Chapter 10

Time was passing too slowly for Harrold. He could hardly wait to go back to the field again but it still wasn’t dark enough outside. He tried to kill time by working on the secure connections to the nuclear launch platforms but he couldn’t focus on his work and often found himself staring into space. He was nervous about what would happen when he next saw Meleda. The feeling of being responsible for Meleda’s suicide attempt had affected him badly. It had scared him how easily Meleda had decided to take her life after his rejection. Even though he now knew that Meleda’s mindset had been that she would die eventually, he felt guilty about the fact that she had been driven to take the drugs. He felt uncomfortable: too much pressure, too many expectations, all encroaching upon his comfort zone. The other - perhaps even darker- side of this situation was his own cold-hearted behaviour towards her: if he was honest with himself, this scared him even more. It was the first time ever that he had behaved like such a sad bastard. It was as if Meleda’s submission had triggered something horrible which was hidden away deep inside of him. He didn’t recognise himself in the way he had behaved towards her at that moment. He truly regretted what had happened and realised that he had acted out of fear of being hurt by her again. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm his racing mind; he desperately needed a distraction before he lost it completely. He got up abruptly from his chair and headed directly to the office’s exit. He decided to freshen up and put on some clean clothes. By the time he was ready it probably would be dark enough to go to the field.

“Are you ready to go?” Arnost asked the men who were controlling the two old androids.

“Yes, we think so. All lights are green, sir.”

He walked around the two large suits, checking them for any potential failures and wondered whether they would be sufficient for the mission they were about to launch.

“Right,” he said roughly, “remember: no heroics. Don’t do anything until I give the order. For now, your objective will be to intimidate them and to protect me. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir.”

He looked at the androids’ artificial faces and asked himself how Haruz would have dealt with this situation. He took a deep breath and stepped resolutely out of the door and into the park. Every time he saw the magnificent structure of the alien field, he felt insignificant, which annoyed him greatly. The closer he came to the structure the faster his heart began to beat. He had to keep his mind focused. He hoped that his plan would work. He stopped about ten feet away and noticed to his relief that the androids were flanking him just about a step ahead. He spread his legs a little, lifted his chest and raised his head, ready to impress.

“I want to speak to your leader!” he bellowed with a booming voice.

Nothing happened for the first ten seconds. Arnost realised that the sheer size of the structure could be the reason why nobody came. Perhaps no one in the field was in his proximity. But after another ten seconds, he decided that they had simply ignored him.

“I don’t have all day! I know that you are in there so I will say it again; I want to speak to your leader!”

The shiny fabric split open like a stage curtain, right in front of him. It was too dark to see anything in the field but Arnost was taken aback when a slender woman appeared in the opening. He was mesmerised by her large eyes. The woman was accompanied by the vines which curled like snakes around her body.

“Are you the leader of the, err, Medifaces?” He asked with a hoarse voice as his face betrayed his disbelief.

The woman responded in a ringing voice, “We Medifocans.”

She paused briefly emphasising the correction, before she continued, “don’t believe in leadership, cooperation is what we seek.”

He cursed himself for forgetting the correct name of their race but he thought he could still continue as he saw the woman smiling.

“I see,” he mused, “perhaps we can get to the cooperation by letting me have my strategic advisor back.”

Her face changed to a serious look as she answered sharply, “I’m afraid you will have to wait another day.”

Arnost sighed as he shook his head. As he forced a smile he replied, “Come on now, what does it matter to you to release the boy a day earlier?”

“Did his sister not tell you that our main objective is to heal? Releasing him before the healing process is complete would be unacceptable. It would do him more harm and it could cause irreparable damage to his body.”

“He’ll get over it. I need him now,” Arnost growled.

He admired the woman’s determination as she straightened her back. With a piercing glare she stated, “Your impatience is rather disturbing. I advise you to come back tomorrow around the same time.”

He knew that further talk would not get him what he wanted and he sighed before he replied “I have now asked you nicely to hand over my advisor, but now I think it’s time to tell you I don’t accept ‘no’ for an answer.”

The woman raised her eyebrows as she asked, “Oh, and what if the answer were still ‘no’?”

Her big eyes distracted him for a moment but he had already decided that he had to act now.

“Guys, get her!” he commanded.

Without any hesitation, the two androids stepped towards the woman who seemed to be nailed to the ground. Arnost was stunned when dozens of vines shot out of the opening at a dazzling speed, coiling towards him and the androids. The vines wrapped themselves around the legs and arms of the androids but the powerful motors ripped the vines to shreds as if they were paper swags. The woman screamed in pain as the androids effortlessly moved towards her. Arnost saw the fear in her eyes change to a feral glow when all of the sudden a group of vines coiled down from the top of the field wrapping around the androids necks and lifting them off the ground, leaving them swaying wildly with their arms and legs flailing. Another set of vines shot out of the gap and coiled around the middle of the two large frames. He watched the scene in horror as it unfolded before him and in doing so, failed to notice that a couple of vines had sneakily snaked around his torso.

A desperate voice came from one of the androids, “Sir, we can’t hold this situation for long before the systems fail. We’re receiving warnings about losing integrity in our necks.”

The sound of fabric tearing quickly followed by two loud thuds as the androids fell to the ground made Arnost realise that he had lost. He gasped in horror as he saw that the androids had been decapitated. He wanted to attack the woman who was still staring at him with an angry but sad look in her eyes.

She said placidly, “I’m afraid your highly elevated levels of anxiety might cause you a fatal heart attack so we had to step in.”

Arnost snorted and spat, “You just want to have a valid reason to put me down don’t you?”

Her stone-faced expression told him enough. He had a lot more to say but a warm glow travelled from his neck through his whole body and within seconds he was overtaken by blackness.

The reflection of the man he saw in the mirror frightened him: the dark rings under his eyes were far worse. He wondered whether he would ever have a peaceful night’s rest again. For the past few weeks he had been having nightmares, waking up in a cold sweat. He could never recall the nightmare itself but from his heavy breathing and rapid heartbeat, he knew it must have been horrible. Now the nightmares had extended into his daily life: he had to face the most difficult conversation he’d ever had in his life. He had no idea how Meleda would react when she saw him again. Glancing through his small window which offered a limited view over the roofs of the Archon buildings, he noticed that the sky was turning dark blue. It was time to go and he hoped that the strange woman would keep her word.

As he stepped out of the door and into the park he saw that the streetlights along the path were giving the fabric over the field a lively shimmer. His heart was in his mouth as he walked towards the same spot where he had met the alien woman the day before. He was anxious about whether they would notice him. He slowed his pace, remembering the wild stories he had heard about the aggressive vines and as he was about six feet away from the massive fabric wall, two vines shot out towards him. His response was to stand still hoping that the vines were merely there to find out who he was. Slowly the vines climbed up his legs and coiled loosely around his arms. He was surprised that the surface of the vines was smooth and warm. He wasn’t sure whether the strange material was warm to touch or if they were radiating the heat. The vine around his left arm coiled tighter as if it was getting ready to pull him inside the field but to his relief, he heard the familiar female voice speak, “Don’t be afraid, the Cerasus vines are just curious. Let them get used to your biosignature.”

He saw the woman standing flustered at the opening, and he knew instinctively that she was agitated about something.

“Am I too early?” He asked.

“No, you’re perfectly on time,” she answered with a smile which didn’t quite meet her eyes.

He waited politely for her to invite him into the field but they stood there just staring at each other.

“Err, how, how is Meleda?” He stammered clumsily.

“She is doing fine, under the circumstances,” she replied instantly.

He was pleased to hear that but he truly wanted to speak to her and he boldly asked, “Can I see her?”

The woman stepped aside and as she showed him in she said, “Of course. Let the Cerasus lead the way, it is pretty dark in here.”

He was surprised how awkward this conversation had been but he was too distracted to think about it as the vines were pulling him with an unexpected force. He had no choice other than to walk in the direction that the vines were pulling him. It was pitch dark inside the field and it felt strange that he had to rely on these strange vines. Within a minute he saw a large structure loom up that was sparsely lit. The vines pushed him into the opening where a man with similar large eyes was waiting for him.

“Ah, there is the man who saved Miss Meleda.”

“I only made her vomit,” he responded meekly.

“Precisely. Let me introduce myself, I’m Uso and the lady at the entrance is Saida, my sister.”

Harrold replied almost automatically, “Harrold, nice to meet you.”

Uso chuckled and said with a gentle and warm voice, “Nice to meet you indeed. It’s not often that we meet a person who is so deeply in love with someone.”

He gasped as Uso’s words echoed in his mind. Did he really love her?

He felt a warm hand resting on his shoulder as the alien said, “Come, and let’s see if we can persuade her to wake up.”

Harrold was unprepared for what he saw as he entered a small room; Meleda was lying on a metal table completely enveloped in vines. Only small parts of her body were visible which seemed to be glowing. Her face was free and he was pleased to see a slight smile on her pale lips.

“It has taken us most of the day to cleanse her body from the toxins she had taken and luckily it hasn’t caused any permanent damage to any of her organs. Do you know how many pills she took?”

With a shiver running down his spine, he remembered the black puddle and he reckoned there were at least fifteen pills sticking out.

“I don’t know exactly but I’m sure that she had taken more than fifteen pills.”

“Twenty,” Meleda said with a raspy voice.

“Hmm,” said Uso in a calm voice, as if he had known she was already awake, “that explains the state you were in when your friend brought you here.”

There was a silence and Harrold was happy and sad at the same time as he saw the twisted smile on her face.

“You came back for me,” she whispered as tears started to run down her face.

It was the last thing he wanted to happen and gently wiped the tears away with his thumbs.

“I’m so sorry,” he started, “I don’t know what came over me but I behaved like a major asshole.”

“Why did you save me?”

Harrold was taken aback by her question because he would have tried to save anyone in that situation but he understood her indirect implication. Did he save her for any reason or was there more?

He was not sure whether he wanted to give her the answer and replied by asking, “How do you feel about it, that I saved you?”

Her face paled as she softly replied, “It depends.”

“On what, Meleda?”

He knew that they were beating around the bush, both too stubborn to be the first to admit it.

But admit to what exactly?

As she looked away and started to sob he caved in. He realised it was not fair to play power games with someone who was compromised lying naked, wrapped in vines on a metal table.

As he gently turned her face towards him, he said softly, “I think what had just happened had scared us both to death. As soon as I knew I was in the wrong, I rushed over to you to apologise hoping you would forgive me. But then I found you lying there, convulsing.”

She blinked her eyes, trying to get the tears out of them as she said remorsefully, “I behaved like a small child when I took the pills. I thought; if I can’t get what I want I may as well...”

She swallowed a few times as her expression changed to a guilty look as she whispered, “Pop out.”

He understood her reasoning perfectly well and actually didn’t want to judge her at all but he couldn’t help himself from saying, “I do understand your ridiculously selfish act but I’m still pleased I was on time to save you.”

Her eyes grew bigger and as her face grew redder by the second, she spat, “You thought I was selfish? Look who’s talking! You just walked away when it got too hot under your feet! You didn’t even dare to look at my face when I begged you to!”

Harrold was taken aback by her sudden outburst but before he knew what he was actually saying he retorted, “What did you expect? Do you really think I should believe you after I found out that our relationship was completely based on lies?”

“What?” she screamed, “you didn’t even listen to the explanation of why I left you!”

Harrold noticed that Uso had stepped into the room again and he said calmly, “I think that the love birds need to cool off first before they continue this conversation.”

Meleda snorted, “I don’t want to cool off for that prick.”

Harrold wanted to reply to her remark but Uso signalled him not to respond and he addressed Meleda with a soft chiding tone, “My dear Meleda, I think it’s time to stop jeopardising your healing process. It’s time to get some sleep.”