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| Story: A New Life - Chapter 29 Wednesday, 31-May-2000 18:46:24
Thanks, everyone, for all the feedback on the last chapter! This one isn't so revealing - at least for surprises. But it does give the TRUE story behind Sarah and Xris' journey to Earth. Oh, and Kate? I hope this chapter was posted quickly enough for you. I'd hate to make such a striking, beautiful (not to mention LARGE) GTS angry with me. ;) The word ‘shock’ could hardly describe the emotions shooting through Sarah Carter’s brain. She fought the urge to shake her head to try and clear out her ears. ‘Xris?? How can it possibly be him??’ He had never been anything but kind to her; in fact, he had given her some very helpful advice along the way. He had been like an older brother to her - - in point-of-fact, he WAS her older brother. Except for the fact that he was just a small, computerized box, Sarah felt like he was as close to her as Andrew and Dana were – the closest thing she had to family after the Carters’ deaths. Abruptly something struck her – something so obvious, the journalist wasn’t very surprised that she had overlooked it. “Wait a second…”, she said, looking at the ill-covered form of Beth standing a few feet away. “How do you know about Xris? I mean, you obviously are much like me – we have the same powers and abilities, at least. But I’ve never told anyone about Xris! Not even these two know about him!” She gestured to her two friends, who were looking more and more confused. Beth’s gaze never wavered from Sarah’s face. “We know all about him, Sarah. But from your surprised reaction, added to the fact that you have been harboring him, you do no know his history.” Sarah shook her green head, still not sure where this woman was heading. “He was the first Gammonian that I remember talking to. He told me that he was my brother, and gave me a synopsis of how we arrived here on Earth.” She suddenly stopped, her eyes going wide. She slowly turned her head and looked at her friends. ‘Damn! I forgot that they were here! They don’t know about my true heritage, and now I’ve just spilt it out in front of them!’ She was about ready to apologize and explain to Dana and Andrew when she felt Beth’s hand settle against her muscled arm. “No need to explain to the humans, Kara.”, she said, using her Gammonian name. Looking at Sarah’s friends, Beth let out a small sigh. “We are not from this planet, friends of Kara. Our homeworld is approximately 50 light-years distant from this section of the galaxy, using your measurements of distance. This” – Beth indicated Sarah’s curved, muscular green body – “is our true appearance. It is somewhat complicated, but there are certain elements in this planet’s atmosphere that, when we are exposed to it, alter our physical and physiological makeup into a form almost identical to humans. This explains why she and I appear ‘normal’ to you. When we wish it – or when our emotional state reaches extreme levels – our bodies are able to resume their natural appearance. And since this world’s gravitational and atmospheric makeup are so different from Gammon – our home planet – these differences appear to give us extraordinary abilities.” Sarah could see that Beth’s explanation wasn’t quite getting through to them. She reached out and gently took Andrew’s hand into hers, her long green fingers softly massaging the back of his hand. “What she’s trying to tell you is that - - we’re not all we appear to be. Andrew - - I’m not human. I was born on Gammon, like Beth, and Amy - - and Xris. You’ve known me as Sarah Carter, but my real name is Kara.” Giving her best sympathetic smile, Sarah turned her attention to her adopted sister, Dana, still rubbing Andrew’s hand. “I’m not sure what your parents told you about how the found and ‘adopted’ me, Dana. They never did talk to me about it. But believe me when I tell you – both of you –“; she looked back at Andrew, giving his hand a gentle squeeze, “that you are as much my family as the ones who died in the attack. That’s how I came here. Xris explained to me that members of the Gammonian government wanted to put a stop to my family’s exploration of the galaxy, and they sent forces after us. They did find us, and everyone but Xris and myself died. We escaped in a pod when our ship was destroyed, and we landed here. Xris wasn’t as lucky as I was, though; he told me my father had transplanted his memories and experiences from his dying body into a specially designed computer matrix. He’s been living with me in my apartment for a while now.” Still, neither friend seemed to fully grasp what Sarah was telling them. “So, what you’re saying is - - you’re not even human?”, Dana asked. “I thought that maybe you fell victim to some sort of accident or something….” She let her words drift off, her right hand circling in the air to illustrate her lack of understanding. Sarah shook her head gently. “Nothing so complicated, Dana. I – I know this is hard for you to understand.” She looked back into Andrew’s brown eyes. “I wasn’t very sure that I could ever tell either of you about my real self. When you discovered that part of me, then I wasn’t sure if I could tell you of my true heritage. Now you know both - - I have no more secrets to hide.” She shrugged, a hesitant smile on her face. Andrew smiled back, squeezing Sarah’s strong green hand. “Sarah – or Kara – whichever you want to be called….I’ll always love you. It doesn’t matter if you’re physically human or not. In the years I’ve known you, you’ve proven yourself human to me…..” Sarah felt her relief physically coming out of her. She looked towards Dana, and saw her ‘sister’ smiling broadly, nodding her head in affirmation of Andrew’s statement. She felt tears welling up again in her eyes, and she laughed, wiping them onto the back of her free hand. “I don’t know what to say to you guys….. I – “ Laughing again, Sarah grabbed a hold of Dana and squeezed them both in a powerful, loving hug. Releasing them, she said, “Oh, I hope I didn’t crush you!” She winked at Dana, and she winked back. Turning back to Beth, who had been watching the touching scene with a slight smile, Sarah got back to business. “You said it was Xris who had hired all of those people to kill me.” Beth nodded. “How can that be, Beth? He can’t even get out of my apartment. He’s just a little box.” “Appearances can be deceiving, Kara. And so it Xris. He has told you only part of the truth. The ship you both were traveling on WAS attacked, but it did not happen in the way he described to you. In fact, I daresay that much of what he has passed onto you as ‘history’ and ‘fact’ are nothing but a complex weave of lies and half-truths.” She looked at Sarah, a sad expression on her face. “Kara, you are a special young woman. Xris never told you the most important fact about yourself. On Gammon, you both were members of the royal family….” Dana pinched Sarah. “Hey, we’ve got a princess or some such in our midst, Andy!” The green-skinned journalist frowned playfully at Dana, and then looked back at Beth, who continued. “There has been strife on our homeworld for many, many cycles. Your father, the crown prince and one of the heads of the scientific division, helped to develop Gammon’s first faster-than-light drive for use with our exploration craft. He hoped that this discovery would help to unite our people – and it did so, to a certain extent. There still exists a rogue element, reaching even into the royal family. Xris, your brother, is a member of that element. He is a gifted scientist himself, and had a hand in developing the FTL drive. But he wished it to be used to bring Gammon under a tight rule. He had no love for the way his grandfather ruled, and made his dislike clear to everyone. Your father tried to dissuade him from his potentially harmful rhetoric, but Xris would not listen.” Beth looked away for a moment, and Sarah thought she could see shame now masking her face. When she looked back, the journalist was surprised to see a single tear streaming down the other woman’s cheek. “I am a member of the royal family’s elite home guard.”, she said. “It was my duty and responsibility to ensure the safety of all the family members. But I failed in that task. I failed……” Another tear of shame rolled down her cheek, and she quickly swiped it away. “We had been taking another survey mission in this quadrant of the galaxy – your father loved to explore, and would take every opportunity to do so, regardless of possible danger to himself and his family. That is not a mark against him, Kara – please do not take it as such. It is merely a point of fact.” She looked away a moment, and then fixed her gaze back onto Sarah’s inquisitive features. “Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, Xris had been working on a project – one that, if it worked, could grant him possible immortality. And he had brought that project along with him on this survey mission.” “After we had completed a routine scan of this planet and had left, your brother evidentially had decided that this planet would make a sufficient base of operations for his war against his – and your – family’s reign. He had planted a set of explosive devices around the FTL drive – we think to make the craft’s destruction appear as an accident. He wanted to leave no living heirs to the throne, while, at the same time, escaping death himself to carry on his mission of hatred and intolerance.” Sarah held up a strong green hand, pausing Beth in her recitation. “But I’m still alive, Beth. Xris had told me that he and my father had placed me into an escape pod, and my father had transferred my brother’s brainwaves into the machine of his own accord.” Beth shook her head, dejected. “I am sorry, Kara. That is yet another round of half-truths and outright lies. Your father did, in fact, transfer Xris’ knowledge into the device Xris had created – but he had told your father a lie to make him do so. Kara, your brother was not injured, and could have made it to another pod. Instead, he mortally injured himself so that your father WOULD place his brain patterns inside that horrible computer matrix. He thought that was the only way left to him to carry out his plans.” Sarah’s head and shoulders sagged. Beth continued, “His new matrix was placed inside of your pod, and your father had just enough time left to input all of the data we had collected on this planet. He then ejected your pod on a course for Earth.” The journalist slowly raised her head, again meeting Beth’s supportive gaze. “But – but what about you, Beth? How did you escape the ship’s destruction?” Beth sighed sadly, slowly shaking her head. “Another failure of mine, Kara. I was escorting the rest of your family to the remaining pods when secondary explosion ripped through our ship. Supporting struts fell atop your mother and older sister, injuring them severely. Your father shouted at Rana – Amy – and myself to go on without them. When we refused, your father pushed us into the pod and jettisoned it.” She closed her eyes. “I can still see the ship exploding, Kara. The rest of your family did not escape its destruction. I am so sorry, Kara. It is my fault….. If I had acted more quickly, your parents might still be alive….” Sarah tried to put on her best comforting smile, her large green hand gently squeezing the other woman’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself, Beth. It’s all Xris’ fault…. I trusted him. I believed in him! Why did he save me, Beth?” “We believe he wished to use you as part of his organization he was building here on Earth. With you as his muscle, nothing on this planet could stop him. He wanted to finance the construction of a very powerful transmitter to contact his forces in hiding on Gammon. None of the available transmitters here are powerful enough to reach such a distant point in space. That is where his alliance with Michael Harris entered in. Although the two have never met, they have the capacity to become the most powerful criminals this planet has ever seen. Xris’ computer memory banks have knowledge of weapons far beyond anything on Earth. Mr. Harris wanted that knowledge, and wanted a greater stake in this diabolical partnership.” Beth focused on something just around Sarah’s body; Sarah glanced back to see her gaze resting on Michael, who held his head in his hands, paying no attention to the group’s conversation. “Xris has grown weary of Mr. Harris’ stalling and demands. Using the same methods he had used when setting up his connections with Mr. Harris, Xris contacted several different styles of killers – from gang-related to professional contract killers – to mark you for death - - - In Michael Harris’ name. In truth, he knew that such attempts would fail – he knows your abilities and powers, after all. This last time had been almost total luck. If it had succeeded, Xris’ plan would have been ruined. Sarah, he wanted to make you angry enough to kill Harris yourself. Inadvertently, you would have eliminated his problem for him. He has no care of what happens next. He is in the midst of setting up other powerful contacts around the world. If he succeeds, this planet will be in jeopardy. We must stop him.” Sarah nodded. “You’re right, Beth. I’ve played his little game long enough…..” She turned around and slowly walked towards Michael. The sounds of her strong emerald bare feet approaching his desk shook the president out of his stupor. His dark eyes slowly made contact with her green ones. Like before, Sarah leaned over his cleared desk, coming within inches of his face. “Okay, your life is spared, Harris. But if you ever – EVER – talk about what you’ve seen and heard here to ANYONE…..” She bent over and picked up a heavy iron paperweight. He watched in renewed fear as her graceful but powerful hand quickly reshapes the horse figurine into a lump of useless slag. She dropped it onto his desk and walked away. As the group left the (soon to be ex) shipping company president’s office, Michael Harris could not take his eyes away from the paperweight……. The group walked down the stairs. Dana, walking just behind her surrogate sister, suddenly spoke up. “Hey, what about that guy we met when we were coming here earlier?” Beth spoke. “Do not worry about him, Dana. He has been…..occupied. But we must hurry.” But as Dana and Andrew began to pick up their pace, Beth stopped them. “I am sorry, but this must be handled by us alone. We are Gammonians - - Sarah and myself will be able to handle anything that Xris may try, but I cannot guarantee your safety.” Sarah smiled and hugged Dana. “Don’t worry, sis. Xris is going to be sorry he ever decided to use me – - use us.” She turned to Andrew, took both his hands in hers, and gently placed her full dark-green lips against his thinner ones. The kiss was long - - and meaningful. They slowly parted. “I will see you again, Andy. It’s taken me this long to find you….I won’t let some cigar box take you away.” “I’ll hold you to that, Sarah!”, he called out as she and Beth entered the waiting elevator. He turned to Dana. “I guess we’re waiting for Amy, then?” She shrugged. Suddenly, the office door before them opened, and a very haggard and disheveled-looking Harry McHenry came out. Right behind him followed Amy; her clothes, like Beth and Sarah’s, were in total rags. Yet she had a hint of an amused smile on her pretty face as she regarded the stumbling paparazzi. She came up to the two friends. “Beth has told me what has transpired. Shall we go, then?” She gestured to the elevators with a lithe hand. As they walked, they saw Harry leaning against the wall, his eyes closed. But he didn’t seem to be in any pain or discomfort. In fact, Dana thought she spotted a look of satisfaction on his sweat-stained face…… The group entered the elevator. Dana turned to Amy, who was taking a few small pills from the inside of her ruined jacket. “Amy, just what did you do in there?”, she asked, although she thought she knew the answer. Amy shrugged nonchalantly. “I did the only thing that would keep him quiet and out of your way.” That slight smile still on her face, she placed the pills on the elevator’s car floor and pressed on them. Almost instantly another set of whole clothes appeared. Dana and Andrew turned around, embarrassed, as Amy disrobed from her torn outfit and climbed into the new one. “I believe I gave him - - - the ‘story of a lifetime’, as I believed he called it……..” To be concluded Terry |
| Story: A New Life - Chapter 29 (Terry) (31-May-2000 18:46:24) |
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