The Solar Flare (25 page)

     “Ava, I’d like to introduce you to my family. Lucas and Melanie of course, and Nicholas Felton you know. This is his wife, Lizeth
,” he said gesturing to the woman with the black hair.

     “Welcome
to Sphene Ava, we are so happy that you are here,” she said genuinely.

     “Blayke’s wife is Emma Lindstrom
,” he gestured to the woman with the curly hair and freckles.

     “I’m very pleased to meet you
,” she said, coming over to shake Ava’s hand.

     Everyone seemed to stare at Ava with pleased expressions on their faces. Ava felt a little overwhelmed. She seldom liked being the center of attention. Over the last week she had been
getting used to everyone’s energy, but the two new Asterion women engulfing her was almost too much. The stress of things weighed heavily upon her. Her energy was low, she felt depressed over mourning and being separated from Wesley and her family, and she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown from feeling all of the energy from these new Asterions. After all, they were beings that she had never even known existed until a little over a month ago. She had barely eaten anything since the incident in the hangar on Earth and it showed in her frail and lifeless appearance.

     “It’s nice to meet you
,” she managed to respond. She wasn’t really sure what to say to them. Technically she had been kidnapped and taken away from her home and her family. James had saved her life twice, and even though deep down she knew things were a bit more complicated than that, she still felt bitter over the whole thing. Ava gazed around her new surroundings in wonder and noticed two more vehicles parked nearby. James put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

     “I know this is a lot to take in right now. Come, let’s get you home.”

     She walked with him, Nicholas, and Lizeth towards one of the courier-looking type of vehicles while Melanie, Lucas, Blayke, and Emma went towards the other one.

     “What do you call these?” She asked James, looking at the vehicle.

     “Velas, they run mostly on solar power.”

     “I’ll come and see you tomorrow
,” Melanie said to Ava, touching her arm as she walked past her towards the other Vela.

     Lizet
h drove them along the coast while Ava stared out at the scenery zipping by. She noticed the lush tropical environment and a fairly well-developed city interspersed with a few isolated homes spaced out further back into the land. After a few minutes Lizeth pulled up in front of some enormous scrolling black gates with beautiful chrome colored accents. She continued on through after they opened. They coasted along a lengthy drive through a neatly manicured green lawn with flowering trees and shrubs. The sweet fragrance of the blooms cheered her a little. She watched as some strange looking brightly colored insects flew about, landing here and there on the flowers. After pulling around another bend Ava saw a massive white stoned structure with large elaborate archways and a sparkling gray solar panel tiled roof. There were several covered balconies along the upper level resting under some of the beautiful crystal clear glass windows. Lizeth pulled up to the immaculate stone staircase that led to the large front door and stopped the vehicle.

     Ava gazed up at the beautiful house as James helped her out and led her up the steps. The others followed. The large door automatically swung open as they drew near and entered the foyer. Ava couldn’t tell if James did that with his ability or if it was somehow programmed to do it. She felt relieved to have a break from the
heat; she wasn’t quite used to it, even though it had been hot on Kyanos. The foyer was enormous, with a high ceiling made of stained glass forming some type of celestial pattern in bright colors. Large white stoned pillars flanked the room, leading off into different wings of the home. The floor also seemed to be made of a white stone; however there was a large elaborately designed rug in the center of the room with a few couches and chairs arranged on it. Ava had never seen anything like it. James noticed her staring and looking about and smiled proudly, happy that she was admiring the home he had worked very hard and long to build.

     An older
well dressed woman appeared and walked towards them with a smile. Ava did not sense energy flowing from her and guessed she was human.

     “Welcome back Sir, how was yo
ur journey?” The woman asked pleasantly of James with a hint of an accent.

     “The tour went very well, thank you
,” he replied courteously. “This is our new houseguest,” he nodded towards Ava. “Ava, this is my housekeeper, Mrs. Maclaren; Mrs. Maclaren, this is Ms. Ava Amherst.”

     “Hello
,” Ava said politely.

     “Welcome my dear! Oh, you poor thing, you look exhausted. I have a room all ready for you
,” she exclaimed sympathetically, no doubt taking in Ava’s sullen appearance. Apparently Mrs. Maclaren was a nurturing, take-charge kind of woman. It did not offend Ava, in fact it comforted her knowing that another human was around, overseeing things.

     “Would you like some refreshment? I can have some drinks brought out onto the terrace
,” she asked happily.

     “Thank you, that would be nice
,” James answered.

     “You’re welcome Sir
,” she replied and hurried off.

     James led the four of them through the house to the back onto the terrace. The heat enveloped them as they stepped out into the shaded area with a beautiful ocean view. Ava could see the slightly greenish water flowing towards the land, wave after wave, producing that soothing sound she had only heard on television before.

     As they sat down at a table a tall middle-aged man with dark hair came to them carrying a tray. James made the introductions after he set the tray down on the table. Ava observed that he also was human.

     “Ava, this is my butler, Travis.”

     “It’s lovely to meet you Miss,” the man replied pleasantly.

     “Happy to make your acquaintance
,” Ava spoke as he laid out plates, cloth napkins, and silverware. He poured a yellowish-looking drink out of a large pitcher into four glasses and placed a large bowl of what Ava assumed was cut up fruit in the center.

     “Wil
l there be anything else Sir?” He asked.

     “No, thank you.”

     “Welcome home, let me know if I can do anything else for you,” he said as he left.

     Ava didn’t know what to make of all this. Her head was spinning with sensory overload. James handed her a glass while Lizeth spooned some of the brightly colored fruit on her plate. She took the glass and sipped on it gingerly. She couldn’t quite figure out what it tasted like but it was cold, slightly sweet, and refreshing. The others were holding their own conversation, something about how great it was to be home again while Ava was lost in her own thoughts. She saw them eating and decided to take a bite. She took the fork and speared one of the yellow and purple chunks and slowly popped it into her mouth. Again, she could not place the flavor, but it was good.
The whole experience was starting to feel surreal to her.

     “How are you Ava, are you okay?” James asked Ava gently.

     “I . . . don’t know what to say,” she replied after a moment.

     Lizeth
smiled at her. “Sphene will take a little getting used to. I’m sure it’s a big change from your life on Earth and on Orionis.”

     “You
could say that,” she replied. “I don’t get how all of you can live like this, in such . . . luxury when most of the population in the universe is scraping by just to exist on man-made space stations,” she said frankly with a hint of bitterness to her tone. It almost came out as if she were disgusted. She thought of Kyanos, and Wesley’s home. While they too were grand accomplishments, it was not as advanced and as splendid as what she had seen so far of this new environment.

     “It wasn’t easy. We’ve all worked very hard for a long time to achieve a lifestyle like this
,” Nicholas defended, his dark brown eyes glared at her. He didn’t sound angry, but Ava sensed his apparent disapproval of her comment. James casually held up a hand, stopping the argument.

     “The humans aren’t as hard up as the ITO makes everyone
, including you, back there believe. We can discuss that later. I know this may seem extravagant to you right now, but you will feel at home here very soon.”

    
Ava put her fork down. “And what exactly am I supposed to do with myself here? I used to have a career that I worked hard for, I had a purpose. Here, I have no identity, no possessions, no credits, no family, and no friends! You’ve taken everything I worked so hard for my whole entire life away from me!”

     “I know you are frustrated. . .”

     “You have no idea how I feel,” she interrupted sharply. Nicholas, used to Ava’s resistance didn’t flinch, however Lizeth looked shocked, hardly believing Ava’s reaction.

     “You’ve had a difficult life Ava, I know!
” His tone was stern but he wasn’t angry. “You’ve been dealt a bad hand up until now, but I’m going to change that for you. You deserve it. I’m not saying this to offend you, but you look like you could use a vacation. Take a year off. Relax. Clear your mind, train and strengthen your body. You have the rest of your life to work if you want to. Hell, I could waste fifty years doing absolutely nothing without even trying,” he said lightly. The others chuckled. Ava looked at him, unsure of how to respond to that, she felt so numb.

     “And you do have a family Ava, you have all of us, if you’ll let us be part of your life
,” Lizeth reassured.

    “I am going to provide for you, don’t worry about anything. You will be safe here, nobody or nothing will harm you. As soon as those vaccinations have had a chance to kick in, I’ll take you into the city and we will register you as a new citizen. You’ll have an identity, . . . anything you want.”

     This was all starting to be déjà vu to Ava, having recently been through all of this on Kyanos. She took a deep breath of the fresh, humid air and nodded. There was no sense in asking him to take her back to Kyanos again right now, she knew the answer would be no.

     A little while later Nicholas and Lizeth took their leave and Mrs. Maclaren came to escort Ava to her new room. James followed behind.

     “Here we are,” she said cheerfully opening a large elaborately carved white door at the end of one long hallway. “I had some clothing brought in according to Melanie’s specifications. Everything you could need you will find in here my dear.” Ava had guessed right, James must have messaged ahead, letting her know that she would be coming to stay.

     Ava walked into a large room with a white stone floor and stone walls. A soft light colored rug ate up most of the floor and went underneath the beautiful, elaborately decorated
bed. The end of the room opened and rounded out a little into a sitting area with glass doors leading to a private balcony with an ocean view. She also noticed she had her own bathroom with something she had never seen in person before, a bathtub in addition to a shower. Overall she was impressed, it was not at all what she had imagined; a dark room with prison bars on it.

     “Where is your room?” She asked James curiously.

    “I have the master on the other side,” he said pointing to the opposite side of the back of the house, which was where the other rooms were located. “I thought you might like some privacy.”

     “Thank you.”

     After asking a few more questions, Ava was left alone so that she could freshen up and rest a while before dinner. James knocked on her door to collect her when it was time, since she didn’t know the way to the dining room yet. Due to the reversed time change, she could barely keep her eyes open.

     “I’ll give you the tour tomorrow if you like
,” he said as they walked down a large staircase towards the back of the house. He quickly pointed out the kitchen so she knew where to come for breakfast. It seemed strange to Ava that the two of them sat by themselves at a rather large table in the elegant dining room.

     “Do you usually eat in here?” She asked, thinking how lonely that would be for him.

     “No, only when I have guests, or when my family is here. I usually eat in the kitchen.”

     “Oh. How many people work here for you?” She had seen a few other people in the house earlier in the day.

     “Mrs. Maclaren is the lead housekeeper. I’ve known her since she was a child. She is a widow now and her family is all grown. She oversees the cook and the other housekeeping staff. Travis is the butler. He and his family live not far from here. He oversees the deliveries, the gardeners, and some of the other miscellaneous things.”

     “Does Mrs. Maclaren live here?”

     “Yes, she lives in the guest house on the east side of the property.”

     “So they look after things when you are gone?”

     “Yes, but don’t worry. They are all good, honest people and I pay them well for their services. They wouldn’t dare cross me.”

     “Then, they know
what you are,” she said. He nodded. “How did you discover this place?”