“That’s going to take them years.”
“Probably.” Bryant, tired of learning about Orionis, turned his focus back to the task at hand. “I’m going to take a look at the online launch records. The ITO keeps pretty strict records of the coming and goings, even during evacuations.”
Xavier watched as Bryant performed a search of the starship launches both before and after the explosion. The records were there all right, but not listed in order. They had apparently been uploaded by different operators at different times. “It’s going to take me some time to sort through this, but we’ll find her.”
“I’ll leave you to it.” Xavier walked out of the flight deck, leaving Bryant with the pilot, Nicholas to complete his task.
∞
Further out in the galaxy, on the small station known as Sceptrum; the oldest of the functioning space stations, Kaden paced back and forth angrily in the Draconis. He and Torian had caught a flight back to the station, and their starship after planting and activating their bomb on Orionis. Now he, and his Asterion crew, which consisted of his first mate Darius, his electrician Torian, and his two other crew members, Ranieri and Cassidy were feeling the frustration as the disappointment hit them at the discovery that the Andromeda had not even been scratched during the event.
“I don’t understand what happened? That bomb should have erupted with the strength to obliterate that irritating space station,” Torian complained.
“This is all your fault!” Kaden shouted, pointing the blame on Torian. “We should be reveling in our sweet victory over that poor excuse for an Asterion starship captain and his crew, but we’re not!”
“We’ll get him yet, don’t you worry,” Darius chimed in. No one wanted Kaden to explode into one of his well known temper tantrums. Someone usually gets hurt when that happens.
“I’m searching the online docking logs for the stations,” Ranieri volunteered. “Seems like the Andromeda made an uneventful landing on Capri shortly after the explosion. The weird thing is, they were only docked for less than an hour. I wonder why?” She added.
“Because they were probably re-fueling you idiot!” Kaden had still not calmed down; his energy pulsed erratically through the small meeting room. “I’ll bet you anything that they are back on Kyanos right now with no intentions of leaving anytime soon.”
“Then we will simply go out there and wipe them out for good,” Darius advised. “They can’t elude us forever. That small planet is worth fighting for. If we have that, then we’ve got it made! No more flying from station to station. We can let those humans do all the work for us. We could finally get some rest.”
“That is exactly what will be done!” Kaden bellowed as he finally sat down, gaining control over his violent emotions. “Torian, I want you and Darius to completely repair this ship and make sure it is fully armed and loaded before we depart.”
“Now that sounds like a plan,” Torian agreed.
“As for me, I’m going to talk to Draves.” A cruel smile appeared across his face.
Draves would want Kyanos more than anything, Kaden thought. However, Draves would not want to directly face off with Captain Robinson by himself, especially since he was known as the first, the oldest, and the most powerful Asterion in existence. However if Kaden had Draves’ help, perhaps they could take him down, and collect a beautiful, bountiful planet in exchange. To Kaden, this opportunity might just persuade Draves to work with them.
∞
Xavier walked back into the flight deck of the Solstice, which hovered near what was left of Orionis, ready to hear of any updates on the search for Ava Amherst.
“What news?” He asked of his informant.
“The records are interesting.” Bryant turned away from the monitor to face Xavier and watch his response to the next bit of information. “Shortly after the explosion both Robinson and Ms. Amherst cleared ITO security into the hangar, but they did not depart together.”
“What do you mean? I thought he never let her out of his sight?” Xavier furrowed his eyebrows at the thought of their separation. It didn’t match up with the story Bryant had given him a few days ago.
“Apparently since Ms. Amherst is a Nurse Practitioner she had a duty to fulfill regarding the care of patients in the Orionis Medical Center. She had an obligation to stay with them during the evacuation and did so. She departed with them in the Solar Wind and they were routed to Capri.”
“Capri?” Xavier paused. “That’s not too far from here. Is it possible that she could still be separated from him?” His voice reflected his growing hope and concern for her.
“It’s possible; however, we will need to go there to access the records to see if he followed her. You can see here in the Orionis log that the Andromeda departed just prior to the Solar Wind, which is odd. I would think that he would depart only after she had safely departed.” Bryant thought for a quick moment, then added “apparently her safety is not his number one priority, . . . what a shame.” He shook his head and looked down, adding emotion to the validity of the “story” he had told Xavier about Ava.
“I don’t believe it,” Xavier replied, clearly stricken with the careless attitude apparently shown by Robinson towards his precious match, Ava, who also happened to be his own. Xavier vowed that this would not go on. “Nicholas?”
“Are we heading to Capri?” A smile brightened his dark brown eyes.
“We haven’t a moment to lose.” Xavier stood completely still; focusing on the logs Bryant had pulled up on the screen, unable to break away.
“You got it.”
Chapter 6: Getting Settled
Wesley casually walked Ava over towards a stationed courier where the others waited. Some of his crew loaded themselves into one vehicle, while Naomi and Andre waited in a second one for Ava and Wesley. After he had assisted Ava safely into the front passenger seat, he boarded the driver’s side and started the small vehicle. Ava jumped at the jolt.
“Are you sure these things are safe to . . . drive?” She asked hesitantly, watching him as he began to power it up, ready to go.
Andre laughed heartily. “Don’t worry Ava, we’ve only crashed once.”
“What?” Ava turned around to look at him.
“Andre!” Naomi scolded him, “Ava’s never seen any of this stuff, give her a break okay?”
“I’m just kidding Ava, we’re in good hands,” he said glancing at Wesley.
Wesley looked at her and gave her a confident smile. “You ready?”
“I guess so. Where are we going?” She said, looking around her.
“Home,” he turned his attention back and the small open aired vehicle took off at an alarming speed. Ava had a seat restraint on, but held onto the arm rests for dear life as her hair whipped around her. She felt grateful to have the sunglasses on, as they acted more like goggles to protect her eyes from the rushing air. She tried to take everything in as they raced out of the hangar perimeter towards “The Compound” which Naomi had told her consisted of the houses of the elected leaders of Kyanos, as well as the entire crew. Ava observed that all of the rooftops were constructed of solar panels, harnessing the strong energy from the two suns. She also noted the existence of innumerable windmills, churning effortlessly in the wind, also collecting energy. She believed the technology and the attention to natural sources of energy were brilliant. But then again, they were on an isolated planet, they had to be a self sustaining society. After a few minutes, Wesley pulled the small courier up in front of a beautiful stone building and came to a stop.
“This is us,” Andre commented.
“This is your home?” Ava asked, wide eyed, looking at the large, beautiful structure as Naomi and Andre climbed out of the back, collecting their backpacks.
“It sure is,” Naomi beamed proudly. “I’ve missed it terribly.”
“It’s beautiful Naomi.”
“Thank you, Ava. We will have you over very soon to see it.”
“I’d love that.”
After a minute they arrived at an isolated structure also made of stones from Kyanos with a solar panel roof. He pulled around the back near a small gate, which opened, allowing them through to the outdoor parking area. “We only use the “garage” when it rains, because the couriers don’t charge well indoors,” he explained to her, seeing her puzzled look. He stopped the courier, powered down and hopped out. He circled to Ava’s side and assisted her out and then collected both of their backpacks. They walked up a flight of stone steps to a patio area with an impressive view of the crop fields and then to a large ornate dark wood door. Wesley pressed his thumb up against the sensor next to it and it unlocked immediately. He opened the door for her and she walked tentatively into the cool interior and removed her sunglasses. As she entered the foyer, she gazed up at the high ceiling and grand, ornate staircase leading to the upstairs. Wesley followed her inside and set their bags down.
“Welcome to your new home Ava,” he said softly to her.
She wasn’t sure how to respond to him. She felt terribly grateful to him for all that he had done for her, however the knowledge of his true existence still concerned her. Deep down, she knew she still loved him, however she felt unsure of what the future would hold for them, or if they even had a future. “Thank you,” she said softly. Sensing her coolness, he changed the subject.
“Well, what would you like to do first? Would you like something to drink or eat? Or would you like to jump right into the grand tour?” He said enthusiastically.
“How about the tour?” Ava responded.
Wesley proceeded to take Ava through the main floor which contained the living area and the kitchen, as well as a recreation area and an entrance to another grand patio with an enormous swimming pool. Ava stared deeply into the crystal blue water.
“You have a swimming pool? I’ve only seen pictures of these in my history lessons, when I was in school.”
“Yes, I love to swim when I get the chance. I can’t do it anywhere else besides on Kyanos anymore. It’s relaxing.” He studied her, enjoying witnessing her reactions to his home.
“I don’t know how to swim,” she said looking away from him.
“That’s okay. I wouldn’t expect you to, you’ve probably never been in more than a few millimeters deep in water at any one time in your life. Water is very precious on the stations, and on Earth, but here, we have natural water sources, and rainwater. I’ll bet we can teach you how to swim in no time.” He smiled encouragingly to her, she returned the smile briefly and then they moved on.
Up the grand staircase were the bedrooms, an office like space, and a small library. Ava walked into the library and up to one of the nearby shelves and pulled out a book. She felt almost awe struck as she opened it and flipped through the pages. Paper books were rare in her time, everything had been converted to electronic format in response to the dwindling natural resources left on Earth and the new society on the space stations.
“I was very young the last time I touched a real book,” she mentioned thoughtfully as she gazed at the many shelves of books, recalling the time a book had been passed around in one of her early history classes at school.
“I remember a time when all we had were paper books,” Wesley recalled. “After we discovered Kyanos, we set out to collect anything that we could to remember the old ways and preserve our memories. My house is full of what you might call antiques, or even artifacts at this point. You are welcome to read anything that you like in here.”
“Thank you. It’s a shame you know, what happened to the Earth.”
“Yes it is, but we cannot go back to the past,” he replied, sensing some sadness in her voice. “Shall we continue?”
“Okay,” Ava slid the book back into its space on the shelf. She followed Wesley further down the hall into a separate wing which contained the master bedroom. The room had been decorated very simply in a light gray paint with elegant trim, large comfy looking furniture, and a silver and black bedspread. Ava had never seen such a spacious bedroom and large bed. All of the beds she had ever slept in had been either a twin size or two twins pushed together after she and Nathan had been married. She continued to walk around and look at everything.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s lovely.”
“Naomi had a hand in decorating it.”
“I can see that,” Ava replied thoughtfully, giving him a half smile.
“I have plenty of room in the closet for your things,” Wesley opened a nearby ornate wood door, revealing a large half filled closet, which was so big, it could be a room on its own.
“Oh,” Ava said numbly.
“Is something wrong?” His voice revealed a hint of concern. “If you don’t like how it’s decorated, we could change everything to suit your taste.”
“It’s not that. . .” Ava wasn’t sure how to tell him how she felt without hurting him. She only hoped she wouldn’t offend him. “I just wondered if it would be possible for me to stay in one of the other rooms down the hall?” She gestured out the door towards a nearby room.
Wesley studied her for a moment. She could feel the disappointment in the energy flowing off of him. “Yes, of course . . . if that’s what you want.” What else could he say? If she wasn’t ready to share a room with him, he had to accept it.
“Thank you. Wesley . . . I. . .” She began, feeling and sounding nervous.
“Ava, it’s okay,” he took her hand gently. “I understand. I cannot imagine what you are going through right now. You don’t have to do anything that you aren’t comfortable with,” he said reassuringly, leading her down the hall to the closest nearby room, which had its own private bathroom.
“This will be great,” Ava remarked as she moved about and inspected what would be her new bedroom. She noted a large comfortable looking bed, not as big as the one in Wesley’s room, a dresser, side dresser tables flanking the bed, and a small sitting area with a chaise lounge. Everything had been neutrally decorated, with a slight feminine touch. “I can see Naomi has been at work here as well,” she said casually to Wesley.
“Yes, she has. Actually the last time we were here she had the furniture brought in for you. We suspected that after you found out about us that you might want your own space for a while.”
“You all know me so well,” she said thoughtfully. Ava walked over to the large walk in closet, which contained a few new items of clothing Naomi must have put there and started unpacking her backpack. She turned as she heard Wesley’s PCD beep. He looked down at it and pressed a few buttons, then looked up at her.
“Well, Justin and Rowan haven’t wasted any time, looks like we’ve been invited to dinner.”
“Do I have time for a quick shower?”
“Absolutely, it’s not like we have to make a launch,” he chuckled, referring to the strict rules of the space stations, and started for the door to give Ava some privacy.
“Wesley?” She called to him.
“Yes?” He stopped and turned, looking back at her.
“Thank you. . .”
“You are very welcome Ava. I love you.” He turned slowly and walked back towards the master bedroom to take his own shower and change into lighter clothing for the evening.
Chapter 7: The Tour
Ava, wrapped in a towel, perused the few new clothes hanging in her closet, along with a couple sets of the skimpy looking shoes called sandals. Although the room felt nice and cool due to the air conditioning, she knew how hot it would be outside. She chose a sleeveless raspberry pink cotton shirt called a “tank top” and some cropped tan cotton pants with cargo pockets. Naomi has good taste, she thought as she dressed, then rolling her hair up in a loose coiled bun on the back of her head, securing it with a clip she found in the bathroom. Next she chose a pair of dark brown sandals to complete her look. She sat down on the bed, slipped them on and secured the buckle
around her ankle. How naked my feet look, she thought. She grabbed her small purse with her PCD out of habit and walked down the staircase towards Wesley, who was waiting for her. He gazed up at her with a look of longing that she always felt so flattered by, it almost made her heart skip a beat again. His energy engulfed her as he took her hand and led her back outside down the steps to the courier and the short journey to visit Rowan and Justin.
After a quick trip to the other side of the compound, Wesley pulled up at the back entrance near the terrace of another large gray stone home. The two suns shone a little lower in the sky as the pair walked casually up the steps to the terrace where a large heated metal contraption called a “grill” sat within the stone wall. Justin, who was attending the grill, nodded as Wesley and Ava approached. She could not keep herself from glancing all around her, in awe of the beautiful landscape, flowers, and sky.
“Hello you two!” Rowan exclaimed as she stepped through a sliding glass door to the terrace from the house. In her hands she carried a large tray of dishes and glasses she meant to set the terrace furniture with.
“Hi Rowan, let me help you with that,” Ava moved quickly towards her but Rowan had already sat the tray down.
“How do you like your new home?” Rowan asked pleasantly as the two women began to set the table.
“It’s beautiful. I could not have ever imagined anything like it,” she replied honestly, still in awe about everything in her surroundings. She caught Wesley smile in the corner of her eye. “Your home is exquisite,” she continued, looking up at the large structure.
“Well, when you live as long as we do, you need a lot of space to store the things you can’t let go of,” she said pleasantly. “Now, what would you like to drink?”
“Oh, whatever you have is fine, thank you.” Ava didn’t quite know what would be in store for dinner. It could possibly be something she had never eaten before. “Rowan, can I help you with anything inside?”
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