Nebula Nights: Love Among The Stars

by Melisse Aires

  Surprised, Merx looked up, and moved to Kala’s side. He felt protective of the girl he had always viewed Kala to be. The girl who couldn’t march in time, or the one so innocent she blushed when he kissed his Sonteria. He was as protective of Kala as Henessa was, but there was nothing he could do to help her now.

  “Why did you do this?”

  “I’m helping. It was my idea to assist. I should be the one drawn from.” Kala watched the machine lock her into place and she began to feel her body tingle. She looked right at Merx and projected, ~We can’t wait longer. I won’t let him down.~

  “Kala…” Merx trailed off.

  He knew it was too late. The machine had begun the process. The commander also knew, if Henessa were on the Ven ship, he’d have gone to any length to get her back too. He listened to Sira clear the room, and contact the medical bay about the situation. Even through that, his primary focus was his fragile friend in the machine.

  Like Sira before her, Kala could feel her body warm. Soon she could feel the psionic reaction through every muscle in her body and then she started to glow.

  The machine chimed: First Pulse Charge near completion.

  When the machine pulled the electric charge from Kala’s body, she cried out. For her, it felt like the charge was pulled through every pore in her body, and absorbed. The machine then entered a dormant period, but didn’t release her.

  She looked over at Merx, and weakly asked, “Can we see how this works? Can we view the fleet outside our ship?” Tears of pain began to trickle down her face.

  Merx walked to the panel behind Kala. After entering a series of commands the images from outside the ship streamed through. They watched as cloaked Ven ships started to light up from the Magnetic Pulse Charge that bounced for several dozen ships before it dissipated. Those left in Engineering could feel the ship shift positions as Maddux moved the Enpassant into the next portion of the cloaked field, trying to avoid detection in the process.

  Kala felt relief, until the machine began to charge again. She endured the tingling and warming sensations again, before she was enveloped in the slight glow. She screamed again as the charged was ripped from her body.

  Sira moved to Kala, and placed her hands on either side of her face. Looking into Kala’s eyes directly, she said, “Kala, I need you to talk to me. Out loud. You need to try not to use your telepathy right now.”

  “I…I… hurt.” Kala barely squeaked out the words.

  “Kala, it’s going to pull one more charge from you. You need to stay with us.” Sira was worried about her teammate. The little she knew of Kala, she hadn’t once believed she was able to handle this level of physical and psionic pain. Even as such, she wasn’t going to let her become overwhelmed by it,either. “I know you can pull through this. Just stay with us, Kala.”

  Kala nodded, and the machine began again. It charged from her body, and then ripped that charge from her, forcing her to cry out. This time her screams were soft and weak before she blacked out. Sira braced Kala until the machine released her, and the last pulse shot off into the Ven fleet. Sira gently slipped down to the floor with Kala held in her arms while Merx called the medical team to get her.

  ~*~

  Hours passed by, and the covert team waited in the medical bay. Nothing had been heard about Kala’s recovery. Henessa and Merx sat close to each other, when one or the other wasn’t talking to the doctors. Several times, she reached out for Kala telepathically, but found only silence. Merx attempted to reach for her empathically but also found their friend unreachable. At one point, Phelian attempted to listen to the doctor’s thoughts on the issue, but he was wearing a psionic blocker, and nothing was understood.

  Tensions rose again when the captain and first officer were called into her room with the doctors. When they came out, Palrion was clearly shaken, and left quickly to tend to other duties.

  Commander Maddux approached the team. “She’s awake, but she’s not quite herself right now. Her body is physically drained, and she’s not able to move. The doctor believes, like Sira, Kala will recover given time. She can have visitors. The doc thinks it may actually help her, but keep in mind, she’s not able to process things well right now. It could be hours, maybe days, before she returns to normal.”

  The feeling in the room shifted to disappointment, however they had answers, which was better than waiting. A sense of calm enveloped everyone.

  “I’m going in to see her, first, if that’s okay with everyone.” Henessa stood, and held Merx’s hand tightly.

  No one objected, so she and Merx went into Kala’s room. She assessed her friend. Kala was covered to the chest by a sheet, her arms lay eerily still at her sides. The only thing moving were her eyes, and they were doing so at random.

  Henessa stood over her bed. “Kala, can you hear me?”

  “I hear you.” Kala’s response was soft, but clear.

  “Do you know me?” Worry hung in every word.

  “Yes. Henessa.” Kala’s tone remained the same.

  “This is good.” Henessa kept her voice calm and reassuring. Her biggest concern was that Kala’s eyes still weren’t steady on anything.

  “Kala, do you know my voice? Do you know who I am?” Merx stepped closer to her, keeping an arm firmly around Henessa’s waist.

  “Yatrell?”

  Henessa and Merx exchanged looks of concern. Gently, Merx responded, “No, it’s Merx, Kala.”

  “Yatrell is in a battle.” Henessa placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

  “Oh. Right. Battle. Merx, not Yatrell.” Kala’s voice sounded very disappointed, perhaps even hurt to those around her.

  Henessa held Merx a little closer. “Kala, everyone is outside and would like to check on you. Would you mind if they did? Can the rest of our team visit with you?”

  “Our team. Yes, our team good.” Kala’s eyes continued to dart all over, but she didn’t seem remotely uncomfortable beyond that.

  “Alright, we’ll go out and let another one or two come say hi. I know Phelian is very concerned, so is Sira.”

  “Worried? I’m fine. Tired. Fine. My head is silent. Is odd.”

  Merx exchanged looks with Henessa, and then reassured their friend. “Kala try to rest. Everyone will visit slowly over time, ok?” Merx looked back at Henessa, feeling how overcome she was by the situation with her friend.

  “Okay. That is fine.” Kala barely whispered the words. “Sleep now.” Her eyes finally rested as she closed them.

  Merx and Henessa walked out to their friends, and shared everyone what they encountered. Most agreed time was needed for Kala to recover. Most of them went about their duties, distracted by their concern for the woman, and friend, who had risked herself so no one else had to.

  One person lingered, after the others left. Phelian couldn’t bring himself to leave her be alone. He snuck into her room, while the doctors and nurses were gone. He watched the girl, who had become like his little sister, rest uneasily.

  “I promise, Red, we’ll all get through this with you,” he whispered while she slept. Knowing it would be a long night, he found himself in the corner chair asleep while she rested.

  ~*~

  As the day came to a close, Maddux and Palrion sat in the officer’s lounge exchanging stories over intoxicating drinks.

  Rouen spoke up about something that had been bothering him all day. “I need to ask you two things, Captain. One, why did you agree to help the Dentonians, and two, why did you seem to panic after Kala woke up?”

  “One… I helped them because I realized that if we didn’t help, that was likely the end of the Dentonian society as anyone has ever known it. We can’t let another race fall to the Ven Empire, even if they aren’t our favorite people. And two… Well that’s kinda complicated. Something’s off with Kala, and I can’t tell if it’s good or bad. That machine overextended her channeling, tired Cyrin, the person she was connected to, and it seems like it’s done more but I’m not sure what yet. Something in h
er has shifted though. She’ll come out of this different, somehow. Heck, she might be the only person who is knowledgeable enough to figure that out.” Palrion threw back another drink. “Eh, it’s late. We have a team to wake early tomorrow.”

  Maddux at him as he stood. “We’re going to wake them for the course tomorrow? Wait, I’m not running it?”

  “You’re going to help me personally wake the team.” Palrion walked to the door. “We can’t let anyone think that a slight loss means we’ll go easy. Kala will recover, and everyone needs to work through the situation anyway. It’s not easy, but we’re at war and we’re about to be in direct combat. By the way, how long until we reach the POW camp?”

  Rouen shrugged. “Maybe a day. Likely two, on the safe side.” He threw back the last of his drink, and took both glasses to the recycler.

  “Alright. Tomorrow is the course, and then a team meeting. Forget shift duty so we can get focused for the mission.” Palrion left the room.

  Not long after the captain left, Maddux followed.

  Both men retired in their rooms that evening, with their minds on the mission at hand. They now had all the information needed to rescue their people, and hopefully eliminate all record of the Enpassant’s design from Dentonian data storage.

  Chapter 14

  The next morning, Palrion and Maddux went door to door waking the team. Using their override codes, the captain and commander woke the covert ops team like they might wake raw cadets. They stood at the individual bedsides, and were as loud as possible. The only exception was Phelian Crex, who remained with Kala the night before. The covert team responded quickly. They were assembled on training deck faster than any previous attempt. When they began the course, Palrion surprised them by running it too. The group completed it with only one loss, but the whole push was made half heartedly.

  The full senior staff and covert team, minus Kala, entered the conference room together to discuss the mission. Palrion replayed the data clip from the probe sent to locate and scan Pextu. The clip ended moments after it began to scan the surface, and all additional data was lost. The route taken by the probe was virtually clear of Dentonian ships. At this point, Palrion pointed out that it was most likely the probe was destroyed from a surface based defense weapon, making the Prisoner Of War colony easier to infiltrate. The room remained attentive to the mission details.

  The sound of the door opening startled several people, but caught all of their attention. With the aid of an excessively attentive nurse, Kala walked into the room, and took her usual seat. Everyone stared at her in surprise and confused silence.

  In a raspy and crackly voice, Kala explained, “I’m sorry I’m late. I just now learned there was a mission briefing. Have I missed much?”

  Captain Dak Palrion was unable to hold back his smile, but found himself back to business quickly. “Yes, actually, you have. You should avoid being late in the future Commander. I’ll make sure you are filled in on the details when we have concluded.”

  Kala sat back in her seat, and smiled.

  Palrion continued, “Now, we will split everyone into two teams. Team one is going for the Xenonian captives, and team two will be moving toward the computer system. From here, we will move the Enpassant into the atmosphere to provide both a secured relocation lock and cover as needed.” He looked at Kala shooing the nurse away. “Miss, you’re dismissed. The Commander indicated she’s fine several times now, and this is a sensitive meeting. Commander Sar will you address the memory concern before she leaves please?”

  Henessa didn’t hesitate. She moved to the nurse’s side, and escorted her out of the room so she could erase the last few minutes of the meeting from her mind. Once the nurse was on her way back to the medical facility, Commander Sar returned to her seat in the conference room.

  “Thank you.” Palrion took a deep breath, and looked right at Kala. “Now, Commander, if you’re feeling up for it, you’ll create a triage center on the planet. There may be injuries that will need treatment before we can relocate them. We still don’t know what we are dealing with so we need to be prepared.”

  “I will be ready, Captain.” Kala’s raspy voice barely made her response audible.

  “Team assignments are as follows: Alpha team is Merx Tol, Cyrin Lan, Zaren Rixx, Phelian Crex and Kala. You will set up triage and go after the data. Beta team is Henessa Sar, Sira Fal, Keydra Tan, and Rouen Maddux. Beta team will retrieve the survivors. Any questions?”

  “None, Captain.” Kala interrupted the silence again, as she pushed herself to be heard.

  “Good. Zaren, please take a moment after this meeting and fill in the commander on what she missed.”

  Zaren acknowledged the captain.

  Captain Palrion concluded the meeting. “Dismissed.”

  Kala waited for the others to leave so no one would have to watch her stand with dificulty. Zaren lagged behind waiting on her. When the room was empty except the two of them, Kala placed both hands on the arms of the chair, and struggled to her feet. Zaren started to move toward her to help, but she waved him off.

  “I will get myself up. My limbs just aren’t sure they want to cooperate with me yet. This is why I had an overprotective nurse. I will be fine. The limbs will continue to get stronger as I move.”

  “Link to me. Let your mind be your limbs until they heal,” Zaren suggested in an smooth even tone.

  She looked up at him. “Like Sira, my psionic lobe is damaged. I do not know when or how it will return. The captain believes it may have altered me as well. I am unsure of this.” She tried to take a step forward, she stumbled slightly, and caught herself on the chair.

  Zaren moved to assist her.

  “Thank you.”

  “You are welcome, Commander.” He watched as she regained her footing, and tried to walk again, a little stronger this time. “You will get better in time. Sira is playing with fire again, you will too.”

  Kala nodded and smiled weakly. “Thank you, Zaren.” As she took another few steps toward the door, Zaren moved by her side again, concerned she might fall. “Please don’t tell any of the others I’m having this much trouble.”

  Studying the small woman beside him, Zaren was unsure how to properly proceed. As his commanding officer, he was bound to follow her orders. As her teammate he was concerned she was ailing, and that would jeopardize the team on the mission tomorrow. “A commander who is ill, is also ill capable of providing proper leadership.”

  “Agreed. So you take the lead.”

  Kala stood a bit more on her own and tried to walk again, this time making it through the door with more confidence in her stride.

  Zaren followed thoroughly confused. “Commander it is not my place to lead. There are others of better rank and position to do so.” His expression was perplexed.

  She smiled warmly into his confused midnight eyes. “I feel much the same way. I am yet uncertain why the captain selected me as his third. Come, I want food that is not processed by a machine first. We have something to discuss.”

  “Indeed we do.”

  Zaren walked with Kala answering her questions, tactfully, as they walked. By the time they reached the cafeteria and mess hall, Kala had a fairly good grasp of where their intelligence stemmed from.

  After getting trays, Zaren suggested, “Perhaps we could have a more complete conversation elsewhere. One without the concern of prying ears and minds.”

  Kala looked up at the taller man and understood the wisdom of his words. “Of course. Please, lead the way.”

  He led her down the hall, and onto the lift in silence. When he ordered the lift to deck five, Kala became intrigued. Stepping from the lift, Zaren moved with determination toward the training gym with Kala in tow.

  “Yes, this is with a purpose in mind, Kala. First, you need your strength. Eat.”

  As they entered the room, Kala walked to one of the few chairs on the far side. Zaren joined her. Both put their trays on the floor beside them. They ate in relative silenc
e with only a few words uttered between them.

  Finally, Zaren broke the silence. “You took a significant risk doing what you did for the Dentonian fleet.”

  Confused, Kala looked up at him trying to understand the reason for his statement. “For the Dentonian fleet? You think I did this for the enemy?”

  “Xenonia did not benefit enough to justify the loss and damage to your person. Clearly you had other motives.” Zaren finished his meal, and placed everything on the tray, and then placed the tray neatly against the wall.

  Kala watched him in silence, finishing her meal, trying to figure out what to say to him or why he felt like he did. Without her abilities, she felt detached and ill-equipped to deal with any situation, let alone one that required a delicate touch.

  “We may have saved lives. Both Xenonian and Dentonian. That is the measure of success in my eyes.”

  “Right, saving lives. Whose lives, though? Are you sure that’s the motivation? You walk in a weak body because of your choice. You sacrificed your health and potentially your ability, yet you want me to believe it’s to save lives?” Zaren maintained an air of superiority as he spoke.

  “Saving the lives of any living being in this universe should be a common goal. Unfortunately, we have the Ven who believe that the only lives worth saving are those who are subjugated to them.” She turned her eyes away imagining an entire race being forced into slavery as the Ven have done time and again over the centuries. “I won’t see that happen.”

  Zaren studied her momentarily, almost believing that she believed her own statement to be genuine. There were many levels to this woman. Most earned his respect, but just as many confused him. None in war were so concerned for anyone, friend or foe. This woman was different. She stood out against the backdrop of suffering around her.

  “There is more to it.” He stood. Before she had the opportunity to reply, he looked right at her. “Stand.”

  Kala tilted her head, taking a moment to assess him before following his direction. With effort, she was unsteadily on her feet faster than her previous attempts. This time, Zaren did not come to her aid.