| Chapter 48 Brian ran down the hall of the medical wing. He quickly found the room and rushed in, seeing Marie sitting on the bed, the doctor talking to her. "What's wrong?" he asked, crossing the room in two steps. Marie took his hand, "Nothings wrong." "But you called and said come down right away?" he asked, confused. She grinned, "Listen." Brian looked over at the monitor, seeing something moving. He could hear a strong heartbeat. He looked at Marie and smiled, "That's the baby?" She nodded. He sat down next to her, his eyes glued to the screen, "Oh wow." The doctor smiled seeing Brian's awed expression, "The baby is developing normally. I think we can safely put Marie's due date in six months." Brian glanced at the doctor and nodded, his attention going back to the screen. "When will we know the sex?" Marie asked. "I think in a few weeks, we may be able to see," he answered. Brian looked at Marie, smiling, "Great. This is so cool." Marie laughed as the doctor removed the sensors from her stomach and she got up. Brian took her hand and they walked out of the room. He was still grinning. She nudged him, "So, what is my husband doing today?" "Devon called. He wanted to talk with me. I guess now that I'm part of the family, we get to do the brotherly male bonding," he laughed, "I think we're gonna take a ride." "That sounds nice," she said walking into the office she normally worked out of. "What about you? You aren't gonna work all day are you?" he asked. "Most of it. We are kinda busy down here ya know," she said. Brian pulled her to him, resting his hands on her waist, "I know, but I don't want you to over do it." Marie leaned in and kissed him quickly, "I won't, I promise. Besides, I'm in the medical wing. If something goes wrong, I'm right here." Brian stared at her for a moment, "Alright, but if you get tired, promise me you'll go lay down." "I promise," she said, smiling. "OK, I should be back by lunch, we can meet up then," Brian said. "Alright, lunch it is," she said, kissing him again. They parted and Brian turned to leave the room. "Have fun," she called. "I will," he said, leaving the room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nick stared at the hologram for the hundredth time since last night. All this time he thought it was the minerals themselves the ambassadors were fighting over, only to have it turn out to be the location. He stared at the building in the background. Interstellar Distribution. Now he just had to figure out the link between Kelah and the company, and why the company was so interested in that location. Anthony had gone down to the library to do some more research. Nick got up and walked to his balcony. He hadn't slept much, and he needed to think. He decided that he would go for a ride. Maybe the fresh air would help him clear his head. He glanced toward the stables, seeing Brian and Devon heading up one of the trails that led into the mountains. He watched as the two disappeared down the trail. Just then someone knocked on his door. "Come in," he called, walking back into his room. The door opened and Kevin walked in. "Hey, what's up?" Nick asked. "Not much. I was just wondering if you had any plans," Kevin asked. "I was about to go for a ride, you wanna come?" he asked. Kevin smiled, "Yeah, sure." "So where are D and J?" Nick asked as they left his room. "Went to some show in the city," he said. "And you didn't go?" Nick asked. Kevin shook his head, "Naw, I just felt like hanging around here." Nick smiled, "They're getting on your nerves aren't they?" Kevin laughed, "Oh yeah, big time." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian shifted his wight in the saddle, looking over at Devon. He had been unusually quiet, and seemed to be bothered by something. "So, how is work going?" Brian asked, trying to break the odd tension that had built up between them. Devon looked over, "Oh it's going very well. We just added another system to our routes." "That's good," Brian said, looking out at the towering mountains. They had gone onto a trail that was rarely used, and were now on the side of the mountain. "Man, I still can't get over the view," Brian commented. Devon looked over, "Yeah. I don't notice it much anymore. Guess I'm always to busy to take the time and look." Brian looked back over at the man, "So what did ya wanna talk about?" Devon sighed, "Well, just about what your plans for the future are. Dad would never say anything, but with the baby on the way, I think it would break his heart if you guys moved to earth." Brian nodded, "I know. To tell you the truth, I don't know what we're gonna do. I mean, my career is there, and so is my family, ...... but, I love it here. I wish there was some way to combine the two, maybe stay there part of the time, and here the rest." Devon nodded as they turned a corner. Up ahead the trail narrowed, flanked by huge boulders on each side. Brian grabbed the saddle horn, when Kena started shifting around nervously. Devon's unicorn was doing the same thing, both looking up the trail and acting like they didn't want to go through the rocks. Brian patted Kena on the neck, "What's wrong? Something up there you don't like?" Kena bobbed her head up and down, pulling at her reins a little. Devon forcefully turned his unicorn up the trail, giving it a swift kick, "Come on, they just don't like the narrow opening they have to go through. I know for a fact that it widens out once you pass it." Brian nodded, urging Kena on. The two passed through the opening, and just as Devon said it widened back out, rocks flanking both sides. Still the unicorns were uneasy. "Maybe we should go back," Brian said, Kena's fear making him nervous, "There's obviously something out here they don't like." Devon stopped his unicorn and considered the situation, "I guess you're right. No since in making them nervous. Fidgety unicorns aren't that desirable to ride," he smiled, turning his unicorn around. Brian waited to follow Devon through the opening, but a growl behind him caught his attention. He looked back, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Standing behind him was something straight out of a monster movie. It stood on all fours, and resembled a wolf. The only problem was it was twice the size, and it's teeth were like daggers. Brian was afraid to move, having locked eyes with the creature. Kena lowered her head, waiting for the creature to make a move. "Devon," Brian whispered. Devon looked back, "Oh no, don't move." "Not planning on it," Brian muttered, "What the hell is that?" "It's a war dog," Devon answered, scanning the rocks, "We should be Ok, we can outrun one." "What about five?" Brian asked, seeing the others step out of the rocks. Devon swallowed hard, "We're dead." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ana sat in the garden, her head in her hands. She needed some air, but it wasn't helping. Her head still hurt, and she had a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach. Maybe she drank to much at the reception? Or maybe she was feeling guilty for spending much of the evening with Tunk. He was a nice man, but her heart was definitely somewhere else. She longed for the day when the ambassadors would leave and she could resume her lessons with Nick. At least then she would see him on a regular basis. She heard someone approaching and looked up, groaning inwardly. "Ms. Coland, how nice to see you," Tunk said. Ana nodded, "You too Ambassador." Tunk smiled at her, "Please call me Tunk." "Ok," she said, scooting over as he sat down next to her. "The gardens here are beautiful," he noted. "Yes they are," she said, wishing he would go on about his walk. He looked at her, "Are you troubled?" Ana shook her head, "No, just trying to ride myself of a headache. I thought the fresh air would do me good." Tunk nodded, staring across the garden, "Looks like the king is leaving." Ana watched as Nick and Kevin took off from the stables and headed up the trail at a slow leisurely pace. "He likes to ride. It helps him think," she said. "I see," Tunk said, glancing over at her, "Would you care to have lunch with me?" Ana looked over at him, surprised, "Um, I'm very flattered, but ......" "You had other plans," he smiled. Ana looked down at her feet and nodded, timidly. "Very well, another time perhaps," he said, standing up. "Perhaps," she said as he gave her one last smile and moved on down the path. Ana put her head back in her hands and groaned. Now what was she gonna do? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian held on for dear life as Kena reared up, the war dogs moving to circle them. Devon was having his own problems staying in the saddle as his unicorn kicked and stomped at the creatures. "Brian, we gotta get to the rocks!" he yelled, trying to move his steed closer. Brian looked around him, three of the dogs had Kena surrounded. He took the excess reins and tried to hit the dogs with them, as Kena kicked and bucked. Two of the dogs had Devon's mount pinned against the rocks. Devon quickly stood up on the saddle and pulled himself up onto the large bolder. He watched helplessly as Brian did his best to fiend off the dogs. Kena already had deep bite wounds on her legs, but the unicorn fought with all she had. Devon's mount, turned and ran through the opening, the two dogs on its tail. Devon watched as Kena reared up. At the same time one of the dogs leapt, hitting the unicorn hard and sending her toppling on her side. Brian jumped at the last minute, rolling free of the saddle. He jumped to his feet and ran for Devon. "Hurry!" Devon yelled, flattening himself on top of the rock and reaching for Brian. Brian climbed up the rock as much as he could, looking up he stretched out his hand. Their fingertips touched just as one of the dogs clamped down on Brian's ankle. Brian screamed as the dagger like teeth sank into his flesh. He grabbed onto the rock as the animal tried to pull him down. "Brian, give me your hand!" Devon screamed, trying to reach him. Brian looked up, their eyes meeting. Devon could see the pain in Brian's face as the dog shook his head, doing even more damage to Brian's ankle. "Devon, help!" Brian yelled, trying to reach the other man's hand. Again their fingers touched. "Just a little more," Devon urged. Brian stretched, all his attention on Devon's hand. Suddenly the dog planted his feet and jerked his head, pulling Brian down with so much force that he flew across the trail and slammed into the rocks on the other side. "Brian!" Devon screamed, "Brian, wake up!" He watched helplessly as Brian lay unconscious, the dogs circling around him. Kena jumped in, trying to put herself between the dogs and Brian. She charged them, one of the dogs being to slow. Her horn sank deep into the creatures side, eliciting a shrill yelp. Kena quickly turned, only to be facing the two dogs that chased Devon's unicorn. She looked around. All five dogs were facing her, snarling. Her legs were shaking, and her energy was almost gone, but she lowered her head, ready to fight to the end. "Whooo, get out!" someone yelled. Devon looked up the trail, seeing two men in a transport speeding in their direction. One of the men pulled out a gun and began firing close to the dogs. "Go back to hell, you damn dogs!" he yelled. The dogs quickly fled, not wanting to face this new foe. Devon jumped off the rocks, running to Brian's side. He carefully turned him over, seeing a large knot on his forehead. "Brian? Brian, wake up," he tried, not getting any response. The men ran over to help. "Come on, lets get him in the transport," one said. Devon helped them pick Brian up and carry him to the transport. "Man, he got it good," the other man said, looking at Brian's bloodied ankle. Devon looked at the two, then glanced at Kena. She was watching everything, but she was trembling, and having a hard time staying on her feet. "What took you so long? We could've been killed," Devon spat, quietly. "Sorry, we got held up," one of the men said. "Get him outta here, and make sure you clean that," Devon said, looking at Brian's ankle, "We need him alive." "As you wish," one of the men answered. Kena stepped closer to the transport, trying to see Brian. "Come on, we've got to get him back," Devon said, starting to climb in the transport. Kena watched as one of the men pulled his gun, aiming it at Devon, "Not so fast." Devon backed up, looking shocked, "What are you doing?" The man smiled, and pulled the trigger. Kena watched as Devon collapsed in the dirt, then the transport took off. She tried to follow, but only made it a few steps before her legs gave out, and she ended up on the ground. She gave out a sad whine as the transport disappeared from view. Chapter 49 |