Page 63 of Hope Forged
Illan caught her by the wrist and swept her into a kiss that ricocheted sparks and vibrations through her body. “It did,” he whispered, resting his temple on hers.
“Think he’s the only one?” she asked, her voice shaky, her lips tingling.
“We made that assumption earlier. I do not wish to be taken for a fool a second time.”
“Why did you?”
“If Brac says he hears no one else,” he tapped the yellow male’s part with his boot, “then he does not exist.”
“Ah,” she said. “So, this male must have known that and remained silent.”
“I suspect so.” He smacked the red of her blaster and fired at the prone male. “Now he will not take us by surprise again.”
She palmed her blaster, chose the yellow for stun, and followed him up the passage. “We must find Brac.”
“Agreed.”
Their caution wasn’t as intense as earlier, not with one dead. Maybe Illan believed no more yellow males awaited them?
“He’s a Maloidian?” she asked.
“Yes, though why they are here is the confusing part.” He hitched his thumb behind him at the massive cavern housing the device. “It has to do with that, is my estimation.”
“Same,” she said. “That weapon doesn’t bode well. Why on Vora? What’s within range?”
He grunted and entered the common, heading to the next door, but he hesitated. “They must know we are onworld. Brac!”
“In here,” the male called out.
Illan charged through the door at the end of the room. “How many?”
“Just one.”
She slumped, lowering the blaster. Her forearms had begun to cramp—the damn thing was heavy.
“How were you taken?” Illan slapped the blue button on his blaster and fired at the manacles binding Brac’s wrists. They clanked and dropped to the floor, freeing him.
“Stunned, though why he did not kill me outright, I cannot say.” He staggered to his feet, splaying his fingers against the nearest bulkhead for stability. His expression darkened. “What I discovered is worse, Illan.” Brac stumbled into the common and ran his fingers across the console. “Ulta, I am well. Illan and Lady Ziamee are with me.”
“Good,” the male said. “I have battleships en route.”
“Stay connected. You need to hear this.” Brac faced Illan and Ziamee. “This facility housed a cannon that had one target.” He pressed a hand to his chest as if he struggled to breathe. “The planet Durn.”
Chapter Seventeen
Illanreeled.Adeafeningroar consumed his mind, even as every breath he managed was too thin for him to survive on.My homeworld? But why?
“Explain,” he whispered, his cheeks flushed.
“The cannon emits an energy pulse that corrupts biological cellular processes, causing vague illnesses, and because it is tuned to a planet’s resonance, it slowly drives the molten core into chaotic oscillation.”
“What?” he rasped. “Are you saying the Maloidians were behind the destruction of Durn?” He sank to his knees. “All my people…dying.”
“How can a weapon do this to a planet? It’s small in comparison.” Ziamee gripping his shoulder went a long way to calming his erratic heartbeat.
She had a right to ask; something he would’ve done had the reality of it not shocked him. They’d seen the device…cannon.She’d even called it a weapon. The evidence was hard to refute…and believe.
“They hit a city at a time. Then what seemed unnecessary, every town and outstation.” Brac activated the display vids, flicking from image to image, showing the streets of Durn’s cities lined with bodies. Sheets of data scrolled past, no doubt filled with instructions and casualties.
