“Okay. Knadyn.” She took his hand and shook it. She was right that his hand was much larger, and with a start, she jerked her hand back…much warmer than hers. When she had held his hand, a heat had gone from her palm straight up her arm. How had he remained so unblemished? Small scars on his hand but no sores or rashes or callouses from hard work.
He had finished sipping the water and she noticed that he seemed to have a bit more color. “Can you open the window? I do not want to get you into trouble, but it has been a few days since I’ve gotten fresh air and sunshine.” He seemed afraid to ask and she hurried to the window.
“Sure. I will open it a small ways for you while I’m here. When I leave, I’ll have to close it again, just in case.” She hurried to move the curtains open a small bit and sunshine flooded the room. He sighed and closed his eyes when the ray of light went across his face.
“I cannot thank you enough Ava.” He opened his eyes and they were an even deeper purple. “I will find a way to repay your kindness, I swear it.”
Ava didn’t think opening the window was such a huge deal. “It is a small thing I can do to make you comfortable.” She went to stand by his bed. “Would you prefer that I let you rest for now? I can just watch over you as you sleep.” As soon as she said it, she realized how it sounded. “Not that I would be watching you sleep.” She could feel the heat rising in her face, “I would just be in the room in case someone came in while you were sleeping.” She ended rather lamely. Was it possible to die of embarrassment? She might find out.
“I know what you meant.” He smiled again and her insides did a nervous flutter in response. What was the matter with her anyway? “I am very tired and could use some sleep.”
“Okay then, you rest and I’ll get some more water for when you wake up. I’m sorry but I have to secure your wrist again.” She grabbed his wrist and attached the fastening. When she looked at Knadyn, he had his eyes closed, so she went to the door and opened it. When Dillon saw the empty glass, he smiled and she waved it at him silently asking for more.
“Thanks Dillon.” With a full glass of water, she went to sit in the chair to wait for Knadyn to wake up.
Chapter Three
“Jeromy you idiot!” Ava couldn’t stop the anger from seething out in her voice. “I should have known you sending me to negotiate with the rebels was a wild goose chase. Do you have any idea the damage you could have done here!? What could have happened in the last three days?”
“Ava calm down.” Jeromy tried to sooth her. “We sent you to negotiate because you are the only one with both the experience and temperament for the job.”
“That is bull shit!” Ava was seeing red at what had happened while she was gone. “There are plenty of others that were qualified to go. Dillon is just as experienced as I am and Jenna has the same temperament. You wanted me out of the way, just admit it.”
“That’s just not true.” Jeromy looked at her, his eyes hooded. “At any rate, if you felt that way about the mission why did you take it? All you had to do was say no.” Ava hated it when he tried to make her defensive.
“You strong armed me into going saying I would make a difference. I didn’t know that while I was gone you were going to play mind games with the prisoner. Did your father know what you were doing? Did mine? They would never have agreed to letting you do this.”
Jeromy was getting angry now, “Letting me?!” His booted feet thumped across the floor to bring him face to face. Grabbing her arm he snarled, “Don’t get ahead of yourself Ava. You and your father don’t ‘let me’ do anything. My father agreed in the end, so don’t forget who is in charge here.”
“Take your hand off me Jeromy.” Ava knew that he was a bully, it was one of the many reasons she had broken their engagement. Tearing her arm out of his hold, she snapped. “Don’t you forget how you stay in charge! Without my father or my help you would still be living in the bunker and don’t you forget that!”
Trying to sooth her, Jeromy held his hands up placatingly. “Okay, let’s both be reasonable. Starting over…I didn’t have enough time to do anything lasting to the prisoner, just a few hijacked memories. He won’t know what is real or what is a fantasy.” He laughed at his own superiority over a fellow man, another mark against him. His tendency toward the cruel.
“That’s the problem Jeromy.” Ava was back to seething. “You don’t know what you’ve done. I specifically said no torture, no mind games, no anything until we know what we are dealing with. Why did you ask me to work with the prisoner if you were going to ignore my recommendations?”
“Come on Ava. You have been babysitting that worthless rebel for weeks.” Jeromy defended himself. “We need to get him to talk. Breaking into his mind was better than what I wanted to do. Torture is next on the list unless you can get some results from your boyfriend in there.”
Ava froze at the thought of them torturing Knadyn. His jibe about him being her boyfriend she ignored. The more she protested or defended Knadyn the more suspicious Jeromy would get. Instead of taking the bait, she sighed. “Okay Jeromy.” She moved to go into the room. “I will work harder at getting something solid from him.” She closed the door behind her and leaned back against it. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to stall for much longer. The good thing was she had less than a week to go.
Knadyn was watching her. “I heard you fighting with Jeromy. Is everything okay?”
Ava just snorted in frustration, “I just got back from the ‘negotiations’ and wanted to check on you first.” Realizing how that must sound she felt a blush rise in her cheeks. She had hurried here before looking in on her father, which was out of character for her.
Thankfully, Knadyn didn’t pick up on that part of her statement. He looked at her then shook his head, “You say negotiations like it is a bad thing. Were you not successful?”
“It was just to get me out of the way so they could…” Ava stopped, wondering how much of the mind games he would remember. “It went as well as could be expected. The rebels want their independence and to be allowed to follow their leaders. Joining us would mean putting their trust in Renee and the leadership of this community, not to mention that I don’t think everyone is going to be welcome with open arms.”
“What do you mean?” he seemed genuinely perplexed.
Ava put her hand over his, “Not everyone has value in this new world. Surely, you have the same problem where you are from. The young are a drain on resources, but we need them for the future. The elderly are a drain, but some of them have value for their knowledge or expertise in certain fields. It is hard to achieve the right balance of population and still feed, clothe and shelter everyone. I think that the leadership of this community will be choosy in who they welcome, even if we could get the rebels to agree to join us.”
“That is a terrible burden.” She saw that his eyes were turbulent, “We do not have that problem where I am from.”
Ava froze, her hand gripping his tight. He had never spoken of himself in the entire time she had been sitting with him and she had never encouraged him to do so. It was a silent agreement they had that he would remain tight-lipped. The less he told her the less she could reveal to Jeromy if things got nasty.
Chapter Four
With Ava gripping his hand tightly, Knadyn worried that he had said something wrong. He mind was working frantically to figure out what was dream and what was reality. The male ‘Jeromy’ had taken great pleasure in twisting his thoughts around. He wasn’t sure if he had told them about his family and Terraneu or if that was all locked in his mind. He would never forgive himself if he had broken and told them anything personal about himself. He knew that his body was dying, maybe he would live for another week or two and then it would be too late. If he could hold on through the torture and not give in, he might die without betraying his family, friends and community. At least he had hope that the rest of his team was home on Terraneu and nobody else was going through this.
When he had arri
ved six months ago, it had been a normal mission. Everything went smoothly until gunfire had begun exploding around them. His first priority was to make sure that the Earth humans didn’t get any of their technology. He had started the self-destruct on all the equipment they hadn’t already sent through the portal. He had then ordered his men to retreat and after a mad dash through the countryside the others had made it. He was cut off, but seeing his team had made it to the port pad, he had activated the portal and sent them home. With unknown forces closing in around him on all fronts, he had no choice but to retreat. Much later he made his way back around to the port pad but it was too late. A rescue team would have abandoned the planet by now. He worried that his family would be frantic, but there was nothing that could be done for another six months. He had tried to make his way on Earth until the next portal opening.
Then by a fluke, he had been caught. His armor was damaged and in his weakened state, he ended up in the hands of Renee Rousard, his son Jeromy and the government forces. They were the head of a small community that had survived by living in a bunker. They called themselves the government and wanted the power of ruling the survivors. Renee was suspicious about the area around the port pad, but he had let slip that it was a “rebel area” and that catching Knadyn had been a lucky mistake. Knadyn didn’t feel it was so lucky.
Jeromy or Renee, he wasn’t sure which one, had sent in a small Earth female to talk with him. She had introduced herself as Ava Jean Howard. He had been suspicious at first but Ava hadn’t done anything that first day but get him water, which he desperately needed and opened the window for some sunshine to enter the room. Which he needed even more. His body was the same as all the population of Terraneu. Genetically altered to run on their two suns for energy and water for hydration. He didn’t need to eat the food they kept trying to shove down his throat. He couldn’t tell them that. Because then they would really have a reason to torture him. In all of the visits with Ava, she had never pressed for him to talk. She had just sat with him while he drank his water. When they had talked, it was always about her life, her father and her interests.
His thoughts returned to the present, and his eyes met Ava’s. She had frozen when he stated that they didn’t have the same problem where he was from. Then she hurried to unfastened one wrist and handed him a glass of water. He averted his eyes and sipped the cooling liquid as slowly as possible, but he really wanted to just gulp it down. His body was screaming for more. He watched as Ava moved to the window and opened it slightly. He was glad for the sun, his body eagerly soaked up the nutrient rays. She must have seen him looking longingly at the water because she laughed softly.
“You can drink all of that if you want. I have more.” Leaning to pick something up off the floor, she showed him a container full of water. He hadn’t seen her bring that in so smiled gratefully. It was gritty as usual, but it was cool and wet and he needed it badly.
Drinking the entire glass of water down he sighed, “You have no idea how much I needed that.” When she just refilled his glass without comment, he sighed. He knew that she was supposed to be getting information from him. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t tell her anything. Either of the rebel community because he wasn’t from the rebel community, or the alien world he was from.
He supposed that he could make up stories about the rebels, but that could get Ava in trouble. She would be blamed for getting false information from him and the torture would begin. He had been warned by the one named Jeromy that would be the next step. He wondered if Ava would be open to hearing the truth. He knew not all Earth females were closed-minded and Ava was a scientist. Her father a very well respected one before his mad uncles electromagnetic pulsing satellite had destroyed Earth. Snorting with derision at himself, he thought…that would be a good conversation starter, “Say Ava, I am an alien male from a planet called Terraneu and my people have been trying to fix the damage done to your planet by my mad uncle. We have cleaned up your atmosphere, water and soil.”
Sighing heavily he asked, “Ava why do you keep coming here?”
She sat taller in her seat, “Do you want me to stop?”
“No.” He ran his hands over his spiky hair. “I like having someone to talk to that isn’t trying to scramble my brain.” He jested trying to make light of the situation.
“Not funny Knadyn.” She whispered and then shrugged. “You know why I have to come in here.”
Knadyn looked at her face and saw her try to hide the fear. He couldn’t stand to see her this way. “Jeromy is right when he said that nothing he did will be permanent.” Not if he could get home into a medical unit anyway. Until then he would have flashes of things real and fantastical all mixed up in his mind.
“How can you say that? I’ve seen the results of their interrogations…” She grabbed his hand and squeezed. His heart jumped at the contact and then hurt for the suffering she must be going through. Her hand was covered in scars, sores and callouses from working hard. Every time Ava came to see him, his heart raced with happiness to see her again. Every time she touched him, even though it was only in comfort, his body came alive. Who would have thought that after all this time on Terraneu searching for the perfect woman, he would find her on Earth instead.
Not only an Earth female, but one so frail it hurt him to see her so small. He knew it came with rationing food and the lack of proper nutrition. He would put her at five foot five to five foot eight. The shirt and pants she wore were of a poor quality and were ill fitted for her frame. If she was over one hundred and ten pounds, he would wrestle one of his sisters sacath covered in treats. Her skin was pale as alabaster and prone to sores and rashes but all of the people he had seen had that problem. Her icy blond hair was thin, lacked any luster and at shoulder length…was beautiful to him. Her cheekbones were high and her lips were naturally full and pink. She had a heart shaped face, with a cute button nose. Out of everything about her though, he felt by far the best feature was her eyes. They were framed with brows that had a nice arch to them and her eyelashes were long. The color was a pale hazel that could become a very nice deep hazel when she was emotional. He was drawn into her eyes over and over again.
“I cannot tell the future Ava, but I can assure you that this will not last for much longer.” He closed his eyes with fatigue.
“Knadyn…” Ava whispered softly, “You aren’t giving up are you?” he felt her lean over his side.
Opening his eyes, he whispered back just as softly, “No Ava. I am not giving up. I plan to hold on for another week.”
“Is that because the wormhole will be open then?” She was leaning over his head pretending to plump a pillow. Knadyn’s breath froze in his lungs, “Don’t answer.” She gasped out, “I shouldn’t have said anything.” Ava moved back away from him to get the water canister. “I better get these out of here before Jeromy decides to come in. Then I need to check in on my father. I will see you later.” While Knadyn pondered what she had said, Ava was closing the window and moving out the door.
How much did she know about the port pad? Her father was a brilliant physicist and he could have figured it out. Had he told Ava and she knew also? That would be helpful if it were true. He would be able to tell her everything! He could explain that they had been helping clean up the Earth these last three years. One way had been the atmosphere scrubbers his Uncle Kneus had invented. They had also used probes to locate and transport all of the nuclear cores on Earth into the sun. She might be surprised to know that of the over five hundred nuclear plants and weapons facilities almost all of them had been damaged in some way.
There would be so much more they could talk about besides the scientific nature of his mission. He could tell her about his family. How the women had come to be on Terraneu, the previously all male planet. He could finally tell her how excited he was to be an uncle. His sister had been pregnant with twin boys…and twin girls when he had left Terraneu. She would have delivered them by now. He would tell her about the park and that h
is brother-in-law passed out flat in the grass when he heard he was going to be a father. He laughed at the memory and could swear he almost smelled the sweet grass and flowers of home floating in the room. He would have to trust his instincts and tell Ava everything the next time she came to visit.
Only she didn’t come back.
Chapter Five
Ava was desperate with worry. After leaving Knadyn, she went to check up on her father only to find out that he had disappeared the same day she had left to negotiate with the rebels. When she had stormed over to confront Jeromy for not telling her, they had a terrible fight.
“Why didn’t you tell me my father was missing the instant I got back? I should be out looking for him!” She hadn’t bothered to knock. Instead, she had thrown the door open and watched as it hit the wall and bounced back.
“Ava.” He had slowly risen off his couch and calmly closed the door. “Nice of you to knock.” Ignoring her outrage, he sat back down on the couch. “We already did a search for your father and were unable to find him. As far as we can tell, he didn’t bring any supplies and has more than likely succumbed to the elements. At his age—”
“If you say he is dead I will not be responsible…” Ava tried to get a hold of herself. “He is the only reason anyone in this ‘community’ is still alive. His work is the only hope we have to regain normalcy—” her hands were gesturing wildly as she yelled, as was her habit.
“Let me interrupt you there.” Jeromy openly sneered at her. “Your father was losing his usefulness in his old age. He was a strain on the resources of the community, and you as his assistant are more than capable to take up the slack in his absence.”
Ava clenched her fists, her fingernails digging into her skin. She couldn’t believe they would so easily write her father off as a loss. “I don’t know half of what my father knew. I won’t be able to help—”
Knadyn: A Terraneu Novel (Book Six) Page 2