Ha'ven's Song (15 page)

“You have much to learn about a Curizan
Prince when he is in battle,” Ha’ven teased lightly. “We will be
going through the second Jumpgate soon. Once through, we will be in
Curizan space. Kejon would be stupid to follow. We have patrols
scattered throughout.”

“What if he does?” Emma asked worriedly.
“Can you call someone to come help?”

Ha’ven grinned and nodded. “
Sentinel
to
Rayon I
.”

Within seconds, Adalard’s face appeared on
the view screen. “This is the
Rayon I
. How goes it,
brother?”

“I have found your missing traitor,” Ha’ven
said tightly as a warning sounded from the defense system. “He and
a Marastin Dow warship are hot on our tail.”

A loud curse from behind Adalard showed
Arrow was listening in as well. “Can you get away?” Arrow asked,
looking over Adalard’s shoulder.

Ha’ven glanced at Emma who was listening
quietly to the exchange. He released a deep breath before he shook
his head. From the speed of the approaching warship they would just
be entering the Jumpgate when it intercepted them. Once through,
there was no guarantee one of their patrol ships would be close
enough to arrive before Kejon destroyed the
Sentinel
. There
was only one thing he could do.

“When I hit the Jumpgate I’m going to send
us through to Yardell,” Ha’ven said grimly. “It is the only way to
ensure we aren’t blown apart.”

“Are you sure?” Adalard asked with a heavy
frown. “I’ve alerted General Tiruss that you need assistance. He
can be there in four hours.”

“We would not last half that time,” Ha’ven
responded as he calculated the time to intercept. “Come for
us.”

“We’ll be there,” Arrow said, yelling out an
order. “It will take us at least three days but we will be
there.”

“May the Goddess be with you, brother,”
Adalard said before signing off.

“What’s going on?” Emma asked, frightened.
“What is Yardell?”

“It is a Spaceport on the far side of our
star system,” Ha’ven replied.

He glanced at Emma briefly before turning
back as the second Jumpgate came into view. The large towers stood
like silent sentinels in space. As the transport passed through, it
would complete a connection between the energy grids opening a
large wormhole that would take them to the Curizan star system.

He would tap into that energy and take them
further, to the opposite side. It was a dangerous move. One only
done in theory, never in reality. Arrow had first come up with the
idea. They had joked about it for years but there had never been a
reason to try such a risky move until now. If he didn’t, Kejon
would catch up with them as they came out the other side and
destroy them before help could arrive.

Ha’ven slowly began releasing the power
within him that Aria had awakened. He felt the blackness swirl and
churn, almost as if it was a living entity buried deep inside him.
For once, he did not fight it as it rose inside him. Instead he
embraced it, letting it wash through and over him.

We will not let that bastard harm our
mate
, Ha’ven told the dark mist.
We will protect her at all
cost.

Yessss…
came the answer as the black
mist spun out and through the controls.

Ha’ven gritted his teeth as the
Sentinel
entered the Jumpgate. The moment the energy
connected through the transport, he pulled it inward and linked it
with his own power. His body jerked as the massive amount of energy
centered through his body. He vaguely heard Emma’s cry of terror.
He felt like his body was being torn in a million different
directions.

He shook as the dark power inside him
greedily grasped the extra energy. He fought to remain conscious.
Everything began to blur as the wormhole formed. He focused the
energy and extended it outward, curving it.

Things slowed down as the image of the
Yardell Spaceport formed in his mind. He looked around curiously.
He could see Emma’s eyes glued to his form, a look of fear and
worry on her lovely face. He turned and saw his own physical form
gripping the control sticks. The muscles in his arms bulged as he
held them. His eyes glowed a fierce violet swirled with black. The
red and gold bands twisted into spirals threading through the black
mist that had spread to coat the surface of the transport.

“Ha’ven,” Emma cried out as if from a
distance. “You have to stop! This is hurting you. I can feel it.
Please, let go!”

He turned his head to look at where she was
staring and saw the trickle of blood as it seeped from his left
nostril. He raised his hand to touch it and realized that he was a
mere ghost looking at his corporeal self.

He could feel the moment when his body gave
into the pain of holding so much energy within it. He was pulled
back into his body so forcefully, he lost his focus. The sudden
release of so much power at once splintered through him and he fell
forward, barely conscious over the console.

“Emma,” he whispered weakly. “You… have to
help… me. Have… to… dock with… Spaceport.”

Emma looked through the clear view screen.
She couldn’t see a Spaceport, only a small blue and green moon
circling a much larger planet of red. She bit her lip and quickly
unstrapped the belts holding her into the seat.

“Ha’ven, I don’t see a Spaceport. I only see
a huge red planet with a smaller moon circling it,” Emma replied
huskily as she knelt next to his chair.

She gently cupped his lowered head. Dark red
blood scorched a path from his nose. He was deathly pale and his
eyes were glazed with pain. She murmured softly, chiding him while
she wiped the blood away.

“You shouldn’t have done this,” she rebuked
him. “Whatever you did was hurting you. I could feel it. You should
have let go sooner.”

Ha’ven tried to focus his eyes on Emma’s
sweet face. “I promised you…” he started hoarsely. “Protect
you.”

“You don’t even know me,” Emma said,
tenderly smoothing her hand over his cheek. “Not really.”

“Know… you,” he forced out. “You are…
everything.”

Emma’s eyes filled with tears as she looked
at the huge warrior who made her want to believe in forever. It
terrified her to see him so weak. She started to lean forward to
press a kiss to his forehead when an alarm rang out loudly
startling her.

“Warning! Warning! Power levels have
decreased to dangerous levels. Multiple system failures are being
recorded. Environmental, engine, and defense systems are at less
than twenty percent. Emergency landing procedures have been
initiated.”

“Ha’ven, what’s happening?” Emma asked in
alarm, standing up as the lights flickered and the bridge lights
went out.

“Strap into your chair,” Ha’ven bit out
weakly. “We have to land. If we don’t, we won’t make it. There is…
too much… damage. If the environmental system shuts down, we would
only… last an hour… at most.”

Emma scrambled over to her chair and began
strapping herself back into it. She watched as the small moon began
to grow larger and larger. She braced her arms on the chair, her
fingers gripping the ends until her knuckles were white.

“Entry in five, four, three, two, one…
Emergency descent activated. Prepare for hard impact,” the computer
said.

Emma looked at Ha’ven. He was slumped
forward, held up only by the straps of his chair. His battle to
stay conscious lost. She turned back and watched as a small lake
came rapidly into view. She braced for impact as the transport hit
the tops of the tall trees before everything went black as she was
thrown forward as the sleek vessel hit the water.

Emma shivered as icy cold water rushed around
her ankles. She jerked awake, looking around disoriented for a
moment until she remembered what happened. Gazing out the front
viewport, she could see they were partially submerged in the lake.
The transport listed at an odd angle with half the nose sticking up
above the water line.

“Ha’ven?” Emma called out, worried.

When she didn’t receive a response, she
quickly fumbled with the release on the straps. Impatiently pushing
them aside, she grabbed the console for support and pulled herself
out of the chair. The water was rushing in from the corridor behind
them. She could feel the transport shifting as the weight of the
water rushing into the back of the ship pulled it into deeper
water. She had to get them out of it before it completely
filled.

She gripped the chair and console for
support and pulled herself over to Ha’ven’s chair. He was leaning
to the side. Blood continued to seep from his nose. Emma was afraid
he had some type of internal injury.

“Ha’ven,” she said, gently brushing his hair
back from his face. “Ha’ven, please wake up. I need your help. I
can’t get you out by myself.”

She shivered as the water crept up to her
knees. She looked worriedly around when he didn’t answer or show
any signs of hearing her. Even the cold water was doing nothing to
help wake him. She pressed her trembling fingers to the side of his
neck and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt a strong pulse
beating in it.

“We have to get out of here before the ship
sinks,” she whispered.

She quickly undid the straps holding him
into the chair. If she had to, she would drag him out. She wouldn’t
leave him to drown. Touching his cheek one more time, she pulled
away from the chair, sliding down to the wall leading to the
corridor.

“There has to be some type of emergency
equipment for if the cabin lost pressure. They have them in
airplanes back on Earth, for crying out loud. You would think
aliens would have them in a spaceship,” she muttered as she began
pulling open anything that looked like it could be storage.

She pulled on several panels, opening them
before growling in frustration when all she found were tools. They
might come in handy later but not right now. She was almost crying
in frustration as the water reached her waist. She fell when the
transport shifted again. Icy water closed over her head as she
rolled. She pressed her hands on the floor of the transport and
burst upward with a gasp as the chill of the water sucked at the
breath that she was holding. She pushed her tangled, wet hair out
of her eyes and glance
d
frantically back
to where Ha’ven was seated. Her eyes lit on a panel to his left. It
had a strange marking on it. She pushed against the wall,
struggling against the slant of the ship and the water that was
beginning to numb her body. She pulled herself up using the back of
Ha’ven
’s
seat and reached for the panel.
Pushing inward, the door popped open to reveal several masks.

“Thank God,” she breathed.

She pulled one down and saw what looked like
a full-frontal oxygen mask. She pulled it over her head. The moment
she took a breath, lights appeared on the outside of the mask and a
thin membrane sealed around her head. Fresh oxygen poured into
it.

Pulling another one down, she braced herself
and gently pulled it over Ha’ven
’s
head.
She closed her eyes briefly and murmured a prayer of thanks when
she saw the lights turn on. She checked to make sure it was sealed
correctly before she pushed the release on the chair so that it
would swivel.

She grabbed Ha’ven’s arm and draped it over
her shoulder before she slid her arm around his waist. She let
their combined weight pull them forward and they toppled under the
water.

Now, to find a way out of here before we
become trapped,
she thought as the water closed around
them.

*.*.*

In a way, the water was a blessing as she
would have been unable to carry Ha’ven’s much larger, heavier
weight. Emma kicked her legs and reached with her free hand to
grasp the edge of the door and pushed through it. She had no idea
where to go and could only hope wherever the water was coming in
the opening was large enough for them to squeeze through before
they were dragged deeper.

She swept her head back and forth looking
down the long corridor. She was familiar with only a small part of
the spaceship. She pulled Ha’ven’s body closer to hers worried
about how the cold could be affecting him. She remembered watching
a television show that said if someone is injured that it was
important to keep them warm in case they went into shock.

Fear blossomed when the transport groaned
and started to twist. She rolled, wrapping her arms and legs around
Ha’ven’s limp body. Her back and shoulder hit the floor before
bouncing off the wall. A torrent of bubbles exploded around them as
an air pocket was suddenly filled with water. The rush disoriented
her for several precious moments. She realized they were facing the
short narrow passage he had carried her down when he first brought
her on board the transport.

She released her legs from around Ha’ven’s
waist and braced her feet on the wall pushing upwards toward the
hatch. She released one arm from around Ha’ven to grab the latch on
it. She frowned in frustration as she studied it. The words written
under it meant nothing to her. They were just meaningless symbols.
She flutter-kicked her legs back and forth to keep them in place as
she reached for the bar situated to one side of the door. She could
feel her body slowly draining of strength and cursed the months she
had wasted because of the depression that gripped her. She had
thought she was ready to die but the last couple of days proved to
her she wasn’t ready to give in after all.

“How do you open this stupid thing?” she
grunted.

She was going to need both hands. She
refused to let Ha’ven go, though. She was terrified if she did and
she got the hatch open that she would lose him in the rush of water
and darkness. Gripping the latch with one hand, she wrapped her
legs around his waist again and locked her ankles together. Once
she was sure she had a good hold on him, she reached up and grabbed
the latch with both hands.