On the bridge, Ford ordered the torpedo tubes flooded. It seemed as two more Kraytax vessels entered the fight, this war was far from done. He turned as he heard the Captain open the door.
"What's happening now?" Ford almost missed the question as Lucas walked in behind him. His eyes roamed over the young man. Not even one scar marred his face. Silence fell over the bridge as the crew watched him walk up to the screen.
"Uh... We're under attack, sir. We have five ships in the water, and no communications. The refuse to answer any hails."
"They'll answer this one." Lucas walked over to Tim's station, ignoring O'Neill's dropped mouth and opened a link to the ships. As he spoke in the Kraytax language, Tobias acted as translator for the others.
"His telling them to open a channel or he'll destroy them." Tobias' eyebrow shot up. "And that Ariel died like the coward that she was."
Suddenly the screen opened, split to allow the five Kraytax captains to be seen. Nathan moved to speak.
"I'm Nathan Bridger of the UEO..." One of the captains sneered.
"We don't speak to inferior human scum! Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded." As confident as he sounded there seemed to be a hesitation to his body language, as if he awaited orders or confirmation for something. That something became apparent when Lucas stepped forward and stood straight.
"My words were true. Ariel is dead."
"This changes nothing."
"It changes everything. You allowed yourselves to be ruled by her madness. You desecrated your own world to satisfy her need for more. Where are your Gods now?" Lucas' almost screamed the last words out. Stunned Kraytax and humans alike looked at the thin shivering boy.
"Who are you to speak to us like this? A child who knows nothing of our war or our lives. And yet you presume to lecture us." Lucas looked down for a moment his shoulders hunched in a mock defeat. Waiting for the human child to break down, the taunting Kraytax was utterly shocked when he looked up with an unholy light in his eyes. His words when spoken seemed to be made of two voices rising in harmony together.
"I am the only son of Lady Krisanna of the house of Salrian, sister to the deceased Lady Ariel of the house of Tumnae. It is with royal blood that I tell you this war is over." Concentrating Lucas willed his body to defy gravity. Slowly he rose several feet from the floor.
"You're the one... the one foretold." The Captains faces seemed to fall as they realized something that the human's had yet to grasp.
"Impossible! Krisanna died many years ago."
"Did she? Did you ever see a body?" Lucas spoke, pain evident in his words.
"It doesn't matter now. Our world is dying and nothing can be done but relocate."
"Your world is dying because you destroyed it! You damned yourselves by taking the name of you Gods as your own! You were once musicians and poets and artist. Now you're self-proclaimed conquerors or worlds. You denied your heritage in favor of power and one woman's greed." His body trembled with rage. "You would enslave others as she enslaved you. A once proud race held by fear of one person."
"Your lecture is years to later, son of Krisanna! The damage is done. If we do not take a planet that can support us, we will die. Everything we hold dear will die. Is that what you want? We are your people too! Will you protect us as you did them or watch gleefully as we die? You can't have one without the other. Which heritage will you deny?"
The young man's laughter scared both crews on a subconscious level. Tobias stepped forward and stood near Lucas.
"Fulfill your destiny."
"I have many. Which do I choose? I could forsake either race but can I save both?" He looked down with an impish smile on his shining face. "Shall we see?" At Tobias' puzzled nod, Lucas spoke to the screen. "This war is over. The Kraytax are dead. Dremora is reborn."
He held his arms outward and threw his head back. Slowly his body began to rotate. The bridge crew stepped back as sparks shot from his body. Without warning his body disintegrated in a shower of light that seemed to seep from the ship in a full circle. A shout from Lonnie pulled the captain from his stupor.
"Captain! I'm getting strange readings on a full-scale level. Sir, unless I'm mistaken, the sea floor is rising." She looked up with scared eyes as everyone turned back to the screen. Mystified they watched as a mountain grew in front of them.
"Uh...Nathan? If the floor's rising, what happens to us?" Scott questioned his friend.
"The hell if I know. At this point I'm running on the belief that I have absolutely no idea what's going on." He turned to Commander Ford.
"Attention, all hands! Prepare for impact." He nodded and looked to the scene before him. The ship rocked slightly and rose with the landscape. "500 meters, sir...200... we're on the surface again captain." Lonnie sat back in her chair heavily. "Oh my..."
The land before them began to live again. Trees and flowers bloomed from the ground as quickly as an eye could blink. Nathan could see the other ships around them sitting in a ... where exactly were they?
"A cornfield?" Ford leaned over a console.
"A bit of irony to end the day." He spun around at the voice behind him. So involved in the resurrection of a world, no one noticed as Lucas' body reformed and slumped to the ground. He laughed, the sound bittersweet ambrosia to ears that could still hear screams of terror. "I'm sure you have questions." He stood and walked to the wardroom. The others followed. He waited until they sat down and chose a seat far from them. As Nathan was about to speak, the door opened and Dagwood entered quietly and stood near Lucas.
"What...how?" Nathan shook his head slightly. "Let's try this in order. How did you know about any of this?" The question was mirrored on everyone faces except Lucas and Dagwood. As he waited he knew what his next question would be.
"I was given a gift. My...mother allowed me to see what the outcome of this little kidnapping would be." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He knew that since the future was changed his part in it was over but he was unsure of what would happen if he revealed too much. As he sat a voice whispered to him.
Tell them. Appease their curiosity. All will be as it should be.
"And you told no one?" Nathan looked toward Dagwood but was startled when Wendy spoke.
"I knew some of it, Captain. Not much about here but I knew about Lucas." Kristen leaned back in her chair and looked from her friend to the young man.
"You both knew and yet you didn't see fit to warn us? To give us a chance to stop it?"
"What do you think I was doing? We had to come here. It was the only way to save Earth from an invasion and this world from it's own foolishness. I could only change what I knew. If even one of you knew the details of this mission, you could have amended your plans to fit. I wouldn't have been able to do anything to save you." Wearily he sat straight in his chair. Dagwood placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"I knew Captain. He showed me pictures in my head. Bad things had to be stopped."
"What do you mean Dagwood?" Nathan frowned. "How'd he show you pictures in your head
"Lucas is telepathic. Much stronger than I am." Wendy looked at her Captain. "I've been training him ever since the Dremora Colony."
"What?" Brody looked back at Lucas.
"Actually, Wendy, I was telepathic before then, but I denied it. It was something I wasn't ready to explore about myself yet."
"My, aren't we full of surprises lately." Tony looked hurt. For most of this tour, he, Dagwood and Lucas had been sort of a group away from everyone else. After all, they were different from the others: an experimental, a prototype, and a child genius. Now he knew just how different Lucas had been from them as well. "Dammit Luke, you shoulda told us."
"Told you what? That I'm half-alien? That I knew that everything we had would be torn from us in one moment? That some of us would never make it back to Earth? Pick on Tony and tell me how I was supposed to let you know." He calmed as quickly as he had gotten angered. "I made a decision that I was willing to give my life for."
"Why? Why all the secrecy?" Scott Kellar leaned on the table.
"My mother was a dissenter like Tobias. She believed in the old ways of the Dremorians and not the ambitious Kraytax. She wanted to find help to fight back. That was why she really came to Earth. What she found instead were a people divided in petty spats much like her own people. She saw how we treated things that were unknown, how we destroyed precious life to obtain its secrets for ourselves. Humans and Kraytax are not that different. She and the others from the Colony choose to stay on Earth, the lesser of two evils. At least we had yet to rob other worlds. They stopped fighting and found a small measure of peace. By then most of this world was already enslaved by Ariel and her loyal followers. Very few had the nerve to fight back. Those that did were almost destroyed when they flooded the land. Had we not come, this would have been our fate on Earth." He stopped and cocked his head slightly. Nodding he smiled. Behind him the screen came to life as one of the Kraytax Captains appeared.
"Blessed one, forgive my interruption." He waited for Lucas to nod. " I am Kalen of the house of Volorus. On behalf of the Kray...the Dremorian nation, we thank you." He spoke the name as if it was a foreign word and perhaps it was. After all, it had been years since the word was spoken in anything but whispers. "I'm receiving reports that our stations are on land again. Actual land! Captain Bridger I would ask you for forgiveness for our actions. It has been so long since any of us have a choice in this war, that most of us have forgotten what peace is. My humble apologies." He bowed his head.
"Accepted. I understand how difficult it must have been to watch your world be destroyed and you people imprisoned. We can only imagine what we would have done in your situation." Nathan looked to the Captain.
"Be thankful you have only to imagine and not experience. Son of Krisanna..." He was interrupted by the man in question.
"My name is Lucas. Just Lucas." He nodded.
"Lucas, we would be honored if you would remain and help us rebuild. You are welcome to remain as long as you desire." All eyes turned to him, the breaths held as they waited for his answer.
"I can't. My destiny is not here. Not yet. One day I'll return and I hope to find a world flourishing on its own. You don't need me to rebuild. You have all you need to accomplish that. Live well, Kalen, and rule with a kind heart." The link died and he looked to his friends. "As much as I wish this could go on, to much has happened. It was a strain on me to repair the damage done to this world but I had a little help from displaced Gods. Hopefully, they will now be remembered. It was nice to be known, if only for a little while." He stood up.
"What do you mean by a little while?" Tobias stared at him oddly.
"You know as well as I that the people of Earth must never learn of what happened here." He looked up as three familiar figures appeared behind the crew. "When I called for help, I had a strong suspicion that I wouldn't make it. There are things that you've learned that must never be told to anyone." "Don't you trust us? We would never tell anyone your secrets" Miquel looked at his young friend. "I mean, this crew has kept secrets before. Why should now be any different?"
"Lucas is correct." Everyone turned to the travelers behind them. "The knowledge you have acquired can only lead to the destruction of your people. If even one person reveals his secret, and he is discovered, your world will know only death. He must fulfill his destiny." The leader walked around the table followed by her people and flanked Lucas' side.
"But what can be done about it, short of not returning?" Everyone chilled at that thought. "And I doubt you went through all of this just to leave us here."
"Captain, we're going home. But steps have already been taken to insure that no one ever learns of what happened here." Lucas stared into his eyes and waited for the question he could see forming.
"What steps?" Kristen asked it first, curiosity burning a hole in her tongue.
"When we return, you'll understand." With that cryptic statement he turned and looked to his otherworldly friends. "I do believe it's time to go home."
The ship rock violently as she was lifted from the ocean. Lonnie counted off.
"500 meters...200...wait, we're being lowered back. 300...600...we're back at our previous position." Puzzled she looked up. "I don't understand Sir."
"Incoming message Captain! It's coming from above us." Tim O'Neill turned in his chair and looked oddly at Nathan. "Its Commander Kellar, sir."
"On screen." Nathan looked up at his friend's smiling face. "Scott, what the hell's going on?"
"Sorry about the scare Nathan. It was a malfunction." He smiled foolishly.
"Is this why you called us here? For a visit? Your message sounded urgent." Nathan was slightly peeved that his old friends' life or death message was for a house call.
"Of course not Nathan. Uh...I sent the message to inform you that the Kraytax situation has been taken care of." Tobias came into view beside him.
"Yes, old friend. We merely wanted to share the good mews. Hyperion is free again." He looked up slightly to the young man sitting back in his seat.
"I'm happy for you, but was it really necessary to call us out here?" Nathan followed Tobias' eyes to Lucas and wondered about the fatigue on the boys' face.
"This is joyous moment for both our worlds, Nathan. With Hyperion free, your world is free of their threat." Tobias smiled unabashedly. "In honor of the event, Hyperion will celebrate for weeks."
"What happened?" Curious, Ford crossed his arms.
"Our legends foretold the coming of a warrior of mixed blood from a faraway land who would awaken our sleeping Gods with his gentle heart. Together they would bring peace to a dying world and release its people from servitude. That day has come to pass. Throughout the galaxies, his name will be spoken in remembered with reverence." Tobias smiled widely, his human side shining through.
"Nathan, we have to be going now before we're detected. I wish you all a joyous life. And don't worry about us, we've got our hands full rebuilding. Oh, and Lucas, remember what we talked about before I left." Scott laughed as Lucas shook his head with a smile and waved to his friends as the screen went dark.
"What'd he mean?" Lonnie leaned over to Lucas and asked.
"Private joke." Lucas stood and walked, with a slight limp, off the bridge and to the moon-pool. Smiling, he waited for Darwin to surface.
"Lucas save pod."
"It looks that way." Lucas stroked his friends' slippery head.
"Next time, Lucas not blow up!" He could hear the chastisement even through the vocorders interpretation of Darwin's clicks and whistles.
"Hopefully, there won't need to be a next time." Lucas stood as to leave.
"Play with Darwin?"
"Sure." He looked around and spotted Darwin's' ball across the room. He concentrated and held his hands out as the ball shot toward him. "You know Darwin, I can't wait to see what this life has in store for us." Fully clothed he jumped into the water and splashed around. He never saw the large figure in the shadows that watched him. The Gelf smiled and left the room. "Hmm...Dagwood will remember for everyone." Laughing slightly he turned down the hall and went to grab something to eat. Like his young friend he wanted to see what this new world had in store for them.
THE END
E-Mail addy: jessephoenix@hotmail.com