Love Beyond Realms

Elena’s Points of View:

Standing on the brink of the most perilous edge of the cosmos, the air around me hummed with expectancy and conflict. As I entered the council chamber, a lone person among individuals who had formerly considered me an outcast, it buzzed with subdued whispers. Every step deliberate, my eyes forward, each breath reminding me of what was at risk.Commander Orion Drake. The man who had once held my heart in the palm of his hand then broke it without even a cursory glance.

Though I drank it down, my heart constricted horribly. Now was not the moment to display frailty. Not during the time the galaxy's future was in jeopardy. He possessed a presence that demanded attention and looked exactly as I remembered, sharp, demanding, with eyes like ice stars. But there was another, too: a faint tiredness he was unable to suppress. Our eyes locked, and for a second I could see the past, the love, the betrayal, the thousand unspoken words between us.

First breaking the silence was his low yet distinct voice. Dr. Mercer. It has been a long time. I stiffened, every muscle in my body under tension. Not nearly long enough. As the council leader, an older man with skin like cracked stone, called for discipline, the whispers surrounding us vanished into nothing. Here we are to talk about our survival. One must wait for personal grievances. I bent my head and looked away from Orion. Elena, concentrate. Pay attention to the mission. The outcome of many lives rested on our performance. But every syllable Orion spoke grated against my will. "Massing on the margins of the Syphon Belt are the Xerathians.

There are less than three weeks until they attack our defenses. People were furious and terrified by his statements. I said nothing, my head whirling with combat plans and probability. At last I said. "The Xerathians run not without a purpose. They seem to be hunting something. Orion's jaw locked. "You believe I am ignorant of that? This is more than just survival. War is what we are experiencing here. Bitterly unable to control it, I laughed. "War"? You ought to be aware, Commander. You launched one with your dishonesty.

There was quiet hanging thick in the air. The council leader sounded his staff against the stone floor. Just enough! This animosity does nothing.The conference was chaotic, and I ran for the exit, anything to help me to clear my head, needed air, space. Orion, on the other hand, accelerated. His hand encircling my arm, he caught up with me. The contact scorched like a flame. Let go, I shouted, yanking free. "Not until we talk," he insisted, his voice low and menacing. Elena, this is more than our history. Heart thumping, I turned to meet him. "You believe I am ignorant of that? You assume I'm here because I want to be here.

I would much want to burn every recollection of you to ashes. His eyes clouded, a tempest developing inside. You hold me responsible for everything. "Why should I not?" My family disappeared; my whole community did. Due in large part to you. He moved in too close proximity. Though I wanted to back off, I stayed on target. "It wasn't supposed to happen that way," he added, his words falling out like a confession. "You have no idea what I have gone through since.” Let me spare you your regrets, Commander. Though inside I was shaking, my voice was chilly. Regret does not bring the dead back. We stood there, caught in a fight neither of which we wanted yet could not evade. The air buzzed about us, loaded with words not said. I loathed him; I needed him; I hated myself for both.

He dropped his voice, and the tenderness startled me. "I never wanted for any of it to happen." Searching his face for a falsehood, all I found was suffering. Not for what he had done, not sufficient. Turn away. I cried, "Too little, too late." An explosion shook the chamber before I could walk out. Alarms rang, and dust and trash poured down. Orion drew me into shelter, his body covering mine. My heart hit my ribs, and for a moment I hated that I felt secure there. He screamed "Stay down!" and looked about at the anarchy. "They have broken through the periphery." The fight passed like a haze of noise and light. My pulse thumping in my ears, I battled with everything I had. Bodies scattered the ground, and the air smelled scorched metal by the time the smoke cleared. Standing next to Orion, our weapons still blazing, I found myself breathing with him. "We have to talk," he continued, his voice unvarnished. "Right now." "Fine." But this time there is no lying.

Once he nodded, I briefly saw the man I had once loved, the man I had worked so hard to forget. We headed toward a secret alcove far from curious onlookers. "Everything that happened... it was a trap," he said, his voice choked with feeling. "I was arranged. The orders I followed turned out not as they appeared. High-ranking officials wanted your colony wrecked so they could hide their tracks. I turned out to be the fall man. I wanted to yell, to get angry, to toss every charge I had against him. Rather, I softly said, "And I was just collateral damage?" "Never," he said angrily, approaching closely. "You were everything to me." "Don't," I said, my voice breaking.

You dare say that, not here. He grabbed for me, and for one sad minute I let him. Every nerve in my body shouted at me to back off from his touch, fire and ice. Nevertheless, I couldn't. Not right yet. He said, the words unguarded and raw: "I need you." We have to battle this together. "Trust does not come that naturally." He gazed at me, his eyes darting across my face. Then let me earn it. A Xerathian killer came behind us, its weapon shining, before I could reply. Shoving Orion aside and firing, I acted automatically.

The point was missed. The killer lunged, and everything darkened.My eyes opened to me alone. Orion's communicator lay broken next to blood that pooled on the floor. Panic seized me. Had they stolen him? Was this component of yet another betrayal?Over the intercom, a voice crackled. "Dr. Mercer, you will come alone if you want him returned. None of the trickery. My breathing stopped. The stakes were never higher, and this time they were personal rather than merely the destiny of the galaxy.