wrath of the Sea Queen (27 page)

CHAPTER
8

C
a
eli came to slowly,
giving
her eyes a minute to adjust to the darkness
surrounding
her.  She knew immediately that the plane
had
crashed
and t
he sea
now
cradled it roughly
. 
W
ater on the floor where she sat
only confirmed it
.  Her clothes were soaked
.  The impact ripped a crack in the plane's hull directly over her head.  Each time a large wave rolled by, it would rain
down
on
her
.  If this went unchecked,
she
would
n
o
t have to wonder
whether or not
they were sinking, but rather how quickly it would happen.

"
Y
ou can
fix
it.
"

"
What?
"
  C
a
eli thought she heard a lady's voice.  Looking around, she did
n
o
t see anyone nearby.
  She and Salma were the only two females on the plane.

"
You can save the others.  I can show you how.
"

"
Who are you?  Where are you?
"
  C
a
eli was
still
a bit dazed and not yet fully re
connected with
her senses.  She could not tell if the presence pressing against her consciousness was real or a figment of her imagination.

"
I am Rika.  Where I am is not important.  What is important is your ability to help these people.  You are
u
ntrained, but your
ability
is strong.  If you want to help them, I can
tell
you how to do so.
"

"
I don't understand.  What
ability
?  Do you mean the fact that I can hear your thoughts, like I can hear Salma
and
Vin?
"

"
No.  I refer to your true talent.
 
You
ha
ve been using it most of your life, but perhaps you don't consciously realize it. 
Even as a young girl, your
skills were strong
.  They have continued to grow
,
b
ut
we can talk about that later.  Right now, you need to decide if you want my help.
"

"
Please g
ive me
a few minutes
to clear my head.  I can't think straight,
"
C
a
eli hesitated to accept any offer until she could pull her thoughts together.
  As it
stood
, anyone watching would have thought she was talking to herself.

"
Don't take too long, C
a
eli.  You are already on borrowed time.
"

C
a
eli looked around to get her bearings, realizing that her seatbelt
had
snapped
on impact
and she
had been
thrown
from
her seat.  She seemed to be leaning against the plane's dashboard. 
Som
ehow, the cockpit door had been
open
ed during the final descent and
remained
open
. 
C
a
eli glanced through it t
o
the passenger section of the plane.  She needed to get up. 
As she tried to move, C
a
eli
became aware of
a weight pressing against her
abdomen and a sharp pain
i
n her left
side,
near her stomach
.  She glanced down to see
Max
cradled
protectively in her arms
, slightly off to her right side
.
  Before she could perform any further self-assessment
s,
a nearby
m
ovement
c
aught C
a
eli's attention.  One passenger was already up and moving rapidly
toward
where she sat.

"
C
a
eli, I can't thank you enough.  Is Max ok?
"
  Apela check
ed
his son to see if
t
he
boy
was
hurt
.  Miraculously, he seemed to be out cold
but un
injured
. 

"
He doesn't appear to be hurt, but I don't know
for certain
,
"
C
a
eli answered.

"
I don't know how to thank you.  I don't have the wor
ds.  You didn't have to do that,
"
Apela repeated.

"
I couldn't send him back.  There wasn't time.  He was so scared,
"
she replied gently
with a hint of her pain
edging
her voice
. 

Apela lifted Max out of her arms and turned to set the boy in the front seat.  Then he looked back at C
a
eli. 

"
Are you all right?  Can I help you up?
"
  Apela offered.

"
G
ive me a minute, please.
"

C
a
eli glanced
at her aunt. 
Salma slumped forward in her seat
, unmoving
. 
As
C
a
eli
look
ed around
at
the rest of the cabin, a dull pain
greeted
the back of her head.  C
a
eli
took a moment to locate the source of her pain before tr
ying
to stand.  She
also
noticed a small hole in the front of her shirt, directly over the area where he
r side
was hurting.  C
a
eli casually sli
pped
her hand under her shirt and
slid it inquisitively across
her stomach.  She was startled to feel some
sort of metal rod a
bout the size
and shape
of a
crayon
protruding from her belly
.  W
hen she tugged
lightly
on it,
C
a
eli
's
pain
increase
d
.

"
Oh
,
no!  Please don't let this have done any
serious
damage,
" C
a
eli thought immediately of the fragility of her
presumed
condition.

Whatever
this
object
was, C
a
eli
urgent
ly wanted
to remove it.  Taking a deep breath, she grabbed hold of
it
, steadied her nerves, and yanked it out
in a burst of
excruciating
pain;
but the worst of it only lasted a moment.  C
a
eli quickly pressed her hand over the wound to stop
the
blood flowing from the small hole.  She needed something to cover the wound.  Luckily,
she glimpsed a first aid kit
be
neath
the pilot's seat
a few feet away
. 
Q
uickly, while Apela's back was turned
and no one else was watching
,
C
a
eli
grabbed several adhesive bandages out of the kit and
crudely
patch
ed up
her injury.  Thankfully, the shirt she
wore
was
a dark
er shade of
green
than true jade
, so the blood that seeped
into the material
only made it look wet.  At a glance, no one would be able to tell that
she was injured
.
  It would keep until she could get Salma's help, if Salma was not hurt herself.