Walking the Path.

Finding One's True Self:
Part 49

By Xan Steel

Gor entered his quarters once his shift
ended and worked his way to the bedroom area. There on the nightstand was a
family photo. He sat down on the bed and picked up the photo to look it over.
Pictured in it was him holding Raybia by his side, with their eight younglings
in front of them, their smiles reminded him of happier times. It was easy to
see his handpaws shaking slightly. He wanted to be angry at her for using the
XZR CORE knowing full well that it would take her life. However, he couldn't
muster the strength to be angry with her. He spoke after a quiet moment, “I
know we've not always seen eye to eye, but I'll do my best to take care of our
family. I just wish you would be there with me." He then put the picture down
after a while and laid down in bed softly weeping.

***

Raybia was desperately fighting the
computer's default Hyper-Jump location of Valdoro, because she wanted the ship
to Jump to the Mazin sector where Dr. Graphra's station resided. However, this
kept the Kestrel within that layer of space the Jump-Drive used longer which
was far more turbulent, causing the ship to receive damage to the hull. Every
hit to the hull rocked the ship hard keeping the crew terrified that this was
it, that at any moment they would be no more.

It seemed like an eternity passed, but
Raybia managed to finally break the system's default Jump parameters, which
allowed the Jump to complete and end up in the Mazin sector. However, the ship
was now severally damaged. Both wings had been torn off, and Cargo Bay Three's
outer door had been ripped off while emergency bulkheads had sealed it off. Sadly,
due to the explosive decompression, Rubicant's ship had been lost.

Raybia hung there quietly in the system as
she began to feel it slowly drain her to keep life-support going. She connected
to the communications system and found it had enough reserve power to send out
a distress call for three days. Looking over the transmission array, however,
stated it was severally damaged, but it was functional. It took a while, but
she was able to angle it in the direction of Dr. Graphra's station. Hopefully,
someone was listening and would send a rescue ship.

***

Across the ship, everyone was settling
down once they realized they hadn't died. Many of the Derlenians on the ship
began to communicate mentally with each other to find out what was happening.

For the moment everyone was to stay where
they were. Mess hall would become the communal sleeping area, as most of the
ship would be shut down to conserve energy until a more in-depth review of the
situation could be done.

***

Raybia then opened the floor to allow
Julyna to enter. Once Julyna heard the floor open she told everyone to remain
where they were. She then walked down into the room and saw Raybia hanging
there, while noticing the floor was now covered in a thin layer of her blood.

They looked at each other briefly before
Julyna spoke, her tone was soft, “I didn't authorize the use of this device
Raybia."

Raybia spoke in the same tone, “No Captain
can give this device an authorization, only the one trained in its use has that
authority."

Julyna's voice raised ever so slightly,
“Raybia you are a member of my crew, and that alone means you must follow my
orders. I had forbidden you from using this device when you came aboard my
ship. Remember?"

Raybia looked down before speaking softly,
“I'm sorry for breaking your order Captain, but they wouldn't let us go without
giving up Mister Rubi."

Julyna wanted to show her anger, but
remained calm, “You don't know that Raybia, and not allowing me to talk with
them first only makes things harder for us, for me. If I am able to negotiate
with them in the future."

Raybia's tone became slightly snarky, “I
don't know?" She put the image of Gor's ship up on a nearby screen showing it
firing off the torpedo's and the stats of them. “I don't know?" she repeated
again in a very slightly raised voice. “My mate and Pawpaw to my younglings
just tried to obliterate us, and I don't know?" she finished with a tone that
was harsh and somewhat squeaky.

Julyna could see her eyes water up and a
tear run down her cheek. She was not expecting this and now understood why
Raybia jumped the gun on the use of the CORE. She walked over to her and gently
lift Raybia's head to look at her. “I never wanted to lose a friend to this
machine."

Raybia spoke with a shaky tone, “And I
never wanted to use this machine, but with everything that has happened and
will happen. I didn't have much of a choice."

Julyna looked at her with a slightly
confused look, “What are you talking about with not having a choice?"

Raybia brought up a personal communication
she had received from her elders. They explained that they had to move all
family members off world as the Rebels started blockading all the inhabited
world's in their system. While forcing many to join them or watch their loved
ones die. Once it was finished Raybia spoke again in her same shaky voice, “I must
believe that whatever the Grand Master has planned for Mister Rubi, that it'll
benefit all our societies and make our Galaxy safe for my little ones, for all
little ones."

***

Rubicant began to take in the surrounding
thoughts on the current situation as he and Iris got up, and the news sadly
wasn't good. However, he also sensed how upset Julyna was with Raybia, and when
he peeked into Raybia's mind is when he discovered what she did.

Iris sensed his change in mood instantly,
“Rubi what's wrong?" she asked.

He turns to look at her in the dim light
of Medical. Iris could see the sadness on his face as clear as day. He spoke
with a tone that reinforced that sadness. “It's Raybia, she, she's in a machine
that is slowly killing her."

Iris spoke in a soft and caring tone,
“Yes, she used a device called the XZR CORE. Sadly, it will use her body as a
conduit to maintain power levels on this ship until it no longer can use her."

Rubicant looked down while in thought for a
moment before speaking again, his tone gave off a slight level of defiance, “I
can't let her die like that." His eyes closed for a moment as he touched
Raybia's mind and then spoke again, “Especially since I know she has a family
waiting for her."

Iris pulled him into an embrace, “Sweetie,
sometimes there are things that happen that are out of our control."

Rubicant looked up at her and spoke with
that same slight defiance tone, “But I can pull her out of that machine, and
between you and Samantha, you can fix her body. I won't let that machine take
her from her family and friends."

Iris looked into his eyes and spoke in a soft
and concerned tone, “Rubi, I don't think that's possible."

Rubicant reached up to caress her cheek
and spoke in a loving tone to her, “Please believe in me. I know what I need to
do, and I will admit it's not going to be pleasant, but I can do it."

Iris looked at him there in that dim soft
light, and through their shared link knew that he believed he could save
Raybia, but how he had to do it terrified him. She sighed, “All right, I'll
bring the anti-grav stretcher, so I can bring her back to medical."

Rubicant leaned in and kissed her. “Thank
you," he said.

***

On their way to the bridge, Iris mentally
reached out to Samantha. 'Doctor I'm going to need your help in medical,' she
stated.

Samantha thought back to her in a
questioning tone, 'What's going on, who's been injured?'

'It's Raybia, once I bring her to medical,
I'll need your help in repairing her body,' Iris replied.

'Understood,' Samantha answered in return.

***

As they walked through parts of the ship
where the environmental controls had been shut down, Rubicant could feel the
cold cut deep into his body. Iris watched him shiver as they walked along the corridor
and decided to take off her robe and place it over and around him. He looked at
her and noticed that she was wearing a long thinly made nightgown underneath.

Rubicant spoke in a concerned tone,
“Sweetie I don't want you getting chilly."

Iris softly giggled at him, “Hun, my
entire body is covered in fur which provides enough warmth for me. You, on the
other hand, don't have that luxury, and I'm not about to watch my First freeze
to death," she finished and kissed his forehead.

Because this was a robe she wore a lot, it
was the first time he smelled her scent openly without having to enhance his
sense of smell, giving him a level of comfort which allowed him to relax more.

Rubicant then reached out to Feros in
engineering, 'Feros, what is the status of our reserve power?'

Feros responded with a tone of mild
distress, 'I don't have enough information to give a reasonable response yet,
give me an hour to evaluate everything.' Rubicant sighed as Feros caught it,
'For now let Raybia stay in the CORE. Once I have a better understanding of the
power situation, I'll let the Captain and you know first, as if your thoughts
are anything like mine, I don't want to lose Raybia either.'

***

It took them a few extra minutes to navigate through the
ship with many of the doors on lock-down due to Raybia having shut-off
non-essentials. During this time Rubicant, picked up one other person in deep
distress, Gytaroo. Through a careful peek of hir eyes and mind, is when he
discovered what had taken place. He searched through his mind for a technique
as he heard Rya's voice in his mind. She helped him find the right ability, an
ability he could pass on to Julyna. Only because Gytaroo needed someone shi
could fully trust.

Once they got to the bridge they entered, and saw Altair
standing there waiting for them. He immediately sent Rubicant and Iris
everything that had happened and what he was asked to do, and that he had
resigned from the Alliance once he discovered that Julyna found out.

Iris came over and gave him both a hug and a kiss before
speaking in a soft tone, “I'm glad to see the truth about what happened, and
that you didn't leave us."

Altair spoke in a loving tone, “I've never considered leaving
you three. I couldn't live with myself if I lost the happiness I have with all
of you."

Rubicant came up after her, “I'm glad that my suspicion was
correct, and that you were forced into that position." As he too gave Altair
both a hug and a kiss, before moving on to the opening in the floor.

Altair turned to Iris, “What is he planning to do here?"

Iris' tone was filled with some hope as she spoke, “He plans
to save Raybia, though I have a sneaking suspicion that he's going to need your
help, once he's done."

***

Rubicant took his time going down the
stairs, as he heard both Julyna and Raybia talking about what would happen to
her in a few days' time.

Julyna heard someone coming down the
stairs and turned to face them and spoke in a commanding voice, “I don't want
anyone down here right now." However, she was surprised to see Rubicant
standing there, and Raybia began to squirm to try and hide her nakedness from
him. “Rubi, I need you to leave please, as now is not a good time."

He held up a hand to her to quiet her down
while speaking in a soft and caring tone, “I know what's going on, and I'm here
to save Raybia."

Julyna looked at him with a questioning
expression as he sent her reassurances that he could save her, while also
mentioning that he needed to give her something to help Gytaroo.

He walked over to Julyna and brought her
forehead to his and began to pass on the mental ability to her as Rya removed a
few of her telepathic restraints.

Once it was finished Julyna looked at him
and spoke in an understanding tone, “I see," she said before speaking again as
her tone shifted to a loving tone. “You know, this is likely part of that path
you don't want to go down." As she leaned her forehead back on his in a loving
manner.

Rubicant spoke softly, “I know, but I
can't let her die like this, and if this is truly the only path I have in life,
then I really don't have much of a choice but to follow it," he finished.

Julyna leaned back to look him in the eyes
and spoke in a caring tone, “You have our full support and love Rubi." Julyna
replied and kissed him softly, as she then turned and headed out to see
Gytaroo.

Rubicant then turned to Raybia and took
off the robe that Iris had given him and walked over to her and placed it over
her body.

Raybia spoke softly, “I didn't want anyone
else to see me naked and like this."

Rubicant lifted her head to look at him
and smiled, “If I had wanted to see you naked, I would've just asked." Raybia
looked at him as her ears softly flopped down with embarrassment. He spoke
again, “But that's not why I'm here," he finished.

Raybia looked at him as a tear ran down
her cheek and spoke, “You can't save me Mister Rubi," she looked down and
continued. “I wish it were possible, but there are only two ways I can leave
this machine, and both require my death."

Rubicant gently caressed her head, “I
know, but I also know that of those two ways, one of them will allow me to save
you."

She looked back up to him, while he wiped
away her tears. “I, I want to believe you. I really do, but..." she trailed
off.

Rubicant got on his knees there before her
and looked directly into her eyes. “Have I ever given you a reason not to
believe or trust me?" She looked at him for a moment, and then shook her head
no. “Then all that's holding you back is fear."

When she spoke, her voice was very quiet,
“Yes."

Julyna mentally interrupted Rubicant,
“Sorry to bother you hun, but Feros wanted me to let you know that we have
enough reserve power left for two weeks." He thanked her for the update and
continued with Raybia.

“That's a healthy response to the
unknown," he said to her.

Raybia spoke in a nervous tone. “But, in
order to make sure this machine doesn't cremate my body, someone is going to
have to kill me.

Rubicant continued to gently hold her head
and spoke softly. “I know," he said.

She looked back up to his is eyes again,
“Is it, is it going to hurt?" she asked nervously knowing he would be the one
to kill her.

He looked into her eyes and spoke again,
“I don't honestly know."

She looked down at the floor in thought
for a moment before she spoke nervously, “Well then, I'm about as ready as I'm
going to be."

Rubicant spoke softly but with confidence
as he stood back up and began to wrap his left arm around her head as his hand
went under her chin, “All right, just relax for me, and once I've finished I'll
encapsulate your consciousness, and Iris and Dr. Pagri will repair your body,"
he finished as she acknowledges him.

***

Julyna made it to Gytaroo's quarters and
mentally spoke to hir. 'Gytaroo, I'm coming in.' When she didn't get a response,
she opened a small panel next to the door, and used the manual release lever to
open the door. Once it was open enough, Julyna then forced it the rest of the
way by hand. She stepped inside and heard Gytaroo weeping in hir bedroom. As
Julyna quietly approached the room she heard Gytaroo speaking quietly.

“I'm so sorry little one. I was to0 scared
to make you right."

Julyna slowly peeked around the entryway
and looked in. This is when she saw what had happened. Gytaroo budded in the
excitement. However, from what Julyna remembered of their talks together,
budding required a calm environment. Julyna walked over to Gytaroo and knelt
next to hir and pulled hir into a gentle hug, causing Gytaroo to break down
completely.

After a few moments Julyna looked at the
little one Gytaroo was holding and gently rubbed its head. She spoke softly,
“Adorable." She then turned to look at Gytaroo and saw where shi had hir budding
and had hir move the little one to that spot.

“Captain, wha, what are you doing?"
Gytaroo questioned.

“I came here at the request of Rubicant,
as he sensed your distress. Judging from what I see and from what you've told
me. The budding process has not been completed yet." Julyna answered.

Gytaroo looked down at the little one and
spoke, “No, I'm afraid that in the excitement, I rushed it. This means the form
is incomplete and due to this, the youngling is, is…" she trailed off in her
thought.

Julyna pulled her into an embrace and
gently stroked the top of hir head as she spoke softly, “Shhhh, it's okay I'm
going to help you, just hold the little one close to the budding spot."

Gytaroo looked up at her, not fully
understanding what Julyna was talking about, but drew the youngling in close to
her, as Julyna put her forehead to hirs.

After a short moment, Gytaroo felt the air
around hir become heavier than normal while giving off a noticeable vibration.
Shi then felt Julyna calming and relaxing hir mind and body, while at the same
time feeling the incomplete youngling slowly reattach to hir body. Shi could
feel Julyna mentally help her start the budding over again, helping her
complete its form.

With working together, it didn't take long
to hear the cry of a newly formed youngling. Gytaroo openly wept in happiness
while holding Julyna tightly and thanking her repeated.

Julyna spoke in a happier tone, “I'm glad
I could be of help, and don't forget to thank Rubicant for giving me this
ability. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to help you."

Gytaroo spoke in an equally happy tone, “I
should do that now."

Julyna stopped her, “I'll let you know
when you can, as for now he's saving Raybia from the XZR CORE."

Gytaroo just stared at her knowing full
well what that meant. “I understand," shi replied.

“For now, let's just get you to the Mess
Hall." Julyna finished.

***

Both Altair and Iris were walking down the
steps towards the XZR CORE, when they heard a muffled snap. Once they reached
the bottom, they saw Rubicant with his forehead on Raybia's, but her head didn't
look right, and they both noticed one of her legs twitching.

Rubicant had called out to Altair just
before he finished, so that Altair would be able to catch him before he
collapsed to the floor.

Iris walked over to them and examined
Raybia. Rubicant had broken her neck. 'Crude, but effective,' she thought to
herself, and waited for the machine to release her body. Once the machine
started to release her body, Iris placed the anti-grav stretcher under Raybia's
body, so it would fall on it, instead of the floor. Once that was done, Altair
followed Iris back to medical while carrying Rubicant in his arms.

Samantha greeted them upon their arrival
in Medical and directed Iris to bring Raybia over to the surgical bay. Samantha
began to examine Raybia, and Iris picked up on her uneasiness with having to
see Raybia in this condition. Broken Necks it seemed made her feel uneasy.

Altair took Rubicant over to one of the
bio-beds and laid Rubicant out as comfortably as possible. Once he heard
Samantha and Iris begin their operation on Raybia, he gently entered Rubicant's
mind.

***

Rubicant while in his Derlenian form was standing
in a barren empty area of his mind and began to build a small relaxing area
around himself. A tall shade tree, a small hill under it that spread out from
it, with a few patches of wild flowers. Rya appeared next to him and helped him
out further with a clear blue sky, dotted with a few lazy clouds floating by.

Once they were finished Rubicant brought
in Raybia and leaned her up against the tree, while making sure she was clothed.
She was asleep just like he was when Altair had encapsulated his consciousness.
Rubicant sat in front of her as Rya sat next to him and waited for her to wake
up.

Raybia began to stir while feeling the
soft ground beneath her, and something wrapped around her body. She slowly
opened her eyes to look at her body and the surrounding area. She was wrapped
in a short shirt and shorts. The area was very relaxing and quite pretty. As
she continued to look around her eyes laid on two Derlenians, a male and a
female. She didn't recognize them until the male spoke in Rubicant's voice.

“Little Raybia, I know you don't know this
form, but it is me Rubicant. This, apparently, is my real form," he said.

Rya then spoke up, “I'm Rya, Rubicant's
Memaw."

Raybia was having a hard time believing
this, until Rubicant changed his form before her eyes, to his human form. When
she spoke, he could hear her somewhat excited tone mixed into her question. “This
is what you discovered on that planet a while ago, isn't it?"

“Yes, it is, but I'd be lying if I didn't
say that I still have a hard time believing it." He said in return while
returning to his Derlenian form again.

They started talking more comfortably with
each other as Rya sensed another mind joining them. She turned to Rubicant and
spoke, “Sweetie would you excuse me for a moment?"

“If it's because you sensed Altair, that's
fine." He said with a smile, as she kissed his cheek and faded from view
leaving Rubicant and Raybia to talk.

***

Meanwhile, in Medical, Samantha was busy
examining Raybia's body and neck. She spoke, “Fixing her nervous system isn't
going to be a problem, but he certainly didn't make it easy on us with the
damage he did to her neck."

Iris responded, “True, but we can repair
it, it'll just require more work."

Samantha looked at her, “Why couldn't he
have just killed her with a thought?" she questioned in a serious tone.

Iris looked up at her and spoke with a
slightly sad tone, “He's not trained on how to do that correctly and could have
very much destroyed her consciousness. Which he needed to encapsulate to be
able to save her," she finished as a shocked look came over Samantha.

***

Altair sensed someone behind him, as he
turned around to face them. In his eyes, she was a gorgeous black female with
red eyes.

She spoke, “I'm Rya, Rubicant's Memaw, and
you are his First on the male side, correct?" she asked.

Altair was somewhat shocked to hear this
but spoke to her, “Yes, I'm Altair, and I wasn't aware that Rubi had a Memaw in
this galaxy."

Rya shared everything that had happened with
Altair, bringing him up to speed on what had taken place while he was away.
Altair was just as surprised as Rubicant. “How well did he take it, when you
told him?" he asked.

Rya's smile softened a bit as she spoke in
a quiet tone, “While he is slowly coming to terms with it, he's still having a
hard time believing it."

Altair spoke again he tone as quiet as
hers, “That's a lot to take in, especially, if you are not expecting it."

Rya turned to look over towards Rubicant
and Raybia, as Altair joined her. They watched them have a few laughs as they
continued to talk, as Altair felt a very slight twinge in mental energy that
was surrounding them. It was a sign that Rubicant's mental energy was getting
close to needing a recharge. Rya spoke, “He's getting close to needing a
recharge. Sadly, I can't help him with that, or my essence will vanish."

Altair turned to look at her while
speaking softly, “I am fully aware of that, and the last thing he needs right
now is for you to disappear. It's something I don't want him feeling." Altair
started walking towards Rubicant and Raybia while Rya followed behind him.

***

Raybia was speaking when she noticed
Rubicant looking tired. “Mister Rubi are you feeling okay?" she asked him.

Rubicant reached up to rub his temples a
bit as he started to feel a bit of pain. He looked back at Raybia and spoke,
“Yeah, just getting tired is all. I'm beginning to understand how Altair felt
when he encapsulated my consciousness so long ago," he finished.

Raybia looked passed him as she saw Rya coming
back to them and noticed Altair was with her. “I think Admiral Altair is with
Miss Rya," she said as Rubicant turned around to look.

Rubicant started to speak until he was
overcome with exhaustion and slowly began to topple over, until he caught himself.
“Mister Rubi!" Raybia exclaimed and came over to help stable him.

Rubicant shook his head to try and clear
his thoughts before speaking, “It's okay Raybia, I'm just tired is all."

Raybia spoke in a worrisome tone, “Holding
my consciousness is taking a lot out of you, isn't it?" she questioned him.

He looked at her with a smile, “I think
it's more that I've never done this sort of thing before, so I was not
expecting this level of drain."

Altair walked up behind Rubicant then knelt
down and embraced him from behind. “I must say, you are doing really well, for
your first time encapsulating a consciousness." He then placed his forehead on
Rubicant's and sent him most of his mental energy. When he was finished, he let
go of Rubicant and leaned back.

Rubicant turned to him and gave him a
simple thank you kiss. “Thank you hun, I wasn't sure how much longer I was
going to last." Rubicant said with a smile.

“I could tell it wasn't much longer, but
I'm happy to say that it's been at least two hours." Altair said as he finished
with a yawn, and then continued. “But I think I'm going to pop out and get some
rest and see how many others Julyna has managed to get to help you out," he
finished and disappeared, as Rya sat down next to Rubicant and continued
talking with them.

***

Julyna saw Altair awaken and came over to
him as he spoke, “Well his limit is about two hours." He looked at Julyna,
“How's the surgery coming along?" he asked.

Julyna spoke softly to him, “So far they
have managed to repair most of the entry points from the bio-electric prongs,
Though, the hardest part is going to be her neck. Apparently, several of her vertebrae
have been damaged beyond repair, and Dr. Pagri is having to grow new ones. That
however, is going to take a days' time to complete," she finished.

Altair sighed softly in thought before
asking his next question, “How many others have you been able to get to help
out in transferring their mental energy to him?"

As Julyna spoke, he could hear some mild
confidence in her voice. “Outside of you, me, and Zalina, I've gotten Bartou
from Engineering, Salgine from Security, Mobar from Hydroponics, and Tela from
Communications. So, with any luck we should be able to get enough rest in between
shifts." As Altair nodded in agreement.

***

Over the course of ten hours, Samantha and
Iris managed to finish repairing all the entry points on Raybia's body. After
which they left her body in stasis and took a two-hour break to recover
themselves before continuing, only because Raybia's neck would be the most
challenging part to repair.

Once they came back, Samantha prepared a
mild long-lasting stimulant for them, only because she figured with the amount
of damage done to Raybia's spinal cord that would likely take the longest
amount of time to repair.

They carefully turned Raybia's head back
around the right way. Iris them brought over a bone scanner and began to scan
her neck area. After it completed it reported that there were twenty bone
fragments in her neck, as Iris told it to transport them out of her body.

Samantha then scanned her cartilage that
sits between her Intervertebral discs and the Zygapophysial joints. Lucky for
them, they remained undamaged.

Iris brought over something that looked
like a mechanical neck brace and placed it over Raybia's neck.

Samantha spoke, “Ah the Neuralcore, that
will help expediate the repair of her nerves in her neck. I'll go and check on
her new Vertebrae."

Iris set the device to Raybia's previous
scans and let it get to work. After a five-minute scan, it gave an estimated
repair time of five hours. She yawned as Samantha came back into surgical bay.

“Hmm that stimulate must be wearing off,
would you like another?" Samantha asked.

“No, I think since this is going to take five
hours to complete, I'm going to lay down for a bit on one of the bio-beds. Been
going for almost three days now with only two hours of sleep." Iris replied with
another yawn as Samantha nodded in understanding and mentioned that the
Vertebrae still had some growing to do.

***

As time progressed Rubicant was still able
to keep Raybia encapsulated with everyone's help. When Julyna came back in he
asked her about Iris, and how she was doing. She told him that so far
everything was progressing normally, and that her and Dr. Pagri were currently implanting
Raybia's new vertebrae, but on a personal note she did mention that while she
was fine, she was also very tired. When Rubicant looked back at Raybia sleeping
there, he got up and walked away with Julyna for a bit.

Rubicant yawned softly, “I never realized
just how tiring this is. So, want to sleep," he said.

Julyna smiled at him and spoke, “I'm proud
of you for holding on this long. Once they've finished putting in her new
vertebrae, you'll be able to put her consciousness back into her body. After
which I'll let you sleep for a few days."

He hugged her gently, “I wish I could
sleep for that long, but with how the current situation is, I know Feros is
going to need all the help he can get. Just getting a couple of hours sleep will
help though," he finished.

Julyna looked at him with a slightly sterner
look in her eyes and a tone to match, “Sweetie, that was not a suggestion. You
will be resting and sleeping for a few days, because how long you have been
doing this. Your mind, and your Memaw's essence, will need the rest," she stated.
Rubicant looked at her for a moment as he had never heard her talk like that before.
She spoke again, “I'm sorry for my tone with you, but resting after using this
much mental energy without formal training is absolutely necessary. Sadly a few
hours won't be enough to completely recharge you, and your Memaw, and losing
her is the last thing any one of us want," she finished.

Rubicant continued to look at her, never
realizing just how serious this sort of thing was, as well as it being coupled
with the possible loss of his rediscovered Memaw. He nodded to her and spoke
with a conceding tone, “All right, I'll rest for a few days."

***

Once Samantha and Iris finished implanting
Raybia's new vertebrae, they moved Rubicant to an anti-grav stretcher with the
help of Altair and brought him over to Raybia and placed his hand on her forehead,
Julyna then entered his mind one more time to inform him that he could return
her consciousness.

***

Raybia gently stirred on the surgical bed
as her eyes opened slowly. As she looked around, she saw both Iris and Samantha
looking at her. Samantha was scanning her as Iris brought over a small light
and looked into her eyes. Once Iris finished, she spoke, “How do you feel
Raybia?"

Raybia looked at Iris for a moment and
then spoke softly. “I, I'm really alive?" Iris nodded to her as both her and
Samantha watched her eyes water up. “He really did it. He saved me." Raybia
said while softly crying, as Iris pulled her into an embrace as Raybia thanked
them both for repairing her body.

Julyna was looking over Rubicant when she
came over to check on Raybia. Raybia asked how he was doing. Julyna spoke in a
soft tone. “He's going to be sleeping for the next few days. Outside of that,
he's going to be fine."

Raybia spoke again, “I'll need to thank
him once he wakes up."

“I'll let him know when he does. For now
though, lets get you to the mess hall so you can get some rest." Julyna
finished as Raybia nodded and followed her.

Altair came over and picked up Rubicant,
“I'll take him to the mess hall and lay him down in a quiet corner." He said.

“I'm going to get a new robe, and some
blankets from my quarters, and meet you there, as I would to get some more rest
myself." Iris said and left.

Samantha stayed behind to clean up, as
Feros came in and embraced Samantha. “I've got us a nice quiet spot in the mess
hall, as I know you could use the rest as well." He said having overheard
everyone else.

Samantha was gently shaking in his arms. He
leaned back to look at her. “Sam, what's wrong?"

She whispered with her head hung low and
her eyes closed, “Her neck… it was horrible."

Feros pulled her in tighter to comfort her
as best as he could. He didn't need to be a telepath to understand her
thoughts. Seeing a broken neck is a terrifying thing. He spoke after a moment,
“I know it wasn't easy for you, but I'm proud of you for working past your fear
and helping heal Raybia." She held him tightly as she gently wept for a moment.
“Now let me help you clean up in here, and head back to the mess hall for some
well needed rest." Feros finished as Samantha nodded in return.