Chapter 23 - Destruction of the Egg

It was the slowest three days of Darien's life. He went to class and tried to act normal and unaffected by all of the waiting. After all, how could he explain his nervousness to anyone? He could hardly tell David, Rick, or Stephen that he was waiting for an alien spacecraft to be finished so that he could destroy an evil that was lurking to kill his daughter and wife in the future. Sometimes it was easier not to have friends.

That was until Serena and Jasper met him for lunch each day and as always Serena drew a crowd. Her self appointed groupies from the med school mixer were there and Rick, Stephen, and David always showed up. The guys hit it off with Jasper and they quickly started laughing together and making Serena giggle. Lunch was the highlight of Darien's otherwise painfully slow days.

OooooooO

Uncle called Sammy in sick to school each day, yet he woke up early each time and Topaz would arrive to take him to Nemesis. Peridot would be waiting for Sammy and they would walk together to the lab.

On the day before the spaceship was expected to be completed Peridot stopped in the hall outside of the lab and said to Sammy, "We are on schedule and everything will be completed tomorrow. I was hoping that after we are done with this ship you would continue to come and we could work together on future projects. I believe on Earth it is called an internship, I have cleared it with Sapphire and Raye of course."

Sammy nodded and said, "I would love that! Thank you. As excited I was to destroy this egg I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to come here anymore. That's great news."

That moment with Peridot laid the groundwork in his mentoring of Sammy. It helped lead to Sammy becoming the premiere spaceship designer in the entire solar system. Peridot became like a surrogate parent to Sammy and every award or recognition that Sammy received Peridot was there sitting right next to his Uncle, Serena and Darien.

OooooooO

Raye looked at the launch pad and smiled as Sapphire came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She said, "And now my day has just gotten even better."

"And how is that?" he asked.

"As if you don't know. You are here and holding me, I would think it would be obvious."

He smiled and kissed the tip of her ear. "I am a greedy man and I love hearing you say things like that to me. I had to ask."

"In that case, I am the luckiest woman in all of the worlds to have you. Nothing makes me feel more like a Queen than when your arms are around me and you are smiling at me." Raye leaned her head back against his shoulder.

OooooooO

Lita smiled at Nephrite and just chuckled. "You want to give me a hickey on my neck?"

He shrugged, "I thought Sapphire had a great idea. Everyone knew he had Raye in his arms before the meeting. I am a bit of a caveman and like the idea of you walking around with a mark on you from me."

"You mean it is your way of bragging that I am in your arms right now and that you have me incredibly turned on." she countered. "Go for it. But I am competitive so make it two."

He growled, "You know you are the sexyest thing, right?"

OooooooO

Luna stretched and hopped down from her pillow she was laying on and jumped up on the windowsill to exit the house. The guys had left the window cracked for her to be able to go out and roam. She tried to squeeze through it and got stuck. She was puzzled. She thought they had left the window open as much as they usually did.

Jadeite walked into the room and laughed, "Gain a little weight there Luna?" He went over to the window and opened it more for her so she could get out.

"I am sure I don't know what you mean." she replied loftily.

"It might be time to lay off the tuna. Good timing too with Sammy now pulling pranks with that sword of his." He sighed, "This morning he put that damn thing on top of the toilet seat."

Luna chuckled, "You are just lucky he didn't take my advice and make Ex Lax brownies."

Jadeite shook his head, "You are one devious woman."

OooooooO

Darien held Serena tightly in his arms as they lay there in bed. Today was the day the egg was scheduled to be destroyed.

Serena rolled over and scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around him too. "I just wanted to tell you I told you so."

"Oh, and what is that?"

"I told you that you would make sure that our daughter and I are safe. Today is the day that happens."

He sighed, "As long as everything goes to plan."

"Do you really think that something will go wrong?"

"No, I just don't want to take anything for granted. You are too important to take anything as a given."

She smiled at him, "So make love to me all morning and then let's go to the launch."

He laid her on her back and hovered over her. "You are brilliant darling."

OooooooO

They all stood on the observation deck that overlooked the launch pad. The ship they had spent so much time dreading, since it would mean the arrival of Wiseman, now sat there as the means to their salvation. They had named the ship Egg Beater as a joke and in reference to Serena's Operation Omelet she had devised. The levity helped them keep their nervous energy in check.

Jasper stood between Darien and Sammy, "Well guys, it has come time to save our family. I don't know about you, but I am glad to be here with you."

Sammy looked over at Jasper, "How will we know that it worked?"

"I am guessing that I will disappear." Jasper replied.

As if it had been timed every head turned to look at Jasper. "What?" Molly managed to get out.

"If there isn't a terrible future then I won't have had the need to go back in time. I assume that once everything is secure and safe I will disappear and just be born one day like I am supposed to be." He walked to Molly and hugged her. "I get to be raised by two wonderful parents and I have a soulmate waiting for me. Don't be too sad for me."

Molly wiped a tear away, "I will miss you though."

Jasper looked at Jadeite, "Dad, take care of her. I couldn't imagine anyone who could do a better job than you." He hugged his father.

Sapphire stepped forward and said, "Sammy go ahead and give the order."

Sammy looked at Jasper and said, "It is an honor to know you and I look forward to the day you are born. I am lucky I will be able to call you family one day." He turned and picked up the intercom and stated, "Commence countdown for launch."

They all waited in nervous anticipation as "Blast off" was announced and the ship went up and left the atmosphere of Nemesis. They all turned to the monitor and saw that all systems were operational and that everything was going to plan. Then they heard "Detonation in 3, 2, 1…. Waiting for confirmation that the egg has been destroyed…. Confirmation obtained. The egg had been eliminated."

They all cheered loudly. They were all overjoyed and Darien turned to celebrate with Jasper. It was then that he noticed that Jasper was gone. "I guess he was right. I look forward to seeing him again." He pulled Serena close and held her as her tears fell. Darien knew Serena would miss him; he would secretly miss him too.