Resurgence: Imortum

by JK Stone

  “Jason wouldn’t blame you, if he had an issue with what you did, he would’ve mentioned it when you told us Inola had you transfer him. Jerren took on a serious demeanor as he asked, “Did you have anything to do with me making it into the Pararescue?”

  Terrah was a little relieved, and taking in Jerren’s question, she shook her head and said, “No, you did that all on your own. Several years after the Area 51 incident, I pulled your record and I must say I was impressed. Were you still in the Air force when all of this happened to you?”

  Jerren shook his head and said, “No. Originally, I considered retiring from the Air Force, but with the open corruption and mudslinging leading into the two thousand sixteen elections, I became disenchanted with the notion. That election was the dirtiest in our nation’s history, and even after the election was over, the accusations of voter fraud and foreign powers manipulating the results incited civil unrest. I even saw the unrest worming its way into the service, So I stuck it out for the remainder of my second six-year tour, then I got out of the military.

  “Just after I separated from the service, Islamic terrorists attacked the Sears tower in Chicago, and with the already volatile conditions in Chicago, the government took the opportunity to impose strict gun control on the city. The national guard went door to door removing any weapons they could find, and within weeks several militia rose across the country insisting that the government had become tyrannical and everything seemed to go to hell from there.”

  “What did you do after you got out of the service then?” Terrah asked.

  “I’d taken a job working for a private contractor, assisting in covert counter-terrorism. But that job didn’t work out well for me. I’d decided I wouldn’t sacrifice my morals for a paycheck and quit that job, and I was in the process of deciding whether to go back to the service after the following election, or start a skydiving school when this all happened to me.”

  Jerren seemed to appraise Terrah a moment then he said, “before I transported Johnathan Smith back to Area 51 I scanned his mind. What I found was he was a member of an organization calling themselves the Ardues group, and that group infiltrated and has been secretly controlling the rise and fall of the world’s governments for thousands of years, and many of the politicians around the planet were either willingly or unwittingly assisting in the group’s plans for world domination.”

  Terrah didn’t find that hard to believe at all, after seeing the command structure at area 51. And if Smith was indeed part of that group, then she already figured out that the government was corrupted. Sighing Terrah said, “That is sad to hear, up till two thousand nine you had a stellar record and impressive commendations, and all of the fit-reps were excellent as well.”

  Jerren appeared to shy away from the complement and changed the subject and said, “I’d like to hear the details of some of your missions, especially the one about the human trafficking ring you brought down, but for now I think we should get back and get this over with.”

  Terrah cracked a smile and peering around the cavern she replied, “Given the temporal state of this void storage, I could sit here and tell you every event that happened in my life, and we still wouldn’t be missed. But you’re right… I want this over with also,” Terrah said with a smile, then she stepped through the archway to reenter TDS 2.

  *****

  Terrah and Jerren reentered TDS 2 and made it to the main level just as the gravity was restored to the ship. They entered the control room and Terrah asked, “So, what’s your plan to free the ship?”

  Saleria turned toward her, smiled and said, “I’m going to change the resonance of the ship—

  Terrah’s heart plummeted at hearing that and she interrupted her. “That’s not a good idea. That’s what Doran did, and the Imortum I saw in Inola’s memories died from it as well,” Terrah exclaimed.

  Saleria shook her head and said, “I’m not going to take the ship that far out, just enough to cause a slight rattle. You see I discovered that when I sealed the hull breach, the ship used other parts of the ship to repair itself and in doing so the total mass of the vessel was reduced.

  “Not by much, but enough to allow this ship to rattle a little, and I believe if I create enough friction the ship will break free, and Alise and Calia agree with me.

  “I’m going to attempt it now. You might want to raise your armor… just in case I’m wrong though,” Saleria smirked in Terrah’s direction as she said that.

  Once Terrah armored up she went to Saleria’s side and watched as Saleria changed the harmonic resonance of the ship, then she began moving TDS 2 back and forth.

  It took a few minutes before Calia called out, “It’s working, pieces of the GoW are shearing off and it should not be too much longer.”

  It took another two minutes before they did indeed break free. A cheer erupted and Saleria let out an audible sigh of relief.

  Terrah looked at the monitor and saw some debris was heading for the planet. She was about to make note of it, but Saleria must have seen it as well because she targeted and transported it into her base mineral storage.

  A moment later several chunks of the debris seemed to change course and made a beeline for the four ships in the area.

  Saleria had reversed course, but the fragments increased in speed as well. A second later Terrah could hear faint tapping on the hull.

  Making a confused sounding murmur, Saleria had called out, “Alise or Calia did any of that debris hit your ship?”

  Alise answered first saying, “Yes, but it wasn’t debris. It was the Imortum tech that was stolen from the pyramids generators.”

  “Should we collect the rest of it from the GoW then?” Saleria asked, and a moment later she added, “I really don’t feel we should leave the GoW for anyone to repair.”

  Calia replied, “How did you get that bunch freed, I’m still unable to target any of the GoW for transport?”

  Saleria replied, “I couldn’t get a solid lock on it either, so I targeted the entire area surrounding the debris and transported it into base storage.

  “The transport must’ve separated the tech from the Tungsten and the remnants of the Imortum tech flew to these ships. If you, Alise, and Eneria could focus your Ion pulse generators on my ship, I can try to dematerialize the rest of the GoW.”

  A minute later Terrah saw that the ship’s energy had built enough and Terrah watched as Saleria targeted the area surrounding the GoW, then transported.

  Terrah saw Saleria had separated the bio-signs and redirected them to the surface of Abnearu and once the remaining Imortum tech was freed, it all headed directly for the TDS ships as well. All of it with the exception of a few large portions that took off into deep space at a high speed that is.

  Saleria looked oddly down at her display, and then turned to Terrah, “That’s strange, a large portion of the Imortum tech took off, then split up and some of it went in the same direction as your ship Terrah.”

  Terrah was about to tell her sister she would see her later when Alise and Calia’s voices shouted.

  “Saleria! Shut down all ancillary systems and phase out NOW!” Terrah turned to see her sister close her eyes and a moment later the blur occurred.

  That was almost immediately followed by Alise shouting, “Everyone set course for Anukan in three… two… one…NOW!”

  The ships took off, and within seconds Terrah felt a rocking sensation as Saleria’s display wall lit up almost blinding Terrah.

  Blinking away the glare, Terrah called out, “What was that?”

  Calia answered her, “The Imortum battleships returned, did all of you get rocked as well?”

  Alise, Saleria, and Eneria confirmed their ships had been rocked as well, and Terrah took in a few calming breaths.

  “I’m going to head back to my ship and make sure Eneria is alright— Jerren started to say.

  “Saleria,” Calia called out, “with your life support offline, you’ll need to raise your armor, at least until we
know the battleships aren’t following us.”

  “It’s already up. Just let me know when it is safe to re-engage the life support,” Saleria announced.

  Jerren turned to leave and he got her attention, “Terrah, you may want to check on Doran,” he said with a smirk.

  “Oh, crap… I’ll see you later,” Terrah shouted over her shoulder as she turned and darted for her ship.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Terrah entered her ship and focused on Doran’s condition. Finding that he was still sleeping she let out a sigh then she transported up to the bedroom.

  Terrah peered down at her state, and noticed her suit was a mess, and remembering Eneria had told her she could shower in the suit, she made her way to the bathroom and activated the Ion shower.

  A few seconds later, Terrah peered down and found that it did indeed clean her and her outfit. Terrah sighed contentedly then made her way to the bed, climbed in and tried to decompress as she watched over Doran.

  Now that Terrah’s tasks were accomplished, she was struggling with her emotions. Until Doran, she’d never really wanted to be in a committed relationship. Somehow, she always knew he was waiting out there for her, so she didn’t work on a relationship with others, that way if something happened, or if she finally found him, then she was not too invested.

  Terrah had only known Doran for a short while now and when she saw him lying on the floor almost dead, her mind went as it always did in triage situations. She became hyper focused on what needed to be done and she pushed the stress and emotions away.

  But now that the immediate danger was over, her emotions felt as though they were flooding back to the forefront of her thoughts, and her eyes were welling up at the thought that she’d almost lost Doran before she really got to know him, and tucking her head into his chest tears fell freely from her eyes.

  *****

  Terrah had awoken with a little headache, she wasn’t sure what had caused it at first, but remembering the events of the prior night, she realized it must’ve been triggered by crying herself to sleep.

  Terrah had been up for a few minutes and took the time to watch Doran as he slept. She reached out and caressed Doran’s cheek, he’d been asleep now for a little over twenty hours, and Terrah was just about to send him back to the medical unit to check his condition once again, but his eyes fluttered open momentarily then with a grimace his hands flew to his head.

  A second later the lighting was almost extinguished, and Terrah asked softly, “Aside from an obvious headache, how are you feeling?”

  Doran groaned audibly and replied with a gravelly voice. “Not too well at the moment, my entire body aches and my head feels as if it has been cleaved in two. What happened?”

  Terrah took a moment to adjust to the lower lighting, sighed then said, “You turned the ship into a high-energy resonance crystal in order to disable the GoW.”

  “Did it work?” Doran asked sounding hopeful.

  Taking a few breaths to gather her thoughts and push away the anger Terrah said, “In a way yes. You did disable the ship, but the effects of the resonance were not localized to the hull of this ship or the beams you shot out… when you changed the ships resonance, everything within it was bombarded by the same resonance modulation and pulses. In affect, it greatly accelerated the molecules in your cells which superheated them. You almost died from it. You have to remember, you’re changed now, and we almost lost you.”

  It was obvious to Terrah that Doran could feel her pain, because despite the pain he must still be feeling, he managed to wrap an arm around her, pulled her tight and told her, “I am sorry; I never meant to hurt you.”

  Doran must’ve gotten a good look at her because he gasped and asked, “Why are your eyes glowing like the others now?”

  “When we healed you, we performed a healing chain, and the energy within everyone coursed through us all, and when we were finished, all of us were charged as well. So not only my eyes, but Saleria, Vellia, and Eneria’s eyes are glowing like this now as well,” Terrah explained.

  “I am sorry I—

  “I know,” Terrah cut Doran off then added, “I want you to promise me that you’ll never try that again though. You were very lucky. I saw what happened to someone else who tried that same thing before, and he didn’t survive it.”

  Doran asked her what she had seen and she described the visions she had while they were healing him, then she said, “I think the only reason you lasted as long as you did was because your armor was up.”

  Doran frowned and attempted to get out of bed, and Terrah pulled him back and asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”

  Doran looked determined as he said, “I have to get ready for the assault once we can get onto TDS 2—

  “You need to relax and finish healing. TDS 2 is powered up and on its way to a pyramids generator as we speak, and the GoW has been destroyed and dismantled,” Terrah said as she patted Doran’s pillow.

  Doran looked at her in apparent confusion and asked, “How long was I unconscious?”

  “A little over twenty-one hours. After you were healed I put you to bed and a little while later Jason called over.” Terrah then explained about going to the GoW and everything that had occurred to this point.

  Doran closed his eyes a moment and then he asked, “Why are we headed for Anukan? Cairis, Daregon, or Toro’dal would have been closer to charge Saleria’s ship.”

  “Yes they are, but that’s not why we’re headed there. At the end of the visions, Inola told me to head to Anukan, so that’s what we’re doing. I guess we’ll find out why when we get closer,” Terrah finished with a shrug.

  Doran pulled her tighter with a grimace and asked, “Has anything been done with Sethis, Nephthys, or Horuisis yet?”

  “Not yet, I know Jason has all three of them in stasis aboard his ship now. They had to phase and flee when the Imortum battleships came back, and I think we’re just taking a breather before having to deal with them.”

  Terrah remembered what she’d been told about the healing properties of the Ambrose, so she closed her eyes and focused on making more of the dish. Then she said, “I want you to eat the Ambrose again, it should help you heal, now take a bite,” She said as she sliced a piece off and fed it to him.

  A few minutes later Doran opened his eyes and his mouth apparently to say something and Terrah managed to force one more bite into him. Within seconds, Doran was lying back on his pillow and Terrah called over to her brother. “Jason?”

  “What can I do for you Terrah?” Jason asked.

  “Doran woke up a few minutes ago, and I explained most of what occurred. He was still experiencing pain so I fed him more Ambrose in the hopes it would finish healing him. I gave him two bites and he’s going to be out for another six hours at least. I just wanted to check with you to see when you plan on scanning the prisoner’s memories?”

  Jason was talking in the background then he spoke to Terrah. “Jerren and I’ve already scanned them. We don’t plan on carrying out the sentencing until after you’ve all scanned them as well. Sethis and Horuisis had some information that’s disturbing, and we feel everyone needs to see it firsthand. How much longer do you have before you reach Anukan?”

  Terrah consulted her ship and replied, “At our current speed we’ll arrive in a little over twenty-one hours. As soon as Doran awakes, we’ll come over and scan the trio. I can imagine you want them off of your ship. I know I would.”

  Jason chuckled and said, “You know it… and that’ll be fine, just call over and let me or Alise know when you need the archway.”

  Terrah looked down at the dish with the uneaten Ambrose, smiled and took a bite. A few minutes later she opened her eyes, sliced the second piece, and after depositing the rest of the dish back in base storage she grasped ahold of Doran’s hand and she took her second bite as well.

  *****

  Doran had marveled at how quickly the Ambrose seemed to remove his pains. He was about to remark on it
when Terrah popped another bite into his mouth and he fell into the familiar euphoria as before. The only difference this time was that Terrah was not experiencing it with him.

  He was about to pay more attention to the sensations the food was creating on his taste buds when he felt his entire body flutter and with a warm sensation directed his way, he heard Terrah call out in mind.

  Do you feel any better with having eaten the Ambrose?

  Doran chuckled and replied, I was about to tell you I felt better after the first bite when the second mouthful put me in here. Doran could feel Terrah’s amusement and knew it was directed at him.

  Terrah chuckled in return. Well, we’re both on this ride for at least the next six hours, so why don’t we make the most of it. The last time I felt rushed, so now I want to savor—

  Doran focused on what Terrah had just said, and concentrated on letting her feel how much she meant to him. With a great push, he let his emotional state flow from him and wash over her.

  Apparently, it had worked, because whatever she was saying had been interrupted. Doran could feel Terrah’s excitement rise, and then he heard her speak to him in mind again.

  Two can play at that game.

  A moment later Doran was overwhelmed by the rebounding sensations he had sent Terrah’s way, and before he knew it they were caressing and blending their energies in a very pleasurable merger of passions.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The emotionally charged euphoric mind sex was intense, but Terrah had yearned for the real thing. Six hours of the pleasurable waves had been flowing back and forth, and the passions that had been stoked were extreme, but there was no sexual release in that state. So, it was with great pleasure that Terrah noticed Doran had popped out of the bond, and she knew she would soon follow.