Star Angel: Awakening (Star Angel Book 1)

by David G. McDaniel

  At that he straightened to his full height and put his hands on her shoulders.

  “They said you were found dead in the woods.” He couldn’t believe it. “You made it to the car?”

  She nodded.

  “And … it exploded?”

  What had they told him? “I was on my way to the city when they ran me off the road.”

  Zac stared at her.

  “You got to the car and came back to the city?”

  “I had to rescue you,” she said, feeling the intensity of his gaze.

  “You found the car and came to rescue me?” He couldn’t seem to stop asking questions.

  “I couldn’t leave you,” she said. It sounded so simple to say it.

  “You came to rescue me?”

  Now she laughed at him. A teary-eyed laugh. “Yes,” she said, wiping a few away. “I had to save you.”

  He seemed rocked by this revelation.

  “I love you,” he said impulsively—with absolute sincerity—and her heart skipped. Nearly froze in her chest. Whether he meant he loved what she’d done, loved her as a friend or … that he loved her as she loved him, the unexpected declaration floored her.

  Don’t say that! she closed her eyes, knees wobbling again. Lost in that instant, unsure of her next words.

  But an explosion shattered the moment.

  She stifled a scream. Zac was calm, looking for the source. When he confirmed it was just a random shot he turned to her.

  “I’m a Kazerai,” he said, moving to the real matter at hand. They were in the middle of war, and he was one of the bad guys.

  Jess swallowed back the emotions gripping her; turned her attention to the chaos all around. What Zac meant, of course, was that he would never be accepted by the Venatres. The only safe place for her.

  “You don’t have to be,” she spoke quickly, worried he was about to say something she didn’t want to hear.

  “I’ve done things that won’t easily be forgiven.”

  “It’s okay.” Was it? Without thinking she put her hands on his chest, his skin damp with her tears—feeling the hard muscle beneath. It was too bold, yet she thrilled with it. “You’re here now,” she said. “With me. We can sort it out.” Around them the battle raged. “You can’t change what you’ve done. You can change your future.”

  He looked off into the sky; into the distance, away from everything. “I feel like I just need to get away,” he said. “Far away.”

  And for a fleeting instant she imagined the perfect solution. Maybe he could go back with her, solving everything. Earth would be plenty far away. Give him time to find himself, to decide what came next.

  Only that would solve nothing. I’ll just hide him in the playhouse, she thought in sheer despair, the same ridiculous thoughts plaguing her that had been all along. His marriage can wait. I’ll bring him donuts in the morning and we’ll hang out in the barn after school. Maybe Bianca and Toby can come over and we’ll play board games at night, then I’ll tuck him in where no one will find him. He’d be great at opening jars. And reaching things on the top shelf, if I can keep him out of sight of Mom and Dad ...

  Emotions surged and she nearly cried again.

  But another blast rocked the air and Zac grabbed her without hesitation, curling her into his arms. She gasped at being picked up so suddenly, then relaxed into his embrace.

  And as he held her he felt the device strapped to her hip. His eyes went wide and he looked down, having somehow missed it beneath the tunic. He stared at it now, a lump strapped tight against her. Holding her with one arm he shifted his other and touched it tentatively, feeling the distinct shape beneath the rough fabric.

  He looked at her in surprise. “Is that …”

  She nodded.

  He was incredulous: “You found it?”

  She looked into his wonderful blue eyes, breath growing shallow. The moment stretched as he seemed to be playing possible scenarios in his own mind—just as she had. She could find nothing to say, no way to put into words the doubts consuming her.

  But Zac, for the moment, was simply astonished.

  “Incredible,” he said, face an expression of marvel, “you just keep getting more and more amazing.” It was writ plain in his gaze; You found the Icon! piecing together the obvious: You got into the Crucible, found the Icon and stole it back …

  You came to rescue me!

  She could see these feelings for her rushing through him. And his expression changed as, clearly, the crux of the moment weighed upon him too. He looked at her more seriously now.

  And, with quiet sincerity, asked:

  “What should we do?”

  But she didn’t know. She didn’t know any more now than she did then and she couldn’t say and the indecision wracked her.

  BOOM! that one landed close and Zac was suddenly all business. “We’ll figure it out,” he said, clenching her tighter with both arms. “Don’t tense. Let me absorb the impacts.”

  She nodded, trying to reassure him of her fortitude. Convinced she just ended up looking weak.

  “Here we go,” he said and went to the edge. She felt his steps, closed her eyes as they stopped at the edge of the roof, pinched them tighter and … he leapt into thin air. Vertigo gripped her and she grunted against the rising force in the pit of her stomach.

  But they hit too soon. Did he aim for something other than the ground? She opened her eyes, catching a glimpse of another roof before her eyelids were knocked shut again. He ran, cradling her head and limbs, gently yet firmly, and she tried a few more times to see what was going on, the whole thing a swirl of disorienting images; the impact of landings and leaps jarred her vision, churning her stomach. Running across rooftops, leaping across chasms, trying not to bite her tongue, trying not to faint, not to tense, letting him protect and carry her. It was like being a backpack or something on some whacked out, superhuman parkour runner in the middle of an all-out war.

  It was insane.

  Then they were on top of the outer wall. She recognized it; saw the open plain beyond. The sounds of battle grew louder, pounding her assaulted senses. Then he was saying “Hold on” and they were in space, this time falling far. Far enough for her to begin freaking out about the impact, anticipation of hitting the ground overriding all other thoughts. Then …

  WHUMP! the sound of his feet against the dirt and tumbling in that same instant and … nothing. When she came to they were running. Jogging with long strides, Zac holding her tight against his chest, supporting her head, her legs loose and flapping up and down at the knees. She got control of her feet and held them steady, trying to move her body in rhythm with his gait.

  Sore but alive.

  “I’m taking you to the Venatres,” he said, seeing she was alert. She craned her head, trying to get a better view of the battlefield, and saw at once he’d brought them down beyond the perimeter and was now running parallel to the closest engagement, heading for the nearest line of Venatres.

  Then she spotted a detachment of Skull Boys headed their way.

  Even as she saw them they brought up their cannons. Zac slowed and turned her in his arms, holding her so they could at least see he carried an unarmed human. Jess began waving to get their attention. Nervously she felt the Icon beneath the tunic.

  In no time the Skull Boys drew close, slowing, and soon the two groups were standing face to face. Jess looked up into the skull-like helmet masks of the five units, towering above Zac, massive in proximity. She’d seen the suits at rest, seen them from inside, but so far hadn’t seen them in action up close like this. Even the samurai robots of the Dominion had been further away. In the daylight and in person they were frighteningly lethal, hydraulics making little noises as they responded to slight adjustments, armor popping—the big barrels of their heavy cannons pointing right at them. Zac just stood there, staring them down. She found it hard to believe, being before them like this, he could ever fight them and win. But he had. Quite easily in fact. Took her down in
one of them, showing restraint by not pounding her to pieces.

  She looked up into his face as the stare-down continued, then turned back to the Skull Boys.

  “I’m with Satori,” she informed them, hoping Satori was somehow involved in this little invasion. She indicated Zac: “He just rescued me.” She pointed to the Crucible. Realizing as she said all this that there wasn’t much to convince them. Zac was a bad guy and had only just recently been pounding their fellow operators. She herself would likely be unknown, wore nothing but a ragged tunic, had flecks of blood on her dirty feet and legs and, with the recent crying and all else—she could only imagine—must look like little more than a refugee. Actually, she thought, there was nothing to convince them. It was a wonder they hadn’t shot already.

  But they held. Discussing something internally, it seemed, then one of them spoke through the PA.

  “Come with us,” that one said and indicated a group of landed ornithopters in the near distance. Zac followed, still carrying her, jogging fast, the Skull Boy units surrounding them, ready to fire at a moment’s notice.

  And in no time at all there was Satori. Standing near one of the ornithopters. Before they got close enough to make out any other features Jess spotted her bright red ponytails blowing in the wind. She saw their approach and turned from what she was doing to meet them.

  Zac put Jess down and she ran to her, ignoring the snap of the Skull Boys as they reacted, prepared to defend their commander.

  “It’s okay,” Satori advised them, holding up a hand. Jess pulled up short, unsure whether to hug her, wave, curtsey, or just start talking. Satori was in the heat of battle, a dozen emotions conflicting openly across her face. Not least of which was likely a concern for Willet.

  Talking seemed best. “We were captured,” Jess tried quickly to answer the questions crowding her expression. “Willet may still be alive. Unless they’ve moved him I know where to find him.”

  This focused Satori’s strained attention.

  “He’s alive?”

  Jess nodded. “When I last saw him he was fine.” And Satori seemed more relieved by that than Jess thought the tough commander probably ever had been.

  Before she could ask more questions Jess forged on.

  “I think I killed the Shogun,” she said, and this got the attention of those within earshot. Jess looked pointedly at Zac, then the Skull Boys, the nearby commanders, and to an isolated spot away from it all.

  “Can we be alone?” she asked.

  Satori agreed. Zac stayed near the Skull Boys and the others. A few steps later, toward the rear of the ornithopter, Satori and Jess stopped and stood alone near the bay.

  “I found this.” Jess reached beneath the tunic, found a little modesty as she realized she was exposing herself but, again, not enough to care, undid the strap and pulled out the Icon.

  The battle seemed to fade into the background. Satori stared at her in absolute, barefaced awe.

  When she spoke her voice was quiet. “You killed the Shogun?” Jess confirmed the likelihood of this with a nod. Satori went on: “And you found the Icon ...” She stared openly at it, almost mesmerized.

  “You found the Icon …”

  “Then Zac saved me,” Jess filled in the blank, looking over her shoulder at Zac—who stood patiently several paces away between the towering, black Skull Boys.

  Now Satori turned her attention to this threat, unable to fully wipe the astonishment from her face. She shook her head and beckoned Zac over. The Skull Boys readied their cannons, taking a fresh, aggressive stance as the Kazerai went over and stood near her and Jess. One of the most deadly of the super warriors—perhaps the most deadly—now stood within arm’s reach of their commander. At her invitation.

  Satori studied Zac, looking up into his face with a stern gaze. Like a mother about to discipline her overgrown child. Jess swallowed in witness of Satori’s strength in that moment, knowing full well she realized how easily Zac could kill them all. The battle raged, sharp sounds of conflict peppering the air, backed by the steady bass of explosions. The Skull Boy group a dozen yards away held their guns steady. Satori stared. Just … staring.

  Figuring out what to do with this enigma.

  “You’ve done some terrible things,” she said at last. “The name Horus is feared among many.”

  Zac glanced at Jessica, then back to Satori.

  “Please,” he said. “Call me Zac.”

  CHAPTER 41: WAR OF THE KAZERAI

  “Incoming call from the Dominion agent,” one of Satori’s juniors interrupted the moment, shouting from the control station up near the front of the ‘thopter. Satori looked toward him, motioning Jess to keep the Icon concealed.

  “One sec,” she nodded to him, then back to Jessica, explaining who the “Dominion agent” was: “Your friend, Darvon.”

  Suddenly Jess was excited. “Darvon made it?!” Darvon’s alive! “Where is he?!”

  The junior officer shouted back: “He’s holding.”

  “Oh, he made it all right.” Satori had an almost sour look on her face. “He’s the one who called to let us know you,” and at this she looked pointedly at Zac, “were on your way to slaughter us.”

  Zac shifted where he stood, uncomfortable for the first time in the conversation. Regretting every bad decision he’d ever made. Jess didn’t know what slaughter Satori meant, but if Zac’s plans had been aborted then so much the better.

  Right then Darvon’s survival was forefront in her mind.

  “Where is he?!” she hoped she’d get to see him.

  “On his way here.” Satori shook her head, then reached for the Icon. “Let’s get this somewhere safe.” And for a brief, awkward instant Jess resisted the urge to hold onto it; to not give it up. To anyone. But it was the right thing to do. Put it somewhere safe until things could be figured out. At least now it was with the good guys, which gave her time to think. Reluctantly she let it go and Satori took it, holding it a moment in disbelief. It’s the frickin Holy Relic! she seemed to be thinking.

  That dreamlike moment passed and she turned and carried the shiny device, discreetly, into the bay of the ornithopter.

  Jess asked after her. “Can I take the call? Darvon?”

  Satori shrugged as if she didn’t care, looking around the interior for somewhere to put the priceless device. Jess watched her decide on a sturdy storage compartment and place the Icon inside; eyes still wide, as if unable to process the fact they now held the one thing everyone was trying to get their hands on—the center of this entire world’s attention—and all they could do for now was put it in a simple lockbox.

  Jess hurried over to the control station, asked to speak to Darvon and was handed a communicator.

  “Darvon?” she said into it, eager.

  She didn’t have to wait long. “Jessica?!” His voice was ecstatic; panting but filled with new energy. She found him on the scanner with the help of the officer and talked him in. When he was close she handed back the communicator and ran out to greet him as he jogged up from the safe distance, limping in his Skull Boy armor. Zac went with her and together they helped him get his helmet cap off. His face was flushed and sweaty but he was beaming ear to ear, so happy to see her she almost blushed. He wanted to hug her but there was no good way to do it.

  “Help me get out of this thing,” he said impatiently, looking down at them both as he hurried to take off the giant suit. It became his sole focus—beside himself that Jess was alive—and in no time, with both of their help, the jovial, dumpy, sweaty Darvon was out of the Skull Boy armor and squeezing her in an overwhelmed embrace, lifting her off her feet. She and Zac both laughed at his enthusiasm.

  “You found Horus,” he said as he put her down, looking to Zac. “I knew you would.”

  “Zac,” she corrected and Zac extended a hand. Darvon took it and they shook.

  “Darvon,” he introduced himself, still out of breath. “Thank you for protecting her.” Jess thrilled at the bonding between t
he two men. Unlike everyone else, Darvon accepted Zac at once without question. If Zac was with her, then Zac was a saint as far as Darvon was concerned.

  He stared in open admiration at her and all at once she remembered she wore nothing but the rough prison tunic. All at once she wanted to be out of that ugly thing and into regular clothes; to be back to normal. But Darvon didn’t care. Darvon, sweet Darvon, stared at her the same as he always had. Like she was the most wonderful thing to come into his life. Into any of their lives. She was an angel, and in his face was that same reverence of before; like she had an aura about her, or actual wings, and had just alighted softly to the ground, barely hovering. Intermingling with the helpless mortals.

  Zac interrupted his reverie.

  “I need to go back,” he said, a slight hesitation in his voice. Jess turned to him.

  “Back?”

  He nodded.

  “I’ve got to face Kang.”

  She swallowed. Realizing Kang had to be stopped, of course, and Zac was the only one to do it. Now that he’d chosen sides, now that he was officially against the Dominion, he had to remove the enemy’s most deadly weapon. He had to, frankly, kick Kang’s ass. Zac looked confident, standing calmly against the backdrop of war, but his eyes betrayed his doubt. And that doubt, of course, had to do little with his own ability. It had everything to do with her.

  She pulled herself together. Determined to be strong for his sake.

  “I understand,” she told him.

  He touched the side of her head, looked tenderly into her eyes and she nearly melted.

  “Don’t worry,” he assured her.

  “I won’t,” she said, heart racing.

  For a moment he paused. Conflicted, it seemed, then, wanting to get on with it—wanting, she realized, to cover his own emotions—he turned without another word and went to Satori and the command area. And as he walked away she ached, wrestling with the urge to run and grab him, but held herself steady, being strong, watching as he took Satori aside and spoke with her. Tall and muscular, a specimen among the other humans, he conversed with the red-headed commander until they seemed to come to an understanding and, with one glance back, he was off and running. Across the field of battle, faster—impossibly fast—into the fray and out of sight.