by Saxon Andrew
“I did.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I want you to tell me why you resigned.”
“That’s really none of your business.”
“Don’t force me to look at your mind.”
Allison looked at him, “YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN’T!”
“Then don’t force me to do it. Talk to me.”
Allison sighed and shook her head. Chris looked out at the Caribbean and waited. After two hours passed, he was glad Allison hadn’t walked off and left him there alone. He said, “I didn’t understand why you said I could never be your brother.” Allison looked at him, “I understand now.”
Allison sighed and looked back out at the ocean. He remained silent and after a while she said, “Did you know before I became your bodyguard that I had a thing for Jake.”
“He’s a great person and has become a great Admiral.”
“He never understood why I lost interest in him.”
“Why did you?”
“I decided that I wanted more.” Chris remained silent. “I watched you and Audrey while I was your bodyguard and I decided that I wanted someone like you in my life. I’ve been searching for that person ever since.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Allison shook her head, “Your heart belonged to another and it always would. What you and Audrey had is a once in a lifetime love.”
“Audrey died.”
“I know. But your love for her never will. I’ve watched you spend hours staring out at the ocean seeing her sailing across the waves.”
“How did you know that?”
“Your smile.”
“I can’t see her anymore.”
Allison looked at him, “Why not?”
“I thought it was because she was ashamed of me for what I did in M-84.”
“She would never be ashamed of you for that.”
“Why?”
“Because she would know you did it because of how much you loved her. Your stopping would have made her very proud.”
Chris stared at the waves for thirty minutes and shook his head, “Now I understand why.”
“What is that?”
“She’s angry.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve stopped my life and I’ve only lived to see her on this beach. She’s furious that I haven’t moved on.”
Allison stared at him and then looked back out at the ocean. After a few moments, she said, “I can’t fly with anyone else.”
“Why?”
“They wouldn’t be you.”
“That’s why you resigned.”
Allison nodded and looked at him shaking her head, “I tried, Chris! I tried really hard but each candidate they brought for me to interview only showed me how much less my life would be without you with me. I just couldn’t do it!”
“You left your only family.”
“They are not my family!”
“I was talking about Alley and Gene.”
Allison’s frown vanished and she shook her head. “They’re furious. They argued for hours telling me to tell you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I stopped you once from getting closure when I stopped you in M-84. I couldn’t stop you from finding redemption.” She paused and said, “I really don’t think I could have stopped you anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Because you chose to leave without discussing it with me.” She looked out at the ocean for a few minutes and said, “Why did you come back? If it’s to convince me to keep my commission, you’re wasting your time.”
Chris looked out at the ocean and said, “Do you know what the first thing I did when I arrived at the edge of M-84?” Allison shook her head. “I told Willow I wanted to contact you to wish you good luck with your new partner.” Allison looked out at the waves again. “He told me you resigned.” Allison lowered her head and looked at her hands. “You’re remembering when I held your hands after my little experiment.”
Her head snapped around to him, “You said you wouldn’t look at my thoughts!”
“I’m not. I have remembered you in my arms weeping pretty much every day since. It is that memory that convinced me to leave.”
Allison looked at him, “I don’t understand.”
Chris sighed, “Allison, you fit too perfectly.” Allison lowered her head and looked at the waves. Chris looked at the waves and sighed again. “It was after I could no longer see Audrey’s sail that the first thing happened that made me realize I loved you.” Allison’s head whipped around and Chris continued to stare at the waves. “It was Michael holding your hand after the two of you built that first fort. However, my mind refused to recognize it. The second fort brought it into focus. Holding you in my arms and holding your hands after your incredible bravery removed anything preventing me from seeing it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You had already told me you would never accept me as a brother. I saw myself as damaged goods and honestly thought you could do a lot better than a broken man with a seven year old son.”
Chris looked at Allison, “I’m not here to persuade you to take your commission back. I’m here with my hat in my hand asking if you will fly with me for the rest of my life.”
Allison was in his arms in a heartbeat and she cried in racking sobs. Chris stroked her head and said, “We’re all right, we’re all right.” He put his head on top of hers and looked out at the ocean. The pink and blue sail was skipping across the waves. He smiled and said, “I love you, Allison.”
She kissed him and he opened his thoughts to her. She lost herself and Chris kissed her harder. When they finally broke the kiss he said, “You are all I could ever want.”
“I’m not Audrey, Chris.”
“That’s what allows me to love you. Michael also loves you. I never promised not to look at his thoughts.”
Allison kissed him again and he held her tight until the moon was high overhead. He walked her to her quarters and said, “I am going to discuss this with Michael in the morning. I’ll come and get you afterwards.’
Allison nodded and kissed him goodnight. She went inside and worried about how Michael would respond and then she would hug her pillow yelling, “He loves me!” It was a long night.
When they showed up the next morning, her heart went into her throat. Michael looked extremely angry. She closed her eyes and Michael said, “My father says he wants you to be my new mother! Do you want to be my mother?” Allison opened her eyes and nodded. Michael turned, looked Chris, and then turned back to Allison, “They why is he leaving so soon! I want you to stay here and be with me for a while!!”
Allison’s eyes opened wide and she bent down and lifted Michael off the ground and hugged him tightly as she swung him around. Michael laughed and said, “See, Dad. She agrees with me.”
Chris smiled and shook his head, “Michael, before she can be your mother, she must first be my wife and she hasn’t agreed to marry me yet.”
Michael looked at Allison and said, “You have to agree. Say yes. Say yes. Say yes!”
“He hasn’t asked me, Michael.”
Michael turned around and looked at Chris with surprise written all over his face. “YOU HAVEN’T ASKED HER?!”
Chris shook his head and went to a knee and held up a ring, “Allison Delany Simmons, will you marry me?”
Allison looked up and pursed her lips while Michael kept repeating, Say yes!”
Allison burst out laughing, “I will.”
Michael yelled at the top of his voice, “YAAAAAAAY. Now all three of us can build forts.”
Chris put the ring on her left hand, stood up, and leaned over to kiss Allison. She went up on her tiptoes and returned his kiss. They broke the kiss and Chris smiled, “Indeed we can Michael.”
Allison looked at the ring and saw a diamond that was incredibly beautiful, “How did you get this ring so fast?”
“I told Lukas last night what I was consid
ering and Salud came and gave it to me. The diamond is one that her father originally made for her to build her force field.” Allison stared at its beauty shaking her head. This was beyond value.
Michael looked at Allison, turned to Chris, and whispered, “She really loves you!”
“How do you know?”
“It’s in her mind.” Chris’s eyes went wide and his tears began. Allison looked at him, “What’s wrong?”
“Michael hasn’t shown any signs of being telepathic for a very long time.” Allison looked at Michael who said, “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
Chris took him out of Allison’s arms and smiled, “You have just made me happier than you can ever know. Look at my mind.” Michael squinted and smiled a huge grin. He hugged Chris as Allison went under his free arm.
• • •
Lukas and Salud were going over the building reports when Alice stuck her head in the door and said, “The First Commander wishes to speak to you.”
Lukas and Salud looked at each other and Lukas said, “Send him in.” Alice Gomez opened the door and stepped aside as Chris walked in with Allison in civilian clothes and Lukas said, “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to stop by and let you know that I’ve hired an engineer to fly on my ship.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I think they’re very qualified to do it.”
Salud smiled, “And just who is this engineer?”
Chris looked at Allison, “Engineer Simmons.”
Lukas started laughing and said, “Why doesn’t she just accept her commission?”
“Because I am her employer, not Fleet. She can’t be assigned elsewhere without my approval.”
“She couldn’t anyway.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, who has the authority to move her?”
“You do.”
“No I don’t. You’ve been chosen to lead all our forces. I only control Earth’s military. No one outranks you.” Chris’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Allison. Lukas said, “If you choose to assign her permanently to your staff, she would also be above the control of all the others in our Alliance.” Lukas paused and then sealed the deal, “The retirement pay of a fleet admiral is much higher than what an engineer would get.”
Allison blew out a breath, “Then swear me back in, Sir.”
“It’s not necessary. I never accepted your resignation. Is there something else you want to tell me?”
Allison looked at Chris and he said, “I’ve asked her to marry me and she accepted.”
Lukas smiled, “Now that is the smartest thing either of you have ever done.” Salud and Lukas stood up, came around the large desk, and hugged them. Lukas looked at Allison and said, “Welcome to the family.”
Allison’s tears were immediate and Salud leaned in and whispered, “Your ring really looks good on your hand.”
Allison smiled, “You shouldn’t have.”
“This is exactly what my father would have wanted.” Allison smiled and hugged her again.
Alice slipped out of the door and squealed. She ran to personnel to tell everyone. They celebrated a happy ending and beginning. The loudest squeals came out of a Barrier Pod right after Allison entered wearing her Admiral’s uniform. She felt her heart swell with the joy of all that had happened. She had a family and it was incredible. She knew it couldn’t get any better but Stoney and Kathy showed her it could.
Chapter Seventeen
Lukas, Jinks, Chad and Stoney sat around the conference table and stared at the star map on the wall size monitor. They looked at it in silence and Jinks sighed, “Are the scouts pretty certain about this?” Lukas nodded. The Milky Way was centered on the map with the giant Virgo Cluster looking like a small ball to the northeast. There was one red light flashing in it. Spread out above the single red light were thousands of galaxies with flashing red lights. There were no red lights to the east, west, or south of the Milky Way.
Lukas stared at it and shrugged, “They are expanding in our direction.”
Stoney nodded, “That explains why there are so many of them in M-87.”
Lukas nodded, “Let’s designate that galaxy Monster One, and you’re right. Once they take total control of that giant galaxy, they will expand out into the cluster and conquer the surrounding galaxies. Each of the Legends will then build conduits and take control of the other galaxies.”
Chad exhaled softly, “Once they control that piece of our cluster, they’ll be coming this way toward us and Andromeda.”
Jinks slowly shook his head, “I think they would have, under normal circumstances, gone to Andromeda. It’s larger than the Milky Way.”
Lukas nodded, “Our attacks will probably put us ahead of it.”
Chad shook his head, “I’m not so sure about that.” The three looked away from the map at him. Lukas said, “Why not?”
“Is it possible they will scout the two galaxies before they invade?”
“I’m sure they’ll start that process before they finish with the Virgo Galaxies. Our Local Group will come next.”
“There are millions of Sentinels in Andromeda, aren’t there?”
Lukas’s expression showed his shock and he stood up shaking his head, “They’ll launch everything they have at Andromeda. There will be no way Eden can avoid discovery!”
Chad gave a quick nod, “They will leave no stone unturned.”
Lukas sat down, “They may even call in help from other galaxies if they see how many Sentinels are there.”
Jinks looked at Stoney shaking his head and blew out a hard breath, “This is beyond frustrating.” Everyone looked at him. “We lose Earth to their first invasion and then kick their backsides during the second invasion. Now we’re at a technological advantage and where we can finally go after them in Monster One and discover there’s more of them than we knew…a lot more. This Pandora’s box just keeps spilling out all kinds of monsters and demons.”
Lukas looked at Jinks and lifted his wrist unit, “Chris, I need you in the conference room in Fleet Operations.”
“Lukas, I’m on my honeymoon.”
“I really hate calling you in but we’ve discovered some things that you’re going to have to decide on how to confront.”
“Me?”
“You are the overall commander. This is really scary stuff and we can’t delay deciding what to do.”
Chris looked at Allison who was listening to the call on the wrist unit’s speaker. She nodded, “We’ll finish it in space.” Chris shook his head and Allison smiled, “Chris, there are some views out there that make this pale in comparison.”
Chris looked out at the sun setting on a beach in Tahiti and knew she was right. “We’ll be there within the hour.”
“Thanks, Chris.” Lukas looked at the war leaders and nodded toward the door, “Let’s get something to eat. I suspect we’re going to be busy for a long time.”
• • •
Chris and Allison met them in the cafeteria and picked up a tray before sitting down. The four Senior Members of the Leadership Team congratulated them on their union and asked questions about all that had happened to bring them together. Before they finished, Salud, Sarah, Julie, Kathy, and Joey joined them. After another hour, they all stood and left for the conference room.
Lukas led the presentation bringing everyone up to date on what had been discovered and what they expected to happen once the Legends sent out scouts to Andromeda and the Milky Way. Lukas saw the fear on all the women’s faces. He knew what they were feeling. At the end, Lukas looked at Chris, “We’re at a loss on what we have to do to meet this threat. There’s no way we can build the numbers we’ll need to meet what they can throw at us.”
Chris stared at the star map for a long time in silence. The group watched him waiting and after ten minutes he looked around the table, “You’re presented a rather scary nightmare here.”
Lukas nodded, “I’ve thought that maybe w
e should pack up and move everyone on Eden to a planet in a very distant galaxy to prepare against the day when we could face them.”
Chris smiled and pointed at the star map, “How many galaxies would we be facing if we did that? Our entire future existence would be packing up and running like gypsies. Perhaps finding a distant planet to start a small colony would be an insurance plan to continue the species should we fail but running away from this will only make it worse.”
Lukas nodded, “I’ve seen that as well. But staying assumes there’s a possibility of success.”
Chris smiled and said, “I heard you talking to your friend Jack at your wedding. I had only recently become telepathic and I was curious about everything and I had absolutely no problem invading everyone’s thoughts.” Chris looked around the table, “Don’t worry. I’ve stopped that now that I’ve matured.” He looked back at Lukas, “You told him that Earth was Holy Ground for our species and that we would never…ever…allow it to become the property of another species. You promised him he would be buried with Mary and that we would never give up until we were back.” Lukas lowered his head. Chris shook his head, “If we run, I can assure everyone here that Earth will be settled by the enemies that killed all of us that were still on it.” The room grew silent, “And Jack’s and Mary’s graves along with all the other graves, will be desecrated when the new conquering species move in and dig them up to build on the land they’re on.” Chris looked back at the star map, “There are some things that are worth dying for to prevent.”
Julie smiled, “So defending Holy Ground is something that will be our goal in what’s going to happen?”
Chris looked at her, “It is.”
Jinks listened to Chris and sighed, “All righty then. How do we do it?”
Chris looked at him and smiled, “Jinks, I’ve wanted to be like you from the first time I met you.”
“What?”
“There is no subterfuge in you. You see a goal and go after it and to hell with the consequences. That is what we’re going to need to have the courage to do this. I’ll tell you how we’re going to do this, we’re not going to do it alone.”