“I’d assumed Ashlyn would have told you,” said Brooks.
“I haven’t seen Ashlyn today.” Steven couldn’t take his eyes off Phillip, shocked and overjoyed that his son was alive. After giving Tomlinson a tight hug for having saved his son. “How, how did you get to him?”
“I made a few friends out in the desert. I would have died if not for them. After letting me rest a bit, when they began to break camp, I drew the symbol of the pyramid in the sand and asked them to bring me here. We arrived outside the city when you were in the middle of your fight with Enlil, which by the way was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
“When I saw you fly off with Ashlyn, we almost decided not to enter the city, but—” Tomlinson looked down at Phillip. “There was a lot of noise coming from the city, the place was in chaos. We could hear the people revolting, killing the guards.”
“Where was Enlil during all that?” asked Steven.
“That’s the strange part. He just watched the guards being killed from up atop the head of the cobra. He didn’t try to stop the humans at all. When it was over, he flew off to the east.”
“That’s odd—damned odd,” said Steven.
“I thought so too. Once he was gone, I decided to explore the pyramid. When I looked around, I found the underground maze. That is where I found him. They had hurt him pretty badly.” Tomlinson again looked down at Phillip who was still hugging his father tightly. “He was strapped—to a table. They were actually healing him. He wasn’t in great shape, but he could walk.”
“I wasn’t sure where Enlil was, but I thought it best to get him away from the city in case Enlil returned.
“And just so you know, sir. I did look for a way to let the people out. I felt bad leaving them in the cells, but I couldn’t find anyone that spoke English, and Phillip wasn’t up to walking very far. That place is huge. So, we came back up and I asked the people that brought me here to take us out. I just wanted to get Phillip to safety—find somewhere to hide. They took us out into the desert, to an oasis. We stayed there until I saw Defender flyby overhead.”
“Thank you.” Steven was at a loss for words.
“No need,” said Tomlinson.
“I’m sorry—about Paris,” said Steven, acknowledging Tomlinson’s loss.
He nodded. “She was—amazing.” Tomlinson’s eyes watered.
After another quick hug Steven said, “You remind me a lot of your father, Tomlinson. If not for his foresight, we wouldn’t be here today. He’d be proud of the man you’ve become.”
“And, sir. If I may…” He hugged Steven again. “That was for me. All these years, you’ve been there for me. Without you…” He shook his head. “My father would be happy for what you did for my mother and I. Thank you. You’ve been a second father to me.”
Steven squeezed his arm in acknowledgement. “I have one more thing to give you—a Gift.” Steven’s quizzical look intrigued Tomlinson.
“You too, Brooks, there’s something I want both of you to have.” He turned to Phillip. “Phillip, have you seen your mom yet?”
“Yeah, she’s with Ash. They’ve been talking all night. Mom was crying, Ashlyn too. Dad? I lost Ashlyn’s balalaika. I haven’t told her yet.”
“She won’t care, believe me—she won’t care!”
“Sir,” said Brooks. “I have something to tell you too. We were forced to abandon Sea Base. Everyone, all of the personnel from Sea Base is aboard Defender. Earth was literally shaking itself apart. We watched from orbit as the Yellowstone caldera blew. And that was just the beginning. There aren’t words to describe what we saw. If we’d stayed, we all would have died,” said Brooks.
“You’re alive, that’s all that matters,” affirmed Steven.
Chapter 24
Two hours later after having given the Water of Life to Brooks, Phillip, and Tomlinson, they exited the Garden and hopped on the shuttle, heading back to Defender.
Outside the city, thousands of people, both human and not so human, had gathered around the landed ship. Many were praying to the vessel, others offering bits of food and water to the crew as they exited. To them, the arrival of Defender was the arrival of Enki’s forces. Enki had answered their prayers and rescued them. Out of respect, the people gave Steven, their messiah, a wide birth, bowing as he walked among them.
Steven took a seat on a rock outside Defender’s mammoth open shuttle bay door that the crew was using as the main entrance in and out of the ship.
“Hesitant to go in?” said Brooks.
“I feel like I’m waiting to go to the gallows. It’s a can’t win situation.”
“You’ve been in lots of those. Somehow, you always manage to escape by the short-hairs.”
Steven chuckled.
Suddenly the girls—Ashlyn, Renee, Sandee, and Christie came walking out shoulder to shoulder, giggling like the best of friends. “Steven!” Renee screamed as she spotted him and ran.
As Renee bounded toward him, Steven saw Ashlyn take Christie’s hand and turn away, leaving him to be alone with his family. Steven’s thoughts darted back and forth, from his exhilaration over seeing Renee, to how strange it was to see the two of them so chummy. Something just felt odd about it.
After a slew of hugs, things began to calm. When Renee resisted Steven’s kiss, it seemed a small sign of his yet unspoken fate. Sandee was a joy to hold, and as she affirmed that he wasn’t going to disappear, she bounded off to play with Phillip and Christie. Renee and Steven were now able to talk alone.
“I bet you’ve probably been sitting here on pins and needles, haven’t you? Steven, can we take a shuttle to Eden? We need to talk, and it’ll be easier for me to tell you what I’ve got to say, there.”
In the Garden, they walked hand in hand, finally taking a seat upon a rock by the edge of the stream. Steven’s elation at seeing her ebbed away, as he sensed that what she was going to say was going to be painful.
“I’ve missed you more than you’ll ever know,” she started. The deep pain in her voice spoke of a shattered love.
“Renee, I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you.” Steven’s tears welled, matching Renee’s.
“Please, Steven; I need to say this, while I still have the courage. Back at Sea Base, there was an accident. I dropped a test vial, Liberator 159. It was an early version of the final mutated virus. Probably no more than a drop splashed onto my lips.” Her head lowered, her voice trembling like her hands, her tears flowing. “I have two, maybe three months left to live.”
Steven began shaking, unable to stop.
“I needed—to get Sandee to you. I wanted her to be here with you, before—before I passed. She doesn’t know yet. No one knows but you, Ashlyn, and Brooks.”
Steven enfolded her within his arms as her voice weakened. He wished he could trade his own life for hers. Her words had ripped a hole in his heart that was now a fathomless void of pain. “Maybe The Keeper—”
“No—Ash and I came here late last night and—”
“You came here last night and didn’t wake me?”
“I needed to talk to Ash first. We had a lot to discuss. But, Steven, please, let me finish. We spoke with The Keeper. His scans showed that every cell in my body has been infected, mutated. My DNA structure cannot be repaired. The accident was a silly mistake. Victor and I had been working around the clock to find the virus and I was so tired—I dropped the vial.”
“The Keeper is certain that he can’t help?” Steven questioned again.
“He could slow it, but he can’t stop it. I don’t want the treatments though, it will be tough enough on the children as it is, they don’t need to see me slowly withering away.
“Ashlyn has agreed to help you with the children for the next couple of months. I want to spend my last weeks with you, here.” Her eyes lifted to gaze upon the valley. “This place is so beautiful, Steven. This, is where I want to die.” She gripped Steven’s shaking hands.
Steven’s shattered heart ached. Hi
s mind rebelled, wanting to reverse the hands of time.
***
With help from Tomlinson and Brooks, Steven built a small, prefabricated house and placed it within Eden at the top of the knoll that looked down into the valley. Though intimate contact between them wasn’t possible, their love and appreciation for one another, deepened moment by moment.
The last weeks took a devastating toll on Steven, as he was forced to watch Renee’s hair turn gray and the color of her skin turn ashen. The vibrant life in her eyes dimmed a tiny bit each day and her strength waned.
Ashlyn sat with Renee several hours each day, not only making sure that Renee’s needs were attended to, but also giving Steven the time necessary to spend with the children—and get some much needed rest.
In the final days, as Renee slipped away, she and Ashlyn were inseparable. They spent much of their time together, alone in private, serious conversations—but it was also a time of lightheartedness as Steven overheard them frequently laughing—Renee telling stories of Steven’s youthful shenanigans at the Academy. They used the time to draw close, to bond, and Steven was happy that Renee had such a friend.
On a cool summer evening, as the suns were setting below the mountains, Renee asked Steven to leave the room—needing a final private moment with Ashlyn. Only minutes passed, before Ashlyn calmly and quietly came to get him.
Kneeling beside her bed, Steven’s eyes filled with tears.
“I love you with all my heart, Steven,” her feeble voice uttered as her frail hand tightened around his. “And more than anything I don’t want you to grieve for me—or feel guilt.” She inhaled deeply, the act of taking a single breath draining her of strength. Her voice grew faint. “I’ve been blessed with two beautiful children and the love of a kindly man.
“My last request is that you give the love you have given me, to Ashlyn. I like her, Steven. She’ll be a good wife to you and a good mother to our children.” Her grip abruptly tightened as she experienced a stab of pain. “It will now be through her eyes that I will see my son turn into a man and the day when our daughter marries—and I will see you happy again.” Her eyes closed. Struggling to reopen them she said, “Call Ashlyn, now!”
Steven turned around to see Ash standing in the doorway. She quietly moved around to the other side of the bed and knelt at Renee’s side. With more strength than Steven thought Renee had remaining in her, she tore her hand from his and reached over to grasp Ashlyn’s palms. Their eyes locked, Ashlyn’s eyes closed. Renee took a last gasping sigh of breath and exhaled. Her chest did not rise again. When Steven looked back to Renee’s ashen face, he saw that her eyes had closed.
He bent over, kissed her forehead, and then buried his face in hers. The grief in his broken heart overwhelmed him.
She had been his friend, his lover, his wife.
***
Early the next morning, rays of sun breaking through the branches of the white-flowered tree that had given Steven and Ashlyn their Gift of Knowledge, Steven dug Renee’s grave. There beside the little house atop the knoll, beneath a layer of stones, she would have a memorial for all time. It had been Renee’s favorite view of the valley’s great beauty. Upon his knees, he thanked her for the love she had brought into his life and for the children that she had given him. He promised her that he would protect them and raise them in a manner that would make her proud. Placing a single red rose atop her grave, he wept.
***
Later that day, as Steven went in search of Ashlyn, he found that she had left Eden. It was only after he’d spoken to Brooks, that he’d discovered that she’d asked to borrow a transport for a few days and flown away. She had asked Brooks to trust her, giving him no details as to where she was going, or when she would return.
Three days later—before the sun had even risen, Ashlyn came and dragged Steven out of bed, reluctant to give him a moment to slip on his clothes.
She’d even brought along a sleepy-eyed nurse from Defender’s crew to babysit. Taking Steven by the hand, she led him to a Dolphin transport.
“You have to wear this!” she said, pulling out a black, cloth blindfold from her jeans pocket. “Or you don’t get your surprise!”
Minutes later, he heard the twang of the skids as they lowered into position and touched down. As Steven reached for his blindfold, Ash swatted his hand. “Not until I tell you!” The transport’s door opened with its accompanying purr. “Don’t take it off until I call you, and no cheating.”
Listening intently, he heard the sound of the wind rustling through the branches of nearby trees.
Steven, you can come out now, came the call in his mind.
Ripping off the blindfold, he bounded to the door.
To his left was vacuous desert, but to his right, lay the oasis that Ashlyn and he had discovered on their sojourn. Each step toward the water raised his anxiousness. His eyes locked upon the waterfall, and almost as if it were on cue, Ashlyn’s hand reached out, and with her middle finger, she beckoned him.
A heavy gust of wind rustled the branches. A few leaves dropped. Steven shed his clothing and waded into the pond. As her hand disappeared, he dove under the fall, reappearing on the other side. As he swept his hair back, he saw Ash, bare shouldered and submerged up to her collarbone. The glints of shimmering cleavage below the rippling surface was entrancing. A sexier smile upon her, he had never seen.
“What’s all this about?”
Ashlyn smiled sweetly. “Let me explain. Please—keep an open mind. That first night when Defender arrived, Renee requested to speak with me privately. The vision she’d had back at Sea Base, told her far more about our future than she’d let on.
“She had seen her death, here on Hades. The grave you and I saw in the vision was hers. It was her that you were weeping for.
“More importantly, she saw my empathic abilities, and you and I having this conversation. From it, she learned that the three of us had a mutual destiny. That was why she was content and settled, when you and I said goodbye to her at Sea Base.
“When she told me about the accident and her sickness—I began to formulate a solution. When I mentioned my idea, she said she already knew. She had seen it in our future. She made it clear that I was not required to help, and that I had a choice. But, in all honesty, it was perfect for her, for me, for you—for us.
“So, together, Renee and I agreed upon a course of action that would see us through to completion. That’s the reason that Renee and I spent so much time together during her last weeks.”
“I’m not following you, Ash. What are you talking about?”
Ashlyn took a half step back, wanting to give him room to reflect. “Renee and Ashlyn, each decided to sacrifice their own individual identities in order to become one, new individual. They were two individual threads that found they could be woven together, becoming both different and stronger than they were before.
“When Renee’s body died, it no longer contained her consciousness. Renee is inside me, as Ashlyn is inside me.
“Their duality of memories are now my memories. Their love, desire, emotions, passion, knowledge, even their cravings—all of it is me, a new individual. I am a singular person, a new person created by the two of them.
“That’s why I’ve been gone these last days—I needed time to integrate. I needed to be alone—and have quiet.”
Steven was astounded—he’d never dreamed that such a thing was possible.
“Do you remember Renee’s last words to you?” asked Ashlyn.
Steven nodded. “It will now be through her eyes that I will see my son turn into a man and the day when our daughter marries.”
Ash added, “And when I will see you happy again.”
“I didn’t realize she was being literal. Why didn’t you just tell me?”
Ashlyn crinkled her nose impishly. “Renee wanted to spare you from disappointment, if it didn’t work to the depth we’d hoped.”
“So—do I call you Ashlyn or Renee?”
“I prefer Ashlyn, since my physical appearance is hers. It will also make it easier on the children. Maybe someday, when they are older, we can tell them the truth.
“If you need time to take this all in, I’ll understand. The concept is not an easy one to accept, but know that I love you as never before, for the love I carry, is the love borne by the two of them.”
Steven was still for only a moment before he drew Ashlyn close. “It’s wonderful, Ash. What you did for Renee, for me—beyond self-sacrificing.” When her arms wrapped around his neck, he gave her a long, hard kiss, his touch making her feel secure in the decision. His hands grabbed her buttocks, pulling her tight.
Feeling him throbbing against her belly, she slid her hand between their bodies and grabbed him. “You have no idea how desperate I am right now—it’s hard to explain, because while I have their memories and cravings, I have none that are unique to me, to the person that I am now. I know everything, but don’t feel like I’ve experienced anything.”
“I can barely grasp the concept, let alone the logistics,” said Steven. “It doesn’t surprise me that you have some things to sort out.”
“I don’t understand all of it yet, either,” agreed Ashlyn.
Ashlyn turned around and wiggled her buttocks against him. Leaning her head back atop his shoulder, she took his hands and put them on her breasts. She moved his hands around, letting him savor the feel of her slippery breasts and nipples against the palm of his hands.
Looking down over her shoulder, entranced, he watched the droplets of water blending, forming heavy trickles that ran around the swells of her cleavage. Her hair was wet, stringy, enticing. Steven found the moment to be incredibly erotic.
Ash leaned forward, placing her face and shoulders against the smooth boulders, her hands bracing her wide stance. Moving with finesse, her breath heaving, her voice sighing to his every touch. Rising above the noise from the falls, Ashlyn’s panting gasps were loud, ragged.
Ashlyn Chronicles 1: 2287 A.D. Page 37
