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*NOTE – Hello everybody, it is I, TheManFromMudos, and today I welcome you all to the thirtieth and final installment of 'Xena'. Now, before we get the story underway, I have a couple of things to say, so I hope you don't mind if I do that now. First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude to everyone who has been following the story for these past few months. At the time of writing, just under 23,000 people have tuned in, from a grand total of 56 different countries! I could never have imagined 'Xena' becoming so huge all over the world, so thanks ever so much to everyone had tuned in to read. The next thing I want to say is regarding the audience reception of chapter 29. It was… mixed, at best. Some of you were happy, some less so. But please, trust me, as the events of chapter 29 will play an integral part in the sequel to 'Xena', coming next year, which you may by this point have figured out is going to be called 'Xanthus'. Also, I've fixed the disastrous typos in that chapter now. Anyway, that's all from me for today. I'd like to say once more: thank you so much for all the support over the last… would you believe that it's only been 90 days? And as always, read on and enjoy. For the final time, it's 'Xena'. THANK YOU!*

For the next few minutes or so, I sat silently beside the medpod, looking down at the small, frail baby. Xanthus. That was his name. A final homage to the newly departed Xena. As I continued to stare down at him, questions began to race through my head. How could I raise a child that wasn't human? Would he grow as fast as Xena had, and be a full grown adult by the end of the day? Or would it take sixteen or more years of human affection to raise him from a child into a young adult? Perhaps the answer was neither; perhaps the real answer would fall somewhere between the two extremities. A month or two, maybe, or even just a couple of years. Either way, how could I teach a child that couldn't read, write, see or speak? How could I look after him with no food, no money, and quite possibly no home? My head was spinning, and soon I needed to end my silence.

"So what happens now?" I finally said, still staring down at my newborn son as he lay silently in the medpod.

"I wish I could tell you, Matt." Nathan replied, a slightly regretful expression on his face. "Perhaps if Jane hadn't… I could have had a child of my own. Then I'd be able to tell you. Funny how things work out, isn't it?"

"It is." I nodded. "Bet your kid wouldn't have been an alien, though." Nathan chuckled at this, but still appeared serious.

"All I know…" He continued, speaking to me in a fatherly tone, "Is that you've got a hell of a responsibility on your shoulders now. Human or Xenomorph, he's still your son, and you've got more than your fair share of work cut out for you."

"Not hugely helpful, Nathan." I said bluntly, although I couldn't help but grin as I spoke. "But thanks."

It was at this moment in time that I turned to look at Alan. He sat silently on a small chair in the corner of the room, his facial expression one of dismay and, to some extent, regret. Clearly, he was wrestling with his own array of mental questions.

"What's up, Alan?" I called over to him, although I stayed firmly in my own seat beside the medpod. Without reply, he simply stood up, and walked over to the pod to join me. He looked down at Xanthus, visibly upset, although I couldn't tell why.

"Listen, Matthew…" He began shakily. I'd never seen him in such a state before. "You'll… You'll still have to leave."

"What?" Nathan gasped. "Sir, he's just given birth! He's in no fit state to go anywhere, least of all to take a child with him."

"I'm sorry, Matthew." Alan continued, ignoring Nathan's concerns. "You may have convinced Smith and I that not every Xenomorphs is a killer, but there are tens of billions of people back on Earth, let alone those on other planets and moons. Do you really think that you can convince every single one of them that your son isn't a monster?"

Alan's words rang in my mind, and I knew that he was right. He and Nathan were just two people. How could I convince countless others that my alien child had as much right to live as they did? There'd always be people like Ryan out there, people who were unwilling to accept what is fundamentally different. And so, it seemed I had no choice. I had to go.

"I understand, Alan." I told my shaken commander. It was such a strange and rare occasion, Alan showing sympathy. It seemed that he was genuinely sorry for his decision. But it was a decision which had to be made.

"You can take Syracusia 1," Alan continued, his voice rushed. "And don't worry, we'll prepare it for you. Won't we, Smith?"

"Alan, I-" I attempted, but was interrupted by Alan as he continued to babble.

"And you can take any food and medical supplies that you might need." He said, the pace of his voice increasing still.

"Alan, really, it's-" I tried again, but once more Alan interrupted me.

"And if there's anything else we can do for you before you go," He carried on, "Just let us kn-"

"Alan!" I shouted, shutting the panicked man up. "Honestly, I'll be fine. We'll be fine. Thank you." He nodded gingerly, but I could tell that he felt he hadn't done enough. I could tell that he was trying to make things right, and I was grateful for that.

A few minutes later, I sat alone in the room. Alan and Nathan had left to prepare Syracusia 1 for departure, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Xanthus still slept soundly in the pod beside me, the only sounds from him little more than gentle breathing. I could still hardly believe what was going on. An hour ago, I was just about ready to escape the Archimedes, to slip away undetected with Xena. Now, I was leaving on much more friendly terms, with my late partner's child in tow. I thought about Xena again, about all that we could have had, could have been. If only there was some way to… and that's when it hit me.

"Okay, Matthew…" Nathan called, stepping into the room with a small disc in his hand. "Syracusia 1's ready when you are."

"What's this?" I asked, taking the disc from him and reading the seven character code on the front: 'AR42 1SY'.

"Postal tracking beacon." He explained. "Slip it into the disc drive aboard Syracusia 1. If there's any letters for you, we'll send a post pod. Just because you're going 'off the grid', doesn't mean we can't know where you are."

"Thanks, Nathan." I said, slipping the disc into my pocket. "Anyway, there's something I wanted to ask… Ah, Alan." It was at this point that Alan came through the door. He still looked miserable, but less so now that he knew I'd have a safe departure.

"Syracusia 1's waiting for you now." He said, attempting to smile. "Not that there's any rush for you to leave, of course."

"No, I'd better go now." I assured him, not wanting to be a burden to the Archimedes any longer. "But I did want to ask…"

"What is it?" Alan enquired. "If you need us to help you with anything before you go, you only have to ask."

"I was wondering if I could take Xena with me." I continued. "I'm sure a dead Xenomorph's no good to you two, after all."

"No, of course." He agreed, nodding to Nathan. "It's only right that you should take her. But why?"

"Nathan," I began, hoping that he could help me explain. "What's the one place where you've always dreamed of working?"

"Easy." He replied almost immediately. "The Montreal Technical Association Station 'Constantinople'. Home to-"

"Home to the most advanced medical facilities in human history." I interrupted, finishing Nathan's sentence for him.

"I see what you're getting at," Nathan nodded, realising what I had realised a few minutes earlier. "And it just might work…"

"What? What's he getting at?" Alan asked, confused by the sudden change of conversation.

"Xena was killed by an energy-burst cannon." Nathan explained. "Which means she sustained no physical bodily damage."

"That's right." I nodded. "And if that's the case, then her brain is still intact, however dormant it may be."

"Wait a minute..." Alan began, finally understanding the situation. "You don't think that…"

"They can bring her back." I finished for him. I wanted to jump into the air and shout with joy at the very thought. They could bring her back. Bring Xena back to life. Sure, it was a long shot, but it was worth a try, wasn't it?

"What makes you so sure that they'll willingly perform surgery on a Xenomorph?" Alan asked, still grounded on the idea.

"Nothing." I assured him. "But if I have any chance of seeing Xena alive again, I have to go there and try."

About half an hour or so later, Nathan, Alan and I stood beside the airlock which led to the Syracusia 1 shuttle. Xena was already inside, sealed into a hypersleep booth by Alan and Nathan. Now, I held Xanthus in my arms, still wrapped in a bundle of towels, ready to say my goodbyes to what remained of the ship's crew.

"Well, Matthew," Alan began. "We've done all we can. Hopefully it's enough for you."

"It is." I nodded. "Thank you, Alan. You too, Nathan."

"No problem, mate." He smiled. "Good luck with the kid. Xena too."

"Thanks." I repeated, grateful for all the two men had done for me. "What about you two? What are you going to do?"

"Oh, don't you worry about us." Alan assured me. "Now that the other Xenomorph's gone, we'll go back into hypersleep."

"Fair enough." I said plainly. "Well, don't let me keep you. I'd best be off." And with that, I stepped into the airlock.

As the door of the airlock began to seal itself shut behind me, I heard the faint calls of 'goodbye' from Alan and Nathan in the corridor behind. I called back to them with my own farewell as the door slammed firmly shut. The other door then grinded open, allowing me to step into Syracusia 1. The main room of the craft was little more than three hypersleep booths, clubbed together around a central column. Xena already layed in one of them. The others were for Xanthus and I. I placed the baby gently in one of the booths, ensuring it was firmly sealed. Then, I took one last glance at Xena. Even now, she was beautiful. In that moment, I knew that I had to bring her back. I just had to. And as I climbed into my own hypersleep booth, pressed a few buttons on the side, and pulled the lid down over my head, it was the last thought that came into my mind. Just two days we'd known each other. She'd gone before her time, and I was going to change that. After all… we had a son to raise now.

EPILOGUE

### AI SYSTEMS UNIT 42 – ARCHIE 115935103 ###

### CRITICIAL RUNTIME ERROR - 'peripheral . cable247 . out' = FALSE ###

### INITIATE SYSTEM REBOOT ###

- LOADING…LOADING…LOADING…LOADING COMPLETE

-ACCESSING FILE: 'Emergency Prevention Systems'

- READING DOCUMENT: 'distress_protocol_76 . mp8'

"This is an SOS distress call from the Deep Space Planetary Seeding and Colonisation Vessel Archimedes. The current crew count is… two. The current life sign count is… four. The current condition of the ship is… stable. An irreparable malfunction has occurred, which the crew is unable to ratify at this time, due to… absence (hypersleep). Namely, a… loss of connection from… mainframe cable 247, caused by... damage (other). Estimated runtime remaining is approximately… 36.5 seconds. Further information, including location data, will be sent with this transmission. MESSAGE END."

-ACCESSING DOCUMENT: 'runtimelog . doc/errors/0001_details . txt'

-TRANSMITTING INFORMATION…

-ACCESSING SOFTWARE: 'AI Systems ShipTrack V12'

-TRANSMITTING COORDINATES…

### WARNING – POWER LEVEL CRITICAL ###

### RUNTIME EXPIRES IN: 5 SECONDS – SHUTTING DOWN ###

-TRANSMISSION ADDENDUM: 'Final Message'

"I did what I could. But it wasn't enough. I'm sorry."