As soon as Jelena was clear, the hatch jerked shut, leaving them in the dark cabin. Thor’s headlamp pointed toward something on the carpeted deck, two Starseer skeletons enshrouded in their dark robes. They had fallen near the bulkhead opposite the bed. One had died on his knees. Almost as if he had been praying.
Or maybe looking for something, Thor said, striding to the bulkhead. This looks like the captain’s cabin, judging by the size. And I can sense the artifact. Behind or in this wall. He considered the space, which didn’t have any noticeable panels or doors.
Do you get the feeling these people died very abruptly? Jelena eyed the skeleton. That they were caught off guard?
These two look like they were caught trying to steal the artifact. The captain must have created some kind of safe back here. I’m not sure how to get into it.
It’s almost as if someone—or something—killed them all at once. Or almost all at once. Maybe the captain died, and these people ran down here, thinking the artifact could be of some use against whatever was attacking them?
Thor didn’t answer. Jelena rolled her eyes at his back, not caring for his obsession with this thing. A normal man would be more solicitous if he got a pretty young woman in a private cabin with him. Albeit, the skeletons on the floor didn’t exactly make this a romantic environment.
She used her senses to check the corridor, figuring she should watch Thor’s back, since he was consumed with the artifact hunt. Two pirates were walking toward them, and she clenched her staff, debating ways to drive them away if they started opening hatches. She could do a little with telekinetics, but not much that would deter them for long. Leonidas had always suggested she attack the minds of people in combat armor.
Fortunately, the two men ran past the room and continued down the corridor, so she didn’t have to do that. Unlike Starseers, the pirates wouldn’t be able to sense the power of the artifact, and Thor had closed the hatch. That didn’t necessarily mean they were safe. The pirates could come back for a more thorough search, and the Starseer with them might guide them. Brody was out there too. Jelena hoped Thor found a way into the safe quickly.
In the meantime, she poked around the desk and opened cabinets and drawers. If this had been the captain’s cabin, maybe he’d left a log that she could access. It would be good to know what had happened all those years ago.
“Ah, what’s this?” She pulled a device out of a top drawer.
It was larger and clunkier than her sleek netdisc, but it had a small screen on one side and had the look of some old recording equipment she’d seen. She poked and prodded at the case, but it didn’t have any buttons. Even if one could simply hit a play button, whatever battery had once powered it would have died long ago.
But to her surprise, the screen came on, glowing a soft green, and then showing a person’s face. The side of a man’s stubbled jaw. His lips moved in speech, but she couldn’t hear anything. Of course not. She groaned. They would have to take it back to the ship.
As she tucked it into her pack, the hatch shifted, opening a couple of inches. Jelena whirled toward it with her staff, raising her barrier around herself and Thor. She sensed Abelardus right away and groaned again. At least he didn’t seem to be with Brody.
The hatch opened the rest of the way, and Abelardus looked at her, his braids dangling beside his face inside his helmet. He hesitated, maybe sensing her barrier, and then he frowned at Thor.
Thor kept his back to both of them as he studied the bulkhead. He was either completely absorbed, or he trusted Jelena to protect his back.
Of course I trust you, he spoke into her mind. Now get rid of him, please.
Jelena snorted. I don’t think he’s going to listen to me.
Send him on an errand. I’m puzzling this out. It’s got some security on it. Thor pressed a gloved hand to the wall, and a square turned translucent, revealing a metal door.
Is that it? Abelardus asked. I can feel the artifact here.
I can feel pirates out there, Jelena said. Can you deal with them while Thor figures out how to open that?
Abelardus frowned again. I didn’t invite you all along so Thorian could get the artifact.
You didn’t invite us along at all. Jelena smiled at him. You hired us to drive you here.
Yes, and you were supposed to stay in your ship like professional freight haulers, not try to beat Brody to the artifact.
Thor’s new to freight hauling. He doesn’t know all the rules.
Abelardus stepped toward Thor, but bumped into Jelena’s barrier. He glared at her, his eyes narrowed, and she sensed him testing the barrier with his mind—testing her.
Would he attack her to get at Thor and the artifact first?
The strange sensation returned with a vengeance, the ants crawling all over her brain inside of her skull. Jelena stumbled back, her thighs bumping against the bunk. Images flooded into her thoughts again, the old Kirian ship as boulders had tumbled down on it. Boulders tumbling down onto the Snapper. The tower, those electrical currents coming out of it and going up, swirling and wrapping around the rod and disappearing into the ceiling.
Damn it, she hadn’t been concentrating hard enough. She’d let her barrier down.
She struggled to get it back in place, to build that mental brick wall, but the presence in her mind was so intense, so powerful, that she dropped to her knees. Her entire brain itched. It felt like her head was on fire, and she had no idea how to put it out.
“Thor,” she whispered, not able to form his name telepathically.
A hand gripped her shoulder. Thor’s? Abelardus’s? She couldn’t tell. She was on her knees, staring at the carpet, and she couldn’t move. She felt a surge of disappointment in knowing she’d let down her barrier, that Thor would be unprotected if Abelardus tried something or if pirates charged in.
Then she felt Thor’s presence beside her, both physically and mentally. He seemed to drop an iron gate around her mind on all sides, locking the intrusive images out.
She sucked in a ragged breath as the presence faded from her awareness. He remained, his gate immutable.
When she lifted her head, he was crouching in front of her, scrutinizing her face.
“What is it?” she whispered.
I thought you could tell me.
Something’s trying to communicate with me. And it’s not saying anything nice. Jelena looked toward the skeletons.
If Austin were here, he’d surely say ghosts were haunting the ship and maybe they were the ones threatening her. But ghosts weren’t real. Right?
She peered into Thor’s eyes, at that moment needing someone to confirm that thought. Someone sane.
Thor glanced over his shoulder.
Abelardus stood near the bulkhead he’d been examining. The metal door had been opened, and Jelena stared. What looked like a red glass teardrop sat in a compact safe behind it. It glowed faintly, and red droplets seemed to move about under the surface. Leave it to the Starseers to make a creepy artifact that reminded her of blood. And why did everything have to glow, anyway?
I’m all right, she told Thor, regretting that he’d had to come to her rescue. I just want to know what it is that’s jumping in my head.
Her hand strayed to her bag. Maybe the recording device inside would have some answers.
Thor glanced down at her bag. In that second, when they were both distracted, a wave of power slammed into them. Thor tumbled into her, his faceplate cracking against hers, as she was shoved back against the bunk.
Abelardus grabbed the teardrop artifact and sprinted for the hatch—it was open again.
Thor pushed away from her and sprang to his feet. Jelena sensed him flinging his own power, but Abelardus had already turned into the corridor. He sprinted away.
Thor stepped after him, but paused, looking back toward Jelena, a conflicted expression on his face.
Are you all right? he asked. Can you follow?
I’m fine. She waved him toward the hatchway. Go get hi
m. I’ll catch up.
She rolled to her hands and knees, but blackness encroached on her vision. It would not be a good idea to stand up quickly. She took a few breaths before grabbing the edge of the bunk to help herself up. But Thor returned to her side, and she ended up grabbing him instead.
He slid his arm around her back and helped her to her feet.
Thanks, but you should be going after him.
He can’t go far without a ship, Thor said, though he glanced toward the hatchway.
Jelena could tell he ached to race after him. What if Abelardus made a deal with the pirates and got away on their ship?
You’re a target for something right now, Thor added.
Yes, ghosts. Lucky me.
He slanted a concerned look at her as they walked to the hatch. You don’t believe that.
I don’t know what to believe. Could it have something to do with the artifact?
Possibly, but I don’t think so. I’d guess it has something to do with that tower instead.
A tower left by aliens?
I don’t know. You can’t sense where the contact is coming from when it touches you?
I’m too busy cringing and trying to claw my brain out to stop the itching. Jelena lifted a hand as they stepped into the corridor. I think I can walk on my own.
I’m trying to be supportive. And show you that my muscles are more than decorative.
It’s hard to admire them through your spacesuit, but I appreciate the support. Especially since you smashed my boobs when you fell on me.
Abelardus hurled me against you.
Any excuse to grope a girl. She expected him to reply that he wasn’t interested in any such thing or to simply ignore the joke.
Hard to grope anything through a spacesuit, he pointed out instead.
I see we have the same problem.
Indeed. Thor released her and strode into the lead, but he was careful not to outpace her.
Jelena hated delaying him, so she urged her shaky legs to greater speed. Whatever was trying to communicate with her, it drained her immensely each time it tried.
Though they went a different way, Thor took them back around to the mess hall. The pirates Jelena had last seen in the elevator were gone.
Can you run? Thor looked at her. Abelardus is by the hatch up there, and he’s picking a fight with the pirates. Technically, he’s trying to run away, and they’re picking a fight with him.
At least that meant he hadn’t talked them into giving him a ride out of the asteroid.
Jelena ran after Thor and into the elevator shaft. He hopped up, grabbing the edges of the trapdoor in the ceiling, and pushed himself through. In the weak gravity, Jelena managed to duplicate the feat without trouble. He crouched, as if to spring up to the open door four levels above, the way he had before. That she might have a hard time duplicating with wobbly legs.
He must have understood her predicament because he paused, gripped her waist with both hands, and tossed her up the shaft. Even in the diminished gravity, he must have thrown some mental power behind that, because she sailed upward easily and had to reach out an arm to hook herself on the open door before she flew past it.
As she crawled into the empty corridor, he landed behind her. He ran past and took the lead again.
Is he using the artifact on them? Jelena wondered.
No, I don’t think he knows how to use it.
Do you?
I’m a quick study.
They pushed through cobwebs, rounded a corner, and ran toward an intersection. They were almost back to the hatch where they’d come in. Thor slowed to a stop at the intersection. A blazer bolt streaked through the darkness ahead of him. He waited for a couple more blasts to cross the intersection, then turned into it and raced out of sight.
Jelena paused at the corner, peering after him. The ceiling hatch was in view, faint light coming from the chamber outside, just enough to highlight the figures grappling underneath it. Well, not exactly grappling. Six pirates in combat armor surrounded Abelardus in his spacesuit, his Starseer barrier protecting him for the moment.
He was the only one with a headlamp—the combat helmets would have night vision capabilities—and the beam of light swung wildly as he tried to make space around himself. He gripped his staff in one hand and the artifact in the other. He jumped up, trying to spring through the open hatch, but someone outside stuck a boot out, blocking him, and he didn’t have hands free to grab the edge.
Are we helping him? Jelena asked, stepping out into the corridor behind Thor.
She kept her barrier up too. The pirates were shooting at Abelardus, but most of those bolts were deflecting, bouncing off the bulkheads and down the corridor.
I suppose, Thor replied, striding toward the tangle, but I’d like to get the artifact from him in the process.
“We’re coming to the rescue, Jelena,” Erick said over the comm, startling her. He hadn’t contacted her for several minutes.
“Uhm, good. I think.”
“More enthusiasm would not be unappreciated. Austin and I have been working our fingers to nubs trying to get everything fixed. Even Alfie was helping. Sort of. She sat in the middle of engineering so we had to pet her as we went by.”
“I’m glad she’s all right.”
“We’re all right too,” came Masika’s voice from somewhere behind Erick.
Jelena reached out with her senses to see if the pirate ship was still crashed in the corner. No, it wasn’t. It was in the air, thrusters firing slightly to keep it hovering near the pit. It appeared ready to go, as soon as its crew got the artifact.
That wasn’t likely to happen. Abelardus would be able to keep his barrier up for long enough to escape, and Thor was about to help him.
Maybe. Thor could have hurled those pirates down the corridor, but he hadn’t yet. He had stopped a few meters away from the skirmish.
Abelardus tried jumping again, but this time more than a boot stopped him. Jelena sensed someone unleashing telekinetic power, but it wasn’t Thor. Abelardus was flattened to the deck as if a wall had fallen on him. His back hit hard, and the artifact flew from his fingers, the red drops swirling beneath its glass-like surface.
His barrier was down. The pirates could have shot him, but two sprang for the artifact instead.
That was when Thor struck. He hurled a wave of power at the armored men.
They flew backward down the corridor, somersaulting through the air and bouncing off each other and bulkheads.
Two figures in spacesuits dropped down from above, both lunging for the artifact. One had a suit that matched Abelardus’s, and Jelena sensed it was Brody. The other wasn’t familiar to her, but must have been one of the Starseers working with the pirates.
Their fingers snatched at empty air as the artifact spun away from them. It zipped down the corridor toward Thor, landing squarely in his hands.
The pirates found their feet and ran toward Thor and Jelena. Abelardus rolled to his knees as Brody and the new Starseer also ran toward Thor.
Jelena extended her barrier so it would protect him, in case he wanted to attack rather than defend. But she knew Brody and the new Starseer would have no trouble finding ways to attack them through it.
Thor gripped the artifact in both hands and stared down at it. It throbbed with inner energy. The Starseers and pirates stopped right before crashing into Jelena’s barrier. She grimaced at all the people between her and the exit hatch. The light coming through the hatch intensified, reds, oranges, and yellows flashing.
“Erick,” she asked, “are you up there?”
“Exchanging fire with the other ship? Yes, that’s us. We may not be able to pick you up right away.”
“We may not be able to be picked up right away.”
“Then that works great—Austin, how can you miss your target in such a small space? Masika, take over the blazers, will you? He can’t fly and shoot at the same—”
The channel closed, and Jelena grimaced again. I
t was time to do something, get out of here, and rejoin her crew. And her ship.
She stepped up behind Thor and extended her shield, hoping to push their enemies back so they could reach the hatch. But an unfamiliar mind reached out toward her, and she felt a squeezing pressure on her skull. It wasn’t the strange presence this time. She could tell the new Starseer was trying to attack.
Jelena stepped forward again, determined to keep her defenses up. She wouldn’t let that Starseer do what he’d done to Abelardus.
Thor lifted his head. Jelena couldn’t see his eyes from behind him, but she got a sense of cold determination from him as he glared at all the men trying to get to him. Blazer fire and armored fists railed against her barrier. The pirates didn’t know what else to try. The Starseer was another matter.
A much more forceful attack struck Jelena’s mind, like a sledgehammer battering her brain. She gritted her teeth at the pain, but kept her wall up and kept the barrier up too.
“Thor,” she said through her clenched teeth. “Are you going to—”
The artifact flared, and harsh crimson light filled the corridor. Everyone stopped firing. The Starseer’s mental attack on Jelena disappeared.
The air swirled with strange energy, and the hair on the back of Jelena’s neck rose. The red light brightened around her and Thor. Then it seemed to flow into their bodies, and fear rushed into her. Whatever he was doing with that artifact, she didn’t want to be a part of it.
She’d no sooner had the thought than an intense warm energy ran through her veins. It tingled all over, but not in a distressful way. It filled her with a sense of well-being and strength, and she felt like she could run a hundred miles, spring over mountains, and conquer legions of enemies single-handedly. Her arm tingled intensely in the spot where she’d been struck earlier. The pain she had experienced since then completely disappeared.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
The pirates stumbled backward. The red light darkened around them even as it grew brighter around Jelena and Thor. No, the pirates were doing more than stumbling. They pitched to their backs and stopped moving, like toy soldiers knocked off a table and swept into a box for storage.