Ancient Astronauts

Forbidden

Memories flooded Hans' mind as Aly pressed against him, her face in his shoulder. He enveloped her in his arms, completing the picture. Day one, when the hundred bare skeleton crew of the Astral Ark bid their loved ones who were going into cryo goodbye. What had Aly said?

"Don't worry about a thing, and we will have children," she'd said. But he was worried. Aly was pregnant. He was going to be a father, and that came with responsibilities...and worries. Some alien scum had attacked his ship, and he'd spent twenty-five years trapped in his mind believing he was in a ship perpetually pummeled by asteroid fragments, adrift in space. The passengers were still there though, including his Aly, who must have bled out in front of him a thousand times. A quarter century spent hunting the invaders to no avail.

And now he was awake. The real world crashing in. Aly was alive, vibrant, and pregnant with his baby. But was she safe?

The cool air, shining sun, and busy but cheerful colonists all pointed to the answer being yes, they were all safe. But his heart said otherwise. None of them were safe, and he was the only one who could save the fledgling colony, the only chance Aly and his baby had for any kind of life.

"Even at the cost of mine," he whispered.

Aly was looking at him defiantly again, "Captain Hans Agler."

"Uh oh," he thought.

"I forbid you to die."

Hans gazed into those intense green eyes framed by a sea of fire, and lied, "Yes, ma'am."

—----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well?" First Mate, now General, Ty Hunter asked when they returned to Main Command, "Did you talk some sense into him?"

Tyrone hobbled back a step when Alyonna turned on him, scowling more fiercely than any soldier he'd ever served alongside.

"Talked some sense into...him!?" She demanded. She demanded impressively. "No," she said shortly, "but I'm going to talk some sense into y'all," a tiny bit of Alyonna's greatly disused Kansas accent slipped into the last word.

Turning to address the assembled officers in the room, she went on, clearly and succinctly projecting her voice across the room, "I've known Hans Stephen Agler since he was twelve. He has many fine qualities which he shares with the men in this room. Foremost among them are courage, persistence, and self-sacrifice. He's been through hell and back alongside many of you in the war with the Eastern powers in the old world. And I know for certain, as does Tyrone Hunter, that he ran into the burning abyss of a crippled battleship and pulled Ty to safety. And that's only one example, lost among many, of Hans' qualities and accomplishments."

She paused to make sure they were all paying attention. Every eye was locked onto her.

"And I'll remind you that never once, through any of that, did Hans Stephen Agler lose his mind. He was an honest, sane man before the bridge, and he's an honest, sane man now. And if any of you doubt it, don't doubt this," with that, Alyonna stuck a solitary middle finger up on both hands at the assembled high command, turned on her heel and marched inexorably out the door, the stunned crowd parting before her.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------

The room was silent for several long seconds after Aly left. Hans felt the hair on the back of his neck beginning to stand on end. He knew Aly would never pointlessly embarrass him in public, yet she was smart enough to know it was worth the risk this time round.

Then someone at the back of the crowd started laughing. It started as a cough and built into a bonfire of mirth. The assembled generals turned toward the sound to see Laptop doubled over, holding his stomach, laughing his ass off.

Slowly, to varying degrees, the rest of the officers joined in.

Hans felt a weathered hand squeeze his wrist, "That's some woman you got there, Governor," Tyrone's brown eyes were twinkling.

Hans smiled at him, and thought for a moment, "We'll call off the SoE for now, and remain vigilant, watching the skies and land for threats," he paused for a moment, "Perhaps a state of emergency was imprudent, Tyrone, but I'm not sure how to call it off without eroding the morale of the people."

"You let me handle that," Tyrone said, clapping him on the hand, "The SoE only lasted a day. We'll just tell them it was a drill."

"Thanks, Ty," Hans breathed a small sigh of relief. It pained him to see his army friend struggling to stand. No one had thought to bring a damn walker so one of the local carpenters had fashioned him a walking stick from some native tree.

"Would you care to join us for dinner tomorrow night? It seems like we live here now, we ought to make it a home."

Still smiling, Tyrone nodded, "Sheila will love that."

—----------------------------------------------------------------------

Alyonna was on the balcony gazing out over the river when she heard the door to their room open. She didn't turn around. A moment later it shut softly, and she heard Hans heavy yet coordinated footsteps gliding across the floor.

When he got to the sliding door he stopped.

"That was a big risk, Aly."

"I know," she said smugly, still gazing at the river, a sly smile twisting her lips, "Did it work?"

The smile must've leaked through her words because a moment later Hans responded in a sly, silky voice, "You're such a bad girl, Alyonna."

"Ha," she thought, satisfaction filling her breast, "It did work." Still not turning around or releasing the sly, self-satisfied smile from her lips she replied, "A bad girl?"

She heard him moving up behind her, "It sounds like you're going to have to do something about that."

Hands closed around her.