3 comments/ 19281 views/ 8 favorites So Far Away Ch. 01 By: BrenCain For now, the pain was gone. She lay on the slender, gray, pad inset in the wall of her cell and enjoyed the pain free time that she was experiencing for the time being. She was moderately thankful that the bed, which was the best way to describe it, was accommodating. It was never too hot or too cold and when she lay on it for a few moments it seemed to conform to her body to make her rest more comfortable. Comfort. She missed comfort. She missed her bed with all of its fluffy pillows, she missed a hot cup of tea, and she missed a hot bath with candles. But what she missed the most was her family, friends and the smiling faces of her students. She missed the sound of her mother humming as she cooked, and the sound of her father's voice as he explained something to her. She missed the song of laughter that her friends generated when they got together for movies or dinner. She missed the wide eyed wonder, and the hugs of her kindergarten students. She closed her eyes to the pale, slightly blue, ambient light of the cell. She ran through her mind all the things she didn't want to forget. The sound of spring peepers, the way sweat peas smelled when they bloomed, the silky fur of her cat Major. The colors of the sun rising and setting, the sound of rain coming through the leaves of the oak trees, the sound of the arctic wind blowing though the bare, tree branches in the winter. The color, warmth and smell of a wood fire and... human touch. There was no way of knowing how long she was with them. There were no windows, no time telling devise that she could discern. There was no way to determine how long she slept, when she did sleep, and there was no way to judge how long they tortured her. It was excruciating pain at times, the torture. Her sheer terror made the pain so much worse. The needles, the blades, the drills, the light, the scans and the other devices that she couldn't name but caused just as much pain. These were what her worst nightmares were made of. She would sob, scream and plead to them. She would swear at them and curse them. But all they ever did was stare at her blankly with their large, inhuman, black eyes. As time passed she stopped fighting back because she knew it was useless. And when they performed their exams and tests she retreated into herself. She went to the past. She was a girl again. She was swimming in the cool, pond water with her three older brothers and their cousins on a hot, summer day. Diving down into the dark depths where the water became colder the darker it got. She could sometimes see the sun fish dart away from her when she dived. When she could no longer hold her breath she would shoot to the surface, breaking through with a splash and a large intake of fresh air. After she and the others played themselves out she would climb onto the floating wood platform and lay on her back with the others. They would lie panting as they caught their breath, drifting into a semiconscious state under the blue sky. There was no wind, only the sound of the cicadas. Another time, she was a teenager searching the hay loft for the new litter of kittens her father told her about. It was the end of summer, almost the beginning of fall, the golden light of the late afternoon came in through the gaps between the slats of the barn wall like knife blades. As she moved though the hay, her feet would stir up the loose hay particles on the floor, causing them to fly into the air. The mewing of the newborn kittens guided her to a dry, warm corner of the loft. After looking them over she found them to be healthy and would have to find homes for the three kittens. She pet the mother cat, knowing the baby sitting money she had been saving up for the summer was going to get her fixed. The mental retreats she took saved her sanity. It was her defense mechanism. It was silent when she awoke, but she was sure that some noise had roused her from her sleep. It wasn't the normal hum of the ship. It was also not any of the sounds she had become accustomed to. She lay still for a time, straining her ears to hear what she believed woke her. She could hear her heart beat in her ears, her quiet breathing and the hum of the ship around her. Closing her eyes to the pale, blue light, she blocked out her own noise and the noise of the ship and listened. And then, she heard it. Almost like a rustling of a curtain when the window is open a crack. What was it? It was so faint that, had she not truly listened, she wouldn't have heard it. It was intermittent. She lay as still as a corpse as she listened for the sound. In the next few moments she recognized a pattern, there was a rhythm to it. It was a low sound; surely it wasn't mechanical. It was something alive, she was sure of it. She rose from her bed, her bare feet touching the cool floor. The hem of the light gray, smock they gave her brushed her mid thigh, and she felt her long, wavy hair fall down her back. She tilted her head to the ceiling, that incidentally matched the floor and walls of her cell, and listened again. The sound did not come from around her, like the ship's hum, it seemed to come from her right. She took a few steps to her right and listened again. The sound became slightly louder, almost recognizable. Her feet took her closer to the wall of her little cell and the sound could be heard even more clearly. It almost sounds like... she stopped her thought. No, don't get your hopes hope, don't fool yourself, you are alone, there is no one else on this ship, no one. But still. She faced the wall now. Her heart thudding in her ears because, though she may have stopped the thought, her heart wanted her to believe. Her hands came up to the wall, caressing it, hoping that it would yield what she wanted to know. Was there someone else on this ship? And then the unmistakable sound reached her ears; she gasped, her heart nearly exploding her chest. She pressed herself against the cool wall. It was a voice; a male voice. "Hello?" she called hopefully. The voice stopped. "Is there someone there?" She paused for a moment, "Please, if there's someone there..." She slid down the wall to her knees on the floor, her body trembling in hopes of another human on the ship. "My name is Jen... Jensen... is anyone there?" Silence. "Please, say something!" And then the voice, she couldn't make out any words, but it was closer. Possibly on the other side of the wall; hopefully on the other side of the wall. She began to laugh, and cry, then both at the same time. She was not alone! How? How was this voice reaching her? The walls had to be thick, or at least sound proof. Where was this voice coming from? "The vents..." When she first came to the ship she spent many hours awake, unable to sleep, too traumatized to dare closing her eyes, so she studied the cell. At the base of both the left and right walls, were four rectangular holes spaced equally apart. She thought they were vents for air, but now her brain spun with hope. What if they connected the cells? She lay on the floor, her body stretched out, next to one of the vents. "Can you hear me?" The voice came again, it was definitely male. "Go down by the rectangular holes on the wall, if you can understand me," she called through. Please, she thought to herself, let him hear me! His voice reached her ears louder and clearer than ever, but she couldn't understand him. He spoke another language. "Where are you from? I'm from America, Connecticut. My name is Jensen. Where are you from? Do you speak English? When did they take you? What is your name?" She reached her hand through the hole, hoping to not hit something that would bite her, or cut her, or worse. She had her arm the entire way in, "Damn," she whispered to herself. He spoke to her. She didn't understand him, at all. She didn't recognize his language. It wasn't Spanish, French, German, Italian, or any language that she might recognize. They must have taken him from the other side of the Earth. She pulled her arm out and looked through the hole; it was dark but she thought that maybe she saw the pale bluish light on the other side. It could also be her imagination. "Damn," she swore again, "damn, damn!" "Hello?!" She called loudly though the vent. Don't be an idiot, she thought to him, go to the vent... Silence. And then, "Nihltze?" His voice was loud and clear. He was there; he was at the other end of the vent. She began to cry, to really cry. He was talking to her, in a calming voice but she couldn't help it. It poured out of her, like a dam that broke within her. "Reach for me," she called between her tears, "through the vent." She smacked the palm of her hand down on the cool metalish floor of the vent, making sound to draw his attention. Again she stuck her entire arm into the vent. His fingers startled her at first and she yelped but then their hands intertwined. Human touch, human warmth, human fingers. The tears came again and she squeezed his hand and he squeezed back. He kept talking to her, his voice low and quite, soothing and reassuring. Jensen understood none of what he said, but it didn't matter. After a time her tears stopped, but she continued to hold onto his hand. She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but she knew that he continued to speak to her in his lovely voice and not once did his grasp on her and falter. There was one thing that her brain seemed to grasp in her delirium was 'Dānoar'. She didn't know how but she knew this was his name. Dānoar, she thought to herself while he spoke softly to her, we are in this together now. So Far Away Ch. 02 It was the sound of her cell door that woke her from the dead sleep. At first, she didn't know where she was and then in on single, horrible, gut wrenching instant, she remembered everything. She was taken by them, the slender, gray aliens with the large black emotionless eyes. They performed horrid, inhuman tests and experiments on her. She was kept in a tiny cell while they fashioned other brutal acts to perform on her. She had no concept of how long she had been kept prisoner on their ship. There were other creatures on their ship as well, creatures that her mind couldn't even comprehend. Finally, though, she wasn't alone, alone being the only human on the ship. There was another, a man, in the cell adjoining hers. He wasn't from the states like she was. He was from somewhere else, somewhere where she didn't recognize his language. She suddenly remembered his hand. She squeezed her hand, the hand that was still enclosed in his, the hand that was stretched out between the two cells via a vent. The thin gray aliens stood motionless in her door way, staring blankly at her. It occurred that they only ever stared blankly at her, and then she realized they had come for her. She released the hand of the man whose name she knew, somehow, was Dānoar. She put her back flat against the wall she had laid parallel to all night. "I don't want to go." she said defiantly, her body beginning to shake, "Leave me alone. Just leave me alone." There were three, all approximately the same height. The one to the right cocked its head at her. She hated them with a passion that she couldn't even begin to explain. Yet she feared them. She feared their touch. Their smooth, expressionless faces and their black pools for eyes, that only reflected her pale, horror struck face. She started to feel sick, the wrenching in her stomach and intestines and her shaking became violent. She didn't know much about psychology, or disorders, but she knew she suffered from some kind of traumatic stress disorder. She knew it was useless but she began her pleading, "Please, please don't do this." she sobbed, "Just leave me alone. Let me die." She knew deep down that death was not the worst there was. Death would be a release for her. A freedom from the hell she went through while under their control. They advanced on her, and she simply began to scream. They were stronger than they looked, this always surprised her. Her screaming was echoed by a male voice. Dānoar was yelling from the other side of the wall. There was also a rhythmic pounding that came from the wall that split their cells. The three aliens paused momentarily to exchange glances and then briefly looked at the wall. They almost never spoke. Sometimes, they would make a clicking or a humming but never any tangible sounds that could be taken for real language. They pulled her out of her cell and down a long, curved, gray corridor. She had taken this path several times before and it never ended well. They would hurt her. Perform horrible things on her. She wished she knew why. Better yet, why her? When she regained consciousness she was back on her bed. This scenario had happened twice before. She had passed out from the pain and would later wake up back in her cell. She was actually thankful to be back here. She swung her legs down off of the bed, her bare feet touching the cool metal floor. Her head spun slightly and she was sick to her stomach. She had tried throwing up before but only this white foam would come up. She hadn't eaten for... she didn't know how long. She had no idea how long she had been with them. She never found herself hungry though, nor did she ever have to go to the bathroom. She had pondered this once, while curled on her bed. The only thing she could come up with is that they put something in her that sustained her and produced no waste. She briefly wondered if that is how they functioned. What a sad way to live, to never enjoy the taste and texture of food. She pushed the thought out of her head because the thought of food made her stomach turn even more. She thought of Dānoar. She quickly left her bed and lay on the floor next to the vent. She stretched her hand though and called to him, "Hello? Are you there? Dānoar?" Like the first time, she slapped her palm to the metal flooring. Within seconds she heard his voice and was soon holding his hand again. His voice came in a harsh whisper, he sounded almost mad and then his voice changed, to something similar to concern. She still could not make out his words. "I'm alright," she whispered back, squeezing his hand in a way that she hoped came across as reassuring, "It's alright." What could she possibly say to him that he could understand? It was more than a language barrier. It was a thick wall of the alien craft. This time, she spoke to him. When he spoke to her before, she dozed off into a sleep that she hadn't experienced since her arrival. She told him that they would be in this together. That as long as he was there she would deal with what they did to her until she could come back to him. She told him to do the same. If she had to go back to a cell without someone on the other side, it would surely kill her. He would talk back to her in soft, quick, words. She hoped that some part of what she was saying, if only the tone of her voice was understood. The bond between them only grew stronger as time went on. How much time was unknown; it could have been weeks or months, there was no way to measure. When she listened to him talk she often wondered what he looked like. In the end, she realized that she didn't care. He could have been a green dwarf hunchback for all she cared; in her eyes, he was her hunchback. When they would come for her she still fought and screamed but at some point, she stopped being afraid and started despising them with her entire being. She began to curse at them, spit, kick, punch, and laugh in their faces. This was a defense mechanism and she knew it; she knew she was doing it for Dānoar. She had him to go back to, she did it for him, and she was strong for him so he could be strong as well. He knew her name now; he would call her from his cell through the vent, "Jensen?" She would be down on the floor in seconds. She realized that she spent more time on the floor than she did in her strange little bed. She didn't care. Her outburst seemed to have confused the smooth skinned aliens. She heard more of their strange clicking and humming now than she did before Dānoar came into picture. She also noticed that they were performing other tests on her. The fact that she noticed anything while they tortured her alarmed her. This would mean that she was becoming calloused to what they did to her or that she was truly becoming crazy. When they took her back to her cell she instantly went to the vent. "Dānoar," she called. He did not come. Maybe he was sleeping. She called a little louder, "Dānoar!" She waited for a few silent moments. She slapped her hand on the floor, "Dānoar!" Still, nothing. Maybe they had him. This startled her; they had never taken them so close together. Panic began to rise in her; maybe they became wise to the bond that they had created and took him to another cell. Her mind began to race, her stomach turning. "No!" She scolded herself, "Don't do this. He'll be here, soon." She waited; and she continued to wait. She slept in her bed three times and every time she opened her eyes she went to the vent, calling to him. Every time there was no response. During this time, he did not call for her. There was no sound on the other side of the wall. The aliens did not come for her for some time as well. Something was wrong, she knew it. She could feel it. They had done something with him, or worse, to him. Maybe they moved him because they had developed a bond. Maybe they didn't want them to experience emotions so strongly. When a long period of time had passed her mind she began to lose hope. She began to plummet into despair. If he was not here for her to come back to, then there was nothing to fight for, nothing to live for. Hopelessness washed over her. She lay on her bed, hugging her knee's to her chest, sobbing. To have nothing, and then something and then to have it ripped away was more than she could bear. She didn't know how long she cried but it felt like an eternity. When she descended into that downward spiral of despair she could not stop herself. Everything was pulling her down; being snatched away from her home and her life, the desperate heartache that she felt for the life she once had. The things she wished she could have done, the things she wished she could have said, the loss of a man that she whose face she'd never see. She knew that she'd have to find a way to get them to kill her. It was time. So Far Away Ch. 03 She had stopped sleeping. Grief had over taken her and she couldn't subdue it enough to rest her broken spirit. She waited numbly for them to come and take her. Through all of her misery she had managed to hold onto her loathing towards the aliens who stole her from her home, then took away her only companion on the alien ship, her salvation. Finally, they came for her, the trio that always seemed to remove her from her cell and take her to where they painfully poked and prodded her. She knew this would be the opportune time to find a way to kill herself, or get them to kill her. Instead of letting them retrieve her forcefully, she approached them solemnly. She knew the way and let them surround her as they walked her to, what she referred to as, the lab. She jogged her memory to see if there was possibly something she could throw herself on in the lab. She couldn't remember. She'd have to make a quick judgment and go for it. The ship was usually quiet. There was the occasional creature sound; some sort of yowl, growl or strange sound. This time was nothing different. Except, as they walked down the curved corridor, she thought she heard Dānoar's voice. Just know that he was alive, to physically see him would be worth everything. They kept walking; she kept her eyes on the floor, watching her bare feet take one step after another. Within seconds she knew the voice that she heard was his. He was yelling. He was angry; every fiber in her being vibrated with his enraged voice, it fueled her; it made her angry as well. He was close; she lifted her head and quickly looked around. To her left she saw the series of doors that she usually passed as they took her to the lab. Most of them blended in with the rest of the wall, being the same dull gray, metallic color. In some of the others though were clear panels, similar to windows. She watched closely out of the corners her eyes. She saw him. Her heart leapt, pounding fiercely in her chest, her breath caught in her throat. She never would have guessed it was Dānoar if she hadn't heard his voice. What she saw was a man approximately her age, with a mess of very dark hair. He looked to be Caucasian, but had a darker complection. He was wearing a garment similar to what she was, a shapeless, pale gray smock, clinical in appearance. He was strapped in to one of their tables at a 45 degree angle with tubes and wires hooked up to him. She could only see two of the gray bastards in the room with him. When he looked up and out the window like sections of the door she stumbled slightly as their eyes met. She inhaled sharply; they had finally seen each other. She blatantly turned her head to look fully in the window. One of her gray escorts took her by the elbow. She winced at its touch. "Jensen!" Again she gasped; there was no way around it. She stopped completely and stared directly at him. He was a little scruffy looking but he was handsome. "Dānoar." she called to him through the door. "Jensen!" He strained against his bindings. The two aliens in the room turned their attention to the door where he was looking, at her. She took several quick steps to the door, giving the alien that had her by the elbow the slip. "Dānoar!" When she approached the door, it silently slid open, giving her admittance. Shocked, and seeing her moment, she ran into the room towards him. She knew that her escorts were on her heels but she didn't care. She just wanted one moment. "What have they done to you?" She burst out even before she made physical contact with him. She could see in his dark eyes shock, confusion, and anticipation. He strained against the white slab, veins popping out on his forehead and neck. She quickly cupped his head in her hands as she instinctively leaned in to kiss him. It seemed like the most natural thing to do. The contact was almost electrifying, her fingertips pulsed, and her heart hammered desperately in her chest, her breath coming in fast succession. He pressed his lips onto hers. He seemed to be just as desperate for her touch as she was for his. There were suddenly strong thin arms around her waist and on her arms, pulling her away forcefully. "No!" She screamed at them with more strength and determination than she ever had before, "Let me go you slimy bastards!" She kicked at them as they pulled her away, "Let me go, damn it!" Her right arm left the grip of the one alien, without thinking she swung at the alien on her right. She had never fought back in this manner before. She had fought against them, to not go where they were taking her, but she never physically struck out at them. When her closed fist made contact with the pale gray face, the shock ran up her arm and rattled her chest. The contact startled her but then it made her giddy because she could see the pain and the surprise in the alien's eyes as soon as she did it. Her brain registered that the typically emotionless alien had visually shown a form emotion. The other two halted, apparently also surprised by what had just happened. She gained a foothold on the floor while the other two were momentarily stunned by her actions and swung again at the same alien. Her fist made contact again. As its face came back toward her, after the recoil, it hissed at her, baring a row of short, pointy and probably very sharp teeth. She smiled wickedly at it. If this was it, then she was going to go down with a fight and wasn't going to let the fear of death, or pain, stop her. Only a few moments before she was determined to kill herself but now, she'd let them kill her for trying to free Dānoar and herself. The alien, that had now been punched twice, swung at her with a long fingered hand. It caught her on the ribs as she pulled away, knocking the alien to her right off balance. She felt the fingers make contact with her ribs, it hurt but they had put her through worse. She heard the five of the creatures in the room begin to chatter at each other with their clicking noises. She hoped that they were shocked and afraid of the madwoman. The arms that had once held her were gone. She wasn't sure when, probably when she struck the alien for the first time. But it didn't matter, because she was momentarily free of restricting arms. She noticed some of the equipment placed around the sterile looking room. She prayed that some of it wasn't connected to their torturing devices. She lunged for the first thing that caught her eye that didn't appear to be attached to anything. She was in luck because it wasn't attached. As she pulled at it, she was surprised at how heavy it was. She realized that she wasn't as strong as she used to be, it was too late now. She'd have to use what she had in her to fight. Without looking around she swung the thing in a wide arch. The metal object was sort of round at one end with a long, jutting piece at the other. She managed to make contact with two out of the three aliens that were escorting her. She was fairly sure that one of the aliens she hit was the one that she had already hit twice. The third had dodged her swing. If she could just free Dānoar she knew he'd be able to help her. They could die together as they tried to at least injure the torturing, inhuman, emotionless bastards. She quickly glanced at him; he was fighting desperately against the bindings and the table. The two aliens that were on either side of Dānoar before she entered the room were nowhere in sight. They could literally be anywhere. She decided that her main goal get the three aliens away from her long enough to free Dānoar. They came at her again, she backed away from them quickly, holding her make shift weapon in front of her. One lunged at her, she was surprised by how nimble it was but she swung hard and hit it square on the shoulder, knocking it a few feet away. Before she could claim victory, she was hit from the other side. She hit the floor hard, knocking the breath out of her and dropping her weapon. There were fingers digging into her sides and arms as it tried to restrain her. She kicked, catching it at just the right angle to launch it a few feet away. She was happy to see that her legs weren't as weak as the rest of her body; all those years of jogging had done her good. Once she was freed she noticed that she was at the base of Dānoar's table. She jumped to her feet, hoping she wouldn't be knocked down before she had a chance to help him in some way. They made eye contact once again and she felt an energy course through her. It was the strangest sensation she had ever felt. She noticed that he was bound at both wrists, both ankles, across the chest and just above the knees. She groped at the binding around his right wrist. She didn't know what she was looking for, her fingers fumbled helplessly. Seconds passed, "God damn it, open!" She screamed at it frantically. Suddenly his right arm was free. Before she could even smile at him she was on the floor, launched several feet from where she just stood. Pain surged through her left side, she had no clue what just hit her but it hurt like hell. Her vision went a little fuzzy but she wasn't going to stop fighting until she was either unconscious or dead. Before she could get back on her feet she had arms and hands on her again, pulling at her, hurting her. "Get off of me! Let me go!" She kicked and twisted as she screamed obscenities at them. She started hearing angry clicking from the other side of the room where she once stood. Quickly she turned her head to see Dānoar off of the table and fighting two of the aliens. She smiled as hope coursed through her body. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her head. Her vision wavered and then went completely dark. Before her consciousness was completely gone, she could still hear Dānoar fighting. So Far Away Ch. 04 The first shock came when he saw her through the door window in the corridor being escorted by a trio of Farronds. He knew that it was her, Jensen. She was the woman who was on the other side of the wall of his cell. What was surprising to him was her bright red hair. Yes, red, there was no mistaking it when she gave the Farronds the slip and burst into the room. Her red hair flew around her as she came for him. Her lips on his were the second surprise. Not that kissing was unknown to him. It was the intensity of it, the desperation and emotion behind it. Her physical contact was overwhelming. Her emotional exchange nearly made him cry out. When he first made contact with her through the vent in their cells, he thought that maybe she had always been on the ship. That would explain why her language was not being translated by his speech adaption sensors (SAS). Both parties needed to have the SAS in order for their language to be translated. When he realized he wouldn't be able to verbally communicate with her, he extended his emotions towards her though their touch. He tried to calm and console her, but he also pushed in the will to fight and to survive. His goal was to get her to survive until one of the Spatial Abduction Recovery and Control Unit (SARCU) ships found him. This would mean freedom for most of the races on the ship or at least protection and a comfortable life, if no home for them was known. Once he saw her though, through the transparent pane on the door, he knew that she wasn't Ahl'kia. There was no way she came from Jyasant, his home planet. All of his people had dark hair and dark eyes. But her, no, her eyes were the third shock, they were blue. Her eyes were as blue as the oceans on Jyasant. He could tell they were blue even from the distance they were from each other. It momentarily occurred to him that she might be Ahl'kia, but severely genetically altered. Altered so greatly that her hair was red and her eyes blue. Although, that would mean that she would have to have been bred several generations down in order to have these traits so prominently. She was stunning though. With long, loosely curled, flame colored hair, and ocean blue eyes. Her skin was very pale, paler than his. This could be contributed to her time on the ship and lack of natural light to darken her skin's pigment. Her eyes, turned slightly upward at the corners, had dark circles surrounding them, her cheeks were slightly sunk in and her lips were much too pale. These distinguishing features were common among the Farrond's abductees. She was malnourished and weak, once he got her to his planet she would be taken care of. He sat next to her on a reclined chair and gently pushing some of her soft, red hair out of her face. They had bonded, he knew it. He could feel it. This would be hard to break. It wasn't safe, or suitable, for someone like him to be bonded with another. Once they were back on Jyasant, she would be safe. After she had lost consciousness from the energy blast, he managed to kill the five Farronds. They were the only ones the ship, which was typical for this type of vessel, two scientists and three enforcers. The harvesting ships were usually small, like this one. They would gather specimens and would then perform their brutal experiments on them, to catalog their genes, hormone levels, chemical composition and so forth. Then either deposit them back on their home planet or kill them. He was actually surprised to discover that she was so malnourished. The Farronds usually did what they had to do, and then got rid of them. There must be something special about her for them to keep her for as long as they did. He knew that the doctors on Jyasant would be able to give her a complete profile. Hopefully they'd figure out her mystery. Was she an Ahl'kia? Why did the Farronds have her for so long? Where did her red hair and blue eyes come from? Yet another questioned pressed on his mind as well. How did she open the binding on his wrist? He had to manually open them, but she hadn't. She yelled at it and it opened. He made a mental note that he would ask the doctor that performed the scans on her about the incident. He did hope that the doctors could, and were willing to, install the SAS in her so that they could communicate. He knew that it was a selfish desire on his part but he couldn't help it. He wanted to be able to talk to her and understand each other. He carried Jensen from the lab to the control center of the small ship and set the navigation course to Jyasant. He made communication with the closest SARCU ship informing them of what had happened and what his plans were at this point. He then contacted the SARCU base on Jyasant to update them on his mission and that he would be arriving on base shortly. When the ship finally landed, he made Jensen his first priority. She was still unconscious when he carried her into the medical bay of the SARCU base. As he waited for a doctor to scan and examine her, she seemed to lapse in and out of consciousness. At one point, she opened her eyes and looked at him. She gave him a weak smile and pulled herself closer to his chest, just under his chin. Her pheromones weren't as strong right now as they had been earlier, but it was enough to make his heart ache slightly. Breaking the bond with her was going to be hard not only on her but on him as well. Breaking a bond was always hard. He entered into the medical room he was guided to, placing Jensen gently on the scan table. The doctor arrived shortly thereafter. Dānoar noted that the doctor paused when he first laid eyes on Jensen. The doctor frowned, "Was she one of their genetic mutations?" "I am not sure." Dānoar told him, "She does not have the SAS, and we were unable to verbally communicate, she does not speak our language or the language of the Farronds." Again, the doctor frowned as he began to set up the scanning devices, "How unusual, this could mean many things. It's always hard to determine what they do to our people." Dānoar nodded his agreement with the doctor, he knew all too well what monsters the Farronds produced. "I will make sure to have the SAS put in." he told Dānoar, "If she did not have the SAS there may be other things that she may not have as well." "Dānoar, you should go and be examined as well." The doctor told him, "You don't want the Farrond toxins or anything else they could have injected into you taking effect or having long term consequences." Dānoar didn't respond at first, he didn't want to leave Jensen. He felt responsible for her. If she regained consciousness he didn't want her to panic. The doctor must have sensed his apprehension, "Go into the scan room adjoining this one, that way you will still be close to her." "When she regains consciousness or you find out what she is to the Farronds in her scan, let me know." Dānoar wanted to be with her when everything was explained, to help her understand and comfort her. He knew a lot of this would be hard for her to accept, he hoped maybe he could help soften the blow. He went into the next room where another doctor was waiting for him, "How are you feeling, Dānoar?" "I do not believe they had enough time to subject me to any of their more harmful experiments." He told her as he lay on the padded scan table. She nodded to him then turned her attention to her Patient Analysis Reader (PAR) to start his exam. The scanner arms came from under the padded scan table and locked above his head with a quiet click. They ran the length of his body and then back up. The doctor watched her screen intently as the reading began to appear, "You are very lucky, Dānoar. You were kept very healthy. There are no readings of any toxins or device debilitatiors in your system. Not all of our infiltrators are as lucky as you are." "My luck might run out some day, Doctor." He said to her as he swung his feet onto the floor, "Until then, I will do my part to bring the Farronds down." "Your officials are on their way here to see you." She said, as she read the message on her PAR. "Food has been ordered for you, you need nutrition in you and there is fresh clothing in the lavatory for you to change into after bathing. I'm sure you are in a hurry to remove the Farrond stink." He nodded to her, "Thank you, Doctor." She nodded to him as she left the room. He did not waste time removing the smell of the ship from his body. The hot water and the steam seemed to reach into his very core. He couldn't help but smile as he started to feel like himself again. He dressed in the green shirt and pants that were folded neatly on a shelf for him. As soon as he stepped out of the lavatory he was met by the doctor that was tending to Jensen. Dānoar immediately noticed his troubled, solemn look. "Is she well?" Dānoar asked him, immediately concerned for her. "Come with me Dānoar, there are things we must discuss." She was still unconscious on the padded scan table, her flame colored hair fanned out around her head. He stood closely by her, taking her slender hand. "Dānoar, she is pure." the doctor said. Dānoar stroked her soft, slightly dry hand with its long, graceful fingers. He did not look up as he spoke to her doctor, "Pure? You mean completely untouched by advancements?" "Yes..." the doctor paused momentarily. Dānoar had a feeling that this was the least of the news about Jensen. "She is also not Ahl'kia. Her genetic makeup is strikingly similar but she is not from this planet. Her ancestors might have been our ancestors thousands of years ago in order for these types of genetic similarities and differences. There is something else in her reading that should be noted." The doctor paused for a moment but began to speak as soon as Dānoar looked up at him. "The scanner found traces of Farrond DNA in her. It's not much, really, a very small amount. I would assume that very little of their DNA would connect with her genetic structure. So the Farronds probably only used the DNA of theirs that would mesh with her race." "So, she is part Farrond?" Dānoar was shocked. The doctor shook his head, "No, not really. She is more like us than anything else, the Farrond DNA is minute." Dānoar continued to examine her with his eyes. They were so strikingly similar in appearance, except for her flame colored hair and blue eyes. He wondered what else was different. Dānoar remembered how Jensen opened one of the bindings on his wrists on the ship, "Doctor, when we were on the ship, it was Jensen that freed me. There could be no way she would have known how to manually release them." The doctor furrowed his brow, "You think that maybe she was able to release the binding because of the Farrond DNA?" Dānoar shrugged, "Is it possible?" The doctor was quiet for a moment, "It might be. We've never really encountered anything like her before. We'll run her DNA through the data banks and compare her to all of the other alien DNA on file. We might find more out about her, some of the other alien races and even the Farronds. We'll also have her universal aura read to see if we can determine where her home planet is. That is, if she has a home planet and was not bred and kept on their ship." Dānoar sighed; he had a feeling that things weren't going to be as easy for her as he hoped they would be. "How are her organs and her brain and chemical makeup?" Dānoar asked the doctor about the rest of her scans. "It's astounding, really." the doctor commented, "We have the same organs, hers are not all in the same places as ours, probably due to evolution, but they are basically the same. Her sense of smell is not as keen. Also, certain parts of her brain are not as developed, but parts of some areas of her brain are more developed than ours." "Her scans are still being analyzed to get a more in depth reading?" Dānoar wanted to know if they were going to do a full read out on Jensen. "Yes." The doctor paused again. "We would like to study her readings more thoroughly." Dānoar knew some of what they would be looking for in her DNA. "The Farronds have been tampering with our species longer than we expected, her kind may be a branch of one of our abducted ancestors." "Yes." The doctor agreed, "This is going to open many new questions for the SARCU." Dānoar nodded, "How is her overall health?" "She is malnourished, which as we know is not uncommon while being held in captivity. She is also dehydrated. The system has already ordered food and hydration for her, it will be arriving shortly. She has a few minor cuts and bruises, nothing time won't heal. Someone will come to clean on of the scratches on her side, though. It looks like a Farrond took a good swing at her and caught her on the ribs. There is no poison in her system from the scratch so she is safe." Dānoar nodded, "Good. Is there anything else?" "No. She is in surprisingly good health." The doctor confirmed. This news relieved Dānoar. "Did you install the SAS?" "No, not as of yet, I wanted to give you the diagnosis first before I installed them." The doctor told him, "I thought you'd want to be here so you could be the first person she sees and talks to." Dānoar nodded, "Do it now so that when she wakes I can explain things to her." Dānoar watched as the doctor inserted a needle under her skin and released the SAS. They would automatically go to the speech comprehension area of her brain. Then, when activated, they will start the process of translating. He knew it would be painful for her for the first few moments, but he would help her though it. The doctor pressed a few pads on his PAR, and an orange light projected onto Jensen's pale face. The beam activates the chemicals in her brain so she could regain consciousness. This would also induce a peaceful feeling so she wouldn't panic and go into shock. Her eyes fluttered and then she blinked several times. Dānoar made sure to squeeze her hand. She instantly turned her head and gazed into his eyes. He still could not believe how blue her eyes were. So Far Away Ch. 05 Relief flooded over her when she realized that Dānoar was holding her hand and smiling down at her. They made it, they were alive. Then, confusion and a slight panic rose within her. Where the hell was she? He began to talk to her and that was when the sharp pains began to run through her head. Her free hand went to the left side her head where the pain stabbed her. "Oh, God, that hurts! What's going on? How did we get here? And why does my head feel like its splitting open?" Dānoar squeezed her hand, and started talking to her again, but most of it was like before, an unknown langue but then something changed. She could have sworn she heard him say hurt, soon and alright. "Dānoar? Where are we? I know we're not on the ship anymore." She wondered if he would even be able to answer. He probably still couldn't understand her. On the ship, she could never understand what he was saying. She momentarily wondered if there was some sort of device that the aliens used to keep them from understanding each other. Really, anything was possible. He stroked her hand, again. She picked out words but there were more this time. Some of it was even phrases, patient, still translating, some pain, more time. She began to look around with one eye closed, because there was still some sharp pain her head. She noticed that the room was brighter and was almost serine. It had light blue-gray colored walls with a round door on each wall. There was a man, similar in appearance to Dānoar, to her right. He wore a dark gray long sleeved shirt and pants that were very plain. To Jensen, he looked like he might be in his fifties. She also noticed that Dānoar was wearing different clothing and his hair looked wet. He wore something very similar to what the other man was wearing except it was green and not as tight. She thought they almost looked like cotton pajamas or hospital scrubs. "Why can I suddenly understand you?" She heard the man next to her speak, it was almost a full sentence, "...start to work completely now... easier to understand and explain... talk to her now... should translate completely." "Jensen?" Dānoar voice was gentle as he leaned in to speak to her, "Stay calm. I am here with you and you are safe. Can you understand me?" She stared at him, feeling almost terrified. She saw his lips move but they weren't matching what he was hearing. "Yes, but-" "Listen to me. I will explain everything. Please, try to remain calm. I will not let anything harm you, remember, you are safe." "How can I understand you? Why can we talk to each other?" "The doctor inserted... this is harder than I thought it would be... he put something in you that helps us understand each other. It was painful at first because it was adjusting to our brain waves and speech differences but it will start to lessen in intensity very soon." She noticed that he was right; the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been moments before. "Can you sit up? Do you feel well enough to do so?" Mentally, she checked herself. She was physically sore, probably from the fighting with the aliens and a little weak but everything seemed fine. Dānoar stepped back and let her swing her feet off of the padded scan table. "How do you feel?" The other man asked. "Fine, so far." She looked at the floor for a few moments, and then looked up at Dānoar. She realized that she could finally look him full in the face, actually see him. She smiled at him ear to ear. He couldn't help himself, he smiled back at her. She liked his smile; it was big, bright and beautiful. He had a sort of large nose, nothing absurd or ugly, just larger than most, he had straight, thick dark eyebrows that shadowed his deep set, very dark, almost black eyes. He had a strait jaw and a strong, stubborn-like chin. He was still a little scruffy looking. She figured he hadn't had enough time to shave, if they did that where ever he's from, where ever they probably were now. He was tall, she would guess about six feet or just a bit over and had a lean look to him. Over all, she found him rather attractive. "I..." she didn't know where to start, "I don't know what to say to you. I guess hello would be a good place to start." He chuckled, he actually chuckled, "Hello." His laugh startled her and made her heart suddenly jump to life in her chest. She sprung to her feet and flung herself at him, wrapping her pale, thin arms around his neck. This was her Dānoar. She could finally hold him, feel him, and know he was truly real. Dānoar couldn't stop himself when she launched herself at him. He pulled her in, with one arm around her back and the other on the back of her head, pressing her close to him. "I have you, it's alright, you are safe," he told her. He could feel her trembling and could sense her wave of emotions: relief, excitement, nervousness, concern, uncertainty, longing and affection. It came to him in overwhelming bursts, almost taking his breath away. "I thought I'd never..." she whispered to him, still in his arms, "I thought they took you away from me forever. I thought they killed you. I was going to find a way to kill myself but then I saw you in that room." "It's done and over with. They won't ever touch you again, you are safe." He tried to console her with his own emotions, his sense of peace and safety. He wasn't sure if she could sense what he was trying to communicate non-verbally, but it never hurt to try. He had done the same thing in the ship. He tried to give her determination and the will to fight. He could only guess, but it looked like it worked when she attacked her three escorts. He gently pressed her back to the scan table with his hands lingering on her upper arms. "We are on my home planet, Jyasant. After you attacked the Farronds, the life forms that held us captured, I was able to free myself and defeat the remainder on the ship. From there I navigated their ship to this base." He watched her pale face, her eyes becoming large. He could feel her concern for him. He could also sense her disbelief, fear and nervousness still. This, he knew, would be a lot for her to take in. "I can elaborate but it will take time, I do not want to overwhelm you. You have been through a lot and I do not wish to distress any more than you already are." His words filled her with some comfort, he knew that she felt safe with him and that she trusted him. This would help her in the long run. There was a soft chime in the room indicating that her food had arrived. She jumped off of the scan table like a frightened animal, "It's alright. Your food is here, you need to eat now." "You should also eat Dānoar, real food would do you good," the doctor told him as he looked up from his PAR of Jensen's scan, "your food is most likely in your room already." An idea occurred to him, he took her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "Jensen, I am going to get my food from the next room so that we can eat together." She nodded at him, "Oh," she said with concern in her voice, "I, um, yes, I will wait here for you." "What bothers you right now?" Dānoar asked her, confused by her expression and concern. "I nodded," she said embarrassed, pointing to her head, nodding again, so he knew what she referred to, "I don't know if you have the same non-verbal communication that we... I, do." "How interesting," The doctor, who heard the entire conversation, chimed in. He said to Dānoar, "It is safe to say that she is from a planet and not bred on one of their ships," the doctor confirmed, "She may look like us but she is technically an alien and yet she still nodded, like we do; a similar gesture shared between alien races. I wonder what else is similar between our races." The doctor rounded the scan table to look more closely at her, "Your name is Jensen, correct?" Again, she nodded, knowing now it meant the same thing that it did on Earth, "Yes, it is." "Jensen, you will be spending a lot of time with our alien categorizer who will ask you questions about your planet, your race, your culture, your habits and, well, just about everything. This is to file your race into our data banks. You may find that we are more alike than you could imagine." "I never thought that there would be an alien race so much like my own." Jensen told the doctor. The doctor nodded to her. He did not respond what he was thinking . They were in fact cousin races, and he had his suspicions that the Farronds may have had a hand in this occurrence. "I will return in a moment." Dānoar confirmed for her, "My room is next to this one." Dānoar left the room through a round, silent, sliding door. She instantly felt horribly alone without him near her. The doctor, who, in Jensen's mind, did not look anything like a doctor from Earth, went to the far wall and placed his hand on a white-blue glowing square. A panel opened next to the square, where the doctor removed what looked like a rectangular tray with a domed lid. He retrieved the tray from the space in the wall and walked towards her with it. It was sky blue in color and looked like clear plastic. "This is your food Jensen. Eat slowly until your body adjusts to actually eating your food. It would appear that the Farronds have had you for some time and have been nourishing you through their tubes." "Will I be able to eat your food? I mean... it's not going to kill me or..." she only shook her head, not knowing how to explain what she was thinking. The doctor laughed and shook his head. "I understand your concerns, Jensen. The food is safe for you to eat. When Dānoar brought you in from the ship we did a body scan. Your genetic and physiological make up is strikingly similar to ours. You will be able to eat everything that we eat. The food sent up for you just now has been specifically prepared for what your body is lacking, which, according to your scan readings, is a lot. Please believe me that we would never do anything to harm you. The last thing we would want is for you to be in distress." She smiled weakly at the doctor, "Thank you for easing my concerns and being so kind." The elder man nodded to her with a slight smile on his lips, "I can only imagine what you are going through right now and what you have been though during your time on the Farrond ship; Mentally, physically, and emotionally. You shouldn't have to worry about eating our food and suffering ill effects. This planet and everything on it is suitable for you." She was relieved to hear that he understood what she was trying to relay to him. Before she had time to completely consider everything Dānoar came back through the door that adjoined his room to hers. Her heart leapt at the sight of him and she smiled. Her feelings for him were overwhelming and alarming. She felt such a pull to be with him, the only way she could describe it was like magnets; very powerful, large magnets. Jensen also felt like her emotions were tied to him as well. Jensen watched the way he walked. He had long, fluid strides, he was sure of is step. She liked the way he moved. "I will leave you two to eat. Dānoar, talk to her about possible upgrades and let one of us know. It will take some time for her upgrades, if she chooses to get them, to be prepared for her," the doctor said as he left her room, nodding to both of them before he exited. Dānoar placed his tray, which was a pale yellow next to hers and sat at the opposite end of the scan table, facing her, sitting cross legged. "Sit back and eat," he told her as he touched a iridescent button on top of the dome of the tray, the sides of the dome collapsing to either side, revealing a sectioned tray of alien food, "I can talk to you about some things while you eat and after." She sat back on the bed, trying to sit as lady like as she could, though found it difficult because she still wore the ugly, gray smock that her captors made her wear with no under garments. She did as Dānoar to open her tray of food and was greeted by warmth and unknown, delicious smells that made her mouth water. "I didn't realize how hungry I was," she said as she gazed on the colorful array of food on the try, "I don't know how long it's been since I've had anything to eat." "The Farrond's aren't known for their hospitality." Dānoar said flatly, "You are fortunate you made it this long. Though, by the looks of you and from what the doctor reported about your scans, you are malnourished. They will keep you alive as long as possible but just barely." Jensen stared at her tray for a moment and was startled, there were utensils, strikingly similar to a fork and a spoon and what looked like a napkin. "Farronds." she asked off handedly as she undid her alien napkin and decided on what to eat first, "Are those the aliens that took me?" "Yes," Dānoar confirmed for her, "What do you call them?" He was nonchalantly eating his food; she guessed that he must have also been hungry. She shrugged, "Aliens." He paused from his eating and looked at her surprised, "Your people do not have a name for them?" She shook her head, "No. Most of my people do not believe that aliens exist, let alone visit our planet." she laughed quickly, "Most of them don't even think there is even life on other planets. This would blow their minds." "Amazing," Dānoar said as he continued to chew his food. "I think your people would be surprised to discover how much life there actually is on other planets." "Really?" Jensen asked in amazement, "There is a lot of life on other planets?" Dānoar nodded, "Yes, very much so. Do your people travel into space?" "Very short distances." she told him as she watched him eat heartily, "We can travel to our moon, which really isn't very far away, and that is all. We talk about visiting other planets and solar systems in the far future, but that's as far as it's gone. We do have telescopes that can see very far away. They help us see what else is out there as far as planets, stars and the other oddities in space." He nodded, "You must be a young race." She shrugged, "I wouldn't know." Jensen unfolded her napkin, which was cloth, and placed it on her lap then picked up her fork. It was not metal and it didn't feel like plastic, she had no clue what it could be. She eyed her tray suspiciously not sure where to start. She had what looked like rice with a cream or sauce with it and probably some kind of meat and a vegetable. There was what looked like a chicken breast with some seasoning on it, something that looked like gelatin but yellowy brown with chunks of something in it and something that looked like bread but seedy looking. There was also a cup with what looked like milk in it. "Dānoar." she grabbed his attention, "Can you confirm for me that none of this is larva, worms, invertebrates, brains, eyes, tongues, livers, intestines or anything of that nature before I begin to eat." He paused mid chew and stared at her blankly, "You're serious?" "Very." "Do your people not eat these things?" "Some of them do, I do not." "I understand." he leaned over and inspected her food, "None of your food is any of the items that you just named." She sighed with relief and then began to eat. The rice stuff went down fast, she found it very tasty. The food resembling a chicken breast tasted surprisingly or maybe not so surprisingly, like chicken with herbs. The brown stuff was sweet, it had a sort of spicy quality to it and the chunks reminded her of dates. Her favorite though was the seedy looking bread stuff. It was similar to sesame rolls from Japanese restaurants. She loved sesame rolls, this was a treat. To her relief, when she drank the milk looking stuff, it did, in fact, taste just like milk, "Oh, this is incredible! It tastes just like milk!" "It is milk," Dānoar said after he swallowed a mouth full of food, "if by milk you mean the nutritious liquid that is produced by the breasts of mothering animals, then that is exactly what it is." She stared longingly into her cup at the white liquid, "We get our milk from cows, goats and sheep," she said remembering the sweet, docile faces of her father's dairy cows, feeling horribly home sick at the thought, "but all female mammals having young produce it." He chewed his food in silence for a moment, watching the expression on her very pale, suddenly sad face. He couldn't get over her shockingly flame colored, wavy hair and stunning blue eyes. He thought they made her look strangely beautiful. She was the definition of exotic in his mind. He examined her face a little more closely now that things were calmer and what he saw he found more than appealing. She had beautiful cheek bones, full and round. Her eyebrows, which were reddish in color, were just slightly arched. A gorgeous pair of lips sat under her slightly upturned nose. She had a softly angled chin with the smallest divot on it. He imagined that when she was in full health, she would be radiant. Dānoar also couldn't help but notice her more than ample breasts. He redirected his eyes so as not to seem rude, some alien races found it natural, but he wasn't sure about hers. Momentarily he pondered if her adult hair was red but stopped the distracting thought. Keeping his wondering thoughts in check he redirected the conversation to avert his thoughts, "Jensen, the doctor has requested that I talk to you about upgrades." "Upgrades?" she responded, pushing her food away, starting to feel overly full and slightly sick, "Explain it to me, please." "On my planet, everyone gets what is called upgrades. They are simply a way to keep us functioning at full capacity and to maintain our health," he said as he stood up off of the scan table. Dānoar gathered both trays and took them to the wall where the doctor received her tray of food. He touched the same blue glowing pad on the wall and the trays disappeared from view behind a little door. He came back to sit in front of her on the scan table. They were silent for a moment, just staring at each other. Finally, Jensen asked another question. "What are these upgrades and what they are exactly?" She asked Dānoar, hoping his talking would take her mind off her increasingly growing nausea. "The doctor will inject microscopic robots into your body that will benefit you." he began to explain, "They will help you heal if you bruise yourself. They will aid in pain management if your body is subjected to it. They will destroy harmful foreign bodies in your system. They will also relay information to your profile kept within our health care system in case something happens. Is any of this making sense?" "Yes, actually it is, and it's fascinating!" she said to him, "This is technology that is only dreamed of on my planet." He nodded to her, "That would explain why you have nothing of the sort within your body now. Your reading said that you were pure." "What about natural things, like... Well, this could be a problem because I don't know if my words will be the same as what your words are for the diseases and ailments on my planet." Dānoar frowned, "Yes, I see. Try to explain them and I will answer you the best of my ability." "Alright," she responded, "We have what is called cancer. It is sometimes irregular growths, called tumors, that destroy and kill your body but sometimes it invades our bones and other places that kill us." "Yes, we had cancer among our race." Dānoar confirmed, "It has not been an issue for a very long time, since we've had upgrades." "And we have what's called heart disease." she said, lighting up, "It kills many people on my planet. The body forms a blockage in the vessels of the heart..." "We have also had this heart disease," he confirmed once more, "again, we have not had that problem for some time." So Far Away Ch. 05 "What about allergies?" "Many of us suffered from allergies as well but the upgrades resolved that issue for many," Dānoar told her. If it weren't for the fact that she was so sick in the stomach, Jensen probably would have asked much more. "Dānoar, I would like to lie down. I am not feeling well," she told him, frowning. He had noted that she was starting to look unwell, and detect the discomfort in her. "Please, do so. I will leave you to rest." "No!" She almost jumped out off of the table, "Please, don't go, stay with me. I feel better when you are with me." Dānoar eyed her carefully, her pleading, blue eyes made his stomach fall, "I will stay, if you wish." "I do." she said as she began to lie down, stretching her legs out, "Will you lay with me?" She wanted nothing more than to have his arms around her, to have those feelings of peace, comfort and safety wash over her. She didn't understand what he did to her, what he was doing to her but she didn't care. He was the only thing keeping her sane. She was sure she'd fall apart if he wasn't with her. Instead of answering, he simply moved to the opposite side of the scan table and stretched out next to her. As soon as he has stretched to his full length, Jensen fit her body snugly up to his, her head resting on his bicep with her breath tickling his neck. Her closeness, vulnerability and comfort with him made him giddy inside. "Consuming food, that is making you ill, isn't it?" She nodded, "If I have to vomit... " "Each room has a lavatory; you may do so in there, the doors..." "I noticed them earlier," she said quietly. "They are behind you, if you are going to expel your meal." Dānoar wrapped his other arm around her. He knew that these feelings for each other were part of the bond that they had formed while on the Farrond ship. His people, the Ahl'kia, formed strong emotional bonds with loved ones and even stronger ones with their mates. He wondered if this is what happened on the ship, through the vent. He had never taken a true mate and wondered if the strong emotions that he used to empower her on the ship were strong like those of a mated couple. However, she was an alien race, close in DNA but still an alien race. How was his bonding with her possible? Maybe it was the heightened emotions on the ship that had created such a strong bond between the two of them. This bond, he felt, was different than some of the other bonds that he had created through his life. With his siblings, he could feel their emotions. With his mother and father, he could also feel their emotions and often sense if something concerned them, or if they needed to contact him. With his physical endeavors, there was the typical sexual bonding that occurred. But this bond with Jensen was a form of the sexual bond and the sibling bond. Where, sexually, he wanted to consume her emotions, and soak in her physical needs and desires to enhance his own for her, and the more tender, loving bonding of caring and concern and positive emotions. He was concerned and excited at the same time. Every exhale she took tickled his neck but he didn't mind. He closed his eyes and tried to think of calm and peace to help her sickness pass. He wanted to ask her if her race passed feelings off to each other but he didn't want to disturb her if she was resting. Jensen absorbed every second in his arms. His arms around her, his smell, the sound of his breathing and his heart beating soothed her. This is what she yearned for while on that god forsaken ship: touch, connection and affection. She knew she had affection for him, she didn't understand where it came from or why it was so over powering, but it was there, as sure as anything she ever knew. Jensen recalled past boyfriends, the ones she thought she was in love with but those feelings didn't even come close to what she was feeling now. A hollow chime filled the room, she instantly jumped in his arms. "Shhh, be calm," he told her, gently tightening his arms around her, "there is someone who wishes to enter; they cannot do so until they receive permission by someone in this room." "I'm still jumpy." she apologized softly. "Understandably," he whispered to her, "I am amazed that you are holding up as well as you are." "It's you," she whispered back, being totally honest, "there is something about you that keeps me together." He knew she was telling the truth and he could feel it too, they were silent for a moment before the chime sounded again. "You may enter," Dānoar spoke, not moving from his place next to Jensen. Both heard the soft footsteps round to the other side of the scan table where Jensen lay with her back to the woman. "How is she?" It was a woman's voice that asked the question. "She is feeling ill, it may be the intake of food," Dānoar told the woman. "Yes, this is a likely cause. If she spent much time on the Farrond ship her body may not accept the food so easily. I came to check her scratches from the Farronds, I'll give her an injection that will help with her nausea and help her natural healing process since she doesn't have the upgrades. Which side are the scratches on?" "My left," Jensen responded to the unknown woman. It was the side she wasn't laying on because it was tender. "Lay still," the woman told Jensen, "I can access the wound from here. I'll just lift the hem up." Jensen didn't want to move anyway so staying where she was, in Dānoar's arms, suited her just fine. The woman gently lifted the hem of the smock up over her hip, exposing her lower ribs, where the scratches were. Jensen felt a few gentle touches and then the woman lowered her smock down again. "The wound will heal nicely." the woman said, "What would really help is a good, long, hot shower. There is suitable clothing in the lavatory for you to wear after your bathe. Let me give you the injection first and you can bathe when you are ready." Neither Jensen nor Dānoar bothered to move from their positions while the woman moved around the room. Dānoar was familiar with the goings on in the medical area of the SARCU base. Jensen felt something cool press on the side of her leg and a small pinch and then it was gone. "You should start to feel relief from the nausea shortly and this will also help aid in healing." the woman said from over the two of them, "Rest, now." Both heard the door hiss open and then shut. "How did she know I was nauseous?" Jensen questioned. "There is a sensor in the room that detects your condition," Dānoar explained, "The senor send a message to one of the patient tenders and she acquired the proper medication to make you feel better." "It's going to take a while for me to get used to all of this technology," she said to him quietly, "we are not this advanced on my planet." Several long moments passed, neither moved. They both breathed quietly, neither relinquishing their hold on the other. Jensen felt peace and calm wash over here as the overwhelming nausea diminished. Dānoar also felt the same; he was also aware of her relaxing and was relieved that she was feeling better. ". Dānoar will I be able to go home, to my planet?" Dānoar sighed, he knew this would be hard for her to hear, "I will be honest with you Jensen, I don't know. The scan that we did also read your Universal Aura, this will place you at a distance from the center of the universe. Once that has been measured, we can put you a general location. But to find your exact galaxy and exact planet... that could take a very long time. Or it could only take a few days. I am sorry, Jensen, I wish I had a more definitive answer for you." "I understand." but her disappointment rippled through her and emanated from her. "What is a Universal Aura?" He took a deep breath, "The center of the universe gives off an energy the penetrates everything around it. It imprints on everything, the moons, the suns and all living things. Depending on how close something is to the center of the universe, it will give that thing a different intensity of the energy, an aura. It is a readable energy if one has the proper way of reading it." Jensen astounded, "That is amazing." "Yes, if I were in your position, I would think so as well." They were quiet again for a short time. But Jensen was aching to remove the disgusting gray smoke and feel, what she hoped was water, on her flesh. "I think I would like to bathe now." Jensen was the first to break their silence, "Being in this smock makes me feel dirty and disgusting." "Do you feel well enough to do so?" Dānoar didn't want her rushing into things that she might not be able to yet. "I think so," Jensen sat up and swung her legs off of the scan table, "I think getting out of this thing and washing off their touch will make me feel better." Dānoar sat up and got of the scan table to walk to the other side, he extended his hand to her, "Let me show you how everything works." Jensen accepted his hand, and Dānoar escorted her to the lavatory. It wasn't a very large room but it had the necessities. There appeared to be something similar to a toilet just inside the door off to the right, what appeared to be a sink to the left and directly before them was a small enclosed area with what looked like a frosted glass door. She noticed shelves set into the wall by the sink that had folded clothes on each shelf. Dānoar explained to her what each thing was and she told him that she was amazed because on earth they had almost the same things. He told her it wasn't that uncommon for two similar races to produce the same inventions out of necessity and comfort. "I will show you how the bathing unit works," he told her as he approached the frosted door panel and it slid into the wall. They both entered the shower, their hands still locked together. The floor was rubbery, with a sort of textured, anti slip feel. There was a semicircle indentation on the far wall with a little spout coming out of it. "The water comes from up there," Dānoar pointing to the ceiling with his free hand, "say 'water' and it will start." Jensen saw that there were tiny holes all over the ceiling in the bathing area. "That is where you can get soap." he pointed to the semicircular indent in the wall, "You can use it in your hair and on your skin." "When you are done cleaning, say 'stop water' and the water will stop, if you say 'air' then the air will come on and dry you. There is a cabinet next to the shelf that has items to tend to your hair." He watched her eye the ceiling, like a child in awe. She took a few small steps away, stretching their arms to the limit. "Water," she whispered. It was loud enough for the computer to register and the water came over her. His hand became wet in an instant but the rest of him was dry while she became drenched. He heard her gasp, and then she released his hand and spun to look at him with wonder in her blue eyes. She looked up again, blinking at the shower of water and then back at him. She looked him over, "You're not wet." He shook his head, "No, you're the one who said it so it is only on you. It will follow you around where ever you go in this space." "That is remarkable!" she said. He couldn't help but notice how the water poured down her tall frame, sleeking her hair down and making that horrible, ugly smock cling to her body. She had a beautiful figure. He imagined that when she put on the weight that she lost she would be all soft curves and silky skin. Her more than ample breasts, something he had trouble taking his eyes off of, were evidence of that. "I will leave you to bathe." he told her before he stared to long, "I will wait for you outside." She nodded to him and turned her back on him. She tilted her face upward to the water, letting it run over her pale face and down through her long curly red tresses.