Apex Magazine Issue 62 by Sigrid Ellis

Author:Sigrid Ellis
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Apex Publications
Published: 2014-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

§

A communiqué was broadcast on League bands in stammering, erratic stabs. It found us, as it was meant to, and in their staccato language told us this: We will not surrender. We will break your god–speakers. We hide, we rebuild, and while we live, we will not share this earth with you. You are few; we are many.

The twin brothers sneered, jointly. “Like ants are many, and us crushing them underfoot by the colony. Don’t they realize they’re outgunned, outmatched, that they’re barely more than shit–slinging apes? All that bluster.”

No one laughed with them.

“Can they do that?” I had never seen Viraya show fear. A flicker of it crept down the roots of her hair, to limn the corners of her eyes. “Where did they get our forensic samples?”

Pattama shook her head. “They didn’t. An idle threat, a bluff. There wasn’t enough left of my younger sisters’ son. Even if there were, I doubt they can manage the most elementary manipulation — let alone bioweapons. There’s been no evidence they are capable.”

How desperate I was to believe that she was untouched, impervious to loss. We all needed that.

Kanrisa stared at the screen where the words shimmered and said nothing. I was behind her, centimeters away. In a gesture as personal as I could ever make myself perform in public, I wound my arms around her waist. “They aren’t all wrong, Pattama–elder. Number to number there are thousands of them to each of us. In time, they will rebuild and try to make good their promise. One way or another.”

“What would you, then?” Pattama looked at me.

“Kanrisa,” I whispered. “What do you want?”

She turned to me, my intended, and the honed point of her gaze made me ache. “I want them gone.”

It contradicted our original objective, but none protested. In that we were aligned, as voice to echo.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.