The Cleansing (Book One: The Folara Chronicles)

071: Dmitri

Belakane felt the collective deaths of many people as if she were hit by their death throes herself. The others on board Galantyne's cruiser seemed unaffected, but Belakane's mind was on fire with it. Sickness threatened to overcome her.

She knew what had happened. "Etrusia is no more." 

"A massive disturbance is registering..." The young Captain of Galantyne's army shouted into the stillness aboard Galantyne's great ship as it followed the lighted tracks out to Aquaria.

"Etrusia has imploded." Dmitri unbuckled himself from his seat and rushed to the fore where he could look at the screen in front of them. Belakane had begun to wail.

"What will it mean to us? What will it mean to Aquaria and Carrigah?" Belakane was saying. "Oh, my heart! My heart is failing me!"

"We are only a few minutes from Aquaria!" The young Captain said succinctly.

"Can Aquaria withstand the shock waves of an implosion of this magnitude?" Another of the Captains had come to stand with them. "Dmitri, when we arrive, assessing the situation will be of paramount importance, but the shock wave is taking precedence over the plague at the moment. We must alert the General, and evacuate the training fields immediately."

"Captain." Dmitri ordered. "I will assess the hospital first. Josh, you take Jacom and Garther to the fields and organize the men. Take as many as you can and go back to Galantyne."

"Yes, sir," Josh looked back at the screen and the barely visible tracks as the ship began to feel the buffetings of the wave. As the ship began to shake, and the rushing din of crashing particles hit the outer shell all four young captains rushed to the fore, taking seats that would allow them to pilot and secure the ship.

Dmitri, knowing nothing about piloting the ship, grabbed Belakane and shoved her roughly into her seat. She grabbed her throat and was turning gray as he yelled at her to fasten herself in. He realized something was seriously wrong with her. Shouting orders were heard, but Dmitri suddenly knew that his world was not just the danger the ship was in, but also the danger his wife was in. There was no healer to call, there was no procedure to perform, her agony was short lived, too short to confront with any sort of power. Dmitri held her in his arms, pulling her close, breathing her scent, pulling her hair away from her face, trying in vain to look into her eyes that had now clouded over. "Bela..." He whispered, not alerting anyone who might be distracted from saving their lives at this moment. "Oh, Bela!" The tears gathered and then began to stream down his cheeks. "No, sweetheart! Please don't go yet!"

He shook her, feeling the quaking of the ship as it lost touch with the tracks, spun off the lit pathway and began to twist with the turbulence of the undersea waves.

"Keep her steady! Keep her upright!" Came an order from the front and two men scrambled to hold the ship on course.

"The track is gone!"

"But we can see the city! Face her to the docks, Jacom!"

"The city lights are gone!"

"Hold her steady, fellas. Hold her now!"

"Face the docks, the docks are still lit."

"Come on, boys, we can make it."

"We're at the docks, Josh! We're at the docks!"

"Easy does it, boys. Careful, now!"

Dmitri felt the clamps of the docking bay secure the giant ship. He held his wife to him, staring out of large pain-filled eyes at the quiet way these four had handled the crisis. Finally one of them turned to look at him.