The Keepers of Azera ( Book 1 of the Keepers Trilogy)

Chapter 20

Instead of going back to the dining hall, James and I head to our dorm room while Poppa goes to talk to Matilda. I put some ice on my swelling cheek and try to singlehandedly help James clean up a bit, even though the only things that need to be put away are a couple of books. If we owned a million things-and we don't- James would find a home for everything. He is quite the neat freak.

"Did you know Poppa was coming?" I ask at one point.

James frowns. "No, actually. But I don't think he's here just to talk to the older Keepers. I think he wants to talk to someone else, too."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "So, do you think Poppa's going to stay here or find a hotel?"

James snorts. "In this area, at this time, I don't think there's any hotels fit for the Chief Keeper. No, I think he might stay here."

"I hope we have sheets for the couch, James, because we're giving the Chief Keeper the best bed in this dorm."

"You're right, Callie. You're young; you don't need a proper bed."

***

Half an hour later, Poppa comes down. He looks around the dorm room with mild interest. "They don't change the decor, do they? My dorm looked exactly the same, too, and it was on the other side of this floor. My Guardian hated it, but then, if she had it her way, the whole place would be pink. Now that would've been horrible."

I giggle. "Did you two butt heads a lot?"

"Oh, certainly. Hux was a girly-girl; I'm, well, I'm a boy. I wasn't into pink and fashion. But we were good friends, like how you and James are good friends. Speaking of James, where is he?"

"He went to the kitchens to grab some sandwiches. He'll be back soon. He also said that you can have his room, and he'll sleep on the floor."

"I said what, again?" James says as he opens the front door.

"You're taking the floor, right?" I say. "We'll just spread some paper."

"You must've misunderstood me," James says, reaching into the bag he's carrying and tosses me a sandwich. "I got your favorite. Also, I'm pretty sure you're sleeping on the floor. Didn't I tell you? I'm taking your bed."

"Well, I was right on one thing," I say. "Poppa, James's room is right there." I point at the door. "Make yourself comfortable. James, don't pee in my bed."

"No promises," he replies with a grin. "Alex, don't worry, I cleaned the sheets."

"No, you didn't," I say. "You just replaced them."

"With clean ones," he retorts.

"I would offer to just take a couch," Poppa says, "but I feel like that's a battle I won't win."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna let the Chief sleep on a couch. Now, if you weren't, that'd be a different story," James says.

"True mark of friendship," my father replies with an eye roll. "Only your role is preventing you from sleeping on this uncomfortable object," he says sarcastically.

It's so funny, watching James- the stubborn, sometimes care-free smartass- and my father-the reserved, serious soldier- interact, because they're so different. But I think that's why they're good friends. As James always says, "Before you came along, my role was to bring out the sarcasm in your father, and his role was to try to cage mine up. I can safely say I did a better job than him."

And by listening to this conversation, I can tell he's right. I've never really heard Poppa sound sarcastic-not in my flash-backs, not in what little I remember of him before the lock-down- and it sounds surprising, coming from him. James does bring out the sarcasm in him.

We eat our sandwiches as Poppa fills us in on the war. Marix- the third largest asteroid city-had fallen at the beginning of the war, which is news to both of us. Now the enemy's using it as a military base. What's worse is that Marix is home to several huge secret projects, and now he's got his hands on it. Poppa won't tell us what the projects are, but whatever they are,  I'm pretty sure that James knows, judging by his intake of breath. Poppa glances at him, and James explains, "Marix's very militarized. It shouldn't be in the enemy's hands."

The enemy. Not Simon. Just "the enemy."

He even fills us in on other planets. Earth is in chaos, because they don't know how so many people have disappeared, along with a whole arsenal of weapons-especially nuclear. A country called the United States of America was hit hard, and so was its neighboring country, Canada. They think there's a spy in their governments, and now they're blaming yet another country called "Russia." The government of Russia insists they didn't, but the United States of America and Canada don't believe it. The humans think this might be the start of another World War.

"So the humans don't know what's going on?" James says. "They're just blaming each other?"

"They wouldn't believe it was an alien enemy who took them," I say. "It sounds like BS to them."

"It does," Poppa agrees. "However, we're not quite sure if we should reveal ourselves to them."

"What about the other planets?" James asks. "Circet, Eurava?"

Poppa nods. "Like Earth, the Circetese know that many of their kind have disappeared, but they know that they were taken by an outside force. They're very strong, but very peaceful. Like Earth, they didn't want to be in this war. Eurava...the enemy allied with them. They didn't need to be forced."

"Is there anyone we could ally with?" James asks. "Maybe Earth?"

"How?" I say. "Once again, James, we're a figment of their imagination. They don't know we exist. And they're not advanced enough."

"Are they? Their weapons are more powerful than ours," James says. "They've wiped out islands with their nuclear weapons. If we can get our hands on one of those bad boys, then fire it at Marix-"

"Then we could set off a whole bunch of other nuclear weapons that they're storing there, poison the atmosphere, and kill more of us," Poppa finishes. "Plus, the surface of Azera would be pummeled by the burning debris. It's too dangerous, James; it won't work."

I frown. "Don't they have chemical warfare? Didn't they use that to flush out enemies?"

"That could also poison our atmosphere," James says glumly.

"Barely," I say. "Marix isn't in our atmosphere. It's orbiting us. Most of it would go to outer space, most would stay in Marix, and I doubt barely any would make it into our atmosphere."

"It would render Marix inhabitable," Poppa says.

"Well, no," James says. "The air filtration systems would filter it out. It will be habitable, just like our capitol, in due time."

Poppa frowns; I don't think he's convinced. Then he sighs and says, "I've already talked to the commanders about allies. I don't think it's feasible. And for now, my focus is on the Training Base."