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Chapter 8: Decisions
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Abby laughed at what Connor had just said as he opened the door to his house. They took their jackets off and turned to go upstairs when Michael grabbed Connor by the neck and pressed him against the wall, holding him with a death grip.
"I should kill you right now," he whispered menacingly. "Who the hell told you that you could lay a hand on my daughter?" Connor struggled to get away and Abby also pleaded with her father, but neither had much success. Another person walked into the hallway a second later.
"Let him go, Michael," Max ordered. "We have more important things to worry about." Michael paused for a moment and then nodded, releasing his grip on Connor, who fell to the floor gasping for breath. Abby checked to be sure he was fine and then looked into the next room and saw her mother, Liz, and Ava standing there.
"Mom, you said you wouldn't tell him," Abby said, visibly upset. She helped Connor off the floor and rubbed his back gently, glaring at her father.
"That's not exactly a primary concern right now," Max said, ushering her, Connor, and Michael into the room.
"We're not finished yet," Michael whispered to Connor as they walked into the room together. Connor gulped and moved away from him.
"What's going on here?" Connor asked as they entered the room, rubbing his neck where Michael had held him.
"You two might want to sit down," Liz said. Both looked concerned and did just what she said.
"Mom, what's happening here?" Abby asked, looking pathetically for help. Maria sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her, looking to Max for comfort.
"I think you should tell them, Max," she suggested. Max nodded.
"We need to know something first," Max began, "and it's kind of personal, but we need a truthful answer." Abby and Connor nodded. "On the night you went to the concert last month, did you, well, um, sleep together?" There was a long silence. Abby looked at Connor and he at her. Finally she looked at Maria and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah we did," she admitted. Michael, who had been pacing on the other side of the room, lunged towards Connor, a hostile look in his eyes.
"I'm gonna tear you apart, you little..." he growled before being stopped by Max.
"Calm down, Michael," Max said. "Now, when this happened, was it the first time?" Connor nodded and reached for Abby's hand. Max sighed and looked at Liz, who looked at Maria, who looked at Michael, who looked at Ava, who looked at Max. "There's our answer," Max said, "It's them."
"What do you mean?" Abby asked. "Mom, I still don't understand what's going on."
"Sweetie," Maria said in a choked voice, "there's something we need to tell you, and you may not understand at first. Really, we still don't." Abby gripped Connor's hand tighter.
"Ok," she said, "then tell us." Maria looked at Max and he began again.
"Our home planet, Antar, is one of five in a star system. Years ago these five planets worked together, peacefully. Eventually there was some sort of falling out and war began, and has continued ever since. No matter how hard they try they can't seem to work their differences out."
"What does this have to do with us?" Connor asked.
"I'm getting to that," Max replied. "Not long after the wars broke out, a wise man of some sort prophesized something. He said that the war would go on for many years, and, when the five planets had reached their time of greatest need, a messiah of sorts would be sent to them. The savior would be in the form of a couple, a High King and Queen, that would rule over the five planets and bring peace to the star system. The couple would function as a unit and neither would work without the other. Apparently, based on other information we've received from Larek and what we already know, that couple, the High King and Queen, is you." The two just sat there in utter silence for a few minutes, no one knowing just what to say.
"What... what does that mean?" Abby choked out.
"Basically," Max said, "you two are the supreme rulers of the five planets of our star system. Each planet has its own ruling family, but you rule over all of them."
"I know this is alot to think about," Liz said.
"Wait..." Connor said, standing up. He started walking to the other side of the room but, after coming a bit too close to Michael, he changed his mind. "Why are you even telling us this? We don't live on Antar; we're not there to rule. Why does it even matter?"
"You will be," Ava answered. Connor and Abby both looked at her. "Your signal kinda told them where to find you, so they're coming to get you. Larek said you'll have a choice, but you have until Thursday morning, around one, to make that decision. That's when the ship will arrive."
"Ship?" Abby asked. Maria stroked her hair.
"To take you... 'home'," she said.
"But this is home," Abby protested. "I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to leave you."
"We would come with you," Max mentioned. "All of us." Connor had been silent for a time, watching Abby with worried eyes. He finally spoke up.
"We have until Wednesday night to decide?" he asked. Max nodded. "You guys would come with us?" Another nod. "We would be rulers... over everybody?" Yet another nod. He motioned for Abby to follow him into the next room.
"I know you don't want to leave, but think about it. It would be a fresh start for all of us. Our destiny." Abby looked at him with uncertain eyes.
"You want to go," she said, asking and stating in the same sentence.
"I do and I don't. If you decide you don't want to, I wouldn't consider it. But, think about it for a few days before you decide. We're like their only hope or something. Abby, you're my Queen. Don't even think about all of the power we'd have, think about what we'd accomplish. We would unite five kingdoms that have been warring for centuries. It's a prophecy.... It's our destiny."
"That's crap," Michael said, walking to Abby and pushing Connor away. "There's no such thing as a destiny. We make our own destiny. Don't tell my daughter anything different, and don't try to make her do anything she doesn't want to."
"Daddy, it's ok," Abby said as he wrapped an arm around her protectively. "He won't make me do anything. This will be my decision, Connor already said so." She looked at Connor. "I just need time to think about this, alone." He nodded.
"Take your time, just remember what I said."
"We're leaving now," Michael said, leading Abby away. She pulled back.
"Just a second, Daddy," she protested. "I'll be right there, I just want to say goodbye." Michael nodded but glared at Connor. He left them to collect Maria. Abby turned to Connor. "Sorry about that," she said. He shook his head.
"Don't worry about it," he said. "I'm glad he's so protective of you. It means you'll be taken care of whenever I'm not around." She smiled for the first time since they had arrived at his house.
"I can take care of myself," she said, lightly punching him on the shoulder. He took her arm and used it to pull her body into his.
"Still," he said, clinging to her protectively as she nuzzled into his neck, "I like to think you're being taken care of." She looked up and kissed him lightly.
"I'll call you after school tomorrow," she promised. "And I'll think about all of this tonight very carefully." He nodded.
"Don't worry," he said. "I'll support whatever decision you make, and I'll stand by you no matter what. I want you to choose based on what you want the most." She nodded and he kissed her. "Bye."
"Bye," she whispered in return, turning and going out to her parent's car.
~*~
The car ride back to their house was silent and, when they arrived, Abby immediately went up to her room, laid down, and cried. She had never felt so overwhelmed, scared, and pressured before. Then again, her decisions had never affected the lives of thousands of people before. There were plenty of things to consider before announcing a decision, but Abby already knew what that decision would be.
She had known since she had seen that look in his eyes. That look of complete and utter longing he had gotten when Ava said they were going home. Although she didn't quite understand it, Abby realized Connor must have some kind of attachment to their planet because he was born there. "He told me to make the decision on my own, though," she thought to herself.
Part of her wanted to go very badly. The idea of meeting people like herself thrilled her. But then again, she was more human than alien, and they wouldn't really be like her at all. The idea of the power thrilled her, but it also scared her. What little girl hadn't dreamt of being a princess? She was being told that she could be, no, already was, the High Queen of five planets. Not cities, countries, or kingdoms. Five separate planets. That also meant, however, that was even more people who could be affected by her mistakes. Five times as many lives she could ruin if she screwed up.
Then, on top of her fears and desires, she had to consider her family, as well as the rest of the aliens. If she and Connor left, they would all go with them. Even the humans, meaning her mom, Aunt Liz, and Uncle Kyle would be the outcasts on the strange planet, not the aliens. They never said what they wanted; they all placed the decision on her, letting Abby decide which course of action all of their lives would take.
Suddenly Abby was very angry, at Connor for letting her make the decision for him when he really wanted to go and at her parents for letting her make the decision when she didn't think she was ready to make that kind of life-altering choice. "But you are," she thought to herself. "That's why all of this is happening. Uncle Max said it occurred because we were both capable of handing our destiny, of ruling these planets and making this decision."
Then, she thought of all the people in the galaxy far, far away where her father had come from. They were all depending on her. They all wanted her to come, to come and save them. As if things weren't complicated enough as they were, she had to consider the thoughts and feelings of millions of her alien subjects. "I can't handle this," she thought. Then that nagging little voice that was already annoying her came back, "But you can. You are a High Queen. You were born and pre-destined to do this. It's part of who you are. You can do this because you will." She knew her answer, but also knew she would need the input of others. She needed her brother, and went to go find him.
"Nate," she said, coming into his room. "I need your help." He looked at her and could see immediately something was wrong.
"What did he do to you?" he asked, sitting up, ready to go kick some alien butt.
"Nothing, nothing, this has nothing to do with Connor. Well, almost nothing. Anyway, he's wonderful, he always is. This is completely different." Nate motioned for her to sit next to him.
"Shoot," he said.
"If you were given the opportunity to be the omnipotent ruler of a large group of planets, would you?" she asked. He looked slightly confused and taken aback. This was obviously not the question he had expected. After a moment he spoke.
"Yeah," he said, "I probably would. I mean, think of all the power that comes with that. Even if you didn't do anything with it, it would be great. And, if you did do something with it, you could accomplish great things. Then again, I've always thought I was destined for great things."
"Yeah," she joked, "Maybe someday you'll get promoted to assistant janitor." He pushed her.
"Why do you ask, anyway?" he asked.
"Oh, no reason...." she lied. "I was just wondering. My real question is a little more important. If you had the chance to go to our home planet and live there, with all of us going, would you want to?" This required a bit more thought.
"Everyone alien-related would come?" he asked. She nodded. "Then I don't think it would make much difference. I'd have everyone I cared about with me. I mean, we never got close to any humans other than the obvious, and they'd all come along. Maybe it'd be cool to go see where we came from and meet people of our own race." Abby nodded.
"Thanks for the input," she said, rising. Nate reached out an arm to stop her.
"Wait," he said. "Sit." She obeyed. "Now tell me why you're suddenly so interested in all of this." She sighed, looking at the clock, which already read 1:03 a. m. This was going to be a long night.
"Are you comfortable?" she asked. "Because this is going to take a while."
~*~
The knock on his window woke Connor from his sleep. He groaned and then looked at the clock. It read 3:56 am. He turned over to go back to sleep, but the knock was persistent. Finally he sat up and saw Abby on the other side, perched on the tree outside his window. He quickly got up and let her in.
"What they heck are you doing here?" he asked, pulling her in. It had been raining and she was soaking wet. She shivered as he peeled off her wet clothing, wrapped her in a blanket, and hugged her close.
"I was thinking and I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk and then it started raining, so I came here." Connor knew this made no sense but decided to ignore it, laying her onto his bed, climbing in next to her, and wrapping a blanket around both of them.
"This is really freaking you out, isn't it?" he asked. She nodded. "Please don't let it bother you. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to." She turned her head to look at him.
"How can you say that," she asked, "when I know you want this so badly?"
"Because it's the truth," he replied. "I'd hate myself if I forced you into doing something you didn't want. I don't want any regrets. I want this to be your decision."
"It's not though," Abby whispered. "It affects everybody, and everybody wants me to decide. I'm not ready for that, and, if I can't handle it, how can I handle making decisions for five planets worth of people?"
"Because we're a team, remember? Dad said that neither of us could rule without the other because we both have talents and personalities that are suited to different areas of leadership. You can do it because I'll be there to help you." Abby snuggled against him.
"Maybe we shouldn't talk about it anymore," she suggested. He held her tighter.
"Yeah," he replied. "We both have to get up in 3 hours. I know I'll sleep better with you here, so let's just sleep, and don't let anything bother you." With that they closed their eyes and went to sleep.
A few hours later the sun was up and Connor gently nudged Abby awake.
"C'mon," he whispered softly, "I'll give you a ride home." She rolled over and looked at him.
"I have something to tell you first," she said. Connor stroked her hair and looked into her eyes. "I want to go. I know this now. I want to fulfill my destiny, and I want to be your queen." He hugged her.
"You already are my queen," he whispered, rubbing her back gently.
"There's one thing," she added. He pulled away and looked concerned. "I don't want to go if anyone else doesn't want to. I don't want to make anyone I care about come just because I said so."
"Ok," Connor said nodding. "Tonight we'll have a meeting. We'll tell everyone our decision and then have each of them make the decision for themselves. Anyone who wants to come with us can come to meet the ship when it lands. If everyone doesn't come, we won't go."
"I like that plan," Abby said, folding herself back into Connor's arms. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he whispered. They laid there a while. "Are you going to school today?" he asked, realizing the time.
"No," Abby said, shaking her head. "It seems kind of pointless if we're going to be leaving the planet in two and a half days. I'd rather just spend this time taking in all of the things I'm going to miss." He nodded.
"I'm with you on that." They both closed their eyes and were going to go back to sleep when, suddenly realizing something, Connor spoke up. "You know, it's not fair for you to be laying in my bed like this with no clothes on." Abby had forgotten he had taken her wet clothes off the night before and laughed, thankful for the comedic relief.
"Well," she said seductively, her hands traveling down his chest, "I guess we'll have to take yours off too."
~*~
That evening everyone was gathered in the sitting room of Max and Liz's house.
"We've made a decision," Connor told them. Abby nodded her head and he continued. "We're going." Everyone looked slightly shocked.
"But," Abby said, "not everyone has to come with us. We've made this decision because we want to do what's right and we want to do what we were both born to do. No one else has to do this." Everyone in the room looked very confused.
"What she's trying to say is that we realize you all have lives established here and there are many reasons each of you have for not wanting to come with us. It's your choice. The ship to take us home is arriving around 1 a.m. on Thursday morning at Lafayette Point. Abby and I will be there to meet it. Anybody who wants to come can either drive with us or meet us there. If you don't want to leave, just don't show up, no questions asked."
"Is this the plan then?" Michael asked, standing up with a furious look in his eyes. "You're just going to take my daughter, my underage daughter, off the planet and tell me I don't have to come with her? Abby, did you make this decision on your own, or did he tell you what to decide?"
"This was my decision, and these are my terms. I don' want any of you to come against your will, so each of you get to make your decision. I hope you'll all decide to come with me, I love you all, but, if you don't, I'll understand."
"Well, I'm coming for sure," Michael said. "You're not going anywhere without me, and especially not with him." He stepped menacingly towards Connor but was stopped by Maria's arm.
"I'm coming then, too," she said, looking into Michael's eyes. Nate agreed.
"You're my twin, Abbs. You can't go anywhere without me, you wouldn't know what to do." Lane looked at Nate and then at Abby and her brother.
"I wouldn't have anything to do without you three. I want to come too. Besides, think of all the fun alien mischief we could cause on another planet... especially with you two in charge." Hearing this, Max and Liz looked at each other.
"We're coming too," they said in unison. Ava stepped forward and hugged Connor.
"You're like my son," she whispered. "And I only just found you. I really have nothing keeping me here; I'm coming too."
"If she's going, I might as well go too," Sean said. "I'd get bored otherwise." Connor looked at Abby, who was smiling because their plan was working. Being given the choice, they were all coming on their own. Then she looked at her Aunt Isabel and Uncle Kyle, who were sitting off to the side, whispering. Alex was playing on the floor next to them, happily unobservant of the goings-on around him.
"Aunt Iz," Abby whispered, afraid Isabel would decide not to come. Isabel and Kyle looked up. Kyle whispered something to Isabel and she smiled.
"We're coming too," she finally said. Abby ran over and hugged her.
"Great," Connor said, already beginning to assume a position of leadership. "Then we're all going. I suppose that's it. We have two days left on Earth; I guess we should all see about tying up loose ends."