Gift of Flight

by S. W. Gunn

  As soon as they entered the room Jarron saw the patient. It was an Eal'tain woman who was about the same age as the man who greeted them. She had soft blonde hair that lay loosely around the soft cushion her head rested on. She was only wearing a dull white robe. Her eyes were closed and she had a machine slowly and evenly controlling her breathing through her mouth.

  "What happened to her?" Elyse asked quietly.

  Her father replied grimly, "She fell off a transport and broke her neck. She has been in a coma for a few weeks now. Our focal point has tried to heal her but he was unable to fully do so. If she cannot be healed by you then she will be taken off machine support and we will let her pass on."

  Elyse looked back at Jarron, who responded with a firm nod. This time he had shifted his feet before she approached the woman to try and balance himself. As soon as she reached her hands towards the woman's neck Jarron felt the electrical pulsing of her powers throb through him. The pulsing increased in strength to the point where it began to hurt Jarron. His whole body felt as though it was on fire. Finally the pulsing stopped and the woman gagged as her eyes fluttered open. Jarron fell to a knee as dizziness overcame him but he did not pass out this time. Elyse's father reached out to the woman and pulled the breathing apparatus out of the woman's mouth. She sat up immediately. The man, who must have been her mate, began to cry heavily. He embraced the woman as she glanced around the room in confusion. Jarron fell back and onto his rear end. He was exhausted from the effort. Elyse quickly moved to her knees next to him. Tears were in her eyes. Even Jarron had to admit that the miraculous recovery of the woman and then reunion with her mate was overwhelming. He was just too exhausted to do much else other than sit there.

  Elyse wrapped her arms around Jarron as he sat there and whispered, "Thank you."

  The woman and the man began speaking to each other in their language. After some time her father joined the conversation. The man rose from his spot on the bed and knelt down next to Jarron. He placed a hand on Jarron's shoulder and said something in their language.

  Elyse's father said, "He thanks you for healing her. Without the both of you, he would have lost his mate forever. He wants to know if there is anything he could ever do to repay you."

  Jarron shook his head and then Elyse said, "Tell him that his joy and the recovery of his mate is all we could ever want. We want nothing else."

  Her father spoke to the man, who then extended both of his arms and hugged Jarron and Elyse at the same time. He spoke wildly in his language. Jarron could tell the man was extremely happy, which Jarron could understand. After a few moments the man stood and returned to his mate.

  "I don't think I could handle any more healing today." Jarron announced.

  His whole body was exhausted from both efforts. Elyse hugged him tightly again.

  "Can you walk?" Her father asked.

  Shifting himself Jarron slowly moved from his rear end to his knees and then cautiously stood. He felt very weak but he could indeed walk. He nodded at her father.

  "Very well, let's get you back to my residence. You both have performed two wonderful miracles, more than any other could and I want to let you both know that as the Speaker of Sethinalor, we are greatly indebted to you both."

  Her father walked up to Jarron and gently lifted one Jarron's arms and then looped it over his shoulders. He slowly guided Jarron through the hospital and out onto the path again. They were met by many smiling Eal'tain. It seemed to Jarron that word had already spread about the healing that Elyse had done. They walked through the forested area again and back through her father's residence. Almost as soon as they helped Jarron to lie on the soft floor he was soundly sleeping.

  Chapter 4

  Jarron did not know how long he had slept but light still peeked through the nearby window so it had not yet become night. He slowly rose to a sitting position. That small nap had been very invigorating for him. He could not sense Elyse anywhere nearby so he stood up and headed to the door. As soon as he opened the door he could hear her many siblings yelling and running around. Jarron walked down the hallway towards the center area. He found himself fascinated by the design of the building. Human and Kalan buildings tended to focus on a hallway or two that the rooms were attached to. This building focused on the central circular room and had several offshoot hallways that ended in a smaller room. The smaller rooms were shaped to fit neatly in the remaining space. Jarron was unsure about the space between the main room and the smaller rooms but he did see dozens of smaller doors that reminded him of cabinets.

  As he entered the main room of the building he could see Elyse. She was playing with the smaller children. They ran around chasing each other playing tag. Jarron had to assume that Elyse taught them the game. The funniest thing was to watch the children run her down easily. It made him chuckle since she had been so cocky about her own speed against him. She was laughing and jumping around freely. After another half minute of playing she must have realized that he had entered. She stopped running and turned to look at him. A wide smile crossed her face.

  "Come play with us?" She said with a waving gesture.

  Jarron shook his head. He knew a losing proposition when he saw one. Every one of them was much quicker than him. He would spend all of his time easily being hunted down or being the one doing all of the hunting. Elyse grinned at his response. Jarron guessed she must have known his motivation. Elyse turned to the rampaging children and said something in their language. Jarron was confused because he did not know that she knew how to speak in their tongue. She walked over to him and hugged him tightly, which he returned gently.

  "When did you learn to speak their language?" Jarron asked.

  "I'm still learning. They have taught me some words and phrases but it is kinda complex." She replied.

  Jarron just nodded at her. He could understand her desire to learn since it was as much a part of her heritage as being a human was. She held his hand tightly and gave him a wide smile.

  "Are you feeling better?" She asked

  "Yes, I am feeling wonderful now. Thank you for asking." Jarron said with a smile.

  Elyse replied, "You're welcome. My father has scheduled us an early morning flight back to the space station. From there I was thinking we could contact Hain and then look into the Lucascorp thing."

  Jarron inclined his head slightly before saying, "Excellent, I was thinking we should first do a little research on them before we approach them on the station. The Galactic Network should have plenty of information about them. Maybe we could discover their motives to try and approach the Eal'tain about the Gift, but for now just have fun with your family."

  "Our family, you're my husband so they are your family now too." She stated to him.

  Jarron chuckled and said, "True, I can't wait to introduce you to my family. After talking with the Green Council yesterday I feel much better about seeing them."

  “Even your father?" Elyse asked cautiously.

  "Especially him, I think he deserves as much a second chance as your father." Jarron said with a firm nod.

  Elyse hugged him tightly. He knew that she would be very pleased, especially since she had resolved her issues with her family; she would want him to resolve his. One of the younger children approached and said something in their language. Elyse nodded at her and then released her hug around Jarron. The child ran quickly away with Elyse attempting to catch her.

  A voice that Jarron recognized as her father's came from slightly behind them, "It is good to see that you recovered in time for dinner."

  Jarron turned towards him and saw both her father and Uaera standing there with the oldest girl. They were all carrying several trays of food. They walked to the small table and began placing food.

  "Daughter join us." Her father said as he sat down beside the table.

  Elyse immediately stopped playing with the child she was chasing and moved to sit in the spot that she sat in every meal they had sat in while there. Jarron lowered himself dow
n and took his spot next to her. He took a moment to look at the meal. It was very obvious to Jarron that the Eal'tain were big on eating plants. The main course consisted of what Jarron could only assume were some type of boiled pink root with about four different fresh green and yellow leaves covered in an unusual looking bluish sauce. There was one small plate that had baked strips of meat that were covered in the same sauce. A large pitcher of water was available. Uaera called out something in their language, which caused almost a stampede of children to run towards the table. She said something else, which Jarron could recognize as a mother chiding a small child, which the children responded to by rushing away from them towards one of the hallways. After a few minutes they all slowly returned. Jarron noticed that some of them still had wet hands.

  After the final child returned they began to eat. Jarron found the blue sauce to be unusual tasting but he ate it anyways. It was much spicier than he expected something blue to be. There was a light amount of conversation, mostly in the language of the Eal'tain. Jarron sat quietly and just listened. He was quite impressed with Elyse's ability to learn, she was almost conversing with them. After the dinner her father brought out a large holo-capturing unit. He had Jarron and Elyse pose with the members of their family. It made Jarron chuckle because he had not posed for a holo since well before he left his family. He also was quite happy to see the enthusiasm that they all had as they posed with Elyse. It made him wonder what she would have been like if she were raised with them, although he was glad that she wasn't since he would have never met her.

  They sat around late into the night conversing. Jarron just sat quietly admiring his wife as she conversed with her father and Uaera. It was not until the sun had long set that they finally decided to get some sleep. Jarron guessed it was probably close to midnight. Once they got into their room Jarron slipped off his shirt and sat down cross legged on the floor of the room. He was still impressed how comfortable the floor was. Elyse sat down on his lap and wrapped her legs around his waist facing him. She looked into his eyes.

  "I'm glad it was me." She said sincerely.

  "What?" Jarron asked with a confused look.

  "I'm glad that that horrible man randomly put us together." She replied as she softly ran her hand along the side of his face.

  Jarron smiled at her and replied, "Me too."

  Elyse then said, "I think it was the hand of the Maker that brought us together."

  Jarron shrugged. He doubted highly that there was some all-powerful being that guided the day to day lives of over twelve trillion people.

  "I don't know about that, but whatever it was that brought us together couldn't have been that bad of a thing." Jarron replied.

  Elyse grinned at him before saying, "Even if that thing was that horrible man?"

  Resolutely Jarron replied, "Well his motivations are in question, and I fully intend to deal with him, but it wasn't him but random luck that brought us together in that case."

  Elyse softly ran her right hand along his neck slowly and evenly, moving down towards his shoulder and arms.

  "You know we did something special today, that little girl had never walked before." Elyse said softly to him.

  Jarron replied, "Yes but we need to be careful, your Gift needs to be guarded or we could find ourselves in a bad spot."

  She lifted her hand from his shoulder and softly touched his brow before saying, "It isn't me it's us."

  He grinned at her response. They were indeed a team now.

  With a sigh she announced, "I guess we should get some sleep, we have a long flight tomorrow."

  "We will but you still owe me from the hospital."

  Elyse laughed and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders before kissing him.

  * * * * *

  The next morning went along smoothly and after the long flight back to the station Jarron found he was quite relieved. It was probably the first time in his life he could remember being happy to be in a crappy space station, even with the musty unpleasant smell. Elyse looked quite happy on their return. The first thing they did was get themselves a room at the station hotel, granted the hotel did nothing more than rent out old barracks rooms. Jarron was just happy to be free again because he had spent much of the time with the Eal'tain worried, even though it turned out was all for no reason. Jarron wondered how much of the problems between the Eal'tain and the Kalan was just a misunderstanding. They seemed like a warm and caring people to him. They were also very open with both him and Elyse. Jarron thought that it might have been due to the fact she was half Eal'tain. He had seen the looks that many humans and Kalan gave her when she wore her hair up, which she rarely ever did. Usually she kept her hair over her ears to disguise the fact she was Eal'tain, which Jarron knew was probably wise since she would draw a crowd in public. Once they settled their few things in the room they went to the public access computer for the Galactic Network.

  Elyse immediately asked, "How does this thing work?"

  Jarron chuckled. It was one of the many things that she had been denied with her old lifestyle at the church. The Galactic Network took thousands of small computer networks and merged them over a station-wide system. It allowed people on the station to communicate via message, if they had an account. It had a massive repository of information and the ability to access the networks throughout the galaxy. Jarron rarely used it because he just focused on the next job or piloting the Keg, but today he'd probably have to pay for a galactic connection since this station most likely had outdated information.

  "It connects computers throughout the galaxy to provide access to almost any information you could want to know about someone or something." Jarron replied to her.

  "Would it have anything about me?" She asked curiously.

  Jarron chuckled. He highly doubted that it would have any information about her since she had lived on a small planet on the outer edges of the galaxy.

  "Want me to check?" Jarron asked.

  She nodded at him. Jarron typed her name into the search engine and was surprised by the results. On top of information about her, it had a holo which Jarron recognized from their time as prisoners. Jarron suspected that they were being watched and this only proved it.

  "This is weird." Jarron said grumpily.

  "What is it?" Elyse asked eagerly.

  "It would seem that there is a system-wide warning about you."

  "What do you mean?" Elyse said in a concerned tone.

  "The GDF has put a warning out saying that you are highly dangerous and to arrest you with extreme caution."

  "What about you?" Elyse asked.

  Jarron frowned as he entered his name. It would seem that Tiberius was much more influential than Jarron had thought. The results were stunning because it actually accused Jarron of multiple murders and stated he was a direct threat to galactic security. The holo of him was also from their imprisonment.

  "This is not good at all." Jarron said solemnly.

  He moved to let Elyse read it. Her brow furrowed as she read the output. She looked very unhappy.

  "You didn't murder anyone." She said angrily.

  "Well technically I did." Jarron replied coolly.

  "What!" She yelled.

  "When I went to save you, I had to kill some guards in order to make it into that building." Jarron stated.

  "Why would you do such a thing?" She asked horrified.

  Jarron frowned. He did not like killing those men but he had to do something to save her.

  "It was the only way to get in there to try and save you." He said.

  "But you killed them." She said sadly as she slowly took a step away from him.

  Jarron could see that she was very upset.

  "I had no choice Elyse. It was either them or I just leave you in that horrible box. I couldn't leave you," He replied shaking his head before he continued to speak with desperation on his voice, "I can't live without you and when they took you away I had to do anything and everything I could to get you bac
k."

  She stood quietly for a moment before finally saying, "I suppose if I were in your spot I probably would've done anything to get back to you."

  Jarron decided to change the subject, "Well let's learn more about the Lucascorp."

  Elyse nodded and moved back to standing next to him. She looped her right arm around his waist and then leaned her head on his shoulder. Jarron typed in the name of the company and immediately found thousands of articles about it. It was founded by the hero of Terra, Lucas Miramar, after his machine had reclaimed Terra. Initially it had started as an engineering and research firm, it moved towards defense systems after he passed away. It was as Jarron dug into the company's current leadership that he found what he was looking for. The name of the man who currently ran the company was named Tiberius Miramar. He was the grandson of Lucas Miramar.

  "This has to be him." Jarron said firmly.

  "Who?" Elyse asked.

  "Tiberius. He said he used a false name when I said Tiberius James, the name Dalain gave us. The name of the President of Lucascorp is Tiberius Miramar. Let me see if I can find a holo of him."

  Elyse gasped when the holo came up. It was Tiberius. The man who kidnapped them was the President of the most powerful company in the entire Galactic Union. Jarron sighed heavily about this discovery. This would make things much harder than he had anticipated. Jarron decided to read more about the man. After a small search he found plenty about him. He was forty six years old, his father and mother died when he was quite young and he was raised by one of his uncles until he was old enough to take over Lucascorp. Jarron was surprised to discover that he had a fraternal twin as well. The only information about her was her name, Timandra. There was not even a holo of her. Jarron shook his head. Nothing good could come from this company and this man wanting to have control over their powers. Jarron quickly accessed a live comm channel and sent off a message to Hain. Instead of being specific he just sent a coded message stating they were ready. Jarron worried that anything else might give away information about where they were.