The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 4.3

Sabrina thought she heard a faint chuckle as Ford turned to lead the way. He somehow managed to guide her around Netros' lifeless, oozing form without letting her see it; though she might normally have resented being patronized, in her current state she was grateful. He didn't even seem to notice that he'd done it, focused on their objective with an intensity she'd never seen in a Miahn—well, she amended after a moment, in any Miahn except Mara.

"Ford?" she asked as they walked.

"Yes?"

"Are you sure Mara can stand against that, without the Crystal, even with you and Aurora to help her?"

"We won't know until we try."

"And if you fail?"

"Then Father, Khediva, and the good Major and Lieutenant will have to find some way to knock us back into phase with Praxatillus."

Sabrina wasn't reassured. "Ford...."

"What?" He didn't bother to hide his impatience this time.

"Is there an Inheritor yet?"

He looked at her strangely, then smiled. "I forget how much you know about us. No, there is not. Therefore, whatever happens, Mother must survive. The Great Crystal does not allow the death of a Guardian unless there is an Inheritor to accept Transference."

"Even out of phase?"

Ford shrugged. "I don't know. But if not, it won't matter to us, as we'll either already be dead or die shortly afterward. Somehow I don't think Praxatillus' history ends here, though. Mother most certainly would have foreseen that." He withdrew into his own thoughts for a while, then said, "When we meet this Varla, be sure to keep yourself out of physical contact with her. I don't think she could have affected either of us to nearly that extent if you hadn't touched Netros."

"Yes. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Sabrina suddenly realized she was missing something. "Ford! I dropped my helmet back there, and I didn't pick it back up."

"We can't go back for it now. They'll have come to collect Netros."

"But I won't have a translator or tactical display or—"

"Then you'll have to manage without it," he said roughly. "I'm managing without it, after all."

Sabrina suppressed a sigh and remembered Ford's argument with Major Ilyanan over his refusal to wear combat gear. He was still wearing the slacks and shirt of his Earth suit, now soaked in sweat and covered in dust. Still exhausted from withstanding the psychic attack, he looked thoroughly unthreatening. But that wouldn't fool Varla for long. She already knew what he was, and when she got a glimpse of his mind she would not underestimate him.

"I hear someone coming," Ford whispered, stepping quickly to the wall and drawing Sabrina along with him. She grasped her stunner and pointed it down the hall, grateful for his superior hearing since she hadn't been paying attention to her suit's scanner readout. I've got to get my act together, she thought irritably. Haaron would be ashamed of me.

She felt Ford stiffen beside her in the instant before her own eyes widened in recognition. The arm holding the stunner dropped as she gasped involuntarily. "Mara!"

She started forward, but Ford gripped her arm hard enough to distract her with the pain. "It's not her," he hissed.

"But—" Sabrina looked at the slight figure in the scarlet dress, the familiar violet eyes gazing blankly at her, and swallowed the rest of her protest.

"She's not there," Ford repeated roughly.

Mara gazed at them for a moment more, a faint curiosity in her otherwise blank expression. "My mistress bids me bring you to her."