| Phase 24 The door hissed open, bringing me into wakefulness. I opened my eyes and looked right into Bart�s clear blue ones. � You�re awake!� he announced with a smile. I tried to sit up, but a sudden stab of pain made me lay back down. I noticed that the area of my right shoulder was heavily bandaged. What happened? � Elly shot you,� he explained shortly. � You passed out in the engine room and I brought you here.� I realized that I had no shirt. I . . . I ruined . . . your shirt. He let out a laugh and touched my face. � Stupid!� he scolded gently. � I told you not to worry about things I can replace!� I closed my eyes and relaxed. I felt his hand on my stomach, his fingers drawing little circles on my skin, and smiled sleepily. I like that. Don�t stop. He chuckled throatily and said in a nearly inaudible whisper, � I will do anything you want.� What�s the price? There�s always a catch. � You.� I looked at him, but he seemed to be serious. . . . Then I�m yours. He smiled and brushed some stray hair behind my ear. � I was kidding, Kris. But thank you anyway.� Why do you test me like that? � To find where your loyalties lie and to make sure they�re still there.� No need to worry. I have no reason to change loyalties. And even if there was, who would I go to? He shrugged. � I don�t know. I guess I�m just paranoid.� He paused. � You must be rubbing off on me.� I snorted. � . . . How did I get here?� I sat up as Bart turned and looked at a confused Elly. � Don�t you remember? You nearly---� I clapped my hand over his mouth and pinched his arm. Sig tilted his head slightly as he listened to whoever was at the other end of the headset and then looked up. � Young Master, two large Gears have been detected heading this way.� Bart groaned. � Not them again! . . . Whatever. Fei, Citan---� � Wait!� Elly cried. � I want to go!� � No way.� � Let her go,� Citan told him. To Elly, he warned, � If you do anything out of the ordinary, I will be the one to shoot you down. Is that fair?� Elly gave a sharp nod. Bart nodded hesitatingly. � All right then. Fei, Elly, let�s go!� Why do I have to stay? I pouted as they ran from the room. � Because you are injured,� Citan replied pointedly. But it�s not bad enough that I have to stay in bed, is it? � I do not believe so, though you should take it easy on that arm.� Great! I hopped from the bed and ran to the elevator. I went to Bart�s room and searched through one of my boxes for something to wear (we�d been able to rescue just about everything out of my room once we�d docked at the Thames; the only bad part was that it was all wet). I grabbed something that looked like a closed-back, one-piece zip-up bathing suit (don�t even ask; I was wearing it when I woke up in the desert when I was six and it seems to be growing along with me) and a long-sleeved, blue jean shirt. Where are you going? Devon asked with a yawn from her bed in Bart�s chair where she had, surprisingly, stayed for the past few hours. To Axyl. You stay here. I put the suit on (it is an article of clothing, I just lost another part of it, I think), pulled the jean shirt and my pants back on over it, and then went to the Gear bay to Axyl. I fit the helmet on my head. Axyl, start up. � Enter control code.� Control code: 5-2-7-1, input. � Control confirmed to Krista-Lyn Wong. Welcome aboard, Kris!� Axyl, monitor the COMs, could you? [Is there anything I�m listening for specifically?] Any signs that they�re in trouble. [Compliance.] I listened for a long while, identifying the voices as I heard them. Elly . . . Miang . . . Bart . . . Ramsus . . . Fei . . . Axyl�s COM crackled to life. � Kris, I know you�re listening in on this. I really don�t want to do this, but there�s no other choice. I need you to come down here and help us.� Affirmative. I slipped into the harness. Axyl, you heard him. Axyl started out, diving into the water. The impact jarred my wound. Axyl, I was hurt earlier. If something happens to me, keep fighting, all right? [Compliance.] Axyl flew through the water, separating it into hydrogen and oxygen. � Kris! What are you doing?! Get back here now!� I can�t. Bart asked me to help. � If he asked you to jump off a cliff, would you?!� Yes. He sighed. � Dumb question.� Sig, I�ll be fine. � No! You don�t understand!� I understand. But it doesn�t hurt that bad. I�ll make it. � That�s not it!� Then what is it? � You�re going to fight Kahr---� An electric arm from the Haishao slammed into Axyl�s stomach, disrupting her communications. Axyl, damage report. [Long wave communication link destroyed. Short wave communication link operational.] So I could only talk to those within a few dozen sharls of me. That sucks. � Glad you�re here, Kris,� Fei said. � Your help will be greatly appreciated.� � Krista?!� Haishao banged against Axyl and a small screen appeared in the upper left corner, revealing the face of the Gebler officer in Aveh. He was very angry. � You . . . ! You . . . ! Traitorous child! How dare you show yourself around me on the side of the enemy!� I felt panic rise again. It wasn�t my fault! Axyl�s wings operated on their own and crushed Haishao between them. Large dents appeared and a small hole opened in the side. Haishao backed away and activated its electric arms. They went right for Fei, knocking Weltall over four times in a row. Then, finally, Weltall collapsed and didn�t get up. � Fei!� Elly wailed. Vierge bent forward, rising from the sand a bit, and tiny silver, crystal-like metal objects appeared from her flank guards and her �ponytail�. They surrounded us and fired small lazers at the space between us and Ramsus. Haishao dropped back. � What?! Aerods?!� Miang�s Gear fell back as well. � Commander, we need to retreat.� � . . . No! I want to finish this!� Haishao went straight for Weltall. � No you don�t!� I shouted. Axyl arched back, the tips of the outer wing pinions touching, and lifted off the sea floor. Small pockets of sand stirred as real crystals that were all the different shades of blue popped from the sea bottom. They swirled around Axyl, then went to the Haishao and fired lazer bursts at the space between us. A line of glass appeared and the crystals returned to the sand. � Were those . . . Aerods?� Ramsus asked, bewildered. � Where did they come from? I never saw them until . . .� � Commander!� Miang snapped politely. � We have to retreat!� Haishao and Miang�s Gear backed away. � This is not the end, Krista. I said I would punish you for your betrayal and now I�m keeping the promise!� A stinging pain blazed through my head. I screamed and slumped against the harness. Bart called for me frantically, but I couldn�t answer. *>*<* Axyl hesistated for a split-second, then rushed forward angrily. She let out a ghostly scream of defiance at Haishao. Kahran pulled back at the scream. He knew that sound all too well . . . //Both stood there. �Him� and �Her�. He, who had annihilated his legion of a thousand men, and She, who had made no move yet but was obviously waiting for her chance. To kill �Him� or someone else, he wasn�t sure. She gave nothing away. �Him� and �Her�. �Id� and �Tyra�. �Fei� and �Kris�. Neither was worn-out and he dared not attack. There. They were distracted. Ramsus lunged forward, sword ready. They turned too late . . . A gust of wind knocked Ramsus back. He looked up to see a very disturbing sight. A huge dragonic Gear loomed over him and snarled hot breath at him. �It�s as if it�s alive!� Kahran marvelled. The Gear�s wings spread wide and the monster let out a rebellious scream, shattering the cameras and audio systems on every Gear in the area.// Kahran Ramsus watched as Axyl seemed to narrow her eyes and actually speak to him. He looked at the visual of Kris. She was silent. � Vengeance will be mine, Kahran! I will kill you for what you did to Krista-Lyn! It ends now!� The Solarian commander recoiled in shock. The Gear was speaking! It was not the original installed voice, but it was not, in any stretch of the imagination, similar to Kris�. The voice was generated by the Gear itself! Axyl swung her wings forward, crushing the Haishao�s cockpit even more. The hole in the armor finished tearing and water began to leak inside. � You will not get out of this ocean alive!� Miang came forward to help Ramsus, but Axyl only batted her aside with a wing. � Stay back or I�ll kill you too.� As a last ditch attempt to save his life, Kahran stretched his arm to the consol and activated the electric arms. To his horrified dismay, Axyl engaged an electric shield, leaving her immune to the attack. Axyl attacked once again. Ramsus was squeezed painfully and he let out a gasp to relieve some of the pressure.� You, Kahran, are now trapped as Krista-Lyn was. Now you know the fear and pain. Do you wish a merciful end or a painful one?� She was so calm . . . Then he was saved. But not by Miang. � Axyl, come on! Don�t waste your time on him!� � Why?� � Fei�s in trouble! You can kill Puniverse later!� The winged Gear got within a sharl of the Haishao�s cockpit. � You are spared this once, Kahran Ramsus. However, if Fei should die, you will as well. In a most unmerciful way.� Ramsus watched Axyl�s form shift from her own to that of the Dragon. And each time the Dragon was there, its smirk/snarl got bigger and more threatening. Axyl turned to leave. Though she had not changed her shape, she had cast that illusion. She knew what Ramsus feared and hopefully it would keep him from bothering them anymore. If not . . . He was dead. Following Bart, Axyl realized her battery was dangerously low from talking so much. She prepared to engage the smaller emergency battery just in case. In the bay, she watched as they retrieved Fei, then went to her own stall and began to go through the process of a slow recharge of her main battery. She shut down as Kris had told her to before, but the charging did not stop. <--Phase 23 Phase 25--> |