Chapter 57 Water
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"Captain, you advised me to let you know if any high-level power functions were accessed outside of my normal operations."
"Yes, Central, what have we got?"
"Several hundred square miles of the ship have been energized. Including the access gates to habitat thirty-seven B. I did not begin the sequence and there is no way it could have been initiated outside of my control without outside interference."
"Malachi." Captain Prey muttered. "How in the world is he able to force his way into your systems like that? Neither I nor Joshua can even pry our way past your firewalls. So how is he able to?"
"I have no idea, sir. But he seems to be quite good at it, and getting better as time goes by. I can tell the area he's in by what areas keep lighting up, other than that, nothing."
"You can track everything onboard this ship, but you can't track him or her?"
"Nothing. He won't let any of my scanners pick him up anywhere."
"Great, just great, well at least they're both far enough away they can't cause any more problems. She almost killed nurse Jenkins. Once they're back, she's going to have some serious explaining to do."
"Just tread carefully, sir. She sent you through a wall when you tried to get between them. What do you think he'll do if you try to come down too hard on her?"
"What is this place?" Tamar asked. She could smell the change in the air. There was a new and surprising freshness she could feel with every breath.
"It's a surprise." She got the same answer she'd received the last dozen or more times she'd asked.
Tamar had noticed that the further they walked, the better her man seemed to be. It was more than that. She could feel how his body was healing, every muscle fiber, blood vessel, piece of skin that knitted back together she could feel as if it was happening to her.
"These places are supposed to be kept off limits to the crew, and yes, the captain wasn't happy that I overrode Central's protocols, but I don't care." He stopped in front of a massive door and turned to Tamar.
"I know I was never able to show you what a real forest looks like," he raised a hand and the massive door rose along with it. "So, I thought I'd bring you here."
She was stopped cold. The door slid up and her heart skipped a beat. Before her, for a far as she could see, was an endless sea of green. What looked like light from an evening sun filtered down through the huge trees? A slight breeze blew from somewhere off to her left, and every muscle in her quivered. On that faint breeze was something she thought she'd never smell. Up wind, not far, but if she had to guess about a hundred yards were about three moose. Their scent screamed to her to hunt, to track, attack, kill. Dropping to all fours, she slunk through the door and turned. Malachi just stood there watching her with those soft, light blue eyes. Tamar stopped and stood. She did not want to be seen as a cat, especially in front of this man. So when he motioned with his hand for her to go, she shook her head. He didn't understand, no one did.
"I brought you here so you could hunt. What are you waiting for?" He pointed up wind. "There's four of them that way. Just save some back straps for me, okay?"
Tears welled in Tamar's eyes. He did understand her. He'd known what she would do before they even got here. She shouldn't have been surprised, but she still was. He loved her enough to come after her, and here he was giving her something she'd never expected to have. So with a very girly squeal, she shot off into the trees only to stop about thirty yards away, reverse direction and ran back to him. Jumping into his arms, her head shot forward, and she kissed him hard on the lips. When she was finally finished, she whispered.
"Thanks." With another girlish squeal, she shot into the thick woods.
Hours later, Malachi rose from where he had been resting. With a quick scan of his energy readings, he suited up. With the final snap his suit sealed every inch of his body, encasing him fully. For the first time in far too long, his body remembered the sensation of invincibility. He could do anything, hear everything, see everything. There was nothing he could not do if he put his mind to it. Beyond that, he had come to realize something profound in all the days he had in forced bed rest. It wasn't his mind that controlled his suit, it was his emotions. Everyone of them could power him with differing measurements of power. But to his surprise, it wasn't his hatred, or anger that filled him with energy, it was love, compassion, his desire to defend those who couldn't protect themselves. But mostly his love for the young woman who was at that every instant was sleeping off a huge meal about three miles from his current position.
With a single bound, he jumped into the forest canopy. The exhilaration of flight took his breath away. He had forgotten the feeling of complete control he experienced when his suit was augmenting him. It was like he was lit by some inner fire, a fire nothing could smother.
Landing near the truck of a huge oak, he surveyed the area, trying to pinpoint Tamar's location. Out against so much life, her signature was hard to distinguish. Then he remembered. Squatting low on the enormous branch, he closed his eyes and focused inward. It took him only about four seconds to find her. She was two point six miles from him, north by northwest.
Leaping off the branch, at his mental command, huge black wings sprang from his back. Unlike before, where he could only glide with them, now they could carry him wherever he wanted. Flinging them downward, he shot through the small branches into open air. Climbing to five hundred feet, he pinpointed Tamar's location and dove. Landing within twenty feet of her, he made no more sound than a mouse scampering among the leaves.
She was hidden at the base of an enormous maple, its roots forming a natural bowl that spread out from its trunk. Blood covered the entire top half of the young woman and as he stalked closer, he detected the unmistakable sound of purring.
"I may be covered in blood, but you should see the other guy." A huge yawn split her face as she rolled over towards him.
"And here I thought I was sneaking up on you." Tamar could hear the disappointment in his voice.
"You won't be doing anymore sneaking up on me. I could feel where you were the instant you jumped out of that tree. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to clean all of this," she motioned to her head and chest. "Off."
"And how are you going to do that?"
"Like this." Malachi watched her lick the back of her hand until it was wet with saliva, then rub her right cheek. The part of her face it touched looked a little less blood covered, but at that rate it would take her the rest of the day to get clean.
"There is a small lake about a mile from here. You could wash all that off, you know." Malachi knew what he was asking, and her response was expected.
"You mean in water, don't you?" It wasn't a question, and Malachi knew it.
"Yeah, and I know you don't like water, and I don't blame you. But I love water, and it'll be a lot easier getting all of that off than licking it for the next five hours."
"What? I like licking myself. It's soothing. Besides, if I look so much like a cat, I might as well play the part, right?"
"I thought you wanted to be more human?" Malachi asked, again knowing the answer before she spoke.
"That's around everyone else. With you, I can just be myself." She resumed her grooming, having no idea how much her few simple words meant to him.
He had never thought he would ever meet, yet alone fall in love with someone. With his chosen profession, he hadn't wanted to. He never wanted to put someone through the never-ending wondering if he would come home. The terror of not ever knowing just what he did. That was when his world was turned upside down.
He was now over three hundred years old and had found someone. Someone who was perfect. She was fierce, proud, infuriating, stubborn, beautiful, yet at the same time was so vulnerable.
Tamar was the most powerful woman he'd ever met, yet she wanted none of it. What she wanted was to be a young woman in love with a man who could, and would, protect her. She didn't want to fight anymore, and Malachi was going to fulfill that wish, or die trying.
"Okay, you can clean yourself however you want and I'll swim. How about that?"
"Fine, but I'm not getting close that water. You can do whatever you want in it. I'll just watch.
A few minutes later, Malachi led Tamar out of the thick vegetation and out onto the top of a slight rise. Below they swept a gentle meadow. Deep thick grass led the way to the edge of a small crystal-clear lake. Tamar froze, her grip on Malachi's hand increasing by the second.
"I know what this means to you, Tamar." He stepped in front of her then spun to face her. "But I'm here for you this time. This water has no power over you now." Placing his right hand over her heart, he drew her into a hug. "It has only the power you give it." With that, he let go of her hand, turned and walked towards the water.
Tamar stalked back and forth in the spot Malachi had left her. She knew he wanted her to follow him, but she couldn't. He was walking at a snail's pace to give her the most time to make her decision. Why did he always have to do that? Why couldn't he have just run and jumped in the water? Didn't he know he was putting more pressure on her by moving as slowly as he was?
Of course, I do She heard his voice in the back of her head.
"Would you stop doing that?" Her pacing accelerated until she was wearing a grove in the grass.
The faster she moved, the more she wanted to run to him. The more she wanted to run to him, the more terrified she became. Until, shaking like a leaf, she took a single step forward, then another, and another, until she caught up with the dark figure in front of her.
The closer they approached the water, the slower Tamar put one foot in front of the other until she was moving at a crawl.
"Stay here." Malachi brought her to a stop then proceeded to the water's edge. Stepping into the cool liquid, he waded out until it was up to his knees. Turning without raising a ripple, he looked back to Tamar.
"You don't have to come in if you don't want to. But if you do," his suit shrank off him until he was once again wearing only a pair of white shorts. "I'll always be here to help you work through this."
Tamar wanted to scream. The general had taken so much from her. She couldn't even enjoy something so simple as a swim with the man she loved. So she made a decision. She decided to take her life back, to push through all the walls Hayworth had tried to cage her with. All the times she'd been punished for failure, every time they'd forced her into the freezing cold vat, then pulled her out more dead than alive. None of that would stop her, nothing would. So with her eyes locked on Malachi's, Tamar took her first step forward, then another, and another. None were easy. Tears flowed down her cheeks until her hair was wet with them. Then she was at the water's edge and she stopped. The cat within recoiled at the very notion of placing any part of her body in. Shifting her body weight from foot to foot, she hesitated, until Malachi lifted his hand, inviting her to take it. With a growl, she sprang off the bank. Malachi had miscalculated and not went far enough from the bank. Instead of landing in the water, Tamar landed on his back. Spinning around on top of him, she made sure no part of her body touched the water.
"This is not what I had in mind." He chuckled, brushing her long black hair out of his face.
"One step at a time, big boy. Now just don't move and I'll be fine." Tamar was perched on his shoulders, her feet on either side of his head, her hand resting on the top of it.
"Oh, you mean like this." And he went to throw himself over backwards.
Tamar's shriek could be heard for hundreds of yards in every direction, frighting birds out of trees far and wide.
"That was not funny!" She swatted him on the side of the head.
"Oh, come on, it was a little funny. Now come on, it's not even cold." He bent at the knees until he could splash his hand into the water, kicking up a fan of droplets in every direction.
Tamar hissed, her claws racking his shoulders.
"Don't do that. You got some of that stuff on me." Her head never stopped moving, her eyes flitting in every direction.
"Are you nice and comfortable up there?" Malachi asked.
"As long as you don't move, I'll be fine, just don't move."
"Too late," he replied. Turing, he began to walk into deeper water.
"What are you doing?" Tamar screamed as she watched the water climb from his legs to his chest.
"Do you trust me?" He stopped and looked up into her face.
"Yes." she replied without hesitation and realized she meant it.
"Then what are you afraid of? I won't let anything happen to you. Do you think I would have brought you here just to let you drown?"
"No, but it's, it's water. I have never voluntarily submerged any part of my body in it, ever. It's bad enough being this close to it."
Malachi could see the abject terror in her eyes and did some quick thinking. Reaching up faster than Tamar could see he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her down. Tamar's shriek was cut short as Malachi pulled her into an unexpected kiss. Keeping her lower body tucked as far from the water as possible, she returned the kiss, surprised when Malachi didn't break it.
His hands found their way to her back, where his fingers began to worm into her thick, wet hair.
"Wait, a minute." She thought. "My hair doesn't get wet."
Looking around, she was shocked to see that only her and Malachi's heads were above the water. Her first instinct was to panic, but when Malachi's strong hands pulled her mouth back to his, she forgot about the water, really, she did.
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