Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) (65 page)
Read Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) Online
Authors: Mike Smith
His desire was raw and transparent.
Was it really him? For she had dreamt of him so often, it was sometimes difficult to separate her dreams from reality. A part of her wondered if that was all this still was—a dream? “Jon is it really you, returned from the dead, or are you simply a phantom of my imagination?”
“I’m real,” he reassured her, bending his head and tenderly kissing her lips.
“But how?” she gasped, her lips still burning from his kiss.
He frowned slightly and shook his head. “Later. You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment. I’ll explain all later, but first I need to take my time concentrating on you.” And he did. She felt his hot breath scorch her neck as his lips brushed against her skin. She gasped and felt herself melt against him when he tugged at the soft flesh of her earlobe with his teeth.
She closed her eyes and flattened her hands on his torso, brushing her palms against his chest. Acting on impulse, she curled her fingers around the fabric of his shirt and pulled him closer to her.
She looked up into his face and saw in his eyes what she felt in her heart. That they shared some basic, primitive connection that was so strong not even death could keep them apart.
“My sweet Sofia, how I have missed you.” His voice was rough, as he gazed into her eyes.
He resumed his quest to concentrate on her. She tangled her fingers into his dark hair as he continued to kiss her neck, her cheek. When she felt his rough hand beneath the cotton fabric of her nightdress, she sucked in a deep breath. She arched her back, trying to push closer to him, if that was even physically possible.
With a low rumbling groan, he covered her with his own body and lowered his head. The feel of his lips on hers were just as she remembered—incandescent. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him down onto the bed with her. They sunk into the mattress with the weight of Jon’s body lying along the length of hers.
She closed her eyes and felt his fingers tangle in her hair. As they kissed, she felt his tongue brush against her lips. He deepened their kiss and she welcomed the intimacy of each stroke, thinking about the promise of a deeper intimacy they were about to share.
His hands stroked and caressed, his lips nipped and sucked, driving her skyward until she thought she’d go insane with need. Finally, she held his face in her hands and looked into his eyes. In them she saw a thousand promises meant to last a lifetime—but it was not enough.
“Wait,” she begged him. It took a few moments for her breathing to become even again and her mind to clear. “I cannot do this again, knowing that when I awake I will be alone again, you gone forever.”
Jon leaned back, a frown marring his expression, a pout that made him look far younger than his years on his face, but he gave her question serious contemplation.
“Then what about a physical reminder? Tangible proof that you can keep with you until the end of days. Something that you can wake up to. That will constantly remind you that I am real, and no figment of your imagination. As, in all honesty, it already belongs to you, and is something I have long been meaning to return to you.”
“What is it?” she asked, watching suspiciously as he reached behind him. Her eyes went wide when, in one swift movement, he removed the shirt he was wearing. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the dark, angry red scar running vertically along one side of his chest. She ran her fingers along the length of it, and looked up at him, questioning, “How did you get this?”
“A parting gift from Captain Benson, Malthus’s son, before I cast his soul into the depths of hades for all eternity.”
“I remember him,” Sofia murmured. “An arrogant fool who boasted about stealing me away from you.”
Jon looked at her surprised, not realising the two had ever met.
He once again drew in a startled breath, as Sofia’s lips followed the trail left by her fingers, causing desire to pool in the pit of his stomach, leaving him unsure of how much longer he could restrain himself. Catching her face in the palm of his hand, he angled her head upwards towards his own. “I hope that he didn’t hurt you?” he demanded. If he had, he would have to follow the bastard into the depths of hell and make him pay all over again.
Sofia simply shook her head in denial. “Robert had to finally pull me off him, before I could do any more serious damage than I already had. I don’t approve of killing in general, but I’m glad to hear he is dead. It saves me the trouble of doing it myself, after seeing how he has hurt you.”
Jon smiled widely, proud of this woman who had stood in front of all and loudly proclaimed she would stand by him, for better or worse, for so long as they both lived. “You can play with the scar later,” Jon promised her. “But that is not what I had in mind when I said I would give you tangible proof. Instead I meant this.” He lifted something from around his neck, where it had been resting on a chain, and Sofia blinked when she saw what rested in the palm of his hand.
“My mother’s ring,” she gasped. “I was sure it had been lost in the attack on Eden Prime.” She reached out with a trembling hand, worried that it was a mirage and would disappear when she touched it. But instead it was reassuringly solid, warmed by resting against Jon’s chest. As soon as she picked it up, she gasped. Not at the ring, but at the impression left in the palm of his hand. For the mark perfectly matched the ring now firmly in her grasp, as if they were two of a pair. “Jon, your hand.”
Taking the ring from her, he eased it onto her finger, where it belonged, making a silent promise to them both that this is where it would remain—forever. “Don’t worry love, it doesn’t hurt. Instead it is just a visible sign of the same brand that is on my heart and soul, for both belong to you and only you.”
His promise reminded her of Miranda’s words back on Eden Prime, that while she might have had his body, she would never have his heart—or soul, as both belonged to her exclusively. At that moment she shared some of the other woman’s pain, not being able to imagine the sorrow of having only such a small piece of this man, knowing that the rest belonged to another. She made a silent plea of happiness for Robert and Miranda, hoping they could work through their differences and be able to share what she and Jon had.
Glancing at the ring, sparkling on her finger, she was finally convinced of Jon and his promise. With tears glistening in her eyes, she looked up into her husband’s face, running a finger along his cheek, watching him lean into her touch.
“So are you now convinced that I won’t disappear when you awake in the morning?” He asked.
Laughing, she launched herself back into his embrace, feeling swept away by her emotions and love for this man, everything else forgotten for the moment. As she was swept up into his arms, she could almost hear Elsie’s laughter on the morning breeze, and her promise not to peek—much.
Sofia decided that if this really was a dream, then she never wanted to awake.
End of Book Three.
&
The Redemption Trilogy
The Redemption series is followed by “
The Revelations Trilogy”
.
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Author’s Note
I am painfully aware that nobody ever reads these postscripts, so I will get straight to the point, so that the few of you that made it this far can depart for greener pastures.
Thank You.
I can only hope that you derived as much pleasure from reading this series, as I did writing it. If you did not, then I can only congratulate you on your perseverance in making it this far!
The entire concept for the series first took hold very, very, early one morning almost three years ago. When I was tossing and turning trying to get to sleep, but couldn’t as my head was filled with images of two ships, conducting a duet of death, a ballet between the asteroids, against a backdrop of stars.
This went on for weeks and I tried everything to get these images out of my head, including repeatedly banging it against a wall, with little success. Finally I took pen to paper (metaphorically) and committed the scene to paper (eventually). This became the first chapter that I wrote of
The Last Praetorian
, the clash of ships and wills, between Jon and Miranda. As their story progressed something very strange started to happen, as I originally envisaged them becoming a couple, yet Jon constantly refused to follow the narrative set for him. When he was meant to be romancing Miranda, he was staring despondently out at the stars. Instead of some bold decisive leader, he was introvert, distant and haunted.
Like Jon, I too felt something was missing.
It was around this time that piracy around the seas of Somalia was on the rise and merchant vessels were routinely starting to take on private security. I read a number of articles on this, with most of these people being made up of ex-army, navy, Special Forces, etc. This started to make me wonder what happens to all those brave men and women who selflessly serve in the Armed Forces, before eventually leaving, voluntary or otherwise. It was from these thoughts that the idea of the crew of Terra Nova materialised, along with the wonderful characters of Paul, Gunny, Jason, David and the Doctor.
It was the back-story that interested me most, you see I am, and always will be a huge ”Star Wars” fan. I remember, as a young boy enthralled, watching the massive starships conquer the silver screen. Yet I had very little interest or time for the Rebels, they seemed to me to be nothing but a bunch of troublemakers, I was far more taken by the idea of the Empire and Imperial Navy. Aside from the rather mentally unhinged, mostly homicidal leaders, this seemed to be a professional organisation staffed by well-trained men and women, dedicated to keeping the peace - for it is far harder to build something, than to tear it down.
Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by the news of one politician or another guilty of corruption, embezzlement or highly dubious moral behaviour. It left me with a very jaded view of politicians and politics, that has remained with me for most of my life. So this got me wondering, what would it be like to have such an Empire, ruled not by some unhinged tyrant, but by a decent, honest chap? Somebody that cared for others and put their needs, and their wants, before his or her own. I found that a very intriguing proposition and decided it was something that I would like to explore further. Hence the Imperium, Emperor and Imperial Navy came into being.
This only left one story element missing - Sofia. I think that at one time or another most of us have experienced unrequited love or, in Jon and Sofia’s case, a love that was always destined never to be. It must be one of the most painful lessons we ever experience growing up, turning us from children into adults.
The lesson that no matter how much we might desire somebody, it can never be.
This brings me full circle, back to where I started off and, seeing that you have made it this far, I will leave you with a final terrible confession. You see the story that you have just read was never meant to end this way. When I initially conceived the idea of the three books, a trilogy, it was to be more than that, a cycle, an endless circle. If you think back to the very first scene of
The Last Praetorian
with the Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, as he stared out at the stars, lost in the memories of his dead wife and concerned for his daughter - that was how
Pax Imperia
was meant to have ended. You see the terrible truth is that in the original story Sofia died during the attack on Eden Prime. Jon became Emperor, but never seceded his power. Instead, spending the rest of his days, like his father-in-law, desperately seeking the star that was Sofia, his wife, to be eventually succeeded by their son - Marcus Aurelius-Radec.
But something changed halfway through writing the series; maybe I learnt something from the characters that I created. That you should never give up, as there is
always
hope.
Mike Smith
6
th
January 2014
Shanghai, China
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