Beyond the Stars: INEO (36 page)

“Urit, there you are,” I said, walking into the lab.

He jetted over to me in a flash. “Sam, you look pale.”

“Urit, I just saw Jack. He’s haunting me or maybe it’s the Ineo trying to get my attention. I thought I was making progress in controlling it. Tyden told me I was getting better. Besides, nothing random or weird has happened to me for days. Please, you have to help me—you have to come up with a cure. Make it go away. Maybe you can drug me. Give me some antipsychotics. Perform an exorcism. I can’t live like this,” I pleaded.

“Would you please calm down?” he said evenly. “Jack is good, right?”

“Yes,” I answered shortly.

“Then what is so bad about seeing him once in a while. I would make the most of it. Be grateful—”

“No,” I interrupted. “He came to warn me. He said it was ‘almost time’, and
the way
he said it really scared me.”

“Sam, I’ve been thinking about your Ineo possession. Perhaps it manifests itself as a person you are familiar with, like Jack, so that it can speak to you.”

I thought about his theory and how it matched Gaelan’s. Despite Jack telling me it was really him just minutes ago, I still had doubts. I didn’t know what to believe. Although he touched me the same, seemed kind and trusting when he showed himself, he also acted differently. He never asked about the kids or wanted to discuss anything about our life together; maybe it was because he had moved on, or perhaps they were right, it was the Ineo. Either way, the more I saw him, the more I realized he had changed. He felt more powerful, brighter, like an angel.

Just then, Tyden announced on the overhead speaker, “Secure ship.”

Urit and I looked at each other anxiously as my stomach sank with the news.
Secure ship
was code for invasion. It meant that our ship had been boarded by intruders. I wanted to run and hide, yet nowhere seemed safe.

Within seconds, Gaelan burst threw the door of Urit’s lab and rushed towards us.

Gaelan’s body was tense, and the veins on his arms were pumped with adrenaline, bulging out like ropes. “Someone bypassed our security code and cleared an alien craft for docking on our landing port. The audible warning system was even deactivated. Tyden accidentally noticed the sensor, which signals us that there’s an open ramp,” he spoke urgently.

It was probably the reason for Jack’s visit. To warn me.

“Quick, we’ll take the slides.” Gaelan reminded me about the hidden emergency slides that were used to transport the crew to a safe haven in case of invasion. I had forgotten all about them.

Gaelan and I headed towards the secret passageway. Urit went the opposite direction. He ignored us and jolted across the room and began ramming objects into his pockets.

“Urit, come on. Leave it,” Gaelan said, perturbed. “Tyden already activated the internal weaponry,” he rotated his wrist to gaze at his watch, “three minutes and twenty-eight seconds ago. You have less than two and a half minutes.”

Urit reluctantly joined us at the slide entrance after reaching to grab one more item from his desk. “I might need these if people are hurt,” he urged defensively.

“Gaelan, what happens in two minutes?” I asked nervously.

“We cut life support in most of the ship. The oxygen level in unsecured areas will drop to zero to eliminate any organic life-forms. Then the temperature will be lowered, and a thick gas cloud will be dispersed to help deactivate engineered electronics and scatter any laser devices. We can’t let the intruders seize control of the ship.”

“Damn, you don’t mess around, do you?” I scoffed at the extreme measures.

With a flip of a panel, a round hole in the wall was exposed. Without further delay, the three of us hurled ourselves into the opening and slid down a dimly lit tunnel only slightly larger than our bodies.

“Whoa,” I yelped as I traveled down the slide’s steep decent.

For a moment, I was tempted to hold onto the sides and try and slow myself down. Instead, I let myself enjoy the ride. It was kind of fun. The surface was beyond smooth, offering zero resistance. It was obviously built for speed. I watched a row of small lights built into the tunnel’s ceiling quickly zip by. It looked like I was traveling down a runway and was about to be launched into Space.

We leveled off at the bottom and shot out the end of the slide into a room filled with most of the crew. The room was becoming crowded as more people were still arriving from other slides. There wasn’t anyone I knew personally. I looked around for our friends. They were missing. Gaelan told me Tyden and Zaric were manning the command deck before the lockdown, and Noah and Nia reported they would stay in engineering.

“What if the intruders reach them and break down the doors?” I asked in panic.

“They won’t,” Gaelan said confidently. “But if we don’t hear from Tyden in the next five minutes or so, we will start to evacuate, just as a precaution. The landing is on the other side of that door.” He pointed across the room. We can normalize the temperature and reestablish life support from here. It will allow us to reach the levitrons for evacuation,” he explained.

“Gaelan,” Azil yelled as she pushed herself through the gathering crowd, “do you have any idea who boarded us?”

I was happy to see her.

“No,” he replied.

“Then we better get prepared,” she stated with alarm.

“You’re right,” he agreed.

Gaelan and Azil headed for a lighted glass cabinet built into the room’s side wall. It housed an elaborate display of weapons. He voiced a command, “This is Commander Gaelan Liitanen,” making the doors unlock and open automatically. Before he could reach for one of the large rifles, the door to our secret room suddenly opened. I didn’t think I was alone in being terrified when I saw Loic standing at the entrance. He was accompanied by five, seven foot tall, green skinned, ugly, bulked-up aliens with dagger-like teeth.
Grulanti.
They were sporting disturbingly large lethal-looking weapons, and were wearing body armor on their upper chests, as if they would even need it. Their bodies were probably over three feet wide.

“That’s her,” Loic said, pointing to me. “She has it.”

Gaelan’s eyes squinted with rage. “You better keep
your
filthy hands off her,” he threatened.

“I can’t believe we trusted you,” I said to Loic with disgust. I knew it. The person I despised the most was the same person who had overheard me talking about having the Ineo with Gaelan—
Loic.

Without warning, one of the green beasts lunged at me and sucked in a deep breath of air, drawing me to it as though I was being sucked in by a giant fan. I tried to run. It was no use. I found myself hurtling backwards with my hair rushing across my face until I smacked hard into the beast’s shielded chest.

I gasped as the wind was painfully knocked out of me. He swung his leathery arms across my chest and held me in a tight hold. I kicked my feet against him as he lifted me from the floor. “Let me go, you ugly beast!” I shouted and fought back, hitting the hard creature with all my might to try and weaken his unbreakable hold. His body was so hard and strong, I would probably break my hand if I continued to hit him. Realizing my efforts were futile, I submitted to the hold, deciding it was better to catch my breath before I passed out.

At the same time, Loic called out, “Hold it up there, G. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Try any of those savvy tricks of yours, and my friend will get careless with Samantha.”

I looked at Gaelan and saw him release the weapon he was gripping in the case. He knew they had me, put his hands in the air, and slowly turned around.

“Sorry, G, I had the opportunity to mend a deal. The temptation to improve my life was much too great. But I want to thank you for suggesting I go to Pinnaquin. Blonter here,” Loic said, pointing to the large green beast standing behind him, “had the perfect solution. We decided we could work together after all.”

Gaelan appeared to be almost paralyzed by Loic’s unexpected betrayal. Although I knew he never fully trusted Loic, he looked torn by his disloyalty. “How could you? You really reached an all time low, even after we rescued your ass on Dalinova. Wait a minute, that’s why the Grulanti were taking your lot and why you were so afraid of going to their auction. You had a debt to fulfill. You double-crossed them, too!”

Loic’s eyes flashed with contempt. “Yes, I may have peeved them off, but now,
whew,
they love me. You see, offering them a cut in the sale of an Ineo is the answer for all my troubles. Now I can pay them back as well as everyone I know. It would have taken me decades to do so the old-fashioned way. I will be wealthy beyond my wildest dreams. Do you know what advanced navigation is worth in the marketplace?”

At least Loic didn’t seem aware of the full scope of the Ineo’s abilities. He didn’t know that it allowed me to communicate with the spirit of my dead husband or that it could potentially create an entirely new existence. If I only knew how.

Loic approached me. “Now, be a good little girl and tell me how the Ineo works.”

I took a deep breath and refused to speak. I wondered how much Loic knew. Did he realize that I couldn’t get rid of it? That it was stuck in me?

“Wrong answer,” he said, growing impatient with my silence, before returning his attention to Gaelan. “Too bad. Your companion wants to play games. Oh well … relationships seldom work out in the long run. I’m probably doing you a favor by taking her off your hands,” Loic said callously while gesturing for the Grulanti to take me out the door.

“You bastard. I’ll
kill
you before I let you take her off this ship,” Gaelan snapped and he reached back into the gun case and grabbed one of the long rifles.

Immediately, he aimed it at Loic. Before he could fire, a giant Grulanti charged Gaelan by stepping in front of him. He took hold of the weapon’s shaft and crimped the metal with his bare hands. He flattened it so easily, it looked like his fingers were squishing dough. Gaelan retaliated by hitting the monstrous creature in the gut with the bent weapon. It made a thump. The Grulanti never budged. Instead, it reached out and removed the useless weapon from Gaelan’s hands and tossed it across the floor.

“Humph,
that was … ineffective,” Gaelan muttered, resorting to inappropriate humor in place of fear.

Loic held up his hand and motioned for the Grulanti to step back. “Stop. I got it. This is between him and me.” He held his eyes on Gaelan’s.

Loic darted in front of Gaelan and put up his fists, showing he was ready for a fight. Reflexively, the people in the room backed away to create an opening to encircle the two of them. Gaelan didn’t hesitate. He rushed towards Loic and threw a strong right hook that landed squarely on Loic’s face.

The Grulanti monsters loomed closer, but did not interfere. I could hear Loic’s nose break on contact. Blood dripped from his left nostril. “You’ll have to do better than that,” Loic said, wiping his nose with the back of his hand, before giving Gaelan a smirk as though he found pleasure in provoking him.

It worked. He successfully made Gaelan angrier, prompting him to deliver two more swift punches, one striking Loic’s gut, the other, his jaw. Loic fought to steady himself on his feet and gave Gaelan a shove back with his right hand. Gaelan charged him again, except this time Loic was ready for him and swung back. Gaelan dodged his first punch with ease, but Loic made up for it with his next swing. He hit Gaelan’s left cheek with a powerful blow, causing his head to snap back at an exaggerated angle. Gaelan shook it off and came back at him more aggressively. He grabbed Loic’s arm and twisted it behind his body. He lowered him to the floor, driving his knee into his back. Loic managed to wrestle his way loose. He bolted upright and reverse-kicked Gaelan in the chest. I hopelessly tried to free myself from the large alien’s firm hold when I saw Gaelan stagger, appearing hurt.

“You can hit me all you want,” Loic said, clenching his fists in front of him. “It doesn’t matter. We aren’t leaving here until Sami gives us the Ineo and teaches us how to use it. If she doesn’t, we’re going to take her with us. I’m sure I could get her to help us if I got her away from
you.”

Gaelan gritted his teeth. “You’ll never get it, and she’s not going anywhere
alone
with you, Loic,” he said, coming back at him with renewed energy. He drew back his fist and snapped it forward, striking Loic’s face with a clean swing.

Loic swayed unsteadily and swung back, but Gaelan ducked from under his hook and hit him again. Loic glowered at him and spit some blood on the floor. He breathed heavily, looking as though he’d had enough.

“Alright, you can come, too, if you feel inclined to watch what we do to her. I don’t want you coming after me. Besides, we can kill you if she doesn’t comply. But I’d rather not, you see. You’ll find that your skills are quite marketable as well. Someone might have a need for a well seasoned Katarian commander that follows orders without question. And, I think we should bring along the doctor, too,
for fun.
The bidding always gets fascinating when there is a medic up for grabs,” Loic said before addressing Urit, “I don’t like you. You’re rude.” He returned his attention back to Gaelan. “Actually, G, I was wondering if you noticed. Sami’s rather fond of him. I think they might have something on the side … I don’t want to take any chances on where her loyalty rests.”