Page 203 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“He’s on his way,” William, who must have joined us at some stage, says. We are all standing in a circle, protecting Lila as we watch as her body change, morphing into that of a lightning cat. Stormy blue fur covers her body as she sprouts a tail and ears.

“Oh my goddess.” Echo drops Lila’s hand and scurries backward. “I’m sorry. I didn’t do anything,” he swears. “I don’t know what happened.”

Xavier takes his place, crouching next to her, his mist seeping out of him while he tries to assess her. Before it can completely shroud her, she shimmers again, taking on a mist form of her own.

“Well, that’s different,” he muses and looks up at us. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

Eric and William exchange a glance. “Could it be?” Eric mutters to his brother, who gives him a solemn nod.

“Yeah, I think so. We need to get her back to the ship.” He lifts his watch and presses a button, speaking into it. “Delay that order for Link. Transport us back to the ship. Are you coming?” He looks at Maxsim and Echo, but Maxsim shakes his head.

“No, we are staying here for now to help with my mother’s transition,” he replies, and William relays the information to the transport operator.

“What’s going on?” I ask, frantic for my mate.

“Not here. We will explain back at the ship,” Eric replies, but it doesn’t soothe me at all.

Before I can reply, the two Adams brothers, Lila, Saxon, Xavier, and I are beamed aboard the ship. Link is there with a hover stretcher.

“Caspian, put her on the stretcher,” William orders before muttering something else into his watch, but I don’t catch the words, because my focus is on my misty mate.

“Can I pick her up?” I ask Xavier. “Does mist have solid form?”

“I’ll do it,” he tells me and waves a hand, and the mist moves to hover above the stretcher. Without waiting, Link starts moving it, and we follow behind.

“What happened?” he asks, and William fills him in on the events leading up to this.

“You said you would tell us what’s going on,” Saxon reminds the brothers, and William huffs out a sigh of frustration.

“Hang on, I just want to test one more thing,” he cautions us, and I can see that Saxon and Xavier feel as frustrated and confused as I do.

Before anyone can argue, though, Tynker, the Vengi fashion designer, appears in the hallway. They step up next to the stretcher and peer down at Lila.

“Oh dear, what happened?” they ask, but before anyone can respond, the mist surrounding Lila shimmers, and once again, she changes, taking on Tynker’s characteristics.

“Oh my god,” Link mutters and looks at the Adams brothers. “She’s a mimic. That is her Skarrian gift?”

“Yes, so it would seem,” Eric murmurs, looking at his granddaughter with no shortage of amazement.

“We will test her once more just to be sure. Have Tully meet us in the med bay,” William tells Tynker, who nods and disappears.

“What does this mean?” I ask, feeling confused and not really sure what is happening.

“It means that Lila has a very rare and dangerous ability, one that has seen Skarrians hunted down and killed or captured because they are considered to be too powerful to exist,” Eric announces, and a feeling of dread flows through me.

“We need to get to Celestia as soon as possible,” Link says as we continue our hurried dash toward the med bay. “Lila’s babies are okay, but changing as often as she is can’t be good for her body. She seems to have no control over it. Maybe they can help us, because there is nothing I can do to stop the flow of power.” He sounds terrified, and that worries me. He is usually so unflappable. My heart races with fear.

“The lightning strike must have destroyed the block my parents’ powers had on her abilities,” Xavier murmurs.

“Yes, and in such a way her body is overloading. You need to sedate her and keep everyone out of her room. We don’t want her latching onto anyone else,” William tells the doctor.

“I don’t want to leave her alone,” I argue, shaking my head. “She needs us.”

“I think I should be fine. I’m pretty sure I remember reading that a cyborg can’t be mimicked because we aren’t wholly organic,” Link says as we finally arrive in the med bay. Tully is there, and sure enough, Lila changes once more.

“Speak of this to no one. Forget you saw this,” Xavier orders her, and her eyes glaze over before he sends her away, none the wiser.

“Right, lock down the med bay, and everyone, get out,” William orders.