Star Alliance (27 page)

Z
ACK
HEARD
SOMEONE
call his name, but they sounded muffled and far away. He felt something press against his face and took a shallow breath. The skin on his face stung. He tried to open his eyes, but something was keeping them closed. He started to panic when he tried to raise his hands and couldn’t.

“Hold still, Zack. It’s Brenda. Don’t try and talk yet. Just squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”

Zack felt someone take hold of his hand, so he squeezed.

“Good,” Brenda said. “We’re about to unwrap the Nershal healing packs from your face.”

Zack squeezed Brenda’s hand again.

Brenda let go of his hand, but someone else grabbed his other one.

“I’m right here,” Katie said.

Zack gave a slight nod, and a shaky breath left his throat. He felt something cold and hard press against the side of his neck.

“We’re cutting through the fabric, and then we’re going to pull it off of you,” Brenda said.

Zack tried to lay as still as possible while the fabric was cut away. The stinging became worse as his skin was exposed to the air, and he bit back a wince. Brenda cut away faster, and the fabric fell away from his face. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Katie and Brenda peering down at him. He tried to think of something witty to say, but his mind was overwrought with seeing them again. He felt his lips quiver, and the stinging faded to a dull ache.
 

Brenda inspected his head, her own face a mask of intense concentration. After a moment she smiled, relieved. “You were very lucky,” she said.

Zack smiled, and the sensitive skin on his face and neck ached. The warm lamp above him felt good. He looked at Katie. “Hi,” he said.

“Welcome back,” Katie said.

Zack glanced off to the side where Etanu stood. “Are we even yet?”

Etanu regarded him for a moment. “I’m no longer keeping count.”

Zack snorted and winced. “Thanks,” he said.

Katie handed him a cup of water, which he gratefully drank. He tried to sit up, but Katie pressed him back down.

“Just rest,” she said.

Zack heard someone groaning from one of the other beds and saw Redford sitting up. He held his hand to his head, rubbing the back of it. Brenda went over and examined him.

Redford allowed himself to be examined. The astrophysicist knew when it was hopeless to try and dissuade the Athena’s medical officer from doing her job.

“I’m fine, I just bumped my head,” Redford said, and looked over at Zack. “Mr. Quick, I’m glad to see you’ve made it back to us.”

Zack was so happy to be alive that he was even glad to see Jonah Redford. “Thanks,” he said.

Redford stood up. “I think I’ll head to the bridge and see what our next move is. Are you coming?” he asked and glanced at Brenda.

“Yeah, I think everything is under control here,” Brenda said.

Etanu gave Zack a nod and followed the others to the bridge.

Zack looked over at Katie where she sat beside him on the bed. He didn’t know what to say. He had imagined getting back to the Athena and seeing everyone again. He felt all the emotions he had pushed to the side return stronger than they had been before, demanding to have their due. He swallowed hard. “I don’t know where to begin,” Zack said, sagging back against the bed.

“It’s okay. Begin wherever you want,” Katie said. Her long black hair was tied back and hung over one shoulder.

Zack felt his throat thicken as he looked into her dark eyes. “I kissed Kaylan,” he said. “I did. I thought I was going to die. And I didn’t want her to be trapped on that ship because of me.”

Katie blinked and she gave a slight nod. “We’re not married, Zack. You and Kaylan have a history. We were just having fun.”

Zack was clearly surprised by these words. “Katie, I . . . this thing between us wasn’t just fun for me. I care about you.”

“But . . .” Katie said.

“I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t have feelings for Kaylan as well,” Zack said, and looked away from her.

“Hey, I understand,” Katie said softly. “I get it. I’ve known there was something between the two of you since we first got aboard the ship. I kissed you that first time because I liked you. We had fun, and it doesn’t have to be any more than that.”

Zack felt his stomach tighten. He felt like Katie was pulling away from him, as if she knew what he had hardly admitted to himself. He opened his mouth to speak, but Katie silenced him.

“You may not be ready to admit to yourself how you feel about Kaylan, but I can read your actions as clear as day. You threw yourself into danger to protect her without thinking about what would happen to you—both on the planet and on that ship. If that’s not enough for you to admit how you feel about her, then I don’t know what would be,” Katie said.

“I just feel like I’ve betrayed you,” Zack said.

Katie’s lips lifted into a small smile. “You’re a good guy, Zack,” she said, and left him alone to rest in the med bay.

She walked down the corridor, away from Zack, and sagged against the wall. She felt tears in her eyes and quickly wiped them away. Katie couldn’t make Zack stay with her. It wouldn’t have been fair to either of them. She felt a deep pang twist in her chest. She hadn’t lied to him—their relationship had started off as something fun—but she cared deeply for the computer-hacker-turned-astronaut, deeper than she cared to admit. But if he loved someone else, she’d much rather see him happy. Katie sucked in a quick breath and headed toward the bridge.

*****

Kaylan was reviewing the Athena’s diagnostic reports of the ship’s systems on the bridge, and Etanu had joined them a short while before. Kladomaor had sent a message that they were assessing the damage to their ship. The Athena was in surprisingly good shape. They had sustained minimal damage, which she had told the Boxans. She also offered assistance in case they needed it. She doubted Kladomaor would take her up on it, but at least the offer was there.
 

“Commander, I wish to say something to you,” Etanu said.

A hush swept over those on the bridge, and Kaylan nodded for the Nershal to continue.

“I must apologize for my treatment of you and the rest of the crew when we first met on Selebus. I thought strict adherence to our traditions was the best way to deal with any situation. I have since learned a great deal about your species from my time with Zack. Although he and I don’t agree on many things, his unwavering loyalty to all of you is inspiring,” Etanu said. The Nershal went on to recount their imprisonment on Selebus, being trapped in the pit and the torture Zack had endured at the hands of a Xiiginn who called herself Kandra Rene. “I had thought your species to be weak and couldn’t understand why the Boxans would put such a high value on so unworthy a race, so when Zack saved my life, I hated him for it. I was wrong. Even in the pit, surrounded by mutants, Zack was strong. I know he doesn’t view himself that way, and he was at times both weak
and
strong, but it was him who was determined to free every single mutant trapped in that pit. I was still only looking to fulfill my vow to save Zack’s life. My actions in the pit were enough to satisfy that vow, but I’m not finished with him. That’s why I requested leave to see that Zack and the rest of you are taken safely back to your home star system. I’m here to help you however I can.”

Kaylan felt herself tear up as Etanu recounted the events they’d endured in the pit. She had glimpsed the facility where they had been held but could hardly imagine what it must have been like to be trapped there. Kaylan had caught sight of Zack’s PDA, and it was barely holding together. It had been extremely unlikely that they would have been able to find Zack and Etanu at all, and her relief was overwhelming. She thanked Etanu and welcomed his help.
 

Kaylan noticed that Ezerah had been silent for the duration of Etanu’s recounting, which she found curious. The female Nershal appeared to be considering something.
 

The door to the bridge opened and Katie walked in. Her eyes were slightly glassy, as if she’d been crying.

“He’s resting,” Katie said.

Kaylan nodded. “The diagnostics show we’re in pretty good shape, but I want a visual inspection of the damaged section. I don’t want us to be underway and discover a problem that could have been prevented before turning into a much bigger problem.”

They organized into groups and set out to perform their assigned tasks. Kaylan thought about going to see Zack again, but there was so much to do. She promised herself that once she was sure the ship was in good shape, she would go to him.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY

C
RITICAL
ALARMS
FLASHED
on the bridge of the Boxan stealth ship. Kladomaor studied them on his private console, prioritizing them in his mind. Their ship had sustained heavy damage during their brief encounter with the Xiiginns, but they had survived. Their preparation for an encounter with a vastly superior force had only been made possible by a superior strategy. Unfortunately, that strategy didn’t extend to their engines escaping damage caused by the Xiiginn warship’s weapons. Mar Arden was many things, but a fool in battle wasn’t one of them. The Xiiginn knew precisely where to hit him. They had only escaped because the window of opportunity for the Xiiginns to exact the maximum damage was reduced by the disarray they’d caused the other warships. Mar Arden must have assumed they would surrender in the face of four of their warships. Kladomaor was happy to disappoint the Xiiginns, but the momentary elation quickly faded to smoldering disappointment that he hadn’t been able to take out his former captor.

The Boxan crew was working to restore full communications capability, along with their sensor array. They needed them both to figure out where they were. The wormhole had become unstable due to the damage they had taken during battle. It was a miracle that both ships hadn’t been torn apart. They were light-years away from the Nershal star system and had been en route to their own colony entry point before transitioning to the actual colony where remnants of the Boxan fleet were. He had hoped to get support for the Humans there. The council would have been eager to learn of another species with the Mardoxian potential. According to Ma’jasalax, Kaylan’s talents would be counted as “gifted” among the Mardoxian sect.

A comms channel from Engineering chimed.

“Go ahead,” Kladomaor answered.

“The sensor array should be up soon, but we’ll have limited communications for a while. The engines can operate at twenty-five percent capacity, and we currently don’t have Cherubian-drive capability,” Triflan reported.

“Understood, carry on,” Kladomaor said.

Ma’jasalax frowned, looking at the console. “This complicates things,” she said.

“That it does,” Kladomaor said.

“What’s your plan?”

“To repair what we can and figure out where we are,” Kladomaor said.

“Being without the full use of our engines will limit what we can do. Without communications we can’t call for help if we need to,” Ma’jasalax said.

“All true, but we were en route to the transition point before heading directly for the colony. We should be near a known star system where we still have a presence,” Kladomaor said.

Ma’jasalax nodded.

“The engines are what concern me the most at this point. We may need to limp on for a while,” Kladomaor said.

“Could the Xiiginns have tracked us here?” Ma’jasalax asked.

“I don’t think so. They might have gleaned some information from their sensors prior to the wormhole destabilizing, but they were also fending off our attacks. So I think we’re relatively safe for the moment—as safe as we can be stranded in the great expanse,” Kladomaor said.

“With our sensor arrays still down, have you considered asking the Athena for help?” Ma’jasalax asked.

Kladomaor frowned. Being so focused on his own ship’s repairs, he hadn’t considered it.

“It could give us some much needed insight. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Kladomaor nodded. “I will reach out to them,” he said.

If anything, the Mardoxian priestess was relentless in her determination that Humans and Boxans should be working together. He conceded the point, but it just hadn’t been at the forefront of his mind. He opened up a comms channel and waited for them to respond.

“Athena here,” Kaylan’s voice answered over comms.

Kladomaor gave her an update of their current status on the ship and paused.

“Kaylan,” Ma’jasalax said, “how is Zack?” she asked, giving Kladomaor a meaningful look.
 

“He’s stable and recovering from his brief exposure to space. Brenda says he should be up and around in no time,” Kaylan said.

Kladomaor pressed his lips together and glanced at Ma’jasalax. Kaylan had been so insistent on finding Zack that he was a bit surprised at the neutrality of her tone.

“He’ll need time,” Kladomaor said. “The wounds the Xiiginns inflict may not be visible on the surface.”

“I’ll be sure to let Brenda know that,” Kaylan said.

“Our sensor array is being repaired. Right now I was hoping you would be able to help us with the use of your own sensors,” Kladomaor said. The Human ship had rudimentary sensors, but as Ma’jasalax had pointed out, some information was better than none, which was what they currently had.