Chapter 21
Darkness was approaching, bringing with it a cold she’d never felt.
Mayra was floating in space, watching as the darkness crept closer. She began to see shapes in the darkness, faces, but none were familiar. There was the face of man badly scarred, half a twisted mass. And another male, this one who had Nojan’s brown eyes. Then a woman’s face appeared, drowning the others out. She had raven hair, red lips, and green eyes that burned with a fire that stopped Mayra’s breath.
Suddenly, the darkness was closer, even though she hadn’t seen it move. And just as suddenly, a cascade of images hit her brain. The dark-haired woman and Nojan, entwined in an intimate embrace. The dark-haired woman, her chest pierced through with a knife held by hands that looked eerily familiar. A woman she didn’t know with blond hair and a pregnant belly, falling to her knees and screaming in pain. A world on fire, and the man she’d met in the pit laughing as he watched it all burn.
Mayra sat up in bed with a start. She’d been dreaming, except they weren’t dreams. They were visions.
Looking around, she realized she was alone. Picking up the shirt the Vartik had discarded, she pulled it on and padded into the main chamber of the ship to find a freshly attired Nojan at the console. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“I picked up a distress call so I dropped out of hyperspace. There’s a ship not far ahead that’s lost power. They’re asking for help.”
Mayra felt a chill crawl over her. “Are we going to give it to them?”
“It’s an interstellar police cruiser. I’m not sure it would be to our benefit.”
Just then, a disembodied voice floated around them. “Please help me. If you can hear me, please!”
It was a panicked female voice, a voice that sounded on the edge. “You’ve got to help me. There was some kind of malfunction and it’s knocked out the two officers. They might be dead, I don’t know, but I’m afraid and—”
A sound interrupted her words, an angry buzzing, followed by a mechanical warning. “Main hull breach. Ship will destruct in less than two minutes.”
Nojan hit a button and the ship jumped forward.
“Wait,” Mayra said. “What are you doing?”
“We’ve got to get her out of there. You heard the damn ship. It’s going to blow in less than two minutes.”
“But you just said it wouldn’t be to our benefit.”
Nojan stared at her, eyes wide. “That woman is going to die, Mayra.”
Mayra knew he was right, but something was wrong with that ship. She could feel it. Still, she stood helpless as they pulled alongside the craft. Nojan lined up the two airlocks, extending a seal to the other ship and quickly flooding it with oxygen. “You stay here,” he said, rushing to twist the wheel that would open the airlock. “Get over to the console. Hit the red button to transmit.”
Mayra did as she said, hitting the red button. She looked back over her shoulder at Nojan, who started to yell. “To the woman on the disabled vessel, I need you to get over to the airlock right away. You’ve got to open it immediately and head through it into my ship. We’ve got to get out of the blast radius before we both blow.”
Mayra released the button, biting her lip as she watched Nojan push into the airlock seal tube to bang against the outside of the other ship’s airlock.
“I’m coming,” the woman transmitted back.
Mayra could still hear the angry buzz of the ship’s alarm in the background. “Estimated one minute until destruct.”
There was a blast of air that blew Nojan back out of the tube. Then a woman tumbled into the ship. Nojan retracted the seal, slammed the airlock shut, and quickly sealed it. Then he ran to the console and pushed Mayra out of the way, punching in coordinates.
The ship jumped forward at lightning speed, causing Mayra to lose her balance and fall to the floor. There was a moment of silence, and the ship spun loosely, buffeted as if by an immense wind. Glancing at the viewscreen, Mayra saw a massive explosion. The police cruiser had destructed as promised.
She looked back to the airlock and the woman lying beside it. Mayra could make out little, except that she had dark hair. Then the woman lifted her head, revealing green eyes.
Mayra recoiled as if she’d been slapped. It was the face from her vision, the beautiful female that had been embracing Nojan. The one that had ended up stabbed in the stomach.What is she doing here?
Nojan turned around, noticed her on the floor, and bent to set her upright. Without a word, he headed over to the female stranger and did the same thing. “Are you hurt?” he asked.
The woman dabbed two fingers at her lip and winced. Mayra could make out a small trail of blood from her swollen lip. “Not too bad,” the woman replied, her voice husky.
A cold fear washed over Mayra.Something isn’t right.Sheisn’t right.
“Let me grab the first aid kit,” Nojan said, heading toward the galley and grabbing the box he’d used earlier to treat his burned hand. He dug through it, pulling out a salve and some gauze. “Here, let me.”
