| Subject: The Dragonslayer, Chapter 23 & 24 |
Author:
Jaron
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Date Posted: 19:18:55 12/18/01 Tue
In reply to:
Jaron
's message, "The Dragonslayer" on 16:44:37 12/16/01 Sun
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 23
Nikita stayed with Michael during the smooth landing of the huge transport plane.
I saw her briefly when I followed Carson, with Rene still snuggled in his arms, to the
hospital area where Porter and Dr. Williams were preparing Michael for the journey to
Section One. Nikita came over to me, her eyes seldom leaving Michael, and hugged
me.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Grace? People have been known to enter Section
and never leave.” She pulled her eyes away from Michael and looked long and hard at
me. ”Are you sure?”
“I’m sure, Nikita. Rene needs to be with his father. And I would do anything for
Michael, anything!” I watched as she took a black cloth from Walter. I saw Carson
reach for a similar cloth handed to him by Walter also. He held Rene with one arm
and was explaining about the hood that he held in his other hand. Rene smiled
eagerly and nodded his hand. It was all a special game that he and Carson were
playing. Carson carried Rene over to Michael and bent down so that Rene could place
a kiss on Michael’s cheek.
“I’ll see you in a little while, Daddy. Sleep well.” Rene put his arm around Carson’s
neck and hugged him. “I’m ready.”
I shuddered when I saw Carson drape the hood over Rene’s head as he continued to
talk to him, even as they headed back to the Suburban to begin the journey back to
Section. I walked over to Michael and touched his cheek, “The next time I see you, I
hope you’re awake.” I turned back to Nikita, “I’m ready, too.”
Nikita raised the opaque material over my head and let it fall down to cover my face.
My world was suddenly shrouded in blackness.
In my new world of darkness, hearing and touch became everything. Walter took my
arm and lead me to the back of the plane. He helped me into the Suburban and
tightened the seat belt across my lap. I could hear the team loading Michael into the
back on a stretcher. There was a bump against the back of the seat where I was
sitting. Rene whimpered, and I instinctually turned to my left and found I was sitting
next to Carson. “It’s okay, Rene.” Carson and I said at the same time. We laughed,
but Rene did not.
“I want to ride next to my Daddy,” Rene said softly. “Please!” His voice held a
plaintive note that touched me to the core of my being.
“Walter, please!” I found and squeezed Walter’s hand, and heard Nikita’s voice from
behind me, where she had stationed herself with Michael.
“Carson,” she said, “Bring him back here. He can sit in my lap and hold Michael’s
hand.”
I felt Carson move out of the Suburban with Rene. Soon, I heard a rustle of material
and heard Rene giggle as he settled in Nikita’s lap. “Thanks, Nikita,” he said, “now
where is my Daddy’s hand?” Nikita guided Rene’s hand home to Michael’s hand.
Carson climbed back in beside me, closed the door and I felt the big vehicle start to
back down the rear ramp of the transport plane.
I had a sudden thought. “Walter, what about Dr. Williams? Where is he?”
“He’s on his way back to Fort Worth as we speak, Gracie. He’s okay.”
“Good,” I said, “Good. I wanted him safe. He saved Michael’s life. Are Section
doctors any good, Walter?”
“They’re the best we can recruit, Gracie. Michael will be in good hands within the
hour. I promise.” I sighed and settled back against the seat. Time will tell, I thought
and started to prepare myself with my first meeting with Madeline since she had
gifted me with my most precious possession all those months ago. Rene.....
The Dragonslayer, Chapter 24
We had arrived.
With the hood still in place over my head, blocking sight but not sound, I felt and
heard the difference in air pressure as we entered a tunnel, passed over a grate of
some kind and stopped. There was a sudden sinking feeling in my stomach as what
must have been a huge elevator whisked us and the Suburban we were in down,
down, down.
Rene giggled again, the feeling of the elevator’s swift descent exciting him. Nikita
must have hugged him to her, because I heard him say, “I’m not scared, and I’m not a
baby, you don’t have to hug me so tight!”
Finally, the elevator stopped and I heard a whoosh as the doors opened. The
Suburban moved forward a short way and stopped again. Carson, on my left, got out
and I heard him open the back doors of the black vehicle and say something to Rene.
“I’m okay, Carson and so is my Daddy. He’s still asleep though.” I felt a bounce of
the vehicle as Nikita and Rene got out of the Suburban. Walter, in his turn, climbed
out and carefully helped me out as well. There was a metallic scrape and snap as
Michael’s team pulled the stretcher out of the back of the Suburban and snapped the
wheeled legs into place. As one, we started the short walk into Section.
Still blinded by the hood, I held onto Walter’s as he guided me forward.
“Mom?” Rene called. “Where are you?”
“Here, Rene,” I said as I felt Carson’s strong hand guide me to Rene so I could touch
him and let him know that we were still okay. There was another whoosh of air as we
entered what Walter told me was an airlock. We entered the airlock and the door
behind us slammed shut. I felt the air pressure change again and then another door
opened in front of us with a metallic clang.
We entered Section One and I could feel rather than see Michael’s team draw closer
around Rene, Michael and me. My first steps into Section made me appreciate the
camaraderie and closeness that his team had extended to Rene and me.
Quite suddenly, a voice spoke authoritatively to us. It came from behind and above
us. “Walter, take Grace and Rene to their quarters on Level 5.” The voice was
commanding and I knew it well. Walter hesitated slightly and then moved to steer me
away from the group.
Pulling my arm away from Walter, I turned toward the voice and in the same instant, I
jerked the hood from over my head and replied to the voice.
“Rene and I are going with Michael. I’ll talk to you later!” I looked up and saw
Madeline on a catwalk above us. She blinked rapidly a few times, but remained silent.
I felt a ripple of shock move through those around me and Walter said to me quietly,
“Good God, Gracie!. What did you just do?” I calmly turned to follow Michael’s
stretcher as it was pulled along by people who I assumed were medical personnel. “I
just kept my family together, Walter, that’s all.” A soft chuckle came from the other
side of Michael’s stretcher and I saw Nikita cover her mouth to keep the chuckle from
exploding loudly.
Rene, not one to be left out of anything, reached up and pulled off his own hood.
Hanging over Carson’s shoulder, he stared upward at Madeline and pointed at her.
“Mom!” he said in a loud voice that brought outright laughter from Michael’s team.
“Look! It’s the evil queen!!”
“Shhhhh, Rene, let’s not tempt fate too much.” I put my fingers over his mouth and
gave him what he called a “Mommy look” while at the same time, smiling broadly at
him. “Now, let’s go make sure your Daddy is settled into his room comfortably.” And
so, we continued to follow Michael to Section’s medical facility.
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