Day Into Night

by C. L. Quinn

  It was up to him, a failure in life; a heavy drinking motorcyclist from the desert southwest who’s greatest achievement before being drafted with the earth warriors last year was inadvertently killing his fiancée and unborn child.

  Who the fuck made that decision?

  He couldn’t let this happen, so he drew from within, pulled from every corner of the world, reached into the sky to new airborne powers he’d never had before, focused deep into the bowels of this world, sucked every molecule of magics that rode through rock and flesh, and balled it all, turned it into a force to seal the rip in the earth that threatened to tear itself apart.

  How he’d been chosen didn’t matter now, all that did was that he was the chosen one to wield magics beyond his understanding to fix this geographic event.

  The building magics carried power that he alone could not contain and he realized quickly that while he drew the powers, the magics, together, he was not the conduit that carried them, but the thing that focused the power and guided it to where it was needed, sent it to where it belonged to accomplish this feat of protection.

  Will wondered how his body could do what it did as the force of the magics, the heavy air, the fire and brimstone walls of stone around him, drove him to his knees.

  Was his head on fire? It felt like it was. At one moment, Will was sure his eyeballs were melting, and then his skin, but he kept pushing the magics, kept feeding them in, kept guiding them. Minutes passed…no, hours, trapped against the rock floor, every muscle spasming, his knees ached, and that was the least of it.

  A roar had set up above him that rocketed off the walls from each side except below, and at its peak, sent shrieks through his ears, deafness assured, but it never came.

  Finally, when, he did not know, Will collapsed like an airless balloon onto the jagged stone floor, grateful for lost consciousness. If he was done, he was done, and it would be okay.

  Will did not wake.

  Anxious, far above, Eras and Burra waited through sounds and heat that shot from the fissure so nasty, so extreme, they’d had to move back and take cover under a heavy rock ledge. Hands over ears, eyes closed, they knew they couldn’t even imagine what Will was going through.

  Eras believed that what Will was doing couldn’t be survivable, and at the same time, remembered the things they’d all accomplished last year in Yellowstone.

  It was a new world they inhabited now, with magic beyond anything they’d ever known or ever heard about.

  Collapsed against a boulder, cold on the side that faced the opening of the cave, hot on the side that faced the fissure, the two men sat wordlessly waiting for Will’s voice in their earpieces. Eras thought that there was no way the earpiece would function, given the conditions in the hole, but he still hoped like hell he was wrong. Burra expected it to work, because he wanted so badly to trust in the process and the magics. Both just prayed that Will would get back out safely, and that what he’d gone down to do, would work.

  Every few minutes their eyes drifted back to each other’s in solidarity and hope. Finally, after what felt like hours and was probably only one, the desperately hoped-for bing announced the earpiece’s engagement.

  “Gentlemen, help a brother out. World safe again. For now.”

  Relief and gratitude surged as they pushed off the ground, stiff from sitting so long wrapped in polartex, and carefully made their way to the opening of the fissure.

  “I’m going to begin to spin a web of magics from this side. Honestly, guys, I’m so exhausted, I don’t even know if I have the strength, but I have to try. I passed out, how long ago I don’t know, and that seemed to help. Once you feel the magics rise, all you need to do is tap into them and feed your own magic into the web. If it goes well, I should be pulled through the web and back up the tunnel, defying gravity. Ready?”

  “Ready,” Eras agreed once Burra nodded that he was too.

  Faces over the edge, scalding heat blowing against them, Eras and Burra maintained their positions, and when, ten or so minutes later, they felt the bizarre movement of magic curling away from the opening, they knew what to do and how to do it. Eyes closed, both reached into the spiritual realm and pulled their own magics forth, tying them in with the framework of earth magic that Will commandeered. At the top of the tunnel, Eras and Burra supported the webbed magics that held and lifted Will up from below. There was relief when Will finally came near the mouth of the tunnel and the two grabbed his hands to pull him from the ladderless chasm dropping into what seemed like a bottomless pit. They all tumbled, crashing hard onto the ground, laughing. Will righted himself first and stared at the two men who’d saved his life by bringing him back from hell.

  “Brothers,” he whispered, the volume low, the best his scorched throat could produce.

  “Brother,” Eras and Burra said simultaneously.

  Burra clapped his hands together. “Booze, pizza, and endless junk food tonight, right?”

  “Anything you want. My treat. Heroes don’t buy.” Eras stood and held out a hand to Will, who stumbled getting on his feet, but once up, stayed steady.

  “I’ll take you up on that, guys. I may be a hero of the earth, but no one’s said anything about a payday.”

  “Aw, what you do is its own reward.”

  “Still gotta eat. Gotta be able to buy gas…”

  For the first time, Will wondered what had happened to his Harley.

  “I’ve got your back, Will. We’re in this together, and the children of the moon are financially sound, so anything you need for living expenses, just let me know.”

  “Eras…”

  “Whatever you’re going to say, bullshit. You’ve taken the hit for the rest of us, let us take care of you.”

  Will wasn’t accustomed to this kind of family, to being part of a whole, and while the past year had been leading him from his solitary life toward this kind of communion, he still didn’t know what to say.

  Sliding a hand behind his neck, Eras gave him a little shake. “Just say thank you.”

  The words didn’t come easily, but it seemed the right thing to do, so, swallowing, he looked into Eras’s eyes.

  “Thank you.”

  “Good. Shit, guys, is it getting hotter in here? I’m suddenly feeling like I’m smoked salmon.”

  Moving back to the opening, Will glanced down.

  “The captured heat is feeding back up into the cave. You’re right, shortly it should feel like summer in Vegas.”

  “Oh, shit, and me without my shorts and swimmies. Let’s take this party back to Farscape Base and get hammered. I think we all deserve it.”

  “That’s the first good thing I’ve heard since you called and said, ‘Hey, Bear, wanna go to Antarctica?’”

  Thirteen

  TWO MONTHS LATER

  Covered in mud, Burra struggled, but finally succeeded in pulling the rope free.

  “Fuck. Done.”

  Will and Eras had been lowered beneath a waterfall in Austria to repair damage to a mountain caused by a fallen satellite. The water had been feeding back into a valley and would have destroyed thousands of acres of grasslands where hundreds of species of animals had been re-introduced only twenty years earlier.

  All three looked like they were covered in chocolate, tired, hungry, filthy, and hot, they looked at each other, and then, at once, jumped the fifty feet into the water below where the waterfall now flowed again.

  Once down in the calmer part of the river, the men peeled their clothing off as they pitched everything up onto a pebbled shore.

  Ripped, naked men rinsing off in the water, laughing, shoving each other beneath the surface, drew the attention of a group of four young women on a narrow lane above them. Burra saw them first.

  “Oh, look lads, we’ve got admirers.”

  “Have at it, Big Bear. I’m taken, of course.” Eras watched Will treading water. “Are you ready for some female companionship? You’ve earned it.”

  “Naw. I’m good. Burra, we’re
here to monitor the repair for two days, go ahead.”

  “Think I will.”

  Burra waded from the water, the drips cascading off his hairy powerful chest and thighs. Two of the women looked at their companions, and then headed toward him as he reached down for his pants and slowly slid them on to make sure they saw all his charms.

  Eras lowered his head back into the water to rinse his hair. “Still pining.”

  “Always will. Have you heard from your sister recently?”

  “Bridge? No. Sadly, we often go up to a year before we check in. Time just flies and we’re all so busy now. It just gets away from us. I know she’s still in Vegas.”

  “Huh. It seems that she and Olivia must have gotten along well.”

  “I think so. She’s living in Olivia’s building.”

  “I miss them both, every moment of every day.”

  “You should go see them.”

  “Someday, yeah. It’s not time yet.”

  “I guess you’ll know. Anyway, let’s get cleaned up and get some food. This is hungry work.”

  In Serenity Tower

  Jasper gurgled and made a sound like a laugh.

  Brigitte picked him up and looked into his huge blue eyes. “He’s laughing at me. He knows I’m a newbie at this baby thing.”

  Coming into the room, Olivia gently nudged Geraldo aside. The dog was obsessed with her son.

  “Then he’s laughing at both of us. I know less than you do.” She tickled him on the cheek. “Yet I think between us, we’re doing an incredible job.”

  “I agree. Lucky for us, he’s first blood and we’d have a tough time breaking him.”

  “Luckily.” She noticed that Brigitte wore a sexy satin dress and high heels. “Are you on your way to see Russell?”

  “I think so. He’s taking me to dinner, and I kind of miss his goofy smile. Plus, for human, he’s not bad in bed.”

  “Oh, no details.”

  “I know I promised.”

  “Have a good night.”

  “I think I will. I’ll be in before daylight.”

  “Does he have a secure room?”

  “Yeah, but I prefer to be at home.”

  Olivia nodded. Neither commented on the fact that Brigitte considered this home now. It had been odd how they’d bonded over Will’s son, and now, Olivia couldn’t imagine her life without Brigitte. Between Corri and Brigitte, the boy had the best godmothers in the world.

  And while Brigitte had found someone to enjoy, had gotten back to sex, blood, and romance, Olivia hadn’t been interested yet.

  Following Jasper’s birth three weeks ago, she’d thought that might change, but it hadn’t. She still missed Will as much as she ever had.

  Besides, she’d been extremely tired since the mid-part of the pregnancy, which Park had told her was natural.

  “Growing a first blood baby saps your own magical strength and can leave you weak for even a month after delivery. I found that out with baby number two. It will right itself with time. Just enjoy your son.”

  Now, tonight, she would feed him, use the FP to make a nice dinner, eat in her room and watch a nice sci-fi show, no romance, and fall asleep. Jasper lay in his lace bassinette, already snoozing.

  Quiet nights had become a favorite, post-pregnancy, the old partying Olivia happy to just relax and enjoy herself with Jasper or friends. Tonight, since it was Saturday, everyone had plans. So, a solitary dinner and a fun new vid program…perfect.

  Set up in her bed an hour later, relaxed, a nice meal relished and gone, the baby gurgling now, Olivia shut off the vidscreen and checked on Jasper.

  Diaper clean, recent feeding, he was ready for sleep and so was she. A wide yawn later, she kissed her son goodnight, his bassinette within reach of her bed, the U.V. panels drawn so that Brigitte didn’t have to think about it when she came in, and Olivia scooted down to sleep.

  ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD IN AUSTRIA

  Filling up the entire floor, his arms outstretched, Burra was dead to the world, having been up most of the night with a very pretty blonde local. Eras had succumbed to the daylight sleep of a vampire.

  Will, wide awake, restless, his body buzzed, like tiny pins and needles in his arms and legs. Careful to make sure the room was secured, he left their hotel room and headed to the waterfall. This was the final day to check it, and then Eras would go home to Cari, and Burra would check in with his crew in Australia where he managed the continental farms.

  Will didn’t know where he would go. For the past few months, he’d had assignments every week, but this week, after completing the mission, there had been no odd cryptic messages telling him where he needed to be but not what he would be needed to do. For the first time since he’d been brought back to life, he didn’t know where he would be next week.

  It was a good thing for his companions. Eras missed Cari, and Burra was concerned that without his steady influence, problems may arise that would be difficult to fix. They needed to go home. Will just…

  He knew what he needed, he just couldn’t have it.

  It was warm today, the sky cerulean, the water cascaded over the falls as it was meant to do. Perhaps he would stay here for a while. It was truly a paradise now that the disaster had been diverted. Walking along the shoreline, the large pebbles finely polished by the water tickling his feet, he stopped to perch on a boulder to watch some white soaring birds sail over the waterfall.

  Suddenly a stone sailed past him, waist high, and flew into the calm water, skipping, one, two, three times before it sunk.

  “Cool.”

  Will turned to see who had thrown the rock. A child? Yes, a little boy with dark hair and pastel blue eyes, maybe five years old, stood just behind him.

  “Oh, hey.” Will lifted his eyes to scan the trees, but didn’t see anyone else. “Who are you with, young man?”

  “I am with you.”

  Smiling, Will slid off the rock and dropped to the boy’s level. What incredibly expressive, pale blue eyes.

  “I see that. But who did you come here with?”

  “I came alone to see you.”

  Well, this was strange. “You must have a parent or adult with you. You’re too young to be by yourself out here.”

  “I’m not by myself.”

  “I guess you’re right about that. Let’s try this a different way. What is your name?”

  “I’m Jasper.”

  The name jolted Will at the bizarre coincidence.

  “That’s funny. Jasper is my middle name.”

  “I know.”

  “How is that?”

  “Mommy told me.”

  The boy was looking for another rock to throw.

  Will stood, an eerie feeling traveling along his spine.

  “Jasper, what is your last name?”

  “I don’t have a last name. What is yours?”

  “It’s Collins.”

  The boy’s smile widened and he moved around Will to climb up on top of the same boulder Will had just slipped off of.

  Spotting the boy to make sure he didn’t fall, Will stayed beside him until he reached the top and stood watching the water pass.

  “Then that’s my last name too.” The boy’s gaze dropped to Will’s. “You have to come to me. I’ve waited, and you haven’t come.”

  His stomach rolling now, Will lifted the boy from the rock and lowered him back to the ground, kneeling beside him again. “Who is your mother?”

  The unexpected giggle echoed off the mountain that fed the waterfall. “You know who she is!”

  “Uh, no, I don’t.” Did he? What the hell was happening?

  After rolling his eyes, Jasper put one little hand on each of Will’s cheeks. “Daddy, you know who my mother is. We’re waiting for you to come to us so we can be a family. Mommy is happy, but sometimes, she’s sad too.”

  Will could feel the magics pouring around them, around this beautiful child. He stood, lifting Jasper with him, holding the boy close as he wrapped hi
s short arms around Will.

  “Your mother. Is her name Olivia?”

  “Of course, silly.”

  “It isn’t possible.” Whispering, Will looked into the eyes of a boy who did remind him of Olivia, the kid did have his eyes, when it suddenly struck him…he was dreaming!

  “I’m asleep, I’m dreaming this.”

  The child paid no attention to Will’s rambling.

  “Mommy talks to me all the time and she tells me about you. She says my daddy would be so sorry he couldn’t meet me. She says my daddy would be proud of me, so why won’t you come home to me?”

  Will set the boy down.

  “Because you are wishful dreaming. But she’s right. If I had a boy like you, I’d never leave you. If you were my little guy, I would kiss you every night just before you go to bed and kiss you awake every morning. Yes, I would be so proud of you.”

  It was remarkable, Will realized, how well he’d envisioned a perfect blend between himself and Olivia. Their son would have been exactly like this imaginary boy.

  “Walk with me.”

  Will kept his steps short so the child could keep up with him. “Jasper. Wow, I’m getting this right. I think Olivia would have chosen that name. Especially with me gone, as a memorial.”

  “It’s my name.”

  “I know. If I did have a son, I would want him to be just like you.”

  The boy stopped. “I am your son.”

  “If you existed, yeah, in about five years.”

  “Daddy, come home.”

  “Hey, Will, wait up!”

  Will turned to Burra’s voice behind him, yelling out, waving. What was Burra doing in his dream?

  As he caught up, Burra handed Will a mochapop.

  “I figured you didn’t make any coffee this morning, so I brought you one of these. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried them, but they’re great.”

  Burra looked around. “Where’d the kid go?”