Distant Memory
Colleen S. Myers
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
About the Author
Read All…
Copyright © 2018 by Colleen S. Myers
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Interior Format by The Killion Group, Inc.
Chapter One
We were getting nowhere. It’d been close to three weeks since the last battle with the E'mani, my enemies. Three weeks since those pale alien freaks took Finn, and we were no closer to finding him today than we were yesterday. And the longer it took us to find him, the worse it was going to be, the more he would suffer. He was my friend, and I abandoned him out of my own fear. Regardless of his willing sacrifice, I still left him on the ship with the E’mani, that hellish place that featured so heavily in my nightmares. He deserved better. But when I saw Xade, when I realized I was in their ship again, at their mercy again.
I shuddered and curled my hands into fists. I couldn't take it. I had run, and now Finn was paying the price. We needed to find him. I didn't know what I would do if we didn't, even the thought... My nails formed half-moons in the skin of my palms as my power surged. We had to find him. Nothing else mattered.
“Elizabeth,” Marin said, his hand brushing my shoulder. Just one word, my name, from my husband, my mate, and the world righted itself.
I turned my face into his palm, but I couldn’t meet his eyes. “We need to find him. The E'mani have him. I know what that is like, and I left him to that.”
Marin knew who I was talking about; of course he did. He kneaded my shoulders. “We will, my love. We are not far from the coordinates that Dela gave us. This area appears promising. And there is wreckage as you can see. The E'mani were here. This may be the clue we need.”
“Or it could be another wild, fucking goose chase.”
Marin's hands stopped their welcome caress. “What is a goose chase?”
Ha.
Even his misunderstanding of Earth slang couldn't make me laugh today. I scrubbed my hands over my eyes. “It means that what we are looking for may not be there.”
“What does that have to do with gooses?”
“Geese.” “What?”
My lips twitched. “I will explain later. Right now, I want this to be over.”
“It will be, baby.”
“How do you know?”
“I do not, but I have faith.”
I was glad he had faith, because my own appeared to have taken a dive in the past few weeks, ever since our last battle with the E’mani, the one we were supposed to win.
We didn't know what went wrong. We gave the E’mani hepatitis. The virus should have taken years to affect them, but instead, it took hours, and then they came at us in a massive, freaking wave. We'd lost a quarter of our fighters in the battle, but the E'mani lost more, a hell of a lot more, most of their current crop of clones in fact. Plus, I destroyed their ships, in fire and lightning and hate and rage. We dealt them a huge blow, and I’m still not sure how.
The field around me bore the scars. They called this wood the Endless Night for its thick growth and the near impenetrable darkness provided by the vast, towering trees of dark gray peppered with spikes and feathery fronds. The name was a misnomer now. Those trees were gone, along with the blue-green grass and scraggly bushes. I’d burned the whole place to the ground, and now there was plenty of light and smoke and ash and rubble dotting the area around us.
It should've made finding the laboratory where Finn was being held easier, but the opposite appeared true. Ash coated everything in gray, making visual confirmation of anything from above by the winged Avaresh fighters impossible. So we had to manually explore, foot by foot, and the region of Industry was big, too big for a land search.
That left us with Dela's maps. Hopefully, the information on them was still accurate. I wouldn't put it past the E'mani to corrupt their own database with false data to mislead us. After all, only a few of the E'mani were truly skilled; the rest were mindless drones. Stepfords as I liked to call them.
My breath hissed out as I glared at the surface beneath me. The ground shook, or maybe it was me. The sand rippled in little waves, and a glimmer caught my eye. I reached out and grabbed a misshapen silver crystal similar to quartz. I picked it up and dusted it off, rolling it in my hands to get the dirt off.
The surface reflected the wavering golden light of Solum’s two suns above me and a distorted reflection of my pissed-off face. The sight stopped me in my tracks. I sat down with a sigh.
My normally fair complexion appeared sallow with various scratches from passing trees, red hair lank and tangled, blue eyes dull and expressionless. That wasn’t me was it? It couldn’t be me.
I dropped the crystal and let my head fall into my hands. God, this was a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from.
Marin sat on the charred rock next to me and handed me a piece of jerky. “Eat.”
With a sigh, I grabbed the meat and chewed. “How far are we?”
“Looks like another ten miles. Remember, when we get there, if there is any sign of activity or life, we do not engage them.”
“But—”
Marin placed his finger on my lower lip. “We do not engage. You know we cannot take them on our own. Numbers are needed. We gave them a mighty blow, but they still have an advantage over us. We cannot fight them, just you and I.” His hands rose to cradle my face. I still refused to meet his eyes. “We will confirm and come back for Finn,” he said. “Agreed?”
My jaw clenched.
Marin stroked his thumb along my cheek. “Agreed?”
“Fine.”
He tilted my head up and forced me to finally look at him.
His beauty struck me as it always did, my wild Fost mate with his dark mahogany hair, handsome wily face, and light brown eyes. Those eyes. So fiercely intelligent, yet kind, yet sharp with their little specks of blue and green. It wasn't fair how sexy I found him. My breath shuddered out, and I put my hands over his on my jaw.
“I love you,” he whispered, his words uncertain.
“I love you too,” I whispered back.
“We still need to have that talk.”
Argh. I squeezed my eyes shut. “I can't take that right now.”
“This is the perfect time. When we are in town, we never get time alo—”
“Please, Marin. I can't take it right now.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “Soon?”
“Soon.”
When I could face what we might say to each other. I still loved him, but the unquestioning trust I had in his love and fidelity was gone. And I didn't know how to get it back. I
didn’t know anything anymore. Yet when I though he had died, I didn't want to go on living. That meant something, right?
We would find a way through this. I had to believe that. I did believe that. I think. Man, I was too tired to think and my butt hurt. When did I get such a sensitive behind? And why was I thinking about asses right now?
My hands squeezed his. “You need to finish eating as well. We still have miles to go before we sleep, miles to go before we sleep.”
“What?”
Ha. Still not enough to make me laugh. “Give me the map, and land’s sake, eat.”
Marin leaned back and rooted around for jerky. I grabbed a canteen and drank straight from the bottle.
Ten miles. We could do that. I glanced at the suns. Time here was not as easy to track compared to home. So far, we'd had two revolutions of the smaller sun around the bigger, so that put us in mid-afternoon, I thought. We still had plenty of light. Assuming an average foot speed of a mile every fifteen minutes or so put us at getting there in a little over two hours. I could handle that.
I stood.
Time to trudge.
“Ready?”
Marin stopped mid-chew and swallowed. “I can eat as we walk.”
He grabbed his own pack while I slid mine on my shoulders. The trail in front of us was clear with the exception of a few random flowers at the edges. How they survived my fire, I didn't know. I picked one as we walked. The petals were red and frilly. When my fingers stroked its surface, the tips of the flower contracted, and the hymen darted out to sting my thumb.
“Motherf—”
Marin twirled. “What happened?”
“A random carnivorous plant.”
He snorted and grabbed my hand. “Let me see.” His fingers stroked along my boo-boo, the touch light, raising goose bumps.
I held my breath.
His lips curled at the corners. He brought my hand up to his lips and feathered his mouth along my fingers. “Better?”
“Yes.” The word was breathy. I cleared my throat and tugged my hand away. So unfair, how sexy I found him. “Looks like we are getting close.”
His smile grew wider. “Yes, I do think we are close.”
Oh boy. That look was deadly to my resolve. I cleared my throat. “To the lab.”
“That as well.”
I rolled my eyes and darted ahead.
His laughter followed my retreat.
The next five miles passed in a blur, the landscape occasionally dotted with a pothole or mud. Even this far from town there were still scorch marks.
Something glinting from a nearby hill caught my eye. My heart raced. The speed of my steps picked up. “There,” I shouted.
Marin stopped and shaded his eyes. “You are right. There is something there. Maybe more rubble, or it could be the lab. Why did they build it on a hill?”
“If they had any Avaresh, hills were necessary to accommodate their wings.”
He nodded then caught up to me after a short jog. “I do not see an easy way up.”
“Easy, smeasy. Let’s go.”
Marin sighed and adjusted his pack on his shoulder. “Yes, master.”
“I do kind of like that nickname.”
He winked at me.
The trek up the blackened hillside was treacherous. The rocks disintegrated beneath our feet several times, causing us to backtrack. By the time we got to the top a half-hour later, we both resembled chimney sweeps covered in soot. My wounds throbbed but that pain paled in comparison to the pain in my heart.
The building before us looked like a typical E'mani structure composed of the quarum crystal. The walls blended with the environment, but light still sparkled off the sides. Occasional flashes of red danced deep in the murky depths of the translucent material. Two automatic doors stood at the entrance, with a black light over the frame.
The branches in front of the entrance appeared disturbed. There were boot marks in the sand leading to the doors.
Marin threw his arm out to stop my headlong rush forward. “No.”
“But—” I said.
“No. We said we would not engage the enemy.”
“But—” I said.
He placed his finger on my lips. “I know. This is not the time or the place. We have confirmed the presence of a building here and possible activity. Later, we will come back with reinforcements. Agreed?”
I sighed. “Fine.”
He ran his hand down my cheek and tipped up my downcast face. “We will return soon.” The pad of his finger scraped along my lower lip. Hrm. The air heated. His gaze drifted over my face and stopped at a point over my shoulder. He yanked me backward and against him.
“What?” I ducked automatically and turned to glance behind.
“I do not know. Something is moving inside.”
I saw the blur of a shape flit across the doorway. “E'mani?”
“As I said, I do not know.” He pulled me farther into the trees.
“Should we go look?”
Marin's hand dropped onto my shoulder. “No, we are only two, and there could be many inside.”
“But none of Dela's information suggested this was an active base. Maybe it is just an animal?”
“Or it could be E'mani.”
“The figure was dark, not the gray of the uniform.”
“There is no way you could have seen that much detail, Elizabeth.”
I ground my teeth. “I still say we go look. We can't hide every time we see something move.”
“I say we come back with a few oth—”
A sultry, echoic voice interrupted him. “I say that both of you come over here and chat. We have ever so much to discuss.”
I stiffened and turned.
Chapter Two
The stranger wore black leathers, sprayed on and laced up tight, similar to the Fost’s clothing . Most of the time the leathers looked sexy, racy even, depending on the wearer and the cut, but on her it was bondage gear at its finest. Knives rode low on both of her hips, and a long, ridged scar across her cheek completed her dominatrix look. The only thing that didn't jibe was her hair. Light strawberry blonde and wispy, her hair surrounded her face in delicate waves.
There was something achingly familiar about the turned-down appearance to her mouth, the sad expression that at the same time demonstrated contempt for the world around her... I just couldn't place my finger on it. I should know her. But I didn't. Hrm.
Marin stepped in front of me, hand on his weapon. “You are E'mani?”
“Oh mighty clan leader, you do not even recognize your own people? I am not E'mani. I am Fost. But I am old, from the days when Fost and E'mani did not fight, when we tried to coexist.”
“That went well,” I muttered.
Her laughter could have cut glass. “Oh yes, I must say, it was quite a successful venture...for the E'mani.”
“How did you come to be here?” Marin asked.
“I followed you.”
“Impossible. I would have sensed someone behind us.”
The stranger waved her hand dismissively. “You both are too in lust to focus beyond your own desires and your destination. I have been following you since right after you left Center.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to see where you were going. I have myself not been as capable of cracking the E'mani computers. While you have some of the others to help, you decipher what I cannot.”
Marin crossed his arms. “What do you want the E'mani for?”
“Something similar to your woman there, who is being ever so quiet.” She waggled her fingers at me.
I strode forward around Marin. “I want their death. I want their ruin.”
The woman hummed. “As do I.”
“I know why I want to kill them; why do you?”
“As I have stated, I know them. What they have become is evil, twisted, and wrong. I watched it happen, and I swore I would fix it. That was a promise I could not keep until now. Until you. The Fost are strong ag
ain, perhaps strong enough to make a difference this time.” She circled behind us to come up in front of the building as she talked.
Marin stared at the newcomer and said what I had been thinking. “You look familiar to me; do I know you?”
“We have never met, young chief, but you may have heard of me. I am Sel—”
At that moment the automatic doors opened behind her, and a group of clones rushed out, weapons drawn, wearing the uniform of the E'mani, the shivat.
The sight of their expressionless, blank faces and pale, pale skin, uh, it made my teeth ache. They were so creepy and unaware. I didn't even have it in me to hate them anymore, not since wheezy dude.
The clones started to drag me back towards town. No. I dug in my heels, testing their grip. They seemed weaker to me, and I easily overpowered them. One tripped and hit the ground, his breathing shallow. His eyes focused on me, his mouth working. He reached out a hand to me. Not of my own volition, I took his hand. He died staring into my eyes, blood dripped from his nose.
The clones were as much of a victim as I in a way. Their choice to be or not to be had been taken away from them before birth. Once the E'mani went to a population of clones, a few progenitors had been chosen arbitrarily, and a new race was born. They grew up in tubes and came out at age twenty with full motor skills and no idea how to use them. No more than babies really, albeit creepy, freaking, grown-up babies.
They were taught one specific skill at which they were expected to excel and lived three to five years until they died in battle, or of disease. Not allowed to think or have opinions, or they were euthanized. The cloning process took its toll despite the quarum, or maybe because of tit. The crystal not only acted as a power supply, but it also made up the tubes that extended the E’mani life. Amazing and terrifying all at the same time.
One of the clones raised his gun and shot, hitting a tree near my head. Marin cursed and yanked me behind him again.
No, the clones were to be pitied, but still destroyed. Even a child with a gun could be a threat. This was no different and just as sad.
I ducked against a tree, making myself a smaller target. Marin did the same beside me as the stranger did the exact freaking opposite.
Distant Memory: She remembered everything (Solum Series Book 3) Page 1
