“I also desire to have children, but I desire to have you more, Xander,” Roni declared passionately, flinging the prophylactics on the floor before rushing to hug him about the waist the way she used to when they were dating.
Roni’s heart thrilled when Xander did not move away from her, but instead put a comforting hand at the back of her head. She found even more pleasure when she noticed the people at the edge of the room gawking at this affectionate embrace.
He will mate me now for sure. Roni smirked as she cut her eyes triumphantly at Afua.
“And if you have to have offspring, we could always adopt, Xander. Your parents did that and look how well you turned out,” Roni continued aloud, now staring lovingly up into his eyes. Inwardly, she was glad that his back was to the northeast entrance. This way, Xander would not be distracted by the sight of the brown woman whose essence was rapidly filling with colors of heartache and rage.
Xander found himself at a crossroad between his past and his future. The simple solutions Roni posed would enable them to be together. They would also enable them to rear children. He was amazed that they hadn’t thought of those answers sooner.
However, Xander could not easily forget his overwhelming feelings for Afua. No woman had visited his dreams as much as she had. Nor consumed his waking hours. Every time Xander was near Afua, he wanted to take her in his arms and hold her forever.
But he wasn’t holding Afua now. He was holding Roni. Why was he still holding Roni?
Afua wanted to know the answer to that question herself. Since Xander had grown quiet, she couldn’t help but come to her own conclusions on the matter. Conclusion one, Roni had gained much ground with her fervently spoken words. Conclusion two, her simple solutions to the things that divided them had been accepted or were at least being seriously considered.
On top of that, Xander had not brought up Afua’s name or his love for her once. Rather he’d been beating around the bush when he was usually such a blunt talker. All of this led Afua to believe that Xander still felt something deep for Roni. Still wanted something permanent with her. Plus, they did have a longer history together.
Maybe they can work out their differences after all, Afua thought as defeat crept upon her like a thief intent on stealing every ounce of joy in her heart. With thoughts like that rapidly filling her mind, she turned to walk away.
Unfortunately, Afua turned too sharply to the right and ended up stomping her bare toes on one of Nasiir’s hooves. Hooves that weren’t there a minute ago when he was still in dog form.
“Just great!” Afua exclaimed as pain radiated up her left leg. She missed Nasiir’s secret smile as he pulled his right hoof back out of the way.
Scales seemed to fall from Xander’s eyes when he heard Afua’s voice. He’d been so involved with Roni that he hadn’t been aware of anyone else.
Realizing what she must have witnessed, Xander immediately felt guilt wash over him. As he turned to face Afua, he instantly saw the dark colors of depression trying to invade her soul as she started to limp from the room.
“Halt, beloved!” Xander said in English as he detangled himself from Roni’s reluctant frame.
All eyes went to Xander and then Afua, who’d stopped instantly in her tracks at his words. She was the only person he’d ever called beloved. Not even Roni had held that honored title.
“Why should I stay, Xander? To watch you two reconcile?” Afua scoffed. “I don’t think so. For all I know, Roni could have been making surprise visits like this all along.” She shook her head. “If anybody wants me, I’ll be in my cabin, counting down the seconds to the end of this mission. Then we can all get back to our old lives,” Afua concluded, turning to walk away again. This time she forced herself to move without a limp, thereby ignoring the pain in her foot. She had enough pain in her heart to contend with right now.
“Afua.” Xander started after her, determined to make things right between them again.
“Let her go, Xander.” Roni pulled on his arm. “You do not need her now that all the problems that divided us are solved.”
Xander paused as he thought about Roni’s words for a moment. “You are wrong, Roni. I do need her,” he said bluntly, saying what he should have said in the beginning. “My destiny is with Afua. I love her. I regret not telling you that earlier, but it is so true. I do love her and I need her almost as much as I need to breathe.”
“You love her? So soon?” Though hurt by his declaration, Roni’s eyes were huge with doubt, as well. She could see colors of love dancing around in his essence even now and Afua was nowhere in the room.
“Yes, I love her very deeply.” Out of the corner of his eye, Xander could see Badru and Nasiir smile with approval. Yet he had not said that for their benefit, he’d spoken the truth for himself.
“But all those reds in your essence. Surely some of them are connected to me?” Roni’s pride wouldn’t allow her to believe that he didn’t still feel something for her.
“I am sure some of them are for you, since I will always have a special place in my heart for my first love.” Xander looked down fondly at Roni. “However, what I feel for Afua is…” He paused, trying to find the right words, words that would not inflict pain upon his college sweetheart.
Finding none, Xander settled for words that would at least soften the blow. “What I feel for Afua transcends what you and I had, Roni. It goes beyond anything I have ever felt for anyone.”
Roni looked closer at Xander’s essence, trying to see if he was indeed speaking truth. All the light shades of blues and purples confirmed it. The man was telling the truth. Before Roni could speak on that, a barefooted Afua came rushing back into the room. And with no sign of pain anywhere.
“Take your hands off my man right now!” Afua pointed at Roni. Her face was lit with emotion and her essence held a wide spectrum of colors in it.
“Your man…?” Roni began.
“Shut up!” Afua snapped at the beautiful Katanian. “You’ve had your turn to speak. Now it’s my turn.”
Fear and awe shot through Roni like a lightning bolt as she noted the most dominant color upon Afua’s essence now. The angry woman’s essence was nearly saturated with the bright light of the Creator. This was no ordinary Earth woman. This was no ordinary person. This person was one of God’s chosen vessels.[i]
Discerning all these things, Roni closed her mouth tightly, released Xander’s arm and took several steps away from him. There would be no more trouble out of her.
“Just so you know, I didn’t want to love Xander, no matter how unbelievably handsome he was,” Afua continued, now standing directly in front of Roni, towering over her shorter frame. “In fact, I did everything in my power not to fall in love with him, but it happened anyway. Over time I came to accept the fact that God had ordained this great love. And because I believe that it’s been ordained from on high, I’m going to hold fast to it and not allow anyone or anything to stand in my way.”[ii]
Then Afua looked at Xander and added, “So if you need more time to bring the proper closure to your past, I suggest you do it now. Because we have a destiny to fulfill together.”
Xander grinned and rushed to scoop Afua up in his strong arms. Oh the fire in this woman. It excited and invigorated him. He couldn’t help but spin her around and kiss her lips at least once before placing her upon her feet again.
“That is what I was trying to do before you so rudely interrupted me, beloved,” Xander said with his arms still around her waist. A woman like this was just too special to let go. Too soft, too, since the cotton robe Afua wore only covered her flesh. It was not thick enough to keep the feel of her curves away from his touch. And oh what a feel it was.
“What?” Afua looked confused now. She turned around in Xander’s arms and glanced over at her father and Nasiir for confirmation. Both grinning males nodded. “Oh,” she said, feeling self-conscious now as realization set in.
Badru and Nasiir burst out laugh
ing.
Xander only chuckled. “Is that all you have to say now? Oh?” He bent to plant a light kiss upon her ear. The citrus smell of her caressed his nostrils in a most delectable way. It made Xander long for this mission to be over and done with even more.
“No. I still want to know if you were successful at closing the door to the past. Roni doesn’t seem like the type to give up without a fight to me,” Afua said, persevering beyond her embarrassment.
A now smiling Roni stepped forward and answered that question for Xander. “He was ninety percent successful. I still had it in my mind to try to convince him at least one more time before I left.”
“What put him over the top? What made you change your mind?” Afua asked, feeling less threatened by the woman now. Something about Roni had softened with her smile.
“You.” Roni pointed to the taller woman, whom she was starting to like more and more the longer she stayed in her presence.
“Me?” Afua asked, hoping the woman didn’t think she was actually going to physically assault her a few minutes ago. But then again, Afua’s emotions had been pretty high then.
“Yes, you. When you came in here full of righteous indignation, almost glowing with the light of the Creator upon you, I knew I had lost Xander forever. My only comfort is the fact that I lost him to a worthy opponent,” Roni said, conceding defeat and revealing that trademark pride of hers at the same time. The same pride that was partly responsible for her going back to Katan alone[iii], without being mated.
Suddenly a voice from the northeast entrance said, “If you all are finished here, I would like to suggest that we get something to eat. I am hungrier than two lions and I just might start eating Dr. Karson here.” When they all turned to look at Nasiir, they found him now in the form of a huge lion.
Badru yipped and scurried away from him in fright.
“Nasiir, play nice.” Afua laughed as she went to pat his thick lion’s mane. Because of Nasiir, the usually serious woman was laughing more and more these days. Being deliriously in love helped to loosen her up, too.
While Afua and Nasiir playfully chided Badru for running away, Roni turned to Xander and said, “I have never seen you look happier. I think she is going to make you a great wife.”
Xander smiled and nodded. “I know she is.”
________________________________________
[i] Acts 9:15
[ii] 1 Thessalonians 5:21
[iii] Proverbs 29:23
Chapter 29
2188 - October
Xander and his team of three sat at the round shulchan and went over the final details of their plan. With the presidential election only weeks away, it was now or never to move against Jay.
Even though Xander had wanted to be the one to confront his birth parents’ killer, it had been mutually agreed upon that he would not reveal himself to Jay at all now. Doing so would incite all kinds of questions about his background. Questions that none of them were willing to answer. Neither was Earth ready for those answers just yet.
However, Xander would be the one to upload and broadcast copies of select H-NASA documents that he and Badru had covertly commandeered during their summer tours at the space center. A few other documents would also be uploaded as evidence.
It was finally agreed that Badru would be the one to confront Jay. He would do it with Nasiir at his side, while Xander and Afua watched the festivities over the air waves like everyone else.
Badru actually volunteered to confront Jay before Xander. Not only did he have a personal score to settle with the man, but ever since Nasiir revealed Tuhfa’s prophecy about an Earth friend becoming hurt almost to the point of death, Badru could not let the young folks make that sacrifice.
Dr. Karson had lived a good life, loved a good wife, and raised a wonderful child. He deemed it only fair that he be the one to put himself in harm’s way. The others had a lot more living to do yet. Besides, Tuhfa’s prophecy did not say that Badru would die, which meant that he would survive the attempt on his life. There was comfort to be taken in that.
“Where is Jay now?” Badru asked, ready to face his longtime enemy.
“At his lakeside home in Virginia. We have the exact coordinates of that location, so you should not have any problem transporting there,” Xander replied. “Speaking of transporting, are you well-versed with your device now?”
Badru nodded. “Yes, Nasiir trained Afua and me on the proper way to use our transporters.” As of now they both knew how to either type in or speak in coordinates to any place they wanted to go in this galaxy or the next.
“Very good.” Xander stole a glance at his future bride, whose face looked just as solemn as the rest of them. They all couldn’t wait for this mission to be over.
“Will Jay be alone? Or will there be others to contend with?” Badru asked.
Nasiir answered this time. “As a bird, I checked the perimeter thoroughly from every angle. As a mouse, I overheard the Horrells mentioning that they would be alone inside the house tonight, but that there would be guards posted on the grounds. The mode of defense will be shield. The modes of offense will be neuro-stunner and disintegrator as previously agreed upon.” Nasiir paused, looked at a wincing Afua, and added, “The disintegrator will only be used for extreme circumstances.”
Afua smiled and released a loud sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
The young prophetess was not a fan of violence in any form. Yet if a weapon had to be used, she preferred using one that a person could actually recover from. The neuro-stunner was such a weapon. Its primary function was to render a person temporarily speechless and immobile by affecting the frontal and temporal lobes of the cerebrum.
Furthermore, the person remained conscious the whole time and would regain full use of his/her body within two hours. Whereas the disintegrator zapped a person into thousands of tiny molecules, killing them instantly.
“I will neutralize everyone at the lake house, except for Jay, while the meeting is being broadcast. This way, the wife and the bodyguards will be restrained from rushing in to try to stop the inevitable,” Nasiir continued. “I will also stay close to Dr. Karson in order to encompass him with my shield.”
Unlike transporters which could easily adjust to any person’s molecular makeup, Katanian shields had to be personally fitted and made through a meticulous process. There had not been enough time to have one done for Badru. However, as long as he stood at least ten feet of Nasiir he would be protected, as well.
“Speaking of your shield, when was the last time you checked it? Because at some point my father is supposed to get severely hurt today and I don’t understand why. Especially with all the precautions that are being taken,” Afua said. Even now she couldn’t understand why God had not shown her more specifics about this matter.
All Afua had heard in her spirit was: ‘Fear not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord which He will show you this day. Hold on to your faith, for you will never see this particular enemy again’.[i]
Nasiir’s mother hadn’t even been told which Earthling it would be. That puzzled Afua even more.
“All equipment has been thoroughly checked several times by myself and Nasiir. It is all operational,” Xander replied, choosing to answer for his Hekiman friend. “Though I am also confused about how your father will get hurt with all the measures we’ve put in place, I do know that we have done all we know to do to insure his safety,” he continued. Inwardly, Xander wished that he could be on the front lines with his friends. But he was needed behind the scenes for this part of the mission.
“Well, like your birth mother used to say, our best is all we can ever do,” Badru told Xander. “With all that said, let us begin our adventure in faith.”
~~~ >
It was now twilight, the moment in time when day was just starting to turn into night. The Virginia skyline had an array of blues, oranges, violets, and a solitary streak of deep purple in it. Even the sky seemed ready f
or change.
Nasiir and Badru waited until the Horrells were in the house alone before materializing in one of the unoccupied guest rooms. Nasiir had already neutralized the guards outside while in the form of a squirrel.
In order to neutralize Mrs. Horrell, he would transform into an exact likeness of the Horrells’ Persian cat, which was in the kitty room just across the hall. Taking no less than a minute to transport to that room to neutralize the cat, Nasiir passed by a particular closed guest room door and meowed. That was a signal to Badru to let him know that all was well so far.
Moving to the master suite, Nasiir tarried outside the door until Jay exited the room. It was no surprise to him when the man stuck out a black pant leg and tried to kick him as he walked past. Many wicked men were cruel to everyone, including their animals.[ii] Fortunately, Nasiir’s reflexes were excellent and he was able to avoid that intended kick.
“Honestly, Jay. Franko has done no wrong to you today,” Adrasteia complained. She motioned for her beloved pet to leap upon her lap as she sat on the small cushioned bench at the foot of the bed. This was as close as she’d come to raising a child of her own. Especially since Jay didn’t even want them to adopt.
Jay paused in the doorway and looked back. “That was for last week when he scratched up my favorite sweater.” He’d never wanted a pet of any kind. Yet he consented to a cat for his wife when public polls showed that having one made a president seem more caring. Jay desperately wanted to appear more caring, even if he wasn’t.
“Must you always remember a suffered wrong?” Adrasteia asked.
“Yes. No one offends me and gets away with it,” Jay replied with cold anger in his eyes.
Adrasteia felt a chill ripple through her at those biting words. She remained silent as Jay walked away. In all the years they’d been married, she had not crossed him once because of that cold, calculating anger he had hidden deep within.