Rajani Chronicles I

  “Extend me to the ship’s hull.”

  She began to extend him toward the other ship with her other hand, then stopped. “James, are you sure about this?”

  “What other option do we have?” he answered. His face was unreadable behind his energy field, he hadn’t thought to make invisible around his head.

  “Be careful,” she said.

  “Don’t worry, I will.”

  She extended him over to the other ship, feeling her powers stretched to their limits, and hoping they weren’t making a dangerous mistake.

  #

  As James moved closer to the ship and farther away from Yvette, he thought about the first time he, Yvette, and Gianni had been in the airlock trying to disable the other ASP ship. He’d assumed when they spoke to each other, the reason they could hear one another was because they were close. Now he wasn’t so sure. He knew enough about space to know you couldn’t hear anything in a vacuum. It had always bugged him when watching a science fiction film when a starship would scream across the screen when there shouldn’t have been any sound at all. It was impressive, and gave the sound effects people something to do, he supposed, but it wasn’t accurate.

  So this must have been something else. Maybe when the energy fields came into contact with each other, something happened. He looked back and saw he was fifty feet away from Yvette. It should have been physically impossible for her to hear him. “Yvette, can you hear me?” he asked softly.

  “Yes,” she immediately responded, sounding like she was standing next to him.

  Amazing, James thought. He smiled widely, like a little kid who had discovered that Santa had been there the night before. Rauph had never told them their powers might work together when their fields touched. Maybe he didn’t know. “I want you to get me to the ship’s hull, and then let me go once I have a hold of it,” he told her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I want you to let me go,” James said, then thought better of his wording. “But be ready to grab me again,” he said, laughing. “Don’t go anywhere.” He was rapidly approaching the other ship now. “Okay, slow me down.” He slowed as he came within a few feet of the hull. He saw a ladder running along the top of the small wing structure, where it met the body of the ship. He grabbed the closest rung.

  “All right, let me go,” he said. He immediately felt his body drifting up as he began to float. “Yvette?” he asked. “Can you hear me?” There was no answer. His guess about the energy fields was confirmed. He grabbed the next rung on the ladder and continued along the wing toward the engines. He knew he had to disable them somehow.

  He also knew he couldn’t punch a hole in the engines, or he’d likely be sent flying out into space. He remembered enough of science class to know about actions and reactions, which meant he’d have to tear the engines apart, if he could. He could see a slight distortion around the entire ship from its force field. He had figured Gianni may not have had the same success against a ship with a force field, which is why he didn’t ask him to shoot out its engine again.

  He reached the end of the ladder and saw he was still about twenty to thirty feet from the engines, with no handholds in sight. He’d have to make his own. He held on tightly to the last rung with his left hand and drove his right hand through the hull, about two feet closer to the engines. The force field sparked as his hand passed through it, but he felt no resistance as his hand pierced the ship. Well, they probably know I’m here now, he thought, hoping that they didn’t take off away from the Tukuli.

  He thought he’d have at least a few moments while they attempted to assess what had breached their hull. He quickly made his way along the side of the ship, holding on tightly to the previous hole with his left hand and punching through with his right.

  He finally reached a seam in the ship where the engine parts were fitted to the main body. The two sections folded into each other. Must be bolted together inside the ship. He felt a tight thrum in the ship and realized he was running out of time. The engines were starting up. By the quality of his breathing, he also realized his air was getting thin. His exertions had depleted the oxygen too quickly.

  He made up his mind about what he needed to do and punched through the hull next to the seam, on the main body side. In his years on the force, he’d come to learn when someone’s door had multiple locks on one side, you took out the hinges on the other side to get in. Most of the people didn’t augment the cheap hinges installed by most housing contractors. They relied on a few screws to keep out a police battering ram. He split the hull of the ship and kept pushing with both hands, opening it like a Ziploc bag. When the hole he created was large enough, he climbed into it and started spreading it wider and wider with his hands, the metal buckling under the pressure of his grip.

  When his arms were extended as far as they would go, he moved along the tear and extended them again, making it larger as he went. After a few minutes, his breath ragged in his ears, he looked back and saw he’d made a split in the hull that spanned the entire width of the ship on one side. If they tried to accelerate, it would probably tear the engines right off. He made his way back toward the side of the ship closest to the Tukuli. He was starting to feel light-headed when he finally reached the ladder over the wing. He moved slowly along the wing, beginning to see dark spots in front of his eyes. He was almost out of time.

  He looked to the Tukuli to see where Yvette was, hanging in space from the outer hatch. At first he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him from the lack of oxygen. But then he blinked rapidly a few times and nothing changed. Yvette was glowing. It definitely wasn’t a light from either ship. She was creating her own light from her suit. And she seemed to be getting brighter. He smiled fondly. She had another power. He continued along the ladder slowly. Halfway along, his vision went dark, and he knew no more.

  #

  Bhakat was standing on the bridge with Janan, Rauph, Kieren, and Gianni. Rauph had been doing his best to stall the ASP ship, whose commander had demanded they drop the force shield Gianni erected in return for their vow not to fire on the Tukuli again. They were going to board her and place them all under arrest. Gianni had complied on Rauph’s orders. Rauph had been negotiating their surrender for the last twenty minutes, taking issue with anything he could to buy the two Humans more time. Communications from the ship had cut off abruptly ten minutes earlier.

  Yvette’s voice came over the intercom. “Help! We need help down here,” she screamed frantically. “James is hurt.”

  “Bhakat—” Rauph began.

  “I’m going,” Bhakat said, already leaving the bridge. He ran down the corridor toward the cargo hold and the airlock and briefly looked behind him to see both Kieren and Gianni following. When he arrived at the cargo hold, he could see the door standing open. He went in to see Yvette kneeling next to James, who was lying on his back on the floor. Yvette looked up and saw him and the others enter.

  “He lost consciousness out there, and his energy field disappeared,” she said. Bhakat could see she was crying.

  “Oh my God,” Kieren said.

  “How long was his exposure?” Bhakat asked, kneeling down next to James.

  “What?” Yvette asked.

  “He wants to know how long James was exposed,” Kieren translated.

  “I don’t know,” Yvette said. “Maybe ten or fifteen seconds, at the most. When I saw his field disappear, I surrounded him with my own and pulled us both into the cargo hold as fast as I could.”

  “You were both out there?” Gianni asked. “What the hell were you doing?”

  “Disabling their ship,” Yvette said, her expression blank.

  Bhakat bent over the Human and listened for his breathing. Nothing. He gave the Human a breath and then checked his pulse. Weak and thready, but at least he had one. He gave James another breath, and then another. The Human vomited as Bhakat was leaning down to give him another breath. Bhakat turned the coughing, retching Human onto his side so he didn’t asp
irate his own stomach contents.

  “We must get him to the medical bay for tests, but I think he’ll be fine,” he told Kieren.

  “He says James should be okay, but we have to get him to the medical bay,” Kieren repeated. Bhakat could see she was crying as well.

  “But he was out in space, unprotected,” Yvette said, her hands wrapped around her arms as if she was cold.

  Bhakat could see Yvette was going into shock. She’d need observation as well. He turned to Kieren. “I need you to escort her to the medical bay with me.” She nodded. He placed his hands under James and lifted him, then slowly progressed from the cargo hold to the medical bay. When they finally arrived, Bhakat gently laid James down on a bed, his back creaking from the strain of carrying the heavy Human.

  He turned once again to Kieren. “Tell her to lie down. Cover her with a blanket from the wall panel over there.” He pointed at the wall near another of the beds. He began to hook James up to some monitors, after checking to make sure the Human was still breathing.

  He looked up to see that while Yvette was now lying down on the bed, shivering, Kieren was staring intently at the wall. He’d forgotten the panel was difficult to distinguish from the surrounding wall. He walked over and pushed the panel, which slid easily out from the wall, revealing a compartment filled with blankets and towels of various sizes.

  “Oh, thanks,” Kieren said. She grabbed a blanket and covered Yvette, who appeared more aware of her surroundings now. She smiled gratefully as Kieren hugged her to help warm her up.

  Bhakat grabbed another blanket and walked over to James. As he was tucking the blanket in around the Human, James stirred, opening his eyes slightly. “Don’t talk; just rest,” Bhakat said softly, knowing the Human probably couldn’t understand him. James closed his eyes and soon was breathing regularly. Bhakat saw his vital readings had stabilized.

  “So, you never answered Yvette’s question,” Gianni said. “How can James be all right if he was out there in a vacuum? Wouldn’t his lungs explode or his blood boil or something?”

  “Gianni!” Kieren said, shocked.

  “What?” Gianni asked, and then saw the expression on Yvette’s face. “Oh, sorry.”

  Bhakat looked over to see Gianni and Kieren standing next to Yvette’s bed. Yvette was now sitting up, wrapped in her blanket. “Kieren, if you could translate,” he said.

  “Yes,” she said, looking away from Gianni.

  “It was a short exposure, from what Yvette said,” he began, with a pause every now and then for Kieren to speak. “He was actually lucky he was unconscious, because he would have damaged his lungs, and possibly his eardrums, if he’d tried to hold his breath. At this point, he’ll probably have some minor skin and tissue irritation and swelling, and maybe a minor sunburn on his exposed skin, if we were close enough to a sun for exposure to ultraviolet radiation, but physically, he should be fine in a day or two. I’ll give him a shot for pain and to help him sleep.”

  “What about the cop ship?” Gianni asked.

  “I think James succeeded,” Yvette said. “He was heading back toward me when his field disappeared.”

  Bhakat walked over and pushed a button on the wall. “Rauphangelaa, the ASP ship is disabled,” he said.

  “We know,” came Janan’kela’s reply. “They’ve been spewing curses at us for the last five minutes. We’re leaving now.”

  David appeared at the door of the medical bay. “Hey, guys, I was sleeping. What’d I miss?”

  They all looked at him in disbelief.

  #

  James woke up feeling like he’d been run over by a Mack truck, and that the truck had backed up and hit him again for good measure. He looked around and noticed he was in the medical bay. “Damn, I hate waking up in here,” he said quietly, his voice cracking.

  “So do I,” Yvette said.

  James raised his head and looked over at the bed next to him. He saw that Yvette was lying down, covered in a blanket. “You all right?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she answered, smiling and stretching her arms outward over her head. “Waiting for you to rejoin the party.”

  James put his head back down and closed his eyes. “I take it we got away?”

  “Left the ASP ship floating out there somewhere,” Yvette answered, pointing up. “We’ve been in a wide orbit around the Rajani system for two days now.”

  “Two days?” James asked. He slowly sat up. “No wonder I have to pee so badly.”

  Yvette was still laughing when he returned from the bathroom.

  “C’mon,” he said. “I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat.” He jumped down off of the bed and almost fell to the floor. He stood, bent over for a moment while his body told him unsympathetically how much it didn’t appreciate him moving quickly. “Ouch,” he said quietly.

  “Bhakat wanted to know as soon as you woke up,” she said. “And I can see why.”

  “Well, we’ll tell him as soon as we’re finished,” he replied, slowly standing up straight. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in days. It occurred to him he felt this type of hunger after he’d used his powers for an extended period of time, like they somehow leached away his body’s energy. He’d have to talk to the others about it when he had the chance. He was too focused on finding some food to do it right now.

  “How ’bout this,” Yvette said, placing a hand on his arm. “I’ll go get you some food if you promise to go straight to your room and lie down.”

  “I can get—” he started to say.

  “You can do what I tell you, or I can kick your ass,” Yvette said sternly. “Do you know how badly you scared me?”

  He smiled at her. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry if I scared you. I promise I won’t do it again. I’ll see you back in my quarters and apologize some more.”

  “Well, I guess you must be feeling better, at least,” she said, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him lightly on the lips. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. After I get you some food and tell Bhakat you’re awake.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  David had spent the days since James was injured in his room alone. He was beginning to feel depression creeping in on him once again. He wanted to feel like part of the team, but it felt like they didn’t need him. It didn’t help that his super speed was absolutely useless on a space craft. They hadn’t even woken him up for the last incident with the ASPs.

  It was just like back home. No one wanted him around unless he was able to do something for them. It was the same with his college coach, with his so-called friends, with his girlfriend, Lisa, and with his father. He hoped things would change once they reached Rajan. He was looking forward to seeing what he could do once he was able to cut loose completely. Perhaps he could outdistance his own problems as well.

  #

  The Tukuli had been in orbit around the Rajani solar system for five days, beyond the tenth planet’s path. Rauph strode down the corridor toward Officer Dempsey’s quarters. He still had a few Standard minutes before his shift began on the bridge, and he wanted to check on the Human’s status. He placed the translating device on the floor and stood outside of Dempsey’s room as he waited for the Human to answer his chime. He’d been disappointed to learn the collar device had been lost during the ASP ship attack. It had been much more convenient to carry around. He wished the translating device wasn’t necessary anymore, but the Humans were having a more difficult time learning Talondarian Standard than he’d anticipated. Of course, the same could be said for him learning the Humans’ language. After weeks together on the ship, the only ones who could speak the others’ language without the assistance of the translating device were Kieren and Janan.

  As the door opened, he started to speak before realizing it wasn’t Dempsey who had answered the door. “Good morning to you, Ms. Manidoo,” he said to the Human female standing in the doorway. “May I speak with Officer Dempsey for a moment? In private?”

  “Sure,” Yvette answered. She looked as if she was stil
l angry at him, and perhaps she was. He couldn’t very well blame her. “I was just leaving.”

  He smiled at her the best he could as she walked past, but realized how uncomfortable the Human female made him. There was something ... dangerous about her. He wasn’t afraid to admit she would have scared him even without her stone-imbued powers. All his life had been spent in the search for peace and quiet contemplation. In many ways, she exemplified the opposite of everything he believed in. Even her calm moments felt charged with the potential for violence.

  He found Dempsey still getting dressed slowly in the clothes he’d worn when he’d been brought aboard the ship. Rauph still didn’t know what a wheel with a wing attached to it meant. “Are you well today, Officer Dempsey?” he asked, noting the Human was still sore. He’d given Dempsey the benefit of the doubt. The Human had been through a trying ordeal in his bid to disable the ASP starship. He could see the yellow-tinged bruises on Dempsey’s torso.

  “I feel much better, yes,” Dempsey replied, slipping on his shirt.

  “I hate to be blunt,” Rauph said, setting the translating device on the floor, “but we’re reaching a point, both with our supplies and in our patience, where we must either go forward to Rajan or go back to Mandaka. I don’t wish to go back, if at all possible. I fear the ASPs would be waiting for us.”

  “I know,” Dempsey said. “I suspected our food stores wouldn’t last much longer, and I appreciate you allowing me to heal these last few days.”

  “I also fear our conflict with the ASP ship has taken away any element of surprise we may have once had,” Rauph said. “The Krahn surely detected the presence of two large ships this close to Rajan.”

  “Damned if we do, or damned if we don’t,” Dempsey said. Although Rauph didn’t know what the expression meant, he could guess well enough. They were left with no easy alternatives. “I’m ready,” James continued. “We can proceed as planned, I think. Enough time has been wasted on my account.”