“Are we ready to leave?” Hector asks.
An old scientist steps forward, a white mask covering his mouth. “We have everything ready for transportation, sir. The drivers are waiting at Exit C as planned.”
“Good. Remember, you might need to wait a few more days before I send word for you to enter Unity.”
“We’re aware, sir. Is the city lost?”
“Likely, but the fighting should keep everyone occupied until nightfall at least. Better… better get a move on.” He narrows hiseyes and turns around, staring into the hallway as if he’s hearing something, but I can’t hear a thing.
“Sir?” the scientist says, but Hector raises his hand to silence him.
I watch as the color drains from Hector’s face, disbelief in his eyes. “Oh my, what an unexpected reunion.” He reaches for my hand, his skin damp and cold. “Let’s go say hello.”
I can think of only one thing that can cause Hector to react like this. He doesn’t say a word as we walk back toward the dome. Even before we get there, I can hear the lizard men’s restless clicks and hisses. When we enter the dome, Hector raises his hand to silence them. They go down on their knees, leaving Hector and me the only ones still standing.
The flow of water from the outflows suddenly stops, leaving an eerie silence in the large space. My heart beats fast while Hector remains stoic next to me, but his pale face tells a different story. Through the silence, a faint tip-tap echoes from one of the pipes. I’ve heard it many times before, but it can’t behim. I clench my fists and focus on the outflow in front of me, where final drops of water still dribble down.
“Based on your heartbeat, I assume you know who that is,” Hector says.
I’m too anxious to speak. All I can think of is that I don’t have a way to protect him.
“Oh my. And what is that?”
Timothy appears at the mouth of the outflow, about six feet above ground.
“Leave!”I shout, but he remains in place.
“Don’t be rude,” Hector says. “Your peculiar friend has led them here.”
“What?”
A glowing yellow light begins to illuminate the dark pipes. It grows stronger by the second. All around us, the kneeling lizard men snap their jaws and wave their claws. When the substance spills down from every outflow, the entire dome illuminates with a bright yellowish glow, but it dims when the substance flows down into the water around us.
“Calm down!” Hector shouts at his restless lizards. His telepathic communication must not be enough to control them anymore. I remember their refusal to come close to the old factory in Pueblo.
One by one, figures engulfed in yellow substance rise from the water. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. They keep rising all around us, beautiful yet terrifying. I tell myself they are not my enemies, but if this turns into a battle, I’ll be stuck in the middle of it.
The lizard men grow silent when no attack comes, and that silence is replaced by dozens of yellow figures chantingPaul, Paul, Paul.They sound… happy, as if they found a long-lost friend. I glance at Timothy, wondering if this is about to become a terrible mistake on our part.
“Old friends, I never expected you to leave Pueblo. There was a time I begged you to do so, but you refused.”
One of the figures steps forward, causing the lizard men to move out of its way, though their claws remain raised. “Our new friends have brought word to us of your plans.” The voice seems to come from multiple directions, not quite male and not quite female.
“Your new friends do notknowof my plans.”
“Conquest and distraction speak for themselves, Paul.”
Hector hisses, “Not Paul. Paul was a child.”
“We don’t remember our own names, but we do remember yours, and we cherish it.”
“Do you remember Erica, Ben, Eleanor and Sam? Your newfriendskilled them.”
“They weren’t alive back then. Those are not their sins.”
“It doesn’t matter. I will make sure those sins never return.”
“By committing even worse sins?”
