Page 2 of Whispers of the Void (Voidborn Chronicles #1)

CHAPTER 2

RAIZ

* * *

T he human female in my arms made an impressive effort to free herself. The fact that I had to use my gift to subdue her says a lot about her will. Especially when she is so slight, barely larger than a child.

The front door to her quarters opens just as I begin running through the tunnel back to our transport. My second, Altis, stays behind firing stun rounds as I run with the human and our pilot on my heels. Vynia runs to the cockpit and begins engaging the engines and pulling our docking tunnel back into the transport.

A cushioned bench will have to do for the human for now. After making sure she won’t fall onto the floor, I run back to help provide cover while Altis makes his run and Vynia starts the transport.

Two of the guards appear at the broken window and watch as we fly away. Both of them half-dressed, as if they just heard the alarm and ran from their beds. I wish the high priestess had simply agreed to allow us to bring Neev Kaesong to Zeahiri just long enough to translate one of our ancient texts.

But no.

They refused.

The only way they would have allowed it is if we brought the text to them. Even more insulting is the fact that the text wouldn’t have been given back to us. It would have been added to their own vast library.

I can barely restrain my snarl at the thought even as we speed away from Oculus Nine and to my ship hiding behind one of the Calindrean moons. The Order purports to hold the knowledge of the galaxies they’re stationed within, but it’s hard to trust such a secretive group. Especially one that hoards knowledge like a dragon does riches.

Seeing how quickly the guards came for her, I know any minute now we’ll have one of their cruisers tailing us. Once we get to the ship, it won’t be a problem, we can make a jump before they’ll be able to track us. But in this transport? We’re sitting ducks.

Having the girl on board with us should mean they won’t fire at us. I’m not worried once we reach my ship, a first class Zeahirian warship is not an easy mark. As soon as we take off, I walk back up to the front of the transport and stand behind Vynia.

“Two cruisers just exited Oculus Nine heading right for us.” She flips a few switches while I grab one of the bars and brace my body for evasive maneuvers. “Is the human secured?”

“Yes. Strapped to the bench. Do whatever you need to lose them.”

Altis straps himself in and grabs the controls for the weapons array. “Should I fire on them?”

“Just warning shots.”

He huffs in response. “Theirs won’t be warning shots.”

“They won’t risk injuring one of their own.”

Just as the words leave my lips the transport rocks with an impact. I’m thrown sideways, my hip crashing into a metal rack, but my grip on the handle keeps me upright. Alarms blare and smoke fills the cabin.

“Warning shots, huh?” Altis scoffs.

“They must not realize we have Kaesong.” I turn from the twins at the front of the transport, my trust in their ability to get us safely back on board the ship never faltering.

The impact must have sent the human’s body slamming into the wall. Red blood is dripping from her temple as her body lies limp. I drop to my knees and put my hand over her chest, looking for her life organ. It beats steadily beneath my palm. Heat seeps through her thin night clothes and into my flesh. My fangs extend as the sweet smell of her blood travels through my nose. Long dormant parts of me begin to awaken at the scent.

With another snarl I stand and open a storage compartment, looking for something to put over the cut for now. I don’t need this distracting the entire crew. I find a healing patch and seal it over the cut, covering as much of her blood as I can, and ignore the singing in my veins.

Vynia performs another evasive maneuver, and I brace myself over the female, keeping her from jostling anymore. She’s so much smaller than us that, while the restraints keep her from rolling off the bench, she still moves too much to be considered secure.

I listen as the twins bicker back and forth, Altis firing weapons and Vynia evading them, while we approach the ship. Tapping the communicator on my shoulder, I let my third, Mydax, know we’re coming in fast and currently being tailed. He informs me they’re on standby with the transport bay doors open for us already.

As soon as we’re in sight, I unbuckle the human and lift her into my arms again. Hyva, our chief medical officer, will be waiting to take her from me. I trust him to make sure she’s stable and to heal her injuries.

As soon as I hear the engines power off the transport, I’m releasing the hatch and running down the ramp. Hyva meets me just as the doors to the hall open, a stretcher floating behind him.

“I had to induce her sleep. The cut on her head is from a skirmish. Otherwise, she should be okay,” I call over my shoulder, running toward the bridge.

The twins make space for me as we take the stairs, our footsteps echoing off the metal stairs. I take my helmet off and toss it beside my chair. My fingers fly over the controls on my left as I open a channel up to Oculus Nine.

After a few seconds the image of Sister Andira, high priestess of the Order, flashes onto the screen in front of me. Her face is mostly obscured by the pale blue robe she wears, but I can see her aged, pink skin peeking through.

“Call off your attack, Sister.” A jolt rocks through my ship, hardening my features. “I have one of yours on board.”

“I know.” Her voice is nothing but steel. “Bring her back. Now.”

“No.”

“You don’t understand, Sister Neev can’t be?—”

“You don’t understand. No harm will come to her. I just need her to read the text.”

“Bring the text here, fool.” She stands, her wrinkled hand shaking with effort. “She cannot leave the station. She’s a danger?—”

I slam my fingers down on the button that cuts the communication channel. Why won’t these stubborn females just listen without threatening? I have one of their most skilled translators in my possession, and they’re firing at us without concern.

Targeted blasts hit our shields and warning lights flicker across the bridge. Another round hits us, alarms sounding now.

“Commander?” Altis asks. “Return fire?”

“No.” We didn’t come here to kill. “Vynia, engage jump drive.”

“Sir.” She fires up the energy core. “Thirty seconds to jump.”

We take another round of fire. My hands grip the armrests of my chair. They’re hitting us with their strongest weaponry. What the hells are they thinking?

“Twenty seconds to jump.” Vynia’s voice remains collected, even as the ship rocks with another impact. “Ten.”

Everyone checks their harness as the lights flash to green throughout the ship signaling a jump. Just as the shields drop to allow the jump, we’re hit by another round. Their weapons aren’t strong enough to seriously damage the ship, so I’m not concerned.

One second we’re in the Esos system, and the next we’re in the Diadem system. The dual stars at the center shine brightly into the bridge, forcing all of us to shield our eyes from their intensity. We all relax as the solar screens deploy, dimming the light that filters through the screen at the front of the bridge.

“Report.”

“Life support systems at one hundred percent. No injuries,” Mydax calls out.

“Engineering reports minor damage from the blast we took when shields were down,” Vynia says. “We’ll know more soon.”

I pull my harness off and stand. “You have the bridge, Altis.”

He nods and sits in the seat I just vacated. The doors to the lift open, and I step inside. “Med bay,” I command to the ship controls.

The doors slide open to the long corridor that leads down to the bright space where Hyva and his assistants move around, running tests on the human. She’s on a table, her eyes closed, and a blanket pulled up to her shoulders. A monitor shows her life signs, none are flashing which means she’s stable, but that’s the most I can infer.

“Commander.” Hyva doesn’t look up from the tablet in his hand as he scrolls through lines of text at an impressive speed.

“How is she?”

The cut on her temple is closed, but a purple bruise has bloomed across her forehead. I move my hands behind my back, tempering the compulsion to move the lock of hair hiding part of her injury from my sight. My eyes track down her body, watching as her chest rises and falls with relaxed breaths.

“Unconscious but otherwise okay. I’ve never treated a human, so I’m cross referencing all medical texts to ensure I’m not overlooking anything. Her heart rate is normal, and her oxygen levels are good.” He finally looks up at me. “You used your gift to put her to sleep? How did she receive her head injury?”

“Yes. I strapped her to the bench seat in the transport, but even with the strap tightened all the way, she still hit the side of the ship when we took fire.”

He sends me a sharp and disapproving look, something not many would even consider doing. “Humans are much more fragile than we are.”

“I’m aware.” I look away from him and back to the female. “When will she wake?”

“I don’t know. That will depend on how she reacts to your power.”

Unease swells within me. I loathe the gift I was cursed with. Having the ability to enter another’s mind, to bend it to my will, has always left me feeling disgusted. It doesn’t stop me from using it when necessary, but it never gets easier.

“I used touch.” I frown down at the human. I’m skilled enough to not need to use touch to bend a being to my will, but at that moment I couldn’t risk her not responding immediately. Some species are more resistant or have an innate shield against my type of gift. I wasn’t sure about her.

“Could be days then. I’ll make sure she's given everything she needs to recuperate.”

“Inform me as soon as she wakes.” I hesitate to give the order, but who knows what her mental state will be when she comes to consciousness. “Restrain her in case she wakes angry.”

“Commander.” Altis’s voice crackles through the communicator on my shoulder. “You’re needed in engineering.”

“On my way,” I reply, turning to leave med bay without another word.

The red lights that line the corridor brighten marginally as I walk down the hall to this level’s engineering entrance. I walk through the doors as they slide open for me, looking around to see where our chief engineer is. A plume of steam and muttered string of curses comes from the level above me. I cross to the metal staircase and jog up to the catwalk, crossing to where I see Cuna’s legs sticking out of an opened panel in the wall.

“Cuna,” I greet them.

“Commander.” They slide out, their dark eyes locking on mine as they sit up to give me a report. “I have bad news and then really bad news.”

I drag a deep breath in. “Let me hear it.”

“The bad news is that the last blast we took hit the hull when the shields were down, it held, and there’s no structural damage.”

“And the really bad news?”

“I’m not there yet. Several of the jump drives were knocked free from their bindings.” They set their tools down on the counter. “I can’t fix them until I replace their housing, which I have none of.”

The closest trading outpost will take at least ten days to reach without jumping. And it’s on a pleasure planet, which are notoriously unsafe for humans, especially this far out in the galaxy. The species is prized for its delicacy, bodies that are soft and supple. Easy to break.

Frustration swells inside me, my senses becoming unnervingly keen as I fight to stay grounded. I’m going to need to spend the night sparring, otherwise I’ll be no use to anyone. I flex my hands to keep them from fisting.

“Will this slow any other functions down?” I ask.

“No. Everything else is entirely operational.”

“Good. Keep it that way. I’ll go up to the bridge and enter our course.”

* * *

After altering course, I leave the bridge in Mydax’s command and drag Altis into the training room with me to spar. We strip down to our training uniform, removing our shoes and all devices until it’s just two Zeahiri males about to beat each other bloody.

The best thing about my second in command is that not only does he work well with me, he also knows me like a brother. He grew up in my family’s noble home, House Aste, and has known me since he took his first breath a year after my twin and I were born.

His knees bend slightly as he circles me with a wide stance that mirrors my own. I watch as he observes me with keen, dark eyes. He and his twin, Vynia, were both born gift-less. Vynia also was born missing part of her leg. It’s a blessing as much as it is a curse. They weren’t forced into the Bak’hura, the blood rite that dictates the next leader of the family, but they could never ascend in Zeahiri society, even if they wanted to. Luckily for me, they’re happy to serve under my command.

Altis’s fist barely misses connecting with my jaw as he takes the first shot. I move forward, my elbow striking out and landing in the center of his chest with a loud smack. His lips curl into a vicious smile, his pointed incisors elongating slightly.

I grunt as his foot catches the back of my knee, knocking me off balance, and I fall to the floor. I’m not down for long, though, as I get ahold of his arm and swing his massive body over mine. Using the momentum from that maneuver, I jump onto my feet and twist his arm into a tight hold for a count of three. I don’t release him until he yields.

We go round after round, both of us connecting as much as missing our punches and kicks. Blood runs from the corner of his eye down his cheek as he walks over to the water station. I run my tongue over the cut in my lip, wondering if we should switch to weapons next.

“Don’t even think about it.” He steps up beside me, gripping his ribs. “I can’t take another hit today.”

“Scared?” I give him half a smile.

“Smart,” he corrects. “What’s going on that you feel the need to beat the hells out me?”

“Stopping for these parts on the pleasure planet is going to be intense. With a human female on board, we’ll have to be even more careful than usual.”

“Can two of us just take a transport down to the surface to get what Cuna needs?” He pats his face dry with a towel.

“No. The parts are too big for the transport. We’ll have to go down and land on the surface.”

“Are you going to let the crew out?” He looks at me from the side of his eyes.

“For a twelve-hour leave, yes.”

It’s been a long time since the crew had down time. They can go gamble, fuck, drink, whatever they need to blow off some steam because when we get home the hardest work will begin.