“Let her go.”
Draco’s voice reverberated through the room, startling the Raknorg into releasing his hold on Maddelyn. She fell to the floor with a thud, choking and gasping as she sucked in much needed air.
The Raknorg turned to find Draco standing behind them. Draco’s eyes blazed with golden fire. The soldier’s own red eyes narrowed into cold slits. “You dare to speak to the Raknorg that way?”
“I dare. Now leave her alone.”
Maddelyn rubbed her neck, sure that there would be bruises where the Raknorg’s fingers had been. Her battered windpipe constricted in a fit of coughing again. Draco glanced at her briefly, the flames in his eyes nearing a blinding level. “You hurt her. Now you will pay.”
A golden glow filled the space, emanating from Draco. He raised his hand, energy crackling and coalescing in the center of his palm. The sun-brand there glowed a deep red. The Raknorg stilled, confusion apparent on his mottled blue-gray brow. The energy swirled in Draco’s hand, a vortex of fire that formed a tight ball of flame. In a mere second, Draco reared back his hand and threw the fireball, which slammed directly into the center of the Raknorg’s chest. The smell of melting rubber and burnt flesh filled Maddelyn’s nostrils as the Raknorg collapsed in the doorway in a sizzling heap of black armor. Pillars of smoke wafted from the charred hole in his torso that slowly wept black blood.
Maddelyn stood on shaky feet, her back pressed firmly against the wall, her eyes glued to where the Raknorg lay. Did I really just see that?
Her heart raced as she stumbled over to Draco, the fiery glow in and around him all but gone. His hand cupped the side of her face. His fingers were still hot from the flames that rested there only moments ago. He tilted her head to look at the marks on her neck. “He hurt you.”
Maddelyn covered his hand with hers, which was trembling. “It’s all right. I’m all right.” She was doing her best to reassure him, but the trembling was making it difficult.
“The vile creature should have never laid a hand on you.”
Maddelyn glanced over at the Raknorg briefly, wisps of smoke still rising from the body. “Well, it looks like you made sure he won’t be laying a hand on anything, anymore.”
Draco narrowed his eyes and pulled her closely against him. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”
Maddelyn drew back to look up at him, the shaking of her limbs calming down. “You saved me. Just like you promised.”
Draco bent to kiss her just as a loud claxon screamed through the air. Maddelyn’s blood pumped through her veins swiftly with the adrenaline rush. “And now, we really have to get out of here.”
With a curt nod of his head, Draco led Maddelyn over to the door. He stepped easily over the dead soldier, then turned and picked up Maddelyn, lifting her over the body as well. “We can get to CAIT. She will be at full capacity by now.”
Maddelyn started to follow him, then stopped and turned back. She stooped and searched the dead Raknorg’s uniform. Finding a gun, she quickly shoved it into the waistband of her jeans. Then she pried the computer glove off his armor as well. An idea was starting to form. And if it worked, she’d need this.
She jogged over to where Draco had stopped, waiting on her. He spied the gun tucked into her jeans and cocked a brow. “What do you need that for?”
“I find that a gun comes in handy for those of us who can’t form fireballs of death with our bare hands.”
A smirk of amusement tweaked the corners of his mouth. “And that?” He pointed to the computer glove in her hand.
“You’ll see. I’m surprised you don’t know already, Mr. Mindreader.”
He held out his hand and they ran in the direction where CAIT was hidden. “In case you had not noticed, I was a little busy just then.”
Maddelyn grinned. That’s nothing compared to what she had in mind.
Draco grimaced.
Chapter Eight
“Absolutely not! What you propose is far too dangerous!” Draco’s eyes flashed with light for a second as his voice echoed through the ship.
Maddelyn crossed her arms over her chest. “I can’t just stand back and do nothing. Besides, I have you to protect me, don’t I?”
He took a step toward her and laid his hands gently on her shoulders. “Maddelyn, I’m powerful, that’s true. And I vowed to protect you at all costs. But deliberately putting yourself in danger is not the answer.”
She stuck out her chin defiantly. “I’ve stood by and watched while the Raknorg ravaged my world and my family. There has to be something we can do. There has to be something I can do.” Doesn’t he understand that I have nothing left?
“You have me, now.”
His voice was meant to calm her, but it only strengthened her resolve. “Then help me,” she pleaded.
With a curse in a language that was unfamiliar to Maddelyn’s ears, Draco swiveled on his foot and grabbed the monitor on the console in the center of the room. He roughly swung it around on its axis so that she could see it. “Help you do what? Get yourself killed? Take a good look, Maddelyn. A good, hard look. The two of us against that?”
She stared at the images on the screen. The death of the soldier at her shack had caused quite a stir. The Raknorg ship remained stationary over the processing center, but the usually empty grounds were crawling with soldiers as they searched. To their benefit, the searching was restricted to the populated areas, so they appeared to be quite safe aboard CAIT. For the time being, anyway.
“That’s why we should strike now. Most of the soldiers are away from the mother ship. We could sneak aboard and—”
“And what? What do you think we could do to a Raknorg ship that would make any difference in the least?” His nostrils flared as he stared at her, his breathing labored.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know exactly what we’d do. But you said yourself that all the other ships are connected to the mother ship via computer pathways. Wouldn’t some kind of computer sabotage work? Damage to one, being damage to all?”
“Maddelyn—”
“Actually, her point is a valid one, Draco. Theoretically, the right kind of damage to the mainframe of the Raknorg’s central computer could affect the other ships.” CAIT’s smooth voice cut through the room around them.
Maddelyn propped her hands on her hips. “See, even your brainy ship thinks there’s something to my idea.”
Draco shoved the monitor out of his way and stepped heavily over to one of the control panels. “Stay out of this, CAIT.” He pressed a few buttons before continuing. “I will send a masked distress call out to neighboring planets that I know are friendly. They can provide aid to the people here.”
The computer glove that she’d stolen from the Raknorg’s uniform lay on one of the panels beside her. Maddelyn picked it up, its weight heavy in her hands. For a moment, she half entertained the thought of slapping him with it. Couldn’t he see how much she needed to fight back? How much she wanted to not be a victim anymore?
“If slapping me would make you feel better, then do it. But the discussion is closed.” His attention remained on the buttons and levers in front of him, like she had been dismissed.
The anger and frustration that had been building in her gut flooded her with tendrils of icy heat. He might have promised to protect her, but that didn’t mean he could control her as well. She’d taken care of herself and her family just fine before he came along.
Her boots rang on the metal catwalk as she stomped to stand at his side. If he could really read her mind, then surely he could feel how pissed she was right now. Beyond pissed. Furious. Moments ticked by for what seemed like an eternity before he finally turned to look at her questioningly.
Maddelyn steeled herself to keep the fury from showing in her voice. “Serra was wrong. You’re not an angel. You’re a coward.” She spun on her heel and marched away from him down one of the dim hallways, but not before she saw the hurt that flared up in his golden eyes.
Maddelyn�
��s feet carried her forward through the hallway, adrenaline fueling her body as she stomped away from the control room of the ship. She had no idea where she was going, just that she needed to keep moving. Far away from Draco.
Who does he think he is, anyway? Just because he vowed to keep me safe and knows how to kiss all the sense out of my brain doesn’t mean he can boss me around.
“Chauvinist jerk,” she muttered out loud to the empty hallway. A hallway that looked a lot like the one she just came from. And the one before that. Hey…
Stopping abruptly, Maddelyn spun around in a circle in an attempt to get her bearings. In the haze of her irritation, she had not paid attention to her surroundings. Nothing jumped out at her as a marker, only the same gray walls, that appeared to lead to more gray walls, and so on. Confusion blanketed her as she realized she had absolutely no clue where she was.
With a sigh of exasperation, she threw her hands up in the air. “Just great. And now I’m lost, to boot.” This is all Draco’s fault.
“If you require assistance, all you need to do is ask.”
Maddelyn gave a tiny shriek as CAIT’s smooth voice emanated from the drab walls around her, sending her heart leaping into her throat. “Give a girl some warning, or something. You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Still not used to the whole “talking ship” scenario.
“I apologize. I thought you needed help.”
“Yeah…well…perhaps I do.” Maddelyn let her gaze wander around, not sure where to look while she talked out loud to thin air. “Do all the hallways look the same on purpose, and was there a sale on drab gray paint or something when you were being built?” She rambled on nervously, still feeling odd about talking to a ship like it was a person. “Or since you seem to be alive, were you built at all? Maybe you were born instead? I’m really not sure what I’m even talking about. Could you tell me where the heck I am?” She rushed on, her nerves getting the best of her. I sound like an idiot.
Low, tinny laughter floated in the air around her. “You are a very odd person, Maddelyn Sowers.”
A nervous smile played at the corner of her lips. “Yeah, well, I just don’t know how to act around a ship that can talk, or think, or heal. It’s like I’m walking around in a person. Kind of gives me the creeps.”
The laughter got a little louder, some mechanical groaning thrown in. “Imagine being on my end. I felt every angry stomp of your boots as you traversed my hallways. And to answer your question, I was indeed built, not born.”
Maddelyn stared at her feet, suddenly ashamed at letting her anger get the best of her. “Sorry. I didn’t realize—”
“No harm intended, I know. Just one of the drawbacks to being sentient technology. I imagine it’s a little like humans dealing with a migraine.”
Maddelyn made a face, screwing up her nose. She wasn’t quite sure she liked the idea of being compared to a bad headache. Perhaps a change of subject would be prudent. “Do you think you could help me out with my location problem, CAIT?”
“Oh! Absolutely! Turn right at the end of this hallway, and the first door on the left is one of the guest quarters. You can be alone, there.” There was a deliberate pause before CAIT continued. “ I assume from what transpired a few moments ago between you and Draco that you do wish to be alone?”
The question hung in the air like a half deflated balloon. A small pang of regret flared in Maddelyn’s chest when she thought of the hurt she’d caused in Draco’s beautiful eyes, but she pushed it aside. No matter how much she’d grown attached to him, Maddelyn had to do what was right in her heart. And to figure that out, she needed to think.
“You would be correct, CAIT.”
A few minutes later, Maddelyn stepped through the door of the guest quarters. The gray room looked exactly like the rest of the ship, just on a smaller scale. One corner contained a small black table and chair. A bed was situated opposite that, the bedcovers pristine and—you guessed it—gray. Maddelyn walked over and sat on the bed, pleasantly surprised with how soft the mattress was.
“Seriously, CAIT. What’s with all the gray? I would think that a race of people descended from a sun would prefer a warmer palette. But all this gray is just…depressing.”
The ship wheezed with a sigh. “Draco says that the muted colors calm him. And since you are the first person other than he that’s graced my halls in a very long time, there’s never been any changes.”
Maddelyn cocked a brow in interest. “Are you saying that you can change things?”
“Of course.”
Maddelyn’s mouth fell open in amazement as she watched the gray slowly fade from the walls around her until the room was white. Completely and utterly stark white.
“What color would you like?” CAIT asked in her silky voice.
Maddelyn shrugged her shoulders. “Surprise me.”
The walls suddenly erupted in every color of the rainbow. Bright, intense colors that caused Maddelyn to squeeze her eyes shut, or risk being blinded for life.
“All right, that’s definitely a surprise, I’ll give you that. But I think it’s a little much. How about we tone it down to one color? Let’s say…blue?”
“As you wish.”
One eye slowly popped open, then the other, once Maddelyn was certain there was no danger to her vision. The walls had changed to a nice, powder blue. It brought to mind what the skies of Charon looked like before the Raknorg came. A blue so clear and perfect, it made Maddelyn’s breath catch with the memory of her home. Suddenly, little fluffy clouds of white appeared along the walls, perfecting the illusion.
Maddelyn smiled. “Are you a mind reader, too?”
“No. I only communicate that way with Draco. I just thought it looked like a sky and needed some clouds.”
Maddelyn scooted back on the bed, suddenly at ease. Maybe she could get used to this sentient ship thing after all. It was kind of like having a friend around. Albeit an invisible friend, but a friend nonetheless. And friends were definitely things that Maddelyn was now in short supply of.
“I have deduced from your previous encounter with Draco that something bad has befallen the small child Serra that you brought with you earlier?”
Hearing Serra’s name dredged up those awful feelings of loss Maddelyn had been dealing with for so long. Her heart twisted in her chest as her throat tightened, making it hard to speak as her hands fidgeted with the Raknorg glove in her lap.
“Like you saw yourself, Serra was just too sick. And now she’s dead.” Blunt as hell, but there it is. Saying the words made it more real, a tangible loss taking residence with so many others. But talking about Serra’s death was easier than Maddelyn thought it would be. The way she had fallen apart right after, well, it almost felt as if it happened to another person. Perhaps you never really did know what you were capable of dealing with until it happened. Or if you had a Sun Whisperer to help you escape the darkness of your own soul.
Silence settled in the room for a few long moments before CAIT spoke. “I’m sorry. I wish I could have done something to help.” The ship actually did sound truly apologetic.
“Thanks, CAIT.”
“If there’s anything I can do…”
Maddelyn perked up as a thought hit her. “Actually, there is something you can do. What you said about the Raknorg mother ship computer. Were you being serious? Could the right kind of sabotage damage all the ships?”
The hum of the ship around her sounded like gears turning. “I never joke about the subject of computers. Technology is my forte, after all.”
“Theoretically, how would someone go about pulling off a plan like that?”
“Well,” CAIT began slowly, “theoretically, if you could create a computer virus and download it directly to the mainframe of the mother ship, that would have the possibility of spreading to all the other ships. A sort of exponential sabotage.”
Images and thoughts swirled inside Maddelyn’s brain in a whirlwind as she fought to force them into coherence. “And still
talking theoretically here, what exactly would someone need in order to download this virus?”
“To start with, some kind of data carrier or storage device that could be loaded with the virus in question.”
Maddelyn scooted forward off the bed and stood. “You mean, something like this?” She held up the glove she’d been fidgeting with while seated on the bed.
“Possibly. Is it damaged?”
Maddelyn turned the glove over in her hand. A web of cracks blocked most of the view of the small screen, but the buttons still glowed faintly. One red. One green. And three blue.
“The screen is thrashed. But there still seems to be power flowing through it.”
“Is there a data port or data crystal?”
Just above the top right corner of the screen was a small black rectangle. Maddelyn’s fingers circled around the edge until she found an indentation that she could just barely get a fingernail under. With a small bit of force, the rectangle popped off, revealing a tiny hole with something in it. She grasped it and pulled. A small crystal cylinder slid out, its facets glittering in the soft light of the room.
“Is this a whatever-you-called-it?” Maddelyn held the cylinder up for CAIT’s inspection.
“It appears so.”
Maddelyn rubbed her thumb along the smooth edges of the data crystal in her hand. It looked like a pretty trinket, waiting to be turned into jewelry, not a piece of technology for possible sabotage. “So how, exactly, would one go about getting this computer virus you spoke of?”
“Maddelyn, Draco expressly forbid you to attempt to carry out this plan of yours.” The faint warning in CAIT’s sultry voice was apparent.
Maddelyn narrowed her eyes and wished she had a person to glare at instead of a disembodied voice. “For starters, Draco is not the boss of me, no matter how much he seems to think he is. And I can’t just stand by while the last of my people are wiped out and hope someone else comes along to clean up the mess. Not to mention that my entire family is dead. I need to do something, CAIT. Can you understand that?” The frustration at possibly remaining helpless in this situation was taking its toll.
Burn With Me (Legend of the Sun Whisperers) Page 9