Chapter 39:
Angel walked through the GA HQ at a brisk pace. She knew where she was headed, and she had no intention of being stopped by anyone on the way. Of course, many of the people in the facility knew better than to speak to her unless she spoke to them. She turned a corner and approached a lift. Entering the lift, she programmed it to take her to the place she needed to be. Unlike the lifts on Earth, this would go sideways, as well as up and down. When the lift opened again, she made her way out and headed to the large doors in front of her. She knocked and waited for the invitation to enter. She approached the desk, placed her fist in her left palm and bowed to her former teacher.
"If Akane is on Earth," Kyoza stood by the window of his office, staring out the window, "You are in danger." He turned and looked at his student. "You need to be prepared for what you are to face."
"I am fully capable…" Angel began defensively.
"She is one of the strongest mystics of our kind." Kyoza interjected, "Second only to yo… To the emperor." He sighed, "I cannot teach you the mystic ways. At least not in the way that you should be taught. All I can do, is provide you with as much information as I can surrounding your mystical heritage."
"Information?" Angel looked at him curiously.
"Follow me." Kyoza said and took his staff before heading to the right side of his room. Pausing only to ensure that Angel was indeed following, Kyoza pressed a button on the wall to reveal a room. He walked inside, "This is a library that I have gathered over the years, not only of our history, but our traditions and mysticism. There are tomes here that tell stories long since forgotten by our people. Stories lost long before our planet was taken from us."
"I can't read all this in the time I have here." Angel stared at all of the books and scrolls surrounding her in awe.
"And I would not expect you to." Kyoza chuckled. He stepped forward and pressed a button on a small computer. A storage device popped out of the computer and he held it out to her. "All of the information in this library, has been stored here as well. I have taken the liberty of ensuring that anything in ancient Amayan has a translated version as well."
"Why do you care so much?" Angel asked as she took the device with a frown. The old man placed a finger beneath her chin and made the teen look at him.
"You give our people hope." He told her, "And I would be a terrible teacher, if I were to not do something to help the best student I have ever trained." He smiled at her blush, "Whatever that woman has planned must not come to pass. And her husband and son must not be allowed to continue to shed the blood they spill so easily."
"I will bring them to justice teacher." Angel bowed again, "I swear it."
"I do not doubt." He chuckled. "Now, go and be with your new friends. It gives this old coot such happiness to see you smile so often." Angel blushed and hurried off leaving the old man behind.
"Even you can't protect her from those monsters." Yurio stepped out of the darkness with Mimosa by his side.
"But perhaps she can protect herself." Kyoza replied, his tone betraying the fact that even he didn't believe this.
"We should be by her side protecting her!" Mimosa said tersely. "She's Hisanna's daughter!"
"I am well aware of that." Kyoza said calmly. "But we cannot know what will happen if it becomes common knowledge amongst our people that one of Hisanna and Kaoru's children survived!"
"They would want to protect her as well!" Yurio argued.
"Yes," Kyoza raised his voice only slightly, "But this could also result in Akane and that son of hers in persuading their allies to bring their plans forward. This would be devastating for the planet Earth and possibly this entire universe."
"So, you would risk Hisanna's girl for Ear…?" Yurio started but was stopped by Kyoza slamming his staff to the ground.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Kyoza told them angrily. "When we have a stronger force in the Teran sectors, perhaps we can risk being more open in protecting her. But for now, all we can do is make sure she is prep…" Mimosa was suddenly holding him against the far wall. The old man did nothing to stop her and didn't appear surprised.
"Mark my words old man!" She growled, "I may have failed Hissana, but I will not fail her daughter!" She roughly threw him to the ground, "I will follow your plan, for now. But if anything happens to that child that we could have prevented, I will hold you personally responsible!"
"Mimi." Yurio placed a hand on her shoulder, "His hands are tied. There is very little he can do as a high council member."
"I'm not." Mimosa growled at him.
"And you will be in just as much danger from Akane as Angel." Yurio tried to reason, "Akane hates you almost as much as she did Hisanna."
"I am not scared of that woman!" Mimosa declared.
"You should be!" Yurio snapped. "You know as well as I do what she is capable of. The lengths she'll go to, to get what she wants." Mimosa narrowed her eyes and yanked her shoulder way from Yurio's grip. "I knew Hisanna almost as well as you did." He said more calmly, "She would want you to think of Kimaya. You make a move against Akane and she will target Kim." Mimosa sighed and with that sigh the tension left her body.
"I still don't like it." She grumbled.
"Nor do we." Kyoza said sombrely, "But for now it is our only way forward to protect the lives around Angel, not to mention Angel's own life."
"Hey book worm." Nosedive greeted Angel when he found her reading on a sofa in Kii-era's lab, "You ready to go?"
"Sure." Angel said switching the holo reader off and standing up with a yawn.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" Dive asked her with a frown. Angel blinked and looked at the clock.
"I may have been reading all night." She shrugged in a sheepish manner. "Kyoza let me have electronic copies of what's left of the written history of my people, which includes information surrounding the mystical side of Amayans."
"Cool." the blonde smiled at her, "You still gotta sleep though." He added with a wink. Angel rolled her eyes and poked his side.
"I am aware of that goofball." She chuckled, "How's Duke?"
"Out of surgery but still sleeping." Nosedive replied. "Kii'era says she wants him to stay on a few days anyway and Tanya's gonna stay with him. She says it's to keep an eye on Duke, but I'm pretty sure she'll be soaking up anything she can find on the tech here!" Dive laughed, "Kinda like you with your new books." Dive winked then paused, "Did you ever do anything with that motherboard you found in the palace?"
"No actually." Angel replied, "In fact, I'm not even sure where I stored it." She laughed at herself, "Guess I should find it huh?"
"Could have more info on it for you to read." Dive shrugged. "Maybe something on how to use your powers like Akane uses hers?"
"Maybe." Angel shrugged and got to her feet. She and Nosedive walked side by side towards the transport hanger in comfortable silence. This silence was only interrupted by the occasional yawn from Angel.
"Angel?" Dive asked quietly as they walked through the halls.
"Hmn?" Angel rubbed her eyes and made no complaint when Nosedive placed an arm around her shoulders. She leant her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, allowing him to lead her through the hallways.
"When we were on Azmaria I saw a painting…" Dive started.
"If you want to know if the woman in the painting was my mother," Angel said with a small frown, "I don't know." She pulled away, but only slightly. "I suppose the woman I remember does look a little like the woman in the painting. But the memories I have are of a woman who was malnourished and regularly beaten. She had the same hair colour, eye colour, even the same name, but she never once mentioned to me that I was a princess. She only ever called me her little Angel." Angel made a face of disgust and added, "The only people who ever used my given name were my masters."
"You told me you knew your family was important and that's why your mom was taken," Dive pointed out squeezing her shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting manner, "you think that…"
"I don't know." Angel said, "And even if I did, I'm not sure I want my mother to have been the empress."
"Why not?" Nosedive asked as they rounded the corner and entered the transporter room, where the others were waiting for them.
"If my mother is Hisanna the empress and not Hisanna the slave," Angel said quite enough for only Nosedive to hear, "then I… I lost a lot more than I ever thought I did. If I am a princess then I should have grown up with siblings, a huge family. I never got to experience that and…" She frowned and leant into his shoulder again. Nosedive ignored the stares he was getting from Canard and Mallory and pulled Angel into a hug.
"You are definitely overtired." Dive sighed as he squeezed her comfortingly.
"I am not overtired." Nosedive could hear the pout in Angel's voice and sniggered.
"Sure, you're not." Dive shook his head in disbelief.
"Let's just go home." Angel mumbled; her face still buried in his chest. She daren't remove her face as she was sure that she had a furious blush which was not helped by how much she was enjoying being hugged by her blonde friend.
"She okay?" Jessica asked as she and Wildwing joined them in the transport room.
"She's just tired." Nosedive shrugged holding her a little tighter when he felt Angel tense in discomfort.
"This has been a most enjoyable respite." Grin declared calmly with a small smile on his beak as he entered the room.
"It was so much fun!" Molly pipped up as she swung from Wildwing and Jessica's hands. "We went to a park and I played with all these really cool kids, then we went to this carnival place with lots of rides and Wildwing took me on all the ones I was big enough to ride. And then, we…."
"We get it kid!" Canard rubbed his temples, looking like he was a little worse for wear. "Do you have to be so damn loud?"
"You're such an ass." Angel said crabbily as she finally pulled away to glare at the tan Mallard, "You couldn't wait two seconds to let her finish?"
"Like you were listening whilst you were coping a feel of Nosedive over there." Canard rolled his eyes. He didn't see her move; all he knew was one minute he was shaking his head and the next he was pinned against the wall with an energy blade to his throat. Mallory pulled her blaster on instinct and aimed it at Angel.
"Let's get one thing straight," Angel said dangerously as she balanced on the edges of two tables to give her the height to be face to beak with the mallard, "I'm not a hero like you. Push me the wrong way and you will regret it." Canard gulped at the cold eyes that glared at him.
"Angel," Nosedive said with his own glare at Canard, "Back off him. He's not worth it." Angel growled again but complied before returning her blade to its hiding spot behind her back.
"Crazy brat." Canard scowled at her.
"That's enough Canard!" Wildwing snapped with his own glare aimed at his friend.
"Let's just go home." Jessica sighed wrapping an arm around a now very quiet Molly.
"Where's Tanya?" Mallory asked checking her watch.
"She's sticking around here for a while." Wildwing informed them.
"What?" Canard perked up, "Why?!"
"Because," Wildwing looked his friend in the eye, "She thinks someone should be here for Duke. She blames herself for the arm he lost." Wildwing shrugged implying he didn't agree with her. "And after everything she has been through over the past year I am not going to deny her the request. So, I don't want to hear any arguments Canard." Wildwing looked at his friend with a challenging look. Canard narrowed his eyes but said nothing.
"Tauny also mentioned that she and Kii'era were discussing theories behind Saurian teleportation technology." Jessica informed them, "She thinks she and Kii'era might be able to find you all a way home." Jessica rubbed her belly looking increasingly uncomfortable.
"Really?" Nosedive stepped forward, "She say how?"
"Something about the hyperdrive in Angel's ship." Jessica shrugged, "Sorry, Charlie would have understood, but I kind of switched off."
"Kii'era is always fascinated with my people's tech." Angel scratched her right cheek absentmindedly. "There's not a lot left and some of it is shrouded in mystery. Regular Amayans generally didn't know how it worked. I'm not even sure anyone did. Ships like mine were built centuries ago. Part of the mystery is how they continue to work despite their age. Another is the hyperdrive. No one alive knows exactly how they work which is why there are no new Amayan ships despite surviving mechanics and engineers from my race still practicing their trades."
"Are you ready to go?" A Young grey furred Martian interrupted them. Mookie, Thrash and Alex's family joined them having been led there by the said Martian.
"Uh, yeah." Wildwing nodded, "We're ready." He added with a smile.
The small group piled into the transport module and within moments they were in the Moon base. They travelled to Angel's ship in relative silence and within an hour they were all back at the pond, separating to retire for the evening. Wildwing saw Jessica and Molly to bed before making his way to the ready room where he found an Amayan woman in her mid-twenties sat at Drake One. Her hair was tied into twin buns towards the back of her head with some of her hair hanging from the buns and down her back.
"Reika, right?" Wildwing asked as he approached her. She turned to him with her deep blue eyes and smiled at him.
"That's me!" She grinned. "And you're Wildwing, if I remember right."
"That's right." Wildwing returned her smile, at ease with the woman quickly thanks to her easy-going nature. "Any problems?"
"The rest of the team went out on a couple of recon missions." She told him as she typed at Drake One's keyboard, bringing up maps with blinking dots, "there were teleportation signatures from these locations. Each time a new signal appears, there is nothing at the location when teams get there. We're looking into it, so you guys need not worry till you have all had some proper rest for a change." She smiled at him in a friendly manner.
"Well that sounds like Draganus." Wildwing rubbed his beak, "I wonder if he's testing something."
"That's what the boss thinks." Reika replied, "We even got that Jax guy and his team to check a couple out to see if we could get to others more quickly. Whatever is going on, they're keeping one step ahead of us. But I've asked the Moon Base to scan for signatures too, in case they can pick them up quicker than we can." She finished.
"Thanks, Rieka." Wildwing said, "Let your team know we're back, and you may as well clock off when they return. We can take over from here."
"You kidding?" She gave him an incredulous look. "Like I said, we're here to help and you guys should get a good night's sleep. We can crash in our ship, but you're stuck with us now!" She winked. Wildwing laughed but stopped at the sound of his com unit.
"Jess?" He asked the moment he realised who was contacting him and instantly wondering why she was calling.
"Wing?" He could hear the fear in her voice. "Wing the baby… Unghh." Wildwing's face dropped and took off at a sprint. Reika turned and contacted Alex on the communications system, asking him to come to the infirmary. Having only met him briefly she apologised profusely for waking him and was thankful to realise the human had stayed at the pond with his family that night.
"Put her on the bed." Alex who arrived in the infirmary moments before Wildwing with his sister, instructed. Wildwing did as he was told and stayed at Jessica's side, holding her hand tightly. Alex hooked Jessica up to a few things and instructed Wildwing to remove Jessica's clothing and replace it with a medical gown. Wildwing did as he was told and soon had Jessica changed and only left her side long enough to place the clothes she had been wearing on the other bed, and to turn the heating in the room up to ensure his beloved wouldn't get cold in the limited clothing.
"This baby is on the way." Alex stated the obvious. "It's not too far gone to deliver this by C section. And I would still prefer that we deliver this baby that way." He took a deep breath, "But it's your baby. So, it's up to you. At present," He carried on before they could answer, "the baby is not distressed in any way, it's facing the right way and there is nothing to suggest that this baby will be harmed by a natural birth. But there is still a possibility."
"Do whatever you need to do Alex." Jessica panted, trying to breath as she had been taught to do when she had Molly, "Just get on with it!" She added impatiently gripping Wildwing's hand in a death grip as a contraction started. She yelled out in pain and tried not to push in case this caused an issue. It was at this point, that Mary rushed in.
"Sorry, I woke Grin up and asked him to watch Toby and Molly for us." She said. "What are we doing, natural or c birth?"
"A human body may not be able to cope with the altered shape of this baby," Alex said more to himself than anyone else, "I think a caesarean is the better choice for both mother and child. At least this time around."
"Right," Mary nodded, "so epidural and we need a screen. Mary looked around the infirmary to where she knew Tanya and Alex had stored the items they would likely need. Alex prepared the injection to numb his sister's lower half. He got Wildwing to assist in helping Jessica shift forward to allow him to insert the epidural catheter and before long Jessica was lain back down and a screen was placed carefully to ensure Jessica could not see what Alex was about to do. Of course, Wildwing was still able to see and he had to look away as Alex began to make the incision that would assist in removing his precious child from his equally precious fiancé. His hand tightened around Jessica's and he nuzzled her as Alex and Mary worked. After what felt like forever to him, Wildwing's head snapped back to Alex who held a wailing tiny pink bundle in his hands. Mary quickly wrapped the bundle in a warm towel and smiled at the tiny little bird like creature. Like earth birds, his kind were born without feathers, so Wildwing didn't find it strange that his child was covered in soft pink skin. Unlike earth birds, Wildwing's race were more like humans, in that their eyes opened relatively quickly. His son's beak was a little longer than most ducklings, just like his was. Unlike the ducks, his child had five fingers on each hand and presumably had the same on his feet, "Congratulations, Wildwing, Jessica" Mary beamed, "you have a son!" Mary passed the small bundle to a numb Wildwing who looked down at the infant in his arms. The little boy he and Jessica had created.
"He's perfect." Wildwing breathed as he turned to pass their boy to Jessica. Said woman smiled down at her son and allowed the child to suckle on her breast, to make sure he had those precious antibodies that were released in the mother's first milk. Wildwing sat on the bed beside her and wrapped one arm around Jessica as she fed their son. Jessica leant into him and kissed his neck as the white drake stroked his new-born's head gently.
"The effects of the epidural will wear off after a few hours." Alex told his sister, "let me know if you suffer from any dizziness or nausea in that time." Alex removed his gloves and placed them in the incinerator before also removing his scrubs. "When you've finished feeding, give me a shout. I want to look him over and make sure the medicom can't find anything wrong with him."
"Okay." Jessica replied sounding more than a little distracted.
"Come on Mary," Alex said with a snort, "Let's leave them to it for a few minutes whilst we tell the others we have new addition to the team." Alex added with a wink.
"I have a son." Wildwing breathed looking at the child, his child in awe.
"What do we name him?" Jessica asked as she shifted him slightly to make sure her son knew to take a breath every now and again.
"I… I hadn't really thought about it." Wildwing said sheepishly. Jessica laughed at him.
"Well, he's a duck so I suppose he should have a name from your world. I know there are some names that are the same as ours, but something more common to just Puckworld?" She looked up at him with a questioning look.
"I…" Wildwing suddenly felt lost. He couldn't think of anything.
"What about your dad's name?" Jessica prompted with a smile. "In honour of him?" Wildwing linked at her.
"Jetstream?" Wing asked, receiving a nod.
"We could call him Jet for short." Jessica suggested. Wildwing's heart swelled as he looked at his fiancé.
"Are you sure?" Wildwing asked.
"Name my son after my hero and husband to be?" Jessica smirked. "I'm sure Wildwing." She added with a laugh.
"Jet." Wildwing smiled down at his newly named son.
"Hey!" Nosedive burst through the doors making the couple jump and the infant begin to wail. "Sorry, sorry!" Nosedive added sheepishly at the twin glares he received. "But I hear I'm an uncle!"
"Come meet your nephew Dive." Wildwing smiled and watched as his brother moved to the other side of Jessica and looked at his nephew.
"Hey little dude!" Nosedive grinned down at Jet, "I'm your uncle Dive." The blonde looked up, "Did you name him yet?"
"Jetstream." Wildwing beamed proudly.
"After dad?" Dive grinned and looked to Jessica for confirmation.
"Of course." Jessica smiled.
"Sweet!" Nosedive almost cheered but managed to keep the volume down for a bit.
"I have a brother!" Molly squealed as she dashed into the room and jumped up and down trying to see her new family member. "Can I see him?" Wildwing smiled and picked her up allowing her to see little Jet for the first time. "Hi baby brother!" Molly grinned copying the way Wildwing addressed his own brother, which was not missed by either male in the room, which resulted in their smiling at each other. Wildwing set Molly down on the bed beside her mother and Molly curled up into Jessica's side. "I'm gonna be the best big sister ever!" Molly declared far more quietly than she had been speaking before, "Just like Wildwing is the best big brother ever." Wildwing went a little red at the comment as Jessica and Nosedive beamed and looked at his reaction, but his heart swelled for Molly and at that moment. He knew he was the luckiest duck in any dimension.