The Way Back (Champions of the Crystal Book 4)

Chapter 7.2

"Rina, you okay? We gotta go!" Scotty hissed.

"I'm ready," she said. "Let's do it."

Scotty tossed her an encouraging grin, dimly visible in the gloom and faint reflections on his faceplate, and together they started forward.

Almost immediately they were paralyzed by a stifling premonition of doom. Sabrina's steps faltered to a halt; Scotty's fist clenched even tighter on his blaster. The darkness seemed to grow denser, enveloping them in an eerie fog that defied all reason. Sabrina made out shapes swirling in it and caught her breath.

"What...is it?" Scotty ground out, a high tone of terror lurking just behind his words.

Through her own fear, Sabrina made the connection. "It's like the Way! It's the Pharon crystal, Scotty. We have to ignore it, refuse to accept it. Come on."

She reached for his hand, and together they made their way through the terrible barrier, step by step. Sabrina concentrated on putting her feet on the deckplates, noticed every vibration conveyed through the soles of her boots, tried to calculate whether the ship's artificial gravity was the same as Khediva's—anything to keep her thoughts away from the horrors in the air around her. She knew Scotty was doing the same.

At last they were at the infirmary door. The corridor lighting was nonexistent; they stood for a moment eyeing it by the light of the readout panels embedded in the left arms of their suits. Scotty held up three fingers, and Sabrina nodded, tensing herself, ready to run. Scotty held up one finger. Two fingers. Three.

His fist slammed into the manual control, and Sabrina dived through the opening door.
The infirmary was bright and clear, a shock to her senses after the murky darkness of the corridor, and she blindly ducked into the shadow of one of the beds as she heard Scotty fire once and curse.

"Stop!" Malvarak's enraged voice rang out. "Stop, or he dies!"

Sabrina stared up and found she was nearly at Malvarak's feet. He held a sinister-looking device, a slender tube with a white-hot tip. She yanked her helmet off and had the satisfaction of seeing his astonishment.

"No!" Sabrina said, trying to shake herself back to the present. "It's not real! I already lived this!"

She thought she heard Varla's derisive laughter as she was sucked back into the memory.

Scotty turned to Tirqwin, waving the mediscanner over him slowly. Sabrina couldn't see the readout, but Scotty's expression of despair told her everything she needed to know.

"No," she murmured. "No."

Scotty sat back and put a hand over his mouth, closing his eyes. After a moment she realized he was crying.

The loss seemed too great to bear, too intense to feel—or maybe it was just the painkiller. Sabrina crawled back to Tirqwin's side and laid her hand on his cool cheek. In her mind she saw him again for the first time, heard his voice, felt his hand on her shoulder. Her mind could not contain the fact that he was gone.

She was dimly aware of Nllata moving around somewhere nearby. There was a jolt; reflexively she grabbed Tirqwin to keep him from sliding away.

Somehow that made it real for her. She could hang onto his body, but she couldn't hang onto him. He was gone. No good-bye, no reassurances, nothing but a blankness remained.

Sabrina came to herself again lying on the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks. "It...didn't end like that," she choked out. "He lived. He lived."

"Ah, but so many of the others didn't, did they? Let's see if we can find one of those," Varla purred.

"No...." Sabrina pleaded. She looked up at Ford, her one forlorn hope. "Ford, please, help me!"

He turned to look at her with that same terrible blankness in his bright blue eyes. Rayland's eyes. Sabrina felt her mind make the connection and cried out in despair.

Rayland cried out, a terrible, animal sound of pain; Sabrina whirled in horror and saw her father slump back against the wall. The Reissian who had attacked him drew back, and she saw a massive, cruelly serrated knife in his hand, dripping with Rayland's blood. She screamed and took an involuntary step backward.

Darice shouted something; Sabrina didn't take it in, staring in mesmerized revulsion at the reddened knife as the Reissian advanced. She raised her blaster; her hand shook. She thought the Reissian was laughing behind his helmet.

She fired; the shot hit him off-center in mid-torso. Aiming at his helmet, she tried again. It shattered, and she pumped a second shot straight into his face. He staggered forward another step; the knife came within inches of her as he toppled over.

"My lady!" Darice gasped. She was kneeling beside Rayland; the other Reissians were all sprawled on the ground. Sabrina stared blankly at the Praxatillians in uniform standing behind the pile of bodies.

"Father...Father, no," Sabrina said brokenly. She dropped the blaster and stumbled to his side, dropping to her knees. The knife had torn a huge gash across his chest; blood bubbled from it at an alarming rate. Darice tore off her uniform jacket, turned it inside out, and pressed it against the wound....

They stumbled up the stairs into the severe metallic corridors of Control. Darice shouted at a lieutenant they ran across in the hall; he took one look and went sprinting back the way he'd come, yelling orders. Soon they had people all around them, and Rayland was being lifted out of Sabrina's grip. She protested to no avail, dodging around them to follow the float pallet down the corridor. She felt a desperate need to touch him, to hold on to him so he wouldn't slip away from her while they were separated. She wanted to will him to live, to pour her strength into him.

The medtechs pushed her aside, ignoring her rank in their rush and alarm. She stood as close as she could, her hands pressed to her mouth, trying to stop the tears sliding down her cheeks....

Rayland's bright blue eyes, dimming now, found Sabrina again. His lips trembled as he tried to speak. "It's all right, don't talk now," Sabrina urged.

His hand pressed hers weakly. With effort, he managed to get his breath, speaking so softly that she had to lean forward to hear him. "Daughter..."

"Don't. Save your strength," Sabrina begged.

"Blessing...." he whispered.

"Father, please, you have to get well. You can't leave me!"

His eyes slid shut, and she felt his hand go limp in her grasp. For a moment she thought he had passed out. Then the medtechs moved away, and she realized that he was dead. Mukryilla pressed the lifeless hand she held to her lips, then gently laid it on his chest.

Sabrina choked on a sob of disbelief, still clutching his other hand. "No," she moaned.

"My lady," Darice said hoarsely.

Sabrina looked around. They were all staring at her in compassion and alarm—Mukryilla, Darice, the medtechs, and a group in the doorway that she recognized vaguely as Control technicians. Darice came forward and reached out her hand, as if to pull Sabrina away; Sabrina's vision blurred in a rush of hot tears, and she pressed Rayland's hand to her face and burst into huge, heart-wrenching sobs.

Sabrina heard her own sobs, muffled slightly by the arm her face was resting on as she lay sprawled on the floor. All the old grief and terror and despair came rushing back at her, overwhelming in their renewed strength, wiping out the years of healing since. She's going to kill me with my memories, she thought in hysterical amusement. I'll relive all of it, all the things I've tried to forget. She'll have no mercy. Oh, God, how can I endure it all again?