Invid Lullaby

Chapter 6

Missing Pieces
______

Ruk'ya waited for an hour after the lab's closing time for a chance to speak to Dr. Lang, but the human didn't come out of his office. Out of patience and hungry, she left. Lang could work for days without sleep or food, especially if something pricked his insatiable curiosity. The technician could bet her salary that she knew the source of the scientist's interest that night: the latest hybrid baby's results that she had submitted.

She walked toward the section of the base that housed her race. She'd learned that Moon Base was a safe place. Unlike her home Tirol after the Invid destroyed every public safety establishment on the planet. Not once she had changed her route back home. Not once she had worried about it being late, after all, nothing ever happened on Earth's natural satellite.
Except that night.

Pressed against a wall in a dark corner, a figure waited. Fast and mercilessly, he grabbed an unaware Ruk'ya by the throat. His expert grip muffled a little cry before it could reach his victim's mouth.

______

A refreshing marine breeze cooled the heat that the sun had imprinted on the sand. On the beach, two coupes, an older man and a teenage girl sat around a bonfire. The smell of the ocean mixed with burning wood drenched the evening while the dancing flames cast warm tones onto their faces.

"You guys have to promise you'll be there for my wedding," said Annie.

"We will," said Sera. Lancer smiled.

"Nothing will stop us, Mint," said Rand, Rook agreed, but Lunk remained silent.

"Don't look at me like that, Annie," said Lunk lastly, feeling the teenager's expectant gaze. "I thought it was obvious I'd be there. Gotta give you away," he added.

"Aww, Lunk," Annie said, and hugged her quasi father. After a while, the young girl spoke again. "I wish Scott and Marlene were here," she said, unknowingly voicing the thoughts of everyone gathered around her. "They better show up for my wedding," she added, pouted and crossed her arms in front of her.

Lancer looked at his wife. Her eyes locked into his. He wondered if she was able to feel her sister. The subtle exchange was not lost on the others.

"Can you communicate with Marlene, Sera?" Rook asked as if she had read Lancer's mind.

"Barely. The times I tried I was only able to get hints and sensations, nothing coherent," said the green haired woman, gloomily.

"But, can you tell if she's okay?" asked Rand.

Sera closed her eyes and searched for Marlene. The singer's wife felt the distance between her and her sister was too great to surmount. For brief moments she sensed that a link had been established, but it was as thin as air, impossible to hold. Sera pressed harder, gritting her teeth as she plunged deeper into the psychic plane where she hoped she could contact Marlene.
Suddenly she opened her eyes and gasped, weakened by her effort. Lancer held her while the rest of the group waited in nervous silence.

"She's too far," she said. "As hard as I tried, I couldn't..."

"Oh, no!" said Annie. Rand and Rook traded worried looks.

"... but I sensed the baby," continued the Invid princess.

"Baby? What baby?" asked Annie at a loss.

"Oh, yeah... Marlene's pregnant," explained Rook to Lunk and Annie. In the midst of the day's events, no one remembered to share the news with them.

"Pregnant! Yay!" the teenager let out, then it hit her. "Oh my God... is... is that why they left?"

"We don't know, Annie," said Rand. "Scott couldn't tell us."

Rook comforted the worried teenager.

"What did you sense, Sera?" asked Lunk.

"It was faint... but I felt my nephew. I think he... he acknowledged me," she said softly. As Sera spoke Lancer noticed a little smile forming on her face. "He has grown a lot and he seems happy... protected, somehow." Her words brought some relief to the group

"A boy!" thought Rook aloud, searching for her husband's hand.

"Marlene, though, she... I could feel something distracting her. All her energy was focused on something I couldn't understand," Sera declared.

"Scott better contact us soon," said Rand. "I need to know what's going on."

"We all do," said Lancer.

______

Admirals Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes Hunter enjoyed a light Japanese dinner at Moon Base's Officers' Club.

Their busy military lives had kept them apart on countless occasions so they guarded the romantic moments they could squeeze out of their days with zealousness.

They were one of those rare pairs which still enjoyed and looked for each other's company despite decades of witnessing each other age. They were yet to grow tired of one another. Their son was welcomed to join them any time he wanted. This time, however, practice had kept the young man from coming. Inwardly, Rick and Lisa relished the opportunity of spending time alone, especially lately. They had missed each other dearly during the time she was stationed on Earth.

“Lisa, have you thought of the trip I suggested?” Rick asked. “Club Med New Praxis' romantic retreat package seems a sweet deal,” he added, “We could use our RDF officer's discount... Did I mention we get our own butler?” he emphasized jokingly.

She giggled. “No, darling, I haven't had any time. And with the Invid's situation, I just don't think we'll get a chance to go on holidays any time soon.”

“Yes, I know,” he sounded disappointed. “The Karbarran Ambassador's still agitated and I know he has been voicing his concerns adamantly among the rest of the diplomats. I don't want to imagine what will happen if other groups start sharing his point of view.”

She could imagine. The alliance could collapse over it. An alliance that had cost years of war.

He sighed. “I wish we could leave all this behind, just for a little while. I want to be able to enjoy my wife's company without any major alien crisis lurking in the background.”

“Oh Rick... I want that too.” She smiled at him and caressed his cheek with her hand. He held it in his and placed soft kisses on her palm. “Let's get through this last thing, first, all right, Admiral Hunter?” she asked. He nodded.

“Care for some champagne, Admiral Hayes Hunter?” he offered, taking the bottle that was chilled for them.

“I'd love some,” she replied.

“Did you know Tirolean champagne's an aphrodisiac?” Rick commented innocently, while he served the golden liquid.

“Especially cold,” she winked.

They hadn't touched the glasses when their beepers went off simultaneously. Dr. Lang. He wanted to share urgent “baby” news with them.

“Must be important,” Lisa said, “for Emil to be calling both of us.”

“Bah,” Rick gestured dismissively, “It can wait. That baby's is not going to be born anytime soon, as far as I know. Now I'm busy toasting with my wife.” She gave him a reproving look that quickly morphed into an accomplice smile.

“To us,” he toasted and she followed.

______

The town generators shut down at midnight. The lights went off one after the other in a rapid sequence. Shortly after, Lunk and Annie left, exhausted by the long and emotional day. Rook and Rand followed, understandably eager to start a celebration of their own. Lancer and Sera remained by the dwindling fire.

The couple cuddled against each other. He listened to her breathing while her scent filled his senses. The Regiss had engineered her offspring like an artist, a masterpiece. Everything about her intoxicated him; like it had on the first day; like it would until his last.

But that night he had seen something different on his wife's face. It was something new and intense. And it happened while she spoke about Marlene's baby. Was it possible that Sera wanted a baby of her own?

Lancer hadn't consciously thought of himself as a father -not since the joined the RDF, anyway. But he wouldn't deny anything to her, if she wanted... "A baby," he toyed with the idea. He realized that maybe it wasn't Sera. Maybe what he thought he had seen peeking behind his wife's eyes was none other than his own long forgotten desire for a family.

“It's too risky,” he thought. Marlene, Scott and their baby had presumably fallen victims to Earth's xenophobia. Although Sera's vision had cast some hope that they were doing all right, Lancer couldn't tell for sure yet. The secrecy involving their whereabouts strongly hinted things weren't rosy, wherever they were taken to.

Lancer couldn't imagine contributing to Sera being in more danger than she was already. Yet, he firmly believed life was an unstoppable force and had its ways of prolonging itself. What had to be, no one would be able to stop. And a little girl with Sera's smile would be something for him to die for.

Maybe Scott and Marlene would pioneer a way for them to start a family too.

“Maybe.”

______

Baraka's solitude was disrupted by his most trusted subordinate's salute. He had been waiting for the younger alien to report.
"Was the loose piece taken care of?" he asked the Karbarran standing in front of him.

"Yes sir..." he answered, hesitating to continue.

“This place is safe, speak freely,” Baraka reassured him.

“It will take weeks for anyone to find the remains, sir. If they ever do,” he said lowly.

“And Lang?” inquired the older alien.

“A note of resignation was mailed to him on her behalf,” answered the subordinate.

Baraka was pleased. “Not even Hunter's power in the Council will be able to help Lang now. The old man will have no other option but to use the Karbarran expert. If he sidelines us this time, his bias against us will be evident. And a biased man can't possibly control a team analyzing an Invid enemy. Can he?” the Karbarran thought sardonically.

"Well, done," he said and dismissed his subordinate.

Alone again, Baraka reflected. The Karbarran ambassador and his clique wanted to destroy the Invid as soon as they learned of its arrival to Moon Base. He had convinced them to wait, regardless of his acute hate for that race. There was much to learn about this particular foe's powers. But that senile human! - Lang - had become a thorn on his side.

The doctor had used all the tricks in his hat to block the Karbarran experts from analyzing the Invid and the monstrosity growing inside it. Not this time, though. Baraka had the upper hand and he would make sure he kept it until the right time to act arrived.He run his hand through the surface of a glossy envelope: the Invid's test results. He took solace in the fact that Lang had received only an altered copy. One that hid from him important pieces of information.

Although limited, his own scientific background had allowed him to recognize, in a basic level, the markers indicating the presence of two lifeforms. The Karbarran scientists had ultimately confirmed what he believed. The good doctor didn't and wouldn't know what he was dealing with.

“Fool,” he said exhaling bitterness.

______________

Provide your comments here:

Posted on: 2005-01-03

• New Beginnings
• Investigation
• Intervention
• Freedom Lost
• Heaven and Hell
• Missing Pieces
• Panic
• Hit of Miss
• Night Watch
• Awakening
• Confrontation
• Revenge
• Council
• Unraveling
• Finality
• Epilogue