Sanctuary 1 (The Foliage Series Book 3)

by Aline Riva

  “Is that a....”

  “It is! Murdock confirmed, “It's a space craft, Joy!”

  Then he took the war bird down, landing easily as it sat on the open land and the engines powered down. Murdock got out of his seat and so did Joy, and there was a sparkle in his eyes as he spoke again.

  “Come with me, you're in for a surprise!”

  Joy left the craft with Murdock, and on stepping out was surprised to see they were now surrounded by people who were all pleased to see Murdock return.

  “She's back - my good friend Joy Thorn,” he explained, “And Joy, these people are now my crew. ”

  Joy had been smiling as she recognised Michael and then Kevin and his daughters said Hi. Then suddenly her smile faded as she turned back to Murdock.

  “You're really leaving...”

  “Yes I am...but first there's some other people I'd like you to meet.”

  Then Sasha and Captain Jordan - the sight of him still gave her chills - came out from the crowd. Joy looked uneasily at Jordan, then looked to Murdock, as then from behind Sasha, two children ran forward.

  “Joy...” Murdock said proudly, “I want to introduce you to two special people.”

  She looked down at the children and smiled, knowing in a heartbeat they were Murdock's.

  “This is Rosita and Noah,” he said to her.

  The children reached up to cuddle Joy, and she reached down and hugged them warmly.

  “Oh Murdock, your kids are lovely!” she exclaimed, then she looked down at his son and daughter.

  “I bet your Dad's told you a thing or two about me!” she said warmly.

  They both nodded with cheeky smiles on their faces.

  “I couldn't leave without them meeting you,” Murdock told her.

  But as glad as she was to have been here, her thoughts had drifted back to the battle at Sanctuary as she wondered about the aftermath.

  “Murdock, I should go now... you should take me back...I need to know everyone is okay...especially Ash, my Ashley Jekel.”

  Murdock's eyes registered surprise and then he laughed warmly.

  “You're with Jekel? I'm so glad, Joy! But do look after him, won't you?”

  She smiled.

  “I do, all the time!”

  “Then you should go,” Murdock agreed as his dark eyes sparkled warmly and he stood with his family.

  Joy's eyes clouded with confusion.

  “But I need to get back right now...I need you to take me back.”

  “No Joy,” he said as he stepped closer, “You go...Your chariot awaits...” and he indicated to the War Bird, “She's yours. Take her with my love.”

  Joy's eyes widened.

  “She's mine? Really?”

  Murdock chuckled.

  “Look after her.”

  Joy hugged him tightly.

  “Of course I will, thank you!”

  As he let go of her he looked at her fondly.

  “Take care, Joy.”

  “You too,” she replied, “And you look after Sasha and those lovely kids.”

  “Always,” Murdock vowed.

  Then he stood and watched as Joy returned to the war bird.

  Moments later the war bird fired up and rose from the ground, and Joy ascended in to the skies and as she soared above as she looked down upon Murdock and his family as she smiled and blinked away tears of pure happiness. And the War bird shot off into the clouds as she headed back to Sanctuary, unaware of the bad news that awaited on her return...

  Chapter 13 : Miracles and Science

  The war bird touched down with grace, settling on the now silent former battle field, as if it knew it had found a new home. As Joy jumped down from the craft she punched the air in jubilation as she ran to Elise, who still stood waiting.

  “Murdock gave me the war bird! I have a war bird! His beautiful ship! Sorry I took so long but he wanted me to meet his kids. Oh Elise, they're so lovely -”

  “Joy,” she said, and then Joy's smile faded as she saw the expression in her friend's eyes.

  “What is it?” she asked as fear began to wrap itself around her heart.

  “Jekel fell from the shield control centre. His main cable was severed...I'm sorry but I don't think he can survive this – Joy, wait for me -”

  Elise broke into a run, trying to catch up as Joy was already running through the bloody battle field, heading for the field above the hillside, and the mansion of Blake Riley.

  Many hours later, after Jekel was out of surgery and in a quiet room with white walls and bright lighting in the medical centre below ground, as Riley performed some final checks on his critical patient, Joy went up the stairway to a corridor that was above ground, where she felt the need to see the outside world again, even though the skies were clouded over and as she looked to the rain that streaked the window, it seemed to mirror the tears that ran down her face.

  Elise had not left her – except to check on Lynch, who she assured her was fine as he had bullets dug out of his shoulder and out of his metallic hip and leg, she knew he was fine because his swearing had apparently been above the usual standard expected from the bad tempered former General. Felix would be okay. So would Flynn, who now had cyborg pipework that ran through his chest. He would recover, they both would, but Jekel...it seemed unlikely...

  Riley had already explained that Jekel's power boosting wire had been fitted, and that it could take a while for him to regain consciousness. He had also told her that if Jekel did wake, he would have to work hard to regain the damaged functions affected by the power outage – the snapped cable had caused brain damage that could be easily over come by the wiring if Jekel was strong enough to get that function back – and he would have to be, or the wiring network would all fail, and there would be no coming back from this. Even the booster line wasn't permanent. It would burn out one day, taking thirty percent of the regained function with it and Riley couldn't predict which thirty percent it would take...

  If he lived, Jekel was facing an uphill struggle all the way, but for now, he was in emergency shut down mode – the cyborg version of a deep coma, which Riley said he could treat once a week with a transfusion of Trizinaq – an agent to work between blood and cybernetic fluid to encourage healing, which would be given once a week over a twenty four hour period via an intravenous line. It was all Riley could do for him now, all any of them could do now was to wait and hope for the best...

  When Riley finally came out of Jekel's room, he went up the stair way and joined Joy and Elise in the corridor.

  “As you know he came through the surgery okay,” he told Joy, “His heart stopped once but I got him back quickly and I can't see a sign of damage there. He's lost a section of skull at the side of his head - it's been replaced with a metallic plate which I will in time cover with a veneer for him – just to make it look more attractive because we all know how Ash likes to look after his appearance... But I can't say for sure if he will ever wake. I've done all I can. I'm sorry...”

  Then he fell silent, looking up the corridor as his son's wife stood there, her dress soaked in blood.

  “Mel?” he said, “Melissa? What happened?”

  And Joy turned her head, feeling an odd chill, a sense of deja vu as she realised the young women had the same first name as her own daughter...

  “Do you know her?” wondered Elise as she looked on.

  “I...I don't know...I think...Oh god...I think...” Joy's voice was choked off with tears as she ran over to join Riley, who had caught up with his son's wife.

  “Where's Max?” he demanded.

  Melissa gave a sob.

  “He wouldn't stay locked in. He left me there, he heard soldiers in the house...he wanted to protect me...they killed him, Blake!”

  Riley gave a gasp as he fell to his knees, he wrapped his arms about his waist as if the pain of the loss of his only son had just cut him in two, as Melissa stood there weeping.

  Joy stepped closer.

  “Melissa
...” was all she said.

  She blinked away tears, staring at the woman who seemed so familiar.

  Suddenly Joy was shaking.

  “How did you get away when the UNA burned everything when you were a child?”

  “Blake's friend...the magician, Mr Jekel, he saved me and Max,” Melissa said tearfully.

  Joy gave a sob.

  “Jekel saved you?”

  Melissa nodded, then her eyes widened.

  “You...you look like...”

  “I'm your mum!” Joy sobbed, and then her daughter sobbed too, as Joy drew her tightly into her arms, while Riley wept for the loss of his only son.

  In the City of Freedom, a troubled meeting had been called and as Josh sat as head of the circle, he felt trapped. Sylvia had certainly had her way – seeing to it that her son took up his old post as Stephanie's personal guard. But Josh never left them alone together. He was now forced to spend time with his wife, just to be sure she didn't cheat on him – not that it seemed Captain Silk wanted to bother any more, his confidence seemed to have dipped immensely since his shattered skull had been rebuilt with a strip of metal set in the right side of his head, and from what Josh gathered, his wife's looks towards her former lover did not seem to be returned...But a cyborg Captain in Freedom had caused outrage, and now the troubles in Wales had blown up and settled down again, Freedom City felt uneasy. Josh had used the screen system to address the crowds – but few people had showed up. Now he sat in the room with his associates, who were all ready to discuss the cyborg issue...

  “I say we open our gates and welcome them,” said Sylvia.

  The others shook their heads.

  “Division with border control is the only way,”added Spear, and the others nodded, giving Josh a slight sense of power, even though Sylvia's cold eyes bored into him hatefully through out as historic decisions were made...

  Six Months Later:

  The Grey Goose was no longer the name of the now refurbished pub in Bullet. After Dixon's death in battle, as the now recovered Flynn had stepped into the new bar with Kait and Lynch, he had gestured around the room, where over the fireplace now sat the mounted head of the Howler he had named Angus the Fungus Head.

  “What do you think?” he asked Lynch.

  “I was hoping for a Scottish theme,” he replied as he saw the lights set into the walls that looked like robotic wiring.

  “And I wanted an Irish theme,” Flynn replied, “But look around...what should this pub be?”

  And Lynch looked about the place with its electrical theme walls, and recalled the name of the place had just been changed to The Wired Circuit and he smiled.

  “A cyborg pub,” he agreed, “And I approve.”

  He and Flynn shook hands on the deal.

  “Welcome on board, business partner,” he said warmly.

  Then Flynn's eyes clouded with worry.

  “If only Freedom City could be more understanding,” he said, “Strict border controls...makes us feel like prisoners.”

  “We don't have to be,” Kait said as she leant against the bar and looked at him thoughtfully, “They're calling this place Cyborg Valley, right? So that makes us a community – with our own culture. We should make the most of that. Thanks to the Vice Premier and the Culture Minister a live screen has been approved for the field at the back of Riley's mansion linking to Freedom. A year from now, we will have that link to the city. And we have a great big piece of land out the back there too. Why don't we have a festival?”

  Flynn's eyes lit up and he kissed his wife fondly.

  “You're a genius, Kait!” he exclaimed.

  Then Lynch stopped smiling as he gave a weary sigh.

  “Don't expect me to be about too much soon,” he said to Flynn, “Elise is pregnant again.”

  Mandy looked up from the other side of the bar and smiled.

  “Oh lovely! Congratulations!”

  Lynch looked away.

  “Don't,” Flynn said to her, “Just get the man a drink, he looks like he needs one...”

  “I certainly do,” Lynch complained, “She can concieve at will...didn't even say a word about this one until recently....and its coming soon too because she's accelerating the gestation...Long story...”

  Flynn put his arm around his shoulder and led him over to the bar.

  “Sit yourself down and tell me about it,” he said, “That's what friends are for, right?”

  And Lynch nodded, then began to explain a rather unexpected situation.

  Joy had found great solace over the past months in the company of her daughter. Getting to know Melissa all over again had brought her hope at a time when she needed it the most, although she often tried when alone in her room at the mansion of Blake Riley, to use the communication device to contact Murdock – but all she heard now was static. Murdock was out of her reach, and while Melissa dealt with her own grief at the loss of Max, something she could share when weeping with Riley, Joy felt alone as she tended to Jekel, who after many months, was still in a deep coma and showing no signs of recovery...

  The bedroom was palatial. The colour scheme was white and gold, the walls were white and the lavish drapes were golden velvet, matching the white sheets and the gold embroidered pillows on the large bed that seemed to swamp the man who lay on his back in the middle of it, his eyes closed as if sleeping deeply amid the luxury around him. A chandelier hung from the high ceiling and its crystal beads caught the sunlight as it came in through the soft, white nets that hung at the windows,falling muted and gently on to the thick, soft carpet that covered the floor. The furniture was dark wood and clearly antique – there was something about this room that suggested it could have belonged in a real palace once, and like all the other grand rooms in the vast mansion, certainly suited the taste of the man the cyborgs called King Steel.

  But Ash Jekel was oblivious to it all.

  Six months had passed since the failed connections had caused him to slip into a coma, it had been almost that long since Riley had decided to move him from the underground cybernetics centre to a room at the house, where he slept on, seeming so peaceful as the fifty weak connections inside his head refused to strengthen and he remained in emergency shut down mode – that was what Riley called it all the time, because it was easier to call it that, so much less painful than to say Ash was in a coma he would never wake from...

  As Joy entered the room she closed the door behind her quietly, making her way over to his bedside softly, simply because he looked so peaceful. Elise had remarked that he looked at peace, and Joy was sure her words had been said in kind sincerity, but when Lynch had stepped closer and looked down at him, he had looked to Joy and then said quietly, “I think he's already gone...I don't think Jekel is in there any more...”

  Joy sat down on the edge of the bed, watching him as he lay there unmoving save for the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed slowly.

  His cybernetic shut down had meant there was no need for life support equipment, he simply remained frozen as he was the day the connections had faded out, now and then shifting like a restless sleeper or giving the slightest movement that gave her hope even though Riley had told her the occasional sigh or turn of his head meant nothing at all. He couldn't tell her how long Jekel would live like this – years, he had said, or maybe less.

  Joy had stopped hoping for a miracle. Those hopes had been dashed when Riley had told her that even if the power boost was eventually enough to wake him, Jekel would have to fight to regain at least seventy percent of his former function, or the weak connections would fail again – followed by the rest of the wired network inside his head. If he woke up he faced a huge struggle that he most likely wouldn't be able to overcome. She felt like she was already losing him, and not knowing when he would take his final breath was the hardest part to accept.

  “You're missing all the hard work,” she said to him as she reached over and gently brushed a stray lock of hair out of his closed eyes, “Riley's working with
Lynch on negotiations with Freedom City but they still have Lynch down as a wanted man so he's working in the background with him to try and secure some kind of peace deal...Its not easy. And Riley is still hoping you'll wake up. He's never going to give up on you...”

  She paused there, feeling that sad, sinking sensation of no hope left dragging through her. In all the time she had been talking, she had been holding on to Jekel's hand – and his hand had simply rested there with not a flicker of movement.

  “We don't know the outcome of the agreement yet,” she added quietly, “There's talk that they might have tight border controls – this isn't Wales any more. They call it Cyborg Valley now and they'd prefer us to stop here, permanently...”

  She fell silent and once again ran her hand over his hair. Ash gave a sigh and turned his head slightly, as if needing her touch, so she tenderly placed her hand on his cheek, but he rested heavily against it, his lips parted as he continued to breathe slow and even.

  “Riley said you can't hear me,” she told him, “He said you can't even dream, you're just shut down...but in case you're not, I'm still here, Jekel. Did you hear me? I'm still here.”

  As he continued to breathe slowly and give no response, she slid her hand away from his cheek as he rested against the soft pillow, but kept hold of his hand as she spoke again.

  “I don't want to leave...But I have to think about the future and I will have the chance to go before they decide on total lock down. But I don't want to leave you like this...I keep thinking, you're not gone. As long as you're still breathing, I think there's still hope.”

  She gently stroked his cheek as she looked down at him, but his eyes stayed closed as he breathed slowly and deeply.

  “I keep hoping for a miracle,” she said to him, “But there are no miracles, Ash. But I won't let that stop me hoping...”