Sunrise Destiny

by Mark Terence Chapman

  I took in the breathtaking sight of an alien planet. From my vantage point, I could see almost half the planet. Except for a large island here and an archipelago there, it was all water—blue-green and shallow like the Caribbean. No wonder the Azarti had evolved in the sea.

  After a few minutes to absorb the view, I swooped back down to our island. I’m not sure I ever could have located the tiny island itself from orbit, but all I had to do was think about Shari and I homed right in on her. In seconds, I was back in her room. Then I concentrated on Shari to the exclusion of all else. I felt the warmth of her presence, but I also felt a chill. Her protective shell was holding me at a distance.

  [Shari, sweetie, it’s me, Don. I want to help you. But you have to let me in. You’re safe now. Karsh brought you back to his planet and Keldor and others healed you. Everything’s going to be all right. Tiny is dead and Scar and Weasel are back on Earth, billions and billions of miles from here. They can’t hurt you. Do you understand me? I’m here to take care of you. I won’t let anyone hurt you, sweetie. Won’t you let me in?]

  I waited for a moment to see if she’d respond. I sensed a stirring within, but her protective shell—which my mind’s eye visualized as a wall of ice—was too thick, too strong. It kept her in as much as it kept me out. I tried again, this time slightly more forcefully, chipping away at the ice a bit here and a bit there.

  [Shari, honey, it’s Don. Sweetie, I’m coming in, okay? I won’t hurt you, I promise. I love you. I just want to hold you and take care of you. There’s no one here to hurt you. Only friends. Please let me in.]

  I continued to chip at the ice a little at a time as I projected warm thoughts to her. I sent her images of puppies frolicking and babies gurgling, kittens licking ice cream off children’s noses, seniors walking hand-in-hand along a beach at sunset. Anything I could think of to make her relax and feel comfortable with the idea of living again. I could have smashed through her protective shell, but I knew that would only make matters worse, perhaps irreparably. No, I had to convince her to want to emerge, to meet me halfway.

  It was a long process. I would feel her shell begin to melt from the inside, and then something would frighten her and she would retreat and the shell would thicken again. It was three steps forward and two steps back. But I was making progress.

  After many hours, I thought I was close to breaking through. Then the hand I still held shuddered and the connection broke. She had pulled back for some reason, violently.

  I slammed a fist down onto my thigh. I was nearly in tears.

  “I was so close, and then she pulled away.”

  Kannara, standing by the bed, put a hand on my shoulder. “You have done well. You made more progress today than I and several other healers made in weeks of trying. Rest now, eat, and try again in the morning. Perhaps with another night of sleep she will be more receptive.”

  I was about to argue that I couldn’t stop. Then I realized just how drained I was. There was no way I could have managed another lengthy session like that without some sleep. The next time I tried to get through Shari’s defenses, I didn’t want to have to quit because of fatigue.

  I nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. I’ll try again in the morning.”

  Kannara and Aboro left, and I had some of the fish stew that Essin had prepared for Shari’s and my dinner, the first cooked food I’d seen from the Azarti. I can’t imagine where Essin learned to cook. Must have been something brought back from the Azarti’s brief study of human culture.

  Pillows behind her back, I continued to project comforting thoughts at Shari as I spooned stew into her mouth. She chewed mechanically, but that was all the outward reaction she had. I hoped the images of peace and tranquility I was sending her might give her pleasant dreams and put her in a better frame of mind in the morning.

  * * * *

  I was a long time falling asleep. I kept running over in my mind everything I’d tried and what I could have done differently to get through to Shari. I planned what to do in the morning. As a result, I didn’t get much sleep and what sleep I did get wasn’t satisfying. Still, I woke before dawn and took a walk on the beach.

  The breeze was surprisingly cool for this near the equator, but it felt good on my skin. I knew I needed to be sharp when I tried again. I threw myself into the surf and swam against the waves. They broke over my head, one by one, and splashed salt in my eyes. But as Karsh had noted, Lasharr’s seas aren’t as salty as Earth’s. The water didn’t sting as much.

  The warm water and cool air combined to loosen my muscles and invigorate me. After a ten-minute swim, I returned to our dwelling and rinsed off the salt in the sunken tub provided. I dried off with a towel made of the same kind of woven seaweed-like fabric as Shari’s blanket.

  When I was done, I was a new man, ready to take on anything. The swim also cleared my head and now I knew how I wanted to proceed with Shari.

  Shortly after breakfast, Kannara returned. It was time to try again.

  I didn’t tell Kannara and Aboro about my new strategy, because I knew Kannara would try to talk me out of it. I suspected that this approach was risky, but I also thought it had a better chance of succeeding than the straight warm-and-fuzzy approach of the day before.

  I began as before, holding Shari’s hand and mentally whispering sweet nothings in her ear. I sensed a stirring behind her shell. I continued in this manner until I sensed her retreat, as if frightened. This time, instead of throwing more puppies at her, I went the other way. She was afraid of something, probably memories of what Tiny and Weasel did to her. So I projected images of Weasel being shot and Tiny getting his head bashed in with a baseball bat.

  These were images of extreme violence, and violence was what had put Shari in this catatonic state. This is why I hadn’t told Kannara about my plan ahead of time. She would have argued that the last thing Shari needed to see was more violence—and maybe she would have been right in saying that about most people. But Kannara didn’t know Shari like I did. She grew up in a rough neighborhood. She knew violence and abuse as a child, and she saw it every day on the streets as an adult.

  I was gambling that her desire—her need—for vengeance, for restitution, outweighed her fear. When she recoiled from whatever images in her head had scared her, I sent scenes of Shari shooting Weasel and bashing Tiny with the baseball bat. I hoped that these images would replace her feelings of helplessness with ones of empowerment.

  After a minute or two of these scenes, I returned to the puppies and sunsets. I sensed Shari stirring inside the shell, and there seemed to be more warmth working to melt the ice from the inside. I poured on the fuzzy stuff and chipped away at the shell from the outside. When I felt Shari retreat again, I sent her more empowering scenes of her standing up to her attackers and cutting them down to size.

  I continued this hot-and-cold routine for hours. It seemed I was getting through to her, flake by flake, but that shell was thick and would take a lot of work on both sides to break through. Still, it was encouraging that we’d continued far longer than we had the previous day. The shell was thinner than ever and Shari hadn’t broken contact yet.

  Nine-plus hours into the session, I made a breakthrough—finally. For the first time in weeks, I felt the touch of Shari’s mind.

  [Don? Is that really you?]

  [It’s me, sweetheart. I’m here for you. You’re safe. The bad guys are all a long way from here. They can’t hurt you.]

  [I knew you’d come for me. It’s been so long. I-I’ve been so confused, so scared. I kept seeing you tortured. Tiny and Weasel were hurting you and then hurting me. I couldn’t do anything to stop them. They wouldn’t stop. Over and over and over. They just kept— It-it was awful. And then sometimes it was my uncle. Beating me and-and…]

  [I know, sweetie. I know.]

  [But I sensed you trying to reach me. I knew you were out there, but I didn’t know how to reach you, to let you in. And then suddenly I knew I could do something to fight back. I got my
self free and started kickin’ ass. You shoulda been there! I beat the crap outta those bastards.]

  [I was there, sweetheart. I was with you every step of the way.]

  [I know you were, Don. That’s what gave me strength in the end.]

  [Are you ready to come back now, to join the world? I promise to protect you, to keep you safe.]

  I sensed her hesitate.

  [You promise?]

  [I promise. Just wake up now. You’re safe and among friends. No one can hurt you here.]

  [I-I believe you.]

  I felt her mentally steel herself, as if preparing for battle. [Here goes nothing….]

  The rest of the shell melted away to nothing. For a split second before contact was broken, I caught a glimpse of a pile of broken bodies: Scar, Weasel, Tiny, and another I didn’t recognize. Her uncle?

  I saw that the spark of consciousness had returned to Shari’s eyes. “Welcome back, honey. We missed you.”

  * * * *

  Another month passed. Now it was Shari’s turn to benefit from Aboro’s tutoring, with me there both for moral support and to help with some of the trickier drills. We found that Shari had many of the same gifts as me, but mainly to a lesser degree. She was better at the finesse stuff, while I was better at kicking down psychic doors. This seemed to fit our personalities and careers to a T.

  All the while, Karsh, Keldor, and Allara continued to visit. Then, one day Aboro indicated that she had taught Shari and me all she could. Our further development would have to be self-taught, though experience.

  Karsh and Keldor stopped by later that day. I was surprised that they came together. Generally it was one or the other. This was odd enough that I suspected something was up.

  After small talk, Karsh jumped into the reason for their visit with both feet.

  “Sunrise, Shari, I am pleased with the progress you both have made in your studies. In many ways, you have proven to be more powerful telepaths than most Azarti.

  “Until now, I have shielded you both from news of the outside world so as not to distract you from your training. Unfortunately, the news is grim. The Brotherhood has gained the upper hand and the revolution is on the brink of failure. Once again, we need your assistance.”

  I looked over at Shari and asked an unspoken question. She smiled and squeezed my hand before turning back to Karsh and Keldo. “We’re in. But first, we’d like to ask a favor.”

  * * * *

  The wedding that evening was small and informal. How could it be anything else? I didn’t have a tux to wear, so I made do with a patch over my bad eye. Shari said I looked dashing, like a pirate.

  She wore a gown made from the same woven fiber as the blankets. Nothing fancy, but she looked incredible in it. Believe me, it was more Shari than the gown!

  Allara was called to serve as bridesmaid, Karsh was my best man, and Keldor presided over the proceedings. As we discovered, one of the more pleasant duties of a healer was to perform “spiritual unions.” Shari and I had lived as husband and wife in that sleepy village on the coast, but now it was time to do it for real. Maybe our marriage wasn’t binding on Earth, but it was on Lasharr, and in our minds. That was all that mattered.

  The eight of us stood on the beach at sunset, amid the call of sea birds and the pounding of the surf. A gentle breeze ruffled Shari’s hair. She and I recited our personal vows as we held hands and gazed into one another’s eyes. Kannara, Aboro and Essin sprinkled flower petals in our path as we walked back to our “bungalow.” We had agreed to help Karsh and the others win their revolution, but not until morning. This night was all ours.

  After a quiet dinner for two, we repaired to our bed-table. I had thought that our lovemaking before was wonderful and intimate, but this was not to be believed. We each opened our minds fully to the other. I saw her joys, fears, and hopes and she saw mine. For a time the universe ceased to exist. It was only the two of us, then the one of us. We were united as no two humans had ever been. Then the universe shattered in fireworks and thunder, and we slept.

  We woke hours later to an urgent mental call from Karsh.

  “Sunrise, Lola, you must awaken. Please!”

  “What is it, Karsh?” I asked, still groggy.

  “We must leave. Now.”

  Shari frowned and rubbed her eyes. “Why? What’s goin’ on?”

  “They have found us. The Brotherhood. They are coming.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “How the hell did they find us?” I demanded.

  “I do not know. At the moment, does it matter?”

  “Guess not. We’ll be right there.”

  We barely had time to throw on some clothes before Keldor hurried us out the door and down to the waterline. Karsh had called us from aboard Galla, where he, Kannara, and Allara waited.

  We dove into the sea. Shari and I were still at a disadvantage when it came to swimming, so Essin took my hand and Aboro took Shari’s and towed us out to Galla. As soon as our threls had insinuated themselves into our airways, we dove.

  It took less than six minutes from the time we awoke to when we squeezed through the tube and into Galla, and that was almost too late. Within seconds of launching, we felt the first energy pulse concussion from one of the three pursuing ships. Galla heeled over to port and then righted herself. She veered further to port and dove for deeper water.

  I showed Shari how to open a slit and access the “jetway” running from the rear of the ship to the command center, where Karsh coordinated things. We arrived seconds later to find Karsh and four other Azarti in the same H formation as the last time we were under attack: One pair of Azarti on each side of the chamber clutched the wall with one hand and interlocked fingers with the other. Karsh floated in the center, gripping one of each pair by the shoulder.

  Shari and I hovered at the rear of the room. I called out softly, “Karsh, can we do anything to help?”

  I sensed the strain in his mental voice. “I do not know. Can you? I do not think the same trick we employed previously will work this time. Our pursuers are closer and more numerous.”

  Galla shuddered and bucked as two blasts rocked us, one after the other.

  “I fear Galla is not swift enough to elude our pursuers.”

  I turned to Shari. “Follow my lead. Open your mind to the ship. Take everything in. Become part of the gestalt. I’ll help you.”

  I sensed her uncertainty, but she nodded her agreement. I figured the Azarti technique was good enough for us, so I gripped the spongy chamber wall with one hand and Shari’s hand with the other.

  As before, I focused on the texture of the wall, the feeling of warmth, the power flowing within. Within seconds I saw the ship as a whole, and everyone in it. I reached out to Shari’s mind and shared with her. She gasped as the whole of the ship was revealed to her.

  Seconds more and I took in the entirety of the battle, with three ships chasing and trying to outflank us. Galla was doing her best, but it was an impossible task to elude three heavily armed ships blanketing the seas with energy blasts. It was amazing that she’d avoided being killed so far.

  I expanded my consciousness to take in the other ships. I found I could listen in on their conversations. It was tough to keep everything straight in my head, but it was essential. Besides, it was time for me to try out some of that power I supposedly had.

  “Karsh, you have to trust me on this. Let me assume command of Galla and steer.”

  “I cannot do that. Allara must tell Galla to obey you.”

  “Ask her. Please!”

  “One moment.”

  I overheard their conversation, and then Allara telling Galla that she should do what I told her.

  “It is done,” Karsh said.

  “Okay, good. I’m going to listen in on the three captains’ firing orders. I’m going to try to steer Galla through the holes in the pattern. Hearing the firing orders should give me a split-second’s warning where the next shots are aimed.”

  “Can you do it
?” Shari looked nervous.

  I shrugged. “All I can do is try.”

  She smiled back at me. “Okay.”

  I had to hope that Galla could understand what I wanted. She was semi-sentient, but I wasn’t sure how well that translated into understanding instructions from a human. I asked her and I sensed confirmation, but I was betting all our lives on this gamble.

  Taking a deep breath, I began.

  It was tough going. I had a split-second each time between when the captains gave orders and when the gunners fired. If I delayed too long in telling Galla where to go, she wouldn’t have enough warning to be elsewhere. Eventually, the captains might change tactics and use a pattern that would be harder to avoid, but that was the best plan I could come up with on short notice. I kept hoping a brilliant idea would occur to one of us eventually. Not having weapons to fight back with really reduced our options.

  There were far too many close calls. Sometimes two captains gave orders almost simultaneously, and I had no time to figure out where to be to avoid both shots. So some of them nearly clobbered us. Fortunately for us, Galla had the resiliency of youth and there was always a hole or two in the pattern.

  This continued for an hour, and then two. I was running out of energy. This mental warfare stuff was exhausting, especially on little sleep. I sensed Galla’s strength flagging as well. She couldn’t keep this up forever.

  Then the shooting stopped.

  I was confused at first, but the senior captain had given the order to cease firing. I listened in on his discussion with the other captains.