“It was the hardest decision of my life. I have…often…” I could no longer speak.
“How could you do that, Creed?”
“Please… Forgive me for a horrible sin that I committed against you and you alone.”
Her eyes welled with tears until one by one they trickled down her cheeks. “I can’t remember everything…but I think I hated you for a time.”
I nodded.
“How did I get here?” she asked.
I told her the truth as I explained about the Curator, Ifness, the Plutonians, everything, including how I’d captured her in the PDS Control Chamber.
“Creed,” she said. And although tears still dripped from her eyes, she reached up and tenderly touched my cheek.
I expected her to scratch four long furrows down my skin. But for that single soft touch of her fingers, I would have gladly paid such a price.
“I forgive you, darling,” she said. “I understand why you had to do it.”
“Jennifer?”
“I forgive you,” she repeated.
A thrill I could scarcely believe filled me with power. I stood and swept her up into my arms. I crushed her against my chest and began to shower kisses upon her wet, upturned face.
I wondered if she would become feral again, but she did not. She laughed, cried and hugged me as hard as she could.
Jennifer, my sweet Jennifer had returned after many lonely years. The last attempt—the Jelk mind machine—had worked. It had worked. It had actually and truly worked!
What did this mean for the future? I did not know. This I did know, though. I would stay on Earth with Jennifer. I would help Diana and the First Admiral against the next Lokhar attack. I would make sure Orcus and Holgotha did not bring victory to Emperor Daniel Lex Rex. But most of all, most of all, I would love my sweet Jennifer and treasure the great prize that I had lost but now found anew.
For the first time in many long years, I believe I had peace of heart. For a warrior like me, it made all my battles worth fighting.
Jennifer, sweet Jennifer. How lovely it was to feel her embrace. This had to be the happiest moment of my overly storied and checkered life.
THE END
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Target: Earth (Extinction Wars Book 5) Page 36