Chaos Theory Cosmic Lovely

by Penelope Fletcher

  Her breath hitched.

  Ducking her head, she burrowed closer … and laughed.

  Startled, Blue tried to bring her face up, so he could see, but then he noticed her shoulders were shaking. She laughed and cried. Her heaving sobs were infused with relief and pain.

  He surrounded her with his body and comforting pulses of his energy. So that she would feel safe.

  “May I?” Kenshin loitered at the top of the ramp next to Igor and Lara. He had a bag filled with equipment, and appeared sincerely concerned.

  Beside him, Max stood with Creighton. The older man stared at his daughter with panic.

  “Stay with her,” he told Max then fled.

  Somewhat relieved he wasn’t going to have to wrestle Creighton for the right to hold Kali, Blue nodded to Kenshin. This time when the Hybrid hovered over her, Blue felt a surge of hope rather than despair.

  Disconnected, Kali gawped at what used to be the most popular quadrant on the planet. It was now a forsaken wild of abandoned homes. She had known the world was in trouble, had known humanity fought for survival, but the extent of the damage had been inconceivable to her, bound as she was. She had imagined laser battles, battalions of soldiers pushing the alien menace back in the name of the Alliance.

  The silence was chilling.

  Kenshin stared at Kali, enraptured. “Déjà Vu,” he muttered. “I wish I had the time to document the feeling. It is peculiar and....” He trailed off, cocking his head. “She looks different.”

  Lara peered over his bony shoulder, shaking her head in disgust. “She sure does. Even her aura is different.” She glanced at her Omicron. “How could you not know that thing before wasn’t her?”

  Blue’s jaw clenched. “Lara, do you have anything constructive to add?”

  “Telling it like it–”

  “Pilot the ship. Use Zeke as your second, I want him trained. Go easy and stay low. Remember we’re out here.”

  “Just cosmic,” Lara muttered, stomping back into the ship.

  Kali enjoyed the sunshine.

  Blue didn’t want to disturb her, but he was concerned she was sick. “Ken?”

  “Her vitals are standard and there’s no internal damage.” Kenshin gently lifted Kali’s arm and studied the gouged skin at her wrist. “There is some irritation on the flesh, but the SkinAids will seal the damage until I can spend more time with her when she is feeling better. We should move her inside.”

  The sound of the spaceship’s engine startled Kali and she squeaked. Blue held her tighter reinforcing that she was safe. The horizon moved. Gasping, Kali leaned over to look through the crystal floor and watch the land move beneath them.

  “I want to stay here,” she begged. “Please?”

  He laughed shakily. “Course you do.” Blue kissed her temple, his eyes scrunching closed. “You scared me to death. What’s wrong with hanging out two hundred feet in the air outside the spaceship.”

  She made a noise. “This isn’t scary. Last time I saw you, you were unconscious, and I was dragged into the darkness.” She repressed a scream at the haunting memory. “That’s scarier.”

  “No. Watching you disintegrate into sand then dragged into your mind trumps that.”

  “Trapped in a pod for endless days whilst aliens prodded me,” she countered.

  Brows plunging, Blue rubbed her back. “Why are we having this argument?”

  “Beats blubbering over each other. I don’t want to cry anymore, and anger makes me feel stronger.”

  Kali rested her chin on his shoulder and squinted. There was someone standing at the top of the ramp, but her vision was out of focus. Her hysteria had eased, and she was becoming more aware of her environment. A draft swept over her bottom half, and she realised she was wearing only Blue’s top, which was not much. She crossed her legs in mortification.

  Sensing her distress, Ken paused in his tending to drape a blanket over her.

  “Blue, I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

  “There can be no more talking,” Kenshin objected in a firm tone. “I’m going to give you a mild sedative. You must rest and be taken out of the cold.”

  Kali turned her gaze to Blue, silently pleading.

  He exhaled sharply, anxious to see her resting, but understanding her need to be heard. “What?”

  Kenshin wasn’t so easily swayed. “Omicron, I don’t advise–”

  “Let her speak. This way she won’t fight the sedation.” He gave Kali a ’no nonsense’ look to back that statement.

  She rubbed her fingers across his jaw absentmindedly. “There’s so much I need to say.” She sighed. “I have a theory. Ten Novae make up the Hive mind.”

  Max stood out of the way anxiously watching over his friend, but hearing her now, he gave a derogatory snort. “You think ten aliens overran our entire solar system?” Kali’s head snapped toward his judgmental yet warm voice. She grinned broadly when she managed to focus her blurry gaze on his advancing form. Max knelt and clasped her grasping hand. He held it to his chest. “That’s a bit of a stretch, Kal.”

  “Could you kill a million ants?” she asked. Heart swelling with relief, her grip tightened as she took comfort in having someone so dear to her close and well.

  “Of course I could.” He scowled. “Damn. I see where your mind’s at.”

  “Hearing Kenshin call Blue Omicron cinched it for me. The Novan called me a Zeta, one of seven. It’s Ionian numerals. The Novae must have a different patois, but they’ve translated it into a classification the Hybrids can understand. It’s simple and clean and fits perfectly with Novan logic.”

  “Not so the Hybrids can understand, but so you Hybrids can understand.”

  Kali held on with mulish resolve when Max tried to let go of her hand. She met his gaze squarely, and didn’t hide the hurt. His blatant resentment at what she was skirted the edges of outright rejection. “I know it has been hard, but don’t let it break us. You’ve known me your whole life. I’m as Human as you are.”

  “You’re not Human, Kal. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if you were.”

  “Do not be like that. Don’t draw a line between us. I’ve shared my entire life with you, and more at one point.”

  Feeling Blue stiffen at the mention of their intimacy, Kali reassured him with a gentle squeeze. That part of her and Max’s history had been put to bed a long time ago, and he knew it. She mentioned it, because they should be on a more synchronized wavelength than they currently were, and it frightened her how he was pulling away.

  Max scrubbed a hand through his golden hair, broad shoulders slumping. “What am I about? You don’t need me going on like this.” He gave her a peck on the temple. “We’ll fight later. Love you, Kal.”

  He spun away and stalked into the main body of the ship. Baby prowled close on his heels.

  Kali turned to Blue with a troubled smile. “What do you think about my theory?”

  “Your logic is sound,” he agreed softly, seeing the pain in her eyes. “Now take the sedative.”

  Her eyes flashed panic. “Wait. I have questions and I…” A funny look passed her face.

  Blue’s head snapped up.

  “Can you feel that,” Kali whispered, unable to peel her eyes from an odd bump in the horizon. An invisible presence she could feel, but not see. She knew what it was. “They found us.”

  “Incoming.” Lara’s panic-stricken bark crackled over the ComLink. “They came out of nowhere. Valiant and Push are on their way to help.”

  Igor rushed forward and crouched. He locked eyes with Blue. “I can stay.”

  “Go to Lara.” Blue rested his cheek on the crown of Kali’s head. “Make sure she doesn’t stab anybody in her rage.”

  Grinning, Igor manhandled Kenshin to safety in the main body of the craft, and left him there, sprinting away to reach the control bridge.

  Kali blinked slowly. “We’re not fast enough.”

  Blue glared stonily at the vessel from Quadrant6. “On this
smaller craft no. Valiant and Push won’t make it back in time to help us.” He paused. “There are Novan on that ship.”

  Kali pushed away from him and stood on shaky legs. “I’ll bet there is.”

  A smaller vessel detached from the larger and shot into the atmosphere. Clouds churned turbulently in its wake. It sounded like the crack of thunder as it moved with supersonic speed and breached the Earth’s atmosphere into space.

  “Coward,” Kali screamed at the disappearing ship, knowing the one who’d held her captive was on it.

  The remaining spaceship hovered before them, a glacier sprouting needle-like spikes. Its iridescent nimbus glowed brighter than the dawn. The base of the craft was a flat slab of solid crystal, denser and darker in colour, a pearlescent gray, rather than a shimmering opal like the zenith.

  Blue entwined his fingers with Kali’s and gathered his strength. “Don’t hold back.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” she murmured, her eyes sparking as her energy quickened. “I didn’t spend all my time hoping you’d rescue me.” He slanted a look at her. She slid one back and winked. “I learned, Blue. I learned.”

  The spaceship wobbled fiercely, and the crystal cracked. Sensing what Kali did, Blue used his power to pull on the opposite end of the craft. Dozens of fissures appeared in the sparkling exterior and raced along the hull until it was marbled with cracks. The vessel’s engines roared and tried to pull away, but Kali tightened her mental grip to hold it steady.

  Lit from the inside, her head was thrown back in defiance and her lips parted in feral triumph. Her eyes narrowed as she hacked at the hull and a dagger-like spike snapped free and plummeted to earth. Seemingly not satisfied with the destruction she wrought, Kali channelled more of her energy and the ship began to disintegrate.

  Blue focused hard to discover how she was doing it.

  The constant flex of brainpower was exquisite, a gentle vibration that wiggled in-between the tiniest of particles and shook them loose. The resulting effect was magnificently destructive.

  Plunging into the grim task, Blue pounded on the spaceship with sledgehammer blows.

  The destruction climaxed, and the vessel shook violently. Its smooth surface was cracked and gouged, so destroyed in some places you glimpsed the interior rooms.

  They needed to gain distance before it exploded.

  “Let go,” Blue ordered, sensing the end had come.

  Kali held on, wanting to rip it apart piece by microscopic piece until there was nothing left.

  “I hate them,” she whispered fiercely. “I hate them.”

  She lurched forward, ready to physically hurl herself at her enemy. Blue hooked an arm around her waist and spun her into him. Kali put up a token struggle then redoubled her focus on attacking mentally.

  Blue cocooned them in a force shield as his face lowered. He forced her chin up, but her eyes remained fixed on her adversary. His eyes bored into hers, a dazzling sapphire that fractured her concentration. “Look away, beautiful. Let it go.”

  Choking on her anger, Kali scrunched her eyes closed and turned her face to his chest.

  Light beams burst from the radiant spaceship.

  The luminescent shafts of light highlighted Kali and Blue in a jewelled halo.

  It sucked up the surrounding air, burning brightly, rumbling. The white-hot heart exploded. Deadly shards of crystal blasted in every direction and a crescent blade of light cut the sky, a booming expulsion that rocked their craft. Splinters of glinting rock bounced off the hull of their ship with a hollow tinkling, and colour-tinted wind bathed them in ripples of heat. The noise was deafening, a shrill ring that made their teeth rattle.

  The roaring noise, blistering heat, and brilliant light died. There was the strong smell of burning in the air. The ozone crackled with expelled energy, ready to spark and ignite. The zany tang made the taste buds in their lower jaws pinch.

  Kali shook on the spot. So weak and insubstantial, she felt if she trembled too hard she’d drift apart. She’d pushed too hard. Her body wasn’t used to extending that much energy so aggressively. Kali collapsed, hunching over as she dry retched. Blue rubbed her back until she crumpled into a sweaty heap.

  “Donotputmetosleeep,” she gurgled.

  Exasperated, Blue scooped her up. The mind and body were connected. You couldn’t exhaust one without severely affecting the other. Blue knew this, but it would take her time to learn her brain was like a muscle that would grow tired unless she trained it to withstand more.

  “Now?” Kenshin asked in a wobbly voice.

  Blue nodded.

  Kali felt a prick in her arm. She had precious nanoseconds to stare ravenously at the sun before her vision blurred. Her head lolled, and her arms fell away, body relaxing into the strong arms that caged her as she was pulled under.

  Face stony, Blue watched the remains of the Novan spaceship fall to earth in green-hued fire. He stood, gave the shrinking wreckage his back, and pressed a kiss to Kali’s lips.

  31.

  After endless days of the cold and wet, Kali was warm and dry. She flexed her toes and wiggled closer into the body curled around her. She’d woken in Blue’s room after a dead sleep caused by the heavy sedative Kenshin had administered.

  There was a low murmur of conversation over her bed when she first stirred, but it was quiet now.

  The Hybrids and Humans were asleep after crashing hard. It had been one hell of a rescue from the snatches of conversation she’d captured. After drawing straws for sentry duty – poor Igor – they’d all run to their beds.

  She was glad in away. It meant time to adjust and to be alone with her thoughts.

  Kali struggled to believe Blue found her.

  She kept experiencing a disturbing jolting as she dozed. The quivering sensation rocked her to the bone, and had all her senses going on alert as if she was falling. She woke gasping for air before realising she lay in bed thrashing for no reason.

  Despite her happiness tears seeped out and soaked her pillow.

  What if she was still in that tank and this was just another dream?

  Choking back her sobs, she bit the pillow to keep quiet. Blue had already held her for most of the day, whispering reassurances to her as she cried. He was exhausted and needed sleep. Kali ignored the white gauze on her wrists as she blotted her cheeks with the edge of the blanket.

  Kenshin had been worn out too, and had promised as soon as he woke he’d perform a skin grafting. Kali didn’t know if she wanted the war wounds to scar or not, so had said nothing against the painless procedure. Was it okay to scrub away the physical evidence of what she’d endured? The emotional and psychological scars would remain. Why should she be scarred inside but unscathed on the outside?

  She took comfort in Blue, grabbing his arm to pull it over her waist, determined to enjoy each moment even if it was a trick of the mind.

  Satisfied with her lot, she closed her eyes.

  Waking what felt like a heartbeat later, Kali shivered, chilled, again. She wriggled seeking the warmth of Blue’s heavy body.

  He was gone.

  His side of the bed was cold.

  Reality was a cruel slap across the face.

  Kali bolted upright and gripped the bedcovers in a white-knuckled grip.

  At the foot of the bed stood scantily dressed Lara, her pink hair kinky from being un-braided, and mussed from asleep. Red sheet marks ran all down her arm and the side of her neck and face. Her tank and shorts showed signs of being slept in too. Kali had never seen such muscle definition on a woman. Lean limbs with strong, curving lines that physically represented the Hybrid’s mental power.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she said bitterly. She paced, her bare feet silent on the stone floor. “I want to hate you. The cosmos knows I hated replica you. Then you go and pull a stunt like this. When I think about what you achieved, the strength of mind it took to reach out when you were held by what I fear most I feel admiration, respect, even affection.” She spat the wo
rd and glowered fiercely. “I’m mollified that you are one of us. I knew a Human could never surpass the skills of the Omicron.”

  Kali may have had mush for brains in the morning, but Lara’s non-existent regard for the Human race was not wholly lost on her. Why fight her Creator if she felt that way? It was a puzzle for another time, one where Kali had a mountain of dumplings in reach.

  Sensing no immediate threat to her health from the somewhat vicious Hybrid, Kali rubbed her eyes, blearily focusing. “I’m not a morning person.”

  “It’s night time.”

  “Whatever.”

  “If that weak and whiny replica is how you honestly see yourself, I will hate you. Again. I despise modest people and hold nothing but contempt for the weak. You’ve been warned.”

  With that said, Lara stormed away.

  “Um, bye?”

  Puzzled, and still chilled, Kali leaned against the wall pulling the covers under her chin. She wasn’t alone with her confused thoughts for long.

  Push shuffled into the room and stared at her from the far corner. Kali had met a StarChild before, a dignitary at one of the rarer functions her ‘odd’ family had been invited to.

  Much like a bug under a microscope, Kali stared to squirm.

  A whirlwind of noise and joie de vivre blew into the room. Christabella’s ceaseless chattering rubbed Kali the wrong way so soon after waking, especially when she launched herself onto Kali’s lap mid-conversation, her lush hair spilling everywhere, skin luminous with health, just pissing Kali off even more.

  The girl had been through an invasion, weren’t split ends and acne a guarantee?

  “Bella?”

  Ingenuous blue eyes thickly ringed with honey-blonde lashes blinked up at her. “Hmm?”

  “Go away now.”

  “Too much of me too soon?” She laughed and bounced up. “We’ll talk later.” Christabella sashayed to the door before spinning on her petite heel and smiling prettily. “I’m glad you’re not sand anymore.”

  She wiggled her fingers in a cutesy wave, turned to leave the room, and collided with Igor’s chest. Paling then flushing cerise she babbled about washing her hair then bolted, leaving the big Hybrid peering after her in confusion.