Conjured Defense (Terra Chronicles Book 4)

by J. C. Jackson

  I kept my silence while Silver and the doctor documented my injuries. My partner stepped away as his phone rang. The sound echoed loudly in my ears and I cringed.

  At least it was one less person poking and prodding at me for the moment. They had been holding my hair up to see how bad the cut was, but with as much hair as I had, they were having a hard time locating it.

  “Yes ma’am. One moment.” I watched Silver out of the corner of my eye as he fiddled with his phone before holding it up as if taking a picture.

  I turned my attention to the floor. I was exhausted and hungry. Neither I wanted to admit to. I had to get this case finished.

  Jonim entered the infirmary and folded his arms, waiting to the side. I would be stuck here for a bit, but Silver could handle him as soon as he got off his call.

  I entertained the idea of going back to the hotel and hiding from the rest of the day. Insults, a slashed tire, almost getting run over - I could not take much more today.

  No, there was work to be done. Though I was about ready to accept the cold, wintry conditions back at the main office. Maybe I could get a day or two here after we were done to enjoy the summer weather.

  I heard the door open again. “By the Gods, what happened?” Jake asked far too loudly and I cringed, covering my ears.

  “Out,” Silver said sharply. His volume hurt as well.

  “Let them be. We can talk outside,” Jonim said at a much lower level.

  The sound of the door opening and closing was almost drowned out by the pounding in my head. What was going on?

  “Hey,” Silver said softly, pulling my hands away from my ears. “Just a little longer and then I can heal this, okay?”

  “Healing a concussion isn’t the same as cuts and bruises. I’d recommend just letting her rest and recover on her own,” the doctor said. “Though this is a bad one.”

  “I’ve had plenty of practice healing concussions,” Silver retorted.

  “I leave it to her to decide then. For now let’s find the cut. I want to run another scan to make sure there isn’t anything else we missed.”

  Mason watched us from his bed on the other side of the room. At least he did not feel the need to throw insults while I sat here with two men combing through my hair.

  I hissed when a gloved hand touched a particular sensitive spot.

  “Sorry,” Silver said gently. “I think I found it.”

  “Alright, let’s get it cleaned up so we can see how bad it is,” the doctor said.

  I kept my squirming and noises to a minimum while they cleaned the area and documented the damage. Why did we have to go through all of this? It was taking time away from what I needed to get done. What was it I needed to get done right now?

  I struggled through the fog clouding my mind trying to remember what it was we had been doing. Where were we headed when we nearly got run over?

  While they worked, I attempted to stay focused. Even during the scan I disconnected from the world and Silver would have to prod me to turn for the doctor.

  Again I sat on one of the beds in the infirmary. I was unsure when I got back here, but no one poked and prodded me. Losing track of time bothered me though.

  “Only with her consent,” I heard the doctor say, bringing me back to the present for a moment.

  “Ketayl.” Suddenly Silver was in front of me. “Can you focus for a moment?”

  “Can try,” I said, my words a bit slurred. I made no promises.

  He brushed my bangs back. The callouses on his fingers distracted me by the familiar comfort.

  “Ketayl.”

  I blinked and forced myself to return to what was going on. “What?”

  “Will you let me use my power to heal you? I’m familiar with how to handle concussions.”

  “Since when do you ask?” This was strange. He never asked - he just did it.

  “I know, but this time I need your consent.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Good enough for me. I was about to make a few calls since I wasn’t sure she could consent,” the doctor said. “And I couldn’t tell you how long it would be before her symptoms let up.”

  Silver put his hands on either side of my head and rested his forehead against mine. I went to back away, but he held me still. A sense of peace washed over me and I stopped pulling back. Slowly the pain faded and the fog lifted. Until he stepped away, I was content to stay there.

  Then the world slammed back into place. “What time is it? Where’s my gear bag? I’ve…”

  “Easy, Ketayl,” Silver said gently. “I knew you’d bounce back pretty quick, but you’re still going to need to take time before we get back to work.”

  I crossed my arms and glared up at him.

  My partner laughed and patted me on the head before stepping away to talk with the doctor.

  Mason stared at me. I sighed and braced myself for what was to come.

  He got up and came over. “Hey, about earlier, sorry.”

  I tilted my head at him, not understanding.

  “Never thought I’d see the day when a divine and an arcane caster could get along never mind what the two of you have.”

  “We’re an oddity,” I admitted. “He used to be part of a church who had a number of mage parishioners and my family is mostly divine casters.”

  “So you were both used to the other side then. I’m afraid my earlier reaction to you was more what would be expected out of me rather than my true thoughts on the matter. If I ever get off of this forsaken assignment, I plan on to expanding my horizons. Also if I ever get out of this infirmary.” Mason laughed lightly, looking at his gauze-wrapped hands.

  I tilted my head, curious. “You don’t want to be working on this?”

  He shook his head. “The others at my church pulled seniority so I got stuck with it when the request came in. They also probably figured out I’m a little too curious for their orthodox views. I mean, this project is an interesting concept, but I don’t see it working out.”

  I bit my lower lip for a moment. “I’ll admit I’ve seen plenty of flaws in the design, but nothing that should have caused what happened to you.”

  “So you think it was sabotage?”

  I shook my head. “I won’t know until we get a closer look at the system. There are still too many possibilities to rule out.”

  Silence fell between us for a bit.

  “Your buddy there is pretty scary when he’s mad,” Mason said quietly.

  “You should see it when you piss her off,” Silver said as he came back into my little section of the infirmary.

  I glared up at him.

  “Ready to get out of here?” Silver asked me.

  “Yeah.” Silver put his arm around me as I slid off of the bed. “I can manage on my own,” I shot at him.

  “You’re always so cranky when you’ve been hurt. Let’s get you cleaned up and then get something to eat.”

  I clenched my teeth. He could eat his words.

  Mason laughed quietly. “You two are something else. Guess I better get back to bed before I get yelled at.”

  Why was Mason still here? His injuries were not severe. I doubted the answer to that question would lead to anything useful.

  Chapter 8

  At least when Silver said he wanted to get some physical training time in, he did not make me join him. While he worked out, I sat on the side of the training room trying to concentrate enough to get some reading done at least.

  I remained unsure if my problem was a residual effect or the content I was attempting to understand.

  Reading through Jake’s papers tested my patience. I could read boring, dry, arcane theory books all day long, but the way he composed his papers drove me mad. I resisted the urge to pull out the pencil for my tablet and strike through all of the unnecessary repetition and filler words.

  Taking a momentary break, I watched Silver, with a heavily loaded barbell across his shoulders, squat down and stand back up. Likely he chose this cours
e of action both to keep me from being too active and so he could think through what we had found so far.

  Glancing at my watch, I itched to pull out the plans I copied earlier and go through them thoroughly, but here was not the place. Not when Jake had no idea I made copies.

  Come to think of it, I had not seen Jake since he burst into the infirmary. Or Jonim for that matter.

  I stared at Silver’s bare back. I could understand why Jonim had shown up, but why Jake? It was still a struggle to piece together information from that time period. Had he been carrying something?

  I ran a hand through my bangs and tugged on the ends in frustration. I was grateful Silver got us out of the way, but his own strength caused a different set of problems.

  “See something you like?” Silver asked teasingly as he walked over.

  “What?”

  “You were staring at me.”

  I turned away from him, embarrassed I went so deep into my own thoughts, I had not realized I appeared to have been staring. “No, I wasn’t. I’m trying to remember what happened, but I can’t.”

  Silver knelt down in front of me. “Hey, don’t force it. It may come back, it may not. It doesn’t matter - there were enough witnesses and security footage to make up for it.”

  When I realized I stared at the sun pendant on his necklace, I forced myself to look away. It was a weird habit I had when he was shirtless.

  “Reached any conclusions yet?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “No. We’ll need to compare notes, but I’d rather you took it easy until tomorrow.”

  “It’s already early evening. We’ve wasted a lot of time.”

  A large, rough hand touched my cheek gently, turning me to face him. “Ketayl, no. Your lack of memory may not be a concern in what happened, but pushing yourself right now could complicate matters. The damage may be healed, but your body isn’t fully recovered.”

  I sighed and sat back. I knew what Silver would do if I ignored him when he was like this. He had rearranged my schedule more than once while we were in Ghost Forest to make sure I took time off when he thought I was overworked.

  Picking up my tablet, I decided to continue reading. Silver would eventually get the hint and go back to his workout.

  “What are you reading?”

  Or not. “I’m trying to get through one of Jake’s papers again. I’m tempted to edit them just so I can figure out what he’s saying.”

  “Why not? Unless you’re planning on giving him a copy I don’t see the issue.”

  I stared at my partner. “Am I supposed to be working or not?”

  “I need you to keep it light. That sounds pretty simple and not overly taxing. Well, it might be depending on how bad it is.”

  I bit my lower lip for a moment. “Pretty bad.”

  “But it’s not you putting together a complex puzzle. Use this time to get the pieces you’ll need before you start going after the big picture. And you better believe you’ll be getting a full night’s sleep tonight. Especially after you were up last night.”

  “Saying I am and it actually happening are two different things,” I muttered.

  Silver grinned broadly. “I know how to make sure it happens.”

  I rolled my eyes. This man was impossible.

  ~*~

  The next morning, we were back in Jake’s office with a couple of extra soldiers for security. Jonim insisted on them and Lockonis backed him up. We had no other support here.

  Through all of this, Jake remained suspiciously absent given his burst into the infirmary the day before. I stood over a table we managed to clear with the latest plans rolled out. Was there anything to connect the defense part of the system to the screens in the room? By the looks of it, the defense station should not even turn them on.

  Which in one regard made sense since that person only supplied power to form a single, uniform shield around the vessel though they could turn emitters off. They had no reason to need a view of the outside.

  Silver stood over my shoulder. “You have something?”

  “A lack of something. The defense system isn’t designed to trigger the activation of the screens.”

  “Isn’t it supposed to be able to take over in case something happens to the offense station?”

  “In theory. Either these aren’t the most recent plans or…” I shifted the pages to make sure others bore the same corresponding revision date in the corner.

  “Someone’s lying.”

  I blew a sharp breath through my bangs. “I doubt he forgot.”

  Silver stroked the small patch of hair on his chin. “What about the offense system? Maybe the trigger was excluded from the plans?”

  I shrugged, it was a possibility. I pulled out the pages for the offensive part of the system just as Jake came in. I shifted uncomfortably when I saw the giant smile plastered to his face.

  “I’m so glad to see you’re back on your feet after yesterday,” Jake said, his tone odd, but I was unable to place why. “I have the documentation you asked for.” He held out a thick binder.

  I bowed taking it.

  “Did they ever find out who was so careless?” Jake asked.

  Then I placed it - he sounded fake.

  “No,” Silver answered, the word clipped. “You said previously the system triggers the screens in the room, correct?”

  “Oh, yes, yes. Either station,” Jake said.

  “Can you point out where for the defense station?” I took the other pages and moved away so he could see.

  “Oh heavens, it’s not on these. It’s on the plans for the camera network. Both stations use a single trigger. Seemed silly to include it here. I haven’t gotten the brightest people to help build this and they would have put it in twice or worse, three times. I’m fairly certain they’re the reason we’ve had so many problems.”

  The truth or something to distract us? “Where are those plans?” I asked.

  “Um…” Jake looked around the office.

  “Never mind, I’ll find them,” I said. “Actually, can we get onto your computer system? I assume these were created digitally.”

  “Oh, of course, of course. Let me get you logged in. I should have thought of that.” Jake quickly shuffled over to the computer in the room.

  When Spelltech’s owner had his back to us, I turned to Silver and tugged on my bangs. I hoped he understood I was at the end of my patience with this man.

  “So when do you think you’ll be able to test the system?” Jake asked.

  I sighed. I knew the request was coming. While I remembered what being synced with the system was like, the blow to my head seemed to have fully disconnected the pull it had on me.

  “We need to check the system first to make sure there isn’t a repeat and she needs time to go over the documentation,” Silver answered.

  I put what I had in my hands down. It was as good of a time as any to play this card. “I’m curious as to what gave you inspiration for this design.”

  “I, uh…” Jake glanced at Silver. “I guess I’ve always been fascinated by tales of Atlantis and the technology they were rumored to have developed. It’s certainly ‘outside the box’ as they say and I think there’s much we can learn.”

  A very practiced answer.

  “Atlantis is certainly an interesting subject,” I noted and returned to what I had been doing. At least the people who theorized on it were more credible than the people who believed Terra was flat and Earth was a mirrored copy on the other side of a coin.

  “Do you also study it?” I refused to look up at Jake - his tone was both excited and greasy. “I have written several papers on the subject. Perhaps you would like to take a look? When you have a chance of course. Getting this settled is top priority, I understand.”

  I remained silent about my brief attempts at reading said papers.

  “Let’s get this solved first and then we can talk,” I replied. “Speaking of, we really should get back to work.”

  “O
h, yes, yes, of course. Excuse me. Let me know if you need anything.”

  As soon as the door closed and Jake had gotten a distance away Silver mused, “You strung him along.”

  “It wasn’t my intent. I had been hoping for something more than his pitch. It feels like there’s still something missing in these plans. The system shouldn’t work at all without an amplifier, but I don’t see one or even a reference to it.”

  “Just don’t ever do that to me, okay?”

  I raised an eyebrow at my partner. “I don’t understand.”

  “I want you to always be straightforward with me. Truthful would be nice also.”

  Putting my hands on my hips, I tilted my head, still lost. “What are you getting at?”

  Silver scrunched up his face in anger. “Don’t pull that crap with me, Ketayl. I know the damn system was still messing with you yesterday. You claimed to be distracted by the case, but you haven’t shown the same behavior as you did before we almost got run over.”

  I looked down at the plans before me. “Guess the blow to the head reset everything,” I muttered.

  “Yeah, well I don’t want that being the only option to break you out of it fully.”

  I sighed. This was not the time to fight. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to worry, okay? We’ve got a lot to do and I was working through it. It’s completely gone.”

  He folded his arms and stared at me.

  “Seriously, no problems with it since.” Getting him to believe me after lying to him was going to be harder than I hoped.

  “And what of when you go to test the system?”

  I sighed. “Give me a chance to read about it and come up with a solution. It could be as simple as I didn’t back out of the system correctly.”

  Silver made a disgruntled noise but said nothing further.

  I moved away from him and sat down at the computer, concealed from outside the office by the mountains of paper. Putting my head in my hands, I hid my face with my long bangs. Why was his approval or disapproval so important? We were here for a job and I had done what I thought best.

  Everything had run so smoothly while we were in Ghost Forest but now…