Final Exam by Rob Astor (free novel 24 .TXT) 📕

a bottle of water, fruit juice, or soda without the benefit of choice, as well as a bag of Chips, pretzels, or cookies, and a candy bar of varying varieties.
Walking, eating and drinking in silence, they were taken outside, escorted toward the university’s football field. Xack remembered how thrilled he was the day he came here through the warp hole. Today was sunny, like then. However, there were no planes flying overhead, no traffic, no pedestrians. There were buildings left in shambles. Windows needed replacing. Even the stadium seats were bent and buckled in places from the force of the ship’s entry into the atmosphere.
“Everyone get into a line!” The booming voice belonged to one of the New Zimlliaan soldiers stalking the ground where some form of alien equipment was set up. “Single file! Move it!” The youngest kids were easily kept to the side.
“What are you doing to us?” someone further ahead of Xack, Logan, and Tandem asked.
“You’re all getting vaccinated. Where you’re going, we don’t want you to die a week after your arrive.”
“Slave labor,” Xack said softly. Logan and Tandem turned back to stare at him. Logan gazed at the line of frightened and crying little kids. Xack glanced around, hoping for some opportunity to escape. His mind raced as his pulse quickened. How are we going to get out of this?
As the lines started moving forward, Xack grew more and more fearful. Many accepted their fates. Those who tried to get away were beaten with the butts of riffles and forced back into place.
Scanning the helpless faces, Xack’s eyes landed on one. This face he recognized. His breath escaped with a start. Standing in the line next to his, face stern, was Matt. Matt greeted Xack, expressionless, giving a very slight nod. Matt pulled an alien handgun from under his shirt behind his back, holding it low and against his leg. Xack noticed Matt was wearing hoverskates. He floated on a cushion of air.
Up ahead of Matt, Xack spotted Kip, also in hoverskates. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Xack leaned close to Logan and Tandem, speaking only as loud as he dared. “Calvary’s here, guys. Get ready.” Logan gave Xack a questioning glance while Tandem went rigid with readiness, his head swinging around to assess the situation. Xack activated his own skates, hovering silently in the air.
Near the line of tables where they would get an injection, something exploded. A fiery red plume shot up in the air, followed by dirt and smoke. A second and third detonation went off before the New Zimlliaans had time to react. Matt and Kip pulled their weapons up, shooting at the black uniformed guards, sprint skating past confused prisoners, some of who were running for escape.
With the aliens caught off guard, Logan charged one, tackling him around the legs. Tandem wrestled the gun from the soldier’s grip, pulling off a shot to the large black helmet. “Take that, you bastard!” They charged another similarly, so that Logan was armed as well.
Human figures had scattered everywhere, making their break for freedom. Confused New Zs didn’t know whether to chase down their captures or find the cause of the disturbance. The kids, helpless and confused, stumbled around. They were terrified. Logan caught one young girl by the hand and shouted for others to follow him.
By this time, gunshots sounded regularly. Several more small explosions ripped ugly gouges in the green turf. Xack stayed close to Logan and Tandem, helping lead kids out of the direct line of fire. Logan pressed himself against a building trying to keep cover, looking around confused. “What’s going down, Xackster?”
“My friends are here. They probably came looking for me.” Xack spotted Kip making a break for an exit. Matt was covering him. Where’s Rob?
“How’d they get here?” Tandem asked.
“Same way I did. Through a wormhole connecting our dimensions. The New Zs use a generator harnessing particles traveling faster than the speed of light to make them.”
Catching the trio by surprise, another figure charged up, stopped, and slumped by them. “Linka!” Xack gasped. He smiled.
“Chort poberi,” she swore. “Getting out of here is not going to be as easy as it was to get it.” Linka stood long enough to hurl another grenade at a group of New Zimlliaans.
“Where’s Rob?” Xack asked anxiously. Linka’s bomb scored, throwing half a dozen soldiers to the ground.
“He is covering the warp hole to take us back to our world. Let’s mix it up!” Linka skated through the air toward the exit.
“C’mon, guys.” Xack quickly followed. The small group of children ran, some stumbling. Logan and Tandem covered their tails with wild, sloppy aimed shots.
Once outside of the stadium, the chaos multiplied. People who weren’t running for their lives were fighting the black clad invaders. A hail of purple and green gunfire pierced the air in cris-crossing angles. Instantly, the kids stopped, ducking for cover. Xack stayed as low as he could while running toward the parking lot. Vehicles with riffle mounts raced around, shooting at anything in their path.
Clearing the heaviest of the flack, Xack’s spirits soared when he spotted Rob floating on hoverskates by a Tachyon Manipulator. He charged forward, quickly embracing the blonde. Rob returned the mid-air embrace. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you,” Xack said.
“So, who are your new best friends?” Rob chided with a grin, referring to the New Zs. “Can’t wait to get to know them.”
“Same crap, different world,” Xack replied.
Linka, Logan, and Tandem reached them as Kip and Matt came in from the right. “Everyone here?” Rob asked. “Then let’s go.”
“Wait!” Logan yelled. “The kids!”
Laser blasts slammed into the pavement in front of the group. As the debris and smoke clear, they saw a group of advancing soldiers and a white vehicle with a cannon mount. “This gets better every minute,” Matt said sardonically.
“Get down!” Rob shouted.
Xack knew what it meant. Tandem and Logan needed no further urging as they saw Linka, Kip, and Matt drop. Rob stood statuesque, focusing his mind. He drew upon his emotions, his incredible will power, and the bottomless well of rage he felt toward the New Zimlliaans.
All around Rob’s body, crackling pink-orange energy glowed. Flashing lightning bolts cleaved the air spasmodically. The energy swelled and exploded thunderously out into a perfect circle, slamming into the aliens. They were blown backwards like scattered toys tossed by a tantrum-throwing child. The white truck smashed headlong into Rob’s psycho-kinetic blast, toppling over backwards, rolling across the pavement.
Psycho-kinetic energy faded, it was safe for the group to stand. “Haul ass, everyone!” Rob ordered, watching to see if any soldiers were advancing on them. Kip and Linka skated toward a fallen light pole, vanishing into thin air. Matt quickly followed.
“Logan, Tandem, let’s get out of here!” Xack said.
“Xackster, we’re gonna stay behind,” Tandem reported.
Xack’s eyes grew wide. He couldn’t speak.
“Somebody’s got to help the little kids,” Logan said. “They need us.”
“I need you,” Xack said softly, his heart breaking.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find people to fight them.”
“Or we’ll start a movement ourselves,” Tandem added.
“Can you guys take care of shutting this thing down?” Rob asked, gesturing to the alien device responsible for creating the invisible hole in time and space.
“Not a problem,” Tandem assured.
“No!” Xack embraced Logan and Tandem. “I want to stay with you guys.”
“Listen to me, Xackster,” Logan said firmly, “you’re needed on your world. We’re needed on this one.” Xack’s tears slid down his cheeks. He held on tight. “You did manage to change this world. In a good way.” Logan held him back by the shoulders. Xack looked at Logan, trying hard to be brave. Then, Logan hugged him close. “You made our family whole again. You helped to start the movement to save this planet. I’ll never forget you.”
“C’mon, Xack, we gotta move,” Rob urged. A group of New Zimlliaan soldiers were organizing at the far end of the lot. They were charging in their direction.
“Go on,” Logan said softly.
“No.”
“Xack!” Rob called. Laser fire crackled through the air near them.
“No.” Xack was defiant. “You’re the only family I have left.”
“Your friends are your family,” Tandem said.
“You belong with them,” Logan added. He looked at Rob, pleading, sending some mental signal through his expression.
“No!”
The New Zs cleared half the distance between them. Rob lunged forward, taking Xack by the waist, pulling him backward, out of his brothers’ collective embrace. Crying fully, Xack beat his fists against Rob’s back and abdomen, trying to get free. Rushing forward, Rob propelled them into the warp hole.
Tandem turned to go and protect stray children. A tear rolled down Logan’s cheek. He took careful aim and pulled the trigger of his weapon. Actinic purple energy outlined in green cut into the Tachyon Manipulator. The unit sparkled in a shower of orange-red flame. Logan hurried over to Tandem to help the youngsters.
* * *
“You can’t stay mad at me forever, Xack.” Rob’s voice was monotone. He sat on the edge of a bed in their room aboard the New Zimlliaan ship hidden under Lake Placid.
Xack sat in the corner, knees tucked up to his chest, his arms around them, his head lowered. “You had no right to take me against my will.” Xack’s tone was low and bitter. “You kidnapped me.”
“You said you were happy to see me.” Rob shifted position, laying back on the mattress. “Was that another lie?”
Xack’s head rose. He was angry, eyes narrow. Rob was goading him to get all the anger out. “I didn’t lie to you, Rob.”
“You never said you wanted to run away. That’s a lie by omission.”
Xack sighed loudly, lowering his head once again. Like always, Rob thinks he knows it all again! “I don’t want to do this. I tried to talk to you about the possibility of going home. You didn’t want to take the risk. You want me to apologize for leaving, but I’m not going to. I’m not sorry.”
The silent pause lasted for several seconds. Rob considered his next move. “So, Xack thinks he’s a mind reader all of a sudden.” Rob sat. “You think I make too many assumptions?” Xack looked at Rob with a glowering disgust. “That isn’t what I was thinking at all. I don’t want you to say you’re sorry.”
Xack lowered his head again. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to have this discussion with Rob. Hurt and angry with Rob, Xack intentionally tried to push Rob away using any means possible. “Why couldn’t you just leave me where I was happy?”
“You used to be happy here, Xack. What happened? What changed? What did I do to you?”
Xack’s thoughts started racing. A lump formed in his throat. He cried silently. “You didn’t want me to be happy.”
Rob slid off the