The Power of Love

Marie Martins nee Havers had married a young and romantic Lawrence almost eighteen years previously. Their honeymoon period had lasted a year, until their one and only child was conceived. Her maternal curves had slowly come to disgust him, though she had no idea why as he slowly stopped replying to her in anything more than grunts!

After the birth, her only remaining joy was her son, Eric. Who, as he grew, became aware of his father's dislike as children always do and lavished all his young exuberance and love on his mum. Their happy years passed quickly.

Eric was as healthy and active a baby as his father had been. Without quite realising it, he was causing his mum to lose the baby weight bit by bit just by trying to keep up with him. Always a confident child he took to playschool like a duck to water. Always happy but never mischievous; he seemed to have a strong inbuilt conscience. If he believed he was right, he would prove it or he would apologise. His teachers also found his equally active mind a delight as he appeared to memorize anything he enjoyed doing. So, they made everything they wanted to teach him fun and he soaked up that knowledge like a sponge.

After the birth, Lawrence had expected Marie to regain her girlish figure so they could resume sex but with a lusty infant needing to be feed or changed or exhausted towards sleep at all hours, this never seemed to happen. His desire for her soured and turned to apathy. He began to spend more time in the pub in the evenings, seeking the company of other men escaping their wives. As the pubs food and atmosphere was much more to his liking, he saw no reason to change his habits, with similar men in similar professions, secure in the familiar atmosphere, Eric's babyhood slipped by unnoticed.

Marie had noticed her son's unintentional gift to her and decided not to waste it. While he was in playschool, she took up yoga and running to keep herself trim and healthy. All in the hope of reigniting things between Lawrence and herself, sadly she barely even saw him anymore. The only light in her now loveless marriage was her son. She reasoned if that was the only morsel of love due to her, she would take it.

With her husband spending more of his days and evenings out of the house, she took to shopping for better clothes styles and treating herself to a salon visit to restyle her thick blond hair. Eric's appreciation of her new look was the only tonic she needed. Emotionally, the whole of her love was gradually given to her son as all of his was hers.

As Lawrence began returning from the pub later and later, often quite staggeringly drunk, barely coherent at best and only interested in sleeping, he completely failed to notice Marie's new look, as well as her having taken to sharing young Eric's bed to avoid drunken snores. Being without her stream of questions on first waking was something of a relief for him, as only a long hot shower could make him presentable for the breakfast table, let alone work. Though often his dark hair was uncombed and collar damp. His irritable dark eyes only grew darker if Marie tried to inform him of either. The meal became a chore for her and his ignored son, who took to sitting at the other end of the table in their small kitchen. As this gave his dehydrated head quiet, Lawrence welcomed it and completely failed to question the real reason for it.

When Eric began Secondary, his school career really took off; an active boy with an intelligent mind who was into sports? The teacher's welcomed him with open arms.

Physically, he was a testament to a mother's love; tall with tight curly dirty blond hair, almost purple-blue eyes above sculpted cheekbones and a strong jaw.

On the sports field, he proved fast and well-nourished. The football team got him first for the simple reason their success in the Under 18's League had brought enough sponsor money to buy a gym and he was hooked on sight.

To avoid awkward breakfasts with his absent-but-present dad he took to leaving early for the gym with a packed sliced fruit breakfast made by his adoring mum.

Even at twelve, his mum still slept beside him. When his first hard-on appeared, he showed it to her. The neglected mum and ignored son began their mutually passionate affair with an unmotherly hand-job while Lawrence snored loudly in the next room.

Over the next four years, mornings of dedicated gym work, afternoons running and training with the team he soon came to lead, his physic grew impressive. His nights more intense as his devoted mother educated him in all things sexual.

His explanation for his disinterested in dating he gave to the hopeful girls who flocked to the matches was that he was saving himself for the right woman and marriage.

This only made them more interested in being that 'right woman' first, so they could marry him second! It was Eric's seventeenth birthday when everything changed for all three of the Martin's. Marie had informed him that she had been cleared by her doctor for the anti-fertility pill. After a month, it was working without side-effects and their love-making no longer required condoms.

That night, the Ivctisi Scout moved through the thick planetary atmosphere with ease, the malleable outer hull adapting itself to the currents in the mixture of gasses. The crew were in the middle of a yearlong survey mission to this world and were in no hurry. Their life spans were of such longevity that they would experience a great many such missions. Given the size of the galactic arm, let alone the bulk of the entire galaxy, they were operating from a vessel whose emissions and density kept it beyond the Gas Giants orbits. Since the loss of their home world due to a supernova nine hundred years before, they had dedicated themselves to studying everything they could to find the necessary element that would allow them to restore their homeworld, renew themselves and continue their civilisation.

Leaving No 44 Chambers Street, they shifted their focus to the next residence, No 46, the next in an outer ring of domestic dwellings of a large population centre. The inhabitants they were to examine were highlighted in all awareness'. All three subjects were in residence during in the local nocturnal period.

None of the crew needed to leave the confines of the atmospheric envelope of their Scout, in fact, given the differences between the two were so extreme, the closest to an EVA suit even their advanced engineering had come was this 60-foot long Scout.

Neural-Stimulus extensions were deployed from the hull to the interior of the residence; thousands of micro-miniature synthetic-organic constructs like an invisible mist that could perform any task the controlling consciousness required. All three subjects were infiltrated by skin, breath and mucus membrane.

Two males, one female. One male's was in poor physical condition. The plasma fluid pump was partially blocked by hazardous waste products from an inefficient nutrient extraction system. Though taking a complete scan and samples of the subject waste matter, this was a common defect and nothing new was learned, so the controller-scholar removed the mist. The examination would continue with the other far healthier female and male.

Fifty feet below in the bedroom of No 46 Chambers Street, Marie and Eric began their second bout of strenuous lovemaking of the night completely unaware of Lawrence's condition or their extra-terrestrial audience.

The controller-scholar focused on these subjects and found them engaged in mating. Both were excellent physical specimens and the constructs were sending detailed continuous readings of the entire central nervous system at full stimulation. This allowed a three-dimensional recreation of both specimens for more detailed study of the various biochemical interactions which were of deep interest to the controller-scholar. Only for him to witness Anunngal tešq!

He instantly summoned the presence of his Superior aboard the Traveller vessel. Even though it was the Rest Period aboard the great vessel, their species had long since developed the ability to let their bodies rest while their consciousness continued their various duties.

It was not long before his awareness felt his Superior linking with him. He shared his recent discovery. Suddenly, his Superior's full attention was here and now, a rare event for one so accomplished and respected. Above the Scout, the 800-foot long Transport arrived from high orbit and the smaller Scout was absorbed. The Scouts complete memory was extracted causing it to return to its smaller dormant state as the scholar-crew left. The Scout became a part of the Transport's own structure.

The Superior's presence dominated the observation area of the Transport as the scholar-crew arrived to begin more in-depth scans of the now resting subjects. The scholar focused on the female to monitor conception only to find there was no egg to be fertilized, yet the female was in perfect condition?

Investigating, the scholar found that the ovum had been blocked from leaving the ovaries. This did not make sense?

The Superior summoned his attention, informing the scholar that certain artificial practises on this world prevent conception and yet had consequences this species cannot even fathom. Anunngal tešq must occur! All other considerations are void!

The scholar informed his Superior of the possibility that a lack of fulfilled mating may be a causal effect.

The Superior took direct control of the constructs, observing that while the male was entering the prime of mating years, the female was more than way half through her own.

A decision was made!

The constructs invaded every cell of both bodies that began renovation. Starting with reconstructing the female's telomeres to match the males. Several defects in their genetics were corrected and enhanced, lastly, the essential neuro-chemical interaction glimpsed briefly at the moment of Anunngal tešq was re-established. The artificial hormone was washed away in the process and her ovaries were allowed to release their burden.

Below in the darkness of the bedroom, Marie and Eric found themselves enjoying a surprise last romantic, kiss-filled lovemaking. Completely distracted by the sensuality of the moment, they noticed nothing amiss even as their powerful blissful connection became psionically permanent. One of Eric's last offering to his radiant mother reached the ovum in her fallopian tube and merged.

Above on the Transport, chaos erupted! The final mating had occurred while the constructs were still in active communion, in direct conjunction with Anunngal tešq, sending a shockwave into its active core. Every part of the Transports centuries old synthetic-organic design was overwhelmed by massive over-stimulation.

The Superior's presence was forced to retreat to resist critical damage.

The scholar-crew did only thing they could and shared it with the other Transports and Scouts around or near this world. They were overwhelming as well. There was nothing for it, they had to use it! Leaving the thick atmosphere, their senses locked on to the Traveller vessel and full propulsion was activated.

Once capable of reaching impressive velocities but had been unable to do so for some time, yet with this massive burst of fundamental energy coursing through their structures revitalised them to complete functionality. Having an effect similar to supercharging. The Transports and Scouts first staggering surge covered half the distance to the Gas-Giants before the scholar-crews understood what had happened. On reaching the Traveller vessel, the Transports and Scout complete memory systems were extracted as normal. What wasn't normal was as they were reabsorbed into the greater vessel, the Anunngal tešq surge invaded its far larger mass.

Unlike any other known energy form, it did not lose its potential as it was dispersed...it somehow gained potential! The Traveller vessel became energized as it had not been since the homeworld was lost. The Controllers aboard had no more choice than the scholar-crews, they located the nearest other Traveller vessel and informed them of the urgent need to converge. Accelerating out of Earth's solar system at maximum Translated velocity, their senses had first-hand synaptic experience of high-superluminal, something few had known in recent centuries. It had the effect of exhilarating all aboard as the Traveller soared across the void with effortless ease.

The second Traveller vessel received and relayed the request to all other Traveller vessels to converge and assist. They acknowledged!

From all across the Lower Galactic Spiral Arm, 6000 vessels Translated as quickly as they were capable to spatial coordinates inside a young system with no inner planets. As they met, each combined. Each vessel adding too the critical mass achieved by the shared overwhelming Anunngal tešq, this caused the long-hoped for outcome as their dead Homeworld was reformed from the Travellers structure.

Four billion sentients rejoiced as they found themselves on their planet remade in every detail and at long last were able to start over. They're centuries of fruitless searching over.

Seventy-eight Parsecs away, Marie and Eric, the saviours of a race that had known civilization and space-flight for more than twenty-one centuries before the supernova made them homeless, dreamed of being married and having children. Their connection was now so profound they were sharing their dream of a picnic on a green hill under a blue sky on a warm day. A third life shared the dream. Held in her deliriously happy mother's arms, under her strong protective father's tearing eyes, a baby girl yawned in the warm sun.