Chapter 26
Legacy Base Camp
Kym led Derek into the darkness toward their own tent. A little ways away a
spotlight, powered by the chugging generator, shone on the helicopter. Johnny and the
chopper's pilot, former Egyptian Air Force captain Omar Hamdi, were giving it a
through going-over. Off in the opposite direction, they could hear the penny-whistle
sound of a native flute and the equally high pitched laughter of young Ali.
Derek gazed over at the helicopter and halted. "I really should do a quick check
of the chopper myself," he said, "...just in case I have to fly it... and I ought to check
all mechanisms on the briefcase, too. I have to make certain I can operate them all
smoothly, even in the dark."
"You've done that several times... and you can fly the chopper on the way there
tomorrow. Just come with me," his wife pleaded softly. Something in her voice made
him follow. She tugged his hand as she pushed aside the tent's flap. Derek yielded and
stepped into the warm glow of the kerosene lamp that hung on the central post.
Kym backed him up against her bed and gave him a gentle push. The bed sagged
and creaked with the strain as he sat somewhat harder than expected. Derek was rather
surprised... his wife tended to be shy about intimacy. Still... he was pleased at her
sudden change, especially after the previous night's emotional traumas. He pulled her
close.
"I hope it doesn't collapse," he muttered as his fingers deftly undid the buttons
of her shirt. He bent his head to kiss the soft skin of her stomach, then delicately ran
his finger up between her small breasts to pop open her bra's clasp. Her skin quivered.
Kym plowed her fingers through his thick, wavy hair. "I love you so much," she
whispered. She felt him wince as she skimmed across the tender bump above his temple. "I don't want you to go tomorrow. I don't ever want
you to go," she said, pressing his face close.
"Hmmm, you smell good," Derek breathed, "...lavender? How did you do that?"
he asked, amazed at that elegantly, simple detail. His mouth caressed her skin.
"It's my gift to you," Kym gasped as her husband's lips found a spot of pure
rapture. Slowly, she pushed him back onto the bed.
Pulling her with him, he murmured, "You're the best thing that ever happened
to me, Kymberlee Rayne." His lips wandered along her neck. Derek
reached back and tenderly removed the clip from her hair. He swallowed hard as he
ran his fingers through the silky strands. Slowly, gently, Derek rolled over.
Kym, now on the bottom, shuddered at the feel of his warm breath against her
ear. One by one, her fingers sought his buttons, then pushed his shirt back from his
chest and shoulders. Their tips danced along his spine. She felt him tremble. Slowly,
his mouth searched for hers.
Gingerly, almost timidly, Kym lowered her lips to his throat. She could feel the
strong pulse at its hollow. Her every sense thrilled to its tune... she could hear its
hypnotic throb, she could smell its life, she could taste the nectar. She wanted to drink
it... swim in it. She let Derek feel her ecstacy. His response was immediate and eager.
His musician's hands skimmed across her skin, playing it as he would a sonata...
patiently, delicately, precisely hitting every note with perfection. Kym sank slowly into
his warm arms and into her own love.
"I need you," panted the young woman, clawing his back. She knew that the
physicality of her thirst was but an iota of her true desire. She wanted to be a part of
him... she wanted him to consume her so that their souls, halves of the same, could be
one. She could feel his every nuance. Sweet, agonizing euphoria surged twofold
through her being.
"Shhh," he murmured as she suppressed a scream, "you'll wake the neighbors."
Rolling off his chest, now slick with sweat, Kym slid onto the cot and into the
curve of his arm. "They need to make these things just a little bit wider," he chuckled
as he inched himself over to make room. "Hang on, or one of us is going to wind up
on the floor." The cot squeaked and sagged beneath them.
Although he did his best to conceal it, Kym could hear her husband struggle to
slow his breathing. She smiled to herself. She could find no word, no thought, to
describe the beauty and warmth she felt when he slipped his arm around her waist and
slid his hand under her body. Perhaps... "heaven" fit best. She could spend eternity
here... in this moment... with his arm protecting her and his heart beating life into her
own. She wished she could be that heart.
"I need you, too, Liefje," he whispered into her ear... and realized that he meant
it. Derek's skin tingled where her fingers had been... he hadn't known that one touch
could make him feel that way... make such incredible sensations possible. "You fill an
emptiness that I didn't even know was there... you taught me things that I didn't know
I needed to learn." He paused, then added with a chuckle, "Schatje, I hate to tell you
this... your lavender kind of went away."
Suppressing a giggle, Kym smiled and wriggled around to face her husband,
"Yeah," she said, "now it's on you." Her senses thrilled when Derek's finger began
to delicately trace the curve of her jaw. "Derek?" she whispered as he nibbled at her
ear and snuggled his face deep into her red hair. Kym sighed with pleasure, but fought
to retain control. She would not let herself succumb.
"Hmmm?" he murmured. "You smell good even when you stink."
"How romantic," she commented as her fingers intertwined with his.
"Hmmm," he mumbled as his lips tickled her neck. "Sorry, but it's true," he
said, pushing himself up.
Touching the cleft in her lover's chin, Kym giggled again. "It's because I'm a
girl," she told him, "but you know that... right?"
He dipped his head as his lips roamed along her shoulder. Derek laughed and
surfaced for a breath. "Yes, Liefje
"Derek... wait," she begged, "please." Her voice quavered at the ecstacy of it.
Suddenly he raised his head to look into his wife's face."Yes?" he said, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He brought her fingers to his lips.
With her other hand, she reached to brush a curl back from his brow. "Remember when I said that we should be totally honest with each other?" she asked.
"Hmmm.... hmmm." Slowly he began to kiss the tips of her fingers, then her knuckles, then he opened her hand.
How could he make her feel this way with only his lips on her palm? She pulled herself back toward reality. "I have something to tell you," she said.
"Yes, Liefje
."Kym paused, determined not to let him distract her. "When I was thirteen...," she began, wondering if he had heard a word.
"...you were a member of a Wiccan coven... I know," he whispered.
"How?" she asked, then continued, "I should know better. That's not all... there's more."
"Yes... and what other deep, dark secrets do you have?" he asked quietly as he stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers.
"You... you...," she stammered, "you were... you are... my first and only."
He placed the tip of his finger on her lips. "Shhh... I know... I've always known," he confessed.
"What? How?" Kym questioned in confusion. How could he know? Surely his "Sight" didn't show him that.
Gently his long fingers combed her hair out of her face. "Oh, honey," he whispered, "you are so innocent... and I love you for it." He could see the bewilderment in her green eyes. "I'm not even thirty and I already have an old, tired soul.... You're breathing innocence and life back into it."
Kym's hands gripped her husband's face. She stared into those deep, unreadable eyes. "At least I'm serving some purpose," she chuckled as she drew him into a kiss. His comment disturbed her. How could such a dynamic young man have such a dark weariness within him? Emily Liu had warned her on that bright summer day in the arbor on Angel Island... of a heart with many a dark secret. Through her fingertips she knew the truth of it.
Derek pulled back. "I told you the other night, dearest Kym.... you're teaching me how to be happy." With a sigh, he sank back down to rest his head on his wife's shoulder.
The weight of his head was bliss. Her fingers stroked his temple and circled his ear. "I wish you already knew how," she whispered.
She felt a shallow laugh rumble through his chest. "I'm not sure I was born with that gene," he said without a trace of humor.
* * *
"No! No!" Kym wept, caught in the web of sleep. "Oh, God, no!"
"Kym... honey?" said Derek as he pushed himself up onto his elbow. "Shhh! What is it? Bernardo again?" Gently shaking her, he gave her a small hug.
"No! Derek!" she cried in terror, still trapped in her dream.
"Kym, wake up," he said.
"Derek... I'm so sorry... Derek! Please, don't hurt him!" she whimpered as she fought her way out of the nightmare. "Derek... please, don't die!"
"Kymberlee!" he said forcefully. "Wake up... now!"
Heaving for breath, Kym burst awake. She grabbed for her husband's neck and clung to him as her body shook with sobs.
Derek folded her in his arms. "Shhhh... it was a dream," he said quietly. "It's all right... I'm here." Kym buried her face in his shoulder. As her nails dug into his back, he felt her warm tears trickle down his skin. Attempting to calm her, he gently stroked her hair.
"I won't let you die," she wept. "I won't let you!"
"Honey," he murmured into her ear, "I'm not going to die."
"I can't let you go."
"Liefje," he whispered firmly. "Calm down... take some deep breaths. Shhh... you'll wake everyone."
"I can't," she moaned. "I'm going to lose you... I know it." Her body began to tremble as if with cold.
"Would you like a little wine?" he asked as he pulled the blanket around her shoulders. "To help you relax."
"No... Derek... you can't go tomorrow. What I saw...." Kym took a deep breath and pushed away from the security of his arms. "You were hurt so bad... you were screaming. There was so much blood." Her breathing began to quicken. "You were bleeding so much... and there was no one to help you."
"It's all right," he murmured, not wanting to upset her again. "It was just a nightmare... it's the mission... what happened the other day with the bandits... and I never should have brought up what I did last night... I didn't think. I'm sorry," he apologized.
"No," Kym insisted, violently shaking her head. "You were in such pain... and... and I had said such horrid things to you." She clutched him tightly and hid her face in his neck. "I love you so much... there's no word for it," she whimpered. "I could never do anything to hurt you."
"I know that," said the precept as he massaged her back. "Dreams are funny... you dream about those things that frighten you most," he explained, tailoring his voice to sooth and hypnotize. "They're all emotion... and not to be trusted."
Kym pushed herself away and sat up. "You don't believe that anymore than I do. You know the truth of your visions, but can't accept mine."
"Liefje... I've been tricked... dreams and visions are different... our emotions filter through into our dreams... changing them... contaminating them." Derek kept his tone soft and even. "Your memories of Bernardo and your worries about tomorrow merged... that's all.... Come on... lay back down and try to go back to sleep."
"Derek, you can't go," she said without emotion. "Promise me you won't go."
"Honey... it's all set... I cannot not go. Johnny will be with me... we'll be fine... in and out... we'll be gone six hours at most," he assured her.
"Johnny!" she exclaimed as she ran her fingers through her damp hair. "Now there's a comfort. It won't be in and out... I know this. I saw your ring bloodied and shattered."
Derek hesitated, momentarily shaken. The ring... was she somehow picking all of this up from him... from his own anxiety? Firmly, he continued, "Kym... Johnny knows what he's doing. I couldn't ask for a better partner or bodyguard. He won't let me down... and I'll certainly try to be there for him."
"I need you here for me," Kym retorted.
Derek reached out to brush his wife's moist cheek. "I'm just going in there to see what's happening... to 'feel' what's happening," he corrected himself. "And I will be here for you... tomorrow night and every night after."
Kym sadly shook her head no. She grasped his hand and turned her head to kiss it. "No," she said.
"Honey, if something was going to happen... I'd have seen it," swore Derek, dancing around the truth. "I promise everything's going to be OK... just like I promise I'll be back here in this bed with you tomorrow night." He laid back down and stretched his arm out to her. "Come on," he pleaded, "we still have a few hours... snuggle with me. Let me help you go back to sleep."
* * *
Kym couldn't sleep... just as with the vision of the Roman catacombs, her dream kept replaying itself. Jumbled though it was, she knew it would come to pass. Deep asleep, her husband breathed heavily beside her. God, was this their last night together? When she shut her eyes all she could see was blood... Derek lying alone, broken, mangled like road-kill, on a dark, concrete floor. Absolute terror squeezed the life from her heart, the breath from her lungs.
She had to save him... somehow. She had to save herself. Kym slid out from beneath his arm and softly dropped the short distance to the floor. She felt for the denim of her jeans and blouse, then found her boots. Quickly she gathered them all and crawled silently out into the darkness. She didn't know what she was going to do, but....
* * *
Derek started awake. He had slipped onto his back. The place where Kym should have been was empty. In the darkness, he reached over to feel his own cot. Perhaps, she had gotten too hot and crowded and had moved to the other bed, but it, too, was empty.
He searched the floor for his pants and boots and hurriedly shook them, just in case any small, stinging creature might have found refuge there. He slipped them on, then found a flashlight. Throwing the wool blanket around his shoulders, he stepped out into the desert's pre-dawn chill.
The precept shone the light around at the peaked tents and vehicles, but saw no trace of his wife. All was silent and dark. He listened. From within William and Johnny's tent came soft snores. He smiled to himself... those two fit well together. The pebbles crunched under foot as he slowly walked farther out into the open. Suddenly he heard a faint grating sound of metal on metal and the rattle of chain... from the direction of the helicopter. What would Johnny or Omar be doing at this hour?
Derek aimed the bright beam toward the aircraft. Kym was standing on a fuel barrel positioned under the tail rotor. Startled, she nearly fell when the light caught her.
"Kym... honey... what are you doing?" he asked as he approached.
"I... uh...," she stammered. Her face was stark in the harsh glare.
He walked over to stand beside the barrel. A concerned note slipped into his voice. "Kym?" he questioned as he focused the intense beam onto the tail rotor. He let the light slide behind the blades, where it revealed a chain wrapped around the hub and wound into the pitch change links just behind.
"Get down," he ordered. He offered his hand, which she shakily grasped. "Good God... what in the hell did you think you were doing?" he asked in a tone that betrayed his shock and anger. Quickly he lifted her to the ground, then climbed onto the barrel himself. Holding the flashlight in his mouth, he carefully unwrapped the chain from the mechanisms, then dropped it to the ground. He looked closely and ran his fingers along the metal to inspect for damage.
Derek knew, of course, that she had no idea what she might have caused. Thank God Johnny hadn't found this, which he would have during his pre-flight check. He would have treated it like treason, and worthy of a firing squad.
Kym lunged at him as he jumped down. "You can't go!" she cried in pure panic. "I can't let you go!"
"Honey," said Derek, grasping his wife by the arms. "We went through this." His anger was fading into fatigued exasperation. "I have to go... trust me," he pleaded. "It will be all right... I promise. This was a very stupid thing to do." It concerned him that Kym had felt the need to sabotage the helicopter. Why? What insanity had possessed her?
"Please, Derek... please!" she wailed. Her soul's terror became a physical pain that coursed through her veins.
"Come on," he said gently. Derek slipped his arm around her shoulder to steer her back toward camp. "It's all right... you didn't understand," he murmured. She shouldn't have come. He regretted permitting her to do so. She was too young... the stress of the trek across the desert, her own emotional baggage... Bernardo. Once the Ruling Council had banned him from the field for the same reasons, but he was stronger... and had the certainty of his own destiny to sustain him.
Suddenly, she pulled away. "Don't touch me!" she hissed. "You're going to leave me, aren't you?" How could she convince him of the danger that awaited him?
"Yes," the precept replied calmly, firmly. "I can't back out... it was my idea," he explained. "Hassan trusts me. I'm the only one who can do this." He reached for her hand, but she backed away.
"I trusted you, too," his wife countered. "Why do I always rank last? Legacy, Luna, William, Johnny... the whole damned world... finally, Kym." Slowly, she sank down into the sand. Tears, angry and hurt, flooded her green eyes.
Derek dropped to his knees beside her. With his finger, he gently tilted her face upward and brushed aside a tear with his thumb. "Because," he said in his most persuasive tone, "our personal desires... our love... has to surrender to duty, when lives and souls are at stake."
"And what about our life?" Kym asked. "Our marriage vows say that man and wife are one... so what about our life?"
"Honey," said Derek. "Would you have William go in my place... or Johnny... neither of them have the advantage of the 'Sight'." He took her hand and held it in his lap. "They'd have to actually confront Tanit or whatever it is that's there... without a hint of forewarning. Would you have them go instead?"
"No," she said in a toneless, barely audible whisper.
"Precisely so," the young precept agreed. "I'm glad you said that... because Johnny is married and has Nick... and William and Patricia have two wonderful little girls. How could we place our love over theirs?" He rose and tried to pull her with him. "Let's go back to bed... we've still got a couple of hours, and I need the sleep."
Kym resisted. "You go. I need to be alone."
"OK... nothing foolish? Promise?" he asked as he draped the blanket around her shoulders and turned back toward camp.
"I promise." She nodded her head, but beneath her breath murmured, "I'll leave the foolishness to you?" In that one minute, revelation had struck with the force of a lightning bolt. Even if he survived this, never would Derek Rayne really be hers. What about us? What about our children? Kym gazed up at the countless flecks of light... yellow, blue, red, white... set like gemstones on black velvet.
"I'm such a fool," she whispered to herself. "Mom, you always told us that love is never wrong... I believed you. I truly thought that if I loved him enough...."
"Dear God," Kym prayed. "Why did you make me love him? He'll never love me nearly as much. He'll always love your innocents more... and the battle against your enemies. Protect him, please." She crossed herself and began to rise, but fell to her knees again. She fingered the tiny gold cross her father had given her on her wedding day. "Holy Mother... help me to understand how you could love your Son... and yet give Him to be the sacrifice and the savior... and watch it all happen? Help me to find your strength." Suddenly, she understood Ingrid Rayne.
| CHAPTER 27 |
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