Despite the sleepless nights spent soothing shrieking infants and changing diapers with makeshift patches of leather, the next six years went by in a flash. Onder no longer walked to the local market every day. It wasn’t a personal grudge, he had already forgotten Aphmor’s words the second his siblings were placed in his arms.

  His father left him with a temporary supply of formula as a small mercy, but Onder had to seek wider markets when it ran out. Knowing he could never leave his siblings alone, he carried them around in two hidden slings under his jacket.

  He had always felt bad about trading with Sigiba’s gangs for necessities. Not anymore. His pride went out the window when two hungry infants came through the door. It wasn’t just the gangs anymore. Hek’s people were newly settled and as such, still had access to the technology they brought with them. He traded his services as an enforcer with no remorse.

  The long trips and questionable work didn’t lessen when the kids could finally eat solid food. A diet of dried meat alone was not acceptable to Onder. He made his way into Hek’s settlement with the kids sitting inside a small woven basket. Tightly woven bars covered the top to keep them inside. Their curiously for the world grew as it would for any child, but they weren’t allowed to have a normal childhood there. It pained Onder to keep them contained, but he had no other choice.

  He walked to the largest ship in town where Hek resided. Her stick-like figure was sitting at a small table in the corner. She was visibly slower. Not just physically, but mentally as well. She wasn’t exaggerating when she called her species short-lived. It would work out well for her species on Sigiba, possibly sparing them from the unfortunate fate of Aphmor’s species. Her eyes moved to him as he entered the vessel.

  “Son of sun.” She beckoned him over with a frail hand. “Important matter to discuss.”

  He walked over and took a seat across from her. Mtsi and Helena were barely audible, but their chatter could be heard by someone nearby. Hek already knew about them, but she never overstepped her boundaries. The gangs may have posed an issue if they ever discovered them, but Hek was solely focused on evolving her species.

  Onder lifted the jacket to give the children some air. Their heads poked up into the makeshift cage over the basket. Their blue eyes matched, but Helena's hair shined a bright gold. Mtsi's white hair resembled their father's.

  “Human children doing well?” she asked, sounding genuinely interested.

  “Yes,” he answered, trying to avoid personal talk with the woman he saw as a monster. “If you don’t mind, let’s just get to the point.”

  She nodded. “Hek disturbed by other species.”

  “Hmm? The great Hek is scared of some petty gangs?”

  “Son of sun quite the comedian,” she laughed. “Hek not scared of gangs, Hek scared by gangs. Other species evolved but gave up infrastructure.”

  “Yeah, it turns out living here isn’t just a fast pass to a body like mine.” His tone made it sound like he was proud of his body, for once.

  “Hek had to capture some. Just for a chat. Needed to understand situation.” Her long finger pointed to a dusty file with several tears and holes. “Ancestor diaries. Hek knows what happened now to unfortunate gangs.”

  Onder looked curious. His planet’s history was an interesting topic for him, though he never knew that before now. Hek opened the file and pulled some old papers out.

  “Ancestors wanted evolution, like Hek. Not as short-lived as Hek, but still short enough to try experiment.”

  “They got what they wanted. Did you think living here came without sacrifice?” He crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. “You’re a fool, but if you still have the fuel, you can still escape with your people’s lives.”

  A voice from the backpack interrupted them. “Ondy!” Helena’s hand emerged from the space between the bars and grabbed his shirt. “Hungry!”

  Both children started to whine with hunger. Hek looked amused and slowly got out of her chair. She walked over to her pantry and took two bags of flavored nutrition cubes out of her cupboard.

  “Cubes filled with protein and fiber. No payment needed today.”

  They cheered as she passed them the bags. Onder was always confused by her kindness towards the humans.

  Maybe she finds them so pitifully weak that she wrapped back around to being nice.

  “Business, now,” she redirected. “Hek does not give up. Even if death comes, others on home planet will continue experiment.”

  Onder sighed. “Alright. You’re set on dying here, I get it.”

  “Hek sees possibility for survival. Gangs already capable of surviving purge.”

  “You want their help? They’ll never go for that. They already distrust you.”

  “Son of sun could say that. Hek wants genome. Speed up evolution. Get ahead of first purge.”

  “Oh. Oh.” He sat there awkwardly.

  “Son of sun go invite gang members to town. Five takers sufficient, especially males. Build new future together!” Her tone was astoundingly clinical.

  “Wait, you want me to go get them?” he asked, bewildered.

  “Gangs don’t trust Hek. Too much spying. Oops.” She shrugged. “Even if not liked, son of sun known to be genuine. Son of sun says Hek safe, gangs listen.” She pointed to the children with their nutrition cubes in hand. “Son of sun benefit too. Nutrition for children will remain.”

  Dammit, she’s right. I’ve been relying on her to keep these two healthy. I don’t know what I’d do if her society fell…

  “Fine. I’m sure I can convince at least five to come here.” He looked in her eyes. “If this is a trap, I will come rectify the situation myself.”

  He stood up from the table and started walking away, tucking the basket back into his jacket.

  “Son of sun,” she shouted. “Gangs dangerous for children. Hek will watch if wanted.”

  “No.” His voice was quiet, but absolute.

  Hek nodded with an immediate understanding. “Worry not, was just a suggestion,” she hummed.

  Ignoring her, he made his way out of town. His new mission was certainly a strange one, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He was almost happy about it. Death and failure were all too common on Sigiba. Hek’s plan may just work, bringing a ray of hope to the desolate wasteland.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  The only problem was that he had to take Mtsi and Helena with him. Hek was nice to them in his presence, but there was no way he’d leave them alone with her. He looked around the rocky landscape for anyone watching before kneeling to the basket hanging on his shoulder. He took it off so he could look his siblings in the eyes. They immediately jumped up in excitement, their heads reaching the top of the cage.

  “Out time?” Mtsi asked, eyes filled with hope.

  “Not now, little sunshine.” He squeezed his hand through the bars to pat his head. “We just have to make another stop. Now, remember our talk about being quiet?”

  They both nodded. “Quiet time!” Mtsi proclaimed, Onder giggling at his confidence in his deductive skills.

  “That’s right! You’re both so smart. I know I can count on you.” He opened the cage up for just a second, needing to reward his siblings’ intelligence with hair ruffling.

  “Stop it, Ondy!” Helena giggled and playfully pushed his hand away. It wasn’t a real shove, but Onder could still feel his hand forced backwards.

  Wait, what was that? A human shouldn’t be able to push me back at all. Dammit, maybe I should’ve made time to read that damn textbook. I thought father was just lying about them being half-human. He probably knew I would never have time to read through that entire book while keeping these two alive!

  He’d have to test her strength at some point. It would be a relief to know that she wasn’t as frail as a regular human. Mtsi, on the other hand, was as fragile and sensitive as a human could be. Now that he thought about it, he only remembered having to patch up scrapes and bruises on Mtsi in the past.

  “Alright, it’s time to go back inside.” Onder closed the hatch connecting the bars to the basket. The children didn’t complain, they knew quiet time was sacred.

  Onder tucked the basket away once more and walked towards his local market. It would be easier to convince people to go with him if Aphmor was there to support him. The old man was the only being on the planet other than Hek that knew about his siblings. If they made any noise, he could back Onder up and direct attention away from them.

  As they got closer to the market, Onder could feel his breath picking up. Despite being his own rule, he hated quiet time. Every twenty minutes he had to look inside his jacket to make sure the kids were still breathing. He was always so worried about heat stroke during Sigiba’s warmer days. Most of his clean water sat in the basket with them. He wouldn’t dare give them the slop he collected from the ground.

  With the market in view, he clutched the basket at his side and cautiously approached. The usual glares from market regulars met his gaze as he walked to Aphmor’s stall. It was only a point of safety to use for his real goal.

  “Prince, good to see you again.” He eyed Onder’s side where the basket was hidden. “Need more water? I have a special royalty discount for you, as always.”

  Aphmor made up the royal discount when he learned about Onder’s siblings. The man was surprisingly concerned about them, wanting them to have all of the resources they needed to grow properly.

  “I’ll take it.” He quickly slid a scale over and tucked the canteen on the counter away. “I didn’t just come here for supplies, though.”

  He turned to face the market crowd. Many were still watching him, the usual state of affairs for the planet’s feared prince. They almost flinched as he looked at them.

  “I’ve come to talk to you. All of you.” His head moved to acknowledge every person in the crowd. “Don’t worry. I don’t think you’ll hate what I have to say…”

  The gang members looked at each other with confusion and intrigue. They were silent, waiting for him to continue his speech.

  “Hek wants you to join her town. Anyone who wants to. You’ll have access to all her advanced facilities.”

  Chattering erupted. Onder watched the gang members talking, noting their expressions. Most of them remained confused, but some were notably angry. He tried to home in on those conversations.

  “This is obviously a trap! They’re just trying to ensure they become the dominant species on this planet,” yelled one older man in the middle of the market.

  “Honestly, so what if it’s a trap? I’m sick of living like this. This planet has nothing to work with!” retorted a younger man. “If we want to regain what our ancestors lost, we’ll need to outsource.”

  Across the board, younger members seemed more open to the idea. Their pride had not yet taken hold of their minds, and they had a long life ahead of them that they wanted to improve.

  Perfect. Younger people joining gives Hek’s civilization a better shot at surviving the first dark age. I just hope there’ll be some chemistry between the two species. Most of Hek’s seem kind of off-putting, though there’s plenty of people I haven’t met.

  The arguments continued, but eventually a group of eleven gang members separated from the crowd. There was a mix of genders in the crowd, but the vast majority were young people. The older man stepped forward to stop them, but Onder shot him a death glare.

  Don’t you dare. Just let them go.

  He backed off, but the rage didn’t leave his face. He returned Onder’s glare without moving from his spot.

  “You’ve all made a good choice today. I’ll escort you to Hek’s town for a smooth transition.”

  Onder started leading them out the same way he entered, but he noticed the older man’s eyes remaining on his form. It wouldn’t be worrying if he didn’t feel motion coming from his basket. He clutched his side to stop it and noticed the man raise an eyebrow.

  Shit! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

  He had to stop himself from walking over and killing the man where he stood. He didn’t see much, but it was enough to sign his death warrant. Onder couldn’t do it now, but once he dropped the new recruits off, he would return for him.

  Onder tried to keep his usual demeanor for the following group as he led them to Hek. If they could feel his current energy, they would think this was a trap. He tried to jump in on any causal conversation he could pick up on, keeping them at ease.

  His siblings remained perfectly quiet for the rest of the trip, and they approached the parked airships making up Hek’s town. Guards at the gate happily bowed to them, allowing the group inside.

  Hek emerged from her ship and limped over to the group. She was in bad shape. This was her dying effort to save her people. Onder couldn’t excuse her choice to bring them here, but perhaps she wasn’t as cruel as he thought.

  “Hek welcomes newcomers.” She smiled. For the first time, Onder didn’t find it creepy. “Newcomers please follow Hek. Hek will show new homes.”

  Onder stayed for the tour, as promised to the newcomers. The group looked pleased with the ships being offered for shelter and the food that met all their vitamin needs. Nothing seemed suspicious, and he felt comfortable leaving them with Hek. Her smile was weak now, but genuine. Once the tour was over, the group was encouraged to split up and go mingle with the older residents of the town.

  “I think this just might work.” He reached his hand out to her. “I wish your town good luck for the next dark age.”

  She accepted his handshake. “Hek thank you. Truly.”

  Hek looked him in the eyes and gave him one last nod. This would be the last time he saw the woman. Despite all that had happened, he felt that he would miss her. They spent a lot of time together for the last six years. She helped him keep Mtsi and Helena alive, something he would never forget. When he reached the gate again, one of the guards handed him a large box.

  “Payment. Nutrition cubes. Yum,” she said.

  He grabbed it. “Thank you. I’ll… I’ll try to come back when the dark age comes. I’ll do what I can to help.”

  He bowed to them and took his leave. A more violent mission awaited him back at the market. When it was just in his reach, he warned Mtsi and Helena to keep their ears covered. His eyes widened as he walked into the empty market. Only Aphmor and his sturdy tree remained.

  “Prince, you’re back…”

  Onder rushed over to him. “Aphmor, where did that man go? I have to find him! He saw me… He saw…” His head sank onto the counter.

  “Prince… I know where he went, but I do not want the children to see more violence.”

  “If I don’t do this, they’ll see worse!” he begged.

  “Prince, please. You’re overreacting. He didn’t see their faces, only a simple gesture. He doesn’t know.”

  Onder took a breath. Aphmor may have been right, but Onder wasn’t willing to take that chance. He’d have to search for him, but it was late at night, and the children needed to rest first.

  “Fine. Thanks for nothing.” He rushed off, almost hitting Aphmor with his jacket.

  He had to hold back tears as he brought the kids home. He wouldn’t be able to sleep with that man out there. News of his siblings could spread and protecting them would become even harder.

  Once they reached the cabin, he took one last look around in case they were followed. He sighed with relief at the empty space around him and went inside, taking the basket out of the fold of his jacket and unlocking the hatch.

  “It’s out time now.” He lifted them up and out of the basket. “Time to go to sleep.”

  “Story! Story!” they both shouted.

  “You don’t have to remind me! I’d never forget your story.”

  He pulled out a thin book from the nightstand, something Hek made for him after a successful job. As he settled in the center of his bed, the children crawled on opposite sides of him and snuggled into the crook of his arm. He held the close as he started reading. His siblings were asleep within minutes, but Onder remained awake.

  Tomorrow. I’ll settle things tomorrow. Everything’s going to be okay. They’ve never been able to touch me, so they’ll never touch you two either. Goodnight my precious rays of sunlight.