The Aftermath 1
—————————————————————————————————————————————–
This takes place right after the end of the Princess and the Captain part 3, I suggest you read those first
then read the Black Willow series
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Jim was floating, the twins were a delight to be around, the fact that no one knew he was the father made
things a lot easier for him. With the help of Mary all the traitors had been revealed and taken care of, though she
didn’t need the money she accepted the position of second in command. Feeling a little like back when they were in the
war both Willow and Jim returned to the lab. There they had managed to increase sheild intensity even more, decreased
the power usage on the cloak and increased the amount of power that the MTM could hold. All this was done within a
month’s time shocking Mary, she could see that Jim had thrown his self into it till it was all he had.

“Hello Dickie,” Mary said, “Is Jim here yet?
“Yes Ms. willow, as a matter of fact he’s been here all night, he was working on a new device he thought of yesterday,
I have no specifics to it as he hasn’t asked for help,” Dickie replied almost in monotone. Mary walked to the lab door
punching in her code, waiting a minute she punched it in again, still nothing. Beating on the door Mary was getting
pissed, finally activating her MTM she was inside looking for Jim ah! there he was passed out on the cot in the back.

“Jim, hey wake up!” Mary yelled, jumping away Jim almost caught her as he woke up swinging, “Good to see
you’re still as fast as you were during the war.”
“Sorry Mary, habit been sleeping with one eye open even with all my tech,” Jim groaned as he stretched getting up,
“Been working on something, new idea came to me last night after we finished up with the MTM improvements. I kept
thinking that it’d be easier if we had a way to be pushed through the wall, also we could move over great distances.
Don’t get me wrong the MTM is probably the best when it comes to short distances, this would cover miles.” Mary could
see he was extremely excited as excited as he was when he thought up the MTM hell he’d almost killed his self
perfecting that idea.

Mary listened as he told of the idea he’d come up with the day before, it did sound like a long distnce MTM,
hmmmmmm interesting concept. Working all day with Willows’s help Jim had the start of the apparatus that could cause
the molecular destabilization confined in an energy beam and pushed through a solid surface. Having tested it a dozen
times Jim was even more excited not wanting to leave, Mary reminded Jim that the babies would miss him if he didn’t
return soon. Plus there was the fact that his lover was pregnant and would probably be pissed if he was gone another
day. Sighing he knew she was right, as soon as he was gone Mary went on the comp and started looking into the families
that were removed from the records in a offical decree to protect them.

Having paid a great sum for the hacking program, Mary started to sift through the over 200 families that were
listed, Damnit! Did almost every other family have a Jimmy for a son? Looking at the time Mary only had an hour at the
most as the imperial comp system had the best blocks and alarms, time almost gone she’d narrowed it down to four
families, she knew all 4, the Doms, the Jilias, the Muklas and the Stocks. Thinking it could be any of those 4,
problem was the Stocks had been wiped out repulsing an invasion with highly advanced tech. If she remembered right
there was only one surviving member left alive, the mother, the second wife of a baron or duke she couldn’t remember.
It was a shame too she’d heard that they were really decent people for semi-nobility. Clicking off the comp Mary
decided to visit the hospital where the mother was.

Mary left an hour later, caught up in her thoughts she didn’t see the figure creeping back into the lab. At
the hospital Mary had to wait for a chance to sneak in it seemed that the woman was comatose and had been since the
attack years ago. Slipping in Mary was unprepared for what she found there in the bed, she had almost walked out of
the room through the wall. There laying in the bed was an almost exact older image of her sister. The shock shook her
to her core, was this woman related to her and her dead sister? Looking at her charts it appeared she was suffering
the attack years ago seeing her husband, sons and daughter killed had caused her to retreat into her self. It seemed
she had been on the only working gun left, the others taken out, after over half the invaders fleet was destroyed. The
whole family were heroes of the empire, sighing Mary looked at the woman again, Mary had something she might be able
to use but it took time to set up and if she were caught even her connection with the empress might not save her,
damnit, she had to know.

Heading back to the lab Mary came across Amber walking in the garden, “Mary! have you seen Jim? I haven’t seen
him since 2 days ago when he left for the lab.”
“I think I know where he is, he was like this years ago, when he gets an idea he won’t stop till it’s done, come with
me,” Mary said as she took Amber’s hand and led her to the lab. As she suspected the door to the lab was locked and of
course Jim had the only key. Switching on her MTM she grabbed Amber’s hand as they phased through the wall. Yup, there
he was asleep slumped over the table, looking over everything Mary was shocked that he’s gotten even further with it.
Amber stepped up and gently whispered in Jim’s ear, “Jim hon, you need to come to bed.”
Stirring Jim wrapped his arms around Amber kissing her deeply, “ok, as long as you’re there, no problem.”
Standing they all made their way out the door, back into the palace. Mary and Amber got Jim into bed Jim falling like
a ton of bricks.

“I just hope I can keep him here,” Amber said a little worried.
“You might have to have sex with him to keep him here,” Mary laughed remembering back then it was a pretty woman that
had gotten Jim out of the lab one day. Though it was only 2 hours Jim was a beast afterward the tech he started
producing was unparalleled and even Mary hadn’t been able to come close with her ideas. Taking her leave Mary headed
to the lab, picking up the equipment she needed. 2 hours later she was outside the woman’s room ready to go, she had
checked the nurses and doctor’s schedules. Phasing through with all the equipment Mary had everything hooked up in no
time. Activating the machine Mary delved deep into her mind going back till she started to see things happening.

In the woman’s mind Mary was aboard a space station why did this look familiar, there were alarms going off
then there was a shattering explosion a man, Mary saw from the woman was her husband, told all of them to go to their
posts this was what they’d been training for. With the woman she saw the huge hoard of ships that dropped out of hyper
space. Mary was amazed, she’d never seen a krong ship before, no one had because the 5 people of this family had
killed all of them but at a high price. For hours Mary and the woman fired there were screams below first a
then anyoung girl older boy, she thought she heard 2 more male voices yelling then it was quiet, only her gun still destroying
the fleet ships coming. Looking out almost all the fleet was gone the last 10 ships were on a suicide run she took out
the first five but the last 5 collided with the shields. The station was rocked and pitched off kilter, the woman
climbed down finding the bodies.

Screaming she clutched the 2 younger children’s bodies, Mary could feel the woman’s mind starting to slip at
that point this was the second time she’d lost children? going further back Mary saw the husband again he was leaving
for a meeting with the emperor. Hours later she heard a boy yelling for the guards then she was there looking at the
empty cribs uncontrolable rage flew from her she started screaming and cursing the boy, the boy went out with the
guards returning an hour later with the man, she had interrogated him, torturing him in strangely familiar ways. Not
getting the man to talk the rage grew till she started slapping the boy who stood there and took it till he was
unconscious. About to hit him again Mary felt the arms grabbed by a powerful man one slap and she was falling to the
floor. The man was calling her a whore and that he took her from the streets and could put her back again.

The woman sunk down into a chair bruised and defeated crying that she’d never see her little Ann or Mary again
what!? This hideous beast of a woman was her mother! Pulling out Mary was disgusted she had killed, yes, but never
children, and she’d never beaten a child till it was unconscious. Disconnecting everything Mary made 2 trips, was
heading out the last time when she heard the woman call to her. “Mary? Is that you? I feel you.”
“After what I saw and felt, I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!” Mary whispered, the woman not fully awake.
“Please Mary, let me explain,” she begged slurringly.
“If I don’t like what I hear, I will kill you just for what you did to my brother alone,” Mary growled low.
“I loved your father, very much and he did me, I wanted so badly to provide children for him, and finally did, you and
your sister. Your father and brother were so proud, that night was the end of a long week for us all. The emperor was
about to strip your father of everything but your father talked him out of it. I lost control when you two were taken
I almost blamed Jimmy, I beat him so bad, it was a week before he could talk, I thought your father was going to kill
me.” The woman whispered.

“What I felt was pure hatred, an almost evil hatred, I have killed many people but I have NEVER harmed
children nor will I ever.” Mary was still disgusted. “If I feel I can forgive you, I will visit you again, but don’t
count on it, I’ve already lost my sister, so I’ve no need for you.”
“Ann’s dead?” the woman on the bed started to cry.
“Yes and the man who killed her suffered, it took me a week to kill him, afterward I had wished I could have made him
suffer more,” Mary said looking at the woman growling, Mary was gone within 2 seconds making the woman think it might
have just been a dream. Mary loaded up the speeder, still seething she was almost to the point of seeing only red.
Taking off she was a mile away when she stopped, flipping on her comp she looked at her site. AH! Perfect an
assassination! Calling her client she set up the meet in an hour after the mark was dead. Reading everything about
this case she saw it would help alot of people. pulling right up to the back wall Mary walked all the way in right to
the man. Sliting his throat she simply walked out and went to meet her client. Pulling up she saw that the man thought
he could capture her. Calling him she told him that he had one more chance to meet her ALONE or he’d be her next mark.

Finally paid she again warned the man that what he saw wasn’t her real face. With that she was gone in a few
seconds, the man visibly shaken felt he was lucky, no one challenged the Williow and lived. Pulling into the palace
Mary was still pissed the nerve of that woman after the way she’d beat the hell out of a 10 year old. The fucking
bitch expected Mary top forgive her? To want to start a relationship with her? Obviosly the bitch was more psycho than
Mary thought she was, heading to the lab she didn’t even open the door just phased through. Picking up Jim’s notes she
threw her self into what he’d been doing, the apparatus was almost complete, but Mary was wondering even if they could
send ,they still needed a tracking system and a point to send to. Finishing up Mary started drawing up ideas for a
focal point to send to. She’d finished and was working on it when Jim walked in 12 hours later.

Looking it over and all the plans she had made, he agreed he had been focused on the sending unit, now they
needed to work on the recieving unit. Jim and Mary worked tirelessly the next 2 days, developing a receiving unit,
though it glitched from the start, after the two days it appeared they had the basics in place. It appeared that when
the matter was destabilized or phased out, just like the MTM there was no problem, it was actually moving the matter
over a longer distance with the energy beam. Every time the beam went through something, the matter tried to stablize,
not really good when going through something, to go solid half way through. Neither of them had hardly slept in those
2 days when the hallucinations started, not bad, just little things at first. Then it started getting worse, by the
end of the third day they both knew that they had to rest, Mary was seeing her sister twirling and dancing behind her.
Jim was fairing no better, seeing his whole family slaughtered, his step mother covered in blood. Shaking their heads
to clear them, they realized that the other obviously had ghosts in their past that were going to rear their ugly
heads if they didn’t sleep.

Mary and Jim decided to take a day off, locking up Jim looked at Mary, knowing the many things she had done
many dealing out death, he nodded to her handing her a key. Looking at Jim as if he were crazy, then laughing Jim
smiled it had been too long since he’d heard her laugh, he forgot what a joyful sound it really was. Mary laughed, NOW
he thought of getting her a key, though she didn’t really need it, just the thought that he trusted her enough to give
her a key, gave her a sence of trust she hadn’t had in over 4 or 5 years. Amber met Jim on the way to the bedroom,
“We’ve been trying to contact you since you went in,” she said, “It seems your mother came out of the coma, she’s
awake and has been staring at the wall muttering about her daughter Mary?” Amber was really confused now.
Jim just nodded, “Tell them I’ll come by tomarrow, I need rest, I haven’t slept in almost 3 days, I’m starting to
hallucinate, I’ve already relived arriving at the station after the krong attack, finding them all…,” Amber held him
tightly it had taken a long time and a lot of patience to get out of him just what happened, it was heralded as a
tuning point in the history of the empire and the greatest victory by just 5 people to stop an entire invading race.

Jim collapsed in the bed, the visions still replaying, the hoarde of ships around the station the new shields
that he’d installed the day before, stronger than anything ever seen holding off the largest invading force the empire
had ever seen. Jim had gone in destroying thousands before he could even guess where the station was. 2 hours later
his reactor straining to maintain his shields and life support, Jim’s plasma cannons had been stretched almost to the
point that they were about to break off. The empire had promised help but were too far away to be here in time, Jim
had just returned from a supply run when he saw the huge disturbance then the rift in hyper space open and spew an
ever increasing number of ships. Jim’s AI Dickie, had been keeping count but Jim stopped listening when the count
reached 10,000 and they kept coming, for almost another hour. Jim docked rushing in to check his family, his little
sister and brother were both dead, the krong had found a weak spot in his shield hitting it repeatedly, though it made
them an easier target eventually the stinger beams finally got through. His brother had tried to protect his sister
probably taking another hundred or more ships before he lost consciousness. A few beams weren’t bad but he’d taken a
few hundred protecting his sister. His sister though young had tried to increase the shields had actually gotten 20%
more before stingers got her.

Landing in what was left of the hangerbay Jim managed to get the bay doors closed but the bay was leaking
atmosphere. Making his way the the inner hatch, Jim dropped the blast doors, this managed to get a seal but he didn’t
trust it to hold that long. Entering the station he made his way to the battle section. He found his father first, the
man had held out as long as he could not using the weapon that he knew could mean the difference between dying and
wiping out a huge force. The only problem it had been damaged in the initial attack, making it impossible to fire
remotely. Sighing Jim knew that the energy would have eaten away at him till he couldn’t breathe any more. Taking
readings Jim estimated that his father had eradicated well over 5000 ships with 1 shot; but there wouldn’t have been
time to recharge for a second. Covering his father, Jim next found his mother and siblings, she was injuried across
her side, covered in hers and their blood only crying, clutching them close whispering to them, her eyes dull and
lifeless staring at something only she could see.

This was the second time Jim had been screwed over because of war, he promised then and there that it would
never happen again. 3 hours after Jim stepped on board the station the imperial fleet arrived, most of the captains
could only stare open mouthed at the full scale of the damage and wreckage miles around the station. Though it was
never truly totaled there was a preliminary count and estimate that went well over 200,000 ships that were destroyed
including the world ship taken out by Jim’s father mid-way through the battle. After his family had been laid to rest
Jim had disappeared, no one knew where he was, it was whispered that he was seen once every 6 months buying supplies
but those were dismissed as solely rumors. His mother a hero, was put in the best hospital it had taken days to get
near her let alone pry her dead children from her arms. Her physical wounds healed, no one seemed to get through to
her. Not even when he came once every 6 months did she react to him. After a year Jim gave up trying to bring her back
shaking his head he thought that it might be better if she stayed where she was, the horror of the present might be
worse then the horror of the past.

Mary was tired as hell but she had to clear something up with the woman. Stepping into the hospital she was
heading for the room when she was told that she couldn’t go in. When she told the man that the woman was her mother,
he not only got rude but tried to touch her, his first mistake. The man was unconscious and on the floor within
seconds, so fast in fact anyone that saw, just saw the man literally fall down. Walking into the room the woman looked
up a sad look on her face, “if you’re here to kill me I am ready. I have been since the krong invasion wiped out the
rest of my family.”
“No not yet, though I reserve the right to make you suffer later,” Mary calmly said.
“There is nothing you can do to me, that is any worse than watching the man I love and the last of my children die in
my arms. To watch James, take out the thousands that he did on his return, I believe that his destoying of those
thousands, was what gave us a fighting chance in the end. My god I’ve never seen as great a pilot as James, I watched
as he was coming in, he didn’t even aim he just fired. They were like a swarm he’d kill hundreds and hundreds would
replace them, the world ship was what scared the hell out of me. It was as large as the empire planet, a twisted
mixture of metal and rock, it seemed alive, millions of lights blinking and glistening on it’s surface.” The woman
shook from the memories, “I heard my husband warn us that he was about to fire the planet killer, I was scared it was
more powerful than anything I’d ever seen to date. So you tell me, what more horrors can you subject me too? I lost my
first 2 children my beautiful girls Mary and Ann, then I lost my husband and his son James. Then I held my little
Jeromy and Naomie the stinger beams shredding their insides. I should have died then with them so, Lady, I don’t give
a fuck what you do to me if you do kill me, I’d welcome it.”

Mary was shocked this was the same fighting spirit she had but to give up? Mary was about to slap her when she
realised that what the woman had said was true. She really had nothing to fight for anymore, everything and one she
loved and cared for was gone. Mary was finally begining to understand what this woman had been through, had it not
been for Thomas she’d probably be just like her. Touching the woman on the cheek she told her she had news for her and
would be back soon, she had to gather some things to give to her. The Woman could only stare at Mary, the tears
starting to dry on her face.
“Why do you care? I don’t know you and you owe me nothing that I know of.” The woman asked not really up for much.
“It’s not you I owe, but I’ve been looking for you for a long time to fulfill a promise I made a long time ago” Mary
smiled this ought to be good she thought, as she left an extremely confused woman in the bed.

TO BE CONTINUED (Please let me know if I should)

---