By Raven
My name is Nerien. I am recording this memory block as it has direct effect on my people and the world that I am living on. I am a Korang. We are the progenitors of the Ulrongh, and this is how our world was reborn. This is taken from the memories of the old one herself. One day, may someone know what she and those that look to her have done for our people, our planet and our existence itself. This begins for her on September 1st in the Terran year 2117.
Brett saw the image, but still had no understanding of it. He was standing on a barren planet looking into the sun. The heat was more intense than he had ever felt. The voice then spoke again. He had no understanding of what it said to him. His heart, though, told him once again to say no to its request.
�Who will you sacrifice?� this was the second voice, sweet with rot and death. Once again he shouted no at the voice. The second voice spoke again, this time it was enraged. Brett only understood two words: �Scorched Earth�.
Then there was the third voice. He knew that this one was not related to the first two. �BEWARE! THE OUTSIDERS COME! THEY BRING THE OTHERS WITHIN!!� The sunlight was blinding Brett, then he awoke.
Raven woke to her own screams of terror that echoed those of her dreams. The sun was blinding. �Who will you sacrifice?�; �Scorched Earth�; she heard, then the warning came again. �BEWARE! THE OUTSIDERS COME! THEY BRING THE OTHERS WITHIN!!� There was something familiar about the voices, and that filled her heart with terror.
She had been having visions now for nearly eight months. This time, it was different. She had shared it with many others. She now knew that every precog on Earth had felt and seen what she had. Until now, it had always been the same, this was a warning that it was not just her that was in danger.
Raven was driven to do something she had not thought of doing for a while: to go digging. For her, it meant digging up those of her other children that still slept. She had gone through a bad boy phase for a while. Or just maybe it had been another need for her to make them like her. She collected many things, at one time it had been artists. This collection was different though: it was world conquerors. Attila, Napoleon, Philip of Macedonia, and Ptolemy, but she had missed Alexander by only days. Tepajin was not hers, but she knew where he was buried. Why not, couldn�t hurt, right?
Finding and waking them had been a relatively simple process, not counting Ptolemy managing to turn himself into a pickled drunk. Well, Allison was able to help fix that problem. Tepajin though did not fit in well and was sent to Chen so that he might catch up with the times. The whole family knew she was up to something when she closed the pit to them. She would explain it to them once she understood why she needed to do it
.
Something was coming, and Raven knew she had to protect the planet. Yet there was a need to find a way to fortify the planet as a whole. She had been called to the office of the Prime minister once again. �What does it mean? We are getting calls from Tau Corps members all over the world that are precogs.�
Raven was sitting in Brett�s office trying to decipher the meaning of the warning. She walked over to the shelves and took down a sketch pad. Brett had gotten into the habit of keeping one around, just in case. Every Prime Minister of Sagania had because of Raven, but that was another story. She sat down and began to just let her mind drift.
The next thing she knew was Brett standing over her. �Aunt Raven, are you all right?� he asked.
In her hands was a book of sketches of something she had never seen before. Sitting on the floor was Robin, clutching his arm. Mahree was sitting next him. �Hold still, she has broken both bones and dislocated your shoulder.� she said. Raven could only sit there blinking owlishly.
�What happened?� she sent to Brett.
�We were having a meeting, and you started sketching. At first we didn�t notice you doing it. But, after we think about an hour of you being quiet, we noticed that you were in a really deep trance. We left you for about another hour just looking at what you were drawing. The trouble happened when Robin tried to break you out of it. Robin tried to touch you. We are not sure what happened next. You moved so quickly that we couldn�t see your hand.� Brett explained.
�Are you all right, Robin?�
�Yeah, Mom. I just didn�t expect it. You moved so quick, I�d swear you tk�d me.� he sent. In the back of her mind, she cringed. �Uh oh, this isn�t good.� she thought to herself.
Brett handed Raven a cup of tea. �Anyway, when you tossed him, I called Uncle Christian. He told me to use my empathy, that it would most likely work. About three minutes after I started, you came back to the real world.�
�Robin, I�m sorry. Sometimes my sight works, most of the time it don�t. This must be important. I am so sorry.� Raven spieked to her eldest boy.
�It�s all right, Mom. I know you didn�t mean to. Harry told me not to try and touch you .I just didn�t listen to him.�
Switching to voice, Raven said, �Well, lets see what we have.� There was something familiar about the drawings, but she just couldn�t place it.
That night, Raven got a visitor, one person she was not expecting. She felt Ship before she saw Jarred. �Why are you here?� she asked, looking at her son, the Chronomaster half-breed.
�There is something big going on. I know it. I feel it.� he said.
�Yes there is, Jarred. I feel it too. They have fugued the timeline.�
�Mother, how did you know?� Jarred asked, his voice squeaking with surprise.
�I just do. It is one of my talents, I guess.�
�You dug up the generals, didn�t you?�
�Yes I did, but I still wish I hadn�t missed Alexander.
�We need him, Jarred, don�t we?� He could only nod. Jarred had one talent that was truly his alone. A sense of when to break the temporal rules. Somehow, he always knew when it was truly right to break them. Raven suspected that it had something to do with Jarred�s tattoo. Jarred had no idea that his mother knew about the gift Sky had given him. It was in the form of a tattoo of a dragon. The tattoo lived and moved across his body, whispering to him the secrets of time itself.
�Lets go.� was all she could say. Ship�s primary controller had been burned out getting here, and had to use the secondary control room. From there, Raven rigged Kay and Ky�s temporal punch. She never got a chance to use it, though.
As Raven was going to make the last connection, a voice spoke. �If you use that, you will become lost in time.�
Raven hit her head on the console as she tried to see who had spoken. Gerald Sette was standing next to the console. �Why are you here, Mr Sette?� she asked.
�I am here to keep you from doing something incredibly stupid. Ky rigged the wiring in a way that would blow the console. He didn�t want the device used lightly.�
�You are not here on the orders of the Cognoscenti, are you?�
�No. I came because I owe you a favor.� he said. Raven sat there and peeked into Mr. Sette�s mind. Sometime in his past, she had saved his life. Raven realized she had yet to do it. It was in that instant that she realized how the Cognoscenti worked time travel. The device was in Mr. Sette�s companion cat Bubastis� collar. She grabbed the cat, slipped the collar over her head, and was gone. Having Salem live in her head for so long had taught her to think like a cat. She touched down a few hours ahead of where she needed to be and waited. It was easy to avoid herself.
Raven had sneaked successfully into camps many times before, and this was no exception. Once she entered the tent, the fun began. Alexander was going to die from his heart condition as planned. She looked at the sleeping Alexander, then began to concentrate on the creation power that flowed in her veins. �Copy.� she said to it, then, sitting before her were then two of one man. �Sleep!� she told both of them.
Raven knew she needed a place to store Alexander, she was not going to be able to take him back. Both Mr. Sette and Jarred would be in the hot seat if she did. She took his sleeping form to what will become Nevada�s Area 51, then backtracked forty thousand years before Alexander was even born. She brought him into the night there and then.
Once that was accomplished, she put him in a deep sleep. �Awaken when I call you.� she commanded. As he slept, she left within him the knowledge and language skills he was going to need to survive in the twenty-second century. She then encased him in the magic. Preserve, harden to rock. Then, she buried the rock twenty thousand feet below the surface.
�Now to time it just right.� she thought to the collar. She reappeared onboard Ship one millionth of a second after she had left.
�No human can control the device, Raven.� Mr. Sette said, looking at her with sorrow in his eyes.
�That�s what you think.� she thought. �I had to try.� she told him, replacing the collar on Bubastis� neck. The cat looked at her as she did, giving Raven the feline look of absolute hurt that said, �How could you do that to me?� Then, the pair winked out, going to do whatever they did.
Jarred returned from the galley. �Well, is it ready?� he asked.
�Just take me home, Jarred. The device is too unstable. I don�t trust it.
�Set me down in Area 51, Jarred. I have something that I need to do.� she instructed.
He was unsure about doing it, especially when he asked, �Are you up to something?� Getting the answer he expected, Jarred worked Ship�s controls to bring his mother to the time and place she wanted.
�Go home, Jarred.� Raven said to her son. �Forget.� she said to his heart.
Calling the rock to the surface under the star lit sky was simple. Waking Alexander and bringing him back to the manor was equally simple. The look on Philip�s face had been priceless.
�I thought you said you had missed him!� he had practically squeaked.
Raven�s answer was simple, �I Lied�. Which was in itself a lie, but it is hard to explain the ramifications without telling the whole story.
It was a few days after Jarred had come when a revelation came. Raven had gone into the pit. It was daylight, so the boys were in their rooms. She had been taking what time she had to lose herself in her thoughts. That way, she produced more sketches. It was after one of those sessions that she awoke.
�Mother,� came Robin�s mind voice, �I brought the twins over. Will you be coming up soon?�
Raven looked across the pit. Robin was standing with his head poking through the open door. �I�ll be right there.� she said.
Raven grabbed a bottle off a shelf and drank it in one gulp. She packed up her note pad and the color pencils she had been using, then went upstairs. The first thing that greeted her were the twins. In their little hands were crayon drawings. �See, gramma, see!� said Gwen, the more overt of the two.
Gwen handed Raven her pictures as C.J. grabbed her hand and began leading her to the couch. She sat with a child on either side of her. The pictures all had the same theme, Lizards. All of them had one thing in common though, a black place in the center of the chest. Once again, there was something familiar about it. She asked the children, �What is that?�, pointing at the black spot.
�The bad spot.� was their answer. It was not until the children were leaving that C.J. asked a strange question.
�Why are some plants bad?� He had been clutching one of his pictures. Raven had no idea why that statement filled her with dread, but would understand why in the next few days.
Raven was in a meeting on what could be done about the threat. A young gentleman named Cyril had given them a location, and Penny and Harry had gone to investigate. Penny had been captured, but managed to escape unhurt. They now knew that these entities were living in the corona of the sun and had a �Photon decelerator� as a power source. Raven was trying to once again zone and see if she could see more. Brett, Mahree, Robin, Jana, and Chris were not expecting what happened next, though.
Chris felt something lurch, then out of nowhere, Salem was sitting on his shoulder with a hypo spray in his mouth.
�Christian, use it!� he heard in his mind. Chris could only look at the hypo and send a �?�.
�No time!� Chris felt a fire burning. He jumped up and injected Raven with the hypo. As he was doing that, objects began to tremble.
Brett looked at Robin. �What is go...� He never got a chance to finish the sentence.
Raven screamed one word with her mind and voice. �LEGION!!� . In that one word all there felt her terror. She fell out of the chair and began to convulse. Chris used the hypo three more times before she calmed and quit seizing. Salem was sitting in tiger form now, so protectively next to Raven that all but Chris were afraid to approach.
Jade walked in moments later. �I felt something. Is Mom all right?� she asked.
Chris looked at his daughter. �Yes. She is asleep now.�
Brett looked at the former Deputy Prime Minister. �Care to explain what is going on?� he asked politely, concern evident in his voice.
Chris could only look down. �It has to do with the guild, and something that happened to Raven.� Brett was still puzzled. �Raven is an uncontrolled telekinetic. It only exhibits itself when she is very angry, when she has at least marginal control, or when she is having nightmares.�
Jana then looked at her father in law. �Legion was plant based, wasn�t it?�
�Yes.� Christian said. �It is a parasitic life form. That is why she was afraid.�
Chris then looked at Salem. �How did you know that she was going to do this?� he asked.
�I didn�t. Marty had a fit. He said �Legion dreams.� I snatched one of Ally�s hypos en route.� the cat spieked for all to hier.
Brett looked at the cat. �Is my father all right?� he asked.
�Oh, yeah. Remmy caught him as he was passing out, and they are going to let him sleep it off.�
�I had better call Mom to let her know.� Brett said, putting actions to his words. Raven woke three days later, with the knowledge that her greatest fear was back.
All Hallows Eve, Hope and Shamash were welcomed into their full duties. Raven knew that they would be needed soon. There were some gods who were not pleased that more were being born once again. Their objections were put to rest when Mother and the Primals stood beside the young couple. It was also time for two others to accept there mantles of responsibility. Jade was welcomed by Raven�s mother, and it became clear to the gods that she, like her mother, held the favor of creation. The one that brought both sorrow and joy to Raven�s heart was not Jade, but Adrian. He was accepted as Death�s assistant, that would be the best word for it. Christian had been there to witness that, and Raven could feel the ache in his heart. Once again, a child was going on to serve Mother and he had no control over the situation. Raven knew she was going to have to do something to fill his heart and mind soon.
It was just before Thanksgiving when the deaths happened, and Allison began having problems. Always, in the premonition, the phrase �Who will you sacrifice?� came into the minds of those who could see. Three decided to sacrifice themselves. Thanks to a mage, and a little common sense, it was made clear that no more people, at least in VS, were to answer that rhetorical question.
There had been no breaks in understanding the motives of these outsiders. It was as Raven was studying the sketches of what seemed was a lab that she decided to do something rash. In the sketches were vials that seemed to be seed pods of the original Legion. Raven called Allison. �I want you to set up a level five containment here at the house, and be ready to study the parasite.�
Raven then focused on the lab and snatched one of the creatures. Raven knew that it was the parasite that drove the two to where they were and to do what they had planned. What she didn�t expect was what she found when the creature made contact with Allison. She was drawn to it, and that frightened her in ways that could not be explained.
It was in those few days before the holiday that Professor Giles set in his heart to make the ultimate sacrifice. He had retrieved the Canon of Creation from the Chinese Emperor. He was in the process of creating when Adrian came to his foster mother. �Professor Giles is doing something, and I can not get into his house. I have a report I agreed to deliver to him, but the house is blocked off magically.� he said.
A small amount of investigation showed that he was truly in the middle of something. �He will not have enough energy to live after he finishes what he is creating.� Adrian said, looking at Raven. �Is that acceptable?�
�No, Adrian. We�ll do something about it.� she replied. In her heart, Raven knew that this was Adrian�s final test. Death had no choice, but the boy could choose to take a person or to intervene. That had been Mother�s gift to him.
When the timer went off and the spell went down, Raven retrieved Adrian, and together, they went to his house. The good professor lay near death, but that which he had worked for was ready. He had created a bomb that produced darkness, and this darkness would kill the creatures that were threatening Earth. [After all, a photon decelerator power source won�t work too well if there are no photons to decelerate for power.] As they began to work to revive the dragon, they were joined by three others; Hope, Sam, and Jade. The first two had, like Adrian, been students of the professor. Jade, on the other hand, had followed her mother, knowing full well that she was up to something. When they were finished, they left, leaving no trace that they had been there. None wanted the professor to know that outside forces had intervened in his selfless act.
Adrian and Raven returned to the manor. Jade had gone to take Aurora hunting her favorite prey, rabbits. What Raven always thought was funny was that Aurora very rarely ever killed the rabbit she was hunting. Mostly she would catch it and release it. She never explained why she did this, only just sat there looking as though she had some great Zen wisdom in doing so.
As Raven and Adrian walked through the tunnel, Raven felt an urge to do something. She took Adrian by the hand. In her mind she imagined a doorway. �OPEN� she sent to the force that lived within her. Once again, she crossed to the place that her mother called home. �I have brought him here as you commanded, Mother.� she said.
Creation looked at her grandson. �What have you learned, my child?� she asked.
�I have learned that although my power is that of death, I can choose not to take a person, if it is truly not their time. I can say no, when my mother can not.� Adrian said to his �grandmother�.
�Good!� Creation smiled. She then looked at Raven. �You have done well, my daughter. You have taught him what could not be taught by an immortal. To value life in its many forms.�
Creation looked back to Adrian. �I have something for you. Come with me.�
As they walked away, Raven took the time to see how Legion had once again come to be free. She saw the empty place where Zander had placed it, then who had retrieved him. It did not surprise her to see that it had been Cery�s father who was responsible. She saw that any chance that the creature had for growing or learning love had been removed. From that place, Raven replaced what had been removed only an instant before he had sent the creature off. It would not affect what was happening now, but it would give the creature a second chance.
As Raven and Adrian were leaving, he looked at her. �I saw what you did.� he said.
�I know, but all creatures should have a chance to grow and evolve past the animal. I did so. Why not do so for it? In a way, it is my child too. It would have never existed, had the original creature not infected me.� she told Adrian.
Christmastime, the Professor brought his black pearl to her. The holidays themselves, Raven did as much as she could to keep her family feeling that everything was normal. But even the children knew that this wasn�t true, and Allison was beginning to put on weight. Rapidly.
A few days after New Year�s, the boys, as she had begun to call them, had an idea. They went to find DORA, an air and space ship that had been built by the Nazis from Nikola Tesla�s plans during the last days of World War II. {Attila knew about the project while working for the Nazis. Napoleon, or Leroy, worked for the Allies.} It was there that Raven had an epiphany. She would take Harper and the darkness bomb that Professor Giles had created to those that threatened her world. She left the boys arguing about how to power the unit. She could feel the apprehension in her laugh.
She returned to the pit and collected her gear. She only wanted to frighten them, not to kill them as the bomb would surely do. She held out her hand, and into it dropped a one inch version of Giles� bomb. She then gathered the rest of what she needed. �Harper, wake up. We need to go now.� she radioed ahead to her ship.
She got there without anyone noticing. But as she lifted off, she found out that she had passengers. Chris was standing there, in the doorway to the flight deck. �You are up to something, aren�t you?� he asked his wife.
All Raven said was, �I need to run an errand.� She activated the transporter as Chris approached.
�Beloved, I am sorry.� she spieked as he faded out. She had to do this. She didn�t know why it had to be just her and the cat.
When they arrived, it took nearly an hour to penetrate the shield. She used the Lavender to create a translation matrix. Powering up her transmitters, she told the city-ship�s crew, �I have come from Earth. Leave now.� Raven targeted the building that housed those that were in control, dropping the marble in their midst. She left it there long enough for it to be clear that it could damage them, but stopped before any lasting harm was done. She listened only to find they had too few supplies to get to an ideal world. She reached within herself find the ideal world. It was four hundred and fifty light years from were they were. She prayed Mother, give me the strength.
She regained consciousness on Harper. He was sitting on the launch pad. She began the restart protocols of the ship. Forty-four hours had passed. She was waking the cat when Carl beeped in. �Brett is on the phone for you.�
�Where have you been and do you know anything about the solar flare?� the Prime Minister asked, letting his concern show.
�What solar flare?� Raven asked.
�The X-27 class flare heading straight for us. Guardian has assured us that the planet will be fine, but the colonies on the moon and all the stations in high orbit are in immediate danger.� Brett reported.
�I need to go.� she said to Brett, then hung up abruptly. She then told Harper to get to Skyview Station NOW! Harper did, giving the traffic controllers in Port Orsa, New York Orbital, Skystation Maui, Amaterasu Station, and Chittagong Orbital Control fits of apoplexy. They reached Skyview Station without other incident.
�Harry, get Haley and get in here now! We need to do this!� Raven commanded.
Penny sent, �I didn�t let him go before because it could kill him.�
�I will be there to help protect you both.� Raven reassured her daughter-in-law.
�Then we come.�
They traveled to the wave front. In the end, Harry absorbed ninety eight per cent of the flare�s radiation. He nearly died though, and it was nearly three days before he woke. Jade had gone within both Harry and Penny�s souls to lead them back to the world of the living, and was asleep when Raven finally collapsed at their bedside.
.
Raven was in another place, a place within herself, when they approached. Twin males with different eyes. History would call then Castor and Pollux, the twins of the Gemini constellation. They knelt before her, speaking in unison, in Greek. �Mother, what have we done to displease you so that we are not yet born? What more must we do to prove ourselves?�
Raven knew it had been the two of them that had moved the reptiles. Her mother had only facilitated the energy needs. �It is time, isn�t it?� she told them.
�Yes, Mother, it is. We want to be born so very much.�
�Well, then, let me wake up and we will get started in this.� she told the pair.
She awoke still sitting in the chair next to Harry�s bed. She thought about where she would put them. As she began to think, Harry and Penny began to stir. It was funny to think of Penny as Haley when she was sitting there stretching in such a cat manner. �I will leave you to change and get cleaned up.� she told them.
It was then that Chris wandered up the stairs. �I was just coming to check up on you and them. How are they?�
Raven looked at her husband. �It�s time.� she said.
�Time for what?�
�It has been three years, or it will be soon, and they are wanting to be born.� she said simply.
He stood there for a moment, then said, �Oh. Them.
�So, what room are we going to put them in? What about the room that Andrea stayed in?�
�Can�t, Chris, that one is Jade�s.�
�Adrian won�t be leaving till spring, so that one is out too.�
�Salem, do you think that Allison would mind if we sent the rest of her things to Gary�s?� Raven sent to her old friend.
�Already got it packed. Black Cat Moving at your service.� was Salem�s rather flippant response.
Raven told Chris about her plan. �So, where is Allison at, anyway?� Chris asked as they walked to the kitchen. Harry was going to be hungry and Raven wanted to get a head start.
�She and Gary went to Paris.� Raven knew full well that the two of them had gone to Paris to elope. It wasn�t because they were worried about her family, but his. Gary knew that it would be like oil and sea water to get his mother to agree on anything for a wedding. In the end, it had been a clerk friend of Raven�s that had given her the heads up, in the way of a receipt.
Harry was in the middle of his meal when he looked up to the ceiling and started yelling. �Like hell you are! I am not letting my little sister get married without me!� Chris could only stand there and stare.
Raven thought to herself for a split second, then came to a decision. �Oh, hell. Carl, tell the family to prepare for transport in three minutes.� she told the masterframe.
Most of the family was actually dressed in nice clothes when they arrived. Jade was the only one who was truly disheveled. They slipped into the chapel just as the priest was getting to the good parts. The look on Allison�s face was priceless when she saw the whole family standing there, with cameras. Tim was also there, with his wife and his six week old daughter Brianne. Tim sent to his grandmother, �I think there is something wrong with the baby. I can feel it. I have made arrangements at the Sorbonne to do some checking.�
Raven could only stand there and smile. �Ally?� she asked mentally. Allison sent only one image, the strands of the child�s DNA in knots. They all filed out after wishing Allison and Gary well.
A few hours later, Raven made her way to her father�s house. The room was ready for the boys, for whom she had chosen the names of Quinn Everett and Aaron James. Her father was waiting for her when she arrived.
�It�s time.� was all she said to him.
�I know.� was his answer.
She was wearing only a loose fitting dress. He led her to a large tribble to feed. Raven lost herself in that feeding. It would take her nearly five hours before she had gained enough weight for the twins to be healthy. Her father wanted her to go into another room to have the children. �No time, father!� she sent as she moved, placing her back to the smooth stone wall. Beneath her, clean towels appeared.
The first to enter the world was Quinn. Aaron arrived two minutes later. Quinn�s eyes were yellow like a cat�s and Aaron�s were as blue as the sky at high altitudes. Her father cleaned the children and placed them in her arms. She held them to her to feed only minutes after their birth. She would stay that way for four hours, sleeping as they fed.
When she awoke, she had once again returned to the figure she had, and there was no sign of her ever being with child. She returned to her family with the sleeping children in a basket. All were waiting when she arrived. The look on Ethan�s muzzle though had been priceless when Quinn took one look at him and bellowed like there was no tomorrow.
For the next six months, Terran dating, the old one busied herself raising her boys. The activity pleased both her and her mate greatly. It was on the Terran date of June sixth, 2118, that bring them to us for the first time.
When the baseball player tried to assassinate Dr. Pardue when he threw out the first pitch at a baseball game in New Hope, it was clear that more needed to be done. �We need to see what condition the Grimp home world is in for ourselves. We need to speak with the System Lords directly.� Raven told Brett.
Dr Pardue was there, along with Chris and Robin. �The system lords speak with no one, nor do they trust anyone.
�If you are going to try, then I will write you letters of authentication.� he told them. The doctor looked at Raven and asked, �How will you get there? They will not allow another ship into orbit.�
�We have our ways, doctor, we have our ways.� Raven said. She then spieked to Brett, �Brett, if he will do this for us, then we can go immediately?� His only reply was to nod.
Two hours later, the team was ready. It consisted of Raven, Jade, Allison, Aurora, Salem, Bryce and the twins. There were also two large pallet dollies filled with equipment. Raven had used the Lavender to get a fix on Jackie Cannon, then Quinn was off. Aaron opened the gate, and the girls pushed the pallets through. Raven then took Aaron�s hand and stepped through, the gate closing behind him.
Raven walked over to Jackie. �Wake up, sweety, we are here.� For some time, they brought each other up to date telepathically. Jackie got in touch with the chief functionary of System Lord Four Eleven, in whose city she was staying.
It was in the middle of the night when the humans were led through the building to the audience chamber and the functionary waiting for them. They spoke at great lengths, and as they were speaking, Sam and Hope made their first appearance. Raven knew that Sam felt the planet�s death as much as she did. What he did not know though was that she felt it as much as he and Hope. For the first time in his short life, Raven and Sam had an argument. Raven decided to let her half-brother win. It was going to take them more time then she had hoped to resuscitate the planet, but it could be done.
It took Raven�s nearly losing her temper, arguing with Sam in front of the chief functionary, before she was allowed to actually speak to the System Lord, in person. She had brought with her a portable node from Carl. Once the debris had been cleared from the lower level of the complex, Raven entered the world of System Lord Four Eleven. What she found there surprised her: a computer system that was in need of massive repair.
She had been entertaining a hunch that the System Lords were the bio in a biocomp system, and she was right. They were all in need of mass repair, and it needed to be started immediately. She was patching the module into the System Lord�s processors when she felt something: a temporal rift. �Mother, don�t do that!� she hierd. Robin was standing between the twins, and he was glowing.
Raven looked at the system. It was going to take a lot of work to fix. She had changed a PDA with the Lavender, suiting it to her own purposes. After looking at the System Lord�s actual life module, she realized that it was possible that more then they thought were alive. Presently, two hundred and nineteen were still alive and in working order. She looked, using the Lavender, to see if there were any more alive but in critical stasis. Raven found that there were seven in this state. After talking to Four Eleven, she realized that one of those in stasis was the master controller, or Overlord.
Jade placed one hand on her mother�s shoulder. �We are going to do this together, Mother. Work shared, energy halved.� Raven could only agree, but the Master Controller was at the polar north, and it clearly was not going to be an easy task, both getting to him and repairing the system.
�We will take you, Mother.� Quinn said, appearing next to his mother. Raven went to one of the chests she had packed, an all weather gear box. Quinn bundled up, as did the two of them. Yes, it was not as heavy as Quinn thought is should be, but it was better then getting stiff. Aurora and Salem put on their winter coats as well.
Raven had brought two of Chucky�s hip flasks. She handed one to Jade, telling her to drink from it when she felt tired. They worked around the clock, taking nearly forty hours alone to reseal the dome of the Master Controller. Once the dome was resealed, she convinced Sam and Hope to work with Jade. Up until then, they had been two halves of a puzzle. Raven also appropriated one other thing, the Heart of Creation, to make their work easier. It was still going to take them nearly six months before the planet was ready. She continued to work for a week, and just as she was getting ready to bring the Overlord online, Raven got an urgent message from home. Robin was in trouble.
Raven didn�t even think about it. �Charley, you owe me too many favors. Take me home now.� she said to the universe. She appeared next to her husband, who was next to their eldest son�s bed.
�He has been like this for nearly a week.� Chris told his wife.
�What happened?�
�We don�t know, only that he collapsed.� It was then that Robin tried to speak.
�Mother, stop! You mustn�t.�
�Must not what, Robin?� He had been in a coma, but was now clearly agitated.
�Mother, stop! You mustn�t.� he repeated.
�Chris, join with me.� Raven demanded. The two linked then, each taking one of their first born son�s hands, as they had many times before. Raven realized what had happened.
�Chris, he is locked and I can�t reach him. He has opened a Tempest Gate, and we need to close it.� she said.
Chris looked at his wife. �But the only time he has ever done it was with Alex.�
�I know, and now he is lost in it.�
�Why isn�t she here?� Chris asked.
�She must be helping Sky with Shivara.�
Chris looked at his wife. They had a simultaneous thought. �Aliera! She can close it!� Chris said just before Raven.
�Go keep everyone out. I will go get her.� Raven said. �Carl, center on Aliera.� Raven had gotten Robin and Alex�s oldest to agree to having nano trackers implanted, to help keep her and her father apart. She was home alone and in bed asleep. She was also running a temperature, which meant the gate was making her ill.
�Come on sweet heart, you need to help your father.� Raven told her granddaughter. She site to sited back with the still delirious Aliera. �Come on baby, wake up.�
Aliera was just about to panic when Alex appeared. This was the first time Raven had ever seen Alex looked harried. �We have to hurry. Shivara is having a fit.�
Raven linked with both Robin and Aliera, using the blood to take temporary control of their abilities, or to be more precise, stabilizing them. Alex then closed the Tempest Gate. Alex looked at Raven. �How did this happen? He shouldn�t be able to open one of those by himself.� she asked.
It was then that the image Raven had seen made sense. Robin had turned back time while standing between the twins in one of their gateways. After sending Alex the image, she said, �I need to take Aliera back.�
Alex looked at Raven, then at her daughter. �I�ll do it.� she said, with a tenderness in her heart that was plain to see. She blinked out, but before she was back, Amy walked into the room.
She looked at her mother, then at Robin. �He is not going to be able to use his abilities for a while.� she said.
�Why?� Raven asked.
�Because of the gate. It was open too long, and Sky is in a real snit. She said Shivara was almost out of control.�
Alex had returned by then, and they all had a realization. �Alex, they created a new time dragon.� Amy voiced.
�No. Sky said Shivara never knew when his egg was created.� Alex answered.
Amy and Alex looked at each other. �Shivara felt himself being born.� they said simultaneously.
�But the egg! We need to find the egg!� Raven sent out a piece of the Lavender to find the egg. Once she had a fix, Alex took them to that place. Where did that happen to be? The valley that Sam, Hope and Jade had chosen to begin the project of planetary restoration. In a blink of an eye, the two women snatched the egg.
�Show me where it needs to be.� Raven asked of the Lavender. It showed them a place in a desert. They didn�t stop to think of the when or where it was, they just went. Raven found an out cropping and secured the egg, then laid a protection spell on it, just to make sure. They then returned to Robin�s hospital room. Amy was still standing there.
�Chris, don�t bother. We have fixed it.� Raven spieked to her mate. Alex had timed it with her usual remarkable accuracy.
�Mother, what do you want me to do about Robin?� Amy asked.
�Drug him for a week, Amy. That will give his body time to heal from the shock.� Raven said.
Chris entered the room. �We still need Bryce back, though. We have had a real hard time covering his being gone. Robin named him his pro tem the day before you left.� he told his wife.
�Oh, nuts.� was all that Raven could think. �I will send him home when the boys open the portal.� she said.
Raven was about to call Charley when Alex offered her a ride. Raven returned to the Grimp world less the a heart beat after she left. The Grimp Overlord came on line.
�Who are you? What are you doing here?� he demanded. Then, the panels indicating each city began to come on line.
�My name is Raven, and I have come on the behest of my nation and planet to help you. You have been off line, and more then half of the system lords have been destroyed.� she reported. They began to speak of the Masters. Raven had seen an image of one when she used the Lavender to ask who had built the System Lord�s complexes.
The System Overlord began to speak of a group of the Masters that had stayed behind. Raven searched with the Lavender. The colony that had stayed was no more. It had been their destruction that had led the Erglash to the Grimp home world in the first place. �The colony of the Masters that was left to help you in an emergency is no more. You must be the one to save your people.� she told the Overlord.
�Raven of the Humans called Sagans, go below and see for yourself what lies there.� the Overlord directed.
Raven went below, finding something that was unexpected. A maze that was a complete history of the Grimp and their predecessors. At the end of this maze were five cryo pods with living specimens. The sixth had malfunctioned centuries earlier. Raven then had no choice. She had argued with Jade on restoring the central parts depot. She asked the Overlord if restoring the depot would that help them restore their world. The answer was yes. She knew that Jade had been deep in communion with Sam and Hope, fixing the planet. Salem was helping Aurora as well in that same project.
Raven took one good slug from Chucky�s bottle, then gathered the Lavender she had used in restoring the Overlord�s habitat earlier. �No sense wasting the energy.� she thought. She unleashed it in the form of a wave, with the instruction, �Make it as when it was new.� In her mind�s eye, she could see the store house, once again full of new useable parts.
Raven felt her legs starting to go weak. She drew another belt from the bottle. She looked upon the sleeping Masters. �Will they survive?� she asked the PDA.
�Barely.� was its reply. She gathered the last of her strength, and the Lavender, once more. In her mind, she crafted an image. It was the representation of the Sagan virus and the Red Grimps. �Adapt and Thrive.� She told it. As she began to lose consciousness, she saw the revival sequence begin.
Our Leader Natchak had been the first to awaken. The next had been Tornech the bio engineer. I was third, followed by Ramelle, the other female that had survived. The last to awaken had been Kasharne, poor Merise had not survived.
As we began to restore power to the lower levels of the complex, we first saw her. Tornech was getting ready to bludgeon her when Natchak checked to see it she was even alive. We had no idea what was a proper life sign reading for her then, so Natchak decided that he would read her thoughts. He sat there for a moment, then asked me to try.
What I found astounded me. This creature has a mind shield stronger then anything any of us had ever seen. We agreed to all link together, so that we might find the answers to this creature�s presence, and the lack of communication from either of our colony worlds. None were expecting what we found.
This creature was named Raven. She was over a hundred thousand of her years old. She was not a typical member of her species, being what was called a vampire. We began reviewing the things we found in her mind. We encountered another wall, and were about to break through it when we all felt something. Then, standing in front of all of us was a woman. At first, she appeared as a human. Then, she changed to the classical representation of Rutaska the creation mother. We felt her presence to our very cores. �You need not look behind that wall. What is there is for her alone. Know this, she is here with my blessing. She is my daughter. You who have secrets, keep this one well, for she has much to do here.
We all looked, and the woman was gone. Raven began to wake then, and was in a very foul mood. Natchak learned that she did not like having her mind looked into. She was still very weak, and began to lose consciousness. Once again we assisted, giving her a little of each of our energies. We were able to get her to a chair before she once again lost consciousness.
Raven woke in what seemed to be a semi reclined position. �You must drink this.� she hierd. The mind voice was not familiar to her. �My name is Nerien. You must drink this.� In her hands was Chucky�s flask. Raven was still dog tired and wanted to go back to sleep. The pleading look of the creature won her over. Nerien handed her the flask, then walked a few feet away and turned her back.
Raven vaguely remembered that they had peeked into her mind. They had done so to determine if she was a threat. As she drank, the female began to speak vocally. �We have made contact with System Lord Four Eleven. Through him, we have made contact with the one called Allison. It is from her mind that we found that you needed to drink. We apologize for going into your mind without permission, but it was necessary. The information we obtained from Allison was from the attempt to force join with her.�
Raven remembered that the System Lords had tried to read Allison as she was processing the information on Grimp and Sagan susceptibility. That had been part of the initial reason for Robin�s intervention, from the cascading failures that had been caused. She looked at her watch. She had only about twenty minutes before the other teams would arrive.
Brett had agreed to send every VS team member that could be spared. The black fleet was on their way with forty VS personnel and full gear complement. They were going to work in six man teams with four people off in rotation. Raven had also obtained three of the advanced matrices. These could be used to store translated system schematics.
�We will go and help the females. The bunkers are in need of much repair.� Raven told the strange female. It was as Nerien was leaving that she got the first good look at the red variant. They had more of an Orangutang like appearance. The difference lay in their faces and cranial structure. The head was slightly smaller then she had expected it to be. They all had relatively short fur, most likely a hair cut. She was dressed in a type of coverall that left the feet and hands exposed. She wore soft leatherette slippers, and walked with a slightly shuffling gait.
Raven returned to the surface, arriving just as the first hails were being made. She had to exit the dome to get clear reception. �Harper, get a fix on me and pull me up.� she ordered.
She materialized a few seconds later in a very crowded ship. Calling up pictures of the city on the main monitor, she began to explain things to the crew, and through comm links, all ships in the fleet. �This is the central point of operation for us, city Four Eleven. There are buildings that have been designated for human use. Most of them are warehouses, due to the fact that the Grimps are of a shorter stature then most humans. The actual areas that hold the system lords themselves are quite large. It has been decided that contact will be limited to only the functionaries of the System Lords at this time. We are on a covert rescue mission folks, so time to be invisible.�
They all met up on the surface. Two ships were staying in orbit at all times to act as transportation links. She broke them up into teams and got them started. She stayed with the three that were to set up base camp.
Raven took perverse pleasure in being the one to wake up Merle �Blur� Saunders. He was one of VS�s best diagnosticians. He just had one problem: he couldn�t stop moving. Literally. He was a speedster, and literally had to go into a type of cryo stasis to sleep. He has a special belt that has a replicator built into it, feeding his body a special formula of straight amino acids and proteins to keep him functional. Without it, he would lapse into a coma till he received adequate nutrition. The thing with Merle was he hated having to be moved to anywhere off world.
Raven looked at the crate containing the six foot two perpetual motion machine. She had given him the assignment of the store house for now. He would have to get it re-catalogued in the human language. She hit the button, then stood back. Stanley had literally ambushed Merle to get him in the crate. The crate came open, and he was in a fighting mood.
Now, mind you, within VS, only Ethan could ever keep up with Merle. He looked around, wanting to shove a person�s face through a blender. �Here, catch.� Raven said as she handed him his bio pack. �It�s fully charged.�
Merle could be real annoying when he wanted to be talking at the speed of his feet. He chose to keep it civil. He looked at Raven. �You! Stan played dirty pool this time. He had Ethan catch me.
�Damn bastard took my pack, then made me chase him to get it back. That was really evil, boss.� The grin he was wearing nearly bisected his head.
Raven looked at Merle. I couldn�t wait the seventy two hours till you went down for a recharge.�
�So, what is the assignment that got me off planet?� he asked.
�Simple. Covert rescue of a whole planetary computer base. You are going to need something, though.� she told him. This was where Raven would get sadistic pleasure. She hit Merle�s mind with the Grimp and Red Grimp written language.
�Oh! Ow! You bitch!� was all Merle said. Raven had not been nice about it, due to this being a little revenge for a practical joke Merle had played. He had managed to get onto her frequency with Carl and make every piece of music she had been listening to sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks for the entire day of April first. Carl tried to fix the problem himself, to no avail.
So, after Merle sat there for a few minutes holding his head, he sat up once again. �Well, boss, I had better get started.� he said. Raven handed him the bar code machine. She then took his reader and down loaded a complete parts manifest with descriptions. Merle was a very limited Cyber psi, in that he would use it to link with a special version of a PDA, so that it could transmit as fast as he thought. He plugged the reader into the neural jack he had, and was ready.
�Well, boss, let�s go.� They transported to the warehouse. Both of them looked around, the place was huge. Six foot ball fields in floor space and a hundred feet tall. It was full of shelves and bins. It took the two of them nearly two hours to figure out the filing system. Once that was done, he was off like a shot.
It was determined that the VS teams would be starting at the top of the list, and that Raven would be working from the bottom. She had been trying to get the communication network fixed when she smelled a familiar scent. She turned to see Schuyler standing there. �So, where do I start?� he asked. He was looking very good.
�So I take it you finally built a time machine that doesn�t make you ill.� she said. He pulled a keychain and hit a small button. It made the little noise she was expecting, and sitting in front of her was an H.G. Wells style time machine.
�I call it the time sled.� he said, with all the pride of a new father.
He would work from mid-July to the last week of August on getting the communication network whole and running. He had brought a colony of wire-laying microts. Raven had inoculated every System Lord, working or not, with nanites. They were there to fix broken solder joints in systems.
Raven continued the process of repairing the cradles, as the Reds called the System Lord complexes. They were getting complete refits, including the ones of the dead Lords. This would allow for plug and play of the new Lord. The cities were being leveled by magics, leaving only the actual Lord complexes.
It was found out that the Erglash were going to make a hit on the Grimp world on September twelfth. Raven received her heads up some fifteen days earlier. After much discussion, it was determined that the Grimps would send a ship to assist the Raven fleet. They sent their largest warship, the Revenge. Planning was done, and people were gathered from all over. Specifically, those that could live in space, along with people who had beam abilities that functioned in space.
Schuyler gave Raven one gift that was useful. �What are you up to?� she asked him as he brought out the case.
In it were twenty five marble size balls of something. �What is this stuff?� she asked him, knowing in her heart what he was going to say.
�It�s Ulthiex...� He didn�t even get the rest of the name out before her heart leapt and sank at the same time. Ulthiex 1419 is short for ULTimate High Explosive, variant 1419. It�s a little toy that Schuyler cooked up back at the Guild. The stuff still scared Raven, even though she knew it could be handled safely, with a little care.
�How big a hole is this going to make?� she asked.
�Well, three of them will crack a decent-sized planet.� Schuyler said casually.
Raven held her hand over the case. She had learned a few spells from Wolf in her time at the guild, one was for something called a hunter seeker. She gave the Ulthiex its target. When the time came, they would do the work for them.
�You did that hoodoo voodoo of yours, didn�t you?� he asked.
�Yes, but I didn�t use my voodoo. I used some that I had learned from Wolf.� Schuyler was, in some ways, afraid of Raven�s magic.
It had happened at the Guild. In his lab, they had brought back a device. They knew it was a bomb, but they just didn�t know how it worked. Schuyler was working with Julia and Alex that time. Alex, for being her father�s daughter, was still the best EOD person that the Guild had. Raven had been in her office when she had gotten one of her premonitions. She transported to the lab. What the bomb did was release a catalyzing agent into the air. It would then go off with the force of a three hundred thousand megaton bomb. The object in itself was not much bigger then a foot in diameter and four feet in length. The catalyzing agent had started to leak from the bomb and, as she appeared, it went off.
Schuyler and Julia were in the process of hitting the deck. Alex was trying to shield them. Raven froze the bomb in the split second of ignition. She had held the force of the bomb until Julia and Alex were able to get their brothers to merge with them and remove all the catalyzing agent. Once the bomb had no agent to affect, it was safe to work with. Raven had spent ten days in a coma-like state from energy depletion. Even Founder Two had said that even with all his power, he could not have contained it the way she had, with the force of her will alone. From then on, this had frightened Schuyler more than a little.
The breakdown went as such: those that could survive in space were to have hand held space cannons. The beamers were to use their abilities. Harry and Captain Althun were to remove the biggest gun ship. They had arrived four hours early. Not fifteen minutes after the fleet arrived, the Revenge arrived. Sitting in back of the Black Raven was a cloaking unit. It was designed on a maglock system and had its own power supply. Raven brought her ship close to the Revenge. �We have a gift for you, Captain.� she said once communications were established.
�A gift? What does it do?� Captain Althun asked.
�Captain, you are watching us on your scanners, correct?� When Althun replied in the affirmative, she engaged the cloak not only on her ship, but on the entire fleet.
�Ah, I see.� came his voice, with more then a hint of menace.
Switching to a general frequency, Raven addressed the fleet and troops. �The goal is to capture the lead ships. Everything else, if it fires, return fire. Any questions?�
One of the questions had been how will we know which is the lead ship. �You will know.� was all Raven could say.
A half hour before the Erglash arrived, the people deployed out of their assigned ships. Those in space suits had maneuvering thrusters and knew how to use them. All groups had an assigned flyer to get them out of the way, if needed. Raven deployed the Ulthiex mines to the place that the Erglash fleet would appear. She wasn�t sure, but she thought she heard small voices, much like toon bullets. They had a forty five second window, that was required for the Erglash ships to reorient themselves after exiting Standing Wave. So, the goal was to do the most damage they could in that short time.
The twenty five that were hit by the Ulthiex mines were the first to go up. As that was happening, Harry melted the front half of the main gun ship. Captain Althun then proceeded to turn it into scrap metal. After two minutes, out of fifty four ships in this fleet, only twelve were left. The two smallest were the fleet commanders, three were support and repair ships, and the remaining seven were ammunition ships. �Blow them, except for the command ships.� Raven ordered.
It was then that Allison called to her. �Hurry, Mother. I can�t hold them much longer. I�m blocking their transmissions.� she spieked.
Jade was along to play tactical officer. �Jade, get to her. Reinforce her shields.� Raven sent.
�Mother, I can�t. She isn�t on the same ship as me. She convinced Riley to take her as close as possible. I am not even sure when she slipped off Captain Althun�s command ship.� Jade replied.
�Harper, lock and load! I need to get there now!� Harper did his fly by transport.
As Raven was getting ready to head for the cabin, Schuyler popped in. A micro second before that, Allison had dropped off. He was holding a six inch round disc, that had a large red button on the handle, and a switch. �Thought screen. Went and buttoned them up real good. Now, they can rant and rave all they want. Couldn�t let you have all the fun!� he said.
He blipped out before Harper�s avatar came to investigate. In all, the Ravens had two with shield modules down. They were used to escort the Erglash back to the Grimp home world, after the fleet command crystals were removed from their ships.
Seventy-two hours after the fleet [except the Revenge] arrived back at the Grimp home world, Raven was summoned back to Earth. Once back [via the twins� gate], Raven went straight to Government House, and the Prime Minister�s office. Present there were the Prime Minister, his grandfather, Christian, and Robin.
�I called you back because we have a security leak.� Brett said without preamble. �The U.N.S.A. has gone to the United Nations Security Council with what we have done. They don�t know about the mission as a whole, but they do know we have acted. They are getting ready to have economic sanctions placed on Sagania.�
Raven started losing control. �A leak? How?� she growled. Brett couldn�t answer, because he couldn�t see the source of the leak.
Raven grabbed her PDA and looked at it. �Show me the leak!� she commanded. Everyone in the office could feel her rage. The leak was not from within VS, but from one of the beamer volunteers that had come from Jolia. He had talked to his wife, who worked for the U.N.S.A. on Jolia. She told her supervisor, then the supervisor sent the story to the Secretary General of the UN on a psilink message drop.
�They are getting ready to start a special session in a half an hour. I have no idea about how to do damage control on this.� Brett said, looking like he was going to lose it.
�We went there because we needed to do it. You have seen the pictures and reports. It may be too late to help them even now.� Raven told him, calming herself down when she saw how distressed Brett was becoming. �What if we have Guardian speak on their behalf, saying she had sent us there?�
�But, wouldn�t that be lying?� countered Brett.
�Not really. Guardian called them children of another mother. The planet had been murdered by the Erglash, and we needed to do this. If we can just make them understand.� replied Raven.
Brett just looked at his grandfather. Junior nodded his head. �Go, Auntie. Try and talk Guardian into this.� Brett said wearily.
As she left, she felt Junior say one thing to his grandson, in private mode. �Pray.�
Raven went to her father�s house. He, as always, was waiting for her. But, unlike the usual routine, there was no sarcastic banter between them. They talked, and in the end he only said to her, �You must be the one who talks to her on this. I can not.�
Raven steeled her mind. Somehow, she had to make Guardian understand. She sought her out, and found her standing patiently in one of the flower gardens. Inanna was standing next to her, wearing primitive bamboo armor and carrying a bronze sword. Raven had Carl transport Quinn to the garden, because the boys were able to keep the gateway open, as a small pinhole.
Raven was about to speak to Guardian when Inanna began to scream as though she was being murdered. Guardian comforted her daughter, who moved as far away from Quinn as possible. �I will speak to the United Nations. They will understand.� she said. This had Raven more than a little worried.
She and Quinn returned to Brett�s office. �She will do it.� was all Raven said.
Brett looked around the room. �Carl, get in touch with Martha and Dag. I want that room wired.�
Raven then added, �Split the screen. We will need to see outside also.�
Twenty minutes later, the building was surrounded by Guardian and her sisters, all three hundred of them. Only a moment after they erupted from the earth, Simon landed in a bolt of lightning. It was Simon and Guardian that walked in together. Only Raven could see the lightning flashing in Simon�s eyes. They approached the wooden council room doors, which opened by themselves.
Guardian looked at the council. �You know who I am, good.� she said, then for about thirty seconds, the entire group took on an identical look. They came out of whatever she had done to them with rather shaken expressions on their faces.
�My mother�s sister, and those who look to her, have done what you would not!� She then turned and walked out of the room. Simon, before he turned to follow, arced a bolt of electricity between his hands. Once they left the building, the sisters and Guardian melded into the Earth. Simon disappeared in another flash of light.
Brett was the first to speak. �My mother�s sister?� he asked.
�Don�t worry, I�ll explain later.� came his grandfather�s mind voice. Brett could only shrug.
It was about three seconds later when the Security Council came to life, all at once. �I wish to declare a motion in favor of Sagania�s actions.� said the German ambassador. It was quickly seconded and brought to ratification, with only one abstention. The Saganian representative called only to read Brett the riot act, with everyone doing all they could to not lose it right there.
About an hour later, Raven was once again back on the Grimp home world. It was Duncan�s turn on the planet. He and Allison had been taking turns since three days after their initial arrival. Raven walked into the room that was being used to interrogate the Erglash intelligence. �We only got this from it.� he told his mother.
Raven looked at the readout. Mostly it was name, rank, and serial number stuff. �It was about to crack when we felt it die.� Duncan reported.
Raven placed her hand on the crystal. She had what was best called a death sense. �It didn�t die.� she said.
�Mother, I felt it go. I know what death feels like.� he spieked.
Raven concentrated on her PDA. �Show me the Erglash consciousness.� she commanded. As Duncan was feeling it die, she saw it move to a functionary. He, in turn, went to lay down. Once in his room, it crossed into the communication network and headed for the transmission complex. Raven only growled, then transported herself with the Lavender. Once she got to the complex, she began to hunt it.
She had it cornered in a transmission module when Schuyler poked his head out from behind a structure. He had a smile on his face. �Now it isn�t going anywhere.� he said.
He was talking about how he stopped it when he began to twitch. Raven knew in that instant it was succeeding in possessing the genius inventor. �I�m sorry, my friend.� she sent before shutting down his heart. Raven predicted that it would jump to the next best host, her.
Once she was sure it was all in, she shut and locked the barn. Raven let it move, looking for an exit, while she hid Schuyler. She felt the girls and Salem keeping the creature in. She began to unravel the Erglash consciousness, taking all the information stored in its programming. When she was finished, she had an unexpected visitor.
Founder two looked at her. �Is there anything I can do to help?� he asked.
Raven was about to lose her temper when she felt Charley start laughing. �You had better go. Charley is sitting over there.� she said, pointing. He looked over his shoulder, then blinked out.
Raven then looked at Charley. �Scoot.� she told Chaos. Her head felt like a full orchestra was playing the Anviltonian chorus in her head. She closed her eyes for a second. In that second, she felt someone else join her. �You know, both of them are just trying to be nice.� She knew the voice. It was Ptah. He was not the bumpkin this time, but dressed in ancient Egyptian garb.
�I felt your pain, sister.� He was the only one that, at times like this, would call her that. She had another name for him: Alaru.
Raven looked at him. �I need to check on Schuyler.� she said. Raven walked over to where she had hidden her friend. He was beginning to wake up.
She called over her shoulder to Ptah, �How much time elapsed?�
�Only about twenty seconds for the battle.�
�Come on, Lark, you need to go home.� she told the still-groggy Schuyler. She looked into his mind, to see how to operate the time sled. Once she got it to materialize, she placed him in the chair and strapped him in. She then scrawled a quick note to Penny, telling her what had happened, saying only that she had needed to shock his system. She then sent it off.
She was getting rid of the evidence of Schuyler being there when the troops arrived. She looked at the tool kit. She knew how to activate one of its special functions. She sent to it, �Kit, go home.� The tool kit disappeared, and no one was the wiser.
Since she had stormed out, fifteen minutes had passed. �Mom, what was all that about?� Duncan asked. She only handed the PDA to her son.
�It didn�t die, it fled. It�s dead now.� she said wearily.
Jade looked at her mother. She walked over to her, saying, �Here, Mom, take it.� Raven was going to balk, but decided against it. Jade handed her two white pills and Chucky�s bottle. Raven complied, and within minutes was not feeling much.
�What are those?� Raven asked, trying not to pass out.
�Charley said they were Syd�s headache pills.� Jade said as Raven passed out.
Raven woke up on Harper�s sick bay bed, to him humming softly to himself. �How long have I been out?� were the first things out of her mouth.
�A little over nine hours. Allison wants you to wear this.� He handed her a neural monitor. �She said she didn�t like the spikes she read when she showed up.�
Raven spoke with both Brett and Chris. There was a territorial governor within reach of the black fleet. After some thinking, it was decided that she would need to make a hit on that territorial governor to get the information that the fleet captain hadn�t yielded. Evan had been glad to join her on the mission to escape Sophie�s pregnancy temper fits. All had gone well, in Raven�s mind, until she had gotten back onto Harper. Raven had no clue about how much radiation she had taken.
�Black Raven to Grimp support teams. We have a priority medical alert. I repeat, we have a priority medical alert.� It was I who had received it first. I was monitoring using my ability of far sight. When I saw the old one�s condition, I brought Natchak up to date.
�Sir, we must notify at least her daughter that there is trouble on board the ship. I was able to look. She is suffering from the after effect of severe radiation poisoning. The contamination was removed, but she is very ill.� I reported.
Natchak looked at me.�You are correct. We have been hidden thus far, but she is willing to sacrifice her life for us.�
Allison had felt the summons of the Master Controller. When she appeared, she had a surprise that she was not expecting. She had been reviewing the entirety of Grimp history, and had found a tale of ancient Grimp masters, those that had built the original cities. Now, standing in front of her, was not only one, but five. Her heart was torn between showing respect and getting a reading from her tricorder.
�If you would excuse us, Miss Allison, we have urgent news concerning your mother.� she hierd. Allison snapped out of the euphoric feeling she was having and into medical mode. �She has suffered acute radiation poisoning, and will need expert medical attention.�
Aaron was standing next to her in a second. �Get Dad, and have him bring the kit.� she told her little brother.
Chris was at work when Quinn popped in. �Allison says you need to come to the Grimp world now. She also said to bring the kit.� he reported. Chris went from having a good day to having a grade three tension headache.
�I will be right back.� he told his next-to-youngest child. The kit had been something that Allison and Stanley had come up with. It consisted of her fuzzy, a blanket that Sky had dropped off shortly after they had left in June, protein in hypospray and IV forms, along with a few other specialized medical tools. It was for Raven when she had gone too far bodily. Stanley had Harry make three more fuzzies. There was now the home fuzzy, the VS headquarters fuzzy, the emergency fuzzy, and one for a kit that was going to go into Harper�s cargo manifest as a permanent piece of equipment.
When they had come up with the kit idea, and the fact that multiples of everything were needed, Sky had returned with the appropriate number of blankets. Chris now had two of the large chests in tow. He reappeared in the restaurant office, and Quinn opened the gate.
He, too, was surprised to see the Red Grimps. Raven had only said that the Master Controller was hiding something that wasn�t bad. He set the chests on the ground as one of the Reds approached.
�My name is Natchak. I am the leader of our group of survivors. You wife has suffered from severe radiation poisoning. You daughter has informed us that it is inadvisable to move her through the gate that Quinn and Aaron create.�
�Yes. She, when injured, has issues with any field that bends time or space. My name is...� Chris never got a chance to finish the sentence.
�Christian. Yes, your life mate told us in one of our many conversations. We are honored to finally meet you.�
�We will need some place to set up.�
�Follow us.� came Natchak�s actual voice. �We are practicing the human language.�
It was I who noticed Chris� pain. �You are suffering from a...� I struggled for the word, �headache. Here, try our sensory deprivation field.�
Chris was more then a little apprehensive about doing it. He consented after Allison gave him one of those looks. �You need to take better care of yourself, Dad. We know Mom won�t.� She sent.
Chris took it as a good natured jest. It was then that Jade walked in. �Hi, Nerien! Got another patient for your headache machine, I see.� she said to me. I only giggled.
�If you are wondering how long we have been coming here, since the three of us got started. We come here to relax. It really works, Dad.� Chris only shook his head in acquiescence. He was a believer an hour later.
�When we do the technology exchange, are you willing to share this? I could really use it.� he said after he came out, looking much better than he did when he went in.
Raven was returned three hours later. Evan landed Harper in the snow outside the Master Controller�s complex. Raven was brought in by Allison, and Evan took Harper back into orbit. It had been a struggle to get her into her fuzzy. She was a mess, but after a few minutes to examine her, Allison had determined that she was only exhausted. Evan making her drink at regular intervals had been the key.
In all, Raven slept a little over four days. The twins would take turns holding her hand. Chris knew what they were doing. When she slept, she was in a place in her mind. They had learned early on to travel to that place. They were standing guard over her there. Somehow, this made Chris feel better. The other thing that had made him feel better was the blanket Sky had brought. He asked Salem what was so special about the blanket.
�One of your friends made it for her, because of all that the two of you had done for him.� he told Chris. It was then that Chris recognized the blanket. It had been made by Schuyler.
Chris and Raven took the data and began to analyze it. They determined that there was only one place that held the answers that both the Grimps and Humans were looking for. The only problem was that it was two thousand five hundred light years away. How to get there? They could have the boys move them, jumping as far as the boys could take them, or call in a favor. Then they tossed around, and out, the idea that Bryce could reach back and pull out a piece of the Erglash. Then, as they were discussing the boy, Natchak butted in. �Can not the boys fold time and space? Could we not...� he never finished the sentence.
Raven felt it starting. Chris could never understand how she did it. She was always able to predict time quakes. It had to do with her carrying Sky, and something left over from having the Pure Born children. They all had some temporal based ability, that was what marked them as pure born. It started small, as all time quakes did, building not from the inside out, but from the outside in. Raven let her control slip just a small amount. The beast could follow it to where it was focused. �Harper, bring the boys to me, now!� she commanded. The two appeared, and were not happy.
She looked at them. Go over to that bench, sit down, and don�t get up till I or your father tell you.� They did as they were told.
Natchak was not happy. �What are you doing?� he asked.
She grabbed him by his coveralls, holding him nearly over her head, one handed. �Quiet! Somehow, you are the starting cause of a temporal storm and a time quake.� she barked at our leader.
A few seconds later, she felt Ship approach. Jarred was spilled onto the floor. �What is going on, Jarred?�
�Ship started having trouble, then spit me out here and now.�
�Jarred, what were you doing?�
�Saving a friend.� was his answer.
�How ,Jarred?�
�I bought a genesigenerator from Shandall.�
She reached out to the universe. SHANDALL. His window appeared, and she literally dove through it.
�What�s the hurry, lady?� he joked. She only gave him a look.
�You have to take me to backtrack Jarred. He has caused a massive temporal quake. He has a type 19 Chronocraft, right?�
�Yes.�
�Good. Then Nelly, being a type 95, we can do this.� Both Chris and Shandall had no idea how well Raven and Nelly worked together. Shandall had been poisoned, he was dying. Raven had been told it was impossible to move from Chronocraft to Chronocraft as they were in transit through time. Raven had managed to do it. Only Raven knew that Nelly was in love with Shandall. Raven also knew one other secret. Nelly, for her love, had been given a gift by Fate herself. She truly was able to do the impossible, as long as it meant saving Shandall.
Raven broke away from the memory. �Take that door, and you will be on Jarred�s ship.� Shandall said, pointing.
Raven crossed the threshold and was in Jarred�s bedroom. �Jarred, where is the Genesigenerator?� she demanded.
�In the lab. I haven�t finished programming it.� he said, surprised as hell that Mother was here, while Ship was in transit.
�Jarred, I can�t let you do this. Ship will be destroyed in the time quake that will result from you setting this off. The epicenter is Ship itself, and you.�
�Mother, I promised I would save her and her people. She would have been a great daughter in law.� he said. �I love her.� he spieked, letting his love and anguish show.
Raven just turned and went to the lab. She removed the power core, then picked it and the device up and headed for Nelly. �I hope one day you will forgive me.� she sent just before she stepped through.
She returned to Nelly, holding both pieces. �Shandall, don�t sell my son these things, no matter how much he begs he always gets in over his head.� she said sternly.
�All right.� was all he could say. Raven knew full well it was an impossible task when it came to Shandall.
Raven reappeared only a minute after she left. Chris could see that there were tears in her eyes. �Jarred disappeared about twenty seconds after you blipped.� he reported.
The boys looked at their mother. �May we go now?� Quinn asked verbally.
�What happened, Mother?� Aaron spieked.
Jarred was the center of a time quake. I wasn�t sure if the two of you were involved, so I brought you here to be sure.� she spieked in return. Vocally, she said, �Go on, boys, the rest of the afternoon is yours.�
Chris walked up to his wife. �You know, you may get visitors, but so do I. Sonia, Aliera, Gareth, others, they come asking advice.� he confessed.
Raven could only smile. In her mind, she had to laugh. At least, he had been able to leave it behind, for the most part. �I need to do some thinking.� she told her husband.
She began composing a temporal email. �Is there any direct intervention planned for worlds devastated by Erglash?�
She received an answer, �In process.� �What type?� � Lateral temporal shift.� Raven just shook her head. They were doing the old temporal two step.�How many?� �One million each affected species. Sonia project head, using God Gambit.�
Raven returned to Chris, feeling a little better. �Sonia has two-stepped every world that the Erglash devastated.� she spoke. Spieking, she sent, �You know, Chris, Jarred is never going to forgive me.�
�Why, beloved?�
�Because I would not allow him to use the genesigenerator.�
�We can only hope, beloved.�
Raven and Chris talked for two more days. It was decided that she, Chris, Aaron, and Salem would take Harper and go to the Erglash home world. Raven was going to hack the controller. Raven once again called out into time to Shandall.
�What you need?� came his voice from the small window.
�We need a lift, ship and all.�
�Well, now, let�s see. What do I get for it?� he asked.
�How about my chocolate chip cookie recipe?�
�Got it.�
�Double nut fudge brownies?�
�Got that, too.�
�Okay, the Rum balls I only make at Christmas.�
Shandall held the recipe up and shook it. �I know what I want.� he said in triumph. �Your Amaretto nut fudge black forest cheese cake!�
Raven thought about it for a minute, then had to agree. Shandall loved Raven�s baked goods. He was always trying to get the recipes. He always said they were never as good as when Raven made them, but he could try.
Raven concentrated for a few seconds, then the recipe appeared, along with the cheesecake. Yes, she had used magic, but Salem had improved a create food spell. You cast the spell once when you were making it, and then you only had to cast the spell again, and it created the exact duplicate of the one you had made at the initial casting.
Harper was not happy when the ground dropped out from underneath him, which was a feat in space. �You could have warned me!� came his voice over the comm. Raven hit the mute button. Harper only solidified and turned it off. She then pulled a small purple box from her coat. She pointed it at Harper and said rather triumphantly, �Un mute this!�
Harper walked up to the box, and his hand passed right through it. Chris could see Harper�s mouth move, �Oh come on, boss! Dylan never would have done that!�
�Fine, Harper. Just please behave, I am going to need to concentrate.� He nodded in agreement, and Raven disabled the mute function..
Shandall handed Raven one of the little white cards, with instructions to break it when they are ready to go home. She handed it to Chris, telling him that Salem would give him the go-ahead.
Chris spent the ten hours that was needed to get close teaching Aaron not to fly Harper, but to fire at anything that could be in their way. Raven spent that time getting prepared. She was wearing a body stocking that was a radiation suit when Chris came in to check on her. �We are in position. Naya came while you were meditating and Erglash proofed Harper.� he said.
She stood up, placing the removable drive in her PDA, and put on the necklace that recorded bio functions. She walked over, kissed her husband, and hugged Aaron. �You didn�t tell them what is going to be happening to your body, did you?� Salem spieked.
�No, cat, I didn�t. They would never let me do it, and you know I need to.�
�Good luck, kid.� was all that Salem could say.
Raven landed next to the crystal. It was huge. She drank the formula and began.
It took her a few moments to realize what was going on. She realized that she was in the fore cabin. She rushed to the aft. Raven could feel the Erglash ego swimming around in her mind. She heard Harper say, �Nice shot, kid! Just keep firing!�
She focused, and downloaded her data from her mind to the PDA.. She could feel the radiation consuming her healthy cells, but she knew she had to purge the ego. She laid on her side and hit the neural purge sequence.
Forty minutes after the fire fight began, it was over. The Erglash were no longer tracking the ship. Chris wasn�t sure how they had been getting positive target locks from Harper. If it hadn�t been for Aaron literally hitting the Erglash shots in mid-flight, they would be dead in space now, or just plain dead. He headed back to the aft section and to Raven.
He walked in on Naya standing next to Amy. �Hold on, Dad, we need to finish cleaning the area.� Naya waved her hand, and a light hit all the areas of the hull, and Raven. The device Raven was wearing made a beeping noise. Amy rushed over to her mother and turned off the device. Raven then moved weakly to her knees, after flicking the object loose. She began vomiting this black bile like substance. Naya made it disappear literally as she expelled it.
Raven looked over at her husband. �I�m sorry, Beloved� she sent weakly, then she lost consciousness. Chris moved over to her, taking her head in his lap. He began to stroke her head, then stopped as a clump of hair came off. He could only sit there weeping.
�Father, she is going to be sick for a while. There is nothing I can do about it. Adrian tied Dad up and knocked him cold. Charley is running interference with Eric. Jarred is making as much noise as possible, and Shivara went into a molt on purpose, to keep the gods all looking in any direction but this one. Grandma said to take her back to the Grimp world, and trust her.� Amy spieked.
Chris could only nod his head. He knew that beneath the body stocking were numerous radiation sores. Even her eyes were burned. The cargo bay went dark for a good half hour. Once they were clear of any Erglash ships, Salem let him know, and he broke the card. Harper was ready this time, and they were landing in the spaceport complex in city four eleven ten minutes later. It was night when Chris carried his wife�s broken body into the audience chamber. Allison and Jade were there waiting, along with Nerien and Natchak.
Allison was going into doctor mode when Amy put her hand on her little sister. �Not this time, kiddo. She is going to need time.�
�But, she, the pain...�
�No pain, kiddo. She is in a coma, not hibernation.�
Allison was about to lose all control when a strange man walked in. Jade went completely feral, the likes of which Chris had never seen. He was having a hard time not blowing a gasket, too. The stranger looked at Jade, something passed between them, and she calmed. It was in that moment that Chris lost his temper completely. �Who the hell are...� he began to shout. Chris didn�t get to finish.
�Not here! You will go home after this, and we will talk.� the stranger sent sternly, like Raven would when she was truly pissed.
The stranger walked over to Raven. �Everyone, please clear away from her. I don�t want any fires.� he announced. Once the group had cleared about six feet from her, he took a little bottle out from a pocket. He then, with care, picked her up and placed her on the floor. He then tilted her head, poured the contents into her mouth, then stepped back rather quickly. About three seconds after he got clear, a fire started literally on, in, and around her. The flames, though, were a myriad shades of purple. The flames literally burned the body stocking and the sores off her body. Her hair began to grow, and was down to about to her butt when the flames went out. There was one final flash, and she was in her fuzzy, covered in her blanket. He then picked her up and carried her downstairs to the room that had been set aside for her.
He placed her in bed, and was about to walk away, when she started to wake. He got a little irritated, then he walked over to her bedside. Only Chris hierd what passed between them.
�Gideon? Not supposed to be here.�
�I know, but Mom said you needed this. She said you needed to keep with the schedule, and this was the only way.� She was drifting to sleep when he spieked one more thing to her. �Crow is real. The Lazarus man is coming.� He then got up and walked out. The whole party were about to follow him, when he looked at them. �She needs you now. We will meet again, maybe.� He then looked at Chris, and told him that Raven will sleep for six days. Then he was gone, leaving only the scent of cinnamon and old spice behind.
Raven woke as had been predicted, six days later to the minute of him leaving. It seemed everyone was there. She had awoken on a Monday, three days before Thanksgiving. With Government House being on its off period for the holidays, Brett was also amongst the crowd. Raven looked at her family, and spotted one other unexpected face. Junior was also amongst the group of well wishers. Chris had given a copy of the information on the Erglash to the Grimp System Controller and to Brett, who had promptly turned it over to the U.N., after copying it for himself. Brett looked at Raven and smiled. In his most pompous, official tones, he declared, �As Prime Minster, I am hereby ordering you to take the next week off. We are here to take you home, and there is nothing you can say to stop us.�
Raven, being of quick wit, said the one thing that could stop them from taking her home immediately. �I would like to get dressed, please.� Brett could only stand there, looking like he had swallowed a live fish. Tail first.
Junior then started laughing. Through his gales, he sent to all, �She has a point! Gotcha, kiddo!!� They exited and she changed. She was marched to the portal with all the pomp and ceremony that could be mustered between giggles and kazoos. Leave it to Shawn to give everyone a kazoo.
They got home, and as soon as they did, the group as a whole scattered. Raven spent the week off catching up on any missed paperwork and enjoying the company of her family. As usual, Carnie had done an exemplary job with her three forty pound turkeys. Raven returned to the Grimp home world with the same kind of feast for her VS crews who had to be away from their families.
It was nearly time for the human visitors to leave. The reconstruction was finished, and the crews had four days left to turn the old warehouse into an embassy. The warehouse was large enough to accommodate humans comfortably. The last work was planting an indoor garden that would supply their food requirements. It also entailed painting and the finishing touches. The whole quarter, which was pretty well abandoned due to previous bombing damage, had been rebuilt to accommodate human needs. Jackie had chosen to remain at Four Eleven�s compound, though. She was going to be an integral part of the learning process for the humans. Bryce was going to be among the first to arrive officially, three days after New Year�s. He and six others were coming by Raven Fleet Couriers ahead of the rest, along with the telepaths that were being sent by the U.N. The United Nations had been given a very short list to choose from by Tau Corps. They had made sure that all the telepaths could be comfortable in both societies.
Raven began her day with meditation. She was going to be used as the power link for Hope, Sam, and Jade. This was the moment of truth. They were going to turn on the planet, so to speak. She looked at the three of them. �Are you ready?� she asked.
All three only nodded. �Then, let�s begin.�
They began to feed the planet, and she began to feed them. They had been working for about a half an hour when the planet began to pull. It began to draw more than they could give, and just as Raven was beginning to panic herself, she felt something. Her mother was there. She looked at the other three.
�Sleep, my children. You deserve it.� All three just collapsed. That was when Raven opened herself up to her mother, feeling a burning sensation for a split second. She surrendered herself, becoming the conduit for Creation herself.
Raven woke with a start. She was lying on an identical cot in the room again. But, this time it was different. She wasn�t alone. The other three were there as well. Sam and Hope were curled up together on the bed, Aurora was being velcro kitty, planted firmly on Jade�s back. Allison was sitting there with a worn and harried look.
They talked for a while, then Raven tucked her into bed. Raven was finally going to see some of the females. She was being allowed to see the shelters. The journey was a little dirty to the first community. She did not know what to expect.
When Raven entered the area, she saw, for one, that people had been crammed into an area with too little ventilation. The air was stale and sterile at the same time. The only males that were in the community were old. She could tell that they were retired functionaries. Raven could feel the sickness in the habitat. It was then that the child made her first appearance.
She was small, about the size of a three year old. She was dirty, and had the looks of slight malnourishment. Raven knelt so that the child would feel less intimidated. �They are sick. All are sick. I need to help.� the child said. Raven then felt something familiar, but before she could act, the child pulsed. Raven knew these pulses. They were like the ones that Guardian did. The child toppled all that were in the compound. Raven felt them, none had suffered an injury more than a twisted ankle when they all lost consciousness.
Raven sat with her back against a wall. �Come here, little one. I must teach you better control.�
The child climbed into her lap and sat down, imitating Raven in the position she was sitting in. Raven had to laugh at herself- she was sitting exactly as she had seen Guardian do many times. Raven and the child then traveled via the planet. This surprised Raven. The child was powerful, and had an intuitive knowledge of what to do. They worked together, Raven giving the girl the critical knowledge of flow. She showed her how to help without incapacitating the people in her care.
They had helped six communities when the child alerted Raven that she was tired by falling asleep in her lap. Raven concentrated and used the planet to go back to where she found the child. But, when she arrived, the child was not in her lap. She extended herself to find the child. She was asleep within the earth. Raven then looked to see how the child had come to the Guardianship. She was an orphan, her mother had died trying to bring another life into the world. They had been living with a small community in a tunnel annex. It had collapsed, killing all but her. She had been following a voice till she had come to Raven. The planet had chosen this child because she fit the need.
Raven, once getting back to her starting point, had Harper transport her to the Master Controller. He was not pleased. �There are six communities that have not had System Lords that are calling out to us. Are you responsible?�
�No, Master Controller, I am not.�
�How is this possible?�
�I can not tell you how, but I can show you what has happened.� Raven reached out, touching them and connecting them back to the planet. She had learned that long ago, all the Grimps were connected in this way.
�We have not felt the life touch in such a great while.�
Raven then asked, �May I connect all the System Lords, once again, to the Mother?�
�You honor us with that term from our ancient history. Very well, I give you permission.� She connected, in that moment, to their planet. When she was finished, Nerien and Natchak entered the room.
�We have confirmed that the Sagan virus is now active on our planet.� Nerien said, handing Raven a readout. Raven then looked at the readout. Thirteen cases total, only one was male. Of that thirteen, only five were adults. The rest were in their early adolescence.
Raven smiled. �I can�t predict who or where it will strike next. I can tell you one thing, though. It will start where Allison has had the most contact.� she told the Reds.
�We don�t understand your connection to the six incidents earlier today.� said Natchak.
�It is simple. You have one on your world that has been chosen to be its defender. She is going to those below that need the most help first.� Raven replied.
�How is she doing this?�
�Simple. She is doing this.� Raven once again reached out, and touched them to the planet. While she was within them, she felt something else. The Reds were soon going to join the number that had become Sagan susceptible. She then felt the System Lords, all of them, and most of the functionaries, were beginning to have active viral counts. Raven just smiled.
Three days later, she was in the process of signing off with the Grimp, when Quinn appeared, standing in front of her. Looking at his mother, he said, �I am here at her request.�, then he opened the gateway wide. Standing on the other side of the gate was Guardian. �She has told us to hold open the gate for as long as we can. A gift from one mother, to another mother.�
Raven felt the power begin to flow. She then got an idea. She stepped in, between the power flow and the planet. Using herself and her connection to her mother, she began to amplify the gift a thousand fold. Guardian could only stand there, smiling and laughing quietly. Once again, she surrendered to the power outside of her, opening herself to Guardian.
When Raven became aware of her surroundings again, Quinn was gone, and the world she was standing on was very different. This world was once again alive. To prove it, there were a group of females that were surrounding her, looking out at the world. She could hier Nerien sending from the polar complex. �Raven, they were all drawn to the surface. All the females felt something wonderful. They had dreams of a woman that was a human, standing next to a young girl child. The woman was holding the child, and calling them all to the surface. The six communities were joined by fifteen other hidden and forgotten communities. Thank you, Raven. Thank you so very much.�
Raven could only look at the functionary who had been standing with her throughout the whole ordeal. There were tears of joy in his eyes. She then heard Four Elevens voice. �You will always be welcome here.�
Raven decided to leave that evening. It would get her home just in time for Sagan Day. She was so looking forward to going home. As she was getting ready to leave, she made one more stop, her last charge of duty.
Jackie was asleep. She was having weight problems again. Not through her own doing, but from the planetary environment. She was getting close to the puberty manifestation. Raven was going to melt the excess weight away, then changed her mind. She turned the child�s extra weight into the vitamins and minerals she was lacking. After she had finished, Raven felt the Sagans kick over. So, Raven stayed till Jackie was done. In all, it took only about forty five minutes. Her manifestation was simple. It adapted her to living on this planet, as well as she had been on Earth under Raven�s care. She would no longer suffer here. Raven left Jackie a little note. Good work, kiddo. Keep it up. Sometimes when you are real good, miracles can happen twice. She only signed it R. She then boarded Harper and set out. �Home, Harper, and don�t spare the horses!�
�Aye, aye, Captain.� was all he said.
Raven arrived on Earth about ten after six in the morning of Sagan Day. She cleaned Harper, reported for debriefing from Brett, she then headed home. Raven went upstairs, taking her much-needed shower. She returned to find Chris sitting on the couch with a pot of tea and a pot of cocoa. �Come, join me.� he asked.
They sat and talked together most of the day, eventually they both fell asleep. Raven woke to a wet nose in her ear. �Hey, Mom! Nice to have you home!� Ethan sent.
�It�s nice to be home.� she said.
End documentation
I hope that one day we may show this to more then ourselves. But for now, and the safety of those involved, we will keep this hidden, as we have kept many other things hidden.
Nerien, First Medical and Chronicler of the last surviving Korang Colony.