she’d spent some time with Jaron. Was she letting her attraction to him sway her thinking? “I don’t know about your parents, but mine will be frantic by now. They will have called the cops and maybe the media.”
Haley pivoted so she could see her sister and Nikki. “She’s right, Sel. If we don’t want people asking questions, we need a believable story about where we’ve been.”
Selina finally stood. She moved closer but positioned herself so Haley was in-between her and Nikki. “Tell them whatever you like, but don’t you dare tell them the truth.” Selina wasn’t just hostile. Her hostility seemed focused on Nikki.
“Do you blame me for what happened to us?” Nikki couldn’t believe this was an issue. Everything that happened to Selina happened to her. “Why are you lashing out at me?”
“Their delightful mind trick didn’t work right on me. I was paralyzed, completely helpless, but I was aware.”
Nikki felt her jaw drop, so she covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh God, Selina. I’m so sorry. That must have been horrific.” She searched her mind trying to recall a sound, a scent, anything. There was nothing. Each time she was taken from the cell by Zerna or Hastos, her memory was a complete blank.
“I couldn’t feel pain, thank God,” Selina continued, glaring openly at Nikki. “But the orange-haired bitch loves the sound of her own voice.” Selina knew Zerna’s name. Obviously, she had no interest in using it.
“What did she say?” Nikki prompted hoping something constructive would come from Selina’s suffering. “Did you learn anything useful?”
“Who is Lance Egerton?” Selina’s tone still grated, but there was no longer any emotion on her face.
Nikki swallowed hard then slowly licked her lips. The first words out of Zerna’s mouth made it obvious Nikki had been their target, but what did Lance have to do with anything? “Lance is my cousin. Why do you ask? Where did you hear his name?”
“The orange-haired bitch and Frankenstein said all sorts of interesting things about him when they didn’t realize I could hear them,” Selina told her bitterly.
“What did they say, and why did it make you angry with me?”
Before Selina could answer, bursts of energy erupted all around them. Nikki gasped and dove under the ship.
Haley followed, but Selina crouched behind one of the crates arms covering her head.
“What the hell?” Haley yelled as a second barrage began.
“Get in here!” Ayran shouted from the top of the ramp. “The Cretzians found us.”
The women sprinted into the ship, and Ayran closed the hatch behind them.
“Buckle in. We’re going to have to fight our way out,” he warned as he ran toward the cockpit.
The women rushed to the observation seats and fastened their safety restraints. Nikki’s heart thudded so fast it was making her queasy. Were they really going to escape captivity only to die on a jungle moon?
“Oh my God. Oh my God,” Selina cried in a repeating litany.
“Breathe, Selina,” Haley urged. “You need to breathe.”
The monitors came alive as Ayran powered up the ship. He sat in the pilot’s seat, a holographic control grid in front of him. Jaron sat on his left, but Nikki didn’t know what his holo-grid controlled. Velmar stood just behind them, one of his hands gripping the back of each seat. The ship lurched into motion, rearing sharply as they shot into the sky.
As soon as they cleared the jungle, Nikki could see the other three ships. They were smaller and more triangular than the Sarronti transport, which reminded her of a space shuttle. Energy blasts peppered the hull but seemed to do very little damage.
“The shields are holding for now,” Jaron announced as he made several quick adjustments. He looked back at Velmar and asked, “Can you do this?”
“Do I have a choice?” Velmar snapped.
“No,” Ayran agreed, his hands swooping and jabbing as he maneuvered the ship. “And the sooner, the better!”
Velmar widened his stance and tossed back his hair as his fingers dug into the chair backs. He muttered softly, the words rhythmic and musical. Was it a chant or incantation?
The sky in front of them swelled and contracted as if space itself were breathing. Velmar’s words became more staccato, more authoritative. A jagged line formed within the undulating area, shimmering for a moment before it separated drawing back to create a long, black tunnel.
A fast barrage of energy pulses rocked the ship to one side, misaligning it with the portal.
“Damnit,” Ayran snarled and brought the ship back to its original position.