END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3

by John Short

  Satrina had never experienced the feelings she felt washing through her body today. She had claimed not only her mate, but also his tiger! Had any Lexonian female ever been this happy? She bent down far enough to place its head on her shoulder, wrap her arms around the huge animal's neck and gave Talga a tight hug. “I think I might just love you almost as much as I love my giant warrior.” She whispered in its ear, “But don't tell him. It will be our secret.” Smiling brightly she stood away from Talga and started walking over to where Jon was still sitting.

  Jon rose out of his chair as Rina turned away from Talga. He held out his arms to give the big cat the same signal he had been giving it since it was a kitten and the animal made two quick leaps before jumping into his arms. He caught the cat in midair and hugged it tightly while rubbing his hands down its spine. “You're such a good boy Talga. Yes. Now get down and go play in the forest.” Jon set the big cat down and it ran off into the tall trees. He turned towards Rina holding his arms out just as he had for the cat. She ran and leapt with a wicked smile on her lips. When Jon caught her in midair she giggled, “Am I a good boy too?”

  “No. You Princess Rina, you are my tiny tigress. And yes, you are an amazingly good boy if that is what you wish to be.” Jon teased her.

  “I have no desire to be anyone's boy my giant. I wish only to be your wife. Fully and properly mated, for now and for evermore.” Rina told him and the kissing started again as he carried her back inside.

  Putting her down Jon whispered, “You are going to steal my heart tiny tigress.”

  “You stole mine the first day I saw you Giant.” Rina told him.

  “For most of my life people have called me that to make fun of me or to shame me. Somehow when you call me that I feel special and privileged.” Jon confessed to her.

  “I never want to shame you. I will never shame you. I will always make you proud of your tiny tigress.” she assured him with a gentle smile.

  “If you are truly going to be my mate, there are things that need to be done. Come.” Jon went down to the basement level and along the hall to the last room on the right. “This room was what my uncle called his den. He had it added and put in a secert security system to keep unwanted visitors out.”

  Entering the room with Rina right behind him, Jon walked over to one of the bookcases that lined the walls and pulled down a book. Inside the book was a small palm panel that Jon pressed once, then twice, then finally four times before closing the book and putting it back in its place on the shelf. “I am going to adjust the house security systems to recognize you. When we are done here today, you will be able to come and go as you please anytime, day or night.” Soon after Jon placed the book back on its shelf a latch was heard opening and an entire panel of shelves moved in and back to reveal a hidden door. Jon pushed the door opened and held it to allow Rina to walk through ahead of him into a room that appeared to be twice the size of all the others on the lower level.

  What she saw held her in awe and locked her in place just a few steps inside the room. Here were all the treasures of the ancient Umin race spoken of in her Lexonian Royal histories. The living paintings, the silver and Black armor worn by their males, the multicolored gowns of their females, even the magical Fire Breathing Dragon Swords! “OH Goddess, Jon. Your family has had all this here for all these cycles?” She walked over to several paintings that hung on one wall stopping to stare at the one behind the massive wooden desk. Looking up at it she was surprised by how much the tiny female in the picture looked like her own portrait at the Royal Palace on Lexon II. The huge male beside the female in the painting looked a lot like her Jon. The pair looked like a King and Queen standing together. He in his silver and black armor with a Fire Breathing Dragon Sword held out to protect the female and child, and she in her multicolored gown lovingly holding the infant. Behind them stood what Satrina thought had to have been the very house she was in now. Something hung in the air above them, but whatever it was the image wasn't clear.

  “That my tiny tigress is my ancestor, Jon Connell, and his Lexonian mate Leadora. The child she is holding is the offspring of the first Connell and Jill Saunders, the human female who was his first mate. He and Leadora raised the boy together besides having a set of twins themselves. Apparently, when Human/Umin males mate with pure Lexon females they produce twins. Never two boys or two girls. Always one of each, a boy and a girl. That baby is my great, great grandfather. Jon Patrick Connell Jr.

  She next walked over to the rack of multicolored gowns sitting in one corner. Every gown used the same colors, but in different random patterns that created mazes and spirals and several other designs. Rina recognized the gowns as the same ones worn by the beautiful females shown in the paintings in the room and ran her hand along them until one stuck to her and refused to be removed. “Jon, I'm sorry, I should not have touched it.” she pleaded with him while trying to shake her hand free of the delicate garment.

  “That's OK Rina. You have been selected it would seem. Take that gown and go into the little room just over there.” Jon pointed. “Remove all your coverings and put on that gown. It will adjust to you perfectly.”

  Without a word, Rina took the beautiful gown and went into the small changing room Jon had pointed to. While she was out of the room he decided to have some fun with her. He pulled down one set of the silver and black armor and quickly pulled it on, then reaching up to take down one of the Dragon's Breath swords he waited for her to return. He'd been coming back here often and trying on the armor while making the sword blaze with the plasma flames. It was only during these last two cycles as his body grew that the armor had actually fit.

  “I'm coming out Jon,” Rina called. “The gown made itself fit my frame perfectly...” she stopped in her tracks when she saw her Jon standing in the middle of the room wearing the silver and black armor of his birthright holding one of the Dragon's Breath swords, its long blade covered by the plasma fire that gave the sword its name. By the Goddess, her mate was glorious!

  Jon nearly wept when he saw Rina step out of the changing room in one of the Umin gowns his ancestors had once used to clothe their wives in the Connell family colors. If he thought she was beautiful in her Royal crimson gown, this multicolored gown, with its spiral maze of colors and silver background, turned her into a goddess, shimmering in the low lights of the room!

  Satrina's eyes wondered to Jon standing in the Connell silver and black armor and she gasped at how strong and powerful he appeared. Slowly walking to him she took in every inch of her male from his raven black hair, past his intense blue eyes and strong square chin. Down past his broad shoulders to his slim waist and beyond. Not even her own brother, who had always prided himself on keeping his body in top physical condition, looked this magnificent! Thank you my Goddess for allowing the hopes of a foolish young girl to come true, she thought as she pressed herself tightly against her giant and hugged him with all of her strength.

  Jon held Rina with one arm, his other arm still holding the Dragon Sword, and just let himself enjoy the heat of her body pressed against his. How that heat managed to set him ablaze even through the Umin armor was a mystery for another day. Glancing around the walls he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and spun in that direction, activating the sword and pushing Rina behind him.

  “What's wrong Jon?” Rina asked.

  “The painting... look at the painting.” Jon told her with confusion in his voice. “Somehow its changed.”

  Rina stepped to Jon's side and now she saw the changed painting. The picture on the wall behind the desk still showed the house beyond the crystal lake, but now it showed her and Jon. Not just people who happened to look like them. It actually was them! They were in the same pose with her by his side with the Dragon Sword drawn for protection. The infant child was gone, but at Satrina's side sat a massive solid black saber-tooth tiger!

  “How is that even possible?” she asked.

  “I don't know. It never happened when my fat
her brought his wife, my mother, down here to adjust the house security and to pick her gown. It never changed for my uncle when he brought my aunt. It hasn't changed from that scene of the original Jon Connell and his Lexonian wife until now.” Jon searched his memories of the lessons his uncle had spent hours teaching him in this very room. “The painting changed before though. Now I remember. When Jon brought it from the Umin cavern to this house it showed a sparkling city behind the King and Queen of the Umin civilization. I think the city was a place called Tilmusi or something like that. It’s in the archives at the library downtown and there is a copy somewhere in a vault in this room. Anyway, the night it changed was the same night that the baby had been brought to Jon and Leadora. Its never changed after that until now.”

  “What can it mean Jon?” she asked him.

  “My uncle taught me that its a reminder Rina.” Jon told her. “A reminder to always fight for what you love. When that painting changed the last time,Jon and Leadora had just returned to the house after ending the ancient Umin war. The baby had only just been dropped off. Once the job was done and the machine race was destroyed, Jon brought his crew back here and got them all safely down to the planet. He is said to have hidden the warship out in space somewhere it shouldn't be able to be found. There is a security system onboard that will blow up any ship that gets near it without the entry codes. No one knows what those codes are. He believed that the ship was far too powerful to belong to any one planet. He was afraid that in the wrong hands it would be used for evil instead of good. It held many secrets and one of them was a different kind of FTL travel that took only seconds to move between the stars not days or weeks. It was called a jump drive. Another was that an entire flight wing of five of the Dragon Ships your legends talk about were onboard, but only those humans who had the Umin genes could fly them. Jon never told the codes to awaken the ship to anyone.

  The painting was telling both of them to hold on to hope. You see, some evil men really did try to convert Leadora to a pleasure female, but Jon prevented that. He thought she had abandoned him because of the deformities on his body. She ended up here after months of being held like a slave. He really did go up to the Palace to rescue her. They both had exactly what they wanted most, but neither one knew it. They had to fight to hold onto their dreams. That painting is a reminder to hang on with all your worth and never let go.”

  “But, that story is so sad. He is a great hero to our people. Almost a God.” Rina told him.

  Taking her gently by her shoulders Jon leaned down to look her in the eyes. “Rina, promise me that you will never tell anyone what I have told you here today. It’s our family duty to let the people have their hero. We have our ancestor. That is enough for us.” He pleaded with her. “Besides, I am the last living human in the universe aside from some of Haven's older citizens. All the secrets of our family will die with me. This house and all the land around it will be turned over to the state for a nature preserve. There will be no one to hand it down to. Even if we have a liter of fifty offspring, not a single one of them will be a pureblooded human being. Only pureblooded humans can operate the security systems and without one of us to adjust them for our spouses or friends, no one will ever find any of this or some of the other things I'll teach you if we decide to live here.”

  “I swear to you that I will keep our families secrets my Giant. When we are fully mated, I will live anywhere you decide. I am your female, my life now belongs to you.” Satrina told Jon.

  “No my sweet tiny tigress. Our lives belong to us. We make decisions together. I don't need someone to follow me around and do whatever I say. I need a partner who has a brain and knows how to use it to help me understand the world in which we live. Two people working together are always stronger than one person doing all the work while the other blindly follows.”

  “I think I will enjoy having a brain. None of the Palace males think the Princess should have one.” she smiled. Then her smile turned into a sneer “They say stand over there and look pretty Princess. That's why you're here.”

  “Speaking of looking pretty,” Jon asked “How do you like your gown?”

  “Oh Jon, I love it! It has the colors of all of the Lexonian houses, even the scarlet of my father's house is here,” she pointed to the exact spot on the dress where the Royal scarlet was proudly displayed at the top center of the spiral, “except these colors are brighter, more vivid. It’s a beautiful gown and I shall wear it proudly, just as your aunt declared I should on the day you defended her honor.”

  “You remember that? Come here.” Jon directed her behind the desk to sit in the chair. Then he pulled a small device from one of the drawers. “I'm going to put this device around your wrist. It will form itself to your arm and down across your palm. It will feel very warm, but you will not be injured.” Jon kept speaking softly to her the entire time he was strapping the device to her wrist. “Its a type of medical scanner. What it is doing is reading your blood and recording the little grooves in your palm and on your fingers.” Jon saw a look of discomfort on her face so he asked her, “Is it getting warm?” When she nodded that it was he told her, “That's good. It’s almost finished. Just take my hand and squeeze if you must. I know it can be very uncomfortable. When my uncle did this to me I cried like a baby. Of course I was only six cycles old at the time.” Jon smiled at her and just as she reached out to grasp his hand the device peeped and sprang off of her skin onto the desktop. “The house security system now recognizes you as a family member but not as a pure human with the Umin gene. So you will be able to use everything the house has to offer except this room and the room where my aunt stays when she is home. That room is back down the hallway at the foot of the stairs. I've made it so that even I need her permission to go in there. It’s her place to hide away and be alone when she needs to. I noticed that she would spend more and more time in there with the door locked as I got older. I think she was fighting back her mourning period for my uncle because she knew I needed her to raise me. As long as I live, I'll never be able to repay her for everything she has done for me.” Jon told Rina blinking back his tears and missing his aunt. He wished she could be here to see his mate. She would love Rina as much as he did. Jon was sure of that.

  “We have to return these clothes to the racks. The closets up in the dressing area will make new gowns for you now that the house has recognized you. You'll find a new wardrobe upstairs perfectly sized and ready to wear. They all belong to you now. The house will never demand you to return them. Its up to you if you wish to wear them. I know that my aunt only wore the really fancy ones in her closet on special occasions, like that day at the Lodge.” Jon continued to give Satrina instructions about how things worked at the house through the separator wall as she changed back into her royal scarlet clothes and he returned the armor to its hanger and the sword to its proper place with the others. It bothered him that he had lied to her. He knew that the location and the codes to operate the Leviathan were hidden in this room. He knew exactly were they were hidden and how to use them to retrieve the ship if it was ever needed again. Every male in his line since the first Jon Connell had known. It was a part of his family history to be handed down only to the first-born human male. Well the secret would die with him. He was the very last such human male in the universe. He lowered his head as the full burden of his family secret fell heavily on his shoulders. “One day I will buy my own ship and live out among the stars. I only hope that Rina will come with me.” he muttered through his grief.

  When she walked out of the changing room Satrina saw Jon standing with his head down and heard him muttering about his plans and his hopes that she would stay with him. Quickly stepping into his arms she forced him to look at her before saying, “Where you lead, I shall follow. Whether that is here in this house, on Lexon II at the small Palace, on a planet at the edge of known space or on a starship roaming around the galaxy. Where you lead, I shall follow.” She raised up on her tip toes and pulled his head down t
o her before kissing him deeply once again.

  Jon lead her back up to the main level where they noticed that it was getting dark outside. “I must get back to the Palace. By now the guards are starting to worry. That could bring the Regent and his crowd of miserable fools here.” Satrina said. “I'll try to return tomorrow and you can show me this lake that you own.”

  Jon walked her outside to her hovercraft and kissed her again before helping her to step into the vehicle. “The house knows you and so does Talga. This place is as much yours as it is mine now. I don't lock the doors unless I'm going off planet. If you ever want to come here while I'm gone, just place your palm over the door sensor and the locks will open for you. If I’m home when you come the doors will open when you get close enough to enter. The vault room downstairs will only open for me; so don’t be upset because you can’t get in to where the armor and swords are kept. I give you permission to bring any of your friends that you trust with you. Be safe my tiny tigress.” He told her as he backed away from her craft.

  “This will be our special place my mate. The only person I would ever trust to bring here would be my brother. I need him to meet you and to like you so that he can stand with me when I tell our Father that I have chosen my mate and that my mate is a human male who is the direct descendant of Jon Connell. Be safe my Giant. I shall think of only you until we are together.” She blew him a kiss and then she was gone. She lifted her craft over the trees and flew as fast as she could to the north and the Lexonian summer Palace.