The Legend is Born

Chapter 22 - The Legend is Born

For Michael’s fifth birthday, David and Mary Wellington wanted to host a huge birthday bash for him, since it was his first birthday with his new family. However, Michael was adamant about not wanting one. He’d been out of the orphanage for less than six months and was still feeling his way around both the neighborhood and family life in general. He was a shy boy, prone to long silences whenever something he didn’t quite understand came his way. For their part, Mary and David did their best to fulfill their new son’s wishes and instead, took him to Canada’s Wonderland for the whole day. They had expressed their desire for a vacation to someplace like Disneyworld, but they just didn’t have the time for it. Michael didn’t mind one bit. It was the best day of his life. Everything about the day would be etched into his young mind. From the cotton candy that got all over his face, hands and clothes, to the wonderful and thrilling rides and the fantastic fireworks show that night.

In the car, on the way home, Mary sat in the back with Michael as David drove the car. She reached over and tousled his hair and asked him, “So, Michael, did you have a fun day?”

Michael nodded his head vigorously up and down. “Mmmhmm. Thank you!”

“What was your favorite ride today?” asked David.

Michael gave the question some serious thought and then said, “I liked the mountain ride.”

“Mountain ride?” asked Mary. She thought for a minute before she made the connection. “You mean Thunderrun?”

Michael nodded again and David laughed from the front. “I’m not surprised. We must have been on that ride at least four times today! I thought you found that ride to be scary?”

“I did at first. But some of the other rides looked even more scary.”

David chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I think your mother is glad that you’re with us today. She won’t go on any of the rides with me. She’s too chicken!”

“I am not!” exclaimed Mary. There was a hint of laughter in her voice though. “I just get…headaches from all that noise.”

“Right…the noise,” retorted David sarcastically.

“Hey, not everyone is as macho and apparently fearless as you!” said Mary defensively. She turned to Michael and said half seriously, “You better watch you dad. When you get older and taller, he’s going to want to drag you to all the big rides because I won’t go on them with him.”

Michael seemed happy at the prospect. “Really? I can’t wait! When I grow up, I want to be just like you dad!”

David chuckled and Mary leaned over and kissed Michael on his cheek. “You’re sweet Michael. But your dad and I want you to stay young for as long as possible. We don’t want you growing up too fast!”

“Why?”

“Because we love you just the way you are Michael,” said David. His voice seemed a little strained and emotional. “There’s no need to rush and grow up. Stay happy, stay young.”

There seemed to be an odd resonance in that last word. David’s voice became disembodied and kept repeating ‘young’ over and over. Michael looked around, but the interior of the car was suddenly empty. Mary was no longer sitting beside him, and when he tried to peek over the back of the driver seat, there was no one there. Before he could cry out in alarm, the scene started to melt away. Gone was the empty car. In its place was a strange fuzzy darkness.

<<Young one. Young one!>>

At the sound of the voice, Michael tried to open his eyes but only encountered more darkness. Big Bro? The thought came out hesitantly.

<<Yes young one, it is I. Are you alright?>>

I…I don’t know…I can’t see anything…everything is dark…

<<Use your other senses, young one. Have you forgotten how?>>

Other senses? Oh yeah.

Michael opened up with his Shiza-haran senses and suddenly, the darkness disappeared. A sudden sense of vertigo hit him as he realized what was below him. Is that…is that Earth?

<<Indeed. We seem to have drifted while you were lost.>>

Drifted? I’ll say! What the hell happened?

<<You do not remember?>>

No…wait…we were just flying around, right? We were trying to catch the attention of any Valeans that might still be in the area. I started thinking of my parents and the very first birthday I celebrated with them. Sorry, I didn’t mean to get lost in the memories…they were just so intense.

<<That is alright, young one. At least we did not hit anything while you were remembering the past.>>

Hit anything? Why would we have hit anything? You could’ve taken control at anytime, right? Wait a minute, why didn’t you take over when we started to drift out into space? Is this another one of those ‘learned not taught’ lessons?

<<Ah…ahem…>> Big Bro’s voice seemed somewhat embarrassed. <<Actually, I seem to have been lost myself.>>

Lost? You mean you were remembering the past too?

<<Yes. I was remembering the day I emerged from the Shiza-haran laboratory and entered the brotherhood of minds that all Shiza-harans share. My brothers were welcoming me to the community.>>

Interesting. Was it a good memory?

<<Yes, it was. It was a happy time.>>

Big Bro’s voice seemed to be tinged with sadness and Michael knew that he was thinking how he was the last of the brotherhood. In order to break the spell that both of them seemed to be under, Michael tried to change the subject.

So, any idea of how much time as passed?

<<No, not really. Maybe we should head home. Serena may be worried about you.>>

Good idea.

Michael oriented himself until he was facing the Earth. He had a moment of queasy sensation, as if he were perpetually falling but did his best to shake it off. As he orbited the planet, he found that flying in space was much easier than flying in atmosphere. For one thing, he did not have constantly exert force beneath him in order to counter gravity. As he flew, he allowed his thoughts to stray over the events of the last couple of weeks after he learned of his parents’ death. A strong feeling of guilt accompanied these thoughts.

First and foremost, was the way he knew he was mistreating Tracy. She had been calling everyday, but so far, he had been avoiding her. He had stood her up for at least one date and had taken to screening her calls. She even went back to Sifu Chang’s school without him to continue her training with May and the rest of the Children. It wasn’t that he loved her any less or had any kind of problem with her. He just could not tell her what was going on without having to come right out and tell her everything. Some part of him seemed to balk at the thought of confessing his strange abilities to Tracy. He knew it was irrational, but there seemed to be some sort of deep rooted fear that Tracy wouldn’t be able to accept his dual nature.

Michael sighed inwardly. If only it were that simple. No, if fear of Tracy’s reaction were the only reason, he could probably convince himself that telling her would be the best solution. There was the whole dual nature thing, yes, but then there was something else. It was something that he didn’t even dare share with his Big Brother because he knew that Big Bro would instantly deny it. He had been in the backseat during the interplays between Big Bro and May enough to know that there was more than playful banter between the two of them. It was a very strange and bizarre sort of love triangle. What would happen when both girls found out that both of their love interests resided in the same body? Would they even believe it, or would they just think that Michael was an evil two-timing lying cheat?

<<There is absolutely nothing between May and I!>>

Shaddap you peeping tom! You can lie to her and you can lie to yourself. What you can’t do is lie to me!

There was a weird sensation in the back of his mind that was the equivalent of someone sputtering inane excuses. Michael tuned these out as he pondered on the third and final reason why he was avoiding Tracy. It was the one that he was the least proud of. The physical aspect of his relationship with Tracy had progressed almost to the point of consummation. Yes, they were on the verge of the proverbial ‘home run’ and probably would have hit it out of the park if the news of his parents’ death hadn’t reached him first. He couldn’t explain it, even to himself, but the need to lash out at the aliens who had committed the deed was so strong that it had become an all-consuming passion for revenge. Tracy, and more specifically sex with Tracy, would be nothing more to him than an unnecessary distraction. Where once his heart had been full of the love he felt for Tracy, now it was filled with hate and the desire to visit murder upon the Valeans. Both emotions were so strong that they simply could not reside side by side. So, his love for Tracy had to take a back seat until his thirst for vengeance was slaked.

It was frightening to know that he was so capable of such cold-blooded calculation. A part of him was horrified at the emotions he was feeling, and was disgusted at the anguish he must be putting Tracy through. However, the other part - the part that was currently dominant – simply didn’t care.

---

Tracy sobbed heart-wrenchingly into her pillow. May sat on the bed beside the crying Tracy and thought evil thoughts at the person who was currently causing her best friend so much anguish. How could Michael do this to Tracy? How could he not see that the one thing that could hurt Tracy was to shut her out like this? Easy, she thought, Michael was not an empath.

Tracy loved to love and loved to be loved. By shutting her out and denying her the chance to sooth Michael’s hurts, he was inadvertently causing her the worse kind of emotional pain. In a way, it was a certain kind of celestial kindness that Tracy was not an empath. Tracy was just the kind of person who would reach out to anyone whom she knew was in pain and automatically do what she could to help. Michael wasn’t giving her that chance. Even worse, he was shutting her out of his world and the life-loving Tracy – who had so completely lost her heart to him – was suddenly cast aloft and lost without him.

At a lost for words, May did the only thing she could think of. She touched Tracy on her shoulder and tried to project soft and soothing feelings.

Tracy jerked away as if scalded by hot water. “Stop that May. I don’t need that right now!” Tears were still streaming down her face, but she managed to sound a little angry.

“I…I’m sorry Tracy…it’s just that…” stuttered May. She felt like a complete fool. After all the times that Tracy had come through for her, she couldn’t even do the same for her!

Seeing May’s downcast expression, Tracy immediately relented. She touched May’s hand and in between sniffles and hiccups, she said, “I’m sorry May. I now that you’re just trying to help. It’s just that…Oh, he’s such a blockhead!”

May’s eyes widened at Tracy’s sudden angry tone. Maybe, just maybe, Tracy was pulling out of her funk all by herself! She nodded her head in a ‘go ahead’ gesture, encouraging Tracy to continue her line of thought.

“Who does he think he is anyway? Does he honestly think that I don’t know what he’s going through right now? Does he think that he’s the only person in the whole world who has ever lost someone important?” Tracy’s voice became stronger with each passing word. “Two weeks! He found out about his parents two weeks ago! That’s not nearly enough time for him to grieve, and yet, I don’t think he has even begun! It’s like he’s in denial or something!”

“You told me yourself that he took the news pretty hard,” said May.

“He did. That’s why he should be turning to me to help him through this! But he’s cut me out of his life entirely!” exclaimed Tracy. Her eyes were drying up now and she quickly blew her nose into a Kleenex from the box on her bed. “But what does he do instead? He goes gallivanting off every night to God knows where. What the hell is he doing anyway?”

Tracy’s emotions were suddenly going from grief to anger. May felt that she’d better do something quick to derail Tracy’s train of thought. It was altogether too easy to turn feelings of pain and hurt to anger at the person causing them. However Tracy was feeling about Michael right now, May was sure that Tracy wouldn’t want to do anything too rash. May thought quickly and tried a different tact. “Maybe you can help him understand.”

Hearing the tone in May’s voice, Tracy looked sharply at her. “You mean?”

May nodded gravely and said, “Help him understand by telling him about it.”

The angry emotions coming from Tracy suddenly stopped, only to be replaced by something close to panic. “I…I can’t! I can’t tell him that! It’s too soon! I love him and I don’t want to lose him!” Tears started to well up in her eyes once more.

“Shhh…I didn’t mean that,” said May in a placating tone. “Tell him about your Aunt Sarah. You said that Michael wasn’t the only person in the world to lose someone, well tell him about her so that he’ll understand.”

May almost sighed in relief as Tracy’s emotions finally stabilized. Tracy’s face brightened as she said, “You’re right! I’ll call him right now!”

“Wait…” began May, but it was too late. Tracy had already jumped off her bed and had her cell phone in her hand. She must have had Michael’s number on speed dial because she held the phone to her ear right away and her face had the resolute expression of someone who had made up her mind about something.

Tracy paced back and forth and then suddenly lifted her head up and spoke into the phone. “Hello? Hi Serena? It’s me, Tracy. I’m fine, thanks. How are you doing? Did I catch you at a bad time? Oh, nothing much…just looking for my errant boyfriend again. Can you get Michael for me? He’s gone out? Really? With who? By himself? Where does he…nevermind, don’t answer that. Just tell him that I called again, ok? Thanks Serena, bye!”

Tracy flipped her cell phone shut and tossed it onto the bed. “Where the hell does he go? I know he hasn’t gone back to school, and he’s not here. When I get my hands on him…”

“What? You’re going to give him a piece of your mind?”

Tracy stopped in mid-tirade to give May an impish grin. “I’m going to give him a piece of my body first…namely my fist! Then I’ll give him a piece of my mind. After I’m done, the kiss and make up part should be fun!”

“And after the kiss and make up part?” asked May curiously, even though she knew what the answer was going to be.

“He’s going to tell me what he’s been up to!” said Tracy in a firm tone.

---

Serena hung up the phone and tried not to sigh too loudly. It would be inappropriate for her guest to ask too many questions. Still, she too would like to know where on earth Michael was at this moment. Of course, knowing Michael, it was entirely possible that he wasn’t on Earth right now! She remembered well the morning she had given Michael grief about having his picture taken the night before – the night that May was abducted by the Demons. Well, over the last couple of weeks, the newspapers have had ample opportunity to take more pictures of him. The media was calling him The Angel and they were having a field day. Everyday, there were more pictures of Michael in his alternate form performing some sort of superhero type service. There was the drunk pilot at the controls of commuting Lear Jet at Pearson International Airport. Then, there was the foiled bank robbery by a dozen heavily armed bank robbers. Then, there was the truck hauling gasoline along Highway 401 when it suddenly hit the guard rail and flipped. The gasoline had spilled out onto the road and a stray spark had ignited it. The Angel had swooped down out of the heavens and the fire had mysteriously vanished. The driver of the truck had died but the Angel had saved countless other lives. That had been the first time that the Angel had failed to save someone’s life, proving that he was not infallible. Oddly enough, instead of making people angry that their ‘Angel’ was not perfect, the people seemed to love him more for it. Day after day, Michael continued to make the headlines and to attract more and more attention - just not the sort of attention he was looking for.

“Problems?” asked the man on the couch beside her.

Serena shook her head and said, “No, nothing like that, Ted. Just someone looking for Michael, that’s all.”

Ted made a show of looking around the room and replied in a light tone, “Speaking of the devil, where is he anyway? I swear I haven’t seen him since the funeral.”

“He went out,” said Serena mechanically. She alone knew what Michael was doing, but as the days wore on, she was beginning to have doubts about his plan. As the days passed and she began to come to terms with her loss, she began to regret the fact that she never tried to stop Michael in his mad scheme for vengeance.

“Is he alright?” asked Ted Marshal. His voice held genuine concern for Michael.

Serena nodded and said, “He’s as fine as could be expected I guess. He’s got a lot on his mind right now. I do too.”

“Oh? About what?”

Serena looked at Ted. Really looked at him in a way that she hadn’t since she was in her early teens. He was handsome, in a rough sort of way. His hair was dark brown and he wore it a bit longer than was Air Force regulation. It was a throwback to his younger rebellious days. If it weren’t for the fact that he was such a hot shot pilot, he probably would never have gotten far in the Canadian Air Force. She remembered well the day when he dropped by her safe house on one of his rare visits several years ago. He had laughingly told her that while visiting the U.S Air Force’s much vaunted Top Gun Academy, he had been asked to ‘fly a couple of rounds’ with the U.S jocks. After smoking all of the most prominent students along with a couple of the instructors, Lieutenant Ted Marshal had been quietly shuffled back to Canada where he was promptly promoted and moved to the coveted Aerospace Testing Centre.

As Serena studied his face, she tested her own emotions. Emotions that to this date had not changed from the first time she laid eyes on Ted. It was the fateful night when David and Mary had secreted her away from the –

Serena gave herself a mental shake. She never ventured into the past! What was past is past, and she had nothing to feel ashamed about. With a start, she realized that she had not yet answered Ted’s question. As she looked into his eyes, she finally made her decision.

“About us,” she said firmly.

Suddenly taken aback, Ted coughed into his hand and said, “Serena…we’ve been over this thousands of times.”

Serena waved her hand in front of her, as if waving away any of Ted’s potential arguments. “I know what you’ve been over. Now hear what I’m about to go over. I love you, Ted Marshal. I have since I first laid eyes on you as a child, and I love you now as an adult. And before you go on about how much older than me you are, just think that there’s only eight years between us.”

“But…”

“No buts! Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love me!” demanded Serena.

“I…I…”

“You can’t, can you? If you didn’t love me, why did you come to visit me all the time? In fact, I believe that if I do the math right, you came to visit me every time you had any vacation. Isn’t that right?”

“I…”

“And don’t give me any crap about visiting a lonely girl whom you helped to rescue from a house of horrors. That crap worked when I was 16 or 17. I’m 23 now Ted. It doesn’t work anymore.”

“I…” Ted began and when he saw that Serena was about to object again, he held up his hand and said, “Let me finish, will ya? Alright, I love you too Serena. I’ve wanted to tell you, but with this business about David and Mary…it just wasn’t the right time to tell you.”

“David and Mary wouldn’t have wanted their deaths to get in the way of love, Ted.” Replied Serena evenly. Although she was sure she wasn’t showing it, her heart was virtually singing with joy.

“I know that…it’s just…oh, I’m not saying this right.” Ted looked miserably down at his fidgety hands.

Serena inched closer to Ted and gently lifted his chin up with her hand. She leaned in and kissed him softly on his lips. “You wanted to tell me, but with David and Mary dying the way they did, and with Paul Lemon really being a CIA plant, and that video you stole from his computer [MDV1] really freaking you out…you just didn’t know how.” She kissed him again before pulling away to regard him with an arched eyebrow.

Ted looked stunned – and not just from the kisses. “How do you always seem to know what I’m thinking of?”

Serena shrugged nonchalantly and said, “Woman’s intuition? Or maybe it’s just love?” She kissed him again, this time really turning up the heat.

When next she pulled away, both of them were a little breathless. “It’s not just that,” said Ted in between pants. “You’re feeling very vulnerable right now, and I just didn’t want to seem like I’m taking advantage of you.”

Serena pulled back out of arms reach and regarded Ted intently. “That’s very sweet of you Ted. But what if I want to be taken advantage of?” Before Ted could reply, Serena quickly pulled her sweater over her head. Ted’s sudden sharp intake of breath was quickly muted by his gasp for air when she reached behind her back and unclipped her bra.

“Oh my –“

Serena leaned in once more, and Ted had no more words to say that night.

---

Dominic Pedro was having a really bad night. He fired blindly out of the window and then ducked back down. Several bullets shattered what was left of the window and rained small shards of glass on him. He cursed and waddled away from under it. When he was clear, he stood up and ran downstairs where the pounding on the door was getting louder and louder. He emptied the rest of his magazine into the door and was rewarded by a cry of pain. The pounding stopped and Dominic took a few moments to survey his situation.

Over a month ago, Dominic had been touched by The Angel. Of course, he recognized the form of The Angel in the newspapers. It was the same one that had saved his worthless life. Dominic shook his head ruefully. Whatever his life was before he met The Angel, it was no longer worthless now. His hard eyes looked around the room and took pride in the fact that the people who had flocked to his banner were now taking the safety of their own lives into their own hands.

The Angel had instructed him to clean up the neighborhood and protect the people. Dominic, along with the few remaining members in his gang had tried their best. At first, they had been ridiculed by the community in general, but slowly, bit by bit, the community had come around. Maybe it was the first hooker that Dominic had saved from a beating by her pimp. Maybe it was the little girl with sad eyes who had asked for shelter in his small cramped house. Maybe it was the priest of the small local church whom Dominic had saved from being robbed by some young punks. Maybe it was the young punks who had later joined his cause and were now helping to protect his people. His people. It was strange. He had once looked down upon the hookers, beggars, and street punks as sub-standard people, to be trodded upon, pushed away or preyed upon. It was incredible how quickly the nameless faces turned into people whom he cared about.

A woman shrieked curses out of a shattered window and gunfire punctuated the night once more. Dominic rushed over and quickly pulled the young woman down.

“Get your pretty head down pequeña muchacha [MDV2] !” he exclaimed as he covered the young woman’s body with his own.

Slender arms wrapped themselves around his neck and hot soft lips pressed against his own before he managed to push himself away. “Dominic! My hero!”

To his credit, Dominic blushed as Adrianna gave him a wicked smile. Once upon a time, Dominic had been a frequent customer of Adrianna’s. However, ever since he turned over a new leaf, he had resisted the temptation to find satisfaction in her luscious body – despite all the signals she had been sending his way that she wouldn’t mind one bit. Adrianna had been the first person to join Dominic’s new movement. She claimed that since Dominic had made her unemployed when he beat her pimp to a pulp, he was now responsible for taking care of her.

“Not now Adrianna!” cried Dominic.

“You never have time for me anymore,” retorted Adrianna with a pout.

“Can’t you see the freakin’ bullets flying?”

“Well, technically I can’t cause they’re flying too fast…but we used to fly pretty high together, you and I.” Adrianna stroked a hand down Dominic’s back and stroked the crack of his jean clad butt.

Dominic quickly rolled away from Adrianna with a barely suppressed groan. He could hear Adrianna giggling as well as several female voices joining in the general laughter. How do women find humorous thoughts in the middle of a firefight? As he crept to another window – well away from Adrianna and the rest of the ex-hookers, Dominic had time to have doubts about his self-imposed celibacy. After all, The Angel hadn’t said that he had to be celibate…that was just something that Dominic had decided on his own. In moments like this, when he was being teased by the women – especially Adrianna, he had to wonder about his reasons for remaining aloof. Many of the ex-hookers had already paired up with his men. He was the only one not to have taken someone as a lover and he knew that the others were laying bets on how long he could last.

Bullets ripping through the remains of the window he was creeping towards brought his mind back to business. He released the empty magazine from his gun and slapped a fresh one in. It was his last one. He cursed again and wished he knew which gang was hitting him right now. In the short term, it didn’t matter who, but if they ever got out of this mess, he could try to negotiate some sort of settlement with the leader of the rival gang. In retrospect, he was not at all surprised that he was being hit. When word got out onto the streets that he was turning legit, the most common assumption by the other gangs would be that he was getting weak.

He inched his head up to the window until he could take a quick peek out. All he could see was a dark empty neighborhood. Whoever was currently hitting his house was dug in pretty good. A sudden furtive movement caught his eye. Two shadowy figures were dragging a third away from his house.

Dominic’s eyes narrowed as he realized where the shadowy figures had to be coming from. He had a clear shot at all three of them. He raised his gun and aimed carefully. His finger tightened on his trigger and then…he slowly eased up on it. He couldn’t shoot. Maybe, once upon a time, he would have joyfully gunned down rival gang members in the back because one less rival meant one less gun that would be firing in his direction in the future. Now…he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. After all, it wasn’t as if he had suffered any casualties yet. So far, all he had to show for the night’s troubles were several shattered windows, countless bullet holes, some terrified residents, and one hell of an adrenaline rush.

The figures made it back across the street and disappeared into the shadows. Dominic released a small sigh and then nearly jumped out of his skin when a soft voice spoke behind his ear.

“Why didn’t you shoot?”

Dominic whipped his head around and barked, “Sneak up on me again and I just might shoot you Adrianna!”

Nonplussed, Adrianna shrugged her bare shoulders, which had the effect of making her pale peasant’s blouse slip further down. Dominic’s eyes almost followed the downward shift – almost. “I wish you would shoot me! It would be more attention than you’ve paid me since I came here. Don’t you like me anymore? Or am I too ugly or sullied in your holy sight now?”

A ricochet whined above Dominic’s head, making him duck down instinctively. He pulled Adrianna closer to him and whispered fiercely, “Not now Adrianna. Can we talk about this later?” He turned back to the window and fired a couple of rounds blindly.

“No! I want to know! What’s wrong with me?” cried Adrianna.

Dominic looked into her pleading eyes. Why did women have such strange priorities? He heaved a large sigh, set down his gun and gripped both of Adrianna’s shoulders. “It’s not you, señora bonita. It’s me, ok? I can’t let myself get involved with anyone right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the leader here, that’s why!”

“That makes no sense!”

“Look, everybody here depends on me to protect them and to make the right decisions. If I get involved with you now, it would just mess my mind up.”

“Mess up your mind? I just want your body!” exclaimed an incredulous Adrianna.

With his blood pounding through his veins and his body virtually shivering with the adrenaline rush, a frustrated Dominic blurted out words that his subconscious mind had been thinking of for over a month. “I want more than just your body! I want all of you! But if I fall in love with you right now, how can I properly protect everyone when you would have first priority in my heart?”

Adrianna’s face turned ashen. “Love? You…love…me?”

Dominic’s heart almost stopped as he realized what he had just blurted out. “No! I didn’t say I love you! I said –“

Adrianna pulled out of his grasp. Her face brightened up with a brilliant smile. “You love me! I know it. I can see it in your eyes!” Adrianna stood up and turned to look back at the rest of the residents of the house. She pointed to Dominic who was still crouched on the floor and said, “He says he loves –“

From his vantage point, Dominic watched in horror as the front of Adrianna’s blouse spurted bright red blood. Her eyes widened in shock as she fell limply to the floor. “NO!!” cried Dominic. He crawled frantically over to Adrianna. Her eyes were open and they registered his presence. He quickly scanned the damage but already knew that she was beyond help. He whipped off his shirt and vainly tried to plug the ghastly wound.

A soft whisper drew his eyes back to Adrianna’s pretty face. Her lips were moving and he realized that she was trying to say something. “Shhh, don’t talk mi amor. I’ll get some help.”

Adrianna whispered again and Dominic leaned his head down and strained to hear what she was saying. “I love you…” came the some whisper.

Dominic jerked his head up to look into her eyes. They were glazed over. Dominic felt as if his stomach had been swallowed by a deep dark pit and there was a sharp stabbing pain in his chest. “No…no…no, no, no, NO!” It started as a whisper but quickly built up into a scream filled with desperation. “NOOOO!! I love you Adrianna! Please, you can’t die now! I’m sorry I couldn’t say it before…please come back!!” His vision blurred and something wet dripped down his face.

However, before he could collapse into a quivering heap over the woman whom he had secretly loved, a renewed pounding on the front door grabbed his attention. Dominic jerked his head up at the sound. His eyes were cold. With slow casual precision, he stood up and walked purposefully to the door. Dimly, he heard some faint protests coming from his people but he ignored them. In one sudden movement, he jerked the door open and had an instant to register the surprised look on the face of the other man before he put a bullet between his eyes. There were two other men behind the man he just shot. They were still recovering from their shock when Dominic emptied the rest of his magazine into their bodies.

Dominic threw away the useless gun and drew his large knife from its sheath at his waist as he stepped outside into the night. Yes….guns were too quick, too impersonal. A knife was best because it let him get in close and feel the death of his enemy. A bullet flew by his ear and this time, Dominic saw the muzzle flash. He started to sprint towards it.

Or, at least, he tried to sprint. All of a sudden, he found that his body didn’t respond anymore. It seemed frozen in mid dash. What the hell? He tried as hard as he could, but could not budge even the smallest muscle. There were faint tinkling sounds all around him but he couldn’t move his head to follow them. The once dark night seemed to be glowing with a faint blue color. Suddenly, a bright silver winged figure dropped out of the night sky directly in front on him. His Angel had come!

The Angel reached up with his hands and intense beams of coherent light leapt out from his fingers. The beams of light briefly lit up the darkness and Dominic had just enough time to see several men drop their guns to the ground and run away.

A loud strident and authoritative voice rang in his mind, and Dominic had no doubt that everyone else in the immediate area heard it as well.

<<THESE PEOPLE ARE UNDER MY PROTECTION! HARM THEM IN ANY WAY AND YOU WILL ANSWER TO ME!>>

The sudden silence seemed almost deafening. Dominic felt the invisible force release him and then fell to his knees. It was over. As suddenly as it had begun, the nightmare was over. His people were safe once more. He looked up at the fierce war-like helmet that the Angel wore and felt a mixture of emotions that ranged from relief to grief. Once more, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “They killed my Adrianna!”

<>

Dominic felt a sudden spike of anger. “Why couldn’t you have saved her? You’re an angel. Why couldn’t you protect her?”

A warm silvery hand touched his shoulder as the gentle voice spoke again. <>

“Not an angel? Then what the hell are you? What the hell are you good for?” cried Dominic angrily.

<>

Dominic clutched his hands to his chest as tears streamed down his face. “Oh, it hurts. It hurts so much!”

Another warm silvery hand touched him on his other shoulder. <>

“Why me?” asked Dominic. “Why does it have to be me?”

<<Because there is no one else. I am not an angel. I am not infallible. I cannot protect everyone in the world. There is a storm coming and I must prepare myself for it. We must all do our parts.>>

Both silvery hands left his shoulders as the silvery figure took to the air. Dominic followed its flight until it disappeared into the night. As he picked himself off the ground and walked back into the house, he wondered what kind of being had such wondrous powers, but still claimed to not be heaven sent.

Back in his house, his people had already laid a bed sheet on top of Adrianna’s body. Dominic knelt by the body and raised the sheet enough to gaze into her face one last time. He had failed in his duty because he had allowed his emotions to run out of control. Never again! Never again would he fail his people in such a manner. Never again would he allow himself the weakness of love!

---

Mary Wellington opened her eyes and became instantly awake. Something was different. Something had changed. She got out of her small bed and padded over to the far wall. She touched a button and a sink unfolded itself from the wall. The area directly above the fold out sink turned reflective and Mary checked her reflection. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed since that awful day in the forest since time aboard the spacecraft almost had no meaning, but it seemed like forever. She turned on the water and cupped her hands beneath the flow. She splashed her face with water and shivered briefly at the chill. After drying her face with a towel, she studied her reflection once more. Her face was still classically beautiful and youthful looking. She knew that she could easily pass for someone at least 5 years younger. It was her hair, though, that caused her some consternation. Her once thick auburn hair looked different. It was still thick – and probably needed a ton of conditioner – but the color looked faded and worn out. If she didn’t know better, she’d think that her hair was going prematurely white!

A chime drew her attention to her door and she said aloud, “Open.”

The door slid open and the alien that she now knew to be the leader stood just outside of her room. <<We have arrived.>>

Mary nodded her understanding and followed the alien out of the door. It was funny, when she first woke up on the ship; she had needed the translator to communicate to the aliens. The first time the alien leader tried to talk directly to her mind though had been one of the biggest shocks of her life. Somehow, these aliens were telepathic! It had taken some time as well as a lot of adjustment but Mary soon became accustomed to the aliens’ peculiar form of mind communication. Val’yior, the leader, had firmly reassured her that he could not actually read her mind. Instead, he was picking up her active thoughts just before she was about to voice them. Somehow, his telepathic gift provided the translation necessary for full two-way communication.

As she walked beside Val’yior, she turned to say, “Where are we exactly?”

Val’yior turned to her and his mouth turned upward in what she had since learned to be a grin of sorts. <<The exact location would be meaningless to you. Suffice to say that we have arrived at our current home. Our god is waiting to meet you.>>

Mary arched an eyebrow and said, “You’ve mentioned him before. Are you sure you don’t mean king, or leader or something like that?”

A soft rasping sound escaped Val’yior’s lips. In Mary’s mind though, it sounded a lot like a human chuckle. <<Do not tell me that you do not believe in god! Your human culture is virtually immersed in the concept of godhood.>>

“True, but our gods are immaterial beings who represent the best of what we can achieve. We don’t just walk up to our gods and say ‘hi’!”

<<And our god is the result of millions of years of evolution and represent the physical culmination of all that we hope to become one day. Is that not the same thing?>>

Mary shook her head ruefully. This was not the first time she and Val’yior had this conversation and she knew that she wouldn’t win. All she could do was meet this god of theirs to get her answers. She paused by a view port to look outside. Normally, she couldn’t see anything as the ship traveled through space. Now, however, she could see dozens, perhaps hundreds of lights. One large beacon of light seemed to dominate the area though.

Val’yior caught her gaze and said, <<What you see is only a small part of our home fleet. Unfortunately, it is all that remains of my people.>>

“What happened?” asked Mary curiously.

Val’yior looked sad and said, <<Our enemies managed to break into our home system and annihilated our home planets.>>

“And what was your god doing while this was going on?” asked Mary more angrily than she intended.

<<This war is all about preserving his life and avenging the loss of his people. He is the last of his kind and we would not allow him to risk himself. We fought and lost without him. When he found out, he was quite angry.>>

“I’ll say! I would be too if someone killed off millions of my people! What did he do then?”

<<Let us just say that the remains of the enemy fleet did not make it home. After the loss of our worlds, our god gathered the remains of our people here, where he can watch over them.>>

They arrived at the bridge and Val’yior touched his palm to a hidden sensor on the wall. The door slid open and Mary and her companion stepped through. A large view screen dominated the bridge. At the moment, it was showing a closer view of the alien’s home fleet. The large beacon of light that Mary had observed earlier seemed even more dominant here.

“I’m not sure about stellar and spatial distances, but isn’t your fleet mighty close to that star over there?”

<<What star?>> Val’yior followed Mary’s gaze and then let out another one of his raspy chuckles. <<That is not a star, Mary Wellington. That, is our god!>>

Val’yior walked over to his command chair and sat down. He touched some controls and the image on the view screen zoomed in on the large light source. As it zoomed closer, Mary could see more details and could see that it was indeed not a star. It resembled, for lack of a better word, a large silver sphere.

“Um…how do I talk to him? Do I pray or something?”

A warm gentle [MDV3] presence seemed to fill Mary’s mind. <<YOU DO NOT NEED TO PRAY, YOUNG ONE. I AM A MORTAL BEING, JUST LIKE YOU. THE ONLY TRUE GOD IN THE UNIVERSE IS THE CREATOR AND EVEN I HAVE NOT MET HIM.>>

The voice in her head was magnificent. It couldn’t quite be called loud, but the timbre and the tone were so great that Mary could feel it throughout her entire being. She tried to rally and asked, “If you are not a god, then why do Val’yior and the others call you their god?”

<<BECAUSE LONG AGO, MY PEOPLE SAVED HIS FROM AN INTERSTELLAR DISASTER AND THEY HAVE REVERED MY KIND EVER SINCE.>>

“Then how could you have let their worlds be destroyed? Why didn’t you save them?”

<>

Mary gazed at the image on the screen and could not help but to fee awe. Whatever that being was, it was truly beautiful and awe inspiring. Her inquisitive mind could not resist asking more questions though. “Ok, I get that. You are not really a god, and you are not immortal or immune to danger. What the heck are you then? Val’yior implied that you were a highly evolved being of some sort.”

<>

“Ok, then what can I call you? I’m not really that comfortable calling you god or anything like that. My concept of god, while similar to Val’yior’s is still quite different. And why do you keep calling me young one?”

<<THAT IS FINE, YOUNG ONE. I CALL EVERYONE ‘YOUNG ONE’ SINCE EVERYONE IS YOUNGER THAN ME. YOU MAY CALL ME ELDER… IF YOU WISH.>>

“That’s even stranger! Besides, in human years, I’m not exactly a young duckling. Why don’t you call me Mary instead?”

<<VERY WELL, MARY. AND SINCE WE ARE BECOMING SO FAMILIAR AND CONSIDERING THAT I AM MALE, YOU MAY CALL ME BIG BROTHER.>>[MDV4]