Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (49 page)

“I still have a lot to learn, don't I?” he
muttered as he pulled away.

“As do I,” she laid her head upon his
shoulder, “since I have only been off Tidelia for a few weeks. So
we will learn together. I will guide you, with all my heart, and
you will watch over me, with your entire being,” the statement made
her heart race, though she didn't understand why.

“Forever and eternity,” Trent whispered as he
laid his own head upon hers.

I love him so!
The thought echoed in
her mind, erasing all worries as her eyes fell shut, allowing her
to lose herself fully in her loves shallow breath and beating
heart.

Her eyes shot open to Trent's peacefully
sleeping face drooping above, a mere centimeter away from her own.
It took her a moment to realize her head was lying upon his lap,
her last memory of leaning against him, resting on his shoulder.
Slowly, she raised herself, careful not to wake him, while removing
the stray hand that had been lying rather casually on her breast.
She stretched, wincing as her body screamed its objection, before
scanning the long, empty tunnel.

Luckily, nothing had changed. Light still
extended
beyond sight in both directions,
the walls still bare, and Sir Simwa's cronies having yet to locate
them. Terra, who she just noticed had been sleeping on Trent's
naughty hand, mimicked her stretch, then hopped the short distance
between them, crawling back into his preferred spot between her
bosoms.

“How long have I been asleep?” she whispered
to Vin. Its sphere appeared over her bracelet, shimmering bronze
like always.

“Five hours, forty-six minutes,” Vin matched
her whisper. She shook her head in disbelief. The flood of emotions
had drained her like never before as she listened to Trent's life
story.

Quietly, she lowered herself back to Trent's
side, staring closely at his sleeping profile. He looked peaceful,
almost gentle, his expression showing none of the hidden tension
that had been so prevalent since they first met. But as she
continued to stare, studying every facet of the man she loved, a
desire grew within her, which she immediately suppressed.
There
will be time for that later, after I resolve my own demons,
she
explained to herself, her desire fading as if it understood her
thoughts. She did, however, lean in close to blow lightly into his
ear. His head shot up, spinning towards her, his nose a mere
millimeter away from her own. She leaned in and stole a kiss,
pulling back with a mischievous smile. His eyes came fully open,
blinking slowly to clear free the last tendrils of sleep, before
steadying his gaze.

“What were you doing?” he questioned, a
quizzical look pushing to the surface. Her blush grew.

“Someone's hand decided that my chest was a
good place to rest while he slept,” a playful response escaped her
lips

“I’m sorry...I didn’t know...I’m so sorry,”
he blushed, apologizing profusely. Sasha laughed it off and helped
him to his feet.

“I feel like...I don't know...I don't recall
ever feeling like this...” Trent studied her hands, voice filled
with a clear sense of calm.

“Well,” she bumped him with her hip, “you
talked for almost a year,” she teased, locking her arm in his.

“It wasn't that long,” he tried to force a
hurt look, but failed miserably, “plus, you did want to know,” he
pouted seriously. Sasha punched him in the stomach.

“Of course I did,” she responded sincerely,
“and no, it wasn't that long. I was just joking with you, Tre-,”
she gazed upon his face, a broad smile now on his lips, and she
knew she'd been had. Her fist struck his stomach a little harder,
causing him to keel over in exaggerated pain, which quickly shifted
to joyous laugher.

“We should really continue on. We were asleep
for almost six hours,” Sasha said with a sigh as the laughter
finally abated.

“That long,” he seemed as amazed as she. “I
wish we had an idea what was going on in the base. I never had a
chance to send an update to Taku and-.” Trent stopped midsentence,
raising Sasha's left hand close to his mouth.

“Vin, do you know what is happening in the
base?” Vin’s sphere appeared.

“Sir Simwa's forces have captured medical bay
one and transferred the survivors to the temporary holding cell
created in freight supply bay five. His forces are now searching
all 40 wings of TSB Earth Base in hopes of locating Grand Duchess
Sasha Alutia,” Trent cringed at the response.

“Did you know them? The ones from the medical
bay?” she asked with honest concern.

“Yes,” he looked downtrodden. “They were the
first people I met in a long time that were either not trying to
kill me or lock me up. It was kind of an odd feeling,” he
explained, tone having gone cold. Sasha could sense his mind
wandering to a bad place.

“I am sure they are ok,” she quickly headed
it off, “but for now, we should keep moving. If we can escape
Earth, and if the battle in space is going well, we will send a
contingent of ABF Battleguards to retake the base and free the
prisoners,” Sasha said like it was already decided.

“You're right,” he turned to her, nodding,
“there's no use dwelling on things I can't change,” he admitted. A
cheer almost escaped her lips...
it worked...
though the
thought that it would be easy lasted for only a few seconds as she
remembered the mess of emotions that had been
their
mutual love confessions, and the turmoil she'd
sensed during his life story.
It will definitely be anything but
easy.

They walked for almost an hour down the never
changing tunnel. Occasionally, they would speak about nothing
important, spending most of the time just enjoying each other's
silent company. When she was just about to ask Vin if the tunnel
would ever end, a door appeared in the distance. They picked up
their pace, and found it was identical to the one that had
originally led them into this tunnel, having the same Emperor's
Crest, a man made out of many galaxies, across its surface.

“Be advised: Beyond this entry is a level one
quarantine area. Access without the emperor's consent is strictly
forbidden,” the warning flashed through both their ears and BC
nodes simultaneously. The sensation made her stomach turn. The
human mind wasn’t wired to translate identical audio and BC node
feeds simultaneously. It was possible, of course, but the effects
often led to dizziness and occasionally, loss of consciousness.
Trent seemed to be taking it well, but had turned a rather peculiar
color of green, that started to fade after a few seconds. He
nodded, showing he was ok, but apparently not ok enough to
talk.

“Vin, what now?” Its sphere began rippling
wildly, shifting through the entire color spectrum in rapid
succession in response. After a minute, it regained its original
shape and color.

“Access granted,” Vin said as the door slide
open.

Trent walked through first, holding Sasha
back with an outstretched hand. She almost slapped it away; furious
that he'd place himself in danger and think she couldn’t handle
herself, but thought better of it...
he’s just trying to protect
me
. After a few moments he waved her through.

The room beyond was rectangular shaped, about
50 meters in length and half as much wide and tall. The walls were
cut directly out of the surrounding stone, then smoothed. Lined in
the center were old style, circular PDU research stations set at 10
meter intervals, with a row of traditional PDU workstations set
flush against a transparent wall, directly across from where they
entered. Trent released her hand, drifting slowly down the line of
research stations, apparently searching for clues. Sasha found
herself drawn to the transparent wall that overlooked an enormous
natural cavern.

A dull red light pulsed in its interior,
created by the hundreds of throbbing tubes that ran across the
walls and floor of the cavern, and looked eerily alive. She traced
their paths and found they intersect about 50 meters below, in the
center of the cavern, where a pod like cocoon pulsed in unison with
the tubes, emitting its own faint green glow. Trent returned to her
side, placing a hand on her shoulder, her tension easing.

“What is that?” he asked, having followed her
gaze, as fascinated by the sight as her.

“I have no idea,” she whispered. “Vin, do you
know what that is?” she asked, not bothering to lift her arm.

“Information incomplete or sealed. There are
no records available on this location,” Vin responded. Sasha found
it odd that a room sealed by the will of the emperor would have no
record.

“I found something over here,” Sasha let
Trent guide her to the center research station. Atop its surface
blinked an icon that Sasha immediately recognized as an alert level
one message. She took a step forward and touched it before Trent
could react.

An image of an elderly man coalesced in the
air above the station, with long grey hair, sagging skin, and a
black and silver uniform Sasha didn't recognize.

“This is the record of the Human Devolution
Phenomenon, or HDP, witnessed during the fifth generation of the
Uninterrupted Human Growth Project, commissioned by Emperor Xaxis
in the year 49,826 of the New Universal Empirical Human Alliance,”
Sasha froze when she heard the date, turning to Trent who stared
intently at the projected image.

“I am Captain Trelic,” she turned back,
holding her tongue, “and have taken responsibility for the studying
and destruction of this phenomenon. It is my hope, that if HDP
occurs in humans elsewhere in the universe, my research will be
able to assist in its containment,” Sasha glanced down, feeling a
rising tension at the weight of the words being said.

“We located the Planet Earth in NHA year
49,858, and delivered our charges of unaltered and uneducated
humans to a safe location on the planet's surface. The Neo-Humans,
as we referred to them, broke quickly into clan units controlled by
the strongest males who were able to provide food and security in
the virgin wilderness. This held true during the first three
generations, while the Neo-Human population decreased, due to death
by disease, injury, and starvation. Infant mortality rates were
extremely high during this time, with less
than
a third of all infants reaching adulthood.” Sasha
gasped in horror at the thought, infant death by any cause being a
thing of the past since well before the creation of the NHA.
“During the fourth and fifth generations a shift was seen. The
female population grew in intelligence, suddenly inventing new
methodology for hunting, gathering, habitation, and the first use
of primitive tools. Men soon adopted these methods, but the shift
in power was completed and the Neo-Human society had become a
matriarchy. Women were now responsible for choosing their own mates
and unmated males were banished from the tribes, left to wander.”
Sasha smiled at this, glancing at Trent, who caught her smirk and
turned his head away slightly. She would have to make sure to
remind him of this part of his ancestry whenever it suited her
needs.

“This was when the first reports of
irregularities started appearing in the local environmental
surveys. A deadly species that appeared to hunt Neo-Humans emerged.
Whole tribes would vanish overnight and we could not decipher the
species responsible. Until, by chance, one of our researchers
stumbled across a hidden cave network.

“Within these caves were biological cocoons
that contained an altered human genetic code. This baffled us at
first. So we sent a second, larger research team, with a full array
of analytical and research equipment, to comprehensively study this
unknown phenomenon. What occurred next is too gruesome to describe,
but a record of the incident was saved.” Captain Trelic faded as a
two-dimensional projection took his place.

A large cave lit with a single hovering
“sunsim” light that simulated natural sunlight appeared within.
Researchers, wearing the same uniforms as Captain Trelic, could be
seen intermingling with bizarre, greenish pods, while others worked
at portable research stations. Suddenly, out of the corner of the
image, one of the pods broke open, releasing an orange cloud that
caused the researchers in the vicinity to collapse when it engulfed
them. A hideous, human-like creature appeared within the orange
cloud, seeming to have hatched from the pod itself. A researcher
tried to run, but the creature leapt 10 meters across the cave,
landing on her back. Sasha gasped, getting her first good look at
the creature that would forever haunt her nightmares.

It was grotesque, its abnormal head appearing
almost identical to a regular human, but being elongated with an
oversized, slavering mouth, with saliva dripping down an oversized
jaw. Its arms were gangly, being twice the length of a normal
human, with what appeared to be two joints, or double-elbows, one
close to the shoulder and the other close to wrist. Sharp bones
protruded from the sides of each forearm, just below the lower
wrist, curving around human-like hands, to end in a sharp point.
Its legs held tightly bound muscles that pulsated against its taut
skin, their length twice the size of the creature's muscular torso.
Its skin itself had a greenish tint, almost glowing, but appeared
to be similar in texture to a normal human. Then, she looked into
its eyes...human eyes...showing human intelligence.

The creature used its razor sharp bones that
curved around its hands to carefully dissect chunks of flesh from
the dead researcher, then, to her rising horror, proceeded to eat
them. She gagged at the sight, her stomach threatening to release.
Trent stepped before her, but she pushed him away, knowing she had
to watch.

After all the researchers disappeared or had
passed out on the floor, the creature departed. Sasha found it odd
that it had ignored most of the researchers who'd collapsed from
contact with the orange cloud, but she assumed they were probably
left to feed the other creatures when they hatched...
an easy
meal.
The record started accelerating and to Sasha's horror,
the bodies on the floor became covered with a gooey green
substance, or slime. It gradually grew larger, forming into the
same type of pod as the others that still lay unhatched within the
cavern.