Jab stopped and turned to her, “Because I have to, Ryshana.” He turned and continued toward the landing bay. Ryshana saw the sorrow in his expression and ran after him.
• • •
Jorele heard the sonic boom and raised his head. He shook it and wiped his brow with a rag. He dug his shovel into the soil and looked up at the sky. He wondered who was coming but knew it didn’t really matter. They were going to die. He saw the black colored shuttle moving down out of the sky and started walking toward the small clearing beside their community. Misha ran up to him and took his hand. He looked at her and shook his head. “Where you go, I will follow.” Jorele sighed and continued walking toward the black ship that had just landed.
• • •
Ryshana shook her head, “Jab, you’re risking your life doing this!”
“That’s why you should stay on the shuttle.”
Ryshana snatched a shoulder blaster off the wall and forced Jab to take it. She took one for herself and followed Jab out of the shuttle. They saw the man and woman walking toward them and Ryshana raised her blaster. Jab pushed the barrel down and said, “You will not fire unless we’re put in danger!” Ryshana saw the intensity of Jab’s expression and kept the barrel lowered…slightly.
The man and woman had stopped when Ryshana raised the blaster and Jab walked out to them. Suddenly, a young boy and girl ran up and grabbed the man’s legs. He ordered them to go back, but they refused to let go. Jab arrived ten steps in front of them and the man sighed. He picked up the little girl and the woman picked up the little boy. The man turned to Jab and asked, “How did you find us?”
“One of our scouts saw a shuttle leave one of your undefended planets and come to this world,” Jab replied.
The man shrugged, “We’ve all lived in fear that might happen.”
Jab looked over the couple and saw hundreds of the people working in the fields were dropping their tools and start slowly walking forward. “I didn’t think that men worked the fields with the women in the Brotherhood.”
The man turned around and held up his hand stopping the people walking toward them. He turned back to Jab, “We are no longer part of the Brotherhood.”
Ryshana’s eyes narrowed and Jab saw she was at her most dangerous. “You came here from Brotherhood planets.”
The man nodded, “My father found this planet and he sent our heroes here that had lost their faith.”
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!” Ryshana asked loudly.
The woman looked at her, “After all the killing and the deliberate sacrifice of the believers, everyone here came to believe the Brotherhood was nothing more than a sham religion. We’ve seen that it was all a giant lie perpetrated by the clerics.”
Ryshana’s eyes remained narrow and the man pointed at the crowd behind him, “All of us work the fields, men and women. All of us contribute to our survival and try to make this world everything it should be. We knew that if the Brotherhood ships ever found us, we would be killed.” The man paused and added, “We also knew that if you found us, we would be killed as well.”
“You don’t seem too upset about it,” Jab observed.
The man shrugged, “We know our destiny is in the Creator’s hands and we will accept it. At least we’ve managed to live in peace and love for a while before you found us.”
Jab stared at the man and woman and said, “The Brotherhood has been defeated and all of them are now dead.”
The man glanced at the woman and then turned back to Jab, “Creation will be a better place without them. They reaped what they sowed.”
Ryshana glared at the man and woman with her blaster raised and the little girl asked, “Are you going to hurt my mommy and daddy?”
Ryshana stared at the little girl and lowered her blaster, “No, I’m not.”
Jab dropped his blaster to the ground and the people standing at a distance, slowly started walking forward. Ryshana kept her blaster in her hands but the crowd stopped just behind the man and woman. Jab looked at them and saw they were worn and weary from working in the fields. Jab looked at Jorele and said, “You know that your lives will be very short working the fields.”
A man standing behind the couple said, “But it will be spent in peace. Better to be short lived than live under the tyranny of the clerics.”
Jab took a breath and said, “I’m the one responsible for causing the destruction of the Brotherhood.”
Ryshana heard the sorrow in his voice and Jorele said softly, “Then you were used by the great Creator to remove their evil from the universe. You should not blame yourself for it.”
Ryshana stared at the people standing in front of her and threw down her blaster. She looked at them and said, “It’s time you came home.”
Jorele looked at her and swept an arm around him, “This is our home.”
“No, it’s not!” Ryshana said softly. “Earth is your home and it’s time you rejoined humanity.”
The crowd was silent and Jab looked at them, “You’ve endured the sorrows of living in the Brotherhood watching your families die. You’ve paid your dues and you deserve to live a better life than dying in these fields. Are you willing to go back to your real home?”
Jorele asked, “Is that where you’re from?” Jab nodded. The man turned to the crowd and smiled, “I thought our destiny was to die when this ship arrived here. But the Creator has chosen to forgive us for all the sins we’ve committed. I think it’s clear that we should join our brothers and sisters on our home world.”
The gathering shouted their agreement and Jab raised his hands. The crowd grew silent and Jab said, “I will be sending a freighter here within a few days and all of you will have to be inoculated before leaving here. I will find places for you to live on Earth and I will make sure you are taken care of until you can care for yourselves. Mankind welcomes you back and I thank you for joining our civilization.”
Ryshana and Jab spent the rest of the day with them and at the end, Ryshana asked Jab as they walked to the shuttle, “How did you know?”
‘Know what?”
“The men were working the fields with the women. They also left their children behind to come to meet us.” Jab paused and said, “Saving these people has saved my soul, Ryshana. I can rest knowing that I didn’t kill all of them and that I wasn’t truly the last man standing.”
Ryshana smiled and put her arms around his waist as they boarded the shuttle. The darkness in Jab was gone and she was thankful for these people taking it away. Now their life would be everything she prayed for. She had been faithful to her calling and deserved everything they were given over their long lives.
The End
Message me at Saxonandrew@msn.com and let me know your thoughts. I treasure your feedback.
Books by Saxon Andrew
The Annihilation Series:
Love Conquers All
The Power of a Queen
A Rose Grows in Weeds
Tommy’s Tale
Searcher
Demon’s Sacrifice
Finding Keepers
(The seven books above are also audio books at Audible.com)
Prequel-Psychic Beginnings
Searching for a Hero
Dahlia’s Deception
Annihilation-The Complete Series Box Set
The Annihilation Saga:
Lost Royalty
The Warrior's Destiny
No Way Out
Fight... and They Will Come
Ashes of the Realm:
Juliette’s Dream
Greyson’s Revenge
Death of an Empire
The Return of the Realm
Lens of Time:
The Pyramid Builders
Planet Predators
Pray for the Prey
The End of Time
Lens of Time - Star Rover:
Running Out of Time
Chosen to Die
The Fight for Creation:
Life Warrior
Scout Warrior
Ultimate Warrior
Star Chase:
The Lost Prince
(Also an audio book at Audible.com)
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to Hide
Probe Predators
Jesse's:
Jesse’s Starship
Mike’s War
Joshua’s Walls
Nemesis:
Revenge is Best Served Hot
The Search for Orion
Trapped in Time:
The Time Takers
Taming a Planet
Extinction
Escape to Earth:
Running From Fate
Fighting for Space
Defending Holy Ground
The Legacy of a Conqueror
Living Legends
The Sequel Series to Escape to Earth - Defending Earth:
Searching for Death Feeders
Discovery Means Death
The Death Prophecies:
The Coming of the Prophet
The Prophet's Eyes
The Unknown Enemy Will Kill You
No Technology is Invincible
Survival is Never Free
The Last Prophecy
Stories from the Filament Universe:
Gregor’s Run
A Pirate’s Tale
Soul of the Swords
The Death Filament
Death Never Leaves a Calling Card
Gregor’s Search
Jimmy's Dreams Stories:
Jimmy’s Dreams
Jimmy’s Dreams II - A Recurring Nightmare
The Assassins Guild:
Earth Must be Stopped
Defending the Colonies
Rage of the Brotherhood
The Last Man Standing
Other:
The War Against Earth
The Book of Life
(a short story)
Coming Soon:
The Fight for Britannia
About Saxon Andrew
Saxon Andrew is a former social worker with a degree in Psychology and Education from Mercer University. He has taught school, managed several sales organizations and owned his own business.
He has devoured science fiction since he first learned to read and his stories are the product of years of personal experience and exposure to the universes created by the genre’s great authors.
He lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two dogs who still appreciate his sense of humor after all these years. "Dogs are always ready to smile."