The Tale of the Blood Diamond (34 page)

“Mother, you do not understand.” Xzion took a deep breath, placed his gun on the table before him and looked at his parents at the other end of the long, banquet display. “Even if I wanted to stop this war, I can’t now. If the Yuledrakes conquered Earth, they would feel braver to go and try the same with other planets. Not to mention, they have been working on ways to penetrate our protective force field for decades. You are not a Warrior, only a Warrior carrier. You do not understand.”

His mother looked away from him, not offering another word, though her disapproval was quite evident.

“Your sister contacted me. She stated that —”

“Yes, I am fully aware of what happened, Father. A Morphitian entered my dwelling upon my absence and my mate had to eradicate him.” Xzion shrugged his shoulders. “I was notified soon after the incident. Jayme and Cxeza are fine.”

“So, you are going through with this? Do you understand how dangerous, dare I say, foolhardy this is?” his father warned.

“Everything I do is dangerous. This has been our problem as a people, Father. It was also dangerous for me to be on Earth, murdering the drug dealers, but I heard no objection from you then, now did I?! We are selfish. If an issue didn’t directly affect us, we stayed out of it. Our ancestors were not this way — yet we’ve adopted this way of life, and it is shameful. You were all in agreement to help the humans until you realized the Yuledrakes had pulled others into the fight, and Fyiat had been killed.” Xzion paused. Fyiat was a warrior Zarkstormian who had commanded a lot of respect and clout. When his body was located, he’d been decapitated. No doubt, the Yuledrakes took it to study his skull, his computerized brain and eye…keeping it like a prize. Fyiat had been in the academy, the military institute, at the same time Xzion had attended. They were competitive friends, and he hadn’t had any time to grieve, but deep inside, it only nurtured the hatred he had for Jatorn, as if it could grow any larger.

“I applaud what Xzion is trying to do,” Aton said, coming to his pupil’s defense.

Everyone, minus the quiet Zachary who was perched happily on his father’s lap, looked astonished.

“When he told me his plan, I too, was concerned; however, this is what he was trained to do. It is honorable.”

Xzion’s father slowly nodded, as if new understanding was coming through. Xzion understood his parents revered Aton, practically worshipped the man. Nothing
he
said would change their mind, but Aton could. Regardless of their opinions on the matter, his mind was made up. He kissed the top of Zachary’s head and hugged him tightly.

“He is…a nice boy,” his mother offered without the hint of a smile, but he could tell the cold-hearted woman was sincere.

Xzion nodded. “Yes, he is. He is also loving and caring…and intelligent as well.”

There was a long pause.

“Did you enjoy your morning with your grandparents?” Aton asked, a smile on his face as he gleamed at the youngster.

Zachary nodded, smiling back a bit shyly.

“Great great grandpa, too.”

Aton’s complexion grew impossibly paler as his lips drew downward.

Xzion looked at Zachary in confusion, then back at Aton.

“What is going on here?” he questioned Aton, unable to remove the worry from his tone.

“Oh, you see, Xzion. I can explain. Well, you see…” he stumbled over his words, which was totally unlike Aton. “It began with a game of hide and seek, and then —”

Just then, the security alarm to Xzion’s parents’ home went off. Xzion seized his gun, jumped from his seat and deposited his child into Aton’s arms before storming past everyone to the front of the house.

“Everyone stay put!” he yelled out as he made his way past the open, vast rooms, his eye checking out each nook and cranny in record seconds as he passed. He sighed in relief when he saw two Zarkstormian security officers standing inside the vast, shiny, black foyer.

“Why didn’t you knock or ring the bell? Why have you broken into my parents’ home?”

“We didn’t,” one of them huffed, out of breath. They moved away from one another, like doors opening, revealing a sight that almost stopped his heart. The man sat in a wheel chair, but it was
definitely
him. “
He
did.” They pointed to the man. “He shot the door down with his eye…”

Xzion fell to his knees and bowed his head before him. Placing his gun on the ground, he kissed the floor in front of the man. He kept his eyes closed as he heard the wheels of the chair coming forward. They stopped short of his fingertips. Suddenly, an icy cold, heavy palm covered the top of his head.

“Get up. We have work to do…” he said in their native language.

The deep voice rumbled through his body, all the way to the core, shaking the damn foundation of the house. Xzion slowly rose, but before he fully stood, he heard footsteps racing behind him. Soon, Aton was falling to his knees, and his parents followed suit. He looked around and took note of Zachary standing to his far left.

“Great Great Grandpa…”

“Is this your son?” Zahar questioned, causing the entire room to shake once again.

“Yes, it is. His name is Zachary.”

Without saying another word, the Ancient Warrior kicked the sides of the chair away, and stood. Everyone looked at the man in awe as he took slow steps until he’d reached the tiny child.

He picked him up and sniffed him. Zachary shook in his grasp.

“No fear,” the man uttered as he studied the lad. “No need to be afraid.”

Zachary relaxed a bit in his grip. Xzion watched closely, his fists closing and opening at his sides in rapid speed.

“You woke me. You pushed something…you should not have.”

“I’m…I’m sorry…” A tear ran down the boy’s face.

Zahar gently took his large thumb and wiped the tear away.

“Everything happens for a reason.” He shot Xzion a glare. “Where is this boy’s mother? I want to see her,” he demanded, still holding on to his great, great grandson with a new possessiveness.

“Great Grandfather, she is an Earthling. That is where she resides.”

Initially, the Warrior looked confused, then possibly angry, but just after that, a grin creased his face.

“This boy is half human…” He looked at Zachary with wonder in his pitch-black, illustrious eyes. “That explains his actions.” He looked at him again and smiled.

Xzion smirked. He was surprised Zahar had such a dry sense of humor. He placed the child gently back down to the ground.

“In my dream, I heard this man,” he pointed to Aton, who was now standing and seemingly shocked silent, “speaking of a war with Yuledrakes. I wish to go back to sleep, but before I do, I am going to end this.”

“Honorable Zahar, I’m afraid it isn’t that simple,” Aton interrupted, rushing towards the man. “You see —”

“I will not argue!” His voice boomed. “You!” He pointed to Xzion. “Brief me on the situation…let me see your eye…” Suddenly, the room glowed red as the old warrior booted his own laser, causing everyone to place their arms over their face to block the glow. It was like nothing Xzion had ever seen. “Come here!” he demanded.

Xzion moved towards him, stood still and waited as the warrior grasped his eye and removed the camera with a gentle yank. It wasn’t just the lens, as Aton had done, but the whole damned thing. This was typically a surgical procedure that took great precision, but now, it was done and all Xzion could do was fall to his knees in debilitating pain. It was repairable, so he didn’t worry, but he kept his screams of agony internal.

Aton approached the giant, took the camera and turned it on. Everyone remained quiet and still like statues as Zahar watched the war footage. After a while, Xzion was picked up from the floor. His great grandfather grabbed him with strength he’d never felt before and slammed him against the wall, causing it to fracture. Carefully, and with gentle hands, he placed his great grandson’s eye back into the socket, twisting and turning it into position. Surprisingly, it worked and would need only minor repairs to the main system stem, which had been torn from the motherboard.

“You and I are going to Drakenard tonight. I must eat and pray, and then, we will leave.” He turned away and slowly made his way back to his wheelchair. “In the meantime, have your eye repaired and rest.”

“But —”

“No more talking. Be ready, or else…”

The warrior took his leave, his back turned as he exited the door he’d sawed off with his eye.

Xzion turned towards everyone, then picked his gun off from the ground.

“There appears to have been a change in plans…”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Jayme snatched Cxeza’s arm, yanking the woman closer as she looked around the precinct. At least five male officers were gawking at the woman, sizing her up and down with eyes drowning in pools of lust.

“They think you’re some street walker, Cxeza!” Jayme whispered between clenched teeth as she escorted the sexy siren into her cubby-hole office, then slammed and locked the door. Jayme rounded her desk and sank in the chair. She was working on five hours of sleep, three of which had been spent tossing and turning on the damned couch. She couldn’t bring herself to sleep in her bedroom again — not so soon. She couldn’t stay in her son’s room, either, for fear she’d become melancholy; and the guest room was stock piled with weapons, which left nowhere to sleep but the damn floor.

“Street walker?” Cxeza tilted her head ever so slightly, confusion swirling in her dark brown eyes.

“Prostitute. Whore. Hooker.”

“Ahhhhh.” She laughed lightly as she ran her finger along the edge of Jayme’s desk before leisurely taking a seat. “Is that bad here?”

Jayme looked at the woman, dumb-founded. She was prepared to answer, but just couldn’t. She didn’t have the energy to explain the sex trade and what it entailed.

“I thought you people didn’t have a sense of humor naturally? You sure do laugh and smile a lot now,” Jayme noted while removing a stack of papers from her desk and flinging them haphazardly on the floor. Her slick ponytail was a bit too tight, but instead of loosening it, she popped an aspirin.

“I like to watch humans. You smile and laugh a lot, so I do, too. I don’t want to be…what do you call it?”

“Obvious?”

“Yes, yes, that’s it…”

Jayme turned on her computer and scanned her emails. A new set of leads had materialized for a case regarding a missing mother and young child that were last seen leaving with an elderly man from the bus terminal. It definitely felt like small, moldy potatoes compared to what she’d currently endured, and the mundanity of this case she found oddly comforting at that moment.

“I came down here, Jayme, to take you to dinner this evening. We’ve not spent much time together. Decisions are being made regarding our time here, and I could be leaving soon. Not to mention, I’ve been feeling poorly lately.”

Jayme’s eyes slowly lifted towards the woman. Her empathy immediately kicked in. She hadn’t even thought about it. Of course, Cxeza would be feeling it all by now. She wasn’t like her brother; she was pure Warrior, not the strange concoction he turned out to be.

“I’m sorry, Cxeza.” Her tone softened. “Is there anything I can do, you know, to help you?” She had decided days ago to be the bigger person, to live by example and show this young lady how to act.

“No.” She shook her head and lowered her gaze. Her long, dark brown hair with a slight wave hung forward, shrouding most of her flawless skin. “Home is the only cure…it’s your air.” She waved her hand towards the ceiling then clasped her fingers together, her lip turned up ever so slightly. “Unless you are a human vacuum, and can remove it, nothing can change my predicament.”

“Well then, the least I can do, I suppose, is have dinner with you. I can’t recall the last time I was at a restaurant.” She stood from her chair and scooted it in. “Do you eat like your brother?”

“What do you mean?” The woman’s eyes squinted.

“Do you only eat vegetables and practically raw meat?”

“Yes, we have a similar diet. Do you know of some place that can cater to me? Otherwise, I can just watch you eat. That would be fine.”

“No, I think I can take you to a steak house that will serve you something very rare and the vegetables are easy.” She reached for her coat then paused to look Cxeza up and down. “I think you better change your clothes, though. You really haven’t been out in public in the early hours, and sister, this get up has got to go!”

The woman looked down at herself, surveying the attire that clung to her body like a second skin.

“But I have nothing else. Everything I brought looks just like this.”

“Hmmm, we are about the same size. Hold on.” Jayme turned her back and reached into a box, pulling out a worn pair of jeans and a white button-down shirt. “The shirt is a little wrinkled. I always keep a casual outfit here, and a jogging suit. This will work for where we are going. It’s nothing fancy.”

She handed the clothes to her sister-in-law and watched her quickly undress. Jayme tried not to stare but found it remarkable that, just like her brother, her body, too, was flawless. The siblings were about the same complexion, and their eyes were spitting images of one another. Of course, Cxeza exuded femininity but seemed rather oblivious to it. She dressed the way she did not to gander attention, but because she found it comfortable; and where she came from, it didn’t cause a batted eye or prolonged stare.

“Okay, fine, right?” The woman did a three-sixty-degree turn.

“Yes, you look good.” Jayme grabbed her keys, opened her office door and exited the area with Cxeza in tow. Men scrambled to crane their necks to get an eyeful, their faces soon falling with disappointment after seeing the change of attire.

“Too damn bad, isn’t it? Ya bunch uh perverts!” Jayme laughed, taunting the guys, causing them to laugh back in response.

“They enjoyed my prior apparel better, I take it?”

“Yes, you get an ‘A’ plus on that one!” Jayme cackled. The duo climbed into her police car and hit the streets. The conversation was stiff, unyielding and awkward. She had no idea what to say to Cxeza. She didn’t seem to understand half of what she tried to tell her, and the other half earned her fragmented, strained responses. But Jayme did have a lot of questions that she felt another woman, despite their differences, may be able to explain to her — to make her understand about her husband and the world he came from.

She tapped her sister-in-law’s hand; a smile budded across her face as she considered the possibilities. Cxeza smiled at Jayme, but Jayme had no idea if it was real or just her trained response to such an act of affection. It felt good to be out, to be in her company, and most of all, it was nice to have someone else to talk to besides the voices in her own head…

****

“I think you’ve had enough wine.” Jayme smirked as she grabbed the bottle of Colterenzo Lagrein red away from the tipsy woman. Cxeza’s eyes hooded.

“Ohhhhh, but it’s soooo good!” she slurred. Her accent reminded Jayme slightly of Spanish, but like Xzion, it was not quite one familiar language or another. Their dialect was definitely unique to a trained ear.

“So, my brother spoke to me about you.”

“What do you mean?” Jayme cut into a braised piece of asparagus as the noises of patrons slicing steaks and speaking meandered all around.

“He wanted to explain to me what you meant to him. I found it odd.” She shrugged. “But I respected his wishes. As I’ve watched you, I can see why he likes you now…loves you, actually.” She nodded in her direction then gently placed the glass to her lips.

“Okay.” Jayme chewed and swallowed. “That’s good to know, I suppose.”

“You’re not like the others.”

Jayme tossed her fork down and clasped her hands together; an attitude had been tapped on the shoulder and told to wake the fuck up. The woman was
going
there…

“Don’t do that. Let me tell you something.” She pointed her finger across the table. “Most of you Zarkstormians have a superiority complex. You think you’re smarter than we are, better than we are at every damned thing ,and even if that were true, that still doesn’t give any of you the right to come here with a chip on your shoulder. Let’s be real here. You’d be dead if it wasn’t for this so-called inferior human, okay? So you can go on somewhere else with that mess. I’ve heard enough of it.”

The woman’s eye shined; the right one, just like her brother’s. The glimmer grew stronger then dissipated.

“
Chip on shoulder
. The phrase having a chip on one's shoulder refers to holding a grudge or grievance that readily provokes disputation.”

Jayme rolled her eyes. “You could’ve just
asked
me. You didn’t have to look it up in your…” she waved her fork lazily towards the woman’s face, “computerized killing eye.” She took another bite of her steak, taking note of the bloody pool left on her sister-in-law’s plate. The woman had devoured her meal in five minutes flat.

“I do not mean to have a chip on my shoulder, as you say. When I say that you are different, I mean, you do not judge us. I imagine it is difficult for you, having your life turned upside down like this. It can’t be easy to love someone you don’t completely understand.”

Jayme now felt foolish jumping to conclusions. She’d had a knee-jerk reaction after hearing such high and mighty talk from Xzion in the past, as well as many of his constituents over the past couple of weeks, including the woman who sat before her. It stirred her nerves. Comments such as:

She’s kind of smart for an Earthling,
said as if it were a compliment, something she should hold near and dear to her warm blooded heart.

She’s faster than a lot of them; boy are they slow. How can they survive this way?
She rolled her eyes at that one.

“I apologize. It seems I misunderstood your intent.” She watched the woman down another glass.

“You know alcohol doesn’t affect me, right?”

Jayme’s tense face relaxed and she laughed, tapping the table with her fingertips as she leaned back.

“I completely forgot about that! We have so much to learn about each other.”

“What I know right now is that my brother risked his position, ranking, and status for you. I do not understand love, Jayme. I will not pretend as though I do. It is an odd and unnecessary concept to me. I have no interest in it. I feel two people can be fond of one another and have just as fulfilling a relationship.”

“Well, Cxeza, I’m not surprised by your statements.” Jayme shrugged and cut into another piece of asparagus. “That’s how you and Xzion, and everyone else from there, was raised. You’ve had centuries of that ideology being driven into you. From what Xzion has told me, however, your people weren’t always like that. In fact, they were quite the passionate sort. It seems a bit of a pity to me that such a rich history is looked upon as less than admirable.”

The woman just stared at her, possibly mulling over the information, or possibly dismissing it and thinking of other things altogether. Of that, Jayme wasn’t certain.

“Love is what enables Morphitians to gain access to you…that beast used your love for your grandmother. He accessed photos of her and attempted to duplicate her appearance. He knew you loved her. You see? That made you weak. My educated guess is that you keep a photo of her on display in your home and something close to that display let him know she was deceased.”

Jayme lowered her head and smiled, a sad smile as she drifted in yet another pool of sorrow. “If love makes me weak, then weak is what I am, Cxeza. I am weak for my grandmother, weak for my fellow humans’ well-being and terribly weak for my child and your brother. To me, weakness isn’t equivalent to loving another entity though… Weakness is hiding from love.”

Tension built like a Lego tower and the shit would hurt underfoot, lest someone stumble over their words. Cxeza offered nothing but a death stare.

“Now, regarding the photo…yes.” Jayme put her knife down. “Right next to her framed photo in our living room is a little card with something we call, ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ and on that card I wrote, ‘Rest in Peace.’” Jayme shook her head in disbelief as she looked down into her lap, trying to keep the dark emotions at bay.  She felt Cxeza’s eyes on her, sizing her up as though she were a damn spectacle.

“He’d been in your home for quite some time before he made his move…” Cxeza added as she reached over and grabbed the half empty bottle of wine, pouring herself another generous glass. “That’s what they do. They hunt you, watch you, then make their move. They like to bring out emotions in their victims so that when they turn to their true form, the fear is magnified. They like it all. They call it ‘seasoning’, if you will…like salt and pepper.”

Jayme shuddered at the notion. The image of the damned thing still haunted her.  She took another bite of her food and decided to lighten the load, relax the flow of the conversation a bit.

“Tell me, what do you think of our son, your nephew?”

“Zachary?” Cxeza leaned back in the booth and crossed her long legs. “I think he is an enchanting, miraculous creature whom I envy.” Her tone was serious and so was her expression.

Jayme was taken aback at the woman’s response, and didn’t care about her child being referred to as a ‘creature’, although to Zarkstormians, being referred to as such was not an insult. Xzion called people that all the time and it was not stated in a negative way.

“Interesting. Why so?’

“Well, for the obvious.” She swished the wine around in the glass. “This tastes absolutely divine.” The woman looked down in the glass, going off track. “Back to the child, though… You see, he is the first of his kind, and well, he was born into
my
family, so, I cannot help but find him fascinating and noteworthy.  Not to mention, he has cured my people, Jayme, just as you stated to me. So many of our enemies were waiting eagerly for us to die off and become extinct, but now, all of that is over…thanks to what you and my brother shared. I suppose in retrospect, I could in fact learn from your relationship, and possibly, from you personally.”