The Solar Flare (23 page)

     “You’re welcome Ava.” He got up and left the room, finding her presence and their forthcoming farewell a bit unbearable.

     As the Solstice descended down towards the Andromeda’s signal, Xavier tried to make contact with Robinson. Ava went with him to the flight deck, just in case Wesley wanted to speak with her. She hoped for a peaceful reunion with her fiancée. As much as she disagreed with Xavier’s kidnapping attempt, she did not wish him or his family any harm, after all they did save her life.

     “Robinson, do you copy?” Xavier’s beautiful voice rang out loud and clear over the receiver. Two minutes went by and no response. He tried again. “Captain Robinson of the Andromeda, do you copy?” His response was nothing but static.

      “He knows we’re here by now, why wouldn’t he respond?” Blayke asked.

     “Can I try? Maybe if
he hears my voice he’ll respond,” Ava asked. Xavier handed her the microphone without hesitation.

     “Wesley, it’s Ava. I want you to know that
I am okay. Can you hear me?” Her contact attempt was also met with static. Ava handed the microphone back to Xavier.

     “Looks like we’re going to have to go down there
,” he announced.

     “Into the hangar?” Nicholas asked, surprised. “They could ambush us!”

     “Wesley wouldn’t do that if he knew I was with you,” Ava reasoned.

     Xavier ignored Ava’s comment. “You’re right Nicholas, they could be hostile. Arm the ship and put the shields up. Blayke, I want you and Lucas in position to return fire if they start attacking us.”

     “What?!” Ava asked, astonished.

     “It’s only for our protection Ava, we’re not going to open fire on them unless they do it to us first. Melanie, I want you to wait with Ava near the ramp. I’ll go down first and call you on th
e PCD when it’s safe to send her down. Nicholas, keep the ship on standby in case we need to leave in a hurry.”

     “Got it
,” he replied.

     “It’s going to be freezing in that hangar, let’s get you a coat Ava
,” Melanie said, pulling her away.

     After a few minutes and a flurry of activity the Solstice slowly descended down into the freezing snow filled sky
of Earth’s atmosphere and glided carefully into the massive dimly lit hangar. Nicholas gently set the ship down several hundred feet away from the Andromeda, keeping close to the entryway, just in case they were attacked.

     “What the hell happened to her?” Nicholas asked Xavie
r in the flight deck as they took in their first shocking glimpse of the Andromeda.

     “Ava said Robinson was in a war with someon
e named Kaden when we found her,” he replied.

     “His ship is beat to H
ell. . . I’d be surprised if it’s even safe to fly.”

     “We’ll find out
,” Xavier said as he left to meet Melanie and Ava at the ramp.

     Ava, sensing this was her last chance to say good bye to them
, started to speak. “James, I . . .” He held up a hand to stop her. “It’s okay Ava. Just promise me that you will be careful and take good care of yourself.”

      “I promise.” She smiled at him. He nodded and proceeded slowly down the ramp into the hangar.

     He walked a few yards out from the ship and stopped and waited. He looked around the silent, cold hangar, his breath steadily visible as quickly evaporating puffs of air. He didn’t like this, he couldn’t sense Robinson’s presence anywhere.

    
A few minutes went by. Ava could no-longer see Xavier from her position at the top of the ramp and couldn’t take the suspense anymore. She surprised Melanie by quickly breaking free of her grip and running down the ramp and towards Xavier. She stopped abruptly when she saw the Andromeda. “Oh my God!” She raised her hands to cover her mouth in shock. She could not believe what met her eyes. The once beautiful and impressive silver starship she loved was peppered with damage from the recent battle and now in various states of repair. Parts of the ship and what appeared to be new parts were scattered about the large space.

    
Her thoughts immediately went to Wesley. He could be hurt, she thought. She started to run past Xavier to the battered ship but he caught her by putting a firm hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

     “Something’s wrong. Robinson isn’t here. I need
you to get back in the ship Ava,” Xavier told her quickly.

     Before she could respond they saw movement from behind some of the landing gear of the Andromeda. A disheveled looking man with a nervous laugh stepped out from behind it. Ava
suddenly became aware that at least two Asterions were with them in the hangar. They made no attempt to suppress their energy and it stung her, making her a little uncomfortable. Then, a woman with short dark hair stepped out of the shadows on the opposite side from underneath the ship. Apparently these two strangers seemed amused that the intruders into their hangar were unarmed. Both of them slowly started coming towards Xavier and Ava.

     Xavier protectively
wrapped an arm around the front of Ava’s chest and shoulders, drawing her with her back up against him. She did not protest. Her visible breath in the cold hangar quickened as she sensed the danger they were in. Xavier seemed to study the desperate looking man who turned his attention to Ava. Ava flinched as the stranger locked eyes with her and then began to laugh. She felt as though her mind had been violated.

     “That’s her, that’s the woman!” D
raves said quietly and excitedly to Cassidy, then he turned his attention to Xavier. After a moment he spoke. “You’re the other one aren’t you?” He started laughing hysterically. Cassidy looked at him in confusion.

     “Get out of my head old man
,” Xavier responded, annoyed.

     “You should not have brought he
r here, priest!” Draves said menacingly to Xavier as he slowly moved towards them.

     “I am no p
riest,” he answered sternly. Ava could feel him start to unleash his energy and direct it towards Draves.

     Suddenly, Draves dropped to his knees and clasped his hands over his mouth. He screamed at Cassidy through his closed mouth, it was if as someone had gagged him. Xavier turned his attention towards the woman, who glanced curiously at Draves, trying to figur
e out what was happening to him, after all he had been acting more deranged than usual as of late. Cassidy was used to Draves’ odd behavior by now, but she’d never seen him do this. Perhaps the stress of the failed attempt to take over Kyanos was too much for him.

     Xav
ier studied the woman who was cautiously approaching them. “Where is Captain Robinson?” He asked her in a low, somewhat intimidating voice. The woman stopped coming towards them and laughed shrilly, which Ava found disturbing. She watched this strange woman critically, waiting to hear what had become of her fiancée.

     “Robinson is dead!” She
lied, cackling loudly again as Ava gasped.

     “No!”
Ava whispered, unable to stop the tears that had started to fall, dragging as they were practically freezing on her face. Xavier continued to stare at the woman.

     “That’s a nice ship you have there
,” Cassidy purred as she nodded towards the Solstice. “You wouldn’t mind if I . . . stole it from you, would you?” Her voice was like acid, and suddenly a gun seemed to have materialized in her hand, pointing directly at Ava.

     “I wouldn’t even try it if I were you
,” Xavier warned her.

     “Watch me!” Cassidy pulled the trigger and the shots burst out in a red blur streaming directly towards Ava, still clasped against Xavier in his iron grip.

     Xavier’s energy seemed to heighten and course all around them deflecting the stream of laser bullets away while Ava screamed. Cassidy, suddenly realizing what she was up against, stopped advancing on them, apparently frozen in thought. Telekinesis was rare for her kind, and incredibly hard to beat. His energy, on the other hand, frightened her. She was familiar with Robinson’s energy as they had fought many battles in the past, how could it be? This man felt like Robinson, but it wasn’t him. No two Asterions she had ever encountered had the same energy. She began to panic.

     
Then things seemed almost surreal to Ava as Xavier released his energy to deal with the hijackers. It consumed both of them, penetrating Ava to the core. She flinched at the familiar sensation, which she had only ever felt when she had been intimate with Wesley. She watched as Xavier raised his free hand and the gun flew out of Cassidy’s grip, then he used his powerful ability to lift her up and slam her high up against the wall of the hangar. As she fell she let out a loud scream as she plummeted towards her doom. She landed face down, and was impaled on, several large thin rods standing upright in racks on the ground. They were parts that were apparently meant for repairing the Andromeda. Bright red blood gushed out from several places on her chest, abdomen, one arm, and one leg. Ava felt the Asterion’s energy rippling about her as she futilely struggled to try to heal and free herself from her death, but it was no use.

     
Xavier turned them to face Draves, still in his kneeling position on the ground breathing heavily. Xavier released the hold binding Draves’ mouth shut and he struggled to catch his breath, clearly hearing the deadly thoughts running through Xavier’s mind.

    
“Please! . . . Please just do it! I can’t live like this anymore!” Draves requested of Xavier.

     Without hesitation, Xavier let his energy loose and Draves grasped his chest, making some choking and gagging noises. After a few long moments, he collapsed on the ground. Ava had never actually seen anyone kill another person right in front of her and started sobbing from the stress of the situation, and from learning about Wesley’s death. Xavier dropped his arm around Ava’s waist, turned them and quickly moved them back towards the Solstice. He sensed that there could be more Asterions and did not want Ava around if they decided
to come back.

     “Nicholas! Get us out of here!” He commanded as soon as the ramp
began to shut behind them, ushering Ava towards the common area. She couldn’t pull herself together, the heightened energy flowing all around her from Xavier and the others felt so potent it was almost as if she was experiencing a sense of impending doom. Once at the common area she pulled herself out of Xavier’s grasp and collapsed down on all fours on the floor, hyperventilating and crying at the same time. He reached for her as the others arrived.

     “Don’t touch me!” She cried desperately.

     He backed off immediately, staring down at her with concerned eyes. Melanie arrived and knelt down by Ava and put a hand on her shoulder. Ava shrieked feeling the sensation of her energy and moved back to cling on to one of the seats nearby, resting her head on it. It took Melanie about two seconds to figure out what was wrong. She said something in another language quickly to Lucas, who sprinted off towards the medical evaluation room. He was back in a flash and handed Melanie a small medicine cup with a blue liquid in it.

     “Here Ava, take this, it w
ill help you to feel better,” Melanie said gently, holding the cup out to her. Figuring it must be some type of sedative; she took the cup from her and tossed it back like it was a shot. She needed the sense of panic to end. After a minute she slowly slumped over onto Lucas, who was kneeling next to her, ready to catch her.

     “Okay, everybody
just calm down!” Melanie ordered. “Let’s all take our energy down a few levels.”

     “What happened to her?” Xavier asked in a concerned voice.

     “It’s our energy, . . . she’s so sensitive to it. I don’t think she’s used to feeling it unchecked. She probably didn’t notice it before as much because she had the protection of Justin’s energy on board from that blood transfusion they gave her a few months ago.”

     “Will she be okay?”

    “She should be when she wakes up in a few hours. We should keep our energy muted as we do when we are in public as usual. Ava won’t feel so overwhelmed then. Lucas and I will take care of her,” Melanie answered.

     “Do you think that Robinson is really dead?” Lucas asked.

     Xavier inhaled and exhaled deeply. “I don’t know.”

     “Wouldn’t you have . . .
felt
something if he had died?”

     “I’m not sure.” He hesitated. “They had the Andromeda, or what was left of it. . . I don’t like any of this
,” he said, shaking his head.

     “What should we do now?”
Blayke asked.

     “This changes things
,” he said slowly. “Even if Robinson isn’t dead, he is surely in a bad situation. There’s no excuse for how careless he’s been with Ava’s safety. I’m heading to the flight deck. . . . we’re going home,” Xavier replied resolutely.

∞

          Kaden
, Torian, and Warren returned to the hangar after collecting more parts and equipment, just in time to see an unrecognizable black blur of a starship leaving far off in the distance.