This was the ninth suitor she had turned down. Maia was starting to loose hope that Helena would find someone to act as a father to D'Jok, since it seemed her husband I'Son was not going to come forth. Maia had tried to locate him, through her visions, but he proved to escape her attempts. All she knew for sure, was that he was changing, and possibly not for the better. Maia felt that the mild mannered man Helena had been married to, D'Joks father, was giving way, for a very different man. This man was fuelled by desire for revenge. She could pick up the emotions, the way she worked, there was still traces of him with both Helena and her son. But the man Helena had married, was disappearing, replaced by a man whom was hurting, by the loss of them both. He was unaware they were alive, he suspected Technoid had murdered them, and was blinded by the rage he felt. But there was also a calming energy in the mix, someone was with him, not in a romantic way, but a partnership of sorts. Whomever this was, calmed him, and made him regain his calm. She suspected it was only a matter of time before she would know his new identity. She suspected Helena would also reccognize him upon sight, and she hoped she had grown strong enough to support the shock. She had kept an eye of Helena, when the clean up in the old city of Arcadia began, when they entered the city where the explosion had its epicenter, and clean up had started. There was so many neighbours that had lost their lives, Helena had attended quite a few funerals, mourning the loss of loved ones, but off course, not her own husband. Maia wondered if Helena too felt her husband was still alive and that as long as she didn't have any closure, she was not going to give another man a chance. Her eyes went to the mantel. There was a picture that Helena had been given by the crew that cleaned the area. Helena, and I'Son, her beloved husband, on their wedding day. Technoid had brought her other some old pictures too, that they had found in the wrecked townhouse where they had lived. Helena had taken the items, especially a small necklace, one ISon had crafted, and put in a special box. The pictures, she hid from view. One day she would have to tell her son about his father, but D'Jok was only just two, and would not understand.
At some point, she had to tell Helena what she had for now, she needed to help her focus, and get her life moving, with or without I'Son.
The two ladies fell into a routine over the following years. Helena was working with Technoid as a nurse. So she got some insight into how the clean up was getting along. All of the planet, wich she knew as ever green, had changed. It was eternal winter now. As for her husband, there was no word. Among the thousands of bodies, he was never found.
Helena also avoided General Bleylock. She could not explain why, but she recalled I'Son having been very closed off about him. She also recalled the times he had been in the emergency room, clearly taking a brutal beating. And how he would change subjects when she tried to ask. Bleylock had a side to him she could only sense was there, he never showed it. And she started to realise, if I'Son didn't know, he had his suspicions about it. And he was acting like a good husband should, a protector. He probably carried a far heavier load by not telling her these things. A load that seemed to have ended in himself taking a beating for it.
She had thought of asking him, but something held her back. There was something about him, this humanoid, that made her fearful. If he knew anything, Helena felt sure he would not be honest. He would lie, as there seemed to be a dark secret in the mix when it came to Bleylock.
Sometimes, she had even passed by the old townhouse of theirs herself. This was where they had planned a life together and their family. Another broken dream. It had taken some time to come to terms with it, but now, almost 5 years on, she accepted the fact that she would maybe never have closure with her husband, and D'Jok would maybe never know his dad.
They just had to make the best of the hand they were dealt, and start their lives over, with many loved ones gone.
Helena rarely smiled a lot. She tried to keep things going, for the sake of her son, D'Jok, and Maia. And now, D'Jok had found a playmate to play with. A young single mother named Mom Ice, or at least, that was what she called herself and her son, Micro Ice, had moved into the neighbourhood. D'Jok and her son, the one year younger Micro Ice, since he seemed to be a bit smaller than kids his age, had hit it off from the start. But as soon as they had a small ball, the 5 year old D'Jok and 4 year old Micro Ice, found each other. That turned to be a friendship that lasted for years. As they grew up,Micro Ice became D'Joks little brother. As the boys grew up even more, they made more friends in the day care where they were put to learn some social skills. The Twins, Thran and Ahito entered, and the four was almost always together, playing football. The foursome became inseparable over other issues too, like computer games, especially D'Jok and Micro Ice stayed as close as you could get. They played football, D'Joks number one passion, got into trouble together, to be expected with Micro Ices sometimes quick fix solutions to make money. And over girls. Micro Ice was playing the cassanova from early on and was the group didn't like working in the mines much, but had to, in order to make money. Neither did D'Jok for that matter, because they had to help out make money as soon as they were old enough to work, but at least,he sucked it up and did his part, instead of complaining about his terrible fate. Over the years, D'Jok started to look for ways to convince Maia to read his future. Helena smiled. There was no way Maia was going to do that. She had strong abilities, and knew D'Jok would keep asking and she had to stay the course. There was times when she herself had considered asking. But she always stopped herself. Maybe she didn't really want to know in case of a worst case scenario. Maia could see these things, through her gifts as she could show her. If he was dead, she wasn't sure she could handle it.
So she kept it to herself, kissing the wedding photo good night for the next 11 years to come.
It was not a rumour, but fact. The famous Aarch, the football player that left Akillian after the disaster, was back, to redeem himself in the eyes of the people that he abandoned when they needed him the most. Helena still recalled the anger that was expressed towards him. His own brother, Norata, had been a fierce critic of his brothers actions, and Artegor Nexus as well. Artegor had returned from the planet Obscurantis, and his team, The Shadows,to coach Akillians red tigers to redeem himself. The team had no flux and never went far in the competition. To be fair, another flux less team, like the technodroids, or even the Shiloh pirates, was the only teams even matched with them, to Artegors eternal damnation. It seemed Aarch wanted to start a competing team, to challenge his old friend.
D'Jok was excited at the prospect. He had the idea that he had a great destiny in front of him, and he wanted it to be football. Maia and Helena knew better than to fuel the flames. D'Jok could be pretty big headed at times, especially when he drifted off into his own dreams. Helena was on her way from work today as she had tended to Duke Maddox cybernetic eye. As she was getting ready to head into the elevator, she found a different hand pressing the button first. She looked up.
General Bleylock! he held a suitcase.
"Helena! What a pleasant surprise! Are you going up or down?" he asked with a clear fake politeness.
Helena had to brace herself, and keep the conversation light.
"Down General. My shift is over, and I have a teenage son to get back to, before he starves to death" he replied.
General Bleylock looked at her. Helena did not feel good with his gaze on her. It felt as if he studied her, as if he thought she knew something she was not telling about her husband.
"Your son..he would be 15 now wouldnt he? That is a long time without a father figure" he said.
Helena sighed.
"Maybe I could start over if someone could tell me what exactly happened to I'Son." she finally managed.
Bleylock looked at her with glowing eyes.
"He has not been found? Don't tell me he used the disaster to walk out on you, his wife and child. I would have thought better of him than that" he said.
Helena felt anger boil.
"He didn't walk out on me, or our son. I'Son would never do that.I think you know more than you are letting Duke Maddox and Technoid know about that" she said.
She could see the anger flare up in Bleylocks eyes. If this was what I'Son had witnessed, it became clearer to her why he didn't tell her. Bleylock was dangerous. Before she could stop it, his hand had grabbed her wrist.
"Be very careful with your words Helena. Or someone might get hurt. We would not want your son to become an orphan" he snarled.
At that point, the elevator door opened, and Helena saw her chance to escape. Bleylock would not want any witnesses. She got out the elevator as a man, a member of the galactick football league entered the elevator.
Helena hurried to leave. She felt her heart race at this altercation. She had to be careful. Bleylock was not someone she should anger. As she found her car in the parking lot and got in, Helena noticed a bruise forming on her wrist. That would serve as a reminder not to challenge this dangerous general again.
The new team had been reccognized by the league. D'Jok was over the moon. A real team. But they had a long way to go, and they were at a disadvantage, having no flux. But still, they got to play, against the teams of the galaxy. Somehow, miraculous or not,they were going to go all the way. Micro Ice had tried to calm him down, as had Thran and Ahito, but D'Jok was lost in his own world with this. And now, they were packing for the first great adventure, a friendly match against the Wambas. The match would be on holo tv and Maia and Helena made sure to secure seats on Planet Akillian to watch it. The team had one player that stood out. Tia. As the game got on the way, she proved herself a force to be reckoned with. And she used the breath of Akillian, to do her part. Maia looked at her.
"She is only the first, more will follow" she said, more to herself than anyone else.
Helena smiled. To have her son have such a power..she wasn't sure that would be good, his head could get even more swollen than normal. But maybe this adventure could teach him to be more realistic.
It seemed a very even matched game between two equal teams. That was, till a wambas player rammed Tia, and she remained down.
Maia creased her forehead.
"That is odd. I never saw the Wambas play like that before. They are more friendly. To attack Tia like that is strange" she said.
Helena looked at her.
"You got a vision about matters Maia?" Helena asked, taking a sip of her drink.
Maia didn't answer, she had a vision, one that she chose to not speak of.
Tustra tower, Akillian.
The pirates had found interesting components in the lab of professor Clamp at the stadium. This would fetch a good price. And for some reason,Sonny had just called the entire mission off. Corso was just about to call him on it, when they were alerted to the police being present. Sonny didnt think twice about it. He ordered all out, and as soon as they jumped, they activated their antigravity belts and jumped to safety. As soon as they were on board, Sonny took his night vision binoculars and stood at the ramp of the ship that was in stealth mode. He focused on the group on the ground. It seemed Corso had been right to be confused about the police presence there. As corso joned him, Sonny didn't even take his eyes off the group.
"You were right Corso, they didn't come for us" he said.
Corso nodded.
"If we werent who they were after, why are they here?" he asked.
"I don't know..yet" came the reply.
Corso nodded and remained by Sonnys side. He had been ever since Sonny was elected their leader. Protecting him from the dangers he at times failed to see.
Sonny focused the binoculars to get a better look at the group at large. Kids. He had heard of the new team Aarch had formed. Time would tell what they were good for. The pirates was sure to face off against them soon enough. It did give him reason enough to study them and the staff a bit. There was something with the entire layout in the lab, and the insignia..that insignia he had seen before, in what felt like a different life. Unlike many that escaped Technoid, or got out, however he put it,many did not have their memories of what they had experienced intact. He did. And the nightmares that followed it. The insignia had made him realise, he was dealing with someone from his past, a friend. But he could not say for sure if it wasn't a trap. That had been the case before, and he was alive only because he had a loyal team around him. Sonny moved the binoculars from the group of young teens he had watched, to the older man close by. As he looked at him more closely, Sonnys hazel eyes widened in shock behind the binoculars. Either he had seen a ghost, or the past came back to haunt him.
"It cant be.." he muttered in disbelief.
His eyes had to play a trick on him in the freezing cold.
Sonny decided to check again. Once again, he focused on the old man.
This could not be a coincidence. Even the insignia fit. Could it really be that Labnor had survived, or was Bleylock setting him up, in an attempt to rid himself of a threat to his plans?
As Sonny checked again, he realised that all signs pointed to him having been right from the start.
"It cant be him.." Sonny whispered.
Corso had already noticed his friends disbelief, and decided to speak up.
"Cant be whom Sonny?Your reaction tells me this is either a well baited trap, or you smell trouble down the line" Corso said.
Sonny took the binoculars down.
"Corso, have Artie get crakin. I want all available information on professor Clamp. Except, that is not his real name" Sonny said.
Corso raised an eyebrow.
"You know him?" he asked.
Sonny nodded, as he put the binoculars away.
"I used to Corso, in a different life. Him being this close to this new team, The snow Kids, could mean trouble. He works hard, is a perfectionist, and if I am right, forced to work for Technoid. As soon as possible, I need to meet with him, in secretsy. Him being here is not good news. If he is bait, Bleylock and Technoid is not far behind. We need all the available information we can find" Sonny ordered.
Corso nodded.
"I will have Artie on it right away Sonny".
As Corso left, Sonny closed up the ramp and headed to his personal cabin.
As soon as he closed the door, Sonny leaned against the wall.
He had ran so far, only to be pulled right back to where the entire nightmare started. If given the chance, he had to get it right this time.