Fury Of War

Chapter 1-2

Wait a minute, was that still true? Her symbiont was gone, but she seemed to have the body of a young woman. How much time did she have left?

Jack and Anna walked side by side in front of her, talking quietly while she mused on her situation. “It’s not going well,” Anna said. “Telixa’s got ships hovering over most of our major cities. Corin had to pull the fleet back.”

“Where are we now?” Jack asked.

“In orbit of Laras with about fifteen other ships, some Leyrian, some Alosian. We set up a blockade there just in case Telixa decides to attack the Nassai. I don’t think she will, but she reacts badly when people interfere with her plans.”

“And the Nassai?”

Anna heaved out a breath, laying a hand on Jack’s arm. She shuffled along with her head down. “Palamo took them to the lab on Deck Four,” she said. “They’ll be safe there for now, but we were thinking about returning them to Laras.”

“There are Nassai on the ship?” Jena inquired.

“I’ll explain later, Jen,” Jack grunted. She was getting a little tired of hearing that, but she supposed there was no getting around it. You couldn’t bring someone up to speed on the eighteen months they had missed in an hour. Especially not when you were in the middle of a warzone. “What about the dropships? Did we get everyone back?”

“Corin sent down a fighter escort to protect them,” Anna said. “They managed to take off just before the Scrappy was forced to break orbit. It was a close call, but everyone made it home safe and sound.”

“Thank god.”

“There’s still fighting over the Telonoth and Southern Asrinar, but the Leyrian fleet suffered heavy damage. Most ships had to limp away and repair themselves before they could continue the fight. The Ragnosians are settling in for a planetary siege. And it gets worse. About half an hour ago, Telixa offered the Council a chance to surrender, and Dusep rejected it in the most destructive way possible.”

“What about the hostages?”

Anna came to an abrupt halt, shuddering as she drew in a breath. “I haven’t heard anything,” she mumbled. “So far as I know, Telixa still has them, and she’s still planning to execute them in two hours.”

Jack leaned his shoulder against the wall, his body slumping as the exhaustion he had been ignoring caught up to him. Jena’s heart went out to him. To both of them. Her friends had suffered so much in her absence. “Okay,” Jack mumbled. “When the others come aboard, we’ll assemble a team-”

“No, we won’t, sweetie.”

“What?”

Anna pressed her back against the opposite wall, her head drooping. The poor girl looked like she might pass out. “We’re both two inches away from collapsing,” she said. “The others aren’t any better off. Keli and Rajel can barely stand.”

She closed her eyes, one fat tear rolling down her cheek. “We board that ship, and they’ll cut us to pieces before we get anywhere near the hostages,” she croaked. “There’s nothing we can do.”

For the first time, Jena realized just how much things had changed. The Anna that she remembered would have hopped into a shuttle and flown off to rescue those hostages, exhaustion be damned. She probably would have gotten herself killed in the process. This older version was more cautious. And it was killing her in an entirely different way.

“So, we’re just going to leave?”

“I’ll call Telixa,” Anna said. “Make one last plea…”

“You know that’s not gonna work.”

Wincing, Jena spread her hands and then forced herself between them. “Wait. Time out,” she said. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I really need a few things answered.”

“Okay.”

“Back there, when we came through the Gate,” Jena began, turning to Jack. “Why did Anna have to confirm that it was you?”

A sigh escaped Anna as she pressed her fingertips into her forehead and started massaging away what appeared to be a budding migraine. “Slade thought that it would be a super, funny joke to make himself look like Jack and then go around killing people.”

“Wait,” Jena cut in. “So, you have an evil twin too?”

“Welcome to the club,” Jack said. “Membership dues are paid on the first Tuesday of every month.”

“I had one first,” Jena grumbled. “I should be welcoming you. So, what’s our next move?”

“My next move is to call the Ragnosian admiral and beg her to release the hostages,” Anna said. “Your next move is a sonic shower and then a visit to the sickbay. I want Dr. Tralis to take a look at you.”

“I feel fine,” Jena protested.

Anna shot her a glance that said there would be no arguing on this point. “I’m sure you do,” the girl insisted. “But this is the first time one of our people has come back from the dead. I think that merits a little caution, don’t you?”

Jena flinched.

So, it was official. This wasn’t the same Anna who used to leap through SlipGates with no idea of what was waiting for her on the other side. She had grown into a careful and confident leader. Jena would probably have to stop thinking of her as “the girl.”

The very instant she finished coming to terms with that, another revelation hit her like a smack in the face. She wasn’t in charge of this team anymore. Until now, she hadn’t given it any thought. She had been planning to pick up right where she left off, but that wasn’t going to happen. And she wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “Okay,” she said. “Sickbay, it is.”

“Great!” Anna exclaimed.

The pair of them started up the corridor, walking hand in hand. “It’s not fair,” Anna said. “You get a doppelganger; Jena gets a doppelganger. How come I don’t get a doppelganger?”

“Because you’d just sleep with her,” Jack countered.

“It’s true.”

Jena hurried to catch up, unable to hold back a burst of laughter. It was good to see that some things never changed.

An hour later, Jena was sitting on the edge of a sickbay bed, dressed all in black: cargo pants and a t-shirt. The shower had removed the slime from her skin and hair. She almost felt presentable. Not bad for a dead woman.

Most of the other beds were occupied by unconscious soldiers and police officers. Jena had never seen those gray uniforms before, but she assumed they were Ragnosian. Anna was the type of person who would show mercy to her enemies.

She heard moans from some of those poor souls. One man wouldn’t stop wheezing. It broke her heart to listen. She hadn’t seen c*****e like this since the Fringe raids, and that was a chapter of her life that she was eager to forget. She had Bonded her symbiont at the start of that conflict.

Her symbiont…

The Nassai’s absence was hard to ignore. Jena had always been an independent person, but that little bundle of emotions in the back of her mind had been a source of comfort.

Nurses in scrubs and lab coats moved from one patient to the next, administering drugs and salves. The sharp scent of antiseptic filled the air. Two young men pulled a gurney through the central aisle. The soldier lying on it – a blonde-haired woman with a gash across her forehead – was fading fast.

“Get her into surgery,” Dr. Tralis barked.

Short and plump with brown skin and thick, curly hair, she stood with a SmartGlass tablet tucked into the crook of her arm. Her glasses were smudged. “Move! Move!” Once they were gone, the poor woman deflated.

She found a second wind mere moments later, spinning around and marching toward Jena. “Now, for our miracle patient,” she said. “You can tell Captain Lenai that I can’t find anything wrong with you.”

Jena raised an eyebrow. “Captain Lenai?”

“Yes, well, I can’t remember who holds the title this week,” the doctor snapped. “They pass it back and forth like whiskey around a campfire. All your vital signs are normal. You are not carrying any pathogens that I can detect. So far as I can tell, you are a perfectly healthy twenty-year-old woman. Now, get out of my sickbay.”

“Except I’m forty-two,” Jena countered. “Or…I guess…forty-four now.”

Dr. Tralis frowned as she checked the data on her tablet, scrolling through window after window with a swipe of her finger. “Not according to these scans,” she said. “Your cellular structure, your telomeres, the general health of your internal organs: they all indicate a woman just out of adolescence. Congratulations, they gave you a completely new body. Now, go enjoy it.”

Jena hopped off the bed, nodding once to the other woman. “Thanks.” She started toward the door, then paused for one last question. “Doc, do you think I can Bond another symbiont?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Good to know.”

Out in the hallway, she found more people going about their daily routines. Most of them didn’t even notice her. So…what exactly was she supposed to do with herself? The crew of this ship was rundown and in desperate need of a rest, but she was bursting with energy.

“So, it’s true.”

Jena nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a familiar voice right behind her. She had gotten so used to spatial awareness. Living without it would be quite the adjustment.

She spun around to find Larani Tal standing in the middle of the corridor. The other woman leaned forward, inspecting Jena’s face. “They told me,” she mumbled. “But I did not believe until now.”

Folding her arms, Jena flashed a playful, little grin. “You know,” she said. “You’re probably the first person to sneak up on me in twenty years.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Larani took a hesitant step backward, shutting her eyes as she drew in a breath. “I am pleased to see that you are well,” she said. “But there are some things that require my attention. If you’ll excuse me.”

She stormed off down the corridor.

Same old Larani: all business and no pleasure. Someone should teach that lady how to relax. Jena filed that away for future consideration. She needed a new project now that she was no longer in charge of a lovable group of misfits. But first, she wanted some food. She hadn’t eaten in six hours…or eighteen months, depending on your perspective. And she wanted to get stupid drunk at least once before she Bonded her next symbiont. Second chances didn’t come around often.

Finding the mess hall wasn’t hard, though she did have to ask for directions twice. The place was pretty much what you would expect: a large, open room with a serving counter on one side and gray, plastic tables on the other.

Most of those were empty, but she did notice a group of disheveled people in the back corner. A pink-haired woman who might have been Anna’s little sister, a blind man who kept fussing with his smashed sunglasses, a big, burly guy with thick, red hair and a goatee. Jena didn’t recognize any of them.

Except for one.

She wouldn’t have expected to find Melissa Carlson sitting in a man’s lap, but there she was, cuddled up with a handsome guy who sported quite a bit of stubble on his firm jawline. Good for her! It was about time the kid got over her excessive modesty.

Melissa was on her feet the instant she walked through the door, smiling the most beatific smile Jena had ever seen. “Oh my God!” She rushed across the room to hug Jena. “It’s really you!”

Closing her eyes, Jena rested her chin on the young woman’s shoulder. “How you doing, kid?” she whispered. “How’s that Nassai of mine?”

Melissa pulled away, her smile deepening, tears glistening in her lovely, dark eyes. “Ilia is so happy to see you,” she said.

“Ilia? Wait. They resurrected my mom too?”

“No, no,” Melissa said, shaking her head. “Ilia is my…is our symbiont. She thought that taking your mother’s name would be a good way to honour you.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re doing that too!”

Melissa fell in beside her, gently resting a hand on Jena’s back and guiding her to the table. “It’s not just me,” she said. “We all started naming our Nassai, building a true partnership with them.”

The pink-haired woman raised a hand and said, “Alys.”

“Rix,” the blind man added.

Pressing her lips together, Jena nodded to each of them. “Nice to meet you, Rix,” she said. “Alys.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Pink-Hair replied. “I’m Cassi. Alys is my Nassai.”

“And I’m Rajel.”

Jena dropped into a chair, stretching her legs out and smiling up at the ceiling. “The world went and turned crazy on me,” she said. “I guess I’m going to have to get in on this fun, new trend.”

Reclaiming her spot on the young man’s lap, Melissa wrapped an arm around his neck and gave him a smooch on the cheek. “You’ll be glad you did,” she promised. “It strengthens the Bond between human and Nassai.”

“Speaking of,” her boyfriend interjected.

“What’s up?”

The man licked his lips, shutting his eyes as he worked the nerve to ask what was obviously a difficult question. “We’ve got thirty of them waiting in the science lab,” he began. “How would you feel if I Bonded one?”

Melissa laid a hand on his cheek, turning his face toward her. That look in her eyes…So, the girl was in love. It warmed Jena’s heart to see it. “It would make me very happy if you chose to Bond a Nassai,” she said. “But are you sure that’s what you want?”

“I felt useless down there,” the young man lamented. “People dying all around me. And I could do nothing.”

“It’s not that simple,” Jena said. “Bonding a Nassai isn’t just about gaining superpowers.”

The young man winced. “Yeah, I know,” he mumbled. “It’s about service. I just…I saw what Arin did.”

“Wait,” Jena protested. “Arin did something heroic?”

“He got himself shot pulling wounded people off the battlefield,” Melissa explained. “He’s not the same man you knew, Jena. He’s changed.”

“Seems a lot of things have changed.”

It was only then that she noticed just how beaten-down everyone was. Rajel looked like he wanted to drink himself into oblivion. Melissa’s boyfriend was still on the verge of tears. War did that to people. She should have seen it earlier. She had been lost in her own drama ever since she crawled out of the pool. Then again, given the circumstances, who could blame her?

“Seems I came back at just the right time,” Jena said. “Because I think you guys all need a chat with the team mom.”

“I’d say that’s accurate,” Melissa agreed.

“Great. Then let’s get started.”