his hand to caress her face.

A shocked Julia recoiled. “Don’t touch me!” she warned, backing into the computer. There was a time that his presence made her quiver with excitement and pleasure, but now, his presence brought anger and pain. “You have no right to call me that anymore.”

Vasquez backed away solemnly, visibly hurt but not entirely surprised by her reaction. “You have every reason to hate me. Julia, I. . . .”

“Don’t!” she said, glaring at him. “This is not about ‘us.’ It’s about those twelve, innocent children that you’ve deliberately sentenced to their deaths,” she said, pointing to the screen. “How could any of them survive that?” she said rhetorically.

“Most of them did not,” Vasquez admitted sadly.

“How many are still alive?”

“Julia. . . .” Vasquez began.

“How many?” she said with greater emphasis.

“Two.”

“They have to be taken to the Terrians. It’s not too late for them!”

“Impossible!” he stated firmly. “Both are dying, but one of them . . . Kiran,” Vasquez continued, saying the boy’s name softly, with more sentiment than he had intended, “is efficiently reproducing adult Terrian cells. His system seems to tolerate the abundant presence of the alien DNA much more readily, making him immune to the various deformities that have plagued the other children. That one boy has the power to save us all.”

“What do you mean?” Julia questioned, unsure if she was ready to hear the answer that would follow.

“You were right when you concluded that the Government is ‘manufacturing its own Terrians,’ but even with the accelerant, evolution takes too long. The children are only the incubators.” Julia’s jaw dropped as she braced herself to hear the rest. “The Terrian DNA we harvest from Kiran will be cloned, allowing us to reproduce, at will, an entire. . . .”

Julia could not believe what she was hearing. “They’re not just creating Terrians . . . they’re creating a Terrian army,” she said gravely, realizing that the Government intended to engage the alien population in an all out war.

“It’s our only chance, Julia. Don’t you see? Once we have control of the planet, there will be no more Stations, no more syndrome. Humankind will begin again here on this second Earth, continuing the legacy that was not meant to end with the destruction of our first home.”

Staring at him, Julia saw the passion that gleamed in his dark eyes. Vasquez truly believed that the sacrifice of twelve, innocent children was necessary for mankind’s new beginning. “The Council has conditioned him well,” she thought, and she grimaced at all the lies that the organization had made her believe were truths.

“Julia,” he said softly as he approached her once again, “you must not tell anyone of this. Just your knowing about the project puts you in great danger. If they were to find out that you knew. . . .” Vasquez stopped himself, unwilling to utter the consequences he knew would befall his young protégé.

“Listen to yourself, Pablo . . . caring more about secrecy than saving the lives of two children. You have to help them. It’s not to late!” she pleaded, knowing that he had unlimited access to the secured East Wing.

He grabbed her shoulders firmly, and she flinched, struggling to free herself. “Julia, haven’t you heard what I’ve said?” he said desperately, fearing for her safety and his own. “No one goes against the Government’s agenda.”

Attempting to shrug off his hold, Julia’s eyes fell upon Vasquez’s gun, lying forgotten upon his desk, and in one quick motion, the barrel of the weapon was pressed against Vasquez’s temple. “Sit in the chair,” she demanded.

Startled, Vasquez released Julia and put his hands in the air. “Julia, don’t do this,” he said. He had a grave look in his eyes, as if Death itself hovered over Julia’s head.

“Sit!” she said, more forcefully.

“You are signing your own death warrant!”

“I don’t have time to convince you,” she said, retrieving the sedaderm from her coat pocket.

“No!” he cried, realizing what she intended. “Phase two has already begun . . . you can’t stop it!” As he heard the familiar hiss of the sedaderm, Vasquez grabbed Julia’s hand. His eyes passionately pleaded with her as he said, “Julia, they’ll . . . kill you . . . mi amor.” His last few words faded as the sedative overwhelmed him, but Julia heard them clearly. They seared through her defenses and impaled her heart.

Staring at Vasquez’s unconscious form, Julia’s eyes lingered on the gold Caduceus that adorned his left collar. Still gripping the gun firmly in her hand, she closed her eyes tightly, attempting to stop the flow of memories that the symbol had triggered. She had given Vasquez the gold pin so many years ago when she had graduated from Medical School. At the time it had represented so much to her, the fulfilling of her Council-designed destiny and the future she was so sure would involve her mentor, but as she looked at him now, she found herself questioning all that the symbol stood for.

Tears began to overwhelm her closed eyelids as they slipped through her dark lashes without pause. Julia remembered Reilly asking her to perform a similar sacrifice in Uly. Reilly, a spokesperson for the Council, was convinced that Uly was the answer to mankind’s salvation, and he was so certain that the changes the Terrians had bred in him could be used for the greater good. She shook her head slowly, realizing that she had come so close to making the same unconscionable mistake that Vasquez had. The Council had made them both believe its lies, and their blind faith cost them both dearly.

Julia loosened her collar as a familiar suffocating feeling began to overwhelm her. Her bitter sorrow was quickly turning into indignation, and she could feel the heat of her rising anger. The all-powerful Council and its God-like proclamations had been her parent, her guardian, her instructor and her priest for twenty-five years of her life, and just when she thought she had freed herself from its oppressive weight, it reappeared, threatening to destroy her more completely than it ever had before.

Her blue eyes flashed open, then narrowed with determination. “The Council took away my childhood. I won’t let them take theirs! Kiran and the other child will not die at the hands of the Council . . . not while I’m alive!” she declared, tucking the gun under her shirt.

* * *

Julia walked purposefully down the hallway, away from Vasquez. Determination and anger possessed her every step. “No more,” she said out loud, feeling herself dancing dangerously close to the same edge she had crossed after injecting herself with Uly’s Terrian-altered DNA. “No more lies, no more ‘necessary’ sacrifices for the greater good! I won’t be the Council’s puppet!” she declared indignantly. She angrily grasped at the pin that held her hair neatly in an official twist. Freed from its bond, her long, blonde hair flowed loosely onto her shoulders. Then, grabbing the insides of both lapels of her pristine physician’s coat, she pulled them both forcefully, unfastening, in one motion, all the gold buttons that formally adorned its front. Julia quickly pealed the starched, white coat off of her and threw it to the side of the corridor. She sighed, embracing the freedom that it brought, and as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she quickened her pace.

“Halt,” the East Wing soldier commanded. “You are not . . . you again,” he said, recognizing her. “Dr. Vasquez has left the East Wing.” The soldier straightened where he stood, attempting to command the authority that his military rank held.

“I know,” she replied with a confidence that sent a shiver through the guard.

“You’ll have to leave, Dr. Heller,” he said firmly.

“Okay,” she said, and she turned to leave.

The relieved soldier relaxed his posture. He did not want to use force with the young doctor and was glad that she had come to her senses.

Abruptly, before the guard could react, Julia spun around, gun in hand. “Hand me your weapon, soldier.” Now it was she who held the power.

The guard looked at her in shock. “Are you crazy?”

“How badly do you want to find out?” she threatened, cocking the pistol and aiming it at his head.

“You are insane,” he declared as he gave her his magpro, which she shouldered. “You’ll never get away with this!”

“So I’ve been told. Now, move!” she ordered as he quickly punched in the access codes, and they both entered the forbidden East Wing.

Gray, metal corridors stretched out in all directions. “Take me to the lab where they’re holding the orphans,” she instructed. “Where are the rest of the guards?” she asked suspiciously as he led the way. She had not thought of what she would do when more soldiers appeared. “Give me your grenade detonator,” she demanded, pressing the gun against the back of his head. Slowly, he began to reach into his vest pocket. “Stop,” she said abruptly. Eyeing his belt, she grabbed his shackles and bound his hands behind him. “I’ll get it,” she said, delving into the pocket he had reached for. She shuddered as she pulled out a small pistol. The soldier looked at her gravely. Julia knew that a Council trained soldier would not hesitate to kill her, but she had crossed the line. And she knew there was no turning back now. “Do you have a death wish?” she asked rhetorically, pocketing the mini-gun. Hastily, she searched the rest of his pockets until she found the detonator. Then she looked at him intently as she pulled the pins from each of the four remotely detonated grenades that hung on his belt. The soldier’s eyes widened. “The lab, now!” she said, pushing him forward.

As Julia had suspected, a small regiment of guards were posted outside the main lab. She shut the large blast doors behind her as they entered the foyer of the main lab. Six guards turned and drew their weapons. Holding the detonator up, she announced boldly, “Even if you all fire at once, I don’t think you can drop me before I press this button.” They looked at the bound guard’s belt, all jaws dropped as they focused upon the four armed grenades.

“You’re bluffing,” one guard called out.

“Oh, yeah? Maybe you wanna hold the explosives,” she said, quickly grabbing one of the grenades and tossing it to the guard.

Stunned, he dropped his magpro and stumbled forward, gingerly catching the grenade before it hit the ground. “You’re insane!” He gently placed the grenade on the table beside him.

“You could’ve killed us all. Even remote grenades can explode on impact,” another guard informed angrily, but nervousness trembled his voice.

“Drop your weapons . . . and your vests and belts,” she said calmly, unwilling to think of what might have happened if the guard hadn’t caught the explosive.

Reluctantly, all six complied, and she herded them toward the lab. As the party made their way into the large laboratory, they were greeted by six more guards, who, at the command from the lead soldier, stood down. The lab was dark and shadows hid distorted forms. Indirect lighting insufficiently illuminated the far walls of the lab, while the main lighting came from the large glass enclosure that stood against the eastern wall. It appeared to be a sterile environment. “Open it,” she ordered the guard closest to the glass chamber.

As the door hissed open, she waved the remote in front of her, instructing all thirteen guards to enter the chamber and sit on the floor against the far wall. Julia followed them in. “Oh Lord,” she cried as she looked at the disfigured form that lay on the table next to the boy she presumed was Kiran. Both children were hooked up to a series of wires and tubes. Kiran looked deathly pale, and he looked at her with his large brown eyes, which spoke fear and pain. The other child’s eyes were wide open, but he was not breathing. She fought back the tears that she felt surging forth in relentless waves. The boy was dead, his eyes frozen forever in anguish, and his body, swollen and distorted, bore gruesome testament to the painful, torturous manner in which he had died. Julia had seen a lot of horrible things in her medical training but nothing compared to this. His head barely even looked human. His skull had warped, allowing the adult Terrian DNA to manifest its presence physically. Julia winced involuntarily. She could barely make out his sex. The boy looked more like a monster than a child, a human and a Terrian fused into one being. Compassion filled Julia as she closed his yellowed eyes, and she covered her mouth to hold back the scream she was holding in and the repulsion that was welling within her. She wanted to throw up, to expel the horror of it all.

“Those savages,” she said, biting down on her lip, unable to comprehend how anyone could have stood idly by and allowed this.
She gently pulled a silver sheet over the other boy and began unplugging Kiran.

“You don’t know what you’re doing!” the lead guard called from his position on the floor at the far end of the chamber.

She glared at him. “I know exactly what I’m doing,” she stated firmly. Then, looking at Kiran, she spoke softly. “Kiran, I’m Julia. I’m gonna take you away from here. Okay?” At his weak nod, she wrapped a blanket around him and took him into her arms. The eight year old boy was thin and sickly, and Julia was amazed at how light he was.

“Don’t do this! Where are you taking him?” the guard yelled.

Julia ignored him and sealed the door behind her, blocking their escape. All thirteen ran to the glass door and pounded futilely. Their cries were muted by the thick glass, and Julia waved the detonator in front of her for the last time before placing it on the medical cart that stood next to the door.

Holding Kiran in her arms like a toddler, Julia ran through the maze of corridors. She ran desperately toward the Southern Perimeter.

* * *

“Calm down, John,” Devon said, gently placing a hand on his arm.

He grimaced, hearing her call him by his first name. The woman could read him like a book, and he didn’t know why but that made him nervous. “Devon,” he began, without realizing that he had responded with her first name as well, “she should’ve been back already. Something’s wrong. Don’t ask me how, but I can feel it.”

The leader of Eden Advance studied the man before her, the man she had deemed in her mind her co-leader, but she would never admit that to him. Danziger was looking intently out the large front window of Devon’s cabin, searching for any sign of Julia. Frowning, she saw that he was very serious, and she had come to trust, even rely on, his instincts. “Maybe, we should go look for her,” she relented. “Baines. Cameron,” she called, re-entering her living area where the rest of Eden Advance was gathered, studying the plant samples and reviewing data.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. They were familiar with the tone Devon was using. It was a tone that implied something serious. “We’ve got to. . . .”

Devon was cut off by a blaring sound that began softly in the distance and whirled to a thunderous roar as it approached them. Rushing to the door, they saw that the entire town was ablaze with red flashing lights. “Julia!” Danziger cried as he ran toward the commotion. Everyone quickly followed suit.

* * *

“Dr. Heller,” a loudspeaker roared over the sound of the alarms, “you are in direct violation of Government law.” A small crowd had gathered against the large building that bordered the Southern Perimeter. An army of soldiers lined the wall and watched carefully as Julia ran toward the metal control pillar that stood at the edge of the concrete and metal platform. “You have stolen Government property. Halt!” the authoritative voice continued.

“Oh my Lord, what’s she doing?” Devon asked in horror, as she watched Julia flee.

“Why aren’t they advancing?” Walman asked, confused.

“Look,” Bess called out, pointing to the land beyond the energy field. About twenty Terrians had erupted from the earth, charged staffs in hand.

Seeing the Terrians, relief washed over Julia as she began punching in the access codes. The panel flashed angrily at her; they were overriding her attempts. Frustrated, she gently put the now unconscious Kiran on the ground, and opened the panel. She hoped she could remember what Danziger had taught her. Stripping the necessary wires, she proceeded to touch them together, hoping to cut off the Council’s override commands.

In the tension of a moment that seemed to pass in slow motion, a soldier with a sniper’s rifle took aim at Julia’s head and began to squeeze the trigger. “Nooo!” Danziger yelled as he dove for the soldier’s gun. He tackled the man to the ground as a single shot rang through the air. Pinning the soldier roughly to the ground, he yelled, “Are you crazy? That’s Dr. Heller!”

Julia punched in the code again, and this time the field blinked, signaling its deactivation. As she turned to pick up Kiran, she felt a burning pain sear through her back, and she fell forward.

“Julia,” Devon yelled in shock. Government soldiers were now restraining each member of the Eden Advance, and three soldiers pinned a struggling Danziger to the ground.

Turning over slowly, Julia grabbed at the wound in her abdomen that was now bleeding profusely. The bullet had gone straight through. Julia looked up weakly at the Terrians, her eyes pleading with them to take the boy, but they would not venture onto the unnatural ground. It was clear what she had to do. Even the slightest movement caused Julia’s body to convulse with pain, but she grabbed the edge of the blanket that held Kiran and pulled with all her might. Groaning in agony, she struggled toward the soil that supported the army of Terrians. It was such a short distance, but to Julia, it seemed a light year away. Clenching her teeth, she closed her eyes tightly, staving off the darkness that threatened to take her into its painless abode. Her eyes were glazed with hot tears of anguish, but she focused on the dirt before her. Blood pooled in large volumes beneath her as she propelled them slowly over the line, half synthetic metal and half natural soil, that represented the barrier between the Government and the Terrians.

“Just a little . . . fur-ther,” she told herself as waves of unimaginable pain racked her body. After crossing the border entirely, she looked up at the Terrians, who seemed even larger from her position on the ground, and said, “Take him . . . please.” As if understanding her, the Terrian closest to the boy picked him up, and satisfaction washed over Julia’s anguished face. Merciful blackness followed as Julia’s eyes closed and her tense body fell limp.

The Terrian in front of Julia put his hand to his head oddly, then put his hand on Julia’s crumpled form, and all, including Kiran and Julia, disappeared into the ground.

* * *

Julia slowly opened her eyes, and pain overwhelmed her, causing her body to tense. She was amazed to find herself in an underground Terrian cave. She felt a gentle hand upon her cheek. “Easy, doc,” a familiar voice said.

“Alonzo?” she said as she looked at his angelic face, his dark eyes filled with concern. “Is it . . . really you?” She spoke softly and with great effort.

“Shhh, don’t talk,” he cooed, tightening his grip on her hand. It had been too long, and he never wanted to let go again.

“Kiran?” she asked worriedly, struggling to search their surroundings for him. She was punished for her movement by a sharp pain that echoed mercilessly through her gut.

“Julia, please don’t move,” he said, his face grim with concern. The boy is fine . . . thanks to you.” Alonzo looked lovingly at her, but she could tell that rage boiled beneath his tender touch. He pressed her wound with his other hand, a meager attempt to stop the blood. “Those bastards,” he muttered under his breath as he looked at Julia’s bloody stomach. “I should never have left you. . . .”

“They gave you no choice,” she said, gazing into his dark eyes, which now brimmed with tears. “I knew I’d see you again.”

“Not one day went by without my wanting to go to you, but the Terrians forbade my surfacing. You see, the experiments the Government performed on me tore a rip in the weave of the Dream Plane and. . . .” Alonzo was cut off by Julia’s anguished scream. “Julia, what can I do?” he asked, feeling all too helpless. “The Terrians said they won’t heal you . . . I have to make them understand,” he said, rising.

“’Lonzo, don’t leave me,” she pleaded, her hand firmly gripping his.

“How bad is it?” he asked cautiously.

“Bad,” she told him grimly. Her eyes were now beyond the pain, and they began to fill with fear. “I’m . . . not gonna make it, ‘Lonzo,” she said, tears welling in her own eyes.

“Don’t say that, Julia,” he pleaded. “We’ve come so far, and I finally have you back in my arms. I won’t let you go now! I can’t!” His words were strong and bold, but fear gripped his heart, threatening to destroy him.

“Just hold me,” she asked.

Julia groaned in pain as Alonzo gently lifted her, taking her fully into his arms. Letting his tears fall freely onto her face, he looked into her blue eyes, which sparkled with fear. “I love you . . . flyboy,” she said softly.

“I love you too, doc,” he replied passionately, willing her to live. His eyes blazed with anger and pain, a deep pain that he imagined was unrivaled by any physical pain that could ever exist. “No! Don’t leave me, Julia!” Alonzo cried as her eyes began to flicker; the light that usually beamed within them now dimmed. He held her tightly, attempting to hold on to her life force, unwilling to surrender her.

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