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Back Truth of the Divine Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Also By Lindsay Ellis and Available From Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Part 1: It’s A Fool Who Plays It Cool
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. Part 2: Love Has A Nasty Habit Of Disappearing Overnight
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. Part 3: A Crowd Of People Stood And Stared
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. Part 4: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. A Fiction Agreed Upon
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. About the Author

“A TRANSFUSION. HE HAD TO REMOVE THE CONTAMINATED BLOOD SLOWLY, OVER A PERIOD OF HOURS. IF HE HAD DONE IT QUICKLY, IT WOULD HAVE KILLED ME.”

“Contaminated with what?”

“MEDICATION.”

Kaveh wrung his sponge out in the dirty water bucket (he’d by now gone through about five of them) and topped it back up with clean soapy water. “Are you afraid right now?”

“I AM VERY FRIGHTENED.”

He slopped the sponge back down on the floor, making sure he was in full view of Enola. “What are you afraid of?”

“YOU ARE A NATURAL ALIEN, A FLESH-EATER OF A SPECIES HIGHLY INCLINED TO VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION, AND I AM PRONE AND VULNERABLE AND UNABLE TO DEFEND MYSELF, AND THERE ARE NONE OF MY KIND HERE WHO WOULD DEFEND ME FROM YOU. OUR FIRST INTERACTION WAS ANTAGONISTIC AND VIOLENT. IT STANDS TO REASON YOU WOULD SEE ME AS A THREAT.”

Kaveh had by now more or less done a first pass of the mess on the floor, but now came the really iffy part—the mess on the alien. “Well, I’ll keep trying to reassure you that I don’t mean you harm, and hopefully one day you’ll believe me. I’m going to see if I can’t get this strap off your head, so you can move around a bit and see what I’m doing. Is it okay if I touch you?”

Enola paused for a very long few seconds before he answered, “Yes.”

With careful, steady movements, he reached over Enola’s head and grazed his thumbs over the strap, caked in place by the black blood. With some effort, he pushed the strap off, which snapped onto his neck like an elastic band. Enola opened his eyes, still locked firmly in place, but now able to move his head a bit. Even after Kaveh had spent an hour scrubbing the blood off the floor of an unnatural cave, Enola still looked at him with fear.

Kaveh was overcome with the desire to reassure him, that of course his fear was rational but in this case unwarranted. Was this more projection? The new country had been so overwhelming. Temporary, his family had thought. How temporary? Who knows, but certainly temporary, because the revolutionary craziness could not last. It would not last. They’d go back home eventually, but in the meantime, they had to survive in this foreign place.

When he’d first arrived in the States, he’d expected to step off the plane and see the smiling denizens of white suburbia waving welcome banners. He’d also expected to see John Travolta in the airport, since they were so close to Hollywood. He was, after all, six years old, and it was 1980.