Hello," Edward bellowed out into the trees, obviously on a mission to find Lilly. His face looked dusty and exhausted.

  Solomon had been following Edward for over ten minutes. He planned to overpower him and remove the glass dome. If he brought this alien to tonight's meeting, the Strengths as a group would get Merrick's attention.

  But Edward kept turning around. His situational awareness was impressive. The glass dome was undoubtedly a strategy to discourage anyone from getting too close. Solomon wondered what the creature looked like beneath the mask. What was it doing in Merrick, and where had it come from? Solomon had never seen anything like it, although he knew the visitor was male after watching it pee on a tree. It had no wings. A life without wings seemed harsh, the limitation of solely using legs for transport, depressing. No wonder the creature looked tired.

  Edward was sitting now, in a tall patch of grass, resting his head on his knees. Solomon took this as a perfect opportunity to bind his hands and feet with the rope he had coiled inside his bag. Height might be a concern. Edward was much taller than Solomon. But the element of surprise and Solomon's strength should win out. If only he could generate a distraction.

  A large crackleberry bush stood feet from where Edward sat. Solomon’s mouth began to water, thinking of how he’d skipped lunch to meet with Bartholomew. And the discussion had been a complete waste of time. The only way to solve Merrick's problems was to involve the Orb. Perhaps if he brought the creature to tonight's meeting, the Orb would ask to speak directly to him. Crackleberries might draw the visitor out. Solomon touched a bow hidden beneath his wings. Was he a good enough marksman to snap off a cluster of cracklberries?

  Edward appeared to be asleep until an arrow whizzed by him, followed by a crashing sound.

  “Who’s there?” he said, panicked. "I'm armed."

  Solomon looked at the creature's body. Where would he be hiding a weapon? There were no pockets in the white material wrapped around its body. Edward stood gingerly, looking for the source of the arrow.

  Edward moved to where the crackleberries lay and held them up in examination. He rolled one around in his fingers and let it fall into the grass, where he stomped it and held up the gooey mess. It smelled delicious. He licked his fingers cautiously as if the berries were poison. But soon, Edward was stuffing handfuls of the berries into his mouth. The distraction had worked, and shortly after that, Solomon caught Edward by the waist, snaking the rope around both his fists while he pinned Edward's lower body to the ground.

  “What the actual fuck?” Edward bellowed.

  “I am Solomon. I won’t hurt you if you do what I say.”

  Edward stared at Solomon's small, unassuming body, which lay atop him.

  “What's wrong with your face?” Edward asked, stunned.

  But Solomon said nothing, pulling the ropes tighter around Edward's wrists. His face red with effort and insult over Edward's comment about his appearance.

  Edward, as if just now aware he was being restrained, flipped Solomon on his back, ripping away the rope cuffs with ease.

  “You are a strength,” Solomon said, terrified but impressed.

  “What?" said Edward, still dazed. "Where’s Lilly?”

  “You have a friend named Lilly? I have not met her. Where are you from, stranger?”

  Edward looked hard at Solomon as if he were the one out of place here, grabbing the small bow from his hands.

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  “Where am I? What do you call this place?”

  “I am Merrick. This is my home. It is called Merrick.”

  "Your name is Merrick?"

  "No, my name is Solomon."

  "Who is Merrick?"

  "My people are Merrick. This is also the name of our world."

  Edward studied Solomon, his head tilting to the left before he spoke. "I'm from Earth. Do you know about us?"

  “I do not know this word, Earth.”

  “It's a planet.”

  “What is a planet?”

  Edward scrunched his face and took another long pause while whispering "the fuck" under his breath.

  “A planet is here, where you live. Right now, both of us are on the planet Mars.

  “Why do you call Merrick, Mars? Why not call it Merrick?

  “I guess we have different words for the same thing,” Edward said, looking around as if he expected another short winged man to join them.

  Edward's explanation pleased Solomon, but he wondered why the creature needed different words and a glass dome on his planet called Earth.

  “How did you get here?”

  “I traveled through the Orb,” Edward said stoically. "It must be a portal between our two worlds."

  “The Orb?” Solomon repeated, his face turning pale. “Of course,” he said, deciding the Orb was testing his bravery right at this very moment.

  “So you travelled from Earth to Merrick through the Orb?" Solomon asked, unsure what the word portal meant.

  “Not exactly. We're trying to colonize Mars. We want to live here, but there's so much wrong with this place, I don't think it's gonna work. The Orb brought us from Mars to this place. To Merrick.”

  “But we live here. If Mars and Merrick are the same planet, why do you say no one lives here, and why do you say it is so bad here?"

  Edward looked away from Solomon, who hoped he had not angered the creature with all his questions.

  “Because I don't think we're from the same time period. I think you’re from the past. I’m from the present. There's a lot going on, man."

  This was not good news, and in defiance, Solomon placed both hands on his hips to express his disapproval of the idea that Merrick might not exist forever.

  “So what happened to us if there is no Merrick in your future?”

  “That’s a good question. Maybe we can help each other figure that out,” Edward said, keeping watch of his surroundings.

  But Solomon had already figured it out. At some point, Earthlings had taken over Merrick, and now they were manipulating the Orb to let them go back in time to steal whatever riches they’d missed during the original conquest. Bile stirred in Solomon’s belly. He would kill the creature and drag its lifeless body to the meeting tonight, declaring that as a people, they should do the same to Lilly.

  “And why do you wear the globe, my friend?” Solomon asked, disguising his fury.

  “We don’t breathe the same air as you. We bring our own air,” Edward said.

  Suddenly, the tip of Solomon's knife struck Edward’s helmet, generating a crack that triggered his oxygen sensor. Solomon, having never heard beeping before, dropped his knife clumsily. Edward quickly stooped to retrieve the knife, holding the crack in his helmet.

  “You're a dumbass. You know I could slit your throat with this," Edward said calmly.

  “I hope you won't," Solomon said, smiling. "I’m looking forward to watching you suffocate!”

  Still wielding the knife, Edward stooped and brought up a bag that Solomon hadn't seen before. He took out a roll of duct tape and calmly tore off a small stretch, placing it over the crack just like he'd been taught in space camp.

  “It won't hold,” Solomon jeered, wringing his short, fat fingers together.

  "Maybe not," Edward said, removing his helmet. "I'm not sure I even need this."

  Solomon quickly understood that the alien didn't need the helmet to breathe, and just as shocking was the reveal of Edwards’s face. Where there should have been a snout, there was a straight bulb of skin between his eyes and mouth. It was almost grotesque.

  “Holy shit, I can breathe,” said Edward.

  “You can breathe," Solomon said, worried now that his actions would result in dire consequences.

  “I can help you find Lilly,” Solomon said quickly, trying to secure an angle to keep himself alive.

  “I might let you,” Edward said.

  Solomon stared at Edward. He was obviously a Strength. This proved that Strengths had been the only faction of Merrick to survive, even if they had made their home on another planet. Merrick's future depended on conceding to Strengths. With Edward, he could make others see that."

  “Would you be willing to come and share what you've told me at a meeting tonight? One of my people has likely been in contact with Lilly.”

  “That depends. Will they throw knives or try to tie me up?”

  “I am sorry for my behavior. I have been less than a good host, my friend. You must understand my desire to protect Merrick. You might do the same for, say, Lilly.

  “Yeah, she’s a real pain in the ass, but I get it.”

  “I do not know these words- pain in the ass.”

  “You should. Your picture would be right beside them in a dictionary.”

  And Edward laughed genuinely, making Solomon smile even though he still didn’t understand.

  “It is how I always say- there is much good here! Tonight, you and I will change the history of both our worlds, Edward.”