DESPERATE  MEASURES

PART TWENTY-THREE: CONCLUSION

Sid lay awake much of the night, Brianna in his arms, thinking about what he must do.

Now that she was pregnant, he didn't want to stay much longer on the island. He would

warp them back to Emerald City soon, back where she would have the best medical care

in the world. Recalling a brief expression that had flitted across her face when he'd

quoted the classic lines of not knowing anything about birthing babies, he understood.

She must have been wondering if she would have to give birth where they were. His

hand moved gently up and down her arm as she slept. No, she was far too precious to

risk something like that.

He had originally wanted the Maximus program just for himself, but now he saw that

it had brought him her. A new world had opened to him, completely new, completely

different. He had had no idea.

Then there was the actual Maximus. What to do with him? He didn't want the General

there at Emerald City. The man was simply far too...magnetic. No, he couldn't risk that,

either. Perhaps it would be best if he simply left him here on the island. He would leave

behind all his supplies when he and Brianna warped out. The General would be fine.

Alone. In 1243. But fine.

Brianna stood on the beach in the early afternoon sun, staring at the rocky headland.

Sid had told her of his plans to take her back to Emerald City because of the baby. She

was relieved, as giving birth in the shelter had not been an appealing thought. But

Maximus? WOULD he be all right? Sid had said he would leave him on the island for

a time, then bring him to Emerald City as well. She hoped he meant it. That she had
had no glimpse of Maximus since the time he'd fallen over the crate worried her. She

needed to see that he was all right. With her own eyes she needed to see that, perhaps

to say a few words to him one last time.

The tide was out and she ventured closer to the area of the beach from which the

headland jutted. Turning her head, she looked back at the shelter. Sid was napping,

having lain awake for hours in the night. Maybe she could just check quickly in the

sea cave and be back before he woke? She didn't want to hurt his feelings, make him

think in any way he was not the center of her heart, so perhaps it was best he did not

know she had gone?

The rocks were slippery. She'd not gone far before she banged her shin, opening up a

long gash. Still she pressed on, hurrying as fast as she could. Finally she stood on the

sands of the small cove. No wonder Maximus liked it. It was entirely private. Surprised

at how rectangular the entrance was, how much it had the appearance of a deliberately-

carved doorway,  she entered into the shadowy front section of the cave,  looking

wonderingly at the rough columns that supported its roof. She smiled. Somehow it

suited the General.

"Maximus?" she called softly, but only a hollow echo answered her. Making her way

toward the back of the cave, she passed a large pile of coconuts, then saw one of mangoes

further in. Pungent odors began to assail her nostrils, a strange mixture of rotting fruit and...and....

She saw him, lying on his side next to a small pool of water. Calling his name again, she

waited. When he didn't move, didn't answer, she walked toward him, determined to

speak to him even if he were choosing to ignore her. His back was toward her and she

paused. "Maximus, I need you to know that...."  But the odor closer to him was very

strong and her stomach rebelled. Holding onto a slender rock, she threw up her lunch.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she stared at Maximus.

He lay very still. Was he sleeping and not just deliberately ignoring her presence? She

came up close behind him, clamping her hand over her lower face. His head lay in a

dried puddle of his own vomit and she could see that he had soiled himself. My God!

What had happened to him?

"Maximus!" she cried, kneeling beside him, pulling him onto his back. His face was expressionless, his eyes opened into slight slits. He was awake and yet not awake. "Oh, Maximus," she nearly sobbed. His cheeks were hollow above a beard longer than she'd

ever seen on him. His collar bones stuck out sharply above the neckline of his blue tunic.

He was wasting away. Her hand rested on his chest. Yes, he was breathing. But...why...

why this state he was in? He was thin, completely filthy.

Ignoring her own stomach's protests, she quickly untied the long scarf she'd been

wearing as a belt today and dipped it into the pool. Gently she began to sponge his

face, his hair. Had she done this to him, been the cause of what had become of him? 

She rinsed the scarf in the water that poured out of the pool so as not to make the pool

itself contaminated. Over and over and over she rinsed it as she washed him, her tears
falling on his skin.

Wiping down his thigh, she paused, looking back at his face. Was he watching her? She

thought for a minute that he was. "Maximus? Can you hear me?"  She moved closer

to his head. The small section of his eyes she could see shifted to one side, avoiding her

gaze. So, he was aware she was there. Getting behind his head, she lifted it up on her

knees, cupping water in her palm from the spring. "Listen, Maximus, you must drink."
She dribbled water between his lips, most of which dribbled back out and down his

chin.

She closed her eyes, biting her lip. He was going to die. Right here in this desolate sea

cave the General of the Felix Legions was going to die. She saw him in her mind's eye

as he'd been on the road in the snowy pine forest, robust, face ruddy from the cold, the

wide fur drape about his shoulders, the bottom of his wool cape moving in the breeze.

Curving her arms completely around his head, she leaned forward so that her forehead
rested atop his. "Strength and honor," she whispered brokenly, then burst into sobs.

This was not what she wanted for him. Not this! He had turned away from her but it

was, she knew, the Maximus in Sid that she had come to love. It was because he'd

become so like Maximus, had his memories, that she loved him. "Don't go, Maximus.

Please don't go."

Her head jerked up. If she could get Sid to warp him to Emerald City, they could take

care of him there!  Yes, that was what must happen.  "I won't let you do this," she said,

gently laying his head back down. "I won't LET you!"  Standing, she looked down at

him. "I'm coming right back. You hear me? And you better BE here when I get back!!"

She dashed out of the cave, only then, when she saw the sky, aware of how long she must

have been inside. While she washed him, she had no thought of time, only of the service

she was performing for him. Oh, God...the tide! It was almost fully in. At the edge of the

cove, she peered around at the rocks she had to make her way through to get back to

shore. The waves flowed almost completely over them, crashing and pounding against

those whose surface still broke the water. Giving one brief look back at the cave entrance,

she took a deep breath and stepped into the water.

Brianna was not in the shelter when Sid woke. He searched the immediate area, then went

to the pond to see if she might have gone for a swim there. Hmmm? Where could she have

got to? He walked slowly back to the beach, smiling as he thought of her, how his child

lay securely within her. He would build a huge house for them, with a large, fenced yard

for the child, and all the gardens her heart could wish for. There would be an enormous
oak tree and he would tie an old-fashioned rope swing to one of its branches. He didn't

know just why, but a rope swing appealed to him...the thought of it. In his mind he sat

his child upon its wooden seat and as he walked, one hand came out, giving a slight push.

He chuckled, amused at himself.

He remembered what it felt like to lose a son, knew what it was to scoop out a grave for

him. That was why the big fence. He would keep this child safe. Nothing would get by

him to harm this child. He would make sure of that!

Finding Brianna had not returned to the shelter while he was at the pond, he walked

down to the beach. Damn! He didn't like her out of his sight. Not now. Not with so much

at stake. He would warp them both back to Emerald City as soon as she showed up.

Looking at the many crates, he smiled. Well, at least he didn't have to pack anything.
Leaving it all for the General was a very good idea in more ways than one!

The thought of the General made him turn toward the headland. "I wonder how

he's actually...." But his words caught in his throat. Brianna! She was halfway around

the headland's edge, making her way through waves up to her neck!

"NO!" he roared, sprinting for the shore.

But even as he ran, she lost her footing and a breaker crashed over her, pushing her

down with its surging weight of water, smashing her over and over against submerged

rocks. He couldn't SEE her! Where was she? Her head bobbed up briefly, then another

breaker took her, flinging her against the rock wall of the headland itself.

Wild, animal sounds were bursting from his throat as he splashed into the surf, searching frantically for her. There! He grabbed for her, managing to grasp hold of one of her arms

as a retreating swell tried to suck her from his grip. He fell with her onto the wet sand, scrabbling to his knees beside her, pushing her hair off her face. "Brianna!" he cried.

Her eyes blinked painfully open. One side of her head was covered in blood and he could

tell by their position that both her legs were broken. Her shirt was torn open and a large

wound crossed her chest where she had impacted the edge of a rock.  "Oh, God...oh, God

...oh, God!" he moaned, his hands hovering helplessly over her.

"I've got to get to the warp!" he cried, starting to rise, but her hand gripped his sleeve.

"No...no...time," she gasped.

"WHY?" he almost shouted. "Why were you out there?"

"Ma...Maximus...is...dying."  Her voice was hardly more than a whisper and he had to

lean close to hear it over the surf. "Promise me..."  Her eyes squeezed tight for a moment. "Promise me...."

"What? I'll promise you anything! Just be all right! Please be all right!!"

She managed a weak smile. "Not...this...time. I...I'm...sorry."

Tears streamed down his face. "But...you've GOT to be! I NEED you! I...can't...."

"You can. You've got...him...inside you. You can do...anything."

"Damn him! Damn him to hell! You were out there because you went to HIM?"

"I...I...had to say...good-bye. One...last...time. But he's dying, Love. Promise me...promise

me that you will not leave him there. Promise me you'll send him back to modern times.

Please, Love. Promise me!"

"Yes, yes!" he said. "I promise. But it's you, you whom I need to get back now, before...."

Her head lolled to the side, eyes still open. He stared in utter disbelief. "Brianna?" He

licked his lips, looked out at the sea and then back at her as if she might somehow... change...while he looked away, might be all right again. But her gaze was fixed, blank.

A wave washed in, lifting her feet. He sat back on his rear, staring at her. This could not...

be. This simply could not be. His breath came in rapid pants. She had been fine, just
a moment ago she had been fine.

His eyes traveled to the headland. Him. He had killed her, had killed the mother of his

child. Oh,  GOD! His child. Trembling hands found her stomach, his face twisting in pain

beyond all expression. "You," he said. "You're gone, too."  He folded himself across her,

utterly dissolved in tears.

An hour later he carried her into the shelter, laying her on the bed, their bed, and stood

looking down at her. He had closed her eyes but she didn't look at all as though she were sleeping. She was too battered for that. Beaten to death on the rocks. Because of...him.

His lids half-lowered. He wanted nothing more to do with Maximus. Nothing!  Let him

die and rot in that cave. No, he had made a promise to her as she lay dying. He would

keep it. It was the last she'd asked of him. Her last thought had been of...him. He sank to

his knees, holding his head. All gone! All of it! Everything. All because she could not let go

of Maximus, not completely.

Wiping his sleeve across his eyes, he opened the drawer that contained the remote warp

control. Modern times. She'd asked he be sent to modern times. She hadn't said Emerald

City, though, now had she? His fingers flew over the keyboard, entering settings. "There, General. Modern times. Just for you." He pushed one final key then stepped back. He

smiled grimly. "May you die and rot in your modern times."

The rest of the evening, he sat on the bed, holding Brianna in his arms, smoothing back

her hair as it dried. Finally he entered more code into the control panel and both of

them disappeared from the shelter.

He stood again in what had been Maximus' room in the palace, her form limp as he lay

her on the large bed. Then he opened the sliding door and walked down the long corridor,

down to the room where he had inserted the Maximus chip. He passed one of his staff on

the way, but his eyes remained straight ahead, his jaw locked with determination. This

would be much harder, a vastly more complicated process, one that had never been

attempted before. But even if it killed him, he would rid himself of everything that had
to do with Maximus.

The young employee rushed off to tell others of Sid's staff that the boss had returned and

they gathered in doorways, talking quietly, wondering what would happen next. Then it

began. At first just a loud moaning wail, then it mounted into a series of unbridled screams

that went on and on and on as though someone's heart were being torn out of their living

chest, as though their skin were being peeled inch by inch. Eyes widening, they backed

away, hurrying out of the inner chambers, closing thick, titanium doors between them

and sounds that were too horrifying to bear.

DIRECTLY CONTINUED AS:

IN THE TIME OF FOG...Maximus' direct continuation, now up and complete

Sid's storyline will continue after In The Time of Fog and X-Files are complete.

Those two storylines will merge, along with Montana Crosswinds, into one story

called TO QUICK TO DIE.

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