The Solar Flare (32 page)

      She walked over to her dr
esser and removed her bracelets, pausing to lift her gold locket out of the jewelry box where she kept it. It got in the way of her workouts so she generally did not wear it anymore. Her fingers traced the outline of the crescent moon and finally to the notch on the side, catching it with her fingernail. She opened it and looked at the image of Wesley’s handsome face. The sight drew tears to her eyes. She lowered it back in the box quickly and shut the lid, not wanting to be reminded of the past.

     Ava went into her bathroom
, removed her clothes, and headed into a warm shower to try and clear her mind. After re-dressing into her pajamas and brushing her teeth she hopped into her bed and closed her eyes. She thought back to one of her last days on Kyanos when Wesley had told her about James. She remembered that she had wondered if it was possible for her to transfer her feelings from one of them to the other. At the time he wasn’t sure. Was that what was happening now? They were one Asterion in two bodies, and they were attracted to her soul and her energy, but what if she was also attracted to them. She thought about that for a few moments. What if it worked both ways? Was it possible for her to love James the same way that she loved Wesley?

     When she first met James the thought of that made her sick. But now, after getting to know
him, she felt differently. It didn’t feel so wrong to her anymore; he wasn’t a bad person. She didn’t feel so sad about missing her family because she had a new one. She knew she should feel terribly guilty, but she was losing that familiar emotion too. It had been a long night, and she was tired from the drinking and dancing. She let these thoughts spin in her mind as she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Chap
ter 23:  The Clue

    
The Principia deftly entered the familiar orbit near Kyanos after its long unsuccessful mission to track Ava and Xavier’s whereabouts. The messaging system alerted Wesley and his crew immediately that there was an urgent transmission from Justin. Wesley gathered everyone together to hear the message. They listened intently to the damaged transmission of Kaden and Draves’ recovered conversation, hoping to hear some clues. This is what was heard:    

  
Kaden’s rough voice spoke first. “What is it?”

     “Another starship!” They listened to Draves
fit of chaotic laughter.

     “Who is it?”

     “Very strange, It’s Robinson, but it’s  . . . not” . . . more laughter.

     “What are you talking about Draves? Robinson is in the Andromeda, I know it!”

     “I said it wasn’t Robinson! . . . Doesn’t matter, it is of no significance now, they are leaving . . . heading off towards the south.”

     “Why would they go south? That’s opposite of the known galaxy. . . There’s absolutely nothing out that way.”

     “I can’t sense their thoughts, they are too far away. Concentrate on what’s important here!  Head for the moon over there and circle slowly around it. Robinson will lose the weak signal he has on us.”

     At the end of the brief transmission the captain and crew of the Principia glanced at each other
for they knew what happened after that.

    
“South? How can that be possible? We know that they were on Antares.” Andre remarked.

     On the way back to Kyanos they had stopped to re-fuel their starship on the familiar station. During their time there, Naomi tapped into the system and reviewed the docking records. After Ava disappeared, a ship with the dimension and description
of the Solstice had docked there for a few days, the identity of the owner requested anonymous.

     “Why would Xavier dock on Antares after taking Ava? That would mean he changed course after heading south,” Naomi wondered out loud.

     “That doesn’t make sense unless he was trying to throw us off the scent,” Andre added.

     “Or maybe he did mean to head south but changed his mind,” Wesley interjected. “Maybe he wanted to drop someone off.”

     “You mean Bryant?” Naomi asked.

     “Exactly.”

     “So. . . What do we know of the southern region?” Andre asked.             

     “Not as much as I would like. Come, let’s descend and get the full report from Vance and Justin.” Wesley’s spirits began to lift for the first time since Ava’s abduction.

     A short while later the Principia was safely docked in the main hangar and the Asterions were once again re-united. Those who had stayed behind were shocked at Wesley’s physical appearance. Vance approached Wesley to greet him but was also taken aback by the captain’s transformation.

     “Vance, what news of the restoration of the city?” Wesley asked in his usual authoritative manner.

     “It’s slow, but progressing nicely. It is good to see you again my friend.”

     “Any threats from Kaden?”

     “No Captain. Have you found any leads on Ava and the Andromeda?”

     “No, unfortunately not.” It was hard for Wesley to hide the disappointment and frustration in his voice. “But, the transmission Justin sent us may provide us with a clue
on Ava’s location.”

     “I hope so Captain,” Vance said quietly. Even though Vance sympathized with him, it seemed as though he disapproved of Wesley’s prioritization of Ava over the safety of the planet.

     “There is always hope,” Justin interrupted brightly, putting a hand on Wesley’s shoulder. “You look terrible.”

     “I’ve been better.”

     “So I see, come one, the meeting is starting.”

     The captain, crew, and high officials of Kyanos gathered in the meeting room to discuss the state of things in the city, the plan for increasing security, long term plans for replacing the Andromeda, and various other things that needed to be sorted out. Wesley listened earnestly to the concerns of his officials and his fellow Asterions. Again, he felt the pull of his familiar duty to his beloved planet and the heartache and guilt he experienced over his failure to retrieve Ava.

     Afterwards he, along with his family, went to inspect the remains of the Draconis in the silo where the Principia had been built. The ship had been dismantled and separated into one neat pile of re-workable parts and one large heap of scrap metal.

     “We salvaged what we could, I’m pleased to say that it is a lot more than what I expected,” Justin informed them.

     Wesley looked at the remains without showing any emotion. “Where are the computers?”

     “In the lab, come, you can see them for yourself.”

     Everyone left the makeshift hangar and headed into the lab where the Draconis’ core computers containing the “black box” of transmissions had been repaired and restored to limited function.

     “Is there anything else on that hard drive worth listening to?” Wesley asked.

     “Not really, just what I sent you. Seems Kaden was surprisingly good at erasing it after each flight,” Justin explained.

     “Let’s hear it again.”

     Justin nodded and pulled up the transmission while everyone listened again.

     “So Xavier wanted to head south, but then made a pit stop on Antares to rid himself of Bryant.” Wesley walked around slowly, lost in thought. “Afterwards, he probably resumed his course.”

     “What do we know of that is south of the known galaxy?” Andre asked.

     “Maybe it’s not what we
know . . . but rather what we used to know,” Wesley said mysteriously. “What if we’ve been there before?”

   
“You mean before we were human?” Andre could hardly hide the surprise in his voice.

     “Precisely. I knew I’d visited a planet similar to Earth before I became
human . . . but that knowledge was lost in the transformation. I don’t remember where it was. In fact, I thought this was it when we discovered it.” He gestured all around him.

     “It makes sense. Maybe that’s why we haven’t run across Xavier very often after all of this time, he’s got his own planet,
. . . an extragalactic planet maybe?” Naomi deduced.

     “How are we
going to search for a planet we don’t even know for sure exists?” Justin wondered. “It could even be a lone space station for all we know.”

    
“I need to think about this some more. We all should. Maybe something will come to us,” Wesley suggested.

     “I think that’s a good idea. Now, let’s all go home and get some rest. We have a few more meetings tomorrow,” Naomi ordered. Wesley turned away, back to the computer, ignoring her. “That means you too Captain,” she said authoritatively. “If we are eventually going on a mission to find a lost world, you need to recover your strength.”

     He sighed and acquiesced, though the thought of going back to the empty home he briefly shared with Ava depressed him. “Naomi?”

     “Yes?”

     “If Ava is all right and Xavier hasn’t harmed her, do you think that she could actually be happy there . . . with him?”

    
She hesitated before answering. “Ava will always love you Wesley, no matter what.”

   
He sighed. “I believe you.”

     “Good. Now please get some rest.” And with that, she left
the lab, leaving him with the computers. He stared at them for a few moments before deciding that it was time to pull himself together for Ava, for Kyanos, and for his family.

     Wesley and the others threw themselves into the efforts to restore the city after the attack. The activity proved to be therapeutic for him as it kept his mind occupied. Even after only a few days he began to look and feel better. The clue to Ava’s location motivated him to get back into shape in case he might be up for a fight if and when he found her. He spent long hours studying star charts, trying to decide the best route to his southern mission. Together as a group the Asterions, with some of the engineers, drew up rough plans for building another starship as they could not rely on re-acquiring the Andromeda. A list was drafted for parts Wesley and the crew would need to obtain if they had a chance when they next began to circulate the galaxy looking for Ava.

Chapter 24
: Geodesic

     Ava chatted with Mrs. Maclaren at the breakfast bar as she drank her coffee, waiting for Lizeth and Emma to arrive. Over the last week they had been teaching her the basics of boating and swimming in the ocean. There was something about the greenish water that appealed to her. The repetitious soothing sounds and the warmth of the water seemed to pull at her. At the same time, James’ comment about the existence of unknown alien marine life living in the water frightened her. The other Asterions did not seem to fear it as nothing large ever seemed to come within half a mile of the shoreline because it was relatively shallow.

     In Ava’s time with them, she had the opportunity to go with Melanie, Emma, and Lucas along with several local scientists to view and study a large marine animal resembling a whale that had washed up on one of the northern shores.

     After her friends arrived the women passed James, who was heading out to the hangar, on their way to the beach. Ava had grown used to wearing lots of beach wear and the feeling of being practically naked in front of other people had lessened. She did not miss the heavy clothing and boots that she used to wear on Orionis. She also no-longer felt self conscious about it since she was now in better physical shape than before, not that she was in bad shape, but overall she felt stronger and more toned. He wished them good luck as he headed out the door.

     Today Lizeth and Emma were tea
ching Ava to boogie board and she could hardly wait. Her swimming skills had significantly improved and she wanted more. It was tricky for her at first to learn how to pull herself up and hold on a floating object. She lost her grip and was hammered off almost immediately for the first several attempts. Slowly, she worked up to being able to hang on and ride the waves for a few seconds before falling off again. She couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed and so much fun. She had a long way to go, but she felt determined to master this someday. They called it quits around lunch time as Ava was exhausted and they were starving. Travis served them a delicious lunch on the terrace as they dried off.

     Afterwards
, everyone showered and got ready for shopping. The concert was in a few days and Ava wanted to get something new to wear. Emma and Lizeth drove in the same Vela while Ava followed in James’ silver one. It was exciting for her to finally have some freedom as she had just taken her test and was issued her own license to drive. She felt she had come a long way in the last several months. They had taught her so many things; a new language, self defense and fighting skills, and now she had a little independence. Eventually as she gained more knowledge of the culture and the language, she might consider going back into the working world. She missed taking care of patients.

     The next day the group gathered together at an indoor shooting range where the military trained in order to teach Ava how to handle weapons. She had reservations about it, but James insisted. He said that she always needed to be prepared; especially if she had to face off with an Asterion.