Chapter Six #2
All of this was odd, though. If the Krystalii rebels had all this tech before meeting us, why didn’t they use it?
She found it hard to believe that only Azazel had the unusual psychic mojo to pull that part of this off.
Her lips tightened. First chance she got, she’d talk to Azazel about her concerns in private.
“Almost there,” Azazel murmured. “How are you holding up?” His voice was low but steady.
Some kind of soothing presence brushed against her, reassuring and grounding.
It was strange. Ever since that dream, she swore she somehow had a connection with him.
“I’m trying not to think how all this could go sideways,” Toni whispered back, her voice tight.
She tightened her grip on the dampening rig she’d moved from her lower back to her side. “You?”
“Focused.” Azazel’s lips twitched as if he was trying to smother a grin. “But if I had a choice, I’d rather be back on that beach with you.”
Toni stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth gaping like a codfish’s. “I…” She stared at Azazel. “You… we…” Great. She suffered from a bad case of word vomit.
“Come along, hebat.” Azazel put a light grip on her elbow and propelled her forward. “I’ll feed you some more grapes on that beach later. Right now, we’ve got to be somewhere else.”
Unable to sort through his outrageous statement, she followed along, sputtering as she let him lead her around like a lost puppy looking for his momma. That wasn’t a dream created by my lust-fueled mind? Holy shit! She glanced at Azazel’s handsome profile. He… they…
“Antonia,” Azazel whispered. “Let’s concentrate on getting this done, okay?”
Oh sure, get the dangerous thing done first. How am I supposed to do that after he’d dropped that stupid bombshell? Men.
A warning flickered in her peripheral vision and diverted her attention. The suit gave her a warning zap that made Toni’s pulse spike.
“Movement up ahead.” Azazel announced, confirming what she already knew. “Two Elites coming this way.”
“I see them,” Vaeloryx’s smooth voice cut in, crisp and authoritative. “Kaelith, handle it.”
With a wide grin, Kaelith nodded once and rushed ahead of them. His bulky crystalline arms morphed into sleek blades.
Before Toni figured out what he was doing, Kaelith’s lithe figure dissolved into a blur, moving faster than she could follow with her eyes.
The guards never stood a chance.
By the time she heard the thud of shattering crystal, Kaelith was back, his blades reforming into hands as if nothing had happened.
“Clear,” he said around his huge smile, satisfaction lacing his voice.
Azazel gave a sharp nod. “Thank you. Let’s move.”
The group pressed on, the air growing heavier as they neared the core.
Something buzzed and pushed against Toni’s mind, a reminder of Baelon’s oppressive psychic presence that saturated the ship.
The suit warmed up. It must be helping to dampen whatever was attacking her, but some of the oppressive sensations continued to seep in.
It made her think of how the air felt when a storm threatened to break.
When they reached the Energy Crux chamber, Toni’s breath caught.
The massive, glowing center loomed before them, a pulsating mass of light and crystalline tendrils that radiated power trapped in a hollow, transparent tube.
It was both beautiful and electrifying as she watched the unimaginable power radiating in a contained space.
“Here’s where we separate,” Vaeloryx announced.
“We’ll take care of the Energy Crux while the two of you head to the Nexus Core.
” He nodded his aquamarine head to a hallway on the left.
“Tharion will guide you through your Sub-Node.” His clear eyes landed on Toni before darting back to Azazel. “As you Earthers say, good luck.”
“Yeah… meet you on the flip side.” Toni gave him a two-fingered salute.
“Hurry, then, there isn’t much time,” Vaeloryx warned, his tone clipped. “I suspect Baelon’s Elites are sending more sentries our way.”
Azazel’s presence brushed against Toni’s mind as his soft voice whispered, “Ready?”
Her eyes widened. She nodded. How did he do that? Not wanting to delve into that possibility, her gaze darted around the chamber, trying to uncover any threats. Like she could do something if anything attacked.
JR14 wiggled on Azazel’s shoulder as if to steady himself.
A sudden pulse of energy slammed into Toni’s mind, making her stagger. She gasped, clutching her head as the suit’s shields flared in response.
Azazel was beside her in an instant, his hand steadying her shoulder. “Baelon knows we’re here,” he said, his voice grim. “We’re out of time.”
The chamber shuddered as an alarm blared. Crimson lights bathed the hallway. The sound of stampeding footsteps echoed through the corridor.
“They’re coming,” Kaelith growled, his blades forming once again where his hands were. “Saphirae, Vaeloryx… into the engine room now!”
With that command, the three Krystalii rushed into the blazing chamber, leaving Toni and Azazel alone in the hallway with JR14.
Azazel grabbed Toni’s hand, pulling her toward the exit on the left. “Let’s go!”
Sprinting alongside the man holding her in an iron grip, they raced down the corridor as the sound of pursuing forces grew louder. Toni’s heart pounded as she struggled to keep up, her mind racing. The suit’s shields held strong, but the psychic pressure was unmistakable and relentless.
“Turn left!” Tharion’s voice barked from the Sub-Node clipped on Azazel’s waist.
With a quick turn, Azazel darted into a narrower passage.
They rounded the corner, and a group of Elites blocked their path.
The air crackled with psychic energy as the crystalline soldiers advanced, their forms radiating menace.
“I’ll handle them.” Azazel stepped forward. His psychic energy surged, colliding with the Elites in a visible wave of power. “Go!”
“Azazel—” Toni began, but he cut her off with a sharp look.
“Go! Use the dampening rig like Saphirae showed you! Trust me, I’ve got this.”
“Go!” Tharion’s disembodied shout from the sub-node repeated Azazel’s command. “Be sure to keep the dampening rig out of the Elites’ hands!” His frantic voice echoed loud and clear.
A sense of déjà vu tightened her chest as she Azazel take his katana from the harness on his back and leap to fight the Elite guards blocking their path.
The ear-piercing shrill of the ship’s alarms in the background turned into a blaring taunt.
Toni held her breath as she watched Azazel battle the Elites in a coordinated frenzy, then they disappeared in a cloud of crystalline dust.
She took a step forward with her hand outstretched, but Azazel’s voice echoed in her head.
I’m fine! Even though he spoke to her mentally, she’d have to be an idiot to miss the tension in his tone. Take JR14 with you. He’ll help you place the dampening rig in the right place. She hesitated, but jumped when he shouted, GO!
“All right, already. Sheesh.” Toni groused out loud and glanced over her shoulder, then looked around her. “Now, where’s that freakin’ bug?”
“Comparing me to an air-breathing arthropod is neither conducive nor correct.”
JR14’s red-and-gold body gleamed in the reflective light of the hallway as he zipped toward her in a zigzag pattern before settling on her left shoulder. “Suggestion: I am open to giving you further instructions if this concept is confusing for you.”
“Not today, widget-wonder.” She grimaced. “Instead, why don’t you make yourself useful and point me to the Nexus Core so I can put a bee in their bonnet?”
“Antonia.”
If Toni wasn’t mistaken, the spider-bot’s tone was brimming with impatience. Lookie there, the little droid was finally loosening up.
“Again, with an insect reference.” His iridescent wings fluttered out before retracting. “Information: aboard this inter-dimensional vessel, there are no organic…”
She sighed. Damn, Azazel had to have the patience of a saint to deal with this little guy.
Good thing JR14 was as cute as a… well, bug.
“Please desist this unnecessary line of conversation, JR14. It is imperative we complete our assignment to disrupt the Nexus Core.” See, she could talk all nerd-like with the best of them when she put her mind to it.
“Affirmative,” the bot answered. “Directions: Proceed forward, and I will instruct you when to change course.”
When the piercing alarm continued to wail, she put her hands over her ears. “I don’t suppose you can do something about that stupid alarm, could you?”
The suit she wore heated at the neck before spreading down her arms. A sense of serene quiet filled her.
It took a moment before she realized the annoying sound had stopped.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she shook her hands to rid them of the tickling sensation, as if they’d fallen asleep. “Thanks, JR14.”
“Clarification,” JR14 said from her shoulder. “I did not rectify the alarm system of the Krystalii ship. Opinion: Concentrate on the mission. Investigate the reason for the silence at a more opportune time.”
Well, he had a point. With a frown, Toni pulled the dampening rig from her waist and clutched it in a tight grip. She had a sneaking suspicion that her suit had something to do with modifying the sound. But JR14 was right. Now wasn’t the time to figure it out.
Sprinting down the low-lit corridor, she let the hum of the Krystalii ship, vibrating through the soles of her boots, calm her. Each step she took created a light echo in the hollow hallway that looked like it was made of a fusion of crystal and metal.
JR14 shifted, and his claws gripped her shoulder to keep steady. His iridescent wings flicked open for a moment before snapping shut again. “Left turn ahead. Then proceed twenty meters to the bulkhead entrance,” he instructed, his voice crisp and precise.
Toni nodded, panting. “Got it, bug-brain.”
“Correction: I am JR14. That identifier is neither accurate nor amusing. As I have already stated, I am not an organic construct.”