Nasiir bowed, lowering his horns in the presence of such wisdom and insight. Though Tuhfa was his mother, he was still in awe of the wonderful gift operating through her. “I will go immediately as spoken, Mother Tuhfa.” Then he turned to a very somber-looking Pendo and smiled. “When you see me again, prepare to be mated that very hour.”
Pendo smiled bashfully and nodded. “I will be ready.”
~~~ >< ~~~
It was around 11pm at night on Earth. As such, Afua and Badru were already in bed. Suddenly, Afua awakened from her slumber with a start. The rustling of the wind outside her northern window didn’t wake her up. It was something else altogether.
Springing upright with a sense of urgency attached to her spirit, Afua knew that she and her father had to get out of there. Immediately!
Jumping up from the bed, she wrapped the blue blanket over her silk nightgown and rushed into her father’s room. “Daddy, we have to go to the cellar tonight,” Afua said, shaking him awake.
“Go?” Badru came instantly awake. There had been too many days and nights like these over the last twenty years for him to be sluggish, even in a drowsy state. That was one of the reasons Badru regularly hiked to stay in such good physical condition. It is also why he ate so healthy and drank so much water.
“Yes, get the black bag, because we will not be returning to the house until all the danger has passed.” Like her father, Afua knew that that black bag contained certain essentials. Various currencies, passports, a few changes of clothing, three weapons and ammo, the Mannings’ research, and the documented evidence that was going to take Vice President Horrell down.
Badru quickly did as he was told, trusting the God in his daughter completely. Afua had been right too many times for him to doubt her prophetic words now. However, Badru did need to know one more thing.
“Will Xander and Nasiir be able to find us underground, seeing as we have no means to contact them and inform them of our new location?” he asked.
As Badru spoke, he slid the black bag from under his king-sized poster bed and removed one of the weapons from it. With the loaded weapon securely in his right hand, Dr. Karson closed the bag and lifted it upon his shoulders backpack style. Though heavy he was more than able to carry it alone.
Xander. Afua felt her pulse quicken at the mentioning of his name. She couldn’t wait to see him again. And she would see him. She was absolutely certain of that.
Then realizing that her father was still waiting on an answer, Afua said, “I have peace that they will find us.”
“Even still, from now on, it would be in our best interest to come up with a better contingency plan that involves our new friends,” Badru replied, leading the way to their fully stocked cellar.
As of right now, his job as a library curator was over. Afua’s tour guide job was also over. The appropriate pre-written letters of resignation would be forwarded to both of their jobs via electronic mail at the first safe moment.
________________________________________
[i] 2 Kings 6:8-12
[ii] Genesis 45:5,7
[iii] 1 Corinthians 13:9
Chapter 22
“Son, your mother and I pick up that you are in love. What say you of this?” Ezra inquired. Only the two of them remained at the dining shulchan after breaking the morning fast. Noam had taken the other children to school.
“I say it is true. I have fallen in love with someone. A very special someone who, although she is beautiful, confident, and has a wonderful spiritual gift, remains humble at all times.” Xander smiled when he said that.
“She sounds wonderful, son. An ideal candidate for a mate,” Ezra replied. He and Noam thought any woman other than Roni was an ideal mate for their son. Their dislike of the prideful Katanian woman had been impossible to hide. As a result, there had been countless discussions between them and Xander concerning whether or not his heart had chosen Roni or his loins.
“Afua is wonderful. Unfortunately, she avoids even looking at me at times and only talks to me on an as-needed basis.” Xander looked very sorrowful now. At first he found Afua’s resistance amusing, but now dark spots of depression were starting to show up in his essence on a regular basis.
“Why is that? Does she not love you in return?” Even though Ezra had studied Earth mating rituals, he did not fully understand them. How could Earth women not love his handsome son? Even Katanian women had been enamored of Xander.
“On the contrary, I detect that she loves me deeply, yet is afraid to show it. I do not know how to make her unafraid.”
“Ahh…so that is why your essence reflects such frustration. Perhaps if you got her to confide in you, to tell you what she feared, you could then help her overcome it.”
Xander leaned his head to the side in contemplation. “I had not considered that. When I return, I will try to find out the cause of her fear.”
Just then, Nasiir materialized in the room. His eyes were lit with determination. His nasal passages flared with indignation. “We must return to Earth at once, Xander. Mother Tuhfa has informed me that the Karsons are in grave danger, possibly even as I speak.”
Afua, was the first thing to come to Xander’s mind as he sprung to his feet. “Da-Da, please tell the others why I had to leave with saying goodbye.”
“I will, son. Go and fulfill your destiny,” Ezra replied as he rose to his feet, as well. “But first take two more transporters with you. This way your Earth friends will not be bound by their primitive modes of transportation and thus can escape danger more swiftly.”
~~~ >< ~~~
In the cool, dark Karson cellar, Badru prayed quietly in a corner as the hours passed. Afua, who had pulled on a pair of black cotton pants and a matching shirt over her nightgown, paced to and fro. This wasn’t the first time either of them had had to hide in a cellar. Yet this was the first time Afua had ever felt so freaked out about it.
Afua’s emotions were all over the place right now. Her hands were sweaty and she hadn’t been able to sit still since she came down here. Good thing her feet were shorn in thick black socks and the cellar floor was concrete instead of creaky wood. Otherwise the government men moving things around upstairs would have been alerted of the Karsons’ whereabouts.
God, what is wrong with me? Afua inquired, finally petitioning the One that made her emotions.
You are running, was the simple reply uttered in a still small voice.[i]
Running, Lord? Afua stopped mid-stride. I know I’ve been pacing fast, but running?
You are running from your destiny.
With that additional piece of information, her mind mentally flipped to the story of the fleeing prophet Jonah[ii]. Afua sat down on the pallet she’d made of her blanket on the floor to meditate on that story now.
But I have embraced my calling, Lord. I speak Your Word as often as You tell me to. Please help me to understand what I’m missing here, she thought, continuing her inward commune with the very accessible Creator of the Universe.[iii]
You are running from your destiny with Xander.
Afua needed no other explanation to know what that meant. She was running from her destiny with Xander. Had been from the moment she felt that first spark for him. She also knew that running from one’s destiny never got them anything, except pain and suffering.
Besides, in Afua’s heart of hearts, she really wanted to love Xander. Therefore she would push past her fears and love this man. Oh how she would love him.
Interestingly enough, Afua’s palms immediately stopped sweating with that decision. Her mind grew calm and serene.
~~~ >< ~~~
Xander and Nasiir waited until nightfall to search the Karson homestead. They would have come earlier, but the whole area was surrounded with men dressed in black up until an hour ago. Neighbors had been questioned and the Karsons’ home had been ransacked.
It had taken everything in Xander not to give the order for Nasiir to disintegrate the men on sight. However,
the Katanian way was to only use their offensive weapons if they were being attacked. That had not been the case today as Nasiir, in the form of a red-tailed hawk, had perched conspicuously on a high tree limb and observed the happenings without anyone even looking twice at him.
Now that the all clear had been given, Xander joined his friend. Together they began to look for the Karsons.
By deduction, Nasiir suggested that they materialize inside of the house. Not only did it lessen the chance of them being seen by more curious people that happened along that way, it also gave them an opportunity to act on a hunch that Xander had.
“Mother Tuhfa said they would be housed underground,” Nasiir said once they were safely inside the house. “Where should we start looking first?” His nose was already lowering to the floorboards, which were unfortunately littered with debris.
“The cellar. That is the only place I can think of that is underground and easily accessible to the house,” Xander replied with adrenaline racing through his veins. “If I recall correctly its hidden entrance is five paces from the west wall,” he added, grateful that Badru had given him a thorough tour of the Karson land, making him quite aware of the cellar’s exact location.
Xander was also grateful for was the fact that Nasiir had returned to the form of a Doberman and thus was operating with a double sense of smell. Hekimans already had a heightened sense of smell to the point of actually being able to detect blood kinships among species. Combine that with the senses of an Earth canine and Nasiir’s nose was operating at optimal usage right now.
“I have Afua’s scent,” Nasiir suddenly announced, lifting his head after sniffing in the westward location.
Xander visibly relaxed. His heartbeat slowed down considerably. “And Dr. Karson?”
Nasiir bent to sniff again. He smiled and lifted his head once more. “He is down there, as well.” At his word, the two of them immediately transported to the cellar’s coordinates.
When Badru and Afua saw two shadowy figures, one with two legs, the other with four, suddenly appear in the cellar with them, they immediately went towards them. They knew that none of Jay’s men could do that. Earth simply didn’t have that type of technology yet. Now if the cellar door had opened, Badru might have been tempted to shoot the first thing moving.
“Oh, Xander! I knew you’d come for us!” Afua gushed out with unshed tears swimming in her eyes. Within seconds she’d thrown herself into his arms and buried her head in the comfort of his strong chest. Even the spicy scent of this man was comforting to her.
Xander didn’t care what had propelled Afua’s soft frame into his arms. He was just so glad that she was there. In fact, he held her tightly just because he could right now. “I love you,” he whispered fervently into her left ear. “I love you so much.”
Meanwhile, Nasiir began to question Badru about the men who’d been scouring their homestead for the greater part of that day. He’d seen the men from the outside, but Badru had been in a strategic position to listen to them on the inside.
Suddenly they all grew very quiet and still as the sound of footsteps registered from above.
Did Jay’s men come back?
They would all soon find out.
________________________________________
[i] 1 Kings 19:11-13
[ii] Jonah (whole four chapters)
[iii] James 4:8
Chapter 23
“Just as I figured,” said Mrs. Gladwin, one of the Karson’s closest neighbors. “They tore up the whole place.”
“Government scum! Harassing good people like this.” Mr. Gladwin stepped around fallen book shelves and overturned chairs and sofas. Before moving out of the city, he’d seen black suited government men abuse their authority on a daily basis. That was the main reason he’d moved from the city.
“You’re right on that. The Karsons never crossed anybody,” Mrs. Gladwin said, repeating what she’d told the government men only hours before.
“You think they got away?” Mr. Gladwin used his gloved hands to set chairs and end tables back up on their feet.
“I’m sure of it. That Afua stays prayed and fasted up, so God probably told her personally when to leave. Not only that, the black suits wouldn’t have stayed so long if they had found our neighbors.”
“Yeah. Wonder where they escaped to though.”
“A place far away from here I hope.” Suddenly tears filled Mrs. Gladwin’s eyes. “I’m sure going to miss Badru and Afua. Especially down at the church.”
Mr. Gladwin nodded first. Then he shook his head sadly. “Yeah, they were good people to know.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Anyway, let’s do what we came here to do. These family albums and other family things ain’t going to pack themselves up.”
“All right. Maybe one day we’ll be able to give them back to the Karsons. In the meantime, we’ll treat them like they were a part of our very own family heritage.” Mrs. Gladwin wiped her eyes with the tail end of her shirt before searching out the very things they’d come here to preserve.
~~~ >< ~~~
In the cellar below, a glossy-eyed Afua could not hold back her tears any longer. The Gladwins’ unexpected act of kindness and Xander’s numerous heartfelt declarations would not allow her to. And although she was emotionally rawer than she’d been in a very long time, Afua was unafraid to show it now. The silent tears rolling down her face in squiggly streams proved it.
Xander continued to hold her close as she cried. Freeing up one of his hands, he pressed the transporter button and typed in coordinates to a new destination. Fortunately, Afua had started wearing all natural fibers and thus remained fully clothed during this transportation.
Nasiir inched closer to Badru and did the same thing with his transporter, which look amazingly like a fancy dog collar with buttons. He would teach the Karsons how to use the two extra devices they brought with them at another time. The guns that Badru had in the black bag did not transport. Fortunately, everything else did.
On board the ship, Xander took a now openly weeping Afua to his cabin area. This way she could cry as loud as she wanted and for as long as she wanted. This way they could also finally have some much needed privacy. The automatic door, which smoothly glided open from bottom to top, descended close behind them just as Nasiir and Badru materialized in the control room of the ship.
In the middle of Xander’s room was a king-sized mittah. A purple kicce sat on the right side of it. Retractable storage space adorned the walls, which were painted in soothing sea-green and sky-blue colors. It was a room of peace and tranquility.
As soon as Xander laid Afua down upon the smooth purple, green, and blue sheets, the mittah adjusted to her form in a comforting way. All Katanian-designed furniture did that.
With tenderness in his eyes, Xander retrieved a purple cloth from one of the storage areas and sat down beside Afua. He got comfortable, too, as he waited for her tears to abate.
“Are you weeping because someone was kind to you? Or is there another reason for your tears?” Xander prodded gently when the flow of tears had slowed a bit. He restrained his usual candid tongue in light of this most sensitive moment.
Xander had seen the color of love floating around in Afua’s essence when she saw him materialize before her. A warm orange had joined the festive red when the neighborly benevolence from the Gladwins was shown.
Afua lifted her head and looked into Xander’s ebony eyes. If God had not spoken to her heart only hours before, she might have been inclined to hold back her feelings in this most pivotal moment. However, she would do none of that now. Now Afua would face her destiny head on. But first she would wipe her face with the cloth Xander handed her.
“My tears serve three purposes,” Afua began as she sat up on the mittah and put the cloth in her lap. “They reveal my relief at being found alive and well, my joy at having found true neighbors in the Gladwins, and my final surrender to the eros kind of love.”
“Expou
nd on that last part please,” Xander replied. Although he was very familiar with the Greek word ‘eros’, he wanted to make sure that Afua was talking about surrendering to that romantic kind of love…with him.
Afua cupped his face tenderly in her hands. “I’m trying to tell you that I love you, too, Xander.” A kiss was imminent now as she moved closer to him.
~~~ >< ~~~
In the control room, Badru found it hard to pay attention to Nasiir, who by now had turned into a chimpanzee in order to have the use of fingers upon the computer keys.
Was Badru distracted by the Hekiman’s newest form?
No. He was used to the talking, transformable animal by now.
Dr. Karson was distracted by the fact that his beautiful unmarried daughter was currently behind a closed door with a handsome unmarried man. The same unmarried man who clearly loved Afua very much as evident by that touching little scene in the cellar. It was bad enough that Xander had already, though unwittingly, seen Afua in the nude before.
As a result of those things, Badru kept getting up out of his kicce to glance around the corner of the control room, looking for any signs that Xander’s door would be opening soon. What were they doing in there so long anyway? Surely Afua had regained her composure by now.
Noticing the man’s inattentiveness, the chimpanzee in the blue kicce said, “You have nothing to worry about with those two. Neither Xander nor I can mate with anyone until this mission is over.”
Badru looked only slightly relieved at Nasiir’s words. “Are you unable to? Or do you just choose not to?”
Nasiir chuckled. “We are definitely able to. However, we choose not to, because engaging in certain activities tends to erode one’s physical and mental strength during times of battle.”
Badru’s brows rose. “We used to practice abstinence before major sporting and physical events on Earth many years ago. However, countless studies since then have shown that moderate sexual activity is actually fine before such events.”
Nasiir laughed outright now at the Earth scientist’s ignorance. “Moderate is the key word here, Dr. Karson. Katanians and Hekimans do not engage in moderate intimacy of any kind, although our approaches are very different. Katanians are slow lovers with high levels of endurance. They can continue for hours without a break in between. Hekimans are fast lovers. We have a tendency to enjoy intimacy almost to the point of utter collapse.”