The Solar Flare (22 page)

     Ava walked slowly back in forth in her small quarters on the Solstice.  She chewed her lower lip absently while lost in her thoughts. She had to think of some way to reason with Xavier to let her go before they took off again. A whole day had passed since their last conversation in the common area. Ava had ventured out briefly only to eat twice since then, for the sole purpose of keeping her strength up. Melanie had brought her snacks a few times and tried to offer her some comforting words about ‘how they were going to take good care of her’ and that ‘this was for the best’ and so on. It only infuriated her further. At least on her worst circumstances on Earth and Orionis, no one had ever taken her freedom away from her. Ava occasionally heard the faint sound of an electric guitar being played in a slow, soothing melody. She guessed it might have been Xavier. It seemed like an eternity had passed since she last saw Wesley. She wondered if he and the others were okay and whether or not they defeated Kaden. As these thoughts circled in her mind; she phased through many emotions from fear, to sorrow, and finally to extreme anger over her situation.

    
Early in the evening a light tap on the door signaled she had a visitor, which turned out to be Melanie again. She walked in casually holding a stack of new clothes. “Since we’ve spent so much time here waiting for the pirates to be cleared out, I thought I would get you some new clothes. I’ve had them cleaned and sterilized today. I don’t want to take any chances of you being exposed to that virus again. It’s really bad out there, the sooner we lift off the better.”

     “When do you think that might be?” Ava asked breathlessly.

     “Tomorrow evening hopefully. Is there anything I can get you?” Melanie asked as she turned towards the door.

     “No. Thank you for the clo
thes.” She did feel sincere appreciation for them, she really disliked wearing other peoples clothing.

     After Melanie left
, Ava sank back down onto the bed and leaned over with her elbows on her knees, resting her head in her hands. She thought of Wesley, how patient and kind he always seemed to her. If he and Xavier were truly the same entity, why didn’t Xavier listen to her and respect her wishes? She had to do something, and do it fast before they launched again. She decided she would make one more attempt to get through to him.

    
The next morning Ava showered and dressed in some of the new clothes that Melanie had brought her the previous evening. She practiced the short speech she planned to make the entire time she was getting ready, until it was time to make her move. She quietly made her way up to the common room where she saw everyone going over some of the flight details for the upcoming launch. Ava took a deep breath as she approached them. She calmly and politely asked the group if she could talk to them. Everyone fell silent and watched her intently as she took this as a sign to proceed. Ava approached Xavier and began to speak.

    
“James, I know you might believe that I have been mistreated, but I can assure you that haven’t. I know that you have been searching for your match for an eternity, however I’m sorry to tell you that I am not she. My heart belongs to Wesley and no matter how far away you take me or for how long, nothing will change that. Please, I beg you, let me go. Let us end this peacefully.” She clasped her hands together and held them to her chest in a gesture of desperation.

     A silence so deafening you could hear the faint buzzing of the lights continued for at least two whole minutes. Ava felt it would be best to let one of them speak next. Xavier slowly approached her and broke the silence. “Ava, I
’m so sorry that you are angry and frustrated right now. Our intentions were never meant to hurt you. I understand how you must feel, but if you would give me a chance, I know you will not find me as terrible as it seems you think that I am.”

     Ava shook her head back and forth in disbelief. I
t’s like talking to a steel door, she thought to herself. She sensed the rage and energy rising within her, unable to control it. It had been waning for a while now and this might be the last of it, she thought. “What the hell is
wrong
with you! How could I ever love you! It’s not possible. It’s never going to happen!” She shouted at him, feeling herself losing control. She had not felt this way since the incident with Dr. Tom on Capri. Suddenly she lunged at Xavier and shoved him forcefully with all her borrowed energy. He staggered backwards a few steps, more from shock and surprise than from injury. His mouth dropped open slightly as he watched her with wide eyes. Ava, breathing heavily with her fists clenched at her sides said only one more thing to the group, “You’re all nothing but monsters!” No one said anything as she stalked off back down to her quarters, with silent tears running down her cheeks. Once inside, she collapsed on the bed, sensing the very last of Justin’s energy fade from her. She didn’t feel particularly good about assaulting Xavier. It wasn’t usually in her nature to confront someone like that. In fact, it probably wasn’t a very smart thing to do since he had the power to kill her with just one look, but she had to try something to break through to him.

     The Asterions in the common area were stunned by Ava’s sudden outburst and started discussing the situation
after she was safely out of earshot.

     “I know that she’s been through a lot, but I still don’t see how she says she feels nothing for me. I
t’s not supposed to be this way. . .” Xavier remarked sitting back down into his seat.

     “
I’m surprised she’s acting like this. A match like this has never happened to any of us before. It’s supposed to be like love at first sight, except in this case without the participation of the other person. However, she isn’t one of us; she’s human. When it comes to something like this she has free will. I can’t imagine how you must feel, James. I wonder if it’s possible that she’s bonded with Robinson permanently? If she’s that attached to him, then perhaps her heart may be closed to you.” Melanie said, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation of things.

     Xavier rose up to leave the common area, lost in thought. He wanted to think about this alone. His affinity for Ava was overwhelming. The prospect of letting her go was heartbreaking to him
after all of these years of being alone, but feeling her hatred of him was just as worse. Perhaps they were wrong. Maybe they shouldn’t have taken her away from Robinson without her consent. He didn’t want her to hate him and he didn’t want to force her to live a life in contempt of him. Sadly, he realized he had only one choice. He must return her to Robinson.

     Later that afternoon Xavier tapped on Ava’s door and entered. She looked up from where she was sitting, resting against the headboard
on the bed with her knees drawn up. She took the remote and turned off the program she was watching on the monitor. She watched him as he slowly came to one side of the bed and sat down on the edge, facing away from her. After a few moments of silence he spoke. “I’ve been doing some thinking. I don’t want to force you to come with me. If you truly feel nothing for me then I shall take you back to him.”

     Ava processed what he said fo
r a minute and replied softly, “do you really mean that?”

     “Yes
,” he responded numbly.

     “Thank you
,” she smiled and breathed a deep sigh of relief.

     “We’re launching within the hour. Once we are in space we will attempt to locate Robinson. He must surely be out looking for you by now.” Xavier kept his gaze focused on the floor, he couldn’t look at her for fear his resolve would crumble.
He didn’t say another word as he abruptly got up and left her quarters without looking back.

Chapter 17:  Earth

     “He should have been here by now!” Kaden bellowed to Draves and his remaining crew members.

     “He’ll be here, give him some more time. The
weather conditions aren’t exactly easy for transporting things out there,” Torian responded, his teeth chattering from the cold.

     “It’s bad enough I lost my ship and have to tool around in this heap of scrap metal!” Kaden whined, gesturing at the Andromeda. After hijacking the fallen starship, he, Torian, Cassidy, and Draves flew all the way back to Earth to an old desolate abandoned hangar on the surface to make repairs. They could not have taken it to one of the space stations as it would have been recognized as being stolen, and also the subject of inspection by the ITO due to its assaulted appearance.

     “We’re lucky that we’re still alive!” Cassidy remarked sharply, quickly being irritated by Kaden’s attitude.

     Draves, who sat quietly on a nearby crate looked sharply towards the entryway as a small battery powered truck entered and headed towards them, heaped with what appeared to be starship parts in the back. An average sized man with dark brown hair and eyes emerged from behind the wheel, he was an Asterion. “Torian, long time no see
,” the stranger exclaimed casually.

     “Warren, this is Kaden, Cassidy, and Draves
,” Torian announced as he introduced the group to the newcomer.

     “What have you go
t for me?” Warren asked of the group.

     “We need some assistance
re-furbishing this,” Torian explained as he pointed towards the Andromeda.

     “Isn’t that the Andromeda? Robinson’s ship?” Warren asked nervously, backing away slightly. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in a war between Asterion clans.

     “It’s my ship now!” Kaden announced. “We’ve got your money, now show us the parts!”

     “Right away
,” Warren replied, hurrying towards the rear of the truck. Kaden seemed pacified after seeing what Torian’s contact was able to bring them. The abandoned hangar on Earth in the freezing tundra of what used to be a desert would have to do for now. At least they were out from under the ITO’s nose and away from Robinson’s reach for the moment. Draves had informed him that the Captain had been temporarily distracted by the simultaneous kidnapping of his mate. He laughed at the thought, poor Robinson, he never gets a break.

     Despite Draves’ usefulness, Kaden noticed he had seemed to be going downhill over the last few days, often seen muttering, gesturing, and laughing crazily to himself. Perhaps the dashed hope of having a peaceful quite planet to live on had put him over the edge. Even his energy and strength seemed to have
diminished slightly. Kaden decided he would guard his thoughts and watch him for now. If Draves’ sanity continued to decline, he would do whatever was necessary to protect himself.

∞

     Ava enjoyed a new sense of calm and a renewed feeling of hope after her conversation with Xavier. She no-longer felt compelled to stay in her quarters all of the time and moved about and explored the Solstice freely. Now that he had promised to take her back to Wesley she did not feel angry with him anymore. Even though things were much less awkward between the two of them, she still kept a distance and only spoke casually with him whenever she found herself in a situation alone with him. She couldn’t help herself observing all of these new Asterions closely. They seemed like Wesley’s family, a tight knit group. It made her long to be reunited with them soon. After several days in orbit scouting for a signal, Ava’s patience began to waiver. What if something had happened to Wesley during Kaden’s attack? Could that be why they haven’t been able to track him? She pushed these thoughts from her mind; she had to try to remain positive. As more days passed, Blayke finally suggested that they do a sweep near Capri and what was left of Orionis, some of the closer stations to the Earth.
     

    
Late one evening, Nicholas called Xavier to the flight deck, “I’ve got him.”

     “Where is he?” Xavier asked calmly
.

     “He’s in the Southwest desert
on Earth, probably in that old abandoned military hangar, we’ll know for sure once we get closer.”

     Xavier inspected one of the monitors. “The transmission is encrypted.”

     “Yeah, I thought that was weird too. It’s definitely him though. He’s probably doing that to maintain a low profile, especially if he’s hunting us and wants an element of surprise.”

     “Bring us in closer and hover. We’ll try to make contact with him, I’ll let Ava know.”

   “No problem.”

     Xavier left Blayke and Nicholas in the flight deck and found Ava in the common room holding a table
t, apparently watching the local news to keep herself occupied. He sat down next to her and she put it down, waiting for him to speak.

     “
We’ve found him.”

     “Really!” Ava didn’t even try to hi
de her excitement from Xavier, although he seemed less than thrilled to be telling her. She noticed how sad he looked. Even his muted energy seemed to dip.

     “Yes,
we should be there in about two hours. You may take your clothes and things with you if you like.”

      “Thank you James, I will never forget your kindness to me
,” Ava said sincerely, surprised that she herself felt a little down about their impending separation.