by D. N. Leo
Madeline had recovered after breathing in some inside air. She approached and grabbed two guns for herself.
“Are you okay to walk?” Ciaran asked.
She nodded.
“We should move quickly before something else comes.”
They ran in the direction the capsule had been traveling before its meltdown. A rumbling sound echoed from the hole. Ciaran looked back and saw a dozen robotic soldiers—covered in steel and brandishing swords—closing in on them.
Ciaran and Madeline pulled their guns and fired. The guns caused absolutely no damage to the robots.
“Use the daggers. There are gaps in their armor between their necks and bodies and holes in the center of their breastplates,” Ciaran said quickly. Madeline drew her daggers. Ciaran pushed her behind him, fighting and withdrawing at the same time.
Ciaran knew when he had the advantage in a fight—and when he didn’t. This time, he knew they had no advantage. They were outnumbered. And these robots seemed smarter than those he had killed before. They focused on the weaker opponent—they were concentrating their attack on Madeline.
Ciaran took down three of them. The robots slashed at him. Their swords slashed through his protective vest.
One of them sliced at Madeline’s left arm. Blood seeped out from her protective clothes, running down her forearm.
It dawned on him that he wouldn’t be able to protect Madeline if the fight continued. He hadn’t had time to plan. He didn’t know anything about these creatures.
Mere fist fighting was a stupid move.
“That’s enough,” Ciaran said. He dropped his daggers and raised his hands in a surrendering gesture.
He held his breath. He didn’t know if they understood English, but he figured his gesture of surrender was universal.
Or in this case, multiversal . . .
He could only hope.
Chapter 8
In a dark dungeon, under the flickering light of a small fire, Kyle tapped his bony fingers on the blade of a black sword. The contact didn’t produce the sound of pure metal, but something darker, thicker, and more surreal. He narrowed his eyes and examined the sword carefully.
Kyle was not much into physical weapons. He preferred to use mind control. After all, it was his unique talent. But in dealing with the LeBlancs, he thought it prudent to gather all the weapons he could get his hands on. He would not lose a fight to Ciaran. Again.
He glanced at a human shaped creature standing nearby and waiting for his command. “Any news?” he asked the creature.
“Not yet, Master.”
Kyle shook his head. He had been given the lowest ranked and most unskilled troops in the cosmos as punishment for his unsuccessful attempt to attack the LeBlancs on Earth.
“I’ve given them the precise route of their travel. How hard can it be, ambushing a small capsule of two people? They’d better not waste my hard-earned intelligence. I would have done it myself if they’d given me a bloody combat vehicle,” Kyle snarled.
“I’m sorry, Master. It’s outside my control.”
“I’m not saying it’s your fault, dumbass. Get out of my sight!” Kyle shouted.
The creature scurried out without glancing back.
In the tunnel, the robots stared at Ciaran’s surrendering gesture. Then the one who appeared to be more senior nodded. They grabbed Ciaran and Madeline, pushed them toward the spaceship, and locked them in a small compartment.
Ciaran checked the gash on Madeline’s arm.
“Your arm is bleeding, and you have a cut on your back, Ciaran.”
He shook his head. “I’m fine. My injuries are minor, but yours aren’t. They—”
“I’m pregnant, but I’m not crippled, Ciaran. Stop fussing.”
Nodding, he flopped down on the bench next to Madeline. She could see fatigue clouding his beautiful eyes. She was cold—her teeth chattered, and her body shook. Ciaran pulled her into his arms and held her, hoping he could give some warmth and comfort. It didn’t seem to help.
The door of the compartment slid open, and a man who appeared to be in his forties entered.
“Ciaran LeBlanc, King of Eudaiz,” the monotone voice filtered through a robotic translator, “we will take you to our central—”
“I need you to increase the temperature in this compartment and give me the necessary medical equipment to tend to her injury,” Ciaran interrupted, pointing at Madeline’s arm.
“I am not authorized to change the specifications of the vessel. I need you to—”
“We won’t go anywhere or do anything until you do as I ask.”
Madeline was fading quickly. She couldn’t handle the environment outside the Sciphil zone. Ciaran knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere quickly with this robot in human form.
A loud bang echoed in from the side of the spaceship.
Electronic sparks and smoke fumes spread through the corridor, distracting the robotic man. Ciaran grabbed him and snapped his neck with one twist. Bunches of wires poked out of the broken neck, and smoke swirled from the eye sockets. Ciaran grabbed the robot’s gun.
He helped Madeline out of the compartment. She could walk, but Ciaran scooped her up and hurried through the long corridor. Via a broken wall, Ciaran saw very small capsule shooting at the spaceship. He didn’t know who piloted it.
From the far end of the corridor, robots ran toward him.
Carrying Madeline in his arms, Ciaran strode quickly toward the hole in the wall of the spaceship. The suction was strong and was drawing Ciaran and Madeline out. He held his stance to resist it.
The robots on this ship were fast approaching. He could put Madeline down and shoot at them. But how long could he hold on to this fight? He didn’t know how many of them were on the ship or how long his gun would last.
He took a gun from a rookie robot. The weapon couldn’t be too advanced.
The air pumping through the hole on the ship wall was too thin. Madeline was completely out of it now.
The small capsule outside hovered and opened its wing door. It was waiting for Ciaran to leap over to it. This wasn’t exactly a safe tarmac. If he couldn’t make the jump, only God knew what was underneath.
He looked at the approaching robots again. They charged at them, but they didn’t shoot. He frowned. Whoever wanted them must want them captured alive. And who was manning the small capsule over there? Were they friends or foes?
Hell. He glanced back at the robots again then stepped back to gain some space. He ran fast with Madeline in his arms and leaped toward the small door of the other vehicle.
Chapter 9
Kyle swung his black sword. The head of the creature rolled on the concrete floor like a soccer ball. He knew there was no point killing a messenger. He just wanted to test his weapon.
His intelligence was wasted. It didn’t surprise him as much as he had anticipated. Coming back to Eudaiz and fighting himself back to power shouldn’t be easy. If it wasn’t challenging, it wouldn’t be exciting.
Kyle smirked to himself. He had plans. Good ones. Maybe an adjustment he would make was to not rely on supplies from the Black Rock. If that universe had ever come close to taking over Eudaiz, they would have done it a long time ago.
Why waste time on an insider like him?
Kyle looked at the black liquid from the creature on the blade of his sword. This creature was from somewhere else, not from the Black Rock. Its body wouldn’t evaporate into thin air. Kyle sighed. That meant he had to do some housecleaning. Damn inconvenient.
The rough landing in the small capsule jolted Madeline awake. She found herself on the floor, and Ciaran loomed over her.
“There you are. How are you feeling?” he asked.
She was sure she was getting better than he was. She could feel she was gaining energy while he was losing it. She couldn’t move yet, but she would very soon. Ciaran scooped her off the floor and put her on a comfortable chair.
There, she saw the person who was manning the c
apsule, and her stomach fluttered.
The woman was stunning. As to why her stomach protested, she had no idea. Maybe it wasn’t the sight of the woman but Ciaran’s appearance. Dark circles had formed under his eyes. He’d lost a lot of blood. She could feel the energy leaking out of him in waves.
Not only that, the energy he was using wasn’t his. As Pete had said this morning, her energy was natural. She could recharge at the same time as she was using it. But his was totally artificial and could only be charged when he rested.
While Ciaran checked on her injuries, the attractive woman turned around. Sensing the look from the woman, Ciaran turned back to face her.
Everything about the woman’s appearance was perfect. She looked to be just about six feet tall. Striking blue hair, deep blue eyes, and milky skin.
“My name is Sizx. I am the head of Eudaiz’s intelligence system based in Alphi. I know you are Ciaran and Madeline LeBlanc. When the system alert came, it was too late to route the data and call for proper assistance, so I took the liberty of rescuing you in my private vehicle. I hope you don’t mind.”
Madeline saw a flash of admiration cross Ciaran’s eyes. And to her astonishment, she swore she saw them twinkle.
“On the contrary, thank you for the rescue. Could you take us to Sciphil One residence?” Ciaran asked.
“We are now outside the Sciphil’s zone. The direct way is dangerous and is now being blocked by the attackers. We will have to go outside the Eudaiz secured zone and enter via District Seven.”
“How dangerous is that?” Ciaran asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never done it before.”
“Any alternatives?”
“Not many. District Seven is the shortest route. My capsule took a couple of hits. The communication system has been paralyzed. I don’t know how to fix it.”
Ciaran crouched next to Madeline’s chair, checking her temperature and her pulse. “Can you hang on?”
She nodded. She would move again very soon. Goddamnit. She hated being useless.
“Is the capsule in hovering mode?” Ciaran asked.
Sizx nodded. Ciaran approached and adjusted something on the control panel. “Who attacked us?” Ciaran asked Sizx while he worked.
“In theory, I’d say it was the Black Rock robots. But I’ve never seen robots like the ones that came off that ship.”
“If they attack us again outside of the Eudaiz secured zone, what do we have to protect ourselves?” Ciaran asked.
Sizx shook her head, her magnificent blue hair dancing on the shoulders of her perfect body. “We have nothing. I told you—this is my private capsule. The self- defense mechanism used up all of its ammunition shooting at the spaceship. It isn’t designed for combat.”
“It was suicidal to engage in combat with that spaceship, Sizx. Why did you do it?”
Sizx turned. “I was on my way to Central Intelligence to prepare for your coronation when I got a faint rescue signal. I knew your system was dead, and you wouldn’t be getting help any time soon. I’m a Eudaizian citizen—and your head of intelligence. It’s my duty to protect you.”
“I’m grateful. You’re very brave, Sizx,” Ciaran said.
Madeline could see Ciaran was drifting off. His eyes glazed over. She lifted her shoulder and figured that she could move her left hand.
“Ciaran!” Sizx called out.
Ciaran snapped back to consciousness. “I beg your pardon. What did you just say?” he asked.
“When did you last have your one unit of sleep? You don’t have your wrist unit with you, so I can’t check your energy level.”
Ciaran shook his head as if he couldn’t understand what Sizx was saying. He looked at Madeline.
Madeline flexed her muscles and could feel her right shoulder now. “He must have lost his wrist unit during the fight. And he hasn’t had any sleep units since we arrived,” Madeline said and tried to move her legs.
Ciaran shook his head, trying to stay alert without much success.
“Your system will shut down if you don’t take the resting time. If you want to stay awake, then you will have to manually increase the energy level,” Sizx said.
“How?” Ciaran asked.
Sizx put a square patch of something that looked like a black Band-Aid on the dashboard. “This will give you nine units straight.”
“No, I won’t take anything.” Ciaran shook his head and staggered back.
“Take this, or you have to rest.” Six advanced, holding the patch in her hand.
“I can’t . . .”
Ciaran fell over onto Sizx as his system shut down. He was totally out of it. Sizx lowered him to the floor.
“Could you patch up his injuries before waking him?” Madeline asked, trying harder to move her useless legs.
Sizx nodded at Madeline’s request. She quickly grabbed a medical kit from a small compartment by the control panel. She secured the gashes on Ciaran’s arm and back then peeled off the energy patch and stuck it to the inside of Ciaran’s left wrist.
In a short moment, Ciaran winced and opened his eyes.
Then he jumped to his feet, shoving Sizx against the dashboard and sending tools and equipment crashing on his way. Sizx pushed her hand accidentally on a control button as she caught her balance. The capsule shuddered, swiveled, and dipped.
Chapter 10
Ayana stormed into the control room at her Sciphil Two residence. Fear stabbed at her. She had just left Ciaran and Madeline at Sciphil Three residence earlier in the night. Now her wrist unit flared in red alarm. Ciaran’s private capsule had been attacked en route to Sciphil One residence.
This had not happened in five hundred years.
Her fear was an inexplicable emotion. She was eighty percent Eudaizian. She was supposed to be in complete control of her emotions. Expression of them was a sign of weakness for a Eudaizian leader. She couldn’t afford that. She was the second in charge in the Sciphil council after the king.
She was still trying to accept the fact that Ciaran was Bran’s biological son. For the short time Bran had ruled as the king, she had learned so much from him. She admired him. And she’d never understood why he didn’t have a family—a son to succeed him. Rather, he had recruited Ciaran as a child from Earth.
Now she understood. Although he had never been told of their relation, Bran had always sensed a connection with Ciaran.
Then Bran came back into her life after having been missing thirty-three years. But they hadn’t had a chance to have a proper conversation before he died. She’d lost him forever.
And now she couldn’t protect the only thing he’d left behind—his only son.
“Ayana, central hasn’t responded yet. We have no trace of what took them.” The image of Pete came across the screen, concern blanketing his face.
“I’m going down to the tunnel,” Ayana said.
“No. It’s been damaged. We have to wait for central backup.”
“Ciaran and Madeline are on their own, Pete. No guards and no technology to support them. I can’t let anything happen to them.”
“But we have to wait for guards from central. Our residential guards aren’t trained for the outer zone where their capsule was attacked.”
“I’m taking my men and will go to the tunnel. You’re in charge now should anything happen to me. Understood?”
“N—”
“That will be all, Pete. Thank you.” Ayana turned off the communicator before Pete could say anything more.
The capsule seemed to settle after the big spin.
“What did you do to me?” Ciaran pressed Sizx against the control panel.
From behind him, Madeline approached. “She was just trying to help, Ciaran.”
He turned around and saw Madeline had recovered from her injury. It must be something in the Eudaizian air. It seemed as if she could absorb its energy and process it.
Apparently he couldn’t do it because he didn’t have any natural energy left to kick-start the
process. But his injuries were healing now. And he felt strong.
Ciaran released Sizx. Then he noticed that the wound on his arm had been tended to, and he saw the energy patch on his wrist. “I’m sorry,” Ciaran said and reached for the energy patch to peel it off.
“Don’t. It will keep you energized for nine units without resting. You said you wanted to take Madeline to Sciphil One residence. That borrowed energy is the only thing that keeps you standing now,” Sizx said.
Ciaran nodded. “Thank you. I’ll return it.” Then he turned toward Madeline. “How are you feeling?”
She grinned. “Like a superwoman.”
The impact of something hitting the capsule knocked everyone off balance. Sizx scrambled up to look at the scanner. “I don’t know how to handle this, Ciaran. We don’t have any more ammunition.”
“Where are we?” Ciaran asked her.
“Very close to District Seven. Right at the outskirts, I’d guess. The scanner has been damaged.”
Another hit jostled the craft.
“Can we go outside? Abandon ship somehow?” Madeline asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“Increase our speed?” Ciaran asked.
Another hit on the side of the capsule.
“Maybe . . .”
Ciaran did not wait for a response. He headed to the control panel. It couldn’t be any harder than piloting a chopper. He knew how to do this. But the entire scanning system was down. They were flying blind in the sky—if there was a sky.
A hard hit came from another direction, throwing Madeline and Sizx to the floor. Ciaran retained his position by hanging on to the control panel.
