Charged - Book One (26 page)

“What about the clones?”

“Lewis, we are only able to clone elders and we have
never actually restored an essence to a cloned elder. It has never
been done and we don’t know how it will turn out. These are just
theories. It’s just hope right now. Collin will be the first to
try, with Alma and her clone won’t be ready for a century.”

“But it’s possible?”

“Anything is possible, if you ask Collin.”

All kinds of possibilities ran through my head. And a
part of me was relieved to have the secrets out, no matter how sad
they were.

“Why can’t the children merge with her?”

“We don’t know. Something about them being born here.
We think the atmosphere of Earth genetically altered them.”

I felt panicked. There had to be options.

“What about the other ships? Surely they are more
elders that would help.”

“None of them would even tolerate such a thought. Too
many have died because of the hybrids. They are despised and it’s
against our laws.”

“How much longer do you have?”

He shook his head a little and closed his eyes.

“I’m guessing but a hundred years, maybe.”

His physical appearance led me to believe otherwise,
but it was a relief that we had some time. We had time to research,
to plan some way to charge Kye. And we wouldn’t have to be
secretive about it, not any more. I didn’t care if all the children
knew. I would do whatever I could to save Kye.

“If we could find a way for her to charge with
someone else, would your body heal?”

“Yes, but we exhausted all ideas hundreds of years
ago.”

“How long will Collin be unconscious?”

“A few days, but he’ll be an emotional wreck when he
comes to. I don’t think he knows what happened on our home planet
at all. He will have many questions, just like you.”

“So you lied to all the children?”

I remembered Collin studying the black alien carcass
like he had never seen such a thing. I remember Danel knowing that
they could drown, as if he’d seen it happen.

“There was no reason to tell them we were enslaved by
those things for thousands of years, that we were food to them.
They herded us like cattle. We thought we’d killed them all when we
blew up the suns; we just thought that more of us would escape. We
thought we had more time than we really did. Let me rest now. Leave
me.”

I didn’t want to leave Kye, so I didn’t move. He
seemed irritated again.

“I will send her to you when she’s done. You must
leave. I need to rest.”

Reluctantly, I left. I wanted to find Aaron and
discuss everything. I wanted to find Jessica and see what could be
done for Kye, but I was exhausted. I was emotionally wrung out from
Danel, Alma and Ben’s feelings. I headed back to my room. I probed
Ben’s memories again and Zero jumped into the bed like he was
waiting for me. Zero was the only thing completely unaffected by my
change, my mutation. I searched Ben’s memories again. I could see
the women dying off one by one because they loved their hybrids,
their children. I shook the thoughts quickly out of my head.

And somewhere in between a conscious and
semiconscious state, things became clear. An epiphany struck me in
the deepest parts of my mind, wrenching forward a truth that
completely escaped me. I brought myself to full consciousness and
opened my eyes to engross myself in the ideas that had become so
concrete. My role was changing and my purpose was blurred, until
now. 

AS I ENTERED HER QUARTERS, she rushed up to me and
wrapped her arms around me.

“I’m sorry-” she started, but I cut her off.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” I said, holding
her close to me. “Are you fully…?” I didn’t know what to call it
and I felt weird calling it anything at all.

“No, Danel became drained, so I couldn’t completely
charge my core.”

I looked into her eyes and smiled. She seemed
confused.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” I lifted her chin and
then looked into her eyes.

“How could I? It’s horrific. The look on your face
when you saw me inside of Danel crushed me.”

“That whole situation wouldn’t have happened if you
had just talked to me. You can’t imagine what I thought when I saw
that. Kye, for just a second, I thought he ate you.”

A slight smirk escaped her lips at the silliness of
my statement. The tension between us lifted for a moment and this
was where I made her uncomfortable. I knew she wasn’t going to like
my idea.

“I want to try something,” I said.

Her eyes widened and she knew what I wanted.

“No. I won’t do that to you.”

“I have Ben in me now. I’m the oldest now. Just
try.”

“No, I can’t. Did you see Collin? That was just two
hands and he collapsed.”

“I’m not taking no for an answer.” I was being firm
now and I meant it. “There’s something different about my DNA.
Collin said it himself. This will work. Didn’t you hear me when you
were inside of Danel?”

“No, I can’t hear anything when I’m charging.”

She pulled away from me and tears streamed down her
face. She quickly wiped them away and tried to compose herself.

“There is one Tanjennian that would have you believe
you have no options, but I don’t think he honestly thought there
were any.” I was talking about Danel. I doubt it ever occurred to
him that I might be able to charge Kye.

She looked at me, shocked for a second and then her
face changed.

“It would give Danel time to heal if you could
alternate between the two of us until we found a way for you to
regenerate a different way,” I said.

She thought about this and there was a different look
in her eyes.

“I’m more worried about you. This could be very
painful. You’ve been in enough pain,” she said.

“Just try.” I was begging now, pleading with her and
she started crying again.

I took my shirt off and she seemed to be fighting
with herself. I pulled her close to me and I felt her soften
against me. I brushed my feelings up against her and I could feel
she was considering it and it was terrifying to her, the thought of
losing me.

“I will know if you’re in pain, so don’t bother
lying.” Her voice was very low and there were still tears streaming
down her face. I wiped them away softly, but she wouldn’t look into
my eyes.

“You’ve seen what kind of pain I can handle. I doubt
it will be anything like that.”

I knew that she loved me. She would much rather die
than cause me pain. She was the last of her kind and I was the only
one of mine. And the junk in my DNA is what made me survive and
that junk would save her. I was counting on it. I could feel her
despair and her hope. I reached into her emotionally with love and
compassion. She didn’t block me and she let my emotions glide over
her as she cried silently.

“If it’s too much, you’ll know,” I said, stroking her
hair.

“And what if there’s nothing for me to connect
to?”

“Then we’ll find a different way,” I said.

“Lewis, if I can merge with you physically, I can’t
hear anything except your own heartbeat.”

“Then listen to that. Let it guide you.”

She pulled away from me and paced back and forth for
what seemed like an eternity. Then, slowly, she undressed in front
of me as if she’d done it a hundred times and I found myself
smiling at her beauty. She pressed her warm body against me and I
could feel her hands softening, becoming gel-like against my chest.
Slowly, she pushed her right hand into me and I smiled at her. She
studied my face, looking for any sign of pain, but there was none.
Her eyes widened at the possibility that this wouldn’t hurt me at
all. She pushed her left hand through my chest and still I felt
nothing but pressure, no pain.

I knew now that I absorbed all of Ben, every part of
him. I pulled her body up against mine, inviting her inside me.

“This next part bothers even Danel, so just take a
deep breath.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

She pushed me toward the bed and I sat down on it and
I pulled her into me. I could feel her melt into my chest. It was
astounding how she could change the mass of her body, becoming
liquid as she pushed through my pores. I could feel some pressure
as she pulled in her legs and pushed her head into my shoulder, but
it didn’t hurt. It was only a few moments before she was completely
inside of me. Then, there was a rush. I could feel her reaching
into every muscle, every part of me.

I didn’t know where Ben’s core was inside of me, but
I knew it was there.

“Find it,” I whispered, as she slowly reached up my
neck into my brain.

I could still feel her emotions. She was eager, no
longer sad. She was amazed at what my body could do. She was in awe
that I was fine emotionally and physically.

Then, she reached deeper into my brain and something
clicked and I felt different. I opened my eyes, but I couldn’t see
anything. I felt drained. I tried to stay calm to see if she could
charge, so I leaned back on the bed. I felt nothing from her for a
while and I started to worry. It had been only minutes since my
sight had left. Then I felt her; the pressure was barely tolerable,
but what I felt as she reached into my brain sent an excruciating
wave of pain through every part of my body. I didn’t move and tried
to breathe through it. I drew in slow breaths and shuddered as I
released them. She seemed to pause for a moment and the pain dulled
a little.

“Don’t stop, keep going,” I whispered, knowing she
couldn’t hear me.

She reached deeper into my body and the pain started
again. It roared through every nerve, from deep within me to the
tips of my fingers and I let out a low groan. A sudden fear swept
across my mind that she would find nothing and this would kill me.
My breaths were shorter now and my whole body was reeling with
pain. I turned on my side, not knowing if I was hurting her
physically or crushing her. I could feel she was rushed, that she
was panicked and searching. She knew I was in pain and I tried to
fight through the pain, but it was useless. My body quivered in
agony with every breath. Somehow she was affecting my optic nerves
and I still couldn’t see anything. I tried to move my fingers and
curled them for moment.

I could feel a humming deep in my brain. Kye was
doing something and she seemed to relax inside of me when suddenly
there was stabbing pain in my head. Every muscle in my entire body
clenched and I let out a guttural sound. The pain grew as I tried
to breathe. But I knew I was being pushed outside of consciousness.
I tried to hang on to the pain as I yelled hoping she could hear
me. Then the room drifted away from me and I was out.

WHEN I WOKE UP, I wasn’t in Kye’s suite anymore. My
vision was very blurry and I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. I
was a little panicked to see I was in one of the medical labs,
hooked up to an IV and several monitors. I slid my hands down my
chest, but she was gone. She had left my body. I could hear Danel’s
voice, but he sounded different. I tried to sit up, but everything
ached, every muscle, so I stilled myself, leaning back on the
bed.

Then someone next to the bed grabbed my hand and even
though my vision was blurred, I knew it was Kye. I could feel her
soft delicate fingers in my hand.

“Did it work?” I whispered but there was no
answer.

My vision started to clear a little and she looked so
beautiful in her deep red suit. She was beaming with joy. She
looked happier than I’d ever seen her. That sadness had disappeared
completely. And everyone in the room was staring at me. I looked at
my hand again, afraid for a second that I’d changed into something
else, but I was still the same genetically-altered human.

Collin walked toward a monitor next to the bed,
shaking his head at me.

“Lewis, exactly how many times are you going to put
yourself in danger? Because we can designate a room just for you,
if need be.” He was almost laughing at me. And I was shocked at the
cheerful energy in the room. Something else had happened. What
didn’t I know? Even Danel looked pretty damn pleased.

Collin was conscious and he seemed better than
fine.

“How long have I been out?” I said.

“About a week this time. I’m starting to think you
enjoy being unconscious.”

A week…this meant that Kye still had to charge with
Danel and immediately disappointment filled me. She needed to be
charged ever three days so if I was out for a week she had been
charging with Danel and would have to continue to do so. This was
not what I wanted to hear.

Then Danel smiled at me. I’m sure he was happy that I
didn’t really succeed.

Aaron then came into the room with his glowing blue
eyes, just smiling.

“Hey, bro, how you doing?”

“Sore, but I think I’m fine, unless there’s something
that someone hasn’t told me.” I searched around the room, but no
one’s expression changed. “What the hell is going on?”

Aaron smiled at Kye and she smiled back — a big smile
— and her eyes lined with tears.

Aaron spoke again, “well, bro, you see, your DNA is
doing some pretty amazing things. Let me ask you something. Do you
think you can do that again?”

“You mean, charge Kye? Yes, of course. That’s the
plan.”

“No, you won’t need to do that. I’m talking about
charging another hybrid.”

Now, I was confused. There were no other hybrids.

I looked Kye in the eyes and she leaned against the
side of the bed and pressed up against me and kissed me. She was so
soft against me and I simply didn’t care that everyone in the room
was staring at us. I wanted to tell her I was sorry that it didn’t
work. That I still loved her even if she had to charge with Danel.
And then I saw Danel in the corner of my eye and my attention was
suddenly drawn toward him.