Slavers of Antar
By
DocPaul
***************************************************************
Chapter
Fifteen: Propinquity
Reading
the latest report, Thoth put it on his lap, leaning his head back. Closing his
eyes, he could recall generations of information, all embedded in his memories
back to the original Khivar. So many centuries, and it came to this.
“What
is wrong? Are not things working out the way you planned?”
“So
you finally wake.” Thoth searched the face that was so familiar in so many
ways. “A thousand lifetimes, and always, it comes around.”
“Thoth,
is it?” Thoth nodded. “So, we play this game again.”
He
stood walking the area next to the bed. “This is no game!”
“Extinction
never is. Ask my people.”
Maria
looked around the room. She was in a medical area or hospital. Her hand moved to
her side.
“It’s
been repaired.” Breathing a calming breath he did not feel, Thoth came to
stand at her bed again. “I apologize that our powers have so dwindled that the
ability to heal is not an easy task. You will continue to feel weak. Once
recovery would’ve been instantaneous, now it takes time.”
“Where
is my husband? Where is Michael?”
Thoth
smiled slightly. “Unfortunately, we were unable to control your mate. He did
not survive.”
“I
want to see him.”
“I
told you, he is dead.”
Maria
looked around for something to help her. Sighing, she placed her hands on the
bed to better help herself to sit up. Seeing her intention, Thoth helped her.
She winced in pain, her side still hurting from where she had been impaled.
“Thank
you. I will not assume you are being nice without a reason.” Moving the covers
over her form to keep her nude body covered, she asked politely, “I would like
to see my husband now.”
“I
told you…”
Maria
made a sound in her throat dismissing his assurances. “Yes, yes, I know. Now I
would like to see him.”
Thoth
sat down. “How do you know he lives?”
“The
same way he knows I do.” Maria said simply. “I can feel him at all times, no
matter the distance.” She glanced at the tattoo on her inner arm. “It is
nothing I can explain, but one without the other is like undoing creation. It
cannot be done.”
“Polarity?”
Laughing,
Maria smoothed away creases in her sheet. “Something like that.”
“What
do you know of Destiny, Princess?”
“Everything.”
“What
can you tell me?”
Maria
considered the man. His health was obviously failing, the color of his skin
sallow, with a tinge of green. “The hollow in the bark whistles in the wind,
and it is the tree that hushes to understand.”
“The
wind and the bark of the tree, they have no relationship.”
“Once
the wind rushes over the bark, they share a time and space, and in that instant,
they understand and know everything there is to know of the other. It is
relative.”
Thoth
frowned feeling something he could not describe. Staring at her, he backed away.
“You bewitch easily.”
“No.
My husband does. He is reaching for me. You—you are merely in the way.”
“Interesting.”
Thoth shook his head perplexed. “I’ve known of Attilaans for a long time. In
the war we took their genomes. I’ve never found them very interesting, except
as work horses—warriors. Your husband, the Commander is different.
Unexpected.”
“I
think so too.” Maria laughed. “Many people mistakenly attribute
‘uniqueness’ with me merely because I am an unknown, and Attilaans, they
think they know. But he is a shift in the matrix of understanding. His lines are
drawn in moving oblique. He is what is special, not I. I am what I am.”
“His
genetics are different from normal Attilaans, or from those we collected
from.” Thoth said having all the knowledge of his predecessor, Khivar. “His
genome is attenuated naturally, by almost six fold. Not as many as yours, but
more than what is normal.”
“He
was born unmated which for his people is an anomaly, but he was fulfilling a
prophecy of a special unmated Attilaan. Perhaps this unexpected attenuation of
his genetics is why he could find no match.” Maria reasoned. “My husband has
broken a norm of his world, and those of his own nature. It took the joining of
him, his twin and I to make The One—It was nothing I could ever have
done alone. Destiny is a path only of its own design. You think you are the
master, but nature finds a way to endure.”
“He
carried you away from the wreckage, directly into a party of warriors. I know
from experience that an Attilaan could’ve not only eluded my warriors, but
destroyed them single handedly. He went to them, surrendering himself to save
you.”
“I
would’ve done the same for him.”
Thoth
could not understand that. Devotion. It was not a word that made much sense in
his language. He couldn’t leave her yet. She was a legend—not her
specifically, but her people. So
much of her people’s histories were tied to his own, interacting and feeding
the other. “How much of the histories do you know?”
“Everything.”
“Then
you know of Antar, or Khivar, the Royals, and the hybrids sent to Earth.”
Maria
looked at her hands for a moment, but finally at him. “Yes.”
“Can
you tell me why they built the Granilith, its original purpose?”
“Then
may I see my husband?”
“If
you answer my questions, then yes, soon.”
Maria
stared at him. He seemed such a child in so many ways, young to this world, but
he held the cumulative cruelty of a man spanning so many generations.
“How
am I to believe you, Thoth of Antar, when in your history there has been nothing
but cruelty and evil?”
Thoth
stood. His dignity strong in the line of his back, but meeting her eyes, he
nodded. “I will bring your husband first, and then you and I will talk.”
“Yes.”
~~~
“You!”
Michael spit out at the reappearance of Thoth. “I want to see my wife, until
then, I have no words to speak.”
“I
have come to take you to her.”
Michael
stood releasing the latest guard he had captured. Tossing the man to the side,
Michael all but kicked him away. “Why didn’t you say so immediately!”
Michael joined Thoth. “Let’s go.”
“Do
you not wish to know her condition?”
“I
know she is alive. Right now, that is all I care about.” Michael did pause for
a moment. He looked at Khivar—Thoth, his captor. “The baby?” he asked
quietly.
“There
is no child.”
Thoth
did not see Michael’s steps falter, or the look that passed over his face.
Sorrow was not an emotion that he would’ve understood.
“Is
she all right? Maria?”
“She
is mending. She only just awakened. She refuses to answer questions until she
sees you.” Michael nodded, feeling nothing but relief that she survived. The
problem of their unborn child would remain a silent one for him alone, until he
could decide what to tell Maria, and what not.
~~~
Liz
struggled with the back panel, the bolt recessed too far to reach. Sitting back
exhausted, she rubbed her forehead. Sick. She was feeling sick again, but the
others were counting on her.
“Liz,
rest for a little while.” Julia said, handing her a small cup of soup.
“I
can’t eat that.”
“You
have to eat something.”
Liz
shook her head. “I promise you, I’ll be sick.”
Julia
gave up. She put the soup aside, and gestured for Liz to lie down next to her.
“I know morning sickness can be bad, especially without the medication to
combat the nausea. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“I’ll
be fine.” Liz rested making a noise of gratitude when Julia wiped her brow.
“I don’t remember ever being cared for, only watched over.”
“Weren’t
there priests in the
“Yes.
They protected and hid me from all, waiting for my call to duty by the Princess,
or my replacement. I was destined to live and die there if Maria had never
come.”
Julia
looked down at the young woman, who was genius level brilliant. It would’ve
been an outrage. “Then there is much to thank Maria for.”
“You
have no idea.” Liz closed her eyes trying to quell the rolling motion of her
stomach. “She gave me life, confidence that I could be more.”
“The
talent and knowledge is all yours.”
“It
would not have been had I not been born an Immaculate. On my world educating
women is unheard of, treating them with respect or equals even less of an
occurrence. Being in
“You
are not a slave. You are a rebel. We will rebel, and we will win.”
Liz’s
hand went to her stomach. “Yes. I will rebel. I do not want her to be born in
the life that I was.”
“Her?”
“I’m
guessing, perhaps wishing. Jonesy would be so cute with a small daughter.”
Julia
laughed thinking of the large Anubis male, even larger than Michael with his
bulging muscles, and tall strong stature. Liz next to him looked so tiny and
small, and yet, of the two, she was the dominant personality. For Jonesy, would
do anything for Liz, anything she asked—to him, she would always be his Lady.
“Will
he be pleased?”
Liz
looked up at Julia. “Yes. He wants a large family.” Liz smiled. “We were
negotiating marriage. For Anubians, it is a very long hard process.”
“I
can imagine.” Anubians were a warrior clan culture, highly territorial, and if
Julia remembered correctly, marriage came as a result of a huge bartering
system. “You have no family, so who is bartering for you?”
Liz
turned over snorting. “Who do you think?”
Julia’s
mouth opened in shock. No. “Not Sean!”
“Of
course Sean! Why do you think it’s taken us over a year to get married since
that demonic seed started negotiating! Here I am, pregnant, unwed, and he’s
still fussing over pots and pans.” Liz’s disgust was apparent.
Julia
bit back a smile. Liz had been alone her entire life, and when she finally was
given her freedom to live her life she was settled with a surrogate brother such
as Sean. “So how are the negotiations going otherwise?”
Liz
sniffed. “Jonesy says that if I let Sean continue we will own his entire
village by the time we wed.”
“Are
you happy?”
“Yes,”
said Liz quietly. “I didn’t even know what that meant, until I felt it. I
am—afraid. I am afraid I’ll never see him again, tell him about the baby. I
am more afraid of what trouble he will get into with Sean looking for me.”
Julia sat back quietly. She felt the same.
“It’ll
be all right. They’ll come.”
“I
know.”
“Sean
will destroy this planet searching for us.”
“For
you,” said Liz.
Julia
shook her head. “No, for us.” Sean would never leave Liz behind. After
losing his own twin, she was the replacement he chose to bond with. He
couldn’t lose two sisters. Liz sat up suddenly, her body stiff.
“Liz?
Is it the baby? Are you sick or in pain.”
“Maria,
I feel Maria. The Princess is here.”
~~~
“Liam”
The
young boy stood from where he was resting. After hours of pushing into others’
minds, trying to block out their thoughts, he had collapsed. The protective room
served two purposes, to protect, and to keep him confined.
He
circled the room.
Of
all the voices, it was the first to ever call him by name. Liz? Julia? Ava?
“Liam”
It was his father’s voice. Liam gave an involuntary sob as he felt his father
pass.
~~~
Max
and Sean rushed into the medical suite, both looking frantically about as they
entered.
“Captain!”
The med assistant, Leah quickly intercepted them.
“Where
is Kyle?”
“He
is with the doctor. Dak is looking at him. We found him in his quarters.” Leah
lowered her voice. “He was dead.”
“Take
us!”
They
were taken to a special surgical unit. Kyle was on a table, and Dak and a group
of assistants were around him.
“What
are they doing?”
“Trying
to restart his heart.” Sean punched the wall and walked a few steps away. He
remained silent, resting his arm on the wall and buried his forehead on it.
“Which one? Which heart? All three, one or the two? Which heart do they work
on?”
Max
started in at his friend, shaking his head, he couldn’t believe. “How long
has…” He couldn’t say dead.
“They
are uncertain.”
Watching
the action in the room, Max missed Isabel joining him. It was her hand that
alerted him to her presence. It had been many years since he could not feel her
immediately.
Dak
looked up, seeing the Captain and the others. He shook his head. The people
around the table stood back as Max, Sean, and Isabel entered the room.
Looking
down at Kyle, Max’s jaw flexed, and a tear ran down his cheek.
“That
is it?” Sean bellowed. “What the fuck! Get your ass in there and keep
working! He’s not dead. He’s not!”
Max
put a restraining hand on the angry engineer. “Sean. They tried.”
“Not
enough!”
Isabel
looked down at Kyle, tears on her face. Reaching down, she gently kissed his
lips. She was straightening when she saw them. Alex and
Isabel
wiped away a tear, and without thought, her pale slim hand came to rest on
Kyle’s chest. Closing her eyes, in a rush, she felt it. The door opened.
~~~
Maria
waited.
She
could feel him and the closer he came, the faster her heart beat.
Michael
stopped in the door. She was so small in the bed with nothing but a sheet
covering her. Ignoring their host, Michael went to her side.
“Hey.”
“Shut
up,” Michael said before he kissed her.
Thoth
watched for a moment, interested in the display, the movement of her small hand
on his face, touching his skin. Maria and Michael kissed, then pulled apart to
rest forehead to forehead, then they appeared to be talking, then kiss again.
Michael’s
hand moved down her body to hold her close, yet gently, mindful of her injuries.
Leaving
them alone, he exited the room, his back on the closed door. Closing his eyes,
the images of them together kept racing through his brain. Perhaps his people
had given up too much over the centuries. There was no mating bond that close,
and to be from his species meant to always be alone.
“My
Lord, what is your wish?”
“Is
the Princess strong enough to move out the medical area?”
The
assistant nodded. “Her regenerative powers are impressive. She is almost
completely healed. The internal injuries were extensive, but they will heal over
time. She will be weak, but her strength is impressive.”
“Then
give her and the Commander quarters, heavily guarded, but put them together.”
“But
my Lord…”
“Together.”
“It
could be dangerous.”
“They
will not speak of things I need to know, not apart. So put them together.”
~~~
Resting
his head against hers, Michael's tongue darted out then, licked at his lips as
his breathing increased. Maria felt her own breathing increasing to meet his;
she knew her heart rate was off the meter. She watched Michael's lips part
again, and her own mouth opened slightly, as though kissing him across the
distance. A slight intake of air, and Michael whispered, "Maria..."
Maria
placed her lips over Michael's, and gently forced his mouth open with her
tongue. Exploring his mouth, seeking out each crevice with her tongue, Maria
savored the taste of him. Michael wasn’t completely oblivious; he returned the
kiss, caressing Maria's tongue with his own, moaning into her mouth. Their
tongues tangled frantically until Maria was afraid they wouldn't be able to
stop, and broke off the kiss, gasping for air as she pulled away.
Seeing
his reaction to her moving away, she laughed softly. She kissed her way over to
his ear, then licked around the outer edge, and breathed into it.
"Michael..." She licked the ear again, and repeated his name, a little
louder this time. Still no response.
“Aren’t
you going to talk to me?”
“No.
Shut up and kiss me again.”
Maria
laughed. She kissed her way down to his chest moving the lacings of his shirt
aside to open it completely to her sight, and licked at each nipple before
sighing and resting against him, and his warm skin. Michael’s hands were
suddenly framing her face, moving it away from his body, and she looked up to
find Michael's eyes gazing at her—mirrors of the heat and lust that were
present in her own.
"Michael."
Her voice sounded husky, unused. "I was—"
“I
know. You were prepared to leave me again.” Michael said.
Maria
closed her eyes for a moment. It was true, and she could see the anger and hurt
beneath the passion. “Yes.”
“Maria,
god, help me, I swear—”
She
stopped him with another kiss, a long hard one, deep and full of passion,
containing all her love and much of her sorrow. “Do you really think I would
ever want to leave you, even in death?” She asked, her breath panting against
his lips.
“You
told me to leave you.”
“Yes.”
Maria framed his face. “I would give up my life willingly for yours, without
hesitation.”
“I
would do the same.”
“I
know.”
Michael
leaned into her moaning. “God, I’m so sick of this.”
“What
do you need?”
Michael
shook his head. “Just you.” He could see it in his head. A place so green
and peaceful, with brilliant blue skies, and a gentle breeze. He and Maria
sitting under a tree, and they had not a care. “I need someplace away from all
of this. A place of peace without someone shooting at my wife, threatening to
take her from me. I want to sit in the grass, listen to music, maybe watch the
clouds go by. I know it sounds boring, no adventure, but it’s all I want. Just
you and me, and all the time in the world to really breathe.”
“That
doesn’t sound boring.” Her hand went through his hair. “It sounds
peaceful.”
“Peaceful.
That’s what I want.” Michael sat up. “Maria, I want to live in peace, in a
place where my children can run and laugh, and be free. I don’t want to bring
them into this world, as it is.”
“Then
we must go find this place.”
“Really?”
Maria nodded. Michael moaned. “Maria, we destroyed the Zephyr.”
“Okay,
then it is decided. When we are done here, you and I will go home to
“Can
I be the pilot?”
Maria
laughed, kissing him. “Yes, you can be the pilot.”
He
reached down and removed the sheet from her body looking at the wound. It was
healed. Not even a scar. “Does it still hurt?”
“A
little. The external damage is taken care of, but the internal mending will take
a little longer to completely recover and strengthen.”
Michael’s
hand rested on her side, where the wound had been, and for a moment, he could
see his hand resting there before, but it was not his hand, and yet it was.
Shaking away the strange vision, he leaned down and kissed her flat stomach.
“Maria—”
Michael breathed in harshly. “You were pregnant. The baby is gone.”
Maria’s
entire body went still. “No. That’s not right.”
“Yes.
I could feel it. I could feel my body responding, but I asked that freak, Thoth,
and he said there was no baby.”
Maria
reached down and pulled him up to meet her. She saw it in his eyes, the pain.
“No! Honey, no, no, no.” She shook her head kissing his eyes close. “There
was never a child.”
“But
I felt—”
“Better?”
Michael nodded. “Good, then it worked.”
“I
don’t understand.”
“Smoke
and mirrors, Michael. I had Julia inject me with hormones to simulate pregnancy,
so my body would secrete the hormones necessary to turn off your mating drive. I
became pregnant so you could finally rest.”
“No
baby?”
Maria
shook her head. “No baby. You should know by now that I would never choose to
become pregnant, not without your consent. It should be a choice made by the two
of us.”
“Why
didn’t you tell me?”
“The
same reason you didn’t tell me that you were in trouble, that Kyle was helping
you keep your mating drive from me.” Maria kissed him again. “I want you
uncoerced in all things. We should have a child because we want one, not because
we need one.”
“I
wasn’t upset when I thought you pregnant.”
“Were
you ready?”
Michael
closed his eyes. “No. Not yet.”
“Then
neither am I.”
“When
will you be?”
Maria
smiled. “The moment you are.”
“Maria—”
She
kissed him. “It’s okay. We go on your schedule, and now that we know having
my body simulate pregnancy helps your balance, we have time. I promised you
time.”
“You
could’ve told me.”
Maria
kissed him shaking her head. “No I couldn’t. I didn’t know if knowing
would cause your body to stop responding, and you were so close to death
already. I couldn’t risk it.”
“How
long do you plan to do this, Maria?”
“As
long as you need me to do so. I figured that you gave me three years, the least
I could do is return the favor.” Maria moved her hand down his cheek. “You
are everything. There is no one but you. I love the other people in our
lives, but you are the only thing I need to take with me.”
Michael
stared at her, his eyes strangely glassy.
“You
can’t know how much I love you.”
Maria
smiled, brushing his hair from his face. “Yes, I can.”
Michael
grabbed her hand to still it, his face deadly serious. “No you cannot. Alone,
Maria. I was destined to be alone—and this thing—this emotion called love,
it meant nothing to me. Not until I felt it.” He couldn’t begin to explain.
“Maria, I didn’t even know the feeling—you are the only time in my
existence that I have ever felt it, and the standard I compare all others. They
are the degree, but you are the ideal. My need and love of you, it overwhelms me
to fear—that somehow, something so perfect can only exist for a short time.”
Maria
searched his earnest face, kissing him softly, she breathed into his mouth.
“Ditto.”
~~~
Zan
stood with his back to Larek. “The summons?”
“Yes.”
“Thoth
has wasted no time.”
“He
has none to waste. He was born defected. I understand that his life expectancy
is shortened such that they can no longer clone him. He is the end of his
line.”
Zan
walked into the palace, the dust of ages and centuries of fighting evident in
every stone, laid lattice brick on brick.
“The
New Royal Federation?”
“They
will find us, even the cloaking field will not shield us.”
Zan
sat down. “How can you know that?”
Larek
looked away. Once in his predecessor’s time and before, the original Zan had
pushed for an awakening, a cultural revolution, and had Khivar not gone to war,
killing the original Royals, their world might have changed. Now, it was too
late.
“Informants
in the
Zan
stood up. “He has captured them?”
“Yes.
He aims to use their genetics to create the new hybrids.”
Zan
yelled in anger tossing a guard to the side, with a wave of his hand. “I had
prayed this was the end! That Thoth would die, and the last remnants of Khivar
would be gone for all time!”
“We
have longer than he does.”
“What
good does that do with our fleet destroyed?! There is not enough energy left in
this system to sustain the cloaking field for another generation! We have no
resources to rebuild our lost ships, and without finding the DNA donors we need,
we cannot survive.”
Larek
was tired. It had been too long a battle. “Even if we could find enough donors
for variation, to add to our own gene pool, there is not enough energy to bind
the gandarium to DNA. We still need the Granilith’s power to hybridize.”
Without an alliance with Thoth, they were all doomed.
“One
problem at a time.” Zan looked at his friend of centuries, through many
cloning lives. “The Princess’s people understood more about energy than
anyone. She has to be a solution.”
“Yes,
he has. Let’s go meet this grand Destiny.” Zan looked at Larek. “If he has
the twin to the Shiva’s Captain, it only a matter of time before the Shiva
finds these worlds, cloaked or not. The twin bond is legendary.”
“I
knew this was a mistake.” Larek said. “We should’ve asked for help.”
“We
were Khivar’s people. Who would help us?”