by Nina Croft
“No. I told you he promised the captain. Before Skylar, he used to pay women, but he told me once that he’s old—he doesn’t need to feed very often anymore.”
“How old?” He didn’t look old, maybe mid-thirties.
“About fifteen hundred or so.”
“What?” She did the math. “So he must have come from Earth.”
“He did. On the Trakis Two.”
“Wow.” She knew from her history lessons that a fleet of twenty-four ships, named the Trakis One to Twenty-Four, had left Earth seeking a safe, new world. But even knowing her history, this was a lot to take in. She looked back at Daisy. “You don’t seem too concerned about the ship.”
“Rico will get us out of this. Or the captain. We’ve been in worse situations and come out alive.” Sadness filled her eyes for a moment. “Or at least most of us did.” She jumped to her feet. “Come on, let’s go see if they’ve found anything.”
Saffira followed her across to the small group.
“Tell me,” Thorne was saying to Callum. “The explosion that knocked out my ship all those years ago, do you know what caused it?”
“Actually, it was last week,” Callum replied. “And yes, I know.” He shifted a little, obviously uncomfortable. “I did.”
Thorne’s eyes narrowed. “You did? How?”
“I blew up Trakis Seven.”
Saffira started in shock. “What? The whole planet, but why?”
“Because the Church had taken the Blood Hunter—well, the old Blood Hunter and were holding the crew hostage. That was their price. They killed Janey, our tech expert, and Tris, Devlin’s brother.”
So Devlin’s brother had died only days ago. No wonder the pain was still raw. “But why did the Church want the planet destroyed?”
“They wanted to cut off the Meridian supply, but in fact it was already finished.”
“Trakis Seven was the source of…Meridian?” Saffira asked. “That’s what you call the stuff that causes the change?”
“Yes. Just before, we’d gone to the planet, and I’d found some sort of consciousness. It communicated with me. Apparently, it had come to our universe through a black hole, been injured or lost and unable to get home. And it had been on the planet a long time, thousands of years.”
“Ten thousand, perhaps?” She shared a look with Thorne. “Old One?” she asked.
He nodded. “Must have been.”
“You mentioned them before,” Callum said. “Who are these old ones?”
“When we arrived on Espera, they were already there.”
“And they look like us?” Callum asked.
“We don’t know. No one has ever seen them—they sleep inside the mountains surrounding the Circle of Change. But I doubt they look like us. The Others, like Thorne, are a sort of hybrid. The Old Ones are a species that can reproduce normally but also have the ability to form a symbiotic relationship with other species. They produce the asexual polyps you must have seen in the birthing cave.”
“Meridian,” Callum murmured. He turned to Thorne. “Hey, can you do that—produce Meridian?”
Thorne shook his head. “Not yet. It comes with age. I’m too young.”
“And you’re what—ten thousand or so? Jesus.”
“The Ones remaining are old, very powerful, but they sleep most of the time. They hate change, hence the protocols.”
“The price of immortality,” Callum said. “An eternity of sleeping and making up pointless protocols.”
“Maybe,” Rico answered. “But it doesn’t have to be.”
Thorne shrugged. “Say that again when you’ve lived as long as the Old Ones.”
“Which is?”
“Hundreds of thousands of years. Maybe millions.”
Saffira shivered. The Old Ones were the creatures of their fairy tales, stories to frighten the children into obedience. They had no vampires or werewolves but they had the nebulous forms of what came before, that were huge as mountains, shaped as monsters, able to destroy whole cities with a thought, and wander through the labyrinths of time at will. No one knew how much was myth and how much was truth. And part of her hoped to never find out.
Thorne paced the room for a minute and appeared deep in thought. He came back, ran a hand through his hair, his wing tips twitched.
“You’ve thought of something,” Callum said.
“Maybe. I don’t know…”
“You might as well tell us, because we’ve got shit all else to go on,” Tannis snapped. “Did I mention I want out of here?”
“The ship is telepathic. She can be controlled by thought.”
“But only if she’s been programmed to respond to a particular person’s thoughts. Not just anyone.”
“But the Old Ones are powerful, immensely powerful; maybe they’ve somehow overridden the ship’s protocols.”
“Could they do that?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a theory, but it would explain why there’s no sign of damage. They’re telling the ship what to do.”
“Shit.” Tannis smashed her fist into the wall of the ship. “Goddamn if I’m going to stand around while some fucking aliens take over my fucking ship.” She turned to Thorne, a scowl on her face. “If this is true, can you do anything about it?”
“Maybe, but—”
His words were cut off as the main lights flicked on. Beneath her feet, Saffira sensed the ship come to life. She leveled out immediately and a hum of power filled the air.
“What the fuck,” Tannis muttered. “Have I ever mentioned that I hate not knowing what is going on?” She pressed the comm unit of her wrist. “Was that you, Devlin?”
“I’d love to take the credit, but I did nothing.”
“Well, just tell me she’s fixed then.”
“Like there was never a problem. I have no clue what just happened.”
“Well, our new friends have a theory and, as far as I’m concerned, it’s just one more reason to get the hell out of here before it happens again.”
“I’ll be there in a sec.”
Saffira glanced at Thorne. This was bad. They were running out of time. And did he really believe that the ship’s crash was due to the Old Ones? Though she supposed it made a modicum of sense. In theory at least. Were they waking? They’d been restless before, but they usually settled back into their slumber.
The doors of the transporter bubble opened and Devlin stepped out. “Let’s get these two to their shuttle,” he said.
Tannis headed for the bubble and he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “It occurred to me coming up here that if it happens again while we’re in the bubbles, we might be stuck. So we walk. You can explain this theory on the way. But I want out of here sooner rather than later.”
He walked up ahead with Thorne, listening, occasionally making a noise that sounded like complete disbelief. He glanced back at her once, his eyebrows raised as if to ask whether she believed it. She ignored the look.
Time was nearly up. Her nerves were knotting up tight. She almost wished it were the Old Ones and they’d do it again. The group came to a halt outside the shuttle Devlin had selected. The shuttle where they’d so very nearly had sex. He pressed a few buttons. “She’s fine. All we need is Callum to realign the mind control and explain how it works.”
“I’m on it,” Callum replied.
“Good.”
As Callum disappeared inside, Devlin turned to her and closed the space between them. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear. “Well, we nearly made your dreams come true.”
At his words, she swallowed. They couldn’t go. Silently she prayed to a god she didn’t believe in.
When she remained silent, Devlin stepped back and spoke to both her and Thorne. “You know, you could come along to the Trakis One, spend some more time on board, get to know us a little better. And take the shuttle from there.”
Saffira willed Thorne to say yes. She didn’t dare interfere, in case he had a plan, but she was running out of hop
e.
“I don’t think so,” Thorne replied, and she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming at him. “We must get back to our people.”
She gritted her teeth and forced her first foot onto the ramp. She didn’t want to do this. Then her second foot, just as Callum emerged from the open doorway.
“You’re all set to go.”
Bugger.
As she was about to step past him, an alarm shrilled out across the docking bay. A second later, the main lights flickered out, replaced by flashing red.
Saved at the last minute.
But by what?
Chapter Seven
“Shit. That doesn’t look or sound good,” Tannis said. “Anyone have a clue what’s going on?”
“It’s the life support systems,” Callum said.
“What about them?”
“They’ve shut down. As in we don’t have any.”
Tannis glared at him. “Great, just great.” She whirled around to face Thorne. “Your friends again, I suppose.”
He shrugged. “I really don’t know for sure. But it could be.”
“Can they do anything? Is there a safe distance?”
“I told you—I don’t know. No one knows much about them.”
“Great. So just how bad is it?”
Devlin had been pressing codes into a console at the edge of the docking bay, now he wandered back. “About as bad as it can be. It’s a total shutdown.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“We have about thirty minutes until we run out of air. There are other things, but that’s the one that’ll kill us first.”
“What about backup systems?”
“Also off-line.”
“Shit, so they want us dead?” she asked Thorne.
“I don’t—”
“You know,” Tannis interrupted. “I’m getting really pissed off with you saying ‘I don’t know’.” She stepped closer and prodded him in the chest. “And if I do find out that you know more than you’re telling us then I’m going to…be even more pissed off.”
Saffira was sure she noticed a flicker of amusement flash across Thorne’s stern features. But he merely shrugged again. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”
“Hmmm.” Tannis scowled but she turned back to Devlin and Callum who were talking together in low voices. “So what are our options?”
“We’ve got air for thirty minutes. We’ve also got suits for space work which might keep us going for another day, maybe longer if they’re self-regenerating.”
“They’re not,” Callum said. “I just checked. They’re tied in with the primary systems.”
“What about the shuttles?”
“While on board they’re connected into the main setup. But once launched they should be independent.”
“Sneak away and hope they forget about us?”
“I don’t like it. The shuttles also have mind control. What’s to stop them taking over those as well? Besides, what can we do on the shuttles—we need to stop this.”
“Can’t we just shut down the mind control centers and fly her manually?”
“I’ve been trying,” Callum said. “And I can’t even access the centers. They’re completely closed off.” He turned to Thorne. “You’re a hell of a lot older than me, which presumably means you’re stronger. Can you get through?”
“I’ll try.”
Saffira watched as he went inside his mind, saw the total concentration on his face, which was weird—normally he was less obvious. But maybe he was trying really hard. After a minute, he opened his eyes and blinked.
“I can’t get through.” He opened his mouth as if to say more, but closed it again.
“What is it?” Tannis asked. “If you’ve thought of something—spit it out.”
“I can’t get through alone, but maybe if there were more of us… I can join with others of my kind and multiply our power.”
“Can’t you join with Callum? And there’s Skylar and me. Would we be enough?”
Thorne looked them over and shook his head. “Most of our people were crew members on the Espera. They were changed almost as soon as we crash-landed here. They’re over ten thousand years old.”
“And where are these people of yours?” Tannis asked.
“On the planet, scattered for safety, but I can call them together.”
“Let me guess—you’ll call them together at that place you wanted us to visit?”
Thorne inclined his head. “The Keep is the one safe place on the planet.”
“Very convenient. And if you do this to help us, what do you want in return?”
“Nothing.”
Saffira frowned at the word. Thorne should be taking advantage of this. She just hoped that if the Old Ones had taken control of the ship, they could somehow wrest it back. She needed this ship. “I think, if Thorne helps you again, the least you could do is listen to the Sisterhood.”
“Child, we must not push them for more than they are willing to give.” Thorne’s tone was soothing. He was definitely up to something, but she couldn’t work out what. “They are not the sort who put themselves out for causes not their own. We must accept that.”
“Hey, I think we’ve just been insulted,” Devlin said.
“Not an insult, merely a truth.”
“But they are the sort who pay their debts,” Saffira said. “And we’ll have saved them twice. We didn’t ask them to come here. They came for themselves. Now, they’ve awoken the Old Ones. Put us all in danger. The least they can do is listen. And then decide. If they still won’t help…” She shrugged. “We’ll have to accept that there’s nothing we can do.”
Actually, there were a whole load of things they could do. But there would be time to think about those options when they were safely down on the planet. The vision was tugging at her mind, stronger than she had ever felt—pulling her from this time. She needed the safety net of her sisters. As she rubbed her forehead, she caught Devlin studying her, his brows drawn together as if he wasn’t quite understanding what was going on.
Join the club.
But she had to play this out. She flashed him her best innocent smile, and his frown deepened, his gaze darting from her to Thorne, finally returning to study her. She was so tempted to peek at his emotions, but that was against her rules. Besides, he wasn’t hiding them. Most of the time he didn’t bother, as though he didn’t care whether people knew what he was thinking or not.
“So,” Tannis said, “how long will it take us to get from orbit to the planet?”
Devlin shook his head and broke their stare. He tapped something into the unit on his wrist. “Twelve minutes, more or less.”
“That means we’ve got fifteen left to explore other options. And if it’s ‘more,’ we’ll just have to hold our breath. Let’s go.” Saffira made to follow, but Tannis halted. “You two”—She waved a hand at Thorne and Saffira—“stay here. Daisy, you too. Keep them out of trouble.”
“Are they prisoners?” Daisy asked.
“No, I just want to know where they are.”
Saffira watched until Devlin disappeared into the transporter bubble and the doors slid shut on him. A wave of weakness washed over her. Too much emotion. She wasn’t used to it. Up until now, any excitement in her life had been limited to her visions and was hardly stressful physically.
“Are you okay?” Thorne asked quietly.
“Just a little shaky.” She glanced at Daisy. “I don’t suppose there’s some ice cream? I might never get another chance.”
Daisy grinned. “Why not?”
…
Already, the thin air strained his lungs. He kept his breathing deep and even, but his body needed more oxygen than it was getting, and he was feeling lightheaded.
They were coming in to land. Only minutes more and he could fill his lungs. Provided nothing else went wrong. If they lost control now, they’d likely crash into the planet.
His shoulder blades tingled and he turn
ed slowly. He’d known it. She was watching him. She was always watching him. Slumped on the floor, her back against the wall of the docking bay, she clutched a bowl of ice cream, then lifted the spoon to her mouth and slowly licked it clean. A bolt of lust shot straight to his groin.
Not good. He didn’t have the blood to spare right now—his brain needed every oxygen-starved drop. Still, he couldn’t get the image of her coming apart in his arms out of his head. She’d talked about paying debts. She owed him an orgasm, and while he was pissed off about this delay to his plans, he meant to use the time to make sure she paid up.
He was an opportunist. He’d learned to be—to make the most of the situation he found himself in.
“One minute to landing,” Rico’s voice came over the comm system. “Get ready to breathe again, children.”
Devlin crossed to where Saffira sat and held out a hand. She placed the bowl on the floor, slid her palm into his, and he pulled her to her feet.
“You want to see?”
She nodded and, keeping hold of her hand, he tugged her to the viewer on the wall and switched it on. The screen filled with the planet, monochrome in the dim light of early dawn. No glorious sunrise here. Off to the left lay the city, and straight ahead an ochre mountain rose up above the sandy plain. They hovered above it, and now he could see that the mountain was hollow, as though it had exploded at some point. Rico lowered the ship gently into the hollow and landed light as stardust. The man could fly. Thorne had said that once inside they were safe, that the mountain protected them, it was impervious to the mind powers of the Old Ones, something in the rock prevented the passage of thought.
They’d flown in under cover of stealth mode, but really, if these Old Ones had control of the ship, surely they’d see right through the stealth thing.
There were too many inconsistencies and this was way too convenient for certain people. He studied Saffira while her attention was glued to the monitor. She glanced up and gave him a bland smile.
“Just how powerful is Thorne?” he asked.
Something flickered in the back of her eyes. She shrugged but remained silent.
“Powerful enough to override the mind control protocols on the Blood Hunter, perhaps?”
