Canadamerica

Earth.

Canadamerica, Section B512, Town 1287 F

Year 2374, Third Month.
    I love the sun. I love the spring and the summer. Of course, that’s most of the year, what with Operation: Global Melting coming into effect. One hundred years ago, the alien race known as the Lapira arrived. They’d been behind Earth’s politics since 2000, when everyone was still fighting each other. They hailed from Alpha Centauri, a three-star solar system and the nearest system to ours. They were extremely advanced and took complete control over Earth in only a few solar years. Since they were more used to a warmer climate, they used solartech to slowly raise Earth’s global temperature. 50 years in, Australia and parts of Africa were declared inhospitable.

    Climate was not the only thing the Lapira altered. Using DNA from animals of their planet and ours, they altered the genetic makeup of humankind, giving some people, like me, things like superspeed or hibernation or incredible strength. They altered all humans to adapt really fast, too. In what would have taken hundreds or thousands of generations, we adapted to the heat in years. They also put cybernetic implants in some of the genetically unaltered people. We call the animal people Sprites.

    I’m Amaya Apollo. I’m a sprite. I’m a crossbreed, which is pretty uncommon. I have the reflexes of a wildcat and the strength of a Dasyrees (dass-er-EEs) (Dasyrees are ape-like creatures with incredible strength.) My mom’s a cyborg and so is my friend Arrow. My other friend, Arishu, can run REALLY fast, like a greyhound.

    It’s weird. When the Lapira took control of everything, it sort of… went quiet. Everything was too perfect. You’d still go down the street to hang out with your friends, but there’d be an alien battlecruiser hovering over the town hall and tall, broad aliens walking past you. I’ve asked myself this question a billion times, and come up with no answer: How did they take over so smoothly? Fear? Mind control? However they did it, Earth is no longer Earth. It’s Xcerion 3 (zare-eon), and only one of the countless planets the Lapira have conquered.

    Anyway, back to the present.

    “Where is she?” I ask. “Arishu was supposed to be here ten minutes ago!”

    “Dude, she’s probably fine. It isn’t like she’s on the run, from, like, the Lapira or anything.” Five-foot five inches of pure whatever, Arrow flipped their multicolored mop of hair out of their face and typed something into their dataphone.

    “I’m here!” shouted Arishu, bursting up into the treehouse by way of a ladder. “Sorry, there was a little sib situation and then this problem with Nitrogenic cooling vent problem…”

    “Whatever, Ari, it’s fine. Seriously,” drawled Arrow, “Can we just get to the game of Technodungeons and Dragonships?”

    “Right, Arrow. Everybody bring their gear? Good. Arrow, the dice” I said.

    Arrow dumped out the dice into a little pile on the floor. Everybody took out the character sheets describing the character that we were playing. For example, I was playing a six–foot ten Angel Warrior with a Shining Greatsword. Yeah. We’re total fantasy geeks.

    Just as Arrow started describing where we were and what dragon we needed to get rid of in order to save a helpless town, we heard a BOOM. Our treehouse shook and the tiny mini figures of our characters fell to the ground.

    “What was that?” Arrow yelled as a second, more muffled boom could be heard, his cool broken for the first time. I rushed to the window.

    “Guys, look,” I said, peering out onto the small town of 1287 F, “The Lapira are attacking a fire station!”

    “Why would they do that?” asked Arishu as she and Arrow came to the window to join me.

    My eyes widened. “Maybe there’s rebels. Or aliens–different aliens, I mean. Or–”

    “Ooooook Amaya. Imma just stop you there, before you convince yourself that there’s a supernatural god or something down there.” Arrow interrupted.

    “We should go see what’s going on–from a distance, of course” said Arishu. “We should bring our energy slingshots, just in case.”

    I had serious doubts that energy slingshots made for target practice in the greenspace behind my house and the small blowtorch implanted in Arrow’s arm would make any impact on the Lapira, but it was worth a shot. Anyway, humans might be in danger, and we had to help.

    When we got to the center of town, where the fire station and the town square sat, I noticed that we were the only people running to help.

    “Why isn’t anybody doing anything?” yelled Arishu.

    “Maybe they’re scared they’re going to be laser toast, just like we are going to be in a second!” shouted Arrow back.

    Just then one of the Lapira ships’ cannons hit the fire station’s main fuel tank, and shrapnel flew through the air. My reflexes, Arishu’s speed, and the fact that Arrow was half metal kept us safe, but others weren’t so lucky. A man stumbled down the alley that we were in and was promptly knocked over by a piece of metal to the head.

    We rushed to the man.

    “I’ve got him! Let’s go!” I shouted, and thanked the Lapira reluctantly for my superstrength. The Lapira’s strange, musical language came floating down the street to us, and we took off before they caught us with a possible fugitive.

    When we got back to the treehouse, I put the man gently in one of the three hammocks that adorned our fort, and Arrow got the first aid kit while Arishu and I watched.

    “Fortunately, the cut’s shallow, so he’ll be fine, but that leaves us with a question: What do we do?” asked Arrow, turning back to us.

    “Well, I have an idea…” I started.

    “What?” asked Arishu.

    “We take him to the Oracle.”

    The Oracle was actually Arishu’s grandmama, but we called her the Oracle because we always go to her when we have a question.

    “Who’s the Oracle?” asks a groggy, unfamiliar voice. We all turn around to see the man sitting up in the hammock. “Where am I? Who are all of you?”

    Oh, boy.

    About five minutes later, we have him all briefed on how we got him here. Well, I explained and Arrow and Arishu interrupted.

    “I’m with the Rebellion Against the Lapira Tyranny. A few of us were hiding out with a Rebel contact when the Lapira attacked. I don’t know what happened to the rest of us, since I was the last one out.” he said.

    “Well, that explains a lot.” drawled Arrow, playing around with the holo-imager projeter on his ear.

    “We’ll take you to the Oracle, Arishu’s grandmama. She knows everybody.” I said, “As long as you’re up for it.”

    One terrifying trip across town later and we’re standing in front of the Oracle’s little cottage. Jax Underyon, the man we rescued, had refused graciously when we asked if he needed to stay longer in our treehouse. I rang the Oracle’s doorknob.

    “Hello, everybody!” said Irma Fleetfoot, Arishu’s grandmother, “And who have we here?”

    “This is Jax Underyon, Grandmama,” said Arishu. “He’s–”

    “With the Rebellion, I know, I know,” said Irma cheerfully, “How are you, Jax? What have you gotten yourself into this time?”

    “Sorry, Mrs. Fleetfoot” said Jax.

    “Wait, Granmama, you know Jax?” asked Arishu disbelievingly.

    “Of course I do, dearie,” said Irma, “I’ve been a Rebel transporter since I was just a little older than you were,” Then she walked over to the huge shag carpet in the middle of her living room. “Help me with this, Amy?”

    I easily pushed the carpet out of the way and then lifted the large trap door hidden beneath it. I was expecting some sort of eerie gloom and darkness down there, but it was actually a clean, well-lit stairway into infinity. We helped Irma and Jax down the stairs. At the bottom there was a locked door that had a retina scan lock on it. When the door slid open, I stifled a gasp. I had had no idea that there was a giant magna-power monorail station underneath our small town of 1287 F!

    There were also a few people standing around the station.

    “Jax! You’re not dead!” shouted one of them, rushing toward them. The rebel had close-cropped dark hair and what looked like an old-fashioned bullet gun was strapped to their back.

    “Mari! Zeke! Alistair! Sapphira! You aren’t dead either!” exclaimed Jax, “Arishu, Amaya, Arrow, this is my team that was with me at the fire station. Team, they all rescued me from the attack.”

    “It is good to meet people who are less afraid than others in these dark times,” said the one named Alistair, “You would always be welcome in the Rebellion. The Lapira do not have complete control, even though it might seem that way. Someday, we will overthrow them.”

    “Whatever, man” said Arrow, but I could see a spark of interest in his normally lazy eye.

    Half an hour later the monorail pulled out of the station. Arrow, Arishu, and I watched it go, three ants in the huge station. I knew what we had done wasn’t much, but I was glad to have saved someone’s life. It would make a difference to the Rebellion. If nothing else, it made me feel that there’s hope, even when everything seems gray and hopeless.