Chapter Four

The group had fallen into a steady, comfortable rhythm as they headed across the desert. The sun was getting closer to the center of the sky, telling Maxim that even though they were surrounded by what looked like exactly the same surroundings that they had seen since they left the ship, they were actually making progress in their journey. Even those who were struggling with injuries and the women whose pregnancies had made Maxim worry that they wouldn’t make it through the long and treacherous walk were managing well, none of them complaining or showing any signs of giving up as they pressed on through the heat and glare, and the sense of tension and fear that was so obviously pressing down around them though none ventured to mention it. It seemed that each of them were staring ahead independently, their own thoughts creating an invisible path that guided them, kept them steady as they walked and reassured them. Maxim wondered what was motivating each of them to keep going. He knew that it went beyond the promise of the compound at the end of the walk. Each of them had something in their hearts that they were using to fuel them and sustain them, and whatever it was, it was making their steps steadfast and their pace consistent.

They had maintained near-constant silence throughout their progress, but from behind him Maxim heard Samira’s voice. She spoke in a quiet voice, though it didn’t seem that she was trying to prevent others from hearing her. Rather, her soft tone seemed more an effort to soothe herself and pretend that she was starting a simple, completely normal conversation with her mother, who walked along beside her.

“What type of research did he do while you were married?”

“Martin?” Valerie asked.

The name caught Maxim’s attention. The only other time that he had ever heard it was when Avery had talked about the pilot to the Nyx 23 ship.

“Yes. Did you get to hear much about the type of work that he was doing at the University? I would love to know if my interests are in the same fields as him.”

“Honestly, I don’t really know very much about it. We didn’t talk about his work much when we were together.”

“Was he secretive about it?” Samira asked.

There was a blend of emotions in her voice, shifting between nervousness and a hint of excitement at the thought of this man concealing something about his work. Valerie gave a short, soft laugh.

“No,” she said. “It wasn’t that he was secretive. I mean, I know that whatever he was working on was classified and that he wasn’t supposed to talk about the details, but he never made me feel as though he was hiding something from me. Your father was exceptionally good at compartmentalizing his life. Whether he was supposed to talk about it or not, I know that he wouldn’t have spent the time that we had together talking about work. He left that behind him when he left work for the day. When he was home with me, he wanted to talk about us and the things that we enjoyed doing together.”

What she said struck Maxim as strange. Valerie had referred to Martin as Samira’s father. He remembered that when Samira had come to Uoria it was because Ero had rescued her from her stepfather, a concept that Maxim hadn’t understood. Now he was even more confused. He pulled his attention away from the conversation that they were having behind him and back to the path that they were walking.

It seemed that at every turn they were discovering something new, something different that made the situation ahead of them more complicated. People who had seemed unrelated to anything that was happening, who weren’t even there and had never been a part of it, were linked to different elements and people in ways that didn’t make sense but were inextricable. Even this man, who he could only assume had been dead for many years, worked on classified projects within the same University that the others did. It was almost as though it had seemed that people were coming together in unrelated, random ways, binding together only in terms of loyalty to the people of Uoria and to their convictions against Ryan and his work. The more that they learned, however, the more it seemed that this wasn’t random at all. Each of the people and groups that came together were there for a specific and related reason, even if they didn’t fully understand all of those reasons yet. Instead of this being at all reassuring to him, the realization was unsettling. It made Maxim feel like they were being manipulated, their every move and decision somehow known and controlled even before they made them. It made him determined that he would overcome this, break beyond whatever control was being held over them so that they could pursue the end that they all wanted.

As he thought about this, Maxim wished that Aegeus was there with them. Even as this wish crossed his mind, though, Maxim felt the boost of knowing that at least he had the luxury now of having that thought. It was no longer an abstract concept to think of Aegeus being with him to help him through any situation that he might be facing. He was actually able to see his father now, to talk to him and to ask him for the guidance that he had so miserably longed for when he was younger. As soon as they got back to the compound he would be able to go to Aegeus and talk to him about the situation, explain his concerns and questions, and let his father talk him through them in any way that he could. This was at once reassuring and sobering. Though he knew now that he had his father and would be able to rely on him throughout the rest of the challenges that lay ahead of them, it was also a stark reminder of everything that he had missed. There had been so many times in Maxim’s life that he would have benefitted from having Aegeus with him and felt like he might have made the wrong choices or not done as he should have because he didn’t have the support and guidance of his father. Maxim forced the negative thoughts out of his mind and took a long swallow of the water that he carried with him, hoping that the coolness washing down his throat would help to distract him and allow him to instead look forward to the chance that they had now to rebuild their lives together.

****

Ivy took a step back, leaning against the wall and running her hands over her belly in an effort to calm herself. She knew that there was something seriously wrong, and not being able to identify what it was that was wrong or what they could do about it was unnerving, worsening the fog in her mind and the uncertainty in her belly. Where was Athan? Where could he have gone, and why didn’t he tell Ellora that he was leaving? Could he be with Malcolm and Icelyn, and if so, why did they need to leave so quickly? She thought about how much Ellora had emphasized the danger that she felt Athan was in. Could they really be in that much danger? If they were in such serious danger, Ivy wanted to understand it, to know who was threatening them and what they could be facing. She knew that the Order was a constant threat, but it didn’t seem that that was enough for them to have to run. If they were so frightened of what the Order could do to them, she would think that they would make efforts to get the entire group off of Uoria and on their way to Penthos so that they would be protected from the Order rather than just the few of them disappearing.

Her mind drifted to Aegeus. She remembered how she felt when Maxim had first told her the story of what had happened to him and how Ellora had struggled without him. She briefly thought that in that moment she was feeling what Ellora must have experienced in those dark first days without her husband. As soon as she thought it, though, Ivy forced herself not to allow the thought to remain in her mind. For right then she was without Maxim, but she knew that he was alive. They were only on different planets and there would be a time, very soon, when they would be back together. She couldn’t claim the pain and emptiness that Ellora had to have suffered when she thought that Aegeus was dead and that she was going to have to live out the rest of her life raising their sons alone.

Even as she put this thought aside, she felt the deep ache of how much she missed Maxim. The feeling of her growing belly and the occasional gentle shifts of the baby within her increased her longing. They should be experiencing this pregnancy together and she knew that if he was there, he would protect her and reassure her through all that she was facing, giving her the strength that she needed to see her through and ensure that she was able to do all that she needed to do for herself, for him, for their baby, and for the future of the world that they were meant to share.