Kierra's Thread (Argadian Heart Trilogy Book 2) (6 page)

He sighed. “All right, I promise.” He leaned down and kissed
her. “Now go. Quickly.”

She turned and passed through the arch to the silver thread.
As she followed it, all of a sudden she realized just how fragile was the bond.
If something happened and the thread was severed, what would she do?

This wasn’t the time to panic. He’d promised her and she
must trust he would keep the promise.

Through the darkness she passed onward until she settled
back into her own mind and memories.

Opening her eyes, she blinked rapidly for a second. The ship
had landed and Devon was powering down.

She turned to Devon. “He’s in the laboratory. We must
hurry.”

“How do you know?” He glanced her way.

“I thoughtwalked and found him. I don’t have time to
explain. They’ve done something. He says there is a drug and that you must be
sure to destroy all of it.”

“Do you know how to get to the laboratory?”

“Yes. I’ll get us there. Can you get us inside?” Kierra
forced the emotional dark memories of Odon’s compound from her mind, focusing
instead on the layout, and the quickest route to get inside.

“I have a plan,” was all he said.

She unbuckled the safety harness and stood. “We must hurry.
They are trying to destroy him and we can’t let that happen.”

“We go in through the main entrance.”

“That’s your plan?” Kierra gasped. “Surely you jest.”

Devon turned to Eluria. “Do you have the lenses I asked
for?”

Eluria opened a compartment in the console and pulled out a
small case. She walked over and handed it to Devon.

“My appearance of an Enforcer will get us in.” He nodded to
the two Freelion crew members who had accompanied them on the mission. “Corbin
and Torak will act as my prisoners. Once we’re inside the compound, we will
disarm the guards and disable the surveillance equipment.”

“Why don’t you simply take us in with you?” Kierra asked. “It
would save time. We need to reach Jarek.”

“You will wait outside in the brush until it is safe.”

“He’s playing the big protective taman and brother, Kierra,”
Eluria inserted before Devon could respond. “It’s all right for him to put
himself in danger though.”

“You do realize, Devon, both Eluria and I survived up until
now without your protective presence.”

“As you say,” he responded, “before my arrival. There is no
need for either of you to put yourselves in danger.”

“And what if there are more guards than you anticipate? What
then?”

A feral look came into his eyes, and what she could only
term as an overly self-confident smirk crossed his face. “I’m more than capable
of handling the situation.” He turned away from her, leaning forward, he
inserted the lenses.

When he turned back, Kierra gasped and instinctively stepped
away. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. His eyes now appeared black,
and with his white hair, it altered his appearance to that of a seemingly
emotionless deadly Elite Enforcer.

He apparently saw her reaction and moved toward her, but
again she was unable to stop herself from retreating until she was cornered by
the console.

“Kierra, I’m not going to hurt you.”

She shook her head, trying to clear the hated memories. It
was difficult. “I know you won’t. Give me a moment.”

“If you can’t put your fear aside for Devon, how will you
deal with the real Enforcers in the compound?” Eluria asked her. “We’ll be
surrounded by them.”

“I know that. I expect them to look like Enforcers. It’s just
after these weeks with Devon, the lenses—it was unexpected, that’s all. Let’s
go. We can’t afford to wait any longer.”

Eluria holstered a diffuser from the weapons rack. She
pulled out another belt and second diffuser and handed them to Kierra. “Do you
think you can handle one of these?”

“I have no choice,” Kierra responded as she clasped the belt
around her hip and holstered the weapon.

Eluria turned back to the rack and pulled out two
lethal-looking daggers. She sheathed one in the band at her thigh and handed
the other over. “For back up. In case they come too close to use the diffuser.”

Gingerly, Kierra grasped the dagger. The severity of what
she was about to do weighed on her. She’d never taken another person’s life.
Her time with the rebel forces had been spent in the lab, not out in
hand-to-hand combat with Tribunal Forces. Slowly, she sheathed the knife in the
scabbard attached to the belt.

Eluria moved to a cabinet and pulled out telecom units and
handed one to each of them. Kierra inserted the black disc-like device into her
ear. As soon as it was in place, small black wires emerged to secure the device
in place.

“All right,” Devon said. “Let’s do this.” He pinned Eluria
beneath a hard, unemotional black gaze. “You remember our agreement.”

“Yes,” she said with an exasperated sigh.

“What agreement?” Kierra asked.

Devon said nothing, but quirked an eyebrow at Eluria. She
hissed. “He’s the expert here, or so he thinks. I follow his orders without
question.” She blazed a fierce look back at him. “
Unless
I feel his life
is in danger. I will not stand by and watch if I deem he could be hurt.”

“You will follow my orders. All of you. I know how they
work. You don’t.”

“You don’t know how Odon works,” Kierra murmured.

Devon turned to her. “I know his training, I’ve seen how
they fight. I will handle them. Just follow my lead and we will get Jarek out
safely and destroy this drug he’s concerned about.”

He walked over and pushed a button near the outside hatch
and it slid open. “The ship is hidden here, but once we are outside I will
engage the cloak. Their tracking mechanisms shouldn’t be able to pick up a
signal once I do that. Let’s get moving.”

The others followed him out the hatch and down the gangway.
Once they were clear of the ship he engaged the cloaking device.

It was nighttime and no moon was evident. That would work to
their advantage.

None of them spoke as they covered the ground to the
compound. Argadian eyes adjusted to brightness automatically allowing for them
to move expediently. Just before they came in sight of the gate, Devon motioned
for Eluria and Kierra to the side out of sight behind an outcropping of trees.

“Wait until I call for you. Don’t even think about entering
until I tell you it’s safe.” His voice was a mere hint of sound over the comlink.

Eluria motioned to Kierra and they moved soundlessly toward
the cover of trees and watched as Devon confidently strode toward the entrance
with his diffuser trained on Corbin and Torak.

She leaned close to Eluria and whispered, “I’m going to try
to reach Jarek through thoughtwalk. I may be able to determine what we will be
facing in the laboratory, so we are more prepared.”

“Is it safe?” Eluria asked.

“Yes. I just need to make sure he’s all right.”

Kierra stepped away from her and leaned against a tree. She
turned her thoughts inward and located the thread. Her first thought was that
she was thankful Jarek had done as he’d promised and left the thread intact.
What she would find at the other end she had no idea. She could only pray he
would still be alive and would know her.

Kierra moved to the thread and followed it to the arch.
Turmoil confronted her. Flashing arcs of lightning-like electricity surged one
after the other. The red mist had grown thicker almost suffocating the soft
yellow luminescent glow. It was as though an electrical storm had taken over
inside Jarek’s mind.

“Jarek!” Where was he? It was hard to make out anything
through the thick crimson mist.

Then she saw him on his knees in the doorway to one of his memories.
A bolt of electrical energy encompassed him and he was rigid, his eyes closed,
arms outstretched as though to bar entry into the room behind him.

“Jarek, no.” She raced forward, reaching him as the bolt
dissipated. Jarek hunched forward, hands to the ground, and she heard him gasp.
She knelt down in front of him.

He raised his head to look at her, his eyes gray storm
clouds of pain. “Get out. Now.”

She reached for him, but he thrust her away. “I can’t leave
you like this. What’s happening?”

He shook his head, staggering to his feet. “You can’t help
me here. He’s using some sort of program to alter the memories.”

“Come with me,” she urged. “To sanctuary.”

Jarek’s eyes were dead when he looked at her. “There is no
sanctuary. He’s already destroyed most of the memories from my past. He’s now
trying to alter what remains.”

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her toward the arch.
“Get out now. If you don’t reach my physical body before I return to
consciousness, and before he alters what memories are left, there will be no
way to reach me.”

He was forcing her to move to the arch and she yanked away
to turn and looked at him. “Don’t give up, Jarek. Devon is inside the compound.
Come with me, Jarek. Let me protect you the way you did for me.”

“No, it will do no good. They used your body, but weren’t
after your mind. If I don’t stay, there will be nothing for you to save. Do you
understand? Hurry.” He pushed her toward the thread.

She staggered and then ran, sobbing in the knowledge they
could be too late. She stopped and turned. He was there, watching her,
highlighted by the flashing turbulence behind him. Then she turned and ran.

As she re-entered her mind, she gasped and opened her eyes
to find Eluria watching her with concern.

“We can’t wait any longer,” she whispered.

“What is it?”

“Odon has already destroyed parts of his memory. If we don’t
reach him in time, he will be altered beyond anything we can remedy. He won’t
remember any of us.”

“We can’t go in yet. You know that. We have to wait for
Devon’s signal.”

Kierra shook her head. “Don’t you understand? We can’t wait.
Could you, if it was Devon whose sanity was at risk?”

“Kierra, if we go in there before Devon is ready, we could
put his life in danger, do you realize that? And if we fail, Jarek will most certainly
die anyway. Think about it.”

She knew Eluria was right. Kierra also knew there wasn’t
much time left.

“Eluria? Kierra?” It was Devon’s voice over the telecom
unit.

Eluria looked at Kierra. “We’re here, Devon,” she responded
in a low voice.

“The gate is secured. Get in here as quickly as you can, but
keep it quiet. We want to move in before someone else discovers us.”

Eluria unholstered her weapon, checked it, and grabbed
Kierra’s arm. “Come on. Get that diffuser ready in case there’s trouble.”

Kierra followed Eluria’s example and pulled her own weapon.
She’d never used one before and had no idea if she’d actually be able to fire
it. Silently, staying low and in the shadows as much as possible, they raced
toward the gate, staying well out of sight of the security beam that queried
the perimeter outside the compound.

As they entered, Kierra noticed four bodies in Enforcer
uniforms slumped in a shadowed corner.

“They won’t bother us for a while,” Devon said. “They’re
tied up nice and neat.” He turned to Kierra. “Which way?”

She looked around, trying to get her bearings. Then she
pointed to the right. “Over there. That’s the building where the laboratory is
housed. It’s below ground. There’s a tubulator to take us down.

“Does it require identification to access the tubulator?”

“Yes, I believe it does.” She motioned to the unconscious
Enforcers. “They should have identification chips.”

“Corbin, check for ID chips on our friends there.”

Corbin searched each of them and came up with the required chips
and handed them to Devon.

Devon, held them up to inspect them, then secured the small
black discs in a concealed pocket of his skinsuit. “Stay alert. There may be
guards ahead. We don’t want to be taken by surprise.

“Yes, Captain,” Corbin and Torak responded in unison.

He turned back to Eluria and Kierra. “Stay behind me,” he
instructed. He pinned Eluria with a dark gaze. “Don’t argue. I don’t have time
for it. Let’s go.” He led the way as they carefully made their way across the
compound, dodging the security beam as it tracked across the exposed ground.

They made it to the front of the building. “Wait here. Don’t
move until I tell you.” He motioned for them to step to the side of the
entrance. Eluria and Kierra both moved out of the way.

Devon pointed his weapon at the door, then leaned forward
and pressed the button. The door silently slid open. Kierra couldn’t see
inside, but the discharge of Devon’s weapon informed her she’d been right to
warn him there might be guards.

There was an exchange of fire, then Devon crossed the
threshold, stepped to the side, and fired again.

Kierra waited with Eluria. She didn’t realize she was
holding her breath until Devon stepped back into view. Then she released the
breath on a whoosh of air. He motioned them inside.

Still holding his weapon ready, he pointed to either side.
“There’s a security camera. I disabled it, but we can’t waste time. It won’t be
long before they realize the problem and come to check it out. There were four
Enforcers. They know we’re coming.”

He pulled one of the ID chips out of his pocket and inserted
it in the slot. The tubulator doors opened and he motioned them all inside the
small cylindrical room.

“Does this thing open directly into the lab? Or outside of
it?”

“It will open directly inside the laboratory.”

He nodded. “Check your diffusers now. Get ready, there’s no
room for mistakes. We don’t know how many are in there. Don’t hesitate. We
might get lucky and take them by surprise, but don’t count on it. They expect
our visit, they’ll be waiting.” He turned to Kierra. “I know you’ve never done
this before, but you can’t hesitate. You won’t get a second chance. And it’s
going to mean life or death not only for Jarek, but us as well.”

“I know, Devon. I won’t hesitate.”

He nodded, then leaned forward and pressed the button and
the doors slid closed encasing them within the metal chamber.