REBELS AND SAVIORS

Clotho and Abydos

Michael rushed to the Bridge. Max was drinking his morning coffee and checking overnight sensor reports and intra-ship logs.

“Problem, brother?”

“Where is she?”

Max just kept on reading. “Maria?”

Michael smacked his hand down hard oh his brother’s chair.

“Don’t pull this bullshit on me, Maxwell! You know I mean Maria. I checked my sensors. No sign. I checked her ship. It’s gone. And the personal transmitter I planted on her isn’t giving me a reading.”

Max just calmly sipped his beverage and looked at his brother with interest. “That’s an invasion of her personal space, Michael.”

Michael made a 'Like I Care' face. “Where is she?”

“Gone.” Max got up and nodded to his officer to take the Conn. Michael scowled at his brother’s back, and then followed.

“Gone?”

Max just nodded. “She woke me real early this morning and told me she needed to leave immediately, and that she would be in contact with us. She's going to rendezvous with us later.”

“You should’ve woke me up. You should've stopped her.”

Max entered the galley and headed straight for the coffee. Leaning back against a table he looked at his brother critically. Usually nothing ever seemed to bother Michael, but this morning he looked very upset.

“Want to tell me about it?”

Michael put both his hands on the wall next to Max and leaned into them rubbing his face in his arm. His voice was so low, Max had to listen carefully.

“We sort of had a fight.”

“A fight.” Max drank his coffee thoughtfully. “You fight all the time.”

“We disagree. This one was a little different. We went to sleep with things unresolved, and I woke to find her gone.” Michael just closed his eyes. “Did she say when she would be back, or where she was going?”

“No.” Max rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, if you want to move back in with me...that’ll be fine.”

Michael just shook his head no. If he walked away while she was gone, then their entire relationship would be over from the moment she stepped back on the ship and found he had vacated their quarters.

“I’ll wait.”

Max looked at Michael and frowned in confusion. This was certainly different. “Okay, but you can always come back if you change your mind.”

“Captain?” Max moved away to the nearest com to respond to the call.

“Yes, Jonesy?”

“Phloth II has acknowledged our hail, and we’ve been granted orbital status. Docking of transport ships may begin immediately at the designated docking bays. Phloth II would like to remind us that all incoming docked ships will be inspected both when they arrive and also at departure.”

Max looked at his brother. “Alert the first transport and have them ascend to planetside docking. Tell the commanders that I don’t want any trouble this time.”

“Aye, Captain.”

Max closed the link. “Weren’t you scheduled to go on the first transport?”

“Yeah. I better take off.” He headed for the door.

“Michael.” Michael stopped in the door. “Don’t get into any trouble.”

“Right.”

Max watched him go and then looked out the port window at the planet below. If he was smart he’d go down to the planet and keep an eye on his brother, but he was too busy for that. Max turned to leave when he ran into another form of wasted time.

“Captain.”

“Lady Isa...no, it’s Lonnie.”

She smiled. “Yes it is. Do I not rank a Lady Vilandra, or at least a Lady Lonnie title?”

Max sighed, but put on his most charming smile. “Of course, My Lady.”

“So polite.” Lonnie sat down in a chair and motioned for Max to join her. He looked around before sitting down. “She’s in our rooms.”

Max just ignored the comment. “How can I help you?”

“Sean tells me that you are restocking with essential supplies.”

“Phloth II. The first transports have already left.”

“And Sean?”

“He would be on the first transport along with my brother and the doctor.”

Lonnie swore under her breath and smiled at Max’s reaction to it. “Sorry. I was hoping to convince you to let me go to the planet with Sean.”

“That is quite impossible. I’m sorry, Lady Vilandra, but there is no way I could guarantee your safety.”

“Perhaps I could travel with Maria?”

Max sighed. “I’m afraid that Maria is no longer on board. She left this morning in her ship. She’ll rejoining us in a few days.”

Lonnie smiled bitterly. Her amount of envy for Maria had just increased. She and Maria had found a sort of friendship since they met, but in truth they were polar opposites in many things. Isabel liked Maria as well, but Alex seemed to adore her, and perhaps that was part of the reserve she kept and the envy she felt towards the woman. Maria was free.

“I guess there is no possible way I could convince you?”

“Not likely. Maybe you could tell me what it is you need from the planet, and I’ll contact a stocking crew to acquire it for you.”

Lonnie needed fresh air, open spaces and freedom. Everything that Max and his band of happy space campers took for granted, but couldn't offer her.

“I just wanted some herbals and other supplies. Alex’s nausea is worse and he won’t take medications because of the baby. So I was going to mix a home remedy that pregnant women on our home world take.”

So.... Alex had told them.

“The baby. Alex is doing okay?”

“He has a fever most the time and sleeps a lot. It is strange to see him so sick. He’s never sick.” Max just nodded, his eyes dark and probing. “I don’t know that I can describe the herbals. I really need to see them.”

“Not even to Kyle?”

“No. They are common enough, but every Planet names their own flora, so it takes looking at what is available and selecting the correct ones.”

Max just shook his head no. “I understand, but in truth I can’t protect you down there. The authorities are searching and scanning all ships. If they scan you, it’s over.”

“But...”

“The best I can do is set you up with the interplanetary formulary and plant taxon...there will be pictures within the library. Once you load and identify all the plants you need, I’ll transmit the information to Kyle, and he’ll get you all that is available.”

“Captain...”

“Let me escort you back to your quarters. I’ll send a technician from hydroponics to your quarters.”

Lonnie understood defeat. “Thank you.”

Isabel stood up when Lonnie and Max entered the rooms. Lonnie just continued to walk past her twin and stormed into her room, shutting the door.

“Said no, huh?”

Max nodded, and then shrugged. “I’m sorry. I wish I could find a way not to make this less of a prison for her.”

“Lonnie’s mind is her biggest prison.” Isabel said quietly. “It always has been. She thought Pierce was going to take her places, find her new freedoms...but he, like the others, felt we needed to remain hidden.”

“Pierce. He was the other Eminent One. The only other remaining one and the person who betrayed your existence.”

“Yes. Lonnie and he...they were...they had an understanding. He seemed to understand it more than she did. Lonnie was only just eighteen when they became involved. Pierce...Pierce was not...”

“I see.”

Isabel just smiled sadly. “I don’t think you do. For her it was a match of the heart, soulmates. For Pierce it was something else. What that was, even I’m uncertain.”

Max nodded. Some relationships were so entangled that even the participants were sometimes left floundering. That was the beauty of being ‘bonded’. There was little to no unanswered questions, and very little mystery. That was also the horror of being ‘bonded’. No mystery. Nothing left to chance. Just a pre-ordained destiny that didn’t always satisfy.

“I can’t let either of you go down to Phloth II, but I will arrange for a technician to help you determine what herbs are needed, and one of the stocking teams will make sure to acquire the materials.”

“Thank you, Captain. You’re being more than a little accommodating.”

Max just nodded and started to leave.

“Alex...is he feeling better today?”

Isabel stood to walk him to the door. “I think it comes and goes. I understand now why you refused to tell me when I asked. It was not the type of information to just disclose. It was Alex’s right to tell. I really think he should just transfer the baby to either me or Lonnie, but he refuses.”

“We all want to keep you safe, but that is no guarantee that Khivar still will not board the ship and find you. This baby...it must be special.”

“I feel that too. I suggested that Alex house the baby in one of us until he could find a real surrogate - even Maria has offered. But he refuses. He’s afraid that there is one window of opportunity to transfer, so if he transfers even to a temporary vessel, he won’t be able to effect the transfer again.”

“So he's taking it easy and resting until Kyle can find him a proper surrogate?”

Isabel nodded as they reached the door. “Alex is worried. He is feeling a disturbance in the matrix. He’s afraid it is Pierce searching out Kathleen, trying to find her or her fate.”

“She’s gone.”

“No, she’s not.” Max’s eyes narrowed and he gestured for Isabel to explain. “Alex thought she transferred her power to him, that he held two-thirds of the Eminence. He was wrong. Alex is holding the power, but it belongs to the baby. If Pierce was to search for Kathleen, which he is doing, he will find the baby...or know of its existence.”

Max rocked on his heels in thought. “We’ll know when we hear word that Khivar is searching all pregnant women.”

“Yes, and that makes finding a surrogate even harder. The baby won’t be able to connect with the Great Understanding until after it is born, but its mere existence leaves a ‘touch’ or trace...a trail.”

“Alex knows this for fact?”

“Yes, he is seeing the changes himself. He says that the grass grows and the tiger hides, but the prey is swift.”

Max smiled at that. Whatever that meant.

“He sees a change in the ‘aura’ of the Great Understanding. When Kathleen transferred her power, she stopped a tear in space. Khivar and Pierce were waiting for this tear. It didn’t happen. So they know that either Kathleen still lives, or she found a way to transfer the power. Eventually Khivar will be forced to seek out Alex, to see if he is holding Kathleen’s power as well as his own. Alex must transfer the power before that happens, or Pierce will know.”

Max stroked his face, fingering his scar.

“Khivar has taken too much already. It is time to stop the bloodshed. My own people are imprisoned, forced into service to Khivar. Your people were exterminated and cultivated for their genetics, Maria’s homeworld was destroyed, and Kyle’s people remain pressed into service, using their empathic abilities to scan other races for Khivar.”

“I don’t think he can be stopped, Max.” Isabel said quietly. The war had started when she was eight, and in those years Khivar was the only concept of pure evil she ever understood. He was the monster that would not die. “He almost destroyed all of the Eminents, and they were the most powerful beings in our known universe.”

“No, they were not. Maria’s people were. How, no one was sure. All that was known was they protected and helped those around them. The rumor is that Khivar took something from their planet and then used it against their own sun, thereby destroying them. It is this 'thing' he took that is his weapon of mass destruction, the very thing that holds us hostage, as all the worlds of our universe bleed at Khivar’s command.” It was what Maria was trying to retrieve.

“What will be come of us if we fail?” Isabel asked quietly.

Max’s darker brown eyes meet her lighter colored one, and for a moment they shared a common fear.

“We won’t fail. We cannot.” Max started to leave, but Isabel grabbed him back quickly.

"Captain...Max, I really need to thank you for what you are doing for Alex. And us."

Max turned to face her. “Alex is my friend. I owe him my life, and the life of my friends and my brother.”

She reached out one hand and gently stroked the side of his face along the scar, then ran one finger gently over his lips. Max groaned to himself. He had known that the twins were going to be trouble, but never dreamed that they would be trouble for himself. He was helpless to stop himself, and his arms reached out and pulled Isabel in.

The first kiss was gentle, chaste. They pulled apart, Max hesitant to go further. But the smile on her face was all the encouragement he needed. He leaned in again and this time lips parted and the duel began. Max's tongue investigated every inch of her mouth, the sweetness, the richness...and he, who hadn't touched anyone in months, found himself ready to do just that. He could stay in this warm, wet cavern for ever. His brother wasn’t the only one that really enjoyed kissing.

Isabel was feeling the same feelings...God, how Max could kiss!  Lonnie was going to pissed off and Alex disapproving, but surprisingly that didn’t faze Isabel in the least. It did faze Max.

He put his hands on her upper arms, and pushed her away from him. Looking at him through narrowed eyes, she was unable to read his thoughts or understand why he stopped.

“Pardon me, Lady Isabel. I must return to my station. The technician will be here shortly.”

Isabel watched in confusion as he quickly left without another word.

~~~

Michael watched the Bay Control Guardians search and scan their cargo holds, and conduct a full internal scan of the structure. They were forced to submit blueprints for their runabouts while empathic scanners searched for hidden cargo holds and contraband. Michael leaned up against some crates, watching the process. The initial scan was finished and his people were released to go and begin collecting the supplies they needed.

Sean stood beside Michael, watching as well. The guards were thorough, but Sean had bet good money that they wouldn’t discover the hidden subfloor deck beneath the main deck. It was small, and ran the length of the runabout. There was nothing in it, but it was a smuggler’s hatch.

“Five hundred credits.”

“Forget it, Sean. In the last six times we’ve been here they’ve never found it.”

Sean just laughed. That was true, but members of the crew still bet him.  “Why do you think the empaths don’t pick up its location from us?”

Michael just shrugged. “They’re empaths, so they locate things by feeling our emotions and anxiety. None of us feel anxious enough to alert them, I guess.”

“That might change if we had something hidden in it.”

“True.” Michael watched the Captain of the Guardians signing papers and sending them over to him. It was done.

“So you want to tell me what the hell you did to our beautiful Maria?”

Michael just grunted and ignored Sean as he signed the release papers. All their supplies would be searched before they left, and the ship would be scanned again.

“Must’ve been bad if she literally took off in the middle of the night.”

“Shut up, Sean.”

Sean sucked in his top lip in thought and rocked on his feet regarding Michael in amusement. “Told her about getting laid, huh?”

Michael just growled and looked at his friend.

“Careful. I could always take you.”

Sean just laughed at the threat. “Sure ya could.” Sean slapped Michael on the back as they left the landing bay. “I know you didn’t tell her. Even you wouldn’t be that stupid.”

Michael avoided Sean’s eyes, and sped up his walk. Sean studied him closely and then whistled under his breath. “No shit! You did!” He laughed in shock and amazement. “Dammit, Michael! You’ve got the sense of a baby.”

“Sean, don’t make me kill you.”

Sean then nodded in sympathy. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Michael sighed. “I had no intention of telling her a damn thing, but she wheedled it out of me. You know Maria.”

“Aye, that I do. She’s a fine one. Smart beyond belief, and the trouble she finds? Who’d have thought?”

Michael closed his eyes briefly. Exactly. Maria was a trouble magnet. And she was gone to somewhere unknown...no doubt in trouble.

“That’s not the half of it.”

“So what did she say to your picking up 'company'?”

“She hated it.”

Sean laughed at that. “Yeah, that’s understandable.” Michael looked at Sean, confused. Obviously he was missing something. Sean laughed again. “Come on! Damn, Michael, think of it! You’re planning to pick up a whore, and then calmly come home to her bed? No woman would take that easily.”

“It was your suggestion!” Michael said indignantly.

“Do it. Don’t tell her about it!”  Sean just snickered as his eyes lit upon his favorite gaming house. “How’d you like it if she picked up a strapping male companion for a few hours of relief, and then came to sleep with you as pretty as you please?”

Michael didn’t say a word. But the point was well-received. He’d hate it. No. No, he’d more than hate it. He’d be so pissed off! The thought of someone else’s hands on her...touching her...and the residual feeling of her being covered in disease would remain.

“Think you could’ve mentioned this yesterday? Before I told her?”

Sean just patted him on the back. “I’ll buy you some literature or something. But until then, let's get a drink and you can check out the possible pickups.”

Michael just snorted. “Max said to stay out of trouble.”

Sean looked hurt. “What kind of trouble would I be getting into with you watching me?” Michael didn’t even want to think about it.

~~~

Maria approached the star system in a burst of energy, quickly pulling back to impulse power. She had transversed the universe in a very quick trip. Pushing her scanners to maximum range, she searched the star system for lurkers. It was an ancient system, long since uninhabited. The original people had migrated to other worlds when all the raw resources on these planets were exhausted. That had been over three centuries ago, and since then the natural bio-filters of the uninhabitable worlds had reversed the damage.

Maria plotted her course to the third planet. Karnak.

Navigating through the opener atmosphere, Maria located the ruins of the once great temples of Karnak. It had been her home for ten years. It had been over six years since she left it. Docking her ship in the protective bay where she had built it, she left the hidden cave and slowly walked up the long winding stone stairs carved in the hillside, to the temple at the top. Stopping to look at the great civilization now in ruins, she felt the hush of winds and the silence of solitude.

Crossing the torii to enter the Temple of the Sensei, she walked through the time corridor. The place was suddenly alive with activity as monks and acolytes rushed from place to place. All ignored her, except to bow in regard.

Maria went to her old quarters, and found her familiar bed, still fresh and waiting as if she had never left. She slept for half a day, enjoying the sweet warm breeze entering the window of her chambers. Here she was protected. Here she was safe.

Maria woke to find the Seer sitting in her room. Few of the monks could or did talk, but the Seer did. He was the Master of the D’Jesuit. And her mentor.

“Princess, your presence opens the heart.”

“O’Jah.” She bowed her head slightly to her mentor.

“You seek knowledge?”

Maria sat up, and pushed the hair off her face. “I seek the answer to a riddle. It requires the Map Room.”

“Knowledge is through the door.” Maria smiled at that.

“Thank you.” Maria waited until he left her room before she got up.

The Hall of Knowledge was where she had studied for ten years, using crystals containing information and knowledge she needed to know. The Map Room was a holographic room mapping the known universe and others as well. Maria took her customary seat on her knees before an altar lined with crystals and a control panel. Taking the first recovered manuscript from her bag, she entered the five known coordinates. Running a program of extrapolation she entered a request for all palindrome coordinates using her now-destroyed home planet as the point of origin and the sixth missing coordinate.

“Your fate is your hands, my Princess.”

Maria nodded. As it was. “He told me that our relationship runs the same from front to back, and the manuscript alludes to mirrors. In a palindrome, if a mirror was placed at the center, the end would read the same as the front.”

“Harmony is its own Deuteronomy. There is a cleanness in the balance.”

“Cleanness? White?” Maria looked at O’Jah. “As in purity?”

“You search for answers that have no ready solution except those already known.”

“O’Jah. I brought you ‘chocolate’, and if you could see clearly enough to stop speaking in parables and answer my inquiry, I’ll give you a treat.”

The older man just stood with his feet slightly apart and his hands inside his sleeves, but he made no effort to answer her question. The concept of pleasure...even from something like chocolate...had been beyond him since his ascension.

“I know.” Maria made a gesture of dismissal and irritation. “I know. I am the Acolyte de Prin’c.” He just gestured his agreement. “Honest, Jonnie, I can’t see how I’m to do this all alone. What if I fail? What if I translate or do it wrong?”

“Lighting flashes, electricity brightens the mind and in one blink of your eyes you have misseen.”

Maria laughed at that. “That is so helpful. Thanks. I feel less alone now.” Maria continued to enter all information she found in the translation.

“When the mind is enlightened, the consciousness is freed and the body matters not.”

“Hmm, well I am sharing a bed with a man. How’s that for enlightenment?” Maria asked off handedly.

“A tall man cannot hide in the short grass.”

“Yeah, I know. Boy, do I know. His tallness is pointing me to death all night long. God, I hate space travel. Why do you think people are insane enough to really want to leave a nice warm planet for the coldness of space? It’s deranged.” Maria entered and removed a crystal and replaced a new one. Her voice lowered. “He’s going to go join with another because, though we share body heat, we don’t...”

“One cannot reach enlightenment by running from truth, and all journeys begin with a step.”

“I’m not running, O’Jah. I’m seeking.” Maria looked at her mentor. “I see no reason to invest in something that can never be.”

“Many roads lead to the Great Path, but only the willing will find their way.”

“What does that mean? That my path is with him? If this is my end, the journey’s end is my end. What good does it then do me to tangle him in something that cannot