Terraformed Skies

by Anna Lewis

  “You did all this for me?” he asked while raising his arm.

  “Of course. I want you to be ready when you leave in two weeks,” she replied while typing into her digital pad

  The response caught him off guard and he missed his first target, the bolt dissipating somewhere off to the right.

  “Are you alright?” she asked, noticing his change of focus.

  “Yeah, sorry. I just got lost in thought,” he said, another white lie leaving his lips.

  Did he only have two weeks left? That didn’t seem like enough time to spend with Lena, his heart aching at the thought of putting any distance between them. She was just within an arm’s reach and her eyes followed his movements, studying the way he stood and how he catapulted the energy from his palm.

  “Two weeks,” he huffed while taking another shot.

  “Hard to believe you’ve been here for four,” she said, averting her attention back to the chart on her touch pad.

  “And you’ll be here?” he asked nervously.

  “I have other patients,” she responded.

  Another bolt went flying into the distance, demolishing one of the mannequins.

  “Can I visit?” he asked, keeping his eyes on a plastic figure.

  “Why would you do that?”

  The next bolt went shooting up into the air and disappeared beyond the fog that was rolling over them, dimly lighting the other side of the mist and mixing with the violet of dusk. Trevor turned and took Lena up into his human arm, pressing his hungry lips to hers, nearly knocking her touch pad out of her hands

  “Because I like you,” he whispered between kisses. “I don’t want to be without you.”

  “I was worried you wouldn’t want to come back,” she said, growing tearful in their passionate embrace.

  “You’ve opened my heart, Lena. I’m not leaving you behind,” he said.

  “But what about the war?” she asked with some trepidation. “Will they let you leave?”

  Another kiss silenced her fears, Trevor whispering that he would do anything to come back and kiss her lips a million times. While distracted, the sound of a miniature explosion came from behind Lena and she turned to see what it was. Trevor had effectively shot one of the closer mannequins while kissing her, a sly grin plastered across his face as she turned to face him.

  “Now you’re just showing off,” Lena whispered while nuzzling his nose.

  “I think that’s a great skill to have,” said Trevor, stroking her chin. “It means you’re always safe with me.”

  “I’m glad I met you,” she said as the sun set behind the haze in the distance. “I can’t believe we met, but I’m glad we did.”

  “As am I, Lena,” he said, taking another taste of her lips.

  After they pulled away, Trevor took a few more shots at the mannequins farther away and raised his arms in triumph when he shot them all down. This new body could likely take out entire platoons which gave the Navy leverage against any dangerous enemies. Being that sort of weapon meant everyone would want him, and the generals who had encouraged the procedure made sure to hide the documentation about Trevor from the rest of the world, so that the technology to make a cyborg like him would never be acquired by the enemy. Also hidden was the truth about the cyborg project which, if it were ever made public, would cause a scandal.

  It was General Sanders who had volunteered Trevor for the project, stating that the hero had a resilience to pain and a strong character. He was great for battle and would follow orders to the ends of the earth. Though he would never volunteer readily, the general knew he could push the boy in the direction of danger so that the threat posed would inspire the surgery. He had paid the released prisoner to shoot Trevor in order to have him injured enough to qualify. Had it not been for the general’s elaborate plan, Trevor wouldn’t be a cyborg, nor would he have met Lena.

  The plan was sworn to secrecy between Trevor’s superiors and he went unknowingly to avenge his brother, convinced the death of the enemy general would be his ticket to peace. He had unsuspectingly walked into a trap which put him where he now stood, on the path weaving in and out of the great garden behind the naval hospital. Warships soared overhead as they strolled along on the cement, Lena bending down every so often to sniff a bell flower that was full of nectar. The basic rehabilitation had been successful, but he would need more training before returning to the war. Most of his functions were under control due to Lena’s extensive physical therapy and he was feeling more confident, especially with her hand intertwined with his.

  While walking up towards the building, Lena pulled her hand away in fear of one of her staff members witnessing their affections. The field had provided them a bit of privacy and she had enjoyed every moment of it, his lips caressing hers unabashedly while he shot targets. It had been impressive to watch him do this and her thighs were tense with anticipation for their next encounter. Perhaps it was a bit strange to be turned on by such a thing, but his skill was intensely attractive. It made her feel like this was the man who would protect her during the terrible time they lived in.

  People like Trevor would be the ones who could tip the balance of the war, which was the whole point of running the cyborg trials. He was the most successful cyborg to date. Better and better, she knew what to repeat and what to let fall to the wayside. The arm gun, for example, was a good innovation, and seemed to be effective too. The process of transforming wounded soldiers into cyborgs would only become faster and faster after this.

  But what would happen after the war? When these men returned home to their families, was it wise to allow them access to such destructive weapons? In a sense, they were the weapons which put them at a higher risk for discrimination in their towns.

  All of this weighed on Lena’s shoulders, her eyes looking around the white-tiled halls in search of a solution. But all the answers would come in time. She just had to have faith in her work and in Trevor. As she thought this, she looked over at him and he caught her gaze, smiling when he saw the swirling blues in her eyes. There was hope between them. The opposing forces would meet their defeat and perhaps there would finally be peace in the world. Defeat was not an option, as the battle was raging on their own soil.

  When the couple arrived at Trevor’s room, he nearly leaned in to kiss her, but thought better to shake her hand instead. A giggle sent her off to check on a few patients and Trevor sat in his hospital bed, turning on the television to check the status of his troop. Images of war filled the screen and tore him away from the wonderful mood he was in. There was still a war out there. How could he fall in love if there was such disaster happening?

  ***

  By the time the fifth week rolled around, Trevor had grown restless from sitting in his room all day and went to the nurse’s desk to ask if there was anything they needed help doing. She mentioned that the new fridge had arrived, but no one was strong enough to lift it. It took a matter of five minutes for Trevor to carry it up the stairs and install it, his cybernetic arm and leg proving to have more uses than as mere weapons. Thankful for his help, the nurses gathered some flowers and left them in a vase in his room with a few pieces of chocolate for him to munch on as he rested.

  It wasn’t long before Trevor was back on his feet out of boredom and wandering the halls, helping people move and retrieve things that were too heavy or too out of reach.

  He came across the children’s ward at one point, made up of underage civilian victims of the war. He noticed that many of the kids didn’t have visitors. With the help of a nurse, he gathered them in the main play room to read them stories, allowing them to touch his cybernetic arm when they became curious. One of the little boys stood up and said he wanted to be just like Trevor when he grew up which prompted him to smile and pat his head.

  “You want to be a Navy officer?” asked the nurse.

  “No, I want to be a cool cyborg!” yelled the boy while raising his arms and growling.

  It caused the group to erupt into
chuckles until Trevor had them settle down for another book, one about a cat who wore his favorite sweater even though people thought the sweater was ugly. As he was reading, he didn’t notice Lena standing in the doorway, admiring the way he was entertaining the children. It was wonderful to see them smiling and laughing as it gave them a reprieve from the awful sounds of the battle. When he looked up again, he found Lena smiling at him and blushed, pausing mid-sentence to admire her beauty.

  “Keep reading, mister,” said one of the girls up front, shaking his cybernetic arm. “What happens next?”

  “Yeah!” chimed the group.

  Trevor apologized to the children and read the rest of the book, showing them the pictures in between the pages. A light applause filled the room as Trevor stood to leave, receiving pleads from some of the kids to stay. Lena announced that he had work to do elsewhere and that it was lunchtime which put the children at ease, their bellies hungry after such an exciting morning. As they walked away, Lena looped her arm through Trevor’s and commended him for being sweet.

  “They don’t often get to have time like that. Our volunteers haven’t been showing up lately,” she explained.

  “Admittedly, I was just bored, but once I got started I was having fun,” he said while they walked up the hall. “I can’t wait to have children someday.”

  Lena smiled at the comment.

  “I can have children, right?” asked Trevor, stopping to wait for Lena’s reply.

  “Yes, you can still have kids. Your injuries didn’t affect your reproductive organs,” she responded, patting his arm.

  “Good. I’d love to be able to do that someday,” he said, and then added. “And maybe with you.”

  It made her heart swell to hear such a statement, her own desire to reproduce having been hidden for a while due to the war.

  “I’d love that,” she whispered. “In fact, we can start practicing now.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, a mischievous smile crossing his lips.

  Lena looked around and then pulled Trevor into the medical supply closet where she frequently napped, locking the door firmly behind them. As soon as they had privacy, Trevor gripped her waist and pressed her against the wall as lust took over. They hadn’t made love since the first time and their desire for the ritual had been building over the past week as they spent more and more time together. It was difficult not to tackle each other when they were constantly surrounded by people, their bodies shuddering with every touch and kiss.

  Hands tore away the barrier of clothing and elicited excited moans from lips that devoured exposed skin. Within moments, Trevor was pressing his tool into her sex, parting the silky lips for his entry. His cybernetic hand lifted her up against the wall as he penetrated her warm chasm, grunting with every feverish thrust. The pleasurable moans erupting from her lips beckoned him like a siren’s song to push deeper and grind harder. Cupping his face in her hands, she dove in for another kiss that spoke of fulfillment while she bounced, her legs wrapped around his torso to keep her upright. The muscles in his back and legs flexed as he pushed deep into her hidden garden where he found the nectar that gushed over his tool.

  Heat and power radiated from their bodies as they came to completion, hard thighs crowning her hips as his rhythm increased. He decorated the nape of her neck in kisses while keeping her back arched. This provided a better position for his wand that was close to watering her fields, the shaft throbbing with every dive into the beautiful landscape of her body. Her head shook as she started to peak and gripped his back during her consuming climax. A soft cry signaled her release and he followed shortly after, pumping heavily into her glistening thighs as he exploded. A chorus of chuckles filled the air as he nuzzled her nose with his, panting between smiles and kisses.

  The couple was far from finished as their lust tumbled into another fit of grinding, her back beginning to burn from being scraped against the wall. As the two continued to ravish each other, the radio in Lena’s pocket began to crackle, the static interrupting their pleasure, but not making Trevor stop what he was doing. She raised the radio to her ear with a sly smile and pressed her finger to his lips.

  “Shh,” she whispered. “Just stay quiet.”

  “Dr. Clark? It’s...Over.”

  “Dr. Clark here,” said Lena. “What’s the problem? Over.”

  “We have sighting…in the sky. There’s been...”

  Static filled the air and caused Lena to cringe, holding the radio away from her ear while trying to discern what the person was saying. Who was it? She pulled her clothes on and told Trevor to wait in the room, stepping into the hall to head for her office where she might hear the soldier better.

  “I can’t hear you. Over,” she said into the radio.

  As she was making her way to her office, one of her rarely seen superiors steps into her path and demands her attention.

  “Dr. Clark, we have to talk,” said Dr. Grand.

  “Sir, I'm being called. I have to answer this immediately,” she said while stepping to the side.

  In her office, Lena tapped the touch-screen computer on her desk. She was growing impatient with whoever was contacting her. Red letters rolled across the top of her computer screen as the radio beeped and the voice came in much clearer as Dr. Grand stepped into her office.

  “We need to talk about your liaison with one of your patients,” said Dr. Grand with his arms folded.

  Lena stared at her superior, panic gripping her stomach. She was speechless as he explained that they discovered her tryst with Trevor and that she was suspended from her duties pending an inquiry, and she had to start clearing her things. Lena was mortified.

  “Please don’t take my job,” she said weakly, as the news sunk in. How would she see Trevor? What if he were sent away?

  “Dr. Clark--” began Dr. Grand, but was interrupted by the beeping of the Lena’s radio again. The voice from before came in clearer.

  “A spaceship has been sighted just outside the earth’s atmosphere. We need your help identifying the markings. Over,” said the voice of a soldier.

  “What ship? Over,” she responded, opening the camera view for the sky above the hospital and ignoring Dr. Grand.

  “Unidentified alien ship. They’re sending drones. We need you here ASAP, Dr. Clark. Over,” responded the messenger.

  As soon as she had received the warning, a number of explosions erupted in the distance and Lena stared at the picture on her screen as she enlarged the live video footage. A gigantic vessel was visible beyond the clouds, red lettering marking the edge of the ship. It appeared they were under attack by some unknown species which made both the war with the Eastern Alliance and Lena’s trouble with hospital management seem suddenly so miniscule compared to such a universal threat.

  Dr. Grand dashed outside the office to attend to the panic just outside the door, leaving Lena utterly horrified at her predicament. Taking a deep breath, she analyzed the screen and focused on what she had to do. It appeared her world was turning upside down in an instant. The world was seemingly coming to an end and her job had been snatched from beneath her feet, causing her to stumble. Or was that the nausea?

  As the bombs continued to explode, she rushed into the hallway where the entire hospital was in chaos. The radio crackled again. The message was that the hospital was under attack. The soldiers needed her to identify the language that gurgled over every television and radio in the area. She had to get to the main building in the base through the terrible rain of bombs and drones, but where was Trevor?

  She looked and looked, but could not see her lover anywhere.

  Another explosion went off, causing the hospital to shudder, and a light to fall from the ceiling.

  “Trevor! Trevor!” she called in a panic.

  But he was nowhere to be seen.

  Book 2: Battle Ready

  Lena was at the point of tears, stumbling through the chaos of the hospital under attack. She kept calling for Trevor, whom she’d bee
n separated from.

  “Lena!” came a relieved cry. She turned, and saw Trevor, striding through the panic, his cybernetic arm gleaming.

  “Oh, Trevor! I thought I’d lost you!” cried Lena, rushing forward to embrace him.

  “I’m here,” said Trevor. “Let’s move.”

  Through the panicked crowds of people fleeing the hospital, Navy SEAL Trevor Noble and his lover Dr. Lena Clark found an exit to a staircase to take them down to the main floor. The hospital had been driven into a frenzy of panic as news of the attack reached all the doctors and nurses on staff. Worry filled the air and cries for help to an unnamed deity carried over the sounds of screaming, startling the sweet couple who had, just moments ago, made love in the medical supply closet. The main floor was just as chaotic as the third where they had come from and they pushed through the crowded area to get outside. Beyond the doors revealed a darkening sky that harbored a terrible sight: the edge of a spaceship was dipping into their atmosphere and disrupting the energy in the air. They could hear it humming as they ran to the main building.

  It appeared motionless on the edge of the atmosphere, taking up so much space as to be seen by half of the world exposed to it. The doors to the main building came into view and they darted inside, slamming them shut behind them. A brief comfort fell over them as they walked through the center, looking around for anyone that might be left who hadn’t already fled the scene. An officer armed with a ray gun appeared and shouted for them to state their business. Lena held up her badge, screaming that they were called by someone in the building.

  “Dr. Clark!” he cried. “My apologies. I was the one who radioed for you to come. Quickly! We don’t have much time.”

  “What’s going on?” she asked as he rushed them up the stairs to a conference room.

  “We were hoping you could tell us,” he responded as he opened the door.

  The soldier saluted his general and then left the room, the couple standing confused in front of two heavily armed men. One of them was General Sanders who greeted his officer with a salute and then relaxed his body.