by Cindy Borgne
“But we’re safe,” I said. “They don’t know where we are.”
“Good.” His arm fumbled along side of the bed. “I need to get back on my feet fast. Help me up.”
Sonny firmly put his arm back under the blanket. “I was thinking a sedative might be more in order if you don’t stop trying to get out of that bed.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Bret said.
“What are you going to do to stop me?”
“Good point,” Bret said. “I’ll rest for now, but if . . . .” His eyes rolled back and returned. “If the Marcs get onto where we are, I want you to give me ten cc’s of Virotone.”
Sonny’s eyes bulged as if he couldn’t believe his ears. “No man, it’s gonna have to be a hell of an emergency before I give you that.”
“I’m too tired to argue with you.” His voice trailed off. “Just follow my orders.” His head tilted to the side and he was out.
“Orders?” Sonny chuckled. “He thinks he’s my boss now.” He huffed. “Virotone, yeah, right.”
“What’s Virotone?” I asked.
“It’s a high powered stimulant,” Sonny explained. “Under orders, I gave it to some wounded troopers. Half of them had heart attacks.”
Rachel’s face paled, giving away that she didn’t know much about it. “We won’t be needing that drug.”
“I’m glad we agree.” Sonny stepped toward Kayla and stopped halfway to her bed. He wobbled and put his hand to his head.
At the same time an uneasy feeling hit me. I hurried over and grabbed his arm. “Are you okay?”
“I-I gotta sit down.” Sonny rubbed his temple. “My hangover has returned with a vengeance.”
I helped him over to the chair. He hung his head down and shut his eyes.
“When was the last time you two slept?” Rachel asked.
“Well, let me see,” Sonny said. “There was me pushing my workers to the brink trying to reach the quota. Next thing I know I’m waking up at my station with a wine bottle next to me, and hours later I’m here in the middle of nowhere.”
“I see,” she said. “None of us can afford to get sick. We all need to sleep.”
“But someone needs to keep an eye on Bret and Kayla,” Sonny said.
“The ship’s computer can alert us to any problems – even in the infirmary.”
Sonny checked the monitors of both Kayla and Bret. “Okay, let’s get some sleep.”
Rachel led us into the bunk area with four bunks along the walls. She went through a drawer and handed us some clean t-shirts and shorts. “You guys can change out here.” She picked up her clothes and went in the bathroom.
We changed fast and took the lower bunks across from each other. Sonny flopped down and unstrapped his prosthetic leg. He pulled it off and set it at the end of the bunk. “I hope this isn’t too disgusting for Rachel, but what’s left of my leg needs a break.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I pulled up the blanket.
He grimaced at the leg, picked it up and hid it under the blanket at the end of his bunk. “Ian, uh, I’ve been wanting to ask you about Kayla,” he whispered. “Is there something going on between you two?”
“No, not really,” I whispered back.
“What do you mean, not really?”
“Nothing has ever happened between us, but I have seen myself with her in visions.”
He grinned. “Sounds like some nice dreams.”
“With everything that’s happened I don’t see how I could ever . . . .” She’d hate me for sure if she knew I caused the battle of the mine. “Never mind.”
“Huh?” Sonny asked.
Rachel came out of the bathroom in a shirt and shorts. We stopped talking. Sonny gave me one last confused look, turned onto his back and was out instantly.
She climbed into a top bunk. “Now get some sleep.” She pressed a button and the lighting turned dim.
I shut my eyes. The darkness lifted and I overlooked Bret and Kayla who slept peacefully. It happened fast like someone flipping a switch. I wondered if I had slept walked, but the next second I realized my worry over Kayla brought my mind right over to her. As long as I could maintain the vision, I could sleep and watch them at the same time.
Kayla squirmed and her heart rate rose up on the monitor. No warnings went off. I figured it had been programmed to recognize when someone was having a nightmare.
Maybe she dreamed about when Layne died. I had to know and drew closer to her thoughts. A dark blur surrounded me. As the vision came into focus, walls of rock surrounded me and dust tumbled down around my feet.
Bret can you hear me? Where are you?
Kayla’s voice vibrated and she breathed in short gasps. But I couldn’t see her.
I thought you were getting another cable. What happened?
Nobody answered. All I could see was the slope. Her growing anxiety made my chest tighten. This was a vision of the past pulled from her memory. I flinched and saw the bunk above me for a second.
Bret, please answer!
Her voice drew me back in. Kayla dropped to her knees and huddled into a shivering ball. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She forced herself up, extending her gloved hands and tried to climb up the narrow ledge. She slid down over and over, and the cold was so strong. I could feel it - piercing and unbearable. The shivering turned into numbness. She dropped to her side exhausted.
Bret, talk to me please. She begged to hear his voice. Her heart pounded in my mind harder every second.
Kayla, Stop. You have to wake up.
She squirmed and gasped for air. I had to get out of the vision to help her, so I pulled away and rose up to the ledge. Everything went dark. I tried to open my eyes, but nothing happened.
Open your eyes, damn it.
Still nothing but a dark void.
Open, open, open . . . .
At last, I viewed the bottom of the upper bunk. I rushed into the infirmary in a hurry to wake her up. My head pounded from the sudden movement. Her heart was still racing, every limb twitched, and her eyelids flickered.
I couldn’t let her stay trapped in an endless nightmare and nudged her arm. “Kayla? Can you hear me?”
She mumbled and appeared unable to wake up.
I shook her arm harder. “Can you hear me?”
Her head rolled and she moaned. I touched her hand. She felt cool and damp, but not near as cold as before. She whimpered in her sleep.
I touched her face with both hands. “Wake up!”
Her eyes opened slowly. “Ian?” she whispered, and her chin trembled.
“Yes, it’s me.” I wanted to look cheerful to calm her and forced a smile.
She took in several quick breaths.
“You’re safe now.” I patted her cheek, but her breathing continued to quicken. She was scaring the hell out of me. “Please, please, calm down.”
She wheezed and sounded about to hyperventilate. At any moment the infirmary alarm would go off.
I leaned over and gently wrapped my arms around her. “Shhh, now . . . .”
Kayla balled my t-shirt up in her right hand and pulled it tight. She clung to me with surprising strength. “Bret, Bret – he’s dead. Everyone’s dead,” she cried, burying her head into my shoulder and sobbing.
“No, no, he’s okay. He’s resting.”
She looked over my shoulder for a second. Her head dropped down, and she let out a shaky sigh – followed by whimpering and more trembling.
“Easy now.” I patted her back and it reminded me of how content I’d been snuggling with her in that vision. Everything about her was familiar, even the touch of her skin. I wanted to kiss her behind the ear, but wouldn’t allow myself to do it.
I imagined Rachel coming into the room and gasping at the sight of us. When Kayla’s trembling eased, I slowly released her.
Instead of letting me go, her grip tightened. “Don’t leave.”
“Okay.”
Afraid to be alone, she buried her face in my chest again. A
ny nearby friend would’ve been the one she grabbed, but I was glad it was me. Her trembling continued to slow. I sighed in relief, leaned on one leg and closed my eyes. After several minutes, I caught myself weaving.
“You okay?” she asked, no longer trembling.
“I’m so tired,” I said through a yawn.
“Oh.” She relaxed her arms. “I better let you rest.”
I helped her lean back on the pillow and pulled up the blanket.
“Only thing is I think I’m still dreaming,” she said.
“But why?”
“Because you’re here.”
I chuckled. “I’m not going to disappear.”
She looked at me curiously for several seconds. “But why are you here then?”
“I found out you were in danger, and I convinced Rachel to help me chase you out here.” I paused. “The rest of it is all details.”
“I would like to know those details a bit later,” she said. “For now you need to go back to bed.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I took one last look at her before I left the room. Her eyes were already shut.
Chapter 21
In and out of sleep I went, fighting another vision. I didn’t want to see anything more. A spark vibrated in a disturbing way, ruining the peaceful darkness.
Stop. Stop. I’m tired.
I wanted to sleep rather than find out what it meant, but my mind wouldn’t calm down. The spark grew far off, coming out of space. It molded slowly with the sound of a dull roar. The face of Beacon emerged. He stared down at me like a shark looking at its prey. I strained to move out of the way, but again I was locked in place.
I had this vision before and a wave of fear went through me, so strong that my heart jumped into high gear. When the face came within a foot of me, it twisted and changed, until it looked like Nate. His mouth opened and strained. He was crying and trying to speak at the same time.
I screamed and sent the face tumbling backwards into the darkness. Just before it disappeared, Beacon’s creepy voice echoed. I want every inch of this place searched. Ian must not escape. He is vital to our success.
I flinched and opened my eyes with my heart pounding.
Sonny sat at the edge of his bunk with a clean shaven face and wore a casual Vallar uniform. “You okay?” His hair was wet and a towel was around his shoulders.
I slowed my breathing. “Y-yeah.”
“It was driving me crazy not to wake you,” he whispered, “but then I thought - what if he’s seeing something important?”
“It wasn’t anything important.” I wanted to forget it and changed the subject. “Where is she?” I nudged my head toward Rachel’s empty bunk.
“On the bridge doing scans.”
Bret’s voice carried through from the bridge. “Is Bret on the bridge too?”
“Yep, he’s still shaky, but otherwise okay. He wants us all to meet for breakfast in one hour.” His eyes were full of questions and he whispered. “So what’d you see?”
“It didn’t make much sense, except I’m pretty sure Beacon knows I’m missing.” I whispered back, hoping that was enough to make him stop pestering me.
“But your heart was racing. What else happened?”
I thought back to Beacon’s distorted face twisting until it formed a tortured image of Nate. Dread overwhelmed me. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I said, through my teeth.
Sonny glanced away and folded his hands. “Guess I’m starting to feel cooped up. I didn’t mean to pressure you.”
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. The last person I wanted to snap at was Sonny. “I saw Beacon yelling at me and I couldn’t move. This can only mean trouble.”
Sonny’s eyes hardened with determination and concern. He covered his mouth with his hand. “Try to find out more. We will probably need as much information as possible to get out of here.”
A clank came from the galley. Sonny glanced that way and back to me. “She went back to the bridge.”
“I need to tell you what I was trying to say last night.” I pushed myself to continue as Sonny listened. “One of my visions led to the battle of the mine.”
He stared with no expression. My knee bounced and I held my breath wishing he would hurry and tell me what he was thinking.
“No wonder Beacon wants you so badly – that bastard.”
I relaxed and breathed again. “I didn’t find the exact location of the mine, but my vision led to Beacon finding it. If I only could’ve realized before . . . .”
Sonny held up a hand. “It’s not your fault. You were brought up a Marc. You were doing your job.”
“Bret and Kayla are going to hate me if I tell them.”
“Why tell them? The past can’t be changed.”
“It’s too big of a thing to keep from them.”
“They’ll get over it. After all, you saved their lives.”
Saving Bret and Kayla had to be the greatest thing I ever did with a vision. If they accepted me despite my mistakes, I’d tell them about my visions. But I could still hear Clare warning me about the consequences of too many people knowing.
“Bret left this for you.” Sonny handed me a uniform. “You better go take a shower before someone else wants in there.”
“Okay.”
“I left some shaving stuff for you on the sink.” He tapped the side of my face.
“Thanks.” I hurried into the bathroom, wanting to check on Kayla before the meeting.
When I was done, the scent of bacon and eggs filled the ship, making me hungry. I found my old pants, took out Layne’s com and stuffed it in my pocket.
In the infirmary, Kayla was sitting up, in a purple robe and reading from a dataviewer.
“Rachel explained how you found us.” She tilted her head, trying to figure me out. “Thanks for . . . .” She paused. “You know, for everything.”
I stepped to the side of her bed. “You’re welcome.” There was so much I wanted to tell her – especially Layne’s last words. I tried to think of a way to break it gently.
“It makes more sense that you’re an elite now,” she said. “Few people could’ve found us.”
“It was mostly luck.”
“And I have to apologize for my unprofessional behavior last night.” She sat up and straightened her robe. “I’m supposed to be able to handle things better than that.” Her cheeks turned pink.
“What do you mean? You almost died. I’d be scared.” I paused. “In fact, I’m scared most of the time.”
She laughed. “Thanks for making me feel better.”
I liked making her laugh, and didn’t want to ruin the moment by telling her Layne’s last message, so I hesitated, wishing I could hold her again.
“We better head to the meeting.” Kayla swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up slowly.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s best I start moving around.”
I stayed by her side as she shuffled to the galley. She sat down while Rachel operated the food processors.
Sonny sat across from Kayla. “You were supposed to call me before getting out of bed.”
“It’s okay. I’m much better.”
Rachel turned around and grimaced. “Bret won’t stop messing with that radio. Ian, could you tell him we’re ready.”
“Sure.” I crossed through to the bridge.
Bret leaned over the radio with a screwdriver in his hand. Still in a robe, he shut a nearby panel and tried to get a message out, but only static returned. “Damn it.” Bret slammed his fist on the console, slumped back into the chair and put his hand on his forehead.
“Ah, Bret,” I said. “Rachel wanted me to get you.”
He glanced back at me. “Sorry.” He stood up and extended his hand. “It’s about time I thank you for saving Kayla and me.”
“You’re welcome.” We shook hands.
“I’m impressed at how you found us.�
� He patted me on the shoulder.
“Thanks.” A chill of excitement went through me at gaining the respect of someone like Bret.
He gave me a nod and headed for the galley, but stumbled as he entered.
Sonny started to get up. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just missed a step.” Bret sat next to him.
Rachel set a cup of coffee in front of him. “Coffee, Ian?”
“No, I don’t like it.”
Bret’s hand trembled as he took a sip. Sonny took a small vital sign reader out of his pocket and held it to Bret’s arm.
“Would you stop?” He brushed his hand away. “I’m okay.”
Sonny rolled his eyes and tucked the reader in his pocket. Through all this I couldn’t stop smiling. Bret’s praise made me beam – especially when he used the word “impressed.”
“What are you so happy about?” Sonny asked.
“Oh, uh, nothing.” I smiled at Kayla.
She grinned back at me.
“Let’s get started,” Bret said. “While I was resting, I did a lot of thinking about you two. If you choose to stay with us, I want you both to know you have a home with Vallar.”
Sonny nudged him. “Somehow, I think we will.”
“Bret, I hope you don’t mind me asking,” I said. “But were you always a Genner?”
“No, I was originally with Orissa.”
“Orissa?” Sonny asked. “I vaguely remember that name.”
“That’s because they disbanded after an attack by the Marcs several years ago. Beacon was a young, ambitious man then. He led the attack and since Orissa didn’t have a military the battle didn’t last long. I was put into a prison camp when I was fourteen.” His eyes simmered and narrowed.
“So how’d you get out of the prison?” Sonny asked.
“Some of the survivors from Orissa joined up with Gentech. They led an attack near the prison camp to get us out. During that particular battle I escaped, barely, and a Genner family took me in.” Bret’s voice trailed off.
Everything he said matched what I had read in the Marscorp databanks. “So was Gentech trying to do some sort of research in the Orissa ruins recently?”
“We were trying, but unfortunately we had to abandon it.”