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Tom woke up to the first rays of light filtering through the curtained windows of the small hut. As he opened his eyes and looked down his vision was limited by a fuzzy horizon that was Shau'i's head. She was lying on top of his chest looking so peaceful in her sleep. Even though Tom didn't want to disturb her, he couldn't help himself and began to stroke the back of her head ever so lightly.

Tom smiled as she purred subconsciously.

The longer he laid there with his love in his arms, the more he had to think about their immediate future. What should they do now? It was Tom's concern that woke Shau'i up, above all else. He didn't even notice until she looked up and whispered "You alright?"

"Yes. ... We need to talk."

"I know. We can't keep running."

"But what can we do? I don't want you to end up in another lab! We need something to bargain with."

"Well, I know quite a bit about that prototype jet and I might be able to find the location of the secret base," she stared at him. "I would even let them make a few tests on me, as long as I have a choice ... and you are with me."

"Are you sure about this? I have no idea if we can trust these people even though that agent Frank Graber seemed all right."

"Yes, I'm sure. And lets face it, we don't have any other option. We have to take our chances and risk it."

"I just hope this goes well."

With that Tom gently lifted Shau'i off him and went to retrieve his cellphone from the backpack.

"Are you really really sure?"

She nodded.

So Tom put the battery in place and switched on the phone. While the phone searched for the network, he took out the card Frank had given him. With shaking hands he dialed the number and sat down on the edge of the bed beside Shau'i. After a steadying deep breath he pressed the call button.

It rang barely twice.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is Tom, could you put me through to Mr. Frank Graber please?"

"This is Frank Graber speaking. So ... you changed your mind. What can I do for you?"

Shau'i squeezed Tom's hand lightly and gave him an encouraging nod.

"You were right. I wasn't completely honest. I was there when the jet crashed, and I found the pilot ... alive. But, she is not an enemy, in fact, she's a fugitive."

"She? The pilot is a woman?"

"Yes. But what does it matter?"

"Of course. It's just not very common."

"You're quite right, she is very uncommon."

Frank gave a little chuckle, remembering the candle-lit table.

"I'm sure she is. But please continue."

"Well, we ... she offers every bit of information on the jet prototype she knows. She will try to help locating the secret base and laboratory. Finally, she even consents to go through a few medical examinations and tests. But let me make one thing very clear. She never wants to be imprisoned in a lab again. Every procedure and it's purpose must be explained beforehand and is purely voluntary. She also wants me to be present at all times. That goes for the interviews as well. What do you say about this proposal?"

"Sounds good. But why would we examine the pilot? Is she ill?"

"No. I already told you, She is very uncommon. You'll see."

"OK. I'm interested. What do you want in return?"

"Protection. And the possibility to lead a life as normal as possible, together."

"Hmm. That might not be easy, but I think that can be arranged."

"Do we have a deal?"

"We do. If the promised information is half as valuable as it sounds it's more than reasonable. I want to bring you in straight away, where and when can we meet?"

Tom indicated the small parking area where he had left his car and how to get there and said, "We'll need about an hour to get there on foot ourselves."

"All right, we'll be waiting for you. And Tom, be careful, we think the Chinese might be on to you."

"Thanks for the warning, we will. One hour then."

Tom hung up, staring at Shau'i.

"We did the right thing," Shau'i whispered, "But I hate the idea to be examined and goggled at again."

Her hands shook as emotions and memories welled up again. Tom immediately hand his arms around her, to calm her down.

"Shhh. Don't worry, it will be different. I'm going to be with you, and maybe we should think about getting a lawyer."

Shau'i couldn't help but smile a little.

"I never ever want to be alone again. Promise me!"

"I promise. I'll be at your side, whatever happens. As long as I live. We'll get through this ... somehow."

"I ... I love you Tom ... forever."

"And I love you."

Then Tom bent forward and they shared a brief but perfect kiss.

"Let's go my sweety," he whispered, cupping and stroking her cheeks gently in his hands.

*

They stepped out into the beautiful, crisp morning. The warming sun shining on their backs stood in a cloudless sky, provided by a slightly chilly breeze. The view of the mountains was phenomenal, and even though, Toms' and Shau'i's' thoughts pressed down hard on them, the weather helped to lift their spirits.

After about 15 minutes of walking paw-in-hand - they were just on an open meadow - Shau'i suddenly stopped, swiveling around her ears.

<Do you hear that?>

<Hear what?>

<It's getting louder!>

Then Tom heard it too. The low humming of a small single engine plane, and it was getting nearer.

<There!> Shau'i shouted in her mind and pointed. After a few more seconds Tom could see it too, a dark speck, still quite far away, but becoming larger by the moment. Tom's first thought was of a charter plane doing a sight-seeing round for tourists, but that plane was coming straight towards them. His pondering was cut short, as in that instant three guys jumped out of the plane and deployed their parachutes. Tom could feel Shau'i freeze up beside him and although she stood still as a statue Tom could feel feel her insides trembling and churning.

"What is it?"

Shau'i was still watching the three forms as they glided nearer.

"I ... It's them ... him. ... They tried to rape me!" she stuttered in terror.

"RUN!" Tom shouted, grabbing her paw and pulling her along.

This finally broke Shau'i's fear induced paralysis.

They were running flat-out down the meadow and towards the tree-line, their pursuers gliding nearer and nearer.

"Dump you pack!" Shau'i shouted, sliding the straps of her own rucksack off of her shoulder. But they were still too slow, the firstparaglideralready cast it's shadow upon her.

"Faster" she cried desperately towards Tom, who was starting to fall behind.

Only 50 meters to the trees.

The nearest guy swooped towards her and tried to ram her from behind and bring her to fall. Shau'i could barely avoid him with a big leap towards her right side.

25 meters.

He came in for another attack. This time coming from the left, managing to bring down his baton on her shoulder. She shrieked in pain but was able to keep her footing.

5 meters.

Just as Shau'i ran into the woods, she heard a sickening crunch and splintering twigs above her head. The attacker had been so concentrated on her that he had misjudged the distance to the woods, crashing right into the crown of the first tree, hanging there, unconscious. The other two pursuers veered off at the last moment.

Tom and Shau'i were both momentarily relieved by their little victory and Tom asked, still running at top speed, <How's the shoulder?>

<Hurts, but not that b...>

"Ahhh!"

Tom had just tripped over a root, and smacked, with a loud thud, face-first into the forest floor.

"No!" Shau'i skidded to a halt and bounded back to Tom. "Tom?" she asked in fear, kneeling down beside him and shaking him slightly. Tom groaned groggily, his head was pulsating and he felt winded.

<Just give me a moment,> he replied in his mind, still trying to get some air back into his lungs.

<We must go, now, they're coming! I can hear them! Quick!>

She pulled him up, but as soon as Tom put weight on his right foot a flash of pain shot through his ankle.

"Ahh, dammit. I ... I can't run like this. Go! Go without me."

"NO!" Shau'i almost shouted, "I won't leave you!"

She slung an arm around Tom's shoulder and tried to help him walk. But after a few hobbled steps Tom said, <We're too slow. This won't work. You go, and I'll try to hide.>

<NO! We swore! I'm not leaving the only good thing in my life!>

With that Shau'i blinked away a tear, set Tom down to sit against a tree, and turned around to face their two remaining hunters. Tom wanted to continue arguing, but that moment he heard shouting and cracking twigs as the two pursuers broke through the underbrush and came to a halt about ten meters in front of Shau'i.

They both stared at her, sizing her up and eying her cautiously. They hadn't expected her to make a stand.

Shau'i stood completely still, with that cold, calm and directed fury that had served her so well in her past life. And then slowly she moved, into what Tom could only assume was her combat-ready stance. She stared at the left one of the two, and by her feeling Tom understood that this must be her would-be rapist.

Without warning, the second, slightly smaller, guy pulled out a tiny gun. Tom didn't know how, but he had jumped up, barely feeling the sharp pain in his ankle and launched himself at Shau'i to move her out of harms way. He heard the loud bang behind him and as he landed in the mossy earth-floor with Shau'i beside him, his first thought was that the guy must have missed.

Unfortunately, a moment later he began to feel a stinging pain coming from his right shoulder.

While Shau'i was getting up, Tom turned his head and saw a dart sticking in his shoulderblade. Shau'i had seen it too now and quickly pulled it out.

<What is it?> Tom asked.

<It looks like a tranquilizer.>

Tom was relieved that it wasn't something worse like poison, but could already feel the drug taking effect as his vision fogged and he began to feel very drowsy.

<I'm going to end this. Now!>

This time Tom could feel the hatred boil up in Shau'i, no longer controlled. Even in his clouded state it felt like scorching to share her feelings. Tom could literally feel the heat coming from her thoughts.

With a fierce war-cry she charged at the smaller opponent. She almost flew, knee-first into his stomach. As he coughed and bent forward in pain, she grabbed him around the head and threw him over her shoulder. As he lay before her, she whirled around and kicked him hard in the side of his head, knocking him unconscious.

Then she turned to face the monster that had tried to rape her. He was ready, ready before her, bringing his baton down, hitting her right across the back.

Shau'i screamed in pain, but even then the pain was almost completely drowned out by the liquid fire burning in her veins. She didn't stop even for a moment, and as the brunt of the impact knocked her forward, she tried to sweep his legs. It didn't quite work, but he still stumbled, giving her time to regain her footing.

Then the real fight began.

She launched herself at her enemy like a savage animal with no regard for her own safety. She was lost in a frenzy of hate. The speed was incredible, and to Tom's befuddled mind it was nothing but a blur, accompanied by occasional flashes of emotion and a few shared stabs of pain when she got hit.

Soon it became apparent that Shau'i was gaining the upper hand and her foe was beginning to tire out. His blows getting slower and less accurate.

Then the moment came.

In a desperate attempt, the guard charged at her. She sidestepped him nimbly, grabbed him at the collar by his neck and redirecting and amplifying his momentum she hurled him headfirst into the nearest tree-trunk. The impact was accompanied by a dull thud and the guard immediately collapsed to the ground, unconscious or worse, blood trickling from the top of his head.

Shau'i whirled around in her frenzy, still breathing heavily, searching for her next opponent, until it slowly began to sink in. It was over. The monster of her dreams, the tormenter of her previous life lay by her feet, defeated.

It was time to move on.

After she had calmed down herself a bit, she turned around and slowly walked towards Tom kneeling down beside him.

"Are you all right?" she asked him in a trembling voice.

It took a while for her voice to travel to his brain.

"D ... dizzy," he said weakly, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Come on, Mr. Graber is probably waiting."

She slung Tom's left arm around her neck and pulled him to his feet, allowing him to lean heavily into her side. It was strenuous, but at least they made some progress.

*

They must have been closer to the parking area than anticipated, because it didn't even take 15 minutes until it came into view.

"We made it," Shau'i said quietly to Tom.

She could already see three black vans standing there, and six or seven agents, wearing black suits.

Then the first agent spotted Tom and her and screamed for his colleagues, and moments later Shau'i had half a dozen gun pointed at her.

"STOP!" Shouted one of the agents "Don't move!"

...

"Stand down! It's them we've been waiting for."

An agent had recognized Tom, holstering his pistol, and was walking forward to meet them. He stared at Shau'i in wonder, and seeing that Tom was almost unconscious, he addressed Shau'i.

"My name is Frank Grabner. Who are you? What happened?"

"I'm Shau'i," she huffed under Tom's load, "They found us and we were attacked. Tom got hit by a dart, probably a tranquilizer."

"Peter! Hans! Get over here and carry the young man to the van! Hans, he got hit by a dart, try to confirm that it really was justa tranquilizer," Mr. Graber shouted.

Immediately two of the agents hurried over and lifted Tom off of Shau'i.

Then Mr. Graber turned back to Shau'i.

"Tom didn't exaggerate, you are extraordinary, I'm looking forward of hearing your story. But please, let's follow my colleagues and Tom to the cars. You were attacked you say? Where?"

With short words, Shau'i explained what happened. Graber immediately sent four agents to search capture them.

When Shau'i and Mr. Graber arrived at the van, Tom was already lying across the back bench and the agent called Hans was taking his pulse.

"Report!" Mr. Graber said.

"He looks fine. All the symptoms indicate a tranquilizer. His pulse and breathing is strong."

"Good," Frank Graber said, "We're leaving. Hans, you're with us. Peter, please help to round up the attackers."

"Yes sir," and he was off.

"Shau'i, we should get moving, I want to bring you to a secure location as quickly as possible. Please get in."

She sat herself beside Tom on the back bench and lifted his head in her lap, stroking him gently. Tom opened his eyes with much difficulty and tried his best to smile.

"Thank you for taking the shot for me."

<You would have done the same.>

"I love you. My hero!" Shau'i whispered in Tom's ear and then kissed him on his forehead.

<Love you toooo ...>

And with that he fell asleep.

FIN