Triptych

by S. C. Mitchell

  She kissed him, then pushed him away. “Go take your seat. I have to do this. There’s no other way. If this is my final chapter, I plan on making it a good one.” She flew out of the hatch.

  Wylde fisted his hand at the ceiling. “Don’t you write her out, damn it. Don’t you dare write her out,” he growled through clenched teeth, then he threw himself into a seat.

  As the others scrambled into the jet, Paul took count.

  El Brujo entered, pulling Guinevere behind him wrapped in some kind of energy bubble. The Fae Queen was cursing up a storm.

  Maggie entered next and split. Morgana slipped into the cockpit as Morgause headed for the medical bay.

  Morgan stopped for a second in front of him. “Get everyone strapped in, love. This could get bumpy.” She headed toward El Brujo and Guinevere.

  Encapsulated in some kind of energy bubble, Guinevere banged her fists on the barrier as Carlos strove to shoved her into one of the back seats. He managed to draw the seatbelt around the sphere to hold her in place.

  “Tsonic restium,” he chanted, performing a strange hand gesture.

  Things quieted in the cabin. Though it looked like Guinevere continued to rant, Paul couldn’t hear her.

  El Brujo shrugged as Morgan joined him. “It worked, but I’m going to need your help to maintain this force bubble.”

  Morgan nodded.

  Carlos was handsome and single, and Morgan had been spending a lot of time with him. With a twinge of jealousy, Paul shifted his gaze to scan the rest of the cabin to make sure everyone was present and strapped in.

  All of the rangers, Phaze, Wylde, and Z-Bot, had filed in the door and were making for their seats. Shade pull the door shut and hit the button to bring up the exit ramp.

  Paul dropped into the seat next to John Wylde and buckled his seat belt. The man was grinding his teeth so hard, Paul could hear it.

  “What’s Quantum planning?” Paul asked.

  Wylde’s face was a mask of frustration. “She thinks she’s got a fitting ending to the next chapter.”

  Chapter 33

  Morgause found Mary working ferociously on Luke in the medical bay. The smell of sweat and the coppery tang of blood hung in the air. The cramped compartment at the back of the Xi-1 had the most sophisticated medical equipment that could be crammed into the tight space, but was far from a fully equipped operating room.

  The heart monitor beeped, but with an erratic rhythm. Luke rasped and gurgled with each breath he took. His eyes were closed.

  Tears rimmed Mary’s eyes. “I’m losing him.”

  Morgause squeezed in and around her to get at Luke’s shoulder. She placed her hand on him and pumped in a blast of healing energy.

  That dark malignancy fought against her, like when she’d almost lost Dove during her delivery.

  Mending cuts and restoring energy came easily, but deeper conditions, internal hemorrhaging, cancer, extensive damage, those were proving to be beyond her powers to fix. She was triage. Luke required more.

  Morgause accepted there were physical conditions beyond her abilities. That dark malignancy was how the resistance to her powers manifested. She couldn’t fix this, at least not on her own.

  Still, where there was even a spark of life, she could pour her healing energy into the victim and try to hold back the hand of death for a few precious moments.

  Luke’s breathing eased. The heart monitor evened out to a steady pulse.

  “He’s stabilized,” Mary said. “Thank you.”

  “We’re heading home,” she told Mary. She pulled straps across Luke’s chest and legs to secure him to the table. “You’d better strap in. We’ll be weightless in a few moments. Once we’re in com signal range, we’ll radio Dr. Logan to be ready for surgery. We’ll save him, if it’s at all possible.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Morgana dropped into the co-pilot’s seat as Birdy strapped into the pilot’s.

  “Bring us up and spin us around to face the exit door,” she said as Birdy fired up the Xi-1’s engines.

  When Quantum had landed in front of her a few minutes ago and explained her plan, Maggie had shaken her head. “That sounds dangerous.”

  “We can’t let those ships launch,” was Dove’s answer.

  And she was right. There were hundreds of attack ships on board filling with troops ready to invade the four corners of the Earth. If they couldn’t stop the invasion up here, it would be a mess to clean up down there.

  Maggie had pumped some extra healing energy into Dove. “Good luck.”

  She’d still looked incredibly tired. Only a couple of days ago the woman had delivered a baby.

  Through the Xi-1’s windshield, she noted Dove blasting a long passage aimed toward the center of the big Sha’Xari mothership.

  Quantum planned to blast her way into whatever powered this space craft and turn it to slag in hopes of setting off a chain reaction that would destroy, or at least cripple the ship.

  Oh Dove. She was taking such a risk. But that’s what Xi Force did. It was part of the job.

  The Xi-1 rose a couple yards up off the hanger floor in a hover as it spun to face the big door.

  Morgana armed the missile launchers and chose her targets. The aliens wouldn’t voluntarily open the door, so she’d need to blast their way out. And she needed to do it before Dove did her thing.

  She launched four sidewinders, one at each of the door’s latching mechanisms. The resulting blasts set the door free. Slowly, it drifted away, revealing the blackness of space beyond.

  Stars twinkled against the inky firmament.

  Morgana could feel the floaty effects of weightlessness as the hangar bay destabilized. She hoped everyone in back had strapped in.

  “We’re in freakin’ outer space,” Birdy exclaimed. “Can the Xi-1 even maneuver up here?”

  It was a jet, not a spaceship, and there were massive differences. The plane was also now weightless. The VTOL fans were no longer keeping them up off the floor, but hopefully that wouldn’t matter. “Give the engines a short burst to get us moving straight ahead out of the hanger.”

  The cabin of the Xi-1 was pressurized and the jets would still fire up here to move them forward, so they could at least escape the alien ship by flying straight out. Whether the next maneuver would work was anyone’s guess.

  She tapped her com unit. “Olivia, you there?”

  “Ready and waiting,” Olivia replied.

  As the Xi-1 pushed out of the hanger, Olivia maneuvered the alien space craft underneath.

  A clunk reverberated through the jet as the other craft connected.

  “Give me the controls, Birdy. This could get a bit tricky.”

  “Gladly.” He switched the flight controls over to her.

  Morgana eased the throttle, synchronizing with the readings Kirk sent her from the ship below. She’d need to fuse her NASA mission training with her Air Force flight skills. This would take a little bit of both. She doubted something like this had ever been attempted before outside of computer simulations.

  The alien craft lodged between the Xi-1’s wheels, allowing it to push and guide the jet like a tugboat. Olivia would guide both vehicles, with Morgana making controlled bursts from the Xi-1’s jet engines to keep them in contact until they entered the atmosphere, gravity took effect, and the Xi-1 could maneuver on its own.

  Morgana switched her monitor to the rear camera, focusing on the big alien mothership.

  Come on Dove. Come on.

  Her stomach fisted as she watched and waited. If Dove failed, this could all go bad really fast.

  The big ship receded in the camera feed as they pulled away from it. Olivia was technically flying both crafts now. There was nothing Morgana needed to do for a bit, so she watched the feed.
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  A bright flash filled the screen. Chunks of metal flew in all directions as the huge saucer-shaped ship exploded.

  When the brightness cleared, the craft was gone, reduced to chunks of metal floating in space with no lights, no sign of life.

  The explosion had been soundless, of course, with the exception of a slight tremor that rippled through the Xi-1.

  From the jumble of wreckage, a small form streaked toward them. Like a bullet, a missile . . . a person.

  A resounding cheer reverberated through the wall from the back compartment. Obviously the rest of Xi Force had been watching the feed as well.

  Dove flew up, alongside and gave Morgana a thumbs-up through the windshield.

  Morgana smiled and sighed. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter 34

  Quantum flew ahead, leading the Xi-1 toward home, as Morgana adjusted their angle of entry with a quick burst from the jet’s engines. When they entered the atmosphere, Olivia disengaged her ship and Morgana fired the engines up to full, angling the flaps to lift the Xi-1 off the top of the alien craft.

  “See you back at base,” she said to Olivia and Kirk as their craft flew into view from underneath.

  “We might be a little late. Don’t wait up,” was Olivia’s cryptic response.

  Maggie followed Dove toward Xi Force headquarters as the alien craft veered off in a different direction.

  What were Olivia and Kirk up to?

  A smile spread across her face. It would probably be a good idea to wait until they’d landed before she told Carlos about this.

  ~ ~ ~

  Home. And it couldn’t come fast enough.

  Paul drummed his fingers on the arm of his seat as the Xi-1 settled in its big hanger. A knot tightened in his gut.

  John Wylde had moved to allow Morgause to take the seat next to Paul. Her prognosis of Luke’s condition hadn’t been reassuring, but at least he was alive and stable.

  “We need to get him into an operating room,” she’d said. “He’s sustained some massive internal injuries. Mary radioed ahead, and Dr. Logan has everything ready.”

  As soon as the wheels touched tarmac and they had the door open and exit ramp extended, Dr. Logan and two of the new nurses wheeled a gurney onto the jet and carted Luke away.

  A four-member nursing team had been added to the headquarters staff to help in caring for little Emily. With Quantum and Wylde constantly on call for duties with Xi Force, care for their child needed to be available round-the-clock.

  Paul had vetted, done the background checks, and cleared all four candidates months ago. He hadn’t met them yet, but these two appeared to be Tonya Lane and George Vang. While child-care and high empathy ratings had been the emphasis, all applicants needed a wide range of medical skills as well.

  For Tanya and George, those other skills were about to be put to the test.

  Morgause gave him a pat on the hand as the medical team rushed by with Luke, then she and Mary followed the gurney off the ship.

  Hang in there, buddy.

  Paul remained seated as the rest of Xi Force deplaned, waiting for the cockpit door to open—waiting for Morgana.

  As he went by, Shade asked, “Any idea what they’re planning to do with Guinevere?”

  Morgan was still in the back with El Brujo and Guinevere. Their strained looks showed intense concentration, so no one had wanted to bother them.

  “I’ll find out,” Paul answered. “You go debrief Aaron. He’s probably pacing up a storm.”

  Shade nodded and left.

  Morgana would know what Morgan and Carlos were planning . . . he hoped.

  The cockpit door opened, and Morgana came out followed by Birdy. She hugged him. “How’s Luke.”

  “Bad.”

  Luke had looked so gray when he’d been wheeled past.

  Paul had lost men before, but it wasn’t something he’d ever gotten used to. And this one would hurt doubly hard. Luke had taken the bullet for him.

  “What are we going to do with her?” He tilted his head toward Guinevere.

  Could any prison hold her?

  “Morgan, Carlos, and I are going to take her to Ireland to be locked away in the Fae Realm, this time for good.”

  “Do you need backup? I could mobilize a team.”

  There were already fully geared-up rangers standing on the tarmac. Paul hadn’t called them in. They’d come on their own, in case they were needed.

  She placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll be fine. Guinevere is completely contained. Stay here with Luke.”

  Paul sighed and captured her gaze. “You guys be careful.”

  She gave him a quick kiss. “We will.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Clearance was granted to fly the Xi-1 over Irish airspace, and Morgana plotted a course straight towards Donovan’s forest. When she’d been here before, the clearing hadn’t been large enough to land the Xi-1, but now a much larger patch of emerald grasses beckoned, as if the trees had all pulled back to make room.

  The magic didn’t surprise her. The Fae King was probably expecting them.

  She landed the plane, noting Donovan already waiting for them by the fairy ring.

  “I had word you were coming,” was all he said, inviting them to step into the circle of mushrooms.

  Morgan and Carlos followed him, dragging Guinevere’s floating capsule between them. Morgana trailed behind.

  In a flash they were in the twilight vastness of the Fae Realm.

  Donovan turned toward them. “You severed the bond and took back your power. An amazing feat. Now, even if something happens to you, she has no pathway to escape my realm.”

  Morgan nudged Carlos’s shoulder. “It helped to have eyes that see. El Brujo has been an amazing instructor and ally.”

  Donovan directed them to a copse of tall, stout oaks. A cage of iron bars stood empty within. El Brujo floated Guinevere into the prison cell and Donovan slammed shut the door, then cast a spell that had the cage shimmering with power.

  When Carlos popped the dimensional bubble, the Fae Queen burst forth cursing. “Damn you all, I will get out of here if it takes an age. I will get my revenge on all of you.”

  “Oh shut up, my dear.” Donovan shook his head. “She won’t escape, don’t worry.”

  Maggie didn’t. She could now pass on her powers, her heritage, to her daughter when the time came, without putting the world in danger.

  Even if Guinevere did somehow escape, she was now so much weaker and no longer tied to the Morrigan in any way.

  Carlos shook Donovan’s hand. “I have connections that sing your praises, Donovan. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

  Donovan caught his eye. “I believe you and I have much to discuss. There is power and learning here in the Fae Realm. Please feel free to return at your leisure. Our portal will always be open to you.”

  A smile spread across El Brujo’s face. Another connection. Another magical source, and one offered freely. “I will do so.”

  He bowed.

  “And Morrigan . . . Triptych, know that I am always at your service as well,” Donavan added, shooting Morgana a wink.

  Chapter 35

  Paul paced, sat, then checked his phone for messages. He’d be more productive in his office, at an actual computer, which was only one floor below.

  He sighed.

  No, he probably wouldn’t. His thoughts were too jumbled to accomplish anything. And he wanted to be here in the waiting room outside the medical facility, as close to Luke as he could be.

  Dr. Logan, along with being a national brain-trust and brilliant inventor, was also a world-renowned surgeon. Luke couldn’t be in better hands. With Morgause, Mary Cullen, and the new nurses assisting, there was
n’t a better medical team on the planet.

  But would even that be enough to pull Luke through?

  That should have been me.

  Paul pounded his fist on the chair arm. “Damn it Luke.”

  Take the bullet. Too few supers. That was the lesson taught to each new ranger. But Luke had taken it a step further. “Only one Ranger’s commander.”

  Paul needed to revise that lesson.

  Then again, how many times had he wished he’d been able to take the bullet for Jason Pike. Was this any different?

  The door opened across the room and Morgause stepped out.

  Exhaustion cloaked her features, but a broken smile played across her lips as she rushed to his arms. “Sure an’ he’s gonna make it.” Her thick brogue betrayed raw emotion.

  The words filled his heart so full he couldn’t speak. He held her and let his tears freely flow.

  Her eyes were damp as well when at last they pulled apart. “Begorrah, I need a drink.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Paul took a deep sip of the Jameson’s Irish whiskey and settled on the couch in Maggie’s room, his arm across Morgause’s shoulder.

  She’d done more than her usual proper pour, but this was a celebration, and if they ended up a little tipsy, well, they were both off the clock. And where he wanted this to end up, a little tipsy worked just fine.

  “They’re back,” Morgause announced, lifting her glass.

  He’d been reluctant to start anything until Triptych had recombined. While the three-on-one had its allure, he really just wanted Maggie in his arms.

  Paul clinked his glass against Morgause’s. “A successful mission?”

  “It appears so.”

  Moments later the door opened. Morgan and Morgana entered. Each requested separate, passionate kisses from Paul to catch up before they recombined.

  He certainly didn’t mind.

  Once she was Maggie again, she plopped onto the couch and grabbed up her glass. “I’m no longer linked to Guinevere in any way. My daughter, Moira, won’t have to worry about that bitch when my powers pass on.”