Determinant -Guardians of Vesturon [3] (16 page)

“Please don’t do that.”

“Chase you?”

“No…please don’t close your eyes to me. They are so perfect I want to see them always. I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes so blue.”

As I looked at her, for whatever reason, my face flamed with embarrassment. I know not if it was my declaration of feelings or if it was the moment, but it did not go unnoticed.

As she pulled my lips to hers, she said, “Your face is beautiful when you blush.” Then I was lost in her kiss.

When we finally pulled away from each other, she was smiling.

“Is this really happening to me?”

“Yes, but I feel the same as you and keep asking myself the same question,” I said.

“So what happens next Rykerian?”

“That will be up to you. You know where my heart lies January.”

“Yes, and I would like to take things a bit slower Rykerian. So much has happened to me in the last few weeks that I cannot commit to anything right now. Are you angry with me?”

“Why ever would I be angry with you?”

“For not returning your feelings.”

I shook my head saying, “No. I cannot be angry with you for that, but I would ask you one thing. Please always tell me your feelings. I do not want to seem pushy or to make you feel forced in this in any way.”

She nodded and said, “I promise. And Rykerian, just for the record, you have blown me away in a good way.” She gave me a radiant smile and I felt myself grin in return.

“We should probably head back to the house,” I told her.

I assisted her up on the speedster and in moments we were soaring through the air.

January and I came in from our ride to find Rayn and Maddie seated in the den. They were listening to the news and by the looks on their faces, it was dire. The hospitals were overflowing with cases of small pox and the death toll was growing exponentially daily. It had become the worst-case scenario. However, the horrific thing was most of the medical staff in the hospitals had succumbed to the disease, leaving them empty handed and uncertain of how to care for the patients.

“We cannot delay. We must act quickly. January, how are you feeling? Has your strength returned?” Rayn asked.

“I think so. I have felt pretty good these last few days.”

“Rayn—I do not think she is ready,” I stated. “She has been through a great deal in the last two weeks. She needs more time.”

“We are out of time Rykerian. Look at the news. People are dying all over the world now. This is beyond epidemic and now in the pandemic stage and if we don’t step in fast, we risk losing at least fifty percent or more of the population. I will go to great lengths to ensure January’s safety. We will take every precaution. She is now immune from the disease so she will be fine.”

Suddenly January jumped to her feet and started ranting. “Yes, we have to do something Rykerian. Tommy and Sarah are out there, and as much as I hate to say this, so are my parents. If something happens to them, Tommy and Sarah won’t have anyone to take care of them.”

“That is an example of why we must move and as quickly as possible,” Rayn stated.

Rayn looked at me and gave a quick jerk of his head, indicating where he wanted me. I moved to January’s side.

“Rykerian, I need to go to Tommy and Sarah. Can you take me there?”

I quickly averted my eyes, trying to avoid hers. I glanced at Rayn, willing him to answer her for me.

“January, that isn’t possible right now. We need you to do something for us…something that can alter the outcome of this disaster we are facing,” Rayn explained.

January cocked her head to the side and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“You know where the lab is at the Centers for Disease Control and we need you to get virus samples and the vaccine itself into the CDC.”

“But how? Where did the vaccine come from?”

“Our virologists on Vesturon produced it from the virus samples they extracted from you during your illness. They replicated the virus and using our technology produced the vaccine. We had to do this because the methods of producing the vaccine on Earth would have taken much too long. We are trying to stem the illness as best we can and we felt this would be the most effective way. Our biggest issue at hand is that the scientists at the CDC would recognize they weren’t able to produce something this fast. This is where you fit in,” Rayn explained.

She nodded and said, “Go on.”

“You are familiar with the area the vaccine would be stored, correct?”

“Sort of. I was shown the area but never really entered it until the day of the break-in. I noticed the door was open and that’s when I entered, but, I never had access to that area. It was under strict security. The day I saw those men was when my suspicions grew. Then when I called security and they examined the area, they determined nothing had been taken.”

“What men?” I asked.

“Oh, I was leaving work late one Friday evening. Most of the employees had left and I was headed out when I saw six men walking down the hall leading to the lab. They were dressed in completely bizarre clothes...totally out of place for the CDC.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned.

“They wore leather vests with no shirts; their arms were covered in tattoos... I mean their tats were almost completely covering their arms and they were all identical. And they had these weird looking straps that went across their chests. They reminded me of men that were in a motorcycle gang. I guess if I had seen them on the street I wouldn’t have thought much about it, but it was strange seeing them in the CDC. Most of the people that work there are pretty geeky and would never dress like that.”

I looked at Rayn and we briefly exchanged thoughts. I nodded and urged her to tell us more.

“Yeah, but some other weird things happened,” she said.

“Explain,” Rayn gruffly commanded. I shot him a cross look, indicating my displeasure at his harsh tone.

“Well, when we passed each other I stopped…it was like I couldn’t move. I heard this voice in my mind. He wanted to know who I was and then he asked me if I was human. I thought that was pretty strange at the time.”

Rayn looked at me and mumbled, “This is not good. Worse than I imagined.”

“What do you mean by that?” January inquired.

“This male is telepathic. In our experience there are very few species that possess this talent. He may have been Vesturion,” I explained.

“I don’t think so,” January said, surprising all of us.

“What makes you say such?” Rayn asked harshly. Once again I felt my eyes darken at his tone.

“I’m not sure I can explain it. One thing though—their leader had the most unusual eyes. And when I got close to him, it felt like the room was electrically charged.”

“What?” I yelled. My instincts did not respond well to this. I felt the first stirrings of jealousy begin to take root, something I had never experienced before.

“I told you Rykerian. I’m not sure I can explain it. It was totally strange. When we passed each other it was like there were sparks flying.” She was looking at me when she spoke and noticed my reaction. She rolled her eyes at me. “Not
those kinds
of sparks. It felt like there was static electricity everywhere. It made me wonder if my hair was standing straight up in the air.”

“Oh,” I muttered. A tremendous feeling of relief washed over me.

“Anyway, the whole thing was bizarre and none of it was captured on the video off the security cameras. After a while, I thought I had imagined everything.”

Rayn had stepped closer to January while she was talking and reached out and placed his hand on her face. Her eyes widened and he immediately said, “Do not fear me as I would not ever harm you. However, I find it necessary to reach into your mind. I must capture all of your memories on this situation. May I?”

January nodded and Rayn began his mind search. Minutes passed before he stepped away. He looked at Maddie first and then me. I could immediately tell he was deeply troubled.

“Are you going to share?” I asked, my voice dripping with impatience.

“She speaks the truth,” he stated bluntly.

“Of course she speaks the truth. Why would she do else?” I asked in frustration.

“That is not what I meant. I should have said that her words accurately described what she saw. She did not imagine it. These men are the ones responsible for this travesty and we must find out who they are,” Rayn stated.

“What would you suggest?” I wondered.

“At the moment…nothing. We must first focus on getting the vaccine to the CDC so we can bring an end to this epidemic. January, do you have enough knowledge to get us to the correct place this vaccine would need to be stored?”

“Yeah, but I can’t get you in. As I said, it’s under the strictest security.”

“That will not be a problem for us. We need you to get us there and we can proceed from there.” Rayn looked at me and said, “Rykerian, tell Father we require his presence in the Command Center immediately. Meet us there in fifteen minutes.”

After Maddie and Rayn departed and I sent the missive to my father, I looked at January. I felt the beginnings of fear creep up my spine. I knew something was about to go dreadfully wrong, but I didn’t know what. “I am afraid to let you take part in this,” I admitted to her.

“Will you be joining me?”

“I cannot say at this time. I will know more after we meet with my father.”

“Am I to go with you to that?” she asked, her voice tense.

“Yes, I think it best as we need your knowledge. Since you will be joining the Guardians in this mission, you will need to know what it all entails. Are you okay with all of this? Tell me true January, because if you are not, I will not allow you to participate.”

“Rykerian, people are dying everywhere. If there is something…anything I can do to help, I am willing to do it. Besides, I have a brother and sister that will benefit from this too. When we finish, can you take me to them? I must see Tommy and Sarah…I need to know if they’re still…” her voice trailed off as tears prevented her from saying more.

I gathered her into my arms to calm her. When trembling subsided, I told her that we would go to her brother and sister. “We will take some of the vaccine with us to ensure they receive it. Hopefully, they are safe and sound, but we will know more in a few days.”

“How long before we leave for Atlanta?” she asked.

“My guess is later today or tomorrow. Come, we must get down to the Compound.”

Along the way I explained how the Compound beneath the house was the Command Center for all the Guardians on Earth. It was a massive complex that on any given day had hundreds of Vesturions moving about performing their various duties.

I snorted when I looked at January’s expression. I put my hand beneath her chin and gently closed her mouth.

“I’ve never…I mean, how big is this place? What are those things over there? How many people are down here?” The questions continued to tumble out of her mouth.

I gave her a brief description of what took place here but by then we had reached the conference room where everyone waited for us.

As we entered, I looked around. Rayn and Maddie were present, along with my father and Kennar who was a Guardian that had at one time been second in command at the Compound here. My other brother Tesslar was also present, as well as five other Guardians.

I pulled January to my side and introduced her first to my father and to the rest of those present.

After we all were seated, Rayn began explaining what he thought was our best option to get the vaccine in the right place.

“January has consented to assist us in the mission. She spent several months at the CDC working in the lab. While she did not have access to the secure part of the lab where the
variola
major
virus was stored, she knows the location. We can teleport to the CDC and she can lead us to the storage area. We will need to go when some of their virologists are present so we can plant the information into their minds to make it look like they’ve developed the vaccine themselves. We will also take virus samples so they can have them on hand to produce more vaccine. We have produced enough vaccine to inoculate all of Atlanta. We can leave them with the vaccine in various stages of development so they won’t immediately run out.”

“That’s a ton of vaccine. How do you intend to get it there?” January asked.

I answered, “That’s the easy part. Once we know where the storage facility for the vaccine is, we will teleport it directly there.”

“I only know where the virus samples are kept for that and for the flu. I don’t know where they stored massive amounts of the vaccine.” Her words were laced with anxiety. I quickly reached for her hand and watched her tension dissolve.

“Do not be concerned about that. We can discover that when we have contact with one of the scientists. We will find everything we need to know then,” I explained.

“Why don’t you just go to them directly and tell them you have the vaccine? Why all this subterfuge?”

All eyes in the room glanced at January then honed in on me. They all waited expectantly for my answer.

“January, I suppose I have been remiss in not telling you that we cannot disclose our identity or existence for that matter. It is against our Covenants. There is sound reasoning behind this. Our species is so much more advanced than here on Earth that if humans were to discover even one of our technological advances, it could alter the future of this planet. We swear not to ever interfere in the development of any species or society.”

“I see. Even when half of humanity is at stake? That seems like a stupid rule to me!” she exclaimed.

January’s face had flushed and her eyes were shooting sparks. I glanced at my father to see him scowling. Rayn pushed his way into my thoughts and all but ordered me to get my hands on her and keep them there. We didn’t need her attention to be diverted as it was.

I put my arm across her shoulders and she glared at me. Eventually my Power of Tranquility calmed her and diffused her anger. “Are you using your Power on me?” she wanted to know. I nodded in response. She licked her lips and stared at me for a second before nodding in return. We finally pulled our eyes away from each other and I noticed everyone was staring at us.