Sinclaire awoke to
the feeling of someone slapping his face. Painfully he opened his eyes,
becoming dimly aware of the early morning heat. He tried to move his arms but
found all he could do was make the cuts in his hands and his legs reopen for a
few seconds, then heal up in the blink of an eye.
"Come on now,
Sinclaire, wake up," Kyra demanded.
"He is
hurting, Kyra," Omega said.
"Of course
he's hurting," Kyra said, glancing back at him. "He's spent most of
his life among humans. He's been hurting, so far as he knows, for all his life.
He wasn't lucky, like you were. I couldn't protect him like I protected
you."
Omega looked away.
Kyra continued slapping Sinclaire until he opened his eyes and glared at her.
"Good,"
she said. "Youre up. I realized after we talked before that you weren't
as far along as Id hoped. Then, it came to me. You loved this place so. You
didnt have to find a purpose, you could just live here in safety and maybe
someday, find a life you could call your own instead of doing what was
expected."
Kyra watched him
for a reaction.
"Nothing to
say?" Kyra asked, smiling. "That's fine. I just wanted to let you
know that I care about you so much, Sinclaire I'm going to give you some
closure on this place and on your old life."
She raised an oddly
shaped gun and Sinclaire squinted and saw that both Omega and the strange
blue-skinned man behind Omega held a similar weapon.
"You see, the
Sekhmet weren't as efficient as Id hoped, but I suspect you and your two
friends probably helped with that," she said. "So, before we leave, I
figured we'd just slaughter the rest of them."
"Why ...
"
"Because,
Sinclaire, in three hours we'll send a distress signal from the colony control
center. A breathless, panicked message that a platoon of Sekhmet are attacking.
Once the UEF remembers that they have a colony on Axanar, they'll come here in
force. And they'll find just what I want them to find.
"They'll find
every colonist murdered. Every man, woman, and child killed by Sekhmet
weaponry," she said, raising her gun. They'll find the remains of the six
Sekhmet you fought and the destroyed remains of their lander.
"They'll put
two and two together and determine that the Sekhmet have ambitions against
human colonists and will send their fleets and fortify the colonies."
"What ... good
does ... that do you?" Sinclaire said. "Why ... bring ... the fleets
here?"
"I don't care
where they go, Sinclaire," Kyra said, smiling. "It's where they
depart that I care about. But dont worry, you'll understand soon enough.
Reficul, Omega, let's go. We've got some stragglers to collect. We'll be back
for you before we leave, though."
They started away.
Kyra turned and looked at Sinclaire. She grinned again, and Sinclaire felt
sick.
"Anything you
want us to bring you back, Sinclaire?"
The Chimera
docked with the Silhouette and Kienan nearly knocked his master over in
his enthusiasm to disembark.
Vain and Mirage
were waiting for him in the landing bay. Vain's eyes widened with concern when
she saw Kienan's bandaged wounds and she and her sister both hurried to him.
"Kienan,"
Vain said, checking him over. "What happened to you?"
"We thought
you were going on vacation," Mirage asked. "Why didnt you call
us?"
"Wasn't
time," Kienan said. "Besides ... as I understand it, you were busy
yourselves."
"Forgive me
ladies," Toriares said, balancing on his cane. "I try to keep him out
of trouble, but you know what a handful he is."
Kienan turned to
Vain. "Where is she?"
"Kienan, you
may want to give this some time -- "
"Mirage, not
now," Kienan said. "I've given it the last two years. Please ... tell
me where she is."
Vain looked at
Toriares. He looked back, his brown eyes sad. He nodded to her.
"She's in the
observation room," Vain said. "Mirage, help him up there."
"I can find it
on my own," Kienan said, reaching for a cigarette. He lifted it to his
lips in shaking hands and it tumbled down to the deck. He looked at it angrily,
then sighed wearily.
He looked back at
Toriares. "Vain and Mirage will see to you getting your ship recharged and
repaired," he said. "I hate to cut and run but ... this is
important."
Toriares looked
down. "I know," he said. He waited a moment and added, finally.
"I hope you didnt come all this way to be let down."
You've had more
than enough of that luck already, he
added in his thoughts.
"So do
I," Kienan said. He slowly and painfully made his way up the service
ladder as Toriares and the Marionettes watched.
"He went
through hell on Axanar," Toriares said. "I hope he's not coming back
to more of it."
"We did the
best we could for him," Vain said.
"So what's
this girl like?" Toriares asked.
"Innocent,"
Vain said.
"Downright
odd," Mirage said. "Almost like a child, yet at the same time,
not."
"Did she leave
him too?" Toriares asked.
"No,"
Mirage said. "She died."
"She WHAT?"
Toriares asked. The question echoed in the cavernous landing bay and Toriares
hoped with some embarrassment that Kienan was far enough away that he hadnt
heart him.
Toriares rocked
back on his cane. "Ladies," he said. "I think perhaps youd
better start at the beginning."
Light years away,
the Myrmidion was closing on a dull featureless planet that appeared
from orbit to be nothing more than a dull, gray rock in a dark corner of space.
Illiel knew it as something else, however, in fact they all did.
"The Armilllary,"
Illiel said. "Home."
"Long
abandoned," Kayt said. "The machines mentioned occasional visitors,
but there's little sign anyone followed us to plunder our secrets."
"Perhaps, but
we left safeguards against that before we went into exile," Ravenna said.
"In any case, it matters little. The Haxan have returned to this place of
power. What we have lost we will make again. We have no choice."
"What would
our brothers and sisters say if they could see us now?" Illiel asked.
"Three Haxan, alone in the galaxy, with only a few ancient tools to use to
study and observe a terrible catastrophe."
"Perhaps if
they had known the future scope of the problem, they would not have left,"
Kayt said. "In any case, we have returned, and our mission has not
changed. We must observe and guide the galaxy and heal the breach as best we
can."
"What of
Jayla-2?" Ravenna asked.
"She is the
hope for our future," Illiel said. "Our counterbalance to Jaevin's
Apocalypse Weapon, but she is a weapon of life. With her aid, at the right
moment, we can heal the breach and restore the proper balance."
"This is a
delicate time," Kayt said. "We must move carefully."
"Beginnings
always are," Ravenna said.
The door to the
observation room slid open. Kienan took a breath. He wanted a cigarette, not so
much because he craved one, but because he was desperate for something to do with
his hands.
He was nervous. It
was a different from fighting the Sekhmet. Yet somehow just as dangerous.
Kienan was scared.
Scared of being hurt. Scared he'd been chasing foolish dreams these past two
years. He took a deep breath and walked inside.
Jayla-2 sat in the
recess of one of the observation windows, her knees against her chest, staring
out at the stars. Kienan felt a strange sense of dislocation. No matter what he
thought he had expected, the reality was this:
She looked nothing
like Jayla.
Jayla Kyren had not
been grey, for one thing. Nor had she had a long mane of midnight-black hair,
pointed ears, or strange tattoos on her shoulders.
She also hadnt
worn Silhouette's old clothes and work boots. An old baggy pair of cargo pants
was hastily buckled around her waist, and her chest was covered by a halter-top
Kienan recognized had been a birthday present he'd given to Sil.
It was a
recognition that pulled at his heart and made it want to sink.
Nor had Jayla's
eyes been a soft green with a strange shimmer that seemed to glow in the spare
light of the observation room. She turned to look at him and Kienan's throat
felt tight. The words he wanted to say wouldn't come.
"Jayla?"
Kienan managed dryly.
"Kienan,"
she said. There was a small tinge of recognition, but nothing else. "Vain
and Mirage said youd be back soon."
"I came as
soon as I heard," Kienan said. "I ... I've been trying for awhile to
bring you back. I ... uhm, how did you ... "
" ... End up
like this?" Jayla-2 asked. "The Haxan say it's something called
syncresis. I'm a combination of Jayla Kyren and something else. I am Jayla
Kyren, but I'm almost a new person."
Kienan blinked.
"You dont
understand, do you?"
Kienan shook his
head.
Silence drifted
between them. A minute, maybe two, passed before Kienan finally said what was
on his mind.
"How much do
you remember?" Kienan asked, just above a whisper.
Jayla-2 sighed.
"Everything," she said. "I remember you, and me ... and what
happened to me after. But it's ... well, it doesnt feel like it happened to
me. It's someone else's memory. Someone else's feelings."
Just like
Jayla's love for me, Kienan thought
bitterly. He turned away and leaned on the wall.
"I'm sorry,
Kienan," she said. "It's not what you wanted to hear was it?"
Kienan exhaled
slowly. Suddenly his physical wounds didnt hurt at all and he was at the mercy
of a pain deeper than the physical.
"I dont know
... what I ... expected," Kienan said slowly.
Jayla-2 looked at
him. "I don't want to hurt you, Kienan."
"I'm not
hurt," Kienan lied. "Just ... it's a lot to take in, Jayla."
Just a little
resentful that after all this time that I was a fool to ever hope for getting
you back, he thought. Immediately he
felt guilty for thinking it.
"I know it is,
Kienan," Jayla-2 said. "Do you want me to leave?"
Kienan shut his
eyes and grit his teeth. "Yes. No. I dont know," Kienan sighed.
"I need time, Jayla. I dont understand. I dont understand any of
this."
"I know,"
Jayla-2 said. Her calmness through this whole thing made the situation even
more discomforting and irritating. "Maybe we both need time. I dont want
to hurt you Kienan. And I need you to help me."
"Help you?"
Kienan asked, a little sharper than he meant to, "How?"
"I want to
understand who I was," she said. "And youre the only person who knew
her ... me ... as I used to be. Help me put the pieces back together."
"You've got
some nerve," Kienan said. "You tell me all this and then expect my
help?"
"I didn't --
"
"I've been
putting your pieces back together for the last two years, Jayla," Kienan
said, angrily. "And after all this ... after seeing you like this, the
only thing you can do is demand even more from me?"
"I'm
sorry."
"Sorry's not
good enough!" Kienan said, slamming his fist against the wall and
aggravating the burns on his hands. He rubbed his sore hand and sighed.
"Kienan I
dont understand what you want me to do."
Kienan glared at
her, his blazing emerald eyes meeting hers. "Then maybe youre even less
of Jayla than you claim to be."
He turned on his heel
and stalked away, but stopped himself. "You can stay as long as you
like," he said. "I suppose I owe you that much. But it'd be better
for you if I didnt see you. After all, you did say you wanted time.
"So do I. Stay
away."
The door slammed
shut after him. Jayla-2 sighed. Well, she thought. I certainly did a
terrible job of explaining myself, she thought. What did I expect? Jayla loved
him and I think he must have loved her too.
But I don't.
She sighed and
looked out at the stars. Suddenly she felt the infinite loneliness of being the
only one of her kind in the whole universe.
"He seemed so
sad, Kyra," Omega said. They walked along the deserted burning remains of
the town.
It had taken a few
hours but they had got them all. Most of them had hidden in a small orchard on
the other end of the town, but a small fire flushed them out and out into Kyra
and Omega's waiting arms. They left them in a pile near the gate where they'd
be certain to be seen.
"Sinclaire,
you mean?" Kyra asked, kicking Devorax's head off a pile of rocks as they
walked past. "It's like I told you, Omega. He didnt have me to protect
him. All he had were humans, and they failed him. That's why he was alone, even
when he was in the company of others."
Kyra set down her
weapon as her eyes fixed on something in the debris and she climbed over a pile
of rocks for it. "You see," she continued. "They knew what he
was and they hated him for it. Just like they'd hate you, if they knew what you
were."
"I dont hate
anyone," Omega said.
"Of course you
don't," Kyra said, tossing rocks aside. "But Omega, I'll tell you now
-- if you were to be around humans as much as Sinclaire had, youd have ended
up like that. Humans dont like being reminded they're not the be all and end
all of existence. Anything higher than themselves they tear down and spit on
it."
"Why?"
Omega asked. "I dont wish anyone harm. Why do they hate us so?"
"Because
youre better than they are, Omega," Kyra said. "Aha, here's one
that's not so torn up ... They hate you because youre stronger, more powerful,
and most of all youre completely pure of heart and intent. Youre everything
they wish they were and theyre not and never can be. And they hate you for
it."
"But youre
human and you dont hate me."
Kyra sat down with
a sense of triumph. "No," she said. "No I'm not. But I'm still
of the age where I can appreciate an angel like you Omega."
She held up the
dirty paper pinwheel to her companion and grinned.
"I love
these things," she said.
Kienan lay in the
observation room, a dying cigarette dangling from his lips as he stared at the
stars above him. He'd seen Toriares off with an awkward, forced goodbye. He was
still stinging over Jayla-2, as Vain and Mirage had told him she preferred to
be called.
He hadnt felt much
like company after that. Now he felt awful about practically shoving Toriares
out the door, and for what?
For a clone of a
woman who doesnt love me, Kienan
thought with a sigh. And what's worse, if Jayla's a part of her, what does
it mean about how she really felt about me
Did she ever
really love me? Or was a just a convenient trigger for her self-destruction?
He closed his eyes.
He didnt want to think about that right now, but it was all he could
think about. His pride was hurting, deeply. He was supposed to be tougher than
this, more independent. He wasn't supposed to be some kid chasing after girls
while he played at being a man.
Now who believes
his hype, he chided himself as he
stubbed his cigarette out on the deck.
He tried to lose
himself in the stars above, searching for the sort of peace he'd found in
looking up at the galaxy beyond and dreaming of adventure. It wasn't working to
well, because whenever he thought of those days they were always tinged with
the pain of what the end result of that dreaming had been.
Hell below my
feet, and loneliness in the stars above it.
He relaxed as best
he could, after shifting around on the bench to find a way to lay without
aggravating his injuries. It had been a rotten day and a rotten vacation.
I dont feel any
more relaxed, he thought. At all.
Just exhausted.
He closed his eyes
and tried to think about nothing until he fell asleep.
It took about five
minutes but soon enough he was under. His eyes were closed and he breathed
deeply in and out, unconsciously relaxing for the first time in what felt like
forever.
He was so far under
in fact, he took no notice of Jayla-2 entering the observation deck. She'd been
unable to sleep. It was too cold, even with her blanket wrapped around her.
When she'd asked Vain and Mirage, Vain coldly suggested that perhaps she should
dress warmly.
It was hard to
fault her logic, Jayla-2 thought.
She shuffled in as
quietly as possible, her thick work boots making an embarrassing amount of
noise as she crossed the distance over to him.
"Stay
away," he'd said to her. But it
didnt seem right to.
He's angry with
me because I didnt thank him, she
thought. He and Vain and Mirage did so much for me and I stayed up here ever
since, absorbed in my own problems.
Perhaps now I
can start making it up to them.
Kienan slept
peacefully as she watched him. His chest rose and fell like a slow tide, his
long chestnut braid carefully pushed over the edge of the bench so he wouldnt
sleep on it.
A memory stirred in
her, one of Jayla's. How she'd fallen in love with him while he slept by her
side. Something about that peaceful placid look on his face that he never wore
when he was awake.
She smiled. Quietly
she shrugged her blanket off her shoulders and put it over Kienan. It was
colder here than any part of the ship but Jayla-2 didn't care.
It was time to
think of someone other than herself.
She watched Kienan
for a little longer and gently touched his face, terrified of waking him up,
but not being able to stop herself. Then she tiptoed out of the room, pausing
at the door to look at him again.
The explosion woke
Sinclaire up again.
He opened his eyes
and saw Omega, Kyra, and Reficul standing before the remains of the Sekhmet
lander. Omega lowered his arms stiffly, and Sinclaire couldnt help but be
reminded of how he'd blasted him through three levels.
How powerful is this guy?
Kyra applauded at
Omega's display of power, holding something in her teeth. It looked familiar to
Sinclaire, but his eyes couldnt quite pick it out. Maybe it was the pain or
the exhaustion.
Kyra and Omega
wandered over to him again and gradually Sinclaire realized what she held in
her hand.
One of the paper
pinwheels from the stand here he'd found Ariana's body.
He grit his teeth.
Of all the taunts Kyra had thrown his way, this was the unkindest cut of all.
"Oh
good," Kyra said, blowing onto the pinwheel to make it spin. "Youre
awake. "It's time for us to go, and wonder of wonders, we have a seat in
our ship with your name on it."
Sinclaire closed
his eyes. He weighed his options. He was wounded, and would be even more
wounded when Omega pulled the blades out of him and the wall behind him.
No weapons, he thought. Except me. Maybe one chance, one
shot. But it means crossing a line I never thought I'd go past.
He sighed. What's
one more compromise now, at the end?
Omega yanked the
blades free of his arms. Sinclaire felt the metal slide through his tendons and
his bones as the blades slid out. Almost immediately his wrists began to heal,
eliminating infection, closing severed arteries, healing damaged muscles.
He took a deep
breath, leaning on Omega as the silent enforcer pulled the broken blade from
his thigh.
There was a noise
of steel scraping granite, and Sinclaire was free.
He moved like
lightning, lunging for Kyra's neck. He knew, even wounded he was strong enough
to snap her neck and kill her. And he was absolutely correct. He was strong
enough.
He wasn't fast
enough, however.
Omega's hand closed
around his face and rammed him into the stone wall like a wrecking ball. It
crumbled under the force of the impact, sending Sinclaire back into painful
darkness.
"What a hard
case," Kyra said, still idly blowing on the pinwheel. She frowned when the
pinwheel quit turning and tossed it at Sinclaire's unconscious body.
"Well, time is wasting, gentlemen. Let's get moving. Omega, bring
him."
Omega dragged
Sinclaire behind him like an empty sack. The paper pinwheel tumbled down his
chest and stabbed in the sand, leaning to the left like a tree bent in a
hurricane. Sinclaire's legs left long trenches beyond it as he was dragged off
to his uncertain, but certainly dark fate.
Kyra's ship pulled away
from the now-silent planet mere minutes later, the exhaust from the engines
turning the pinwheel slightly, then as the ship pulled away, vanishing into the
pale blue, the pinwheel stopped.
Gradually a silence
settled over everything. It was the kind of silence always found in graveyards.
