by SY Thompson
“How confusing all of this must have been for you,” Ronan said. “I admire how you’ve kept fighting, despite the odds.”
Sloan cleared his throat before he spoke but his voice was husky from emotion. “We all do what we must. I just hope that by destroying the ship, we eliminate anyone from the future working in this century. Dutrov and his men will see that the gate is destroyed and hopefully this nightmare will be over.”
“But you’ll die,” Sidney pointed out.
“If that’s the price I have to pay.”
“Maybe not,” Ronan interrupted. “Sidney and I have phase inducers to keep us in this time, but once the gate is gone...who knows.”
“Then you have a decision to make.”
“Why are you so eager to kill yourself?” Sidney asked.
“Trust me, I’m not. But, I took an oath to uphold the law and to protect life. I won’t turn my back on that.”
Ronan appreciated the sacrifice he was willing to make and regretted ever doubting him. Lieutenant Sloan had always been good to her and she lamented that things had to end this way. To honor him, she decided not to try to talk him out of his decision.
“We’ve wasted enough time. Let’s get these explosives planted.”
“I’ll stay here and make sure the charges go off,” Sloan offered.
He led the way to the engine room, back the direction they’d come, without allowing time for them to argue. He took what seemed like a circuitous route around corners, scouting the way first, until they were in the heart of the vessel. Other people wandered to and fro as they carried out various tasks, but they were careful and no one spotted them. Sloan slipped behind some panels where they could hide and the women quickly set to work. Ronan pulled bricks of C-4 from her pocket and pressed them under the panels he indicated.
Ronan thought it ironic that the same hand signals they’d used while they worked together in law enforcement easily transitioned over here. Yet their history made it possible for them to work quietly and efficiently. Sidney didn’t say anything as she pushed detonators into the explosives. With both women planting explosives, the area quickly became crowded and Sloan moved over to the front of the consoles to keep watch. He adopted a relaxed stance apparently meant to imply that his presence wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
Suddenly his posture stiffened and he spoke to someone unseen.
Sidney and Ronan froze while the man engaged in a conversation and from his tone of voice; he was trying to direct the other person to another work area. Unfortunately, the man didn’t seem to want to comply and his voice rose in obvious anger. The exchange grew more heated and just when Ronan feared the man would push past Sloan he gave up the argument and walked away.
Sloan relaxed only marginally and leaned down to whisper. “You’d better hurry. I told him this workstation was off limits and he’s gone to inform his superior. Two more charges will do, they’ll cause a chain reaction when they explode.”
Ronan quickly placed the last two explosives and set the detonator for a ten-minute countdown. If they didn’t manage to get out of here before then, it wasn’t likely to matter anyway.
“Done,” she whispered as Sidney pushed the last detonator into place.
Sloan glanced down nervously and nodded before he began working back toward the exit. Ronan and Sidney stayed crouched and followed behind him slowly. They were right behind him when the doors to the engine room suddenly parted and the disgruntled maintenance worker returned with not only his superior but also a full patrol right behind him.
“Nehmen Sie sie in Gewahrsam.”
The patrol swept around the startled supervisor and leveled heavy rifles at them. Ronan and Sidney looked at each other and swallowed nervously before they stood to their full height. Ronan managed to slip the detonator control, still counting down the minutes, into her pocket without anyone seeing.
“Halt,” one of the guards shouted.
Another person, without the guards’ equipment, swooped around the patrol and confronted Sloan. The woman was small, barely as tall as Sidney was. Blonde hair pulled back into a severe bun, she sported a mean smile that curved the corners of her mouth. She didn’t seem surprised to see the trio.
“I am the imperial leader of the newly commissioned Konservative fleet, Odon, and I see we have a traitor. When I heard a stranger was giving orders in the engine room, I knew it had something to do with the supposed false alarm we experienced earlier. You have brought these people onto our ship to destroy us and end our rightful rule.”
Faster than anyone could anticipate, Sloan reached under his jacket and pulled out a laser pistol. He fired quickly and dove to the side.
“Lee, you have to get out.”
The patrol returned fire as they scattered to the sides. One of them got in a lucky shot and Ronan heard Sloan cry out in pain. She and Sidney were pinned down beside him and she couldn’t see another way out.
Sloan grabbed onto her arm as laser fire flew over their heads. “Use the matrix.”
The matrix. Ronan had forgotten about it. Quickly she reached into her pocket and pulled out the device. As she reached for the green control at the top, a shot of red-hot energy creased the side of her leg and caused her to jerk and pull back. Ronan dropped the crystal as she grabbed her injured leg. The matrix hit the ground heavily and she was dismayed to see a small chip fly off the side of the emerald crystal.
“Damn,” Sidney cursed and reached for the matrix. “It’s busted.”
“Use it before we all die,” Sloan said.
Ronan hooked one arm through Sidney’s and grabbed hold of Sloan’s wrist. She did not intend to leave him behind. Sidney activated the device and the engine room suddenly disappeared. With the matrix damaged, she wondered if it would work and hoped that if it did, they would actually end up back on the planet instead of drifting in space. Seconds later, they were looking up from a chilly mountaintop. It was near dark and crickets sang merrily in the shadows. From the familiar sounds, Ronan could only assume that they had indeed arrived in the right destination. Sloan grunted in pain and drew her attention.
“Hang on,” she said. “We’ll get you to a hospital.”
Sloan actually chuckled. “And then what? I don’t exactly have insurance or proper identification. It doesn’t matter anyway. In a moment, the ship will explode and I’m pretty sure I won’t survive my wounds. Either way, it’s all over.”
There wasn’t any comfort she could offer. This man had been her friend in the beginning, had become the faceless enemy, and come back around full circle to being an ally. Yet she was powerless to help him without any of the medical equipment from her own century. Sidney slipped her arms around Ronan and held her from behind while the three of them gazed up into the night sky. Suddenly, an orange light flared briefly before it arced into space and disappeared. To the casual observer it would look like nothing more than a shooting star.
Ronan looked down at Sloan. He offered her a smile. “It’s better this way. After all, how would I explain my presence?”
His passing was almost anticlimactic. Sloan simply closed his eyes and stopped breathing. For many long moments, Ronan sat in the grass beside him and just looked down at the friend she used to know. Gradually, she realized he appeared less real...less there. At first, she thought she imagined it, but then she realized he’d begun to fade. Soon, she could see the grass where it lay mashed beneath him. Then he disappeared from view. Ronan didn’t know what to think, but Sidney supplied the answer.
“Dutrov must have destroyed the gate. Everything is going back to how it should be.”
Sidney held on as she shook in reaction. Sloan might have been misguided, but he’d never been an enemy. If it hadn’t been for him, they probably would have died within the first ten minutes on the ship.
Ronan gathered the tattered remnants of her composure while Sidney held her. The night deepened and the sounds of nocturnal creatures rustled all around them. The moon rose high ov
erhead before Ronan finally pulled away from Sidney and stood. Her face was quiet, but the stains of her dried tear tracks shone on her cheeks in the moonlight.
Sidney indicated the phase inducers they both wore beneath their jackets and asked, “Should we take these things off?”
“No, not yet. I don’t want us to merge with our counterparts and risk pulling them here onto this mountaintop. Let’s wait until we get home.”
Sidney nodded and they started to walk toward the lights of a nearby town. They found a dusty country road that led in the right direction and walked quietly for a while. Ronan absently noticed that Sidney’s muscles had hardened over the time she had known her and she seemed quite comfortable after their exertion.
After a while Sidney asked, “Why do you think they wanted to impose a despotic government?”
Ronan thought about the question carefully before she answered. “I think you were right before, power goes to some people’s heads. They get a little taste and they want more. They want everyone to see how much better they are, how much they deserve to lord over the little people.” She slid an arm around Sidney’s shoulders and pulled her close. “At least now the professor will live again...and Sloan.”
“I don’t want to think about this anymore right now. I have a movie to finish and we have new memories to make when we get home. That’s what I want to focus on. Do you think we’ll forget everything we’ve been through?”
“I don’t know. The professor said our consciousness would merge, but I expect we’ll remember quite a lot. It might seem a little foggy, almost like a dream.”
“As long as we don’t forget each other. Did I ever tell you how sexy your accent is?”
Ronan squeezed her slightly. “You might have mentioned it once or twice.”
IT HAD BEEN seven months since the damaged matrix had deposited them onto a mountaintop in rural Utah and they’d since merged with their counterparts. Sidney finished her movie and Ronan moved in with her. Brannon, Sidney’s stalker, had been captured and Roger was safe. The only uproar had been that a few public figures disappeared under mysterious circumstances and the FBI feared kidnapping. Strangely, no ransom notes ever appeared. With the disappearance of President-elect Angstrom, Congress swore David Abrams in as Commander-in-Chief.
Sidney was happy not to have involved him the second time around in the Regime fiasco and best of all there had been no riots or shimmering Guard imposters revealed on the steps of the Capitol. Memories began to haze over a little, but Sidney retained enough to remember Ronan’s incredible gadgets and to know that she was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to her.
Lying in Ronan’s arms with the scent of their lovemaking heavy in the air, she couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be. They’d been through hell and high water and still managed to come out all right.
“What are you thinking about?” Ronan asked, gently tracing her lips along Sidney’s jaw.
“Us. I was just thinking that I don’t know what kind of life we’re going to have together, but I don’t think being with you will ever be boring.”
Ronan smiled and rolled over to lie on top of Sidney. She planted kisses on the corners of Sidney’s mouth, rekindling the passion that simmered just beneath the surface.
“No,” she agreed breathlessly. “Never boring.”
About the Author
S. Y. joined the Marine Corps at the age of seventeen and spent ten years serving her country. After two tours in Lebanon and participation in the invasion of Grenada, she returned to the States and decided it was time to lay down roots. Instead she joined the San Diego Sheriff’s Department and spent another seven years in law enforcement before an on-the-job injury forced retirement. S. Y. returned to Texas, her home of record, and wrote Janeway/Seven fan fiction for ten years before deciding to publish. She is now a full-time student and a senior at Texas A&M. S. Y. is studying criminology with a minor in psychology. Her days are filled with writing, going to school and playing with her two dogs and four cats (plus the strays that drop by for dinner on a daily basis). A
More S.Y. Thompson Titles
Under The Midnight Cloak
Lee Grayson is a nature photographer whose father is a senator in New York. She’s never felt close to him and her faith in people as a whole is lacking. She moves to the town of Harmon deep in the Adirondack Mountains after inheriting her great aunt’s estate, but the local townspeople seem a little...off. Then she meets Ranger Jamison Kessler and learns there’s a killer running rampant around the area. Jamison seems to be hiding things from her and Lee is starting to become suspicious.
Lee discovers that her aunt was a central part of this community and that she possesses the woman’s unique abilities. She and Jamison are falling for each other, but things take a turn for the worse when the murderer sets his sights on Lee and a cure for his condition which he believes her to be harboring. Their situation is further complicated by the fact that the killer isn’t even human. Neither is Jamison
Now You See Me
Corporate attorney Erin Donovan has nothing on her mind except representing her clients to the best of her abilities. One fateful day, she shows an irritating new client, Carson Tierney, around the tenth floor space of her own building and her life takes an unforeseen direction.
Carson is an awe-inspiring woman by anyone’s standards. Possessing genius-level intelligence that has allowed her to become a self-made millionaire of a computer software company, Carson still has a dark secret that could be her undoing.
When the two are thrust together to escape a deadly killer in a high-rise office building while a blizzard rages outside, they have no one to count on but each other. So begins an unexpected yet tender romance. However, unchecked love and desire isn’t in their future. The murderer is still out there and he’s coming for them. Will Carson’s street-wise skills protect them both as Erin attempts to discover the killer’s identity just as relentlessly as he is seeking their demise?
Coming next from S. Y. Thompson
Destination Alara
In the 24th Century technology has evolved but greed and war are constant. A rookie starship captain but a veteran of the recent Gothoan War, Vanessa Cote searches the outer rim of the galaxy for any sign of rebel activity. Her favorite pastimes are kicking enemy butt and making time with the ladies. The last thing Van wants is to team up with the Andromeda System’s heir apparent and leader of the Coalition flagship, Princess/Admiral Cade Meryan.
Coal black hair, piercing grey eyes and skin the color of fresh cream threaten Vanessa’s professional boundaries, but focus she must when faced with repeated attempts on Cade’s life. The fate of millions and the threat of galactic war rest on Van’s shoulders. Whatever the outcome, their lives will never be the same.
Look for it in July 2014
Other Silver Dragon Books You Might Also Enjoy
Partners: Book One
by Melissa Good
After a massive volcanic eruption puts earth into nuclear winter, the planet is cloaked in clouds and no sun penetrates. Seas cover most of the land areas except high elevations which exist as islands where the remaining humans have learned to make do with much less. People survive on what they can take from the sea and with foodstuffs supplemented from an orbiting set of space stations.
Jess Drake is an agent for Interforce, a small and exclusive special forces organization that still possesses access to technology. Her job is to protect and serve the citizens of the American continent who are in conflict with those left on the European continent. The struggle for resources is brutal, and when a rogue agent nearly destroys everything, Interforce decides to trust no one. They send Jess a biologically-created agent who has been artificially devised and given knowledge using specialized brain programming techniques.
Instead of the mindless automaton one might expect, Biological Alternative NM-Dev-1 proves to be human and attractive. Against all odds, Jess and the new agent are swept into a relationship neithe
r expected. Can they survive in these strange circumstances? And will they even be able to stay alive in this bleak new world?
Universal Guardians: The Royal Descendant
by Michele Coffman
After the tragic death of her mother when she was eleven, Casey Malanight finds herself parentless, and left in the care of her grandmother and the house staff at the Malanight Castle. Raised with much love and guidance, she grows into a strong attractive woman, with a good heart and an intelligent mind. Able to choose any path that she wants, Casey finds her soul drawn toward a role as a protector, in the form of a police detective for the New York City Police Department. However, everything is not as it seems.
Elizabeth Malanight, a strong independent woman who has made many difficult decisions throughout her life, finds herself faced with the most challenging one yet...her Granddaughter Casey must die, and she must be the one who sees it through.
Casey quickly discovers that everything about her life is a lie. A fabrication designed to hide, not just the truth involving her life, but her Human heritage as well. Not only is there life out there, but she is more connected to it than she knows.
This is a unique sci-fi story shown through the eyes of the Malanight family. Their mission is to guard Earth from species millions of light-years away.
Take a journey around the cosmos in an adventure that will leave you wondering, if there really is life out there.?
VISIT US ONLINE AT
