Ki Book One (10 page)

It had to be Ki.

Shocked that this device could show him the
inside of a building, he didn’t have long to feel his surprise.

He saw something else within the cabin.
Another figure, taller and broader than the first. Low to the
ground, it headed for the door.

Jackson immediately crouched, knees creaking
at the torture he’d put them through, but still managing to anchor
him so he didn’t slip down the treacherous slope.

Getting quietly to his stomach, he waited.
Adrenaline pumping through his form, he somehow managed to control
his breath, bringing the gun up before him as he still watched the
image on the scanner.

The soldier would be watching his own
scanner, Jackson was sure of it. As the soldier rounded the side of
the cabin slowly, like a lion pressing through the long grass, he
would know exactly where Jackson was.

For the first time they were evenly matched.
Though the soldier had the added advantage of that incredible
armor, Jackson knew it could not withstand a blast from his
gun.

What would happen next would be down to
reflexes, skill, and cunning, not technology.

Shifting back as carefully as he could,
trying to minimize the sound of his movements despite the fact the
soldier would already know where he was, Jackson ignored the bead
of sweat that dripped from his forehead down the bridge of his
nose. He did not bring up a hand to wipe it off; he concentrated
only on a patch of the cabin’s roof.

He would aim for one of the logs, hoping to
repeat his earlier performance by getting one to roll off the roof
and squish the soldier.

He did not get the chance.

Just as the man moved to where Jackson
needed him to be – the flickering outlines on his scanner showing
him directly under the shadow of the house – the man threw
something.

Round and sleek, it sailed through the
air.

Grenade.

Jackson had time to think the word, but he
did not have time to act.

The grenade sailed into view then
impossibly changed direction. It did not move in a straight arc –
it hovered and shifted with the grace and speed of an insect, not a
machine.

Heartbeat pounding against his clamped
teeth, his fear surged as he waited for the explosion.

It didn’t come. Instead it zeroed in on him,
zooming forward and latching onto his shoulder.

Desperate, he tried to pull it off, but he
could not move it. It burrowed down, forming some connection with
his flesh that was stronger than magnetism or the most powerful
adhesive.

Eyes wider than they’d ever been, moves more
frantic than his tired body should have been capable of producing,
he thrashed at it.

With a pneumatic hiss, it released
something, a pin shooting out and stabbing through his
shoulder.

His legs fell out from underneath him.
Darkness trickled in at the edges of his vision.

He was blacking out.

Seconds. That’s all he had.

A roaring in his ears
, skin numb, he reached for the device in
his pocket.

It was his last hope. If those soldiers
could not use their guns near a broken crystal, then hopefully this
grenade was the same.

Eyes rolling into the back of his head, he
pulled the device out, throwing it down with his limp
arm.

It came to a rest a meter from him. With his
last breath he shot it.

The crystal exploded with an intense, blue
blast. It picked him up, but it did not let him fall. That
water-like light caught him and kept him aloft.

Instantly the grenade dislodged from his
shoulder and fell, only to float up past his face. The lights that
had flickered along its surface blinked off and there was a soft
whir-down of some power source.

His gamble had paid off.

Barely.

Despite the fact he was floating, his body
had never been heavier. His limbs felt encased by a deep,
bone-shaking lethargy. To keep his eyes half open felt like
traversing the greatest mountain range.

Whatever that grenade had pumped into his
system, it was obviously meant to knock him out. Luckily it
appeared he’d dislodged it just in time; though he teetered on the
edge of sleep, he had not succumb yet.

He could barely move though.

He’d let go of his rifle, and it floated by
his side. Its butt no longer glowed with that distinctive blue
light. He knew it would not work.

The temptation to fall into the open arms of
unconsciousness was impossibly strong as he floated so easily. It
was such a relaxing sensation to be weightless, freed from the
burden of gravity, hovering effortlessly.

Something kept him awake though. That
something was not the pressing imperative to bring these soldiers
and their technology to the awareness of his government. It wasn’t
even the need to pay them back for what they’d done to his
house.

It was Ki. Meters away in the hut, he needed
to get to her before the remaining soldier did.

She filled his mind in that half-awake
state. There was no reason for it; she was Tarkan. But still, she
did. Perhaps he guessed how important she was, perhaps it was more.
It didn’t matter.

Forcing his eyes to open fully, he blinked
past the bleak moonlight, trying to spy the soldier.

Rocks floated around him, rubble, even
branches that must have been ripped loose by the explosion.

With all that debris it would have been
hard to spot a floating body on a normal night, let alone when his
mind was reeling from a failed anesthesia.

What he’d do when he found the guy, Jackson
didn’t know.

As the clouds above separated to reveal a
full slice of silvery moonlight, he finally saw something. The
white glint of armor.

Over to his left, the soldier was floating
directly above the hut. His limbs were moving up and down, hands
clutching as he tried to move forward.

Unlike in the house, there was nothing to
grab onto out here. There were no walls or door frames to use as
purchase to maneuver through this floating world.

Though the soldier tried, it took him a
long time to finally push himself low enough to latch a hand onto
one of the wooden beams of the roof. Using it as purchase, he
twisted himself around, no doubt aiming to push himself through the
hole in the ceiling and down to Ki below.

He didn’t get the opportunity; the log he
held onto suddenly dislodged and began to float up, taking the
soldier with it.

As it did, it dislodged yet another plank,
soon the whole roof broke free and floated up.

Seconds later the contents of the hut
followed it. The bed, the wheel of cheese, even some of the flaming
planks from the fireplace.

Breath pressing against his chest, he waited
to see Ki. She drifted up, surrounded by a halo of hay as it
spilled free from the mattress.

Instantly the soldier tried to get down to
her, grabbing onto one plank and thrusting off it to catch another.
It was as if he were climbing down a ladder.

Jackson moved. Body still fighting the
numbing effects of the drug, he focused on Ki.

It was almost impossible to direct his
movement, but he did manage to latch onto a passing branch. He did
not use it to pull himself closer to her. He pushed himself away,
towards one of the pine trees to his left. Though the effects of
the levitation field were pulling up its needles like an upward
draft, its branches were sturdy enough that they hadn’t been
snapped free.

Desperate, he reached out his hand to latch
onto the tree. He could feel the pine needles brush through his
lethargic fingers, but he could hardly make them move enough to
clutch hold of them. Letting out a frustrated shout, he stretched
out as far as he could.

He caught hold of a branch.

As he moved, he grabbed at the gun that
still floated near him. Hooking his arm around the branch, he used
it to pull his body closer to the tree.

He had to get away from the effects of the
field. Then his gun would work.

Groaning, ignoring every feeling of
crippling pain, he moved himself from branch to branch.

He dared not look over his shoulder; he knew
what he would see.

The soldier would have her by now.

The further he moved through the trees,
branch by branch, the heavier he felt. It was not the delayed
effects of the drug – it was gravity returning.

Moving faster now, he scrabbled as hard as
he could, clutching at the branches, not caring the rough bark cut
easily through his desperately groping hands.

After several more meters he felt the
effects of the field all but disappear. Hanging off a branch,
several meters from the ground, he turned around, bringing his legs
up and around the trunk to steady himself.

Craning his neck, he stared through the
trees towards the clearing. Though it was hard to see, it wouldn’t
be in a moment; he lofted the gun, depressed his finger on the
trigger and watched that continuous pulse of light sear through the
trees, blasting off the branches and chunks of trunk in his
view.

He could see the hut. Rocks and logs still
floated around it.

Straining, frantic to find her, he scanned
the area. All he could see was the debris.

Cursing, he leaned further out from the
trunk. Not wanting to waste time or his vantage, he had to spy that
soldier from up here.

Heart pulsing through his chest, body filled
with a strange mix of heavy fatigue and pounding adrenaline, he
finally found what he was looking for.

A glimmer of white armor.

Hooking his arm over the thick branch above
him, Jackson groaned loudly as he climbed. Shifting up another
level, he reached a height that afforded him direct
line-of-sight.

The soldier was moving with Ki down the
slope, no doubt towards his ship.

Jackson secured the rifle against his
shoulder, steadying it against a branch directly in front of his
face. Concentration drawing his lips thin and stilling his breath,
he lined up the shot.

He had to get the soldier and only the
soldier.

He would not take the shot unless it was a
clear one. He couldn’t risk hitting Ki.

As the soldier moved with her, drifting
down, moving only with considerable effort as his limbs pumped
against the powerful levitation field, he kept hold of Ki.

Swearing, starting to panic, Jackson shifted
the gun around as the soldier moved out of view.

Dammit, he needed a clear shot.

Realigning his gun, he waited. It was one of
the tensest things he’d ever done.

Just before the soldier drifted out of sight
again, something happened. He lost hold of her and she drifted up
above him.

Jackson shot. He didn’t hesitate. The
blast seared out and landed true against the soldier’s back,
knocking him forward, sending him spinning further up into the sky,
his body cart-wheeling and dashing against the rubble floating
around him.

Letting out the biggest sigh he could
manage, Jackson allowed himself to close his eyes.

He indulged in the briefest moment of
victory.

Then he climbed down from the tree,
stashed the gun, and went to go and get Ki. Fighting against the
levitation field, he managed to latch onto her and pull her back
from it. It took time, but with the other soldiers out of the
equation, he had it. On the way back to his gun he managed to scoop
up his scanner too.

When he had her safely out of the field, he
did not rest. He fumbled her onto his back and fled as fast as he
could.

Chapter Six

Ki woke to someone pawing at her face.

She screamed, the noise barely making it out
of her sore and scratchy throat. With the precious little strength
she had, she tried to fight them off.

“
Ki, Ki, it’s me. Jackson. It’s Jackson.”
He caught her hands and held them there. His fingers were soft
around her wrists, barely brushing up against her bruised
skin.

Mind still spinning, she shook her head,
trying to dislodge the fog that surrounded her.

“
We’re fine. We’re fine. Those soldiers are
gone. We’re safe for now.”

She had lost consciousness too many times
that day, and the effect of it was like a virus in her mind. She
could hardly pay attention, but what little scrap of concentration
she could grab, she used to focus in on his voice.

“
We’re fine,” he tried to assure her again.
“Just lie back. The effects of whatever they drugged you with will
wane with time... hopefully.”

Despite the fact she had no idea whether she
could trust him yet, she lay back down. Her body was simply too
weak not to.

For the next several minutes she drifted in
and out of a half-awake state. She heard him breathing, felt his
body not far from hers, and eventually even noted the sensation of
the sun warm against her cheeks.

It had to be day. So where had the night
gone?

As her mind finally sharpened, she blinked
her eyes open, a deep groan pressing through her throat.

“
Don’t try to push yourself,” he warned,
one of his hands pressing down lightly into her
shoulder.

It was warm and despite the fact she knew
who he was and what he’d done to her, it reassured her.

She almost wanted to bring up one of her
own hands and lace her fingers through his, just to bask in the
sense of that welcome reassurance.

She of course did not. Instead she lolled
her head to the side to see him sitting a half-meter away, legs
pulled up before him as he sat with his back pressed into a
tree.