Heritage (Under Revision)

Chapter 38 - Elena

“Buckle up, everyone, we’re going to be preparing to land in just a short while!” Ethan exclaims, a mixture of worry and relief on his face.

A quick succession of several metallic clicks fills the cabin as we all strap in, waiting anxiously to land. I can’t help but to glance over at my son, strapped in tightly to his seat with several heavy-duty straps securing him in place, preventing him from harming himself or others.

His dark hair is tousled gently as the ship lurches to-and-fro from the turbulence of entering the Earth s atmosphere, revealing the tell-tale scarlet streak amidst the mahogany colored locks. Stella is at his side, buckled in herself and gripping his limp hand firmly, as if sending him a silent wish to get better.

I just hope that Tanya can help him...

I swivel my chair, taking in the astounding scene around me. Dante is seated along the side wall of the back cabin, Anika at his side, the two gazing into each other’s eyes as if the entire galaxy revolves around each other’s irises.

Such an amazing development, Dante coming back to...life? He was already alive, though, so that’s probably the wrong way to put it. Nevertheless, his return to the land of the living is an amazing gift to all of us.

Behind me, Rin’Gal is sleeping soundly in his seat, his head leaning precariously against the back wall and his mouth slightly ajar. The chaos and excitement have left him exhausted, given his previously injured state.

Switching my gaze to the front of the cabin, I spot Ethan and Damien, seated in the cockpit, handling the ship’s controls. Looking at my husband, I feel a twinge of sympathy that twists my heart. His ship, all of his hard work, and our son...all of it has come crashing down on us in the course of just a few days.

What must he be feeling right now?

I make a mental note to pull him aside as soon as possible, if only for a moment, to comfort him.

I turn my sights back to Stella as the turbulence rocks the ship precariously, noticing a single crystal tear slip down her porcelain skin. Another twinge of sympathy and pain.

My hope for the moment is that after all of this chaos, we can find just a shred of hope and happiness. Thinking of this, being the mother and wife and eternal dreamer that I am, kicks my thoughts into overdrive as the thick white clouds whiz past us.

The ship shudders for a moment and immediately begins to slow as Damien punches the brake thruster on the dash, setting us at a quick gliding pace across the sky.

“Okay everyone, we are now directly above New Jersey, we’ll be landing in Redbank in about twenty minutes, stay in your seatbelts until I give the all-clear,” Ethan announces, swiveling his seat around to face the rest of us in the back.

“Honey, where are we landing? We can’t exactly land at the airport without clearance, and in order to get clearance we’ll all be arrested on site,” I say to him, concerned.

“We re landing at good ol’ Sandy Hook,” Damien says with a grin, nudging Ethan’s elbow in a brotherly way.

“What’s Sandy Hook?” Stella asks, her voice low and curious.

“It’s the beach in Redbank that these two hooligans raised hell at when they were growing up. When things settle down a bit, have them tell you some of the stories of their teen years, before they enlisted,” I reply with a smirk. Ethan simply grins back at me and Damien crosses his arms over his thick chest in a self-satisfied and mischievous way.

“I can only imagine what the two of you would have gotten up to in your youth. I wouldn’t mind hearing those stories myself, Ethan,” Dante pipes up, stretching his long legs out in front of him as Anika’s head leans on his shoulder.

I watch the couple for a moment in amusement, for currently they make for an almost odd-looking pair. Anika, still stunningly beautiful and clearly graceful, yet aged in a refined way, snuggling up to a young-looking Dante.

Looks like one of those movie-of-the-week things, where the older woman falls for her young neighbor... I think to myself in amusement.

My eyes widen for a moment, and I could almost swear that a streak of gray is slowly crawling from Dante’s temple, shooting a spindly line through his chocolate brown hair.

“Uh...Elena? Do I have something on my face?” Dante asks, eyeing me curiously.

“Ethan...come here, hurry...”

Ethan unbuckles his safety belt and quickly reaches my position, following my gaze to Dante.

“What’s wrong, baby? What are you lookin— What the...?” Ethan splutters, squinting his eyes and taking a step closer to Dante.

“Dude, would someone please enlighten me? All of this staring is sort of freaking me out after being frozen for eighteen years!”

“Whoa...dude, you’re...aging...” Ethan says, whispering.

“What?! What do you mean, aging?” Dante asks, a little alarmed.

Ethan reaches behind Dante and pulls down the metal window shade, providing a reflective surface and motioning for him to look. Dante slowly turns around, gasping slightly at his reflection. His dark, glossy hair is now streaked liberally with dark gray, and his face, while still handsome and youthful, is considerably more lined than just minutes ago.

“Whiskey...Tango...Foxtrot...?” Dante says, baffled by his new, older appearance.

“Well, it only makes sense,” sounds Stella’s voice from across the cabin. Everyone turns simultaneously to face her, our mouths agape.

“What?” she asks, with an amused grin. “It only makes sense, if you think about it. His body was just re-animated after being completely stationary and dormant for eighteen years. It only follows logic that he would age almost immediately after, right? Think of it like a server lagging. The wormhole being the lag. The user on one end is inputting commands – Dante’s cells – but it can’t respond due to the load. However, once it’s freed up – coming out of the wormhole – the server sends all of the commands at once causing a flash of processes to happen in an instant, which is the aging process for Dante, ”

“She does have a point,” I whisper, casting an appreciative glance at Stella.

“I’m not gonna grow a white beard and start hunching when I walk, am I?” Dante asks, a hint of playful sarcasm in his voice.

“No, I don’t think it’ll effect you quite that much. You might notice some stiffness in your joints, and your physical appearances might age just a small bit more, but I doubt even that will happen,” I reply.

“At least now I won’t feel like I’m robbing the cradle,” Anika says with a chuckle, causing the entire cabin to erupt in laughter.

Suddenly, a choking scream pierces the air around us, sending a chill up my spine as I turn automatically towards Leon.

“Move, Stella, now!” Ethan screams, as Leon’s left arm strains at its bindings, threatening to tear right through them.

Stella struggles for a moment with her safety belt, finally releasing the catch and lunging across the room, landing near my feet with a thud. She takes the seat next to mine, fear etched on her face and pain in her eyes.

Damien and Ethan are already next to Leon, holding him down in his seat as a tell-tale snap lets us know that he’s begun busting loose from his harness. Dante quickly joins the other two men, attempting to keep Leon from harming himself and others.

Stella suddenly grabs my wrist, letting her head fall forwards as tears drip off the end of her nose, falling gracefully into her lap. I put a comforting, motherly arm around her shoulder and Anika moves swiftly to her other side, mimicking my gesture.

After ten minutes, Leon has been properly subdued and is once again back to sleeping peacefully. After Damien adds a final strap, securing his head safely into position, Stella resumes her position next to him, keeping a silent vigil.

Ethan makes his was across the cabin to me, kneeling in front of me and pulling me into a tight embrace and burying his face in my shoulder.

“He’s going to be ok, we have to believe that, baby,” Ethan whispers to me. I just nod and return the hug, holding tightly to him for several minutes before he kisses me and loosens his hold. He kisses me softly, conveying so many mixed emotions and more love than I can fathom.

“Okay everyone, it’s time to make our final descent. We’ll be touching down in about four minutes. Ethan, I’m gonna need you up here, man,” Damien says, gesturing over his shoulder to the cockpit.

“Alright, everyone buckle up, this might be a bit bumpy,” Ethan says to us all, before turning on his heel and taking his seat at the front of the ship next to Damien.

After everyone buckles in safely, the ship lurches forwards, its nose slowly curving downwards. Soon after, the fluffy white clouds disappear, turning into a stretch of clear blue sky. I can make out the sounds of rolling waves of the ocean as the ship nears its destination.

“Hang on, guys, here we go!” Damien shouts, a note of youthful abandon in his voice.

As the ship begins to rapidly drop, we’re all forced back in our seats, each of us clenching the arm rests tightly.

“Touching down!” Ethan shouts back to us, as the engines whir loudly. The ship makes contact with the ground, the sand cushioning the ship from the usual rough landing.

Slowly, I open my eyes, taking in the picturesque scene from the small window across from me. Golden sand and the navy-blue waters of the ocean capped by rolling, foamy white surfs. I can’t help but to smile.

Earth.

“Okay, guys. We’re about four blocks from me and Tanya’s house. We just follow the beach from here,” Damien says, unhooking his seatbelt and extracting himself from his seat as the thrusters come to a gradual halt.

“You live on the beach?” Stella asks.

“When Tanya and I got married, it was the first house we ever considered buying. She fell in love with it, and I couldn’t resist,” Damien replies, smiling serenely.

“He’s a completely different man when Tanya is around. Turns into a teddy bear,” Ethan jokes, nudging his brother and smiling.

“It looks as though I slept through the journey. Have we landed safely?” Rin’Gal pipes up from the rear of the cabin.

“Yes, we’re on the beach in New Jersey, back on Earth. We’re going to be departing for Damien and Tanya’s in just a moment. We have to secure Leon to a mobile stretcher so we can get him there safely. Rin’Gal, I think it would be best if you came with us,” Ethan replies.

“Thank you, Ethan,” Rin Gal says, nodding slowly.

Damien, Dante and Rin Gal join Ethan around Leon’s sleeping form, unbuckling his straps and transferring him swiftly to the wheeled stretcher than Stella has set up.

“Ok, Damien, get the doors. Everyone else, grab anything you need and let’s head out. Elena, before you come out, hit the cloaking device on the dash. It’s the purple button next to the thrusters,” Ethan says, strapping Leon’s last belt into place.

I just nod to him as Stella takes the head of Leon’s stretcher, helping Ethan wheel him down the ramp and onto the soft sand as sunlight streams in.

Once everyone is safely off the ship, I grab my backpack of supplies, hit the cloaking device and follow the group outside.

“Okay everyone, the house is this way. It’s about a five minute walk up the beach, this way,” Damien instructs, taking the lead and pointing up ahead.

We walk slowly behind him, his anxious steps far faster than ours, presumably because he’s wanting to get home to his wife.

Ten minutes later, Damien’s smile cracks into a full-blown grin as a light blue beach house comes into view, its white shutters gleaming in the bright sunshine.

We all quicken our pace and just as we reach the back of the house a beautiful brunette steps out onto the white-washed deck, clad in faded jeans and what appears to be Damien’s t-shirt. She’s carrying a brightly color tropical flower in one hand and a watering can in the other.

Upon spotting our group, the watering can crashes on to the deck, its contents spilling out over the surface of the deck as she races down the steps.

“Damien! You’re home!” she shouts, as she launches into Damien’s outstretched arms.

“I’m home baby, and I missed you so much. We have so many things to catch you up on, and we need your help,” Damien says to her, his arms still tightly wound around her petite waist. “But first...Tanya, this is Dante.”

“D-Dante? But...wait. You mean, the Dante?” Tanya asks, her eyes wide in surprise.

“The one and only. It’s nice to meet you, Tanya,” Dante says, extending a hand. She shakes his hand and smiles, turning her gaze back to her husband.

“When you set your mind to something, you follow through, don t you? I’m so proud of you,” she says to Damien, smiling and circling her arms around his waist again.

“And I, for one, am glad he did,” Dante replies, weaving an arm around Anika’s slim frame.

“Damien, would you care to explain to me why my nephew is on a stretcher, and why you’ve all suddenly shown up? Don t get me wrong, I’m very glad to see all of you, but I’m more than a little confused,” Tanya says.

“Let’s get inside and we’ll explain everything,” Damien replies. Tanya’s gaze flickers towards the hulking form of Rin’Gal, though no fear can be seen in her ice blue eyes.

We all follow Tanya and Damien in through the sliding glass backdoor of the house, taking seats in the large and cozy living room.

“Before you start explaining, Elena, Ethan, It’s so good to see you again,” Tanya says, crossing the room and hugging us both, before taking a seat on the arm of Damien’s chair.

“It’s been too long, Tanya. We have a lot of catching up to do,” I reply, as Dante and Anika position Leon’s stretcher against the long wall. Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Rin’Gal,” I say to her, motioning to the Sekrid seated on her sofa. “Our Sekrid ally. This is Stella, Leon’s wonderful girlfriend and my prodigy. You’ve met Dante, of course, and that is his significant other, Anika.”

“It’s nice to meet you all, welcome to Jersey and to our home,” she says politely, nodding to each guest in turn. Now, my loving husband, can you please enlighten me on the situation?

Damien begins to explain the last few days, with each of us putting in our own explanations at regular intervals until she’s completely caught up.

“I see, so Leon’s infected. Well, luckily I have all of the equipment down in the lab, and I can get him back in working order in no time,” Tanya says, easing all of our minds.

“Follow me, everyone, the lab is down in the basement,” Damien says, once again taking the lead as Stella and I guide Leon’s stretcher carefully down the basement steps.

When we reach the bottom, I gasp in shock, taking in the impressive scene around me.

The gleaming workstation appears to be stocked well enough for a nuclear fallout and is impeccably clean. Several work tables, cabinets and machines line the walls, along with Tanya s personal desk.

She uncovers a long, stainless steel examination table in the middle of the room, pulling a starched white sheet from its surface and hanging it on a hook near her lab coat.

“Put him down on the table and strap him in. I’ll need some of you to wait upstairs while I perform the procedure, but I’ll let two of you stay down here,” Tanya says, donning her lab jacket and crossing the room to wash her hands in the sterile-looking sink.

“Stella, why don’t you and Elena stay down here with him? I’ll wait upstairs with the others,” Ethan suggest graciously, patting her shoulder.

“Are you sure, Ethan? I mean, he’s your son, I don t want to—”

“Stells, you’re his heart, I’m just his old man,” Ethan replies with a smirk. “You stay here with him. I’m sure he’d rather see your face than mine when he comes to.”

“Thank you,” Stella says with a small nod.

Ethan crosses the room and kisses me softly.

“Don’t worry baby, he’ll be fine. I’ll be upstairs with the others if you need me. I love you,” Ethan says to me, giving me a quick hug.

“I know, and I love you too,” I reply, relishing in his warm embrace for a moment.

Ethan and the rest troop back upstairs, with Damien promising a full meal, and Stella moves to stand next to me. I put a motherly arm around her and she leans her head to my shoulder as Tanya prepares several phials of liquid and a sterile needle on a tray.

“Are you sure you’re prepared to witness this? He’ll be perfectly safe during the procedure, but he will most definitely have an episode. I just want to make sure you re mentally prepared for what you’re going to see, it’s not going to be pretty,” Tanya explains.

“As ready as we’ll ever be.”