LIGHTNING CRASHES
By
A.j.
Timeline: Years after
Author's E-Mail: jetfixer@interaccess.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Well, I decided to go through my earlier works and get the typos out of them, and I thought new people wouldn't mind reading 'em. Here's the first one. (Oh yeah, Rhonda, I love you, you are wonderful for going through these and proofing
them.)
EVERYONE! Worship the Proofreading Goddess *NOW*!Here is the work of an author compelled to write. I rewatched an episode of Strange Luck (watch it, the musical arrangement is breathtaking) and this story came to me out of the blue. So, without further ado, here is Lightning Crashes.
Lightning Crashes
by A.j.
(lyrics by Live)"Lightning Crashes, a new mother cries..."
Devon felt a sharp pain shoot through her back. It was so sudden and strong, she had to falter her already-slow step. Mary Li, Devon's personal assistant, saw the hesitation in her friend's step and was quickly at her side.
"Dev, you okay? Is something wrong?" The concern in her voice wrapped around Devon, giving her strengh to overcome the pain and regain some of her composure.
"Yeah, Anna. I'm fine." She held her hand up and pushed off the steadying arm Anna had wrapped around her. "I'm just a little tired."
Anna stepped back, relinquishing to Devon's wishes. Devon knew that such pains were common in the final month of pregnancy, which she was definitely in. She glanced down at her distended abdomen and smiled slightly. Even after eight months of getting used to it, she still couldn't believe that she and John were expecting twins. Uly was even less amused. The brief smile disappeared from Devon's lips. It saddened her greatly that her firstborn child was having a hard time accepting that his mother was going to be a mother to someone other than him. It had been extremely hard for him when Devon had started showing signs of caring for True in the same maternal way as she cared for him. 'But that isn't what you need to think about now, Devon,' her mind sternly scolded. 'You need to get to the dedication of the new clock tower. You *are* the presenter, after all.'
Devon sighed heavily and started moving again. It was slow going, at the best of times. The square was jammed with people, crowding and anxious for the ceremonies to begin. Unfortunately, for the large and awkward Devon, there wasn't much room to maneuver. Whenever she tried to push her way through, another person would block her. Or, when she saw an opening in the crush, it was too small for her pear-like physique to fit through. 'Everyone is anxious for the ceremonies to begin, but they can't until I get up there, and as long as the ceremonies aren't starting, people get antsier. What a paradox.' Devon thought disgustedly as she pushed and pulled herself through the crowd towards the podium set up in front of the new clock tower.
Devon stopped, for a moment, and looked up to admire the tower. It was made of carved granite that had come from the quarry just passed the outskirts of town. The resident stonesmiths, Anne and John, had gone nuts over the large work. They had happily roped many unwilling souls into chipping and working the hard stone. Though strenuous as the task may have been, the end result was worth it. Beautiful illustrations and gargoyles edged the roof, while the roof itself came up gracefully and extended high into the G889 sky. And in the face of the stone work, there was a large clock. It had been deemed that on the fourth year anniversery of planet-fall by the Advance crew, the clock would be started. At exactly noon that day, Devon would throw the switch, and the clock would begin to tick. The smile came back over her lips and she moved her way back into the crowd again.
Finally, she and Anna reached the stage. Anna laughed all the way up the stairs as Devon waddled her way up, as well. Devon cast her the evil eye, and grunted, "Ha! Wait till it's your turn. Se how sympathetic *I'll* be when you have to climb stairs hauling an extra forty pounds on your gut."
"It's most likely I won't be carring *forty* extra pounds." Anna answered, unfazed. "Twins are very rare, you know." Her smile was all sweetness and light.
Devon again grunted and duck-walked her way over to where her husband of almost two years was standing, like a greek god, on the sunny side of the stage. She slipped her hand around his waist and looked up expectantly into his blue eyes.
"Hey, love. What took you so long?" His eyes twinkled in utter amusement. Devon's eyes narrowed as she gazed at her lover. "You try hauling this bundle around for a day. See how fast *you* move, buster."
A look of concern spread across his handsome face. "Are you okay? Not tired? Julia can do the speech and dedication if you aren't up to it." He pointed over at Julia, who was seated next to Alonzo a few feet away. She was rocking eighteen-month-old Jamie in her lap and was listening intently to her husband speak. Devon had to smile at the picture they made. They were such the perfect family.
Devon broght her mind back on focus. "No, John, I'm fine. I *am* tired, but that's to be expected. I'm due next week. Besides, it would be more effort to get back home than to stand and give a speech. Really, John, I'm fine." His eyes softened a bit at her last assurance.
"her placenta falls to the floor"
Half way through her dedication speech, extolling the virtues of John and Anne as well as listing the acomplishments that the colony had acheived in the past few years, Devon knew she was in trouble. The pain had come back, but this time *much* sharper. Her voice faltered and stopped as the realization struck her, 'I'm in labor.'
"Excuse me, folks, it seems some members of my family have decided that they are going to visit me today," she announced to the subbdued crowd, which became very alert their leader's words sunk in. "Julia, could you come help me? I think I'm going to..."
Before John could catch her, she hit the floor.
"Lightning Crashes, and old mother dies, her intentions fall to the floor."
**22 light years away**
She could feel it. She was dying and there was nothing she could do about it. Rachael Danziger drew in a shallow breath that shook her fragile frame. Once vibrant and robust, the woman now rested on a bio-bed, a frail shadow of what she had once been. But there was something...something going on that had dragged her out of her drug-coma. Something *big*. With great effort, she opened her pale bule eyes and stared up into the ceiling. Her life had pretty much ended twenty-six years ago, when her last son and her only grandaughter had died in the Eden Explosion. With them, in their deaths, had gone Rachael's last hopes.
But in the past few years... There were times when she had felt like her son and little True were in the same room as her. And when she dreamed, she dreamed of John, happy and in love, and True, bright, strong and growing.
In one particularly vivid dream, she remembered seeing her son bring forward a beautiful woman. A woman with dark hair that somehow shone red. The woman had reached out for Rachael's hand. She had then brought the hand up to her heart and uttered words that Rachael thought she'd never hear. The woman had said, plainly and simply, "I love them, and I will take care of them."
Not knowing what to do, Rachael had done what she felt. She reached out and hugged the woman, and the woman had hugged back.
A cough racked Rachael's body, and she drifted, once again, off into the nothingness of pain medication.
"The angel opens her eyes..."
It was coming again. The wave of pain broke over Devon and refused to abate, no matter how hard she begged. Tired, so tired, Devon felt as if she had run from the crash site to New Pacifica and back again.
"Uuuugh."
"That's it, Devon. We're getting there," Julia's calm, efficient voice travelled past the pain mist that had shrouded Devon's mind. It really pissed her off. That b*tch had no right to tell Devon how she felt. *She* wasn't going through this torture."Devon, love, I'm here, do you need anything?" Usually John's voice had a calming effect on Devon. The key word here was usually, and usually didn't include giving birth to twins. Devon suddenly remembered something important. John had done this to her.
In as sweet a voice as she could muster, under the present circumstances, Devon whispered, "John, come here."
"Sure, babe, what do you need?"
"*_GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!_*" She shrieked into his face. He quickly backed away and was replaced by Julia. "Devon, you've been at this for almost six hours now. You're almost fully dialated, it should be any time soon."The words pierced the haze and brought about a sense of calm. Devon's eyes cleared and she looked around her. For some reason, unknown to her, she was sitting in Julia and Alonzo's bed and not in the hospital.
"What am I doing in your bedroom, Julia?" Relieved that Devon had regained lucidity, Julia looked her straight in the eyes and replied, "Giving birth to twins." At Devon's unamused face, she answered, "When you collapsed, this was the nearest place with med-supplies, so we brought you here."
Devon considered this and responded, "Oh, that makes sense." Another wave of pain hit her and she was leveled, but this one didn't seem to go away. "Joooohn!" Devon wailed, and Julia jumped into action.
"Looks like one of 'em has decided to introduce itself."
"the angel closes her eyes,"
Rachael felt herself go. Her heart was slowing, but she felt no fear. Something warm enveloped her, and she felt light. The air around her seemed to shimmer and shift, and in front of her stood her son. But he wasn't alone. Next to him stood her grandaughter and a little boy. She moved closer to them, and found herself standing next to them.
"John, my son. I am in heaven." She whispered.
John turned his head from side to side, trying to find the source of the soft voice he had heard. "Mom...?" But that was impossible. His mother was back on the stations, or dead. She wasn't in the room with him, True and Uly, waiting for Devon to give birth.
Devon had kicked him out in a fit of rage, but he didn't mind. True and Uly needed him right now, too. True was shaking, as occasionally, she heard Devon's screams of agony. He had to admit, they *were* pretty terrifying. He was shaking, too.
Uly, on the other hand, seemed solid as stone. John glanced down at the quiet boy. "Uly, your mom will be fine. Don't you worry," he tried to reassure. Uly lifted his head and looked the tall man squarely in the eyes, his expression unreadable.
"I know."
The simple statement came straight from Uly's heart, and John could tell that he believed it with all his heart. That faith, that will, quieted all of John's lingering doubts and he smiled.To John's surprise, Uly smiled back.
"the confusion that was hers,
belongs now, to the baby down the hall."Rachael felt herself pulled from the scene. Suddenly, she found herself watching the woman in her dream straining to release a child. She was covered in sweat and Rachael could tell that the muscles under her skin were stretched to the max.
Rachael moved carefully to the end of the bed and watched as the baby crowned. Unnoticed to her, Rachael started to shimmer. The baby's face came forward from it's mother's body, then shoulders and torso and legs. The young doctor lifted the child from his mother and slapped his butt lightly, the baby started to cry.
Rachael watched as the baby was quickly wrapped in a blanket and taken away. She smiled, knowing her grandson was born. Her attention moved back to the woman. The woman was again straining and pushing for all her worth. Again a baby began to crown, but this time and the baby's face emerged, Rachael began to fade. She felt an invisible pull, and she was drawn forward. As the girl-child uttered her first cry, Rachael joined.
"The angel opens her eyes,
pale blue colored iris,
presents the circle and
the glory out to hid."Her eyes snapped open, and she sang a beautiful song. The song of life. It was heard throughout all the land and all the land acknowledged the coming of it's newest member with a chorus of its own. Thunder and lightning played like merry children in the skyies, one coming and retreating before the other could find it.
"I can feel it, coming back again,
Like a roll of thunder chasing the wind, Forces brewing in the center of the Earth again, I can *feel* it."**later that night**
Devon was sitting propped in bed, holding her new son and daughter. Julia had just left, after giving all of them a clean bill of health. There was a slight knock at the door. With out waiting for permission, as always, John came quietly into the room.
"Hey, pretty lady. Can I come in or are you going to yell again." "And wake these two? No way." She snickered. Her face suddenly turned serious. "I'm sorry, John. You should have been there, but I kicked you out."
He moved over to his wife and sat, gentely on the bed. He lifted her face with his hand so he could look into her gorgeous blue eyes.
"It's okay Devon. I stayed with True and Uly. They needed me. By the way, True says to tell you that you were right, and it *was* just a stupid vid." John shook his head slightly. "She wouldn't tell me what the hell she meant. 'Mom'll know' is all I got out of her."
Devon smiled brightly at the perplexed look John gave her. He definetely wanted to know what that cryptic sentance meant, but it was a private joke. Instead, she looked at her husband and changed the subject.
"So, dear heart, what will we name these little munchkins?" John smiled and moved over to look into their faces. He reached down and brushed his finger down his son's downy cheek.
"How about Brodrick for him?" At Devon's surprised look, he explained his reasoning. "I think O'Neil would be happy. Besides," he paused a moment for affect. "Brody sounds real macho."
Devon giggled, but quickly pulled herself up. "John, don't make me laugh!" She handed her son over and rubbed her much abused stomach muscles.
"Sorry, love. But I'm serious. What do you think?" She smiled quietly at him and replied. "I like it." John smiled brightly.
*But*...."
He groaned. "Uh-oh, payback for making you laugh?" "No. Since you named our son, I get to name our daughter." "Do you have a name in mind?" John's face got curious. They'd kicked around names in the past but hadn't really chosen them. Brody had just sort of hit him while he was sitting outside waiting for Julia to leave. He looked over at his wife and was surprised to see that her face had become quite serious."Yes. Yes I do." Devon looked down at her slumbering child and said in a quiet tone, laced with hope, "I want to name her Rachael."
-The End-
Comments, critisism, and all out abuse welcome at jetfixer@interaccess.com
A.j.
Devon+Danziger(someday it *will* happen!)
Power corrupts; the power of a slide projector corrupts absolutely.
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.