Ki Book One (19 page)

The soldier looked down at it, gaze
flickering.

“
I’m no idiot. I know if I give this to
you, you’ll find some way to use it against me,” Jackson propped
the gun into his shoulder, damping down on the pain that surged
through his back as he aggravated his injuries.

“
Give me the scanner,” the soldier held out
his hand.

“
I’m not going to let you—”

“
You haven’t thought this through, have
you?”

“
Shut up
,” Jackson snapped, sweat starting to
track down his brow and back.

“
She’s going to die unless you give me that
scanner. Now hand it over,” the soldier spat, gaze darting between
Ki and Jackson. While there was a nervous edge to his look, his jaw
was still locked with hardened rage.

Though he hated to admit it, Jackson clearly
had not thought this through. He’d been too distracted by the
soldier and his scanner falling from the sky to come up with a
sound plan.

“
She’ll die,” the soldier repeated,
shifting forward. “If she’s not already dead.
Do something
.”

Jolting back, Jackson blanched.

He had to do something. He’d risked it all
to get one of those scanners, and providence had seen one land in
his lap.

It would cost him to use it though.

Probably his life.

The second he gave the scanner to the
soldier was the second he’d be condemning himself. If that scanner
could produce a field that could heal someone, no doubt it could do
the opposite, too.

“
Every second you waste, you’re killing
her,” the soldier held out his hand further.

Yes. Jackson knew that.

“
Hand me the
scanner
,” the soldier
shouted viciously.

Jackson had no choice. If he wanted her to
live, he had to hand it over.

He lowered his gun slightly.

The soldier smiled.

Just as Jackson got ready to hand him the
scanner, Ki moved.

He almost dropped his gun. If its strap
hadn’t been hooked over his shoulder he would have.

Restless, she shifted her head, bringing her
hand up and pushing into her face.

“
Ki,” he shouted at her, backing off,
keeping enough range between his gun and the soldier so the man
couldn’t jump him. “Ki, Ki, for the love of god, wake
up.”

She stirred further, then drew quiet.

“
Ki
,” he shouted as loud as he could.

She opened her eyes. “What...
what...?”

“
You need to use this scanner to heal
yourself. Ki,
listen to my voice
.” He shifted towards her, gesturing at the soldier to move
right back. Never turning from the man, Jackson reached behind and
grabbed at her arm, shaking it.

“
What are you doing...? Jackson?” she
mumbled, voice slurred and hardly audible.

“
You need to use the scanner to heal
yourself,” he repeated, handing her the scanner without ever
turning from the soldier. “Ki, you can do this. You’ve done it
before.”

He heard her drop the scanner against the
table. Instantly he grabbed it and shoved it towards her again.

She took it from him.

Pressure building in his chest, he never
shifted his gaze from the soldier. The look of immanent victory was
gone from the man’s face. Eyes narrowed, he looked desperate.

“
Ki, please.” Jackson clutched behind him,
finding her hand, trying to guide it to the controls of the
scanner.

“
She gets that wrong, she could kill us
all,” the soldier nodded down at Ki, his move sharp, his neck
muscles tight and bulging. He shifted his arm up as he
did.

Jackson flicked the power level on the gun
to half-way and shot just at his feet.

The explosion startled Ki, and she dropped
the scanner again. Jackson grabbed it and forced it against her
immediately, keeping his gun and gaze locked on the
soldier.

“
Put your hands up. Not behind your head.
Where I can see them,” Jackson snapped at the man.

A dark look drawing down his eyes, the
soldier complied with a frustrated, bitter chuckle. “How long do
you think you can keep her from us? We’ve got dozens of scout ships
out after her. We won’t give her up without a fight. You’ve got one
stolen gun and a scanner you don’t know how to use. How long do you
think you’ll last?”

“
Shut up.”

“
Why are you helping her anyway, didn’t you
tie her to a chair?

“
I said shut up,” Jackson redoubled his
grip on the gun. It was torture trying to divide his attention
between Ki and the soldier. He kept one hand on the gun, the other
on the table close to her, ready in case she dropped the scanner
yet again.

“
I’m telling you, she could kill us all
with that thing. She’s half dead, she has no idea what she’s doing.
Do you want her to die?
Think
.”

Jackson didn’t reply this time, he just
locked a deep breath into his lungs and tried to keep control.

If Ki blacked out again, he would have to do
something.

That something would be to hand the
soldier the scanner. There would be no other way.

“
Ki, how are you going? Are you still
awake?” He leant back into the table.

She didn’t answer.

“
Ki?”

He heard the scanner drop against the table.
His heart dropped with it.

Before he could snatch it up, he felt
something warm push against his skin.

It wasn’t Ki. Some kind of energy field
erupted out from the scanner, encasing the room.

As it washed over him, he instantly felt
warm. Every sensation of pain or disquiet lifted and floated
away.

It was intoxicating. He’d never felt so
comfortable in his life.

As he relaxed into it, relishing it, he
remembered something.

Ki had told him she’d removed herself from
the effects of the field. The field sounded as though it would heal
anyone within it. By remaining here he’d be sapping energy from it,
energy that could be used to heal her.

He nodded at the soldier, gesturing
towards the door. “Get outside. Move slowly.”

Half turning, ensuring both the scanner and
Ki were still safely on the table, he followed the man outside.

Then he waited.

Safely away from the radius of the field, he
told the soldier to sit. Never dropping his guard and never
lowering his gun, he hunkered down.

“
How long will it take?” he tried to ask
the soldier.

The man would not answer.

“
Fine. We’ll just wait.”

So they did.

Fortunately the field hummed, and he could
monitor it just by listening. As time wound on, its distinctive
buzz became quieter and quieter.

It took almost an hour, but finally the
field cut out completely.

Pushing up, his knees crunching, he moved
back. “Stay there,” he warned the soldier. Backing off, he reached
the door of the hut. “Ki,” he called out, not turning to face her.
“
Ki
.”

She didn’t answer.

Gritting his teeth, he took another step
back. “Ki? Are you alright?”

He couldn’t help it, he turned to see if
she w
as
there.

The soldier moved, like damn lightning,
quicker than Jackson could react to.

Before he could get off a shot, the soldier
rammed into his side, knocking him against the door.

Jackson fell to the ground, the wind knocked
out of him. He watched the soldier jump down, saw his arm yank
back, his fist slam closed, and that blade plunge out.

Jackson
had seconds.

As the soldier stabbed his hand forward,
something moved in from the side.

Ki. She collapsed over Jackson.

The soldier’s blade stopped just before her
back.

Jackson acted before he really understood
what had just happened. He kicked out at the blade knocking it up.
As he did, he brought his gun around and shot the soldier.

The blast slammed into his chest plating,
sending him scooting back across the floor.

He doubted the shot was enough to kill the
guy, but he was certainly down.

“
Ki,” he grabbed her up.

Still scrunched up over him, her face was
close enough for him to see every detail of her expression.

The light was back in her cheeks, that
twinge of fire once again burning in her eyes.

“
You’re alive. God, the scanner worked.” He
brought a hand up to rest against her cheek and barely stopped
himself in time. Swallowing at how instinctual the move had been,
he shifted back, staring down at her legs.

As they popped out of the bottom of her
robe, he saw they were no longer swollen and turgid.

They looked almost normal. A little pink
maybe, the infection seemed all but gone.

She was very much alive.

He wanted to hug her, clutch her close, even
though several hours ago he’d thought she’d tried to kill him and
had sabotaged the scanner.

She had just saved him. By throwing
herself in front of that soldier’s blade, she’d gambled her own
life but saved his.

“
I can’t believe it,” his hand still
hovered close by her face. He had to continually fight the urge to
touch her cheeks and cradle her close. “The scanner healed you. You
were so sick....”

“
Do you believe me now?” she leaned up,
sitting on her haunches, still close enough that he could hear her
every breath.

“
Yeah, yeah I do,” he spoke through a heavy
sigh, a genuine smile spreading his lips.

She held his gaze for a moment. Her
expression was warm at first, but quickly grew awkward as her
cheeks flushed. Turning sharply, she stared over at the soldier.
“Is he—”

“
I doubt it. They seem to be able to live
through anything. Plus, the gun was at half power.” Jackson got to
his feet, reluctantly moving away from her.

She followed him, standing easily.

She didn’t waver. She didn’t stumble to the
side. She stood effortlessly.

It was as if she’d never been
injured.

It had cost them another scanner, but it was
more than worth it.

Walking over to the soldier, Jackson toted
the gun and stared down the scope.

“
What are you doing?” she latched a hand on
the barrel, forcing it down. “You can’t kill him—”

“
Relax. I’m just using the scope’s scanners
to check on him. If these are right... and if I know what I’m
doing,” Jackson shifted past her, “I think he’s fine. Out, but
alive. We’re all alive, apparently,” he added through an emotional
laugh.

“
Thank you,” she said after a long
pause.

He looked at her, but he couldn’t hold her
gaze. Staring at her feet, he nodded. “I guess that makes us
even.”

There was another long pause.

“
How did you find this soldier?”

“
I prayed for a miracle, and I got him. He
fell out of the sky and into my lap.”

“
What?” her face screwed up with
confusion.

“
Long story, basically he was in the shaft
above me.”

She tensed, her once-loose shoulders
locking up
. “You mean
there’s more?”

“
Probably. I think I managed to stop him
from getting off any kind of distress call. I shot his helmet. I’m
pretty sure his communications were embedded in it. Plus, the
composition of these tunnels has not changed. They’re still way too
dense for their scanners to penetrate far. Perhaps it affects their
coms too. I don’t know. I’m prepared for anything, but so far we’ve
had no company.”

“
We should get out of here,” she jerked her
head along the tunnel, the move nervous and quick.

“
Yes we should.” He didn’t move.

“
Jackson,” she jerked her head harder in
the direction of the tunnel.

“
We can’t just leave him here. We’re going
to take him with us.”

“
What
?” Ki dropped her hand from the muzzle of his gun
and lurched back. “That’s suicide. They’ll track us
down.”

“
Not if we take his armor off. Listen, I’m
not stupid. I’m sure they have some way of tracking him. As soon as
we get him out of these tunnels and into the open air, the
Zeneethians will catch us in their air ships. I’m sure his armor is
probably riddled with tracking devices. We’ll have to take it off,
leave it behind. But we need to take him with us. The information
he’ll be able to tell us will be invaluable. Without it, we’ll have
no idea who we’re up against...” he trailed off.

Ki’s expression had completely changed. With
a flickering look of vulnerability misting her eyes, she brought a
hand up to her lips and locked it over her shaking smile.

“
What?”

She shook her head, her hair twisting and
playing over her shoulders.

“
What? Ki, this is a serious
matter.”

“
I know it is, Jackson. But it’s the first
time you’ve used their name. It’s nice that you finally believe
me.”

“
Used whose name? What are you—” he
stopped. Playing back his words, he realized what he’d
said.