I glared up at his ominous mask as I attempted to project confidence. I couldn’t. I felt this could be the end. The possibility of him making an example out of us in front of his troops seemed likely.
Blood began to drip from my nose. I stood there without touching my face, allowing it to leak as air from his breath splattered it onto my suit. He simply stared at me, his head snapped up and down as if he was scanning my face. He took a half-step back and slumped his head.
“Sire, you won’t believe this, but they claim to be from the moon, Titan, here to stop the androids they say. I’m not sure—”
“Ah-h,” he uttered. All at once, he collapsed to one knee. The metal on concrete impact created a loud crunching sound as his cape fanned out, pushing a small sphere of dust away from him.
Neona rushed to his side. “Sire!” she yelled. I could hear a mechanized wincing as he panned his head back and forth, searching the ground around him. I glanced at Xena, then back at him. I gathered his intimidating appearance was concealing a dying man underneath.
“I need medics immediately. We’re on loading dock Bravo! It’s for the engineer! Hurry!” Neona yelled, pressing in her earpiece.
He tilted his head up slightly. “All—this... time,” he muttered. I narrowed my eyes at him, piercing through the mechanical mystery.
“W-what did you say?” I asked.
My bottom lip began to tremble. Neona scowled at me while grabbing him under the arm. He braced himself with both hands on the ground, kneeled over. He dipped his head while he struggled to breathe. It sounded like an electronic wheeze.
“So many years, I w-waited, it kept me a-alive,” he mumbled. His words took my breath away.
It was only his statement that shocked me. Through the garbled apparatus, I detected cues the machine could not conceal. I recognized the lump in his throat, the cadence and tempo of his speech, and the faint hint of a southern accent. It was all too familiar.
“Lu-ther?” I whispered as my jaw dropped. It had to be him.
“Captain. It appears what was lost is now found.” Xena turned toward me.
Tears streamed from eyes as I took a step forward and kneeled.
He gasped for air as if he’d been stabbed in the lung. His spine arched and flattened under the labored pant. He outstretched his fingers toward me for a moment, then slowly pulled them inward, clenching his fists. I heard a faint rumble emitting from his mouth.
I leaned in, attempting to touch my head against his helmet. “Luther?” I pleaded. “No!” he shouted. In one motion, he sprung up from the ground, knocking Neona down. He turned his back on me as I backed away instinctively. He darted toward the train and ignited his sword. The civilians ran hysterically, some of them jumping off the dock onto the track.
“Sire!” Neona pleaded.
He ran at the train with the blade over his head, slashing through the cabin. His crippling condition seemed nonexistent while enraged as he moved like a blur. The sword’s deafening swooping sound reminded me of a crashing wave with a humming electric whiffle at the end.
He sliced into the exterior several times, creating dozens of fiery, orange streaks across the cabin. The cumulative impacts melted through, allowing me to see clearly into the interior.
The plasma sword liquefied the glass and metal, creating a black goo that was flung about the dock. It stuck to the ceiling and floor, like volcanic magma hurled from a violent eruption.
“T-they need me! All of them!” he yelled during his barrage. I was frozen in fear as tears flowed from my eyes uncontrollably.
“Sire! Please!” Neona glanced at me after yelling. She ran toward him, covering her eyes as sparks ejected in the air, filling the dock like a swarm of fiery fireflies. Initially, his knights stood their ground as he slashed through the train, they remained motionless, but as the strikes mounted, they were forced to retreat.
He cut the train completely in half. The transport buckled on the track, toppling over toward the outer wall and crashing against it.
“No-o-o!” I yelled. He continued to mercilessly pound the train as his knights backed away, unsure of what to do.
Neona turned around and stared a hole through me with glossy eyes. In the background, Luther was tearing apart everything in his wake as fires raged all around him.
“You’re the one, the one from long ago, aren’t you?” Neona asked.
“He’s my husband,” I responded.
“Was. Maybe he was your husband, not anymore. He’s my father, in some ways, he’s a father to us all here,” she revealed. My heart sunk in my chest as I attempted to make sense of it. Was it true? She looked nothing like him.
Maybe this child and his reaction to me was confirmation my return was too little, too late. This possibility began to resonate within my soul, tearing me apart.
I fell face first toward the ground. It felt like slow motion as the ground approached, like dive bombing with my XU-97. My face smacked hard against the concrete and ice.
I heard the muted voice of Neona and others signaling a medical and fire crew to the scene as footsteps echoed down the corridor. An intense pain emerged on the left side of my chest.
“Captain,” Xena said in a concerned tone. With every blink of the eye, it became more difficult to keep them open. I looked up at him, reaching out. “Luther! Stop! P-Please!” I begged.
Xena turned me over on my back, “Captain, it appears you’ve had a very mild heart attack. Your suit is automatically administrating medical aid along with a calming agent,” she confirmed.
I locked my eyes onto Luther. He had finally halted his barrage, kneeling with his back to me and his cape draped over him. A fire crew was extinguishing the flames around him while he panted.
Xena began to unbutton my suit while everyone was distracted. “Administrating additional lifesaving aid. Captain, stay with me.”
“You were wrong, Xena. He’s alive. You see,” I mumbled as Xena injected a small needle into my chest.
“I noticed. I said it was unlikely for him to survive this long,” she replied.
“I can’t believe h-he made it,” I muttered. I held my chest as the pain began to subside slightly.
“Congratulations, Captain, but remember, Titan is still counting on us.”
“I can’t help them if I don’t survive,” I panted.
“I’ve done all I can do. But my files indicate a factor that I have no control over,” she said.
“What, factor?” I asked.
“The will to survive. It is extremely important in humans. Do you possess this?” she asked, tilting her head while staring at me.
“I-I still love him, that’s all I know,” I mumbled as my eyes closed.
Xena turned toward Luther and nodded.
“Then I would estimate your chances of survival are quite high.”
Epilogue
NEONA AND VLAD FILED into a hospital room. Two nurses were huddled over a man in bed. They were whispering something.
“Leave us... and call the doctor,” Vlad thundered.
“Oh. Yes, k-knight,” a nurse said. She appeared startled. They scurried out of the room. Neona glanced at the man in bed, then at Vlad. “He’s resting, perhaps now isn’t the time.”
“I want to see him. He’s my father, too.” Vlad stepped forward, placing his robotic hand on the bed railing. The engineer’s body was covered with white sheets, and bandages concealed his face. Spots of red faded through the wraps.
“He’s been bleeding,” Vlad whispered.
“Father,” he said. He waited several seconds without a response.
“Knights, your father has been through quite the ordeal. He needs rest,” a voice erupted from behind them. A short, bald man of Middle Eastern descent was standing in the doorway in a white overcoat.
“Why the bandages, Doctor? Was he burned from the fire?” Neona asked.
“No. I’m removing the Mave nanobots, the infection is subsiding slightly. As you know, this infection is
considered a death sentence. We’re not sure why your father survived, and now...” he paused.
“Now he’s fighting off the virus? You said you’re removing the nanobots, so it’s reversing?” Vlad narrowed his eyes.
“Only partially, but yes. I’d estimate about fifteen percent of the nanobots have died off for some reason. His immune system seems to be pushing the Mave nanobots to the surface, like infectious boils,” the doctor said.
“He’ll recover then? Right?” Neona questioned.
“Do you notice anything different?” The doctor nodded toward her father.
“No, other than the bleeding,” Neona examined.
“His breathing. It’s... different,” Vlad noticed, leaning on the railing.
“Exactly. Not only that, his heart rate sounds better, too. I’m not suggesting your father will ever be the way he was before the infection, but it’s, an improvement. For now, it seems the nanobots gave him a boost to physical strength, but at the cost of organ deterioration,” the doctor explained.
Vlad shook his head while glaring down at his father. Neona stepped forward, standing beside him.
“Knights, you both know I’ve been involved with your father’s condition since the beginning. I even remember when they were forced to unfreeze him. He’s near sixty years old now. This is unprecedented and quite fascinating some of these nanobots are dying. Do either of you know why? Any information might help. If I can somehow replicate his results in others, we might not be forced to execute Mave victims,” the doctor pleaded.
Neona shook her head. “I don’t think you can replicate his situation. No one has survived with this virus. Correct?”
“That’s true, but any information could aid in my research. I need to know—”
“That’ll be all, Doctor. Thank you. Please keep us posted.” Vlad snapped his head around, interrupting him.
“Yes. Of course.” The doctor hesitated before bowing slightly. He backed out of the room.
Vlad slowly turned toward Neona. “You were too young to remember when he adopted us?”
“Vaguely. I was two,” she said.
“He was bitten by the Mave almost immediately after. We almost lost him. It was a very tense situation.” Vlad’s eyes glossed over.
“They threatened to kill him,” she said.
“Put him out of his misery. But instead, he turned into what he is. Everyone was talking about ‘the man who beat the infection.’ Many were afraid, but some saw him as a miracle, like a superhero, this half-Mave, half-human. He had the strength of the machines, or more, and the wits of a m-man.” Vlad struggled with his words.
Neona’s eyes gazed a million miles away as her brother spoke.
“And you know, sister, all these years, I-I wanted to believe the reason the infection didn’t kill him was because of me, because of us. The love he had for his children. I thought that gave him the power to beat this.” He closed his eyes as a single tear fell on his father’s bedsheet.
“But it was never us that kept him alive, was it? It was her.” Neona glanced up at her big brother.
Vlad clenched his robotic hand, bending the metal bed railing. “Perhaps, but he is our father. Our leader. We all need him. And what is our objective as knights?” he posed.
“To defend the innocent,” Neona said without hesitation.
“Indeed. Thousands count on us.”
“But, Vlad, the doctor said he now has organ failure because of the nanobots. Isn’t it possible her presence could improve him further?” she whispered.
“Improved is a matter of perspective. Do you forget who fended off nearly two hundred Mave monsters by himself only weeks ago? Organ failure, what nonsense. Father is special. The infection has made him stronger. Not only is he our leader, but his abilities make him a gatekeeper against the creatures,” he explained.
Neona nodded her head slowly, staring down at her father. “Then what do you propose?”
Vlad turned toward her, placing his hands on her shoulders. He narrowed his eyes. “We do whatever is necessary to protect our people. At the very least, that pilot is a potential threat to our survival. What is Titan’s purpose? Their fight is different than ours. What will she do, try to take him to Titan?” he whispered.
“He would never leave us,” she said.
“Sister, we can’t risk her turning our world upside down. She’s been here only days and our father is bedridden. What if we needed him now?” He pointed at his father.
“I understand.” Neona nodded slowly. She gazed at her father as Vlad stormed out of the room.
“Vlad...” She stopped him.
“What?”
“I’ll handle it,” she glanced at him over her shoulder.
“WHAT’S THE PRISONER’S condition?” Neona asked a large guard standing beside a cell door. He was holding a shotgun wearing all black.
“She’s alive, just had her first meal,” he responded.
“Open the door,” Neona demanded.
“Knight, I must inform you I was ordered not to—”
“Now!”
“Yes, yes, of course.” He cranked the latch across his body. The circular metal door opened as Neona stepped through. She glared over her shoulder. “Close it. No one else comes in,” she said. The guard hesitantly shut her inside with the prisoner.
The cell was surprisingly large, but vacant other than the bed. The room was shaped like a metal tube with curved green walls. In front of Neona was a small, twin-sized bed. An old, worn mattress sat atop the rusted bedframe. Captain Belic was lying on it with her back to Neona.
“Are you awake, pilot?” Neona asked. Her tone was all business. A few seconds passed by without a response as Captain Belic began to rustle around. She leaned up in bed slowly, staring at the ceiling. Her brown eyes were bloodshot, and her lips were chapped. Captain Belic glared at Neona without a word.
“You’ve been here almost two days and you’ve only eaten once?” Neona asked. Captain Belic didn’t respond.
“Pilot, I’m here against orders. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that your life is in grave danger. There are some knights who see you as a threat to us, our way of life,” Neona said.
Captain Belic shook her head slowly. “And you? What do you think?”
“I’m here to offer you a chance, to be of use. To live.”
“Live?” Captain Belic chuckled under her breath
“That’s right. I want to put you to work piloting. Prove your worth. There is much work to be done and—”
“Put me in front of my husband again.” Captain Belic glared at Neona.
Neona raised her eyebrows as she panned around the room. “You must understand he’s not your husband. And have you forgotten the reaction he had to your presence the first time?” she asked.
“The only way I’m helping you is if you let me see him again,” Captain Belic repeated.
Neona sighed. “You’re playing with fire, literally. Understand, if I take you to him, it would likely be the last thing you ever see.”
“Then so be it. But I am wondering... why didn’t he kill me when he had the chance?” Belic met eyes with Neona.
Neona stood up straight as her eyes shifted about the room. “Ahem. You caught him off guard I’m sure. Hmm. Very well. Since you’re so determined to fulfill this death wish, you will complete one task for me first.”
“What?”
“My brother, Viktor and his family went missing weeks ago along with our only aircraft. I want you to retrace his steps using a tracker. I want to find out what happened to them,” Neona explained.
Captain Belic gritted her teeth. “Viktor. Your brother? Ahem. Can I ask you something?”
Neona sighed. “Yes.”
“Would you consider yourself a woman of your word? It seems you knights have a code of some sort,” Captain Belic challenged.
“I want that jet out of my tunnel. After that, I’m tasking you with finding out what happened to my brother. If you surv
ive and discover Viktor’s whereabouts, then I’ll take you to a fiery death by my father’s hands. You have my word, I swear it by the Legion,” she said.
Captain Belic nodded. “Good. Well. I’ve already completed my first task without even taking off.”
Neona paused, crossing her arms. “Excuse me?”
“Your brother is dead. He stole your ship and fled to Titan.”
“Watch your tongue. Viktor would never do that. He’s an honorable man and—”
“He’s a tall, gangly man. He had a son about nine years old with jet black hair and doe eyes. Viktor was piloting an LU class freighter with an operational drop pod. There were sixteen total passengers, most were his family, some were his friends.” Captain Belic glared at Neona as she panned around the room with wide eyes.
“How...how do you know this information?” Neona pleaded.
“Because he attempted to commandeer my ship after we responded to his distress call. He was leaving for Titan, which wouldn’t have worked out either, but it’s well-documented and logged into our systems. You can have a look for yourself,” Captain Belic said.
Neona turned her back, putting her hand over her mouth. “This can’t be,” she whispered.
Captain Belic shrugged. “It is. Looks like mission accomplished. I’m sorry that isn’t the outcome you were hoping for, but it’s the truth, and I can prove it. Now, noble knight, keep your word and take me back to my husband. You’re going to help me save Titan and my marriage.”
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed my little tale. I’m incredibly humbled that you ventured into the intro of Captain Belic’s story. Please don’t forget to give this book a quick review. Even just a two word, “Liked it” or “Hated it” review helps so much. Positive or negative, I am grateful for all feedback from my readers.
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The Legion and the Lioness Page 24