by Mikayla Lane
“Let’s get the meters out, boys,” Dog said as he looked at the door. “What did you find, my girl?”
“I’m not real sure, Dog, but I don’t think we need to pull it without checking it first,” Deanna told him as she watched him run his calloused hands around the seam of the door.
“That fool is gonna pull this place down around his dumb ass if he ain’t careful,” Dog muttered.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Deanna agreed.
She heard Mike threaten to pull out random stones daily since she’d arrived at the site and couldn’t imagine how many times the others had heard it before she got there.
Dog turned and helped his men set up some meters and monitors, most of which Deanna had seen before but had no idea how to operate. The reason she’d studied dead languages and civilizations were because she hated technology.
It wasn’t that there weren't valuable uses for it. She just felt that the crude and clunky garbage being produced today was nothing compared to the beautiful and natural technology found in previous civilizations. Civilizations that conventional archeologists believed were barely able to scratch food from the earth. Everything about this pyramid was proving her right.
“I need you guys to get out for a little while so I can run some tests,” Dog said, his dark eyes not leaving the gadget he was tinkering with.
“You got it. Radio when we can come back in,” Deanna suggested as she left the chamber and headed back down the tunnel.
Now that the initial excitement and adrenaline had worn off, she needed coffee and lots of it. As Deanna headed back down the tunnel, she ran her hand along the wall, enjoying the feel of the slight vibration caused by the energy that created the humming sound.
Deanna reached the bottom, stepped outside and back into the large mountain that housed the pyramid. She followed the worn path that led to the mess hall while studying the mural pictures in her hand.
Deanna blindly opened the door and headed over to the coffee pot. Coffee in hand she grabbed a tray and put her cup on it, added some silverware and moved along the food line.
“We got some fresh baked bread this morning, Doc. You interested?”
Deanna looked up and smiled at Harry, the head cook and kitchen manager for the project. He was another old timer who’d been on the site almost as long as Big Dog and Tom.
“You’re going to spoil me, Harry. You know I can’t resist carbs of any kind,” Deanna half-joked as her mouth watered at the thought of the bread.
Harry chuckled and slathered two steaming pieces with butter and slid them on her tray.
“Now eat some protein as well, and I’ll give you two more pieces for later,” Harry said. He was serious.
Deanna wrinkled her nose at the choices of powdered eggs, mushy oatmeal, canned fruit, waffles, and a mystery meat she couldn’t identify. She took one more look at the two slices of bread on her plate and added a scoop of eggs before looking at Harry to see if it was enough.
He looked a little disappointed but nodded his head at her.
“OK, but you better eat all of them eggs,” he threatened her.
“You bet I will,” she assured him with a grin.
Deanna would have eaten the mystery meat for two more pieces of the bread, but she wasn’t about to tell Harry she could be bought so cheaply.
Deanna picked up her tray and moved to one of the many empty tables, and immediately wolfed down the disgusting eggs, determined to get it over with. Satisfied she’d earned her treat, she sipped her coffee and looked through the pictures again as she slowly enjoyed every bite of the delicious bread.
“You look like you need to talk it through,” Harry said as he refilled her coffee cup and sat across from her.
Deanna sighed and shook her head in frustration.
“I need a new brain, or a new theory, or something,” she complained.
“If just anyone was supposed to figure it out, you think it’d be hidden away in here?” he teased her.
“I know,” Deanna admitted. “I just feel like I should understand more by now. There’s just nothing to compare the language with. I’ve never seen anything like the complexity, and I have no idea who could have written it.”
“You got to have some options you’re thinking of, lay ‘em on me,” Harry suggested, resting his arms on the table.
When she’d first arrived, Deanna had been stunned to realize just how much everyone knew about science and archeology. Between the top secret nature of the site and its remoteness, everyone had paid attention to the scientists and researchers who’d been the first to study the pyramid, so even the carpenters knew more than she did on her first day.
As another old timer on the site, Harry looked like a cook, but Deanna had quickly learned that the man heard every conversation regarding the pyramid from the other researchers, was a brilliant man in his own right, and a great guy to bounce ideas off of.
“I think it’s alien,” she admitted for the first time.
Harry widened his eyes and sat back in his chair as he studied her.
“You’re finally going to admit it?” he asked, surprised that it had taken her this long.
“Don’t mock me,” Deanna said with a laugh. “I know you guys figured that out a long time ago, but I had to exhaust all other options before going there.”
Harry threw his hands up and chuckled.
“I’m not judging you. Me, Dog and Tom all took a lot longer than you to finally believe it. What convinced you?” Harry asked, curious what one thing sealed the deal for her.
“Honestly?” Deanna began when the radio crackled.
“We need help! Medic! Medic! Dog is down! I repeat, Dog is down!” Trevor screamed through the radio.
Without even thinking about it, Deanna and Harry jumped to their feet and began running towards the entrance of the pyramid to get to Dog, make sure he was all right and find out what could have happened to him.
Chapter Two
Haruki heard the internal alarm sound in the compound, jumped out of bed and ran out of his room. He met several of his brothers in the hallway, and they all ran towards the medlab. Everyone knew that one of their nephews or their niece would be born soon.
“Do you know which one it is?” Reign called out.
No one answered and when they reached the medlab it was so quiet they were starting to wonder if it was a false alarm or another one of Drago and Liam’s baby drills.
Haruki looked around the waiting area and began counting his brothers and the Tezarians.
“I told you it was time!” Dree screamed from the medlab.
“It’s going to be Thrane!” Trick called out in excitement as he and Mir hugged. “I knew he was going to be the first!”
“You son of a bitch, if you leave my side I will cut off your balls with a speculum!” Angel shouted out from the medlab.
The brothers gathered outside all looked at one another in surprise.
“It appears that our niece may be the firstborn,” Dread said with a smirk.
“Oh, bullshit! Thrane will come first,” Mir argued, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly. “He’s already throwing illusions to make you think Isana’s going to be first.”
“Care to bet on that?” Viper taunted, ignoring Lara’s playful slap on his shoulder.
“I want some of that action!” Reign and half a dozen other brothers called out.
Haruki stood back and shook his head as he watched everyone placing bets on which of the babies would be born first. When Cole turned to him for his bet, Haruki shook his head.
“Seriously? One of them has to be born first,” Cole argued.
“It will be Christopher,” Haruki said calmly as everyone laughed at him.
Cole shook his head and continued collecting bets among the others until Grai came flying around the corner and ran up to his sons.
“Where are they? Is everyone all right? Did we get here in time?” Grai asked as he looked around and counted his chi
ldren.
Tricia came around the corner carrying a sleeping Grace and leading a yawning Tristan by the hand.
“Is everyone all right?” she asked with concern.
“We don’t know anything except that Dree and Angel are in there,” Reign said, his voice raised in excitement.
“And Quinn,” Haruki added.
“No, she’s . . . where are Quinn and Chris?” Cole asked as he looked around the waiting room.
A loud cry was heard, and the hallway became completely silent as everyone waited breathlessly to find out which of the children had been born first, and if mother and baby were fine.
Several long minutes later, a picture flashed on the video screens in the hallway showing a beautiful baby, and everyone cheered. Grai and Tricia hugged as another small cry was heard, followed several minutes later by another.
“How the hell did you know?” Cole demanded of Haruki.
“Chris and Quinn were missing when we arrived, all the due dates were around the same time, and Chris told me they were going to induce Quinn if Angel or Dree went into labor first. The little guy was getting too big, and Amun was getting worried about Quinn,” Haruki admitted with a bored grin.
“You didn’t know that?” Grai asked his other children. “The first baby on the vid was Christopher.”
“No damn way!” Reign complained, having lost the bet.
“How can you be sure?” Cole challenged as he stared at the video now showing three babies, trying to see Chris’s features in any of them.
A jingling sound suddenly interrupted them, and everyone began looking around them.
“He looks just like Chris, except for Quinn’s nose and ears,” Ainsley said with a dreamy smile as she popped into the room.
“Best idea ever, bro,” Siggy said to Haruki, with a nod at the jingling charm bracelet on Ainsley’s wrist.
A day didn’t go by that baby Christopher’s mate, Ainsley, wouldn’t pop in for a while and spend time with them. As much as they adored the girl who bravely fought to heal her damaged beast, she never ceased to scare the hell out of them when she arrived unannounced.
Haruki had surprised Ainsley with the charm bracelet a few days ago. Now they were able to hear the jingling of the charms as she opened the portal to them seconds before she stepped through. Everyone called it Ainsley’s doorbell.
The door to the medlab opened, and everyone turned to see a beaming Chris come outside holding a cooing baby in his arms.
“Oh, man, he’s amazing,” Dane whispered as Chris passed him.
“Thanks,” Chris said as he moved through his siblings until he stood in front of Grai.
Chris held his son out to Grai and grinned when the baby was swamped in his father’s large hands.
“He’s perfect, Chris,” Grai said as he looked down into the beautiful face of his grandson.
The brothers converged on Chris, inundating him with congratulations and exuberant slaps on the back.
The door opened again, and everyone turned to see Liam’s hulking form coming outside. Trick and Mir rushed over to look at their nephew, Thrane.
Drago was the next, and he didn’t look surprised when Dread wasted no time in taking Isana from his arms.
“Mom and Dad are going to be thrilled,” Dread whispered as he cuddled his niece. “She is beautiful.”
Grai handed the baby back to Chris and chuckled as his son was immediately surrounded by his siblings. He took Tricia’s hand and gently weaved their way through everyone until they reached the medlab door and slipped inside.
Dree was the first room they came to, and they knocked quietly before going inside.
Grai leaned down and kissed Dree’s forehead.
“Your son is beautiful. How are you?” he asked.
“Tired. The accelerated healing is going awesome, though,” Dree admitted with a grin as she held up a mediband around her wrist. “Go check on Angel and Quinn. Let me know if they’re all right.”
Grai and Tricia made their way out of her room and into the next where they found Angel sitting up in bed. Grai was the first to the bed where he pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head.
“You did a fantastic job, baby. Isana is as beautiful as you are,” he whispered.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Angel said as she hugged him back.
When they separated, Tricia hugged Angel as well.
“Are you all right, honey?” Tricia asked, noting the mediband on Angel’s wrist.
“I’m doing good! Have you seen Quinn or Dree? Are they OK?” Angel asked with concern.
“We just came from Dree, and she’s doing great. She asked about you. Just rest for now, and we’ll ask Amun and Lauren about you visiting together,” Grai suggested as he stood, wondering where the doctors were.
“We’ll let you know about Quinn,” Tricia assured her before they left the room.
When they knocked on the next room, the door was answered by Lauren.
“Is she all right?” Grai asked.
“She’s doing very well!” Lauren answered as she stepped back to let them in. “Christopher required a surgical removal, and we just finished setting the healing parameters for her mediband.”
“Hey,” Quinn said as she struggled to sit.
“Just lay and rest,” Tricia chastised her as she moved to her side.
“Yes, rest is definitely being prescribed,” Amun agreed. “It will speed your healing. Don’t try to keep up with Angel and Dree either. You’re going to take a little longer to heal. At least a few days longer.”
“Dree and Angel are worried about her,” Grai said. “Do you think you can let them know she’s OK, and when they can visit?”
“Of course. I was just going to check on the girls before we brought the babies back in,” Amun answered then quietly left the room.
“Are you sure you are well?” Grai asked the exhausted new mother.
“Yeah, I’m just tired. It’s still hard to think that just three weeks ago I was kidnapped in Europe and here I am giving birth,” Quinn said with a grin.
“We’ll leave you to rest. Call if you need anything,” Grai said before he and Tricia went back outside of the medlab.
They were immediately hit with the chaos as the three babies were being passed around among the Dranovians and Tezarians. Grai whistled loudly to get everyone’s attention.
“Hey, those ladies need rest, and you're loud and obnoxious. The babies also need to go back inside for monitoring, and I’m sure the parents would like some time to bond together,” Grai said as his children grumbled and complained.
Haruki caught Ainsley’s eye, and he jerked his head towards the ceiling. The girl grinned and nodded. Seconds later she was gone, and Haruki was striding towards the kitchen. He went to the freezer first, grabbed a few items, then raided the fridge.
With his arms full, he took the stairs three at a time until he reached the roof access. He lightly tapped the door with his foot and waited until Ainsley opened it wide. Haruki headed over to their spot on the roof and dumped everything onto a table before he sat in a chair.
“Dang, how hungry did you think I was?” Ainsley asked as she looked at the table.
Haruki laughed and grabbed one of Ainsley’s favorite ice cream bars and opened it. He had taken a huge bite before he pointed it at her.
“Who says it’s all for you? I love these things,” he replied before leaning back and getting comfortable in the lounge chair.
“Sure you do,” Ainsley said as she took a treat from the table and opened it.
“How are you doing?” Haruki asked, trying to sound casual.
“The same as yesterday when you asked me,” she replied with a sigh.
Haruki sat up and turned to face her.
“I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t lie to each other,” he said, noting she kept her eyes averted as she spoke.
“How about you start by telling me why you even care?” Ainsley shot back, suddenly defensive.
“You lost your parents?” Ainsley asked, feeling sad for him.
“Yes, but not in the way you may think,” Haruki said, wanting to leave it at that. “What is so bad about where you are now?”
“It’s not that it’s bad,” Ainsley said with a sigh, unsure how to explain how she felt.
“Bad food?” Haruki teased as he took another bite of the ice cream.
Ainsley snorted and shook her head, a rare smile emerging.
“No, the food’s good. I’m just bored. I’ve spent my whole life doing and seeing things no average kid does or sees, and now it’s like everyone expects me to forget it all and start doing traditional studies and learning how to be a kid. That’s never going to happen,” Ainsley explained before dropping her head and staring at her lap.
“Is learning things really that bad? I would think you’d enjoy learning everything you were never allowed to,” Haruki said.
“Math? English? I learned all that real quick growing to this point. Why should I read about Shakespeare in a dull, stuffy room when I can pop on over and see where he wrote his plays, lived and died? Which would you pick?” she asked with a roll of her eyes.
“You have a point,” Haruki said with a laugh before he turned serious. “It’s not about any of that is it?”
“I want to train to fight Satalis,” Ainsley blurted out.
Haruki nodded his head. He’d expected her to say that long before now and had wondered when she would.
“I don’t blame you,” he said, surprising Ainsley.
“So you’ll train me?” she asked as her eyes widened in excitement.
“How old are you Ainsley?”
“I’m 12, but what difference does that make now?” she argued.
“Hey! You don’t need to argue your points with me. I told you, I understand. So, yes, I will train you,” Haruki said.
Anything else he’d wanted to say was drowned out by Ainsley’s excited screams.
“There are some conditions, so calm down a minute,” Haruki said with a grin.
