Page 20 of Urzra

The old timer took them and eyed him warily.“Are you one of the good aliens the Mad Prophet has been talking about?”he asked.

“Good aliens?”Urzra asked in surprise.“Who is this Mad Prophet?”

“He’s a crazy dude we’ve been listening to on our ham radio,” one of the younger men said.“He’s been telling us about the evil aliens with red eyes who’ve taken over Manhattan.We saw another gold comet arrive last night.Was that you?”

“Yeah,” Urzra admitted.“I’m searching for my brothers.Do you have any idea where they are?”

“Nope,” the third man said, then left the porch to begin stripping weapons from the dead men.“All we know is Governor Giamano is gathering people for his militia.He’s trying to get Manhattan up and running again.The Mad Prophet told us we’ll be turned into slaves if we fall for their lies.A guy called Xathan talks on behalf of the Governor now.”

“You know him?”the oldest male asked shrewdly when Urzra’s upper lip lifted.

“Xathan is Rahab’s unofficial advisor,” Urzra said.

“Who’s Rahab?”the human queried.

“He’s the leader of the Soldiers of Chaos, the evil red-eyed alien faction,” Urzra said.“Amaros is the commander of the Knights of Chaos.We’re the good aliens who have been sent to defeat the soldiers.”Normally, it was taboo to talk about their true origins, but Fate had changed the rules.She was using a human to speak the truth over the radio.

“Is our entire country really in danger of being taken over by your enemies?”the elder asked incredulously.

“Far more than just your country is at stake, human,” Urzra said solemnly.“If Rahab had it his way, he’d force the entire world to submit to his cruel regime.”

“What can we do to help?”the old man asked.

“Keep listening to the Mad Prophet,” the knight suggested.The women had moved over to a window and were peering out at him.“He’ll tell you what you need to do and when you need to do it,” he said confidently.

“We’re not the only ones who are on your side,” the second man said.“We’ve done bad things, but not all of the survivors are evil.We’ll spread the word to others like us and we’ll be ready when it’s time.”

He looked like he was the old timer’s son.The third man was probably his offspring.Three generations had survived the Rapture together.Urzra didn’t know what they’d done to have gray souls, but there was still hope for them.“May Fate smile on you all,” Urzra said with a short bow.“I need to get going.There’s someone else I need to find.”

“You’re looking for your woman, son?”the white-haired man asked with a knowing grin.“Try not to screw up like some of the other good aliens seem to have done during the past eight months.”

He was shocked by the implication that he wasn’t the only knight to have a connection to a female in this era.Urzra wanted to question him, but felt the urge to keep moving.“I’ll try not to,” he said, knowing he’d already made a mess of things and suspecting it would only get worse.He loped away with their chuckles following in his wake.

Chapter Fourteen

––––––––