Sabin, A Seven Novel

by A. M. Hargrove

  “Exactly. But not as ritualistic.”

  My body freezes. This is not what I expected him to say. In a small voice, I say, “But I don’t want to be married. I never wanted to be married.”

  “And you’re not. You are claimed. It is an honor. You should be happy. Ecstatic even.”

  I face him head on. “This is not an honor. It was forced on me.”

  He laughs! Of all the nerve. “Let me guess. Sabin asked you in … shall I say a passionate moment?”

  My mouth falls open and I’m sure I appear ridiculous. Then I’m pissed off. “Oh, is this how he usually operates?”

  “Not that I am aware of. It is how I would claim a woman though, if there would be one I would desire to the point of going to that end. Serena, listen to me. Claiming is not to be taken lightly. Sabin will face … how can I say this? There will be ramifications for claiming you. According to our Council, you are beneath him and he will pay the price. He has taken an unimaginable risk.”

  “Why did he have to claim me in the first place?”

  “He didn’t. But if he hadn’t, anyone could have when we take you back to our home. And it would have put you in great danger. Wearing his mark will protect you. But don’t mistake his actions. Danger or no, Sabin also did it because he cares for you. He would not chance anything unpleasant happening to you.”

  Edge’s comments create more questions than answers for me. In fact, my belly is a mess of wadded knots. “If Sabin is taking me to his home to be safe, why is it dangerous?”

  When the words leave my mouth, Edge locks me out. My open book of enlightenment slams shut before me. “I cannot say. You will have to ask Sabin that. Now give me your wrist, please.”

  When I do, Edge uses a device that places a black mark resembling a tattoo on it. It’s a circle with unusual script in the center.

  “That didn’t hurt at all.”

  “Oh, no. I should’ve told you it wouldn’t.”

  “What does it mean?”

  “It’s the symbol for Sabin’s name. It will identify you as his.”

  “Is this permanent?”

  “As long as you are with Sabin, it will remain on your wrist.”

  Edge stands and I stop him, moving between him and the door.

  “You’re not walking out like this. I still want to know what’s so bad that you can’t tell me? The danger?”

  He’s avoids my eyes when he responds. “As I stated, you will have to seek your answers from Sabin.”

  Stepping up to him, I grab a handful of his shirt. “Edge? Tell me. Please.”

  His hand covers mine and he forces me to let go. “Serena, I can’t. It’s not my place. Ask Sabin. I will tell you this. He will not let anything happen to you. He will guard you with his life.”

  I watch him turn and walk out the door. The revelation is frightening, yet interesting. I know he will guard me with his life if Judgment Day is at stake, but this is different. He is willing to do the same, even without the necklace. And my inference from what Edge is saying is that he isn’t talking about protecting me from the Shaurok. But then who would want to harm me? I don’t know anyone where Sabin lives.

  My head spins with Edge’s information. But I’m also scared to death of this place I will journey to. Oh shit! This is space travel. I’ll be going to a different planet. I’ll be leaving Earth behind. Everything I know. My legs go numb and I sink to the floor. What will I do? Like Edge said, I will be the outsider, the inferior one. I can’t read minds, can’t fight, can’t do anything but SCUBA dive, really. Oh, hell, my mom was right all along. My arms wrap around my stomach and I rock back and forth, thinking about all those awful things she said. A cashier at the zippy mart would’ve been much safer than this. Or a job as a waitress.

  The door crashes open and I scream.

  “What happened? What’s wrong? Why are you so upset?” Sabin bellows.

  “Merciful heavens, you scared the bejesus out of me!” By now I’m on my hands and knees, wheezing.

  He picks me up as if I weigh nothing at all, and sets me down on the bed. Then some weird words, interspersed with English, start spewing out of his mouth. It’s bizarre and I know I’m looking at him like he’s as crazed as I am.

  “What the heck are you saying?” It’s so odd, I almost want to laugh. He gives his head a firm shake and then slaps it. What the heck is he doing?

  “I said, I heard your thoughts as though,” and then he launches into that weird language again in it sounds like, “Narish amad bray naran atu yestudish!”

  “What? You’re talking in tongues.”

  Again, he shakes his head, and barks, “VERUS!”

  I jump about a foot off the bed. Damn his voice is loud. “Can you get any louder? I swear you’re going to rupture my tympanic membrane.”

  “Bishtan stu bre esrubia vetu bara due.”

  “I give up. You’re speaking Russian.”

  “VERUS!”

  Verus rushes in the door, asking, “What’s up?”

  Sabin looks at him and says, “My translator is malfunctioning.” He says it in flawless English.

  “You sound fine to me.”

  Now I pipe in, “Yeah, but a minute ago, he was speaking perfect Russian.”

  “Why the hell were you speaking Russian?”

  Sabin’s rigid posture lets me know he’s too pissed for Verus’ questions. But he answers anyway. “It wasn’t Russian, it was Nyan’truan.”

  “Why were you speaking that?”

  “What’s Neeuntrun?” I ask.

  They both turn to me. Sabin answers and it’s gibberish again. He turns back to Verus and says, “See what I mean?”

  “What language is that?”

  Verus looks at Sabin and Sabin nods. “It is the language of our home,” Verus answers.

  That drives the alien thing in even deeper. Neeuntrun. Jesus. No wonder it was a bunch of gibberish. My hands lock onto each other to keep them from trembling.

  “Let me run a scan on your MSI to see if everything’s okay,” Verus says.

  Verus takes out this tiny device (how many of these damn devices do they have?) that looks like a miniature cell phone, and holds it next to Sabin’s head. All of a sudden an image of Sabin’s brain leaps out. Holy smokes. It looks like a true brain. I’ve taken anatomy and physiology, so I have a rudimentary knowledge of what a brain looks like. I hop off the bed and walk up to it. Then I put my arm through it. How cool is that? But Edge was right. It has an extra lobe, and it’s definitely different than a human’s. I look underneath it as it floats in the air and that’s when I see it. The MSI. And it’s not a chip. It’s some kind of an activated thing that’s attached to his brain stem. And it’s moving around in there.

  “Oh, oh, oh god. That’s not good. That thing in there? What exactly does it do?”

  Neither of them answers me. But it creeps me out.

  Verus pulls up various charts. They pop up exactly like Sabin’s brain does and both men read the charts. I can’t because they are in Neeuntrun. I don’t understand them.

  Verus declares, “Everything checks out fine. Your MSI is perfect.”

  “Then why the fuck can I not talk to her?”

  “Let me watch it while you try to converse with her.”

  Sabin looks at me, and says, “What upset you so?”

  “This upsets me. All this … this funky shit in your head. And the fact that I’m leaving Earth. How the hell will that even happen? I’m freaking out!”

  He moves in front of me and his eyes soften. He wants to calm me, I can feel it. His large hand covers my cheek and he says, “I know you’re scared, but tremun eur brai, araeen laurist morriit.”

  Verus announces, “Your emotional impulses are overriding the translator.”

  Sabin turns to Verus and yells, “What? That’s impossible!”

  “Apparently not,” Verus counters. “I just watched it.”

  “What the hell am I supposed to do?” Sabin asks.

&nbs
p; “Let me work on it. In the meantime, pack.” Verus leaves.

  Sabin’s hand tugs his hair. Then he gestures at his clothing. I have no idea what he means. He starts disrobing. Does he want to get naked? But when he moves toward the bathroom, I think I understand. He wants to shower. And when I inspect his discarded clothes, they’re sweaty, like he’s been working out. I realize I’m going to be living with a man I can’t communicate with. Alien charades anyone?

  When he exits the bathroom, he looks and smells yummy. But we need to talk. I need to talk.

  “I know you can’t speak English, but can you understand it?”

  His head moves up and down.

  “Edge came to see me. Why didn’t you tell me all about this claiming stuff?”

  He approaches me and holds his hands in front of him. “Atu …” then he stops. His hands fist at his side, he closes his eyes and drops his head back. He stands before me naked, and I am amazed at how flawless he is. Now would be a good time for me to read minds, but I have to wonder if I could comprehend it. It would probably be in his native language.

  Suddenly his head snaps up and he eyes me for a second. Then he turns, and his back is toward me. “I didn’t tell you because it was complicated. It seems I can speak to you if I don’t look at you. This is an atypical phenomenon.”

  “Complicated, huh? I’d like to know of the danger I will face when we go to your home. Edge said one of the reasons you claimed me was because of that.”

  His muscles tense. Every single one of them. They stand out beneath the flesh of his back and shoulders, more pronounced than usual. “It is true. There will be many who will perhaps want you for their own. That was one reason why I thought it critical to claim you.”

  “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “The Council will not be pleased. They like for us to gain their permission first. I, however, do not follow anyone’s directives with respect to my personal life.”

  “I see.” Not really, but what he says makes sense to a point. But maybe he is being foolhardy.

  He reads my mind. “True, but I will not give up my rights to live my life freely, without their intrusions. And I apologize. About the mind reading, you can’t understand how loud your thoughts project. I’m not exactly reading it—you shout them sometimes and I can choose not to acknowledge them, if you wish, but that doesn’t stop me from hearing them.”

  Instead of getting into a tit for tat conflict over this little revelation, I decide to move on and be open about my feelings. “Sabin, I’m terrified about leaving my home. While it’s not been what one could call a stellar life so far, it’s the only thing I know. This interplanetary travel thing—I’ve gotta say, I’m more than a little freaked about it. I’m about to hit the twelve-alarm point. I’m trying to be brave, but I don’t know if I can do this. And then when you leave and I’ll be there alone, there will be people who might very possibly want to hurt me. I don’t think I’m cut out for this. Edge said I was fragile and he’s right. I am. I think I need to stay put. Right here maybe. Or maybe I can move to California and change my name or something.”

  Strong arms cage me into the wall of his chest and he murmurs gibberish to me. I have no idea what he says, but he’s clearly trying to comfort me. No smartass remarks, no sarcasm, this is Sabin being a sweet guy, and the worst part of this whole thing is I can’t fucking understand a word he says. It’s mishmash. He pulls back some, his eyes link with mine, and my mind floods with images of a place of beauty that I can’t describe. Jagged mountain peaks in the distance with the sun setting over them, a blue sky tinged in orange that’s so breathtaking I long to see it in person, flowers so pretty and colorful I want to put my face next to them and inhale, become a slideshow in my brain. Image after image and I find I am smiling with pleasure until they fade away.

  “Was that it? Your home?”

  He nods.

  “Oh, Edge said it was magnificent, but I never …” Words leave me because I don’t have any that can aptly recount what I just witnessed.

  He turns away and says, “I will make you happy there. If you’re not, I will return you here when it’s safe. You have my oath.”

  Rafe knocks on the door and enters. “Do you mind?” He motions toward Sabin with his hand.

  Sabin saunters off to get dressed. He pulls on a pair of pants and shirt. While he puts on his shoes, he says to Rafe, “Is everything set to go?”

  “It’s gone. The sec center is cleared out, as is everything else. All that’s left is the manpower.”

  “Good. Can you get Edge in here to suit up Serena? And can you take care of our stuff?”

  “Got you covered, boss.”

  Rafe looks at me and advises me to put shoes on. When I’m done, he asks if I could pack up my things in the bathroom. It only takes me a minute or two. By the time I’m done, Edge is in the room. But there is no suit.

  When I check the closet, it’s empty. Rafe works fast.

  Sabin stands by and watches Edge. Edge says, “This will feel odd, but this,” he holds up another darn device, “will weave a suit over your clothes and onto your skin. It will monitor all your bodily functions, breathe for you, and maintain all your life support. When it is complete, it’s going to completely cover you. You’ll be able to hear and speak, but don’t fight it. Just go with it. Relax, okay?”

  “Panic is me right now.”

  Sabin speaks a jumbled slur of words. Then he says to Edge, “Tell her to look in my eyes.”

  “You heard him, Serena. Eyes on Sabin while this is happening.”

  “Okay.”

  Edge bends down and starts with my feet. It’s cool and almost feels like a spray and he passes that thing over and around my legs. He keeps moving upward. It’s kind of amazing to think this thing is an actual space suit. By the time he gets to my neck, I’m a bit calmer. Watching Sabin’s eyes helps. But when he hits my face and mouth, I freak. I have this image of me suffocating, and I start flailing. He’s finished with my hands so Sabin grabs both of them.

  “Tell her it’s okay and that she’s almost finished.” I hear him so Edge doesn’t say a thing.

  The stuff covers my mouth, but I can still breathe through my nose, which he leaves for last. When he covers my eyes, initially a film forms, but in one or two seconds, it’s gone and it’s like nothing is there.

  Sabin tells Edge to stop a second. “Serena, you know how it was for your eyes? That’s exactly how it will be for your nose. One second. That’s it. You ready?” He acts like he’s talking to Edge.

  “Do it.” I just want to get this over with. For a couple of seconds I can’t breathe. I struggle.

  Sabin and Edge both say, “Relax. Let it do the breathing.”

  Edge says, “You don’t even have to breathe if you don’t want to. You’re getting enough oxygen diffused through other parts of your body. But it’s such a natural thing, do what makes you feel the most comfortable.”

  A few moments pass and I settle into it. I look at my hands and arms. Everything looks the same.

  “Is this impervious to heat?”

  “Yeah. Up to, if I remember correctly, ten thousand degrees.”

  “Well? How do I look?”

  Edge looks at Sabin and Sabin walks up to me and kisses me.

  “I guess you have your answer,” Edge says. Then he turns to Sabin and suits him up before he suits himself up. What’s weird about this device is the thing knows where your body isn’t covered and it will find that area. Amazing.

  Sabin asks, “Where are the others?”

  “Sec center. Waiting on us.”

  “Let’s go.”

  We walk to the sec center where the others wait.

  Rafe tells Edge to give me something.

  “What’s that?” I ask.

  “You’ve never transcended this distance before. It will make the process and aftermath more tolerable for you.”

  “Oh. Is it that bad?”

  “Think about it this way. Your
atoms—well your hadrons or quarks, really—are being stretched, rearranged, stretched and put back together, while you are leaping through space, in an irregular manner. So yes, it can be bad. Like sea sickness.”

  “Got it.”

  They put something on my suit, but I don’t feel any different. “It’s absorbed into your body.”

  “Ah, makes sense.” I’m only saying that; the truth is I don’t know what’s up or down anymore.

  Sabin stands next to me and takes my hand, squeezing it tightly. Edge is on my other side and says, “Sabin wants you to know everything will be fine.” I reach for Edge’s hand, which startles him, but at this point I don’t care. It’s either that or pee myself. He tightens his hold.

  Sabin calls out, “Who did a final run through on this place?”

  Rafe says, “Verus, Helios, and Drey doubled back behind us.”

  “All clear?” Sabin asks.

  Rafe responds, “All clear.”

  Then Sabin says, “Stand by to transcend. Verus, ETA?”

  Verus taps on one of his ever present devices and answers, “Three point two Earth hours.”

  Sabin squeezes my hand again. Then he announces, “Let’s make that happen, Verus.”

  Verus does something and my body starts to feel squishy, then smashed. I see streaks of light and hear Sabin’s voice. I’m not sure if I hear it or if it’s only in my head. He explains things to me, but I don’t understand any of it because it’s all physics, and I hated physics. He talks about atoms, hadrons, and quarks. Then he’s onto quantum leaps through wormholes and light speed, relativity and how Einstein was right, but a tad off kilter. His voice sounds elongated, and he laughs when I tell him that. The other men chat up a storm like they’re on an airplane, having a grand time. This funky feeling on my body persists, almost making me feel like Gumby. I am weirdly weightless, yet I feel Sabin’s and Edge’s hands grasping both of mine. They both encourage me, telling me I’m doing great for a first-timer. Jeez, how often do they do this?

  Sabin answers that they do it all the time. About as much as humans fly. Transcending through space is more taxing on the body than going from place to place on a single planet. It’s their preferred method of travel. But for me, because I’m fragile (I hate that word), I’ll have more difficulty getting used to it. Great news for me.