15. Daisy
Daisy
The blood is everywhere.
Bright red against the gray floor of the transport, against my hands, against the clothes he just bought. So much blood that I can't understand how he’s still conscious, still moving.
But he is.
He's gripping the edge of the hatch, using his remaining strength to pull himself inside. The boys are frozen in shock, their faces pale, their eyes wide with terror.
"Close the hatch!" I scream at them, and it's like breaking a spell.
Riz slams his hand on the control panel and the hatch cycles shut, cutting off the sounds of chaos from the hangar bay outside.
Hakan collapses onto the floor, his breathing labored, his amber eyes flickering between focus and unfocus.
"Hakan," I gasp, my hands hovering over the wound in his side. It's bad — a laser burn that's cut deep into his torso, cauterizing as it went but still bleeding from the edges where flesh has simply been destroyed.
*Daisy,* he rasps, and I realize he's reaching out telepathically. *Need you ... contact … the Commander.*
“How?” I cry.
*Call for him … the ship will connect him….*
“Commander!” I scream. “Come in, come in! Commander, we need you!”
*Boys,* Hakan says. *Need you to pilot ship….*
*We can’t!* Davi's mental voice is panicked. *We don't know how!*
"I'll ... guide you..." Hakan's physical voice is getting weaker, even as he pushes through the pain. "Riz ... pilot's seat ... now..."
Riz hesitates only a second before scrambling toward the cockpit.
Hakan continues, his words coming in gasps. "Navigation ... set course ... Nazen..."
"But —"
“You can do it!” I yell to him, my hands pressing against Hakan's wound, trying desperately to slow the bleeding.
I turn to Davi. “Get as many towels and clothes and rags as you can.”
The boy races off, leaving me alone with Hakan in the cargo area, his blood soaking into my clothes, his life literally draining away beneath my hands.
"Stay with me," I beg him. "Hakan, stay with me."
His hand comes up, surprisingly strong, and grips my wrist. "Have to ... get us out ... first…."
The transport shudders as the engines fire up.
"We're lifting off!" Riz calls out.
The transport lurches, and I have to brace myself to keep from falling. Through the viewport, I catch a glimpse of the hangar bay — fires burning, Virdathians running, destroyed transports scattered like broken toys.
Then we're through the hangar bay entrance and into open space.
"They're firing at us!" Davi shouts.
The transport rocks as weapons fire glances off our hull. Alarms start wailing.
“Evasive...." Hakan sends, his mental voice strained. "Pattern ... delta-seven..."
I have no idea what that means, but apparently Riz does, because the transport suddenly banks hard to port, then drops, then spirals in a pattern that makes my stomach lurch.
More weapons fire, but this time it misses us completely.
"Grandfather's ship!" Riz sends. "I can see it!"
"Stay ... focused…." Hakan instructs. "Hyperspace ... need to jump ... coordinates ... in navigation computer…."
"I see them!" Davi confirms. "Charging hyperdrive!"
The seconds tick by with agonizing slowness. Hakan's breathing is getting shallower, his grip on my wrist weakening.
"Almost there," I whisper to him, though I don't know if I'm talking about the hyperdrive or his survival. "Just hold on a little longer."
"Jumping!" Riz yells.
The universe compresses around us, stars stretching into lines, and suddenly we're in hyperspace, safe from pursuit.
For now.
Davi returns with towels. “Get the medical kit,” I tell him.
He races off and returns with it seconds later, his small hands shaking.
I tear it open, looking for anything that might help. There are bandages, antiseptic, pain medication, a diagnostic scanner — but nothing designed for treating a wound this severe. The massive tissue damage, the internal bleeding, his body going into shock from blood loss —
He's dying.
"No," I say aloud. "No, you don't get to die. Not now. Not after everything."
I press towels against the wound, but they're immediately soaked through. I add more, applying pressure, trying to slow the bleeding.
Hakan's eyes flutter closed.
"No!" I shake him. "Stay with me! Hakan, stay with me!"
His eyes open again, barely. "Daisy ... if I…."
"Don't you dare," I interrupt fiercely. "Don't you dare say goodbye. You promised me. I love you too much. You promised you'd always come back."
“Tried...." he breathes.
The boys are beside me now, tears streaming down their faces, their small hands reaching out to touch Hakan.
"Don't die," Riz begs. "Please don't die."
"We need you," Davi adds, his mental voice breaking.
I feel something snap inside me — some last vestige of control. "No!" I scream. "I won't let you die. There has to be something — some way —"
And then, over the ship’s speakers, I hear the Commander’s voice: “Daisy. Status report.”
“Hakan has a huge wound, lower torso," I gasp. "Massive tissue damage. He's lost too much blood. I don't know how to — I’m trying to slow the bleeding but I —"
"Breathe," the Commander interrupts. "I need you calm and focused. Can you do that?"
I force myself to take a breath, then another. "Yes."
"How conscious is he?"
I look at Hakan. His eyes are closed again, his breathing barely perceptible. "Barely. He's fading."
"The boys are telepaths. Can you and Hakan hear their telepathic communication?"
“Yes."
"There might be a way. But it requires the boys to do something very difficult and very dangerous."
“What is it?” Riz says immediately.
"Tell us!” Davi adds.
"I need you to enter Hakan's mind. Deeper than you've ever gone with anyone. You need to reach his core — what some call the soul — and find his hassana source."
“His what?”
“His arm bands are physical manifestations of his hassana," the Commander explains. “But the real power of hassana lies in a Kravan warrior's essence. If the boys can access that, they can amplify it. They can help him use his own healing abilities to repair the damage."
"But he's unconscious," I protest. "How can they —"
"That's why it's dangerous," the Commander says bluntly. "When a being is unconscious, their mental defenses are down, but they're also chaotic. The boys could get lost in there. Could be hurt by the trauma and pain echoing through Hakan's mind. But it's the only chance he has."
I look at Riz and Davi. They’re just nine years old. They’re children. And the Commander is asking them to risk themselves to save Hakan.
But they're already nodding.
"We'll do it," Riz says.
"He saved us," Davi adds. "Now we’ll save him."
The Commander walks them through it step by step. "Sit on either side of him. Place your hands on his head. Open your minds completely and push deeper than you've ever gone. Look for the core of his being — it will feel like fire, like warmth, like home."
The boys position themselves, their small hands resting on Hakan's head.
"Once you find the core, you'll see waves of energy — that's his hassana. It will be dim right now, because he's dying. You need to feed it your own energy. Not all of it — you could kill yourselves — but enough to jumpstart his healing."
"How will we know how much is enough?" Riz asks.
"You'll feel it," the Commander says. "Trust your instincts. And boys?” He pauses. ”If it starts to hurt, if you feel like you're being pulled too deep, you pull out immediately. Do you understand?"
“We understand," they chorus.
"Daisy," the Commander says, turning his attention to me. "You need to anchor them."
"How?"
"Touch them. Maintain physical contact. Your presence will help guide them back if they get lost."
I place one hand on Riz's shoulder and one on Davi's, feeling them both trembling.
"Ready?" the Commander asks.
The boys close their eyes.
And then I feel it — a rush of telepathic energy so strong it nearly knocks me over. The boys' consciousness is expanding, pushing past the surface of Hakan's mind, diving deeper and deeper.
Through our connection, I sense what they're experiencing: chaos, pain, memories flickering past like lightning — Hakan as a child, training with his father; Hakan with his wife and daughter, faces bright with joy; Hakan watching Krava burn, watching everything he loved turning to ash —
*Keep going,* I send to them. *Don't get caught in the memories.*
They push deeper, and suddenly I sense it, too — a core of warmth, of power, flickering like a dying ember.
*There!* Riz sends. *I see it!*
“The hassana,” Davi says out loud. “It’s so dim….”
*Feed it your energy,* the Commander instructs. *Slowly. Carefully.*
I feel the boys gathering their strength, then pushing it outward, into those dim threads of power.
Beneath my hands, Hakan gasps.
"It's working!" I cry. "His breathing is stronger!"
*More,* the Commander says. *But not too much.*
The boys pour more energy into Hakan's core, and I watch in amazement as the wound in his side begins to glow with golden light. The bleeding slows, then stops. The charred edges of the laser burn begin to knit together, flesh regenerating at a visible rate.
"Oh my God," I whisper.
But the boys are flagging. I can feel their energy depleting. They’re starting to shake with effort.
"That's enough," I say urgently. "Boys, that's enough. Come back now."
*Little ... more….* Riz sends weakly.
"No!" I grip their shoulders harder. "You've done enough. Come back to me. Now."
With visible effort, they pull back, their consciousness retreating from Hakan's core, surfacing through the layers of his mind, finally returning to their own bodies.
They both collapse against me, exhausted.
With fear in my heart, I turn to Hakan, praying for a miracle.