Chapter 34 Angel in the dark
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"So, can I expect you at the afternoon status meeting?" He asked, turning to follow.
"Don't bet on it!" Tamar called back, a cheery smile on her face where before a perpetual frown rested.
The next morning, Malachi rose from a sound sleep. Sleep? He didn't need to sleep. With his suit on, he had stopped needing sleep over three months ago. Then he remembered the day before, how when Tamar had almost begged him to help her, something unlocked. A new mode had appeared on his HUD, stasis. When he had selected it, his suit had shrunk, peeling off him until it was the size of and the shape of a wristwatch. Rolling over, his arm bumped against something, something soft, soft, warm, and very much in the bed with him.
"Don't worry, we didn't do anything last night. I wouldn't do that to you, as much as I wanted to." A mumbled voice came from under one of the large pillows.
Malachi let himself fall back into the covers and relaxed. Then he rolled over and snaked an arm under the covers and over the slim form that was under them but not under the pillow. He felt her shiver and smiled. He couldn't wait until he could do more than just hold her, and he slipped his hand back. It wasn't fair to her to be building passions that he was unwilling to satisfy, so for now he would just have to keep his hands to himself, as much as he didn't want to.
"Where did you go to?" Tamar's arm wormed from under the pillow, her hand landing on Malachi's chest.
With a grunt, she pulled herself over to him. The feel of her fur against his skin was intoxicating. When she shifted, beginning to worm her way closer Malachi threw his feet off his edge of the bed and sat up.
"Hey, where are you going?" Tamar growled, pushing herself off the bed onto her elbows.
Looking back at her over his shoulder, Malachi had to chuckle.
"And what exactly are you laughing at?" She smiled, spitting a wad of hair out of her mouth.
"I've heard of bed head, but you take it to a whole new level." He flopped back down, his head resting on her stomach.
"What did you expect?" She whipped the mass of hair out of her face, grabbed two fists full and flung it into Malachi's face. "Here, have some. See how you like it."
"I could have this in my face all day and never get tired of it." He said through a mouth full of hair.
Tugging gently on the long black strands, Malachi pulled Tamar down to him. This was where he belonged, his arms wrapped around this tiny girl, her body wrapped around his. He was just glad they were both still clothed, or they might never leave this room.
With a yawn, Tamar sat up and slipped off the bed. Walking to their small dresser, she began to flip through the few pieces of clothing they had been giving. Malachi heard a lilting hum begin to come from her. He had heard her hum before, but this was different, he'd heard that tune before.
"What is that?" He asked, sitting up.
"What's what?"
"That music you're humming."
"I have no idea. I was humming?" She turned in the middle of pulling a stark white t-shirt over her chest. "How in the hell am I supposed to know? Ever since you put that piece of your suit in me, I've been hearing all kinds of things in my head."
"How in the hell?" Malachi mumbled, then it clicked.
"Out of Hell, Skillet, two thousand and sixteen."
"What are you taking about?" Tamar asked, walking over to the bed and sitting next to him.
"The song you're humming. Do you want to hear it?"
"Will I like it; it must be really old if you've heard it."
"Very funny, child. Yeah, I think you'll like it. Besides, I think it'll explain why you're humming it."
"Oh really, how are we going to listen to it? We don't exactly have a music player, or whatever they're called?"
Malachi again came to realize just how much this girl hadn't ever seen or experienced. All she'd ever known was darkness and pain. He knew why her mind had picked this song from his, only now he had to let her experience it for herself, and it might be a bit pointed for her.
"Okay," he laid down on the bed and beckoned for her to lie on his chest.
Tamar quirked her head to the side but slid into him without question.
"Why are we doing this? I thought we were getting ready to leave?" Tamar asked after she was still and comfortable, happy for any excuse to be where she was at that moment.
"Do you trust me?" He whispered.
"Why?"
"Because your mind was drawn to this song. You see, I had a collection of really old music when I was growing up. All the contemporary music was too soft for me. So I came upon a group name Skillet. They were Christian rock and were awesome. Their music still is. I have every single one of their songs memorized. So when we've been sleeping, your mind must have picked through mine and picked this song and some others, and now I think it's time for you to know why."
Out from the walls came a hard drumbeat, accompanied by equally hard guitar riffs. Then the words began.
"Pushed around beaten down. All hope is gone, got buried deep underground," and Tamar flinched. But when the chorus started, her eyes snapped open."
"Oh, can you see me? Oh, can you hear me?"
"Can you hear me screaming for you? I'm afraid I'm gonna die down here. I can't save, I can't save myself. Get me out, get me out of hell." Tamar squeezed her eyes shut, buried her face in his chest and listened. "I'm suffocating waited for you, cause the angels don't fly down here. I need you because no one else, can get me out, get me out of hell."
Malachi felt her shutter with every word. They described her life almost perfectly.
"I can't trust anyone. All I got was another scarred, broken heart. I've been stabbed in the back; the bleeding won't stop. Just another cut in the dark. Oh, can you hear me? Oh, can you see me?" The song went on. Soon Malachi felt Tamar's tears on his chest, and he held her close. This time he could feel them on his skin for the first time he actually felt them. He'd known the song would affect her and he hated thinking he was the source of her pain. So, he just held her and waited.
"I can feel you now! Get me out, get me out of hell. I need you because no one else can get me out get me out of hell!"
The song had been finished for a long minute before either of them stirred.
"But my angel did." Tamar whispered.
"What?"
"My angel came as low as I needed him to. My angel in the darkness." Tamar pushed her fingers through his close-cropped black hair, marveling at the man who held her in his arms.
"Hey now, I wouldn't call me an angel. I'm as human as the next guy."
"You're the only man I've even heard of that would even say that. You've got enough power to wipe life from this planet, yet no one would know it. You're gentle to me in ways I could have never expected and will never deserve. Mal, you love me like I'm the most precious thing in the universe, when I'm not, and never will be." Now it was Tamar's turn to feel Malachi tremble. It was the rumble of deep power, power ready to explode.
"You are to me." He lifted her off the bed with him in one motion until they were both standing in the center of the room. "There is nothing more important to me than you, nothing. You are my world, my universe. I won't let anything happen to you, ever. As long as I'm alive, you will be safe."
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"Captain, all damages are now repaired. Energy levels are at maximum, and she'll answer all bells, sir."
"Very good Ensign, what say we make our enemies uncomfortable, shall we?" A chorus of cheers followed Captain Prey's words.
"Central, just as we discussed. Drop us between the orbits of Uranus and Saturn, and make sure those aliens see us." Within seconds, the nest was gone in a gigantic shimmer of distorted space.
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Malachi sat bolt upright in his bed, his suit snapping around him with a hiss of escaping air as it sealed. Tamar had to dig into the mattress to keep from being thrown off.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing, the nest just jumped back into the system. I can finally get you somewhere safe."
"I'm safe right here, with you." She touched his chest and his suit rippled at the contact. She knew that to her that would never grow old. He might be able to hide everything that he was from most people, but not from her.
"I know, but this planet and its people aren't. I have to get you to the nest so I can do my job." He swung his legs off the bed and stood.
"And that is?" She asked, knowing she wasn't going to like the answer.
"I, and the people on my ship, are the only hope this planet has. I have a sneaking suspicion these Rougarians are interested in this place for a lot more than the natural resources."
"But I don't want you getting hurt, not for me, not for anyone. I just met you. I'm not going to lose you now." She grabbed his face and kissed him through his suit, knowing he could feel it.
"But it's what I was born to do. Do you think God had this suit placed on me by accident? No, this is my purpose, as surely as loving you is." He kissed her on the forehead, turned, and headed for the door.
"Why are you so pigheaded sometimes?" Tamar screamed at him, the sonic force enough to bring bits of rock from the ceiling.
"Because I know when I'm right, and I don't back down when I know I'm right, not even from you. Now let's go." Tamar hated it, but she knew he was right and for the first time in her life she was worried about someone. Her heart ached as they left the room and headed for the main shaft, knowing where it would lead them. Back to the surface, back to war.
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