CH33

Epilogue:

It is 30 years later now:

A lot had changed over the last 30 years. Granted some things didn't change, however some things had.

"Mission Control this is Barrier one, we are approaching our first storm. All systems are green." Ell called out back to Earth.

"We copy, you are cleared to proceed. Please be careful sweetie." Mission Control responded back.

It got Ell to roll her eyes just like she had seen her mom do countless times, and leave it to her mom to embarrass her over the communications with most of the planet listening.

"She loves you Ell, just grin it and bare it. You'll live." Jenn points out, who was sitting next to her.

"I know, but did she have to tell over half the planet?" Ell moans. "Ok, I'm bringing up the power and applying thrust, let's see what this new shielding can really do."

20 years ago:

"Houston this is Search one, I'm approaching the barrier and beginning my scans." Kate informs the control room in Houston, Texas.

Kate had designed this ship just for this purpose. It was actually a mini version of the Hunter ship. It had its engine design, its shielding system, and a small refrigerator that had a secondary power source with enough blood bags in it to last Kate a month. Not that her flight was scheduled to last that long.

The larger companies hadn't recognized Kate's potential after graduating from NYU, almost literally teaching the teachers, let alone the students in class with her.

A small company had however decided to take a chance on her. Rick had taken all of his royalties off of his last two Storm books and bought thousands of shares of stock of this company. As the company started designing some of the systems for the ship Kate was in, their stock started rising.

It only dipped once when they missed a construction deadline. After 5 test flights in preparation for this flight out to the barrier, the company had been bought by General Dynamics and the stock price increased to three times the original cost overnight. It had continued to climb since then, simply at a slower pace.

Rick and Kate were rich. Rick thought he had money from writing books, that was almost pocket change compared to the money they had now.

Kate had designed this little ship and she had also proven that she was an excellent pilot, plus she knew how to fix on every system on this ship.

There was only the one seat and the ship was about the same size as an atmospheric fighter F-15E Eagle. It even had wings for atmospheric flight.

Kate was doing her best to keep her mind on her flight, it's just that it still took a little time to get out here, so she had done some reflection on her life on the way out here.

Alexis was in high school and some of her vampire traits, thanks to having Kate's DNA bonded to hers where beginning to show themselves. So far nothing terrible had happened.

Alexis had developed fangs and Kate had spent time with her to teach her how to force them to retract when she didn't want them to show. Alexis's strength had increased. Her skin color had changed making her less pale and her hair color had actually gotten a darker red, instead of fading to a more orange color.

Alexis had developed a taste for blood, she actually craved it from time to time now. Her system didn't seem to need it for any particular reason, however after taste testing when her fangs developed for the first time, Alexis had stated drinking blood. Like others would drink beer or alcohol.

Now Alexis was drinking an occasional meal just like her mother.

Alexis was also the big sister to her sister and brother. Both had turned out to be hybrids just like she was now. Kate's pregnancy for her first child had been full of scares for everyone.

Instead of breast feeding, since Kate's breasts didn't work that way, they found that she needed blood when she was a baby. Hence she had bitten Kate by accident one time and found that instead of milk, she needed blood.

For the first few weeks Kate would allow her to bite her to get the blood she needed. She was still just a child, however she was also the fastest child on the planet. Rick's vision of having a wall filled with Olympic medals had come back in full force as they all watched little Ell run. Kate had worked at weaning her off of biting her and into biting blood bags.

There had been one other major change in those early years. Rick hadn't wanted to go back to the loft after the shooting. It held too many bad memories now, and he had wanted to make new ones with Kate, Alexis and their new baby Ell, who wasn't even here yet.

Even though all the blood had been washed away, Rick and Kate could still see it, so Rick with Kate right next to him had gone looking for a new home. Jim and Johanna had gone with them once.

"You're both staying with us until you get yourself established. I need to arrange for the refrigerators downstairs to be filled more often." Rick had told them.

Since their apartment was rubble, Kate moved in and stayed in their bedroom. Alexis had hers, Lanie got one of the guest rooms and Jim and Johanna got the last guest room.

It had been a new experience for Jim and Johanna, coming down to eat with everyone, watching Rick and Alexis eat food while the four of them sucked on their straws. Rick had even purchased another microwave so they could heat up more bags at the same time.

...

Upper West Side - Townhouse

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Kate thought she was going to miss the loft. It was where she had landed her shuttle, it was where she fell in love with Alexis and Rick. It was where she got pregnant, however Kate had found that the new place was a place she loved even more.

It was theirs! It was where their children were growing up. It was 6 floors tall and while Rick wasn't fond of the stairs, Kate, Lanie and the kids had started loving them as they used their vampire blood to race up and down them. Even Alexis had gotten into it.

Since Rick owned the building the loft was in, they simply moved out and rented it to another family. All of the rent paid was profit since Rick didn't have a mortgage for the building.

They never did understand why the police never showed up at their door that day. It was all over the news what Tom and Josh had been witnessed doing everywhere they went. So many people had died because of those two. The police had finally showed up asking everyone in the building questions. By then of course the bodies were long gone. The shuttle was sitting next to the other two until they could find a better place to store them. The repairs to their door had caused questions, but the police hadn't pushed.

And since the Vibro blade had actually cauterized the wounds closed as it made them, there was actually very little blood to clean up. And the kitchen was getting a remodel, the police were told when they asked.

Rick had even arranged for a party with all proceeds to go to a fund that would help support all the families of all the police officers that had lost their lives thanks to two Hunters. Rick had felt somehow responsible for having their families ripped apart with all the pain they must be going through.

It was one more reason for Kate to love him, and it gave Jim and Johanna a glimpse into the soul of the man that their daughter was in love with.

Rick had bought Jim and Johanna their first place for them. Jim and Johanna had sworn they would pay him back after they both got jobs, not knowing Rick had no intention of accepting a penny.

145 WEST 88TH STREET

145 W 88th St Located on one of the prettiest townhouse blocks in all of Manhattan, this 4-story Renaissance Revival single-family house is the home you have been looking for! Built in 1890 by architect/builders McDowell & Henry, much of the unique Eastlake style of original detail remains throughout the home. Climb the restored brownstone stoop and enter the home through the original oak double wide doors. Stepping through the vestibule, the ornate spindles on the original box stair and detailed front parlor fireplace mantel immediately impress. The spacious dining room is at the rear of the parlor floor and has beautiful honey-colored wood wainscoting, and another fireplace with original mantelpiece and in-laid tile. French doors with two-over-eight glass panes lead to stairs down to the verdant garden. The windowed kitchen has modern stainless steel appliances and is conveniently located off the dining room. There are a total of 4 original fireplaces in the house. All of the original wood shutters have been preserved. 3rd & 4th Floors: The home retains its original historic box stairs with cut out at the parlor landing. There are 4 spacious bedrooms and 2 full baths. The master bedroom has an artist-loft-style skylight spanning the width of the house, a large walk-through closet and renovated spa-like bathroom with a Jacuzzi and 2-person shower. Some interesting original details remain throughout, including a marble shaving sink, pine cabinetry, and mantel in the 3rd floor front bedroom, restored spindles on the stair banister, and a fantastic stained glass skylight over the stairs. The 4 skylights and oversized north and south-facing windows make this townhouse unusually bright. Garden Floor: Currently used as a media and recreation space, the opportunities are many for this loft-like 17' x 50' floor. A full bath and a washer/dryer are located at this level. Double wide French glass doors lead out to the landscaped garden where a fabulous wall of ivy provides a lovely backdrop for entertaining or quiet relaxation. Cellar: The home has a full cellar level which, while unfinished, provides ample room for dry storage.

Kate was falling in love with Alexis all over again, she was the best biggest sister anyone could hope for.

"Ell, dinner!" Kate yelled out, not quite sure just where she was.

"I'll get her mom." And Alexis was off in a flash. Alexis's vampire DNA had kicked in and started making changes. Each was a new surprise to all of them.

"You still happy you got my DNA?" Kate asked when Alexis was back with Ell in her arms, holding her easily with her vampire strength.

Alexis stepped into Kate and kissed her head. "I wouldn't change a thing mom." Alexis was more like her mom now, something she was only too happy to be no matter what those changes worked out to be. The name Meredith never came up again, she didn't exist for any of them.

Kate's scans started beeping at her. "Houston I've got something. …. Make that a lot of somethings." Kate transmitted her scans back to Houston.

"WOW!" Kate was getting close enough that she could actually see it now. It reminded Kate of seeing a black hole swallowing up everything. Way out here in the asteroid belt. Kate could see one of them, while her scans were seeing several more of them.

"Houston, are you seeing this?" Kate needed confirmation.

"Confirmed Search One, we are all analyzing the data. Suggest you move on to another site and scan." Came back quickly.

It was one more thing that taking the Hunter ship apart to learn about. A new communication system that didn't have the delay everyone on Earth had gotten used to.

"Search One acknowledges." Kate moved along the edge, bringing up the power.

Kate watched black hole after black hole, sucking in storms on the outside into a tight location on an asteroid. "Houston I have a dead zone on my scans, moving to investigate." Kate increased power to close the distance faster.

"Acknowledged Search One, cleared to proceed." Too late since Kate was already on the move.

It really was a dead zone. There was no black hole in this area, unlike the areas around it. "Houston scans suggest that there is a signal or more likely a power transfer taking place between the black holes. This same transfer is by-passing this location. I'm maneuvering in closer." Kate eased off on the power and worked to pull into the biggest asteroid in this area.

"Interesting." Kate adjusted her scans and tried to narrow it down to where she could no longer see the black holes around her. "Houston, scans suggest there is an artificial construct on this asteroid. I'm going to go EVA and investigate." Kate proceeded to close up her helmet and remove the atmosphere in her cockpit.

"EVA is not advised Search One, it is not part of the program. The EVA system has not been tested enough for this." Houston was worried about getting the atmosphere to change from one to the other and back again.

Kate had already popped the cockpit and had hooked herself to the inside of her ship and was already on her way over when Houston had responded. Kate had done it on purpose, not giving them enough time to say no. Kate had fought to be the pilot of her own ship and she wanted to know what was out here, so she was going to look, period.

Kate looked back and saw her tether looping around behind her as it floated in space with no gravity to hold it in place. Kate calculated just how much further she could go before her tether became taught and stopped her progress.

Turning back to where she was going, Kate landed on the asteroid and started searching. It didn't take long before she found something, make that a lot of somethings. They were small and organized in some kind of pattern. Each seemed to have a gem of some king on the tip. Plus there was a transfer cable made of an unknown material that linked all of the gems to a central location.

Kate spent the time searching all of the gems till she found one and its housing that was no longer connected to the central unit. Kate dug it out of the rock and bagged it.

"Search One, this is Houston. Be advised you are down to half an hour of atmosphere in your suit. Suggest you return to the ship and plug in." Kate could hear them over the communication system routed through her ship.

"Search One acknowledges." Kate didn't want to, but she pushed off and started reeling in her tether headed back to her ship. Once back inside, Kate connected her suit, closed the canopy and turned the environmental system on again, allowing her to remove her helmet.

Kate pulled her find out of her bag and started studying it. It was definitely a module of some kind meant for a power system. It looked like a collector and power transfer module. It was like nothing she had ever seen before.

"Houston, this is Search One. I'm going into sleep mode while my suit recharges for another trip." Kate started shutting down systems including communications before Houston could forbid her from going back out again. She came out here to learn and by god that was what she was going to do.

Back to 20 years later:

Kate and a small design team had designed a new ship, it was modeled after the Hunter ship. It was a prototype and was designed to leave the tormented zone, so it had plants, bedrooms, bathrooms, shields and weapons. However it didn't have a flight bay holding 2 fighters that could go into combat in space as well as in an atmosphere.

It did however have something the Hunter ship didn't have. Something they had learned about after Kate had returned with what she had found.

The gem and its housing were still intact and functional, the control panel in the middle however was not. It had taken a few years to learn its secrets. Kate had taken those secrets and applied it to her latest new ship design.

Ell and Jenn watched all of their instruments as they entered the storm. "It's working!" Jenn sounded excited as she monitored the screens she was sitting in front of. Ell was the pilot while Jenn was the flight engineer. "Ready for phase 2?" Jenn looked at Ell smiling wide.

"HELL YES! …. Mission Control, all systems are green and functional, I'm setting a course and activating the FTL. Talk to you in a few." Ell tells over the communication as she works her controls.

"We copy barrier one, enjoy the ride." Kate answers back to her daughter.

Jenn was making sure everything was working as intended. "FTL in 3, … 2, …. 1, …." The result was the energy of the storm being sucked into the power system and Barrier one took off into FTL taking the storm with it, siphoning off some of its power to feed the ships engine.

It had taken Kate, Lanie, Jim, Johanna, Tom and Josh months to get from the edge of the tormented zone to the barrier that the system the Earth was in. Three days later Barrier One exited the tormented zone and stopped to scan the surrounding area.

"I've got nothing on scans, we're alone." Jenn tells Ell. "Our storm is still with us feeding us power, the shielding is holding it in place with no loss of power to the storm itself. … Looks like we are ready for phase 3." Jenn points out.

"Setting course for the closest system using the records we have. FTL in 3, … 2, … 1, …." And Barrier One disappeared into FTL only to come out a day later just outside of the intended system.

"I'm reading 16 ships in the area, running the scans through the analyzer. …. Some appear to be cargo ships of different sizes. Some appear to be personal shuttles or yachts, and one is a Command Carrier." Jenn points out smiling.

It got Ell to start smiling. "Phase 4 here we come." Ell altered course straight for the Command Carrier and applied maximum thrust.

The command carrier saw a rogue storm that had obviously escaped the tormented zone and started to maneuver to avoid it as it came screaming right for them.

As the storm got closer the Command Carrier started launching its fighters and Marauders. The idea was to have the fighters and Marauders open fire on the storm while the Command Carrier warmed up its main guns.

"We're taking hits to the shielding, shields are down to 99%." Jenn comments. "Activating fire control." Jenn sets the on board emitters to automatic. From the Command Carriers point of view the storm started shooting out large numbers of small balls of storm energy. Each ball struck unerringly onto each fighter and Marauder. Each ball enveloped their target and when the energy dissipated the fighters and Marauders simple ceased to exist.

The Command Carrier couldn't get out of the way fast enough or warm up their primary weapons. Only their secondary weapons managed to get any shots off as the storm slid down one side from bow to stern.

The energy of the storm overloaded their shielding and ripped the Command Carrier open on one side from bow to stern.

As the storm turned to head back for the tormented zone, Jenn watched her scans as the internal explosions inside the Command Carrier blew itself apart. No more Command Carrier and its crew of 50,000.

"Mission Control, all four phases are complete, all results are as expected. We're coming home." Ell communicates to Earth.

"Acknowledged Barrier One, you're father and I will be waiting for you at home. Enjoy your shake honey." Kate answered back.

After Barrier One entered FTL, both Ell and Jenn went over to the galley area of their little ship. Jenn cooked a meal for her mostly human system while Ell whipped up a milkshake that had blood in it.

Jenn and Ell were both hybrids. Ell was more vampire and Jenn was more human.

Earth was now a jumbled up hodge podge of races. A lot of people on Earth had elected to have their dormant vampire DNA activated while others wanted to be more pure human. As a result, a lot of babies born now were hybrids. Some were more vampire while some were more human.

Only occasionally was a 100% vampire or 100% human born these days. There were blood stores all over the planet now. Human blood and animal blood. Several of the hybrids had found that blood was blood, it didn't matter if it was human or animal.

Kate was entering the home they had bought years ago and found Rick in the kitchen working on making dinner. Kate walked right over and wrapped her arms around him and buried her nose into his chest and breathed him in. Kate hadn't ever lost the joy of smelling her husband or of tasting him and making love to him.

Rick had given her a surprise a few times during their marriage after Ell had been born. Kate hadn't wanted Rick to marry her just because she was pregnant. He had done that with Meredith. She wanted him to ask her because he loved her, not because he felt it was the right thing to do.

Kate's plan had not gone over well with Jim or Johanna. They wanted their daughter's baby to be born into a loving AND married family. Jim had thought sure he was going to have to give that father talk to his future son-in-law. He hadn't expected to have it be with his own daughter. So three months AFTER the birth of their daughter, Jim followed local tradition and happily handed over his daughter to a man who loved her more than his own life.

Now he just had to wait for Lanie to follow. And he thought Katie was stubborn. Lanie was just far too picky and it was driving both Jim and Johanna crazy.

Kate had pulled out a bag of blood out of the refrigerator, popped it into the microwave and jabbed a straw into it and started drinking with her family during dinner.

Alexis mostly still ate food as did Noah after he was born. Ell was the only one who preferred a mix. Ell's favorite thing was a food milkshake with blood in it. "Hhhmmm, tasty!" Ell had commented.

Kate had started drinking and had immediately melted into her chair. Kate's eyes rolled back into her head. It was her husband's blood. He occasionally, like every three months to be precise, had someone come out and take his blood, put it into a bag and leave it in the refrigerator tagged for Kate only. Kate had spent that night thanking him by making love to him.

They never did find any material that Kate couldn't break out of if she put her mind to it. However that hadn't stopped Rick trying to find something to tie Kate to the bed so Rick could have his way with her, and the results of his attempts had blown Kate's mind. Kate thought she knew just what her husband was capable of doing to her when they made love. However she had been wrong, so very wrong.

"How did it go?" Rick asked wrapping his arms around Kate and kisses her head.

"It went just as planned, Ell should be home in a few days. … How was Noah?" Kate inquired about her little man. Not really all that little anymore. Kids grew up just too fast to her mind.

"Last I saw him he was flying up the stairs to get to the roof, he finished his new kite and wanted to see it work. … Dinner will be ready soon if you want to go find everyone. And your parents should be here any moment." Rick answers her question.

"I'll go find him and my parents are still put out that you haven't cashed any of the checks they have sent to pay you back for buying them their home." Kate pats his chest and gives Rick a quick kiss.

"They can spend that money on the renovation they've been talking about, we've already got more money that any of us know what to do with." Rick points out.

It earned Rick another quick kiss. "I'll go find everyone babe, be right back." Kate uses her vampire speed to fly up the stars and is on the roof in a heartbeat watching her son fly his giant homemade kite.

"WOW!" Kate walks up next to her son. "You've outdone yourself this time." Kate was staring up into the sky.

"Hi mom." Noah acknowledges her presence. "I was just getting ready to release it and see if it will work properly." Noah informs her, as he presses the button to release the tether holding it to the Earth.

They both watched as the power system activated and it flew around the area of their home, avoiding trees and going between buildings. Making complicated turns, flipping and turning before heading for their roof. The AI system that Johanna was working on seemed to be working.

Kate helped her son reach up and capture it and bring it down to the roof. "Another success!" Kate was happy for him. "I see you listened to my mother this time." Kate points out.

"Yeah, grandma Jo is a genius when it comes to creating or fixing programs." Noah was smiling. Noah was now properly chastised for doubting his grandmother.

"I'll tell Ell you said that when she gets back." Kate teases her son.

"How was the flight?" Kate had his attention now.

"Our understanding of those crystal emitters and control panel have worked out perfectly. Together with my mother's programming all four phases of the flight worked out just as anticipated." Kate was grinning.

"Look out Universe, here come the vampires. No more running from Hunters, now the Hunters run from us." Noah points out smiling.

Kate was smiling with him. Her children were going to grow up NOT being hunted. NOT being looked down upon. NOT being singled out for extermination simply because nature had selected you with the need to drink blood to live.

Vampires had hopes and dreams too, and it didn't include being singled out for extermination from a group of humans who thought they were better.