PART 37

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The station was in chaos, and its turmoil was evident to anyone who cared to look. Allan, Aly, Jalla, Nara, and Sarah stood looking out the windows as they approached the docking port the AI told them was open and still functional.

"An hour from now, I want it secured," Allan said, speaking mostly to Jalla. "Nara, Aly, Mom, when we dock, Jalla and I will go on the offensive like we planted. Mom, I want you to stay at the ship; any children we find, we are going to send your way; I'll give you my Glock and the few Tefflon rounds I still have. Aly and Nara, I want you to follow behind us slowly. If you find a room or anything we missed, contact us immediately. Your primary goal will be placing the IEDs we made after ensuring no civilians are trapped on the other side. Understood?"

Everyone except for Sarah said yes. "You don't tell your mother what to do, Allan Mac'Millen."

Allan flinched at her tone, eliciting a chuckle from Aly and Jalla. Sarah smiled at her son. "But in this case, I understand and will do what you have asked."

"Thanks, Mom. Sorry, I don't have someone to stay with you. We are going to be stretched thin as it is." Allan felt like no matter what division of labor he made, someone he cared about would be in danger.

"I will be in the ship with a gun, and from what you have said and what I learned from living on the ship with Aly, Jalla, and Nara, we humans are quite strong. Don't worry about me. Do what you have to do. I will be fine." Sarah said, hugging Allan and pushing him after Aly and Jalla, who had headed to the room where their armor was stored.

When Sarah had watched Allan round the corner. She looked up and spoke out loud. "I don't think you are a god, but I want to speak to you, Elunitra."

Elunitra materialized next to Sarah. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Mac'Millen?"

"My son is about to go into combat, for your sake," Sarah said, looking at the Goddess. "I want to know what you are doing to help him?"

"Well, as I have discussed with Allan at length, we gods can not directly interfere with the mortals; humans are special cases for various reasons, as I am sure Allan has mentioned..." Elunitra would have continued had she not seen the firey look on Sarah's face. "Nothing. I am doing nothing. I will do nothing. I can do nothing."

"That is what I thought," Sarah said, seeming to deflate. "You are wrong, though; you will make a promise to me."

The tone and look of Sarah, who Elunitra knew was dying, made Elunitra nervous. "What promise can I make?"

"When the time comes, as I am sure it will, You will step in. You, Goddess and creator of the Quillinar people will step up to the plate and defend your people." Sarah said and locked eyes with the Goddess. "Do this knowing that if you do not and Aly or Allan die, I will use what time I have left to convince humanity that it is time for another crusade and time to purge the galaxy of the false Gods."

Elunitra could tell Sarah was serious; whether or not she could do what she had said meant nothing. The important part was what she was being asked to do by the mother of the man who would potentially save her people. Her voice froze as she started to speak, "I...."

"I am a mother," Sarah said, still holding the Goddess's gaze. "I am a nurse; I am a caretaker. But before all of that, I am a mother. I can only imagine that as a Goddess, you feel the same way about the entire Quillinar Species."

Elunitra felt tears run down her face; no one had ever understood before. She simply nodded.

Sarah smiled and hugged the Goddess before stepping back and holding the Goddess by her shoulders at arm's length. "We have a saying on Earth, 'Mama bear.' It is a saying because nothing is more dangerous than a mother bear who thinks you have harmed or taken her baby. She will rip through steel, take bullet shots, and kill you in a most gruesome way to ensure her child is safe. So go be a Mama bear. Someone is harming your children; will you let them get away with it?"

Elunitra shook her head, a fire she did not know she had, growing in her stomach. Sarah smiled. "You claim to be a goddess. Woe be unto any who harm the child of the mother bear and Goddess Elunitra."

Sarah smiled as the Goddess faded away again, then whispered under her breath. "Strength to you, my son. Strength to your family and victory in battle is what I wish for you." Sarah knelt down and began preying on her God.

Elunitra paced back and forth in the place between worlds. The words Sarah Mac'Millen had spoken to her ran through her mind repeatedly. Seven gods had responded to her call. Around her stood Xulgra, Yivnesix of the Galgax, Gultinth of the Sidhesh, Grish'Na of the Gish, as well as three others who used their power to hide their identities.

"I need your help," Elunitra said, addressing the gods. She locked eyes briefly with each of them, then bowed deeply, surprising all those present. "I know I have not always been the best of allies to all of you. But the Url'Esh are upon my children. And I can not abide it. I have been saying for years now we need to care more about our children. But I can not do this alone."

"You would have us enter battle?" One of the three hidden gods said and then vanished from space.

"You know we can not do that," Yivnesix said, despite his tone and body language indicating he would like nothing more.

"I know. " Elunitra said, "So instead, I ask for help with something else."

As she explained her idea, one of the two hidden gods snorted in amusement and vanished. In the end, Everyone agreed to help, knowing they would incur the wrath of the other gods when they found out what they planned to do. When the gods departed, Elunitra was left with only the last hidden God. The hidden God nodded and spoke in a strangely distorted voice.

"I will not directly offer my power to this endeavor, but you will see the efforts of my assistance." The hidden God vanished, and Elunitra began working, preparing for what was to come when Allana and Jalla made contact on the planet.

Allan took a deep breath. The doors opened, and then Allan was moving alongside Jalla. Reality seemed to blur around them, and the red Bone Machete in his left hand moved in concert with the God-Killing blade in his right. Jalla moved even faster than he did, the armor augmenting her already Ludacris strength and speed to levels Allan could hardly believe.

Together Allan and Jalla were a tide of death; wherever they looked Url'Esh and traitorous Chiln died; like water, they flowed around the Quillinar men and women who were laboring away at whatever task they had been instructed. Allan noticed a severe lack of children and finally stopped grabbing a male Quillinar by the shoulders and demanding answers.

"Why are there no children? Where are they?" Allan asked.

The Quillinar looked dumbfounded. "They took the children and told us as long as we did what they asked, we would see them again. The entire center module of the station is supposed to be where they plan on holding the entirety of the Quillinar population's children. Many of those with older children not on the planet have been killed as they had no children to hold hostage. Please, if you can, save my daughter."

"I will do what I can," Allan said, his tone making the Quillinar man shy away as soon as Allan released his shoulder.

"Why is it always the children? Why can't people ever figure out that fucking with children just gets you killed." Allan said and resumed his massacre of the enemy.

"Allan, may I ask a question?" Nara asked.

"You already did, but yeah, sure, go ahead," Allan said as he lopped the head of an Url'Esh off, catching it in mid-air and turning to propel it through the chest of a Chiln.

"Is it a human thing about the children, or is it an Allan thing."

"Allan thing." Aly and Jalla answered in unison.

"While they are not wrong," Allan said, locking blades with an Url'Esh, and activating the services that allowed him to force the Url'Esh's wrist to snap. "I would say it is a human thing. If they tried this shit on earth, I think they would have turned to retreat to the reality they had fled from."

"Interesting," Nara said.

"Yes. We made it to the door to the center module," Allan watched Jalla grab a Chiln warrior and use him to block shots from an Url'Esh, before throwing one of her machetes through the Url'Esh's eye socket and snapping the chin's neck. "And Jalla has killed the guards. Let's see what kind of shit is happening here.

Elunitra and the gods helping her, save for the last hidden God, watched on a screen of divine energy as Allan opened the door and found the center module completely empty. Allan's words echoed through the center module and the space between worlds. "Well, this can't be fucking good."