Chaos Theory (31 page)

“
Loklear,” Lara barked. “Return to this spaceship
immediately.”

“
No,” she mumbled.

“
Useless Human female.” Lara bared her
teeth. “I am
not
coming after you.”

Kali wanted to turn and walk the ramp to safety, but her body
wouldn’t let her. She held her breath. “He will make it. One more
minute.” Again, the words came from her mouth, but she wasn’t
saying them. Kali bowed her head, ready to accept the inevitable.
“Go,” she choked over her shoulder.

Valiant and Zeke finished their third round of rock, paper,
scissors, wormhole, asteroid.

Zeke lost.

He adjusted his collar, throat suddenly tight. “I’ll get
her.”

“
No,” Lara said, blocking the exit. “Nobody else leaves this
ship.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Kali shuffled forward. There was
something inside of her that would not leave him. If Blue was
trapped, alone, she would find him regardless of what the mist
would do to her.

The lights from the spaceship flashed in a spectrum of vivid
colours and bounced off the skyscraper walls. The relentless
tinkling of the Novae alarm, a clamour of noise that was driving
her insane, drowned all other sound.

Kali paused numerous times, trying to cave into the urge to
run to safety. She would have, but a deep push inside her mind
forced her to go on. It said, “keep looking,” and, “don’t you dare
leave him.” Which was insane, because though Blue was words away
from being her boyfriend, things had been strained between them
since the Novae had let her go and they discovered her molecular
structure was unstable. That would put a strain on the strongest of
relationships let alone one in its earliest incarnation.

She rounded a corner, pressed into the wall, arms waving in
front of her. The light flashed off, plunging the street into pitch
black.

A rough hand closed around hers.

Blue’s irises, a bloody red, blazed unnaturally bright as the
light flashed on, highlighting the chiselled curve of his face. His
split lip bled sluggishly, and his expression was alarmed. His brow
lowered in confusion when recognition of who stood before him,
whose reaching hand he’d clasped midstride, clicked.

Time suspended, and Kali felt as if someone looked through her
eyes and drank in the sight of him. She scarcely had time to
register this odd feeling before his body crashed into hers at full
speed.

Knocked off her feet, Kali landed flat on her back. Blue’s
heavy weight pinned her to the ground.

She cried out in relief, the pain a haze she ignored as her
arms grasped him to her. His clothes were melted and gooey, the
edges black with char. His flaxen hair stood up on end, and one
side was sticky with blood from a deep gash on his scalp. The
strands glistened with amethyst speckles – discharge from laser
blasts – and smelt like smoke. Kali didn’t care, she breathed him
in and held him tighter.

Blue took the time to feel utter relief. She was safe. Head
buried in the crook of her neck, he shuddered and pushed up with
one hand. The other went to the nape of her neck in a possessive
clutch.

Kali’s gaze flickered as that feeling of being invaded
left.

It was strange.

Unlike the other times when she held him, before her
abduction, this embrace now felt different, as if she held onto
something that didn’t belong to her.

Blue stiffened. “We have to move.”

Staggering up, he bent over to lift her by the waist. Hauling
her dead weight with him, he half dragged, half carried her down
the narrow street, his movement heavy and uncoordinated.

Kali knew she should be helping him, but her feet wouldn’t
work. Her mind was stuck on pause, fixed on the moment his eyes had
met hers and she glimpsed what he truly felt for her. But in that
moment of connection the phantom feeling had been present. Kali
curled her fingers into what remained of his top and stared up at
his face, trying to work it out.

The sound of stampeding feet echoed between the
buildings.

Jumpy, Kali’s head whipped around, and her ponytail whiplashed
into her eyes, stinging them.

A cluster of the Host sprinted down the street behind
them.

Unaffected by the poisonous gas surrounding them their eyes
were glazed and milky white, mouths lynched open in a ceaseless
wail.

Kali and Blue rounded the corner at full speed. They slammed
shoulder first into the wall unable to change direction without
decelerating. They used the painful bounce to careen
forward.

Back on a straight, Blue didn’t slow, and made sure Kali was
clamped to his side.

She tripped, but he yanked on her arm to keep her
up.

As they approached, Lara worked the controls to open the inner
crystal door. “Get in,” she demanded in a near screech. “The ship
has catalogued a viral threat to life onboard and is overriding my
commands. The doors won’t open until you’ve passed the
decontamination chamber.”

Blue ripped the control panel off the side of the ship to
bypass the emergency protocol. He pushed Kali up the ramp past the
first liquefied doorway following close behind. Face darkening when
the sound of Host footfalls drew closer, he motioned her to keep
going.

Focused now, he turned to close the door behind
them.

A Host leaped through the fluid door the moment before it
solidified into a rock-hard barrier.

Blue didn’t recognise the sea blue eyes and distinguished
features, and there was no hesitation. He jabbed as hard as he
possibly could, nailing the Host in the jaw.

The Human vessel dropped.

The Symbiont attached to the side of the man’s face squealed
and squirted clear slim in its instinctive defence
mechanism.

Kali saw the Host struggling on his side, facing away from
her. She slapped her palm on the door, urging Lara to hurry
up.

Host threw themselves at the outer doors the same moment the
red mist touched the spaceship exoskeleton. Symbiont slime
spattered on the door and oozed from the leeches attached to their
skin. The Host stood outside the door, no longer moving, but
staring with blank expressions, heads cocked to the side
questioningly.

Tense, Kali and Blue watched the edges of the
doors.

The Crimzon crept along looking for an opening like a sentient
being, but none of the vicious substance seeped through.

Kali returned to banging on the second door, pausing in
disbelief at what was going on inside.

Lara and Max had a red-faced-arms-pointing-legs-stomping
argument. Lara slugged Max, who lost his shit and went after her.
Valiant ended up dragging Lara off Max’s back, peeling her hands
away from his throat, and Zeke wrestled Max into a submission hold
until he tapped out.

The second doors dissolved and Kali stumbled into the
ship.

Flustered, Lara initiated the sequence to solidify the
entryway. The door closed with an ambient tinkling, and Blue
cleared the shrinking opening right behind Kali.

The Host Blue had floored jumped up, shoved him aside, and
grabbed Kali from behind.

The doors solidified, trapping the Host inside with
them.

Christabella screamed.

Madeleine blanched and fainted, the terror too much for her
young heart.

Kali sucked in air and inhaled in a body scent she knew as
well as her own. She twisted her head and stared into the lifeless
eyes of her father as she let loose with a bloodcurdling
shriek.

Creighton lurched forward. “Rik, no!”

“
Catch
.”
Lara threw her laser knife.

Blue caught it as he grabbed what used to be Rikard Loklear’s
head and yanked hard. The Host released Kali. Blue stepped back,
adjusted his hold on the knife, and lunged forward slashing the
blade up.

Kali’s mind blanked, as she spun, and her body took over. She
shoved her father out the way as the blade sliced.

“
No!” Max scrambled forward.

Kali looked down her body at the blade that slipped wetly from
her torso. She staggered back. He’d cut her open from hip to upper
chest. Numb, she jerked her head up and took in Blue’s
horror-struck face.

He lurched away, so far past too late.

Creighton breathed with difficulty, eyes red with tears.
“Rik,” he whispered. “How could you? That’s our princess.” Unable
to deal, Creighton checked out of his mind, on his knees, staring
at nothing.

Valiant stalked to the Host and rammed his fist into Rikard’s
face, dropping him instantly. “I knew he’d be trouble.”

Zeke covered his back, rifle locked in the crook of his arm,
sighted, and ready to fire.

Igor groaned, regaining consciousness as Natalya licked his
face. She whimpered, understanding her master needed to be
awake.

Kali dragged in a breath and tasted blood on her lips. She
felt pain. Needles dipped in acid shooting across her chest,
stomach, and side in waves of white-hot agony. Her legs wobbled.
She pressed a hand to the worst of the long wound, grimacing when
blood slipped through her fingers.

Another moment of madness, someone else who grieved the injury
invaded her mind. This time, she recognised the telepathic touch
for what it was, and it freaked her out more than anything. It sent
chills through her soul, and made her realise everything that had
happened since the Novae ‘let her go’ was a lie.

Max babbled nonsense as he pressed on her chest and tried to
stop the bleeding. The wound no longer hurt. Her emotions caused
the excruciating pain.

Regardless, she had to tell them before it was too late. Blue
had to know. Kali’s voice was small and terrified when she
whispered, “Blue, I’m–” Her legs buckled.

27.

Blue lost his grip on the knife. The hilt fell from his
fingertips and clattered on the floor.

He’d wielded the blade with expert precision, and his strike
had been deadly, the threat to Kali had to be eliminated. But she
had moved. He had not calculated that into his manoeuvre, it had
been an unexpected variable in what would have been a neat and
precise cut to the Host’s abdomen.

He had brought death to her.

He knew it, the moment the blade had sliced through her flesh.
Snagged on something vital before she jerked away.

She crumpled.

Max caught her, lowered her carefully as he babbled
incoherently.

“
Why did you let go?” Lara demanded. “You had him. You could
have cut his throat.”

Blue stared down at her. Uncomprehending. “N–Not … not in
front of
her
.
Didn’t want her to see that.”

Igor rolled up onto his feet, cold eyes sweeping over the
scene. He swore violently, breaking the horrified silence, and
immediately sought Christabella. She knelt next to Creighton,
waving her hands in front of his face. Igor gently moved her out of
the way, knelt, and tossed the man over his shoulder.

Satisfied Madeleine was unharmed after her fainting spell,
Kenshin pushed people aside to crouch beside Kali. “Her pulse is
erratic,” he announced. “Let’s get her to medical.”

Everyone moved.

The mission changed; escape and save Kali.

Blue assimilated this new directive and shifted into action,
setting aside everything but what had to be done. He scooped Kali
from the floor and raced with her deeper into the commandeered
spaceship.

Max picked up Madeleine and cradled her in his arms, following
close behind.

The FetchMes padded silently on the periphery of the
group.

“
Valiant and I are flying,” Zeke announced, dragging the Host
by the arms around a bend.

“
Push, go,” Blue ordered. “They’ll need you to translate the
controls.”

Startled from being on the fringes to thrust into a role, as
if she was part of this brave group, Pushpa grabbed onto the chance
to be useful. Blue became her leader when she bobbed her head
resolutely. She took off at a run toward the bridge of the ship
after the Starless Operatives.

Blue’s steps did not falter though his heart seized in panic.
Through the blockage of pain, he managed to choke out, “Ken, how
bad?”

“
I can’t say without examining her in detail,” Kenshin replied.
“I’m not sure how her body will react because of what the Creator
did to her. The body can only take so much stress. She’s lost a lot
of blood from her other injuries, now this. The Human body is a lot
more delicate than people like to believe. A harmonious balance
that once disturbed is difficult to maintain and
restore.”

Blue’s stomach churned with guilt that left him breathless and
leaden. He should have let Kenshin do more tests when he asked.
They might know more about Kali’s body if he hadn’t resisted at the
time. Fear for her safety had overridden the logical steps he
should have taken.