ReEmergent -Guardians of Vesturon [4] (4 page)

“
Okay, you’re confusing me. Are the gangs helping the Xanthians?” Ludo asked.

“
Not yet, in my estimation. But I think the Xanthians will try to get them on their side. They’ll control them with bribes of food and supplies. And then once they have that, they’ll control everything,” Jurek said.

Marik, one of the other Praestani came over to the group and reported that the building was clean.

Jurek looked thoughtful for a moment and then announced, “We’ll make this place our temporary headquarters. The ten of us will split up in pairs and search the city and surrounding towns for the next couple of weeks. If we don’t find anything here, we’ll move on. I have a hunch though, she’s here.”

“
Why here?” Tak asked.

“
This is where it all started,” Jurek answered brusquely.

He turned and walked toward the rear of the room and took a seat on the floor. His men knew when to leave him alone and now was one of those moments. He hated coming here and he hated himself more. It was his fault Atlanta was in this dreadful state as well as the entire planet. What he’d told Rayn was only half of how he felt. Every day that passed, his gut twisted up for what he’d done to free his father and sister. He let out a wry laugh. His father, who hadn’t spoken to him his entire life, had been killed in the attempt to free him. His sister, who had been freed, hadn’t spoken a word to him about it. In fact, he hadn’t seen or heard from her since she’d been handed over to him by the Guardians. He’d sent her home and that was that. Not a verbal thanks, a note, nothing but silence. He shouldn’t have expected anything from the selfish Zulietta, but bloody hell, he’d ruined the lives of millions for her! The least she could have done was thank him.

Jurek rubbed his eyes and tried to erase the memories of it all. He had many powers as a Praestani but the one he wished he had was the ability to turn back time. He would change so much of what he’d done. Earth would be a totally different picture today. He had so much blood on his hands he’d never be cleansed of it. Leaning his head against the wall, he decided to get a little shuteye, if he could.

* * * * *

Later that night, his team had split up and Jurek and Marik would begin searching the area around the former Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jurek thought he would take that area because that’s where it all began. They had set up a grid and would search everything between Clairmont Road on the east running to I-75/85 on the west. This would include Piedmont Park and would go to Lavista Road to North Druid Hills Road on the north and down to Ponce De Leon Avenue on the south. They should be able to complete this search within a few hours tonight. Each of the five teams had similar grids set up and they would repeat this process each day until they were satisfied that the city had been turned upside down.

It was on the third day when one of the teams spotted something unusual. Ludo and Kallias reported seeing a group of haggard looking men and women carrying crates around near a building out by the now abandoned Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Two Xanthians were ordering them about and they were dressed alike in nondescript, grey clothing that resembled prison attire. There were thirty of them and they moved about as if they were drugged.

Jurek and his men flashed there in their energy forms and captured their images on pictograms. Then he headed directly to Vesturon.

The Planet Vesturon

“
Enlarge it. Enhance her face. Pull in closer. That’s it. More.” Maddie commanded the Compsys to purify the pictogram so she could see if it were Saylan. “She’s filthy. Her hair is so matted and her face has so much dirt on it I swear I can’t be one hundred percent sure.” She inspected the image again. “Compsys, enlarge the eyes.” As the eyes came into view, Maddie said, “Saylan’s eyes were always so expressive. I thought she had the most beautiful gray eyes I’d ever seen.”

Rayn pulled her closer to him and said, “Look sweetheart, I know this is difficult for you, but try to get past all of that. What we need from you now is the go ahead for Jurek to pull her out of there. Do you think it might be her?”

“
Ugh! I can’t be sure, but will a guess do? And what if I’m wrong? What then? Can we send her back? Can you use your Power of Obliteration on her to erase her memory?”

“
Yes, I can do that.”

“
Then go get her. Go Jurek. I think it might be her, but her eyes are dead so I think her mind might be damaged.” Maddie went up to Jurek and asked, “Are your powers muted?” At his nod, she put her hands on his arms and asked, “Will you please be gentle with her, because if that’s the Saylan I knew, her eyes aren’t showing it.”

“
Maddie, I do this for Xarrid. He’s my brother and that is his soul mate out there. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

Maddie nodded. Jurek looked at each of them and said, “You might want to have your medical facility prepared and have your healer standing by.” In a flash, he was gone.

Rayn was the first to speak. “How are we going to handle this with Xarrid?”

Rykerian, running his hand through his hair, spoke first. “With the truth. When Jurek returns with her, if it’s Saylan, we tell him to fetch Xarrid straight away. If we don’t and Xarrid finds out otherwise, he’ll never forgive us. Any of us would feel the same way too.”

They all nodded in agreement. January headed straight for Rykerian and was in his arms before either of them could think of anything else. “If something like this ever happened to Rykerian and I wasn’t immediately notified after months of insanity, I would personally kill each and every one of you,” she said with conviction.

* * * * *

The Planet Earth, somewhere near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Ten beams of energy streaked through the night sky, zooming across the now unused runways of the old airport. They soared across the fields headed for a cluster of large buildings in the distance, where they knew several dozen people would be sleeping for the night. Once inside, they spotted their target, and Jurek latched onto her arm and within moments, they were back on Vesturon.

* * * * *

The Planet Vesturon, Medical Facility

If it was Saylan, she was covered in filth. The pictogram that Maddie had painstakingly inspected had done her justice, because the girl she watched through the one way glass barely resembled the Saylan that was her best friend.

“
What’s happened to her?” she choked out to Rayn.

Jurek answered before Rayn could. “I tried to communicate with her telepathically and couldn’t get anything on the way here. It’s like her mind’s been wiped clean...erased of everything.”

Saylan ran around the room like a wild animal. She tried to climb the walls, latching on to anything she could. Her hands tore at her clothing, ripping part of it off, baring herself in places she wouldn’t have dared before. She scratched herself, tearing at the skin on her face, arms and torso. It was like she was possessed by some kind of demon, turning her into a crazed monster.

“
Where’s Julian? He needs to do something before she injures herself!” Maddie wrapped her arms around her belly and squeezed, trying to make her stomach stop twisting into knots. She stuck her finger in her mouth and started chomping on her nail.

Rayn, seeing her agitation, grabbed her hand and pulled it from her mouth. Placing a kiss on it first, he laced his fingers with her and held it tightly in his. Then, looking at Jurek, he said, “You’d better go and get Xarrid.”

Jurek nodded and flashed out of the room.

* * * * *

The Sanctuary

Xarrid was floating in the pool beneath the waterfall so he didn’t hear Jurek’s tell tale pop when he appeared. Jurek watched him for a moment, trying to decide how he would tell him. He decided that being direct was the best way.

“
I hope you’re not getting too soft on us. You look like a man on a permanent vacation.”

“
Yeah, I suppose I do,” Xarrid answered as he kicked his way to the side.

He walked out of the water to greet his friend and Jurek wasn’t surprised to see he wasn’t wearing any clothing. Jurek never wore any clothing when he came here. It was one of the nice things about the sanctuary. He was never bothered or disturbed by anything.

“
You’re looking good, my friend.”

“
Thanks. I’m feeling pretty good,” Xarrid replied.

“
I’m glad. It looks like Brinna has kept you well fed.” Jurek noticed that Xarrid had put on some weight during his stay.

“
That she has. Strange thing though, I’ve never laid eyes on the female.”

“
Those were my orders. She will be well compensated.” Then in a somber voice, he added, “You need to get dressed.”

Xarrid’s head jerked and his eyes darkened as he looked at Jurek.

Jurek nodded. “We found her on Earth. She’s on Vesturon now. You won’t like what you see.”

Xarrid dropped to his knees.

“
Don’t think the worst until you hear me out. I left her at the medical facility. We’re not sure what’s happened, but she didn’t recognize anything. Julian was on his way when I came for you. She may be drugged, but for now we’re unsure.”

Xarrid was holding his head in his hands and fighting to hold it together. His throat burned and his chest constricted, like a band had tightened around it and squeezed every last bit of air out of him.

Jurek, noticing his distress, was crouched in front of him in an instant, placing his hand on his forehead. “Breathe Xarrid. Slow and deep breaths. Come on, that’s it. Nice and easy.” He could feel his tension dissipating with each passing minute. “Better?”

Xarrid shook his head and said, “Yeah, thanks. Wow, I thought I’d gotten over those episodes.”

“
Don’t worry about it. Listen, she’s alive. They can fix whatever’s wrong. But you have to get dressed because I can’t haul your bloody ass back to Vesturon like that without causing an uproar.”

Xarrid looked at Jurek and smirked. “I thought you said you weren’t funny.”

“
I’m not. At least I’m not trying to be. Come on.” He helped Xarrid to his feet and they headed inside. As soon as Xarrid was dressed he flashed them to Vesturon.

* * * * *

Vesturon, The Medical Facility

Xarrid felt his heart rupture when he saw what had become of her. This was worse than when Therron died. He’d always thought Therron’s death had left a hole in his heart. Now he felt like someone had plunged a dagger into it this time and not only left it there, but twisted it around for a while and pulled it out, only to repeat the process over and over. Every bit of his heart had been fragmented, the pieces separated into tiny bits and scattered around like grains of sand. His beloved Saylan, the most beautiful female he’d ever seen was tearing at herself like a wild animal.

He walked to the door of her cell, the room in which they had her locked inside. He longed to hold her and tell her he was there with her, forever and ever. He wouldn’t leave her side. She was screaming and injuring herself. Julian had sedated her but it hadn’t affected her at all.

“
I’m going in.”

“
You can’t. She’ll tear you apart. Her strength is unreal Xarrid,” Julian tried to explain.

“
I don’t care. Let her. I’d rather she’d tear me apart than herself.”

“
I’ll go with you. My powers can calm her enough to settle her down. I can reach into her mind again and perhaps find something,” Jurek added.

“
While she’s calm, I can scan her body for some signs of what’s going on,” Julian said.

Jurek and Xarrid entered the cell. When she saw them, she flew at them. She picked Xarrid up and tossed him like a rag doll. He crashed into the opposite wall, stunned by her strength.

Jurek muted his power, but not completely so that if she touched him it would stun her. She eyed him warily, and sniffed the air around him, like a hound. With narrowed eyes, she approached him, growling. Then the strangest thing happened. She fell to her knees, grabbed her head and began screaming.

Picking her up and placing her on the narrow bed in the center of the room, Jurek put his hand on her forehead to calm her. While it had some effect, she still moaned as if she were in pain.

By this time Xarrid was back on his feet and by her side. “What do you think happened to her?”

“
I think something’s wrong with her brain,” Jurek decided.

Julian’s voice came into the room and said, “We’re getting the first images in now of the scans and Jurek, you’re right on target. There’s something in her cerebral cortex that we can’t identify.”

“
Can we give her something for the pain, because she’s obviously hurting Julian.”

“
I can see that Xarrid. Let me see what I can do. For now, Jurek, how long will your calming effect last?”

“
I can put her out for a while if you think that will help.”

“
Yes, do it please.”

Jurek did what Julian suggested and two robomedics came into the cell to watch over her while to two men headed out to take a look at the scan of Saylan’s head.

Twenty people were seated around the conference table. Among them were Xarrid, Jurek, Rayn, Maddie, Rykerian, January, Tesslar, Sharra (Xarrid’s sister), Rowan and ten of the best scientists on Vesturon. Everyone had reviewed Saylan’s scans and they were gathered together to come up with a plan to determine what exactly was inside of her brain.