Purge of Prometheus (46 page)

“You killed him,” she said in disbelief.

“Don’t you dare question my decisions,” he quickly answered.
 
“You don’t have the right to question the decisions I make during combat!
 
No one does!”

Iana stuttered as words escaped her.
 
Finally, she blurted, “Everyone will know what you did!”

“That would be a fatal mistake on your part,” Yen said, his voice rumbling over the radio.
 
“Very fatal, indeed.”
 
When he didn’t hear an immediate response, he added, “Get back to the
Revolution
.
 
Now!”

As Iana’s fighter sped away, Yen let himself drift in space, recuperating from the intense chase and dangerous ending.
 
Pushing the thought of Gregario and Iana from his mind, Yen let his thoughts fall back to Keryn.
 
Quickly, the rage and homicidal impulses fled from his mind, replaced instantly with affection and tender compassion toward his lost love.
 
After all this time, he would finally see her again.
 
He wanted to call out to Keryn now, but lacked the ability to communicate with a Terran Destroyer.
 
Instead, he let his thoughts wander to their time together and to the times he was sure they would share again.

His thoughts were interrupted as the Fleet-wide communications channel opened over the radio.

“All Alliance vessels, this is Captain Hodge of the
Revolution
.
 
The last of the Terran Destroyers have been incapacitated and the surviving Terran fighters have surrendered.
 
The battle is officially over!”
 
Captain Hodge paused to allow the inevitable cheers to roll through the Fleet.
 
“All fighters, return to your parent ships at once.
 
If your parent ship was destroyed, find safe harbor with one of the other Cruisers and prepare for debriefing.
 
Once we have accountability of all surviving ships to include the
Ballistae
, the newest addition to the Fleet, I need all Captains to ferry to the
Revolution
for an immediate tactical debrief.
 
Captain Hodge, out.”

Yen was surprised at his sudden turn of luck.
 
In just a few hours, he would be back aboard the
Revolution
, debriefed, and would have the opportunity to see Keryn as she ferried over for the Captain’s meeting.
 
He was safe and the woman he loved was mere hours away.
 
Yen smiled widely as he started his return flight to the
Revolution
.

CHAPTER 33:

“You son of a bitch!” Iana yelled as she caught him with a right cross on his jaw.
 
Yen tumbled from the ramp next to his fighter, collapsing onto the ground in a heap.
 
He immediately leapt to his feet, fury burning in his eyes.

“What are you going to do?” Iana asked, threateningly.
 
“You going to hit me back?
 
Better yet, are you going to kill me like you did Gregario?”
 
She reached forward and tried to push him in the chest, but he caught her wrists before she could reach him.
 
His power surging, Yen lifted her from her feet and threw her across the large room.
 
Iana collapsed with a groan as the wind was knocked from her lungs.

“I warned you, Iana.
 
I told you what would happen.”
 
Yen took a step toward her, murderous anger clouding his mind once more, but paused as he noticed the stunned pilots gathering to watch the fight.
 
“What are you looking at?” he snarled at them.
 
“Go to the debriefing room!”

When he turned back around, Iana had disappeared amongst the crowd of departing pilots.
 
He would have to have a stern talk with her about what she should and should not say in public.
 
Pushing through the throng of pilots, Yen caught sight of her as Iana disappeared around the corner and fled up the hallway.

“Move,” he growled at the closest Uligart as the pilots bottlenecked into the narrow doorway.
 
Though a few moved out of his way, the rest were not as fortunate.
 
Driving his psychic power forward like a wedge, pilots toppled over one another as they were forced out of Yen’s path.
 
Chasing her out of the bay, Yen turned left to follow Iana and stared down the long, empty hallway.

Moving until he was out of earshot of the rest of the surprised and angry pilots, Yen called down the hall.
 
“You haven’t escaped me yet, Iana,” Yen said as he began probing the hallway with his mind.
 
His power rolled down the hallway in waves, ricocheting and rebounding like sonar, probing and searching for any brainwaves that he could detect.
 
“Why don’t you just come out so we can talk?
 
That’s all I want to do, Iana.
 
I just want to talk to you.”
 

He continued down the hall, scanning continually for her.
 
There was a chance that she had made it to one of the lifts already, but Yen didn’t think so.
 
No, he was sure she was still on this floor somewhere, avoiding him.

“You obviously have some misconceptions about what happened out there,” Yen said, rubbing his still sore jaw.
 
“Why don’t we discuss what you think happened?
 
It would save us both a lot of time.
 
Come out and talk to me.
 
We’re old friends… don’t you still want to be friends?”

Yen didn’t expect an answer.
 
The talking was just an excuse to keep her in hiding until he could find her.
 
On cue, Yen detected a single life form near the end of the hall.
 
Her emotions radiated from her in a perceivable aura.
 
Yen reached out, searching her thoughts.

Yen’s snarl shifted to a decrepit smile as he advanced down the hallway toward his hiding prey.
 
He turned off his power, conserving its energy for when he caught Iana.
 
He didn’t need it anymore, anyway.
 
She would be his soon enough.
 
Walking until he was just around the corner from her, Yen paused, letting the destructive power build within.
 
When he was on the brink of being overwhelmed by the magnitude of his psychic energy, the air whipping around him as though he were enveloped in a pillar of flames, Yen began speaking again and stepped around the corner.

“You’re a dead woman,” he said as he reached out, closing his hands firmly around the neck of a very surprised Crewman.
 
Instantly, Yen released the man’s neck, who coughed roughly as he staggered backward.
 
Not allowing him to escape, Yen grabbed a hold on the Crewman’s shirt.

“Where is she?” Yen yelled into the man’s face.

“Who?” the scared Crewman replied, as he squirmed, trying to free himself from Yen’s grip.

“Warrant Morven,” Yen growled.

“She…” the Crewman lost his words as Yen shook him roughly.
 
“She ran past me just a second ago, heading for the stairwell.
 
Please, sir, let me go!”

“Squadron Commander!” a voice yelled angrily from the elevators at the end of the hall.
 
Yen turned as Captain Hodge stepped off the lift, her pale face flushed with anger.
 
“Release that man this instant!”

Yen kept his grip as he scanned once more for Iana, his power passing through multiple walls and catching sight of her just as she reached the base of the stairwell.
 
Letting go of the Crewman, Yen turned and stormed past the Captain as he pursued the escaping Warrant.

“Don’t walk away from me,” Captain Hodge ordered as she took up step right behind Yen.
 
“You’re already in enough trouble, Commander.”

Ignoring her, Yen continued to the stairwell, rushing up the first flight in a hurry, taking two stairs at a time.
 
Captain Hodge kept pace, though Yen could hear her heavy breathing as she rushed.
 
Pausing at the next landing, Yen looked up the lengthy stairwell above him, scanning again for Iana.
 
He sensed her again, a couple flights above.
 
As he got ready to rush up the next set of stairs, Captain Hodge grabbed a hold of his arm, pulling him to her.

“Commander!” she hollered as he continued trying to chase Iana up the stairs.
 
“I was monitoring your communications channel during the last battle.
 
I heard what you did to Warrant Pelasi.
 
I am accusing you of murdering one of your own pilots.
 
I’ll bring you up on charges for this.
 
I’ll also let them know about Merric.”
 
She paused while Yen continued to stare upward.
 
“Are you even listening to me?”

Yen stopped trying to pull away and turned toward her, his eyes burning blue as his psychic energy grew unfettered.
 
“Oh, believe me, ma’am,” he replied dangerously.
 
“I heard you.”
 
He stepped toward her as the intercom sounded an alert above them.

“Warning!
 
Warning!” the intercom roared.
 
“Collision with unidentified debris imminent!
 
Brace for impact!”

The
Revolution
shook violently as a piece of metal struck its hull, scraping and puncturing the thick metal plating.
 
Multiple rooms decompressed, launching their inhabitants to a freezing death in space.
 
On the stairwell, the ground shook, nearly knocking Yen’s feet from under him.
 
Dropping to one knee, he braced himself against the motion.
 
Captain Hodge, caught by surprise, staggered backward toward the lip of the stairs.
 
Clutching for the railing, she grabbed hold at the last moment.
 
Though now supported, her body leaned far out over the precipice of the first stair.
 
Leaping forward, Yen grabbed hold of her wrist as her grip weakened from the continued shaking of the ship.

As the shuttering of the
Revolution
finally stopped, Captain Hodge let out a sigh of relief.
 
“Thank you, Commander,” she said.
 
“You saved my life.”

Yen smiled cruelly.
 
“I don’t think so,” he hissed.
 
“No one questions me.
 
No one!”
 

Forming his power into a pair of hands, Yen clutched the sides of the Captain’s head.
 
Shifting his grip on her wrist, Yen dug his nails into her soft flesh.
 
Screaming in anguish and surprise, the Captain’s grip faltered on the railing and she tumbled over the lip of the stairs.

As she fell, her knees buckled.
 
She threw up her hands defensively in order to protect her face, but Yen’s powers drove her head toward the solid stairs.
 
Her head crashed against the first stair, being driven downward by the combination of her body weight and the psychic grip.
 
With a sickening crack, blood sprayed across the matted stairs, trickling onto the stairs below as she continued to tumble.
 
Keeping a grip on her head, Yen slammed her fragile face into each individual stair on the way down.
 
Under the psychic hands, the Captain’s skull grew soft and the skin split on the edged stairwell.
 
One wing shattered as she tried to slow her decent and her nose flattened against the side of her face as the next stair caught her between the eyes.
 
Blood smeared in a thick streak as Captain Hodge finished the fall and her body came to rest at the landing below.
 
Her body crumpled – with one arm twisted awkwardly behind her, a wing shattered and broken, and blood spreading from her crushed skull – Captain Hodge’s body convulsed uncontrollably as the damaged brain send confusing signals throughout her nervous system.

Standing at the top of the stairs, Yen watched dispassionately at the broken woman below.
 
A frown etched its way onto his face as he realized he had lost track of Iana.
 
He would have to make sure he watched the hangar bay so she couldn’t escape the ship.
 
It was only a matter of time before he caught up with her.
 
Still, having just killed the Captain, Yen had other tasks to accomplish between now and when Keryn arrived if he expected to remain free.

Activating his transponder, Yen let emotion slip into his voice as he called to the bridge.
 
“This is Commander Xiao.”

“This is the bridge, Commander,” Tylgar replied, his gravelly voice carrying over the radio.

“There has been an accident,” Yen said, allowing a tear to fall from his eye.
 
“Captain Hodge fell when the ship was damaged.
 
She’s…”

A brief silence stretched over the radio.
 
“Sir?” Tylgar asked.
 
“The Captain is what?”