Chapter 10
Secrets
Armani was already awake by the time I woke up this morning. I look over and see him rummaging around in my desk drawers looking for something. I rub my eyes, groan, then ask him, "Armani what are you doing?"
"Hm? Oh I was searching for a writing utensil, sorry Cassidy. I did not mean to wake you."
I nod, and slowly, I get up. But when I try to stand up, a shooting pain goes through my entire body, making me wince. I feel sore in all of my muscles, as if I'd lifted a hundred pound weight several times. My body feels stiff and numb. It almost feels like how it did in my nightmare when I spoke to Lord Vulcan.
I gasp, but put my hand over my mouth, hoping Armani doesn't hear me. He's too busy looking for something so he doesn't notice. Good; I'm not sure how to confront him about what Lord Vulcan had told me. How he accused Armani of lying to me about being the only human who can understand them. Briefly, I wonder how I should ask Armani if he really is lying to me. But my head is killing me and so are my muscles. It's so hard to just stand up that I can't even think straight. I'm beginning to think that the nightmare hadn't been simply a nightmare. It could've been real.
"Ah! I've found a writing utensil. This should do. I'm going to calculate the number of pieces I need to fix for my—Cassidy are you alright?"
Armani notices me struggling to get up and stops mid sentence to check on me. I feel shaky and I can barely catch my breath. I almost feel like passing out. When I do somehow manage to stand up, my knees immediately buckle and I start falling. Armani rushes to my side and catches me just in time. I crush my shoulder while half falling onto my bed but I steady myself.
"Cassidy, what's wrong? Are you sick?" Armani asks, his voice in a panic.
I nod, then look at him, "Y-yeah I'm fine. It was just a b-bad dream." Even my voice comes out quivering.
Armani narrows his eyes at me and tilts his head, "I do not believe you're telling me the full truth," he says.
"Yeah, well I could say the same thing about you," I mumble.
Armani cocks his head to the side, confused, "What do you mean?"
I look at him, realizing that I'd actually spoken that out loud when I hadn't meant to. I thought I'd just had that in my head but I ended up saying it to his face. I try to back track myself to avoid talking to Armani about what Lord Vulcan had said.
"Oh um, nothing. It's nothing Armani," I wave a hand in dismissal.
He still looks confused, staring at me with his black, almond-shaped eyes, but then says, "Oh, well alright. So are you okay, Cassidy?"
Sighing, I start to tell Armani my nightmare. I didn't want to have to tell him about my nightmare yet or have this conversation with Armani right now. All I wanna do is lay back down and have a peaceful night's sleep. I don't want anyone to bother me or wake me up. I just want to sleep all day, but I know that's not going to happen. So I might as well get it over with.
"Armani," I begin, "I had a bad nightmare last night. I dreamt that I was alone, then I heard a voice in my head. It was so loud that it killed my head and made it hurt so bad. Then someone told me they were Lord Vulcan. I think your leader contacted me in my sleep."
At that, Armani goes completely pale. I watch the color drain from his Greyish-green skin. He stares at me wide eyed, panic evident in them. "Cassidy, did you really speak to Lord Vulcan?"
I nod, "Yes, I'm not making this up, Armani. He sounded like he was a strong alien, and that's probably why I can barely stand on my own two feet right now."
Armani stares at me in shock, "Cassidy, listen to me. You're very lucky you survived your encounter with Lord Vulcan. He's the strongest being in the universe. I'm stunned that his telepathy conversation with you did not fry your brain."
I roll my eyes and sit down on my bed, "Yeah well, my brain isn't fried, my body is."
Armani stands up for a while, then, confused, he sits down beside me. "What did you and Lord Vulcan talk about, Cassidy?"
I look at Armani, unsure of what to say. I look at my wall, look down, then finally decide to ask him, "He told me that you were lying about me being the only human who can understand you. And...he also said that you were trying to hand over some Armanians so he could destroy them and leave the rest of your race alone. Is-is that true?" I ask, hoping that Armani would say no.
I can tell Armani is chewing on the inside of his gum nervously and he glances down then says, "Well....yes, I did lie to you, I apologize Cassidy. I should've told you there are others like you, however it is rare that humans can communicate with other Armanian's, as my race has not visited earth in years. I didn't want to tell you at first because I was worried that it would distract us from our main goal, which was to repair my spaceship."
I blink, stunned that Armani has confessed to me. Well, at least he's telling me the truth, I think. So I decide to ask Armani my other question, as long as he's being truthful, "Oh, I see. I understand. But what about Lord Vulcan's other accusation against you? About you sacrificing your people? Is that true too?"
Armani looks down at the floor for a very long time. He is silent for a while, and almost a full five minutes go by until I break the silence. "Armani?"
He sighs heavily, and I can tell that something is bothering him. But he continues and says, "Cassidy, yes Lord Vulcan is correct. I was trying to give him a sacrifice. Because sometimes, you must sacrifice the few to save the many. That's a law taught to me by my father. I was only trying to save as many people as I could. You must understand."
Armani looks up at me with desperation in his eyes, begging me to believe him. I can't believe Armani tried to do such a thing. How could he have tried sacrificing some of his own race? That was such a horrible thing to do, even if it was out of desperation. I was really hoping that Armani was going to tell me that Lord Vulcan had been lying to me, but he'd been right.
After a while Armani asks, "Cassidy, are you alright?"
I look over at him and say, "Armani, that was a horrible thing to do to your people. I'm glad Lord Vulcan did not take that deal you offered. You're lucky he didn't."
"I'm not so sure if I'm lucky. He's still attacking and hurting my people and I'm powerless to do anything about it, until I get back to my home," he says.
"I know, Armani. But we'll get your spaceship repaired soon and then everything will be okay. You just have to have faith. Understand?" I tell him, trying to sound upbeat. I know I should be mad at Armani for not telling me everything about his past with Lord Vulcan since it was important, but I can't stay mad at him for long. Right now, Armani needs as much help as he can get, and I may be the only person who can help.
Armani nods and smiles at me, "Yes, you're right Cassidy. Thank you. Was that all you wanted to tell me?"
I bite my lip, remembering the other piece of information from my dream. Lord Vulcan had given me an ultimatum: hand over Armani or watch my own race of humans die by his hands. I debated whether or not I should tell Armani. I knew he already had so much stress on him right now. I didn't wanna cause him any grief. But...he'd been honest with me, so it was my time to be honest with him. I took a deep breath before telling Armani the deal Lord Vulcan had offered.
When I was done, Armani stares at me in shock and disbelief, "That's horrible, Cassidy. I cannot believe the nerve Lord Vulcan has. He thinks that he'll get you to be betray me, but I know he's wrong. We're friends, Cassidy and we're going to protect each other, no matter what. Right?"
I smile sadly then nod and I hug Armani, "Right. We're in this together Armani. I won't let Lord Vulcan hurt you."
Armani hugs me back tightly and says, "I'm going to do the same. He won't hurt you, I won't allow it."
We hug for a while and when we're done, I feel tears brimming my eyes as I look at Armani. He's smiling wide at me, "What's wrong?"
"I-I'm just lucky to have such an amazing friend as you, Armani. That's all. Now come on, we have a spaceship to build."
