Beyond the Stars: INEO (28 page)

“Huh? I’m not sure. My dreams have been strangely real and lifelike lately.”

“I have a theory on that,” he paused. “Remember when the Farni’s Being of Light told you that the Ineo would make itself known? What if it was taking Jack’s form in order to communicate with you?”

“No, I think it’s really him,” I refuted the possibility while I recalled my kiss with Jack, a kiss that I had longed for since I didn’t get the chance to say a proper goodbye to him before he died in the accident. I definitely didn’t imagine
that.
I quickly bit my lip, remembering my promise to myself to never tell Gaelan about it. It would only hurt him needlessly. I stared at the console in front of me and fought to suppress Jack’s memory. I feared further elaboration might make him magically appear in the room.

“Is he here to take you away from me?” He teased.

“Yes, he doesn’t like you.”

“Oh, that’s harsh. Real nice. Now you understand why I hoped you seeing him was really something else. You know, I would miss you terribly if you disappeared from my reality.”

“Maybe it would be as though I never existed to you,” I taunted.

“Great,” Gaelan said sarcastically, pulling me from my chair in a swooping motion and onto his lap. He looked at me intently as he gently brushed my hair behind my ear, giving me chills. “If I didn’t have you, I would have a gaping hole in my heart and not a clue as to why. I would be left living in a void.”

I softly stroked his angular jaw with my hand. “Relax. It’s
you
I love. I want to fill your void. I want to be with you. Don’t you know that you are the only person who can fully satisfy me? You couldn’t pay me enough to stay away,” I said in a seductive tone.

He smiled, raising only the corners of his lips. “Good, because I could never live without you.” He ran his fingers lightly across my chest and leaned closer, bringing his lips practically against mine, and whispered, “Now that I found you, I never want to let you go.”

I gave him a few light kisses, pulling myself back each time he advanced, to torment him for the fun of it.

“Oh,”
he groaned and grasped his arms tightly around me so I couldn’t move. “I must be into torture because you know how to drive a man crazy.”

“Yes, and I will use the Ineo to keep you around so I can continue to do so.”

Just then, we heard footsteps outside of the simulator. Gaelan and I leapt to our feet and rushed into the room outside the lab. We saw the outer door gliding shut like someone had just exited the room.

I covered my mouth with remorse. “Someone was listening. They probably overheard everything we said.”

Gaelan furrowed his brow. “We need to find out who.” He gave me a panicked look before he sprinted out the door to find out who had left.

I followed. In the next room, we found three cadets sitting at a round conference table. They seemed preoccupied by the surrounding array of floating star maps and were busy discussing a particular region of Space on one of the digital screens expanded above their large table. They appeared to have been working there for some time. Behind them, Pascal was leaning over their shoulders, giving them instructions.

“Well, Sami, did you pass flight school?” Pascal looked over at me and asked in a pleasant tone.

“I’m getting better.”

“Pascal, did anyone just pass through here?” Gaelan asked in a rush.

“I don’t know. There have been people in and out all day. We weren’t really paying attention. I saw Samantha—and then you.”

“Thanks,” Gaelan replied. “Of course he’d notice you. You’re pretty hard to miss.”

Gaelan and I went through the door and searched the empty corridor.

“I’m gonna check the halls,” he yelled back to me as he took off running down the passageway.

I followed until he went out of sight.
Great,
I thought, slowing my pace in defeat. My secret was out. Whoever was standing there was long gone and had heard more than enough. They knew about the Ineo and that I had it.

CHAPTER 20

FOUND

“We got them!” Tyden reported to Gaelan and me from his seat when we entered the command deck. The crew was in the midst of a celebration.

“Is the signal strong?” Gaelan asked him as we walked across the room.

“Yes, the tracker’s working like a beacon. We received a hit right after we altered our coordinates to sector 10256. I wish I had paid more attention and followed your advice, Samantha. We should have searched there days ago when you had suggested it,” Tyden said with brightened eyes.

“I don’t understand,” I replied, confused.

Gaelan and I walked over to study the floating star map.

Gaelan chuckled under his breath. “Unbelievable. Sami, this is the region you told us to check before. Remember when you had that that
feeling
? You said the Dreon’s might be there. No one knew what to make of it.”

Pascal approached me with an odd expression on his face. “I think Sami has been holding back on us. Why don’t you show us your
real potential
? You seem to know star navigation better than anyone here.”

I fought to ignore him and tried to enjoy hearing the good news, but noticed he sounded a little jealous when he spoke.

“No, it was just a hunch, really. I’m sure it was just a coincidence.” I tried to explain my bizarre link to the Dreons and looked away, feeling embarrassed.

Tyden gave Pascal an annoyed glare, appearing to be just as bothered by the underlying sarcasm in his remark. It made Pascal not question me further and caused him to silently return to his chair.

What did Pascal mean by real potential? Was he the one who had overhead me talking to Gaelan about the Ineo?

“After we entered the area,” Tyden explained, “we got even luckier. We received a reply to the message we sent Spaceport Five. It contained the most unexpected tip.”

“From who?”
Gaelan questioned anxiously, as we walked over to sit down in the open captain chairs beside him.

Tyden raised his brows and gave us a hint of a smile. “A Garmite vessel reported to our command at Spaceport that they spotted a Dreon ship on a nearby planet. He told them the planet was home to their underground camp.”

Gaelan wrinkled his eyes in disbelief. “
Really?
They have a camp? I thought they were without a home.”

Zaric entered the room, dropped himself in the seat beside Gaelan, and joined in the conversation. “I know, right? I guess we were wrong.” He had already heard the news.

“Anyway,” Tyden continued, “when we aimed the tracker at the planet’s coordinates, the device not only flashes, it glows a continuous bright orange. We set course and are scheduled to arrive there in forty-three minutes. We are hoping the Dreons stick around long enough for us to get in and out of their ship. And hope that they will be busy elsewhere so that we can do so without being detected.”

“Hmm,” Gaelan chuckled to himself. “Do you know who sent the tip?”

“It was that Garmite, Ari,” Zaric answered.

“Ari,” I said with amazement. “Wow, even out here it’s a small world.”

“And, Samantha, he wanted to tell you, thank you.” Tyden looked at me curiously. “He seemed overly pleased that he could help. He said he owed his life to you. ‘For no good deed goes unnoticed’,” Tyden quoted.

Maybe this was the reason behind Pascal’s snide comment.

“Samantha, huh?” Gaelan’s said, letting his mouth fall open. “I’m the one who rescued him, yet
you
get all the credit.
Unbelievable.”

“Oh come on, you’re just upset because he liked me better,” I teased.

“I thought that Garmite was looking at you strange. Jeez, I can’t take you anywhere.” Gaelan put his arms around me and stroked my back as he held me.

“Pascal, could you please check on Urit and Noah to see if they’re ready.” Tyden’s deep voice was exceptionally loud beside us.

I could sense the annoyance in his tone. He seemed uncomfortable with our close proximity. Gaelan didn’t care. He held me for a moment longer, and gave Tyden an ornery smirk when he released me. I think he secretly enjoyed taunting him.

Zaric leaned forward in his seat and turned towards Gaelan and me. “Tyden’s leaving out the reason why he’s
really
in a good mood. Spaceport’s message informed us that Starship Forty-one stopped in last week and took all of those seeking passage. They don’t expect us to pick up any new crew. He even smiled when he read it to us,” Zaric accused him.

“I did not,” Tyden said, straightening his back even more.

“Did to,” Zaric shot back.

“Fine. I was glad to hear we aren’t going to be burdened with the extra people,” he admitted reluctantly, before swiftly focusing his attention to the large red planet enlarging on the viewing screen. “Full screen.”

“Scan it,” Gaelan ordered a Katarian seated at a nearby desk.

“We’re in luck. There’s a Dreon ship parked on the northern hemisphere, sir. The perimeter is clear,” he said.

“I’ll bring us down,” Tyden said in a steady voice. “How far would you like to walk, Gaelan?”

“Two miles should do it,” Gaelan answered absently.

“I can walk farther,” I said.

Gaelan turned to look at me, his mouth parting slightly. “You—
you
are
not
going,” he said adamantly with a disapproving look.

“Of course I am. I promised Urit I would be there. Besides, I’m the reason Nia got taken to begin with.”

His face became tense. “Yes, because they meant to take
you,”
he reminded me in a low voice.

“That’s why I should go.”

“No, no way—” His voice became angry.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” I said under my breath.

Wanting to rescue Nia was making us both uptight. The command deck became quiet with our discord. Gaelan noticed the frightened faces staring back at us and led me by the hand to an unoccupied area of the room.

“I forbid you,” he said, lowering his voice further as he grabbed both of my forearms with his hands.

“You can’t,” I protested.

“Oh,
but I can!” His voice trembled.

“Don’t pull rank with me!” I said, shaking my arms free from his grip to cross them over my chest. “You know how I feel. I want to help get Nia back.”

He sighed loudly, and blinked slowly, before giving me a defeated look.

“I’m sorry. I am not trying to control you, but it’s dangerous. I can’t worry about your safety and
fight
a fleet of Dreons at the same time. I may not be able to protect you. And I can’t watch them hurt you, or worse, kill you.”

“If the Dreons wanted me dead, they would have killed me the last time they took me.”

Maybe I was feeling falsely secure, but for some unexplained reason, I felt confident they wouldn’t hurt me.

“Oh, so now you want to give them another chance.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“I can’t lose you over this,” he said through gritted teeth.

“You won’t.”

“I’m afraid you’ll do something careless, like offer them a trade.”

“Of course not,” I said, acting offended, although I wasn’t totally sure I wouldn’t slip up.

We stared at each other intently for a moment and waited for the other to give in.

I looked into Gaelan’s eyes. “Urit needs me. I’m afraid he’ll fall apart if we find Nia in bad shape.” A sick feeling came over me when I remembered the terrible condition I saw her in.

“Do you really think it will make a difference if you’re there?”

“Mm-hmm,” I hummed, and leaned forward to give him a kiss on his tightly closed lips.

“Not fair,” he murmured in a lighter tone as he pulled himself away from my face. “You shouldn’t try to undermine my authority by exploiting my greatest weakness.”

“And that is?”

“My desire to keep you happy.” Gaelan turned his head to the side and cracked his neck out of frustration. “You do realize that the Dreons are both powerful
and
merciless. They don’t worry about repercussions or casualties. They already consider us prey for the taking. If things get ugly, we may have a battle on our hands. There’s no telling if we’ll survive. I don’t want to be responsible for ending your life. Would you please just stay where it’s safe?” he pleaded.