"We wouldn't have survived this ordeal without your help. You will always be a great friend to us," I said, once again shaking Hagard's hand. [G697][G698]
"It was the least we could do for the woman that liberated our people and took down our dictator," Hagard answered with a smile. "As for these remaining guards, they will receive a fair trial, but will surely pay for what they tried to do here today." When we got back to our ship, we found my parents crying outside. When they saw us standing before them unharmed, they began to cry tears of joy. My mother and father hugged both Yahn and I and we boarded the ship. [G699]
“But how did you make it out of that mess?” Father asked.
"Jessie has friends and allies everywhere now. Those guards didn't stand a chance," Yahn shared. We decided not to wait around any longer. Our ship was now refueled and we were ready to make the remaining leg of the journey to Earth. That night, Yahn and I lay together looking out the window at the multitude of stars. We made love and lay together in silent bliss for a long period of time. Finally, Yahn looked over at me and smiled. "My dear, it's now truly over. It is time to lead the life we have dreamed of." I kissed him and gripped his hand tightly, knowing in my heart that he was right. [G700][G701]
Chapter 15
Jessie
We arrived on Earth to another hero's welcome. News of our travels and adventures had been all over the media and we were now even bigger celebrities than ever before. There were reporters waiting to ask us questions as soon as we exited the ship. Yahn waved them away and cleared a path for my parents and me.[G702][G703][G704][G705]
“Were you scared? How do you respond to the description of you as a liberator?” A reporter asked me, sticking a microphone in my face.
"I am just a woman like any other that had the courage to do something about an unjust situation. Anyone could do what I have done," I humbly stated, but the reporters only responded with more questions. We made our way through the docking area to a place where several hover car taxis were waiting anxiously, all hoping that the celebrities would choose their car to travel in. We chose one and told them to take us straight to Jessie's parents' house. We looked behind us at the multitude of people gathered around and looked forward to a period of rest away from the public eye.[G706][G707][G708]
We arrived at Jessie's parents' house only to see another barrage of reporters waiting on us. We walked through them and made our way inside the house. The reporters hung around on the lawn until well into the evening. Finally, I went outside to speak with them.[G709]
“I want all of you to leave. Soon, we will hold a press conference and all of you will be invited to attend. For now, I ask that all of you leave me, Yahn, and my parents in peace,” I stated. The reporters again tried to ask me questions all at once. I went back inside and finally, after another hour or so, the last of them had finally left. I fell asleep in Yahn’s arms to the most peaceful rest that I had experienced in quite a long time.
After a week or so of rest and recovery, our presence was requested at the white house. The president wanted to personally thank us for improving Earth’s relationship with the Sarceastians.
There was the usual presence of reporters, but we managed to get through without much incident. The president smiled and shook both of our hands.
“Again, I must thank the two of you for your continued efforts to bring about peace amongst the Sarceastians. Now that they have democratically elected a new leader, it will mark a new era of peaceful relations between Earth and Sarceastium, not to mention for the rest of the known universe. So many suffered at the hands of the executive and their military commander. I am insistent upon offering you a great reward for your deeds. Anything that you might want,” he said.
I looked at Yahn and he looked at me. “Well, one thing’s for sure, we will not be asking for any land on Gwuarden,” he joked, thinking back at the time when we thought we had begun a peaceful Chapter of our lives together.
“Why not some land nearby in Maryland, close to my parents?” I said. Yahn nodded in agreement at this request.
“I will see what I can do,” the president said. About two weeks later, a representative of the president showed up at my parents’ door.
“I have been sent by the president to take you to your new farm- it's only a few miles from here,” the man said. We went with him and he drove us in a black hover car into the hills. We came to a large gate and looked down a gravel road at a large rustic hover house surrounded by lush fields. In the background there were forested hills.[G710]
“Yahn, this is everything I have dreamed about.”
“Me too, my dear,” Yahn answered.
We settled into our new home, living a quiet life in the country. Frequently, my parents would come to visit. On one such visit, we went to a local store to get some supplies. We noticed that some of the locals were looking at Yahn funny and whispering amongst themselves. We even overheard a man in overalls say ‘He's one of them damn Karkastians. We had better watch him- they are all terrorists, you know.’ My father glared at the man so severely, I thought fire might begin to shoot out of his eyes. He went right over to the man and got in his face.[G711]
“Do you have any idea who that Karkastian is? That is Yahn and he is twice as brave as you could ever hope to be. If it wasn’t for him and my daughter, we would all be slaves of the Sarceastians, so I would show some respect if I were you!” My father spoke up. The man looked embarrassed as he realized who we were.
“My apologies,” he said to us and then walked out of the store. I couldn’t believe how much my father’s respect for Yahn had grown.
"Thank you for your kind words," Yahn said to my father.[G712][G713]
“Don’t mention it. If it wasn’t for you, we would no longer have our beautiful daughter in our lives. We will never forget everything that you’ve done for us,” he said. I smiled at how well the two of them were hitting it off.
The days passed in blissful happiness. Soon, the reporters began to leave us alone and we were able to travel around the area without being disturbed. I had begun to feel a bit sick to my stomach, so I decided to go to the doctor for a routine checkup. That’s when I received the news that would make my heart leap up with joy.
Yahn came inside after feeding the chickens that we now had on the farm. We also had a few cows and horses. He could tell that I was glowing with happiness, a bit more than usual.
“Did everything go alright at the doctor’s office?” he asked in concern.
“It certainly did,” I said as my smile grew larger. “Yahn, you are going to be a father, just like you’ve always wanted to be,” I said.
Yahn's blue complexion grew darker as his eyes grew big and a smile crept across his face. He picked me up and twirled me around in the air. "I'm going to be a father! All of our dreams have finally come true!" he exclaimed. I laughed joyfully along with him. That night we mind-melded, sharing our thoughts of elated joy with one another, letting the optimism of the future wash over us. We fell asleep hand in hand. Yahn suddenly woke up in the middle of the night, just like he had when Gwuarden had been invaded.[G714]
“Yahn, is everything alright? You’ve had another dream, haven’t you? I can tell by the look on your face,” I said, fearing the worst.
He nodded his head, but the look on his face was a joyful one. I could tell right away that the nature of this dream was quite different than the one he had on that fateful night in Gwuarden.
“I dreamt that you and I were on the top of that hill behind the house having a picnic. We were laughing and talking, holding hands with our new baby boy. He was happy and healthy. Jessie, everything is going to be just fine. The future holds no malice for us, only gifts.” I laughed out loud with joy and embraced Yahn, tightly. I was greatly relieved to find that his latest dream was a happy one.
“You are all I ever wanted and nothing can stand in the way of our future together,” I whispered. We sat together and watched the first rays of the sun make their w
ay through the window and shine symbolically on our bed.
The End
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The Secret Box Set
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Your reviews greatly help reach more readers.
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Chapter One: A Shot in the Dark
Joanna
"When I look down at the men and women before me, I see heroes." The President's voice was filled with pride, as he gazed out over our assembled ranks as we stood at crisp attention. Our navy-blue uniforms were creased to a dangerous edge, our heads were shaved a shining bald, and our faces were solemn and reverent, despite the glare of the setting sun in our faces. It was a beautiful moment, one crafted and shaped for the cameras, and broadcast to all the people of the Pan-American Dominion. The moment said "Hope" to them. It said, "Triumph" to them. To the President, it was the crowning moment of his career, the point where he had finished dragging the people of the American continents, back from the brink of destruction and showed the rest of the world, which was still putting itself back together, that the PAD would lead humanity into a bright new future. "In years past, we used the word ‘hero' to refer solely to the soldadesca (military soldiers). And though our brave soldiers were always, and continue to be heroes, today we have the opportunity to honor a new form of bravery." From beneath my uniform cap, I found the President's face with my eyes. He was everything people needed in a leader, a tall, charismatic leader, young enough to be handsome, but old enough to be wise. He wore the legacy of his extensive war experience in the burn scar that marred the left side of his honey-bronzed face, and, if you looked closely, twisted the skin of his hands. "Today, we send our bravest, our brightest, out into the stars, to make a way for humankind to follow. People of Pan-America, I give you the new frontiersmen, our especuladores, who will boldly go where no man or woman has gone before. May I be the first to offer a solemn salute to our heroes, the Formers!" The President snapped to attention behind his podium, and his right fist slammed over his heart. After a moment, in which the snapping and clicking cameras captured that moment of perfect patriotism, my classmates and I returned the salute, fists thumping into our chests in a dramatic echo of the President's gesture. The gathered, ethnically diverse crowd of P.A.D. citizens burst into applause at the exact right instant. It was the perfect moment of Pan-American pride, of patriotism, of victory in the face of the last decade of war. It would be plastered all over the news homepages, it would be written into the history books, it would be spoken of in hushed tones for the next hundred years… and it was all bullshit.
The ceremony ended as the sun lost its own bitter war with the horizon, and we filed back into the Foundation's open gymnasium, where, away from the cameras and reporters, we stripped out of our uniforms and hung them on the waiting racks, which had been wheeled in for this purpose. Beneath the uniforms, we were all wearing matching gray skintight jumpsuits, the elastic fabric of the clothes woven with nearly invisible wires and fabric circuits. A bored looking intern took inventory of the uniforms, which would undoubtedly be reused for the next class of Formers. She completely ignored the guileless attempts of several of my classmates to hit on her. I followed her lead when the attention of my horny classmates turned to me. We were going to be shot into space tonight, never to return to Earth. There wasn't a hell of a lot of a point in giving up the goods for any boy when he and I would both know there would be no tomorrow. Though, as I thought about it, maybe that was why a lot of the others were trying so hard. As the uniforms were carted away to storage, we were herded by even more aloof interns through the tunnels that connected the Foundation complex to the launch pad. We didn't need to stop to pick up our belongings because we weren't permitted to bring any. That would have just meant more weight, and where we were going, every gram was at a premium.
At the launch pad, we were packed like sardines into little, boxy, windowless shuttles, fifty at a time- an inglorious way of reaching the stars. Of course, contrary to the president's glowing words, nothing about the Foundation or the Formers was glorious. It wasn't intended to be. My classmates and I weren't the cream of the crop. Shit, we weren't even part of the usual crop. We were the chaff. Wards of the state, the young indebted, disgraced soldiers, even a few young criminals who had taken a Former contract instead of the short drop and sudden stop. We didn't have families, we didn't have lovers and we didn't have kids. The whole point was that we weren't going to be missed. The shuttle bucked beneath us and began climbing cables that stretched miles into the sky, slow at first, then faster and faster. I felt my stomach drop down into my toes, but I didn't get sick. Our bodies had been stuck full of all kinds of cybernetic hardware, and I was pretty sure I couldn't have gotten motion sickness even if I wanted to. After all, the Bullet would be worse. The ride lasted maybe an hour. We chatted about nothing, made gallows-jokes, and most of us didn't talk or think about what was coming. I joined in with the jokes, mostly for something to do, but I didn't have friends in the shuttle with me. Actually, I didn't have any friends among the Formers at all. At least to me, it seemed that there was less point in us making friends than there was in trying to seduce an intern on the way out the door. We were literally never going to see each other again. When the shuttle finally drew to a halt, the joking stopped. It was time. We filed out of the shuttle into Exodus Station, where Foundation personnel were waiting to receive us. I might have liked to look down at the Earth from the station's perch in orbit, but the floor was solid and opaque, so instead I looked across the station at the Gun.
The Gun was enormous. Its barrel composed of three great electromagnetic rails, arranged in a triangular pattern, surrounding the pipe through which the Bullets would pass- through which we would pass. Even as I watched, the vast ammunition chamber sealed shut, and a heavy, bass thrumming vibrated the floor beneath my slippers. It was the grand turret moving, swiveling to take aim along a carefully calculated track which would carry its cargo to the correct destination. There was a bright flash from the mouth of the Gun, and a moment later, the sound reached us as a gigantic whip crack. And one of us was gone. Flung out into space at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. I stood and stared through the windows into the starry expanse, and wondered if the occupant of that Bullet would make it to his planet. Would I? But the line was moving, and I was jolted into movement. There was no point in thinking about it now. I would make it or I would not. My turn was not so far off. We filed into an orderly column, and waited fo
r our names to be called, and all the while, the Gun barked out behind us, and another Former left the Earth forever.
My name was called. Joanna Angeles. I wondered how many other wards of the state up here were named with some variant of John. Or Jane. I broke from the gathered ranks and followed the Foundation technician down a short flight of stairs set into the floor, around a corner, and into a small room, where a man in a white lab coat manned a machine which looked like nothing so much as an airport security scanner. He had me stand in the archway while he worked at the control pad. There was a loud beep from the archway, and a tingling sensation rushed over my body as if a thin layer of alcohol had been poured over my skin. They told me to step out of my slippers and proceed through the door on the other side of the room. I followed their instructions, the tiled floor cool beneath my bare feet. I was now wearing my jumpsuit and nothing else. I crossed through the indicated door and found another technician waiting for me. She led me through another short, featureless hallway and yet another door. And there it was, standing open to receive me- the Bullet. My Bullet.
Alien Romance Box Set: Romantic Suspense: Alien Destiny: Scifi Alien Romance Adventure Romantic Suspence Trilogy (Complete Series Box Set Books 1-3) Page 29