Mindee Arnett - Avalon

“Hey, I think his eyelids are moving. You awake, Jeth?” Shady shouted. Jeth groaned and then wished he hadn’t as the pickax turned into a hot poker.

“He’s awake,” said Flynn.

Jeth opened his eyes and glared at the two faces staring down at him. “Shut up, already.”

Both of them grinned.

“Welcome back, Boss.” Shady held out a hand. Jeth took it and sat up. The world spun around him for a moment. What the hell happened? Then he remembered being shot in the head with a stunner. And before that . . .

Lizzie . . . and Cora .

Fighting back panic, Jeth focused his gaze on Flynn. “What happened?”

Flynn began to fidget with his shirt collar. “Um, Renford and his men got away. They took Lizzie and Cora with them. But everybody else is okay. Even Dax and Sergei. Well, everybody except for Vince. He got shot, but Milton’s working on him right now.”

Terror needled over Jeth’s skin. Where had Renford taken the girls? With an effort, Jeth pushed himself to his feet. He swayed once he got there, but Shady and Flynn steadied him. He looked around, realizing they were still in the cargo bay. The dead bodies of the old man and four guards had been removed, but blood smears remained on the floor.

“Don’t worry, Boss,” Shady said. “Milton and Sierra are working on a plan to go after them.”

“What ?”

A wary expression crossed Shady’s face. “Now don’t go losing your crap about it. She’s on our side.”

Jeth shot him a glare.

“It’s true,” Flynn said. “Milton told us we should trust her. Says he knows everything about what’s going on with your mom and your sisters and stuff.”

The world has gone insane .

Ignoring them both, Jeth charged toward the ladder. He headed up to the passenger deck and then to sick bay, where he knew he’d find Sierra. If Vince was hurt that was where she would be.

He froze in the doorway when he spotted her. She stood with her back to him, bent over Vince, who was lying unconscious on the operating table. Milton stood on the other side of the table, holding a jet injector against Vince’s bare shoulder. He squeezed the trigger, and it made a loud pop as it shot whatever medicine it contained into Vince’s bloodstream.

Jeth charged in, grabbed Sierra by one arm, and spun her around hard enough she fell into the table. “This is all your fault.” He grabbed her by the shoulders.

She twisted out from his grasp with remarkable ease and shoved him. “I had no choice! You were going to hand us over to Renford!”

“Stop it, both of you,” Milton said, glaring between them. “We can assign blame for what happened later. There’re more important things to do right now.”

Jeth blinked, some of the anger going out of him at the command in Milton’s voice. He caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Viggo walking across one of the counters, stepping in between medical equipment without a care in the world. Jeth lowered his hands. At least they’d taken care of Lizzie’s stupid cat. That was something, he supposed.

“Fine,” Jeth said. “But somebody better tell me what the hell is going on.”

Sierra took a deep breath. “It all has to do with the Aether Project, just like Renford said.”

Jeth swung his gaze back to her. “What—”

“Not now,” Milton said, inclining his head toward the door.

Jeth turned and saw Dax coming down the corridor toward sick bay, Celeste following behind him.

“Good, you’re awake,” Dax said as he came in. He looked at Milton. “I just checked on Sergei. He’s sleeping.”

Milton nodded, then moved to the counter behind Dax and started reloading the jet injector with another dose of medicine.

Dax turned back to Jeth and patted him on the side of the head. “Good thing your skull is hard enough to handle a stunner.”

“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” said Jeth. “How’d you recover so quickly, anyway?”

Dax grinned and raised a hand to his implant. “One of the advantages of the Brethren implant. This thing can—” Dax broke off at a loud popping sound. Jeth looked up to see Milton pressing the jet injector against Dax’s neck. Dax let out a gurgled cry, then fell.

Milton set the injector down on the nearest counter. “That’s better.” ^

Jeth gaped. “What’d you do?” His sudden anger at Milton hurting Dax surprised Jeth. Then it occurred to him how much he’d grown used to Dax’s presence, and he couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. Not that it mattered. What did was that Hammer would be furious. He would blame Jeth for this, consider it another betrayal.

“It’s just a sedative. He’ll be fine.”

Jeth shook his head. Milton didn’t understand. He didn’t know .

“It’s all right, Jeth,” Milton said, speaking more firmly now. “We can’t let Hammer find out what’s going on here. But the sedative won’t last long. Not with that implant.” Milton bent down and pulled the thing out. He set the implant on the table and motioned to Shady and Flynn, who were standing in the doorway. “You two take Dax down to the brig. Then get started on installing the metadrive.”

Jeth glanced down at Dax— too late to change it now— and then back to Milton. “Metadrive?” he said.

“Yes,” Sierra said. “It’s down in the cargo bay. Got here just before you did. It might come as a surprise, but most of what I told you before was true.”

“Oh, it’s a surprise all right,” said Jeth, realizing the metadrive must be in the crate the security guards had brought in. “What’d you do, lure the seller here and then shoot him?”

Sierra’s face went red. “Renford’s men killed him. Not me. I don’t betray people who don’t deserve it.”

Jeth took a threatening step toward her. “Are you insinuating that I deserved having my ship stolen?”

“Stop it!” Milton slammed his fist on the table. “Lizzie and Cora are more important.”

Jeth swallowed, guiltily, then forced his gaze away from Sierra, trying to pretend he didn’t see the tears standing in her eyes. He looked at Flynn. “Do you know how to install a metadrive?”

Flynn shrugged then grinned. “Guess I’ll have to figure it out.”

“It’s not hard if you use the old one as a guide,” said Sierra.

“Right. Okay then.” Flynn punched Shady in the shoulder. “Let’s go.” They grabbed Dax by the arms and dragged him from the room.

“Celeste,” Milton said, “go take out Sergei’s implant and lock him in his cabin. Then see if you can help with the metadrive.”

A look of disgust crossed Celeste’s face. Jeth couldn’t blame her. He wouldn’t have wanted to pull out an implant either. But Milton’s stern look kept her from arguing, and she turned and left.

Milton cut his eyes to Sierra. “I think we should head to the common room and bring Jeth up to speed. I just need a minute to fetch my copy of the Aether Project.”

Sierra’s eyes widened. “You made a copy?”

“Yes.” Milton glanced at Jeth. “I thought it might come in handy sooner or later. And I’m glad I did, now that Renford has the other one.”

Jeth’s patience reached its limit. “What’s going on?”

“What Renford told you is true,” Milton said. “Your mother is still alive, and Cora is her daughter. Your sister.”

Jeth swallowed. There was no denying it now, not with Milton confirming it with such certainty. “But what does that have to do with the Aether Project?”

“Everything,” Sierra said. “The Aether Project isn’t just information about metatech. It’s about preserving our ability to travel through space. What you must understand is that the power source that makes metaspace travel possible isn’t mechanical or man-made or even mineral. It’s biological. A living organism. An alien life form.” She paused and took a deep breath. “And it’s dying.”