She wondered if this was what Mike felt like, the night he died. Had he known death was sitting at his feet, watching and waiting for the right moment to sweep in and take his soul? Had he been frightened? Had he been aware of what was happening? Had her love been enough to make the passage easier?
She forced her eyelids to stay open as she focussed on Jo’Aquin’s prone form.
They said that your life flashed before your eyes in those last moments. But that wasn’t true. She wasn’t concerned with her job, or the things she’d bought, the church services she’d been to or even the good deeds she’d done.
None of that even mattered. She knew what the most important thing was. The last thing on her mind. That would ever be on her mind.
It was love.
How much she’d given of it in her life. How much she’d received. Love form her parents, her friends, boyfriends, her husband. But it was the strongest love she’d ever experienced that took the fear of death away. The strongest love she’d felt. Given. Received.
Her gaze remained riveted on Jo’Aquin. The object of the most precious, cherished, strongest love in her life. Of her life.
She was glad she’d experienced love like that. She could only hope her legacy would live on and others would find the same love. Could only hope she’d done enough. She didn’t know. And time had run out.
He stirred and looked about, dazed. He recovered quickly, his gaze zeroed to her. He came up onto his hands and knees as the door buckled and burst open. Figures darted into the room. He broke through them. Scrambled to the base of the steps. Started to climb. Was pulled back by the mind-slaves. Horror on his face.
The stream of blood had slowed to a bare trickle. She was drained.
It would be alright, she wanted to say. They would be free now. Not to fight. No-one had to fight anymore.
Darkness descended until only a pinprick of awareness remained. Hands on his shoulders pinned him to the floor as he stared up at her. His roar shook the room. She tried to smile, to tell him that she was alright, that she wasn’t in pain, that she was ready to die, but she couldn’t form any words. Or thoughts. Or anything.
Her heart fluttered. Stopped. Lungs froze. Vision blurred. Darkness descended in a wave she could no longer fight.
25
H ands slipped from his arms. Confused eyes darted around, the light of life returned in their depths as the men stepped back. Jo’Aquin scrambled to his feet, throwing those who had held him back off.
He barely recognised that Lauren’s sacrifice had worked. The only thought that pierced his head was that she was dead.
Lauren was dead.
“Prime leader?” The man standing next to him said, confusion clear in his tone.
He ignored the voices around him when MalCom reached the floor, carrying Lauren’s lifeless form. He wordlessly took her from MalCom’s arms and turned his back on the man before he punched him and sent his nose through the back of his skull.
Lauren’s head lolled over his arm. Her skin was parchment-white, lips blue. Cold. She was so cold. He adjusted his arm so that her head was cushioned on his chest. He walked aimlessly to a corner of the room, ignoring the confused stares, and set her gently on the floor away from them all.
She’d died for them, but they didn’t deserve to look at her. Not like this.
He could almost believe that she was merely sleeping. She looked so peaceful until he looked closer and saw her tear-streaked cheeks and still-wet lashes. She hadn’t wanted to die, but she’d been strong and sacrificed herself for others. Complete strangers.
Red-streaked terrible, deep gashes marred the beautiful, delicate skin at her wrists. Trembling, he gathered her in his arms, pressed his lips to her unresponsive, lifeless mouth. Tucked his cheek against hers, buried his face where her neck met her shoulder and rocked back and forth.
“I love you, Lauren. My fault was that I never told you.” His voice was a mere whisper, shaking on the gust of a breath.
Overwhelming grief tore through him as he crushed her lifeless body against him. His breath shuddered in and out of his lungs. Such a brave woman shouldn’t have met such an ending and that bastard MalCom had happily led her to her death.
A hand pressed to his shoulder, and he shook it off. No-one was going to touch him, or Lauren. She deserved a hero’s send-off. No-one but he would ready her body. A voice repeating his name cut through the thick fog in his brain. He twisted his head to see a gnarled hand on his shoulder.
“Mother.” He spat her name as he would an ugly word. “Stay away.”
“All is not as it seems,” the dry voice whispered in his ear.
“Don’t tell me lies, old woman. You’re to blame for this. She’s dead.”
The hand squeezed his shoulder. He shrugged it away. “She’s done enough for you and your kind!”
“Such a big man with such a small mind. Do you think I would have sent someone like her to a death like that? It was a means to an end. That is all. Look around you. She has fulfilled her bargain,” Mother cackled.
“Don’t tell me your riddles, old woman! I’m not in the mood!”
“The control of the mastermind has broken. We are freed. She has defeated the Reptiles. Look.”
Jo’Aquin glanced at the grim faces surrounding him. He noted the hollowed looks, the thin, malnourished bodies, the torn clothing hanging from skeletal frames. A people ruled and mistreated.
Liquid green spread over the floor where Reptile bodies were scattered, multiple swords stuck in their chests. Severed heads tilted at odd angles, headless bodies the end result of a battle he hadn’t noticed had happened around him. They all looked down at Lauren’s body, silent, grateful, as grief-stricken as he.
“Bring her,” Mother spoke.
“There will be no more abuse.” He would take her and wrap her in the death shrouds of the warrior heroes of Hexion. Place her in the pod that would encase her body forever and send her into the endless depths of the universe.
“Do you want this woman?”
Like he needed to breathe. But he didn’t say anything, just glared at her with the full extent of his hatred. He would have her if he’d been conscious to fight for her. To be reminded of his failure burnt a giant hole in his stomach.
“My child. Death of a body is not the end. If you want her, bring her. But hurry. There is no time for your temper tantrum. Her spirit won’t wait around forever.”
“What do you mean?” Jo’Aquin watched as Mother darted towards the tank, belying her age, something he still hadn’t managed a guess at. Confusion rocketed through him as he trailed after her.
“Her spirit is still connected to her body. But just. She will come back to the body if she wants to enough. But we must work fast. The allure of the after world is great. Let’s hope she loves you enough to come back,’ Mother said.
If she loved him enough? Jo’Aquin’s hands trembled, Hell, his whole body shook. He loved her more than his own life, but he hadn’t told her. Did she love him like he loved her? More than life?
Mother pointed to the floor next to the tank, covering the slashes at Lauren’s wrists with her hands as Jo’Aquin laid Lauren’s body on the floor.
MalCom climbed the steps, returning with a handful of wires dripping with black sludge. Mother sat cross-legged at Lauren’s side as MalCom fitted the wires into a collapsed vein in Lauren’s elbow. The other end of the wire fed into the top of the tank. His whole body tensed. If they were going to desecrate her body, he’d tear them limb from limb. It was only Mother’s thin promise that enabled him to keep himself in check. Just.
Mother ducked her head, her scraggly hair covering her ancient face. She chanted, the words low and throbbing, unidentifiable and hypnotising. The black liquid filtered down the tub, descending into Lauren’s vein, black appearing beneath the alabaster of her skin.
“Hold him!” Mother snapped.
Jo’Aquin roared, but many hands held him back. He struggled, but the men holding him
were too many for him to free himself. He was barely able to move a muscle. His lips drew back, and he roared his frustration.
A light shimmered from beneath Mother’s palms, oranges, magentas, bright silver whirled like childhood sparklers in an inky sky. Mother’s voice grew louder, the words making the air around him strangely weighted and heavy.
The multihued light spread inside Lauren’s arm, burning with luminescence and leaving healthy pink skin in its wake. The light travelled over her shoulders, down her body, and over her face. The black liquid inside the intravenous tube burnt into a firestorm of liquid gold that sparked upward through the tubes at a tremendous speed.
The light flickered over the rim of the cylinder. A supernova of light exploded within the black sludge, so bright it forced Jo’Aquin’s eyes shut. When he opened his eyes again, the tank was completely empty and crystal clear.
A sharp intake of breath had his full attention focussed on Lauren. She peered up at him, her eyes burning with glowing sunlight from within. He dropped to his knees, hands hitting the floor as he was let go.
“Joe?”
Her voice was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. A strangled sound escaped his mouth. Lauren stirred, coming up onto her hands so that she was sitting, looking about her, confusion washing over her face as her gaze bounced at everyone standing around her.
“I thought I…didn’t it work?”
The crack in her voice had him bundling her into his arms. He buried his face in her hair and breathed in her fresh, clean scent. Her arms entwined around his neck. He choked back a sob. He didn’t care that he was a Starfleet Commander. At the moment, he was Jo’Aquin the man who had just received the gift of a lifetime.
He crushed her mouth to his. She responded immediately, her tongue darted into his mouth. He swept his tongue against hers, massaging her lips with his, revelling in her taste, soaking in everything that was her.
“Lauren. My love. My life.”
He groaned, half of him reeling in disbelief that she was alive. How? Why? He didn’t know. Didn’t care. She was soft and warm and alive and his. That was all that mattered. That was what life was all about.
Her small hands roamed his shoulders, his arms, his face, “I thought I…I died.”
“You did, Lauren. You died. Gods, you died right in front of my eyes.” He pressed her cheek against his chest, wrapped his arms around her. He was never going to let her go. He would protect her for the rest of her life. Love her. Cherish her. That was his new life’s mission. She would never again know the pain of sacrifice.
She pressed the flat of her palm against his chest, sitting a little straighter to peer about her again, although still clinging to him, he noticed with satisfaction, “Is this the afterlife? Did we all die? Although I thought it would look a little…different than this.”
A broken laugh developed in his chest. “Mother…somehow…brought you back from the edge of life.”
Jo’Aquin reluctantly let Lauren out of his arms so that she could turn to see Mother. Her gaze wandered around the room. “You did? But…how? And why did you bring me back?”
Jo’Aquin’s chest tightened. Thank the gods Mother had brought Lauren back. For that one thing, he would not imprison an old woman way past her prime deep in the barracks on his ship.
Mother nodded, “I will answer those questions.”
Jo’Aquin growled under his breath. She had more than just those questions to answer in his book. He’d do that later. He didn’t want to stress Lauren any more than she needed to at this moment. Mother’s dry blue eyes searched his face, “I will answer all of them, Commander, although you might not like the answers.”
“Have I ever liked any of your answers,” he said, eyeing the old woman. She tilted her head, and her hair fell away from her face, her cheeks seemed smoother than he’d noticed before. In fact, her face didn’t seem to be as gnarled as he’d first thought. Her eyes less milky, her hair less washed-out orange. Brighter.
Mother cackled and brought her attention to Lauren. “Unfortunately, you had to die.”
Jo’Aquin growled again, this time louder. Mother sent him a pointed stare. “A necessary evil. Please know, my dear, if there were any other way, then I would not have asked you to do anything like that. But in doing so, you have saved a planet.”
Lauren’s confused gaze slid between Jo’Aquin and Mother. “Then…it worked?”
Mother smiled, revealing yellowed, crooked teeth. “Look around you. You have broken the Reptiles’ mind-control. Every mind on this planet has been returned.”
Around then, men, once enslaved, came down onto to one knee. They brought their fists to their hearts and dropped their heads in respect. Lauren rested back into his arms. “The children?”
“They are being reunited with their parents as we speak,” MalCom said.
Lauren shuddered, no doubt remembering those children they’d seen through their mad dash down the city streets. He shuddered right alongside her. “Thank God. And what about that…thing in the tank? Actually, where is that thing in the tank and why is the liquid clear?”
Those were the questions he wanted answered, as well. From the shuttered look on Mother’s face, he didn’t really know if he wanted to hear her answer. Even though Lauren was miraculously alive and apparently well, his instincts were on high alert. Both Mother and MalCom hadn’t been open with their past actions. “Yes, Mother. Please tell us. What in Hell’s name did you do to Lauren? What was the cost of bringing her back?”
26
M other sighed. “No plan is ever perfect.”
Jo’Aquin’s hands tightened on her arms. Tension radiated from him as his gaze pierced the old woman. The same tension made her chest tighten as an unpleasant, gnawing feeling rolled through her stomach. “What do you mean, not perfect ?”
The old woman had the grace to at least look apologetic. “You need to understand I did this for my people. I’m sure if you were in my position and the opportunity of a lifetime fell into your hands with an inkling of hope to help save your people, you would have done the same.”
“What did you do to her, old woman?” Jo’Aquin’s chest rumbled with his deep voice. Lauren clung to him like a lifeline. He was her strength, her calm in a sea of confusion, comfort where she should have found none. She could curl up at his side for the rest of her life and would be in total bliss.
Lauren glanced up at him. He loved her. Even with those shattered thoughts, as she rose through the pits of grey fog and confusion, she knew he’d told her that.
Her chest constricted, though not in fear; with an emotion far stronger than mere fear. Elation. Joy. Heady euphoria. Feeling as she did about him, crystallised who she was, gave her life meaning, gave her a future she wanted.
She ached for him. God, how she loved him in return.
But however much she wanted a future with him, it would never be. Life was too complicated for that simplicity. He was a Starship Commander. An Alien. She could never be a part of his life. She would never expect such a high-ranking officer to give up his career, his life. Even if he did the impossible and gave it all up, where would they live? He didn’t look human, so they couldn’t live on Earth. Thought of vile experiments if they discovered him filled her mind with multicoloured horror. No, he could never do that.
She couldn’t ask to live on a Starship. She wasn’t Hexonian, nor did she think that a civilian of any race could live on a military vessel, no matter what world they hailed from.
They were, quite literally, worlds apart. Without any middle ground.
She would have to be content with a life on Earth. That was all there was to it. She rubbed her chest, trying her best to ignore the overwhelming hollowed-out feeling that was where her heart should be.
Mother’s long, drawn-out sigh brought her back into the moment. Whatever the old woman said couldn’t make her feel any worse. “Lauren can never leave this world.”
This, she hadn’t foreseen. Lauren bolted upright.
“What the hell?”
“You are a part of this planet, just like the trees and everything that grows on it. Your body is joined to the eternal life-force. Bound together, like air and water, fire and ice. The earth, the rocks, the flora and fauna. Every man, woman, and child. If you leave, you will wither and die. You are linked to this world. The life-force of the planet keeps your spirit attached to your body. Without it, your spirit will not be able to ignore the temptation of the next life, and it will leave your body. The veil has been thinned. I could not bring you back to the original state. There was a price to pay. I’m sorry, my dear, but it was the only way I could bring you back to this life,” Mother said.
“I…I can’t leave…ever?” Lauren’s mind grappled with this new knowledge. Her life had been really shitty, but in her wildest contemplation, she never thought something like this would happen. She would never again see that dried-out desert centre of Australia, or never trundle though downtown Melbourne in the tourist tram, or see the beautiful fiery display of autumn leaves of trees that lined the myriad of rivers that traversed the high country.
She clung to Jo’Aquin, looking up at him wordlessly as the enormity of Mother’s words hit her. She could never leave . Her friends. Remaining family. They all would think her dead.
This world was new to her. She hadn’t chosen it. It had been thrust onto her in a chance of freak events. She didn’t know it. She had no place in it. She truly had been abducted and completely fucked by the Reptiles – just not in the usual way.
She’d never felt more alone in the universe as she did now.
Jo’Aquin was the only steady thing she had. Her lifeline. Her rock. It seemed she’d known him for a lifetime instead of the reality of a handful of days. She pressed her forehead into his chest, breathing in his scent, savouring it. It would have to last her a lifetime in this foreign place.
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