[LEGACY VERSION] The Enemy of Time (Book 2 - The Kaireyeh Chronicles)

Chapter 49 - Damon

Damon, get here now, Alexi said. He flashed a quick burst of images and emotions at Damon--a comm message from Regent Seta, accusing them of having Aezthena with them.

They'd already been on their way to the bridge and they weren't far now--Damon pushed through his guards and broke into a run.

"What is it?" Landon shouted.

Damon heard footsteps pounding after him. "Trouble!" he called over his shoulder, as the ship's alarms began to blare.

The bridge guards held the hatch open and they poured into the chaos beyond.

Campa was pacing in front of her chair, pointing to stations and issuing orders--to arm whatever weapons they had, get people into cabins, and prepare the ship for Kaireyeh.

Damon spun around, looking for Alexi--Alexi was already headed toward him, face impassive but eyes fairly glowing.

Let me see, Alexi said, and Damon dropped his meager walls. Alexi sifted quickly through his thoughts of what had happened in the last few hours on the planet and the ride back up.

You didn't show her you were Aezthena, Alexi said, stating a fact. I have been careful to keep all of my walls up, my mind contained. You sensed something in the shuttle?

Alexi cycled back through Damon's memories and began to pick apart the moment.

Damon felt a coldness on his brow--the crown had slipped. He pushed it back into place. Alexi was still sorting his thoughts and it was unnerving, but not anything new. He decided he could work around it.

"I need to talk to the regent," he said, moving over to Campa. "Can we do that?"

"I don't know," Campa said. "What happened down there? Everything was fine, then this. No warning."

Alexi stiffened. "There is another Aezthena here."

Campa whirled around. "Here?"

"In this system. Or there was. That's what you felt, Damon."

"If there was, they didn't touch my mind," Damon said. He would have known that.

Alexi narrowed his eyes. "No. And they've shielded their presence. I can't identify if I know them."

The comm officer called, "Prince Chevani is hailing."

Campa eyed the front screens, which showed a mass of red dots converging on them like arrows. Regent Seta's ships.

Kalec appeared on the center screen. "Zivali's telling us to run. Where's Damon--can we Kaireyeh?"

"Zivali--" Campa asked, starting.

"Talina. Can we get out of here, Campa?"

Damon's head swam with too much to parse, too much going on around him. "The regent," he said. "I need to talk to the regent." Could the regent hear him through the ship? Would she call on her own?

No one heard him in the tumult. Damon licked his lips and said louder, "Can you get the regent on the comm?"

The comm tech looked back. "I don't know how. They didn't use the same comm frequencies as us. It wasn't conventional comm."

But the regent had called them before. However she'd done that, those systems had to be a part of the ship.

Damon closed his eyes, trying to reach into the bones of the ship.

Alexi, I need Aezthena focus.

No. That is exactly what we don't need. And what are you going to do, surrender? We need to get out of here.