by M E Wise
I focused hard on his movements as he looked to attack and linked with him. I knew everything he could do or would do. He swung, I moved just out of range. He kicked, I was behind him. I attacked his liver with a strike from his own skillset. He winced in pain. I found a loose pry bar and made ready. He charged and I sidestepped smacking him with the bar simultaneously. He said nothing but wore a great frustration. In one final attempt he lunged and with a hearty crack to the head I downed the monstrous wretch. I grabbed Squiggy and drug his lifeless body toward the airlock.
I made it between locks as an explosion dislodged the Aries engaging my geometric helmet! Squiggy was ripped from my clutches and vaporized in a second explosion. Small fighters were sending volleys of rockets on their passes by. The second volley had sent me reeling in the cargo hold of the Aries. I felt my ribs badly broken and blood ran from my nose. I was caught on the wrong side of the cargo door as it pressurized leaving me in the open as cargo drifted weightless by. I watched in vacuumed silence as beings floated coldly into space. Parts of Green Acres broke free and jettisoned into the void. A panel streamed by close enough to read the new symbol of life; two roots, one stem, three rays and three halos all dripping with plasma fire, a crest of death.
My health alert on my vacuum suit read red and beeped to no sound I could hear. The whole of existence had slowed to a crawl and I knew my fate loomed. I watched dreamy and drained as space rippled in between us and the phantom cruiser. A blinding light flashed like a brilliant star, I struggled to shield my eyes. Was I dying? The shape of the event changed and all at once it was everything I could see. The heavenly lit ornamental craft could only be a Ku’Gel!
I was then being tugged into the Aries from behind. It was Ben’s father and another Halfer female. The Ku’Gel was absorbing missile after missile, projectile after projectile. “I love you Dae.” I mumbled in pain. “You can tell her!” Voiced Ben with concern. “Please tell her…”
An explosion of powerful energy and white light blinded me once again as I briefly passed out. In a woozy state I thought the Ku’Gel had exploded as I felt myself unfortunately floating weightless. We must have blown apart and I was adrift. Once more I was pulled along limp and broken. I was being passed between the Aries and the Hermes in open space on a tether. Nearly three hundred feet separated the ships. I looked outward in the expanse of great space. The sun was vast and blinding. I was very close. I drifted around to face away from the star as our train of survivors made slow crossing. I smiled greatly as a huge chunk of the asteroid Green Acres clung to with stacked containers and fuel tankers converted to gardens hung nearby. But just beyond that I saw De Braga, bright and welcoming in the distant light. My chin trembled hard and tears streamed my face.
The Ku’Gel too was there, magnificent and as big and luminescent as heaven. I felt a tingle up my neck. “I was watching. You are home and safe.” S’lei’s voice was so comforting in the sharing. I could hear cheers over the COM of voices I have never heard. Their cries were tender and laced with sorrow and celebration.
A heart beat softly. A heart beat steady. Two hearts beat together. Two hearts are bound.
Sovereign Chapter 10
To Die to Live
Many watched on as I struggled in the deeper end of the monuments pool. I felt their links study my panic and measure my fight. My mind cried out for help and not a single one helped! Were they watching me drown?
“Swim.” Snuck in a flat but encouraging suggestion.
My lungs squeezed harder and harder until the water began to win. I was dying for my curiosity! Warned of the water’s edge; the cool grip of the pool settled above and the light grew dim. Eternity sunk into every moment and passivity filled my muscles preventing any further resistance.
Suddenly; I was freed of the water by a firm and careful tug! Her link was strong and the other’s seemed to bend to it. She shared her distaste for the behaviors of the surrounding onlookers. They were foolish. I expressed the water from my lungs and she held me closely. Her potent perfume was like a smelling salt. She saved my life.
“S’lei?” I muttered floating in a gestation chamber. Many beings were in the room with me. I felt their minds in my link. The hope that I hadn’t spoiled my sharing peaked my thoughts. I looked to a scar on my forearm from the break I had over a year ago, it was still there so I hadn’t been cloned. I was most likely in the tank to recuperate.
“Reign! Baby, you’re fine, you are just getting a medicinal fluid bath to speed up the recovery.” Said my wife through a COM link on the tank. “You asked for S’lei, did you need her?”
I shook my head, heavy in the fluid. I could have sworn she was there though. I owe her my life, many of us do. “Should I be jealous?” Dae joked and smiled at me from outside the chamber. Her image rippled with the cycling of the fluids. I gripped her mind and saw her jump, filling her with all of my gratuities and elation to see her face. She smiled and nodded. “I love you too!” She touched the tank. “We will get you out soon.”
Wan Sah approached the tank and used her fingers to draw the life symbol on the condensation layer outside. This time it was more simplified. One halo around three halos over three rays and the two roots with their orbs. The new symbol looked closer to the Halfer version. This was the Tri-Utopia emblem. The people had chosen something to unify themselves. She stood there for a good moment without her hair piece. Her head waved back and forth like a rose bud in the breeze. Dalia too came close and fell into the same rhythm. It was greatly moving.
I relaxed and napped for a bit. The rushing of fluids woke me. The tank was being emptied and I could feel my feet arrive firmly at the basin. I pulled at the breather mask over my mouth and slowly fought the gag reflex of the tubes coming from down my throat coming with. Breathing shallow at first, then coughing away some solution. I felt strong and my ribs were no longer broken.
“You had a collapsed lung and many fractures. You are lucky to be alive on more levels than I wish to count Reign.” Dae barked. “If I didn’t love you more than my own life I would kill you!” She bent to help me stand and we embraced. “There goes my creased professional look.” She joked. She was wearing a newly tailored lab coat, one of her Lady’s works. Her front was now soaked. “And cold too!” She furthered the joke.
I reached for a wrap she was handing me; a sleeveless robe with a draw-strap. It was light but so much warmer than my nakedness. “How long?” I asked walking to look at the view from the spire tip of the Cresche. There was a great deal of activity. Bell craft were coming in and out of view. I pressed against the glass and looked down steeply, the vertigo crept in but I remained firm. The space around the Cresche’s landing was being leveled and changed.
“Two days.” Dae answered as she arrived to my side. “They have been busy. Apparently the chunks of Green Acres held survivors stowed away in air locked chambers. They bring many here for me to care for and make sure they are well enough to join the rest below.” I couldn’t see that far beneath us and wanted to investigate further. “Below?” I questioned. “We have a growing refugee camp underneath our feet. A very loyal and grateful group! I counted fifty last I had the opportunity. “In good health?” I questioned. “Mostly minor stuff, some have been unfortunately lost.” Dae stared exhaustedly ahead.
“I would like to help, in any way I can.” The motion of my movements was surprisingly easy. “Put me to work.”
“You being alive is more than enough.” Dae pointed below. A large hand painted flag flew with the Tri-Utopia crest on it. “You are their hero, hope, and savior! Reign it’s really amazing.” Her chin trembled and a lone tear ran down her face. I took her hand and it shook with fatigue. “You need to rest love. Let me see to this for a while.” She reluctantly agreed. We used the elevator to reach our chambers above.
Dae abandoned her lab coat to the floor and made for the bedroom. I hung my robe to dry and found a new Japanese like tunic waiting for me. The design of our wear
doesn’t change as much as the color of fabric does. The simplicity was something I greatly enjoyed. I grabbed a close pair of slip on shoes and pulled my hair into a topknot. I rarely grew facial hair of any kind but I had some stubble and left it. The people below need strength not vanity. Although, I resent the idea of savior as Dae described. I have always felt Human beings were historically too quick to deify their leaders or oppressors.
Dae was soundly asleep as I boarded the elevator. The elevator was a large cylindrical enclosed space with multiple exits. Dae and Ben often called it the bug-jar. From any level, after we had removed some over-growth, you can see the occupants riding up and down. I was acutely aware passing level to level of the attention I was getting. Wan Sah and Dalia stopped and turned on the library floor. The longest run was from the first level to the ground below, and a large crowd of Lo’Mor’h, some scattered Tah’l and more Halfers than I have ever seen in one place watched my descent. I felt overwhelmed. Some began cheering and waving their hands.
How was I supposed to live up to this? This was not what I expected.
From the vantage of the elevator platform I could see everything. Lo’Mor’h were trying to assist with the growing living space needed for the Halfers and their familiars. The Tah’l presence seemed more directive like ambassadors. Ben was not in sight. His father was though and he rushed me and fell to his knees, prostrating himself. “Thank you so much for saving our lives!” He sobbed and grabbed for a foot. “Please accept my life and dedication as reward.” More approached and began to become a sea of blurred faces. Many bruised and dirty. “Sir, there is no need for that. You saved me as well; pulled me from the well of space.” His tired old eyes looked inspired. “All of this though is because of you! Ben told me so. So long as I breathe you are my light in the distance!”
I then took his hands and stood him upright. “We are each other’s light Paps.” He hugged me quite strongly for such a small man. “Everyone please go back to what you were doing! I will make my way to each of you.” They didn’t disperse so easily. “Paps what is your skill?” He looked shocked at my request.
“Please call me Taiyou. I was a business owner, cooking ware for restaurants.” He began proudly but resigned himself when he spoke of what he did.
“You can write though?” I questioned. “And record on this?” I handed him a tablet of Earthen design. One of many Dae and Ben had found stowed on the Aries. “Of course!” He livened. “Follow me and make a list of their needs, starting with your own.” He stood stunned. “Can you do this?” His head shook quickly yes. “What are your needs?” I then asked.
He appeared completely taken back. “Ben has seen to our needs and made sure we are well cared for. The others…” he looked about, “may need comfort, supplies, drinking water.” I placed my hand on his shoulder and walked forward. “This may take a while.”
We made our way person to person. Small group to small group. Many of the survivors just wanted to touch me and that took some getting used to. The Lo’Mor’h began to follow myself and Taiyou attending to what they could as requested. We had inadvertently become the missing link in the line of communication. A small boy gave me a burnt metal panel he polished with the Tri-Utopia symbol he painted on it. His oversized eyes weren’t far from normal for a human but both hands were very Mor’h-like. He was very small for his age; a toddler still at five years old.
Many of the few human family members had no sign of xenophobia. Life with a Halfer had probably lead them to accept alternative shapes and vessels without much regard to their difference. This made me feel terrible for my over attentive analysis of each of them. They were all so distinct and unique. Hours drifted by and the sun fell lower and lower in the sky. I had seen to nearly everyone when the Aries came bellowing from the sky. I briefly excused myself and came to the landing pad marked on the surface below.
Ben rushed from the pilot seat to the rear airlock as it began to open. “I found Rasha!” Ben cried out. “I found her in a drifting probe ship!”
“Rasha!” Came a cry from behind and a dark skinned human woman made her way to Ben. Taiyou also scrambled by. “We need to get her to Dae!” They hurried past me and went straight for the elevator. I retrieved the tablet and turned back to the remaining group of refugees. They were relieved to see my attention returned to them. I looked toward the elevator and as it rose between the wrapping stair case upward I couldn’t help but think of how Dae had probably done as I have; cared for each and every one of these strangers like they were our own family.
“How can I help you?” I said to the last group. The oldest of them wept, a woman I almost recognized. “I met you a year ago.” She sniffed. “The seed that bloomed from rock.” I remembered and exclaimed. I took her close and embraced her. Behind her sat the little girl from the dock all that time ago. She was bandaged but well. “You need some chalk!” I said to her and she smiled brightly.
With a heavy list, much of which just in need of distribution, I met with the Tah’l so they could arrange for the necessities to be acquired. Being able to link with them made everything so much smoother. The two statesmen never spoke but went about their duty with great care. I left when the opportunity arose and looked up toward the tower spire lit up and awake. I needed to find Dae and help her as well, however I could.
I arrived at the spire lab to no audience. This was a relief from the excessive but warming attention from below. “We can’t let her die!” Ben’s voice was raised above the other’s in a faraway apse. “Why can’t we save her; like me?” Ben challenged. I could now hear Dae. “This isn’t easy to explain and it certainly isn’t within your expertise Ben!”
The newly rescued woman was floating in a gestation chamber now. Her dark skin grayed under the tank lights and her frame was different than Dae’s. Her shoulders were narrow but her hips wider. She was very pretty, even such observation didn’t compare to that feeling I get when I look at Dae. The older woman stood comforted by Taiyou near the tank. I would assume her mother or other relative. Ben however postured angrily by a monitor that Dae was working at.
“She doesn’t die!” He pointed to the tanked woman and glared at me.
“Reign talk to your friend now!” Dae ruffled and ignored him.
“You should calm down Ben and tell me what is going on.” I interjected. “Who is this and what is happening?” Ben did everything he could to console himself. “She is a friend.” He stressed friend. “I have admired her since I met her on the asteroid. She is why I stayed at Green Acres. Paps knew this and it is part of why he searched there for me.”
“Why didn’t you just say so? I would have understood.” Reaching for his shoulder but he turned away. “It’s too late. I was too late.” He said grief stricken.
I looked to Dae who motioned me toward another apse. “He wants to resuscitate…” she paused and bit a lip, “resurrect her here in the lab.” I looked to the tank. “She isn’t dead yet though.” The monitor held poor but true life signs. “The trauma kicked her death gene into termination mode. She’s a Halfer, Reign!” Dae further explained.
“Someone fixed me, brought back a corpse!” Ben attacked in a way unlike him. I could easily see his despair. “Someone brought me back and I didn’t even want to be back. Please do something.” He begged in a dramatic shift of emotion.
Ben turned and went to join Taiyou and the other woman. I walked with Dae further away this time and behind the elevator. “What do we know?” I asked. “What do we know of how it was done and if it can be done again?”
“I know that whoever did bring Ben back, knew more than most on Mor’h about the process. I know they did it without a concern of remorse or reciprocation. Whoever it was left no file or trail to follow.” Dae was drawn out and tired. I need to find some sort of relief in the town doctor department. “I could consult with S’lei maybe.” I paused to try and remember someone or something from the past to help with this present situation.
/> “Mie’Scher!” Dae snapped. “The Tah’l who visits the library. The only Tah’l who ever enters the Cresche. I have had limited conversation with him but he had spoken each time to me about the Great Chain of Being and the Cradle.” She made for the panel nearby. “This is your thing!” She pointed to the device. “You want me to locate a Tah’l I have not met?” I asked calmly. “Scan the building or something!” She made waving hand gestures.
“Why not just go down to the library and see if he is there?” I motioned to the library. She stared forward, flustered and obviously still exhausted. We lumbered forward and stepped into the elevator. “It’s time I’m concerned about.” She exclaimed. “We’ll deal with that as it comes.” I consoled her.
Wan Sah and Dalia were where they could normally be found, a cove of tomes and holo tablets surrounded them. I made my way to the far side of the library looking for a Tah’l that would be difficult to miss. Dae began questioning her Ladies about this apparitional object of our search. I decided after covering a large area to try a link. I stood still and let my sense of position spread. I closed my eyes and I pinged Dae, Dalia and Wan Sah quickly to eliminate their sharing. I find a dark spot on this level. I break my link and hone in on where I thought it came from. A strong musky smell filled the area. A Tah’l male was definitely close by.
