A Daniel X Fanfic

by Sakura Martinez

Disclaimer:

I do not own Daniel X, or the characters in that story. James Patterson own the rights for them. What I do own is the idea for the fanfic and this fanfic itself.

Summary:

The final battle has begun and it begun with the loss of a life. Daniel, with Khadagh's knowledge and power, and with the rest of the drang must do everything in their power to put an end to the number one alien on The List before everyone that they care about is lost and before The Prayer puts his evil schemes into action. The battle for the universe and between good and evil culminates as The Prayer finally figures out a way to defeat, and ultimately kill, our hero. The road is tough, but

Daniel and his drang are ready.

Daniel X: Armageddon

Chapter Ten

Divide and Conquer, Part Three

Dana looked impatiently at the large holographic monitor, tapping her fingers on the desk supporting the computer and its paraphernalia's while her chin rested on her right hand. She was bored and, although she might be needed somewhere else, Dana couldn't leave the console before her. She was expecting a call, a report, one that would ease the worry that she had been feeling for several hours now.

Dana felt...concerned, and even bordering on frightened. It could have been about Daniel. She was somewhat confident that Daniel would be able to pull-off his side of the mission, but she knew the dangers that Daniel could face, and usually does. It could also be about the report that the Varjian scouts that had suddenly arrived to help them-stating that they had been sent by Daniel to aid with their evacuation efforts-that there was a large number of warships coming their way. It could also have been because their ship were already nearing reaching its overweight capacity what with all the stuff Blaleen and the other Alparian elders didn't want to leave behind.

"It is our heritage, our life," Blaleen had stated, "These are the last remnants of our civilization, the story of our people, we cannot just abandon them."

Though she did agree with Blaleen and the elders, Dana wasn't lying to Daniel when she told him that she wouldn't feel any remorse should the need to throw all that stuff away came. It would be better to leave it behind and be able to fly away at a moment's notice than have those things-important as they might be in terms of preserving their history-slow and weigh them down.

"You know, Dana, if you keep on glaring at the console like that, you might end up accidentally destroying it with your powers,"

Dana jumped at the voice. She didn't know how long she had been thinking-and sulking-and why she didn't realize she was alone until she saw that Joe had returned from his errand.

"Joe!" Dana exclaimed, not bother to hide her surprise...not that she could have hidden it after jumping out of her seat with her hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Joe frowned, "But I didn't-" he shook his head and sighed, "Blaleen's looking for you."

It was Dana's turn to frown, "Looking for me? Why?"

Joe moved forward, shrugging, "Who knows. But I wouldn't keep her waiting if I were you."

Dana squinted at Joe, "Why do I have a feeling you know what it's actually about and you're just not telling me?"

The laugh that he made sounded force. At least, to Dana, it does. But, instead of telling him what he does know, Joe merely said, "Just go to her house. She's already waiting for you." She looked behind her, back at the console, seeing her look torn between doing what was asked for her and waiting for Daniel who might call, Joe added, "Don't worry, I'll call you if something comes up over here."

Dana nodded and reluctantly made her way to Blaleen's house.

Dana knew that she didn't need to be nervous. There was absolutely nothing to be nervous about. But, she couldn't help the butterflies that she was feeling inside of her stomach as she watched Blaleen who was working on preparing something to eat for her. There was nothing in the way the old Alparian moved that should have called forth all of Dana's defenses, but somehow it felt like she was waiting for an interrogation to start where she was the one who was going to be interrogated.

The last remaining member of Daniel's family was anything but frightening, Dana also knew that. If anything else, Blaleen was kind and never condescending. She was, however, strict when it came to some things and Dana was also starting to realize that she was also overprotective of her grandson.

Not that Blaleen was ever going to admit to something like that, because she was also stubborn.

Silence filled the beat-up old house, the only sounds were the sounds of voices coming from outside where people were shouting orders, hurrying up the evacuation process. The news that The Prayer was close, after all, wasn't a secret. Every Alparian knew that their time was running short.

Having finally finished making a sandwich and tea, Blaleen took the food to the living room where Dana was waiting. She placed the tray with the food on the small table, took a cup and sat down on the vacant chair opposite the young telekinetic Alparian.

When Dana sat rigidly, looking at her, unsure of what to do, Blaleen waved her hand to the sandwiches and the cup of tea and said, "You should eat while you can, Dana. We will need all capable fighters ready when the time comes."

Dana nodded, and with the same rigidity, she took one sandwich.

Sandwich on her hand, she looked curiously at the old woman before voicing out her question. "I'm sorry, Blaleen, but...this couldn't be the reason you asked me to come here."

Blaleen nodded, took another sip of her tea, and then answered, "It isn't. Not entirely. But before we get to why I asked Joe-Joe to bring you here, it is best if we get some nourishment in you. I'm pretty certain that my Daniel wouldn't appreciate it if you ended up thinning while under my care, here in Alpar Nok."

Dana wanted to argue that she really wasn't under anyone's care and that it was the other way around. Daniel was the one who entrusted Blaleen and the rest of the Alparians to her and Joe and Willy. But, of course, she didn't say anything about that. She didn't want to sound like she was pushing her importance in this whole thing, especially when it seemed that Blaleen truly believed that she was responsible for Dana.

"You don't believe me," Blaleen chuckled as she set down her cup of tea. Dana was about to protest but Blaleen held up a hand to stop her. "I can see it in your eyes, child. You think that all of this is just crazy-talk. But, let me tell you, that is just how things are. I am now among the elders of our people and the grandmother of Daniel, as long as I am alive, it will always be my responsibility to ensure that you are well taken care of."

"I don't-I mean, I wasn't-" Dana was at a lost for words for having been caught like that. In the end, she settled into apologizing, "I'm...sorry."

Blaleen chuckled once again, "No need to apologize. Just eat."

Despite not having the appetite, Dana did as she was told. She ate slowly until she was full and the refills stopped.

Once Blaleen was satisfied, she leaned back and said, "Now, let us talk."

"Um, about what, Blaleen?" Dana asked, not wanting this to be a one-sided talk. "The evacuation?"

The old woman shook her head and said, "No, not about any of that boring stuff. About you and Daniel."

Dana's eyes widen in surprise, her jaw hung open. She was glad that she was no longer holding the cup of tea or was drinking anything. She was sure she could have either spit out what she had just drank, or let go of her hold of the glass, or both. Heat spread to her face up to the tips of her ears. She felt embarrassed. She had never talked to anyone about Daniel-not the way she suspected Blaleen wanted to talk to her about.

"W-What? A-About Daniel?" She couldn't help stuttering. She tried to clear her throat, but even so, her voice squeaked as she added, "I don't think-maybe we can talk about something else, Blaleen?"

Blaleen chose to ignore her or didn't hear Dana's request because she went right in and asked, "Do you intend to have a union with my grandson, Dana?"

Dana's face went another shade of red darker. She was not expecting that question.

Why is she suddenly asking me about marriage? Dana couldn't help but wonder, amidst how freaked-out she was feeling. Did Daniel put her up to this? Did he talk to her about this?

"Well?" Blaleen asked, continuing to watch her, waiting for her response.

"I, uh, we haven't really...talked about that yet," was Dana's choice for an answer. She thought that it was a perfectly safe answer, and figured that it was also the right answer.

Blaleen nodded, "With all that's happening, I suppose that is true. However, I didn't ask if you talked with him about it or not. What I asked was your intention. But perhaps I should ask you an easier question, one you could answer. Do you love Daniel?"

"O-Of course!" Dana couldn't help but quickly answer, her voice rising. She took a deep breath and with as much calm as she could muster under such a situation, she added, "I really do love Daniel, Blaleen. I would do anything for him. He...he's my best friend...he had saved me and accepted me for who I had become. How can I not love someone like that?"

Blaleen studied her and, for a moment, Dana wasn't sure what the old Alaprian wanted. She was right in assuming that Blaleen was a very protective grandmother, she just wasn't sure how over-protective she was.

After a while, Blaleen nodded, "Graff and Altrea both seem to think that you and Daniel were a good fit, even when you were both little. But, that doesn't mean I would go easy on you...especially when Daniel asks for my permission. Having said that, it doesn't mean that I have anything against you, dear. I just want to make sure that my grandson only has the best."

And, without waiting for Dana-who's mouth was hanging open in surprise-to say anything, Blaleen stood up from where she sat, carried the tray of food back to the kitchen and proceeded to humming to herself, signaling to Dana that their conversation was over. Filled with mixed emotions, Dana mumbled her goodbyes before leaving Blaleen's house, hurrying herself back to the ship, hoping that she would be able to contact Daniel now.

She had a lot of things to say to him, that much was sure.

"So, how was it?" Joe asked as soon as he heard Dana enter the room. He wouldn't have asked the question had he seen her face, but as his back was on her, he didn't see.

Dana's sole answer, as she slid to her seat and buried her face on the console was a groan.

The unexpected form of answer caused Joe to swivel from his chair to look at her. Sure enough, Dana's posture wasn't something he had expected.

"That bad?" he asked, tentatively.

"You have no idea," Dana replied, "Blaleen just, basically, handed me a threat...or a warning. I did not see that coming."

"Wait...what?" Joe's laughter was one wrought about by confusion.

Dana sighed, turned her chair around, and began to tell Joe what had happened. Normally, she would have kept it to herself but since it seemed as though she and Joe were in the same boat-what with Joe still needing to prove himself to Willy-she figured he could help her, or explain to her what just happened.

After Dana narrated the events, Joe could only whistled.

"Daniel's going to be in trouble...isn't he?" He asked, as he continued to watch Dana's exasperated face.

"What makes you say that?" she asked, wondering if she just muttered out loud how much she was going to strangle Daniel.

Joe laughed, "It's written all over your face, Dana. You think he said something to Blaleen to make her act that way towards you?"

Dana shrugged, she wasn't sure but, "What other explanation could there be? Daniel must've said something that didn't sit well with his grandmother."

Just before Joe could defend their ever-fearless leader, a siren erupted around the compound. Red, flashing lights bathed the room they were in. The annoyance that was on Dana's face and the amusement on Joe's were soon replaced by realization, followed by urgency. They knew what that meant even before Willy came barreling towards them.

"They're here!" Willy shouted towards them, "The Prayer's forces have just breached the Varjian's defenses. They'll make contact with our ground forces in less than an hour!"

It was the most frenzied hour of Dana's life.

The moment the alarm sounded, everyone was running, making sure they have everything they needed-and wanted to bring-on-board the ship. Within minutes, Joe had fired up the ship and was ready for takeoff; Willy had made final preparations with the machinations that Joe had created for their ground defense and also to buy them time as they escape; and Dana had re-doubled her efforts in protecting not only their ship but also the Varjian forces that were fighting for them. She was tired before she knew it, even so, Dana did not let the barriers down.

"We sure could use Daniel's powers right about now," Willy said over the earpiece that Joe had provided each one of them. "We could sneak out of Alpar Nok instead of flying straight to the enemy."

"Daniel's not here, and there's no point in wishing he was," Dana sighed, even though, truth be told, she wished for the same thing. "Let's just focus on getting out of here in one piece."

"I second that," Joe agreed. "We're not totally defenseless, though. Daniel seemed to have thought ahead of time and added a couple of defense mechanisms in the ship...I didn't notice these before...Why didn't I notice this before?"

Joe drifted off wondering what had occupied his mind for him not to notice the defenses he had mentioned to his friends. After a while, he chuckled, "That sly bastard."

"Did we miss something?" Dana asked, "And, did you just call Daniel a 'bastard'?"

"That, I did." Joe laughed as he began entering codes, instructions, into the console in front of him. "You guys should see what he did with the ship. It's like he created it to have a mind of its own."

"What are you talking about?" Willy asked as soon as he had finished calibrating the cannons. "And please, don't give us that geek speak you always end up doing when you're excited about something related to technology or whatever."

Joe wanted to tell Willy how much he was wasting his IQ if he was going to just cruise through the explanation in layman's terms, but he decided to hold his tongue knowing full-well what that would entail for him and Emma. So, instead, Joe gave in to Willy's request of not doing 'geek speak'.

"I don't really know how he did it but, whatever Daniel did, he implanted the ship to have a VI in it." Joe said.

"A VI? You mean a 'Virtual Intelligence'?" Dana asked.

Joe beamed, glad that Dana was on-board and that he didn't need to explain it to her as well. He was certain that she knew the basics of VIs. "That's exactly what I meant. I didn't know Daniel knew about them, or if he had any idea what he just implanted the ship with but, with whatever the case may be, he outdid himself. Though, I wish he didn't hide this from me. I'm not sure how long it would take for the VI to power-up or even what it would do, but, whatever it does, I'm hoping it would help us with our escape."

"So, you don't know what it actually is and what it does but you think it will help us? That about right?" Willy asked.

"Knowing Daniel, it will help us. He wouldn't have created something like that in this ship if it won't." Dana sounded sure, her belief in Daniel not faltering. "But, until we know anything about this Virtual Intelligence, I think it would be smart not to depend on it, right, Joe?"

"I was about to say the same thing. Which means the safety of everyone on board this ship still rests on our shoulders." Joe agreed.

"Kind of a tall order, don't you think?" was all Willy said before he gave orders to the Varjians under his command.

Joe also dropped the call and went back to calibrating the ship. They were going to blast off in a moment, he was sure of it.

Dana sighed. She couldn't help but feel the same way Willy did. It was a pretty heavy and tall order to ask them to defend hundreds of Alparian from an enemy who wished for nothing but their complete and utter destruction. Even so, she was going to hold her ground and do everything in her power to make sure that everyone was safe, even if that included Blaleen who seemed to want her to prove herself to her.