Authors: Laura E. Collins
“Ava, I believe that I can help you,” he said softly, looking at her.
“I beg your pardon?” She looked at him in confusion.
“Your friends are not what they appear to be.”
“I’m not sure what you are talking about, Doctor.” The hair on the back of Ava’s neck began to feel as though it were starting to stand up. Here comes the energy again, she sighed.
“I know you have not been yourself, but I want you to know that I am on your side and we can get you through this.”
Ava stopped dead in the hallway, her eyes fixed on him. “Dr. Tom, what are you talking about? Are you feeling all right?” He’s gone crazy she thought, or, has he guessed the truth? Better to pretend not to know anything.
“Ava, I’ve reason to believe that your friends are not who they say they are.”
“Oh really?” Ava replied, playing dumb and conveying an amused attitude.
“After what happened to you in the hospital, I went back and reviewed some of the security surveillance footage of your comings and goings at your quarters on Orionis a while ago.”
“You what?” She couldn’t understand what she was hearing.
“I know this sounds odd, but I wanted to watch your friend’s behavior and I found out something interesting. Please just, hear me out.”
“Dr. Tom, according to the laws on Orionis and the ITO, stalking is a criminal offense. . .”
“I care about you Ava, but I’m not stalking you; I wanted to learn more about your friends. Anyway, there was one Friday night that you left your quarters by yourself. Then, a few hours later, the footage showed several of your friends, some crew members, coming in to your quarters. Only, you had never returned. Then, a little while later, they left. What’s even more interesting is that the next morning, your boyfriend left your quarters.”
“Dr. Tom, my boyfriend does sometimes leave my quarters in the morning. What’s your point?”
“My point is Ava, according to the footage, you never returned home, and there is no footage of your boyfriend coming into your quarters either, yet suddenly he comes out the next morning? Then, later that weekend, you emerged. Now as far as I know, on Orionis, there is only one way in and out of your quarters and that is through the front door. So how do you explain it?”
Ava’s mind raced. What was he talking about? Then it hit her. The incident at The Labyrinth, where she had almost been victimized. She never really remembered how she got home that night, only that Wesley said he brought her there. Her look of surprise fueled his anticipation.
He knows something’s wrong, she thought. Before she could speak, he continued.
“Ava, I don’t think that you should see any of them again. They did something to you, I know it.” His voice began to rise as he became excited, like he had just discovered something phenomenal. He abruptly took a firm hold on her arm.
“What are you doing? Let me go!” Ava was certain the pressure in his grip was causing a deep bruise.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get you to the Infectious Disease Team and run some more tests on you to make sure that you are okay. You haven’t been yourself since the transfusion, we can help you.” He started to pull her towards the end of the hall forcefully.
“Let go of me!” Ava shouted. She began to resist him and tried to pry his hands off of her arm. I’m going to lose control, she realized too late.
“I’m not trying to hurt you; I’m trying to help you!”
“Stop it, I’m not going anywhere with you!” Ava practically growled at him as she sensed the energy rising within her. In her panic she could not find the right frame of mind to suppress it, or remember her self defense instructions. Suddenly, Ava grabbed Dr. Tom’s hand on her arm and pulled it off of her as if it were a child’s hand. Then she reigned in the energy and turned. She shoved Dr. Tom as hard as she could. Her strength surprised them both as he flew back and crashed against the wall in the hallway with what seemed like very little effort to Ava. He had let out a loud grunt when he hit the wall; otherwise it had been a rather discreet incident. She looked down at him, stunned for the moment, and not knowing what else to do, started running in the opposite direction down the hallway.
Ava did not look back as she sprinted down the halls, past what was left of her co-workers and the patients she had attended. She did not stop, not even when people called out to her. She burst through the door that led to one of the main avenues and kept running towards the hangar. Thoug
h her encounter with Dr. Tom had not seriously hurt her, it had upset her, and Ava felt more afraid than anything else. She had nowhere else to go, no one she could trust. She heard a siren howl in the distance behind her as she took a nearby stairwell up three long flights to the level of the hangar. She felt the PCD clipped on her waistband buzz. Wesley is looking for me, she realized. When she neared the hangar, she slowed her gait to a fast walk to avoid collecting any unnecessary attention. Her face showed how flushed she had become from running, she breathed heavily, and her cheeks stung with the salty tears she had shed as she ran.
There he stood.
Always so calm and steady. He moved quickly towards her when he saw her. She started sprinting again and ran straight into his reaching arms.
“Ava, what happened, are you all right?” He kept one arm around her and touched her face gently, trying to soothe her anxiety. He could see that she was visibly upset. There did not seem to be time for a more gratifying reunion.
“We have to leave now!” Ava gasped, looking back, breathing hard. She decided she would rather take her chances with Wesley than Dr. Tom and the Infectious Disease Team.
As if seeming to know what had taken place, Wesley quickly ushered her back through security, speaking rapidly to the crew on his PCD.
He did not ask her for her reasons, it did not matter now. Wesley courteously informed the ITO officers that they would be departing immediately. They seemed pleased to have an early clearing in the busy hangar schedule and happily obliged their swift exodus. The officers did not even glance at Ava’s uniform or her flushed face as they walked through. No one asked any questions. This is strange, she thought. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Justin standing nearby, joining them once they were through. Wesley never let go of her as the three of them hurried towards the Andromeda. As they approached the ramp descended and Ava did not look back as she calmly walked up towards the entrance, she could see Naomi and Andre inside waiting for them. This is it, she thought, there was no turning back now.
Chapter 2
: Deception
Bryant slowly walked through the hangar on Polaris after being cleared by the ITO. He approached the Solstice from behind, looking up at the impressive starship as he neared it. He could easily behold his own reflection in the shiny metallic black finish of the underside of it. Near the top of the oval shaped ship were silver windows spaced evenly, receding from the main windshield in the pilot’s compartment towards the back of the ship. Plain but beautiful he thought, comparing it to the other somewhat beat up looking ships in the hangar. As he neared the middle of the side of the ship, the entrance ramp lowered, inviting him inside. His conversation with Xavier had been brief in the VIP lounge. He had not been permitted to stay long enough to carry out his plan and convince Xavier of his mission as an evacuation drill had been abruptly announced in the theater prior to his performance because of the recent events on Orionis. Xavier invited Bryant to meet them on his starship after the performance to continue the conversation.
He brimmed with excitement as he entered the cool starship.
A tall, athletic Asterion with medium length brown hair and light blue eyes met him. Bryant introduced himself.
“Blayke Winters
,” the tall man replied, gesturing towards himself. “I’ve heard of you. You’re a tracker, right?”
“That’s part of what I do,
” Bryant replied as Blayke led him down the corridor towards the common room.
“Are you an
old friend of Xavier’s?”
“Not exactly, but I have some information
for him that he may find useful,” Bryant replied nonchalantly.
They reached the door to the common room. “He’s in there. He’s waiting for you. We’re departing in
two hours, so you should have plenty of time.”
“Thanks,
” Bryant replied as Blayke walked back towards the direction they had come from. He walked into the room and observed Xavier talking to two other Asterions he did not know.
“Hello Bryant,
” Xavier said politely, standing up as he spoke. Bryant noticed how tall he was, probably six feet four inches, dressed all in black, the same color of his hair. His observant brilliant blue eyes seemed to light up his face. “This is Lucas and Melanie Albright; good friends of mine,” he continued casually, gesturing towards the couple. A tall well built man with dark brown hair and gray eyes stood and shook Bryant’s hand as did a young appearing woman with ash blonde hair and blue eyes.
“It is n
ice to make your acquaintance,” he replied gallantly, smiling at them. They returned the salutation and sat back down.
“So, what is it that is so important for you to
seek me out all the way here on Polaris?” Xavier got to the point quickly. Apparently his friends were staying to hear what Bryant had to say. Bryant glanced at them again but did not let this bother him. So what if they heard the news? Perhaps it would help his cause. Since everyone else sat down, Bryant found the nearest seat to Xavier and sat down casually.
“Xavier, when was the last time you saw Wesley Robinson?” Bryant looked directly at him, his investigator mode taking over.
A somewhat surprised look appeared on Xavier’s face. Clearly he was not expecting this. “About ten years ago, why?” Xavier spoke with an indifference Bryant could not understand, knowing what he knew about them.
“Well, I thought it would be interesting for you to know that he’s finally found his mate
,” Bryant announced nonchalantly. Xavier appeared to be amused. After all of this time, perhaps he doesn’t realize what this means, Bryant thought.
“This is why you sought me out, to tell me that?” He chuckled slightly, not sounding a bit impressed.
Bryant had been expecting this type of response. He didn’t let it off set him. “Please, just hear me out. I first saw them on Capri a few months ago. He was with a young woman by the name of Ava Amherst, a resident of Orionis. She was traveling with him and the whole crew.”
“This m
eans absolutely nothing to me,” Xavier replied dryly.
“They are truly matched, I assure you,” Bryant responded persistently.
“If you’ll excuse me I have some things t
o do, sorry you wasted your time. . .” Xavier looked at the others and made as if he were about to rise out of his seat.
“Xavier, do you realize what this means?” Bryant interrupted him before he had a chance to get up and leave. “If she is his match, that means that she is also yours!”
“He’s right,” Lucas observed casually.
“Can you believe it, after all of t
hese years?” Melanie said to no one in particular.
“There’s more,
” Bryant added.
Xavier
finally began to show some interest in the conversation. He looked at Bryant as a cue for him to continue.
“I had the pleasure of
briefly meeting Ms. Amherst on Orionis a short while after that. She is a beautiful young woman, and very intelligent. The only thing that I cannot figure out is that she is human.”
“She’s human? That’s . . .
not possible. She could not be his match. . .” Xavier said matter-of-factly, looking puzzled.
“I’m not sure how it’s possible, but it has happened.”
Bryant tried his best to sound amazed.
“You’re certain?” Lucas asked, seemingly surprised.
“Absolutely. It is a true match. Wesley would never have such an intimate relationship with a human otherwise. Of course, you would know that,” he replied, searching Xavier’s face for any spark of concern.
“So why are you telling me this? What’s in this for you?”
Xavier asked suspiciously.
“I lost my wife many years ago. I know how it is to go through life without the one person that completes you.” Bryant did not have to fake his solemnity with this statement.
“I’m so sorry for you,” Melanie replied softly back to him.
Xavie
r looked at the floor. After over 300 years, he had to admit the thought that a possible match existed for him began to intrigue him. Then, Bryant, sensing he had everyone’s attention, decided to elaborate on his story.