Ralph and the other guards had taken refuge in a sheltered area where they could see what was happening and report in, take an occasional shot when Roberts's men got sloppy, but stay out of sight.
The whole fucking plateau was overrun with domestic terrorists. The local sheriff's department had taken a hands-off approach, which meant no help whatsoever. Mac hadn't heard back from his contact at the Pentagon. Whatever happened was entirely up to his small force of security guards and the Nyrian men who were able to help. The whole thing sucked, big time.
He raised his head and looked across the dream shack. Dink stood silently against the wall, holding the camera, recording everything as it happened, but just his presence alone meant more to Mac than Dink would ever realize.
He wasn't doing a live feed right now. Nick was running the interviews Carl had done earlier, feeding them directly to the station, which was broadcasting on both network television and the Internet. He'd set up a small desk in the tiny kitchen area just off the main room here in the shack, sharing whatever they had he hoped would build more sympathy for the Nyrians.
They'd collected quite a bit throughout the afternoon and early evening. Stories of the women talking about their lives before the Gar destroyed their planet, tales of the many worlds that had been left in ruins. Of the Nyrians' own world, totally destroyed. Their quiet, heartfelt tales were gaining sympathy and the world was beginning to understand that the alien ship approaching Earth was not one they should welcome with open arms.
It was too late for that, anyway, because, whether Zianne lived or died, whether his team made it back in time or not, the Gar ship was dead.
Right now, it was hurtling through space, coming closer by the second. He had no idea how far away it was, but he hoped that when it blew, it didn't take this world with it.
And then he had a totally selfish thought, one he immediately regretted, that if Zianne died, did it really matter?
Yes, damn it. It mattered because he knew that Zianne would never wish for such a thing. It wasn't in her nature to be cruel.
He watched her and wondered if she were sleeping or maybe even unconscious. She was so pale and listlessânone of the spark he'd always associated with her. She'd always been bursting with so much life, so much to live for.
Overhead lights went on in the dream shack. The control panel lit up and those lights blinked, dials and gauges flickered as full power coursed through the system. Mac spun around, blocking everything but the job at hand. He checked the readouts, made a few adjustments to a couple of dials, and reset all the software.
He waited, ticking off seconds as the system rebooted and came back up online. “Cam? Liz and Kiera? We need to link minds. Dake said we have to concentrate on sending our thoughts directly to the ones on the ship.”
Cam grabbed the mesh cap Lizzie handed to him. She and Kiera slipped theirs on. Mac opened a drawer set aside from the others and found his own cap. He'd had it made to test the systemâhe'd never imagined actually needing it.
Kiera sat on the floor next to Cam while Lizzie perched on one arm of the recliner beside Zianne. Mac carefully lifted Zianne and sat in the chair himself, then held her in his arms. Her head lolled against his chest, but her eyes blinked open and she focused on him. “Bring me into the link. Open to me, Mac. I can find the ship for you.”
He nodded. It might kill her, expending that much energy, but he could never deny her anything. Especially not this. He leaned forward and touched a small switch on the control panel. “This allows us to synchronize. It connects the input from all of our minds and focuses our thoughts through the array. We've never done this before, a group link like this, but Zianne knows how to direct our signals to the ones on the ship. Sweetheart?”
She smiled at the endearment. The love in her eyes made his throat tighten. “We're going to ride you all the way to the team,” he said. Then he kissed her. “Let's go.” He flipped the switch.
Power. Pure, euphoric power, bursting into his head, surging in a chaotic maelstrom of fiery energy. Kiera, Lizzie, Cameronâtheir minds so strong, so pure, so totally honest and free of anything beyond the desire to save the lives of their friends, both Nyrian and human.
He tried to direct them, to force them into compliance. This energy had to go through the array, needed to ride the signal away from Earth, but it was almost beyond him.
Pandemonium when he needed order.
Demanded order.
Mac. Relax. Let me. You're fighting them. Do not lead. Share the energy, share the burden. Use that beautiful mind of yours to stabilize the link. Strengthen it, don't fight it.
Zianne's soft words soothed the chaos and calmed the bedlam. Mac relaxed, following her lead, and watched in amazement as their minds clicked together into a solid stream of pure mental energy.
A whispered “oh” from Kiera. A breathy sigh from Liz and a muttered “holy shit” from Cam, and he knew they'd done it. Knew they'd created a link that would reach from here to the Gar ship as it hurtled through space.
Now all they had to do was connect with one of the team members on board.
Totally focused on the link, Mac blinked in confusion when another mind joined theirs. Without moving, he knew it was Bane, who hovered beside him. His energy swirled and pulsed, and Mac felt the gentle intrusion as Bane hitched his energy to the link.
Followed the link through the array.
And disappeared entirely from the shack.
Zianne's fingers wrapped around Mac's and squeezed just before he felt another presence. Tara. Again, the link was subtle, the sense of their joining a sensual caress, but Mac and Zianne, Lizzie, Cameron, and Kiera held the link steady. Tara's energy disappeared as well.
Risking their lives to save their loved ones? The ship had to be close to imploding. They were willingly going into danger, risking everything, just as the ones who'd joined Ralph out on the plateau were taking risks.
Holding Zianne in his arms, connected so intimately to Cam, Liz, and Kiera, Mac finally, fully accepted the wonder of what they'd accomplished. What they would accomplish, because he refused to accept failure.
Not with these amazing people on his team. The connection they'd all formedânot only his dream team, but Zianne, Dink, and his reporters, the guys on his staff here at DEO-MAPâall of them working toward the same goal to protect a people they hadn't even known existed.
So much of their strength came directly from the Nyrians. People from not only another world but another time, and yet they shared the same sense of honor and duty to one another as Mac's team. The same love, the same sense of commitment.
It was a humbling experience to see love in action. Holding the mental link, he turned and made eye contact with Dink. His oldest friend, his lover, the one he could always count on. It was right that Dink was here tonight. Right that he shared this whole experience, no matter how it ended.
Mac smiled and then turned his attention to the link pulsing among the five of them. It felt strong and true, and he only hoped it would last long enough to bring their people home.
Â
Finn sensed a change in the ship, almost as if it spoke to him, and he wondered if what he felt was the deaths of the Gar. He no longer heard the thrumming power from within the walls. Life support should be gone by now. There'd been no light in the service bay since they'd come here to escape the guard, but the sense of the darkness felt different somehow.
Arnec? Any idea what's going on now? Something's different.
The ship is dying. What has allowed a ship this large to exist is the pressure within keeping the outer hull rigid. I feel the walls flexing, as if the pressure has finally slipped beyond what the structure of the hull can withstand.
How long do you think?
There was no need to be specific. They were all attuned to the final, dying gasps of the ship.
Not long. I have no idea what this will be like. I prefer to see it as an adventure, maybe?
One I'd prefer to do without.
Finn glanced toward the area where Morgan and Rodie slowly spun in mingled energy. Morgan's looked a bit brighter, as if he might be recovering from the blast. Finn checked out the others. Tor looked almost normal. Nattoch was still sort of muddy and dark, but Duran and Bolt were brighter as well.
A blast of energy flashed into the service bay. He couldn't tell who or what it was, and then a second flash of light shot rays streaming to all corners of the darkened room.
Duran cried out.
Tara! What are you doing here?
I'm taking you home. Why are you still here?
Nattoch is injured. Rodie, too. We couldn't leave them. Bolt, Morgan, and Finn were caught in the blast.
So you were just going to die? Idiot. Bane, how many can you carry?
Rodie, Morgan, Nattoch. Tor is strong enough to go on his own. Arnec? You, too? Good. How about you, Tara?
I'll get Finn, Duran, and Bolt. We have to hurry. The ship is dying.
Finn sensed the slight pressure as Tara drew him into her energy field. He felt Duran and Bolt coming with him, and then they were streaming through the walls of the vessel, moving along a beam of energy so powerful it was actually visible in the emptiness of space.
Streaking closer to Earth, following that amazing beam of power, sensing Cam and Kiera, Mac and even Zianne. And Lizzie. He sensed her energy, her pure spirit calling him back, and he felt his own energy grow and strengthen. Knew he had somehow reached out and touched the threads that were Lizzie's.
The air around them pulsed in ripples of heat and a horrible concussion almost knocked them from the beam. The ship imploding, collapsing in upon itself, and the shockwaves buffeted them even as they passed through Earth's atmosphere, moving at the speed of light, hanging on to that beam that was pulling them straight back to the dream shack.
Just before they reached the shack, the beam ended. Cut off as if it had never been, but they were so close and the array was still powered up enough that Tara and the others took them all the way in, directly through the cinderblock walls, into the small building that was the center of Mac Dugan's amazing project.
They entered together, a spiraling mass of energy. Bolt took form, and Finn and Duran as they slipped free of Tara's energy. She reformed as well, the four of them stumbling in the sudden switch to human bodies, to gravity, to clean, fresh air filling their lungs. Tara threw her arms around Duran and cried loud, broken sobs of relief.
“Finn!” Lizzie shot across the room and grabbed him. Still wobbly, wondering if he'd ever get enough clean air to breathe, he wrapped one arm around her shoulders and held her close. Arnec and Tor reformed next. All of them glancing around, looking for the others. No one said a word. Finn shot a quick glance at Mac, but he was holding Zianne close against his chest and Finn was almost sure the man was weeping.
Too late? No. It couldn't be. He spun with Liz clinging to his side, looking for the others. For Rodie with Zianne's soulstone.
Kiera glanced this way and that, her brows knotted, but Tor was reaching for her, pulling her close and wrapping his big arms around her, speaking softly, rocking her back and forth as they held each other close.
Where the hell was Bane? He had Rodie, Morgan, and Nattochâwhere were they? Finn turned and stared at Arnec, but he was staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, at the massive blast of light visible through the skylight.
Finn grabbed Lizzie's hand, shoved his way past the others, and raced outside. Dink followed with the camera and then a few of the others, all of them staring at the roiling fire in the sky, at the meteors streaking through the twilight as the remnants of the Gar ship hit Earth's atmosphere and burned up, leaving spectacular burning trails in their wake.
Had Bane been trapped in the explosion? Finn was almost certain they'd gotten out in time. But what if they hadn't? He glanced at Lizzie, looking up at him with a stricken expression. She hadn't said a word, but she knew.
He kissed her quickly, turned away from the death of the Gar ship, and walked back inside the shack. Whispered to Lizzie, “Just a minute,” and then went to Mac and knelt beside the chair. He touched one of Zianne's hands resting on Mac's arm. “It was Zianne, wasn't it? She was the one directing that beam we followed home.”
Mac didn't look at him, but Finn caught the slight nod of his head. “It just went away, right before we got here. Damn it, Mac. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I can't believe we're too fucking late to save her. Not after she saved us. I'm so damned sorry.”
“It's okay.” He raised his head and, holding Zianne close against his chest, stared at Finn through tear-filled, red-rimmed eyes. “She got what she wanted. What we all wanted. The last of her people are safe.” He looked past Finn and then at the others in the shack. “Where are Morgan and Rodie? And what about Bane? He went after them. I didn't see him come back.”