Genesis or Exodus
Chapter Six
Lauren blinked her eyes as she registered several things at once. Her ears were ringing and the air was filled with smoke which made her eyes sting and water. It also caused her to cough as the polluted air filled her lungs, which in turn elicited an excruciating amount of pain to spread throughout her body.
The Matriarch had relived this memory, this nightmare, on and off for over a millennium. She willed herself to wake up, but as always it did little good and she was stuck reliving the memories of her twelve year old self.
She made herself take shallower breaths in an effort to stop the pain as she looked down at the ragged piece of shrapnel that was protruding from her torso. Her ears began to pick up the thumping and crashing sounds as torpedo's hammered against Genesis' ever weakening shields. The initial blast had come as a surprise. No one had ever attacked Genesis before. It was a research vessel and posed no threat to anyone. Genesis had no weaponry to fight back with. Only strong shields that a robotic voice was informing anyone alive who could hear it were down to twenty percent. Lauren tried to remember where she was when the explosion had knocked her and her mother down.
Mama! I was with Mama heading to the storeroom to gather some special ingredients for Grandpa's birthday dinner. Lauren cried out when more pain exploded in her gut when she tried to move. "Mama," Lauren rasped out.
The smoke was getting thicker and the incessant banging from the attack was getter louder by the second. Lauren turned her head and let out another cry, this time from shock and a different kind of pain. Her mother was lying several feet away and looking directly at her. But her mother wasn't seeing her, there was no awareness in those eyes, not any more.
A sob escaped Lauren as she continued to look into her mother's lifeless eyes and she registered the pool of blood the was expanding beneath her.
"Lauren! Call out, Poppit!" Lauren didn't register her grandfather's voice as he called out between spells of coughing, she just continued to stare back at her mother.
Lauren finally registered the voice when he was almost on top of her. "Poppa?" Her voice came out as barely a whisper. She forced herself to turn away from those lifeless eyes and saw her grandfather emerge through the smoke and look down at her.
"Oh, thank you, Maker!" Lauren watched his eyes flick momentarily to his daughter before refocusing on his granddaughter. He knelt down and scooped Lauren up into his arms. "Hold on, Poppit. I've got you."
She smiled weakly at him, "I hurt and I'm tired, Poppa." She turned her head back to look at her mother again before looking back at her grandfather. "Mama's dead isn't she."
Lauren cried out as her grandfather stood with her still cradled in his arms. "I'm sorry, Lauren I know it hurts. Just hold on. Genesis will save you and make the pain go away, I promise."
"Did Genesis save mama? Is she already in her new body?"
Her grandfather didn't respond as he made his way unsteadily through the smoky corridor. He talked into his communications device, "Genesis! I've found her. Please tell me we have enough power in reserve to warp away from the armada before the shields fail!"
"Affirmative. Ready to go in five, four, three, two..." Lauren cried out again as her grandfather struggled to keep his footing as the Genesis surged into warp for several seconds before coming to an abrupt stop moments later.
"Update Genesis! Are we out of immediate danger?"
"We should be able to avoid being detected by the enemy vessels. I have diverted power from non essential systems to cloak the ship. I have just enough power reserves to complete the life transference for the future Matriarch," Genesis responded in her ethereal almost lifelike voice. "Internal monitoring systems for Lauren are at critical levels. Her body has sustained too much internal damage and there is not enough time to create a younger vessel for her. The only viable option is transference into her ready made mature vessel."
"Shit! Well, there is little we can do about that. She will die otherwise and if she dies all hope for our survival will be lost with her. She is the next Matriarch and I am on my final transition. Prep the vessel, Genesis. We will be in the lab shortly."
"As you command Matriarch."
"Poppa? Am I going to die?" Lauren looked up at her grandfather as he rushed her towards the labs. Every laboured step causing pain to shoot from her impaled abdomen. "Aren't I too young for life transference?"
"I won't lose you too, Poppit. I won't! Do you trust me?" he asked as he entered the lab and lay her on the transference table and started hooking up the probes to transfer her life essence into the mature clone that lay in the storage container beside her.
Lauren looked at herself through young Lauren's eyes. "She's old," the twelve year old said as she gazed upon the body of her twenty five year old clone.
Her grandfather chuckled at his granddaughters observation. "I'm sorry, but Genesis does not have the strength and you don't have the time to wait for us to grow another younger vessel. Your essence will grow into her, I promise."
Lauren clutched at her stomach and coughed, spluttering up blood onto her grandfather's shirt. "I don't feel so good, Poppa," Lauren said softly, her eyes fluttering and the world around her going dark. The last things Lauren heard before waking up in her new body was Genesis informing her grandfather that cardiac arrest was imminent and her Poppa yelling out the transference initiation sequence before everything went black.
Her dream flashed forward as it always did and Lauren stood looking down at her mother's body. "It should be me laying there," Lauren whispered.
"Don't say that, Lauren! Never say that." Her grandfather came up beside her. "It isn't your fault."
"Why didn't Genesis save her?" Lauren asked, trying to understand as tears streamed down her face. Lauren leaned into her grandfather as he put his arm around her. It was strange that she could lay her head on his shoulder now, in her now older and taller form. "I'm still getting used to this new body and its strange sensations. It's weird."
"It has only been a couple of days. You'll get used to it." He patted her on her back in encouragement.
"I know. I mean I feel like me, but I look in the mirror and it's not me, you know. I need new clothes. Mother's are too big for me and you still haven't answered the question about why Genesis couldn't save her. Stop Stalling!"
Instead of her grandfather answering it was Genesis' voice that filled the room. "I could not sustain my shields and get us to safety as well as save you both. My systems were failing and so were yours with your injuries..."
"So you chose to save me and put me in a body that I shouldn't be in for over ten more years. It doesn't make sense. Surely saving mother would have been easier!"
"Yes, It would have been easier," the ship responded.
"Then why take the extra risk! You should have saved her!" Lauren was angry and fresh, hot tears streamed down her face. "I don't want to say goodbye to her. I want her to tell me to clean my room or make me one of her special cups of hot chocolate."
Genesis could feel Lauren's pain through the symbiotic bond, but she was not able to fully comprehend what her young Matriarch was feeling. Genesis may not have been fully synthetic machinery, but she also wasn't completely biologic. It was not an easy place to be when logic and survival came before love and loyalty.
"Our symbiotic bond was much stronger than the one I had with your mother. It is even stronger than the bond I have with your grandfather. It is stronger than any bond I have had with any of your ancestors. You will be the most powerful Matriarch to ever live and our lifespan will continue for countless generations so that we can continue to chronicle the past, present and future histories of this galaxy and beyond. It was the only choice, Lauren, but I am sorry that you are hurting because of it."
"It's okay, Genesis. You did the right thing," her grandfather said as he rubbed soothing circles on Lauren's back.
"It's not okay! None of this is okay. What if I don't want to be Matriarch!"
"Lauren, you are young and I know that you should not have to be dealing with this loss at such a young age, but you are going to have to get used to it," her grandfather said softly, but sternly.
Lauren pulled away from her grandfather, "Why? Why do I have to get used to it?" She was shaking with anger and grief and didn't understand why her grandfather seemed so unaffected by his daughter's death. "Don't you care that she is dead at all?"
"OF COURSE I CARE! SHE WAS MY ONLY DAUGHTER!" Lauren flinched at her grandfathers outcry. He rarely rose his voice and that was why she realised that he was hurting just as much as her. When he spoke next it was lower and had a sadness that seemed to fill the entire room. "I cannot even count the friends and loved ones that I have lost in my lifetimes, Lauren. You will outlive all the people that you love eventually depending on the species they are. It is a burden that we as Matriarchs and archivists of the universe must endure."
Lauren crossed her arms over her chest, "Then I won't make friends and I won't fall in love!"
Her grandfather nodded, "Then it will be a very lonely life for you, Poppit. I tried it once. But life is to be lived and a life without friends and family is no life at all, believe me. I look down at your mother's face and I don't just see her, I see all of the people I have lost and I vow never to forget their place in my life because they all meant and brought something into my life that was significant and precious. Do you understand."
Lauren nodded and she looked down at her mother's face and she knew what was to come, because she had dreamed this dream so many times before and each time the faces that flashed over her mother's grew longer and longer.
"No more faces," she said. "I can't handle any more!"
"Lauren! Lauren! Wake up."
Lauren shot upright with a cry of, "NO MORE!" It took a moment for her eyes to stop seeing those faces and to look at the face that was looking at her full of concern. "Octavia?"
"I'm right here. You had a bad dream. It took me forever to wake you."
A chorus of voices sounded outside the door just before it burst open and Bo stood with her weapon out and at the ready, her eyes wild as she searched for signs of danger.
"I'm so sorry, Matriarch! She just rushed right past us before we could stop her," Josephine said in an apologetic tone as she glared angrily at Bo, who now seemed to be fixated on Lauren and her companion curled up beside her.
Lauren looked down at her nudity and lifted the sheet to cover up her breasts, which helped Bo look up and meet her eyes instead. "Everything is fine, Bo. There is no danger here, so if you don't mind waiting outside, I will be out in a bit."
Bo licked her lips and put her gun back into the holster at her side. "Right. Of course, ah... sorry for the intrusion." Bo exited the room quicker than she had entered if that was even possible and Lauren tried to stop the heat that was rushing through her from seeing Bo looking so fierce and intense thinking that she had been in danger. Fuck that was sexy as hell, she thought.
After about fifteen minutes Bo watched as Lauren appeared behind the semi transparent material that separated the main antechamber from the rooms Josephine's companions used to entertain their clients. She watched as Octavia gave Lauren a thorough farewell before the blonde came out from behind the material screen and went to the counter.
Bo felt foolish for her overreaction to The Matriarch's outcry. I mean what could have possibly given me a reason to think she was in danger! Hearing someone cry out 'no more' in this place could have been for many different things, least of all an assassination attempt, for goodness sake, Bo thought to herself.
Bo looked up from her lap and over at Lauren when she heard the blonde exclaim, "How much?" Lauren turned to Bo with a raised eyebrow even as she pressed her palm against the console and transferred the funds owed. "You needed two? This is a high end establishment, you know. The companions do not come cheap."
Bo liked the tone of Lauren's voice that hinted of annoyance with a slight side of regret. "What can I say. I had a lot of pent up frustration to dispense of. I asked for a double because I didn't want to risk killing anyone from exhaustion," Bo responded with a lopsided grin as she cooly placed her arms behind her head. "It's entirely your fault anyway, so just pay the exorbitant fee and lets go."
Lauren politely said her goodbyes to Josephine telling her that she would let her know if she would be requiring Octavia's services again during her stay before approaching Bo. She could see that Lauren was trying desperately not to smile as she crossed her arms and glared down at her. "My fault?"
"You think someone else is the sole cause of my volcanic sexual frustration that has been building up for the last couple of weeks?" Bo's stomach flip flopped happily when Lauren gave a shake of her head and chuckled softly making her eyes sparkle with amusement. Bo knew she could be incredibly charming and she hoped that Lauren wasn't immune to her charms. She enjoyed teasing the uptight and controlled woman before her, because there was a lighter and more playful side trapped beneath all the shields that The Matriarch had erected around her. "I am sorry for bursting in on you earlier. I overreacted, but when I heard you cry out, I just reacted without much thought about the odds that you would actually be in danger here."
Lauren shrugged. "I had a nightmare. I'm impressed that you heard my outburst."
"I have enhanced senses because of my special little friends floating around in my body."
"Oh of course! Fascinating. Much better than what I was thinking."
"And you were thinking?..."
Lauren grinned wide, "That you were camped right outside my room like a proper little alliance bodyguard and you hadn't taken me up on my offer to get yourself some company." Lauren chuckled again, "But alas, I have the bill to prove that that wasn't the case."
"Are you regretting your choice not to accept my invitation of a hot night of sex without the price tag?" Bo knew she was probably over stepping and taking the playful banter too far, but the words were already out and she couldn't take them back.
She was right and Bo watched Lauren shut down the bright spark that had managed to creep through her shields. The Matriarch sighed as her ghosts flashed freshly through her mind once more. "It just wouldn't be a good idea, Bo. Whether it was only one night or more. I just can't..." Lauren's voice trailed off and her face looked haunted and her eyes reflected of deep and profound loss.
Bo wanted to reach out and hold Lauren to take that pain away. "What was the nightmare about?" Bo asked even as her mind screamed, Don't poke the bear!
Lauren, still lost in her mind with her phantom memories responded, which took both her and Bo by surprise. "Memories of a time long past and the ghosts that follow me."
"Oh," was all Bo managed to say before Lauren snapped out of her haze and consulted her data bracelet to check the time before heading towards the exit. Bo stood up and trailed along behind her at a discreet distance.
Lauren could feel Bo's presence as she walked towards the promenade and market district. The blonde stopped abruptly and spun around. "You are going to shadow me wherever I go, aren't you?
"I was sent here to protect you and I will do that to the best of my ability regardless of how unhappy you are about it."
Lauren rolled her eyes at the determined soldier, "That would be a big fat yes then?" Bo gave Lauren a sharp nod her face serious. "Well, it makes the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. So you may as well just walk beside me if I can't get rid of you."
Bo smiled in triumph and Lauren just shook her head in resignation and started walking again. Bo did a little jog to catch up to the blonde and fell into step beside her. "Can we talk or do I have to be a good little bodyguard and be seen but not heard?"
"I would prefer that nobody knows that you are my bodyguard at all, so I guess we should act like we are acquainted. So conversation would probably help paint that picture."
"Great!" Bo said, unable to hide how happy she was that Lauren seemed to be thawing just a little with accepting Bo's presence in her life. They walked in silence for a little while just taking in the sights and smells of the stalls of food and restaurants on the promenade. "So just how old are you?" Bo asked as Lauren entered a small hole in the wall that opened up to an eatery that was brimming with all types of wonderful smells making Bo's stomach rumble. Several people inside the restaurant turned to look at both Lauren and Bo at the brunette's words. It was much quieter in the eatery than out on the street. Gritting her teeth at the unwanted attention Lauren grabbed Bo's hand and dragged her through the narrow space between dozens of tables to a more secluded booth at the back.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you, it's rude to ask a woman's age?" Lauren nudged Bo on to one of the chairs.
Bo shrugged at Laruen's question before saying, "Wow, you do like to take charge. I like that in a woman." She finished the statement with a playful wink.
Lauren growled in frustration even as a small smile pulled at the side of her mouth. "You are impossible! Just stay here and stay out of trouble while I order us some breakfast. Can you do that!"
Bo nodded and placed her hands neatly on the table, a playful glint in her eyes, "Yes, ma'am."
Lauren rolled her eyes, turned her back on Bo and went to get some food, unable to hide the small smile as she did so.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it helped to give you a glimpse of our complicated Matriarch and why she keeps people at a distance like she does. I would love to hear from you all so please don't be shy. Thank you for reading and supporting me as always.
Take care,
Doccubus21
xoxo