Severine nodded and they continued on, Rilex letting the light of the torch run across the walls as they went so that he could find any small chambers that might lead off of the tunnel. They had gone on for a few moments when he saw a dip in the wall and paused. Gesturing for Severine to stay where she was, Rilex took the several steps needed to bring him to the doorway and leaned in with the torch. He didn’t see anything and stepped further inside. The light from the flame of the torch washed across a bare dirt floor and curved dirt walls. This stood apart from the other chambers where they had been that had a smooth stone floor and walls that made them feel much more like true rooms and not just dugout sections of the ground. When he was confident that there was nothing in the room that would pose a danger to them, he stepped back out into the corridor and gestured for Severine to come with him.
Rilex tucked the torch into the dirt so that it stood independently and helped Severine spread a blanket out onto the ground so that she could settle onto it with the baby. He watched as she carefully untied the cloth from around her waist and over her shoulders, rested her hand on his back, and eased him away from her so that she could lay him down on the blanket. Rilex wished that she would give the tiny child a name. He knew that it was something that was still somewhat foreign to her. Even though she had known that she and the other hybrids didn’t have names and had felt that there was something missing about them because of it, and though she now had a name that was carefully selected for her, it still wasn’t something that she fully understood. When she looked at the baby, she thought more about the mother that he had lost in the first moment of his life and the care that she was going to need to give him to ensure he stayed safe even in the difficult world into which he was born. Though he could see the affection in her eyes, he knew that she hadn’t yet come to the place in her thoughts where she understood the value of naming the baby. Perhaps she had. Perhaps she felt that naming him would give her an even stronger connection to him, would make their relationship somehow more real, and she didn’t feel ready to accept that. For someone whose entire life had been defined by pain, heartache, and loss, the thought of building a strong link with not just one, but two people in such a short time would seem overwhelming to her. Bonding with Rilex was one thing. She knew that he was an adult and that the relationship that they had was by their choice. He loved her and was capable of declaring that love for her and making the decision to remain with her no matter what situation they were facing, or the life that they might have to build together.
The baby was different. This was a newborn child who did not truly belong to her. She had claimed him in a moment of desperate protectiveness without thinking about the potential consequences. In her mind, she was the one who was best suited to caring for the baby after his birth mother died. After all, she had been assigned to the nursery in the breeding facility and had been tasked with caring for the hybrid babies when they were born. Rilex wondered if it was now settling into her mind that she didn’t have any real right to take the baby with her when she left the ship and that there might have been other arrangements that should have been made for the child. Though there was no father who could have taken him, one of the other human women might have had further claim to him than Severine did. Rilex didn’t think that that was what was really bothering Severine, though. He knew enough of her by now to know that it wouldn’t matter as much to her if someone else thought that they had more claim on the baby than she did because of the emotional turmoil that it might cause to that person to see him taken from them. Instead, she worried about herself and the impact that it would have to have him taken from her. She already loved this baby and she couldn’t bear the thought of acknowledging their bond more than she already had and then having him taken from her.
Her hands moved swiftly but gently as she changed the baby and then brought him back up to cradle him as she reached back into her bag and pull out the bottle that she had made for him. Rilex watched as she mixed the various components of the formula that she had created and nestled the rubber nipple into the baby’s mouth. The tiny child immediately calmed as he drank and soon Rilex saw his eyes relax and close. He drank deeply for a few more seconds and then fall into a quiet sleep. Severine looked down at him, stroking his cheek as she tenderly rocked him. The baby continued to take sips occasionally, but his face was peaceful and his body soft and trusting in Severine’s arms. Finally, she looked up at Rilex.
“Could you hold him for just a minute?” she asked.
There was tense, tight emotion in her voice and he didn’t want to push her. He reached his arms toward her and Severine rested the baby into them. He pulled him closer and cradled him so that his head rested in the crook of his elbow. The tiny child let out a sigh and snuggled into him, and Rilex felt his heart swell.
“Severine, I was telling you the truth when I said that this baby has a family. He has a mother in you and a father in me. I believed it when I said it then, and I believe it now. It doesn’t matter what else is going on. That will pass. This will all end and we will have a life ahead of us. We will pass that life together and he will be with us.”
“Will we?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Who was that body, Rilex?” she asked. “Who died down here?”
“I don’t know,” he answered.
“You said that it had something to do with your origin and why you ended up on Earth.”
“Yes,” he said. “It does, but I only know that because of the book that I found it holding. I don’t know who it was or why it had the book. I don’t even know when it died or how, except that it has been many years. I can tell you that I think that it was a man.”
“And he was holding the book?” Severine asked.
Rilex nodded.
“Yes. He was lying on his stomach and his arms were tucked under him, so it looked like he was holding the book to his chest. I think he knew that he was dying and didn’t have any chance that he was going to get out of the tunnels, so he wanted to do whatever he could to protect the book. He didn’t want anybody to get their hands on it.”
“Why?” Severine asked. “What could happen if someone found it? Who is it that they don’t want to find it?”
He knew that she was trying her best to pull the information that she wanted from him, but he couldn’t reveal it. This wasn’t the time. They had enough to think about and enough that they needed to overcome. They didn’t need something else hanging over them, especially something that he didn’t know how it connected with this planet or the war that was building above them, if it connected at all. He knew that there would be a time eventually when he needed to explain it all to her, but for now he would continue to hold it within him. Even as he thought this, though, he couldn’t get his mind off of the skeleton that lay alone in the room deeper in the bunker. He wished that he knew who the man was and what had brought him into the tunnels. His presence there proved to Rilex what he had questioned when he first followed Severine down into the chamber where they first hid. Ryan couldn’t have designed and built these tunnels. That man had been lying there for at least one hundred years if Rilex had interpreted the condition of his clothing correctly, which was decades before Ryan was even born. It was far more likely that these had been in place when the prison colony run by the Valdicians was in operation, well before the Nyx 23 crew came and were then sent to Uoria. That meant that Ryan was either told about them or found them on his own and decided to use them for his army. As much as Rilex wanted to know who the man was, who was now lying on the ground, protecting the book with his last breaths, he also wanted to know who had created these bunkers and what that meant for the man who had died in them. Had he known why they were created and that was why he came down here? Had he been on the planet for another reason and discovered the tunnels accidentally, but then wasn’t able to find his way out? Or had he been found when he was on the planet and forced down into the bunkers for the purpose of ensuring that
he would die down there and never be found?
Now that they had found the man, Rilex wondered what they should do about him. He felt strange leaving him lying there, especially after taking the book that he had been holding, but he didn’t know what other choice he had. He, Severine, and the baby needed to get through the tunnels and back to the ship, and he couldn’t put additional stress on them by trying to transport the body with them. It would be better to leave him where he was and return for him when he had a better chance to investigate him thoroughly and try to find out who he was and what he might be doing there.
Chapter Five
Maxim took the papers that he had found in the office and laid them out so that Avery could look at them with him. Until then he hadn’t thought that the human pilot would have anything of interest or value to add to his investigation and understanding of the papers. He hadn’t been involved in the conflict until they found him in the panic room within the ship and didn’t have all of the details that the rest of them did. Now, though, he realized that it was that very characteristic that made Avery valuable. He didn’t have the closely focused perspective that those from Uoria had about the situation. While they were focused on everything that Ryan had done and the painful impact that his actions had had on them then and that he continued to have on them with every passing moment, Avery only knew the facts about the crew and Penthos that he had learned throughout his life, and the information that they had told him. This took the emotion out of it for him so that he was better able to see the details and intricacies that they overlooked. If it hadn’t been for him, Maxim may never have heard the name Martin Roe, and while he still didn’t know the significance of that name, he knew that he would and that it meant something.
As they crouched by the papers, Maxim noticed Avery rubbing around one of his fingers as if there was something that was missing from it. Avery noticed that Maxim was watching him and let his fingers fall away from his other hand.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m used to having a wedding band there.”
Maxim wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t understand the significance of the statement. While the Mikana used many of the same terms as the humans to describe their relationships, they didn’t have wedding bands. He didn’t know what it would mean that Avery usually had one but didn’t now.
“Did you lose it?” Maxim asked, unsure of what else he was supposed to say.
Avery shook his head.
“Not exactly. My wife and I got divorced. It was a couple of years ago, so I should be used to it by now, but I always used to spin my ring around when I was thinking hard about something. I guess it was just habit, because I still do it. “
“Divorced?” Maxim asked.
Avery looked at him quizzically.
“Your kind doesn’t have divorce, I’m guessing?” he asked.
Maxim shook his head.
“I haven’t heard the term.”
“It means that we ended our marriage,” Avery said, a hint of regret in his voice.
“We can do that,” Maxim said. “It doesn’t happen very often, admittedly.”
Avery nodded, a distant look in his eyes.
“That must be nice,” he said. “I never thought that I was going to be one of those people who get divorced. I always thought that there must be something wrong with them or that they weren’t good at being in a relationship. Maybe they were selfish and self-centered and didn’t know how to take care of a marriage, or maybe Sarah and I were just so much more in love than any of them ever were so there was no way that we were going to just stop loving each other and get divorced.” He let out a laugh that sounded as though he were completely disbelieving of his own misled thoughts as much as he was trying to connect with Maxim through sharing the situation. “Of course, then I did become one of those people. And you know what I figured out?”
“What?” Maxim asked.
“That those people aren’t any different than any other people. These are the same people who love their spouses as much as I loved Sarah when we got married, and think that they are going to be better at being married, and will nurture their marriages, and will love each other so much that there will be nothing that will take them apart. There is no difference between people who get divorced and people who don’t. The ones who don’t just happen to have found a relationship that will work while those who get divorced didn’t.”
“I guess it’s a good thing that you learned that,” Maxim said.
Avery nodded with long sigh.
“It’s the one good thing that came out of it,” he said with another laugh. “I have to admit, though, there are a lot of times when I really miss being married. It’s not so much that I miss her. Everything that happened was enough to make it so that I never wanted to be with her again. But we’ve come to a point where we are fairly comfortable with each other. It’s been long enough that we aren’t really angry with each other anymore and can even have a conversation that is almost pleasant. That’s really nice.”
“But you want somebody at home with you,” Maxim said.
Avery nodded and reached forward to shuffle through the papers on the floor between them as if he were starting to feel uncomfortable with the conversation.
“I’m away a lot because of my job, of course. There are months at a time when I’m only on Earth long enough to go home, take a shower, and repack my bags, but then once I’m done with those tours, I have a month or two when I’m only working for a few days for short trips, or even completely off. It would be nice not to have to go home to a totally empty house. I have some friends and all, but that doesn’t replace a wife. I guess I can’t really expect many women to be interested in a husband that misses a good chunk of the year while he’s piloting a leisure ship.”
“You never know who you might meet,” Maxim said.
His mind immediately went to Ivy and his longing for her became more intense. He had never expected her. Before the Denynso arrived at the Mikana kingdom and brought the men back to the human settlement, he never thought about having a partner. He was dedicated to training to be in the army and to watching over his mother to make sure that she was coping without his father. While other men his age were starting to find their wives and thinking about the families that they were going to build with them, it wasn’t something that was a priority to him. Then he saw her and everything changed. In that first moment that he saw Ivy, a feeling came over him that was totally different than anything that he had ever experienced. It wasn’t just that he found her beautiful or that he was intrigued by this young human woman who had just recently arrived from Earth to assist with scientific research on Uoria. Instead, he felt a draw to her that was both undeniable and indescribable. It was as if in that very first second that his eyes landed on her, his heart knew that it was meant to love her, that she was there his entire life and he had just had to find her.
“Are you married?” Avery asked.
Maxim shook his head.
“No,” he said. “We aren’t married, but I have a partner. You met her. Ivy.”
Avery nodded.
“Yes,” he said, seeming to remember the brief introduction that Maxim had given him to Ivy after they found the men in the panic room. “I remember her. I’m sorry that she went back to Uoria. I know that you would rather have her here.”
Maxim nodded.
“I would,” he said. “But she needs to be there. She needs to be safe. One day, when this is all over and everything has become peaceful again, I plan on marrying her and having our life together. We’ve been preparing for war nearly since we met, and though I wouldn’t give up even a second of the time that we have had together, I’d like to know what it’s like to just live. I want to be able to decide where we’re going to settle down and then just have a normal life together. I want to be able to go to sleep with her not being afraid of what might happen in the middle of the night or what we might have to do the next day. It might not seem like much, but it’s everythi
ng to me.”
He saw Avery hesitate slightly as if he had something on his mind and then the human pilot looked up at him.
“Can I ask you something?” Avery asked. “It’s something that I probably should have asked you when I first met you, but there never seemed to be an appropriate moment.”
Maxim glanced over his shoulder to where Lynx, Zyyr, and Lila were sitting in the corner. They all had expressions on their faces that told Maxim that they were feeling the same sense of wariness about the question that he was. They had shared his hesitation at including Avery, but hadn’t questioned him when he agreed to make the man a part of it. He knew that he had to be cautious with the way that he approached Avery’s questions so that he could balance making sure that he remained involved effectively and that the rest of the group stayed comfortable.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, looking back at Avery.
“I know that the ship got redirected by people you are calling Valdicians when it was meant to go to Earth.”
“Yes,” Maxim said. “We were supposed to be going to Earth to join others who are already there, the ones who should be here soon.”
Avery nodded.
“Why?” he asked.
It was a simple question, but one that held heavy meaning. Maxim knew that they had been vague about what they were facing and had given only the most basic of information so that the human men from the crew could understand at least some of what was happening. They had chosen not to give details and to avoid describing what was happening both on Earth and back on Uoria, and now Avery wanted to know more. Maxim knew that they had come to a crossroads. This man had already offered his loyalty to them twice and had already faced serious danger without even knowing what he was doing or why. He remembered what it was like when Creia admitted that he had kept so much vital information from his own people, not revealing the true origins of their compound or even that he knew that the Klimnu who were their most hated enemies had once been Mikana and that they had vowed their revenge on him and his kind because he had refused to help them when they mutated. He knew the feeling of betrayal and pain that came from finding out that his father was still alive and that he had spent his entire life agonizing over the moment that he left home for the final time. It was painful for everyone involved to discover that they had been kept in the dark, especially after they had already been fighting. If Avery was going to put himself in danger and give of himself to help them, he deserved to know why.
The Alien's Lair (Uoria Mates IV Book 9) Page 3