“Damn it Blue! What the hell do you think you are doing?” At Jayden’s shout Idris stood and rushed over to her slumped body.
The two men who loved her in very different ways turned their gaze to the ships surrounding them. Idris muttered, “I hope she knows what she is doing.” Then he stood and went back to his station.
Jayden was scared to his very bones. Not being used to the feeling, he turned it to a rock hard determination to win this battle. He looked up at nothing and said, “You had better get yourself back here in one piece or I really will spank your stubborn ass this time.”
He turned to bark at Vihan and Sparks, “Be ready to execute the plan at the first movement you see from her body.” She had twenty minutes to do whatever she had planed before the Minder had control of the ship.
Blue didn’t hear his threat, she was already on the way to the first Ragillian ship. Flying through space as fast as she could she arrowed in. Not sure how she was going to find the Minder she hoped he would be readily distinguishable from the others on board.
She chose this ship to search first because it had been the one that had demanded she be turned over to them. She flew through the unfamiliar ship looking for the control room, hoping she was right and they would want to keep the Minder close to the command center. There was no time to search the whole ship.
It took her precious minutes to find the control room of the Ragillian ship and when she did no one stood out so she left and flew to the second ship. This time she was able to go directly to the control room.
Nothing, they all looked like the robots they might as well be. She sped to the third ship feeling the panic she was holding back try to overtake her. She shoved it away needing all of her wits about her. Time was ticking away.
She found him in the third ship. It was immediately apparent who he was. He was the only one dressed in a white robe with the hood pulled up casting his features in shadows. All the others in the room were dressed in the same unrelieved black uniform as the clones on the Mudball had been. If she survived this she was seriously going to think about adding some color to her wardrobe.
Going to hover in front of the Minder she thought about the best way to do what she needed to. He was unaware of her presence until she wrapped him in her essence and pushed herself into his mind. It was possession plain and simple. She planned to take over his mind and destroy it from the inside out. Blue felt the exact moment he became aware of her.
Strangely enough he didn’t fight her. Instead he was relieved. He knew she was going to kill his mind if not his body and he welcomed the coming death. His life was an unrelenting hell and he showed her every horror that had been done to him. It felt like it took a lifetime but in reality only a few minutes had gone by before Blue put him out of his misery as gently as she could with a soft kiss of goodbye.
Filled with a rage she had never before felt, Blue tore through the room entering minds devoid of emotion and ripping them to shreds until every clone in the room was lying dead at her feet. When she gained control of herself and saw what she had done she felt sick. Sick and tired. A determination was born in her to hunt down the man responsible.
“Doctor Ragillian I am coming for you.”
She sent the thought out into the universe. Hoping that somehow he would hear her and know death was coming for him.
Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin
Chapter 29
Dro gave a shout of triumph they all heard, “She did it!” Jayden whipped his head around.
“What do you mean she did it? What did she do?.”
“I mean the Minder is no longer trying to get control of the ship.”
“Get ready. Vihan do not take your eyes off of her until she moves or Leo lets you know she is back. Fire the weapons the instant you get the signal,” Jayden snapped out.
He waited impatiently for Blue to get back. What could she have done in her astral form to stop a Minder? He knew she could not feel emotions or hold solid things in that form so he had thought that it was not much good for anything besides surveillance in a tactical situation. Obviously he was wrong. He exchanged a grim look with Idris.
Blue was exhausted and not sure she could make it back to the Trilleion but she flew on, needing to let Jayden know to change his plan and fire on Red Four instead of Two. Three was out of commission until someone went to the control room and found everyone dead. Until that happened there was a window to escape the trap. A window was all Jayden needed.
Normally Blue could fly for hours without tiring but the destruction she had wrought had drained her to dangerous levels. She could feel herself stretching thinner and thinner until she wasn’t sure she could hold her form together by the time she reached the ship. With the last of her strength and pure willpower she pushed down into her body. Her essence was spread so thin that it didn’t want to conform to the confining body.
As soon as she could she screamed out with her mind to Jayden. “Fire on Four, Three is dead,” then her world went black as she lost consciousness.
Jayden barely heard the whisper of sound but he immediately told Vihan, “Fire all weapons at Red Four not Two. Sparks head straight down the throat of Red Three. Idris hold off on Stealth until I say.”
The space was lit with bursts of light. The first few energy beams hit the target and bounced off the shields but the weapons fire controlled by Vihan concentrated on one area and the next few got through. They burned a hole right through the center of the ship. It exploded in a ball of flame that was snuffed out almost as soon as it was seen. Red four was a dead hunk of metal.
“Vihan I want Three raked with fire as we pass. Idris be ready to bring up stealth on my mark.”
The Trilleion was hit with fire from Red One. Red Two was bearing down on them but would not reach them in time to help Red One. The Trilleion shook off the blows and flew towards Red Three. Vihan let loose with a barrage of fire as they passed the ship.
Whatever Blue had done there was no return fire from Red Three and it too became a dead hunk of metal. In any other battle Jayden would stop and look for survivors but that was not going to happen this time. This time he was out for blood and he would see as many dead as he could. He also had two enemy ships left but only one was in a position to present a threat. They could check for their own survivors.
Vihan was going through the weapons supply fast but Jayden would use every last energy cube if he had to. Red one hit them again and Jayden snarled, “Vihan take those bastards out.”
Lightning fast Vihan adjusted his aim and fired, hitting but not disabling the pursuing ship.
“Sparks get ready to change course. Head for the Nexus Nebula. Idris on my mark. Steady, steady,” Jayden almost crooned as the ship shuddered from another hit.
“Rear shield down to sixty percent and holding,” Sparks called out.
“Now Idris,” Jayden said. Idris engaged the stealth system and Sparks shot the ship away, towards the Nexus Nebula. All was quiet as they watched the Ragillians fire a broad burst of fire at their last position, missing them completely, before breaking off the attack.
Jayden went to Blue and with hands that shook he checked for a pulse. It was slow and thready but it was there. He picked her up gently and cradled her in his arms.
“What did you do to yourself this time?” he whispered the question to the unconscious woman. There was no doubt that she had saved them. His plan had been the only workable one with what they faced. It would have worked but they would have gotten hurt, possibly very badly. Instead the damage was minimal. He was still going to spank her ass when she woke up though.
He turned to find four faces looking at Blue with worry etched in their faces. They knew she had done the impossible even if none of them knew how or what she had done to save them all from what would have been a grim death.
Idris looked pale and made as if to speak but could only swallow helplessly as he looked at the limp body in his friend’s arms. Sparks was the only one to speak. “
Is she going to be all right?”
Jayden honestly did not know. She was breathing but he could not feel anything from their connection. There was a void where she should have been in his mind. That alone was enough to stop his heart with worry and fear. He swallowed the lump in his throat and gave them the truth.
“I don’t know, her pulse is thready and her breathing is too shallow.” He walked from the room followed closely by Dro and Leo.
Dro ran the scanners over Blue’s prone body while Jayden paced back and forth. When he finally looked up from the instruments his face was grave, “She is showing all the signs of exhaustion. That is something that can be cured with plenty of rest. What worries me is there is almost no brain activity at all. It is as if her brain has shut down. There is nothing I can do except keep a close watch on her. She will either come out of it on her own or she will not.”
Jayden clenched his hands into fists at the fatalistic words and bowed his head. He wanted nothing more than to stay here with her but he could not. He had his men counting on him and he needed to find how the Ragillians kept finding them. He needed to keep her safe.
“Do not leave her alone for one second. If you have to leave call me or Idris and one of us will stay with her. Let me know the minute she stirs.”
Uncaring that Dro was watching he leaned down and kissed her unresponsive mouth, telling her, “Don’t you dare die on me,” in a voice roughened by fear.
Hidden in the gases of the nebula Jayden called everyone to the Control Room except Dro. “I want every inch of this ship searched. Every circuit traced. Look for any unauthorized transmissions, any signal being sent out,” he stated.
“You do not think one of us is sending out a signal?” Jos asked him.
“Of course not,” was the ready reply. “But think about it. Someone had to have gotten a transmitter aboard that we did not find after the first ambush. Which means it has to be a passive signal. We have used them ourselves in missions. The fact that we have not found already it means it is buried deep.”
Idris nodded his head in agreement, “Makes sense, that is the only way the Ragillians could know about Blue. It has to be connected to a system that is active all the time to piggyback on. It is not something we would have looked for and even if we did unless it was sending at the same time we were looking we would not have seen it.”
Sparks asked, “How are we going to find it now. The gasses will not let any signal in or out so we cannot trace it that way.”
“That is why we are going to go through everything on board that has a circuit. We are not leaving until we find it,” Jayden told them all.
Idris looked at Jayden and said, “The only way the Ragillians would know about it is if someone told them to look for it.”
They were back to the traitor. There were only two options. The traitor had to be from Shillidon or Haldairia. The only two races involved in building this ship.
Since Blue and Jayden had told him about his dear cousin’s visit to Farpoint, Idris was inclined to think Balik was a part of this. But honestly, he was too stupid to be the brains behind it. He also did not think Balik would knowingly betray Shillidon. He could be duped into it and not know it though.
Idris thought that Balik was on the station for exactly the reason it seemed. He had most likely hired Maaris to kill him and his parents. He was really going to be upset when he found out Blue was still alive. The thought of that almost brought a smile to Idris's face. He was looking forward to putting the little worm that Balik was in his place once and for all.
Three days passed with no change in Blue’s condition or in finding the transmitter. The mood aboard the ship had changed. There were no more jokes or laughter. Everyone was tense and worried and tempers ran short. When they were not looking for the transmitter all of the guys took turns sitting with Blue, hoping to be able to bring the news to Jayden and Idris that she was awake.
Dro had her hooked up to every monitor he had. The Brain wave monitor still showed no activity at all. If it had been anyone else but Blue, Dro would have pronounced them dead.
Leo refused to leave her side and the sadness emanating from him effected them all. Jayden spent every moment he could spare sitting at her bedside. Sometimes he was quiet and at other times he talked to her. By the fifth day the worry and lack of sleep drove him to yell at the sleeping woman.
Using one of her favorite expressions he said, “Damn it Blue, wake the hell up. I do not have time for this.” He was immediately sorry and running both hands over his face he apologized to her in a tired sounding voice, “I am sorry. You just need to wake up.”
Leo voiced his agreement from where he was lying beside the bed with a tremendous roar that echoed throughout the room. Jayden took her hand in his and sat back down in the chair placed beside the bed.
He laid his lips on the fragile hand clasped in his. Marveling at how small it was compared to his. He felt her hand twitch and looked up quickly to see her eyes flickering behind the delicate lids.
“That is it, come on Dala, open those weird beautiful eyes for me.”
Dro moved to the other side of her, watching the monitors closely.
Blue struggled to open her eyes and whispered in a voice hoarse from disuse, “Who is Dala?”
Jayden was startled into a bark of laughter, “Not a who, a what. Dala means beloved in Haldairian and you are my beloved,” he said tenderly.
“You didn’t have to yell so loud,” she told him still whispering.
“Apparently I did. It got you to wake up. I should have yelled at you days ago.”
“Days?”
“Yes, you have been sleeping for five days. You had all of us scared out of our minds.”
Blue started to push herself up into a sitting position only to have Dro gently push her back down. She looked at him in irritation.
“Stop that I want to sit up.”
“I do not want you to sit up yet,” Dro’s mental voice was as gentle as always but rang like thunder in her head. She grabbed her head in both hands before it flew off her shoulders.
“Whoa, can you tone it down a little so you are not so loud. Between you and Jayden’s yelling my head is splitting apart.”
Dro exchanged a worried glance with Jayden then looked at the monitor still attached to Blue’s forehead. According to the readings there was still no activity but that was obviously wrong as she was talking to them with all of her mental facilities intact.
Leo had enough of being in the background and pushed himself between Jayden and Blue to lay his big head on her chest and stare into her eyes. Her arms came down to wrap him in a tight hug. She could feel his happiness and knew she was the cause.
The five days she had been unconscious had been hard for him. That was the one problem with the way they communicated, no one else could communicate with him. Not even Dro, who’s only means of communication was telepathic, was able to connect with him. He had spent the last days not knowing what was going on with her only that he couldn’t reach her. Now he was so relieved to have her awake and talking.
Jayden watched the interaction between the woman and tiger and marveled how it almost resembled the relationship he had with his dragons. The only difference was that his dragons were a part of him in a way Leo was not a part of Blue. The love and respect they had for each other was apparent in their every action.
Many people had pets but Blue was right when she had said Leo was not her pet but her friend. He was ashamed to say he had not given much thought to Leo for the last few days. The big cat had not left her side except for a minute or two in the last few days. Jayden was not even sure he had slept or eaten.
Blue looked up at Jayden with a question in her eyes, feeling the emotions coming from him. She wasn’t quite sure what he was feeling. Love, relief, remorse and worry, all were there in a twisted jumble. He smiled at her tenderly and in that moment she was aware of how lucky she was. He was hers in a way no one else would ever be.
He would never leave her or hurt her. In fact he would give his very life if it meant keeping her safe.
That was comforting and scary at the same time. She knew he knew she could and would take care of herself. But it was nice to have the backup she thought. With him there was no hiding, he accepted who she was or he had.
What would he think when he found out just what she was capable of. What she had done on the Ragillian ship. She had scared herself. What man would want to stay with a woman who could kill with her mind. It had been so easy, she thought. The rage at the physical and mental torture the Ragillian’s had put the Minder through had broken free and the result had been death for everyone in that control room.
She shook her head to dispel the dark thoughts when Leo gave a soft huff. Just this once she would pull a Scarlett O’Hara and think of it later.
“Since it has been five days I am guessing you were able to get away from the Ragillians,” she said still looking down at Leo as she continued to pet him.
“Thanks to you,” he replied with a question in his voice. She gave a small shake of her head telling him she didn’t want to talk about it. He let it go for now and continued,
“We are hidden in the gasses from the the Nexus Nebula for now until we can find the transmitter that the Ragillians are using to track us.”
“How is being here going to stop that?” she asked.
“The gasses electromagnetic properties prevent any signal from entering or exiting. We were able to destroy two of their ships. That leaves two of them still out there close enough to find us again and I am sure they have called for reinforcements,” he paused. “They know who you are and they want you. That is what this last attack was all about.”
Blue let the silence drag out, not saying anything. There really wasn’t anything she could say. He was right. Now that they knew of her existence they wanted her enough to do whatever they needed to, to get her.
Chrystal Bones (Finding Home Book 1) Page 23