“Ethosien,” she said. Her green bracelet glowed and her battle armor formed around her. A suit made of flexible, leaf-green metal. Agile and deadly. Lisara, though, smiled at her in amusement. Chris was used to it. People always thought she was a pushover whenever they got a glimpse of her suit. She didn't blame them. Her suit wasn't exactly a ten on the ‘Fear instilling’ scale but that didn't matter to her. She had a surefire method of putting people in their places when it came to her suit. She pulled out a crossbow from her back in a flash and shot an arrow, cutting off a strand of Lisara’s red hair.
She yelped out in fright, “What in the world?!”
Chris laughed, “Always gets them.”
Lisara couldn't help chuckling as well, “I guess that’s payback for my chuckling.”
“Yup,” she laughed.
“You can't blame me for underestimating you though. I mean, c’mon. You look like Tinker Bell.”
“Tinker Bell is pretty cool too,” she chuckled.
They went on ahead. All of a sudden she felt an aura of energy pass through her. Something powerful was nearing. She saw a humanoid figure at the end of the corridor, a hundred pieces of metal floating in the air about it. Chris’ eyes widened. One name struck her immediately.
Kai. He seemed to be in attack mode
He must have thought we’re guards, she realized.
She was about to alert him, when suddenly she saw a dark shadow slither behind him. He was in danger. A rush of adrenaline hit Chris. She held out her crossbow and fired an arrow in one fluid motion. The shadow stumbled to the ground. She had hit her target smack in the middle.
“Kai!” she yelled as she ran with Lisara fast on her heels. The metal pieces dropped onto the ground as soon as she called out to him.
Kai lay on the floor holding a girl. His attacker, no doubt.
“Kai?” Chris asked.
“Chris?” he looked up at her with mixed emotions of delight and remorse.
She didn't understand what was going on. Kai looked worriedly at a girl who lay on the ground. She was probably the shadow that she had seen behind Kai. What exactly was Kai doing worrying about her?
First of all, this girl had tried to attack him, hadn't she? And second of all, even though she thought she hit the bullseye she was off by a long shot. The arrow hadn't even bruised the girl, which made her wonder why she had collapsed in the first place.
“Kai, who’s that?” Chris asked him.
“That’s Trisha,” he said.
“Sis!” Lisara ran forward
“Who’s that?” Kai asked.
“That’s Lisara.”
“Wait a minute!” Kai and Chris said at once “Sis?!”
Trisha sat up and rubbed her eyes “Lisara?” she squinted.
“Oh my god, It is you!” Trisha threw her arms around Lisara and hugged her tight.
Chris and Kai looked at each other “Sis?!” they asked again.
“Okay, Okay. You only have to say it once,” Lisara smiled.
“I’m Lisara’s elder sister,” Trisha said.
“Wait, just how old are both of you?” Kai said.
“I’m 15,” Lisara said. “And Trisha’s 16.”
“I can't believe she’s your sister.”
“It’s a small world,” Kai laughed.
“This is a nice warm moment, but we better get moving,” Lisara said.
“Yeah,” Chris said. “The alarms were set off when we mauled a secure door. The cadets are probably after us already.”
“You didn't set off the alarms,” Kai laughed. “The alarms were set off when the security system realized we had broken into the main control room.”
“Wouldn’t the alarms have sounded the moment you broke in?” Chris raised an eyebrow.
“We used a pass when we got in,” he said. “The alarms went off when we tried to hack into the computer system. Plus, the alarms couldn't have gone off when you crushed a door. They’re not programmed to go off for such trivial things.”
“GANGWAY!” yelled a voice.
Trisha and Lisara looked puzzled but Chris and Kai knew exactly who it was.
Carlos ran smack into them and crashed into the floor. A girl landed right next to him and folded up her snow white wings behind her back.
“Elizabeth!” Chris exclaimed and hugged her.
“Boy aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Elizabeth smiled.
She looked behind Chris, “Who’re those two?” she asked.
“Elizabeth, Lisara. Lisara, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Trisha. Trisha, Elizabeth,” she said in one breath.
Juliana walked out as well, and helped Carlos back onto his feet.
“Juliana!” Chris said. Everyone was coming together now.
“Chris!” Juliana exclaimed and hugged her. “It’s so nice to see you.”
She paused.
“Err…Who are those two?” she asked.
Chris groaned, “Alright. Last time,” she took a deep breath.
“Lisara, Carlos. Carlos, Trisha. Trisha, Juliana. Juliana, Carlos. Carlos, Lisara. Lisara, Juliana. Trisha, Carlos. Juliana, Trisha.”
When she finished she was so out of breath she felt she’d collapse.
“I’m sorry sweetie, but that’s not what I meant,” Juliana said, “I already know Lisara and Trisha. I wanted to know who those two men are.”
Chris turned around immediately. A door had slid open from the walls adjacent to the corridor and two men stood at the doorway, holding blasters that were aimed right at them.
Kai flicked his wrist. The door slid into Baddie #1’s ankle. He yelled out in pain and fell onto Baddie #2, pushing him to the floor and knocking him unconscious. Kai pushed both of them inside the room and flicked his wrist again. The door closed immediately.
“What men?” he smiled.
“Wait, you know Lisara and Trisha?” Chris asked.
“How would you know them? They’re with the enemy.”
Carlos chuckled, “On the contrary. They’re Aliea’s secret agents.”
“What?!” Kai and Chris exclaimed.
“Basically, they’re our spies,” he said.
Chris felt like an idiot and she was sure Kai felt the same way too. She turned to Lisara, “So that thing about your sister-”
“A complete lie.”
“So you’re spies for Aliea?”
“Yup.”
“And you didn't feel like telling us why?”
“We needed to assess the situation before revealing our identities,” Trisha said.
“Plus, we should be asking you guys the same thing,” Lisara said, “You never told us you were from Aliea. We had to find out on our own.”
“Fair enough,” Chris said. She realized how difficult it would’ve been for any of them to reveal their true identities and allegiances.
“Wait, so why did the alarms activate anyway?” Kai asked.
“There they are!” a few men charged down the corridor.
Carlos rubbed his head “Oh yeah. That was kinda my fault,” he grinned.
“We figured it kinda was,” Kai chuckled.
Chris smiled. She had a warm feeling in her heart. This felt like old times again. Sure, they were knee-deep in trouble. But now she was with all her friends.
Together.
And together is an amazingly powerful thing.
***
Q watched as Jade led the missile straight towards him. Powerful gusts of wind surged as the griffin flapped his massive wings, kicking up the loose desert sand into the air. Q looked to his right and saw Burke, who was charging away from him at full throttle.
Perfect, Q thought. He had asked both Jade and Burke to isolate him. It wasn’t safe for them to be around him while he tried to take out the missile.
Jade held course until he was about a mile from Q, and then swerved away, heading towards Burke instead.
It’s time, Q realized. His plan was being set into motion. He flexed his muscles and shot to his left. This
was the tricky part. The missile was obviously motion targeted; meaning it could lock onto moving objects. Now that both he and Jade were both moving, who would it go after?
He finally felt relieved when the missile shifted its course and headed towards him.
Relieved? he chuckled. When’s the last time you felt relieved that you had a two kiloton nuclear missile heading straight for you?
He set his hands to the side, palms facing the ground. He needed to summon his Elementa of Fire. His energy burned from within and large tongues of fire shrouded him in an inferno of dancing flames.
He charged at the missile, bathed in flames, a battle cry escaping from his lips.
“How far are you?” he asked Jade in his mind.
“About twenty miles or so.”
“Perfect,” he infused his life energy into his fist, and punched down on the ground. A line of rock rose to the surface, blocking the path of the missile. He threw his arm forward.
“Man I hope it works” he muttered as he closed his eyes. He focused on his energy and brought it to his hands. A shield of white appeared again, but this time it was surrounded by red-hot flames
“You’re going down missile,” he grinned.
The nuke blasted through his small hill of rocks, surging through at undeterred speed. Q kept his sights on the fast approaching missile as it broke through the last layer of rock and headed straight at him. The two kilotons of nuclear power charged right into the shield.
The flames of fire washed over the metal cover, and melted a part of it. The missile tremored and exploded in one big blast. The shield held strong, but the blast still knocked him back and he flew through the air, landing about a hundred yards from the explosion. A nuke was usually supposed to have a blast radius of many miles. This one didn’t even cross fifty yards.
“Are you okay?” Jade asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Q managed to say.
“Also, Burke asked me to tell you he was wrong about the missile. It wasn’t a nuclear warhead. Just a regular one.”
Q sighed. He had no energy to even feel mad about that one. He lay flat on the sandy surface and looked into the sky. The stars shone clean and bright. With the missile gone all he had left to do right now was lay back and relax.
“I and Burke are coming to get you. Stay where you are.”
“Got it,” Q said.
He kept staring at the stars. They looked beautiful. Their light was so simple and yet it captivated him. It was almost like he was drawn into them. He could stare at them forever and lose his problems in them, lose himself to them. He felt like he could forget everything he was expected to do. He could just be himself.
“They’re beautiful aren’t they,” a voice said.
Q turned his head, and his eyes widened. Anti-verse Taylor sat down right next to him.
He sat up immediately, “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I...I…was afraid,” she stuttered. “Afraid that something might happen,” her hands moved nervously along the sandy floor, grabbing at the fine sand and dropping it back down.
“Everything is okay,” Q smiled at her, “Don't worry.”
She smiled back happily.
“So did you follow us here?” he asked her. He didn't remember seeing Taylor anywhere at any point in time. There was no way she could’ve followed them.
“I do not know what the Taylor in your world does but the one is this world can fly using her Elementa of Air,” she said calmly.
She even has a different Elementa, he realized, recalling that Taylor had the Elementa of Dark Energy. He shook his head. He really needed to stop trying to compare the two of them. He didn't feel it was fair to either of the Taylors.
Anti-verse Taylor swayed around a little like she was in a daze.
Q wondered if she was okay, “Are you all-”
Taylor’s body went limp and she slumped. Q caught her just as she was about to hit the ground and steadied her. She seemed to have used up too much of her life energy.
“I’m… I’m okay,” she said.
“No, you’re not,” Q said, “Just wait. Help’s on the way.”
She smiled at Q. He sat her up next to him and made sure she was comfortable. She put her hand on his chest and pulled herself closer to him. Q could feel her whole body shiver in her weakness. He put his arms around her and held her tightly, trying to keep her as still as he could.
“I’ll be there in a while,” Jade said “Hang on.”
Q didn't reply just yet. His mind registered what the griffin said but it was too busy worrying about Taylor to think of a reply.
“My body hurts,” Taylor gripped him tighter.
“Where?” He asked her.
“My chest,” she said.
Probably because of her low life energy levels, Q thought. He tried to think of a plausible remedy, but he couldn’t recall any.
Taylor squeezed his hand, “Q,” she whispered. Her breath tickled his ear like the softest of feathers. She held onto his forearms with her soft fingers and lifted herself up to him.
Q was startled, “What are you-”
But he never got to finish his sentence. Why you ask?
Well, it’s complicated.
Taylor kissed him.
***
4-3
Taylor heard a gunshot ring through the air, its sound echoing through the vast walls of the ship she was trapped in. She alerted her battle senses just as a man stepped out of the shadows.
His entire body was armed with a piece of white battle armor minus the helmet. He ran his hand through his short silver hair. His dark black eyes stared at her with the look of a killer, cold and deadly. He pointed his mechanical revolver at her, his finger easing on the trigger.
He’s the one who shot me the first time, she realized, noticing that his revolver had inbuilt sniping capabilities.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Do you not recognize me?” he asked menacingly.
“I’m sorry. I don't usually keep track of the people who might try to kill me.”
“Where darkness begins to consume, the light will come to destroy it,” he said. “I. Am. A. White. Knight,” he paused after each word and smirked at Taylor, his eyes making him look pure evil.
A white knight, she thought. Her natural enemy. She was supposed to be scared, but she really didn’t feel anything. All she did was wonder why such an enemy was on this ship in the first place.
“Confused?” he asked.
“Hardly,” she said coolly. She didn't want him to feel superior, as though he was always a step above everyone else. Well, this guy actually was a step ahead of her but she still hated the attitude he had. She felt a huge urge to pull this guy down a peg.
“What should we do?” she switched to talking with her mind.
“Don't ask me,” Ruby responded. “He’s supposed to be your natural enemy. Not mine.”
“Well, you’re the one with wings and claws. I have what. Legs?”
“You have a sword, idiot,” Ruby reminded her.
“Oh yeah,” she said, her mind immediately formulating a plan to take on the White Knight. She had only a few seconds to come up with one before the White Knight realized that something was going on.
She sharpened her mind and let her senses pick up everything around her. She felt the warm air around her, the faint whisper of childish laughter reached her from the pool. She heard a mechanical click from the White Knight's weapon. He was getting ready to fire.
“Ruby.”
“Got it,” she said. “I read your mind.”
Taylor had to admit that this mind-reading thing was pretty convenient, but it also made it impossible to plan a surprise birthday for her. Taylor would have to have her knocked out before anyone started talking about celebrating her birthday.
“I’m not getting knocked out,” Ruby said. “And will you please just focus?” The griffin suddenly charged to the left, startling the White Knight into action.
He took aim at her, his arm tracing her fast movements.
Taylor took advantage of the distraction and unsheathed her sword. She charged and smacked the White knight straight in his chest. The armor protected him well but he still hit the wall hard. Taylor tried to take a breather, but the Knight didn’t let her. He picked himself up and shrugged the blow off as if it were nothing.
“No way,” she was stunned, “That should've completely knocked you out!”
“Knocked out a regular man, yes,” he said. “I, on the other hand, am not a regular guy.”
Taylor rolled her eyes, “There goes the ego problem,” she muttered.
“What was that?”
Taylor gripped the hilt of her sword. “I said,” she crouched low, putting all her weight on the front of her feet, “You have a huge ego problem!” she yelled as she charged at him.
The White Knight pulled out another revolver and fired a continuous string of bullets from both weapons. She jumped left and right, dodging each bullet by mere inches. The few that did manage to catch her in her line of movement were deflected by a few expert movements from her sword. In seconds, she had pushed forward and was right next to a surprised White Knight. She pulled her sword back, getting ready to finish him and his ego once and for all. But something was wrong, the White Knight smiled.
In one swift movement two other White Knights jumped out of nowhere and tackled her, sending her sprawling over the floor. Her helmet snapped off and rolled away from her. The White Knight lifted Taylor up by the arm and put his gun to her head, looking at her face as though he were wondering how much he’d relish killing her
He turned to Ruby, “One step, One flap of your wing,” he paused, “And she dies.”
Ruby folded her wings and shrunk down to human size as a sign of surrender. A part of the wall behind them slid open and two more guards in white armor walked out. There was no doubt that these guards were the White Knight’s men as well. They headed towards Taylor and the White Knight. One of them carried a small white rod in his hands.
“Handcuff her,” The White Knight ordered.
One of the guards grabbed Taylor and held her arms behind her back. She could feel him place the rod between her hands and a ring of blue energy encompassed both of her wrists.
AcQuest: A Space Opera Military Technothriller (The Quest Saga Science Fiction Adventure Series Book 3) Page 21
