Extinction (23 page)

      A small welcoming
committee waited for us in the control room when we returned. We ended up being
more than a couple of hours late and Zalzi was not happy. He paced the room as
we entered.

“Finally!” He threw his hands in the air to
emphasize his words. “The
Přízrak
is not happy. Not happy at all. You took a big risk by not keeping to the time
schedule.” He paused and remembered to whom he was talking. “Congratulations on
your union.” A big smile broke over his face. He turned and bowed so low before
me, his head nearly touched the floor.

“Thank you,” I managed through the silly smile
plastered on my face. I couldn’t stop smiling and I knew I must look a totally
love-struck idiot.

Bill fortunately didn’t say anything, but gave me
and Chai both a bear hug. I knew it was his way of giving us his blessing. Arianna
winked at me and made several lewd jokes, before Gaios finally managed to drag
her away. But not before he took me in his arms.

“Welcome to our family. You are one of us now and
we’ll always look after you.”  His words touched my heart. I knew how important
family was to them. Being orphans, they never had the security or love of a
family, but they still managed to create their own.

“It’s an honor being a part of your family,” I
answered just as solemnly and I meant it. I was in the same house long enough
with a psychotic monster to know what a privilege it was finding people to love
and call my own.

Gaios smiled and ruffled my hair. “And if this guy…”
he shoved Chai. “…ever gives you problems, just let me know and I’ll be there
in a second.” The love between them was so obvious; it bought tears to my eyes.

Erich stood beside me as I watched Chai and Gaios
joking around. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets.

“Are you happy, Lexie?” 

“Yes. More happy than I’ve ever been in my life.” I
pulled his hand out of his pant pocket and squeezed it tightly. “I got more
than I ever dreamed possible.”

“That’s good. You deserve it.” I knew he meant every
word.

“I love you.” I knew more than anyone how special family
was and I wasn’t going to let a day go by without letting them know how much I
cared.

“Geez Lexie!” Erich pulled his hand from mine in
mock frustration. “I know you feel all warm and fuzzy inside and no, I don’t
want any details. Ever. But you’re going to make me bawl like a baby if you
don’t stop.”

I laughed at his pretend disgust with me. He gave me
a quick hug and whispered quickly in my hair that he loved me too.

      I struggled getting
dressed
.
The bed looked so warm and inviting and I considered getting back in. I had
slept for hours and still was bone tired. Chai didn’t even wake me this morning
when he left to go on patrol. He let me sleep and it was nearly ten when I
finally woke up. I wondered if the Epsilon had something that resembled coffee
in the mess hall. I needed a pick me up urgently. 

The past couple of days I didn’t feel like myself. I
was tired all the time, so much that I drifted off during lunch yesterday. I
knew Chai noticed and he was watching me like a hawk, but I hacked it up to the
massive amount of work we had to get done before the fleet of the Galactic Alliance
arrives. They had won the war on Vargon and were on their way in full force to
earth. Gaios estimated that they would arrive in a couple of days and things
were pushed in high gear around here. When they arrive it will be all over. They
will overthrow the Vandelrizi. The human race will once more be free. 

We had been exceptionally busy the last three weeks
since Chai and me returned from the short trip we took. Getting the human
settled in on the ship wasn’t an easy task. Not everyone was happy being on an
alien spaceship. They were understandably doubtful of the Galactic Alliance and
their intentions. Rosa was absolutely magnificent. She never let up; she just
kept going, setting their fears to rest. The ship was also now filled to
capacity. We had to do a lot of rearranging and many had to share rooms. I gave
up my room and moved in with Chai.  We were bonded together by the laws of the
Shidmina and for all intents and purposes it was the same as being married. 

Chai was really busy and I saw less of him than I
would have liked, but we got to spend every night together. I blushed and my
stomach filled with warmth. We couldn’t get enough of each other. I loved the
way he touched me. He held me in his arms as if I was the most precious thing
on the face of the earth. I loved everything about him. I had never known it
was possible to love someone this much. There was one thing that constantly bothered
me. When it was all over what would happen to Chai.  I thought of bringing it
up and talking to him about it, but every time I chickened out. Would he stay
on earth or would they allow me to go with him? I didn’t know what the future
held for us.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I let
the door slid open.

“Lexie…you have to come with me.” Erich’s face was
deadly serious. His eyes darted to the floor as if he couldn’t stand to look at
me.

“What’s wrong?”

“You have to come with me…now,” he repeated. My
stomach twisted. I didn’t like this one bit.

Arianna was the first person I saw entering Bill’s
office. I sucked in my breath. She was covered in dust and blood clotted around
a deep wound on her arm. My eyes went from her tear streaked face, searching
the room. Chai wasn’t there. He was with Arianna this morning. They went on
patrol together. Arianna gave a sob when she saw me and Erich wrapped his arms
around her, trying to console her. My body went rigid.

“Lexie, something happened.” Gaios reached for me. I
lifted my hands to warn him off.

“No!” Please. Not this. Bile rose in my throat. This
couldn’t be happening. 

“Lexie, honey…” Bill rubbed his face with his fist.

“No!” I didn’t want them to say anything. I wanted
Chai to step through the door and wrap me in his arms. I wanted to kiss him and
see his beautiful smile. I wanted him to tell me everything was okay. The floor
swayed beneath me. I wanted to hurl. How could God be so cruel? I finally had
all the love in the world and now it was being taken away from me.

Gaios grabbed my shoulders and gave me a shook. “You
have to be strong now. For Chai.”

“Where’s he?” My voice was barely a whisper.

“The Vandelrizi has him. They ambushed the patrol
this morning.”

“There was too many…he saved my life,” sobbed
Arianna, her face distorted with pain and grief.

“They have him?” It meant for now he was okay. He
was still alive. There was still hope.

“Yes. Robert Miller was there too. They captured
him.” An eerie calmness settled on me. I tapped in to some unknown power inside
me, keeping me upright and squashing the whirling emotions inside me into a
small ball.

“The alliance will be here in a day or two. They’ll
get him out. I’ve already let the
Přízrak
know
what happened,” Bill said but I barely registered what he was saying. I couldn’t
wait for the fleet to arrive. It would be too late. We needed to get Chai out
of there now. The longer we waited, the bigger the chances were that…I couldn’t
even think it. I knew how cruel Robert was. I knew what he was capable of. And
the Vandelrizi…they wouldn’t hesitate to kill him.

My legs moved automatically down the corridors to my
room. I had to change and grab a few things before heading for Palasium. 

“Lexie, wait!” Arianna grabbed my arm and spun me
around.

“You’re not going to stop me,” I said deadly calm as
I pulled my arm from her grip. 

“I’m not. I’m coming with you.” Tears spilled from
her eyes and she wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “He’s my family. We
have to get him back.”

“And you’re not going anywhere without me.” Gaios
appeared next to us. He crossed his arms, his lips pressed in a thin line. His
eyes flashed dangerously and I knew he wanted to spill Vandelrizi blood.

“We’ll need weapons,” I said and Gaios nodded in
agreement.

“I’ll get a truck ready. When are we leaving?” Erich
asked. I frowned. I didn’t want him anywhere near Palasium. 

“Erich, I don’t want to get you into anything
dangerous.”

“We are family, Lexie. And families stick together.
If you go, I go.” There was no arguing with him. Determination flashed in his
eyes.

“Let’s do this.” I prayed that my family would be
safe, but I mostly prayed for Chai. He had to survive.

      Gaios stopped the truck
half a mile from Palasium. It was another scorching day out in the desert and
my shirt stuck to my body. I took a sip of water from the canteen. Immediately
I felt my stomach lurch in protest. I was nauseous. It was probably all the
stress getting to me. My emotions were like a rollercoaster ride since I heard
Chai was captured by the Vandelrizi.

“What’s the plan?” Gaios asked. There were only four
of us against about fifty Vandelrizi and the soldiers of the Guard. The odds
were stacked against us. I didn’t care what happened to me, as long as Chai was
safe. He was all that mattered.

“We can’t go in using the tunnels. After we rescued
the slaves, they must know about the tunnels,” Arianna said and chewed on what
was left of her thumb nail.

“Maybe we can try the west side. There’s always less
soldiers on patrol that side of Palasium.”  Gaios was grasping at straws. We
both knew that Robert would have increased the security of the wall, especially
now that he had one of us inside Palasium. He would expect us to launch some
kind of rescue mission. But there was one thing Robert would not be counting
on. Me. He would never expect me to be a part of the rescue and I knew him
better than anyone else.

“No.” Everyone turned to me. “We go in the front
gate.” The looks I got told me they thought I finally lost it. “They won’t
expect it. They will concentrate all their forces on the wall. And none of us
here are scared of a little fight.” Gaios grinned at me. 

“Shit,” Erich mumbled. 

Gaios gunned the gas and we sped over the sand, the
truck nearly taking off over bumps in the road. I fought back the nausea. I should’ve
asked Sylvain for something before we left, but it was too late now and I dug
my nails into my thighs. We didn’t tell Bill what we were planning. He would’ve
tried to stop us.

Gaios brought the truck to a skidding halt in front
of the gates. Soldiers scrambled to the sides, grabbing their weapons. An alarm
resounded through the city announcing our arrival. I climbed from the truck and
lifted my hands. I pulled on the power tightly coiled inside me, putting every
ounce I had behind my thoughts. The heavy iron gates squeaked and then flew up
in the air, ripping from their hinges and landed with a thud a few feet away. Erich
gawked at me. I had been practicing and the anger inside me fueled my power. 

Next were the soldiers pointing their rifles at us, fear
in their eyes. With one sweep of my hand, I brushed them out of the way.

“Remind me never to mess with you,” Gaios said in
awe. 

Gaios and Arianna didn’t waste any time, storming
through the gates, taking out soldiers as far as they went. They were the
perfect team, anticipating each other’s moves, not hesitating once.

I headed through the winding streets, straight for
the Vandelrizi palace. There was only one place Chai could be. There were rooms
in the palace, holding cells, for prisoners. I was sure that’s where they would
keep him. 

Two soldiers dived for me and I ducked the first
one’s outstretched fist. I wasn’t fast enough and the second soldier grabbed my
shirt and threw me to the ground. Before he could make another move, Gaios
ripped him from his feet and smashed his head into a brick wall with a
sickening crack. I scrambled to my feet.

“Keep going,” Gaios grunted and grabbed another
soldier by the neck. There was no time to thank him. I sprinted the last few
feet to the palace, knowing the others had my back. It was my task to find
Chai.  I raised my hand and the double doors of the palace flew open. Cool air
engulfed me. Of course they had air conditioning inside. Thick red carpet
covered the marble floor. Two hallways led from the room. Left or right. I
racked my memory. I didn’t often visit the Vandelrizi palace and I had only
once seen the holding cells, but I was sure they were to the right. I ran down
the hallway, throwing open doors as far as I went. All the rooms were deserted
and I got more frantic as I searched. All the holding cells were empty. What if
I was wrong and he wasn’t here? Panic clawed at me from the inside. I couldn’t
lose him…

It was at the last door at the end of the hallway that
I found them.

Robert Millar stood huffing in a corner. His face
red and sweaty, his tunic drenched with sweat.  He relaxed when he saw me. He
was expecting rebels, not me. There was a Vandelrizi with him.  He blinked at
me with his red eyes, hovering above the floor.

“Bill sent
you
?” Robert laughed loudly. 

“He didn’t.” I deliberately tried to slow my
breathing. I had to keep a clear head. I couldn’t let him get to me. 

This wasn’t a holding cell and I felt the panic
clawing its way to my throat. It looked more than some kind of laboratory. My eyes
swept the room taking in the various machines, computers and glass tubes and
containers sitting on tables across the room. Then I saw him lying on a narrow
steel table in the corner of the room. Thin wires leading from the machines
were connected to his head. He wasn’t moving. I couldn’t even tell if he was
breathing. I had to fight everything inside me not to rush to him.

“I’m happy to see you Alexis. You’re home.” The sly
manipulative tone of Roberts’s voice sliced through me. I wanted to choke. This
wasn’t my home.

“Stop the bullshit, Robert.” I glared at him. The
Vandelrizi next to him shifted slightly and eyed me suspiciously. I felt him
trying to probe me with his telepathic power, but I shielded him easily like
Chai had taught me. He blinked a couple of times in shock.

“Don’t talk to me like that. I’m still your father.”
Anger flared in Robert’s eyes. Before it would have terrified me, but now I
knew I was stronger than him, not just physically. I didn’t give a damn what he
was able to say or do to me.

“You’re nothing. Bill is my father.”

“So he told you. You know now how your mother
betrayed me. I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.”

You’re not even half the man he is. You’re nothing
but a pathetic old man.” His face contorted in shock at my blatant words and he
gave a barely noticeable nod to the Vandelrizi. 

The Vandelrizi lifted a hand, but I was ready. I blocked
the wave of power like Chai showed me. His eyes widened. I didn’t wait. I
raised my hand, lifting him from his feet and smashed him into the wall. He
slid to the ground unmoving.

Robert gaped at me. “You’re a …”

“Yeah, I am.” I rushed to Chai and yanked wires from
his unmoving body. “What did you do to him?” My voice was steady, but on the inside
I was a quavering mess. Chai’s face was bruised and bloodied, but he was still
breathing.

“Let me show you.” Robert typed something on the
computer next to him and Chai opened his eyes. “These creatures have a little
computer chip in their brains. It was really easy to reprogram it. Now you’re
friend will do exactly what I tell him. He is the perfect soldier…under my
command.” I didn’t miss the threat in his voice.

Chai swung his legs from the bed and stood towering
over me. His face was emotionless. His eyes were empty. I tried to reach him in
my mind, but there was nothing. No response. He was gone.

“Chai…look at me.” My voice pleaded with him to
recognize me. He took a step toward me. In my peripheral vision I could see more
Vandelrizi floating into the room. I was outnumbered. Robert held out his hand
stopping them in their tracks. He didn’t want them to interfere; he was
practically basking in his own pride to show me what his new soldier was
capable of doing.

“Kill her,” Robert ordered and I gasped. Chai took
another step towards me and I stumbled backward. I didn’t recognize him. He was
a stranger in an empty shell. His eyes were empty - I couldn’t find the warmth
of the sun in them.

“Chai please.” I lifted a hand and let it drop
again. I couldn’t hurt him. I loved him too much. No matter what he did to me,
I wouldn’t be able to do anything. His hand reached for me and for one glorious
moment I thought he was going to touch my cheek like he always did, but instead
his fingers closed around my throat like a steel band. I felt the familiar smoke,
the Aikai, enter me, but it wasn’t like before. It wasn’t warm and soothing,
but dark and menacing. Deadly. It twirled inside me, reaching every corner, slowly
squeezing the life from me. I couldn’t breathe; I couldn’t feel my heart
beating. There was only darkness and pain. Tears rolled down my face and far
off I could hear myself whimper as the life was being squeezed from me. This
wasn’t supposed to be how it ended.

The smoke froze. It came to a complete stop, rearing
back. Something flickered in Chai’s eyes. The empty glaze in his eyes was
replaced by something else. He slowly lifted his hand from my throat and his
gaze dropped to my stomach. Carefully he placed a hand on my stomach. The smoke
edged closer to the place he was touching. Not menacing like before, but inquisitive.
I could feel it searching for something inside me.

Chai jerked his hand away, taking the smoke with him
and pressed his hands on his temples, his face contorted in agony. He howled. It
was so loud and filled with so much pain that I sank to the floor and pressed
my hands to my ears. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to help him, but I was too
terrified to move.

He became very quiet and I peeked at him. He balled
his hands at his side, his eyes never leaving me.

Chai
. Recognition
flickered in his eyes. He heard me saying his name. His eyes…I could see him
again in his eyes. The warmth…but also rage.

Stay down, little one
.
He swung around, taking in the six Vandelrizi in the room. He gave a chuckle.
It sent shivers down my spine. He was furious. He flew across the room towards
them, scattering tables and chairs out of his way. The Vandelrizi tried their
best, but there was no stopping Chai. He took out the Vandelrizi, using his
hands, feet, anything he could lay his hands on, leaving carnage of ripped and
broken metal as far as he went. One after the other they crumpled to the floor.
Only Robert was left, cowering behind a table. He licked his lips nervously. Chai
stood like a growling animal ready to pounce him.

“You take one step and I push this button,” Robert
croaked. His finger hovered above a red button on the computer. Chai didn’t
move. I could feel the indecision in him.

“What does it do?” I asked.

“It’s a bomb, Lexie,” Chai answered. “He wants to
destroy everything.”

“Like an atomic bomb?” What was he thinking? Does he
want to make earth uninhabitable? He would die with everyone else.

“Much worse. This bomb will destroy earth. Nothing
will be left.” 

“Have you lost your mind? You want to kill us all
now?” I ranted at Robert. Somewhere inside him there must still be an inch of
humanity left, a piece of him that would recognize the utter insanity of
destroying earth.

“It’s a small price to pay, Alexis. I won’t let
anybody else have this planet. It belongs to me. I worked to have it all.” 

A drop of sweat trickled down his forehead. He
pressed down his finger. Chai rushed toward him. I didn’t breathe. I didn’t
think. I acted. I jerked my hand, lifting Robert into the air, before his
finger could touch the button and threw him across the room. He hit the wall
with a thud. A piece of metal protruded from his stomach, blood dripping in a
steady stream on the floor. His eyes glazed and his head slumped to the side. 

I killed him. 

I clasped a hand over my mouth.

“I…oh my…I didn’t want to kill him!” No matter how
much he hated me or what he had done, I didn’t want to kill him. Chai buried my
face in his chest, lifting my feet from the floor. He carried me outside the
room, where I couldn’t see Robert’s impaled body, and put my feet back on the
ground. He took my face in his hands.

“Did I hurt you?” His eyes anxiously scanned my
face. I shook my head through the sobs racking my body. He pressed his lips on
mine and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him, clinging to him. He was alive.
I was in his arms again.

“I love you,” I whispered through the tears and his
lips.

“You shouldn’t have come here. Not with you...” He
put a little distance between us and glanced at my stomach, and I frowned.

“What’s wrong with me? What did you feel inside me?”
The Akaii found something inside me. Panic sored inside me again. Something was
wrong with me. That’s why I was feeling sick. Why I was tired all the time.

“You don’t know?” A smile tucked at his lips. 

“Know what?” Chai looked smug and I swore more than
a little impressed with himself. “Tell me.”

“I felt it when the Akaii was inside you.” His voice
faltered and guilt flashed across his face. “If I didn’t feel it…I would’ve
killed you. He controlled me, but then…I couldn’t believe it.”

“Please tell me what you felt.”

“You are pregnant, little one.”

My heart sped up. The world was spinning. It was
impossible. I couldn’t be pregnant.

“I can’t be. I can’t get pregnant. It’s…” He lowered
his hand and rested it protectively on my stomach.