Retrieval

By Beka Gremikova

The house sits in darkness except for the faintest orange glow seeping between the downstairs window blinds. Probably the boys watching TV, bundled in blankets, hoping their dad won’t come home tonight.

You have no right to those kids. By human law, they belong to Earth. So says the human government. But by Tulitian law, they belong to the being who will love them most.

And that isn’t their abusive, neglectful father. Or the C.O.D.E. agents who want them for experimentation.

Save my boys. Even if you can’t save me. Rothrelak’s last transmission two weeks ago, before she was killed. Though my agency has officially barred me from retrieving her children—the Tulitian foster care system is too flooded with their own orphans to worry about half-bloods—I’m here anyway.

Powering down my spaceship, I take a deep breath. What if Rothrelak’s boys won’t come with me? What if I let them down like I did Rothrelak?

Stop stalling, Shrekar. I slap the bright orange Beam Me Down, Scotty button Rothrelak installed years ago when we first became retrieval partners. Before she met that human ass-tronaut and relocated to Earth.

Thirty blinks later, the ship leaves me on the front doorstep. I press the doorbell, and harsh buzzing echoes through the house.

There’s frantic whispering, rustling, then silence.

No one answers the door.

My mind spins. What if they think I abandoned them? What if… I shake out my arms. They’re your nephews! Stop acting like a nervous salesman! I knock again. “Shrekiru, pone ihts rodo seaepl.” Shrekiru, open this door, please. Though I haven’t seen the boys in five years, hopefully they recognize the language. After all, they have Tulitian names.

The door cracks open. “You talk like Mom does—did—when she was mad.” The eldest boy, Shrekiru—I refuse to call him by his human name, Stuart—squints narrowly at me with red-rimmed eyes.

I kneel, hoping to appear less threatening. Behind him, a nightlight gives the living room a soft, fiery glow. But without Rothrelak, that glow doesn’t feel comforting like it should. Blinking back tears, I focus on the boy’s round, dirt-streaked face. “That’s ’cuz I talk like that when I’m mad.” I offer him a smile.

Two more pairs of eyes pop up over his shoulder, gawking.

Shrekiru bows his head and picks at the hem of his yellow-orange T-shirt. “Aunt Shrekar, Mom said you were coming to get us and take us all away, before—” He bites down hard on his trembling lip. Sizzling sparks leap from his eyes, triggered by the tension in his tiny frame.

Pressing my fingers against his cheek, I let my cooling powers seep into his flaring skin. His shoulders slump, and the sparks wink out.

“I’m so sorry, Shrekiru,” I whisper. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time to save her.” We’d waited too long, trying to make sure our plans were surefire.

He collapses against me, sobbing. “He… he…”

“Shhh… I know, I know.” My fingers curl when I think of what their father did to Rothrelak, but I don’t want to make Shrekiru talk about it. This unofficial retrieval is dangerous enough without adding stress-induced fire powers.

Shrekiru wipes his nose against my shirt. Then he starts, staring over my shoulder. “Orange vans!”

I turn. C.O.D.E. vehicles are parked along the curb. Official, sanctioned transports that would whisk the boys away from an abusive father… into another form of abuse in scientific experimentation.

We have no right to interfere with C.O.D.E. agents. My training echoes across my mind.

They call it keeping galactic peace.

I call it murder.

Government agents pile out of the vans. I face the kids with my most serious expression. “Boys, this is your choice. Do you want to stay here and trust yourselves to these… agents… or come with me? I can’t promise an easy life, but—” My throat closes, and I barely resist the urge to hug them. “But I can promise that I’ll love you and defend you with my life.”

Then I stand to face the agents darting toward us with their guns drawn. “Our government forbids Tulitian retrieval of human children,” a man yells through his bright orange megaphone.

I stiffen. “Tulit forbids kidnapping of its children for your government’s experiments!”

A pair of arms wraps around my legs and holds on tight. Shrekiru. Two short shadows pop up on either side of me to take my hands.

“Stuart, Dylan, and Tristan, you’ve been entrusted to the care of…” The megaphone drones on while the agents surround the house. My ship hovers above, so close, yet so far. I can’t risk moving with the guns trained on me.

My legs suddenly feel hot, and I look down at Shrekiru. Sparks leap from his shoulders. His lips are set firmly. “I’m going to distract them so we can get away,” he whispers and rushes inside.

“Don’t move!” Megaphone Man yells.

I stand still, breathless, waiting.

Heat intensifies at my back, and a fire alarm erupts from inside.

I whirl. Flames billow from the lower windows.

The agents swarm forward, lowering their guns.

“Is there anyone in the house?” one shouts.

“This isn’t our jurisdiction! Call the fire department and grab the kids!” another cries.

Shrekiru stumbles back outside, and I hug him and his brothers close. I train my eyes on my ship. “Haul us up, Scotty!” I yell. It recognizes the voice command, and a few blinks later, it dumps us onto the hard floor.

Leaping up, I crank the control wheel forward. We zip into the vastness of space toward Tulit, swirling dark orange on my radar. I know I’ll probably lose my job or get thrown in jail for this, but as I guide the ship away from Earth, Rothrelak’s boys—my boys—pile onto my lap, pointing at the planets we pass with awestruck faces. And I know one thing: I’ll die before I ever let them down.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beka Gremikova writes and dreams from the Ottawa Valley, Ontario, Canada. Her passions include travelling, folklore and myth, and geeking out over The Legend of Zelda. Her work is featured in Havok’s Bingeworthy and Sensational anthologies as well as other collections. In 2020, she also received Havok’s “Most Prolific Author” Award. When she’s not watching anime or Youtube snake-hatching videos, she can be found curled up in a corner with a mystery novel.

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