“I told you it would come in handy,” C.J. spoke from the shadows. The spymaster would never miss this. I really wasn’t meant to lead if I couldn’t see these things clearly. “I told you, M, that it wouldn’t be a waste of time and money. Finding and taking the ship called Malice with us was good luck.”
She smiled at him. “I should know not to doubt your instincts after all of these years.”
Damian stepped out of the shadows on the other side, standing next to Diana. “Forgive me, but how does having Malice make a difference? I mean, Blaze isn’t going to suddenly see the ship and decide to come out of hiding.”
“Malice can find Artemis,” C.J. explained. “Listen, the history of these ships is really interesting. They weren’t highly thought of designs so they only made five. I couldn’t believe it when I saw Malice. What is she doing on this side of the galaxy? How did she get over here?”
“With me, actually.” Jackson walked in. We had really brought a crowd. “Malice is the ship I stowed away on to get across the galaxy a million years ago. A bunch of pirates were in control of it then. They didn’t kill me, taught me a bunch of things on how to build, engineer, pilot. Then dropped me off on a cold wasteland of a planet on the edge of the Dark Planets to make my way or not. Is she here?”
C.J. grinned. “Well, that explains that. Anyway, Malice and Artemis, the designer, a man named Danny Rutter, was years ahead of his time. I met him twice.”
Melissa cleared her throat. “C.J.”
“Right, sorry. Okay. So, the ships can always locate each other. He thought he was doing us all a favor, knowing it would be the rebels who took the ships, and we’d like to find each other. We didn’t much care for that, actually. We mostly were out for just ourselves. That quirk in the ships turned out to be why they weren’t sought after that. Melissa took Artemis, but the others went out to people who wouldn’t give a shit. Pirates, apparently. I can’t say as I’ve ever met a pirate.”
Jackson held up his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Malice can find Artemis. Great. We find Artemis and convince Blaze to help us by bringing Artemis out in the open to draw out Evander and from there find my guys.”
Melissa nodded. “It’s a pretty solid plan. Let’s get this started.”
Kelton nodded to her. “We will do this. They are our leaders, our friends, our family. We will go get them. Thank you for this. Please stay here and heal from the ordeal you’ve been through.”
Melissa shook her head. “Amari saved our lives, twice. If he’s out there being held prisoner, then my job isn’t done. We’ll be going to help you.”
Kelton bent his head slightly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I held up my hand. “I’m going, too.”
All eyes were suddenly on me. “Well, I’m not staying here and waiting any longer. You’ll need a doctor. Woody is dead. I’m going.”
“Amber.” Melissa took my hand. “Are you sure?”
“Am I sure? Yes, I’m sure. I’ve made these babies as safe as I can make them. I have the implant, thanks to Hunter, Lewis, Ari and Diana. It’s doing its job. I am going to come and help.” I pointed my index finger at Melissa. “And don’t you for one second tell me I can’t. I know all about the things you were doing when you were pregnant with Diana. We’ve all heard the stories. Nine months pregnant running around, taking on your mother, piloting Artemis all by yourself, shoving your husbands through the black hole. You can’t tell me that pregnant women can’t do as they like. The babies are safe right now. I’m going. Period.”
Melissa held up both her hands. “I really wish you all hadn’t heard those stories. Yes, you’re right. You can do whatever you think you can do, and you can keep those girls safe in the meantime. We’ll get your husbands back.”
I stood next to Ari, studying Malice. Behind me, Chrissy cried softly as she said goodbye to Brenden. They were going to get married when we returned. That was super sweet, but my small headache and the fact that Brenden had never left during the whole war somewhat negated my sympathy for her. Or maybe I was just in a really bad mood.
“Canyon wants to talk to you,” Ari informed me.
I turned to regard him. “Oh. Where is he?”
“Waiting to make sure it’s okay.”
I didn’t understand. “Why wouldn’t it be okay?”
“Because you might be angry with me.” Canyon walked over. “I screwed with your life.”
He had? “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”
Ari nodded, stepping away. Canyon was very intense, all the Super Soldiers were. Still, we’d all come to be friends on The Farm. Whatever he needed to get out, he should say. I hated the idea that he thought he couldn’t talk to me. His wife was one of my closest friends. She stood in the corner, leaning against Ari as they both pretended not to watch.
“Canyon? Whatever it is just get to it.”
“I got caught in their tablet on purpose. When you asked me to get the letters, I could have done that easily without being noticed. In fact, I had. I had the letters. And then I read them because, as Waverly reminded me when I fessed up recently, I don’t always understand boundaries. You’d asked me to help you with a private thing. I shouldn’t have read anything. Anyway, I did. And I thought that whoever wrote you those letters had to love you the way I love the light in my life. It was obvious. So I went back in and got caught, suspecting that I’d draw their attention and you could all work that out.”
Well, that answered a question I hadn’t even known I still had at this point. “I see.”
“And it seemed like they did. At first I thought I’d made a terrible mistake with the abuse allegations, but then you said they hadn’t been the ones to hurt you, and Hunter killed the fucking man who did. I really liked them during the war. I didn’t make a mistake, right? You are happy to have had them back, it worked?”
I put my hand on his arm, and I squeezed. “Thank you. I would have had such a colorless life without them. I had all this love for them and nowhere to put it, nowhere to give it. I thought it wasn’t returned. It was. I… Thank you, Canyon. For not respecting my boundaries. I wouldn’t make a habit out of it. I mean, other situations might not turn out the same. But I thank you.”
He nodded. “I’m so relieved. Still, there is something I’d like to do for you. I’d like to help.”
“No.” I’d been adamant with my sister, Waverly, and Diana. They’d just gotten their families back. We didn’t know where Evander was and we might need them to fight in the Dark Planets in a not too distant time. They needed time together. “You’re staying here.”
He sighed. “I know. And I appreciate that you want that for us. I do. So what I propose is helping you, but not now.”
“Is this a time travel thing?”
He gave me a wide smile. “It is. We will, sometime in the future, travel back to the moment you are rescuing your husbands, and we will in some way help. This won’t be interfering with the past, per se, because we will have done it already so when we go to do it, we will have already done it. Make sense?”
“No.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I hate time travel. It makes my head hurt.”
“Everyone says that. I love it.” He shrugged. “Count on our help. We’ve already messed with your life. Ari giving cryptic messages on Artemis is very odd for us. So we have to assume you’re very important. Well, we already know that. You kept this place afloat. We won the battle for Earth and that is not in any small part thanks to you.”
I’d officially gotten uncomfortable. That strange, unsettled, I didn’t know how to react feeling settled in my stomach. I didn’t do compliments well. “Thank you. And if you can help… now or in the future… without risking yourselves so that Waverly loses everything… then I thank you for that, too.”
He nodded. “Good luck, Amber Chen. I believe you will bring them home.”
I hoped he was right.
I didn’t tell anyone on the shi
p about Canyon’s help. The Z didn’t know about the time travel and as much as I now officially believed in the Zansi, that wasn’t my secret to tell. I could have told Melissa but she was holed up in the back of the ship with her husbands and her oldest son, Asher, who joined on this trip. He was officially an adult now and wasn’t going to be left behind. He’d saved me years before on my run across the galaxy to escape from Earth. He’d apparently fought bravely in the war.
And still I had trouble thinking of him as a grown up.
They were all quietly busy. Melissa had left her other children to do this, apparently deciding to put them in school on the Venus colony where I’d been born, and where Wade’s brother and sister studied. It was safe there, and unless Evander came traipsing over again, they should stay that way. I’d looked away when she’d teared up after dropping them there. There were some moments that were private.
I played cards with Brenden, Matt, Kenton, and the others. The members of the Z who were not my guards seemed like they were trying to bond with me. Maybe the idea that I might be utterly in charge of them for eighteen years was enough to make them begin.
Amari left Kelton in charge of the business when he left. He was smart and kept winning at cards. I didn’t really know the game. I did, however, notice how Kelton and Matt looked at each other. They were definitely together. Like the rest of us, they’d been separated during the battle. My insistence on coming along had let them be together, too.
Of course neither of them had told me they were together. I was speculating. But I was right. I was sure of it.
“Amber,” Kelton spoke my name. “Is it okay if I use your first name? I’ve heard both Brenden and Matt do it accidently. You don’t object. Is it okay?”
I cleared my throat. “I don’t mind. Everyone can call me Amber. My husbands won’t like it, though. They seem to care a great deal about the protocol with me. Maybe because of everything that happened?”
Kelton nodded. “Well, I won’t do it if they don’t like it. For now, I’ll call you Amber. The Masters Chen can tell me to stop. Amber, I was thinking…”
“A dangerous pastime for him.” Matt winked at me, and Kelton laughed. This was officially the most relaxed I’d ever seen the Z.
Kelton threw down his cards. “As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by brown eyes over there, it isn’t a huge step to go from what you are describing, feeling them, to talking to them. Not through the energy barrier.”
“The energy barrier?”
Brenden shook his head. “It’s a term we learned in training and school. It doesn’t really matter. You’re doing the act anyway, and I can barely do it at all. It’s more of a Chen thing.”
“He can do it, a little.” Matt grinned, pointing at Kelton.
“I have the smallest amount of Chen blood. We’re third cousins. Yes, but not like you’re doing it. Tell me, could you do it before you were pregnant?” Kelton took a drink of his coffee.
That stopped me short. “I could see they vibrated. Hunter thought I’d have a natural affinity for it. But no, I couldn’t feel them.”
“Well, maybe you have some Chen blood running through you right now. Two of them. For the next eight months.”
I leaned forward. “Are you suggesting that my unborn daughters who are currently the size of cherries are why I can do this meditation thing where I feel them?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. You should see if you can push through to the actual talking. Maybe they could help us know where they are.”
Brenden looked between us. “It’s a huge step.”
“She communicated energy in next to no time. I don’t think it’s impossible she could do this.”
Well, I could certainly try. And Kelton and Matt were totally together. I’d been right about that.
I sat on the floor of my room. Malice wasn’t as nice a ship as Artemis. It had clearly never had much of a woman’s touch on it. The registrar that C.J. pulled out said that it had actually had a Sandler owner at some point. I was going to have to ask Paloma who that was someday.
I put my hand on my stomach. “Are you ladies making this happen by just existing?” I took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s see if we can do this. Push through? How am I supposed to do that?”
I closed my eyes, concentrating on my breathing. My hands tingled. My pulse steadied. I actually had grown to like this part. Hunter had been right. It was calming. Eventually, I reached the point where I had to try.
I sent my energy out to them with my love. It took a second but it was like Amari was all over me. I loved that feeling. Hunter was next and then Shane right after. Oh thank the universe, they were all still okay.
I tried again. There was an energy barrier? The words made me disgruntled. I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t care. I liked how this felt. I wanted more. I wanted to link my energy to theirs. I pushed a little bit harder.
I spoke. “Can you guys hear me?”
Amber… It sounded like Hunter. But then it was over.
I sighed. I guessed I’d done it. I’d heard my name in my head with Hunter’s voice. That was amazing. There was no doubt in my mind my husband could do this. That just meant the weak link was me.
I leaned back on the floor. I could do this. I just had to keep working. My yawn surprised me. I’d been doing a pretty good job of keeping my pregnancy symptoms at bay. I had yet to throw up, even though I’d had moments where I thought I might. And I’d pushed through the exhaustion.
Now, however, I couldn’t even seem to muster the energy to get off the floor.
I closed my eyes and went to sleep right there on the floor.
I dreamed of a blonde woman running through a spaceship. “Amber, I think it’s time to wake me up now. I don’t see how it can be put off anymore.”
I smiled at her. “Sienna, you’re not my patient any longer. Wade will know what to do.”
“Thank you, Amber.” She hugged me tightly. “Thank you for keeping me safe as long as you did.”
9 Did you hear that?
I touched the walls of Malice. This ship probably had stories like Artemis did. Had she made families the way that her sister ship had? Kelton told me they’d picked up Artemis’ signal and were following it. He thought we’d be there in two days, assuming Blaze didn’t travel too far.
There was no sign of Evander, but given that their last ship had appeared out of nowhere, we were being very careful. A ship like ours wasn’t likely to draw their attention. We’d be junk to them, not a resource.
Hopefully we’d remain ignored. After eating, I headed back to my room to try to meditate again. That seemed to be the best use of my time, which was strange but at least it gave me something to do.
I breathed. I’d have to check and see if all this breathing was doing anything for me in other ways. I didn’t have a blood pressure problem, but maybe it was even better. I’d figure that out later. I breathed. It certainly had to be good for the babies that I was spending so much time in a relaxed matter.
Or pretending to relax. That had to count for something.
When I felt the moment come, a total awareness of my body, I sent my love out to the guys. This time I could feel it when it hit them, like a zap through my whole system.
“Can you feel her?” Hunter moaned, his voice sounded hoarse. “I can feel her.”
“Yes,” Amari and Hunter answered together.
The rush of their love filled me, and I could have cried for the joy of it. Hearing their voices was such a gift.
“Guys.” I really wanted them to be able to hear me, too. “Can you hear me? I can hear you.”
I was pretty sure Hunter took in an audible breath. “Amber? Can… can you hear us?”
I wiped away my tears. “I can. I’ve been working on this.”
“This is incredible. Guys, can you hear her?”
“I can,” Amari said. “Shane’s out cold. He can’t hear anything right now.”
I sucked in my breath. “Why is S
hane out cold?”
“Don’t worry, love.” Hunter caught my attention. “He’ll be fine. He’s just sleeping.”
I didn’t believe him. For almost never lying, when they did they were really, really bad at it. But I didn’t want this to be stressful, and I had a feeling I was going to have to lie to them, too. I swallowed. “Are you guys okay?”
“We’re fine. Don’t worry about us,” Amari answered this time. “How did you learn how to do this?”
That I could answer. “I meditated. Kelton thinks it’s the girls. He thinks the fact that they’re in my uterus has given me enough Chen blood to do this.”
They were so silent for a minute I thought maybe they were gone, but Hunter finally spoke. “That’s just amazing.”
“It is. Listen, my loves, because I could feel you I was able to tell everyone you weren’t dead, and thank the universe they believed me. I guess this has to do with energy barriers.” I hoped I was sounding upbeat enough. “They’re coming for you.” I left myself out of it. There was the lie. If they didn’t want me to worry, I didn’t want them too, either. “Is there anything you can tell me that might help them locate you faster?”
Amari cleared his throat. “We’re in constant motion. They’re bouncing around wherever they are. And… I don’t know if they should attempt this, love. It was the most overwhelming battle imaginable. If any of them got out of there, then I am relieved. Tell them I want them to rebuild. I want them to protect you and the girls. I want them to rebuild the Earth and protect the water. Tell them we’re too far gone to be saved. I’m sorry. That isn’t what I want to be saying to you. If there’s any chance, we’ll still try to escape. I’m afraid that by the time they can find us, it’ll be too late. I don’t want them doing that when they should be guarding you.”
I cried, I didn’t even try to wipe away the tears. “I don’t think they’re going to accept that, and I’m not telling them that, no. Sorry, Master Chen. I don’t take orders from you. They tell me I’m in charge now.”
Rising Tides Page 10
