‘Don’t … please.’ Kalayna heart shattered at the thought of Telmo in pain. ‘Just ask me what you want to know. I’ll tell you.’
Khalid stared her down to ask, ‘Do your friends on AMIE have the Powers like you do?’
He could not have opened with a more cutting question. Kalayna choked down her immediate response.
For her hesitation, Khalid slashed his blade across Telmo’s cheek and through his perfect mouth.
Both Kalayna and Telmo howled in pain at once; Telmo bled and Kalayna wept. ‘Yes,’ she cried out. ‘Yes, they have Powers.’
‘What Power?’ Khalid hounded, as Kalayna crumbled to her knees, devastated by the position she was in. ‘What Power? Tell me, or I shall take out his eye!’
‘PK!’ she yelled. ‘They had PK, okay?’
‘Are you sure? Both of them?’ Khalid was completely stunned to hear this; he’d thought he’d wiped out every other living soul with his talent — except Spyridon.
Kalayna nodded in response.
‘Their names?’ Khalid requested.
‘BA and Kale Tane —’
‘Their real names.’ Khalid held his knife tip a hair’s breadth from Telmo’s eye.
Kalayna began weeping and shaking her head. ‘They never told me. That’s the truth,’ she was quick to add. As Khalid rolled his eyes in disbelief, Kalayna knew Telmo was going to lose his eye. ‘But I heard a friend call Kale “Starman” once.’
Khalid dropped Telmo and the knife vanished, as he headed straight for her. ‘Starman?’
Kalayna nodded vigorously, as Khalid grabbed hold of her.
‘I thought I’d killed that little shit!’ Khalid was lost in his own thoughts. ‘And no doubt BA is his missing partner, Mythric Zeon — a.k.a. Spyridon Vidor.’ He looked back to her so suddenly it gave her a start. ‘They both carry a charm?’ he queried her, but she was puzzled.
‘Do they?’
‘Think?’ He shook her. ‘Or I’ll slash your toyboy beyond all recognition!’
‘Um.’ She was shaking so hard, it was difficult to think.
‘Think!’ He shook her again.
‘I’m trying, so back off!’ she roared, sick of being bullied, and Khalid stepped back.
‘Fine,’ he mocked. ‘You’ve got two minutes.’ He manifested the blade again and moved to grab Telmo, who was cowering on the floor. The boy tried to scamper, but Khalid willed him back into his grasp.
‘Kalayna?’ Telmo appealed for help as he stared at the tip of the blade poised before the pupil of his right eye.
She’d seen both men practically stripped naked at the beach most days; they wore no rings, no jewellery at all. The only thing was … ‘A black armband,’ she announced, and Khalid let Telmo go.
‘A what?’
‘A black armband, on their upper left arm,’ Kalayna explained. ‘I never asked what it was for, as they carried their fishing blades in them, but they never took them off.’
Khalid was frowning, but the explanation sounded too abstract to be a fabrication.
‘I swear to you … that’s all I know.’ Kalayna appealed for mercy, not yet aware that Khalid only showed mercy when it served his purpose.
‘I believe you.’ He looked to Telmo, bleeding all over the floor, and made a grabbing motion with his hand. Telmo’s wounds vanished and Kalayna was speechless with confusion, joy and resentment.
‘What … whoa.’ Telmo held his face, feeling the relief immediately.
‘You’ve been most helpful.’ Khalid headed for the door and turned back to face them once he’d reached it. ‘Continue to be and I shall keep you alive.’ He left the room and locked the lab door behind him.
‘Telmo!’ Kalayna stumbled over and fell down beside him, searching his face for any traces of Khalid’s abuse. His face was as perfect as ever, and she kissed him.
‘You’re shaking so hard.’ Telmo hugged her tighter, hoping to calm her nerves.
‘I thought I’d lost you, twice!’ It felt wonderful to be held by someone she cared about, and today had only amplified her awareness of how close she’d grown to her partner.
‘That’s the first time you ever called me by my first name,’ he noted, as she nestled her head in his neck.
Kalayna found her smile; it was true, she always called him Dacre, and he’d always referred to her as Miss Zuri. ‘Ditto,’ she replied.
‘Well, I had a dagger pointed at my eyeball,’ Telmo joked. ‘What was your excuse?’
‘I thought I was going to lose the man I love.’ She pulled back to look him in the eye, her heart thumping a hole in her chest. ‘It was only when they nearly took you away that I realised … nobody else is going to fill the hole that losing you would leave in my l —’
This time when Telmo kissed her, she felt her attraction flare into full blown passion, as he tantalised her mouth with his soft, sweet kisses. He was nothing like all the men she’d been attracted to in the past; he wasn’t heavy-handed, forward or dominating, and that was such a turn on!
‘I wouldn’t get too cosy, if I were you.’ Khalid’s voice startled them both to attention, and they looked up to find he’d popped back into the lab. ‘Did I mention there are the spirits of over a thousand dead men on board this craft, all of whom love nothing better than to see a woman abused.’
Kalayna gasped at the news.
‘So I wouldn’t do anything to get them too excited, if I were you.’ He grinned and vanished.
The pair were left spooked and bewildered in the wake of the news. Kalayna began viewing their surrounds more warily.
‘As I scientist, I don’t believe in ghosts.’ Telmo lifted himself off the floor to look over the lab more closely, and plastered across the toolboxes within was the name the Insurrecto. ‘But then again.’ He indicated the labelling. ‘I do believe this vessel crashed at Dead Man Downs over a thousand years ago.’
‘But it looks brand new?’ Kalayna was baffled.
‘Obviously, Khalid is very powerful,’ Telmo guessed. ‘It makes you wonder what he really needs us for?’
‘Dead Man Downs is cursed.’ Kalayna swallowed hard. ‘Especially to women!’
‘Best keep the captain of this ghost ship happy then,’ Telmo suggested, coming back down close to Kalayna to prevent a panic. ‘These walls almost certainly have ears.’
She nodded, understanding they could not speak openly about any plan to escape, and Telmo winked at her.
‘Well, then,’ he spoke openly once more. ‘If we are to be working on projects for Khalid, let’s check out what equipment we have to work with.’
Kalayna grinned, getting his drift. ‘Yes, let’s.’
Amie, who had gone to bed earlier than most on board, was wandering through the marine module toward the lift to Module B, when she unexpectedly found herself confronted by Khalid.
‘How did you find me?’ Amie backed up on sighting him. She’d awoken alone and Swithin was probably up having a swim in Module D, which meant she and Khalid were all alone in Module E.
‘I couldn’t, could I?’ Khalid said, sounding annoyed. ‘But you did send me that very detailed animation of the interior of this vessel.’
He found the ship! She felt sick about it. ‘What a shame Lucian didn’t change the design, you might have found yourself implanted in a metal pylon.’
‘You digress.’ He manifested a high-powered laser hand gun. ‘Let’s get back to why I couldn’t find you?’ He grabbed for her upper right arm, and when she leant away to avoid contact, he grabbed hold of her hair and yanked her close. ‘Show me or I’ll blow your fucking brains out!’ He shoved the weapon in her mouth.
He would too; she knew he would. There was no stopping the tears of remorse flowing down her cheeks. She was breaking the major rule of carrying a Juju stone — never let anyone see it. She reached inside her crew jacket and pulled a piece of the rainbow light imbued rock out into view. To her surprise Khalid pushed her away, and made no attempt to take it from her.
‘Where did it come from?’ he demanded, covering his mouth, nauseated by the open presence of the light-filled item.
‘Phemoria, I believe.’ Taren had never told her any differently.
‘Rubbish.’ He took aim at her again. Her heart leapt into her throat as Swithin crept up silently behind Khalil with a large metal tool, raised and ready to strike. As he brought the weapon down, however, Khalid vanished — like he had eyes in the back of his head.
Swithin swung around and backed up to protect Amie, in case Khalid came back. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Absolutely, no.’ She pushed past Swithin in a hurry. ‘I need to speak with the boss, Khalid can find the ship!’ She ran to the lift up to mid-deck.
‘Well, obviously!’ Swithin pursued his wife.
They took the lift to B Module, and turned into the corridor that led into the crew accommodation and offices in A Module to find Taren charging toward them.
‘Khalid,’ Taren and Amie said at once, stunned. They both shut up to hear what the other had to say.
‘I felt his presence —’ Taren began.
‘He can find the ship!’ Amie cut in, nearly hysterical with shock. ‘He demanded to see my Juju … I’m so sorry —’
‘Don’t worry.’ Taren hugged her sister-in-law, who’d become a very close and trusted friend over the years. ‘The knowledge won’t serve him.’
‘But won’t he just be able to will himself to our source?’ Amie was scared this might be the case. ‘He knows it came from Phemoria!’
Taren gave a shy smile; her little white lie all those years ago had paid off. She’d never told Amie the truth about the Juju — not because she didn’t trust her, but because she knew Amie was on Khalid’s radar. ‘Not to worry,’ Taren replied. ‘Even if he could find their source, which he can’t, it would make him sick beyond functioning. Still, it was stupid of me not to think to protect the ship, having had so many see that interior animation. But I can fix that right now,’ she said determinedly, letting Amie go and heading past them into B Module.
‘Where are you going?’ Swithin asked.
‘To place a Juju stone at the heart of AMIE.’ The way she was headed was the fastest route to the greenhouse in Module C. This granted entry to the central utilities chamber where the power cells, fresh water and fuel were stored. ‘Then I’m going to chase down Khalid and get our people back.’
‘How?’ Swithin asked as he followed Taren.
‘Dead Man Downs seems a good place to start.’ Taren gritted her teeth, unsure if it was Khalid or herself she was maddest at. They had two children on board this craft; what if Khalid had gotten to one of them?
‘Well, I want in on this mission.’ Swithin pulled her up. ‘That bastard does not get to put a gun in my wife’s mouth and get away with it.’
‘Considering Khalid’s complete lack of regard for life, you may come in handy,’ Taren conceded. ‘You’re in.’
Taren stood back admiring the large chunk of Juju. She’d placed it upon a round plinth off to the side of the carpeted walkway through the utilities area and it looked like a stunning work of art. The movement of the celestial rainbow over the surface of the rock was mesmerising, like watching a beautiful water feature — only with more colour and no liquid.
‘That ought to keep the demons at bay,’ commented Swithin.
‘I know I feel safer,’ Amie concurred.
‘There you are.’ Yasper entered, looking frustrated. ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for — Whoa!’ He saw the huge Juju.
‘Amie had a visit from Khalid,’ Taren explained.
‘He found the ship,’ Yasper concluded. ‘Shit!’
‘I know … but no point wasting energy on regret,’ Taren said warning him to stay civil and focused. ‘Let’s just get the bastard back in a cell where he belongs.’
‘So we are going to Dead Man Downs?’ Yasper asked.
‘As soon as we find Zeven and Lucian,’ Taren stated and, with one last look at the beautiful piece of their soul source, she made a move to do just that.
Once the team was gathered, Zeven was as keen to get on Khalid’s trail and find Kalayna, as Yasper was to find Telmo. Lucian was not overly thrilled to be going back to Dead Man Downs. He remembered their last visit there and, in that time line, it wasn’t very pleasant.
‘We kicked arse.’ Zeven wasn’t worried; it was his destiny to destroy Khalid and the sooner the better in his opinion.
In a circle formation, they clutched the wrist of those alongside them, and Taren and Zeven focused on delivering them to Dead Man Downs.
Those who’d been to the ancient crash site before were rather stunned to find themselves standing on the open canyon floor. Bones, rubble and the shattered remains of the minor ships that had gone down with the fleet surrounded them.
Swithin was horrified by his predicament, as all he had to do was touch the dead and they would return to life — one false move and they’d be facing an army of skeletons!
‘Ah …’ Taren figured his predicament. She looked around the killing field for a clear piece of earth, but there were bones scattered for as far as the eye could see. ‘Not good.’
‘You think?’ Swithin panicked and nearly overbalanced, but Zeven and Yasper, who stood either side of him, held him firm in his stance.
‘I got this.’ Yasper levitated up, grabbing Swithin’s other arm as well, and lifted him over the mass grave.
‘Don’t drop me for fuck’s sake!’ Swithin clearly preferred being zapped to being levitated.
‘I won’t, if you will stop wriggling.’ Yasper strained, and then dropped Swithin as soon as they reached the edge of the debris.
‘Shit!’ Swithin hollered, until he’d landed safely on his haunches and was relieved to find nothing but earth beneath him. ‘Thanks … I think.’ He brushed himself off and stood, as Yasper returned to the others.
‘What happened to the mother ship?’ Zeven expected to find it where they had left it in the last time line.
‘Khalid took it,’ Taren suggested. ‘And left the bones of the ghost crew behind.’
‘You might be right about the ship,’ Lucian granted. ‘But these bones do not belong to the crew of the Insurrecto, as they are all female.’
‘What?’ Taren was shocked to hear this. ‘How did the bodies of so many women end up here?’
The look on Lucian’s face expressed the trepidation he felt, viewing the ghosts. ‘There are young girls and babies too.’ He was utterly appalled by his vision, and had to turn and walk away from it. ‘They were all sacrificed to the demons here.’
‘Where are the demons now?’ Zeven wondered; he knew they existed as he’d fought with them before.
‘Gone.’ Lucian turned back to convey what the ghosts were telling him. ‘Khalid took his ghostly crew and left all the souls of their victims here in limbo.’ He truly felt their torment. ‘What am I to say to them?’
‘Hey!’ Swithin yelled, but they couldn’t make out the rest of what he was saying. He was pointing to something.
‘Wait on, Swithin, I’m in the middle of something,’ Taren yelled back and returned her focus to Lucian.
Swithin had found a metal canister that was locked closed, and he wondered what was inside. When he unlocked the canister, all he saw was grey powder. ‘What is this?’ Having been a smuggler, he knew all sorts of things were hidden within grainy substances, so he held his hand underneath the ash as it poured out, and only one little trinket remained in his hand. The piece felt as cold as ice and immediately made him feel rather ill, so he placed it back into he empty canister. ‘Ripped off,’ he decided. When he stood up, he noted all the ash had not settled, but was rising up before him to form the shadow of a large man. ‘Oh shit.’
‘I do not have enough spiritual knowledge to know how their curse might be lifted,’ Taren advised Lucian and their unseen company. ‘But I know someone who is very knowledgeable, and as soon as I find him, we shall do all within our power to free them —
’
‘Who is the spiritual know-it-all you speak of?’ Yasper wondered, as there was no one within their ranks that fitted that profile.
‘It’s your brother, Yas,’ she advised to his great shock, ahead of looking back to Lucian.
‘These women will not be left and forgotten,’ Taren vowed. ‘We will do all within our power to set their souls free.’
At last, Lucian smiled and nodded in approval; it seemed his ghosts were content with that answer.
‘My brother doesn’t really look or sound like a spirit-master type?’ Yasper was concerned by Taren’s promises to the dead, having watched Telmo on air yesterday.
‘He doesn’t know he has this Power yet,’ Taren explained, her thoughts elsewhere, but they made her smile.
‘What is so amusing?’ Zeven wondered.
‘Khalid thinks he has the jump on us because, as far as he knows, we’ve never seen the interior of his mother ship —’ Taren shared her joy.
‘— but, we have.’ Zeven’s spirits lifted considerably too.
‘But won’t he have his ghost crew shielding his vessel, just as they shield him?’ Yasper theorised. ‘If the Juju stops him from finding us then —’
‘No, no, no.’ Taren could see his reasoning and disagreed. ‘Light can penetrate darkness. Aurora has given me an idea of how we might get around Khalid’s dark defence system.’
‘Something’s happening.’ Lucian observed what his team mates could not. ‘All the spirits are fleeing to hide.’ Lucian looked in the opposite direction to see what had them spooked. He saw his brother running toward them, carefully dodging bones to outrun a huge shadow form, which had risen out of nowhere and was pursuing him.
‘Me coming was such a bad idea!’ Swithin sprinted past with the container still in his hand.
‘What did you do?’ Lucian had never seen a spectre that was so filled with darkness before.
‘I just opened this!’ He waved it about, and Taren willed the object to her. Upon seeing her power, the spook took off into the sky and was gone before she could will him back into confinement.