THE LAST BORN

T H I R T Y T H R E E

I place both hands on the tubes and feel as the mother ship launches us into the atmosphere. I know by now, that ship number five is already moving away, leaving the tube and me to enter the atmosphere.

I can see five lines scoring through Relish's atmosphere, I have been informed that some of us will come to take a handful of humans to the planet and that my father is one of them, I wish I could see him as soon as I land, but he is needed somewhere else.

He needs to guard the ship full of humans in case the UG comes to corner us.

It feels like a lifetime until the ship tells us that we're nearing the coordinate of destination. Lev and others have prepared this and I cannot be more thankful. The impact was brief and relatively quiet. I can tell immediately that somebody is using the ground element to soften the impact, holding the time to make it as smooth as possible.

When the door parts open I see Gra not far from the muddy crate he created earlier. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

I'm home.

"Ana," He says my name and turns the ground hard for me to walk. I look around and feel overwhelmed by the surrounding.

I'm home.

"We need to be quick, child," Gra says pulling me from my dazed.

I look back to the two tubes and nod. Easily, Gra cracks open the ship and carry the tubes gently inside Lev's laboratory/workshop. I immediately turn on the com and Lev picks up on the second ring.

"You know what to do, Ana, you've seen me working with the machine many times."

That is true. I was glued to him.

With my forefinger I point to one point, asking Gra to put Malcolm's old body on one side and the duplicated one to the other. I connect the end of the tubes with another machine which immediately purring alive. The water inside changed its color immediately, and I can see Malcolm's fingers and toes twitching nonstop.

I'm here, love.

"Make sure the power is above sixty five percent," Lev instructs.

It's ninety nine percent now.

"You and Gra needs to press the button at the same time, pay attention to the electroencephalography, as soon as it reaches eight Mz, you need to turn off the machine,"

I look at Gra and nod, the older man walks to my side and puts his palm on the bright blue button, I do the same on my side.

"3... 2... 1..." Gra instructs and we immediately press it.

But I don't expect the number jumps directly to sixteen. My eyes widen and immediately turn off the machine.

I can feel Gra staring at me from my side, while the water drains slowly from the clone's tube.

I don't think I'm breathing.

It takes a while for the water to run out, and when it does, the tube turns the new body around and opens.

Gra walks back with his legs shoulder-width apart, clearly ready for the worst. I, on the other hand, am stuck with anticipation.

I walk forward slowly, cautiously as the body starts to move, a little twitch at first, but then he's crunching, before gripping the edge of the tube with his trembling arms, lifting himself standing with his two shaky legs.

Gra and I watch, as the body stands up straighter with his back to us. He takes his time as he looks down and studies his hands, studying his toes, studying his surrounding.

Then, slowly, he looks behind his back, turning his torso so very slowly, before his blue-green eyes fall on me. He tilts his head slightly and looks to the other side, where the old body is.

New Malcolm is thinking.

"Move back slowly, Ana," Gra says calmly in my head.

His eyes are quick on Gra, the new body lifts his right hand and I feel an unseen force floating around me, he fists his hand and I feel as if I'm bounded by an invisible rope, then he pulls me.

Gra is quick, creating two big, thick walls and sandwiching the new body with a loud crack. My eyes widen, wanting to run to save him but unable to move as I'm still bound.

Gra grits his teeth and slams the new body again and again between the robust walls he created. Every time the two walls separated, I can see his blue-green eyes staring at me, calmly, with no bruise nor cuts are seen anywhere.

This goes on for a while until the new body punches the wall on his left with his left hand, shattering it to pieces. I almost cry when he pulls me slowly towards him. Gra uses his ability to stop time but it does not affect him.

Only when I'm directly in front of him, I feel whatever that bound me goes away and I can breathe again.

He lifts his finger and brushes it on my cheek. Lev was right when he says the texture is nothing like human skin, and just like me, his body is no longer warm.

His eyes are roaming on my face, to my hair, down to my body. He watches as if he is amazed by the new body, by me.

"Malcolm," I whisper, trying to reach him.

He freezes for a moment, looking for something in my eyes. "That was my name, wasn't it?" He whispers, his voice is deeper and scratchy.

I nod.

"Words." I hear him growl inside my head.

I lift my finger and trace my answer on his naked bicep, just like the way he liked it. He closes his eyes immediately and shudders when I finished. When he opens his eyes again, I'm taken back by the coldness I used to see from him, but now, the coldness is accompanied by something else.

"I don't know who am I," He says brushing my lower lip with his thumb so very slow. "I don't know who you're" He adds whispering with his lips one strand of hair away from mine. "But I know... that we belong together," Then he crashes his lips on mine. I jump right away, hugging his hips with my legs as I bury my fingers in his hair.

Oh, for the living of the suns! My whole body shakes from happiness. He is in my arms! He is in my arms! I hold him tight too scared that this isn't real, too scared that he will be taken away from me, too scared that anything bad happened to him. I don't want to move, I don't want to be anywhere else.

I spent a long time cocooning myself with anger and grief, I didn't know I could be this happy again, this content. The time we spent apart, the time spent with the thought that he was dead only makes this very moment so much sweeter, so much more precious.

I thought I lost him.

And now I have my fingers in his hair, my chest pressed against his, my legs around his hips. He has his hands on my behind, holding me up as our mouths move in sync. I don't know how long did we kiss, but when he pulls his face away from mine it felt not long enough. I see as his eyes are looking hard on me, undeniable certainty in his eyes, he grips my body tight that no part of my front doesn't meet his naked chest.

I shudder in relief and happiness.

He might not remember much, but he remembers what he felt.

"I'm yours, I'm yours, love," I tell him finally rounding my arms on his shoulders
and putting my head on crook of his neck.

I'm home.