Fury to the Stars (Universe in Flames Book 2) (9 page)

“That was too close for comfort,” Daniel muttered.

“I know.” Chase turned sharply. “We’re almost out of
range.”

Just then, the
Iron Fire
started firing a
volley of torpedoes towards the Hellstar turrets. They didn’t destroy them, but
it gave Chase the necessary time to exit firing range.

“My god!” exclaimed Sarah, putting both her hands in
front of her nose. “What’s that smell?”

“I don’t smel—” Daniel couldn’t finish his sentence
before gagging dramatically.

Tar’Lock dropped his gaze. “I am really sorry.”

“Chase, get us on board
Iron Fire
on the
double, I beg you!”

They touched down on the ship’s landing bay a moment
later. Sarah and Daniel were the first to jump out, followed by Tar’Lock, who
looked ashamed. Chase followed shortly behind and was quick to open up the
panel to release the Droxians.

As the door dropped on the ground, Ronan called out,
“She must have passed out from the pain. Please help her.”

“Don’t worry, Ronan,” Chase assured him, “it will be
alright.”

He dragged Ryonna’s unconscious body to the ground
next to the ship, then quickly put his hands on her leg. White light engulfed
her and her leg made a snapping sound again, this time back into place. A
second later, it looked like nothing had ever happened.

Sarah knelt down beside them as Ryonna opened her
eyes and touched her leg. It was completely healed. “Thank you, Chase. I owe
you both our lives.”

“No, you don’t owe me a thing. I’m just glad you and
Ronan are safe.”

She shook her head fervently. “I won’t ever forget
this, Chase.”

Sarah leaned back on her heels with a very peculiar
look on her face. “I think Argos did something similar to me. Many times,
actually.”

Chase looked up sharply, blood boiling as he
imagined the horrors his brother must have inflicted her. “Did he—”

“Later, okay?” Sarah asked softly. “I promise.”

Chase sighed but nodded his head. They might have
been back safe, but he had a feeling the trouble was just beginning.

*   *   *

Argos slowly opened his eyes as he regained
consciousness. A controlled shockwave propelled the debris out of the way and
he rose to his feet. As he started dusting himself off, a huge smile spread
across his face.

Mission accomplished
.

Within moments, he reached his ship and took off
from Hellstar. The ion turrets acquired a lock on his vessel and started
firing. His shields depleted a bit faster than he was used to, but not before
he entered hyperspace.

Once he was safely there, he touched a control on
his holo-display and opened a comm.

“Status report?”

A Zarlack face appeared on the one the monitor.
“Subject tracker reports vital signs are stable.”

“Good. How about the transmitter?”

“Receiving live telemetry.”

“Perfect. Argos out.” The holo-display faded off and
Argos leaned back against his chair with a smile. “It has begun.”

Chase’s fingers
traveled delicately across Sarah’s naked, burning skin. His lips were soon to
follow, kissing her tenderly on the neck and sending her into waves of
shivering anticipation. Her nails raked down his back as he made his way slowly
to her face, and then they kissed for what seemed like an eternity.

Everything was going perfectly until an involuntary
shudder ran through Sarah’s body.

Chase pulled back immediately. “Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry.” She flushed. “It’s just… I can’t
believe this is all real, you know?”

He bit his lip nervously. “Maybe you should tell me
what happened the last few days.”

“Somehow I don’t think this is the appropriate
time,” she stalled.

He looked steadily into her eyes. “You’re safe now,
and we’re alone. Nothing can happen to us and we’ll be on Earth before you know
it. Maybe it’s best if we talked about it before.”

Her face fell. “Maybe... I guess you’re right.”

The two of them sat up against the headboard and she
launched into the tale. She took him through every bruise, every scar, and
every resuscitation. No detail was too small to ignore and no memory too
painful. No matter how difficult it was, she plowed on through, taking special
care to describe Argos’ powerful mind control. She’d never seen anything like
it.

There was a deafening silence when she was finished
and she looked up to see that Chase had tears in his eyes. Hard anger and
bitter remorse were etched into every line of his face, and when she squeezed
his hand, he took a second to control himself before talking.

“I... I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry.” His
face grew dark. “He will pay for this, I promise you that much.”

“Maybe he already did,” she said hopefully. “I mean,
who survives a quadrinium enhanced bomb and three thermal grenades?”

Chase’s lips thinned to a hard line. “Furies do...”

“You seriously think so?”

“Sarah, when I faced him, I felt a kind of power
flow through my body like nothing else I ever felt before. I sent attack after
attack upon him, each one powerful enough to kill ten men, but he dealt with
them as if they were nothing more than mosquito bites.”

Her face paled. “Can I tell you something?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I’m… I’m also a little scared of you now.” She
glanced away, looking embarrassed.

Chase straightened up in surprise. “Why? You know
I’d never let anything bad happen to you. I’d rather—”

“Be that as it may, this man is your brother. You’re
from the same planet. What if something happens to you and you lose control?
You said it yourself, when you’re angry you could potentially be
uncontrollable.”

Chase got up from the bed and walked towards the
window. Blue and purple lights from the hyperspace corridor flashed across his
bare skin. He stared at his reflection in the glass, deeply impacted by what
Sarah had just told him.

What was he now? Was she right? Was he something to
be feared?

But at that moment, she got up as well and embraced
him, slipping her arms under his and resting her palms on his shoulder. Her
soft skin and delicate curves pressed against his back, and when she squeezed
his wrist, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“Chase, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t. And you’re right. I destroyed my
quarters on board the
Destiny
and that was just a reaction from a
vision. In that same vision… I destroyed entire worlds.”

She pressed his face against the back of his neck
and kissed him. “Visions and nightmares are one thing… but do you seriously
think you could do such a thing?”

“Aphroditis seems to think so.”

“Right...” She suddenly remembered. “Argos is very
interested in the Olympians. When he was in my head, I tried to make him tell
me why—he seemed obsessed.”

Chase considered this thoughtfully. “He seemed
pissed at her during our confrontation.”

“Maybe they hurt him somehow… and he’s seeking
revenge?” Sarah guessed.

“It doesn’t matter what it is,” Chase said firmly.
“What matters is that I have to stop him.”

Sarah was quick to jump in. “We—”

“What?”

“
We
have to stop him, Chase. You’ll need my
help and the help of your other friends too. Argos is too dangerous a threat
for you to deal with alone.”

Chase shook his head. “Be that as it may, I don’t
want any of you to get hurt.
Again
.”

“I don’t think it’s your choice to make.” She smiled
warmly. “But that’s very sweet of you. In fact, it’s why I fell in love with
you to begin with. But you have to be smart.”

“Interesting choice of words,” Chase murmured, more
to himself than to Sarah.

“Why is that?”

“Something Aphroditis said during the battle: that I
couldn’t defeat Argos based on powers alone. That I wasn’t ready yet so I
needed to outsmart him.”

“And you did, so that was good advice. How do you
feel about your powers right now?”

He considered. “I’m starting to feel some sort of
control, even though they scare me. But I’m nowhere near his level. At least
for the time being, I’m ill-equipped to face him again.”

“Then when we reach Earth, you should focus on
training,” she suggested. “There are desolate places on Earth where you
wouldn’t risk doing too much damage.”

“Perhaps...” Chase doubted there were any places
with such low risk, not if he lost control.

She tightened her embrace and laid her head on his
back. His mind wouldn’t stop racing; he kept thinking about his visions,
replaying the fight with Argos again and again. He knew full well his fear of
hurting innocent people was holding him back, but how could it not be? To wield
such power was not something to be taken lightly. He took small comfort in the
fact that the healing power at least had come naturally to him. That had to be
a good sign.

“Sarah…” He sighed. “I am so sorry for what Argos
put you through.”

She trembled a little but held strong. “It’s not
your fault.”

“Maybe it is,” he countered. “Maybe if I had been
stronger, I could have prevented you all this pain and suffering.”

“We both know that’s just wishful thinking,” she
murmured. “It won’t do either of us any good. And may I remind you that you
saved my life jumping in front of my ship when he was about to blow me out of
the sky?”

“Maybe he wouldn’t have.”

“You can’t second guess yourself. You’re not this
guy.”

“What guy?” he asked curiously.

“The guy that keeps obsessing about the past. This
isn’t you.”

“Right now it is”—he sighed again—“and it makes me
feel cold and sad.”

She squeezed him firmly. “Then I suggest you leave
the past where it belongs. Focus on the now. I am here, I am back, and thanks
to you, I am no longer under the control of this mad man. That has to count for
something, right?”

Chase turned and took her in his arms. They looked
at each other in the eyes for a moment before he lowered his lips slowly down
to hers.

*   *   *

Ryonna looked at Ronan sleeping. These past few days
had been quite the ordeal for him, and he had fallen asleep as soon as they
arrived on board the
Iron Fire
. She stroked back his hair, thinking—with
a concerned frowned—that perhaps the ordeal had left marks on her too.

For the first time in her life, she had been unable
to sense anything about the crewman that had escorted them to their new
quarters. Not his death, not anything. It was unnerving.

But it was also perhaps a blessing in disguise; she
had never liked this power. She knew it was supposed to be gift, a highly
regarded one amongst her people, in fact, but to her it had only made things
more difficult throughout her life.

How do you manage to develop any sort of longtime
relationship with people when you know how and when they’re going to die?

No. It was not a gift, it was a curse. And if she
had lost it… it was for the best.

Ronan started moaning in his sleep and she stroked
her hand again through his hair. She was so happy to be reunited with her son,
so proud of the strength it must have taken to survive Hellstar, so proud of
the man he was becoming right in front of her eyes.

A sudden pain in her stomach made her reel back with
a gasp. The damn nanite factory was acting up again. Maybe that was the reason
she had lost her ability. But what started out as tolerable pain, soon
escalated to a near-crippling paralysis. She fell to the floor and tugged
herself out into the hall so as not to wake Ronan.

A passing crewman ran towards her. “Are you alright,
ma’am?”

He was a short man, even by Alliance standards. Dark
haired with concerned, chestnut eyes.

“My stomach,” she panted, doubling over in pain.
“Please help.”

The crewman hit a panel on the nearest wall.
“Medical emergency on deck two, corridor twelve.”

The last thing she remembered was him kneeling down
to help. Then she blacked out.

*   *   *

Chase arrived in the med-bay shortly after. He
talked with the doctor currently on duty who gave him a detailed report on the
tests they had performed on her and showed him some scans before leaving to
tend to other things.

Hesitant to wake her, Chase cautiously approached
the bed where Ryonna was sleeping, smiling when she opened her eyes. “Hello,
sleepy head.”

“Chase...? Where am I?”

“Medical Bay.”

She looked around in alarm. “On Earth?”

“Soon,” he said calmingly. “We're less than an hour
away from jumping out of hyperspace. You’re still on the
Iron Fire
.”

“Ronan?” she asked automatically.

“He’s fine. I passed by his quarters and he was
still sleeping so I let him rest. I’m sure you’ll agree he’s had enough
excitement for a while.”

She chuckled weakly. “Indeed. Thank you, Chase.”

The smile faded from Chase’s eyes. “Why didn’t you
tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“About that thing you have in your stomach. I ran
into Tar’Lock and he explained that you had a nanite factory installed inside
your stomach. He said something about the fact you needed to reverse the
procedure quickly…?”

She sighed. “I thought I had a few more days. It
didn’t seem that important at the time.”

“Well, the doc here is worried. It seems your body
is rejecting the implant and he thinks you need to be operated on as soon as
possible. He prefers doing it on Earth. Some of our best physicians are there,
and there’s better operating equipment as well as full operating staff.”

She nodded but then stared up at him anxiously.
“There’s something else, Chase.”

“What is it?

“I can’t seem to be able to foresee the moment of
passing of the people I meet anymore. When I arrived on Hellstar it was still
working, but shortly after—I don’t really know how or when exactly—or why—it’s
just gone.”

Chase considered his response. “Does it bother you?”

“No, on the contrary. I’d rather this be gone
forever.”

“So why worry?”

“Well…” She paused thoughtfully. “Maybe it was a
tactical advantage you could have found useful in the future. As such, it’s a
shame to have lost it.”

He frowned. “Why does it matter what is of any
tactical advantage to me, Ryonna?”

“Because I owe you a life debt now.”

He shook his head quickly and took a step away. “Oh
no you don’t! You saved our asses with that quadrinium. Without it, Earth and
the Alliance would have fallen. So if there’s anyone owing anybody anything
here, it’s the rest of us owing you, do you understand me?”

She gazed up solemnly. “That’s not how things work,
Chase. You saved my hide from that desolate planet and helped me locate
Ronan—that’s why I gave you the quadrinium. You coming to Hellstar to save us
is another debt, a much more important one for me to repay.”

“Look, I understand Droxians are very proud people
with a strong sense of honor. I’m sure you feel you have to do this, but—”

“I need to, and I will.”

“Will you let me finish?”

“Sorry. Please continue.”

“Alright, so as it happens, it’s Sarah who asked me
to come to Hellstar. I don’t know how. I don’t know if this is one of my
powers, but I heard her telepathically calling to me. So technically, I didn’t
come to save you.”

Ryonna smiled. She knew what he was trying to do.

“The fact of the matter is, even if you came to find
Sarah, once you arrived, do you honestly expect me to believe that you wouldn’t
have tried to locate me and Ronan?”