Chapter 7
Rescued
Thick dust chokes theair, but my optical enhancements allow me to see through the darkness. Everyone lies on their sides unmoving.
Tilly has fallen face down on top of the woman.Hopefully the guard’s body provided a soft landing.
Elation and adrenaline pour through me as my sensors begin feeding me data from outside the cell, which means the EMP shielding is down.
My heart pounds in my chest, a frantic beat screaming at me to port out of the cell and take her into my arms, a physical confirmation of what her bracelet has already relayed: she’s alive with no major physical damage.
Though everyone has been knocked unconscious, I don’t know how long it’ll last. Even though I can teleport to her, I only have limited power without any way to recharge my plasma reserves. A port out of the cell to only a few meters away would be a reckless use of energy, especially since I’ll need to port her to safety.
I only have enough plasma for four or five ports before I’d be completely useless.And if that happens, I’ll be without any of my special abilities.
Taking advantage of the loss of power to the building, I jump to my feet and grip the metal bars.
A quick scan tells me they’re common steel, no match for my strength. With a quick jerk, I pry the bars apart. They groan and squeal with the pressure. Managing a large enough gap to slide through, I slide out and run toward Tilly, dodging falling chunks of concrete.
My external monitoring systems flood my feed with commands from carriers. I have no idea why they’re here but I’m grateful. They must’ve caused the collision and subsequent blackout.
Dozens of black and silver-clad robots funnel through the exit door and the gaping crack in the wall to my left. They surround Silarrian and the guard, who remain unconscious.
“You guys are a welcome sight.” Their constant streams of code running through my head are a soothing melody.
As I reach Tilly and bend down, I query the army.
Me: Who’s in command?
Carrier 28934: Eva Averon.
I gently turn Tilly to her back and slide my arms under her body, cradling her to my chest as I rise. Connecting to her bracelet, I confirm once more she’s relatively unharmed, just shocked by the auditory concussion unleashed by the extraction team.
Her face is ashen and covered with dust from the ceiling. I press my lips to her forehead and breathe a sigh of relief.
The cut along her stomach is not more than a few millimeters deep and already trying to clot, but the jostling of my arms causes it to seep. Using the hand I slid under her knees, I reach up and tug the T-shirt over her stomach. Tiny blooms of red stain the baby blue cotton.
Me: Grandma?
Granny: Dear boy. Seems you and Tilly got yourselves into a pickle.
Me: I’ve never been so glad to hear from you.
Granny: I expected you to message me sooner, but we can talk about that later. Are you unhurt?
Me: For the most part.
I stride toward the hole blown into the wall. Outside, in the sunlight, a sentinel ship waits in what must’ve once been an exercise yard for prisoners.
Me: Silarrian Everton and three other renegades deactivated me with a clever EMP weapon, then abducted Tilly. He...he cut her. Not too bad, but his plan was to take the baby, either to kill him or to use me for fleet access. I almost lost them.
Granny: They’re safe now—that’s what matters, Jareth.
Me: How did you know we were in trouble?
Granny: I’m still on Mars, but Tilly sent a frantic communication saying you’d been captured, then she stopped responding. I knew it must be bad and sent out a nearby ship to the coordinates she’d sent for rescue.
Me: I need to get her to safety.
