Annihilation: Book 06 - Demon's Sacrifice (19 page)

“I know why.” The young woman flinched and stared at Danielle. “I just worked it out a few hours ago but I’m not certain if I tell you that you will agree to go.”

“What if I promise to go if you convince me you really know?”

“Would you keep your promise if it made you feel like you were betraying all of those you love?”

The young woman looked down and thought for a moment, “I will keep my promise if for no other reason than to understand why I have been made to suffer. I think I would be forgiven by my loved ones for that reason.”

“You were forced to wait for love.”

The young woman turned angry. “Now you’re being cruel.”

“No, I’m not. You made an error as a child and didn’t know it then or even now. You assumed something to be true that wasn’t and as a result you remained incomplete.”

“Just what error did I make?”

“You assumed your husband was your match.”

The young woman stood and yelled, “Get out.”

“Not before I finish. Sit down and listen; I told you that you wouldn’t like it. If you want to know why then shut up and listen.” The young woman sat back down.

“Why should I?”

“Because I love you more than you know.”

The young woman started crying and Danielle moved next to her and put her arm around her shoulders. “You were wrong. You could hear him as a child so you assumed he was the one. But think about it. He never helped you in your work. He never helped you make decisions. He never had an impact on what decisions you made. I know you loved him, but he was not your match.”

“What proof do you have?”

“A ship is waiting for you to come and bring it to life. Only you can do it and the ship knew that it could not come to life until now. You had to live until this moment for it to happen. That is why you never died when all of those you loved did. You were born for this moment in time. You came into existence with the life span necessary to arrive now when you’re needed most.”

“I didn’t want to live without my family.”

“That was your second mistake. You haven’t really tasted love yet. You cared for your family but not to the level you deserved.”

“What are you saying?”

“Your match is waiting for you. He is more than you could ever hope for and I am so afraid that your bitterness will blind you to what he offers. He has been suffering his whole life waiting for you to come and he believes that his life will always be one empty day after another. He is really more resigned to sorrow as a daily meal than you are. He even questions if he is deserving of happiness. He thinks he must have made a terrible mistake in his youth for which he is now being punished.”

“I don’t know if I believe you.”

“Then do one thing for me and I’ll never ask anything of you again.”

“What?”

“Come with me and just look at him. I’m not asking you to speak with him or have any contact. Just look at him.”

“Let me think about it.”

“Ok. I’m sorry I broke my promise about leaving you alone.”

“Just go,” and the young woman started to cry.

Danielle teleported away and went to her room and cried herself to sleep.

Three days later she heard, “I’ve thought about what you asked.”

“Yes.”

“Where can I see him?”

“How about in Colony Park on the bench in front of Admiral Dorg’s tomb?”

“When?”

“We’ll be there today at noon.”

Danielle heard nothing else.

Danielle went to the map room and found Matt looking thorough family histories. “Matt, may I ask a favor.”

“Sure, what do you need?”

The crew member chosen for the last ship; I would like to meet him.”

“Ok, I’ll set it up.” Matt turned back to his work.

“Now, Matt.”

Matt looked up and felt something. He hit his com, “Captain Christopher Andrews, please report to the coordinates on your com immediately.”

Matt stared at Danielle but she said nothing. A silver field appeared and a young man stepped out of it. He bowed, “How may I be of service, Your Grace?”

Matt said, “This is Queen Danielle. She wishes to talk with you.”

The young man turned to Danielle and said, “I’m at your service, Your Majesty.”

“Come sit beside me, Captain.”

Chris went over and sat down beside Danielle and she pressed her bracelet and both of them disappeared. “What the Torg,” Matt yelled. “What’s going on? Tag, where did Danielle just go with Captain Andrews?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Can you contact her?”

Matt waited a moment and then heard, “No. I can’t! What’s going on?”

“I have no idea.”

“Well find her!”

Matt punched his com and began issuing orders.

Danielle and Chris appeared next to a bench in Colony Park and Chris looked at the tomb of Dorg-Ross. He sighed heavily and then sat down with Danielle. “You had an ancestor killed by the Cainth?”

“Yes, I did. It seems my family has always been around during difficult times for the Realm.”

“And they have always responded with bravery.”

Chris smiled, “Yes, we have.”

“Why are you so sad?”

Chris looked at Danielle and wondered how she knew. He hid his emotions quite well. He hung his head and said, “I honestly don’t know, Your Majesty. I just feel that something is missing from inside me and nothing I’ve done has changed the feeling.”

“Perhaps you need to find a wife?”

Chris raised his head and looked Danielle in the eye, “No one has ever generated any interest in me. It’s almost like the part of me that could love is missing. I see everyone else find happiness with someone but it seems that I am denied those feelings. They just don’t exist in me.”

“Maybe you haven’t met the right person?”

“Your Majesty, if she exists I pray she will come and remove my misery. I am of the belief that she doesn’t exist.”

The young woman sat across the park and mentally listened in to the conversation. She felt a kindred spirit in the young man. She even thought he was suffering more than she was. She was too far away to really see him so she stood and moved a little closer.

“I am of the belief that love comes to those who wait.”

“Is that how it happened with you, Your Majesty?” Suddenly Chris stood and turned around quickly and saw a young woman on a bench. He said, “Please excuse me a moment.” He turned and walked quickly to where she was sitting.

She saw him coming and started to teleport away but then he was there standing in front of her. She saw him looking at her with the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen and she saw confusion on his face. “Do I know you?”

She looked up at him, “No, I don’t believe you do.”

“I’m sorry, but I have seen your face in my dreams for so many years that I thought I knew you. I’m sorry for intruding.”

“What do you mean by in your dreams?”

“I’ve tried to quit having that dream but I used to have a dream of being with you in a house with a green roof and a red garden. Please excuse me.”

He turned to go and was suddenly surround by four Red Warriors who grabbed his arms and began pulling him away toward Danielle who had five Red Warriors surrounding her. The young woman jumped up and yelled, “You will release him immediately!”

One of the warriors turned, “Who are you to be giving me orders?”

“My name is Rose Gardner and I am a former Queen of the Realm. If you value your position in the Realm’s military you will release him now!”

The four warriors looked at the woman and didn’t know what to think. The Team Leader said, “Release him.” He then looked at Chris and said, “Don’t move; stay right here.” The leader got on his com and started asking for instructions.”

Tag appeared next to Danielle and said, “What are you doing?”

Then he looked over where Danielle was staring; he was stunned and he began walking toward Rose. Rose saw her father coming and took a deep breath and shook her head. Chris looked at her and said, “Are you really Rose Gardner?” She nodded. “Well, you’re a lot more beautiful than your pictures.”

Rose looked at Chris and could see he meant it, “What color was the fence around the red garden?”

“Blue as the sky.”

“What color was the wood floor?”

“It didn’t have a wood floor; it had burgundy carpet.”

“What kind of flowers were in the Garden?”

Chris thought for a moment and smiled, “Roses.”

Tag arrived at that moment and swept Rose up into his arms and began to cry. Rose held on to him and wept with him. “How could you leave? I’ve missed you every day of my life.”

Rose whispered, “Sometimes we lose our way.”

Danielle walked up and looked at Rose. “Have you decided?”

Rose looked at Danielle and smiled. “Sometimes the greatest gift we can give is our self.” She released her father and walked up to Chris and embraced him and felt the explosion in her heart. Chris felt his heart come alive and was inside Rose’s mind. He was amazed at what he saw. Rose finally felt what she had never experienced; complete connection with another that loved her completely. Chris leaned back and when Rose looked up at him, he kissed her. She knew that the wait was worth all that she suffered. Danielle and Tag moved forward and hugged Rose along with Chris. One minute later Tommy, Cassandra, Sprig, and Twig arrived to embrace the Queen and sister of their youth. The Red Warriors formed a barrier and called in reinforcements to hold back the gathering crowd.

Danielle whispered to Rose, “Your children will have psychic abilities.”

Rose’s eyes widened, “Really?”

“Yes, and I’ve saved your bunnies.”

She hugged Chris tighter and Chris felt alive for the first time in his life. The crowd grew but no one wanted to leave until much, much, later. By the time everyone went to the Castle, the crowd had grown to more than a million, and twenty thousand Red Warriors were needed to hold it away. The word was out and it spread like wild fire through the Realm, Rose was back.

Later that day, Rose and Chris teleported to Al’s bridge and he took them to the last ship. Unlike the others, when they arrived in front of it a brilliant blue glow rushed out and covered the other ships. They all began to glow bright blue and within an hour were completely developed. Al looked on in amazement, “Your ship must be the very last ship.”

Rose smiled as she held on to Chris, “It has waited for me. It had to be.”

The red being flinched, “Did you see that?”

“Yes, where did it originate?”

“Somewhere in the quadrant below the lowest dimension.”

“What was it?”

“I don’t know and I did not get a reading on what caused it. It must have come from the missing universe. We need to focus our search in that quadrant.”

“We are being ordered to do so by the Elders. They also saw it.”

“Do they know what it was?”

“No, but they say it was the color of the creative force.”

“I have never asked you this, but are we stronger than this creative force?”

“Depends on its strength; we won’t know until we go and see.”

“And if we’re not?”

“Then it should be an interesting view.”

“M
att, I have something that you might be interested in hearing.”

“Where are you Destiny?”

“I’m on my home planet. I’ll send you the coordinates.”

Matt looked at his bracelet and saw the coordinates. He pushed the enable button and appeared in a strange structure that appeared to be made of interwoven white strands. “I see you have used a web to make your home.”

“Yes, it was really easy to build. Come with me.” Destiny walked outside and entered a structure next to his home that was much bigger. “Matt.” Three spiders that were bigger than he remembered ran up and wrapped their front legs around him.

“Hi, guys. What’s going on?”

Edison jumped a foot off the ground, “I think we have found the stuff the Demons use to build their ships.”

“Oh, really; what is it?”

“Einstein actually found it.”

Matt looked at the spider with the smallest fangs, “It figures.”

“I found it in the recording of the entry point’s destruction when the doorway was blocked between our universes. Before it broke out into our universe, I noticed that it was orange in color. I went to the site of the explosion and took samples from some of the ships that had been demolished. It’s pretty dangerous stuff.”