Chrystal Bones (Finding Home Book 1)

by Billie Jo Hanlin

  Up close the Dalor ship didn’t look any better. In fact it looked worse than she thought. She walked around it with Jayden. “What are you looking for?” she asked him.

  The three remaining Ragillians had locked themselves in and were not coming out. She couldn’t blame them. They knew what awaited them. Jayden had thrown a fit when he had gotten a look at her cut arm, bruised cheek and all around disheveled appearance. Did he think she was going to come out of this looking pristine?

  He had taken one look at her and started swearing while inspecting every inch of her. For a minute when he was brushing mud off her butt she thought he might make good on his threat to spank her. She was a bit bemused. This was all so new to her. Having a man trying to protect and care for her. She didn’t expect whatever this thing between them was to last but she was going to enjoy it while it did.

  Jayden was an interesting and complex man and the sex had been incredible. Their lives were destined to go in different directions. She may be a so called princess but Jayden was from a very powerful family on his planet and in the Alliance. During one of the talks she had with Idris, he had told her that as soon as Jayden was ready to settle down and quit his adventures he was slated to take his father’s place. On both his home world and on the council as head of the Combined Alliance Space Fleet.

  It was an important and influential position. It was also understood that he would marry someone of his own race. Not that she wanted to marry him but he couldn’t marry her even if he wanted to.

  She, well, she wasn’t sure what she would do after she got to Shillidon. First she had to save the planet then she just didn’t know. Idris had let some things slip that she didn’t think he was aware of and she had spent time pulling information off the computers. She knew she wouldn’t fit into their society. The Shillidonians sounded like a peaceful, gentle people. She was neither peaceful nor gentle.

  She would do what she could and if she survived she would find a place to call hers. After all she no longer had to hide and there was a whole universe to explore. The thought of being free, totally free to do what she wanted, when she wanted was a heady feeling. She would not make the mistake of making more of this thing between them than it was. A pleasant fling that’s all it was and all it was going to stay.

  Blue watched as Jayden found what he was looking for. He pulled a rusty panel off the ship, exposing an entrance with a ladder into it. She looked at the entrance then at Jayden. It was going to be a tight fit. She giggled. She actually giggled at the picture of him greased up and squeezing through, what for him would be a small, tight fit. For her it was plenty big enough.

  Jayden heard the soft musical laughter first in his mind then with his ears, coming from behind him and froze in place. It was such an unexpected and out of place sound and it could only be coming from Blue. He slowly turned around in shock. She was beautiful in any circumstance and he had thought she was exquisite when she smiled. But the laughter on her face turned her into something beyond anything he could describe.

  At the look on his face Blue wrapped her arms around her stomach and the giggles turned to laughter. She couldn’t talk so she sent a picture of a giant greased pig with Jayden’s face squealing its way up the shaft into the ship to him. He had no idea why that was so funny. He hadn’t spent time on Earth to get the reference and the puzzled look on his face just made her laugh harder until she sat on the ground.

  Leo went to stand next to Jayden and both of the males looked at her like she had lost her mind. Maybe she had. They were stranded on a mud hole masquerading as a planet. Between them they had disabled or killed thirty eight men. Now they were about to kill the three remaining men to steal a ship that looked like it belonged in a junk yard not space. All so she could go save a dying planet and she was laughing like a loon. It was official, she had lost her ever loving mind.

  She tried to get herself under control but made the mistake of looking up at Jayden which set her off again. The puzzled look had been replaced with a patient one and he was leaning against the rust bucket waiting for her to finish. He was adorable. She could love him, she thought. That brought her laughter to an abrupt stop.

  Horrified she stared at him. No, absolutely not. She would not fall into that trap. She just had this conversation with herself. She liked him, that was all. They were in an intense situation and he was her first lover. That’s all it was, she assured herself. Women always fell for their first lover. She would not be a cliche and make more of it than it was.

  Jayden wondered what she was thinking. Whatever it was wiped the laughter from her face. She stood up and asked him, “How do you plan on getting the Ragillians out of the ship?” She was back to being all business. Jayden started to say something then changed his mind. He would find out what thought had stolen her laughter later. When they had time and no place for her to run.

  “I am going to get into the ship through this access panel. When I do I am going to force them to come out on their own.”

  “What’s to stop them from just shooting you?”

  “They are not going to see me. I’m going to let loose one of these,” he said pulling a round ball the size of her fist from the utility belt at his waist. “This releases a noxious gas. They will not be able to breath,” he finished with satisfaction.

  Blue nodded her head thinking of the tear gas used on Earth, then shook it. “We won’t be able to either,” she pointed out. With a grin he held up two gas masks. They weren’t the big awkward ones she was used to seeing. Instead they were small and compact fitting in the palm of her hand and no thicker than a dime.

  “We probably will not need them. When I release this into the ventilation ducts it will take a few minutes to fill the ship. When it does they will either come running out or die,” Jayden explained.

  “Unless they have their own masks,” Blue said.

  “I doubt they have anything that will work. They are new and only issued to teams like mine. There has not been time for them to be available in any other market. This mask is the only one that can block this gas.”

  “Works for me,” Blue said. Motioning for Jayden to get on with it.

  He wormed his way up the shaft, set the gas bomb to go off in five seconds, tossed it into the air duct and was back next to Blue in less time than she thought possible. They ducked behind the landing gear in case the Ragillians came out firing their weapons. It wasn’t long before the door slid back and the ramp extended. The Ragillians came out stumbling and coughing. One by one Jayden shot, dropping them on the spot.

  “Did you kill them?” Blue asked.

  “No. They are just lightly stunned,” Jayden said walking up the ramp.

  He grabbed one of the unconscious bodies under the arms and dragged him down the ramp with ease. Blue did the same only it took more effort on her part. When she turned around Leo was pulling the last one down the ramp by his teeth. When he got to the bottom he kept on going, heading for the trees.

  “Stop. Leo you can’t eat him!” Blue hollered racing after the big cat. He growled at her when she got in front of him blocking his way. As far as he was concerned he was hungry and this was dinner. Blue put her hands on her hips and said firmly, “No. Drop it. You can’t eat him,” she repeated.

  “Why not?” Leo sent to her.

  “Because he is a psychopathic clone. There is no telling what that could do to you.” She got a good hold on the Ragillian’s legs and tried pulling him away from Leo. The cat wasn’t letting go.

  Jayden was watching the tug of war and laughing. Blue glanced up and told him, “Don’t just stand there laughing. Either help me or go away.” She looked back at Leo. “Look if you let go of the psycho Jayden will go get you one of those animals he fed you last night,” she coaxed.

  “What? Why me? You go get it. He is your pet. Excuse me, your friend. Better yet he can do his own hunting.”

  “Leo doesn’t hunt. He’s not any good at it and I can’t shoot an animal. I would feel its fear and
do you really think I could eat one after that?” she asked exasperated.

  “You have no problem shooting people,” Jayden pointed out.

  “That’s different and you know it. Besides I am not going to eat people. Tell him you will go get him dinner.”

  “We do not have time to go hunting. I am sure there is something on the ship that he can eat. We need to get off this planet before more Ragillians show up.

  Blue dropped the clone’s legs and Leo slinked away with his prize. “You seriously want to go, to space, in that thing?” she paled. There wasn’t much she was afraid of but taking that rust bucket into space was one of them.

  “No, no way. We can wait right here for the guys to get back. It won’t be too long. Once they don’t find us on Farpoint they will come back here.”

  Jayden did his best to contain his amusement but knew he had failed when she continued.

  “Go ahead and laugh. I can’t believe you want to risk our lives on that thing.”

  “That thing as you call it is a perfectly good ship and it will be at least three weeks before Idris and the Trilleion can get back here. Do you really want to stay here that long?”

  “No, I don’t. What do you mean three weeks. You and Idris said two weeks that’s ten days from now, not seventeen. And that is not a perfectly good ship. It’s falling apart in front of us!” Blue waved her hand at the ship.

  “Would you just trust me,” Jayden said through the laughter thick in his voice. “I know the guy who owns this ship. He is a smuggler and deliberately makes it look run down on the outside to deter thieves. The inside will be immaculate and filled with the latest technology.”

  Blue studied him for a long time. “If you are lying to me I will kick your ass and stuff your dead body in the garbage disposal,” she said with a look in her eyes that told him she was not joking.

  Remembering what she was doing before Jayden distracted her, Blue looked around for Leo. She spotted him under a tree with the clone and she took off running towards him. Coming to a halt in front of him she saw that he had already eaten through the belly and was busy chewing on the clone’s thigh.

  “Oh, yuck. Leo you ate a psycho clone. Who knows what that will do to you. Couldn’t you wait? It’s not like you were starving,” she asked him in disgust.

  Jayden came up beside her. “Why are you so upset. He just followed his instincts.”

  “Instincts my ass. He has never had to hunt. He doesn’t like to hunt. I told you that. Couldn’t you just have agreed to get him one of the animals from our valley. Then this wouldn’t have happened.” She pointed at the satisfied cat and bloody body. “He ate a psycho Jayden. If he gets sick you are cleaning it up not me.”

  With that pronouncement she turned and headed back to the rust bucket that apparently wasn’t a rust bucket.

  Jayden watched her walk away and admired the sway of her hips. He looked at Leo and said, “You better not get sick.”

  Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin

  Chapter 21

  Jayden hadn’t lied. It had taken almost an hour for the gas to dissipate so they could enter the ship. He used the time to question the three Ragillians when they regained consciousness.. It didn’t do much good. All they knew was what they had been told. Find the Trilleion and destroy it using any means necessary. The only new information they learned was when Jayden asked how they had gotten the Dalor ship.

  The captain of their ship had gotten the idea when he had come across it abandoned in space. They caught it with a tractor beam and towed it to this mud hole. None of them had been able to do more than get the door open and send out a fake distress signal. Knowing that no one would ignore a distress call from an uninhabited planet.

  Then they had watched and waited for the trap to be sprung. It had worked to a point. They hadn’t expected the Trilleion to be as fast as it was and they thought there were enough of them on planet to take care of anyone who landed. They were wrong on both accounts. They also didn’t know how many ships were left in orbit if any. None of their calls had been answered.

  The Ragillians gave Blue the creeps. Not because they were clones. It was the no emotions. Everyone she had ever come across had some type of emotions but they had absolutely no feelings one way or the other. When she dropped all of her shields and touched them she could read them. But again there were no individual thoughts. No sense of self, just an acceptance of their life and death. Blue had quickly raised her shields and not touched them again.

  She had been thinking about that when she realized that was why the chrystal hadn’t thrown the ones who attacked her away from her. It must work off emotions. If there were none then there was nothing to repel. Jayden agreed with her when she told him her theory.

  “It makes sense but it still repelled us and we had no thoughts of hurting you.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t want any of you to touch me. When the Ragillians attacked I wasn’t thinking specifically about them not touching me.”

  “Good thing you wanted me to touch you last night.” Jayden flashed his wicked grin at her.

  “Yes it was. I don’t need a chrystal to throw you across the room. If I feel the need to, I’ll do it myself,” she said with a calm and steady look. Willing her face not to flush.

  Blue watched Jayden power up the ship. He input a series of numbers into the computer then reached under his seat and opened a hidden panel. He flipped three switches and entered another set of numbers. The ship came to life. Panels lit up and a holographic image of the ugliest man Blue had ever seen appeared in the middle of the console and started speaking in a low harsh whisper.

  “Jayden, at least I hope it is you since you are the only person other than myself who knows the codes to start my ship. There is something going on at Farpoint. I overheard a couple of strange conversations and saw something I was not suppose to see. And since someone tried to kill me shortly afterwards I assume it is very important. That’s not unusual enough to worry me. But they tried to kill Zaheer too because she was with me.

  I sent my ship away letting them think I was on it so I could find out what is going on. All I know at this point is it is big and it involves more than one high ranking official in the Alliance and on Haldairia. If I do not come back to claim my ship in a few months you will know I am dead. I will leave everything I find with Zaheer at Z’s Bar. I will make sure she knows to give it to you.”

  The image paused then continued, “Watch your back my friend. The Ragillians are not the only ones who want you dead. One of the conversations I heard was about your family and arranging an accident. The man speaking was Haldairian. I cannot tell you who he is, I never saw his face. I know I have heard his voice before. I just cannot remember where. If you come to Farpoint and I am still here, I will find you. If not, make sure Zaheer gets the ship. See you on the other side,” he paused again before finishing.

  “If you are not Jayden you might as well kiss your butt goodbye because if you do not input the final code this ship is going to go boom.” The ugly man smiled and the hologram vanished only to pop back up. “I forgot to tell you I made a few changes to the ship since the last time you were on her. I think you will like them. I got my hands on a small Ice. Check out the new stealth system. It is better than what you have on your fancy new ship.” He vanished for good this time.

  After a few seconds of silence Blue said, “I hope you have that last code.”

  Absently Jayden input the code. Thinking about what his friend had said. He already knew someone was gunning for him and his men but he had not known one of his own people was a part of it.. Maybe it was just him they were trying to kill and his men were in the way but he did not think so.

  Krakin was right. Something big was going on. Thanks to Krakin he had a feeling he would find at least some of the answers on Farpoint. He needed to get there before the Trilleion did. Once again he was about to drag Blue into a dangerous situation there was no way to avoid. Idris was already set to meet them at Farpoint
. If he and Blue did not show in time, Idris was going to come looking for them.

  Blue left Jayden to his thoughts and studied the ship. It was the size of a large two story house and in immaculate condition on the inside. Everything was clean and polished and looked as new as Jayden’s ship. No one looking at the outside would expect this on the inside.

  She had to admit it was a very good disguise. It had fooled her and she would bet it had fooled many planetary inspectors and pirates. Jayden had said his friend was a smuggler. A good one if the expensive interior was any indication. She walked around looking at the art on the walls and the soft chairs placed here and there for comfort. She peaked in rooms when the doors slid open as she passed through the corridor.

  The ship was set up the same way as the Trilleion, with the control area in the middle and all other areas branching off from it. From watching Star Trek and many other space movies she had expected the control room to be in the front of the ship but this made more sense. The design protected the control room from any damage that could be inflicted from the outside. It was the safest place on the ship.

  The outermost rooms were storage areas, she wondered if they were called cargo bays. There was a large room that served as a shuttle bay but was currently empty. The inner rooms were what you would expect.

  There was a kitchen, a couple of bedrooms and an exercise room. No matter how advanced a society there would always be treadmills and elliptical machines. She supposed if you spent a lot of time in space you had to have some way of staying in shape. Jayden had them on his ship too.

  She wandered back into the control room when Jayden called for her. He was ready to take off. She sat in the co-pilots seat. “There’s plenty of room in the shuttle bay for your shuttle if you want to pick it up.” She looked around for Leo and saw he was sleeping off his psycho dinner in the corner. She planned on keeping a close watch on him for the next few days.

  “We will swing by and pick it up now. I want to take off from the opposite side of the planet than we came in anyway,” he said lifting off. What had taken them four days to hike took only minutes in the ship. There was no lightning this time just a light mist so the trip off the planet went smoother than the trip in. Blue kept her eyes on the sensors looking for any Ragillian ships.