Page 55 of Star-Born Anomaly
“I’ve reconnected with the grid.” She pulled up another menu, this one full of relays and communications. “But this won’t last long.” She said the words absently as she pulled more and more data from the grid. “I can…” Her voice trailed off, her gaze meeting his.
Confusion clouded her expression, but the emotions that wrapped around him were something else.Wariness. Hesitation. Dread.
Her throat bobbed in a swallow. “I need to contact my superiors.”
She stared at him for a long moment before turning back to her terminal. Her worry grew, washing over him, then she tapped on the surface, slower than before.
He assessed the situation. If she contacted her superiors, the result might be detrimental to his end goal. Leaning forward, Iax pressed his hands flat against the terminal’s surface.
A second passed, then his essence infused the systems, accessing the same files.
“What?” Her hands stopped moving, then lifted away from the terminal. “What are you doing?”
He did not answer but dove deeper into the lab’s systems, accessing the communication array. She had not yet sent out a message. Should he stop her ability to do so?
The question pulled him in different directions, the ones that needed to fulfill his mission, and the ones that did not want to hurt Wynn in any capacity.
“Iax?”
His name came out of her mouth tentatively, laced with more worry.
Before he could decide which path to take, a new sensation crawled up his spine. A distant voice nearing at a quick pace.
Tipping his head, he changed his focus from the communication array to the outpost’s sensors.
“Someone approaches,” he said after a moment, receiving confirmation of what this unknown voice was telling him.
“What do you mean?” Her hand settled on his arm and gripped him tight. “The beasts?”
“No.” He tilted his head to the side, the mind so close now he could taste it. “Someone in a ship.”
As soon as he spoke the words, a cruiser buzzed above the building, shaking the roof.
“What the hell?” Wynn yelped, squeezing his arm tighter. “This is restricted airspace.” She dropped his arm and tapped at the terminal. “No ships are allowed this close to the fields. The grid broadcasts warnings everywhere.”
His essence entwined with the system’s, he felt what she was doing, scanning the ship for the cruiser’s ID and access code. There were none.
It was like the ship wasn’t there at all, though they could both see it circle with their own eyes.
Wynn’s volatile emotions swooped out toward where the cruiser lowered, then changed to something sourer. Worry for him.
“Who are they?” She did not need to voice another question for him to understand her meaning.Were they here for him?
Since the ship was closer now, he could dive deeper into the man’s head.
“His name is Sawyer Knox.”
Iax reached his mind and twisted around the man’s thoughts and desires, around secrets and lies, to find the information he searched for.
“And he is here for you.”
“What?” The word exploded out of her mouth. She turned her head until she stared at him, her hands braced against the terminal. “You can read his mind?” She inhaled quick breaths as she looked toward the ship.
The passenger door released, then slid open to reveal a slice of darkened interior.
“Yes.”
She gasped and diverted her attention away from the ship to him. “Can you read my mind?” A flush brightened her cheeks.
