Haylie!
He tried to warn her, but too late. She turned a corner and right into the arms of a dark man. He couldn"t quite make out the face, although Haylie seemed to recognize him. She opened her mouth to scream, but Kamran couldn"t hear the noise. He was too far away to help.
No, no, no. He was beside her in bed. If he could only wake up.
He forced his way through the fog and fought his way into her dream that wasn"t a dream. He stopped suddenly as everything became clear. She was being attacked through her dreams from the outside. They all were.
A surreal feeling of nausea washed through him as he walked down the hall in the direction that the dark man had taken Haylie. The floor and walls rose and fell, twisting in unnatural directions. An eternity seemed to pa.s.s as he climbed and crawled his way to Haylie"s last location.
He heard the voice, not with his own ears, but somehow through Haylie"s "Tell me." The voice was distorted, highlighted with tin and feedback.
No. "No." Haylie"s voice vibrated from the walls.
"I"ll kill him. Then you. You won"t be able to stop me." The dark man"s voice was smiling at her, teasing in its torture.
Haylie stiffened slightly, before raising her chin. "b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
120.
From out of nowhere, Haylie produced a knife and buried it in the dark man"s shoulder. Kamran tried to cover his ears to protect them from the piercing screams of the enemy before he vanished.
Haylie dropped the knife and it vanished into nothingness before landing upon the floor. She turned to face him, a curious expression on her face.
"Why are you here?"
"I came to help." Struggling to his feet, he managed to take several steps toward her before collapsing once more.
"It"s not safe for you here."
"I don"t understand. What"s not safe?"
A strong wind gusted sand into his face and he brought his arm up to shield himself.
"See. You"re too weak. I need to find out what"s in the valley."
The wind lessened slightly and Kamran could see once more. Haylie was dressed in a long wrap that covered her head, face and upper body.
"Where are you going?"
"The desert. I have to find the valley."
"Haylie, show me. What valley?"
The landscape shifted again until they were standing in a valley he had been to once before.
"I know this place. The humans call this the Corridor." Kamran looked around but something didn"t quite add up. The image Haylie was showing him was wrong. There were missing landscapes.
"Haylie, this isn"t right."
Once again, they were back on the station, but this time in the observation room.
"You need to rest. Go back and sleep. I"ll figure out what is going on." Haylie smiled.
She then reached up and buried her fingers in his hair. Kamran stilled as she reached up and moved her lips against his cheek in a light kiss. When she pulled away, she wore a sad expression.
"What is wrong?" He tightened his grasp on her waist, afraid to let her go.
"Things have changed for me, but I don"t think they have for you."
"What things? I don"t understand."
Kamran started awake with a gasp. The air of his quarters felt heavy and it took effort to slow his breathing down to normal.
Haylie was out of bed and dressed. Her face was pale and her body trembled where she stood. The chair where she must have been sitting was lying tipped over on the floor.
121.
"What just happened?" he said softly.
She swallowed. "I woke up shortly after you fell asleep. I got dressed but didn"t want to leave. So I sat down in the chair to watch you sleep for a bit. I must have drifted off."
"And you dreamed."
"And you got pulled in also."
Kamran sat up and welcomed the cool air of his room against his skin.
"This isn"t normal. Briel mates are close, can even read each other"s thoughts occasionally. But not dreams."
"These aren"t dreams. We"re-"
"Under attack?" he offered.
"That sounds right. But by who?"
"The same person or people who altered the Briel records, organized the explosion and created other disturbances on the station."
Before they were able to carry that thought further, the door chimed. He quickly dressed in his casual tunic and pants as Haylie righted the overturned chair. She made her way over to the office section of his apartment. It had only taken seconds to erase the intimate surroundings they had enjoyed moments earlier.
His legs shook as he managed to make his way to the door. "Computer, identify."
"Elderwoman Calla."
G.o.ddess. "Computer, time."
"Time is oh-eight-hundred hours."
"Time is disappearing. Your meeting is when?" Haylie spoke from behind him.
"Not for another hour."
"s.h.i.t."
Immediately upon opening the door, a tall willowy woman pushed her way inside.
She was followed by several Briel guards he didn"t recognize and Dr. Ray.
"Elder, what can I do for you? Is there a problem that can"t wait until our meeting?"
"Chief Bond, excellent." Calla spoke, ignoring him.
"Elder." Haylie made a half bow. The proper sign of respect for a Briel dignitary.
She"d picked up a few of his customs. "I was taking this time to interview the amba.s.sador on what he remembered about the explosion."
"There"s no need. Though it is fortunate that you are here. It has come to the council"s attention that the amba.s.sador is working with the Ecada to sabotage this colony."
Kamran felt as if someone had slapped him. "Forgive me, Elder, but what did you say?"
122.
Calla sniffed her distain. "Do not play games with us. And to think the council held you in such high regard."
Haylie was now beside him. "My own staff haven"t completed their investigation.
Nor have we discovered anything that would support such a claim. May I inquire as to the nature of your proof?"
"Of course, as humans were also killed by this explosion, we will share everything with you. But not until this villain is safety in a security facility."
With a flick of her hand, several of the guards approached him. One of whom Kamran recognized as Taber"s second-in-command faced him directly.
"I"m sorry, sir."
There was nothing he could do. Kamran nodded once and tried to smile as the guard placed the prison bracers on his forearms.
"Does Taber know?"
"Elderwoman Calla thought it best if he was kept away from this matter for the time being."
"Hurry up. I don"t want him paraded in front of the others." Calla began to move down the hall, her plain gray robes chasing her.
Haylie touched his forearm. "Don"t worry. I"ll see what they have against you.
We"ll figure this out."
"Talk to Taber and let him know what is happening. He can help."
"As you can see, Chief Bond, we have everything under control." Calla said, her dismissal clear.
Haylie turned to Calla, her tone brisk. "Indeed. Until I can examine your proof, this is an internal Briel matter. I would like copies of everything sent to my office within the hour."
"Yes, ma"am." Taber"s second spoke.
There was nothing left for her to say, so Haylie bowed again, cast one last look at him and left the room.
With her gone, Dr. Ray took her vacated spot by Kamran"s side.
"And why are you here, Doctor?"
Dr. Ray kept his voice low, "To make sure nothing happens to my patients."
The plural use of the word told Kamran that the doctor was on their side. Haylie had at least one other ally. They may survive this after all. That is, if he wasn"t executed for crimes he didn"t commit.
123.
Chapter Twelve.
Haylie threw her pillows at the wall and let out a wail of pure frustration. The computer beeped at her as she hit the sensor to the communication panel.
"I can"t believe this is happening."
Sara made her way over to the wall and picked up the discarded items. "Do you want to throw them again? It might help."
"p.i.s.s off, Fergus."
"Hey now, I didn"t rat out your boyfriend."
Why Kamran? That was the question that Haylie had been turning over in her mind for several hours now. She"d reviewed every st.i.tch of evidence the Briel had against Kamran. They claimed that the forensics indicated he was the one who planted the bomb. He was caught in the blast by mistake as he was fleeing the scene. Bulls.h.i.t. Pure and utter bulls.h.i.t. They had also caught snips of an encrypted message between the station and the Ecada home world. The encryption code was Kamran"s and the message was d.a.m.ning.
To add insult to injury, she couldn"t convince the Briel council to let her lead the investigation. It was an "internal matter". She took the pillow from Sara and threw it again.
"Haylie, please sit. What the h.e.l.l is going on?"
There was no reason for someone to set up Kamran. They hadn"t discovered anything. Unless her investigation had gotten her closer than she realized.
Haylie stopped pacing. "Maybe "what" isn"t the right question?"
"What do you mean?"
"Instead, maybe we should be asking why?"