)...TAT: In The Beginning (M/L, AU, Mature) (Complete)
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sunrise102
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I'm so glad you're back Debbi. I just love this story. Surprises around every corner. Good surprises are better, hint, hint. The last paragraph left me a little uneasy too. Hopefully just my imagination ( )...
)...A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all.
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Breathless
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In The Beginning, Part 17
In The Beginning
Part 17
Max stared into the glowing embers of the campfire, lost in thought, blocking out the chatter of his hunting companions. Smoke rose into the ink black sky chased by sparks and leaping flames, reminding him of his first nights here on these very plains, near the inland sea, where the herds of wild gazelle were plentiful. He hadn’t been able to hunt then, but he was proving to be a pro at it now, three days into his first hunt.
During the day, the hunt occupied his time, but at night his thoughts turned to LeeLee, and to the child she carried. He was certain he had nothing to worry about, he’d monitored her pregnancy closely, finding nothing to be concerned about, yet he worried just the same. He didn’t fear her going into labor without him, it was too soon for that, but there were other things that could happen to her. A fall. A poisonous bite from a spider or a snake. A cut or a burn. He’d be happy when this hunt was over and he could return home to her.
A bone came out of nowhere and hit a glancing blow to Max’s head, followed by Kyree’s braying laughter. Max picked it up and threw it back, hard, scoring a direct hit right between the eyes. Now it was Max’s turn to laugh, and Kyree’s turn to grumble, while Alee and Kenny howled.
It’d been Max’s suggestion for Kenny to join the hunt. He was old enough, and strong enough, and certainly brave enough. It’d proved a wise decision; Kenny’s reflexes were quick, and his aim true. Of the four kills they’d bagged so far, Kenny was responsible for two.
“Max from great plains?” Kenny asked when they finally settled down. It was something the whole tribe was curious about. Where had he come from? A Shamah as skilled as Max, would his people come for him and try to take him back?
Max shook his head, but before he could answer Kenny’s question a memory washed over him, of standing at a small circular portal, staring out into the blackness of space. A wave of melancholy accompanied the vision, a deep sense of aloneness that had nothing to do with the solitude of his ship.
Behind him, the lights inside the command module were turned low; the others were in stasis already, where he would be shortly.
He turned from the portal, surveying the interior of the cabin. In a few minutes the breathable air would be pumped from the room, the temperature would drop; life support would be limited to the stasis pods. He crossed the metal floor on bare feet, feeling the cold start to leach into his exposed skin.
He paused at each of the stasis pods, eyeing the occupants inside. They floated in a liquid environment controlled by the ship’s computers, supplying everything their bodies would need during the long flight.
Warmth. Nourishment. Safety.
Everything provided except the one thing he had spent his life searching for, and never found –
“Max?”
The vision shattered into fragments at the sound of his name. Max refocused on Kenny’s face, repeating the story he’d concocted months ago to explain his presence here.
“I was born far away from here. On a hunt I got separated from the other members of my party. I got lost. LeeLee found me. Now I live here.”
“Max want to find home?” Kenny asked, looking worried. Both Alee and Kyree were listening closely.
“No,” Max shook his head. “This is my home.”
“Max LeeLee’s woo-man,” Kyree teased, imitating Max as a lovesick dolt swooning at LeeLee’s feet.
“Shut up!” Max laughed, snatching a stick from the fire and throwing it at his companion’s head. Kenny and Alee rolled on the ground in stitches when the burning tip caught Kyree’s long beard on fire.
Later that night, lying on his back with the campfire banked low and the others sleeping, Max looked up at the stars shining in the night sky. One of those points of light might be his homeworld, the place where he came from, but he felt no connection to it, or any strong desire to remember it.
His dreams told him the story of a man who had come on this journey in search of something he couldn’t put a name to, but now he could. Her name was LeeLee, and finding her had changed everything for him.
He couldn’t imagine anything ever taking him away from her.
* * * * *
He woke early the next morning; eager to start what he hoped would be the final day of the hunt. One or two more kills should be enough to feed the clan for a few weeks, and now that Kenny had proven such a worthy hunter, Max doubted his services would be needed again. Which was fine with him. For the next few months he had no intension of leaving LeeLee’s side.
He rose from the hide he’d slept on and made his way across camp to the trees to do his morning business. To the south, the land still looked scorched, the ground blackened, a result of the fire from several months ago. Green shoots of new growth were only now beginning to show. Nature reclaiming the earth.
As he finished, a sound came from nearby, an unfamiliar name uttered in a gruff and secretive tone, by a voice he didn’t recognize … or did he?
“Zan!”
He looked around, not sure where it was coming from, or who it was directed towards. A chill ran down his spine, though he wasn’t sure why.
The voice drifted through the air, a cross between a shout and a whisper, barely discernable, as if the owner was taking great pains not to attract attention. But where was the hidden intruder? And who was he calling to?
“Drink up, Zan! Tomorrow we fly. Tonight we party!”
“I don’t drink.”
“Try this. It’s sure to grow hair on your chest.”
“How can you drink that stuff?”
“Take one of these first,” his first officer held out a little orange pill. “No hangover with these babies. Come on, Zanetti, live a little.”
The memory was over in a flash, leaving an unsettling sense of familiarity in its passing. That voice. That face. Was the man in his vision real, or just a figment of his imagination?
His gaze searched the nearby trees, seeing nothing but solid trunks and dangling branches amid the lush green leaves. For a brief moment he considered the voice might just be a hallucination, before dismissing that notion outright. He wasn’t a man prone to fits of fancy, so why would he start now?
“Commander!”
The interior of the command module rattled with barely restrained energy. The floor beneath him vibrated with enough force it would have knocked him off his feet if he hadn’t already been sitting down, strapped into the reclining launch seat. The drone of the engines rose in screaming anticipation of lift off.
His first officer gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, a gesture that had become a tradition between them. He gave the lieutenant an answering nod, hampered by the limited mobility of his EVR suit. He slid his visor into place, effectively veiling his features, and his emotions.
The journey was about to begin, and with it, hope rose inside him that maybe this time he’d find what he was looking for, that elusive ‘something’ that was missing –
A sound behind him yanked Max out of his memory flash. He spun around, lifting his hand to defend himself.
Leaves rustled in the tress, though there was no wind. The foliage parted, revealing a presence.
With instincts driving his actions, a bolt of energy surged from his palm just as a face from his past stepped into view.
In a brief moment of clarity, Max’s cloudy past became clear. The veils lifted from his mind, recognizing the face of his first officer, and then everything went black.
* * * * *
“Why did you blast him?!”
“It was self defense! He blasted me first! I just deflected it. How was I to know he’d let it bounce back and hit him?”
Slowly, fighting through the thick fog muddling his mind, Max became aware of the hard ground beneath his back, and blades of grass poking against his skin.
Voices continued to argue. One male, two female.
“Why is he dressed that way?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Maybe he’s trying to fit in with the native population. What? Why are you looking at me that way? It makes perfect sense. Blend in. Try not to be noticed. It’s standard protocol.”
“Why did he leave us?”
“Will you stop with the whining? You’ve been harpin’ on that since the pods floated to the surface. Give it a rest.”
“He’s the leader of the unit. He shouldn’t have left us.”
Max opened his eyes to the sight of clear blue skies above him. Not far away, three hominoids stood arguing, one large male, two smaller females, all three familiar. After months and months with no memory of his past except occasional flashes and fleeting dreams, it all came rushing back at him.
The mission parameters. The crew selection.
His hidden agenda.
“Look. He’s awake.”
The smaller female rushed forward. Max recognized her immediately.
Avona, his navigator. She’d been assigned to his ship late, after his regular crewman was scrubbed. Orders from above that hadn’t made him happy, though he didn’t hold her at fault. Her first flight into deep space hadn’t gone exactly as expected, in more ways than one.
The other two came forward as well. Max didn’t need to see the name Lt. Michaels stenciled across the left chest of the male’s tattered flight suit in order to recognize the man. Rafe, his first officer and closest friend since childhood. They’d grown up together. Attended school together. Flown more missions together than Max could count. The big man offered a hand to help him up. Max took it, feeling the firm, warm grasp.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Rafe said gruffly and yanked Max to his feet.
“You, too,” Max retorted, caught up in a brotherly embrace. His gaze swept toward the third member of the group.
She moved toward him with tears in her eyes, the kind caused by the relief experienced when something you’ve prayed for finally comes true. Max moved toward his sister with open arms. She threw hers around him.
“Isabo,” he murmured. He felt her trembling against him.
“We were so worried about you!” Avona exclaimed in a vain attempt to regain Max’s attention. “They thought you died in the crash, but I knew you were alive. I kept telling them I’d know it if you were dead, but they wouldn’t believe me.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” Isabo clung to her brother. “I couldn’t reach you. I thought – I thought –”
Max gently eased her back and wiped away her tears. “Nope. Just a little battered and bruised.”
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“It’s a long story,” Max answered. He had a lot to tell them, and some of it wouldn’t be easy.
“So start talking,” Rafe said and set out toward the south. “It’s a long walk back to camp. We better get moving.”
“Camp?” Max said. Another memory flash suddenly hit him, of darkness, and floating on the water, with the sound of explosions in the distance. His ship sinking below the surface.
“Wait,” he said, causing Rafe to pause in mid stride. “I remember the ship going down. How did you –”
“The pods floated to the surface,” Isabo said. “We salvaged what we could from the wreckage to set up a temporary camp.”
“It took a few months but we finally pinpointed the wreckage of the ship,” Rafe added. “Between the four of us we should have enough power to raise it to the surface. I can’t wait to get off this stinking rock.”
And that’s when it hit Max. Two different worlds colliding. On one he was the Commander of a starship, and heir to the most prestigious title in the known universe.
On the other he was Shamah, tribal healer, husband and soon to be father.
Which world would he choose?
tbc …
Part 17
Max stared into the glowing embers of the campfire, lost in thought, blocking out the chatter of his hunting companions. Smoke rose into the ink black sky chased by sparks and leaping flames, reminding him of his first nights here on these very plains, near the inland sea, where the herds of wild gazelle were plentiful. He hadn’t been able to hunt then, but he was proving to be a pro at it now, three days into his first hunt.
During the day, the hunt occupied his time, but at night his thoughts turned to LeeLee, and to the child she carried. He was certain he had nothing to worry about, he’d monitored her pregnancy closely, finding nothing to be concerned about, yet he worried just the same. He didn’t fear her going into labor without him, it was too soon for that, but there were other things that could happen to her. A fall. A poisonous bite from a spider or a snake. A cut or a burn. He’d be happy when this hunt was over and he could return home to her.
A bone came out of nowhere and hit a glancing blow to Max’s head, followed by Kyree’s braying laughter. Max picked it up and threw it back, hard, scoring a direct hit right between the eyes. Now it was Max’s turn to laugh, and Kyree’s turn to grumble, while Alee and Kenny howled.
It’d been Max’s suggestion for Kenny to join the hunt. He was old enough, and strong enough, and certainly brave enough. It’d proved a wise decision; Kenny’s reflexes were quick, and his aim true. Of the four kills they’d bagged so far, Kenny was responsible for two.
“Max from great plains?” Kenny asked when they finally settled down. It was something the whole tribe was curious about. Where had he come from? A Shamah as skilled as Max, would his people come for him and try to take him back?
Max shook his head, but before he could answer Kenny’s question a memory washed over him, of standing at a small circular portal, staring out into the blackness of space. A wave of melancholy accompanied the vision, a deep sense of aloneness that had nothing to do with the solitude of his ship.
Behind him, the lights inside the command module were turned low; the others were in stasis already, where he would be shortly.
He turned from the portal, surveying the interior of the cabin. In a few minutes the breathable air would be pumped from the room, the temperature would drop; life support would be limited to the stasis pods. He crossed the metal floor on bare feet, feeling the cold start to leach into his exposed skin.
He paused at each of the stasis pods, eyeing the occupants inside. They floated in a liquid environment controlled by the ship’s computers, supplying everything their bodies would need during the long flight.
Warmth. Nourishment. Safety.
Everything provided except the one thing he had spent his life searching for, and never found –
“Max?”
The vision shattered into fragments at the sound of his name. Max refocused on Kenny’s face, repeating the story he’d concocted months ago to explain his presence here.
“I was born far away from here. On a hunt I got separated from the other members of my party. I got lost. LeeLee found me. Now I live here.”
“Max want to find home?” Kenny asked, looking worried. Both Alee and Kyree were listening closely.
“No,” Max shook his head. “This is my home.”
“Max LeeLee’s woo-man,” Kyree teased, imitating Max as a lovesick dolt swooning at LeeLee’s feet.
“Shut up!” Max laughed, snatching a stick from the fire and throwing it at his companion’s head. Kenny and Alee rolled on the ground in stitches when the burning tip caught Kyree’s long beard on fire.
Later that night, lying on his back with the campfire banked low and the others sleeping, Max looked up at the stars shining in the night sky. One of those points of light might be his homeworld, the place where he came from, but he felt no connection to it, or any strong desire to remember it.
His dreams told him the story of a man who had come on this journey in search of something he couldn’t put a name to, but now he could. Her name was LeeLee, and finding her had changed everything for him.
He couldn’t imagine anything ever taking him away from her.
* * * * *
He woke early the next morning; eager to start what he hoped would be the final day of the hunt. One or two more kills should be enough to feed the clan for a few weeks, and now that Kenny had proven such a worthy hunter, Max doubted his services would be needed again. Which was fine with him. For the next few months he had no intension of leaving LeeLee’s side.
He rose from the hide he’d slept on and made his way across camp to the trees to do his morning business. To the south, the land still looked scorched, the ground blackened, a result of the fire from several months ago. Green shoots of new growth were only now beginning to show. Nature reclaiming the earth.
As he finished, a sound came from nearby, an unfamiliar name uttered in a gruff and secretive tone, by a voice he didn’t recognize … or did he?
“Zan!”
He looked around, not sure where it was coming from, or who it was directed towards. A chill ran down his spine, though he wasn’t sure why.
The voice drifted through the air, a cross between a shout and a whisper, barely discernable, as if the owner was taking great pains not to attract attention. But where was the hidden intruder? And who was he calling to?
“Drink up, Zan! Tomorrow we fly. Tonight we party!”
“I don’t drink.”
“Try this. It’s sure to grow hair on your chest.”
“How can you drink that stuff?”
“Take one of these first,” his first officer held out a little orange pill. “No hangover with these babies. Come on, Zanetti, live a little.”
The memory was over in a flash, leaving an unsettling sense of familiarity in its passing. That voice. That face. Was the man in his vision real, or just a figment of his imagination?
His gaze searched the nearby trees, seeing nothing but solid trunks and dangling branches amid the lush green leaves. For a brief moment he considered the voice might just be a hallucination, before dismissing that notion outright. He wasn’t a man prone to fits of fancy, so why would he start now?
“Commander!”
The interior of the command module rattled with barely restrained energy. The floor beneath him vibrated with enough force it would have knocked him off his feet if he hadn’t already been sitting down, strapped into the reclining launch seat. The drone of the engines rose in screaming anticipation of lift off.
His first officer gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up, a gesture that had become a tradition between them. He gave the lieutenant an answering nod, hampered by the limited mobility of his EVR suit. He slid his visor into place, effectively veiling his features, and his emotions.
The journey was about to begin, and with it, hope rose inside him that maybe this time he’d find what he was looking for, that elusive ‘something’ that was missing –
A sound behind him yanked Max out of his memory flash. He spun around, lifting his hand to defend himself.
Leaves rustled in the tress, though there was no wind. The foliage parted, revealing a presence.
With instincts driving his actions, a bolt of energy surged from his palm just as a face from his past stepped into view.
In a brief moment of clarity, Max’s cloudy past became clear. The veils lifted from his mind, recognizing the face of his first officer, and then everything went black.
* * * * *
“Why did you blast him?!”
“It was self defense! He blasted me first! I just deflected it. How was I to know he’d let it bounce back and hit him?”
Slowly, fighting through the thick fog muddling his mind, Max became aware of the hard ground beneath his back, and blades of grass poking against his skin.
Voices continued to argue. One male, two female.
“Why is he dressed that way?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Maybe he’s trying to fit in with the native population. What? Why are you looking at me that way? It makes perfect sense. Blend in. Try not to be noticed. It’s standard protocol.”
“Why did he leave us?”
“Will you stop with the whining? You’ve been harpin’ on that since the pods floated to the surface. Give it a rest.”
“He’s the leader of the unit. He shouldn’t have left us.”
Max opened his eyes to the sight of clear blue skies above him. Not far away, three hominoids stood arguing, one large male, two smaller females, all three familiar. After months and months with no memory of his past except occasional flashes and fleeting dreams, it all came rushing back at him.
The mission parameters. The crew selection.
His hidden agenda.
“Look. He’s awake.”
The smaller female rushed forward. Max recognized her immediately.
Avona, his navigator. She’d been assigned to his ship late, after his regular crewman was scrubbed. Orders from above that hadn’t made him happy, though he didn’t hold her at fault. Her first flight into deep space hadn’t gone exactly as expected, in more ways than one.
The other two came forward as well. Max didn’t need to see the name Lt. Michaels stenciled across the left chest of the male’s tattered flight suit in order to recognize the man. Rafe, his first officer and closest friend since childhood. They’d grown up together. Attended school together. Flown more missions together than Max could count. The big man offered a hand to help him up. Max took it, feeling the firm, warm grasp.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Rafe said gruffly and yanked Max to his feet.
“You, too,” Max retorted, caught up in a brotherly embrace. His gaze swept toward the third member of the group.
She moved toward him with tears in her eyes, the kind caused by the relief experienced when something you’ve prayed for finally comes true. Max moved toward his sister with open arms. She threw hers around him.
“Isabo,” he murmured. He felt her trembling against him.
“We were so worried about you!” Avona exclaimed in a vain attempt to regain Max’s attention. “They thought you died in the crash, but I knew you were alive. I kept telling them I’d know it if you were dead, but they wouldn’t believe me.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” Isabo clung to her brother. “I couldn’t reach you. I thought – I thought –”
Max gently eased her back and wiped away her tears. “Nope. Just a little battered and bruised.”
“Where have you been?” she asked.
“It’s a long story,” Max answered. He had a lot to tell them, and some of it wouldn’t be easy.
“So start talking,” Rafe said and set out toward the south. “It’s a long walk back to camp. We better get moving.”
“Camp?” Max said. Another memory flash suddenly hit him, of darkness, and floating on the water, with the sound of explosions in the distance. His ship sinking below the surface.
“Wait,” he said, causing Rafe to pause in mid stride. “I remember the ship going down. How did you –”
“The pods floated to the surface,” Isabo said. “We salvaged what we could from the wreckage to set up a temporary camp.”
“It took a few months but we finally pinpointed the wreckage of the ship,” Rafe added. “Between the four of us we should have enough power to raise it to the surface. I can’t wait to get off this stinking rock.”
And that’s when it hit Max. Two different worlds colliding. On one he was the Commander of a starship, and heir to the most prestigious title in the known universe.
On the other he was Shamah, tribal healer, husband and soon to be father.
Which world would he choose?
tbc …
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Zanity
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OOOOOOh, Here it comes, he better go back to LeeLee. Well this is you writing so I know he will but something tells me this won't be easy. Another great part. Can't wait for more.
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Choices and Consequences 03/26/07
The Third Time is the Charm 05/04/09
Truth and Lies 1/1
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Choices and Consequences 03/26/07
The Third Time is the Charm 05/04/09
Truth and Lies 1/1
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roswell3053
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Michelle in LA
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Ohhhhhhh, yeah. Hadda happen. It is a Breathless fic, 
Wow. What a trip for Max! His head must be spinning, right now.
And look like the old expression, "plus ça change...": The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Avona gotta bona.... fide yearning again, for someone who is just as ever, annoyed by her very existence. And the more clearly he shows that, the clingier she gets, which is only guar-an-teed to push him further away.
Awww! You can't do this to us, Deb! Please don't let him be prevented... from being with Liz and their child!
.
Wow. What a trip for Max! His head must be spinning, right now.
And look like the old expression, "plus ça change...": The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Avona gotta bona.... fide yearning again, for someone who is just as ever, annoyed by her very existence. And the more clearly he shows that, the clingier she gets, which is only guar-an-teed to push him further away.
Awww! You can't do this to us, Deb! Please don't let him be prevented... from being with Liz and their child!
.
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Jason's Lover
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frenchkiss70
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And so the troubles start... I was so hoping we could avoid a Tess wanabe but here she is, as clingy as ever. 
At least Max is definitely not interested or attracted. But he has quite a tough choice. I guess if it was him alone he would choose Lee Lee without hesitation but unfortunately he's not alone anymore and I don't think the others will understand, especially Avona. What is Max going to do? Could he bring Lee Lee with him? He just can't abandon her and his child
I can't wait for more.
At least Max is definitely not interested or attracted. But he has quite a tough choice. I guess if it was him alone he would choose Lee Lee without hesitation but unfortunately he's not alone anymore and I don't think the others will understand, especially Avona. What is Max going to do? Could he bring Lee Lee with him? He just can't abandon her and his child I can't wait for more.
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ruthandnina
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OMG! 
That was a huge surprise. I was so worried that something bad were to come from hunting and instead Max found his people but what will happen now?
He has a terrible choice in front of him. His previous life or his actual life? They're so different... I'll cross my fingers, not because I have any doubt on Max, but I'm afraid of his people reaction when he'll say he'll stay on the planet...
That was a huge surprise. I was so worried that something bad were to come from hunting and instead Max found his people but what will happen now?He has a terrible choice in front of him. His previous life or his actual life? They're so different... I'll cross my fingers, not because I have any doubt on Max, but I'm afraid of his people reaction when he'll say he'll stay on the planet...
It feels right - it feels right like nothing has ever felt in my life before.
