Beyond (4 page)

“Nasssah?”
Vodu rubbed at his jaw.
To his right, Salvan snickered. And against the backdrop of the cosmos, the man in black continued to watch her.

“No, we are not part of your space program,” Vodu answered with a tolerant tone, “or the Russians.
We speak your language because it is what you communicate in.
We speak many dialects.
If you started talking in Russian, we would accommodate.”

“Madre de Dios.”
Aimee dropped a line that her friend Carrie always used when she was mad.

“Si, hablamos Espanol, tambien.”
The old man responded with a perfect Latin inflection.

Aimee was about to drop another test when a siren like none she had ever heard before pierced the deck.
It was so invasive and unexpected she cowered on her knees. The shock made her nauseous.

Vodu moved nimbly for an old man.
He jogged to the highest platform, a console filled with silver figures whose fingers sashayed across luminous keypads like master maestros.
A computer floated by and someone snatched it with trembling hands.

“What is that noise?” Aimee asked of Chara, whose serene countenance now harbored tiny wrinkles of fear around her eyes.

“We are being tracked.” Chara told her as if that explained everything.

“Tracked?” Aimee asked, a new fear entering her mind.
If these people had floating computers, space ships, and laser beams—then what possible situation or entity could make them afraid?

“Chara.”
The woman holding the suspended computer cast a strained look their way.
“We need you.”

The siren sounded like a high-pitched fire alarm of nuclear proportions and Aimee lifted her hands over her ears, but Chara was speaking to her.
She followed the movements of her lips.
Yep, they were worried.
Aimee didn’t even begin to think that some special forces from Earth were coming to save her, but the fear in the eyes of these people
was genuine. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that if they were in danger, so was she. How could this situation possibly get any worse?
Yesterday she feared being humiliated by a Lamborghini-driving jock. Today her fright knew no bounds.

“Stay here,” Chara ordered.
“I will be right back.”

Aimee opened her mouth to respond, but the deck shook as she was jolted several feet across the floor.
Fighting for balance, she looked up at the transom and to her horror saw a hulking vessel that looked remarkably like the Manhattan skyline.
That was the best way to describe what she witnessed outside the bank of windows…New York City afloat in the stars.
As if that wasn’t odd enough, the vessel came with what she perceived as two large, clawed feet.
It was from these feet that a beam was emitted, and the Horus trembled as that ray made contact.

If the foreign craft outside was as large as Manhattan, then what the heck was the size of the Horus?

Aimee wanted to scream at the absurdity of her plight.
This simply could not be happening to her.
But the Horus shook again and this time she was knocked to her knees.
Strong hands grabbed her arms and hauled her up against a body that felt powerful and secure.
She looked up into amber eyes that were so intense they exposed her vulnerability all the more.

“You can’t stay here.” The male voice was soft and husky, but she could hear it over the dissonance because he was so close.

“Do you know where the Bio Ward is?” he asked.

“Bio Ward?” she mouthed, her fingers curled around his arms.

“Zak!”
Vodu called.
His tanned face look strained.
“We need you out there.”

Molten eyes glanced away from her towards the elderly man.
“I’m on my way.”

“Get her out of here.
She—”

A blast hit the Horus and Aimee would have fallen were it not for Zak’s strong grip.
He looked back at her and must have read her frantic look.
He did not break eye contact with her, but spoke to Vodu.

“I’ll drop her off in the Bio Ward on my way.”

“Good.” Vodu clutched the panel for balance.
“Zak.
Be careful out there.”

“Always.”

Aimee felt herself pulled from the deck, and though she did not know this young man in the strange black uniform, she somehow felt safe in his presence. He exuded a take-charge charisma, and everyone they passed tipped their head towards him as if in a silent bid for luck.
The hand that was not secured around her arm flicked impatiently at the door to the horizontal elevator.

Inside, Zak surprised her when he touched a panel and the door collapsed into the floor, yielding to a huge plate of glass.
Blazing along at parallel hyper—
speed, Aimee was able to witness firsthand the destruction being imposed by the enemy craft.
Sapphire beams flashed from the ship’s feet in myriad directions like a Disney laser show—only these were not innocent strobes, and they had one destination.
The Horus.

“What is happening?” she asked in a hoarse voice as the Horus shook again.

“It's the Korons," Zak uttered with distaste. "They must be as surprised to see us as we are to see them.” He shook his head. “Inconvenient piles of rock and sand.
Planet invaders.”

“Planet?”
Aimee felt the blood drain from her face.
“They are from another
planet
?
Somebody better tell me where the hell I am.”

Zak let go of her and frowned.
“There is no time to explain what you want to hear.
You were taken from your planet by accident.
You are on the Guardianship Horus.
We just finished our Lifequest around the four spectral galaxies, and taking you on board was—” he seemed to hunt for a word, “a misfortune.
We are not hostile like the Korons you see over there, so don’t look so panicked.
We start the Lifequest over again soon.
You will be back on your planet in no time.”

Thank God!
Maybe she would be back in time to tell her friends it had just been a family emergency.
Heck, her parents were probably so busy talking over each other that they hadn’t even noticed she was missing yet.

A blast of radiant lightning was followed by a thunderous vibrato.
That shudder was powerful enough to hurl Aimee against the glass wall.
When her cheek smacked the panel she squealed, prepared for the tempered pane to shatter and eject her into space.
Powerful hands seized her shoulders and drew her from the threat of oblivion.
She was aware of a heart other than her own beating against her chest. She inhaled the fabric of his uniform, thinking that the material looked remarkably like space itself.
Celestial camouflage.

Another sharp quake threatened to topple her, but she was pinned against that bizarre uniform, trapped within inflexible arms.
Panic brimmed as she started to struggle.
She didn’t know this Zak at all, and here she was, splayed against him like syrup on a pancake.
Yet, the embrace was something to lock onto in a world full of chaos.
Everything around her was surreal—but the heart that beat against hers was something tangible.
The warmth of another body and the comfort of the embrace, as unintended as it may be, represented the first sense of stability she had experienced since this whole nightmare began.

“Hang on,” Zak’s voice was as steady as his body.
“You’ll be safe in the Bio Ward.
I have to go.”

“Where are you going?” She hated the desperation in that question.

“I have to go out there.” He nodded at the fireworks display.
“Don’t worry.
Our warriors will get this under control.”

Another shudder shook the Horus, and in the glow of a nearby explosion she saw the focus on Zak’s face.
He was indeed a
warrior.
Prepared to go to battle to protect
his own
.
In his eyes she saw the flares of lasers and the starburst of ensuing flames, and she also saw worlds she could never imagine.
In those eyes she saw determination.
At that moment he looked as she would have expected Hercules or Alexander the Great to look before embarking on a battle.

“You said I could go back to Er—home soon, right?”

His nod was automatic.
“We’ll be back there as soon as the next Lifequest is complete…that is, as long as the Korons don’t succeed here.”

Now released from his arms, Aimee felt dizzy and splayed her palms flat on the glass panel, absorbing the bedlam around her.
The hulking silhouette of the Koron’s ship was barely discernible, obscured by a host of small crafts that darted about like lasers themselves.
Shark-shaped vehicles emitting a green glow from their aft-ends drew brilliant wakes like neon markers.
She tried to trace them, but
they transformed into hyper-blurs, barely differentiated from the beams firing on the Horus.
Every now and then one of the streamlined sharks would zoom by close enough that she could distinguish a solitary figure at the helm.

Aimee swallowed.
“How long does a
Lifequest
take?”

Zak waved his hand and halted the horizontal motion, disabling her equilibrium as she collided into him.
He set her back and considered the question.
“Not long.
I think in your terms it’s only about five rotations of your planet.”

Five years.

Aimee closed her eyes.

And she prayed.

"Alright.
We're here." Zak announced.

Aimee cast one final look at the Koron's ship and hastened after Zak as he exited the elevator.
His wide shoulders eclipsed the view of the stark white corridor. Before a bare wall, his hand jerked impatiently, causing the barrier to dissolve under his command.

How the heck did these people find their way around here? Nothing was labeled. Would it be so tough to throw in a few mundane doorknobs? Instead,
everyone just waved their hands and doorways suddenly appeared.
How did they even know where the doors were?

"How—" She started to ask, but Zak's hand lifted again to enter another chamber.

This one looked remarkably similar to a travel show she had seen on TV. It was a special about exotic hotels, and the featured location was a resort in Finland built entirely of ice. A bar sculpted from ice. Beds carved from ice. Tables made of ice. That's what this room looked like. There were glass beds lined up row after row in barracks style. Some were occupied. Banks of glass cabinets were filled with intricate colored flasks that resembled Genie bottles. Glass tables and chairs sat occupied by chatting personnel. They paused in mid-sentence to glance at the ceiling as the distant sound of thunder marked another strike by the Koron’s ship.

A young woman stepped up before them and asked Zak, "Is she injured?"

Zak let go of Aimee's arm. Aimee wasn't even conscious he had been holding it until the warmth disappeared. "No. Vodu just wants her safe."

The woman nodded and offered her a sympathetic smile. She possessed the signature set of features Aimee was beginning to identify with everyone on the Horus...everyone but Zak that was. This woman had long, sandy blonde hair and soft green eyes. Her countenance was pleasant and her voice matched the kindness.

"I am Raja," she introduced herself.
"One of the junior scientists here.
We'll find some place comfortable for you to wait out this—" she glanced up at the arched ceiling, "—storm."

Zak gave a brief nod and turned to leave.

No!
Aimee hastened after him, grabbing his arm. Beneath her fingers a muscle pumped. She dropped her hand.

"Take me with you," she pleaded. "You are going out there. You can—" she hesitated, "—fly me home."

There was no pity in his eyes. There was no impatience. To her dismay there was only resolve.

"That's not possible," he vowed.

Another rumble shook the floor. Zak was already backing away. Irrationally, she wanted to ask him if he was going to be safe, but Raja appeared at her side with another benevolent smile. "Come. Zak needs to go."

Aimee watched him turn, and this time she predicted the spot on the wall he was going to wave at. Even though it was not marked, she could now discern the outline of the door. It was a small triumph, but it kept the cloud of mystery from overwhelming her. When his tall body disappeared she felt displaced and anxious. She glanced around her.

"Don't worry," Raja read her expression. "You will be safe here. The Bio Ward was built directly at the center of the Horus to keep it structurally impenetrable."