Page 103 of Between Earth and Eternity
“Remember, Skyler, this isn’t real,” he repeats and pushes play.
The clip shows the city center in Wasatch back on Earth, except it’s barely recognizable. Everything is on fire, buildings turned to rubble. The air and sky are an eerie tinge of orange and red, the sunrays trying to burst through clouds of smoke and toxic smog. More clips flash across the screen to other locations that are now completely desolated, every sign of life simply crumbled down to piles of ash. It looks like a bomb wiped out everything and everyone. Not a flicker of life to be seen. Sickness rises in my throat.
This isn’t real. This isn’t real.
Then Zara appears on the screen.
“It is with great sorrow that we can now confirm the unimaginable. In what appears to be another climatic eventmuch like the sundering many years ago, what remained of the planet we once called home has been destroyed. These images were gathered from Mannox Industries intelligence to confirm the incident and what remains.”
Panic and rage boil my blood as she goes on, “There are no survivors. Everything has fallen silent. Those of us aboard Zenith and scattered throughout the galaxy at various work stations are all that remain of humanity and Earth. We mourn the lives lost, but we must also endure. Remember: from Earth to Eden. Together. We will carry the memories of those lost in our hearts forever more.”
The clip ends, leaving me hollow and numb. I turn to Vallen for an explanation.
“This video will be shown a few weeks after we arrive on Eden,” he says, sorrow weighing his every word, watching the realization hit me with each passing second. I place my hands on top of the console to remain standing upright. “Do you understand what this means?”
This has been the plan all along. Mannox’s plan. I blink wordlessly at the screen.
“This ship was only meant for one mission.”
Air becomes trapped in my throat. I know the answer, but still, I ask, “What do you mean?”
“Zenith is taking us to Eden, and it’s never going back to Earth.”
People die and planets turn
and empires rise and fall and burn
Nothing lasts and no one stays
we all just spiral off into outer space
“Bag of Bones,” Lord Huron
It may not have been real, but the menacing images will stay forever imprinted in my memory. The morbidity goes a step further, my imagination conjuring up images of my family, of Elliot, slowly dying of starvation, wondering why we never cameback, why they never heard from me again. So many souls simply forgotten.
The devastation can’t be contained inside me. It feels like everything is breaking, not just my heart, but my mind and spirit. The cracks that were on the surface have opened wide. A horrible feeling sinks in, caving inward, and there is nowhere to escape. Perhaps the only thing worse than a broken heart is an abandoned one left to hope for something that will never be.
The key finally fits the lock, a satisfying click of the door, only to discover what was hidden was truly worse than I could have ever imagined.
“You are going to leave them all to die.” I inhale a shaky breath. “And everyone here will believe they’re already dead, so there will be no reason to go back.” I work it out aloud, and Vallen nods to confirm. “You knew this was going to happen.” It’s not a question, but a revelation.
He nods somberly.
“For how long?”
He swallows nervously. “I’ve known since my father came up with the grand plan . . . years ago. The true Mannox legacy.”
Years. The complete abandonment of millions of people has been in the works for years.
My mind reels. “You’re going to let them all die,” I whisper. “Mannox is using people for what they need and then discarding the rest.”
Saying it out loud again gives me some clarity. It’s easy to see. For so long, it felt like gazing into a cracked mirror, but now the surface is smooth. But it still feels so wrong.
He shakes his head. “Skyler. I am trying to stop this from happening.” He grabs me by the shoulders. “Do you understand?”
For a moment, I can’t comprehend it because all I see when I look at him is The Vallen Mannox, the son and heir to notonly the most powerful force in the universe but a bargainer of desolation for mankind. But when I blink again, that isn’t the man standing before me, that man was the mask. The puzzle pieces start to merge, memories blend into one version while others still don’t quite fit. It’s a lot to follow in a matter of minutes, and I can’t connect the dots fast enough.
“Why? Why would he do this?” I ask.
