First Awakenings

  “What is your name?” Cassa asked.

  Kella shrugged. “Kella,” she replied.

  Cassa frowned and looked around the room. She tried to sit up, but fell back against the pillows with a soft moan. Her hand trembled when she raised it to her head.

  “Where am I? Josh? Is… is he…?” Cassa asked, reaching for Kella’s hand.

  Kella was surprised at the strength of the woman’s grip. She stared down at Cassa de Rola. For some reason, she thought the woman was younger than she was. Kella gently pulled Cassa’s hand back down to the bed and worked her fingers free.

  “He lives. Ash is with him,” Kella replied in a stiff voice.

  “Ash! Josh’s friend… How?” Cassa murmured in shock.

  “If I tell you, will you lay still so I can see what type of injuries you have?” Kella finally bit out in frustration.

  Cassa nodded. Kella gently wiped the blood away from the scrape to Cassa’s forehead. It was minor, more of a rash burn. Head wounds tended to bleed a lot, but healed quickly. Kella turned her attention to Cassa’s arm. There was a significant amount of blood there. Kella gripped Cassa’s sleeve and ripped it open.

  “I met Ash on Torrian. He learned that Josh was still alive. We tried to find you there, but we were too late. Kubo, Hutu’s father, learned of the Legion’s destruction of the cities on Jeslean and their intentions to destroy those on Tesla Terra as well. The Legion locked down Torrian after I fought with Josh in the warehouse, but we were able to escape. We came to warn Hutu of the attack, but we were too late. We arrived as the two Battle Cruisers exploded. We saw the shuttle, realized it was you, and I attached tethers to it while Ash pulled the shuttle in. This is my freighter and I am a Turbinta. Now, you know everything,” Kella said, cleaning the wound and wrapping it. “Your arm is cut, but not too deeply. Your head is fine, but may hurt. Do you feel pain anywhere else?”

  Cassa winced when she sat up. “Everywhere?” she retorted with a wry smile. “Thank you for your help, but I’d really like to see Josh.”

  Cassa tried to stand up, but her legs refused to support her. Kella caught her and pushed an unresisting Cassa back down onto the bed, then propped the pillows under the woman’s head. She stepped back and grimaced.

  “If you promise not to move, I will see if he has regained consciousness and get Ash to bring him to you,” Kella reluctantly promised.

  Cassa nodded and closed her eyes. “I will remain here,” she murmured.

  Kella gazed down at Cassa for a moment before she turned. A dark scowl creased her brow when she saw a huge figure in the doorway. It was not that of Ash or the other man’s. It could be none other than…

  “Hutu Gomerant?” Kella asked, placing her hands on her hips.

  “General Hutu Gomerant,” the man replied.

  “Watch her. She is still weak,” Kella ordered.

  Hutu raised an eyebrow at her. “I would watch your tone, Turbinta. I’ve cut the tongues out of those with less attitude,” he warned.

  Kella looked Hutu up and down before she shrugged. “You are bigger than Kubo. Did you take after your mother?” she taunted.

  Hutu returned her gaze. Kella fingered the knife at her back. She was surprised when the large man laughed deeply, his lips curved in amusement. For a moment, she thought she was seeing a younger version of Kubo.

  “I will watch Cassa, Little Fire Tongue, while you check on Josh,” Hutu said, stepping to the side.

  Kella dropped her arms to her sides and brushed past Hutu. She could feel the Torrian General’s eyes burning a hole through her back. Straightening her shoulders, she couldn’t help but overhear Cassa’s voice when she spoke to Hutu.

  “Hutu, do you think it is safe to trust her?” Cassa asked.

  “Josh! Dude, wake up! Hey, man, are you still alive?” Ash asked, gripping each side of Josh’s face and turning it back and forth.

  He had unstrapped Josh and lowered him to the floor. From the feel of Josh’s pulse, it didn’t feel like there was anything life-threatening to worry about. He also checked Josh’s pupils and they looked normal. A happy sigh of relief washed through him when Josh lifted his hand and tried to shove him away.

  “Turn… off… the… damn… spotlight,” Josh croaked out. “Cassa….”

  Ash chuckled in relief. Cussing was good. It meant Josh’s brain wasn’t scrambled.

  “She’s okay. Kella is with her,” Ash replied. “Damn, but you are a sight for sore eyes.”

  Ash grinned when Josh groaned. He bent forward to check the cut on Josh’s forehead again. It had finally stopped bleeding. It would serve Josh right if the first thing he saw was Ash’s big ugly mug. It would be payback for scaring the shit out of him. Ash’s grin grew when he was rewarded with a dark scowl.

  “I swear if you kiss me, I’ll knock the shit out of you,” Josh threatened.

  Ash couldn’t contain the loud laugh that escaped him. It felt good to hear his best friend’s voice again. Ash bent forward and wrapped his arm around Josh’s shoulders to help him sit up. Josh winced and grunted before he rested his arms on his knees.

  Ash rested his hand on Josh’s shoulder. He was almost afraid to move it in case Josh disappeared. His throat tightened with emotion. It felt good to know he wasn’t the only human anymore.

  “You know, I could almost do it,” Ash reflected in a quiet voice.

  He twisted around and sat down next to Josh. He stretched his legs out and rested his hands on his thighs as he stared at the inside of the shuttle with a critical eye. The random thought crossed through Ash’s mind that Josh was doing pretty good if he was flying something like this up into an enemy Battle Cruiser.

  Ash could feel Josh’s gaze on his face. A wry smile curved his lips. Josh was looking at him with an expression that told Ash that Josh was having a hard time processing the fact that they were both alive.

  Josh finally shook his head and smiled. “The only thing you’re missing is the hat and you could be Harrison Ford… with one hell-of a tan, that is. What could you almost do?” he asked in a scratchy voice.

  Ash leaned back and drew his knees up. “Kiss you. I thought I was the only one alive.”

  “I thought the same thing. When I heard there was another capsule… and found out it was yours….” Josh released a deep breath and he glanced around the damaged shuttle. “Where are we?”

  Ash was about to reply when he heard Kella’s familiar footsteps. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. His head jerked around in surprise when he heard Josh’s harsh curse.

  Kella stood in the doorway of the cockpit and dispassionately stared down at Josh. “Greetings, Joshua Manson,” she said in a tone that could freeze a man’s balls on a hot summer day.

  Ash rose at the same time as Josh. He jerked in surprise when he saw Josh reach for the weapon at his side. Kella recognized what was happening and warily stepped back. Even as she did, Ash saw her hand move to one of the blades she always carried.

  Ash held an arm out to Josh even as he protectively stepped in front of Kella. “Hey, Josh, whoa. Kella’s alright. She’s cool, man,” he warned.

  Josh shook his head and glared at Kella. “Cool?! She tried to kill us! She’s a Turbinta assassin,” Josh growled, staggering back a step.

  Ash frowned in confusion. “Kella? An assassin? Naw, she’s a freighter pilot. She saved my life,” Ash insisted.

  Josh shoved Ash to the side. “No. She tried to kill me in the warehouse. We fought and I knocked her out. Hutu was going to kill her, but I stopped him. I shouldn’t have. What in the hell is she doing here?” Josh snarled.

  Ash ran his hand down his face and looked back and forth between Kella and Josh. They warily eyed each other. Kella fingered the handle of her blades, but didn’t draw them. Josh gripped a Staff that looked just like the one Kubo gave him. Things were seriously going south.

  “Listen, you must be mistaken! Tell him, Kella. Tell him that you didn’t try to kill him,” Ash said, waving a hand at Josh.
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  Ash saw a look of resignation enter Kella’s eyes. Her bottom lip trembled before she pressed it into a tight line. She shrugged her shoulders.

  “Yes, I did. That was what I was ordered to do,” she replied in a quiet voice.

  Ash breathed out a sigh of relief. “See, she….” It took a few seconds for what she said to process. He turned to glare at her in disbelief. “What? Are you nuts? You can’t kill my friend!”

  Kella’s body stiffened. “It was what I was paid to do; or at least, I would have been paid to do if I had been successful. I came to tell you that the woman wants to see him,” she retorted in a defensive tone before she turned sharply on her heel and strode back out of the shuttle.

  Ash stared after Kella in disbelief. Surely he must have missed something critical – like forgetting to tell him that she was an assassin sent to kill Josh. How the hell did someone forget to mention that?

  The sound of Josh sinking down into the pilot’s seat drew Ash’s attention. Josh looked wiped out. Josh’s question was one he would like to have answered, too.

  “Would you mind telling me what is going on?” Josh asked.

  Ash folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall. He gazed moodily at his friend. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but part of it was going to involve a very long, detailed discussion with Kella.

  “Dude, if you don’t know, how the hell am I supposed to? Remember? You are the one who always knows the answer to things, Sherlock. I’m just your wingman. This is one crazy, messed up world,” he muttered.

  Several hours later, Ash was in a foul mood. Kella was avoiding him as much as possible. She worked on the engines, made sure the shuttle in the cargo bay was secured, and even did the laundry, stripping their bed and washing all the covers before remaking it.

  At the moment, she and Hutu were having a staring contest. Ash was sure they would be counting out paces in the corridor any minute. If that wasn’t enough, he thought he had broken through her wall, but she rebuilt it with re-enforced steel, keeping him at a distance again. Then, to top off the salt in the wound, Josh and Cassa were gazing at each other with lovey-dovey eyes.

  Ash shot Josh an exasperated glare. “If you two keep staring at each other like that, I’m going to send both of you to a corner,” he finally snapped in irritation.

  He absently listened while Hutu explained what happened in greater detail. From the sound of the operation, it was a huge success. But with that success, there would come consequences.

  “What now?” Josh asked. “How will the Legion respond, do you think?”

  “The repercussions of the battle have already been felt across the galaxy…” Hutu said.

  Ash absently listened as Hutu explained about the Legion Director’s paranoia and how General Landais, aka Count Landais, had disappeared. He jolted back to attention when he heard Hutu mention that Landais may be tracking another emergency pod.

  “… It is believed he is searching for another signal,” Hutu explained.

  Kella glanced around the table before her gaze paused on Ash’s hard face. “There were two more. I picked up information about two more signals from another pilot I know. He said the Legion has posted a reward for the recovery of any capsules. He doesn’t want anything to do with the Legion, but thought I might be interested since I knew the area the signals were last traced to,” she murmured.

  She turned to look at Josh when he leaned forward. “Are they the same signals that Landais is hunting for?” he asked.

  “No. The last sighting of Landais was in the opposite direction. These… They were headed toward Turbinta. It won’t take long for others to realize what the signals are. As I said before, the Director has promised a large reward for the contents of the containers – dead or alive,” Kella said.

  “We have to find them,” Hutu retorted, rising up out of his seat.

  Ash hid his grin when Kella shot the huge red man a defiant glare. He didn’t miss the flash of fear or Kella’s slight wince when the man suddenly stood up. Hell, he was hyper-aware of everything about her at the moment.

  Kella shook her head. “If you went there, every assassin on the planet would be after you. The Director has placed a very high bounty on all of your heads,” she said in a sharp tone.

  “What do you expect us to do? Ignore the signals? Leave them to be discovered and used by the Director?” Hutu demanded.

  “We go in after them regardless of the danger,” Josh stated.

  “And I’m telling you that you can’t. You won’t be successful,” Kella reiterated.

  “We can’t just leave them,” Ash said in frustration.

  Ash saw Kella turn to look at him. There was an expression of resignation in her eyes. She searched his face before she spoke. Her expression softened and he could see the determination in her eyes.

  “I never said that you should,” Kella murmured.

  24

  “Are you going to continue to avoid me or are we going to talk about this?” Ash asked, leaning against a metal support beam in the engine room.

  “If I ignore you, will you go away?” she asked, not turning to look at him.

  “That is kind of hard to do in a small, enclosed space,” he drawled in a dry tone. “Why didn’t you tell me, Kella?”

  “Tell you what? That I am a Turbinta? You knew that,” she replied.

  “You know that isn’t what I’m talking about. You took advantage of my lack of knowledge,” he retorted.

  Kella didn’t answer him right away. He watched her pick through the assortment of tools she laid out before picking up a curved pair of pliers. He folded his arms, not giving in to her desire for him to give up and leave her alone.

  “I didn’t want you to look at me the way others did,” she finally admitted with a sniff. “You looked at me differently. You didn’t see… You didn’t see a killer, an assassin, someone who….”

  Ash heard the tremble in her voice and straightened silently to step closer to her. He squatted down next to her and ran his hand along her shoulder. A shudder went through her and she sniffed again.

  “I didn’t look at you like someone who… what?” he asked in a gentle tone.

  Kella bowed her head. He couldn’t see her face. Her hair fell forward to hide it and she was turned away from him.

  “You didn’t look at me like I was the lowest life form in the star system,” she answered, her voice barely audible above the hum of the engines.

  “Kella…,” Ash murmured, reaching out to touch her face.

  She jerked away from him and stood up, still keeping her back to him. Her back was stiff, but he saw her raise her arm to brush it across her face. It took him a moment to understand why she was refusing to look at him.

  “Are your eyes leaking again?” he asked in a slightly teasing tone.

  Kella nodded. “Ye… Yes,” she sniffed.

  “I know how to make them stop,” he said.

  She turned her face toward her left shoulder as if to look at him, but she didn’t. From this angle, though, he could still see her face. Her body shook when she drew in a deep breath before speaking.

  “How?” she quietly asked.

  Ash stepped up behind her and slid his hands along her hips. She slowly turned in his arms. Her head was still bowed and she looked at his chest instead of his face.

  He drew her into his arms. “A hug, a kiss, and letting you know that I still think you are the most beautiful woman in the stars,” he said, cradling her against him.

  She sobbed softly and buried her face in his shirt. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on so tight that he was surprised he could still breathe. Her body shook with her sobs. Realizing this was a new experience for her, he held her until she finally grew quiet.

  She sniffed loudly. “I don’t understand,” she murmured in a voice still thick with tears.

  Ash rubbed his cheek against her hair. “What don’t you understand?” he asked.

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sp; Kella tilted her head back and gazed up at him. “Why do you not hate me?” she asked with a searching look.

  Ash returned her gaze. He lifted his hand and smoothed his fingers along her flushed cheek. The look in her eyes was heartbreaking. It was obvious to him that she fully expected him to hate her now that he understood what a Turbinta was.

  “Why would I hate you for being you? You’re the woman I fell in love with – just because you are a Turbinta doesn’t change my feelings. I’ll admit that I hope this means you’ll retire from that lifestyle, but I can’t complain. Hell, I’ve got my own personal protection unit,” he teased.

  Kella searched his face. “You are a very, very strange man, Ashton Haze,” she murmured.

  Ash grinned down at her. “Yeah, but just remember – I’m your strange man,” he retorted with a wink before he brushed a kiss against her lips.

  “I will remember,” she said.

  Ash glanced at the engines. “So, what is the plan? Are engines three and four operational now?” he asked, nodding to the large cylinder.

  Kella smiled and pulled out of his arms. “Yes, a couple of the circuit boards needed to be repaired. I want to keep the Legion shuttle. It might come in handy. I could use your help repairing it,” she said.

  Ash bent and helped her stow the tools. “Sounds good. So, what is the plan for your planet?” he asked.

  Kella paused. “Find the other capsules, hopefully your friends, and get out alive,” she replied, turning and walking over to the cabinet where she stored the tools.

  Ash watched her for a moment before he shook his head. “Nothing like keeping to a simple plan of attack,” he muttered.

  25

  There was one thing Ash could say about the Turbinta home world – it looked depressing. It was a gray planet from afar and it looked even darker gray closer up. It wasn’t until they were closer that he realized the gray swirling clouds were storms.