Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1)

by Craig Gerttula

  “I will say this once and only once,” she drew every ounce of herself, her very being into her next words. “You can trust me, Trent, I will never betray you,” the words of her heart burst free, without thought, and she knew them to be true. Trent reached up, running his fingers down her cheek, looking deep into her eyes.

  “I promised myself I would never trust again, but,” he closed his eyes, “I will trust you.”

  Chapter 15

  This entire situation is beyond absurd, the realization echoed within his rattled mind as he responded instinctively to Sasha’s declaration. Beyond all reason, this woman from his dreams who had attracted him like no other before, turned out to be the one and only Grand Duchess Sasha Alutia, the ruler of the Alutia Duchy, someone of great importance within the NHA.

  As they continued to embrace, Trent became acutely aware of her body pressed up against his, and its feminine shape and aroma. Reluctantly, he released her, but kept hold of her hand. He knew that his behavior would probably breach some noble protocol, but she didn't seem to mind, and he found that he felt much calmer, his mind clearer, when he felt her touch. He allowed his eyes to come fully open, only to find Sasha’s shining, emerald green eyes staring back at him with compassion, but also veiled fascination...such beautiful eyes.

  “I overheard Sir Simwa,” he blurted, “about an hour before you arrived,” he paused, but Sasha nodded for him to go on, “he...he said something about how since the assassination failed they would just force you to marry him, then,” fury exploded within as the memory returned, “...kill you. He told it was all because some duke was upset that his land had been taken?” Sasha's gaze turned cold as she squeezed Trent's hand, unconsciously transferring her anxiety through the touch. A seed of protectiveness sprouted within his heart, “But I...I will never let that happen. I will protect you, keep him from ever laying a hand on you,” Sasha stared at him, expression unreadable.

  “I accept your protection, and offer my own. As you protect me from harm, I shall protect you,” she smirked, Trent sensing a little deviousness in the way she turned his declaration around. Before he could respond, she placed a finger to his lips, her expression going distant, like her mind had exited her body. Trent continued to study her intently, memorizing every millimeter of her near perfect face, finding only a single imperfection, a barely perceptible mole on her right eyelid.

  “I was using my BC node,” she answered his unvoiced question. “It appears there really is no way to get a message out,” she continued absently.

  “I'm still getting use to mine,” he tapped his temple. “It's a really odd feeling and its takes me forever to do anything with it,” Sasha smirked, her expression again going distant. Trent felt the now familiar sensation of something accessing his BC node, but this was different, warm, like he was being touched by another human, not a machine. His vision blurred and when it cleared he was not only looking at Sasha through his eyes, but also with his mind, similar to what happened a few hours earlier. It lasted only a few seconds before fading. Sasha's expression turned quizzical.

  “That's new,” she whispered, “usually it is possible to communicate with each other through our BC nodes. It’s just like talking, but with our minds,” she elaborated, having probably sensed Trent’s confusion, “but when I tried to link to you...it felt...strange....like if I held on for more than a few seconds I would have been drawn deep within, to your very core,” her voice trembled as her cheeks flushed.

  “Have you ever felt anything like it before?” he asked, curious.

  “No...but...” she started to respond, then fell into her thoughts.

  “It’s not identical, but,” he started, seeing an opportunity, “but the last time you appeared to me it felt similar, when you were,” he let his voice trail off as he clearly recalled her appearing before him, completely nude. She tilted her head, raising one of her thin eyebrows, her eyes telling him to elaborate.

  “Well, um,” he considered staying silent, not wanting her to think he was crazy.

  “Well?” she pushed.

  “Ok,” he sighed, folding without debate, “It all started when I first encountered the TSB. I started seeing a woman that looked like you in my dreams,” surprisingly, she nodded understanding, her gaze, trusting. “Then you began to appear to me even when I was awake. The first time you calmed me down... stopped me from doing something stupid, something I'd regret,” her eyes went wide.

  “That was when...” she whispered. He stared at her inquisitively, but she only nodded for him to continue.

  “But that was still only in my mind. It was when...when I was moving through the maintenance tunnels, you appeared before me...it was so real...” he remembered, then froze as Sasha reached for his cheek, exactly like during the waking dream.

  “I remember,” she said with awe.

  “So I’m not going crazy?” he responded, relieved.

  “No, Trent...unless I am as well,” a bit of dry humor found its way into her words, “but I think the question we need to ask is; why?” she finished, the humor vanishing.

  “I don’t know. Though it did happen again a third time,” he started to flush, “but it was different, you looked ethereal, like a ghost almost, and you were completely nu-,” he stuttered when her face drained of all color, quickly moving to cover her exposed cleavage.

  “You saw me,” she started to respond but was interrupted when the tube transport stopped and the door slid open.

  “Proceed through the primary corridor for 100 meters, then take a left, for 250 meters, then a second right for 50 meters, where you will find the seal of the galaxy king,” Trent looked at the sphere, then at Sasha, who looked away, unable to hold his gaze. He shrugged, saddened, realizing he'd probably said too much. But instead of brooding, he decided to listen to the Program named Vin and started down the wide corridor, a blushing Sasha in tow.

  *********

  He saw me, Sasha’s mind screamed, terrified. Not of Trent, of course, but at the memories that flooded back as he mentioned seeing her a third time, which coincided with when she was in the shower, unconsciously using the Arm of the Emperor to view him.

  She tried not to panic when the memories of eight years before returned. When the noble teenage boys, taunted and threatened her as she lay tied to the bed, naked. Their horrible expressions, contorted with pure wickedness as they touched her, taking detailed scans of every millimeter of her flesh. The memory having clung to her like a festering wound that refused to heal. She'd even sent Sir Seb'Losh on a fool’s errand for the selfish fact that he may somehow see her unclothed in his effort to protect her, the fear of being seen naked by a man just too great. But even while taking every possible precaution, she'd been seen by the man walking silently before her. She couldn't comprehend how it possible.

  When she first tested the Arm of the Emperor on Tiana, her friend had been unaware of Sasha's vision floating directly before her. But Trent had seen her...all of her. Combined with the fact that they had witnessed each other during dreams and waking, she knew they shared a mysterious connection, and her frantic mind told of the need to learn more before something else occurred.

  She continued walking silently behind him, eyes glued to the floor, like a naughty child being led away for punishment. Gathering all her courage, she pulled her gaze to the back of his head, his curly, dirty blown locks swaying gently with every step. The comforting, familiar fear slipped through her grasp as another emotion burst from her heart. But she repressed it, turning her gaze from Trent to the surrounding walls in the hope of steadying her racing heart.

  When they exited the transport tube earlier, her mind had been elsewhere, so she hadn’t seen, or cared about, where Vin had led them. But after closer inspection, she quickly discerned they were in a noble, command, or officer’s section of the base, based on the exquisite paintings hanging upon walls lined with statues and carved pillars, over marble floors with a track of navy blue carpet cutting through its center. A
sign over an intersecting hallway they turned down confirmed her suspicion...they were in the command barracks.

  Her attention was drawn back to Trent as she tried to organize her thoughts. But the idea that he may have seen her naked grated at her mind. She realized if this continued, they would never be able to work together, the memory constantly threatening to overwhelm her. Taking a deep breath, she stopped, forcing Trent to stop with her. He tried to turn, but she placed a hand on his back, keeping him facing forward.

  “Trent, did you see me naked?” she asked, voice tense. Silence stood between them, her breath the only sound breaking through its embrace.

  “Yes,” he said, voice a squeak, “I...I'm sorry. It must have been my mind playing tricks on me, those tunnels play games with the eyes, so I probably ju-,” she spun him to face her, his honest response matching the look in his eyes.

  “In my last relationship,” she repressed the voice screaming in the back of her mind to stop, but she knew she had to tell him, for if she didn’t, then she would always hold him at a distance, and for some reason, that idea scared her most, “around eight years ago, the noble boy I was courting assaulted me,” the shock that appeared in Trent’s eyes vanished almost instantly, replaced by fury as he clenched his jaw. “Trent, they did not rape me, but...but a few did try,” her voice trembled, “after he stripped me and tied me to the bed, his noble friends made detail scans of my body for...for reasons I don’t even want to know,” she paused, trying to hold back the tears that always burst forth at the memories. “Ever since I have been terrified of being witnessed naked by a man...or even talking about being naked to a man,” she shivered, like her body had been encased in ice, though a sense of relief did wash through her that she'd been able to tell him about her scar.

  Without warning, he embraced her fully, trying to draw forth her sorrow with his body and take it as his own, or so it felt. A fresh weariness washed over her as his warmth overwhelmed her freezing flesh, and she buried her eyes in his neck, his musk drowning her fear. The weight she’d been carrying on her shoulders for the last eight years lightened as she stood silent, melting deeper and deeper into his embrace, knowing that she'd finally taken the first step down the path of healing. I must apologize to Sir Seb'Losh when he returns, she admitted, knowing now she had been in the wrong.

  As suddenly as Trent had embraced her, he pulled away, but not before kissing her lightly on the forehead. Before she could react, he turned, grabbing her hand once more, and started forward, towards their destination. Terra, who'd been silent for most of the trip, squealed in delight, hopping from her bosom, down her arm and up Trent's, to rest on his shoulder. He stumbled in surprise, but smiled when his gaze caught sight of the catillian's cute little face.

  “It's a catillian,” Sasha started, voice unsteady, “I named him Terra. They are a type of rare animal that bonds with its owner. They are very popular pet with the NHA nobility since they require very little maintenance. It must like you...” she steadied when her mind fully comprehended what she was seeing. From what she'd learned, catillians would only “ride” upon their bonded partner or other bonded humans. But Terra had climbed on Trent's shoulder, seeming to squeak and squawk into his ear, a rather comical sight, since Trent would nod his head after every few sounds, like he understood what Terra was saying.

  After taking the final turn instructed by Vin, they came upon a dead end, or so Sasha initially thought. No, this is a door to a Royal Room, she realized, the left side of the wall carved with the crest of the TSB, while the right side held the Vn’Oco Royal Crest, a red sun encircled by a platinum crown. Between the two protruded a DNA lock.

  Trent moved before the wall, running his fingers over its carved surface, before reaching for the DNA lock as if he knew how to use it. It spun a quarter turn, then stopped. Terra squawked, hopping down his arm to lay one of his tiny hands on the lock beside Trent’s. It started to spin again, but stopped after another quarter turn.

  “Sasha, I think...” Trent started, but Sasha had already stridden to his side, placing her hand atop his. The DNA lock spun the last half-turn before spiraling inwards as the door folded into millions of tiny blocks that vanished into the surrounding walls.

  “A DNA lock, only those who have been provided permission by the emperor, king, or queen shall be allowed to enter,” Sasha explained when she noticed Trent staring in awe.

  Finding him locked in place, she wrapped her arm around his, pressing her body close to lead him through as Terra hoped back into her bosom. Trent glanced over, drawn by the sudden movement, and watched Terra curled up within. Sasha noticed his gaze linger, so she placed a finger to his chin, tilting his view away.

  “I...sorry...” he apologized, like he hadn’t realized what he was doing. She smiled, finding that she didn’t actually mind him staring, then shook off the foreign thought. What on Origin am I thinking?

  As they moved farther from the entrance, deeper into the darkness beyond, the door reassembled, blocking the only light. They stood together, only their rapid breaths sounding in the cavernous interior, like they were the only two beings who existed in the entire universe.

  “Vin?” she questioned after a moment. In response, a single spotlight appeared from high above to bath a towering statue that began to sparkle mysteriously in the center of the room, depicting a man who Sasha knew quite well. The sparkles, seeming to be attracted to the light above, began to flow up the statue’s surface, erupting from the crown it adorned one after another. They began to swirl, coalescing into the shape of a galaxy...their galaxy. She was drawn forward, towards the statue, pulling a dazed Trent along beside her.

  “My father, King Johan Vn’Oco,” Sasha whispered under her breath. Trent froze at her side, doubt covering his shadowy face.

  “You’re the daughter of the king?” Trent asked in disbelief.

  “I thought you said you would trust me?” she said, glaring at Trent, trying not to let her anger seep into her voice.

  “I do,” his expression gradually shifted to concern, “but I haven't seen anything that would completely convince me that what has been happening is not some sort of grand corporate experiment that I just happened to get caught up in,” Sasha stared at him, dumbfounded, he thought this, her, was all a lie, a fabrication! “But,” he continued before she could respond, her tongue locked by what she’d just heard, “I have seen things that even I know are well beyond this world. So if you tell me, Sasha that...that this is not a corporate experiment that...that we are not brainwashed and this is real...everything I've heard, seen, experienced is real I......I will believe you, since I trust you, no matter how hard my mind cries not too,” Trent, though his words were unemotional, couldn’t hide his pleading, pleading for someone to answer a question that must have been eating at him since he first joined the TSB.

  “Everything is real Trent,” she moved before him, squeezing his hands in hers, “what is fake is the life you lived until now. Earth is the experiment, created by the NHA to study human development and evolution over tens of thousands of years,” Sasha stared into his eyes, hoping to see recognition that yes...he did in fact...understand.

  *********

  Her words didn't register at first, being so unbelievable that his mind tried to smother them before he could fully comprehend. But as he stared into her eyes, something released, like a frozen gear had just become unjammed or the blinds that hid what was actually beyond the window were just flipped...I am the lie.

  Trent let this knowledge sink in, to push back against the voice that screamed it was impossible she spoke the truth, that she was just trying to confuse him, manipulate him, like all the other women who had been a part of his life. But he knew, beyond any doubt, she wouldn't lie to him, though why he knew this fact escaped him. So if she said everything that had occurred, all the outrageous events he'd experienced since he’d become a hobo, were all related to some gigantic human space empire, he would believe her.

  As he continued s
taring into the eyes of the woman he'd met less than an hour before, Trent began to realize that it made a strange sort of sense. He’d always felt that there was something inherently wrong with the world that he could never quite place. Now he knew what that feeling was, the feeling of dislocation. Humans are not native to Earth.

  “So that would make you not just a grand duchess, but a princess?” Trent sighed, resigned to this new reality. He'd finally given up on his past...on Earth...and it was time to start moving on.

  Sasha’s expression softened, draining of tension, as she took a step back, rising to her full height while studying him intently, like he was a sculptor in need of appraisal. Seeming satisfied, she flicked her hair over her shoulder, then leaned in to kiss his cheek. Blood rushed to the spot where her lips had touched and his heart pounded in his ears, a giddiness rising within like that was the first time he’d ever been kissed. Sasha, with a mischievous grin that Trent thought could melt anyone's heart ...even his...spun away, into the edge of the circle of light.

  “Actually,” she batted a finger, glancing back over her shoulder, “it is grand duchess and princess, make sure to get it right next time,” Trent smiled, feeling the last of his trepidation drain at her playful tone. With a wink, she strolled the last few meters to the statue’s base. Trent followed close behind, his smile turning into a gay grin as he found his gaze pulled to her swaying hips.

  The statue stood over 15 meters tall atop a circular dais with a carved description which read: King Johan Vn'Oco of the 189th New Universal Empirical Human Alliance Galaxy. The statues flowing robes swayed in an imaginary wind as the aged king being depicted, with an expression he could only call thoughtful, stared down upon them. His knowing gaze and flowing, snow white hair that swayed alongside his robes, provided Trent no doubt that this was a man of great power. Sasha stood silently at his side as he studied the statue, lost in thought, recalling memories he couldn't even begin to imagine.