by M. K. Eidem
"What are you saying?!" Ull growled not understanding as the Earth Healer had shifted back to English, but from the President's reaction, he knew it wasn't good.
"Trisha has cancer," Monroe told him. "I'm not sure you know what that is…"
"It's what ended Trisha's mother." His gaze shot back to his Trisha.
"Yes, it's in its final stages."
"What does that mean?" His gaze pierced the Healer.
"It means she doesn't have much time," Monroe explained as kindly as he could.
"She told me she'd been getting her annual checkups," Aaron whispered, moving to grip his niece's hand.
"I don't know anything about that. I only know because when the Tornian ship left, Trisha realized she'd forgotten her prescription on it. " He glanced at Ull and saw that while he was listening, he mirrored the President, holding Trisha's hand. He hadn't realized the Warrior cared that much about Trisha. "I used what I had available until I could get the proper drug here."
"And when was that?" Aaron knew from previous experience with his sister just how quickly cancer could advance without the proper treatment.
"With the supplies a week and a half ago."
Aaron cursed.
"None of that matters," Ull growled. "Heal her. Now!"
"Warrior Ull," Monroe waited until Ull lifted his gaze to him. "I don't think you understand. There is nothing I can do for her now except to make her as comfortable as possible."
"No!" Ull denied. His beautiful Trisha couldn't be dying. Not from a sickness. The Goddess would never allow something so cruel. But looking down at her, he could see how hard she was struggling to breathe, and while she'd never been heavy, she'd been noticeably lighter when he'd carried her to medical.
Without a word, Ull scooped her up, ignoring the protests of both the Earth Healer and the President. Ull refused to give up on the female he was confident the Goddess had created just for him. His mission to Earth had to be so he could find her and save her.
"What do you think you're doing?" the President demanded running to try and keep up with Ull. "Guards!
"If you won't help her, then I will!"
"You can?" Aaron held up a hand to stop the guards that had responded to his call, weapons drawn.
"I don't know, but I refuse to let her life end without trying." By this time, they had reached the shuttle with its ramp still down.
Aaron put a hand on Ull's arm, stopping him. God, he wanted to get on that shuttle with Ull. Aaron didn't want the last words ever said between him and his niece to be angry ones, but he wasn't just her tío. Never before had he hated his life choices as much as he did right now. If there was even the slightest chance that Ull could help her, then he had to let him try. "Then go, but please… I'm begging you. Let me know as soon as possible."
Ull looked down at the male he knew Trisha loved like a manno. He suffered at the thought of being separated from her. Not being the one to help her, but he was putting her needs before his own. A truly fit and worthy thing to do.
"I will. The instant I know."
With that, Ull ran up the ramp, started the engines, and holding Trisha in his lap took off as fast as he dared. He didn't want to harm her in her weakened condition accidentally.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
Taup's eyes widened as Ull came storming down the shuttle ramp carrying an unconscious female. Ull's comm had stated he needed an emergency landing, a path cleared to medical, and a deep repair unit ready for him. It had sent Taup rushing to the landing bay, multiple scenarios running through his head for how Ull was injured. He'd never expected this.
"What in the name of the Goddess is going on?!"
But Ull just ignored him, and Taup found himself running full out to try and keep up with the first male, and still, by the time he reached medical, Ull was already placing the female in the deep repair unit.
"Run the unit," Ull ordered the Healer.
"What are her injuries?" Healer Zo asked even as he had the deep repair unit closed to scan the seemingly uninjured female.
"She isn't injured."
"Then why…"
"She has cancer," Ull growled rounding on the Healer.
"Cancer?" Zo stared at Ull in confusion, the Earth word not translating. But as he opened his mouth to ask the Warrior to explain further, the deep repair unit reported its diagnoses and immediately filled with dense white, blue, and red vapors, signifying just how dire the female's situation was.
"What does the unit say?" Ull demanded.
Zo looked at the readout and couldn't believe what he was seeing. A parasite, driven out of the Known Universes over a millennium ago and thought to be extinct, was consuming the female's entire body.
"Zo!"
"She's infected with the Karkata parasite."
"Karkata…" Ull searched his mind for any clue to figure out what that was.
"I doubt you've heard of it. There hasn't been a case of it in the Known Universes in several millennia."
"Can you heal her?"
"The deep repair unit is attempting to, but given the extent of the parasite's infiltration…" Zo raised concern-filled eyes to Ull. "I'd pray to the Goddess for her blessing if I were you."
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
"You have endured great suffering in assisting your people along with the Tornians and Kaliszians, haven't you, Trisha Burke?"
Trisha frowned at the melodic voice. She knew she'd never heard it before, but for some reason, it comforted and soothed her and made her want to know who was speaking. Opening her eyes, Trisha was shocked to find the most stunningly beautiful woman she had ever seen standing before her. She was statuesque like the ancient Greek sculptures that always seemed to be of the Goddesses they'd worshiped, draped in one of their flowing gowns that left one shoulder bare. It enhanced her already perfect figure while offsetting her dark eyes and hair that seemed to change color in the shifting light. Was she dreaming?
"You are not dreaming, and you are also an amazingly beautiful female."
Trisha jerked as the woman responded without saying a word and discovered she was sitting in a chair. She quickly looked around the room and realized she wasn't at the NACB any longer. "Who are you? Where the hell am I?"
"I am the Goddess, and you are with me among the stars."
"The stars?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I wished to speak with you."
"You know," Trisha glared at the other woman. She didn't care if she was a 'Goddess' or not, "I'm really getting tired of people kidnapping me."
As the eyebrows of the Goddess drew together, Trisha realized those were real stars behind the Goddess, and they had begun to dim at the Goddess's displeasure. But Trisha didn't care. She was dying, so she wasn't going to take shit from anyone.
"And if you weren't?"
"If I weren't what?"
"Dying. Would you still take my shit as you call it?"
"If I weren't dying, I would probably be more diplomatic about it, but I would still make sure you knew I was pissed. Kidnapping is not a conducive way to start a conversation with someone."
"It seems to have worked for your Tornian Warrior."
"That was an entirely different situation, and Ull knows he was wrong." Trisha frowned at the Goddess then sighed. They weren't going to get anywhere, and she wasn't going to be able to return home if they continued to argue. "So why did you kidnap me?"
"I didn't." The Goddess made a sweeping gesture with her arm causing Trisha to gasp when the solid black floor disappeared, revealing they were floating above a ship orbiting the Earth. As they moved closer, a room within the ship appeared. "Your physical body is still there, fighting to stay alive."
Trisha didn't understand what she saw in the room. There was a large, coffin-like tube filled with vapor. A Tornian she didn't know stood on one side of it, with Ull, on his knees and an anguished look on his face, on the other.
"I don't see my body."
"Tha
t's because the deep repair unit is attempting to heal you."
"I'm inside it?"
"That is necessary for the unit to work. It repairs the injuries of those placed inside while cleansing the body of impurities and parasites that prevent it from functioning at its optimal level.”
Trisha suddenly remembered something Vanessa had said. The older female was in the first group of abductees returning because everyone was concerned about her blood pressure and diabetes. But Vanessa said Dr. Monroe hadn't been able to find evidence of either. Everyone had assumed it was because of the difference in the nutrients they'd been receiving from the Kaliszian food. She knew Dr. Monroe had talked to Jakob at great length about it, but Jakob could tell him nothing.
"They have used deep repair units for over a millennia," the Goddess continued. "It is something they have forgotten. "
"You're saying that the Kaliszians and Tornians don't suffer from disease? Any disease?"
"Nor do any species that use the units."
Trisha tried to wrap her mind around that and what it would mean to the people of Earth. Health care was a primary concern for every being on the planet, eating up a significant portion of every country’s budget. For them to be able to allocate those funds elsewhere would forever change the world, not to mention the suffering it would ease. She looked back to the unit the Goddess claimed her body was inside.
"You said it is attempting to heal me. Does that mean it can't?" God, she hoped that wasn't true, not because it would save her, although she didn't want to die, but because of how many people on Earth it would help.
Trisha's thoughts surprised the Goddess, which was something that rarely occurred anymore. This small human would put the welfare of her people before her own.
"She truly is a fit and worthy female."
Trisha jolted again when the largest male she'd ever seen, in both height and width, suddenly appeared next to the Goddess. He wore only a short piece of material that covered him from waist to mid-thigh and had a sword strapped to his side. But it was his skin that shocked her. It changed colors like a chameleon, and while he had long, dark hair covering his entire head like a Tornian, his eyes glowed like a Kaliszian.
"So it would seem," the Goddess replied, looking to the male.
"I am Raiden, True Mate of the Goddess," he told Trisha with the slightest of nods then looked back to the Goddess to continue his conversation with her. "You doubted it?"
"With the way Ull has allowed Daco to influence him? Yes."
"Wait. What? Who? Daco? Isn't he the God that supposedly stole you from your mate?" Trisha looked from Raiden to the Goddess, that's what Ull had told her.
"He did steal her," Raiden growled, causing the transparent walls around them to tremble until the Goddess put a gentle hand on his massive arm, calming him.
"How is that even possible?" Looking at Raiden, Trisha couldn't believe anyone, God or not, could be that daring or that stupid.
"Daco is the first, but never for a minute, believe he is the second. He is conniving and deceitful. He preys on people when they are at their weakest and brings darkness to their thoughts and deeds."
"What does that have to do with Ull?" Trisha demanded.
"He has allowed Daco to influence him," the Goddess said in disgust.
"That's a lie!" Trisha surged to her feet, and when she took a step toward the Goddess, Raiden quickly moved between them.
"Do not threaten my Goddess," he growled menacingly.
"Then tell her to stop slandering my Ull," Trisha growled just as menacingly, not backing down. "Ull is a fit and worthy male."
"You have not heard his thoughts as I have." The Goddess moved from behind her mate.
"Maybe you should stay out of other people's heads if you don't like what you find," Trisha fired back at her. "It's no different than what Daco does, using people's private thoughts and desires against them."
The Goddess jerked as if shocked by the comparison. "I… I am nothing like Daco."
"Then stop judging people because of their thoughts! Their actions should speak louder."
"She is right, my Goddess," Raiden gently said as he pulled her into his arms. He, better than anyone, knew how finding Daco's thoughts in the minds of those descended from her sister affected the Goddess, especially since Berto. "Warrior Ull has never acted on any of Daco's attempts to influence him. He knows they were unworthy of a Tornian Warrior and resists."
"That is truth." The Goddess snuggled deeper into his arms.
"Then perhaps we shouldn't judge Ull so harshly just because others weren't strong enough to withstand the darkness."
Trisha watched the couple, knowing they were so absorbed with one another that they had forgotten about her. It was beautiful to see two people so in love and in-tune to one another, even knowing it was something she would never have.
"Why won't you?" the Goddess asked, looking from her mate to Trisha.
"I thought you just agreed it was wrong to listen to other people's thoughts."
"No, I agreed that judging someone on their thoughts was wrong, not that I wouldn't listen. So again, why won't you ever have someone who loves you as my Raiden loves me?"
"Because I'm dying, and your deep repair unit can't prevent it."
"This is truth."
Taking a step back, Trisha sunk into her chair, her chin hitting her chest as the air rushed out of her lungs. While she'd known she was going to die, somewhere deep in her heart, after hearing about what the deep repair unit could do, a kernel of hope had started to take root. Now it had been ruthlessly ripped out of her chest.
"For only immortals never die, but the deep repair unit can make sure you live the long life you were supposed to."
"What?" Trisha slowly lifted her head to stare at the Goddess.
"The deep repair unit can eradicate the Karkata parasite attacking your system. It's just going to take some time because of the extent of the damage."
"You…" Trisha had to swallow hard to continue. "You're saying I'm going to survive?"
"That would be truth."
"It will work on all humans?"
"Of course, because your people were once Raiden's too."
"Wait? What?"
Two chairs appeared behind the Goddess and Raiden, and taking his mate's hand, Raiden assisted her in sitting before doing so himself. "To explain, we need to start at the beginning. Many, many millennia ago, the universes were very different. There was one race. A race that had no name because it didn’t need one, they were one. They came to be ruled by the greatest Emperor in their history, Raiden Nacy." The Goddess squeezed her mate's hand that still held hers. "Gods and Goddesses are curious creatures, Trisha. We love to see how new life is evolving and sometimes involve ourselves."
"That's how ancient myths of Gods and Goddesses coming down from the heavens came to be."
"Yes, but that happened eons after. What you need to know is that Emperor Raiden brought peace to all the Known Worlds, worlds that included more than just the Tornian, Kaliszian, and Ganglian Empires. They included Earth along with many others." She saw the question in Trisha's mind. “Yes, Trisha, while the people were one, they did not always agree. Petty things caused great wars." She looked with pride to her mate. “Raiden changed that when he became Emperor. Whispers of his feats of bravery and acts of kindness traveled among the stars. So, what was a young Goddess to do when the stars continually whispered about him?” She looked back to Trisha. “I went to see for myself and found my True Mate. So, you can understand why when it came time for me to return, I refused to leave him behind. It caused a bit of a stir in the heavens as few unmated Goddesses were remaining, and the Gods weren’t going to lose one to a mere mortal, no matter how fit and worthy he was. They declared I must wait to make him immortal until every God and Goddess could assemble and decide his worthiness, even though they knew it would take more than Raiden's lifespan to do so."
"So, you went ahead and did it yourself." Trisha didn't m
ake it a question, for she would have done the same.
"I believe you would, and I did, but not without first discussing it with my True Mate. After all, he would be the one leaving his people, the Empire he'd spent his life creating. He would be the one doing all the sacrificing, not me."
“There was no sacrifice, my love." He kissed the hand he still held. "Ruling an Empire until the day I died or living forever at your side. The decision was easy."
"Still, it caused great discord amongst the Gods, who immediately insisted on challenging Raiden."
"Challenge as the way the Kaliszians once did before you blessed them with their True Mate beads?"
"Yes." Raiden smiled at how quickly the little female had made the connection.
"And because I made him an immortal without the consensus of the other immortals, Raiden had to accept the challenges or be cast into darkness, as Daco was, after taking me. But before that happened, while Raiden was distracted with the challenges from the other Gods, Daco began attacking everything Raiden had left behind. He spread his hatred for my mate like a malignant disease over Raiden's people. It caused them to attack and destroy one another until very few were left. Because of that, they lost all knowledge of what came before, lost their ability to travel to other planets, and began evolving differently."
For once, Trisha was glad the Goddess could hear the questions flying through her mind as she gave her a small smile and explained.
"Time flows differently for immortals. When something captures our attention, or we physically materialize on a planet, then our time syncs with the beings there. But once we leave or lose interest, that changes. What might be a day for us could be a century for those left behind. A single challenge between Gods can take days before one is victorious, which my Raiden always was. By the time of the last challenge right before Daco was cast into darkness, several millennia had passed for Raiden's people."
Trisha tried to absorb everything she learned as she leaned back in her chair. None of this had been in the educator.
"Because as my Goddess has said, it was wiped out and forgotten," Raiden told her.