Relapse
#3 of The Orphan
// Crowns Shopping District
// Gaia, Ligus System
// 13/04/4716 [Federation Calendar]
The shopping district was quiet. The sun had set behind the city skyline and cast an orange glow across the sky, slowly lowering the streets into darkness. Street lamps flickered on and hummed softly as the rush of late traffic whooshed across the overpass that cast its shadow over the crossing Altair took.
Behind him he heard a Gaian lock up his shop, and ahead of the orphan was a small group of shoppers navigating their carts with groceries towards their vehicles parked in the almost completely empty parking lot. Inside the grocery store Altair indented to pass on his way home, the employees, humans with no qualifications or specific skills helped the last few customers carry things to their cars while the supermarket started the 'shut-down' routine it went through every night.
Altair hardly noticed everything going on around him as the rain started to fall. His hood was pulled up and his face only left the shadow hiding his appearance to look left and right before crossing the street. He was absent, thinking about a hundred things at the same time. Those humans at school were probably going to be trouble, since they fancied themselves Chaos Guild. Linda's butler had just quoted a line one of the orphanage Guardians on Telvan 6 had used just after the tension leading up to the 'Orphanage Massacre' started. And then there was Linda Freeman. An attractive girl who had decided after one day she had feelings for him, despite the fact she didn't really know him. And the thing that scared him the most was that he had developed a liking he couldn't understand for her too.
Altair shivered in the cool wind as he reached the halfway point of the pedestrian crossing. He heard footsteps as the Gaian who had just closed up shop crossed the quiet street behind him. The rain came down in more quantity now, turning from a light drizzle to sperratic drops thudding hard against his body. He shivered again, but not of cold this time. He felt an odd feeling he hoped he would never feel again. A tingling sensation in his gut telling him something was about to go horribly wrong.
Altair froze mid-step as he heard a rumble of thunder. It was unlike any thunder an untrained ear would have heard, but to Altair it was as familiar as the inside of his own pocket. The explosion echoed through the cool evening air, possibly heard four blocks away, but quite possibly seen from even further. A ball of fire curled upward from the overpass to Altair's three o'clock high. Smoke like greedy gnarled fingers clawed at the darkening sky and blotted out the little rays of natural light left, plunging the small shopping district in an aura of fleeting shadows and dim orange glow from the street lights.
His eyes adjusted immediately as he stared at the explosion that rumbled in his chest cavity. Time seemed to move slower as his heartbeat spiked. Altair's eyes widened as he saw a second, then a third ball of fire raise to the sky, hurtling bits of smoking debris into the air. Clouds of black smoke bloomed outward, engulfing the guardrails that lined the overpass and loomed over the streets below like a tsunami of howling darkness.
The clouds of smoke parted before they fell and Altair stared at a car as it barrel rolled through the air, plummeting to the street below where he stood.
"Oh, c'mon..." the human muttered.
The car hit the street, bounced, leaving behind some debris and a shower of sparks, before hurtling onward to where Altair stood. It span slowly, getting closer with every second.
"... you have got to be..." the orphan continued to mutter.
The spinning car was close now. The windows were shattered and bits of glass glittered around the spinning vehicle as it arced to where Altair stood. The human made out the tiniest details on the fuselage of the vehicle from this distance. The scratches on the bodywork, the wing-mirror hanging on by a single electric wire... the dead occupant hanging like a rag-doll in the driver's seat.
"... KIDDING ME!!!" Altair finished, crying out as time screamed back into its normal progression.
The car hurtled closer with new speed, looming over the orphan as he dove toward it and curled into a ball. He hit the deck underneath the spinning vehicle and rolled forward, sliding to a painful halt on the rough concrete. The car hit the ground a mere metre away from the human and slid to a halt on the pavement, mowing down a lantern pole as it went.
Shaking his head, Altair looked up and slowly got to his feet as the tidal wave of smoke and dust crashed down on the district, smothering everything it touched. The orphan coughed, looking around, unable to see any further than his arm could reach. Stumbling forward, the human looked up and saw flickering light as burning pieces of wreckage rained down through the thick clouds of smoke and struck the street around him. One hit rather close and caused Altair to jump back. Gritting his teeth he looked up again and saw more flaming balls of debris fall like some kind of apocalyptic rain.
Jumping sideways and ducking, he dodged one, before rolling forward to avoid a burning tire. Landing on his feet and not missing a stride, Altair sprinted forward into the parking lot, waving his arms in front of him, hoping to clear a bit of smoke so he could see where he was running too.
A moment later he ran into the bonnet of a car. His hands slapped down on the hardened plastic and he looked up into the eyes of the driver. The elderly kangaroo was trying to start the vehicle and shouted to get Altair out of the way. The human jumped aside and ran past the kangaroo's car, moving on. The rain of debris halted, and the result of which were burning chunks of matter riddled across the surrounding area like some kind of hellish mine field. For a second Altair dared think it was over... but in that brief moment he started to worry about what exactly had cause three such violent explosions. Crash on the overpass maybe?
Impossible. All the traffic on the highways of Gaia were managed by thousands of AI computers. Immanent crashes were anticipated and prevented remotely by supercomputers dotted around the planet's roads. And even if there was a crash, why would an electric vehicle explode so violently, and in succession cause two more equally devastating explosions?
For a second Altair thought terrorist attack, but that was equally as impossible. There hadn't been any kind of terrorist activity on or around Federation controlled planets for a decade. Altair immediately disregarded the suspicion... until the car behind him exploded.
The vehicle just popped like a balloon, throwing small chunks of debris everywhere and scattering fire in a two meter radius. The shockwave shattered the windows of surrounding cars and knocked Altair off his feet. He hit the ground, grazing his knees and elbows, his ears beginning to hurt equally. The world span around his head for a moment and the crackles of fire and screaming car alarms that surrounded him sounded distant. For a second there was silence... and then the trouble really started.
The hypervelocity whine of Federation standard military issue weapons fire rang in Altair's ears, followed by the patter of some kind of lethal hail as superheated projectiles rattled into the cars surrounding Altair, melting everything they touched. Looking up, the orphan could vaguely make out three muzzle flares coming from the overpass, and the tracers slice into the area around him. He quickly pulled in his legs as bullets shredded the road beside his left foot. Looking up from the small craters left by the projectiles, Altair's eyes widened at the sight of a single individual, wading his way through the smoke and chaos.
The figure wore a black tunic, black trousers and flat soled black boots. On his left hand was a crimson glove, while his right was left bare to reveal the curious glowing insigne carved into his skin. His hood was pulled up, but Altair could clearly make out the glint of the two pools of blood that were his eyes. Carried across his back was a rifle, normally used by modern day Federation troopers, and in his gloved hand was a three foot long sword.
At that moment, as Altair watched him move closer, surrounded by swirling darkness and flaming debris, Adrian Guile looked less like a Squeep and more like an actual Chaos Guild Master...
The Orphan
Relapse
// Crowns Shopping District
// Gaia, Ligus System
// 13/04/4716 [Federation Calendar]
The shooting stopped. The wind picked up and the clouds of choking smoke and dust dissipated slightly. The screaming died down as surviving civilians vacated the area, and there was still no sign of any kind of authorities. Adrian halted and smirked at Altair. Altair stared back, before reaching out and grabbing the bullet hole riddled car he hid behind and pulling himself to his feet. Looking at the bit of cover that had saved him from getting turned to Swiss cheese; Altair saw the roof was caved in where a chunk of smoking rock had landed on it. No doubt the owner would not be happy about the extent of damage done to the vehicle.
"Well, well, well." Adrian said out loud, looking around. His eyes looked like puddles of blood, and Altair imagined he was probably feeling the hallucinogenic effects of dangerous amounts of Telsophradine he'd taken to get his eyes to look that way. "Fancy seeing you here."
They both pulled down their hoods at the same time, letting the gentle rain fall on their heads. There were what looked like a few thin trails of blood running down Adrian's cheeks from his eyes, where a couple of blood vessels may have burst and allowed some blood to leak into his tear ducts. He must have been in quite a bit of pain, despite the fact he didn't show it.
Altair looked left and saw three figures fast-rope down from the overpass. Each of them carried a rifle, and were dressed identical to Adrian. They were, without a doubt, Adrian's three stooges, whose names Altair didn't know. For now he decided to call them Larry, Curly and Moe. Their eyes were revealed to be like Adrian's as they too pulled down their hoods and surrounded the lone orphan.
Larry took to Altair's left, while Curly took his right. Moe moved up behind the orphan, and the human felt him push the warm barrel of his rifle against his neck. Altair gritted his teeth and waited. If they wanted him dead he'd be dead by now. Adrian obviously had something to talk about... which he'd probably get to as soon as Altair was done.
"What the hell are you doing, Adrian?" the orphan demanded in a firm tone. He sounded like he was brave and fearless, when in actual fact, deep down inside he was terrified. Not terrified of what would happen to him. Terrified of what he may have to do if he couldn't talk these idiots down.
"What does it look like?" Adrian shrugged, gesturing with his arms to the scene of hell around them. "I'm fighting The War. What you see here are casualties of that war."
"The War ended a long time ago." Altair snapped angrily. "And even during that war, it was considered treason to harm innocent civilians."
"Watch your tone, Altair." Adrian chuckled casually. "And F-Y-I. This is not just any kind of war we're talking about..."
"I know exactly what war you are talking about." Altair snarled narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, right." Adrian nodded and scratched his nose. "You boys had a different word for it. You called it the 'Orphanage Massacre'. Yeah, we thought that was just a bit pathetic. Mainly because in actual fact, you weren't the victims. You were the threat."
"And the Chaos Guild were nothing but cowards!" Altair shouted. "Terrorists at the most. Nothing but spineless cowards, removing everyone who stood in your way without regret or mercy, not caring how innocents were affected. Then, when they lose they curl into their hole and cower, unable to accept the consequences of what they wrought! When the Federation changed and found it was the Chaos Guild who were the threat and not the orphans, those cowardly fuck-tards went and disappeared, never to be seen again, leaving us to answer for their crimes!"
Adrian rubbed his chin and nodded with mock understanding. "Hmmm. Yes, a valid argument, I must say... with one fundamental flaw... THE FEDERATION NEVER CHANGED!!!" he yelled in Altair's face, before laughing out loud. "AND THE CHAOS GUILD NEVER RAN TO HIDE!!! It's called a tactical withdrawal! Newsflash! Where the hell do you think we got these guns? Why would the Federation ask you to come live on Gaia of all places? As an orphan you have the intelligence of a sixth level student, yet you end up in fifth level..." he smirked. "With us... because we were assigned to remove you... just like all the other Chaos Guild followers across the galaxy are ordered to removed the orphan threats being moved around like pawns." He nodded and made a face of mock sympathy. "That's right, Altair. You were pulled straight into a trap."
Altair's limbs went slack. His gaze dropped to the tarmac between his sneakers. His mind worked it over. That was impossible... but in a scary way, it made sense. It was a conspiracy he had once suggested, but later disregarded. Had he been that ignorant to think the Federation had truly changed their attitude towards the orphans? Had he been thinking so confidently he was being relocated for his own good? He looked up again.
"Ten years of lying low to lead you into a false sense of security. Ten years of postponing our plans for the Federation, and now..." Adrian leaned forward and gripped his blade tighter. "Checkmate." He grinned and lowered his voice to a harsh whisper, reciting an old phrase Altair wished he'd never have to hear again. It was like their creed or master plan. It went: "When the Federation wipes out the orphans for us, we will rise and cleanse the galaxy of the weak. There will finally be order... there will finally be balance... there will be peace."
Nice. Peace through annihilation. It was about as poetic as the Chaos Guild got.
"No." Altair immediately contradicted. "We'll fight back... I'll fight back."
Adrian laughed out loud, stepping back. "Please! You're afraid of us!"
"Of the Chaos Guild?" Altair asked. "Yes, perhaps. But of a Squeep and his three gang-bangers?"
Adrian's eyes widened as he saw the dark expression on Altair's face. The young man knew the orphan was about to do something, but hesitated and didn't stand a chance of changing the inevitable. Altair could never hurt a friend, or a brother or sister, but a stranger? A psychotic stranger at that? Not a problem.
Altair whipped around, pushed Moe's rifle out of his face and quickly drew something from the back of his belt. There was a 'shlink' of metal on metal and a soft squelch as the orphan rammed a blade home on Moe. The young man's eyes widened to a point they threatened to slip out of their sockets as he looked down at the small three and a half inch knife sticking out of his leg. He gasped as Altair shoved hard and knocked Moe on his ass where he sobbed and clutched the blade in his thigh.
Slowly, Altair turned around, reached back with both hands and drew a pair of blades from the back of his belt. They were small and narrow, roughly six inches long each, the first two and a half inches flat metal to act as a handle, the rest a laser sharpened blade that ended in a point. The knives looked positively the opposite of threatening, but anyone knew that in the hands of an orphan they were extremely lethal.
Adrian stared for a second, before chuckling lightly. "What are you going to do? Fight us? All you have are those pathetic little knives! We have guns!"
"No," Altair corrected. "You have bullets, and the hope that when you pull off the first shot I'll be dead... because if I'm not, you'll all be bleeding by the time you line up a second shot."
"Really? Lets put that to the test." Adrian smiled. "Kill him."
Larry and Curly fired. Altair was almost too slow. The Telsophradine had made them fast. Too damn fast for the orphan to aim properly. He could only hope what he had planned wouldn't accidentally kill them.
Crossing his arms across his chest, Altair stepped forward and ducked, before spinning around 180 degrees. He had cut it so close he actually felt the slipstream of the bullets scream past his face. Their aim had been spot on too, it was just a good thing Altair was lucky.
No sooner had Larry and Curly corrected their aim to shoot the now crouched orphan, Altair flung the knives in his hands, hard and straight. Again, he didn't have any time to aim properly, and just had to hope he didn't hit them in the heart or the throat. Regardless, both young men screamed and span to the ground.
Three down, one left. Adrian cried out and stepped forward and raised his weapon to slash down on the orphan.
Altair rolled forward as the blade scythed past him, narrowly missing the orphan. Straightening up, he faced Adrian, who stepped forward, stabbing for the chest. Altair leaned sideways and dodged... just as something completely unexpected happened. His head wasn't in the fight like it should have been. His mind suddenly strayed and he thought of something completely unrelated. In his minds eye he saw Linda, as if she was standing right in front of him.
"What..." he didn't get to finish as a foot landed heavily in his chest. "Huargh!!!"
The orphan grunted and stumbled backwards, tripping across Moe and hitting the deck flat on his back. His head span and his jaw clacked shut. And unfortunately the corner of his tongue happen to be between his teeth.
Altair looked up just in time, ignoring the horrible blood taste in his mouth. Adrian jumped forward and threw his entire body behind his lunge, point of the sword pointed at Altair's chest. The orphan half rolled right and raised an arm. The sword hit the tarmac ground, inches from Altair's body and shattered. Knocking the weapon away, Altair punched Adrian in the side of the head, placed a foot on his chest and pushed the young man off him.
They both scrambled to their feet, Adrian slightly dazed. Altair took advantage of that and stepped forward, throwing a series of punches. Two hit Adrian in the chest, the third missed as he ducked, but the orphan was ready. He raised a leg and snapped out a kick, aimed right for the head... but once again his mind strayed for no apparent reason...
Adrian caught the kick, threw Altair's leg down, knocking the orphan off balance before landing a punch in his stomach. Doubling over and retching, Altair fell back and hit the deck again. Mentally he was kicking himself. What was going on?
'C'mon, Altair!" the orphan thought angrily. 'Focus! What the hell is wrong with you? They're the ones with high levels of Telsophradine in their bodies and you're the one who's hallucinating!'
Slowly the orphan stood as Adrian stepped back and confidently raised his fists again.
"C'mon, Altair! Bring it!" he shouted.
Altair did as he wished, charging forward. Adrian threw a punch, aimed squarely for the face with such force it would probably drop a rhino... but he sacrificed power over speed, and Altair had been expecting the lunge.
Ducking, Altair dropped to his knees and slid past Adrian, ignoring the painful burning in his knees as they grazed across the tarmac.
Dodging past Adrian, Altair reached back, drew another blade from his belt and rammed it home in the back of Adrian's knee. The orphan pushed hard and didn't stop until Adrian's knee-cap shattered on the ground. The human cried out in pain as Altair straightened up behind him. Drawing another knife from his belt, the orphan span it twice between his nimble fingers and finally gripped it point down, aimed at Adrian's throat.
The human looked up, his bloody eyes suddenly full of fear. An expression Altair hadn't seen on his face yet.
"How many of those do you have?" he asked softly.
"As many as it takes to get my point across." Altair said simply before stabbing downward.
The knife jabbed into Adrian's upper arm and stuck out of his flesh at a thirty degree angle. Gritting his teeth in pain, the human slumped to the ground, whimpering something under his breath. Something about this not being over. Something about a storm coming.
Before Altair could register what was being said, another loud boom caught his attention. More explosions? No. It was the cavalry... but the cavalry for whose side?
They fell from the sky, scything through the thinning clouds of smoke and soot that still engulfed the shopping district. Sleek coffins blazed through the sky, the air around them shimmering with the heat caused by atmospheric entry. One at a time each of the twelve orbital drop pods slammed into the ground before their covers popped open allowing the Federal troopers inside to step out and level their rifles.
The lead trooper stepped forward and gestured to his other soldiers. "Sweep the area!" he barked in a tone reserved for figures in authority. "Five unit spread!"
As the troopers moved out, the squad leader and held his weapon slack, looking around. The first thing he saw were three failures squirming on the ground, complaining under their breath. He expected to see another figure standing over them, but there wasn't.
Altair had already faded into the night...
// Emerald Avenue
// Gaia, Ligus System
// 13/04/4716 [Federation Calendar]
For a second, Altair froze, looking up at the Belle residence. There was a light shining in the living room window. The human slowly walked up to the porch, fidgeting with his keys. His left hand shook and his breath shuddered. His heart refused to stop fluttering and his eyes darted rapidly left and right. He paused at the door and turned around, looking up and down the cul-de-sac. Nobody to be seen. It was dark, and the street lamps cast a glow on the cold tarmac.
Altair shivered. But not because he was cold. He was still waiting for the adrenaline to settle. Feeling he was relaxed enough, Altair opened the front door, stepped into the warmth of the Belle residence and shut the door behind him. He immediately walked towards the stairs in front of him, passing by the open living room door.
"Altair, where have you been? You missed dinner." a voice called in a worried tone.
Altair froze and looked left to see Adrianna Belle get up from the couch and move to the living room doorway.
"Oh... uhm... 'supp?" the human thought for a second. "I ended up going home with friend today. I didn't mean to stay as long as I did. Sorry."
Mrs Belle's face suddenly lightened up and she smiled. "Oh, you made some friends already? Well that's wonderful. It's good you've started blending in."
'Yeah, wonderful, I'm sure.' Altair thought to himself.
"But why are you so sweaty and filthy?" she asked, glancing at the worn down knees of his jeans.
"I'm a kid." Altair immediately replied. "You know... a teenager."
"Right." Adrianna Belle frowned, sounding unconvinced. "Well, why don't you go get cleaned up. I'll heat up dinner for you."
"Alright. Thank you." Altair quickly thanked before jogging up the stairs and moving to his room.
His bedroom was positively bleak. One single bed, a chair, one empty desk and an empty wardrobe. His backpack and his duffel bag sat at the foot of the bed, and behind his desk was a window looking out the front of the house. He threw his school-bag in the opposite corner of the room.
Altair tore off his hoodie and jeans, pulled on a new pair and dug into his duffel bag. After some digging he produced a black bracer of sorts. He opened the clasps, placed it on his left wrist and secured it, tightening the straps. He flexed his hand, then flicked back his wrist, bending his ring finger. A moment later there was a soft 'shlink' and a long thin blade slid out of the bracer on the inside of his wrist, extending ten centimetres past his hand. He poked the point of the wrist-blade and stroked the edges. Still sharp. Satisfied the mechanism still worked, he retracted the blade and pulled on a baggy dark grey hoodie he had hanging over the backrest of his chair.
Altair then dug into the bottom of his bag and produced an elongated holster of sorts which he secured on the back of his belt. He then dug back into his bag and sighed as his fingers closed around a short, cylindrical object. Slowly he pulled what looked like the handle of an ancient katana out of his bag and held it in both hands. He looked at the object that seemed to serve no purpose and sighed again, closing his right fist around it, the surface re-shaping itself to fit in his hand. He tucked it into the holster he fitted on the back of his belt and stood up.
He felt strange. For so long he hadn't stood like this. In ten years he'd never had to put on his wrist-blade. Having to arm himself again now, when he thought he was finally safe... it just felt odd.
He looked down at his concealed wrist-blade, slowly closing his hand into a fist. At the same time he felt somewhat completed, like a piece of his body had just been re-fitted. It felt like his arm was complete again.
Altair was about to go downstairs when something tapped on his window. He almost turned around and threw something when he saw someone hanging from the outside windowsill. It was Linda.
The cheetah tapped on the window again and waved. Altair immediately saw the worried look on her face. No doubt she had heard the explosions. She practically lived next to where the conflict had broken out. Altair rushed across the room, flicked open the locks and slid the window open, holding out his hand.
Linda took it without question and the human helped her into his room. She clambered from the desk and stood in front of him. She was breathing hard. No doubt she had sprinted here. She was wearing a pair of sneakers, sweat pants and a t-shirt with a cartoon kitten printed on the back.
"What happened?" Linda started with, before going into a completely incoherent rant. Altair only caught random words like 'explosion' 'worried' and 'thought you got hurt'. He let her ramble for a while before placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"Okay, Linda, easy. One thing at a time." Altair said calmly.
"R-right." Linda nodded. "What happened? There were explosions. I tried to look for you, but Federal authorities sealed off the shopping district. I had to run all the way around."
"I'm fine." Altair assured. "So, why did you run out and look for me? And how did you know where I lived?"
"Well, I was worried of course!" Linda exclaimed. She softly apologised as Altair gestured her to keep it down. "Its not every day you hear an explosion in the next street. I knew you were walking home that way, I couldn't help but worry."
"Well, I'm fine." Altair rubbed his chest where Adrian had kicked him. "Sort of. How did you know what house I lived in?"
"Phone book." Linda said, grinning now, knowing Altair was alright.
"Figures." The human rolled his eyes. "Sit down. You look like you've been through more of an ordeal than I have."
Linda gingerly sat down on Altair's bed as the human sat beside her. She kept one hand fixed on his arm and seemed to refuse to look away from his eyes. She still panted, but at least she had lightened up a little.
"So, what did happen?" Linda asked curiously.
"I..." Altair sighed. "I'm not sure. It's kind of complicated."
"Complicated is fine." Linda assured. "I can handle complicated."
Altair sighed. "Adrian and his three stooges caused three explosions on the overpass, took near lethal doses of Telsophradine and attacked me."
Linda's eyes widened as she gripped a handful of Altair's sleeve. "What?" she asked, hoping this wasn't the truth.
"You heard me." Altair said, preferring not to repeat. "Adrian told me their master plan was being initialised. Their final solution to the remaining orphans and the Federation."
"Final solution?" Linda asked.
"Getting to that part." Altair assured. "It doesn't strike you odd, what I told you about the Chaos Guild, does it? That they thought they were Gods or something? Doesn't it strike you as strange that the Chaos Guild, all high and mighty would convince the Federation to incite the genocide of the orphans?"
Linda thought about it. "The... the thought may have crossed me... I suppose."
"The Chaos Guild are as afraid of the orphans as much as we are afraid of them." Altair explained. "We could have wiped them out at any time we liked."
"Why didn't you?" Linda asked.
Altair chuckled as if the answer was obvious. "Please, Linda. Could you kill a brother or sister? In the end, they were human beings, like us. In the end they were family."
"Right." Linda sighed, understanding now. "Sorry."
"That's alright." Altair said. "But the Chaos Guild knew that if they started to kill us off, we'd have no problem defending ourselves and in turn wipe them out. So they manipulated the Federation military."
"Use the Federation as some kind of hitman." Linda said.
Altair nodded. "Exactly. Their master plan is simple enough. Use the Federation to kill off the only ones who could possibly stop them, then simply wipe out the Federation and rule the galaxy."
"Wipe out the Federation?" Linda whispered, hardly believing it was possible. "They could do that?"
Altair shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but I'd rather not find out."
Linda licked her lips and thought for a minute. Something was off, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Altair leaned forward and locked his gaze with hers. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
"The final solution." Altair said. "You're thinking it may have started already. And it has. The Chaos Guild has started using lookalikes across the galaxy. They're preying on Squeeps and building themselves a new empire. Drawing the remaining orphans in the galaxy out of hiding and using their new followers to eliminate them. After that they'll start on the Federation. Then after that... well... I actually don't know, and hope we never have to find out."
"So..." Linda swallowed, almost afraid to find out the answer to her next question. "What do we do about it?"
Altair stared at her for a minute, then shook his head, grinning. "What do you mean we?"
Linda stared at him and slowly cocked her head, letting a smile creep across her lips. "You know what I mean. Seriously though, the orphans must have had some kind of counter plan, right?"
"Well, we did have one." Altair admitted. "As long as one orphan lives they won't execute their plans on the Federation. My plan is simple. Just live... and let the Chaos Guild know it. They can kill every other orphan out there, but as long as one of us lives they'll postpone their galactic domination."
Linda's smile faded and her look suddenly turned dire as her bright eyes started to glisten. She knew exactly what his plan was. Knew exactly what he was going to do.
Linda cleared her throat and looked at the floor. "Altair... That means... that means you'll be hunted. Possibly for the rest of your life. You'll never settle. You'll never be safe... and... you'll always be alone." She sniffed and looked back into his eyes again.
The human nodded. "I leave tomorrow morning."
Linda shook her head. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around the human's neck, slowly pushing him back and pinning him to his bed's mattress. "I'll come with you." She whispered
"What?" the human exclaimed, before sighing and lowering his voice. "You know you cant."
"Yes I can." Linda replied stubbornly. "I can take care of myself. Nothing will happen to me."
"Linda, you have your life here."
Linda sniffed, not loosening her grip on the human. "Yeah, sure. Wonderful life. No school friends, my parents are always out. The only ones who care about me are my butler and you..." she stopped and loosened her grip. Placing one hand on Altair's chest, she straddled his waist and sat up, her face hovering a centimetre above his. "You... you do care about me... right?"
Altair stared at her, thinking. Of course he did. He could never let anything bad happen to her... ever. He'd throw his life away to save hers if he had to. He liked her. He felt complete when she was around him. He felt more confident in her presence. All the fear he had for what he had ahead of him seemed to dissipate when he was in her arms. When he held her he felt warmed, and his stomach made an odd sensation, a feeling he hadn't felt since... a long, long time ago.
"Yes. Linda of course I care for you." Altair said honestly. "I... you've made me feel a way I haven't..." he stopped, unable to find the right words to express how he felt. "Linda, I was the loneliest person in the galaxy before I met you."
"Do you love me?" Linda asked softly.
Altair swallowed and looked away. "I don't know." He replied. "I just... I need more time." he admitted.
Linda sighed, leaning forward and placing a kiss on his cheek. "That's exactly what we don't have." She lay down at his side, facing the human and wrapped her arms around him.
Altair looked into her eyes, feeling her breath blow on his face, holding her warm, soft body close to his. He felt her wrap on leg around his and her breasts press against his chest. He could feel her heartbeat and listened to the gentle rhythm of her breathing. He could smell the sweet flowery scent of her shampoo and the mint of her toothpaste. Her eyes were shut, her chest rising and falling with every breath she took.
Altair knew he was holding an angel, and dreaded the thought he had to let go in the morning.
Linda clutched him tighter, rubbing her crotch against his leg. He became more aware of her slightest movements as he heard her let out a small pleasured moan. Her fingers clawed at his back as she slowly humped his leg, wondering if he noticed... and if he minded.
"Altair." Linda whispered into his ear. "I know... I know you said you weren't ready, but... I... I really want you... I really need you..." she almost whimpered, pulling the human in tighter.
Altair almost knew how she felt. He really wanted her too, and being alone all this time had built up a buried desire to... wait... something Linda had said earlier. No school friends. She hadn't had a boyfriend, or a mate in a long time. Gaians went into heat. Once a year, often weeks at a time, sometimes months where they had the uncontrollable desire for the attention of the opposite sex. But how would you quell that desire without a mate? He didn't know how Linda felt. He couldn't possibly know what she was feeling.
"Linda?" she murred in response. "Are... are you in heat?" he asked, hoping he hadn't asked her something too personal.
"I..." Linda swallowed and stroked the side of the human's face. "I am... I haven't had a mate in so long... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come over. I'll probably end up pushing you into something..." She rolled over, about to leave when Altair stopped her.
"Wait, Linda..." he wondered how he could put this. "You know... I, uh... I could lend a hand with that if... if you really wanted..."
Linda stared at him for a while and then smiled. "You'd do that? Even though you said..."
"I'd do anything for you." Altair admitted. "I'd lay my life down for you."
Linda smiled widely and kissed him on the lips. Their tongues wrestled and Altair could taste the sweet minty aftertaste of her toothpaste. The cheetah on the other hand caught a mild copperish flavour where Altair had bitten his tongue in his fight with Adrian.
Altair's hands slid down Linda's slender body, following every perfect curve, every soft flow of her fur. Her rough tongue raked on the inside of the human's mouth as Altair's right hand slipped under the elastic of her sweats and rubbed the inside of her thigh. The cheetah wiggled her hips in response to the attention, feeling her panties grow wetter with every passing second. Her breathing grew faster in time with the human's as his hand stroked slowly upward towards the tingling region aching for his touch.
His hand touched the wet patch on the front of her underwear, and Altair's basic instinct told him exactly what she wanted. Her soft moans egging him on confirmed that.
"I want you, Altair." Linda whispered between kisses.
So the human gave himself to her.
His fingers nimbly slipped past the damp cloth of her panties and his middle finger slowly slipped into her wet pussy. Her hot wet tunnel clamped down on Altair's finger as he wriggled it deeper and deeper within her. Getting as deep as he could get, Altair didn't see any other option other than slowly pump his finger, wriggling it slightly when she least expected it.
"I'm kind of winging it here, so if I'm not..." the human started, but Linda's pleasured moan cut him off.
"By Gaia... you're doing brilliantly, Altair... oh, don't stop." She was careful not to raise her voice, or allow her self to moan too loudly. The last thing she wanted was for his foster parents to walk in and him having to stop giving her the attention she was loving. "Please... please don't stop..."
Altair had absolutely no intention of leaving her hanging. He kissed her softly, slowly wriggling a second finger into her, hearing her moans grow in intensity, her pleads for more ending. She had exactly what she wanted inside her, and didn't want it to stop.
She started bucking her hips against his hand, unable to control herself any longer. Her moans got louder as her pleasure rose, forming a fire inside her that burned with equal intensity to a sun. So many times had she lain in bed pleasuring herself and loved the attention she could give herself with her fingers. But it was nothing in comparison to this. She felt pleasure on a level above that what she could administer to herself. The attention received from another brought her to a height she had never before reached, and she wished it could never end.
Her hand softly stroked the side of the humans face as they kissed tenderly. Between kisses she let out a moan, whispering lovingly to her mate. "I love you, Altair... please, don't ever leave me."
Her mind was numb. She had no idea what way was up or down. Her hips had a mind of their own, bucking endlessly against the human's pumping and wriggling actions. Her juices started squelching loudly, dripping past Altair's hand and dampening her fur. Her muscles tightened on his fingers, clamping down so hard he could hardly move his hand anymore.
Then, all of a sudden, without so much of a warning, the pleasure that had been building up inside Linda, the star that burned within her went supernova. She let out a long moan she feared grew too loud, her body hips grinding tightly against Altair's leg, her back arching and her grip on him tightening. For that moment in time nothing else mattered. The worry Altair would not be there when she woke up, the galaxy that, at the moment, seemed like a Grim and horrible place. It all disappeared and all that mattered was the feeling. The intense, warm waves of pleasure flowing through her body and spilling across Altair's hand.
Linda shut her eyes and let out the breath she held as she came, her head spinning. She sighed and her muscles loosened. She felt Altair withdraw his hand and savoured the sliding sensation as his fingers slipped from her lips. She couldn't help but smile as she slowly fell asleep.
"I love you." She managed to mutter before she slipped into a dream world.
Altair grinned, looking into her face. For that moment of time he didn't think he had seen anything or anyone as beautiful as Linda. He'd seen the twin suns rise on Telvan 6, the four full moons of Draco, Alharan forest in autumn and the Elven enchantresses of Kaligula... none of that could compare to the cheetah lying beside him now.
And with that thought, he too fell asleep.
// Belle Residence, Emerald Avenue
// Gaia, Ligus System
// 13/04/4716 [Federation Calendar]
Adrianna had to admit she was a little worried about Altair. He came home late, exhausted and grimy. Then, when she heated up his dinner he didn't come down to get it. She returned to the living room and sat down beside her husband who was watching television. Adrianna could only assume Altair had fallen asleep. She was tempted to go up and check up on him.
"Worried about Altair?" her husband Roger asked, reading her like a book. He didn't even have to take his eyes off the TV screen.
"He didn't even eat anything." Adrianna said.
"It was his first day of school." Roger said calmly. "Changing planets is a shock to the system. He's probably just exhausted. I'll go talk to him later if it'll put your mind at ease."
Adrianna sighed and rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "Oh, I'm sorry dear. I'm just fussing. The poor boy's had to endure horrible things all his life. I just want to make the rest of his life as perfect as I possibly can."
"You have such a big heart." Roger smiled and kissed his wife on the top of the snout. "It's why I married you."
"I thought you married me for my ass." Adrianna said in a sassy tone.
"Oh... yeah... that too." Her husband admitted with a chuckle.
Wrapping their arms around each other they rested on the couch, watching the news together. It's only when they found themselves looking at the school they sent Altair to on the breaking news article that they let go of each other and sat bolt upright.
"Here at the Crowns shopping district, three bombs have gone off on the overpass, and the district below looks to be shot up. The number of injuries is still unknown." the disembodied voice of the reporter said as the camera floated above the smoking wreckage that was once Crowns shopping district. "Authorities believe this was a terrorist attack as a result of an orphan presence in the area. It is assumed that an orphan and student at Crowns school, currently by the name of Altair Belle was involved in the attack." Altair's name, details and a profile picture showing Altair aged twelve popped up in the bottom left of the screen. "Whether he was victim or involved with the attack is still unknown, but authorities told me they are going to arrest the boy under suspicion of terrorism and conspiracy against the Federation."
Adrianna clapped her hand on her mouth with shock. Roger's eyes widened with horror as he jumped up and ran into the hall. He called out from the bottom of the stairs.
"Altair?" he called jumping onto the bottom step. "Are you..." he was cut off.
As soon as his foot made contact with the bottom step, the front door exploded in a blinding flash and a deafening bang that stunned both Roger and Adrianna Belle...