Colliding Worlds Trilogy 01 - Collision (24 page)

She shrugged. “I slipped.”

He yanked her up in a very
un
-gentleman-like way. “When we get out of this — ”

“I know. You’ll show me how much you love me,” she winked and then winced, reaching for her leg. She slowly bent her knee, only to find a loose binding. Doc was not going to be happy. It had taken him weeks to adapt the technology to her human physiology. With a grimace, she shoved the broken strap into the rest of the brace, checked her gun, and motioned down the hallway coming back into view through the dissipating smoke.

“I saw at least two more Draeken head this way. Let’s go.” She started to walk, but Legian wouldn’t release his grip on her arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“We can’t let them get away.”

“The humans will take them down.”

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. A full in-your-face glare. Not that he would back down. But it pissed her off he treated her like a kid. She’d been through two bona fide Draeken battles. And survived. She didn’t need this shit. “Who took out the Draeken shooter?”

“We did.”

Her upper lip curled. “True, but I knocked him down for you.”

“And you could have gotten yourself killed in that crazy stunt.”

“You could’ve gotten killed, too. And you don’t see me beating you up for it.”

“It’s not the same thing. You’re too precious.”

“Bullshit. And it’s exactly the same thing. And I’m done with this convo.”

“Sienna,” Legian warned.

She turned away from him to come face to face with Nalea, who blocked the doorway.

“Was Roden one of the Draeken you saw?” she asked, her eyes piercing.

“No,” Sienna replied.

A look of disappointment flashed over Nalea’s face before giving a sigh of relief. “We’ll get him next time.” Then she nodded down the hall. “How many?”

Sienna held up a couple fingers. “At least two. Three, I think.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got it.” Nalea turned and nodded to someone behind her. Then several Rangers stepped past them and followed her.

Sienna glared at Nalea’s back, but the Sephian was already sprinting down the hallway. The group disappeared around a corner. When shots sounded, she moved forward, only to be held back by Legian.

“They’ve got it covered.”

Sienna’s fists clenched, but she didn’t move. She knew he was right. After all, she didn’t need reminding that she was the least trained of anyone here. She turned her attention back to the Draeken she’d drop-kicked, who was being shackled and injected with something courtesy of the Americans. It took a second before his struggles ceased, and he was out cold.

The two soldiers at the downed Draeken made way for Major Sommers. He knelt by the Draeken.

“Glad you guys could make the party. Even if you were fashionably late,” she offered with a touch of sarcasm.

Tucking the gun back into her skirt, Sienna brushed hair from her plaster dust-coated face and looked around. The place looked like Armageddon and smelled like the devil drank himself into a stupor. “One hell of a happy hour at this place.”

She turned to Legian. “We better get out of here before the cops show. It’ll be hard to explain all this.”

“There won’t be any police,” Major Sommers replied. “I’ve got that covered. But, it’ll be harder to reign in the press once they get word of something going down. And by now, they would have received some tips. We don’t need pictures of aliens circulating the papers.”

Sienna shrugged. “Aliens are a daily occurrence in the tabloids.”

“Yeah, but
real
pictures would be harder to explain,” Jax cut in.

“Bag ‘em,” the major called out, and she jerked around to see Nalea walk toward them, the men behind her dragging three more Draeken behind them.

“No blood?” she asked.

“Tranq guns,” Jax replied. “Cleaner and safer.”

“And smarter. Now you have prisoners,” she chimed in. Then she snapped her fingers. “That’s why you weren’t aiming your machine guns at them. You wanted them alive.”

Sommers gave her a half grin that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. “Let’s get out of here.” He turned and started walking away.

“We need a cleanup crew,” she said.

“Got it covered,” the major replied without turning around.

Sienna fell into place behind him as he stepped over broken bottles and pieces of wall. Her jaw dropped. She looked around the battlefield. Miraculously, only one Sephian had been shot, and he was being bandaged by a curious human medic. With all that shooting, she’d expected to see a whole lot more blood. Not a single casualty in the whole mess. It was like an old
A-Team
episode. A thousand shots fired without any blood.

She limped behind Jax as he and the major stepped through a giant hole in the wall where the door had been minutes earlier. Steel shards jabbed out, snagging her skirt. Without pausing his stride, Legian bent down, tore the skirt and helped her through the wall.

“Thanks.”

He didn’t reply, the chip on his shoulder obviously blocking his hearing. Legian’s arm reached out and held out the smoldering velvet curtain, and she ducked around it.

“Thanks again.”

This time she got a grunt in acknowledgement and considered it progress.

She looked around the vacant club. “Holy crap, Karl. How’d you pull this off?”

The major tensed at the use of his first name. “Called in a tip of a drug bust. Cleared out the place in minutes.”

“Not bad, not bad.” She nodded at his ingenuity. “You just moved up a notch in my book.”

Sommers continued walking through the bar. Hobbling faster, she reached out and grabbed his arm. Legian was right behind her, serving as her cane.

He stopped, glanced down and then up at her. She let go, realizing that high ranking military officers probably weren’t used to getting pawed at very often. “One more thing. I hope tonight might clear up things. After seeing what the Draeken are doing at this bar, I think it’s pretty clear the Sephians are on our side.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “And exactly whose side is that?”

“Ours. The human side, of course,” she replied motioning to him, Jax, and herself.

“She’s right, sir,” Jax added. “I still believe allying with the Sephians is in our best interest.”

“That’s not your decision to make, soldier. And you’re already on thin ice.”

Jax stood a little straighter. “Understood, sir.”

“Major,” Legian broke in. “I would also like to offer my support. If you need me for information, consider me at your disposal.”

“The Sephians need the alliance as much as we do,” Sienna added. “The Sephians’ knowledge of the Draeken is invaluable. Also, they have pretty advanced technology, of which I know they would be happy to share a sample.”

At that, Legian jerked his eyes to hers. He lifted an eyebrow.

“Quid pro quo,” she replied to his unasked question then faced the major. “Tit for tat.”

“My
tahren
speaks the truth. The safety of your world is in our best interest,” Legian said directly to Sommers.

Sienna knew they needed an enticement. Something that couldn’t be used against the Sephians but yet would be enough to get conversations started again. Then it hit her, and she held up a finger. “The Sephians have developed a vaccine that has eliminated the common cold. It works. Doc could share the vaccine with your doctors.”

The major rubbed his clean-shaven chin while he pondered her idea. “That sounds very intriguing. Of course, tests would need ran to determine its viability and long-term effects,” he replied, clearly becoming more engaged.

“Both Jax and I have been vaccinated. No side effects. And best of all, no colds. You can run our blood work.” She held out an open hand. “So do we have a deal, Karl? Major? We share the vaccine in return for another shot to talk? Just asking for a shot, that’s all.”

Sommers looked from Legian to Jax and back to her. He narrowed his eyes briefly before accepting her outreached hand with a smile. “It’s a start. I think it may be a very good start.”

Sienna stopped outside the door, staring at it, almost wishing for the cane hanging on her wall so she’d have something to lean on to steady herself. The new brace worked wonders, but her leg would never be like it had been. Even after Doc refitted the brace after Mayhem — talk about a name that was so apropos — her best speed was no better than a half fast jog. She felt — and looked — pitiful in the training room.

She stepped back so she could face Legian. “Let’s do this.” Turning around before he could reply, she punched in the code to open the door. She pushed the drades up her nose, and they stepped inside the darkened room.

Voices drifted from Apolo’s lounge. Legian and she glanced at each other. They showed up early for the trinity meeting, hoping to squeeze in a few minutes alone with Apolo to give a full debrief on what went down with the major. She grimaced. Another great plan bit the dust. Sucking in a deep breath, she entered the lounge with Legian at her back.

Apolo stood alone, leaning with his hands propped against the table. He was talking to a beautiful Sephian woman on the screen. Upon Sienna and Legian’s entry, he jerked around. The feral look in his eyes nearly knocked her back.

“Sorry for the disruption. We’ll wait outside.” She snapped around to walk away, rubbing her palms together even though the temperature in the room was almost balmy.

“Bah. Come in.” He waved them in and returned his attention to the screen.

Even Legian looked timid as he stepped gingerly inside the room. Sienna could make out little of the conversation because it was in Sephian, and she could tell that Legian was trying to not listen while he casually inspected everything in the room except the screen. Whatever they were discussing was obviously private, and she felt a deep longing in the words.

Krysea.

Apolo’s
tahren.
The emotional bond between the two was obvious. Sienna could feel it in their words. Every day must have been a torturous hell for them. Whenever she was apart from Legian for more than a few hours, she began to notice the loss in connection. She couldn’t imagine being separated from her
tahren
for months, let alone potentially years. That kind of dedication to their people went far beyond anything she could imagine. Could she give up Legian to save the human race? Honestly? She really didn’t know.

Sienna couldn’t help but stare at the screen. Krysea was gorgeous. She’d expected a battle worn, scarred woman. The great Sephian leader couldn’t be this beautiful. On the screen, her
soullare
was a mirror image of Apolo’s. Where his mark climbed around his left eye, hers encircled her right. But it went beyond the
soullare.
There was something in the way they moved. It was like they were born for each other.

Legian bumped her, nearly knocking her drades off. She scowled at him, and his eyes looked forward. She followed his eyes and found Apolo watching her.

“Krysea wishes to speak to you.” Apolo spoke with no hint of emotion.

Sienna gulped as she and Legian stepped closer to the screen and faced the leader of the entire Sephian race.

Legian spoke first by bowing his head and greeting the leader in Sephian. Sienna followed. Since her Sephian sucked, she then remained silent.

“I have begun to learn your language but have much to learn. My
tahren
will translate,” Krysea said in drawn out, stilted English. Then she continued in flowing, beautiful Sephian.

Apolo translated for his
tahren
. “Krysea blesses your bond and prays for a blissful future.”

“Thank you.” Then Legian said pretty much the same thing in Sephian directly to Krysea.

Krysea nodded with a warm smile before continuing.

“She has been apprised of your actions and approves my choice,” Apolo added, his voice and manner all-business.

Sienna glanced over at him. “Choice?”

Apolo narrowed his eyes onto her. “Regarding you.”

Legian reached for her hand. She held onto him as if he was a buoy, and they were stranded in the ocean — surrounded by hungry golden sharks.

Apolo said something, but she missed it completely, and she jerked her attention back to the screen. Krysea was still speaking. The leader smiled, and the screen when black.

No wonder the Sephians followed her. There was something about her that made Sienna want to fall to her knees and worship her. Krysea commanded one hell of a presence. A regular ball-buster in stilettos.

Apolo stared at the blank screen. The tightness in his body betrayed his emotionless face.

“How do you do it? Stay apart from Krysea, I mean,” Sienna asked softly in his direction.

He jerked out of his trance and looked up to face her. “I do it because I must.”

“Can’t you take a vacation? Go back and see her?”

Apolo lowered his head and remained quiet for several seconds before punching the table. Hard. So hard the plastic-like material ended up with a perfect knuckle-sized indentation before slowly regaining its original smoothness.

Legian wrapped a protective arm around her, and she curved into his embrace.

Apolo let out a deep breath. To her, it sounded like hopelessness. He looked up, and she could have sworn his eyes were damp.

“It took us several months to fly here at full power. We nearly used up our long-range power cells traveling here. That was intentional. The cells are rechargeable, and initial planetary analysis showed that your moon generated energy similar to our moons, which can recharge our power cells. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we learned that was not the case. Your moon does not generate compatible energy. Even if we tried to return on our lowest power settings, we’d never make it. We are running our base off our short-range power cells now, but they won’t last a year. At that point we will be essentially crippled.”

Sienna gulped. “There’s got to be another energy source you can use. Can’t you use the fuel that the small ships use? We have plenty of fossil fuels on this planet.”