Time suspended, and Kali felt as if someone looked through her eyes and drank in the sight of him. She scarcely had time to register this odd feeling before his body crashed into hers at full speed.
Knocked off her feet, Kali landed flat on her back. Blue’s heavy weight pinned her to the ground.
She cried out in relief, the pain a haze she ignored as her arms grasped him to her. His clothes were melted and gooey, the edges black with char. His flaxen hair stood up on end, and one side was sticky with blood from a deep gash on his scalp. The strands glistened with amethyst speckles – discharge from laser blasts – and smelt like smoke. Kali didn’t care, she breathed him in and held him tighter.
Blue took the time to feel utter relief. She was safe. Head buried in the crook of her neck, he shuddered and pushed up with one hand. The other went to the nape of her neck in a possessive clutch.
Kali’s gaze flickered as that feeling of being invaded left.
It was strange.
Unlike the other times when she held him, before her abduction, this embrace now felt different, as if she held onto something that didn’t belong to her.
Blue stiffened. “We have to move.”
Staggering up, he bent over to lift her by the waist. Hauling her dead weight with him, he half dragged, half carried her down the narrow street, his movement heavy and uncoordinated.
Kali knew she should be helping him, but her feet wouldn’t work. Her mind was stuck on pause, fixed on the moment his eyes had met hers and she glimpsed what he truly felt for her. But in that moment of connection the phantom feeling had been present. Kali curled her fingers into what remained of his top and stared up at his face, trying to work it out.
The sound of stampeding feet echoed between the buildings.
Jumpy, Kali’s head whipped around, and her ponytail whiplashed into her eyes, stinging them.
A cluster of the Host sprinted down the street behind them.
Unaffected by the poisonous gas surrounding them their eyes were glazed and milky white, mouths lynched open in a ceaseless wail.
Kali and Blue rounded the corner at full speed. They slammed shoulder first into the wall unable to change direction without decelerating. They used the painful bounce to careen forward.
Back on a straight, Blue didn’t slow, and made sure Kali was clamped to his side.
She tripped, but he yanked on her arm to keep her up.
As they approached, Lara worked the controls to open the inner crystal door. “Get in,” she demanded in a near screech. “The ship has catalogued a viral threat to life onboard and is overriding my commands. The doors won’t open until you’ve passed the decontamination chamber.”
Blue ripped the control panel off the side of the ship to bypass the emergency protocol. He pushed Kali up the ramp past the first liquefied doorway following close behind. Face darkening when the sound of Host footfalls drew closer, he motioned her to keep going.
Focused now, he turned to close the door behind them.
A Host leaped through the fluid door the moment before it solidified into a rock-hard barrier.
Blue didn’t recognise the sea blue eyes and distinguished features, and there was no hesitation. He jabbed as hard as he possibly could, nailing the Host in the jaw.
The Human vessel dropped.
The Symbiont attached to the side of the man’s face squealed and squirted clear slim in its instinctive defence mechanism.
Kali saw the Host struggling on his side, facing away from her. She slapped her palm on the door, urging Lara to hurry up.
Host threw themselves at the outer doors the same moment the red mist touched the spaceship exoskeleton. Symbiont slime spattered on the door and oozed from the leeches attached to their skin. The Host stood outside the door, no longer moving, but staring with blank expressions, heads cocked to the side questioningly.
Tense, Kali and Blue watched the edges of the doors.
The Crimzon crept along looking for an opening like a sentient being, but none of the vicious substance seeped through.
Kali returned to banging on the second door, pausing in disbelief at what was going on inside.
Lara and Max had a red-faced-arms-pointing-legs-stomping argument. Lara slugged Max, who lost his shit and went after her. Valiant ended up dragging Lara off Max’s back, peeling her hands away from his throat, and Zeke wrestled Max into a submission hold until he tapped out.
The second doors dissolved and Kali stumbled into the ship.
Flustered, Lara initiated the sequence to solidify the entryway. The door closed with an ambient tinkling, and Blue cleared the shrinking opening right behind Kali.
The Host Blue had floored jumped up, shoved him aside, and grabbed Kali from behind.
The doors solidified, trapping the Host inside with them.
Christabella screamed.
Madeleine blanched and fainted, the terror too much for her young heart.
Kali sucked in air and inhaled in a body scent she knew as well as her own. She twisted her head and stared into the lifeless eyes of her father as she let loose with a bloodcurdling shriek.
Creighton lurched forward. “Rik, no!”
“Catch.” Lara threw her laser knife.
Blue caught it as he grabbed what used to be Rikard Loklear’s head and yanked hard. The Host released Kali. Blue stepped back, adjusted his hold on the knife, and lunged forward slashing the blade up.
Kali’s mind blanked, as she spun, and her body took over. She shoved her father out the way as the blade sliced.
“No!” Max scrambled forward.
Kali looked down her body at the blade that slipped wetly from her torso. She staggered back. He’d cut her open from hip to upper chest. Numb, she jerked her head up and took in Blue’s horror-struck face.
He lurched away, so far past too late.
Creighton breathed with difficulty, eyes red with tears. “Rik,” he whispered. “How could you? That’s our princess.” Unable to deal, Creighton checked out of his mind, on his knees, staring at nothing.
Valiant stalked to the Host and rammed his fist into Rikard’s face, dropping him instantly. “I knew he’d be trouble.”
Zeke covered his back, rifle locked in the crook of his arm, sighted, and ready to fire.
Igor groaned, regaining consciousness as Natalya licked his face. She whimpered, understanding her master needed to be awake.
Kali dragged in a breath and tasted blood on her lips. She felt pain. Needles dipped in acid shooting across her chest, stomach, and side in waves of white-hot agony. Her legs wobbled. She pressed a hand to the worst of the long wound, grimacing when blood slipped through her fingers.
Another moment of madness, someone else who grieved the injury invaded her mind. This time, she recognised the telepathic touch for what it was, and it freaked her out more than anything. It sent chills through her soul, and made her realise everything that had happened since the Novae ‘let her go’ was a lie.
Max babbled nonsense as he pressed on her chest and tried to stop the bleeding. The wound no longer hurt. Her emotions caused the excruciating pain.
Regardless, she had to tell them before it was too late. Blue had to know. Kali’s voice was small and terrified when she whispered, “Blue, I’m–” Her legs buckled.
27.
Blue lost his grip on the knife. The hilt fell from his fingertips and clattered on the floor.
He’d wielded the blade with expert precision, and his strike had been deadly, the threat to Kali had to be eliminated. But she had moved. He had not calculated that into his manoeuvre, it had been an unexpected variable in what would have been a neat and precise cut to the Host’s abdomen.
He had brought death to her.
He knew it, the moment the blade had sliced through her flesh. Snagged on something vital before she jerked away.
She crumpled.
Max caught her, lowered her carefully as he babbled incoherently.
“Why did you let go?” L
ara demanded. “You had him. You could have cut his throat.”
Blue stared down at her. Uncomprehending. “N–Not … not in front of her. Didn’t want her to see that.”
Igor rolled up onto his feet, cold eyes sweeping over the scene. He swore violently, breaking the horrified silence, and immediately sought Christabella. She knelt next to Creighton, waving her hands in front of his face. Igor gently moved her out of the way, knelt, and tossed the man over his shoulder.
Satisfied Madeleine was unharmed after her fainting spell, Kenshin pushed people aside to crouch beside Kali. “Her pulse is erratic,” he announced. “Let’s get her to medical.”
Everyone moved.
The mission changed; escape and save Kali.
Blue assimilated this new directive and shifted into action, setting aside everything but what had to be done. He scooped Kali from the floor and raced with her deeper into the commandeered spaceship.
Max picked up Madeleine and cradled her in his arms, following close behind.
The FetchMes padded silently on the periphery of the group.
“Valiant and I are flying,” Zeke announced, dragging the Host by the arms around a bend.
“Push, go,” Blue ordered. “They’ll need you to translate the controls.”
Startled from being on the fringes to thrust into a role, as if she was part of this brave group, Pushpa grabbed onto the chance to be useful. Blue became her leader when she bobbed her head resolutely. She took off at a run toward the bridge of the ship after the Starless Operatives.
Blue’s steps did not falter though his heart seized in panic. Through the blockage of pain, he managed to choke out, “Ken, how bad?”
“I can’t say without examining her in detail,” Kenshin replied. “I’m not sure how her body will react because of what the Creator did to her. The body can only take so much stress. She’s lost a lot of blood from her other injuries, now this. The Human body is a lot more delicate than people like to believe. A harmonious balance that once disturbed is difficult to maintain and restore.”
Blue’s stomach churned with guilt that left him breathless and leaden. He should have let Kenshin do more tests when he asked. They might know more about Kali’s body if he hadn’t resisted at the time. Fear for her safety had overridden the logical steps he should have taken.
Kenshin’s thoughtful expression shifted to one of focus as his mind worked through various scenarios. “We’ll use the BioScan. If the damage appears too great I’ll use a laser to repair the injury … if I can.” His eyes pinged from Blue’s overwrought face to Kali’s wan one. “Omicron, please understand–”
“You don’t know if she can survive because of what they did to her,” Blue finished. “Don’t worry. No matter the outcome, I will lay blame on no one but myself.”
Kenshin gave him a pained look. “Let’s get her to the medical bay. Her other injuries can be healed by the FixMe easily enough.” He placed two fingers to Kali’s throat concerned her pulse was erratic, too fast.
Blue took that for the bad sign it was, and ran, trying all the while to keep from jarring Kali’s damaged body too badly.
The Novan ship was grown from crystal. Each floor plan was different, but the vessel itself was no more than three thousand feet in circumference. They travelled towards the centre, and it took them minutes to reach the medical bay.
They reached the fogged doors, and Lara shoved Christabella out of the way when the girl bounced in front of them, waiting for them to open.
“I thought there would be motion sensors,” Christabella muttered blushing hotly. “They’re supposed to be advanced alien life. How was I supposed to know automatic doors were a stretch too far?”
“Lazy Humans,” Lara muttered as the door dissipated.
Igor touched Christabella’s shoulder in comfort. Max eyed the contact with a curl of his lip, and Christabella shifted away from the Hybrid. Igor’s face flickered with hurt, but he masked it quickly.
Max lay Madeleine down in the corridor. “Baby, stay and protect Maddie, yeah? Keep her warm.”
The FetchMe lay beside the sleeping child and placed her head onto her paws, her non-blinking eyes swearing to keep her safe from harm.
Seeing this, the snow leopard chuffed and rubbed her face into her master’s hand.
“My Natalya,” Igor rumbled with a gentle stroke of his finger to his FetchMe’s crown, his other arm wrapped around Creighton’s legs to keep him secure. “You stay here and help the evil tiger protect the little one, yes? Keep eyes on the wolf,” he added after a pause, his gaze sliding to Kali’s FetchMe, who calmly watched everything a few steps away from the main group.
The medical bay was uncontaminated and brilliant in its simplistic crystal design; banally alien. Floor to ceiling recessed shelves covered three of the four walls. There was a refrigeration unit letting off chilly vapour with vials floating in suspension beams. Everything was bigger than normal to accommodate the Novae’s larger bodies.
Blue noticed all this with a rapid scan of the room. He strode into the centre and laid Kali on the raised crystal slab that sprouted from the floor. He arranged her arms and legs, so she was comfortable.
The space swiftly filled with too many bodies, heat, and body scents. The air conditioning and purity filters groaned on automatically, humming lightly in the background.
Lara unzipped the top half of her one-piece, and tied it by the arms at her hips. Grabbing a laser knife, she sliced Kali’s tunic open from neck to lower stomach. After tugging off Kali’s boots, she cut the skin-tight trousers, careful not to nick skin.
“Stars,” Christabella choked. “Can’t you allow her some modesty?”
“Kali is dying.” Lara continued to hack away at Kali’s clothes, chucking the shredded and bloodied material on the pristine floor. “Her clothes have been exposed to the most toxic substance I know by touching Blue. He had a near miss with the Crimzon. We don’t want any of it getting into her body if Ken opens her up.”
“Opens her up,” Max spluttered.
Igor dumped Creighton in a corner and stepped around Max to stand at the head of the crystal table.
After divesting Kali of her clothes, Lara tilted the girl’s head back to straighten her airway. She snatched up the garments and shoved them in a two-by-four slot in the wall. She slammed down the transparent screen. A flash of purple light blinded them as the clothes disintegrated. Lara stood next to Kenshin to be disinfected by the laser.
“Just do your hands,” he said in a low aside. “I need you to prepare a shot of adrenaline.”
“Why?” Max demanded, his enhanced hearing picking up the murmured request.
Nodding, Lara pushed her mass of white-pink hair away from her sweaty neck then rolled her sleeves back. She turned to glare at Max and Christabella. “You two. Do something useful rather than standing there gawking or asking questions. Find a defibrillator.”
“I asked why?” Max repeated defiantly. “If her heart’s beating too fast we just need to slow it down. Isn’t that stuff for when your heart’s stopped?” Max stared at the silent Hybrids and the shock of what was happening caught up to him. He swayed on the spot. The near swoon was strange on such a masculine frame. “You … you think her heart is going to fail.”
Lara’s hands lit up with a pink glow as she locked eyes with Max. “Just do as we say.”
Blue stared at the examination table’s keypad then swiped his fingers over a series of colours that chimed a few notes.
A pink glow surrounded Kali then disappeared. The blood and dirt on her body was gone, but the hole in her side dribbled dark blood across her stomach.
Brows plunging, Igor packed the wound with wads of cotton-like substance, pressing it hard against her side to slow the bleed.
Creighton broke from his panic induced catatonia. “What was that pink light?” He stumbled across the glinting floor from the corner Igor had placed him towards his daughter, leaving sooty footprints as he went.
&nbs
p; The trousers given to him at the slave encampment were bloodied and torn at the knee. Smears of Symbiont slime covered his bared chest and stuck together clumps of his grey-speckled hair. Shock etched deep grooves into his forehead. His olive eyes wheeled in an unsettling manner as he tried to take in his surroundings.
“Disinfecting laser,” replied Blue distractedly. His hand shot out to stop the man from touching her. They locked gazes, and the flare of aggression made everyone pause. “Put gloves on if you want to hold her hand or get sanitized.”
“You did this,” Creighton accused. “You destroyed my family.”
“Throw blame later,” Lara snapped, breaking into the tension. “Fighting will only see her dead quicker.”
Blue tore his gaze from Creighton’s and focused on his task. “This control panel has been configured with different symbols than what I was shown. What I was actually looking for was….” Blue’s fingers danced across the keypad and chimed a few more colourful notes.
A green haze lifted from Kali’s body until it hovered four feet above her. The green mass separated into crisp lines. It was a holographic replica, vital organs on display through transparent skin. Kali’s spleen was highlighted and her sluggishly beating heart pulsed faintly. The faltering movement of the fist-sized organ was distressing to watch, barely perceptible one moment then thumping rapidly another.
The heart on the holographic image flared brighter.
Kali’s body dragged in a breath, chest rising jerkily, but the inhalation stuttered halfway.
The hologram zoomed in on Kali’s heart, flashing angrily, alerting them to danger. Alien symbols appeared underscored by lines pointing to danger areas, flickering and scrolling in the air. The temperate crystalline tinkling that accompanied the use of Novae technology became demanding, increasing in frequency and pitch.
“Her hand is icy,” Creighton whispered, rubbing it furiously. “So cold.”
“Aliens,” Max growled. “You’d think you’d develop technology to better take care of us since you need us so badly.”