REBELS AND SAVIORS

Nemesis

Save them? Max looked at Michael. That would be a huge undertaking. They couldn't possibly transport an entire world of inhabitants and their belongings to another.

“Maria, that would be impossible to do.”

“I don’t care. I can’t...” Maria swallowed hard. “I won’t watch them die or leave them to their fate. He punished them because of us...because of me.”

Michael looked at her. She suddenly looked small and tired. Vulnerable. Maria always carried herself with a confidence and charisma that was larger than her physical body, but suddenly she looked breakable.

Max stopped him from going to her. One touch and she would crumble. They still needed her with them...strong.

“I ask you again, Princess. What are your intentions?”

“Give them new homes.”

“That undertaking will be impossible! The Shiva can’t transport them all.”

“She can if I give you Anterraan technology to allow you to move though space at faster rates.”

Michael was suddenly interested. The Zephyr had a special drive very much like a slip stream, but something else. Maria said it was like the Granilith, a smaller version, but the same principle. They could transport faster and more efficiently. It would make the Shiva invincible.

“With great power, comes great responsibility, Max. Are you and your band of Rebels willing to take on the task? You can no longer be champions of your own cause, but elevated to the position of Saviors. Be sure you want this. It is the same duty and responsibility that befell my people, and the one that set the path of my life.”

“And now that your mission is lost?”

Maria shrugged. “I’ll find another way. The Granilith must be either taken from Khivar or destroyed. Too much power. It represents the imbalance of this universe, and that balance must be restored, no matter the cost.”

“And how do we find another world for these people? A world they can live on and colonize that isn’t otherwise occupied?”

Maria walked up to them and settled next to Michael. Reaching up she stroked his face before turning back to Max.

“I’ve already got them a star system ready to be inhabited. Contact the leaders of the remaining worlds and alert them that I need a joint council. We leave for Karnak as soon as the remaining survivors are either placed on neighboring planets, or aboard.”

Michael looked at her. Karnak,  the closest thing she had to a home now that her native planet was gone.

“The Temple?”

Maria shook her head no. “Karnak is not open for colonization. That space needs to be preserved to keep the fabric of the past stable. It has to be protected, and the world belongs to me.” Maria passed Max the coordinates. He whistled at the length of the journey even in slip stream. “The other planets are renewed and uninhabited. There they can find a new world. A new chance.

“How long did it take the Zephyr to travel to Karnak with her special drive?”

Maria was tired, and she needed to check on Liz. “One day.” Michael and Max stood in silence. What would take them a week to ten days, she had traveled in a day! Maria kissed Michael gently and stood up to leave. “Once on Karnak I’ll get you another UPC node, repair the Zephyr and give Sean the specs for the new transport drive. But I need some time alone when we get there. You must make repairs because the next battle will be with Khivar.”

“Princess, what are you going to do?”

Maria stopped at the door. “Build an explosive powerful enough to blow Khivar and the Granilith to hell.”

~~~

Maria entered the Medical bay. “Kyle, how is Liz?”

“I repaired her leg. She’ll be up and slaving over Sean’s engines in no time. Go take a look.” Kyle smiled and gestured towards a bed where Sean was sitting next to Liz and talking.

But before Maria could go to Liz, Kyle stopped her. “It’s Courtney.”

“What about her?”

Kyle took Maria with him to a back room filled with patients that took direct hits from the Imperial attack. Courtney was in a bed with Lonnie sitting next to her, holding her hand.

“How bad?”

Kyle just shook his head. “She took a direct hit to the head. I don’t think she’ll make it through the next few days. She could linger for a while, but I doubt she’ll ever regain consciousness.”

Maria felt the weight of her office. Two Immaculates lost. She had taken them from their protected Temples and murdered them. They were never meant to be sacrificed.

“Her crystal?”

“It's in a box at her bedside. I didn’t want to remove it from her.”

Maria nodded. “Let me know, especially if she regains consciousness. I don’t want her to die alone.”

“Lonnie is watching over her. They became close in a short span of time.”

 I’ll check back again.”

Maria stood watching Sean and Liz talking .

“So I’m thinking that you need to rethink the power relays in the aft fuel pumps. They’re sticking.”

“That’s because you wired them wrong originally and ran the fluid conduit on top of the system that was already defective.”

“Why didn’t ya tell me?”

“I did! You ignored me, and went on about me needing to learn to play poker and spit.”

“The spitting is essential. I practiced aiming at Michael. He makes a nice big target. All good engineers learn to gamble, drink, cuss and spit. It’s a requirement.”

“Says you! I need recommendations from others before I believe.”

“Would I lie?”

“Yes.”

Maria smiled when Liz laughed. Suddenly Sean and Liz realized that she was there.

“Princess.”

Maria sat on the edge of the bed. “Try Maria. The title Princess hardly seems appropriate now that you are no longer an Immaculate.”

Liz went still. “No longer? But I didn’t perform my duty!”

“The third Immaculate was lost on Deneb, and Courtney isn’t expected to survive. She took an injury to the head. No one can replace them, and even if we had the third Gem...”

Liz looked at Sean. Worried.

“I asked the Captain to give you new quarters. Something not so large, and more in keeping with your position on the Shiva.”

“My position?”

“Assistant engineer. Sean’s second in command. That would make you an Ensign, I believe.” Maria looked at Sean and shrugged. “That is if the Lieutenant will promote you above others, and you wish to accept the position.”

From both Sean and Liz’s smiles she took that as a done deal. Sean finally had a playmate, someone that loved engines as much as he did, and who replaced the void left in his life when his twin died. And Liz suddenly had a life that was her own, of her own choosing.

“I just need some help from both of you.”

“Anything.” Sean said. “That is if you give me my UPC node. My crystals are in third stage fracturing. If we don’t convert them soon, it will be past the point where we can recrystalize.”

“We will be leaving for Karnak soon. There you will get your UPC node and more.”

“More?” Sean became even more attentive. “How much more?”

“We’re going to transport these worlds' populations to the Karnak system.”

“That would take years! We’d need more ships, and...”

“Not if the Shiva is equipped with Anterraan transport drive.”

Sean stood up, and even Liz became more attentive. “We’d be able to literally travel in a wink.”

“Something like that.” Maria sighed. “It comes with problems though. Your people can’t shift, so that forces us to build a protective static warp field around the ship so the inhabitants don’t suffer from the shifting.”

Sean shook his head. “A ship this size? I’m not sure we can create anything big enough or even stable enough to compensate.”

“I can,” said Liz quietly.

Sean looked at his newest assistant with raised eyebrows. “When do we start?”

“Once we arrive on Karnak.” Maria shifted on her feet. “I also need another favor of you. Both of you.”

“Anything.” Sean would kiss her feet, marry her, or be a nanny to her offspring.

Maria handed over a workpad with information already stored. “This is a working list of all the resources I have available to me. I need a weapon of destruction, large enough to destroy the Granilith and blow Khivar’s ship, Octavian to hell.”

Sean looked at the list and the specs she was suggesting. Liz gasped and looked at it as well.

“Princess, what you propose...it will decimate over one hundred light year radius in all directions from the point of implosion.”

“I realize that.”

Sean looked at the woman. She scared him. For once in his life, he was afraid. “The person who sets the device couldn’t make it to a safe zone before the explosion.”

“I know.”

Sean rocked on his heels. “The Shiva couldn’t either.”

“I know.” Maria looked at him with pain in her eyes. She was risking more than just herself now. “That is why I’m giving her trans-warp drive, and the ability to wink across space to safety. It’ll be close. Very close.”

“Maria? What about the worlds and inhabitants within that radius?” Liz asked quietly.

Maria just looked at them, shook her head and left. This was for the greater good, and it was killing her. All the blood on her hands was killing her. Literally.

~~~

Maria looked at the small crowd in the special conference room that Max set up. She frowned. Politics. She hated it. It was beyond her.

Wearing the official robes of her world and her office, she entered the room. It was Michael’s reaction that she noticed first. He’d never seen her in anything except leather, one of his shirts, a body stocking or nothing.

The gown was long and close-fitting with an attached robe from emblems at the shoulders. Her hair was fixed and within her tiara, and she wore the amulet of her people for all to see.

The crowd stood when she entered, recognizing her importance.

“Please sit. I’m the Acolyte de Prin’c, of the House of Amun Re of Anterra.” Maria sat and waited as the room quieted. They had already met the Eminent One, and then to meet the last Anterraan was beyond them.

“Princess, if I may?” one man asked. Maria nodded.

“We thank you for your assistance, yours and these generous people, and for protecting us from Khivar when he returned, but what is it that you need of us?”

Maria stood up. “Nothing. I came to Deneb to visit the Temple of the Immaculate and found the destruction.”

“We know of the Temple even on our world. It was a protected Temple.”

“Not any more.” Maria sighed. “It is not you who owe me a debt or allegiance. But I who owe you my protection, for surely the horror and violence done to your worlds was done as a warning to me from Khivar. For that there can be no redemption for the debt I owe you and your people.”

The man shook his head no. “This was Khivar. The burden is his.”

“The burden is mine. I accept it for what it is. I can not bring back your lives, your dead, or even your worlds. That is beyond my station and my powers. His Holy Eminence offers you transport on his ship the Shiva to a new star system. A new home.”

Maria passed out information pads to each of them. Contained within was all the necessary information regarding the worlds and their environments.

“These are?”

“All the vital statistics you’ll need to determine what world is best suited to your needs. I suggest picking one that similar to your old, to make it easier for you people to adjust.”

“We must leave?”

Maria shook her head. “No. It is your decision. You may try to make it here on your home planets, or make a home at a new one. It must be your choice. Many of the survivors of the lost worlds have requested we take them with us and give them a new home. I’ve already marked the planets they chose that best met their needs.”

“How long do we have to decide?”

“As long as you need. It is not an easy decision to give up a civilization or a world. You might need to live through a cycle to make the choice. But either way, discuss it among yourselves. Decide that if you were to come, which world you would make yours and I will protect it for you should the need arise. Stay or go. It must be your decision.”

Maria nodded at the men and turned to leave.

“Princess.” Maria stopped to look at the one man that asked all the questions. Their obvious leader.

“When will you return to hear our answer?”

Maria looked at the door, her voice heavy and tired. “I have things I must complete, but I will return within the next few months to hear your decision and the Captain will provide you with information to contact the Shiva. I can promise you one thing. I will not forsake or forget you. If I am unable to return myself, then one of these men will.”

Recognizing that their audience with her was over, they stood up and watched her leave the room. The council discussed matters after she had gone, but Michael followed on her heels.

“Whoa, slow down.” He hooked an arm around her center and pulled her back against him. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing.”

Michael looked around the corridor, and then forcefully dragged her off to their quarters with Maria protesting his strong grip under her arm.

“Hey, stop with all the pushing.”

“I could say the same.” Michael saw her look of confusion. “You’re pushing me away. I’ve tried to read you, but nothing. You’ve closed the door.”

“Have not.”

“Maria.”

Maria just suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him. His arms came up around her holding her tight. His head went to rest in the nook of her neck, rubbing into her.

“Just talk to me. You talk constantly, and now you’re silent.” Picking her up, he took her to the bedroom. “Maria.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

Maria looked at him and searched his face. He’d take it as a betrayal. “The Granilith was the easy choice. I was prepared to die.”

He looked at her like she was insane. She didn’t have to die any longer! There was no third Gem, and Courtney was almost gone as well. Maria’s destiny to blink out of existence was ended.

“You wanted to die, is that it? What? When you weren’t going to be forced to live with me for a lifetime you could handle it, but now?”

“No. That’s not it. I’d live with you happily for all eternity.” Maria grabbed his head. “You, I love.”

Michael was startled. She'd said it. No one had ever said that to him. His voice was thick and low, almost reluctant to ask. “You love me? Umm,” Michael scratched his brow, “do you know what that means?” He had to make sure that she understood the concept, since he had just recently learned it himself.

Maria just laughed at him and pulled him down on the bed with her. He always seemed to find a way to break her bad mood. Kissing him hard, she pushed him over on his back and ran her hand down his cheek and then neck.

“Of course I love you! I eat your cooking when no one else will.”

Michael looked at her seriously. “Then why aren’t you happier about not having to sacrifice yourself in the Granilith? Why aren’t you happier about getting a possible future with me?”

“It’s not that. Not you.” Maria sat up and knelt on the bed next to him. Her hand took his larger one and she played with his fingers and stroked across the silver rings he wore. Leaning down she kissed the side of his neck and tongued the small ring in his ear murmuring, “I love you. Nothing will change that. But now I’ve got to destroy the Granilith by other means. Before the loss of Courtney and the third gem, when it would’ve blinked out of existence, there was only me that would have been lost...but now? The power I need to assure its destruction will annihilate everything in a 100 light year radius. There is no way I can predict where we will find Khivar to evacuate that area and warn ships away.”

“How do you plan to get away?” Michael asked quietly.

“I don’t. The charges will need to be set, and I need to make sure that it will not be disturbed. If Khivar could disarm the explosive, he would have in his possession enough raw material to devastate the universe in addition to what he already has with the Granilith.”

“So you still die?”

“Yes.” Maria lay down next to his body, her hand moving along him. “I’m not happy, because the outcome is the same, except this time I take so many innocents with me.” Maria looked down at her hands. “That blood is on my hands,” and looking up to meet his eyes, “Your blood is on my hands.”

“Mine?”

“Yes. The entire ship. I need the Shiva to take me to Khivar’s ship. Once I board Shiva will need to leave me to get to safe distance, but chances are...”

“That we can’t make it.” Maria nodded her head. “That’s why you’re outfitting us with Anterraan technology. So we have a chance?”

“Yes. You...” Maria kissed him, “...you I want to survive.” She sat up again. “I’d take the Zephyr, but she is too small to carry the payload I need and even if I could, there is no way I could carry it by myself. I’ll need help to get it on board.”

“I’m your man.”

Maria shook her head no. “No, Michael. Not you.”

Michael sat up. “Me or no one, Maria. If there is a stinking chance we can set the explosives and make it back to Shiva and get the hell out of there, then I need to be with you!”

“I can’t...”

“Watch me die? But I’m supposed to send you off to your death?”

“I’m sorry.”

Michael grabbed her hard and shook her. “You piss me off, Princess. There are times when I feel the need to really beat you.”

“Then do it! If it makes you feel better, do it.”

“I would if I didn’t think you’d like seeing me lose that much control.” Michael laughed bitterly. “I can’t keep walking roads that all lead to you leaving me - of me losing you. There must be another way. And you and I are going to create the plan that gives us a chance. I have no intention of letting you walk away. Not if I don’t have to.”

“Michael,” Maria plucked at his shirt front quickly untying it and pushing it off his shoulders. “Do you love me?”

Michael moaned when her mouth found his collarbone and she sucked hard. His hand came up to grasp her hair.

“Against my will and my better judgment, yessss....,” his voicing forced from him in a hiss.

“Hmm, good. Then come with me down to Karnak. Come with me to the Temple.”

Michael looked at her, and smiled. She was taking him to see her home. “Okay, but no family dinners.”

“I promise. Just lots of Monks.”

~~~

Karnak was a brilliant planet in a star system of thirteen. Of the thirteen systems, six were inhabitable. They settled their survivors on board on the planet of their choice, with supplies and a small crew to protect them and help them to build.

“Michael, how long will you be on Karnak?” Max asked as he watched his brother rifle through his old drawer in their room.

Michael shrugged at his brother. “No clue. Maria already gave Sean all the specs he needs. Her instructions are for him to check the special cave where her ship was built. That all the supplies he needs will be there shortly. We’ll leave the Zephyr there for repairs.”

“So you just walk through this time portal to a past era on the planet?”

“I guess. Hey, you told me to take Maria somewhere we could be alone, right? Well, I’m positive that for once you can’t interrupt by calling me.”

Max just smiled wickedly. “Well there is that, little brother. But what are you going to do about all the screaming and moaning? Pretty embarrassing you yelling your head off with all those monks around.”

“What yelling?”

Max just laughed. “Okay, so we check the special place and everything we’ll need will be there? Anterraans, even with just one of them left, are still so fucking unbelievable!”

“Michael,” Maria called from the door. “You ready?”

Michael laughed and retrieved a few more things he had left in his old room. “Yeah, Max was just lecturing me on not screaming down the house with all the monks around.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Yeah, fat chance.” Maria walked over and kissed Max’s cheek. “We’ll be back, Captain.”

“I have no doubt about it.” He watched them walk away and a chill of foreboding made him wonder if he’d see them and hear their banter again.

~~~

The Zephyr was a rough ride. Only partial repairs had been made to her outer hull. Sean and a group of his engineers followed them down with Liz. Maria smiled at the young woman’s wonder, as she stared at the ruins of the once great Temple. The world of Karnak was green and lush, and the very silence of the air held a perfume. High on the Temple promontory was an inland sea.

“You like it?”

Liz nodded. “I’ve never dreamt of a place so beautiful.”

“Good. I decided to make it our world. Our home world for the people on the Shiva that have no world to go home to. Here we can come and rest.”

“Me too?”

Maria smiled. “Yes. If you wish.” It was her legacy to those who survived. If they survived.

“So exactly what do we do?” Sean asked.

“You wait in the cavern. All the supplies will appear.” Maria took Michael’s hand to lead him up the stone stairs to the Temple.

“Princess!” Maria turned to look at Jonesy. “Take care.”

“Thank you, Jonesy. While I’m gone you should look around and find a place you’d like to call your own.”