| Phase 37 � Yoohoo . . . Kris?� � . . . Yeah?� I replied sleepily. � Could you come up to the bridge?� � . . . Sure. I�ll be there in a second.� I got up and made my way to the bridge with no little amount of stumbling. � Uh huh?� Sig turned. � There you are . . .?� He tilted my chin up. � Have you been crying?� he asked in a whisper. � How did you guess?� I answered. He gave me a gentle hug. � What happened?� I shook my head. � I . . . I don�t know, really. It was just so fast . . .� � Wait. If this has anything to do with Bartholomew, don�t say it. He�s been acting oddly recently.� The door opened. � Baby�s being babied?� Sig looked up. � Be quiet.� The woman leaned to the side so she was looking at me. � Whatcha cryin� for, Baby?� � I�m warning you, Ana . . .� � And I�m ignoring you. Oh, by the way, my name�s Kiree.� � Ana, Kiree, whatever. Just leave Kris alone before you end up hurt or dead. I won�t stop her if she goes for you.� � That�s okay; I will.� � I�m not telling you again. Conventional weapons won�t hurt her. Back off while you�re still in one piece.� I glanced around. � Where�s Bart?� Sig looked down at me. � He went into the excavation site.� � Without me?!� I pulled away from Sig and ran for the door. � He promised! He promised he�d let her kill Stein!� � Kris, be careful!� I flew to the excavation site and entered. Who knew how far they�d gotten? I stopped on an open bridge and looked down at the city there. . . . Zeboim. ~� I haven�t seen you around before.� She studied the man cautiously to see if he would try to do what the others had done. � I don�t get out much.� Someone yelled and the man turned to look in that direction. He returned his piercing blue eyes to her. � I must go. But . . . will you still be here?� � That depends,� she answered guardedly. � This is a big place. I may find a better part of it.� � I�ll come back tomorrow.� She tilted her head. � I suppose I will still be here.� � Good.� � What is your name?� He ducked as if he�d been hit. � Oh, sorry. I�m Niq Fatima.� She stepped forward and touched his pale blond hair. � Krista-Lyn. I prefer Krista.� Unaware of what possessed him, he held her face in his hands and drew her closer. She didn�t fight, but he realized what he was doing and let her go. � . . . I�m very sorry, I . . . don�t know what came over me.� She smiled. � You truly are unique.� � . . . I am?� � I tempted you shamelessly. I gave you every signal that a normal man would look for . . . yet you did nothing.� � Not quite,� he muttered. � What you almost did doesn�t matter. What you really did is what does matter. And you held back. That�s an amazing show of self-control. I�m impressed.� � Do you have any idea how difficult that was?� � I�m sure it was very difficult. All the other men I have tried that on did not do as well as you.� She nodded even though he had said nothing. � Yes, I will go with you.� He jerked in surprise. � ?! How did you . . .?� She laughed. � Your thoughts wander far. I picked them up easily.� � You�re a telepath?!� � And a telekinetic and all those other wonderful mind things.� He smiled and held out his hand. � My lady?� She smiled in return and took his hand. � My lord.�~ I shook my head and continued on. I took to the air again and glided through the halls, the wings partially folded. I soon got down to the lower levels, where everything was completely active. I entered into a small lobby area and looked between the two doors. Finally, I chose the door that was directly across from me and went for it. ~The women were locked out. Because they�d had longer strides, the men had gotten in and were safe from everything. Kim and Niq frantically tried to get the doors open, but the door sensed the enemy and wouldn�t obey. Elly and Krista sat on the floor, their legs shot out from under them, vulnerable. They glared defiantly at the soldiers, some of whom looked as though they had plans for the two women. But upon receiving the order to kill, they did so without hesitation. Elly--fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it--was dead instantly. Krista clung stubbornly to life and turned to the room behind her. Niq and Kim crowded that corner and called to her, both crying openly. Krista summoned the strength to place her hands on the glass. They each placed a hand against hers and she managed a smile. Don�t cry. Remember, Elly and I love you both very much. No matter what, don�t give up. Don�t let them have her, all right? They nodded and Krista sank to the floor.~ I found myself in the same red hall that �Elly� and �Krista� had died in. It really gave me the creeps. Bart, Billy, and Citan stood at the end of the hall, apparently trying to get the door open. I walked past them and inspected the door. � What are you doing here?� Bart demanded (oddly enough, I noticed that his eyepatch was missing; he must�ve lost it in a battle). � I thought I left you on the ship where you�d be safe.� I sensed the malice in his tone. � As if you care. Besides, you promised her. Are you going back on that?� When he didn�t answer, I returned my attention to the door. � Open.� � Scan retina, palm, and voice to verify,� a computer voice replied as a small square of wall rose to reveal a palm and eye scanner. I placed my hand on the rectangular palm scanner and let the eye scanner check my retina. � Voice code: Krista, 3-4-6-3, verify.� � Processing . . . Voice code verified.� The doors then opened with a calm hiss. � Welcome to the lab, Krista.� I entered and Billy asked, � How did you do that?� I turned and shrugged. � I just . . . knew it.� We had hardly begun to talk about how the little girl in the reactor tube could have been created when we were interrupted by Stein. He stole the nanomachine child, then ordered two Elements to buy him escape time. At least he knew he couldn�t outrun us. I was settling in to battle Tolone and Seraphita when something hit my arm. I jerked the dart out, but knew it was too late. Stein smiled cruelly. � Remember what I said before, Krista-Lyn. Krelian wants you as well. You are a vital piece to his experiments.� He turned to one of his men. � Bring her.� No! No more testing! Please! Please . . . *>*<* He�d been so focused on the fight that he hadn�t even noticed Kris� disappearance. He looked around frantically; he still cared deeply for Kris though he pretended to be angry at her. A flash of insight showed a weakened Kris being carried after Stein. He clutched his head. �No! Why do they keep doing this to me?! Why do they keep taking her away from me?!� Citan shouted a warning and Bart�s head snapped up. He narrowed his eyes at the leaping Tolone, who froze in mid-air. She blinked in surprise, then struggled angrily. � Put me down!� He smirked. � If you insist.� His gaze shifted to the floor, slamming Tolone down onto the metal. Then she hit the walls, the ceiling, and the floor again. Seraphita jumped up. � Hey! That�s not fair!� He looked to her and smiled dangerously, holding Tolone in place with a raised hand. � Don�t worry. There�ll be plenty for you as well.� Citan watched this with interest and apprehension. If Bart did not know how to control this new power, then the whole area was dust. Billy watched, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. � Doctor? What exactly is going on?!� � I am not sure.� Bart suddenly dropped Tolone and bolted out the door. Billy and Citan gave chase, following him all the way back to the open bridge. � Give them back, bastard!� Stein turned. � Such language.� �. . . Give it back,� commanded a disembodied voice. Everyone looked around, confused. � Give it back,� the voice repeated. � Give it back!� The same red Gear that had destroyed the Yggdrasil stopped beside the bridge and a red-haired form teleported to the bridge�s framework. He looked down at Stein, warning him to do nothing but obey. � It is mine. To you it is nothing but a used up toy. Give it back!� Glancing to the side, he saw Kris laying on the floor, barely conscious. His face showed nothing as he said, � And you will also give me Krista-Lyn.� *>*<* I couldn�t hear what was being said; that stuff did something to my senses. But after an insistent tug from the back of my head, I didn�t worry about it. I just relinquished control to my �roommate�. {~||~} She�s learning, that�s for sure. Now . . . who to kill first. Stein? But of course. . . .? Is that . . .? It is. Him. Damn. I was wondering when he�d show his pasty-pale face next. He looked at me and smiled a fake greeting. � Tyra. My sister. So nice to see you again.� I snorted. � Id. My brother. Your fakery has gotten worse over the years.� � Then let us not waste another moment, hm?� He lunged at me from the metal framework. I deflected his attack and kicked upward, knocking him back. He recovered and cast Radiance. I let it go, since it didn�t hurt me, then rushed at him and back-flipped, catching his chin and throwing him down. He got up and dashed toward me, punching wildly. I tumbled, but got back to my feet and shoved the heel of my hand against his nose. He staggered back, one hand over his nose and mouth, then hopped up to the framework once more. � You�ve gotten much better, little sister.� � Thanks to your taunts,� I replied, � I made myself better. You aren�t giving up, are you?� He laughed. � Not by far. You may have won the battle, but the war is quite far from over. You will see.� Suddenly, a Gear hand closed around Id. He looked over. � What? You? I thought I killed you!� � Guess again.� � Wiseman!� I shouted. � Tyra,� was the amused greeting. � Well well well. You�ve hardly changed at all.� The was a brief pause as Id struggled. � Now go. I have him.� � I owe you one, Wiseman!� I called, racing after Stein. But Stein had already escaped. We went to the Yggdrasil�s bridge, where Sigurd was looking up at a view screen in the ceiling. � What�s cooking?� � Trouble.� Sigurd looked at me and blinked in surprise, then sighed and looked at the ceiling again. � I suppose you want to rip Stein�s head off.� � You bet I do! It�ll be fun! Wanna help?� He made a face. � No, thank you. I prefer to refrain from outright battles with things that I can�t possibly beat.� I shook my head and pointed. � Nope. See on the side? That little hole? Just stick a grenade in there and boom, there goes the neighborhood!� <--Phase 36 Phase 38--> |