Chapter 15 - Like Lovers (Holding On)

Akima rushed away from the cell that held Cale, locked in the room. She couldn't believe something like this could happen. In fact, she didn't understand how this could happen. How could the Drej just take over Cale? It was a puzzle she tried to solve, yet she couldn't because she feared for him too much. She made each step with haste, almost as if she were running away from her psychologically captured husband. Akima finally came to Korso's room. She found him sitting there in his chair with a scowl on his face. He appeared as though he were thinking himself.

"May I come in, Captain?" Akima asked, standing with half of her in the door. Korso was startled by her presence and jumped slightly in his seat. He turned his head to her and watched her in the doorway.

"Oh, Akima. Sure, come on in." Korso welcomed. He stood up turned the opposite seat around for her.

"Thanks." she said as she waddled across the room and sat down in the seat he'd prepared.

"Don't mention it." Korso replied, sitting back down in his own seat. He sat beside her, with both feet on the floor. Akima had a distraught countenance, which had caught Korso's attention. He searched his mind for something comforting to say. "Worried about Cale?" was all he found. She took her focus off of him and looked down.

"Extremely," Akima replied, close to crying. Korso sat forward in his chair and set each elbow on each knee.

"I can't figure out what could have made Cale do something like that." Korso stated with amazement in his voice. "I didn't think he could ever hurt Gune like that."

"When somebody is being driven by something else, he does things he wouldn't normally do." Akima told.

"What do you mean?" Korso asked, just slightly confused.

"When you were greedy, you didn't want anything to stop you from getting rich, even Cale and I. Cale mentioned something about being able to hear the Drej."

"What? What do you mean, 'greedy'?" Korso asked again, this time confused as to what she meant by him being greedy.

"You attacked Cale and I when we found out what you, er... the other Korso was up to." Akima explained as she looked back up at him, pointing to the door they ran out of, almost reenacting it with her finger.

"I wonder why I don't remember that." Korso said with wonder in his voice. He held his chin as he thought. "Oh, anyway, what about Cale and the Drej?" he asked, realizing that he was going off topic. Going off topic sort of helped Akima not think about Cale for a bit.

"He said something about a light that scared him and he also said something about being able to hear the Drej's voices." Akima stated, sighing again.

"Hmm... That would explain the light coming from his eyes and him having more than one voice. Sounds like the Drej are inspiring him to do these things." Korso suggested. He sat back in his chair and turned toward space.

"I always thought he would be there for me, and for our daughter..." Akima said with sadness in her voice as she stroked her round belly. Korso winced at what she said.

"How much longer until you have that baby, anyway?" Korso asked, sitting back up in his seat.

"Oh, I guess... another month and about a half?" Akima said, guessing. "Stith has been training to be a midwife just in case. She always told me she wanted to see a human birth. I'm gonna let her see mine." she added. Akima was beginning to feel better. Korso was trying to take her mind off of Cale for the moment.

"That's cuttin' it close if we're gonna find some way of turning Cale before that." Korso stated. Akima got up from her seat and began to walk out of the room. She paused halfway and turned back toward him.

"Thanks." she said.

"It's all right." Korso replied with a nod. With that, she turned and left the room. She headed down the hallway to Cale. She wanted to have another word with him.

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Cale sat in his old room, alone all except for the voices of the Drej. He tried to make them go away, but they kept coming back. He could only listen to what they had to say. Above all, he could hear the Queen. Lehedihir was indoctrinating Cale about the Drej lifestyle. He was distracted by a noise coming from outside the door. It grew in volume as it came nearer. The noise stopped just outside the door.

"Cale, are you there?" Akima asked as she held her face close to the door again.

"I am." Cale's many voices replied. The light coming from his eyes grew as he stood and walked toward the door. He stood with a blank expression on his face. It was good for Akima to not be able to see him there. She would have started crying on the spot.

"Cale, do you remember anything?" Akima sorrowfully asked. She was quiet, waiting for him to respond, but he didn't. "Do you remember our wedding?" her shaky voice asked. She was beginning to get worried. "Cale, what about our honey moon? Do you remember that?" Akima turned her back to the door and started crying. She braced herself up against the door and slid her back down until she reached the floor. There was still quiet coming from inside.

"I do," Cale's many voices lowly replied. He broke from his blank stare and his eyes glowed a deeper, darker blue. It was as if his mood determined the brightness of his eyes. When he grew angry, his eyes grew a sharp white color that shamed a flashlight. When he was sad, though, they became more blue. Cale rested his arm on the door and put his forehead up to his arm.

"Our honey moon was great, Cale." Akima said, between tears. Cale's expression became sorrowful and the light from his eyes went out as he closed them.

"Tell me about it. I want you to remind me of what happened those nights." Cale said, trying to remember for himself, but the Drej were consuming his mind.

"We spent one week on the beach." Akima began, starting to stop crying, "You told me that the beach was the most special place for you, and when I asked why, you always told me that it was there that we were engaged. It was there that we were married.

"We made a tent, on the beach. There were rocks and cliffs around us so that we had all the privacy in the world. There wasn't anything that could hurt us, the earth was too new. We sat on a blanket, and watched the night sky. Oh, Cale, it was so beautiful when the light from all of the stars came out at night and made the water glisten. You and I snuggled there, on that blanket, every night.

"Every day we would swim with each other, in the crystal clear water. You enjoyed swimming so much because you told me that it was something you never were able to do while you were growing up. We explored the deep water together, just you and I, we held hands as we swam. I can remember how we could see the bottom. There weren't any fish in the water, or coral or anything. Just the rocks below us, the gray rocks that amused you.

"We loved each other in that week, greatly. There was no other in our lives. I remember the nights after we watched the stars. Cale, you made love to me more than I thought you could. You would kiss me and smile as you gazed deeply into my eyes. You told me how my brown eyes made you crazy and love me more. You held me gently, and caressed my body. I was yours to love... and you did.

"Do you remember that, Cale?" Akima asked as she finished. Cale would have broke out into tears had he been able to without the Drej interfering. He stood, leaning against the door, resting his head on his arm.

"Yes," Cale replied. He tried to feel his own emotions for Akima, but there was too much in the way. The Drej continued to speak to Cale. They told him to come to them. Akima stopped crying, tears still on her face. She stood up from the floor and turned back toward the door.

Lehedihir, herself, began speaking to Cale. She invaded his mind and pushed out any thoughts he had about anything. "Cale," the voice said, "Know that I am Queen; shaper of the Will, keeper of the Orb. For now on my name shall be, 'Hexajava,' for that is the title of a Queen. Lehedihir means nothing to me now." It rang in Cale's ears as long as she spoke. "Cale," she added, "I will ready your escape. Our New Technology is still within the ship." Cale looked around, trying to figure out how they were going to get him out. Then, the wheel that locked the door began turning. It turned ninety degrees, stopped, and the door slowly swung open.

Akima stood there in the doorway, in disbelief. She thought that Cale had opened the door himself. She slowly stepped away, awestruck, until she backed into the wall behind her. When she reached the wall, she trembled as Cale came stepping out. His eyes glowed a deep blue and he had a blank expression on his face. Cale paused before her and reached out with his hand to gently touch her face. Before his hand met with her, he slowly pulled it away. He turned and ran down the hallway toward the cargo bay.

Akima fell to the floor and wept. She couldn't make a move to go after Cale. This frightened her too greatly. She wasn't scared for her life, no, she was afraid she'd lose her love forever. What seemed to make it even worse was he didn't seem to show any love for her now. The Drej seemed to have made him forgotten. She was left without a husband and without a father for her child.

Cale ran down the hallway that led to the cargo bay, the same hallway Akima had run to meet Cale after his escape from the Drej. He finally reached the cargo bay and he saw in it the Drej stinger that he'd escaped in. He stepped off of the catwalk and down the stairwell toward the stinger. It'd been there ever since. They didn't know when it might come in handy, but now it served the purpose of Cale's getaway. He walked underneath the blue fighter and reached his fingers up into the hull of the ship. He spread the energy around himself and was consumed by it.

Cale sat there in the seat, with both hands on the controls of the slijah. The cargo bay door seemed to open all its own. The Queen must have opened that too. He dropped the Drej fighter out of the bay and into space. The Valkyrie sped off, not knowing of what he'd done. Cale steered the fighter in the appropriate direction as the Queen told him. He then flew off to meet with the Drej ship.

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Akima stayed on the floor, sobbing greatly. Stith came around the corner because she'd heard a noise coming from around where Cale was held. Stith saw Cale's door open and Akima sitting on the floor, in great distress. She ran up to where Akima was sitting and bent down to console her. "Akima? What's wrong?" Stith asked as she held Akima's hands. "Stith is here, what's wrong?" she added. Akima wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at her Mantrin friend.

"He's gone." Akima said, between tears, "He's gone."