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EARTH'S LAST WAR (CHILDREN OF DESTINY Book 1)

Page 40

by Glenn Van Dyke


  A tiny human-like smile pursed Enlil’s lips as he took his last breath and the fire in his eyes died. In death, Enlil changed form, again becoming the tall, white-haired Anunnaki form that was natural to him.

  Steven fell to his knees. “I’m sorry, son. I’m sorry, I couldn’t save you.” His tears fell as he pictured Phillip’s face, remembering the last hug he’d had inside the cave.

  Turning to the Cherubim, “Are you able to take Enlil’s body, and throw it into the lake of fire, the place outside the walls of the Great Pyramid where they dispose of the human bodies?”

  “If that is your command, Lord Steven?”

  Steven nodded, “It is!”

  One of the Cherubim then stepped forwards and picked up Enlil’s dead body. His wings unfolded and he lifted off, heading in the direction of the Citadel. It was as fitting an end for Enlil as any Steven could imagine.

  “Steven?” A soft feminine voice called out from inside Steven’s mind.

  “Ash! You’re awake!” Tears began to fill his eyes. “Enlil is dead, Ash. We did it.”

  “Can you come to me?”

  “Yes.” After a brief moment at the stream to clean himself, Steven ran to see Ashlyn. Upon entering the room within the wall, Christie ran and jumped into his arms. Behind her, he saw Ash sitting up on the regen table. She was unclothed and as beautiful as ever.

  In a tight embrace, their mouths locked in a deep hard kiss, Steven and Ashlyn were drawn away by a giggle from Christie. It brought a smile to both their faces.

  “It’s over Ash, Enlil’s gone, and so is his-” It was in that instant that Steven truly realized that Defender had arrived and that they had a ride home. His eyes spoke what his heart could not.

  Ashlyn’s head dropped and tears began to fall.

  “What’s wrong, mom,” asked Christie.

  After giving a gentle, but tearful smile to Christie, she turned to Steven. “My love, I’ve always known that this day might come. You don’t need to explain.”

  “Ash, I’ve told you, denying you is the same as denying my own existence.”

  “Some things are bigger than us. You have a family,” she whispered. “Go, greet Defender. Christie and I have some things to talk about.”

  Instead, with a broken spirit, Steven went to speak privately with The Keeper, at the tree, deep inside the garden.

  “What is wrong, Lord Steven? Why are you not with Lady Ashlyn?”

  Steven told The Keeper, everything. He talked of loyalty, of love, of sacrifice. He explained how Ashlyn was taking the burden off his shoulders—of his heart and how he could not live without her.

  ***

  Steven awoke the next morning beneath the glowing tree.

  “Keeper?”

  “Yes, Lord Steven.”

  “Did you put me to sleep again?”

  “No, that was from your own exhaustion and pain. Lord Steven, Admiral Brooks awaits you outside the wall.”

  Stepping through the wall, Steven found Brooks waiting patiently, sitting atop a boulder. With an embrace, they exchanged their heartfelt greetings.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you! Renee’s here, Sandee too. They’re with Ashlyn.”

  Anxiety clashed headlong with sorrow, joy with loss and hope with ill-fated destiny. Steven felt as though a mule had just kicked him in the gut. “Damn—then you must know already that Phillip is dead. I’d wanted to be the one to break it to Renee.”

  “Dead? He’s not d-” said Brooks.

  “Dad!” Steven turned to see Phillip running toward him, a very alive Lieutenant Tomlinson walking behind him.

  “You’re alive!” Steven screamed, his voice cracking in disbelief, tears of joy filling his eyes as he spun Phillip in circles.

  “Tomlinson rescued him a few weeks ago. They’ve been hiding out in the desert with a small group of nomads that Tomlinson had hooked up with earlier,” said Brooks. “And just so you know, Phillip has already received the regen treatments. He’s fixed, no pun intended. I’d assumed Ashlyn had told you!”

  “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, Steven acknowledged Tomlinson’s loss, “I’m sorry—about Paris.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. She was—an amazing woman.”

  After nodding in agreement. “Thank you again for Phillip, Tomlinson. You remind me a lot of your father. 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. “That was for me. All these years, you’ve been there for me. Without you …” he shook his head. “My father would be proud of what you’ve done 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.” Turning to Phillip, “Phillip, have you seen 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 23

  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 began running toward him.

  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, leaving him and Renee 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 was ebbing 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 shake, 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 her’s. Her words rent 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 round 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 tightly.

  Steven’s shattered heart ached. His 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 began to slip away, she and Ashlyn were inseparable. They spent much of their time together, alone in private, serious conversation—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, “call Ashlyn, now!”

  Steven turned round to see Ash standing in the doorway. She quietly moved round 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, as 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 began to reach 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 a 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 th
ree 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 adding, “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.”

 

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