Moon Mark (2 page)

Not the Kireg… Not the Kireg…

He droned on and on, names of some I knew being called. Others I didn’t know.

Mother Joyal, please don’t say my name.

I closed my eyes and continued my silent prayer.

Then the President called my name.

My ears began to ring, a horrid attack upon my eardrums. I had to leave now. I couldn’t even say goodbye to Jasmine.

I opened my eyes with unshed tears burning and exhaled as I stood from my chair. The dark-haired girl, a few years younger than me on my right, pulled her legs back, giving me room to maneuver around her. She didn’t even look old enough to be here. The government was wrong to cast-off individuals only beginning their lives on Joyal—including me. We weren’t prepared for this. I ignored the nod of respect the President sent in my direction, never to see him again, and held my head up high while I made each leg move to the door on the far right side of the room.

I blinked back the tears, not allowing them to fall. I couldn’t cry. I wouldn’t.

Fear trickled up my spine as I grabbed the door handle. On the other side would be my new destiny. Just beyond this simple barrier was an alien race that would change my life. They would know what I thought and how I felt. The Kireg would know my fear.

They would know
everything
.

I swallowed on a dry throat and turned the door handle. My steps didn’t falter as I stepped into a small hallway, even when I saw the Kireg at the end of it. The door shut with a quiet click behind me as I strode forward. My brows puckered in slight confusion when I noticed the white, thin cloth wrapped around the Kireg’s head. It covered her eyes, leaving her without sight. Her hair was white, as was this defining trait of all Kireg. Her silken locks flowed down over her shoulders and brushed against her white gown of the thinnest material.

My cheeks burned with a fiery heat. Her womanly figure was on full display.

Her lips quirked at the edges, speaking in Kiregia. “You will get used to it, Madeline Faire.”

I stopped right in front of her, irritation quickly overriding. Though, I did easily switch over to their home-language, taught it since I started the governing program. This was now my life. I returned in Kiregia, “And I don’t even know your name.”

“That is unimportant.” She waved a hand behind her. “Pass through. You will need to prepare for the trip. There are merely forty minutes left until our departure.”

My head cocked while I evaluated the cloth over her eyes. It wasn’t see-through like her gown.

“You are a curious one, aren’t you?” She chuckled softly with much patience.

I wet my lips, but I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

Her right hand lifted, her skin as white as the moon. She motioned to my eyes with two fingers straight in front of them. “Unlike a Human, I do not need eyes to truly see.” Her hand lowered and her head lifted as the door behind me opened again. She cocked her head, stating quietly, “You must do as I say now, Madeline Faire. Prepare for departure.”

I stayed put. “Your name?” This Kireg wasn’t horrible.

“Stubborn, too.” She smiled, and her teeth were just as white as her skin. “I am Corza Sta-Han.”

“Respected.” I nodded in appreciation, wondering vaguely if she could actually see it, and moved past her into the room behind. I blinked and stared. White-haired Kireg filled the vast room with a line of Humans standing down the center. All Kireg had a white cloth tied around their head, covering their eyes, their clothing just as revealing as Corza’s was. I faltered in my walk, unsure of what to do.

The Kireg moved as if in a dance around one another, their steps flawless. They were handing out space travel wear and making the Humans change right where they stood, no privacy given. White bracelets were also being put on the right wrist of any Human. I held still as a male Kireg waltzed toward me wearing a sheer white shirt and pants. I kept my eyes directly on his face. Though it was a tad alarming not knowing where to look since his eyes weren’t in view. My attention honed on his sharp nose instead as I waited for his order.

He stated softly, “Madeline Faire, please take a position as the end of the line.”

My nostrils flared, knowing he had read my mind.

His head dipped in deference. “You will become accustomed to our ways.”

I doubted it would be anytime soon.

He motioned with both hands toward the Human line, no further comment made.

I ground my teeth together, but I progressed to take the indicated spot. A Kireg eventually stepped next to me and tapped on an electronic tablet. I watched as the silent woman flawlessly put my name into a database and typed in a number. When she finally looked up, she lifted a white bracelet from a clear bag full of them.

“Please put this on your right wrist, Madeline Faire.”

That was getting annoying. “Your name?”

“Unimportant.” She held the bracelet closer to my face. “We are on a tight deadline.”

I took the bracelet from her and peered at the signet on it. A crescent moon was engraved into the hard material, the mark of the Kireg. “What is the bracelet for?” I wondered if she would tell the truth.

“Unimportant.” Guess not.

I lifted a blonde eyebrow. “This is an encased tracking device.” I had worked on many items like this and had created plenty too. “Are the Kireg afraid they will lose a Human on Egyac?”

Her lips twitched, and she peered down to her tablet, the tied ends of the cloth around her eyes falling around her shoulders. She typed into her tablet. “Yes, it is to make sure we know where you are.”

I hummed quietly, eyeing the handiwork of the bracelet. “Like livestock?”

“I’m unsure of what you mean.”

In my head, I pictured animals being tagged with a microchip.

Her head instantly jerked back, and her forehead crinkled. “No, nothing like that.”

I didn’t believe her. “Is it required that I wear this, then?”

“Yes, it is.” She waved her tablet to the right…where three large Kireg stood against the wall. “Or they will help you put it on.” Her head shook. “You don’t want that, Human.”

I was Human now, not Madeline Faire.

My eyes scanned over the Kireg she had pointed to. She was right on one account. I didn’t want them near me. I glared at the bracelet. It was even more clear I now belonged to the Kireg society.

As a Human.

I placed the bracelet on my wrist.

The woman didn’t move from my side, her lips twitching once more. “Clasp it.”

My shoulders slumped. I clicked the ends together, locking the device around my wrist.

“Appreciated.” She dipped her head. “Another will be along soon with your garments.”

I kept my gaze down the rest of the time, affording my peers the privacy to change, in the hopes they would do the same for me too when I was forced to strip in front of them. Surely, this wasn’t what Jasmine had fancied when she assured all would be well. Because this wasn’t all right.

The Kireg’s spacecraft jerked to the side unexpectedly. I gripped the straps over my shoulders and peered through the visor of my silver space helmet. The Humans sitting around me did the same, everyone glancing at each other. That had been nothing like the smooth ride we’d had so far, only gentle glides up and down, left and right. The spacecraft suddenly nosedived, my legs falling forward with the harshness, only to dip back up to slam my helmet back against the headrest on my chair.

My eyes widened as a heavy beat blared over the intercom system.

“What is that?” a woman shouted in English from a row in front of me.

“That’s an alarm,” I announced. I’d heard many of them when I’d been ‘creating’ new technology that hadn’t worked quite as I had planned. Kireg or Human, a warning never changed. I flinched when an explosion erupted outside the spacecraft. “I think we’re under attack.”

“Attack?” she shrieked, her tone shrill. “The Kireg don’t fight!”

No, they didn’t. They were known as a passive society compared to the Mian.

The man next to her, assured, “I’m sure it’s just technical difficulty. They’ll have it soon worked out—” He stopped talking when the doors to this holding area glided open. Two Kireg stood in their white spacesuits—sans helmets—holding silver weapons in their hands, guns I had only read about on my peaceful planet, Joyal. Barely heard over the alarm booming, the guy muttered quietly, “I could be wrong, too.”

I gripped my straps tighter and stared.

The two Kireg with the weapons…they had their eyes showing.

In Kiregia, the man on the right stated, “Stay where you are, Humans.”

I wasn’t going anywhere and neither were the other people firmly strapped in—with locked ties.

Was this guy joking around?

I pushed back against my seat when his eyes focused directly on me. His direct regard wasn’t one I wanted to fixate my way, his purple eye color nothing I’d ever witnessed before. They were so cold, no emotion showing whatsoever. Like a robots. Small shivers ran up and down my spine as I held still waiting for him to look away. Three Kireg ran behind the two in the doorway, past them in the walkspace, weapons also in their hands and no cloth covering their eyes.

He finally peered away from me, his voice still calm. “My name is Georan Vo-Nam. I’m the leader of the High Rebellion, and even though you are mere Humans, I’m here to make sure you don’t become part of the Dynasty. No living being deserves that fate.”

I tried not to think of anything since he had singled me out before.

But it still came.

What the hell is the Dynasty? And what the fuck is the High Rebellion?

Purple eyes flicked back in my direction, and then he peered to the man beside him. His white hair was untamed around his head, curling and a mess. His skin color was close to mine, a tanned hue. The only physical difference between him and any Human here was the distinct shape of his eyes. They reminded me of a nut I enjoyed eating—an almond—but with a dark black coloring around the edges.

“Explain the details of our mission to the addle-brained, Xri. I need to help with the hostages.”

I glared through my visor.

Ignorant Kireg.

He stopped from leaving and glanced over his shoulder. Right at me. Both his white brows lifted high on his forehead. “Unless you would prefer to have your mind ripped to shreds by the Imperial family?” He shrugged a shoulder. “Afterward, you would work non-stop in the mines for gems or be a mindless sex servant to their warped urges. Both positions have a high turnover rate due to endless fatalities.”

My eyes were frozen wide, unable to blink.

Fuck. That.

The Kireg tipped his head in my direction. “Xri, watch that one closely.”

“Yes, sir,” Xri answered swiftly, his silver eyes honing on my person.

The man sitting next to me glanced in my direction. He hissed, “Keep your thoughts to yourself.”

I nodded. I would try.

Georan Vo-Nam disappeared from sight, turning left down the walkspace where the others had run.

“I’ll explain the situation as plainly as I can.” Xri stepped over, standing in the middle of the doorway. “What the Human President failed to mention is that Egyac is currently in a transition period. We are in a civil war right now—and have been for the past twenty-one moon cycles. It is the Dynasty versus the High Rebellion.”

Oh, Mother Joyal. This wasn’t at all a good situation. The Mian on Triaz would have been far easier to handle than this.

“The Imperial family, who controls the Dynasty, continues to attempt to rule, preying on those who are weaker than them. The High Rebellion believes we should all be equal, no matter our voy-level—our influence. The Kireg people are torn and firmly divided in their thoughts between the North and the South.”

Xri smiled so sweetly.

I grimaced, not peering at his mouth.

There was a predator hidden behind his silver eyes.

He announced with a pump of his gun in the air. “But the High Rebellion has recently taken over two new provinces in the North. We are much closer to our end goal thanks to our leader.”

But at the cost of how many lives?

I had read about Earth’s history. Many had died during civil wars in varying countries.

Was there no way to compromise?

Silver eyes landed on me, his tone dead. “There is no compromising with the Dynasty.”