Chrystal Bones (Finding Home Book 1)

by Billie Jo Hanlin

  He started cussing and screaming at Cole, “You bastard if you would have stayed out it I would still be married and none of this would have happened! I need that money damn you or I'm a dead man.”

  "Scotty's not here and you will never see him again. Nor will you ever see another penny of my sister’s money. Next time I will kill you myself,” Cole told him in a hard cold voice full of promise.

  "You won't have to,” Blue told Cole. “Watch,” she held up another syringe and injected it into the melon Riley held out to her. Riley walked across the room and set the melon at the furthest point from the LCA. She then walked back and handed a bottle of water to Blue. Blue took a small vial out of her pocket and held it up so the LCA could see something the size of a grain of rice in it. She unscrewed the cap, filled the vial with the water and replaced the cap.

  “Now,” she told the LCA, “You need to listen very carefully to me because if you don't you really will be a dead man. I injected you with the same thing I injected into that melon. I injected Scotty with the same thing that is in this vial." Riley grabbed Cole’s arm and squeezed before he could offer any protest. Blue continued, "Watch what happens when this,” she shook the vial, "comes within twenty feet of the melon." She rolled the vial across the floor towards the melon.

  Everyone, not just the LCA, watched as it came to a stop. The melon exploded startling everyone but Blue and Riley. Blue smiled coldly down at the stunned man. "If you get within a hundred yards of Scotty the same thing will happen to you." She paused to let that knowledge sink in and for him to read the absolute in her eyes before continuing softly, "I wouldn't have done this if you had shown any love for your son. Instead you tried to use him to get money and left him alone and drugged in this house. Now you pay for it." Blue stood and walked to the door. “Oh, and don't bother to try to find the bomb inside you. There is nothing out there that can detect it right now, but if you want to waste what little money you have, go ahead.” She shrugged.

  "Damn Idris, I am in love with your sister,” Vihan said reverently. Jayden smacked him on the back of the head before Idris could.

  "Don't even think about it.”

  Then they all followed Blue out the door.

  “Wait!” the LCA hollered, panic in his voice, "You can't leave me tied up. No one ever comes here."

  Blue stuck her head back inside the door to tell him, ”Don't worry. Someone’s coming for you. You remember Marco don't you?”

  “You can't leave me alone with him. He'll kill me,” he said in horror.

  "Seems like a lot of people want you dead. I'd think about that if I were you. Bye now.”

  Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin

  Chapter 12

  Back at the vehicles, Blue assured Cole the transmitter she had injected Scotty with would do him no harm and dissolve on its own. "Janie has ten years, then it will be up to Scotty wether or not he wants to see his father. The guy’s an ass but he's not evil, just self-centered,” she said.

  "Thank you. I meant what I said earlier anything you need or want is yours,” Cole replied.

  "Is there anything I can do now?" Jake asked looking over at the other men suspiciously.

  With a crinkle of her nose Blue said, “Thanks, but this is something that I'm going to have to deal with myself. Riley will get in touch with you in a day or two. Go home Cole, and take Jake with you. Go be with Scotty and your sister."

  "I'm not comfortable leaving you and Riley here alone with, with….” Words failed him so Jake just finished. "Them."

  "Go Jake, they are not here to hurt me or Riley." Blue wasn't used to anyone but Riley and Leo worrying about her. She was sure she did not like it. Not one bit.

  When they had driven off she looked at Jayden, Vihan and Idris. She just couldn't think of him as her brother, not now. Riley asked her, "What are you going to do with your alien hunks?"

  "I don't have a clue,” she replied. "I guess they will have to come home with us for now."

  Jayden said to Blue, "We do not have a lot of time before we have to return to our ship. Are you ready to go?" "Go where?" she asked.

  "With us,” he said.

  "Whoa, hold on a second. No one said I was going anywhere with you." She probably was, but they had no right to just assume it.

  "You have to come with us,” Idris said. Jayden and Vihan nodded. Blue rubbed her forehead trying to forestall the headache she could feel coming.

  "Follow us to our house. We can talk there." She turned and walked away.

  Back at the house Blue went through the elaborate security to enter while the aliens watched her every move. When the eye scan was complete and the computer asked for the password she said, "Ocean Blue, Ocean deep." "Voice verification complete. You have guests today, please enter secondary authorization code." Blue touched the three panels hidden in the door frame in the pattern she had set long ago. Panels she had never before had to use. This was the first time ever that she had brought someone to her home.

  The locks disengaged, she headed straight for the kitchen and coffee. It was the first time that Riley could remember Blue not heading straight to the surveillance center to see if anyone had come by while she was gone. That’s when Riley knew that Blue was a lot more rattled than she had thought. Though you would never know it just looking at her.

  The men looked around with interest. The kitchen opened up to a large living room with big comfortable rust colored furniture, placed to take advantage of the view of the ocean from the wall of windows.

  Blue locked eyes with Jayden for a long moment. The man, alien, whatever he was, drew her. She had never felt physical attraction before but she knew the basics and what she was feeling had to be attraction. The flutter in her stomach and the desire to see what kissing him would feel like, it just wasn't her. She didn't feel stuff like that. She had never felt the urge to kiss or touch anyone and she wasn't going to start now she told herself firmly. It doesn't matter that he has such pretty purple eyes full of mystery.

  With a shake of her head she turned her gaze to the one who claimed he was her brother. She knew that face. She knew it very well. It was the face in her dreams. The face that she had once loved very much. Now it was the face of a stranger.

  It was a good face. Similar to hers with the shape of the eyes, high forehead and sharp cheek bones. He had blue eyes, not the weird blue color of hers but a bright deep blue with no hint of pink clouds. His pupils were normal. His hair was the color of smoke and cut pretty short it was more sedate than hers. He was a few inches taller than her and for the first time she understood Riley's frustration with everyone being taller than her. In fact all the men were taller than the average human male.

  Don't they have any short aliens? She brushed the stray thought away and asked, "Why are you here and what do you want?" They looked at each other before the big one spoke. Jayden, that’s what he had said his name was.

  “The short version is that we got caught in an anomaly and pulled from our universe into this one.” He stopped talking. That was it? That was all the explanation he was going to offer? Idris took up where Jayden left off.

  “When my chrystal, your chrystal actually, started glowing I knew it was because you had to be alive and on this planet. We came here to find you and take you back home. I have missed you so much and our whole planet was devastated when we thought you were dead."

  "Why would a whole planet be devastated by my death?" she asked curiously.

  "That is another long story but you are the key to our planet’s survival."

  "You're just full of long stories. I don't mind. So why don't you start at the beginning."

  "We really don't have time for this,” Jayden said. "We have to leave no later than one more turn of your planet. If you have things to do you need to do them now."

  "I haven't said I'm going with you and I won't until I know what is going on."

  "You don't have a choice,” he said softly.

  "Want to bet,” she said just as
softly. Their eyes locked in a battle of wills. This was a battle she would win. No one told her what to do. Ever.

  "You might as well tell her what she wants to know. Otherwise you'll never get her to agree to go with you,” Riley said plopping down on the couch. Idris sat next to her.

  "She always was a stubborn little thing, but so is Jayden,” he said with a chuckle.

  "Five bucks says he loses this round,” Riley said. “Pardon? You want five male deer?" he asked with the cutest look of puzzlement on his face.

  Riley burst into laughter, "No, bucks is a slang term for dollars.” “Money, you know, you use it to buy stuff.”

  "I understand now. No, I am sorry I do not have any money."

  "How long have you been speaking English?”

  “Four of your days."

  "Wow you learn fast."

  "Only because we have translators implanted behind our ears. The more we hear a language the faster we can understand and speak it."

  "Does Blue have one those translators?" Riley demanded.

  "Yes, she had one implanted right before she died, disappeared,” he corrected himself with a wince.

  "Ha, I knew it!" Riley jumped up off the couch and bounced over to Blue. She got between her and Jayden, breaking their stand off. Poking her finger at Blue, Riley proclaimed, "You are not a genius with languages. You have one of those Star Trek translator thingies in your head!"

  “Okay…. You seem awfully happy about that."

  “Yes, I am. It means you are a little less brilliant than I always thought,” she said doing a little boogie dance around Blue. Trust Riley to always make her want to smile when there was nothing to smile about. "I'm going to get coffee for everyone then we can sit down and talk like civilized people.” Riley informed them all as she danced into the kitchen.

  When they all had a cup of coffee in their hands, the men sipped the hot drink cautiously. "Tastes like Trillis. A drink from your home world that has become popular on many planets,” Vihan said to Blue.

  "It does,” Idris agreed.

  "Start Talking,” Blue said petting Leo. He was picking up on her tension and was making soft growling noises. He didn't like all these people in their home anymore than Blue did.

  Jayden looked at Idris, "You start,” he said.

  Idris explained about the legend of the Chrystal Woman and how Shillidon was dying. "You are the only one who can stop it,” he told Blue.

  "How am I supposed to stop a planet from dying?" Blue asked him in total disbelief.

  "I do not know, no one does. We only have the legends to go by and nothing was written about that part,” Idris admitted reluctantly. "Based on the reaction of my, your chrystal when it got close to you, the chrystals should show you what to do,” he paused then asked, “What happened when you started glowing and floating in the air?"

  Blue looked at him for a long moment before slowly reaching up and pulling her shirt down enough to show him the chrystal at her throat. "Your chrystal,” she refused to claim it for now, “Fused with my chrystal and dumped a lot of information in my head."

  Idris walked over to her and ignoring the big cat, knelt down to study her throat. "You were born with a small chrystal but I have never heard of one fusing with another. May I?" he asked, reaching out to touch the pulsing crystal. Blue nodded reluctantly, bracing herself for what she would hear when he touched her. She really didn't want to hear his thoughts. Feeling his emotions was hard enough.

  Before he could touch it the chrystal flared brightly sending out a pulse of energy that sent him flying across the room. He landed on his butt against the wall. His look of astonishment when he came to a stop matched Blue's. That was new.

  Jayden and Vihan both started laughing and Riley joined in. “What was that?” Idris asked picking himself up off the floor.

  “No idea, it’s never done that before,” Blue said touching the chrystal. “It has to be because of the new one.”

  “Let’s try something. Jayden try to touch her chrystal,” Idris said. Jayden walked over to Blue and when he reached out to touch the chrystal Blue felt her stomach give the same flutter it had when Idris had tried. Once again there was a bright fare of light and Jayden was pushed back. He didn't get knocked off his feet because he was braced for it.

  "You try it Vihan,” Idris said. The same thing happened. Riley went up to Blue and reaching out she touched the chrystal. Nothing happened. Leo also wasn't affected at all either.

  Idris, Jayden and Vihan looked at each other. Blue thought that they were somehow talking to each other. They turned their intense gazes to Blue and Riley. "You trust her, you do not trust us. I think that the chrystal will repel anyone you do not trust if they try to touch the chrystal or you,” Idris said. "That is a great defense system your chrystal has.”

  Yes it was, she thought. Too bad that it couldn’t do that when she was younger and the scientist had tried to cut it out of her.” I didn't trust the LCA and this didn't happen when I touched him,” Blue said.

  "It must happen only when someone tries to touch you, not when you touch them." Jayden mused. Blue nodded her head in agreement, that made sense to her.

  "No offense but you said Shillidon is filled with these chrystals, if they all react to me like the one you brought I really don't want to go there. I have no desire to become a walking chrystal,” she said to Idris.

  "I do not think they will. The chrystal I brought with me was tuned to you when you were a child and there is nothing in the records to suggest anything like that happening."

  "How do you know? You said the records were incomplete. So you don't know what will happen anymore than I do."

  "No, you are right I do not know. What I do know is that if you do not come back with us, Shillidon will die. If that happens so will a lot of other planets."

  “Why? Why is one planet so important that if it dies others will too?" she asked Idris but it was Jayden who answered her.

  "Shillidon uses chrystals to produce shields that are superior to anything anyone else has on the market. We are working to come up with a shield that is comparable but have had no success so far. Without those shields a lot of planets are going to fall to chaos. Not every race is friendly to others and someone is always trying to conquer someone else. Right now the biggest threat comes from the Ragillians.”

  “Wait a minute. Who are the Ragillians?” Blue asked.

  “I am getting to that,” Jayden told her. “They are not actually a natural race. They were created by a megalomaniac scientist who wanted his own army to conquer the galaxy. He took over a prison planet at the edge of our system and cloned the prisoners. They were the worst of society, murders, thieves and rapists. When he ran out of prisoners he cloned the clones only that did not work out so well. He found out that when you clone a clone the resulting clone does not last long. They only last about about two years before they start to break down and deteriorate. It takes a year to make a clone and bring it to maturity. During that time Doctor Ragillian brainwashes the clones to think he is their God. When they are ready to leave the maturation chamber they will do what ever he wants. If a clone shows the least sign that he is not compliant then he is destroyed. He has thousands of clones and he is constantly making more. They have no feelings, no consciousness. They are an army that does only what he wants them to do.”

  “Holy Crap,” Riley whispered.

  “Because he ran out of original material,” Jayden continued, “he now preys on defenseless ships to capture people from all races so he can use their DNA to make more clones. If he is not stopped there is a very real chance that he can accomplish his goals. The Alliance Combined Space Navy has been trying to find Ragillian’s base of operations for years so we can destroy him and his facilities before he can do any more damage. Without the chrystal shields it will be a lot easier for him to go after the core planets. If he can destroy the Alliance, all the better for him,” Jayden finished his explanation.

  Blue took a few moments
to digest all of the information. It seemed she had no choice in the matter. She was going home. “All that is very interesting and I can understand the importance of Shillidon and the chrystals. But if you didn’t know I was here how did you find me?”

  “We were on a mission to meet secretly with someone who said he had information on the location of Dr. Ragillian’s base and the person who has been selling our technology to him and others. We were intercepted by six Ragillian ships. They did some damage to our ship and we went to hyper speed with no way to calculate where we would end up,” Jayden paused and Idris took up the tale.

  "We came out of hyper in an area called the dead zone. My chrystal or rather your chrystal now, started glowing. It had not done that before and since I knew it was tuned to you, I thought it meant something. I hardly dared to believe that it meant you were alive. We got caught up in an anomaly. You would call it a worm hole, and were pulled into your universe. I think we were meant to find you,” he finished.

  After another few minutes of silence Riley said, "That is so cool. Blue, it's just like Star Trek. Only it is real and you get to be the heroine and save everyone."

  “Yeah….. Sounds like a lot of fun,” Blue said sarcastically.

  "What is this Star Trek she keeps mentioning?" Vihan asked.

  "It's a movie." When he still looked blank she added, "Entertainment, something you watch for fun."

  Vihan nodded when he comprehended the concept, ”I would like to watch this movie,” he said.

  “I will be sure to bring them with me,” Blue told him.

  "That means you will go with us. Great, how soon can you be ready?" Jayden asked.

  “I will need a couple of days to tie everything up here until I can get back. I also need to know if you guys can provide everything Leo needs to eat or if I need to bring a supply of food for him,” she said.

  "You can not bring your pet,” Jayden told her.

  She looked at him and said, "He goes or I stay. That’s nonnegotiable.” There was no need for her to say anything else. Everyone knew that she meant it.