Gregor's Search-The Filament Makers: Stories from the Filaments
Page 36
Gem stepped forward, “I can convert Toren’s outer from to human, just like I changed mine to marry Ana. He will be human after he goes through the process.”
“I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!” Wallace said loudly.
Angel stood up, “So, you will ignore the vote of the clans!”
“No, I will insist she marry a Bellingham Warrior!”
Gregor spoke up, “I believe that if you look at the roll of Insectoid Clan Members you will find Toren’s name on it.”
Wallace whipped around, as the other clan leader unrolled the scroll and started reading. His eyes narrowed, and he looked up at Wallace, “His name is in the middle of the list. It wasn’t noticed.”
Gregor smiled, “And you announced that the new clan has all the rights and protections of every other clan. Toren is a warrior in the new clan and thus he is a Bellingham warrior.”
“But…”
Sam stood up, “You set this up to force Elena to make a choice. Now that you’re trapped in your deceitful plan, you want to change the rules and back out.”
Wallace turned to Elena, “Do you seriously want this alien to be your mate?”
Elena looked at Toren, “I thought you were promised to another.”
“I was but I told her that I would not honor the contract. It was void after my parents died.”
“I thought you loved her, Toren?”
“I honored her; I did not love her. I only learned what love was after I assumed a human’s DNA. I told my community and Sal-E that I would not be coming back; that my place was here with you.”
“But if you change your DNA, you will lose the ability to be an Energy Being?”
Toren smiled, “Being able to do that is highly overrated. Being in your arms; now that is highly underrated.”
Elena rushed to Toren and wrapped her arms around him, I thought you loved her.”
“No, you should have known how I felt when I asked if you were passing out kisses to give me one.”
“I thought you were joking!”
Elena whipped around, “I’ve made my choice!”
Toren turned her around, “Are you sure about this?”
Elena smiled and kissed him, “I am.”
Wallace turned to Gregor, “Are you sure about this?”
“I would have wanted Toren to have the opportunity to woo her properly, but you took that away from them. She has chosen and now they will take whatever time they need to be sure.”
Wallace looked at Elena, “You will let us know if you change your mind?”
“You’ll be the last to know, Clan Leader.”
Gregor stood up, “If Toren had not joined us, I can honestly say all of us would have died. He is more important to Bellingham’s survival than I can state adequately. Elena needs a warrior husband and I can’t think of anyone more qualified than Toren.”
The gathering exploded into cheers, as Sam and Angel rushed up to Elena, “I thought you said there wasn’t anyone you were interested in.”
“Mom, there was no one on Bellingham.”
Angel looked at Toren and he shrugged, “I was on Romania seeing Gem. I wanted to see if changing me was possible.”
Angel looked at Gem and he raised a shoulder, “I found it hard to believe but Toren is capable of producing a form that is pure human DNA in its structure. The change can be done.”
Gregor walked up and said, “I thought your people wanted you to lead them.”
“They did, but I would have caused them immense problems.”
“Why?”
“Because my people are pacifists. During my time on the Dragon Fly, I became a warrior. It would not work.”
Sam smiled, “You will take care of my daughter!”
“I suspect we will take care of each other; she is also a consummate warrior in her own right.”
Sam chuckled, “Good answer, good answer.”
Solo stepped in and hugged both of them, “It’s about time the two of you were honest with each other. An idiot could see you were attracted to each other.”
Gregor lowered his eyes, “Uhhh…I didn’t see it.”
Solo smiled, “Like I said.”
Elena looked at Gem, “Will our children have the blonde hair with blue and gold eyes?”
“That’s up to Toren. The bath will convert his DNA to human, but he’ll be able to control the process by selecting the DNA he wants to make his body. He has a unique advantage in the process.”
“Keep the dark hair, please!” Elena pleaded.
Toren laughed, “I will.”
Elena’s eyes suddenly narrowed, “Hey, why didn’t you go ahead and go through the process?”
“If you rejected me, I could not live here and see you with another. I’d be forced to go back to the community.” Toren answered.
“Back to that Sal-E, I suppose.”
“No, there would not be anyone else for me but you. I told Sal-E to choose another, I would not Link with her.”
Elena pulled one of Toren’s arms over her shoulder and smiled, “We need some time to talk about this.”
Angel nodded and turned to Gregor, “Thank you.”
“Glad to do it.”
Toren looked at Gregor, “Uhhh…while we were on Romania, Gamgel helped us with a request.”
“What was that?”
“He moved your computer to one of the new warships and cloned it in the Dragon Fly. We brought your new warship back with us and he gave the Dragon Fly to Elena and me.”
Gregor rolled his eyes, “YOU CAN’T MEAN THERE’S TWO OF HIM!!”
“That’s right, Gregor! The universe is twice as lucky!”
“Hey, that’s a good one. I was going to say improved.”
“Lucky is better.”
“You’re right.”
“It sounds like I’m listening to stereo with bad music,” Gregor muttered.”
“Hey, you’re just jealous both of us aren’t on your ship; go ahead and admit it.”
Gregor’s head fell but Elena saw his smile. Gregor and his computer were so much a part of each other. The world looked good for the first time in months and Elena walked away with Toren. She looked up at him and smiled, “Archery training starts in the morning.”
“Gregor promised sword training.”
“We’ll practice the bow after sword training.”
“First, I have a bath to take.” Toren took a packet out of his pocket and Elena giggled, “I hope you understand that I will be there to see it.”
“What happened to your modesty?”
“I was only modest about others seeing me; I have no issue seeing others.” Toren laughed, as they headed toward Elena’s house.
• • •
Gem looked at Gregor, “Are you going to send a scout back to Greng space?”
“Probably not. I no longer fear the major filaments being damaged. They can have that space and I hope my long days of travel are over.”
“Ok.”
Gregor lowered his head and glared at Gem, “You sound like you don’t believe me.”
“Whatever you say, Gregor.”
“Gem?”
“Give it a few months. Then we’ll see.”
“See what?”
“If the Greng win, do you think they’ll forget about us? And if the Hermits win, do you think they won’t go looking for the Filament Makers?”
Damn you. Gem!”
Gem laughed and hugged Gregor, “Just something to think about.”
“That’s what led to this!”
“I’m sure you’ll not worry about it and put it out of your mind. Ta-ta.”
Gem walked away with Ana and Gregor sighed. “Is he right?”
Gregor turned and saw Kaylee looking up at him. He looked at Gem and sighed, “Yes and no.”
“What does that mean! Do you think you’re going to fly off and leave our children again.”
“No, Kaylee. I’ll send Toren and Elena to take a look; I’ll stay here.” Gregor continued
to watch Gem and then his eyes flew open, “Kaylee, we only have one child.”
Kaylee put her arms around Gregor, “At the moment, that’s true. But like Gem said, ‘Give it a few months’.”
Gregor put his hand on Kaylee’s midsection and felt the bump. His smile was huge, as he lifted her and kissed her passionately.
Epilogue
“Darn you, Toren. How can you be so good with a bow!”
“I’ve got a human body, but I still have the energy of my previous mind. The energy needed to fire a bow is easy to see and quite natural.”
“Gregor says the same thing about your talent with a sword. He says you don’t need to go through Gem’s machines to increase your vision, speed, and reflexes.”
“I can still look out in space and see everything I was able to see before the change.”
Elena picked up her quiver and pulled Toren’s arm, “I don’t think I can teach you anything more.” They started walking across the clearing and Elena sighed.
“What’s wrong?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way but I’m a little sorry that Sal-E lost you. I’m sure she wanted you and is heart broken.”
“Don’t worry about Sal-E. I left her with a thought and I believe it will bear fruit.”
“What thought was that?”
“I told her that Gam-L had put his life on the line to save the community and would be seen as a hero in the community, once they looked at the recording of what he did. I suspect, his honor will be high enough for her to choose him.”
Elena smiled, “That’s just like you; always thinking of others.”
“No, I did that because if she does choose him, we can go back to the community without there being any hard feelings. I do want to visit the site where my parents died one day.”
“Why?”
“To beg them to accept my choices.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Toren smiled, “I wouldn’t go without you.” He put his arm around her, as they walked toward the community, under a brilliant blue sky over Bellingham.
The End
Message me at Saxonandrew@msn.com and let me know your thoughts. I treasure your feedback.
Books by Saxon Andrew
The Annihilation Series:
Love Conquers All
The Power of a Queen
A Rose Grows in Weeds
Tommy’s Tale
Searcher
Demon’s Sacrifice
Finding Keepers
(The seven books above are also audio books at Audible.com)
Prequel-Psychic Beginnings
Searching for a Hero
Dahlia’s Deception
Annihilation-The Complete Series Box Set
The Annihilation Saga:
Lost Royalty
The Warrior's Destiny
No Way Out
Ashes of the Realm:
Juliette’s Dream
Greyson’s Revenge
Death of an Empire
The Return of the Realm
Lens of Time:
The Pyramid Builders
Planet Predators
Pray for the Prey
The End of Time
Lens of Time - Star Rover:
The Worst of Time
Running Out of Time
Chosen to Die
The Fight for Creation:
Life Warrior
Scout Warrior
Ultimate Warrior
Star Chase:
The Lost Prince
(Also an audio book at Audible.com)
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to Hide
Probe Predators
Jesse's:
Jesse’s Starship
Mike’s War
Joshua’s Walls
Nemesis:
Revenge is Best Served Hot
The Search for Orion
Trapped in Time:
The Time Takers
Taming a Planet
Extinction
Escape to Earth:
Running From Fate
Fighting for Space
Defending Holy Ground
The Legacy of a Conqueror
Living Legends
The Sequel Series to Escape to Earth - Defending Earth:
Searching for Death Feeders
Discovery Means Death
The Death Prophecies:
The Coming of the Prophet
The Prophet's Eyes
The Unknown Enemy Will Kill You
No Technology is Invincible
Survival is Never Free
The Last Prophecy
Stories from the Filament Universe:
Gregor’s Run
A Pirate’s Tale
Soul of the Swords
The Death Filament
Death Never Leaves a Calling Card
Gregor’s Search
Jimmy's Dreams Stories:
Jimmy’s Dreams
Jimmy’s Dreams II - A Recurring Nightmare
Other:
The War Against Earth
The Book of Life
(a short story)
Coming Soon:
The Annihilation Saga:
Fight and They Will Come
About Saxon Andrew
Saxon Andrew is a former social worker with a degree in Psychology and Education from Mercer University. He has taught school, managed several sales organizations and owned his own business.
He has devoured science fiction since he first learned to read and his stories are the product of years of personal experience and exposure to the universes created by the genre’s great authors.
He lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two dogs who still appreciate his sense of humor after all these years. "Dogs are always ready to smile."