Starchild- Exile by J Washburn

Author:J Washburn [Washburn, J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LOST BOYS INK
Published: 2019-05-03T16:00:00+00:00

15. Reverence the Light

It felt like a nightmare.

A black abyss suspended Kalh in midair. It surrounded her. Choked at her throat. The exhaust from Building 13 did this to her, kept her in a constant state of disorientation.

Her head was spinning. No, her whole body was spinning.

Nausea pushed against the insides of her gut.

She opened her eyes with a gasp.

The space around her was completely black, except for a faint glow coming from—

Oh! She couldn’t feel the ground beneath her.

She was completely weightless, hanging in midair. She reached out, and her knuckles cracked against a wall. Pain shot through her casted arm. “Ow!”

Because she was floating, the collision turned her body, rolling her over, and spinning more nausea into her brain. She wanted to call for help, but she worried only the guards from Building 13 would hear her.

No, wait. She wasn’t at the Strand anymore.

Her eyes began to glow as she struggled to remember where she was.

Nak’s voice echoed through the internal comms: “Hey, the targravs switched off. I’m about to re-engage. Heads up.”

Kalhette grabbed the rail lining her bed frame and pushed herself to the mattress. The Spirit. She was aboard Nak’s ship. Everything was going to be okay.

Gravity came back gently, like slowly accelerating in a planetary vehicle. First she just touched. Then she sank deeper, then deeper still, till she felt the bodyweight she was used to. The acceleration continued past that till it had reached Nak’s comfort level, and there it held.

She breathed a sigh. Although her body felt heavy, at least it was stable. Her nausea halted, no longer getting any worse, but it wasn’t going to get better quickly either.

As she became more awake, she finally remembered how she’d gotten here.

A few isochrons ago, Nak had come back aboard with his Cupcake. They picked up Benton and Liink, installed the replacement parts, juiced the zentisal batteries, and then blasted into the sky. A cluster of starships detected them and tried to pursue as they made their way toward open space again, but The Spirit had too much of a head start.

She’d been sitting in the cockpit with Nak.

As he reached for the lever to engage the surge, he laughed.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“I’m just glad to say farewell to Taiberos.”

“Farewell?”

“You’ve seen the massive explosion when a surge drive surges, right?”

“Actually, I’m not sure I have.”

“It’s The Spirit’s way of saying goodbye at the very moment it’s too late for them to do anything. Boom—the whole sky lights up in a flash of white, like lightning across the universes. I’m just sad I won’t get to see his face.”

“Isn’t that going to be a problem when we land at Solace?” She felt anxiety about returning. Of course, she wanted to go home, but that meant she’d be exposed. The Witch Hunters might find her again, and they might throw her back into the otherworld of Building 13. She almost preferred to die than to even face that possibility. That fear aside, she also had a major role in the upcoming battle for independence.

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