The ship landed on Earth in a thick forest in the dead of night. We got out and had to hike for a bit before we found ourselves on a dirt road. Ayres led, seeming to know exactly where he was going. To my surprise, he marched us up to a cabin set before a small lake. He leapt up the stairs and without knocking, swung open a scorch-marked door and walked inside. I heard a whoop of delight and figured it came from Amanda.
On our hike here, Ayres had remained stoically silent, but Kenix filled us in on what happened during the last tournament on Taleon. He must have heard the tale from Amanda, because Ayres didn't strike me as the chatty type. His grunts accented the story every now and again, but he didn't bother to add anything. I was impressed and amazed with the adventures they'd had. It seemed Ayres went to great lengths to save his brother. And Amanda had been prepared to stay by Ayres' side until the bitter end. I couldn't imagine that kind of devotion. I looked up at Aris. But then again, perhaps I could. And though it had ultimately led to our being stranded, I couldn't help but delight over the tale of Baynar's plans being foiled and he and his men being sent down to the surface to suffer their fate. Too bad we'd shown up when we did.
When we entered the cabin, Kenix made the introductions. Amanda was kind and beautiful, and by the way she clung to Ayres I could see how much she loved him.
"Do we have to leave right away?" Amanda asked him. From the longing look in her big blue eyes it was obvious she wanted to stay.
"We can stay. For a little while," Ayres said, obviously wanting to indulge her.
"Awesome!" she reached out and grabbed my hand. "Let me show you around." She led me out another door onto a deck that faced the lake.
"Do you own this place, or something?" I asked.
"Or something," she said with a sigh. "Isn't it beautiful? God, how I've missed Earth."
"You miss it? Oh, yeah. Kenix said you and him and Ayres live in the dregs of the universe...whatever that means."
"It means exactly that—the middle of nowhere, far, far away from here. We haven't been gone long, but it feels like forever."
"I know the feeling," I said. Taleon had been quite the adventure, but it was good to be home.
"I'll enjoy it while I'm here. We can't stay, thanks to this." She tapped the side of her head.
"What?"
"Tracker in my head. Baynar has a device that can somehow remotely turn it on. He can find me with it. Ayres too—he also has one. Kenix doesn't. He's lucky."
I brushed my hand over my arm absently. "I have one as well. Mine was put there by the Akkadians." I wondered how much she'd heard. If she knew I was a supplier to those miscreants then she wouldn't be acting so nice to me. Not when I'd sold out my own kind.
"I heard about your tracker. If you didn't have one then they would have had a hell of a time finding Ariston. It meant a lot to Kenix and Ayres to save him, so I'm grateful. Every moment spent on that planet is dangerous."
True. It had been very terrible and treacherous—at times. But it was also beautiful, wild, and the place I'd fallen in love. "Kenix filled Aris and me in on your time there. Pretty crazy stuff."
Amanda held up a hand and laughed. "Please, we try not to use the word crazy."
"Why?" Was it some kind of inside joke?
"The tracker in my head made me think I was insane. I spent four years at Lindove—a place in the nearby town meant for lunatics."
She appeared sane enough to me. My face must have appeared puzzled and scrutinizing, making her laugh again.
"I'm not like that now. It's turned off. But I have to tell you, when Ayres captured me and brought me onboard the Lariton—Baynar's large spaceship—I thought the whole thing was one long psychotic episode. It took me a while before I clued in. Thankfully, right before we beamed down to Taleon to begin the game."
"Wow, that is crazy—sorry. I wonder if my tracker messed with me somehow?" Turning me into a cold uncaring bitch, perhaps, with no qualms about betraying her fellow man?
"It's possible. Let's go walk around a bit," she suggested. The dock was her first destination. We stayed on the property, which wasn't very large, mostly hanging out around the shoreline that encircled three quarters of the property. Amanda told me it was called a point because it jutted out into the lake. She also filled me in on the terrible things that had taken place here, along with the good moments spent here as well.
When we went back inside she went right into Ayres’ arms. The love between them practically radiated around the room. Despite him appearing so cold and hard, it was obvious how much he adored her.
"Where's Kenix?" I asked.
"He went for a walk. Said he wanted to check out Earth a bit before we go," Aris replied.
"We have a few hours," Ayres said. With heat smoldering in his eyes I figured I knew how he wanted to spend his time.
"Make yourselves at home," Amanda told us. She led Ayres down a hallway into the farthest bedroom and shut the door.
We went into the kitchen and I heated up a couple cans of ravioli. After we ate, Aris asked if I wanted to go down to the lake with him. We soon stood at the end of the dock and watched the rippling reflection of the single moon in the water.
After several long minutes, he broke the silence. "I have to tell you something."
Here it comes. He's leaving with them. I know he has to go, but I don't want him to. I swallowed hard, preparing myself. "Yes?"
"It's about that tracker in your arm."
I just stared at him a moment while a feeling of relief washed over me. Even a short reprieve from the discussion we'd soon have about our inevitable separation was welcome, although, this was a difficult subject as well. "I had no idea it was a tracker. I thought the Akkadian’s touch just burned me when it grabbed hold of my arm. Apparently you knew what it was all along."
"I saw the mark. The first time we had sex in your living room." Seeing me about to interrupt, he held up his other hand. "Let me tell you this, okay? Yes, I saw the mark and I knew what it was. I figured I just needed to bide my time and you'd eventually either confide in me, or lead me to the Akkadians. I just didn't think it'd be so soon."
"So you used me, or planned to use me?" I felt steam rising in my veins. "You took me into the woods that night for a so-called romantic walk. Conveniently, your ship showed up pretty quick when you summoned it. Were you planning on stealing me all along?"
"I wasn't sure what to do. I admit the thought crossed my mind. I picked those woods for a reason. My ship was nearby, and I figured if you told me anything of importance, or if I thought you might be in immediate danger, I was prepared to take you then and there."
I just stared at him in shock.
"I didn't know you," he said as if to justify his reasoning. "And then—bang—the first night we're together the Akkadians show up. I gave you a chance, Danni. After they left, I asked you how many there'd been, do you remember?"
I did remember.
"You told me only one—your neighbor. I wanted to believe you. There was no reason for me not too. But later, when I got a closer look at the mark, I knew it had been there a while—they begin to fade over time."
So he'd known for some time what kind of person I was. "I didn't have a choice." A lame excuse, I know, but there it was.
He squeezed my hand. "I know. And I get how afraid you were."
"I was afraid of the Akkadians. But Amanda and I were just talking about this same thing. She said her tracker made her think she was insane. It messed with her mind. Is it possible my tracker could have somehow controlled me? Or made it so that I had no qualms about handing humans over to them?" Or was I grasping at straws?
Aris seemed to ponder this explanation. "I suppose anything is possible. It makes sense. And with you being on Taleon, maybe the range was far enough to weaken the effect. I admit I saw a change come over you during the time we were stranded."
I stared up at him hopefully. "Then maybe I'm not a complete monster?"
He put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. "
You're not a monster, Danni. Even if the tracker wasn't affecting you somehow, then fear itself can be a huge motivator to do things we normally wouldn't. To justify our actions, we push our conscience down so far we forget we have one. I just wish you'd told me the truth. After all the time we spent together you should have been able to trust me."
"But you said you may have scared the Akkadians off for good. Besides, I didn't think we'd ever get off of Taleon. What would be the sense in me telling you then? You would've hated me if you knew that I lied to you." I searched his face. "Do you hate me?"
He reached out and brushed a stray curl from my cheek. "I don't hate you. Yes, you infuriate me, but only because you wouldn't confide in me."
A realization hit me then. "That's the reason you had such a problem touching me. I disgust you."
He smiled. "You do not disgust me. How could you think that? I walked around most days with a raging hard-on just thinking about you. I admit I was angry. Not just with you. I was angry about a lot of stuff. Things may have turned out much differently if both of us had told each other the truth from the beginning."
"I thought you were afraid of getting me pregnant," I admitted.
"The thought did cross my mind, but as a future worry. I was given a shot a couple of months ago to prevent conception. The shots are only good for about six Earth months. That's one of the main reasons I would return to Calixtus during my time on Earth—for the shot, and to give updates on my findings to the council."
"I also thought about our future. Is it terrible for me to have secretly hoped we were forced to spend the rest of our lives on Taleon?" I asked.
"No. I did the same thing. But now you don't feel that way? It was the spiders, wasn't it?"
I smiled as he wiggled his fingers before my face. "I dunno. Living on the edge like that was scary as hell, but at least we had each other."
He gave me a squeeze. "I'm flattered I've come to mean so much to you."
His tone was teasing, yet I felt anything but amused. He did mean a lot to me—everything, in fact. And the thought that he would soon leave me left a giant hole in my chest that I didn't think would ever be filled again.
Chapter 26
When we went back inside the cottage, Amanda was heating up a can of soup. By the glow she wore, I assumed she'd enjoyed her time alone with Ayres.
I sat down at the kitchen table while Aris went to sit in a chair in the living room. The open layout made the space feel like one large room.
"I have to ask," Aris said to Ayres. "How did you guys know that Danni had a tracker? I mean, all Kenix said was that a friend of his on Calixtus heard about me being blamed for stranding Baynar and the others. The guy knew it was a lie, he knew it was you and Kenix who'd been responsible. So he somehow gets a hold of Kenix and you guys launch a rescue mission?"
"Yes. The same friend of Kenix mentioned how we might find you using the Akkadian tracker," Ayres said.
"But how'd this guy even know Danni was with me, never mind that she had a tracker?"
Ayres actually smiled—a chilling sight. "I'm guessing you told Baynar about Danni and the tracker," he said.
Aris put a hand to his forehead. "Shit. Yes. I did tell him. We'd just landed on Taleon and two of Baynar's men led me to where he and another man were hiding out. The men mentioned to Baynar that Danni was with me. I had to explain her presence, but I worried he may want to use her in the games, her being from Earth, so I had to tell him about the tracker. I hoped it would raise her value in his eyes, knowing he could maybe use the tracker to get hold of some Akkadians. It was the same thing I'd thought to do when I first noticed it."
Amanda shot a look at me. I nodded once, letting her know I knew this.
"One of the men who tossed you guys overboard must have developed a conscience or decided to brag and told someone what they'd done, how you'd been stranded and Baynar was covering his ass with a lie. He also must have said something about Danni and the tracker as well. The friend of Kenix said he'd heard the news from a friend of a friend of a friend, so the story went through a few people before it got to him. Probably why it took so long for him to contact Kenix. You're just lucky that he was able to get a hold of him."
"Yeah, lucky," Aris agreed. "So you guys just laid in wait for an Akkadian ship to head for Taleon?"
"That's exactly what we did. It didn't take long," Ayres said.
"Well, I appreciate you guys coming for me." Aris looked into my eyes. "For us."
Ayres shrugged. "Don't mention it."
Amanda brought him over a mug of hot soup and sat down at the table across from me with one of her own. She watched me for a moment. "Do you have family on Earth?"
"No. No family. No friends," I revealed.
"Me either. So, do you want to come with us when we leave? I won't pretend it's a glamorous place, but we've made it home."
"Of course she's coming with us," Aris said, looking startled and surprised by the question.
I stared at him dumbfounded. "I am? But, what about my tracker? I'd put you all in danger."
Amanda shook her head. "Not that far out. The planet we're on is deep in the outer regions of the universe. We're too far out of range." She tapped the side of her head. "Remember, I've got one too. So does Ayres."
"I dunno," I admitted, watching Aris for any signs that he was opposed to the idea, despite what he'd said. He was frowning, which didn't bode well for me.
"I should have made it clear before, Danni," he said. "I'd no idea that you'd even consider staying behind. I know Earth is your home, but it's not safe for you here. I plan on leaving and I just assumed you'd come with me."
"Really?"
"Of course. Besides, I've gotten used to having you around."
"Aww, that's so sweet," Amanda said with a dramatic sigh.
"You guys wouldn't mind?" I asked looking from Amanda to Ayres—whose face was impossible to read. Was I really going to do this? Looking at Aris, I wondered how I could not do it. I didn't want to be without him. The thought of being left behind had filled my belly with a pit of dread. Now, with his handsome smile and a few words, I felt like floating.
Amanda reached out and squeezed my hand. "Are you kidding me? I'd love to have another Earth girl around."
Ayres wasn't scowling, so I assumed he didn't mind either.
"Okay," I said, gazing at Aris. "I'll come."
He smiled and winked at me.
"Amanda, you wouldn’t happen to have a change of clothes hanging around here would you? And is there time for me to take a shower?"
Amanda laughed. "Yes, and yes. And don't worry, we look about the same size. I have some old clothes lying around here, and you're welcome to share my meager wardrobe on Taseeus, at least until we can whip you up some clothes of your own."
"That's the planet?"
"Yeah. It's just a name some of the inhabitants came up with. There aren't many of us—just a bunch of outcasts, really. We live in a colony. It's primitive," she warned.
"Sounds fine," I said. As long as Aris and I were together, I'd be happy anywhere.
"You shower first. Then I will. You can too, Aris, if there's any hot water left. I've been here over a day so the tank's had time to heat up. It's pretty small though."
"We've pushed our luck long enough," Ayres said. "Hurry up with all the showering if you must, then let's go. And where the hell is my brother?"
Kenix chose that moment to walk in the door. He had a dazed look on his face.
"Are you okay?" Aris asked him.
"Yeah. No. I don't know. Hey, I'm not going back with you."
"What?" Ayres demanded. "You can't stay here."
"Why not? Baynar still thinks we're long gone, and there's no tracker in my head for him to use against me." He looked at all of us. "I feel like a fifth wheel being around all you couples. And I hate Taseeus."
Ayres looked unconvinced. "We can't just leave you."
"Sure you can. The cottage is Amanda's. I'll just say I'm
a distant relative of hers if anyone asks. And besides, it'll give you a reason to come back and visit."
"It's fine with me, if you're sure," Amanda said.
"I am," Kenix said. "Besides, I want to check out more than just the backwoods of Earth."
Ayres looked unconvinced. He stared hard at his brother for several moments, and then began unloading weapons from various parts of his clothing. Soon the coffee table was layered with knives, a couple of small guns—laser shooters, no doubt—and an array of shiny, multi-shaped paraphernalia I assumed were lethal.
"Leave some for yourself," Kenix said, his tone sarcastic.
"I have," Ayres replied without a hint of humor.
It was several hours later before we returned to the spacecraft. Kenix had bid us farewell, and after many hugs, and lectures to him from Aryes, we headed out. Aris and I sat strapped into our seats, while Ayres and Amanda sat up front. We lifted off and the surrounding forest and hills turned into deep, dark space.
"Get comfortable," Amanda suggested.
I reached for Aris' hand. He leaned over and kissed my lips before I rested my head against his shoulder. I stared down at our clasped hands and smiled, feeling content.
Who could guess where our next adventure would take us? All I knew was my future lay with this man.
And as long as we were together, there was nowhere in the universe I'd rather be.
About the Author
Juliet lives in Ontario, with her husband, two teen-aged sons and two cats.
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