Aberrant: The Long March - Chapter 11: Unexpected travellers along the path

[Andrew Murphy]

"Good lord, don't let the fanboys know about this. They'll be begging to know if your version of Star Wars has Han Solo shooting first or second." Andrew stifles a laugh but his smile is impossible to hide, "I suppose infinite time begets infinite boredom without an outlet. Did one of you spin off a hedonistic universe? I could go for some R&R."

[Joani]

Joani shook her head at Genesis in disbelieve. “Are you trying to explain that all this happens because we wanted it to happen? Out of boredom? The hell I’ve gone through was my own doing I suppose? I don’t believe you – nothing of it! Why would a sane being do something like that?”, she let her hand go from Ulric and took a few steps closer to Genesis. “This is madness.”

She looked at Ulric with a desperate look in her eyes, “I can’t do this. I… need to go. I can’t”, she shook her head again and turned away from the group. “Lorean, please get me out of here.”

There she stood and waited for the Warp to transport her back to her quarters on board the ship.

[Ulric Reikspar]

Ulric turned and nodded to Joani.

"We should leave."

He moved to his wife's side and reached for her hand to give it a squeeze.

"It is time we were moving on."

Ulric so wanted to get away from this place. It would take time, millenia, to put his plan into action, but he could be patient. He would make them pay.

[z028 Riley]

Kyria had shaken her head at Cody, looking at him with sad eyes. "I-I can't. I have to...to know who I am." She glanced around, sensing the whirls of emotions and destinies in the room. "And I don't think I can do that here. Not where you want to be, or really anywhere."

She sighed and kissed Cody softly on the cheek. "Go. Be happy. Find what you need. Perhaps we'll meet again somewhere else."

She stepped away from him, trying not to be selfish and to let him go gracefully.

[Courier]

Steve walks up and shakes Cody's hand, then gives him a hug. He says,

"It's been an honor and a pleasure."

(To Genesis) "Can bystanders watch this?"

[SkyLion]

Cody cocks his head, as if hearing something. Then he smiles. It is perhaps the brightest, most genuine smile Steve has seen on the man since Cody was young and he was old.

Cody's voice is heard in the minds of all present.

*They say it is going to take time, and training before I will be able to take this journey with them. They tell me that where they exist, nothing is truly seperate. Know that I will always be with you, Watching, and keeping you safe. For now, they have offered me a gift.*

Cody brings his hands up to his eyes and holds them there for a moment. His hands glow slightly with a radiant light. When he lowers them down again, his eyes are his own again for the first time in many lifetimes. He seems younger, more vibrant, and as he looks at each of you, his eyes well up with uncontrollable tears. The weight of the world and the walls that kept him seperate for so long have been torn away, and what is left is beautiful.

He embraces Steve with a fierceness, as if he never wants to let go. Then, in his own voice with his own words he says.

"More than I can ever thank you for...Old Man..." He looks Steve dead in the eye and with a wink, the two might as well be shooting the breeze in Iraq, discussing curse words in foreighn languages and the merits of the latest playboy pinup.

He just stands there, letting his new eyes soak in his friend. He then goes to each member of the cabal and does the same. Just making eye contact, tears freely flowing down his face. Kyria he saves for last.

Putting his hands on her shoulders he gives her a sqeeze. She is so proud and so young. She is everything he ever wanted...except for this. He knew that for both of them, their journeys had only just begun, but they each had to take their own steps in different directions. Her whole life lay before her and his life, as he knew it, was coming to an end. The natural order of things.

"I know." He says with infinite compassion and understanding. "Thank You, for teaching me how to love again."

He could have told her this telepathically, as was their custom with each other, but to use his own voice, the soft words rang with the clarity and resolve of thunder. Pulling her into him softly he gives her one last kiss...it is soft and passionate and though it lasts only a brief moment to those watching, to them it stretches for a lifetime. It is goodbye and it is hello and everything in between. "We will meet again." He says. A simple promise that holds deep truth.

Finally he turns to Lorean. Taking her hands in his he speaks perhaps for the whole group. "I know now what you are. You have been a mother to us all, watching over us and keeping us safe. For me you have been the incubating womb that has brought me to term, and I am finally ready to be born into the new world, where you come from. Welcome home."

Looking at last at Meri, Cody takes her hand, and together they pass unto the Infinite.