CHAPTER TWENTY
Liz woke at the first light. Pulling her clothes on quickly she walked to the window to watch the Adian sunrise. She thought of mornings like this long ago. This was once such a beautiful world and now it was so obviously balanced precariously on the edge of destruction.
Her thoughts were broken by the sight of a runner coming in over the treeline, and her heart skipped a beat. They were back, and hopefully they had succeeded in finding out what they needed so badly to know. She looked over her shoulder as Max stirred in bed behind her.
"Morning," his sleepy eyes smiled at her.
She smiled back, as she finished running a brush through her hair. "How'd you sleep?" she asked going to sit on the bed next to him.
"Like a log. That's the best… ohh what? four hours? sleep I've had for a while," he laughed.
She kissed him on the cheek and he reached to pull her back under the covers with him. She resisted, explaining to him, "Max, they're back. I just saw them landing."
His face changed from a dreamy stare to wide-eyed awake awareness. "Okay… umm… let me pull on my clothes and I'll be down. You go ahead," he said seeing the anticipation in her eyes. She kissed him again…a short quick kiss. "Hurry," she called back on her way to the door.
He stretched his still not fully awake body wondering exactly what had happened in Milinga. Well at least they were back when planned, so hopefully that was good news, he thought to himself as he stood zippering his flak jacket.. He stopped midzip, as his subconscious reminded him that he had been dreaming just in the hours before. He couldn't completely remember what it had been about, but he had felt anxious inside. The only thing bits and pieces he had was that his mother had been front and center in the dream. He chose to do his best to forget it for now. There were much more important things to be done.
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"I'll send word back to Zan and let them know that we have brought you here safely," Michel told Serena, as the last of his passengers climbed once again aboard the safe haven of the Horizon.
Emily's eyes grew bigger at the sight of the ship, as Sierra took her hand and pulled her aboard. She had gasped right before landing at seeing it from above, saying how beautiful it was and asking where they had found it back on Earth. Everyone had looked at each other in silence. Emily surmised from their looks that it wasn't important that she know at that particular minute.
"I can't thank you enough for bringing us here," Serena extended her hand to Michel. "And I have to say that it's also good to see so many of your men here making sure that the ship was properly protected," Serena added, truly grateful for this army of theirs who were fighting so passionately for the same cause as these castaways from earth.
"It's my pleasure... it's our pleasure, my lady," Michel corrected himself as he kissed the back of her hand. "Anything for our king. There are close to forty soldiers stationed here now, and that will continue until they are no longer needed. Meanwhile should there be anything else we can do for you, just notify one of my men and they will reach me. I check in with them at least three times a day." Serena nodded as Michel Chavez returned to his runner, stopping briefly to speak to several of his men.
"Serena!" Coby yelled out at seeing her again. Her face brightened and she gave him a warm hug. "Missed you, Coby."
"I missed you too, Serena… you have no idea. I have disappointing news," he couldn't hold back. The two walked back into the ship together arm in arm, and her jaw fell open as he filled her in on the latest developments of the icon code. "Three? Are you perfectly sure? I don't understand," Serena said with confusion.
"The manuscripts never actually stated two angels, Serena... just that the angels held the key. I'm thinking that Sean was quite possibly the third key," Coby rubbed his head. "And if that's true then we have a serious problem. We'll never have the completed code."
Serena was already shedding her layers of outer clothing, as she walked quickly onto the bridge. "Sean? Yes, I guess that would make perfect sense, wouldn't it?" She sat at the computer terminal and logged in. Quietly she watched as the code crept up the screen. She laughed silently to herself, seeing Coby's adjustments now. "God, it was right there all along, wasn't it? Three."
Coby couldn't contain his excitement. "I'm thinking that we put Sean on the back burner for now... actually, we have no choice in that. But I do think that under the circumstances we should take a blood sample from everyone on board. Most especially the Duncans. These people have all been drawn together, Serena. The Landaus and the Duncans from completely different hemispheres. The third key could realistically be any one of them. I know it's wishful thinking but the truth is… we just don't know for sure." He sat down next to her. "It's an exact three digit parallel," he explained the obvious to Serena pointing to the screen before them.
"Did you try putting either of the girls numbers in twice, possibly in reverse?" she shrugged, grabbing at straws. "As far as anyone on board, wouldn't it stand to reason that generations would have something to do with it? Wouldn't the keys all be from the same generation?" The questions continued to fly as Maria and Nicole entered into the room.
"What's up? What's happening," Maria asked curiously at hearing the commotion in the room.
Serena turned in her chair. "It seems the reason we haven't been able to crack the code successfully, as Coby has just discovered, is that there are three keys and not two."
"Woah, I'd say that's a turn of events," Maria exclaimed. Serena reluctantly nodded back to her.
"What's that mean exactly?" Nicole asked as the girls' cousin came to mind, and her expression changed. "Oh my god… Sean? Was it Sean?"
"The truth is… we don't really know," Serena conceded.
"I guess the long lost secret will stay that way." Maria sunk down in the chair, realizing Serena's disappointment at spending so much of her life dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the granolith.
"Not necessarily," Coby replied quickly. "Granted the odds that it was Sean seem to be very good on the surface, but technically, with everything we now know about the Landaus and the Duncans, it could be anyone of them... or none of them," his face fell as he realized the improbability of his idea.
"Then test them... you need to test each one of them," Nicole insisted, looking to Serena for a response.
Serena closed her eyes and let her head fall back in sheer exhaustion. "The odds are not good, Nicole," she said softly. "I can't believe this. To be so close..." Her mind was becoming numb.
"We can't prove that it was Sean, we only have a chance of proving that it wasn't. I'm still not ready to give up on this. Not yet," Coby stated flatly. "...I'll start collecting the blood samples as soon as everyone is settled back in. If we find no positive results in doing that, then and only then will I personally destroy all of this data."
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Upon arriving back at Leoch, Tess had drilled several of Jared's honor guards for all the latest information. She had been informed that Jared had ordered to see her the minute she arrived. "Zan and Ava are here?" she asked in disbelief, after hearing of Emily's escape. "That's not possible. Ava is dead. I've already taken care of that," she said with a smug look upon her face.
"I don't mean to disagree with you, my lady, but she was most certainly outside the castle yesterday… in the flesh. Several of our own men witnessed both of them with their own eyes. And Larek too was with them when they succeeded in taking the girl." The guard did not want to be the one to relay this information to her and again tried to impress on her that she was to report immediately to Jared.
"How did they get here? Where are they now? Your forces must have some idea. Are they on Trinity? At the Federalist camp?" she then answered the question before he had a chance to respond. "No, of course not," she whispered to herself. "The camp would be far too obvious. Where else could they be hiding out?"
"We do not know," the guard answered in all honesty, as he watched the woman before him start to pace the floor. "Shall I take you to Jared now, miss?"
"No. That won't be necessary. I will be going on my own to see the King." The guard turned to leave the room. "Wait," she said as he was about to close the door behind him. "Has Malow been informed that her son is back home?"
"Malow is missing, my lady," he replied.
"Missing? Interesting," she half laughed.
The guard started to close the door again, then stopped. "One of our men believes he saw her runner leaving late into the night. He believes he saw it crossing the lake, miss. We're not sure that it has anything to do with the situation at hand. Her handmaiden believes she will be returning this morning, as she has left all of her belongings behind."
"Just one other thing," Tess asked slowly. "The foreign ship… the one that was picked up on our scanners a few days back? Where exactly was that last spotted before we lost it?"
"It's believed that it was headed to Trinity, miss. It has not been seen since," he replied.
"Thank you. You may go about your duties now. Thank you for bringing me home," she added. As the door closed Tess walked to the window, which gave her the perfect view of the lake below and the mountain in the distance, but still her mind did not connect to Rochell.
"Trinity," she smiled to herself. "Now if I were piloting a ship to Trinity, where would I land?" While Jared's troops had chosen to stay clear of Adia's sister planet for the time being, she was aware of few places, short of the Federalist camp itself that would be suitable for the ex-prince and princess to remain inconspicuous. It suddenly became clear to her. "Justice," she said softly to herself as she headed out to deal with her King.
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Back inside the monastery the group of eight now gathered. The only room where they appeared to have privacy was where breakfast had just been served. The young monk who had prepared their breakfast now bowed to the group and left the room, closing the door behind him.
"The fuel rod appears to be the main ingredient for chaos,” Kal fidgeted in his seat. “I don't want to even consider for the moment just how destructive this weapon will be. It's huge," Kal said as he sipped at his hot broth. "The Order certainly could learn a thing or two from IHop," he quipped with a straight face. The broth truthfully was not all that bad, and seemed to have a soothing effect on his stomach, which had just been tied up in knots.
"It was beyond a doubt a successful mission," Larek commented. "We know that even with our arrival hanging over Jared's head, he doesn't seem to have upgraded his security outside of Milinga. But I do believe that he has a healthy regiment within the city itself. Should anything unexpected happen, they will be nearby," Larek pushed his bowl away and wrapped both his hands around a stein of something hot and tasting much like the coffee he had experienced during his time on earth. Michael nodded at his thought, "Tastes similar to the hazelnut that Maria brews up," he smiled to himself, as a momentary flash of home crossed his thoughts.
"Kal," Liz said, "I'm so sorry that you had to shapeshift again. I know that you once promised..."
He smiled and patted her hand in a comforting way. "Kitten, there was no other way to find out what we needed to know. And as far as shapeshifting goes, aside from upsetting my stomach, I've had two exceptional reasons to do it in the last two days. I wouldn't change a thing that I've done." She took a deep breath and smiled. "You okay?" he whispered to her. "I'm fine, Kal," she said a bit uneasy, glancing to her other side where Max was joking with Katain.
Everyone was talking in their smaller groups about going back down into the catacombs. Excitement was high. Max spoke up, "I think that John and I should go down first. We have to abide my Brother Jasper's wishes." He threw a reminding look at Michael. "Then Liz and Kal; and then the rest will split up into twos. Unless," he stopped and looked at Liz beside him, "you and John want to go down first?"
She shook her head. "No, you two go first. I'd like to go and check on your mother first thing this morning." She assured him with a look that she'd be okay. The rest of the breakfast passed quietly. They were all hungrier than they had first believed themselves to be.
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"Malow?" Liz knocked twice lightly in case the old woman was sleeping. The door opened a crack as the woman's face appeared.
"Ava, my child, do come in."
As Liz entered she noticed that the woman still wore the same clothing, her cloak thrown haphazardly over the cot now in front of her. "How are you this morning? You know I can see if Brother Jasper has anything suitable for you to wear while you're here if you'd like." Liz made a mental note to do just that.
"That won't be necessary, child. I'll be returning to Leoch very soon now. Where is Zan? Is he not coming to see me off this morning?" A quizzical look was all over the woman's face.
"Zan will be to see you later," Liz hedged. "But, I don't believe that he thinks it's wise for you to go back to the castle just yet," she took a seat while Malow sat at the edge of the bed, "...because of Jared," Liz finished.
"Oh, Jared will not harm me in any way," she answered positively. "He truly has been very kind to me, under the circumstances. He's an evil man I know, but I expected so much worse in my treatment from him." Malow looked quite suddenly to the window as if hearing something. The expression on her face then changed and became a little less childlike. She looked back at Liz and smiled as if seeing her there for the first time. "So tell me Ava, what has been happening between you and my son?"
"Well... we were married a few months back... a few moons back," she corrected herself and noticed that the woman was virtually staring at her as she responded. "It was a beautiful ceremony… small, but wonderful." She waited for a reaction and was quite caught off guard by the one she received.
"The two of you are most definitely not married,” she said with indignant righteousness. Liz kept her reactions to a minimum, expecting something of this nature from Malow. She ignored the comment and Malow didn’t seem to notice as she went on. “The two of you are both quite aware of that. This is not a marriage without the blessings of the Order and most certainly without being consummated within the castle. Brother Ambrose was to see to the ceremony, otherwise the sacrament is not recognized by the gods."
Liz raised her eyebrows at the mention of the now deceased man. "Brother Ambrose? You knew him, Malow?"
"Quite well. Is that something you did not remember, Ava?" she looked suspiciously across the room at Liz.
Liz nodded and broke a smile for the woman who had given birth to the man she adored. "There are just a few things that Zan and I are not completely clear on... yet. Maybe you could help us to fill in some of the details." They smiled at each other, and Liz noticed that Malow was at least for the moment quite lucid, and she worried that the woman would begin to drift off again. "Can you tell me more about Ambrose? I do remember him being a wonderfully kind man."
"Yes, he seemed to be, didn't he?" the woman continued to play the word game with Liz. "You all were very special to Ambrose. I still sometimes forget that he is gone now. It just doesn't seem possible."
"Had you seen him after Kivar came into power?" Liz fished a bit more.
The woman leaned in closer to her and whispered, "Brother Ambrose was a mysterious man, with mysterious ways. Kivar despised him." She sat up straighter on the bed. "When we sent the essences, I did not know if any of this would ever come to pass. But Brother Ambrose always believed. Of course it was Ambrose who arranged for most of what occurred."
"...The pods?" Liz asked curiously. "So it was Ambrose who made the decision to take the essences to another world." Liz understood a bit more.
"Yes, it was. After the arrangements where made, and Lan and Kolt were chosen as Zan's protectors, I was given exile at Leoch. A few years later, Brother Ambrose’s health began deteriorating quickly. I was told that he began mumbling and ranting that the end of all things was coming. He never again came down to Leoch; instead, he stayed up here and drove himself crazy. So sad. He was a very respected man who had been dearly loved by my husband…" The old woman then spoke in a hushed whisper, "There were rumors that an actual record of the prophecy was here and that was what drove Ambrose over the edge."
Liz's jaw tensed. "The book you mean?'
The woman nodded incessantly. "Yesss, written by the very hand of the gods according to scripture. It was said that it had been hidden up here for centuries. Of course there were few who believed in the fable. There were whispers of something else that was hidden here for centuries as well," she grinned like a four-year-old child.
"The granolith... the icon," Liz finished for her.
The woman continued nodding, "Right here at Rochell all of this time. Rumors said that Brother Ambrose destroyed the religious relic just before he died."
"So you personally only knew of the pods that left here, and that they were to give new life to the essences. Ambrose didn't discuss anything else with you." Liz was making statements almost to herself, rather than asking direct questions as it became clear to her that Malow had no knowledge that the granolith had accompanied the pods.
Suddenly Malow’s gaze faded right in front of Liz's eyes, and it almost seemed that someone else took her place as she sat in the small room. The woman’s entire stature changed. The soft wrinkled face of a few moments ago now became pasty and angry. "You really do need to find someone of your own station, my dear Ava. I suppose you deserve to be happy, but not with my son. Zan will never belong to you. He belongs to Antar."
As Malow said the words Liz's mind flashed back to an earlier time and the memory of another confrontation with Zan's mother. She thought of Vilondra and of how very much she and her mother had in common. She could no longer deny the hatred that Malow had always felt for her. Not only was she remembering, she was feeling it… right here, right now. Still.
Liz couldn't help but ask the question at hearing the woman’s' venom filled words, "Why Malow? Why do you hate me so? If you were told by Ambrose of the prophecy than why wouldn't you want Zan and I to be together?" Liz searched for answers to the question that had haunted Ava for so long.
Malow's piercing eyes reached out for her. "Prophecy?” She laughed out loud. “The prophecy doesn’t exist. It has only been a figment of the Order’s imagination.”
"How can you not believe in the prophecy now that we have returned?" Liz exclaimed.
The woman pushed herself to her feet. “Let me be perfectly clear, Ava dear, I would have defied even the gods to keep my son with me. He is my only son. You have no idea what that means to me. He would now have been King, and all of this," she motioned around her, "would have been his... if not for you, Ava. It was because of you, that my son turned against his own mother and his people. It was because of you, that he refused to listen to me or to Kivar's plans to make Antar a better world. It was because of you that he was so helplessly slaughtered in front of my very eyes. I will never forgive you for that."
Every emphasis rang out clear not just in Liz's head, but in her heart. With a few deep breaths, she felt an overwhelming power that radiated upward from her feet and through her body as she stood before this woman. She wasn't then sure if it was the emotions in her head or the very room itself that began to spin. And then it all stopped abruptly.
It was Ava who began speaking slowly and directly. "No," she said strongly. "It was you who betrayed your son, just as Lonnie betrayed her people. Kivar was a fiendish murderer who cared about nothing and no one but himself, and Jared has now become his benefactor." Ava's fists where clenched tightly by her side as she spoke. "I see, Malow, that you still haven’t learned that there are some things that you cannot change or control, and Zan and I are but one of those things. We are together, as we were meant to be. He and I have much to do here, or we will die again trying." Ava took one step closer to the woman standing staunchly now before her. "And if you should say anything, anything at all to upset my husband, you may be certain that you will deal with my fury in ways you’ve never dreamed of."
Liz stared hard into her eyes and Malow said not a word. Nodding her head to the woman, she walked to the door looking back over her shoulder one last time. "I hope I've made myself perfectly clear."
After closing the door behind her, Liz leaned back against it to gain her balance. She closed her eyes, trying to bring her breathing back to a normal rate and quell the ache inside her.
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Retribution ~ (Seq to S&M/H&N) ~ {COMPLETE}
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Forum Moderators
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Maria had just said something she never thought she'd say. She was glad to be back in the kitchen cooking again. The Horizon had in the past months become home. She and Nicole were laughing about it, while they both realized the therapeutic value involved in both the cooking and the laughing.
Serena entered the galley, "It's so good to be back here, isn't it?" she said with a smile. "Your starving patrons are all eagerly awaiting one of your delicious breakfasts," she said jokingly. "Well, actually I'm serious about that. They're all seated already."
"Well, we've got scrambled eggs, sausage and a bit of bacon left, wheat toast and gallons of good hot coffee. Oh and there's still plenty of OJ," Maria announced. Nicole went into the dining room to check on the girls, and Serena then turned to Maria. "I've wanted to talk to you, Maria. I was wondering… there's no easy way to ask this, so I'll just come out with it." Maria nodded her head, "Ask away."
"Have you noticed anything different about Liz? What I mean is, John and Kal have picked up on a few things… mostly just their own intuition, and well we thought maybe Liz might have talked to you..."
Maria's mouth fell open, as she turned to stare at Serena. "They picked up on something? So they think she’s pregnant, too?” Maria replied as her eyes widened at Serena’s nod. “I did ask her, because I was with her a few of the times that she was sick. It was the first thing I thought of. She insisted that she was fine, that nothing was wrong. But, of course... if John and Kal sense something... then I have to believe she is."
"Well, we don't want to jump the gun, Maria. But I think it may be important that we know, I mean after all she's going to need to take extra good care of herself for a few reasons. We really have no idea of what the consequences of conception between two hybrids could be. And then with everything that's going to take place in just a few days..." Serena said, still not completely sure if their guesses were true. "She never really admitted it to you though, right?" Serena filled a mug with hot coffee.
"Well, not exactly," Maria answered. "But she didn't have too. I had a really strong feeling back aboard ship, and then that morning in Justice when she and I were late joining the rest of you… it was because she was sick again. I did come right out and ask her about it again then, you know I asked her if she was absolutely sure; but she did that ‘avoid the subject thing' that she does so well. If I had any money right now, I'd be betting on it." Maria's brief excitement faded as she finished filling a large tray with bowls of food. She looked up into Serena's worried eyes and then felt the same herself. "About the hybrid pregnancy… do you think Liz is in any danger?"
Serena shrugged. “Truthfully I don’t know. But she needs to be checked out by someone with medical background, possibly someone at the camp. I have to assume at this point that she hasn’t told Max, and the only reason I can think of is because she doesn’t want to worry him in the face of everything he’s dealing with right now." Serena guessed.
Maria rolled her eyes. "If he knew, trust me, I can guarantee that we'd all know. You can be damn sure he wouldn’t be keeping this kind of news to himself."
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After breakfast was finished, Coby informed everyone aboard that he and Serena would be taking blood samples from each of them.
"So let me get this straight," Raymond stated somewhat alarmed, “you're thinking that one of us is the third key?"
Nicole hurriedly suggested that Emily and Sierra go and play. "Come on Emily. I have to show you my scooter," Sierra announced, bubbling. Nicole called after the two as they both ran out of the room, "Share, Sierra."
Serena waited until they had left to answer Raymond’s question. "There is that possibility. At any rate, we need to find out," Serena stated. "And if it's true, then we’ll finally have the completed code."
"And then what?" Jessie asked questioningly. "I mean, I've never really understood the significance of having the completed code; with the exception of course, that we needed to be sure that Jared didn’t discover it.” Her look was full of concern, “I have to say that the responsibility of being the third key is a bit overwhelming. What happens then?"
Serena nodded fully understanding her point and looked to Coby who cleared his throat before answering. "Okay, here’s the whole thing in a nutshell. Right now the granolith is in part a traveling machine. Once the third key is found, and the DNA converted to the code, we believe it will be transformed into a very accurate time-traveling machine, able to go forward in time or… back in time." Most in the room already knew that much.
"I think what Jessie means is what do we plan on doing with the granolith once we've unlocked it?" Raymond asked. All eyes then fell on Serena, including Coby’s.
"At the point of unlocking the code, things then become fairly hypothetical, I’m afraid,” Serena answered. “I personally have no intention of traveling across time, nor do any of you to my knowledge. But imagine the possibilities. The scientific advantages are astronomical.” Her eyes met with each and everyone before continuing. “There is however one thing we all must remember. The granolith does not belong to us. It belongs to the Adian people. It will be up to the government council of a free Adia and Trinity.”
"Even if we keep it from Jared's hands it would be a very dangerous machine," Angelique spoke up after sitting in silence. "New fools are born everyday. What good is an extraordinary machine such as the icon, if it has to be hidden away?"
Everyone was talking at once now, as Serena stood up to get their attention. She heard raising before her the one question that she had always pushed to the back of her mind. Pete had raised that same question many times over the past months before they had left Roswell. Serena had been drawn to the icon from a scientific standpoint, but her deep humanity always had her doubting the final outcome. Time travel was not something to be dealt with lightly. "I understand that this is a sensitive subject. We all know that while wonderful things could happen with this information and this ability, it also could prove disastrous if in the wrong hands at anytime in the near or distant future."
Coby offered, "Maybe a good question and a more easily answered question right now would be, do you want to know who holds the DNA, should it be one of you? I mean we wouldn't have to say who it was, would we?" He looked to Serena who shook her head in answer.
"No, there would be no need for you to know if you were the key. But it would have to be a unanimous decision amongst you." Serena paused and waited, but things had quieted a bit and there were no responses from those around her. "There is an upside to all of this. Please let me explain a few things to you, since most of you have not been actively involved in the studies. This started out more than two decades ago for me. John, Kal and I wanted to find out exactly what the granolith was, and after years of study, we did just that. It is an amazing piece of machinery aside from its untested possibilities. We now know how it works, we may never know why it works. It was the granolith that kept Ava's essence alive. It kept Liz alive in her first months of life. When it’s activated, it is so very close to being a living thing. It healed her and nurtured her, it sustained her. It saved her life," she said slowly and deliberately. "That knowledge alone is simply extraordinary."
Everyone at the table listened intently as she continued. "But then, when the French manuscript was found and all the references to Adia were deciphered, it was then that the direction of the studies turned. We realized that we had to decipher the code before Jared did. Past that, we truly didn't know what would happen at all. This has been a problem that has plagued me since beginning this entire study," her voice became emotional now. "What would happen once we had all the information was always the question without an answer."
Serena sighed and looked around the table, "If nothing else, we have safely returned the granolith to its place of origin, beyond that, it is not up to us. Just maybe the icon has done all that it was ever intended to do; to save Liz’s life so that Ava and Zan would survive to once again return here." The conversations quietly now continued amongst the seven at the table. Serena looked at Nicole and shrugged ever so slightly.
"Please listen to me," Nicole stated looking at the others. "All Coby and Serena are asking now is that you each give up a bit of blood to them. I don't think that's too much to ask. It may turn out to be none of you. Truthfully, what happens if and when the code is broken does not concern us right now. Let's remember that there are far more important things about to take place which could just make this particular question a moot one. Once Jared is defeated and Zan takes his rightful place as King on Adia, then and only then will this question of the granolith be answered." She glanced over at her as Serena's face relaxed with a slight smile.
As the breakfast meeting came to an obvious end, Ava, Jessie, Angelique and Raymond went with Coby to the medbay. Nicole, Maria and Serena gathered the dishes from the breakfast table. "Well, that was a little tense," Maria said under her breath.
Serena nodded in agreement. "I guess I've spent so much time so deeply involved with the studies that I didn't realize that any of you had given this subject so much passionate thought. It was silly of me. Of course you all would."
"Serena, tension is mounting and everyone has a lot on their mind," Nicole tried to reason away the previous atmosphere at breakfast. "There are many things that we all have no control over right now, and I don’t have to tell you how frustrating that is to everyone. The granolith seems to belong to us all, in some way or another. I'm afraid it will always be a very touchy subject," Nicole exclaimed. "The interest of science aside, there's a big part of me that thinks it should be destroyed or hidden away somewhere as it once was, just in case something devastating should occur in the future."
Serena took a pile of dishes from Maria, "I'm thinking that you may be right about that. John's been thinking for a while now that it should be destroyed. I mean even if we keep it out of Jared's hands… like Angelique so wisely said, new fools are born everyday. There's no way to assure that it would never fall into the wrong hands a year from now... or a century from now..."
"I think the real truth about all of this has already been stated," Maria said. "I don’t think that it is our decision to make, is it?"
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Max and John stood inside the hidden room of the monastery. John passed the torch to Max as they both approached the wooden table by the far wall. Max picked up the orb and held it in his hand. “I wonder how many of these there are?” he asked.
There was no response from John as he brushed the dust from the cover of the bronze book. “Well the first question we have for Jasper is if he knows this room exists, and why of course it was necessary to keep these things hidden.” He opened the cover and turned several pages finding each one filled with an ancient writing. “Looks Antarian in dialect,” he said as he turned another page and looked quickly at Max. “Well there you are,” he said with complete amazement. There on the page were likenesses of the royal four. Zan, Ava, Vilondra and Rath.
Max’s mind raced back to Hardings version of the book before them. The difference of course was that the four likenesses where not the same as in the bogus book. “It’s the prophecy, isn’t it? I mean this is the real thing,” Max ran his fingers over the engravings. “My god, it’s incredible,” he said looking at his own likeness on the page. He could see himself clearly there in Zan’s eyes, but his hair was much longer than his now. Touching Ava’s face with his forefinger he whispered, “This is Liz.”
John looked over at him. “Well, we told you both that her resemblance to Ava was nothing short of amazing,” John reminded him. As Max looked closer he couldn’t help but see a sadness on each of the representations before him. He turned the page and found more writings. “What’s it say? Do you understand any of it?”
John began to read. “You are the royal four…Zan, our king; Ava, his queen; Vilondra, our king’s sister; Rath, his second in command". Something about "your protectors"…” he nodded recognizing phrases here and there on the page. “..the worlds of your birth await your return. Beware of…." looks like, "the evil ..."
“…the evil within,” Max finished.
“There’s a lot written here,” John exclaimed as he moved farther to the back of the book where rows of what appeared to be numbers and symbols covered an entire page. “What’s that?” Max asked.
John raised his eyebrows, “I think this may be the recipe for your creation.”
Max laughed nervously. “Great. That’s just what I needed to see.”
John shook his head seriously, “Max there’s something about a cataclysmic event here. This is the prophecy, I’m certain of it. Maybe there’s some kind of signature or reference to who it was who wrote all of this here…and when.”
Max had began walking around the room, picking up very old and dusty artifacts from the table and the floor. “Was this Ambrose’s room? Or someone before him?” Max asked in a low voice. John answered without hesitation, “We need to talk to Jasper. If he doesn’t already know about it, he’s about to.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maria had just said something she never thought she'd say. She was glad to be back in the kitchen cooking again. The Horizon had in the past months become home. She and Nicole were laughing about it, while they both realized the therapeutic value involved in both the cooking and the laughing.
Serena entered the galley, "It's so good to be back here, isn't it?" she said with a smile. "Your starving patrons are all eagerly awaiting one of your delicious breakfasts," she said jokingly. "Well, actually I'm serious about that. They're all seated already."
"Well, we've got scrambled eggs, sausage and a bit of bacon left, wheat toast and gallons of good hot coffee. Oh and there's still plenty of OJ," Maria announced. Nicole went into the dining room to check on the girls, and Serena then turned to Maria. "I've wanted to talk to you, Maria. I was wondering… there's no easy way to ask this, so I'll just come out with it." Maria nodded her head, "Ask away."
"Have you noticed anything different about Liz? What I mean is, John and Kal have picked up on a few things… mostly just their own intuition, and well we thought maybe Liz might have talked to you..."
Maria's mouth fell open, as she turned to stare at Serena. "They picked up on something? So they think she’s pregnant, too?” Maria replied as her eyes widened at Serena’s nod. “I did ask her, because I was with her a few of the times that she was sick. It was the first thing I thought of. She insisted that she was fine, that nothing was wrong. But, of course... if John and Kal sense something... then I have to believe she is."
"Well, we don't want to jump the gun, Maria. But I think it may be important that we know, I mean after all she's going to need to take extra good care of herself for a few reasons. We really have no idea of what the consequences of conception between two hybrids could be. And then with everything that's going to take place in just a few days..." Serena said, still not completely sure if their guesses were true. "She never really admitted it to you though, right?" Serena filled a mug with hot coffee.
"Well, not exactly," Maria answered. "But she didn't have too. I had a really strong feeling back aboard ship, and then that morning in Justice when she and I were late joining the rest of you… it was because she was sick again. I did come right out and ask her about it again then, you know I asked her if she was absolutely sure; but she did that ‘avoid the subject thing' that she does so well. If I had any money right now, I'd be betting on it." Maria's brief excitement faded as she finished filling a large tray with bowls of food. She looked up into Serena's worried eyes and then felt the same herself. "About the hybrid pregnancy… do you think Liz is in any danger?"
Serena shrugged. “Truthfully I don’t know. But she needs to be checked out by someone with medical background, possibly someone at the camp. I have to assume at this point that she hasn’t told Max, and the only reason I can think of is because she doesn’t want to worry him in the face of everything he’s dealing with right now." Serena guessed.
Maria rolled her eyes. "If he knew, trust me, I can guarantee that we'd all know. You can be damn sure he wouldn’t be keeping this kind of news to himself."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After breakfast was finished, Coby informed everyone aboard that he and Serena would be taking blood samples from each of them.
"So let me get this straight," Raymond stated somewhat alarmed, “you're thinking that one of us is the third key?"
Nicole hurriedly suggested that Emily and Sierra go and play. "Come on Emily. I have to show you my scooter," Sierra announced, bubbling. Nicole called after the two as they both ran out of the room, "Share, Sierra."
Serena waited until they had left to answer Raymond’s question. "There is that possibility. At any rate, we need to find out," Serena stated. "And if it's true, then we’ll finally have the completed code."
"And then what?" Jessie asked questioningly. "I mean, I've never really understood the significance of having the completed code; with the exception of course, that we needed to be sure that Jared didn’t discover it.” Her look was full of concern, “I have to say that the responsibility of being the third key is a bit overwhelming. What happens then?"
Serena nodded fully understanding her point and looked to Coby who cleared his throat before answering. "Okay, here’s the whole thing in a nutshell. Right now the granolith is in part a traveling machine. Once the third key is found, and the DNA converted to the code, we believe it will be transformed into a very accurate time-traveling machine, able to go forward in time or… back in time." Most in the room already knew that much.
"I think what Jessie means is what do we plan on doing with the granolith once we've unlocked it?" Raymond asked. All eyes then fell on Serena, including Coby’s.
"At the point of unlocking the code, things then become fairly hypothetical, I’m afraid,” Serena answered. “I personally have no intention of traveling across time, nor do any of you to my knowledge. But imagine the possibilities. The scientific advantages are astronomical.” Her eyes met with each and everyone before continuing. “There is however one thing we all must remember. The granolith does not belong to us. It belongs to the Adian people. It will be up to the government council of a free Adia and Trinity.”
"Even if we keep it from Jared's hands it would be a very dangerous machine," Angelique spoke up after sitting in silence. "New fools are born everyday. What good is an extraordinary machine such as the icon, if it has to be hidden away?"
Everyone was talking at once now, as Serena stood up to get their attention. She heard raising before her the one question that she had always pushed to the back of her mind. Pete had raised that same question many times over the past months before they had left Roswell. Serena had been drawn to the icon from a scientific standpoint, but her deep humanity always had her doubting the final outcome. Time travel was not something to be dealt with lightly. "I understand that this is a sensitive subject. We all know that while wonderful things could happen with this information and this ability, it also could prove disastrous if in the wrong hands at anytime in the near or distant future."
Coby offered, "Maybe a good question and a more easily answered question right now would be, do you want to know who holds the DNA, should it be one of you? I mean we wouldn't have to say who it was, would we?" He looked to Serena who shook her head in answer.
"No, there would be no need for you to know if you were the key. But it would have to be a unanimous decision amongst you." Serena paused and waited, but things had quieted a bit and there were no responses from those around her. "There is an upside to all of this. Please let me explain a few things to you, since most of you have not been actively involved in the studies. This started out more than two decades ago for me. John, Kal and I wanted to find out exactly what the granolith was, and after years of study, we did just that. It is an amazing piece of machinery aside from its untested possibilities. We now know how it works, we may never know why it works. It was the granolith that kept Ava's essence alive. It kept Liz alive in her first months of life. When it’s activated, it is so very close to being a living thing. It healed her and nurtured her, it sustained her. It saved her life," she said slowly and deliberately. "That knowledge alone is simply extraordinary."
Everyone at the table listened intently as she continued. "But then, when the French manuscript was found and all the references to Adia were deciphered, it was then that the direction of the studies turned. We realized that we had to decipher the code before Jared did. Past that, we truly didn't know what would happen at all. This has been a problem that has plagued me since beginning this entire study," her voice became emotional now. "What would happen once we had all the information was always the question without an answer."
Serena sighed and looked around the table, "If nothing else, we have safely returned the granolith to its place of origin, beyond that, it is not up to us. Just maybe the icon has done all that it was ever intended to do; to save Liz’s life so that Ava and Zan would survive to once again return here." The conversations quietly now continued amongst the seven at the table. Serena looked at Nicole and shrugged ever so slightly.
"Please listen to me," Nicole stated looking at the others. "All Coby and Serena are asking now is that you each give up a bit of blood to them. I don't think that's too much to ask. It may turn out to be none of you. Truthfully, what happens if and when the code is broken does not concern us right now. Let's remember that there are far more important things about to take place which could just make this particular question a moot one. Once Jared is defeated and Zan takes his rightful place as King on Adia, then and only then will this question of the granolith be answered." She glanced over at her as Serena's face relaxed with a slight smile.
As the breakfast meeting came to an obvious end, Ava, Jessie, Angelique and Raymond went with Coby to the medbay. Nicole, Maria and Serena gathered the dishes from the breakfast table. "Well, that was a little tense," Maria said under her breath.
Serena nodded in agreement. "I guess I've spent so much time so deeply involved with the studies that I didn't realize that any of you had given this subject so much passionate thought. It was silly of me. Of course you all would."
"Serena, tension is mounting and everyone has a lot on their mind," Nicole tried to reason away the previous atmosphere at breakfast. "There are many things that we all have no control over right now, and I don’t have to tell you how frustrating that is to everyone. The granolith seems to belong to us all, in some way or another. I'm afraid it will always be a very touchy subject," Nicole exclaimed. "The interest of science aside, there's a big part of me that thinks it should be destroyed or hidden away somewhere as it once was, just in case something devastating should occur in the future."
Serena took a pile of dishes from Maria, "I'm thinking that you may be right about that. John's been thinking for a while now that it should be destroyed. I mean even if we keep it out of Jared's hands… like Angelique so wisely said, new fools are born everyday. There's no way to assure that it would never fall into the wrong hands a year from now... or a century from now..."
"I think the real truth about all of this has already been stated," Maria said. "I don’t think that it is our decision to make, is it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max and John stood inside the hidden room of the monastery. John passed the torch to Max as they both approached the wooden table by the far wall. Max picked up the orb and held it in his hand. “I wonder how many of these there are?” he asked.
There was no response from John as he brushed the dust from the cover of the bronze book. “Well the first question we have for Jasper is if he knows this room exists, and why of course it was necessary to keep these things hidden.” He opened the cover and turned several pages finding each one filled with an ancient writing. “Looks Antarian in dialect,” he said as he turned another page and looked quickly at Max. “Well there you are,” he said with complete amazement. There on the page were likenesses of the royal four. Zan, Ava, Vilondra and Rath.
Max’s mind raced back to Hardings version of the book before them. The difference of course was that the four likenesses where not the same as in the bogus book. “It’s the prophecy, isn’t it? I mean this is the real thing,” Max ran his fingers over the engravings. “My god, it’s incredible,” he said looking at his own likeness on the page. He could see himself clearly there in Zan’s eyes, but his hair was much longer than his now. Touching Ava’s face with his forefinger he whispered, “This is Liz.”
John looked over at him. “Well, we told you both that her resemblance to Ava was nothing short of amazing,” John reminded him. As Max looked closer he couldn’t help but see a sadness on each of the representations before him. He turned the page and found more writings. “What’s it say? Do you understand any of it?”
John began to read. “You are the royal four…Zan, our king; Ava, his queen; Vilondra, our king’s sister; Rath, his second in command". Something about "your protectors"…” he nodded recognizing phrases here and there on the page. “..the worlds of your birth await your return. Beware of…." looks like, "the evil ..."
“…the evil within,” Max finished.
“There’s a lot written here,” John exclaimed as he moved farther to the back of the book where rows of what appeared to be numbers and symbols covered an entire page. “What’s that?” Max asked.
John raised his eyebrows, “I think this may be the recipe for your creation.”
Max laughed nervously. “Great. That’s just what I needed to see.”
John shook his head seriously, “Max there’s something about a cataclysmic event here. This is the prophecy, I’m certain of it. Maybe there’s some kind of signature or reference to who it was who wrote all of this here…and when.”
Max had began walking around the room, picking up very old and dusty artifacts from the table and the floor. “Was this Ambrose’s room? Or someone before him?” Max asked in a low voice. John answered without hesitation, “We need to talk to Jasper. If he doesn’t already know about it, he’s about to.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Larek sat out on the monastery front steps thinking of so many things at one time, he couldn’t keep his mind straight. “You have to stop this, my man,” he said to himself. His mind then zeroed in on only one thought. Nicole. He tried to stop the feeling that had been creeping up on him for the last seven hours.. that he would never see her again.
He knew all too well that the mission at Milinga in a few days would be the beginning of all things wonderful here in these worlds; or the beginning of a slow and painful end for everyone. There was no gray area that he could bring to mind. He forced himself to find one. The only gray scenario he supposed was that they could all end up living out their days at Cuyahoga Penal Colony on Eos. He’d personally rather be dead, but couldn’t say the same for the others in the group. No, on second thought, he could say. He had no doubt that every one would gladly give up their lives rather than be sentenced to the hell hole of Cuyahoga.
He shook his head trying to rid himself of the negative thoughts bombarding his mind; but it wasn’t working. He cringed at the thought of what the women would be forced to endure there. It would be a fate worse than death. He had just found Nicole, and he was not ready to lose her now..in any way. It had now become about so much more than the dream. He looked up to see Chavez approaching up the path.
“Michel. How did things go?” he stood to meet his friend. Shaking his hand, Michel replied, “Not well at first, the older woman is not fairing well. She has a chest malady, so it was agreed by all that they go on to the ship. That’s where I have just left them.”
Larek nodded. “They will be much more comfortable aboard ship. We must continue to keep security high there. We have no idea what Jared’s next move might be. By laying low now, so soon after Emily's rescue he may just think that they've taken her back home. One way or another I want to be notified the mere second that anything out of the ordinary happens there.”
The two men sat back down together. “I’ve also received word from Siobhan,” Chavez said with a smile. “All is back to normal, per se, at Leoch. Jared has not made any move whatsoever toward either of the sisters since Emily's removal. This is good news. She also has a few gifts for us. Seems a friend and sympathizer, a member of Jared’s honor guard to be exact, has given her two protective garbs that should help us in attaining a closer proximity to the Guardian. Jared himself uses the same when inspecting things at the cavern.”
Larek’s smile broadened. “Well, that’s unexpected news. Wonderful! And I’m very relieved that the twins are safe. I was worried we would have to extract them. This is truly good news.” The two became quiet, as Larek contemplated the advantages of having protective garments against the radioactivity within the cave.
“What is the Lady Ava doing?” Michel asked questioning him with a worried look. Larek looked at him confused at first. “I... I am not sure. Why?” Larek responded.
“Well, she is sitting down at the end of the path by herself,” Michel stated.
Larek looked down the distance visible from his vantage point and saw no one. “She is? Alone?” His second in command nodded to him. “I asked her should anything be wrong and she shook her head. Told me she was just getting some air. I am not certain she should be down there by herself.”
“You are very right, my friend,” Larek said getting to his feet. “I do know Max is with John. Let me see what’s going on,” he nodded to him. Michel got up and went into the monastery, and Larek headed out down the mountainside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max and John sat before Jasper’s desk, as the older man finished writing in a journal spread out there. Looking up and finally closing the book, he apologized. “I am sorry to keep you waiting, but I had several notations that needed to be made in our daily log.” His guests both nodded to him. “What is it that I can do for you, Sire?” his attention was on Max.
Max was quick and to the point, before John could form a word. “Kolt and I have discovered a hidden room in the catacombs below, and we were hoping that you might be able to tell us a few things about it.” If Brother Jasper was surprised, his face didn’t show it.
After a few moments he responded. “You speak of course of Ambrose’s room, or the room he called his own.” The head of the Order leaned back in his chair, as if expecting this moment for a long time. He then rose to his feet slowly. “Let me start at the beginning.” He stood leaning against the back wall, and laughed lightly, “I never truly believed that I would have the opportunity to be sharing this history with anyone, most especially with you, Zan. But it seems I can no longer avoid what has now proven to be so hauntingly true. As I have already told you, I was not a firm believer in the ancient words that some have held so dear. But Brother Ambrose’s entire life here was consumed with them. The room you refer to has been hidden there for a very long time. Brother Ambrose and his aides discovered it, and he then lived his life believing it to be his sanctuary. All of his personal things were there at one time.”
The robed man paused and then sighed, “There are many things there that do nothing but raise questions as to this entire prophecy business. It now pains me deeply that I did not support Ambrose in his endeavors to uncover the truth. In the last few days, I have gone over everything that I know in my mind many times, and the extremely sad facts are that Ambrose died carrying many of the answers to our questions with him. His words now haunt me. You have a monumental task before you, my son." Their eyes met and Max clenched his jaw.
“You say his personal things were all down there?” John asked wondering what Jasper was referring to.
“When our brother was laid to rest, most of his belongings were interned with him. They were cremated with him,” he further explained. “It’s the way things are done here.”
“There’s a communicator down there,” Max explained, impatiently. “Much like the one that John and Kal brought with them to Earth... where I’ve come from. It’s an orb shaped device with an Antarian symbol on its face,” Max anxiously hoped for an answer. “You know of this device?”
Jasper smiled. “Yes, I do, Zan. You see Ambrose needed a way of communicating with the royal family after your… departure from here. It’s my understanding from his notes that a message from your dear mother was programmed into the device. A simple message to make you aware of who you were and what was expected of you. Ambrose acquired all the devices from a man… a local craftsman back then, right here on Adia. There were three originally made. Two that accompanied you on the ship and another that was to remain here. The one Ambrose kept constantly with him did not respond to the other two. It was my understanding that its purpose was to respond only once the royal party had returned.”
“Who was the craftsman, do you know?” John asked curiously.
“All I know are stories I’ve heard through the years. He was a resident within Leoch, a close and personal friend of Ava’s father. The princess’s father worked closely with Ambrose making sure that everything was in place.” The monk than again took his seat. Max looked to John, “It was Liz who had the flashes and who heard the orb that night out in the desert by the old tower,” he reminded John and turned back listening to Jasper.
“I do remember Ambrose saying that he had written the actual words that Malow spoke to you,” the monk absentmindedly moved several objects around on his desk as he spoke.
“The book, Brother Jasper,” John continued quickly and boldly. “It is the genuine article, is it not?”
Jasper’s face flushed. He bit down on his lower lip and shook his head slowly up and down. “Yes Kolt. Ambrose emphatically believed that was true, and now I have no choice but to believe it too.”
Max felt his hands shaking as he clutched the sides of the wooden chair where he sat. John remained calm and collected, as Jasper continued. “The return of the Royals leaves little room for denial. You can call it what you may. Prophecy, the fates, the work of the Gods… destiny. I am not one who believes in coincidences. The Gods always have a plan.” Jasper bowed his head and after several seconds of silence in the room he added, “We are but mere servants to carry out their wishes. It's not up to us to question why. Whatever happens, what is meant to be, will be.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two had left Jasper’s study and were now going to find Liz. “Sounds like Ambrose choreographed everything having to do with the essences. And now we know that he confided in Ava’s father as well as your mother,” John reaffirmed. "Jasper may well be the only one to ever have complete knowledge of the prophecy.”
Max nodded in agreement but disappointment. “We don’t have the time that’s needed now to translate the book.”
“I don’t believe that it matters anymore, Max,” John said honestly. “Besides, I doubt that the book is going to tell us how this all ends up. It heralds your coming and warns of a cataclysmic end. It’s got to be referring to the Guardian. It’s merely predicting that you return to confront this evil and by doing so you give Adia and Trinity the only chance they have against the weapon. Ambrose knew how important your journey was. Each one of us has come a very long way to fulfill our intended destinies.”
John had a difficult time looking Max in the eye. “As much as I hate to say it, I do believe that Jasper was absolutely right… what is meant to be will be. Only one thing is for sure, we are here until the curtain goes down, one way or another.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larek approached slowly, not wanting to startle her. “Ava?” he said softly. She looked up, then quickly away again, but didn’t answer. He sat down quietly on the ground next to her. There they both sat for the longest while without either saying a word.
“She blames me for everything, Larek,” Liz broke through her silence, still looking away. “And that surprises you?” he answered in a low voice.
Liz shook her head slowly as she stared out in front of her. “I know it shouldn’t, but I guess I was hoping that things here had changed.”
He forced a smile. “First let me remind you, Malow is a bitter old woman. The years have not softened her. She has played both Kivar’s and Jared’s game for a very long time now. But I cannot deny that she has missed her son.” He played with the blades of grass at his feet. “You can not expect love and acceptance from someone who does not know the meaning of the words.”
“I’ve reminded myself of that many times, both now… and back then, Larek,” Liz said dryly. “Her love is a selfish one.” She looked up at him now, as he looked back at her. “I’m not saying that she doesn’t love Zan, because I’m certain that she does, in her own way, which has been destructive. It’s always been so totally destructive, Larek. You didn’t see the hatred and evil in her eyes towards me when we were alone just now.”
Larek reached for her shoulders, turning her to face him. “You can not change who she is. And you cannot let it effect you like this.” He saw the look on her face. “Ava…” he whispered softly, touching her cheek as a tear rolled onto his hand. “You cannot allow Malow to make you doubt who you are. Zan lives for you, and nothing that Malow has ever tried to do has changed that simple fact. What happened was not of your doing. How could it have been?” he questioned. “It was Kivar and his greed and lust for power. Both Malow and Vilondra played right into his hands. She is still living in the past and… I will not allow you to do that again.” She wiped at her face with the back of her hand and could think of nothing to say.
“You should not have faced her alone, my dear spirited Ava. Just as there are things she cannot change, the same is true for you. She is who she is… but she has no power over you. It is not important that you have her blessing. You and Zan have the blessings of the gods.” Her bottom lip quivered. She tried to smile, as another single tear fell. “That is better,” he exclaimed touching softly at the smile beginning to grow at her mouth. “You are a strong woman, my love; you have learned once already that your time is wasted in trying to deal with Malow. So why are you again searching for her acceptance?” She could only shrug her shoulders.
“Is that the only trouble on your mind? Seems to me you have been very quiet lately, considering the Ava I used to know,” he asked instinctively, winking at her. He stood up taking her hand to pull her up beside him. “Do not worry about St. Mirad’s Day, Ava. It is the day we have all been living for. We will change this world,” he said convincingly.
She thought of her life, both past and present. Her thoughts raced to her child, to Max's child. Everything now seemed to be for him..or her, she smiled on the inside. Blushing and thinking fast, she knew that Larek had never had any problem reading her thoughts when he wanted to and the last thing she wanted at this moment was for him to know the truth about what was going on inside of her. She lied the best she could. “I’ve been thinking about Ambrose, and wondering…”
“Aaha, well, Ambrose seems to have been a very wise man. Have you remembered anything else from your flashes… is that what you call them?” he asked curiously. Liz nodded. “I've remembered very little that tells me much at all. It’s frustrating...like it’s just right beyond my reach.”
“I can only imagine how annoying that must be for you. Is there anything else going on?” Larek asked still worried and sensing more.
“Else? No, nothing else,” Liz said quickly diverting her attention to a huge tree beside them. “Look.”
Larek’s gaze followed her hand, as she pointed to the small yellow fruit hanging on the tree just above their heads. He laughed remembering. “Cios,” he reached up and grabbed two down.
“Oh… it’s been so long since I’ve had one of these,” she exclaimed excitedly, remembering the delicious fruit from her younger years.
“Here you go, my lady,” he tossed the bigger one over to her, and she laughed out loud catching it tightly in her hands. The two started walking slowly back up the path, each savoring the sweetness of the meaty surprise.
“I haven’t had one either for a very long time,” he confessed between bites. Liz looked over at him. She knew that Larek had spent so very much of his time fighting for peace in this world that he hadn’t taken the time for simple pleasures in his life.
“Where did it all go, Larek?” she asked sadly. “All those wonderful years. All the fun we had growing up. I miss that more and more now. It’s funny, it’s taken so long for me to remember and now those same memories are so hard to bear.”
He put his arm around her as they walked. “Sparrow, life is about nothing but memories. We do the best we can with them.”
Liz grinned, “And what about you? Just what is happening in Larek’s life? You and I haven’t had much time to talk at all lately. Tell me… tell me about Nicole.” He seemed to slow his pace.
“Nicole is a wonderful girl. But then you already know her,” he said with a shy smile.
She gave him a short jab in the arm. “That’s not what I mean and you know it. I mean… you really care for her don’t you?” She smiled up into his face. Watching the light in his eyes, she waited for a response. He started to say something and then stopped, quietly walking a few more steps before leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. “What?” Liz asked, seeing his expression.
“I… I don’t believe that I can talk to you about this,” he confessed in a whisper looking straight ahead of him. Liz nodded silently and took several more steps in stride with him. “Okay. But when you can, I’ll be waiting.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tess turned the corner quickly, running head long into Jared coming in the other direction. The two stopped and starred awkwardly at one another. “Well… the proverbial liar has returned!” His voice echoed in the long hallway. “I will pretend for now that you were on your way to see me, as I had ordered," he retorted sarcastically.
“I was, Jared,” she reclaimed her composure as quickly as she could. “I’ve just found out some very important information. It took a bit longer than I expected… but I was coming to your room… now.” She wrapped her arms around him but felt no response. “Jared, I need to talk to you in private. It’s imperative. So please, just hold on to your anger until I say what I need to say. I promise I will not disappoint you again.”
His sober face starred down into her pleading eyes and he felt a slight buzzing in his ears. “And why do you suppose I should give you a chance to say even one lying word?” he demanded.
“Because this time I truly know where Zan and Ava are hiding the keys and the granolith. That phantom ship… of a few days back, it’s on Trinity now. I’ve just found out… it was not a federalist ship, nor was it one of ours. I haven’t figured out just yet how they did it, but I’m certain that it belongs to the two of them. I have several who are now helping me to contact Malow.” She ran her hands over his chest as she spoke. He looked away but was drawn back to her face. The wench had a hold on him that he could not satisfactorily explain to himself.
“Come back to your bedroom with me, Jared. Let me show you how much I have missed my King.” She stood high on her toes and ran her moist lips over his cheek. “I have so missed and ached for you since I’ve been gone.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larek sat out on the monastery front steps thinking of so many things at one time, he couldn’t keep his mind straight. “You have to stop this, my man,” he said to himself. His mind then zeroed in on only one thought. Nicole. He tried to stop the feeling that had been creeping up on him for the last seven hours.. that he would never see her again.
He knew all too well that the mission at Milinga in a few days would be the beginning of all things wonderful here in these worlds; or the beginning of a slow and painful end for everyone. There was no gray area that he could bring to mind. He forced himself to find one. The only gray scenario he supposed was that they could all end up living out their days at Cuyahoga Penal Colony on Eos. He’d personally rather be dead, but couldn’t say the same for the others in the group. No, on second thought, he could say. He had no doubt that every one would gladly give up their lives rather than be sentenced to the hell hole of Cuyahoga.
He shook his head trying to rid himself of the negative thoughts bombarding his mind; but it wasn’t working. He cringed at the thought of what the women would be forced to endure there. It would be a fate worse than death. He had just found Nicole, and he was not ready to lose her now..in any way. It had now become about so much more than the dream. He looked up to see Chavez approaching up the path.
“Michel. How did things go?” he stood to meet his friend. Shaking his hand, Michel replied, “Not well at first, the older woman is not fairing well. She has a chest malady, so it was agreed by all that they go on to the ship. That’s where I have just left them.”
Larek nodded. “They will be much more comfortable aboard ship. We must continue to keep security high there. We have no idea what Jared’s next move might be. By laying low now, so soon after Emily's rescue he may just think that they've taken her back home. One way or another I want to be notified the mere second that anything out of the ordinary happens there.”
The two men sat back down together. “I’ve also received word from Siobhan,” Chavez said with a smile. “All is back to normal, per se, at Leoch. Jared has not made any move whatsoever toward either of the sisters since Emily's removal. This is good news. She also has a few gifts for us. Seems a friend and sympathizer, a member of Jared’s honor guard to be exact, has given her two protective garbs that should help us in attaining a closer proximity to the Guardian. Jared himself uses the same when inspecting things at the cavern.”
Larek’s smile broadened. “Well, that’s unexpected news. Wonderful! And I’m very relieved that the twins are safe. I was worried we would have to extract them. This is truly good news.” The two became quiet, as Larek contemplated the advantages of having protective garments against the radioactivity within the cave.
“What is the Lady Ava doing?” Michel asked questioning him with a worried look. Larek looked at him confused at first. “I... I am not sure. Why?” Larek responded.
“Well, she is sitting down at the end of the path by herself,” Michel stated.
Larek looked down the distance visible from his vantage point and saw no one. “She is? Alone?” His second in command nodded to him. “I asked her should anything be wrong and she shook her head. Told me she was just getting some air. I am not certain she should be down there by herself.”
“You are very right, my friend,” Larek said getting to his feet. “I do know Max is with John. Let me see what’s going on,” he nodded to him. Michel got up and went into the monastery, and Larek headed out down the mountainside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max and John sat before Jasper’s desk, as the older man finished writing in a journal spread out there. Looking up and finally closing the book, he apologized. “I am sorry to keep you waiting, but I had several notations that needed to be made in our daily log.” His guests both nodded to him. “What is it that I can do for you, Sire?” his attention was on Max.
Max was quick and to the point, before John could form a word. “Kolt and I have discovered a hidden room in the catacombs below, and we were hoping that you might be able to tell us a few things about it.” If Brother Jasper was surprised, his face didn’t show it.
After a few moments he responded. “You speak of course of Ambrose’s room, or the room he called his own.” The head of the Order leaned back in his chair, as if expecting this moment for a long time. He then rose to his feet slowly. “Let me start at the beginning.” He stood leaning against the back wall, and laughed lightly, “I never truly believed that I would have the opportunity to be sharing this history with anyone, most especially with you, Zan. But it seems I can no longer avoid what has now proven to be so hauntingly true. As I have already told you, I was not a firm believer in the ancient words that some have held so dear. But Brother Ambrose’s entire life here was consumed with them. The room you refer to has been hidden there for a very long time. Brother Ambrose and his aides discovered it, and he then lived his life believing it to be his sanctuary. All of his personal things were there at one time.”
The robed man paused and then sighed, “There are many things there that do nothing but raise questions as to this entire prophecy business. It now pains me deeply that I did not support Ambrose in his endeavors to uncover the truth. In the last few days, I have gone over everything that I know in my mind many times, and the extremely sad facts are that Ambrose died carrying many of the answers to our questions with him. His words now haunt me. You have a monumental task before you, my son." Their eyes met and Max clenched his jaw.
“You say his personal things were all down there?” John asked wondering what Jasper was referring to.
“When our brother was laid to rest, most of his belongings were interned with him. They were cremated with him,” he further explained. “It’s the way things are done here.”
“There’s a communicator down there,” Max explained, impatiently. “Much like the one that John and Kal brought with them to Earth... where I’ve come from. It’s an orb shaped device with an Antarian symbol on its face,” Max anxiously hoped for an answer. “You know of this device?”
Jasper smiled. “Yes, I do, Zan. You see Ambrose needed a way of communicating with the royal family after your… departure from here. It’s my understanding from his notes that a message from your dear mother was programmed into the device. A simple message to make you aware of who you were and what was expected of you. Ambrose acquired all the devices from a man… a local craftsman back then, right here on Adia. There were three originally made. Two that accompanied you on the ship and another that was to remain here. The one Ambrose kept constantly with him did not respond to the other two. It was my understanding that its purpose was to respond only once the royal party had returned.”
“Who was the craftsman, do you know?” John asked curiously.
“All I know are stories I’ve heard through the years. He was a resident within Leoch, a close and personal friend of Ava’s father. The princess’s father worked closely with Ambrose making sure that everything was in place.” The monk than again took his seat. Max looked to John, “It was Liz who had the flashes and who heard the orb that night out in the desert by the old tower,” he reminded John and turned back listening to Jasper.
“I do remember Ambrose saying that he had written the actual words that Malow spoke to you,” the monk absentmindedly moved several objects around on his desk as he spoke.
“The book, Brother Jasper,” John continued quickly and boldly. “It is the genuine article, is it not?”
Jasper’s face flushed. He bit down on his lower lip and shook his head slowly up and down. “Yes Kolt. Ambrose emphatically believed that was true, and now I have no choice but to believe it too.”
Max felt his hands shaking as he clutched the sides of the wooden chair where he sat. John remained calm and collected, as Jasper continued. “The return of the Royals leaves little room for denial. You can call it what you may. Prophecy, the fates, the work of the Gods… destiny. I am not one who believes in coincidences. The Gods always have a plan.” Jasper bowed his head and after several seconds of silence in the room he added, “We are but mere servants to carry out their wishes. It's not up to us to question why. Whatever happens, what is meant to be, will be.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two had left Jasper’s study and were now going to find Liz. “Sounds like Ambrose choreographed everything having to do with the essences. And now we know that he confided in Ava’s father as well as your mother,” John reaffirmed. "Jasper may well be the only one to ever have complete knowledge of the prophecy.”
Max nodded in agreement but disappointment. “We don’t have the time that’s needed now to translate the book.”
“I don’t believe that it matters anymore, Max,” John said honestly. “Besides, I doubt that the book is going to tell us how this all ends up. It heralds your coming and warns of a cataclysmic end. It’s got to be referring to the Guardian. It’s merely predicting that you return to confront this evil and by doing so you give Adia and Trinity the only chance they have against the weapon. Ambrose knew how important your journey was. Each one of us has come a very long way to fulfill our intended destinies.”
John had a difficult time looking Max in the eye. “As much as I hate to say it, I do believe that Jasper was absolutely right… what is meant to be will be. Only one thing is for sure, we are here until the curtain goes down, one way or another.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Larek approached slowly, not wanting to startle her. “Ava?” he said softly. She looked up, then quickly away again, but didn’t answer. He sat down quietly on the ground next to her. There they both sat for the longest while without either saying a word.
“She blames me for everything, Larek,” Liz broke through her silence, still looking away. “And that surprises you?” he answered in a low voice.
Liz shook her head slowly as she stared out in front of her. “I know it shouldn’t, but I guess I was hoping that things here had changed.”
He forced a smile. “First let me remind you, Malow is a bitter old woman. The years have not softened her. She has played both Kivar’s and Jared’s game for a very long time now. But I cannot deny that she has missed her son.” He played with the blades of grass at his feet. “You can not expect love and acceptance from someone who does not know the meaning of the words.”
“I’ve reminded myself of that many times, both now… and back then, Larek,” Liz said dryly. “Her love is a selfish one.” She looked up at him now, as he looked back at her. “I’m not saying that she doesn’t love Zan, because I’m certain that she does, in her own way, which has been destructive. It’s always been so totally destructive, Larek. You didn’t see the hatred and evil in her eyes towards me when we were alone just now.”
Larek reached for her shoulders, turning her to face him. “You can not change who she is. And you cannot let it effect you like this.” He saw the look on her face. “Ava…” he whispered softly, touching her cheek as a tear rolled onto his hand. “You cannot allow Malow to make you doubt who you are. Zan lives for you, and nothing that Malow has ever tried to do has changed that simple fact. What happened was not of your doing. How could it have been?” he questioned. “It was Kivar and his greed and lust for power. Both Malow and Vilondra played right into his hands. She is still living in the past and… I will not allow you to do that again.” She wiped at her face with the back of her hand and could think of nothing to say.
“You should not have faced her alone, my dear spirited Ava. Just as there are things she cannot change, the same is true for you. She is who she is… but she has no power over you. It is not important that you have her blessing. You and Zan have the blessings of the gods.” Her bottom lip quivered. She tried to smile, as another single tear fell. “That is better,” he exclaimed touching softly at the smile beginning to grow at her mouth. “You are a strong woman, my love; you have learned once already that your time is wasted in trying to deal with Malow. So why are you again searching for her acceptance?” She could only shrug her shoulders.
“Is that the only trouble on your mind? Seems to me you have been very quiet lately, considering the Ava I used to know,” he asked instinctively, winking at her. He stood up taking her hand to pull her up beside him. “Do not worry about St. Mirad’s Day, Ava. It is the day we have all been living for. We will change this world,” he said convincingly.
She thought of her life, both past and present. Her thoughts raced to her child, to Max's child. Everything now seemed to be for him..or her, she smiled on the inside. Blushing and thinking fast, she knew that Larek had never had any problem reading her thoughts when he wanted to and the last thing she wanted at this moment was for him to know the truth about what was going on inside of her. She lied the best she could. “I’ve been thinking about Ambrose, and wondering…”
“Aaha, well, Ambrose seems to have been a very wise man. Have you remembered anything else from your flashes… is that what you call them?” he asked curiously. Liz nodded. “I've remembered very little that tells me much at all. It’s frustrating...like it’s just right beyond my reach.”
“I can only imagine how annoying that must be for you. Is there anything else going on?” Larek asked still worried and sensing more.
“Else? No, nothing else,” Liz said quickly diverting her attention to a huge tree beside them. “Look.”
Larek’s gaze followed her hand, as she pointed to the small yellow fruit hanging on the tree just above their heads. He laughed remembering. “Cios,” he reached up and grabbed two down.
“Oh… it’s been so long since I’ve had one of these,” she exclaimed excitedly, remembering the delicious fruit from her younger years.
“Here you go, my lady,” he tossed the bigger one over to her, and she laughed out loud catching it tightly in her hands. The two started walking slowly back up the path, each savoring the sweetness of the meaty surprise.
“I haven’t had one either for a very long time,” he confessed between bites. Liz looked over at him. She knew that Larek had spent so very much of his time fighting for peace in this world that he hadn’t taken the time for simple pleasures in his life.
“Where did it all go, Larek?” she asked sadly. “All those wonderful years. All the fun we had growing up. I miss that more and more now. It’s funny, it’s taken so long for me to remember and now those same memories are so hard to bear.”
He put his arm around her as they walked. “Sparrow, life is about nothing but memories. We do the best we can with them.”
Liz grinned, “And what about you? Just what is happening in Larek’s life? You and I haven’t had much time to talk at all lately. Tell me… tell me about Nicole.” He seemed to slow his pace.
“Nicole is a wonderful girl. But then you already know her,” he said with a shy smile.
She gave him a short jab in the arm. “That’s not what I mean and you know it. I mean… you really care for her don’t you?” She smiled up into his face. Watching the light in his eyes, she waited for a response. He started to say something and then stopped, quietly walking a few more steps before leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. “What?” Liz asked, seeing his expression.
“I… I don’t believe that I can talk to you about this,” he confessed in a whisper looking straight ahead of him. Liz nodded silently and took several more steps in stride with him. “Okay. But when you can, I’ll be waiting.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tess turned the corner quickly, running head long into Jared coming in the other direction. The two stopped and starred awkwardly at one another. “Well… the proverbial liar has returned!” His voice echoed in the long hallway. “I will pretend for now that you were on your way to see me, as I had ordered," he retorted sarcastically.
“I was, Jared,” she reclaimed her composure as quickly as she could. “I’ve just found out some very important information. It took a bit longer than I expected… but I was coming to your room… now.” She wrapped her arms around him but felt no response. “Jared, I need to talk to you in private. It’s imperative. So please, just hold on to your anger until I say what I need to say. I promise I will not disappoint you again.”
His sober face starred down into her pleading eyes and he felt a slight buzzing in his ears. “And why do you suppose I should give you a chance to say even one lying word?” he demanded.
“Because this time I truly know where Zan and Ava are hiding the keys and the granolith. That phantom ship… of a few days back, it’s on Trinity now. I’ve just found out… it was not a federalist ship, nor was it one of ours. I haven’t figured out just yet how they did it, but I’m certain that it belongs to the two of them. I have several who are now helping me to contact Malow.” She ran her hands over his chest as she spoke. He looked away but was drawn back to her face. The wench had a hold on him that he could not satisfactorily explain to himself.
“Come back to your bedroom with me, Jared. Let me show you how much I have missed my King.” She stood high on her toes and ran her moist lips over his cheek. “I have so missed and ached for you since I’ve been gone.”
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CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Kal sat at the long table in the room used for meals. The light filtered through the window in long slanted rays throwing an unnatural radiance onto the far wall. In his hand he held one of the trackers, the other sat on the table in front of him. “What’s up?” Michael asked, entering the room. “I heard you calling to me,” he laughed proudly at having caught Kal’s thought a whole floor away.
“I want you to do your magic. Program these two trackers to communicate with each other,” he handed them over to him. “Can you do that? Just like you did with Larek when you used your cell phone.”
“Don’t know if I can,” Michael answered doubtfully, then at seeing the determined look on Kal’s face, he added, “but I’ll do my best. You mean... not text, but just… what?”
“We need to signal each other, that’s all. Flashing light, beeping noise? Someway to alert the other team if we have to.” Kal pushed his chair back. “You’ve got two days, Rath. Try a little human ingenuity and if that doesn’t work… hocus pocus it.” He walked to the door. “Seen Liz?”
“Ah... no,” Michael stated still staring down at the two devices in his hands. “But Max and John were looking for her a little while ago too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’ve got all four,” Coby announced as Serena entered the med bay. “I’ll do up the stains and program everything back into the computer banks. We should know something in three or four hours.”
“Good work, Coby. Any other comments noted by the group?” she asked him, half afraid to hear the answer.
“Just that they’ve agreed that they don’t want to know if they’re the match. It’s best this way, I think. Could be fewer problems down the line.” He gathered the vials of blood and placed them in a small portable machine at his side. Pushing several buttons the vials began spinning. “Wanna help me put the slides together when this is done?”
“Most definitely,” she smiled. “I’m not sure what to wish for, truthfully.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Look, Serena, I know we’ve put a good deal of our past into this… but I want you to know that if we were to end this whole thing right here, I would not feel once ounce of regret about anything. My god, look where I am. I’m sitting on another planet in another galaxy. I have at my fingertips what could be the greatest technology ever known to man… and yet, I could die an extremely happy man for just being a part of all of this… well, hypothetically ...die,” he corrected himself quickly.
Serena rubbed his back. “Coby, none of this could have been done without you… or without Peter. We’ve known for a while now that there was that possibility that we’d never be able to finish this work… or, that we one day would choose not to finish it. I share all your feelings, and personally... I can’t wait to hand this icon over to the Council and go back to some type of normal life again. Just to know that we’ve come this far would be reward enough for me. How could it not be? We’ve done something that no other human back there can even begin to contemplate.” She sat down next to him and removed four slides from the drawer below the machine. She frowned knowing that Katain, Marshal and Jonathan were not here to test. “I wish there were a way to get samples from the others at Rochell. Maybe I should send word with Michel and let them know what is going on… about the third key.”
“I think that they have enough on their minds at the moment. If all goes well, we can easily test them later. And if not…” His eyes met hers. “We’ll test them later,” he said quickly, trying his best to be optimistic and ignore the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Liz and Larek reached the monastery, Max and John were just heading outside. “Where’ve you been? We’ve been looking for you,” Max asked as Liz reached out for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her looking over her shoulder and on to Larek. “Is everything alright?”
“Everything’s fine,” Larek answered, as Liz squeezed Max a bit tighter. “Yes, I just took a walk and Larek’s been scolding me for wandering off,” she said what basically was the truth.
“Good, you should be scolded,” Max said touching his nose down to hers. “It’s the buddy system, remember?”
Liz nodded and smiled. “I promise to never do anything like that again,” she said, pausing a second and looking to Larek. Never again, Liz insisted to herself. If she was to see Malow again, she would only go with Max from this moment on. Suddenly remembering, “Max, did you two go down into the catacombs?” she asked excitedly.
“Yeah, we did. And we’ve found the book… and an orb. It was Brother Ambrose’s private sanctuary alright. We’ve just talked to Jasper, too.”
“It is the Book of Prophecy then? What did Jasper say?” Liz's excitement was growing with every word.
“According to Jasper, he believes it is,” it was John that answered. “And I’ve got to tell you when I held it in my hands… well, trust me on this. It’s otherworldly… and that’s an understatement under the circumstances,” he laughed. “He doesn’t have many answers for us, but it doesn’t matter. The book is encrypted, an ancient dialog, very little is familiar to me.”
“John wants to take you down there, Liz,” Max said releasing her from his arms and taking her hand in his. “Jasper claims that it was Ambrose that arranged for the essences to be taken away from here.”
“Let’s go,” John exclaimed. “When we come up, we’ll all meet in my room.” Liz reluctantly left go of Max’s hand and followed John up the front steps, leaving Larek and Max behind.
Max looked at Larek suspiciously. “What happened?” he asked bluntly.
“Malow is what happened,” Larek said pensively.
“I knew it. Damn it! I knew at breakfast that Liz going there alone was….” He hung his head. “What did she say to her? What the hell happened?” he asked, the blood running clearly into his face.
“She is blaming Ava for your death,” Larek said plainly.
“What! That’s absurd. Ava wasn’t to blame…” Max was pacing furiously. “Why? Why would she say such a damn lie?”
The two shared a look that brought Max to his senses. “I had hoped that things had changed… that she had changed after all this time. Why would I believe that, Larek?”
“Zan, the sooner that you realize that things here haven’t changed at all since the day you left, the better off you... and Ava will be.” Larek patted him on the shoulder. “For now you are not to tell Ava that I’ve told you any of this. She doesn’t want you confronting your mother about this. And I sincerely doubt that she will bring it up when she sees you. There will be time to deal with Malow later.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The corridor was alive with laughter and giggles, as the two sisters played their games at the Horizon. “Sierra, how did you find all these great hiding places?” Emily asked as she skipped quickly to keep up with her.
“I was bored. I was missing you. I’ve hidden things over and over again,” Sierra’s bright smile lit up the hallway.
“This place is huge!” Emily laughed. “What’s in here?” she pointed to the open doorway to her right.
“That’s the doctor’s office,” the little one announced, playing tour guide. “We can’t go in there without Mommy.” Emily stuck her head in the door.
“Hello, girls,” Coby yelled over his shoulder, scaring them into a mass of giggles. “Hi Coby,” they sang out in unison. “Whatcha doing?” Emily asked making sure she stayed just outside of the room.
“Oh he’s playin’ with the compooter again. He’s always doin’ that,” Sierra sighed, shaking her head.
“Run along and play, girls. Got some work to get done here. Where’s your Mommy?” Coby asked without looking up.
“She and Aunt Maria are very upset," Sierra answered with a highly dramatic roll of her eyes. Emily frowned at her. "They are worried about the others… and bored, so I suggested baking pies,” Emily explained further with a grin. “But you can’t have any ‘til after dinner tonight.” She jumped on the scooter and pushed her way farther down the hall with Sierra in hot pursuit. “It’s my turn!” she yelled after her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jared was stretched out on the bed with his clothes scattered around him. On the table by the bed lay a large, but empty decanter.
“I will always be your loyal servant, you know that,” Tess moaned as she pushed herself, sliding up and over his stomach. “Anything you want, my King,” she whispered hoarsely. His hips continued to rise and fall unconsciously repeating their earlier rhythm. “No one will serve you as well as I do,” she breathed into the hairs of his stomach as she slowly scratched her fingernails along the sides of his body. “I will give you anything and everything I am, but for just one thing in return.”
His hands tangled in her hair as he guided her head back down again lower on his naked body. “A favor for a favor?” he said panting anxiously. “Yes, my lord. A favor for a favor,” she replied.
“And what would that favor be, my sweet?” he closed his eyes as the room spun around him.
“Send me to find them. Allow me to bring you the keys and the granolith,” she toyed playfully with his swollen member, as he moaned at her touch. “And what is in it for you?” he managed the words with difficulty now.
“I want but two things and two things only. Ava and Zan dead at my hand… once and for all, my great lord.” She smiled but never looked away from the throbbing toy before her. Jared lay with his eyes half closed as his mind drifted seemingly far above him. “Take me again, bitch… and you may have them both,” he hissed through his teeth as his resolve began to again reach its peak.
She moistened her lips with her tongue as her heart raced at knowing that she had won yet again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz stayed close behind John as he reached down pressing the section of stonewall that released the door. She couldn’t help herself as she looked back over her shoulder for the third time since descending the stairs. John reached out and held her hand leading her into the room. The torch blaze faltered for a moment than came back brighter than before. “Do you remember any of this?” he asked her in a whisper.
She shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. Do you think I was down here?”
“Well you remember being with Ambrose and it would seem now that he spent most of his time down here,” John held the torch higher to find a notch in the wall. Securing it there, he turned back to Liz. “Let me know if any of this looks familiar, so I don’t have to ask you a thousand times.” Liz cracked a smile and nodded. “Trust me; you’ll be the first to know.”
He led her over to the table and she felt her breathing slow as he picked up the book and turned to the light. “Dear Lord,” she whispered. “It’s beautiful.” She took the heavy bronze relic in her hands and immediately felt a power from it. “Feel it?” John asked, remembering in amazement. She swallowed hard, staring at the cover and turning the thick pages. “It’s an energy. I can feel it vibrating right through me.”
The absolute stillness of the half lit room was completely shattered, as a blue intense light shot out of the orb as it still sat on the table before Liz. She gasped loudly as John jumped back. “It’s just like the other one. It did the exact same thing that night when we found it,” she said above the ringing in her ears.
Placing the book carefully back down, she reached out and picked up the small oval in both hands as the light continued dancing on the low ceiling above them. Instantly a thousand points of color began to swirl the room. She was mesmerized but not the slightest bit frightened. “What’s this mean, John?” her voice shook with excitement.
His eyes too followed the orbits of the now multi colored lights that encircled the room. “You have arrived,” he answered with a tinge of low laughter in his voice.
Liz then quite suddenly reached her hand up into the stream of lights, and there was a definite and purposeful recognition as they in turn circled first her hand, then her arm and finally cocooned her whole body. She closed her eyes, and John watched her closely, readying himself at any moment to pull her free from this force around her. “Liz?” he said slowly. “Ava?” he tried again louder. Just as suddenly the lights went out leaving the room again in a strange stillness.
Liz opened her eyes. “John, I... I need to go to the observatory,” she said breathlessly as a chill ran through her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kal sat at the long table in the room used for meals. The light filtered through the window in long slanted rays throwing an unnatural radiance onto the far wall. In his hand he held one of the trackers, the other sat on the table in front of him. “What’s up?” Michael asked, entering the room. “I heard you calling to me,” he laughed proudly at having caught Kal’s thought a whole floor away.
“I want you to do your magic. Program these two trackers to communicate with each other,” he handed them over to him. “Can you do that? Just like you did with Larek when you used your cell phone.”
“Don’t know if I can,” Michael answered doubtfully, then at seeing the determined look on Kal’s face, he added, “but I’ll do my best. You mean... not text, but just… what?”
“We need to signal each other, that’s all. Flashing light, beeping noise? Someway to alert the other team if we have to.” Kal pushed his chair back. “You’ve got two days, Rath. Try a little human ingenuity and if that doesn’t work… hocus pocus it.” He walked to the door. “Seen Liz?”
“Ah... no,” Michael stated still staring down at the two devices in his hands. “But Max and John were looking for her a little while ago too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’ve got all four,” Coby announced as Serena entered the med bay. “I’ll do up the stains and program everything back into the computer banks. We should know something in three or four hours.”
“Good work, Coby. Any other comments noted by the group?” she asked him, half afraid to hear the answer.
“Just that they’ve agreed that they don’t want to know if they’re the match. It’s best this way, I think. Could be fewer problems down the line.” He gathered the vials of blood and placed them in a small portable machine at his side. Pushing several buttons the vials began spinning. “Wanna help me put the slides together when this is done?”
“Most definitely,” she smiled. “I’m not sure what to wish for, truthfully.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. Look, Serena, I know we’ve put a good deal of our past into this… but I want you to know that if we were to end this whole thing right here, I would not feel once ounce of regret about anything. My god, look where I am. I’m sitting on another planet in another galaxy. I have at my fingertips what could be the greatest technology ever known to man… and yet, I could die an extremely happy man for just being a part of all of this… well, hypothetically ...die,” he corrected himself quickly.
Serena rubbed his back. “Coby, none of this could have been done without you… or without Peter. We’ve known for a while now that there was that possibility that we’d never be able to finish this work… or, that we one day would choose not to finish it. I share all your feelings, and personally... I can’t wait to hand this icon over to the Council and go back to some type of normal life again. Just to know that we’ve come this far would be reward enough for me. How could it not be? We’ve done something that no other human back there can even begin to contemplate.” She sat down next to him and removed four slides from the drawer below the machine. She frowned knowing that Katain, Marshal and Jonathan were not here to test. “I wish there were a way to get samples from the others at Rochell. Maybe I should send word with Michel and let them know what is going on… about the third key.”
“I think that they have enough on their minds at the moment. If all goes well, we can easily test them later. And if not…” His eyes met hers. “We’ll test them later,” he said quickly, trying his best to be optimistic and ignore the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Liz and Larek reached the monastery, Max and John were just heading outside. “Where’ve you been? We’ve been looking for you,” Max asked as Liz reached out for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her looking over her shoulder and on to Larek. “Is everything alright?”
“Everything’s fine,” Larek answered, as Liz squeezed Max a bit tighter. “Yes, I just took a walk and Larek’s been scolding me for wandering off,” she said what basically was the truth.
“Good, you should be scolded,” Max said touching his nose down to hers. “It’s the buddy system, remember?”
Liz nodded and smiled. “I promise to never do anything like that again,” she said, pausing a second and looking to Larek. Never again, Liz insisted to herself. If she was to see Malow again, she would only go with Max from this moment on. Suddenly remembering, “Max, did you two go down into the catacombs?” she asked excitedly.
“Yeah, we did. And we’ve found the book… and an orb. It was Brother Ambrose’s private sanctuary alright. We’ve just talked to Jasper, too.”
“It is the Book of Prophecy then? What did Jasper say?” Liz's excitement was growing with every word.
“According to Jasper, he believes it is,” it was John that answered. “And I’ve got to tell you when I held it in my hands… well, trust me on this. It’s otherworldly… and that’s an understatement under the circumstances,” he laughed. “He doesn’t have many answers for us, but it doesn’t matter. The book is encrypted, an ancient dialog, very little is familiar to me.”
“John wants to take you down there, Liz,” Max said releasing her from his arms and taking her hand in his. “Jasper claims that it was Ambrose that arranged for the essences to be taken away from here.”
“Let’s go,” John exclaimed. “When we come up, we’ll all meet in my room.” Liz reluctantly left go of Max’s hand and followed John up the front steps, leaving Larek and Max behind.
Max looked at Larek suspiciously. “What happened?” he asked bluntly.
“Malow is what happened,” Larek said pensively.
“I knew it. Damn it! I knew at breakfast that Liz going there alone was….” He hung his head. “What did she say to her? What the hell happened?” he asked, the blood running clearly into his face.
“She is blaming Ava for your death,” Larek said plainly.
“What! That’s absurd. Ava wasn’t to blame…” Max was pacing furiously. “Why? Why would she say such a damn lie?”
The two shared a look that brought Max to his senses. “I had hoped that things had changed… that she had changed after all this time. Why would I believe that, Larek?”
“Zan, the sooner that you realize that things here haven’t changed at all since the day you left, the better off you... and Ava will be.” Larek patted him on the shoulder. “For now you are not to tell Ava that I’ve told you any of this. She doesn’t want you confronting your mother about this. And I sincerely doubt that she will bring it up when she sees you. There will be time to deal with Malow later.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The corridor was alive with laughter and giggles, as the two sisters played their games at the Horizon. “Sierra, how did you find all these great hiding places?” Emily asked as she skipped quickly to keep up with her.
“I was bored. I was missing you. I’ve hidden things over and over again,” Sierra’s bright smile lit up the hallway.
“This place is huge!” Emily laughed. “What’s in here?” she pointed to the open doorway to her right.
“That’s the doctor’s office,” the little one announced, playing tour guide. “We can’t go in there without Mommy.” Emily stuck her head in the door.
“Hello, girls,” Coby yelled over his shoulder, scaring them into a mass of giggles. “Hi Coby,” they sang out in unison. “Whatcha doing?” Emily asked making sure she stayed just outside of the room.
“Oh he’s playin’ with the compooter again. He’s always doin’ that,” Sierra sighed, shaking her head.
“Run along and play, girls. Got some work to get done here. Where’s your Mommy?” Coby asked without looking up.
“She and Aunt Maria are very upset," Sierra answered with a highly dramatic roll of her eyes. Emily frowned at her. "They are worried about the others… and bored, so I suggested baking pies,” Emily explained further with a grin. “But you can’t have any ‘til after dinner tonight.” She jumped on the scooter and pushed her way farther down the hall with Sierra in hot pursuit. “It’s my turn!” she yelled after her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jared was stretched out on the bed with his clothes scattered around him. On the table by the bed lay a large, but empty decanter.
“I will always be your loyal servant, you know that,” Tess moaned as she pushed herself, sliding up and over his stomach. “Anything you want, my King,” she whispered hoarsely. His hips continued to rise and fall unconsciously repeating their earlier rhythm. “No one will serve you as well as I do,” she breathed into the hairs of his stomach as she slowly scratched her fingernails along the sides of his body. “I will give you anything and everything I am, but for just one thing in return.”
His hands tangled in her hair as he guided her head back down again lower on his naked body. “A favor for a favor?” he said panting anxiously. “Yes, my lord. A favor for a favor,” she replied.
“And what would that favor be, my sweet?” he closed his eyes as the room spun around him.
“Send me to find them. Allow me to bring you the keys and the granolith,” she toyed playfully with his swollen member, as he moaned at her touch. “And what is in it for you?” he managed the words with difficulty now.
“I want but two things and two things only. Ava and Zan dead at my hand… once and for all, my great lord.” She smiled but never looked away from the throbbing toy before her. Jared lay with his eyes half closed as his mind drifted seemingly far above him. “Take me again, bitch… and you may have them both,” he hissed through his teeth as his resolve began to again reach its peak.
She moistened her lips with her tongue as her heart raced at knowing that she had won yet again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz stayed close behind John as he reached down pressing the section of stonewall that released the door. She couldn’t help herself as she looked back over her shoulder for the third time since descending the stairs. John reached out and held her hand leading her into the room. The torch blaze faltered for a moment than came back brighter than before. “Do you remember any of this?” he asked her in a whisper.
She shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. Do you think I was down here?”
“Well you remember being with Ambrose and it would seem now that he spent most of his time down here,” John held the torch higher to find a notch in the wall. Securing it there, he turned back to Liz. “Let me know if any of this looks familiar, so I don’t have to ask you a thousand times.” Liz cracked a smile and nodded. “Trust me; you’ll be the first to know.”
He led her over to the table and she felt her breathing slow as he picked up the book and turned to the light. “Dear Lord,” she whispered. “It’s beautiful.” She took the heavy bronze relic in her hands and immediately felt a power from it. “Feel it?” John asked, remembering in amazement. She swallowed hard, staring at the cover and turning the thick pages. “It’s an energy. I can feel it vibrating right through me.”
The absolute stillness of the half lit room was completely shattered, as a blue intense light shot out of the orb as it still sat on the table before Liz. She gasped loudly as John jumped back. “It’s just like the other one. It did the exact same thing that night when we found it,” she said above the ringing in her ears.
Placing the book carefully back down, she reached out and picked up the small oval in both hands as the light continued dancing on the low ceiling above them. Instantly a thousand points of color began to swirl the room. She was mesmerized but not the slightest bit frightened. “What’s this mean, John?” her voice shook with excitement.
His eyes too followed the orbits of the now multi colored lights that encircled the room. “You have arrived,” he answered with a tinge of low laughter in his voice.
Liz then quite suddenly reached her hand up into the stream of lights, and there was a definite and purposeful recognition as they in turn circled first her hand, then her arm and finally cocooned her whole body. She closed her eyes, and John watched her closely, readying himself at any moment to pull her free from this force around her. “Liz?” he said slowly. “Ava?” he tried again louder. Just as suddenly the lights went out leaving the room again in a strange stillness.
Liz opened her eyes. “John, I... I need to go to the observatory,” she said breathlessly as a chill ran through her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
“Jared’s not a stupid man,” Max was saying as Katain joined him and Kal on the front step. “You’d think he’d have patrols out… searching. And Tess… what’s going on with her? I don’t understand why there’s been no response from them.”
Overhearing their conversation and then filling in the gaps from thought, Katain added her two cents. “It’s hard to imagine that Jared hasn’t guessed that we are up here? Maybe it’s the revenge of the gods that is keeping him away,” she said mockingly.
“Who knows what’s going on in his manic mind?” Kal answered. “He may have more information than we know. At this point Rochell may seem way too close to Leoch or way too obvious, and maybe that alone is the reason we haven’t seen a scout ship in the area.” He said without expression. “Larek did get very good news from Michel this morning though. The twins have confiscated two shielding suits for him and me to wear while we’re playin’ Rambo.”
Max’s eyes bulged. “Yeah? That’s the best news yet,” he exclaimed with relief. “So you should be able to dismantle things there with much less exposure?”
“Exposure? Hopefully. Yes, there’s no doubt it takes a lot off my mind too,” he chuckled. “We’re still working on the actual process to release the rod from the bomb. That’s the real problem,” he winked.
Katain looked with uncertainty to Max, “Are you sure you don’t want me at Leoch with you?”
Kal looked at her and frowned. “I know Jared. He will not be expecting Max and Liz or John and Michael to have the audacity to enter the castle again. But those troops that Jared has stationed in Milinga will not need much warning to descend down on us in the cavern.” She shook her head, “I’ll be where ever you both think I’m needed more.”
“We have Larek’s men who will be moving in with us down there, and several squadrons will be stationed just outside the castle as well for when you may need them inside,” he stated to Max. “He has plans of emptying out the camp on Trinity, placing all regiments where we will need them most. The entire Federalist army of course is in this… the final battle it would seem,” he said somberly. “Once the bomb is deactivated, then and only then will Max make his assault. We know that the celebrations take place in the courtyard and in the High Hall. A vast room will no doubt be very crowded with people,” he explained to Katain. “Citizens of Adia do not often get the honor of coming inside. Jared will be there… sucking up all the attention. There have in the past been twenty or so honor guard stationed within the High Hall itself, his body guards.”
He then looked to Max who caught his thought of an earlier conversation. “Katain, Max and I have given some thought to replacing John at Leoch, possibly with Marshal or Jonathan. They have made their positions clear on staying on for Trinity. John or I have the ability to pilot the Horizon. That way should things go badly, there is the chance that one of us may make it back there and attempt to take the others home. That outcome is not something we’ve wanted to consider, but we have to… Cuyahoga is not a pretty place… most especially for women and children,” he added. “The final choice would be yours.”
“Hold on,” she snorted. “I have no intention of going home, if that’s what you’re questioning. Don’t wait for me. I am home. I will live free, or die here in our best attempt to overthrow him… to take back what is rightfully ours.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz looked hesitantly up the dark and spiraling staircase leading to the uppermost area of the observatory. Marshall stood just outside the door fully armed, taking his shift as sentry there after replacing Katain earlier. John touched Liz on the arm, “You’re not going alone,” he insisted. He picked up a weapon lying with the others just inside the door.
Liz looked at him and couldn’t help a smile. “John, there’s nothing up there but my memories. I don’t think that gun is going to help me.” He shrugged smiling back at her. “I know but it makes me feel safer.”
She started the ascent with him close behind. Every step echoed in the great deserted tower. John subconsciously counted every one. Fifty two, as they reached the top landing. High over their heads was a circular pattern cut into the ceiling. “The telescope used to be up there,” Liz explained as she squinted her eyes to see in the dusty darkness.
John felt like the temperature had dropped quite a bit as a chill ran through him. “Cold up here,” he whispered. Liz walked very slowly in circles in the small surroundings, around and around, closing her eyes occasionally. “Don’t try too hard,” John stated in a low voice. “Let it come to you.”
A huge quick flash just about knocked Liz off her feet, and John grabbed out for her. She waved him off, steadying herself.
She was now standing in the exact same spot but the room was brighter somehow. She looked up again and this time saw nothing but a heaven of starlight above her. A soothing voice came through and she looked to her side where Ambrose was stooping down to her, pointing up overhead.
“Why are we up here?” the small voice asked in innocence. The cloaked man continued pointing above them. “These are the worlds they have given you, my child.” The little dark haired girl with the innocent eyes stared skyward as the man continued speaking.
"There is so very much I need to say to you; and yet I know that you are far too young right now to understand any of what I am about to tell you."
Tears misted the man’s eyes as he spoke. “One day, my sweet yet small queen, you will have access to all of these worlds you see here now. You will travel far through the knowledge of the gods.” He smiled and Ava instantly felt safe and secure.
“Tell me more Ambrose,” she exclaimed with childish excitement. He patted her head, smoothing out the long hair framing her face.
He started out again slowly. “You will seek and find your love of loves. A prince of all princes. You will be the sum of his very existence; but you will sacrifice much for him and for the knowledge of who you will grow to become.” Ava, still taking in the starlight, listened kindly to the words while not fully comprehending their meaning.
Ambrose was bearing his soul to the chosen child now standing before him. “My dear Ava, a dark day is coming… a great and mighty battle still far into your future, the very forces of good and evil will take their final stand. It has been written and it will be,” he said reverently, looking into the big brown eyes before him. “It will be a time of great sorrow and huge loss.”
He spoke very low now and shook his head in sorrow. “The battle will be swift and mighty, and you will lose one of your own; but you must not lose your faith… you must not lose your faith, Ava.”
“Tell me again about my prince, Father. Will we live at Leoch?” the wide-eyed innocence of her tone melted his heart.
“I know not where you will live, my child. But your union will be blessed by the heavens, and a child will be born of this union who shall hold the answers to traveling the universe.” His smile faded, “..but only when the sun shines again upon this land. It is a heavy burden that you hold on your small shoulders, my precious one. You must make me a promise this day. You must never give up on hope. It is the strongest emotion of all.”
The man picked her up then, holding her tightly and protectively in his arms. “Know this, for it is the only thing that will ever be true.”
Liz's eyes flew open and she gasped, grabbing her head, uttering a long low cry. Not being able to catch her breath, she took several steps toward John and fell into his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max stood quickly to his feet as a powerful sense hit him. “I’ve got to find Liz,” he exclaimed with frightened anticipation. “Something’s wrong…”
“What’s wrong?” Kal asked anxiously, hearing the urgency in his words.
“I don’t know. I just got a flash of something,” Max continued with fear in his eyes. Kal grabbed at his arm. “Wait. What did you see? She’s with John. I haven’t heard anything…” he answered confused.
“You’re right,” Max relented. “She’s with John in the catacombs…”
“We’ll go check it out. Calm down we will find her,” Kal was already leading the way back into the monastery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John had helped her down the stairs, and the two now sat outside the observatory. “You’re alright now,” John was saying as Marshal brought water to her in a canteen.
“He knew it all. Ambrose knew everything about my life…even now. Not just the prophecy, John...” She took several large mouthfuls from the canteen.
“What did he say?” John asked still reeling from the scene upstairs. “You will not go back up there again, do you understand me?”
“I don’t have to,” she turned to face him. “John, this will never be over,” she whispered just barely so he could hear her.
The baby… my baby...her thoughts whirled, as she again felt the heat of fever filling her body. How could she ever believe now that her child would have a chance of living normally? Normal? She laughed out loud, as John watched her closely. All she had allowed herself to pray for lately was to defeat Jared; beyond that she had been too scared to let herself feel anything for the possibility of this baby being real... until this second. She was having a child, and according to what she had just heard in Ambrose's words, they were going to have a special child. What did that mean? her heart ached.
John wet his lips, “Tell me about the flash, Liz. Nice and slow... what exactly did Ambrose say?”
“Everything we suspected he knew. He was telling me of everything that would happen in my life… The prophecy and…and more." She rose quickly to stand. "I have to see Max. I have to see him now. I can’t say anything else until I talk with Max.” John saw that she was on the verge of hysteria, and all he wanted to do at that moment was to take her in his arms and let her know that he understood what she wasn’t saying.
“Okay, let me help you. We’ll go find him,” he replied.
“No, John. I want to do this alone,” she said. He nodded ever so slowly, as she started walking away. She looked around her still in a slight sad daze. One of our own was going to die, she remembered, and a silent sob escaped her.
“John, I’m going to the chapel. Would you… would you...” she rubbed at her head as her verbal words became lost in her thoughts. Know this for it is the only thing that will ever be true. The words rang in her memory, the same words Zan had always said to her. She trembled.
He squeezed her hand, “I’ll find him and tell him where you are.” John saw a small smile through the uncertainty on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz held tightly to the back of the last row of benches within the prayer room. Rows of empty benches on either side of the room with a narrow center aisle. No statues, no wooden crosses… why should she be surprised. No adornments were necessary, she thought to herself. This was afterall a room to talk to the gods and Liz could now think of only one in particular. She shakily walked forward taking one slow step at a time. When she thought her legs would give out, she slid into the first row to her side.
Closing her eyes, she waited. Waited to hear something… to see something… to know something… but there was only the silence around her. She sighed. Do not give up on your faith, Ambrose’s words still rang in her head. Do not give up on hope.
All she heard were the voices in her head. This wasn’t fair, her heart cried out. This should be the happiest day in their lives. And instead here she was waiting in fear to tell Max of the greatest gift of all.
“Tell me something!” she pleaded out loud to any god that would listen. “Tell me what to do…” she sobbed.
No sounds were heard. No visions seen. But a movement from within brought a gasp from her, and her hands went to her stomach. She felt something… yes, she was sure she had!
She waited, as if listening for the feeling again. She pressed her hands tenderly over her stomach. Again she felt a quickening, but within seconds it was gone. She smiled through her tears. She had felt a small being move inside of her. Together she and Max had created another person… a tiny vulnerable little person. Whether alien or human. Yes Ambrose, she thought, she would be special because she would be the best of both of her parents.
The tears spilled from her eyes. Or he... she laughed softly at the thought, “ ..a brave little man who would follow in his father’s footsteps…” Suddenly more tears came, as all her insecurities overpowered her faith in the future. Don’t give up on your faith, that little voice repeated inside her.
She prayed out loud, “Father of all things, please help me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John ran into Kal and Max wandering inside. “Where’s Liz?” Max asked nervously. “Is she alright? I had this flash..is she alright, John?” His voice grew louder with worry.
“She’s in the chapel. I was coming to find you, she wants you to meet her there,” John explained. “She’s alright, Max. We went into the observatory and she had a serious flash of Ambrose from when she was a child there.” Max’s face fell as he cursed. “Shit John, why didn’t you tell me she was going up there. She’s been through enough this morning, John. Where she goes, I go. Do you understand me?” John nodded taking a breath, as Max angrily walked off to the second floor of the monastery where the prayer room was located.
“What the hell happened?” Kal questioned.
“A bad flash, it took her emotions for a hard ride. She doesn’t want to talk about it until she had a chance to see Max. But I have no doubt any more that a new member of the royal family is on its way,” John wanted to smile but under the circumstances he was too worried.
“Timing could have been a bit better,” Kal said under his breath, sadly. “Will she tell Max?”
“Something that Ambrose told her…something in that flash has convinced her. Yes, that’s what she’s about to do. I couldn’t get her thoughts clearly, but somehow the baby factors into this whole equation with Ambrose. She was scared; but more of the flash than that I’m not positive of.”
Kal’s head snapped back. “Rath?” he looked around him startled, then back to John. “It’s Rath. He’s pagin’ me,” he smiled curiously. His look then turned to one of alarm. John kept in step now as the two entered Michael’s room to find him sitting on the bed running his hands through his hair. “It fuck’n took you long enough,” Michael yelled out.
“What’s goin on?” Kal scanned the room, but didn’t have to look far. Sitting on the bed next to Michael was a flashing spinning tracker.
“That’s what’s going on,” Michael pointed to the active object lying next to him. “I was running through the frequencies, and suddenly it started lighting up.”
“Where’s it signaling to?” John asked, staring at the lights. “There are two frequencies that I had zeroed in on when I was trying to set them up. But I didn’t do this,” he shook his head. “It’s coming from here, Kal. Somewhere within Rochell.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
“Jared’s not a stupid man,” Max was saying as Katain joined him and Kal on the front step. “You’d think he’d have patrols out… searching. And Tess… what’s going on with her? I don’t understand why there’s been no response from them.”
Overhearing their conversation and then filling in the gaps from thought, Katain added her two cents. “It’s hard to imagine that Jared hasn’t guessed that we are up here? Maybe it’s the revenge of the gods that is keeping him away,” she said mockingly.
“Who knows what’s going on in his manic mind?” Kal answered. “He may have more information than we know. At this point Rochell may seem way too close to Leoch or way too obvious, and maybe that alone is the reason we haven’t seen a scout ship in the area.” He said without expression. “Larek did get very good news from Michel this morning though. The twins have confiscated two shielding suits for him and me to wear while we’re playin’ Rambo.”
Max’s eyes bulged. “Yeah? That’s the best news yet,” he exclaimed with relief. “So you should be able to dismantle things there with much less exposure?”
“Exposure? Hopefully. Yes, there’s no doubt it takes a lot off my mind too,” he chuckled. “We’re still working on the actual process to release the rod from the bomb. That’s the real problem,” he winked.
Katain looked with uncertainty to Max, “Are you sure you don’t want me at Leoch with you?”
Kal looked at her and frowned. “I know Jared. He will not be expecting Max and Liz or John and Michael to have the audacity to enter the castle again. But those troops that Jared has stationed in Milinga will not need much warning to descend down on us in the cavern.” She shook her head, “I’ll be where ever you both think I’m needed more.”
“We have Larek’s men who will be moving in with us down there, and several squadrons will be stationed just outside the castle as well for when you may need them inside,” he stated to Max. “He has plans of emptying out the camp on Trinity, placing all regiments where we will need them most. The entire Federalist army of course is in this… the final battle it would seem,” he said somberly. “Once the bomb is deactivated, then and only then will Max make his assault. We know that the celebrations take place in the courtyard and in the High Hall. A vast room will no doubt be very crowded with people,” he explained to Katain. “Citizens of Adia do not often get the honor of coming inside. Jared will be there… sucking up all the attention. There have in the past been twenty or so honor guard stationed within the High Hall itself, his body guards.”
He then looked to Max who caught his thought of an earlier conversation. “Katain, Max and I have given some thought to replacing John at Leoch, possibly with Marshal or Jonathan. They have made their positions clear on staying on for Trinity. John or I have the ability to pilot the Horizon. That way should things go badly, there is the chance that one of us may make it back there and attempt to take the others home. That outcome is not something we’ve wanted to consider, but we have to… Cuyahoga is not a pretty place… most especially for women and children,” he added. “The final choice would be yours.”
“Hold on,” she snorted. “I have no intention of going home, if that’s what you’re questioning. Don’t wait for me. I am home. I will live free, or die here in our best attempt to overthrow him… to take back what is rightfully ours.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz looked hesitantly up the dark and spiraling staircase leading to the uppermost area of the observatory. Marshall stood just outside the door fully armed, taking his shift as sentry there after replacing Katain earlier. John touched Liz on the arm, “You’re not going alone,” he insisted. He picked up a weapon lying with the others just inside the door.
Liz looked at him and couldn’t help a smile. “John, there’s nothing up there but my memories. I don’t think that gun is going to help me.” He shrugged smiling back at her. “I know but it makes me feel safer.”
She started the ascent with him close behind. Every step echoed in the great deserted tower. John subconsciously counted every one. Fifty two, as they reached the top landing. High over their heads was a circular pattern cut into the ceiling. “The telescope used to be up there,” Liz explained as she squinted her eyes to see in the dusty darkness.
John felt like the temperature had dropped quite a bit as a chill ran through him. “Cold up here,” he whispered. Liz walked very slowly in circles in the small surroundings, around and around, closing her eyes occasionally. “Don’t try too hard,” John stated in a low voice. “Let it come to you.”
A huge quick flash just about knocked Liz off her feet, and John grabbed out for her. She waved him off, steadying herself.
She was now standing in the exact same spot but the room was brighter somehow. She looked up again and this time saw nothing but a heaven of starlight above her. A soothing voice came through and she looked to her side where Ambrose was stooping down to her, pointing up overhead.
“Why are we up here?” the small voice asked in innocence. The cloaked man continued pointing above them. “These are the worlds they have given you, my child.” The little dark haired girl with the innocent eyes stared skyward as the man continued speaking.
"There is so very much I need to say to you; and yet I know that you are far too young right now to understand any of what I am about to tell you."
Tears misted the man’s eyes as he spoke. “One day, my sweet yet small queen, you will have access to all of these worlds you see here now. You will travel far through the knowledge of the gods.” He smiled and Ava instantly felt safe and secure.
“Tell me more Ambrose,” she exclaimed with childish excitement. He patted her head, smoothing out the long hair framing her face.
He started out again slowly. “You will seek and find your love of loves. A prince of all princes. You will be the sum of his very existence; but you will sacrifice much for him and for the knowledge of who you will grow to become.” Ava, still taking in the starlight, listened kindly to the words while not fully comprehending their meaning.
Ambrose was bearing his soul to the chosen child now standing before him. “My dear Ava, a dark day is coming… a great and mighty battle still far into your future, the very forces of good and evil will take their final stand. It has been written and it will be,” he said reverently, looking into the big brown eyes before him. “It will be a time of great sorrow and huge loss.”
He spoke very low now and shook his head in sorrow. “The battle will be swift and mighty, and you will lose one of your own; but you must not lose your faith… you must not lose your faith, Ava.”
“Tell me again about my prince, Father. Will we live at Leoch?” the wide-eyed innocence of her tone melted his heart.
“I know not where you will live, my child. But your union will be blessed by the heavens, and a child will be born of this union who shall hold the answers to traveling the universe.” His smile faded, “..but only when the sun shines again upon this land. It is a heavy burden that you hold on your small shoulders, my precious one. You must make me a promise this day. You must never give up on hope. It is the strongest emotion of all.”
The man picked her up then, holding her tightly and protectively in his arms. “Know this, for it is the only thing that will ever be true.”
Liz's eyes flew open and she gasped, grabbing her head, uttering a long low cry. Not being able to catch her breath, she took several steps toward John and fell into his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max stood quickly to his feet as a powerful sense hit him. “I’ve got to find Liz,” he exclaimed with frightened anticipation. “Something’s wrong…”
“What’s wrong?” Kal asked anxiously, hearing the urgency in his words.
“I don’t know. I just got a flash of something,” Max continued with fear in his eyes. Kal grabbed at his arm. “Wait. What did you see? She’s with John. I haven’t heard anything…” he answered confused.
“You’re right,” Max relented. “She’s with John in the catacombs…”
“We’ll go check it out. Calm down we will find her,” Kal was already leading the way back into the monastery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John had helped her down the stairs, and the two now sat outside the observatory. “You’re alright now,” John was saying as Marshal brought water to her in a canteen.
“He knew it all. Ambrose knew everything about my life…even now. Not just the prophecy, John...” She took several large mouthfuls from the canteen.
“What did he say?” John asked still reeling from the scene upstairs. “You will not go back up there again, do you understand me?”
“I don’t have to,” she turned to face him. “John, this will never be over,” she whispered just barely so he could hear her.
The baby… my baby...her thoughts whirled, as she again felt the heat of fever filling her body. How could she ever believe now that her child would have a chance of living normally? Normal? She laughed out loud, as John watched her closely. All she had allowed herself to pray for lately was to defeat Jared; beyond that she had been too scared to let herself feel anything for the possibility of this baby being real... until this second. She was having a child, and according to what she had just heard in Ambrose's words, they were going to have a special child. What did that mean? her heart ached.
John wet his lips, “Tell me about the flash, Liz. Nice and slow... what exactly did Ambrose say?”
“Everything we suspected he knew. He was telling me of everything that would happen in my life… The prophecy and…and more." She rose quickly to stand. "I have to see Max. I have to see him now. I can’t say anything else until I talk with Max.” John saw that she was on the verge of hysteria, and all he wanted to do at that moment was to take her in his arms and let her know that he understood what she wasn’t saying.
“Okay, let me help you. We’ll go find him,” he replied.
“No, John. I want to do this alone,” she said. He nodded ever so slowly, as she started walking away. She looked around her still in a slight sad daze. One of our own was going to die, she remembered, and a silent sob escaped her.
“John, I’m going to the chapel. Would you… would you...” she rubbed at her head as her verbal words became lost in her thoughts. Know this for it is the only thing that will ever be true. The words rang in her memory, the same words Zan had always said to her. She trembled.
He squeezed her hand, “I’ll find him and tell him where you are.” John saw a small smile through the uncertainty on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz held tightly to the back of the last row of benches within the prayer room. Rows of empty benches on either side of the room with a narrow center aisle. No statues, no wooden crosses… why should she be surprised. No adornments were necessary, she thought to herself. This was afterall a room to talk to the gods and Liz could now think of only one in particular. She shakily walked forward taking one slow step at a time. When she thought her legs would give out, she slid into the first row to her side.
Closing her eyes, she waited. Waited to hear something… to see something… to know something… but there was only the silence around her. She sighed. Do not give up on your faith, Ambrose’s words still rang in her head. Do not give up on hope.
All she heard were the voices in her head. This wasn’t fair, her heart cried out. This should be the happiest day in their lives. And instead here she was waiting in fear to tell Max of the greatest gift of all.
“Tell me something!” she pleaded out loud to any god that would listen. “Tell me what to do…” she sobbed.
No sounds were heard. No visions seen. But a movement from within brought a gasp from her, and her hands went to her stomach. She felt something… yes, she was sure she had!
She waited, as if listening for the feeling again. She pressed her hands tenderly over her stomach. Again she felt a quickening, but within seconds it was gone. She smiled through her tears. She had felt a small being move inside of her. Together she and Max had created another person… a tiny vulnerable little person. Whether alien or human. Yes Ambrose, she thought, she would be special because she would be the best of both of her parents.
The tears spilled from her eyes. Or he... she laughed softly at the thought, “ ..a brave little man who would follow in his father’s footsteps…” Suddenly more tears came, as all her insecurities overpowered her faith in the future. Don’t give up on your faith, that little voice repeated inside her.
She prayed out loud, “Father of all things, please help me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John ran into Kal and Max wandering inside. “Where’s Liz?” Max asked nervously. “Is she alright? I had this flash..is she alright, John?” His voice grew louder with worry.
“She’s in the chapel. I was coming to find you, she wants you to meet her there,” John explained. “She’s alright, Max. We went into the observatory and she had a serious flash of Ambrose from when she was a child there.” Max’s face fell as he cursed. “Shit John, why didn’t you tell me she was going up there. She’s been through enough this morning, John. Where she goes, I go. Do you understand me?” John nodded taking a breath, as Max angrily walked off to the second floor of the monastery where the prayer room was located.
“What the hell happened?” Kal questioned.
“A bad flash, it took her emotions for a hard ride. She doesn’t want to talk about it until she had a chance to see Max. But I have no doubt any more that a new member of the royal family is on its way,” John wanted to smile but under the circumstances he was too worried.
“Timing could have been a bit better,” Kal said under his breath, sadly. “Will she tell Max?”
“Something that Ambrose told her…something in that flash has convinced her. Yes, that’s what she’s about to do. I couldn’t get her thoughts clearly, but somehow the baby factors into this whole equation with Ambrose. She was scared; but more of the flash than that I’m not positive of.”
Kal’s head snapped back. “Rath?” he looked around him startled, then back to John. “It’s Rath. He’s pagin’ me,” he smiled curiously. His look then turned to one of alarm. John kept in step now as the two entered Michael’s room to find him sitting on the bed running his hands through his hair. “It fuck’n took you long enough,” Michael yelled out.
“What’s goin on?” Kal scanned the room, but didn’t have to look far. Sitting on the bed next to Michael was a flashing spinning tracker.
“That’s what’s going on,” Michael pointed to the active object lying next to him. “I was running through the frequencies, and suddenly it started lighting up.”
“Where’s it signaling to?” John asked, staring at the lights. “There are two frequencies that I had zeroed in on when I was trying to set them up. But I didn’t do this,” he shook his head. “It’s coming from here, Kal. Somewhere within Rochell.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
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CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Liz sat quietly now as a peace fell over her. Two monks dressed in light brown robes had made their way down the aisle, nodding as they walked past her. Now both knelt closer to a table serving as an alter at the far front of the room. Her thoughts wandered back to a few moments before. She had felt the baby move, as strange as that now seemed to her. She didn’t know a lot about pregnancy, but she did know biology and one didn’t normally feel movement this early in a pregnancy. But she had no doubt, she had felt it. Of course, she thought, this was no ordinary pregnancy… no normal human conception. Whether or not the accepted nine month gestation would be the same with an embryo conceived of two hybrid parents, well that was another matter. There wasn’t much data on hybrid gestation, she thought with a wry smile.
She did know her own body and had no choice but to go on instinct at this point. None of the women aboard the Horizon had experienced a normal period during the month aboard ship. Serena had no guess but to suggest that space travel coupled with the excitement were no doubt effecting the menstrual cycle of all seven women on board.
There had been at least five occasions where she had woken up nauseous, and there probably could have been more, except for the fact that she hadn’t slept a normal sleeping pattern for a while. So at this point there was no barometer to judge just how pregnant she might be; but she couldn’t shake the memory of the night she and Max had spent down in the cargo hull. The night he had surprised her… the same night the ship had sung to them. She smiled remembering and sighed.
She knew all the basics of pregnancy, but of course knowing and experiencing were two completely different things. She missed Maria right now and Serena was too far away to be much help to her. The noise of soft footsteps behind her broke her concentration. Without turning around, all her senses came alive. She closed her eyes, sitting perfectly still. His strong hands rested gently on her shoulders and his touch sent chills through her body, even now. She continued watching the two brethren at the front of the room, as they rose to their feet and quietly exited by the side door.
He leaned down and around her to kiss her on the cheek from behind. She reached up and placed a hand on his. “Max...”
“John told me that you went to the observatory. I wish you would have let me go with you,” he said coming around to sit next to her. “I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to have to go through any of this without me.”
She looked into his eyes seeing the clearness there between thick lashes. “I know, Max. It’s hard to explain what happened. I just knew that I had to go... right then. The orb, Max, it went off just like it did when we were out in the desert that night. And then… the lights… they danced with me,” she laughed. “I know it sounds crazy but that’s what happened.”
“And then you got to the tower… and you remembered?” he said rubbing his hand on her knee. Another of the order, came up the aisle from a small prayer at the alter. As he came closer to the two, he paused and bowed, nodding his head, “My Lord and Lady.” Max smiled and nodded back.
As the monk left by the door behind them, Liz answered. “I remembered the night that Ambrose took me up into the tower. He wanted to show me the heavens. He told me things.” She looked straight ahead and bit on her lip.
“What things? I want to know, Liz. Whatever affects you… whatever all this means, I am with you. I’m here. I don’t want you to go through this without me,” he voice cracked, feeling the emotional stress she was in.
“Ambrose said that I would one day meet the love of my life,” she paraphrased. “A prince of princes. You,” she said smiling turning to look at him. “He told me of a great conflict that was coming in the years ahead. A confrontation of good and evil... of the past and present.” Liz realized as she spoke that she was indeed remembering even more of that night than the flash had told her. “Of all the murder and turmoil. He said that I must never lose my faith… or my hope.”
“Well the battle we know about, and the turmoil and death. And the faith… well, he was right about that too. That part should be comforting to you. What upset you?” he asked, knowing there had to be more.
“He told me..,” she swallowed hard doing her best to keep the tears at bay for the time being. “...He said that we would lose one of our own. That one of us was going to die in this battle,” she cringed as she repeated Ambrose’s words. Max felt a chill run up his back. He stared straight ahead of him, but placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “…What else?”
Liz rubbed at her eyes, and then looked around her. “Max..,” she started, and then stopped. “There’s something that I have to tell you…” He looked down into her face. “I didn’t want it to be this way… I don’t know where to start …”
“Liz, you can tell me anything… you know that,” he reminded her with strong emotion in his voice. But he couldn’t stop the anxiety that was rising in him. He was suddenly scared... there was something in her voice. “Liz?...”
She turned in her seat, face to face with him now. He grabbed both of her hands in his, and searched her face for an answer to what he felt was coming. “In all my years of loving you, I have imagined this moment so many times…” she whispered. She couldn’t seem to finish a sentence and it was frustrating her. Finally, she slowly raised his hands in hers and placed them carefully onto her stomach. His eyes never left hers, and he couldn’t find the words that were barely forming in his mind at that moment. “Max, we’re going to have a baby,” she said ever so slowly, ever so softly. “A baby.”
The seconds ticked by as she waited for a response, which finally came in the form of his eyes closing and a small laugh escaping from his mouth. He took such a large breath that Liz was afraid he might pass out. She started to say something and was cut off by his lips finding hers. She both heard and felt a faint cry come from within him. His lips eagerly found hers again and again. “My god,” he whispered into her ear. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure,” she answered, as the tears finally found an outlet. “Plus… well, Ambrose pretty much confirmed it…” Before she could continue to explain, his lips again were on hers, this time softer and gentler. He felt he was lifting off the bench as she responded with lips that tasted sweeter than ever to him. At that moment he felt everything she was feeling. He grabbed her face between his hands, looking deep in her teary brown eyes... “A baby? A baby...” his eyes showed his excitement as it grew by the second. Liz laughed through a blur of tears and then let a few more flow freely at seeing the same in his eyes. “I’m sorry Max...” she breathed into his shoulder.
He pushed her back holding tightly to her shoulders. “Sorry? What do ya mean you’re sorry? I love this! I love you! I love our baby..” He couldn’t stop hugging her. He kissed both her cheeks, her nose, her eyes and lastly her forehead. She tasted his tears as their lips met again. She didn’t want this moment to end… ever.
His lip quivered, “I know why you’re feeling like this; but, Liz, everything will be alright. This is the second best thing that’s ever happened to me…to us. Please, don’t apologize.”
Her head was resting now on his chest as she again had difficulty swallowing. “ I know this is not the very best timing…” He stopped her words and her doubts, touching a finger to her lips. “Don’t. Are you kidding me? This is wonderful timing. I’m going to be a father!” he exclaimed in a loud whisper. Beside himself with joy, he wanted to scream it out to the world; but remembering the sanctuary where they sat, he could hardly contain himself. Her words came back to him… “Ambrose? He knew we were going to have a baby?”
Liz nodded her head. “Definitely. A very special child who would hold the heavens in her hands. I was chosen and apparently you had a bit to do with it too,” her smile broadened, kidding him.
“How could she not be special, look at her mother. Or… he, right? I mean did Ambrose say if it was a girl or boy?” he looked questioning.
“Didn’t say,” she touched his cheek. “Max when I came in here… well, I was a wreck. I was so confused. I prayed for an answer and … she moved. I felt something move inside me,” her eyes were wide with amazement. He placed his hand ever so gently onto her stomach. She looked at him when neither felt a thing. “Seriously, Max, she really did,” she nodded her head, convincingly.
“I believe you,” he smiled the brightest smile Liz had seen from him in a very long time. “How could you possibly think that I’d be upset or disappointed about this? Liz, this has given me so much hope. We just have to take very good care of you, that’s all,” he said excitedly as ideas quickly popped into his head. “We’ll get you back on vitamins. You will get more sleep. We’ll get you some better food and warmer clothes. We’ll get Larek to notify Michel and then we’ll get you back to the Horizon right away.”
“Noo!” she yelled out echoing in the empty room. She tried to control what she was feeling and lowered her voice. It wasn’t rational thinking she knew, but hell or high water were not going to keep her from his side. She pleaded, knowing in her heart that this would be his reaction. “I won’t go. I won’t leave you. We won’t leave you… not now. Not with St. Mirad’s Day so close now.”
Max’s face fell, “How can I not? Liz, you’re carrying our baby. How could I in all consciousness, not get you to the ship?”
“Don’t ask me to turn my back on you… on everyone. Don’t do this to me,” she pleaded. “We need to be together now more than ever! You know that!” She was crying now, not the happy and anxious tears of just moments before. It was for a whole different reason. The moment was gone too fast. Their moment was already gone. Jared had now taken something else from her... from them. Max’s eyes were closed as he held her head tightly to his. Their emotions were wide open now, as were their thoughts and fears. “I’m so sorry that he’s done this to us,” he said running his hands over and over her soft hair.
She took his face in her hands tenderly as her body trembled in his arms. “You are not going to face Jared without me, Max. It’s not going to happen. I won’t let you. I’m not leaving you now. I can’t. No matter what you say, I won’t go.” He pulled her close completely understanding what she was feeling. His heart was so full of love for her, for the miracle she had given him. They sobbed in each other’s arms.
“Alright,” he relented half-heartedly after a few moments of silence had passed. He caressed the back of her neck and tried to hold onto the moment. “...Alright,” he whispered to her. “Don’t cry, Liz, please don’t cry. We’ll stay together…always together.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He sat by the bed watching her sleep. He’d insisted that, after the morning she’d been through, it was the best thing for her and the baby. At first she’d been restless, fidgeting under the covers. First she had felt hot, then cold. As much as he didn’t want her to know, he was scared... horribly scared.
He had known from the first that this journey here, to a world they had once known, was going to be difficult, no… deadly, he reminded himself. But… how could he possibly come to terms with the war now going on inside of him? He couldn’t leave her, he had known that was true even before he had said those words to her an hour before. But this was a baby, a helpless, innocent baby. His baby, he still smiled every time he thought the words. He hadn’t thought he could ever love another living thing with the same depth and intensity that he had always felt for Ava. But here it was, again. He rose and quietly walked to the bed, reaching down to tuck the covers around her now sleeping body. He kissed her softly on the head and saw immediately the rosy glow on her cheeks that he hadn’t quite noticed there earlier.
Tiptoeing out of the room, he closed the door over behind him without a sound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Katain found Jonathan in her brother’s room going over a few drawings that Larek and Kal had put together of Milinga and the cavern just outside the city limits.
“Yo, I was wondering where you were. Marshal on duty down there?” he asked just barely looking up at her entrance.
“Yes. What are you doing here?” she wondered out loud. He shrugged motioning to the map in front of him. “Just getting familiar with the area around the Guardian,” he scooted over on the bed so she could join him. “What’s it like out there?”
“Pretty, unless of course you consider the danger of mass destruction lurking nearby,” she took the map from him, scanning in into her memory. Her face then softened, “The mountains are breathtaking there, with some of the most beautiful falls of water that I have ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few in South America.”
“Right. You know, once we take care of a few odds and ends, this could be considered paradise. And Trinity? Woah, now there’s a money making tourist attraction if I ever saw one,” he joked. “The higher elevations there would be absolutely great for a ski haven.” He then sat quietly and seriously. “I used to have dreams about Trinity… all the time. I just never understood what it was I was seeing, until grandmother told me.”
“I wonder how Angelique and Raymond are doing at camp?” Katain thought out loud, placing the map back on the bed.
“Oh, their not at the camp,” he said, surprised that she didn’t know. “Michel reported in to Larek that Mother Angie was sick. Cold or something. So he took them on to the ship.”
Katain looked surprised but after a brief thought, she responded, “I haven’t seen Larek. I just got off duty remember? But, that probably was a very good idea. At least those two will be near some earthly meds there on board, should they need them.”
“Well, just to catch you up, Kal will be going directly to the ship after the business at Milinga is taken care of… just in case.” He looked at the floor.
“Hmm, I thought it was John who was going? When did this change?” she asked curiously.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Apparently something’s afoot. John is insisting on staying close to Ava and Zan,” he nodded. “I’m worried that the four of them might not be enough to hold things together once the cat is out of the bag at Leoch. Personally, I wanted to be there just to see the look on Jared’s face when he sees the royal family in front of him.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing that either. And yes, I voiced the same concern to Max, but he’s certain that he’ll have all the help he needs there, when the time comes. He’s got an army in his pocket, remember?” She smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max knocked impatiently on Michael’s door, to no avail. Opening the door he went in slamming it behind him. “Where the hell are you?” he asked to no one there. He crossed the room to look out onto the grounds below. Without warning a rage consumed his entire body. He spun around thrashing out on several personal items sitting on a bureau; and when that wasn’t enough, he threw his hand out before him and the bureau flew crashing into the far wall in a green blur. One of their own was going to die. The thought repeated again and again in his head, as it throbbed unmercifully.
“Don’t take her from me…don’t take this baby from us!” he screamed out. “Me. If someone has to die, let it be me!!” he whispered.
Michael flew through the door at the commotion he heard inside his room. “What the fuck are you doing to my room?!?” he yelled out, looking around the shambles.
Max came to his senses at his voice, only to find himself on his knees in the middle of the small room.. Clothes and broken bits of pottery, glass and wood lay all around him. He looked up into Michael’s eyes with confusion and disbelief at what he had done. “Damn Jared. Damn him to fucking hell!”
Michael spent several moments letting his best friend calm down on his own, knowing better than to get physically involved. They were all under enormous pressure, and even though they tried their bests to kid and joke around, keeping this light, the last twenty four hours had been the longest of everyone’s life. And it certainly didn’t show any signs of letting up soon.
“Well we already knew that, Maxwell. So what’s going on?” Michael stated, picking up the pieces as Max began to help him. “Man, you look a mess.”
“This is the happiest day of my life, Michael,” he said ironically. “All negative things aside for just a brief moment… I’m going to be a father. Liz and I are having a baby.”
Michael wasn’t sure whether he trusted the words he had just heard. “A baby?…” he asked twisting his face at the strange sound of the words. Max nodded, and the joy returned, making him smile. “Yep, little thing…cries, poops, barely sleeps, and grows up to be king of Adia.”
Michael looked around the room, “...so you are not happy about this… or you are?” he asked wearily.
“I’m ecstatic about this, Michael.” He sat down on the bed his face alive with again.
Michael nodded. “Congratulations, Maxwell. You will be one great father,” he reached out to shake his best friend’s hand.
“It just makes the uncertainty of the next few days so much more…”
“Max! Everything’s going to be fine. Don’t worry, we’re gonna keep her safe,” Michael assured him.
“She’s insisting that this doesn’t change anything, that she’s still going to Leoch with us,” Max explained.
“And... what exactly did you say?” Michael twisted his head waiting for the all important answer, as he threw a handful of glass into the trash can.
“I said, I understood,” Max sighed heavily.
“Good answer, my man. Cause that was the only answer. This is Ava we’re talk’n about here, there’s no way that she’s leaving your side now. And truthfully, if it were me, I wouldn’t want her to, no matter what happens. But, and this is a big but… you can’t let this disrupt your concentration. There’s too much at stake. You just have to drill it into your head that nothing has changed, for the sake of everyone.” He patted Max on the back. “Now, is it a boy or a girl?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz sat quietly now as a peace fell over her. Two monks dressed in light brown robes had made their way down the aisle, nodding as they walked past her. Now both knelt closer to a table serving as an alter at the far front of the room. Her thoughts wandered back to a few moments before. She had felt the baby move, as strange as that now seemed to her. She didn’t know a lot about pregnancy, but she did know biology and one didn’t normally feel movement this early in a pregnancy. But she had no doubt, she had felt it. Of course, she thought, this was no ordinary pregnancy… no normal human conception. Whether or not the accepted nine month gestation would be the same with an embryo conceived of two hybrid parents, well that was another matter. There wasn’t much data on hybrid gestation, she thought with a wry smile.
She did know her own body and had no choice but to go on instinct at this point. None of the women aboard the Horizon had experienced a normal period during the month aboard ship. Serena had no guess but to suggest that space travel coupled with the excitement were no doubt effecting the menstrual cycle of all seven women on board.
There had been at least five occasions where she had woken up nauseous, and there probably could have been more, except for the fact that she hadn’t slept a normal sleeping pattern for a while. So at this point there was no barometer to judge just how pregnant she might be; but she couldn’t shake the memory of the night she and Max had spent down in the cargo hull. The night he had surprised her… the same night the ship had sung to them. She smiled remembering and sighed.
She knew all the basics of pregnancy, but of course knowing and experiencing were two completely different things. She missed Maria right now and Serena was too far away to be much help to her. The noise of soft footsteps behind her broke her concentration. Without turning around, all her senses came alive. She closed her eyes, sitting perfectly still. His strong hands rested gently on her shoulders and his touch sent chills through her body, even now. She continued watching the two brethren at the front of the room, as they rose to their feet and quietly exited by the side door.
He leaned down and around her to kiss her on the cheek from behind. She reached up and placed a hand on his. “Max...”
“John told me that you went to the observatory. I wish you would have let me go with you,” he said coming around to sit next to her. “I’m worried about you. I don’t want you to have to go through any of this without me.”
She looked into his eyes seeing the clearness there between thick lashes. “I know, Max. It’s hard to explain what happened. I just knew that I had to go... right then. The orb, Max, it went off just like it did when we were out in the desert that night. And then… the lights… they danced with me,” she laughed. “I know it sounds crazy but that’s what happened.”
“And then you got to the tower… and you remembered?” he said rubbing his hand on her knee. Another of the order, came up the aisle from a small prayer at the alter. As he came closer to the two, he paused and bowed, nodding his head, “My Lord and Lady.” Max smiled and nodded back.
As the monk left by the door behind them, Liz answered. “I remembered the night that Ambrose took me up into the tower. He wanted to show me the heavens. He told me things.” She looked straight ahead and bit on her lip.
“What things? I want to know, Liz. Whatever affects you… whatever all this means, I am with you. I’m here. I don’t want you to go through this without me,” he voice cracked, feeling the emotional stress she was in.
“Ambrose said that I would one day meet the love of my life,” she paraphrased. “A prince of princes. You,” she said smiling turning to look at him. “He told me of a great conflict that was coming in the years ahead. A confrontation of good and evil... of the past and present.” Liz realized as she spoke that she was indeed remembering even more of that night than the flash had told her. “Of all the murder and turmoil. He said that I must never lose my faith… or my hope.”
“Well the battle we know about, and the turmoil and death. And the faith… well, he was right about that too. That part should be comforting to you. What upset you?” he asked, knowing there had to be more.
“He told me..,” she swallowed hard doing her best to keep the tears at bay for the time being. “...He said that we would lose one of our own. That one of us was going to die in this battle,” she cringed as she repeated Ambrose’s words. Max felt a chill run up his back. He stared straight ahead of him, but placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “…What else?”
Liz rubbed at her eyes, and then looked around her. “Max..,” she started, and then stopped. “There’s something that I have to tell you…” He looked down into her face. “I didn’t want it to be this way… I don’t know where to start …”
“Liz, you can tell me anything… you know that,” he reminded her with strong emotion in his voice. But he couldn’t stop the anxiety that was rising in him. He was suddenly scared... there was something in her voice. “Liz?...”
She turned in her seat, face to face with him now. He grabbed both of her hands in his, and searched her face for an answer to what he felt was coming. “In all my years of loving you, I have imagined this moment so many times…” she whispered. She couldn’t seem to finish a sentence and it was frustrating her. Finally, she slowly raised his hands in hers and placed them carefully onto her stomach. His eyes never left hers, and he couldn’t find the words that were barely forming in his mind at that moment. “Max, we’re going to have a baby,” she said ever so slowly, ever so softly. “A baby.”
The seconds ticked by as she waited for a response, which finally came in the form of his eyes closing and a small laugh escaping from his mouth. He took such a large breath that Liz was afraid he might pass out. She started to say something and was cut off by his lips finding hers. She both heard and felt a faint cry come from within him. His lips eagerly found hers again and again. “My god,” he whispered into her ear. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure,” she answered, as the tears finally found an outlet. “Plus… well, Ambrose pretty much confirmed it…” Before she could continue to explain, his lips again were on hers, this time softer and gentler. He felt he was lifting off the bench as she responded with lips that tasted sweeter than ever to him. At that moment he felt everything she was feeling. He grabbed her face between his hands, looking deep in her teary brown eyes... “A baby? A baby...” his eyes showed his excitement as it grew by the second. Liz laughed through a blur of tears and then let a few more flow freely at seeing the same in his eyes. “I’m sorry Max...” she breathed into his shoulder.
He pushed her back holding tightly to her shoulders. “Sorry? What do ya mean you’re sorry? I love this! I love you! I love our baby..” He couldn’t stop hugging her. He kissed both her cheeks, her nose, her eyes and lastly her forehead. She tasted his tears as their lips met again. She didn’t want this moment to end… ever.
His lip quivered, “I know why you’re feeling like this; but, Liz, everything will be alright. This is the second best thing that’s ever happened to me…to us. Please, don’t apologize.”
Her head was resting now on his chest as she again had difficulty swallowing. “ I know this is not the very best timing…” He stopped her words and her doubts, touching a finger to her lips. “Don’t. Are you kidding me? This is wonderful timing. I’m going to be a father!” he exclaimed in a loud whisper. Beside himself with joy, he wanted to scream it out to the world; but remembering the sanctuary where they sat, he could hardly contain himself. Her words came back to him… “Ambrose? He knew we were going to have a baby?”
Liz nodded her head. “Definitely. A very special child who would hold the heavens in her hands. I was chosen and apparently you had a bit to do with it too,” her smile broadened, kidding him.
“How could she not be special, look at her mother. Or… he, right? I mean did Ambrose say if it was a girl or boy?” he looked questioning.
“Didn’t say,” she touched his cheek. “Max when I came in here… well, I was a wreck. I was so confused. I prayed for an answer and … she moved. I felt something move inside me,” her eyes were wide with amazement. He placed his hand ever so gently onto her stomach. She looked at him when neither felt a thing. “Seriously, Max, she really did,” she nodded her head, convincingly.
“I believe you,” he smiled the brightest smile Liz had seen from him in a very long time. “How could you possibly think that I’d be upset or disappointed about this? Liz, this has given me so much hope. We just have to take very good care of you, that’s all,” he said excitedly as ideas quickly popped into his head. “We’ll get you back on vitamins. You will get more sleep. We’ll get you some better food and warmer clothes. We’ll get Larek to notify Michel and then we’ll get you back to the Horizon right away.”
“Noo!” she yelled out echoing in the empty room. She tried to control what she was feeling and lowered her voice. It wasn’t rational thinking she knew, but hell or high water were not going to keep her from his side. She pleaded, knowing in her heart that this would be his reaction. “I won’t go. I won’t leave you. We won’t leave you… not now. Not with St. Mirad’s Day so close now.”
Max’s face fell, “How can I not? Liz, you’re carrying our baby. How could I in all consciousness, not get you to the ship?”
“Don’t ask me to turn my back on you… on everyone. Don’t do this to me,” she pleaded. “We need to be together now more than ever! You know that!” She was crying now, not the happy and anxious tears of just moments before. It was for a whole different reason. The moment was gone too fast. Their moment was already gone. Jared had now taken something else from her... from them. Max’s eyes were closed as he held her head tightly to his. Their emotions were wide open now, as were their thoughts and fears. “I’m so sorry that he’s done this to us,” he said running his hands over and over her soft hair.
She took his face in her hands tenderly as her body trembled in his arms. “You are not going to face Jared without me, Max. It’s not going to happen. I won’t let you. I’m not leaving you now. I can’t. No matter what you say, I won’t go.” He pulled her close completely understanding what she was feeling. His heart was so full of love for her, for the miracle she had given him. They sobbed in each other’s arms.
“Alright,” he relented half-heartedly after a few moments of silence had passed. He caressed the back of her neck and tried to hold onto the moment. “...Alright,” he whispered to her. “Don’t cry, Liz, please don’t cry. We’ll stay together…always together.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He sat by the bed watching her sleep. He’d insisted that, after the morning she’d been through, it was the best thing for her and the baby. At first she’d been restless, fidgeting under the covers. First she had felt hot, then cold. As much as he didn’t want her to know, he was scared... horribly scared.
He had known from the first that this journey here, to a world they had once known, was going to be difficult, no… deadly, he reminded himself. But… how could he possibly come to terms with the war now going on inside of him? He couldn’t leave her, he had known that was true even before he had said those words to her an hour before. But this was a baby, a helpless, innocent baby. His baby, he still smiled every time he thought the words. He hadn’t thought he could ever love another living thing with the same depth and intensity that he had always felt for Ava. But here it was, again. He rose and quietly walked to the bed, reaching down to tuck the covers around her now sleeping body. He kissed her softly on the head and saw immediately the rosy glow on her cheeks that he hadn’t quite noticed there earlier.
Tiptoeing out of the room, he closed the door over behind him without a sound.
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Katain found Jonathan in her brother’s room going over a few drawings that Larek and Kal had put together of Milinga and the cavern just outside the city limits.
“Yo, I was wondering where you were. Marshal on duty down there?” he asked just barely looking up at her entrance.
“Yes. What are you doing here?” she wondered out loud. He shrugged motioning to the map in front of him. “Just getting familiar with the area around the Guardian,” he scooted over on the bed so she could join him. “What’s it like out there?”
“Pretty, unless of course you consider the danger of mass destruction lurking nearby,” she took the map from him, scanning in into her memory. Her face then softened, “The mountains are breathtaking there, with some of the most beautiful falls of water that I have ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few in South America.”
“Right. You know, once we take care of a few odds and ends, this could be considered paradise. And Trinity? Woah, now there’s a money making tourist attraction if I ever saw one,” he joked. “The higher elevations there would be absolutely great for a ski haven.” He then sat quietly and seriously. “I used to have dreams about Trinity… all the time. I just never understood what it was I was seeing, until grandmother told me.”
“I wonder how Angelique and Raymond are doing at camp?” Katain thought out loud, placing the map back on the bed.
“Oh, their not at the camp,” he said, surprised that she didn’t know. “Michel reported in to Larek that Mother Angie was sick. Cold or something. So he took them on to the ship.”
Katain looked surprised but after a brief thought, she responded, “I haven’t seen Larek. I just got off duty remember? But, that probably was a very good idea. At least those two will be near some earthly meds there on board, should they need them.”
“Well, just to catch you up, Kal will be going directly to the ship after the business at Milinga is taken care of… just in case.” He looked at the floor.
“Hmm, I thought it was John who was going? When did this change?” she asked curiously.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Apparently something’s afoot. John is insisting on staying close to Ava and Zan,” he nodded. “I’m worried that the four of them might not be enough to hold things together once the cat is out of the bag at Leoch. Personally, I wanted to be there just to see the look on Jared’s face when he sees the royal family in front of him.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind seeing that either. And yes, I voiced the same concern to Max, but he’s certain that he’ll have all the help he needs there, when the time comes. He’s got an army in his pocket, remember?” She smiled.
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Max knocked impatiently on Michael’s door, to no avail. Opening the door he went in slamming it behind him. “Where the hell are you?” he asked to no one there. He crossed the room to look out onto the grounds below. Without warning a rage consumed his entire body. He spun around thrashing out on several personal items sitting on a bureau; and when that wasn’t enough, he threw his hand out before him and the bureau flew crashing into the far wall in a green blur. One of their own was going to die. The thought repeated again and again in his head, as it throbbed unmercifully.
“Don’t take her from me…don’t take this baby from us!” he screamed out. “Me. If someone has to die, let it be me!!” he whispered.
Michael flew through the door at the commotion he heard inside his room. “What the fuck are you doing to my room?!?” he yelled out, looking around the shambles.
Max came to his senses at his voice, only to find himself on his knees in the middle of the small room.. Clothes and broken bits of pottery, glass and wood lay all around him. He looked up into Michael’s eyes with confusion and disbelief at what he had done. “Damn Jared. Damn him to fucking hell!”
Michael spent several moments letting his best friend calm down on his own, knowing better than to get physically involved. They were all under enormous pressure, and even though they tried their bests to kid and joke around, keeping this light, the last twenty four hours had been the longest of everyone’s life. And it certainly didn’t show any signs of letting up soon.
“Well we already knew that, Maxwell. So what’s going on?” Michael stated, picking up the pieces as Max began to help him. “Man, you look a mess.”
“This is the happiest day of my life, Michael,” he said ironically. “All negative things aside for just a brief moment… I’m going to be a father. Liz and I are having a baby.”
Michael wasn’t sure whether he trusted the words he had just heard. “A baby?…” he asked twisting his face at the strange sound of the words. Max nodded, and the joy returned, making him smile. “Yep, little thing…cries, poops, barely sleeps, and grows up to be king of Adia.”
Michael looked around the room, “...so you are not happy about this… or you are?” he asked wearily.
“I’m ecstatic about this, Michael.” He sat down on the bed his face alive with again.
Michael nodded. “Congratulations, Maxwell. You will be one great father,” he reached out to shake his best friend’s hand.
“It just makes the uncertainty of the next few days so much more…”
“Max! Everything’s going to be fine. Don’t worry, we’re gonna keep her safe,” Michael assured him.
“She’s insisting that this doesn’t change anything, that she’s still going to Leoch with us,” Max explained.
“And... what exactly did you say?” Michael twisted his head waiting for the all important answer, as he threw a handful of glass into the trash can.
“I said, I understood,” Max sighed heavily.
“Good answer, my man. Cause that was the only answer. This is Ava we’re talk’n about here, there’s no way that she’s leaving your side now. And truthfully, if it were me, I wouldn’t want her to, no matter what happens. But, and this is a big but… you can’t let this disrupt your concentration. There’s too much at stake. You just have to drill it into your head that nothing has changed, for the sake of everyone.” He patted Max on the back. “Now, is it a boy or a girl?”
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CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
Chapter Banner
“Why do you have this?” Kal raged at Malow, clutching hard at the tracker in his hand. He was trying to remember that this was Zan’s mother, but all patience had gone out the window when he found the device in her skirt pocket.
“I’ve always had it, Lan,” she said defiantly. “It was given to me by Kivar. I’ve never not had it on me. It was their way of keeping up on where I was within the castle. What is the problem?” A blank expression crossed her face, and Kal could no longer tell if she was one hundred percent lucid and perfecting years and years of lying, or if she was in the middle of one of her grand illusions.
“Malow,” he grunted between clenched teeth, “it’s a tracker… and it’s not limited to the confides of Leoch! Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve put us all in danger… you’ve put your son’s life in serious fucking danger! Don’t even try to tell me that you don’t know the distance this is capable of,” Kal grabbed her by the arm. “Who’s on the other end of this thing?” he stared her in the face.
“My handmaiden,” she replied, holding her head high and meeting his eye. “I want to see my son.”
“Handmaiden? As in a member of Jared’s staff?” he asked impatiently. Kal never in his life had hit a woman purposely out of sheer anger, but he was just about to change that status. “Your son?” he threw her arm back down. “Oh, yes, Malow, I will be getting your son.” Sticking the tracker in his back pocket, he quickly made himself leave the room. This was Zan’s problem.
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Michael’s room was just about back to some kind of normalcy. “Good thing there was only the bureau and a bed in here. Although you do owe me for a new watch,” Michael mumbled at finding his watch under the cot.
“Didn’t it stopped working back on the ship,” Max reminded him, as he picked up Michael’s backpack and set it back up on top of the bureau.
“Yeah, well it was a present from Maria our first year together, so I wore it anyway.” Michael threw it up next to the backpack.
“Hey, I’m really sorry, man,” Max apologized. “I lost it,” he wiped at his face with both hands. “Joy and fear do not mix well. But I’ll not fear anything anymore. I have too much positive in my life, even more than before.”
“Well then, maybe now would be a good time for me to tie you down,” Michael stated, suddenly looking seriously at him.
“Why?” Max asked, almost afraid to ask at seeing the expression change on Michael’s face.
“Kal should be barging in here any minute now,” Michael estimated. “Ya see, I was working on the trackers so they’d communicate on the same frequency with each other, but one that wouldn’t be picked up easily.” He scratched his eyebrow with his index finger, “I picked up a signal. Coming in... or going out of here. I’m not sure which, truthfully. Hopefully Kal’s finding all that out now.”
“Coming from Rochell? Somewhere inside?” a look of disbelief and then alarm filled his face. “Where’s Kal now?”
“With… your mother. It’s Malow, she had a tracker on her. Max!!”” Zan was out of the room before Rath could grab him.
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“We have many aerial graphs. What exactly is it that you are looking for?” A tall soldier stood next to Tess and a large table full of reconnaissance photos.
“That ship,” she explained, “the unidentified ship that we caught on the image scanner a few days back. I want some data before I leave here. I’m certain that ship is on Trinity somewhere in the vicinity of that pitiful little town, Justice. I also want a runner and four men to accompany me. She stared at him until he looked away. “How long before I see some enlargements?”
“A few hours. All my scouts are already out on missions. I am sorry, miss, but you’ll have to wait your turn.” He turned his back on her.
“Should you have any questions about the speed in which I need results and transportation, you can take it up with your King,” her voice was piercing and to the point.
“As I’ve said, the aerial shots will have to wait until my men return and a scout ship can be sent to Trinity. The noncommissioned runners are all out in the squad bays. Take your pick.” He nodded to her and left the tent, leaving her standing inside alone.
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Sierra sat at the table coloring as her mother checked to be sure everything was ready for their dinner. “Sierra, where’s Emily?”
“With Aunt Maria. She’s washing her hair,” the little one examined her crayon and placed it back in the box extra carefully. “We’re going to work on the puzzle when she’s done.”
“Um hum,” Nicole answered only half listening, as she watched Ava mopping the galley floor. “How’s Angelique feeling? Did the medicine clear up her coughing?”
Ava looked up, “Her breathing is much better, and the coughing’s about gone; but she’s got a low grade fever. Serena ordered her to bed rest. Which is just as good, because it’s pretty damn boring around here,” she added. It was obvious that no one quite knew what to do with themselves. Everyone’s minds were elsewhere.
“Marcel came by earlier when you were sleeping. He was looking for you.” Nicole rolled her eyes teasing her. “He left a message with Coby that he’d stop back to see you before dark.”
Ava’s face showed a slight blush but she kept mopping. “He seems really nice,” Nicole continued. “I don’t know much about him, other than he’s one of Larek’s cousins, of course.”
“He’s single and had lived at Leoch most of his life, until Kivar took over,” Ava nodded, smiling. Nicole was hoping that the two might have struck up something a little bit more than a friendship. She was well aware of the fact that Ava’s life had come to a complete standstill right after her son was killed.
She grabbed one handle on the bucket, helping Ava carry it to dump at the sink. “So, if the choice comes up…what would you do? Would you stay or go back?” Nicole hadn’t really known what Ava had planned to do in that regard, if the time came and they were given a choice. “I think Jessie will probably stay… well because that’s what Jonathan wants, and Raymond is staying; but you…will you stay with Angelique?”
Ava nodded her head. “I think she needs me with her. Besides I have nothing to go back to. It’s been just Lucas and I taking care of her….” Her words were left hanging in the air at the uncomfortable mention of her brother’s name.
Nicole’s mind raced back almost immediately to the day Lucas had left her and her daughters. All the time he was living in Dakota, he had not bothered to contact them. She couldn’t help but wonder if he ever would have, had she not gotten in touch with him first.
She had found herself thinking about Larek more and more. Whenever she closed her eyes he was there. There were times that she still could feel his touch. Her heart ached to see him again. It was hard to concentrate on anything she attempted to do. Both she and Maria were doing the best they could do to hold each other together. They had worked puzzles, exercised, baked pies and cookies and…a whole freak’n bakery; but the last two days were still filled with emptiness and fear.
“What about you and the girl’s?” Ava asked. “If we’re given a choice would you stay or go back?” The two women took a seat at the table. Sierra, bored of the conversation and the coloring, ran out in search of Emily and her aunt.
Nicole gathered the toys together. “We have nothing to go back to either. ..and no real reason to stay,” she said as thoughts of Larek filled her mind. “Although I do know that Serena, John and Coby had hoped to return to Roswell. And of course Maria never stops talking about it too; but once Zan is in power again, I can’t see her leaving Michael and I know he’d be staying with Max.”
“..And Larek?” Ava asked having sensed her sister in law’s connection to him.
Nicole was quiet as she looked back into her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. None of us really do..” she stood up suddenly with an uncomfortable or emotional air, Ava couldn’t quite tell which.
“We can’t give up hope, Nicole. The Federalists number well over three hundred, and that doesn’t count the sympathizers who will gladly come aboard once Jared is dead.” Nicole looked at her questioning. “Well, that’s what I heard Kal say just before we left Rochell.”
“Ava, Jared’s armies are thousands,” she whispered, looking around to be sure the girl’s weren’t near. “And then there’s the weapon to consider. Should anything go wrong, even the slightest thing…”
Ava interrupted her. “I won’t give up hope, Nicole. And you shouldn’t either.”
“Oh, I’m not giving up hope. I just have to be realistic, that’s all. I’m praying just as hard as everyone else. I’m trying to believe.” Her attention was drawn to Coby now standing in the doorway.
“Coby? What is it?” Ava asked nervously, as Nicole stood up in anticipation.
He walked quickly to the two young women. “Serena asked me to come and let you know, Ava. We found no matches in any of the DNA that we took.” She closed her eyes with what she felt was great relief.
Nicole looked in her direction, seeing both the relief and frustration on her face. “No one here is the third key?” Nicole asked.
He shook his head. “In a few days we’ll test the others back at Rochell…if we can,” he added.
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“Max!” Kal called out at seeing him headed swiftly toward him, then past him. Max shook off his grasp, as he continued pushing his way toward his mother’s room. “She claims that she was ordered by Kivar to always have it with her,” Kal exclaimed. “According to her, she’s never been without it.” Kal was confused by the whole situation and the last thing he wanted was Max flying off the handle before knowing the facts as he knew them.
“I don’t care! She knew what it was. She knew they could track her through it, and yet she still came here with it,” his voice was booming now through the hallway. Kal stood before him not knowing what else he could say, but most of all knowing that he was right. Max pushed his way through the door.
“Zan!” Malow cried out upon seeing her son. “Tell them that I have to return to Leoch right now.”
“I wish I could send you back to him!! How could you?!? How could you come here, knowing you had that device on you? You’ve led him right here, Mother!” He didn’t dare get too close to her for fear of what he’d do to her.
“You must listen to me,” she said sternly walking toward him.
“I don’t have to listen to you at all! Stay away from me, Malow,” Max was seething. “You will tell me the truth. Did you come here last night of your own accord?”
“I’ve come to see my son. How could I not come? I never gave a second thought to the device. I swear it.” She took another step toward him.
“Sit down!” he ordered her. “Who have you signaled? Jared himself?” he grabbed the front of her cloak and his eyes pierced into the dark cold eyes before him.
“Zan, the mate to this device is with Marial, she’s my handmaiden at Leoch. It’s only for my own safety, in case I’m in trouble. They would only believe that I am here on retreat. I’ve come here many times in the past.” By this time Rath and Larek had both entered the room, having already talked outside with Kal. Max shoved her back onto the cot.
“I just destroyed the tracker,” Larek exclaimed. “But we have no idea of who it’s contacted… if anyone.”
Malow sat on the bed and a lost look came over her face. “Are we going home now?” she asked in a weak childish voice.
“Oh that’s convenient!” Max retorted at the sound of her voice. Michael grabbed Max’s arm, stopping him from making a quick move again toward her. Neither of them were buying the act before them. “Just wait,” Michael whispered.
Larek approached Malow, and stooped down before her frail figure now sitting on the cot. He took both her hands in his. “Malow, we need to know if you returned the signal. Did you send out a message?”
She jumped to her feet sensing what he was trying to do. A blast hit him solid in the chest, throwing him back onto the floor. “Do not take me for a fool! You try to pull thoughts from my head!?”
Max was on her in seconds, with Michael quick beside him. Each had an arm, forcing her back down to the cot again, as she struggled to get free. Larek slowly picked himself up off the floor, feeling the pressure in his chest.
“You okay?” Michael yelled to him, as the woman screamed unmercifully. All Larek could do was shake his head, as he tried desperately to catch his breath.
“What the hell are you doing, you crazy bitch!” Max screamed at her. “How could you?
“How could you sell out your own son?” Michael exclaimed, helping to hold her down.
“You can not fight him, Zan. You will not win,” she pleaded. “He is all powerful. He will kill you all,” she screeched in a high pitch. “You must come back to Leoch and pledge your alliance to him. He will spare you if you surrender and end this now! Otherwise you will all die.”
Max backed up several steps looking at the woman before him. Could he believe she was responsible for the words coming out of her mouth? Was she insane or just revengeful?
He motioned to the door, “Take her to the camp. I want her kept under constant guard there. Do not let her out of your sight.”
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Chapter Banner
“Why do you have this?” Kal raged at Malow, clutching hard at the tracker in his hand. He was trying to remember that this was Zan’s mother, but all patience had gone out the window when he found the device in her skirt pocket.
“I’ve always had it, Lan,” she said defiantly. “It was given to me by Kivar. I’ve never not had it on me. It was their way of keeping up on where I was within the castle. What is the problem?” A blank expression crossed her face, and Kal could no longer tell if she was one hundred percent lucid and perfecting years and years of lying, or if she was in the middle of one of her grand illusions.
“Malow,” he grunted between clenched teeth, “it’s a tracker… and it’s not limited to the confides of Leoch! Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You’ve put us all in danger… you’ve put your son’s life in serious fucking danger! Don’t even try to tell me that you don’t know the distance this is capable of,” Kal grabbed her by the arm. “Who’s on the other end of this thing?” he stared her in the face.
“My handmaiden,” she replied, holding her head high and meeting his eye. “I want to see my son.”
“Handmaiden? As in a member of Jared’s staff?” he asked impatiently. Kal never in his life had hit a woman purposely out of sheer anger, but he was just about to change that status. “Your son?” he threw her arm back down. “Oh, yes, Malow, I will be getting your son.” Sticking the tracker in his back pocket, he quickly made himself leave the room. This was Zan’s problem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael’s room was just about back to some kind of normalcy. “Good thing there was only the bureau and a bed in here. Although you do owe me for a new watch,” Michael mumbled at finding his watch under the cot.
“Didn’t it stopped working back on the ship,” Max reminded him, as he picked up Michael’s backpack and set it back up on top of the bureau.
“Yeah, well it was a present from Maria our first year together, so I wore it anyway.” Michael threw it up next to the backpack.
“Hey, I’m really sorry, man,” Max apologized. “I lost it,” he wiped at his face with both hands. “Joy and fear do not mix well. But I’ll not fear anything anymore. I have too much positive in my life, even more than before.”
“Well then, maybe now would be a good time for me to tie you down,” Michael stated, suddenly looking seriously at him.
“Why?” Max asked, almost afraid to ask at seeing the expression change on Michael’s face.
“Kal should be barging in here any minute now,” Michael estimated. “Ya see, I was working on the trackers so they’d communicate on the same frequency with each other, but one that wouldn’t be picked up easily.” He scratched his eyebrow with his index finger, “I picked up a signal. Coming in... or going out of here. I’m not sure which, truthfully. Hopefully Kal’s finding all that out now.”
“Coming from Rochell? Somewhere inside?” a look of disbelief and then alarm filled his face. “Where’s Kal now?”
“With… your mother. It’s Malow, she had a tracker on her. Max!!”” Zan was out of the room before Rath could grab him.
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“We have many aerial graphs. What exactly is it that you are looking for?” A tall soldier stood next to Tess and a large table full of reconnaissance photos.
“That ship,” she explained, “the unidentified ship that we caught on the image scanner a few days back. I want some data before I leave here. I’m certain that ship is on Trinity somewhere in the vicinity of that pitiful little town, Justice. I also want a runner and four men to accompany me. She stared at him until he looked away. “How long before I see some enlargements?”
“A few hours. All my scouts are already out on missions. I am sorry, miss, but you’ll have to wait your turn.” He turned his back on her.
“Should you have any questions about the speed in which I need results and transportation, you can take it up with your King,” her voice was piercing and to the point.
“As I’ve said, the aerial shots will have to wait until my men return and a scout ship can be sent to Trinity. The noncommissioned runners are all out in the squad bays. Take your pick.” He nodded to her and left the tent, leaving her standing inside alone.
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Sierra sat at the table coloring as her mother checked to be sure everything was ready for their dinner. “Sierra, where’s Emily?”
“With Aunt Maria. She’s washing her hair,” the little one examined her crayon and placed it back in the box extra carefully. “We’re going to work on the puzzle when she’s done.”
“Um hum,” Nicole answered only half listening, as she watched Ava mopping the galley floor. “How’s Angelique feeling? Did the medicine clear up her coughing?”
Ava looked up, “Her breathing is much better, and the coughing’s about gone; but she’s got a low grade fever. Serena ordered her to bed rest. Which is just as good, because it’s pretty damn boring around here,” she added. It was obvious that no one quite knew what to do with themselves. Everyone’s minds were elsewhere.
“Marcel came by earlier when you were sleeping. He was looking for you.” Nicole rolled her eyes teasing her. “He left a message with Coby that he’d stop back to see you before dark.”
Ava’s face showed a slight blush but she kept mopping. “He seems really nice,” Nicole continued. “I don’t know much about him, other than he’s one of Larek’s cousins, of course.”
“He’s single and had lived at Leoch most of his life, until Kivar took over,” Ava nodded, smiling. Nicole was hoping that the two might have struck up something a little bit more than a friendship. She was well aware of the fact that Ava’s life had come to a complete standstill right after her son was killed.
She grabbed one handle on the bucket, helping Ava carry it to dump at the sink. “So, if the choice comes up…what would you do? Would you stay or go back?” Nicole hadn’t really known what Ava had planned to do in that regard, if the time came and they were given a choice. “I think Jessie will probably stay… well because that’s what Jonathan wants, and Raymond is staying; but you…will you stay with Angelique?”
Ava nodded her head. “I think she needs me with her. Besides I have nothing to go back to. It’s been just Lucas and I taking care of her….” Her words were left hanging in the air at the uncomfortable mention of her brother’s name.
Nicole’s mind raced back almost immediately to the day Lucas had left her and her daughters. All the time he was living in Dakota, he had not bothered to contact them. She couldn’t help but wonder if he ever would have, had she not gotten in touch with him first.
She had found herself thinking about Larek more and more. Whenever she closed her eyes he was there. There were times that she still could feel his touch. Her heart ached to see him again. It was hard to concentrate on anything she attempted to do. Both she and Maria were doing the best they could do to hold each other together. They had worked puzzles, exercised, baked pies and cookies and…a whole freak’n bakery; but the last two days were still filled with emptiness and fear.
“What about you and the girl’s?” Ava asked. “If we’re given a choice would you stay or go back?” The two women took a seat at the table. Sierra, bored of the conversation and the coloring, ran out in search of Emily and her aunt.
Nicole gathered the toys together. “We have nothing to go back to either. ..and no real reason to stay,” she said as thoughts of Larek filled her mind. “Although I do know that Serena, John and Coby had hoped to return to Roswell. And of course Maria never stops talking about it too; but once Zan is in power again, I can’t see her leaving Michael and I know he’d be staying with Max.”
“..And Larek?” Ava asked having sensed her sister in law’s connection to him.
Nicole was quiet as she looked back into her eyes. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. None of us really do..” she stood up suddenly with an uncomfortable or emotional air, Ava couldn’t quite tell which.
“We can’t give up hope, Nicole. The Federalists number well over three hundred, and that doesn’t count the sympathizers who will gladly come aboard once Jared is dead.” Nicole looked at her questioning. “Well, that’s what I heard Kal say just before we left Rochell.”
“Ava, Jared’s armies are thousands,” she whispered, looking around to be sure the girl’s weren’t near. “And then there’s the weapon to consider. Should anything go wrong, even the slightest thing…”
Ava interrupted her. “I won’t give up hope, Nicole. And you shouldn’t either.”
“Oh, I’m not giving up hope. I just have to be realistic, that’s all. I’m praying just as hard as everyone else. I’m trying to believe.” Her attention was drawn to Coby now standing in the doorway.
“Coby? What is it?” Ava asked nervously, as Nicole stood up in anticipation.
He walked quickly to the two young women. “Serena asked me to come and let you know, Ava. We found no matches in any of the DNA that we took.” She closed her eyes with what she felt was great relief.
Nicole looked in her direction, seeing both the relief and frustration on her face. “No one here is the third key?” Nicole asked.
He shook his head. “In a few days we’ll test the others back at Rochell…if we can,” he added.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Max!” Kal called out at seeing him headed swiftly toward him, then past him. Max shook off his grasp, as he continued pushing his way toward his mother’s room. “She claims that she was ordered by Kivar to always have it with her,” Kal exclaimed. “According to her, she’s never been without it.” Kal was confused by the whole situation and the last thing he wanted was Max flying off the handle before knowing the facts as he knew them.
“I don’t care! She knew what it was. She knew they could track her through it, and yet she still came here with it,” his voice was booming now through the hallway. Kal stood before him not knowing what else he could say, but most of all knowing that he was right. Max pushed his way through the door.
“Zan!” Malow cried out upon seeing her son. “Tell them that I have to return to Leoch right now.”
“I wish I could send you back to him!! How could you?!? How could you come here, knowing you had that device on you? You’ve led him right here, Mother!” He didn’t dare get too close to her for fear of what he’d do to her.
“You must listen to me,” she said sternly walking toward him.
“I don’t have to listen to you at all! Stay away from me, Malow,” Max was seething. “You will tell me the truth. Did you come here last night of your own accord?”
“I’ve come to see my son. How could I not come? I never gave a second thought to the device. I swear it.” She took another step toward him.
“Sit down!” he ordered her. “Who have you signaled? Jared himself?” he grabbed the front of her cloak and his eyes pierced into the dark cold eyes before him.
“Zan, the mate to this device is with Marial, she’s my handmaiden at Leoch. It’s only for my own safety, in case I’m in trouble. They would only believe that I am here on retreat. I’ve come here many times in the past.” By this time Rath and Larek had both entered the room, having already talked outside with Kal. Max shoved her back onto the cot.
“I just destroyed the tracker,” Larek exclaimed. “But we have no idea of who it’s contacted… if anyone.”
Malow sat on the bed and a lost look came over her face. “Are we going home now?” she asked in a weak childish voice.
“Oh that’s convenient!” Max retorted at the sound of her voice. Michael grabbed Max’s arm, stopping him from making a quick move again toward her. Neither of them were buying the act before them. “Just wait,” Michael whispered.
Larek approached Malow, and stooped down before her frail figure now sitting on the cot. He took both her hands in his. “Malow, we need to know if you returned the signal. Did you send out a message?”
She jumped to her feet sensing what he was trying to do. A blast hit him solid in the chest, throwing him back onto the floor. “Do not take me for a fool! You try to pull thoughts from my head!?”
Max was on her in seconds, with Michael quick beside him. Each had an arm, forcing her back down to the cot again, as she struggled to get free. Larek slowly picked himself up off the floor, feeling the pressure in his chest.
“You okay?” Michael yelled to him, as the woman screamed unmercifully. All Larek could do was shake his head, as he tried desperately to catch his breath.
“What the hell are you doing, you crazy bitch!” Max screamed at her. “How could you?
“How could you sell out your own son?” Michael exclaimed, helping to hold her down.
“You can not fight him, Zan. You will not win,” she pleaded. “He is all powerful. He will kill you all,” she screeched in a high pitch. “You must come back to Leoch and pledge your alliance to him. He will spare you if you surrender and end this now! Otherwise you will all die.”
Max backed up several steps looking at the woman before him. Could he believe she was responsible for the words coming out of her mouth? Was she insane or just revengeful?
He motioned to the door, “Take her to the camp. I want her kept under constant guard there. Do not let her out of your sight.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The moon of Adia was bright in the dark of night. Larek stared out his window listening to the stillness. Michel and several of his men had left just moments before, taking Malow to Trinity. He still couldn’t believe everything that had happened that day. He had remembered all too well when Zan was young, and the tight rule his mother had imposed on him. Never in all his years though did he once consider the she would turn on him… most especially now. He himself had grown up without parents and had lived a fairly free life at Leoch, with only Ava’s father to answer to when he and Rath had gotten into trouble. Her father had been the closest thing he could ever remember as a parent.
A light knock came at his door and a soft voice whispered, “Larek?”
“Ava?” he answered with surprise, as she opened the door slowly and entered the room. “Come in,” he smiled, hurriedly straightening up the tossed blankets thrown onto his cot. “How’s Zan?”
“He says he’s alright, but...” she frowned, “..I’m just glad that Michael picked up on the signal when he did.” She too glanced out the window. “Everything seems pretty quiet. That’s a good sign.”
“So far, yes,” Larek replied. “But I’ve ordered an additional squad of troops to the base of Rochell. We’ve not spotted a single scout ships as of yet, and our people at Leoch are reporting that everything appears to be normal there. There are no alerts out within the military. Siobhan has dealt with Marial, telling her that Malow is on retreat here and will be returning to Leoch in two days. At least that buys us a bit of time.”
Liz nodded. “Kal says that you’ll be leaving in the morning,” her throat felt dry as she spoke the words. She couldn’t help regretting the news.
“Yes,” he answered softly, looking away from her face. “I have to get back to my men. There are many things that need tending to tomorrow. We have but one more day to ready everything… and anything.” He tried to manage a smile then reached for her at seeing the look in her eyes. “Do not worry, Sparrow. Things are going exactly as planned.”
She took a deep breath as she held on to him. “Larek, I have great news.” She pulled away to see his face. “I’m going to have a baby,” she said with an excitement that overtook her every time she said the word.
She grinned, as his eyes grew huge. “A baby? Well praise the gods, Sparrow. Congratulations!” He hugged her hard and yet felt a faint tugging at his heart…still. “Zan must be out of his mind with joy! I can not wait to see him!”
Her face was still ablush. “I just wanted to tell you the news myself,” she kissed his cheek. “I knew you’d be happy for us.” She pushed back a lock of hair at his temple. “And also, to tell you to please, Larek..please, be very careful in Milinga,” she looked pleadingly into his eyes at remembering Ambrose’s words to her. She took a deep breath, “We want nothing to happen to our baby’s godfather.”
A stunned look came over him, followed by a wide smile, dimples in place. “Ava,” his lips brushed her cheek as his voice shook. “You honor me so with that wish. And I promise you, I will not let you down on that account.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zan had broken his wonderful news to both Lan and Kolt, who did their best to act surprised, although he surmised the possibility that they may have already guessed. The room was suddenly festive, as the three refused to think of anything else but the good news. “Get word to the ship,” Zan said, his face beaming. “Let them all know that there will be a new heir to the throne of Adia!” Lan pounded him on the back laughing at his excitement, as Rath entered the room carrying two decanters from Brother Jasper’s private stock.
Zan asked curiously, “You didn’t just go and take those did you, Rath? I mean he offered them, right?”
“Of course I didn’t just take them,” Rath stated, overstressing bruised feelings. “I simply told him that we needed to celebrate the coming of a new hybrid.”
Kolt smiled. “Ya know, I was thinking about asking Larek to arrange for a midwife to meet with Ava at the Horizon and explain some of the particulars about Adian birth. It might help Serena to figure out the possible issues of this pregnancy for Ava.”
Zan took a small glass from Rath. “Ava isn’t going to the ship, Kolt.” Kolt absentmindedly accepted a glass from Rath, passing it on to Lan.
“And .. it will do no good to pressure her about it,” Rath added, looking at the concern on Lan’s face. “Come on, we all know she isn’t going anywhere near the ship ‘til the work here is done, so there’s no use in discussing it further.”
The room was quiet but for the clink of glasses, as Zan looked to Lan. Without a word, he placed his hands on first Zan’s shoulder and then Rath’s. They both felt a warming sensation pass through their bodies. “You may drink up now boys,” he gave a laugh. “But remember this is not your normal Jack Daniels. I’m limiting you both to two shots a piece.” Rath frowned at him as Zan toasted. “To the future of Adia.”
“Here Here,” the four said in response, emptying their glasses together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the Horizon, Nicole tucked Emily into bed. “There, snug as a bug,” she kissed her on the cheek and smiled.
“Momma? Will we be seeing Max and the others soon?” Emily asked rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“In a few days, Em,” Nicole couldn’t look her in the eye as she answered. “You get some rest now.”
“Momma?” This time the small voice came from the opposite bunk. “I miss Ava and Kal,” Sierra whined.
“I know you do sweetie. We all do. But don’t worry, soon we will be together and we’re going to have a very big party.”
“Is it my birthday?” Sierra’s eyes grew wide with wonder.
“Sierra, your birthday is in January,” Emily said bluntly, pulling the covers up around her neck.
“Is it January?” she asked. Nicole shook her head, trying hard to remember just what month it actually was. “Um, no. It’s November. Sometime in November,” she said under her breath. How horrible was it that she couldn’t even tell her daughter the date, she thought to herself.
“Oh,” Sierra replied yawning. “Tomorrow you can help us work on the puzzle again, right Momma?” Her little eyes closed as Nicole turned down the overhead light to its dimmest. “Yes, Sierra. Tomorrow we’ll play and have fun. Now, sleep. I love you both very much. I’ll see you in the morning.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tess stood waiting for the last of the three men to join her outside of the runner. She eyed each man with scrutiny as the fourth man ran to join his team. “You will be taking me to Trinity, Justice to be exact. We will be a mere thirty miles from the Federalist camp there, and you will see that we get there safely without any detection from the enemy.”
The men all stood at attention, hands behind their backs, as she again scanned the four. “The purpose of this mission, Ma’am?” a voice rang out in question.
“I know what I’m looking for. Your job is to get me there,” she smirked in answer to the second man in line. “We will wait for the aerials and leave as soon as they arrive,” she explained with impatience. “Well, what are you waiting for?” she ordered. “Get aboard and wait for me there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Max-x, where are we going?” Liz whispered loudly. She giggled as he led her by the hand out into the dark of the night.
“Shh...it’s a surprise,” he hushed her. He stopped long enough to spin around and kiss her, with his eyes slightly glazed.
“You’re drunk! You’ve been drinking,” she whispered again, laughing. “What were you guys doing anyway?”
“Celebrating. And no, I’m not drunk. Kal wouldn’t let me get drunk,” he waved his hand in front of him. “No more than two… he said,” he slurred with a laugh, then covered his mouth quickly so the noise wouldn’t escape.
“Oooh,” Liz nodded, shaking her head slowly. “It’s a good thing we’re not driving,” she grinned rolling her eyes.
“Shh, you’ll wake everybody up,” he wrapped his arm around her neck and tried to lead the way.
It was a beautiful night. The day had seen a rise in the temperature, making it necessary to strip down to tee shirts and khakis, and even now at this late hour it hadn’t seemed any cooler. “Look at this,” he waved his hand over his head at the millions of stars above them. “It’s our gift to him,” he smiled and leaned down, kissing her quickly again.
“But we mustn’t spoil him,” Liz insisted, scrunching up her nose. “You can give him the heavens… but that is all..” she giggled, shaking her finger at him. He pulled her closer. “Have I told you how much I love you?” he sighed as he felt the warmth of her body against his.
“I think you’ve told me, but you can tell me again. Anytime,” she pressed her lips tasting the side of his neck and chills ran through him.
“Don’t distract me,” he pretended to be stern. “We are on a mission here,” he winked down into her moonlit face.
“Soo, where exactly are we going... and maybe we shouldn’t,” she answered.
“Hey, it’s the buddy system, and…we’re buddies, right?” His eyes were misty and clear as they searched longingly into hers. His mind shifted suddenly. “Larek’s left,” he said as he continued now to lead her down a path behind the monastery.
“Did you get to see him before he left?” she asked as they walked quicker now.
Max nodded. “He was thrilled that you asked him to be our baby’s godfather.”
“You don’t mind do you? I mean I should have talked to you first, Max, I know,” she held tighter to his hand as he led the way.
“Of course not. It was my exact thought. If you hadn’t, I would have,” Max squinted into the dark ahead. “Here we are,” he announced with a huge grin, as the path opened onto a clearing at the edge of a large shimmering pond.
“Oooh, it’s beautiful,” she sighed watching the moonlight dancing on the water. Before she could say another word his mouth was tenderly on hers. They hung in each other’s arms, deep in so many emotions. His lips rose from the softness of her skin, “Swim with me,” his throaty voice sent chills up her spine, as his hands slowly traveled up under her tee.
“Is it safe?” her voice seemed far away even to her own ears. He raised her top up and over her head. “You’re with me, My Lady. You are safe,” he murmured as he wet his lips and traced the curves of her shoulder, then moved down sensually over the soft curve of her breast with small butterfly kisses. “Ma-x,” she answered to his hands now moving down to the band of her khakis. Her fingers reached and pulled his shirt up over his head in one move. In seconds their unclothed bodies seemed to become one in the stillness around them.
The water lapped at the shoreline, as the two silhouettes moved slowly into the water. She had forgotten how good it felt. How their bodies seemed to float so soothingly in the unnatural buoyancy of the Adian waters.
He took a breath and submerged himself quickly, coming back up again and letting the water roll over him. Liz smiled as the moonlight glistened over them, and dove away from him with a hard deliberate splash.
“Hey!” he yelled after her. “Get back here. I have only just begun with your therapy here,” he laughed, shaking the water from his hair.
“Exercise,” she replied nodding her head from a short distance away. “You must come and get it,” she teased, tilting her head far back into the water to smooth her hair.
He dove through the water in her direction, just barely sending out a ripple across the top of the pond. She closed her eyes, disappearing under the waterline. Their bodies met in the depth of the water in slow motion, balancing together as her legs tightly wrapped his body. Her hair floated freely in billows around her, and her smooth skin felt slippery to his touch, as they became one with the warm and caressing water that now enveloped them both.
Breaking the surface for air, their kiss lingered on. “I love you, Ava,” he said breathlessly. “Do not ever forget that,” he traced her jaw line with his fingertips. “Know this, my love, for it is the only thing that will ever be true.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The moon of Adia was bright in the dark of night. Larek stared out his window listening to the stillness. Michel and several of his men had left just moments before, taking Malow to Trinity. He still couldn’t believe everything that had happened that day. He had remembered all too well when Zan was young, and the tight rule his mother had imposed on him. Never in all his years though did he once consider the she would turn on him… most especially now. He himself had grown up without parents and had lived a fairly free life at Leoch, with only Ava’s father to answer to when he and Rath had gotten into trouble. Her father had been the closest thing he could ever remember as a parent.
A light knock came at his door and a soft voice whispered, “Larek?”
“Ava?” he answered with surprise, as she opened the door slowly and entered the room. “Come in,” he smiled, hurriedly straightening up the tossed blankets thrown onto his cot. “How’s Zan?”
“He says he’s alright, but...” she frowned, “..I’m just glad that Michael picked up on the signal when he did.” She too glanced out the window. “Everything seems pretty quiet. That’s a good sign.”
“So far, yes,” Larek replied. “But I’ve ordered an additional squad of troops to the base of Rochell. We’ve not spotted a single scout ships as of yet, and our people at Leoch are reporting that everything appears to be normal there. There are no alerts out within the military. Siobhan has dealt with Marial, telling her that Malow is on retreat here and will be returning to Leoch in two days. At least that buys us a bit of time.”
Liz nodded. “Kal says that you’ll be leaving in the morning,” her throat felt dry as she spoke the words. She couldn’t help regretting the news.
“Yes,” he answered softly, looking away from her face. “I have to get back to my men. There are many things that need tending to tomorrow. We have but one more day to ready everything… and anything.” He tried to manage a smile then reached for her at seeing the look in her eyes. “Do not worry, Sparrow. Things are going exactly as planned.”
She took a deep breath as she held on to him. “Larek, I have great news.” She pulled away to see his face. “I’m going to have a baby,” she said with an excitement that overtook her every time she said the word.
She grinned, as his eyes grew huge. “A baby? Well praise the gods, Sparrow. Congratulations!” He hugged her hard and yet felt a faint tugging at his heart…still. “Zan must be out of his mind with joy! I can not wait to see him!”
Her face was still ablush. “I just wanted to tell you the news myself,” she kissed his cheek. “I knew you’d be happy for us.” She pushed back a lock of hair at his temple. “And also, to tell you to please, Larek..please, be very careful in Milinga,” she looked pleadingly into his eyes at remembering Ambrose’s words to her. She took a deep breath, “We want nothing to happen to our baby’s godfather.”
A stunned look came over him, followed by a wide smile, dimples in place. “Ava,” his lips brushed her cheek as his voice shook. “You honor me so with that wish. And I promise you, I will not let you down on that account.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zan had broken his wonderful news to both Lan and Kolt, who did their best to act surprised, although he surmised the possibility that they may have already guessed. The room was suddenly festive, as the three refused to think of anything else but the good news. “Get word to the ship,” Zan said, his face beaming. “Let them all know that there will be a new heir to the throne of Adia!” Lan pounded him on the back laughing at his excitement, as Rath entered the room carrying two decanters from Brother Jasper’s private stock.
Zan asked curiously, “You didn’t just go and take those did you, Rath? I mean he offered them, right?”
“Of course I didn’t just take them,” Rath stated, overstressing bruised feelings. “I simply told him that we needed to celebrate the coming of a new hybrid.”
Kolt smiled. “Ya know, I was thinking about asking Larek to arrange for a midwife to meet with Ava at the Horizon and explain some of the particulars about Adian birth. It might help Serena to figure out the possible issues of this pregnancy for Ava.”
Zan took a small glass from Rath. “Ava isn’t going to the ship, Kolt.” Kolt absentmindedly accepted a glass from Rath, passing it on to Lan.
“And .. it will do no good to pressure her about it,” Rath added, looking at the concern on Lan’s face. “Come on, we all know she isn’t going anywhere near the ship ‘til the work here is done, so there’s no use in discussing it further.”
The room was quiet but for the clink of glasses, as Zan looked to Lan. Without a word, he placed his hands on first Zan’s shoulder and then Rath’s. They both felt a warming sensation pass through their bodies. “You may drink up now boys,” he gave a laugh. “But remember this is not your normal Jack Daniels. I’m limiting you both to two shots a piece.” Rath frowned at him as Zan toasted. “To the future of Adia.”
“Here Here,” the four said in response, emptying their glasses together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the Horizon, Nicole tucked Emily into bed. “There, snug as a bug,” she kissed her on the cheek and smiled.
“Momma? Will we be seeing Max and the others soon?” Emily asked rubbing her sleepy eyes.
“In a few days, Em,” Nicole couldn’t look her in the eye as she answered. “You get some rest now.”
“Momma?” This time the small voice came from the opposite bunk. “I miss Ava and Kal,” Sierra whined.
“I know you do sweetie. We all do. But don’t worry, soon we will be together and we’re going to have a very big party.”
“Is it my birthday?” Sierra’s eyes grew wide with wonder.
“Sierra, your birthday is in January,” Emily said bluntly, pulling the covers up around her neck.
“Is it January?” she asked. Nicole shook her head, trying hard to remember just what month it actually was. “Um, no. It’s November. Sometime in November,” she said under her breath. How horrible was it that she couldn’t even tell her daughter the date, she thought to herself.
“Oh,” Sierra replied yawning. “Tomorrow you can help us work on the puzzle again, right Momma?” Her little eyes closed as Nicole turned down the overhead light to its dimmest. “Yes, Sierra. Tomorrow we’ll play and have fun. Now, sleep. I love you both very much. I’ll see you in the morning.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tess stood waiting for the last of the three men to join her outside of the runner. She eyed each man with scrutiny as the fourth man ran to join his team. “You will be taking me to Trinity, Justice to be exact. We will be a mere thirty miles from the Federalist camp there, and you will see that we get there safely without any detection from the enemy.”
The men all stood at attention, hands behind their backs, as she again scanned the four. “The purpose of this mission, Ma’am?” a voice rang out in question.
“I know what I’m looking for. Your job is to get me there,” she smirked in answer to the second man in line. “We will wait for the aerials and leave as soon as they arrive,” she explained with impatience. “Well, what are you waiting for?” she ordered. “Get aboard and wait for me there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Max-x, where are we going?” Liz whispered loudly. She giggled as he led her by the hand out into the dark of the night.
“Shh...it’s a surprise,” he hushed her. He stopped long enough to spin around and kiss her, with his eyes slightly glazed.
“You’re drunk! You’ve been drinking,” she whispered again, laughing. “What were you guys doing anyway?”
“Celebrating. And no, I’m not drunk. Kal wouldn’t let me get drunk,” he waved his hand in front of him. “No more than two… he said,” he slurred with a laugh, then covered his mouth quickly so the noise wouldn’t escape.
“Oooh,” Liz nodded, shaking her head slowly. “It’s a good thing we’re not driving,” she grinned rolling her eyes.
“Shh, you’ll wake everybody up,” he wrapped his arm around her neck and tried to lead the way.
It was a beautiful night. The day had seen a rise in the temperature, making it necessary to strip down to tee shirts and khakis, and even now at this late hour it hadn’t seemed any cooler. “Look at this,” he waved his hand over his head at the millions of stars above them. “It’s our gift to him,” he smiled and leaned down, kissing her quickly again.
“But we mustn’t spoil him,” Liz insisted, scrunching up her nose. “You can give him the heavens… but that is all..” she giggled, shaking her finger at him. He pulled her closer. “Have I told you how much I love you?” he sighed as he felt the warmth of her body against his.
“I think you’ve told me, but you can tell me again. Anytime,” she pressed her lips tasting the side of his neck and chills ran through him.
“Don’t distract me,” he pretended to be stern. “We are on a mission here,” he winked down into her moonlit face.
“Soo, where exactly are we going... and maybe we shouldn’t,” she answered.
“Hey, it’s the buddy system, and…we’re buddies, right?” His eyes were misty and clear as they searched longingly into hers. His mind shifted suddenly. “Larek’s left,” he said as he continued now to lead her down a path behind the monastery.
“Did you get to see him before he left?” she asked as they walked quicker now.
Max nodded. “He was thrilled that you asked him to be our baby’s godfather.”
“You don’t mind do you? I mean I should have talked to you first, Max, I know,” she held tighter to his hand as he led the way.
“Of course not. It was my exact thought. If you hadn’t, I would have,” Max squinted into the dark ahead. “Here we are,” he announced with a huge grin, as the path opened onto a clearing at the edge of a large shimmering pond.
“Oooh, it’s beautiful,” she sighed watching the moonlight dancing on the water. Before she could say another word his mouth was tenderly on hers. They hung in each other’s arms, deep in so many emotions. His lips rose from the softness of her skin, “Swim with me,” his throaty voice sent chills up her spine, as his hands slowly traveled up under her tee.
“Is it safe?” her voice seemed far away even to her own ears. He raised her top up and over her head. “You’re with me, My Lady. You are safe,” he murmured as he wet his lips and traced the curves of her shoulder, then moved down sensually over the soft curve of her breast with small butterfly kisses. “Ma-x,” she answered to his hands now moving down to the band of her khakis. Her fingers reached and pulled his shirt up over his head in one move. In seconds their unclothed bodies seemed to become one in the stillness around them.
The water lapped at the shoreline, as the two silhouettes moved slowly into the water. She had forgotten how good it felt. How their bodies seemed to float so soothingly in the unnatural buoyancy of the Adian waters.
He took a breath and submerged himself quickly, coming back up again and letting the water roll over him. Liz smiled as the moonlight glistened over them, and dove away from him with a hard deliberate splash.
“Hey!” he yelled after her. “Get back here. I have only just begun with your therapy here,” he laughed, shaking the water from his hair.
“Exercise,” she replied nodding her head from a short distance away. “You must come and get it,” she teased, tilting her head far back into the water to smooth her hair.
He dove through the water in her direction, just barely sending out a ripple across the top of the pond. She closed her eyes, disappearing under the waterline. Their bodies met in the depth of the water in slow motion, balancing together as her legs tightly wrapped his body. Her hair floated freely in billows around her, and her smooth skin felt slippery to his touch, as they became one with the warm and caressing water that now enveloped them both.
Breaking the surface for air, their kiss lingered on. “I love you, Ava,” he said breathlessly. “Do not ever forget that,” he traced her jaw line with his fingertips. “Know this, my love, for it is the only thing that will ever be true.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Liz woke suddenly startled out of a sound sleep. After eating a filling noon day meal she had, upon orders from both Max and John, laid down for a few hours. She’d been dreaming, a fitful dream of Max… but, the other Max. The one from the future.
She was drenched in perspiration and her heart was racing. Most of the dream upon waking was hazy and unclear to her. The more she tried to remember the fainter particular parts became. A good part of the dream had been about the night he had come to her window. Everything about those first moments had replayed in her mind. Where exactly was it that had he come from? Of course, he told her that he had come back from fourteen years in the future. Fourteen years, her mind repeated slowly.
Serena had, months before, suggested to all of them the only explanation that seemed feasible. That this Max was from a different timeline, explaining that the inconsistencies of the granolith could have very well sent him back into time, but possibly could have crossed him over time… into another dimension. Liz had never been completely comfortable with Serena’s scenario all these months, but now she found herself wondering and worrying all over again. It had been Future Max who had originally explained to her that the icon was a time machine. And of course he had also told her of the woman named Serena who had worked with him to transform the granolith.
She wiped her forehead and felt the back of her neck. She was burning up again. The fever was back. She cupped her hands over her stomach needing so badly to know if her spiking temperature was due to an abnormality with the baby. Was this something normal for a hybrid pregnancy? She needed information and the frustration that they were on their own was daunting, to say the least. She walked to the bureau and filled the basin with cool water from a pitcher there. Splashing it up onto her face her mind continued whirling.
There were a few things that the other Max had left out, she thought as she patted her face dry. First of all, he had never mentioned a baby... their baby. He had also included Tess in the equation of the royal four, and she was very aware that that just wasn’t the case anymore. And the keys? He hadn’t mentioned them at all, and wouldn’t he have? she asked herself. So what did it all mean?
She sat back down on the cot, remembering his words. It’s you Liz, you’re the one who has to change. Change? She had believed at the time that he had been referring to her feelings for him. Could he have been talking about the fact that she was actually Ava? Is that what he had meant? He had said that there were things that he couldn’t tell her. Was that one of those things? There was just no way of knowing. She thought about fourteen years from now… and swallowed hard, shaking off all the questions in her mind… all the maybes and what ifs.
She convinced herself again that the only thing that made any sense was that Serena had been right. Future Max had crossed over from another dimension because they had had no knowledge of the keys to control the icon. But in this timeline now, things had changed...she had changed; and that change had led them not only to finding Kal, John and Serena, which eventually led to finding the manuscript and on to the knowledge of the keys, but also to the Landau and Duncan families.
So she and Future Max together, over a year before, had succeeded in saving the world in his timeline, and now both again faced doing the same in their own.
She looked around the room, wondering how long she had slept, and her mind drifted to the next day. St. Mirad’s Day. She breathed a long fresh breath of air into her lungs.
She pulled her hair back and thought of Maria back on the Horizon. Knowing her as she had and knowing her deep feelings for Michael, she could only imagine the emotional stress her friend was going through at this moment with being separated from him. A light knock came at the door, and it opened a crack.
“Liz? Oh good, you are awake,” Max smiled at seeing her up and about. They connected instantly and he immediately knew she was troubled and not feeling well.
“It’s just the fever, it’s back again,” she frowned, and then noticed that he wasn’t alone. Two people entered the room behind him, both women and dressed in military camouflage.
“Babe, this is Shane and Jillian, they’re physicians from the Federalist camp. Larek sent them up here with Marcel to check you over. You know just precautionary. They’ve also brought along some meds that hopefully will help with the fever.”
Max closed the door as the two women smiled and nodded to her. “It is an honor to meet you, my lady,” the taller one curtsied, while the other took Liz’s hand. “With your permission, we just want to examine you and ask you a few questions. Personally I have not ever had the pleasure of being with child, but Jillian has. She has two of her own, actually,” she motioned to the woman by her side. “But I have delivered quite a few,” Shane added.
Max hung purposely in the background, watching the three. “Maybe I should wait downstairs?”
“That might be easier. But the decision, of course, is up to the Lady Ava,” Jillian answered quite frankly.
“No, Max. I want you here,” Liz stated quickly. He blushed, but nodded. “Okay,” he said, taking a seat in the corner. “I’m here,” he winked at her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After dinner back at camp, Larek had retired to his tent. He was waiting for a report from two of his team. They were two of the best physicians available to his troops. He wasn’t sure just how much help they would be, having never had any interaction with a hybrid before; but Ava’s overall health was of concern to him, especially now.
He sighed. So Sparrow was going to have a child. It hardly seemed possible, he thought with a smile. The young girl he had come to care so very much about was about to be a mother. He could not be happier for her and Zan. She was with the man she loved, the man she had always adored, and with the baby, he now had one more reason to pray.
But there was something else now, something important that he needed to do tonight, he thought to himself. He turned up the oil lamp and sat down at his desk grabbing a pen and paper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael sat in his room at the monastery. The candle glow by the cot made him rub at his eyes. He crumbled yet another page of notebook paper, throwing it to join the five already lying on the floor beside him.
How could he ever say what he was feeling? What she meant to him…what she had always meant to him… what he had realized that night at the Aladdin Motel. At that very instant he had known that as different as they were, they were very much the same… so very much the same. He was so frustrated with himself. He wanted to write something, anything! For the love of the gods, man!
He leaned back against the wall, stretching out his legs. His mind was filled with so many things at this moment. He knew all too well that Marcel was leaving very soon with the two doctors from camp. He had to write something for her and do it quickly. If he were to die tomorrow, he needed her to know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jared was alone in the High Hall, his head still spinning. The dizzy spells came regularly now, three or four times a day. He looked down to the small black box in his hands, it pleased him well that both lights now showed a slow flashing bright green glow.
He thought of the granolith. Should she screw up yet again, it would be time to take matters into his own hands. The icon was close by; he could feel it in every fiber of his body. If nothing else, Tess might possibly locate the phantom ship on Trinity, something that he should have considered and already taken care of… but he just couldn’t think straight lately. His memory at times seemed to be seriously affected by this malady, whatever it was. His physicians were in the process of mixing up a brew, a new concoction, to counteract the effects of the Guardian on his mind and body.
He shakily rose to his feet, looking around him. The strange voices of a few moments before had faded again. At times he felt he was losing his mind. The room was haunted, he concluded. But these lowly strange uninvited guests would cause him no more grief, he wouldn’t allow it. His honor guard was on patrol at all times now. He frowned remembering the celebration that his kingdom expected the following morning. Peons, all of them, and to think they still proclaimed faith in their religious prophets. St. Mirad’s Day, he laughed out loud. Well, he was King now and he would certainly see to it that this was the last religious celebration ever held within the castle walls. Or..., his mind schemed, he would simply proclaim it to be his own celebration… a festival in honor of the greatest and most powerful king they had ever known.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You will have the recon photographs that you’ve requested before dawn,” the officer explained calmly at seeing Tess reenter his office yet once again.
“Dawn? I would hope so,” she glared at him. “This is an urgent matter that has been ordered by Jared himself. I would hate to have to report your belligerence at deliberately causing this delay.”
“I am fulfilling your wishes in the speediest manner I know how, Ma’am. There is a war going on, in case you have not noticed. Your request did not take priority. I am in command here, and I take my orders directly from Jared himself. But seeing that you have the King’s favor, I have done my best to help you. You will have your report. A scout ship has just left to fulfill your request, but this takes time. And now… I have more pressing matters of concern to deal with. If you’ll excuse me,” he nodded to her, leaving the room.
Her face twisted in anger as the door closed behind him. Her expression then very slowly changed. “…and when I am your Queen, you will be dead,” she said with a sly smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So what you are saying basically is that she appears to be in good health, and the baby as well… with the exception of this fever of hers?” John was walking both doctors toward the runner behind the monastery.
“Yes, we have explained to the Lord and Lady that everything appears to be normal,” Shane explained. “But you must also understand that the unusual nature of this pregnancy will mean that we will need to continue to monitor the child on a regular basis.”
John shook his head, agreeing. “And from what I recall, the normal Adian pregnancy is six months, is it not?”
“Normally, yes,” Jillian answered. “However, Ava has explained that a human gestation is a full nine months. Could turn out to be either or somewhere in between. This is why we need to watch things closely. The Lady is beginning to already show a slight maturity, so I would guess, and it is only a guess, that she is maybe a few weeks… based on Adian standards.”
John looked around as they reached the runner. “Where will the two of you be tomorrow?” he asked, curiously.
“Jillian will be with the forces at Milinga. I will be at a base being set up several kilometers from Leoch,” Shane said, trying to smile. The two women stepped up inside the vehicle, and Shane turned back. “We are still waiting on Marcel. He had business to see to with Rath.” She shook John’s hand, as did Jillian, as she looked him in the eye. “May the gods watch over us all.”
“Okay, are we ready?” Marcel’s voice came up from behind John.
“Did you see Rath?” John asked anxiously, knowing Michael had been adamant about seeing him before he left for Trinity.
“Yes, it’s been taken care of.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz woke suddenly startled out of a sound sleep. After eating a filling noon day meal she had, upon orders from both Max and John, laid down for a few hours. She’d been dreaming, a fitful dream of Max… but, the other Max. The one from the future.
She was drenched in perspiration and her heart was racing. Most of the dream upon waking was hazy and unclear to her. The more she tried to remember the fainter particular parts became. A good part of the dream had been about the night he had come to her window. Everything about those first moments had replayed in her mind. Where exactly was it that had he come from? Of course, he told her that he had come back from fourteen years in the future. Fourteen years, her mind repeated slowly.
Serena had, months before, suggested to all of them the only explanation that seemed feasible. That this Max was from a different timeline, explaining that the inconsistencies of the granolith could have very well sent him back into time, but possibly could have crossed him over time… into another dimension. Liz had never been completely comfortable with Serena’s scenario all these months, but now she found herself wondering and worrying all over again. It had been Future Max who had originally explained to her that the icon was a time machine. And of course he had also told her of the woman named Serena who had worked with him to transform the granolith.
She wiped her forehead and felt the back of her neck. She was burning up again. The fever was back. She cupped her hands over her stomach needing so badly to know if her spiking temperature was due to an abnormality with the baby. Was this something normal for a hybrid pregnancy? She needed information and the frustration that they were on their own was daunting, to say the least. She walked to the bureau and filled the basin with cool water from a pitcher there. Splashing it up onto her face her mind continued whirling.
There were a few things that the other Max had left out, she thought as she patted her face dry. First of all, he had never mentioned a baby... their baby. He had also included Tess in the equation of the royal four, and she was very aware that that just wasn’t the case anymore. And the keys? He hadn’t mentioned them at all, and wouldn’t he have? she asked herself. So what did it all mean?
She sat back down on the cot, remembering his words. It’s you Liz, you’re the one who has to change. Change? She had believed at the time that he had been referring to her feelings for him. Could he have been talking about the fact that she was actually Ava? Is that what he had meant? He had said that there were things that he couldn’t tell her. Was that one of those things? There was just no way of knowing. She thought about fourteen years from now… and swallowed hard, shaking off all the questions in her mind… all the maybes and what ifs.
She convinced herself again that the only thing that made any sense was that Serena had been right. Future Max had crossed over from another dimension because they had had no knowledge of the keys to control the icon. But in this timeline now, things had changed...she had changed; and that change had led them not only to finding Kal, John and Serena, which eventually led to finding the manuscript and on to the knowledge of the keys, but also to the Landau and Duncan families.
So she and Future Max together, over a year before, had succeeded in saving the world in his timeline, and now both again faced doing the same in their own.
She looked around the room, wondering how long she had slept, and her mind drifted to the next day. St. Mirad’s Day. She breathed a long fresh breath of air into her lungs.
She pulled her hair back and thought of Maria back on the Horizon. Knowing her as she had and knowing her deep feelings for Michael, she could only imagine the emotional stress her friend was going through at this moment with being separated from him. A light knock came at the door, and it opened a crack.
“Liz? Oh good, you are awake,” Max smiled at seeing her up and about. They connected instantly and he immediately knew she was troubled and not feeling well.
“It’s just the fever, it’s back again,” she frowned, and then noticed that he wasn’t alone. Two people entered the room behind him, both women and dressed in military camouflage.
“Babe, this is Shane and Jillian, they’re physicians from the Federalist camp. Larek sent them up here with Marcel to check you over. You know just precautionary. They’ve also brought along some meds that hopefully will help with the fever.”
Max closed the door as the two women smiled and nodded to her. “It is an honor to meet you, my lady,” the taller one curtsied, while the other took Liz’s hand. “With your permission, we just want to examine you and ask you a few questions. Personally I have not ever had the pleasure of being with child, but Jillian has. She has two of her own, actually,” she motioned to the woman by her side. “But I have delivered quite a few,” Shane added.
Max hung purposely in the background, watching the three. “Maybe I should wait downstairs?”
“That might be easier. But the decision, of course, is up to the Lady Ava,” Jillian answered quite frankly.
“No, Max. I want you here,” Liz stated quickly. He blushed, but nodded. “Okay,” he said, taking a seat in the corner. “I’m here,” he winked at her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After dinner back at camp, Larek had retired to his tent. He was waiting for a report from two of his team. They were two of the best physicians available to his troops. He wasn’t sure just how much help they would be, having never had any interaction with a hybrid before; but Ava’s overall health was of concern to him, especially now.
He sighed. So Sparrow was going to have a child. It hardly seemed possible, he thought with a smile. The young girl he had come to care so very much about was about to be a mother. He could not be happier for her and Zan. She was with the man she loved, the man she had always adored, and with the baby, he now had one more reason to pray.
But there was something else now, something important that he needed to do tonight, he thought to himself. He turned up the oil lamp and sat down at his desk grabbing a pen and paper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael sat in his room at the monastery. The candle glow by the cot made him rub at his eyes. He crumbled yet another page of notebook paper, throwing it to join the five already lying on the floor beside him.
How could he ever say what he was feeling? What she meant to him…what she had always meant to him… what he had realized that night at the Aladdin Motel. At that very instant he had known that as different as they were, they were very much the same… so very much the same. He was so frustrated with himself. He wanted to write something, anything! For the love of the gods, man!
He leaned back against the wall, stretching out his legs. His mind was filled with so many things at this moment. He knew all too well that Marcel was leaving very soon with the two doctors from camp. He had to write something for her and do it quickly. If he were to die tomorrow, he needed her to know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jared was alone in the High Hall, his head still spinning. The dizzy spells came regularly now, three or four times a day. He looked down to the small black box in his hands, it pleased him well that both lights now showed a slow flashing bright green glow.
He thought of the granolith. Should she screw up yet again, it would be time to take matters into his own hands. The icon was close by; he could feel it in every fiber of his body. If nothing else, Tess might possibly locate the phantom ship on Trinity, something that he should have considered and already taken care of… but he just couldn’t think straight lately. His memory at times seemed to be seriously affected by this malady, whatever it was. His physicians were in the process of mixing up a brew, a new concoction, to counteract the effects of the Guardian on his mind and body.
He shakily rose to his feet, looking around him. The strange voices of a few moments before had faded again. At times he felt he was losing his mind. The room was haunted, he concluded. But these lowly strange uninvited guests would cause him no more grief, he wouldn’t allow it. His honor guard was on patrol at all times now. He frowned remembering the celebration that his kingdom expected the following morning. Peons, all of them, and to think they still proclaimed faith in their religious prophets. St. Mirad’s Day, he laughed out loud. Well, he was King now and he would certainly see to it that this was the last religious celebration ever held within the castle walls. Or..., his mind schemed, he would simply proclaim it to be his own celebration… a festival in honor of the greatest and most powerful king they had ever known.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You will have the recon photographs that you’ve requested before dawn,” the officer explained calmly at seeing Tess reenter his office yet once again.
“Dawn? I would hope so,” she glared at him. “This is an urgent matter that has been ordered by Jared himself. I would hate to have to report your belligerence at deliberately causing this delay.”
“I am fulfilling your wishes in the speediest manner I know how, Ma’am. There is a war going on, in case you have not noticed. Your request did not take priority. I am in command here, and I take my orders directly from Jared himself. But seeing that you have the King’s favor, I have done my best to help you. You will have your report. A scout ship has just left to fulfill your request, but this takes time. And now… I have more pressing matters of concern to deal with. If you’ll excuse me,” he nodded to her, leaving the room.
Her face twisted in anger as the door closed behind him. Her expression then very slowly changed. “…and when I am your Queen, you will be dead,” she said with a sly smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So what you are saying basically is that she appears to be in good health, and the baby as well… with the exception of this fever of hers?” John was walking both doctors toward the runner behind the monastery.
“Yes, we have explained to the Lord and Lady that everything appears to be normal,” Shane explained. “But you must also understand that the unusual nature of this pregnancy will mean that we will need to continue to monitor the child on a regular basis.”
John shook his head, agreeing. “And from what I recall, the normal Adian pregnancy is six months, is it not?”
“Normally, yes,” Jillian answered. “However, Ava has explained that a human gestation is a full nine months. Could turn out to be either or somewhere in between. This is why we need to watch things closely. The Lady is beginning to already show a slight maturity, so I would guess, and it is only a guess, that she is maybe a few weeks… based on Adian standards.”
John looked around as they reached the runner. “Where will the two of you be tomorrow?” he asked, curiously.
“Jillian will be with the forces at Milinga. I will be at a base being set up several kilometers from Leoch,” Shane said, trying to smile. The two women stepped up inside the vehicle, and Shane turned back. “We are still waiting on Marcel. He had business to see to with Rath.” She shook John’s hand, as did Jillian, as she looked him in the eye. “May the gods watch over us all.”
“Okay, are we ready?” Marcel’s voice came up from behind John.
“Did you see Rath?” John asked anxiously, knowing Michael had been adamant about seeing him before he left for Trinity.
“Yes, it’s been taken care of.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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*Paraphrased lyrics from Three Doors Down
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Marcel handed a small folded paper to Nicole. “From Larek, my Lady,” he nodded his head.
Her face blushed with surprise. “Oh. Thank you, Marcel,” she said with a shy smile, sticking the note quickly into her pocket. Her heart begged her to read it right then, but Emily and Sierra were with her, and this was something she wanted to do alone.
Marcel nodded to Maria, motioning to talk to her privately. “Rath… Michael,” he corrected himself, “sends a message to you, Maria. He told me to tell you that he loves you and that ... I’m not quite sure of this part, but he said, please bake him an apple pie and he will see you for dinner tomorrow.”
Tears filled her eyes. Michael, her man of few words. Her Michael. Dinner tomorrow. She prayed for dinner tomorrow.. and all the tomorrows after that. “When you see him, Marcel,” she tried not to sob. “Tell him two words.” He looked at her intently, waiting. “From scratch," she emphasized the words. His eyebrows furrowed. This one was a strange one, Marcel thought to himself, perfect couple. “I will tell him exactly that, Miss.”
Reaching into his top pocket he crooked his finger to the littlest redhead. Shyly, she moved toward him. “This, little one, is a special memento from Kal,” he smiled, handing the bloom of an extraordinary flower into her small hand. “He told me to tell you that it is called an Astria, and that you should press it between the pages of your favorite book for safe keeping.” She ran back to her mother’s side grinning, with her infamous flower cupped in hand.
Marcel than winked at Emily who came forward timidly. Leaning over he took a large object from his carryall. “And this is for you. From your Aunt Ava,” he explained. As Emily’s eyes grew wider, he carefully unwrapped Claudia Parker’s book. She curtsied cutely as she hugged Liz’s grandmother’s book tightly to her chest. Maria swallowed hard, looking teary eyed to Nicole.
Marcel looked around the room once again for Serena. "I also have great news for everyone here,” he grinned excitingly at saving the best for last. “I have a personal message from Zan to all of you. The Lady Ava is pregnant. They are expecting a child.”
Serena’s smile broadened at finally having a confirmation, “Oh, that’s wonderful!” she exclaimed as her hands covered her mouth in happiness.
“Woo-hoo! I knew it!” Maria yelled out, raising her hand and sharing a high five with Serena.
“A baby?” Jessie said somewhat startled. Nicole couldn’t help but voice her concern, “And she’s not coming here… here to the ship?”
“No, the Lady has decided that she will stay at Rochell. The plans for tomorrow have not been altered to my knowledge,” Marcel stated, smiling as his eyes once again caught Ava’s.
“She is a stubborn one,” Ava added, trying to ignore his gaze. “But I’m not surprised that she’s not leaving Zan’s side.”
“Yeah, that would have surprised me greatly too,” Serena conceded.
“The Commander has just had two of our finest medical personal examine the Lady. Their report is that she appears to be in fine health.” Marcel walked back toward the door.
“And the fever?” Serena questioned.
“They’ve given her something that hopefully will help with that,” he answered. “They’ve assumed of course that it could have a great deal to do with the intricacies of her physiology.”
He then frowned, “I cannot stay. I truly wish that I could, but Larek is anxious to hear the good news I’ve just shared with you.” He again smiled directly at Ava, who now blushed slightly. “There’s much to ready for,” he finished.
“Marcel, thank you, and please... be careful,” Serena hugged him.
“I will send reports tomorrow to keep you all informed,” he promised at seeing the look in everyone’s eyes.
Nicole stepped forward, with the children at her skirt. “Thank you,” she whispered, wanting to say so much more. “Please, Marcel, tell Larek … tell him..,” she stammered, “…to be safe,” she finally finished, so far from what she had wanted to say.
“It is alright, my lady. He knows,” he said with a nod, understanding so much more than she had said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maria came into the galley. “I was wondering where you got too,” she said at finding Nicole standing there alone.
“From Larek,” Nicole said motioning to the paper in her hand. “I’m half afraid to read it,” she laughed nervously, as her hands shook. She opened it slowly.
N.
All the miles that separate
seem to disappear now while I’m dreaming of your face.
I am here without you, but you’re still on my lonely mind.
I think about you, and I dream about you all the time…
..and tonight it is only you and me. L.
Nicole smiled through a barrage of tears, and the two held each other facing their surmounting fears together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“See, I told you both that I was fine,” Liz said. “Now do you believe me?”
“Yes, I believed you before, but I feel a whole lot better now,” Max grinned down at her, grabbing her from behind and placing his hands protectively around her stomach.
“Look, you two get a good night’s rest. There’s nothing further to do tonight. Make sure he sleeps,” John insisted, giving Liz the eye.
“I promise you he will, John.”
“I don’t know about sleep, but I will rest,” he answered honestly. “Morning will come soon enough.”
“If you remember, the celebrations tomorrow begin at dawn. We will all go down to Leoch and mingle outside. Kal and Katain, along with Jonathan and Marshall, will be leaving for Milinga at first light. Oh, one other thing, Jasper has asked that we all meet together in the prayer room before leaving,” John shook his head to them both. “Have a good night.” Kissing Liz on the cheek, he left the room.
The two stood still, listening to the quiet, until Liz led him to the bed. “You okay?” he asked, turning her to face him.
She nodded her head, smiling up at him. “You heard the man…rest,” she said pointing to the cot, half jokingly. “All I want right now is to lie with you, just hold me without a word,” she whispered to him, searching his face for peace. He kissed her lightly and took his one and only love to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sierra hadn’t been able to sleep, and Ava had offered to bring her to her room after fixing her some nice warm milk in the galley. Maria lay on a blanket on the floor of the room with Nicole and Emily, who were now asleep in their cots to either side of her. She couldn’t face lying in the cot in the room she had shared with Michael. It was just too empty. It was just too heartbreaking. Everything was going to be alright, she thought out into the darkness and quiet around them, needing so badly to convince herself. It had to be alright.
From where she laid she watched out the window at the twinkling stars outside. Somewhere there, way back there, life was going on as usual. Amy would be scurrying around either getting ready for bed or making coffee in a rush to head off to work, she wasn’t sure which. “I miss you so much, Mom,” she whispered softly, wiping at her nose. Kyle was back there… and Jim, and the Crashdown, and the UFO Museum… and West Roswell High and all the people she had once known and taken so much for granted.
When Liz was around, it was easier to ignore the fact that they weren’t home… that they were light years out into space on some distant planet. But for the last hours, being without her love and her best friend had been unbearable for her. If it hadn’t been for Nicole and Serena she felt she would have completely lost her sanity. She sat up on the makeshift bed, listening carefully. There it was again. A sound she didn’t recognize…
Nicole rustled on her cot then propped herself up on one elbow. “What the hell was that?” she asked, sleepy eyed, but now all too alert.
Maria was now on her feet. “Sounded metallic… or...” Her words were interrupted again by the same sound. “It’s coming from outside, I think.” She checked Emily and Sierra, who were both still sound asleep. A faint tapping on their door came next, scaring the hell out of both of them.
“Nicole?” It was Serena’s voice. Maria opened the door. “I know, we heard it too. What the hell is it?” Suddenly a large blast flashed outside the window and rocked the ship, as the sound of screaming outside voices echoed in the small room.
“Oh my God!” Maria screamed, now from the window. “We’re being attacked!” she yelled again, but this time in her loudest whisper. Nicole was on her feet. Serena turned to find Jessie and Raymond running down the hall each from their own rooms.
The agonizing screams and frantic yells continued coming from the outside and the rumbling blasts and white piercing light of fire surrounded the ship. It looked exactly as it was, Maria thought in terror. A war zone.
“Get to the bridge!” Serena yelled, as Nicole gathered Emily up into her arms. Nicole yelled to Serena, “Sierra and Ava! They’re in the galley!”
“Mommy what’s happening?” Emily cried, now wide awake and full of fear as they hurried down the hall. “It’s okay, baby!” Nicole answered, in a less than convincing voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“There’s trouble at the Horizon!” Michel bellowed breathlessly as he busted into Larek’s tent.
Larek had been awakened himself just seconds before by the sound of a blast close by. “Fuck!” Both men were now out the door, screaming orders to the few soldiers left there.
“I’ve already sent six runners into Justice, we only had seventy troops left in camp. The rest are already out there, stationed strategically back on Adia,” Michel stated what Larek already knew.
“How the hell did this happen?” Larek demanded as he pulled on his boots and grabbed up his weapons. “There are fifty troops there, and not one of them signaled us?”
“No they did not, Commander,” Michel replied very quietly. Pulling on his flight gear, the two jumped aboard the last runner leaving the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the Horizon, all had gathered on the bridge as the sounds of fighting continued outside. “I’m going for Sierra and Ava!” Nicole announced, handing Emily over to Maria.
“No!” Angelique ordered. “Stay here. I know Ava, she will be sure they take cover.”
Serena looked from one to the other, not knowing what to do. Gathering as much rationale as she could from somewhere deep inside, she agreed. “They will make their way here, I’m sure of it.” The look on Nicole’s face was one of sheer panic.
“I’m going down in the hull to bring up some weapons,” Coby tried his best to take some kind of control. Serena looked at him undecided and finally shook her head. “Coby…”
“I know, I’ll be careful,” he touched her arm. “All of you stay right here.” He headed out the door.
Nicole hugged Emily close as the little one sat quietly, sobbing. Angelique positioned herself by the door. Jessie quickly sat at the console and began sending out a message to anyone that would hear. “We are under attack. The Horizon is under attack!” she yelled into the microphone.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to hear you, Jess,” Maria said, frowning. “Hopefully they already know.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ava sat scrunched down in the med bay, with her body tightly wrapped around the little one. Once the first blast had hit, she and Sierra had run out of the galley, as lose glassware shattered from the ship’s vibration. Sierra was crying as Ava did her best to comfort her, leading her over to the medical area.
“Are we going to die, Aunt Ava?” Sierra whimpered. Ava looked around quickly as another, but different noise echoed through. It’s the bay doors, she thought as her body shook. “No Sierra. We just need to wait here until things quiet down a bit.” She realized just how insane that sounded, as she heard the sound of footsteps farther down the hall. The steps were coming closer now. She let go with a silent gasp as a figure walked past the door towards the stairs leading to the bridge. It was Tess.
Once she heard the footsteps on the metal stairs leading up to the deck above, she leaned down to Sierra. “Stay here. Do not move. Do you understand me?” The small one nodded her head uncontrollably. Ava stood up and made her way across the room to the intercom on the wall. Being careful to push the button only for the bridge she whispered, “Is anyone there?” A slight static came from within the speaker. “Yes!” It was Serena’s voice. “Serena, Tess is in the ship. She is coming your way,” she said ever so softly.
“Dear God,” was the response from someone on the bridge. “Okay, Ava listen to me,” Serena replied her voice shaking. “Are you armed?” Ava nodded as if Serena could see. Then shaking her head again she answered, “Yes… yes.” There was slight static again, but she heard Serena’s voice through the muffle. “Stay where you are. Both of you stay out of sight.” Ava released the button, looking down at the frightened girl crouched in the corner under the counter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angelique, at hearing her granddaughter’s voice, slowly rose from her chair as the others frantically discussed their next move. She slid out into the hall, out of sight of Tess who had just now reached the top landing.
“Angelique! What the hell is she doing!” Maria called out. But it was too late, the door had slammed shut and locked after her.
Tess stood weapon strapped by her side as she crept along the wall in the hallway. A noise on the stairs twirled her around to meet face to face with Coby. In his arms he held four weapons. Dropping three, he quickly raised the MIG rifle point blank at her. “Don’t move Bitch!” his voice shook. “Or I will blow you to kingdom come.” Before he had a chance to react, she rolled to the floor throwing a blast in his direction, throwing him off balance. He screamed out in pain, falling backward down and around the spiral stairs as his gun discharged three times, ricocheting around the hall. He crumbled to the floor below, moaning in pain from the burns on his legs.
“Oh my God. Coby!” Serena screamed out to him hearing his cries. Jessie positioned herself just inside the now closed door, feeling for the first time in her life the certain power raging inside her. Tess threw another blast hitting the control room door full force. The fireball scorched and melted the surface but did not break it free. Again she tried, as those on the other side of the door cringed and prayed. And again, the door did not budge.
“Michael I love you,” Maria murmured to herself as the tears flowed.
“Ava! Sierra!” Angelique’s voice echoed up from the deck below. A broad smile crossed Tess’s face. Taking a minute to decide her course of action, she ran her fingers now around the perimeter of the door. A green glow escaped from her fingertips, as the molted metal sealed the bridge door shut.
“Is the door holding?” Maria asked frantically.
“It would seem so. But I think she has trapped us in here,” Raymond exclaimed, running to the door and pushing the release valve to no avail. “She’s sealed us in.”
“Noo!” Nicole cried out hysterically, wanting nothing but to hold her youngest daughter in her arms at that second.
“You heard Ava. She’ll keep Sierra safe,” Maria insisted as she did her best to comfort her in an already impossible situation. They all stared at each other as the hall on the other side of the door suddenly now became very quiet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Marcel handed a small folded paper to Nicole. “From Larek, my Lady,” he nodded his head.
Her face blushed with surprise. “Oh. Thank you, Marcel,” she said with a shy smile, sticking the note quickly into her pocket. Her heart begged her to read it right then, but Emily and Sierra were with her, and this was something she wanted to do alone.
Marcel nodded to Maria, motioning to talk to her privately. “Rath… Michael,” he corrected himself, “sends a message to you, Maria. He told me to tell you that he loves you and that ... I’m not quite sure of this part, but he said, please bake him an apple pie and he will see you for dinner tomorrow.”
Tears filled her eyes. Michael, her man of few words. Her Michael. Dinner tomorrow. She prayed for dinner tomorrow.. and all the tomorrows after that. “When you see him, Marcel,” she tried not to sob. “Tell him two words.” He looked at her intently, waiting. “From scratch," she emphasized the words. His eyebrows furrowed. This one was a strange one, Marcel thought to himself, perfect couple. “I will tell him exactly that, Miss.”
Reaching into his top pocket he crooked his finger to the littlest redhead. Shyly, she moved toward him. “This, little one, is a special memento from Kal,” he smiled, handing the bloom of an extraordinary flower into her small hand. “He told me to tell you that it is called an Astria, and that you should press it between the pages of your favorite book for safe keeping.” She ran back to her mother’s side grinning, with her infamous flower cupped in hand.
Marcel than winked at Emily who came forward timidly. Leaning over he took a large object from his carryall. “And this is for you. From your Aunt Ava,” he explained. As Emily’s eyes grew wider, he carefully unwrapped Claudia Parker’s book. She curtsied cutely as she hugged Liz’s grandmother’s book tightly to her chest. Maria swallowed hard, looking teary eyed to Nicole.
Marcel looked around the room once again for Serena. "I also have great news for everyone here,” he grinned excitingly at saving the best for last. “I have a personal message from Zan to all of you. The Lady Ava is pregnant. They are expecting a child.”
Serena’s smile broadened at finally having a confirmation, “Oh, that’s wonderful!” she exclaimed as her hands covered her mouth in happiness.
“Woo-hoo! I knew it!” Maria yelled out, raising her hand and sharing a high five with Serena.
“A baby?” Jessie said somewhat startled. Nicole couldn’t help but voice her concern, “And she’s not coming here… here to the ship?”
“No, the Lady has decided that she will stay at Rochell. The plans for tomorrow have not been altered to my knowledge,” Marcel stated, smiling as his eyes once again caught Ava’s.
“She is a stubborn one,” Ava added, trying to ignore his gaze. “But I’m not surprised that she’s not leaving Zan’s side.”
“Yeah, that would have surprised me greatly too,” Serena conceded.
“The Commander has just had two of our finest medical personal examine the Lady. Their report is that she appears to be in fine health.” Marcel walked back toward the door.
“And the fever?” Serena questioned.
“They’ve given her something that hopefully will help with that,” he answered. “They’ve assumed of course that it could have a great deal to do with the intricacies of her physiology.”
He then frowned, “I cannot stay. I truly wish that I could, but Larek is anxious to hear the good news I’ve just shared with you.” He again smiled directly at Ava, who now blushed slightly. “There’s much to ready for,” he finished.
“Marcel, thank you, and please... be careful,” Serena hugged him.
“I will send reports tomorrow to keep you all informed,” he promised at seeing the look in everyone’s eyes.
Nicole stepped forward, with the children at her skirt. “Thank you,” she whispered, wanting to say so much more. “Please, Marcel, tell Larek … tell him..,” she stammered, “…to be safe,” she finally finished, so far from what she had wanted to say.
“It is alright, my lady. He knows,” he said with a nod, understanding so much more than she had said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maria came into the galley. “I was wondering where you got too,” she said at finding Nicole standing there alone.
“From Larek,” Nicole said motioning to the paper in her hand. “I’m half afraid to read it,” she laughed nervously, as her hands shook. She opened it slowly.
N.
All the miles that separate
seem to disappear now while I’m dreaming of your face.
I am here without you, but you’re still on my lonely mind.
I think about you, and I dream about you all the time…
..and tonight it is only you and me. L.
Nicole smiled through a barrage of tears, and the two held each other facing their surmounting fears together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“See, I told you both that I was fine,” Liz said. “Now do you believe me?”
“Yes, I believed you before, but I feel a whole lot better now,” Max grinned down at her, grabbing her from behind and placing his hands protectively around her stomach.
“Look, you two get a good night’s rest. There’s nothing further to do tonight. Make sure he sleeps,” John insisted, giving Liz the eye.
“I promise you he will, John.”
“I don’t know about sleep, but I will rest,” he answered honestly. “Morning will come soon enough.”
“If you remember, the celebrations tomorrow begin at dawn. We will all go down to Leoch and mingle outside. Kal and Katain, along with Jonathan and Marshall, will be leaving for Milinga at first light. Oh, one other thing, Jasper has asked that we all meet together in the prayer room before leaving,” John shook his head to them both. “Have a good night.” Kissing Liz on the cheek, he left the room.
The two stood still, listening to the quiet, until Liz led him to the bed. “You okay?” he asked, turning her to face him.
She nodded her head, smiling up at him. “You heard the man…rest,” she said pointing to the cot, half jokingly. “All I want right now is to lie with you, just hold me without a word,” she whispered to him, searching his face for peace. He kissed her lightly and took his one and only love to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sierra hadn’t been able to sleep, and Ava had offered to bring her to her room after fixing her some nice warm milk in the galley. Maria lay on a blanket on the floor of the room with Nicole and Emily, who were now asleep in their cots to either side of her. She couldn’t face lying in the cot in the room she had shared with Michael. It was just too empty. It was just too heartbreaking. Everything was going to be alright, she thought out into the darkness and quiet around them, needing so badly to convince herself. It had to be alright.
From where she laid she watched out the window at the twinkling stars outside. Somewhere there, way back there, life was going on as usual. Amy would be scurrying around either getting ready for bed or making coffee in a rush to head off to work, she wasn’t sure which. “I miss you so much, Mom,” she whispered softly, wiping at her nose. Kyle was back there… and Jim, and the Crashdown, and the UFO Museum… and West Roswell High and all the people she had once known and taken so much for granted.
When Liz was around, it was easier to ignore the fact that they weren’t home… that they were light years out into space on some distant planet. But for the last hours, being without her love and her best friend had been unbearable for her. If it hadn’t been for Nicole and Serena she felt she would have completely lost her sanity. She sat up on the makeshift bed, listening carefully. There it was again. A sound she didn’t recognize…
Nicole rustled on her cot then propped herself up on one elbow. “What the hell was that?” she asked, sleepy eyed, but now all too alert.
Maria was now on her feet. “Sounded metallic… or...” Her words were interrupted again by the same sound. “It’s coming from outside, I think.” She checked Emily and Sierra, who were both still sound asleep. A faint tapping on their door came next, scaring the hell out of both of them.
“Nicole?” It was Serena’s voice. Maria opened the door. “I know, we heard it too. What the hell is it?” Suddenly a large blast flashed outside the window and rocked the ship, as the sound of screaming outside voices echoed in the small room.
“Oh my God!” Maria screamed, now from the window. “We’re being attacked!” she yelled again, but this time in her loudest whisper. Nicole was on her feet. Serena turned to find Jessie and Raymond running down the hall each from their own rooms.
The agonizing screams and frantic yells continued coming from the outside and the rumbling blasts and white piercing light of fire surrounded the ship. It looked exactly as it was, Maria thought in terror. A war zone.
“Get to the bridge!” Serena yelled, as Nicole gathered Emily up into her arms. Nicole yelled to Serena, “Sierra and Ava! They’re in the galley!”
“Mommy what’s happening?” Emily cried, now wide awake and full of fear as they hurried down the hall. “It’s okay, baby!” Nicole answered, in a less than convincing voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“There’s trouble at the Horizon!” Michel bellowed breathlessly as he busted into Larek’s tent.
Larek had been awakened himself just seconds before by the sound of a blast close by. “Fuck!” Both men were now out the door, screaming orders to the few soldiers left there.
“I’ve already sent six runners into Justice, we only had seventy troops left in camp. The rest are already out there, stationed strategically back on Adia,” Michel stated what Larek already knew.
“How the hell did this happen?” Larek demanded as he pulled on his boots and grabbed up his weapons. “There are fifty troops there, and not one of them signaled us?”
“No they did not, Commander,” Michel replied very quietly. Pulling on his flight gear, the two jumped aboard the last runner leaving the surface.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the Horizon, all had gathered on the bridge as the sounds of fighting continued outside. “I’m going for Sierra and Ava!” Nicole announced, handing Emily over to Maria.
“No!” Angelique ordered. “Stay here. I know Ava, she will be sure they take cover.”
Serena looked from one to the other, not knowing what to do. Gathering as much rationale as she could from somewhere deep inside, she agreed. “They will make their way here, I’m sure of it.” The look on Nicole’s face was one of sheer panic.
“I’m going down in the hull to bring up some weapons,” Coby tried his best to take some kind of control. Serena looked at him undecided and finally shook her head. “Coby…”
“I know, I’ll be careful,” he touched her arm. “All of you stay right here.” He headed out the door.
Nicole hugged Emily close as the little one sat quietly, sobbing. Angelique positioned herself by the door. Jessie quickly sat at the console and began sending out a message to anyone that would hear. “We are under attack. The Horizon is under attack!” she yelled into the microphone.
“I don’t think anyone’s going to hear you, Jess,” Maria said, frowning. “Hopefully they already know.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ava sat scrunched down in the med bay, with her body tightly wrapped around the little one. Once the first blast had hit, she and Sierra had run out of the galley, as lose glassware shattered from the ship’s vibration. Sierra was crying as Ava did her best to comfort her, leading her over to the medical area.
“Are we going to die, Aunt Ava?” Sierra whimpered. Ava looked around quickly as another, but different noise echoed through. It’s the bay doors, she thought as her body shook. “No Sierra. We just need to wait here until things quiet down a bit.” She realized just how insane that sounded, as she heard the sound of footsteps farther down the hall. The steps were coming closer now. She let go with a silent gasp as a figure walked past the door towards the stairs leading to the bridge. It was Tess.
Once she heard the footsteps on the metal stairs leading up to the deck above, she leaned down to Sierra. “Stay here. Do not move. Do you understand me?” The small one nodded her head uncontrollably. Ava stood up and made her way across the room to the intercom on the wall. Being careful to push the button only for the bridge she whispered, “Is anyone there?” A slight static came from within the speaker. “Yes!” It was Serena’s voice. “Serena, Tess is in the ship. She is coming your way,” she said ever so softly.
“Dear God,” was the response from someone on the bridge. “Okay, Ava listen to me,” Serena replied her voice shaking. “Are you armed?” Ava nodded as if Serena could see. Then shaking her head again she answered, “Yes… yes.” There was slight static again, but she heard Serena’s voice through the muffle. “Stay where you are. Both of you stay out of sight.” Ava released the button, looking down at the frightened girl crouched in the corner under the counter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Angelique, at hearing her granddaughter’s voice, slowly rose from her chair as the others frantically discussed their next move. She slid out into the hall, out of sight of Tess who had just now reached the top landing.
“Angelique! What the hell is she doing!” Maria called out. But it was too late, the door had slammed shut and locked after her.
Tess stood weapon strapped by her side as she crept along the wall in the hallway. A noise on the stairs twirled her around to meet face to face with Coby. In his arms he held four weapons. Dropping three, he quickly raised the MIG rifle point blank at her. “Don’t move Bitch!” his voice shook. “Or I will blow you to kingdom come.” Before he had a chance to react, she rolled to the floor throwing a blast in his direction, throwing him off balance. He screamed out in pain, falling backward down and around the spiral stairs as his gun discharged three times, ricocheting around the hall. He crumbled to the floor below, moaning in pain from the burns on his legs.
“Oh my God. Coby!” Serena screamed out to him hearing his cries. Jessie positioned herself just inside the now closed door, feeling for the first time in her life the certain power raging inside her. Tess threw another blast hitting the control room door full force. The fireball scorched and melted the surface but did not break it free. Again she tried, as those on the other side of the door cringed and prayed. And again, the door did not budge.
“Michael I love you,” Maria murmured to herself as the tears flowed.
“Ava! Sierra!” Angelique’s voice echoed up from the deck below. A broad smile crossed Tess’s face. Taking a minute to decide her course of action, she ran her fingers now around the perimeter of the door. A green glow escaped from her fingertips, as the molted metal sealed the bridge door shut.
“Is the door holding?” Maria asked frantically.
“It would seem so. But I think she has trapped us in here,” Raymond exclaimed, running to the door and pushing the release valve to no avail. “She’s sealed us in.”
“Noo!” Nicole cried out hysterically, wanting nothing but to hold her youngest daughter in her arms at that second.
“You heard Ava. She’ll keep Sierra safe,” Maria insisted as she did her best to comfort her in an already impossible situation. They all stared at each other as the hall on the other side of the door suddenly now became very quiet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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