by Julia Sexton
I was hoping for the same thing and 10% was a whole lot better than 100. I was still worried and it was possible that 10% would be quite destructive to my world. If that were to happen, then I would stand and fight with anyone that was willing to stand with me.
Chapter Eight
That whole evening, I had these vivid dreams about being with him and learning about his species. I wasn’t sure if it was real, or was imagined in my head. I just didn’t know. It felt like the real thing and his voice sounded like what he would sound like.
We were walking along this green lush field and then in an instant it turned into a desert like environment.
“It didn’t take long for our planet to suffer the consequences of our government’s inaction. We tried to plead our case, but it fell on deaf ears. Scientists were saying that it was just a hiccup and that eventually things would work themselves out.
I had no idea why they would say such a thing, except for the fact that they were making a power play. People believed what they were told. Those that didn’t kept their mother shut, in case they were taken to task. I myself even gathered some well known retired scientists that told me that things were going to get worse before they got better. I’d just come out of training to be a scientist myself and I was looking to make my mark.”
“I would say that your mark was already made from the moment that you looked around and knew that something had to be done. This is no way for children to live in bubbles and only allowed to come out with masks or to hold their breath for long enough to retrieve something from the outside.
I understand how important all of this is to you, Ash, but you have to realize that this whole thing is a little hard to get used to. I’m sure that there have been other alien races that came to our planet, but we really didn’t know anything about them.
It could be that our government has been keeping things under wrap. They probably think that we won’t be able to handle it, but we’re stronger than they give us credit for. We’ve persevered against deadly foes that had meant to do us harm.”
“If you’re talking about 911, I’m very well aware of what you humans are capable of doing to each other. It surprises me that you would fight over a silly thing like religion. It shouldn’t matter what somebody believes. You should all get along and allow each other to worship in your own private way.
We don’t believe in god, or at least not the god that you think of. We have a higher power, something that is passed down from generation to generation through the children. Once in a millennium, a man stands up for what he believes in and becomes somebody to be admired. It is that person that takes on the wisdom of the ages.”
It was fascinating to learn about his culture. Looking around, I could see that this place used to be an oasis onto itself.
“I don’t know how to ask this, so I’m just going to say it. It’s obvious to me that you could’ve fixed things before it got out of hand. Something could’ve been done, but it appears to me like nobody has lifted a finger.
They only started to do something when they realized that something was drastically wrong. Our planet has known for quite some time that our carbon footprint was destroying everything around us. Cross cutting trees have depleted our oxygen. When that happened, we began to take preventative measures.
Every tree that was cut, another one would be planted in its place. That way, the oxygen level would not drop significantly. We even commuted to cut down on the carbon in the atmosphere.”
“Stacy, I do see that you people are uniquely qualified to understand my plight. It really is too bad that we couldn’t work together. I’m glad that you and I can, but I don’t think that my people would be very appreciative of you getting involved in our business.”
I was looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and helping him to determine what we could do to mitigate the destruction to my planet.
“I thought that this was just going to be simple, but since our meeting, I have become quite aware of what kind of damage that we can do. I normally wouldn’t care, but you do and that’s all that matters to me.” This was another side of Ash. He was actually showing compassion for others. I thought that I saw an icy cold exterior, but there was a hot blooded man underneath all that.
“Ash, I don’t think I’ve had a dream like this in my life. I remember every detail and most often than not, when I wake up from a dream, all of it vanishes within seconds. I might be able to grab on to small tidbits, but nothing that would indicate 8 hours of complete blissful slumber.”
I wondered if in this world of a dreamscape that I might be able to manipulate my surroundings. I began to think about certain things that I could change and nothing happened. It could only mean that I was living through his memories.
“Stacy, when you wake up, we’ll go down to my lab and go over some of the soil samples that I have collected over the last little while. It shouldn’t take all that much to put your planet through a simulator. I’ll be able to verify what taking 10% of your nutrients will do.” I was a little worried. It was not a good idea for something like this to happen to a planet that was struggling with its own problems.
“Ash, if we do find something wrong, are you going to be able to fix it? I know that it’s asking a lot, but I think that since we’re giving you 10% that you should at least make sure that there won’t be any undue side effects. What exactly is the procedure for something like this?” I figured that if I didn’t know that it would be best to find out. I just wasn’t sure he was going to be honest with me or try to skirt the issue by changing the subject.
I touched his broad shoulders and the way that it tapered over his form made him look all that much more pleasing to the eye. I’d already taken matters into my own hands, but I was curious to see what it would feel like to sleep with him. I wasn’t quite there, but I was rapidly approaching that moment where I would have to decide what I was going to do.
“I have given that some thought and if there are problems, I might be able to solve them. I hope that it doesn’t come down to that, because using that device can be tricky at best. I would essentially give back those nutrients that were taken. It will be a placebo, something that mimics those elements, but not exactly the same. That might be enough to stop any of these unseen side effects that you speak of.”
The Emerald water that my feet were now touching felt almost lifelike. The cold was quite alarming and I could feel Goosebumps begin to appear on my skin.
Out of nowhere, a blanket was thrown over my shoulders. I looked back to see that he was acting like a man and not a Neanderthal. He was a caveman after his own pleasure. It was seeing this compassionate side that made the idea of being with him more palatable.
“Your world was something to marvel at back in the day. When you started to drill into the core, it was then that you started to destroy something that had stood up to the test of time. Before you went drilling into the core, your planet was in abundance of everything that it needed to survive.
Once you started going after the source of all that, it became obvious in a hurry that the greed of others had cost you a future that could’ve been bright. Perhaps, it still can be, but that is yet to be determined.”
I didn’t even realize that I was tracing the muscles on his back with my fingers. I was grazing my fingertips down over his spine and then to the small of his back.
I put my hands down into the waistband and I felt those hard pear-shaped globes. I gave them a healthy squeeze to remind me of what I was missing out on. I’ve never been with a man like Ash.
Maybe I was fighting this a little bit too much. Maybe it would be best to give in and let him ravage my body, until I had no energy left to lift my own head from the pillows. He could take this rubenesque body and show it the love that it deserved.
My human instincts were telling me that it would be best that I make tracks, as soon as possible. I couldn’t deny those feelings, because they had served me well through my life up to this point. If I were
to ignore them now, it might be detrimental to my own health.
I decided that escaping was paramount. It had to happen and I had to do it when he was resting that 1 hour. It wouldn’t give me a whole lot of time to find a way to escape, but at least I had that small window to work with.
“I’m going to wake up now and you can stay asleep for as long as you want to. I’m going to go downstairs and make breakfast and hopefully I’ll have it up here and in your hands before you even contemplate opening your eyes.”
His image vanished slowly like a ghost that was haunting my very dreams. He became almost translucent and then his smile faded, until there was just a whiff of air from where he had been standing. It swirled around me and I felt totally powerless, as it made my body tingle from the top of my head all the way down to my toes. Whatever he was doing was causing my body to react in unpredictable ways.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, Ash…but don’t stop.”
I allowed that whisper of air to caress my skin and to ignite the small flame that he had already caused by his presence. That flame was out of control and it wouldn’t be long before it was a full blown blaze that could only be taken care of by somebody’s big hose.
I thought for a moment that I would come out of this dreamscape, but instead I stayed exactly where I was. I saw his family and the way that they doted on him, as the only firstborn son.
I watched him progress from a little boy to a man. He had aspirations to be the head scientist and his parents had decided to back him 100%. They died shortly before he became a scientist.
Unfortunately, not more than a year later he began to see that his planet was dying. He proposed a simple act of reusing the energy and elements that they had already used. They scoffed at his idea and instead decided to rape another planet of what it needed to survive.
I watched him almost beg on bended knee to reconsider. He said that there’d be no way for any planet to survive something like that. At least he had found an alternative by mentioning only 10%. If he were to allow them to go after 100%, then there would be nothing left for my planet. We would die off slowly, suffocating on toxic fumes that were left behind after the extraction of those elements.
Chapter Nine
I awoke to feeling completely rejuvenated like never before. I was thinking clearly and it was like my entire body had been given a vitamin B shot right to where it needed it the most.
I heard footsteps and looked up to see the door swing open. Ash came in with a tray of goodies that looked too good to pass up. I had to say that this guy was full of surprises. He lowered the tray and put it in front of me. I began to devour each and every thing that was on my plate.
“You’re going to have to slow down or you might choke.”
I wasn’t sure if I could, because everything here was, so delicious that it was hard not to try just about everything. The pancakes were fluffy and the French toast was nicely done with maple syrup adorning the top. There were fresh strawberries and a medley of other fruits that were the perfect palate cleanser after a warm meal that consisted of bacon and eggs, not to mention a spicy sauce that danced on my tongue.
“I’m glad that you like it, but maybe you should slow down and chew your food.”
I was famished and even though I felt alive and alert, didn’t mean that I wasn’t feeling a certain hunger.
“I should have warned you about what happens when I go after somebody in their mind. Usually I do that as a last resort in battle, but you were willing to allow me to help you. That shows me that you are able to bend and listen to reason.”
“Ash, before you ask, I think that I will need a little bit more time. We still have 1 ½ days left before you are unable to control your animalistic urges. I’m not quite sure if I’m ready to succumb. I will say that you’ve gone above and beyond to show me that you’re not the kind of man that I thought you were. I’ve always seen you as domineering, but underneath it all, you have this softer side that makes me think that there might be something for us.”
He was smiling and then he lay down beside me and helped me finish off that wonderful breakfast. It was more like a brunch.
“Like I told you before, Stacy, I like to cook, but I love seeing somebody eating what I have created with my own two hands.”
I felt like there was a shift and that things were slowly changing, so that we might be able to see this through to the end.
We finished up breakfast and then he lay there and closed his eyes. I nudged him several times. After 10 minutes I noticed that his breathing was getting heavier. It could only mean that he was into his 1 hour of rest. It only gave me about 50 minutes to formulate some kind of plan of escape.
I found the key attached to his waist and I was able to relieve him of it. Once I did that, I made my way over to the door and opened it, while turning the key to turn off the force field that was keeping me from going anywhere. I walked down the path and away from the house, looking towards the dock and the possibility of leaving this place in my rearview mirror.
I moved quickly, because I knew time was of the essence. If I was wrong, I’m not sure that he could forgive me for my actions. He would want something, as a pound of flesh.
I found the dock and it was lacking any conveyance to make my way across the water. There was no dingy or rowboat, which confirmed to me that he had another way of getting from here to there. It must have had something to do with his abilities and I was curious to know what that might entail.
I stood there looking at the water and I was contemplating swimming, but then I began to realize that I wasn’t even sure I wanted to leave. Maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t find a life raft or anything that was able to float across the water to the other side.
If I had, I probably would’ve done it without even thinking about it. This way, I could look at all the pros and cons. I began to see that not everything that I believed of Ash was the truth. He was gruff and a little mean spirited, but if I looked deeper, I could find the caring and compassionate side just hiding and out of reach.
I went back to the mansion, going through the doors and a little bit surprised to see that he didn’t come down to greet me. I looked at my watch and I found that only about 45 minutes had elapsed. I was able to make the entire circuit around this small island and was back well before he was going to come out of whatever sleep cycle he was in.
I went to look into his library and began to take books down, until I found something of alien origin. It showed plans for what they would do to siphon my planet dry.
I tried to go downstairs to look at the lab, but it appeared that it was off limits. He said that he would need me and I secretly loved that I was instrumental in his plans. It made it easier to submit to his whims. I’d never met a man with a forceful, yet compassionate side to himself. It’s usually one way or the other.
I’d tried to find a way off the island. I suppose I could’ve swam, but I had no idea what kind of choppy conditions I would find myself in. I didn’t know if there were sharks. Frankly I had no idea where I was to begin with. I passed out two times and we could’ve been on the other side of the world for all I knew.
“I can see that you are anxious to get started.” When I looked up, I was surprised to see that he was in a suit. It was completely black and he had a white shirt on that had the first couple of buttons undone. His hair was perfectly coifed. It looked like he was ready to get down to business.
“Stacy, I think that having you as my assistant will make things go more smoothly and quicker than normal. I have a communication with my world in exactly 5 hours. I just realized that I did not answer your question.”
“What question was that? There were so many of them that I was getting a little bit of a headache to try to figure out all of them.
“You asked about the process to take what is essentially a transfusion from your world to mine. It is a beam of light that is able to cut through just about anything. It has already been calibrated and once
it is given the go ahead, it will fire into the crust of this planet. Nobody will be able to see it, because it is invisible to the naked eye. If a plane or wildlife were to cross over the beam, they would be instantly incinerated. We’ll see it here, because I found that this is the exact spot where the soil is richest. That is precisely the reason why I made this island my home. It was not because I wanted to be isolated. It was just a happy coincidence.”
He closed his eyes and the door opened to the lab downstairs.
“You’re going to have to stop doing that.” He was grinning and I could tell that his powers were something that he was getting a good handle on.
“It’s a little disconcerting to see you so high and mighty and able to do things that no normal human can do. I’m glad that you do have these powers, because without them, I don’t think that I would have survived the fall from the top of the house.”
He was already going down concrete stairs and the lab consisted of a grey floor that was completely barren. There were machines and I didn’t even know what to call them.
As he was walking towards them, they began to take on a life of their own. For the next 5 hours, we worked hand in hand and even though I had no idea what I was looking at, I could see the concern on Ash’s face.
“Stacy, there is no easy way to tell you this. This is not 100% accurate, but it’s at least 75% and that should be more than enough to make you, as worried as I am. Move a little closer and I’ll tell you what I mean by that.”
He showed me these graphs and waves and he explained them in the simplest terms possible. By the time that he was done, I was reasonably sure that I had a pretty good idea of what he was referring to.
“If they go through with this and take 10%, then it’s very possible that it will cause at least one earthquake on the other side of the world, two volcanoes to go off simultaneously and several sinkholes to appear out of nowhere. I suppose it could be worse, but now we have to find out if those places that you say that these things are going to occur are inhabited.”