Page 110 of Exiles on Earth
“We all go,” someone from the back states, looking around at the others as he steps forward, in front of me. “His chip’ll set off the gates, but if there’s a gang of us, the Parthiastocks won’t know who to arrest. If we all run, they’ll have to catch us all.”
The others nod, eyes bright, but my chest aches with a mixture of swelling hope and a creeping cold fear. “You’ll be in danger.”
“They’ll let us go once the scans show we’re not you,” another says dismissively, but we all know it’s not as simple.
“I can’t let you do that.”
“Try to stop us. We’re volunteering,” the proposer says, face solemn. He’s younger than me, maybe an Iota cohort, but determination rolls off him as he squares his shoulders.
I search the other Gerverstocks, their stances set, each tipping their heads to their shoulders in agreement.
“But why?” I whisper, choked by their sacrifice. “Why put yourselves at risk for me?”
The proposer’s stern face dissolves into a wide smile. “Not for you, exactly. For the little human female who’s breaking her heart looking for you. And perhaps one day, clones will all have mates as caring as her.”
The scan point looms ahead,glowing the same blue as the Parthiastock’s veralashes.
“Steady,” I whisper from the center of the gang of Gerverstocks all marching in sync to the middle archway.
“Save your breath for running,” the one next to me mutters. “Your female’s waiting for you. Don’t fail her.”
I close my eyes briefly, summoning her image to my mind. The tears coursing down her cheeks on the vidfeed, her scream of fear as she was whipped away from me in the jungle.
Strength pulses down my legs, engorging the muscles so much they strain the seams of my shorts, a faint red glow visible under the fabric. I’m ready to run hard.
The checkpoint hums, getting louder as we approach. I take a deep breath of air, hearts leaping in my chest, adrenaline surging through me.
A single step under the archway, and the security point goes red. The Parthiastocks instantly snap toward us.
“Run!” the Iota Gerverstock yells, his voice a rallying cry. The gang surges forward, every step pounding into the plascrete, the sound of our escape a thunderous heartbeat.
A klick ahead is the bright sunlight of the exit to the starfields, and I spare a quick glance behind. The relentless line of Parthiastocks closes in, but the Gerverstocks behind mewear feral grins, blue eyes blazing with triumph in this adventure.
A Parthiastock reaches out, grabbing a Gerverstock and tackling him to the ground. He seizes his wrist and scans his forearm, then lets out a guttural roar of disappointment. He leaves him to keep running after us.
My hearts lift. The decoy Gerverstocks aren’t being hurt! My breath catches in my throat as one to my right gets dragged down, his snarls of defiance silenced as the guards shove him to the ground. My pulse pounds in my ears. I have to make it.
A Parthiastock lunges toward me, hand outstretched, eyes sharp with predatory focus. I dodge but he moves with me, fingers brushing my scales.
A heavy shoulder slams into my side, shoving me out of the way just as the guard’s hand closes. I stumble, almost falling, but manage to catch my balance, and sprint as the Gerverstock who pushed me sprawls on the ground, the Parthiastock pinning him down.
I don’t stop. I can’t. My lungs burn as I sprint through the chaos. The exit gleams ahead, bathed in sunlight that seems blinding now. My legs ache, every muscle screaming, but I push harder.
For her. For El-len.
Strong arms wrap around my midsection, yanking me to the side. With a surge of desperate strength, I pivot and throw him off balance, the way I’ve done with Dom a hundred times. But another closes in, sprinting with eerie coordination, their shared thoughts driving them as one.
The new Base pulls his veralash from his side, the bright blue tail crackling in the air. He snaps it forward before I can dodge, wrapping it around my left wrist. Pain explodes through my arm, white-hot and searing, as if it’s eating its way to the bone. My scales dull under the assault, and my left arm drops uselessly at my side, dead weight.
Before I can recover, another Parthiastock barrels into me. I hit the ground hard, the impact jolting through my spine and the air punching out of my lungs. I try to roll, but he’s already on me, one knee crushing my chest, pinning me down. I gasp for breath, and he wrenches my right arm upward, his scanner inches from my implant.
The weight of defeat crushes me, but I refuse to stop. My body bucks against his hold, teeth bared as I shout, “El-len! El-len!”
A battle cry tears through the chaos, and the younger Gerverstock slams into my captors like a meteor. He flushes an angry red, muscles bulging so violently his scales split in a streak of crimson. With one colossal swipe, he hurls the Parthiastock off me, sending the enforcer sprawling.
“Run!” he bellows, but I’m already moving, scrambling to my feet. My legs ignite with Gerverstock strength, each stride stretching farther, faster. The ground blurs beneath me, my breath burning in my lungs as I push beyond anything I thought I had left.
Ahead, the light beckons like salvation, pulling me forward. I can almost hear her voice, see her face etched in my mind.
