Chrystal Bones (Finding Home Book 1) (13 page)

Jayden and Idris watched the goodbye between the women and when Blue and the big cat started down the path they let out a breath of relief. She was coming with them. She and the cat made an arresting picture as they walked onto the beach towards them. The setting sun bathing them in color. "I have to tell you Idris, your sister grew up into a beautiful and interesting woman,” Jayden said.

"Yes she did,” Idris said, filled with pride for this sister he had the chance to get to know once again.

Chrystal Bones Billie Jo Hanlin

Chapter 13

Blue entered the shuttle with a feigned nonchalance as she looked around her with wonder. She would never admit it but this was so cool. The shuttle blended in so well with its surroundings that most people would not have noticed it was not just a huge boulder. If not for the opening in the side she might have missed it too, if it was anywhere but here. This was her beach and she knew every inch of it. As soon as she stepped through the opening the door slid shut silently.

The control area really was something out of a Star Trek movie. There were two chairs surrounded by a clear surface that came to life when Jayden waved his hand over it. Idris did the same at the second station. Two seats slid out of the wall for her and Vihan. One of them, probably Jayden, had put Leo's bed towards the back of the shuttle out of the way. Leo dragged it to where she was sitting then he laid down.

Blue watched closely as Jayden went through the motions needed to take off. Before long they were gliding swiftly over the ocean and then heading straight up into the atmosphere. She knew they were moving at an incredible speed as she watched the earth fall away. She felt a small pang of regret for leaving Riley behind, but a large part of her felt such an overwhelming relief. No more being hunted and having to hide. No more looking over her shoulder every minute of every day.

She felt lighter, carefree in a way she couldn't ever remember feeling. She swallowed the laugh that wanted to bubble up. Leo lifted his head and huffed at her, sharing her joy. She smiled at him then continued to watch as Earth got smaller and smaller.

Once they broke through the outer atmosphere the slight pressure she had felt let up and Idris told her she could move around if she wanted to. Blue walked over to the controls and careful to avoid Jayden, started asking Idris questions. "What powered the shuttle? How did the gravity work? How fast were they going? Could he teach her how to fly one?"

Idris was thrown back in time to the last shuttle flight with her and in his eyes she was again that nine year old girl who never stopped asking questions, curious about everything. Tears came to his eyes. He blinked them away and cleared his throat. He answered every question happily. His heart was lighter too. He would give her anything she wanted.

Jayden watched brother and sister. Reunited after so many years, their heads bent together as Idris explained how the shuttle ran. He was amazed that she seemed to pick up things so easily. Idris only had to explain something once and she grasped the science behind it. Vihan startled him when he said, ”At the rate she is picking up this stuff I would not be surprised if she could fly this thing by the time we get to the ship."

He had not heard or felt Vihan come up next to him. He had been so focused on watching Aaliyah. He shook his head, that was not good. He needed to get his attraction to her under control. She was not meant for him. She was the missing, presumed dead, Royal Daughter of the ruling house of Shillidon. And if that was not enough she was also the only Chrystal Woman born in thousands of years.

From what Idris had told him once she got to Shillidon she would not be allowed to leave. He wanted to be there when she was told that little fact. He did not think she was going to be happy about it. No, she was not for him. But he wanted her with a hunger so deep and primal it roared from his very bones.

She looked up at him as if she felt his intense emotions, a faint blush on her cheeks.
Interesting
, he thought,
could she feel what he was feeling?
There were so few true empaths in the universe that it was unusual to come across one. Dro was one and maybe Aaliyah was too. She had not mentioned anything about it but….

“Coming up on the first satellite,” Vihan said forcing Jayden to stop his musings for now. He would test his theory later. Right now he needed to concentrate on getting them through the maze of satellites undetected.

It took two tense hours before they were clear of them all and could relax for the rest of the time it took to reach the Trilleion. Jayden asked Aaliyah if she wanted to fly the shuttle. Her eyes lit up with excitement. “Yes!" she said as Idris stood and gestured for her to take his seat.

She sat and ran her hands lightly over the controls familiarizing herself with them. She felt a tingle in her fingertips as she followed his instructions. Sliding her hand to the right made the ship veer right, same with the left as her other hand controlled the speed. It would take her awhile to get the hang of keeping track of everything but she was confident that she would be able to fly by herself after a few more lessons.

Looking at Jayden through the corner of her eyes she thought about the feelings she had felt from him before she had strengthened her mental shields. Did he feel the same pull towards her that she felt for him. Was that what she had felt from him. She had felt the emotions and heard the thoughts of other men who had wanted her. She just had never felt the same way towards them.

She didn't know this dance and she had no time or inclination to learn. Between learning a new way of life and finding someway to support herself, she had to figure out how she was going to save a dying planet.
Oh and don't forget you also have a brother and parents you have to find someway of dealing with,
she told herself.

She found that thought more daunting than saving a planet full of people. Which showed how screwed up her priorities were. She would rather deal with a life and death situation than finding herself with a family she had no idea how to deal with.

When Idris touched her lightly on her shoulder she flinched and he immediately removed his hand. "Sorry. I just wanted you to see something,” he said. They had all noticed that she did not like to be touched and was very careful to keep space between her and anyone else. Idris shared a look of impotent fury with Jayden. He wanted to kill the people who had hurt her.

If they could not go back through the anomaly, he would come back here and see that everyone who had had a hand in hurting her. At least those that were still alive, paid for it. In blood. Jayden nodded in agreement.

Idris pointed to a small dot on the screen and told her to watch it. As they got closer the dot turned into a sleek ship that soon filled the screen. Jayden opened the com and talked to the person on the other end. "I have been monitoring their communications and no unusual sightings except a few people did notice a bright light on the coast of Oregon yesterday morning that no one can explain. Other than that you made it through undetected."

Jayden, Idris and Vihan looked at Blue. "Don't look at me. That was his fault not mine,” she said pointing at Idris.

"Any sign of the anomaly?" Jayden asked still looking at her.

“No, but you are a few hours ahead of schedule according to Jabrel's timeline."

Leo woke and after stretching he let out a loud roar, startling everyone except Blue. He padded up to her and cocked his head. She heard the unspoken question and answered him aloud. "No we aren't there yet but soon."

The voice on the com exclaimed in alarm, "What was that!"

"You will see soon enough,” Jayden said.

It took another hour before they were gliding through the force field holding back the vacuum of space to land in the shuttle bay. Blue waited and watched the men prepare to disembark. When Jayden tried to usher her out ahead of them she shook her head and motioned him to go ahead of her.

She didn't know these men and she didn't trust them. She knew they were all good men from their emotions but she had relied on herself for so long. That wasn't going to change any time soon. She was the last to board and would be the last to leave. It was the only way she was comfortable.

"Ready? Let’s go,” she said to Leo. With her hand on his neck Blue and Leo stepped out into the bay. It was a large space with plenty of room to move around in. But other than the shuttle the room was empty. There was a touch screen computer mounted on the inside wall, to protect it she supposed. All in all it was a little underwhelming. It was just a garage, only for a shuttle instead of a car.

She followed the guys out the sliding door into a hallway. After a few twist and turns Jayden stopped in front of a door with a beautiful Dragon painted on it. He laid his hand on a touch screen and after it was scanned the door slid into the wall. He strode into the room followed by Idris and Vihan.

Blue stopped in the doorway and looked around. This was more like what she had imagined the control room of a space ship to look like. There were several stations with computers running and beeping. Panels lining the walls of individual stations were lit up with a constant stream of information.

Her gaze was drawn to the view screen that took up the whole wall in front of her. She walked slowly towards it not noticing that everyone fell silent at her approach. Idris walked up to her and seeing where she was looking told Sparks, "Full screens on."

Sparks asked him, "You sure about that?" Most people could not handle the illusion of there being nothing between them and space. When Idris nodded he turned on the full view screens without taking his eyes off the woman with the strange creature at her side.

Blue sucked in her breath as she watched the walls disappeared, leaving her standing in space surrounded by the stars. Just like in her dream, before it had turned into a nightmare. She was delighted and she turned around in a full circle to take it all in. It was wonderful.

She could look for hours and never get tired of this view. She wanted to reach out and touch the stars. She didn't know how long she was entranced by the view before she tore her gaze away and studied the three men who had been in the room when she entered. No matter how caught up in the view she had been, she knew where they were at all times.

Jayden introduced her to the men one by one. He started with Sparks. "This is Sparks Nockadeios of Schenshell, our navigator.”

"Hello, welcome aboard,” Sparks said.

"Jos is our engineer and Sparks’s twin brother.”

He also said hello and added, “I am really happy they were able to find you.”

"The bald guy is Lisandro of Padriager. Our science and computer specialist.” Dro bowed his head. "His race communicates telepathically only. They have no vocal cords to speak aloud.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you all,” Blue said.

Jayden introduced her, "This is Aaliyah, Idris's sister. The animal next to her is Leo. He is not a pet,” he told them with a wink at her.

"My name is Blue. Not Aaliyah,” Blue said firmly and dared anyone to argue. No one did.

Sparks broke the tension asking, "Is that what made the scary sound in the shuttle?” he pointed to Leo.

"He is not a that, he is a Bengal Tiger and my friend."

Leo licked his paw. Tiger two, aliens still zero.

Blue thought Sparks and Jos looked like your typical surfer dudes. Sparks had white blond hair and was built like a brick. Jos's hair was brown and he had a leaner build. Neither of them was as tall as Jayden or Idris, but they still came in around six feet.

Dro was the most alien looking of them all with his round bald head and almost translucent white skin. His eyes were as weird as hers. They were a light yellow in color with no pupils at all. He was her height and looked delicate, as if a strong wind would blow him away. Where the others were like her in choosing to wear dark colored, serviceable clothing he wore a bright orangeish colored tunic with matching loose pants. She could see why he had stayed on the ship. All of the other men could pass for human with little effort. But there was no way Dro would ever be mistaken for a human. "Are all aliens basically humanoid?" she asked.

Once again it was Jayden who answered her. "Most of them but there are a few who aren't."

"Your english is getting better. You don't sound so formal anymore."

"The translators get better the more we hear and speak the language,” he said with a smile. “We did not have a whole lot of time to prepare for our trip to Earth.

Leo grumbled at her. It was time for his dinner and he wanted it now. She looked at Idris and said, "He wants to eat, where can I feed him?"

“I will show her." Sparks jumped up only to sit back down when Idris and Jayden both turned glares on him. "I guess not,” he muttered sitting back down. He could admit he was a bit of a man whore and had a love them and leave them attitude. But he would never mess with a friend’s sister. He could understand Idris being possessive but what was Jayden’s problem?

Ignoring him, Idris said, “I will show you to the galley." He headed for the door. Blue and Leo followed behind him. Jayden noticed that she turned her body sideways so as not to have her back to any of them as she left the room. That was one seriously paranoid woman. She would fit right in with their little group.

Chrystal Bones Billie jo Hanlin

Chapter 14

An hour later Blue was back in the control room standing next to Idris. “Watch,” he told her. The forward view screen zoomed in on a facility she was all too familiar with. She hated that place with every fiber of her being. It was where she had been imprisoned for two long, painful years. Idris highlighted a portion of it with a motion of his finger. "This is where they have your escape pod. What you were too young to know at the time is every ship and pod has a self destruct unit built in to it. All you have to do is enter the correct sequence of symbols,” he said entering them into the panel. "If you touch this button you will send out a signal to activate the self destruct unit." He looked her in the eyes.