Vall's Will

by Linda Mooney

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Decision

  Will walked every inch of the ship as they headed for Regency Base. Walking helped her to focus and to think. When she wasn’t walking, she was delving into the archives, including those of the Ben Objure, looking for every fragment of data she could about Resplendents. To Killjorn’s credit, the doctor had tagged what she’d found, making it easier for Will to locate those specific comments. Unfortunately, the more she read, the more alarmed she became, until the thought of facing Vall again was almost an acidic blot churning in the middle of her stomach.

  Despite her promise to get some rest, Killjorn knew full well that the Captain wouldn’t do so during their flight to Regency Base. In fact, the woman sometimes knew Will better than she knew herself.

  It was odd, Will noted, how some friendships blossomed from the first day of a mission, and yet there were people on her ship she knew only by face, name, and rank, and would never get to truly know throughout the months and years they worked together.

  “Ah. Believe it or not, this was the last place I expected to find you,” the sardonic voice said from the doorway.

  Will sat up in bed but kept her monitor on. “Just following doctor’s orders to get some rest whenever I could.”

  Killjorn walked into the cabin and pulled a seat cushion down from the wall. Letting it hover near the bed, the physician parked herself on it and proceeded to inspect Will’s eyes. Will quietly withstood the quick exam.

  “You’re healing nicely, but the toll on your emotions isn’t helping. You need more than just rest. Looks like the merdridalin I gave you isn’t working. Reminder to self, up the dosage.” The woman dug into the hip pocket of her uniform and withdrew a small, disposable injection unit. Will glanced at it.

  “What’s that?”

  “Something else to help give that brain of yours a short vacation.”

  “I can’t, Killy. I’m needed on the bridge.”

  “You’re needed fully focused. Pacing around the ship isn’t helping anyone or anything. Neither is sitting in front of that monitor for hours on end.”

  Before Will could object, Killjorn placed the unit against her bare wrist. Immediately, a sense of lassitude began to creep through her bloodstream, bringing with it a warmth that soothed her without making her thoughts fuzzy.

  “There. If you still need to keep re-reading those passages, at least you’ll be able to concentrate. But I’d prefer that you close your eyes for at least an hour. Let your body have a chance to recuperate without any outside interference.”

  “Killy…” Will ran a hand over her scalp and thought she felt the barest hint of stubble beginning to emerge. “How do you kill a Resplendent?”

  Killjorn stared at her. “What are you thinking, Willis?”

  Will noted the glint of fear in the woman’s eyes. “I’m thinking I have two choices facing me. In one of them, duty may force me to protect the base against Vall. The other choice allows me to join him in diffusing the situation with the Objurians.”

  “By protecting the base, you’re thinking you may have to kill Vall?”

  Again, as it had every time she’d thought of it, the idea roiled like slick acid in her stomach. “I pray it won’t come to that. I mean…fekk, I don’t know what I mean.”

  “Then let’s go back and start over. How do you kill a Respendent? Obviously, you can, or else Vall’s parents would still be alive. If they were, I seriously doubt they would leave their child in the care of the Ben Objure, and definitely not for such a long period of time.”

  “But the Ben Objure aren’t that powerful,” Will pointed out. “Their weapons are useless against us, and we’re considered to be the strongest force in the twelve galaxies!”

  “Let’s not forget how Vall was able to penetrate Plymon’s shields with ease. Guess that makes Resplendents stronger than us.”

  Will nodded. “Exactly. So how did they manage to kill a Resplendent?” Leaning over the bed, she plucked the holo wristlet from the bed covers and turned it on. The sight of the rampaging creature loomed above them, sending another shiver of fear through her as she fought off the temptation to imagine the monster as a replica of what Vall could become. “How did they manage to destroy a parent protecting his offspring?”

  “That’s probably the very reason.”

  “What?”

  Killjorn gestured at the image. “His love for his child made him blind. Irrational. He probably attacked without thinking. Either there’s very little in the Objurian archives about how the Ben Objure obtained Vall, or we haven’t found it. And I’m leaning more toward the latter. But I do know that love is more powerful than any weapon, or any species, in the known universe. If the creature was doing everything it could to defend or get its child back, chances are he took risks. He made mistakes. He may have relied too heavily on his appearance and his own abilities to pay attention to what was being thrown back at him.”

  Will bowed her head. “What you’re saying is…love killed him.”

  “Yeah. I guess I am.”

  “The same way love could kill Vall?”

  “Or save him.” Killjorn gave her a hopeful smile. “It works both ways, you know. Have you heard anything further from base?”

  “No, but we should be receiving something from them any time now.”

  “Unless their communications grid has been compromised.”

  Will winced. “Thanks for being such a ray of sunshine.”

  Killjorn let out a little growl of exasperation. “I can’t believe the Ben Objure would be so stupid as to attack Regency Base. However, knowing what they want, I can somewhat understand their reasoning. A hundred and twenty ships. Sounds like they’ve sent the whole fekking fleet.”

  “Don’t forget, there’s also the possibility they could have other species aiding them. We still don’t know who was driving the blue ship.”

  “Nevertheless, it’s stupid on their part to try and get him back by bombarding the base. They must be confident in Vall’s ability to protect himself and survive the barrage.”

  “What if I’m ordered to destroy him, Killy? What if he’s turned, and I have no other choice?”

  The smile faded from the physician’s face. “I don’t know why you’re asking me that question, when you already know the answer.”

  “If he’s turned, what if he doesn’t recognize me? What if he doesn’t remember me?”

  “Worrying about what might or might not happen isn’t an option right now,” Killjorn stated.

  Will nearly launched herself into the woman’s lap. Clenching her hands in fury, she got eye-level with the physician. “Worrying is the only option I have! I have to think of every possibility, every option, every…thing…that could go wrong. I must be prepared.” Her breath hitched as tears stung her eyes. “I must be prepared…or I could lose him, Killy. One wrong move, one bad decision, one false hope, and I could lose him.”

  Killjorn withdrew, but only slightly. “All right. What’s your plan, then? Or do you have one? Don’t forget, you don’t have your armor. Even if you did, I doubt it would give you any protection against Vall if he’s gone rabid.”

  “I’m going in to save him.” Now that she’d said it aloud, the idea didn’t seem so ridiculous.

  “And if he’s turned?”

  “I’m going in to save him.”

  “It could get you killed.”

  “If it does, then you have my permission to destroy him.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Taken

  They were less than four hours away from Regency Base when they received another direct communication.

  “To all Nion warships, return to Regency Base immediately! We are under sustained attack by the Ben Objure and several unknown entities! The star base is demolished! We have gone underground! To all Nion warships—”

  Granth closed the feed. “That’s all of it. That call went out sixteen hours ago.”

  “Magnus, what’s our window?�
�

  “Three hours, forty-eight minutes.”

  “Captain, what is your plan of action?” Plymon asked.

  The navigator turned around in his seat. “With that many vessels in the vicinity, when we jump out of hyperspace, there’s a good chance we could collide with another ship.”

  Will had already suspected such an occurrence, considering the number of ships already at the scene, and probably more joining the fray every hour. It was the biggest danger ships faced when leaving hyperspace, but the majority of the time the chance of impacting with something sitting right where they emerged was less than miniscule.

  “Let’s assume the Ben Objure are attacking directly head-on. There’s the chance we can emerge behind the base.” She glanced at Magnus. “I don’t know if it’s been done before, but can we get within range of the underground bunkers from the back side of the planet? Or underneath the planet, out of view of the attacking vessels?”

  “I’ll get with Felderen and see if we can work it out.”

  “Captain! Incoming communication from the Legion of Mercy.”

  “On screen.”

  “It’s audio only, full dispersal to all within range.”

  “Pipe it in.”

  A high-pitched buzzing noise preceded the message. Captain Alamet’s voice was barely recognizable above the interference.

  “—under attack! I repeat, Regency Base is under attack! To all Nion warships, return immediately to Regency Base! Be advised, use Command Code Orange! Command Code Orange! Do not appear within visual range of the base, or you will be annihilated! I repeat, do not appear within visual range of the base, or you will be annihilated! To all Nion warships, Regency Base is under attack! I repeat, Regency Base is under attack! To all Nion warships, return immediately to Regency Base!”

  Granth closed the communication when Will waved her hand. Beside her, Plymon frowned. “Code Orange?”

  “Refresh my memory,” she ordered. In all the years of her captaincy, she vaguely recalled a Code Orange being issued, and even then it didn’t directly affect her ship. It gave her a small sense of satisfaction to watch Plymon refer to his monitor.

  “Return fire being sent to enemy ships,” he replied, then raised his head to glance over at her. “Return fire from an unknown source. Something on the base is firing back, and it’s not from the base’s weaponry.”

  Will felt a shiver go through her. “The Objurians are being fired upon from Regency Base? From non-Regency weapons?”

  “Who’s firing back?” Magnus spoke aloud what they all were thinking.

  Vall. It had to be Vall. There could be no other explanation. Then what is he using against them?

  “Listen. If there’s unknown artillery firing from the base, we can’t automatically assume it’s allied fire. We have to approach them the same way we approach any enemy or unknown. Magnus, if the front’s taken, where would you go?”

  “The rear, Captain. Or, like you suggested earlier, from beneath.”

  “Unless you’ve come up with a different solution,” Plymon presumed.

  Will smiled. “Magnus, cancel my previous orders. Instead, have us emerge from hyper space in orbit around Surro Three.”

  She was rewarded with surprised looks from everyone.

  “Surro Three will have us approaching the enemy ships from their rear,” Magnus observed.

  “And hopefully every other Nion warship facing them will keep them too engaged to notice us,” Plymon added.

  “If Trinity can’t get me on base from Surro Three, I can certainly get from Three to Two using the transport from Two’s bays.”

  A hand reached out and grabbed the back of her chair. Plymon turned her around to face him. “Your shields aren’t ready. You’ve barely recovered the skinning. I’m going with you.”

  “As are Peersoff and two more of his men. Granth, send a reply to Captain Alamet. Let him know we’re responding, but don’t give out any details. For this to work, we have to be the only ship coming through the back door.”

  Will heard the communications officer begin to reply, when an intense white light suddenly flooded the bridge. It steadily grew brighter, bringing with it a coldness that quickly became unbearable.

  Around her, she sensed her crew erecting their shields. Releasing herself from her harness, she took a couple of steps away from them, knowing they wouldn’t be able to include her inside with them. And she couldn’t risk touching one of them, or else suffer excruciating pain from their auras.

  Shielding her eyes, she caught a faint outline within the center of the light. The outline moved, not quite taking a recognizable form.

  The coldness intensified, until Will could see her breath misting in front of her. It was a bitter frost that slipped beneath her skin and began to cool the blood in her veins. Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned to retreat into the small alcove off the bridge.

  Without warning, a pale arm reached out from brightness. The hand bore almost talon-like fingers with long, pointed nails. She struggled when it caught her by the upper arm, but then a voice whispered inside her head.

  My Will.

  She stopped, and the figure inside the light solidified.

  Vall?

  Faintly, she was aware of people yelling. Someone fired into the brightness.

  The form began to back away, but it pulled her along with it. Unable to free herself, Will allowed herself to be carried into the core, where the air grew warmer.

  In the next instant, the ship disappeared, and she slipped into the light.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Shock

  Plymon yelled as another energy blast zapped into the brilliant light.

  “Shut down! Cease fire! Hold your weapons!”

  Not six feet away, Will stared, enthralled by the spectacle before her. She was shivering, and her skin had taken on a bluish hue from the freezing temperature. Her breath was a cloud puffing from her lips. A quick glance at his inner monitor showed it was minus ten degrees and quickly dropping.

  Something seemed to take possession of her. She didn’t appear to hear their shouts. She didn’t react. Then, to his horror, she began to walk toward the brightness.

  “No! Will, no!”

  There was no way he could grab her and hold her back. Not with his shields up. And if he dropped his aura, there was the chance he could be trapped within the light’s spell like her.

  But he had to try.

  He dropped the protective armor and took a flying leap toward her, reaching out with both hands as unbelievable cold clamped around his body. His fingers started to close around her arm and shoulder, when the light flared, blinding him.

  And Will vanished.

  He landed heavily on the floor and slid a few feet, skinning the side of his face from temple to cheek. The other crew members yelled and raced over to where the light had manifested itself. There was nothing to show it had been there. The cold was gone, as if it had never been. Worse, their captain had disappeared.

  As he rolled over onto his back, Plymon knew his armor would show the temperature would be back at its normal setting. He grunted as he got to his feet and stumbled over to his monitor.

  “Granth! Scan the ship. Find her!”

  “Already scanned, Captain. Her signature is not on board the Trinity.”

  Plymon paused. Already scanned, Captain. With that one brief statement, he realized he was in command. A shudder went through him. Yes, he had always wanted his own ship, but not like this. Not at this expense.

  “Magnus! How long bef—”

  “Three hours, nineteen minutes,” the navigator interrupted.

  “What was that, Captain?” Granth asked. His pale face was duplicated on every other person’s features. Enemy fire, they knew about. Other alien species, they’d encountered many times in the past. But to have their captain snatched from the safety of the ship racing through space had shaken them beyond anything they had ever experienced.

  “Was it the Be
n Objure?” another crew member questioned.

  “No. That wasn’t Objurian.”

  “From the species in the blue ship?” someone else suggested.

  Before he could reply, Magnus voiced what they all were thinking.

  “I hope the Captain is still alive.”

  “We’re all praying the same thing,” he muttered. Pivoting on his heel, he strode off the bridge and took the tube down to the medical bay.

  Killjorn was in the middle of sorting and arranging medicants when he barged in. She glanced up at him just as he stopped inside the doorway.

  “Will’s gone.”

  Her jaw dropped open. “What? Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

  “We were just invaded on the bridge by a blinding, bright light. For some fekking reason, Will walked directly into it and vanished.”

  The physician dropped onto a seat as her legs gave way. “A light? She walked into a light?”

  Plymon motioned toward the monitor. The bridge, like most areas of the ship, remained under constant surveillance. He watch as Killjorn had the computer bring up the video taken of those last few minutes. They watched as Will was talking to the crew members, when the light suddenly appeared almost in the direct center of the room. The glow went incandescent, and the monitor went totally black.

  “What!”

  Plymon reached over the physician and stabbed at the buttons on the dashboard, but the playback remained blank. He hit the fast forward, and within seconds the bridge view returned. Except this time, it showed everyone’s shocked expressions, and the Captain was gone.

  “Back it up,” Killjorn ordered grimly.

  Plymon glanced down at her questioningly, but obeyed, stopping the feed at the point when the glow first appeared. Killjorn took the controls from him, and slowly tapped forward button one micro frame at a time.