CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

 

Ti’ann stumbled backward, her hip burning but she still struggled to get as far from the clearing as she could. Despite her efforts, the rush of wind from the dragon’s wings knocked her down as it dropped into the center of chaos. She rolled to face the ground, covering her head as dirt and debris washed over her.

Coughing, spitting and blinking as the dust settled, she looked back over her shoulder at the clearing. The fires were out. The two remaining ships were lumps of twisted, scorched metal, and what looked like burned bodies littered the ground. She didn’t look too closely at the bodies, but the stench carried, making her throat close against a punch of rising bile.

The dragon stood in the middle of the wreckage on its hind legs, sniffing and looking over the damage. It roared again, the sound vibrating through the soil. Ti’ann tried to scramble to her feet but pain laced through her hip and stole her breath. She groaned and fell onto her back in the dirt.

Not a good time to be incapacitated. There’s a murderous dragon within sight of you and you’re resting on your back, Dr. Jones. Get up and move or you’re a dragon appetizer.

She lurched upward again. Stopped. Blinked. Rubbed dust from her eyes. Blinked again.

In the center of the clearing, amidst the wreckage, stood a slender blond man in fatigue pants and a green t-shirt. He looked at the destruction completely unconcerned, not a hint of dirt on his clothing or smudging his face. Ti’ann looked frantically around, up and then through the woods around her. But she hadn’t felt the dragon take off, and if she’d felt it land, she certainly would have felt it lift off.

She gaped at the man.

E?

It had to be.

From the opposite side of the clearing, Clare moved out of the trees, blaster pointed at E. She was covered in purple dust and blood dripped down her left arm, but she held her weapon steady.

Ti’ann tried to lurch to her feet again, sucking up another scream as her hip exploded with pain. With the help of the nearest tree, she pulled herself up, but she had to brace against the trunk or risk falling again.

She glanced down. Blood still seeped slowly out of her wound, soaking into the leg of her pants. It looked messy. She needed a med-kit. Even their crappy camp med-kit would help.

She heaved off the tree and limped out to the clearing. E didn’t move. Not in reaction to Clare’s blaster or Ti’ann’s own limping entrance. He stared at her with unblinking blue eyes as she approached. She sucked in shallow breaths through her mouth so she wouldn’t have to smell the burnt flesh and melted metal around her, but she was only partially successful. Her nostrils flared as she tried to narrow them against the stench.

She stopped about twenty meters from E, at an angle that wouldn’t put her in Clare’s line of fire if he lurched to the side. He watched her with such close scrutiny, she wanted to squirm, but she was way too exhausted to put in the effort.

“You’re E.”

“You are not a very good tactician, Ti’ann Jones.” His voice was soft and sounded unused.

“I know,” she said. “That’s why I’m a scientist and not a soldier.”

His lips twitched. It wasn’t a smile. It wasn’t really any kind of expression. It was just a change in the lack of expression. “Nathan Longfeather will not be pleased that you endangered yourself.”

“Probably true. It’s part of his job to make sure I’m safe.” She shifted feet, winced, and shifted back. “What just happened here?”

“You are wounded.”

“I noticed that. What happened here?”

“They were attacking you. Nathan Longfeather thinks defending you is very important. I was aiding him.”

“That was nice of you. Why were you helping him? You threatened to kill him last night.” She listed to one side and stumbled to catch her balance.

“Ti’ann,” Clare shouted.

She raised her hand as she regained her equilibrium. “I’m okay.” For now. “So what was all this about, E? You didn’t just defend us, you destroyed these people.” She gestured at the carnage around her without looking at it.

“It was the correct tactic. They would have destroyed the Shifter city and all of you with it.”

“You did this to save the city?”

He looked away, his head tilted down. “I did.”

“Why?”

He didn’t answer. In the fading sunlight, he looked very human and normal except for the lack of anything human in his blue eyes. She risked a look at Clare. The other woman was still holding her blaster on E. Clare caught her gaze and flicked a look down to the wound on her hip. Ti’ann nodded. She needed to get it taken care of. E wasn’t very forthcoming with answers. But at least he wasn’t trying to kill them. That was something. And he’d saved the city. For a little while anyway. What to do about E and why he did what he did would have to wait.

“I have to get to our camp,” she told him, gesturing to her hip. “I need the med-kit.”

His blue eyes focused in on her, then on her wound. Before she had time to react, he closed the distance between them and lifted her off the ground, cradling her gently in his arms. He spun to face Clare before she had a chance to get off a shot. “I will not hurt Ti’ann Jones,” he said to the now trembling Clare.

Ti’ann looked at the woman and shook her head. She wasn’t sure blaster fire would do much damage to E anyway, and she sure as hell didn’t want to aggravate him. “I’m okay, Clare. I’ll be okay.”

“I will get her to medical help. Find the others. Tell them what has happened. Tell Nathan Longfeather he can meet us at his ship.”

And with a lurch that had her stomach fall away and her throat closing, E launched into the air. This time he only formed a pair of wings, leaving the rest of his body human. It would have made him look like an angle if his face wasn’t so scarily emotionless. She risked a glance at the ground, but nearly threw up, so she closed her eyes. His wings snapped, catching a thermal current and pain shot through her, so strong this time, her vision went totally black and she stopped feeling anything.

*****

Panic crept along Nathan’s nerves until he couldn’t think. With every report of Ti’ann and the soldiers’ movements through the city, Nathan suffered an agony of fear. When Clare finally reported that Ti’ann was safe, he nearly fell to his knees with relief. BinRal was quick to put a chair under him so he didn’t embarrass himself.

But just when he thought he could relax, Clare sent another message making his blood run cold. He cursed and snatched up the comm-link. “Get the hell out of there, Clare. Get to the nearest ship and leave the area before the shooting starts. Do not go after the soldiers yourselves.”

He got no reply. Nothing. For nearly two minutes he waited. Nothing.

“Fuck!” He was up and moving before anyone else in the room could react. “Evacuate the rest of the city,” he shouted over his shoulder and took off at a run.

He was down a side tunnel when he noticed BinRal keeping pace with him. They didn’t waste words, just ran flat out for the exit that would bring them closest to their ships. Nathan glanced down at the tracker on his wrist, following the path Val had laid out for him earlier that day. Panic distorted time and it felt like hours before they were out in the pale evening light and warm forest air.

A quake trembled through the ground, nearly knocking him off his feat. He stopped his head long run to look around. The ground shook again, jumping beneath them. He turned to BinRal who looked grim. “One of their ships got into the air,” he said.

Terror like he’d never felt beat at him.

He pushed off, running harder this time, wishing for BinRal’s speed as they darted through trees. “Go on,” he shouted to the Binnean. “You can get to her quicker.”

He nodded in response, stretched his stride and outpaced Nathan with ease, disappearing into the woods ahead. Nathan kept running, alternating between silent curses and prayers that they reached Ti’ann in time. He was going to ring her neck when he found her.

He was heaving in air, his lungs stinging, by the time he reached the landing pad. Without looking around, he ran to his ship, pushing his endurance to the limit. He rounded the ship, already hitting the code on his comm-card to lower the ramp, when he plowed into the back of BinRal. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but the words froze in his throat.

At the base of the lowering ramp stood E holding an unconscious Ti’ann in his arms. Her side and leg were covered in blood, her clothes battered and thick with purple dust. Her long braid hung over E’s arm. She was so limp and pale, she looked dead.

“For the love of all that’s holy, E, don’t hurt her. Please.”

E’s head tilted down. “I have defended her. She is not a good tactician, Nathan Longfeather. But she is brave. The attackers have been destroyed. She needs medical attention.”

Nathan decided an explanation could wait. He led the way up the ramp and into his ship, directing E toward the bunk in his small cabin as he snatched down his medical kit from an overhead locker. When Ti’ann had been laid on his bed, he tried pulling her torn pants away from the wound gently, but his hands shook too hard. He squeezed his eyes closed, jerking his hands away.

BinRal laid a calming touch on Nathan’s shoulder. “I’ll tend the wound, Nate.”

Grateful, he rose to his feet and left the small room so BinRal could work. He and E stood in the corridor outside and waited. He leaned against the doorframe, watching BinRal as he ran the med-scan over her wound.

“She’s lost some blood. I’ve started the replacement sequence. She was lucky. Nothing vital was hit. She’ll be sore for a week or so and in need of physical rehab.” He set the med-scan aside and picked an epidermal skimmer out of the med-kit.

“But she’ll heal?”

“Of course. There’ll be a scar if she can’t afford a skin graft.”

“I’ll get her one.”

BinRal didn’t look up from his work when Nathan made the bold statement. “This will take some time. I’ve put her under with a mild anesthetic. I’ll wake her when I’m finished.” When Nathan didn’t move, BinRal said, “You should go check on the others. See if the city is still there. Make sure everyone is safe.”

Nathan knew he was right. Ti’ann was in capable hands. BinRal would treat her properly. But the idea of leaving was like agreeing to have one of his limbs removed. “She’ll be okay? You’ll make sure she’s okay?”

“She’ll be fine, Nate.” BinRal did turn to look at him then. “I’ll make sure.”

Nathan nodded and pushed off from the wall. “Call me when she wakes up.”

He walked away from the room, motioning E to follow him. When they were in the communications room, he said, “I don’t know why you helped her, E, but thank you.”

“You wanted her defended.”

“Yes. But you weren’t here to defend her. You were here to hunt Shifters and report information, weren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You were working with the soldiers?”

“No.”

“But they were sent by the person you report to?”

“Yes.”

“Yet you killed them? Why?”

“I don’t like being lied to.”

Nathan stared at the…Shifter…man…before him. He wasn’t sure what to make of him. He wanted to ask why E saved Ti’ann, but he wasn’t sure he’d get much more of an answer than he’d already gotten. He wanted to ask who had lied to him to make him turn on the soldiers, but he was afraid the answer would open a deluge he wasn’t ready to deal with. Instead, he asked, “Have you found out why you’re so different?”

“No. I’m still searching.”

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re doing good so far. But I’m not too sure your employers are going to agree.”

“I’m not employed.”

His gaze narrowed. “But you had orders? You’re working for someone?”

“I had orders. Employment is a paid occupation. I’m not employed.”

Nathan put his hands up. “Okay, okay. We’ll deal with that later. I do have a lot more questions I want to ask you, E. Will you be willing to answer them?”

E blinked slowly. It was one of the few times Nathan had seen him blink. “Perhaps. If I can.”

“I’ll take what I can get. In the meantime, is the city safe?”

“Yes. For now.”

“The ship that got off the ground?”

“Destroyed in the air.”

Nathan nodded then settled into the seat at the communications board. He sent out a message to James for an update on the situation. With the soldiers all dead, they were safe for the moment, but he didn’t believe whoever sent the soldiers would stop trying to destroy the city.

James answered his hail immediately and confirmed everyone had survived. Only an unoccupied part of the city had been hit when the single ship got off the ground. Nathan filled James in on his side of things, with some help from E.

“See you in a few,” Nathan said to James after confirming he was on his way.

Nathan closed the channel and turned in his seat. At the entrance to the communications room, Val stood staring at E. In Shifter form, without a mouth to convey any expression, it was hard to tell what Val was thinking. The focus between the Shifter and E was so intent Nathan realized they were probably talking.

Behind Val, two other Shifters filled the corridor. One was Zim. The other was a copper-eyed female.

He watched for a few minutes, curious about the information being passed. Val was probably getting more from E than Nathan would be able to in twice the time.

But his worry for Ti’ann distracted him from the potential in Val’s conversation with E, and he moved passed them to check on her. He met BinRal coming down the corridor.

“Ti’ann?” he asked, trying not to reveal his panic.

“Fine. Resting.”

“She’s awake?”

“She will be in a few minutes. Give her about ten to be fully conscious again.”

Nathan nodded. He debated going in to wait by her bed. There was nothing he could do for her until she woke, but still…

“We should go find Clare,” BinRal said.

“I don’t want to leave her.” Nathan nodded to his room and the sleeping Ti’ann.

“She’ll be fine, Nate. I promise.”

Nathan debated for a few minutes more. Leaving her right now was harder than he could possibly have imagined. She was safe. BinRal had taken care of her injury. And still Nathan hurt at the idea of leaving her side. He’d never been so terrified in his life as when he’d seen E holding her. He wasn’t sure he’d recover from the bone-deep fear any time soon.

He was in a lot more trouble with Ti’ann than he’d allowed himself to admit. And he wasn’t sure he could live this way.

Finally, he forced himself to leave, if only to help clear his head in the minutes before Ti’ann regained consciousness. He followed BinRal from the ship, passing the Shifter conference on the way out.

“Have any idea what they’re talking about?” the Binnean asked.

“Nope. Not sure I want to know all of it.”

“He doesn’t look dangerous on first glance. Until you look into his eyes.”

“You noticed that too? Got any idea what he is?”

“Advanced.”

“That helps, BinRal. Thank you.”

He shrugged. “It’s true. Whatever he is, he’s more than Shifter, and more than human. He’s advanced. Probably engineered by someone with a sick sense of humor.”

“Why any sense of humor?”

“Don’t you recognize him? You’re Naravan. Don’t you pay attention to the news?”

“No. Explain.”

BinRal nodded toward the woods, and Nathan was distracted enough to wait on the explanation. Clare came trotting out of the trees, covered head to foot in purple dust. Blood trickled down her left arm. “Is she okay?” she shouted, as she got closer to them. “Did he bring her back here?”

“He did,” Nathan said. “Ti’ann’s fine. Didn’t James signal you?”

Clare’s shoulders dropped and she heaved a sigh. “My comm-link was damaged during the fire fight. I haven’t been able to get in touch with anyone. How’s the city?”

“Part of it collapsed when the single ship got in a few shots. E destroyed it in the air, though what that means—”

“He was a dragon,” Clare said, her voice full of awe. “I thought I’d seen a lot, but a dragon… He destroyed them. Completely.” She shuddered. “Not pretty.”

“And no evidence.” Nathan sighed.

“I wouldn’t count on any, no. There’s not much left.”

“Your arm is injured. You need that taken care of,” BinRal said.

She glanced down. “Yeah. Someone got a lucky shot.”

“What did you two end up doing?” Nathan wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Clare grinned. “Your girlfriend is insane, Longfeather. I take none of the blame; it was all her idea.”

“What?”

“I fired, she ran. She made herself an obvious target so I could move around and try to take the soldiers out one at a time. She fired, but she’s not a great shot. Mostly, she was a distraction.”

Nathan closed his eyes. “And why did you let her do that?”

“I didn’t have a lot of say in the matter. Have you ever tried to talk her out of something before?”

“Yes. You’re right. I can’t blame you.” He heaved a sigh and opened his eyes. “Come on, we’ll get you fixed up and then we need to contact your reporter friend. This story has to break as soon as possible if we want to avoid another attack.”

Clare’s grin fairly glowed. “I’m sure that can be arranged.”