A Medal For Mary by Rob Astor (best books to read for self improvement TXT) 📕

no sign of them.”
“Where did they come from?” Alexis asked. “I have never before heard of a country populated by New Zimlliaans.”
“They didn’t come from another country,” Mary said. “But, where did they go?” She left the window, searching through magazines and books stacked neatly on a shelf.
“You still have not said where they came from,” Jeanclair said, interrupting her search.
Mary scratched her head. “They came from another star,” she said.
“As in outer space?” Jeanclair asked quizzically.
“Yeah.” Mary placed a thoughtful finger to her chin. “They came and…” She stopped, studying the faces of the two people closest to her. “They came to take over the world. We were in New York.”
“Together, we have never been there.” Jeanclair gestured to Alexis and then himself. “Are you sure this isn’t a nightmare you had and, you are just now remembering?”
“No. It’s real. I'm sure of it. We were in New York; you, me, and Alexis. They attacked… repeatedly… and...." Mary stopped, pulling her arms across her chest. A lump formed in her throat.
“And?” Jeanclair was anxious.
“You were killed,” Mary whispered, wiping a tear away. “I remember being so scared. My husband was gone. All the madness was destroying my sanity. I was captured and taken away.”
Jeanclair stepped closer to Mary, wrapping his arms around her neck. “I am right here and I am very much alive.”
“It’s all displaced somehow.” Outside, Mary heard a dirigible passing over the hotel. The room around her dimmed. a roaring howl filled her ears. A table, the television, a lamp; all faded from view. Mary’s body twisted as she spun in circles. “Marie, what is it?” Jeanclair asked over the wind.
“This is a dream,” Mary shouted, holding her hands tightly against her temples. “None of this is real. You’re not real!” Pieces of furniture shifted and quaked. Glass shattered. Mary threw herself to the floor, holding her arms over her head. Jeanclair and Alexis were swallowed in an enveloping blackness. Is this what death is like? Have the Nazis bombed Paris? Mary trembled. Howling increased until the winds enclosed around her.
* * *
Cold steel was hard against her back. Stiff from weariness and pain, Mary’s eyes opened. Blurry figures moved around her, dream-like phantom images. She tried to sit. A pair of hands stopped her, forcing Mary back. Breathing came in a labored gasps. Words reached her ears, tingling at the edge of perception.
Mary’s fingertips brushed against a thin band of metal wrapped around her head. There were wires. Stronger hands clasped hers, roughly forcing them back. An awful metallic grating buzzed through her ears. “Another one’s slipped out. Stabilize the psionic fields and restart the sequence.”
For a moment, the stranger held Mary in place. Gradually, like a thick fog, the figure vanished, leaving Mary alone. Her vision cleared and her body reacted to her will. Sitting, Mary curiously gazed around the dim chamber. There were others there with her, people hooked to machines connected to her by the same wires.
Standing and walking, Mary explored the strange place, gazing at the human figures laying on tables like the one she was on. She tried to remember how she got here. There was writing on some of the walls, control panels, and equipment, but, it was in a language she didn't recognize. Triangular holographic displays projected unfamiliar images. Nothing triggered her memory. Nothing made sense.
Coming to a door, Mary looked back. Nothing moved. She felt like an escaping prisoner without knowing the reason why. The metal access hatch hissed aside, revealing a grassy plain bathed in golden sunshine. Blue skies and clouds were a stark contrast to the metal chamber.
Taking one last glance over her shoulder, Mary saw no one. She stepped out into the grass. Surrounded by a light spring breeze, Mary breathed deeply. She stretched. There was no longer any sign of the chamber, only pure nature. In the distance, she spotted a stone building. Curious, Mary walked forward.
* * *
The black uniformed alien paced around the pyre, watching the woman while paying special attention to her vital signs on his holographic computer system. Her respiration quickened. Brain activity on the conscious level became visible in the form of lines, all vertical, that began to undulate. She moaned, taking a deep breath.
Mary’s eyes opened. Everything was blurry. Something was wrapped around her upper body and there was a sharp pain at her breast bone. She made out the shape of green-brown leaves growing out of a plant on top of her. It was huge. Mary screamed, struggling to move. She didn’t have control over her limbs.
“Relax,” the New Zimlliaan said. Her head snapped to the side to gaze at his youthful features. “You woke prematurely,” he said, holding a device like a vaccination gun. He held it against her arm, injected her with a red fluid. Mary tried to protest, however, her mind was went blank as memories tumbled over on themselves.
“This will help you back on your way,” he told her, rubbing the back of his hand over her forehead.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked. Mary’s voice slipped into an inaudible whisper. Her eyes closed. She breathed deeply, vertical lines on the holographic display going straight once again. Alpha brain waves multiplied. The New Zimlliaan smiled.
“Pleasant dreams, my sweet. Maybe this time you will never want to wake up.”
* * *
“Wake up,” Mary heard the voice at the fringes of her mind. She inhaled, opening her eyes. Above her hung a giant fern. The pot was rust colored, the leaves starting to brown at the tips. “My, but you are a tough one to wake,” the male voice said.
Mary shifted sideways on the couch and sat. Jeanclair sat next to her, folding his bare arms around her neck as he kissed her collar, working his way down her chest. “Were you dreaming of me?” he asked, his voice laced with a heavy French accent. Jeanclair held a single red rose which he flirted across her back and brought up to her nose. She took a sniff and smiled.
“Of course.” Mary returned his affections with kisses of her own, working over his shoulders. “You know roses are my favorite. They will always be our flower,” she said warmly. In truth, she couldn’t remember the dreams. Her mind was clouded with haze. The quickly fading images were fleeting from her, no matter how hard she tried to retain them.
Jeanclair stopped kissing and leaned back. “Ah, but you are a beautiful creature, even after the party you had last night.” He set the rose on the table. Her eyes were transfixed on it a moment.
“Party?” she asked.
“You don’t remember?” Jeanclair smiled, chuckling. “But of course not, my lovely Marie, you were having too much fun, non?”
“I guess so.”
“You must get ready.” Jeanclair stood. All he wore were boxers, his well kept hair all askew. “We are going to meet Alexis in an hour.”
Mary rubbed her forehead. Alexis was in the dream, too. She recalled vague images but, nothing she remembered was of the previous night or her dreams. Mary sighed, standing, her body feeling as if she hadn't moved in days. She stretched, easing into Jeanclair’s warm embrace. Last night’s party didn’t matter, her dreams didn’t matter. All that mattered was she was in the arms of the man she loved. She saw the fragile rose again. She smiled, content.

Chapter II

The alien sun was high above the battered, dusty horizon. Brilliant red hues emitted from the dwarf star’s disk, silhouetting wispy bands of suspended particles in the atmosphere. Mountains were lifeless and bare. Lake beds and ocean basins were nothing more than billowing swarms of dust.
Taken from the comfortable cool of the New Zimlliaan slave vessel to the burning heat of the endless desert was a drastic change for Lynn Christopher. Just as drastic as it was to be taken out of New York City and carted to some far flung corner of the galaxy with no hope of ever returning back to the place he knew as home.
Lynn walked with short, yellow skinned creatures with large eyes reflecting deep blues. He was the only human in this group. They were chained together at the wrists and ankles, pulled along by a seven foot tall android. Its metal body operated on hydraulic systems and computerized panels.
Lynn stumbled once, sand filling his sneakers. His forehead was covered with sweat. It dripped and stung his eyes and glistened on his cheeks. Short wavy red hair was matted to his head. He barely made out structures through the sand storm.
The android spoke in a deep metallic voice, filled with whines and garbled noises. Then its head turned to Lynn. “You will be stationed here,” it said in English. “The reward for your services is your life. Un-cooperation will result in your immediate demise.” The chrome head faced forward, pulling the groaning aliens along.
As they approached the village-like arrangement of stone rectangular buildings and domes, Lynn clearly saw painted cyrillic symbols on some of the weathered surfaces. New Zimlliaan symbols. The architecture was woven patterns and angled blocks forming geometric designs. Near the center of the complex stood a large ziggurat.
A few black uniformed soldiers lingered around buildings forming an edge to the town. Beyond those, the winds died down some. Streets were paved in marble and silver. The town square was a huge starburst pattern. Several more androids and a few New Zimlliaan officers dressed in blue walked between structures.
Lynn’s captor android pulled the band of slaves past a long stone structure. Fields of crops grew on the opposite side. Green vegetables stretched as far as Lynn could see. The air was more nitrogen and oxygen rich and the sun a shade less unrelenting. There were also hovering crop tenders and irrigators, floating some ten meters from the ground, pausing at times to carry out watering and other preprogrammed tasks. Fire red in the sky, Gonouf slowly dipped to Ufa’s parched horizon. The New Zimlliaans android stopped, turning to Lynn. The hulking robotic form took a key from a ring, unlatching the solitary human from the chains. “You will come with me,” it said.
Rubbing his wrists where the metal made his skin raw Lynn walked fast to keep pace with the android. He was led into the ziggurat. Two New Zimlliaan soldiers guarded the entrance. They entered a dimly lit chamber filled with electronic equipment and holographic displays. At the center was a pyre with a naked woman lying on her back. Lynn couldn’t tell if she was asleep or dead. Over her abdomen was a huge plant with tentacle-like appendages and huge brown and green tinted leaves. It rested there.
“What is it?” a voice asked the android in English. The six foot tall New Zimlliaan officer, lumbered forward holding a holographic clipboard.