Slavers of Antar

By DocPaul

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Chapter Seventeen: Chimera

“You came back because of the two Dupes they sent home to Antar?” Maria squirmed restlessly, her side aflame by the activity. Michael sensed her discomfort, and he picked her up, sliding beneath her to let her body rest on his. She was mending slowly.

“They became our nightmare. Zan fought until he regained his throne, his sister at his side. Vilandra, my old lover. I didn’t recognize her in her new form. She claimed to be the Queen, and together they sat on the throne, ruling Antar, beating me back.”

“How did you learn that she was not the Queen?”

“Nikolas came home. We developed new technology, a wormhole. It allowed us to transport, but unlike your Granilith’s traveling in winks, the wormhole had consequences, limits. It ate away energy and cost the traveler a tad of their stability. It was saved to use for extreme emergencies.”

Michael scratched his brow. “So I take it that bringing this Niko person home was important.”

“I was at war. He was my First, so yes, it was direly important. He took one look at the ‘Queen’ and he knew that she was the Princess. Zan and Vilandra already produced two heirs, but even here there are rules. Mating between same blood is only permitted if they share a father, but never a mother. Zan and Vilandra shared both. They broke a taboo.”

Michael chortled. “Let me guess—war?”

“An uprising,” he confirmed. “I was quick to regain my throne as Zan and Vilandra felt the backlash. Antarians might have no morals in your view, but those we do have, we hold.” The room seemed cold to Maria. She huddled closer to Michael’s warm body. “The majority of genetic material is transferred maternally, and breeding among maternal bloods results in increased genetic instability.”

“They retained loyal followers,” Maria stated. It was obvious since the civil war continued through so many centuries.

“The Royalists,” spat Thoth, his disdain an ugly sneer on his personage.

Michael kissed his wife’s temple frowning at the heat. She had a fever, he was sure. Frowning, he pulled her into his body when he felt a shiver. They needed to go, but Maria being sick was a problem. He needed her help.

“Things did not go well, I take it.” Michael was stating the obvious, after all the Antarians returned to Earth. “Why did you come back?”

“Two reasons really. For centuries we cloned our bodies with human DNA, taking certain aspects we found admirable, such as aggression, warlike tendencies, and the desire to survive at all cost. The one thing we did not gain was repair replication.”

Maria frowned. “I don’t know what that is. Are you talking about the repair mechanism in normal DNA process or RNA?”

“During the replication of DNA there is a template made, as the code is read there is a special protein that moves along the strand checking for base pair misalignments. It is a repair mechanism that catches problems. Our ability to genetic repair our own DNA automatically was lost centuries ago, that is why we moved from sexual reproduction which introduced numerous new mutations into our genome, to cloning. When we cloned with humans, we regained that missing group of amino acids and proteins necessary to repair our on DNA. Unfortunately, what we gained only had a few generation lifespan before the ability was lost again.”

“So you had to keep introducing fresh DNA—human DNA into your replication process.” Maria closed her eyes, they burned, and she could see what was coming already knowing the history of her people. “The second reason you returned to Earth?”

“The twins. To replicate easily we needed a power source—a Granilith. The Granilith was gone, sent beyond us by those meddling hybrids. Their children, or specifically, the children of the Commander were the key.”

“They could build you your own Granilith without all the safety protocols they put in the original.” Michael could see it. Khivar wanting his own Granilith, holding the full power at his disposal. When he found the original, it had been so many centuries later, and across another universe, he hadn’t realized what he had. It had changed over time, taken a new look.

“We attacked Earth. Entered her orbit with a full fleet of ships. The Earth space program was defunct. They barely watched the skies. The money they spent was done by one superpower, and even then, it only covered a scant amount of space. The authorities had suppressed all knowledge of other life forms, that when we came, they were defenseless.”

“The twins built the Granilith to protect the Earth, to protect themselves from being kidnapped. Your move of aggression forced them to build the very machine that began this looping destiny. They built it, repelled you, then they sent it back encoding it with their own genetics so no one could use or activate it except their own parents.”

Thoth nodded at Michael. “Yes, the Granilith activated shielding the entire Earth in a impenetrable field. Our fleet was unable to access it, and we were forced to return home, or run out of fuel.” Thoth frowned at Maria. She was shivering. Michael covered her with a throw, opening his shirt to allow her to rest against his skin. “Is she all right?” He went to touch Maria, to feel her head. He needed her—both of them.

“Don’t touch her!” Objects in the room exploded with the Commander’s voice.

Thoth backed off. “I want her well, too. She is important, as are you.”

“For your little genetic experiment?”

“No. Something more important.” Thoth sighed. “Why did they send the Granilith back? They had to know that their parents were created because of it, and—”

Michael kissed Maria on the brow as her eyes closed. She was tired. “No, they sent it back for two reasons. Once the alien threat ended, and your ships left their solar system the governments of the world fought over the control of the Granilith. It was too much power, and the children were young, too knowledgeable. They encoded their genetics as a safety precaution leaving out one vital set of genetics. The King’s. The King’s genetics were special, unalterable. There was a chance that his alien counterpart, the one you called Zan could activate the Granilith alone, so they made sure he had no part of it. The Commander, Rath could not activate it, not until after he was a hybrid. The King was different, his hybrid genetics never altered his original—it was why he was King. His genetics were added later when the Granilith was sent to the future, and he became part of The One—a unique combination of the Commander, his mate, the King, and a Shapeshifter called Jonathan. The addition of the Shapeshifter altered the Granilith—opened the door for it become a transport devise that shifted through space and time.”

Thoth listened, interested, but he kept staring at Maria, noting her health. He made a call requesting a doctor be sent to the Princess’s quarters. “She is ill. I will have them look at her again.”

“Thank you.” Michael said, grateful for that much. “Why do you need us? You want our genetics.”

“No. Not hers. She is too far evolved from the original humans we used. The genetic fault we need to combine our DNA essence to humans has been repaired in her genome. You still have the fault. You we could use—maybe with limited success, but there is a repair mechanism in you makeup—one that selects against the passing of the genetic fault.” Thoth shrugged. “Unfortunately in the next few generations, even your genome will be beyond our use. You already possess corrected DNA. Half the attenuated DNA in your system is perfect, and in possibly your child’s genetics the flaw will be gone.”

“Pity. You can’t imagine how much I don’t care.”

Michael sat up as the doctor entered. Picking up Maria who was asleep, he took her into the bedroom so the doctor could examine her. Waiting, he refused to leave the room until the doctor followed.

“My Lord, she has an infection. I’ve treated it, but in the next solar period, I will need to reexamine her, perhaps repeat the medication.”

“Come back tomorrow. I want her well.”

The doctor bowed, quickly leaving the room.

“What did you mean that I have the genetic flaw you are looking for? How can that be? I am Attilaan, not Anterraan.”

“I thought you knew the history of her people?” Thoth sat down across from Michael. “After they sent the Granilith forward the descendents of the Royals and their human mates were able to reactivate it, but by this time we perfected our wormhole technology. It was able to transfer through the Granilith’s power shield. We invaded in waves, for generations. The humans held us off, but they suspected that their race was at an end. They altered the Granilith to use it to travel through space—in winks. Now I know that it was the introduction of the Shapeshifter, Jonathan into the matrix that created that ability, but it opened up worlds of possibility for the humans. In colonizing waves they transported humans to another universe, to other worlds, seeding their humanity across the galaxy, so should their world be destroyed, something of them would remain.”  Thoth laughed. “You are the seeds, genetically combined with those colonizing humans. In your genomes is that one chromosome that we need to combine our DNA to with the help of a crystal entity called the gandarium. All we lack is the power source—the Granilith.”

“Khivar knew this?”

“Of course, it was what he discovered, why he began collecting and enslaving worlds. Of course, he only knew part of this. You have now filled in holes once not known to Us. He knew the children of Earth were out there, and among them was the answer we needed to stay our own extinction. We made a mistake so long ago. We joined our genetics to theirs, and not realizing it, we went to conquer them—annihilate them. It cost us our own futures.”

“The flaw was in their genetics?”

“The genetic flaw is a recessive one, unique, and hard to find. We stripped the genetics of many, to find only a handful of what we needed.” Thoth laughed in self-mockery. “What we did not discover until it was too late was that Anterra was Earth. They—those humans always found a way to best us. One day we transported our invaders to Earth, and there was no longer an Earth there. Those meddling humans found a way to use the Granilith, not to transfer individuals, but the entire planet. Our invaders wormholed to empty space. All were lost. We no longer had access to human DNA, and our clones were all we had left. You can see the folly of centuries of cloning a clone.”

“For this—Khivar destroyed all those worlds, enslaved all those people, and you—you and your slavers burned and stole from worlds?” Michael stood in disgust. “Who gives you the right? Who?”

“Survival is our right!” Thoth got into Michael’s face, the two men violent, barely holding back the anger as raw power surged.

“Tell that to the Princess and her people! They fought literally all their existence to be free of your parasitical ways, and in the end, you genocide them.”

“They live in you, and thousands of other worlds that they had colonized eons ago! They hide to survive. The Princess is merely the only direct line descendant. When you were incorporated with those fleeing humans, you set the humans back in their evolution as they blended into your worlds. It is among you the seeds that we need. We may still find the genetic flaw we need not too far evolved beyond our use.”

Michael’s jaw clenched at being called primitive. He was sick of this diseased man, and this diseased solar system.

“Leave us. She needs to rest, and she cannot do so unless I am with her.”

Thoth stood, unwilling to allow Michael to order him about, but in the end, he bowed and left. His need of the Commander and the Princess was only beginning. They were important.

~~~

Michael watched her sleep. She was feverish. The covers were all over the place. Straightening them, he covered her, and slid into the bed with her. Maria moved into his body.

“Why didn’t I realize that?” Michael asked softly. He studied the histories with her. He knew that later in time they had used the Granilith to transport humans off the besieged Earth. It had been a one-way trip, since none could withstand the stress of shifting more than once, their bodies too fragile, and still warm blooded. It was not until centuries later that the Ancients adapted to a cold blooded nature capable of channeling their energies to stabilize the stress of shifting.

“Michael—” Maria moved into his body. Her fever was higher than before. His body was damp from her sweat as a chill ran through her body. They needed to leave, but he couldn’t risk her—not in her condition.

“I am of you. I never knew that.” Michael held her small hand in his. “That which survives joins us.” He looked over Maria’s shoulder, seeing Alex stepping from the shadows. “How long have you known?”

“Forever. A minute. Six lifetimes. Here it is hard to say.” Alex sat on the bed, his hand touching Maria’s brow. “I cannot interfere. There are rules to all realms. What I know, what she knows instinctually and what must be learned, they are all part of this journey. We bound our hearts and souls together so long ago, in another time, another place, but the wave that started it, started here, Michael, in you and in her. You broke a chain, created a new reality, and like a shockwave it has traveled back in time, affecting all the realities, all the times.”

“Alex, Kyle—is he—?”

“Alive. You felt him?”

“Yes. I felt him go.” Michael frowned. “How can that be?”

“Maria told you—she told you all. Our Universe is evolving. It was once young when the seeds came to our shores, joined and integrated into our cultures. They collectively took a deep breath backwards—to start again. What you fail to understand, Michael is that Maria and her people were as much a construct as Khivar’s people are. Their histories and destinies so intertwined, there was no determining where one began and the other ended. The humans evolved quickly, huge punctuation jumps in evolution all due to the hybrids left on Earth. Once alien DNA was introduced into the Earth’s genome, within so many successive generations, it was hard to tell when it entered, but it gave them an added boost.”

“Then this Thoth—his people affected Maria’s people.”

“Yes, as much as Maria’s people—the Ancients affected the Antarians. They affected their evolution—making them evolve before their time. The humans understood the folly of having more power before they were mentally, emotionally, and morally able to control or use it. They understood that. So when the Granilith brought the good Earth to this Universe, they chose to either ascend or mix with the indigenous people of their new solar system, to take a step back.”

“We are a step back as well?”

“Yes. The humans did not change your world’s evolution, rather they integrated into it. The reason you, Kyle, Max, Isabel, Sean, and even I—the reason we are evolving is because this is the natural course of our lives. The Antarians and the Anterraans, they altered their lives, pushing evolution to the brink. The Anterraans—or what we call the Ancients, they realize their mistake, fixed it, and safeguarded from it ever happening again. This is the reason they never shared technology, except the simplest. It does not do good to hold too much power before you have the maturity to understand it. The Antarians—they cannot understand their own folly. There is nothing in their makeup but pride and the need to conquer and to dominate.”

“And Maria—what is she?”

Alex smiled at the sleeping woman, his hand moving her hair from her face. “She is the culmination of centuries of what the Anterraans fixed. She was the proof that mistakes can be fixed, that people can learn. She is the antithesis of the Antarians.” Alex stood to step back into the shadows. “She is hope—where they have none.”

“Alex—take her with you, away from this.”

“I cannot interfere. This is a dance all of you have played before, but this time it must end. In all spirals, the eyes are drawn off center, but even in infinity there must be a beginning and an end.”

“Alex—”

“The door is open, Michael. You are the one with power—you always were. She was only the focus that opened the door for you. She woke the lion. Use it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Certainly you do, if you let yourself. This deep hungering love you feel for her—this need. Your powers are strong. Maria is strong, but she is no match to what is inside you lying dormant, waiting for your body to evolve to a point that you can control it.” Alex laughed. “It was you, Michael, all those years ago, you who bent the matrix, attracted my attention—it was you, your will to survive reaching out. Your love, your need for her has moved backwards in time, affecting all the timelines. There could never be a moment or time that you would be born—not needing her, searching for her. It was you. To every great power is a great focus born.”

The moment he and Maria mated their arms and souls, the flight of the eagle merged into the lion, they sent ripples back through time, and forward. In every time, there would be a great power and a great focus born to each other. It was there, in the Annals of Time. The original hybrid Commander was a power of untold power, and for him, his mate—a young human of Earth was born to balance his power, but it had started here, with them.

“What if I do not want this?” Michael asked quietly, his soul tortured by a need he never could completely fulfill no matter how many times he had her, touched her, or loved her. It was obsessive, and demanding everything she was to be for him alone. Jealousy that fired his blood, it tasted in his mouth like bitter fruit, and only her full attention turned it sweet.

“Why? You wanted it all your life, even before you realized it. It was always your quest to find her—even when you had no name for the desire.”

“How can that be? How could I search for her—know her, yearn for her, even before we joined and put this into motion?”

“Do you have no understanding of Destiny, Michael? You searched for her because your joining was ordained—always meant to be. There can never be a true beginning to a circle that is closed, when all points on the path lead to the Great Understanding.”

Alex stepped into the shadows, returning to his realm, his wife, and his family.

“Alex—wait!”

Michael sighed. Too late. The damn spook had already walked through the door. He rested back against the pillow, rearranging Maria on his body. Moving his hand over her skin, he admitted Alex was right. He wanted it—more than need, he wanted it.

~~~

Maria couldn’t get warm. Making a sound in her throat, she snuggled deep into his body, but it wasn’t enough. The chills moved along her spine. Michael swore as his hand felt her skin, covered in moisture, too hot.

“We are the direct opposite.” Maria mumbled. “Polarity.”

“Maria—baby, what are you saying?” Michael frowned. She was talking in her sleep. Delirious. “Maria?”

“Handedness, Michael. All existence is handedness. Right and Left. It is the chiro of form—same formula, but a different element.”

“The people, the worlds, or the universes? What Maria? What is polar—us? Thoth? The Antarians?”

“For light to exist, there must be darkness. Being born is the opposite of death, not living. Living is the only thing without an opposite, for even the undead live.” Maria laughed to herself. “The Granilith used polarity. To find us, all they needed was to search for a Universe completely opposite, dynamically, and in evolution. We sought out our universe in its youth—and we found yours—all of you.”

“You are my opposite,” said Michael.

“Yes. Without me, you would not exist. You would live, going through the motions, but never really alive. Feel it, my love, feel yourself. I can feel you, and the same is true for me. I never knew what it meant to be alive until I met you.”

Michael kissed her hand. He wouldn’t want to live without her.

“What is Thoth’s opposite? The Royals? You?”

“I have no opposite, except you.” Maria opened her eyes, looking at Michael, she shook her head. “Max. Max is Thoth’s opposite.” She was tired. So tired, and her body ached. “Do not trust him, Michael. He seems reasonable, he seems direct, but he is the opposite of Max—and Max is a force of good.”

~~~

Max stood in the observation deck watching the passing of lights as the Shiva cut through space at hyper speeds. The carriage of the deck was stable and stationary, as a city afloat. Time, the movement of space was like time itself passing by as unalterable speeds.

“Couldn’t you sleep?”

Max sighed when Isabel’s hand came around him, hugging herself to his back.

“It’s hard. I can feel them, but they are not calling to me. Wherever they are, they’re not afraid. I can feel Michael the most. At first he was all rage, and now—” Max frowned, grasping for that elusive thought barely on his edge of his consciousness. “He feels confident, and worried at the same time.”

“The serpent is in the briar.”

“Rhythms? Are you leaving me?” If she ascended beyond him, he knew not what he would do.

Isabel chuckled against Max’s back. “You should be so lucky. I am afraid that you are stuck with me.”

Max turned leaning back, pulling her close. His eyes moved over her beautiful face. When he closed his eyes at night, she was the last thing he saw, the first thing he thought of when he woke, and the only thing he dreamt of.

“I would gladly be stuck with you, to you—”

Isabel smiled, kissing him, feeling the usual rush of blood and desire hot in her veins. Stroking his cheek, her eyes became heavy. It should be a sin to lust after one’s own husband.

“I love you, Max. In my heart, there is only you. Given a lifetime of living in the trenches with you, or ascending, I would choose you.”

“You are my home, Isabel. You always will be.” Max framed her beautiful face. “I feel the rush of power in my mind, an awareness. Is that what you feel?”

“Yes. It’s not me, Max. It’s our baby. She is strong. So strong. I reached out my hand, but it was she that opened the door.”

His daughter. Max couldn’t imagine it, but he knew that he wanted it more than his next breath. “A daughter—only one. This will be the first non-twin birth in as long as anyone on my world can remember.”

“Is it important?”

Max kissed Isabel’s neck, his body moving seductively up against hers, in a timeless mating dance. God, he loved her pregnant. It was so—sexy. “I don’t know. I do know that Michael and I have never quite done things in a normal fashion for our people.”

“And Sean?”

Max allowed himself to be irritated for a moment. He was kissing his wife’s neck, brushing his hard body against hers, and she wanted to talk Sean? Something was strange in this Universe.

“Sean is the same. He never felt a mating bond to his wife, hardly noticing her passing. His bond was stronger to his twin, Serena. I believe he was always destined to be the one born without a real bond, but fate made that Michael.”

Isabel made a soft moaning sound in her throat as Max nipped at the skin. Her hands were unfastening his clothing. They were alone. It was dark and the deck was all theirs. Max’s moved Isabel back, slowly, a dark sexy smile moving across his face as the feral hunter look entered his eyes.

“We should take this back to our rooms.”

Isabel laughed. “Are you becoming inhibited? That is so not—Attilaan!”

“Maria and Michael give the crew enough to talk about, and Sean is a dog. I feel a need to uphold my people’s good name.”

“Uh-huh.” Isabel looked down his body, her hand moved upward, chuckling under her breath.

“Are you getting sassy with me?”

Isabel laughed. “Oh, you sound so surprised! After three years, and still you act as if you are only now learning to know me.”

Max moved hard into her body, moving her up against a wall, easily opening her clothes so he could find skin. Kissing the exposed parts of her body, he smiled against her skin. She was at all times an enigma to him, so unlike his own people, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. If he failed to ever learn everything about her, he wouldn’t mind. It made for interesting living.

~~~

“Sean, we have spatial fluxing on the fifteenth deck on the forward side.” Jonesy said.

“Dammit, the emitters are buckling under the stress. We need to pull back our speed.”

Jonesy contacted the bridge. Sean continued to work while Jonesy took care of things, his mind on his job, on getting to Julia and the others. Though he wouldn’t mind buying Julia off an auction block, that was a thought best left to fantasy.

“Sean, bridge informs me that they can’t reduce the speed in the warp corridor, it will cause the subfield to crumble.”

Sean swore. Where the hell was Liz when he needed her? “Have all decks in the forward compartment evacuated. Inform the Captain. The command decks need to be reinforced. Set up engineering teams.”

“The crew decks?”

“C and D are in a stable field, but A and B decks can become unstable. Inform the deck commander of possible breeches.”

Sean’s body jumped when a relay next to him blew. Grabbing an extinguisher, he put out the fire. “Sonnabitch! We’re going to pull apart before we ever get there! Curse those bastards for choosing a system opposite their own!”

“Sean, the integrity of—”

“Shut up! Batten it down, and reroute!” Sean hit his Com. “Sean to Captain!”

“Go, Sean.”

“Max, we have to drop out of the corridor! We’re breaking apart at this speed.”

“Understood.” Max disconnected.

Jonesy looked over at Sean as the Shiva dropped from the trans-warp corridor. “I’ve got five that says he’ll be down here in a moment.”

“I don’t cover sure things. Get people busy replicating the emitters. We need to quickly replace the blown ones, and reinforce the forward area.”

“Done.” Jonesy walked out of the engineering as Max entered.

“Sean—”

“Hell, that as fast,” Sean mumbled under his breath before addressing Max. “Sorry for the interruption, Cap, but we can’t sustain prolong travel. You know that.”

“How long until we can reinitiate a corridor?”

“Half a period to a full one. A full one to be certain.” Sean ran his hands through his untidy hair. “I want to get there too, Max. Maria told us that a ship this size without a powerful Granilith could only sustain limited bursts when shifting. The Shiva is too large. It’s not like shifting a person. Our hull integrity is down to thirty-five percent.”

“Do what you can.” Max stroked his scar. “I can feel Michael and Maria. They aren’t distressed at this time, but I don’t like being away from them for so long.”

“I know,” Sean said. He looked over at Max. “I can feel them too. Strangely, I can feel Liz and Julia as well.”

“We’re getting closer. The feeling is increasing.”

Sean nodded, moving aside as a repair team finally showed up with replacement parts for the blown panel. “How is Kyle?”

“He is fine. Almost as if he was never sick.”

Sean stopped working for a moment. He took Max’s arm and exited Engineering. “Max—I’ve got concerns.”

Max stopped to lean against the bulkhead, sighing, he waited for it. “What? The ship? Julia?”

“This.” Sean reached out his hand, and pushed particle aside opening a rift, a shifting corridor.

“Great, another one.” Max rubbed his forehead. “It seems too easy doesn’t it?”

“Manipulation. Strange, Max. Always I could see how things were placed together. I understood the particles of energy, the subfields surrounding everything. It wasn’t until Maria explained that it was as easy as creating a vacuum, a space, and that energy would naturally flow into the space.”

“When did you begin to use it?”

Sean shrugged. “I’m able to draw things to me. My tools. I reached out my hand, pushed the particles out of the way, and the tool moves into the space, into my hand.”

Max leaned back, resting his back against the wall. “Strange to realize I always felt the power, I just never understood it.”

“Same.” Sean cleared his throat. “I think Serena understood it more than I do. She had a way of seeing things, tools, mechanics, and even explosives. She looked at them and understood how they work. I never saw that before.”

Max smiled slightly. “Maria makes things so much clearer.” He laughed, shaking his head. His sister-in-law, without even trying, was influencing things around her.

“She makes everything seem so simple.” Sean frowned. “Max, I feel things—”

“I know. No matter how far away, I can feel Michael. I can feel my sons. I can feel our planet.”

“It’s more than that.” Sean didn’t know if he could explain. “I can feel my engines when they are out of alignment. I can feel a stress in the space around us.” Sean rubbed the back of his neck. “Are we reaching ascension, Max?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t want that. I like my life. I like this universe as it is.”

“Change is hard, Sean, but if we are only becoming aware, then things aren’t really changing. They have been this way forever waiting for us to understand the language.”

Sean sighed. “I hope you’re right. I just brew a new batch of booze. I’d hate for it to go to waste.”

Max laughed hitting Sean on the back. “I think it’s safe to assume you’ll get to drink it.”

Sean nodded, he needed to get back to work. Time was a luxury they didn’t have. Sean looked critically at Max’s chest. “Sorry about the interruption, Max. Apologize to Isabel for me.” Sean went to reenter Engineering. “By the way, your shirt is fastened up wrong.”

Max looked down at is front swearing as he unfastened his shirt to fix it up correctly. He smiled to himself.