Falcorans' Faith (38 page)

“We believe we can reach the Xanti home world in just under three years by using those secret Xanti jump points.  It’s risky though.  We’ve learned that the Xanti guard those jump points, which means we’ll probably have to fight the Xanti each time we attempt to use one.  Which will make it impossible for us to keep our attack secret, as we prefer.”

“Oh!” Faith said, suddenly understanding what she’d just done.  “This is a jump point into their galaxy!”

“It certainly is,” Tristan agreed.  “And it’s only about a week’s travel from Jasan instead of three years.”

Faith beamed.  “Yippee!”

The Falcorans burst out laughing.  Faith stared in surprise.  It was the first time she’d ever heard them laugh out loud aside from a few chuckles.  After a moment she joined them.

Once they all caught their breath, Faith and Jon worked with the binoculars to log the exact coordinates and dimension of the jump point.  Then Tristan gave orders for the
Eyrie
to catch up with the task force, and the three of them began discussing their next course of action. 

Faith listened for a little while, but much of what they were saying went over her head.  She excused herself and returned to her room, leaving them to their message encryptions.  After she put Bubbles down on her pillow to finish her nap, she began pacing.  She’d realized during their conversation about Arimas that she had some serious thinking to do, and she always thought better when she walked.

Much to her surprise, it didn’t take her very long to make up her mind.  In fact, once her decision was made, she realized that some part of her had already decided, and she just hadn’t consciously realized it.  Or, maybe destiny had just given her a big kick in the butt.  Either way, who cared? 

A soft knock on the door announcing lunch woke Bubbles up.  While watching her all but inhale her food, Faith wondered if
raktsasa
were prone to becoming overweight.  She turned on the hand terminal and looked for information on
raktsasa
as she ate her lunch.  Bubbles climbed onto her shoulder for another nap, and Faith petted her absently before switching to the book on Arimas for a little while.

She’d just started reading about mating fangs and how they were used when she checked the time, surprised by how quickly the day had flown by.  She had about three hours till dinner.  More than enough time for a long bath and some careful primping.  She turned off the hand terminal and put Bubbles down on the bed, then went to the bathroom and bent over to flip the taps on the tub.  When she straightened up and turned, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and gasped in surprise. 

She’d never seen herself look so
pretty
before.  There was a brightness in her eyes, color in her cheeks, and a secret smile on her lips.  She was happy.  Really and truly happy in a way that was completely new to her.  She grinned at herself.  She was in love, and she couldn’t wait to tell the Falcorans her decision.

***

A couple of hours later Faith smoothed the already smooth light pink blouse that she wore with another pair of jeans.  She wished she’d bought another skirt, or a dress when she’d gone shopping, but she’d never expected to wear the one that the Falcorans had bought for her.   Well, it didn’t matter, she told herself.  The blouse was pretty and brought out the pink in her cheeks, and the jeans fit
really
well. 

She wasn’t surprised to find that her hands were trembling, or that her pulse seemed a bit too fast.  She was a little nervous, but mostly she was excited.  It didn’t matter that she’d only known the Falcorans for a couple of weeks.  It didn’t matter that she could never have children.  It didn’t matter that she practically had more scars than not.  None of that mattered.  All that mattered was that they loved her, and she loved them.

She ran a brush through her hair one last time, then put Bubbles on her shoulder and left the bathroom just as a knock sounded on her door.  She opened it, already knowing it was the Falcorans. 

“Hi guys,” she said. 

“You are so beautiful,” Gray said, smiling at her appreciatively.

“Thanks,” she replied.  She noticed that they were still wearing their uniforms.  They usually changed into regular clothes for dinner, so she knew something was up.  She arched a brow and waited.

“We were going to spend some time in the Roar Room,” Tristan said.  “But if you’re ready for dinner now, we can go change.  It won’t take but a minute.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head.  “Bubbles needs to get some exercise anyway.  All she’s done today is eat and sleep.”

Bubbles raised up and gave her several quick kisses, tapping her check with her forepaws in excitement.  Faith pulled her door shut and walked up the corridor with the Falcorans, grinning at Bubbles antics as she danced around on her shoulder.  They passed the elevator alcove and continued to the far side of the ship where the Roar Room was located, and went inside.  Bubbles gave her another series of kisses, then leapt onto Tristan’s shoulder.

“Right after you guys shift, I’m going to run back to my room real quick,” Faith said. 

Tristan paused.  “We can go with you.”

“There’s no need for that,” Faith said.  “I just want to grab my hand terminal.  It won’t take but a minute.  You guys go on and play.  I don’t think Bubbles can contain herself any longer.”

Tristan smiled at the
raktsasa
prancing back and forth from one shoulder to the other.  “All right but please, don’t leave this deck, okay?”

“Sure,” Faith agreed easily.  She didn’t know why he seemed worried, but saw no reason to argue since she didn’t want to go anywhere else anyway.

Tristan hesitated another moment, then went through the door into the shifting chamber.  Faith watched as they all transformed into giant, black furred birds with brightly colored eyes, a thrill of excitement running through her as she imagined how she’d look as a falcoran.  A moment later Bubbles shifted and began running around the room, leaping high into the air now and then with happy roars.  Faith watched them for a few minutes, then turned and left the ante room.  She hadn’t gone far before an eerie sensation began crawling up her spine.  She tried to tell herself that she was simply not used to being alone any more now that she had Bubbles, but for some reason, that explanation didn’t make her feel any better.  She walked faster, her arms crossed in front of herself, her eyes and ears straining for sound, but she heard nothing unusual.  She shook her head at herself.  She was being ridiculous.  This was a Jasani battleship, for goodness sake.  Not a dark street in a big city. 

She passed the elevator alcove, the half way point, berating herself for her silliness.  Suddenly a big hand came down hard on one shoulder, another clamped tightly over her mouth, and she was yanked off her feet and dragged backwards.  She reached up for the hand at her mouth, trying futilely to pry it away when suddenly both hands released her and she fell to the floor.  She leapt to her feet, heart pounding as she realized she was in an elevator, and the doors had just closed, trapping her.  She spun around to face her attacker, then froze in shock.

***

Tristan saw Faith turn from the window and leave.  He felt unaccountably worried, but there was no logical reason for it so he decided to keep it to himself. 

“
What’s
wrong
?” Gray asked.

Tristan tried to shake his feelings off.  “
Nothing
,” he said.  “
I just feel like its a bad idea to let Faith out of our sight.”

“I feel the same way
,” Gray said, troubled. 

“Me too
,” Jon chimed in. 

Tristan’s worry increased.  “
I’m going after her,”
he said.  Before he finished speaking, Bubbles let out a deep roar of fear and fury.

By the time they were able to land and shift, Bubbles had already broken down the door leading into the ante room, and the one out of it into the main corridor.  The moment their feet touched the floor they raced after Bubbles, who was moving faster than they’d thought she was capable of.  Using Air magic, they moved more quickly than the human eye could see, but by the time they caught up to her she’d already used her claws to pull one of the four sets of elevator doors open.  She stood on the edge of the empty elevator shaft, her body tensed as though she were about to jump down into it.

“Bubbles, shift,” Tristan commanded, his voice tight with fear.  The
raktsasa
would not survive such a fall, and Faith would not easily forgive them for allowing Bubbles to come to harm.  He was relieved when Bubbles turned to look at him, her large red eyes filled with tears, before she shifted back to her small form and leapt onto his shoulder. 

“Down,” Gray said, already pulling the door open leading to the stairs.  Tristan placed one hand on Bubbles to ensure she remained in place and moved with as much speed as Air would allow, racing down the stairs to the lowest deck.

“Male, human,” Gray said as he and Jon followed one step behind Tristan.  “Unfamiliar.”

***

“Eric,” Faith said, surprised but, somehow, not as surprised as she thought she should be.  Maybe some part of her had known she wasn’t finished with this episode of her life.

“Faith,” Eric said, smirking.  “You don’t seem too shocked.  I’m glad you realize you have this coming.”

She’d been too stunned to react at first.  But when Eric said that, her anger flared.  “Oh, go to hell you stupid bastard,” she said with disgust.  “You and your sister are as crazy as fricken’ bed bugs.  Stop blaming me for all the shit you two immersed yourselves in, and grow the fuck up.  You wanna kill me?  Go ahead.  Just don’t bore me to death with the same old sad, sorry song of how everything that ever happened to you and Cinthy is all my fault.  I’ve heard it before, and to be honest, I’d rather be dead than have to listen to it again.”

“Wow, not bad,” Eric said, smiling.  “If it helps, I don’t blame you for everything.  But I DO blame you for my sister’s death.”

“Of course you do!  It makes perfect sense!  I’m obviously responsible for her asinine decision to use a stars-damned
gamma rifle
to blow off Rick’s head and hit me with the fall-out while I was hanging from the ceiling by my wrists.  After being raped, which, let me guess, was also my idea.” 

“Nah,” Eric said, shrugging lightly.  “It’s your fault because you made friends with her.  Cinthy never had a female friend before you.  Other women were always jealous of her because she was so pretty.  But not you.  You were nice to her, Faith.  Until you betrayed her.  That’s why she kept going after you.  Because she
cared
about you, and you hurt her.”

Faith stared at Eric in surprise.  That was a theory she’d never heard before.  It didn’t change anything, of course, and it was absolute crap, but she could almost see Cinthy thinking that way.

“So, now that I’ve made that perfectly clear,” Eric said, then paused and frowned at her.  “It is clear, right?”

Faith nodded slowly, unable to think of another thing to say. 

“Good,” Eric said.  Moving suddenly, he grabbed her by the throat with one hand and shoved her back against the wall of the elevator, then punched her hard in the stomach.  She tried to bend over, but his hand held her in place.  Her hands came up to cover the area he’d hit, but they encountered a strange object.  Faith frowned, trying to figure out what it was.  Realizing that Eric no longer held her, she looked up and saw him walking away from the elevator without a backward glance.  Then the doors closed again and the car started going back up. 

She looked down and saw what appeared to be the hilt of a long, heavy knife sticking out of her abdomen.  Then the pain hit.  She took a deep breath, which increased the pain enormously. 
Too much
, she thought, before falling to her knees.  She tried to scream, but no sound would leave her throat.  She was reminded of a dream she’d had repeatedly as a child.  Something really horrific would happen and she’d try to scream, but never could.  How odd, she thought.  That really happens. 

She realized that the carpet beneath her was going to be ruined from all the blood, but there was nothing she could do about it.  Then she wondered if there was a way to force herself to pass out, conceded that there might be, but that since she didn’t know what it was, it didn’t matter.  She wondered if the Falcorans would find her before she died.  She hoped so.  She wanted to look at them just one more time.  Just one look.  Was that too much to ask?  The answer never came because at that moment, her eyes closed, and she knew no more.

***

Tristan pushed the door open onto the engineering deck just as a tall, sandy haired man was reaching for it.  The man was wearing the gray and red uniform of the Jasani navy, but his scent matched the faint scent they’d caught outside the elevator shaft where they’d found Bubbles. 

“Arrest him,” Tristan said just as Bubbles began growling threateningly.  The man spun around and tried to run, but he was no match for them in either speed or strength.  Gray picked him up by the back of the neck and raced toward the engine room.  He tossed the man to the floor just as a Katre male-set came through the door.