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Chapter 18 – Beautiful day.
Day 25
Planet Fred – Exosphere - 39,000 Km/24,375 miles above surface - 11 A.M.
Diana had only sixteen minutes left to finish comb the portion of the surrounding ring due for today, looking for their homing beacon.
"Another fruitless search," she thought a little discouraged. Nevertheless, her explorations were always thorough. She owed that to herself and, especially, to Clark. "We are getting out of here, Kal, I promise."
Truth be told, they were having a really nice break here on planet Fred, thought the Amazon, obscured only by two unavoidable and tragic items: first and foremost, Bruce's time was limited. Eventually, in less than a thousand days, the batteries feeding the stasis pod would run out of juice and, given his critical condition, he'd most probably die. They checked twice a day the perfect functioning of the machine keeping Batman alive, but there weren't any guaranties that an incident couldn't change that and jeopardize their friend's life. Diana smiled thinking their always perfectionist comrade would be proud of all they've accomplished so far. Of course, he would have done things better (he usually thinks that) but, at the end of the day, all three of them would have a laugh when he conceded they were doing well enough.
"We miss you, you brooding pain in the butt," she admitted to herself.
Second was the need for Kal to recover his powers. He was doing pretty fine without them and even though he wasn't defined by his superhuman condition, they were part of his life and person for the last ten years or so.
When Zeus took her abilities away, Diana felt blind and deaf at first, as if the world was replaced by a darker, uninteresting place void of colors and music. She could empathize with her lov…FRIEND. She could see that all the work he immersed himself into was just a way to avoid thinking about it.
Then, there was the matter of her feelings towards him. Deep in her heart, the Amazon knew they were reciprocated, but something most probably the same thing that was stopping her, was holding him back. The situation became tenser with each passing day. The training sessions, with all that physical contact, let them both flustered and frustrated. They will have to talk about it, and Diana decided that today was as good a day as any to do it. No more waiting. No more 'Red Sun' excuses.
The Princess moved her eyes in the binary stars systems' direction covering them with her hand. Even with her gifts, looking at a sun directly in the vacuum of space, without the filter of an atmosphere, could hurt her eyes, not permanently, but enough to cause her several inconveniencies. From this altitude, thousand of miles above the planet, the white dwarf wasn't more visible than from the ground point of view since the position relative to the stars was basically the same.
"When you get to be uncovered by your larger sister, will it help Kal, I wonder? Will it be more prejudicial than helpful? I wish I have the answer. We'll just have to wait and see." And she added, "Do you have a denomination? A name, like Betelgeuse, Sirius, Sol, Canopus, or even Alpha Centaury? How shall we call you, oh, mighty sisters waltzing in this infinite black ballroom? I know! I'll name you two after the dysfunctional sisters from the Chinese story, antecedent of the Cinderella fairy tale! You, big red, from now on will be 'Ye Xian', and you, little glutton, 'Jun-Li'. Pleasure to meet you, lovely sisters, I…"
Suddenly Diana saw with the corner of her eye something moving fast towards the planet. Without thinking twice she flew to it at full speed. The moving object's angle made it avoid crossing the debris ring. Now the Amazon was less than two hundred miles and could see it clearly.
"Blessed Gaea! A ship! A SHIP!" All kinds of wishful thoughts filled her head as she approached the vehicle, the most prominent was, "We are saved, Kal, we are saved!"
The vessel was no bigger than a Javelin, and seemed to have taken serious damage. The markings on the hull were familiar to the Princess. "It appears to be from Almerac. Oh, Maxima, how I wish you were on board!" She felt her Lasso being pulled twice. Checking her watch she saw there were ten more minutes before she has to go down.
Fortunately, the speed at which the ship was falling to the planet wasn't nearly as fast as the one the Javelin in which they were traveling was moving when she tried to stop it from crashing onto Fred. Once again she took position at the bow and began to push it back to make it decrease in speed. While doing it she looked at the cockpit and saw only one crew member, who apparently was unconscious
"Hold on, Almerachian, I've got you!" This time the ship wasn't purposely accelerated to reach the planet before some of the occupants perish. The Amazon deduced that it was probably adrift and was attracted by the gravitational pull of Planet Fred. Now Diana was in control, and she decided where she wanted it to land, which was three miles south of the Fortress, just in case it happens to explode, due to the heavy damage.
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Planet Fred – Fields nearby the Fortress of Solely Two – 10:25 Hs. A.M.
Clark was digging a ditch all the way from the pond to irrigate the orchard and crops he finally began to cultivate so they could grow their own food. Jonathan's teachings at work at their fullest. Nobody would say this Kent didn't know the family trade.
Diana had made a hat out of straw for him. She intended it as a joke for the "farmer boy", but now he found it quite useful. He took it off to wipe his sweaty forehead. He looked at Argos, who has been following him from the pond, curious at what he was doing.
"What do you think, boy?" Clark said to the giant. "Will it be alright for irrigating two acres of crops and vegetables?"
Argos looked at him blankly, and the Kryptonian continued, "Yeah, you're probably right; I'll have to dig it twice as wide for it to be enough. Oh, well, I better get started again, there's no point on postponing what you'll have to do anyway, as Pa used to say." He patted Argos side and they both moved back to the pond again. "We don't wanna disappoint our Lady, do we? Oh, no. She wouldn't complain, of course, you know. She never does. That's who she is.
But it's up to us," he point his finger at Argos an, then, himself, "to keep her comfy, because she's here because of us…well, ME. I know what you're thinking," Argos face remained inexpressive, "I should tell her I've been crazy about her for a long time now…"
(As Diana was sweeping the ring in search for the beacon, he had her Lasso wrapped around his waist).
"You, know, it's complicated. I don't want her to think she needs to take care of me, to add another burden to her shoulders already. Yeah…I may sound like a prideful prick to you, but I used to be her equal, now I'm just a charity case…No, she didn't say it, she would never do that, and I love her more because of it, but it's the truth, and…" He felt a pull on the lasso, and saw it pointing to a different direction. "Did you see that, boy? What the hell is happening up there? I wish I can go up there with her, damn red sun!" He pulled the Lasso twice to get her attention…nothing. "Come on, girl! Come down, please!" he begged. The tension on the golden rope ceded, but it began to fall south of their location. "Come on, boy!" Clark started running following the Lasso as fast as his legs allowed him. Argos was a little ahead of him, causing the ground to shake with every step.
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Planet Fred - Outskirts of the forest surrounding the Fortress – 11:15 Hs. A.M.
Diana put gently the vessel on the ground, and immediately went to the command cabin to see the pilot. She found him strapped to one of the front seats, unconscious. A wound could be seen on the right side of his abdomen. Diana removed carefully the safety belt and laid him on the floor. When the Amazon took off his helmet, the pilot opened his eyes.
"A…a Messenger of Kloss…?" He's mistaking me for an angel,Diana thought.
"Mer…ciful spirit, he…help me, pl…ease." His voice was little more than a whisper.
"My name is Diana. What's yours? Who did this to you?" The Amazon saw no point in correcting his mistake. Time was essential. As she was speaking she looked at the wound. The ascending colon and the right kidney were shattered, and scorch marks and burned flesh were visible all around the wound.
'A blaster' thought the Princess. There was nothing she could do to help. "What's your name? What happened?" she repeated, holding the man's head on her lap and pressing the wound trying to contain the blood pouring out of it, knowing it was too late.
"Cla…vius lieut..lieutnt…p…pirates took ship…cap…captin dead…I e…escape…shot." Now he was struggling to breathe. He began to ramble, "Justice Leag…explosion…must…must find. Inform Quee…secret." He tried to raise his head. "Blessed Spirit, he…help…" His head fell back as death claimed his body. Diana closed his eyes and mouth. A bitter taste always invaded her mouth at the sight of death. "Mission accomplished, Lieutenant Clavius: you've found us," she confirmed gravely.
"Kloss, take good care of this man's spirit," she said, lowering her head. After a respectful moment, she put the pilot's body on the floor and went to search the rest of the ship. There was nobody else. The interior bulkheads had blast marks all over them.
"Quite a fight took place in here," Diana muttered.
When Argos and Clark arrived at the edge of the forest they saw the Almerachy scout ship but no sign of Diana. He began to shout, "Diana! Diana, where are you?!"
"In here!" she answered, and she came out holding in her arms the lifeless body of the pilot.
"Oh, god! Are you alright!" Clark let out a relieved sigh. "What happened? Who is this?"
Diana, once again, placed the body on the ground. "For what the pilot told me before passing away, this ship was under direct orders of the Almerachy government to find us, and was attacked by pirates. This poor soul managed to escape, but was fatally wounded by a blaster shot. I don't understand, Kal. If Maxima wanted us dead, why would she send a mission to find us?"
"I think, as the explosion took place many light years before the intended site, her men didn't find our remains where she knew they would be, she had to send a scout crew to make sure of our fate," asseverated the Kryptonian "Apparently, it didn't go well, so she's still unsure if we're dead or not."
"That could mean the League may be looking for us as well?" Diana beseeched.
"Hopefully, yes," he replied.
"We'll have to put this man to rest properly, and then take a good look to this ship. You think she will be able to fly?" asked the Princess.
"For the look of it, I'd say n…" he looked at her hopeful expression, and didn't have the courage to burst her bubble, not yet, "…nothing until we revised it thoroughly. I'm going to bring a shovel to dig him a grave."
"Don't bother." With her own hands Diana dug in seconds a hole deep and large enough to accommodate the former lieutenant. Clark secretly wished he could have done the same. The Amazon saw that in his face and regretted being so impulsive. "Kal…I…"
"No, Di. I won't let you feel sorry for who you are. I'm okay…really. I'm not a child. There's no need for you to hide what you can do and/or if you feel alright doing it. I forbid you to change my friend Diana for whatever reason involving me." The man of tomorrow put his hands on her shoulders. "Now, let's deposit this man in his final residence, and say a word for his eternal rest."
So they did.
"Such a young man!" Diana lamented. "I hope the Universe grants your spirit another chance at life. In the mean time, have a peaceful rest. May this beautiful planet serve as a proper place for that interlude." The Almerachians believed in some kind of reincarnation, so Diana accommodated her words to honor that.
"So be it," voiced Clark.
After a respectful silent moment, they went to the vessel to have a good look at her. First of all, they need to make sure she wouldn't explode.
Diana checked the fuel levels. "Nothing. Tanks are depleted, not even the fumes. How are things back there?"
"No good news, I'm afraid. One of the engines is missing. The other two are damaged beyond repair; we can't even make one out of the two of them. I'm sorry." His voice sounded discouraged. Entering in the control cabin, where the Amazon was verifying the instruments, he noted, "What's with all these lights and whistles on the consoles? Where does the power come from?" Suddenly, an idea formed in his mind. "Come with me!" They went to the stern interiors. Diana opened the hatch to the engine room and they both got inside.
"Oh, ho,ho, ho!" A big grin appeared on Clarks face. "Do you see what I'm seeing, Di?" he asked.
"An electrical generator! Kal! Do you think…!" Her face became radiant.
"Let's not crack the champagne yet. Do me a favor: go outside and inspect the hull's integrity while I check the generator," he proposed.
The Amazon flew outside. Floating over the ship, she shouted, "Solar panels! On the wings there are solar panels! They are intact!" She swooped back inside.
"Miraculously, so are the generator and the storage batteries. Do you know what that means?"
And they both shouted at the same time, "WE HAVE ELECTRICITY!"
Laughing and screaming the castaways merged into an embrace.
In the heat of the moment, Clark cupped her face with both hands and kissed her mouth intensely. Conscious of what he had just done he pulled back, without breaking the embrace
"Di, I…I didn't mean to…you know. With all the excitement and all…I just…I'm sor…"
"Finish the word 'sorry' and you'll really, really be so." Her eyes where fixed on his and her tone didn't allowed any disavowal
"I…I…," he began.
"Shut up, Kal." The Amazon was the one to claim his mouth in an even deeper kiss now.
When they finally parted, they started speaking at the same time, again.
"I love y…"
"Sorry, you go first"
"No, you go first…" The Kryptonian held his hand up.
"I love you, Di. I've been in love with you since shortly after I met you. I've also been an idiot and a coward for not saying it before."
The Amazon eyes flooded. "I love you too, you idiot, and I regret not telling you when I was sure of my feelings. We both had our reasons, but they seem irrelevant right now, don't they?"
They continue kissing until they broke into a nervous laugh.
"Is it safe to assume we both forgave each other?" Clark asked.
Diana nodded, and then added "We will never, ever again hide our feelings from each other. Promise me."
"Never again, I promise," he emphasized.
The Amazon took a look at their clothes. "We are a mess!" she said. "You are covered in dirt and sweat, and look at me! Your suit was white, now it looks anything but!"
"Tell you what: you take this ship to our camp and place it in front of the Javelin. I have to go back with Argos, or the poor boy will be offended."
"Okay. I'll be waiting at the pond. Don't be long, Beloved." She winked an eye to him.
His heart was about to jump out of his chest. "Beloved…!"
He went to where Argos was waiting, nibbling leaves from a near by tree. The violet beast turned his head when he heard Clark coming back, letting out a high pitch yowl.
"Sorry, Argos. We had work to do," apologized Clark.
Argos sniffed the Kryptonian with curiosity. "Black Flower?" he thought. He could smell her scent on the man.
"Grooowwl?" he asked Clark.
Noticing why their giant pet was so concerned, the former Man of Steel told him.
"Yeah. You see…em… Mommy and I have something to tell you," he joked, stroking the enormous head. "But first: can I ask you for a ride back to the pond, friend?" He climbed on Argos' back and they turned in the Fortress direction.
Minutes later, as they were approaching their destination, they could hear Diana's crystalline voice singing. Clark descended from Argos and, making a sign to his purple friend to keep silent, he sneaked towards the pond.
The Amazon was thighs deep into the water, with her back turned to him, singing out loud "Beautiful day", from U2. Holding up her arms and shaking her well shaped behind and occasionally kicking the water, causing little rainbows to form when the sunlight hit the splashed drops. She was wearing nothing but her "Bésame" white bikini she always used underneath the tight, Kryptonian armor.
Clark was mesmerized by the vision of her perfect body and tanned, olive skin, as well as the sound of her angelical voice. He found particularly lovely how she hummed the main riff in between strophes. She was clearly singing with her eyes closed. She looked so happy; he took a mental picture of this moment to treasure it forever.
"…a beautiful da-aay." She finished, tilting her head up.
"Bravo!" The Kryptonian walked into her clapping his hands. "Bravíssimo"
Diana turned facing him, instinctively trying to cover her body with her arms and hands, her eyes big as plates.
"The offer to form 'Diana and the Wonders' is still on, you know?" he teased.
Her surprised expression softened, and she stood straight with her arms akimbo. "How long have you been stalking me there?"
"Since the second refrain." He was slowly walking to meet her in the water kicking his shoes off, removing his T-shirt and jeans, leaving only his red boxers on. "And I wasn't stalking: I was appreciating your singing and…," after a meaningful pause, "…dancing"
"And…did you enjoy my singing?" She didn't move an inch in his direction; he would have to do all the work.
"Immensely. I was a little more moved by your dancing, though," he pointed.
"Only a little?" Now it was her turn to tease.
"A lot, in fact." He was only two feet from her now. He took the final step, clasping her hands with his, and with his mouth close to hers, but without touching.
"Did you like what you saw?" She was looking at his lips.
"M-hmm. Love your attire, by the way," he whispered.
"What? This old thing? It's nothing!" she whispered as well.
"It's very little, but it's not nothing. I remember how you look wearing nothing." Now he was looking at her full lips.
"I remember you too, you know. I…mmm.." He didn't let her finish. He captured her lips between his and put his arms around her. Diana abandoned herself to the kiss as well. She wanted to hold him tight, but then she remembered. Pulling back, breathing heavily, she observed, "Kal…I want to do this, you can't imagine how much, but it's too dangerous! How are we going to do it?"
They had crossed the line, and there was no turning back, he thought. It was true: there couldn't be actual intercourse, coitus, but that didn't mean they couldn't find a way around it. He has done it years ago, with Lana.
"There's a way, if you want it," he began,
"Anything. Tell me," she begged.
"I'll show you instead." Clark began to slip his hand under the lower part of her swimsuit, caressing her butt and around her sensitive zone. Diana began moaning and tried to get her hand under his boxer. He gently stopped her.
"The trick is to pleasure the other, but one of us at the time. One of us needs to be in control all the time. If we both get lost in our passion, the risk of causing harm, to me, in this case will become a fact. You relax yourself and let me do. I'll tell you if you are holding or squeezing me too tight. Come, let's move to the banks." He grabbed her hand and they both seated beside the water. He began kissing her again and groping her body, making her lay on her back.
"Do you trust me, my love?" Hearing him calling her 'my love' disarmed all her defenses. Unable to speak, she nodded.
Slowly, he removed her skimpy swimsuit, caressing and kissing his way down her sculptural anatomy. Diana was dubious at first, but then she relaxed and let herself enjoy his ministrations. The proactive Amazon found it hard to assume the passive role, but the sensations he was awakening in her body with his expert hands and tongue more than compensate for that. He was kissing and nibbling her breasts, when he reached her already hard nipples, she could not avoid gasping, letting out, "Oh, Kal!"
He spent a fair amount of time with them. He loved her firm breasts. Every once in a while he raised his head to look at her face. Seeing her face transfigured by pleasure was reward enough for now. The Princess' body was mildly shaking under Clark's kisses. He moved farther south to her stomach. When he began licking her navel, Diana let a moan escape her lips. Her shaking was getting more noticeable the lower he moved on her body. One of his hands was stroking her thighs, and slowly moved in between her legs. It pleased him to see how wet she was
"Perfection," he mused. Now her groans and moaning were constant. Her legs spread under his touch. His mouth moved over her mons and he positioned himself between her thighs and her hips began to move up and down rhythmically with her accelerated respiration. The moment his lips touched her feminine core, an agonizing cry left her mouth, one of her hands began stroking his head and the other was clawing the ground beside her. Clark found her taste intoxicating. He knew right there he'll never have enough of this woman. He tried to stay alert, though; images of a video he saw about woman crushing a watermelon between her thighs crossed his mind. Should Diana close her legs suddenly during her release, he would have to move fast out of the way. He introduced a finger and the Amazon cried again, only louder this time. She was close, he could tell.
"Kal! Yes! Right there! Oh, Kal! I'm…aaaahh! Kaaahhhl!" As he predicted, she closed her legs violently. He was prepared, though. Grabbing her hips by her butt cheeks, he lifted them positioning his head below, continuing his work from behind, for as long as her release lasted. When her body stopped trembling, he put her down gently and went to lie beside her.
After a few moments she could barely articulate. "That…that was…"
"Beautiful. Perfect. Thank you for that, Di," he interrupted her.
"Don't thank me yet." Diana rolled on her side to face him. "Because I'm planning to make you cry, baby."
"Is that so, 'screamer'?" he retorted
She slapped his chest lightly. "I'm not a screamer!"
"Oh, yeah? Tell that to the many animals that ran away, scared of your noises," he teased.
"That's not true! And it's your fault, anyway." She cuddled under his arm. "I think this arrangement may work. You will have your reward now, Beloved" She reached to kiss him and began stroking his torso. Oh, yeah: she loved his chest. "It's a beautiful day" she asseverated.