Rise of the Faire-Amanti (The Ascendant Series Book 3) (32 page)

In a testament to the pilot’s ability to stay calm under pressure, he barely registered any shock before replying,
Ra’jah, Ma’jah, I am at your service. Meet me at the pilot’s briefing room near the hangar. It isn’t in use since all outbound departures have been put on hold
.

Thank you
, Ty returned.
We’ll be there as soon as we can
.

Kyr looked at Owyn and Sem and reopened their connection.
Peryl’s going to meet with us. It looks like this is actually going to happen
.

Sem reached over to pull her against his side in a half-hug.
I can already feel your worry for us. Stop. We’ll be fine. I’ve got a score to settle. Besides, the two of you are the ones in the most danger
.

Is that supposed to make me feel any better?
she asked, pulling back and looking at him.

Only if it worked
.

She found herself smiling and shaking her head at him. He released her so she could climb off the bed and give Owyn a hug, too.

Ty grasped Sem’s shoulder.
Be careful this time
, he thought.
Use your brain and don’t get your ass captured again
.

Protect her
, was all Sem said.

After she gave Sem and Owyn each one more hug, she and Ty were on their way. She prayed it wasn’t the last time any of them saw each other.

Chapter 40

“Thanks for meeting us, Peryl,” Ty said as he and Kyr greeted the pilot in the briefing room.

Their trip through the palace to reach the hangar hadn’t been too difficult. Well, not physically. Mentally, it taxed their already well-used abilities because they had to shield themselves. Even Ty was feeling the strain.

“Of course, Ra’jah,” Peryl said with a bow. “And I can’t wait to learn how your pairing came about. It pleases me to know that the stories circulating around the palace are untrue.”

“Most of them are probably true enough,” Kyr replied, picking up on Peryl’s memories. “I was dead and Ty exiled. But you’ve only heard one side of the story.”

“We’d like to protect you against thought intrusion before we continue this conversation,” Ty told him. “Are you all right with that?”

Peryl blinked. “Of course, Ra’jah.”

Ty reached for Peryl before Kyr could, making her frown. She had already used her abilities more than he had, though. He made quick work of implementing the mental blocks. Then he conveyed a brief, abridged recap of what had happened to him and Kyr and what Vycor’s plans were as far as they knew, ending with the V’larian invasion and their plan to visit Shelvak for help. By the time he finished, Peryl’s usual calm was clearly shaken.

“I don’t even know what to say,” he managed after Ty stepped away from him. “So much corruption. And V’larians siding with the palace to take over ruling the planet?” He shook his head. “Never would I have dreamed of approaching Shelvak.”

Ty felt Kyr’s heart sink more with every word. Neither of them felt comfortable with the idea of influencing Peryl to help them. That would make them no better than Vycor. Unfortunately, their options for pilots were slim.

“Of course I’ll help,” Peryl said at last. “How could I not?”

Kyr breathed an audible sigh of relief. “Thank you, Peryl.”

Ty nodded. “Thanks. We need to figure out how to get an Alametrian ship out of the hangar and off-planet without it being able to be tracked.”

Peryl looked thoughtful. “If there are V’larian ships entering our fly space, we’ve got bigger issues than just disabling a tracker. V’larian ships are faster than even our fastest ship, which is still off-planet. I imagine it wouldn’t be hard for Vycor to order their ships to blast any stolen Alametrian vessels out of the sky.”

Despair flowed from Kyr into Ty over the news. He exchanged a look with her as they considered their options. Could they risk it?

“‘Course,” Peryl continued, still lost in his own thoughts, “if the V’larian ambassadors never left, as you said, then I imagine their ship is still around here somewhere, too.”

Ty’s posture straightened. The pilot was right. The hangar for visiting dignitaries was kept top secret for their safety and to establish trust. Sem wouldn’t have even known about it, and it hadn’t occurred to Ty to mention it.

“Can you pilot a V’larian ship?” Kyr asked.

Peryl smiled. “Ma’jah, I have yet to encounter a vessel on or off-planet that I can’t fly.”

His confidence had Kyr returning the smile. “Then I hope the ship is here. I doubt Vycor would expect us to take it.”

“You’re right,” Ty said. “And that gives me an idea. I think we’ll need to call on EyraRowe for help, after all.”

* * *

A while later, Ty and Kyr hid with Peryl in the secret hangar. Much as Ty had expected, the hangar was under guard, but only lightly. Two bored-looking Mynders stood near the V’larian vessel, chatting with each other about unimportant things. Ty recognized them as younger Mynders and shook his head over the fact that they had been assigned this duty. Vycor obviously intended to wipe their memories once their shift was up rather than following protocol and assigning veteran Mynders who knew how to control their thoughts and keep secrets.

Judging by the Mynders’ lackadaisical attitudes, it seemed that the action from inside the palace earlier that day either hadn’t reached them or didn’t concern them. If Ty had still been the
Dem-Shyr
, he would never have assigned such green guards to this hangar. These two would have had their asses kicked for such sloppy work. At the moment, he was just grateful for their obvious ineptitude and the fact that Vycor was assigning his more skilled Mynders elsewhere.

This hangar was near the other ones for the sake of convenience for visitors, but it was disguised as an inactive maintenance shed. On the outside, it looked old and neglected, drawing no interest. Inside, however, it was every bit as outfitted as the hangars for Alametrian vessels. Underground passageways led directly from this hangar into the palace.

In the hangar closest to this one, six Mynders guarded an Alametrian intergalactic ship. Ty could see them through a series of windows that had been treated with chemicals so they appeared reflective on the outside while being transparent on the other. Those six Mynders at least looked more alert than these two.

I wish they were as unobservant as these two
, Kyr mused, her gaze also on the adjoining hangar.

On the contrary, we want them to observe. Just not over here
.

As if on cue, a commotion arose in the other hangar. Kyr took Ty’s hand. They knew it was Brunyr causing the distraction, as it was part of the plan they had devised. The timber of the Guardian’s voice carried from the other hangar, but the exact words were muffled.

Stopping their conversation, the two guards in their hangar turned and looked out the window. Seeing the group of Mynders surrounding Brunyr, they hurried over to the door leading outside. It was part of the building’s disguise and not meant to be used, but in the event of an emergency, it allowed outside access.

The guards paused before leaving their posts, Ty would give them that much. Even they knew to look for distractions. His attention returned to the other hangar when even more noise erupted. All six guards in the other hangar surged towards the Mynders surrounding Brunyr.

While they were focused on the melee, three figures—two male and one female—ran from another part of the hangar towards the Alametrian ship. Ty knew it was EyraRowe, LeoVawn, and ZashaWrym, but the two Mynders in their hangar saw only three cloaked individuals that they identified as a pilot, TaeDane, and KyrVawn.

“Dimwits,” one of the guards in their hangar scoffed. “Letting themselves get distracted. Come on. Let’s save their asses.”

Kyr’s grip intensified on Ty’s hand as the Mynders opened the door. Ty knew she feared for their three “stand ins.” Zasha had so valiantly offered to help, even mending the purple cloak in Kyr’s closet so she could wear it for the ruse. She had joked about how grand it made her feel.

If anything happens to them…
Kyr thought.

Ty stopped her before she could finish.
We’ll just see to it nothing does
.

They had no more time to consider it. The door closed behind the two Mynders, who ran next door shouting for the three intruders to stop. Ty took Kyr’s hand and pulled her to her feet. She sprinted after Peryl, who opened a control panel and pressed a button to lower the ramp that doubled as the vessel’s door. As planned, Peryl ran onto the ship and powered it up. Kyr followed, but remained on the ramp to wait for Ty.

If they had been stealing an Alametrian ship, Peryl could have opened the hangar doors to allow the ship to launch using the ship’s control panel. Unfortunately, the doors had to be opened manually for visiting ships.

Ty stood at the control panel and worked the series of buttons and dials as Peryl had instructed him. The act of the hangar doors rattling open nearly brought the hangar’s ceiling down. The doors were actually in the ground in another effort to keep the hangar secret. Peryl would fly down the ramp that Ty had just revealed, then exit in another secret location to escape the planet’s gravitational pull.

The moment Ty finished at the control panel, he ran for the ship’s on-ramp. The satchels and canister he carried weighed him down, but he still managed a fast clip. He saw the two Mynder guards returning to their posts. They rushed back in through the side door, but they would never catch him.

He didn’t notice the projectile weapons in their hands until they lifted them and opened fire.

Dull pain struck him in the thigh and shoulder. Another shot whizzed by the side of his head. They weren’t shooting to immobilize, he realized. They were shooting to kill.

“Stop!”

Ty stumbled at the loud shout from Kyr. She stood in the ship’s doorway, her hand extended towards the two Mynders. Her eyes glowed brilliantly.

Dull thuds had Ty’s gaze swiveling back to the guards. They had dropped their weapons and now stood staring sightlessly at them.

He didn’t have time to process what she’d just done. She met him at the base of the ramp and helped him board. The pain was now screaming through his body, but they didn’t have time to see to his injuries.

Within seconds, they closed the door, buckled into their safety harnesses, and headed towards the unknown.

Chapter 41

Ty’s pain cycled through them both. Kyr was desperate to know the severity of his injuries. Leo and Zasha had smuggled them some clothing when they met up to plan the escape, so Ty now wore his black lightweight body armor. Had that been enough to prevent serious damage?

She closed her eyes, determined not to think of the fright she’d just gone through. They had enough to worry about with what was still to come.

How did you do that?
Ty wondered.

He was talking about the thing with the guards.
I don’t know. I just knew they were trying to kill you, and I reacted
.

The power that had blown through her had been unlike anything she’d consciously brought forth before. She didn’t even fully understand what she had done to their minds. All that had mattered was protecting Ty.

“We’re clear,” Peryl said over the ship’s engine noise.

Thank you
, Kyr conveyed as she and Ty unfastened their safety harnesses.
Do you know where the med lab is?

Sure. Here.

Peryl conveyed the image of the ship’s layout that he was viewing on a screen. Kyr and Ty stepped around their satchels and the canister of the Gift and followed the map until they reached the clear double doors of the med lab. All of the writing on the doors was in V’larian.

Why wasn’t I taught other languages?
she silently bemoaned as they entered the lab.
If I’m supposed to be negotiating with other worlds, I should know how to communicate with them
.

They learned our language
, Ty responded as he sat on an examination table and began removing his upper body armor.
I guess the Guardians felt it unnecessary to learn theirs.

Kyr frowned.
Well, that’s just ridiculous. I’ll have to change that.

Her thoughts turned as Ty bared the injury to his shoulder. The weapon had been a form of laser that had sheared through the armor, but sealed the wound. It looked like a deep, angry burn.

She swallowed hard, then hurried to find something in the lab that might help. Ty continued removing armor to get to his thigh wound. From the pain she felt through him, that was an even more severe injury.

Relief made her knees feel watery when she found an ointment with pictures and symbols alongside the V’larian words. The flames and image of a hand rubbing onto red skin told her it was meant to treat burns. She washed her hands in the sink, then grabbed the ointment and some bandages and turned back to Ty.

Her fingers weren’t quite steady as she squeezed ointment on them and reached out to apply it to Ty’s shoulder. He didn’t make a sound as she tended to his injuries. Tears blurred her eyes when she saw the damage to his thigh. She remembered watching the blast shoot towards his head, only to miss by a hair. She had never known as much terror as when she realized the next blast might kill him.

Her tears fell on his skin as she finished bandaging his injuries. Ty lifted a hand and cradled the side of her face until she met his gaze.

I’ll be fine. With our healing abilities, I’ll be fully healed by the time we return to Alametria.

She nodded, knowing he was right. But she couldn’t control her emotions, which continued to batter her. He drew her closer, bringing her lips to his. The kiss was gentle and full of love. It made her sigh and deepen the kiss. The distraction was more than welcome.

They both knew it wasn’t the time for passion, though, and soon got to work redressing Ty in his armor. Ty sent her the thought that they would soon have all the time in the world to be with each other. She decided to cling to that hope.