Chrystal Bones (Finding Home Book 1)

by Billie Jo Hanlin

  People from all races had been looking for the doctor for years and many of them disappeared into the unknown, never to be seen or heard from again. He thought that she might be the one person who could find the doctor with her unique abilities and that was what scared him. But he would be by her side when she did.

  “How did you disable the ship?” Jayden asked her.

  Blue pushed herself out of his arms and stood up. She didn’t want to see his face when she told him this part. With her back to him she said, “With the Minder I just...... freed him. I don’t really understand everything I did. I surrounded him and entered his mind and kind of pushed him out of his body. His essence just dissolved into nothing. There was no pain from him just a relief at being free.”

  This next part was the hard part. She found that she needed to see his face when she told him. She needed to see his reaction. She could reopen their mind connection but wasn’t sure she could handle that much closeness right now. Feeling his emotions was enough. When she turned to face him she saw he had also gotten to his feet and stood ready to hear the rest.

  “I lost it. I was so angry at them for not feeling anything and standing by or even helping to torture the Minder and the one responsible for all of it wasn’t there. But they were. I entered every mind in that room and shredded them from the inside out.”

  Jayden’s expression never changed neither did his emotions. There was none of the horror she had expected just love and concern. “It wasn’t gentle like with the Minder. I wanted them to hurt, so they did,” she shrugged unable to explain it further than that.

  She braced herself for the blow. For him to condemn her as worse than the Minders. After all they could only take control of ships and he hated them. She could destroy minds. Leo must have felt some of what she was feeling because he got up and went to stand at her side.

  She buried her hand in the fur around his neck. Needing the connection to the one being she knew would always stand with her. He didn’t care how she had killed them only that they were dead. His view was very simple. An enemy who was dead was no longer an enemy to worry about. Woman and tiger waited for the blow she was sure was coming.

  Jayden could not feel her emotions with the door firmly shut between their minds but her stance and expression told him she expected him to reject her. That was never going to happen. Yes, what she could do was frightening but he would never be frightened of her, only for her. He had the feeling that what he said next would determine the course of their relationship.

  Instead of saying anything, he went to her. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms before drawing her into him. He held her stiff body tight against his bare chest. When he felt her relax slightly he remembered a phrase she had used that had needed explaining to him and the others and he said, “So what I am hearing is I probably should not piss you off to that extent.”

  Blue jerked her head up, “I can’t believe you said that.” But the fist around her heart loosened its grip.

  “Did you really expect me to be horrified and reject you?”

  “Maybe… yes… okay I did. But what I did is worse than what the Minders can do and you hate them.”

  “I never said I hate them. I hate what they can do. Not all Minders are like the one you met. Some do it because they can. There was a time when a few preyed on the weak and vulnerable. They caused considerable damage. That is why people are so afraid of them.”

  Blue laid her head on his bare chest, finding comfort in his heartbeat. “If anyone finds out what I can do they are going to hate and fear me too.”

  Jayden refused to lie to her, “Yes they probably will, but I never will and the people who know and love you will never feel that way.”

  “The guys? Idris?” she questioned with a slight tremor in her voice betraying how much they had come to mean to her.

  Jayden put a finger under her chin lifting her head so he could look into her eyes. “The guys love you. There is nothing about you that they hate and this will make no difference. As for Idris, what do you think?”

  She thought her brother would love her no matter what. She was incredibly lucky that a bizarre series of events had brought this man and the others into her life.

  “Still it would be better if we kept this among ourselves,” he told her and she understood.

  Most of her life had been spent hiding from people wanting to capture or kill her. At least out here she didn’t have to hide who she was except for this one little aspect that she didn’t even know she had until a few days ago. She was definitely okay with keeping this a secret.

  “Now that we have things straightened out will you open for me again?” He said tapping his head. “I miss you buzzing around in there. She had missed him too but the events on the Ragillian ship had forced her to find a way to close the connection completely. She eased it open and there he was. Right where he belonged. “That is better.” Jayden gave a sigh of contentment at having her where she belonged, firmly lodged in his mind.

  “When you need your privacy let me know but do not ever shut me out again.”

  “I won’t,” she told him solemnly and she wouldn’t.

  They stood holding on to each other until the com came to life and Sparks’s voice rang out into the quiet. “Incoming encrypted message from Shillidon,” he announced.

  Blue started to pull away but Jayden wouldn’t let her, tightening his arms. “Just let me hold you for another minute before we have to join the universe again.”

  Blue had no objection. She was content to stay in his arms forever. The com chimed again and he reluctantly let her go. He gave her a long, loving kiss before walking to the door.

  When she didn’t follow he turned to ask, “Are you coming?”

  Blue shook her head, “Not yet. I need to make sure Leo eats something then we will be up.” She waited until he reached the door then said, “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  He turned back to her once again and cocked his brow, “What?”

  “Your shirt and shoes.”

  “You make me forget my own mind sometimes,” he said in amusement going to get his shirt.

  She watched him cover his magnificent chest and sighed. It was a shame to cover something so fine.

  “I think I am in love with you,” she blurted out then slapped a hand over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say that.

  Jayden froze in the act of putting on his boots. Blue looked so mortified that he had to laugh.

  “That is a good thing since I know I am in love with you,” he said through the laughter. He stalked towards her. The heat in his eyes telling her just what he wanted. If he got his hands on her again they would not make it to the control room for hours.

  “No, no, no,” she said putting out her hands to hold him off. “You have to go or Sparks will come looking for you.”

  He stopped and gave her his wicked grin. The one that turned her knees to jelly. He ignored her and she backed up into the wall trapping herself. Jayden leaned down and gave her a kiss so hot that she felt her panties would melt.

  When he lifted his lips from hers the only thing holding her up was the wall. The flame of fire was back in his eyes. She really needed to remember to ask him about that. The chime sounded again. Jayden growled but pulled away.

  “Go feed Leo and then come to the control room.”

  “Okay,” she said and watched him walk away again. As soon as he was gone she sank to the floor. Holy Moly that man could kiss she thought fanning herself. She felt the heat in her cheeks and didn’t know if it was from the kiss or the realization that she was in love with the man.

  Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin

  Chapter 31

  The message was from the King and Queen of Shillidon and was encrypted so heavily that it took Idris over an hour to work his way through it. When he did the news was not good. The King, his father, reported that there had been skirmishes between Shillidon and Ragillian ships for the last few weeks. The Ragillians had gathered
over sixty ships and had formed a blockade around the planet. They were not letting anyone come or go from Shillidon without a fight.

  One Ragillian ship had made it close enough to the planet to bombard it with weapons fire. They had lost their lives but the king suspected it was an attempt to see how strong the planetary shields were. Unfortunately they were weakening and the scientists expected them to fail under a full scale attack.

  All Shillidon space ships had been recalled to defend the planet but the king feared that they would not make it in time to do any good.

  Haldairian ships along with others in the Alliance were on the way to reinforce the Slillidon Navy, but they too were too far out to help. If the Ragillians amassed enough ships within a week to attack the planet there was no way the planet would survive.

  There was a pause in the message then the voice from the com rang with a King’s authority, “War has been declared by the Alliance. You and the crew of the Trilleion are now directed to take any and all steps necessary to stop the Ragillians, in any way you have to.”

  The silence in the control room was heavy with first shock then an angry roar of emotions rolled through the ship. The wave of intense feelings battered at Blue’s light shields, breaking them down before she could reinforce them until she was drowning in the feelings from everyone aboard. She no longer knew who was feeling what. It was all intermingled together.

  In desperation she reached out to Jayden opening her mind completely to him in a way she never had before. Using all of her will and anchoring herself within Jayden’s mind she slowly fought to regain control of her own. When she could focus again she was on her knees and both Leo and Jayden were by her side, the same way they had flanked her in the gym.

  But that wasn’t all. Idris, Dro, Sparks and Jos were circled around her in a protective stance. The shocking declaration of war and the possible demise of Shillidon forgotten for the moment in their concern for her.

  They were strong, deadly and capable men, each of them. And they were hers. Her family. In that moment she knew they all would die for her and she for them. How it had happened she didn’t know and she didn’t care. She knew only that it was the truth. They had each broken through the walls guarding her heart and they were heading into the heart of war and none of their survival was guaranteed.

  Blue stood and said, “Thanks, I didn’t have my shields reinforced so it caught me off guard. It won’t happen again.” She smiled at each of them. “We better hear the rest of the message now.”

  Idris looked at her, studying her face closely. She gave him a small nod before he resumed the recording. The voice changed from the King’s to a concerned father’s.

  “Idris, if it is true and you really have found your sister alive, you have given your mother and I the greatest gift you ever could. Just knowing that she is safe with you makes our hearts lighter. Do not bring her back here son. It is too late for Shillidon and there is nothing you can do to help us. Not even the return of the Chrystal Woman can save us now and one ship won’t make a difference. Not even your super ship.”

  There was love infused in every word. “Your mother and I are happy to know that both our children are alive and not here with us. Do not do anything reckless son. We know you and Jayden will try something crazy. Protect your sister at all cost. Know that we love you and Aaliyah.”

  The father’s voice broke off and a feminine voice said, “My children. Oh, I am so very grateful to be able to say that. My children.” There was a soft sob then the voice became stronger, surer in its speaking.

  “We love you both. Aaliyah I wish I could hold you in my arms right now, it has been so long. Since that is not to be, know that the thought that you are alive will sustain us in this fight for our world. Hold on to each other and you will get through this. Idris do not grieve for us. We will survive. We will hold them off for as long as we can but we cannot allow the chrystals to fall into their hands. We hope to buy enough time for the rest of the fleet to get here. We will see you both again. If not on this side of the veil then on the other side. Be safe my children.” The feminine voice faded away.

  No one said a word for a very long time. The thought of what Shillidon was facing, the call to war; all of it consumed their thoughts. Blue still had no memories of her home planet but what they were facing was not good. The Ragillian clones, the ones she had come across would fight to the death. That is what they were created to do. Not having the emotional capacity to fear they would throw their all into the fight. The Shillidonians would also because they did feel and were fighting for their home and families. But they were not a warrior people like the Haldairians were. If the Ragillians broke through the shields and landed it would not take them long to control the planet. And that was the one thing that could not happen. The Ragillians could not get a hold of a planet full of chrystals. Not if the rest of the universe was to survive.

  “Are they doing this now because of me?” Blue asked in disbelief. All eyes turned towards her.

  Jayden, who would never lie to her, simply said, “Yes.”

  Idris left his station to stand with her. “It is not all about you,” he gave Jayden a nasty look. “Ragillian has been wanting to conquer Shillidon for years. When he found out that the chrystals are dying he was content to wait. Now we know that he also knows about the legend of the Chrystal Woman. He cannot afford to take the chance that the legend is true and let you get home to heal the planet,” he told her.

  Sparks added, “Without the chrystal shields he would have an easier time taking what he wants.”

  “Which is taking over the universe,” Dro added with a mental snort.

  Jayden laced her fingers with his. “He would have done this or something like this sooner or later. Your presence just made it sooner and that is not all bad. At most he has known of your existence for maybe a month. That has not given him a lot of time to plan this out completely. Which means that we can beat him and get a chance at him in the process.”

  “And just how do you plan on doing that. In case you weren’t listening the planet is surrounded by ships that would just love to blow us up,” Blue pointed out.

  “Dala, sneaking into places where we are not wanted is what we do and what you did on Earth,” Jayden’s grin flashed.

  Blue smiled back, “Damn right. Let’s go kick some Ragillian ass.”

  Sparks hooted. There were answering nods and hoots of agreement from everyone.

  Sparks took the Trilleion out of hyper twenty four hours away from Shillidon. As soon as he did Idris engaged the stealth field with split second timing effectively hiding the ship in plain sight.

  Once again everyone was in the control room and they all watched the view screens. They were set to maximum magnification with all screens on. Blue loved the illusion of floating in space that the full screens gave her but for once her mind was not on the view.

  She watched as the screens lit up with red and green dots. The red dots out numbered the green by a factor of four and as she watched they were joined by three more.

  “How did he get so many ships here so fast? The King’s message said there were only sixty?” she wondered aloud.

  Jayden answered even though she didn’t really expect him to. “He must have been sending them here from the minute he heard you were alive.”

  There were according to the computers over a hundred enemy ships circling the planet.

  The planet itself was a glowing ball surrounded by layers of pink and yellow gasses. It was too far away to make out any details even with the sensors at maximum but this first sight of it had her spellbound. This was the planet she had spent her first years on. She had walked its streets, played in its gardens and swam in its ocean.

  That she didn’t remember any of it gave her a deep sense of regret. She felt no sense of home and the part of her that held a secret hope died a quiet death. It was only when she heard Jayden’s voice in her mind that she realized she hadn’t bothered to block her thoughts from him
.

  “You were a child when you left. I doubt that you ever saw it like this.”

  He was right, she thought as the hope flickered back to life.

  “How are we going to get through them?” she asked out loud.

  “Very carefully,” Jayden said at the same time as Sparks’s “Piece of cake.”

  Sparks had learned some of the slang phrases of Earth and took great delight in using them whenever he could. Some of the mistakes he made in using them were hilarious. Blue shook her head and gave him a stern look that she then ruined by smiling.

  She didn’t think it was going to be the piece of cake he thought but they were as ready as they could be. The plan was to work their way through the blockade with the stealth field on. It would leave them unable to fire the weapons if they were discovered but it would not be the first time for this group to sneak onto a planet in a covert mission.

  Granted they usually didn’t have to go through a blockade of hostile ships and it was usually to rescue someone or blow something up. They were confident enough in their skills and in the ship designed for this, that they believed it could be done.

  The tricky part was going to be getting a message to the right people to drop the shields long enough for them to get through. The people on Shillidon were not going to like that idea. It was a good thing the prince was on board and had the authority to order it done.

  The next several hours were tense for everyone as Sparks flew them closer to the waiting enemy. The inaction was stringing everyone’s nerves taunt. Dro monitored communications closely and was able to tap into the less secure systems on the Ragillian ships. So far they were just sitting there and waiting, for what no one was sure.

  Sparks maneuvered through the narrow line of space between one ship’s sensors and another’s slowly and steadily. Blue thought of it as threading a needle. If he miscalculated he would run into the sensors of one of the Ragillian ships. Even though they couldn’t see the Trilleion there was no way to completely mask the the ship. If they were looking closely they would see an area of black space the size of a small ship.