A Forgotten Kitten (Sea-anan Saga Book 2) (32 page)

Eight days after seeing Areo in another man’s arms, Sev sat in the captain’s chair viewing Areo through the gem. He pulled the sword from his face. “Mike! Break radio silence now! I need to find out what the blazes the Seacats are up to.”

“What do you mean?” Serena nervously asked. She was sitting on the stairs that divided the bridge into two levels.

“The entire fleet is floating in space near Laaren while Areo and Mathew set off alone in smaller vehicles.”

“Alone? But why?”

“That’s what I want to know.” Sev looked at Mike, who stood on the second level of the bridge behind the main flight panel. “Have you got them online yet?”

“Sev, if I do that, then I’ll be disclosing their position. I can’t contact them while they’re so close to Laaren.”

“You said the communication systems have been changed. The Dominion can no longer decipher our signals.”

“That doesn’t mean they can’t pick up on the signal and find its source. We can’t risk the fleet because of your paranoia.”

“Paranoia!” Sev vaulted from his seat. He leapt over the steps and rushed to where Mike stood, poking him in the chest. “My wife, your queen, is out there about to face the Orions with only one male as escort. Don’t tell me that I’m being paranoid!”

“Mike, please!” begged Serena from below the railing that surrounded the upper level of the bridge. “If what he says is true, then you have to find out what they intend to do. Do you not care what happens to Areo or Mathew?”

Pure loathing filled Mike, and he made certain Serena saw every bit of it in his eyes when he spoke to her. “Don’t you speak to me about my family, Oceanan. They are no concern of yours!” He looked at Sev. “I’m sure everything is going to be all right. They are warriors, Sev. They—”

Sev did not want any excuses. Snatching Mike by his shirt collar, he spoke in a low, stone-cold voice. “I don’t care if they are Seacats. My mate is about to face death while I’m stuck here. That doesn’t make me very happy. And if I’m not happy, neither will anyone else be. So you find some way to connect with the others and find out what their plan is, or you will regret being born.”

“Sev—”

“Save it. I don’t want to hear it. I gave my order, and I expect it to be obeyed, Seacat!” He pulled Mike over until they touched noses. “Under
stood
?”

Mike rhythmically worked his jaw. Not once did his eyes or posture show he was threatened by Sev. In fact, he debated whether Areo would forgive him if he taught Sev a lesson on who the
real
powerful cat was. Concluding that she most likely would not, he gritted out,
“Understood.”

“Good,” sneered Sev. He returned to the lower portion of the bridge to pace between the window and his seat.

Mike assigned flight control over to a shocked Mage. Turning to the exit, he glimpsed each crew member’s stunned expression and his godfather’s pale complexion. Jugar nodded to him. Mike guessed his godfather was thanking him for not clobbering Sev.

Gritting his teeth, Mike stomped toward the door. He thought of Areo and paused underneath the archway to glare at Sev.
You’re lucky Areo loves you.
He watched Sev pacing nervously and smirked.
And you truly love her. Or I would be more than happy to teach you a very deserving lesson.
He left the bridge.

“Sev, check the sword again. Maybe now it will show you something different,” Serena begged him. “Something other than static.”

Sev called upon the gem’s power. After a few seconds, he hissed in frustration. “Where in the blazes is Mike? He left over thirty minutes ago. Whatever was going to happen has already taken place! Great moons of Oceana, what do I have to do to get some answers around here?”

“Sev, I have some news!” announced Mike, running into the bridge.

“McCall, where in the blazes have you been? What’s happening out there? I can’t get a clear picture on the sword.”

Sphin Blaisdale was flying the ship. He immediately instructed a Ranger to take control so he could focus on Mike’s news. He jumped over the four steps that divided the bridge in two and stopped beside the captain’s seat.

“You’re not going to like it,” said Mike breathlessly. He stopped in front of Sev.

“I didn’t like it before. Tell me what’s happening to my wife!”

“I don’t know how to tell you this—”

“Mike!”

“Areo and Mathew went on a kamikaze mission,” he blurted.

“A what?” asked Sev, Jugar, and Serena.

“What was the mission?” asked Sphin.

“OK. Before I explain, I think you should have a seat,” said Mike to Sev.

“I don’t want to sit down. Now tell me about my wife!”

“Sev, trust me. Sit down.”

Jugar squeezed Sev’s shoulder. “Perhaps we should do as he instructs.”

“Fine! If it’ll get him to speak faster, then I’ll sit.” Once his bottom touched the seat, he barked, “Explain!”

“We were born with special gifts, as you already know. Mathew and Areo are specially blessed and exceptionally powerful. What makes them unique is that they share the exact same abilities. This enables them to combine their powers into one enormous force. That’s something none of the rest of us can do.”

Scratching his head impatiently, Sev caustically inserted, “Mike, thank you for sharing that bit of family genetics with us. But what does that have to do with what’s happening?”

“Areo is rubbing off on you, isn’t she?” After he received the expected growl, Mike continued. “Laaren is protected by an electromagnetic energy grid, similar to the ones we use at the space stations’ check-in areas. Only this one is so powerful that when any object comes in contact with it, it’s immediately disintegrated.”

Sev gripped the sides of his chair.

“One of Mathew and Areo’s shared abilities is the power of absorbency.”

“The power of absorbency?” questioned Theo.

“Areo and Mathew can change their molecular structure and become one with whatever they wish their bodies to make contact with. This allows them to pass through any object unharmed.”

“You mean it’s like going through a solid wall?” questioned Uma.

“Not exactly, but close enough. Stop asking questions!” snapped Sphin, annoyed. He looked at Mike. “Go on.”

Mike looked back at Sev. “Mathew and Areo went to see if they could join their powers and thus be strong enough to absorb the grid’s energy, allowing them to pass through it unharmed. If they succeed, they are to head to one of our secret underground bases, where Mathew is to implement part two of Bob’s plan, which is to hack into the main computer system using a new invention of Bob’s. It will turn off the grid and allow the fleet to enter undetected until it’s too late.”

“You said ‘
if
they succeed.’ What if they don’t?” asked Jugar.

Mike’s emotion-filled, pale-gray eyes answered his question.

“They’ve never tried to absorb this much energy before,” spoke Sphin. Worry etched itself deep in the lines of his face. “Are they even strong enough combined?”

Sev’s strength left him in one big gush. His frame slouched in the seat. He was grateful that he had sat down.

“How would the fleet know if they succeeded?” Sphin asked.

“They would only know if the grid goes down at the scheduled time. If it doesn’t, then we…” Mike did not finish. Shaking his head, he went to navigations and resumed control of the White Star, pushing the ship as fast as she could go.

Sphin went to stand by the window. He reached for the small ledge and held on.

Miko had to know. “Mike, what was the scheduled time?”

“They have thirty minutes left.”

“And we are how far from them?”

“Since they stopped overnight at Sea Base One, we’ve actually gained on them. We are now an hour and a half behind them.”

“An hour and a half,” mumbled Jugar, worriedly regarding his ghastly pale leader.

Sev sat motionless, staring at the floor. His expression was one of pure horror.

Thirty minutes went by at a snail’s pace. Sphin resumed control of flying the White Star. Sev was dying inside. He had never felt
so helpless or useless. The White Star was traveling at top speed, and they were still an entire hour away from reaching the fleet. In addition, Miko and the other Oceanans’ nonchalant attitudes infuriated him.

The doors to the bridge opened.

“Mike, did they succeed?” Jugar anxiously asked his godson.

Sev’s attention switched from the window to Mike who had paused near the railing. Mike lowered his head and said nothing. It took a few seconds for the reality of it to hit everyone on the bridge. They all stopped what they were doing. Sev felt a cold enter his body. His limbs grew numb. His heart slowed.

He heard someone call out Serena’s name. A blond Mage hurried past Sev. He knelt by Uma and an unconscious Serena. He lifted Serena into his arms and took her out of the room.

“Beast, what did they say? What happened?” asked Sphin.

“The time passed. The grid is still up,” Mike managed to say.

Jugar spoke up. “That doesn’t mean they’re dead. Perhaps Mathew is having a difficult time hacking into the system.”

“They want to believe the same thing. That’s why they haven’t left. They’re giving him some more time.”

Sphin hurriedly asked, “How much time?”

“They can only afford to sit there a few minutes more. They’re playing Russian roulette as it is. Besides, they don’t feel the delay has anything to do with Mathew not being able to hack into the computers. He’s too smart to have problems with that.”

Sev stared at Mike. Tears filled his eyes and distorted his image. “Then what you are saying…is that my kitten is dead.”

Everyone on the bridge heard the dead calm in Sev’s voice. They all faced him after Mike nodded.

Having his worst nightmare confirmed, Sev slowly turned his face back to the streaking stars. He held onto the frame, locked his knees, and remained perfectly still. A door opened in his core. A series of scenes and images flooded his mind as his soul left in search of Areo’s.

Twenty minutes later, Sev retook his seat. He had not spoken since the announcement. He inhaled deeply. “Beast…is there any way to hack into Laaren’s computers from aboard the White Stars?”

Everyone on deck paused what they were doing to look at him. They had wondered when he was going to speak. His silence had placed them all on guard.

Mike stood beside Sphin, who was flying the ship. They shared a meaningful look. Sev had not addressed either of them by their childhood code names since his return. They believed they understood the reason he did so now.

“If there was, I’m sure Sparky would have figured it out,” Mike answered, testing Sev’s memory.

“Who is Sparky?” questioned Angel.

“Bob McCall,” replied Sev.

Sphin and Mike looked swiftly at each other.

“Who created the technology behind the force field?” The zooming stars never registered. Instead, Sev focused on repaying Daehog in the most horrible way possible.

“Sparky did, with the help of some of his siblings,” replied

Sphin. “Why?”

The only part of Sev that moved was his lips. “Then he should know its weakness.”

“It was created not to have a weakness,” Sphin said.

The seat swung about. “Then how in the blazes did the Dominion take possession of that planet?”

“Just like they got to Sea Base Ten. Traitors,” Mike reminded him.

Sev felt his rage, which was already boiling over, increase. “So, there are traitors within the
entire
empire.”

“Apparently so.”

Sev took even breaths, hoping not to explode. “Where have the traitors who were arrested been taken?”

Mike and Sphin frowned at the question. Sphin answered him. “Half were taken to a prison planet near Lagoona. The other half is waiting to be transported there. Why?”

“Have they been sentenced yet?”

Sev’s voice was void of all emotion, which placed everyone on eggshells.

Mike cautiously replied, “No, not yet. We’re too busy with this war. Besides, there are still many arrests to make. We want to sentence them together.”

“Who will sentence them?”

Mike watched Sev carefully. “Each nation will sentence its own citizens as part of our treaty agreement.”