Hulle there, Sparks.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this chapter, in fact, I’ve thought of little else since it started and now we are here, near the end, I’m almost sad.
I think this is one of the biggest turning points in my story, and certainly one of the most exciting.
If I had to do a short list of the other big ones so far, it’s the hallway fight with the overdose, then Misty’s explosion, then Dennis’s part in discovering Logan’s empathy. Then there’s the birthday party where the guys sort of realize for the first time that Elle isn’t going to just fit in and the interrogation where Elle is in crisis again. And then the wind down from the demonstration where Elle figures out Cathy’s been manipulating her. And now we are here.
I think I might have missed a few. If you think of them, please let me know…
I’d love to read why you think it’s a turning point and always remember that one of my favorite things to do is engage in discussion. This story really has had a few ups and downs hey? And here we’re two-thirds or so through it, and still a few chapters from the end. I’ve got so much drama still in store for you. And I know these little bites can be really frustrating because I make you wait. I’m sorry. I’m rewriting this entire section from scratch because my big outline document is a bit sketchy.
Pantsing, they call it.
I’ve actually thought this piece through really well on numerous occasions, as it’s such an important chapter, but my notes are all over the place because I’m not always at my PC when I’m thinking and right now it’s more effort than it’s worth to search them out. Easier just to start over since I know exactly where I want to go from here.
I really do hope you’ll stick around for the rest of it. For now, enjoy this teaser. And yes, I’ll end on a cliffhanger and yes, I will make you wait in delicious anticipation because if I’m being honest, I am (just a little bit of) a sadist and it gives me great pleasure to tease out your wildest desires for where this story will go.
INDEX | Chapter 8 | Scene 1 | Scene 2 | Scene 3 | Scenes 4 & 5 | Scenes 6 & 7 | Scenes 8 - 10 | Next Scene → Coming soon.
Previously: With Luke’s influence causing a supportive lull, Logan and Tom storm the base and take out the tower guards so they can move freely. Once the brothers are both in position, Tom goes inside the prison wing to free the prisoners and search for Elle while Logan supports from a tech standpoint.
Tom walks quickly along the well-lit halls of the PG base’s prison wing. It’s a high-security area, but thanks to Luke, the few graveyard guards are little more than zombies, and with my remote access, all the gates are already open by the time he gets there.
I watch Tom handing over the map and the plan to each of our escapees in turn and I see how each in turn frustrates him with questions. It’s understandable, none of them had any idea they were supposed to escape tonight, nor do they have any reason to trust this weird glowing godlike entity who has no time to explain, but as I watch Tom wasting precious time, do I wish the lucky inmates would just take the gift and run.
I check my clock. Luke has already given us three minutes. I flex my numb fingers and breathe warm air into my cupped hands, wondering how much longer he can sustain this broad a cast of his talents, stationary, in the frigid wind.
Watching the seconds tick by, I unlock another gate as Tom comes up on the third guy and I send mental alarm bells in his direction, relying on Luke to pass along the reminder that his time is short. He reacts, moving a little faster, and I sigh thankfully. Luke is still with us for now.
Tom reaches the fourth prisoner, Rashak Grora who envelops him in a bone-crushing hug before running out the open door. He’s getting close. One more before Elle.
I notice a few guards stirring and sense Luke’s influence beginning to wane. Two more minutes have passed. Hurry Tom.
The camera feed glitches as if it’s been reset. Time’s running out. Someone must have noticed something. I bring up the surveillance for Elle’s room. The recording is gone, and it’s in real-time.
My heart leaps into my throat when I see her balancing on her hands in the middle of the carpet. I expected her to be fast asleep, curled around a stuffed animal like a little girl. Instead, she looks so poised and grown up. Her back is turned to the camera, but even from this angle and in infrared, I can see the graceful curve of her figure, a testament to her transition from girlhood to young womanhood. Her loose shirt hangs gently around her shoulders, and her dark braid rests like a coiled serpent on the carpet. I can’t believe how much I’ve missed her.
She straightens her bent knees and lets her feet come slowly down to meet her hands, then flips onto her feet in the gymnast’s stretch. She lifts her chin with closed eyes, stretching her neck and sighing. Thunder rumbles and there’s a lightning strike and she cocks her head. Then turns and stares at the door expectantly. There’s only one guard out there, sitting with an assault rifle across his knees. He looks quite awake. Glancing nervously at the door towards Elle then back down the hall. Luke’s influence flickers sporadically. Time’s up.
Tom is still three junctions away. He isn’t going to make it. I have no choice.
If Tom is going to have any chance of convincing Elle to come with him, he is going to need more time. All I can do is create a diversion. Working fast, I bring up the schematic, unlock the last of the doors we need, and open the remote lock for Elle’s room. It might alert the guard but there’s nothing else I can do from here.
I put away the tab, hopping down through the inky darkness with my energy still low. Slipping through the unlocked main door of the barracks, I peek at the sleeping garrison. The night watchman is asleep on duty. Thanks, Luke.
I pad quietly into the large room. The air is thick with the smell of sweat and gunpowder. There are over a hundred beds here, and more than half of them are filled with a mixture of soldiers from every race in our vast galaxy.
Thinking of Tom, that he should be there by now, I take a deep breath and light up, letting the energy suffuse my entire form once again. Oh my Deity, it feels so good. The power flowing through every inch of me, warms my stiff, chilled muscles and makes my head buzz with an intense excitement.
I feel invincible. I let the energy build and concentrate wherever it will and a war cry rises in my throat, and as I let it out, all I see are covers flying while soldiers drop from their beds to the floor. It’s amazing how quickly trained men and women can go from fast asleep to fully awake.
I stand, a lone beacon of light in the middle of the crowded barracks surrounded and outnumbered but at the same time, defiant. It takes them a moment to realize that there’s only one of me, and despite the unsettling sight before them the soldiers seem to assume an uncanny confidence. They know they have an advantage in numbers, and instead of cowering they tighten up their formation, weapons at the ready.
Then the lights go out and a siren starts to blare and I sense Tom’s energy fluctuation, signaling that he’s found her.
The door opens and I feel like I’m small again. Waiting inside our little boxy house for Father to get home from work. He came for me. He came to save me.
As his golden glory fills the door frame, my heart leaps with pure joy. He’s matured and lost the awkwardness of young adulthood. He’s so tall, so strong. His hair is longer and thicker, framing his face and his gorgeous awakened eyes. I’ve seen pictures of the Awakened Manorian princes, aglow with inner radiance that accentuates their every feature. Tom, no Thomas No’Gard, is many times more powerful than I even imagined. It’s a power to rival my own. I didn’t think it was even possible.
Our eyes lock, and I hesitate. Faced with one of the most brutal warriors in the known universe, I should be afraid, but I’m not.
“Tom,” I whisper, just loud enough for him to hear as a stupid grin splits my face. The lights in the hall go out and flash red as an alarm starts blaring. I hardly notice. Tom approaches, his light dimming with each step, his energy subsiding, and he starts to look more like how I remember him. I want to run to him, throw my arms around his neck, and squeeze the breath out of him. I want to feel his strong arms around me. That he’s Manorian doesn’t matter. What happened before doesn’t matter. We’ll find a way to get past it.
I take my first step and there’s a bright flash from the hall and two quick loud pops momentarily drown out the raging of the storm, freezing me in my tracks. Tom’s body jerks, pushed forward by an unseen force. He coughs, and staggers. I rush forward to catch him before he can fall. Dark wet blotches appear on the carpet out of nowhere.
Seconds pass like hours, as he wilts in my arms, his strength draining even as his heart beats with an uncertain staccato rhythm and cold fear seeps into my bones. I see the night guard in the hall, lying on his side with a large bump on his head, but he’s holding his weapon, pointed straight at Tom, and grinning. No!
I exhale as my eyes start to burn, and hot molten energy floods my body, without a second’s thought. I flick a disintegrating blast at the man, turning him into a steaming pile of ash, then pull Tom’s right arm over my shoulders, lift him up with my back, and run.
With a sudden swift movement, using every ounce of power and skill I possess, I strike hard with lightning speed. My movements are fluid and precise. Despite the soldiers’ training and discipline, they are no match, caught off guard and faced with what must seem to them an untouchable entity. One by one they fall, unable to match my superior agility and strength.
More and more guards arrive, drawn by the alarm and the spectacle, as I knew they would be. I keep fighting, like I’ve never fought before, with non-lethal but devastating blows. Those I touch don’t get back up. I only hope it’s enough of a distraction for Tom to accomplish his task.
For a little while I’m lost in the flow, enjoying the feeling of letting myself go further than I’ve ever done before, but a strangely nagging sensation comes into my mind. It’s odd, an instinctive dread, that starts as a pinch, then becomes a twinge. It’s a visceral gut-level reaction, that I find impossible to ignore. Wrong. Tom’s energy is too low. He must have powered down so Elle could recognize him, but that would leave him defenseless if someone attacked. I have a bad feeling. Something is wrong.
I turn on my heel and retreat, indiscriminately knocking down anyone who dares to stand in my way, and neatly clearing the field of friendly bodies. They are moving too slowly. I can sense Elle and Tom approaching their door, and only realize my mistake as I make it to mine. A series of flashes and pops follow me and I feel the stinging ping of gunfire ricocheting off of my apparently bulletproof energy-infused skin. Silently I thank the Deity for her protection and increase my superficial energy concentration to dissipate the impacts even further.
Out the corner of my eye, I see a bright green fireball light up the falling snow as it leaves the prison wing, amid a hail of bullets and I immediately move in that direction upping the pressure to draw their fire.
My own retreat becomes another distraction as Tom and Elle shoot across the courtyard in the direction of the fence where we came in but even as I dance, flinging energy missiles randomly into the defending PG soldiers I see they are too low. My heart leaps as they just manage to clear the fence, and bucks when they crash through the treetops before disappearing completely into the storm.
I hang back until I can’t sense them anymore, just to be sure they’ve escaped, then follow at the top of my speed, letting nature’s fury obscure my passage, and go dark among the trees.
Next Time: Logan’s gut tells him that Tom is hurt as he follows Elle through the forest in the direction of the clearing where they were supposed to regroup but with no idea as to the severity of Tom’s condition, Logan has to find Luke along the way and hope that they are not too late.
Thanks so much for reading! If you like, please:
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and as always, I love hearing what you think so, feel free to:
wow. Thank God I have a couple days to get my heart rate back down, damn you :)
Yes, I open my mail and there you are right at the top! A little endorphin bump!!
You certainly understand the axiom that even the best planning for a combat engagement doesn't survive first contact! And then the ability to improvise becomes paramount.
And then Elle surprised me that she made her choice in very short order! The rescued becomes the rescuer, excellent! Sending Tom to make contact and having Elle respond with a strong positive attraction was a good move! Which, combined with Logan's reaction when he saw the new and improved Elle doing her exercise routine, certainly provides opportunity for additional conflict down the road, of course making the assumption that Tom survives his wounds?A fairly safe assumption I think. You would really surprise me if you introduced that level of tragedy in this story. Of course Tom's status is a key part of the cliffhanger! And wondering about Luke's status, having possibly exhausted his capabilities out in the cold and wet? Is he going to need help as well?
Then the big failure that was key to the operation, not being able to conceal that Luke and company were responsible for the breakout! This is almost certainly treason and with probably a kill on sight order coming. Where do they go? PG likely knows all of Luke's hide outs. Off planet in reverse? There are so many ways this story could continue, it thrills the mind!
As far as IDing key points, I think there was one other, maybe as part of aftermath of the OD ?, when Logan had an earlier empathetic experience with Elle including some tragic experiences from her earlier life at home? I haven't looked it up, so I may be confusing multiple elements...
So I will admit to a certain trepidatious feeling about where this is heading with an awareness that there is an ending over the hill, but can hardly stand the suspense!
Feels like I'm rambling here, but oh well, there it is***