by Mikayla Lane
“Are they happy here?” Haruki asked.
“Sift the energy. That’ll tell you everything you need to know. Beyond that, I’d be glad to show you some of the colonies the humans have built for themselves here. They are no different than any other citizen on our worlds,” Tryne explained as he poured two glasses of a pink liquid and handed one to Haruki.
Haruki looked at the glass as he took it and couldn’t help but smell the unique fruity fragrance of the liquid inside. Seeing his curious look, Tryne made a point of sipping his glass.
“It is made from the Carfala flower and is nothing more than a mild intoxicant. The humans say it is similar to wine on your world, with a little kick. We call it Scilian,” Tryne explained as he took another sip.
Haruki took a tentative taste and was surprised at the sweet flavor. He was taken aback moments later by the burn he felt in his stomach.
“It’s more like whiskey,” Haruki said, taking another sip.
“I’ve heard that comparison before,” Tryne admitted with a grin. “Now that we have travel to your world again, maybe you can send me some of that whiskey so I can try it.”
“Do you really need anything from our world?” Haruki couldn’t help but ask. “From what I’ve seen so far, your worlds far surpass ours in technology.”
“Honestly, no. We also can’t allow our technology into the hands of your world while the conversion is still occurring. We can trade Dranovian items, weapons of power and even medicinal plants used to enhance your abilities and focus your energy, but nothing that can be utilized by anyone other than a Dranovian,” Tryne explained as he poured himself another glass of pink liquid and topped off Haruki’s.
“So we get all the cool shit and all you guys get is our whiskey?” Haruki asked doubtful that was all they wanted.
“Don’t underestimate the healing power of basic things from home,” Tryne countered. “We would trade much to make them happy.”
Tryne gestured to the group of excited humans, and Haruki finally sifted the energy. He wasn’t surprised by the homesickness he felt among them but was floored by the overwhelming happiness and level of contentment.
“Why would you go through so much for people so unevolved?” Haruki asked, not sure if he believed all of this.
Tryne snorted and shook his head.
“Humans are an incredibly distrusting group. We’ve heard similar questions from everyone that has been brought to our worlds. The answer is the same and very simple. Some of them are beast, which makes them ours and the others we are duty bound to protect. It was our fault that Phaeton and Mars were destroyed and Terra thrown into chaos. It is our penance and obligation to care for those who’ve been sent to us and to help you protect what remains of Terra and its people,” Tryne explained as Haruki took a sip of his drink.
Haruki coughed and sputtered at the news and turned a horrified look to Tryne.
“What the hell do you mean it was your fault?” Haruki demanded.
Chapter Seventeen
Deanna looked around the room for Haruki and saw him standing with a very tall man who was obviously a Dranovian. The look on Haruki’s face worried her, and she quickly excused herself from the people she was talking to and moved across the room to his side. Deanna sighed in relief when he put his arm around her and pulled her to his side.
From the moment she’d seen him, Haruki had been able to immediately calm her fears and make her feel safe and protected. Although the look on his face said he wasn’t happy about something, his touch told her that everything was all right.
“As Dranovians, it was our duty to protect your worlds and their people. Instead, we bowed to the outrageous demands of an unstable and malevolent group who convinced others to join their cause. We all bear the shame of what happened and seek only to correct a wrong we were a part of,” Tryne explained before he poured a glass of Scilian for Deanna.
Haruki put his hand on top of Deanna’s glass before she could take a drink.
“It goes down real easy but burns like fire in your gut. Tryne says the other humans compare it to wine, but it’s got a serious bite,” he warned her, unsure how she felt about alcohol.
Deanna grimaced at the glass for a second then shrugged her shoulders.
“What the hell. When in Rome,” she said and downed the whole thing.
Tryne sputtered at what Deanna had done while Haruki looked around for a bucket or something in case she threw up.
Deanna’s stomach felt like it was being burned from the inside out and sweat popped out on her forehead as she tried to pant through the heat and fire consuming her. Suddenly someone pressed a cold glass into her hand, and she immediately drank the whole thing, desperate to calm the burn.
“Are you OK?” Haruki asked, holding her tightly to keep her on her feet.
Deanna’s vision cleared, the burning subsided, and she looked over at Tryne.
“How the hell can you drink that?” she gasped out, still catching her breath.
“It isn’t meant to be chugged in large quantities. I assumed Haruki’s warning would have been enough to dissuade you from doing such a thing,” Tryne replied, looking to Haruki.
“That isn’t going to do permanent damage is it?” Haruki asked, beginning to wonder if they should avoid any food or drink while they were here.
“Of course not,” Tryne said with a grin. “Depending on her tolerance for alcoholic beverages she will be anywhere from fine, to slightly dizzy, or she may pass out. All of which is temporary.”
“Oh hell,” Deanna mumbled as she almost melted into the floor.
Haruki caught her just in time and pulled her completely dead weight into his arms.
“She’s going for option three,” Tryne snorted. “Here, you can lay her down while I call for a doctor to reverse the symptoms.”
Haruki laid her on the couch that Tryne motioned to before turning his back to them, shielding them from the other humans in the room. Haruki looked down into her glazed and unfocused eyes and couldn’t help but grin at how cute she looked.
“Why did you do that?” he whispered with a shake of his head.
“This is all so . . . so unreal,” Deanna mumbled with a lopsided smile. “I just want to experience it all while I can before we have to go back forever.”
“That will be much easier for you than it will be for the others,” Tryne said as he handed her another cold glass of water.
“Why?” Haruki asked as he helped Deanna drink the water.
“She is the mate of a Dranovian and will be allowed to travel the portal. Only those humans not bound to a Dranovian from Terra can never return,” Tryne explained.
A tall woman with glittering green eyes walked up to them and bowed.
“I’m Dr. Sinavi Chatok. If you please, I will give her a herb that will immediately reverse the effects of the Scilian,” she offered.
“I’d like to take it first,” Haruki said, not sure if he trusted them yet.
“As you wish,” Dr. Chatok agreed with a smile.
She handed him a tiny purple leaf that barely covered the pad of his pinky finger.
“Just place it in your mouth, and it will dissolve on its own and reverse the symptoms as it melts,” Dr. Chatok explained.
Haruki studied it for a moment and even tried sifting its energy, but felt nothing malevolent or wrong with the leaf. Finally, he placed it on his tongue and was surprised at the effervescent feeling in his head before his senses seemed sharper than before he’d taken it.
“Wow, that beats any energy drink I’ve ever tried,” he said in surprise.
He nodded to Deanna to go ahead and take the leaf that the doctor was holding out to her.
Deanna didn’t try to sit up and just opened her mouth while the doctor placed the leaf on her tongue. Haruki watched her eyes grow wide for a moment before she sat up and stood.
“Oh, we really need more of that!” she commented as she flexed her fingers and wondered at the energy running through
her.
“How do you feel?” Dr. Chatok asked as she watched Deanna curiously.
“I feel fantastic. What is that stuff?” Deanna asked, wondering if they could bring bags of it home.
“The natural components of the plant are uniquely designed to erase any effects that are not usually present in the body. Taken on the tongue it accelerates the plant’s ability to reach the beast, where it helps to speed the recovery for you,” the doctor explained.
“So it works the same in humans?” Haruki asked, confused about how it worked so quickly in Deanna.
“No, it doesn’t work in humans at all,” Dr. Chatok said.
“Wait . . . I’m not human? What the hell am I?” Deanna whispered in horror as she grabbed Haruki’s hand.
Haruki glared at Tryne and the doctor, wondering why they’d given the antidote to Deanna if they didn’t know if she was human or not.
“I sense nothing in her,” he said, sifting Deanna’s energy again to make sure.
“Like most Terrans pulled through the portal, it’s there, but buried deep within the brain and dormant except when needed,” Dr. Chatok said with a gentle smile. “I would be happy to show it to you and give you a list of exercises she can use to bring it forward and bond.”
“What are they talking about? What’s in my brain? Am I dying?” Deanna whispered in a shaky voice.
Haruki rubbed a hand down his face in frustration. Of all the times to find out his mate is a hybrid, being on a strange world with potentially dangerous people wasn’t the best.
“You’re OK, baby. What she’s saying is that you’re a hybrid, like me. One or both of your parents are descendants of the original aliens to our world,” Haruki murmured to her. “There’s nothing wrong with you at all. I can explain it more to you later.”
Deanna shook her head and turned to the doctor.
“I want to see what you’re talking about. I want to know what it is. Why is it there? Why do you call it a beast?” Deanna demanded, afraid of what was in her brain and what it could do.
Haruki looked over at Tryne wondering if it was safe to leave Dog and Harry here alone while they went elsewhere to view the beast.
“I can assure you, there is no reason to fear for anyone’s safety. We are friends here,” Tryne assured him. “The medical center is two buildings away, and I’d be happy to turn on the security vids so you can watch the two in here the whole time.”
“Please . . .” Deanna whispered, her eyes pleading with Haruki to let her go. She had to know what was in her head.
“Give me a moment,” Haruki said before he walked over to Dog and Harry and whispered to them.
The three of them turned to Deanna and nodded their heads, as if they’d made a group decision, then Haruki returned to Deanna.
“We can go. I just wanted to let them know where we would be,” he assured Deanna as he held his arm out to her.
Deanna took it, and he followed the doctor out of the building, while Tryne walked beside them.
“You knew didn’t you?” Haruki asked Tryne.
“Yeah, we’ve gotten good at sensing them even though the energy is so deeply buried,” Tryne admitted.
“You didn’t think it worth telling me?” Haruki growled.
“I wasn’t sure if you knew or not and definitely didn’t expect her to quaff the Scilian the way she did,” Tryne admitted with a laugh.
Haruki wanted to be angry but was too concerned about the fear he felt coming from Deanna in waves.
“The only thing this means is that we will be able to bond more deeply and you’ll be able to speak telepathically with me,” Haruki assured her as he sent her waves of calming energy.
“You’re lying,” Deanna accused while her eyes begged him to be telling the truth.
“No, he’s not,” the doctor said with a smile as they entered a pristine white building made of the same white stone as the pyramids. “In fact, he’s downplaying the abilities you will have.”
“What?” Deanna asked in shock, looking to Haruki to see if Dr. Chatok was telling the truth.
“She’s right. There’s enhanced senses, telepathy, extended lifespan, increased healing and a lot of other benefits. There really isn’t a downside to this,” Haruki told her as they walked into a large room with two pillars in the center.
“I’ll take an interactive picture of your brain and put it on the walls around you so I can better explain what you’ll see,” Dr. Chatok said and gestured for Deanna to stand between the two pillars.
Deanna looked at Haruki in uncertainty before she pulled away from him and stood nervously between the pillars.
“Just stand still for a moment. Good, good,” Dr. Chatok said as her fingers tapped on one of the pillars. “There we are!”
Suddenly the walls lit up, and a clear picture of Deanna’s brain surrounded them. Haruki wished that one of his medic brothers had stayed behind to explain all this to them and make sure they weren’t being lied to.
“Oh,” Deanna whispered as she watched small fibers lighting up around them. “Is that really my brain?”
“Yes, it is,” Dr. Chatok confirmed. “You have perfect function and appear higher on the scale of usability than most.”
“What does that mean?” Deanna asked, unsure what to think.
“It means you use more of your brain than most of those we’ve seen come through the portal. That indicates your beast has been evolving and coming forward on its own,” Dr. Chatok explained.
“That’s a good thing,” Tryne added when he saw the frightened look on Deanna’s face.
“What is a beast? Is it a tumor? Why is it there?” Deanna asked, wishing she could stand beside Haruki and feel his comforting arm around her.
“A beast is a species of sentient beings that live in the brain of a host. It enhances the brain and allows you to communicate on a universal energy path known as the shengari’. It is highly intelligent and can speak to you in your mind just like a friend,” Haruki explained, not wanting her to fear what she was.
“Oh, my God,” Deanna whispered, spinning around in a circle to try and find the creature invading her brain. “Where is it? How did it get there? Why doesn’t it talk to me?”
Haruki sent her calming waves of energy while he moved over to her and took her hands in his.
“All hybrids have one. There’s nothing to fear. My own, Bacandi, has been my best friend for longer than I can remember. It will never harm you and will always protect you,” Haruki said, trying his best to calm her rising panic as she studied the images of her brain on the walls.
“You’re looking at it all wrong, like most of the humans we’ve had to explain this to,” Tryne interrupted. “You’re thinking a horrible parasite is feeding off of your brain like a monster in one of your Terran movies. The truth is, it’s like having a twin that was born in your brain instead of your mother’s womb. A sibling that always looks out for you and will never leave you.”
Deanna immediately imagined a small human fetus in her brain and felt sick to her stomach.
“I’m going to throw up,” Deanna warned as her stomach started to heave.
Dr. Chatok rushed to her and pressed something into Deanna’s arm before Haruki could ask what it was. Moments later, Deanna took a deep breath and felt calmer and in control.
“It was merely a herb to calm her accelerating fear,” the doctor said in answer to Haruki’s curious look. “Let me show you something, so you can understand better.”
The doctor moved to the left and stood by the wall under what appeared to be the center of Deanna’s brain. Dr. Chatok rubbed her hands together and pulled the image from the walls into the palm of her hands and moved to stand in front of Deanna.
“On Terra, your scientists know all about the outer part of the brain. The Hippocampus and visual cortex,” Dr. Chatok said as she pointed out the areas of the brain in her hand. “But, the inner brain is still a mystery to the Terrans, and it is here where we find the beast.”
“How do you know what the human doctors have discovered?” Haruki asked, curious if they’d somehow been monitoring Earth.
“Your Talunaha’s are able to connect to anything based on energy,” Tryne explained. “So when you created the internet, they were able to access it and send the data to us. We’ve also had a few Terran doctors come through the portal.”
“If the brain is cut down the middle like a Terran melon, there is an area the humans call the ‘dark energy of the brain.' It’s Terran name is the Posterior Cingulate Cortex, also known as the PCC,” Dr. Chatok explained as she split open the brain in her hand and pointed to a small oval area.
Deanna shivered when she saw the virtual brain surgery being performed in the doctor’s hand and Haruki gave her a comforting hug as Dr. Chatok continued her explanation.
“The only thing the humans have figured out so far is that this area of the brain consumes more energy than any other part, which is impressive since a human brain consumes a full 20 percent of the calories consumed,” Dr. Chatok said with a smile.
“Why is it dark energy? Where does the energy go?” Deanna asked, more fascinated than afraid now.
“We assume they call it dark because it’s in the deepest part of the brain and they have no idea what it does, but the energy goes to the beast. Let me show you,” Dr. Chatok said. “An average beast, not a Prime, cannot take over the host while the host is in control, only enhance their abilities. Watch this area of your brain while you count on your fingers.”
Deanna had looked at the bright area of her brain before she began counting silently, moving her fingers as she did. She gasped when that part of her brain went dark as she concentrated on counting.
“What happened?” Deanna asked, almost afraid to know.
“That’s her beast isn’t it?” Haruki asked in awe.
“It is her beast,” the doctor agreed with a smile. “The moment you begin a task, the beast relinquishes control, and you see it’s energy go dark. When the beast is in control, is when you see the area light up. It’s the beast making sure that the host is safe and flexing its abilities to prepare for its eventual release and bonding. Only in the Prime does the beast work in sync with the host at all times.”