The Solar Flare

by Laura E. Collins

  He brimmed with excitement as he entered the cool starship. A tall, athletic Asterion with medium length brown hair and light blue eyes met him. Bryant introduced himself.

  “Blayke Winters,” the tall man replied, gesturing towards himself. “I’ve heard of you. You’re a tracker, right?”

  “That’s part of what I do,” Bryant replied as Blayke led him down the corridor towards the common room.

  “Are you an old friend of Xavier’s?”

  “Not exactly, but I have some information for him that he may find useful,” Bryant replied nonchalantly.

  They reached the door to the common room. “He’s in there. He’s waiting for you. We’re departing in two hours, so you should have plenty of time.”

  “Thanks,” Bryant replied as Blayke walked back towards the direction they had come from. He walked into the room and observed Xavier talking to two other Asterions he did not know.

  “Hello Bryant,” Xavier said politely, standing up as he spoke. Bryant noticed how tall he was, probably six feet four inches, dressed all in black, the same color of his hair. His observant brilliant blue eyes seemed to light up his face. “This is Lucas and Melanie Albright; good friends of mine,” he continued casually, gesturing towards the couple. A tall well built man with dark brown hair and gray eyes stood and shook Bryant’s hand as did a young appearing woman with ash blonde hair and blue eyes.

  “It is nice to make your acquaintance,” he replied gallantly, smiling at them. They returned the salutation and sat back down.

  “So, what is it that is so important for you to seek me out all the way here on Polaris?” Xavier got to the point quickly. Apparently his friends were staying to hear what Bryant had to say. Bryant glanced at them again but did not let this bother him. So what if they heard the news? Perhaps it would help his cause. Since everyone else sat down, Bryant found the nearest seat to Xavier and sat down casually.

  “Xavier, when was the last time you saw Wesley Robinson?” Bryant looked directly at him, his investigator mode taking over.

  A somewhat surprised look appeared on Xavier’s face. Clearly he was not expecting this. “About ten years ago, why?” Xavier spoke with an indifference Bryant could not understand, knowing what he knew about them.

  “Well, I thought it would be interesting for you to know that he’s finally found his mate,” Bryant announced nonchalantly. Xavier appeared to be amused. After all of this time, perhaps he doesn’t realize what this means, Bryant thought.

  “This is why you sought me out, to tell me that?” He chuckled slightly, not sounding a bit impressed.

  Bryant had been expecting this type of response. He didn’t let it off set him. “Please, just hear me out. I first saw them on Capri a few months ago. He was with a young woman by the name of Ava Amherst, a resident of Orionis. She was traveling with him and the whole crew.”

  “This means absolutely nothing to me,” Xavier replied dryly.

  “They are truly matched, I assure you,” Bryant responded persistently.

  “If you’ll excuse me I have some things to do, sorry you wasted your time. . .” Xavier looked at the others and made as if he were about to rise out of his seat.

  “Xavier, do you realize what this means?” Bryant interrupted him before he had a chance to get up and leave. “If she is his match, that means that she is also yours!”

  “He’s right,” Lucas observed casually.

  “Can you believe it, after all of these years?” Melanie said to no one in particular.

  “There’s more,” Bryant added.

  Xavier finally began to show some interest in the conversation. He looked at Bryant as a cue for him to continue.

  “I had the pleasure of briefly meeting Ms. Amherst on Orionis a short while after that. She is a beautiful young woman, and very intelligent. The only thing that I cannot figure out is that she is human.”

  “She’s human? That’s . . . not possible. She could not be his match. . .” Xavier said matter-of-factly, looking puzzled.

  “I’m not sure how it’s possible, but it has happened.” Bryant tried his best to sound amazed.

  “You’re certain?” Lucas asked, seemingly surprised.

  “Absolutely. It is a true match. Wesley would never have such an intimate relationship with a human otherwise. Of course, you would know that,” he replied, searching Xavier’s face for any spark of concern.

  “So why are you telling me this? What’s in this for you?” Xavier asked suspiciously.

  “I lost my wife many years ago. I know how it is to go through life without the one person that completes you.” Bryant did not have to fake his solemnity with this statement.

  “I’m so sorry for you,” Melanie replied softly back to him.

  Xavier looked at the floor. After over 300 years, he had to admit the thought that a possible match existed for him began to intrigue him. Then, Bryant, sensing he had everyone’s attention, decided to elaborate on his story.

  “I wouldn’t have taken the trouble to find you . . . if it weren’t for the way that he treats her,” he added gravely. This is going to be so much fun he thought.

  The other three Asterions glanced at each other. “What do you mean?” Xavier asked.

  “I don’t know if it’s because she is human or not. He is cruel to her. I’ve observed them carefully and it seems to me that he is disappointed that she is human. After I met her, they took her from her home on Orionis. They tow her from place to place on his starship, and seem to work her very hard for her keep. She’s practically a slave. The poor thing isn’t allowed to speak to anyone, or go out un-escorted by one of the crew members. They keep her near because she’s Wesley’s match. It’s almost as if . . . they don’t know what to do with her. She has no hope of escape, how could she, surrounded by a crew of our kind. I fear for her.”

  “James, that’s terrible!” Melanie exclaimed, addressing Xavier by his first name, looking at him.

  “I know if my mate were still alive, I would do anything to keep her safe,” Bryant added.

  “It shouldn’t matter whether or not she is human. If she is truly his mate then Wesley should have accepted her the way that she is!” Lucas added.

  “I just didn’t think it was fair for you not to know about her, given the circumstances, and the way she has been treated. I’ve said what I came to say. Now that you do, I will let you get back to your business,” Bryant spoke gently, pleased with his lies, rising to leave.

  “Wait.” Xavier stood suddenly. “You are a tracker, are you not?”

  “Indeed I am,” Bryant replied, beginning to feel the sweet sensation of victory.

  “Do you think you could lead us to her?”

  Bryant paused, pretending to think it over. “It may take some time to locate them, but I believe I could.”

  “We’ll leave as soon as you can collect your things from your hotel,” Xavier said resolutely.

  “Certainly.” Bryant exited the Solstice burning with excitement. The pain and emptiness Robinson is going to feel when Xavier takes Ava away from him will be nothing short of what he deserves after he let my wife die, he thought.

  Chapter 3: The Truth

  As soon as Ava boarded the Andromeda and was safely strapped in, Ash lifted off gently. As to what destination, Ava did not know. She had left everything behind her now. She had also probably broken numerous laws within the last half hour; there was no way she could ever go back without accepting some form of consequence. Wesley had stayed with her during takeoff. Despite her fears, his presence seemed comforting. She had been reluctant to speak, but finally told him what had happened after they were safely in space.

  “Here Ava.” Naomi appeared and handed Ava a glass of water and a cool damp cloth so that she could wipe her face.

  “Thank you Naomi.”

  “You’re welcome. Is there anything else I can get for you now?”

  “No thanks. I’m good,” Ava replied quickly.

  “I’ll leave you tw
o alone so you can talk,” she said gently as she walked away.

  “Don’t worry about what happened on Capri, Ava. That doctor will never touch you again. Everything’s going to be fine.” He took her hand and warmed it in his.

  “Will it?” Ava said as if she did not believe it, staring at nothing in particular.

  “I Promise.” He sounded so sure.

  “Wesley, we need to talk.” She looked directly at him. “I need to know the truth about you.”

  “I know, . . . it’s time. We have a lot to discuss. Why don’t you go to our quarters and change into something warmer and meet me in the common room.”

  “All right. I’ll be a few minutes.” Ava rose to make her way up to the room she and Wesley usually shared when they traveled. She had to admit, she was a little chilled in the thin material her uniform was made out of. She felt grateful she had the good sense to leave some clothes on the ship on their last trip. It was nice to put on some of her own things, a cream colored warm sweater and black cargo like pants and boots. Once dressed she calmly made her way to the common room. She entered and caught Wesley pacing back and forth nervously. Strange for him, she thought. He came to her as she made her way to a small couch and sat down. He sat next to her, never taking his eyes away from her.

  “Wesley, I know something happened on E.S. Number One. I know that I had a broken leg and that it was healed without my knowledge . . . how did that happen?” Ava asked the first question, leaving it open for any type of explanation. She wasn’t sure exactly how she should approach this sensitive subject.

  “Ava, I need to tell you about myself. All I ask is that you keep an open mind. I will need to go much further back than that, but I will answer your question.”

  “Okay,” she answered calmly.

  Wesley stood up and walked a few paces opposite her and leaned back against the wall facing her. Then, after a few moments, he began to speak.

  “I’m not exactly what you think I am. I was not born a human like you on Earth. My body is human, but my essence and my energy is not. Let me explain. To be honest, I don’t know how I was created, or born, or what I even am. I’m not sure exactly when I became self aware, although it was eons ago. Perhaps even the beginning of time itself. All I recall was that I could think, see, hear, and move anywhere I wanted. I had no form; I guess you could compare me to what you would call a ghost, though I have never seen one. I believe that I am a combination of essence and energy. I travelled through the galaxies, observing stars, the sun, the planets, anything and everything. The things I have seen were incredible, breathtaking, and sometimes terrible, but now are only a distant memory for me. After an unknown amount of time, I saw the big blue planet you knew as Earth. I traveled there and saw humans for the first time. It amazed me; a being that had the power to act on their desires. They could do anything they wanted.”

  He paused. Ava wasn’t sure what to make of this story, but listened as he continued. “I observed humans for a very long time, must have been hundreds of years before I decided that I wanted to be one.”

  “You wanted to be human?” Ava asked in an amused tone.

  “Yes. After being nothing more than a free floating essence all of my existence I wanted to see through human eyes, touch and feel things, and to interact with people. Humans are the ultimate machine.”

  “Are you saying that you are the only one of your kind?” Ava asked with skepticism.

  “No. There were others like me, and we interacted occasionally, but it is nothing like what humans do, and my kind are few and far between.”

  “So how did you ‘become’ human?” She asked, still not buying into his story.

  “I didn’t know how to do it. I had seen humans being born, and I had seen them die. I figured my best chance had to be surrounding one of those circumstances.”

  “You mean you couldn’t just possess someone?”

  “No. I was an essence, and I had energy, but I could not touch a human. I tried. I had no power to do anything. There is nothing stronger than the seam between a human body and a human soul. That is something only death can break. I had grown tired of my lonely existence observing humans. At one point I didn’t want to exist anymore. So, I decided to give it some serious effort. I decided that the only way for me to become human would be to try to take the body of someone who had just died.”

  Ava shifted in her seat. The thoughts of this made her uncomfortable, even though she wasn’t sure she believed all that she was hearing. She waited for him to go on.

  “I spent a lot of time choosing who I would try to become. Then one day I unexpectedly ran across this man,” he gestured towards himself.

  “Who was he?” Ava asked.

  “You wouldn’t have liked him Ava. When he wasn’t out sleeping around, he was busy shooting up at the expense of his parent’s trust fund. He was spoiled, foolish, and weak. He seemed to me a bit of a coward. He had no personality and was downright unpleasant.”

  “Why would you choose such a person?”

  “Because, . . . I had observed his careless behavior. You could say that he was a sure thing. It would be only a matter of time before he overdosed, and when he did, I would be there waiting.”

  “What happened?”

  “One evening, he was in his vast apartment by himself and had the bad judgment to take too much. Wasn’t long before his heart stopped and he collapsed. As soon as the life in him departed, I forced myself in. Looking back, I was just lucky, I didn’t know what I was doing, didn’t know what I was getting myself into. Somehow I channeled my energy to re-start his heart and figured out how to breathe. After a few minutes I opened my new eyes and observed my surroundings. It was the most amazing experience but I was weak. Withdrawal is a bitch, but I had to go through it. Took me about 24 hours just to figure out how to crawl.”

  “So you revived a dead body?” Ava asked incredulously, still not quite believing it.

  “It’s not that morbid Ava, he had been dead less than a minute. You of all people can understand this. Humans attempt to do this to each other all of the time. Only, you call it cardiopulmonary resuscitation. CPR is only done on people who are clinically dead.”

  “Yes, but if the person recovers and wakes up, they are still the same person.”

  “That’s true. I can only imagine how strange this must sound to you. Believe me, I don’t think anyone would have missed him, and it’s not like I killed him, he did that to himself. We don’t have the power to touch someone who is alive and well when we are in our vapor like form. Humans are unaware of our existence when we are like that. They really have no idea. Besides, I didn’t even want to try taking over a body that had been long dead.”

  “So you truly are alive. I mean you seem alive, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, I’m alive as you are, and then some. In the beginning I was feeble. After about a week I seemed to recover and I could walk. I ate everything he had stashed in his apartment, packed a bag, took all of the cash he had in his safe, and left. This was long before The Great Impact of 2079. I crossed a few continents, changed my identity and started over. After spending centuries observing humans I had learned some of the languages. It was easier than I thought. After a long while I met Andre. He told me how he had observed me after my transformation and tried if for himself, on a victim of an automobile accident.”

  “He is like you then?”

  “Yes, all of my crew are like me.”

  “What do you call yourselves?” Ava asked, unsure if she could swallow this story.

  “Naomi came up with the idea to call us ‘Asterions’ after the meaning ‘ruler of the stars’ since that’s apparently where we believe we came from.”

  “So you are all Asterions . . . how many of you are there in existence?”

  “That I’m not sure of. As you could imagine we like to keep to ourselves and not attract a lot of attention. We can sense others of our kind around us. I’ve only run across maybe a dozen others besides my crew.
I know that somehow Andre, Naomi, and I knew each other before we became human. Perhaps we are related. They feel like my family, so that’s how we treat each other. I believe that I am the oldest Asterion in existence and that I have been human longer than any other Asterion.”

  “Do humans know about you?”

  “No, not generally. It’s not something we like to announce, you know. After I met Andre, his match, Naomi, followed his steps to become human so that they could continue to be together. We all began our lives. We had many occupations from one time to another. Mostly we worked on the development of the space stations. We had knowledge of the galaxy that humans didn’t and some of us have certain abilities that regular humans don’t.”

  “What kind of abilities?”

  “When we become human we are weak, but over time our essence and energy settle into our bodies and the energy builds. I discovered that I had the ability to teleport myself from place to place.”

  “Teleport?” Ava asked, astonished.

  “Yes, but I don’t like to do it because it drains my energy. This is how I got you home the night you were drugged at the club. I can also do some telekinesis.”

  “You can use your mind to move objects?” Ava replied with disbelief. “Show me, I want to see this,” she said resolutely. His story was nothing if not incredible, but she wanted proof.