Extinction (22 page)

Chai gave me an annoyed look.
Stay with me.
I
gave him an apologetic look and pushed the gate open with trembling fingers.

Inside were the sounds of deep breathing and
creaking as people tossed and turned in their cots.  I knew I had to find Rosa
first, before waking anyone else. She was the key to keep everyone calm and
organized. I navigated my way through the cots to the back where Rosa slept.

“Rosa,” I whispered and gently shook her sleeping
frame. I tried to blink away the tears. “Rosa, wake up.”

She opened her eyes, struggling to focus and then
they widened. She fiercely grabbed me and smothered me against her chest.

“Oh my …is that you child?” she sobbed and cradled
my face in her hands. I couldn’t stop my own tears from streaming down my face.

“Rosa…I’m so sorry…” How was I going to tell her?

“I know sugar.  I know…” She sobbed louder. “Your
father told me. He said they sent Emily with you. That she was loyal to them
and the rebels killed her.” She knew Emily was dead, but she didn’t know it was
my fault, that I failed my best friend.

“Rosa, I’m sorry. They didn’t mean to kill her. It
was such a mess.” I tried my best to explain what happened. I didn’t leave
anything out. Rosa deserved to know the truth even if it meant she would hate
me. I told her about the rebels and the Epsilon and about Emily. Rosa wiped the
tears from her eyes after I finished.

“It’s not your fault, sugar. I don’t blame you. I
saw it coming. She was never the same after her daddy died. Sometimes I thought
she died with him that day.” She shook her head sadly. “Maybe she’ll get some
rest now.”

I glanced at Chai. He kept his distance, giving us
time, but I knew with each passing moment our chances of being discovered was
getting bigger.

“Why are you here?” Rosa grabbed my shoulders. “Why
did you come back here, child? You know it’s too dangerous for you to be here.”
After all that happened she still cared about me. She didn’t blame me for what
happened. I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

“We came for you. For all of you. We’re getting you
out of here.” Her eyes darted to Chai.

“Is that him? The alien boy?” she asked.

I motioned to Chai to come closer. “This is Chai.” 

“Isn’t he something?” She examined him from tip to
toe. “If I wasn’t so old…”

I laughed. She was still the Rosa I knew and loved.

She stood and looked Chai straight in the eye. “You
listen here boy. If you hurt one hair on my girl’s head, I’ll have you skinned
and cooked for breakfast.”

“Rosa!” I shook my head at her. Chai gave her his
most charming smile that could melt titanium.

“I’ll protect her with my life.” That was good
enough for Rosa and she smiled. “But we have to get you all out of here. We’re
going to need your help, Rosa.” Chai quickly explained the plan to her and how
we needed her to make it work.

All-business Rosa took over. She scurried between
cots, waking up the human slaves. She managed to have them organized in groups
within minutes. It was amazing to see how calmly she acted as she quietly moved
from person to person. 

Chai led them to the tunnel and helped them down the
hole. He hated leaving me alone for one second, but Rosa needed me to help her
with the slaves in the other buildings. We didn’t have much time before someone
would find the gate to the quarters open and unlocked. Rows upon row of slaves
left the quarters and disappeared down the tunnel. Buildings and tents were
emptied, until finally the last of the slaves were safely down in the tunnels. 

Chai passed me the flashlight to lead them through
the tunnels. He followed behind for in case we were followed. It was a
painstakingly slow process. Rosa weaved her way through the rows giving words
of encouragement. Most of them were scared, not knowing what to expect when we
reach the end. Some of them were happy to leave Palasium behind; others were
too stunned to feel anything.

We reached the shack outside Palasium without
incident.  We had made it without getting caught. Arianna and Gaios took over from
here and led the groups to the waiting trucks. I couldn’t believe we actually
pulled it off. The slaves were free.

      Chai firmly held my
hand
.
I didn’t know what he was up to. The elevator came to a stop at level A.

“Why won’t you tell me where we’re going?” 

“It’s a surprise.” He shook his head with a smile.

 I had been nagging him the whole morning to tell me
what he was up to. All he would say was that he had a surprise for me and I
should learn some patience. My stomach twisted and turned with excitement. Just
being able to spend time with him alone was like a precious gift. We had seen
so little of each other the past couple of days. Organizing the sudden influx
of slaves took all his available time. 

The elevator door slid open and Zalzi waited for us
outside the door. 

“Everything is as you instructed Captain Chai
Quintus,” he said formally and gave me a small nod. 

“Thank you Zalzi.” Chai gave him a slap on the
shoulder. Zalzi winced slightly. These Epsilon didn’t know their own strength. Chai
led me through the control room to the exit from the ship. I was getting more
inquisitive. Where was he taking me? We went past the memorial hall to the
entrance of the mountain.

“Why don’t you at least give me a clue?” Chai
chuckled.

“There’s your clue.” I followed his gaze and inhaled
deeply. A spaceship stood nestled between the sand dunes. Not a big one - a much
smaller replica of the ship we lived on. The sun glinted of the silver metal
framework. It consisted of a mixture of round curves and triangles and I
squinted against the glaring sun to inspect it more closely.

“We’re going somewhere?” I suddenly felt very
nervous. I had never even been in an airplane.  Was he planning on flying
somewhere?

“Yes.” The tone in his voice told me he wasn’t going
tell me anything more. We crossed the short distance between the mountain and
the spaceship. The spaceship rested on metal stilts like huge spider legs and
to the side was steps leading into the ship. Chai’s hand rested on my hip as I
climbed inside. It was much bigger inside than I had anticipated. 

A smaller replica of the control room greeted us. Various
controls and monitors faced the large windows, giving a clear view of the
desert before us. Chai’s hand on the small of my back steered me through a door
leading away from the control room.

“Bathroom is inside here.” A small cubicle with a
shower was inside. He patiently gave me a tour of the rest of the ship. I still
didn’t get it. Where were we going? But I nodded and feigned interest. “Kitchen
is through that door.” You could barely call it a kitchen. It was only a
counter with a few utensils. “Lastly is the bedroom.” His voice turned husky and
I quickly scanned his face. He avoided looking at me. 

“We’ve only got a couple of hours. The
Přízrak
is keeping an
eye on us, making sure if there are any Vandelrizi ships around, we won’t be
attacked. This ship is built for short distance travel and not for fighting. We
have to be back before dark.” 

“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?”

“No.” He was enjoying keeping me in the dark.

 He helped strap me into a chair in the control
room. He took a seat in front of the controls. He pressed several buttons and
the screens came to life. He spoke to Zalzi and someone on the
Přízrak
and got the go ahead
from both for lift off. I watched in fascination how comfortable and quickly
his fingers moved across the consoles. He knew exactly what he was doing. The
spider legs retracted into the ship, leaving us hovering in the air. I barely
heard the engines of the ship, only a faint hum was the only indication that
they were working. Chai again pushed buttons and levers. My stomach knotted. The
ship lurched in the air, lifting into the sky, gaining speed and momentum until
the outside world was only a blur passing by the windows. 

“Are you okay? It can be tough the first time you
fly.” Chai gave my pale face a concerned look. 

“I’m fine.” I clamped my hands around the arms of
the chair. My stomach tumbled dangerously and I tried to clamp down the feeling
of nausea trying to overpower me. This was my first time flying and I was not
going to get sick and ruin it.

The flight was over within minutes and Chai stopped
the engines. We were silently hovering in space.

“We’re here,” Chai said and unstrapped me from my
chair. He held out his hand and steadied me as my legs threatened to buckle
underneath me. He gently pulled me into his arms. “Are you thirsty or
something?” 

“No.” My stomach still felt very vulnerable and
wouldn’t be able to handle anything right now. 

“I want to show you something.” He led me to the
bedroom and pressed a button on a console against the wall. The shutters slid
open, revealing massive windows spanning the room. My jaw went slack. It was
the most spectacular view I had ever seen. It was infinite - endless black
sky.  Before us, suspended in the black blanket was earth. It was so beautiful
that my heart clenched. A perfect sphere decorated in blue and white swirls. If
I looked closely I could even recognize masses of land. It reminded me how
delicate life was and exactly what we were fighting for. It was the most
beautiful and priceless gift Chai could have given me.

“I don’t know what to say. This is…amazing.” Chai
looked at me, his eyes burning with an unfathomable emotion. He cleared his
throat.

“I love you.” Those three words had the power to
turn me to mush every time he said them. “I knew you belonged with me, since
the moment you stepped in front of the truck in the jungle. From the first
moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew we were connected. There would never be
anyone else for me. You are my life, my future. You’re my everything.” He took
a step closer and my heart beat wildly in my chest. “I declare it in front of
the cosmos that brought us together. If you’ll have me, I’ll protect and love
you until we join the stars and even then my love for you will still live on.”

Tears welled in my eyes. I loved him so much. There
were no words in the universe that could describe exactly how I felt about him.
He wiped his hands nervously on his pants and I realized he was waiting for me
to give him an answer. As if it was necessary for me to answer him – of course
I wanted him. We belonged together.

“I love you,” my voice cracked. “I want to be with
you forever.” 

It must have been the right answer, because a fire
ignited in his eyes. He rested the palm of his hand against my cheek. His lips
found mine, kissing me very gently. He lifted his head.
I love you, little
one.
His fingers traced the line of my jaw, slowly moving down my neck. His
fingers found the top button of my shirt, slightly trembling as he unbuttoned
it. My eyes widened. Now I understood completely what the trip was all about.
The last step of the Shidmina. He wanted to seal our union.  I nervously
scanned the room. He couldn’t have chosen a better location. This was what I
dreamt of, what I had wanted for weeks but…

“Lexie, we don’t have to. If you’re not ready…” His
fingertips hovered over the last button, sensing my hesitation. I didn’t trust
my own voice. This was what I wanted, but now that it was happening, I was
scared. I reached for the hem of his shirt, letting my hands wander over the
smoothness of his skin. I lifted his shirt and he helped me tuck it over his
head. I pressed the palm of my hand on the sun on his chest. He was my warmth
and my strength. He gently slipped my shirt over my shoulders and ran a finger
across my collarbone. I shivered. 

“Don’t be scared,” Chai said and tipped my face to
his.

“I’m not. It’s just…there’s something you have to
know before we…” I swallowed hard. It wasn’t fair to him. He had to know. “I
can’t ever have children. The Vandelrizi put something in the air. It made all
humans sterile. We could never have children.”

“I know what they did.” His hands skimmed my shoulders,
moving down my back, his fingertips leaving behind a trail of fire on my skin. “It’s
not important to me. You are everything I’ll ever want.”

His hands pulled me closer to his chest, signaling
that he had wasted enough time. He lifted me from the floor and lowered me on
the bed, kissing me. It was a kisses filled with love and promises. His hands
made our clothes magically disappear, making me burn and ache for him. I was
aware of nothing else except him, and the fire his hands and mouth ignited in me.
I melted into him.

      Chai reluctantly
pulled his shirt over his head and searched the floor for his shoes that seemed
to have ended up on the opposite side of the room. It was time for us to leave
and I should get dressed too.  I clutched the sheet covering me a bit closer to
my chin. We didn’t want the
Přízrak
to
send out a search party, but I couldn’t move. I was like a puddle of melted ice
cream. My body felt like warm silky liquid. Chai stretched across the bed to
retrieve a sock. I loved the way his muscles moved with him and I pressed a
hand against his beating heart.

“Don’t give me that look,” he said grinning. “Otherwise
we’ll never get back to earth.” That didn’t sound like such a bad idea and I
blushed. I could stay here with him forever. 

“Let’s stay. Just a little bit longer. Please.” Chai
give me one look and the next he was on the bed hovering above me. He didn’t
need any further convincing.

“I’ll do anything for you,” he whispered in my neck.
He pressed feather light kisses on my collarbone, pulling the sheet away from
my body covering me. I giggled. We were going to be late.