He had not fully prepared himself for Maddie’s appearance. She was unconscious and barely alive.
“Julian, what is her status?” he gasped.
My lord Rayn, I do not want to give you false hope. She was nearly dead when she arrived. She had lost most of her blood, and her internal injuries are grave. If Therron and Rykerian had been seconds later, we would not be having this discussion. The robomedics are meticulous in their techniques, so I have hope that they can repair the damages that were inflicted upon her.”
She was still unconscious from her surgery. She had needles and tubes poking out of her and bandages everywhere, and Rayn thought how pitifully small she looked. She was scarcely recognizable, due to her bruising and swelling. There were five robomedics performing the procedures.
“Have they stopped the bleeding?”
“Yes, they have repaired both arterial tears. It was tricky for a moment, and they had to repair them through incisions. I had hoped they could do it through the wounds themselves, but the tears were too large.”
“What are they repairing now?”
“She had a ruptured kidney and spleen. They are healing them using the tissue regenerator. This is a procedure that requires great precision. Hopefully, it will go smoothly. If they can get both organs functioning properly and are satisfied with the outcome, they will examine her eyes, nose, and brain to see if she had sustained any damages there. The eyes and brain are my big concerns. My preliminary examination showed no brain injury, but they will have a better idea when they look inside.”
“How long before we know something?”
“It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
Rayn was pacing, forcing himself to remain as calm as possible.
“Can she hear me, Julian?”
“She is consciously sedated, and she has had a barrier placed on her nerve stimuli. She cannot feel pain. She cannot speak or respond in any way, but yes, she can hear.”
“May I approach her?”
“Yes, but do not get in the way of the robomedics, or they will blast you. It is most uncomfortable, Rayn.”
Rayn quickly moved to Maddie’s side.
“Maddie, I am here with you. I heard you calling me. Stay with me, Sunshine. You must be strong and fight this with everything you have. I will not allow you to leave me. Please, stay with me. I am not going anywhere. I promise that I will not leave your side.” Rayn kept repeating himself. He would be there until she was healed.
Alarms started sounding. Julian was at Rayn’s side, telling him to step away. The robomedics moved into high gear. Apparently, during the repair of her kidney, she began bleeding again. Her heart rhythm began to fluctuate, going into a lethal arrhythmia. The robomedics treated it immediately, but it sent Rayn to a greater level of anxiety.
“Julian, what is happening to her?”
“It is her heart. It was going into a lethal arrhythmia, but it appears they have gotten it rectified.”
Julian explained how risky everything was, but that Maddie was in the best hands right now. Rayn wasn’t sure if Julian was attempting to calm him or if she truly was in the best of hands.
Finally, after what seemed like eons, the robomedics completed the repairs on Maddie’s internal injuries and stabilized her.
Now the time had come to inspect her for a possible brain injury. She had sustained so many numerous blows to the head that it was imperative she be examined thoroughly.
The robomedics began their holographic scans of her head. There were several places that appeared to be bruised, but no swelling was evident. That was good news for Maddie, as well as Rayn. He was so agitated that Julian had begged him to wait outside. Rayn adamantly refused to leave her side.
The hours dragged on. Each examination was painstakingly detailed and seemed to take forever. Maddie had been in surgery for six hours, and the robomedics were on their last examination. They were scrutinizing her retinas and optic nerves to make certain they were healthy.
Finally, everything was completed, and now it was simply a matter of Maddie recovering from the trauma. The mending devices could make the proper repairs, but Maddie’s body still needed to heal itself. It would be several weeks of recuperating for her.
“Thank you, Julian, for saving her life.”
Julian took a long look at him and said, “I need to examine your arm. It looks as if it is broken. I don’t know how you are withstanding the pain.”
He scanned Rayn’s arm, and it was definitely broken. I am going to have to repair this for you. Come over here.
“It can wait. Right now I must attend to another matter,” he snarled as he left the chamber.
Rayn stormed out into the corridor to seek out his brothers. He had a murderous look about him. They were in the hall immediately outside the trauma unit talking amongst themselves.
Rayn took one look at the three of them and launched his attack.
“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?” he roared, his voiced laced with venom. “I leave her in your care, under your sworn oath of protection, and this is what happens? I ask you to watch over and protect her, and you cannot even carry that out! What the bloody damn hell are you doing over there? I want answers, and I want them NOW!” Rayn thundered.
Therron responded, “Rayn, we know you are distraught, but…”
“Distraught? You have no idea!” he responded in a lethal growl as he trembled with rage.
“Rayn, we are trying to figure out what happened,” Rykerian added.
“Stop ‘trying’ and make it so. Someone nearly took the life of my female on your damned bloody watch, and I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO PROTECT OUR COMPOUND!” The walls were nearly vibrating from his thunderous words. Rayn was trembling with violence and fury, and his brothers suddenly became tongue-tied.
They had, unfortunately, attracted a rather large audience when they all noticed Rowan bearing down on them, robes flying out behind him. He made quite a picture of intimidation and power.
“Inside… NOW!” Rowan commanded.
They all followed him back into the trauma unit waiting area.
“What do you think you are doing, Rayn?” he exploded. “Your behavior is deplorable. You know better than to air your disputes amongst your subjects. You have just demonstrated to them that you are pathetically weak, and you have been an exemplary model of what severe lack of control is.”
Rayn seethed with barely controlled rage at this confrontation. He opened his mouth to vent and Rowan stopped him, arm extended. “I COMMAND you to silence!”
Rayn’s jaws clamped shut, and he all but turned into a pillar of stone, an unwilling participant in Rowan’s talent of Command. Rayn’s body was in complete lockdown.
Rowan jerked his head toward Therron, Rykerian, and Tesslar and continued, “And, you three, Rayn is right. Your incompetence is appalling. He is gone a matter of weeks and bloody hell breaks loose. It is your job and DUTY... in his absence... to continually scan the security of the compound, including the surrounding areas. You have failed completely and miserably. You have set a poor example of leadership, and I have a mind to send all of you back to the Academy for more training. Of all the...” It seemed that he had run out of fuel at that point. He stood there shaking his head at all of them.
Therron, Rykerian, and Tesslar remained ramrod straight at attention while Rayn was still under Rowan’s command of silence. The tension was palpable.
“Where are Xarrid and Sharra?”
“They are both at the compound, my Lord, scanning all the systems to uncover our... issue,” Therron explained.
“To say I am incredibly disappointed in all of you is a gross understatement. I expect ALL of your actions from this point forward to be nothing less than flawless. Are we clear?”
“Yes, my lord. It will be as you wish.”
“Make certain that it is,” Rowan said as he turned to leave. On his way out the door, he said, “Rayn, I release you from silence.”
Rayn dropped to the ground on his knees shuddering and stayed motionless for several minutes, recovering from being under Rowan’s control, while the other three looked on.
None of them had experienced that from Rowan for some time now. Therron, Rykerian, and Tesslar were surprised that he could have that much control over Rayn as Rayn’s own Power of Command was quite significant.
Rayn rose, and without a word, he entered the trauma unit so that Julian could repair his arm.
Julian mended the broken bone with the healing device and instructed Rayn to wear a brace for support for a week.
“Thank you, Julian. I am grateful for everything you have done for Maddie.”
Suddenly, they heard Maddie’s cries. She had awakened from sedation and was befuddled by her surroundings. Unexpectedly, she felt Rayn’s presence. She felt his hands on her and smelled his beautiful scent—the aroma of a forest of pines. She opened her eyes and immediately fell into her very own deep pools of emeralds. She reached out and touched his glorious face and danced her fingers through his extraordinary hair.
Maddie had been immediately enthralled by Rayn the first time she had laid eyes on him. He was quite tall, nearly six and a half feet, and his eyes were the most unusual shade of green, like iridescent emeralds. His black, wavy hair brushed the tops of his broad shoulders and his smile was simply arresting. He was the definition of male perfection—positively, drop-dead gorgeous. It would take a millenium before she could ever possibly tire of looking at him. On second thought, she knew with certainty even then it wouldn’t happen.
“Are you real? Or am I dreaming?” she asked, shaking her head, still groggy and trembling from shock.
“I am real, Sunshine, and I am glad that you are here with me. I would carry you off from here if I could, but I believe Julian would have my head if I did,” he whispered. She was keenly aware of his scent and warmth, and she felt the sweet caress of his breath across her cheek. She felt his intense depth of emotion rolling off of him and reaching into her soul. Her eye widened at the realization of what was happening.
“You heard me. You heard my pleas for you to save me, and you sent them to me. You saved me, Rayn. He was going to kill me. He’d been hunting me.” Her words continued to spill forth as if she couldn’t or didn’t want to stop them. “I got lost in the woods. It was dark, and I don’t know how I got so lost.”
The cries started slowly at first, sounding like a wounded animal. They quickly grew in intensity until Rayn thought his heart would break from her pain. She appeared so fragile, so helpless, lying there.
Rayn gathered her and cradled her closely to his heart, gently rocking her, “Shh... Maddie, everything is ok now, and you are going to be fine. He’s never going to bother you again. He is gone for good my love.
Then he spoke to her in the Ancient Tongue of Vesturon. “You are truly of my heart... my amashan. I died a hundred times thinking you were leaving me. I cannot bear life alone, without you by my side. You are my heart, my soul, my spirit, my love, my life, my forever. Stay with me always, Sunshine of mine.”
“I love you, Maddie, and you are safe now. You have suffered severe injuries, but Julian and his team have put you back together. You will be fine. I swear, my love, you truly test my patience!” he declared, smiling.
She was so happy to see him. She did not want to stop touching him. His vivid green eyes grounded her, holding her in the promise of safety.
“I didn’t think I would ever see you again. I truly thought… it was so awful. I think I did die for a time. I spoke with my dad, and he told me I needed to be here with you. I love you so much, Rayn,” she said, her words quickly tumbling out.
Maddie knew at that moment that Rayn would be a part of her forever. She knew when she had been lashed to that tree that she loved him without bounds and that if she survived, she would marry him. She knew without hesitation that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him by her side.
Rayn would be thrilled to hear this as he had asked her to unite with him, as they say on Vesturon. Maddie wasn’t completely sure she was ready for that when he asked, but now she knew it was what she wanted. Vesturions took this vow of unification, or marriage, very seriously, as there was no such thing as divorce on Vesturon. Vesturions also took vows of celibacy and only broke them upon unification. It was a much different place than Earth.
Chapter 4
Of the entire Yarrister family, Xarrid was the most technologically advanced. They were all geniuses in this area, but Xarrid could disseminate anything that had to do with electronics, computers, navigation systems, and the like. If it had any kind of circuitry, chips, codes, etc., Xarrid was the go-to man. Of all the brothers, he was also certainly the most headstrong. When he made his mind up about something, it took an act of the Divine Being to change it. The other important attribute of Xarrid’s was his undying loyalty. It could be the death of everyone sometimes, but he was absolutely loyal to those who had earned it.
Xarrid shared Rayn’s startling green eyes. Although he was the youngest of the males, he was the most outstanding in his fighting and competitive prowess. He was powerfully built and extremely athletic, and his defensive capabilities were awe-inspiring. He made Chuck Norris look like a novice. Fast, furious, and composed, he would always be the victor in hand-to-hand combat, with or without his shadars. You were considered most fortunate if Xarrid had your back.
Right now, Xarrid had the family’s back on his mind. He was feverishly working in the security center in the compound. It had everything imaginable in it—from both Vesturon and Earth. He logged into the Vesturion system, trying to uncover the fingerprint of whoever had hacked into their system. He had zeroed in on locations, but so far, he hadn’t had any luck with tracking the individual.
The locations he locked into were extremely disturbing. They came from various points in and around the main security station on Vesturon. Whoever had done this had top security clearance and access to every one of the governing board’s systems processors and compu-stations. This would be akin to someone hacking into the Pentagon’s national security system. This was big, really big, and most likely, it would be buried under layers and layers of protection. Whoever did this would not want to be discovered and would no doubt cover his tracks to the extreme.
For obvious reasons, Xarrid had begun to look for fingerprints—any kind of electronic activities—into the Guardian’s system. He then started to track the power levels of all the veiling beams. He saw fluctuations that occurred at regular intervals, going back several months, giving the hacker time to experiment with the system. Undoubtedly, the hacker was testing to see if his activities would be apparent to anyone at the compound on Earth. They hadn’t been. These fluctuations went back to the previous winter, approximately around the time of Maddie’s first capture.
Why would anyone want to go after Maddie though? She presented no threat whatsoever. Xarrid went behind the scenes of all activity in their home security systems, trying to find if someone could have entered their premises and attacked the system from inside. Everything was untouched and stable from this end.
So the deduction in all of his investigations had led him to Vesturon, and he was positive it was from an insider that had the closest of ties to the council and governing boards. Xarrid began to think how he would handle this discovery. He would certainly tell his siblings, but could he trust anyone else? What if this was being perpetrated by one of the Guardians that was stationed at home on Vesturon. That was a distinct possibility, because any Guardian with a leadership role would have a high level of security clearance. Who should be involved in this investigation? he wondered.
Xarrid made the decision to keep trying to uncover the actual fingerprint, or entry point, of the breech. He deduced that if he could pinpoint the exact location of that, his chances of uncovering the culprit would be even greater.
He thought about the veiling system then, and he decided that he needed to input another layer of
unidentifiable codes into it, basically making it hacker-proof. He went to work on that, completely restructuring their security system. This would mean that the entire family, including Maddie, would have to be recoded, using retina scans, DNA identification, and body scanning.
He would implement every known kind of identifier, so even if someone could copy one or two of them, chances of copying all three were a billion to one. After all those changes were installed, he still didn’t feel one hundred percent comfortable, so he decided he would also install another layer using heartbeat modulation. Since everyone had a unique sound to their heartbeat, that would add an extra measure of safety. He was taking no chances and was taking the term firewall to a completely different level.
After all of the changes were made, he started to enter everything necessary that would inactivate the current system. When he was finished with that, his next step was to encode all of his personal data so that he had immediate access to everything, blocking anyone else from access, including the security departments on Vesturon. Xarrid had to be sure his sector was completely safe, and this was the only way he could accomplish this. All systems were go for him now.
He tapped into the veiling beams and activated the entire system, so now, all the property, including the house, had gone dark. They were safe on that account once again. Muting was also activated, so all was secure.
Now he had to think about everything that had happened. He jumped out of his seat and started pacing.
Who could have done this? More importantly, why would anyone want to have done this? If Maddie hadn’t been captured, they could have gone for weeks without uncovering this. That would have put them all at risk for some seriously dangerous scenarios. Xarrid didn’t even want to go there; the ramifications were just too great. Who on Vesturon wanted them in danger? That was the real question.
Guardians of Vesturon 2 - Resurrection Page 3