∞
The Principia glided through the unknown galaxy towards the location of the space stations. The newly registered cargo ship should have no problems finding admittance to the stations, Wesley thought, as they could make up any excuse they needed to dock. As worried as he was, he began to calm down, now that they were on their way to look for clues as to Xavier’s location. He decided to take Ash’s advice on re-tracing the Solstice’s locations on the stations to give them some hint as to where the ship had originated from. He knew Xavier did not reside on the stations, but where? If he had gone through a wormhole, they could be anywhere. We’ll search for clues on the stations first, he thought.
It would be forty-eight hours before he reached the first station. Naomi managed to convince him to get some sleep, reasoning that if they did find Xavier, Wesley would need all of his energy to deal with him. As soon as they were within range of the stations, Naomi hacked into the network and attempted to locate Geodesic’s website, but it had been removed. Xavier’s not taking any chances, Naomi thought. At least this probably means Ava is still alive and that they are attempting to disappear with her, she reported to the others. The first station they approached was Zaniah. After a brief landing and re-fueling, they detected no leads on the Solstice so they decided to move on. Capri was next up on the list. As hangar traffic still seemed to be a bit congested after the loss of Orionis, they had to wait twelve hours before being permitted to dock.
Naomi found a record that the Solstice had been docked there several weeks ago. She hacked into the ITO records and found that Bryant had been there at the same time. She knew he had to have been there looking for Ava. After reporting her findings to the others, it was decided that Mia Ambrose would disguise herself as an ITO officer and interview Ava’s old co-workers in the makeshift clinic, as Dr. Tom would recognize Wesley and Naomi. Mia did not have much contact with him back in the hospital on Orionis when Ava was sick, so she was their best bet. Andre printed her a fake ID badge while she applied make-up, pulled her dark hair up into a tight bun, and dressed in an outfit that looked more official than her regular crewman’s attire.
Without Justin’s ability to help control minds, clearing security would be more difficult. The other’s watched her on the security monitors and practically held their breath as she cleared and went through. Mia marched straight to the clinic and flashed her fake ITO ID to the front desk staff in the clinic. She was shown back to Dr. Tom’s office to wait for him. After several minutes when the doctor had still not arrived, she decided to snoop around a little bit to see if she could find anything on Ava there. After coming up with nothing, she sat back down in the chair just in time for him to arrive. Mia produced her ID for Dr. Tom to inspect. He looked at the ID and then at her.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere, Agent . . . Adamson, is it?” He said looking at her and then the ID again.
“I don’t believe so Dr. Grant,” Mia answered politely. “I’ve come to ask you some questions on the whereabouts of Ms. Ava Amherst.”
“The ITO is still looking for her?” He said, astonished to learn that she still had not been found.
“Yes, she has not been recovered yet,” Mia answered.
“Well, I’m sorry but I have not seen or heard from her since the other agent named Bryant was here, shortly after she disappeared.”
“Can you please tell me what you know about Ava’s disappearance? I’ve read Bryant’s report, but sometimes if I hear it again from a witness, it may help me to uncover additional leads,” Mia lied.
Dr. Tom cooperated and told Mia what he had told Bryant, that he believed she was taken away by Captain Robinson and his crew. “I can’t imagine where that Captain would take her that she could not be found. I hope that nothing bad has befallen her. She has been truly missed here in the clinic,” he said sincerely. Mia detected a hint of sorrow in his emotions, remembering that Ava had mentioned he had a crush on her.
“I thank you for your time, Dr. Grant,” Mia excused herself and walked casually out of the clinic and back through security to the Principia.
“What did you find out?” Wesley asked as soon as she stepped foot back on the ship.
“Bryant was here,” she reported. “That doctor told him that Ava escaped Capri with us, so that is how he knew to search for us outside of the stations. Bryant knew that under the circumstances we could not take Ava to another station.”
Wesley took a deep breath and sighed, knowing that Xavier was definitely behind Ava’s kidnapping and that he would take her out of the known galaxy just to keep her from him. He looked at his family after making his decision. “It’s been six days. We no-longer need to waste time searching the stations. Xavier has Ava and he’ll do whatever is in his power to keep her. Let’s get back to Kyanos and tow the Andromeda back to the hangar so the engineers can get started on the repairs. We’re going to need her to comb beyond this galaxy to search for her.”
∞
Xavier listened intently to Ava’s story, captivated by hearing about her hardships and impressed by her strength and bravery to keep going. After she was finished, he spoke to break the long silence.
“You’ve been through so much Ava. I admire your courage.”
“So you see, Bryant played you. The things that he told you were not true. He used both of us to get back at Wesley,” Ava remarked, hoping she had gotten through to him, to persuade him to let her go. She felt that she had connected with him during her long explanation of things.
“How do you know that I wasn’t using him?” Xavier said seriously, looking at her intensely.
“What do you mean?” She whispered. His comment surprised her, shattering her hopes.
“I knew he had his own agenda from the start. Do you really think I would trust someone like Bryant?” He rose out of his seat and came over and sat down next to her.
“Then, . . . why would you listen to him. Why would you go along with it and go to the trouble of finding me?”
“I wanted to see if it was true, to see if you actually existed.”
“Now that you know, you’ll let me go back to my family, right?” Ava said cautiously, not sure what to expect next.
Xavier shook his head. “I can’t do that Ava.”
“Why?” The emotions began to build inside her as she became more and more upset.
“Robinson has explained to you the nature of our existence. Surely he has revealed to you that you are our match?”
Ava nodded, trying to stay calm.
“I didn’t think it was possible until I saw you. I’ve never felt anything like this. I’ve always believed that love is a powerful emotion, but I have never experienced it like this until now. I guess I’ve never felt this alive before.” He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
“You can’t be serious!” Ava stood up, not wanting to be within his reach. “You have to let me go, I don’t love you!”
“Perhaps not yet . . . there is a chance that. . .”
“You can’t do this to me! . . . You aren’t capable of such cruelty, I know you!” Ava shouted at him, referring to her familiarity with Wesley’s personality as if it were Xavier’s. “Besides, Wesley and I are engaged to be married. You can’t interfere with that!”
Xavier stood up and walked over to her. “I don’t see an engagement ring on your finger.”
“That is no-longer the custom!” Ava threw her hands up, clearly exasperated by the situation.
Xavier gently took one of Ava’s hands in his own, his powerful energy, though muted, flowing through to her, feeling so much like Wesley’s. “If things were different, if I had been lucky enough to find you first, you would have gotten to know me instead. Perhaps under better circumstances you would have loved me in place of him . . . Whatever your situation was on Kyanos, he should never have left you alone like that in such a deserted place. I’m grateful that Robinson had the courage and the decency to tell you about me and our kind. I’m sure there are things he has
n’t told you; I would be happy to honestly answer any questions that you may have. If you would at least give me a chance. . .”
“No! Can’t you understand that’s not going to happen!” She said resolutely.
“Do you honestly feel nothing for me?” Xavier raised up the hand that he was holding. “Because I can sense that you do. Believe me when I say that I have nothing but love for you and that my intentions are pure.”
“If that were true, you would respect my wishes and let me go.” Ava challenged.
“I’m sorry Ava, but I cannot.” His eyes were sad, but they never left hers.
Ava shook her head and pulled her hand abruptly out of his grasp and marched off in the direction of her quarters, not stopping to greet anyone along the way. Once safely inside, she paced back and forth in the small area out of frustration. Even though she felt certain that Xavier would not be a danger to her, the hopes she had of convincing him to let her go were fading. Although her knowledge of Asterions grew day by day, she could no longer assume these entities think like humans do. They were older than her, much older, and a great deal more experienced with interstellar space travel and worlds that scientists only dream about. How could she possibly reason with their logic? They seemed to have an affinity for human nature, but Ava could feel it was not the same. She sat down on the bed, not knowing what to do next.
∞
As soon as Wesley and the others touched down on Kyanos, he immediately ordered that the Principia be readied to tow the Andromeda back to the hangar. His concern for Ava grew with each passing day; he knew he had to keep busy in order to stay relatively calm. It did not take the crews long to prepare the new starship with the equipment needed in order to transport the Andromeda. After a few hours, the entire crew lifted off, headed for one of the two moons of Kyanos. The mission seemed to be going quickly for Wesley as he sensed that they had begun their descent and felt the gravity of the same moon they had crash landed on not so long ago. He, Justin, and Andre were down in the cargo hold of the Principia checking the equipment and were almost finished donning their protective space suits when Ash called out to them on the intercom. “Wesley, you’d better come up here.”
Wesley and the others, who were in the process of putting their helmets on, abruptly stopped what they were doing and left for the flight deck. What Ash had just said didn’t sound good.
“What’s going on?” Wesley asked as soon as he got there.
“It’s the Andromeda . . . she’s gone,” he reported solemnly.
“What do you mean she’s gone?” He and the others immediately ran to the monitor to look for themselves.
“She’s not here and I can’t get a remote signal from her anywhere within our range.”
“Are you sure we are in the right place?” Andre asked gravely.
“These are the exact same coordinates we were at when we rescued you. You can see what’s left of the Draconis over there,” he panned the monitor to show a view of the fallen starship.
Everyone stood in silence as they realized what had happened. Wesley leaned his head against the monitor and closed his eyes. Out of frustration he raised his left fist and slammed it into the wall, creating a dent in the metal. It was now obvious that Kaden had somehow survived the crash and managed to patch up the Andromeda enough to steal it and run off again. He took a few deep breaths to keep his anger in check and calmly issued the next orders. “Bring us down over the Draconis. I want to haul the wreckage back and inspect it.”
Ash immediately complied and Wesley and the others marched back off to the cargo hold to finish getting ready. Once in position he and the others exited the ship and connected the towing cables to what was left of the Draconis in record time. Within two hours they had the large wreckage back inside one of the hangars on Kyanos. They wasted no time soldering open the entrance ramp and after a few minutes were inside the shell checking things out. Deep inside the ship they found a standard emergency bunker with the door open and several space suits missing. Upon further inspection, they noticed some other parts were missing from the ship as well. Parts that would have been appropriate to repair the Andromeda, from Wesley’s assessment.
The meeting with Vance and the military went smoothly for the most part, after they had all gotten over the shock that their starship was missing, and in the possession of their enemy. Andre suggested that all was not lost. The engineers would salvage what they could from the Draconis and begin working on another starship with the remainder of the parts they had brought to build the Principia. That would at least keep them busy for a while. Wesley instructed them to remove the remaining functional computers from the Draconis and see what they could learn from any of the information that was stored there. Perhaps they might learn where Kaden might have taken their ship, as it would be in great need of repairs to be reliable again.
“I would like the Principia stocked for an extended mission,” Wesley announced. “Not only do we have to look for Ava, we also have to try and track down Kaden before he attacks Kyanos again.” He rose up and left the conference room abruptly before anyone could reply, or protest. He now had no choice. He and most, if not all of his crew, would have to leave Kyanos unprotected while they searched for the two most important people in their lives, one they loved dearly, and the one they detested the most.
Chapter 16: Confrontation
Ava walked slowly back in forth in her small quarters on the Solstice. She chewed her lower lip absently while lost in her thoughts. She had to think of some way to reason with Xavier to let her go before they took off again. A whole day had passed since their last conversation in the common area. Ava had ventured out briefly only to eat twice since then, for the sole purpose of keeping her strength up. Melanie had brought her snacks a few times and tried to offer her some comforting words about ‘how they were going to take good care of her’ and that ‘this was for the best’ and so on. It only infuriated her further. At least on her worst circumstances on Earth and Orionis, no one had ever taken her freedom away from her. Ava occasionally heard the faint sound of an electric guitar being played in a slow, soothing melody. She guessed it might have been Xavier. It seemed like an eternity had passed since she last saw Wesley. She wondered if he and the others were okay and whether or not they defeated Kaden. As these thoughts circled in her mind; she phased through many emotions from fear, to sorrow, and finally to extreme anger over her situation.
Early in the evening a light tap on the door signaled she had a visitor, which turned out to be Melanie again. She walked in casually holding a stack of new clothes. “Since we’ve spent so much time here waiting for the pirates to be cleared out, I thought I would get you some new clothes. I’ve had them cleaned and sterilized today. I don’t want to take any chances of you being exposed to that virus again. It’s really bad out there, the sooner we lift off the better.”
“When do you think that might be?” Ava asked breathlessly.
“Tomorrow evening hopefully. Is there anything I can get you?” Melanie asked as she turned towards the door.
“No. Thank you for the clothes.” She did feel sincere appreciation for them, she really disliked wearing other peoples clothing.
After Melanie left, Ava sank back down onto the bed and leaned over with her elbows on her knees, resting her head in her hands. She thought of Wesley, how patient and kind he always seemed to her. If he and Xavier were truly the same entity, why didn’t Xavier listen to her and respect her wishes? She had to do something, and do it fast before they launched again. She decided she would make one more attempt to get through to him.
The next morning Ava showered and dressed in some of the new clothes that Melanie had brought her the previous evening. She practiced the short speech she planned to make the entire time she was getting ready, until it was time to make her move. She quietly made her way up to the common room where she saw everyone going over some of the flight details for the upcoming launch. Ava took a deep breath as she approached them.
She calmly and politely asked the group if she could talk to them. Everyone fell silent and watched her intently as she took this as a sign to proceed. Ava approached Xavier and began to speak.
“James, I know you might believe that I have been mistreated, but I can assure you that haven’t. I know that you have been searching for your match for an eternity, however I’m sorry to tell you that I am not she. My heart belongs to Wesley and no matter how far away you take me or for how long, nothing will change that. Please, I beg you, let me go. Let us end this peacefully.” She clasped her hands together and held them to her chest in a gesture of desperation.
A silence so deafening you could hear the faint buzzing of the lights continued for at least two whole minutes. Ava felt it would be best to let one of them speak next. Xavier slowly approached her and broke the silence. “Ava, I’m so sorry that you are angry and frustrated right now. Our intentions were never meant to hurt you. I understand how you must feel, but if you would give me a chance, I know you will not find me as terrible as it seems you think that I am.”
Ava shook her head back and forth in disbelief. It’s like talking to a steel door, she thought to herself. She sensed the rage and energy rising within her, unable to control it. It had been waning for a while now and this might be the last of it, she thought. “What the hell is wrong with you! How could I ever love you! It’s not possible. It’s never going to happen!” She shouted at him, feeling herself losing control. She had not felt this way since the incident with Dr. Tom on Capri. Suddenly she lunged at Xavier and shoved him forcefully with all her borrowed energy. He staggered backwards a few steps, more from shock and surprise than from injury. His mouth dropped open slightly as he watched her with wide eyes. Ava, breathing heavily with her fists clenched at her sides said only one more thing to the group, “You’re all nothing but monsters!” No one said anything as she stalked off back down to her quarters, with silent tears running down her cheeks. Once inside, she collapsed on the bed, sensing the very last of Justin’s energy fade from her. She didn’t feel particularly good about assaulting Xavier. It wasn’t usually in her nature to confront someone like that. In fact, it probably wasn’t a very smart thing to do since he had the power to kill her with just one look, but she had to try something to break through to him.
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