by Merry Farmer
Danny finished tying the bandage and motioned for the soldier to find somewhere else to recuperate. The man was more than ready to comply and scurried away to where a line was forming as some of the others handed out hastily-made soup. Danny sat on the bench beside Grace, slipping an arm around her and holding her head to rest against his shoulder. He said nothing, letting her grieve for far more than the deaths of battle.
“Do you remember what made you start saying that no one could die?” he spoke softly, rubbing her arm as her tears soaked his shirt. She shook her head no. “It was because I told you that in order for a sample population of settlers to achieve long-term genetic success, there needed to be as many different original sets of DNA as possible.” She lifted her head and looked at him with questioning eyes. He smiled and stroked her sleeping baby’s face. “We got what we needed from him in the end. It makes no difference now if we lost that violent, ignorant oaf. We got what we needed, what everyone in this new world needed from him.”
Instead of comfort, Grace’s face twisted in misery. “But Danny, he’s still Kinn’s son, even if Kinn is gone. What if that comes out? What if he—”
“Shh.” Danny pressed a finger to her lips. He stroked the hair back from her warm face. “It won’t happen. Not to your son. There is too much goodness in you for there to be anything but good in him.”
He twisted to take the boy from her arms. She let him go, tucking the blanket she’d found to wrap him in around his tiny feet. He flailed for a moment as Danny settled him against his chest.
“I know what I want to name him.” He smiled at the boy, at his son. Grace glanced up to him with curiosity. It was a good sign. “I want us always to remember why he is important, why he is loved as much as any child that was ever born, even more. I want him to know that he is loved every time anyone speaks his name. I want to call him Grayson, so he always knows who he is.” He glanced to Grace for her approval.
She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. “Grayson. Hello, Grayson,” she reached out and touched her son’s cheek as though seeing him for the first time. “I’m your mommy. And this,” she glanced up to Danny, “is your daddy.”
All of the anguish and stress of the last week, of the last three seasons of Danny’s life, of his entire life, melted away. The pavilion still hummed with the noise and activity of people who weren’t sure if there would be enough food to feed everyone until the snow melted and their crops were planted, of people who didn’t know where they were going to live or what they were going to do now. They were surrounded by questions and uncertainties. But in that moment he knew what true peace was.
“Danny!” Jonah’s shout as he dashed into the pavilion only barely broke into Danny’s reverie. “Danny, come quick!”
He handed Grayson to Grace and jumped to his feet. The dire pall on Jonah’s face sent adrenaline pounding through him again.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“They’re here.”
As Danny reached the flap and ran outside into the bright afternoon, he heard what had Jonah and the others outside in such a state. A roar rumbled through the air, a thousand times louder than thunder. It shook the trees and sent birds and animals scattering. Danny looked up, tromping through the scattered snow to search the skies. The sky above was bright blue with the ever-present coral-orange rainbow of Chronis’s rings tilted high above them. The trees that had yet to be cleared around the perimeter of their settlement obstructed the view around the edges, but it didn’t matter for long.
High, high above, like a fiery comet slashing across the sky, Vengeance came into view. It sailed over them, darkening the skies, with a sharp but distant roar. It was massive, nearly as big as the Argo. It could have scooped up every survivor from the explosion and had room for more. This was what Kutrosky had waited for.
“The beacon,” Danny shouted to those nearby. “What happened to the beacon?”
“Here it is.” One of the soldiers dodged over ragged piles of snow to bring it to him.
Danny grabbed it and tapped the screen. It was still working but only barely. Sparks zapped from the seams along one side where it had been buried in snow.
“Hello?” he shouted at it. “Captain Blalock? Can you hear me? This is Dr. Thorne. Your ship has just passed over our settlement. Can you hear me?”
Crisp static chirped back along with the sparks that grew in intensity. The handheld began to smoke.
“Daniel Thorne.” The broken voice could barely be heard over the sizzling. It cut in and out as the voice said, “hit the atmosphere…damage…barely control…body of water…more temperate…signs of another ship.” It cut out altogether for a moment before surging back. “I am coming for you, Daniel Thorne.”
The handheld snapped and exploded in Danny’s hands. He dropped it as tiny flames shot out the side. It hissed as it hit the snow and went dead.
It didn’t matter. He’d heard all he needed.
“They’re not landing here,” he spoke aloud to whoever was close enough to hear.
He turned and rushed back to the pavilion. There was work to be done, injured to be treated, homes to be repaired and built. The rowdier elements of Kutrosky’s people needed to be dealt with, sent to live with Kinn’s soldiers if he had anything to say about it. Food stores needed to be inventoried and shared. Life needed to go on.
“Is the ship here?” Grace met him at the doorway, a new surge of energy and fire in her eyes. She was ready to deal with the threat with all of her strength. He was grateful she wouldn’t have to.
“They crossed overhead, heading south,” he explained as Stacey and Heather and several others gathered around to hear the news. “The beacon died as they were trying to tell us something, but it looks like they’ve passed over us completely.” He left out the final threat.
A sigh of relief swelled through the pavilion as the news spread. A few even broke into applause. Danny felt like cheering himself.
“They’re going to land somewhere else. They mentioned something about a body of water, maybe a more temperate climate.”
“Oh my God.” Stacey blinked in shock, juggling her baby in her arms as her eyes grew wide. “There’s a whole planet out there!”
“Moon,” Heather corrected with giddy laughter.
“Whatever,” Stacey laughed. “There could be an ocean somewhere and a beach! I am so going to the beach next summer!”
“If we can find it.” Heather nudged her, rubbing a hand over her belly and the promise it held.
“We’ll find it.” Grace drew in a breath filled with purpose and determination as she hugged her son. “We’ll definitely find it someday.”
“Before we lost contact, Captain Blalock said something else,” Danny told her, volumes of possibility exploding before his eyes. “We’re not alone.”
About the Author
I hope you have enjoyed Fallen from Grace. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when the next books in the series come out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it!
Merry Farmer lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn’t have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Today she walks along the cutting edge of Indie Publishing, writing Historical Romance and Women's Sci-Fi. She is also passionate about blogging, knitting, and cricket and is working toward becoming an internationally certified cricket scorer.
You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @merryfarmer20.
Merry also has a blog, http://merryfarmer.net,
and a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor
Acknowledgements
A ton of people helped make this possible, including Samantha War
ren and J.R. Tague, who I have bounced ideas off of for ages, and my beta-readers Keira Montclair, and Dave Farmer. I have to thank my fabulous editor, Aven Rose, once again for helping me make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. And finally, where would I be without the Mistress of Badass herself, my publicist Anne Chaconas, and the whole Badass Marketing team.
Other Works by Merry Farmer:
The Noble Hearts
The Loyal Heart
The Faithful Heart
The Courageous Heart
Montana Romance
Our Little Secrets
Fool for Love
Sarah Sunshine (novella)
In Your Arms
The Indomitable Eve (novella)
Seeks For Her (novella)
Somebody to Love
Grace’s Moon
Saving Grace
Fallen from Grace
O’er the Silent Waters (coming fall 2014)
Through the Depths of Night (coming fall 2014)
