Page 32 of DaR (Darverius, House of DaR #1)
Chapter Twenty-Nine
DAR
“ Tordan , what happened? How did we get disconnected?”
“ I am not sure, DaR .”
Angry , I yell, “ SoL , I need you at the communication panel.”
“ Already on it, Father .”
I hear Tordan and SoL talking, but it is like they are in a tunnel. My Symbots are dancing all over my arms and shoulders in agitation. The wound on my leg is not healing as quickly as it usually does either. Maybe this is what is making my Symbots act strangely.
“ Men , I am heading to medical. Comm me when you reconnect.” I think back to just moments ago at the relief on Kira’s face when she finally saw me after a few rotations.
I could also see the concern in her eyes when she realized I was hurt.
What was odd is that she did not seem shocked by it. It was like she already knew, but how?
I did not understand how much I needed or even missed someone caring about me until then. I have gone into countless battles and have had so many injuries that I no longer even remember how I got half the scars on my body.
I hate that I made her worry though since she has had enough heartache in her short years.
I honestly did not think she would even care if I was there or not, until the moment I came back into comm range.
Tordan informed me about her making SAGE contact him multiple times a day, only to make sure I was unharmed.
As I head around a corner, my leg completely gives out from beneath me. I barely catch myself before I hit the floor. Feelings of complete terror consume my mind. I get a glimpse of a blue hand reaching out for me, but then nothing.
I shake my head and then I feel someone’s hand on my arm lifting me back up. “ What the frack is going on, have I been poisoned?” I say to myself. I look up into SoL’s worried gaze.
“ Father , we found the disturbance. SAGE has been compromised. Somehow , they found a way to disable her.”
“ Who are they?”
“ Tordan believes it is the Korgons . He intercepted an encrypted message moments before SAGE’s outer sensors went down.
We are just assuming by what we were able to decipher from the message.
Apparently , they must have thought Kira was closer to death than she was on their ship.
They dumped her on Sybrus One to make a couple of quick credits before she actually expired.
Only , it seems the crew was not informed that one of their leaders had already viewed the cargo and picked Kira for himself.
The crew was trying to find a replacement when one of them saw the holo-vid that marked Kira as your mate in the market. When they saw her on your shoulder, alive and well, they must have decided it was worth the risk to get her back.”
I stagger and my back hits the wall behind me; my only thought is I must get to Kira . “ Something is wrong because I can feel that she is in danger. I need to get to my shuttle. I must get to her now!”
I can tell that he wants to argue with me, until he sees the look on my face.
SoL simply wraps his arm around my waist, and we head toward the hanger.
Tordan already has the machine running and it is hovering a few inches off the ground, ready for takeoff.
SoL gets me in the shuttle and then stands back out of the way.
I can see he is torn; he wants to come with me, but one of us has to be on Falcor at all times.
“ Tordan , I need you to navigate my shuttle, because my mind is not right. I know not if I can concentrate enough to land this thing right now. I need you to locate Kira and when you do, land me as close to her location as possible. ”
I look over toward SoL , and the worry for me is apparent in his eyes. Of all my sons, he is the one with the biggest heart. “ SoL , I need you to take my place here until further notice.”
“ I will make you proud, Father .”
“ You always have, Son .” I no more than get that out of my mouth before Tordan launches me out of the bay. Impatiently , I await the sight of my mountain. I see a dot appear on the screen then Tordan confirms what I am seeing.
“ Commander , I have located Mistress Kira and she is not inside the dwelling. It looks like she is near the location I have narrowed down that caused SAGE’s communication link to be disabled. I detect multiple heat signatures in the area, but I cannot tell if any are hostile.”
“ Land me as close as possible, Tordan .”
Suddenly , I hear RaZ’s voice in my head. Out of all my boys, he is the only one who can direct mind link. “ Ummm , Father ? You may want to head home, we have a situation here.”
“ I am here, advise, and is Kira unharmed?” Before the shuttle can land, I jump the few feet to the ground.
My leg trembles but does not fold under me.
My Symbots are stretching away from me like they are in a hurry themselves.
I run toward RaZ , looking everywhere for Kira .
My heart hits my chest when I start to see blood and what looks like pieces of flesh strung everywhere.
Before I have time to panic, I see her, I believe .
RaZ is trying to tell me what happened, but all I can see is Kira , or what is left of her.
Ickis is sitting on one of her black shoulders, swinging his razor-sharp tail back and forth in front of her like a machete.
It takes me a moment to comprehend what I am seeing.
My Symbots have made a protective cocoon around her because she felt threatened.
Then it looks like her own little protector refused to let anyone get close enough from that point on.
This is why I have not been healing as quickly as I have in the past; part of me is with her.
“ Father , I promise you, she was never in any danger, but she just shut down as soon as she saw them. I tried to get close, but her Uana will not let me near her. I even tried to mind link with him to show him I am a good male, but he has never seen me before, so he was not going to give me a chance. All he kept showing me was your face.”
I walk forward, slowly approaching Ickis . “ Hello , my little friend. You have done a fine job protecting your human female, but I need to see if she has been damaged. Can I come closer?”
I see him get agitated when RaZ takes a step forward with me and I wave my hand for him to step back.
“ He will stay back there, so it is just me.” Ickis waits until I am within touching distance, then he jumps onto my shoulder huffing.
Kira says this is his way of communicating.
I touch her shoulder, amazed at what I see.
Her whole body is completely encased, covered from head to toe.
My Symbots have her wrapped up in a cocoon.
The poisonous darts that protect me in battle start to retract as I approach.
Certain strands reach out for their mates on my arms.
“ Kira , I need you to come back to me my sweet little human; you are safe now.” I turn back toward RaZ and he just lifts his shoulders. “ Can you get a read on her well-being at all? I cannot feel anything.”
“ No , it is like she is in a deep sleep. Her mind is calmly blank, if there is such a thing. I think the little strands of Symbots on your body have found a way to calm her down when she gets upset. I have a feeling this is not the first time they have worked their magic on her either. I believe you two are a little more connected than you thought.”
I walk around Kira , dumfounded. I have no idea how to get them to release her, as they have never acted this way with me.
I touch her face and try talking calmly to her, but nothing.
Ickis huffs and jumps back on her shoulder, rubbing his face on her cheek.
I swear it is like he is saying, “ Let me try.”
“ I know not what to do, RaZ .”
“ Maybe if you get her back into the dwelling, somewhere more familiar than out here, she will come back on her own. Father , I truly do not have a clue, and I am just throwing ideas out there.”
When I first swing her up into my arms, she is stiff all over, but then after I take a few steps, her body relaxes and her natural shape returns. The Symbots swirl protectively all over her, but now I can see her features.
My leg starts to tremble, but within seconds I feel my Symbots healing the wound. It would seem that Kira and I are both stronger together now than when we are apart. I had no idea my Symbots could or would ever transfer to another. What I would not do to have my father here to ask about this.
I turn toward the house, leaving the shuttle behind for now. I hear RaZ let out a sharp whistle and then the sound of growling can be heard through the forest. He has signaled his Selin to be on guard.
I approach the outer courtyard. “ SAGE , are all security systems back online?”
“ Sir , I apologize. I did not even realize anyone had come near the outer sensors.
They must have found a way to jam the signals from a distance.
Falcor alerted Tordan when he lost communication with me.
I cannot believe I left Mistress Kira completely unprotected.
I had no idea I was that vulnerable to an outside attack.
Right up until Falcor rebooted me, I had no way of even setting off the alarms. He had to do it remotely, and I am still only running at ninety percent.
Falcor is monitoring the dwelling until I am back to full capacity.