Page 8 of Rebirth

“The medic.”

The medic? “Why—”

I want to tell her I’m not ill. But she’s already walking away, moving more swiftly than I expected her to.

Mina heads straight across the camp to the far end where she tilts her head back, looking at something that’s descending from the sky.

At first, I think it’s going to slam straight into her and I rise, hot chocolate sloshing over the edges of my mug and onto my pack, but the thing, whatever it is, slows down at the last moment.

It’s a black box, like a solid cube, and I turn my eyes to the ship above, wondering if more of those things are going to fall.

But the people around me seem unbothered. It’s only their lack of reaction that makes me still the sudden erratic beating of my heart.

The box settles on the dusty ground at the same time that the panel facing Mina opens to reveal…

It.

I don’t know how, or why, I know it’s the one she was referring to—the medic. I just do.

It’s white. Different from the others I’ve seen so far. Completely white, not a speck of the darkness that embodies the others in its frame.

And the moment Mina gestures my way and its head tilts in my direction, my heart stops.

Even from this distance, I can feel the scrutiny of those alien eyes.

The creature steps from the box and the device closes and rises from the ground, leaving the alien behind.

It’s still watching me, unnervingly so. Such intensity in that gaze that I become aware of every bit of myself. And, as Mina retreats and I’m left faced with a creature that’s looking at me as if it can see inside my being, I realize something. An oversight on my part. A way of thinking clouded by the idea that we were alone in this universe.

That creature looking back at me is not a thing.

It…is a he.

Sentient. Intelligent.

And looking at me with such scrutiny that I wonder once more if it was the right decision to stay in this place.

There was no pressure to stay. No pressure to come.

It said so on the flyer; yet, here I am.

Bipedal like the others, even from the distance, I know he stands over seven feet tall. Towering over me. Towering over every human that exists here. And yet, standing so still, without threat.

Arms that seem slightly too long hang at his sides, the ridges that rise all over his body evident to me even with the distance between us. The white locs that adorn the top of his head are pulled back just like his brethren’s, highlighting the sharp bone structure of his face.

Sculpted. High cheekbones. Firm jaw. Long pointed ears.

Like a work of art.

“Take your time,” Mina says, somehow returning to my side without me noticing. “There’s no rush.”

I force an unconvincing smile. “Uh, okay, but…why do you need me to speak to him?”

“Everybody contributes here, in whatever way they can, but experts like you are hard to find. Most people…” She trails off, but she doesn’t need to say more. I already get it.

Most people are dead.

Most of Earth’s experts. Leading minds.

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