Time of Treason

by Susan M. MacDonald

  39

  Riley stood inside Dean’s embrace and seethed. She needed time to come up with a plan. Kholar had a hair trigger where non-Tyons were concerned and wouldn’t hesitate to have her locked up, she now knew. Dean had been quite emphatic. Tyrell wasn’t the problem.

  The floor shifted sideways and Riley nearly fell. Dean tightened his grip. Clearly someone was having trouble steering.

  Riley peeked over Dean’s arms. The central room of the ship was crammed full of Tyon Operatives and most had their orbs out and working. Five were clustered together almost out of sight, their orbs touching and glowing. Several more Operatives were seated along the perimeter, wearing seat belts and grim expressions. Riley could just see Kholar’s back without twisting her position. He was leaning over something. The lighting of the cabin had taken on a reddish hue and Riley didn’t need to feel Dean’s emanated waves of concern to know that they were still in trouble. What now?

  “Calmer now?” Dean murmured close to her ear.

  Riley ignored the question and whispered back. “What’s happening?”

  “We have entered deep water but several rips have appeared and seem to be following us. Ty is evading them as best he can but the rips are demonstrating previously unknown properties and our power is limited.”

  “What’s wrong with the power?”

  “Three of the Operatives who died were trained to power these crafts. Another two got separated and are likely with Logan. We now only have two for this ship.”

  Riley didn’t bother to sort out what he meant. Bottom line: trouble. She struggled to free herself from his arms. Dean frowned but dropped his hold. She focused her attention on Kholar.

  The Commander and his body guard, the hulking presence whose name Riley didn’t know, were both leaning over Tyrell’s shoulder and staring at something out of sight. Riley assumed it was the control panel of the ship, since Tyrell was a pilot. Alec was rigidly standing beside them, just out of touching distance. His face had the expression of pent-up frustration she knew so well.

  Riley groaned silently. If he let go, grabbed his orb and used his power, all hell would break loose. Heaven knew his control was minimal. And if Kholar even had an inkling of just how strong Alec was there was no telling what they’d do to him.

  She got to her feet and ignored Dean’s urgent, “Riley.” She carefully made her way over to where the action was, mindful not to fall into anyone as the ship bucked and twisted. No one paid any attention to her. She stepped around Kholar and sidled up beside Alec. She leaned against Tyrell’s chair and watched Alec out of the side of her eye. His jaw was gritted so tightly the muscles of his neck were standing out in sharp relief. He didn’t even look at her. Carefully, staring straight ahead at Tyrell’s unintelligible control panel, Riley allowed herself to casually lean sideways. Her arm barely came in contact with Alec’s. Practically holding her breath, she plucked her orb from her pocket and let Alec’s emotions wash over her like a tidal wave.

  “The report was unfinished, sir.” Tyrell was speaking out of the side of his mouth. Most of his concentration was on his instruments. “The identity of the Terran was not listed. I presume Logan was interrupted before he could complete it.”

  Riley ignored the pilot. She was far more interested in Alec’s thoughts and the danger he posed to everyone. To say Alec was on edge was like saying the Big Bang had been a nice light show. Fear, anger, impotence, boastfulness, and relief: all there, waiting for the moment to explode. He was practically humming with power.

  A red hexagon on the screen to Tyrell’s right blossomed into crimson brightness. The myriad lines and symbols moving both diagonally and horizontally across the screen were unintelligible but the bright scarlet needed no interpretation.

  “What’s that?” Riley pointed.

  Tyrell brushed her hand away from in front of his face. He didn’t answer. A woman behind them did.

  “Another one, eight-eight-eight,” the Tyon barked. She sounded worried.

  Tyrell muttered something under his breath before waving his hands over the screen and what Riley assumed were the ship’s controls, in a wild manner. She grabbed the back of his chair just in time.

  The ship careened crazily, first to the right, then the left, pitching upwards at an angle that sent most of them falling to the floor. Alec reacted by grabbing onto the closest thing to him: her. One arm swung around her waist and the other grabbed the back of Tyrell’s chair. The force yanked them backwards as the little craft strained forward. Riley’s feet momentarily left the floor. The ship dropped back into position with a jarring thud. She lost her grip on the chair but luckily Alec didn’t. Riley grabbed Alec to keep from being flung into Tyrell’s back and onto the control panel. Her face mashed into his chest and she grunted as her nose hit his breastbone with an uncomfortable smack.

  Behind them, only Kholar had managed to stay upright. Riley caught a glimpse of Paran, a scowl etched across his granite features, pulling himself to his feet. His orb glowed a sickly orange between his clenched fingers.

  “They’re appearing more frequently, sir.” Tyrell’s voice was tense. His hands were still waving over the screens but the ship had settled back to normal although the speed seemed to have slowed down even further. “I believe Ennis is correct. This is purposeful.”

  The instant the floor levelled, Alec’s hand dropped away like Riley was radioactive. In that instant she considered kicking him in the shins.

  “Maintain evasive actions,” Kholar said. His expression remained implacable but Riley felt the anger beneath the surface. “Sensors, focus on the source of the emanations. Calculate occurrence and relate to probability factors.”

  “Engaged,” said one of the Tyons.

  “If the Others are throwing rips at us, we haven’t a chance,” Ennis said so quietly to his co-pilot that Riley barely heard him.

  “Why not?” Riley queried with a gasp. “You do have force fields and stuff that repel rips, don’t you?”

  No one replied. Ennis focused intently on his instruments.

  “Don’t you?” Riley raised her voice.

  “What is a force field?” Kholar gave her a look that could have pickled cucumbers at twenty paces. “Do you have technology that can repel a time/space anomaly?”

  “Hey, you’re the ones with the advanced technology,” Riley snapped back. “I’m the Earth-born kidnap victim. You guys are the aliens with warp drive and phasers.”

  “I am unfamiliar with the terms warp drive and force field, but I understand your question. We do not have the capability of repelling or eradicating a rip. Our information suggests that no civilization does. Nor does our intelligence suggest that rips purposefully attack anything.” He spoke the last few words at Ennis. “Our best defense against this unprecedented incidence of rips is to monitor for their existence and evade them.”

  “The best defense is a good offence,” Riley said.

  “Explain,” Anna spoke from behind her.

  Riley couldn’t help but jump. She’d forgotten all about Anna but it all came flooding back. She took a deep breath. One thing at a time. “Ennis is right. They are after us. Rips do that. If you don’t know it, then your information is out of date.” Kholar’s eyes narrowed but Riley plunged on. She had no choice. “You can either run from them and hope they don’t get you, or you fight back.”

  “There is no method of fighting a rip,” Kholar stated.

  “There’s a third option,” Riley insisted.

  “Inform us, Terran,” Tyrell ordered as he again tilted the ship to avoid the rips, which were now acting as depth charges and surrounding them. “We have limited time.”

  “Disappear.” Riley waited for a moment as the silence that greeted her instructions stretched uncomfortably. “Oh, come on, you guys do it all the time.” She held up her orb. “Poof. You go somewhere else. Move the target, people.”

  Kholar shook his head. “We cannot abandon this ship. Without transport we cannot leave this
planet.”

  “Yeah, well, unless you can outrun the rips, which seem to be increasing in number every five seconds,” Riley said as a Sensor announced the location of yet another rip, “then you’ve got no option. We hit one of those things and it punches a hole in the side of the ship pretty darn quick. We’re under water. I don’t know about you but I only breathe air.”

  “Logic dictates that we keep the ship and remove ourselves from danger. There is no evidence that the time/space anomalies are attacking us nor is there historical experience of this,” Kholar stubbornly replied. “Tyrell, remove us from this area of increased rip production to somewhere safer.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Riley stamped her foot. These people were so thick it hurt. “Ty, how many rips have we avoided?”

  “Fifteen,” Tyrell said as he tipped the ship to the left and quickly righted it again.

  “Plot their locations.”

  Tyrell gave Kholar a quick look but his hands flew over the console and instantly the screen indicated with glowing red hexagons the fifteen rips and the path of the ship. It was obvious to anyone with eyes the hexagons had clustered along the path the ship took. As they watched, another hexagon winked into existence directly in front of the ship. Tyrell took evasive action while a Sensor announced the co-ordinates in the background.

  “See?” Riley pointed. “Coincidence? Not likely. They’re after us.”

  The lighting on the ship suddenly switched to a dark red. The screen in front of Tyrell was instantly ablaze with a dozen new hexagons, completely surrounding the ship. The Sensors shouted out several co-ordinates, none actually audible over Riley and Ennis’s shouts of shock.

  Ennis and Tyrell both made wildly complicated movements with their hands. The ship came to a shuddering, abrupt stop and everyone was pitched forward. Riley lurched into the back of Tyrell’s chair and someone slammed into her from behind with enough force to knock the wind out of her. She pulled herself upright and looked around. Behind her, the Sensors were holding their orbs over their heads and the pulsing yellow glow they emitted was so bright Riley had to shield her eyes. Alec was holding onto Tyrell’s chair with white knuckles. He was staring straight ahead as if seeing something the rest of them couldn’t.

  Riley gave his arm a quick shove to get his attention. Any minute now.

  Kholar held up his hand and the room instantly was silent. “The Others have us surrounded.”

  Tyrell pointed to the screen. “They’re below and above us. There is no way to maneuver out of this. If they move towards us, they’ll contact the hull of the ship. The breach will be instantaneous.”

  “Are they moving?” Kholar asked as he leaned over Tyrell’s shoulder.

  “Momentarily stationary,” Tyrell responded.

  There was a subdued murmuring from the occupants of the ship. Riley swallowed the lump in her throat. She inched closer to Alec, leaning over Tyrell’s chair.

  “Suggestions, sir?” Tyrell’s eyes never left the screen in front of him. Ennis gave a covert look over his shoulder at the commander but said nothing.

  The glowing hexagons ominously seemed to get larger the longer Riley looked at the screen. Was it possible the rips were growing in size? She bit her lip. There was no way she was ending up inside a rip again and she wasn’t too keen on drowning with a sudden hull breach either. The ship lurched slightly again as the water surrounding them fell into the rips. There was a distant roaring of turbulence. Riley’s hand slipped off the chair and she grabbed Tyrell’s shoulder to prevent falling. If they didn’t do something soon, they wouldn’t have to worry about the rips touching the ship; it would be sucked into one.

  “I think—” she began, but Kholar cut her off.

  “Terrans do not give orders on my ship.”

  “Fine.” Riley clamped her lips tightly and muttered under her breath. “Drown then.” She snuck a look at Alec. He wasn’t paying any attention to her. His eyes were glazed and he was almost panting. Whatever was going on in his head, Riley had to get his attention. She leaned subtly against him, then elbowed him in ribs. He didn’t blink. There might be only minutes left. She nudged him again, harder this time. No response.

  “The Terran is right, Kholar,” Anna spoke quietly over Riley’s shoulder. “We must abandon this vessel and teleport to safety. Another craft can be obtained.”

  Kholar gave her a dark look. “It is inadvisable to leave this ship. The data on board cannot be replaced.”

  “Data transfer,” Anna suggested. She pulled the crystal on the chain around her neck out from inside her coveralls. “I can store it here.” Riley had only glimpsed the pendant before. It was a colourless, cylindrical crystal nearly the length and thickness of her index finger and glowed with an uncomfortable light that sent shivers down Riley’s spine. It wasn’t an orb crystal, she instinctively knew, but it was strong with Tyon properties and something else, even more alien. Riley noticed that Ennis quickly looked away from Anna and even Tyrell shifted slightly away.

  Kholar gave a sharp shake of his head. “It is not necessary. There is another solution.”

  “Name it,” Anna challenged.

  “Tyrell, plot the path out of this cluster of rips. Immediately.”

  Tyrell shook his head. “Impossible. The rips occupy every possible configuration. They are moving towards us now. Slowly. Initial impact in sixty.”

  Even Riley could see the hexagons inching their way closer to the ship on the screen. She gulped. Sixty seconds or sixty minutes, either way it didn’t matter. They were toast. Time to get out of there.

  She leaned as close to Alec as she could without being obvious. She tugged on his overalls. “Get ready,” she hissed. But Alec gave no indication that he had heard her or understood the message. Riley gritted her teeth in frustration. She didn’t have the strength to move them, only Alec did. What was wrong with him?

  She reached out and touched Alec’s skin. The usual link to his thoughts was not there. Riley gripped harder and grasped at her own orb with her free hand to boost the connection. Nothing happened. Alec didn’t even blink. What was going on?

  Anna pushed herself in front of Riley, standing only inches from Kholar. Without thinking about what she was doing, Riley let go of Alec and reached out and touched Anna with a finger, just enough to establish contact. It was enough. Anna’s voice was low and tense and Riley doubted that anyone else heard the conversation. It was the contact and her orb that boosted the sound of Anna’s words enough for Riley to hear.

  “I will not jeopardize this mission,” Anna hissed. “Give me the key to download the data.”

  “The data stays on the ship. No one has access,” Kholar said.

  “I must have it. This ship will be breached and we will all die.”

  “Teleport out,” Kholar replied. “Take the Terran boy with you. Meet me at the predetermined co-ordinates.”

  “What will you do?” Anna glanced at the screen and frowned.

  “What I must.”

  Anna looked back at the company of Tyons, then back at Kholar. Riley felt her anger but noted how controlled her voice was, even as her words were dynamite. “Most of the Operatives here cannot teleport. Will you leave them to die?”

  Kholar’s shrug said it all. “Prepare to leave with the boy. Ensure his safety at all cost.”

  Anna nodded once. She reached out and took hold of Alec’s arm. Alec didn’t seem to notice. Anna pulled him off to the side of the room and he followed passively. Worriedly, Riley followed, slipping in behind Alec like a shadow, her fingers crossed that Anna wouldn’t notice. Anna led the way along the wall to the first corridor, the same that she and Kholar had disappeared down only a few minutes before. She turned the corner without giving the company a glance of goodbye. Alec trundled passively behind her.

  Riley looked back. Tyrell was still waving his hands over the console but even this far away she could see the hexagons indicating the dangerous rips continuing to advance. They were almost touc
hing the ship. Dean was not in sight. Several Tyons were looking nervously at the screen and at each other. Whether they knew Kholar had signed their death warrants wasn’t obvious but several were fingering their orbs with trembling fingers.

  Riley gritted her teeth and ducked down the corridor behind Alec as silently as possible. She tried to clamp down on her emotions. Anna was adept at mind reading and would sense the kind of anger that was boiling under her skin a mile away. Hoping that Dean and Tyrell—he had saved her life after all—would manage to teleport out at the last minute, she focused solely on keeping quiet and out of Anna’s sight, yet close enough to grab Alec the second they started to teleport to safety.

  “I know you are behind us,” Anna said as they turned the corner. She didn’t bother to look back at Riley.

  “Yeah, well, where Alec goes, I go.” Riley ran the few steps and caught up with the two of them. Noting Alec’s blank look, she slipped her hand into his and tightened her fingers around his. He didn’t squeeze back.

  “Afraid not,” Anna said. She stopped. They were now out of sight of the main room. Riley’s heart began a rapid tattoo inside her ribs.

  “I’m not planning on dying here on this stupid ship, Anna. Take me with you.”

  Anna cocked her head slightly. She pulled out the crystal pendant from around her neck. It swung free for a moment, catching the red glints from the overhead lights and reflecting them towards Riley. If there was any emotion behind her eyes, Riley couldn’t see it. “There is no reason for me to save your life. Alec is the one required. Your power is limited and ordinary. Potentials such as yourself are common. Your death is not significant.”

  “Thanks a bunch,” Riley spat. If only Darius was here to see that she was right about Anna all along.

  “Let go of Alec’s hand, Riley.”

  “No.”