Ancient Hunter
Chapter 71

I woke to find myself in the familiar environs of a Medbay. I was wearing a white meshed top and pants. Seated on a bed beside mine was Xenai she was sitting there watching me intently.

“Hello Gwen,” she said. “You gave poor Kelli quite at turn when you collapsed. I read her report on you internal injures I’m surprised you weren’t screaming in pain.”

“A First One helped me.” One I didn’t know the name of or even if she had a name? When I thought on it I realised that I hadn’t felt any pain.

“That explains the reports I got from bay eight. My entire combat team mysteriously appearing in the bay instead of still being aboard the Goliath. Wounded healed without them being transferred to Cell Stitchers.” Xenai hesitated before continuing. “Plus I’ve got a freighter full of people who say you rescued them?”

I was glad they had managed to get off it eased my heart.

“Now we come to your miraculous recovery from mortal injuries. Injuries that even with the help of the Cell Stitcher you wouldn’t have survived from.”

“The Mother of All helped me.” I couldn’t envision the Winged Valkyrie as anything else when I thought about it.

“That’s what my reports tell me.” Xenai smiled. “All those reports written by the Valkyrie under my command tell me. Anyone else says it was a tall woman with white wings.” Xenai regarded me critically. “Which reminds me I had a relative of yours in here.”

“A relative whom?” I asked confused which seemed quite easy these days. I was still getting over being healed even if partially a First One. The same First Ones well not the same obviously. Thomas and Jennifer wouldn’t intervene their belief was in nature taking its course.

“Black wings as opposed to white ones, very bossy, Kelli seemed to know her?”

I knew Xenai was teasing me she knew full well that I knew who she was talking about. “Digger, Digger was here.” I felt more than alright to know she was back to her old form. Digger being blunt was just her, they may have had a resemblance to me but they all had distinct personalities. “At least I know the Keepers made it home.”

“All thanks to you,” a new voice said.

I turned to see Jennifer standing there. She was looking sad. “Hello troublemaker.”

She was trying to take on a light tone and was failing miserably.

I felt myself bristle at that. I wasn’t a troublemaker I just stumbled into it.

“Thomas is gone they killed him,” Jennifer stated bluntly. “I knew that had happened I was just in denial. I have taken on too many Human emotions?”

“How do you kill an immortal?”1 I blurted out instantly regretting what I’d said.

“Not a question you should be asking.” Jennifer’s tone turned icy.

“Sorry,” I apologised I could see Xenai watching me out of the corner of my eye.

“Coming from you accepted.” Jennifer let out a deep mournful sigh. “We were together for a long time. Not something I am prepared to forget.”

“Why was he killed?”

I was glad Xenai asked that and not me.

“We are the enemy of the…” Jennifer answered.

Xenai frowned. “I didn’t catch that last part?”

“You won’t I never have. I just call them the UP,” I told her.

“UP?”

“Unpronouncables.” I had another question for Jennifer. Given her current state I wasn’t sure she’d answer me. “Why take the Keepers they’re harmless. They aren’t a threat to anyone?”

“They were using their essence to power their devices. They are more resilient that other carbon based life forms.”

I suddenly felt ill.

“You destroyed their central power hub.”

“Is this why I found the Keepers in those pods?”

“Yes, they would have eventually died”

That didn’t make me feel any better.

“What I really came to do is tell you I’m leaving,” Jennifer said to me.

Alarm raced through me. “Who will watch over the Keepers and Saros?” Both Jennifer and Thomas had masqueraded as the President and Vice President of Saros for years. I suspected they’d been more than that. I wasn’t sure of the First Ones capabilities.

“Not me, every day there reminds of Thomas,” Jennifer said.

I wondered how long the two of them had been together. It made my head hurt to think of it. “The government will collapse. We’ll have turmoil and riots?” I told her in a last ditch effort to make her stay. I realised I wouldn’t be able to make her change her mind. It wasn’t fair on her. “Who will finish the Keepers world?” The two of them had been creating a haven for the Keepers. A safe place where they should have been safe or they should have.

“It’s finished.”

“World?” Xenai asked.

“The First Ones created a world, like the Gift Worlds they made for the T’Arni. A refuge.” I added reluctantly. “Not a safe one since the Keepers were tricked into leaving.” The First Ones had created worlds for the T’Arni after freeing them from the Rhosani.

“That has been fixed.” Jennifer looked sad. “They’ll only answer to you now.”

I understood that the Keepers or their forebears the Janari had been messengers for The First Ones due to their pacifist nature. “Me?”

“Yes you Gwen they recreated themselves using your ovaries.”

I wasn’t sure where this conversation was going. “I don’t have you powers?” I don’t why I said that it was obvious I wasn’t anywhere close to what they were. Heck I wasn’t even close to what the Keepers were. “I can’t protect them from the UP?”

“The UP as you call them will no longer be a threat.”

“Is that why one of your Ancients ordered us to fall back to outside the system.” The T’Arni called the First Ones, Ancients I wasn’t going to tell Xenai what she already knew.

“Yes,” Jennifer raised her arm her hand outstretched. A ball of white glowing light appeared in her upraised hand.

It rose from her hand and expanded shifting into an image of a star system. It looked familiar to my eyes.

“Jemso system,” Xenai remarked.

She confirmed what I was thinking. The holo if I could call it that continued expanding. It was like we were closing in on the system aiming for the Graveyard. At the position I assumed the Goliath was at was a scintillating globe of blue light. Buzzing around it were smaller globes of white light. Thousands of them it kind of reminded me of the fireflies over the lake in Central Park at night. The globe of white light moved faster and faster as they circled the blue globe. It became a blur as the white light spun around the blue globe. I watched fascinated noting Xenai doing the same. It seemed to me that the blue globe was shrinking, I watched on realising that it was. All I could see left was a ball of white that burst into fireflies, which flickered and were gone.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“We banished the UP!” Jennifer stated.

I worried about any prisoners I hadn’t found. The Goliath was a huge ship. I would have taken me years to search the whole ship and that wasn’t an exaggeration. “Were their any more captives aboard the ship?”

“No one but the enemy and their allies.”

“Can I ask one thing,” Xenai interrupted.

“That is?” Jennifer regarded Xenai carefully.

“Why did they need captives in the first place?”

“Simple to create an army.”

I started at that, in a sick way it made sense but it defied all logic.

“An army?” I stuttered.

“An odd way to do that?” Xenai commented.

“Creatures as long lived as the UP are they thought they had the luxury of time.” I noted that Jennifer was using my words for her enemy.

I felt sick to my stomach at the thought of that. I could feel bile well up in my throat.

“Why the Landottir?” I asked softly struggling with my emotions.

“Who are the strongest warriors in this galaxy?” A new voice said.

I turned to see the Winged Valkyrie standing at the back of the Medbay.

“Well child of mine?” she addressed me directly.

I could see where the Valkyrie got their attitude from. “The Valkyrie, I mean the Enari.” I added that last bit in case she was offend by me calling the Enari, Valkyrie was the name the explorer ship Marco had called them. The Valkyrie had taken it as their own.

“Exactly your Landottir. Were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” The Winged Valkyrie glanced over to Jennifer standing there watching us. Light seemed to flash between them.

Some sort of conversation was all I could guess. Jennifer bowed her head sadly.

“I will go,” Jennifer looked directly at me. “Goodbye Gwen Hunter may your path be free from trouble.” She gave the Winged Valkyrie a glare. “Watch this one,” she warned me and vanished.

“Now where was I?” the Winged Valkyrie announced.

“Landottir?” I hazarded.

“Oh yes predominantly female and aggressive. Two attributes they needed to build their army.”

I shivered at the thought. “Many of the Landottir died.”

“That’s true.”

I pointed an accusing finger at her. “You could have stopped this!”

“No I couldn’t, I can’t be everywhere.”

I had heard the same from Jennifer. The First Ones had their limitations. “What about the Janari.” I remembered the tunnel leading to the Joining Pool filled with Janari remains. “They were attacked long before the Landottir reached Demeros?”

“That we are unsure about.” The Winged Valkyrie shrugged. “We had our attention diverted. We didn’t find out about the demise of the Janari until it was too late. We set a watch over those that remained. Thinking they’d be safe as streams of data. I guess we didn’t plan for everything.” She looked directly at me as she said that. “We could have acted sooner. The consensus of the Collective was to let nature take its course.”

Mouse had told me that when I was on Alfheimir after I was dumped naked on the side of a mountain in a blizzard. She had wanted to help but the First Ones had stopped her. “And now?”

“I will now take more active roll. We’ve let everything slide while we went into retreat.” The Winged Valkyrie frowned. “We’re supposed to guard against this. We weren’t prepared and it shows. Though our negligence we let the … return!” I saw her glance at Xenai. “We were supposed to guide and nurture the younger races. But we are failing even that.”

“The Rhosani still in the Orsini Commonwealth?” Xenai asked.

“Will continue to be a problem. But as to another escape they can’t do that.”

“You’re going to leave them there?” Xenai sounded annoyed.

“Why not they’ve got no ship or the expertise to build one. They cannot leave the planet they are on. It will remain so until they die.”

“They escaped before,” Xenai countered. “They destroyed worlds to break open their prison?”

“That has been fixed. I say look to your own people.”

“The Black Stripes?” I asked.

“The head might be gone but body remains. We cannot do this for you. What would you learn? We cannot do for the younger races things you must do for yourselves. Through effort you grow and learn.” The Winged Valkyrie looked at me her hand on her heart. “We will meet again daughter.” The Winged Valkyrie faded out like someone turning down a dimmer switch.

I blew out a long breath feeling more confused than I had before.

“So it’s mostly over?” Xenai said to me.

“Mostly over.” I winced at that I gone back to my habit of repeating others words. I tried to get out of the habit but I had failed.

“The Big Bad are gone. I wonder how this will effect the TCA. We were formed to stop the Rhosani and they have been all but neutralised.”

I considered what Xenai was saying. “The Rhosani as you call them the Big Bad probably not the only ones like that out there?”

Xenai stared at me her face considering. “You are right, by the Ancients! Mother’s not going to like my report. Nor will the Terran Empire or the Confederacy?”

“Well they’re going to have to suck it up!” I said.

Xenai smiled at that. “You’ll make a formable Clan Mother.”

Reminding me I had an obligation to the last of the Landottir.

I grimaced Xenai was probably right. I would have to be the Clan Mother I doubted Jenna would take up that position again. But I did have an idea of what she would be good at. The Landottir needed an Elder in the Hall of Elders and she would fit the bill. She’d be a reminder that the Council hadn’t acted to save the Landottir when they could have.

Xenai stood and straightened her dress uniform. “I’ve those reports to write they won’t write themselves. Get better soon Gwen.” She paused. “One other thing?”

“Yes?” I dreading what she was going to say next.

“I’d better let them in I can’t have you all to myself.”

“Who?”

Xenai smiled at me. “You’ll see,” she said and left.

Kelli and the rest of my team filtered in followed by Freyhilda and her squad. It made the Medbay a little crowded but I didn’t mind it warmed my heart to see them all here and unharmed. I was nearly moved to tears when both Kelli and Jervic hugged me. It was finally over I’d been reunited with my team. It sort of felt a bit of an anticlimax after all I’ve been through since I started my journey what seemed like decades ago. I wasn’t sure about my status with the Alliance but I did know where I’d be going forward. I would be heading to Alfheimir someone had to bring the last of the Landottir home. That would be Mother Gwen head of the Clan. I found myself looked at Jervic hesitation on my lips. I was torn so I hardened my resolve.

“I’m going to Alfheimir and I want you to come with me?” I asked Jervic. I worried he’d say no, he had his career to think of.

“With you anywhere!” He kissed me and my heart melted.

My fate had been sealed no longer was I the woman that stumbled from crisis to crisis. I now had a purpose in life and a new goal bring my clan home.

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