Grady's Awakening (28 page)

He topped a ridge and looked around, in awe of the wonder of nature. Even Alvia Prime hadn’t been able to match this new planet for the sheer vastness of its open spaces and the majesty of its vistas. Then again, Alvia Prime had many more people living on its surface before it was destroyed. Now all those souls were scattered across the galaxy, trying to colonize a handful of worlds that were capable of supporting their unique needs.

When he felt the first of the sensors, Grady Prime made the conscious decision not to hide his approach. Coming in openly was a risk, but a calculated one. Prime Past already knew someone was on the way due to the Patriarch’s interference so the element of surprise was out. Grady Prime also had a history with the people he’d last seen living in the belowground complex. If they were still there—and he thought it likely they were—he’d gain more by approaching openly than by trying to sneak up on them.

Decision made, Grady Prime sought out the sensors. He deliberately tripped the heat and motion detectors, then smiled and waved to the miniscule cameras. If anyone was monitoring the system, they had to know by now that he was on his way to pay a call.

He liked the challenge of finding all the well-camouflaged sensors and cameras. The game was afoot as the human detective Sherlock Holmes would say. He’d enjoyed reading the adventures of the mythical sleuth when Mick O’Hara loaned him the books. Now that he had emotions, he found true joy in testing his tracking skills, and in the game itself. If his grin for the cameras was a little wider than a normal Alvian’s, well, that couldn’t be helped. He was having fun. Fun! It was a new and thrilling concept.

Grady Prime got about ten yards from the hidden cave entrance before the greeting party made itself known.

“You have a hell of a nerve showing up here again, Grady.” Michael, one of the human mates of Jaci 192, stepped out from behind a boulder, a weapon pointed at Grady Prime’s heart.

“I gave you enough warning. I wasn’t trying to sneak in. Thanks for coming to meet me.”

“This isn’t a welcoming party. This is a get off our land and don’t come back meeting.” Jaci’s other mate, David, moved in from the side, flanking him. Grady Prime held his hands up, palms outward in a show of peace.

“I need to talk to someone I think may be living with you.”

“Son of a bitch.” It was David that spoke, lowering his weapon slightly. “You can feel.”

Grady remembered this man had healing talent and some empathy. He was no doubt sensing Grady’s feelings of exhilaration, trepidation and sheer joy in the hunt.

“As your mate recommended, I took the treatment. Officially, I’m retired from active duty. Unofficially, I’ve been sent to find a former Prime I believe may be hiding out with you.”

“Don’t you mean you were sent to kill me?” A new voice spoke as the man in question strode boldly from the cave entrance.

Grady Prime was shocked to see how Prime Past had gone native. He dressed, walked and even sounded like a human. Even his pale blond looks no longer set him apart as Alvian. Long hair masked his pointed ears and his pale skin had started to tan with exposure to this planet’s yellow sun.

“I was,” Grady agreed easily, earning new vigilance from the two humans who raised their weapons once more. “But like you, I’ve got a mind of my own now. I came to talk to you, Sinclair Prime Past.”

“Call me Bill.”

Grady Prime shouldn’t have been surprised, he supposed, that the Council’s best assassin had reinvented himself. He was well trained to blend in to whatever came his way. He’d outdone himself in this case. Grady Prime wasn’t sure he would have recognized him had he run across him in the open.

“Bill.” He tested the name on his tongue and found it strong. “The Patriarch hinted I might find you here.”

Bill held his hands out to his side and shrugged. “Found me you have. Speak your piece, Grady.”

“The Council wants you dead.” Grady Prime’s voice was harsh in the light of day. “But you already knew that. They sent me to kill you, but I’ve had much time to think and to talk with your brethren, especially Ronin Prime. What I seek is your knowledge, not your death.”

“If that’s the case, then be welcome. I’ll talk with you, but I won’t put my friends in danger. I want your word that nothing about our location or this facility will make its way into your report.”

“You have it.” Grady Prime relaxed a little, letting his weariness show. “At this point, I’m not even sure I’m going back. I find it hard to live among them now. Even harder than it was before.”

Bill walked over and put a hand on Grady Prime’s shoulder, surprising everyone with the compassion in his gesture. “I understand, brother. Let’s talk and we’ll see what strategy we can devise. You may yet be able to do much good from within Alvian society.”

A short conference between Dave, Mike and Bill ensued, during which it was decided that Grady would be given access to the facility on a limited basis. As they walked to the cave entrance, Grady felt the animosity coming off the human men. He’d have to make an effort to show them he wasn’t the same man who’d hunted them down and captured them so many years ago.

“I hope your Jaci is well,” he began hesitantly. The human men gave him dirty looks, but Bill seemed surprised.

“You know about her?”

“I’ve been here once before, when they sent me after her,” he admitted to his fellow soldier. He was very conscious of the humans listening as they all walked. “I found the three of them in a hot spring some way into the mountain. They Hummed so sweetly, it made my heart stutter. That was what decided me to take the treatment. I have to thank you for that, David and Michael. I also have to apologize for capturing you those many years ago, though you have my admiration for your evasive skills. I remember that mission more than any other. You were worthy opponents and earned my respect.”

“You still caught us,” Michael said in disgust. “We must not have been that good.”

“Oh, I assure you,” Grady chanced a smile, “you would have gotten away had it not been for the snow. I had the advantage in such weather.”

“But you came after us on foot. You didn’t have a ship to protect you. We figured the odds were even,” David spoke at Grady’s side.

“Our higher body temperature allows us to move more quickly in cold weather, with less protective gear. Surely you’ve noticed Bill only wears a thin coat in the cold?”

“I thought that was so he could—” Michael broke off and looked at Bill apologetically.

“It’s all right. Since he’s been working with my men and the Patriarch to find me, I think he knows I can fly. Don’t you?” Bill shot him a knowing look.

“I do,” Grady admitted. “And you have my admiration for that ability.”

Bill only shrugged off the compliment as they entered the tunnel that would ultimately lead to the underground facility. Grady had been here before, but he’d never been as far inside as they were going to take him now. He was eager to see what the humans had built—both the facility that had been wrought before the crystal bombardment and what the current occupants had done with it.

The tunnels were as he remembered them, twining around the mountain as if following ore deposits. In all likelihood the outer section of this facility had probably started as a mine and only later turned into the underground city that Grady assumed he would find below.

He wasn’t disappointed. When they rounded the final curve, well past the grotto where his search had ended before, Grady saw a massive steel door standing open. Through the doorway he could see a very large manmade corridor that terminated in another steel blast door.

As they walked along the corridor into the facility proper, Bill walked beside him making conversation.

“Tell me of my men. Are they well?” As Grady had suspected, the ties of a commander to his men were never lost. Even in exile, Bill’s concern for his people was strong.

“The new Prime asked me to tell you that he misses your counsel. He seemed to think your decision to take the treatment was a good one, but I suspect he wasn’t ready to take command—at least intellectually—when you failed to return. He would have followed your leadership for the rest of his life, happily. He was very devoted to you, as were most of the men I spoke with. That’s a credit to you as a commander. You inspired loyalty and even love among a group of men who had little to give.”

“All that will change if Ronin has his way. I believe he is working on a way to get all of them the same gene-altering therapy that I had. Especially after meeting you, and seeing that you haven’t gone completely mad.” Bill chuckled at his own dry humor. “He’ll be pestering Mara Prime to move up the schedule. Mark my words.”

“I don’t doubt you’re right. Ronin seems like a man of strong convictions and intense will.”

“He is one of the strongest people I know. Among Alvians, he is the most dedicated to his beliefs, the surest of his purpose and the bravest I have met. Since exiling myself among the humans though, I have found much to admire among them. The things they have gone through to survive in the world we made for them would break your heart if you let them.”

“You’ve revised your opinion of humans then?”

“I have. They have a strength and resilience our people have lost. They survived against all odds and continue to thrive both in captivity and on the run. They are resourceful, intelligent and cunning, as I’m sure you know.”

Grady nodded in agreement. “I have often found myself respecting those I have hunted and captured, including the two men there.” He indicated David and Michael with a jerk of his chin. “They were among my most challenging missions. I regret their animosity toward me, but I do understand it. No one in their right mind could actually like—or forgive—the person who stole their freedom. And back when I did it, I didn’t even realize the full impact of my actions. How do you live with the regret, Bill?”

“It’s not easy.” A chilling desolation entered the former assassin’s eyes.

Grady wasn’t proud of the things he’d done to humans in his past as a warrior Prime, but he’d never killed in cold blood. He’d never been used as an assassin. At the time it wouldn’t have mattered, but now that he could feel, he was grateful for the oversight. Grady could only imagine the guilt Bill felt. Killing in self defense or defense of others could be considered acceptable but killing in cold blood was something Grady didn’t know if he could have lived with.

They entered through the second blast door, and Grady both felt and heard the reverberations of both heavy steel doors being closed and locked behind him. If things were going to turn ugly, now would be the time.

But his hosts didn’t turn on him. Instead, they led him through a central area from which he could see multiple buildings of various sizes and indications of human habitation. In fact, he could see more than a few people going about their business around the vast space, walking from building to building, carting things in small hand-powered vehicles from levels below and generally doing things to keep the facility running.

“This is quite an installation.” Grady admired the orderly way the people moved around. He even noted a few infants with their mothers and older children at play behind one of the larger buildings.

“It grows almost daily.” Bill indicated a group of people being taught how to work some of the automated instruments. “We’ve had to institute a schedule of classes so newcomers can learn how everything works down here. We’re nowhere near capacity, but it feels like a crowd. In the beginning it was just me, Michael, David and Jaci living down here. Then the others started to arrive. First, we took in people sent to us by our allies then later people started looking for us themselves as rumors spread.”

Grady would bet anything that the allies Bill had mentioned were the O’Haras. Their ranch wasn’t too far away as the Avarel could fly, and Grady had long suspected they worked covertly to assist what humans they could. He didn’t begrudge them that. It was only natural they would try to help their fellow man. They were good people he had come to respect.

As they crossed the open area, Grady became aware of another group of people. He recognized Jaci 192, who stood facing him. She was talking with two others, a male and a female. Just then the female turned, and he caught sight of the gentle curve of her cheek.

Could it be?

“Oh my God.” Gina’s voice was a whisper of sound. “Grady.”

She took off as Jim watched. She jogged toward a strange Alvian male who stood a few yards distant with Bill, Mike and Dave. She jumped into his arms, joy clear in her expression.

Her response seemed all out of proportion with what anyone could have expected. The alien man’s too. At first he seemed shocked, but he recovered quickly, folding her in his arms, kissing her for all he was worth. There was real emotion showing in every tender caress of his hands over her hair, her shoulders, her back. They were lovers reunited, and no one watching them could be unaffected.

But Jim stood frozen, taken completely by surprise. Jim felt Gina’s response to the alien like a sucker punch to his gut. He’d been blindsided by the hushed joy in her voice, the slight tremble as she recognized her old lover. Jim knew that was what he was. Even in those cold blue alien eyes, he could see the love shining down on her. It was pure, and it was deep.

Jim felt it like a burning saber to his soul.